1-17-26 This should be the last ‘archive’ site- why another? This week I tried to post some of the old posts from the deleted original Blog- you can find these arcvie posts at the bottom of ‘Recent sites’- abput 100 of those sections are missing from the new Blog- I just posted this week.
I realize that many old posts have political views- things that offend- I warched and researched many Youtube and Google articles this last year- covering criminal cases that I follow. These talk about violence- murder- very bad crimes. Some are history- Hitler- etc- people or groups in our day who still espouse racist beliefs- use the N word- on the documentary. Why are they still hosted by Google- Youtube? Because they are covering the history- the serial killers- the crimes and views of others- I need to post about 15 sections of old deleted posts- these r only 2000 posts of about 1 million that were deleted- Today- 1-17-2026- I- John Chiarello am trying to simply get those old posts on-line- NOT SAYING I STILL HOLD TO ALL BELIEFS YOU SEE IN THE POSTS Just like Youtube is not removing Hitler posts- or Videos on Youtube using the N word- or even advocating the actual murders of serial killers- which r actually covered in the Videos on Youtube. So yes- YOU WILL FIND OFFENSIVE political views- nothing near the word NI… er- or near the acts of the killers covered on Youtube- or Google. We all understand they r hosted for educational reasons.. I AM NOT ADVOCATING all the views of the past- I AM SIMPLY TRYING TO GET 2000 posts back online- I use my past posts when making new posts- I do not re-post or even advocate for some earlier causes- but in between those news posts I have teaching sections. So- in that way I hope to finnaly get this last ‘archive’ section up- John Chiarello 1-17-26
CORPUS CHRISTI OUTREACH MINISTRIES [A network of sites reaching the world]
New- https://johnchiarello.blogspot.com/[Full post can be seen here]
New- https://corpuschristiworldoutreach.blogspot.com/
Sites- https://sites.google.com/view/ccoutreach87-johnchiarello/home?authuser=0
Sites- https://sites.google.com/view/johnchiarello/home?authuser=0
Sites- https://sites.google.com/view/ccoutreach87--full-studies/home
Links to sites- full list
https://ccoutreach87.com/1-time-w-p-update-links-to-sites-8-12-25/
https://corpuschristiworldoutreach.blogspot.com/2024/12/links-to-my-other-sites.html
https://johnchiarello.blogspot.com/2024/09/links-to-my-sites-text-this-page-is-for_22.html
https://sites.google.com/view/ccoutreach87-johnchiarello/about
Github https://github.com/ccoutreach/Links-to-my-sites/blob/main/README.md
https://johnchiarello.blogspot.com/2025/11/1-time-link-to-sites-update-long-version.html
Site-https://ccoutreach87.com/ [ Post every day]
Site- https://sites.google.com/view/ccoutreach87-johnchiarello/home?authuser=0
https://sites.google.com/view/ccoutreach87--full-studies/home
Site- www.ccoutreach87.net
Site- https://www.ccoutreach87.org/
Stats- https://ccoutreach87.com/stats-4-21/
Stats- https://johnchiarello.blogspot.com/2024/09/stats-text-there-is-nothing-bad-on-this.html
Stats- https://corpuschristiworldoutreach.blogspot.com/2024/12/stats-creating-pages-from-these-1st.html
Links to all sites- https://ccoutreach87.com/links-to-my-sites-updated-10-2018/
Links to all sites- https://johnchiarello.blogspot.com/2024/09/links-to-my-sites-text-this-page-is-for_22.html
Links to all sites- https://corpuschristiworldoutreach.blogspot.com/2024/12/links-to-my-other-sites.html
Linktree https://linktr.ee/ccoutreach87
Link Tree 2nd https://ccoutreachministries.wordpress.com/2025/03/06/link-tree/
https://linktr.ee/ccoutreach873
Site- https://ccoutreachministries.wordpress.com/ [Text post only- 3 a week]
Site- https://medium.com/@johnchiarello [Text post only- 3 a week]
Site- http://ccoutreach87.webstarts.com/__blog.html?r=20171009095200
Site- https://corpusoutreach.weebly.com/
Site- http://ccoutreach87.wixsite.com/mysite
Site- http://ccoutreach87.strikingly.com/
Site- https://ccoutreach87.jimdo.com/
Site- https://ccoutreach87-1.mozello.com/
Wix- 2nd- Blog https://ccoutreach872.wixsite.com/ccoutreach87/blog
Wix- 2nd- Website https://ccoutreach872.wixsite.com/ccoutreach87
Pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/ccoutreach87/ [Post every day]
Site- https://vero.co/ccoutreach87
Site- https://www.wattpad.com/user/JohnChiarello/conversations
Site- https://www.publish0x.com/@ccoutreach87
Site- https://www.threads.net/@john.chiarello [Post every day]
Site- https://www.facebook.com/john.chiarello.5 [Post every day]
Site- http://johnchiarello.tumblr.com/ [Post every day]
Site- https://twitter.com/ccoutreach87 [Post every day]
Site- https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-chiarello-b27340ab/ [Post every day]
VK- https://vk.com/id533663718 [Russia- Post every day]
OK- https://ok.ru/profile/589985645111 [Ukraine- Post every day]
IG- 1
https://www.instagram.com/john.chiarello?igsh=MTRvazIwZnZmZ253bw==
IG- 2
https://www.instagram.com/ccoutreach.87?igsh=MWkyNGE1d3h3YjRzbw==
Tiktok- https://www.tiktok.com/@johnchiarello5?lang=en [Upload new video 3 days a week- Post every day]
Plurk- https://www.plurk.com/ccoutreach87 [Japan- Taiwan] [Text post only- 3 a week]
WP- 3 https://ccoutreach4.wordpress.com/
Ccoutreach93- Wix Blog [all posts] https://ccoutreach870.wixsite.com/ccoutreach93/blog
Ccoutreach93- Wix site https://ccoutreach870.wixsite.com/ccoutreach93
Site- https://sites.google.com/view/ccoutreach87-johnchiarello/home?authuser=0
Google site- 2nd https://sites.google.com/view/johnchiarello/home?authuser=0
https://sites.google.com/view/ccoutreach87--full-studies/home [Google 3]
Ccoutreach87- Tumblr 2nd https://ccoutreachministries.wordpress.com/2025/03/15/ccoutreach87-tumblr-2nd/
https://www.tumblr.com/ccoutreach87/778110204012363776/links-to-my-sites-3-1-25?source=share
Jimdo 2nd https://john-chiarello.jimdosite.com
Linkfly 2nd https://www.linkfly.to/70318zs2hwH
Quora -https://www.quora.com/profile/John-Chiarello-1 [Post 3 times a week]
https://ccoutreach87.quora.com/ [Group Post 3 times a week- others post on group many times a day]
https://mewe.com/i/johnchiarello [Post every day]
Pagewave https://www.pagewave.net/ccoutreach87
Reddit https://www.reddit.com/u/Virtual-Ebb-2902/s/RaohMwyxqw
Flipboard Profile
https://flipboard.com/@johnchiarel2018?from=share&utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=share
Telegram 2- ccoutreach https://t.me/boost/ccoutreach
Shuffles
https://www.shffls.com/shuffles/5434950074861924672?sender_id=571605515113641221
7 Streams https://corpuschristiworldoutreach.blogspot.com/2024/12/7-streams.html
IG Reels https://corpuschristiworldoutreach.blogspot.com/2024/12/ig-reels-12-31-24.html
7/8 Vids https://corpuschristiworldoutreach.blogspot.com/2025/01/seven-eight-list-of-vids-1-11-25.html
1 Time vids update https://ccoutreach87.com/1-time-vids-catalog-update-1-7-26/
Blog Archive https://ccoutreachjohnchiarello.blogspot.com/
New sites at the bottom of this list https://ccoutreach87.com/my-other-sites/
https://corpuschristiworldoutreach.blogspot.com/2025/12/my-other-sites-new-sites-at-bottom-12.html
See today’s full post here https://johnchiarello.blogspot.com/
And here https://corpuschristiworldoutreach.blogspot.com/
Many more sites can be found here- https://ccoutreach87.com/links-to-my-sites-updated-10-2018/
www.ccoutreach87.net [See home page] Not updated
https://johnchiarello.blogspot.com/2024/09/links-to-my-sites-text-this-page-is-for_22.html
https://corpuschristiworldoutreach.blogspot.com/2024/12/links-to-my-other-sites.html
Note- Why so many links at the top? If a main site goes down- and I used that link on hundreds of thousands of posts- it creates dead links all over the internet. If I have many links at the top- at least those posts won’t be wasted.
Note- Around 9-2024 Many sites began giving me warnings, not big stuff- just minor things. It was strange that so many started doing it all at once. After a few major Blog deletions- that all stopped. I realized some group- or person was more than likely targeting us- contacting all the sites and complaining. So if you host a site by me- and you have real problems- that’s fine to contact me and let me know- but if you start getting many complaints- all at once- keep this in mind- John Chiarello
OTHER VIDEOS [These are the videos I upload nightly to my various sites- links to all my sites below]
https://ccoutreach87.com/fb-ig-tiktok-vids-7-23/
FB/IG/Tiktok n other vids https://johnchiarello.blogspot.com/2024/09/fbigtiktok-other-vids-8-24-need-for-my.html
TT/IG/FB Vids 6-25-25 https://sites.google.com/view/johnchiarello/project-page?authuser=0
IG/FB Vids 8-24 https://johnchiarello.blogspot.com/2024/09/igfb-vids-8-24-24-need-for-my-use-john.html
IG Bible studies https://johnchiarello.blogspot.com/2024/09/ig-bible-studies.html
https://ccoutreach87.com/other-videos-catalog-a-j-blogger-3/
https://johnchiarello.blogspot.com/2024/09/other-videos-catalog-j-blogger-3.html
Reels- https://ccoutreach87.com/ig-fb-vids-8-24-24/
IG/FB 8-24 https://ccoutreach87.com/ig-fb-vids-8-24-24/
IG/FB Vids- 10-30-24 [Links]
www.ccoutreach87.net/blog/m4upc8hdhc7b6m1zavpxgjsz9n5vtc
https://ccoutreach87.com/ig-fb-vids-8-24-24/
https://johnchiarello.blogspot.com/2024/09/igfb-vids-8-24-24-need-for-my-use-john.html
Videos catalog 1-6
https://johnchiarello.blogspot.com/2024/11/videos-catalog-1-6.html
https://ccoutreach87.com/videos-catalog-1-6/
www.ccoutreach87.net [See home page] Not updated
https://www.ccoutreach87.net/tiktok
https://ccoutreach87.com/tiktok-videos/
https://johnchiarello.blogspot.com/2024/11/tiktok-this-is-for-page-if-no-good-for.html
FB-IG-Tiktok- other Vids https://corpuschristiworldoutreach.blogspot.com/2024/12/fb-ig-tiktok-other-vids-10-24.html
TT/IG/FB Vids 6-25-25 https://sites.google.com/view/johnchiarello/project-page?authuser=0
IG Bible studies https://corpuschristiworldoutreach.blogspot.com/2024/12/ig-bible-studies-9-24.html
IG Reels https://corpuschristiworldoutreach.blogspot.com/2024/12/ig-reels-1.html
IG Vids https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/3523858102198414520/3404197756526011336
Other Vids- Cat A-J https://corpuschristiworldoutreach.blogspot.com/2024/12/other-videos-catalog-j.html
Youtube Shorts [reels]
https://johnchiarello.blogspot.com/2025/01/youtube-shorts-reels.html
https://ccoutreach87.com/youtube-shorts-reels/
SEVEN- EIGHT Vid’s List
https://johnchiarello.blogspot.com/2025/01/seven-eight-lists-of-vids-1-11-25.html
https://corpuschristiworldoutreach.blogspot.com/2025/01/seven-eight-list-of-vids-1-11-25.html
https://ccoutreach87.com/seven-eight-lists-of-vids-1-11-25/
1st Video in a long time- Maybe the last? [1-17-25] https://ccoutreachministries.wordpress.com/2025/01/17/1st-new-video-in-a-long-time-lets-see-if-the-link-works/
Rednote [Full video site- Like TiKtok] China https://www.xiaohongshu.com/user/profile/6786b7a2000000000803e51b
https://johnchiarello.blogspot.com/2025/01/vid-links-1-30-25.html
https://ccoutreach87.com/vid-links-1-30-25/
https://corpuschristiworldoutreach.blogspot.com/2025/01/vid-links-1-30-25.html
https://johnchiarello.blogspot.com/2025/02/ig-fb-tiktok-vids-2-24-25.html
https://corpuschristiworldoutreach.blogspot.com/2025/02/ig-fb-tiktok-vids-2-24-25-making-page.html
https://ccoutreach87.com/ig-fb-tiktok-vids-2-24-25/
IG/FB/TT 9-25 https://corpuschristiworldoutreach.blogspot.com/2024/12/ig-reels-12-31-24.html
7/8 Vids https://corpuschristiworldoutreach.blogspot.com/2025/01/seven-eight-list-of-vids-1-11-25.html
1 Time vids update https://ccoutreach87.com/1-time-vids-catalog-update-1-7-26/
TT/IG/FB Vids 6-25-25 https://sites.google.com/view/johnchiarello/project-page?authuser=0
7 Streams https://corpuschristiworldoutreach.blogspot.com/2024/12/7-streams.html
HD Clips
https://johnchiarello.blogspot.com/2025/10/hd-clips-making-page.html
https://ccoutreach87.com/hd-clips/
IG/FB/TT Vids- 11-22-25
https://johnchiarello.blogspot.com/2025/11/igfbtt-vids-11-22-25.html
https://corpuschristiworldoutreach.blogspot.com/2025/11/igfbtt-vids-11-22-25.html
https://ccoutreach87.com/1-time-update-ig-fb-tt-vids-11-22-25/
Flipboard Bible n teaching Vids
https://ccoutreachministries.wordpress.com/2025/11/26/flipboard-magazine-ccoutreach87/
Telegram 2- ccoutreach https://t.me/boost/ccoutreach [Lots of my video links here]
Youtube channels-
1st https://www.youtube.com/@ccoutreach873 [Main channel]
https://www.youtube.com/@ccoutreach873/posts
2nd https://youtube.com/@backup-2621?si=7PS4KW0kUOEgpxDP
https://www.youtube.com/@backup-2621/posts
3rd https://youtube.com/@backup-1930?si=5s8as-Qx0oVMP65c
https://www.youtube.com/@backup-1930/posts
Tiktok- ccoutreach87 https://www.tiktok.com/@ccoutreach87?lang=en
Tiktok- John Chiarello [Active] https://www.tiktok.com/@johnchiarello5?lang=en
Spotify https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/john-chiarello-ccoutreach
Spotify studies
https://ccoutreach87.com/spotify-studies/
https://johnchiarello.blogspot.com/2026/01/spotify-studies-page.html
https://corpuschristiworldoutreach.blogspot.com/2026/01/spotify-studies-page.html
7 Streams https://corpuschristiworldoutreach.blogspot.com/2024/12/7-streams.html
IG Reels https://corpuschristiworldoutreach.blogspot.com/2024/12/ig-reels-12-31-24.html
7/8 Vids https://corpuschristiworldoutreach.blogspot.com/2025/01/seven-eight-list-of-vids-1-11-25.html
1 Time vids update https://ccoutreach87.com/1-time-vids-catalog-update-1-7-26/
NOTE- Every so often some of my sites think I am Spam- or a Bot- I am not. My name is John Chiarello, I am a retired firefighter living in Texas, Born in Hoboken New Jersey- raised in North Bergen. I post original content [all videos and text are by me]. I post 7 videos a night to many of my sites, and text posts 3 times a week. I NEVER take money- or ask for money- ever. Everything is free- I sell nothing- to some sites this makes a difference- so I wanted to say that here. There are no buildings- staff- salary- anything. Just me teaching- doing outreach- and reaching out thru my sites. All my teachings- videos- studies are free to download from all my sites. Make as many copies as you want- they are there for you to use. Thank You- John.
NOTE- Don’t be mad if I do not respond to messages on these sites- I simply don’t have time to read them. Some sites are telling me that I have money built up from posting- I do not take money for anything- if you can give it to others in those countries or boost my posts on the platform- John.
Intro I use on sites-
‘Retired firefighter teach n outreach to homeless- all links r teaching by me- John Chiarello. I take no money for the ministry- there is NO INCOME at all- besides what I pay for from my retirement check [I have to add this next part- so people know ALL the finances- this is it-] I give 35 a month to childrens international [a child in Africa] and 70 dollars a month to the homeless- and I pay for some sites- all content on my sites is free to all- download- copy- and if you r poor feel free to sell it if it can hep you. I waive the copyright to everything. I was born in Hoboken- grew up in North Bergen [New Jersey] off the Hudson river by NYC. I retired from the Kingsville Fire Department [Texas] in 2008- after 25 years on the job as a paid firefighter [Not some fake thing]. I now live in Corpus Christi Texas. There is no office- building- or employees- I make the videos- write the posts- add the links- post it myself. I say this not to brag- but so everyone knows what I’m doing.
Verified? I make this note to let my sites know that I am actually posting everyday to all these sites- I do not say this to brag, but I have had problems with some sites thinking I am not doing it- they sent me notices saying this [we think you shared your password to others to do this and we don’t want that] No- I did not do that. It takes to long to verify each site- if you see the site here [ https://ccoutreach87.com/links-to-my-sites-updated-10-2018/
Links to all sites- https://johnchiarello.blogspot.com/2024/09/links-to-my-sites-text-this-page-is-for_22.html
Links to all sites- https://corpuschristiworldoutreach.blogspot.com/2024/12/links-to-my-other-sites.html
https://corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com/p/links-to-my-sites-updated-10-2018.html?m=0 ] than that’s me posting to them- I am the only one who has access to the Blog and Wordpress sites- thanks- John.
Blog 3 Links-
House of prayer or den of thieves? [1st book] https://johnchiarello.blogspot.com/2024/09/house-of-prayer-or-den-of-thieves-text_31.html
Great building of God [2nd book] https://johnchiarello.blogspot.com/2024/09/great-building-of-god-text-2nd-book.html
Further talks on church n ministry [3rd book] https://johnchiarello.blogspot.com/2024/09/further-talks-on-church-n-ministry-text.html
Reformation https://johnchiarello.blogspot.com/2024/09/reformation-text-all-studies-are.html
Philosophy https://johnchiarello.blogspot.com/2024/09/philosophy-text.html
1st 2nd Samuel https://johnchiarello.blogspot.com/2024/09/1st-2nd-samuel-text.html
1st 2nd Corinthians https://johnchiarello.blogspot.com/2024/09/1st-2nd-cor-text.html
1st 2nd Kings https://johnchiarello.blogspot.com/2024/09/1st-2nd-kings-text.html
3 books https://johnchiarello.blogspot.com/2024/09/3-books-text.html
Acts https://johnchiarello.blogspot.com/2024/09/acts-text.html
Christian recovery https://johnchiarello.blogspot.com/2024/09/christian-recovery-from-addiction-text.html
Classics https://johnchiarello.blogspot.com/2024/09/classics-text.html
Ephesians highlights https://johnchiarello.blogspot.com/2024/09/ephesians-highlights-text.html
Galatians https://johnchiarello.blogspot.com/2024/09/galatians-text.html
Galatians /John https://johnchiarello.blogspot.com/2024/09/galatiansjohn-text.html
Genesis https://johnchiarello.blogspot.com/2024/09/genesis-text.html
Haggai https://johnchiarello.blogspot.com/2024/09/haggai-text.html
Hurricane Harvey https://johnchiarello.blogspot.com/2024/09/hurricane-harvey-text.html
Hebrews 2015 https://johnchiarello.blogspot.com/2024/09/hebrews-2015-text.html
Historical figures https://johnchiarello.blogspot.com/2024/09/historical-figures-from-church-history.html
Insights from a Revolution https://johnchiarello.blogspot.com/2024/09/insights-from-revolution-text.html
Intro https://johnchiarello.blogspot.com/2024/09/intro-2018.html
Islam https://johnchiarello.blogspot.com/2024/09/islam-text.html
James https://johnchiarello.blogspot.com/2024/09/james-text-note-9-25-24-i-am-making.html
John https://johnchiarello.blogspot.com/2024/09/john-text-links.html
Journal 2013 https://johnchiarello.blogspot.com/2024/09/journal-2013-text.html
Judges- Ruth https://johnchiarello.blogspot.com/2024/09/jugdesruth-text.html
Justification by faith https://johnchiarello.blogspot.com/2024/09/justification-by-faith-text.html
Links to past posts https://johnchiarello.blogspot.com/2024/09/links-to-past-posts-text.html
Modernity https://johnchiarello.blogspot.com/2024/09/modernity-text.html
My parables https://johnchiarello.blogspot.com/2024/09/my-parables-text.html
Nehemiah/Isaiah https://johnchiarello.blogspot.com/2024/09/nehemiahisaiah.html
Perspectives on the Cross https://johnchiarello.blogspot.com/2024/09/perspectives-on-cross.html
Pope logs on https://johnchiarello.blogspot.com/2024/09/pope-logs-on.html
Wisdom https://johnchiarello.blogspot.com/2024/09/psalms-proverbs-wisdom-text.html
QM https://johnchiarello.blogspot.com/2024/09/qm-text.html
Radio stuff https://johnchiarello.blogspot.com/2024/09/radio-stuff-text.html
Rapture- 2nd coming https://johnchiarello.blogspot.com/2024/09/rapture-2nd-coming-2-events.html
Russia- world events https://johnchiarello.blogspot.com/2024/09/russia-us-world-events.html
Sermon on the mount https://johnchiarello.blogspot.com/2024/09/sermon-on-mount.html
NJ/NYC Journal 2107 https://johnchiarello.blogspot.com/2024/09/njnyc-journal-2017.html
New Jersey 2015- 2016 https://johnchiarello.blogspot.com/2024/09/nj-2015-2016.html
Links to all sites- https://ccoutreach87.com/links-to-my-sites-updated-10-2018/
Links to all sites- https://johnchiarello.blogspot.com/2024/09/links-to-my-sites-text-this-page-is-for_22.html
Links to all sites- https://corpuschristiworldoutreach.blogspot.com/2024/12/links-to-my-other-sites.html
Links to all sites- https://sites.google.com/view/ccoutreach87-johnchiarello/home?authuser=0
Links to all sites- www.ccoutreach87.net [See home page] Not updated
https://johnchiarello.blogspot.com/2025/11/1-time-link-to-sites-update-long-version.html
https://ccoutreach87.com/1-time-w-p-update-links-to-sites-8-12-25/
New sites at the bottom https://ccoutreach87.com/my-other-sites/
Blog Archive https://ccoutreachjohnchiarello.blogspot.com/
2nd archive [Google sites] https://sites.google.com/view/johnchiarelloccoutreach87/home?authuser=0
Note- Please do me a favor, those who read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read them on- Copy text- download video links- make complete copies of my books/studies and posts- everything is copyrighted by me- I give permission for all to copy and share as much as you like- I just ask that nothing be sold. We live in an online world- yet- there is only one internet- meaning if it ever goes down- the only access to the teachings are what others have copied or downloaded- so feel free to copy and download as much as you want- it’s all free-
Note- I have many web sites- at times some question whether I’m a ‘bot’ because I do post a lot.
I am not a ‘bot’- I’m John- so please- if you are on the verge of deleting something- my contact email is ccoutreach87@gmail.com - contact me first- thank you- John
To the free sites I am on- Thank you for the service you provide to the public. I try not to pay for sites if I do not have to. Why? I want to build long term- and in short- when a person dies- pay sites will stop. Because the annual payment eventually stops- and the site goes down. I have said this to some of the sites over the years but wanted to have it in one place so I don’t need to say it to each site. Thanks- John
Groups- Feel free to join and post in our groups- some of our groups have others posting and interacting daily, while I only post 3 times a week and don’t have time to interact. I prefer that- for the groups to grow on their own and for others to use them as an opportunity for ministry.
Thought this might help- last text I wrote in along time
9-11-24 Just realized the date now- and yes- that’s the way most things are for me. I just got back from seeing homeless friends for about 3 hours.
Talked to one for some time- about life- recovery and end of life to come.
Quoted and taught from the words of Jesus about a few things that he himself brought up.
He- like many others- was clean for about 4 months and had what many call a relapse.
So I tried to give some insights on how not to give up and a little more in depth view about my view of recovery.
Now- why write this note- the first in a very long time? Well- my word software does not have spellcheck at the moment- sure- I can go back and check- but this takes a bit more time.
Also- I don’t have the time anymore to write new stuff- this might be the last ‘new’ entry- ever.
Over time I hoped most people realized that I have been re-posting old posts from years gone by.
Sure- I try and check for old news comments and stuff, and if I can remove them- I do.
But I have made notes [somewhere?] that this is what you might see from time to time.
I simply am not at the time of life to write new things anymore [or make new videos] unless I have to.
If sites I’m on see a page titled ‘New Sites’ which is an old page of a few old sites which I did not change the title to yet [catalog scroll shares- for my use]- some of these sites are to the ‘right’ of the aisle- then they might think ‘These are his NEW sites- we must delete the entire blog site!’
[Which just happened to 2 sites- 1 of them was the main website from the start. Much damage was done- because I used those links in many posts over the years- these are now what we call ‘dead links’ and that’s not good at all].
No- those are my older sites- just a few of many- and it just so happens that some of them are to the right of the aisle. I am on about 375 sites right now all over the world.
So life is at times full of stuff- stuff you have to get done- stuff you need to get done- and stuff you want to get done.
For me it’s nice to hit the keyboard for the 1st time in a long time [to write]- but that’s ‘Stuff’ that I don’t do anymore [Just took me a minute to find the ‘quotation mark’- really]
So I pray God will bless you all- I will try to keep posting old ‘Stuff’ because most of the important teachings in the New Testament are in those ‘re-posted’ studies.
And I don’t have time to ‘re-write’ what I have written before.
God bless all- John
Links to sites-
https://ccoutreach87.com/1-time-w-p-update-links-to-sites-8-12-25/
https://corpuschristiworldoutreach.blogspot.com/2024/12/links-to-my-other-sites.html
https://johnchiarello.blogspot.com/2024/09/links-to-my-sites-text-this-page-is-for_22.html
https://sites.google.com/view/ccoutreach87-johnchiarello/about
https://johnchiarello.blogspot.com/2025/11/1-time-link-to-sites-update-long-version.html
https://ccoutreach87.com/1-time-w-p-update-links-to-sites-8-12-25/
New sites at the bottom of this list https://ccoutreach87.com/my-other-sites/
https://corpuschristiworldoutreach.blogspot.com/2025/12/my-other-sites-new-sites-at-bottom-12.html
Blog Archive https://ccoutreachjohnchiarello.blogspot.com/
2nd archive [Google sites] https://sites.google.com/view/johnchiarelloccoutreach87/home?authuser=0
OVERVIEW OF PHILOSOPHY [updated 12-17]
Apologetics 1 [Page]
https://johnchiarello.blogspot.com/2026/01/apologetics-1-page.html
https://corpuschristiworldoutreach.blogspot.com/2026/01/apologetics-1-page.html
https://ccoutreach87.com/apologetics-1/
Apologetics 2 [Page]
https://johnchiarello.blogspot.com/2026/01/apologetics-2-page.html
https://corpuschristiworldoutreach.blogspot.com/2026/01/apologetics-2-page.html
https://ccoutreach87.com/apologetics-2/
https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/12/03/sunday-sermon-17/
THALES AND THE PRE-SOCRATICS
Ok- let me do a little teaching- maybe finish it tonight.
Christianity is not simply ‘made up stories’ from some bible.
No- the history of Western Thought- Philosophy- ideas- all of the various World Views are imbedded with God- our concepts of God- and ask the ultimate question ‘where did all this come from- and why are we here’.
We usually trace the beginning of Ancient Philosophy to the 6th century BCE.
A thinker by the name of Thales sought to find ways to describe natural phenomena without the use of Greek Mythology.
Even though Philosophy deals with Metaphysics [things beyond the natural- physical realm- Physics] yet Thales wanted to find explanations for existence- without leaning on Myth.
He is considered a ‘Pre Socratic’ thinker [before Socrates] and espoused an idea that water was the key source of all things.
These guys were looking for a singular thing to explain stuff.
Sometimes referred to as a unified theory- the same thing that Einstein was seeking to find some 2 Millennia later.
So- Thales surmised that water was the key thing.
There are various ideas of why he came to this conclusion- but one reason might have been the idea of motion.
Many Geek thinkers were looking for the source of motion- where did it come from?
And to the natural eye- if you observe the ocean- rivers- etc. - there does seem to be no cause for the moving of water- so to these guys it seemed like water itself was the source- motion came from water.
Now- there were other religions who taught a sort of idea along these lines.
Some pagan religions said that the ‘god’s’ moved upon the water- and life came that way.
If you read the Christian account of creation in Genesis- you will notice that God did move upon the waters- and the account in Genesis does indeed say that he brought forth life from the water.
Thales came from for Miletus- in Asia Minor.
He was famous for the prediction of a Solar Eclipse that occurred on May 28th- 585 BCE.
The earliest account of this is found in the writings of Herodotus.
Thales is considered one of the 7 sages of the time.
Christianity was born at a time where Greek thought/ideas were a big part of society.
We do find the early apostles using the language/ideas of the Greek philosophers when describing the reality of Christ.
The apostle John refers to Christ as THE LOGOS- The word Logos- is a Greek word for ‘word’.
Jesus is called ‘the word of God’.
Now- the Greek thinkers were in fact seeking for the Logos- they used this term to describe the ultimate answer to all tings.
They were on a search for some Divine principle that could explain things.
So- the writers of the New Testament were in a way saying ‘look- we have found the Logos- the thing that you guys are looking for- it is Christ- the Divine Logos’.
We also see the apostle Paul debating with the Greek thinkers in the city of Athens [the seat of Geek philosophy- the city/state where Socrates was forced to drink cyanide].
In Acts chapter 17 he is preaching to these guys on Mar’s Hill- he says ‘In him we live AND MOVE and have our being’.
Now- today as we read this- we don’t get the full import of what he was doing.
But- to the Greek mind- the source of motion was a big thing.
Paul was a smart guy- and he was saying ‘in him we move’ showing that yes- the ‘source of motion’ [Thales water] is not found in the natural world [Physics] but the source comes from the Metaphysical world [God].
He also says ‘when I was walking thru your town- I saw one of your altars- to the unknown god’.
At the time many believed in a Pantheon of gods- and to cover their bases- they had an altar for any god they might have missed- smart thinking!
So Paul says ‘him I declare unto you’.
Notice how Paul was able to debate- converse with them- and at the end actually use their own ideas- to present the gospel.
In this chapter- Acts 17- we read of the only 2 groups of philosophers mentioned in the bible.
The Epicureans and the Stoics.
The Epicureans were an early form of what we call Hedonism today- the idea that pleasure is the principle purpose of man.
The Stoics believed in ‘stoicism’ that man should have no emotional response to pain or pleasure- that’s why we call people today ‘Stoics’- when they seem to not be moved by anything.
Ok- that’s it for now- might make some comments tonight- but I’m getting ready to fly out soon- and trying to wind down before I leave.
If I don’t write tonight- I’ll talk again when in North Bergen- God bless you all.
1Corinthians 1:18 For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.
1Corinthians 1:19 For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.
1Corinthians 1:20 Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?
1Corinthians 1:21 For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.
1Corinthians 1:22 For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom:
1Corinthians 1:23 But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness;
1Corinthians 1:24 But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.
1Corinthians 1:25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
1Corinthians 1:26 For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:
1Corinthians 1:27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
1Corinthians 1:28 And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:
1Corinthians 1:29 That no flesh should glory in his presence.
1Corinthians 1:30 But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:
1Corinthians 1:31 That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.
1Corinthians 2:1 And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God.
1Corinthians 2:2 For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.
1Corinthians 2:3 And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.
1Corinthians 2:4 And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:
1Corinthians 2:5 That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
1Corinthians 2:6 Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought:
1Corinthians 2:7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:
1Corinthians 2:8 Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
1Corinthians 2:13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth.
See? Paul the apostle had the intellectual capacity to engage with the best of them- but he knew that the core issue- was sin. That is those who reject Christianity on the basis of ‘it’s a religion of foolishness’- in reality- even if you win the intellectual argument- yet for the most part people will still not believe. In the end it is always a matter of true repentance- being honest with ourselves- and others. So- Paul didn’t rely on the ‘wisdom of men’ but the power of the Cross. When needed- he would ‘use it’ [men’s wisdom- Acts 17- Mars Hill] but he closed his argument by declaring Christ.
THE 5TH ELEMENT.
Ok- let’s talk philosophy today- the last post on this subject I traced what we normally refer to as the beginning of Greek philosophy- a man by the name of Thales- 6th century BCE.
We said that Thales had an idea that water was the principle element- water seemed to have the ability to move [motion] by itself- so Walla- maybe water is the principle thing.
He was what we refer to as a Monist.
Monists believed that there was one principle element- responsible for all other things.
Now- the pre Socratic philosophers debated about this- some said it was air- others earth- some said fire- as a matter of fact- some said all 4 of these elements were responsible for existence.
Now- some sought a 5th element- some yet to be discovered thing that would explain it all.
A man by the name of Anaximander described it as ‘the boundless’- something that has no origin- he said it was ‘both unborn- and immortal’ ahh- you can already see the attributes of God in this [boundless- what Theologians call omnipresent- God having no limits- he is everywhere [but not everything- get to that in a moment] and ‘unborn’ that is he himself has no beginning].
Ok- this 5th element [some called it Ether- or Aether- a sort of wave theory- that light travels along this ether- this idea lasted till the day of Einstein- who showed us that Ether does not exist [in this way] but that light itself is made up of particles- photons- this was one of the major breakthroughs of modern physics].
A few years ago the movie ‘the 5th Element’- Bruce Willis- hit on this theme- sort of like the ‘God particle’- that is they were in search for some type of being that was eternal – self existent.
The term Quintessence [quint- 5] came to be defined as this 5th element- and today we use the word Quintessential to describe the pure essence of a thing- the perfect embodiment of something.
Over time the Greek thinkers would arrive at the idea that yes indeed- there was one main thing- Monism- that could be the source of all other things.
It is interesting to note that the Jewish prophets- and wisdom literature- which predates these guys- already started from the standpoint of Monotheism- one God.
Now- Monism is not Monotheism.
Monism is really a form of what we call Pantheism [in the study of religion].
Pantheism says that God is ‘everything’- some eastern religions hold to this concept.
The Christian view is that God is separate from creation- that he is indeed the original source of creation- but not the creation itself.
The Geek philosophers even described this 5th element as ‘The One’- see- they were getting close.
In today’s debates- some espouse an idea that there was no beginning point- that the universe is either eternal [something Einstein disproved with the Big Bang theory] or that there is a sort of infinite regress- that there is no one starting point- but that there have been a never ending [or beginning] series of ‘big bangs’ that go on forever.
This defies the laws of logic- and math.
Math?
Yeah- many of the great physicists were also great mathematicians [like Einstein- and Max Plank- who was first a mathematician].
If there was no beginning point- mathematically it doesn’t ‘work’.
You would never be able to arrive at the present time- if there was no starting point to measure from [I know this might sound strange- but this is indeed a proof- that there had to be a starting point].
What these thinkers show us is that even thru the ancient field of Philosophy- you still arrive at some type of ‘thing’ that is responsible for all other things.
Some Christians reject the Big Bang theory- but in my view it gave the Christian apologist the greatest tool to argue for the existence of God.
For many centuries it was believed that the universe was eternal- and if that was true- then indeed you did not have to have an outside source that was responsible for it.
But Einstein showed us that there was a beginning point- that the universe is in a continual expansion mode- and if it is getting ‘bigger’ by the second- then yes- it did have a starting point.
Many today think that it ‘popped’ into existence on its own- this is both scientifically and logically impossible- it violates the law of Cause and Effect [every effect has to have a cause also ‘out of nothing- nothing comes’].
There was a famous Christian who abandoned the faith- Bertrand Russell- he said ‘if everything has to have a cause- then God must have one too- and if God needs a cause- then why not see the universe as the cause’.
Tough Russell was a good man- he made a mistake here.
The laws of logic do not say that everything has to have a cause- but every effect has to have one.
In essence- somewhere along the line- going back to the beginning- there must be an initial cause- that has no beginning- Anaximander’s Boundless One.
Ok- I won’t do too many of these posts in a row- because as you can see- this takes time- and you lose people along the way.
But- over the next few weeks I’ll slip a post like this in- it helps when dealing with those who have sincere objections to the faith- and it also debunks some common misconceptions.
HERACLITUS- Ok- lets pick up on my philosophy stuff.
Heraclitus lived in the 6th/5th century BC. - He was from Ephesus and his key thought was Ever Present Change.
That is he saw everything as being in a state of continual flux- one of his famous sayings was ‘No man ever steps into the same river twice’.
He is called the Weeping Philosopher- sort of like the prophet Jeremiah in the bible- also called the Weeping Prophet.
Heraclitus is known for his concept of the Logos- the Word- or thought/reason.
Now- this aspect of his thought plays a role in the development of the Christian understanding of Christ himself- in our New Testaments [written in Greek] Jesus is indeed referred to as the Logos- or Word of God.
The Greek philosophers understanding of the Logos was not the same as the Christian view- mainly expressed thru the writings of John [The gospel- the 3 epistles- and Revelation].
But- some see the Greek view as a precursor to Christ.
In the work of one of the early church fathers- Hippolytus ‘The Refutation of all Heresies’ he attacks Heraclitus view of the Logos as an early form of heresy.
The apologist Justin Martyr is more gracious- he [Like Ulrich Zwingli- the great Swiss reformer of the 16th century] viewed the early Geek thinkers as ‘pre- Christian’ or ‘Christians before Christ’.
Though many reject this view- yet there is some scripture to back it up.
The apostle Paul said in his letter to the Romans that if the Gentiles [non-Jews] do by nature the things contained in the law- then they are justified in God’s sight.
Of course these things are debatable- but I add this to show you that some great Christian thinkers did indeed view the early Greek thinkers- who did live by a moral code- as being right in God’s eyes.
And the bible does teach a theme that we will be judged according to the amount of light [understanding] that we had at the time.
I should note that Plato [one of the 3 titans that arose after Heraclitus- from the city/state of Athens] disagreed with Heraclitus on all things being in a state of constant change.
When [if?] we get to Socrates- Plato and Aristotle- I’ll try and cover the ways they advanced- built upon- the thought of the pre Socratic thinkers.
As a side note- the most famous student of Aristotle- who was the most famous student of Plato- who was the most famous student of Socrates- was Alexander the Great.
This goes to show you how great an influence Greek philosophy had on the ancient world.
A few nuggets from Heraclitus- ‘all things come to pass in accordance with this Logos’ ‘follow the common’ ‘not having their own judgment’.
Recently I covered Acts chapter 2- and we see some of these ideas in the early Christian movement.
The first Christians did ‘follow the common’ they sold their goods- and had ‘all things common’ [communal lifestyle].
The apostle Paul teaches the early church to all ‘speak the same thing- that there be no divisions among you’.
And the New Testament also says the scripture should not be given to Private Interpretation- meaning- ‘not having your own personal judgment’.
All in all- we do indeed see a sort of pre Christian thought in the pre Socratic thinkers- they did indeed speak of the Divine- God- though there understanding of him was not the same as the Christian church.
In a sense- Heraclitus idea that in life- the only ‘constant’ is the fact that there is no constant- that life itself is made up of an ongoing journey- we live day by day- not ever knowing what ‘the next day will bring forth’- Jesus.
Yeah- the man had some good points- the later Stoics would consider Heraclitus as the father of their movement.
And in the study of Philosophy- the Stoics- who had a good run from a few years before the Common Era- were overtaken in the 4th century [as the main influential philosophy of the time] by some new and lasting philosophy- started by a man named Jesus Christ- who his followers claimed rose from the dead.
Yeah- this New Way was called Christianity- and this philosophy has endured now for over 2 thousand years.
SOCRATES
Socrates was born around 469-470 BCE.
He is famous for introducing a way of learning that engaged the students in a dialogue- the question would be put on the table- and thru rigorous debate- you would come to an understanding thru the process of questioning.
This is referred to as the Socratic Method.
Socrates came on the scene during the famous Spartan wars.
The other day I watched the movie 300- which depicts the battle between the city state of Athens against the city/state of Sparta.
As you know- the Athenians suffered a great defeat at the hands of the Spartans.
The Spartans were outmanned by the Athenians- but their motto was ‘come back with your shields- or on them’.
They were a true warrior nation- trained to fight from their youth- and this defeat sent the people of Athens into a time of disillusionment.
They questioned the power of their gods- and a sort of malaise fell over Athens after the defeat.
This was when Socrates entered the fray- when the people had many questions about life.
He was called the Gadfly of Athens- a title that would also be given to the 19th century Danish father of existentialism- Soren Kierkegaard.
They were called Gadfly’s- because they were like flies that would pester you- and elicit a response.
The leadership of Athens saw Socrates as one that was stirring up the youth of his day- and creating discontent among the populace.
He rejected the many god’s of the day- but did have a belief in a single deity- he- like the Christians 4 centuries later- would be accused of atheism- because of his rejection of multiple god’s.
He was sentenced to death in 399 BCE- and his form of execution was drinking Hemlock.
His most famous student- Plato- spoke with him before his death.
Many were surprised at how willingly Socrates faced his demise- and this willingness had a great impact on those who witnessed it.
Socrates never wrote anything- but most of what we do know about him comes from the writing of others- most notably from Plato’s Dialogues.
Plato wrote down what Socrates taught- In his writings we see Socrates engaging in this method with various people- thus the name of Plato’s works- Dialogues.
There is a debate about how much of what was written about him was actually true- Plato did add his own ideas into these debates- and the controversy about this is so strong that we actually have a name for it- the ‘Socratic Problem’.
During the time of the disillusionment of the Athenians- there were a group of philosophers known as the Sophists.
The word comes from Sophia- meaning wisdom.
Philosophy itself means The Love of Wisdom.
In our day the words Sophomore- Sophistry and Sophisticated are derived from this root word.
The Sophists were the original Pragmatists.
Pragmatism is a form of belief that says ‘do what works- regardless of the ethical implications’.
We will get to Pragmatism at the end of this whole series on Philosophy.
But for now- we see the division between what Socrates taught- and the Sophists.
Socrates did indeed teach a form of Ethics- which contrasted with the Sophists.
He said that the pursuit of virtue was better than the pursuit of wealth- much like the words of Jesus ‘what does it profit a man if he gain the world- and lose his soul’.
His most famous saying is ‘The unexamined life is not worth living’.
He emphasized the importance of mind over body- which inspired Plato’s philosophy of dividing reality into 2 separate realms- the world of senses and the world of ideas.
Socrates actually challenged the Democratic process- he believed it better for the wise men- the Philosopher Kings- to run the show.
Athens did have a form of Democracy at the time- and because of the rise of the Sophists- and the itinerant teachers- you had sort of an election process- much like in our day- where those who would attain office were those who spoke the best- and made the best public argument.
We elect judges and stuff in our day- and even presidents- not because they are the most capable- but because they ran the best campaign.
So- in a way I agree with Socrates- at times I think we need a better process of electing those to higher office- then the one we have now.
It’s important to note that even though we started this study with Thales- and in the study of Western philosophy it’s commonly understood to have started with Thales.
Yet- Socrates seems to be the Father of philosophy in many ways.
He probably has had the most influence in the field philosophy- and the 2 great philosophers that we’ll get to next come right out from the heels of Socrates [Plato and Aristotle].
Why is this important to note?
As we progress in this study- and get closer to the 19th/20th century philosophers- we will see a trend- away from the idea that there are actually any ethical values- moral virtues- or ‘right or wrong’.
These philosophers dabbled with the idea that values themselves are the cause of man’s problems [Freud].
So- keep in mind- one of the main streams of thought in the early stages of philosophy was that values were indeed the main thing- Socrates challenged the Sophists of his day- he said that moral virtue was very important- that to live life with the values of courage- honesty- self-denial- these were the things that made men good- noble.
The bible says ‘the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom’ ‘those that seek the Lord understand all things’.
Christian tradition would agree with Socrates in many ways- Jesus showed us that the virtue of service to others- to love your fellow man- to honor God- that these were indeed the heart of the matter.
Socrates feared the loss of virtue in society- that if we simply lived for the present time- with no higher values [a form of hedonism] then the foundations of society will erode.
He also believed that it was good to question things- not to simply believe a thing for the sake of believing.
Over time- thru debate and the discourse of other people- he believed you would get to the truth.
The bible says ‘in the multitude of counselors there is safety’.
Yeah- as people have a conversation- as they dialogue- often times they themselves come up with the answer to the question.
The apostle Paul penned the letter to young Timothy- he said ‘preach the word- in doing this you will save yourself- and those that hear you’.
Yeah- when you engage- and even try and teach others- this will have an effect on you too- the actual act of engaging- of teaching- often brings more insight to the one doing the communicating- then the ones who hear.
Yeah- I like Socrates- he believed in what he taught- he drank the Hemlock- knowing full well that his life would pass- but he had belief- faith- that after death man would pass over into another realm- a much better one.
No- he was not ‘Christian’ in the traditional sense of the word- but he was about as close as you could get- for his time.
PLATO
Plato was born in 427 BC- he was the most famous student of Socrates.
He is best known for his theory of Ideas/Forms.
He believed that the material world was an imperfect copy of the Idea world.
That is he believed that Ideas exist apart from the construct of the human mind- that they were the perfect forms of the things we see in the material realm.
He could also be referred to as a Realist- because he believed these Ideas actually existed [for real]. Where did he get this from?
As we study Philosophy- each one that comes down the line has been influenced in some way by those that preceded them.
There was a famous thinker- Pythagoras [his followers were the Pythagoreans] who taught a concept called the Transmigration of the Soul [a sort of Reincarnation].
They believed that the soul of man went thru various stages- and existed independently of the body.
In Greek thought the soul is immortal- it exists before the body.
In Christian teaching the Soul [mind- Spirit] comes into existence when God creates man [the bible says ‘and man BECAME a living soul’- referring to the creation of Adam].
The Greeks saw the soul as preexisting before the natural life.
In the mind of Plato- the body was a receptacle- in this life we recollect the knowledge that comes from the Idea world.
He ascribed Ontological status to ideas themselves.
In Philosophy there are 2 basic ways knowledge comes [we study this in Epistemology- an offshoot of Philosophy- which deals with how we know things].
A Priori knowledge is knowledge obtained independent of experience.
A Posteriori is knowledge obtained thru the senses- what we call Empirical evidence.
In Plato’s schema he believed that the knowledge that comes to us from the Formal world [ideas- forms] was A Priori knowledge- that the human mind recalls- and in the present material world- knowledge comes to us from the perfect idea world.
The Greeks believed that all matter was flawed- that the Body was an imperfect vessel- and after death we are released into the perfect world- and free from the material realm.
Christian Tradition does not hold to this view.
The Church teaches that the created world is good- not evil.
Among Christians there is some confusion about this- because the older versions of the bible [King James] seem to teach that matter [world, flesh] is evil.
Why?
Paul the apostle talks about no good thing being in The Flesh- he talks about the Carnal mind- the apostle John says ‘all that is in the World- the lust of the flesh- the pride of life- is not of the Father but is of the world’.
There are many references like this in the bible- but they are speaking about the sinful nature of man [the flesh] and not about the human body itself [For instance Paul says in Romans ‘present your BODIES as living sacrifices unto God- Holy and acceptable’ in Corinthians ‘your BODY is the temple of the Holy Spirit’- there are many references in scripture that speak of the Body as Holy.
When the bible says ‘satan is the god of this world’ it is not speaking of the earth- which God created- and calls GOOD- but it is speaking of the ‘world’ system- an age of wickedness.
So- at times Christians have confused this- and have held a sort of Dualistic view of matter- that is not the biblical view- but a Gnostic view- that all matter is evil.
Plato saw the unseen world of Ideas as the perfect- pure world.
He taught that in this life we obtain the knowledge of the pure- by reason of recollection- that these pure ideas come to us ‘are recalled’ in this life.
He is famous for founding the first Philosophical school- it was called The Academy- named after a man by the name of Academus.
The land was donated for the school- it was previously used as an Olive Grove- and in honor of the donation- Plato named the school after the donor.
This is why we use the phrase ‘The Groves of Academia’ today.
Plato was actually a nick name- he wrestled in Athens- in a sort of precursor to what would later become the Olympic games- and he was broad shouldered- that’s where his name comes from- Plato means broad shouldered.
So- to sum up- Plato believed that Forms [ideas] were eternal, the cause of all that is.
He believed we are born with innate ideas- these are not learned thru sense experience- but exist independently of the mind- and in this bodily life we retrieve [the body is a receptacle] these ideas.
Does the bible teach anything along these lines?
Not exactly.
Christians believe that God himself is infinite- without beginning or end.
That wisdom- ideas- ‘forms’ of things do indeed exist- prior to our own life.
But these ideas are not without a Mind- God is Spirit- and he is everywhere [Omnipresent] he knows all tings [Omniscient] - so- in a way- there are indeed ideas- forms- but they come from the ultimate Mind of God.
A good example would be the building of the Tabernacle- and later the Temple- under Moses and King David [his son Solomon actually built it].
God told Moses ‘see that you build it after the Pattern shown to thee in the mount’.
In the book of Hebrews we read that the earthly Tabernacle [Temple] was simply an image- a symbol- of heavenly realities.
That God himself had the ‘form’ in his mind- indeed- like Plato taught- the heavenly form is perfect- the earthly expression imperfect.
But these patterns- forms- ideas- are from the Mind of God- they are not Innate in the soul of man- nor does the soul of man exist before his birth.
In the past few months I have had several Christian friends tell me that they feel like they existed before this life- a type of reincarnation.
I explained to them that in the Christian faith we do not hold to this view.
But- the bible does tell us that God had a purpose for us- Predetermined- before the ‘foundation of the world’.
Meaning that yes- in the Mind of God- in a way- we did exist- but we did not have actual being [called Ontological status in the field of Philosophy] until we were created by God.
God’s purpose for us was already in the Mind of God before our birth.
The bible says that Christ is made unto us wisdom- we are not Receptacles in the sense that Plato taught.
But yes- in time God reveals to us this Hidden Wisdom- about his love and purpose for us.
And in this life we act out- we fulfil this eternal purpose.
Man [or woman] can never find true happiness- true meaning- until they tap into this purpose.
We were created by the hand of God- to bring glory and honor to him- and we in this life can ever find true fulfilment- until we make it back to God.
1Chronicles 28:10 Take heed now; for the LORD hath chosen thee to build an house for the sanctuary: be strong, and do it.
1Chronicles 28:11 Then David gave to Solomon his son the pattern of the porch, and of the houses thereof, and of the treasuries thereof, and of the upper chambers thereof, and of the inner parlours thereof, and of the place of the mercy seat,
1Chronicles 28:12 And the pattern of all that he had by the spirit, of the courts of the house of the LORD, and of all the chambers round about, of the treasuries of the house of God, and of the treasuries of the dedicated things:
1Chronicles 28:19 All this, said David, the LORD made me understand in writing by his hand upon me, even all the works of this pattern.
Exodus 25:9 According to all that I shew thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it.
Exodus 25:40 And look that thou make them after their pattern, which was shewed thee in the mount.
Hebrews 8:5 Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount.
Hebrews 9:23 It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.
Hebrews 9:24 For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:
Ecclesiastes 7:12 For wisdom is a defence, and money is a defence: but the excellency of knowledge is, that wisdom giveth life to them that have it.
Ecclesiastes 7:19 Wisdom strengtheneth the wise more than ten mighty men which are in the city.
Ecclesiastes 7:25 I applied mine heart to know, and to search, and to seek out wisdom, and the reason of things, and to know the wickedness of folly, even of foolishness and madness:
Ecclesiastes 7:26 And I find more bitter than death the woman, whose heart is snares and nets, and her hands as bands: whoso pleaseth God shall escape from her; but the sinner shall be taken by her.
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Note- Do me a favor, those who read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read them on. Thanks- John. Don’t forget to scroll down on the timeline [FaceBook#] - I have posted lots.
ARISTOTLE
Born in Northern Greece- in 384 BC.
The most famous student of Plato- attended Plato’s Academy for around 20 years.
His main disagreement with Plato was on his theory of Forms.
Plato believed that the ‘idea’ world contained the forms of all things we see in the physical realm.
Aristotle taught that substance itself was the main thing- that the forms of what we see in the natural realm come from matter itself.
He spoke about Potentiality and Actuality- that is the material things have in ‘seed’ form the final product.
The acorn has the Potential of becoming a tree- the fetus has the Potential of becoming a man- etc.
The form is already embedded in the thing itself- it does not exist in the ‘idea’ world of Plato.
Aristotle loved and admired his teacher- yet Plato had somewhat of a disdain for his most famous student.
Plato passed over Aristotle to head up the Academy- twice.
As things go- Aristotle went and started his own school- called the Lyceum.
Aristotle did not just teach Philosophy- but Biology- Logic- Ethics- Rhetoric.
Some refer to him as the first real scientist.
His development of the laws of Logic- Cause and Effect- play a key role in the Scientific Method till this day.
Aristotle taught that the main way we gain knowledge is thru sense perception and experiment.
As we study the natural order of things themselves- we gain understanding from them.
What we refer to as the Empirical method- knowledge gained thru the observation and experimentation of things.
He referred to God as the Final Cause- not the First Cause.
Why?
He believed in God [some debate this- Aristotle himself called him God in his work on Metaphysics] and called him the Prime Mover.
As I said before- a big thing with the early thinkers was the origin of Motion- who started the ball rolling- so to speak.
Aristotle credited the source of all motion to an ‘un- moved Mover’.
He gave the attributes of God to his Mover- said he had no beginning- was not material- an eternal and imperishable substance.
So- why the Final Cause?
He said God attracts all things to himself- so in his mind- motion started by attraction- not by a ‘push’ so to speak.
This is interesting indeed- in modern physics we see that the universe is undergoing a continual expansion- heading somewhere- of course we believe this somewhere is God himself- the source of all things.
Isaac Newton agreed with Aristotle on this point- he referred to it in his 3rd law of Physics.
The medieval Muslim thinkers called him ‘The First Teacher’- and Kant [who we will get to later in this study] credits him with the bulk of what we know today as the Laws of Logic.
Aristotle taught that the main activity of God was thought.
The bible says that thru Wisdom and Understanding God made things [‘Wisdom builds the house- Understanding establishes it- and thru Knowledge it’s rooms are filled with all pleasant and precious riches- Wisdom is profitable to direct- the words of the wise are like nails fastened by the masters of assemblies- as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation’- various bible verses found in Proverbs- Ecclesiastes and Paul’s letter to the church at Corinth] - in a way Aristotle was right.
One of his key contributions was the Syllogism- you start with a Logical argument- you engage in Deductive reasoning- and come to a Conclusion.
A famous example would be ‘All men are mortal- Plato is a man- Plato is mortal’.
Aristotle did not believe that something comes from nothing- a phrase that will come up a lot as we progress in this study is ‘ex nihilo nihil fit’- meaning Nothing comes from Nothing.
He was also what we refer to as a Teleolologist- he believed that there was design and purpose in the created order of things.
He saw design in the universe- world.
Many today embrace an idea that there is no purpose or design- that the design we see in the material world is by accident- and furthermore some say all that we see- CAME FROM NOTHING.
I can’t stress enough that this is simply not possible- I don’t say this from the Christian view point alone- but from a scientific one.
Science deals with the observation and testing of things- we look into the material world and come to certain conclusions based on what we see- observe.
One of the most fundamental observations that science SEES- is what I quoted above- NOTHING COMES FROM NOTHING.
That is- every effect has a cause.
This is important for our day- because many have capitulated to the view that all things CAME FROM CHANCE.
Not only is this statement illogical [chance is simply a word- this statement ascribes Ontological status to a word- which is impossible].
But it is scientifically not true.
Why?
Because science shows us that things do not ‘pop into existence’ without a cause- from nothing.
True science in no way contradicts belief in God- no- it backs it up.
Aristotle- as well as most of the great thinkers we shall cover- came to the conclusion that there had to be some immaterial thing [being] that was the cause of all other things.
Now- why did he argue for a PRIME MOVER?
Because he believed that the universe was eternal- if there ever came a time when science showed us that the universe had a beginning point- then the argument would be over.
The Theists [those that believe in God] would win.
Sure enough- in the 20th century that’s exactly what happened.
Today Physics teaches us that time- space- matter did indeed have a beginning point- what we refer to as the Big Bang Theory.
If the early thinkers had this knowledge- then the argument for a Prime Mover would be moot- because instead we would have a Prime Starter- see?
Aristotle is credited with writing the second greatest work on Ethics from the ancient period- called Ethics [the first one being Plato’s Republic].
He wrote on political theory- believed that Aristocracy [rule by the excellent] was the best form of government [sort of like Socrates Philosopher Kings].
Aristotle’s most famous student was Alexander the Great.
During Alexander’s conquests- he took a huge team of scientists with him- they collected all types of specimens from these conquests- and Alexander brought them back to Athens and they were used at the Lyceum for further study.
It has been said that this was the most expensive scientific enterprise up to the day of the modern space program.
He taught that the intellectual virtues can be taught directly- but the moral ones HAD TO BE LIVED FIRST.
The bible says ‘the fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom’.
I agree.
Proverbs 3:19 The LORD by wisdom hath founded the earth; by understanding hath he established the heavens.
Proverbs 3:20 By his knowledge the depths are broken up, and the clouds drop down the dew.
Unfinished study- will complete over time.
JOHN LOCKE- JESUS- AND MONEY.
https://ccoutreach87.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/5-22-15-john-locke-political-theory-and-jesus.zip
Today’s video [and post] is one of those ‘spur of the moment’ ones-
I made the video/post yesterday- ‘off the cuff’-
I’m at the ranch as I write- and have no WiFi out here- or I’d post it now- I also don’t have my on-line concordance- so I’ll try and remember exactly where some of the verses are and add them in [I do have my on-line bible saved to the drive!]
This video/post is in keeping with some of the stuff I’ve been recently teaching.
As Christians- we often look for the things we are supposed to do.
Which is fine- but what I have learned in my experience of doing ministry for many years- is many Pastors/ministers- learn a certain pattern/form- early on-
And as well-meaning as these men are- they often unconsciously do not realize they are violating scripture in their efforts to do the right thing.
When people feel God has called them ‘to preach’ [ called into ministry] most of the times they are taught that this means ‘starting a local church’.
In the American mindset- this means starting a nonprofit 501 c3- either renting or building some type of structure to meet in-
And then teaching a form of giving- usually called ‘the tithe’ [meaning 10 percent]-
And then saying ‘the local church is this place/501c3- the storehouse- and you will be cursed if you do not tithe to the storehouse’.
And without realizing it- in the more extreme cases- actually teaching people that they will fall under the curse of God- if they do not put 10% of their income into the ‘local church’.
This verse from Malachi is often used- Malachi 3:8 Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.
Malachi 3:9 Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.
Malachi 3:10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.
And this basic idea of ‘church government’ is then propagated thru out the land.
I’ve discussed this recently- and for these short videos- I just want to note that the New Testament churches we read about in the bible- are talking about communities of believers living in your city/area.
The early Christians met in homes- and later on in church buildings-
I am not against any of these formats- but we need to be careful that we are not unconsciously telling people they will be under the curse of God if they do not ‘tithe to the storehouse’ [then applying the ‘storehouse’ to the building- and it’s 501c3 status- as- quote ‘the local church’].
The tithe was actually an income tax for the nation of Israel in the Old Testament- and it entailed more than simply putting goods/money into an ‘offering’ plate-
No- it was a system that supported 3 main things in the Jewish economy-
The Priests [who were forbidden to own property].
The poor [meeting their needs].
And for banquets-
So- in short- the churches we read about in the bible were communities of people who supported one another- and this included- yes- financial support for the minsters too-
That’s all ok-
But the balance about money in the New Testament is it is a tool to be used to help others-
And is never something we should seek after- sort of like ‘God has called me to become rich so I can fund ministries’ type thing. No- that ‘calling’ would violate many actual teachings in the bible- that warn against seeking to be rich- even for noble causes-
I’ve copied some of those verses the last few days-
So- as we continue to teach thru the bible in the next year- look at the relationship we see in these New Testament letters between giving and receiving-
How the early Christians viewed their roles in the church-
How the ministers related to the people-
The bible does give us guidelines about all of this- it actually makes it quite clear-
Ok- enjoy the video/post- talk to you soon.
1To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder and a witness of Christ’s sufferings who also will share in the glory to be revealed: 2 Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve; 3 not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. 4 And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.
Acts 20:17 And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called the elders of the church.
Acts 20:18 And when they were come to him, he said unto them, Ye know, from the first day that I came into Asia, after what manner I have been with you at all seasons,
Acts 20:19 Serving the LORD with all humility of mind, and with many tears, and temptations, which befell me by the lying in wait of the Jews:
Acts 20:20 And how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have shewed you, and have taught you publickly, and from house to house,
Acts 20:21 Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
Acts 20:22 And now, behold, I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there:
Acts 20:23 Save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me.
Acts 20:24 But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.
Acts 20:25 And now, behold, I know that ye all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, shall see my face no more.
Acts 20:26 Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men.
Acts 20:27 For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.
Acts 20:28 Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.
Acts 20:29 For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.
Acts 20:30 Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.
Acts 20:31 Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.
Acts 20:32 And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.
Acts 20:33 I have coveted no man's silver, or gold, or apparel.
Acts 20:34 Yea, ye yourselves know, that these hands have ministered unto my necessities, and to them that were with me.
Acts 20:35 I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.
Acts 20:36 And when he had thus spoken, he kneeled down, and prayed with them all.
Acts 20:37 And they all wept sore, and fell on Paul's neck, and kissed him,
Acts 20:38 Sorrowing most of all for the words which he spake, that they should see his face no more. And they accompanied him unto the ship.
Understand here- that Paul is speaking to the leaders of the church- and he told them that for the 3 years he was with them he worked- supported himself- and those that were with him.
He then says he did this for an example- to show them [the leaders] that they too are not in ministry for the people to support them-
But for the benefit of the people-
We do read later in the writings of Paul that the Christians should meet the needs of their spiritual leaders- that’s ok.
But here he is showing them- leaders- that ministry is not about collecting a bunch of money for ‘ministry projects’.
It’s giving your life for others.
1Corinthians 16:1 Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given order to the churches of Galatia, even so do ye.
1Corinthians 16:2 Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come.
1Corinthians 16:3 And when I come, whomsoever ye shall approve by your letters, them will I send to bring your liberality unto Jerusalem.
1Corinthians 16:4 And if it be meet that I go also, they shall go with me.
This is also a common verse to teach tithing-
Often times when ministers take offerings- they clap- do a sort of celebration-
But here Paul is saying ‘when I get there- I don't want to waste time making a big thing out of the offering- so take it up before I get there’.
This money was simply used as a charitable donation for the poor Christians living at Jerusalem- it was in no way a ‘tithe’ and it was not money for Paul.
1Corinthians 9:1 Am I not an apostle? am I not free? have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? are not ye my work in the Lord?
1Corinthians 9:2 If I be not an apostle unto others, yet doubtless I am to you: for the seal of mine apostleship are ye in the Lord.
1Corinthians 9:3 Mine answer to them that do examine me is this,
1Corinthians 9:4 Have we not power to eat and to drink?
1Corinthians 9:5 Have we not power to lead about a sister, a wife, as well as other apostles, and as the brethren of the Lord, and Cephas?
1Corinthians 9:6 Or I only and Barnabas, have not we power to forbear working?
1Corinthians 9:7 Who goeth a warfare any time at his own charges? who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit thereof? or who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock?
1Corinthians 9:8 Say I these things as a man? or saith not the law the same also?
1Corinthians 9:9 For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen?
1Corinthians 9:10 Or saith he it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written: that he that ploweth should plow in hope; and that he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope.
1Corinthians 9:11 If we have sown unto you spiritual things, is it a great thing if we shall reap your carnal things?
1Corinthians 9:12 If others be partakers of this power over you, are not we rather? Nevertheless we have not used this power; but suffer all things, lest we should hinder the gospel of Christ.
1Corinthians 9:13 Do ye not know that they which minister about holy things live of the things of the temple? and they which wait at the altar are partakers with the altar?
1Corinthians 9:14 Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel.
1Corinthians 9:15 But I have used none of these things: neither have I written these things, that it should be so done unto me: for it were better for me to die, than that any man should make my glorying void.
1Corinthians 9:16 For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of: for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel!
1Corinthians 9:17 For if I do this thing willingly, I have a reward: but if against my will, a dispensation of the gospel is committed unto me.
1Corinthians 9:18 What is my reward then? Verily that, when I preach the gospel, I may make the gospel of Christ without charge, that I abuse not my power in the gospel.
Here Paul clearly teaches them that they should support their leaders- yet he then goes on to say he himself would not use ‘this right’-
And he used strong language- making it sound like he would be charging them for his services- which- to him- would be wrong.
I could give more examples- but what I want you to see is we never see a type of ‘tithe or you will be cursed’ mindset when the New Testament talks about giving.
The Storehouse verse has nothing to do with the Ecclesia- it was a room in the temple- not a spiritual community of people.
John 13:1 Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end.
John 13:2 And supper being ended, the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him;
John 13:3 Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and went to God;
John 13:4 He riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself.
John 13:5 After that he poureth water into a bason, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded.
John 13:6 Then cometh he to Simon Peter: and Peter saith unto him, Lord, dost thou wash my feet?
John 13:7 Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter.
John 13:8 Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me.
John 13:9 Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head.
John 13:10 Jesus saith to him, He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean, but not all.
John 13:11 For he knew who should betray him; therefore said he, Ye are not all clean.
John 13:12 So after he had washed their feet, and had taken his garments, and was set down again, he said unto them, Know ye what I have done to you?
John 13:13 Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am.
John 13:14 If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet.
John 13:15 For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you.
John 13:16 Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him.
John 13:17 If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.
JOHN LOCKE-
Locke taught that each man has individual rights- and he empowers government- an elected designated body- to have rule-
Yet- that government exists solely for the benefit of the people- and when/if that government ‘forgets’ this- the people have a right/duty to revolt.
Locke’s ideas were formed at a time when his own government experienced a sort of revolution [1600’s- England].
The people revolted against monarchy- and replaced it with a sort of Democratic Parliament-
Referred to as the bloodless revolution or the glorious revolution.
The king [or today- queen] would still play a role- like a figurehead- but the power was in the people- willingly given over to a Parliament.
The political ideas of Locke influenced our founding fathers- and our Declaration of Independence and Constitution are in parts almost word for word taken from the writings of Locke.
Locke believed in natural law- that morality was indeed a universal reality [some scholars/thinkers will say that Locke does not fully embrace the Christian concept of natural/moral law].
He taught that knowledge comes from man’s experience- the things he interacts with thru the 5 senses.
That man is not born with innate ideas [like the early Greek thinkers said] but his mind is a Tabula Rasa- or blank slate at birth.
This is an Empirical understanding of knowledge.
Locke also believed in the concept of the separation of church and state- this idea was not unique to our founding fathers- no- they got it right out of the writings of Locke [his parents were Puritans- and they obviously influenced their son].
Locke’s political views were-
Individualistic-
Egalitarian-
Contractual [social compact]-
These ideas differed from the early Greek thinkers [especially Aristotle] who held to a naturalistic view- meaning that nature itself ‘intended’ for certain individuals to have rule over others [the smarter should have rule over the ‘less smart’- and of course Aristotle saw himself in the more nobler crowd!]
Locke also believed in religious toleration- a view held by most in the Western world today.
He saw the Right to private property- as a natural right.
He believed that denial of the existence of God would lead to anarchy in the long run.
He believed that the cosmological argument for the existence of God was valid [called teleology].
DIOGENES-
I think I mentioned him on today’s video [I am writing this before I review the video and add the bullet points].
In the study of philosophy- he is not known for deep thought- or new ideas.
He lived in the 5th century B.C. - died in the 4th in the biblical city of Corinth.
Diogenes believed in ‘living with less’- he was known to have slept in a ceramic pot- he lived and ate on the streets- and was basically like many of my homeless friends.
Yet- he felt in doing this he was a sort of ‘prophetic’ sign to the world around him.
He is believed to be the first to refer to himself as a ‘cosmopolitan’- meaning a man of the world- and not identifying with any one city.
He was born at Sinope- [Modern day Turkey] traveled to Athens- the main center of wisdom/philosophy.
Attended the lectures of Plato- and interrupted them
He disputed Plato’s interpretation of his teacher- Socrates.
And had a memorable encounter with Alexander the Great.
The story goes [there are a few versions of it- maybe more along the line of myth] that Alexander wanted to meet with Diogenes- and he heard he was in town [Corinth] so Alexander went to meet him.
Upon arriving at the spot- he greeted Alexander and told him he would fulfill any request that the Cynic asked.
Diogenes replied ‘Move over- you’re standing in my sun light’.
It is said that as Alexander left- and made the statement ‘If I were not Alexander- I would be Diogenes’.
How true- well we will never know for sure.
He did live at a time- and in a place- where the famous philosophers would come from.
He believed rejecting wealth- and the comforts of life- were a statement against the society of his day.
He purposefully challenged the ‘normal’ way of life- by being different- and at times- vulgar.
It is said that he carried a cup- for drinking.
And he saw a young boy one day- drinking from the brook with his hands.
He then threw away the cup- realizing that ‘the god’s’ had given to men the basic things to survive- and he really did not need all the material things of life.
Like I said at the top - he is not known for his great thinking ability- but he was respected by the stoics-
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PROTESTANT REFORMATION- LUTHER [Updated- 11-17]
https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/11/03/sunday-sermon-13/
Okay- let’s start a brief overview of some church history. Over the next few weeks I want to hit on the 16th century Protestant reformation and try and cover some of the key figures of the movement.
Martin Luther- the German reformer who had the most influence in the movement was born and raised in Germany.
As a boy his parents were peasant farmers and eventually his dad became a miner and became a very successful businessman- he would go on and eventually own 6 foundries.
He sent his son to law school- and young Luther excelled. At the age of 21 he accomplished more than many of his peers. One day on his way home from the university a thunderstorm broke out and Luther was almost struck by a bolt of lightning.
In fear he cried out to Saint Ann [the mother of Mary] and said ‘Saint Ann- if you save me I will become a monk’ [Ann was the patron Saint for miners- thus Luther was familiar with her].
He was spared and off to the monastery he went. Luther eventually became an ordained priest and even though his dad initially was upset that his son became a priest- yet he was proud of his boy later on.
Luther would eventually make a Pilgrimage to Rome- on foot [a few month walk from Germany to Rome!] and what he saw devastated him. Rome- and the Vatican- were in bad shape. Many of the priests lived in open sin- and the city that he saw as his headquarters for the faith- well it was a mess.
Luther made the famous penitent walk/crawl up the stairs of the Lateran church [this church was the most famous church before the construction of St. Peters. The actual stairs of the church are the same stairs that Christ walked up during his trial under Pontius Pilate. Yes- you hear many ‘stories’ while studying church history- things like the relics or left over pieces of the Cross- well these stories are usually fake. But the stairs of the Lateran church are indeed the same stairs that Christ walked on- the early ‘church’ builders dismantled the stairs at Pilate’s court in Jerusalem and installed them at this church building in Rome].
When Luther got to the top of the stairs- it is reported that he questioned the faith- he had a crisis of faith and thought that maybe the whole thing was a sham.
Okay- as we do a few more posts over the coming weeks- I want you guys to see that the main players of the Reformation were sincere Catholic men who had many questions about what they saw as corrupt in their own church. These men did not want to start a breakaway church- they simply wanted to reform the church they loved.
Keep in mind that Luther excelled during his legal studies- he had a keen legal mind- this will be important later on when we see the debates he has with Rome over the doctrine of Justification by faith- the letters of the apostle Paul [Romans- Galatians] use lots of legal language- and his early education will help him in these debates.
Okay- that’s it for today. Maybe do a Google search on Luther and familiarize yourself a little with the history.
The ‘readings’ for this week are 2nd Samuel 6-7 and Psalms 89. See what they have in common.
[1768] LUTHER- THE TOWER EXPERIENCE
Let’s start with some church history. In the last post I covered the early years of Martin Luther- probably the most significant figure of the Protestant Reformation.
Luther studied for the priesthood in Erfurt, Germany. He would eventually wind up in Wittenberg- one of the major university cities of the Reformation. Wittenberg was actually a small insignificant town- but the political leader over the region- Frederick the Wise- sought to put it on the map.
He wanted to turn Wittenberg into a German ‘Rome’. He wanted it to become a major Pilgrimage city where Christians would see Wittenberg as a destination- just like they saw Rome.
So Frederick embarked on this plan and he searched thru all the Catholic learning centers of the time and finally recruited 3 top scholars to teach out of the university at Wittenberg- Luther was one of the 3.
Just as a side note- Frederick would succeed at making Wittenberg a major catholic center. He would eventually obtain over 19,000 Relics for the Cathedral church there [Relics were used in the ancient system of buying indulgences and making special pilgrimage trips to important Churches. If the church/city that your making the Pilgrimage to has a lot of Relics- bones or other famous material objects from church history- then the value of the Pilgrimage was high. In theory Frederick collected so many that if you added up all the ‘time off’ from Purgatory- you would get 1 million, 900 thousand years off! Some of the famous relics at Wittenberg were a hair from the beard of Jesus- straw from the manger Jesus was born in- and even a branch from the famous burning bush of Moses! As you can see- there was a lot of commercializing going on- even back then].
When Luther arrived in Wittenberg- he made a name for himself as a top scholar. Many protestants- who revere Luther- usually are not aware that he was a master Linguist [sort of like Rick Perry!]
Yes Luther mastered language- and he showed it in his teaching on the book of Psalms.
In 1515 he began his famous study on the book of Romans and as he went thru the very first chapter- something shook him. He came across the passage that says the Just shall live by faith. This verse first appears in the O.T. book of Habakkuk- and is quoted 3 more times in the N.T.
Luther was very aware of the concept of the righteousness of God- he struggled for many years trying to reconcile his own sinful nature with Gods holiness- but he never really ‘saw’ the biblical concept of righteousness as a free gift that God ‘imputes’ to the sinner.
Yes- for the 1st time in Luther’s life- after his years training for the priesthood- the pilgrimage he made to Rome- the thousands of hours he spent confessing his sins while a monk in Erfurt- he never really understood that the righteousness of God was a free gift given to those who have faith.
It was a giant weight lifted from his shoulders- Luther did not need to try any more to live up to the standards of God- in a way that would earn for him forgiveness- but he would simply believe- and the righteousness of God would be counted to him as a gift.
Luther would go on to call this an Alien Righteousness- that is it is not found within the person who tries to do all the church works he can- or buying all the indulgences- or any other of the many religious actions he was practicing- but this free gift of being right with God- it came to those who had faith- the Just shall live by Faith- this was indeed good news for the scholar.
As time went on- Germany would get embroiled in the political machinations of the day- Luther’s top political cover was Frederick the Wise- hardly a Protestant Reformer! He spent lots of time trying to make Wittenberg the major Catholic center in Germany.
But at the time there was a political fight raging between Rome and some of the other nation/states. There was a figure head office called the Holy Roman Emperor. This office was really in name only- but it rose up during the first Millennium of Christian history and sought to replace the influence that Rome was losing.
So you had France, Spain and England all vying for the title. Eventually it would go to King Charles of Spain- but the Pope- who played a major role in nominating the person- he did not want any of these top 3 to get the position. Henry the Eighth was the king of England at the time- and these ‘3 kings’ were sort of in competition with Rome- so the Pope tried to get Fredrick the Wise to throw his hat into the ring.
Frederick just happened to be one of the Electors of this position.
His actual title was The Elector of Saxony.
So Fredrick had lots of influence- and as Rome would eventually but heads with the stubborn bull of Wittenberg [Luther] Frederick would become the major protector of Luther.
Okay- I think we’ll stop here for today. The experience that Luther had- the enlightenment that came to him while teaching the book of Romans- this is often called The Tower experience of Luther- it took place in the year 1515.
[1770] TREASURY OF MERIT
Let’s pick up where we left off 2 posts back. We were talking about Martin Luther and the events that led up to the Protestant Reformation.
In order to understand the key act that caused the protest- we will have to teach some Catholic history/doctrine.
In the 16th century Pope Julius began the effort to build St. Peters basilica in Rome. He got as far as laying the foundation and died. Pope Leo the 10th would pick up after him.
The church needed to raise money for the project- and the German prince- Albert- would play a major role.
It should be noted that both Catholic and Protestant scholars agree that the Popes of the day were pretty corrupt. They came from what we call the Medici line of Popes.
If you remember last month I wrote a post on the Renaissance- I talked about the Medici family and how they played a major role in supporting the Renaissance that took place in the 13th century in Florence Italy that would spread to the region.
Well this very influential family also played a big role in who would get top positions in the church.
At the time of Luther and prince Albert- if you had the right connections and the money- you could literally buy a position in the church.
Albert already held 2 Bishop seats- and there was an opening for an Archbishops seat in Mainz [Germany] and he wanted that one too.
It should be noted that official Canon law [church law] said you could only hold one seat at a time- Albert was bidding on his 3rd one! And he was too young for all of them.
So even the Pope and the officials held little respect for what the church actually taught at the time.
So Albert opens up negotiations with Leo- and the bidding starts AT 12,000 Duckets [money] Albert counters with 7,000- and they agree on 10,000. How did they justify the numbers? 12- The number of Apostles. 7- The 7 deadly sins. 10- The 10 commandments.
Yes- the church was pretty corrupt at the time.
So Albert works out a plan with Leo- he will borrow the money from the German banks- and pay the banks off by the Pope giving Albert the right to sell Indulgences.
What’s an Indulgence?
Okay- this is where it gets tricky.
The ancient church taught a system called The Treasury of Merit. This was a sort of spiritual bank account that ‘stored up’ the good deeds of others over the years.
You had the good deeds of Jesus at the top- but you also had Mary and Joseph- the 12 Apostles- and other various saints thru out time.
The way the ‘bank’ worked was you could tap into the account by getting a Papal indulgence- a sort of I.O.U. that had the Popes guarantee that it would get so much time out of Purgatory for a loved one.
The actual sacrament that accesses the account is called Penance [confession].
When a penitent does penance- he confesses his sin to the priest- and he is absolved by the authority of the church that the priest has. The priest usually tells the person ‘say so many Hail Mary’s- Our Father’s’ and that’s a form of penance.
One of the other things the church practiced was called Alms Deeds. This term is found in the bible and it means giving your money to the poor- it is a noble act that Jesus himself taught.
In theory- part of the sacrament of penance was tied into Alms Deeds- you can access the account thru the practice of giving to the poor- which also meant giving to the church that helps the poor- and in the hands of the Medici line of Popes- meant outright giving money to the Pope.
So now you see how the abuse worked its way into the pockets of the faithful.
Albert now had the permission from Leo to sell these indulgences in Germany- and he would pick a certain corrupt priest to sell them in a place called Saxony- the region where Luther operated out of.
It should be noted that the Catholic Church never taught the crass act of ‘buying your way out of Purgatory’. The practice of including giving money as a part of the sacrament of penance was tied into the biblical principle of giving to the poor- a good thing.
But Tetzel and others abused the official meaning of the indulgence- and did make it sound like you could by your way out of Purgatory [in theory- a loved one might be in Purgatory for so many years- and through the indulgence you are actually getting time off for them- because the good deeds of others are now applied to the account].
The money Albert would raise- half would go to Rome for the building of St. peters- and half would go to pay off the banks in Germany- it was a sad system- and a sad time for the church as a whole.
It would be wrong to judge the entire church at the time as being corrupt- you did have many sincere Priests and Catholic men and women who saw the abuses and did not take part in them.
But there was corruption at the top- and this would eventually lead to the breakup of the church- and the launching of what we now call the Protestant Movement.
As a side note- it should be said that many Catholics and Protestants are not aware of the whole treasury of merit system- and the church never officially changed her position on the doctrine.
There were 3 Church councils since the time [Trent- 1500’s, Vatican 1- 1800’s and Vatican 2- 1962-65]. The Treasury of Merit never came up for change.
Obviously Protestants don’t believe in Purgatory- and it’s not my purpose in these posts to change Catholics into Protestants or vice versa- but to give all sides a clear view of the issues that divided us- and to try and be honest- and respectful during the process.
Does the bible teach anything like a Treasury of Merit? Well actually it does. The bible teaches that the righteousness of Christ is the treasury that people can access- by faith- and become righteous in the sight if God.
The idea- applied to Christ- is good.
But in the hands of the Medici Popes- and the ambitious prince of Germany- it would lead to disaster.
www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com
Note- Do me a favor, those who read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read them on. Thanks- John
[1773] LUTHER CLASHES WITH ROME
Let’s do another post on the Protestant Reformation. I’ll probably only do a few more before I transition into another study.
By the way- all the studies I do thru out the year are posted in the February posts of the following year.
Okay- last we left off Luther was just beginning to butt heads with the church [Tetzel] over the abuse of the sale of indulgences that was going on in Germany.
In a previous post I mentioned how the priest- Tetzel- was selling these ‘get out of Purgatory’ type coupons in the area where Luther operated out- Saxony.
Actually- Tetzel never entered Saxony itself- but was selling these out of a bordering city- and many of Luther’s students/parishioners were being hoodwinked into spending their money to rescue a loved one out of Purgatory.
Tetzel is known for a jingle he started in connection with the sale of the indulgence- it goes ‘as soon as a coin in the coffer rings- a soul in Purgatory springs’- ouch!
Like I said before- the church never taught this- they did teach the Treasury of Merit [previous post] but the way Tetzel used it was a real abuse of the teaching of the church at the time.
Now- Luther responds to the abuse by writing the famous 95 thesis. This is the act that is often associated with the launching of the Reformation- the act that got the ball rolling.
The 95 thesis were simply 95 questions challenging the whole practice of the sale of indulgences- there was no mention of the doctrine of Justification by Faith- which will become the trumpet sound that springs out of the Protestant Reformation.
Luther takes these questions- written in Latin- and nails them to the university church door at Wittenberg. Sometimes while reading church history this ‘nailing to the door’ is seen as a sort of vandalism - you know- ‘he nailed them to the door!’
In actuality Luther was simply using the system of the day that one scholar would use in order to bring up an official point of contention with the church- Luther wrote the Thesis in Latin- which was the scholars language- not the language of the common man.
But Luther’s students quickly translated the Thesis into the vernacular [German] and it was said that in 2 weeks the paper made it into every village of Germany.
The challenge was a spark in the lives of many Christians who also believed the church was off track and that someone needed to rebuke her- and they picked Luther as the man for the job.
Now- the Catholic church wanted Luther to go to Rome and discuss the situation there- Luther’s friends warned him not to go- so they agreed to meet- a few times- in Germany.
The first meeting was in 1518 at Heidelberg- Luther actually gave a great defense of his argument and convinced some other top Catholic scholars that he was right [as a side note- the church had already scheduled this meeting because of a controversy that rose up between the Augustinian order of monks and the Dominicans. They were debating over which philosophy was more consistent with church teaching- Nominalism or Realism- for those of you who have read the posts this past year- I taught this when doing our posts on philosophy].
One man- Martin Bucer- wrote a stirring account of Luther- Bucer would later influence another young Swiss priest with Reformation teachings- his name is John Calvin.
As a side not Calvin will become one of the 3 big heavy hitters of the 16th century Reformation [Ulrich Zwingli is the 3rd].
Luther will meet again in Augsburg- and debate the leading Catholic scholar of the day- Cardinal Cajetan.
Then he goes to the city of Leipzig- and debates the leading German scholar- Johann Eck.
And his last meeting with the church will be at the famous Diet of Worms [pronounced- Vurmtz] and it will be here that Luther makes his last stand and officially will break with the church and launch the Protestant Reformation.
It should be noted that Luther held what we call a High Church position for most of this time- he still saw the church at Rome- and the Pope- as a legitimate expression of true Christianity- his beef was what he saw as an abuse of the system- by the priest Tetzel.
As time progressed- the other beliefs of Luther- founded upon the bible- did come into contention with Rome.
The main disagreement eventually became the teaching in the bible called Justification by faith. I have written a study on the topic on the blog- I have also written a bible study on the book of Romans and Galatians.
For those of you who can- try and read Romans chapters 2-4 and Galatians 2-3- these are the key chapters that cover the teaching.
Down the road I will cover the official teaching of both the Protestants and the Catholics on the doctrine of justification- the Catholic Council of Trent- referred to as the Counter Reformation- spells out the official teaching of Rome- and there are a few papers put out by the Reformers that explain their belief.
Since the 16th century Reformation there have been efforts made by Protestants and Catholics to bridge the gap as much as possible- to try to come to some common language since the historic split.
I like some of the efforts that have been made- and recently both groups put out a statement that jointly said we all believe that we are saved by Gods grace thru Christ- that’s good.
But as we get into some of the actual discussion- you will see the points at which the 2 sides disagreed- and the main one was on the act- the actual thing that happens- when a person is declared just- the Reformers said it takes place when a person has faith- believes- the Catholic church said it takes place at baptism- water baptism.
This- as well as a few other things- will be a defining distinction between the 2.
www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com
Note- Do me a favor, those who read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read them on. Thanks- John
1775- WHAT DID HE SAY?
Let’s do a little review today. I know the history posts go a little long sometimes- and many Christians do not see the value in studying church history.
But I have found over the years that a lot of independent type churches- good men- good people- but cut off from the broader church- well these churches have a tendency to get off in a rut- a particular doctrine or style of teaching- and after a while it becomes impossible to get these good church folk back on the balanced course.
A few examples. Many years ago- as a young Pastor- I had lots of good Pastor friends who too were doing their best to do what they felt God wanted.
At the time- I began having difficulty with many of the most popular interpretations of the bible that these good men were using.
After a while I realized that some of the stuff was so off course- that if they didn’t make some major course corrections at the time- that they were going to end up spending their entire Pastorate teaching stuff that is out right false.
I have talked a lot about this over the years- and the examples are too numerous to cover them all- but a good example is the ‘Camel going thru the eye of a Needle’ verse.
One time Jesus and his men were going thru town and a young rich guy asks Jesus what he must do to be saved.
A pretty straight forward question- right to the point.
Jesus tells the guy to keep the law- the guy asks which ones.
Ah- now you’re digging yourself in brother.
So Jesus says to love God and his neighbor- these are the top ones.
He asks ‘and who is my neighbor’?
Jesus goes on and gives an explanation- and he also tells the guy to go and sell all he has and give it to the poor- and follow him.
The guy goes away sad because he was rich.
Then Jesus says ‘it’s harder for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven than for a Camel to go thru the Eye of a Needle’.
What?
The disciples [I think Peter?] say ‘then who can be saved’?
Jesus says with men it is impossible- but not with God- with God all things are possible.
[just a quick side note- I haven’t read all these stories in a while- trust me- they are all in the bible- but I might have mixed a few together- but the main point stays the same]
Okay- in context- what could Jesus be saying about the camel and the needle?
It sure seems like he’s using a figure of speech that would mean ‘look- the guy is too attached to his money to fully give himself over to being a follower of me- maybe down the road he will change- but he’s not ready yet’.
Seems reasonable to me- don’t you think?
But wait- in the group of pastors/teachers that were popular at the time- one of the main teachings was how to get rich- and they saw financial increase as the main thing- I mean that’s what they focused on all the time.
So what do you do with verses like these?
You simply change them- you make them say what you want.
So the ‘true’ explanation for the Camel and the Needle became ‘the Eye of the Needle is the name of a low passage way thru the wall into the city- and the merchants- if they have lots of stuff- well the Camel has to stoop low to get thru’.
Aha- so what seems to mean ‘rich folk will have a hard time making the kingdom’ really means something else- as a matter of fact- it means the opposite- because the Camels that have to ‘scooch’ belong to the owners who have a lot of goods- thus the Camel has to get low.
Okay- maybe as rank amateurs this stuff was not the unpardonable sin- but many of these men are still teaching this type of stuff- and this one example is the tip of the iceberg- I could go on for a long time quoting all them but that’s not the point for now.
The main point is- if Christians separate themselves from the broader church- not just talking about ‘going to church’ but talking about the broad understanding that the people of God have- the books and teachings of those who have gone before us- not just one small group- but the whole community- then we will avoid these kinds of pitfalls.
As we do a few more posts in the coming weeks on church history- we will see this was one of the things restored by the Protestants Reformers during the 16th century.
Luther restored what’s referred to as the Literal Sense- that when you read the bible- you should be able to take it at face value- as much as possible.
Sure- you also want to ‘hear God’ speak in a personal way- but if what your hearing is the exact opposite of what the text is saying- well then we do have a problem.
www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com
Note- Do me a favor, those who read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read them on. Thanks- John
1782- PROTESTANT REFORMATION CONCLUSION
Today let’s finish up the study on the Protestant Reformation. We left off on Luther disputing with the church over the doctrine of how a person becomes just in the sight of God- is it by works or faith?
Now- to the surprise of many Protestants [and Catholics!] both sides agreed that a person cannot be justified by works.
Yes- the Catholic Church rejected what was known as Pelagianism. In the early centuries of the church there was a Catholic priest- named Pelagius- who taught that people had the ability within themselves to obey Gods law and become saved that way.
He rejected the doctrine of original sin and another famous bishop- Saint Augustine- would refute Pelagius and teach salvation comes by the Grace of God. The official Catholic position was to reject Pelagius and accept Augustine.
Okay- then where’s the difference?
The church council that spells it out is the Council of Trent [named after the Italian city where the council took place in the 1500’s- Trento].
This council is often referred to as the Counter Reformation. The church rejected the Protestant line- but also acknowledged the need for reform and made some changes.
This is the council where the church rejects Pelagianism- and also says the position of Luther [Justification by Faith ALONE] was flawed.
The church appealed to the New Testament letter of Saint James- where James uses an example from the life of Abraham [found in Genesis 22] where Abraham obeys God and is willing to sacrifice his son Isaac on an altar.
Of course this never happens- God was simply testing Abraham- but James says this act of obedience justified him in Gods sight.
James says ‘see how a man is justified by works- and not by faith ALONE’.
The argument from Rome was Faith played THE major role in justification- but was not sufficient by itself- there had to be righteous works eventually associated with it in order for God to say ‘you are just’ [saved].
Luther disagreed and said God justified Abraham before he had good works- we find this in Genesis 15. God says to Abraham ‘look- count all the stars- so shall your offspring be’ and Walla- the bible also says Abraham was justified in God's eyes the moment he believed the promise.
Who’s right?
Actually they both are.
I have taught this a few times over the years- and it would take too much time to re-do right now.
But I believe James and Paul [the 2 who debate this in the bible] are simply looking at different aspects of salvation/justification.
Paul emphasized faith- and James showed us how true faith always has works with it.
When you read the statements that came out from the council of Trent- some of them do seem to indicate that both sides might have been talking past each other at some points.
In the heat of the day they were too quick to condemn the other side- without really trying hard to achieve unity [like politics!].
The 6th session of Trent was the one where the church dealt with justification [how we become saved in Gods sight].
Rome made a distinction between mortal and Venial sin in the council- the church said that Baptism is the INSTRUMENTAL CAUSE of justification. Yet faith is the Root- Foundation and Initial act that justifies.
Rome also taught that Mortal sin kills the grace in the soul that brings justification- and when a person commits a mortal sin- they need the ‘2nd plank of justification’ in order to be brought back into a state of Grace.
This 2nd Plank is the Sacrament of Penance [confession]. Catholic Moral Theologians use an example to show the difference between Mortal and Venial sin.
Drinking- if you take a drink [alcohol] not a sin. If you get tipsy- Venial- and if you get flat drunk- mortal.
This is a true teaching by the way- not making this up.
Catholic scholars are not in total agreement on all the Mortal/Venial sins.
Some teach that missing Mass on Sunday is a Mortal sin.
I just threw this in to show you the debates that take place.
The teachings from Trent are referred to as Tridentine.
The Protestants [early on] rejected the belief that a person can lose Gods grace once he has it- later on the Protestants would divide- severely- over this teaching- Predestination and the Perseverance of the Saints.
But early on all the major Reformers did indeed teach this.
Luther believed in the doctrine of Predestination just as much- if not more- than John Calvin.
But sometimes in these history shows they get this wrong and say Luther and Calvin disagreed on it- that’s a common mistake that you hear every so often.
Luther actually wrote a book dedicated to the subject [The Bondage of the Will] Calvin never wrote a book solely on the subject.
Okay- as we end this brief study of the Protestant Reformation- you could also call it a primer on Catholic doctrine [short one].
Why is it important that we study this?
In John chapter 17 Jesus said that he desired unity for all of Gods people- and many of these divisions- which date back 500 years- are commonly misunderstood on both sides.
It is common in our day to run across an ex Catholic who might say ‘you know- I left the church because I don’t believe I need to confess to a priest’ or ‘the Catholic church teaches you are saved by works’.
The original Reformers did not have a problem with confession- the Lutherans carried the practice over into their communion.
And like I just showed you- the Catholic church rejected the doctrine of being saved ‘by works’ [Pelagianism] and simply emphasized the teaching found in the bible- the book of James- and focused more on James than Paul [who the protestants focus on].
So yes- there are still differences- but if we are not informed- then it makes it harder to strive for unity- and at the end of the day God does desire unity for all his people.
The other day I quoted the great Civil rights leader- MLK. In one of his famous speeches that’s played when we celebrate his life- you hear Martin say that not only was he seeking unity among the races- but also in the church.
He said he wanted to see Catholics and Protestants- as well as Blacks and Whites- sit down together- he referred to us all as Gods kids.
I think we should strive to achieve the desire of Martin- and Jesus.
Amen.
www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com
Note- Do me a favor, those who read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read them on. Thanks- John
'HOUSE OF PRAYER, OR DEN OF THIEVES'
a critical look at the modern prosperity gospel.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER 1 ‘YOU CANNOT SERVE GOD AND MAMMON’
CHAPTER 2 ‘TWISTING THE PARABLE OF THE SOWER’
CHAPTER 3 ‘WHAT IS THE ABRAHAMIC BLESSING ?’
CHAPTER 4 ‘WHAT DID JAMES SAY ?’
CHAPTER 5 ‘WHOSE MINISTRY, JESUS OR OURS ?’
CHAPTER 6 ‘1 TIMOTHY 6’
CHAPTER 7 ‘WERE JESUS AND THE DISCIPLES RICH ?’
CHAPTER 8 ‘COVENANT THEOLOGY’
CHAPTER 9 ‘SOWING INTO GOOD SOIL’
CHAPTER 10 ‘IS THERE HOPE FOR FALSE PROPHETS ?’
INTRODUCTION
It all started a few years back when I was regularly listening to certain ministries who taught the prosperity gospel. Over the years I subscribed to a few of these ministry magazines and truly enjoyed their teaching, but every now and then while reading through the bible I would come across certain passages of scripture that seemed to contradict the themes of the prosperity movement. I also found it strange the way they interpreted certain passages of scripture, it was almost as if when they were done explaining them, that these passages meant the exact opposite of what they were plainly teaching.
During this season of learning, while the Lord was dealing with me about these various doctrines, I would find myself at times saying 'something needs to be done about the extreme teaching coming from this camp'. I would also deal with some of the unbalanced teaching through the small avenues of influence I had through a local radio program and various speaking opportunities. I would even go through stages where I was so upset over some of the more extreme elements of this teaching, that I would avoid dealing with it at all because of the emotional baggage that comes with having to disagree with a brother in Christ.
Then why write this book? Each time I would determine to drop the whole matter and never deal with this issue again, something would happen, or be said on Christian television or radio, or be written in a new book, that was so off base that I would ask the Lord again if He wanted me to do more in bringing about a more balanced view of biblical prosperity. The most recent incident was while watching Christian TV one night, the preacher who was speaking is a well-known prosperity preacher. Before he preached he invited another prosperity preacher to share a 'special' revelatory word the Lord had given him, as the preacher came to the pulpit he began to lead the people in a series of confessions/actions that he told the audience to imitate in order for them to experience breakthrough in their finances. As he stood on the stage he then went through the motions of pulling down an imaginary lever on a slot machine while confessing in a very loud voice the words 'MONEY COMING'. He did this three times while the audience followed. When they got to the last shout, the preacher emphasized the importance of this last shout, and as he led them in the pulling down of the lever they all shouted at the top of their lungs 'MONEY COMING TO ME'
Well to say the least this was another one of those 'incidents' that caused me to ask the Lord if I should do more about such obvious abuse in the church. A few days later, while driving to work one morning, I remembered this incident and asked the Lord if he wanted me to write a book on this subject. Later on in the day during a lunch break, while reading through the bible during a regular devotional time, I just happened to be reading through the book of revelation, and when I came to revelation 1:19 where Jesus tells John to 'write the things which thou hast seen', it hit me like a ton of bricks. So here I am today, believing that this book will serve a definite purpose in the Body of Christ and cause us to return to a more balanced view of the 'things of this world'.
CHAPTER 1 'YOU CANNOT SERVE GOD AND MAMMON'
It has been said that the best way to spot a counterfeit is to know the real. So let’s begin with a biblical look at true prosperity. In the past, while trying to deal with this subject, I would often find people responding in defense of the prosperity gospel by saying things like 'oh, but you don't know how good the Lord is' or 'you don't know how much God wants to meet our needs' or, 'the bible doesn’t say money is evil, but the love of money'. To which I would reply 'AMEN', I agree with you. But the bible also gives us many warnings against materialism, seeking to be rich, and living for material things.
So while trying to deal with the false prosperity gospel, I would like first of all to establish the truth that God is good, he does want to meet our needs and give us the desires of our heart, and yes, he even wants to bless us financially and materially. God promises not only 'heavenly' or 'spiritual' blessings, but also earthly or material blessings as well. If you go through the bible from Genesis to Revelation you will find instances of Gods people being rich, prosperous and blessed in every way. You will find many promises of Gods provisions for us, not only spiritual but also financial and material. There is no doubt that God can, and does bless His children in all areas of life if they are obedient to Him.
We also know that there are many warnings in the N.T. against seeking to be rich, living for material wealth, and the like. So how do we harmonize these two truths?
Let’s look at the overall purpose of God for his church. We are commissioned by Jesus to tell the whole world about His love for us, so we can make disciples of all nations. The message from our lips, [and hearts] is to overflow with who Jesus is and what He’s done for us. As a matter of fact, Jesus tells us that as we proclaim and talk about Him, and seek first His kingdom, that He will take care of all the other less important things. MATHEW 6:19-24 ' LAY NOT UP FOR YOURSELVES TREASURES UPON EARTH, WHERE MOTH AND RUST DOTH CORRUPT, AND WHERE THIEVES BREAK THROUGH AND STEAL: BUT LAY UP FOR YOURSELVES TREASURES IN HEAVEN, WHERE NIETHER MOTH NOR RUST DOTH CORRUPT, AND WHERE THIEVES DO NOT BREAK THROUGH AND STEAL: FOR WHERE YOUR TREASURE IS THERE WILL YOUR HEART BE ALSO........ NO MAN CAN SERVE TWO MASTERS: FOR EITHER HE WILL HATE THE ONE, AND LOVE THE OTHER; OR ELSE HE WILL HOLD TO THE ONE AND DESPISE THE OTHER. YOU CANNOT SERVE GOD AND MAMMON. THEREFORE I SAY UNTO YOU, TAKE NO THOUGHT FOR YOUR LIFE, WHAT YE SHALL EAT, OR WHAT YE SHALL DRINK; NOR YET FOR YOUR BODY, WHAT YE SHALL PUT ON. IS NOT THE LIFE MORE THAN MEAT, AND THE BODY MORE THAN RAIMENT? BEHOLD THE FOWLS OF THE AIR: FOR THEY SOW NOT, NIETHER DO THEY REAP, NOR GATHER INTO BARNS; YET YOUR HEAVENLY FATHER FEEDETH THEM. ARE YE NOT MUCH BETTER THAN THEY? ...... THEREFORE TAKE NO THOUGHT, SAYING WHAT SHALL WE EAT? OR, WHAT SHALL WE DRINK? OR, WHEREWITHALL SHALL WE BE CLOTHED? [FOR AFTER ALL THESE THINGS DO THE GENTILES SEEK;] FOR YOUR HEAVENLY FATHER KHNOWETH THAT YE HAVE NEED OF ALL THESE THINGS. BUT SEEK YE FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS; AND ALL THES THINGS SHALL BE ADDED UNTO YOU. TAKE THEREFORE NO THOUGHT FOR THE MORROW: FOR THE MORROW SHALL TAKE THOUGHT FOR THE THINGS OF ITSELF. SUFFICIENT UNTO THE DAY IS THE EVIL THEREOF' Jesus is making a distinction between material things and the kingdom of God. He is saying if we seek first His kingdom, then all these material needs will be met. If the kingdom is about material things, then Jesus contradicted himself. The plain meaning and thought of this passage is that if we put God first, He will take care of us. Now say if the disciples took this to mean that the primary message of the gospel was 'God will add all these things unto you'. And say if they went around teaching all nations to quote 'all these things shall be added unto you'. And then all over Jerusalem and Judaea and unto the uttermost parts of the earth they had people quoting 'all these things shall be added unto you'. And after a lifetime of ministry they taught the people how God would give them things if they kept quoting and meditating on the passages of scripture that speak about material wealth. What do you suppose Jesus would say when He comes back? First of all the plain teaching of Jesus in this passage is to get their focus [meditation, confession] off of material things. He plainly says that the 'gentiles seek these things', and that the disciples are not to be thinking about these things all the time like the gentiles. He tells us to focus on the kingdom as opposed to focusing on material things. He tells us that as we go forth by faith to proclaim his gospel, that he in turn will meet our needs. After all, the disciples left their jobs in order to follow Christ, and he was reassuring them that they would be taken care of materially if they forsook all to follow him.
I find it troubling that some teachers use this very passage in order to justify materialism, while the plain meaning of Jesus words are the opposite. Jesus says you cannot serve God and money. So we must take our minds and thoughts and meditations and focus them on God, not worldly things!
So true prosperity can be defined as God meeting all the needs of his children as they proclaim him in all nations. True prosperity is God meeting our needs while our focus is on him [not on our needs being met!]. True prosperity is being able to preach the word of God without a covetous motive [1 PETER:5:2].
I should make note that there are some who teach that this passage of scripture [MATT. 6:19-24] actually teaches that we have a bank account in heaven with real money credited to our account! And every time we sow [give into] the kingdom of God, that we are actually building a fund in this account. And that by faith you can claim a withdrawal on your account and receive your financial harvest now. But if this is what Jesus was teaching then the entire passage is twisted into turning our attention towards money once again! Jesus plainly warned us against focusing our thoughts on the material things in life, he told us not to be like the unbelievers who have all their possessions in this life only. Jesus told us to build up treasures in heaven, which meant a life lived for eternal purposes as opposed to temporary rewards. I believe that if we get our priorities right, that God will meet our needs, and we will be so excited about God and his kingdom that we wont even have time to think about serving mammon!
CHAPTER 2 'TWISTING THE PARABLE OF THE SOWER'
While a new Christian, enjoying that early honeymoon period with the Lord, I’ll never forget the joy I experienced while learning the bible for the first time. The clarity, pureness and unity of scripture were a sure foundation for a long road ahead. While working as a house painter and listening to Christian radio all day long, it was an early introduction to the various 'streams' of teaching that were being produced in the church. One day my job foreman, who often heard me listening to Christian radio, thought I would enjoy listening to a new tape series that he had just been given. So I popped the cassettes into my radio and listened with the excitement of a new believer in Christ. The cassettes were a new teaching on the parable of the sower. MATTHEW 13:1-9, 18-23 ' THE SAME DAY WENT JESUS OUT OF THE HOUSE, AND SAT BY THE SEASIDE. AND GREAT MULTITUDES WERE GATHERED TOGETHER UNTO HIM, SO THAT HE WENT INTO A SHIP, AND SAT; AND THE WHOLE MULTITUDE STOOD ON THE SHORE. AND HE SPAKE MANY THINGS UNTO THEM IN PARABLES, SAYING, BEHOLD, A SOWER WENT FORTH TO SOW; AND WHEN HE SOWED, SOME SEEDS FELL BY THE WAY SIDE, AND THE FOWLS CAME AND DEVOURED THEM UP: SOME FELL UPON STONY PLACES, WHERE THEY HAD NOT MUCH EARTH: AND FORTHWITH THEY SPRUNG UP, BECAUSE THEY HAD NO DEEPNESS OF EARTH: AND WHEN THE SUN WAS UP THEY WERE SCORCHED; AND BECAUSE THEY HAD NO ROOT THEY WITHERED AWAY. AND SOME FELL AMONG THORNS; AND THE THORNS SPRUNG UP, AND CHOKED THEM; BUT OTHER FELL INTO GOOD GROUND, AND BROUGHT FORTH FRUIT, SOME AN HUNDREDFOLD, SOME SIXTYFOLD, SOME THIRTYFOLD. WHO HATH EARS TO HEAR LET HIM HEAR.........HEAR YE THEREFORE THE PARABLE OF THE SOWER. WHEN ANYONE HEARETH THE WORD OF THE KINGDOM, AND UNDERSTANDETH IT NOT, THEN COMETH THE WICKED ONE, AND CATCHETH AWAY THAT WHICH WAS SOWN IN HIS HEART. THIS IS HE WHICH RECIEVED SEED BY THE WAYSIDE. BUT HE THAT RECIEVED THE SEED INTO STONY PLACES, THE SAME IS HE THAT HEARETH THE WORD, AND ANON WITH JOY RECIEVETH IT; YET HATH HE NOT ROOT IN HIMSELF, BUT DURETH FOR A WHILE: FOR WHEN TRIBULATION OR PERSECUTION ARISETH BECAUSE OF THE WORD, BY AND BY HE IS OFFENDED. HE ALSO THAT RECIEVED SEED AMONG THE THORNS IS HE THAT HEARETH THE WORD; AND THE CARE OF THIS WORLD, AND THE DECEITFULLNESS OF RICHES, CHOKE THE WORD AND HE BECOMETH UNFRUITFULL. BUT HE THAT RECIEVED SEED INTO GOOD GROUND IS HE THAT HEARETH THE WORD, AND UNDERSTANDETH IT; WHICH ALSO BEARETH FRUIT, AND BRINGETH FORTH, SOME AN HUNDREDFOLD SOME SIXTY SND SOME THIRTY'. As the teacher taught through the parable he explained how Jesus was teaching us how to plant [sow] the word [scriptures] in our hearts [through confession, meditation, etc.] in order to receive a thirty, sixty, or hundredfold return. He then applied the entire teaching to reaping an hundredfold return of MONEY! He taught how that at each stage of the parable the devil tries to steal the word so we don’t receive our harvest. He then got to the part where Jesus says 'THE DECIETFULLNESS OF RICHES CHOKE THE WORD', I couldn’t understand how Jesus could be teaching us about reaping a financial harvest, and then say this! It almost seemed like a contradiction. Well the teacher then began to sound uncomfortable as he explained how the deceitfulness of riches was actually that old traditional teaching that says you cant be rich [or something to that effect]! Even as a new believer in Christ I just couldn’t accept this explanation, it was almost as if the teacher was trying to make Jesus words say the opposite of what he meant.
The basic plain meaning of the parable is self-explanatory. There are always obstacles and enemies of the gospel. Ultimately those who overcome these obstacles will bear good Christian fruit in varying degrees [30,60 or 100 fold]. The various hindrances to the word of God include the 'cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches'. If you want to produce fruit for God you cant get caught up in the materialistic pursuits of the world [2 TIMOTHY 2:4].
Many times in connection with this parable is the doctrine of sowing for a harvest taught. Jesus often uses planting [sowing] and harvesting [reaping] illustrations in his teachings. The main focus is usually dealing with the spreading of the kingdom of God and the message of Christ to the nations. Sometimes the seed refers to believers themselves, and other times the actual message preached [MATT. 13: 20,38]. Sowing and reaping also refer to the works we do, as well as the money we give into the kingdom [1COR. 9:11, GAL. 6:8]. While there are many ways you can apply sowing for a harvest, I find it disturbing that some in the church have focused the entire teaching towards financial and material gain. This type of preoccupation with money is in direct opposition to the warning that Jesus gave in this parable, he told us that the deceitfulness of riches could derail us from being fruitful, and the distorted teaching that applies this entire parable to money is in itself a fulfillment of the warning that 'the deceitfulness of riches' can deceive you, because it denies the very warning of Christ and makes him say something that he never said!
CHAPTER 3 'WHAT IS THE ABRAHAMIC BLESSING'
I must admit that out of all the various portions of scripture used to teach a false prosperity gospel, this is one of the most deceptive. In order for us to fully grasp the concept of the abrahamic blessing, we must do a little history.
In GALATIANS 3, the apostle Paul makes one of the greatest N.T. arguments for justification by faith versus law. I personally believe this doctrine to be one of the foundational doctrines in the N.T.
The heresy that Paul is fighting against in Galatians is the heresy of legalism that was taught by the judiazers. The judiazers were the Jewish/Christian sect that taught that gentile believers needed to be circumcised and brought under the law in order to be saved. The main argument that Paul uses to refute this doctrine is in Galatians 3. In this chapter we find Paul going back to the O.T. books in order to show that God established, by covenant, the basis of justifying man by faith without the deeds of the law. The main argument Paul uses is 'the abrahamic blessing'. Paul traces Gods promise to Abraham, made before the law was given, where God says 'in thee shall all nations be blessed' [GEN. 12:3, GAL. 3:8]. This meaning that God would bless [save] all nations through the promised child of Abraham [which would eventually be Jesus]. Paul’s point is to show that God already promised to bless all people through Abraham’s offspring [the abrahamic blessing], and not through the law. The abrahamic blessing referring to justifying the world by faith and giving us 'the promise of the Spirit by faith' [GALATIANS 3:8-14], this argument is also used in Romans 4.
Now here comes the tricky part, some teach that God covenants to make us rich trough the abrahamic blessing [or covenant]. They use this chapter to teach that Christ died so we can receive the abrahamic blessing. They then define the abrahamic blessing as the 'things' that Abraham had. But once again the abrahamic blessing as defined in Galatians 3 is referring to God justifying us by faith as opposed to the law. Paul was in no way teaching the Galatians that God was going to make them rich! He was battling for their very souls! The plain text of this passage shows us that Paul was dealing with the issue of justification, and not finances. And it would make absolutely no sense for Paul to begin to address money issues in the middle of this chapter.
Each time I came across this type of distorted interpretation, I honestly couldn’t understand how so many different teachers could so consistently apply the same passage in the wrong way. It almost reminds me of the O.T. passage that speaks of a conspiracy of the prophets [EZEK. 22:25]. A sort of network of false/distorted interpretations of the scripture that exist among certain groups of believers, and these same false opinions are then propagated again and again until after you hear them long enough they seem to become accepted truth in the church at large. We need to re-examine some of these doctrines and receive correction and make the proper adjustments in our thinking and acting [repentance!], so we don’t continue to spread these false opinions in the church.
One of the strongest books in the N.T. dealing with poverty and riches is the book of James. Simply reading this book in context would give the modern prosperity gospel a strong rebuke! James contrasts both rich and poor, he says that God has chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom of God. The context also implies that these poor Christians will remain poor in this life! [JAMES 2:5] The prosperity message teaches that if you have faith in God that you will not be poor. It’s obvious that both James and the prosperity teachers of today have a difference of opinion!
Lets look at exactly what the word of God says; JAMES 2:1-6 'MY BRETHREN, HAVE NOT THE FAITH OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, THE LORD OF GLORY, WITH RESPECT OF PERSONS. FOR IF THERE COME UNTO YOUR ASSEMBLY A MAN WITH A GOLD RING, IN GOODLY APPAREL, AND THERE COME IN ALSO A POOR MAN IN VILE RAIMENT; AND YE HAVE RESPECT TO HIM THAT WEARETH THE GAY CLOTHING, AND SAY UNTO HIM, SIT THOU HERE IN A GOOD PLACE; AND SAY TO THE POOR, STAND THOU HERE OR SIT HERE UNDER MY FOOTSTOOL: ARE YE NOT THEN PARTIAL IN YOURSELVES AND BECOME JUDGES OF EVIL THOUGHTS? HEARKEN, MY BELOVED BRETHREN, HATH NOT GOD CHOSEN THE POOR OF THIS WORLD RICH IN FAITH, AND HEIRS OF THE KINGDOM WHICH HE HATH PROMISED TO THEM THAT LOVE HIM? BUT YE HAVE DESPISED THE POOR. DO NOT RICH MEN OPPRESS YOU, AND DRAW YOU BEFORE THE JUDGMENT SEATS? How were they despising the poor and being prejudiced in their thoughts? They were treating poor people with contempt while showing honor to the rich. This is exactly what we do in the church, by teaching that poor Christians have little, or no faith, we unconsciously treat them with contempt. We teach that the poor are under a curse and are therefore not living up to all their benefits in Christ. We actually set up a cast system in the church. James says the poor have great faith! He doesn’t portray them as having small faith. He warns the rich not to trust in uncertain riches. The bible flatly teaches that financial abundance is not a measure of ones faith! We must stop teaching that if you would simply believe God you would have an abundance of money. This is not true in every case. Sometimes the abundant supply from God is the grace and patience that he gives to the believer in the face of severe trials or lack. The N.T. clearly teaches that there are believers with lots of faith who are poor! You can't deny the plain word of God. We should not suppose that a lack of financial abundance is a sign of weak faith!
Now to one of the most recent 'new revelations' that is being taught in the church. I first heard this from a very respected soul-winning evangelist. I then heard it taught from a variety of other teachers. As of this writing it seems to be accepted 'truth' in certain circles. Lets read JAMES 5:1-6 'GO TO NOW, YE RICH MEN, WEEP AND HOWL FOR YOUR MISERIES THAT SHALL COME UPON YOU. YOUR RICHES ARE CORRUPTED, AND YOUR GARMENTS ARE MOTHEATEN. YOUR GOLD AND SILVER IS CANKERED; AND THE RUST OF THEM SHALL BE A WITNESS AGAINST YOU, AND SHALL EAT YOUR FLESH AS IT WERE FIRE. YE HAVE HEAPED TREASURE TOGETHER FOR THE LAST DAYS. BEHOLD, THE HIRE OF THE LABOURERS WHO HAVE REAPED DOWN YOUR FIELDS, WHICH IS OF YOU KEPT BACK BY FRAUD, CRIETH: AND THE CRIES OF THEM WHICH HAVE REAPED ARE ENTERED INTO THE EARS OF THE LORD OF SABAOTH. YE HAVE LIVED IN PLEASURE ON THE EARTH, AND BEEN WANTON; YE HAVE NOURISHED YOUR HEARTS, AS IN A DAY OF SLAUGHTER. YE HAVE CONDEMNED AND KILLED THE JUST; AND HE DOTH NOT RESIST YOU. The first time I heard this 'new' truth, the preacher said that this passage was dealing with the end-time transfer of wealth from the rich to the poor. It was explained that in verse 3 'YE HAVE HEAPED TREASURE TOGETHER FOR THE LAST DAYS’ meant that the rich gathered together their wealth so it could be given to the church in the last days. While I have no problem with the idea of the world’s wealth being used for kingdom purposes, I do have a problem with distorting the word of God to prove our points! A simple reading of James 5:1-6 shows us that the reason the rich are being reproved is because they spent their lives building up financial fortunes without being rich toward God [LUKE 12:16-21]. This scripture also plainly says what is going to happen to their wealth. Is it going to be 'transferred' to us? Is it going to be given to the Christians in the last days? Is it going to be used at all? NO! It is going to canker, rust and corrupt! It is going to be destroyed! It will be of no help at all in the day of judgment [PRVB. 11:4]. It will be a witness against them for living covetous lives. The entire theme of James follows this line of thought. To read all the other things that James says about the rich and poor in this epistle, for us to then interpret this passage and say that James was now teaching the Christians that they would become rich through the end-time transfer of wealth, is ridiculous. Once again the plain meaning of scripture is being distorted in order to make it say the complete opposite of what it means.
One more thing before we leave James. The early Christian community did not equate poverty with being under a curse. They did not equate poverty with sin. There are many rebukes in the N.T. against sin in the church, but the poor in the church were praised, not rebuked! The very mindset of looking upon the poor as a lower class permeates this teaching. If the poor are cursed, not living up to their inheritance, don’t know how to apply faith principles or simply don’t know/believe the word concerning prosperity, then in essence we are despising the poor through our belief system. The N.T. plainly teaches that it is okay to be poor! We need to heed the warning from this N.T. epistle and stop despising the poor!
CHAPTER 5 'WHOSE MINISTRY, JESUS OR OURS?'
I'll never forget the time I was watching 'Christian' TV and saw a preacher holding up his Rolex watch and then teaching the people that this was an example of his faith in action! He then went on to explain that when we use our faith to obtain things, we can then show these things to people as a witness of our faith. If this is what it means to go witnessing for Christ, I think most people would be standing in line to sign up!
Over the years I have heard it taught that the only way the world would be saved is if the church becomes extremely rich financially so she could send the gospel to the world. That the world would see our extreme wealth and would ask 'where did you get all that money?' and we would then say 'from God', and the lost would then want what we have and get saved! Convenient isn’t it. But is this a biblical picture of the N.T. church and her witness in the earth?
In order to answer this question, we need first to look at what the N.T. church is. The church consists of communities of believers scattered throughout the world. All over planet earth, right now, there are believers thriving and testifying of Gods grace in all types of circumstances and situations. The community of believers that Jesus launched 2 thousand years ago is still going strong. She answers to no man or human govt. She has outlasted empires, persecutions, false religions and every other conceivable attack that can be imagined. The prophecy of Jesus has been fulfilled ‘THE GATES OF HELL SHALL NOT PREVAIL AGAINST HER’ [MATT. 16:18].
As of today there has been no other single institution upon earth that has had more influence in the history of the world than the church! Now, if the church truly consists of believers [seeds], planted [sown] all over the world under the lordship of Christ, with various giftings [Apostles, Prophets, etc.] operating under the administration of the Holy Spirit, this ministry [the kingdom of God] already has the potential of a worldwide witness to all nations. As a matter of fact this worldwide gospel of Christ has been prevailing magnificently throughout the generations. This wonderful kingdom, under Christ’s rule, has been active. It has been supernaturally deploying ministers from day one [ACTS 13]. It has even witnessed for Jesus Christ when its main ministers were broke! [ACTS 3:6]. The witness of the gospel has done extremely well throughout the centuries and will continue to do so, whether or not we all become rich!
The reason I say this is because there is a mindset in the church [American mostly] that equates the witness of the gospel with the success of American charismatic entrepreneurial ministries. We have been deluded into believing that unless we all become rich, we will never be able to reach the world. The overall success of the kingdom of God has never been dependent on any budget of any ministry past or present! Most of the modern day proponents of the prosperity gospel usually head up American ministry organizations and equate the sowing of seed [finances], with giving money to help support their organizations. They then sincerely believe that unless their organization makes more and more money, they will never be able to fulfill the great commission of reaching the world.
The N.T. clearly teaches the principles of our witness for Christ, and the focus has never been extreme wealth. But on sacrificial living, loving each other unconditionally, a sharing caring community of people who are known for good deeds of charity. In the book of acts the early church had a powerful witness, and they weren’t rich financially, yet they did reach their world for Christ. How? Through great sacrificial living, through miraculous signs and wonders, through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit and through a bold proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Not one sermon in the book of acts focused on anything else than Jesus Christ and his great work for us. Their hearts and lips flowed with the message of Christ, not money!
I find it troubling that many of the ministries who teach the prosperity gospel usually do receive extreme amounts of money, not to proclaim the message of Jesus [speaking about him], but to simply propagate a money making gospel! You can tune into some of these ministries and find them talking about money all the time. What if a lost person tuned in? Would he hear about Jesus or money? What about when Jesus said out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks? [MATT. 12:34]. If someone is always talking about money where is his heart, what’s his treasure?
We need to shift our focus back to the pure N.T. message of Christ, and understand that his gospel is the power of God unto salvation! Jesus said the world would be saved when the truth is preached in all nations by a united church, not when we all become millionaires so we can finance our own ministries!
CHAPTER 6 '1 TIMOTHY 6'
I have often heard it said 'if you’re happy with just enough money to get by, you’re selfish and living in sin, you need to believe God and have faith for increased wealth so you can finance the gospel'. Is this a biblical concept? Should we teach people that being content with what you have is a sin?
Lets look at the word of God HEBREWS 13:5-6 'LET YOUR CONVERSATION BE WITHOUT COVEOUSNESS; AND BE CONTENT WITH SUCH THINGS AS YE HAVE: FOR HE HATH SAID, I WILL NEVER LEAVE THEE, OR FORSAKE THEE. SO THAT WE MAY BOLDLY SAY, THE LORD IS MY HELPER, AND I WILL NOT FEAR WHAT MAN SHALL DO UNTO ME. This scripture plainly teaches us to be content with what we have! I even heard a prosperity preacher teach that this means to be happy with what you have now, while using your faith to obtain more. WHAT! When will we stop distorting the plain meaning of scripture?
1 TIMOTHY 6:1-12,17-19 'LET AS MANY SERVANTS WHO ARE UNDER THE YOKE COUNT THIER OWN MASTERS WORTHY OF ALL HONOUR, THAT THE NAME OF GOD AND HIS DOCTRINE BE NOT BLASPHEMED....... IF ANY MAN TEACH OTHERWISE, AND CONSENT NOT TO WHOLESOME WORDS, EVEN THE WORDS OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, AND TO THE DOCTRINE WHICH IS ACCORDING TO GODLINESS; HE IS PROUD KNOWING NOTHING, BUT DOTING ABOUT QUESTIONS AND STRIFES OF WORDS, WHEREOF COMETH ENVY, STRIFE, RAILINGS, EVIL SURMISINGS, PERVERSE DISPUTINGS OF MEN OF CORRUPT MINDS, AND DESTITUTE OF THE TRUTH, SUPPOSING THAT GAIN IS GODLINESS: FROM SUCH WITHDRAW THYSELF. BUT GODLINESS WITH CONTENTMENT IS GREAT GAIN. FOR WE BROUGHT NOTHING INTO THE WORLD, AND IT IS CERTAIN WE CAN CARRY NOTHING OUT. AND HAVING FOOD AND RAIMENT LET US BE THEREWITH CONTENT. BUT THEY THAT WILL BE RICH FALL INTO TEMPTATION AND A SNARE, AND INTO MANY FOOLISH AND HURTFUL LUSTS, WHICH DROWN MEN IN DESTRUCTION AND PERDITION. FOR THE LOVE OF MONEY IS THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL: WHICH WHILE SOME COVETED AFTER, THEY HAVE ERRED FROM THE FAITH, AND PIERCED THEMSELVES THROUGH WITH MANY SORROWS. BUT THOU O MAN OF GOD FLEE THESE THINGS.........CHARGE THEM THAT ARE RICH IN THIS WORLD, THAT THEY BE NOT HIGHMINDED, NOR TRUST IN UNCERTAIN RICHES, BUT IN THE LIVING GOD, WHO GIVETH US RICHLY ALL THINGS TO ENJOY; THAT THEY DO GOOD, THAT THEY BE RICH IN GOOD WORKS, READY TO DISTRIBUTE, WILLING TO COMMUNICATE; LAYING UP IN STORE FOR THEMSELVES A GOOD FOUNDATION AGAINST THE TIME TO COME, THAT THEY MAY LAY HOLD ON ETERNAL LIFE. Paul is clearly teaching the concept of 'you came into this world with nothing, you cant take it with you when you die, so be content with what you have'. I have heard prosperity preachers say that this type of mindset is a religious spirit, and has no foundation in the word of God. This passage of scripture teaches plainly against the mindset of the prosperity gospel. The entire theme and thought of the apostle goes 100 percent against the grain of the prosperity movement. Paul clearly says that some will equate gain with godliness, if he is not dealing with the distortions of the modern prosperity movement, then who is he speaking about? He says that some will equate godly living with financial gain, or they will teach if you’re godly you will gain much money. This is exactly what the modern prosperity movement teaches!
He says that those who want to become rich will fall into many foolish and hurtful lusts. The craving [coveting] to become rich can either be through confessing scripture, through meditating on abundance, through the sowing of seed into good soil or any other means imaginable. The scripture simply says that if the acquiring of money, for whatever purpose [even godly purposes], has become your goal, then your motivation is wrong and you have been sidetracked.
Now the 'love of money' verse. 1 TIMOTHY 6:10 'FOR THE LOVE OF MONEY IS THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL: WHICH WHILE SOME COVETED AFTER, THEY HAVE ERRED FROM THE FAITH, AND PIERCED THEMSELVES THROUGH WITH MANY SORROWS'. I have heard it said 'brother, this says the love of money, not money' and then the preacher will go right past the warning and talk all about money, not even giving a second thought to the warning! These passages, read in their entirety, give a powerful rebuke against the prosperity movement. They teach us to' be content with what we have,' they tell us' don’t desire to be rich', they plainly state that the pursuit of material wealth will sidetrack you, and they even state that 'you came into the world with nothing, when you die you cant take it with you, so be happy with what you have!' I would exhort any person who is having difficulty breaking away from this movement to read 1 timothy 6 every day for a year and allow your mind to be renewed to the word of God!
One more thing before we leave this chapter, in verse 12 Paul exhorts Timothy to 'lay hold on eternal life'. He says this in the context of comparing eternal life against materialistic living. He is saying in essence 'live for eternal things, not temporary rewards [or money!]'. I just finished watching a minister on T.V. spend 30 minutes explaining how the eternal life that Paul is referring to deals with the abundance of God in the area of finances. He flatly said that Paul was teaching us to lay hold of an abundance of money! This type of extreme distorting of scripture actually takes the warnings in the word of God that speak against materialism and turns them around to teach the exact opposite! When our own interpretations of scripture go against the plain flow of the text of scripture, then we have usurped the word of God in order to teach our own traditions!
CHAPTER 7 'WERE JESUS AND THE DISCIPLES RICH?'
One day while listening to a preacher trying to prove that Jesus and the disciples were extremely wealthy, he used the common ‘proof texts’ to prove his point. He then went on to explain that religious tradition portrayed Jesus and the disciples as being poor [or average], and that the word of God teaches us that they were really rich. He also explained how important it was for us to know this 'truth', because if Jesus and the disciples were rich, and Jesus wants us to be like him, then we are in disobedience if we are not striving to become wealthy!
A simple plain reading of the N.T. portrays Jesus as someone who came with a radical message of forsaking all to follow him. He often approached people who were in business [fishermen], or were rich, and challenged them to leave all and follow him. He would reassure these followers if they forsook all for his cause and the gospel, that they would be taken care of. This same type of radical call continued into the book of acts, where the early followers of Jesus also told the people that to be a follower of Christ they had to forsake all to follow him.
If you look at the overall picture [not the prooftexts!], you see the early Christian community as a people who forsook all for the gospel. You find them living and sharing as a corporate community who took care of each-others needs [ACTS 2:44-47]. You find those who were wealthy [not all of the church, but certain individuals, ACTS 4:32-37] sharing their wealth for the needs of the Christian community. You can even trace the ministries of some of the early apostles and still find them many years later proclaiming Christ through much suffering and persecution. Not only does the N.T. portray the early Christian community in this light, but also church history confirms it. You find the apostles still learning to deal with financial lack many years later well into their ministries [PHIL 4:11-12, 2 COR. 11:27]. You see a beautiful picture of a people willing to suffer for the cause of Christ cheerfully. You also see a gracious Lord who met all their needs according to his abundant grace. You find stories where the material needs of people were supernaturally met [not by extreme wealth, but by Gods miraculous intervention [MATT. 14:17-19, 15:34-36].
Now what about the promise Jesus made to Peter in MARK 10:28-31 'THEN PETER BEGAN TO SAY UNTO HIM, LO, WE HAVE LEFT ALL, AND HAVE FOLLOWED THEE. AND JESUS ANSWERED AND SAID, VERILY I SAY UNTO YOU, THERE IS NO MAN THAT HATH LEFT HOUSE, OR BRETHREN, OR SISTERS, OR FATHER, OR MOTHER, OR WIFE, OR CHILDREN, OR LANDS, FOR MY SAKE AND THE GOSPELS, BUT HE SHALL RECIEVE AN HUNDREDFOLD NOW IN THIS TIME, HOUSES, AND BRETHREN, AND SISTERS, AND MOTHERS, AND CHILDREN, AND LANDS, WITH PERSECUTIONS; AND IN THE WORLD TO COME ETERNAL LIFE. Did Peter personally posses [inherit] more houses, lands, sisters and mothers? How was this promise fulfilled in Peter’s life? In the book of acts Peter became a part of the 'Christian family' who had all things common, they shared everything and had no lack [ACTS 4:32-34, 2:44-47]. They had no lack because of their membership in the family of God. The fulfilling of the law of love in their sharing of material things was the fulfillment of Jesus promise to Peter, not making him financially rich!
Look at all the apostolic ministries in the book of acts. Wherever they went, whatever city they ministered in, their needs were always met. Why? Because when they became part of the Christian community, the homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, lands and all the other resources were SHARED by all the believers. They ministered to each other’s needs, they supported one another, they truly fulfilled the law of love by bearing one another’s burdens!
This picture of Jesus and the apostles as extremely rich 20th century American evangelists who headed up big budget ministries is absolutely no where to be found in the plain reading of the N.T.! I just don’t find Jesus and the disciples as rich evangelists going into the world with extreme wealth, while at the same time telling rich people to sell all they have to come follow him! [MATT. 19:23-24,LK. 1:53, 6:24, 16:19-31, 18:18-25]
CHAPTER 8 'COVENANT THEOLOGY'
The early settlers [pilgrims] of our nation came by faith in God, believing their new nation to be a promised land of freedom that the Lord had given to them. One of the descriptions of the 'belief system' of these puritans is called covenant theology. They saw themselves as 'new covenant' people who were inheriting a promised land, much like the old covenant people [Israel] inherited their promised land. They claimed and believed the many O.T. promises of God concerning the inheriting of nations. They took God at his word, and it worked!
In a sense all believers are covenant theologians, whether they realize it or not. It is through our covenant with God [the blood of Jesus], that we are made right with God [justified], have forgiveness of sins and are made children of God. As a matter of fact, everything that God does for us, or that 'we do for him', is based upon the bedrock foundation of the covenant of the blood of Jesus Christ.
Now, it has been taught because of our covenant with Christ, we can go through the bible and find all the promises that are good and by faith hold God to his word and 'cause the things that are not seen [not manifested] to become seen [manifested]', or to put it simple, to get the things that God has promised us by putting our faith into action. I believe this principle is both scriptural and profitable. But the covenant cuts both ways.
When people enter into covenant, the 2 parties have complete access to each-others rights and privileges. There are times were the Lord will require of the believer all that he has [leave your nets and follow me mentality]. There are even times where the Lord called people to lay down their lives in martyrdom in order to receive a better resurrection [HEB 11:35, ACTS 7]. As a matter of fact there are many examples of people of faith who have endured great sufferings even though they had great faith [HEB. 11].
So what does it mean to be a covenant believer? It not only implies going throughout the bible and claiming all the good promises and quoting them by faith [sowing], it also carries with it the meaning of laying down all that we have [in this world] for the cause of Christ [HEB. 10:34].
While the early puritans did claim and receive the promises of God by faith concerning their 'promised land', they also endured tremendous suffering and loss [many died in their pursuit!] in order to obtain a noble goal. The N.T. commands us not only to believe and teach the good parts [or the parts we like the most!], but also to heed the warnings [LUKE 12:15, ACTS 20:27]. If we reduce covenant theology to a belief system that only reads and quotes the 'good' promises, but never heeds the warnings, then we are failing to proclaim the full gospel and are presenting a distorted view of the Christian life [ACTS 14:22]. A simple overview of the N.T. shows us how the principles of the N.T. are supposed to work. For example, you never find Jesus or the disciples going around quoting the money verses in order to receive a harvest! As a matter of fact, if we teach people to 'quote, meditate, memorize and only think on the money scriptures', we would be doing the exact opposite of what Jesus said in MATT. 6:31-34. He specifically told us to take no thought [meditate, focus our minds, etc.] of what we shall eat, drink or wear [material things], the whole point of this passage was to teach the Christian NOT to focus on these things!
You also never find any of the suffering Christians acting like they 'fell short' of their covenant rights. Instead they counted it a privilege to suffer for his names sake [ACTS 5:41]. The entire flow of the N.T. goes contrary to the 'picture painted' by unbalanced prosperity preaching. The focus of the N.T. was Gods advancing kingdom throughout the nations! Their own lives and the things they could get to make themselves more comfortable ran 100% contrary to the fulfilling of their mission [2 TIM. 4:10, 1 JOHN 2:15]. A simple plain reading of the N.T. in context teaches us that the character of N.T. Christianity is one of self-sacrificial living, not a 'get all you can by faith' mentality.
CHAPTER 9 'SOWING INTO GOOD SOIL'
A simple reading of the N.T. gives us a broad picture of the life of the believer, which includes giving and receiving, Gods promises of funding the work of the ministry, the Christian concept of charity, and a basic overall view of finances and the kingdom of God. One of the most basic reasons of giving money in the N.T. is to share what we have with those who are less fortunate [JAMES 2:15-16, 1 JOHN 3:17]. As a matter of fact Jesus rebuked the religious leaders of his day for their willingness to tithe to the temple while neglecting to use their finances to meet the needs of people in need [MARK 7:6-13]. One of the most recognized passages of scripture used to describe the character of Christ is found in Luke 10:30-37, an example of someone ministering to the needs of ‘the down and out’.
Even in the book of acts the main focus on giving was to meet the needs of people [ACTS 2:44-46, 4:32-37, 6:1]. The very scripture that we use to exhort saints to put in their offerings on ‘Sunday’, is really speaking about a collection being taken to meet the needs of the ‘poor saints’ who lived in Jerusalem [1COR. 16:1-3].
This basic Christian principle of charity is a well-established Christian doctrine that most people would agree with, except for certain teachers in the prosperity movement! I remember listening to a certain teacher actually teach that in order to receive a good financial harvest, you must plant your seed [money] into good soil. He then went on to teach that good soil meant ministries, or individuals, who taught prosperity and were financially rich! He even implied that giving to prosperity ministries would make you rich, while giving to ‘poverty mentality’ ministries would make you poor [because you reap the same anointing from the ministries you so into]. The problem with this is that the bible teaches that giving to poor people [people with a poverty mentality] is good, and that the Lord will reward you for it [PRVB. 22:9,16,19:17,28:27, PSALMS 112:9].
While the N.T. does deal with Gods provisions for ministry [PHIL. 4:14-19,1COR. 9:1-14], this certainly in no way justifies perverting the gospel into a mindset of giving into wealthy ministries in order to receive a financial harvest!
Jesus, Paul and all the other N.T. ministers did receive finances and provisions from God in order to fulfill their callings, but at the same time they also warned the people emphatically against materialism. They spoke out against covetousness/idolatry, while at the same time believing God to meet their needs [LUKE 12:15, EPH. 5:3, COL. 3:5, 1 THESS. 2:5, HEB. 13:5, 2 PETER 2:3]. Were they being hypocrites? NO! They understood the difference between using the things of this world without abusing them [1 COR. 7:31]. There is a big difference between believing God to meet our needs, and twisting the entire character of N.T. Christianity into a money focused mentality! The Christian should have a proper understanding of finances, as well as physical exercise, balance in family life and relationships, dealing with the practical concerns of life. But to exalt anyone of these areas of life and to make it the message of Christianity, and then to reshape the entire image of Christianity in order to make it fit our ‘peculiar’ style of belief would be wrong.
The very fact that there are in existence today million dollar ministries [which in itself is not wrong!], that teach people to give into their ministries with the promise of a sure return, and even appeal to poor saints to give out of their lack [social security checks, etc.], while all the while propagating a false gospel, is wrong!
These same ministries use the funds collected by false pretense and then preach the gospel of money, instead of a clear presentation of the gospel of Christ! Many of these ministries sincerely believe that it is a witness for Christ to have extravagant salaries, wear Rolex watches, drive a Cadillac and be a millionaire. They actually justify this by their own belief in the message they preach. They do not see it as wrong in the sight of God to finance this type of lifestyle/ministry from the offerings sent in by poor saints and widows! Many of their supporters are average, or struggling financially, and they give out of a sincere desire to better their own lives while at the same time furthering the work of God.
I know some of these precious believers who are struggling financially while sending in their ‘widow’s mite’ with hope and faith that things will turn around for them. No where in the N.T. do you find rich preachers appealing to poor saints to give into their ministries in order to receive a harvest! This is 100% against the character of N.T. Christianity. The bible actually condemns the idea of ‘shepherds’ taking advantage of their flocks for personal/financial gain [EZEKIEL 34, MATT. 23:14, 1 PETER 5:1-2].
The very fact that we have poor Christians sending in sacrificial offerings to millionaire ministries, often times because the preacher is appealing by the ‘word of the Lord’ to them, is wrong! Many of these ministries are using these funds to propagate a false view of Christianity to the world. They are preaching an unbalanced gospel while they themselves are bringing in large amounts of money. I appeal to the church at large to finance worthy ministries who are actually meeting the real needs of people around the world [good soil!], and to stop financing a false gospel!
CHAPTER 10 ‘IS THERE HOPE FOR FALSE PROPHETS?’
Why write this book? Over the years of struggling with these issues I would often come across an article, book or some type of testimonial that would expose many of the errors that are dealt with in this book. Some of the books I read seemed to leave little or no room for repentance and restoration of the ‘prosperity preachers’. I not only believe that Gods ultimate purpose in exposing sin is for the restoration of the individual, but there are examples of former prosperity preachers who have seen some of these gross errors and have returned to a balanced presentation of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
What constitutes a false prophet? While there are many characteristics that we can mention, I would like to deal with one specific area relevant to our study. That area is motivation. In 2 Peter chapter 2, the apostle deals with covetousness as a motive for teaching heresy [2 PETER 2:1-3]. He states that Balaam was a false prophet who ‘loved the wages of unrighteousness’ [2 PETER 2:14-16]. Although balaam's gift was legitimate, it was his motivation [the love of money] that caused him to use his gift in a wrong way. So you can have a true prophetic gift, and yet be a false prophet because of a covetous motivation [JUDE 11]. The early church even went so far as to brand someone a false prophet if they hung around more than a few days and charged for their ministry! [Read the Didache].
As mentioned earlier, Paul and Peter warned against being in ministry for financial gain [1 TIM.6, 2 PETER 5:2, TITUS 1:11]. Jesus himself laid down a strong warning against the hireling mentality [JOHN 10:12-13].
It is clear from these warnings [and the many others in the N.T.], that the early Christians were very aware of the dangers of the love of money. I have heard it taught that this ‘fear ‘ or ‘scared’ attitude towards money is just a ‘religious mindset’ that has no foundation in the word of God. This just isn’t true! The bible contains many warnings against materialistic living and covetousness that were the foundation of the ‘healthy fear’ that the early church had towards money.
Now the scripture teaches that there will be a time when certain teachers [false prophets] who are motivated by money, will teach false doctrines [Jesus and the disciples being rich, etc.] and that these teachers would connect faith and money [gain and godliness], as going hand in hand. Now if the current abuses of the prosperity movement do not fall into this category, then who does? We just can’t deny all the evidence pointing to this movement as one of the fulfillments of the ‘false prophets’ who teach that gain is godliness! We as a church must see this before there can be any true restoration of those involved, or more importantly a preventing of this false gospel from being taught to a whole new generation of believers!
The scripture says to rebuke false prophets sharply so THEY MAY BE SOUND IN THE FAITH [TITUS 1:13]. Even the false shepherds of Ezekiels day were promised restoration and usefulness in their latter years [EZEKIEL 44:10-14].
If we begin to renounce our errors and return to the Lord [repentance], there will be true renewal in the church. Jesus warned the church to repent because she had within her those that held to the ‘doctrine of balsam’ [REV. 2:14-16]. It is possible for those who have taught these errors to repent and be restored to a pure gospel of Christ.
Jesus dealt with the ‘money changers’ of his day just prior to the establishing of Gods kingdom. MARK 11:15-17 AND THEY COME TO JERUSALEM: AND JESUS WENT INTO THE TEMPLE, AND BEGAN TO CAST OUT THEM THAT SOLD AND BOUGHT IN THE TEMPLE, AND OVERTHREW THE TABLES OF THE MONEYCHANGERS, AND THE SEATS OF THEM THAT SOLD DOVES; AND WOULD NOT SUFFER THAT ANY MAN SHOULD CARRY ANY VESSEL THROUGH THE TEMPLE. AND HE TAUGHT, SAYING UNTO THEM, IS IT NOT WRITTEN, MY HOUSE SHALL BE CALLED OF ALL NATIONS THE HOUSE OF PRAYER? BUT YE HAVE MADE IT A DEN OF THIEVES. The moneychangers served as a sort of currency exchange for anyone wanting to bring any offerings or do any legitimate worship at Jerusalem, but needed to exchange their type of currency for the official currency that was accepted at Jerusalem. I find this interesting, because the function of the moneychangers themselves was a legitimate business function. But their business itself brought a type of merchandising to the temple that Jesus himself found highly offensive. I find a present day application to the moneychanger mentality in the modern prosperity movement. The movement teaches Christians to focus their attention on the return they will get on their investment into the kingdom. It causes Christians to give their offerings with the expectation of some type of return on their money. While this in itself is not wrong, for we know that God does reward his children [HEB. 11:6], the tendency of the prosperity message actually appeals to the covetous nature of people in order to make disciples of Christ! Jesus told people to forsake all to follow him, while the movement tells people if you follow him he will make you rich! I have heard it taught that as you sow your seed [money] into the offering basket that you need to 'picture' your harvest of what you are believing for in your mind [whether healing, a new car or house, the salvation of a loved one, etc.] and then your seed [money] will produce your harvest! The very idea of exchanging your money [or changing it!] into the visualized harvest of your own expectation is just as off base as the money mentality of the first century moneychangers. This is the only recorded incident in the N.T. where Jesus was visibly angry.
REVELATION 4:14-22 ‘AND UNTO THE ANGEL OF THE CHURCH OF THE LAODICEANS WRITE; THESE THINGS SAYETH THE AMEN, THE FAITHFULL AND TRUE WITNESS, THE BEGINNING OF THE CREATION OF GOD; I KNOW THY WORKS, THAT THOU ART NEITHER COLD NOR HOT. SO THEN BECAUSE THOU ART LUKEWARM, AND NEITHER COLD NOR HOT, I WILL SPUE THEE OUT OF MY MOUTH. BECAUSE THOU SAYEST, I AM RICH AND INCREASED WITH GOODS, AND HAVE NEED OF NOTHING; AND KNOWEST NOT THAT THOU ART WRETCHED, AND MISERABLE, AND POOR, AND BLIND, AND NAKED: I COUNSEL THEE TO BUY OF ME GOLD TRIED IN THE FIRE, THAT THOU MAYEST BE RICH; AND WHITE RAIMENT, THAT THOU MAYEST BE CLOTHED, AND THAT THE SHAME OF THY NAKEDNESS DO NOT APPEAR; AND ANOINT THY EYES WITH EYESALVE, THAT THOU MAYEST SEE. AS MANY AS I LOVE, I REBUKE AND CHASTEN: BE ZEALOUS THEREFORE, AND REPENT. BEHOLD, I STAND AT THE DOOR, AND KNOCK: IF ANY MAN HEAR MY VOICE, AND OPEN THE DOOR, I WILL COME INTO HIM, AND WILL SUP WITH HIM, AND HE WITH ME. TO HIM THAT OVERCOMETH WILL I GRANT TO SIT WITH ME IN MY THRONE, EVEN AS I ALSO OVERCAME, AND AM SET DOWN WITH MY FATHER IN HIS THRONE. HE THAT HATH AN EAR, LET HIM HEAR WHAT THE SPIRIT SAITH UNTO THE CHURCHES.
John Chiarello johnchiarello@hotmail.com
P.O. Box 181256 www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com
C.C. TX. 78480
INTRODUCTION Over the years I have had many interesting dreams, visions and ‘prophetic’ type experiences. I have shared some of these experiences thru our radio ministry and a few in our books. I felt it would be beneficial to catalog them in one place, so here it is!
The way these types of words work is they can have meaning to the person directly experiencing the event, or they can directly speak to you at this season in your life. I encourage you to write down the numbers of the entries that have special meaning to you so you can go back later and review them. God bless you guys and I hope you get something out of it!
I am cataloging these thoughts on an on going basis; there is no particular order [Think of it like PASCAL’s Penses]. Note; for those of you who don’t read the books or stuff I send, in this paper I share a lot of testimony stuff. Do a quick overview and stop at some of these stories, I think it would be worth it. I tell some stories about coming to Texas from Jersey, and even some things from Jersey that I never told before.
The things that are in bold type [capitalized] are scripture quotes from the bible. Many I just add from memory as I’m typing, others come from my mission statement [that’s why you don’t see me adding the chapter and verse]. During the writing of this paper in 12/06 I am just beginning to contact old classmates and friends from New Jersey that I haven’t seen or heard from in 25 years. Many of you have gotten this paper!
I take the risk of looking like I fried my brain on drugs by sharing these ‘prophetic’ things [signs, dreams, etc.]. I really felt the Lord telling me its time to reach out and simply become friends again with many of you. Maybe some of you will become involved in our ministry in some way [not talking about money here!].
This paper reads more like a journal/diary than a booklet. Maybe you can read a few entries a day like a devotional? I just don’t want you to get bored with this paper and then not read the other booklets on this site! As this ‘journal’ grows there are whole sections that express what I am feeling and seeing at the time. So maybe if you feel ‘bogged’ down in one section, jump to number 300 and start from there. Next time start from number 200, etc.
I SHARE THINGS IN A PLAIN AND OPEN LANGUAGE IN THIS PAPER, TO SOME IT MIGHT BE OFFENSIVE, IT IS NOT MY INTENT TO OFFEND, JUST FELT LIKE THIS STYLE WAS THE WAY I SHOULD GO IN THIS PAPER.
Also let me challenge you guys to ‘keep reading’ even if you come across an entry that you don’t like. I didn’t realize when I started this site that there were ‘prophetic’ things that I would log in the earlier entries that would ‘fit in’ with later entries. I didn’t see this until I went back and edited the site [to be honest some of the dreams I wrote about came eerily true in ways that I could have never imagined when I first wrote them].
So stick with the reading because you might see something later on the site that will bring clarity to something else. The entry that came ‘eerily’ true is a little too personal to get into, but in the actual entry [it was a dream] I made comments that I didn’t even think were prophetic. Then when I went back and re read the entry [months later] the ‘off the cuff’ comments were really prophetic. Its hard to tell you this without looking like I am bragging, but the reason I am telling you this is so you will be attentive to the ‘off the cuff’ comments, these might be crucial to what God is trying to say to you.
One of the ‘radical’ things you will see on this site is that the New Testament Christian is not under the tithe, you will see this explained in depth thru this paper as well as the books I have written on this site. To keep everything in balance, read the note on entry 443 and keep this in mind as you learn.
EAT THE WORDS, IN THY MOUTH THEY WILL TASTE SWEET, BUT THEY WILL BE BITTER IN YOUR BELLY- John in the book of Revelation. You will read things in this section that will taste sweet, you will say ‘wow, that brother sees what I see’ you will also read things that will taste bitter ‘I can’t believe he said that!’ I encourage you to let God speak to you thru both means.
I pulled these first 2 entries from the paper to give a balance right here at the start.
(173)In the early church of the first couple of centuries there was a group of ‘Christians’ who were called Gnostics. These people believed in ‘special knowledge’. They felt that God revealed things to them thru spiritual means that the average Christians didn’t access. Today you have the equivalent of this in ‘revelation knowledge’. This is a type of belief among Christians that sometimes contradicts scripture, but slips in as ‘special revelation’. While it is true that God does give us prophetic insight and allows us to see things thru dreams and visions and other means, yet all of these ‘things’ are subservient to biblical authority! When things slip in under the title of ‘revelation knowledge’ we must judge it by scripture. If scripture contradicts the ‘revelation knowledge’ then we go with the Word!
CONCLUSION Let me end with a final note. Jesus said that a wicked and evil generation seeks after a sign and no sign will be given to them but the sign of the prophet Jonah [in essence Jesus was telling the Jews that until they believe in the most important sign of all, the resurrection of Christ, that they will not be able to ‘see’ any of the multitude of ‘signs’ that God has done thru Christ up until this day!]. The above scenarios took place when I was simply praying, seeking God or sleeping! I don’t feel that we should ‘seek’ after these types of experiences, but we should recognize that God is sovereign and if he desires to communicate to his children then who are we to tell him no. The apostle Paul told Timothy to ‘war a good fight by the prophecies that were given over you’. There are many believers who write down and catalog the prophecies and visions they have received from the Lord, this helps to be able to look back and see a pattern of Gods direction in your life. We should not build our lives or doctrine on these types of things, that area belongs to scripture! But we should be able to discern Gods voice over a period of time and ‘fight a good fight by way of the prophecies that have gone on over our lives’. God bless you guys!
P.S. Let me also add that there are many prophetic people that I am in contact with in some way. I feel that a lot of them agree with me on prophetic stuff, but get offended by the strong stance we take in other areas of teaching. I realize that just because a person experiences prophetic things, that this doesn’t mean he is correct in everything! It is common to hear things like ‘the end time transfer of wealth’ and themes like this from highly prophetic people. We just assume because someone is prophetic that their doctrine is correct. I really don’t want to teach here, but let me share this. The scripture does speak about the wealth of the sinner being stored up for the righteous and God ‘gives’ it to the righteous. Also the story of the children of Israel leaving Egypt and how God gave them the wealth of the Egyptians. These verses do not teach some type of windfall that simply falls into the hands of Christians. As church history progressed thru time more and more people in the marketplace and other areas of wealth and influence have become believers. As the church age progresses this phenomenon increases. Today the ‘wealth of the wicked’ has much more become ‘the wealth of the righteous’, not thru some windfall inheritance, but thru the process of God redeeming planet earth! ‘Seeing’ it this way does not violate the principles of scripture that over and over speak about the diligent being blessed and the lazy coming to ruin/poverty. There are many believers who are living in disobedience by not working who cling on to doctrines like ‘the end time transfer of wealth’ and wrongly believe that they are going to get money while violating biblical standards. Things like this need to be understood and articulated thru prophetic people before God can entrust us with more. I actually feel that the prophetic movements ‘marriage’ to the prosperity gospel has voided certain things that God wanted to do thru the movement. Balaam was a prophetic person who actually heard from God and spoke Gods words, but scripture says his lust for wealth made him a false prophet [who loved the wages of unrighteousness]. If prophets can’t receive correction from each other then God will never let them ‘correct’ [speak into] the church at large. I feel one of the pitfalls of the prophetic is to think that the goal is to ‘simply be prophetic’. I have met brothers who simply wanted to attend church and stand up and speak. God’s chief concern for all of his people [even prophets] is to carry out the great commission, to be salt and light to a lost and dying world!
John Chiarello
(1) I was praying early one morning while at work, and I ‘saw’ an image of a lion’s head, the impression was so strong that I made a mental note to see what it meant. Over the past few years the Lord has used the imagery of ‘Judah’ and the ‘Lion of Judah’ in a consistent way in my life. Well when I got home from work my wife told me that she printed some Christian materials for me from the computer. The materials were simply various prophetic words that as far as I knew had nothing to do with a lion. Sure enough as soon as I looked at the materials it had the very same image of the ‘lions head’ that I had just seen a few hours earlier. The lesson from this was simply a confirmation that there would be some valuable things contained in these prophecies that the Lord wanted me to pay attention to. The prophecies were from Bob Jones, a seasoned prophetic person with a long track record of hearing from the Lord.
(2) While praying early [at work again, let me make a note here. I don’t want to give you guys the impression that all I do at work is pray! But being I work a 24 hour shift I often get up at 2 or 3 A.M. and walk outside while I pray] I was outside looking up at the stars. After a few hours of praying I felt the Lord impress on me to ‘pray the Daniel prayer’, which to me meant pray for the Lord to send ‘divine intervention’ right now [the thought I had was God sending the angel to Daniel after he prayed, a sort of ‘breakthrough’ from heaven to earth]. Also this morning while walking and praying there was a bundle of wood recently cut from a tree. This had me thinking about the ‘God of Elijah’ and whether God could still send ‘fire from heaven’. Well I finally prayed the ‘Daniel prayer’ and simply said something to the effect of ‘God send an angel and show me your ability to supernaturally intervene on our behalf’. Well within a few seconds I saw the biggest meteorite ever, it was huge and you could actually see flames of fire [this was a real meteorite, not a vision]! Well to say the least God was confirming he still is able to supernaturally act on the behalf of his kids, and the ‘God of Elijah’ can still send fire from heaven! [Let me add, I was just outside praying and was thinking about adding this and while thinking about it I saw 2 shooting stars. One left a ‘line/stream’ for a few minutes, sort of like a planes wake. What I wanted to add is when you get up early to pray outside it is not unusual to see shooting stars. I have seen hundreds [without exaggeration] over the years. The fact that this meteorite was at least 50 to 100 times bigger than any I have ever seen was significant] ‘By thy favor you have made my mountain to stand strong’ [bible verse].
(3) While praying early one morning [in my yard at home] I told the Lord ‘I’m tired of being a Lightning Rod’. Within a second or two I ‘heard’ the Lord say ‘I called James and John the sons of thunder’ [this is in the Bible]. While at work praying it was thundering outside, but it wasn’t raining so I was able to walk outside. A very loud thunderclap and bolt of lightning struck so close to where I was praying that I felt a feeling of like being dazed [I wasn’t struck by lightning]. This simply confirmed the word that if God wants me to be a ‘son of thunder/lightning bolt’ who am I to dispute Him. I feel the ‘lightning bolt’ imagery spoke to the many ‘controversial’ subjects I deal with thru our teaching ministry. The teaching ministry often attracts ‘violent’ responses from those hearing us for the first time! A lightning rod attracts lightning by its very nature. It is mounted in a high place, it is often isolated and ‘gets struck’ while no one else is around. I also recently read a prophecy from the Elijah list that spoke of believers walking around with ‘lightning Rods’ protruding out of their bodies and being ‘struck’ by God, I feel this is also in keeping with what the Lord communicated to me thru this experience [earlier I was praying in the same area where this happened, it is about a week after I penned this, and it ‘dawned’ on me that I was standing about 3 feet from a radio tower [it acts just like a lightning rod] when this happened!]. ‘The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence and the violent take it by force’ [bible verse].
(4) Let me put this one in while its currently happening. Right now while typing this I have fox news on in the background. They are showing a live shot of the Hudson river/New York city region. I was just praying for this exact region this morning. I grew up on the New Jersey side of the Hudson. Well the reason fox news is showing this live shot is there is an old naval ship being moved up the Hudson for repairs. This is an old ship that hasn’t moved for many years. Sure enough the propellers just got suck in the mud. I have been praying for the Lord to give us a breakthrough in the New York City area for quite some time. I believe the Lord wants us to do some ‘Apostolic’ work in this region. One of the classical definitions of an Apostle is the image of a fleet of ships launching out into new territories in order to colonize new lands. Well the ship being moved right now hasn’t moved for years. I feel like this could speak to our present situation, I have been believing the Lord to ‘launch’ us for a long time in this region. The ship finally got moving and sure enough it gets stuck! Well there are always obstacles getting in the way of those trying to ‘colonize’ new regions for the kingdom of God.
(5) I had a dream that I walked into a classroom full of people [a whole community]. They were all sitting in front of a big blackboard. On the board there was a riddle. When I looked at the riddle it seemed obvious to me what it meant. I thought that everyone should know what it meant. I got up and went to the board and solved the riddle. I asked everyone if they saw the answer to the mystery. They all responded yes. I felt like this meant there would be certain things that we would ‘solve’ or reveal thru our teaching ministry that would make things clear and plain. Though the riddle was unsolvable at first, after I solved it, it was easily understandable to every one there.
(6) When I first accepted the Lord I attended a Baptist Church for a few years. I would often have friends call me ‘John the Baptist’. To be honest I never liked being called this. The Church was a good Church, but I always saw myself as being Christian as opposed to some denominational title. Well a few years ago my mother was visiting me from New Jersey and told me an interesting story. She said when I was a little boy [around 6-9yrs old?] that I was in some type of school play and I stood up and said ‘my name is John and I was named after John the Baptist’. I asked her why I said this, was it some sort of Christian play or something, she told me no. She just thought it strange that I would say this out of the blue. Well I felt this to mean if God wants to call you something [whether ‘son of thunder’ or whatever] that he will confirm it in undeniable ways. Also I was 43 yrs old when I found this out, it was like the Lord used me to prophesy to myself and I didn’t even know it! ‘I have raised up one from the north. From the rising of the sun shall he call upon my name. Who raised up the righteous man from the east and gave the nations before him. He will come upon princes as upon mortar and the coastlands shall wait for his law. There was a man sent from God whose name was John [insert your name here!]. Before you were born I made mention of your name. You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you and ordained you to be a prophet to the nations.’[Bible verses!] [You can apply all this to yourself as God directs. I don’t want to sound to self-important here].
(7) When I first moved to Corpus Christi from Kingsville, there was a political argument going on over whether or not to open an old [ancient] channel from an intercostal waterway to the gulf of Mexico. I live close to this area. This channel has finally opened and I felt like the Lord was saying ‘there are many enemies resisting the opening of ‘waterways’ but he would prevail and new waterways would open [spiritually]’. I felt like the Lord wanted me to go to this new channel and walk the jetty [which is a type of ‘wall’ strutting out into the ocean]. When I finally went I pulled up to a parking area and took off my shoes and socks and began the walk. After about a 150 yards or so I realized that I was burning my feet on the hot sand, but I decided to finish the walk anyway. I also passed a writing in the sand that said ‘I love Chris’ to which I added a T and it said ‘I love Christ’. Well I walked out on the jetty and sat for about 20 minutes and enjoyed the area. By this time I realized that I did burn my feet pretty badly but just went with it. On the walk back to the truck I passed the ‘I love Christ’ writing and saw another writing [which I didn’t see the first time] that said ‘I love Peter’. I felt that ‘Peter’ represents the ‘flesh’ and the Lord was simply confirming his love and acceptance for me [and you!] despite the many failings of our flesh! A few days later I was reading from a prophetic website [Glory of Zion/Chuck Pierce] and they share both prophecies as well as the actual things that they do during their early morning prayer time. One of the early prayer watches had a brother named John ask for a shofar, well I just attended a meeting a few weeks earlier and made the strange request for someone to donate to me a shofar. I really didn’t know why I asked for a shofar, but felt the Lord wanted me to ask for one. Well after reading the prophetic site I realized it was just a confirmation telling me to pay attention to this prophetic word. Well the word [from Chuck Pierce] continued on to speak about new waterways opening and also for us to walk on these new ‘higways/walls’ that will bring us to a higher place. The prophecy even said ‘that where you walked before and burned your feet, you will walk there no more’. Well my feet had blisters for a few weeks! Scripture says God will make a ‘way’ [waterway?] thru the wilderness and ‘rivers in the desert’. Both of these images speak of ‘cutting a road thru the sand and letting water run thru it’. Also if you add this to the ‘John the baptist/lighntnig rod/sons of thunder’ prophecy it really has meaning from the message bible, it calls John ‘thunder out of the desert’. John was a ‘prophetic blast’ that came out of [cut thru] the desert! Let me add another thing, after I wrote this, later on in the day I was watching the ‘God channel’ on direct TV. I saw a prophetic sister [Patricia King] who I never watched before. Her show is called ‘extreme prophetic’. Well it started with the verses about John the Baptist and spoke of the ‘burning man’ coming out of the desert. I thought maybe I should pay attention to this show. She spoke all about prophetic stuff and at the end gave a prophecy saying ‘the fire and lightning of God Are going to burn things out of you that don’t need to be there’ [This is not an exact quote, but the fire and lightning are!]. This experience at the channel happened in 2006, in 1980 I went to this area of the ocean at night with some friends to party [my girlfriend, who is now my wife, and my friend from N.J. who died of aids, you’ll read this later] As we were drinking and getting drunk I had the great idea of swimming out as far as we could and live on the edge of possibly drowning. A great idea! Well me and my buddy did swim out, and of course I had to go much further than him. I realized that I swam too far and the undertow was drawing me out. I’m drunk, it’s around midnight and I feel like I am going to die this night. I started swimming back frantically and finally reached the point where I could touch ground! The same places where God would speak to me years later, the enemy tried to kill me on this night! ‘For thy sake we are killed all the day long. I will pay back reproach to the islands, I will cast your sins into the sea’ [bible verses]. Let me take a chance here and confess a few things. I believe I risked death too much with some of these chances I took. There is actually a ‘thrill’ at risking your life. Jim Morrison [the doors] also had this fixation. Listen to the songs ‘the end’ and ‘break on thru to the other side’. A few years ago I was at a truck fire [pretty common for firefighters] and out of laziness didn’t put on any protective gear. I was putting it out with the fire hose when the propane tank released hot propane from the relief valve. It didn’t blow up, but it did get hot. I just stood there [from a little distance] and kept putting water on it. I know its stupid but it could have exploded and hurt me pretty bad. The friend I was with at the fire is the fishing friend you will read about in this paper. He once came over to see me because it was a while since we got together and he had a dream that I died. I realize that even working with the guys I work with [addicts and ex-cons] that there is still an inherent danger in doing this. Not to long ago I was with some guys and they were actually smoking crack at one point. I am saying this to confess that you can try to play it safe and not take risks and live your life on a church pew [boring], or you can take real risks and possibly ‘leave’ a little early, but no one ever gets out alive anyway [another quote from Jim Morrison]. Don’t take dumb risks, but don’t live too safe!
(8) These next three experiences all happened within the first few years of becoming a Christian. During this time I was attending a Fundamental Baptist Church [they were a good Gospel preaching Church!] that did not believe in the gifts of the Spirit or prophetic things.
A- One night I was invited to preach at the Church as one of the ‘preacher boys’ [a group of a few young guys who felt the Lord was calling us to be preachers]. During the sermon, as a joke [or so I thought!] I pointed out a friend and said that his secret sin was smoking cigars. Well I immediately said I was just kidding but wanted to say it to illustrate some point. Well little did I know that the ‘point’ God wanted illustrated was the fact that this friend of mines secret sin was smoking cigars! His wife and another friend confirmed this right after the message.
B- One of the friends from the above story [not the cigar smoker!] loved to listen to Brother Rollof. We all loved and admired Bro. Rollof as one of the most prominent Baptist preachers in the area. Well one day, out of the blue, I remember telling my friend ‘Brother Rollof will be dead soon’. My friend was offended that I would say this [and to be honest it offended me too!]. Well within a few years Bro. Rollof did die in a plane crash. Bro. Rollof was the type of health minded person who could have easily lived to a hundred. I believe he was around sixty years old at the time of his death, it was definitely premature. [This was simply prophecy, I don’t want you guys to think I am going around pronouncing peoples deaths!] UPDATE- I just read a memorial for brother Rollof. He died in November of 1982, less than a year, possibly only a few months from the prophetic word. I try not to over exaggerate dates and stuff, so I originally erred on the possible longer date.
C- This last one will probably be the most interesting. During this time as a new believer I was daily learning the word and truly enjoying the journey. I was working as a house painter for a Christian homebuilder. We were building a huge house for a dentist. While inside painting one of the rooms I heard a loud scream as in if someone was hysterical. I quickly went to the room downstairs where I thought the scream came from. When I entered the room I saw the mother of the boys who lived in the home had found her young boy [around 2 or 3 years old?] at the bottom of the swimming pool and he was blue and lifeless, this boy was dead! Well one of the other carpenters began doing C.P.R. on the boy. The mother was in hysterics and I started to pray. I distinctly remember the prayer. I simply prayed for God to put the boys spirit back in his body and for God to bring him back from the dead [it was not one of those ‘if it be thy will’ type prayers!]. Well sure enough after a minute or two the boy started coughing and breathing. Later on during the week the boy had told the doctor when he was dead at the bottom of the pool that Jesus had appeared to him. The doctors testified that the lack of brain damage and the recovery were miraculous. The local newspaper ran a front page story that read ‘child says he saw the Lord’ [Kingsville Record- early 80s. maybe you can find it on line?]. The boys father is still a local dentist here in Kingsville, and the boy is alive and doing well today. I would like to mention that at the time I didn’t make a big thing out of it, but there were people that I knew from the Baptist church I attended that kind of said ‘wow, what happened’ and my response was ‘oh the Lord raised the boy from the dead’. It was more of a childlike faith as a new believer trusting God to do a miracle. We have such a tendency to want to publicize these types of things that I feel this hinders the Spirit from doing more miracles. Sort of like God knows how much we really like getting the glory out of ‘God used me to raise the dead’ that this prevents him from doing it more often! [Let me add that this is the 1st time I have told this story in writing, 20 something years after the fact. And the only other time I ever shared it was on the radio about 8 to 10 years after we started broadcasting]
(9) One of the friends I work with became a fishing buddy over the years. This friend is a Christian, but not so much into the word or real ‘active’. He’s a good friend whose part of an older type denomination. Over the years of our friendship I would encourage him to get a bible and read it for himself. One day while in simple conversation I ‘saw’ him going into a bookstore, picking up a bible, looking at it and then putting it back [let me say I ‘saw’ all this within a few seconds while talking to him!]. Well I relayed what I saw to him, and you could see the look of surprise on his face as he admitted to me that this just happened a few days earlier! I believe this to be a type of ‘prophetic evangelism’ where God uses us in simple every day settings to prophetically testify to people of the grace of God.
(10) let me put this one in here because it has to do with my ‘fishing friend’. One day I had a dream of a major earthquake. It was quite vivid and till this day I can still ‘see’ all the people running for cover and fleeing for their lives. Well a few days later I told my friend about the dream. Within a few weeks a major earthquake occurred in some part of the world and it was all you saw on the news for a few days. If I remember right they said it was the most deaths caused by an earthquake within around one hundred years.
(11) I had a dream that me and one of the people I was trying to reach out to were on a railroad track. We were in my truck and were stuck. As the train passed by we had to jump. My friend jumped to far and needed me to reach out a hand. Out of fear and self-preservation I didn’t. Well the train passed and we were both fine. But he was offended that I let him down at this point. This friend is one of the brothers who is struggling with drug addiction [cocaine!]. Well within a few weeks he went to jail and started writing me. I have written friends in prison for many years. I would say hundreds of letters over the years would not be an exaggeration! But it was many years since I have done it. I was tempted to put the letter aside and just read it and that’s all, but then I remembered the dream and felt like I should not let this friend down. I sent him all the little books I wrote over the years and after a few months of writing I could tell that there was a change for the better. Not just because he was in jail, but he would tell me how after reading the books I sent that it was amazing how much God was doing in his life. He really felt a type of ‘baptism’ of the Spirit while reading the books. [These are my words to describe what he was telling me]
(12) Back in the early 90s we had a prophet visit our city who was one of the original prophets from the Kansas City Prophets [this is the story of Mike Bickle and the Kansas city Church that is usually looked to as the ‘birthing’ of the modern prophetic movement]. After the service I felt the Lord wanted me to share a prophetic word with this brother. It was a personal word that could have been right or wrong [not one of those prophecies like ‘God loves you my child’ type things]. Well after I shared the word he told me that it was right on. This sounds a little like I am bragging to share this, but the reason I share this is I felt the Lord wanted Corpus Christi to ‘be on the map’ spiritually speaking. That there was a ‘prophetic’ connection that he wanted our city to have with the current prophetic movement. The prophecy said ‘you are going thru a period of disorientation, where its difficult to function. This season seems like its not going to end, but after a while the lord will stabilize you and you will feel ‘grounded’ again in order to function’. They had moved from the Kansas City area to Dallas and the wife was having these types of feelings [him too?].
(13) When I was a boy growing up in New Jersey I lived next to a cemetery on a hill. Well this cemetery became a place to explore and have fun in. During the winter after a good snowfall we would ride our sleds down thru the headstones. It was illegal but we would also keep an eye out for the cops, we were good runners! Also in the middle of the cemetery there was a train tunnel that went from my neighborhood and exited out to the Hudson River. It came out right across the Manhattan area of New York City. The skyline where the twin towers and other historic landmarks were located. We used to walk thru the tunnel [about a mile underground] and exit on the Hudson River. If a train were going thru we would hide behind a huge pipeline until it passed. The train guys would yell at us thinking we were going to rob the train [which I did do another time with some friends at a different location]. We even got arrested once for trespassing. Also one time me and a friend were going thru with bows and arrows and we saw the lights of 2 dirt bikes heading our way. We just stopped in the middle of the tracks [it was pitch black] and had the bows drawn until they got to us. We scared them pretty bad; I guess they thought we were going to kill them. Well anyway one time this cemetery demolished an old mausoleum. I went thru the wreckage and found what looked to be a cement seashell. It was big and heavy, but I thought it would look good in my yard. So I took it home and left it in the yard. Many years later [30 yrs?] on one of my trips back to New Jersey I took this ‘sea shell’ back to Texas with me in my truck. This was the year the Lord was using the imagery of the Lion of Judah in my life. I felt like the Lord was referring to me as Judah. This also was a time where I received certain words about increased authority to do Kingdom Works [Lions exercise great authority]. Well after returning back to Texas I placed this concrete thing in my backyard [where it still is today]. Well one day while talking to my dad on the phone I told him I took it. And he said ‘oh you took that old lions paw’. I then realized that this ‘sea shell’ was really the broken off foot from a lions statue that was mounted in the cemetery. To me this fit in perfectly with all the lion of Judah imagery I was seeing at the time. It spoke of exercising authority to do Kingdom works in that area of the country. It was a sign from my childhood that would take 30 years before it would have any significance. The ‘foot’ is significant; scripture says ‘blessed are the feet of those who are bringing the Gospel’. This spoke to me about having authority to bring the gospel to this region of the country. The friend I went thru the tunnel with was a good friend of mine while growing up. The second trip coming back to Texas as young men [18-19 yrs old] he came back with me. Eventually after I accepted the Lord I was able to lead my friend to the Lord. He stayed in Texas for a few yrs. Eventually he got married and had kids. He was a member of the Church I started in Kingsville in 1987. We were still young at the time [around 25 yrs old]. It was a blessing to fellowship as believers after all the years as good friends and doing crazy stuff. Eventually he went back to New Jersey and I found out that he discovered that he had aids. His wife also later found out she contracted it from him. I prayed for them as good friends for years. Out of the blue one day the wife called to let me know my friend died. He was around 32 yrs old. A few yrs later I received a letter from the wife and though she was sick it was a great testimony how her oldest son was on fire for the Lord and preaching the gospel in New Jersey. I never heard from them again, I assume the wife died by now. Till this day I continue to pray weekly for the boys [they had 4 boys] and pray that the Lord would continue to use them in ministry.
(14) I had a dream that I was on the old block that I grew up on as a boy. I was talking to a friend on the block and he invited me to look into his house. As I looked in I was surprised to see the amount of space in this house. Though I lived on the block as a boy, it surprised me that it was so spacious. I felt like the Lord was telling me that I would be surprised at the open door/access that he would give us in this region. That there would be more ‘room’ to function than I presently saw. Rooms/Houses can represent families/communities [the house of David, etc.] The Lord says things like ‘I have set you in a large place’ ‘in my Fathers House are many mansions’ [Bible verses] meaning spiritual access and ability to function freely.
(15) I had a dream that me and some friends were canoeing down a river/rapids and the friends who were in the canoe with me were seeing sights that they never saw before, they were truly like kids seeing fun sights for the 1st time. The ride was inherently dangerous [rough water] but it was a necessary danger in order to complete the course. I felt like the Lord was saying there would be many friends who would ‘take the journey’ with us even though it will be risky. Those who persevere will ‘see’ spiritual truths that they have never seen before.
(16) I received different prophecies over the years from various prophetic people. I distinctly remember a few from well-established national ministers. One said ‘I see your right hand as possessing great authority to do kingdom works, not just ordinary authority, but special authority to function’. Another said ‘you will have great influence, not just local but worldwide’. I am paraphrasing somewhat, but this was the jist of it. I don’t want to sound self-serving by sharing these, but I do want to say that when I received these types of words there was a tendency to think they must say this to everyone. I know they don’t, but there is always that ‘doubt’ that the Lord cant really be saying this about me. I do know he says things like this to many people throughout their lives, but we have a tendency to ‘write it off’ when God wants us to pay attention to prophetic words and if we discern them to be true, then we are not to ‘despise prophecy’. I also received a word from a friend of mines daughter. We were in a service [that her father was pastoring] and after the service the girl told her father that she heard the word ‘umpire’ while looking at me. Umpires make judgment calls that often offend both sides, get a lot of people mad at them, but are necessary in order for the game to proceed! [keep this one in mind as you continue to read!]
(17) One of my homeless friends [who now has a home] was trying to contact me because he had a vision of seeing chains falling off. Sort of like a ‘mantle’ of chains falling off and leaving his room. During this same week one of my good friends from another town who was part of our early church, and is one of the original ‘drug addicts/ex-cons’ who we reached out to in the early years. He contacted me to tell me of a dream he had. He dreamt that there were people hiding in a tunnel until a huge wave passed over. The wave was made of sand. After the wave passed the people came out and there was a huge pool/body of water. The people were required to ‘get in the water’ but were afraid and hesitant. I felt the dream spoke of a time of confusion/disorientation [sand] that would eventually pass. But after this season of disorientation is over we will be tempted to ‘settle in’ and not plunge into the continuing purpose of God. Don’t fear to go all the way into the water and allow God to carry you. The chains falling off spoke of the breaking of yokes and bondages that hinder us from fully functioning as Gods children. [Also remember the friend I went thru the tunnel with in the N.J. cemetery, when we came out we were at a huge body of water, the Hudson River. My friend who went thru the tunnel with me in New Jersey came to Texas with me. I always felt that the reason he left Texas and went back to N.J. prematurely was out of fear. It’s hard to make it in a strange state when you’re young with a family. In a sense my friend ‘came thru the tunnel’ with me, but the ‘body of water’ was to intimidating and he turned back to soon. ‘My soul is escaped like a bird out of the snare of the fowler, the snare is broken and I am escaped’ [Bible verses].
(18) Let me share a few signs that have to do with creation. Stars and trees and stuff like that.
A- Over the years I liked the imagery of scripture that speaks of being ‘like a tree planted by the rivers of water’. I actually bought a tree and planted it in my yard by a pond. While praying over the years in my yard I thought of the fact that this tree was planted by ‘water’ and it would remind me of Gods word. This tree is a bald cypress tree. During one of my trips to San Antonio I went to the river walk with the family. I noticed that there were lots of these trees along the ‘river’ walk. These trees were fully grown [not like the small one in my yard]. They had roots that grow down and up! I felt this to mean that our teaching ministry would ‘go deep’ and ‘go high’. This speaks of being grounded in the historic Christian faith as well as ‘going up’ into the realms of prophetic things. I also ‘noticed’ these trees in various surrounding cities that cover our broadcast area and felt like this spoke of our ‘perimeter’ spiritually speaking. I have a cousin that moved to a suburb of Houston a few years ago. I finally sent him some materials and recently felt the Lord wanted us to ‘extend’ to this outer border of our broadcast region. When I finally obeyed the Lord to ‘reach out’ to my cousin I asked my mother exactly what his address was. He lives in a suburb called ‘cypress’. God often uses trees in scripture ‘the lips/mouth of the righteous are like a tree of life’ ‘the kingdom of heaven is like a seed, after its planted it becomes a tree’. This imagery speaks of teaching, becoming established and things of this nature. Also a newly planted tree/bush requires more frequent watering [high maintenance] until its root system becomes fully established, but after it’s established it can draw sufficient resources on its own without having to be ‘spoon fed’. This speaks of the development of new converts. They often require special attention in the early days, but later on should become less dependent on others and learn to draw ‘water’ on their own. Jesus is the gardener and we are the field/garden.
B- Another tree in my yard is a mesquite tree. When I first moved to C.C. I went to the bay and pulled it up, as it was small and growing in the wet sand. This enabled me to pull it up easily and keep the roots at the same time. Over the years this tree has grown very wide [in contrast to the cypress that grows tall]. Just recently it ‘dawned’ on me that this tree was taken from the water area of the bay. It’s a tree that grows quite well along the water. While meditating on the idea that this tree represents a broad stable range of territory, I likened this to the ministry not only going ‘high’ and ‘deep’ but also going ‘broad’. This speaking of an extended area of influence. Just recently they did a study on the mesquite trees of our area. For many years they were considered trash trees [can anything good come out of Nazareth? Bible verse] but this study found the trees to be good for fuel [ethanol] were extremely durable [farmers cant get rid of them if they try!] and very strong hard wood. These are all good character traits that God wants to develop in all of us.
C- One day while shopping at Wal Mart I picked up a rose bush for the yard. Later on I read the tag and found out the name of this bush is ‘Coat of many colors’ after the story of Joseph. I can’t remember exactly but within a day or so the Lord spoke to me about Josephs coat. Josephs ‘coat’ [made from skins] represents ‘flesh’ or ‘body’. The diversity of colors represents Gods house [body] being comprised from every ethnos. God favored Joseph above every other ‘ethnic’ tribe that comprised natural Israel. This showing Gods favor resting on the Church [comprised of both Jew and Gentile] as opposed to any natural ethnicity. All the colors of this coat were worn by one man that had great favor with both man and God. In Jesus all ethnic groups are brought together as his ‘flesh’ [skin/ covering] and the fathers favor rests on us as ‘one new man’!
D- Over the years I have planted, transplanted trees. I have seen many bushes, plants and other types of growth occur naturally as well as by design. Some of the sturdiest flowers [you cant stop them!] actually grow in the wild. These are Texas wildflowers. I have bought cases of wildflower seed and tried to ‘make it happen’ in my own yard. I realized that these wildflowers could take root this way, but its not easy! Some people are under the impression because they are wild and grow in near drought conditions, that somehow this means they can easily be planted. Wrong. I like this imagery; they remind me of the Ecclesia [the Greek word in the New Testament for Church]. They grow ‘by nature’ and are hard to imitate [or make happen]. They survive and actually grow in extreme desert like conditions [wow!] and they are some of the most beautiful plants that you will notice at the right time of the year. God has many different ‘methods’ of establishing his ‘garden’. Some are natural, some are transplanted and some come from the store [the more organized type of Church/Christian] but they are all his planting and provide food and shade and other good benefits. Also the ‘wild’ ones seem to thrive the best in ‘desert’ conditions and are very hard to ‘force produce’. The Old Testament prophets actually use the imagery of the ‘desert blooming’ as a type of Gods restoration of Israel. The fact that God causes his people to prosper/blossom in dry/desolate places is an encouragement for all of us! The other day I took a ride around the Corpus Christi bay area with the family. We just drove thru a number of cities that I don’t usually drive thru. We stopped at a K Mart [Portland- this is the city you will read about later where we were going to rob a car] and went in to shop. I randomly picked up a book and opened it up to the middle and read ‘things are about to change drastically in your life, be excited about it’. I felt the Lord speak to me in this simple way. I immediately looked at another book next to it. It was a beautiful picture book called ‘the desert in bloom’. It’s a collection of many of the wildflowers and plants that blossom in the ‘southwest desert’ of the United States. I bought the book and quickly wrote the ‘verse’ that I read in the first book [I admit I wrote it before I bought the book and my kids were like ‘now dads writing in the books in stores’!]. I felt the Lord saying to many of us that he’s about to bring forth growth and beauty from our ‘dry and barren wilderness’. Scripture speaks of ‘suddenlies’ or specific seasons of drastic change and breakthrough. There are times when God works ‘drastic’ changes that set the course for the rest of our lives; we should be open and willing to allow him to do a ‘suddenly’ on our behalf! ‘SHALL THE EARTH BRING FORTH IN ONE DAY? SHALL A NATION BE BORN AT ONCE? FOR AS SOON AS ZION TRAVAILED SHE BOUGHT FORTH HER CHILDREN. I WILL EXTEND PEACE TO HER LIKE A RIVER. WHEN YOU SEE THIS YOUR HEART SHALL REJOICE. YOUR SEED AND YOUR NAME SHALL REMAIN. LET THY WORK APPEAR UNTO YOUR CHILDREN AND YOUR GLORY UNTO YOUR SERVANTS. THOU MEETSET HIM THAT REJOICETH AND WORKET RIGHTEOUSNESS. AS THE NEW WINE IS FOUND IN THE CLUSTER SO WILL I DO WITH YOU. I WILL BRING FORTH A SEED OUT OF JACOB, AND OUT OF JUDAH AN INHERITOR OF MY MOUNTAINS. THE FORMER TROUBLES ARE FORGOTTEN, THEY ARE HID FROM MINE EYES. REMEMBER NOT THE FORMER THINGS, NEITHER CONSIDER THE THINGS OF OLD. FOR I AM DOING A NEW THING, I WILL MAKE A WAY IN THE WILDERNESS AND RIVERS IN THE DESERT. YOU WILL NOT LABOR IN VAIN NOR BRING FORTH FOR TROUBLE. FOR YOU ARE THE SEED OF THE BLESSED OF THE LORD, AND YOUR CHILDREN ALSO.’ [Bible verses]
E- Let me share some ‘signs from heaven’. The bible warns us against seeking wisdom from satanic/occult sources. There is a distinction between astronomy and astrology. Astrology is forbidden for believers, astronomy isn’t! The scriptures actually contain many events where God used stars and signs from heaven in his dealings with man. The story of the wise men following the star until they found Christ. Future prophecies of the sun and moon turning into ‘blood’ and not giving off light. All these types of signs from heaven are biblical and legitimate. Over the years spending many hours outside praying has afforded the opportunity to see things in the sky while not really seeking after it. One morning I had a dream of a Christmas tree, it was the type of impression that I felt it to be significant. Over a few weeks I simply tried to be open to any type of confirmation from a tree or something to do with Christmas [it was July]. After a few weeks I let it go and really wasn’t going all out over this impression from the dream. While outside praying in the early hours [between 2-5 am] I simply looked up and saw a formation in the stars that looked just like a Christmas tree. I immediately felt this to be the sign. The day I saw the tree was July 17, my birthday. As I looked at the ‘tree in the stars’ a plane flew right thru the ‘tree’. I felt the Lord speaking to me on my ‘birthday’ with a sign from Christ’s ‘birthday’ [I know Jesus wasn’t born on Christmas]. Scripture says ‘this day have I begotten thee, ask of me and I will give you the heathen for your inheritance and the ends of the earth for your possession’ [somewhere in Psalms]. The plane spoke of sending [wings on your feet type imagery] and I felt the Lord saying he was going to ‘birth’ some new things in my life in the area of sending and going.
F- Another image I have seen in the stars is a ‘kite’. I really don’t know the actual formations of any of these stars [I couldn’t tell you where the big dipper is and stuff like that] but I simply see these formations as I pray. Also all of these formations are always there. Some times of the year you cant see them as well from where I pray, but these formations were there this morning while outside praying. I don’t want to give the impression that these are one-time events. That was true of the ‘meteor’ sign, but not with these things. Well as I saw the ‘kite’ imagery I remembered as a boy growing up in New Jersey how after flying a kite in a local park I broke the string and me and my dad drove a few blocks over and actually found it behind some house on a hill. So this image fit in with my prayer time over the northeast. From where I pray the ‘kite’ is actually located over the northeast. Also from my youth I remember going to Philadelphia on class field trips and visiting the historic areas of our country. By my old neighborhood as a boy there was a huge liberty bell as a memorial of the liberty we have in our country [Fairview]. I also have an old coin from boyhood that my father gave me with Benjamin Franklin on one side and the liberty bell on the other. Well all this speaks of freedom/liberty and the person of Benjamin Franklin. On one of my drives to work I recently noticed a billboard add for some company and it has a huge picture of Benjamin Franklin saying ‘go fly a kite’ [Ben Franklin was the one who flew the kite to see if he could harness the power of electricity thru a lightning bolt. There’s the lightning image / sons of thunder. The earlier vision of the lightning rod protruding into heaven and being struck also fits in here. Franklin was acting like a human lightning rod when flying the kite]. All these images spoke to me about sending and going into the nations. Scripture says God sets his ‘tent/tabernacle’ in the stars. Gods ‘territory/parameters’ are seen in the stars. The fact that this kite image is over the northeast spoke to me about ‘possessing this land’. Remember John the Baptist was called ‘thunder out of the desert’ showing God brought ‘lightning’ from Johns ministry out of the desert! I am surrounded by sand and ‘desert’ conditions where I live on a bluff. John the apostle wrote in revelation that he ‘saw a door opened in heaven’. John was on an island [desert/isolated place] when he ‘saw this’ sign from heaven. Putting it all together it simply means to me that its time to truly impact the northeast and bring some ‘thunder out of the desert’! Jesus said of John the Baptist that people rejoiced to see and partake of the ‘light’ [fire gives off light] for a season. Jesus understood thru prophecy that John’s time was limited. God is a consuming fire who makes his ‘ministers’ flames of fire. Scripture speaks of people at certain seasons of history as being ‘firebrands’. God ‘ignites’ people for specific purposes. Sometimes the actual ‘purpose’ causes us to be ‘consumed’ [the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up-Bible verse]. There should be a real sense of Gods purpose in our lives that goes beyond a ‘survival mentality’. We should allow God to ignite us for his purpose and be ‘used up’ [consumed] before we leave this life! ‘I will raise up a prophet among them like unto thee and I will put my words in his mouth, and he will speak unto them all that I command him’ [Bible verse].
G- Let me put these last 2 ‘signs in the stars’ here. I have seen the forms of both a trumpet as well as an arrow [it also looks like a cross]. Both of these speak of ‘a prophetic voice’ and ‘direction/sending forth’. John the Baptist was a ‘trumpet [horn] of salvation/ a voice in the wilderness’. God makes his ‘tent’ in the stars, Gods prophetic parameter extends much further than we comprehend! Also scripture speaks of children being like arrows in the quiver of a mighty man. Train up a child ‘in the way he should go’ and when he is old he will not depart from it. This speaks of direction and staying on course. Arrows are things you point/start in a certain direction and they stay on course until they hit the mark. The scripture speaks a lot about trumpets. Both actual and in symbolic ways. People at times are referred to as ‘trumpets’. Trumpets and ‘things giving off sound’ are actual weapons in scripture. The story of the children of Israel marching around cities and giving shouts. Israel’s history of blowing trumpets as they enter into battle. God’s people are like prophetic mouthpieces in society who carry on their lips [thru proclamation and prayer] powerful weapons that tear down the strategies of the enemy. God ‘sets’ us and points us in a definite direction [the path we should go] throughout our lives and launches us forth as ‘arrows in the hand of a warrior’ and we hit the mark [his purpose for us] and do damage to enemy territory! The arrow/cross speaks of God sending his son to earth with a purpose to ‘hit the mark’. Jesus was born to die.
H- I was reading the bible the other day and came across some scripture that spoke to the truth of all the patriarchs and saints of old having seen the stars. Things like God telling Abraham go outside and count the stars if you can. Jesus spent entire nights in prayer. It just struck me that they were all looking at the exact same stars that I see! There are not many [if any] things that you can actually look at on a daily basis that are the same things that Jesus and David and others also saw daily. I mean you can go to the shore if you live on the coast, but you still would not be seeing the same part of the beach or water that they saw [unless you live in the holy land!]. I just wanted you to have a sense of the unchanging nature and reality of our God. Scripture teaches us that creation itself is a wonderful testimony and reminder of Gods majesty and faithfulness. I would encourage you to make it a point and wake up early someday and go outside and pray under the heavens and realize that these are the exact same stars that Jesus prayed under 2 thousand years ago. I recently read a prophetic word from Chuck Pierce which said ‘the stars will be for signs and direction in the days ahead’ we forget the importance that signs and dreams played in the lives of the biblical characters. Solomon’s great story of God appearing to him and Solomon asking for wisdom as opposed to riches, you know the story, well it all happened in a dream! The story surrounding the birth of Jesus and fleeing to Egypt and God telling Joseph not to fear. The naming of Jesus and John the Baptist were words God sent from angels! I am currently doing a radio study on the book of Hebrews; the law is referred to as ‘the word spoken by angels’. God uses angels to communicate at times to man. All of these things were revealed thru dreams, angels were involved as well as signs from heaven [the star that led the wise men to Christ] we need to realize that we serve a living God, and he desires to communicate to his kids in various ways. None of these ‘ways’ should contradict scripture, and if they do then you reject the ‘sign’ and go with scripture! But we should not limit God thru our unbelief. Look at this verse ‘When I have bent Judah for me, filled the bow with Ephraim, and raised up thy Sons o Zion, against thy sons o Greece, and made thee as the sword of a mighty man. And the Lord shall be seen over them, and his arrow shall go forth as the lightning: and the lord God shall blow the trumpet, and shall go with the whirlwinds of the south’. I like this, it contains arrows, lightning and trumpets, as well as the strategic ‘Southland’ many of the above signs can be seen here.
(19) Let me share something that I just felt the Lord wanted me to share while outside praying. I came to Texas from New Jersey at 18 years of age. After getting into trouble in the navy I got kicked out after a few months [I like to tell my wife I earned my discharge in a few months while it took her 4 years! she was also in the navy]. After a few more months of partying and being ‘lost’ I ran into some Christians who I earlier met while in the navy and eventually accepted the Lord. As a young Christian I immediately saw the responsibility of the great commission and started reaching out to anyone who would listen. This is how I met a lot of the friends of mine who were drug addicts/ex-cons; I would go to the local jails and preach. Many of the older guys I would preach to [in their 40s] had sons who were also into drugs and stuff, these sons were my age. After I started our Church these younger guys eventually would get reached because I was friends with some of their fathers. Till this day there are a few good friends that I still keep in touch with from this group. We had various people attend our church while we rented space in an old hospital building. We eventually moved into my 2-car garage and held services there. One of the people who became a member of our church [though I didn’t have an ‘official’ membership thing for people to join] was an ordained minister who also had a background in sorcery and witchcraft. He was around my age at the time [26yrs old] and had a background of causing trouble in churches. I tried my best to let him help in any way I could, but I would notice little things that he was doing to cause trouble. Like leaving signs of sorcery/occult things around our house or the homes of some of our members. After a while it became obvious that he was here to start trouble. I always saw him as somewhat of a threat to the church, but I also recognized that maybe in some strange way we could reach out to him like anybody else. I was wrong! This person did all he could do to bother us. He started a rumor that me and him were having a gay relationship. A few people told me he was going around saying this. I went to his home with another brother in my car [who he said this to] and I asked him on his porch if he said this to so and so. He emphatically denied it. Well when the brother who he said it to got out of the car he knew he was caught. Of course this didn’t stop him. By this time I already told him not to attend the meetings anymore and tried to keep my distance from him. He would send people to my home at 2 in the morning while I was at work on a 24-hour shift. He harassed my wife and kids. He brought tainted food to my house for my family while I was not there [he pretty much confessed to this himself]. He would call the fire dept. while I was on duty and make false alarms. One time he called and actually reported a real fire in an abandoned house a few blocks away from where he lived. He was there when I showed up and acted like he had nothing to do with it. I had my tires slashed, window on my car broken while at work. It was pretty much a nonstop thing for a few years. A real pain! Over the years it eventually stopped. I did move to Corpus Christi from Kingsville and this did have something to do with it. I had to eventually come to a point where I could forgive him, which I did. Over the years he actually went down hill pretty bad and I helped him in a number of ways. I never let him get my address or phone # [which by the way he tried to get from my job once!] but I did forgive him and even prayed for him over the years. This was coming a long way from being on the verge of beating him up, as well as a few people he ‘enlisted’ in harassing me. They called me up at work to threaten me and in anger I told the guy to come on down right now and I’ll kick your @#$#@ right here. Obviously the Lord would have had to forgive me later, but it sure felt good at the time. I managed to eventually be a help to him without ever letting him get ‘to close’ to become a threat. I did pray for him a few times while at work and even visited him and prayed for him when his dad died. The last time I saw him [about a year ago] he and his son came by the firehouse just to say hi, he looked really bad. I sat with them for a while and shared some scripture with them. I prayed for my friend at the end, and an interesting thing happened. His son [around 20 yrs old] began uncontrollably crying as I prayed for his father to be restored and to return back to the original destiny and purpose that God had for his life. The father was surprised to see his son crying like this, I felt like those words I prayed were more for the son than the father. There is a verse in the bible [I think Isaiah] that says the sons of those who hated you and persecuted you will come and bow down before you. I feel this was a part of it. I believe God allowed all this to happen to me for his glory. Joseph said to his brothers who betrayed him ‘you meant it to me for evil but God meant it for good’. Joseph recognized that even though his brothers really meant evil, that God would turn it around for good. If all this stuff never happened I probably would have never moved to C.C. and started our radio ministry [which is located in C.C.] and you probably wouldn’t be reading this right now! [I’m adding this a few weeks later]. During the time between all of this happening and us moving to Corpus Christi I backslid pretty badly. Me and my wife were separated for a while. I actually did cocaine with some of the people I was previously helping, and had a few violent episodes. It wasn’t easy to recover from this, but I thank God I finally did. ‘I have seen your ways and I will heal you, I will lead you also and restore comforts unto you and to your mourners.’ [Bible verse]
(20) One of my ‘lost’ experiences prior to being discharged from the Navy was one night me and a friend decided to go U.A [unauthorized absence] from the base in Kingsville. We left the base and went to the local bus station and forked over all the cash we had to our names. I think it was around 15 dollars. We simply told the teller ‘give us a ticket to the furthest city we can afford’. We thought it would at least get us to Houston, but it took us only to Corpus Christi. Well we hopped on the bus and went to Corpus. We had no money so we went to the local blood bank and made a few bucks. We lost it when we got ripped off trying to by some drugs. We decided to rob someone for their car and leave Texas. We managed to go to some older guys house to party. I told my friend not to worry about it, Ill beat him up, you just help me get the keys. We went to a city over some unknown bridge [I know it now to have been the harbor bridge] and went to some unknown city [Portland]. As we sat there drinking some type of German beer [it tasted strong] I simply told my friend that when the guy comes back into the room I’ll hit him with the bottle and we get the keys and take off. While I was sitting there waiting for the guy to come back, I looked into a mirror on one of the walls and saw a beautiful painting of Christ on the wall. It was a real painting on one of the walls and it struck me in my tracks. I immediately felt like God was telling me not to go ahead with the plan so I aborted the mission. We got the guy to take us back to the seawall and I told him he lucked out because I was going to mug him but changed my mind. He looked pretty scared after I said this and just took off. I see this now as the Lord giving me a simple warning thru a work of art hanging on some wall! [It can be wrong to share these types of stories. I really haven’t shared them in detail like this before, but I’m trying to hear the Lord on what to share and not to share. I felt like he said to share this one]. ‘Remember not against us former iniquities, but let your mercies speedily prevent us’ [Bible verse].
(21) Another ‘story’ of Gods hand at work. While still in the Navy in Kingsville one night I was out partying and hanging out on the streets of Kingsville. I was new to town and didn’t know my way around. I wound up walking thru this field at night while sniffing a bottle of rush [its basically a chemical in a bottle that you take a hit from and get a quick ‘rush’]. I was totally high and disoriented walking thru this unknown town in the middle of this dark field at night. I eventually made it to a street and found my way back to the base. A few years later after accepting the Lord I had a friend who was a drug addict for many years who got converted and was a part of the church we started in Kingsville. One day while in his parents neighborhood I looked over at some ‘field’ and realized that this was the same field I was in that night. God says ‘I will save you out of all the dwelling places where you have sinned, and I will cleanse you’. ‘Get out of the city and dwell in the fields, even in Babylon, and there I will be with you and deliver you from the hand of the enemy’ [Bible verses]. God takes the places where we have fallen and gives us authority to advance his Kingdom in the ‘places where we have sinned’!
(22) Let me share a little about the friend in the above story. He was one of the first guys I met while going to the jails to preach. He eventually accepted the Lord after many years of being a heroin addict. Many of the older guys were into heroin, while the younger ones were into cocaine. After he became a Christian he was on fire for the Lord. He eventually helped us in our church as the praise leader. He also filled in to preach every now and then. He eventually pastored the local victory outreach in Kingsville and even invited me to preach at the fellowship. He worked with the same group of addicts and ex-cons that I worked with. He was a blessing to me and the ministry. His wife and boys [he had around 4 or 5, I don’t exactly remember] were all good friends and co-laborers in ministry. One night while on duty at the firehouse we got an ambulance call and I responded with my partner. Upon arrival I realized it was my friend who suffered a massive brain aneurysm. He lived about a week and passed away. The Lord allowed me to see him go from drug addiction to serving the Lord and finally leaving this life. A few years back I ran into his wife and kids in Bishop, TX. I prayed for her and spent some time with the youngest boy. He was catching turtles down by one of the creeks. I spent some time with him though there were many ‘ministry’ things that I needed to do that day. I talked to him about his dad and serving the Lord. I felt it was time well spent. The family has had some hard times since the death of the dad, I pray for them till this day. As I’m writing this it occurred to me that I’m surrounded by art that many of these friends sent me over the years. Whenever I would correspond with them in prison they would draw beautiful biblical themes on the envelopes. They also sent me handkerchiefs and actual paintings. I have a beautiful leather bible cover from a friend who made it while in prison. It’s all leather and personalized with our ministry name, its well worth a few hundred dollars if you were to have it made!
(23) One of the other families who lived in the same town [Bishop] had a few sons caught up in drugs and prison and the whole cycle. The one son I met first was pretty bad. He actually shot 2 cops thru the back seat of their police car when he was picked up as a boy. He spent some time in the juvenile facilities as well as prison. He also would come to our church and was a good friend of mine. He struggled with drugs and violence more than the others. I remember visiting him at his place one time. He knew he had a reputation of being mentally unstable and dangerous. While visiting him he did pick up a military type knife and was walking around with it. He wasn’t threatening at all, I just felt like it was a test. He wanted to see if I could trust him. He walked behind me at one point while I was reading something and I just ignored it. I felt the Lord said there would always be risks involved in working with people, and I would have to go for it. This friend was being chased by the cops one night. They knew his past, especially his history of shooting cops! When they caught him he swallowed a bag of cocaine and it broke in his stomach. He had a massive overdose and died about a week later. I did speak at his funeral and at least one of the younger boys who accepted the Lord during this time is still serving the Lord. I remember how the father would attend our home meetings with the boys and he was so happy that someone was spending time reaching out to his boys. The father [divorced from the mom] had a difficult past as well but became a believer before I met him and always prayed for his sons. It was an answer to prayer to have his sons seeking the Lord to some degree. Actually I just got a call from one of the ‘sons, sons’ who lives in Corpus Christi. He is doing well and just wanted to say hi. Scripture says ‘the words that I have put in your mouth shall not depart out of your mouth, nor out of the mouth of your seed, nor out of the mouth of your seeds seed’. God thinks and works generationaly. It’s a great blessing to see the sons of your spiritual sons serving Christ! ‘I will contend with him that contends with thee, and I will save thy children. The littlest one shall become a thousand, and the smallest one a strong nation. All thy children shall be taught of the Lord and great shall be the peace of thy children’ [Bible verses].
(24) One of the many ways God speaks to me is thru movies. Yes God can even use ‘worldly’ movies! I rented the movie ‘walk the line’ about Johnny Cash. I felt the Lord wanted me to watch it. I remember reading a ‘tract’ on the conversion of Johnny when I was in the Navy. I woke up one night around 1 or 2 am and was debating on whether to watch it or not. I very rarely will watch TV at this time. Usually if I wake up like this I will go outside and pray. I sat down and put the movie in the DVD player. As the movie is running thru the advertisements I cant seem to relax and get ready to watch it. I keep thinking of a recent trip I took to San Antonio. I am thinking of how I heard the train whistle while staying at a hotel downtown. The trains are also things that the Lord has used as signs in my life. Well as I'm sitting there unable to focus on the beginning of the movie, I hear Johnnies voice in the background singing ‘I took the train to San Antone’ and realized it was time to watch this movie! Some of the significant points were how Johnny had a turn around in his life when he started reaching out and sharing his testimony in the Prisons. This reminded me of the stages I went thru in the early years of our ministry. I had [and still have] many good friends I met while going to the jails to preach and writing these brothers as they went to prison. I usually look for some ‘prophetic’ sign while watching a movie like this. June carter gives Johnny a book called ‘the prophet’. Well there is a lot of imagery of John the Baptist and prophetic type things in my life; this was a good sign to me.
(25) As I was just outside praying I felt the Lord leading me to share this. I was at the point of intercession where I pray for all of the people that we have ever worked with or sown seed into by either word or deed. I refer to these as the ‘Ecclesia and her children’. This covers those of you who are reading this right now! What I wanted most of all to get across is that when I pray like this I am not praying only for the success of ‘our ministry’ [I really don’t like using this term at all] but the overall success of all of the Kingdom works that Father has predestined for all of you. This actually positions me to regularly pray for the benefit of everyone who hears us or receives from us in any way. This includes the leaders/pastors who might hear us and even dislike our strong stance on what the Church is. I am praying for their overall success and Gods purpose to prevail in their lives. I am not doing this out of some feeling of ‘I am more noble than them’. But out of the reality of realizing that all who listen or receive from us are the ‘field’ that God has called us to. Seeing things this way, as opposed to your prayer time being about the success of ‘your ministry’ places you spiritually in a great posture. You actually desire the benefit of people who might not fully understand you, or even those who actively work against you. These themes are actually contained in Jesus instruction on prayer. I would encourage you to begin seeing ‘your ministry’ less and less, and focusing on the overall benefit of the people you relate to over your life. You are not here to build some type of Christian business. You are here to build the Body of Christ! Let me also add here that because of the way we see ‘church/ministry’ and the way we confuse it with the 501c3 model, that this hinders prophetic people. I have heard it said ‘you need a local church covering’ in order to be in biblical order. What most people ‘see’ when they say ‘local church covering’ is a modern Christian business. I am not totally opposed to ‘modern Christian businesses’ [I attend a fantastic local church] as long as we are not using them to ‘de-legitimize’ other functioning members of Christ’s Body. I wrote a prophet in San Antonio who I heard years earlier. He advertised his ‘church’ in the S.A. paper. He did split off from another ‘apostolic’ brother thru a disagreement. He started his own ‘church’ in order to feel and be accepted as legitimate. This comes with the whole package of ‘receiving tithes’ and everything else we see as ‘so-called’ legitimate church. I simply felt the ‘prophetic word’ for this prophet was that he was limiting himself by trying to moderate meetings and become a ‘weekly lecturer’ to Christians while this was hindering his true prophetic ability that simply functions freely in society. I don’t see any prophets in the book of Acts setting up lecture hall environments in order to receive tithes and 'feel legitimate’. Well he never wrote me back, but not to long after I noticed he stopped advertising in the paper. I feel we need to re-think the whole issue of what makes up church and ministry and re-focus on our responsibility to build up each other in love. ‘Change the way you think and act, because Gods kingdom is here now. Don’t think you need a lot of extra equipment for this, you are the equipment. No special appeals for funds, keep it simple’. [Message bible]
(26) I shared this dream in one of our books. I dreamt that I was going to a university. Upon arrival I noticed many classes going on with many scholars in suits and ties. In one of the areas of the school there were a bunch of professors in a circle examining something. As I got closer I realized they were surrounding a person who looked like a wounded Indian warrior. His wounds were not normal wounds. They were an extreme mutilation. I thought of the verse in Isaiah that says Jesus was marred more than any man, beyond the point of recognition. I understood part of this dream speaking to the danger of Christians being able to learn and speak on many truths while never being able to fully embrace him. I also believe this could speak to Christ being the source of all knowledge and wisdom, a ‘pool’ or fountain of revelation that can never be totally exhausted. Scripture says that in Jesus are hidden ‘all’ the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. If you remember I shared earlier about John seeing ‘an open door’ in heaven [revelation]. Jesus is called the ‘door’ in the gospel of John. This is the same ‘John’ who wrote revelation. Revelation is a prophetic book that uses many types and symbols. The ‘door’ in heaven imagery can also speak to Jesus being ‘opened up’ [a spear was thrust into his side on the cross] and us entering in by faith and accessing all the riches and wisdom that are ‘in him!’.
(27) Let me share some train ‘imagery’. When I first moved to C.C. in 1992 I would drive to work in Kingsville thru a country road. Around 2004 the Lord was leading me to take another route that would go thru a lot of the surrounding cities on a regular basis. This allowed me to pray and prophesy as I drive thru this ‘perimeter’. I immediately saw the significance of this new route. ‘GO THRU THE CITIES, SAY UNTO JUDAH BEHOLD YOUR GOD’ and scriptures like this speak about going thru the land, prayer territories and going on the ‘walls of the city’. This route actually parallels the Railroad Tracks in this area. I began to see these tracks as the ‘borders’ of our local perimeter. ‘STRENGHTEN THE BARS OF YOUR GATES/ STRENGTHEN YOUR STAKES AND LENGHTEN YOUR CORDS’. I began ‘seeing’ the ‘bars’ of our gates as the tracks, they are strong ‘bars’ of steel. I had a prophet tell us that the Lord was going to ‘explode’ in our perimeter. He used the words ‘circuit’ and perimeter. During these early morning prayer drives I also sensed the imagery of the ‘lion of Judah’ being significant. One time I saw a bobcat on the tracks and incorporated the ‘lion of Judah’ imagery in with this perimeter. Well watching TV one night I was flipping thru the channels and stopped at a show documenting Railroads. I felt the Lord wanted me to watch it. They were talking about the original railroad system in the country and how there was a ‘race’ between different people to see who could get the first railroad that would criss-cross the country. The man who accomplished this was Theodore Judah! During the time that I began driving this new route I noticed that they were replacing all the tracks thru out this area. It was a few year process. While watching the news one night they explained that the reason they were doing this was so the train speed could ‘accelerate’ from 30 miles an hour to around 60 MPH. I felt this speaking to the many prophetic words concerning an ‘acceleration’ that the Lord wants to do at this season. Also during this season of driving thru the land they built many new overpasses for the first time thru out all these cities. This allowed me to drive ‘on the walls of the cities’ for the first time ever. The view of circling new territories and ‘being watchman on the walls/early morning prayer watch’ was significant at this time for our area. God always ‘softens up’ new ground thru prayer/intercession before launching the ground campaign! Also remember the earlier things I shared about the train tunnel growing up as a boy. Both New York and South Texas have connections with this type of imagery. ‘THE COASTLANDS SHALL WAIT FOR HIS LAW’ speaks to areas where people are ‘waiting’ to hear the prophetic word. These territories are both ‘coastlands’ [the gulf coast/Atlantic ocean]. ‘God shall be with you and bring you again into the land of your fathers’ [bible verses].
(28) I just had a dream about 30 minutes ago. Me and a bunch of people were shopping and ‘vacationing’ in some store area. It could have been an open market or something to that effect. It was winter and as we were shopping, there were people who were waiting for it to snow. There was a person there who never saw snow before. As we walked outside we began to see this commotion in the sky a long way off. As the sky began to ‘churn’ and show movement we began anticipating snow. Then the sky ‘exploded’ into an awesome multicolor light show. Even in the dream I stood back in awe and realized this was significant. As this ‘storm’ approached it caused fear in some and also great expectations. Some of us simply stood still in a praise type position and waited until it reached us. There was a strange phenomenon that occurred. As the storm reached us it sent out a bolt of lightning that also could have been a ‘bolt of snow’. Many of us gladly submitted to the experience, some for the first time [those who never saw snow before]. Also when this was happening there was a half price sale on everything in this shopping area. People were shopping like the day after thanksgiving sale. I feel this speaks to God visiting us in unique and ‘drastic’ ways in the days ahead. During these times of visitation ‘things will be purchased easily’ or treasures that were harder to access before will be easier now. The snow represents a ‘cleansing’ type experience [though your sins be like scarlet they shall be white as snow]. A few years ago it snowed on Christmas day in Corpus Christi. This was an event that hasn’t happened in 100 years or more [the snow stuck to the ground and it was all over town up to a few feet!]. Many of us have been struggling to enter in to places with the Lord, to ‘access’ divine resources from his ‘store house’. As God visits us with ‘divine bolts’ of cleansing we will find it much easier [half price] to possess the true riches that he has for us. [I just went into the house from my office and the song playing on the Christian music channel on TV was ‘let it snow, let it snow, let it snow’!]
(29) Let me make a confession here. I often listen to the old rock songs that I grew up with. I actually sense a strange type of ‘identifying’ with this generation while interceding in prayer listening to this music. Prophetic things can be very strange at times. Well I was just listening to the song ‘comfortably numb’ by Pink Floyd and remembered this. I don’t know if it was a dream or vision or what. I remember ‘seeing’ people by a waterfall. As they stuck their hands into the fall they became ‘numb’ and one with the fall. I feel this speaks to our ‘thrusting’ in to Gods purpose and becoming one with him. You might think the ‘numbness’ being insignificant. In Isaiah it says ‘ for more are the children of the ‘desolate’ than of the married wife’ this can be interpreted as being ‘numb’.
When I was a boy growing up in New Jersey my dad brought me home a stick [small tree] that he pulled out of the ground when he went mushroom hunting. I made a cane out of it [you use the ‘root’ end as the handle]. It actually looks like a serpent. On one of my trips back north I brought this back with me to Texas. There were times while praying and walking in my study that I would hold it and use it ‘prophetically’ to point to areas. I had the sense of holding it like Moses staff or Aaron’s rod that budded. This tree is a dogwood tree. My friend told me that dogwood was the wood believed to be used to make Christ’s cross. This could represent having authority [Moses staff displayed Gods authority in Egypt] as well as the ‘serpent on the pole’ imagery used when God told Moses to put the statue of the serpent on the pole. Jesus used this imagery in John chapter 3 to speak of himself ‘as Moses lifted up the serpent…’ Jesus is pictured in this strange way because he became cursed [serpent] for us on the cross. Jesus gives us authority thru his suffering for us. Thanks to the ‘dogwood’ we can rule and reign in life thru him!
(30) I was just thinking about the recent ‘fall from grace’ of Ted Haggard. Basically Ted was exposed as struggling with homosexuality for some time. He was a very influential leader in the evangelical church. I immediately began praying for him and his family after this happened. I have gotten beyond the point of judging and looking for reasons why these things happen. The most honest statement I have heard in a long time is after a few days of trying to cover up his sin; Ted made a statement saying ‘I am a liar and a deceiver’ and admitted to his failure. David said in Psalms 32 that every one that is Godly would pray at one point or another ‘cleanse me from my iniquity’. There seems to be an appointment with all of us as believers at coming to a point of total honesty and not fearing what man will think of us. This happened with Jimmy Swagart and Paul Cain. Both Godly men who came face to face with their flesh. I see an identifying with Christ that these men go thru that exceeds the normal image that we try to present to people. David also said in Psalms ‘I am a worm and no man’. This was speaking of Christ’s feeling at the cross. Jesus experienced a moment of total worthlessness as he ‘drank’ the sins of the world into his very being. I believe that there are moments of feeling like this in our lives that God uses to cause us to be real and deliver us from the opinions of men. If what we are doing is truly for God then we can overcome these times of inadequacy and journey forward to what is ahead. ‘And they that understand among the people shall instruct many, yet they shall fall many days. Now when they fall they will be helped with a little help. And some of them of understanding shall fall, to try and to purge them and make them white, a time appointed by the father!’ [Bible verse]
(31) Let me make a confession here. I have shared a lot of stories of fighting and being violent. After all these years you would think that it’s over. I don’t fight like I used to, but there have been times were I have been close. I recently was at a homeless hangout where I see friends who are quite rough. Most of them know me pretty well and I do help them in different ways. The other day I was there with some friends just sitting and reading the paper. A new guy showed up and was acting tough. He had long hair [longer than mine!] and was shirtless with tattoos all over his body. After a while he asked someone who I was. And the other guy said he’s some Christian who must not have a job [wrong] and probably lives off the offerings from the ministry [wrong again] and his wife probably supports him [strike 3]. I ignored it for a little while. Then the guy with the tattoos [who now had his shirt on] walks up to us and takes his shirt off and displays the big tattoo on his back. It was big letters that simply said F. U. Well I got the hint. As I was leaving I gave in to it. I got loud and walked up to the ‘brothers’ and told them I am a firefighter and don’t take money from the ministry or my wife. I laid ‘hands’ on his shoulder and asked if he had any more questions or any thing else he needed to settle. He didn’t. They looked humble at this point. I know this was wrong, but I felt I needed to tell this to let you guys know that I’m still real. Some of my friends know I have lost my temper before and I don’t want to give the impression that I’m perfect.
(32) The other day I was watching fox news [another confession- I am a political junkie] and our current U.N. ambassador resigned his post. This guy reminds me of a prophetic/pastor friend I met years ago in C.C. The U.N. ambassadors name is John Bolton. The reason he resigned is because when Bush first appointed him he did it as a recess appointment [that’s when you appoint a position while congress is out of session]. Bush appointed him this way because he had a lot of opposition from the opposing party to his nomination. To be fair the guy was doing the job for about a year at the time of his resignation and many of his critics changed their mind about him. But because of petty politics [which both sides practice!] the recent midterm elections gave a majority to the Democrats in the house and Senate and the writing was on the wall. The new incoming senior Democrat stated his opposition to the ambassador and he knew his time was up. The name ‘John Bolt’on is interesting, I have said a lot in this paper about these images [John the Baptist as ‘thunder’ out of the desert. a ‘bolt’ of lightning accompanies thunder]. The fact that he initially was rejected before he even had a chance of ‘proving himself’ speaks to the churches position at large during the restoration of the gifts of apostles/prophets. Many didn’t care if people had the ability to function or not. They simply did not want these ‘ambassadors’ of the Kingdom to function! After a few years now of these ministries operating and representing the Fathers Kingdom you think it would be time for the church at large to recognize and receive them, but this hasn’t necessarily been the case. While these gifts are being accepted and received to a greater degree than before, they are still not being received in a complete way by the church at large. Jesus said if we receive a prophet ‘in the name’ of a prophet we receive a prophets reward. There is a sense of certain giftings being refused, despite the fact that they have actually functioned well in the office! The ‘majority’ will not entrust to them the legitimacy of their office because of petty things. Jesus also told his gifted ones to shake the dust off of their feet if not well received. John Bolton simply resigned and would not let Bush give him another ‘side title’ that would allow him to still be around without the full legitimacy of his office. I feel there are good and bad things that have happened in the prophetic/apostolic movements. One of the mistakes was seeing a rise in ‘apostolic covering’ type ministries. It was not uncommon to find well meaning ‘apostles’ going around convincing well meaning ‘pastors’ to come under their covering. You can go to some of these web-sites and see all the ‘churches’ that some of these brothers have under their ‘covering’. In many of these scenarios you find too many man made ideas and people/ministries struggling for ways to fit into some misguided idea of ‘covering’. To be simple about this, Jesus is our covering and all of us [apostles, prophets, evangelists, and yes even plain old Christians] should work in unity to build each other up in love. This trying to get people under my covering thing is missing the mark in my opinion. Paul’s apostolic ministry freed people from authoritarian leaders [Judaizers] and released believers into the great reality of our universal priesthood that we all equally share under Christ. We derive our legitimacy from the fact that we are the actual house of God. God literally dwells inside the people of God by his Spirit. This causes all of us to be properly related to God and one another on an equal plain. This was one of the great truths of the reformation ‘the priesthood of all believers’. No believer needs to find a ‘spiritual father’ or ‘apostolic covering’ to be in proper order. Paul told the Corinthians that he was their ‘spiritual father’. This simply meant that he ‘birthed’ them into the Kingdom by the gospel. To go around trying to make people submit to your authority is contrary to what Paul was doing here. He actually told the Corinthians that they were allowing other quasi leaders to become their authority and he was invoking his original relationship with them in order to bring them back into the liberty of Christ.
(33) During my last year of high school, prior to joining the navy, I had a few violent and ‘drug’ induced experiences. One night at an annual carnival I told one of my friends that if I see someone tonight I’m going to #$@@ [Beat him up]. It was the last year I would attend this carnival [and if I remember it was the last time they would hold it in this park. Carnivals are supposed to be fun, but this became a place for rival schools to fight and see who could be the toughest. I remember one year where the students were actually going punch to punch with the operators of the rides and where the students turned over the travel trailers where the guys were staying] and I wanted to ‘go out with a bang’. The particular person I was looking for used to be a friend of mine, but this night I had a reason to fight. He was big and looked like a biker, but I knew I could take him. Sure enough the friend I was with spotted the guy. I think my friend wanted me to beat the guy up because over the past few years he got big and was more threatening to some of the guys in this area of the city. Well I did walk up to him and beat him up pretty severely, I was later accused of beating him with a pipe. I didn’t, but I did hit him pretty hard and even drop kicked him in the face with work boots. I was to the point of uncontrolled rage that I wouldn’t stop until one of my other friends grabbed me. Later on as we were leaving the park some of his friends [about 20 of them!] tried to jump us on our way home. They were swinging chains and stuff. My friend looked at me and asked what to do, like I could fight our way out or something. I just told him ‘run’ and we got away. The cops were looking for me for a few days and I had to watch my back after this.
Also one night me and a friend did some ‘mescaline’ [I don’t know if its spelled right, but this was a type of ‘acid’/hallucinogen] I did more than your supposed to do and began hallucinating pretty badly. I stayed at a friend’s house for a day or two until I could come out of it. I feel I overdosed pretty bad on it, and for years later I would experience ‘flashbacks’. It was having the same sensation or feeling of being ‘high’ even though you are not doing the drug. During this time the friend I was with gave me a cross that he had bought for a Christmas present for his mom. He had it in his pocket that night and knew that I was not doing well. This actually is one of the signs of a series that would take place in the next few years as a warning to get off of the track I was going on. [Let me add again that some of you that are reading our materials are not getting much out of the telling of these stories, that’s OK. I give our books away to all the people we work with, and to some of them these ‘testimonies’ can be evangelistic tools. I sometimes am concerned that our booklets and teaching might be hard to understand by some of the people we work with. So for you who get something out of this, good. To the others, just skip it and go to the other stuff. Also you notice how you never hear people testifying of how they used to be child molesters or rapists, this shows you how we tend to ‘testify’ of the things that make us look ‘cool’, be assured I have been at the losing end of a few fights myself!]. ‘ In the day I deliver you from all of your iniquities, I will cause you to dwell in the cities and the wastes shall be built. Your warfare is accomplished, your iniquity is forgiven. Now is the judgment of this world, now is the prince of this world cast out.’ [Bible verse]
(34) Another movie that I felt the Lord spoke to me thru was ‘Cinderella man’. This is the true story of James Braddock who became heavyweight champion of the world during the depression. The story spoke of overcoming huge odds in order to eventually succeed. I always liked boxing and did some as a boy. During the golden gloves I had the chance once to box in Madison Square Garden. Well in the movie Braddock fights in the garden. He lived in North Bergen [my hometown] and the park I was telling you about earlier where we had the fights has the name ‘Hudson County Park’, but the real name is ‘James J Braddock Park’. I didn’t realize any of these things until I saw the movie. God can take us out of seemingly hopeless situations and turn things around no matter how bad it looks!
(35) ‘Remember not the former things, neither consider the things of old. Behold I am doing a new thing. I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. Those that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places and make the desolate cities to be inhabited. Thou shalt be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of paths to dwell in. Get thee out of thy country and from thy kindred and from thy father’s house unto a land that I will show thee and I will make of thee a great nation. Fear thou not for I am with thee, be not dismayed for I am thy God. I will strengthen thee, yea I will help thee and I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. No weapon formed against you shall prosper. I have made you a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth. You will thresh the mountains and beat them small. All that strive with thee shall perish. Though I have afflicted thee I will afflict thee no more. It was good for you to have been afflicted. Before you were afflicted you went astray, but after you kept my word. In the land of my affliction you have made me fruitful. For this is as the waters of Noah unto me, for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no longer flood the earth, so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee! Thou art my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you. Spare thy people O Lord and give not thine heritage to reproach. All the trees of the field are withered away because joy is withered away from the sons of men. Come lay all night in sackcloth ye ministers of my God. I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten. Fear not O land, be glad and rejoice in the Lord your God. And you shall eat in plenty and be satisfied and praise the name of the Lord your God. My people shall never be ashamed. Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy: break up your fallow ground. For it is time to seek the Lord till he come and rain righteousness on you. Therefore turn to thy God, keep mercy and judgment. Wait on thy God continually. I did know thee in the wilderness, in the land of great drought. O Israel thou hast destroyed thyself, but in me is thine help. Don’t stay long in the place of the breaking forth of children. I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely. For my anger is turned away from him. I will be like due unto him, his branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be like the olive tree. I will not leave your soul in hell, nor suffer you to see corruption. For you will forget the shame of your youth and not remember the reproach of your widowhood anymore. Though he were a son, yet learned he obedience thru the things that he suffered. He that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin, that he should no longer spend the rest of his time fulfilling the desires of the flesh, but the will of God. When I was in distress you enlarged me. Lift up thine eyes round about and see, all they gather themselves together and come to thee. Thy sons shall come from far and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side. Thy people shall all be righteous, they shall inherit the land forever. The branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified. A little one shall become a thousand and a small one a strong nation. I the Lord will hasten it in his time. Be in pain and labor to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in travail. For now thou shalt go forth out of the city, and thou shalt dwell in the fields, and thou shalt go even to Babylon. There shalt thou be delivered, there the Lord shall redeem thee from the hand of thine enemies.’ [Bible verses]
(37) Earlier in this paper I spoke on the identification that takes place when we experience failure and inadequacy. When David in the psalms prophesies ‘I am a worm and no man’ he is speaking of Christ’s feeling of worthlessness and total degradation that he experienced at the cross. We seem to think that the cross in Christ’s life was an experience/feeling of victory and excitement. These are the results of the cross, but the process itself was separation and a tremendous sense of worthlessness. When you fail and sin, how do you ‘feel’? Even though God ‘legally’ does not hold it against you as a believer, yet the sense of guilt and failure are there. Though Jesus ‘knew’ he was fulfilling the Fathers will, this in itself did not immunize him from the same feelings many times fold. Dietrich Boenhoeffer, the great German theologian, was complicit in an assassination plot against Hitler. Boenhoeffer was a part of the 'confessing church’ as compared to silent church during World War 2. Boenhoeffer believed it was the church’s responsibility to do more than just exist in a time of great cataclysmic change. The events of Hitler’s third Reich would affect the world for many generations to come. Boenhoeffer took this to an extreme [in the eyes of some historians] by actively pursuing the assassination of Hitler. He wrote about this in some of his writings. He ‘flirted’ with the idea of doing something 'wrong’ and aligning with a certain type of evil [assassination] in order to fulfill Gods will. I don’t want to get too technical here, we know the New Testament says ‘shall we do evil that good may come? God forbid!’ but Boenhoeffer was ‘dancing’ with this concept of ‘becoming one with Christ’ even in his moment of ‘I am a worm and no man’ experience. This is why I said earlier that the Ted Haggards and others who have been thru these experiences can to some degree identify with Christ in certain aspects of his suffering that the average believer might not enter into. I know these ideas are controversial in the world of ‘theology’. All I wanted to express today is some of you are allowing the failures and past sins in your life to side track you from getting up and moving forward. Let God ‘redeem’ the years that the locust hath eaten and see your failure as the potential of being able to identify with Christ in ways that others cannot. Read the stories of the prophets in the Old Testament, they saw themselves as unclean and unworthy to do Gods will. God sovereignly ‘cleansed’ them, but in and of themselves they were ‘undone’. This principal is seen in the apostle Paul’s life as he ‘sees’ his weaknesses as ‘necessary evils’ in order to allow Gods will to move forward. In your weakness God receives the glory by what he’s dong thru you. You know its him doing his will thru you, because you know that ‘in your flesh dwelleth no good thing’.
(38) ‘The siege mentality’. While I was just outside I thought about [and felt like!] being under siege. One of the strategies of war contained in the Old Testament is for one nation to ‘besiege’ another nation. What they would do is surround the central city and ‘isolate’ them from all incoming or outgoing connections/resources. This created a mentality in the city that would cause the people to ultimately turn on themselves, and in extreme conditions even eat their own children to stay alive. I feel there are times where the enemy realizes the impact we are making and uses this strategy against us. We get to places where it’s difficult to ‘break out’ thru prayer and intercession and it’s also difficult to ‘bring in’ or receive fresh resources from the Lord. The cities and Kings [David in Jerusalem and other Kings of Israel] that would overcome this attack where those who ‘stored up’ enough resources during times of peace in order to carry them thru to victory. Either the attacking force would themselves get tired and have difficulty re supplying, or they too would be attacked at their home base while they where out attacking others [wow!]. I felt the word of the Lord to you right now is ‘strengthen the things that remain [Revelation]’ and trust in the storehouse of resource that you have ‘built up’ until this period of time in your life. Don’t think you have to ‘do as much’ during this time as you’ve done in the past. What I mean by this is you are to still reach out and go forward, but the long hours of preparation are over! Don’t feel guilty about it. Trust God to use you to ‘cast your bread upon the water’ and to ‘sow much seed’ it will not return void! Also the ‘eating of the young’ speaks to the churches mentality of not welcoming or receiving the spiritual offspring that she herself has given birth to. There are times where Christians attack and devour the prophetic people that actually have come forth from her. We ‘eat’ them by blaming them for the problems that they simply ‘saw’ coming. It’s like there being blamed for simply being the mouthpiece. Also I remember reading one time that a company somewhere in the world actually used certain parts of unborn aborted babies as a supplement in certain dietary products. If this were true it would speak to the horrendous act of aborting our children and actually ‘eating’ them in some form! Wow may God have mercy on us all [I don’t want to lie here, but the product might have been something they injected as opposed to ingesting].
(39) I have been meaning to speak on this for some time and wasn’t exactly sure what forum to use. Well I guess this is as good as any. In the world today there is no greater singular threat posed to western civilization than that of radical Islam. I am not saying here that all Muslims are the threat, but the simple fact is the rise of radical Islam is now the most serious threat to peace on the world stage. The fact that the adherents to this religion believe they are carrying out the dictates of their ‘prophet’ has tremendous spiritual significance that the church at this time in history needs to understand. Scripture speaks of ‘false prophets’ and ‘the false prophet’ who will influence society and cause people to ‘worship the beast’ and imagery like this. American Christianity often relegates these prophecies to some future dictator and ‘Tim Lahaye’ type interpretations that miss the relevance of what I just discussed. The fact that the greatest threat to world peace today is a movement whose followers are carrying out the dictates of their ‘prophet’ has to be understood thru spiritual discernment. I know it’s politically incorrect to call Muhammad a false prophet. My intent is not to offend Muslims. The simple fact is if you look at the story of Islam and Muhammad there is no other true Christian perspective than to see him as a false prophet. There have been many thru out history to be sure, but this one is the dead spiritual leader of a worldwide movement whose aim is world domination. These radicals indoctrinate their kids in there religious schools from a very early age. The Muslim population is exploding worldwide at the time of this writing and I can’t see a better candidate at this time for the title of ‘the false prophet’ than Muhammad. He causes many people to ‘worship Allah’. Allah is not the Christian God! If they are not worshipping God then whom might it be that they’re worshipping? I know language like this is not common toady, but I agree with Franklin Graham’s assessment of this religion as being ‘an evil and wicked religion’. I am not saying this is true of all Muslims. Muslims are humans whom God created in his image and for his glory. Our goal is not to ‘kill them off!’ but to deliver them from the bondage of false religion and bring them into the true knowledge of God in Christ!
(40) Yesterday I was fellowshipping with some homeless brothers and we had a real interesting discussion. Over a 2-3 hour time together we eventually went to whataburger and met with another Christian who regularly witnesses to anyone he sees there. During the discussion I was so impressed by the level of knowledge and understanding that some of these ‘simple’ believers had. The grasp of sharing in community [as opposed to tithing to the institution] was truly grasped by one of the guys. It wasn’t a rebellious thing; this one brother is actively serving the Lord with a local church that reaches out to the homeless. After this discussion it humbled me to think of the reality of this homeless person having a better grasp of giving and New Testament sharing of goods, then most Pastors have! These guys quoted scriptures on giving and were in no way ignorant of the subject. One of the other guys finally gave me a copy of a booklet he’s writing and I am including it in our tape and book catalog. What I feel the Lord wanted me to express thru this simple story is that Christ’s Spirit is always active and instructing those who believe in him. The verse that says ‘God hid things from the wise and prudent and revealed them unto babes’ speaks to the humility of these simple believers actually having a better grasp on certain aspects of Christian truth then the Pro’s!
(41) It just occurred to me that over the last week or so I have given this paper and some other stuff to a wide range of people and past friends. Many of you have been on this journey with me at various stages. Some of you are still at different points in this story! What I am feeling is some of you have been ‘left’ [not in a bad way] at these places [geographically and spiritually] for the continuing purpose of God. You are where you are to complete ‘this story’. I just was thinking of one of my old buddies from the early Kingsville days as I was driving to work yesterday. He is one of the ‘ex-addicts’ who spent lots of years in prison and who made me the leather bible cover I spoke about earlier. As I haven’t seen him in a few months I felt like I needed to get this paper to him. Sure enough as soon as I pulled up to the fire station he was waiting for me. Later I got a call from him and he already was sharing some of the stuff from this paper. I just sensed the great responsibility all of us in this journey have for each other. There are times where I have moved on from one point to the next and some of the older friends wanted things to stay the same. I sometimes also get the feeling that some of my Christian friends are excited about ‘the ministry’ and want to ‘join’ or be part of some Christian thing that we are doing. I really have no avenue or ‘Christian thing’ that we have to join. I simply try to convey the responsibility we all have to move forward in this journey and ‘I’ll meet you when this thing is wrapped up’ [when the Lord returns]. I don’t want to be rude, but I want all of our friends to embark on their journey as well. We as Christians have the tendency to ‘arrive’ at places spiritually where we get comfortable and stop truly reaching out to the world around us. I don’t want this for myself or any of you! I want to always be in touch with all of our friends, but I also want to live the journey ‘on the road’ and see you at the finish line. There will be plenty of time to sit back and go over things then!
(42) I just saw an interview with Mel Gibson that reminded me to share some stuff. This past year Mel has been in the news because of an incident of being stopped by the cops while driving drunk and making anti Semitic remarks. In the recent interview on CNN Wolf Blitzer asked Mel about the fact that a highly influential Jewish leader refuses to forgive Gibson no matter how many times he confesses [I think Jesus told Peter if your offended 70 times 7 to forgive!]. Well this particular Jewish leader also believes it is his responsibility to destroy Gibson’s career and boycott him into ruin. All of this is being done under the banner of ‘Jewish ancestry’ and a feeling of wanting to destroy those who would in any way denigrate their race. Well its obvious that Mel was wrong in what he said, but the reaction from this Jewish leader shows the danger of seeing any natural heritage as ‘the ethnic group’ that must be defended at all costs. The New Testament teaches a balance in dealing with natural Israel outside of the Church. Paul says as far as the Gospel is concerned they are ‘enemies’ [strong words!] but as far as Gods purpose for them in history God still has great plans for Israel. The mistake the evangelical Church is making is they are not ‘rightly dividing’ these two lines. I recently heard a preacher in Israel teach a message [on TV] that spent a whole hour going back to the Old Testament promises to Abraham and arguing the fact that the New Covenant does not ‘supersede’ the Abrahamic one. This was all taught under the guise of exposing the false view of ‘replacement theology’. The underlying mistake that this minister was making was he left the impression to the Jewish people who were there that God is still dealing with them apart from the Christian gospel. While there is some element of truth to this [as God deals with all nations, even those that are not Christian] the basic flaw to this type of thinking is we give the impression that God still favors people based on natural ethnicity, which is fundamentally wrong. Gods favor today rests on the ‘new man’ made up of both Jew and Gentile [and any other race who believes!]. God said the day was coming when he would institute a ‘new covenant’ not according to the old ways. I know some are teaching that this is Moses Law [the old ways] and therefore the abrahamic covenant still exists, but the fundamental shift from law to grace is a ‘new thing’. God deals with all mankind based on there answer to the question ‘what will you do with this man’ [Christ]. Those who do not believe remain under wrath and judgment, and those who believe enter into peace. The fine line between anti Semitism and the wrongful exalting of Israel’s natural heritage must be understood. I read an article from a protestant minister who named all his kids after Israel [Abraham, Isaac, etc.] and during the interview referred to himself and other Christians as simply being saved sinners, whereas Israel were truly Gods special people. What do you think this view does for evangelism? How does natural Israel see herself when we do this? They must think that if all these Christians view her in this way, then why even think about accepting Messiah! Another view I recently heard was because all the apostles and Jesus were Jewish, therefore ‘Jewish ness’ is just as important as faith in Christ. This view doesn’t seem to understand that these Jewish apostles made statements like calling natural Jerusalem ‘Sodom and Egypt’ [referring to Israel’s rejection of Christ]. The New Testament speaks of ‘the synagogues of satan’, was this some 1st century satanic cult? This was speaking of religions emptiness apart from Christ [all the synagogues that tried to carry on religion without Christ!]. I know that this type of language is strong for the Church today. My intent is not to be anti Semitic! It is simply to be Christian. All peoples and nations will be judged on what they do with Christ. God said the days were coming when he would deal with Israel under a ‘new’ covenant, not some ‘re-vamped’ old one. Those days are fast approaching [theologically there already here!] when all Israel will ‘see him’. Israel [the holy land] has become the ‘Disney world’ for much of modern evangelicalism. We need to see her as Jesus did, when he wept over her and said ‘if you only knew the things that belong to your peace, but they are hid from your eyes’. May God open the eyes of all races so the prophecies of all nations flowing into Gods nation may be fulfilled. For we [The Church] are truly one nation under God.
(43) As of this writing I am still in the month of December 2006. I just started sending this paper [and our other stuff] to old friends from New Jersey. The images of ‘colonizing’ the north and the ‘Ports’ [both Corpus Christi and New York City have Ports] are images that I have incorporated into my prayer time for this region. I thought it interesting that the very first contact I had from the classmates site that I use to find old friends was from an old friend I use to play street football with as kids growing up [for some reason their team would always win!]. Well this old buddy gratefully sent me his mailing address and I mailed him a packet of materials [I see this as planting seed, I don’t understand why we don’t all do this. I have given away books and stuff for years, both to ‘big name’ national ministers as well as to homeless friends. Doing this thru out your life is a process of fishing for men. You can’t catch fish without bait. And the fish aren’t going to pay you for the bait!]. This friend told me he works at the Port authority of New York City, and he lives in a town called ‘Colonia’ in New Jersey [This is exactly how you pronounce ‘colony’ here in south Texas!].
(44) I was just thinking about the times over the years where I have spoken to ministry leaders and others who found it difficult to grasp our teaching on the ‘Local Church’ and what she is. Sometimes these brothers unknowingly confirm what I believe. For instance they might criticize their Pastor for blatant ‘holes’ in his teaching that ALL LEADERS have. The fact that we have a tendency to exalt and prop up people where one individual is the main voice of the Local Congregation allows for the Body of Christ to see these faults to an exaggerated degree. It is my belief that the modern phenomenon of Christian leadership is to some degree a ‘disability’ that causes believers in general to be ‘deformed’ [I don’t want to sound too critical here, those of you who have read our stuff know what I mean]. This leads to the effect of many ‘congregants’ seeing the shortcomings of leaders simply because it was Gods original intent to speak thru the whole group corporately. When this natural flow is restricted by the limited forms of ‘Church’ that we embrace, the end result is for the ‘members’ to see these mistakes. What I wanted to emphasize is in the past while having discussions with individuals who do not see Church the way I see it, I found it interesting that they are the very same ones who ‘see’ all the faults of ‘their Pastor’!
(45) I was just reading in Psalms where it talks about ‘the stone being smitten and water coming forth’. Also God bringing forth water like rivers from the ‘smiting’ or piercing of the stone. Well we know that Jesus is the stone that was pierced and bruised for us. God brought forth rivers of life [Holy Spirit] from the piercing of his son. I also see the language I have used earlier in this paper about the opening up of the channel and water flowing thru it. The channel is literally 2 huge stone walls strutting out into the Gulf. Bringing forth a ‘river’ of water into the dry land as well as allowing a river to flow out to the nations. The stone imagery is used of Christ in other ways as well. He is a tried stone, tested. The stone which the builders rejected. The chief corner stone. One of the aspects of ‘becoming a stone’ is the process of rejection and testing. This ‘qualifies’ us as living stones in Gods temple [Peter]. Thru process of time God brings us to a place where we finally can be trusted stones to complete the mission. What does he do with us then? He ‘pierces’ us [the cleft rock imagery] so a ‘river of water’ can flow thru us [gospel of John]! ‘He clave the rocks in the wilderness, and gave them drink as out of the great depths. He brought streams also out of the rock, and caused waters to run down like rivers. Behold, he smote the rock, that the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed’ Psalms 78: 15,16,20.
(46) I was just sitting outside praying and noticed that the only plants flowering in my yard are the roses from the ‘coat of many colors’ rose bush that I spoke about earlier in this paper. Its December and cold. Many other plants cannot ‘thrive’ in these bitter conditions. Well you get the hint, don’t you? Over the last several years the Church at large has embraced a gospel that focuses on trying to create a ‘pleasing’ environment around us. We have made ‘creature comforts’ the goal. I recently read an article about a preacher [T.D. Jakes] whom I like. He was being criticized for having a high salary and a few luxurious homes and basically being rich. In his defense he quoted the verse where scripture shows that Jesus wore an expensive coat [which he did] and used this to defend the idea that it is not wrong to become rich ‘from the offerings of many average [or poor] believers’ who give thru the TV ministry or thru the Local Church offerings. The main mistake with this thinking is the New and Old testaments actually teach against the concept of ‘shepherds’ becoming wealthy from the flock. The scriptures teach that its okay to financially support those who are giving to you spiritual food, but to become wealthy from peoples offerings is forbidden. I know people today don’t see this, but it is there! Where did Jesus get his expensive coat? Was he taking money from ‘the bag’ [treasury]? More than likely someone gave it to Jesus as an extravagant act of worship. The woman who poured the expensive perfume on Jesus did something of this nature. While I don’t want to be dogmatic about this, it proves the point that we take scriptures and develop doctrines that violate other plain scriptures. The widow woman who gave to Elijah was poor. But so was Elijah at the time! This story simply teaches the great truth of communal sharing which is taught in the New Testament. See a brother in need, meet the need! Too many preachers have taken stuff like this and have taught theologies that contradict plain scripture. Go read 1st Timothy 6. You have a hard time reading this chapter and believing this other stuff. I don’t want to re write our book on the prosperity gospel here, but I do want to emphasize the fact that God wants us to ‘thrive’ in desert and bitter conditions. It’s not wrong to be rich and have a high salary, but it can’t be from the overall aggregate giving of many poor or average saints over a long period of time! Joseph thrived and was rich and influential, but he also spent many years being unjustly accused and in prison for things that were not his fault. God allowed a life of suffering to co-exist with a successful career. He did this for the benefit of those who sold him into slavery. Joseph ‘ruled’ over his brothers at the end, just like he dreamed many years earlier. The ‘rule’ allowed him to forgive and use his wealth and influence to save his family. God will exalt us at certain seasons for the sole benefit of the salvation of others. It’s ok to enjoy the good things in life, but we are here to fulfill a mandate from heaven. Don’t get lost in the pursuits of this life!
(47) It’s 12-24-06 as I write this. I have been listening to Christmas music for the last few days. It’s got me thinking about the incarnation and death of Gods Son. If you remember the story in the gospels, after the death of John the Baptist Jesus felt sorrowful and heavy. It’s almost as if the whole reality of what he was about was weighing on him. John was a cousin and friend to Christ. It was because of Jesus that his friend died! Do you ever feel bad when one of ‘your disciples’ falls? [By the way we all should have them. Also when I say ‘your disciples’ I mean those you are ‘discipling’ unto Jesus!]. Do you wonder if in some way you failed them or let them down? I know I do. What if they died because of you, how would this make you feel? [Let me note I realize that more people I have worked with have died then on average, my only consolation is I realize that I ‘fish’ from a ‘high risk pool’] The death of John was a necessary evil for him to fulfill the prophetic role that he played. He ‘prefigured’ Christ in his early death. Prophets don’t just have great speaking ministries; their lives also carry out prophetic themes that often cause tremendous pain and suffering. Why couldn’t John or Jesus have lived till 65 or 70 before their deaths? I know theologically why, but that’s not what I am asking [to you smart people!]. There is a real sense of sacrifice when people lay their lives down for Gods purposes at the prime of their life. True sacrifice entails giving something of value up for Gods higher purpose. It carries with it the inherent nature of living for a greater cause than for just ‘being all that you can be’. It says to God I am here only to fulfill your destiny, and if in this process I don’t reach my full potential then I will gladly sacrifice it for the greater cause. This is what I see in the Dietrich Bonhoeffer story. A brilliant theologian who dies at the prime of his life. But God took his death as seed and allowed the small volume of his writings to impact generations to come. I wonder what other great parables and ‘sermons on the mount’ that Jesus could have given if his teaching ministry lasted 20 years. But he was here to fulfill a higher calling, and this dieing on the Cross took precedence over the great future he could have had ‘in the ministry’.
(48) What I really wanted to speak about [above] was what I call ‘the incarnational principle’. The concept of God manifesting himself thru Christ, and thru us as an extension of his Body in the earth. I will get a little technical here, but bear with me. Paul teaches [in the New Testament] that the Church is the pillar and ground of the truth. Historically this issue has been one that divided Protestants and Catholics. During the reformation the Protestant position was the Bible was the ground of truth and final authority on matters of conscience and faith. The Catholic Church agreed in principle to the canon of scripture as ‘inspired’ but also taught that the Church herself possessed separate authority as ‘the pillar and ground of truth’. The Catholics said the Church produced the Bible, while the Protestants believed the Church ‘recognized’ it. That is to say that the ‘Bible’ was already infallible and the Church just recognized it. Well anyway the point here is Gods people [Ecclesia] are the pillar and ground of truth. There is no other ‘thing’ in the planet that God actually lives in. Though scripture is inspired and infallible, God doesn’t actually ‘dwell’ in its pages. I know I open myself up to criticism here [for the first time, not!] but I agree with the great evangelical thinker John Stott. He sees the evangelical Church as practicing a form of ‘bibliolatry’ in the way we express ‘sola scriptura’ [the bible only]. In the earth right now the only actual place where God is literally dwelling is the Church. Not some top heavy institution, but in the people [community]. Because of this in some sense the only real hope for the world is us! God sees us as the ‘pillar and ground’ of truth. We are his ‘superstructure’ that exists in the midst of ‘Babylon’ [the world]. We live here to both testify and actually ‘dispense’ Gods grace thru the gospel. Jesus told the disciples ‘whosoever sins you forgive, they are forgiven’ [I don’t want to teach the Catholic/Protestant view on this here] in essence we carry the gospel in us as well as on our lips. God ‘contacts’ and interacts with the world thru us. This is the ‘incarnational principle’. In military terms its ‘ground truth’. It’s having the perspective of ‘boots on the ground’ as opposed to some defense secretary living in an ivory palace [or pentagon]. We are Gods ‘boots’ on the ground. God has entrusted us to carry out the rest of the ‘invasion’ that Jesus started 2000 years ago. The only problem is too many of us think we are in the guard and are trying to avoid ‘active duty’! [No offense meant to those in the National Guard!]
(49) I was just thinking about ‘Job’ and the trials he went thru [I haven’t read Job in a few years, so bear with me in the details]. I remember hearing preachers try to explain why Job suffered. Some said it was because of his sin of fear and making a bad confession. ‘The things that I feared came upon me’. It seems to me that these brothers who are looking for Jobs fault [sin] are falling into the same mistake of Jobs friends who spent the whole book looking for the reason for Jobs suffering. The point of Job is ‘why do the righteous suffer’ and the answer is we are finite and God is infinite, and who are we to question God. There is no reasonable explanation for his suffering. Jobs friends said some theologically correct things in trying to find fault. They said stuff like ‘the curse causeless doesn’t come’ which is in keeping with the teaching of proverbs. But in this case ‘good theology’ didn’t cut it. God actually tells satan that Job is upright and without fault. If Job had a ‘bad confession’ or ‘too much fear’ that caused his suffering, then God wouldn’t have called him faultless. I find it troubling that highly influential teachers in the American church can’t seem to grasp these basic principles. I’m not talking deep stuff here. Just the basic ability to read literature! Well let me encourage you with the simple truth of Job. Don’t stress out over your trials. Don’t spend endless ours of regret and too much introspection. Sometimes things happen to you that you can’t control. Our response during these seasons is praise to God and a total committing of everything into his hands.
(50) A few days ago I read a verse in Psalms that spoke of ‘bringing presents to God’ [Psalms 76:11]. It was a few days before Christmas and I thought it was interesting/prophetic that I hadn’t seen this before. I ‘piously’ wrote down ‘love and devotion’ next to the ‘presents’ verse. Surely these are the ‘gifts’ God wants us to bring. Well I’ve also been ‘seeing’ and thinking about bringing in the harvest of people for the new year [2007]. I even dreamed the old football that I used as a boy. In the dream it was just lying there on the ground waiting for someone to pick it up and ‘run with it’. I also have been meditating on the image of ‘fishing in the harvest’ of people. Well for Christmas I got 2 main gifts. A football and a fishing pole. I felt the Lord said I want your love and devotion, but the gifts I want are the ‘harvest of men’. Follow me and I will make you fishers of men!
(51) Last night I was watching a special on the history channel dealing with comets and meteors. The other day I was talking to a friend and he spoke about the emperor Constantine ‘seeing’ the form of a cross in the sky. [I actually corrected him, he thought the sign originally was used in the crusades against Muslims, and I told him it was first seen in Constantine’s raid against another emperor in an effort to unify the Roman Empire under Constantine’s control]. The ‘Cross’ that Constantine ‘saw’ is debatable. Some Christians don’t believe any of it. Others take a more open view and see God at work in a limited way. I simply want to note that the ‘Cross’ sign that I’ve mentioned earlier in this paper looks like a Maltese Cross. While speaking to my friend he reminded me that Constantine saw a Maltese Cross. While watching the history channel special they also said some believe that Constantine saw a Comet. It made me wonder if I was seeing the same thing that an Emperor saw 1700 years ago! This is not to say I am special in any way, but we should recognize that God is in charge and in control of the affairs of men in the 21st century just as much as he was in the 4th! Also I realize that there are a whole bunch of believers who don’t believe in any ‘miraculous’ occurrences at all. These Christians are ‘cessationists’. They have reasons why they believe there are no more supernatural events. I obviously don’t hold to this view, but I see them as sincere believers in Christ. I kind of feel that when I deal with ‘corrective’ issues in the Church that people might view me as a ‘critic’ of all things supernatural, or relevant for our day. Many of the prophetic people fully grasp the prosperity message and look at those who try to bring correction as ‘cessationists’. I don’t know why this is so. Prophetic people should be able to discern the difference between the reality of biblical prosperity and the distorted preaching of the more extreme prosperity preachers. Surely Jesus gives many warnings against riches and materialism in the gospels. We should have the same balance as he had. God meets the needs of his kids, but the Kingdom is about true riches and not about money!
(52) The other day I mentioned T.D.Jakes. Let me say that I have made it a habit to contact and send materials to key influential people in the Church over the years. I do this for the sake of the church at large. I recognize that if in some small way I can influence a Kingdom person for good, then they in turn will influence their larger circle of friends and the will of God will prevail I don’t want to ‘name drop’ here too much. I remember sending Benny Hinn [who I believe the Lord uses in a great way] some stuff on the prosperity message. It dealt with modern ministers becoming rich off of the people, and how this is not right. I was surprised to get a handwritten note from one of his staff Pastors and forwarding it on to Benny. A few weeks later some news organization did an expose [not the first one] on Benny Hinn and exposed the lucrative salary and wealth he has gotten thru the ministry. I feel that they gave special attention to the stuff I sent because they knew they were being looked at in a critical way by this organization, and there was no way I could have known this. So the prophetic timing of sending these materials was in some way a message from one brother to another as correction in love. I also have had a good friendship in writing with Jim Bakker. He has personally sent me hand written notes over the years. I want to simply stress that as believers God wants us to help each other walk in truth. I don’t want to just write critical exposes on false doctrine. This is what many modern apologists do. God wants us to personally correct and warn each other in love. The times where I have struggled with impatience is when I see brothers who blatantly teach false stuff to a wide range of people and they are not open to correction. NOTE: Benny started as an ordained Word of Faith minister, he actually walked away from this ‘style’ of ministry as the years went by. He saw many faults with the movement. He said ‘I do not hold to this message any longer’. I find this interesting.
(53) Over the years I have had friends who felt the Lord was calling them to start a ministry. I would always advise them to seek God and work a regular job until the doors open. In some cases these friends would get offended at being told to work [Paul told people this! Thessalonians]. Some feel that the Lord is calling them to start a ministry [Christian business] and seem to spend their time and effort in ‘getting it off the ground’. I find it helpful to view ‘ministry’ as something like this. We [the Church] are citizens of Gods kingdom. As citizens we are the ‘subjects’ of the Kingdom of God here on earth. While the church is not solely the kingdom of God, we are Kingdom representatives here on earth. Sort of like the Church are the citizens and the Kingdom is the country that we belong to [this is a major debate in theological circles and I don’t want to get into it here]. When we view it this way it helps us to not ‘see’ ministry as some type of Christian business that we are trying to start. But ministry becomes us functioning in Gods Kingdom. ‘The ministry’ we belong to is the Kingdom of God and we are here to extend it by carrying out the great commission. We should not be side tracked by thinking if I am working a regular job that this is forsaking my calling. You have the freedom [and responsibility] to meet the needs of your family and at the same time being fully alive and operative unto God. Paul says whatever you do, do it unto God and not men and God will reward you. So your time on the job or in the market place is not a distraction ‘to your ministry’ but it is an opportunity to extend Gods Kingdom in the earth! [This actually is an age-old debate in the church. Some early believers viewed the material world as evil and created a ‘secular/Christian’ division. They saw believers as separate from society in a way that was not healthy. The reformers allowed room in their theology for Christians to be ‘fully alive’ and active in society. Today’s mindset of ‘starting a ministry’ feeds into this secular/Christian mindset and creates a division that I feel is not good. We sort of have the ‘Christian world’ and the ‘regular world’ and never do the two seem to meet!]
(54) I was just thinking about the difference in the openness of the 1st century Church compared to today. Paul wrote the Corinthians and told them that some were homosexual and others were openly practicing sexual immorality. No doubt he rebuked them for sin, but the fact remains that there were really no ‘hidden sins’. They all knew each other’s shortcomings. Earlier in this paper I discussed how certain gifted people [Paul Cain and others] struggled with hidden sin for many years. In today’s Church you don’t really have an atmosphere that can openly address sin among leaders. It seems the status quoi is to struggle in secret for as long as you can until your exposed. I feel we harm each other in today’s Church because of this lack of openness about life’s struggles. If you read the Old Testament [Proverbs] the prostitute and ‘whore’ are pictured in a bad way. If a woman struggling in the sex trade of our day were to view Gods opinion of her only from this vantage point, she would have little hope of any real future with God. This mindset pervaded the 1st century religious community [Pharisees]. Women who’s only real contact with men was for pay and pleasure were totally anathema. Jesus allowed these same women to cry on his feet and touch him. This was such a taboo to the religious community. For the first time in these women’s lives they saw hope and acceptance. A real man [Jesus] allowed them to ‘touch’ him in a way that showed they still had hope. To be sure he never justified anyone’s sin, but he allowed for the affection and hope that these women could never find in the religious community. His actions said ‘I know what you have done and where you have been and I still love you’ Wow!
(55) In our writings over the years I’ve tried to express the difference between Christian religion and following Christ. I find it odd that Jesus found himself in the midst of a religious community that ‘attended church [synagogue]’ ‘tithed’ ‘stayed holy’ [separated themselves from the world, even the lost who were in it!] and thought they were doing Gods will when they killed Jesus! [I forgot to say they also prayed and fasted too!] We can often be involved in all types of ‘church’ things and miss the real intent of God. The New Testament describes religion as ‘visiting the fatherless and widows and keeping yourself unspotted from the world’. God puts ‘separation from the world’ hand in hand with outreach. If today’s Christian thinks the fulfilling of all the above religious requirements are pleasing to God, apart from true outreach, then he is kidding himself [I wanted to say ‘deceiving himself’ but I already get too much criticism!]. I feel we as 21st century believers need to re-focus and re-organize our lives around the great commission. God doesn’t only ask of you to give money to your church to support missionaries [a good thing by the way!] but he requires all of us to lay down our lives for the gospel. Be delivered from a religious mindset that sees as its priority to do ‘religious things’ and seems to never have time to touch a lost and dieing world!
(56) A few years ago my uncle passed away. I was up there for the funeral [Jersey] and was invited to speak at his funeral. I don’t believe in ‘preaching to the lost’ at a funeral per se. I remember hearing a preacher say he was at some gang member’s funeral and he preached how the dead guy is in hell right now and how the parents and everyone were upset [no kidding!]. Well anyway I always thought my ‘Italian’ uncle was in some way connected to the Mafia. Don’t know for sure, but it always seemed he had some connection. Well the only living relatives were me, my dad, my sister and my uncle’s daughter and her son. The funeral parlor was packed with a lot of Italians in suits and ties! I simply shared the story of Christ’s resurrection and how this is our hope. I did speak the gospel message and noticed a ‘heavy’ anointing on the words I was speaking. I noticed that someone on the first row was having ‘chills’ at the word! After the ‘message’ some thanked me, some looked uncomfortable. One guy about my age [mid 30’s at the time] was especially thankful and touched by the word. He made it a point to shake my hand. I do feel its possible that some people heard the gospel and believed for the first time. The person that was my age could have been like me [or me like him] if I stayed in New Jersey after high school. It’s funny how the Lord can bring you full circle and on the journey you might even lead a ‘mafia’ guy to the Lord. I don’t know for sure but I hope so!
(57) The other day I was listening to an old time Baptist preacher on the radio. He is a good man who preaches the Gospel. He talked about a Pentecostal woman visiting him and how she was so deceived. He wasn’t being critical, he really believes this. We all have a tendency to ‘see’ God from the paradigm that surrounds us. We as Christians have a tendency to judge others who experience God in a different way then we do. I am not saying that ‘all religions’ lead to God, they certainly don’t! But as Christians we should leave room for those other communities of believers that might have a different history but also embrace the Gospel. This larger community of believers is what I like to call ‘the greater storehouse’. God has tremendous riches to be found in all of these Christian churches. I love studying reformation stuff, but I also like the Catholic fathers. The history of Methodism under Wesley is great, as well as the later Azusa revivals. To be able to see beyond our limited communities and embrace the ‘whole Church’ is a gift that will bring in many rewards, I urge you to partake of the table that the Lord has prepared for us in the midst of our enemies.
(58) Being I have been speaking a little about Catholic/Protestant stuff lately, let me talk on ‘authority and covering’ issues. Recently when certain evangelical leaders fell into sin, others speculated on why this happened. Some Protestants taught that certain Prophets who fell were not ‘under covering’ or under the authority of ‘a local church’. I have spoken at length in our books and thru radio on what the Church is and what it means to ‘be part of the local church’. All I felt like saying here is our Catholic brothers historically view all Protestants as being ‘without covering’ or not under proper biblical authority. I do find it interesting that some who feel they are apostolic in the protestant church start highly independent and entrepreneurial type ministries and then preach that if people are not ‘under one of these apostolic coverings’ then they are in rebellion. Many of these ‘apostles’ have absolutely no covering or connection to the historic church and yet preach a form of authority that seems to begin and end with them! To put it simple, we as Christians are all related and responsible to each other. As New Covenant priests we are directly under the authority of our high priest Jesus. I thank God for all the gifted Apostles and Prophets in the church today, I just think we need to remind ourselves of the basics once again.
(60) Over the years of dealing with various issues facing the American church there have been times where friends who were pastors or in ministry found it difficult to break thru the practical aspects of ‘doing church’ and embrace the bigger picture. There are times in history where God desires to ‘shift’ the face of Christianity and bring her back into alignment with the historic faith. During these times of ‘shift’ or transition it is difficult for pastors or ministry leaders to evaluate the truths that God is bringing forth and rise above the practical implications of where they are presently at. Most responsible pastors will evaluate most things by ‘how will this affect my church’. These men are well meaning, but I believe the question should be more aligned with ‘is this direction that God is bringing forth true or false’. Is it really God? The natural concern of ‘keeping the meetings going’ or ‘fulfilling the goal’ must be secondary to the true revolutionary spirit that dwells in the church. God wants us to boldly embrace truth and expand his Kingdom in the earth. If the criteria we are using is ‘will this disrupt things too much’ then you have placed yourself on the side of those who opt for comfort over revolution!
(61) I was just thinking about how we in the American church have focused on self-preservation and motivation to the point where we lose sight of the sacrifice that the Gospel calls us to. It is common to live the Christian life and to attend church and see all the ‘Christian activities’ as simply ‘self help material’. While its not wrong to improve your life, or to find all the success principles contained in the word [there are many!] yet we seem to lose sight of the bigger picture. Our short time here is for the extending of Gods Kingdom at all costs. True revolution entails a willingness to even die for the cause. A prophet showed Paul ‘all the ways that God has called you to suffer [Acts]’. We get excited when we get a prophecy on ‘this year you will become rich’ and stuff like that. We see and practice Christianity as a self-help science. We memorize all the ‘money’ verses and spend our time focusing on the things that are least important to the Kingdom. If God were to appear to us in a dream at the age of 18, and he gave us the choice to live a full life to 80 and die and go to heaven, or to live till 40 and die a martyr and effect nations by our witness. Which one would you choose? I am not sure I would choose right either. We want to get as much as we can out of life, and any ‘prophetic word’ that would entail suffering we reject as ‘false prophecy’. To be honest I am tired of all the ‘money prophecies’ that are out there floating around, you would think after a while we would all become rich or stop believing them! But then again it simply makes us feel good to think about the possibility of having the lifestyle ‘of the rich and famous’. We just don’t realize that the calling of God is so much more than this!
(62) Those of you who have read some of our stuff may notice a verse I like to quote from the message bible ‘don’t think you need a lot of extra equipment for this, you are the equipment, keep it simple, no special appeals for funds [ouch!]’. I don’t mean to be offensive in our materials. Sometimes I get the feeling that other ministries who solicit funds get turned off by the implicit message in our writings that ‘we don’t take money’. I realize there are many good ministries that do take money, and they do so in a good and pure way. There are others who abuse scripture and take money in a way that violates the word. My whole point in doing it the way we do it is to show the average believer that we all are responsible to carry out the great commission, and it most certainly doesn’t take a lot of money! In the book of Acts Peter would raise the dead and word spread like wildfire. No budget whatsoever! God has the ability to promote and advance his agenda without our money. The verse I quoted should challenge the way we limit God. Many ‘faith’ preachers teach a doctrine that says ‘how can we ever reach the world unless the wealth of the wicked pours into the church’. I like to tell them ‘just have faith brother, Jesus said no special appeals for funds, you can do it with out a ton of money’. I find it ironic that we preach a ‘faith message’ that has no faith that we can touch the world without becoming rich! If you’re rich, fine. But lets stop limiting Gods ability to touch the world thru us. We are extremely capable of doing this, even in our present condition!
(63) Yesterday I had the chance to do some research on line. I also listened to Christian radio while walking on a treadmill. I found the level of teaching between the Internet and radio interesting. On line I read some stuff on the Kingdom of God and apostolic concerns of seeing the Kingdom in action. On the radio the sermon dealt with the practical concerns of ‘meeting in church’ and how to deal with gossip and the pastor having to ‘run off’ the gossiper and stuff like this. The contrast reminded me of the scriptures I mentioned in these last few pages. ‘I have taken you from following the sheep to the borders of my mountain’ ‘There shall be a handful of grain in the earth upon the top of the mountains; the fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon. And they of the city shall flourish like the grass of the earth’ These verses [psalms] speak to the difference from ‘following the sheep’ to ‘the borders of Gods mountain’. One concern is the order of a church meeting and how to watch for trouble, the other is concerned about seeing the Kingdom extend in the earth. While both are important at times, the danger of ‘following the sheep’ only is you begin to see the goal of God simply to be proper order in the church meeting. Gods chief concern is impacting all nations until the day comes when all nations will flow into Gods nation and bring glory and honor unto him. There is a distinction between ‘following the sheep’ and ‘the borders of Gods Mountain’. Gods ultimate goal is to bring you to a higher place than simply ‘church concerns’. The handful of grain is found ‘on the top of the mountain’. There is a lot of teaching in the church today. Much of it is good, some is not. The Lord has specific words for you ‘on the top of the mountain’. He causes the mountain to ‘shake’ and thru the shaking, grain [seed] falls to the people of the city and they flourish like grass. Be attentive to the grain coming to you from those ‘on the mountain’ [concerned with greater things than their ministries or churches]. There is a lot of grain out there; you must be ‘partial’ to eat that which is precious. Honey is good, but too much will make you sick! [Proverbs]
(64) I was watching a special the other day on cults. They spoke on Jim Jones and others. I have researched cults pretty extensively in the past. One of the most important lessons from Jim Jones is the fact that he started well, and was even on the cutting edge of certain truths for his day. He was sincere, originally preached the Gospel and many of his followers till this day feel like they were truly seeking God. The mass suicide was done as a ‘protest action’. Jim had read this in some of the socialist materials that he studied. He saw their deaths as a protest against society. Well obviously the movement became a cult and they were wrong in the things they did. Today there are many Christian groups who have the same mindset of ‘siege’ and isolationism that Jones temple had. I mentioned earlier about being a part of a Fundamental Baptist Church in the past, while I don’t want to call them a cult, the group had a mindset that saw all other groups [even Baptists] as either heretics or backslidden. They had a mentality of ‘the worlds out to get us’ and we must separate from it at all costs. But the extreme separation they practiced caused them to ‘separate’ from the rest of the body of Christ. You can be part of a big group and still be ‘isolated’ if you see the rest of the world [Christian and lost people] as something you are separating from inside the four walls of your fortress [church or community]. As an elder of this fundamental church I remember how we had a special meeting to decide whether or not we should cut off support from a missionary. The ‘heresy’ he fell into was he became a ‘mid tribber’. He believed the ‘Rapture’ would occur after the first three and a half years of the tribulation as opposed to occurring before the tribulation starts. Well even at that time I expressed my disagreement over cutting someone off for this. The funny thing is I believe now that the ‘Rapture’ and the Second Coming are one event. So we were all ‘heretics’ at the time! The point here is when Christians develop the sectarian mindset that Paul rebuked the Corinthians for, we are in danger. I am not saying we will all commit mass suicide, but we do harm to ourselves and others. Let me add here a little on the ‘Rapture’. Just a few weeks ago I was fellowshipping with a brother and he brought the subject up. I really try to avoid it in general when fellowshipping and witnessing [which we were doing at the time]. Well he wanted to know whether I was ‘pre’ or ‘mid’ trib. I then regretfully confessed that I believe there is only one second coming, I don’t believe the ‘rapture’ is speaking of a different event at all. Well my friend, who was quite knowledgeable in the scriptures, emphatically agreed. He also said he saw only one ‘Second Coming’, but to him the rapture was something else. If you read 1st Thessalonians 4 [the rapture chapter] I can’t see how you can honestly see this as different from the other scriptures that speak of the second coming and the resurrection. I find it a contradiction to read these events as ‘separate’. I am familiar with all the arguments on the trumpets and every other little detail. I just see the overriding text being that of one event. In the discussion with my friend he jumped to all the various ‘proof’ texts to back up his belief. I simply believe the plain reading of these verses show it to be one event. You should interpret the plain meaning first, before going to lengths to defend something else. Well I don’t want to argue about this, but I thought it was worth mentioning.
(65) I just had a dream a few hours ago. I was sitting in a room. I had a thorn bush branch sticking thru my leg. I had a pair of pruners and simply pruned the branch from both sides but had to leave the part stuck inside my leg. I seemed content and recognized that I would still be able to walk and function even though I would have a permanent impediment. I thought of Jacob, how after his encounter with the Lord he had a perpetual limp. Also Paul’s ‘thorn’ in the ‘flesh’ [this thorn branch was literally in my flesh!] how he realized that the Lord permitted things to co exist in his life in order to ‘position’ him to receive great revelation and insight. The thorn allowed him to remain humble though he was seeing at a prophetic level that was unheard of in his day. I simply feel like the Lord is saying we shouldn’t focus so much of our time and attention on making ourselves better [self help mentality] as much as simply getting to a stage where we can hear and function effectively. I am not saying God doesn’t want us totally healed, or to live with bitterness and wounds of the past. I see this more like a willingness to move forward and function without everything having to be just perfect in our lives. God wants us to get the job done. If the only thing you can do is ‘cut the ends off of the branch’ then do it! If you have to live with some scars then that’s o.k. as long as there not open wounds!
(66) Over the years of studying the church and the various communions that exist in the Christian church, it is common for believers to separate over ‘the way we do church’. Many divisions exist both because of doctrine and practice. To be honest any sincere student of church history will see the silliness of many of these debates. I believe the whole ‘church world’ in general would benefit if our paradigm changes from seeing church as ‘something we go to on Sunday’ to a community of people that we belong to. Many of our divisions over ‘church order’ would be resolved if we realize that the bulk of New Testament instruction is given to believers to live out in community, versus a church meeting. Jesus was challenging the premise of temple and religion as being a place and style of worship. He re introduced the original heart of God by showing people that Gods chief concern was that people would worship in Spirit and truth. No longer would the debate be over ‘which mountain’ or ‘whose lineage’ to follow, but the Father would receive anyone that would meet the two requirements of ‘Spirit and Truth’.
(67) The early church were called ‘the way’ during the first century. They carried a specific message that went along with their way of life. The message and the journey were centered on Jesus. They didn’t get lost in all the other things that we make ‘the way’. They were fresh off the reality of God breaking into society thru the great victory of his Son. They were living in a time where you were going to see his works whether you liked it or not! If you remember God told the children of Israel that they ‘saw’ his works for 40 years in the wilderness. God was either going to show them the promised land, or they would see his works in judgment, but one way or another they were going to see his works! The early church had that dynamic working with them. You were going to be confronted with this great Kingdom, whether you like it or not! We have a tendency to lose sight of this great Kingdom of God breaking into society thru Christ. We focus and specialize on the side issues [prosperity, demonology, prayer, etc.]. We need to return back to the central message and reality of the early church, and become known for following him who is called ‘the way’.
(68) In psalms 89:25 it says ‘I will set his hand also in the sea, and his right hand in the rivers’ I have used lots of imagery of the rivers, God smiting the rock and waters coming out. Catching fish in the ‘Hudson river’. All these images are symbols. When I read this I felt the Lord saying a few things. First he will give us authority to speak into the church at large [sea] but also have a deeper, purer prophetic stream that will speak into the church. The river to me represents the many individual streams that are flowing into the sea [church] at large. God’s intent isn’t to make the sea a big ‘river’. This would defeat the purpose. But God does want the effect of all the rivers to add to the overall ‘body’ of people/truth. Often times you will have tremendous truth flowing from prophetic sources, the intent of these truths is to bring the church back to a more pure state of existence. Sometimes we fall into the trap of trying to make the truth/revelation the main thing. Even though all the rivers flow into the ocean, they never turn the oceans from salt water to fresh. The intent of the rivers is to add and increase the flow, but not to make the sea one big river!
(69) I was watching a brother on TV who was speaking on covetousness. They are a good church overseas who are quite large. He was defending himself somewhat from criticism of the huge amount of money the church brings in and how he heard someone speak against one of their staff people who regularly fly’s around the world to perform in worship/singing. The overall way we do ministry today seems to take 90 percent of all Christian funds and uses it for the functioning of the ‘church’. Salaries, buildings and the basic upkeep of the business. A brief overview of the New Testament would show about 90 percent of all funds being used for charitable purposes and meeting the actual needs of the Christian community. The few instances where you read about corporate collections they are being used to distribute materially to those in need. The other references to giving in support of elders and those who are ministering in the word speak about a very small percentage of finances compared to the charitable giving. Its things like this that we don’t see when we read scripture through our limited paradigms. I believe the church today should ‘re-balance’ its books to draw more closely to the New Testament model. There are many worthy churches today who are doing great things for God. We overall need to re focus our priorities from the advancement of a few [the above scenario of the pastor defending the large amount of money spent on the few highly gifted ones] to the releasing of the whole body to function. We get into scenarios where we need lots of people to give lots of money to keep the machinery going, we come up with lots of projects to do [even good ones!] and we focus our Sunday meetings on bringing in the money to accomplish all the projects. The average believer is under the impression that to be faithful simply means to keep coming to church on Sunday and giving to meet the budget. This scenario has unconsciously placed the ‘average’ Christian in a position where we don’t really expect them to personally carry out the great commission, but to simply be obedient while funding the few who do the work! We need to re shift our priorities. Church should take 90 percent of its money and use it to build up and send out the whole body, by the way this doesn’t mean the churches need to collect it all on Sunday, it could simply be a releasing of people from a mindset of meeting the budget to them actively giving and spending and doing the work themselves. Government red tape hinders the actual carrying out of projects. So does ‘the business of church’. Release people into the harvest. The harvest is plenteous but the laborers are few [this could be speaking of the few professionals that we expect to function as we finance the budget!].
(70) I read a verse the other day in Psalms that said ‘God will exalt you like the horn of a unicorn’ I know there are myths about the unicorn as being rebellious and other stuff about them actually being a myth. I really don’t know. But what I got from this was there are certain prophetic people who God exalts [not man!] like ‘the horn of a unicorn’. I said earlier in this paper how ‘horns’ represent different things. One of the things they represent are prophetic voices. John the Baptist was a ‘horn/trumpet’ of God who would ‘proclaim’ the appearing of Messiah. John stood alone in his day in the ability to ‘see’ Messiah. It was a ‘singular’ revelation that others would not posses as of yet. John was a loner who came out of the wilderness as an absolute radical. The single horn of a unicorn represents this ‘horn/trumpet’ as being alone for certain seasons. John fulfilled a ‘rebellious’ purpose. He rebelled against the system of his day and was beheaded. The unicorn isn’t around anymore because of rebellion! John represented a type of rebellion that we don’t see anymore either. A prophetic rebellion to behold Christ to the point of death. [Some things from the net on unicorns; 1- They can’t be captured alive 2- Fierce but good 3-Selfless yet solitary 4- Mysterious yet beautiful. All these qualities are seen in Christ and John the Baptist. Tertullian, Ambrose, Jerome and Basil [early church fathers] all saw the unicorn as a symbol of Christ.
(71) I was just outside praying and had a thought. Nothing new, but I felt I should share it. Planting Churches in the New Testament was simply the process of preaching the Gospel to people, and the people who believed became the ‘community of Christ’ in that region. The actual ‘Church’ were the people themselves who corporately made up ‘Christ’s Body’. The things that they did [Lords supper, baptism, etc.] were simply an outgrowth of being the Church. The ‘doing’ of these things did not make them the Church! The fact that they did them was because they were the Church. This truth releases all of us into the world with the potential of being ‘Church planters’. All you really need to ‘start Churches’ is the courage to preach the Gospel to people groups. The harvest is ready; will you be one of the few laborers?
(72) A few years back I heard someone say it takes a minimum of $250,000 dollars to ‘plant a church’. The business world measures success by the amount of income they bring in, as well as the amount of ‘G.D.P.’ that is what they produce and export. The church should not measure success by these guidelines, nor should we limit Gods ability to ‘plant a church’ or spread the Kingdom by limited finances. Those of you who have read all of our stuff will notice I quote a verse out of the message bible a lot. ‘Don’t think you need a lot of extra equipment for this, you are the equipment. No special appeals for funds, keep it simple’ this is Jesus instruction to the disciples as he sends them out. He was giving them a mindset to see the simplicity of carrying out the great commission. He was saying in effect ‘you all individually, as well as corporately, have the potential to change the world’. He purposely has set up his Kingdom to allow for the ‘average Joe’ to have the same potential as the big shots! When we say things like ‘it takes a lot of money to reach the world’ or ‘you cant do this without starting a big ministry’ we unconsciously are telling Jesus ‘we need a lot of extra equipment for this, and we need to make special appeals for funds’. Now do you see what I have been saying? Sometimes it takes a while for truth to sink in. I know there are big ministries who are doing great works and who do make appeals for funds. This is all right as long as they are truly preaching the Gospel. The point I am making here is we all have the potential to touch the world. Don’t simply think that your part is only tithing and giving to fund others. You can be used of God right where you are.
(73) A few years ago it was popular to quote John’s epistle ‘beloved I wish above all things that you would prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospers’ [quick quote from memory, think its Johns 3rd letter?] This verse, like all verses is good. This greeting in the first century would be like saying ‘God bless you’ today. It was a simple form of greeting. Just like Paul ending the book of Romans with a long list of personal greetings. While all scripture is given by inspiration of God, there are differences between greetings, actual doctrine and other forms or styles of speech and literature that you find in scripture. For instance a greeting is not equal to actual doctrinal teaching. The resurrection of Christ is foundational doctrine. The matter of woman wearing hats [coverings] in ‘church’ falls into the cultural context of Corinth at the time of Paul’s writing to the Corinthians. Both teachings are true and have value, but one is obviously relevant for all time, while the other is debatable. The point here is Jesus said the thing that God wants from man above all other things is ‘to love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, soul, mind and might. And to love thy neighbor as thyself’. This is Jesus teaching doctrine on what matters most to God. To take Johns greeting in a letter [though scripture!] and to say that this is what God wants more than anything else, is wrong. God does want us to prosper, and you can find other verses stating this. But the point here is when we ‘see’ all verses as equal in authority, without recognizing the various forms of literature and speaking that all people use [even the 1st century apostles] then we create themes that contradict and we violate the mandate of scripture that tells us to ‘think and understand like men’.
(74) The other day I ran into a few ‘homeless’ and ‘addicted’ ‘friends’. I want to emphasize why I say ‘friends’. But first let me tell some stuff. The one friend was the homeless brother that I gave some of our materials to a few weeks ago. I ran into him at Whataburger. He told me that he read our books and liked them. As I was leaving to drop off tapes at the radio station that we broadcast on, I invited this friend to go for the ride. He was glad and surprised to get the invitation. Sort of like ‘why would someone ‘important’ want to simply spend some time with me’. He actually was waiting for someone to pick him up for a day job, but said he would like to have gone to fellowship and ask some questions and stuff. He even described himself as one of the ‘pawns’ on Gods chess table. He said some are ‘kings’ while others are simply ‘pawns’. I reminded him that Jesus said ‘whoever wants to be a king in Gods Kingdom, must become a pawn’. He agreed to this. I also saw one of the girls who used to be a helper in the mission that I go to in order to visit homeless friends. I never really spoke to her, though I remember seeing her over the years serving with her mom at the mission. I heard that she got into ‘meth’ and was strung out on drugs. I felt really bad about this. This was a good girl who lost her way. As a principle I usually don’t try to help the girls ‘one on one’ because it obviously wouldn’t look right for me to be ‘meeting girls’ at the mission. Some are friends because of the friendship I have with their ‘boyfriends’ and the many years of befriending a lot of these guys. But ever since I heard about this girl falling into drugs, I really felt I should speak with her. Well I had the chance to take a few people to the driver’s license office to get new I.D.s [this is a problem with a lot of homeless people, they have a tendency to keep loosing their I.D.s] and asked if she needed to go, which she did. [She just lost her I.D. about a week before!] It took about an hour and I had a real good conversation with her. I shared a lot about the regrets we have when we fall into sin, which she had many. I told her how Jesus ‘violated’ religious protocol in reaching out to ‘the prostitutes’ of his day [I tried to be tactful here, but needed to get this point across]. And she really appreciated the help with the I.D. Before I dropped them off I gave her all of our books and stuff, and she began reading them before leaving the truck. I felt these simple stories capture the ‘lifestyle’ of going out into the byways and ‘compelling’ people to come in to the Kingdom. The mindset of ‘the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few’. When I speak about the requirement for all believers to in some way reach the lost, without simply being a ‘tither who goes to church on Sunday’ this is what I mean. Jesus instructs all of us along the journey to do things like this. Jesus said to ‘count the cost’ before taking on a project. But he also said ‘make no special appeals for funds, you are the equipment’. I think we confuse these two principles. The ‘cost’ of discipleship is living your life for others. Greater love has no man than this, that you would lay down your life for your friends. Who were Jesus ‘friends’? He was accused of being a friend of sinners! I would encourage you to begin giving yourself away for the benefit of others. Seek to become a ‘pawn’ for in doing this you are a ‘king’ in Gods eyes.
(75) I felt I should add this here. One of the ‘costs’ of making it a priority to ‘make disciples/carry out the great commission’ is you make yourself a target of the evil one to a greater degree than if you simply are a ‘church attendee’. ‘I will contend with him who contends with thee, and I will save thy children’[ Bible verse] when you make it a priority to ‘have children’ you put yourself in a position of ‘contention’ with the enemy. This is a real cost that you must understand and your commitment to bringing people to Christ will be severely challenged, but the obedience to the command of Christ to ‘make disciples’ should supersede the ‘cost’ of difficulty and persecution.
(76) ‘David’s rule of desperation’ I was thinking about the process that king David went thru as he learned to trust and depend on God. David’s story is one of passion for Gods heart, as well as personal failure and the result of his sin on his family and future. In Psalms you find passion and a lifestyle of ‘desperation’ for God. Many of the Psalms deal with David’s repentance after his failure with Bathsheba and the resulting effect of this opening up the door to David’s enemies. Many of the Psalms speak about David crying out to God in the midst of his enemies. David learned what it meant to ‘rule in the midst of your enemies’. These ‘enemies’ would have never been as oppressive if David never fell. Yet it was the oppression of these enemies that caused David to write such beautiful poetry. Psalms actually contains more Messianic prophecies then any other Old Testament book [except maybe for Isaiah?]. The rule of David was one of learning to rule out of trust and desperate reliance upon God. David’s son Solomon ruled out of tremendous wisdom. But David was called a King after Gods own heart, not Solomon! We learn from David the difficulty of carrying out Gods purpose despite our own failings and shortcomings. David was punished for his foolishness, but this didn’t let him off the hook from continuing to serve as King! He had to serve with the thorn of shame and open mockery from his enemies because of his sin. No wisdom could have brought him thru this low point in his life, but only a ‘desperate dependence’ on God!
(77) I want to clarify what I see as the ‘biblical parameters’ of ministry. When I speak on the ability that God has given to all of us to spread the Kingdom, as opposed to ‘starting a church/ministry’ what I am trying to express is Gods heart for all of his kids to have direct contact with his purposes in the earth, without setting up ‘go betweens’ that hinder the people of God from functioning. John Wesley, the great founder of the Methodist church, was receiving criticism from the organized church at one time. They questioned his authority to ‘break out’ of the parameters of the Anglican Church in some of the ways he was doing the will of God. John got to a point where he said ‘the world is my field’. He broke out of the limitations of ‘where can I function, and to whom should I speak’ he saw the gospel as the authority to go into all the world. In today’s ministry mindset we often limit ourselves by ‘seeing’ our function as it relates to ‘the Christian ministry that I run’. We might not say it this way, but in many cases this is what we do. I would encourage you to see the ‘world as the field’ and you as a laborer sent from God to ‘harvest the field’!
(78) I watched a show last night on ‘Christian’ TV. It was a good show. The speaker actually shared some things on grace that reminded me to speak on in the future. I believe that grace and our approaching God on the grounds of our acceptance with him, as opposed to our works for him, are foundational in our life with God. I know I have been critical of the whole ‘Christian TV’ scene, and I don’t want to give the impression that none of it is good. Some is. The problem I see with the modern way we do and express ‘ministry’ can be seen thru this medium. The person who spoke was being interviewed. He shared about the meetings that he was presently holding. They sang some songs from Barry Manilow [good songs, ‘I cant live without you’ sang towards God]. This very gifted teacher and singer obviously has a gift to build the church. It also reminded me of tuning in to another brother from New Jersey and seeing him ‘perform’ on the TV. We get lost today in the way we express ministry. Gifted people are placed by God in the church for the purpose of building the saints so they can be released into ministry. Today we see our gifts as the main thing. ‘Ministry’ is focused around the showcasing of our gifts. The average believer sees the fulfilling of his role as ‘going to church’ ‘paying the tithe’ and living vicariously thru the success and giftedness of his Pastor. The main thing in many scenarios is ‘us’ [the gifted leadership]. I believe there needs to be an overall shift in the basic way we do Christianity. It’s not a new doctrine to grasp, or some new conference to go to. It’s going to take some time for us as believers to return back to the simplicity and sincerity of New Testament Christianity. I don’t see myself, or any of us for that matter, as having arrived. But I see hope for us as the people of God to turn towards God once again, and to experience renewal in this season of our lives with him. [Let me note that in these 2 instances there was a sense of performance that I saw. Though I am sure these are good men at heart, we are all victims of the times we live in. The ‘journey’ towards fame and the self-promotion of our gifts and images is a part of modern ministry. In the entertainment world you simply seek success by advancing along these lines. When Gods gifted people [singers, speakers, etc.] follow these same lines they unconsciously create around them an environment that tends to promote their image. The local community around them, or the national supporters of their ministries, simply become enablers for the gifts and images of the leader to advance. The money and resources begin being used to promote the image of one person. This fundamentally violates the character of New Testament leadership that Jesus taught].
(79) In keeping with the above train of thought, I just read a verse ‘Your seed and your name shall remain’. I have learned and seen over the years this process play out. We went thru a time of ‘de promotion’ [demotion] where we actively pursued avenues to not exalt or promote our image or persona. I don’t want to sound ‘humble’ or better than others. It was just the process of seeing the scriptural mandate to not ‘self promote’ [I do send packets out and broadcast radio and stuff, but I try to avoid making contacts or sending stuff out for the purpose of ‘getting our name out’]. During this time I would notice every now and then people would recognize or know the name of our ministry or who we were. This was despite the fact that I stopped using the ministry name in many areas [the radio show still uses it, but in other areas I stopped]. I then made a sign ‘Corpus Christi Outreach Ministries’ to use for a home that was being groomed for a rehab facility. Though I didn’t promote the name, in this instance as well as the radio stuff, it simply was necessary for various reasons. Well I still have the sign [the home didn’t work out, yet!] and the name seems to ‘promote’ even though I actively tried to prevent it. I see in this a scriptural theme. Jesus taught these principles and lived them. John the Baptist certainly was not seeking promotion, but he got it! This seems to me the biblical promotion that comes from God and not man. Jesus actively avoided it when men tried to make him king; though today he sits at the right hand of God. There is almost a sense of you needing to really avoid and not want promotion, even though it will pursue those who avoid it. You don’t avoid it so you will be exalted; it just seems to work out that way. Jesus says the last become first. You begin to recognize the futility of mans honor, and this will inevitably bring you to a place where men want to honor you. Well when God says ‘your seed and your name will remain’ this is a type of legacy that’s permitted. You will generationaly affect the nations.
(80) I just went into my house after writing # 79 above. It’s early, around 4:00 am. I wrote a few days ago on unicorns. They represent a type of honor that comes from God, and not man. After writing it I made a mental note to pick up some type of unicorn figurine for my shelf as a reminder. When I walked in to my house to get some coffee, I looked at a shelf in my kitchen. I don’t know why, but it seemed out of order, this shelf is a collection of about 25 pieces of little trinkets and stuff that I found in a house in Kingsville that was being torn down by the city. The Fire Dept. would go to wet it down before the city truck demolished it. I went in and found a complete collection of all these little figurines in the middle of the house on a shelf. They were sitting there like ‘lambs for the slaughter’. I picked up a five-gallon bucket and ‘rescued’ them. I’ve had them for about 5 years. Well as I went to the shelf in my kitchen to fix the figurines [its 4 in the morning, I am writing, praying and have stuff to do!] I realize there are 2 beautiful unicorns from this collection. I didn’t have to buy them at all. They were precious riches that came from a little insignificant South Texas city [can anything good come from Nazareth?] that I pastored in [‘followed the sheep’]. ‘I will take you from following the sheep to the borders of my mountain’. God promotes those who are not too high minded to give their lives for the ‘least of these’. He will exalt you like ‘the horn of a unicorn’ and give you a rule like King David all for his glory!
(81) After saying all this I am going to ‘brag’ a little. The other day I was forced to give an explanation of the amount of stuff I manage to get done as an individual. I was asked to attend a school for the Fire Dept. that would be a 3-day school in another city outside of the local area. I really couldn’t afford the time for this. The captain wanted a letter explaining why I couldn’t attend. I simply described the time it takes to ‘run’ a regional ministry, do radio, work with addicts, ex-cons and homeless people. And to do it without staff, income or a salary! I had to add this because I wanted to show this time was not being used for another job [which can be a conflict in some cases]. I didn’t want to sound like a martyr or a one-man show, but I had to make it understood that it wasn’t for personal gain. I do believe in the principle of delegation and teamwork. I believe we all have tremendous potential to touch the world. The verse ‘you don’t need a lot of extra equipment for this, you are the equipment’ kind of fits in here. Without showboating too much, we can all accomplish things with just ‘God and you’. God told Moses ‘I will go with you’. There’s a sense of ‘going with God’ that enables all of us to do great things with limited resources. Its not that God doesn’t have the resources [the cattle on a thousand hills] it’s that God IS the resource! As you touch peoples lives God will expand your spiritual heritage thru your seed. This is a type of ‘delegation of authority’ that we all can do, birth people into the kingdom with the gospel and you will touch the world!
(82) Being we are talking about this let me stay on track. If you look at the life and finances of the apostle Paul, you will see enough money to simply meet his needs and help ‘transport’ him to the places where he needed to be. There really was no big budget ministry at all. We have a tendency to take the verses where Paul speaks on finances and interject them into modern ministry budgets. While its not really wrong to do this, the result of doing this takes away from the reality that Paul reached the known world of his day with the gospel without starting a multi million-dollar ministry. He simply went when the Lord told him to go, lived a life of suffering and sacrifice and God increased his influence supernaturally. Its humanistic thinking to say ‘the world will never be reached without billions of dollars’. This simply isn’t so. Now it does take money to send the gospel out to be sure. But we put a spin on it in order to fund huge modern Christian businesses! I want you to simply re-think what I just showed you about Paul’s life. God supernaturally expanded his influence by allowing his letters to go further than normal [Canon of scripture], he allowed the people that he communicated the gospel to, to have a regional influence for Christ. All this was done by the life of one man with a few simple people helping him in the journey. Simply no million-dollar budget to do this! The verses that speak about funding for projects [the Temple] and collecting large amounts of money [to distribute to meet the needs of the poor] are true scriptures. We simply make a mistake when we use these verses to teach that ‘you can’t touch the world on your own, but by chipping in with many other thousands you can only have an effect’. While the principle of joining forces and having exponential increase when there are big numbers is true. Yet we cant miss the point that we can all touch the world. The fact is God can use little old you, if your willing to count the ‘cost’ of a life of prayer, fasting, self sacrifice, risk taking and living for eternal rewards as opposed to material things! This is ‘the cost’ to touch the world, not a bunch of money!
(83) Had a dream a few days ago. In the area where I live in Corpus Christi [Flour Bluff] there are many generations of homeless people that have come thru this area. In the dream I saw ‘ancient houses’ imbedded in the trees and woods. It was like going thru the forest and seeing an old shack that was there so long it would seem camouflaged. There were many structures like this all thru out the woods, but they were easy to overlook and ignore. If you weren’t attentive you would see nothing at all! There was a bride walking on the 2nd story of one of these houses and she fell thru the floor all the way thru the foundation into a seemingly endless pit. I feel the houses represent the generations of hopeless people and families that the enemy has tried to ‘swallow’ over the years. All people are precious to God, some of these are actually believers, which makes them Christ’s bride. How would you feel if your bride was daily living in such bad conditions and she felt like she were in a hopeless situation from which there were no escape?
(84) I felt the Lord saying ‘this is the year where many prophets need to begin to harmonize their gifts with scripture’. There will need to be a humility to accept this fact. This is not to say that the prophetic is false. But I felt the Lord saying many prophecies and words that were not in line with scripture need to be abandoned. There is a prophetic pride that refuses to receive doctrinal correction under the guise of ‘the word of the Lord cant be wrong’. While this is true, we need to be humble enough to receive the fact that prophets sometimes miss the mark and make mistakes. The prophetic will be judged on its ability to receive these course changes and return to a more balanced biblical perspective [this word is spoken in 1-21-07, but receive it as the Lord directs].
(85) One of the subjects I deal with that seems to hit a sore spot is the area of giving. I want to use the tithe as an example of how we should read and interpret scripture. A careful reading of the New Testament shows the tithe mentioned in both the Gospels and the book of Hebrews. The main reason is these books obviously have a heavy Jewish context to whom they are being addressed. This is not to say that gentile believers cant find practical teaching in them. As you read the letters written to Gentile believers [primarily Paul’s] you find specific teaching on how Gentiles are to approach giving. In every case its simple giving without the tithe [I stress every case!]. Paul’s letters actually contain entire sections where the whole theme is that believers are not subject to law or Jewish ordinances [I know there are other debates, but I think I have dealt with those well enough in all our books]. This simple careful study and look at this subject should lead any serious bible student to understand that Gentile Christians are not under the tithe. No big fight, just simple freedom in grace. You’re free to give 10-15 or 20 % of your income, but your not mandated by law! This simple example can be used on any bible subject. You read the epistles in context; you come to a conclusion based on the overall evidence. And you fall on the side of grace versus law every time. I am not condemning those who put themselves under law, you can if you want to. Nor do I advocate being a cheapskate! I just think we should have a mature understanding in all areas of Christian life, and walk in grace in every area, even the area of giving.
(86) Let me say something good about Christian TV. Last night I tuned in to a live service out of Toronto from John Arnotts fellowship. This was one of the significant churches that the Lord used in the renewal movement of the 90s. In the past I have read and studied [and attended!] different things on the movement. For the most part I came down on the side of ‘the Lord was in it’ though there were legitimate concerns from the critics. The main point I wanted to stress is in watching the meeting on TV, I really sensed and entered in to the Lords presence. Some TV ministries simply broadcast the personas of people. In this atmosphere God was being ‘promoted’. It was good. Also one of the speakers reminded me to share something. There are stages in our lives where God brings us past certain milestones. These are specific times and events that set the course for the rest of our lives. These milestones are important to understand. While Paul the apostle said he ‘forgot the things that were behind’, he also recognized the importance of ‘entering into your labors’ [to be specific ‘other peoples labors’]. The dynamic of having accomplished certain things and simply resting in the harvest. This is not to say we don’t continue to press forward, its just a realization that you have passed certain markers on the journey, and in these areas your primary responsibility is to simply give oversight. There are definite seasons of transition in our lives where God simply says ‘I am removing your active involvement in this project/area, you are going to continue to reap rewards for having faithfully completed this part of the mission, but now I am going to change you parameter once again’. I sense this not in a bad way, but in a progression with God. Even the great patriarchs in the bible had specific times of ‘great faith’ and then long seasons of waiting in/on God. Abraham had some great milestones of faith, but there were also times where he simply had to stay in the land and inherit the promise. Well you might be at the ‘moving ahead’ stage, or at the ‘waiting in the land’ stage [by the way these are not mutually exclusive!] but wherever you’re at I encourage you to trust God to complete the things he’s done thru you, and allow the milestones in your life to produce the desired result. You can’t go back and ‘make it happen’ trust God to use your spiritual children to finish the task in these areas. ‘Thru your seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. Those that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places and make the desolate cities to be inhabited’ [Bible verse].
(87) I just made contact with one of my old friends. This person responded to one of the emails I sent out to old classmates. This person is an atheist, but was very polite in their response. I obviously returned the favor. I also told the person I am glad they contacted me, and I would love to keep in touch, atheist or not! Recently Stephen Hawking [One of the foremost scientists of our day, also an atheist] has been attending a Christian church. When questioned about it, he said something to the effect of ‘I guess I’m looking for something more’. There have been very famous intellectuals over the centuries who have come to embrace the Christian worldview [or Deism] to some degree after many years of searching. The simple fact is, for the scientist who is an atheist; there are too many holes and unanswered questions as time rolls on. Today we know that DNA teaches us that human blood has 30 or more ‘ingredients’ that all must be present and working AT ONE TIME in order for blood to function properly. These are referred to as ‘complex machines or mechanisms’ that must have a coordinated order of function at the initial stage; we didn’t discover these things until we became proficient in DNA [This last decade or so]. These truths of science absolutely debunk the mindset of evolution, which teaches all life started from simple forms and slowly evolved over millions of years. These both cant be true. Blood couldn’t have slowly evolved; it had to have had these ‘machines’ in place and operative at the incipient [beginning] stage. Well the more intellectuals see these developments this challenges there worldview. Though the ‘average’ public school student is never taught these facts, those in the know see the inconsistencies in there thinking. This is simply one of the many problems facing the atheistic scientist today. Believe me, there are many more! I believe the church has a responsibility to answer the atheist’s questions with more than just ‘the bible says so’. They deserve an intellectual answer to their honest questions. I personally believe ‘the bible says so’ philosophy, but that argument doesn’t work with someone who doesn’t believe the bible!
(88) For the sake of my ‘atheist friend’ and any other skeptic that might read this in the future, let me talk a little more in the area of apologetics and defending the faith. One of the most ‘miss informed’ proofs for evolution is actually a ‘proof’ that it’s not true! This is known as ‘fossil evidence’. Basically when Darwin popularized the theory of evolution in the 1800’s there were many questions that would still need to be answered [and would be answered] as science progressed. One of these is the ‘fossil evidence’. Fossils show that ‘things’ [life forms] came into existence at specific periods of time, as opposed to a slow process of evolution over millions of years. We have fossils of all types of living things in COMPLETE FORM [humans, dinosaurs, birds, horses, and on and on]. In all of these cases we not only don’t see a ‘missing link’, but you would need to have whole families of ‘missing links’ between all of these ‘life forms’. The fossil evidence simply shows us that things didn’t slowly evolve, but ‘showed up’ at once [or at least in complete forms]. You would think that scientists would see this, wouldn’t you? Well they have. Some explain it by embracing the Christian worldview, and say ‘God created all things’. Deists [people who believe in God, but don’t claim to be Christian] also embrace the view that God created life. What I want you to see here is these honest scientists have followed scientific facts that led them to these conclusions. The ‘fossil’ evidence falls on the side of ‘things showing up at once’ [complete forms] versus things slowly evolving. You might say that I am biased because I am a Christian; well I must admit I am. But even the atheistic scientist sees the inconsistency in the stuff I just showed you. The scientist who still doesn’t embrace faith, knows there needs to be some type of explanation for what I just told you. Well they have one! They came up with a theory called ‘punctuated equilibria’ [wow!] this theory recognizes the lack of evidence for things slowly evolving over millions of years. This theory basically says ‘evolution happens so fast [as opposed to so slow!] that the ‘fossils’ just didn’t catch it’. What! These guys call themselves intellectuals? This argument is basically a capitulation to the biblical worldview. The evidence doesn’t show things ‘changing’ from one form to another. If the ‘punctuated theory’ brothers want to embrace this silly theory, then they must do so by faith, because the very theory admits the evidence isn’t there! [They admit the fossils missed it!]. Well I don’t want to make enemies out of my friends [or friend] who are atheists, I just want to be able to engage in thoughtful dialogue while giving a defense of the faith.
(89) I just had a dream around 30 minutes ago. It’s 2:30 am right now. It was one of those dreams that after you have, you know it’s ‘more than a dream’. I was sitting on some balcony in a lower class neighborhood. It was Martin Luther King Jr. day. There was a march going on down the street, and we were all waiting for the people to go by [and the band played on!]. As the parade approached I was sitting there with anticipation. I had some sort of a branch on my lap. I didn’t realize that people started standing in respect. It was just an innocent oversight. There were 2 preachers [who I know] that were passing by. One white, the other black. The white brother looked up at me and said something to the effect of ‘you’re to good to stand’ sort of like in a self righteous way. ‘Hey, look at me, I am concerned about black people, cant you see’! The black preacher saw that I didn’t stand right away, but that it was a simple mistake. He actually defended me by saying ‘It’s all right, he doesn’t have to stand, we are in a lower class area, and its OK’. He didn’t come off as condescending; he just meant it’s a ‘real people’ area. Well I of course stood in respect as soon as I realized my fault. As I stood the branch on my lap fell to the ground. I then saw Martin Luther King. He was part of the procession. He looked at me intently and quoted some words from Jesus. I can’t recall the exact words. Then Martin Luther said ‘satan is going to try to change your image one way or another, don’t concern yourself about your own reputation’. The feeling I got from the words from this was the realization of extreme persecution and criticism that will come as a price to pay for all revolutionaries. The ‘falling of the branch’ could represent this process. Scripture calls Jesus and other key prophetic figures branches or trees. ‘The man whose name is the branch’ Jesus and other prophetic people were ‘cut off’ in their prime. [Martin Luther, John the Baptist, etc.] This ‘casting to the ground’ was an inevitable price to be paid for the revolution. Martin Luther King day just passed. I remember hearing how Martin Luther was a communist. He was looked at in a bad way in some of the fundamental Baptist circles that I used to associate with. I held a wrong view of him until I read and heard him speak over the years. Many of his faults [he did have them!] seemed to be a result of the tremendous prophetic mantle that he carried. He truly ‘came to the Kingdom for such a time as this’. I make it a point every year on Martin Luther King Day, to catch a glimpse or broadcast of a part of his great ‘I have a dream’ speech. God took Martin and allowed satan to defame his name, chose him for present day martyrdom, and gave him an indelible voice to society today. Truly Martin is a man who ‘though dead, yet speaketh’ [Hebrews]. I am adding this a few weeks later: I just realized that I have been quoting a verse in prayer for the last few weeks. Its in Psalms ‘Visit this vine, this vineyard and this branch’. Every now and than while reading I just see a verse and naturally incorporate it into intercession. I didn’t realize I was praying for ‘this branch’ and had this dream about a branch during the same few weeks.
(90) I was just outside praying, it’s early and cold. It’s January, and it’s the first clear morning in a few weeks! As this year started I was praying for the Lord to ‘pour buckets of water [spiritually!] on all the ‘seeds’ [books and contacts] that we have planted, and to cause a harvest of people to come in.’ I actually got the image of ‘buckets of water, and the seed coming forth’ from the prophecy of Balaam contained in scripture [I think somewhere in Exodus?] I remember reading it when he prophesied about Israel. The other images of Gods word being like ‘the snow and rain that come down from heaven and water the earth’ are in keeping with this. Well any way it has rained too much in these first few weeks of the New Year! Pools [floods] all over the place! But finally this morning I have a clear sky and can see the stars again. The fact that I haven’t seen them clearly in a few weeks affected my ‘vision’. God seems to ‘grow you’ [enlarge] into the size of the vision he has called you to. Without a vision the people perish! When you dwell in the parameter that God has called you to, it enlarges your ‘fore sight’. You can see further down the road than just the immediate circumstances that surround you. The fact that I haven’t been able to clearly see ‘the heavens’ in a few weeks [overcast sky’s] has limited my perspective. But today I can see far. I would encourage you to look beyond your immediate limitations and shortcomings and ‘see’ into the larger ‘place’ that God has called you to!
(91) Just outside praying and had a football in my hands while praying. The prophetic image I sense while holding the ball is for God to deposit divine wisdom and strategy to rightly place the ball into the hands of gifted and talented receivers. Of course I am speaking of the books and contacts and stuff I send out to different regions. The precious treasure is the gospel stuff we distribute, not some pigskin. Well any way this year I began thinking in ‘quarters’ more [3 month periods of time]. I used to drop tapes off at the radio station every month. Now every 3 months. As I was praying for this first ‘quarter’ it didn’t even dawn on me that I am walking around with a football! I can be pretty dense at times! Well I believe the Lord wants us to think in ‘quarters’ or strategically. The quarterback sees the game in 4 sets of time. The other players play one down at a time. Leadership needs divine wisdom to strategically deposit the ball to the talented guy, who also happens to be ‘hot’ at the time. God doesn’t expect you to scramble [all the time] he wants you to pass it off to the right people. Work smarter, not harder.
(92) Let me go back to our intellectual readers. I talked about Stephen Hawking the other day. Stephen is one of the most famous physicists of the last 20 years. Many other physicists do not see him as the foremost authority. They seem to view him as being responsible to have popularized their field of study, but they do not see him as one of the key movers and shakers of their field. One of the reasons for this is Stephens’s idea on black holes. Well this might be hard, but let me try to explain. Black holes are ‘spaces’ or ‘voids’ in space that are created when a star dies. These holes are thought to suck up anything that comes within its range. If you get too close it will take you in. The line that that you cross, from which there is no return, is called ‘the event horizon’, if you remember this was a title from a movie a few years back. Well there is a question [in the scientific world] over what happens to the things that get sucked into the hole. Stephen said they disappear [or cease to exist is a better way to say it]. This was contrary to the law of Physics that said ‘information’ cannot disappear. It is theorized that the information in the universe cannot ever disappear completely. Most assumed that even though this information was being ‘sucked’ into this whole, it would still exist and possibly resurface at some other time [or in some other place]. Well after spending 30 years defending his belief that information ceased to exist after being swallowed by a black hole, he suddenly changed his theory! Most scientists never agreed to Hawking's first theory anyway. So he comes out at some big conference of Physicists and announces a major new breakthrough. He states a new theory that admits he was wrong for the past 30 years [scientists can be wrong, I mean really wrong!] He admits that information’in a black hole cannot truly disappear [cease to exist], but that it simply goes to another ‘parallel universe’ and exists there. What! This sounds like something from the ‘Bizzaro world’ from a Seinfeld episode! Stephen Hawking sounds more like Stephen King in this scenario. Hawking said that there are many different parallel universes, some have ‘black holes’ and others don’t. All the information lost in the universes with the holes, is later retained in the universes without the holes. When you get to this ‘level’ of theory, you are not really doing true science [in my mind]. This is a type of psuedo science that is more like a scientific philosopher. Most other physicists think this is silly! The average person seeing stuff like this on the science channel simply accepts it as truth, not realizing that the majority of true scientists think its wrong. This is the problem in modern education. The public schools [which all my kids attend] never get around to correcting some of the errors that the kids were taught at a younger age. So the average person goes thru out the rest of his life embracing theories that are not only silly, but at times dead wrong! NOTE: Let me give another example. For years the science books had a moth that they found with spots on it. They found hundreds of these moths with these spots. The books had pictures and actually taught that these spots were proof for evolution. Years later they realized that the spots actually were coming from the pollution that the factories were putting out in the area. You could still find some of the science books with the fake story in them many years later! Kids think they are being taught truth, when they are not!
(93) One of the things I forgot to mention about Hawking is he spent 30 years ‘looking into’ a black hole [these are not my words, this is how others have characterized him]. I find this interesting. I believe there are times, wilderness experiences if you will, that feel like you’re spending a lifetime looking into a black hole! God uses our ‘death’ experiences for his glory. President Lincoln aged 30 yrs [it looked like it] during the years of the civil war. If you look at the pictures of Lincoln at the beginning of his presidency, and then near the end, the contrast is dramatic. The weight of the responsibility caused him to look severely ‘sunken’ and aged. I believe there is a level of brutal honesty with God and man that can only be achieved thru these means. Many of the great biblical characters [Moses, Elijah, Jonah] actually prayed to die. There just seems to be a level of authority that comes thru severe testing. You can’t seem to achieve it any other way. You also cant seem to avoid it, once you start going down that road you simply allow God to bring forth out of you the thing of value. The garden of Gethsemane was a place where you oppressed [I meant to write pressed and the spell check spelt oppressed!] olives. The process of tremendous pressure produced something of value. I just felt like today’s word was this, take it for what its worth. [Next day]. What I wanted to express is the concept of ‘bearing the Cross’ God uses things in our lives that ‘tare’ us. This process ‘opens us up’ [remember the earlier imagery of God smiting the rock and water coming out!] and allows deep truths to come forth. The day Jesus was crucified; scripture says ‘the veil of the temple was rent’. This veil was a covering over a room in the temple [the holy of holies] the rending [tearing] of this cloth represented us having full access into Gods presence thru the Cross. Most of us know this. But Jesus Body is called ‘the veil’ in the book of Hebrews [New Testament]. The ‘rending of the veil’ on the day of the crucifixion was a type of what was presently happening on the Cross that day. The ‘tearing’ [piercing] of Christ allowed there to be a ‘flow’ of Grace and wisdom that were unavailable until that day. The ‘door’ of heaven was opened [Jesus is called the door, his Body was ‘opened’ on the Cross] and this ‘bearing the Cross’ brought forth precious fruit that no other singular event would ever match!
(94) Update; earlier in this paper I shared the story of the ‘tough guy’ I beat up at the carnival. One of my old buddies who got this paper just informed me that he’s in a New Jersey prison for 8-10 years on multiple accounts of robbery, kidnapping and assault. I just sent the prison a request for a mailing address to contact him. Hope to hear from him soon. Pray for this guy, his name is Jimmy [chee chee]. Thanks!
(95) Let me update you guys. I started this paper [Prophecies, dreams, visions] 2 months ago. Its 2-1-07 right now. I didn’t think [or want to!] write this much this soon. I have already made some real good contacts with some old friends. The beginning of this year I sensed an urgency to get on with the task of ‘reaching’ my generation [the friends I grew up with]. I have been praying for you guys for 25 years, on a weekly basis! This year I felt like the Lord said its time. Don’t get me wrong, I have tried to witness to, or simply contact old buddies over the years. Its just I felt like the Lord said don’t wait any longer. Do whatever has to be done at this stage. I have noticed over the years that some of the people I worked with [ex-cons] and their families and friends, would seem to ‘reap’ in an intense way in there 40’s. The most extreme case was a guy from the original group of addicts I worked with in Kingsville. I personally did not know him, but a lot of my friends did. On a coke high he raped and murdered a college girl in our town. This was big news for many years. I remember praying for him as the week of the execution neared [we kill them quick in Texas!]. I simply prayed for him to have the courage to go thru it with grace, and an apology to the family of his victim. I read his statement and it contained these elements, but also a long statement on God and Christ and admitting to all his sins. It was one of the ‘best’ statements from a death row inmate that I have ever read. He was in his 40’s when he was executed. I am 44 as I write this. I pray for my generation, this is a season of reaping for many of us. God bless all of you, and thanks to those of you who have been in touch with me these last few months. I know some of our writings are a little heavy and I realize I take a chance at offending some. But this is a risk that I needed to take! [You might be thinking ‘there not so heavy’ wait till you get to the 300’s].
(96) There are 2 types of movements/ministries that are taking place today. One type is the classical idea of ministry. You are part of a Christian group that does Christian projects and you’re primary involvement is financing these projects. These groups often need thousands [or millions!] of dollars to get the job done. There are other groups of believers that simply function along the lines of volunteerism. Sort of like A.A. meetings. These groups seek to advance the kingdom thru evangelism [that is them doing it!] they often meet from house to house; some are ‘virtual communities’ who meet on line. They expand rapidly thru out whole nations with little or no money. You say how can this be. Well this is the power of the Gospel. Believers sharing their faith, reaching out to the hurting, giving to those in need. All doing this as individual [and corporate] members of Christ’s body. No ‘big ministry’ at all. Simply Christ’s Body functioning and acting like the disciples. They didn’t start their own ministries/movements. They were the movement! [That is the dynamic of Christ’s Spirit working in them]. Faithfulness in the first group is measured primarily by attending Church on Sunday and paying the tithe, faithfulness in the second group is measured by living in community relationships with each other and personally doing evangelism. Without being too critical, I find it interesting that in the judgment scenarios that Jesus gives in the Gospels, you NEVER find him judging people on whether they were faithful to ‘church’ or tithed. You ALWAYS find judgment based on how we treated fellow human beings [relational!]. ‘When I was hungry you fed me, etc.’
(97) I just saw a commercial for the upcoming super bowl. A company contracted with the fans to come up with there own commercials. The fans did it themselves without any help. The commercial I saw was good. It’s one of the few that will run Sunday. It cost a total of $13.00 dollars [this is no type o, thirteen dollars!]. It looked as good as the ones that cost in the millions! The fan said he filmed it with his wife. No other stuff needed. Their camcorder, their car and a few bags of Doritos and a friend to record it for free. This reminds me of that favorite verse you always see me quoting ‘Don’t think you need a lot of extra equipment for this, you are the equipment, no special appeals for funds [13 dollars!] keep it simple’ When you see yourself and all that you have as dedicated to the expanding of the Kingdom, then God will use you. You’re impact can be just as real as a million dollar budget. If a fan from a football team can do it, how much more you!
(98) I wanted to mention something. After first becoming a believer, I realized that I couldn’t afford to attend college. I was 19 yrs old, had my first daughter in my early 20’s, and by my 30’s I had 4 girls! But what I did do is borrow and read tons of books from the public library. I would purchase college level books for half price at ‘half price books’. I basically utilized what was available to gain an education, without paying some professor $100,000 dollars to tell me to read a book! Now I am not demeaning those who have, I just want you to see that you can accomplish things if you want to. [Added later; I want to make a note here, I have bought books from ‘the Christian bookstore’ and from ‘regular bookstores’. The Christian bookstores have a tendency to promote pop Christian culture some of it is good, some not. The theology sections of good bookstores contain better stuff for a Christian education. You would benefit to read the classics and other fields of study that you would get if attending some divinity school from Harvard [or Notre Dame for my Catholic friends!] then to just read the pop psychology stuff being promoted today.
(99) I fell asleep last night around 7-7:30. I am on a 24 hour shift right now [firehouse] and got up around 12:30 or so. I try not to get up before 2:00 am, but we had a few runs and I knew I wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep. So I just started reviewing some of our writings, going over some stuff. I forgot to tell you guys about a dream I had a while back, I just saw it in my mission statement/journal of prophecies and dreams. In the dream I saw my Italian grandmother who passed away many years ago. She was a great cook and a great person. I called her ‘Nauna’. She was in heaven and simply said ‘your famous up here on TV’ I found this strange being I have no desire to ever be on TV. I also seek to avoid the ‘famous’ mentality that exists in the church today. But what I got out of this was the teaching from Jesus on the last being first, and the least being the greatest. I believe we will be surprised at who is famous and who is not in Gods eyes. I honestly do not see myself as ‘famous’ or a big shot. But I do recognize that God wants to give us favor with God and man for his glory.
(100) Its time to tell a few more stories. Because of some recent contacts with some old friends I am remembering some things. First let me say a few years ago I felt the Lord saying ‘your testimony will be important to old friends and new ones’. I didn’t fully understand why, but I sensed an urgency to contact old friends thru ministry avenues. Well I actually have had some friends tell me ‘John, I am not interested in your Christian books and stuff, but I would like to hear what happened to you down in Texas’ and after giving them some materials they wind up reading the Christian stuff! So anyway I realize that it serves a purpose. Thru one of my old buddies I found out about the friend who is in the N.J. prison. These are both old friends. The one who gave me the Cross on the ‘mesq.’ trip I told you about earlier is one of them. The friend in jail is the guy I beat up at the carnival years ago. Well already the friend in prison is receiving a bunch of stuff from me, I just mailed out a package of stuff to the prison and hope to keep in touch. This is the first person I have had an open door with in a Jersey prison. Sometimes friends in prison are an ‘open door’ to get materials into the hands of other prisoners [books and stuff!]. Well the story I am remembering is when I first got kicked out of the Navy I went back to Jersey for a few months. I hooked up with my buddy who gave me the Cross, and my other good friend who eventually came back to Texas with me and later died of aids. Well he got kicked out of the Army and was already back in Jersey when I showed up. One day we took a drive out to the more rural areas of New Jersey [sort of like where Tony Soprano would live!]. Found some country road and just were partying and drinking and getting high. We saw some nice car parked on the side of this mountain road and decided to ‘push it’ off the mountain with the car we were in. So as we pushing it over the cliff [it was empty!] someone came down from the back area of this mountain road and began smashing the windshield with a bat. Obviously they weren’t happy about our choice of recreation! Well I opened the passenger side window and smashed a beer bottle over the hood to try and get it to break into the guys face. We all got out and realized there were 2 of them. One guy was pretty big. But there were three of us and we managed to scare them pretty bad. I pretended I had a gun in the car [either me or my friend?] and we were saying ‘get the gun, get the gun’ and the guys got scared. We totally destroyed their vehicle. It was just sitting there hanging of the side of this mountain road. We took off and about a mile down the road passed up a trooper vehicle and realized he would be on the scene in about a minute. So we drove over a hundred miles an hour for a long time to get off that mountain. We never got caught. I realize that in a lot of these cases if we were caught we would have been in big trouble! I thank God we never went to jail over this stuff.
(101) Lets get back to some spiritual stuff. Recently both of my older daughters bought homes. One bought a nice ranch with 2.5 acres, and a beautiful modular home. The entire ranch and home was on the market for $120,000 dollars, it was a HUD repo and she got it for $31,000! A real blessing. This is my 19 year old. My other girl got a nice 2 bedroom in Corpus for around $45,000. This is my 21 year old [by the way my other 2 girls are 15 and 16]. Well I really didn’t want them to be buying homes at the same time. I want to help them with everything, but sometimes there’s just too much to do! Its funny, I really wasn’t involved too much in this whole process. One of the homes I didn’t even see until my daughter closed on it. Scripture says ‘first the natural, than the spiritual’. I felt like the Lord was telling me ‘your spiritual seed will grow and posses the land, and you will rest and enjoy the harvest’. I have a tendency to be an ‘over achiever’ [at least I try!]. I know sometimes I push it too much to the limit, and I have to learn to allow our ‘children’ to grow and mature in Gods time. My older girls have good jobs [one is a veterinarians assistant, the other manages the municipal pools for the City] they both attend college [A and M university in C.C.] and are settling in to their new homes. The natural expansion of my kids lives and ‘parameters’ I feel are symbolic of many of you reading this stuff. God wants to use you and expand his ‘influence’ thru you, and I need to learn to sit back and ‘watch’ it happen. I truly believe God wants to use many of you to advance his Kingdom in the earth. No big ministry to join, just learning and growing in Gods time and allowing him to use you in some way to influence your circle of friends as well!
(102) I am watching an HBO special right now. It’s called ‘the friends of God’ its not a real critical look at Christians, but it does portray them as a little goofy/silly. One of the defenses the Christians are giving for their belief in creation versus evolution is ‘I believe the bible’. The person making this documentary [Nancy Pelosi’s daughter, the first woman speaker of the house] obviously isn’t going to interview the multitudes of scientists who also don’t believe in evolution! But some of the Christians do look silly, to be honest. Some of the arguments Christians use to defend the faith are shallow. Do you believe the bible? Do you believe it is scientifically accurate [I do], well when the bible says the ‘sun rises’ do you believe it actually ‘rises’? Not really! Most of you accept the fact that the earth revolves around the sun and rotates at the same time. Scientifically the ‘sun doesn’t rise’. The language used in scripture to describe ‘the sun rising’ isn’t lying, but it is simply using the natural flow of language that people communicate with. There are things like this that believers need to become more familiar with in our defense of the faith, or else we look like people who still believe the earth is flat! NOTE: I personally don’t like the ‘persona’ that is being put forward from some of the more strident evangelical preachers. Though I would agree with them doctrinally on many subjects, it’s just the overall ‘us versus them’ mentality that turns me off.
(103) Just here at work. Got up a few hours ago [around 2:30 am] and was praying. Walking outside I found a football that someone left a few weeks back just lying around. I stuck it in the alley where I pray while at work. I was walking around with the football and was just thinking about the concept of ‘scoring’. The quarterback gets no credit for just getting the ball into the end zone. It has to be ‘delivered’ by a person! Either he hands the ball off to a running back [one on one outreach] or he passes it [radio and other forms of ‘sending’]. Sometimes he runs it in himself! [You Pastors and leaders, don’t neglect personal evangelism. You need to win people to the Lord too!]. God gives us ‘things of value’ gifts and skills [football]. These treasures we posses only count when we successfully ‘hand them off’ to the rest of the team! Don’t hog the ball! [Note- it’s the Monday right after the super bowl, I don’t even know who won yet, the colts or bears?]
(104) Let me fill in some holes on my timeline. After the story of me going U.A from the base in Kingsville, I eventually wound up back on the base in a restriction barracks. This was a place where you were under 24 hour watch, and could leave your room only for meals. Well I found a way to get out at night through a back entrance. Got some civilian clothes and even managed to get some drugs and liquor into our area. One of the drugs was from a friend who was the pharmacist at the dispensary [I was a hospital corpsman/ Medic]. He would give us fake prescriptions and we would get them filled. The stuff he got me was a type of speed [I think it was ephedrine?] One night I took way too much, around 10 to 20 pills. I was up for a few days. For years later one of the after effects was my toes were completely numb. This lasted for a few years and eventually it went away. You can only abuse your system so much before you get lingering effects. One of the nights I snuck out, I went to a local club in town to party. We had no ride back to the base so I asked some navy girls for a ride. They innocently took me back to the base not realizing that they would have gotten into trouble if they got caught transporting someone who was on restriction. Well the next day one of the girls told her friend we were partying the night before. Her friend said ‘no way’ he’s on restriction in the barracks. Well the girl who gave me the ride back to the base eventually became my wife. This was a few weeks from my discharge from the navy. I would find myself back in Jersey for a few months. I remember getting stoned one night and thinking ‘I gotta get the hell out of this town!’ this brought me back to Texas with my buddy who eventually died of aids. Well I just thought I would fill in this part of the timeline for some of my old friends who are now reading this blog. [Note: I have used the imagery of ‘ports’ and stuff in my writings, I have referred to ‘new windows and opportunities’ as ‘ports of call’ the name of the club where I met my wife was called ‘port o call’ it’s still there!]
(105) Let me say a few things. Thank you to all the friends from Jersey who have contacted me. Feel free to ask me any questions or stuff about religion, Christianity or anything! If I don’t know the answer I’ll make one up! [Just kidding]. I am a little hesitant sharing certain ‘prophetic’ type stuff with you guys, many of you don’t even know what ‘prophetic’ means. But let me throw one in anyway. One of the images I had in mind when beginning to contact friends from Jersey was the image of ‘fishing the Hudson’. The New Testament speaks of ‘fishing for men’ meaning winning people to Christ. Making believers out of unbelievers. So the beginning of this year ‘fishing the Hudson’ was an image that came to mind when reaching out to old friends from that area. It dawned on me that the first person from New Jersey that I led to the Lord I actually ‘fished’ out of a Jersey river physically, before I ‘fished’ him spiritually. My old buddy Miguel [who died of aids] and I were racing dirt bikes down off of ‘west side road’ off of Tonnele ave. We were riding some old trails along the river [think it was the Hackensack river] as we were racing around a bend, I was in front and as soon as I turned the corner I came up on a hairpin turn that went off a little bridge that would put you right into the river. Well I couldn’t wait to see my buddy hit the water! Instead of warning him, I just stopped and waited for him to make the turn. Well he did! He flew right off the bridge [about 10 feet or so] and totally submerged body and bike completely under water. I probably should have been worried, but I just thought it looked cool. As he came up for air I said ‘look out for the alligators’ and he freaked out [I know that was bad!] Well I ‘fished’ him out of the water and we pulled his bike out [it was an Indian 100 cc motorcycle]. I pulled it back to his house with a rope and we parked it there. A few weeks later we pulled the plugs, sprayed it with WD 40 and believe it or not it started! Well he later was the first person from Jersey that I led to the Lord; I guess the Lord knew he didn’t have much time left.
(106) Let me talk to the Pastors and leaders who read this blog. There are many changes and things the Lord is doing across the Body of Christ in a dynamic way. Theologians refer to some of these movements as the ‘emerging church’. There are many other names and descriptions as well. I would just like to state the plain fact that God is challenging our mindsets in many areas of Church life. I find many Pastors and leaders who are afraid to even think about the possibility that the present role of ‘Pastor’ is really an unbiblical expression of New Testament leadership. Not saying these guys are bad or evil, just the fact that God has challenged the concept of the Pastor as the Sunday lecturer who is ‘over’ the Local Church. These ideas are changing by Gods design. Many leaders who heard me [and others] say this stuff years ago, thought we were nuts. Now it seems to be an ‘open secret’ that people cant avoid dealing with. I just want to encourage you guys to be bold and courageous, if God changes the way you function and brings you more into alignment with the biblical model of leadership, then this is a good thing! Come out of your shells of fear and timidity men! We have all been wrong and needed correction over the years, don’t see your current role as something that needs to be defended at all costs, God is changing things and I encourage you to go with the flow!
(107) When I spoke a few weeks ago on not being able to attend college, I want to clarify my thoughts on higher education. I believe one of the problems with ‘fundamentalism’ [some types of evangelical preachers] is the lack of a well-balanced education. It’s good to get a university level of education if you can. In the last century there was a movement in the Christian church that was called ‘higher criticism’. Many of the scholars that were influenced by the previous stage of the enlightenment [from Europe] taught a type of bible interpretation that denied many [or all] the supernatural stories in the bible, even the resurrection! As a result many American universities were inundated with a type of teaching that ‘old fashioned’ preachers thought was apostasy [some of it was, but not all of it!]. The American ‘fundamentalists’ reacted by simply saying ‘we believe the bible literally’. The problem with some of the literalists, was they lacked a balanced historical understanding of the times and life of the early church. They seemed to have no time to become educated on the historical aspects of Christianity. So ‘literalism’ said ‘if the bible says it’s going to happen, then it is going to happen’. Not realizing [because of a lack of education] that certain things already happened. One example of this is the present preoccupation with the ‘antichrist’ and the prevailing hobby of trying to find out who he is. Is he alive today? A lot of speculation on a person that the first century church believed to be fulfilled in the emperor Nero. Without teaching this whole subject, the early church taught and understood that there would be a person who would be a great persecutor of Christians. He would even kill those who would not ‘worship his image and bow down to him’ those who would not ‘receive his number 666 couldn’t survive’. The Roman Empire of the 1st century allowed for religious expression. There form of Government actually ‘deified’ their Caesars. You could believe in other Gods [Pantheism] as long as you bowed the knee to its emperors. Well obviously Paul and other early writers could see the writing on the wall. Early Christians were not to sware allegiance to any other ‘god’ but Jesus Christ! As the early church progressed, the apostles understood that there would eventually be a ‘Caesar’ that would demand allegiance to himself. Those who wouldn’t ‘bow’ and say ‘Caesar is Lord’ would eventually be killed. Polycarp and other early Christian leaders met their fate this way. Nero was the worst. He blamed catastrophes and other events [arson!] on the Christians, though its believed that he himself was the arsonist! Nero’s name, along with his title of ‘Caesar’ does spell out to the numerical value of ‘666’. It just made sense for the early church to have believed him to have been the antichrist! There are many other debates on this subject, and I do leave room for the possibility for the ‘antichrist’ to be a future person, but I doubt it. Also during the reformation of the 16th century, many of the reformers [Luther and others] saw the ‘antichrist’ as the pope. The book of revelation speaks of Rome and both a political and religious ‘Babylon’ as coming against the saints. It was easy for the reformers to ‘see’ the marriage of the Catholic Church with the governments of men as the culprit [The Holy Roman empire and stuff like that]. But again this view doesn’t seem to take into account that Rome of the 1st century was religious, and that wasn’t speaking about Catholics! So I believe a basic understanding of world history, along with a literal interpretation of the bible go hand in hand. Those who despise education [calling the seminary the ‘cemetery’] seem to lack this balance.
(108) Let me also say that the current popular ‘end times’ teaching that you see and hear in much of American Evangelicalism sprouted thru the fundamentalist reaction to higher criticism. In the 1800’s there were certain Christian groups in England [the Brethren and others] that took hold of ‘Dispensationalism’. The ‘Rapture’ doctrine and other scenarios of bible interpretation sprung up out of these movements. When the American fundamentalists used the Bible Conference as a tool to counteract the higher criticism being taught in the universities, Dispensationalism sort of tagged along. It became common to think ‘defending the historic faith’ meant defending ‘Dispensational theology’. This was a major mistake. The Historic faith did not teach certain elements of dispensationalism [Rapture]. So today you find many American Christians who are all too willing to embrace certain end time scenarios [Tim Lahaye stuff!] thinking there ‘defending the bible’ not realizing that some of the things there defending are not in the bible! [At least not in the way that they see it]. When you fail to read scripture thru an historical paradigm you fall into the danger of trying to fit current geopolitical events into certain Old Testament prophets, and this is dangerous. You would never want to do world politics with a view of Israel and other nations [Russia- Gog and Magog] as a type of ‘newspaper prophecy’ that speaks to every current world scenario. One of the fears of certain believers is the fact that President Bush [current President as of this writing] holds to a view like this. I remember certain end time preachers disclosing the fact that the Bush administration contacted them early on about certain end time things. I am real uncomfortable about this. Many of these end time preachers do not realize that many of these scenarios concerning Israel and other nations have played out time and again over the last few thousand years. To take these Old Testament prophets and think that they are all speaking about current affairs is misguided!
(109) I just had a dream a few hours ago. I dreamt I was in some type of government area. I was giving our books to Senator Trent Lott. As he began reading the books he became influenced to the point where he started advocating some of the positions we hold. This didn’t sit well with his political advisers. They were like ‘Its good that John is a Christian and he gave you these books, but do you have to become a fanatic too!’ When I woke up I wasn’t too sure about this dream. A verse came to my mind ‘he will teach my senators wisdom’ [I believe it’s a Messianic verse, which is an Old Testament verse speaking about Jesus]. You often find the New Testament writers using these verses interchangeably between both Jesus and The Church. God ‘teaches wisdom’ thru his Spirit speaking out of the Body of Christ. The thing I got from this dream was we were having an effect on certain Kingdom people to the point where they are beginning to advocate some of the things we teach. That’s great! I find it interesting to hear somebody teach something after I give them our stuff, and to realize that they are saying things they learned from us. No bragging, just the joy of Knowing I’m not wasting my time! Some of these men are in there 80’s, that’s interesting. It shows me the younger guys [my age!] are not as open and humble as those who have been around a while. Let me stick this in here. The other day I was at work and just emailing some old friends from the classmate’s site. We had a tractor-trailer carrying a bunch of cars catch fire. We were stuck at that scene for a few hours. When we got back I kind of prayed ‘I’m glad I got these few emails off before the run, but I need to get some better results!’ Feeling a little discouraged I guess. Well I got one return email from the 5 or 6 people I emailed that day. It was an old friend I hadn’t seen in 26 years. He responded and said he was a believer and serving the Lord and would like to even visit the ministry. Also I got a phone call from one of our old friends from Bishop [a nearby city] who I hadn’t seen in around 3 or 4 years. He is the younger brother to the friend I told you about earlier who died from swallowing a bag of cocaine. The younger brother looks a lot like his older brother who died. Well he came by the firehouse to see me. He’s a believer and doing good. He even encouraged me by telling me I was his ‘spiritual father’. I simply felt like the Lord encouraged me this day. Also to all the friends from Jersey that want to get in touch, I have no ‘ministry’ to visit. We own no facilities; have no corporation and no staff! I try to teach and model what we teach. I simply have a bunch of friends in different places that we try to relate to as Christian brothers [sisters]. I would love to get a visit, or visit any of you. It’s just I don’t want to give the impression that there’s some big facility or some thing that I run. There’s nothing [except for people!] But I am looking for friends who are interested in doing home/house church type meetings. Any of you Jersey friends who start a bible group or home fellowship as a result of being in contact with us, I would consider as ‘part of the ministry’ in the sense that I believe this is a step that the Lord has for me on this journey. So lets get together as God leads! God bless.
(110) Let me tell a few jokes for levity. A few years ago I took my truck to Wal Mart for an oil change. I ran into a bunch of homeless friends who hang out in the front of the store. I was in the strange situation of having no money on me while wanting to buy a soda from a 25-cent machine. I naively asked my friends for some change [forgetting they are almost always dead broke!]. Sure enough a few of the guys were more than willing to give me their change. No questions asked. Just friends helping friends. But one of the guys got quiet when I asked for the change. His buddies could tell that he had some change but didn’t want to cough it up. They said this to him in no uncertain terms! Well after I got the change I then reached into my pocket to grab my check book [I had the checkbook on me, but no cash] and then proceeded to lie! I pulled out the checkbook and said ‘Now I am going to tell you guys who I really am’. They all looked a little shocked. I think they thought I was a Narc [undercover cop] and I was going to bust them! I told them ‘did you ever hear of the millionaire Percy Ross’ they didn’t! But anyway I told them this is the guy who anonymously gives away millions of dollars to unsuspecting people. I told them ‘I am him!’ I then went on to explain that I move to different parts of the country on a rotating basis [I wish!] and befriend homeless people. I try to teach them love and generosity for a few years [These guys all knew me for a few years by now, and I have taken them all out to eat lots of times]. I then said ‘and after trying to teach them the lesson of generosity, I simply ask them for some change. And whoever gives me the change proves that he learned the lesson and can be trusted with more. I then make him a homeless millionaire’. Well you can see the look of shock on their faces, they went from thinking they were going to get busted, to one of them becoming rich! Well the brother who had the change but wasn’t willing to give it up couldn’t wait to give me his change now. I then acted like I was writing out the check for the million and confessed I made it all up. Well at least they got some exercise by increasing their heartbeats to over 200 for a few minutes!
(111) One day I picked up 2 black brothers who needed a ride. I was talking to them as I was giving them a ride to some mission. I could tell that they wanted to ‘jump’ me. It was weird; they kind of sensed that I felt ‘comfortable’ being in this position. Sort of like ‘its been a while, but will do what we have to do’. It was strange. Well they didn’t jump me, I told them I was from Jersey [I think they were from New York City]. And they questioned me a little on the geography of the area. I think when they realized I was somewhat of a ‘home boy’ they let me off the hook. I really don’t know why I told this one, I was just sitting outside praying and remembered it.
(112) Just got home from doing some food shopping. On the way back I parked by the bay for a little while. Took a break and read the paper while listening to the radio. I heard a preacher defend the idea of ‘the Pastor’ as the person who ‘runs’ the church. I got upset! He went on to speak about the multimillion dollar ‘church’ that their building in San Antonio, he spoke on the biblical principal of leadership, someone having to make a decision. For example: God makes decisions in the Godhead [Trinity] and things of this nature. Then he spoke on the practical reality of one man needing to ‘make the call’ for the ‘church’ on vital financial decisions and the like. I understood his defense, but it is dead wrong! He basically was making the fundamental mistake of viewing ‘the multimillion dollar building and operation’ as ‘the church’. The Church in the New Testament are all the communities of believers in the various cities and regions where they dwell. The simple fact is there was NEVER a ‘Pastor’ who made the decisions for the whole community. This brother from San Antonio simply was defending the need for one person to make the call in a business environment, but he mistakenly called this ‘the church’. The fact is there was never a single New Testament Church [community of people] who were dependant on ‘a person’ to call the shots! Just cause someone’s on the radio doesn’t always mean that they know what there talking about! [Note; for those of you who think I should have approached him personally before correcting him, I already sent this brother all our books a few years ago, he should have known better by now!] The ‘one man’ who would run the Church in the above scenarios given is JESUS CHRIST! [Next day] Well I cooled down a little bit from yesterday [just a little!]. Let me give you some ‘regional’ history. Back in the late 80’s there were ‘apostles/prophets’ who taught strong ‘apostolic authority’ in the San Antonio area. Many of these brothers are still going strong for God, some I am not sure about. These brothers had a strong influence on the above ‘mega church’. The Pastor of the mega church tried to incorporate ‘plural leadership’ in his ‘church’. They had some difficulties. They were missing the whole point of plural leadership [elders] as being ‘guides and facilitators’ of the community as opposed to leaders who ‘run the church’. The basic mistake was they were ‘seeing’ church as the ‘Christian business’ who meets on Sunday. In this limited perspective it is virtually impossible to incorporate ‘plural leadership’. It’s like ‘who preaches this Sunday’? Or ‘who decides on the color of paint for the church’? Silly stuff like that. I refer to these brothers as being ‘building centric’ as opposed to ‘Christ centric’. Well the Pastor of this San Antonio mega church finally abandoned the whole ‘plural leadership’ mindset in order to simply ‘fulfill my vision’. Which was to have a huge building with lots of people coming to hear him speak. Also during the formative period of all these guys struggling with these issues, a ‘former pastor’ who is now one of the key leaders in the ‘house church movement’ visited San Antonio and spoke on the church as the people, as opposed to ‘the building’. He dealt with plural leadership and the role Apostles play in today’s church. Well eventually the mega church pastor opted out of the idea to do ‘plural leadership’. He needed [or did] embrace a model of ‘one man’ who is highly motivated to get this big building, and no one is going to stop me! The problem with ‘doing church’ this way is that people become assets to another goal. People are ‘expendable’ in these scenarios. The ‘thing’ of importance becomes ‘the building’ as opposed to the harder more long-term goal of ‘the people’. I believe that during the transition stage of this church, the Pastor opted for the easier road of ‘going for the big building’ as opposed to the more difficult road of helping to facilitate a move in the church where ‘plural leaders’ lead people down a road of independence versus being ‘church attendees’. Leaders often choose ‘their vision’ over the overall benefit of the people. God wants leaders to make decisions based on the future of his purpose. Not on ‘what do we want in our lifetime’. Many times Gods higher purpose entails not seeing what you want, for the sake of what he wants! [A few weeks later] I just had a dream [Its 1:22 am as I write this!] about the above San Antonio church. This isn’t the first time I dreamt about this church either. In the dream I was visiting the church, they were very gracious to me. I introduced myself as a visitor who directs ‘Corpus Christi Outreach Ministries’ [I hate relating to ministry people this way, but sometimes I find you have to do this or leaders simply wont give you the time of day!] Well the Pastor, who is a good man, kind of said ‘O this is the Pastor of C.C.O.M.’ and I kind of had to uncomfortably explain ‘well not really the Pastor’. By the way this happens so much in Christian circles, we have a tendency to evaluate people along these lines. ‘What do you do, I am a fire fighter, I do this’ we judge people based on what society believes to be important. Well the dream was all right, the Pastor was nice and well intentioned. I actually plan on visiting this church in the near future. I just felt the San Antonio connection to be important recently. I feel we are going to make some good contacts in this city. Our radio broadcast covers that entire region [as well as Houston and some other major radio markets]. Those of you up there give me an e-mail and lets get in touch.
(113) I want to go back to something I spoke on a few weeks ago. The subject of the anti christ and the destruction of the temple spoken about in the New Testament. I was having a conversation with a friend and he brought up the fact that the bible speaks about the end of the world and the temple being destroyed. I tried to place some things in historical context. I told him, yes its true that Jesus said the temple would be destroyed, and the apostle Paul wrote the Thessalonians concerning a coming judgment and falling away. But I told my friend that the Roman general Titus actually destroyed the temple in A.D. 70 around 2 thousand years ago. I realize that its popular today to believe a future temple must be built in Jerusalem in order for certain evens to be fulfilled. But it’s also possible that both Jesus and Paul were speaking about the immediate events that were to happen in the 1st century. There is a verse where Paul says ‘he that restrains will restrain until he’s taken out of the way’ [Thessalonians]. Without getting too technical for some of my readers, this verse is interpreted in some circles as referring to the Spirit of God dwelling in the church. These brothers then see the ‘taking away’ of the church [believers] in the rapture as the event where the restrainer is ‘taken away’ and then the antichrist appears. Thus developing a theology that says all Christians are removed from the planet before the tribulation occurs. Let me put some context to this. The main debate that the apostle Paul and Jesus dealt with in the 1st century was the reality of God bringing in a New Covenant thru the blood of Jesus. This new covenant would only recognize one sacrifice for the sins of man, the death of Christ! The Jewish community had a sort of ‘probationary’ period where they either would accept the final sacrifice of Christ, or ultimately God would leave their religious system. The reality was for the most part the Jewish nation never accepted the finality of the cross. They did not accept Jesus as their Messiah. During this ‘probationary’ period Gods Spirit was still with them to a degree. The book of Hebrews indicates this. It is quite possible that the ‘restrainer’ who would hold back the coming destruction of the temple and the Jewish system was speaking of the Spirit then resident in the Jewish community. In essence God was saying ‘you have so much time to decide whether or not Jesus is Messiah, if you decide the wrong way, I will leave your community [by the Spirit] and there will be no more restraining influence to keep back Rome and its government from destroying you!’ This view puts everything into context. The main thing you see here is Gods priority on the sacrifice of Christ as mans only hope. The Spirit of God would no longer reside with those who would do ‘despite unto the Spirit of Grace’ [Hebrews]. It’s quite possible that the ‘taking away’ of the restrainer was Gods Spirit leaving first century Judaism as a result of their rejection of Christ. Their probationary period was over and they rejected the chief cornerstone!
(114) Just had a dream a few hours ago. First a little background. The ranch my daughter bought a few months back has 2.5 acres. I found out you can hunt in this county, but under 15 acres you cant use a gun. So I bought a bow. I haven’t hunted yet, but do plan on it. So in the dream I was on the ranch and spotted a big buck. He was fairly close and sure enough I got him! Before he died he turned and made a run for me. He was mad. But he finally died. Without too much speculation let me give a little interpretation. Earlier in this paper I spoke on a dream of ‘catching’ a big fish. I felt like this spoke to having influence with certain key influential people. In this dream I feel the same. The buck had horns, horns represent influence and power. He was closer than I thought he would be when I took the shot. And before succumbing to the arrow he tried to retaliate! I feel some of our teaching is ‘hitting the target’ of some ‘big shots’. They initially don’t realize that there ‘so close’. They even feel like ‘coming after me’ but ultimately the arrow has its effect. Sometimes we have to die to things before we can live! Note; Let me share a funny story. My daughter saw my bow and told me it’s like the one her friends father has. He lives right off of a ranch area and when he gets a chance he shoots a deer. Well my daughter [15 yr old] was with her friend the other day and they have a cute deer that’s been coming around for a few months. His horns are getting big and the dad thought it was time to go for it! Well my daughter’s friend likes the deer. When ‘pops’ goes to get the bow, she sneaks on the other side of the barn and starts throwing rocks. The dad can’t see her. My daughter was with her the other day and she said it was funny. All you can hear is the dad waiting for the shot and then saying ‘darn [yea right] he ran again!’ Thought this was cute.
(115) Had quite a discussion the other day at the mission for homeless people. Spent a good 2 to 3 hours teaching some guys the history of the reformation [16th century] and how both the Catholics and Protestants had certain truths on each side. It got quite technical, but a few of these guys are serious bible students and they were drinking it in! I shared a little on how the ‘continental reformers’ [Luther, Calvin, Zwingli] were producing booklets [Tractarianism] and how these protestant books were ‘smuggled’ into Catholic England and were influencing certain key people in the realm. King Henry was having his own internal dispute with the Pope over getting an annulment, and he found the protestant writings to be to his advantage in the area of the freedom of the ‘nation states’ to worship God without being subject to Rome. The Protestants were wanting religious reform, but Henry was looking for a way to break from the Popes authority without having a religious rebellion on his hands. Well eventually King Henry does break away and starts the ‘Church of England’ the continental reformers have the protestant reformation. The Church of England, also known as the ‘Anglican Church’, was very much Catholic in her doctrine except for the area of being under the Pope [Henry got what he wanted!]. The reformers on the continent had varying degrees of ‘reform’ in the nation states. I find it interesting that certain Catholic scholars believed that the breaking away of these countries from Rome was a rebellion that would lead to world disaster. These Catholic scholars saw the ‘divine right of Kings’ to be the threat. They believed the Protestants were simply replacing the authority of the Pope with the authority of the Kings. That this would eventually lead to world anarchy because the nations could produce any type of theology that they wanted. I don’t necessarily agree with this, but do find it interesting that Germany, Luther’s country, eventually produced a ‘Hitler’ and Hitler actually read some of Martin Luther’s anti Semitic writings. Luther referred to Jews as ‘dogs’ and other derogatory terms in his writings. The Catholic scholars were prophetic in a way by foreseeing certain world events in this way. Well any way I had this discussion for a few hours and it was a good history lesson. These guys hung in and even asked some very intelligent questions. By the way I see all my Catholic friends as Christian! As an evangelical I recognize there are some serious doctrinal differences [Justification by faith] but take the more liberal view of seeing them as my brothers in Christ. I recognize that the Catholic Church has carried the baton in social justice areas when the Protestants were sleeping at the wheel! The Catholics also were doing missionary work for centuries before the Protestants got with it. So the point is we all need humility in this journey that we are on and our goal is towards having Christian unity as much as possible. I still remember a song I learned as young boy in Catholic school ‘they will no we are Christians by our love’. To a great degree the Catholic Church has done her best at being a voice for Christ in the nations, and her witness [along with her faults] can be found in every generation of man for the last 2 thousand years! You can’t say this about any protestant church! Well I hope this added something of value to the debate. God bless all my Catholic and Protestant friends who have made it this far on this site! Note- England continued to struggle between Catholic and Protestant views for quite a while. The rule of Henrys daughters, Queen Elisabeth and Mary [also known as ‘bloody Mary’ for her executing protestants!] both showed the internal struggle that was going on behind the scenes. There were key religious and political figures that were trying to influence the country towards their views. Many of these were sincere believers who truly felt like they were defending the faith. Some were Protestant, others Catholic. There were terrible executions and horrendous acts committed by both sides during this time. You had very dedicated Catholics, as well as Protestants, die for their faith. Obviously this was a tragic result of religion at any price. In the world today you see this in radical Islam. Some believe I shouldn’t say this, but as Christians we must take a stand against any religion that sees its mandate to convert by force or death. I find it interesting how so many social justice groups and women’s groups criticize the United States and Christianity, but wont say a word against radical Islam and how it absolutely subjugates women today. Women must cover their faces like animals, in some of these societies it’s permitted for a father to kill his daughter if she commits adultery! Give me a break, where are the voices crying out against these atrocities?
(116) I want to go back to Germany and the fact that after WW2 the United States brought over from Germany all of the scientists that eventually were the originators of our ‘space program’. The U.S. acted wisely in recognizing that the German scientists had a level of knowledge that exceeded what we had. Einstein actually gave us the technology to build the bomb that eventually ended the war. Einstein is the most well known of these German scientists [though he came over before the war ended]. Einstein truly was a genius. One of the goals he had was called ‘the unified theory’. He believed it was possible to ‘tie’ all the various fields of science together, and see a harmony that would show that everything didn’t just happen by accident, but there had to be some greater overall ‘thing’ that was at work. Though Einstein wasn’t a Christian, he did believe in God. Some of his fellow scientists came up with a theory that said chance and ‘luck’ played a role in how things work. Einstein disagreed and said ‘God doesn’t roll dice’. All of these guys held to the idea that there had to be a beginning point to all things. Today we call this the ‘big bang theory’. A basic scientific reality that things did come into existence at a certain point in time. It has been said that the fact that something exists now is proof that God exists! I know this is simplified, but let me explain. The fact that we have a creation today, sun, moon, stars and the intricacy of our planet earth. The tremendous complexity in the human body. Even the most ‘simple’ cell is now known to be highly ‘complex’. These realities lead us to question ‘how did all this happen’. If the earth were a little closer to the sun we would all burn up, a little further and we would all freeze! As science learned these complex things over the years, she has grappled with the question of ‘how’. Science has racked its brain on the beginning stage. Was there a time where nothing existed at all? And if so then how can anything exist now? If matter is infinite [which some try to leave as a possibility] then this contradicts everything else we know from science! Thermodynamics teaches that all things are ‘decaying’ from the original stage. The sun loses its strength over many years. The earth and the solar system and everything else are resources that deplete themselves. This fact shows us that ‘matter’ or things didn’t always exist. If at the beginning you had a few cells and things floating around that eventually ‘exploded’ into this tremendous organized universe [which in itself takes faith to believe!] then where did these gases and early forms of matter come from? They had to start somewhere. And if you eventually traced it all the way back to the time where this was nothing, then the scientific fact is you would have nothing today! Matter doesn’t just appear, and matter is not eternal. These simple scientific proofs lead us to the conclusion that something [or someone] outside of this present world had to initiate these things. This ‘someone’ also had to have been around forever, if not then you have the whole problem of where did he come from, what was his beginning, and all the same questions would arise. So Einstein and others saw these things. The most brilliant minds of man came to the conclusion that a greater being had to exist in order to get the ball rolling. If you took a sealed room with absolutely nothing in it, and nothing else could get in or leave. And then after a million [or billion!] years you opened it up, nothing would be there! This is a scientific fact! The process of time, in and of itself, does not have the power to create something out of nothing! Well then we wind up at the place we started, the fact that ‘anything’ exists is proof that God exists! [Note: Let me give credit to our Catholic brothers once again. Saint Thomas Aquinas ‘Doctor Angelicas’ wrote heavily on these issues long before the Protestants began looking at them. St. Thomas is considered to be one of the greatest theologians and apologists of the Catholic Church].
(117) I just had 2 thoughts that I felt the Lord wanted me to share. The first is the concept of a ‘pioneer’. God will often choose you to pioneer a thing. Pioneers are cutting a new path where people haven’t walked before. The fact that the path is being cut speaks to the reality that you will get bruised and scarred during this effort. It will take you longer to gain ground than those on the trodden path. You will look like you have been ‘thru hell’. Jesus is the prototypical pioneer. He is the progenitor of a new race of people [the Church!]. He was scarred and wounded more than any man [Isaiah] and he birthed Gods people into reality. The second thought I had was the ‘initial step’ stage. Often times God will use a pioneer to start a new thing. The fact that it is new causes the initial stages of birthing it to be harder and more difficult than picking up where someone else left off. Fear prevents the initial steps, but once a thing is birthed it sustains life by itself. There is tremendous opposition to those who take these paths, but the rewards are well worth it!
(118) I read a verse the other day that struck me ‘wisdom is better than weapons of war’ [Ecclesiastes]. Proverbs says ‘wisdom builds the house, and knowledge fills it with treasure’. I felt like the Lord was showing us the importance to ‘work smarter not harder’. Look at the apostle Paul. We [Pastors and leaders] have a tendency to read scripture and miss vital truths. Paul ‘started churches’ by going to a region, preaching Christ for a set time [sometimes only 2 or 3 times on a Sabbath day to certain Jewish brothers!] and then trusting the Spirit of God in them to carry on the work. This is working smarter not harder! These New Testament churches were self-sustaining from the get go. Paul wasn’t setting up churches that would be dependant on him [or anyone else!] to be the main Pastor that would run the show. These communities had leaders for sure, but they didn’t have clergy like we do today. God wants all of us to work smarter not harder. Wisdom is better than weapons of war. If you build Jesus into people and develop a ‘self sustaining’ mentality among them, then you have released a people that will do more damage than many ‘weapons of war’!
(119) The other day at work I was watching the news with another firefighter. The local news showed a homeless guy who was assaulted. I recognized the guy as a harmless guy I just saw a few days earlier. They then showed the 18 year old who beat him up, he was another kid that I just met and was talking to as well. When they showed the kids mug shot he looked like one of these gang kids, but in reality he seemed like a nice kid when I met him. I realized that the people seeing these guys on TV like this immediately stereotype them as dangerous and hopeless. A few months back I took a few homeless people to a local buffet to eat. One of the guys is around 23 years old. Nice kid. On our way to the restaurant my radio and C.D. player went out. I really needed it to work, I use it a lot! I didn’t have time to deal with it so I simply asked this younger brother to pray for it to work. He began praying and I knew he has prayed before. He asked the Lord to forgive him for his faults and really sought the Lord. Within a few minutes the radio started working. He knew the Lord answered his prayer. I just wanted to share how a lot of these guys are on the edge of life and society. God is eager to intervene in their lives. If you allow him, God will use to touch people that no one else can reach. These same guys you see on the news that have committed horrible crimes [a few years back one of the guys killed another with a hammer!] are real people that are close to the edge, you will have to be willing to go out on the edge with them if you want to bring them back in!
(120) Update- Recently I have been in touch with some old friends that I haven’t seen in 27 years. I realize that a lot of water has gone under the bridge [or something like that?]. Some of my friends are Christian, some not. Some are into the modern motivational type preaching. I realize that for them to read our materials is like a slap in the face. It’s not easy to be part of the ‘modern gospel’ of success and prosperity and then read our stuff [you will see what I mean as you get to the 300’s] I just walked into my study and saw one of the many success books I own and have read over the years. It’s just sitting on a table. I don’t know why its out, maybe one of my kids were reading it? I have read and been into the motivational gospel and understand the good aspects of it. I just believe that a lot of it misses the part of ‘if any man wants to save his life, he must lose it for my sake and the gospel’ [Jesus Christ]. Over the years I have had a fairly good measure of success. We have come pretty far for a high school level of education and a Navy drop out! I am not bragging, but what I want you to see is my focus has not been on ‘saving my life’ or living to be successful. I have tried to lose my life for the gospel as much as possible. I don’t believe I am even 1/100th of where I should be. Still selfish and self-seeking. When the rubber meets the road still willing to choose self-preservation over Gods will. Still have a long way to go! But the point today is I don’t want to offend any old buddies from the old days, and I realize that if some of them are into the prosperity gospel they will be offended. But maybe God allowed me to cross paths with some of you for this very purpose? Who knows, maybe I have come to the kingdom for such a time as this. [You too!]
(121) In keeping with the above, scripture says ‘Jesus was led of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil’. After the 40 days temptation he returned in the ‘power of the Spirit’. The main ingredient for the authority that was displayed in Jesus teaching ministry was the wilderness experience. Scripture says Jesus taught with authority, not like the scribes and Pharisees. Jesus obtained a level of authority because of his suffering, not despite it! If we spend most of our waking hours on how to avoid and by-pass difficult situations, then we are unknowingly cutting off the main source of possessing authority above that which is common today.
(122) Lets go back to the discussion on ‘motivational/prosperity’ teaching and preaching. In the Church there are different ‘levels’ of understanding and thought. All levels serve a purpose at various stages of Christian growth. The 3rd grade is important as well as high school and college. To stop at the 3rd grade is not good! To miss the 3rd grade is also not good. To explain to someone the importance of ‘elementary level’ teaching, while showing them the need to move on is not easy. Over the years I have dealt a lot with the ‘elementary’ stuff. I try to explain the importance of being motivated and having a positive attitude and good things like that. I then try to transition into the mindset of ‘seeking first the kingdom of God’. There comes a stage with all of us [university level] where God knows we have the basics down and he then calls us to another place. This ‘other’ place is an attitude of forsaking self and the things of this life to attain a higher goal. When Jesus told the disciples he was going to Jerusalem to die, Peter says ‘no way, we wont let this happen!’ and Jesus replies ‘get thee behind me satan, for you are concerned more with the things of man than the things of God’. Jesus [our example] reached a point in his life where he knew the purpose of God was not to be measured by whether ‘I like it or not’. Much motivational preaching uses this at its criteria. ‘Surely God doesn’t want his kids to suffer’ ‘where kings kids’ and things like this. I believe these things are true to a degree, but there at a 3rd grade level! [I don’t want to sound condescending, but I want you to see what I am trying to convey]. Remember, the 3rd grade is good, but not if your 21 years old! Also the university is good, but not if your 9 years old! So everything has its time and purpose. God does command us to ‘think like men’ [Corinthians] and the problem with the Evangelical church is we confuse ‘childlike faith’ with ‘childlike thinking’ [The book ‘the scandal of the evangelical mind’ deals with this]. I believe the more mature aspect of the Christian life is to advance beyond the ‘motivational’ stage to the ‘taking up your cross and following me’ stage. I just saw a verse on this Christian calendar I get from the radio station we broadcast on. It says ‘and the Lord turned the captivity of Job when he prayed for his friends’. Its so easy to focus on self and ‘how do I get out of the mess I’m in’ mentality. Job was able to come out of this mindset and pray for others. This denying of self is what turned his situation around.
(123) Believe it or not, but those of you who are reading this paper from the start, it’s been only 3 months since I started writing! I say this for a reason. A few months ago I felt it was time to reach out to old friends from Jersey. As busy as I am I really struggled with making more trips to Jersey or some other avenue of outreach. Well thru this blog site, as well as the classmate’s site and the emailing [and regular mailing as well] I have had some good results. I just mailed the first few letters to a New Jersey prison. My old buddy wrote me back from south woods prison [Jersey] and really appreciated the books I sent and we are keeping in touch. I will probably call his family in the next few weeks. He asked me to call his wife and kids. Its strange because I knew his wife and older boy when we where hanging out as teenagers [he married and had kids young] and its like the friendship picked right up from the early days. He even told me in his letter how he used to tell his kids about me and stuff [probably like ‘that psycho from Jersey is now a preacher in Texas’] but I was glad to be in touch with a buddy I haven’t heard from in around 20 years. The books I sent him are an avenue to the prison he’s in. Books get around, people write and there you have it, a great opportunity to preach the gospel to a whole prison population without starting some ‘Christian ministry’ to do it! I just wanted to model this for you guys.
(124) WARNING: This entry has absolutely no spiritual value. But I thought I would tell the story anyway. A few years back I was visiting a friend of mine who is a wiz a computers. He had a couple of 2 by 10’s [boards] on his front steps leading down to the sidewalk. I guess he had recently moved some furniture? Well my youngest daughter and his youngest boy [around 10 years old] were riding scooters in the front. My friend, who is kind of large, had the great idea of telling them to ride the scooters down this ramp. They were hesitant, and so was I. He then proceeded to ‘show’ them how to do it! He took his sons scooter and mounted the runway. As he began going down the ramp, the front tire got stuck between the 2 boards, he went flying! I mean his hands were by his side and he landed face first on the concrete. At first I thought I might have to begin C.P.R., but it would have been difficult to perform while uncontrollably laughing! My friend was O.K., but I couldn’t stop laughing for weeks. I am laughing right now as I write this. It looked like something Jeff Fox worthy would say about rednecks or something. My friend looked a little like the red neck character from King of the Hill.
(125) I just read a verse in Psalms ‘for he shall stand at the right hand of the poor’. It’s amazing how many promises you find for those who ‘give to the poor’ ‘defend the poor’ ‘speak out on the behalf of the poor’ and so on. Jesus himself uses this language when he describes the final judgment of mankind. Over the years of learning ‘ministry’ and all the stuff that surrounds it, I have gone thru seasons as a young ‘preacher’ where older, well meaning preachers/ministers tried to ‘lead’ me in a path of what they saw to be ‘ministry’. Sort of trying to hook me up with influential people, or trying to steer me into the path of ‘the full time paid minister’. While these men were well meaning for the most part, they ‘saw’ ministry as a profession. They sincerely tried to direct me [and others] down the path of ‘ministry’. Like if I were to show some rookie the ropes of being a fire fighter. I distinctly remember during these times that there would also be opportunities to reach out to poor and hurting people. I would really sense the presence of God when simply helping others. This same ‘presence’ simply was not around when trying to advance in the field of professional ministry. Seeing ministry as a ‘profession’ to which you spend your time and energy to advance in your field misses out on the deeper aspect of being a servant to people. The whole concept of ‘the last being first’ ‘laying down your life for others’ and so on. Like the above verse says ‘God is at the right hand of the poor’ and when you’re with them you sense God because these are the people that he ‘hangs out with’.
(126) ‘Extending your voice beyond the parameter that God has ordained’. This is something that I have meditated on over the years. As ‘ministers’ have learned to ‘professionalize’ ministry, there comes with it a package of trying to get the message out to as many people as possible. Is this in and of itself wrong? No. I do this as well. But the result is today you have national level ministries that should not be national! There are Billy Grahams and others who have a great message and testimony. Then you have a whole host of others who are at the ‘3rd’ grade level that are communicating to the entire community. A few years ago one of the most famous prosperity preachers started a church and extension ministry in our city. This was well after I already dealt with this movement on the radio. I kind of felt like some of the prosperity brothers wanted to ‘strike back’ against the strong stance that we took. I remember actually ‘prophesying’ on the radio that some of these brothers were here to see a more accurate picture of Christ and the church. I was a little harsh in that I mentioned the famous guys name, but I felt I needed to. He was famous for spreading the doctrine that Jesus and the disciples were rich. This was a blatant false teaching that spread like wildfire in certain circles. Well this ministry didn’t last very long in our town. Actually there were a couple of well know prosperity churches in our area [one well known, the other did a lot of advertising]. They are gone now. This wasn’t my intent to run them off. But I felt like there needed to be a season where all of the ‘word of faith/prosperity’ churches needed to re-think and re-examine the whole message that they preach. It is unfortunate that many of these ministries have the concept down of getting lots of funds, and then they use these funds to extend there message ‘beyond the borders’ of their level of teaching. Again I don’t want to judge or sound condescending, but many of these movements are at a very immature level of understanding. It has done damage to the church at large to propagate a materialistic mindset in so many young believers. I pray the Lord would give us all grace and humility to limit our voices when he tells us to, and also allow him to ‘exalt our horn like the horn of a unicorn’ when he so desires.
(127) Let me model something for you guys. After the last entry [126] I ‘embarked’ on one of those difficult days. You know, you need to get things done and you feel like the whole day was wasted with difficulties and trials. Well this lasted until a few hours ago when I woke up. I don’t want to make too much out of my habit of getting up early, but its 3:45 am as I pen this and some days I feel I accomplish more from 2-8 am than the rest of the day! Also as an aside if you go to sleep at 8pm instead of 10, and then get up at 2 or 3 a.m. you can get a full day of study and prayer in before you go to work. You can maximize your output to that of 2 people by simply sacrificing 2 hours of ‘awake’ time from 8 to 10 pm. Not saying you all should do this, but use your time wisely and you will get much done. Now to the other stuff. The last few days I have heard a lot of stuff on ‘speaking your world into existence’ ‘there is a miracle in your mouth’ ‘life and death are in the power of the tongue’ and so on. All good ‘basic’ principles. Jesus did say ‘if you say to this mountain be cast into the sea, it will obey you’. The main problem with the way we apply these things is we seem to get a vision of how we want our life to be and then apply all these principles to making it happen. In the scenario I gave the other day when Jesus told Peter ‘I am going to Jerusalem to die’ you could see this as a bad confession. You could say ‘see Jesus got what he said’. While it is true he got what he said, yet his saying it isn’t why it happened! The will of God for your life is primarily revealed to you by God. Over your life he ‘speaks’ to you thru various means [bible, prophecy, direction from friends, etc.] As you learn to ‘die’ to your own dreams and visions [what I want mentality] you at the same time awaken to Gods greater purpose. This whole process is a result of hearing Gods word over your life. In essence you really don’t create your world by the words you speak, in as much as your ‘world’ being a result of the words that God speaks. Now the principle of a good confession is still true, but your focus now becomes ‘moving the mountains that stand in the way of Gods purpose’. When Jesus said to Peter ‘get thee behind me satan’ he was ‘speaking’ to the mountain of ‘self-will’ that always stands in the way of ‘Gods will’. Do you see what I am saying? This is the difference between ‘3rd grade’ and ‘university’ level. I encourage you today to take the stance of Job who I mentioned a few days ago. In the midst of your trials ‘pray for your friends’, that is make your confession one of unselfishness and the welfare of others, for as you do this you are ‘laying down your life for the gospel’! NOTE; If you remember in the temptation story of Jesus being tempted 40 days in the desert, after Jesus rebukes the devil scripture says ‘the devil departed from him for a season’ this indicating that Jesus knew he would have to confront him again before he completed his mission. This confrontation with Peter is the beginning of that confrontation. Jesus had to rise above the friendship and care of one of his closest disciples and make the difficult decision to recognize the voice of satan thru one of his closest friends. Over the years during our teaching on these issues I would often find Pastors un-willing to ‘see’ or even accept the fact that they might have been influenced in a wrong way thru the ‘word of faith/prosperity’ movement. It is difficult to admit and recognize that good people can make serious errors in judgment. The issue isn’t how ‘nice’ or ‘good’ the prosperity brothers are. The issue is whether or not the ‘voice’ that has come from this camp is legitimate! It’s hard to look at your ‘Peter’ and recognize that what they’re saying isn’t really from God. NOTE: It is interesting that there were set times or seasons of temptation in the life of Jesus. These seasons didn’t last forever. Though temptation is always a reality to deal with in the Christian life, yet there is a sense of ‘task completed’ in the area of severe trial and testing. A sense of ‘assignment completed’ in a way. Scripture says ‘affliction shall not rise up a second time. Though I have afflicted thee, I will afflict thee no more’ this doesn’t mean you will never go thru hard times again, but a real sense that ‘this thing I have been going thru is finally over, God has brought forth what he wanted and now its time to move on’.
(128) Well I just read in psalms ‘I myself shall awake early’ and it reminded me of something. A few years back when I started this early prayer thing I read a verse one morning where it says ‘in an acceptable time have I heard thee’ and I felt the Lord was saying this time-slot of early prayer he was hearing. My immediate response to the Lord was ‘I sure hope so!’ I kind of was joking with the Lord I guess! It was like ‘Hey, if your not hearing this early prayer, I’ll do the traditional 20-minute deal’. Didn’t want to be irreverent, but kind of thought it was funny.
(129) ‘THE HINDRANCE OF THE ENTREPRENEURIAL SPIRIT’ over the years I have had the privilege of speaking into the lives of key leaders. Sometimes I only run into them once in 5 years or so. I notice how we [Pastors/Leaders] become victims of the system. Many times in a city you will have ‘competing’ churches [ministries] who are doing there best to accomplish some goal or vision. The leaders often see and view everything thru the paradigm of ‘how do I accomplish this, who can I enlist [or hire] from the local pool of talent that will be a part of us’. Because of the ‘entrepreneurial spirit’ there is a sense of ‘every man being out for yourself’ while giving lip service to true oneness and unity. Don’t want to be too mean, but this is true. If we can get beyond the idea of ‘church/ministry’ as the business that we run and begin to see ‘church’ as the community of Christians around us, then we will make headway against the ‘entrepreneurial spirit’. I just get tired of running into leaders whose first question is ‘why haven’t you visited my church?’ This breeds an insecurity in leaders who find their identity in ‘how many people attend my church’. May God help us all; we really have a long way to go!
(130) NOTE: [this is the 3rd attempt of trying to write this entry. I tried 24 hours ago at work and the computer messed up and I lost it! I then decided to re write it and we had a big structure fire. I am now up at 2:06 am and giving it another shot, obviously this is for you! Whoever ‘you’ are!] Let me do an overview of some things. The last few weeks I have mentioned the ‘Word of Faith/Prosperity movement’. In the late 1800’s there was a preacher by the name of E.W.Kenyon. Brother Kenyon is the ‘father’ of the modern ‘word of faith’ movement. Brother Kenyon brought out some good things in his teaching. The 1800-1900s were right after the great awakenings in our country, many churches emphasized the sinfulness of man and mans need to confess his sins. Brother Kenyon took hold of the truths in scripture where we are to confess ‘Jesus as Lord’ instead of always confessing sin! The focus of much of this teaching emphasized the things we do to change our circumstances. If you ‘walk’ in the ‘sense realm’ [5 senses] you are walking by sight, but if you walk by faith you are not living by the senses. The way faith was taught was more like ‘you create your world by the things you speak’ and stuff like that. The focus was on ‘acting right’. If you say wrong things or ever admit to any problems or failure you are not in faith. While many of these things sound good, the result was you become self-conscious and begin seeing yourself as the person who is in charge of ‘changing your world’. If ‘your world’ is messed up, well it’s ‘YOUR’ fault. Biblical faith is based more on the ‘person’ of God. You are not trying to say and think positive all the time, in as much as you are depending on God even in the midst of your problems and failures. While many of the Word of Faith brothers focus on Paul’s teaching in Romans on ‘looking not at the things that are seen, but unseen’ they seem to forget that Abraham was the man of faith that these scriptures reference. Abraham did not say or do everything right! His life is not shown as someone who had this perfect impenetrable faith confession. He blew it many times. But he always had the ability to ‘look to the promise of God’ instead of his own failures. This type of faith works for you right now. You don’t see the answer in you becoming this ‘robot’ type person who can never say something wrong or even admit to failure. You simply tell God in the midst of your trials ‘I can’t make it, but you can!’ Now bother Kenyon had a background in the metaphysical cults/groups. These are the groups that believe you change reality thru thought and meditation [Christian science and others]. They believe that reality is not this material world, but what you say and think create ‘your world’. Many modern word of faith brothers don’t realize that the type of faith they espouse is a lot like these groups. I have bought and read many of brother Kenyon’s books over the years, also many of the modern word of faith brothers as well. There was always a sense of ‘mystical’ or ‘strange’ stuff I would run across. These brothers teach that Jesus was ‘born again’. They take the verse that says Jesus is the first begotten from the dead and they see this as ‘being born again’. Most Christians see this as meaning Jesus was the first to rise from the dead with a resurrection body. While others were raised from the dead before Jesus, they all died again. Not Jesus! So this is kind of a strange way to take scripture and ‘twist’ it into a form of faith that has Christian elements in it, but really doesn’t present the Christianity of the New Testament. I remember sharing with a person who was heavily into this movement. They were struggling financially for years. They were always living under this guilt of ‘creating this poverty world’ and constantly focusing on rebuking the devil and trying to ‘create a prosperous world’. I tried to show this person that they weren’t really living by simple faith and trust, but more like under a legalism that you are responsible for not being wealthy and you must do and say everything right or its your fault! I showed them 1st Timothy chapter 6. It says its O.K. to not be wealthy and not feel bad about it. I showed this person that faith was simply being able to thank God that all your needs [not wants!] are being met and if you live the rest of your life without becoming rich it’s O.K. ‘BE CONTENT WITH WHAT YOU HAVE, DON’T DESIRE TO BE RICH’ these are actual scriptures! Well this person finally saw the legalism and guilt that their understanding of faith brought upon them. They later sent me a message thru a mutual friend that said ‘tell John thank you, I am now free from the legalism that I was living under’. I do believe that brother Kenyon [and all the others] are Christians who mean well. But we need to recognize that some of our teaching has gotten off track and return to the biblical message. I know some of you are uncomfortable with these things, and I am sorry about this. But I felt it was important to drop this in. God bless! NOTE: Let me add that it was a matter of choosing to believe scripture over and above the teaching of this movement. Its fun to see yourself as rich and happy. Even spending your whole life just thinking about it can be addictive! This is what Jesus meant when he said ‘you can not serve God and money’. Affluence becomes ‘your God’ in many of these groups. I used to watch these weekend realtor infomercials because its fun to strategize and think ‘money thoughts’. In the past I have made money by investing in real estate. But there came a time where I laid that aside for a higher purpose. I am not saying you can’t be in real estate, or that you can’t be rich! Just don’t confuse biblical faith with a ‘get all you can’ mentality!
(131) ‘THE REPROACHES OF THOSE THAT REPROACHED THEE FELL UPON ME/ DON’T FEAR THE REPROACH OF MEN’ I find it interesting that when leaders fall [Jimmy Swaggart/Paul Cain/Ted Haggard/Jim Bakker/etc.] The world enjoys ‘reproaching’ them. It is interesting to ask the ‘reproachers’ ‘have you ever done some of the things that they are accused of doing?’ They of course would deny it, but scripture says ‘IF THOU O LORD WOULD KEEP A RECORD OF SIN, WHO WOULD BE ABLE TO STAND’ we know that all of the ‘reproachers’ are guilty of many of the same offenses, if not worse! But they seem to take comfort in the fact that no body knows [yet!]. All men will appear at the judgment, scripture says some people’s sins are found out now [Haggard/Bakker/Swaggart] and others will be found out later. It’s really a futile thing to take comfort in the fact that ‘no body knows yet’. This is what happened with the Pharisees who caught the woman in adultery. The fact that she was exposed and ‘caught in the act’ gave them great delight. The fact that they were just as guilty but not caught yet also gave them great delight. But the reality of being in Jesus presence, especially to bring accusation on another, also brings with it the requirement of you also being exposed. Jesus wrote something in the sand when the Pharisees were in front of him. Many speculate that he wrote the names of all the women [or men!] that they had ‘been with’ too! He might have simply written their worst sin. The point was they were taking joy in the fact that the woman was caught [Swaggarts/Haggards/etc.] not realizing that their day was coming also! All humans can hide their sins/faults for so long, some feel they really have none, but we know that all men are dust and sooner or later this too will be revealed. Thank God that the ‘reproaches of those who would reproach you’ have fallen on Jesus. The Christian has the consolation of knowing that Jesus bore the humiliation, the unbeliever will have to bare it alone!
(132) I read a verse that says ‘the stone that the builders rejected became the head of the corner’ [chief cornerstone]. I find this interesting; we have a tendency to reject those who are prominent in the building. Jesus said ‘a prophet is without honor in his own town and among his own people’. Think of it, Jesus was/is the most prominent person of wisdom and stature in the entire building of God. There would be no greater prophet of value and stature to arise! Yet in his area people not only devalued him, but they saw him as unstable. Their denigration of him got to a level where they actually put him to death for his religious views [claiming to be the Son of God]. Prophetic people are born out of environments of rejection and difficulty. The very process of ‘rejection’ causes the ‘stone to be tried/tested’. I find it interesting that the people who rub you the wrong way might very well be one of ‘the prominent’ stones needed to complete ‘your building’ [that is the things God wants to do in your life]. It is interesting to note that once they spoke against Jesus it was very difficult to be able to receive from him. They sort of had the mindset they wanted him to fail, even if the proof kept piling up that he was legitimate! When people speak against you [not talking about honest criticism] they put themselves in a position where they cut themselves off from any benefit they might gain from you. Its not that the prophetic people want this, it just seems to work out this way. When Jesus wept over Jerusalem he wanted them to benefit from who he was and the mission he was on, it’s just they cut themselves off from any value they might have gained from him. NOTE: Once a person’s character is denigrated by someone [whether right or wrong] it is almost impossible to overcome and receive from the person you denigrate [note: I am not talking about silly gossip and stuff people say about people. We are all guilty of this from time to time!] The fact that Jesus actually raised the dead, a miracle of the highest order, should have been able to silence those who questioned his legitimacy, but it didn’t! This shows you the power of ‘being rejected’ as a process from the Father. It also shows you the vanity of wanting the approval of man. Jesus says in the gospel of John that he doesn’t receive, nor seek the approval of men because ‘he knew what was in man’. What did he know about what was in man? He fully understood the depravity of mans nature from the start of his ministry, man was so depraved that the father sent him on this human journey to redeem man. And what would be the key factor in this redemption? Mans sinful nature was so consistent, that it would be virtually impossible for man to not kill the Son of God!
(133) Just outside praying and had a few thoughts. Many years ago I took a trip to Switzerland with some friends. While there I met a bunch of good brothers. One was the pastor of a church we were visiting. In regular conversation I slipped in a prophetic word. I told him ‘in the past you built your church on the Word and faith, you are now going to focus on Grace, mercy and the love of God’ [these might not be exact, but this was the jist of what I said]. The pastor was a little shocked and he kind of ‘hit’ me in a ‘loving’ way. He basically slapped me fairly hard on the chest, not in anger but in surprise. He said these were the exact words that God had told him about the church. For him to hear the exact words was a confirmation that it was truly God. Another time in the states I had a friend who was a prophet ‘in training’. He no doubt had a gift but I say ‘in training’ because I felt he wasn’t yet being responsible in meeting the needs of his family and stuff. Sort of like knowing he had a prophetic gift and not being able to hold down a job because he felt his job should be in some type of ministry. This happens a lot with well meaning people. Well any way I was talking to him after a church service and I simply said ‘the Lord is going to use your gift, but you have to ‘harness’ your life first’. The word harness was exactly what the Lord had told him before. In both of these scenarios it was ‘being exact’ in the prophesy that made the difference. I just want you to see that it is not dependant on ‘your’ gift or wisdom at all. It is simply a function of hearing and speaking when the Lord tells you to! NOTE: For a few years I subscribed to a monthly prophetic tape from Morningstar ministries [Rick Joyner]. The month I was to leave for Switzerland the tape was called ‘The call to Switzerland’ they obviously had no idea I was going to Switzerland.
(134) Yesterday I went to the homeless mission to see some friends. I ran into one of the original friends I met years ago [around 15 years ago!]. We are good friends. I think he sees me as his ‘best friend’. He is always overjoyed when I run into him. If he’s in the hospital [which happens often!] and I don’t go to see him he gets real offended. Well any way I helped him look for an apartment yesterday. He is handicapped and uses an electric wheelchair. He very rarely showers and if he sits in your vehicle or a chair it really smells bad. Some restaurants actually have told us not to come back because of this. Well when I picked him up at the mission we went inside to drop of his chair so he could hop in the truck with me. On the wall right where he left his chair there was a poster from Exodus that said ‘my presence shall go with you’. It’s what God told Moses. If you remember I just wrote on this a few weeks ago. God ‘being at the right hand of the poor’. Well we went to a few places to look for an apartment. I spent a few hours, was real tired. Didn’t sleep much the night before. One of those nights of getting up at midnight. I really hate to get up that early, but I will do work and stuff and make the most of it. After dropping my friend off my truck really smelt bad. I had the windows open and it stunk! I have even had other homeless friends who have said ‘how can you stand it’. Well as I was driving home I made a mental note to spray a type of fabric cleaner on the seat. I have done it before. I was driving home and thinking ‘you know Lord I don’t even feel upset about having to do this’. No feeling of ‘why should I put up with this’. I remembered the verse I saw earlier where it said ‘My presence shall go with you’. Sort of like the Lord said ‘I came down into the midst of the stench of mans humanity, and I put up with it because of my love for people’. Even as you read this some of you might be thinking ‘boy, I would never do this, have some bum stink up my nice ‘church’ vehicle!’ What if it was your father? Do we really view people the way God does?
(135) Just woke up and had the thought of ‘when the spotlight hits you’. What I remembered was hearing preachers over the years speak about ‘getting in the spotlight’. All well-meaning men who are being affected by the system. In the 2 scenarios that came to mind the brothers shared how in due time you too can be ‘famous’ but you have to be faithful and wait your turn. I also just read an article in the paper about a pastor who has taken his ‘deacon board’ to the state supreme court on a number of occasions in order to ‘keep his church’ [they are trying to fire him, also when I just went thru and did the spell check the option it gave me for ‘save his church’ was ‘circus’ I was tempted to leave it but that would have been a little harsh!] These ways of seeing ‘church’ and ‘ministry’ deeply affect the way we function as Gods people. First, there is a ‘secret’ element in Jesus teachings that speak to leaders in the church as not seeking or becoming ‘famous’. Also by ‘secret’ I mean it’s plainly taught but we don’t seem to ‘see it’ in the way we function. God will bring you to a place where you recognize and develop the character to avoid the ‘idol worship’ mentality that hinders the work of the Spirit. Ministry and ‘church’ are not businesses that we own and operate. They are free gifts that God deposits in his people for the benefit of the whole community. The ‘excitement’ of the New Testament churches wasn’t ‘look at this ministry that God has called us to’ or Paul recruiting people to ‘My Vision’. The excitement was this great reality of Jesus being the Messiah. ‘THE PROMISED ONE IS HERE’. Their time and focus was on the actual person of Christ, not the things that Christ was doing with them! This is why Paul teaches in Corinthians that the gifts are simply tools given by Gods grace, he shows a mentality of ‘why glory in the tools/gifts being they are all freely given?’ if we are simply vessels that God is flowing thru, then why exalt the vessel? The greatest in the Kingdom must seek to be a servant. All of these characteristics are what should mark ministry and leadership today. There are many good men who see and embrace these things. But we sometimes give the wrong impression to young believers. We kind of tell them ‘your day of fame is coming, but for now just glory in what Gods doing with me’. This is not right.
(136) Keeping in mind what I just said, now I want you to ‘see’ how the business of ministry affects all of us. When you go to this blog [as well as many others!] you can read and access all of ‘our’ materials for free. There are some sites that mean well, but they ‘tease’ you with the first few sentences of some teaching and then you have to pay for the rest. Now I am not saying that they are all wrong for doing this, but if your goal is ‘to get the word out’ is this the most effective means possible? If the Apostle Paul did this with the letters he was writing [New Testament] would this help or hurt his cause. When Jesus said ‘freely you have received, now freely give’ would Paul feel right in ‘charging’ for his services or intellectual property? Remember Paul taught that all our gifts belong to God; they are not really ‘our property’ at all! I know there are different views on this, but personally when I go to a Christian site that I enjoy reading from, and then they cut the article off until you subscribe or something. I just go to another site. Remember the goal is to get the gift God has given to us to as many people as possible. If you feel charging for your services are the way to do this, then fine! But your gift is not given to you to make a profit; it is given to build the church!
(137) ‘EVERY HOUSE IS BUILT BY SOME MAN, BUT HE THAT BUILT ALL THINGS IS GOD’ in a lot of our teaching we are trying to change the mindset from ‘building the building/ministry’ to ‘building the people’. There is an inherent nature in man to want to build something. It is easy to get caught up in the excitement of building ‘buildings/ministries’ as opposed to building the Church [community of people]. As we see the purpose of God to have a habitation of ‘people’ as opposed to a ‘temple’ we transition our focus from ‘things’ to people. The excitement that the Apostle Paul was experiencing as you read the New Testament was his understanding that he was building these communities of people that would ‘last forever’. In essence he was grasping the eternal purpose of God to live in a ‘city’ whose builder and maker is God! These communities [buildings] survive till this day. You and I are this building. When we fully grasp that we are the Church that the gates of hell cannot prevail against, it is exciting to realize that God himself is dwelling in us as his habitation. In all of our efforts of ministry we need to be mindful that we actually are the ‘City of God’. We are the ‘New Jerusalem that is coming down from God out of heaven’ we are ‘born from above’. Everything that can be shaken will be shaken [the buildings of man] so the things that cannot be shaken [the building of God] may remain!
(138) Let me share 2 strange things that happened in the last few days. The other morning while outside praying I heard a loud rushing wind go over my head. It sounded like a strong gust of wind that I hear going thru the trees while I pray. I thought it strange because it wasn’t windy. I turned around and looked up and saw a flock of birds flying overhead. It amazed me that this noise was coming from them. I have seen lots of birds fly overhead before, but never heard them make a sound like this. This also was the first day that we put our blog site in the Corpus paper for people to read. I was just outside praying and was under a type of ‘pressure’. I wasn’t sure to pray or put on some music that I listen to while interceding. I walked outside and saw a gigantic bird stuck in the tree. It was huge. It was flapping and really strange. After a few minutes it let loose and flew away [it kind of felt a little demonic!] Well scripture says ‘our souls are escaped like a bird out of the snare of the fowler, the snare is broken and we are free’. Felt like the Lord might be saying he has released us from some things and the ‘rushing wind of his Spirit’ is going to flow thru and to us.
(139) A couple of things today. Last night on the discovery channel they aired a special on the ‘lost tomb of Jesus’. Another ‘Davinci code’ criticism of Jesus and the Church. I find it interesting that after 2 thousand years people are still gossiping about Jesus. I wonder if he’s thinking at the right hand of God ‘father you said I would be criticized, but I never thought it would last this long’. I do find the stupidity of the critics entertaining at times. First, if you spend whole lifetimes denying the existence of someone, the last thing you would do is ‘discover his tomb’ [supposedly with his bones in it!]. Second, why spend so much money and effort explaining away something that is supposedly fake. I don’t see any TV specials on denying the existence of ‘Santa Clause’. Me thinks the critics doth protest too much!
Now a word to ‘our critics’. First I want you guys to know I pray for you every day ‘Lord, let judgment come swift and fast!’ [Just kidding!] But honestly sometimes criticism can be good. I have had people tell me that my sharing of the stories of helping people is violating the principle of Jesus to ‘let not your right hand know what your left is doing’. That is don’t boast about your good deeds or else you lose your reward in heaven. This is a good point that I should not dismiss out of hand. Jesus ‘modeled’ things by example, as well as actual teaching. Many years ago I had a prophetic word given to us that said ‘thru my example many would see and understand the works of Jesus’. The whole word spoke on our ‘style’ of ministry as being unique and ‘showing’ thru example the works of Jesus. When I first started sharing stories and stuff I saw it more as the Lord telling me to do it in this way. Jesus told the story of the ‘good Samaritan’; he was speaking of himself in this parable. The main thing Jesus was dealing with when telling the people ‘don’t do things just to be seen’ was the mindset that existed in the religious community of his day. They lived for the public recognition of society around them. Their prayers and fasting were done solely for them to be seen as pious and holy. They had absolutely no intent on actually doing service to God or helping their fellow man. It was in this environment that Jesus said these things. You do find Paul having to ‘boast’ of his accomplishments in order to teach the Corinthians stuff. Well any way I thought I would clear this up. And to all my critics, take comfort in the fact that I am going to pray right now, and you are going to be in my prayers! [Still kidding a little].
(140) A few years back we had the ‘Waco tragedy’ take place in Texas. This was the story of David Korresh and the cult group the ‘Branch Davidians’. Well as a joke the guys at work would call me ‘the Branch Chiarellian’. It was all in fun, I really don’t have time to worry about silly stuff. These are all good guys. But I find it interesting on how many times in this paper I spoke about ‘branches’ and stuff. The Martin Luther King Dream. Verses that say ‘the man whose name is the branch’ [this is Jesus and also the church and prophetic people as an extension of his Body] All in all I like the way ‘prophetic’ people can get people to prophesy to them whether they realize it or not!
(141) ‘Think perennially versus annually’. Where I live in South Texas spring starts early. My yard is already blooming and growing. In my backyard I have tried to use ‘xerscape’ as a means to establish a self-sustaining/ low maintenance yard. I have learned over the years that you can plant ‘perennials or annuals’. When I found out the difference it surprised me that anyone would plant annuals. Annuals are beautiful plants that look great, but die every year and you start from scratch each new year. Perennials look just as good, cost the same and last ‘forever’ [theoretically]. So why choose high maintenance over low? Some people don’t know the difference, others simply like the process of planting new every year. I notice that the ‘new planters’ seem to enjoy the routine of ‘re-planting’. Some don’t really spend a lot of time ‘looking’ and enjoying the plants, they simply like the work! That’s fine. I am the lazy type. Hey if I can by a car that lasts one year, looks, works and costs the same as one I can buy that lasts forever, well you know! I want to challenge you to think ‘perennially’ versus ‘annually’. Seek to implement avenues of ‘ministry’ that require low maintenance. Establish ‘things’ that you can enjoy year after year without having to ‘re-plant’ each year. There are things like our radio programs and this blog site that once their initiated I don’t have to really ‘re-preach’ manually week after week to the same crowd. Now it’s O.K. for you Pastors to preach every week. I am just trying to show the difference between ‘manually’ doing it, and allowing the thing to grow ‘on it’s own’. Many churches print bulletins and send out flyers. Why not package them in such a way that people would save them? You can actually make part of it [or all of it] look like a little book that has permanent qualities [whole portions of scripture like the book of Romans or something?] And even say on the booklet ‘SAVE FOR FUTURE REFERENCE or DON’T THROW THIS OUT’. People are receptive to suggestions. Plus if the people are saving these things then they will always have the ministry information for years to come! Well these are just ideas. What I wanted to emphasize today was to use wisdom in all of these areas. Seek to establish avenues of ministry that don’t require a lot of time and money, but can have a regional influence! NOTE: for those of you who read this blog, you can start one yourself for free. If you don’t feel you have any thing to say then simply send this site to as many people as possible. This is a free avenue that once established can go on indefinitely.
(142) It’s funny how I come up with things to say. I was just outside praying and one of the images I use when I pray is ‘visit this vine, this vineyard and this branch’. I read it in Psalms and incorporated it into intercession. I was just thinking how many times Jesus used ‘vineyard’ and garden imagery in his teaching. He spoke of the owner of the vineyard coming to see how the caretakers were doing. They were not taking care of the vineyard so he gave it to others. God often sees the ‘world’ as the field. We seem to create parameters in ministry that are limited. ‘I will work with our financial partners’ mentality. We develop little childish mindsets that shrink our ‘field of influence’. God sees in ‘world wide’ terms. He ‘plants’ us with generational destiny in mind. He’s not looking at our silly little prerequisites that we deem must be met before ‘my ministry’ spends time and resources on you. Paul said Gods love constrains us. We are ‘debtors’ to the whole world. You and I are responsible to work in this field. Don’t confuse his ‘field’ with your small circle of friends and supporters!
(143) Just saw on the news the other day that the fire dept. went to a brush fire. While putting out the fire they realized that it was a woman who was set on fire. Some guy from their homeless camp is suspected of doing it. They were all homeless. This was in another part of town from where I usually go. But the campsite and all looked like the camps I have visited over the years. They didn’t identify the woman yet; hope its nobody I know. Life can be tragic at times. Do me a favor and pray for all my homeless friends. Actually I would love it if you regularly prayed for this ministry [C.C.O.M.] and all the avenues of outreach the Lord has given us. We really need your prayers, thanks!
(144) Back to something I mentioned a few weeks back. ‘Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good’ Felt like the Lord was saying he gives us specific ‘nuggets’ of wisdom that make the difference between victory or failure. You can’t afford a ‘day of sin’ because you might unknowingly be aborting your key nugget of wisdom that God was going to communicate to you in that day. It’s like the sin of abortion. Some feel you need to practice abortion for the simple reason of population control. They feel the world cant supply the growing population. But it is also possible that you might ‘abort’ the very person who would have come up with the knowledge or technology to solve the problem! So in the same way, when you choose to walk in sin you might be ‘aborting your Lincoln or Einstein’. Walk in wisdom, it is during these times of peace that God will allow you to establish your borders, so when times of difficulty come you will have a place to ‘crash’. Those who have not ‘stored up’ in the summer have no shelter during times of famine and distress! NOTE: Let me add something practical here. Many people confuse the goal of storing up for retirement with MAKING THAT THE GOAL. Don’t confuse the obtaining of resources with the goal. God wants to use you for more than just getting enough money to retire at 70 and live a few more years and die! Think strategically about your ‘retirement’ years. Don’t get lost in the pursuit of making money to the point where the making of it becomes the goal! You still have some good years left in you, even at 62, so allow God to ‘redirect’ your retirement to maximize the rest of your life towards reaping a heavenly reward. All you need is enough money to live on and free you up to go as God leads. Some of you might be there already! NOTE: I talk about the ‘sin of abortion’ because I think the way we abort kids in this country is terrible! If you have had an abortion, God will forgive you and it is not my intent to hurt you!
(145) ‘I called on the Lord when I was in distress and the Lord answered me and set me in a large place/ in my fathers house are many mansions, if it were not so I would have told you’. King David said ‘when I was in distress the Lord enlarged me’. God increases your ‘area’ of influence when you go thru difficult situations. Scripture calls this ‘birth pains’. ‘As soon as Zion travailed she brought forth her children’ ‘a woman when in labor wants it to stop, but after the birth of the child she forgets all the pain’. God gives us ‘manifold’ areas of influence with diverse groups of people. These groups of people are the ‘places’ where God dwells. He will expand your horizon to see further than you have up until this time. Psalms says ‘I will have no rest until I find/build for you a habitation’. You see the heart of Jesus Messianic purpose and destiny contained in this cry of David. Jesus [and those of us representing him here as his body] are on a mission to find ‘a resting place for God’. David came to realize that this wasn’t some earthly temple at all. Jesus was on this mission in planet earth to redeem a bride that would actually become this ‘temple/dwelling place’ of God. He accomplished this thru extreme suffering and difficulty. Hebrews says ‘he endured the cross/ DESPISING the shame and has been seated at the right hand of God’ there was an aspect of the ministry of Jesus that he despised. The identifying with sin and shame was an ‘unpleasant’ reality that came along with the package of finding a habitation for God. I want to encourage you today, if you are feeling like your being ‘despised’ or ‘shamed’. If people gossip about you, or you feel you are being mistreated. Know for sure that God is ‘expanding your borders’ these ‘borders’ are areas of influence with different people groups [many mansions] and God takes pleasure in ‘dwelling in them’. You are literally being used to ‘find an habitation for God’. ‘ENLARGE THE PLACE OF THY TENT AND LET THEM STRETCH FORTH THE CURTAINS OF THY HABITATIONS. SPARE NOT, LENGTHEN THY CORDS AND STRENGTHEN THY STAKES, FOR THOU SHALT BREAK FORTH ON THE RIGHT HAND AND ON THE LEFT AND THY SEED SHALL INHERIT THE GENTILES AND MAKE THE DESOLATE CITIES TO BE INHABITED’ ‘THRU YOUR SEED [THE PEOPLE YOU INFLUENCE AND BRING INTO THE KINGODM] SHALL ALL THE FAMILIES [GROUPS OF PEOPLE] OF THE EARTH BE BLESSED’
(146) ‘Jesus of suburbia’ Last night I watched a dateline special on a ‘leader’ of a church in Puerto Rico. He quite obviously is a cult leader. Claims to be Jesus. He and his followers tattoo ‘666’ on their bodies and other strange stuff. When questioned on his lavish lifestyle of Rolex watches and taking huge amounts of money, he defended himself by saying ‘tradition portrays Jesus as being poor, but he was rich’ then he gave the verse that says Jesus told Peter to go get the money out of the fish mouth to pay taxes. This is a true verse; the problem is this verse obviously doesn’t prove Jesus was rich. If he were rich then why would he be going to a fish to get the money! Just cash in that jumbo C.D.! Its stupid stuff like this that gets me mad. Even the dateline interviewer said Jesus was a carpenter’s son and obviously was not wealthy. It’s sad that the reporter presented a more correct view of Jesus than the cult guy. It’s even sadder that there are very popular teachers in the American church that teach this same silliness! God help us all.
(147) ‘Jesus style’ what we are trying to accomplish is to facilitate the natural growth intended for the Church [people of God] as a living organism. There are prophets and leaders who approach ministry and the discharging of their gift as taking place in a ‘meeting’ hall environment. They schedule and have a regular pool of ‘church houses’ to preach in on a yearly basis and they view this as their profession. If you have enough ‘places to preach’ you are now ‘building your ministry’. We are trying to get away from this model of ministry. Those of you who are gifted prophetically can still function and be used, but we are trying to promote the ‘Jesus style of doing it’ go out into the by-ways and function in the ‘world’. Remember the world is the field, not the ‘church building’!
(148) ‘YOU HAVE CAST MY CROWN TO THE GROUND. YOU HAVE WEAKENED MY STRENGTH. THE DAYS OF MY YOUTH YOU HAVE SHORTENED, AND COVERED ME WITH SHAME’ this is what I like to call ‘the Jesus road to ministry’. The whole process of being exalted and humbled/shamed is from God. These are the exact elements that caused Jesus ministry to be so effective. Recognize that these processes are from God and it will exponentially advance your growth!
(149) ‘That which lasts’ These last few days I have been thinking about the ‘thing’ that endures. Gods word, his ‘seed’ [children] those that you ‘birth’ thru the Gospel. The ‘things’ that last are the people you birth into the Kingdom by the Gospel. Today’s ministry mindset seeks to cause the ‘ministry’ or ‘building’ or simply all the activities that surround what we are doing to last. God wants to re-focus our mindset. He wants us to be more ‘family’ oriented. Though all the other things serve a purpose in their proper place, Gods chief concern is to cause your spiritual offspring to ‘last’. ‘THY SEED AND THY NAME SHALL REMAIN’ ‘HE THAT DOETH THE WILL OF GOD ABIDETH FOREVER’ ‘I WILL RAISE UP ONE FROM YOUR LOINS AND HE SHALL SIT UPON THE THRONE FOREVER [Speaking to King David concerning Christ]. God sees people and ‘dynasty’s’. We see ‘things and ministries’. May God help us to re-focus! NOTE: What got me thinking about this was I recently passed up a ‘church’ [small building in some side street in Kingsville]. Had a friend that was the Pastor. Noticed that they found some friends to ‘take over’. Now the friends are ‘the Pastors’. This type of handing over the ‘church’ or finding someone to ‘Pastor it’ is common among small congregations. I remember having friends in the old days who either rented or bought or built a small building and then when ‘things got rough’ were frantically trying to get someone else to ‘continue the legacy’. The problem is in a lot of these scenarios the Pastor puts tremendous pressure on the people to ‘obey your new Pastor’. The New Testament Churches [In the NEW TESTAMENT!] had absolutely nothing going on along these lines. We must re examine our motivations for doing stuff like this. Lots of times its self-ego that’s behind it. Not every case, but many.
(150) ‘I BROUGHT YOU THRU THE RED SEA, AND CAUSED THE ARMIES OF PHARAOH TO DROWN THERE’ just read this in Psalms the other day. It’s a funny thing, the stuff that we go thru as believers advances us to the next level [hopefully!] This same stuff destroys the unbeliever! The last few weeks I have had a good open door with putting our blog in area papers. The lord has used this as an opportunity to reach out in an exponential way. During this same time I have had a lot of resistance! I had an old drug addict friend, who spent many years in jail tell me ‘Brother John, every time I try to serve the Lord the devil comes after me. It’s easier to just ‘not serve God’. This was the father of some of the brothers I was working with. I met the dad by going to the local Kingsville jails to preach and later became good friends with his sons [many!] that were in my age range. By the way I consider one of his sons to be one of our key people in Kingsville. A few of the brothers from this original group are still witnessing and going strong [or at least ‘going!’]. Well the father is now dead. He died right around the age of 50 or so. Good friend, but too many years down the wrong road. It eventually took a toll. Well the lesson is ‘if you are experiencing severe trials and tests, know for a fact that you are making headway into enemy territory’ sure it makes the devil mad, but scripture says ‘THE GOD OF PEACE SHALL CRUSH satan UNDER YOUR FEET SHORTLY’ NOTE; this computer will fix the word ‘satan’ with a capitol letter during spell check, but it wont do the same for ‘God’. That old devil try’s to get into everything, doesn’t he! NOTE: In the above scenario we have people that see themselves as a ‘part of us’. Though there is no organization to join, no ‘membership’. No ‘partnering with us financially’ type thing. But like the song says ‘friends are friends forever, if the Lords the Lord of them’. The attachment to each other is more along the lines of ‘a band of brothers’. Its not some ‘you are under my ministry, how dare you visit or attend another church’ or commit the worst offense imaginable, GIVE YOUR SACRED TITHE TO ANOTHER CHURCH! All silly stuff that goes on today under the guise of ‘local church’. P.S. This stuff that I just said doesn’t only get the devil mad, but some well meaning preachers too!
(151) I am going to be as honest as I can about this. Last night I tuned in to a fairly new Christian station that I like a lot. They have a lot of prophetic people on who I like. They were doing a money-raising thing. They had one of the prophetic people that I like [Mike Bickle] and right after him another brother. This other brother used to be Muslim and is now Christian. When he was Muslim he made some money in business, but when he became Christian he got a hold of the prosperity message and made ‘boat loads’ of it. He is always talking about money. As a brother I love him, but you cant go on national television and say things like ‘there’s someone watching right now ‘GODS’ telling you to give $100,000 right now [that’s one hundred thousand dollars for those of you that might not be familiar with these appeals!] Be obedient and do it, you will get a million back’. Now is it possible that God is saying this? Sure. But is it responsible to simply say it in a forum [national TV] where anybody can hear and everyone hearing thinks its God talking to them and they ‘obey the word of the Lord’ and do something stupid? There was some military veteran living on fixed income that heard something like this on another Christian station. He donated his meager check [or savings?] and gave a few thousand that he couldn’t afford. Whoever was raising the money made an appeal like the one above. He never got ‘his return’ and contacted the ministry and asked for his money back. They said no. He took it to court in California and the state made the ministry give him his money back. Now this kind of stuff ruins our testimony to the world. We can’t keep doing this. I was feeling let down that the prophetic person that I like was involved with this. May God help us all.
(152) Just outside praying and was finishing a part of intercession where I pray for the nations. I lift up our brothers and sisters in ‘regions of conflict’ [Africa/Middle east/Iraq/etc.] I pray for those on the verge of martyrdom, that God would supernaturally deliver them. Those who were recently martyred, that the Lord would be with their families/wives/children that are left behind. You know I didn’t realize I was going to share this when I just sat down! Maybe the Lord wants to expand your ‘prayer base’? What I wanted to get to was I finished with the Lords prayer [Our Father]. When I got to the point of ‘Thy Kingdom come’ I sensed how God’s ‘Kingdom comes’. I have heard over the years how God set up the local church and how his ‘plan’ to fund it is the tithe. And how the ‘tithe’ is Gods tax for Gods people. I do find it ironic that NO New Testament church tithed [except the Jewish believers at Jerusalem, and it wasn’t like you think either. The Jews had quite an elaborate system of tithing; it wasn’t putting 10% in the offering plate on Sunday!] The ‘rules’ Jesus set up for the church were quite simple. You love each other, help those in need. If you have a brother/elder ministering to you Gods word you take care of his needs [no tithe here when Paul teaches this by the way!]. You are a ‘community/brotherhood’ of people who love God and each other and show it by taking care of each other. This is the simplicity of ‘Gods Kingdom’ being expressed thru his people in planet earth. The ‘tax’ that we ‘owe’ is to love one another. Paul actually uses this language in speaking about being a ‘debtor’ to no man, but Gods love constraining us to act. Well I thought this might help you guys today.
(153) I just put together a packet of books and stuff for one of my homeless friends. I have his booklets listed on our tape catalog. His name is Shelby. He has had an interesting life. At one time he had a bus ministry of hippies that he used to travel around with. Some good stuff. I put the packet together because he now sees us as ‘working together’ in ministry. He hasn’t seen the book/tape catalog with his name and articles listed and he wants a catalog. I made a point of putting an updated one together for him. It might be insignificant to some, but something like this makes a person feel like they are playing a part in Gods greater purpose. He was telling his daughter who was visiting the area about me and he wants to show her his booklets on the catalog. Its little things like this that God deems as important. Remember Jesus talking about receiving the Kingdom as little children. Let God use you to ‘connect’ with people in this relational way, these are the ‘things’ that build the Church! [NOTE: I didn’t get to drop the catalog off this day. I am now at work, the next day, and I just got a message on my answering service from Shelby. Just called to say hi and see where I was and when we were going to get together. I knew the Lord wanted me to encourage him yesterday, feel bad that I didn’t!]
(154) ‘RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE’ A few years back this was a popular rock group. I do like the title, though I don’t think I ever heard their music. A lot of what I have recently written on is ‘raging against the machine’. What I mean by this is in Christian circles we develop ways and modes of functioning that ‘become’ church! Over the years Christians have incorporated ideas into ‘how to do church/ how to be Christian’ and often times the routines or systems that we set in place are necessary practices at the time in order to carry out some Christian function. [501c3/church building/tithing to support clergy/etc.] The problem is when we begin to ‘see’ these functions as the only legitimate expression of church. At that point all the ‘practices/functions’ become ‘the machine’ [the whole system of thought and practice]. Well this is when the revolutionary Spirit of Christ dwelling in the Church rises up [thru prophets and the prophetic Spirit] and ‘rages against the machine’. THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN SUFFERETH VIOLENCE AND THE VIOLENT TAKE IT BY FORCE There’s just no getting around this. To be a true pioneer/revolutionary you can’t shrink back in the day of battle. Recently there has been a lot of talk/gossip about us [or should I say me!] Its funny but you learn to purposely ignore and not defend yourself. I actually had some people that were involved in it over a long period of time who ran into other people who were saying how much the Lord has done for them thru our radio ministry. The person testified of how I am reaching out and doing good things for God. The other friend kind of had to tell me how he heard a good testimony about us. But in this scenario I didn’t defend myself [it takes too much time to worry about the critics!] but someone else who I haven’t seen in 15 years defended me [this was an old Navy friend who knew me in the ‘bad days’ and then knew me when I became a Christian]. Well when you ‘rage against the machine’ the machine strikes back, but be assured that by Gods grace you will win. Remember the song from the reformer Martin Luther [not King] ‘THOUGH THIS WORLD WITH DEVILS FILLED SHOULD THREATEN TO UNDO US, WE WILL NOT FEAR FOR GOD HATH WILLED HIS TRUTH TO TRIUMPH THRU US’
(155) ‘LESSONS FROM A SCOTT PACK’ to my firefighter friends who read this blog you know what a Scott mask is, to the others let me explain. In the old days of firefighting the masks that firefighters wore didn’t have ‘positive pressure’. If there was a leak in the mask the toxic gases/smoke could get in the mask and you could get hurt or die from this. The fire service eventually developed a technology that is called ‘positive pressure’. Now if there is a leak in the mask instead of ‘stuff getting in’ ‘stuff gets out!’ The positive air flow coming in to your mask will ‘leak out’ if there is a breach. I feel like the Lord will allow us at times to be under ‘positive pressure’. Sure we all get angry and respond wrong at times [at least I do, maybe some of you super saints don’t, but if you read this blog site this far chances are you’re a lot like me!] When your are under ‘positive pressure’ and you feel like your being pierced, just remember God is allowing good stuff to flow out of you during these seasons. ‘HE CLAVE THE ROCKS IN THE WILDERNESS AND GAVE THEM DRINK OUT OF GREAT DEPTHS, HE BROUGHT STREAMS ALSO OUT OF THE ROCK, AND CAUSED WATER TO RUN DOWN LIKE RIVERS’
(156) A little more about ‘the machine’. I realize that by us having NO INCOME, NO BUILDINGS, NO STAFF, NO SALARIES, NO 501C3 that this is highly offensive to the ‘machine’. The amount of time and money that go into the ‘operation of the machine’ is enormous. The amount of thought and strategizing on how to raise funds for the machine are time consuming. To simply start a revolution of Christian volunteers who give themselves away for the cause for free is a tremendous threat to the machine. I do not see my brothers who function with all the trappings as evil or deceived. I recognize in some cases the ‘things’ of ministry are simply tools that God uses to effect change. I use radio and books and stuff too. The point I want to make is if you change your mindset from building things to building people your efforts will go a lot further and last much longer!
(157) Just remembered a conversation I had with a ministry leader in our city. At the time we were discussing the prosperity gospel. I was telling him the story of how a very popular prosperity preacher wrote in one of his best selling books that he had a vision and went to heaven, and in heaven he saw King David as well as many others. King David told the prosperity preacher that one of the things he regrets was all the negative confessions he made in the book of Psalms. [To be honest stuff like this still gets me mad!] Well I surely thought the ministry leader would be as upset as I about this. Instead he challenged me in defense of the prosperity preacher and said ‘how do you know the vision is fake’? Now I got upset. How do you know Joseph Smith [the prophet of the Mormon church] didn’t find the ‘gold tablets’ in the earth [or even if he found them, how come I know there not from God?] We know by spiritual discernment. Scripture commands us to ‘test the spirits’ and every spirit that is not from God must be rejected. The simple fact that this ministry leader could not discern and willingly reject the prosperity preacher’s vision was appalling. We cannot ever accept a vision that would have a writer of one of the Canonical books basically say he wished he could take something out of the book [in this case Psalms]. The book of Revelation places a curse on those who ‘take away from the Word of God’. I finally answered the question of ‘how do you know the visions fake?’ with the answer GOD TOLD ME! To my surprise the ministry leader accepted it and seemed to submit to this Word. It was almost like this movement casts a spell on people who defend it. Sometimes it takes a prophetic word spoken in authority to break this spell! Paul told the Galatians ‘who hath bewitched you to not obey the truth?’ I have had friends who were Pastors come out and publicly defend this movement because they visited one of their ministry centers and said they ran an efficient operation. Hey, you can visit the Mormon Temple in Utah and you’ll see efficiency! But God help us if this becomes the criteria that we use to judge a thing. I really have struggled with the leaders who were not learned enough to know what they were defending, but would defend it any way. Sort of like ‘hey, I have been attacked before and I didn’t like it, therefore I will defend any one else who gets attacked’. Well I don’t like being attacked either, but leaders need the ability to see things for what they are and try to bring correction in love. I do believe these prosperity guys are fellow believers, but stuff like I just showed you can’t go unchecked. The popularity of some of these things is a direct result of leaders not taking a stand when they should have. I don’t want to offend you guys, but I felt the Lord wanted me to share this.
(158) Went thru my emails yesterday and had an invitation from a church in Africa to speak at a conference. I just prayed for Africa the other day! I didn’t accept the invitation, don’t want to be rude but I don’t ‘do churches’. There are enough people already making the ‘church circuit’. We really don’t need anymore. They can get all our stuff for free on this blog site without me going to ‘manually’ deliver a sermon. What about the offerings? Oh yea we don’t ‘do offerings’ either. Now let me get a little serious. The invitation might have been a scam, who knows? But regardless I wouldn’t have done it either way. Wisdom ‘sends out her servants’ thru the ‘sending’ of words thru Radio, Books and the blog site we are reaching a great area. You remember about ‘working smarter, not harder’. I might do something like this someday, it’s not ‘wicked’ or anything, it’s just that our style is trying to break the mold and show the ‘everyday believer’ that you too can have an effective outreach without being a part of the system!
(159) I have not told you guys this yet. But as I was praying I felt it was time. I know I have ‘strange’ sleeping/eating habits. About 5 or 6 years back [now that I think about it more like 10-12 yrs.] I started eating once a day. It kind of started like a fasting thing. I used to eat regularly and fast 1 day every week or so. The longest was a seven day fast [only water!] But now I just eat once a day. I try to eat around 3 or 4p.m. Sometimes I will have a healthy snack at night [peanuts/fruit] I had a friend tell me he wishes he had a metabolism where he didn’t eat that much. I think he had the impression that I don’t get hungry or something. Some days I feel hungry all the time! Its not about feelings, its learning to maximize your time by putting fuel into your body! I do feel as hungry as anyone who didn’t eat till 3pm. But I have much more energy by doing it this way. I very rarely break this rule. Maybe a few times a year? I am not trying to be a martyr; this ‘style’ seemed to be most effective for me. I do find it funny that John the Baptist ate locusts and wild honey. Maybe having strange eating habits is a prerequisite for ‘prophetic’ ministries? Well felt it was time to share this, maybe you will at least be encouraged to fast some! NOTE: Jesus said they accused John of ‘having a devil’ [being demon possessed] because of his lack of eating and they accused Jesus of being a ‘glutton’ because of his eating with sinners, It just seems like you can never please that old religious crowd!
(160) This entry may be difficult to explain, but let me try. When I first moved to Corpus in 1992, I used to take my kids to a local lake/pond. It is called Lakeview Park. Nice lake with ducks and stuff. I haven’t been there in many years. ‘Bodies of water’ can represent groups of people both in scripture [Revelation] and in prophetic imagery. Well this week they found out that there were two alligators living in secret in this ‘pool’ of water. They don’t know how long they were there but they were just ‘exposed’. A few weeks back I wrote on the God of peace bruising satan under our feet shortly. satan gets his power thru deception; he does things in secret and doesn’t want to be found out. He likes to ‘hide’ in ‘ponds/lakes’ [groups of people who he can influence to carry out his plan/ or simply prevent Gods plan from taking root in these people groups]. I felt like the Lord was saying there were many ‘people/groups’ that he wanted us to reach, but ‘leviathen’ [devil] was hiding underneath the surface preventing Gods plan from coming forth. At this season satan's works are being ‘found out’ and it will be safe to ‘go in the water’ [fish these people groups!]
(161) ‘THE PUFFBALLS’ Let me do another one that’s not too easy to explain. Many years ago I heard an Apostle share on ‘puffballs’, that is the strategy of those weed like flowers that start as a flower and then turn into the puffball that the wind can blow on and 100’s of little parts go flying. Some of these little ‘offspring’ have been known to travel thousands of miles and ‘re-plant’ in another country and then start the process all over again. The brother [Jim Dirkin] shared how this was an ‘Apostolic strategy’ that the Lord had shown him. He had an outreach ministry that worked with many hippies during the Jesus movement, and they would send their people all over the world to establish Gods Kingdom and preach the gospel. I like this imagery. As I write this entry the puffballs are being blown by the wind in my yard right now. As I told you guys a few entries back I don’t mow my back yard, but have created paths that are surrounded by trees and plants. I do pull up any grass that comes up, or weeds. This year I saw the same ‘weeds’ that I pull up every year. But I kind of felt like I should leave them. I was on the verge of pulling them up and then stopped. Well sure enough these turned into those puffballs. It happened in February of 2007, the 20 year anniversary of our ministry. I felt like the Lord said many of our ‘seed’ [people] will grow exponentially this year. The ‘puffballs’ have reached a point of critical mass where they will continue! ‘THY SEED AND THY NAME SHALL REMAIN, THOSE THAT WILL BE OF THEE SHALL BUILD THE OLD WASTE PLACES’ Jesus said in his Parables to be careful when trying to ‘pull out the tares’ from the wheat, you might accidentally damage the real thing. I didn’t realize that I was ‘pulling out’ a weed that was actually a beautiful flower. Be careful when dealing with people, you might damage someone that God intends to be a ‘part of your field!’[if you want to look up the ministry of Jim Dirkin, it was called ‘Gospel Outreach’ they do have a site on line, also ‘Verbo’ or something like that. Jim has gone on to be with the Lord many years ago, but he was a pioneer in what has come to be known as the modern Apostolic movement]
(162) I want to demonstrate something right now. The last few hours I felt the Lord had a prophetic word for you. The word is from Psalms ‘WHEN THE LORD TURNED THE CAPTIVITY OF ZION [PUT YOUR NAME HERE] IT WAS LIKE A DREAM’ I felt like the Lord was saying an appointed time has just come for you. IT IS TIME FOR YOU TO WORK, LORD [PSALMS] A SET TIME HAS COME. I just felt like the Lord wanted to communicate to you that this is a ‘Kairos’ time for you. You have come to the Kingdom for SUCH A TIME AS THIS!
(163) My daughter mentioned the other day how she likes the mesquite tree growing in my yard. I have pruned it over the years to grow around the corner of my house. Mesquites grow both horizontal and vertical. If you prune them right they will grow very wide, almost like the branches become benches that you can sit on. Was just outside praying [during an early morning thunderstorm!] and was standing under an eve next to this tree. I was thinking how Jesus spoke of Gods Kingdom being like a small seed, but after it grows it becomes a large tree where many birds find shelter. I pulled this tree out of the Oso bay around 12 years ago [?] its so big and wide now you couldn’t move it if you tried! Maybe a pro with a truck and stuff, but not like when I pulled it up by hand from the wet sand. Felt like the Lord was saying to plant/transplant some things now, it might seem insignificant but down the road it will be a ‘mainstay’ for many people [birds taking shelter!]. ‘DON’T DESPISE THE DAY OF SMALL BEGINNINGS’.
(164) ‘GOD GIVES MEAT IN DUE SEASON’ Just read this in Psalms, it’s also found in other portions of scripture. Paul told the Corinthians, after he wrote them the first letter, that initially he regretted being so hard on them. But later he changed his mind and was glad he was so hard on them because it produced the desired results. God allows certain truths to go forth at certain times to specific groups of people. I debate whether or not certain people are ready for the stuff we preach. If people are not ‘ready’ [mature] they can use the truths we preach in a destructive way. Some Pastors can’t handle our stuff. I don’t want to sound big headed, but this is true. God not only ‘feeds the right food at the right time’ but he also requires us to do the same. This year [2007] the Lord opened a door to a lot of my old friends from New Jersey. I have tried to contact them before, but ‘it wasn’t time’. I felt like the Lord said ‘it’s now the right time’. Ask God to give you wisdom in when and whom to speak to. Jesus said at his return he will see who is giving out meat in due season. Are you feeding the right meat to the right people?
(165) ‘I AM NOT RICH!’ Let me once again clarify some things. We shouldn’t spend time defending ourselves, unless it serves a purpose. I have mentioned that in the past I have made money in real estate. Some people seem to think I am rich and therefore we have a regional influence because I fund it myself. All the money I made has been spent! I bought a building for the guys I worked with in Kingsville, It didn’t work out so I sold it and used the money for radio and outreach. I do fund all the stuff I do [radio, feeding guys, paying for blog adds, etc.] I also put money in the Church we attend [though its not a tithe]. All this costs me a few hundred dollars a month. I do not claim this as a deduction on my taxes [nothing wrong about claiming it, I prefer not to]. So basically I make around $45,000 dollars a year [2007] and pay for these avenues of ministry out of pocket. The reason I share this is I want you to see that all of us can reach ‘our world’. The main ingredient is seeking to be a servant. We too often see ministry as a business in which we seek advancement for ourselves and the ‘church’. We innocently by-pass the ingredient of servant hood that Jesus said was the key to advancement in Gods kingdom. I am amazed at the amount of people who don’t believe/see the reality of this. Jesus said the gospel is the power. The power of exponential increase in Gods Kingdom is laying down your life for others. I realize some do criticize me for not ‘paying my way’ with the tithe, while enjoying the benefits. I struggle with this too. I take consolation in the fact that many of the Pastors of the churches I have attended over the years have benefited from our teaching ministry for free. Some have learned more from us than any other regional ministry. I am not boasting, but just showing you that things seem to even out. Well I wanted to clarify this, hope it helped. [Also I recommend the church I attend, and its other campuses, to all the people we work with in the region. I in no way teach that our people shouldn’t attend a good church, I just try to expand their mindset to ‘them’ being the church in many different scenarios]. NOTE: I want to radically challenge your mindset right now. Paul the Apostle said ‘HE THAT IS NOT WORKING SHOULD GET A JOB, SO HE CAN HAVE TO GIVE TO HIM THAT NEEDETH’ I simply want you to see the scriptural authority behind the concept of giving directly to meet the needs of people. The church today puts 99[or 100?] percent of the focus on the tithe. Paul does leave room in his theology for giving to meet the needs of Elders [Pastors] but the imperative is always towards the needs of people. Most Christians will read the verse that I just quoted and never give it a second thought. How many of you seriously work to give to him that needeth?
(166) Felt like the Lord had a prophetic word for you ‘I WILL HEAR WHAT THE LORD GOD WILL SPEAK, HE WILL SPEAK PEACE TO HIS PEOPLE AND TO HIS SAINTS, BUT LET THEM NOT TURN AGAIN TO FOLLY’ [somewhere in the bible, not sure where?] I felt like God just said to you that he’s ending things in your life that you have struggled with for years, the ‘test’ is over. It’s now time to begin the journey in a greater way. You are out of the wilderness and are entering the ‘promised land’. Beware, there are still enemies to conquer, but you will be coming after them, as opposed to them coming after you!
(167) Just got back [last night] from spending a few days at my daughters ranch. I took my youngest girl and we helped my daughter [Becky] do some stuff. These last few weeks I have made it a point to pick up area news papers and call to see if they will run our blog. When I call I let them know we are not for profit [I mean really not for profit!] and I do explain that we have no building but simply meet as a brotherhood of people. This can be hard to articulate but most people accept us as a ministry. I say most! I called some paper in the Orange Grove area, the lady sounded a little ‘country’ and was a little rude. As I began to explain our desire to put our blog site in their paper I asked if she knew what a blog was [some people who are not familiar with the word don’t know what I am saying when I ask this and I will spell out the word B L O G] well she simply said ‘I am not stupid sir, I know how to spell. If I were stupid do you think I would be running a newspaper’. To be honest at this point it surprised me that she was running one! Its hard enough to explain the concept of ‘church’ as a community versus a building to most believers, I knew I had my work cut out for me with this person. At one point she asked if we had a ‘church’ building or not. I plainly told her we didn’t. I wasn’t hiding this fact, but she simply was unable to grasp this concept. She finally let it be known that if ‘you’re a church with a building who meets on Sunday’ you can run an ad for free, even if the Pastors salary is a million dollars, you run it free because ‘you’re a church’. But if your a community of people who are in society doing the works of Jesus for free you cant run an ad for free because you don’t have a ‘church building’. This lady finally hung up on me. She kept stating she was not stupid and I took her at her word and tried to explain the Greek word ‘Ecclesia’ as ‘the Church’ and tried to give her a crash course in ecclesiology! I knew she didn’t understand a word I was saying, but frankly I was a little tired of hearing her. Well I never placed the ad, I could have paid for one, but this is a little ‘red neck’ newspaper and I really think I would have been doing them a favor to put our ad in their paper.
(168) Now back to my time at the ranch. I got up early in the morning to pray outside. I walked around for a few hours before sun up. This is the first time I was able to pray in this region. I really sensed how God precedes ‘outreach’ to an area with prayer and fasting. The night before I was at work in Kingsville and prayed at this same time over there. The Lord sees ‘prayer, fasting, sacrifice, persecution and difficulty’ as the ingredients for ministry. We often look at ‘finances, facilities, staff, etc.’ we see ‘things’ God sees character developed under fire. I remember hearing a few years back a particular preacher defend his use of private planes. Hey, if you want to use one fine. In his defense he shared that because the anointing is in him, its so valuable [true] that if he goes to great lengths to ‘pamper’ himself with expensive things he is doing it ‘for the anointing’ not for him. Its funny, but didn’t Jesus have the anointing? If I remember he didn’t spend a lot of time ‘protecting’ it, I think he even went to the cross with it! We get into these mindsets that are hard to break. We had a brother come to our area who normally charges [I think he said a million dollars?] to speak, but because the Lord laid it on his heart he would do it this time for free, thanks a lot. The valuable gifts and ‘anointings’ in us ARE VALUABLE, but they don’t belong to us! They are GIFTS! What do you do with something that you get for free, you share it with others for free! Paul said we have this treasure in earthen vessels; the valuable thing we ‘protect’ is not the vessel. We must change our mindsets from the way the world operates. Sure the world compensates its C.E.O s, but we work on different lines as Gods people. I don’t want to get into this right here [salaries and stuff] but I want you to ‘see’ things differently. We are here to get the message out at all costs, we don’t belong to ourselves, God has purchased us. We are ‘slaves’. He has ownership. We don’t get a salary for doing the things we are required to do. Do you get it? [It’s OK to meet the needs of your Pastor financially, I am talking about the mindset of ‘starting a ministry’ and being compensated before your willing to go out and give your life away]
(169) Many years ago after I first started serving the Lord I took a trip back to Jersey. My dad, a firefighter [retired Captain] got me an invitation to preach at the Chaplains church. He was a good man who was pastoring a ‘Church of God’ church. I simply preached a basic gospel message. Many years later [20?] while back visiting family I thought I would drop by and say hi. I didn’t know if the Pastor was around anymore, he was around 70 when I first met him, he would be close to 90 now. Well I stopped by the church and to my surprise he was still there. I spoke to him for a little while and told him I had preached at his church years ago. He couldn’t remember. After a while he finally remembered. I did look a lot different now. As we were sitting in his nice little apartment located directly behind the church sanctuary, his wife was in the other room mumbling. The old Pastor told me she suffers from Alzheimer’s and to just ignore it. He was polite in saying this. The old pastor was truly enjoying one of the sons [me!] of one of the fire Captains that he was a chaplain to, being able to visit and reminisce. During our conversation he seemed content. He told me though he doesn’t have much materially in this life, he is satisfied that he has built up eternal rewards. He kind of said ‘I don’t know how you feel about the modern prosperity movement, but I feel God doesn’t measure success by outward things’. Well I told him ‘Brother Wilcombs, I kind of wrote a little book on this subject’ and I dropped one off to him before I left Jersey. I received a handwritten note in the mail, he really appreciated the book. I kind of felt like the Lord gave me an opportunity to encourage a man who gave his whole life to the ministry and was feeling ‘defensive’ living in a day that blatantly measures godliness by financial gain. I never saw him again, if he’s still alive he would be nearing 100 years old. I thank God for the elders of the faith who served God so many years with their eyes on eternal rewards versus this present world [I had previously heard that he died and found out later that he was still alive. The book I gave him can be read in it’s entirety on this site]
(170) Over the years I have found it interesting that many Christians live their whole lives believing things that they feel are not true. Not talking about the basic tenets of the faith, but stuff on the ‘rapture’ or the church, or tithing. A lot of the stuff I deal with. It’s funny that Christians live their whole lives embracing things just out of fear. Some times they will admit that what they heard [read] from our ministry was something that they always felt to be true. I kind of feel like saying ‘if you knew this to be true, why would you not embrace it’. The first century believers were getting their heads chopped off for the faith, and we don’t have the courage to believe and preach the simplest things! It’s stuff like this that determines whether or not you will move on to the next level. Many preachers are seeking a national voice, looking to expand their parameters. God first wants boldness to hear and receive truth from him. Why would the Lord expand someone’s forum if they don’t have the basic ability to hear and speak truth? I am not talking about simply ‘regurgitating’ someone else’s revelation. I am talking about hearing and speaking what God is saying. ‘OPEN MY EYES SO I MIGHT BEHOLD THINGS OUT OF YOUR LAW’.
(171) For the purpose of full disclosure let me mention something. All 4 of my daughters have trust funds set up for them. While I am not rich, my kids are set up fairly well. The reason I share this is the other day when I was up early praying at my daughters ranch I felt the Lord saying he was going to expand us ‘thru our seed’ [spiritual children]. While walking around the ranch I saw hundreds of wildflowers and mesquite trees. I have a few in my yard, but these were a lot! I also realized how my daughter [19 yrs old] owns a $125,000 dollar ranch free and clear. She bid $31,000 for it and used part of her trust fund money [it was a HUD repo and no bank would finance a ‘modular home’ on a ranch, though the original owner paid $85,000 just for the house!] The nice mustang she drives is also free and clear [I bought it for $4,000 a few years ago]. I am not bringing this up for no reason. For many years people [friends/family] would tell me ‘instead of helping bums and addicts, you could work a second job [besides being a firefighter] so your kids can have more’. I have found out if you take care of Gods people [kids] he will take care of yours. To be honest, how many 19yr olds own a $125,000 ranch free and clear? See, I know God does bless people financially; I just feel the church today has blurred the lines of Christianity with gain. We as believers have a mandate to not measure ‘Godliness by gain’. Well I believe scripture says ‘first the natural, then the spiritual’ I am looking forward to hearing from you guys on how God is increasing your spiritual borders! NOTE: This is also another benefit of not taking a salary, can you imagine what people would be saying ‘that preacher went and bought his daughter a ranch, and she drives a mustang too!’ [I own a 66 mustang, it’s got a 289 in it for all you car guys] NOTE: I had an old friend in Kingsville, one of our original group, who use to kid me and say ‘for someone who doesn’t believe in the prosperity message, you do pretty good!’ I would answer back ‘I don’t believe it works for you guys, only for me’ of course I was kidding! NOTE: Let me show you guys something. I don’t ‘think money thoughts’ all the time. I don’t ‘confess money scriptures’ all day. I basically don’t believe in the main tenets of the prosperity gospel, but yet I have prospered! Why? I believe if you give your life away for others, practice giving and being generous, be EMPLOYED for most of your life, simply be a responsible person and even invest wisely. These are the things that ‘produce’ prosperity, not some tricks and gimmicks. I know God blesses his people; its just money shouldn’t be the focus! NOTE: I do find it strange that there are many Christians who are ALWAYS talking, thinking and focusing on material wealth. If I were to tell them ‘you have spent 35 years speaking, thinking and developing your entire Christian experience around money. Many of your teachers teach that Jesus was a millionaire; you have actually changed the image of God into one of your own desires. Many of the sermons you have heard thru out your life have been about money. Don’t you think it strange that someone like myself, who outright rejects and preaches against the movement is blessed’ Many of them would respond by saying ‘well, at least I died with a good confession’ No you didn’t, you died spending your whole life focusing on the things that Jesus said were not the true riches! Thanks to your preachers you spent a lifetime doing what Jesus said not to do! He said seek FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND ALL THINGS WILL BE ADDED TO YOU you my friend were seeking THE THINGS!
(172) A few years back a popular preacher in our region [Houston] was speaking about a guy who got stuck in a freezer [walk in!] He shared how even though the freezer was not plugged in, they found the guy dead in the morning. The brother said he believed the guy froze to death, because in his ‘mind’ he believed the freezer was on. I do like this preacher [Joel Osteen] but this is a type of ‘metaphysical’ belief. The groups ‘Christian Science’ and others hold to these views. The biblical view of ‘renewing the mind’ and meditating on Gods Word is a profitable thing. This type of belief [the freezer guy!] is really not biblical. We don’t ‘create reality’ with our thoughts or words. While it is good to keep a positive confession and to ‘set your mind on things above’ yet these practices don’t actually create reality! They can have an effect on our circumstances and help us in our walk with God, but in and of themselves these are simply ‘window dressing’. The basic tenets of Christian belief put the emphasis on character, faith, trusting in God, being diligent and overall ‘root’ issues. The modern focus on words and thoughts are a superficial approach. Though there is some biblical truth to them, they are not the deep issues of walking with God. What about the brother in the freezer? Well it’s possible he died of a heart attack or something, but he didn’t ‘create’ an environment with his mind that caused him to freeze to death.
(173) In the early church of the first couple of centuries there was a group of ‘Christians’ who were called Gnostics. These people believed in ‘special knowledge’. They felt that God revealed things to them thru spiritual means that the average Christians didn’t access. Today you have the equivalent of this in ‘revelation knowledge’. This is a type of belief among Christians that sometimes contradicts scripture, but slips in as ‘special revelation’. While it is true that God does give us prophetic insight and allows us to see things thru dreams and visions and other means, yet all of these ‘things’ are subservient to biblical authority! When things slip in under the title of ‘revelation knowledge’ we must judge it by scripture. If scripture contradicts the ‘revelation knowledge’ then we go with the Word!
(174) A few years ago we had an Apostle visit our area. He is fairly well known in ‘prophetic’ circles and does have a worldwide ministry. I do like him and his teaching. He was going to hold some meetings in Texas and I called his office to get directions. A few days later he called back at an inopportune time. If I am busy I will not answer my phone unless I recognize the number. I thought I would answer it this day anyway. Sure enough it was this national minister personally calling me. He didn’t know me at all! I think the Lord told him to call. I spoke only a few minutes and shared a prophetic word. I quoted ‘FOR THY SAKE WE ARE KILLED ALL THE DAY LONG’ he simply said ‘O MY’. I never got in touch with him again. I did send them our books and I feel we might be a little to ‘strong’ for this brother. Many ‘Apostles/Prophets’ are really affected by the prosperity gospel and modern concepts of ‘spiritual warfare’ and I think our teachings in these areas turned them off. I do feel the Lord allowed me to speak this word to him as a precursor to sending our books. It’s like God confirmed ‘the word with signs following [or should I say ‘preceding!’]
(175) Many years ago I had a Pastor friend who pastored a church in Corpus Christi that was called the ‘Lambs Fold’. His name was Tom Reedy, his wife was Kathy. He was going to leave Corpus and was looking for confirmation on whether or not to leave. He visited one of the most accurate Prophets of our generation [Paul Cain]. He never told me what happened, but I eventually got the tape series of the meetings from someone else and I heard Paul prophesy ‘there is someone here named Tom and your wife is Kathy [I think he even said the name ‘Reedy’] it has something to do with the Lambs Fold on a coastal city’. Its things like this that convince you that the prophetic is real. Paul Cain has gone thru some very difficult times these last few years and he has struggled with homosexuality and other things. I hesitate to use Paul’s name but I felt we needed to give credit to the many thousands of accurate prophecies that Paul has given over the years.
(176) I spoke on fasting a few entries back. I remember hearing one of the most prominent leaders of the prosperity movement [he has since gone on to be with the Lord] say that he didn’t fast anymore, but God told him instead to live a ‘fasted life’. This brother was overweight and had heart problems earlier in his life. I felt it strange that he didn’t fast anymore, and the ‘fasted life’ seemed to not truly limit his eating. I don’t want to be mean, I used to listen to this brother in the early years of my Christian experience, but I felt this to be a sign. Covetousness and the more extreme cases of it that were found in this brothers teaching is a form of lust and addiction. Jesus spoke on the power of ‘mammon’ as the only other addiction that directly competes with the kingdom of God for mans affections. ‘YOU CAN NOT SERVE GOD AND MAMMON’ I felt the inability to break from the spirit of mammon was seen in this brothers inability to control his eating. Eventually instead of losing the weight, he seemed to develop a ‘belief’ thru a ‘Rhema word’ [God told me not to fast but to live a fasted life] that justified the appetites of the flesh. This same scenario flowed over into the more extreme elements of the prosperity gospel. Visions of Jesus appearing to these brothers telling them ‘YOU CAN WRITE YOUR OWN TICKET WITH GOD’ teachings on commanding Angels to ‘GO FORTH AND BRING TO ME MONEY’ things that I look at now and am amazed that so many Christians cant break from this stuff. I love the brother who I just used as the example, but our allegiance must be to God first and I felt he wanted me to share this.
(177) I remember sharing some of these things with ‘leaders’ of the church in Corpus Christi and they would say ‘oh that criticism is the same stuff that Hank Hanegraaff preaches’ [this brother wrote a critical book on the prosperity movement]. The inability of this particular leader to see the true deception of this movement would later limit his voice. The brother who said this to me went on the radio station that I broadcast on. I do like the brother, I kind of had the feeling he felt like ‘I will show John some things about radio’ sort of like he was going to ‘teach us a lesson’. He lasted a few weeks on the radio [we’ve been on 11 years as of 2007] I don’t want to boast or sound competitive, I simply believe God gives voice to those who are willing to see beyond there own personal survival and speak the truth. This ministry leader was trying to build a financial support base at the time of our discussion and I felt he dismissed out of hand what God was trying to show him [thru me!] because it simply didn’t fit in with the goal of ‘bringing in the money’. If we are truly in ministry to speak what God is saying, then the ‘goal of bringing in the funds’ must be secondary to the prophetic word. We must speak truth, regardless of how it affects our income base. Well I believe the ministry leader lasted a few weeks on the radio because he had his priorities wrong, what about you! NOTE: This is the same ministry leader I spoke on earlier who defended the prosperity preacher. During our conversation he was showing me things the Lord showed him out of the bible. Okay stuff from the Old Testament, little stories about unity and stuff. I found it strange that he would spend time on finding interesting stories from the bible and yet not see all the plain scriptures in the New Testament dealing with the issues of money DON’T DESIRE TO BE RICH, BE CONTENT WITH WHAT YOU HAVE, TEACHERS WILL ARISE IN THE LAST DAYS WHO WILL TEACH GAIN IS GODLINESS FROM SUCH TURN AWAY, THE LOVE OF MONEY IS THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL THOSE WHO HAVE GONE AFTER IT HAVE TURNED AWAY FROM THE FAITH [shall I go on?] I just think we ‘strain at gnats’ while we don’t realize we are ‘swallowing the camel whole’!
(178) I read an article from Christianity today the other day. It was on Prophets and their role in the Church! It was an excellent article; it kind of surprised me that it was in Christianity today. Out of all the Christian magazines in circulation this is the best. I don’t say this only because of this article. I have subscribed to Charisma and Christianity today and a few others for many years. I don’t subscribe to any write now, but I read from some on line. I canceled the Charisma magazine many years before Christianity today. I felt that Charisma was making an honest effort, but the only valuable stuff seemed to be coming from Lee Grady. He only wrote a brief editorial. The bulk of the magazine was messages by popular preachers, and a lot of them on ‘you can have what you say’ and stuff like that. I actually said to myself one day ‘how many messages does it take on ‘you can achieve some goal, or get what you want’ before they move on to the ‘university level’. Well I feel Christianity today is at the ‘university level’. In the past the majority of preachers/teachers that taught on Apostles and Prophets were the charismatic brothers. I do credit Brother Hagin for re introducing this teaching to the church. I am really excited that more of the mainline Christians seem to be more open to these gifts. It’s hard for believers to distinguish between the reality that some things can be good from a preacher, while other things can be bad. I have seen so many brothers leave the Baptist faith and become Charismatic [OK] but then they view their Baptist heritage in a negative way. They seem to think the future of the church is Charismatic. The future of the church is CHRIST! All charismatics and Baptists and Catholics and every one else who names the name of Christ plays a role in this thing. The message of the church is the Cross of Christ. We are to carry the ‘evangelical’ gospel as the primary voice of the church. If you used to be some denomination and are now another, that’s fine, but don’t think that now the message is ‘the Spirit’ or ‘the anything else’. The message stays the same. Now I believe we should teach and embrace the working of the Holy Spirit, it’s just some brothers have actually said stuff like ‘when I was Baptist I focused on the Cross, when I became charismatic I now focus on the resurrection and the Spirit’ one brother even said the Cross was only for a few hours, leaving the impression that those ‘few hours’ are now over and we move on to other things. This brother is an Apostle out of San Antonio who is a true elder in the church. He has done many good things and I have received from him in many ways. He made this statement at a conference in Corpus Christi and I felt I needed to correct it on radio. I did! Paul told the Corinthians that when he was with them he knew nothing ‘but Christ crucified’. This message doesn’t mean we don’t ‘move on in growth’ it simply means the growth God is looking for is the Body to grow ‘into him’. God’s goal is for us to be mature ‘in him’. Growing is not a matter of moving away from him [or the cross!] Paul told the Galatians ‘MY LITTLE CHILDREN WHOM I TRAVAIL IN BIRTH AGAIN UNTIL CHRIST BE FORMED IN YOU’ Ephesians says we are to grow up into the full stature of Christ and allow his headship over us to fully function as we develop more into being the Body of Christ. All these images show us that the goal of Christian growth is not moving to some other belief, but moving more ‘into him’.
(179) I called the Houston Chronicle and asked them if I can run our blog in the church section, as of now I am still waiting for a response. I was up praying yesterday and heard [not audibly!] ‘Houston, we’ve got a problem’ so I began praying for the brother that I spoke to and also for divine favor. I recognize that if someone who works for these papers attends a prosperity church that they will not want to run the ad. There are obstacles in moving forward, I have given you guys an example on how one person can do great things in God, but there will be tremendous resistance. I gave you the example of my friend being on the radio for a few weeks. Though it doesn’t take a lot of money to impact regions, it does take spiritual courage. We wrestle not against flesh and blood; the adversary will come after you. Don’t want to intimidate you, just want to give you the facts. Also today we come out in the San Antonio paper, my daughter had a friend from high school that moved to San Antonio while they were still in school. He was a boyfriend/friend. I used to drive her midway and the boy’s mom would meet us and we would pick the boy up for a visit in Corpus. I gave the kid one of our books on the prosperity movement. A few weeks later the boy said his mom really liked it and wanted him to tell me. This was a nice Hispanic family. They were from a broken home, the boys ‘mom’ was really his grandmother. She was a nice woman. I kind of got the feeling that she was one of the many who hear the prosperity gospel for many years and feel a sense of guilt about struggling financially. The message has a tendency to say ‘just keep confessing and believing, surely God doesn’t want his kids to suffer and be broke. Look at us we are all rich’ [the preachers!] Many preachers don’t realize the damage their doing to the poor in our midst. James said ‘YOU ARE DESPISING THE POOR AND TREATING THE RICH WITH FAVOR, HATH NOT GOD CHOSEN THE POOR OF THIS WORLD RICH IN FAITH AND HEIRS TO THE KINGDOM WHICH HE HATH PROMISED, WOE TO THE RICH IN THE DAY OF JUDGEMENT, THEIR RICHES WILL DECAY AND HAVE NO EFFECT IN THAT DAY’ Many of the prosperity brothers simply don’t see the overall effect that the message has on people who are poor. James didn’t preach to the poor that if they believe long enough things will turn around. Paul didn’t tell the saints that they can be rich if they believe, he told them YOU CAME INTO THE WORLD WITH NOTHING, WHEN YOU LEAVE YOU WILL LEAVE WITH NOTHING, THEREFORE BE CONTENT TO HAVE YOUR NEEDS MET Now I realize that there are basic principles of believing the Lord for resources to touch the world. George Mueller was a great man of faith who started an orphanage and had miraculous stories of God providing. It’s that we just are blurring the lines too much. Scripture commands us to not show contempt to the poor. How do you think they feel when we say from our pulpits ‘Well our people are doing well, look at all the expensive cars in the parking lot’ now what do you suppose will happen to that innocent grandma raising her grandson for many years, who took the bus to church today? We don’t realize how much damage we have done. Some of you would have benefited to have listened to me 15 years ago when I started preaching this stuff, instead of telling every body ‘Oh that preacher is against the prosperity movement’ No I am FOR THE POOR GRANDMAS THAT JAMES TOLD US NOT TO DESPISE! NOTE: Many of the brothers I have spoken to over the years teach that there needs to be a return of ‘strong Apostolic authority’ like the early church had. It’s funny because when they here or read the stuff we are writing its ‘too strong’ for them! NOTE: Let me add that the preacher who made the statement about all the people doing well because they had nice cars in the parking lot, meant well. He was trying to express the fact that he wasn’t the only one doing well. This preacher is a very humble man in our city. He is more humble than me, and I don’t say this in a demeaning way. I consider him a true friend. Till this day I pray for the church he pastors as well as other area churches [the one I attend!] I consider him an innocent victim of the deception from certain elements of the prosperity movement. He did not realize that he was directly violating the scripture that says ‘DO NOT MEASURE GODLINESS BY GAIN’ Scripture plainly says you are not to use material things as a measure of ones faith. If the people were all poor and had ‘crappy’ cars, they still could have had ‘been doing well’ [spiritually] according to scripture. This innocent statement made by a good man is just one of the casualties of this teaching! Paul warned Timothy that those who would teach that gain was godliness and would make money the focus would ‘swerve from the faith’ that is they would UNCONCIOUSLY make statements and judgments that were outside of biblical parameters. The logic and reasoning of the above statement came from a good man who today realizes many of the things I am showing you, but at the time did not see how he was being affected by those who were ‘swerving from the faith’. We flippantly say things like ‘THE BIBLE DOESN’T SAY MONEY IS EVIL, BUT THE LOVE OF IT IS’ where does it say this? In TIMOTHY, the same book that I have been quoting all these verses from. People don’t realize that to make being rich your goal is forbidden in scripture. Now I didn’t say you can’t be rich, nor did I say you cant try to become rich. But scripture says that those who DESIRE to be rich fall into temptation and a snare. Scripture forbids the desire to be rich to be the motivational force in your life! BUT THOU O MAN OF GOD FLEE THESE THINGS don’t be duped into this stuff, it will cause you to swerve from the faith and God will limit your voice if you do!
(180) I have another confession to make. When I drive the regional route from C.C. to Kingsville I pray while going thru the area cities. I feel ‘constrained’ when I wear the seatbelt, so I never wear it. I know some of you will backslide over something like this, but if you have made it this far on this blog you are more than able to handle this! Sure enough the other day I was driving past the airport on the highway doing about 70 and I hit this bump and spun the truck around in the middle of the highway and did a few turns but didn’t flip over or get hit by another vehicle. I wasn’t scared at all, it was a peaceful feeling, I must admit I continued to drive without the belt. I am not bragging, I just felt like there is a sense of ‘you will not die until you finish the course’. It was a little surreal.
(181) I felt the Lord wants me to stay on this for a little while. Many sincere ‘word of faith/prosperity believers’ honestly believe that tradition has portrayed Jesus and the disciples as being poor, and they were really rich. These honest believers are already ‘swerving’ from the faith at this point without realizing it. This journey often leads them to a point where they ‘see’ the answer to world evangelism as being ‘if we return to the truth of Jesus being rich, and we become like him as scripture demands, then we will have enough money to finance the end time harvest’. So good Christians at this point don’t realize that they are violating all the other verses I went over in these last few entries. Deception is powerful. I do blame the preachers who continue on this road despite the fact that they have been reproved over and again. It’s difficult to realize you might have spent your life as a false prophet. Few make the break after achieving prominence! Jim Bakker made the break. I remember Jim saying in his book how after the Lord started showing him his faults, that it dawned on him that he was preaching for Christians to become rich. This became his message. A few months back I tuned in to one of the famous prosperity brothers as I was flipping thru the channels. I stopped, not to be critical! I haven’t tuned him in for years. I thought I would give it a shot, maybe he’s preaching the gospel now? You never know. I clicked my remote and could only leave it on for about a minute. He was talking all about money again! The sad thing is that many of the more sincere young believers, who grasp this teaching thinking it will promote end time evangelism, don’t realize that the fact that the message has become money in and of itself is hindering evangelism! If most of the money going to support the prosperity brothers [they do get a lot!] is simply propagating a self help ‘you can be rich’ infomercial type gospel, then this in and of itself is hindering the message. You could be feeding the poor, giving the money to ‘Billy Grahams’ or Larry Jones. The lust for wealth has taken the money and made ‘money’ its God. Jesus said out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. If all your talking and preaching is money, to the point where you doctrine officially has changed the image of Jesus Christ into a contemporary prosperity preacher, then you my friend are in very dangerous territory! I just felt like today there needed to be a ‘strong’ reproof for some of you on the edge of this stuff. Sort of like God saying ‘beware’. Jesus said to ‘BEWARE OF COVETOUSNESS, FOR A MANS LIFE CONSISTETH NOT IN THE ABUNDANCE OF THE THINGS THAT HE POSSESSES’ we sometimes need to ‘BE WARE’!
(182) Paul, in dealing with false teachers in the Church said ‘WHOSE MOUTHS MUST BE STOPPED, TEACHING THINGS THAT THEY OUGHT NOT FOR GAIN’ I know of good men who feel that addressing this issue head on is not walking in love. Over the years what bothered me was the lack of good preachers who refused to deal with these issues. Paul straight-out recognized that the teachers who were doing harm to the church had to be silenced. Not by passing some law, or thru physical restraint. But by dealing head on with the issue thru scripture! This is primarily the way ‘spiritual warfare’ is carried out. CASTING DOWN IMAGINATIONS AND EVERY HIGH THING THAT EXALTS ITSELF AGIANST THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD, AND BRINGING INTO CAPTIVITY EVERY THOUGHT TO THE OBEDIENCE OF CHRIST It is the accurate presenting of Christ as well as the true knowing of him in Spirit that wars against the false images of him that are presented by the false prophets. There comes a time in the Christian preachers experience where he is commanded to reprove things, with all longsuffering. I hold out hope for the innocent victims of doctrines like this, but I sure am mad against the brothers whose ‘mouths must be stopped!’
(183) Now I want you to see how we are doing battle right now against mindsets. The verse I just showed you is scripture. THOSE THAT DESIRE TO BE RICH WILL FALL INTO A SNARE. Many believers do not realize that scripture commands us to not have this desire. If you were to tell them this, they would say ‘well you believe tradition, and I’ll believe the Word’ not realizing that this is ‘the Word’. But didn’t Jesus come to give us abundant life? Yes he did. And ‘abundant life’ is not measured by material wealth according to scripture! The heroes of the FAITH in Hebrews chapter 11 all had great faith. They were stoned, cut in half, as well as receiving the dead raised again and subduing kingdoms. Well I thought faith meant you always get the desired result. The desired result is the purpose of God. If that purpose happens to be a cross or martyrdom, then you fulfilled your purpose. The fulfilling of your purpose IS ABUNDANT LIFE! I know it takes some time for us to see these things, but for some of you it’s really time! Your SET TIME HAS COME in a way that you weren’t expecting! NOTE: One of the ways the enemy ‘steals’ from us is by convincing us into thinking that life consists ‘of the abundance of the things we possess’. In essence many people have been robbed from the ‘abundant life’ by living their lives for ‘things’ while they missed the true destiny of God.
(184) I am listening right now to a brother preaching a prosperity message. He is quoting James words on the power of the tongue. He is using this as an example to always maintain a positive confession [for wealth, victory, etc.] He is alluding to the fact that the ‘nay sayers’ who don’t believe we should all be rich are not using their ‘tongues’ right. Despite the fact that James will go on to say things like ‘God has chosen the poor of this world rich in faith’ ‘the rich despise you and use Gods name in vain’ ‘the rich will have a day of judgment where their riches will be of no value to them’. This brother really doesn’t see the abuse of the Word that this reasoning leads to. If James is teaching in this letter to maintain a positive ‘money confession’ then James himself is failing to live up to his own standard by what he is saying in the rest of the letter! This can be maddening at times! I like the brother who is sharing these things on TV right now, but we seriously need an overhaul in our understanding of scripture.
(185) The book of Numbers says ‘DON’T DEFILE THE LAND THAT YOU ARE GOING IN TO INHERIT, BECAUSE I DWELL THERE!’ Felt like the Lord was saying there were many things he allowed you to go thru. If you will ‘death experiences’. These things are now over. He is bringing you to a new place of inheritance; you cannot bring these old things over into the new land. The power of resurrection only has an effect after one has died. Many of the former things are now dead; a new man is coming forth for a new land! IF ANY MAN IS IN CHRIST HE IS A NEW CREATURE, THE FORMER THINGS ARE PASSED AWAY, BEHOLD ALL THINGS ARE BECOME NEW – REMEMBER NOT THE FORMER THINGS, NEITHER CONSIDER THE THINGS OF OLD, FOR I AM DOING A NEW THING. SHALL YE KNOW IT? I WILL EVEN MAKE A WAY IN THE WILDERNESS AND RIVERS IN THE DESERT![Bible verses]
(186) Recently we posted our blog site in large regional cities. Some of these cities host huge churches with famous Pastors. Some of these Pastors have received our books over the years. Some of their people might have heard our radio programs in the past [our broadcast reaches very far. It does go into Mexico and people from Louisiana have been known to hear the station we are on] What’s the point? I feel there was a sense of leaders/Pastors who have heard us over the years, and would dismiss what we are saying, whether it was right or wrong. They seemed to simply measure our words by the criteria of ‘how will this affect me, what will this teaching do to my income base’ or ‘Whether or not this guys right doesn’t make a difference to me, I have a goal to achieve something and his teaching doesn’t fit in with my vision’. These criteria show us how present day leadership in the Church is not really ready for revolution. Now there are some who are ready, but for the most part they are still ‘out for themselves’ [their vision, to be successful, etc.] The true revolution of a William Wallace [braveheart] has to be grasped by these men before the Lord can truly move in the earth. Many of these examples show you how we are still ruled by self-survival instead of a spirit of laying down our lives for the cause. God will eventually bring the challenge to the door/gates [of your church!] by allowing the revolutionary spirit to reach your city. When he does this survival will be dependant on your willingness to die to your goals and vision. Who knows, maybe you have COME TO THE KINGDOM FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS!
(187) Got a response back from the Houston Chronicle on putting our blog in their paper. They gave me the OK, but I have to work out some details. They even offered to run a story on my testimony and the ministry, I know they meant well, but I avoid stuff like this as the plague! It’s one thing to try and get our blog out for people to read, but the promotion of self can be deadly! I am thinking of the time in the bible [Gospel of John] where they came up to Jesus and said ‘no one does these great ministry things that you claim to be doing, and stays hidden, if your really such a big shot go SHOW YOURSELF TO THE WORLD!’ He didn’t do it. Self-promotion is different than God promotion, these two cannot co-exist. I rather have the one that comes from God. I remember many years ago I had a Minster friend who just started going to the jails to preach. I had been going for many years at the point that my friend got into it. Not too long after they were reading a letter that they got from one of the inmates, sort of like a public testimony for the church. I got the sense that they were viewing the jail ministry as a promotional tool for their ministry. I thought it funny, as to the fact that I had received 100’s by this time, and probably close to around 500 or so over all the years of writing friends in jail and Huntsville [prison]. I had a good buddy that I met here in Corpus about 10 years ago. ‘New York’ Tony is his name. I thought it cool to have been working with someone from New York. I even have met a few Jersey brothers as well. Tony has been a cocaine addict for many years. He finally gets off the cocaine by doing ‘ice’ [meth]. He thinks it’s good to get off the coke, but he’s worse on the meth! I would take Tony with me on various errands. I have had him stay over my house a bunch of times. He has never stolen from me, though he has stolen tons of stuff from Home Depot and stuff like that. These guys go into the store, walk the isles and pick up thousands of dollars of building supplies/tools and stuff. Then they go right to the customer service desk and tell the store they lost the receipt and are bringing the stuff back! Instant cash. Well when Tony got on the meth I would stop for gas or go in to a store and he was getting ready to shoplift right there, with me as the ride! I told him ‘brother, you cant be stealing with me right here’ I knew he was getting worse, he never did this before. I prayed for him one day ‘Lord, do something with Tony, I have been helping him out for years, I need some results’ Not too long after he wound up in jail for a year. He is one of my buddies that hasn’t made the prison circuit like my veteran friends from Kingsville. The Kingsville guys have done 10-15 years in Prison each. These Corpus guys are rookies at it. Well Tony started writing me and it’s been years since I wrote the brothers in jail. But I started writing anyway. He wrote me one day and was testifying of how the Lord was really using the books I sent [just realized I wrote this story somewhere else on the blog, oh well I don’t have time to review everything anymore]. I basically wanted to show that ministry is not something you do to ‘promote your image’. It is simply a function of Christ’s Spirit in you. Jesus is still the good shepherd going after the one sheep that’s lost. Leaving the 99 [church attendees] to go after the 1 doesn’t get the same applause, but it’s where Gods heart is at.
(188) Just walking in my yard and I noticed the Mesquite tree I told you about before. It’s just producing really green leaves, today is the first day of spring. It has this green fungus/moss all over it. Being I live so close to the bay, the moisture does this to the tree. I thought of the verse ‘I WILL BE LIKE A GREEN OLIVE TREE IN THE HOUSE OF GOD’ [PSALMS]. I also thought of ‘THE MAN WHOSE NAME IS THE BRANCH, HE WILL GROW OUT OF HIS PLACE [small parameter] AND BUILD THE TEMPLE OF THE LORD’ the many teachings we have done over the years have tried to show the people of God that THEY ARE THE TEMPLE! I know it gets repetitive, but God wants teachers/preachers to build the temple as opposed to building ‘a temple’. God’s people are this awesome dwelling place. If you focus your time and efforts on releasing people into their God given destiny, then YOU WILL GROW OUT OF YOUR SMALL AREA OF INFLUENCE. If you seek to increase your area of influence at the expense of the people [seeing them as tools or a financial base for goals] then you are fighting an uphill battle. [Or should I say downhill]
(189) Let me share 2 statements that stuck in my mind over the years, said to me by friends who were addicts. I was with ‘New York Tony’ one day and we were driving on some errand and he forgot his new sunglasses [nice ones] on the roof of my car. He remembered later and tried to find them. In his frustration he said of himself ‘what a @#@# waste of life’. I had another old friend from Kingsville who one day told me ‘John, when normal people get under stress they curse or get mad. When I get stressed I stick needles in my arms’. Most people view these friends of mine as total wastes that got what they deserve. Sure that’s possible. I just wanted you to get a picture of the few moments of clarity in their lives when they see themselves the same way. [I think the Kingsville friend died a few years back. He moved to another state but I read an obituary and it had his name, but no picture]
(190) A few entries back I mentioned an article from Christianity today. Part of the article spoke on the clergy’s dependence on the offerings from the people being a hindrance to the prophetic ministry. The article even spoke on the modern phenomena of Pastors/Elders being bi-vocational. That is the trend of certain leaders choosing to work a regular job and not be supported by the church. I know what the New Testament teaches on meeting the needs of those who supply spiritual food. Paul, who said this, also said that he chose to not use this right with the Corinthians. He even said by not using it he was preaching the gospel free of charge, and that was a commendable thing. So obviously there are various ways to approach this. The thing we did not see in the New Testament churches was ‘hired clergy’. This is blatantly obvious. Sure it makes us feel uncomfortable to admit this, especially if you are one of them! But the point is we need to recognize that many modern scenarios of Pastors feeling pressured to speak on topics in order to keep the salary money coming in was absent in the first century church. Much of what we do is out of peer pressure and self-survival. I want to challenge you, try doing it for free! Paul said you can, he also said those who got paid didn’t have the same joy of knowing that they were truly doing it from the heart. It’s OK to receive support, but it’s not OK to see yourself as a ‘hired hand’ who is employed by a congregation to provide services [weddings, funerals, etc.]
(191) CHANGE YOUR MINDSET Over the years as I have learned new things and ways to function in Gods kingdom, I would always think along terms of ‘how do we make this happen, who are the group[s] of people that we are to release the gifts in’ I also have read many other ministry ideas and concepts. Often what we are trying to do is produce some biblical ministry in a limited paradigm. For example, when people began learning about the 5-fold ministry [Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors and Teachers] they tried to ‘make it happen in their church’ the reason it didn’t ‘happen in their church’ is because their paradigm of ‘church’ was limited. They saw ‘church’ as the meeting of believers in the ‘church building’ on Sunday. Though the belief on the 5 fold was correct, it was the limited understanding of ‘church’ that hindered what God wanted to do. I felt like the Lord was saying to many of us ‘why are you always trying to re-produce that which I show you in some building, my gifts are to function freely in society/community and you are always trying to make it happen in some building environment’. So in essence the changing of the wineskin from seeing ‘church’ as the Sunday meeting to seeing ‘church’ as the functioning community of people was the missing ingredient. Many ‘Apostles’ and ‘Prophets’ were struggling on how to get their gift to work in ‘the church’ and they were missing the great excitement of bringing the gospel to the lost world. How did the Apostle Paul’s gift operate? Do you see him going around to ‘New Testament churches’ trying to set up ‘5 day meetings’? He primarily is going into the world preaching the gospel to the lost, and these ‘become’ the churches [communities of people] that he later builds as an Apostle. We need to ‘re-focus’ our mindset from ‘building’ to people. Get your mind off of ‘trying to build your ministry’ and realize that all of our days are limited. Sell out for the cause, go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature! Quit trying to ‘find your place in the church!’
(192) Just got back from seeing one of the homeless friends I met many years ago. He has had lots of struggles with drugs, but usually pot. He was what we would refer to as a ‘weed head’ in the old days. I feel kinda bad. Just talked with him for a few hours. He is so strung out on ‘ice’ that you would think he is loosing his mind. I feel bad because I really haven’t spent time with him the last 6 months or so. He is a good friend, but I try to ‘share’ the time with different friends. I gave him this blog site, he is going out of state for a while. He has listened to me on the radio before. He just gave someone else the station that we are on. I was surprised he knew it by heart [time and station # and all]. Maybe he listens a lot more than I thought? There was an older friend of mine [70 or so] that was called ‘one eyed Tony’ not to be confused with ‘New York Tony’. He was sleeping under a local overpass a few years back and some local gang kids beat him up and poked his eye out. I haven’t seen him in a few years. He used to listen to the radio show and articulate it back to me in a very intelligent manner when I saw him. He was an engineer who made a good living and was smart. Story goes he was drunk one night in Florida and accidentally killed some one in a car crash. I think it might have been a family member. He wound up living on the streets of Corpus. You wouldn’t believe that some of these homeless people were just like many of you at one time. Pray for my friends. Thanks.
(193) The other day I was with some guys and they were talking about a ‘gang/drug dealing’ family here in south TX. The name is well known. These guys were talking all about the history of this family. Shootings and all sorts of stuff. I told them how one of my buddies ‘beat the crap’ out of one of them years ago. My friend was also known from coming from a rival family. There are a few well-known names that the local ‘gangsters’ all know. My friend was the one I told you about earlier who swallowed the bag of cocaine and died [who shot the cops in the back when he was a kid]. I remember when he got out of prison I would pick him up for church. He came to the first meetings we ever held in an old rented hospital. One morning when I picked him up he looked real apprehensive. I knew something was wrong. He admitted to me that he had ‘bumped’ for the first time since getting out of prison. He hadn’t shot up for a while, and it was like he knew that he just opened a door that would be hard to close. He died not too long after.
(194) Just outside walking/praying in my yard early in the morning. It’s the 2nd day of spring. The reason I just walked inside to write is as I was walking by my rose bushes [Josephs coat of many colors that I told you about earlier] I was praying and inviting Gods presence to come into the garden and enjoy the smell of the Roses. I felt him say ‘I can only smell them thru you’. So I ‘smelled’ them vicariously for the Lord. It’s like God is telling us he can only manifest and experience his world ‘thru us’. We are the living organic Body of Christ on planet earth. He reaches people thru us; Jesus sings praises to the Father thru us. Scripture says he is in the midst of the congregation singing praise to God [Hebrews]. God interacts with society thru us. We show our love for God thru the way we treat people. HOW CAN ANYONE SAY HE LOVES GOD, WHO HE HAS NOT SEEN, IF HE CAN’T LOVE HIS BROTHER WHO HE HAS SEEN 1st John. Just felt like the Lord wanted to communicate this to you.
(195) Let me share a few things. A few years back I remember watching a ‘share a thon’ on a Christian TV station. The brother was using the verses from the Gospel of John on Jesus multiplying the loaves and fish and feeding the multitude. He shared how the station also needed to bring in lots of money, just like Jesus multiplied lots of fish, in order to feed the people. Well enough. What I get from the story is that Jesus really didn’t need a lot of ‘stuff’ before he could ‘reach/feed’ the people. In fact I think the story is more in line with what I teach. That you can ‘touch/feed’ the multitudes with very little! That is you simply bring to the table the mindset of ‘my little portion in the hands of the master can go a long way’. It’s just a matter of perspective. The brother from the share a thon saw this verse out of his paradigm. When you view ministry as the need to raise millions, then that’s what you will see when you read scripture. It’s not like the brother was a heretic or something, he was just seeing everything thru his train of thought. I believe Jesus can use a little boy’s lunch to reach the masses, what about you?
(196) It’s 3-21-07 I just read an interesting prophecy/word from the Elijah list. It spoke of the date 7-7-07 as being a significant date this year. The prophetic brother also shared how he felt it had something to do with the overthrowing of ‘Baal’ in this country. I sent him this blog site. My birthday falls on 7-17-07 this year. I think we do a pretty good job at ‘taking the heads off [removing their authority] of the ‘prophets of Baal’! NOTE: There are a lot of great prophetic people that do not like our stuff. I understand that. My strong stance against the prosperity gospel is not popular! I feel in instances like this, where the Lord actually gives a prophetic sign prior to someone reading our site, is needed to ‘wake up’ certain prophets to the need to return to a more biblical view of the church! I remember reading the date 7-17 in scripture; I think it has something to do with the story of Noah’s Ark?
(197) Just watching the news as I read and work on this blog. 2 girls were kidnapped in Texas a few days ago. Today they were freed. They were ‘loosed’ in MESQUITE TX. I have had a few more ‘mesquite tree’ signs that I haven’t even shared yet. Suffice it to say I feel many ‘2 witnesses’ [apostles/prophets- Revelation 11] will find a ‘release’ from things that have held them captive. The Lord has used the image of a Mesquite tree for this blog. I pray many of you will find release in ‘MESQUITE’.
(198) Today I have been reading a lot of prophetic brothers. I cant help but feel the Lord saying THE PROPHETIC CAN NOT THRIVE IN A DAY WHERE I AM PRESENTED IN A WRONG WAY BY THE IMAGES THAT MEN HAVE OF ME, THE PROPHETIC SPIRIT MUST SPEAK OUT PLAINLY AGIANST THESE ABUSES IN MY CHURCH I do not want to be melodramatic, but we do live in a day where it is common for people to teach that Jesus was, and is, a materially focused individual. Many innocent people are wrongfully embracing this image because the PROPHETS ARE FACILITATING IT! We must speak out for true righteousness if we seek to have a true prophetic voice.
(199) Let me try to be nice. Over the tears of seeing a lot of the abuse in the church I recognized that a lot of it existed because good men [prophetic people and others] refused to deal with the issue. Then you had ‘heresy hunters’ deal with it in a way that totally turned off the church. The prophetic people out of defense against the ‘heresy hunters’ would reject any possibility that the ‘money focus’ in the church was getting off track. So on one side you had the old time ‘defenders of the faith’ warring against the ‘prosperity movement’ and the prophets fell on the side of defending the ‘prosperity movement’. Well this whole thing is a mess. The simple fact that it is common to see a Christian preacher, wearing expensive jewelry, telling people that Jesus and the disciples lived extravagant lifestyles. Talking about dreams and visions of Jesus appearing to them and telling them ‘you can have all the money you want’ [though God can use dreams, they need to be tested like prophetic words!]. Guys having dreams/visions of biblical characters telling them things that contradict scripture, and then the prophets in the church actually lining up on the side of this movement is a tremendous hindrance to the prophetic. We shouldn’t be attack dogs, I agree! But at some point Gods prophets must be willing to address these issues. The fact that the prophets have not dealt with it [for the most part] has opened the door for the ‘heresy hunters’ to paint all of us with the same brush. I appeal to you guys [prophets] take a look at what we are doing. Are we letting the true image of Jesus fall to the ground out of fear and being defensive? How can we not see that many of the fathers of this movement [prosperity] have fallen into the category of 1st Timothy 6. Paul said there would be a time when teachers would teach that financial gain is godliness, from such turn away. I too enjoyed the faith brothers for a while. It’s just there came a time where I had to admit that the stuff coming from their camp could not be accepted anymore. I know and believe that the Father wants us to prosper and has a great future for us. But this is different from seeing Jesus the way these brothers present him. This issue must come to the forefront in the prophetic movement or else God will not allow our voices to continue in today’s church. NOTE: Let me also say that scripture tells us to ‘reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine’ Jeremiah speaks of ‘casting up, removing the stones [hindrances], tearing down and building up’. We are supposed to focus on Jesus for sure. There are times where we also bring correction in love. If leaders don’t do this, then many young believers go down a long road of finding these things out on their own. Eventually they will see the shallowness of this movement, but they could have saved a lot of time if their Pastors dealt with it in the beginning. NOTE: In the book of Acts you see Paul receiving prophecies on ‘how much you will suffer for my cause’. You find the apostles praising God that they were counted worthy to suffer beatings and persecution for the name of Christ. You see the prophetic centered around the sacrificial lifestyle that the Gospel calls us to. In today’s prophetic circles it is all to common to hear prophecies on becoming debt free, receiving financial windfalls, money will fall into your hands this year and stuff like this. Sure it’s possible that God is saying a few of these things, but the modern prophetic movement almost has no voice for the prophecies you see given in scripture. The prophetic must come into re-alignment with scripture if she wants her voice to be relevant today.
(200) I just share these things as they come to me I HAVE MADE YOU A NEW SHARP THRESHING INSTRUMENT HAVING TEETH, YOU WILL THRESH THE MOUNTAINS AND BEAT THEM SMALL AND THE WIND SHALL CARRY THEM AWAY. I have quoted this before on this blog, but while reviewing it felt it spoke to this blog site. Though I have claimed this verse for many years and we have had avenues of ministry going on for quite some time, yet I just felt like the Lord said THIS [BLOG] IS THE NEW SHARP THRESHING INSTRUMENT [in our personal case, not the actual fulfillment of this verse!]. Also I just realized I am writing this at entry 200 which is a milestone for this blog. Another verse I felt I should share is WRITE THE VISION AND MAKE IT PLAIN UPON TABLES SO HE WHO READS IT CAN RUN WITH IT. THE VISION IS FOR AN APPOINTED TIME, THOUGH IT TARRY, WAIT FOR IT. IT WILL SURELY COME Felt like many of you have made it this far on this site for a prophetic destiny to be fulfilled. There are things that you needed to learn before the vision God had for you can be fully implemented. You have just learned a lot of these things, it is now time to run with it!
(201) Just had a bunch of thoughts run thru my head. In the Old Testament the cities were surrounded by walls for protection. On these walls were ‘lookouts’ who would stand guard day and night to ‘see’ things coming. These ‘seers’ were the first to recognize danger, or even an ally coming to help. They would ‘see’ it long before anyone else. This did not make them better than the rest of the community; it simply was their job [gift]. Some seers were higher on the wall than others. You had some actually posted on the wall, while others were in ‘stands’ built off of the wall. This group of lookouts were really seeing far. It was a matter of faith for the community to prepare themselves for what the seers were seeing. Ezekiel speaks of ‘watchman on the wall’ and he says if the watchman see a threat and don’t sound the alarm, then they will be responsible for the results. If they sound the alarm and no one listens, they are not held responsible, but the ones who don’t take action will still suffer. Recently I have been able to ‘speak into’ certain prophetic groups. Many of these brothers do have real gifts, it’s just I feel that a lot of them are not ‘sounding’ the warnings along with the ‘good stuff’. To a degree they also are ‘victims’ of the materialistic mindset that has imbedded itself within the current evangelical church. Many of these prophets immediately reject any talk of correction and re alignment with the central message of the Gospel. They seem to be inundated with the concept of the ‘wealth of the wicked coming to the church’ [which is a true scripture!] to the point of not being able to ‘see’ [which is the prophets main objective!] the writing on the wall. I find it interesting that many of these prophets are on the Elijah list [a prophetic website]. I really like the Elijah list, just not enough balance. Elijah was a prophet in the midst of ‘prophets’. As a singular voice [or so he thought!] he was not in the ‘majority opinion’ of his day. This didn’t mean he was wrong, only that the rest of Gods people weren’t ‘seeing’ as far as he was. I feel there needs to be a re alignment with the current prophetic movement. Too much of it is in alignment with the materialistic gospel. How can God use the ‘watchman’ if they for the most part refuse to ever sound the alarm? Many will not sound it out of self-preservation. Like I have told you before, if ministries are trying to build a support base, there will be a natural tendency to reject any correction along these lines. Unknowingly many prophets simply say ‘I don’t see that’ in the area of all that I have been saying, because without realizing it they are being influenced by a natural desire to ‘bring in the wealth for the end time harvest’. They too have become infected with mammon. I believe the church has a glorious future. I do not hold to an end time fatalistic eschatology, but the future of the church and Gods Kingdom being expressed in the earth is vitally connected to a spiritual people who are not controlled by the materialistic mindset of the day. The prophets must make a break from these things. There is no way the Lord will permit the prophetic to have a greater impact until she learns to distinguish between that which is pure and that which is unclean I remember hearing Paul Cain speak on the 3 dangers to the prophetic ‘GOLD, GIRLS AND GLORY’. He saw the aspect of money as a danger to the movement. The kings of the Old Testament would enlist ‘Eunuchs’ to watch over their bride[s] when they were not around. The Eunuch was ‘unable’ to take advantage of the bride for his own procreation. He could be ‘trusted’ because there was nothing ‘in him’ that could lead to the procreation of his own mind and agenda [thru his seed/offspring]. Many prophets have not passed this test because they are still seeing ‘their future’. This leads them to prophesy abundant wealth year after year to the groups they are speaking into. It is an unconscious ‘self procreation’ [of their dreams and future] that are causing them to do this. I pray the Lord would help all of us [including me!] to put the concerns of the bride before ours!
(202) TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING I have been wanting to use this illustration for a long time. The time is here! I was just taking a bath. When I reached for the shampoo I had a familiar occurrence. I found myself surrounded by many bottles of conditioner, and one bottle of shampoo. There have been many times where I have had 6-8 bottles of conditioner and NO shampoo. I do have 4 daughters and 1 wife. This should explain it. There are times where you can have too much of a good thing. Many times we get inundated as Christians with the message of wealth and happiness to the point where there is no room for the shampoo. The conditioner feels good, it serves a purpose, but sometimes we just need to get clean! There are a lot of great principles of motivation and success in Gods Word. The book of Proverbs has to be the greatest business book ever written. The point is all these things come with the underlying theme of the gospel being the foundation. Simple truths of living for eternal rewards versus temporary stuff. Stories like Jesus talking about the rich man building greater barns, and that night he died. Jesus saying WHAT SHALL IT PROFIT A MAN IF HE GAIN THE WHOLE WORLD AND LOSE HIS SOUL. We HAVE LOST SIGHT OF THESE THINGS WHILE reaching for the conditioner! We want to feel good, which is all right, but we really need some shampoo every once in a while!
(203) To our San Antonio ‘Ecclesia’. I want to show you guys something. If you read this blog from #1 to this entry [only 4 months of writing] you can actually see prophecy fulfilled that I didn’t even realize. The stories about me being in San Antonio and watching the Johnny Cash movie. ‘I took the train to San Antone’. If you go back and read some of these things you will see that the Lord was telling me that ‘we would be taking the train to San Antone’ the train imagery also spoke of ministry. The blog posting in the San Antonio paper has given us a tremendous open door to your city. I had no idea we would be posting our blog in regional papers. It was something the Lord put on my heart a few months back. I had no idea I would be writing so much stuff on this blog! These were all prophetic signs showing that we would have an open door to your city. I just wanted you to see how prophetic things work, often times the signs are not fully understood until they are fulfilled. I WILL SHOW YOU THINGS TO COME, BEFORE THEY HAPPEN I WILL TELL YOU OF THEM, SO WHEN THEY COME TO PASS YOU WILL KNOW THAT I DID IT [Isaiah].
(204) This is kind of an interruption, but I need to share this. The interruption is I am outside enjoying this prayer time and I had to come in and do this. If you remember in the beginning of this blog I shared ‘signs’ from the stars. One of the signs was that of a ‘trumpet’. This is a formation of stars that sort of looks like a trumpet. Well I was just seeing it a few minutes ago. Something that I didn’t realize until a few weeks ago is the formation fits all the area cities that we put the blog site in. C.C./Kingsville/Alice/San Antonio/Houston/[yet to come]Laredo/Valley area. I realized if you put a circle around all these cities it would pretty much ‘map out’ the same star pattern that I have seen. Felt like this was prophetic, sort of like the Lord was saying ‘I will give you voice [trumpet] in these regions’. Also God ‘makes his tent/tabernacle in the stars’ speaks of Gods ‘perimeter’. I WILL SET YOUR FEET IN A LARGE PLACE/IN MY FATHERS HOUSE [tabernacle] ARE MANY MANSIONS [people groups/oikos]. NOTE: If you remember, Chuck Pierce, A Prophet out of Denton, TX. Prophesied that God would be giving ‘signs in the stars’ this year. NOTE: The names of these regional cities are ‘Corpus Christi’ [Body of Christ] ‘Kingsville’ [Vila of the King] San Antonio is a ‘mission’ city. Scripture says God names the stars. Many of these ‘stars’ I have seen represented these area cities, truly many of these cities have significant names. God even told Abraham ‘look at the stars, so shall thy seed be’. The inheriting of ‘regions’ is thru your offspring. ‘THOSE THAT SHALL BE OF THEE SHALL INHERIT THE LAND AND MAKE THE DESOLATE CITIES TO BE INHABITED/ THRU THY SEED SHALL ALL THE FAMILIES OF THE EARTH BE BLESSED’ God often uses imagery in scripture to depict a ‘family’ or lineage of people. God used both stars and the ‘sand which is by the sea’ to describe Abraham’s kids. Some think the sand speaks of ‘natural seed’ [Israel] while the stars speak of ‘heavenly’ [the church/ spiritual Israel].
(205) Outside in Kingsville praying over the ‘southern district’ [the area from Kingsville over to Laredo, down to the valley]. Felt like I heard the Lord say ‘the Gospel is my divine ability to transition and interact in the affairs of men in their time and culture’. God becoming man in the 1st century Jewish context was an act of divine interruption. God is calling us to adapt and change with the culture of the time. I AM NOT SAYING WE CHANGE THE FOUNDATIONAL MESSAGE OF THE GOSPEL it’s just having the ability to identify with the culture. Don’t confuse ‘the old time religion’ with the ‘old time culture’. Many of us would be much more effective if we would lay down our peculiar styles and impacted society head on, like a train wreck!
(206) I read a while back ‘MY WORD IS LIKE THE EAST WIND THAT BLOWS AGAINST THE SHIPS OF TARSHISH AND BREAKS THEM APART’ I am paraphrasing. I felt like the Lord was saying ‘to many of you I have ‘dismantled’ many of the ‘ships’ that you were trusting in. You have felt a sense of vulnerability which is good. During this season learn me and my ways again, like the early days, and I will do a work in your day that if it were told you, you would not believe it’.
(207) Look at the prophetic ministry of Jesus in the 1st century context. He claims to be showing the people the true Kingdom of God as opposed to organized religion. He gathers a group of followers who he teaches generosity and love expressed thru deeds. He teaches that the religious commands [Sabbath] were given to benefit men, as opposed to condemning him. He constantly is butting heads with the most intellectual religious leaders of the day. They all, with few exceptions, agree that his ministry is not only illegitimate, but that he is mentally unbalanced and demon possessed. When they finally decide it would be best to ‘put him out of his misery’ he finds even his closest friends dissociating from him out of fear. He is finally killed, rises from the dead. Surely they will accept me now? NOT! And you want to have a prophetic ministry like Jesus?
(208) I was just thinking about the book of James, I haven’t read it in a few years [?] but sometimes the Lord just brings things to your remembrance. James says that GOD IS THE FATHER OF LIGHTS, EVERY GOOD AND PERFECT GIFT COMES DOWN FROM HIM, HE IS NOT PARTIAL BUT TREATS ALL HIS KIDS EQUALLY This is all in context with the fact that James is one of the lead Apostles in the Jerusalem church. [Not the Pastor!] James had spiritual oversight to a large group of POOR believers. These were the same Christians that Paul was taking up the offering for in the Corinthian church. James actually defends these poor believers all thru out the book of James. Yet he makes these statements of God loving all his kids equally. He says God gives good gifts to his children. He also says many of Gods kids are POOR [hath not God counted the poor of this world rich in faith]. These statements in no way contradict the theme of James. James fully understands that the love of God for these Jerusalem saints is not to be measured by THINGS. The New Testament Apostles had a clear understanding of this. They got this understanding directly from Jesus ministry. There is an underlying theme in the New Testament that THINGS are not the way we form Gods opinion of us. You and I measure Gods love and acceptance for us based on the fact that God LOVED THE WORLD SO MUCH THAT HE GAVE US HIS ONLY SON! Paul does say if God gave his son for us, will he not give us freely all things? The implied answer is YES [Romans]. But then Paul ALSO TEACHES HE LEARNED TO BE CONTENT WITH BOTH ABUNDANCE AND LACK. This contentment came from the fact that God already proved his love for us by the work of the cross. There is no other thing that could show you your acceptance with God than this simple fact. So James can confidently say ALL GOOD GIFTS COME DOWN FROM THE FATHER OF LIGHTS, IN WHOM THERE IS NO VARIABLENESS OR SHADOW OF TURNING knowing full well that many of his ‘parishioners’ were dead broke! The father of lights gave us his SON; there could be no question of his acceptance of us based on this reality!
(209) xxx
(210) Something that has made me uncomfortable for some time is the dynamic of speaking a strong prophetic word/teaching and then realizing the aftermath. For instance the ‘judiazers’ of the first century were teaching a form of Christianity that embraced legalism. They were doing well for a season until God allowed Paul to ‘blast it’ out of the water. Once the Apostolic authority of Paul exposed the heresy, it was difficult for the Judiazers to continue. They sure tried, but Gods authority was now working against their doctrine. I recognize that there are certain truths that we teach that are contrary to the normal tradition of ‘church’. I do not teach them simply for this reason, in as much as I feel it’s time for certain things to be dealt with [like the judiazers]. After these things are dealt with, many good Pastors will continue to embrace what they have known and are familiar with. This creates a tension in the community. Many of their ‘parishioners’ will embrace the truths they have learned from us and Gods authority always falls on the side of truth. Many of the authority structures that are presently functioning in the church are not really biblical. When you have believers moving in grace in certain areas, and church authorities coming down on the wrong [incorrect] view of the subject, you then have a dynamic where Gods authority is falling on the side of the ‘parishioners’ and not on the side of the clergy. This dynamic was also seen in Jesus ministry with the disciples. It was unthinkable for the 1st century clergy to admit that Gods authority was being expressed thru this rag tag team of unlearned men, as opposed to their theological doctorates! I feel uncomfortable when this happens with us. I used to Pastor, and I do not like people who come to a community just to start trouble and cause division. But sometimes we mistake a true prophetic challenge to the status quoi, as being rebellion [Martin Luther and the Catholic Church of the 16rh century!]
(211) Just got back from an ‘incident command’ lecture. We do these every so often at the Fire Dept. It got me to thinking in terms of organizational structure and command. I think it would help to review some things I have taught over the years. First, the reason I don’t believe the New Testament teaches ‘the end time transfer of wealth’ the way many people are teaching today is because any ‘windfall’ infusion of wealth INTO THE PRESENT SYSTEM would not fundamentally change the way things are. If you poured billions of dollars into the present ‘wineskin’ it would not enable, or release into function the ‘Body of Christ’. For the most part any increase of funds would just perpetuate the current system. God wants a CHANGE in the current system. God wants to ‘release’ the army of people who are sitting in the pews on Sunday. Our current mindset has the army sitting in the barracks once a week, and thinking that this is their main function! Second, the present stage of the Church takes the few instances of Paul [and others] speaking in public forums [in Acts] and tries to duplicate this model, seeming to think that the primary way the church functions in society is by ‘sitting in church on Sunday and listening to sermons’. This is NOT the New Testament model of the first century church. The best ‘view’ of ‘church’ in the New Testament is seen in Corinthians [I did not say they were the best church, it was BECAUSE of their flaws that we are able to read about the way the church should meet!] In the Corinthian model ‘church’ is an interactive experience where Christians come together and share the love of Christ. It is plain to see that the current understanding of church today is not as interactive or ‘corporate’ as the New Testament had. So Jesus model of ‘tasking’ voluntary disciples to GO INTO ALL THE WORLD AND PREACH THE GOSPEL is now relegated to the ‘clergy’ at the expense of the church and the lost world. This limited mindset hurts all the way around. God will take the ‘small’ seeds of influence from the ‘volunteer’ model and cause the seed to exponentially increase. CAST YOUR SEED/BREAD UPON THE WATER, FOR IN MANY DAYS IT WILL COME BACK TO YOU I just watched the movie ‘pay it forward’ and it gives a good concept of one person inspiring others to ‘pass it on’. This basic principle of all believers living in such a way as to inspire others to voluntarily give their lives away is the Jesus model. All the ‘transference of the worlds money’ will not fundamentally change the limited paradigm in which we function today! NOTE; I was having a discussion with some one along these lines. They innocently said ‘but you have to have somewhere to put all the people [church building]’ It is interesting to see that this concern never came up in the New Testament churches. They all knew that they needed to ‘sleep somewhere’ and ‘eat somewhere’ and ‘meet somewhere’ [houses!] but today’s mindset of ‘I have 1000 people as ‘church members’ where will I put them all?’ This concern is absent in The New Testament. The simple fact that the spreading of the gospel in the first 3 centuries was more of a revolutionary movement in the hearts and minds of people explains this reality. They weren’t looking for ‘places to put people’ they were revolutionizing society!
(212) Recently Pope Benedict [formerly Cardinal Ratzinger, defender of the ‘doctrine of the faith’ for the Catholic church] moved against an influential Priest for his teaching in the area of Liberation Theology. This is a popular view with certain south/central American countries. Many political leaders [Daniel Ortega] embraced this view as a part of their Socialist revolution. This view focuses on the radical aspect of Jesus ministry in the area of social justice and his identification with the poor. Most Christians feel that Liberation Theology is too closely aligned with Marxist views and therefore reject it. I simply want to note the New Testament teaching in the area of social justice and how many ‘white conservative Protestants’ dismiss out of hand certain aspects of the gospel. No form of human government is ‘inherently just’. Capitalism, in and of itself is not ‘just’. As a form of government it provides freedom in the marketplace for the free flow of ideas. It works better than most other govts. on the planet, but it in and of itself is not ‘just’. Justice is only found in any earthly govt. to the degree that that govt. is being influenced and ‘infected’ by the ‘just one’ [God] and his ‘justified ones’ [the church]. As human govts. ‘make room’ for the people of God and godly institutions, then there is a degree of justice released into that society thru the church. The book of James talks about ‘just wages’. A doctrine that capitalists don’t fully embrace. Most capitalists argue ‘whatever the market place pays is right’. They feel that the idea of free competition in and of itself is just. If you can get someone to do a days work for $5.00 and that’s the going rate, well they feel that’s OK. The New and Old Testaments don’t agree! God has lots of instruction on fair wages and the treatment of the poor that govt. should comply with. Now I am not advocating socialism, which robs people of hope and independent thought. But I want to show you how no earthly govt., even the best forms of them, are equal to the Kingdom [govt.] of God. I for the most part agree with Pope Benedict and his statement on liberation theology, but I must admit there is a part of the radical revolutionary in me that finds aspects of it to be exciting! NOTE: I would like to note that the Catholic Church has been great in the area of social justice through out the entire history of the church. During the ‘dark ages’ the church actually became the institution that nations appealed to as the highest authority in the land. Our Catholic brothers were speaking out in defense of the unborn long before the Protestants. I just wanted the critics of the Catholics to give credit where credit is due!
(213) One of my good friends who was part of the original group of brothers called me up at work last night. He asked if I could help him with some money [around $60.00] I told him no problem. I will be getting with him in a few hours when I get off of work. It’s around 4 am, this is one of those days where I woke up at 12:30 am and couldn’t sleep! I was thinking about the reality of this friend [and others] who see themselves ‘connected’ to us in ministry. Even though we don’t have ‘connections’ in the way you would be a ‘member of a church’. If you think about it, I have probably given away thousands of dollars over the years to friends. Feeding guys, doing charity and just helping with bills. I do not see this as ‘paying staff’ but these brothers are faithful communicators of the vision the Lord has given us. No matter how many churches or Pastors they have encountered in the journey, they see themselves as loyal to ‘us’. I find this interesting as to the fact that we really don’t care if people are loyal to us! Our attitude has been ‘if you got blessed thru us in the past, then go bless others’ this mindset that exists in today’s form of ‘local church’ is a type of dysfunctional insecurity. Many good Pastors try to develop criteria to ensure the loyalty of people. We read the book of Acts and try to come up with ‘rules for the church’ that would cause people to be ‘faithful to the vision of this house’. Many times the leaders are well meaning, but this type of trying to teach ‘commitment’ is really not a function in the New Testament churches. They were ‘loyal’ to the gospel and to Jesus. They were to ‘obey’ those over them in the Lord as it pertained to these basic truths. You don’t find Paul setting up ‘systems’ of loyalty that you see today. When you truly reach people for Christ and give your self away, they will be loyal like a son to a father. There will be no need to ‘check up’ on whether they have been faithful to the church and stuff like that.
(214) Let me throw some practical functional stuff in here. Over the years of studying and reading books on the cell/house church movement and Apostolic movements I see the way we are all growing in our understanding as God changes the ‘wineskin’. It was common to transition from ‘seeing’ the church building as ‘the church’ to seeing the ‘house/home group’ as the church. Some brothers simply replaced one structure with another. The true New Testament paradigm was ‘seeing’ the community of people as ‘the church’. Now, I do believe it is more practical to utilize the homes of believers as primary meeting places. If you’re a ‘volunteer’ army of people, you are not trying to raise money for the building and stuff. So practically you use the resources of the ‘soldiers’ being recruited. It’s just that the ‘soldiers’ themselves are the functioning unit that the commander is living in! I know these are not new concepts; it’s just that I feel the people we relate to need to keep this in mind. I do encourage all of our blog readers/radio listeners to sponsor a home group as God directs. Just keep in mind that this is only one aspect of ‘church’ expression. The ‘home group meeting’ is not the church, you are!
(215) A few years ago we had a ‘word of faith/prosperity church’ that used to broadcast from our city. I actually liked the program and would tune in from time to time. I remember one week they announced that they were going to have a rich Christian come in and share his faith and how money and riches do not interfere with serving God. The person who sponsored the program then did the interview with this wealthy believer. During the interview it ‘slipped out’ that this rich Christian tried to get out of doing the program because the day before they had some bad weather in their area of Texas and needed to take care of the cattle and couldn’t do the ministry thing. Well the announcer admitted that they twisted his arm to come. It reminded me of the parable of Jesus. How some people couldn’t attend the wedding supper because they had other priorities. Some had to ‘go see their land’ and couldn’t come. Even though this radio program intended to show how riches and other areas of wealth don’t hinder Gods work, they inadvertently showed the opposite. I also remember this broadcaster share at the time that God would never call someone to be a missionary and suffer on the foreign field if they didn’t want to do it. That in essence Gods will is to make us happy, and if we don’t feel we would be happy then God is not going to ask us to do things contrary to our desires. A few weeks later I had the privilege of hearing a missionary family give their testimony. They were on vacation from some 3rd world country and speaking in Corpus. The wife shared all the physical trials that they and their kids suffered. How the medical care is not good where they’re at. She went on and shared that even though in the natural her flesh says ‘why should I suffer’, that when she sees the results of souls saved that the sacrifice is worth it! It’s stuff like this that I have seen over the years that causes me to speak out on these issues.
(216) Was talking to some homeless friends the other day and was asking them if they saw Tim recently. Tim [carpenter Tim] was one of the first friends I met years ago. Tim worked regularly, refused govt. help and would avoid eating the free meals at the mission. He felt it was irresponsible to take stuff for free. Tim often invited me to his camp for coffee and fellowship. He had this ‘mangy’ dog that he really loved. She must have had at least 7 litters of puppies since the time I knew her. I would find Tim treating the dogs for fleas in a 5-gallon bucket. He was preparing them for free give away in front of H.E.B. he spent money on these animals and took good care of them. Tim was very responsible, he would get up before sun up and walk to the park to fill up a bucket with fresh water for the camp. He would try to finish his chores early so he wouldn’t be seen as some bum walking around in the middle of the day with no direction. He would often go to whataburger early in the morning to drink coffee. The retired guys would see him and give him the job section of the paper. Sort of like saying ‘get a job you bum’. They didn’t realize that Tim regularly worked. It’s just that he was homeless. He liked responding by saying ‘I am working on my career right now, my singing and dancing career!’ He figured he’d get them mad by saying this. One time Tim’s parents from out of state were coming to Corpus to see Tim. He told them they would find him in the ‘Bluff’ [where I live also]. It was funny; when they got into town they came to the bluff and were asking some homeless people if they knew where Tim was. The homeless brother didn’t know they were looking for carpenter Tim, so they said ‘sure we know your son, he goes by the name of drunk Tim’ [another Tim]. Old Tim thought this was funny. Tim had a good sense of humor. I took him and a few guys to ‘Golden Corral buffet’ for dinner. We were reading the paper while eating. Tim was telling me the story of how modern technology was a threat to the modern workforce. These new breed of ‘robots’ could put the people out of work. He joked that pretty soon they will take the place of homeless guys in the bluff. I responded ‘don’t worry brother, it wont be long before you see them holding up signs in front of H.E.B. saying ‘batteries low, need money for a charge’. He started cracking up. When Tim’s dog died he took it real hard. He literally cried for a few days. I haven’t seen Tim in a few years. Hopefully I will see him again some day and let him read this blog, he will get a kick out of it.
CONCLUSION Let me end with a final note. Jesus said that a wicked and evil generation seeks after a sign and no sign will be given to them but the sign of the prophet Jonah [in essence Jesus was telling the Jews that until they believe in the most important sign of all, the resurrection of Christ, that they will not be able to ‘see’ any of the multitude of ‘signs’ that God has done thru Christ up until this day!]. The above scenarios took place when I was simply praying, seeking God or sleeping! I don’t feel that we should ‘seek’ after these types of experiences, but we should recognize that God is sovereign and if he desires to communicate to his children then who are we to tell him no. The apostle Paul told Timothy to ‘war a good fight by the prophecies that were given over you’. There are many believers who write down and catalog the prophecies and visions they have received from the Lord, this helps to be able to look back and see a pattern of Gods direction in your life. We should not build our lives or doctrine on these types of things, that area belongs to scripture! But we should be able to discern Gods voice over a period of time and ‘fight a good fight by way of the prophecies that have gone on over our lives’. God bless you guys!
P.S. Let me also add that there are many prophetic people that I am in contact with in some way. I feel that a lot of them agree with me on prophetic stuff, but get offended by the strong stance we take in other areas of teaching. I realize that just because a person experiences prophetic things, that this doesn’t mean he is correct in everything! It is common to hear things like ‘the end time transfer of wealth’ and themes like this from highly prophetic people. We just assume because someone is prophetic that their doctrine is correct. I really don’t want to teach here, but let me share this. The scripture does speak about the wealth of the sinner being stored up for the righteous and God ‘gives’ it to the righteous. Also the story of the children of Israel leaving Egypt and how God gave them the wealth of the Egyptians. These verses do not teach some type of windfall that simply falls into the hands of Christians. As church history progressed thru time more and more people in the marketplace and other areas of wealth and influence have become believers. As the church age progresses this phenomenon increases. Today the ‘wealth of the wicked’ has much more become ‘the wealth of the righteous’, not thru some windfall inheritance, but thru the process of God redeeming planet earth! ‘Seeing’ it this way does not violate the principles of scripture that over and over speak about the diligent being blessed and the lazy coming to ruin/poverty. There are many believers who are living in disobedience by not working who cling on to doctrines like ‘the end time transfer of wealth’ and wrongly believe that they are going to get money while violating biblical standards. Things like this need to be understood and articulated thru prophetic people before God can entrust us with more. I actually feel that the prophetic movements ‘marriage’ to the prosperity gospel has voided certain things that God wanted to do thru the movement. Balaam was a prophetic person who actually heard from God and spoke Gods words, but scripture says his lust for wealth made him a false prophet [who loved the wages of unrighteousness]. If prophets can’t receive correction from each other then God will never let them ‘correct’ [speak into] the church at large. I feel one of the pitfalls of the prophetic is to think that the goal is to ‘simply be prophetic’. I have met brothers who simply wanted to attend church and stand up and speak. God’s chief concern for all of his people [even prophets] is to carry out the great commission, to be salt and light to a lost and dying world!
John Chiarello
[#’s 217-420] TEACHINGS PART 2
(217) There are a few different dynamics at work with us at this season. The Lord has given the ‘words’ going out from us ‘free course’. Scripture speaks of Gods word ‘running swiftly’ Jesus ‘sent his word and healed them’ and many other symbols like this. These things speak of God supernaturally promoting the words that are coming forth from you for his purpose [Chris Tucker tells Jackie Chan ‘do you understand the words comin out of my mouth’]. A common mistake that people make at this stage of God ‘exalting you’ is thinking that ‘its all about you!’ When God does these things, be assured IT’S ALL ABOUT HIM also many ministries and ministry leaders who are affected by the ‘corrective word’ become offended. Some fall into the snare of wanting the down fall and defeat of the ‘vessel’ bringing forth the word. Sometimes they cant understand why the vessel hasn’t ‘broken’ yet. They seem to not understand that It is not the ‘spirituality or holiness’ of the vessel that God is using. It is simply the providence of God. God wants people to put his concerns first, and theirs second. Too many ministries are trying to create a ‘public’ ‘national personsa’. God is simply not going to facilitate this desire. He will give great favor to those who are not seeking these things, but he won’t facilitate the desire in man ‘to make a name for himself’. I just felt like we are at a stage where God is giving influence thru the things he is saying thru ‘US’ at this season. I see all you guys as part of the US in the sense that many of you are sharing and spreading the things you have learned from the ministry this year. I want to encourage you guys to avoid the competitive spirit that the enemy wants to use to hinder Gods voice. Don’t tell people ‘look what God is doing with brother so and so’ or ‘look at the great access that God has given us’. Simply allow the word to go forth without a lot of fanfare and self-promotion. Sure we want this door to remain open, but our goal is not recognition, its effectiveness!
(218) Let me remind you guys of a few things. Often we want the results without paying the price ‘everyone wants to go to heaven, but nobody is willing to die’. I shared how ‘the Lord’ woke me up at midnight the other day. I really do not enjoy getting up and praying and writing all night. Sometimes it’s enjoyable to get up at 3 or 4am and sense Gods presence. But many times it’s a feeling of ‘O, I guess I will be praying tonight’. It’s more of a ‘count the cost’ type thing. Many people want the open doors that we are currently experiencing, but they really don’t want to do stuff like ‘all night prayer’. That’s fine, just count the cost. You eventually decide the amount of influence you will have. I want to encourage you guys to be radical for the cause. Don’t be attention seekers, but be sensitive to the avenues God is opening up to you.
(217) Let me give a small example of Gods truth versus an exasperated clergy. One small area of truth that we deal with is the second coming. We teach the historical majority view. There is only ONE second coming spoken about in the New Testament. The scriptures commonly used to teach the ‘rapture’ as a different event are really talking about the 2nd coming. Now this one area [not to mention all the other stuff!] is enough to make us permanent enemies to some renown preachers in this area. Some churches call us heretics for this alone! I know this and really don’t care to be honest. It’s funny, because all the railing that they would do against us in this one area is wasted time. God’s truth is Gods truth. No matter how much time is wasted defending a so-called ‘fundamental’ of the faith, it’s wasted time for the defenders if they are defending something that is basically wrong. It’s hard for preachers to admit their wrong in any area. I know this is true with me too. I just find it funny that those who go to great lengths to defend a thing will eventually find out the truth. No big deal, just make sure your spending your time and energy on stuff that will make a real difference. Don’t waste it on stuff that’s fake!
(218) Let me talk a little on radical speech. I know many people believe I am a little too harsh in my teaching. There are some sites that make us look pretty ‘dovish’. I want to mention a strange phenomena. In the writings of Paul [in the bible!] Paul uses terms like ‘castration’ in speaking against enemies of the Gospel. The bible uses ‘dung’ [crap] in certain scenarios. Yet Paul also speaks on using good speech and not letting corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth. If you read the writings of Martin Luther and other reformers you will find it shocking to see some of the language they used. I feel there are times where people are so off track that when he raises up ‘reformers’ its hard for them to separate the spirit of radical reform from the ‘lovey’ language of the clergy. It’s almost like the prophetic takes on a ‘vulgar’ aggressiveness in order to uproot the deep seated error of the time. I don’t want to make excuses for bad language; I just wanted you to see the theme of this being a reality all thru the church age.
(219) DON’T QUIT! I have noticed over the years that one of the key elements of successful ministry is refusing to quit. I have met ‘ministry’ leaders who had a poor track record of employment thru out their lives. Yet they are trying to raise support for ‘their’ ministry. Most times it doesn’t work. Why? Because they never mastered the simple requirement to ‘not quit’. They have learned ‘how to quit’ time and time again in the job market, and they are comfortable with it. Does this mean they will never be used? No. But they usually wont be. Why? Because God is still trying to teach them the importance of being faithful to a job, and they don’t want to hear this. I have heard good people on radio over the years. Some that were not ‘quitters’ in their lives. But they were on radio, off radio, back on again, and well you get it! They learned to ‘quit’ in this one area. Will God forgive them? Sure. The point is God wants to entrust important tasks to us. He wants us to follow thru on the task. If you quit before, God will forgive you. His mercy is new every morning. Maybe the thing holding your ministry back is something as basic as this. Don’t look for the extravagant ‘missing ingredient’. I haven’t confessed right, I will meditate more. Usually you have confessed too much [all talk and no ACTION] the missing ingredient is learning dependability and responsibility. All great men of faith have spent many years ‘plugging away in obscurity!’
(220) Been up since 3 AM praying for you guys as well as a few other things. Was thinking about a conversation I had a few years ago with a ministry leader in our city. He was trying to raise money for his ministry. He attends a great church that I used to attend. The Pastor is a good friend of mine. The ministry leader was asking where I attend church. I told him the church. He then criticized the church for spending money on certain things he thought could be used for other things. I just ignored it. This leader wanted to raise money to build a prayer center building. I guess it’s a worthy cause? Without boasting too much, I have been praying from 2-3 am [sometimes midnight] till around 7- 8 am for more than a few years now. I really didn’t need some ministry building to do this! In my mind the money for so many of our projects is a waste! It seems like we are too often building things to satisfy men’s egos more than anything else. God’s people are called ‘A HOUSE OF PRAYER’. God sees the corporate community of saints [all Christians, Catholics, Protestants, etc.] as a ‘building’ of prayer. Once again there might be a scenario or two where God is calling people to build these types of prayer centers, but most times he simply calls his people to prayer. He wakes you up and you pray! Where? Wherever you happen to be at the time. Religion has ‘secular’ and ‘religious’ divisions that say this is the place to perform ‘religious activity’ and this is the place for ‘secular stuff’. These divisions are contrary to the Kingdom that Jesus preached [I am not advocating a theocracy!] Jesus simply taught that the true worshipers of God would worship [pray] in ‘SPIRIT AND TRUTH’. There is this tremendous liberating aspect to the Kingdom of God that allows it to function everywhere. The church is always looking to start some 501 c 3 that can be the ‘Christian enterprise’ that takes all our time and money when God is simply looking for people to PRAY!
(221) Let me use the above example to show you a few things. As I was talking to this ministry leader we did have a fairly good fellowship. During this day of fellowship I shared many of the thoughts on the church as community versus ‘a church building’. He seemed a ‘little’ familiar with this. He said ‘O I know people who believe that way’. Which showed me the Lord has tried to show him this before! He had difficulty grasping many of the concepts, though they were true! It was later on where he got offended and actually yelled at me. He basically said to me ‘your wrong!’ I nicely told him, well I understand you think I am wrong, but I believe I am right. [I know it’s hard to believe I was calm during this exchange, but I was]. It shows how his later frustration of not being able to raise money for ‘the ministry center’ and things of this nature were an outgrowth of seeing ministry as ‘this thing I need to raise money for so I can run it’. If this person learned the lesson of not seeing it in this limited way, he would not have been so frustrated. It’s like the answer wasn’t ‘a transference of wealth’ in as much as a ‘change of thought’. He needed to see the new ‘wineskin/paradigm’ that God is trying to bring forth. These truths are being seen and practiced on a worldwide basis as I write this! Wolfgang Simpson says ‘God is not trying to start lecture halls across the world’ This seems to be the current understanding of ‘planting churches’. We seem to think ‘setting up buildings where people come and listen to bible words being spoken’ is the local church! We really need to be delivered from this mindset!
(222) Being I have been speaking on ‘prayer centers’ and stuff, let me share some stuff on prayer. A lot of the ‘prayer centers’ focus on a type of prayer that I feel is really not biblically based. If you read the New Testament you see stories of casting out demons and stuff. You also see where the disciples are praying to God on many occasions. You NEVER see any person casting ‘demons’ or ‘territorial spirits’ out of the sky. There are certain passages of scripture where modern advocates of ‘spiritual warfare’ use to justify this practice, I just feel based upon what I just showed you that prayer is fundamentally focused on God. You do find Jesus rebuking the devil, and like I said you see the Apostles casting out demons. It’s just the demons are IN PEOPLE, there not taking up residence in the sky! I know this is another one of those hotly debated subjects, but if we can just stay focused on God we can make much headway. James said a lot of times we are not receiving because we are not asking in faith, or we are asking selfishly. It’s not so much that we haven’t mastered certain elements of spiritual warfare, it’s that we haven’t mastered UNSELFISH PRAYER!
(223) ALL THAT WAR WITH YOU SHALL COME TO NOTHING/ I WILL GIVE THEM AS STUBBLE TO YOUR BOW I was reading this in Isaiah and felt like I should share this. When I first moved to Corpus and went on the radio I knew there were prosperity preachers that were offended at us. I liked a particular prosperity ministry and even attended their events [Valentine Banquet]. I regularly encouraged my wife to attend a women’s fellowship that they held monthly in our city [Women by Design]. I tried to not allow the strong word coming from us to become personal. I was very familiar with this church and even visited when they had a national Minister come [Jerry Savelle]. I never desire the failure of another brother in the Lord. If God gives you a mandate to speak a certain word, and you don’t, then your are in trouble! This church obviously eventually knew that there was a preacher on the radio going ‘against’ the main tenets of their church. This was never my intent. Though this church was a fairly well known regional ministry in our area, with very influential connections with national ministers, they eventually folded and left town. I did not rejoice over this. I liked going to the banquets and never threw out the invitations they sent regularly to my wife. I think I even sent the women’s thing a small offering of support? When God chooses to speak a prophetic word at a certain season, it’s not a matter of individuals or personalities. It’s a matter of truth. As much as I love Bro. Hagin and others, there were just too many obvious things that couldn’t go unchecked. Blatant visions and dreams that were highly offensive to Christ’s image. Portraying Jesus as saying things that he wasn’t saying. Many of the advocates of these national leaders simply defended these things irregardless of any spiritual discernment. When any one [even me!] begins to defend the images of people over the image of Christ, God ultimately reduces your voice. I pray this ministry is doing well today. They did move to Houston, but I wanted you to see that these issues go much deeper than personalities and loyalties to friends and culture. God will speak a word and sometimes its like ‘STUBBLE AGAINST A BOW’. Eventually the stubble will come to nothing! [I WILL BEND JUDAH LIKE A BOW the prophetic isn’t always fun, God often ‘bends’ you so you can deliver the word with pinpoint accuracy! Bowstrings are under great pressure all the time. Divine tension!]
(224) WHERE ARE WE GOING WITH THIS? those of you who have read all our stuff will remember that the first book I wrote [which you will find on this blog] dealt with Jesus and the moneychangers. I felt his making the whip and ‘cleansing the temple’ spoke prophetically to a time period in the church where he would once again ‘cleanse the temple from mammon’. The simple fact that all of this stuff we have dealt with was so engrained into the leadership of our day, was in and of itself a tremendous hindrance to the work of the Spirit. Many leaders [Prophets included] refused to deal with these issues out of pride. They truly felt that the ‘preaching against mammon’ was a traditional deception of the ‘orthodox’ church that was hindering the gospel. They saw any attempt to ‘cleanse the temple from the moneychangers’ as a traditional push back against the new move of God. We are at a point where God is simply radically re organizing our mindsets. You [Christian] do not exist for the purpose of being told what is right or wrong by some man. The Spirit of God in you will bear witness to truth. Many of you are doing well on this journey. You will be used as a witness of what it means to ‘take up your cross and follow Jesus’. There needs to be a radical re focusing on the basic elements of the gospel. We need to overhaul all the ‘dung’ [I’ll be nice!] and get back to scripture. If leadership is so ‘self consumed’ where they cant see beyond their own desires to be happy and have a successful career, then God will by pass them and work directly thru his body. Many are still defending a ‘rich Jesus’ who gives them dreams that deny scripture. I urge you to be faithful to the Jesus of the New Testament. You will know him in Spirit and truth, but he is the same historical person who MADE A WHIP AND DROVE OUT THE MONEY CHANGERS!
(225) IS THIS ACCUSING THE BRETHREN? Paul the Apostle dealt harshly with the Judaizers of the 1st century. He said very strong things against them. He said ‘whose mouths MUST be stopped’. The Judaizers did believe in Jesus! But they added other unbiblical doctrines that were contrary to the gospel. One of the definitions of satan is ‘the accuser of the brethren’. Scripture says ‘God casts him down’. I want you to see a subtle thing. satan is very ‘subtle’. Many of the doctrines that we have exposed actually ‘accused the brethren’ unwittingly. Many poor and struggling saints have been told ‘surely God doesn’t want his kids to suffer’ ‘how can a father not give good gifts to his kids’ and in the more extreme cases I have even heard it taught that the parents of children who have died did something wrong in applying their faith, that the ‘fault’ was on the side of the parents, not God. These forms of doctrine are the most extreme cases of accusation that can ever occur. Especially the last one! What we are actually doing thru our teaching is ‘casting down the accuser of the saints’. God defends THE POOR and needy. Both Jesus and the Apostles were very hard on the religious leaders, yet very merciful on people who were struggling. I simply wanted to show you that one of the functions of the prophetic is to ‘open eyes’ I hope you see what I just told you. NOTE: by the way we do believe in spiritual warfare, I think what I just showed you about ‘casting down’ the accuser is a good example of it. We accomplish it thru prophetic teaching and preaching, not thru yelling into the sky!
(226) In Isaiah 41 it speaks of ‘God raising up the righteous man from the east and giving nations to him, coming upon princes like mortar, the coastlands shall wait for his law’ [paraphrasing from memory]. Then it says ‘the islands feared and every man strengthened themselves and propped up each others idols’. There have been other significant seasons in the Body of Christ where the Lord dealt with many of these issues. The natural response was for the larger national ministries who propagate these doctrines to ‘prop each other up’. To simply use the tremendous financial store [which they do have!] to defend each other. This was not only a wrong defense of people out of ‘self preservation’ but much of the money that was used to ‘push back’ the reproof actually came from Christians who give sacrificially to these ministries. I couldn’t give in clear conscience to a ministry whose main leaders are making around $500,000 to a million a year from the offerings of many low-income people. But the point is there is a natural response to ‘join hands and strengthen each others idols’ because you know you are all ‘in the same boat’. This response is unfortunate, but it does happen!
(227) Let me try and do this. I just kind of had an ‘overview’ of old testament history and the ‘history of the church’ run thru my mind in a few minutes. A lot of the stuff I am going to share is from many years of memory. So bear with me with the little details! In the Old Testament Gods people were represented by the nation of Israel. During the journey of Israel from captivity in Egypt to the Promised Land God deposited certain ‘sacred/religious’ rituals into their society for the ultimate purpose of revealing the gospel and reality of Christ’s sacrifice for all people. During this journey Israel ‘divides’ over certain issues. Israel has a northern tribe [Israel] and southern one [Judah] The northern part develops a separate priesthood under Jeroboam, and the southern keeps the original priesthood under Reheboam. The inheritance being divided during the possessing of the Promised Land becomes a theological issue for Jewish orthodoxy. The ‘jeroboam’ group identifies with the altar of worship deemed ‘unorthodox’ while the southern group has the ‘true’ place of worship. By the way this was the issue seen in the gospel of John chapter 4, when Jesus speaks to the woman at the well. She was a Samaritan, part of the ‘unorthodox group’ and was asking this exact question! So the history of natural Israel is one of division and ‘who has the real priesthood’ [sound familiar?] It is interesting to note, that though theologically the southern tribes are more ‘correct’ God later reproves them for their ‘correctness’. The prophets will eventually address Judah and say ‘thus saith the Lord, you pride yourself on being more faithful than your sister [northern tribe] and yet you are worse!’ So already God is dealing with the aspect of pride that comes along with theological correctness. Today the church historically is divided. Most evangelicals think of the 16th century reformation as the ‘dividing point’ but historically it’s the division of the 11th century between our Catholic and Orthodox brothers that is seen as the ‘great schism’. Either way you have the Catholics/Orthodox representing historic orthodoxy and the protestants/evangelicals on the others side. The debate rages on who has the more pure form of orthodoxy. We are like the woman at the well, we are asking Jesus ‘who’s right?’ and Jesus simply tells the woman ‘I am not here to take sides in your theological arguments, I am here to call you to repentance and lead you into true worship with God’. So we find ourselves in a place in history where truth does matter [at least to me!] but where Gods prophetic voice is calling all of his people back to true worship. Sort of like the Sienfeld episode where George is going to convert to the Orthodox religion so he can date some girl. The orthodox priests are questioning George on his reason for conversion and George replies ‘I like the hats’ to the dismay of the priests who were wearing these religious looking hats! We try to come up with reasons to why we associate in our divided groups, and sometimes it’s as silly as the hats! Well I know I got a little theological with you guys today, but I felt the Lord wanted to get you to thinking on these things. God wants unity, and all sides have to display ‘humility of mind’ in the process!
(228) Just got this thought, it must be for you! I talked about not quitting a few entries ago, I got the sense that some of you are under condemnation for quitting. When a person ‘fails’ [Peter] it is often a precursor to great things. During the failure you learn the inadequacy of yourself and others. You see the shallowness of mans glory. You learn that living for the approval of men is a vain enterprise. You also learn the reality of ‘doing ministry’ for God alone. Everybody remembered great Peter’s denial of Christ, even in the midst of Peters ‘ministry’ of raising the dead! At that stage you realize what your in it for. If raising the dead cant ‘overcome’ the denials [in the minds of people] then you might as well give up on impressing people! God takes ‘quitters’ and restores them to usefulness. It’s true that the areas of ‘quitting’ are not Gods purpose, but God has this strange way of ‘working all things for good to them who love him and are called according to his purpose’ [I think I read this somewhere?][Just kidding, it’s in Romans]
(229) Xxx
(230) THE MEEK SHALL INHERIT THE EARTH. REALLY! Over the years of preaching and being involved in ministry, you notice the ‘stages’ and fads that the church goes thru. I feel the Lord often has a purpose for these ‘fads’ even though they sometimes are unbalanced. One of these areas is spiritual warfare. I was recently looking at an Apostolic website out of San Antonio, I couldn’t help but notice the teachings on ‘we are warriors’ ‘destroying strongholds’ and stuff like that [hey, I’m just trying to get thru to God!] I also saw a conference being held somewhere that was called ‘a gathering of champions’. I remember seeing one years ago called ‘a gathering of strong and mighty men’. All these images are biblical to a degree. The New Testament does speak of us being children of God and overcomers and stuff like that. The biblical witness ‘couches’ these truths to be contained in humble broken people. Jesus taught us to be radical, but warned the disciples to not glory in their ability to cast out demons [spiritual warfare] but rather to glory in the fact that their names were written in heaven. I just thought it was worth reminding you that the MEEK INHERIT THE EARTH not the strong and mighty warriors!
(231) I thought I saw an ad for a pre season football game last night, it seems early? The other day I watched ‘invincible’ the true story of Vince Pappale, who played for the Eagles in the 70’s. The new coach of the eagles had open tryouts for anyone who wanted to try out. Out of 70 or so people, Pappale made the team! He was a bartender in South Philly and never played college ball, just ‘sandlot’. I loved playing street football in Jersey. Full tackle without gear. The problem was we liked to ‘hurt’ the other team. Well the movie is a great movie. Pappale plays a few seasons with the Eagles and does make history. The scenes of the street games remind me a lot of my youth days. Even the scenery of south Philly looks like Jersey. Pappale lives in Jersey today. There are times when you run with the ball, and times when you pass it. When running with it you become the focus of attention. Everyone wants to get you. At that time your only goal is to ‘not lose the ball’ and either run, pass or hand off. You are at certain seasons required to run with it! A lot of people will be coming after you, don’t take it personal, it’s not you their looking for, they want that ball [the thing of value]! NOTE; I do remember another time playing a game, someone on the opposing team did something [?] and the next chance I got, during the game, I ‘jabbed him’ about 5 times in a row with a ‘left jab’. Which means a direct punch in the face without gloves on. We played the type of street ball that incorporated many sports at once!
(232) EMBRACING A RADICAL PROPHET Most of us today are not willing to hear and see on the university level [spiritually speaking] we seem to forget the radical departure that the early followers of Christ had to make in order to embrace him. The concept of Jesus being Gods son, making himself equal to God was a drastic step of heresy for the 1st century Jew. Even today most people don’t realize that many Messianic congregations are not comfortable with the historic language of the Trinity. To embrace Jesus was a very radical theological departure from the norm! Now I am not advocating that we ‘depart from the norm’ today. In the sense that we have been handed down the historic faith that scripture says ‘has once been delivered to the saints’. But we often mistake our own peculiar convictions for ‘the historic faith’. God is calling us today to radical revolution. We live in a day where Christians are being killed for the faith! Most western believers don’t seem to understand this. We need to at least be radical enough to forsake the world and its creature comforts for the gospel. I am not advocating ‘self martyrdom’ but can we at least be willing to walk in a way that might seem contrary to the norm!
(233) A few months back a prominent prophet, who I have tried to ‘correct’ in some ways, gave a dream he had. Part of the dream spoke of a creature with a ‘TV’ as a head. He said how he felt the ‘creature’ was trying to ‘suck him in’. Though this strange creature was pathetic [made you want to stay out of sympathy] yet he knew it was something to be avoided at all costs. I forget the interpretation he gave. I like this one; many of the abuses I have dealt with are prominent in much of today’s Christian TV circles. Many of the proponents have advanced their cause thru this means. Many ‘have been seduced/sucked in’ thru sympathetic pleas and figures. A key strategy of the enemy is to get you to embrace deception out of a ‘soul felt’ friendship or actually ‘feeling sympathy for someone’. While sympathy is a God given quality, true sympathy loves someone enough to speak the truth. I do find it interesting that this brother has in some ways been influenced, sympathetically, to embrace these ‘TV’ type personalities. I feel the Lord was telling him thru this dream to ‘run from the creature!’
(234) Just reading Isaiah 42, it says God anointed Jesus [and the Body of Christ] to bring forth judgment. He shall not cry nor cause his voice to be heard [self promotion]. He shall bring forth judgment unto truth. He will open blind eyes and show people aspects of truth that they have never seen before. The ‘coastlands’ shall wait to hear the word the Lord will speak. They will be ‘fascinated’ by the Spirits ministry. The Lord will go forth ‘like a mighty man, he will shout like a woman in labor’. For a long time he held his peace, but finally said ‘it is enough, I cant sit by silently and let this go on’. Those that trust in graven images [idolatry- the old testament equal to covetousness] will be greatly ashamed and distressed. They will see themselves being reproved and corrected like never before. God’s people are like prey, they were ‘preyed upon’ and used as guinea pigs in the laboratories of men’s doctrines. None delivered, none said RESTORE! God will dry up their pools [the polluted sources that were making them sick. The ministries and avenues of ministry that were hurting them] God does all these things with the purpose of restoring and bringing us back to the Cross. God says I will not give my glory to graven images [men’s hearts rejoicing in materialism] but thru this whole process you will feel disoriented. Many of the leaders and sources of the past ‘will dry up’. God will begin to feed you again like the early days. You will hear his voice again, like at the beginning! NOTE: This chapter also says the Lord will roar like a Lion. I have spoken a lot on this blog about the imagery of the ‘Lion of Judah’ there are prophecies I have read this last year that spoke of the Lord roaring, disintegrating obstacles. I feel the ‘roar of the Lion’ can be the prophetic ‘roar’ coming forth from the prophets at this season in the Church.
(235) While reviewing my mission statement I came across a dream that I forgot to mention. In 8-06 I had a dream that I was in a ‘composite’ type city. I wrote ‘Houston/San Antonio/Dallas’ as the cities that I saw. I also saw many friends from different areas and times in life. I saw Navy buddies, New Jersey friends and friends from Texas. I felt this spoke to God giving us open doors to many different people groups. God calls his people ‘the New Jerusalem’ we are called ‘the City of God’ we are the City [that is the people of God] whose builder and maker is God. I thought it was important to share this. I had no idea we would have such an open door to many of you in these cities. The Lord ‘shows you what’s going to happen before it happens’.
(236) A while back I mentioned how the prophet Jeremiah [and others] spoke about ‘tearing down, removing obstacles and building up’. I have been in the ‘demolition stage’ for a while and want to do some ‘building up’. I spoke on the extreme forms of ‘renewing the mind’, things like focusing all your thoughts on money verses, quoting scriptures that seem to focus on what you want out of life. These types of ‘mind renewing’ are not primarily what the New Testament is talking about when it speaks of renewing your mind. Paul the Apostle, who most frequently uses this image, had a basic thrust to his theology JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH Paul was a radical Apostle with a message of God accepting us freely as we believe in his son. Paul knew the terror of legalism and trying to keep Gods commands in order to be saved. The entire Old Testament Jewish law was a complete drain on the human psyche. Man over and over again would attempt to ‘live up to the standard’ to no avail. God allowed the sacrificial system of animals to temporarily ‘cover’ their sins as a future sign of the one sacrifice that would pay for all of mans sin. The Apostle Paul lived under this condemnation for most of his professional life. Paul was a Pharisee who taught Jewish law and was enmeshed deeply into this system. The revelation of being ‘saved’ thru simply believing in the single sacrifice of Christ was a tremendous ‘paradigm’ shift from legalism to grace. It was hard for someone of the Jewish faith to make this transition. It was almost as in if it were too good to be true! This is why Paul says things like ‘If there were a law given that good have made us right with God, then we would be made right by it. But being there is no such law, God has chosen to justify us by faith’. You find this singular theme repeated over and over again in Paul’s writings. Faith in Jesus is not only the way we get into the Kingdom, but it’s also the way we grow and mature once we get in! ‘HAVING BEGUN IN THE SPIRIT ARE WE NOW MADE PERFECT BY THE FLESH [LAW]?’ Galatians. Now with this underlying theme of grace, always warring against the mindset of law, Paul speaks of ‘renewing the mind’. It was a battle to keep at the forefront of the early believers this central reality of the gospel. Paul was continually warring against other religious leaders [Judaizers] who did not walk in grace. This is primarily what the New Testament is speaking about in the area of renewing the mind. Some actually teach the renewing of the mind in a legalistic way. They make you think that you have to change your circumstances and ‘world around you’ by some type of mental gymnastics. You fall into this type of ‘mind renewing’ that puts the pressure on you to change things. This is not the biblical image of renewing the mind! The biblical image is seeing all the great things that God has done for us thru the Cross, and living our lives out of this radical gratitude that causes us to lay down all of our agendas for Gods agenda! The fact that this legalistic mindset of trying to live up to some religious standard is now over, this releases us into a radical way of life that makes Gods Kingdom the priority. As Paul teaches this radical good news, he clearly says ‘you are not saved or accepted with God based on your performance. You are accepted because Christ died for you’. Many people in society today don’t know this! They see the ‘church’ as a bunch of ‘moral hypocrites’. They don’t realize that God is not holding things against them. The account has been paid. God is not requiring them to join some church, or convert to some religion. He is simply trying to get this message to them. Why isn’t it getting to them? O that’s right, when they tune in to our TV shows they see us talking about money! [I forgot, I wasn’t going to tear down today]. You see, the thing that should be compelling us to go into all the world with an urgency to preach Christ is a gratitude for what he’s done for us. We don’t have the right anymore to live for ourselves; we have been bought with a price THEREFORE GLORIFY GOD IN YOUR BODY AND IN YOUR SPIRIT, WHICH BELONG TO GOD.
(237) I want to share a few more ‘funny’ stories, but I also have a lot of serious stuff to get to. The last entry is the heart of the gospel message. The radical ‘reconciliation’ of man back to God thru the Cross is the message. The reality of knowing that you, personally, are forgiven and totally accepted is radical. I have friends who read this site who are not Christian. Some are offended at me because of the strong Christian message that we proclaim. We openly say ‘you can only be saved thru Jesus’. I teach that all Jewish people, all Muslim people, all people every where can only be saved thru Christ. This does offend the modern liberal mind, to which some of our blog reader’s posses. The message is as simple as ‘all men need the sun to live’. Well how could you be so arrogant John. There are many opinions on this. Who do you think you are in making such a statement. How could a so called ‘just’ God require all humans to receive ‘sunlight’ to live. Be open-minded! The fact is God has made his sun [Son] available to all humanity. Some live their whole lives under it’s benefits, without ever giving it a second thought. It is not ‘bigoted’ or close-minded to accept the fact that Jesus Christ is the savior of all mankind. God has reconciled the world back to himself thru his Son. This central message is available for all men to receive. There are things in life that all people need to survive [food water, etc.] the simple fact is all men need Jesus. Don’t get mad over this. You don’t have to become a religious conservative [I’m not!]. You can even look like a radical hippie from the 70’s [I do!]. It’s just a matter of truth that you have been forgiven, why wont you accept this!
(238) Now to the funny stories THE CRACK PIPE AND THE LAPTOP I have my office set up like those basements in the 70’s where teens would hang out and get high. A bunch of ‘doors’ and Beatles posters. Lava lamps [in the living room] a throwback to the 70’s [sort of like the afro looking guy with the leisure suit in ‘that 70’s show’ I crack up just seeing him]. One day I saw one of those corncob pipes they used to sell in the candy stores up north, I thought ‘I need to get one for the study’. Sure enough I am driving my daughter home and I see this head shop [place where you buy bongs and stuff to get high] I thought I will stop real quick and make this Christian purchase. I go in and innocently ask this high school kid working the counter if they had this pipe. He’s sitting there studying for school, trying to make a buck by servicing all the local crack heads needs. He looks at me with disgust and points to the jar filled with pipes on the counter. In ignorant joy I am happy to have located this addition to my office. I do have long hair, look raggedy and am sometimes mistaken for a homeless guy. As I make the purchase I tell the kid ‘I am not going to smoke crack or anything, I just want it for my room’ to which he simply gives me the look ‘yea right’. I went to buy a laptop a while back. While looking at the different ones the young salesmen [another kid looking like he’s working his way thru school] is helping me choose one. I finally get one and am asking him if it’s ready to go online and all. He asks me what kind of Internet connection I use. I reply ‘wal mart’, which was true. We used a service for 10 bucks a month that came from wal mart. The kid asks again in dismay thinking ‘surely this guy doesn’t use wal mart’ I re assured him that it was true, wal mart does carry this. He kind of had a look on his face like ‘wait till I tell my buddies this one’. After the purchase this innocent kid goes thru the whole sales pitch to sell me a case and all the other accessories and stuff, he wants commission! I then simply tell him ‘kid, your looking at someone who uses wal mart dial up, what are your chances your gonna sell me all this others stuff’ to which he replied ‘yea, your right’ with a look of resignation on his face.
(239) I heard a couple of sermons [TV] from good Pastors who were actually teaching some stuff like I teach. One has received from our ministry and I think his teaching it was a direct result of hearing us. In these scenarios the message was focused on the limited perspective of ‘church’ and Christians thinking that ‘going to church’ was their only responsibility. One of the preachers [national guy] is a good Baptist preacher out of Houston. His message contained many good elements, and after ‘raking’ the people over the coals for thinking ‘coming to church’ is what God wants from them, he then dismissed the congregation and all things return back to the present system. The people are still required to work secular jobs and tithe. The Pastor and staff will spend the week running the church, and after all is said and done, nothing really changes. It’s difficult to ‘change the system’ from the inside out. Many reformers in church history found this out. It does take time to truly reform things, especially on a large scale. I don’t advocate total ‘destruction’ of the present system, and I am glad to see some stable Pastors teach along these lines, it’s just that we [Pastors/Leaders] have to realize that most people are still too dependant on us to make the break on their own. Leaders have to lead by example, some are called to radically change the way they function and operate. To simply preach reform from the present system/pulpit is not really adequate. Leaders themselves have to change.
(240) Let me share something, a few months back I took a ride to one of the fishing piers where I live. Brought the paper, tuned in to the radio. I was able to pick up a San Antonio church that I like [Eagles Nest/ Rick Godwin]. Some of the things from the message kind of stirred me up [got me a little angry]. I shared this earlier on this blog. A few weeks later some of the things I wrote about it on the blog became widely available to the entire city of San Antonio on a huge scale. At the time of writing the entry I had no desire or inclination of reaching so many people with the blog, it just happened. It was like the ‘prophetic Spirit’ rises up at set times to speak into the church, if you are faithful to a few [small area] God will then launch you to a lot [large area]. At the time of me responding to what I heard from San Antonio, I wasn’t mad at Rick. I was angry at the limited perspective of church that he was embracing in the sermon. Nothing personal, just God wants change. Don’t look for a national voice; be faithful in the small things. If God desires he will promote you, don’t do it yourself!
(241) Now a little overview. The idea of ‘church’ as the place where we ‘put all the believers’. I mentioned how in the New Testament, no matter how many people were coming to the Lord, the Apostles never thought along these lines. ‘O my God, all Galatia is turning to Christ, where will we put them all?’ NOWHERE! I am thinking of the verse ‘THE SEED IS YET IN THE BARN’ Gods people are the seed. We are always trying to build bigger barns to ‘put them in’. We need to understand it is not the responsibility of leadership to ‘find places to put all the people’ it is the responsibility of leadership to FIND A PLACE TO ‘PUT GOD’ [that is to win people to Christ and these people become the HABITATION OF GOD]
(242) Doing THE FOOTBALL THING again [in the yard praying, walking around with the football]. Got the image of ‘screen pass’. A while back I read a prophecy from Patricia King [extreme prophetic] about the image of water balloons, or some type of ‘bomb’ landing in areas. An image of words and ministries ‘hitting’ areas and having great influence. I had already seen this myself. One of the ‘prayer’ images I use is ‘throwing the football’. I kind of see the Lord ‘launching’ the radio/blog into large regional areas and ‘hitting the ground’ with great influence. I ‘see’ the ball landing in large influential cities and having a wide impact. But I just got the sense of the ‘screen pass’ as well. Sometimes you get so caught up in the ‘hail Mary pass’ [our Catholic friends will like this one!] that you forget to throw the short screen pass. Sometimes you have done all you can do in launching the ‘bomb’ and as you wait for the results you might as well gain a few yards here and there!
(243) A lot of the stuff on this site is ‘prophetic’. That means if you go back and re read you will continue to find new and relevant things that didn’t make sense the first time around. I have quoted the verse THE MAN WHOSE NAME IS THE BRANCH, HE WILL BRANCH OUT OF HIS PLACE [small area of influence] AND BUILD THE TEMPLE OF THE LORD These verses speak of ‘building Gods temple’, literally ‘a place where God can dwell’. In the book of Acts it says ‘God doesn’t dwell in temples made with hands’ [I believe Stephen said this in Acts: 7?] This is a quote from King David in the book of Psalms. David is prophesying the heart of the Father to ‘dwell in humans as the temple’ as opposed to man made ones. The early church had the underlying theme of NOT BUILDING HUMAN TEMPLES This is why you don’t see any ‘church building projects’ until the 4th century of church history. Knowledge can be dangerous, some enlightened people who have seen these truths then used it in a wrong way to condemn all Christians who meet in ‘church buildings’. Buildings are neutral, they are simply tools. You are not deceived to meet in or build a ‘church building’. It’s just that we need a radical re organization in thought and function at this time in church history!
(244) I remember many years ago I was in a large church service; the Pastor is a friend of mine. At the end of the service he asked me and some elders of the church to come up and pray for peoples needs. I was about 29 years old at the time. Well any way the guy I was going to pray for was around 50. He was a smart ‘alec’ [cant curse!] I guess he thought it was beneath him to have some ‘rookie kid’ pray for him. So when I asked what he would like to pray for, he said ‘I want you to pray that I will have a million dollars and become 6 feet tall’. I felt like ‘slaying him in the spirit’ right there! Well I began praying ‘father, bless this man and let him know that he is valuable in your eyes, worth more than a million dollars. Teach him that he has great stature in your Kingdom, that which cannot be measured in physical height’. I went on for a few minutes. I did feel the anointing. When I was done he looked shaken and pale. I guess the Lord shook him up for me!
(245) Being I mentioned Eagles Nest in San Antonio, let me say a few things about another worldwide ministry out of San Antonio. I wont say the church, but they are one of the biggest in the City. This church is a good old time Pentecostal gospel preaching church. Every now and than you can catch the Pastor on his TV show teaching on Armageddon being right around the corner [hey, how many times can it be right around the corner?]. This brother thinks its heresy to not believe the rapture as being a separate event from the second coming [even though most Christians thru out history have not believed the rapture, and the majority of believers today do not hold to this view!]. The whole end time scenario of ‘scare tactics’ that this church preaches is not my cup of tea. Is Jesus coming again? Yes! Will there be an end of the world some day? Yes! Do I know when? No. But neither do you! The whole point is when we become isolated in our understanding from the rest of the historic church, we are then in danger of missing the ‘whole counsel of God’. It amazes me to hear preachers who are just beginning to reject the rapture publicly. Some who have heard me speak it are now becoming more comfortable about ‘coming out of the closet’ with their own doubts about this doctrine. But when they come out with it, they sound as if they are going against the world. I feel like saying ‘brother, most Christians today know how silly the doctrine is, it’s only the isolated camps that are not aware of the doubtfulness of this doctrine’. Now I am not saying all Christians who believe the rapture are isolated or ignorant. They certainly are not! But some believers think that the probability of ‘the rapture’ as being fake is a secret that only a few know about. Hey, most Christians and theologians worldwide are familiar with the majority of believers not embracing this doctrine. But if all of your education is coming from a good Pastor, who does preach the gospel, but holds to less than ideal views of the end time. Then you are in danger of believing things out of a lack of getting ‘the whole counsel of God’. You cannot access the ‘whole counsel of God’ unless you know what the ‘whole church believes, and has believed for the last 2 thousand years’. God expressly manifests his mind thru the church. We are the ‘Body of Christ’ we possess the mind of Christ as his representatives on earth. Is the majority report always right? No. But if you don’t even realize that there exists a ‘majority report’ then you will be in danger of living your whole Christian experience with the small perspective of some preachers ‘end time charts’. NOTE: I have tried to explain in a lot of our teaching why I don’t believe in the rapture [that is that Jesus comes back in the air to secretly take us to heaven, then comes back later, 7 years for most, 3.5 for others, in another event called the 2nd coming] without getting to technical let me leave you with this thought. In the gospel of John, chapter 17 Jesus says ‘FATHER, I AM NOT PRAYING FOR YOU TO TAKE THEM OUT OF THE WORLD [rapture!] BUT FOR YOU TO KEEP THEM FROM THE EVIL THAT IS IN THE WORLD This one statement alone shows you the purpose of God for the church. We are salt and light to the world. The salt does no good if it’s not on the table!
(246) Woke up this morning and was thinking of a verse YOU HAVE NOT CHOSEN ME, BUT I HAVE CHOSEN YOU AND ORDAINED YOU TO BE A PROPHET TO THE NATIONS [the ‘prophetic voice’ applies to all of us] Then got into the bath tub and put the Christian music station on the radio. Sure enough that was the verse ‘for the day’ [the verse on the radio was from Johns gospel ‘you have not chosen me, but I have chosen you’ the verse I heard was a composite of John and Jeremiah]. I want to share some stuff that might be hard to explain? This year 2006/2007 brought together a 10-12-and 14 year ‘set’ of times for me and the ministry [a ‘set’ time has come, Kairos]. I moved to C.C. in 1992-14 yrs. The 10 and 12 represent trials and things we went thru during the process of ‘being in the desert’ [I literally live on a sand bluff, right off an Island!] The past few years I would notice the number 8:44 a lot. I kind of didn’t like this sign. Without even reading it I knew John 8:44 said ‘you are of your father the devil’. Its kind of one of those signs that you try to avoid! I heard a prophet in 2006 share how the Lord had said ‘14 years is enough’ and another who said God brought him out of a 12 year wilderness. Luke 8:44 says that a woman who had an infirmity of bleeding was healed by Jesus, she was sick 12 years. Felt like this was the 8:44 significance. The angel appeared to the Virgin Mary and told her words that caused her to ‘birth a Divine Son’. Some scholars believe Mary was around 14 yrs old at the time [some as young as 12!] Well if you put all of it together it’s like the Lord was saying a ‘set time has come’ [literally a set of times all meeting at once] That the Lord has chosen you for special things. His word to you is causing a ceasing of the ‘hemorrhaging’ that has been going on for quite some time. He is ‘closing up the breach’. His word to you is going to cause you to ‘birth a divine thing at this season’. You simply must believe his Word! NOTE: Yesterday I was going to mow my yard and first had to drop my daughter off at school. On the way the sky was turning real dark and you can see a strong storm moving in. I didn’t think I would get to cut the yard. I hurried and managed to cut it. The sky was black and stormy both to the north and south. It rained very little at my house. While watching the news that night it flooded Houston and Kingsville [our ‘perimeter’ cities] The rain collapsed a roof on one of the buildings we use for the Fire Dept. The ‘recycling center’. Felt like the Lord was saying he is going to pour out on these areas and the ‘structures of men’ will be unable to contain what he is going to do. His ‘rain’ will break thru ‘ceilings’ [limits] that men have put on my people and they will ‘flow out of the buildings and flood the streets!’ He is going to ‘recycle’ [restore and put back into service] many of you.
(247) Let me give a little example. The fact that the Lord has permitted us [me] to actually have a ‘footprint’ [spiritually speaking] in a large area has baffled some ‘clergy’. Some sincere men have spent many thousands of dollars to try and create a ‘presence’ in other areas. I just want to share something to help you guys. I try not to think of ministry as holding a church meeting and getting as many people to come and support the growth of ‘the church’. I feel this mindset is limited. If you see ‘blog sites’ or ‘radio’ or any other means of communication as simply a forum to advertise ‘church meetings’ then you are cutting your influence off without realizing it. I have gone to ministry web sites that I wanted to read and study from. Some are simply set up to offer products for sale, or to invite you to attend ‘church’. Say if the primary means of communicating the gospel in the 1st century were taking this approach. The letters of Paul and the oral preaching were used to directly get the word out to groups of people. Say if you received a letter from Paul, or got the New Testament canon in the 4th century and opened it up to find an ad from some Apostle inviting you to a service. Or you read the 1st chapter of Romans and then it said ‘to read the rest of this article send 15 dollars to Apostle Paul outreach ministries in Rome’. Now I am not trying to be critical, I am trying to show you how we limit our own effectiveness by seeing ‘church’ as the Christian business that we run. I have gone to some web sites of old Baptist friends to see what’s going on. Some have the ad for their church, a picture of the building [maybe can hold 200 people?] and an invitation to ‘come to church’. Now these sites have the potential of reaching the entire world. Why would you make such a limited invitation? Utilize the thing to get the gospel out brother! Well I just wanted to help my ‘fellow ministers’ to see how its possible to have a large regional influence. Don’t use the tools to simply invite people to your church meeting, use the tools to start a revolution! NOTE; another ingredient in having a ‘large footprint’ is not desiring to have a ‘large footprint’.
(248) I was just thinking about this, even though I haven’t read these books in a while. If you go to the ‘restoration’ books of the Old Testament [Nehemiah, Ezra] and the Prophets who prophesied during this period [Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel] you will find the interesting story of Israel and Gods judgment on them, the destruction and desecration of the temple, and finally the restoration of Israel back to their land and the rebuilt temple. The rebuilding of the city walls and the temple are a beautiful picture of Gods restoration. In the New Testament the Church is called ‘the city of God’ and ‘the Temple of God’. In the Old Testament temple you had the ‘cornerstone’ as the part of the foundation that the whole building was measured on, and you had the ‘capstone/headstone’ that was the finishing stone at the top of the building. Jesus is called the ‘cornerstone’ in the New Testament; he is also the ‘headstone’ the head of the Church who derives authority thru his death for us. A ‘headstone’ is the marker showing that one has truly died. All the New Testament Church are measured and built from the cornerstone Jesus. He is the foundation of the Church. Jesus is also the head stone, finishing stone. He is not only the ‘beginning’ of our faith, but also the ‘finisher’ [Hebrews calls Jesus the author and finisher of the faith]. This shows us that Gods ultimate purpose is to have a mature completed Temple that shows the fullness of Christ to all the universe [Ephesians]. As we develop and grow in [to] him, we don’t grow ‘away from him’ [as some teach when they speak of moving on from the Cross] but we grow more ‘into him’ that is becoming more fully developed as the Body of Christ in the earth. Our headstone derived his authority thru his death and resurrection, so like wise the whole building will derive its authority as we die to ourselves and become more alive unto him and his purposes in the earth.
(249) I, EVEN I, AM HE THAT BLOTTETH OUT THY TRANSGRESSIONS FOR MY OWN SAKE, AND WILL NOT REMEMBER THY SINS The Lord says there are past faults that are holding you back, he forgives you and will not remember these. Not as some favor to you, BUT FOR HIS OWN SAKE! He has created you with a purpose in mind, and he needs you to fulfill it!
(250) Just woke up, I am at work. It’s real early and I felt like we should overview some things. In the old days when I pastored I would get a thought/idea and then research it and develop it over a 2-4 day period and then preach it on a Sunday [OK]. To just wake up and start writing from scratch allows me to cover a lot of territory, but also risk missing a fact or two. Nothing major, just maybe a side detail. So to my critics, hunt and you will find. To my friends I hope we are breaking thru. A few days ago I spoke on Paul and the underlying theme of our acceptance with God by faith. As a religious teacher of the Jews, Paul was well instructed on the life of Abraham. The Jewish people looked to him as ‘the father of the faith’. In Genesis chapters 12 and 15 you find stories that become the basis of Paul’s theological argument for Justification by faith. Even though Paul and the other Pharisees knew about these stories, it never ‘dawned’ on them until the Spirit of God revealed it to them. Paul will go to these time and again. The books of Romans [4] Galatians [2-3] and to the surprise of some, even Hebrews [11] are actually ‘justification by faith’ arguments. [I will develop the Hebrews argument at another time, but it ‘dawned’ on me one day that this was Paul’s ‘open letter’ to the Jews of his day. This is why it’s unsigned. The Jews would not read something from Paul after all the slander he received by the Judaizers. Hebrews ‘theologically’ bridges the gap between the book of James and Paul’s epistles, a lot can be taught right here] Paul lays out for the Jews the simple fact that God counted Abraham righteous [accepted and just] when Abraham ‘believed in God’. It was AFTER he believed in God that he then was circumcised. The law of Moses [10 commandments] weren’t even around yet! This simple truth showed the religious community of the 1st century that acceptance with God was not a cultural [circumcision] or religious/legalistic [10 commandments] thing. God was already receiving people based on their belief in Him years earlier. Now Paul does some tremendous ‘brainwork’ on revealing things from The Old Testament and showing how they were ‘precursors’ to Christ. But I want you to see this simple truth today. One of the main teachings of the New Testament is that God accepts you when you believe in his Son. This is no excuse to go out and sin, but your living different is a result of your free acceptance with God. It is not the CAUSE of it. I find it interesting that the bible actually says that no person can ever be saved by trying to live good, go to church, obey the commandments and all the other things we put on people. Paul actually makes the statement [Galatians] IF A PERSON CAN BE MADE RIGHT WITH GOD BY DOING SOMETHING, THEN CHRIST DIED IN VAIN. Think about that. If there were some other way to ‘get saved’ and go to heaven [now God wants a lot more than this!]Then why would he have given his Son to die? If you owed 100 dollars on some debt and the creditors were calling. Would you say ‘well I guess I will go and die for the payment’. Not if you could get out of it by paying the 100 dollars! So this is one of the arguments that Paul uses. He then goes on to explain ‘why did God give us the 10 commandments’. He teaches that God gave us the law to REVEAL MANS SIN TO HIMSELF. Some believers are not as clear as they should be on this. Even if we could get all the 10 commandments posted in all the schools of the world, this still would not fundamentally change the way kids act. I would rather post John 3:16! I am being a little sarcastic. The point is God gave man the law [10 commandments] so after a few thousand years of ‘trying to be good’ he would come to a point of utter failure. The law did its job; it showed man his need for a savior. This is the New Testament argument. Today I want all my readers that are not really Christian to see this. I can argue all the merits of Gods existence and all the proofs from natural law and every other angle there is. But I want you to see that Christ died for you. God is not telling you to become a religious conservative. He is telling you you’re forgiven and accepted, IF YOU WILL ONLY BELIEVE. [Read Hebrews: 11 commentary on this site!]
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(252) LOYAL TO WHAT? I remember hearing Brother Roloff say that you had all these preachers being faithful to this thing or some cause. He said it in a way like ‘we are trying to be faithful to all these things, and God wants us to be faithful to him’. I want to share this for practical reasons. We are beginning to re connect with many friends and brothers from the past. God says I WILL BRING YOUR SEED FROM THE EAST, I WILL GATHER YOU FROM THE WEST. I WILL SAY TO THE NORTH GIVE UP, CALL YOUR SONS FROM THE SOUTH. As the Lord brings people ‘our way’ we are not seeking to get them to ‘commit to us’. If God is hooking you up to us relationally, great! Maybe you will sponsor a home group? Maybe you will start a local jail outreach? We [I] will try to get together with you on a monthly/bi monthly or annual basis. I am not trying to recruit people! We want to start a revolution in the Church [Body of Christ]. God has called all of you to much more than living vicariously thru your Pastor[s]. As a believer you are to experience this adventure with God, and Christian leadership exists to help you get on course. The leaders give you ‘kayaking instructions’ but you are not to spend the rest of your life taking the instruction course, you are supposed to eventually launch! I look forward to meeting those of you who are being ‘revolutionized’. I want to be open to those who desire to sponsor home groups in your cities/states [NATIONS]. Most of all I want you to be loyal to the call of Christian growth and responsibility that you are learning at this time. I am not asking you to support me, I am asking you to ‘imitate me as I imitate Christ’. Join the revolution!
(253) THE HIGHLY MOTIVATED LEADER IS NOT THE PATTERN I was reading from a church site [you can learn a lot by just reading the actual teaching catalog, at least from ours you can!] and the majority of the messages were on ‘overcoming obstacles’ ‘taking your mountain’ ‘destroying obstacles’ ‘crushing the devil’ and stuff like that. We too often present a model of Christian leadership that would be next to impossible for everyone to live up to. I know we don’t mean this, but it happens. In today’s highly motivated mega church environment we often present the highly motivated Pastor in a way that most average believers could never attain too. I think of the grandma who attends the ‘composite’ church that I referenced above [a group of all the highly motivated preachers all rolled into one]. After going thru all the devil crushing, mountain moving, unceasing unrelenting sermons from the above average high achieving mega church Pastors. I think grandma would be ready for the nursing home! Now, I believe and know there are great mega churches out there, doing great things for God. We also need to be aware of that part of the gospel that says ‘my yoke is easy and my burden is light’. I too fall into the category of ‘non stop’ at times. I am just as guilty as the rest! We need to re evaluate the picture that we are painting for the disciple of Christ. The revolution that I want you to join is the simple reality that we can all effectively live the journey. Not just a few exceptional leaders, but all of us!
(254) BRINGING MANY SONS UNTO GLORY The intent of the ministry of Jesus is to bring many sons to a place of interdependence and maturity. The language Jesus uses in the gospel of John is striking. He tells the disciples ‘I don’t call you servants, but friends, brothers’ ‘you have come to me, but now you can go directly to the Father yourself and ask him’. The present development of the role of Pastor has been understood to not be the ideal in Christian community. It is becoming common knowledge among a broad base of believers that the role of Pastor, as the singular voice of the congregation who is looked at as the hired minister, is not found in the New Testament. Does this mean we are all in rebellion? No. Does this mean that all churches must now close and start from scratch? No. But it does mean that as fellow believers we begin to maturely address these issues of form and function as God directs. The fact that the word ‘Pastor’ is found one time in the New Testament [Ephesians] but yet other words are found a lot [Apostle, Elder, Brethren, etc.] shows us that somewhere along the line we introduced a role that wasn’t the original intent of God. We have a tendency to take biblical words and attach our own definitions to them [Bishop, Pastor, etc.] As we see the progression of language in the New Testament itself, we begin to grasp the heart of God. John’s letters are some of the latest written in the New Testament. In John’s epistles you find the language of children and brothers more than elders and Leaders. This showing that as the early church matured she moved away from authoritarian titles, and moved closer to family terms. In Gods desire to ‘bring many sons unto glory’ there is a necessity of top-heavy leadership models to come down. Jesus washing the disciple’s feet and images like this. Blatantly telling the disciples that in the world leadership is based on being in charge, but in the church it is based on not being in charge. Being a servant who grasps the admonition of John the Baptist HE MUST INCREASE AND I MUST DECREASE. As the church progresses down this path the natural result will be for the ‘many sons to come to maturity’. I am sure it felt strange for Jesus to tell the disciples ‘you came to me before, but now you go to the Father yourself’. This is a true act of biblical leadership. People in the beginning depend on leaders a lot; it is incumbent on Godly leadership to let them come directly to the Father.
(255) Lets go back to an original thought. I want to throw this out to our intellectual readers. The whole idea that Paul wrote Hebrews, and specifically chapter 11 as a way to bring the truth of Justification by faith to the Jewish church is what I want to propose. If you read Romans and Galatians you see Paul’s entire argument for justification by faith as seen in the Genesis 12, 15 story of Abraham. When James teaches Abraham in the book of James, he is primarily seeing the view from the story of Abraham offering Isaac on the altar [Gen 22?] James is seeing ‘actual, experiential justification’ Paul is seeing ‘judicial, declarative justification’. Paul says ‘God declares you righteous at the moment of faith, before you ever see it actually working out in the life of the person.’ James doesn’t contradict this, but James says ‘look at Abraham, when God declared him righteous [Gen 15] he eventually became what God declared! [Gen 22 Actually doing right things, offering up his son]. Now where most Christians [including theologians] miss it is when they try to bring these 2 truths together. They usually say ‘what James is saying is active faith saves you, not works’ If you read James carefully he is not saying that! He actually says ‘see how a man is saved by works, not only faith’. I believe the truth is James is seeing God declaring a person righteous when he actually does a righteous thing. Now this can get hard, but in Paul’s view Abraham became justified in Gen 15, true. And in James view when Abraham actually did the work of obedience, God also said ‘well done, you did good!’ In essence God has the sovereignty to declare you ‘right’ whenever he wants. Now we know the only reason a person can ever get to the point of ‘doing right’ is because he already passed the point of ‘being declared right’ [Gen:15 versus Gen:22]. It’s just that the Jewish church was emphasizing the ‘actually righteous’ part, where as the gentile churches were focusing on the ‘believing and being justified’ part. No contradiction, just seeing at a different timeline. This is also one of the main areas of division between the Protestants and Catholics. Luther was seeing the Gentile view [Romans/Galatians] the Catholics were seeing the ‘actual’ view [James]. The Catholics actually called Luther’s [and Paul’s!] view ‘a legal fiction’ they said Luther taught a man can be legally Justified without ever showing it. Luther really didn’t teach that, but he did say once God justifies you, it’s not up to your works to save you. Many don’t realize that Luther also strongly believed in predestination. All the major reformers did as well! Now you read Hebrews 11 with this in mind. All thru the chapter Paul is saying ‘look, all these heroes of faith acted by faith. They actually did works of righteousness by faith. They ALL obtained a GOOD REPORT [declared right!] by faith’. Read this chapter with this in mind and you will now see the whole point of the chapter. It’s Paul’s treatise of ‘justification by faith’ written anonymously to the Jewish nation. Here my friends is the solution to the problem. This view bridges for the first time [I believe] the whole problem of the book of James and the epistles of Paul. It also helps bridge one of the major divisions in the church today. Take this and run with it! NOTE; Luther called the book of James ‘a straw letter’ and at one point thought it should not have been added to the canon, though later he did include it in his bible versions! Also Paul includes Rahab the harlot as someone that was justified by faith, showing it didn’t matter how many sins you have committed in the past, if you believe you too will be justified. [see Hebrews 11 on this site]
(256) I am up early at my daughters ranch, walking outside and praying/prophesying. I do realize if someone hears me they will think I am crazy, it wont be the first time! It’s the Saturday right after Good Friday. I will celebrate Easter today. I am working tomorrow. Just remembered something, the religious leaders were always condemning Jesus for ‘working on the Sabbath’. In death he finally shut them up. Can you imagine what they would have said if he rose on the Sabbath day! Well I wanted to share this. There are at this season many Apostles and Prophets who are thoroughly mad at me. I realize why, let me explain. Over the years there have been many ‘cessationists’ that later on saw the truth of the gifts of the Spirit and the ‘5 fold’ ministry. A lot of these brothers cant grasp the fact that even though the Lord has used them to prophesy and even do great miracles [by the Spirit] that he is also tremendously ‘jealous’ for the gospel. God will even allow ‘cessationists’ [I am not one myself] to reprove the more extreme elements of the Charismatic/word of faith movements. It’s like the Prophets feel like ‘hey, I have spoken great words. The Lord has used me to do mighty deeds. Who do you think you are in bringing correction to me’? I don’t care who you are, to be frank about it. Neither does God! Don’t mean to be mean, God is no respecter of persons. When anyone permits really off the wall stuff to slip in to the church, and then not only refuses to ‘prophesy’ against it, but actually defends it. Then at this point God will raise up anybody who is willing to come against it. Listen to the radical contemporary Christian rock of our day. They say things like ‘don’t live for the stuff of this world’ ‘don’t fall for the American dream’. God is using these young kids to prophesy what I have been preaching. Look at the ‘emerging church’ today. The same thing. God is not concerned about defending your Apostolic/Prophetic ministry. If you guys refuse to speak truth, then it will come from another direction. I just wanted to speak this. The Prophetic/Apostolic pride is preventing the Word of the Lord to have free course.
(257) Now that I’m getting into it, let me discuss the role of Apostles and Prophets and how they fit into the Church. During the restoration of Apostles/Prophets in the last quarter of the 20th century there were a lot of mistakes made in the area of ‘function’. It was common for Apostles to see the list of ‘5 fold’ that Paul gives ‘first Apostles, then Prophets, etc’ and to read it in an authoritarian way. Apostles would try to form ‘relationships’ with various Pastors and teach a submission that was not biblical. It kind of went like ‘I am now the Apostle who ‘covers’ your Pastor, Your Pastor covers you and the people are under all these levels of ‘covering’ and the view to God was getting ‘cloudy’. Paul wrote the list of Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists Pastors and teachers. Paul did say ‘first Apostles, secondarily Prophets’ some feel this is simply stating the order in which they appeared. First God brought in Apostles, Then Prophets [New Testament ones!] etc. This view has truth to it. But even if you took it the other way, Paul later says God has counted the Apostles last. He tells the Corinthians this. Well how can they be first and last! Surely Jesus never taught any thing like this? Here we go again. Lets just say in general all Gods gifted 5 fold ministers exist to bring you to maturity as Gods people. Any view that has all these authority structures is really not the intent. Some of these brothers don’t even realize the ‘Pastors’ who they think they are covering are not even a biblical position in the way they function today. So Apostles and Prophets and all these gifts do exist [at least in my mind!] but they exist to release you into your full inheritance in Christ [Not talking money here!] As these gifts are restored and recognized, lets keep in mind that Jesus taught the first would be last and the last first!
(258) THESE ARE THE PEOPLE IN THE SYSTEM, WE ARE HERE TO FREE THEM FROM THE SYSTEM. THEY ARE UNAWARE THAT THEY ARE IN THE SYSTEM, THEY ARE SO DEPENDANT ON THE SYSTEM THAT THEY WILL EVEN FIGHT TO DEFEND IT Morpheus said this to Neo in the movie the Matrix. Good Stuff! This applies to the lost as well as to the saved [even the Leaders!]
(259) Recently a good preacher died. Bishop Patterson, he was a real good black preacher. I liked him. I remember when I wrote the first book against the prosperity gospel [HOUSE OF PRAYER OR DEN OF THIEVES which you can read in its entirety on this site] I used an example of another black preacher [who I don’t like, but have to love as a brother!] Leroy Thompson. The example was he started preaching for Christians to say ‘MONEY COMING TO ME’ and I remember hearing friends of mine from a local Assembly of God church going around doing this [at least I remember they were confessing money a lot] I don’t know if the Pastor fell for it or what? But when I wrote the book I had to deal with it because it was such an obvious abuse of the Word. Well anyway I later heard Bishop Patterson say the same thing that I said. He had the guts to publicly say ‘you have all these Christians going around saying ‘money coming to me’ and this is wrong’. Kudos to brother Patterson for breaking cultural lines in order to be faithful to the Lord! NOTE: To ‘not like’ bro. Thompson means I do not like the way he distorts the gospel, our confession is supposed to be JESUS not MONEY!
(260) It’s Easter morning, it’s early and I will be driving to work in a little while. Felt like I needed to say some stuff. First: I thought I heard the Lord say to you A JUST MAN FALLS SEVEN TIMES AND GETS UP AGAIN, A WICKED PERSON FALLS ONCE AND STAYS THERE The word to you is “you have experienced a ‘perfect’ [7 times] season of ‘falling’ [failure]”. It was in my plan to allow you to “be in the grave [yesterday was the Sabbath before Easter]. I am now going to ‘perfect’ [7] that which I have destined you for”. Scripture says MANY WITH UNDERSTANDING, WHO INSTRUCT MANY, SHALL FALL FOR MANY DAYS [Daniel?] The amount of ‘down time’ that you have experienced is directly related to the amount [area] of people you will instruct [many]. There was a season where you were alone [one] and when one is alone, if he falls he has no one to help him up. You have been there many times and have learned to get up on your own, though it was difficult. Where 2 are, one can help the other up and a 3-fold cord is not easily broken, be open to the ‘3 fold cords’ godly connections in ministry and relationships that I am bringing your way. Just as it was difficult to ‘break’ ungodly alliances, so will it be difficult to break the thing I am going to do thru you. The Divine 3 fold cords are not easily broken.
(261) I want to be careful in sharing this. I had a friend who was either ordained or sponsored by a large regional church [Houston]. Over a period of years I taught this person some of the things I have shown you guys thru this blog. It was difficult for this person to choose scripture over the strong word of faith background that they had. This person even told me ‘well you and Paul [Apostle] can believe your way, I’LL believe mine’. They said this after I simply read 1st Timothy chapter 6 and showed them how the mindset of the New Testament was directly opposed to the peculiar style of belief they were taught. At one point this person began to forsake many of the doctrines they previously held. Then I could tell they went back to their old beliefs and were telling others that I was a false prophet. I do find it strange that someone who preaches a radical message of forsaking all for Christ is a false prophet, but many of the teachers this person listened to routinely distorted the image of Jesus and taught that Jesus and the disciples were some of the wealthiest people of the first century. A total and complete distortion of the New Testament record. Well I am sad to say this person died soon after this. They were in there 40’s and I was not glad to have heard this. I am not saying they died as a direct result of calling me a false prophet. I do believe God allows certain abuses to go on for so long [like the teachings of this movement] before he says ‘enough is enough’ [FOR A LONG TIME I HAVE HELD MY PEACE AND BEEN SILENT, NOW I WILL ROAR LIKE A WOMAN IN TRAVAIL-Isaiah] There was a time where the Lord ‘overlooked men’s ignorance’ and then says ‘I cant let this go on any longer’. I felt the Lord wanted me to share this. The primary job for the preacher of the gospel is to present Jesus, when you blatantly present ‘another Jesus’ [Galatians] God will eventually deal with you. NOTE: I find it amazing that one of these preachers used to regularly come on T.B.N. wearing very expensive jewelry and teach how Jesus was just like this. You can’t be so obviously wrong and spread this stuff to hundreds of thousands of young believers. It’s the devastating effect that these guys have on the new believers that is tragic. This brother eventually tried to start a branch ‘church’ in Corpus Christi. I actually called him out publicly, by name, on radio. I know this was strong, but the amount of blatant heresy had to be confronted. Their church, as far as I know, never made it. NOTE: In the early days I had Pastor friends who heard the stuff we were preaching and without fully realizing the heresy these guys were spreading, would defend them from the pulpit. This directly limited the intended growth of their churches. God is much more concerned with the accurate preaching of his Son, than with the size of a church. Many of these brothers would directly reject our message because they were believing for lots of money at the time. It’s OK to trust God for great resources, the problem was they were believing for the resources and defending the false teachers at the same time. You can believe God for money without defending heretics! NOTE: I remember showing some of these truths to a Pastor in Corpus. He then said ‘the bible speaks of God blessing us financially’ which of course is true. The inability of this leader to be able to distinguish between being blessed and ‘those that teach gain is godliness have swerved from the faith, avoid them’ is a problem in leadership today. The level of discernment is severely lacking.
(262) I saw a good message from Rick Warren, he was speaking at a Hillsong conference in Australia. He basically preached what I preach on money [of course not as strong!] He was quoting Jesus on ‘A MANS LIFE CONSISTS NOT IN THE ABUNDANCE OF THE THINGS THAT HE POSSESSES ’ It was interesting, as they panned thru the front row they showed a major prosperity preacher listening. The message was a great message, but you can tell it didn’t fit in with the usual fare. It’s like you could see that the prosperity crowd would not really ‘draw’ from this message. You kind of get ‘programmed’ to want to ‘receive stuff’ when your in the movement. When someone comes along and preaches the real gospel, it’s ‘strange’ to the prosperity brothers.
(263) PETER CAST THE NET AT JESUS WORD AND BROUGHT IN MORE IN ONE CAST THAN THE ENTIRE NIGHT I haven’t read this story in a while, but I remember that in the King James Version Jesus tells Peter to let down the nets, and Peter only lets down ‘the net’. You get the sense that Peter was up all night trying to catch fish, he cleaned the nets already and he figured ‘poor Jesus means well, but he just didn’t understand that fishing is poor right now’. Well old Peter didn’t understand the difference between fishing in the flesh and fishing in the Spirit! It was his patronizing attitude that caused him to let down ‘one net’. Jesus said ‘put them all out son’. When the Lord tells you to cast, CAST! You will bring in more in one shot than all the nights you spent in your own efforts!
(264) A few years ago I did a radio series on the book of Exodus. One of the things we brought out was the story of the children of Israel giving freely of their riches and wealth in order to make the calf. The calf represents idolatry/covetousness. I was trying to show how certain forms of ‘giving’ are actually idolatry! For years giving was taught in a way that focused on ‘the act of giving’ as opposed to the ‘actual need being met’. People were only excited about giving, like being excited about investing in a stock or 401 K. The motive for giving was covetousness. There are many people today who ‘give’ willingly to an investment. The excitement is watching it grow. This is not New Testament giving. This is investing. It’s not wrong per se, but it’s not giving out of love. Even though the children of Israel ‘gave’ it wasn’t glorifying God! I remember many years ago being in a restaurant with some friends, preachers and stuff. One of the brothers was a prosperity preacher, he had just finished preaching and we were out fellowshipping. He was so excited about ‘giving’ that at one point he took off an expensive watch and ‘gave’ it to my friend [a prophet]. My friend accepted it, but you could tell the preacher then started regretting that he did it. This is a type of ‘giving’ that glorifies the ‘giving’ part, without actually meeting the true need of a person out of compassion. The New Testament model of giving is based on compassion for your fellow man, not on some investment scheme! NOTE: Just felt like I heard someone say ‘so what’s the point’? The point is when Gods people get free from idolatry [covetousness] we can then move on from our ‘golden calves’ to the true worship of God! NOTE: The prophet friend was one of those types who would ‘butt heads’ with Pastors and leaders. I was challenged this night by him in some way [?] I remember responding, like not letting it get to me and answering whatever challenge he gave me with wisdom. He was familiar with ‘pushing the buttons’ of Pastors and making them feel uneasy and stuff. By this time I had already been thru so much stuff, his little ‘attack’ didn’t produce the desired results. He kind of looked at me and said ‘you’ve been thru this before’ which was correct. NOTE: the ‘calf’ was made out of GOLD and they worshipped it as a god. This is the heart of idolatry, to ‘re fashion’ the image of God into the image of what men desire [Romans 1-2]. Eventually if a person insists on ‘seeing’ the ‘Jesus’ of his own imagination [rich, etc.] then God will ‘give them over’ to that image. In essence their ‘god’ will become a ‘golden calf’ an image of wealth that does disgrace to the true image of Christ! [OUCH!]
(265) A few months back I had a dream. I dreamt I was leaving a church service and met the Pastor in the parking lot. He asked where I was going and invited me to go with him to the new church building they were constructing at the time. He asked if I needed some wood for ‘my structure’ and he told me they had extra to give me. As I was getting in his car there wasn’t enough room so he said ‘take your truck’. Vehicles represent ‘ministries’ in prophetic imagery. They ‘carry’ you to the place of destiny. Wood represents the ‘people’ you build. Scripture says ‘go up to the mountain [intercession] and bring down wood for my building’ [the church made up of people]. The significance of the Pastor telling me he had plenty of ‘wood’ and to get it in my ‘vehicle’ shows me that the Lord has given us an open door to build many of his people in our [your] city. These people don’t have to hear me speak in some church building [the Pastors vehicle] it would be ‘too small’ any way. But these people will be freely built thru the open course the Lord has given us thru Radio, Blog, etc. THE WORD OF THE LORD HAS FREE COURSE. I was listening on line to an old Pastor friend who Pastors a great church in our city. I haven’t heard him in a while. The last 2-3 sermons I heard him give focused on the Kingdom of God and how it was not about material wealth at all. I cant help but believe that some of his people [wood] have been listening/reading our stuff and it has influenced him in a good way.
(266) I remember hearing a famous prosperity preacher say how he was overseas [England?] and he was approached by many believers who sincerely told him ‘your preaching on money is so extreme, you have fallen into the category where Jesus warned ‘the love/lust of the things of this world would prevent the seed from growing’ [this by the way is the correct reading of the parable of the sower]. I heard this preacher, on T.B.N. tell the story. He then went on to explain how these Christians who were warning him were the one’s who were deceived. He went thru some tortured explanation of the parable of the sower and when he was finished he had the parable talking all about money. The hosts of T.B.N. were all awed and in agreement with this ‘new revelation’ and it was communicated to the worldwide audience who tuned in. The deception was so obvious it wasn’t funny. The fact that all these believers from another country, with one voice [which I call ‘the whole counsel of God’] were sincerely telling this man that he was absolutely twisting Jesus words was a rebuke from the Body of Christ to that which is not of Christ. It’s natural for the ‘Body’ to ‘expel’ harmful agents. The fact that this man in his rebellion would not receive this correction, and the fact that the worldwide audience of T.B.N. were also fed this lie is appalling. God is going to ‘dry up’ the resources of major Christian networks if they do not deal with stuff like this! [YES, THIS IS A PROPHETIC WORD!]
(267) Let me exhort you guys to become a student of the bible. “Brother I read the bible” that’s not what I said. Jesus often rebuked the religious leaders for knowing the words of scripture, without understanding the intent! In many of the things you guys are learning from this blog, you ‘knew’ these verses, it’s just you are seeing them in a different way, the CORRECT way. To be a student demands that you know the history and context of scripture. Read good books on church history. Read the classics. Don’t waste all your time reading much of the popular motivational stuff of our day. Some is OK, but a lot isn’t. I have a prophetic way I learn; before I go to bed I find a great book from my study. I put it under my pillow, and when I wake up in the morning I have absorbed all of its contents. NOT! It takes work brothers STUDY TO SHOW THYSELF APPROVED, A WORKMAN THAT DOESN’T NEED TO BE ASHAMED if you do this you wont make some of the ‘shameful’ interpretations of scripture like the last few entries exposed.
(268) To my Pastor friends who read this site, I know I have been rough on you guys. I felt the Lord had a word for you right now BEHOLD MY SERVANT WHOM I UPHOLD, MINE ELECT IN WHOM MY SOUL DELIGHTS God delights in you. If you have a church of 500 members and wanted 1000, God delights in you. If you have a church of 10,000 and were only expecting 8,000, God delights in you. God simply delights in you. It’s not about the numbers! I HAVE KNOWN YOUR SOUL IN ADVERSITY, I HAVE SEEN YOU IN THE DESERT. I WILL MAKE A WAY IN THE WILDERNESS AND RIVERS IN THE DESERT, I WILL NOT LEAVE YOUR SOUL IN HELL, NOR SUFFER MY HOLY ONE TO SEE CORRUPTION don’t despise your desert; I have called my Son out of it! [Jesus came out of the desert in the POWER of the Spirit. You now have POWER that comes from God. A SPECIAL WORD TO ALL OUR Corpus Christi leaders, guys we live right off an island [desert conditions] God brought forth great revelation from John when he was on the ‘island’ of Patmos. God is putting Corpus Christi on the ‘map’ rejoice! NOTE: The island we live off of is ‘Padre [Father] Island’, that’s more prophetic than Patmos!
(269) Xxx
(270) I forgot to mention that during the restoration of the walls and the Temple, Nehemiah was a type of an Apostle. He had great organizational wisdom The Prophets Haggai and Zechariah prophesied strength into the hands of the builders. This is a great picture of all the 5-fold working together to build the ‘City of God’. The book of Acts says ‘the heavens must hold Jesus until the times of the restoration of all things spoken by the Prophets’. The job of Prophets is to speak the word of the Lord.
(271) Another thing from the movie the Matrix. Morpheus tells Neo ‘you have been looking for me for a few years, I have been searching for you my whole life’. It says of John the Baptist ‘he was filled with the Spirit from his mothers womb’ Prophetic people have a destiny from birth. God picked you, knowing full well all the stuff you were going to go thru. Don’t ‘reject’ yourself because of failure and sin; God picked you knowing all this stuff from the start!
(272) Xxx
(273) Let me speak on abortion. I mentioned earlier on this blog about the Catholic and Protestant divide in the 16th century. One of the fears the Catholic Church had was the fear of the divine right of Kings. That if nation states ‘broke away’ from Rome that eventually the states would do whatever they wanted. Some look at the atrocities of Hitler and point to this as a proof. I personally don’t hold to this view, but I do find it interesting that Hitler came along after Darwin and Eugenics. Eugenics is the science that teaches certain races are more ‘pure’ and others are less pure. It taught a type of ethics that said if you get rid of the weaker ones in society that eventually you would have a healthier, purer race. You saw this mindset in Hitler’s attempt to have an ‘Aryan race’. The man who came up with this ‘science’ was a relative of Charles Darwin. Charles Darwin was the ‘popularizer’ of Evolution. If someone truly believes that all Humans are simply an accident of evolution; there is really no moral grounds to value life. If we are all simply blobs on this experimental earth, then why not eliminate the weaker ones for the benefit of the whole race? After all we know this to be true, science teaches it! There you have it, a slippery slope down a course that ultimately leads to a time in our country where we actually allow, by law, a woman to come to a clinic/hospital. Walk in at 7 months of pregnancy, get an appointment with a Doctor and get a ‘partial birth’ abortion. This procedure allows for the actual baby, living and feeling safe in the mother’s womb to be ‘partially’ delivered, leaving ‘part’ of the baby inside the mother. The other ‘part’ sticking out and the Doctor kills the baby. By law it’s not murder, the baby still has a ‘part’ in the mom. The only difference between this child, and others who are born and live a wonderful life, is a few inches. The procedure is defended by politicians who say ‘I personally am against abortion, but I am for a woman’s right’ What about the right of that beautiful little baby girl who you just destroyed in a manner equal to Hitler’s holocaust? This little girl has rights too. Some of our Politicians couldn’t care less about the ‘right’ of the woman; they allow murder for the political expediency of their constituents! Thank you Pontius Pilate. I recently saw on the news a state that is trying to pass a law that would require the mother to see a sonogram of her baby before she gets the abortion, they are persuaded that if a woman ‘looks at the baby’ that she will of her own free will decide to not kill it. They then had the opponents/proponents give both sides. Those against it said things like ‘ we don’t require a person to look at a tumor before its removed’ babies are not ‘tumors’ or any other type of ‘matter’ that you dispose of at will. I once had actual pictures of ‘buckets full of babies’ that were taken outside of some abortion clinic back in the 70’s. These buckets were filled to overflow with burned, chopped up, mutilated little babies. Just sitting there waiting for some dump truck to haul them to the local incinerator. Now we have cleaned up our act, we ‘burn’ them before they get a chance to be spotted by the public eye. God forbid that we would force society to look at ‘these tumors’. May God help us all. NOTE; a few years back there was an abortion doctor who took an actual sonogram of an abortion procedure. They later made a video. The picture was front page on one of the national magazines of our country. It was called ‘silent scream’ it showed the baby actually grasping hold of the instrument that was inserted into the mother’s womb, and the baby was trying to keep it from stabbing it. The babies face could clearly be seen screaming bloody murder. This doctor, who was not a Christian, could not continue performing this procedure no matter how many politicians call this ‘a woman’s right to choose’! UPDATE ON PARTIAL BIRTH ABORTION # 305
(274) As believers we need to look at our role in society as it relates to abortion. Paul Hill, a protestant Minster, became infamous for his killing of an abortion doctor. Paul saw himself as a modern day deliverer who would give his life for something equal to the attempt to assassinate Hitler. As I watched the trial and group of radical Christians who were a part of this group, there was a real sense of seeing the abortion doctors as murderers. Just like seeing someone kill a baby. Well most preachers, and others who gave commentary on this program, divided between how much civil disobedience was warranted to stop abortion. Operation Rescue with Terry Randall practiced a form of it that other believer’s thought was wrong. No one defended the killing of the doctors involved, and some preachers actually said no civil disobedience was warranted at all because abortion is the law of the land. I do want to submit this, if the killing of 1 hour old new borns was the ‘law of the land’ would we do nothing? Then 6 month olds, or all the way to 5 yr olds being taken right out of a pre school and being executed in public? If these were really the law of the land, what would you do? I certainly am not advocating the murder of Doctors or anyone else, but if these preachers who were being interviewed for the story really believed that abortion was murder, equal to all other types of murder, then I think civil disobedience would be warranted. The people surrounding Paul Hill came to their extreme positions as logical deductions based on these facts. They did wrong in killing for sure, but if you yourself were standing by as someone was discriminately killing babies from a hospital nursery, then I would wonder about the sincerity of your belief system.
(275) In scripture there are 2 recorded ‘mass killings’ of babies. The first is the story of Moses in Egypt. The children of Israel were multiplying so rapidly that Pharaoh decided to wipe out all the little baby boys in order to slow down the rate of Israel’s growth. It was a demonically inspired attack, legitimized through law, to kill a whole generation of people. God knew that there was a Moses in this group, a great man of destiny who would come forth and be a great deliverer of Gods people. The enemy knew this as well. Also in the New Testament during the time of Christ you had the mass killing of young children, once again ordained by law [King] in order to wipe out the Messiah. In this instance as well it was a demonically inspired political expediency that allowed it to happen. The King was feeling his position and authority were threatened by this ‘King of the Jews’ so he simply decided to wipe them all out. Our generation has seen the ‘blood lust’ attack to go out and destroy with abandon a whole generation of youth. God has a tremendous destiny for this generation, the enemy knows this and he’s trying to wipe them out, it’s a shame that once again political expediency is giving cover to one of the greatest ‘genocides’ on the history of the planet! NOTE: Scripture speaks of the blood of innocent murdered people ‘crying out from the ground’ [Cain and Abel] God ‘hears’ the cries of innocent people who were wrongfully killed. God judges nations and societies based on their treatment of the widows and children. The present state of ‘politics’ today [2007] is unbelievably childish and irresponsible. You have national leaders of one party going to do their own diplomacy, with terrorist nations like Syria, over the objections of the President in order to show their own political weight, even at the expense of national policy. Sorry, I don’t care if it’s a Democrat or Republican. When you get to the point of your party leaders deciding they will have their own shadow presidency, that’s bad. Now I say this for a reason, the BLOOD of innocent children cries out from the ground. A society will not continue to exist as it ‘builds a foundation’ upon the blood of innocents. The political division that is leading to real trouble for this nation is a judgment of God upon the same political system that time and again gave it’s voice to allow for the murder of innocent babies. This system cannot continue to stand with all the ‘blood’ that it has spilled on the ground! NOTE; you must see that we are not simply speaking about a woman’s right to choose or some medical procedure. We are dealing with an entire generation of little children that we are wiping out at a tremendous rate. More minorities than whites. What more of a racist act can occur than the systematic destruction of your culture and heritage by the wholesale murder of your babies? Whenever you had a time in history where a whole group of people were being killed or enslaved by another group, you eventually had enough voices ‘from the other groups’ of society that would hear the atrocities from the victims themselves. The Holocaust survivors and the slave trade of this nation. The ‘voices’ of desperate pleas for help would eventually leak out into society and humanity would come to the defense of the oppressed. In the case of abortion it is the inability of the child to speak that has allowed this genocide to continue for so long. It is incumbent upon humanity [not just the church!] to see this atrocity and to speak for those who have no voice. We speak out on the murder of seals and animals, we even show the endangered eggs and embryos of animals, but yet the actual ‘embryos’ of humans are treated like trash. Atrocious acts of violence need explicit language to fully show the horror of it all. NOTE: during the debate on the floor of congress a few years ago, they were debating the ban on partial birth abortion. During the debate someone had a baby in the building. In the midst of the debate you could hear the baby crying. The floor went silent for a second. This was the one time where the ‘voice’ of a potential victim was heard!
(276) The last 3 entries on abortion [275-277] were just written from 2:30 am to now, 5:40 am. I woke up this morning with no thought of any subject. As far as I knew I was not going to write anything today. I will be going to work in about an hour and had no plans to speak. I did ask the Lord during prayer and waking up if he had anything to say today, and I wrote the last 3 entries off the top of my head. God wants us to speak when he tells us to. He is not concerned with simply giving us a voice and forum so people can ‘hear us speak’. To a great degree the church has made the ‘public speaker’ a position of performance to titillate the audience. We ‘worship’ preachers like the world worships rock stars. God simply wants to have people give voice to his concerns; he is not looking for ‘superstars’. NOTE: I just walked back outside to finish praying and saw the sky a strange color of red/orange. I don’t remember seeing it quite like this before. I immediately thought of the verse ‘the moon shall turn to blood before the judgment of the Lord’ and others like this. Couldn’t help but see this as a sign of the things I have been writing the last few hours. Sort of like God was saying ‘these things are reaching a ‘full cup’ stage and my judgment is near’ don’t want to sound melodramatic, but thought I should tell you this. NOTE; the violence of this act is unbelievable. The deception of those Senators and supreme court justices who allow for the actual dismembering of 5-8 month old babies in the womb under the guise of a ‘woman’s right’ is appalling. The infamous Dredd Scott decision by the Supreme Court was a wrong decision that allowed for the discrimination of our black brothers. The decision of Roe V Wade allows for the mass extermination, by tortuous dismemberment, of an entire generation of babies. Surely every Politician and Jurist that has given voice to this atrocity will give an account to God. NOTE: Let me show you how deception works. The political landscape of our country has the ‘right wing conservatives’ with their patriarchal suits and ties defending the unborn. The political left has the ‘open minded, right for a woman to choose’ defending the freedoms of all people as they hunt down these babies in the womb with abandon. Many of the women fight for years for this so called right, only to arrive at the day where they are on the operating table destroying their beautiful baby. This whole process must have satan laughing with all his heart. There have also been proponents of abortion who will testify that after they had aborted their first child, no matter how many people aligned with them politically, they could never forget or escape the maternal love and guilt over what they did. They were told over and again ‘don’t let that conservative bunch make you feel guilty’ finally coming to the place where they were alone in some apartment and simply realized that they allowed the framing of this whole argument lead to the atrocious murder of her little baby. They realized that ‘winning’ was not really defined as a woman’s right to choose, but it was defined as actually killing the baby. The mindset of the so-called ‘right to choose’ crowd was really looking for the kill. Most women who were counseled by the Planned Parenthood counselors really felt an environment that made you feel inferior if you didn’t ‘choose to abort’. If you were thinking of actually having the child, the mindset of the right to choose people would turn against you. This showing that its more of a political game of which side will win, its just a shame that the way they keep score is by counting the dead bodies of babies!
(277) A while back I sent a packet of books and stuff to a fairly major prophet in the U.S. I have done this a lot over the years. Many of you wouldn’t recognize the name, some might. In ‘prophetic circles’ he is widely known and has a worldwide ministry. I later found out that he and his wife were battling cancer, I didn’t know this when I sent the stuff, but sent another note and have prayed for them to be healed. This particular prophet never wrote me back [that’s OK] but others have, thanking me for the books and stuff. [Now that I think about it Eagles Nest sent me a nice thank you note a while back after I sent them some stuff] But anyway I felt like sharing something from this. As this brother and his wife battle cancer, I have gone to their site from time to time to see how they are doing. The brother is a good man; they are really fighting hard, lots of warfare imagery. Confessions that this could never be Gods will and sincere things to get healed. I kind of feel bad that this brother has been warring and ‘not believing’ the bad reports and all sorts of strenuous warfare to get healed. I don’t mean to be critical; I love the brother and have prayed for them on more than a few occasions. I simply felt there was a type of ‘spiritual warfare legalism’ that causes us to lose our rest in Christ. The healings of Jesus in the New Testament were primarily gracious acts of healing that the Lord ‘carried the burden for’. A sense of God taking the warfare himself. I know there is credence to confessing scripture and claiming the healing verses, I have done this myself and it does work. I just felt sometimes our battle is simply learning to rest and trust in God, without a whole bunch of ‘spiritual energy’ being displayed on our part. I remember reading the stories of other believers who might not be as charismatic or ‘prophetically’ inclined as this brother. They seemed to live their final days simply writing and speaking of Gods grace and simply recognizing the shortness of life. I am not saying we should accept with resignation our mortality and die before our days. I am just showing you there is an overall theme of the shortness of our days spoken about in scripture, sometimes it is a tremendous testimony to watch a believer ‘finish his days’ with grace and rest. Sometimes God miraculously heals. I don’t fault anyone for doing all they can to see them or their loved ones healed. It’s just sometimes we don’t see all that we want, and to finish gracefully can be a ‘seed’ that will go on and produce fruit for many years after we are gone.
(278) Scripture actually speaks of ‘speaking out on behalf of the poor and oppressed’. There is a fundamental principle of speaking up for social justice issues and defending the innocent. This is why it was a prophetic ministry when Martin Luther King led the civil rights movement. There were many ‘southern denominations’ that did not grasp this reality. The church doesn’t just exist to ‘get people saved’ she exists also as a voice for justice in the earth. Today one of the ‘unseen’ forms of institutional racism is economic oppression. For various reasons you have entire groups of people that have been ‘left behind’ as society around them progressed. This is also why you have certain black preachers who honestly preach the prosperity message, thinking they are speaking economic justice into the black community. They mean well, but preaching materialism isn’t the answer, preaching biblical responsibility and racial equality is. Today you have some black leaders, like Bill Cosby, who are taking a real stand by coming against the ‘victim mentality’ that certain leaders embrace. Cosby says it’s time to teach responsibility and ethics to the young generation of black kids coming up. I do agree. I believe it fundamentally hurts racial reconciliation to teach affirmative action. To simply look at 2 black kids, and one white. And to flat out say ‘these 2 get 5 points on their application for their gene pool, and you, the white kid do not get the points because you are white’ is racist at it’s core. I do understand the tortured reasoning that leads people to do this. They feel this is the answer to undoing the years of institutional racism that has locked the door to many blacks in the past. Some feel that the opportunities were closed for so long, that to be neutral now still doesn’t open the door. The main problem is to give anyone ‘extra points based on genes’ is racist. Even if you think it is for a good cause. Racism is racism no matter what. Doing ‘reverse racism’ leads to the growth of white supremacists and others. They see the obvious racism of what I just told you. They see the politicians unwilling to admit it, and this leads to an extreme response. You have ‘the black congressional caucus’ in congress. You would never get away with a white one. All representatives should represent all people. If a white guy said I am elected to look out for the rights of white people, this would be wrong. In the fire service you have the ‘Hispanic firefighters union’ of course you couldn’t have a white one. These things are unequal. Some believe we should be ‘unequal’ in order to even the playing field, but this simply discriminates against one race for the benefit of another, which my friend is what I call ‘racism’. NOTE: I also am aware of the black leaders who teach it is impossible for a black person to be racist because he doesn’t have the institutional superiority to affect it. All you have to do is listen to a Farrakhan or many of the past comments of Al Sharpton to see that racism isn’t a sin evident only in the white community.
(279) Lets jump out of character a little. During a discussion I had with a ministry leader in our City, I shared the function of the church at Corinth and showed him how during their gatherings they all shared and functioned. I showed him this to explain that I felt the Lord is changing the practice of church from an environment of people who come and listen to a Pastor preach, to an environment of all Gods people sharing together. This doesn’t mean there will never be an instructional time where a Pastor or Apostle or another gifted person can share or preach a sermon, but it shows that the original intent of God for the church was one of interactive involvement of all it’s members. My ministry friend disagreed and said that Paul was just dealing with the ‘home group’ here, and the ‘regular church’ was another thing/place. The mistake my friend made was ‘seeing’ scripture thru the paradigm of church as we practice it today. He sincerely took scripture that addressed the ‘church at Corinth’ [all the believers at Corinth] and read his own mindset into it. The scriptures in Corinthians that deal with how the believers were meeting IS THE CHURCH AT CORINTH. There was not ‘the home groups’ and ‘the main sanctuary meetings’ now if your church has this distinction, fine. The point I was making to my friend was Paul was addressing THE CHURCH when he gave them instructions on how to meet practically. When believers meet anywhere and share the love of Christ and mutually build each other up, that is church in its most simple form. To read Corinthians and ‘see’ another sanctuary service ‘down the road’ is a good example of how we read scripture thru the lens of our own understanding. Let me also say it’s a common mistake among modern cell church movements to read the meetings of the Church at Jerusalem at the Temple [actually they ‘held’ services in Solomon’s Porch, which was an outside courtyard!] and to read into this that the early Christians had ‘sanctuary’ services and ‘home meetings’. This isn’t so. The only Christians that had ‘temple’ services were those at Jerusalem. All the gentile churches [Ephesians, Corinth, etc.] met in homes. This is a fact that doesn’t change. Does this mean all gentiles must only meet in homes? No. I am just showing you there was no pattern of ‘temple’ and ‘home’ groups. Also some advocates of radical reform see Paul’s warning to the Ephesian elders in the book of acts as a warning against the modern clergy system. Paul told the Ephesus church that AFTER MY DEPARTURE, WOLVES WILL RISE UP FROM AMONG YOU [from the believers] and will draw away disciples after themselves. Some see the rise of the ‘singular Pastor’ as a fulfillment of this scripture [I don’t necessarily hold to this view, but I do see some credence to this speaking of the strong personality worship that exists in the church today] Others also use 3rd John and the example of Diotrophes as one who ‘loved to have the preeminence’ and would not receive the brothers. Some see in these examples a strong warning from the early Apostles to avoid strong singular authorities who are looked to as the authority of a local church. I do believe there is some truth to these insights. My goal today is to simply challenge your present understanding of ‘going to church on Sunday’ to seeing yourself as the actual ‘temple of God’ that moves and interacts in the world around them. God brought his presence out of a Temple made with hands and put it in his people, we must not lose sight of this great reality! NOTE: In the book of revelation it says the ‘City of God’ is ‘as a bride adorned for her husband’. We also know that the New Testament calls us ‘the New Jerusalem, the Zion of God’ basically John is writing prophetic imagery in Revelation. It also says ‘there was no temple in it, God himself and the Lamb are the temple’ [we dwell in God] but it also says the Lamb is the light of the City. The only logical way to fit all these images without contradicting is to see the City/Temple being the Church of the living God. As the ‘body of Christ’ we are a real extension of ‘the Lamb’ so the Lamb can be the City, the Temple or the Light of the Temple. Jesus is the light of the Church, he illuminates us by the Spirit. It’s important to grasp this major change of thought from the earthly Jewish Temple, to the heavenly spiritual one. If you don’t rightly see this you will not interpret scripture properly! [By the way I do believe in a literal heaven!] NOTE: A common mistake amongst Apostolic ministries is thinking that it is a biblical mandate to have ‘a spiritual Father’ [and Mother]. I was reading from an apostles site and it gave some testimonies from Pastors Who said the reason they now have a spiritual Father and Mother [speaking of the Apostle and his wife] was because the bible teaches we have natural ones, therefore we should have spiritual ones. The ‘spiritual’ father is God and the mother is the ‘church’ according to Paul. He says ‘THE NEW JERUSALEM IS THE MOTHER OF US ALL’. Paul does tell the Corinthians that he is their spiritual father. But he is basically saying ‘I birthed you guys into the Kingdom; you are the fruit of my Apostolic ministry. Listen to me for correction, not all these others who are trying to bring you under their authority’. Paul was not advocating for people to go out and find Apostles and make them and their wives their ‘spiritual father and mother’.
(280) Reading Isaiah 44. The Lord says the people made idols out of that which God provided for their sustenance, that is Gods resource to them [trees in Isaiah, money and Gods provision now]. They ‘deck it with gold’ [in Jeremiah?] they worship that which God gave as provision and made it their God. They ‘prayed to it’ and saw it as the answer to their dilemma [if we just had this transference of wealth we could accomplish our mission!] They became just like that which they worshipped. Their idols were blind and deaf and dumb. They became blind [unable to perceive] deaf [unable to hear reproof] and dumb [God took away their voice from society, the church at large]. Because of their worship of the idols they ‘became foolish in their understanding and were ashamed’ their foolishness was seen by all [many even from the secular media have said ‘how can you think Jesus was this money focused mega star, he was a carpenters son!’ Even Larry King, a Jewish talk show host said this about the modern money preachers] HE FEEDETH ON ASHES, A DECIEVED HEART HATH TURNED HIM ASIDE The fact that they ‘fed’ off of their own shallow belief system, caused them to become shallow in their understanding of scripture, unable to see the most obvious things! GOD FRUSTRATED THOSE WHO WERE LYING AND TURNED THESE WISE MEN BACKWARD AND MADE THEIR KNOWLEDGE FOOLISH and at the end God forgave those who were willing to repent and he restored them. First comes strong rebuke, but then a true restoration to the original purpose of God. NOTE: It says they fell down and worshipped THE STOCK OF A TREE paper money is made from the ‘stock of a tree’ the way you worship something is by seeing that thing as your goal, confession, desire. Just thinking about it gives you great satisfaction. You spend a great amount of your thought life strategizing and dreaming about making more of it. It’s a deadly pursuit. Jesus says you don’t have time for God and mammon, the worship of mammon consumes too much time! NOTE It also says that a judgment on those who are held captive by idolatry/covetousness is they are unable to see the most obvious things in scripture. One of the strangest things I have seen from the more extreme prosperity brothers is the inability to read the passages of scripture that PLAINLY deal with covetousness and to SEE what these passages are saying. I heard a brother teach on 1st Timothy 6 [both a local brother and 2 national ones] I guess they were getting some heat from guys like me who tell people that 1st Timothy 6 totally deconstructs the modern prosperity gospel. When they were done trying to teach the chapter they were making it say the exact opposite of the plain meaning of Paul’s words. Paul in Timothy warns Timothy about a ‘coming’ group of preachers who will teach that gain is godliness. At one point Paul says FLEE THESE THINGS AND INSTEAD LAY HOLD ON ETERNAL LIFE. The context of this passage was explained by a prosperity guy to mean Paul was telling Timothy to ‘lay hold of abundant material wealth’ he exegetes the word ‘eternal life’ and showed that one of the definitions speaks of ‘wealth in every area’ he then made the conclusion that Paul told Timothy to ‘lay hold of wealth’ This brother didn’t see that when you exegete [study the meaning] of a word you can find many different definitions that apply at different times [Jesus says ‘save a sheep’ or a coin in his parables. This is the same word for ‘save a soul’ in salvation. The text shows you that Jesus isn’t saying ‘save’ in the same way when he talks about sheep and humans] this basic mistake caused the prosperity guy to take the actual warnings in scripture that deal with covetousness and made it teach covetousness. I have seen this twisted interpretation over and over again from many of these guys. This is a judgment from God on those who choose to preach a wealthy Jesus. God says those who distort his Sons image are committing idolatry. One of the judgments on those who commit idolatry is that there wisdom becomes foolishness; they are held captive by their own distorted views. I do pray that these brothers would repent from this stuff. I have personally sent them books and things over the years. It’s just it got to a point where they refuse reproof and we are now at a stage where we are trying to keep a whole new generation of believers from going down this path.
(281) Lets overview a few things. We have covered verses that said ‘the people go out and cut down a tree a make it into the form of a man, they also cover the tree/idol with gold, they worship the image of their mind’ idolatry is forming a ‘man’ into the image that you desire, and blatantly ‘decking him with wealth’ OUCH! [Remember we mentioned in Galatians Paul said some were preaching another Jesus, this ‘other’ Jesus that some preach today is ‘an image of a man’ that is adorned/decked with expensive jewelry and wealth!] Also the image in my mind this morning [its 2:37 am at the fire house] is that of dismembered baby parts all thru out this country. Understand many of these dismemberings took place on the ‘altar of convenience’ i.e.: ‘we can’t AFFORD this child right now’ God have mercy on us as a people. A few scriptures that are coming to mind. I WILL POUR WATER UPON HIM THAT IS THIRSTY [you Pastors and leaders specifically] AND FLOODS UPON THE DRY GROUND. I WILL POUR MY SPIRIT ON YOUR SEED AND MY BLESSING UPON YOUR OFFSRPING Some of our readers have known us forever, and you guys are still getting ‘poured on’ Great! But I want you to start POURING ON OTHERS. God is going to ‘pour’ on key Pastors/Leaders and allow for you to attain great influence and open doors in the nations. Many of the things these teachings are going to rapidly advance thru the land. GOD IS GOING TO FLOOD THE DRY GROUND There is an individual ‘pouring’ on ‘him’ that is thirsty. You thirsty leaders are drinking much from this place/site, but God is also ‘pouring’ regionally. Some who have heard us in the past have thought ‘thank God this brother doesn’t have a lot of influence’ well the Lord seems to have changed that. Not for personalities sake, for his purpose. Be a part of pouring the stuff out that he has poured into you! God pours on individuals that are thirsty, so they can be rejuvenated to help pour out on the seed [corporate community] God pours ‘buckets of water’ on the dry ground. One person can only haul so many buckets. 2 can haul more, but a 3-fold cord is not easily broken. Once a ‘grouping’ of Prophetic/Apostolic brothers start disseminating new/fresh revelation, it becomes very hard to stop it at that point THY SEED AND THY NAME SHALL REMAIN. THIS IS THE COVENANT THAT I WILL MAKE WITH YOU, MY WORDS THAT I HAVE PUT IN THY MOUTH SHALL NOT DEPART OUT OF THY MOUTH, NOR OUT OF THE MOUTH OF THY SEED FROM THIS TIME FORTH AND FOREVER MORE. Many of our leader friends and ‘regular’ friends for many years, run with the things the Lord has showed you. I have been running myself for a long time with these things, take the baton! BE STRONG AND OF A GOOD COURAGE, BE NOT AFRAID, NIETHER BE THOU DISMAYED, FOR THE LORD THY GOD IS WITH THEE WITHERSOEVER THOU GOEST Go somewhere! GET OUT OF THE CITY AND DWELL IN THE FIELDS, EVEN BABYLON. THERE I WILL BE WITH YOU AND THERE I WILL DELIVER YOU FROM THE HAND OF THE ENEMY you have to be in enemy territory to be delivered from enemies! THE GATES OF HELL SHALL NOT PREVAIL AGAINST THE CHURCH [ecclesia]. We too often read church as the stagnant place. But read it as ecclesia, the mobile force and community of God. When we ‘mobilize’ and ‘set up camp’ in enemy territory it becomes an outpost for God. We are the ambassadors representing the Kingdom in that place. Before too long the inhabitants of ‘that place’ become citizens of the Kingdom we represent and we have taken ground for the kingdom. THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN SUFFERETH VIOLENCE AND THE VIOLENT TAKE IT BY FORCE The concept of one nation taking up residence in another land and then influencing that society for God is seen strongly in the Old Testament nation of Israel. God allowed for ‘proselytes’ and foreigners to come in and be part of Gods society. This is voiced in Ephesians by Paul. Speaking of us being strangers to the covenant, and now thru Christ being adopted in. Also in the book of Acts it speaks of ‘God Fearers’ this wasn’t a reference to people who just ‘feared God’ it was speaking of outsiders who were embracing Judaism but were not fully converted yet. So we see the intent of God to first reveal himself to a group/nation of people. But that nation is not supposed to ‘contain’ him, but reveal him to all the surrounding nations. The light under a bushel and not being on the candlestick were images that Jesus used to reprove the Jews of the 1st century. They took Gods glory that was specifically given to them to share, and they became ‘self righteous’. They chose to ‘separate’ from society in a legalistic way that said ‘we are better than you, stay away’. Jesus would rebuke this mindset over and over again in the parables. Many Christians today, in certain isolated forms of church, practice this kind of legalism. They view ‘church’ as a place to go and stay clean from the world. They miss the original intent of God, which was to influence the world. Get that light out from under the cover; get that salt out into society. It wasn’t given to us so we could ‘dig a whole and bury it in the ground’ [I think I heard a popular speaker say this once?]
(282) I remember being at work one day and a friend of mine was on the phone with his bank. I could hear him arguing about the fact that they messed up his account balance. He was supposed to have around $20.00 dollars, instead it was showing his normal balance of $1.oo. After he hung up I told him I also had problems with this bank before. I threatened to take my money and do business with another bank. I told him I would have advised you to make the same threat, but I don’t know if it would have much clout, considering the average balance you run in your account! Yesterday they fired the radio guy [Don Imus] that I mentioned the other day. One of the reasons is Al Sharpton and others convinced the sponsors to pull the ads from the show. I said earlier [before others were saying it!] that I thought he should be fired because of his racist remarks. Well now you have both sides [black and white] arguing over race. I do believe Sharpton is a major hypocrite as trying to be the voice in this. He, till this day, oppresses innocent people publicly over the Tawanna Brawley case. Not only did a grand jury clear these white men who he accused of raping a black girl, but the jury said it was all made up. There’s a big difference between being found not guilty, and a jury saying the charges are proved to be false. Not only does Sharpton not apologize for ruining these white guys lives who he racially accused, he still says he believes one of the guys is guilty. This isn’t an O.J. Simpson ‘not guilty’ verdict. This is a real obvious persecution of this white guy. Jesse Jackson refused to get involved in this case at the beginning because all the local ‘in the know’ leaders, even the black ones, knew this was a fake charge made by a scared girl who spent the night out with a boyfriend and made the story up. I really don’t blame the girl; I blame Sharpton for building a civil rights persona at the expense of falsely accusing a white guy. He is obviously a racist. Now, to admit that there are racists on both sides allows there to be reconciliation. To deny it perpetuates the problem. The money story about my friend shows how if you can effect an organization, because you have the money to do it, then they will listen. If you don’t, then they will not [most times]. These organizations [C.B.S. and N.B.C.] who only fired someone because of the money are certainly not moral authorities, don’t fool yourself.
(283) A few years ago I read the autobiography of Bob Dylan ‘Chronicles’. It got great reviews and I am an old rock and roll fan. I love going to the rock stores in the malls and checking out the stuff. Recently Brad Delp committed suicide; he was the lead singer for ‘Boston’. I read a statement from a family member. It said ‘he gave all he could give and was tired’. Others said he was the nicest guy in rock and roll. He was one of the few who didn’t party or drink. He was health conscious, his lyrics were uplifting, a lot of old rockers wont admit that the group was good, it’s sort of being wimpy to like a group who isn’t radical. Its like ozzy Osborne said to his wife when he walked in to the auditorium where they were giving the concert that night. His wife Sharon had fixed up the special effects where some machine was blowing out bubbles. Ozzy says ‘I cant have this Sharon, I’m supposed to be the ‘bleep, bleep’ prince of darkness, and you have bubbles blowing out’ [I saw this on their reality show on MTV]. I have a John Lennon poster hanging on my wall. I read an article on Lennon how in the 70’s he was watching a famous T.V. evangelist and accepted the Lord. He was actually going around for a few months witnessing for Jesus. His wife Yoko, who isn’t Christian, revolted against this. She convinced him of all the ‘horrors’ of Christianity and he eventually walked away [thanks again Yoko!] He even wrote a song about this, how his wife ‘opened his eyes’ to the wrong path he was going down. Dylan also accepted the Lord and even made a Christian album, Slow Train Coming [you know I like train imagery!] I found it interesting to know that Lennon was actually preaching for the Lord in 1977 in New York City, while I was getting stoned about a half mile away on the other side of the Hudson River listening to his music! In the Dylan book he talks about coming to New York and having some friends who he would just ‘crash’ at their houses and live this nomadic existence as he was learning about life. A lot of the underground music scene was thriving in the City at the time. One of his buddies had a great collection of all sorts of philosophers and historical books. Dylan spent hours reading all these ideas and concepts and reasons for society. It was like having a ‘Google’ in written form. I have spent years reading and buying books. Accessing the Library and becoming a student this way. The last 3 years I have done a ton of research on line. You can’t beat Google for an exhaustive search on any subject being right at your fingertips. But the many years of manual study adds a depth to your understanding that doesn’t come with a Google search. I felt like the death of Delp [Boston] was prophetic for me. I used to play an old Boston C.D. when I first moved to Corpus. I hadn’t played it in a long time and just recently started listening to it. Then Delp died. This is 2007, a year where I felt the Lord said we would ‘die’ to many old things and familiar surroundings [things that we rely on] and we would ‘come alive’ to other things. I still love ‘More Than a Feeling, Long Time’ and a few other Boston hits. Sorry Ozzy.
(284) When God wants to do a reform/revolution he does it at many levels at the same time. The difficult thing for the reformer[s] is you get those ‘being challenged’ all mad at you at one time! It does take ‘guts’ to be a pioneer. One time when Jesus was rebuking one group, the other group said ‘don’t you know you are offending us too’ [Pharisees and Lawyers] Jesus said he didn’t care. Let them get offended. Every plant that the Father didn’t plant will be uprooted. It’s funny because we have a lot of Apostles/Prophets upset with us. Though we all believe and function in these gifts together. Then we have the whole crowd of old time churches who simply think we are heretics because we believe in Apostles! It can be funny at times [or if you don’t have boldness you could describe it like the Governor of California says ‘girly men’ it wont be ‘funny’ you will be scared! I would attempt to spell Arnolds name but I don’t have time to spell it right!] So lets do a little ‘reforming’. Recently those who are feeling challenged in the whole area of ‘going to church’ have resorted to the classic verses to defend ‘going to church’ FORSAKE NOT THE GATHERING OF OURSELVES TOGETHER AS SOME. HE THAT SEPARATES HIMSELF SEEKS HIS OWN DESIRE lets put some context. Those in the radical ‘out of the church building on Sunday’ movement for the most part practice the ‘assembling of themselves together’ in a more scriptural way than ‘Sunday church’. Also Paul wrote this to the Hebrews, the Jews had a custom of meeting on Sabbath; Paul is simply saying when you transition into this New Covenant keep getting together! You are forsaking old sacrificial ways and law, but keep assembling. This is also why you find the ‘congregation’ and assembly mentioned in James. The Jewish context of those being addressed required them to deal with ‘assembling’ because they already ‘assembled’ as Jews. Also to use these verses to ‘push back’ against the Body of Christ finding freedom and maturity is simply a result of Pastors responding to reform out of insecurity. You can ‘go to church every Sunday for the rest of your life’ and still be ‘separating yourself’ from the purpose of God. When old time preachers do this kind of defense, I know they are sincere, but we must be willing to change!
(285) I had a friend who was investing in some real estate. He kind of asked for advice. Didn’t want to be obvious about it, but he knew I had done this in the past and wanted input. I gave him some, he didn’t listen and I think he is suffering for it, oh well. During the conversation he was telling me about the houses he will keep, and the ones he will flip in about 15 years. The others he will pay on for the full 30-year mortgage and pay them off. He was around 50 years old at the time of this discussion. I told him that one of the other mistakes people make when investing is to not count their own mortality into the scenario. You very well might be dead in 30 years! I am even bold with financial advice! I wasn’t really rude, but you could tell that my friend who was all consumed with having a few million for retirement, strategizing on more money, taking courses and studying on investment schemes. He wasn’t calculating in his own mortality. He doesn’t have kids. All you need is enough money to last for a few years, sorry if you don’t like to hear this, but it’s true. Financial advisors will tell you that people often make this mistake. They calculate in the million dollars they need at age 70. They look at how much interest they need to generate off the account, and they do not calculate the eventual need to withdraw the principal over a measured period of time in a responsible manner. Why? Because there is a natural tendency in man to avoid the fact that you will die! Be smart in investing and build a nest egg, that’s all right. Just don’t be buying houses at 50 and think you might flip it in 30 years. You might not be around to ‘do the flipping’! NOTE: as you see I live in a world of extremes, one day my friends are thinking like this, the next day I am working with the guy who runs the $1.oo balance in his account! [He does run more I am sure, I just caught him at a bad time]
(286) My daughter who works for the Vet. brought home a blind dog the other day. The owners were moving to Iraq and couldn’t take her. So they dropped it off to be put to sleep. Sad. Well now she lives with me [2 dogs 10 cats] she is old and cute. Her eyes are ‘cloudy’ like when it says in the book of Acts that Paul had ‘scales’ on his eyes. I left her in my yard for a few minutes and went inside. Came out and she was all wet. She obviously baptized herself in my pond! A strange thing happened. Her cloudy eyes were completely clear accept for the pupils. I have no idea if this was do to the adrenaline rush or what. This pond is fixed up to look like the Hudson River area where I grew up. When praying in my yard I pray for all my friends up north while walking past this ‘pool’. Pools and basins of water do represent healings and cleansings in scripture GO WASH IN THE POOL OF SILOAM and the LAVERS surrounding the Tabernacle in the Old Testament. And yes, the Baptism of John in the Jordan! I like the symbol of this new dog to the family. She was ‘at our table’ for a few days and got a ‘baptism’ that caused the ‘scales’ to fall from her eyes. Isaiah said the Spirit of the Lord was on Jesus to OPEN BLIND EYES I trust you new additions to our ‘family’ are getting your eyes opened, it can be scary [the dog was terrified after falling in] but it’s a new day for many of you!
(287) Reading Isaiah again, some stuff from chapter 45. God says his anointing subdues nations [large regions] looses Kings [leaders] from captivity [things that they didn’t even know were holding them back]. God goes before his anointed and breaks in pieces the gates and bars that people trusted would protect their borders [territory]. WOE TO THOSE WHO STRIVE WITH THEIR MAKER some will fight back against what God is doing and it will be harmful to them. Pride will cause them to see the reproof as ‘Oh, it's those critics again’ not realizing that this time certain things have come full circle and the Lord will not let certain things stand anymore. Those whom God anoints will LET GO THE CAPTIVES, NOT FOR PRICE OR REWARD there only motivation is to free the people and finish the purpose of God. THEY SHALL GO TO CONFUSION TOGETHER THAT ARE MAKERS OF IDOLS In the past when they were reproved they were able to ‘whether out the storm’ but not this time. They go into confusion together this time; the only hope is to finally truly address these same rebukes they have heard thru out their lives. I HAVE NOT SPOKEN IN SECRET, OR IN A DARK PLACE God says I have made these things plain, the only thing preventing many from changing is spiritual pride. LOOK UNTO ME ALL THE ENDS OF THE EARTH/ EVERY KNEE SHALL BOW AND EVERY TONGUE CONFESS all people involved will find harmony and peace when there is mutual submission to the Lord ship of Christ. All will bow! MEN OF STATURE SHALL COME OVER TO THEE AND THEY SHALL BE THINE Some influential Kingdom leaders will be persuaded this time around. They themselves have questioned many of these things but this time they know for sure which path to take.
(288) I am up early at work. I want to share a little on ‘territorial expansion’. Since 2004 I have been doing early prayer. Sometimes getting up at midnight, other times around 2:30 AM [like this morning] it’s been 3 years now and I believe this is a permanent thing for me now. This preceded the Lord giving us regional expansion. As a ministry who has no income [I pay for the stuff I do, others volunteer as family] the Lord has given us a lot of area. I have been praying over an area that covers our radio audience for a while. That’s from Houston over to San Antonio, down to Laredo thru the Valley and back up to Corpus. I kind of was happy with ‘staying’ in this perimeter [plus New York area]. I kind of felt the Lord saying ‘go to Dallas, Fort Worth’ but I really felt comfortable with the area we are in. I finally incorporated Dallas/Fort Worth in. While our program doesn’t reach Dallas, I do want to advertise this blog site there. It’s sort of like when I wrote about Jesus telling Peter to ‘cast the nets’ he was telling Peter ‘this is a time of multiple castings you will need to multi task at this season. If I say ‘nets’ don’t think ‘net’. I just felt like there are times when God opens many doors at once, in our fear and lack of faith we have a tendency to want ‘survival’ when God is speaking ‘expansion’! NOTE: While I was at work debating whether or not to add Dallas to our ‘perimeter’ I also had a list of some of our key people opened, I was just starting a new page in my address book that will list all the cities and people who are sponsoring a home group. Just as I started writing the list one of our key people showed up at work. He is one of the original drug addicts that we reached out to 20 years ago. He has been clean for a long time. He is just getting ready to graduate with a degree from A&M University. Today we will be getting together and this week we will launch a group in Kingsville, our original city. This all happened while debating whether or not to reach Dallas. Remember; when God is speaking ‘nets’ [multiple] don’t think ‘net’. Also I want to remind you of a verse REMEMBER THE WORD WHICH MOSES THE SERVANT OF THE LORD COMMANDED YOU, SAYING THE LORD YOUR GOD HAS GIVEN YOU REST, AND HAS GIVEN YOU THIS LAND. YOUR WIVES AND LITTLE ONES SHALL REMAIN IN THE LAND THAT THE LORD GAVE YOU ON THIS SIDE OF JORDAN, BUT YOU SHALL GO BEFORE YOUR BRETHREN ARMED, ALL THE MIGHTY MEN OF VALOUR AND HELP THEM UNTIL THE LORD HAS GIVEN THEM REST LIKE YOU God permits you to have a ‘home base’ of security and stability, so you will branch out and help others expand the kingdom. Don’t stay comfortable in the land, if you ‘store up too much Manna’ it will rot!
(289) As I have been reading sites from other areas where we are reaching out to, I recognize some of the names of people. Around 15 years ago we had a good brother come to corpus to preach at a conference. I remember him saying how he was ‘seeing’ all the deceptions of the prosperity movement and he had to back down because of mercy and love. You got the feeling that he was seeing some stuff, and for young guys it’s hard to believe that so much teaching can be so wrong. I could tell that he was seeing a lot of the stuff you see from this site, but out of fear couldn’t make the leap. He was around my age at the time [30]. Later on during a dinner with some of the preachers, I was invited. I didn’t ‘reprove’ or argue. I was just fellowshipping. Some how the prosperity gospel came up. I told him I just spent a year making radio tapes exposing the flaws of the movement. You could see that he was a little shaken. Sort of like realizing all the things he really wanted to say, but didn’t, were right! He also argued a little with me over some of the money verses. THOUGH JESUS WAS RICH, HE BECAME POOR SO WE COULD BE RICH he made an honest effort to say ‘it might be talking about money’ I just said ‘no it’s not’. Paul is the same guy who wrote all these other verses you see me teach on, there is NO WAY Paul is telling the Corinthians that Jesus died to increase their portfolio! Being we were both the same age and all, and being he himself knew I was right, it kind of shook him up that he didn’t preach this stuff at the conference, you could tell it. By the way you can take the verse I just quoted and make it say MONEY if you want. But you would have to go thru the same distorted way to interpret that I have showed you before on this site. Just about every cult in the world has bible verses, this doesn’t mean they are right! NOTE: to our critics, I was recording tapes for our radio program on KCTA prior to launching the show. I was also broadcasting on smaller venues already. NOTE during the phase a few years back when a lot of this stuff was first being dealt with, there were a lot of sincere brothers who didn’t want to face these issues. There is almost a sense of ‘if this stuff is as deceptive as it looks, it’s too bad to even admit it’ I remember hearing a national minister say at the time ‘ a lot of people are criticizing the prosperity movement, the lord told me when you get to heaven and see all the souls that were won by the money they brought in they will have great rewards’ [p.s. he has since changed his stance]. The problem with this reasoning is Paul and Jesus warned over and over again about the dangers of materialism. The leaders needed to speak with a clear voice many of the things I was saying. This cloudy view was making it difficult for those involved to break free.
(290) Let s go thru some stuff. I woke up yesterday at 3:00 am, felt like I needed to do some specific prayer. Some times I include about an hour and a half of specific intercession while doing ‘all night’ prayer. This list of things has grown and evolved over the last 20 years, but it has kept the basic structure for the most part, Family, Nations, Fellow believers and even old friends from Jersey. I have actually been praying specifically for you guys, often by name, for over 20 years! Well I didn’t get to do the ‘specific set’ yesterday, so I am now up at 2:45 am, been up since 1, and will make a second attempt soon. First lets do some stuff. I recently read an overview of the first book the Pope put out since becoming Pope. I will get it when it comes out in English. He wrote exactly what I have been speaking on the last month or so. He speaks on the dangers of Marxism [communism] as a form of govt. that pushed out God, though it had noble designs in its attempt to have all people ‘equal’ in society. He spoke on the dangers of capitalism as a type of govt. that can fall to the temptation of materialism. He spoke on materialism as an enemy of the church and how western society has fallen into this sin without realizing it. These themes are almost exactly what I have taught! It’s humbling to see God speak the same thing to an insignificant preacher on the gulf coast, as he is speaking to the Pope in Rome! During the time of slavery in this country there were many southern preachers who defended slavery from scripture. Many of these men were sincere, some were not. The sincere ones even had reputations as Christians that their own slaves vouched for. Some slave holders were cruel and abusive, some were actually good to their slaves [as good as you can be considering you have a slave!] The Christian slave holders read the actual verses in the New Testament where Paul writes to slaves and says SLAVES BE OBEDIENT TO YOUR MASTERS IN EVERY WAY, SO YOU DON’T GIVE THE GOSPEL A BAD REPUTATION the slave holders who were truly Christian read the other part that said MASTERS, TREAT YOUR SLAVES WITH LOVE AND RESPECT, KNOWING THAT YOU ALL ARE FELLOW BELIEVERS OF GODS GRACE. Now to read these real verses during the Civil war caused many sincere preachers to say that slavery should not be ‘undone’ because God addressed both the slaves and the masters this way. To be real honest, many of you who hold to a literalist view of scripture [I hold to a literalist view to a great extent] would see these verses the same way. It is the overriding purpose of the Gospel that causes one to fight for freedom despite the ‘verses’. Jesus primary goal in redemption was to set slaves free [spiritually] for this spiritual redemption to follow thru to a ‘physical’ one was only logical. To form your views at the time based on the overriding ACT OF REDEMPTION would trump any specific direction given, even in scripture, to a 1st century slave holder. Context tells us that Paul was addressing slaves under a different time and economy of societal rule. These 1st century slaves were governed by many Old Testament decrees that God allowed, for a multiple of reasons, to exist. It was easy for the ‘literalist’ preachers to say THE BIBLE SAYS SO in defense of keeping slaves; it was proper and just to free them as an extension of Gods purpose in Redemption! It takes courage and boldness to stand against a particular reading of scripture, that is popular at the time, in order to see and move down the bigger road of Gods overall purpose. Many today can’t follow this theme. Its possible to go to Old Testament scripture and find verses on putting to death kids who curse their parents, women who have cheated on their husbands and even those who live the Gay lifestyle. While none of these practices are considered good, even amongst most Christians today, yet to kill them is not an option! [Except maybe for that Westboro Baptist Church bunch of nuts who are going around picketing dead servicemen at their funerals!]. Christian’s today practice tithing under the same reading of scripture, many of them don’t know this, but its true. You can read the verse on robbing God in Malachi and scare people, just like if you read the verses on putting Gays to death. If you read that verse over and over every Sunday you could be persuaded of it. If you read Malachi and tithing as you read other Old Testament verses [with a spiritual truth behind the verse] then you would err on the side of grace. The old testament teaching on tithing shows us that God not only wants the ‘10 %’ of a persons income, but he wants the whole firstfruit. Spiritually we ARE the first fruits unto God. He wants ALL of us, we are his tithe! Simple, isn’t it. Now if you give 10% to your church on Sunday, fine. You shouldn’t read Malachi and tell New Testament Christians their under a curse if they don’t put 10 % in the bucket. The way people ‘rob God’ according to Jesus is by not meeting the actual needs of society WHEN I WAS HUNGRY YOU DIDN’T FEED ME, NAKED AND YOU DIDN’T CLOTHE ME, etc. Robbing God is not done by ‘not tithing’ it is done by not obeying the New Testament mandate given over our treatment of ‘our neighbor’. Now this is supposed to ‘leak’ over into society at large. That’s also why you see certain elements of catholic teaching that harbor illegal aliens [the sanctuary movement] they are responding out of this basic concept of ‘treating your neighbor well’. Neighbor in the 1st century context also meant ‘alien’ those who were living ‘in the land’ but were not really part of Gods covenant. God had specific instructions on how to treat ‘illegals’ and it was WITH GRACE. Sorry Sean Hannity! Well any way I felt the Lord had this word for you guys, hopefully I will get thru this prayer thing without coming back to write, many times I will write in spurts while right in the middle of prayer. Could it be that this is why the Lord allows these ‘words’ to have a big impact? Prayer is more important than ‘pulpit performance’ seek to speak what God is saying and the Lord will give you an audience. NOTE: When Paul was addressing the early believers and basically telling the slaves to ‘submit’ this was a practical reality that Paul was trying to instill in the new revolutionary movement called ‘church’. There were other messianic groups in the first century, some of these were called ‘zealots’ these people practiced a radical type of reform. A type of civil disobedience that Paul didn’t want the new believers to be associated with. Paul wanted the early believers to be seen as good citizens in society, not zealots. This explains the practical instruction on slaves being obedient. Paul wasn’t justifying slavery for all time!
(291) Well I didn’t make it too long. The other day I was fellowshipping with an old friend. He is one of our ‘first fruits’ unto God. Many years in Prison, doing drugs, robbing places. One of the ‘veterans’ of the Prison group. These guys have been with me from the start. They have seen us go thru transition and all types of changes and things over the years. I was reading the Saturday papers that our blog comes out in. He showed up at work and I gave him all the blog pages from these Texas papers to hang up as a prayer reminder. By the way if you guys see our listing in your city paper, do the same! I was sharing with my friend about some new cities we are going to reach out to. New territories and ideas, always thinking strategically. After talking a few minutes he was feeling a little apprehensive. He was telling me about his brother, also an old friend of mine, and how he’s back on ‘the stuff’ all strung out living in Robstown. I was like ‘yea, I will pick him up for the home group on my way to Kingsville’ my buddy was around when I went thru a lot of hard times in the past. He was like ‘ slow down brother, you know the devil starts coming after us when we try to reach out and all’. These guys have been shot at, shot at others. Been involved in the ‘Mexican Mafia’ in prison. Done all types of crazy stuff, and yet the devil still has them scared to reach out. I do understand what my friend was saying, I even remember his dad tell me this 20 years ago, the devil wants to intimidate us [and you!] Hey, we are all gonna die some day, might as well ‘go out in a blaze of glory’.
(292) Still praying [last 2 entries] and felt I should share this. I am at the point of prayer where I pray for all of you. Part of this prayer has me INVOKING THE BLOOD OF JESUS on all of you. I usually feel the anointing at this point [also when praying for the martyrs families and abortion I sense this feeling] Just now I prayed I INVOKE THE ETERNAL BLOOD OF THE UNIVERSE OVER ALL THESE PEOPLE and was looking straight up at the stars and there was this awesome gust of cool wind and a sense of God cleansing us. Add this to you’re prayer list!
(293) Many years ago while visiting Jesrey I would look up old friends and try to visit and tell them about what the Lord was doing. The first few years I would still find old buddies living in the same houses where they grew up. One time I found an old friend, Tom Roming. Another friend told me how he became a heroin addict [Revelation speaks of a rider on a horse whose name is death, some think the reference to heroin as ‘horse’ applies.] I found him staying at his mom’s house. I guess we were around 25 years old at the time. In the last 5-7 years out of high school I covered a lot of territory, it was sad to see that some of my buddies spent that whole time at the end of a needle. Tom was surprised to see me, the way he introduced me to his mom was ‘this is chiarello, he was one of those guys who was always beating some one up’. I thought about this later, how even in high school I had a buddy; frank Romano, who would hang out with me. One time a jock had punched him out. He knew he had to make it right. He didn’t have the same ‘ability’ to just walk up to someone and ‘whack the hell out of em’. The key to this strategy is you hit someone on the first shot with all your might and if you don’t knock him out, you already have a great advantage. Well Frank knew he had to do something. So I ‘coached’ him for the big day. I do remember being upstairs in North Bergen High School and meeting Frank. I was his ‘moral support’. When the Jock came out of the class, I told Frank ‘go for it’. He walked up and punched this guy in the face. It was quite wimpy! They fought and it was over. A few weeks later he saw some of these guys at some school function [without me around] and he told me he felt bad because he had purposely ran away. I said don’t feel bad Frank, you whacked him already. He said ‘yea, but you were there, and all those jocks know you would ‘kick their #$@#$ if they did something’. I never realized that I was viewed that way. Well one of our other ‘friends’ made fun of my friend when he first got whacked by the jock. He kept telling Frank ‘you saw the stars’ the other day. Not long after, right in class I told this guy ‘as soon as the bell rings, I am gonna whack the $^%# out of you right here. I am giving you fair warning’. I remember the bell ringing and I calmly stood up and ‘whacked’ him so hard I smashed his glasses into his face. He really got knocked out on fell on the floor [this was the only time someone actually got knocked out]. The Puerto Ricans in the class were always scared of me after this. It’s like you had Italians and Puerto Ricans and Cubans. Well Frank was able to tell this guy who I hit ‘I heard you saw stars too!’ Actually I see the name of this guy who I hit on the classmates site. I do want to email him and apologize and invite him to the site. I am not sure if I should. Well my drug friend Tom Roming invited me in and we had a good talk. I shared scripture with him and really had a good time. A few years later he was dead. I hope he accepted the Lord. NOTE: The class I was in was New Jersey History with Mr. Norris as my teacher. The teacher found out that I actually knocked him out after everybody left the room. The next day he really didn’t say anything, he actually looked scared! I found out my friend Frank had actually told him something like ‘John will kick your #%$@ too’. I wouldn’t have, but thought this was funny!
(294) GOD HAS THE ABILITY TO MOBOLIZE AND EXPAND ON ALL FRONTS AT ONCE!
(295) I have a captain friend at the firehouse who is a liberal Democrat. One day we were talking and the secretary pages the Captain to pick up the phone. I forget how she said it, but it was in a way that we knew it was Dick Cheney’s office calling to set up our ambulance service to provide for a local hunting trip that Cheney makes every year. He kinda said ‘damn, what’s Cheney want now!’ I thought it was funny. This Captain was rooting for Kerry to win the election against Bush a few years back. There were a bunch of guys hanging out and he was challenging the ‘non Kerry’ guys. I stuck my hand out and bet him $50 bucks that Bush would win. He went for it. Sure enough I won the 50 and he paid up. He was mad that Kerry lost, and he was taking it out verbally on the union guys who voted for Bush. He said ‘I cant understand how you labor guys could vote for a Republican, there out for the rich, what money has Bush ever gotten you?’ I answered ‘Well, he just made me 50 bucks’ this didn’t improve my Captains mood too much! NOTE: I am not a Republican or Democrat. I initially was against the Iraq war. I voiced my fear that we were trying to do too much and we were going to spread ourselves too thin. I said this from the start. Just thought I would mention this. Also many people don’t realize that Saddam was ‘friendly’ to Christians. Being he was a ‘secular’ Muslim, and not a radical one like Iran’s Ayatollahs, Christian evangelism and other aspects of Christianity had more of an open door than in Iran. I am not defending Saddam, he was a tyrant! Just thought you should know this.
(296) Let me overview some history from the Fundamental Independent Baptist Church and its beliefs. I used to attend a good one that did preach the gospel. I do want to share in love some examples from this peculiar type of Christianity. The church I attended had a sign that said FUNDAMENTAL, INDEPENDENT, PREMELLINIAL, PRETRIBULATIONAL BAPTIST CHURCH This ‘sign’ was in itself a sign of the danger that Christians fall into when they isolate themselves from the rest of the Body of Christ. While I understand this view and style of belief, I also see a type of theology [eschatology] that can develop when you truncate yourself from the mainstream churches. There are so many things that you can put on a ‘church sign’ why clutter it up with certain end time views [which in my view are actually incorrect!] You can put THE BLOOD OF JESUS WASHES AWAY SIN or John 3:16 or some other way to define your belief system, but this type of Church sees itself as THE ONLY truly Christian church today. Some are not this extreme, but even those have a ‘cultic’ spirit that sees everyone else as ‘straying from the faith’ while they are the true carriers of the faith. I was with a friend at work who is a Christian. I recently recommended the church I attend in Corpus [a great mega church] to him. They have a ‘branch’ church in Kingsville where I work. One day while I was reading the bible during lunch a city inspector came by to take care of business. He noticed I was reading the bible and started talking. I found out that he is a good Christian who attends a fundamental Baptist Church. I gave him some of the books I wrote and told him I am a little ‘radical’ but hoped he would get blessed [to be honest for a Fundamental Baptist to read this entire site would probably give him a heart attack]. It was good fellowship. He shared with me and the other fire fighter how he and his wife travel about 4 towns over [50 miles] to attend a Fundamental Baptist Church. It’s probably a small Church with around 50 people [OK] my friend later thought it strange for someone to do that. After all there are so many good Christian churches right here! I explained to him a little of the legalism that causes this. To see your ‘peculiar style’ of belief as the only ones you can truly worship with. Many Christians suffer from this. Some are more extreme than others. By the way my fire fighter friend did start attending the church I recommended, and he loves it. One day at work we were watching the history channel and they were doing a thing on the Mormon Church, my friend said ‘wow, I would never be a Mormon’ I looked at him with a real serious face and said ‘what do you mean’ he said ‘look at all the stuff they believe, I could never believe that’ I said ‘[my friends name] we are MORMONS! Bay Area Fellowship is Mormon!’ He was shocked, then I told him I was just kidding. I thought it was funny at the time.
(297) Some things from Isaiah 46. THE IDOLS WERE UPON THE BEASTS, THEY ARE A BURDEN TO THE BEAST Idols wear you down, they put the responsibility on you to change your world. Sooner or later they will weigh you down. I HAVE MADE AND I WILL CARRY YOU AND DELIVER YOU True Christianity puts the ‘burden’ on God to pull us thru. HIS YOKE IS EASY AND BURDEN LIGHT THEY TAKE GOLD OUT OF THE BAG, AND WEIGH SILVER IN THE BALANCE. THEY HIRE A GOLDSMITH AND HE MAKES IT INTO A GOD God will not let this stand CALLING A RAVENOUS BIRD FROM THE EAST, THE MAN THAT EXECUTETH MY COUNSEL FROM A FAR COUNTRY. I HAVE SPOKEN IT AND I WILL BRING IT TO PASS. I HAVE PURPOSED IT AND I WILL DO IT HEARKEN UNTO ME YE STUBBORN OF HEART God says this time around I will perform my purpose to bring true reform. Many times you have been reproved and shown the error of idolatry, you have for the most part ignored it and have not allowed for true reformation. This will not stand any longer. The people are tired of the burden it brings and they will flee to God so he can ‘carry them’. NOTE: I have memorized the ‘ravenous bird from the east’ for over 20 yrs. I always took it personal. Coming from the east and all. ‘Blinded by the light’ song says ‘preacher from the east’. American Pie from Don McLean says ‘the 3 Men I admire most, the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, they took the last train for the coast’ you have the train imagery and the coast. And the image from the gospel of John on ‘in my fathers house are many mansions’ speaks of people groups. Well Springstein says ‘ every body’s out on the road tonight in a last chance power drive, took highway nine to the mansions of glory’ I have driven highway 9, as you can tell I still like the old songs!
(298) I AM BRINGING IN A TRAIN FROM HEAVEN, IT IS COMING WITH POWER I forgot that chuck Pierce prophesied this around a month ago, I like the train stuff!
(299) Was just thinking about a show I saw a while back. Larry King had a bunch of preachers and Priests on his talk show. One preacher was a ‘fundamentalist’ he was doctrinally correct on a lot of stuff, but you could sense an arrogance. Another brother was a well-known Christian author, I liked him the most. He stood strong for salvation being thru Christ, but was humble and real. The Priest was a little to ‘liberal’ for me. He kind of had the mindset that all people who believe in ‘a’ god are all right [not all Priests are liberal!]. He even had a famous guy who is very popular today, he teaches ‘eastern mysticism’ though they really don’t call it that. It’s easy to fall into categories. I believe true Christianity should be ‘served’ with humility and grace. This doesn’t mean that we give in to extreme liberal views on salvation ‘all roads lead to heaven’ type stuff. One road leads to heaven, his name is Jesus. You can be Catholic, Protestant or any other group, but you must believe in the death, burial and resurrection of Gods Son. God is not asking people to change their cultural heritage, but he is compelling you to ‘get in the lifeboat’ [Ark!]
(300) A WHEEL WITHIN A WHEEL [bible verse- Ezekiel’s vision of God] A few years ago I flew to Jersey. At the airport I went to a gift shop to get some stuff for my kids. I saw a shop from the Smithsonian institute. They had all sorts of stuff that I remember seeing as a boy taking field trips to Philadelphia and stuff. I picked up a gyroscope. It’s like a ‘wheel within a wheel’ type thing. They function like a top. I know this isn’t what the above verse is referring to [to my Jersey friends, the wheel thing is in the bible in Ezekiel. Also Philadelphia is a word from the book of Revelation describing one of the 7 churches. It means ‘city of brotherly love’] but I like the image. As you wrap the string around the Gyroscope and spin it, it stays in ‘motion’ and doesn’t fall as long as it’s moving. This represents a ‘Divine gravity’ a ‘staying up’ as a result of moving in the Spirit with the Lord, stay in motion! [WALK IN THE SPIRIT AND YOU WILL NOT FULFILL THE LUSTS OF THE FLESH]
(301) Was just praying while listening to ‘Fleetwood Mac’ [yes it’s possible!] and had an image go thru my mind ‘Son of man, thrust in your sickle and reap, for the harvest of the earth is ripe’ [Revelation] Also Jesus words on the ‘harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few, pray to the Lord of the harvest that he would send forth laborers into the harvest’. This prayer can be dangerous, like praying for patience! God just might send you! Why don’t you Christians sell out while there’s still time? Jesus said walk in the day while there is still light, but a time of darkness is coming in which no man can work. God gives you seasons of grace and opportunity, if we are always living for ourselves we will miss these open doors. You will later on change your mind and say ‘Now that I have lived MY life I am willing to do Gods will’ but it will be too late. The time is now; no man can pull it off if he misses his season. The goal is not self-preservation or longevity; it is completion of the Divine mandate! Note: Just went back out to pray with this home made C.D. heard ‘when September ends’ by Green day. 7 years has come and past, wake me up when September ends. 20 years has come and past, wake me up when September ends. Thought it fit in pretty well.
(302) I had a couple of thoughts that ran thru my mind. Jesus was being praised by the people at one time in the gospels. The religious leaders were jealous and said ‘tell them to stop’ Jesus responded ‘if I stop them, the rocks themselves would cry out’. This response was primarily to the 1st century religious Jew. Their whole destiny was at a critical point in history. They were created for the sole purpose of revealing God [and ultimately Messiah] to all the ‘rock’ nations around them. Scripture uses images like ‘precious stone’ ‘wood, hay, stubble’ and things like this to denote value and worth. The religious Jew of the 1st century saw themselves as ‘precious stones’ they derived this from their Old testament books [Isaiah, etc.] The prophets referred to Israel as ‘special and precious’. Jesus response to them by saying ‘if these don’t praise me, the rocks will cry out’ was a prophetic image. He was in essence saying ‘Israel, if you withhold the rightful praise due me as the true Messiah, there will rise up another Temple made of all these gentile stones, they will give to me the honor that I deserve’. Also I was thinking of the judgment verse where Jesus says ‘when you didn’t feed me, clothe me, visit me, etc’ and the people said ‘when did we not treat you well’ and Jesus responds ‘when you didn’t do it to the least of these, you didn’t do it to me, depart from me, I never knew you’. We often read that to mean Jesus is in heaven, we are here on earth and these outcasts of society are number 3 on the list. When Jesus says ‘I never had a friendship/relationship with you’ he is saying this to those who ‘prophesied’ and did many wonderful religious works. He is speaking to those whose experience of God is truncated from social justice issues. Those who ‘see’ God and their Christian responsibility as a separate culture that is to be enjoyed ‘outside’ of society. Jesus response wasn’t saying ‘I didn’t know you because you didn’t help others’ he is saying ‘the only way you could have truly known me was THRU these people; I was represented in society in these outcasts. You had a whole lifetime to have in some way reached out and gotten to know me, you never did, therefore I NEVER KNEW YOU’. This should change our mindset of church and ministry, it should compel us to come out of our safe cultural environments and touch the world, for in doing this you touch God.
(303) Today is 4-19-2007. I wrote the entries on abortion [277-278] a few days ago. I never wrote on abortion until that day. Within the next few days major events happened that I was not aware of. First; The Supreme Court just upheld the Bush administration and congresses law against partial birth abortion. This is the first major ruling affecting abortion since roe v wade. It was like the morning I woke up and wrote on the horrors of abortion, I didn’t realize it was like a prophetic intercession [along with many others!] crying out to stop this atrocity. The other acts are still being performed [the murder of babies!] but at least the partial birth ones are not. Second; When I wrote on the atrocity of this act, there was a real sense of violence and murder associated with this act that I couldn’t really express. I wrote about Moses and how this same violence was released in the land during his time. The last 2 days the news has been focused on the worst mass murder in U.S. history. The murder of more than 30 people at Virginia Tech University. The news is full of the horrendous violence of this act. Many questions on how things like this could happen. When I wrote on abortion, I was trying to show how we are ‘de sensitized’ by the violence of this act. About an hour ago I saw the video that the killer made. He said he saw himself as a modern day ‘Moses’ who was striking back at what society has done to the harmless and vulnerable that are in it. In no way do I justify, or see what this disturbed kid did as an act of God. I do find it prophetic that it happened so close to the entries that I penned on this subject. NOTE; I see this more like letting down the ‘natural barrier’ in society that exists against violent acts towards humanity. When society gets to a point where the act of murder against unborn children becomes not only accepted, but looked upon as ‘progressive minded’ then you have lowered the inherent barrier that exists in most societies and this opens the door to horrendous acts all thru the spectrum.
(304) The other day I was listening to a good preacher on the radio. Sort of a ‘reformed’ thinker who frequently calls the church back to the Puritan days. I love Puritan history and writing. Many of these brothers would agree with some of the stuff I teach in the area of the church being self centered and materially minded, but they would absolutely reject our prophetic stuff. God’s intent for the church is more than ‘the church’. Jesus spoke on the Kingdom over and over again, very little on the church. The reason we exist as ‘the church’ is to invade and impact all areas of society until Christ returns. There are certain ‘old time’ defenders of the faith who cant get past ‘church’ being ‘the old time model’. They stumble over the current mega church expression. Many have gone after Rick Warren and his purpose driven church model. Our radical teaching on the church being the actual mobile community of God ‘journeying’ thru every generation till now, leaves room for the unique expressions of meeting that would go from the simple ‘home based model’ all the way to the ‘mega church’ and even to the Catholic brothers! Our purpose isn’t to meet and argue over the many ways to meet, our purpose is to advance and communicate the gospel of the Kingdom into every arena of man. Some confuse my strong preaching against materialism with a call to come out of the market place. Nothing could be further from the truth! When Christians are able to live above the concerns of the unbeliever, and to do it in a way where they are so intricately involved in society, this itself is a testimony to them. Over the years I have had Christian friends try to tell me ‘why don’t you leave the Fire Dept. and get a building and be faithful to your calling’. I see now that some of them were saying this out of self-guilt. Many of the other Christians in the market place were feeling ‘threatened’ that a so-called ‘preacher’ [to which I hold no claim] would be working and holding a job like them. Sort of ‘well if this guy can do it, then I am responsible to be more than just a fire fighter’. Then you would have those in ‘full time ministry’ who would get offended that we didn’t take offerings or money. After all they would make the ‘offering time’ 25% of the Sunday meeting. The fact that we weren’t even doing it was offensive [we did take offerings at one time, but I never took a salary from day one]. These examples show you that society is comfortable with secular/holy divisions ‘just keep the church in the church’ and they will be happy. Now to the point of the believer being highly involved in all aspects of society, even economically. It is most definitely Gods will for believers to excel in the stock market, real estate world and all other avenues of finance and influence. Its just we need to distinguish between a message of ‘the Kingdom invading society’ and making the Kingdom about money. This is a real distinction that needs to be taught and understood. Many prophetic people who advocate these things are not yet able to articulate this distinction in an effective way. They will read so far on this blog and think that we are against being progressive, which is not the case. Jesus instituted the Church so the Church would be the key vehicle for expressing the Kingdom in the earth [as well as the whole universe!] We are about much more than which particular style of church or meeting we should have. The style or methods are really un important in my mind. The goal is to harvest enough people who we can then turn out into society to affect it for Christ. The Kingdom starts as a little seed [our small church mentality!] and eventually moves out to cover the earth!
(305) I was watching a prophetic TV show last night. The sponsor of the show, who also has a prophetic web site, was interviewing another prophetic person. I have sent our stuff to both of these brothers over the last year. Whether they read this site or not I don’t know. I found it interesting that as the host was interviewing the prophet; he said how the prosperity movement not only was unbalanced, but possibly not of God at all! The prophet kind of looked a little uncomfortable. I can’t help but think that the host has read our stuff. Their web site would never express this point of view before. I have sent this blog to many of the prophets on the site. I don’t want to be conceited, thinking that I am the only one who might have had an influence on this brother, but I think we did! NOTE: I find it interesting that I have sent our stuff to a lot of the prophets on this web site. I only got a good response from one of them [never got a bad response, just none!] But the fact that the brother who runs the site actually is ‘seeing things our way’ is the key. I sort of get the feeling that a lot of the ‘prophets’ just ignored us, but the sponsor of the site didn’t!
(306) Just remembered something that I wanted to share. I heard a brother speaking on Revelation. One of the rebukes to the 7 churches is they held to the ‘doctrine of the Nicolatians’. There have been different ideas about who they were. Most commentators agree that it speaks of ‘those who would rise above the saints’ or the rise of both early ecclesiastical offices [Bishop, Priests, etc] as well as later protestant titles [Pastor]. Some feel that the unscriptural foundation for the way these offices function are what this ‘doctrine of the Nicolatians’ is about. You can interpret many of the passages that deal with authority in either ‘family’ terms or ‘authoritarian’ terms. A famous, well respected evangelical scholar [reformed] actually did a whole book on the King James translation and how they chose to interpret many of the words in authoritarian language as opposed to family language. OBEY THOSE WHO HAVE THE RULE OVER YOU and other scriptures that could have said FOLLOW THE GUIDANCE OF SPIRITUAL ELDERS IN YOUR MIDST. Some feel the reason the most popular version today [King James] opted for this way of translating was for political necessity. The Church of England chose to use this terminology to reinforce the mindset of ‘submission to authority’ that is the authority of England and it’s ‘church’ as they were blatantly moving out from under the ‘authority’ of Rome. Sort of ‘you can have your cake and eat it too’ type deal. The historical background to the political motivation of this is no secret. I usually don’t approach it from this angle because it challenges the strong ‘King James only’ crowd a little too much. I believe exposing the simple fact of the New Testament not showing the modern role of ‘Pastor’ as we practice it today is enough to cause us to re think the ‘ruling’ offices in the church. I do believe the Lord has Elders/leaders that function in the Body of Christ, but I also see truth to the fact that many modern offices have been developed outside of the original intent of the Spirit of God.
(307) ISAIAH 47 Here this, thou that are given to pleasures [who see Christianity as a means to self indulgence, getting more and more] You who say ‘I shall never suffer the loss of children’ [those who have followed our belief system will always remain faithful to us] Thy wisdom and thy knowledge have perverted thee [the intricate systems of teaching and the lengths that you have gone to in order to get around plain scripture] stand now with all the formulas and gimmicks that you have performed from your early days, see if they will replace true repentance and open turning back towards the truth. Thus shall be all those who you have merchandised with from your youth, every one shall wander to his quarter [try to find refuge in abiding only in those groups who agree with the distorted views that have been perpetrated on the saints] none shall save thee [you will find that all the assurances of the past will no longer work. The obvious error that has been passed down from the leaders who have gone off course will be very plain to the new generation of believers that God is raising up. Many of the ‘children’ with love and respect for their ‘fore fathers’ will choose faithfulness to the Lord over carrying the ‘torch’ for the fathers of their movements. God will save the day!]
(308) Recently I heard 2 people speak on the hill of Caleb. Caleb and Joshua are the 2 spies that believed they could take the Promised Land. Caleb waited 44 years before he finally possessed his ‘hill’. Hills or mountains in scripture represent things that stand in the way, they represent territory or Kingdoms that are competing. Scripture says the Lords ‘mountain’ will be on top of all other mountains. We are called ‘mount Zion’ in the book of Hebrews. Don’t overlook this. In the Old Testament it was an actual dirt thing, today it is the Church! For the past 4 years I have been driving past this ‘hill’ on the way to work. Here in south Texas you have no mountains. But there is this little dirt hill that I pass on highway ‘44’. A few weeks back I took a picture from my camera phone of a train passing the hill while driving to work. I haven’t snapped a train picture in a long time. I do have a few that I use as the background on my phone. When I got to work I went to a prophetic web site and saw a prophecy on 2 trains colliding. It spoke about a season of faith and favor coming together. The hill represents the promises and the obstacles. Often times we see the obstacle as the hindrance to the promise, God sees it as the actual process that we go thru to inherit the land. Its like running with ankle weights, when you finally take them off at the real competition, you fly! Caleb took his hill after 44 years of waiting; I drive past this hill on highway 44. I will be 45 in 7 –17-07 [a few months] Holy field who is 44 years old just fought in Corpus. Feel like the lord is going to bring forth some fruit from his ‘Holy field’ at this season. The time is ripe for many of you to take your hill. You have been running into it for a long time, but you are about to ‘thresh’ that thing into dust and the wind will blow it away. The Divine Favor of God is going to impact that thing like a train wreck and you will come forth on the other side ready to fly! NOTE: Typing this right now I here the train whistle blasting in the background. Prophesy to that mountain, it will turn to dust! NOTE: The church I attend used an outline that I liked in the Sunday message. It quoted the verse ‘The little foxes spoil the vine’ but it was a modern translation that said ‘during the time when the field is blooming the foxes can eat the harvest’. I like this. It’s like the Lord is saying there are dangers that are inherent to the harvest. I want the harvest, I would prefer you to take a chance and plunge yourself into the harvest, but be ware that this is the time when the enemy wants to ‘eat the blooms’. Don’t fear, just realize he is feeling threatened and he knows once the harvest comes in it’s all over for him. He knoweth that his time is short.
(309) I am up early at work. I thought of a few funny things. One morning as I was praying early, one of the other guys woke up later and confessed that he was dreaming of God and stuff. He didn’t describe everything but I got the sense that he was having prophetic dreams. He was quite shocked. Another friend told me he was dreaming that he had gotten stuck in the bathroom and was banging on the wall for me to come help, but I just ignored him. I told him ‘this, my friend, is one of those prophetic dreams that speaks much truth!’ thought it was funny. NOTE: Even though this was funny, it actually is prophetic! This speaks of my friend feeling ‘bound/captive’ and calling out to me for help. I rarely witness or preach to the guys at work. Every now and than I can tell that someone wants to spark up a conversation or is really searching. I have prophesied specific stuff to a few and they have said it was right on, but I kinda take the position that ‘you do what you gotta do, and I’ll do what I gotta do’. I realize that people know that I have been known to be on the verge of ‘fighting’ and stuff, I don’t hide it. There have been times over 25 years as a firefighter that I have been close to ‘getting into it’ with a few guys. So I don’t try to come off as some ‘holy preacher’ or anything. But some times people are really searching for answers, and they see this psycho up praying all night. Maybe this affects them? I don’t know, really I don’t care.
(310) Talked about my blind dog a few days ago. Scripture says ‘who is blind like my servant’ Jesus told the religious leaders ‘if you were blind, I could help you, but because you say ‘we can see’ your sin remains’. The dog has learned to walk the paths in my yard. The first few days she simply had to follow the voice of my daughter to learn the way to go. God leads people who are humble and vulnerable. People who recognize that they ‘cant see’. You will eventually find your ‘sea legs’ under you once again, but you will know that is was the grace of God that brought you here. NOTE: I used imagery earlier on this blog about the Lord opening channels and waterways in this area. One of the channels is called ‘HUMBLE CHANNEL’ The Lord flows thru those who have been thru this process. Some believe the Apostle Paul was almost blind. He without a doubt was bringing forth some of the greatest revelation of his day, yet he himself could not see!
(311) A strange thing happened. We just started speaking into San Antonio in a strong way. Our broadcast has been going there for over 10 years, but recently we have had greater authority for that City. I noticed one of the most influential churches who we kinda ‘corrected’ over the air is no longer on the radio. I know they are doing well. They are in the process of building a huge sanctuary downtown [even though I like where they are at now]. I don’t feel they went off the air because of us. I feel the Lord will allow certain voices to speak at certain seasons, and will allow others time to ‘re group’. When God corrects things it is for the purpose of restoration, not destruction! I actually feel a little bad about them going off the air. They have been on the radio in San Antonio for a long time [years], I did enjoy the show. I believe they will be back with a clearer voice and vision for what God wants to do in his Church.
(312) CHRISTIAN LEADERSHIP DOES NOT EXIST FOR THE PURPOSE OF SELF ADVANCEMENT AND UPWARD MOBLITY AT THE EXPENSE OF THE ‘LAITY’ we need to re think our function in this area. Paul and Jesus were not going around promoting what God was doing thru them, nor were they recruiting ‘financial partners’ to simply experience the Kingdom vicariously thru the gifted leader. They were depositing into the people and releasing them to function on their own. You find Paul and Jesus receiving financial support to send them and help them in their traveling ministry, but today’s mindset of the Leader being ‘sent’ all over the world while the saints sit back and wait to hear all the stories was not the normal mode. Paul did share what God was doing, don’t get me wrong. But today’s mindset sees the people as promoters of the leaders lifestyle and gift. This is why you have well meaning Ministry leaders who live in multi million dollar homes while the average supporter of the ministry lives in a $100,ooo dollar one [or rents an apartment]. It’s OK to live in a million dollar home, but it’s hard to appeal to supporters who are on fixed income, and to ask them to give out of their lack while doing this. The leaders have simply become victims of the western mindset of ministry that pools 90 % of the funds from the average person. While many of the leaders do use the majority of the funds for good things [Christian TV] they seem to justify a lifestyle of wealth and happiness at the expense of the sacrificial giver by their reading of the prosperity scriptures. ‘If God wants me to have wealth, then it’s OK’. They truly don’t see the rebukes in scripture to the ‘shepherds’ who have become wealthy at the expense of the sheep. Being wealthy is OK, you are not allowed to do it from the overall aggregate giving of many average income people. Scripture does forbid this in many places. NOTE: If the leaders salary is equal to those who are sending in support then it’s OK. If the leader is more frugal, a better investor and manages thru time to buy a million dollar home then that’s fine. I am speaking of those who run large ministries and their ‘salary’ including all the perks is in the millions. They often have their family members on the payroll at large salaries [500 thousand] while they really don’t do that much. These leaders look at the average CEO of a large company who makes millions more and justifies it this way. The reason you shouldn’t do this is because the non-profit ministry is really not ‘producing a product’ or commodity. The way they are bringing in millions [or billions] is thru outright giving. This is different than a for profit business. So the way to measure salary shouldn’t be thru the abusive CEO pay, but thru what I just showed you. Paul was reaching the entire known world of his day, pretty much single handedly. He found himself making tents at times to support himself. He traveled like the average person and lived in a lifestyle commensurate with those he was reaching. Jesus also. This is why you read Peter saying ‘desire to be an elder, not for filthy lucre’s sake, but of a ready mind’. This is why it is so important for us to have a good understanding of scripture. A friend of mine was attending a local word of faith church. And right from the start the preacher was confessing ‘you wait and see, my faith is going to produce a Cadillac by the end of this year’. Well this brother means well, he just doesn’t see all the things I just showed you. And when you try to correct this stuff, they will not listen! NOTE: What bugs the ‘hell’ out of me is the inability for prophetic people to see this. It’s like when you try to show a ‘prophet’ something he dismisses all the verses and warnings about this because he knows the other verses on prosperity. Heck [Ill’ be nice] I know them too!
(313) Jesus suffered irreconcilable loss. The tragedy of Judas betrayal and damnation caused more pain to Jesus than to Judas. Judas went to the place where he was destined to go. Jesus knew from the beginning that he could ‘keep’ him for so long. Jesus called Judas friend. Jesus wasn’t lying. He knew that his relationship with Judas was only for a short time. Why would you let him get so close and be your friend? I guess he just couldn’t help it. He lost his friend forever.
(314) A few years back a prophet gave a public prophecy on a Christian TV station. Basically it was a major thing that didn’t happen. I do like this brother and just believe he missed it. The problem was he couldn’t admit it. He went thru all types of excuses to get around the obvious ‘miss’. Then you had the ‘apologists’ come after him. So you had the prophetic people, being supported by a lot of the TV guys who are messing up in the money stuff, and this got the prophets siding with the prosperity guys against the apologists. The problem was the prophet missed it. OK so have I. The Lord is out for truth. Whether you’re the apologist guy [who is an attack dog] or the prophet group. Ultimately we need to align up with what the Lord is saying. It’s stuff like this that confuses the issue. I hope we can get past this.
(315) THE LAWNMOWER MAN many years ago I used to watch a famous prosperity preacher out of the Fort Worth area. At the time I liked his teaching and was attracted to it. I regularly watched him and listened to others as well. One time on their daily TV show they showed a testimony. The story was about someone who got saved and began winning people to the Lord. It showed how this brother spent a few years after his conversion giving his life away for the gospel. It then showed how one day he heard this preachers teaching and it ‘lured’ his interest. He then became a supporter and believer in the prosperity gospel. He started a very successful lawnmower business, made lots of money and that’s it! I thought the story would end with the guy using all this money to reach more people, or some kind of ‘spiritual’ point at all. Nope, That was it! Paul the Apostle made an interesting statement when reproving false prophets, he said ‘they testify themselves that they are false, and their testimony is true’. Over the years of myself and others sincerely writing and confronting these brothers in love, you would think that there would have been some attempt at change, even a little. But over a period of time everything about this message stays the same. You try to be patient and love and forgive, but then you have to seriously ask yourself ‘if these brothers refuse to stop doing this stuff, then it’s our responsibility to tell people ‘beware’. I don’t understand the motives of this anymore. I know that pride and rebellion are at the heart of unrepentance. I just see the age of some of these men, they have been ‘steeped’ in this for so long they cant seem to see their way out. I really am trying to change the course of the younger generation of believers coming up. These preachers who continue teaching people to live for finances instead of spiritual riches will give an account some day. The TV stations that broadcast these shows out of love and a real feeling of friendship towards these people will also give an account. I know many well-meaning people. Mormons, Jehovah’s Witness and many others. They do good things. The Masons are wonderful people who help burned children. I take my kids to their Circus to support them. The children’s ministry that they do is great. But I can’t allow the obvious goodness of many of these groups to take precedence over biblical truth. The simple fact that many of the prosperity preachers cause believers to live for wealth is really wrong. I know these brothers are Christians, but this has to stop. NOTE; A few years back a lot of these teachers were dealt with the first time around. I remember hearing one of them give a defense by saying ‘some people accuse me of being a money preacher. Well that’s right, I am a money preacher’ Now he said this in a way where he thought he was doing right by saying it. Sort of like saying ‘that’s right, I do believe all the stuff we teach is new revelation’. He didn’t realize he was actually fulfilling the verse where Paul says the false prophets testify themselves that they are false. In the actual statement ‘I am a money preacher’ you are actually saying ‘my God is money, I preach it. I confess it. My Jesus was a 1st century Donald Trump.’ They don’t realize that this is what they’re doing, but they are fulfilling Paul’s prophecy in the bible!
(316) Was just outside praying and kinda prayed ‘Lord, disrupt and deconstruct all the structures that are in place that are hindering your ‘structure’. Have mercy on all those who run these structures [ministries] deal in love and grace with them and their families, they didn’t know what they were really doing, but the time is now come for these ‘structures’ to come down’. We often defend ‘our ministries’ as the way a CEO would strategize and defend his company. God is concerned for his people; he is not defending ‘Christian businesses’!
(317) The enemy uses systems and structures of speech and thought that are closely related to godly avenues in order to sidetrack people. When the serpent came to Eve in the garden, he is using speech [confession] scripture [the words God spoke, though distorted] and the form of communication that God initially established for his purpose [by the way, those involved in Christian TV networks, many of you do broadcast very good stuff. I was just watching God TV last night and enjoyed a Rick Joyner meeting, also I like the I.H.O.P. meetings with Mike Bickle and many other good prophetic ministries. It is the enemies strategy to ‘mix’ the good stuff with the ‘bad’ wheat/tares strategy] The fact that the enemy uses the means of communication that God initiates should cause us to be more selective in discerning that which is holy [good] from that which is not! Pastor[s] can feel like I am ‘threatening’ their livelihood. I understand this. This is a direct result of the modern day phenomena of the ‘full time minister’. Paul and the other New Testament leaders were not trying to ‘defend their jobs’ they were laying their lives down for truth. Sometimes literally! True reform is difficult. People are happy and comfortable with a steady income stream. Regular supporters who are really blessed by other ministries who might broadcast thru the station. All the natural feelings of being threatened and losing that sense of security are involved with reform. Many Catholic Priests were shaken during the reformation. It was a time in history where God said ‘I am going to change some things permanently in the history of the Church’. I am not saying everything the reformers did was right. But the time had come for a shift to happen. Shifts are very uncomfortable. They cause you to re evaluate all that you have known and held onto in the past. Shifts are necessary. No chastening at the present time seems to be joyous, but grievous. Nevertheless afterward it produces right things as well as peace. To some it brings destruction. That’s not the purpose of chastening, but some are steeped in rebellion to the point where they have staked their lives on it. NOTE: Let me try to help some of you who are sincerely worried. The reality of God being our provider. The truth behind all the scriptures of God wanting to prosper us and God being a good God and all of these things are true. They were true for Paul who said ‘Preachers will rise in the last days, preaching that gain is godliness. From such turn away’ they were true for Jesus who said ‘be ware of covetousness, a mans life doesn’t consist in the amount of things he owns’. These scriptures of God being our provider teach us that God is good and will most definitely meet our needs. This is a far cry from the other stuff I am trying to ‘root out’. God being our provider is one thing. Making the entire gospel and kingdom about money is something forbidden in scripture! Discern this guys. Especially you Pastors and Leaders, you cannot keep getting away with letting this slip thru to your people. Ideas and wrong teachings have long lasting results. Don’t let your people go down this road! Teach them about the goodness of God, but don’t let them get ruined by this stuff! NOTE: The serpent actually accomplished his goal thru the speaking of Gods word in a distorted version. He ‘marred’ the image of God that was in man. Man continued to exist, but his ‘image’ was not the complete original intent of the Father. This is what I showed you earlier about idolatry. Many in this movement ‘believe’ in Jesus, but the true image of Christ is ‘marred’ by the distorted view of scripture!
(318) DON’T BE AFRAID! God has a great future ahead for you guys [and gals]. A lot of leaders are seeing all the stuff we have spoken on, many know it all to be true. Some are scared. Don’t be. Simply acknowledge that the church went thru a stage where we fulfilled aspects of 1st Timothy 6. Paul said if you rebuke false prophets sharply they will turn to truth. OK now lets move on with the great future ahead. Some of the more notable brothers will not deal with any of this stuff out of fear. Fine. I love them. We showed them what the Lord said. If they don’t listen that’s their problem. Will everything be smoothed over? NO! But they will give an account to God like everyone else. At least you guys who were sending in your ‘seed’ to the TV stations and ministries who were promoting this stuff have gotten wise. Give your money to ‘feed the children’ or Billy Graham or the church you attend [if their not a prosperity one!]. Time rolls on, we have a destiny to fulfill. Get on with It!
(319) AFFLICTION SHALL NOT RISE UP A SECOND TIME, THOUGH I HAVE AFFLICTED THEE, I WILL AFFLICT THEE NO MORE Over the years I remember discussing many of these issues with national ministers who have come to Corpus. I remember at one event there were many ‘word of faith’ people who attended and would absolutely be against the stuff I preach. They really enjoyed the meeting that the minister spoke at. Afterward I had a chance to fellowship with him. I was honest with him about the issues that I deal with thru our ministry. He told me he could sense the ‘word of faith/prosperity’ type teachings as being a real stumbling block to what he felt the Lord was trying to do at the meeting. I have often seen examples of leaders who were beginning to see a lot of this stuff, and I could tell they didn’t know how to deal with it. I remember hearing one of the Fathers of the movement begin backtracking on stuff that he knew was wrong, it was a sense of trying to undo some of the stuff. It was a good effort, but way too late. He has since died. His son now heads up the ministry and I remember hearing his son [a major word of faith figure] telling the people ‘you have all these people going around afraid to make a bad confession, thinking any bad statement will change their world for the worse. It’s a little legalistic’ [in so many words]. Another very famous black prosperity guy said ‘you have those in the ‘ultra faith’ camps’ and he went on and tried to say that he wasn’t one of them. He is one of the WORST! But it was stuff like this that shows me there is a ‘behind the scenes’ reality of the falseness of this whole movement. Many key leaders know this. The ‘laity’ at large do not realize this! Don’t have faith in men and movements, they will fail. Trust in God! For many of you having to re evaluate all this again has been painful. God is saying deal with it this time around and AFFLICTION WILL NOT RISE UP A SECOND TIME.
(320) I am trying to hear God right now. Felt this is for someone. Many people use as a defense ‘well, I know it works brother [prosperity gospel] because it has turned my life around financially’. This very well might be true. Napoleon Hill, one of the original ‘think and grow rich’ teachers taught a highly successful method of making money. I have read and listened to a tape of him speak [I do have a classic cassette tape from him!] I used to be into studying lots of motivational stuff. The things Mr. Hill taught definitely worked. He taught a type of meditation that said if you think money thoughts all the time, eventually you create an atmosphere around you that brings in wealth. This does work. The only problem is many who try to ‘christianize’ this teaching are violating the teachings of Jesus who plainly said ‘seek first [think on] the Kingdom of God and all these other things [money and stuff] will be added unto you’. So the defense that says ‘well you got what you confessed, and I got what I confessed’ isn’t a real defense. You might well have gotten a lot of money by following this movement. Getting a lot of money is not the criteria you use to judge whether a thing is right or wrong. You judge it by Gods Word! NOTE: Felt like the Lord just freed someone from this movement. Sort of like the straw that broke the camels back. Those of you who are not familiar with Napoleon Hill, he was a very successful turn of the century [1800-1900] motivational teacher. Many in the Word of Faith movement know that Mr. Hill was cultic. Mr. Hill had ‘spirit guides’ who brought these ‘teachings’ and stuff to him. Though many of the prosperity brothers will deny that they have his influence in their teachings, they do have many disturbing aspects of it. E.W. Kenyon also has influenced the main Father of the word of faith movement, Kenneth Hagin. Brother Hagin often would deny this. I do think brother Hagin was a good man who became a victim of deception. I never studied any of these guys out of trying to find fault. I was really into this movement at one time and studied it as a student [I know this statement offends people. I don’t know how else I can say that the visions brother Hagin wrote about are false. Did he really see ‘Jesus’ in these visions where Jesus says ‘you can write your own ticket with God’ Brother Hagin might have thought it? He might have seen ‘someone’? But for me or any other ‘preacher’ to not be able to flatly say ‘this was not Jesus Christ’ is being unfaithful to our calling!] It bothers me to hear Pastors that I like quoting ‘I am creating an atmosphere of money around me with my words’. I feel for these guys, I know their headed down a path that is not good. NOTE: If you read this whole passage from Jesus he plainly teaches the disciples to ‘not think money thoughts’. He says ‘the gentiles are always THINKING/WORRYING about the things of life’. Food, Clothes and money/material goods. Jesus says the Christians aren’t supposed to have these things at the forefront of their thoughts and meditations. Now I do realize that Jesus isn’t teaching irresponsibility. It’s fine to invest and have a financial plan. But he is going against the strong prosperity teaching that causes material things to be meditated on all the time. I had a Pastor friend who would come out and defend these guys at the same time the Lord was trying to undo this stuff. He would make statements in defense that would make it hard to undo. I realize they now see a lot of this stuff. At the time they weren’t ‘studied up’ like I was in all of the verses and stuff. To be frank about it, I work full time, do a lot of actual charity work on the streets, don’t take a salary [or even offerings!] and these brothers are like ‘we didn’t have time to study these verses like you’ What! You guys are in ‘full time ministry’ your main job is TO STUDY. Don’t want to be mean, but give me a break. Also if you use the argument that ‘you got what you confessed, and I got what I confessed’ look at Paul. He preached directly against this doctrine [1st Timothy 6] he was not wealthy at all. He suffered a lot. It would be easy to say Paul got what he confessed. The point is Christianity is not about ‘thinking money thoughts’ all the time. Creating some type of ‘financial vacuum’ around yourself. It’s giving your life for eternal rewards. I heard a Pastor say he was being reproved by someone on the dangers of the prosperity gospel, and later the person needed money for bus fare. Therefore the reproof must have been wrong because this person didn’t have money. I guess you could have said this about Paul and the other New Testament Apostles. Peter made a bad confession when he told the cripple guy ‘silver and gold have I none’ but still God used Peter mightily and performed a miracle. This miracle brought as much ‘advertisement’ as a million dollars of ad space! We need to stop judging people or ministries based on the amount of money they have, this is not the criterion!
(321) I have recently noticed some good prophetic people becoming more aware of some of the things we are saying. Some have seemed to respond in a way that might be like ‘we have secretly known of these major problems for years. We have ‘quietly prayed’ and tried to address these concerns. Don’t be so hard’. No one has specifically told me this [actually now that I think about it someone has!]. Let me say, I don’t want to ‘start a war’ among the ‘prophets’. I like the brothers and really receive direction from a few. The main problem with ‘not going public’ and trying to deal with it quietly is the fact that so many new believers are slipping right past the ‘quiet correctors’ and spending 40 years in the wilderness needlessly. Most of the ‘quiet correctors’ never warned any body away from this movement. There are a variety of reasons, and I can’t judge their motives. Suffice it to say that scripture COMMANDS us to confront these things publicly. Paul said WHOSE MOUTHS MUST BE STOPPED, THEY DECIEVE ENTIRE HOUSEHOLDS while speaking of the false teachers who were doing it for financial gain. I understand the feelings of the ‘behind the scenes’ reformers. It’s just the ‘reform’ never seems to take place under this strategy!
(322) ISAIAH 48 ‘ hear this O house of Jacob [my people listen] which sware by my name, but not in truth [you say JESUS IS LORD but are denying my image constantly] I have declared these things before, these things went forth out of my mouth many times over your life. I knew you were stubborn and would not listen the first time I warned you. I have now once again showed you ‘hidden things’. I knew you would deal deceitfully, and were called a transgressor from the start. For my sake I will hold back my anger and give you another chance to make it right. I have chosen to correct you in the furnace of affliction. I know it’s hard, but how can I continue to let my name be polluted. [You use my name and say ‘Jesus is Lord’ and I have no idea who this image belongs to that you confess!] I have raised up the ‘spirit of prophecy’ [thru many, not just one voice!] I will make HIS WAY PROSPEROUS. I am the Lord thy God which TEACHETH THEE TO PROFIT [godliness with contentment is very profitable, but they that seek wealth come to confusion] O that thou hast listened to me before, your peace would have been like a river. There is no peace saith God to the wicked [wicked is a word that denotes a ‘twisting’ {wicker} when you twist scripture and the truth of Jesus Christ there is no peace. God knew from the beginning that many would take this path. He chooses to call them to repentance so they will now have peace like a river. True peace in God.] NOTE: I remember when I used to regularly watch the brother from the Forth Worth area. He did a whole week or so on finances, and he would end the prayer by praying to ‘our great Lord and financier’ I thought of the verses where the brothers are fighting over their inheritance and they ask Jesus to settle their financial dispute. Jesus says ‘who made me a judge over you in these matters’. Jesus was saying ‘who taught you to come to me in this way and view me as your financier; I am not here to settle your financial disputes. I am hear to fulfill the purpose of my Father’. No mountain will stand in the way this time, even one who calls himself ‘eagle mountain’. THOU HAST HEARD, SEE ALL THIS. AND WILL NOT YE DECLARE IT. I HAVE CALLED YOU, I HAVE SPOKEN THRU YOU AND I SHALL MAKE YOUR WAY PROSPEROUS.
(323) At work right now. Getting ready to pray. Was reading some verses from my mission statement and remembered something. I recently dreamed I was blowing a trumpet. There were a few different styles and I was enjoying the ‘blowing’ of these trumpets. I just read the verse ‘I will bend Judah like a bow, and raise your sons o Zion [I like to put ‘John’ for Zion and make it personal] against thy sons o Greece, and make you as the sword of a mighty man. His arrow shall go forth like lightning [I have had both ‘bow’ and ‘arrow’ and ‘lightning’ images as signs these past few years. Also ‘JUDAH’] and the Lord God shall blow the TRUMPET and shall go with the whirlwinds of the south’ Zechariah 9 13-14. I am seeing the Lord do things thru those who are being ‘birthed’ thru our blog site. Many people know all the things we are saying are true, but there was an ‘intimidation factor’ holding them back. It’s like a feeling of ‘who do you think you are, these preachers have been around a long time. The stuff they are preaching must be true. How dare you speak against it’. Now that many of you guys [gals] have seen us deal with it, you are like ‘arrows of lightning being shot out of a bow’ you are like ‘trumpets’ that God is going to blow thru. You have been stirred up from this site that has blown like whirlwinds out of the southern gulf coast and you will be like the sons of Zion coming against the sons of Greece [worldly wisdom and philosophies of men, men’s systems of thought and ‘theology’ that directly contradict the clear meaning of scripture]. NOTE: God blowing thru the ‘trumpet’ speaks not only of a prophetic voice, but also of ‘prophetic offspring’. I have shared images of ‘lightning’ and arrows. The Lord seeming to refer to us as ‘sons of thunder’ and the name Judah. I felt like these things referred to having special authority to do certain things. Ministry is not a tool for self promotion. In this scripture it speaks of ‘sons’ being like lightning, I see the people as the ‘trumpet’. All these images speak of you guys being empowered and released to do tremendous things. These images are not speaking of me as an individual who will be the one ‘sent forth’ as you watch and wait. But we are all being ‘sent forth’ at this season. I really urge you guys that are from my generation [mid 40’s] to get past the ‘mid life crisis’ and the stage of feeling like ‘you missed the boat’. You didn’t miss it yet. God still has a great purpose for you. The boat is launching, take a risk and jump on that thing now. There’s still time! Kansas [the rock group] says ‘ looking for men to show the way and leave today, how long till the point of no return’. NOTE: During the period between Malachi in the Old Testament and the Gospels there is a 400 year ‘gap’ where there was no prophetic word given The Catholic bibles have the apocrypha in this place. One of the books of the Apocrypha is ‘Maccabees’. The Maccabees was a revolt from the Jewish nation against the rulers that occupied them at the time [Many of whom were products of Greek wisdom]. This Maccabean revolt is the ‘sons of Zion rising up against the sons of Greece’ historically. It was a time in Jewish history where Gods people were under bondage to a ruling empire that was known for its worldly wisdom and philosophy. Many of the great philosophers came from this time period. Later in the New Testament book of Colossians the Apostle Paul warns against the early believers coming under the influence of the philosophies of men. I find the Spirit of God rising up at different times in history to ‘cast off’ the ‘thought structures’ of men that come against the wisdom of God. These ‘systems of thought’ are not shallow. Many intelligent men are truly taken captive by the close relationship to truth that they espouse. It takes a ‘prophetic revolt’ to break off the ruling influence that these false systems hold over the people of God. Till this day the Jewish people still honor the Maccabean revolt as an important holiday in their tradition. The name Maccabees comes from the family who led the revolt. The dads name was JUDAH! [I actually read his name ‘Judah’ in an article. I also read his name to be ‘Judas’. So if the ‘Judah’ article got it wrong, it was still prophetic! The feast the Jews celebrate to this day is Hanukah. This feast commemorates the revolt against the Syrian king who tried to force Hellenization on the Jews. Trying to force Greek language and culture on the Jewish nation]
(324) Two things I want to say. There are many ‘prophets’ and other ministry leaders who’s chief concern is the functioning and success of their ministry. They view all other things from this paradigm. They sincerely have a prophetic gift, no doubt about it. It is the mindset of seeing and acting out of the view that the success and financial income of their ministry takes precedence over what God is trying to do in the corporate people that is causing them to come against what the Spirit of the Lord is trying to do. Many are acting and responding out of a desire to ‘survive’ first, before any other thing. Many are good men who do not hold to the errors that we are trying to uproot at this season. It is their friendship for these other groups that is causing them to hinder the work of the Spirit. The Old Testament has a story of a young prophet going and giving a word. After he gives the word the Lord says ‘go straight home and don’t stop for anyone’. On the way home he runs into an older Prophet who says ‘come back with me’. The young prophet says ‘the Lord told me not to’. The old guy says ‘I am a prophet too, and the Lord says come eat [fellowship] with me’. Sure enough the Lord judges the young prophet for this. The current prophetic movement in our country started in the late 80’s. Many who are now truly gifted are really the ‘younger generation’. Many of the prosperity guys are from the older ‘prophetic group’. The young guys are feeling ‘I like these older ‘prophetic’ guys. They were truly at the forefront of certain prophetic things. I want to sit at ‘their table’ and enjoy their fellowship’. God is saying NO MORE! The other thing I want to share is an example of the intricate systems of thought that have gone into the defense of the false prophets. One of the key chapters that I and others use to root out this doctrine is Hebrews 11. This chapter shows how people of FAITH have not only been described as those who were overcoming and getting what they wanted, but it also shows many people of faith who suffered and went thru hard things. I heard the Fort Worth teacher explain that the people of faith in Hebrews 11 that suffered were still part of the group that was Old Testament. He even used verses from Hebrews to show that these people were not ‘perfected’ yet until the Cross. This is true. He then ‘crossed the line’ and taught that the ‘perfection’ was financial and material well being at all times. He basically used an excellent biblical reasoning to explain away the plain meaning of the chapter. The fact is Paul would later go on in the New Testament and teach that many believers who are ‘perfected’ under the New Covenant would also suffer many things. But the false teacher taught it in a way that would ‘catch you’. I have come to believe there has to be a degree of demonic deception going on with these guys. They have ways to explain away every single verse in the bible to teach what they want. That’s why I understand how the ‘average level’ preacher [don’t want to be rude] can fall for this stuff. That’s also why the ‘quiet correction’ approach isn’t going to work anymore with these guys.
(325) There are a lot of things that I want to share. The other day I was quite strong in a particular ‘prophetic word’. I mentioned ‘Eagle Mountain’ as a mountain that will not be able to stand against Gods ‘mountain’ [purpose at this season]. I am uncomfortable with the whole ‘persona’ and time period that I am in at this season. This ‘eagle’s mountain’ is actually the physical location of one of the major prosperity churches in the country [here in Texas]. Those in ‘the know’ knew what I meant when I said this. This area is also right around Denton where I have felt certain ‘prophetic correction’ going into that area. Sometimes when I speak a strong word towards a certain area I will notice a ‘weather’ event happening right after I speak the word. The ‘word’ towards eagle mountain/Denton area was a little strong. Yesterday I was watching the Texas news and one of the worst Tornadoes ever hit a region called ‘Eagle Pass’ [Located on the border of Texas/ Mexico]. The Tornado was 4 miles wide and it caused tremendous destruction, 9 people dead. Devastating [the warning alert system did not sound, this left the people vulnerable to what was coming. Much like the watchman in Ezekiel who refused to speak out on the dangers that were coming] I know God isn’t to blame for the loss of life. There are times where certain religious movements are devastating towards the people of God. When God says ‘no mountain can stand in the way’ he has the potential to ‘clean house’ [I felt it a little significant that the town was Eagle Pass. Sort of like God saying ‘the Eagle is coming into judgment’]. Let me say a few things about the Dallas/Fort Worth area. The last time I was there I was partying in Fort Worth, drunk and pulling off the road puking [throwing up] on the side of the road [20 yrs ago], I also remember being in Milwaukee after boot camp and drinking around 12 shots of Rum at some bar. Walking out to the street and passing out. I remember some navy guys picking me up [I was in uniform] and bringing me back to Great Lakes [Illinois]. I was thinking of the verse that says ‘I will save you out of all the places where you have sinned, and I will cleanse you’. I am very uncomfortable with the present ‘place’ where I am at. There are times where you journey to different levels and places in life. As you ‘proceed’ to the next place it often entails great death. We seem to think that if we can just master our lives and get it all together, then we can present this image to people and we have succeeded. I see it more like you are called to go thru things, often the things you go thru are very difficult. It is in the crucible of Crucifixion where you bring forth much fruit. ‘Except a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it will bring forth much fruit’ [Jesus]. One of the most accurate Prophets of our day is still living [he has been sick and some think he will die soon]. His name is Paul Cain. I remember hearing Paul on tape share a story of how he was approached by a nice looking gentlemen when he was younger. This man was offering Paul a career and fame in ministry. Sort of telling him he would promote his image [death to any prophet!] After a while Paul asked him to confess Jesus as Lord. He would not. Paul at that moment recognized it was satan. I remember having this happen one time in my life. It was early on as a Christian and we were going to see a friend who got caught up in a cult. They called themselves ‘Gods Angels’ and were traveling around in robes and sandals. We went to visit a friend who joined the group. The main leader was there and after a while I asked if he could say ‘Jesus is Lord’. He gave the same response that the person in Paul’s story gave. I then felt a demonic presence hit me and I felt like I was having an acid trip. I lost all sense of where I was and it felt just like a ‘mesq’ flashback. I find it interesting that today we know that this person in Paul Cain’s experience came back time and again thru out his life. Paul never told us this, but we now know it. When Jesus was seeing this same person in his life he knew that there would be a tremendous cost involved with the completion of his mission, that’s why I don’t understand the lust and desire for fame and success. God often withholds true prophetic ministry for the sake of the individual. He realizes that there is a severe cost involved, and those who are really enjoying their lives don’t realize what the calling will carry with it. NOTE: I do realize that this stuff makes people very uncomfortable. The reason why ‘Eagle Mountain’ needs to come down [either close or repent and become a tool of deliverance in Gods hand] is the fact they disseminate so much of the heresy that I have exposed on this blog [thru books, tapes, TV, etc.]. You cant keep doing disgrace to the image of Christ no matter how well spoken and good hearted you are. No matter how much money you give to missions, no matter how many good works you do! NOTE: Crucifixion is an event where you have no say or control over what’s happening with you physically, it is the process of saying ‘God, if its possible for this cup to pass, please help me come out of this’ and then arriving at the point of saying ‘whatever you want, I will go thru it’ and it concludes with ‘MY GOD, MY GOD WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME’ in today’s terms ‘I cant believe the desolation I am feeling at this time in my life’. NOTE: I just went outside to continue praying; I kind of felt that presence of the evil one. Sort of like ‘how dare you expose me like this’. NOTE; I just spoke to one of our original ‘ex con/addict’ friends in Kingsville. He is one of our key men. I told him about the Eagle word and the Tornado. He told me that a day or two right before the tornado he dreamed of 2 devastating tornadoes coming towards him and his family. He woke up and told his wife of the dream. Within the next day or so the tornado hit. This is one of our ‘prophetic’ people who have often had dreams and impressions that were significant over the years.
(326) BE STRONG AND OF A GOOD COURAGE, FOR TODAY [RIGHT NOW] I WILL BRING YOU IN AND YOU WILL INHERIT THE PROMISE I read a statement form a prisoner being put to death here in Texas. He said ‘lets rock and roll’. I think we need to thank God for his mercy and move on. Don’t keep debating stuff he is clearly saying. God forgives all of us. LETS ROCK AND ROLL.
(327) Let me make another note. About 6 months or so when I pray early [every day] I began ‘seeing’ myself in Prayer with the Denton brothers [glory of Zion] as well as the other churches who are regionally praying during the 4th watch [3-6 am]. I believe my ‘joining with them in prophetic intercession’ gave me authority to prophesy into the land. Prophets don’t just give prophetic words, they intercede. I believe it says of Abraham ‘he is a prophet and he will pray for you’ I know it says this about one of the patriarchs.
(328) Understand that Jesus is the lion of the tribe of JUDAH. Any prophetic expression of Judah is actually the Spirit of God thru the prophets rising up in rebellion to cast off the wisdom of men that comes against the true knowledge of God in Christ. These last 50 years the enemy has laughed at how he was able to mock the true image of Christ thru these false systems. The purpose of the prophetic was to lead a ‘revolt’ against the ‘occupiers’. Revelation says ‘the Lion of the tribe of Judah has prevailed’ he ‘opens seals/ opens the book’. It is the ‘opening’ of Gods word that does war against the wisdom of men. This is primarily a prophetic act. The wisdom of men cannot accomplish this. When the Lion of the tribe of Judah begins this process thru the prophetic, the enemy no longer laughs, because his day has finally come.
(329) Many years ago in Texas I used to watch a good preacher out of the Rockwall area. I did like his ministry. I felt a little uncomfortable about the type of ‘spiritual warfare’ that a lot of us were espousing at the time. I remember watching this brother during a message. He was walking back and forth on the stage of a large auditorium [now that I think of it, he was at a James Robison bible conference in Fort Worth] as he was walking back and forth he was into the whole image of ‘look at this, I am a spiritual warrior’ he kind of was so into it that he was almost falling off the stage. It was normal fare for the time. Later ‘prime time’ news magazine did an expose on him, nothing really scandalous, but showing him to have been less than honest on some money appeals. The fact that we want the spotlight opens us up for attacks. True warfare is usually done behind the scenes with humble people. When we ‘strut’ and boast and openly ‘mock the enemy’ he laughs. He knows he’s setting us up with the glory of men. The same temptation he used on Jesus. When we give in to the lie of ‘it’s all about me, look at me, look at the great thing God is doing thru me’ he has us hooked and we don’t even know it. [Watch the end of the movie ‘the devils advocate’ with Al Pacino. It really brings this out well. Also they play the song ‘sympathy for the devil’ from the stones. It’s amazing how Jagger describes the craftiness of satan in this song]. NOTE; I went back and read some stuff on this brother. His wife said when Dianne Sawyer first contacted them to do the show, they tricked him by saying ‘we want to interview you. You are said to be the next Billy Graham. Can we do this interview?’ The network new the lure of fame and recognition would get him on the show. I do think these networks are really hypocrites themselves. This show [primetime] has been caught lying about stories [planting explosives in vehicles and having them rear-ended to make it look like it blew up easily. Then trying to defend doing it!]. The real point is they knew if they appealed to his ego he would do it.
(330) Man was ‘built’ with the inherent desire to ‘storehouse’. This is a need for man to ‘build up, store up, increase wealth’. This desire was originally intended to manifest itself thru the ‘saving’ of eternal rewards. When God made man in his image, this desire was originally sanctified and was to coincide with Gods original intention to give man dominion over all the earth. Man would ‘collect’ if you will, all created things under his dominion, man would corral these things and provide safety and a hedge around these things for the glory of God. In essence the same mindset is seen in the New Testament with the stories that Jesus tells about God giving his ‘vineyard’ to people to take care of and things like this. It is inherent for man to want to storehouse and build the resources of things. This is why Jesus warned against the strong draw that ‘mammon’ [lust for financial increase] would present to the purpose of God in the church. There are verses in the Old Testament that say men build up their financial fortunes and say to themselves ‘when I die I will pass this legacy on to my kids, and MY NAME will endure thru the heritage of this financial legacy that will continue to operate after I am gone’ [King Ranch]. Now scripture says a good man leaves an inheritance to his kids, so this concept is not wrong in and of itself. It’s just that Jesus knew how strong this pursuit of wealth can become and he chose to teach that it is the singular most competitive threat to the purpose of the Kingdom. Many fall into this trap by seeing the purpose of God to invade all areas of society, even financial institutions. They see the ‘surface’ level of teaching on finances in scripture, and then go headlong into this twisted interpretation of scripture that finds ‘proof texts’ that eventually leads them to preach a wealthy Jesus who fits the image of the modern day televangelist. You then find people [like us] who try to bring back into alignment the distorted view that many of these brothers espouse, but those ‘taken captive’ by this insatiable desire for wealth cannot see beyond this strong inherent desire that God originally put in man. You can present plain scripture to them, and they will even argue that Paul and Jesus were not really saying what they said. This is caused by the lure of covetousness that has replaced the original intent of God to ‘storehouse’ with the less noble desire of ‘building wealth’. NOTE; this same mindset can be seen in the desire to ‘build’ a ministry. You begin focusing your energies on using your faith to bring in the finances to operate. You ‘see’ the increase of income as the answer to the noble intention of carrying out Gods purpose. But when this desire begins to take precedence over the actual preaching of the gospel [by distorting the image of Christ to fit into the mindset of bringing in the wealth] then the enemy has tricked you into preventing the original purpose of God to manifest thru you. At the end of the day you might bring in the desired income stream, and with this a sense of ‘mission accomplished’ you might even reject guys like me out of hand because of this desire to ‘bring in the resources at all costs’ but when all is said and done, if your not really preaching the biblical gospel, the enemy wins, even if you funded the ministry! NOTE; over the years people have confronted the leaders of Christian TV stations. There are a bunch of brothers who regularly preach covetousness to an extreme. Most of the presidents of these stations are not ‘full blown’ money preachers. But they have seen God work in areas of finances, and they have seen the uprightness of many of the prosperity brothers. Some [like the Fort Worth brother] are very good people. They do not ‘splurge’ in outwardly fancy lifestyles. It’s just that somewhere down the line they got ‘hooked’ by the lure of these things. The leaders of the networks have seen how the apologists went after these guys, and out of sympathy the network presidents for the most part decided to air their programs. These presidents are going all over the world, trying to start stations in many countries. Doing noble things for the cause of the gospel. Some of the wives of these great stations actually graduated from Rhema [a major word of faith college]. All these people are good people. The TV leaders see the good heart of those who they have known in the past that were ‘prosperity/word of faith’ teachers. It’s a matter of real humility to see the things that I am trying to say, and to fall on the side of ‘truth in love’. I do believe if these stations continue to run these programs, the Lord will do something about it. But those stations who actually ‘make the hard decisions’ in love, will remain and be much stronger for the gospel.
(331) When Jesus overthrew the moneychangers in the Temple, it was a violent prophetic act. When Paul warned against false prophets he was ‘negative’. When Jude [a bible book in the New Testament] warned against false prophets he spent time dealing with a problem. Some [prophets] believe the way to deal with all the problems in the church is thru praise. That if you simply always say positive things and praise God, that the weapon of praise and a positive confession will correct everything. The New Testament disagrees.
(332) Lets tell some stories. I remember one day at work we were doing a mutual training thing with the Corpus Fire Dept. [though I live in Corpus, I work for the Kingsville Fire Dept.] We had a couple of Corpus Firefighters sitting on the bumper of the ladder truck. The ladder truck has a button for the horn on the floor right under the seat. The guys were always accidentally stepping on the thing. I remember one time we were driving to the park for some function and the guy who was driving kept stepping on it not realizing it was there. Every few blocks he would stop to get out and the horn would stop blowing, he couldn’t figure out why! Well I accidentally blew the thing with these other guys on the bumper. It scared the ‘Hades’ out of them. It was an accident. I got out and truly told the brothers I was sorry. I might have had a little smirk on my face, it was funny! The one guy was a Corpus Captain who was originally from New York City. He was mad. I kinda said I was sorry, what else can I do. He indicated ‘lets rock and roll’ [don’t you just hate these Yankees who are always looking to fight!] He said it in a way that I knew he was serious, but I could tell that most guys usually don’t take him up on the offer. His friend was familiar with his Captains character. I didn’t get mad, but it was one of those offers I just couldn’t refuse. I kinda laughed a little and said ‘brother, if that’s what’s gonna do it for you, then OK’. Well his friend saw I was OK with it and got in the way. It was funny to me, running into one of those Yankees who are always looking for trouble.
(333) Was just listening to ‘simple man’ by Skynard. ‘Momma told me when I was young … forget your lust for the rich mans gold, all that you need is in your soul…don’t forget there is someone up above…all that I want for you my son is to be satisfied…don’t you worry you’ll find yourself…you can do this if you try…be a simple kind of man, wont you do this for me son if you can’. It’s sad that Skynard is more prophetic than many of the prophets.
(334) A few years ago I was dealing with these issues [money gospel] and I particularly took issue with a brother out of Louisiana, I like the brother. Many years ago I took our church to see him speak in Corpus Christi when I was living in Kingsville. He is the brother who wrote in his book about going to heaven and king David telling him he regretted the negative confessions that he made in Psalms [ouch]. I have openly rebuked this, not by using his name. The year I came out fairly strong on him was the same time period that one of the gulf coast hurricanes, either Katrina or Rita, hit the gulf coast. I later found out that his ministry ‘headquarters’ was hit. He was on TV asking people to help support the ministry. He still is active, and I don’t want to give the impression that he got wiped out. This was just another ‘weather event’ that coincided with a strong prophetic word. I remember studying the Azusa street revivals years ago [the early 1900’s] and how there were some prophetic words of judgment and certain earthquakes and things happened that were major. There were brothers who took the position that these events had nothing to do with God. They were clearly the work of the devil. Others produced tracts [small booklets] showing all the verses in the bible that speak of God acting thru these events. There are a lot of them, particularly in Psalms. Frank Bartleman, a very well respected brother who was a journalist during the revivals documented this. I remember reading in his book ‘another wave roles in’ [an excellent book] the scriptural proofs given for weather events to have been from God. The argument was made fairly conclusively. I am not saying Katrina or the deaths of innocent people are an act of God. I am saying that there were many scriptures that were brought out at this time that seemed to show Gods hand in weather events that coincided with the things he was doing at the time. Before Katrina hit the gulf coast and wiped out New Orleans, a prophet in the US, Kim Clement, prophesied of it. I do not endorse everything Kim says, but he did prophesy this event. Many in the Body of Christ were quick to come out with articles on how ‘God was not in this’ ‘it was a demonic thing’ and all sorts of stuff saying there is no way God would ever bring judgment in this way. The ‘pastoral’ part of me says the same thing; the ‘prophetic’ part of me differs. I dreamt yesterday that I was going to see my prophetic friend [the ex addict who is prophetic] and as I was leaving his block I was running to the corner, I don’t know if I was feeling attacked by the enemy or what. I dropped the cassette tapes on the street [the ones I drop off at the radio station] and some vehicle ran over them. I tried to salvage them but couldn’t. I felt this was a prophetic dream telling me that the enemy is ‘coming after’ me because of the ‘seed/word’ that the Lord has deposited in me at this season. The experience of feeling attacked the other day was quite severe. It was the same feeling of ‘loosing my mind’ that I felt many years earlier when confronting the ‘cult guy’ [gods angels group, by the way scripture says the devil disguises himself as an ‘angel of light’] When this happened the first time I was rocked. This time I managed to pray thru and simply stand ground and say ‘get behind me satan, I rebuke you’. This comes from years of experiencing Cross experiences. Arriving at a place in your life where the goal isn’t to live, but to get the word of God out as much as possible before you ‘depart’. A sense of ‘at least I posted this stuff on the blog, now if you try to kill me at least the word got out’. In the world I believe you would describe some of these ‘emotional’ ups and downs as depression, nervous breakdown and stuff like that. Then you wind up getting medicated and you abort the process of discovering the true hidden secrets of the Kingdom that come to those who have ‘descended low into the pit’. There is an actual truth to identifying with Christ in severe trials that allows you to go so low that you can ‘retrieve treasures’ that are only found in that place. An identifying with Jesus in his actual descent into hell. It was there that he ‘took the keys’ and led a troop of captives out of captivity. You must go to ‘that place’ in order to set captives free. NOTE: I want to stress the prophetic image of Jesus being in Hell and taking the keys of death from the devil. To me this experience shows me that there will be times where you will have to be face to face with the enemy. These experiences are not ‘flashy warfare experiences’. You could describe them as ‘terrifying’ but that’s what the enemy wants us to feel at those times. The best way to describe this is God wants to bring us to a place where we don’t fear death. [Don’t fear the reaper-Blue Oyster Cult] The main ‘button’ of fear is death. When you have settled this issue it enables you to have these ‘times’ where by necessity you will have to go to a ‘low’ point and stand face to face with the devil. You will not glory in your spiritual authority at this point. You will be vulnerable and understand that it is Jesus who is ultimately doing battle at this point. When I first got saved I remember having experiences in prayer that I thought were normal. I would sit on the bed early and just pray. I experienced a sense of ‘being out of my body’ and kinda going into space. It was quite surreal. I knew if I wasn’t a believer it would be too much too handle. There was a total loss of control. You might well have been dead and not even realized it. This is what it felt like. These were not demonic things; these were experiences with God that caused you to ‘fall on your face as one that is dead’ [it says John did this in the book of Revelation]. It takes years of walking with God and experiencing severe ups and downs that enable you to go thru these things without fear. I read how the brother from Rock Wall that I spoke on earlier went thru a lot of this stuff after the ‘prime time live’ show ‘mugged’ him. Even though he divorced his wife and suffered severe depression/bi-polar disorder, his wife still spoke well of him. She testified that even when all was lost in his life, even his mind, that he still prayed regularly. I identified so much with this. God brings us full circle and we get to a point where we are not concerning ourselves with ‘looking good’ or presenting a ‘package’ to people. You at that point say ‘if I can just finish the course I will be happy’. NOTE; I know I have mentioned a lot of prophets on this site. Let me say I do not endorse everyone I mention. I like Bill Yount, John Paul Jackson, Patricia King, Bobby Conner and a few others. I like them all, but some are putting stuff out right now that isn’t for a worldwide [or national] audience. They might be OK words, but they are meant for the local church only. Others are too quick to say ‘I heard an audible voice from God’ while this is possible, it is extremely rare. The purpose for prophetic insights and gifting is for God to communicate with us thru his Spirit to the whole Body. The ‘audible voice’ is a form of communication that is not primarily ‘spirit’ it is by definition ‘physical’. I know these things have happened in scripture, I just am a little uncomfortable with the level of the brothers who are saying this to a national audience at this time. NOTE; The principle of going ‘so low’ and ‘so high’ emotionally is called bi-polar. Some feel that true genius is associated with those who have had the ability to ‘obsessively compulse’ on things. Einstein, Luther and others had things like this. The great mind in math, John Nash [beautiful mind] suffered from severe schizophrenia thru out his life. Lincoln was a manic-depressive. I am not saying I am a genius, but I remember as a boy memorizing all the license plates on the block as I walked to school. Also having ‘ticks’ where I would have to turn my head and stuff like that. Years later my family [wife and kids] would see the shows on TV and say ‘that’s dad’ I know it is, I kinda joke about it. I have these stupid ticks with my hands. I will be ‘extending and twisting my fingers all the time’ I do joke about it. I was pruning the roses and actually cut my finger. My kids thought it was funny. It was the stupid tick that made me stick the finger out and cut it. I feel for the turrets guys [I actually think I have some of this to be real honest, I don’t like being this honest] who have this uncontrollable urge to use racial slurs when they are around black people. It would be hard to live in Newark with this one! NOTE: In the story of John Nash you find him avoiding medication because it not only dulled the ‘other voices’ he was hearing, but it also ‘dulled’ his ability to think critically and hear ingenious’things. When people are diagnosed with certain things and they also have great ability to understand, they choose to deal with the ‘other stuff’ so they can continue to hear God in a special way. It’s like one of the strategies of the devil is to speak to you so much that you will choose to medicate out so you wont hear anything. Jesus said the sheep ‘hear’ and know the voice of the Father, they will not listen to the enemy. But inherent in the ability to discern which voice is which, is the fact that when you start hearing from God at a higher level the enemy will also speak louder! [If you are diagnosed with a disorder I am not telling you not to take medication, that is between you and God].
(335) I was talking to a friend the other day and we were discussing certain end time things. I showed him how the first century Christians had their heads chopped off, were burned at the stake, eaten by lions and all sorts of stuff. How our black Christian brothers in southern Sudan are being wiped out by the oppressive northern Muslim regime. How Christians have gone thru these things and will go thru them till the end. I told him this in answer to the question ‘do you believe Christians will go thru the tribulation’. I said it must look funny to all our brothers who are in heaven looking down, thinking ‘these American 21st century Christians are the only ones who will escape this stuff, that sure doesn’t seem fair’!
(336) Picture if you were playing some board game. The game lasted one hour. The object of the game was to collect as many rewards as possible within the hour. During the game you and others learn certain ‘secrets’ along the way. One of the secrets is, at the end of the game the only rewards you get to keep are the ones you didn’t show off during the game. The temptation to ‘show them off’ was strong, but if you wanted credit after the hour you just had to ‘hide’ yourself until the hour was up. Many others who had collected wonderful treasures assured those who were waiting ‘don’t worry about it, we all show our treasures now, it feels really good, we all do it’. Most of us today don’t realize we are not ‘waiting the hour’. NOTE; just walked outside and heard the verse ‘could you not wait for me for one hour’. Jesus said this to the disciples right before the Cross. Note; scripture says Jesus descended lower than any man, and then ascended higher than any man. It is the actual experience of being in the lowest pit that qualifies you for great revelation. The New Testament says Eve was deceived when she ate of the fruit, not Adam. Some see this to be chauvinistic. I believe it is prophetic. Scripture calls Jesus the last Adam. The first Adam willingly chose to cut himself off from the presence of God so he could be with his wife. Jesus endured the cross for the joy of knowing we would be with him. In essence Jesus walked willingly away from the presence of the Father so he could be with his wife! [All Christians are called ‘the bride of Christ’].
(337) Lets try to undo some stuff. One of the other areas where Christians have been ‘taught wrong’ is the area of suffering and difficulty. I remember the elaborate explanations that the Word of Faith/prosperity preachers would go thru to contradict the plain meaning of verses. I don’t want to harp on this, but thanks to the worldwide voice that these brothers have had thru Christian TV there are lots of people who are taught wrong. First; There is a verse in Corinthians that says ‘I sought the Lord 3 times to take this away from me and the Lord said ‘my grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness’. The old time churches teach that Paul was sick and God wouldn’t heal him. Of course the prosperity guys would never go for this so they taught that God was telling Paul ‘I have given you the authority, you rebuke it and make it go away’. First, whatever it was that Paul was asking God to take away, if you read the whole passage you will see that the lesson Paul learned was God was allowing this thing to co exist for the purpose of humility. God was bringing great revelation from Paul and the fact that God would not remove the problem was what happened here. Like I said before, it is almost ‘demonic’ how the word of faith preachers get around every single verse like this. It is amazing. Now what do I think the ‘thorn’ in the flesh was. Paul said he asked God to remove the ‘messenger of satan that was sent to disturb him’ it is possible that the ‘messenger’ was an actual person [maybe the main Pharisee out of the Jerusalem church who was going around infecting Paul’s churches with legalism?] It is possible that an actual ‘messenger’ was really what Paul was talking about. To interpret this passage by saying God was telling Paul to remove the problem ‘with his own faith’ is false. Just wish the Christian networks weren’t letting so much stuff like this ‘slip thru’. The word of faith group also teaches that the Lord would never use actual sickness to chasten ‘discipline’ his children. For the most part I kinda agree with this. The old time churches used to have the attitude ‘if I am sick then God is trying to teach me something’ so the prosperity guys go to the other extreme and say ‘if you are sick, somehow it is your fault. Sooner or later you will see you did something wrong, didn’t have enough faith, etc’ There is an interesting verse in Corinthians that says ‘for this cause many are weak and sick among you, and some have died’ and then ‘if we would judge ourselves we would not be judged, but when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord so we will not be condemned with the world’. Believe me I am familiar with all the arguments around these verses. To be honest, in this context the word ‘sick’ and God ‘chastening’ go hand in hand. Can I explain how this is true along with the truth that God heals and the enemy kills. I can go thru a few pages on it, but for now simply go check these scriptures out. I am not saying Christians should sit idly by and accept sickness. God’s word says ‘by his stripes I am healed’ and I believe that. I am just saying we don’t have to go thru the bible and find ways to explain away everything that we don’t like or understand. And finally ‘Is it ever Gods will to suffer’ well the word of faith preachers teach no. They say all suffering, chastening and discipline that God does is limited to ‘the word’. To be honest once again they have a real intricate system of ‘theology’ that seems to explain away all the plain verses on suffering. They will take you to the suffering/discipline verses and say ‘the suffering spoken of here is the ‘pain’ you experience when Gods word shows you that you are wrong’ [I guess sort of like what we have been doing!] and then they also extend the ‘suffering’ to the idea that when all Christians are wealthy and healthy and every thing is full and good, that when others talk about them, that in essence this is the ‘persecution’ that arose ‘because of the word’. That is because they have appropriated the word to arrive at this level of ‘fullness in all areas’ that any one who disagrees is actually fulfilling the suffering verse. Well it does get tiring after a while. First, Peter says [in the bible] that Jesus suffered and left us an example on how to suffer also. Did Jesus suffer by everything going well and people just talking about him? I mean heresy is deceitful because it can be believable. I think it was Hitler who said if you tell a lie long enough people will begin to believe it as truth. The New Testament teaches there are Christians who in Gods will suffer. These prosperity guys even explained away the martyrdom of Stephen in the book of Acts. Cant go thru the whole thing, but they taught basically that it was Stephens choice to believe for deliverance or go thru martyrdom. He chose martyrdom. I guess you can say we all choose whether we will be obedient to Gods call or not. And in some cases people do choose to ‘opt out’ of the suffering. But this is not Gods will. Many of these preachers who preach this have actually ‘opted out of Gods will’ by choosing to embrace these things. They have managed to get around the ‘cross experiences’ thru these elaborate schemes and will have to answer to God for teaching this to so many people. So today we learned that sometimes we are called to go thru hard times. We don’t accept everything that happens to us with a fatalistic mindset ‘whatever will be will be’ like the Calvinist who stubbed his toe real bad and said ‘sure glad that’s over’. But we do understand that sometimes the will of God is ‘my grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness’.
(338) There are so many things to say right now, I really wanted to take a break. I read an article from a book on business and fulfilling life’s goals. It wasn’t a Christian book, but I liked the principle. The author shared how she learned that one of the major obstacles to doing what matters in life is YOU! That is we have a tendency to become ‘stagnant’ and live our lives in the parameters that we are familiar with, in the same ‘scenery’ we have been looking at for years. When we decide to step out in faith and ‘remove’ ourselves from familiar surroundings, this act in and of itself creates the new ‘route’ and way to see beyond the present [actually a lot of this wasn’t in the article]. Biblically God calls us at times to ‘Abrahamic’ faith. ‘Get out of your country and from your kindred and from your fathers house and I will make of thee a great nation’ this last year my children moved out and bought homes and ‘resettled’ in new land. If you were to ask me at the beginning of the year to have helped them ‘re camp’ and move out and everything, I would have said ‘no way’ you guys are working full time, attending college and stuff, you are biting off more than you can chew! But now I actually enjoy going to my daughters ranch and spending the night. It’s ‘new territory’ that my ‘seed/offspring’ walked into and I am in a sense entering in to their harvest. I read online some stuff on the prosperity brothers. I really cant ‘stay there’ too long. I know you guys think I am hard on them, but there a lot of critics who really personally attack them with name calling. We look ‘tame’ compared to them. I feel like the reason I am not a ‘theologian’ or even a ‘suit and tie’ preacher is because the Lord wants us to reach a lot of the younger generation of kids who are ‘lost’ in this movement. Most people that finally meet me after hearing us for years don’t realize I really look like some throwback ‘hippie’ from the 70’s. I am not purposely doing it; I just am more comfortable with jeans and raggedy clothes then with the whole ‘ I am a preacher’ type look. I feel many of the kids in these movements have not been effectively reached because the ‘reproovers’ have been the old type guys, and some have been way to personal. I was watching an old show from some businessmen who were Christians. The whole time period and persona of these brothers was another time and place. They were sharing on their experiences of coming to faith in Christ. Very successful and well-known business guys. As one of them was sharing on what the Lord showed him in the parable of the sower, he made an off the cuff remark that the parable wasn’t about money ‘30-60-100 fold’ but about spiritual truths. I thought how sad, that this brother is right, but this false interpretation has been going around for so long that it even reached these brothers from ‘another time and place’. I recently read a vision that a prophet had, part of it dealt with God doing a mighty deliverance among his people. There were some other personal things that led me to see our role in this. I pray for you ‘young guys’ God is asking you to step out and re position yourselves spiritually, you are required to ‘leave your fathers house’ [the old stuff you were taught from men you respected] and move to another place.
(339) THE MAN WHOSE NAME IS THE BRANCH, HE WILL BRANCH OUT FROM HIS PLACE AND BUILD THE TEMPLE OF THE LORD Was just praying and seeing Gods purpose. A tree will ‘reach’ out to certain areas/spaces. The tree will drop acorns/pecans etc. the seed has the potential for another tree. God wants you guys to be trees, not just ‘seeds’. We often view our selves as simple ‘little parts’ in a big plan. Modern churches/ministries often tell you this ‘what can you do on your own? But if you join your little part with this big ministry then you can touch the world’ I am here to tell you that you CAN touch the world with your little part. I don’t want to ‘re produce’ other ‘corrective’ ministries. I want to ‘re produce’ Jesus followers who are willing to lay down everything for the gospel. I don’t want you guys coming to this site for interest only, sell out too! Join the revolution!
(340) I read a prophecy a while back that spoke of 7-7-07 being a significant time. I emailed the brother and told him my birthday falls on 7-17-07 this year. [Who knows, maybe he missed it by 10 days?] Also 10 days represents a time of intense trial and difficulty. ‘The devil will cast some of you into prison for 10 days, be faithful unto death and I will give thee a crown of life’. While studying on line, I noticed that the major prosperity church here in Texas started their ministry in 1962, the year I was born. God in his mercy knew that there were things that would be taught in Texas that would do damage to the Body of Christ. He knew that one of the major propagators of this ‘doctrine from Balaam’ would arise in Texas in 1962. Maybe the Lord had a person ‘of violence’ born that year from the North [I was born in Hoboken, Frank Sinatra’s turf. A ‘voice’ that would touch a generation] that would eventually come down to ‘root it out’ [I will raise up one from the north, he will come upon princes as mortar, and the coastlands shall wait for his law] maybe the year 7-17-2007 was a time appointed by God, maybe we have come to the Kingdom for such a time as this? Just maybe. THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN SUFFERETH VIOLENCE, AND THE VIOLENT TAKE IT BY FORCE. I HAVE RAISED UP ONE FROM THE NORTH, FROM THE RISING OF THE SUN SHALL HE CALL UPON MY NAME [early prayer] HE SHALL COME UPON PRINCES AS MORTAR AND THE COASTLANDS SHALL WAIT FOR HIS LAW. [Isaiah] NOTE: Some of the brothers speaking on the date ‘7-7-07’ are saying this date will not happen again for 1000 years. I understand what they mean, but they are actually saying ‘7-7-07’ will not happen until 1000 years. Well it will happen 10 more times in this period. 7-7-[21] 07, 7-7-[22] 07, etc. I don’t want to just be critical, but the problem of Christians not thinking things thru when they say them makes us look silly to the world.
(341) The western church [you and me] plays a major role in the purpose of God at this time. We are extremely immature in our thinking. We are extremely materialistic in our view of the churches role in society [read the Popes recent book-2007] we see ‘the answer’ to world evangelism as bringing in more money. God sees the actual people as the ‘riches’ of the nations. ‘Ask of me and I will give you the heathen for your inheritance and the ends of the earth for your possession. Your sons shall come from far and your daughters from the ends of the earth’ Many truly do not see what we have done in the American church for the last 50 years. Jesus is prophetically ‘turning the tables of the money changers over’ he is entering a time period in the western church where he is dealing with and judging ‘our god’. One of the major tools that he raises up to use for tasks like this are prophets. It was a crafty strategy of the enemy to cause the prophets to ‘worship gods of gold’. In doing this the enemy for the most part removed the key tool that our Father wanted to use for this work. This work of dealing with idolatry in the western church is a major [if not the major] prophetic work that needs to be done in order for the nations to say ‘Hosanna in the highest, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord’. Jesus wasn’t just dealing with 1st century moneychangers. He was signifying the future ‘cleansing’ of his people from this mindset. Right now the Spirit of God is doing a ‘violent’ work in many key prophets thru out our country. Many were not dealing with these issues out of pride. They put their ministries and the success of their personas at the forefront of their concerns. They saw any reproof in this area as wrong. They were not humble enough to realize that the Spirit of God shows no partiality. God commands all men everywhere to repent. He does not come to take sides in arguments. He comes in power so he can reap the riches of the earth. We must be free from the riches of the world in order for him to do this.
(342) There are tremendous worldwide movements taking place right now in the earth. China is being brought to Christ at a tremendous rate. Some estimate 1200 people an hour are coming to Jesus. I remember hearing a testimony from some Pastor from an overseas country. Many of the Pastors in this country [it was a 3rd world country, I cant remember what one] were looking at the money gospel that we were pumping into their country. They all with one voice joined in an outright rejection and rebuke of these American heretics. They plainly saw all the things I have shown you on this site and flat out rejected it. There is a mindset that comes from these ministries that sees the ‘doctrine’ that they are putting out as ‘deep truths, the meat of the word’ they have deceived themselves into thinking that all of these obvious errors are really the true mysteries of God. Pride is very destructive. It was really humbling to see instances where sincere leaders and believers from the world over have at times openly rebuked the obvious error of these things. The instances I recall were like the people were saying ‘cant you see how deceived you American preachers are’. I realize that all American preachers are not like this. But these worldwide Christians see a regular dose of this kind of Christianity from the Christian networks. I see this as the Spirit of the Lord rising up within his people to correct the Body. I do remember watching the Fort Worth brother teach a series on Hebrews and teach that the meat of the word of God was being able to ‘rule your senses’ to a point where you only hear the promises of abundance and become rich. Any one who can’t ‘rule his senses’ and listens to the ‘nay sayers’ has weak faith and therefore is not financially rich. The amount of deception that was broadcast worldwide form this program is unbelievably harmful to the church. These verses from Hebrews were saying nothing even remotely close to this. It was so obvious to the average believer. But the leaders of this movement are so steeped in this stuff they simply cant see it. NOTE; I have written to some of these networks, as others have done. At times I feel like saying ‘I can’t believe you guys are allowing this to go worldwide’ but I guess they feel like they should. NOTE; Many of these verses that they use to do this are either taken from chapters or books of the New Testament that are actually warning against covetousness. Sometimes the actual verse says something like ‘avoid materialism, seek spiritual riches’ and these guys will take that verse and say ‘the word for ‘riches’ speaks of abundance in every area. Therefore God is telling us to seek wealth and money’ the amount of deception is quite unbelievable. [That’s why I can’t understand how my ‘prophetic’ friends do not only remain silent on this stuff, but they often perpetuate it. This takes the tool that God wants to use to up root this [the Prophets] and actually causes it to line up in agreement. This cannot stand any more.] NOTE; When these guys do this stuff, it’s like the bible and the true person of Jesus are tools to do what they want with. To say ‘Jesus is Lord’ after doing all this makes you think of the verse ‘why do you call me Lord and not do/say the things that I am saying’. This same preacher also taught that Hebrews says ‘Jesus is the Apostle and high priest of our confession/profession’ he actually taught that this meant ‘Jesus is the SERVANT of what we say, if we confess ‘car/money/etc.’ then Jesus as the priest of our confession goes and says ‘yes sir, I will now go to the father and cause the things you spoke to manifest’ This has Jesus ‘being Lord/High Priest’ turned completely around. The verse means we obey him. As our high priest he mediates for us. Because we have entered into covenant with him, we are debtors to him. We lay our lives down for him. To be honest the way this preacher actually showed Jesus in a way that made him look like a servant was truly offensive. He kind of showed Jesus as a slave to our desires. You guys defending this stuff, times up, don’t defend this anymore.
(343) Just ran our blog ad in the Dallas Morning News. Thought about the event that put Dallas on the map. The killing of President Kennedy. John Kennedy was killed in 1963. Right around the dates I have been discussing. It’s like a demonic spirit was coming against ‘John’ as the enemy was ‘planting’ a work of deception that would do harm to the person of Christ for generations to come.
(344) I am up early right now, there is this tremendous wind/lightning storm going on in my area. Usually I have to get wet when this happens. Being outside praying during a thunderstorm is surreal. This time the rain is limited to the gulf, so I can walk without getting wet. The view of the lightning is great. I am typing this without power right now. Working on batteries because the storm knocked out power. I have a lot to say so I hope I get power back soon. We should have our blog posted in the Dallas Morning News this Saturday. At first I had no intention of ‘biting off more than I could chew’ but I felt the Lord gave me some signs to go to Dallas. This area houses a lot of worldwide ministries. Some of the leaders are seeing the things we speak on. There actually is a type of spiritual warfare going on in the ‘intellectual community’ of charismatic/evangelical ministries. I put ‘intellectual’ in quotes because I hesitate to use this word. The normal level of study and thinking among these ministries is really shallow. All the obvious things we have dealt with could have been avoided if key leaders simply new how to read and interpret scripture. A few years ago I spoke to a national ‘level’ prophet. He actually had opportunity to personally witness to Saddam Hussein before the war. I share this not to brag, but to show that God wants the prophets and the church to see and think on a level that we are not at yet. Most American ministries are simply Christian businesses that are set up to teach their peculiar view/style of Christianity to a passive audience. The intent of the prophetic voice of the church is to speak into society at large and influence it with the reality of God. Some of the silly end time scenarios you see espoused on Christian TV are not only wrong, but also dangerous. All the governments of men [even Israel] that operate outside of Christ’s rule are simply the governments of the world. While God has great plans for Israel, this does not supercede what I just told you. The fact that we have well known evangelists siding to the point of military action from one side towards another is blurring the lines. While I in no way support the Hammas groups of Palestine, to actually advocate military violence towards any group is wrong. I recognize the right of all nations to defend themselves against terrorism, yet Gods Kingdom operates on a different level. These end time preachers really think you can open up the books of Daniel and Revelation and read the newspaper as commentary. This level of ‘thought’ is not only shallow, but deadly. The Christian preacher should never place him self on the side of any human govt. against another group of people that actually has Christians living in the country. If you advocate violence thru the reading of these prophetic books, you don’t realize that you might have joined sides with a govt., no matter how ‘good’, that rejects Christ and actually kills Christians as collateral damage. Now am I saying we should have no voice in world affairs? NO! But the churches voice loses credibility when it does not see these distinctions. The former Soviet Union was an oppressive form of govt. the people were ‘robots’ that functioned as tools of a greater purpose. The problem was no one developed into independent people/thinkers under this model. Though the original designs were noble to a degree, the fact is this type of govt. was repressive. The church in general has functioned this way for generations. Most modern forms of church tell people that their job is to be an audience and be passive and bring your money and GOD FORBID THAT YOU WOULD THINK ON YOUR OWN. Then you have the radicals like me who challenge the system and at times have succeeded in a small way. But the people, just like the Russians, were co dependant for so long that they cant really function well when true liberty is given them. Many had high hopes for the former Soviet Union [The Beatles actually wanted to get back to the USSR, you don’t know how lucky you are] the reality is the people could not function well in a Capitalistic form of govt. because they were ‘held captive’ for so long. God wants the prophetic voice to bring his people to an ‘Exodus’ from limited mindsets and practices. The problem seems to be that they have been ‘held captive’ for so long, they really don’t know how to deal with it. NOTE; the simple fact that the transition from natural land [Israel] to spiritual land [the church] as one of the major ‘shifts’ in the minds of the first century JEWISH APOSTLES should cause us to question the strong GENTILE EVANGELISTS emphasis on natural Israel. This development of end time views revolves around specific scripture. The disciples asked Jesus one time ‘are you going to restore the Kingdom to Israel now’ and Jesus says ‘it is not for you to know the times and seasons that the Father has put in his hand’. The future return of Jesus and the fact that scripture speaks of Christ’s return to this land [natural Israel] is significant. You cant ‘spiritualize’ everything about natural Israel. The fact also is that Gods chief concern and purpose for humanity is located in ‘the true Israel of God’ this is a Bible reference from the Apostle Paul speaking about the Christian Church. Paul made a division between Gods natural purpose for natural Israel and Gods eternal purpose for spiritual Israel. Paul also spoke of a day when all Israel will fall down in repentance and acknowledgement of Christ [book of Romans]. The Old Testament prophets speak of a day of great humiliation when Israel will ‘look upon him who they have pierced’ they will say ‘how did you get these wounds’ and he will answer ‘in the house of my friends’. The biblical characterization of Christ appearing to natural Israel is not one of militaristic vindication. It is one of national ‘rebirth’. At this time in the future when this happens, it will not be a vindicating of Israel over the church. It will be a humiliation and repentance as she is added unto the church. At this moment in history she will at one time have fulfilled her long awaited destiny, which was to present Messiah to humanity. She will be fulfilling this event as spiritual Israel, not natural! This level of understanding is not common today; we need to attain to these things long before Christ’s return. He will not return in a way that would seem to justify the American evangelists repression of other believers thru their distorted view of natural Israel. To put it bluntly [as I have been known to do] it would rock these American end time preachers for Jesus to come back and blow away the image and mindset that they have espoused. To a degree some of them have unknowingly sided with the kingdoms of men against the Kingdom of God. All natural govts, outside of Christ, are the Kingdoms of men. All believers on the planet are in the Kingdom of God. Some of these evangelists have given voice, thru their interpretation of scripture, to the kingdom of man coming against the Kingdom of God. It would be devastating to some of these preachers to think that Jesus is coming back to lead a military campaign in the natural, only to realize that they have sided with a human govt that has actually killed a fellow believer [possibly Palestinian] and in so doing have fulfilled the verse that says ‘I have received these wounds in the house of my friends’. Many evangelists don’t realize that the actual killing of another believer is the worst ‘wounding’ you can inflict upon Christ’s Body. To have done this thru a distorted view of scripture would be too much to handle for these guys. God in his mercy is not returning just yet. NOTE; scripture says a time is coming when those who kill Christians will think that they are doing Gods service, most don’t realize how true this can be!
(345) Let me deal with certain things that inevitably come up when you discus these things. Jesus said in the gospel ‘destroy this Temple and in 3 days I will raise it up’. The mistake that caused the hearers to later accuse him [the Body of Christ] was thinking that he was speaking about/ concerned with the natural Temple. The leaders would later bring this up at his unjust trial. The fact that they were unable to discern between Gods purpose for the spiritual temple [the Church/Body of Christ] with the natural temple was one of the ‘hinges’ that would cause them to side with human govt. [Rome] against Gods govt. [the govt. shall be upon his shoulders]. Today we make the same mistake when we view the natural temple [yet to be built] as the ‘hinge’ of end time events. I have heard the most elaborate scenarios of things that will happen and the temple being the key factor. The key factor for Christ’s return is the condition of the spiritual temple, not the natural one. Scripture clearly says that Christ will return for a glorious temple without spot or wrinkle. This is speaking of us, the true Body of Christ. Those who have focused on the natural temple have unwittingly missed the key element of Christ’s return, which of course is the condition of the spiritual Body of Christ. When Christian leadership in the church is able to ‘rightfully divide’ the word of truth, then we will have come a lot further towards the return of Christ. God loves all nations. Muslim ones, Jewish ones, Gentile ones, etc. His chief concern since the Cross is to bring all tribes of humanity into this one new nation called ‘the Church’. His kingdom is not of this world, or else we would be fighting and crusading against the ‘infidels’. But because his kingdoms boundaries are spiritual, we fight with the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. We ‘take dominion’ and inherit the earth thru acts of love and charity. These radical Muslim nations who want to kill us, see us feeding their children at the risk of our lives, while we bomb the hell out of them from the air. Which strategy fits in more with Christ? These Palestinians and Israelis see our charity workers risking their lives on the field while our American evangelists are advocating violence and expound on ‘smart bombs and patriot missiles’, which do you think is representing Christ’s concerns? We have not done justice to our King who said ‘if my Kingdom were of this world my servants would fight’ If you look at the mindset of ‘his servants’ it makes you wonder. NOTE; I am not a pacifist. I do believe in the historic Christian doctrine of ‘just war’. There are times where it is noble for human govts to war against other govts for the purpose of justice [WW2]. The point I am making is the ‘line’ between the Church and the ‘warring nations’ should be clearly seen. The tremendous damage that is done when a radical Islamic Nation is able to portray their terroristic advances as ‘Muslim against Christian’ is helped when American evangelists don’t rightfully distinguish between the two. It also doesn’t help when the American President actually uses the word ‘crusade’ when describing what we are doing!
(346) Let me note that these last 2 entries were written right after one of the ‘worst’ days I have had in a long time. When you go ‘low’ you can get the ‘keys’ from the adversary that will unlock many doors.
(347) Just felt like I heard the Lord say ‘I am coming at this season to remove certain things that have embedded themselves within the church, align with my purpose. I am the Plumb line’. Felt this especially for the Prophets.
(348) There were certain prophetic people whom God raised up at specific times. The history of Gods Old Testament people showed that they time and again were not recognizing the significance of what God was saying thru them at the time. This is what scripture means when it speaks of Israel saying ‘they rejected the chief corner stone’. Lets be real. I am not saying ‘our voice’ is the singular fulfillment to these things. Many prophetic people have gone really off course by viewing themselves as the 2 witnesses of the book of Revelation. I fall on the side that sees these types of verses as speaking of ‘companies of people’ the restoration of offices ‘Apostles/Prophets’ more so than specific people. In saying this I also see that God has real destiny for each of us. There are ‘prophetic’ voices that he does use to speak at set times. Martin Luther King and others. What I felt the Lord saying is ‘don’t despise the people that I set in your midst’. We are often looking for ‘prophets’ and prophetic words from ‘far away’ ‘I went to this Prophets meeting and he said this’. That’s fine, but the scripture shows us that we have a tendency to ‘reject’ the prophetic voices from our home turf. Jesus said a prophet has honor except in his hometown. Now I don’t want to be too self-serving to all my ‘hometown brothers’, just wanted to say in general that we miss important things because of the ‘familiarity’ of prophetic people. ‘Oh I know him, he said or did this. Can you believe it’. Jesus ‘offended’ people by his familiarity. ‘This is the carpenters son. I had that kid fix my back porch 15 years ago. I brought him iced tea for [his name!] sake! If I want a prophetic word, it wont be from him’. Know no man after the flesh. Look at what God is saying. John the Baptist ‘knew’ Jesus as a cousin his whole life. Yet when it came time to officially recognize him and present him to Israel at his baptism, scripture says that John ‘knew’ him by the Spirits testimony. He did not act out of familiarity, he knew he had a destiny to fulfill, and true humility enabled him to do this.
(349) The rise of the Islamic religion came as a direct result of the Christian churches idolatry. 1400 years ago the prophet Muhammad saw the actual idolatry of the church in having statues and Christians actually bowing down in front of them during ‘church’ services. Muhammad led an iconoclastic revolt [image smashing] and felt that God was using him to judge idolatry in the church. In essence ‘radical Islam’ is sort of a type of ‘Babylonian’ judgment that God allows to come against the church when she becomes idolatrous/materialistic. Today radical Islam looks at all the TV and entertainment that is being produced from ‘western’ Christianity, and sees herself once again as an instrument in Gods hand to ‘judge’ idolatry/materialism. The western church doesn’t yet realize the significance of not being materialistic. Many of the mindsets say ‘this is what Christianity is all about, God is a good God [true] and therefore we are all bout ‘accumulating stuff’ [false]. This ‘idolatry’ of things has once again opened a ‘spiritual portal’ that allows ‘pagan’ nations to judge Gods people. In essence God uses wicked govt. and religions to come in and attack the ‘secure’ feeling of those who find security in ‘things’. The significance of the worlds 3 great religions [Christianity/Islam/Jew] at this time in world history is at a critical point. The reason why ‘spiritual Israel’ [all believers] will be the ‘body of people’ that Christ will return to and vindicate is because these have been the servants of all these other nations during these conflicts. Jesus said the last will be first. These humble believers who have been risking their lives reaching out to all these communities and trying to feed and help these nations are the ones that Christ returns to and ‘shows’ himself. In essence the humble church do inherit the earth. Natural Israel could not do this. The Israel of today is a govt. built and established on Old Testament truths. They still have embedded in their minds the concept of ‘animal sacrifice’ and obedience to law as the nationalistic ‘glue’ that holds the fabric of their society together. The return of Jesus will be an event where all nations will see and fall down and confess Jesus as Lord. It will be humbling to realize that at this moment God is not vindicating the thoughts or religions of men, but instead he will be vindicating the Lamb and his followers. Judgment will be given over to the Lamb and the humble ones who have been following him for 2 thousand years. The world will be relieved to see judgment in the hands of those who truly loved and gave themselves for them. Paul said we shall judge the world. Jesus said whosever’s sins you forgive will be forgiven. There is an aspect to the final judgment that is given to the Saints. This will not be an arrogant thing. Jesus is waiting for the saints to be mature enough to return and entrust this to them. You wouldn’t give your car to your 10 year old. But when they are mature enough you will entrust it to them. So a major aspect of Christ’s return is for his people to be mature enough to not want to judge and condemn, but who will be willing to ‘suffer these other nations to come unto him’. After all redemption was his purpose from the start. [I am not advocating universalism, I am showing you that at Christ’s return he wants his people to be able to handle in grace and mercy the role we will play in the judgment of the nations].
(350) I was watching a prophet the other day on TV. He seemed to be really enjoying the limelight. Just basking in Gods presence while ‘broadcasting’ his image worldwide. At one point he quotes a major money preacher. He quotes him in a way that justifies and aligns himself with this man. This is the same brother I have spoken about who routinely abuses Christ’s image and people. There was a sense of this prophet really enjoying God during this encounter, without truly putting the concerns of Gods people first. To have used this worldwide medium [TV] in a way that will eventually have to be undone was offensive to me. The arrogance of ‘self enjoyment’ ‘my ministry is going well, I have a worldwide persona, I regularly broadcast much revelation to the world, and oh yes, I just endorsed a person who does harm to the image of Christ’ We must put our ministries and our personas away [or at least far behind!] it’s having wrong priorities that causes these things to happen. First priority should be, if God gives you a worldwide audience, how can I best advance the cause of Christ? Maybe you are not called to be as radical as me in these areas. But at least stop endorsing these terrible views to a worldwide audience! Stop it now! NOTE; the quote was something like ‘so and so says ‘faith is the absence of fear’ True. There is a strange thing that happens with these brothers. They see simple truths, they focus intently on them. They proclaim them as tremendously deep revelation. They then go right past the entire plain body of truth taught thru out the entire Word of God. It is an amazing ‘deception’ to strain at nats while swallowing camel’s whole!
(351) While outside praying, I was praying for the area where our radio program broadcasts. The southern part of Texas as well as up and down the gulf Coast. I also was praying for the ‘blog’ cities where we post. From Texas all the way to the New York area. There is an ‘overlapping’ area where both ‘trumpets’ blow. I sensed the Lord saying ‘I am going to do some overlapping things, some manifold things at one time. A wheel within a wheel. A territorial advance that will be unstoppable’. I have for a long time ‘seen’ the image of ‘3 fold cords’ not being easily broken. This year I kind of see it like the Radio [spoken word] Blog[written/virtual word] and People/Ecclesia [living epistles]. Felt like you guys are to play a major role in this thing. Let God use you to extend the Kingdom. Break the limited mindset of ‘getting people to support my ministry/come to my church’ type thing. Enter into a ‘brave heart/Patton’ mentality. ‘I will risk my life to be at the fore front of this revolution’.
(352) ‘What did you expect to find, was it something you left behind? Don’t you remember any thing I said when I said ‘don’t fall away and leave me to myself, don’t leave love bleeding in my hands, in my hands again. Love lies bleeding. Don’t you remember? But I do, you never even tried’ [Jesus says we are marked in his hands]. The song Hemorrhage from the group ‘fuel’. You can also find this in scripture! We are so plastic in the eyes of the world. The limelight sucks the anointing out of Gods Prophets. In 2 thousand years we went from Jesus instruction on church leadership as washing each other’s feet [servant hood] to today’s mindset that has the singular most important piece of ‘church furniture’ as being the stage. God help us. I feel so tired right now, totally drained.
(353) Let me ramble a little. I was watching the Republican Presidential debate last night. One of the candidates said of abortion ‘I am against it personally, but it is a woman’s choice. She has a right to her own conscience’. Was it the ‘slaveholders choice’ to do what he wanted? Were you personally against slavery, but respected the ‘free choice’ of the slaveholder? Bunch of lying hypocrites. Choice ends at the line of another human beings right to live. No person has the ‘choice’ to dismember a baby’s body inside a womb. I heard the reading of one of the transcripts from the recent Supreme Court ruling against partial birth abortion. The Judge was asking one of the Doctors who gave testimony to describe the procedure. The Doctor is saying ‘we pull the babies legs out’ the judge asks ‘are the legs kicking’ ‘yes’. We insert the ‘tongs’ type instrument and place it over the babies skull. ‘Are the legs still kicking’ ‘yes’. We squeeze the instrument and crush the skull. ‘The legs are not kicking anymore’. You call this a woman’s right? I don’t care which political side you fall on, how dare anybody be so blind to call this a woman’s right, and to approve of this for someone’s vote. To want power and position so bad, that you would do it at the cost of giving voice to the singular most horrendous act of ‘infanticide’ that has taken place in 2 thousand years. Never has there been a time in history where the amount of babies that have been killed can equal what we have done. The wonderful Democrats are right now trying to undo what the Supreme Court has banned. They have certain things they feel they can do legislatively. Thanks so much. I actually like one of the Democrats who is running at this time. He is a Black American, well spoken. His favorite philosopher is Reinhold Niebuhr. A great Christian Theologian. His son [Ralph- I think it’s his son?] is on the cutting edge of Christian thought in our day in the area of ‘Ecclesiology’. A lot of the stuff you read on this site in the area of church form and structure are things he would agree with. I think it’s great for a Black Democrat to have his father as one of his favorite thinkers. Could I vote for him? No. Why not? He believes the murder of little babies is a woman’s choice. Would you vote for someone who believed slavery was the slaveholder’s choice? Don’t vote for people who believe the life or control of another person is in the hands of those with the power to take their life. The fact that this is being done is wrong. Don’t side with it. [Also, as we speak out for the unborn. Lets do what we can to save the hundreds of thousands of little black children dying in Africa and other parts of the world].
(354) Just thought of Isaiah. Haven’t read it in years [at least the first 39 chapters, I do read chapters 39 to the end regularly]. God appears to him and gives him this wonderful prophetic ministry. God ‘touches’ his lips with fire [a prophetic image from Revelation that says ‘fire proceeds from their mouths’ not real fire, Gods voice. God is a consuming fire.] Isaiah then sees his own life as being undone. He sees himself and the time period he is living in as ‘unclean’ [out for their own pleasures and concerns]. There is this ‘realization’ that just about everyone involved, including himself, are so far behind. He ascends to this place of ‘seeing’ the Lord. At the same time he is at the lowest emotional and spiritual point in his life. The fact that God has given him this door to speak, brings with it this ‘prison’ of going high and low. An aspect of Jesus ministry, who ascended higher than any man, but also lower than any man. Isaiah begins to see the vanity of everyone involved. I read something from John Paul Jackson. It was either a dream or vision. God showed John the present state of leadership in the church. There were 4 levels. One of the levels was very shallow. No one from that ‘time’ was actually mature. They were all victimized by pride and showmanship. They meant well, they just couldn’t truly see the condition of themselves as well as the church. God told John that this was the present level. Isaiah thought they were at the 1st level, until God opened his eyes. It was hard to swallow what he was ‘seeing’. NOTE; Bible says ‘eat the book/words’. In your mouth it will be sweet [prophetic flow will be life giving] but in your belly bitter [it will be required to ‘ingest’ stuff that wont taste good. Things that are ‘hard’ to swallow. It says this of the prophet John in the book of Revelation]
(355) I kinda see it like this. Say if we were all in the 3rd grade [lets stick to our earlier analogy] but we didn’t realize it. We were all doing ‘stage plays’ and assignments and regular school activities. Some of us were smarter than others. But we were all still at the 3rd grade level. The real achievers among us, those who really stood out, were very well known. All the others classmates knew how smart they were. But the truth was they might have been at the 4th grade level, maybe 5th. But in the overall scheme of things everybody is still immature. Then one day the Lord reaches out to little Tommy. He tells him ‘Little Tommy, I am going to reveal to you university level stuff, but first I am going to show you how everyone is really in elementary school though they don’t know it’. God then pulls back the curtain and shows little Tommy the vanity of it all. Tommy realizes that though the Father loves them, they are all little kids acting like adults. The fact that God decided to show Tommy these things doesn’t really change Tommy’s level of maturity. Tommy is just like everybody else [I am a man of unclean lips in the midst of unclean people] the only difference is God chose Tommy for this task. The problem is because they are all still immature, even Tommy, this will lead to the other classmates saying ‘did you see Tommy’s scores the other day? He is really smart; lets make Tommy the most likely to succeed. Lets make him class president’. The only problem is along with the ‘ability’ to see more than his classmates, comes with it the obvious vanity of the whole thing. It’s sort of like Tommy realizes he might very well be the most influential kid in the class. But a time is coming [maybe after Tommy and all his classmates are gone] that all the other students are going to realize that Tommy and all of his contemporaries were only at the 3rd grade level. This causes Tommy to feel like ‘why even waste all this time in the 3rd grade?’ [Paul said he had a desire to depart, which would be much better, instant university level, but to stay with the 3rd graders was needful. Remember with the gift that Tommy had came also the realization that he too was in the 3rd grade] Even though Tommy’s friends ‘idolized’ his ability to see down the road, Tommy realized that this fleeting moment of glory was an absolute waste of time. Tommy even wrote in his letters about the vanity of the whole thing, but the other students would keep exalting Tommy, even though he wrote that we shouldn’t do this. There finally comes a day when Tommy will have to leave. All his friends will go their ways. Eventually Tommy will see them again, at that time everyone will realize that what Tommy was saying and seeing didn’t make him better in any way. They will realize that they were all childish. That even though they now see that Tommy knew a lot of this before them, yet somehow this doesn’t matter anymore. They all see everything at the same level now. Tommy knew all along that this future re union was coming, a day when everyone would all see at the highest level. At that time they will realize that to glory in each other’s knowledge and wisdom was just a childish game that they all played at a former time. This is why Tommy could never ‘get on with the program’ the same ability to see a little further than his classmates also brought with it the futility to glory in men. IT IS SWEET IN YOUR MOUTH, BUT BITTER IN YOUR BELLY. NOTE; One of the worst things that came along with Tommy’s gift was every once in a while some of the students would pretend to have very deep truths. They would tell the others students ‘this is university level stuff’. Out of pride the others students would learn these basic teachings and spread them to the whole school. It was easy for Tommy to recognize that this teaching wasn’t really university level. Tommy could see this because of the gift, not because he was smarter. It was really hard on Tommy because when he would warn the other students of the obvious 3rd grade level of their teaching, they would take it very personal and say ‘who does Tommy think he is, he’s just a carpenters son [a ‘secular’ un ordained laborer] I think maybe we should even kill him’ this made Tommy really tired of the whole thing and would cause him to want to graduate real fast. NOTE; Sometimes Tommy would feel like the whole thing was a big game. He knew it was wrong to feel this way, as being God chose him to see at a higher level. Tommy would feel bad about being cynical at times. He sometimes thought that maybe this was part of the price. Maybe God allowed Tommy to feel this way as part of the gift. Tommy knew there was a man named Paul who used to pray that certain things would go away and God told Paul I am allowing this thing to remain because of the gift. This made Tommy wonder why so many of the 3rd graders wanted to be on stage so badly, Tommy knew that to really be ‘on stage’ was something different than they thought. Tommy knew that the piece of furniture that God uses is called the Cross. That to be ‘lifted higher’ meant something different. The 3rd graders used to sing a song ‘lift Jesus higher, lift Jesus higher’ they took the words from the bible, but being they were only in the 3rd grade they didn’t realize that this spoke of crucifixion, not fame. Tommy felt this to be a prophetic sign that spoke to the level of maturity that they were all at. NOTE; The rock opera ‘Tommy’ by the Who spoke of a blind kid [who is blind like my servant] who kept hitting the pinball just right. I have a cat named ‘Tommy’. We thought she was a boy at first, then she had babies! We had to get her leg amputated when she started coming around. She got hit by a car. Poor thing, she had 3 kittens [more are the children of the afflicted!] and spends a lot of time by her self. Sometimes it’s like she’s waiting to ‘depart’. The cool thing about prophetic things is they are so prophetic! [3 kittens/3 legs] 3 fold cords are not easily broken!
(356) Lets line up with scripture. God is going to allow us to ‘posses the land’. God has tremendous Abrahamic fulfillments that he wants to do thru you. The first century Apostles lived in a time where the actual inheriting and purchasing of land was a very real biblical act. Yet not one single New Testament Apostle raised money to purchase land or property. Funny thing? All the verses dealing with the purchase of land in the Old testament [I stress all!] were ‘spiritualized’ by Paul to mean ‘people groups’. Not once, not twice, every time! You think this would affect the mindset of the modern minister. God wants you and me to begin ‘possessing land’. If you do it the way Paul and Jesus did it, you will ‘run rapidly thru the land’. If you refuse to ‘transition your mind’ and attempt to fulfill these promises in the natural, it will not only slow you down, but you will be spending too much time with the cares of this life ‘I have bought land and I need to go see it’. Build the way EVERY New Testament Apostle did. Not a single appeal for money to buy ministry property or land. The only ‘land’ transaction you see taking place is the actual selling of it to meet the needs of the saints [Acts]. There was a very real sense of ‘inheriting the land’ that the Apostles took to mean the people who lived in these regions [Ephesus, Galatia, etc.] NOTE; To the ‘local’ Pastors who read this site, I don’t have you guys in mind right now, if it fits, fine. But I was reading some stuff on line and kind of felt like this was for some not in this area!
(357) Just woke up at work. Was dreaming I was in Jersey. This means God is doing a work with some of my generation, the old friends who I ‘re attached’ to this year. I had the sense that God was saying ‘all things are in place, I have ‘manipulated’ the environment to be favorable towards you. All you really need to do is stay on the board [game board] and you will begin hitting boardwalk/park place’. Guess I cant get away from board games right now. Did you ever feel like you were ‘in the game’ but not really? Your rolling the dice, your going around the board, but you just can’t seem to hit the favorable ‘real estate’. I felt like God was saying you are going to start hitting the ‘good land’. It’s always been there, but certain things prevented you from possessing it. You are about to start hitting the good spots. Don’t think ‘linear’ think ‘buffet table’. At the risk of going a little too deep, let me share some stuff. Some theologians feel that when the bible was interpreted from Greek/Hebrew to English that we lost something. Greek and Hebrew thought carried with it a type of learning that was like a buffet table. You would communicate many things at one time. These truths were not meant to be ‘put in a row’. You were not supposed to read them ‘in a line’. For instance you can read the book of Revelation as ‘consecutive’ events that happen one after another. Or you can see it as ‘concurrent’, that is a broad overview of many things, some are happening as we speak. This is a very debatable subject in the field of theology. Clark Pinnock, a contemporary theologian, actually says theology is like a buffet table. The more reformed thinkers reject this out of hand. They feel this is heresy. So without going to deep, lets say there is an aspect in God where he ‘spreads out the table before us’. Everything we need is really there [don’t think materialistic here!] the only thing that has been keeping us from ‘possessing the land’ is we have not been walking in divine favor. We haven’t been landing right. We are so used to ‘missing’ park place, that we are not even expecting to hit it anymore. We are happy to build motels on Baltic! God’s favor is the ‘transition’ stage that causes you to start landing on favorable real estate. You will begin to ‘inherit the nations’. God will allow you to influence people groups with the gospel. Don’t forget, to ‘inherit’ the nations is to bring in the harvest. In Jesus teaching those who were actually buying land [just developing material wealth] were actually disqualifying themselves from laboring in the real harvest. Don’t get too caught up with the acquisition of stuff. Be free to labor in the fields, they are ripe and ready to harvest [if you will, the buffet table has always been there].
(358) I was up praying early. I was actually saying to myself ‘you can go so low in the pit to retrieve treasures, that it becomes dangerous’. I had a sense of a Hollywood schema that would have the ‘hero’ saying ‘I will go and risk my life to save the damsel [or some other corny thing]’ and the others standing by and pleading with him not to take the risk. Sort of like Peter telling Jesus ‘don’t go to the Cross’. As I was actually ‘muttering’ the words about ‘a very low pit’ I heard on the radio the days verse ‘he reached down and took me out of the most horrible pit’ it was a contemporary version from Psalms. Lets share some treasures that were just mined from a low place. On this blog I discuss a lot of controversial things. One is the end times. I don’t hold to a lot of the popular end time scenarios. For instance I recently showed you why Christ’s return will not vindicate natural Israel. The answer was Jesus could not ‘vindicate’ any system outside of the true gospel. So the ‘key’ to seeing this is actually the Cross! You will find this to be the key to everything. All truths must ‘filter’ thru the Cross. You will not rightly divide scripture until you master this. One of the controversial ideas I have espoused is Nero being the ‘beast’ of Revelation. Many evangelicals disagree. Lets open a door using the ‘key’. One of the New Testament books that Paul wrote speaks of Jesus ‘destroying the antichrist’ at his coming. With a total destruction. Some who believe Nero was the beast say this ‘coming of Jesus to destroy’ was a ‘coming’ in judgment in AD 70. They ‘spiritualize’ the 2nd coming to make it fit. The modern evangelical who holds to the Tim Lahaye stuff sees this as an excuse to prove a point. They say ‘see, if Jesus totally destroys antichrist at the 2nd coming, then obviously Nero wasn’t him!’ I do want to note that early historians will tell you that one of the ‘nick names’ for Nero was ‘the beast’. Here’s a ‘key’. In Revelation you see many things happening at different times. You also see many spiritual truths that are concurrent [remember what I showed you the other day]. There are images that show the beast and the antichrist being bound for a period of time. I also showed you on this blog that Hebrews says ‘Jesus destroyed him that had the power of death thru dieing himself’. This ‘key’ of Christ’s death teaches us that the devil is already destroyed by the Cross. It’s not ‘really’ a future event. The 2nd coming is a ‘culmination’ and ‘crowning’ of the Cross’s work. So the image in Revelation of the antichrist being ‘bound’ might very well be speaking of what happened at the Cross. In all the generations of man, since the Cross there has been more light and freedom than at any other time. The enemy, as well as the antichrist, can very well be described as ‘bound’. Now you also have images in Revelation that show this ‘binding’ as being a ‘waiting stage’ for ultimate destruction. The ‘contents’ of death and hell are finally ‘poured’ into the lake of fire. Peter in the New Testament gives images of rebellious angels being ‘held in chains’ until the final ‘destruction’. So with all this in mind, here’s a key. Nero is being ‘held’ right now, with Hitler and every other wicked despot that has ever lived. They are waiting for the 2nd coming. At the real 2nd coming [not AD 70!] he will really be ‘destroyed with total destruction by the presence of the Lord’. This my friends is the key, Jesus and his Cross.
(359) I was ‘seeing’ some people from Jersey again. I saw myself going thru the Tunnel in the Fairview cemetery that I wrote about earlier in this blog. I kinda saw a light at the end of the tunnel. I was hoping I was finally getting there. Then I realized I was at the midway point! Ouch!! In the middle of this tunnel in Jersey we found a ‘smoke stack’ that was huge. I guess it was a midway point to let steam out? We would look up and see sky. We wondered where it came out. One day walking in Fairview we found the stack shooting up a few hundred feet in some ones yard. It was huge. From inside the tunnel it was hard to ‘see’ where you were at on the terrain. From outside your perspective changes. There’s a light at the end of the tunnel for you [3rd day, a Christian group. I do listen to all types of music, even Christian!]
(360) Let me clarify some things. To ‘exalt’ people because of their gifts is a sickness that the church suffers from. This is imbedded in the current level of maturity that we are at. It will take time for us to out grow this. To ‘recognize’ the gifted ones in our midst is also an act of humility. While we live in a time of exalting men’s images, we also live in a time of ‘not receiving’ the prophets. To ‘receive them’ means to simply recognize and accept the things they are saying by the Spirit, while at the same time seeing them as ‘equals’ in the Body of Christ. To understand that the priesthood of all believers supersedes the gifts. Gifts are free ‘presents’ that God gives us for everyone’s benefit. The fact they are gifts should cause the ‘gifted ones’ to be humble about it. It should also cause the others receiving the benefits to understand that they are all sharing from a gift that no one has earned. To understand the difference between the exalting of men and the receiving of gifted ones is a level that we are not at yet as a Body of people. Now some things about John the Baptist. John had this incredible singular ability to ‘see Christ’. He was humble enough to recognize as Christ increased, he would decrease. John also had this ‘knack’ for offending people in authority. Poor John just couldn’t stick with the positive confession! John preached against the Kings marriage to his brother’s wife. He spoke out against an obvious sin that others had come to accept. The kings wife eventually would have John beheaded. The beheading of John was accomplished by the wife manipulating the Kings authority to come against the prophet. She had her daughter dance a sensual dance for the King, The King said he would give her anything she asked. The mother told the daughter ‘I want Johns head’ she got it! The story of Jezebel in the Old Testament carries the same theme. The prophet Elijah [whom Jesus compared John to] was attacked by the King of Israel’s authority being used by his wife. Jezebel had ‘power’ to come against Elijah because of her position to the King. The book of Revelation speaks of the spirit of Jezebel. God warns one of the churches that ‘she was allowing Jezebel to seduce her people’. In the charismatic world whole books and conferences revolve around this theme. A problem with the church, we take stuff and blow it out of proportion. I see this ‘Jezebel’ as the power of the enemy to manipulate authority to come against Christ’s Kingdom. The crucifying of Jesus. It was accomplished thru political manipulation. Pilate and others using govt. and their place in it to position themselves. Being so caught up in trying to gain the approval of their constituents that they allow an ‘innocent man’ to slip thru and be put to death unlawfully. The enemy knew that an outright attempt to take innocent life would never fly, but thru these manipulative means, he could use secular authority to come against Gods people [Both John the Baptist and Elijah]. So today we have the act of abortion. It is accomplished because human govt has been manipulated by those who want position. The leaders were more concerned with power than justice. The enemy manipulated leaders to a point where the supreme court put its stamp of approval on infanticide, could a human being on his own go around killing babies? No. But the ‘voice’ of govt. behind the scenes allows this to happen on a broad scale. Jezebel [the manipulating of power] rears her ugly head. The fact that John spoke out against the wicked lifestyle of the King [authority] brought with it the inherent danger of Jezebel. John graduated early! NOTE; I feel like ‘to suffer that woman Jezebel to seduce Gods servants’ speaks more of a rebuke towards the church getting to a stage where she is so comfortable in society that she loses her prophetic voice of justice. When believers are under the ‘spell’ of Jezebel, it is not so much a demonic thing to me, as much as a ‘seduction of silence’. Things are going well for our ministries, we are experiencing joy, fame and growth. God is a good God, we are ‘changing our world with our words’ [which means we are creating the lifestyles that we want, while never truly impacting society] in a nutshell ‘we are suffering jezebel to seduce us’ while we sit around quietly as the King blatantly struts around with his brothers wife. Everyone knows it’s wrong, but there is this ‘conspiracy of silence’. That is until old John comes along. You know he’s got this great prophetic ability to ‘see Messiah’ the Old Testament prophets actually spoke of John, they said he would be someone who ‘came in the power and spirit of Elijah’. You know what he went and did? Old John had to go open his mouth one too many times. He felt like ‘the Lord’ wanted him to speak out on the obvious sins of the time. Poor old John went and got himself killed. We are still around to enjoy the benefits of Roman society; we are very ‘posh’. Just don’t talk too much about our King, he is an embarrassment that we are willing to put up with for now! [Old Jezebel had a good run in 1st century Rome]
(361) I was parked down by the bay/gulf the other day. I was listening to Christian radio out of San Antonio. I heard a church from the area. The Pastor was real nice, kinda reminded me of our early days. A little ‘too nice’. A good word, but very apologetic. Sort of like ‘we have a very nice church, very loving people. Our childrens worker is really nice. We have a very loving family’ all of it was good and true. It sounded like the early tapes I recorded the first few years of ministry. I remember going thru them years later and throwing them out. A lot of the stuff was OK, but there was a lot of ‘word of faith’ mixture that I was uncomfortable with [I used to actually say ‘we now know it’s Gods will for us to all be rich’. Ughh!] There was also a lot of ‘good morning everybody, I hope you had a very, very wonderful week. We are going to have so much fun today’. Ughh again! This just reminded me of how we have lost our prophetic voice. We do sound like wimps to the world at times.
(362) When I was a kid I had a chance to see Pink Floyd at the Jersey shore [Springsteins turf]. I missed the concert. It was ‘the wall’ concert. ‘All in all were just another brick in the wall’. Just had an impression of running and hitting and doing damage to a ‘wall’. It’s like others have ‘hit’ it before, but there was a sense of going so far and being a little scared. Like you reach a point where for a season you find yourself all the way up the wall, and you look back and realize you’re in trouble. I remember going to the Jersey shore with a friend. We were about 16 yrs old. He ‘hired’ me to go with him as protection. Me and one other guy. We went because he was going to beat up the guy his girlfriend was seeing. We got to town in this Chevy Nova. I asked my friend where he got the car. He ‘found it’ with the keys in it and running! We wound up at dusk in some baseball field asking for the guy. Some kid shows up and offers to smoke some free pot. Sure, why not? Now we are totally wasted in some strange town looking to ‘kick someone’s @$#@’ Sure enough the kid that got us high starts walking back to around 30 kids making their way across the field. He was just ‘prepping’ us for the kill. This is how I just ‘saw’ the wall image. I feel like there are certain ‘walls’ that have needed to be dealt with for some time. Dealing with them can be dangerous. You feel like you’re in the middle of some strange town and outnumbered. This is why scripture says ‘those who did not love their lives unto death received a reward’. We must advance beyond the point of security and self-preservation. The ‘wall’ is high; you will at times be by yourself way up the wall. At that point you might as well go all the way.
(363) ‘To obey is better than sacrifice’ at this stage in what we are doing, some people have truly questioned the whole concept of what they have been preaching and believing for years. Some times when we question these things there is a tendency to use as a cover ‘my ministry has done good things, we might not be as pure as we should be in the gospel, but we have done good things’. This is thinking to ‘sacrifice’ is better than obedience. I do understand the difficulty that ministries go thru when they do an inventory and realize that 99% of their teaching was ‘missing the gospel’. I heard a testimony from a word of faith/prosperity preacher. He was/is pastoring a church. For many years he focused on the prosperity gospel. He was convicted over a period of years by seeing the many things I have shown you. He realized that his library was consumed with the teachers of the movement. That most of his focus was not really the true gospel. It was not easy to admit this to himself. He finally threw out his entire library and got back to focusing on the Bible. Jim Bakker went thru this same thing. A realization of ‘what have I been teaching and preaching’. The point is God is happy when we ‘sacrifice’. Do good things. Give money to Christian things. But all the sacrificing doesn’t trump obedience. Get back to the gospel of Jesus, and continue doing ‘the sacrifice’.
(364) The New Testament teaches believers to ‘defend the faith that has once been given to the church’. This ‘one time deposit of faith’ is not speaking about ‘guarding your personal faith in Jesus’ [as I have heard it taught]. It is speaking of guarding the basic Christian doctrine of God and the Gospel of Christ. Basically God calls us to ‘remain in the truth’. This ‘truth’ is the simple reality of us being saved thru Christ. It is the message of the gospel. It includes the basic tenets of the faith [things that you would find in the Apostles creed] and the basic ‘stuff’ of foundational Christianity. Often times you will find believers identifying with peculiar beliefs or offshoots of Christianity [I know some think we do that!]. Many legalistic groups have this mindset. They will view ‘leaving their style of belief’ with apostasy. God requires us to be faithful to the gospel. Not to some group that sees itself with ‘special knowledge’ that the church at large doesn’t posses. For centuries the parable of the sower ‘30-60-100 fold’ was easily seen to be speaking about Christian truth bringing forth fruit in a persons life. You then had a movement who taught that this really wasn’t what it meant, but it really meant bringing in a ‘100 fold’ of money. This is a direct departure from what it clearly said, as well as what all Christians seemed to understand for centuries. When ‘being faithful’ to the ‘faith’ that was once delivered to the saints, you have to basically know what was once delivered!
(365) Isaiah 49- ‘The Lord called me from birth, he made mention of my name from my mothers womb. He hath made my mouth like a sharp sword, in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me’ God combines ‘hiding’ with authority. Elijah not only had a strong prophetic ministry, he also had the ability to go in hiding for 3.5 years. ‘Then said I, I have labored in vain’ in context this is speaking of Israel’s national re birth at the 2nd coming. She says ‘I labored in vain’ in the context of ‘laboring under law’. At the appearing of Christ she will realize she spent thousands of years trying to legalistically gain Gods approval when all the ‘work/labor’ had already been done. ‘Your warfare is accomplished and sin forgiven’ [we will read this later on in Isaiah]. ‘Thus saith the Lord to him whom men despise, nations hate and a servant to rulers. Kings [leaders] shall see new things and rise. Princes also shall worship’ I see this as a type of God giving authority to those who have felt rejection. If you want authority to influence ‘kings’ then you will experience rejection on a large scale. ‘I will contend with him who contends with thee and save your children’ the fact that you are being ‘contended with’ is a sure sign that you are ‘birthing children’ winning people to the true cause of Christ.
(366) While praying I had a thought. The purpose of the Trumpet [all the various aspects of preaching and declaring Gods Word/Prophetic voice] is to ‘alarm’ the people to action. The Trumpet exists to cause the people to rise up as Gods mobile prophetic community and to advance thru society as his witnesses. This requires a willingness to ‘die to self’. The word for martyr means witness. Today we organize all the people around the ‘Trumpet’. We polish it, we come to look at it, every now and than we let the laity ‘blow’ it. But the focus is really the trumpet [gift/ministry]. Remember, the purpose of the ministry is to so enable you with a revolutionary mindset, that you would in turn revolutionize the world.
(367) About 4 months ago I consciously stopped making radio tapes. I was in the middle of teaching the book of Hebrews and was over 2 years ahead of actually broadcasting the tapes. I usually don’t prepare anything; I just read the bible and share as God leads. I stopped because I was only half way thru Hebrews and I was seeing a lot of stuff. I wanted to put ‘speaking’ on hold [remember Elijah had the ability to ‘not preach’ for 3.5 years]. I am not Elijah, but I didn’t want my ‘identity’ to be preaching. The month I consciously stopped preaching I started reading Isaiah as devotional material. Sort of like putting things on hold. Then we started this blog and I have been ‘speaking’ ever since! I share this to let you know I really am not looking for avenues to speak, I kinda feel like when Paul told Timothy ‘in doing this [preaching] you will save yourself and those who hear thee’ It’s a necessity. I just heard on the radio a preacher talk on ‘the name that is given to us that no man knows, but he who gives it’. This is in the book of Revelation. He innocently gave the ‘common’ commentary on ‘I wonder what my name will be, the bible says no one knows’. I kinda think it would make us feel uncomfortable to wake up in heaven and to find out my new name is ‘Youseff’ or ‘Zerubabael’ or some other weird thing. Maybe all the northeast liberals will be given ‘bubba’ type names, all the southerners wake up with the name ‘Al Sharpton’! We can be stupid at times. Lets use the key. What did I say the key to everything was? Jesus and his Cross. The book of Corinthians tells us that no man can say Jesus is Lord but by the Spirit. Also no man can ‘know’ the name Jesus [intimately] unless he is in ‘the Body of Christ’. Only God ‘knows’ this name, and only those whom God chooses to reveal it to. We are presently called ‘the Body of Christ’. We right now bear the name ‘Jesus Christ’. No body truly knows this name but those to whom it is revealed [all Christians]. We truly have a name that no man knows, but he who gave it! NOTE You can still go around wondering what this new mysterious name is, but if this didn’t ‘turn the lights on’ then you deserve to wake up with the name ‘Al Sharpton’.
(368) Just had a dream. I was at some type of flea market. Lots of salesman trying to get you to their stand. A doctor was running one of the stands. As people were walking around and engaging in ‘market type’ activities, I saw someone from the past. I don’t really recognize this person, I just no he looks familiar. His mom brought him to the Doctors stand. He was supposed to ‘work’ for the doctor. I got the sense that the mom was trying to get her son a job. He is getting older and kinda lives in fear. As I was looking at the trinkets and stuff the doctor was selling, I saw the mom make excuses for the son to not work. ‘Doctor he says his foot hurts, I can’t risk him getting an infection’ [he cant work hurt!] At the same time the mom is berating the son. ‘Your foot will sure be OK later to go visit your friends’. She was both rebuking him and enabling him at the same time. The doctor is a doctor. He looks briefly at the foot and kinda sees there is nothing wrong with it. The ‘enabling’ worked and the kid got out of ‘the doctors harvest field’. As I was going thru the doctor’s stuff to see if I wanted to buy something, another ‘stand owner’ was interrupting. Trying to get me to go to his stand. I finally refused and kept shopping. I found a little bag of jewelry. In the bag I spotted a little trumpet. I knew this was what I had come for. I bought the trumpet and walked away. I had previously injured my foot, and was walking with a bad limp. The act of walking with the limp was in and of itself an indictment on the other son who got out of the market with his excuse. I simply felt like the Lord was saying there are many things trying to prevent you from ‘finding your trumpet’ [voice and purpose in life]. We often eliminate ourselves by creating false disqualifiers ‘how can I work while hurting, it wouldn’t be right’. You will never find the perfect atmosphere to labor in! There will be other ‘tradesmen’ who will try to ‘sell you their wares’ in order to distract you from the trumpet/purpose of God. Don’t get side tracked! Eventually you will find that ‘item of value’ from the great Physicians stand. You might have to walk into the ‘market’ with a limp [Jacob/Paul] but that’s all right. All you need to do is get in the right place and blow that trumpet [I just went back to edit this site. I read a dream I had earlier. I dreamt of me having a thorn bush branch sticking in my leg. I had totally forgotten about this. It’s like the prophecies and dreams are a separate world of reality unto themselves. Sort of like a series of events that fit in, whether I remember them or not!] NOTE; To those of you waiting for the right environment before you will work in Gods field, even as I type this the last thing I feel like doing in my life right now is THIS! God wants to bring us to a place where we function thru difficulty. I do not want ‘hurt’ people to ‘hurt’ other people. I am showing you that the purpose of God is not always the exciting vision or dream of ‘ministry’ that you have in mind. Often it is the faithfulness to finish the task in the midst of personal turmoil. I think we used to call this ‘the Cross’. NOTE; Paul said ‘I desire to DEPART and be with Christ which is far better’. Moses and Elijah and Jonah all expressed feelings of ‘now go ahead Lord, take my life I am ready to depart’. These were real feelings of wanting to leave. I am not saying suicidal feelings are from God. It’s just important to understand true ministry is not necessarily your long-term existence on this planet. It is a mindset that struggles with wanting to ‘wrap this thing up’ while at the same time realizing you need to finish the course. Most of us don’t realize the reality of this. You [and I!] don’t decide when ‘to wrap it up’ God does. Sometimes you really feel like its time to depart, and it can be a struggle to realize your only half way thru the tunnel! NOTE; Me and a friend at work get a kick out of a story of one of these fakers who pretend they are hurt to scam the Social Security system. The guy pretended he got hurt some how [no one we know, this was on TV] The ‘injury’ caused him to act like a big baby [prophetic!] he would go around for years talking baby talk and acting just like a 30 year old baby. They finally busted him on tape. The cop car is driving him to the police station and he is in the back of this car pretending he is a baby again. He is being taped. The wife finally says to him ‘O shut up you big baby, the gig is up!’ You kinda got the feeling that the wife was tired of his whining and was glad he finally got busted.
(369) I just heard a word from God ‘don’t define me by your experience of me, I knew you and had a purpose for you before you even knew me’. I felt like God was saying ‘I chose you even when you were not following me, even as you were in active rebellion. Your religious experience which some of you now despise [previous church affiliation] I was with you thru all that. Don’t despise others who are still there. Your whole experience of me is very limited. Don’t judge me or others based on this experience, even if you call it ‘born again’ for I knew you before you were born’.
(370) A few entries back I spoke of the King that John the Baptist ‘exposed’. His name was King Herod. I don’t think I have ever written on him before. I am sure I have mentioned him on radio. The next day [or the same day?] I was watching the news. For the first time in 2 thousand years they found King Herods tomb. Prophetic things work like this. The significance of finding the tomb holds a spiritual truth. The ‘exposing’ of Herod was a prophetic act that said ‘you can’t continue to manipulate and hide behind authority to accomplish your agenda’. The last few weeks the Supreme Court upheld the law banning partial birth abortion. For a long time it was the manipulation of this system [Supreme court and human govt.] that allowed for this act of murder to take place. This act was openly described in testimony before the court in such a way that just reading the transcript would offend you. Its like time was up and ‘the King’ was exposed.
(371) Was reading in Isaiah ‘is anything too hard for me? I am God. I created everything. I can do anything’ I have heard it taught that God saves us, but basically that doesn’t change us. That we are really still the same. Our minds and everything else about us are still ‘unredeemed’. After getting ‘saved’ we are now beginning this long process of renewing our minds and bringing our bodies under control. It is biblical to renew the mind and it is also biblical to ‘bring the body under control’. It’s just we need to keep in perspective that the ‘act of redemption’ itself was God changing us at the basic ‘DNA’ level in such a way that all the other ‘trimmings’ could never accomplish. We don’t want to turn ‘redemption/salvation’ into an act that basically doesn’t do anything. It does a lot! God has acted on our behalf to accomplish changes in us that could not have been done any other way. The whole attempt of man ‘changing himself’ was tried under the law. He would ‘renew his mind’ he would ‘bring his body under’. The law was man saying ‘God has given me these tools, and now it’s basically up to me to implement them’. Man tried this for thousands of years until the Cross. At the Cross God said ‘I am God, I can do anything. Nothing is too hard for me. I will do for you what you could never accomplish thru your efforts’. Renew your mind, fast and bring your body under. It’s all good. Most of all understand that God has saved you. He has done stuff for you that all the disciplines in the world could never accomplish! NOTE: ‘and you who were enemies and alienated in your minds by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled thru the Body of his flesh by death [New Testament]’ See this. The act of the Cross has already ‘reconciled’ your mind. There truly has been a fundamental change in your mind. You shall know this truth, and this truth shall set you free!
(372) I am up praying early at the firehouse. I walk outside and pray silently! Don’t want you to really think I am too crazy. I am working off a street called ‘Armstrong’. It’s the first [or 2nd] place I lived when first moving to Kingsville. A few blocks away my friend Miguel lived right down the block. Actually it was off of this street 25 years ago that I led Miguel to the Lord [my first convert from new jersey]. Right around the corner one of my Kingsville friends lives. Just praying and thinking about him and his boys. Many years ago I used to preach to his dad at the jails. I eventually met him and his brothers. All my age. Actually I backslid pretty bad with these guys years ago. They all have these reputations as ‘bad guys’. I remember having to ‘show them’ what ‘bad’ was when I backslid. I actually beat one of the brothers up. The other one [my good friend] I would ‘box’ in fun [no gloves] and I could tell that he tried to avoid me when I was drinking. It’s all in the past now. It was something in me that had to say ‘I don’t care how tough of an ex convict you are, I’ll kick your %$@#.’ All stupid stuff. Not too smart either. I was a ‘lone ranger’ and these families have lots of brothers and fellow drug/gang friends in these towns. As I was praying for these friends and their sons and realizing I am just a few blocks from where all these many experiences took place, it felt surreal to realize thru it all God has worked. Now many years later some are doing well, some are dead. I am even praying for the Jersey friends I contacted this past year. ‘I will bring your sons from far, your daughters from the ends of the earth’ [Isaiah]. It’s like you can be in touch with all types of people groups thru prayer. Now this blog enables me to communicate within a few days time. The radio ministry is good. But some times I would say something important and depending on the timeline it might take over a year before the tape gets played. Thru the blog I can actually write and post to all of you in minutes. I felt like God ‘shortened’ the delay. Hopefully eventually I will get with you guys in a bible study environment and there will be no delay! Well just felt like I needed to communicate this to you. Pray for all of the people who are part of this ‘on line’ community. Read the bible on your own. Seek the Lord. I don’t want to offend any of my old friends by thinking ‘who does John think he is by saying he’s trying to reach out to us, he’s got problems too!’ This surely is true. Pray for me too. Lets all see what Gods got in store. Thanks.
(373) Woke up with thinking I had nothing to say. Then had a thought. The book of Hebrews [bible] says that the era of Christ’s 1st century appearing is called ‘the times of reformation’ this obviously is not speaking of the 16th century movement. This is speaking of Gods ‘reformation’ from Old Testament patterns to the actual reality of Christ. This ‘time’ is described by the angels as a time of ‘peace towards men and good will’. Yet Jesus will later say ‘don’t suppose that I have come to bring peace, but a sword. My ‘coming’ at this time [1st century] is revolutionary. Many upheavals will take place’. And yet later in the New Testament the scripture clearly teaches that we have peace with God thru Jesus Christ. Like Doug Heffernen would say on the King of Queens ‘huhh!’ The process of God reforming and bringing in a new era under the New Covenant was a wonderful event. God was forever changing the economy of Gods Kingdom from one of ‘self righteousness’ and legalism, to one of Fullness and Grace. This singular time period would forever change the history of man. The benefits of this ‘reformation’ are unbelievably great compared to the law. The conflict and difficulty in making the initial transition was not fun. Many followers of God who were faithful for centuries were being told ‘now its time to leave all the doctrines and beliefs that have become your cultural identity. All the great fathers/leaders of your religion served a purpose. You can no longer ‘dwell’ in their heritage’. This was the ‘sword’ part. Peace would later come to those who would accept the ‘sword’ in cutting off religious heritage and moving on into the New Covenant. God will even allow those who leave their old heritage to embrace a new one [the faith once delivered to the Saints] but first the sword! Those who would be willing to die to all the old mindsets and ways of seeing things would be on the cutting edge of this new movement called ‘the Church’. First the Sword! I feel God is challenging the church today in this way. He is not asking us to leave the fundamental faith that has been given to the church. He is asking us to lay down old models and systems of thought that are ‘passing away’. We too often confuse ‘faithfulness’ with standing true to the ‘faith of our fathers’ but we think the ‘faith of our fathers’ is either some cultural thing, or some peculiar belief that old ‘poppa daddy’ passed down to us. Hey, let the sword of the Spirit [Gods Word] sever that old stuff. It will be uncomfortable to go thru this ‘spiritual circumcision’ but that which you produce from your seed/heritage will be a genealogy that is on the cutting edge of a new millennium.
(374) Many years ago a preacher visited Corpus. He was speaking here locally. I enjoyed him; you could see that he was going thru difficulty. He even questioned some of his beliefs in an open and honest way. He shared from the book of Romans [bible; p.s. to our Christian friends, you know these are bible books. I realized that a lot of my old friends don’t know this. They already think I am a little ‘unhinged’ by the prophetic things I share on this blog, I don’t need them thinking I am quoting things out of ancient books that nobody knows about!] He spoke on the verse ‘all things work together for good to them that love God’ and he openly challenged his ‘word of faith/prosperity’ roots by saying ‘I know we often teach this to mean that ‘all’ things are not really working for our good [the bad stuff] but I am tired of trying to ‘get around’ all the verses that say stuff like this’ [I am paraphrasing]. His church is ‘covenant church’ in Carrolton, TX. He is a good man, and I don’t think he would describe himself as ‘word of faith’ its just I could tell he has been influenced by this teaching. Anyway this first time he spoke there was a realness about him. A ‘prophetic’ cutting edge that comes along with difficulty and trials [you could tell he was really struggling in his life]. A few years later he came back. Still preached well. But he was different. He even looked ‘sufficient’. Sort of like ‘I am now back to the believers authority and this self sufficiency that you didn’t see last time’. He was not arrogant, it was just you could tell that his ‘return’ to the classic word of faith/prosperity type system drained the ‘reality’ he had the last time he was here. He sort of went back to the interpretation of ‘all things work for good’ doesn’t mean the bad stuff. If I remember right I think he even said this? This just was a lesson to me on how God speaks from our reality and difficulty. When we embrace doctrines that reject these aspects of Christianity we lose the ‘cutting edge’. The brother held a few meetings. He did all right. He never came back to Corpus. I think he was on the verge of ‘reformation’ the first time I heard him. Then when he came back you could kind of sense that he never really made the transition.
(375) A few entries back I spoke on not judging God or others based on our own experiences. I have noticed over the years how a lot of believers who might have had a Catholic background became very ‘anti catholic’ after being ‘born again’. I do believe in the New Birth. I believe all who believe in Jesus Christ are Born Again. In 1st John it does say ‘whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God’. Some times we associate ‘being born again’ with our own evangelical experience. ‘Have you asked Jesus into your heart?’ If not, then you’re not BORN AGAIN! This is what you would call ‘reductionism’ reducing everything to a simple ‘me and Jesus’ format. You know none of the Apostles ‘asked Jesus into their heart’ [the original 12]. It would sure seem like an awkward thing. ‘Jesus’ ‘yes Peter’ ‘would you come into my heart’ ‘I have been with you from the start, you will soon believe in my death and resurrection. You will be one of the key figures in the founding of my church’ ‘I know all this Jesus, but if I don’t get saved I cant go to heaven’. The point is simply, all the Apostles and every other believer since has had one thing in common. They have all believed in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. They believe ‘he is the Son of God’. Don’t use your own personal experience to exclude others who might not have come to the Cross the same way. We all come by faith, the peculiar aspects surrounding the event are not what saved you, it was Jesus who saved you. Also it is a common hobby for the more extreme fundamentalists to question whether or not ‘you are really saved’. They often use verses like ‘you should know whether you are in the faith or not’ [Corinthians]. But they use them in a way that’s not really in context. Paul uses these verses to question Christians who were doubting the physical resurrection. He is not using these verses to ‘micro examine’ every little detail of their conversion experience! God gave his son to save the world; it would sure be strange to find out that the majority of people who believe in Jesus didn’t make it because of some technicality! God wants to save people, people need Jesus to be saved. Don’t make it harder than this! NOTE; Now that I mentioned ‘reductionism’ let me say a few things. In the world of theology reductionism refers to the ‘reducing’ of Gods greater corporate and societal purposes [the Kingdom of God] to the simple act of ‘getting saved’. There are whole churches and movements whose entire ‘thought life’ is centered on ‘am I saved’? If so I will find a church that tells me this every Sunday, and often these same churches will convince the ‘saved’ that they really didn’t get it the first time. And there you have it ‘they get saved for real this time’ and then the whole cycle repeats. The more ‘communal’ churches see salvation in a broader way. They often quote St. Augustine’s famous words ‘there is no salvation outside of the church’. Many good theologians hold to this. I believe this is true to a degree. In Paul’s teachings ‘the church’ are all the communities of people who have come to Christ. Paul does teach a form of corporate salvation. That is ‘if you’re in the church you are saved’. It’s just there is a tendency [Augustine] to see ‘church’ in an evolving way that restricts ‘church’ to the specific community that YOU personally relate to. So in Augustine’s mind [as well as other great Catholic theologians] to be ‘church’ is to be Catholic. Now after Vatican 2 [1962-65; The year I was born] the Catholic Church officially acknowledged the Protestants as ‘separated brethren’. A big step for them to have made. Some more liberal Catholic thinkers see ‘all religions’ [Muslims included] as being ‘saved’ thru the grace that is resident in society thru the Catholic Church. Sort of like ‘Gods grace to reveal God to people is activated by Gods Son. The only ‘true’ church that is ‘transmitting this grace’ is the Catholic Church. The fact that all Muslims are believers in God is a divine sacramental act that is taking place in society thru the Catholic Church. Therefore the fact that Muslims [or any one else] are truly in communion with God is a real work of grace that has been generated thru the one true church’. Now I don’t hold to this. All Catholics don’t either. This is to show you the broad range from ‘me and Jesus’ to that which borders on universalism [the doctrine that says eventually everyone gets saved. Some very intelligent church fathers believed this. Origen was one of them. Though Origen is not considered ‘Orthodox’. He was a very influential teacher and figure in the early church. He actually taught that satan would ultimately be saved. He was a real Universalist. Some Universalists don’t deny the blood of Jesus, contrary to popular opinion. They actually believe the blood is so powerful, that it will ultimately ‘save all people’. There are very smart Christians who do believe this. I personally do not believe this. But I find it interesting that modern evangelicals do not for the most part see ‘universalists’ as other Christians. There are different types of them, the ones who believe in Jesus are Christians, even if they believe all people will ultimately be saved. The other types who reject Jesus are not Christians] NOTE; I remember hearing a story about one of these evangelists that preached one of these ‘you think you are saved, I’ll show you you are not!’ type sermons. The sermon was so ‘convicting’ at the end of the meeting he went down to the altar and had the Pastor ‘lead him to the Lord’, that’s strange. If his own sermon that he preached got him ‘saved’ then that means he ‘got saved’ from a lost mans message. That would mean ‘he’s not really saved’ wouldn’t it? This stuff gets ridiculous after a while.
(376) Let me give a little example of the ‘overriding act of redemption’ trumping any little verse or experience. Paul actually tells the Corinthians ‘if the dead are not raised, then why are you baptizing people in ‘proxy’ for the dead?’ This is tough stuff. Let me give you one way to see this. The ‘baptism for the dead’ seems to have been a real cultural thing that took place in a specific time and setting [like the slavery verses I mentioned earlier]. There seems to have been a concern specifically to the 1st century church that said ‘this new doctrine of Jesus is great, but being its only been around a few years, and you are telling us [Paul] that you must embrace it to be saved. Then we have a problem. A lot of our loved ones never got a chance to hear. How do you expect us to quell these concerns?’ And it’s possible that the ‘baptism’ by proxy [like a father or son getting baptized in the place of the loved one who died] was a 1st century cultural thing that grew out of this. The fact that they were doing this does not mean that Paul the Apostle was condoning it. Paul was simply saying ‘if you guys really don’t believe in life after death, then why are you bothering with this rite?’ Its like Paul was using their own cultural thing to show them the inconsistency of their thinking. He wasn’t really teaching the baptism for the dead. [This is my view, Mormons believe different. They do practice this today and they use this verse as justification].
(377) I went to sleep at around 7 pm [early] woke up at around 10 pm and was mad. I felt like I was going to get up and do another all nighter. I have to work today and frankly I was telling the Lord ‘this is ridiculous, if I had some sleeping pills to take I would’. I was complaining and feeling like God is asking too much from me. Not that I am some great one-man show. Just that I felt 2-3 hours of sleep cant cut it. Getting up at 2 am seems to be the norm. I really am fine with that. Before midnight is a total drain on me. Well anyway I fell asleep and woke up around 2:30 and had a dream. I was in some type of ‘portable/temporary’ building. It was like a combination church/counseling facility. I saw some friends from the past. Christians who I haven’t seen in years. I said hi and they ignored me. I stopped them to see if they recognized me or what. They seemed to, but they have gone thru so much disillusionment that they didn’t care anymore. I saw some staff people from the church I attend. Some were doing well, others seemed to be ‘trying to fit in’ and all, but they seemed to be ‘punching the time clock’. Nothing bad, just a sense of ‘I am a Christian, I am on staff at a great church. I should be happy and fulfilled. There’s something missing’. I also was doing some counseling and ministry stuff. I saw a kid named ‘Tommy’ [I originally just ‘picked’ this name out of the blue when I told the story the other day. It now seems to have been prophetic]. He was a nice kid, sort of roaming the halls. We went into one of the study rooms and were both studying. He was very isolated and withdrawn. I told him I was a lot like him. I managed to have a good friendship with him. Later I went to another room where there were 3 kids who I was going to counsel. Tommy was there again. I don’t remember asking for the other kids names [or I don’t remember what their names were] but I must have asked Tommy 2 or 3 times. It was embarrassing to keep forgetting his name [identity struggle]. It’s like I should have known him by now ‘get on with the program John, how long will it take you to come out of this feeling of isolation and identity crisis’ type thing. I woke up and realized that I was probably ‘Tommy’. Its kinda hard to admit stuff like this on the blog. I realize that the Lord wanted this blog to be real. I would have NEVER been this real a few years ago. I just am at a point in life where I felt this is what God wanted and I do have a lot of struggles so what the ‘heck’ [Ill be nice!] I don’t think I need to explain this dream too much, you should be able to ‘find yourself’ somewhere in it. Just apply what you feel fits. NOTE The Cross experience in Christ’s life was one of going thru things for the benefit of others. Though these things were a direct result of Gods redemptive purpose for these people, they would say ‘look at you, you claim to be from God and have this great calling. It doesn’t seem to be working for you, you are a major hypocrite. Even our religious leaders have said you are way off’. They judged him by the reality of his difficulty. They seemed to not perceive that his ‘difficulty’ was for their benefit. The things he was publicly going thru were for them. The fact that they judged him by these difficulties was part of the Cross. The Cross was public humiliation on a major scale. His family and friends were watching him go thru this very open humiliation. This was no time of ‘me and my successful ministry’. Now you do have the vindication at the resurrection. The problem is Paul wrote in one of his letters ‘we have struggles now, while our persecutors have it easy. This is just a sign, our temporary affliction will bring forth great vindication and glory in due season, AT THE APPEARING OF CHRIST’! The time of our vindication is at the resurrection! [Ouch!]
(378) ‘Truth trumps authority’ [or actually ‘truth and authority co exist’] Many years ago when I attended a Fundamental Baptist Church they viewed the ‘Assembly of God’ church down the block as a cult. They had speakers come in and give revivals and they would say that the ‘tongues talkers’ are a cult. They would give examples of people who were speaking in tongues and some one who knew the language actually said they were cursing God [by the way this is possible. There very well might have been a ‘demonic’ infiltration like this. There are incidents of possession that have had a type of demonic thing like this happen. The problem is you can’t paint all ‘tongues speaking’ with this brush. Many ‘tongues speaking’ people are the ones who brought these things out] the point is when I eventually left this church, they were a little ‘cultic’ in their mindset. They challenged leaving their group. But when the Pastor [a really good man who I respect today!] saw that I was going to leave to start a church, he also knew I couldn’t go along with the ‘anti charismatic’ stuff anymore. He then appealed to ‘authority structures’ to challenge my decision. He basically said ‘well if you are leaving to become a preacher, and you think the charismatics are OK, then even they agree with us that you must follow the guidelines of bible school and ordination and all these things. You cant just go and preach!’ I found this interesting, though they viewed the ‘assembly of God’ as a cult, they then resorted to the mutual agreement that they all had that said ‘how dare you try to function outside of the standard norms of authority’. They all saw authority as a process you go thru to gain legitimacy. The simple act of being equipped with truth and declaring that truth [The Gospel] wasn’t really sufficient, unless you ‘jumped thru the hoops’. In scripture you do find ‘lines of authority’ biblical mandates to ‘obey those who care for you’ and things like this. Paul himself taught stuff like this. Paul also challenged the ‘normal lines of authority’. Paul became an Apostle after the original 12. The early church had a hard time with accepting his authority. The Jerusalem leadership actually had the mindset of ‘we were in this before you. You don’t have the legitimacy to preach this gospel to gentiles. You have gone ‘outside’ of the accepted norms to be ‘ordained’ and recognized as one who has authority.’ You read this in Acts chapter 15 as well as Galatians chapter 1. Paul eventually says ‘I don’t care who these guys think they are. It doesn’t matter to me. I am sent to preach the gospel, and if their ‘authority structures’ have been by passed, then the ‘authority of truth’ trumps them’. This is the same reformation spirit you see in Luther in the 16th century. Basically we all have times of growth and development where we learn to respect Elders and those whom God has been using. They have truly earned biblical respect. It’s when these guidelines of authority and leadership try to ‘trump’ truth that truth trumps the ‘structures’ [both the protestant reformation going over Rome’s head, as well as what Paul did in the 1st century]. Paul will actually rebuke Peter face to face in the whole area of Gentile acceptance by faith. The fact that Paul was right in doctrine, made him right in authority. The challenge from the Fundamental Pastor sounded good, but it was fundamentally flawed [note: he meant well, I am sure he realized how young and immature I was at the time and simply tried to steer me towards a path that he thought would help]. He basically tried to say ‘even if we view the other church as a cult, we all agree that you cant preach/ start a church without going thru the accepted structural procedures’. Basically if you are called of God and are walking in truth you have authority. If you ‘depart’ from truth along the way, you lose authority. Though Gods giftings and callings are permanent, when you step out of truth you are ‘temporarily’ setting aside your authority. I feel this is important for those who feel like they have really learned truth from us this past year. Don’t stay faithful to systems of thought and belief that are operating on the ‘fringes of truth’. You have the right to walk away from that stuff. Keep loving the people, they are good people [Jerusalem church] but you have a mandate from God, walk in it!
(379) The most amazing thing about the ministry of Jesus. God chooses him to bring in this great reality of the Kingdom ‘the Kingdom of God is here’. He gives him the message of the Kingdom on forgiveness, leadership, the last being first. All these great truths that seem to go against the grain of society. Even their religious understanding said ‘en eye for en eye’ but Jesus says no more. The central ‘ingredient’ to the establishing of the Kingdom will be the Cross ‘except a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies it remains alone, but if it dies it will bring forth much fruit’. The only problem is this message will become ‘fleshed out’ thru the key preacher of this new Kingdom. That’s the tuff part. I wish we could just have this great message and simply proclaim it and go home and enjoy everything. Jesus understood that he had come to the Kingdom for such a time as this. There were many shameful things that he despised [Hebrews] there was stuff that he ‘endured’ but he recognized that the simple ‘indoctrination’ about this new Kingdom wouldn’t suffice, it had to be ‘nailed down’ at the Cross. The only problem was he would be at the receiving end of the nails.
(380) In the writings of Paul [New Testament] you see him fighting against the Judaizers [trying to convert Christians to half law/grace] he describes them as ‘enemies of the Cross’ he actually says they ‘preach another Jesus’ and that even if an angel appears and brings this new ‘Jesus’ that you are to reject it. Paul was strong for the gospel. It’s perfectly possible for believers to develop an experience with God thru Jesus that leaves out the crucial elements of the Cross. When people ‘choose’ to focus on the other aspects of Christianity that are on the fringes of the gospel, they choose to opt out of the Cross. I have said before, you do ‘get’ what you focus on. This is a true principle that works whether you are a believer or not. If people choose a form of Christianity that says ‘we focus on comfort and happiness’ they for the most part will get that. If challenged by the message of the Cross [which includes both redemption and the call to self sacrifice] they can actually choose to reject it based on self-preservation. The choice of thinking ‘I do not want to hear the possibility of me suffering and going thru difficulty. The old time churches taught this and our current teachers showed us they got what they confessed’. So you begin to believe in a ‘Cross less’ gospel, and you justify it by the actual fact that you are materially doing better than the old time Christians ‘our teachers must be correct, look at how much better we are doing materially than they were’. The fact that all of this might very well be true does not mean it’s the biblical gospel. Inherent in our call as believers is the fundamental ‘counting the cost’ mindset. The cost of radical revolution is to put self and the concerns of ‘creature comforts’ away. The many learned men who have seen much truth in the areas of wealth and finances have ‘crossed the line’ in not rightfully submitting these truths to the superiority of the Cross. The many sayings of Jesus on ‘you can’t serve God and money’ are seen as ‘old school’. You then have someone like myself that comes along and preaches the Cross. I am then seen as an ‘enemy’ to this peculiar belief system. The ‘system’ becomes that which you defend, as opposed to the true message of the Cross. Paul nailed it down fairly well when he said ‘even if an angel comes and declares a different Jesus to you, let him be accursed’. Paul knew the stakes were high. Jesus went thru too much for the church to sit idly by as the parade of new teachers slowly erases away his central message.
(381) When I was a Pastor I had a friend who was a ‘word of faith’ preacher. He would attend some of our services. I also let him preach every now and then. I spoke on prayer once. I used the verse from the book of James that says ‘we ask and do not receive, because we ask amiss that we would consume the things we want out of lust’ [paraphrase]. Basically the verse is saying selfish prayers are not answered. My friend tried to explain to me that this was not what it was saying. He was taught this verse in a way that said ‘the reason you are not obtaining the wealth and things you desire is because your are not aiming your prayers in the right direction’ he told me it was saying to ‘aim’ at the proper trajectory and you will get all you want. This was another one of those examples of how we take verses and make them say the complete opposite of what they are saying. Jesus did say ‘when you pray, believe that the things you are saying will happen, and you will have what you say’ I do believe this verse to be true. You will find Jesus and Paul ‘saying’ things this way. Jesus said to the fig tree ‘dry up and die’ it happened. Paul would say to the person who was possessed ‘you are a hindrance to the gospel, be blind’ and it happened. Basically this teaching from Jesus is to fit in with the whole counsel of God. Paul used this truth to spread the gospel. You never found Paul or Jesus using these things ‘to get what they wanted’ in a self serving way. They ‘had what they said’ because they said things in the will of God, not to ‘consume stuff upon their desires’. Jesus would say ‘I am going to go to Jerusalem to be killed’ Peter didn’t like this confession. It didn’t line up with what Peter wanted. Jesus didn’t ‘get what he said’ simply because he said this. He said this out of the reality of fulfilling Gods purpose. He ‘got what he said’ because what he said was the unselfish will of God concerning the Cross. We as believers need to be at a higher level than where we are currently operating. It’s like I could go thru all these types of verses and debate the real meaning of them. Others will stick with the ‘fake’ meaning. You can spend years trying to undo all this stuff. Until we get to ‘another place’ of putting our lives at the foot of the Cross, we will never really see these things. God will give you good things, don’t get me wrong. Just allow all these truths to be filtered thru the Cross.
(382) ‘You have been faithful over a little, I will now give you authority over 10 cities’ Jesus says this to the disciples. Sometimes in our minds we picture the Apostles as ‘city managers’ over future cities. Remember in Jesus teaching authority was not ‘being over people’. We know Jesus taught stuff like this, yet we read him saying stuff about authority and we see it as ‘being in charge’. How did the apostles ‘have authority over cities’? By bringing the gospel to these regions and the people who believed became their ‘spiritual children’. Paul told the Corinthians that he had apostolic authority ‘over’ them because he birthed them thru the gospel. Being ‘faithful’ over a little. What’s this? Many of you who have made it this far on this blog have read things that you personally knew to be true before you heard me say it. Yet until you heard me say it you never really were able to truly make the break. It’s like we go thru a process of hearing and seeing before we are ‘faithful’ to what God said. Some of the things I have shown you guys are obvious mistakes that even a child could see was wrong. Yet the peer pressure of being in an environment where others hold to certain things, though obviously wrong, is hard to break. Once you learn to ‘be faithful in the little areas of hearing and obeying’ then God allows you to ‘have authority’ over 10 cities. That is he gives you influence in his Kingdom for his purpose. Many times we seek to have a voice/forum in the Kingdom. We do things to ‘make our voice heard’ but God is primarily looking for people who will speak truth when they see it. Learn to be faithful to the things God is plainly showing you, then he will ‘put your feet in a large place’ [of influence]. NOTE: In my own life I have gone thru stages where the Lord will increase my area of influence from the present one to ‘another place’. When these events happen I can tell before hand. It’s sort of like the excitement from the present region ‘wanes’ a feeling of ‘this present parameter is too small, don’t despise the ‘day of small things’ but I am bringing you to a larger place’. When this happens with me it’s like a feeling of ‘the people we are presently reaching are still valuable, but you are moving to another place. That which I have done thru you and for you are ‘seeds’ that will continue to bear fruit long after you’re gone. You have been faithful over this little area and now move on’. Even if the area’seemed big a few years ago, when I sense this type of transition, it seems ‘small’. I also make it a conscious point to NOT DESPISE or think condescending towards the previous land marks. I feel this in itself enables me to gain authority in a larger region. Also the amount of ‘pain’ associated with the larger area of influence [for as MANY as were astonished at thee, so shall you touch MANY nations] keeps you from lusting after the influence. Scripture says Jesus ‘despised the shame’ associated with the Cross [Hebrews] but endured it realizing that the ‘regional impact’ would be directly related to his suffering. The MANY who were astonished equals the MANY who you will have influence with! Also in Isaiah it says the children that you will have, after you have lost the other will say to you ‘this place is too small for me’ and you will respond ‘who birthed all these children, I was in captivity, I was going back and forth, I was suffering. How in the world did I gain such a following?’ It’s almost like the fact of the extreme difficulty was actually producing the children/converts. This is an amazing thing that you will see thru out scripture. ‘More are the children of the desolate, than of the married wife’. Look at the covenant women in scripture, they are for the most part barren [forsaken] and yet give birth to these tremendous prophetic people [Samuels mother, John the Baptist, Sarah].
(383) A few things from Isaiah ‘I have seen your ways and will heal you, I will restore comforts unto you and to your mourners’ I spoke on the Cross a few entries back. One of the hard things was Jesus would say to the disciples ‘you must also take up the cross and follow me’. A central area of identifying with Christ was going thru the Cross. This is a difficult thing. There are times in life where all seems to be going well. You have your life organized and happy. The ‘dose’ of Christianity that you have embraced is just strong enough to insure that all your needs will be met. You have the verses down and all. Then there comes some ‘strange’ preacher you never heard of before. He seems to be a little different. He is speaking the same language and all, it’s just different ‘Jesus spoke with authority, not like the scribes’. The average people could really identify with him. He rubbed the elite class the wrong way. One of the main parts of his teaching was those who were ‘well off’ now, would pay later. Yet the poor would inherit the earth. This didn’t sit well with the ‘well to do’. The religious leaders were getting tired of him. Every time he opened his mouth it seemed like he was teaching stuff that was right on, and it often reproved the systems of belief that the average preacher was ‘hawking’ at the time. Then the day comes where his zealous followers are going to prove to everybody that Jesus is the Messiah, they have been waiting for a few years to be vindicated. Peter was this zealot type reformer who was tired of the oppression of Rome. Being treated as some type of ‘illegal alien’. ‘You wait and see Rome, our Messiah has finally arrived. It was even prophesied that he would deliver the Jews from Rome’s oppression. Our day is here’. Then a funny thing happened. The road to Jerusalem is nearing, our vindication day. All the prophets spoke of the triumphal entry of the Jewish King to take David’s throne. This obviously will be fulfilled in Jerusalem, the city of the great King [David]. Well as the day approached, Jesus started talking about death and leaving us. We couldn’t grasp what he was saying. We gave everything to him; we looked like fools following him against the opinions of the preachers of our day. Jesus doesn’t seem to understand we can’t have him dieing now. It will ruin our ‘day of getting even’ with all those who spoke against us. If he dies now we will feel like we have allowed the enemies to win. We want to win! Then they remember the teachings of Jesus. He told them the Cross was not just something he would experience. He told them a day was coming where they too would identify with him in this process. A day of humiliation and defeat. Those who would experience it would be different on the other side. Peter swallows hard and readies himself. “Though all the others forsake you, I wont’’ He even cuts off the ear of one of the company who come to take Jesus. A very brave thing to do, knowing your out numbered and all. I guess he really wanted to show that he was willing to die this day. But this wasn’t his day to die. Then the hour comes. Jesus begged the Father if there was another way please help me find it. He determines to allow the Cross to take full course. He sees Peter cursing and denying him. Peter tastes it too. They drive the nails thru his hands and prop him up over this hillside. It looks like something out of Hollywood ‘the place of the skull’. Something strange happens. The sky turns dark. It’s eerie, the people were just making fun of him and now they are terrified. One of the others being crucified that day decides to ask Jesus if he could be with him in Paradise. Jesus has so much on his plate right now. The ‘weight of the world’ and yet has time to pray for him. ‘Today you will be with me in Paradise’ still putting others first. As the sky darkens the earth shakes. Later we find out that the tombs of believers broke open from this event and after the resurrection many saints rose from the dead and were seen witnessing in the area! A Roman guard is seeing all this, he sees this strange religious leader cry out to his God ‘O my God why did it come to this. You have forsaken me. Into your hands I commit my spirit’ the soldier simply says ‘truly this man was the Son of God’. He is taken down and put in a tomb. Others will come who will teach that Jesus was part of the ‘aristocracy’ that he was from the ‘rich class’. They put him in a ‘rich mans tomb’ but it had to be donated! His followers are distraught. Especially Peter. Peter was thinking ‘what have I done, I cant believe the weakness of my flesh. All that I worked for in this revolution is now lost. I will be remembered as the one who failed. My image is forever stained’. Jesus appears to the women who were his followers after the resurrection. A strange thing for sure. If someone were writing this story and it was all made up, you wouldn’t have Jesus going first to the women. It would take away from the ‘believability’ of the story. 1st century Rome was a bit patriarchal you know. The women are amazed. Jesus did it. ‘Go tell the disciples I am alive. Especially Peter. I know he gave it all he could to not deny me. But it had to happen. It was part of his Cross’. They go and tell the others. The disciples will go on and found the greatest religious movement known to man. Peter will gain his boldness back. History even tells us that when they crucified him he asked to be killed upside down, because he wasn’t worthy to die like his King. They finished well. God restored comforts unto Jesus and to his mourners. But first the Cross. NOTE: The martyrdom of Peter. Jesus tells Peter one time ‘where I am going [the Cross] you cannot follow me at this time. Later you will follow me, but your time has not come yet’. Jesus knew it was necessary for Peter’s denial to still take place. Peter had an ‘appointment’ with failure. Peters desire was to be a martyr for the cause. He was a ‘zealot’ a political activist of his day who would have been willing to die for freedom. He tried to show this at the point when they came to take Jesus. The act of cutting off the ear of a Roman soldier is something that you get executed for. The 1st century means of execution was the Cross. Peter actually took a step towards martyrdom with this act. Jesus interrupted the process by miraculously putting the guys ear back on! Its like Peter wanted death, but Jesus already told him it wasn’t yet time. You find Peter after Pentecost preaching to the Jews in such a way that it seemed like he was back to the ‘martyrdom complex’. He says things that could very well get him killed. It’s like he can’t wait to pass thru the ‘tunnel’. When the day finally comes he does get crucified upside down. He never really overcame the guilt of his initial denial. He still felt unworthy over what he did. The early church had a movement where Christians were wanting to get martyred. They read verses like the one in Hebrews 11 that says ‘those who are martyred receive a better resurrection’ so this group of ‘Christian zealots’ were actually doing things to get executed for the faith. The early church fathers/Bishops had to put a stop to it. These guys were like Peter after the resurrection! There was a real sense of ‘I want to get killed for the faith’ that some of these brothers had. What a contrast to today’s gospel. We appeal to people by telling them your gonna get rich if you follow Christ. Things will be great. We seem to appeal to the flesh of people. The early followers knew if they embraced the faith that there was a chance that you might get killed.
(384) A few things. I was reading the verses in Isaiah and ‘saw’ the theme of ‘I have put my words in your mouth’ ‘I have made you a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth, you will thresh the mountains and beat them small and the wind shall carry them away’ ‘I have hidden you in my hand’ [this hidden part comes after both the above verses]. I felt like the Lord was saying there are seasons where he speaks thru people. It’s important for those people to understand the principle of ‘being hidden’. I feel this ‘being hidden’ is a voluntary act where Christians [prophetic people] follow the example of Jesus in the gospel. When they came to ‘make him King’ [exalt him in their way] that he refused! I believe Jesus was showing us that when God chooses people to carry certain prophetic messages at reformation times, that there is a temptation to allow people to ‘make them Kings’. Often times well meaning humble men fall into this snare. It is not always pride that leads to self-exaltation. Sometimes it is humility! A feeling of ‘I really don’t want to be exalted, but the people really want this, so what the heck’. Scripture gives us examples on how to deal with this. FLEE! I also just addressed an envelope to a Texas jail. Got the letter yesterday from one of the sons of one of the addicts/ex cons who has been a friend of mine for 20 years. I remember this son coming to our church meetings as a little boy. I haven’t seen him in years. I knew he was doing bad. Into drugs and all. Kinda happy to get the letter. Sad that he’s in prison. I will send him some books and stuff in a few days. Something about the Cross experience. It must have been hard on Jesus to realize that his friends and disciples were ‘experiencing’ the cross because of him. If Peter and Judas and all these guys never met or knew Jesus, then the whole drama of agony and defeat [and damnation!] would have played no central role in their lives. I am not saying it’s our fault when things happen to people. It’s the reality of knowing that those who are ‘recruited’ into the game by you, if they get ‘hurt’ during the game, it’s you who recruited them! This part of the cross is difficult for me to swallow. I do struggle with self-guilt when things like this happen. NOTE: I just read the letter, my friend is seeking God and getting restored. The main question that he asked me about was how to deal with all the ‘self guilt’ and depression that he is experiencing at this time in his life. I will print this blog for him and send it!
(385) ‘You think the people exist to provide you with possessions, I think the possessions exist to provide the people with freedom’ William Wallace [braveheart] to the tribal elders of Scotland! The people [Christians] do not exist for the welfare/benefit of the clergy/ministries/churches; these things exist to release Gods people to walk in freedom!
(386) I was talking to some friends the other day. They brought up evolution. Some were against it, others for it. I mentioned how science today has advanced to the point where evolution has been disproven. There are some die hards who won’t admit this, but there are entire schools of science that do not hold to this theory any more. Many of these scientists are not Christian. They simply see the level of scientific truth and cannot truly hold to the immature level of thinking that Darwin espoused in the 19th century. Darwin was a good man, his wife was a very active Christian who did many works of charity. By all accounts they were very good people. In the discussion I mentioned how in Darwin’s day they did not know things we now know in the area of DNA testing. Today we know that the function of human blood has 30 or more ‘complex machines’ that must be present at the start for blood to function. The idea that people could have evolved slowly over millions of years cannot scientifically be true because of this. This is not a ‘religious’ belief. This is not ‘faith’. This is science. So any honest scientist seeing this fact has to reject the concept of human blood slowly evolving. However man appeared, we scientifically know that his blood had to have ‘showed up’ in a complex form, not a simple one. Evolution loses based on scientific truth. Sorry to all you intellectuals that are wrong. Now one of the guys said ‘but it’s still possible that chance did this’. No its not. If you flip a coin ‘chances are’ it will land on heads or tails. What are the chances that it will land on ‘feet’? Absolutely none. The point is ‘chance’ cannot go against fact. In the area of science certain things are fact, others theory. The ‘facts’ have to shape the theories, not the other way around. Darwin held to a level of scientific understanding that was OK for his day. The level he was at was highly ‘immature’ compared to where we are at today. If you will ‘science has evolved to the point where evolution is no longer viable’ [threw that in for all the smart alecs]. Darwin believed that life ‘appeared’ by random acts of chance. The maggots that would ‘show up’ in something rotting and the appearance of fish in bodies of water that pooled after a hard rain were thought to be processes of ‘evolution’ that proved that things [life forms] can just show up without any creative cause behind it. Today every scientist in existence knows this to not be true. The birds would carry ‘larvae’ and eggs by transmission into the pools. The bacteria and transmitted ‘debris’ from flies and other things landing on the dead bodies of animal’s accounts for the maggots. To continue to hold onto Darwin’s beliefs in these areas is ridiculous. He was an honest man operating at the level of science for his day. I heard a priest [who I like] defend evolution [they are called theistic evolutionists]. These believers honestly view evolution as fact and they feel the church is behind the times like in the days of Galileo. They make an honest effort to teach that God started the ball rolling and he used evolution as a means to create. The only problem with this theory is that evolution is scientifically false! This Priest used the ‘commonality’ of present life forms to prove his point. He said if you look at monkeys and other created animals you will see that they have similar ‘structures’ to humans. Therefore all humans came from monkeys! That’s a big ‘therefore’. The fact that animals and humans share common traits [eyes and ears and stuff] prove a common creator, not that they all came forth by evolution. Actually these ‘common traits’ disprove the theory. Evolutionists can’t explain why the eye of a fish, a dinosaur a monkey an insect and a human are all alike [for the most part] yet everything else about them is so different. Why didn’t the ‘common traits’ evolve like everything else? The creationist uses this argument to prove the idea of a ‘common creator’ the concept of one being making everything and choosing to use the same structures for some parts while the other ‘parts’ being unique. Well any way I thought it was worth throwing this entry in today. NOTE: True science is the practice of ‘looking’ at things and observing them and seeing how things work and then basing conclusions on these facts. Theory is a part of scientific study, but the theories must come from the facts. In all ‘observable’ data, there is not a single incident of one species ‘evolving’ into another. Not one! All observable data show that complex things come from design, not chance. All things that are complex in our industrial world were designed and created by a higher form of intelligence [watches, cars, etc.] The enormous complexity of man, the Solar system, the planet earth and the amazing intricacies of living things all show a level of design that is absolutely incomprehensible. For all of these things to have come from a point in history when there was nothing in existence, accept a few unexplainable gases floating around for eons of time. And then without any pre thought or design, over billions of years thru some unexplainable explosion, to have then produced this unbelievable amount of intricate design is scientifically impossible. Why? Because science [the observing of things] never shows us any thing like this. The Christian worldview teaches ‘something’ from outside of the natural dimension, that always existed [God] acted upon creation and brought into existence all things. A true scientist would have to come to this conclusion eventually. Because all other observable complex things have had prior forethought and design. This is why when believers debate evolution, they should not do it from the standpoint of faith, they should debate it from the standpoint of scientific fact!
(387) Let me jump back to a small group of our readers who are from the ‘fundamentalist’ background. A lot of the issues on the Rapture and end times and ‘getting saved for real’ that I deal with is helpful to this part of our ‘on line’ community. One of the other areas that I saw when I was attending a fundamental Baptist Church was the inability to see or accept the fact that some of the heroes of the faith were not like them. Jonathan Edwards, George Whitfield and other great revival leaders who were part of the historical great awakenings of this country were presented in ways that were intellectually dishonest. The Pastors didn’t mean to be dishonest, it was simply a result of the sectarian mindset that works within this group. The church I attended described classic Calvinism as ‘hyper Calvinism’. The above preachers all believed in classic Calvinism. They honestly held to the historic doctrine of predestination as taught by the Apostle Paul. Now the groups who do not hold to ‘predestination’ in the classic way are called ‘Arminians’. Most of the Evangelical church in America fall into this group. The point is when the Fundamental Baptists spoke on these historical preachers they taught that they were all like them. They would say ‘some are trying to teach that Edwards was a hyper Calvinist, we no better than to believe this’. The fact is Edwards was actually a ‘hyper Calvinist’. The point I am making isn’t to debate the different positions of the fathers of the faith. Whatever side you fall on is up to you. But no matter how you believe, this doesn’t give you the right to distort or misrepresent history. To some of the brothers the simple reality that there were great heroes of the faith who actually believed in ‘hyper Calvinism’ was too much for them to handle. This grows out of being insecure and sectarian in your faith. In order for believers to be able to embrace the other parts of the church that they are unfamiliar with, there needs to be a basic security of accepting the fact that others are not like you. You can still teach about them and the historic movements that they were a part of, but to deny the reality of what they taught and believed does a disservice to true Christian learning.
(388) I watched Brave Heart the other day. People need something to die for. Would you die for stuff? Would you die for doctrine? Would you die for someone who died for you? We have lost our soul and passion. We have sold our selves for ‘nought’ [Isaiah].
(389) ‘As many as were astonished at you, so shall you sprinkle many nations. Kings shall shut their mouths at you. They will see things they have never seen before. They will consider things that they never considered before’ rough quote from Isaiah. Chapter 50 something? I felt like God was saying he is going to produce things from the shattering of our lives. The ‘broken pot’ imagery. He will bring forth things from the act of ‘crucifixion’ that could not be produced in a thousand years of our own intellectual capacity. Our gifts and talents don’t produce. The ‘grain’ of wheat must fall into the ground and die. They said of Jesus once ‘this is a hard saying, who can receive it’ I guess those for whom it is meant.
(390) I spoke a while back on the Pastor friend that used to attend the church I Pastored years ago. Let me share a few things from this experience that serve to illustrate a point. One time this friend was struggling financially [actually all the time] I used to advise him to get a job until he felt like ‘the ministry’ would support him. He seemed to fall into the mistake that sees ‘ministry’ as a trade, and therefore getting a job would be wrong. He would get offended when I told him stuff like this. One time he had put some pens he had made with scripture on them into the offering. He later told me he had no money to give, but by putting the pen in, with scripture on it, he was ‘exalting’ the Word and God would see this ‘seed’ he planted and give him a return. All of this was symptomatic of the way the Word of faith movement would approach scripture. In this case my friend was violating all the verses that speak of being diligent, working and stuff like this. He then felt ‘honoring the Word’ was doing what he did. Many in this movement teach that to be a ‘doer of the Word’ means to ‘speak the Word’. Speaking the Word is a good thing, but being a ‘doer’ is contrasted with being a ‘hearer/speaker’. This actual teaching comes from the book of James and James is saying ‘don’t be a hearer only, but be a doer’. ‘doing’ in this context is not ‘speaking’ it is ‘doing’. James says if someone comes to your door and is in need and you say [confess] ‘be warmed and filled’ but you don’t actually meet the need, then you are only a ‘confessor’ and not a ‘doer’. It’s another one of those strange interpretations where these brothers found a way to teach that ‘doing the word’ means ‘saying the word’ even though ‘saying the word’ is what is being contrasted with ‘doing the word’. Jesus did say ‘say unto this mountain’ and the Word of God teaches the principles of confession and speaking truth, the problem is these things are simply tools to help us along the road. They are not to become the road! To simply learn and put into effect all the biblical ‘techniques’ and watch them work does not mean you are in the will of God. Many people have excelled in finances thru the use of biblical principles. Some of them were called to other things and instead chose to become wealthy. They might have even attained the wealth thru ‘diligence’ [a biblical principal] but if that truly was not Gods purpose for them, they failed. I find the focus on techniques and ‘windfall’ inheritances less than profitable. Many who hold to the ideas that my friend held to will see the truth of God giving the ‘wealth of the heathen/Egyptians into the hands of Israel’ and will use this to justify a lazy lifestyle. The above friend believed that God was going to ‘give him the wealth of the heathen’. Does scripture say the ‘wealth of the wicked is stored up for the righteous’ you bet! But it continues to say ‘and God will give it into the hands of those who are upright in his sight’. Is being lazy upright? Is sitting around spending your life waiting for some windfall upright? God gave the children of Israel the wealth of Egypt because the children of Israel labored for years as slaves, they were not being compensated justly for their work. They got paid for their work by leaving Egypt with their wealth. God did not give an inheritance to his people who weren’t working! Well the point today is don’t use scripture as a ‘technique book’ that if you master you will get more than the next guy. Scripture is a book that brings us the truth of the gospel. We enter into covenant with God thru this gospel. We become ‘debtors’ to this great God and Father. We seek to serve him all our days. We are not looking for schemes to ‘get rich quick’. NOTE: In Jesus teaching he says ‘why do people confess me as Lord, but do not do what I say’ ‘many people will come to me and say ‘Lord, Lord’ and I will say ‘I never knew you’. I am not saying these brothers are not Christians, they are. I just want you to see that Jesus really put the emphasis on ‘doing the works’ more so than on ‘what you say’. The ‘saying of things’ is a part of it. But this is not the ‘heart of the matter’.
(391) I felt like the Lord wanted me to share some things, I do not ‘feel’ like doing this at all. These last few days have been real difficult for me. This is an example of ‘doing what God says despite your feelings’. I want to speak on the Kingdom of God. The Christian church has had various ways to ‘see’ the Kingdom of God. For many centuries [19 of them to be exact!] the church for the most part taught ‘amillennialism’ a type of view that saw the work of the Cross as the significant event that ‘triggered’ Gods Kingdom. In effect believers saw the fact that Jesus died and was resurrected to be seated at Gods right hand as Gods Kingdom already being in effect thru this event. The giving of the Spirit to the church was Gods ‘program’ of expanding the Kingdom in the earth thru the growth of Christianity down thru the centuries. Some who held to this view [which for the most part I agree with] also ‘spiritualized’ all the verses of God dealing with Israel and the event of the second coming in a way that denied the literal return of Jesus to David’s throne. During the 20th century you had the rise of ‘fundamentalism’ and dispensational theology that saw the truth of the real second coming and Jesus actual return to Israel to be seated on David’s throne [John R Rice and other fundamentalist preachers brought out much truth in these areas. These brothers would come to be seen as ‘premelliannial’ in the sense that Jesus must first return and take David’s throne in Jerusalem before the ‘millennial’ rule of Christ can come] The divisions between these ways of seeing Christ return are strong. Some from the latter camp began to hold to a view of the Kingdom that said ‘man cannot bring Gods rule in, only Jesus. Therefore until he comes back all the church can do is win souls’. The other camp said ‘ we are here as Christians to initiate Gods rule. We are salt and light and therefore we have Christ’s Spirit in us to bring Gods rule in’. Both of these groups have truth. The fundamentalist for the most part rejected the reality of God initiating his rule thru Christ the King who is already seated at Gods right hand [the position of rule] and is working thru his subjects [the church] right now. In reality man cant change the world, but the church thru the present ministry of Jesus at Gods right hand does have the ‘ability’ thru Gods Spirit to bring in Gods rule. The idea that the second coming is the ‘event’ that God will use to bring about world change denies the reality of Christ’s rule right now. The American president is the president right now. He has certain abilities to effect change by this fact. He is ‘seated’ in the nations capital, you might never actually see him in person, but the fact of his authority is a real thing. The fact that Jesus rose from the grave and is seated at Gods right hand is the event that gave us the authority to affect the world thru the church. This is Gods idea, not mans. It is also true that Jesus will come back and literally return to Jerusalem. But the seat of authority that he now holds at Gods right hand is much greater than David’s throne. There are actually scriptures that show that Jesus has already ‘inherited’ the throne of David by virtue of the fact that he ‘sits on top of the mountain that trumps all other thrones’. The dispensational brothers will look to the world wars and other major events and say ‘see, this is proof that man cant change the world. Until Jesus comes back things will get worse’. The Bible says those in darkness will continue to get worse, those in the light will get brighter and brighter. The Idea is as Gods ‘citizenship’ increases [thru evangelism] more people become children of light. So even though the world is getting darker, the church isn’t. The more people who become ‘members’ of the church will become ‘brighter’. This obviously will affect the world for good. So man in and of himself cant bring in ‘Gods rule’ but the fact that Jesus is presently reigning [though you don’t physically see him] is where the real power of ‘world change’ is located. So for people like myself, I would answer the strong dispensationalist with this fact. Now to the Parables of Jesus. The strong dispensationalists have a ‘strange’ way they interpret some of the Parables. The one on ‘the kingdom of Heaven is like unto leaven that someone took and hid in 3 measures of meal until the whole loaf was leavened’ this Parable, as well as many others show the concept of Gods kingdom invading the planet in a small way at the start [Jesus and the 12] and eventually effecting all the earth. The dispensationalist’s teach that Leaven is always a sign of something unclean and because the ‘law of first things’ [the first time a certain theme is used in scripture will define it for the rest of scripture] that therefore the leaven here is wickedness, and that the Kingdom of Heaven is different than the Kingdom of God [they are the same by the way!] that what Jesus is actually teaching is that wickedness will eventually invade all of the ‘church world’ [which they say is the Kingdom of heaven-silly] and therefore when Jesus returns he will fix everything. To me this would be a failure of what Jesus is trying to do. He left all authority on earth to the disciples by saying ‘go into all the world’ after he said ‘all authority is given to me’. He commissioned the church to ‘invade the world’. If the evil in the world wins until Christ’s return that would basically be a big failure on the part of the church, which represents Christ Kingdom now! The first century religious mind had a view of religion that was based on Old Testament ideas. In the Old Testament, if a Priest who was ceremonially clean, touched something unclean, then the priest would become defiled. The ‘transmission’ of holiness to unholy things didn’t work. But the ‘transmission’ of unclean things to holy things did! This is why the Pharisees had such a hard time with Jesus ‘contact’ with sinners and prostitutes. The Pharisees saw the ‘church’ as an institutional fortress ‘flee into Gods community and be separate from society’. Now the New Testament gives a mandate for believers to ‘come out from the world’ but this is speaking about not partaking of the sins of the world while being salt and light in the world. Jesus instituted a type of Priesthood that transmitted ‘holiness to unclean things’. A better priesthood [Hebrews]. Scripture says ‘light came into the world and the darkness couldn’t overcome it’ [John] So in Jesus rule you find the ‘Priests’ [all believers] having Christ’s Spirit in them for the purpose of affecting the world with righteousness. Now the church has too often grasped a mindset like the Pharisees. You see this in the strong conservative elements of Christianity ‘the moral majority’ ‘the center for moral clarity’ and all these other silly institutions. These guys mean well, but they are dividing society into ‘sides’ that has the gay lobby and others fighting against the ‘moral crusaders’. In essence this is a return to the ‘Pharisee mindset’. But there is also a movement in American Christianity [by the way we are only a small part of world Christianity!] that is appealing to the other side of the political spectrum Sort of like liberal ‘yuppie’ type Christians who might vote democrat or republican. They don’t hold to the ‘religious right’ persona. They are concerned with environmental issues and stuff [they might even still go to rock concerts, amen!]. I see this movement as great. God can recruit from all sides of the political spectrum. This is Gods ‘leaven’ affecting the whole lump. [By the way, leaven can represent something that starts small and invades everything. Sin can be described this way, or Gods Kingdom. Leaven is simply a ‘material’ that God can use in symbol any way he wants. Just cause it was used for an ‘unclean thing’ doesn’t mean Jesus cant ‘re use’ it for a clean thing. This actually can be a sign in and of itself. Jesus took a natural thing that was ‘sinful’ in scripture [man/leaven] and turned it around into something clean!] Basically what I am trying to get across today is Gods kingdom was not ‘postponed’ in its entirety. Certain aspects of its ‘revealing’ in regard to natural Israel are ‘hidden’ right now. At the second coming all Israel will see that Jesus has been ruling and reigning for thousands of years already. He will appear to natural Israel some day, but remember its not always the way we think!
(392) I took my kids to the beach yesterday. It’s the beginning of summer vacation and we live about 2 miles from the gulf. Growing up in Jersey I loved the shore. My kids don’t always realize what a blessing it is to be so close to the ocean. One of them [my oldest] does go regularly, she surfs and all. Well this was the first time I had a chance to swim at the Packery Channel, since they opened it up. It has these 2 huge jetties strutting out into the gulf. It was sort of strange, a huge storm blew in, a cold front and all. I don’t remember seeing something like this since first moving to Corpus. That is while actually swimming in the ocean! It felt surreal. I kinda felt it to be a little significant. I spoke earlier on this blog about this channel having significance to me. I also read in Isaiah where God says ‘this is my servant, I will open up before you the 2 leaved gates that no one will be able to shut. You will crush the bronze gates to dust’ Sort of like God saying ‘I have opened up a door for you that no man can shut’ [John in the book of Revelation]. We had a huge flash flood from the storm. When I got home I realized that my study roof wasn’t leaking any more. I have tried to fix it for years! I actually tore off the roof twice and re did the whole thing with role roof [twice! I do have a tendency to overreact at times.]. I couldn’t fix that ‘darn’ leak for years. Finally one day I resorted to the ‘last resort’ you Christians know what this is. Prayer! I don’t know why we do stuff like this. You think it would have been easier to have prayed first before re rolling the whole roof twice! [It’s only a 200 sq. foot section] Well even after prayer I felt it wasn’t yet fixed. Sure enough it rained one day and it was still leaking. But I kinda felt that something did happen when I prayed. One day I got up on the roof to trim some branches [pruning] and noticed 2 small wet spots. It wasn’t raining, but the sun wasn’t out and this created an environment where any small hidden wet spots would be exposed. I have checked for holes and leaks many times, never could find anything. It’s just this time the Lord supernaturally gave me an environment where I would clearly be able to ‘see’ the leaks/breaches and be able to ‘seal up the breach’. Well when I got home yesterday from the beach the flash flooding was enough rain to check for the leak. I got home and realized for the first time that the leak was fixed. Over a period of a few years! Felt like God was saying he will open up ‘breaches/leaved gates’ that we were unable to open before. And that he will also ‘close up’ areas where we have been leaking for years. It was the ‘rain’ that allowed me to finally ‘see’ that the breach was fixed. It actually was really fixed when I sealed up these 2 little holes a few months back, but it took a period of patient waiting to see if it really worked. Be sensitive to the Lords timing. Don’t expect him to do ‘all the leg work’ in the sense that you prayed and just sat idly by. Remember faith without works is dead. In my scenario I prayed and ‘accidentally’ found the leaks by God creating a type of atmosphere that allowed me to see what I couldn’t perceive before. It still required 2 little dabs of roof tar, but these dabs were nothing compared to all the re roofing efforts I had done in the flesh. When God changes your environment to see things differently, your labor will go a lot further. Be open to these signs. NOTE scripture says when Gods people were in rebellion that they brought home their paychecks and it was like putting money in a bag with holes in it. It’s like the bag had leaks. When you align yourself with Gods purpose the bag ‘stops leaking’.
(393) While watching Brave Heart the other day, there is a scene where Mel Gibson steps back onto the land of his heritage. It shows Gibson/Wallace standing on the land and breathing in the air. Sort of like ‘this is the place of my destiny’. I am reminded of the verse that says ‘stand and feed in the strength of the almighty’ ‘I will raise up one from the tribe of Judah and he shall inherit my holy mountain’. God has planted within us the DNA to ‘inherit the land’. This is not some real estate inheritance; this is entering in and ‘breathing’ in the environment of your destiny. There are times when we are surrounded by the ‘practices’ of life. We go thru the motions. We pray [I hope so!] we seek God, do evangelism and all the other stuff. Then there’s that thing in us [or at least me] that says ‘risk it all again’. Jump into the ocean. The big leaps of faith aren’t finished yet. STAND AND FEED IN THE STRENGTH OF THE ALMIGHTY once again. I just sense that God has destined us for more than having enough money to retire on. There are times where we are surrounded by the mundane things of life, during these times the only way out is ‘jump’. God does tell us to ‘go all the way into the river until it goes over your head’ [Ezekiel?]. It’s time for some of you to ‘go over your head’.
(394) Some things from Isaiah 53. ‘He is despised and rejected of men, we hid our faces from him’. Funny thing, never did or said a single wrong thing. Theologically correct 100 % of the time. How did we view him? We HID from him when we saw him coming. The gossip was so bad about him we couldn’t even face him. ‘We esteemed him not’. We said ‘I don’t care who he thinks he is, do you know what I heard’? ‘He was wounded for us, bruised for us. The price to obtain the things that would bring us peace was on him’ all the things that caused us to look down upon him were actually part of the price he had to pay for our benefit! ‘He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth, he was like a silent lamb being killed’ I don’t have what it takes to be silent when I am being talked about. There was a sort of oppression that kept coming against Jesus. It was like men will keep doing whatever it takes to ‘get to him’. Pilate says ‘don’t you know I might actually have you put to death’ they kept pushing all the buttons. What was it again that they found wrong with him? O yes, he said ‘I am the Son of God’ in so many words. That’s right, now I remember. The great crime that led us to this point of killing him was HE TOLD US THE TRUTH! ‘He did no violence, nor was there ever any deceit in his mouth’ I cant say the same about me. ‘Yet it pleased the Father to bruise him, HE HATH DONE THIS TO HIM’ it’s so hard to comprehend this. You are not only allowing these things, but actually doing them by your great purpose! I thought any thing like this was the work of the devil. I thought I was suffering because of something I did wrong. I have been trying to get out of this difficulty. Everyone today preaches ‘if he were from God surely this wouldn’t be happening’. ‘He will see of the pain in my soul, by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many’ the things I will bring forth from your pain will ‘justify’ [bring into alignment] many. The pain first! ‘I will divide him a portion with the great [he will share the fruits with many well known people, those who thrive on fame]. He will divide the goods with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death. He bear the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors’ in the midst of this personal turmoil he was faithful to continue interceding for others. He did like Job who ‘prayed for his friends’ and then the Lord turned his captivity around. He learned to be faithful in intercession even when his life was being poured out. Who can live up to this? Jesus is the perfect man. NOTE this chapter starts with ‘who hath believed our report’ I was just ‘worrying’ about how many people are accepting/believing the things on this blog. A feeling of like ‘am I crazy, is nobody getting reached in a lasting way?’ Then I read the part of ‘our report’. I felt like the Lord was saying don’t worry about whether or not you are accepted. If you speak the things I am saying, then it’s ‘our’ report. Sort of like when scripture says to the prophets ‘they have not rejected you, they have rejected me’. I don’t want to come off as everything I say is right. I just felt like the Lord was saying when you speak in his will, it’s up to him to deal with the problem of whether or not the ‘report’ is being believed. Sometimes it’s in his purpose for reports to ‘not be believed’ so he can get to the next step.
(395) I saw a ministry out of Texas [We sure seem to have a lot of em!] who again preaches money all the time. I have read and listened to tapes from him before. He does have a tremendous amount of wisdom and Knowledge in areas of business and finance. His teachings were some of the best I have ever heard in these areas. He himself testified of how when he became a believer he later began to be ‘fascinated to an extreme’ with rich people. He studied and researched and could not get and consume enough information on these rich and wealthy people. The way he described it sounded like an unbelievable obsession with wealth. He used this description to explain how he became so knowledgeable in these areas. I saw it more of falling into the danger that Jesus warned against ‘Beware of covetousness, for a mans like doesn’t consist of the abundance of the things that he possesses’. I like this teacher, he does have great wisdom. It’s just he advocates so many of the things I have shown you to be wrong on this site. He would never admit it, he is brilliant. Scripture says ‘thy knowledge hath perverted thee’ it is possible to learn the most intricate truths of success from scripture. To apply them in such a way that you become highly successful and wealthy. It is possible to teach this system to others with a PURE HEART, that is you truly are not trying to take advantage of people. All of this in and of itself does not justify the obsession with wealth that these types of teachers promote. Their ‘wisdom’ has truly perverted them. NOTE: Many of these brothers are not ‘crooked’ fakes. They are sincere and honest in their dealings. They give extreme amounts of money to missions. Because of this they do not see themselves like the obvious fakes. There have been blatant deceivers who have robbed people; these brothers do not fall into this category. Because of this they cant see that they have fallen into the snare of desiring to become wealthy, which scripture forbids [1st Timothy 6- go read it!]. This is what makes it so difficult when you try to uproot this teaching from the church. NOTE: Let me show you how humility and truth trump wisdom. Though the above teacher is extremely wise, he also uses the ‘proof texts’ to teach that Jesus was also rich. The many verses I have shown you on this site. You can honestly show these brothers that these ‘proof texts’ do not trump the overall character of Jesus that comes to us from the testimony of the gospels. The gospels plainly show us an itinerant preacher who gathered a rag tag team of disciples and led a radical life. Sure they had a ‘bag’ [treasury] and Jesus wore an expensive coat [more than likely donated!] but these verses do not teach a wealthy Jesus! It is next to impossible for these guys to ‘see’ this. Knowledge can pervert you. These guys have seen real truth [knowledge] in areas of finances that the historic church has overlooked. They see how they know more than the traditional church in these areas. The fact that they posses true knowledge is a stumbling block to trying to show them these other areas of false teaching. They seem to think that all critics are traditional thinkers who do not have revelation knowledge. Deception is deceitful, that means you don’t know you are being deceived! NOTE: I know I have ‘harped’ on this a lot. I do over emphasize this area of correction because there have been so many leaders who have refused to deal with it over the years. Many innocent Pastors who are not familiar with the extreme elements of some of these teachings have inadvertently taught or condoned these teachers by mentioning their names or teaching a small aspect of their doctrine, like Jesus being rich because he had an expensive coat, or the teaching that the parable of the sower is speaking about finances [it is not!]. So in general this area has affected a lot of innocent Christians who are truly not aware of these things.
(396) Been studying some ‘apostolic movements’ [ministries that re produce many off shoot churches]. Some of the groups are very anti college. They feel that the Bible teaches a form of learning that is opposed to the university format. As someone who has never been to college myself, I can identify with this. But I don’t fully agree. The ‘Bible’ itself is a product of ‘formal education’. Jesus himself never penned a book, there is no epistle written by Jesus. Yet we do have the gospels that record his teachings. I guess you could argue that because Jesus himself never wrote a book, then all ‘book learnin’ is ‘un biblical’. The point is it’s all right to use formal means of education. There are definitely colleges that do harm to Christians. There were many liberal Christian universities that taught in a way that absolutely undermined Christian faith. I remember studying on how the 4 gospels were all written from 1 source. The ‘theologians’ surmised if you looked at all the differences and similarities in the gospels that the only logical conclusion was they all were written from another book. They called this single source ‘Q’. They taught this in a way that denied the writers accounts of actually being eyewitnesses to the things that they wrote about. A sort of ‘undermining’ of the trustworthiness of the gospels. Were all the gospels taken from one source? Yes. His name is Jesus. It is possible to be too smart for your own good!
(397) In the Bible you find stories of Jesus healing people. He casts unclean spirits out of people. In some of these scenarios you see the person who is healed respond violently. He will fall or give some type of indication that the ‘unclean thing’ that is ‘lodged’ in him doesn’t want to go. Its sort of like the enemy has strategized for years to ‘hook’ people. He has spent an enormous amount of ‘thought time’ coming up with schemes to entangle you. In some of these instances he has tricked you into allowing him to snare you. Sort of like you voluntarily opened the door, and in a way he had ‘a legal right’ to ensnare you. Then Jesus comes along and ‘un does’ in a moment that which the enemy took years to build. Jesus does this despite any legal right or ‘generational curse’ or any other thing that claims a right to attach itself to you. Its like the enemy gets mad because he thinks he earned the authority to have beaten you over this 9-inning game. He has worked hard to develop the series of attacks thru out your life. He feels his team [of demons!] has played hard and its only fair that he wins. Then this Jesus comes along and simply manipulates the environment to be favorable towards you. Don’t get me wrong, Jesus isn’t cheating. He has all the authority to rightfully do this because of the Cross. It’s just the enemy feels cheated in a way. This is why you see the violent responses when Jesus is casting these things out. Its like Jesus shows up and the other team is saying ‘man, this guys gonna ruin it for us again!’ [Too bad Jesus couldn’t show up to the Dallas games more often!]
(398) ‘Its not the perpetuation of our personas that we are looking for, it’s the impartation of the gift, in order to bring to maturity the Body of Christ’. A crucial aspect of this is the season of recognizing that you have effectively planted the seed. Then to purposefully withdraw your image and ‘preoccupation’ that people will have towards your gift, and to allow Christ to increase as you decrease HE MUST INCREASE, AND I MUST DECREASE [John the Baptist speaking of Christ]. As Jesus ‘increases’ into maturity thru the Church becoming more self sufficient, we must decrease in proportion. If we don’t properly make this adjustment then the people of God will never fully develop. This means ‘Christ didn’t increase’ [as being fully formed thru his people] as a direct result of our not ‘decreasing’. NOTE; There are many modern scenarios where the Pastor is totally frustrated with the inability of his people to grow. They fall into a trap where they see this year after year and this develops a ‘dysfunctional family’ where the well-meaning Pastor begins to berate the ‘children’ for never rightfully transitioning into adulthood. The saints ‘come to church’ and the ‘Pastor’ basically yells at them for not growing. They don’t seem to see that the reason they are not growing is because the system depends on them to stay the same. The system [modern church] needs them to be faithful tithers in order to fund the system. Before there can ever be any real change, there has to come a paradigm shift of what ‘being the church’ really means.
(399) One of the hindrances to the development of the Body of Christ is the present mindset of ministry. Most good men who feel God has called them into service usually wind up in a scenario where the main thrust of their life is preparing messages to preach on Sunday. All good men, I too have been there. There are many prophetic people who have had the same types of experiences that you have read on this site. Many leaders who have seen greater things than me. Why aren’t you as familiar with these brothers as me? Why aren’t you growing thru their gift as was intended? For the most part it’s because the average Pastor is consumed with the functioning of his ‘church’ [Christian business]. He sees his responsibility as primarily servicing the people. Marrying, burying, getting the message ready. Stuff like this. Nothing really wrong about it, its just too much time is spent with these things and he never sees himself primarily as a vision implanter into people. Now some Pastors have written books and have done some long term planting. But for the most part the average Christian Pastor falls into this role of ‘full time minister’ that is to be found nowhere in the New Testament! Think long term my friends. If God is revealing things to you, write them down. Give time and attention to the specific areas of revelation that he has shown you. You don’t have to come up with something new to preach every week. Just allow the Spirit of God to use you to shape people into what God has for them. Try to break out of the mold of the modern Pastor who for the most part spends his entire life speaking to the ‘laity’, while spending 1% of his life hearing them. This is not a biblical model! Well that’s all for now, felt this word was for someone [I have no one in specific in mind]. NOTE: As this blog becomes known, I kinda sense the feeling from some Pastors who hear about us thru their ‘parishioners’ that they feel ‘we have a web site too’. Sort of in a defensive way. ‘Why don’t you go to our site?’ type thing. I don’t get into this type of competition stuff; I want all people to go to all web sites and every other thing the Lord is using in the church. The reason why some of these ‘church web sites’ are not popular is because many of them are geared to either promote a book [I am thinking of an out of town site that I went to and they simply showed the picture of a book for sale, if they actually published it on line many people would be able to tread it!] or to invite people to ‘church’. People are hurting and starving for real truth. See your web site as a radical means to get the message out. If all you are doing is advertising for church meetings, people are looking for more. This might be the reason that some Pastors are wondering why their sites aren’t as popular as they want.
(400) Let me clarify something. It is hard to fight too many battles at once. There are financial planners and other good Christians who absolutely disagree with me on tithing. Some misunderstand what I am saying. Also as humbly as I can put this. The ‘teaching authority’ that God has placed in various ‘elders’ [Apostles/ Prophets] absolutely trumps the best intentions of Christian counselors. I know some are mad, o well? Many well meaning Christian counselors say ‘it’s too late to convince me that tithing doesn’t work, I have been counseling people for years as a responsible financial planner, it works!’ Without rebuking you guys too much, here’s what you are wrong about. First, the ‘tithing’ as taught in the bible is not what you guys are teaching in the first place. So when you appeal to Malachi [the Old Testament book that says Gods people are robbing him by not tithing] you are not even speaking of the same thing. Go do an Old Testament study for ‘crying out loud’ and realize you are not teaching Christians tithing! Number 2, what you do teach works because YOU ARE TEACHING GIVING! Giving always works. The simple fact that you guys [Pastors and financial guys] are teaching Christians to give of their first fruits unto God works. Now if you give a lot [more generous] God returns a lot. If you give a little [cheapskate] then you get a little. Got it? In no way, shape or form is this the biblical doctrine of tithing. This is giving! It works not because you are teaching tithing, but because you are teaching giving! Well brother we teach it has to be 10% or you are under the curse. Well you asked for it. You guys are 100% wrong on this. Good theology trumps financial planners authority, sorry. There is NOTHING a believer can do to actually ‘get cursed’. Theologically impossible. Go read Galatians. Now its possible to go back to the mindset of law, and bring upon yourself the judgment of legalism. Feeling guilty and condemned if you don’t live up to certain standards. But this is what the so called TITHE does, not giving! In general all Christians should give. If its 8-10 or 20 percent, that’s between you and God. But for sure you are free from the curse because of Christ. Well to all my Pastors friends and Christian financial planner friends, sorry to have ‘trumped’ your authority on this one, I know it hurts. NOTE: Many preachers use this verse in Malachi to teach if you don’t put 10% of your income into the offering plate on Sunday that you are ‘robbing God’. Remember Jesus taught in his judgment scenarios that when you didn’t feed the poor, or visit those in jail, or clothe the naked. That this was how you were ‘robbing’ God. So in effect the way a person ‘robs God’ is by not ‘giving’ to meet the needs of society/brothers in need. This is also what Paul was doing in 1st Corinthians 16 when telling the Church to ‘take up a collection on the first day of the week’. This collection was to meet the needs of the poor saints at Jerusalem. So to ‘rob God’ is to not give to people [who are the New Testament Temple]. NOTE; there is a very popular Christian financial counselor on Radio today. I like him, most of you would know him. He is basically OK. I have a real problem when he says ‘this program is about making gobs of money’. He also uses language like me! He says ‘crap’ on the air. I kinda put his statement on ‘gobs of money’ in this ‘crap’ category. I actually think that some of his financial advice is wrong. Not even talking scripture here, just basic financial advice. The point is there are lots of experts in many fields who are Christian and for the most part do a good job. As believers we all have the right to question and come up with our own ideas on how to approach subjects. Take what’s good from these guys, and leave the rest alone.
(401) Might as well go a little more, being some guys [Pastors] are already mad. The area of the Second Coming. If there is any doctrine in the New Testament. The Cross. The Second Coming. Any major theme that is specifically defined as ‘an event’. For example; the ‘event’ of the Cross. The ‘event’ of Christ coming ONE more time. When you have something defined this way. No matter how many other end time scenarios you come up with, it has to stay faithful to the event. There are different ‘looks’ at the Cross in the gospels. There are different views of certain major miracles. There are different words that describe the Kingdom of God [One writer says ‘Kingdom of Heaven’]. When you read the different ‘angles’ you are seeing the same event from different perspectives. If one writer shows the events surrounding the Cross in a little different light, you don’t say there were 2 Cross events! That’s just plain common sense. If Jesus says to Peter in one gospel ‘you will deny me 3 times before the rooster crows’ and then in another gospel ‘you will deny me 3 times before the rooster crows twice’ are there 2 separate events when Peter did this? NO. One writer is just giving a little more detail about the event. So when you see in the New Testament various ‘angles’ to the second coming, no matter what, you don’t have the option of turning it into ‘2 more second comings’. Those who teach this say ‘we believe in one second coming. It’s just in 2 stages’ come on man! If I told you I am coming to visit you. I come. Then I say I will be back ONE more time for dinner. You don’t know when it will be. But watch, because I am coming back ONE more time. 5 years later I show up, I take care of business. I do some stuff. You would assume I came back for the last time. If I left and showed up again after 7 more years and said ‘this is the second part of the last coming’ this would be a little confusing. If there’s a ‘second part’ then that means I came back 2 more times. So you would have the first visit, the second time and then number 3! If you tried to tell me the last 2 times were one event split by 7 [or 3.5] years I would say ‘then why don’t you call all 3 of your comings 3 separate parts of ONE COMING’. We are silly at times! Jesus is coming back again. All the saints will meet him in the air. 1st Thessalonians says this. Will they ‘disappear’ for 7 years? NO. We meet him, the great inauguration day, the wedding supper. What ever you want to call it. We then return to the earth [that’s why you see images of Jesus coming back with his saints] not 7 years later, the same day! A lot of stuff happens for sure. But you cant turn this major historical belief into 2 separate events because it seems to fit better into your end time prophecy charts. Jesus will come back ONE more time according to the New Testament. It will be a great day for sure. He is not coming back 2 more times. That would make it the ‘third’ coming of Christ, not the ‘Second’. NOTE: To all my ‘regular’ readers. Many Christians teach that Jesus will come back again 2 more times. They call the next time ‘the Rapture’ which comes from the phrase ‘to catch away/ caught up’ found in 1st Thessalonians chapter 4. They then teach Jesus takes all the Christians away for 7 [or 3.5] years and comes back for a 3rd time at the ‘revelation’ [that is ‘his revealing]. There are many reasons why this teaching developed in the church. It’s not really heresy; I refer to it more as ‘silly’ [I would say stupid, but Christians are not supposed to use that type of language!] NOTE; I do find it a little ironic that many of the fundamental churches who believe this doctrine don’t seem to realize that more than likely it originated from a prophecy that a woman gave in a ‘brethren’ church back in the 19th century [this comes from some exhaustive research on this doctrine] it became popularized by some good men, gained a ‘foothold’ in the fundamentalist/bible conference movement of the 20th century and is taught today in some good bible schools [Dallas theological Seminary is one]. The point is some of these churches who embrace this would be the last ones to accept the ‘prophetic’ movement, and they would be apoplectic if they knew that one of their major ‘doctrines of the faith’ came from a woman’s prophecy! God does have a sense of humor! NOTE; Some teach that Jesus comes back ‘secretly’ at the event seen in 1st Thessalonians 4, they teach that Jesus comes all the way back to earth but just stops short [his feet not touching the ground] and is hidden and takes all the Christians away. They see the ‘taking away’ of Elijah and Enoch in the Old Testament as a ‘type’ of this. If God wanted to ‘take away’ all the Christians out of the planet, why would he have to come all the way back and stop short? To truly follow the model of Elijah and Enoch he could just take all the Christians while remaining seated at Gods right hand. I really don’t see why he would have to come all the way back and stop short in heaven [the air] to do this. The simple fact is when he returns we will be ‘caught up’ to meet him in the air and will from that moment forward forever be with him. This event as described in 1st Thessalonians chapter 4 is without a doubt the resurrection. There is no ‘secret’ resurrection spoken of in scripture.
(402) In 2005 Indonesia put 3 Sunday school teachers in PRISON for converting Muslims to Christians. The parents of the children willingly permitted their kids to attend the Christian church, but these wonderfully tolerant Muslims put the Christians in PRISON. You often hear of the tragedies of the Christian church. The inquisitions, that of course were wrong. How many people were killed again? Do you remember? Was it around 6 million? O no that was the Holocaust, that’s right. It was less than 3 thousand! [some say 30 thousand, either way it was small in comparison to the holocaust]. Any loss of life is wrong to be sure, but it sure seems strange that historians would make you think it was something equal to the Holocaust. Saddam took this many people out in a day! Now this wonderful Muslim religion, you know, this tolerant group of fanatics, they took out 3,ooo in one day also. I think it happened somewhere up North? Do you hear all these rights groups speak on the fact that this religion is still killing and imprisoning people TODAY? No, what you see is the UN blaming the US as one of the worst human rights violators on the planet. Where are the voices speaking out against the actual Muslim countries killing and imprisoning Christians right now [Like the northern oppressive Muslim regime who are committing genocide right now against our black Christian brothers in the south of the Sudan!] I just find it strange that the liberal groups want to blame the US for the events of 911, while they still uphold the inquisitions as the worst human rights violation in history. O that’s right, I forgot. How many Irish Catholics were on the Planes that killed 3,ooo people? How many Protestants? How many Christians? These wonderful 19 hijackers all worshipped Allah and thought that they were following the dictates of the prophet Muhammad. It’s funny, these human rights groups never seem to want to discuss ‘current events’. NOTE: All Muslims are not terrorists. The point is if you had right wing Christians all on a plane, crashing into buildings while believing they were doing it for God, and then you had a Christian country regularly imprison and kill Muslims, these human rights groups would be the first ones to make the connection of their religion with their fanaticism. But they want to treat the radical Muslim as if his religion has nothing to do with his radicalism.
(403) Isaiah 54 ‘sing O barren, thou that didst not bear, break forth into singing. For more are the children of the desolate than of the married wife’ God says those who are empty and feeling ‘numb’ are reproducing spiritual children in abundance. We recently read how God ‘saw’ the pain in Jesus soul and was satisfied. How those in bondage and captivity brought forth children and said ‘where did these come from, I was in pain and affliction’. God seems to bring forth fruit from our lives during seasons of weakness and failure. Paul saw this and learned to ‘glory in his weakness’ because when he was humanly weak and incapable of the task, God would then step in and do for him what he was not able to perform. ‘Enlarge the place of thy tent and let them stretch forth the curtains of thy habitations. Spare not, lengthen thy cords and strengthen thy stakes’ the ‘them’ are the promised offspring that are coming. God says ‘make preparations’ you will have many spiritual kids. The Lord also says ‘lengthen your cords’ and then ‘strengthen the tent posts’ we usually want to strengthen first, sort of have everything pre prepared before we ‘expand’. The order here is different. God says ‘go for the growth first, and then I will strengthen what needs to be stronger’. I am not saying don’t make preparations, but sometimes we spend our whole lives ‘preparing’ and we never grow! ‘For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left and your seed shall inherit the gentiles’ ‘for a small moment have you felt forsaken, but with great mercies will I gather you. In a little wrath I hid my face from you for a moment, but with never ending kindness will I have mercy on you’ The ‘down’ times in your life seem forever, but compared to the fruit and grace that are coming, they will seem like small moments of history in my overall plan. ‘For this is like the waters of Noah to me, just like I swore that I would never flood the earth again, so I promise I will never be angry with you again’ the Cross removes any future wrath and anger from God, all future dealings will be as a father who disciplines a son. Can you imagine an earthly father truly hating or refusing to stop spanking his son? [I know some who have been abused can imagine this, but God is different!] How much more is God willing to correct you and let you move ahead? Quit beating yourself over the head because of your failures, God is not holding this stuff against you anymore! ‘The mountains shall depart and the hills be removed. But my kindness shall remain’ God is going to change your ‘scenery’ the things you have been ‘seeing’ and the obstacles obstructing your view are coming down. The mountains and hills in your way are being ‘threshed’ and God is going to restore to you ‘fore sight’ an ability to see down the road. Without vision [prophetic insight] people perish [have no controlling destiny, have no reason to be restrained and disciplined]. God is removing the things that were blurring your vision and you will see clearly again! ‘Thou shall be far from oppression, for you will not have fear, and from terror, it shall not come near you’ ‘whoever comes against you will fall for your sake’ In another place it says ‘I will give men for thee’ God favors you to the point of ‘manipulating’ the environment to be favorable towards you. You don’t deserve this to be sure! But he is doing it for his own glory, you already bear his name! NOTE: The verse ‘more are the children of the desolate’ Paul uses this in Galatians to show Gods promised children are the ‘spiritual Jerusalem’ all those [both Jew and gentile] that would receive the promised Spirit by faith. He basically says ‘the mother’ [heavenly Jerusalem-the church] that has no ‘physical children’ [desolate] will have more offspring/seed [all the spiritual children] than the nation/mother [natural Jerusalem] who has many offspring! NOTE: For those of you who have made it this far on this blog, if you keep reading into the later 400’s you will find that I have become very sick. I won’t go thru it all here. But I want you to see something prophetic. This chapter [Isaiah 54] has been one of the key chapters for me for over 20 years. As a matter of fact from Isaiah 42 thru the end of Isaiah have been the most prophetic words the Lord has given me about our ministry. Part of the sickness I am going thru is numbness to my right leg and extreme dizziness/vertigo. The only time I don’t feel dizzy is when I am looking far away. Like my habit of praying outside and looking to the stars, or even during the day looking at a distance feels fine. Being in the house and other confined spaces feels very disorienting. In this chapter, which I wrote about a month or two before getting sick, it says ‘blessed are those who are numb’ [right leg]. That God is going to ‘change our scenery’ [that which we see]. That God is going to remove things that are blurring your vision [vertigo/dizziness]. I even said ‘God is going to restore to you fore sight, an ability to see down the road [seeing ‘down the road’ long distances, is the only ‘seeing’ that doesn’t get me dizzy!] I find the prophetic word interesting, especially when you prophesy about yourself and don’t even know it!
(404) We all have a tendency to ‘take refuge’ in a ‘completed’ belief system. We want to have every answer down pat. We decide to believe one way or another on certain doctrines [not talking about the basic truths of the gospel!] and then we move ahead in the journey. Whether we are right or wrong doesn’t seem to matter. We have already decided, we have preached it to others, and there is no way I can admit that I have been wrong. It’s funny because many who act like this are the same ones who will criticize the Catholics for holding on to tradition. These guys are worse! God is calling us to take refuge in him. For him to be the ‘rock of defense’ the ‘fortress and one who never changes’ our stability should be in him, not some system of doctrine that has come to us from men. Now the faith that was once and for all given to the church is not what I am talking about, but the other silly stuff we find ‘refuge’ in. Am I pre trib, mid trib or post? Well if there is only one second coming [and there is only one] then you don’t have a lot of choices, do you? ‘But I have been taught this historic doctrine from the great men of faith of days gone by’ no you haven’t, you believe in something silly that is not true. ‘Well I will believe my way, and you will believe yours’ I know that already, but the point is you guys are the same ones that get apoplectic over the Catholics! Just thought I would show you what a bunch of hypocrites you are. NOTE; Let me show you what I mean. If you read the passages in the gospels when Jesus is speaking on his second coming and the end of the world. He says ‘there will be tribulation like never before’ he talks about the obvious events of the great tribulation. He then says ‘after these things you will see the sign of the coming of the son of Man’ the pre tribulation brothers call this ‘the revelation’ part of the second coming. The ‘second part’. You then also have Jesus say ‘then one shall be taken and the other left’. Now he specifically says this ‘one taken and the other left’ is after the tribulation, at his second coming. This seems to make it real simple. Jesus will come and ‘take some and leave others’ at this event, which happens at the ‘second coming’ and his return. The Rapture guys say this is not the event of 1st Thessalonians chapter 4. Even though if you read that chapter Paul says when Christ returns some will be taken and others will be left [the unbelievers]. The rapture guys say this is a ‘different’ taking of people at a ‘different’ second coming. Well I think I could accept the doctrine of Peter being the first Pope before you could convince me of this one!
(405) Been studying an apostolic movement. I am familiar with this church. They have a few of them in our area. A lot of stuff on line says they are a cult. They really are not one in doctrine. The leader of the movement has a legalistic background from an old time Pentecostal church [four square] and it seems to me that the movement, though Christian, has embraced a lot of the mistakes from the ‘Shepherding/Discipling’ movement. I am not studying what the so called ‘cult researchers’ are saying about them. I am reading from their actual story on line. It really is a great story. One of the limitations of these movements are the limited way they see ‘church’. For the most part these groups see church as sending someone to a city, either renting, buying or building a building [too many of us still cant get past this building centric mindset- none of the disciples or New Testament Apostles EVER did this!] They then set up ‘a Pastor’ to ‘run’ this ‘New Testament Church’. And then the strong authoritarian types will basically teach a strong doctrine of submission to this ‘New Testament order’ and anyone who questions this very limited/unbiblical view of ‘Local Church’ is ‘out of order’ and seen to be ‘departing from the faith’. We need to get back to the biblical model of Jesus and the Apostles. Jesus sent them out ‘2 by 2’ to go and bring this message [the gospel] to the cities and towns where they were sent. Later you see Paul doing this same thing. The ‘planting of churches’ was the actual speaking the gospel to people groups. Those who would believe and get baptized became ‘the church’. These believers were encouraged to get together, have fellowship meals [the original pattern of the ‘Lords Supper’] and to basically be ‘Gods Ecclesia’ in their town. They were seen to be Gods ‘dwelling place’. There was no ‘church’ that they were going to on ‘Sunday’. Paul told the Corinthians that when they got together on the 1st day of the week they were to take up an offering. We take stuff like this and turn it into a commandment. We teach Sunday as some type of New Testament Sabbath [it is not!] and we say ‘go to church on Sunday, obey your Pastor [singular] and put in a tithe’. This is permitted to a degree, but in no way is this some type of mandated New Testament order. That’s why those Pastors who lean towards grace and liberality are seeing growth. They are operating in this system while not teaching that this system ‘is church’ to the same legalistic degree as the other guys. Now when you take this limited way of seeing church, and you put it into the hands of strong authoritarian types. Then you have the ingredients of a ‘cult like’ culture within the group. You find well-meaning Pastors telling Christians ‘how dare you challenge my biblical authority, you are under me’ well this is an abuse of the grace of God. These well meaning guys have taken a pattern of ‘church’ that is common for our day, and have turned it into THE MEASURE of a person’s faith. Any question from the parishioners is seen as rebelling against ‘Gods Man’. Well just remember Paul was not teaching this strong Sunday church, tithing to the church, obey your Pastor mindset. Paul actually teaches [Romans] that the weaker Christians [in faith] will observe certain days and foods and stuff as clean or unclean. He then teaches those who are stronger [more mature] in the faith don’t do this. So for believers to meet on Sunday and to give offerings and to share in Gods grace is a good thing. But to teach that a limited system where you are under ‘a Pastor’ for the rest of your life can become ‘cult like’ in its expression, especially if you have a legalistic background to begin with. [The movement I am studying is known as ‘the door’ or the ‘Potters House’, not to be confused with T.D. Jakes]. NOTE: A few things that I want you to see about the biblical mindset of every believer having the potential to go and evangelize the world. When a believer goes forth with the gospel and brings the good news of Gods forgiveness and acceptance thru Christ. Others want this. To simply see ‘church planting’ as a natural outgrowth of evangelism allows for there to be a rapid increase of the gospel thru out a region. Everybody can ‘pass it on’ to everyone else. You are not viewing ‘church planting’ as going somewhere to start an organization that will need lots of money to function; you are simply preaching the gospel. Those who believe get together, there will be elders [more mature ones] that will have special ability to ground these new believers. But for the most part the only ‘finances’ needed to do this is enough money to get you to the place of ‘sending’. You then teach these new believers to share of their resources with the less fortunate. This is actually the biblical model of church planting. This is why Paul could evangelize large territories in his day. The modern idea sees the need to raise tons of money to support ‘other pros’ who are doing it for a living [missionaries]. They see church planting/evangelism as the ‘job’ of those in ‘full time ministry’. The average believer is told ‘your primary responsibility is to work in the secular world and bring in the finances for the ‘church’ [Christian business] to have enough money to pay the pros’. We have effectively ‘de clawed’ the average believer from the divine mandate to go and preach the gospel to all nations. That’s why when the well intentioned Pastors get mad at me for preaching against tithing, they really can not see how the ‘law of the tithe’ has actually put people back under bondage. The average believer is under the bondage of seeing himself as the ‘resource pool’ that brings the money in for others to do the ‘ministry’. This is actually a form of legalism that puts believers under bondage. Every so often you get a radical believer who breaks the mold of simply being a ‘funder’ and then he goes off and enters ‘full time ministry’. He is then taught all the above and the cycle repeats! The Pastor feels like he is doing right because he now is so fulfilled [it cant be wrong if it feels so right]. But he doesn’t realize the fulfillment he is experiencing is to a large degree the sense of well being that God intended for all the saints to experience as they express themselves and give themselves away for the gospel. In essence the Pastor had the courage to break the mold and step into the journey, but where we have failed is to then take that person and make him into a propagator of the current system. God wants a change in the current system. God wants all his kids to see that we all have this freedom to run the race and be active. It is not limited to the ‘full time clergy’! NOTE: When the well meaning Pastor in the current system looks at the statistics ‘only so many percent of all Christians tithe, therefore we are not reaching the world’ he is seeing ‘reaching the world’ from his limited paradigm. This type of Pastor truly believes it is the lack of tithing that is hindering the gospel. It is not the lack of tithing that is doing this, it is the above system that is limiting the gospel! NOTE; The other day I was trying to open some bag of lunchmeat or something. I remember how hard it was to get the bag open. So of course I thanked the Lord for this obstacle and praised him as I looked for a pair of scissors [I am lying]. I did think to myself ‘what a wonderful product. I am sure it will taste good. I am sure the producers went out of their way to produce the product. Much thought went into the marketing of it. They only forgot a very small thing, they made it next to impossible to actually access the thing!’ This is what we do in modern church. The most valuable asset are the People of God. They can do unbelievable things in the area of reaching the world. We have made it next to impossible to ‘get the product out of the package’.
(406) NOTE: The reason you see me quoting old movies on this blog is because when I spend a few days at my daughter’s ranch [Jim Wells county for all you local guys!] she has no cable or Internet. I do get up early to pray, but during the day we put on all the old movies we have. Lots of DVD’s and VHS tapes. LION KING The father Lion tells the son when he is in hiding ‘YOU ARE MORE THAN WHAT YOU HAVE BECOME, YOU ARE MY SON’ the dad Lion is dead and he tells his son this in a vision. The son returns to his ‘land’ of destiny and fulfills his purpose. The son was anointed king as a baby cub, he enters his true destiny after much failure and fear. The father also told the son that the stars in the sky represent past kings who have gone on [I know this isn’t Christian, but let me use it]. In Hebrews it says the heroes of the faith have gone on before us and they are looking down from the bleachers cheering us on to finish this great destiny. I want to encourage you to realize ‘you are more than what you have become. You are your Fathers son’ God chose you for destiny when you were a child, its time to overcome your fears and stop living in obscurity. Fulfill your destiny while there is still time.
(407) Didn’t get a chance to ‘go to church’ Sunday, so I made a point to catch a brother out of Dallas [you all probably know him] that I like to catch on TV every so often. He usually has a real prophetic word that you can tell is being produced out of trials and stuff. This week he was at some ‘preacher conference’ and he was using Romans 12 as a text. He then proceeded to go from chapter 1 thru chapter 12 by memory, hitting the high points from each chapter. I have a pretty good memory, I actually memorized large portions of Romans in the past. I kinda saw that he was going to do this. It felt more like a performance than the usual real word that he speaks. As he began going to chapter 2, then 3, etc. I jumped ahead in my mind and could almost quote the entirety of the rest of the book as I was ‘testing’ my memory. I found out I could do as good as him in this mental exercise. It didn’t mean anything, because I could sense it was sort of showing off at this conference. I changed it to Fox news.
(408) I want to talk about the reality of gifted Prophetic/Apostolic people in church history who had real gifts, but embraced false doctrine. This is an area of stumbling for those who are trying to break away from false movements. The Mormons are good people, whenever they come to my house I have real good talks with them [a little too good, after a few visits they go back to their elders with questions and they never come back!] I actually become real friends with them. I honestly discuss their movement’s history and I give an honest evaluation of the Prophet Joseph Smith [the founder of their church]. I do not demean them in any way. I simply acknowledge that the giftings of Joseph Smith were tremendous in the area of pioneering a religious movement. I also challenge the belief that Joseph was the prophet that the Lord chose to restore the true church. I find agreement that the true church are all those who have come to embrace the sacrifice of Christ [which they believe in] and then I explain how Jesus said the gates of hell would never totally prevail against the church. If Jesus words were true [they were!] then there never was a time since the 1st century that the church didn’t exist in some form. The gates never prevailed against her. Therefore Josephs teaching on him being the restorer of the church to the degree that God supposedly told him there was no true church left, has to be wrong. I do make headway with the younger guys. Once you honestly become true friends with people, you can have influence. My position on all the extra biblical doctrines and visions and other so called supernatural things [finding gold plates in the ground!] I simply ‘compromise’ to the point of saying ‘it is possible that Joseph [or any other leader of any other movement] had visions or experiences that they felt were true. They might have actually saw someone/something’. But we go back to the reality of Jesus being the way to God, and we put these other things at the foot of the Cross. The history of the pioneering Mormons is tremendous. The people are all good people [for the most part] there are strides being made right now to influence certain key leaders of this movement and to bring them back into alignment with historic Christianity [like what happened with the seventh day Adventists on the west coast. A few years back some evangelicals established relationships with key leaders and certain seventh day groups came back to the historic church- The worldwide church of God group [not the Pentecostal church of God] had a total reformation from the top down!] The point is, it is possible for certain religious groups to experience great success. In some strange way the fact that there is a small degree of the gospel present within the system [remember the leaven affecting the whole lump?] enables a certain degree of success until the time comes for true reformation. This approach can be seen with the more extreme word of faith/ prosperity teachers. Many were good men who did good things. We should not allow this to be an open door for the other doctrines and stuff that are wrong. Acknowledge the good, and honestly face up to the things that went off track. God requires all of us to do this at certain times. NOTE: After a few talks with these Mormons they see that I am a Christian; I know the bible and am even aware of their history. I use this fact as an example of God revealing himself to people without them joining or identifying with some religious group or organization. One of their beliefs is God has a true real church in society [true] and therefore which one is it? I try to show them that I too believe there is ‘one true church’ and that this church [society of people- not an organization or denomination] is actually made up of all those who have come to the reality of God thru Christ. They will challenge this view [as do some Christians!] and say that it is wrong. That how could people just come to a true knowledge of God unless they are in the true church [which to them is Mormon] I then bring them back to the fact that we have spent hours discussing and sharing many truths about Jesus. We all know many of the same verses [to be honest I usually know more by memory than them] and we have been discussing all these truths of God and his purposes and redemption thru Christ. And yet I have never met you before. I am not Mormon. How did God break thru to me and show me all these things that we have been sharing? It wasn’t thru some organization; it was the fact that God is revealing himself to mankind thru Christ. All who have come to this reality ARE THE TRUE CHURCH. Therefore everyone who worships the Father thru the Son are the true church. This leaves room for them and all others. I don’t whitewash the many wrong teachings of Mormonism, I simply try to bring them to the reality that even if Joseph Smith never existed that the reality of all of us [I include them] right now believing in God and the sacrifice of his son would qualify us as the ‘true church’ you don’t need Joseph Smith for this!
(409) I watched the second Republican debate for 2007 last night. It was interesting. One of the questions [from Wolf Blitzer] was to Rudy Giuliani. Wolf asked him to respond to the recent comment from A Catholic Bishop that compared his abortion stance to what Pilate did in betraying Christ. Basically Pilate allowed Christ to be crucified, even tough he was ‘personally against it’ Pilate knew Christ was innocent but permitted his execution to appease a political constituency. As Rudy responded it began to lightning, this caused his mic to go out and you couldn’t hear a word thru the TV. Rudy joked about it. Sort of like ‘I guess God is trying to tell me something’. A few other candidates kidded also. As Rudy talked the lightning kept cutting out his remarks. Everyone just took it as a joke. The ‘funny’ thing was as the other 9 candidates spoke [all pro life!] this ‘interruption’ didn’t happen. As soon as the mic went back to Rudy it started again. You could almost see in everyone’s faces that this wasn’t a joke! Rudy is the only ‘pro choice’ candidate in the Republican field. Also this debate took place in Hew Hampshire at a Catholic University ‘Saint Anselm’. the moderator harped on asking a few of the Christian candidates their view on evolution [which should have nothing to do with whether or not you make a good President!] It was asked in a way to make these guys look like idiots. One of the candidates answered wisely. He basically said he doesn’t know if God created the world in a literal 6-day period or longer, he affirmed the scientific reality that all creation could not have simply come by mere chance. He gave an intelligent response to the question. He also challenged the question. He believed it really shouldn’t be in a Presidential discussion. Though he defended himself well. Wolf Blitzer wanted to make these guys look like idiots. So after the answer he says ‘you were asked whether or not you believed in a literal 6 day creation, you dodged the question, answer it’. The candidate told Wolf ‘I did not dodge the question, I told you that I don’t know if the literal account in Genesis is speaking about periods of time or 24 hr days’. Wolf looked like the idiot! The point is they were so obsessed with getting a certain response that Wolf didn’t ‘hear’ the answer. When it’s your main job [moderator] to ‘hear’ the answer, and you don’t hear it, you look stupid. The ‘after’ show that discussed the debate brought up ‘why are all these candidates injecting God into it’ and then ridiculing them for various reasons. Even though it was obvious that these candidates were not bringing the ‘God issue’ up on their own, they were annoyed to be getting these questions. The Democrats actually are bringing it up more on their own because they are trying to appeal to the Christian vote in a greater way [which is fine]. I think Rudy is a good man, I like him. I am an Italian that grew up where he was mayor. I don’t think God was necessarily ‘judging him’ by the lightning. I felt it more to be a prophetic sign that said ‘If you refuse to speak up for those who have no voice in society [the unborn] I in turn will remove your voice from society’. NOTE: The obvious bias of the media is seen clearly in these types of things. It would be like me asking you ‘do you believe in Hitler and the oppression of Jews’. And you would respond by saying no, and then begin to explain the atrocities of Nazi Germany. Then later I had a discussion with a panel and said ‘can you believe they were even discussing Hitler? I know, what a bunch of racist bigots!’ For the media to do this is an insult to the average American. These elitists truly think that Christians are ignorant idiots. They then show their blatant bias by doing this. NOTE: God takes men and turns them into fools when they willingly reject him. These people who look at creationists as ‘back water’ idiots, believe that at one point in time there was nothing. From nothing gases ‘showed up’ one day [this is a scientific impossibility!] these unexplainable gases had an unexplainable explosion. From this all creation came into existence. Now science does show us that there was a point in history where all the worlds ‘mass’ or matter was at a beginning point. And that from this point thru an unbelievable event all creation came. This is scientifically accurate. But for this to have occurred from nothing is scientifically impossible. There had to be something from outside of the material realm that had the ability to act upon the material realm in order to make this happen. Whether you believe this something is God or not is irrelevant to this argument. The FACT is all created things could not have come from nothing! For the unbeliever to hold to this obviously childlike explanation of all things is absolutely foolish. But they see their belief in this as being intellectual. God has truly changed their wisdom into total foolishness. If you had a point in time where nothing existed, it is scientifically impossible to have matter now. The only scientific explanation is something else had to act upon this ‘void’ in order to bring about matter. This is not religious belief, this is scientific fact!
(410) A few years back before 9-11-2001 I was at work at the firehouse and noticed a Muslim walking thru the truck stalls. He was dressed in full fashion. You could tell he was a Muslim! I went out to see what he wanted and he said he was just doing research for the University on ‘fire houses’. This station is right across the street from a University and there are lots of exchange students. He did look suspicious. I began talking with him. We did get into ‘religion’ and the way Muslims view Western society. He shared how all the Muslim world sees the United States as Christian hypocrites. I then explained how all westerners are not Christians in reality. I am aware that the Muslim world doesn’t make these distinctions. I then ‘taught’ a 30-45 minute overview of the history of Abraham and his sons [Arabs claim their genealogy from Ishmael the son of Abraham, while Jews trace their lineage to Isaac]. I went thru the historic development of these groups and shared how though Jesus was a descendant from Israel, that it was Gods design to redeem all heritages thru Christ. That God has a great purpose for ‘Ishmaels’ descendants and Jesus transcends all of these ethnic stereotypes and makes all nations ‘one new heritage’ in Christ. I was surprised to see this Muslim was not aware of this. He looked like he was glad to really hear the truth of the gospel. You could tell he never really heard the story of redemption in this way. The world is so caught up on taking sides for political reasons, that this central message and appeal to people’s real need is being overlooked. He left that day seeming grateful to have heard this truth. Not long after 9-11 happened. We were then warned by the F.B.I. to take extra precautions in securing our truck bays, because intelligence came down that showed certain radical groups were going to try to ‘car jack’ fire trucks and use them for terrorist purposes! NOTE: The 2 sons of Abraham, Ishmael and Isaac, were to be used as a sign of strife that would arise for many generations to come. Many evangelicals use this to point to the strife between Israel and the Arab world. This is true to a degree. Paul in the book of Galatians uses this to speak of the strife between Law and Grace. In essence Paul says the Jews who are fighting against the believers are what Ishmael and Isaac represent. He did not see it like we do today! In reality it is possible for natural Israel to persecute a believing Arab, and in this context Israel would be ‘Ishmael’ and the Arab would be ‘Isaac’ the ‘spiritual’ offspring. Remember, Paul says the ‘children of the promise’ are counted as the kids, not the children of the law. The point being all who are Gods kids by faith [both Jews, Arabs and every other group] are Gods kids. So any other group who are not ‘in Christ’ [even natural Israel] are not counted as ‘the seed’. Seeing these things thru the ‘lens’ of the Cross overcomes racism. It’s wrong for any ethnicity to war against another. God is no respecter of persons. When Christians use scripture to take sides in actual warfare, this does harm to the true intent of God.
(411) I had a friend years ago who worked with me at the Fire Dept. He was ‘sort of’ an Atheist. He did ridicule Christians a lot. He would challenge them on all sorts of stuff. I remember discussing something with him one day. Some type of challenge. In the middle of the argument I simply said ‘if all of this you are saying is true, then why do you believe in God’. He was shocked. He couldn’t answer back. It was like the Lord knew he always held to a secret belief in God but never revealed it. I guess he never thought anyone would ‘see this secret of his heart’ [prophecy].
(412) I was just wasting time today. Too much TV and being unfocused. I hate these days! I was watching ‘mad TV’ and flipping the channels. I also was thinking about a mayor from a small town directly on the other side of the Corpus bay from where I live. I live in Flour Bluff and he lived in Ingleside. I have no idea why I was thinking about him. He was convicted of murder about 9 years ago and has been in prison. As I had enough of Mo Collins and Will Sasso, I flipped to A and E and saw City Confidential. I pressed info on my remote controller and saw that they were doing a show on Mark Crawford, the Mayor who I was just ‘thinking’ about. This ‘thinking’ was actually ‘seeing’ the mental image of the crime he committed. He gassed some guy and buried him in the ground [he actually had an accomplice do it]. The show talked about Marks life. He grew up in a dysfunctional family. Joined the Army and eventually wound up in this area. In 1988 he woke up one day and made a decision to change. He quit his job and ran for Mayor. About the same time I was living in Kingsville and ‘quit’ the church I was going to in order to start one of my own. Mark became very involved with the Baptist church and led the youth group. I was reaching out to addicts and ex cons [I also was the youth leader at my Baptist church]. Mark went astray and got into business and got involved in some shady dealings. Mark became well known and eventually everything fell thru when in 1996 they found a dead body buried in a deep whole in his yard [remember the dream I had about digging a deep whole and putting a body in it?]. In 1996 I started our radio ministry out of Corpus, Mark might have been listening during the year he ‘buried this body’. At the end of the show I wasn’t too sure why I was watching, I knew I was supposed to. Maybe I will write Mark and see if he wants to be used for outreach in prison. I know he claims to be innocent, and you have to be careful because some ‘brothers’ want to use their contacts with someone ‘famous’ or who has influence in order to try and get out. I believe it’s possible for Mark to have done this crime and yet for the Lord to use him. I am not in the camp who always defends the Christians and thinks they can do no wrong. I know better! I feel Mark was a lot like me. Willing to take too many chances in order to break the monotony of life. Striving for something more. Not being content with just ‘going to church’. I believe God has a destiny for each of us, even those who have gone off the deep end. P.S. Mark, if you ever read this [by me sending this to you, or someone from the area who knows you sends you this blog] you made some bad choices my friend, the only excitement left in the journey is to radically sell out for the Lord one more time. NOTE: I also read David Berkowitz’s testimony on line [the son of Sam] he has some story. Google his name and see if you can find it [just looked it up, its ‘www.forgivenforlife.com’]. God uses the worst of us. I do not see myself any more worthy than any of these guys. NOTE; If you follow the ‘self image’ that the Apostle Paul had of himself you will see something interesting. Paul ‘sees’ himself as an Apostle, then as the least of the Apostles. He then sees himself as a sinner, then near the end of his writings he sees himself as the ‘worst of all sinners’. I do not see this as ‘false humility’ it is more of an understanding of the sovereignty of God. All people are capable of all things at one time or another. Also when I wrote on Peter. I always felt he carried the self-guilt of his denials of Christ. When you see Peter in the Book of acts confronting Christians who lied about selling their property and saying they gave all the money to the Lord. Peter had the choice to ‘meet out’ strong discipline or not. He was the key Apostle at the time carrying the prophetic authority of the Kingdom. If he chose to forgive and ‘let it slide’ he could have. This is where you see the teaching of Jesus come into play when he said ‘whoever’s sins you forgive, they are forgiven. Whoever’s you don’t forgive will not be forgiven’ in this area of Peter dealing with these believers he chose to NOT FORGIVE. He says to these Christians ‘you have lied to God and his Spirit’ and they fall down and die as the judgment for what they did. Why was Peter so hard? I think he saw that part of himself in them that causes us to lie and present a false image to people. He was reminded of his duplicity and released judgment instead of forgiveness.
(413) I want to talk a little about ‘Local Church’. As I am reading on movements who ‘plant’ Local Churches, it is reminding me of some things. First, nowhere in the New Testament is the command given to ‘go and plant New Testament churches’. Now I don’t want to be picky here. I want you to see why this is so. Protestantism has developed an understanding of ‘Local Church’ that is really unbiblical. I recently read about a movement that ‘sends out churches’ to cities as opposed to ‘sending out missionaries/evangelists’. They see the sending of a person to get a building and preach on Sunday and get the tithe and for people to be ‘faithful’ to the ‘local church’ as the right way to evangelize because ‘this is Gods plan’. Then another group says ‘we are a ‘local church’ with a worldwide vision’. The more extreme brothers will teach ‘you are not in right relationship with God until you submit to his plan, which is ‘the Local Church’. All these brothers mean well. They are just expressing views that are un biblical. The ‘local churches’ in scripture were all the believers living in a ‘locality’. In these ‘communities of believers’ there were gifted men who God placed there for the growth of ‘the local church’ [all the Christians]. Today’s idea of every city having 100 to 200 local churches, all with the office of ‘Pastor’ who is the authority over that specific group is no where to be found in scripture. Now all the brothers doing these things are not heretics [notice I said ‘not all’]. But when you take this limited view that sees ‘the local church’ as the separate organization that you start in your area. And then you teach a form of ‘being in submission’ as tithing to that thing, you are in essence usurping Gods authority that is being released thru a wide diversity of gifts in your area. God sees ‘the local church’ and its ‘members’ as those who are called out of the world unto Christ who reside ‘locally’. So you are ‘part of the local church/group of Christians in your area’ by virtue of the fact that you are all ‘partaking spiritually of the Body of Christ’. The outward sign of this is the Lords Supper. So for you to view your ‘membership’ with a particular group [among 100’s] and then to say ‘I am faithful to ‘my local church’ [the Sunday meeting I attend] and to not see the reality that all the believers in your area are ‘local church’ actually harms the church. Most Protestants do not realize how this limited view ‘colors’ the way they read scripture. In the book of Revelation you find the letters to the 7 churches. These ‘churches’ are once again all the believers living in different locals. God is speaking to the ‘Angels’ of these churches in this book. ‘To the Angel of the Church of so and so’ the word for angel is ‘messenger’. You have the majority of Protestants teaching these angels are the ‘Pastors’ of these ‘churches’. There was NEVER a Pastor over all the believers in these locations. Sardis, Ephesus, Thyatira, etc. When I do the radio ministry. It is not a ministry ‘to the radio’. When I speak into the cassette recorder, I am not ‘speaking to the recorder’. In scripture Angels are messengers. They receive and transmit the message from God. These ‘angels’ of these 7 churches were simply that! God is speaking to the ‘messengers’ and saying ‘if you don’t repent I will remove your candlestick’. These are not messages to Pastors over churches [see how your view colors this!] these are Gods words spoken to his ‘transmitters’ and therefore he is saying it ‘to the angels’ just like I preach ‘into the radio’. Now all of this is for the purpose to show you that God doesn’t send people or movements to go and ‘plant churches’ per se. He sends people to preach the gospel to people groups [Gods idea of ‘churches/ communities’]. These ‘groups’ of people who believe become the ‘local churches’ of the New Testament. When Paul writes to these ‘churches’ he is addressing ‘all the believers’ in the locality. If there were an office of Pastor like we practice it today, there would be no way that these letters would not contain strong instructions and rebukes ‘for the Pastor’ [by name if they were singular authorities]. For the ‘churches’ in the book of Revelation to have had ‘Pastors’ over these entire regions, and for us to not know their names is unthinkable! All the major figures [Paul, Peter, John, etc] were well known leaders in the first century church. To have had ‘Pastors’ as the singular authorities of entire regions, and for them to have remained anonymous till this day would have been impossible! So in essence you are not going around setting up some type of organization that people need to submit to in order to be in ‘proper order’. Gods ‘proper order’ is to be ‘under Christ’. This does carry with it the humility to accept and receive the gifts that God has placed in our communities. The Pastors and Prophets and all the other gifts. These are gifts to the entire community to build the people up. When you have ‘church planters’ who are going around [with a good intent] teaching believers that they must ‘submit to the local church, because this is Gods program for reaching the world’ they are seeing ‘local church’ in a way that is really unbiblical. God is sending all of us out into the harvest field to preach the gospel. I don’t see all the ‘Sunday Local Churches’ as wrong or in rebellion. I see that overall we are all Gods kids who are doing our best to please God. When we deal in grace with each other God works. When we use limited forms of church to the degree of seeing those who don’t fully operate in that mindset as being in rebellion, then we are not truly building each other up in love. NOTE: One of the faults with these strong authoritarian church planting movements is they use verses like ‘follow me as I follow Christ’. They use this to push back against their critics who say they are too authoritarian. ‘Hey, Paul told people to follow him’. Yes he did ‘as I follow Christ’. How did Paul ‘follow Christ’ well he certainly wasn’t setting up ‘local churches’ with Pastors ‘over the people’! NOTE; The first 3 centuries of Christianity you didn’t have ‘church’ as the place you go to on Sunday for religious worship. This mindset developed over time. Our Catholic friends developed a way of doing church that saw the ‘priest’ as the ‘minister’ empowered by Christ’s grace to ‘oversee’ the Mass where the Eucharist becomes the means of grace whereby God ‘infuses’ grace into the souls of the faithful. Basically the Catholic chapter for their belief is centered around John chapter 6 ‘unless you eat the flesh and drink the blood you have no life in you’. While I do not hold to the doctrine of transubstantiation I do not see my Catholic brothers as wicked devil worshippers for this. I see it more as an historic belief that did develop out of an ‘infancy stage’ of Christianity. Holding to Jesus words literally [which Luther himself held to in this area of disagreement with Zwingli, the Swiss reformer!] with a childlike belief that many Christians embraced. During the reformation of the 16th century you had many doctrines questioned, but for the most part the Protestants simply changed the office of the priest with the office of ‘the Pastor’ as the ‘clergy person’ who will administer this ‘protestant office’. This ‘office’ does not exist in the New Testament! So today we are seeing the Lord move in an area of ‘reformation’ [a process, not a one time event] concerning church form. Something that really wasn’t adequately dealt with in the 16th century movement. So we move on to maturity as we accept the good things of the church Fathers [even the Catholic ones!] and we ‘move away’ from forms and styles that are not mandated in scripture. We should not be ‘anti Sunday church/Pastor’ as much as we should be ‘pro Body of Christ’. Wanting to see the people of God fully functional under the headship of Christ. NOTE: This causes us to deal in grace with our fellow Christians. I have heard Protestant preachers say ‘the Catholics teach for doctrine the commandments of men’ while all the while they are declaring a ‘form of local church’ as THE SINGULAR TOOL OF GOD TO CHANGE THE WORLD that is nowhere to be found in scripture! NOTE; ‘Enlarge the place of thy tent and LET THEM stretch forth the curtains of thy habitations’ I spoke on this verse from Isaiah a few entries back. The LET THEM speaks of releasing your spiritual offspring to continue the growth of the spiritual lineage that God permits us to ‘birth’ into the Kingdom. This ‘letting them’ is a voluntary act of leadership releasing people to continue the journey on their own with Jesus becoming their ‘Chief Pastor/Shepherd’. In today’s ‘Local Church’ environment we do not practice the ‘letting go’ part well. NOTE; I have taught the term Ecclesia in our books. Let me mention that the way we view ‘Local Church’ rides heavily on how you interpret this word. The word ‘ecclesia’ is the Greek word in the New Testament for Church. In the early centuries we see how the believers understood this to mean a ‘called out community of people’, not necessarily ‘those called to the building on Sunday’. Later Christians [and theologians] began to develop a type of ‘ecclesiology’ [church form] that fit into the limited mindset of Church being the place where Christians go on Sunday. While it is true that the word ‘Ecclesia’ can describe a ‘city council meeting’ or other types of public assemblies. The true intent behind the ‘called out people’ are those who have been called out of society [separated in the biblical sense] and have become citizens of another country/Kingdom. So to limit the ‘church’ to the actual place of meeting is really not scriptural. The term for church was simply the best word to use at the time. Words are limited. It takes the Spirit of God to truly convey the meaning of them. We do not contradict the words that are used in scripture to make up our own definitions [which is a common hobby today] but we allow the Spirit of God to reveal to us things that the ‘surface reading’ can’t fully show us. NOTE; You never had a scenario where Paul would address the ‘church of Corinth’ or another area and say ‘and to you who live in Corinth, but are actually members of the church at Ephesus, because you have chosen to have membership there’ You were part of the church at Corinth by virtue of the fact that you lived in Corinth and were a believer. You didn’t have the idea of joining a separate entity [group] like the ‘Elks’ lodge or something of this nature. We have developed a way of seeing church that seems to tell believers you must join a specific ‘church’ in your city, out of the 100’s of ‘churches’ that exist there. While it is fine to ‘go to a church on Sunday’ we must not see them as actual ‘local churches’ in and of themselves, this cause’s a division to the Body of Christ that is not seen in scripture.
(414) Let’s talk about divine healing. Over the years I have heard different ‘angles’ on this. I absolutely believe God can and does heal. If you do an in depth study of scripture there is no question about it. ‘He is the God who healeth thee’. The problem, like anything else, is we have a tendency to go to ‘extreme views’ on this. Recently in some of the movements I have been studying I have seen the idea surface that ‘if you did not act by faith in the healing, it’s your fault’. These sincere people get to the point where they teach if someone is in a wheel chair, and you say to them ‘arise and walk’ and if they don’t do it, they didn’t obey [act upon the word] and it’s their fault. Surely it can’t be Gods? Well you then develop a healing theology of condemnation. You begin teaching ‘if you are not healed you have done something wrong’. All redemptive purposes are in Gods plan. The most obvious one is to redeem man from actual death. 'O death where is your victory’. Jesus is the resurrection and the life right now. He said this to Lazarus sisters. ‘This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God’. It was not Gods will to heal him during these 3 days. In Gods sovereign plan he chose to allow death to happen so he would be glorified in raising him. So even though healing and the defeat of death are parts of God purpose in redemption, we do not understand why all of the aspects of it are not fully revealed now. We should not develop a teaching that says to the person in the wheel chair ‘if you don’t ‘get up’ when I say ‘get up’ then you didn’t obey the word!’ This has been done more times than you know, in various scenarios. I have used the comparison that if it’s always something the person is doing wrong, then what about raising the dead? Jesus taught healing in the great commission just like raising the dead. He said those who believe would even raise the dead. Raising the dead has happened and does actually happen. Why don’t we go and raise all the dead all the time? I actually heard a brother on the radio who was defending the teaching that every time someone isn’t healed there’s something wrong. And he defended the idea that the person being healed is not believing right or else they would be healed. He then gave an example on ‘well why then are not all people raised from the dead?’ He actually taught an experience he, or someone else had, where the Lord showed them that when a dead person is told ‘rise from the dead’ that the spirit of the person hears it, and if they don’t ‘obey’ well there you have it. As you can see, when preachers want to be extreme, they are like kids. They will come up with the most elaborate schemes to make themselves right. Lets just say all of Gods purposes are not fully revealed yet. Even the promise of ‘never dieing’ does not mean we will ‘never die’. It just means that we will win at the end. I believe God is the healer; all of our doctrines and teachings are for the benefit of man. If you turn them into something that condemns man, then you have defeated the main purpose of God. Like what the Pharisees did with the Sabbath. Jesus said the Sabbath was given for man, not man for the Sabbath. We worship our doctrines and put them on pedestals and we make man fit into them. If we can’t find a satisfactory explanation, we then make it mans fault, surely it couldn’t be Gods?
(415) Being I just discussed healing, lets talk about the ‘baptism of the Spirit’. When attending a Baptist church they taught the Baptism of the Spirit occurred at the new birth. When you are born again you ‘got it’. Every believer most certainly has the Holy Spirit. The Assembly of God friends taught ‘you got saved, but you didn’t get the Baptism until a separate experience’. This too can be found in scripture. If you look at the book of acts [which I haven’t read in years!] you see in chapter 10 the Gentile converts. The fact is ‘they got it all at the same time’. Sorry to my Pentecostal friends. But you can look at Acts 19 and see Paul saying ‘have you received the Holy Spirit since you believed’ to some disciples. They tell Paul ‘we haven’t even heard of the Spirit’. Now I do want to stress that many Pentecostals do read this to show its possible to believe and ‘not have the Spirit’. Actually if you read this passage you will see that they were ‘baptized with Johns baptism’ they were only disciples in as much as they received the initial message of repentance that John the Baptist preached. Paul tells them ‘he preached about someone who was to come later [not the Spirit, but Jesus!] and then after they heard this’ [not the message of the baptism of the Spirit, but the gospel] then they were baptized and Paul laid hands on them and they prophesied and spoke in tongues. The point is these believers were not believing in Christ yet. They didn’t hear the ‘rest of the story’ until Paul preached it. I am not siding today with either side. I am showing that the book of Acts is ‘Gods diary’ if you will, it is a compilation of the ‘experiences of God with men’. It certainly is doctrinally sound, don’t get me wrong. But it shows Gods primary purpose of redemption and how he is sovereign. If he chooses to ‘give it all at once’ in chapter 10. Or to ‘give it thru the laying on of hands’ in chapter 19. He has the right to do whatever he wants. He is God! It is perfectly biblical to have both ways of operation in existence. It’s possible that the Pentecostals are right and the Baptists! You mean God actually might have been experienced in different ways by different groups? Yes! Scripture shows that this is possible. Now I want to make my self clear. I believe in the gifts and operations of the Spirit. You can actually develop a doctrine of ‘multiple baptisms’, times where the Spirit shook and ‘baptized’ groups on more than one occasion. God is God, be open to his reality. Don’t take one part of a chapter and try to make it fit for everyone. Both sides are guilty of this. The Spirit of God is alive and active. John the Baptist was filled with the Spirit from his mother’s womb! You mean before he got saved? Now go and rack your brains on this one.
(416) There were a couple of things I felt like sharing, but I was waiting until I cover the book of Hebrews. I hope to overview it on this blog. But I just had a prophetic dream and it dealt with sharing it. The dream was I was on a roof with a friend of mine from the Fire Dept. This friend has learned stuff from me over the years. He wouldn’t be what you would call ‘a real active Christian’. Just a friend who has been kind of interested in all the stuff I do. Well while we were on the roof [sort of like a roof you might be on to ventilate during a fire] there was an authority figure [a military guard] that was keeping him on the roof. Not like he was breaking the law or being in a judgment type situation. Just the sense that the ‘authority’ figure was not permitting him to leave this post yet. I shared a few things and repelled down with a rope. I then was teaching some stuff [the stuff I was going to wait till I got to Hebrews to share] to one of the younger firefighters. He was sort of a rookie and was just beginning to learn some stuff. He had to go and I was not able to finish the teaching. I told my friend [who was now on the ground] to finish teaching him. He was not the type of person who would normally share his faith. But he knew exactly what I was teaching the other guy, and sort of said ‘yea, I’ll tell him John. I know what you mean’. Well let me share the stuff and maybe get back to the dream. The other day I spoke on the concept of ‘Sunday church’ and how we get this from Paul telling the Corinthians ‘upon the 1st day of the week take up a collection’ [1st Cor. 16] The early church began to practice meeting on the first day [as well as every day!] in memory of the resurrection of Jesus. Nothing wrong about this. As the church ‘lost’ her family/community mindset and digressed into a ‘Sunday church building’ mindset, it just became natural to develop ‘Sunday as the New Covenant’ Sabbath. This is not a biblical doctrine. There is no ‘New Testament Sabbath’ in this way. Now there is tremendous truth to what God wants to teach believers thru the Sabbath, but when we simply teach that God changed one religious day to another [Saturday to Sunday] we lose the truth. The mature believer does not ‘hold’ one day above another. It’s fine to ‘go to church on Sunday’ but to see Sunday as the old covenant Sabbath, and all the blue laws and stuff associated with it, is to not ‘see’ the truth behind the shadow. All people who are in Christ, who are new covenant believers have entered into a ‘place of rest’ where they have ceased from their own works [efforts to make themselves righteous before God]. This ‘place’ is the ‘Sabbath’ rest of God. It is not a day, or a mode of religious worship. It is an eternal ‘age’ of rest that comes to all those who are in Grace. Now Paul actually teaches this in Hebrews. I can’t do it now, but scroll down to the tape/book catalog on this site and read the descriptions on Hebrews. I cover some of it in there. Paul teaches that God created all things in 6 days, and rested on the 7th. He tells the 1st century Jewish community ‘you must cease from your own works too [the law, and trying to please God legalistically] and come by faith to the Cross’ Paul teaches it in a way where he says ‘if God rested on the Sabbath, so you must enter into this rest’. He does do a lot of spiritualizing of scripture. But it must be right, it is inspired! So basically the ‘Sabbath rest’ is entering into the New Covenant. The ‘age of Grace’. But as the church lost the family mindset, it just became easy to teach that Sunday is now the new day for religious things, as opposed to Saturday. You then have all the 7th day groups [7th day Adventists and others- there are whole regions in this country where the Baptists are 7th day Baptists. They hold to Baptist belief in every area, but they believe the same way the 7th day Adventists believe. That the Catholics changed the ‘Sabbath’ to Sunday, and that in so many words this is the ‘mark of the beast’] using scripture to prove that Saturday is the Sabbath and not Sunday. Now Saturday has always been the Sabbath Day. This has not changed [It’s just that in Christ the law has been fulfilled and we are not under any legal requirements in this way. We are in grace and not under law]. The issue isn’t ‘what day is church day’, the issue is once you enter into Gods grace and rest [the Sabbath] you are fulfilling the Sabbath by resting in him. In essence you have found Gods rest. This isn’t saying ‘church day’ is Saturday, or Sunday. ‘Church’ day was every day in the 1st century church. But you see how easy it is when you function out of the ‘going to church on what day’ paradigm, it becomes natural to go thru the bible and try to find ‘the right church day’. We do this with the tithe and all sorts of stuff. Well in the dream I felt like the Lord was saying that many of my friends over the years, even the ones that usually don’t view themselves as ‘preachers’ are going to be used to pass along some of these truths that they have learned from me. The ‘authority figure’ was simply God saying to these friends ‘you are to remain here [at the fire dept?] after John leaves and you are going to be responsible to pass along these things’. I also felt like some of my buddies at the dept have felt like the lord wanted to use them in a greater way, but maybe they felt constrained to be working there. To these friends, let the Lord use you by doing the things you have seen me do in ministry over the years. Use this blog. I share some stuff on the Kingsville fire dept. this will give a sense of purpose for the guys who feel ‘stuck’ at a menial job. The older brothers can use this blog and any other tools to pass stuff along to the new guys. In essence you haven’t missed your chance to have an impact in the Kingdom, maybe the Lord left you there by Divine appointment! NOTE; The 7th day brothers will make some arguments like ‘as believers we keep all the commandments, why not Saturday?’ They also point to the fact that one of the Catholic fathers actually taught that the proof that the Catholic Church has the authority to change ‘laws’ and establish new ‘commands’ was the fact that they changed the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday. This is a true argument that a Catholic scholar has made. So this re enforces in the mind of the 7th day brothers that they must be right. Look at all this proof! Well to be honest, if the issue was ‘what day is church day’ as far as what day has God ordained as ‘the special day’ I think the 7th day guys would win. But I believe the truth on this is in the new covenant there is no ‘special day’ because ‘church’ isn’t a ritual at all. Paul actually told the Colossians that the Sabbath day[s] were shadows of truths that were seen fully in Christ. Sort of like what I just told you. The 7th day brothers say Paul was talking about ‘days’ not ‘day’. The point is when you are resting in Christ you don’t kill, steal, and all the other stuff mentioned in the commandments. Well what about the Sabbath? If Christians are ‘keeping’ all 9 commandments, how do you justify not keeping this one? We are keeping it! When you are in Christ you have ceased from all the religious works of the law and are being made righteous by faith. You are keeping the Sabbath like all the other laws. It is a natural outgrowth of your new nature In Christ. It is not ‘going to church on Sabbath day’ you silly Christians! It is daily walking in Gods free grace, being in right relationship with him by faith. You are in essence ‘keeping Sabbath’ because you have ceased from you own works. It is not some type of ceremonial thing you do on Saturday! NOTE: To all my radical readers [Apostles, Pastors, etc] I too believe that the kingdom involves radical continuous action. There are times where we are ‘non stop’. There are others [not like us!] who lay back and experience their Christian life by really not doing anything. They sort of justify it by ‘entering the Sabbath rest’; they think God requires no action. Let me put some perspective. When God entered into the 7th day of rest in creation, it was a time where he initiated 6 days of tremendous SELF SUSTAINING life and then allowed that creation to reproduce as he ‘sat back’ and enjoyed his heritage. So Gods ‘rest’ is not a ceasing of activity, in as much as it is a period of watching the things you ‘planted’ grow. So for you radicals, lets operate in grace and see the things we are planting ‘grow on their own’. Don’t think you need to be involved in all the ‘re producing’. Jesus said faith in the Kingdom was like planting seed and as you sleep and rise the seed is growing, but you DON’T KNOW HOW THIS IS HAPPENING. So be faithful to plant, and let God nurture and sustain and cause to grow [Paul said some plant, others water but only God can cause actual growth]. NOTE: Let me say a few things on cults. Most true Christians see the major cults as the Mormons and the Jehovah’s Witness groups. I must admit I too see them as cults. The Jehovah’s primarily because of their denial of the deity of Christ. Their bible translation purposefully misinterprets the passage in John chapter one that says ‘in the beginning was the Word and the word was with God and the word was God’ they change it to say ‘the Word was a god’ a big no no! Simply put, this puts you on the ‘cult list’. The Mormons [Latter Day Saints] are a little more difficult. Their main reason why they make the list is because of the extra biblical book [book of Mormon] as well as the unbelievable amount of extra biblical doctrine that can only fit into the characterization of ‘fantasy’. A lot of Christians do not realize the amount of truly weird stuff they teach. They teach God was like us at one time. He basically ‘evolved’ to where he is now, and we are on this journey. Eventually we will be gods populating our own universe with the many wives [therefore plural marriage was originally part of the plan, but not any more! The only ones who still embrace plural marriage are the fundamentalist Mormon groups who believe the church ‘apostatized’ when it officially rejected this doctrine]. So besides all the other historically un true stuff [the whole so called civilization that Jesus appeared to in the Americas] the group has way too much extra biblical stuff to fall into the class ‘Christian’. The one caveat is they do believe in the sacrifice of Christ for man, it’s just how do you balance that with all this other stuff? Sorry, I do call them a cult. Now, I like Mormons and Jehovah's Witness as people. I do not personally demean them! But the facts are there. What about the 7th day Adventists? Too many evangelical friends of mine have classified them as a cult too quickly. I am aware of the few strange teachings they hold to. Nothing even close to the Mormons. I am concerned about the credence they give to certain past ‘founders’ and stuff. Overall I see them as Christian, though they fall into legalism with the classic belief that they are the true church because of the 7th day observance. They say all others who ‘go to church on Sunday’ have received the mark of the beast. Basically I do have disagreements with them, but I do not see them as a ‘classical cult’ the way I see the other groups. I find it troubling that I have had evangelical friends who classified groups as ‘cults’ because they didn’t believe in the Rapture. They don’t even realize that the ‘Rapture’ is basically false! At least the way they teach it. So you can see that it is easy to label groups as ‘cults’. I don’t want to judge any of these groups, I just needed to be honest about these groups and try and share this stuff in love. I am grateful for all the Mormons and any other groups who read this site. I don’t want to lose you guys! God bless you all.
(417) Lets do one of no spiritual value. I got up the other morning and began my routine. I started with my first cup of coffee, I do drink 3 cups or so every morning. I also have a habit of losing the cup I am working on and going to start a second. You think you would need to be a little more organized to run the ministry, but I do stuff like this all the time. I was eating on the couch last night, watching TV and lost my fork! Well as I finished my first cup I started on another cup [a new cup, not just a second drink!] I then went into the living room to put the radio on the Christian channel as I get ready to go outside and pray [which I am going to do in a minute]. I then go back to the kitchen and forget where I put cup number 2. I then see a cup on the stove and realize this must be it. But it’s empty. Oh well let me get a clean one anyway. So I grab another cup from the cabinet and fill it up and put it in the microwave for a quick nuking. As it’s being warmed I think to myself, wasn’t I just doing this with another cup a minute a go [not the one on the stove]. Sure enough I look on the kitchen table and there it is! Cup number 4 is full and waiting to get nuked. O well at least it will be ready when I finish cup 3, that is if I remember where I put it.
(420) ‘Avoiding extreme forms of isolation’ my background with the Fundamental Baptist church allowed me to see how pride and sectarianism affect true corporate unity. There was always a sense of mockery when it came to any type of unity. It was truly deemed ‘part of the one world church that the antichrist is setting up’. Regardless of your views on this, the simple fact is Jesus prayed in John 17 that all believers would be one. If you were to study the New Testament from Matthew to Revelation and were looking for all the times where scripture speaks of ‘one Kingdom’ and ‘unity’ you will see that Gods purpose for this ‘one Kingdom under God/Christ’ and the unity of the church would far out number the times compared to the ‘one world church’ idea. Now there are a few instances where scripture speaks of the unity of lost men and how lost man does come up with religious ways to appease his conscience [tower of Babel]. But the overall truth is God speaks of ‘one Kingdom’ in a right way many more times. So this preoccupation with these isolated Christian groups is simply a sign of extreme immaturity. I remember stopping one time at some highway shop to purchase some lawn ornaments. I talked to the brother who was selling the stuff. I noticed he was listening to cassette tapes of some Old Testament book [Leviticus?]. We fellowshipped a little while. I kind of got the sense that he was one of these brothers who will spend hours listening to bible tapes, but would never partake of anything the Lord is presently doing in the church. Many of these groups wont even study church history or any other Christian writings. This causes there to be a total lack of understanding on how Gods Kingdom has been operating for the past 2 thousand years. Jesus never intended the doctrine of the completed cannon to cause us to not partake of all the great things God has been doing in society for the past 2 thousand years. Well I felt the Lord wanted us to be challenged to come out of our religious shells. Don’t be so consumed with the ‘one world church’ that you never partake of Gods ‘one world Church’!
[#’s 421-585] TEACHINGS PART 3
(421) Isaiah 55 ‘I have given him [you] for a witness to the people, a leader and a commander to the people. You will call a nation that you do not know. And nations that do not know you will come to you. This will happen because of my choice, I have exalted you’ God chose you to have great influence in the Kingdom. There will be large people groups [nations] that you will influence and you won’t even know of the impact you are making until the coming of the Lord. For the most part you will remain ‘faceless’ [you will not know them and they will not know you] but the gift I have put in you will have great influence. NOTE: these verses are primarily speaking of Jesus calling gentile nations, and gentile nations coming to him. We are called the ‘body of Christ’ so allow these verses to speak to you as an extension of Jesus Body in the earth today. ‘For as the rain and snow come down [remember the vision I had about ‘bolts of snow coming down’? It is on this site] and water the earth and cause it to bud’. So shall it be with my words, the things I am specifically communicating to you at this season of your life. These words shall accomplish my purpose in you. I have sent these words out to you, they will prosper in the areas that I desire. ‘This shall be for a sign that shall not be cut off’ I have given you signs this past year. You have seen me work before, but many times you later forgot what I said. Sort of like the signs and things were real but you couldn’t ‘retain’ the awesome things I was showing you. Not this time. This year I have given you signs that will last for the rest of the journey, just like at the start.
(422) watched a special last night on the gang ‘MS 13’. I have seen it before and felt like the lord wanted me to speak on it. I do realize that there are things that I have spoken on that are not safe. I advertise this blog in North Bergen, N.J. This area is full of Muslim radicals. The type of ‘brothers’ who would kill you for speaking against Islam. I basically have taught that Allah is a false god. And Muhammad is his prophet. I have to be careful if I get an invitation to do a ‘cell’ group in this area. It might be a Muslim cell wanting to ‘fellowship’ with me! I also have mentioned the ‘Mexican Mafia/Texas Syndicate’ on this site. I had a good friend who was a member [he is dead]. This ‘gang’ is one of the most serious gangs in the prison system in Texas. They make these ‘kid gangs’ look like punks. So speaking on these groups is dangerous. The show I saw last night showed how the gang MS 13 started in L.A. as an innocent young gang. It expanded from L.A. to other parts of the country [Texas] and when the prison system deported a bunch of them back to El Salvador, it spread like wildfire. Gangs are the enemies’ imitation of what the Ecclesia was supposed to be. A group/family of people [brotherhood] who would find identity as a family. Many gang kids see their membership ties in a stronger way than they see their family. The gang is their family. The rapid spread of these gangs is an organic thing that is out of the control of their founders. The church was intended to spread this way. They have no ‘gang houses’ that they call ‘the gang’ [Christians call the ‘church’ building the ‘church’]. Their strength is in their identifying as a family. When we first started our ministry in 1987 I had some of the original group of friends [addicts] that wanted to extend the ministry with ‘outreaches’. We were grappling with the way the Victory Outreach does it. We actually bought an old lumberyard building and were going to set up a drug/outreach type thing. All good stuff. I feel one of the reasons these things never got off the ground was because the Lord was going to change my understanding of church to the family/brotherhood mindset. I was too ‘building centric’. Trying to start programs instead of seeing our guys as a brotherhood. It’s OK to start these types of things, but as the lead vision implanter I felt the Lord wanted to transition my vision into one of rapidly spreading the Kingdom by influencing people as a brotherhood. Today I have friends who see themselves as a ‘part of us’ even though we don’t identify around any particular building or ‘church meeting’ environment. If you study movements like ‘the local church’ which is an apostolic movement started by Watchman Nee, you see some good stuff. Watchman Nee was a Chinese Apostle who got a hold of many of the things you see me write on. He spread the ‘local church’ movement thru out China as an underground church. No official denomination or recognition of ‘clergy’ but a movement that was persecuted by the communists. They spread worldwide and have many churches in the U.S. today. They also erred [in my opinion] on the side of strong authoritarianism and began to see themselves as ‘the Local Church’, that is they viewed their group as the true restoration of the Local Church. While I do not view them as a cult [like other cult watchers do] I do see the mistake as seeing their group as the true group, as opposed to all the other ‘groups/churches’ in a city. The sectarian mindset. The true power behind these apostolic movements is the instilling of vision into people. People see the church as a brotherhood [like the gangs] and they are not identifying with programs that their ‘church building/business’ is doing. They are identifying along the lines of a ‘gang/brotherhood’ in a noble way. The same thing that the Victory Outreach or the Door does. Things that I see as good. Recruiting people into a brotherhood mentality. The danger is becoming ‘cult like’ in your view of seeing your group as ‘thee group’. These underground churches cannot be stopped thru persecution or the ‘closing down of their churches’ like other denominations have experienced. Communist govts. have been able to oppose the organized church because all they had to do is shut down the church building and remove the Pastor/Priest and the functioning would stop. You can’t do this with a brotherhood. Just like the gangs. They will thrive whether you put them in prison, shut down their ‘meeting houses’ or anything else. Their secret of survival is in their brotherhood mentality. Jesus obviously knew the power of this, that’s why he said ‘the gates of hell will not be able to prevail against the church’. He knew the movement that he was founding would have the allegiance of a brotherhood. It would not simply be a social club. When human govts came against the 1st century church, it couldn’t stop them. Rome even said that as they spilled the blood of the early believers, it was like seed falling into the ground [a bit prophetic, Jesus did say that martyrdom was like planting seed ‘Except a grain of wheat falls into the ground and DIES it abides alone, but if it dies it will produce much fruit’] so man could not stop a true movement of people. Man can stop a denomination who needs the ‘church building’ and the clergy to function!
(423) I want all my evangelical friends to listen closely. There are many radical and unpopular things I teach on this site. Everything we teach has to be seen thru the Cross. I am listening to a radio message. I stopped to do this. Often times Evangelicals go to great lengths in their defense of natural Israel. The things that I have said on this site concerning Israel has made us deadly enemies in certain camps. The message on the radio is dealing with Esther and how God will go to great lengths in order to preserve Israel. Many of these types of sermons speak against people like myself, who teach that Israel’s only hope is to find her identity in Christ. This type of message that I am hearing is OK. They simply need to understand that God HAS gone to GREAT LENGTHS to preserve Israel. He gave his Son for this purpose. The only way any nation [Jew, Muslim, ‘Christian’] can ever be preserved is in Christ. The promise of everlasting preservation is in Him. Those who defend natural Israel to the point of teaching that God has a covenant with Israel APART from Christ are doing harm to her preservation. Scripture says ‘he that doeth the will of God shall abide forever’ [1st John] it also says ‘this is the will of God, that you would believe on him that God has sent’ [the gospel of John]. John [the disciple/not the Baptist] was a Jew. He knew Israel and her customs well. John knew that the only way to preserve her was thru her Messiah. All the other Apostles died for this belief. John was the only one to escape martyrdom. He lived to around 90 years old. He got stuck on some island called ‘Patmos’. They tried to kill the guy by boiling him in oil [so the story goes]. As an old man he gets one last chance to speak to Israel. He writes this tremendous prophecy [Revelation] and he presents Jesus as the Lamb who is sitting on the throne. John knew the truth.
(424) I WILL MAKE THY WINDOWS OF AGATES, THY GATES OF CARBUNKLES, AND ALL THY BORDERS OF PRECIOUS STONES [Isaiah] Windows speak of ‘portals of sending’ [like this blog! Or radio and stuff like this]. I felt like the Lord was saying he is going to bless your ‘portals’ of sending. ‘Cast your seed upon the water, for in many days it will come back to you’ [message in a bottle- the Police]. God is going to increase you. He will expand your borders. He will not only ‘bless your gates/borders’ but he will ‘bless your windows’. Windows let light out of a house. They allow the ‘brightness’ to go out into the dark. They also allow light to come in and lighten up a room in a way that no ‘man made’ light could do. God is going to bless ‘your windows’. You will see things that you have never seen before, and you will reach places that are far away with the light that is ‘in your house’. ‘I have given you an open window that no man can shut’ God to John in the book of Revelation.
(425) The other day I heard one of the few [only?] prosperity preachers in our city say ‘we don’t have the right to talk about any other preachers’. I got the sense that word has gotten out that we are uprooting this stuff from the church. This level of discernment that teaches we shouldn’t deal with false prophets is extremely lacking in wisdom. I can say this about any cult. Joseph Smith [Mormon] did good things. It would be absolutely irresponsible to say ‘you don’t have the right to deal with Mormonism’. All false doctrine and teachers need to be dealt with by Christian leadership. This doesn’t give anyone the right to be a ‘self proclaimed’ judge of other believers. It’s just a basic guideline that when teachers go way off track [teaching that Jesus was a millionaire, he died to get money to you, and these same preachers seeing their goal as to reap lots of money!] then we as leaders MUST come against this. I didn’t realize how many of these ministries are in Texas. I would say Texas is the main propagator of this stuff. The Lord is dealing with Texas at this time. Corpus Christi bears the name of Christ. I just think it’s prophetic that the Lord would use our city as one of the major places where he will ‘regain’ his image back in the church. Those in this area who do not line up with Gods agenda will have no future in what he is doing at this time. You guys teaching this stuff still. God will remove your candlestick if you don’t stop it. NOTE: Remember what I said about the prophetic ministry of John the Baptist? He not only had the ability to recognize Jesus in a way that others couldn’t see yet. But he also could not remain silent on the obvious ‘sins’ of the day. He spoke out on the King and his adulterous marriage. Many ‘believers’ of his day grew comfortable with an obvious abuse of leadership. They knew in their hearts that what leadership [King] was doing was wrong, but they had other things on their agenda. To deal with the Kings abuse of his authority would bring difficulty and affliction. John simply felt this to be a carrying out of his Prophetic ministry. To John it was like ‘how can we not speak out against this’. John also paid a severe cost. Note: If you use as a ‘measuring rule’ to be ‘how do I feel’ or ‘does this doctrine benefit me financially’ then you have lost your prophetic edge. I have seen many of these obvious abuses go on with the Christian TV networks. Some of these networks are good, some are not. Why the good ones will permit these abuses to be on is beyond me. They either feel that these brothers are paying well, or they feel like they bring in lots of money during the ‘sharathon’. These brothers are using a measuring line that says ‘if it brings in money, then I don’t care whether or not they preach that Jesus was a millionaire who died to make people rich’ they seem to see the bottom line as the criteria of whether or not to allow them to have influence. This IS NOT THE CRITERIA! Jesus is the ‘plumb line’ if things don’t measure up to him they must be abandoned!
(426) I was just thinking of the verse that says to the Virgin Mary ‘this child is set for the rising and falling of many in Israel, a sword shall pierce thru your own heart also that the thoughts of many hearts can be revealed’ [I don’t know where it is, a rough quote from memory]. Jesus prophetic aspect caused many to question and wonder about their own beliefs. He also caused people to be honest with each other and sometimes this honesty caused division. There ‘possibly’ have been scenarios where preacher friends or ‘church attendees’ have gone to their Pastors and said ‘can you believe what John is preaching now, he doesn’t believe the rapture!’ and for the first time the Pastor has to admit that he doesn’t believe it either! So what the ‘well meaning’ person thought was going to happen ‘talk about John’ really didn’t happen. Instead the ‘thoughts’ of his Pastors heart were revealed. I like stuff like that. Many of you guys are going to have ‘a sword pierce thru your heart’ in the sense that there will be things that you questioned earlier as a believer and learned to ‘silence’ the questions. At this season a lot of the prophetic preaching is ‘re opening’ these old wounds. They were never meant to become ‘wounds’. God showed you a lot of this stuff at the beginning of your journey. The ‘sword of the Spirit’ has opened these questions up again, and the thoughts of your heart are being revealed. This is reformation my friends. We often pray for it, but when it shows up it looks different than what we expected. Sort of like Jesus appearing to the 1st century Jew. It wasn’t what they expected!
(427) It is common in the modern world of ‘church’ to have a scenario where certain people [deacon boards and stuff like this] rise up and come against ‘the Pastor’. You then have a dynamic where the ‘Pastor’ is in a struggle for ‘control over his church’. Then the fight rages on. All of this is absent from the New Testament. Paul fought against the false teachers who were trying to influence the ‘churches’ [communities of people] with false doctrine, but this power struggle over the ‘control of my church’ [501c3 Christian business who meets on Sunday] did not exist. Recently I have heard/seen a few scenarios along these lines. There actually are scenarios where those who are fighting the Pastor are like what you would find in an abusive relationship. A type of manipulation that says ‘if you don’t say stuff that makes me mad, I will behave’. Then the Pastor feels like ‘I stood up against the opposition and God was with me’. Even though the whole ‘atmosphere’ of stuff like this is unscriptural. This type of stuff is what you see in the world of corporate takeover. The rising up of stockholders and stuff who are ‘dethroning’ the CEO’s who are making millions while the stock is falling. I just want you to see that when we view and function in limited paradigms; this affects the way we carry on with the journey. Jesus taught a type of ‘prophetic preaching’ that said ‘if people don’t receive the gift, go to the next house/city’ I am not saying all Pastors should leave their churches when strife arises. I am saying that the whole scenario is really not of God. Even the part where the well meaning Pastor ‘fights for the control of the church’ [Christian business]. Being the true New Testament Churches were communities of people, as opposed to ‘501 c 3’s’ you never had these types of situations. NOTE: I really don’t blame the Pastors for functioning out of this limited mindset. We send guys to College and they are taught all types of stuff under the guise of ‘Pastoral’ administration. We basically teach them that this means running and administrating a business. We teach a form of ‘deacon board’ and all other types of stuff that are simply bible names given to 501c3 corporations and their boards [Roberts’s rules of order!] The New Testament shows all these ‘gifts’ [Pastor, Deacon, etc.] as gifts that function in a community environment. The modern Pastor is taught in a way that he simply replaces the idea of ‘board of directors’ with ‘Deacon board’. If you try to show these brothers that they are simply putting bible names on an American corporation, they will tell you ‘well brother, the bible speaks of deacons’. True, but the bible speaks of Bishops and Pastor and we think that justifies us putting our own definitions to them. God has placed gifted individuals in the ‘church’ [community of believers]. These gifts are primarily given to build up people. If in this process you need a building, or a ‘501c3’ or a ‘radio/blog ministry’ that’s fine! But your gift is not primarily given to administrate the tool [the whole business and stuff that arises out of modern ideas of church] but the gift is primarily given to facilitate growth in the community of people. Because we don’t really see and function this way, we inadvertently accuse the saints. We say ‘if you don’t put the tithe in on Sunday, you are cursed because you are not submitting to the Local church. Which after all is Gods plan to change the world’. Well it is Gods purpose to function thru the ‘Local Church’ but once again this simply means ‘all the believers residing locally’. It does not mean the whole 501c3 organization that functions in the building on Sunday. You see how easy it is to read the verses on ‘bring all the tithes into the storehouse’ and then to mistake the ‘storehouse’ for the 501 c 3 that owns the ‘church building’. The storehouse are the corporate people. Jesus said ‘my house shall be called a house of prayer’. We are his house! We are a ‘corporate house of Prayer’. Well I have taught all this stuff before, just felt like you needed a reminder. NOTE: I have heard over the year’s well meaning Pastors say things like ‘I don’t believe in Bible college, that’s the job of the ‘Local Church’ or others who might denigrate a ministry because ‘it is not under a local church covering’. The mistake these brothers are making is once again ‘seeing’ the ‘local church’ as the building and all the operations surrounding it. What do they mean when they say ‘it’s the job of the local church’? They seem to be implying that the actual instruction should take place ‘on the grounds of the 501c3 organization’ or in the actual building where the Christians meet on Sunday, after all ‘it is the Local church!’ UGGH! They don’t seem to realize that if the college or other ministry that they are talking about is something that was a God ordained thing, and that ‘thing’ is being administrated or ‘run’ by ‘local believers’ then it is part of ‘the local church’ [community]. But when you ‘see’ local church as the 501c3 building/organization that Christians meet in on Sunday, then you inadvertently ‘accuse’ the brethren by saying ‘you are not under the local church’. God does not vest authority/legitimacy in a ‘501c3’ corp. He vests authority in his people by his Spirit. When you do not see this you accuse the ‘local church’ [the local believers] by thinking that ‘the local church’ is something that its not! Let me also add that I have had friends over the years who ran ‘Para church’ organizations [a misnomer!] some of these brothers have jumped thru all sorts of hoops to gain legitimacy with the ‘local churches’ [organizations] when these brothers see that I am ‘functioning’ as a believer with Gods authority, they do get offended. Sort of like ‘I have jumped thru these hoops for years. Tithing to my ‘church’ and all sorts of things to be in proper order. How dare you come along and challenge the legitimacy of ‘the local church’. The point is God wants all of his kids to function freely under his headship/authority. It’s OK if your ‘Para church’ ministry is working along side a ‘local church organization’ but to then try to make everyone fit into this limited paradigm is out of order. If Jesus taught us anything on authority, he taught that servants gain authority in Gods Kingdom. If you want authority my friends, then serve! Don’t think it comes from being ‘under the covering’ of some man made organization. NOTE: If the Kingdom is not about ‘being over people’ as Jesus taught, then why even ‘have authority’? Those who are being used in the Kingdom to build up the Body of Christ realize that there is no greater joy than to actually ‘wash the feet of Jesus [serving him]’ by building up the Body of Christ [the Local church/community of people]. You build so far and then you need more ‘skills’ to complete the ‘building’. At that stage ‘more authority’ is given for this purpose. The ‘minister’ is rejoicing because God has given him more adequate tools to complete the mission. Further ability to serve! Paul told the believers that God gave him this authority to build them up, not to ‘rule over them’. In today’s environment of success and trying to feel legitimate, people unconsciously fight for this recognition [authority] thinking it will bring them some sort of fulfillment. In the more extreme cases this can lead to ‘authoritarianism’. An ongoing battle between the ‘congregation’ and the ‘Pastor’ for control. So here you see how the limited paradigm affects everything else. In the New Testament churches you did not have scenarios where ‘Pastors’ were trying to be over the people for long periods of time. The shepherding process [discipling] was done over a short time until the new believers were mature enough to be ‘launched out on their own’ [under Christ’s headship]. When you have unnatural environments where men are fighting for control or authority simply for the purpose of ‘having authority’ then this causes an abusive situation for the people of God. Not all Pastors do this, but the unnatural environment lends to this happening more often than it should. The giving of ‘more authority’ is primarily for the continued function of servant hood, to continue to build the people up. It is a violation of biblical authority to see your position as one of singular authority over the people of God [see Diotrephes mentioned in the 3rd letter of John].
(428) I kind of am hesitant to do this, but I felt it was time. I have had a radio listener who is a prosperity guy. He has written me ‘re proofs’ for years. I am surprised he still listens! He recently sent me a few more letters. He actually liked what I was teaching and did thank me. But he usually sends pages of stuff to teach that Jesus was a millionaire [actually the richest man who ever lived]. He basically has been taught an exhaustive doctrine [that goes on forever!] that traces Jesus roots thru King David to Abraham and goes thru these pages of explaining how Jesus was the natural heir of David and therefore truly owned all the wealth of Jerusalem. He has been taught [or taught himself] an intricate bible system that is absolutely consumed with mammon. The simple fact that Jesus was a carpenter’s son and lived that way escapes these guys. The fact that Paul taught ‘you came into the world without material wealth, when you die you will not be able to take wealth with you. Therefore be happy with your needs being met’ [1st Timothy 6]. Why didn’t Paul teach Timothy that he needed to believe for all this wealth so he could reach the Roman world? These poor brothers who are so consumed with wealth have gone to extremes to search the scriptures and come up with unbelievable teachings that are consumed with mammon. I have come to believe these guys are under a ‘spell’ [Paul says this in Galatians- ‘who hath bewitched you’]. I am glad this guy still listens to the program, maybe he will get free someday? Also for the sake of this brothers argument. Jesus was from the line of King David. The fact that he was ‘conceived’ by the Spirit, a major Christian doctrine, shows that Jesus ‘in the natural’ did not come from the line of natural David [the actual ‘seed’ of David, don’t want to get to explicit here!] because of this Jesus would teach things like ‘my Kingdom is not from this world’. Jesus showed us that his actual lineage [really] was from the Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit caused Mary to conceive! This isn’t a problem for most Christians, but this guy has sent me these arguments for years and for his sake I thought I would do this. NOTE: this note is for the last 2 entries. Both the idea that the ‘church’ is the actual 501c3 corp. who meets in a building on Sunday, as well as the teaching on lots of money go hand in hand. It is only natural for the Pastor/CEO mindset to fall into the snare of seeing how ‘if we just had more money’ if Gods people were not disobedient in bringing the tithe to the ‘storehouse’ then we could accomplish ‘the ministry’. These well meaning Pastors get allured by this need for money, they then fall into the extremes of the prosperity gospel. They truly feel unless tons of money comes into the ‘local church coffers’ [which they see as the 501c3 machine!] then the world will never be evangelized. Its easy to look to the examples in the New Testament where Paul is receiving support, or where all the believers gave sacrificially and brought the money and laid it at the Apostles feet. In these scenarios you had the concept of communal sacrifice and giving that ‘equaled the playing field’ and fulfilled the Old Testament type of Manna. Those who gathered what was enough for their families [be content with having your needs met] were provided for. Those that gathered much for the greater need had enough. Those that gathered little for their need had enough. God specifically rebuked hoarding and a covetous mindset by showing that those who took too much, the Manna ‘bred worms’. So in these examples of extravagant giving in the book of Acts, we are seeing Gods family voluntarily [no tithe!] give of their wealth to meet the needs of their brothers and sisters. When the modern minister uses these verses to either teach a doctrine of becoming rich, or to bring in ‘the tithes to the storehouse’ he is not rightly dividing the Word! NOTE: Just read an article in the paper on someone starting a ministry. They showed the facility. Talked about the renovations needed. The eventual staff. The need to obtain I.R.S. status. This is typical of the way we ‘see’ ministry. Our mindsets see a project, a facility and the functioning of some type of a ‘service’ that we will provide. The New Testament mindset was taking the message of the Kingdom and simply proclaiming it to people groups. The fact that the message of the gospel has within it the inherent power to change society caused there to be a mindset that said ‘if I can just plant this Word in the hearts of people, I will have been faithful to the task’. You don’t see Paul going to cities and setting up anything! He is presenting the gospel, and the actual act of the gospel being believed becomes the completed task. The communities of people who believe become the ‘Local church’ that is the ‘outpost’ of God in that region. The people are the ‘facility’ that God takes up residence in by his Spirit and this is the work of the Apostle or believer carrying out the great commission. We focus too much on ‘starting something’ instead of ‘declaring him’! NOTE: It is also a common mistake for Christians to ‘attend church’ and debate the fact that ‘everything our church does is scriptural’. They will mistake the function of someone ‘preaching’ bible words [either the Pastor or Evangelist] as ‘being biblical’ even if the entire mindset of ‘the church I am attending’ is absolutely no where to be found in scripture! Now I don’t want to be too ‘iconoclastic’ [a destroyer of idols] here, but I want you to see that many Christians see ‘being scriptural’ as simply ‘speaking from scripture’. To be truly ‘scriptural’ is to function as the New Testament churches [communities of people] functioned. They lived lifestyles of community that did not view the ‘Sunday service’ as the ‘place I attend and put in my tithe’. When we as Christians view ‘church’ in this limited way, we are being UNSCRIPTURAL, even if we preach from scripture while doing it!
(429) I will do one of no spiritual value. I had a homeless friend who visited me one day. I had the news on. They were talking about some type of government entitlement program. My friend asked what they were talking about. I told him they are thinking of giving a free check to everyone who is homeless. They will simply get a free check every month. No food stamps or stuff. He told me that this was great, he has been waiting for something like this for years [I knew this, he used to tell me this. That’s why I came up with the story]. I then told him I was kidding. Well they then started talking about the death penalty, he asks ‘what are they discussing now?’ [You think he would have learned not to ask me this]. I then proceeded to tell him That Texas is trying to extend the death penalty to include all those who are ‘unemployed’ for more than a year. That the state is going to keep records, and if it shows you haven’t been working for a year or more you get put on a ‘death row list’. Well you could see the look of worry on his face. I told him I was just kidding again. This poor brother went from getting a free check for the rest of his life, to thinking the state was going to execute him if he didn’t find a job! I thought it was funny at the time.
(430) Let’s review a few things. In Isaiah it says ‘my thoughts are not your thoughts. My ways are not your ways’. A lot of the stuff I have been showing you on ‘Local Church’ is simply a process of changing our thoughts [ways of seeing things] to Gods thoughts. As you see this stuff you begin to see that ‘knowing scripture’ is different than just memorizing verses, or being familiar with the text. It means having a general understanding of the whole flow of what God means. As you simply ‘see’ Gods thoughts on ‘Local church’ it allows for there to be a ‘grid’ that puts everything else in context. When Jesus debated the Pharisees, they had this ‘obsessive’ ability to memorize scripture. They actually had a ‘profession’ that copied the Old Testament to the tee [scribes]. These ‘brothers’ were obsessed with the technicality of the Word! Yet Jesus would rebuke them for not truly grasping the meaning of the ‘text’. Sort of like not being able to see the forest because of the trees. This ultimately led them to crucifying their Messiah. They couldn’t ‘see the Body of Christ’. So today when we don’t ‘see’ Christ’s Body properly [thru the Church] we also do harm to it. Let God replace your thoughts for his. NOTE: I don’t mean to be picky here. But when we don’t ‘discern’ the ‘Body of Christ’ [the church] we do unconsciously accuse her. Paul writes ‘I have shown you these things so you would know how to behave in the house of God, the pillar and ground of the truth’. We read ‘how to behave in the church building on Sunday’ [our thoughts] when what it is really saying is ‘how to behave in the family of God’. We say things to believers who are ‘functioning locally’ ‘you need to be under a covering, you need to be in submission to ‘a local church’. We often are using a ‘form’ of local church that isn’t to be found in scripture when we say this. In essence we are doing ‘damage to the Body of Christ’ when we do not properly discern her.
(431) Isaiah 56 ‘Keep judgment and do justice, for my salvation is near and my righteousness is ready to be revealed’ God says he is about to do some major things. He wants you to ‘judge right’ actually stand strong in discernment with mercy. It’s easy to give up on the things God has shown you and to fall into the status quo. God says stay true to what I showed you because it’s for a purpose. ‘Blessed is the man that doesn’t pollute my Sabbath and keeps his hand from evil’. Remember what we recently said about the Sabbath? God says ‘blessed are those who remain in my rest. Those who abide in me and allow me to bring forth the fruit’ this is the only way we can keep our selves from ‘doing evil’. In Gods grace! ‘These are the ones I will bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in MY HOUSE OF PRAYER’ we also just discussed Gods house of prayer. God will gather all those who are in grace and make them ‘joyful’ as they join in intercession for the nations. You are a ‘house of Prayer’ you will only be fulfilled when you are doing what you were created to do! Remember, we are corporately his facility, our ‘use’ is to be a habitation thru whom God intercedes. ‘His watchman are blind, they cant see. They are greedy, they can never have enough wealth. They are all out for personal gain, they look for it to come to their areas. They say ‘tomorrow will be much more abundant’. Here God rebukes the leadership for always wanting more finances. They live day by day with the goal of ‘great material abundance’. They have usurped Gods purpose for his ‘house’ and made it into a den of thieves! [These are the leaders who teach it obsessively, they have made the goal ‘material wealth’ not so much the Pastors who are raising money for unselfish things! Also see the specific rebuke to those who say ‘tomorrow we will have more wealth’ the actual confession and excitement of seeing more wealth as the goal is being rebuked here!]
(432) I am continuing to study on apostolic movements. I read a book years ago on these movements [reinventing American Protestantism-Donald Miller] and have read lots of stuff over the years. I just looked at the ‘Calvary Chapel’ with Chuck Smith and the ‘Vineyard’ with the late John Wimber. I also looked at the Victory Outreach and the Door. I would have to say the Calvary Chapels and the Vineyard are ‘more mature’ in their understanding of what God is doing with them. The ‘door’ is a little too ‘sectarian’ in their mindset. They actually expressed things on their site that seem to say they see ‘their movement’ as ‘thee’ restoration of ‘the’ Local Church. This type of stuff is dangerous. But overall these movements are great. The book I read from Donald Miller referred to these churches as ‘new paradigm’ churches. I don’t really see them as ‘new paradigm’ they still function out of the ‘paradigm’ of local church being the Sunday 501c3 corp. but they are ‘new’ in the sense of the way they branched out thru outreaches. I commend these works and these men, both Wimber and Chuck Smith are good men whom I respect. A lot of the critics don’t see them this way, but I see them as truly being used of God. I think we are at a stage in the Body of Christ where God wants to ‘join’ the dimension of rapidly expanding thru ‘church planting’ with the whole concept of the church as ‘family’ as opposed to ‘the building we meet at’. What this ‘new paradigm’ will do is release all the Body of Christ into seeing themselves as ‘church planters’. Everyone has the ability to speak the gospel to people groups in various locations and settings. Too many of the older type movements were looking for ‘church sites’ ‘what property should we purchase?’ And stuff like this. The ‘new paradigm’ will be looking to ‘people groups’. ‘Shall I go to Macedonia today?’ ‘I wonder if the Lord will send me to Galatia?’ Things like this. Instead of ‘seeing’ the setting up of an organization, you will be ‘seeing’ the open doors to reach people groups. ‘Where will we have church than?’ everywhere! You can meet in a park, home, whataburger, even in a CHURCH BUILDING! The point is God will provide many ‘places’ to get together. Quit being so focused on ‘the place’. Didn’t you have friends growing up? You had a ‘bunch of people’ that were your ‘clique’. You played ball, went places, did things. Were you always looking for the ‘building’ to meet in? NO! You were a group of people with a common identity. You gathered around mutual interests. So begin to see this ‘new paradigm’ and operate along these lines. This reduces the current need for great finances, and allows for the simple expansion of the Kingdom thru simple disciples carrying the great message of Christ. NOTE: it is common for the average Pastor to fight against this way of seeing ‘church’. You will often hear the verse in Hebrews ‘forsake not the assembling of yourselves together’. This verse cant be used to defend a form of ‘Local Church’ that is no where to be found in the New Testament! If you stopped ‘getting together’ with your friends in the above scenario, your parents might say ‘what’s wrong with you Johnny? You are becoming too isolated. Don’t STOP GETTING TOGETHER WITH YOUR FRIENDS’. In essence this is what the writer of Hebrews is saying. Don’t use stuff like this to justify ‘going to church on Sunday’.
(433) GO WASH IN THE POOL OF SILOAM [Jesus said this] this summer [2007] I have taken my kids to the beach a lot. I usually can’t get them to go. It’s one of those things like you live so close, you never take advantage of it! Like growing up by New York City, a lot of my friends never went to the Empire state building! Well the area where I have been taking my kids is right next to the north jetty of the Packery Channel. This is the channel that the state opened up after 50 years of it being closed. I have shared lots of stuff on this site about it. If you remember when it first opened I shared how one day I took a walk [south jetty] and walked the beach to the jetty. I burned my feet that day. Well this summer I walked the north jetty for the first time. Its beautiful and provides an ‘atmosphere/environment’ where you can walk out and see a view of the coast that you never saw before. The ‘jetty’ is like a highway that has been created by an opening of an ancient waterway. I felt like God was saying he has opened up new ‘waterways’ for you. These new channels will provide a ‘highway’ for you to go places and see things that you have never seen before. These new openings/highways will also create a ‘pool’ environment that will allow your ‘children’ to enjoy for many years. When God opens up new opportunities for you [highways] it is your responsibility to ‘go for it’. Sometimes you walk out on the wall, other times you ‘jump in’. But either way you must take advantage of the opportunities when they are there. Don’t be like the friends who never went to the Empire state building. It’s those who are ‘closest’ to the kingdom that have the greatest risk of not entering in! ‘The children of the kingdom were cast out’ Jesus said this to the Jewish nation as they were on the verge of rejecting him. This new ‘wall/highway’ will also ‘cut off’ access to the old desert that got you burned in the past! The channel actually creates a waterway that ‘cuts off’ the old section of island/desert. When God opened up the Red Sea for the children of Israel it gave them a way out of Egypt, but it also cut off access back. There are things that you will never get ‘clean’ from until you ‘wash in the POOL of Siloam’ [plunge into the purpose of God]!
(434) I woke up today with nothing to say. I actually thought I would take a break. I made the mistake of asking the Lord if he wanted me to speak, and here we go! A few years back I had a Pastor friend who was an ex addict/convict. We ran in the same group of guys. He was ‘solo Jesus’ [Jesus only]. All these brothers are Christian! Let me talk a little about this way of seeing the Trinity. In the gospels Jesus says ‘go and baptize in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost’. If you look at the actual baptisms in scripture [Acts] you will see that every time they mention the ‘name’ as they baptize, that it is ‘in the name of Jesus’. So what you get from this is when Jesus said ‘baptize in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit’ he was actually saying that there is only one proper name given in the New Testament for any of the Godhead. Father, Son and Spirit are not names, they are titles. So the reason why the Apostles baptized in Jesus name was because of this. Now the ‘Jesus only’ groups got hold of this as well as other truths and are identified as ‘Jesus only’. I believe in the doctrine of the Trinity as stated in the ancient creeds. I am not a ‘Jesus only’. But this shouldn’t prevent us from seeing truth. Basically the Jesus only groups teach that in heaven you will see ‘Jesus only’ on the throne. God is a Spirit, is he a different Spirit than the ‘Holy Spirit’? Jesus is the only person in the Godhead with a Body. Does Jesus have a spirit? Well if God is a Spirit and all the fullness of God is in Jesus bodily, then they teach you will not see God in heaven as a ‘disembodied Sprit’ that you will see Jesus on the throne, and he will be the express image of God. This is surely interesting. Do I totally hold to this? No. But I wouldn’t classify someone as a heretic for this. I believe there is truth that God gives us from many camps. The problem is as the church developed thru the centuries they had debates over the nature of Jesus and the creeds came down on a certain side. I agree with the creeds, but they had a tendency to say ‘take one side, if not you’re a heretic’ so some of the early fathers had no choice to express other views on these things. I mentioned the ‘Local church’ movement that started under watchman Nee. His disciple that carried the torch after Nee died was ‘witness Lee’ this brother has been fighting the old time apologists for years over this issue. Witness Lee sees some of this stuff. He actually was called a heretic by the apologists for saying ‘Jesus is the Father’. The apologists say ‘you are rejecting the historic Trinity’ the apologists argued with him over the verse in Isaiah that says ‘His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God the Everlasting Father’ this verse is no doubt speaking of Jesus. Lee says ‘see, Jesus is the Father here’ I agree! The strong Trinity guys [of which I am one myself] say that in this verse ‘the Father’ is not God the Father, but a reference to Jesus as the Father of a new race. Lee shoots back and says ‘then you believe in 2 Fathers’. I fall on Lee’s side here. The ‘Father’ reference is speaking of God. The fact is Jesus is the revelation of the Father to us. Scripture says ‘all the fullness of God is in Christ’. Jesus told Phillip ‘if you have seen me, you have seen the Father’. I just think we take revelations from God, like the Trinity, and we cant fully comprehend all there is in it. And then we come to limited human understandings that get us into trouble. It is obvious to me that the strong apologists who are fighting Lee in this one verse are wrong. They are trying to make it fit. It’s hard to make God ‘fit’. God has revealed great truths to the church thru the centuries. I don’t advocate ‘undoing’ the creeds. But we have to be open for further insight into things that we don’t fully comprehend. I remember telling some friends this once. I explained that it isn’t real easy to understand all this. I shared how God is a Spirit, and how the Holy Spirit is God. And God is one. Are there 2 different Spirits? As you can see it’s not easy. So for all my Jesus only brothers, they do have truth. For all those like me [classic Trinitarian] we also have truth. But I also am able to see the truth about all the references in the book of Acts on being baptized ‘in the name of Jesus’. They actually did do this! The strong Trinitarians say ‘that’s right, because Jesus is God, so we should say ‘Father, Son and Spirit’. The point is, because Jesus is God, that’s why they all said ‘Jesus’ at the actual baptism! It’s like if I told you ‘go and cash this check [baptize] in the name of my father, my son and my spirit’. And you went down to the bank and put ‘my father, my son and my spirit’ on the check. They would look at you funny. You would understand that I meant the name ‘Chiarello’ not the title’s ‘my Father, Son and Spirit’. I really don’t see why Christians kill each other over this stuff. I am not advocating re baptizing everyone who did it the historic way. I also think it is more scriptural to say ‘Jesus’ when doing it. Frank Barltleman, who I mentioned earlier on this blog, was one of the smartest Christians at the turn of the last century. He documented the Azusa street revivals and wrote the book ‘another wave rolls in’. He actually saw a lot of this and became identified as a ‘Jesus only’ and lost a lot of influence in the church because of it. I think its good to see it like this. ‘Jesus is the only revealed proper name given to any of the Trinity in the New Testament. He is the singular revelation of God to humanity. All that we ‘see’ and know about who God is and how he reacts is seen thru the incarnate God/man Jesus Christ. When he told the disciples ‘go and baptize in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost’ he was once again speaking of himself in the 3rd person [like in John chapter 3, Jesus says ‘God so loved the world that he gave his son’ He didn’t say ‘that he gave me’ he spoke of himself in the 3rd person because it is the work of the Spirit to actually reveal Christ to man. Jesus was letting the Spirit reveal him, he wasn’t doing it thru self proclamation] The reality of the baptisms being done in the book of Acts under the name ‘Jesus’ is a revelation to us that Jesus is the only revealed name of the Father, Son and Spirit given to us in the New Testament, he is the express image of God to man’. So instead of labeling everyone a heretic, we need to see Jesus more fully! P.S. I believe 100 % in the Trinity! NOTE: It’s OK to say ‘Jehovah’ or ‘Yahweh’ or other names of God. But it’s important to see that because Jesus is the revelation of God given to man, that in the New Testament the name ‘Jesus’ is the only proper name given to describe any of the Godhead. This doesn’t mean that there is no Trinity, it just shows us that all of God was in Christ. Not just one third! Also to be a little technical, Jesus said ‘baptize in the NAME’ not NAMES. The Jesus only groups will tell you that Jesus was speaking of a singular name here. The fact that all the baptisms in Acts that give you the reference to the name being used, it’s always the name ‘Jesus’ it never shows an example of them saying ‘in the name of the Father, Son and Spirit’ when they are baptizing someone. The churches that do use this formula will say ‘well, we know they must have said it, because Jesus told us to say it’ he really didn’t tell us to say it, he did tell us to use the NAME of the Father, Son and Spirit, so the fact that they said ‘Jesus’ when they baptized shows us that he told them to use his name, he obviously was referring to himself in the 3rd person. There really isn’t a better explanation for this. It just seems to me that this is a truth that you can’t get around.
(435) This fits in with the last entry. It is important for Christians to form their view of God thru Christ. You often hear good reformed theologians [whom I like] focus on the holiness and transcendent nature of God. Some will even teach that the reason the church is in a ‘worldly’ state is because we preach the Gospel without the Law. They seem to be saying if we preach God in an Old Testament way, and we preach the law, that this will bring the church back into holiness. The message of God thru Christ was one of reconciliation. There is no doubt that Jesus was against sin. The times he taught that if you looked upon a woman with lust you were just as guilty as committing adultery. These statements were intended to show mans inability to reform himself. Many of the law keepers were counting on their ability to not commit outward acts of sin, even though in their hearts they were just as lost as the prostitute and drunkard. Jesus was not ‘exalting’ law here. He was showing those who trusted in their own righteousness that they didn’t have a chance at being accepted this way. He then of course would die for mans sin and man would receive this ransom freely. This is why you see the Apostle Paul stress justification by faith. I feel we do damage when we believe the answer to ‘worldliness’ is to preach more law. The preaching of law has a tendency to appeal to mans sinful nature. It actually stirs up in man a feeing of ‘I will now go and do what I was told not to’. When you mix this in with an Old Testament revelation of God [one of wrath] this doesn’t produce the desired result of holiness. It is the unconditional message of grace that people need. Not an ‘easy believism’ type thing, but a radical view of Gods mercy as seen thru the incarnation of Jesus. The way Jesus treated sinners and unbelievers gave them an avenue to approach God. His ‘exalting’ of the law was for the purpose of bringing man to him, in some of the reformed circles they think that if you exalt the law it will bring a degree of ‘self restraint’ to the church. I do not see this as a New Covenant function. Once you are in Christ it is the ability to rest in him that brings ‘holiness’. If people aren’t ‘holy enough’ the preaching of the law and the focus on Gods holiness will only increase the level of condemnation. All righteousness comes by faith in Christ, we are to form our ideas about the way God sees us thru the actual way Jesus lived. This is the revelation of God to us. Jesus did not condone sin, but he functioned in such a way that sinners did not see God as far away and ‘transcendent’ they saw God as close and accessible to meet man where he was at.
(436) Let’s go back to the ‘Jesus only’ stuff. The Jesus only brothers will take the verses that say ‘Jesus is God’ and combine them with the verse that says ‘Jesus name is the Everlasting father’ and come to the conclusion that ‘Jesus is God’ well he is! They will then say ‘when you go to heaven, you will see ‘Jesus only’ because God the Father is a Spirit, and this Sprit lives in Jesus’! Now on the other end of the spectrum you have whole groups of Christians that say ‘Jesus is the Son of God [true] but not God [untrue]’. Even in the first 3 centuries of the church this became a debate. Some priests and Bishops said ‘Jesus is Gods Son, but God is the only God. God is 1, not many [3]’ These brothers will show you how Paul addresses the Christians in his letters and says ‘God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ’ but Paul never says ‘Jesus, the God of the Father’. So they simply say ‘Jesus is Gods Son, but the Father is God’. Now there is truth to some of these things, but not all. Then in the 4th century under the Emperor Constantine, he calls a worldwide Council of Bishops and they come to the conclusion of the historic Trinity and the Divine nature of Jesus. Those who disagree will show you that Constantine did this for political reasons [calling the council] and therefore will see the ‘Trinitarian formula’ as a false doctrine from ‘Rome’. There are whole groups of Baptists that also believe this! I had a friend of mine who joined the Air force, he attended the Fundamental Baptist Church I went to. He got stationed somewhere and found some ‘Independent Baptist churches’. They were just like the one we attended, except that they all taught that the Trinity was a false doctrine that was invented by the Catholic Church, and that all the other Baptists that believed it were in apostasy! Now these brothers will point to all the scriptures that say ‘God is one’ and tell you the language for the Trinity ‘God in 3 Persons’ is unscriptural. The Jesus only brothers will do this too! So as you can see it’s not easy to explain this stuff. The New Testament tells us ‘God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen on by men, received up into glory’ Jesus is God. We know this. But it is easy to see how when you look at certain ‘angles’ of truth, that it’s also easy to fall into categories where you make the other side a heretic. Let me say also, the reason why we form our view of God thru Christ is because God chose to reveal himself to us in this way. I do believe the ‘God of the Old Testament’ is God. The reason he is seen as wrathful and ‘transcendent’ is because this is how God is, apart from the Cross. In the Old Testament you see God dealing with man based on mans attempt at making himself righteous. Man couldn’t come close, so you ‘see’ God as wrathful and far away. In the New Testament you see God relating to man on the basis of the Cross. God’s wrath and anger are appeased and he is seen as someone who is not ‘far away’ anymore. Some historical Christians actually taught that the God of the Old Testament was a different God. One guy even came out with the first ‘cannon’ of scripture. It basically left out the Old Testament and contained only Paul’s letters, I think his name was ‘Marcion’ if I am remembering right? There are not 2 different Gods, the God of Israel is the same God as ‘the God’ of the Christians, it’s just you cant ‘have him’ without having his Son! Jesus did teach this. Now what about ‘Allah’, isn’t he also the same God with a different name. No he is not! This is why when we try to strive for unity and pluralism in society [all Muslims should have the right to worship as they please!] we also should be able to discern between Christian and Muslim belief. Allah is the ‘god’ of Islam, this is not the same God of Israel or Christians. NOTE: I have a friend of mine who is a Christian, but not real active in ‘churchy’ type things [sort of like Nacho Libre/Jack Black ‘a real religious man I am’!] and he says to me ‘What about those Mormons [we had a mutual friend who was Mormon] they believe in some God called ‘Yahweh’. I told him ‘this is not only the Mormon God, but ours too!’ Yahweh is the Name of God in scripture! Thought this was funny.
(437) About 15 years ago I hurt my back at work, we were lifting a football player from A and I university [A and M is now the name]. I slipped a disk or something. It was bad, couldn’t walk for a few weeks. Over the years this same area of my back has had a ‘reoccurring’ feeling of pain. I am irresponsible in the area of doctors. I haven’t done doctors check ups and stuff like you should. Recently its been killing me, I usually wait it out and eventually it gets better, it got so bad the other day that I went to the Emergency room [couldn’t wait till morning] and had to get something for the pain. They gave me some Valium and a direct shot of something into the lower spine area. After 30 minutes the pain never went away, it was that bad. Well I am off of work for a few days and the pain med’s along with the other prescribed meds seem to be helping. In the past guys with this type of injury would take months off, I plan on going back in a few days. Not bragging, just have too much to do to take months of down time. So this got me thinking about ‘healing’ again. I was thinking of the scenario in the Old Testament when the Israelites were in the wilderness and God sent snakes [fiery serpents-King James] to bite the people for their rebellion. As the people were being bitten they are dieing. God tells Moses to make this brass/bronze statue of a snake and put it in a poll. Whoever looks to the pole after they are bitten will get healed. Later on in Israel’s history you read an insignificant verse [I forget where it is, you can look it up in a concordance] where this statue had to be destroyed because the children of Israel went and idolized the thing. Now Jesus in John chapter 3 describes this story to Nicodemus. He basically says ‘as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the son of man be lifted up, so whosoever looks to him will be saved’ The reason Jesus would describe himself as a ‘serpent’ was because in Gods eyes Jesus became ‘accursed’ for us. The serpent in the Garden of Eden story is a cursed thing. Satan is called a serpent. When people are in need, they look to Jesus to get healed and forgiven. He was cursed on a pole [Cross] for us and we look to him for eternal life. Those who fastened their eyes on the serpent lived. Those who look to Jesus live. He is THE LIFE. God didn’t give you an experience that gave you eternal life, God gave you his Son so you would forever ‘look’ to him [an ongoing relationship versus a ‘1’ time deal!] and live forever. The verse in Hebrews says Jesus lives forever and because of this he is able to save to the uttermost those who come to God by him. Many times preachers say this means ‘guttermost’ or that Jesus saves people who are at the worst end of the scale [uttermost]. While this is true, this is not what this verse means. This verse is saying all who are in Christ have a never-ending Priesthood of intercession that Jesus forever carries out on our behalf. The ‘uttermost’ is referring to Christ’s present intercession for us that will last FOREVER; this is why he saves us to the uttermost [never ending]. Now the reason why the serpent on the pole had to be destroyed was because people take the things that God uses as examples or as tools and we make idols out of them. We do this with Pastors, Prophets and all the other gifted servants in the church. We seem to forget that we are just ‘objects/tools’ that God chooses to use as a means of getting people to Christ. We are just ‘Poles’ that are lifting Jesus up. After a while we have a tendency to ‘exalt the pole’ or worship the ‘statue’. Now we are to worship Jesus, but God doesn’t want us to make idols out of the means of communication that he uses. It’s hard to put this in, but let me try. Even the cannon of scripture is a tool to bring us to the reality of Christ. Some Christians would have you think that the tool is more important than Christ! I know I will get criticism for this, but I want you to see that it’s possible to have the tool, memorize the tool, even prop it up on some ‘pole’ but if you don’t have an ongoing relationship with God thru Christ, then this ‘tool’ can become your idol!
(438) This last week I have had an old injury from work ‘re surface’. I hurt my back years ago while on duty and it has been an on and off problem ever since. Recently it’s been causing severe pain. I finally went to the E.R. because the pain was so severe. They gave me Valium and a direct shot of painkiller into my lower spine. After about 30 minutes I got a rush, but it did nothing for the pain! I have been on some meds since [a few days] and the pain got better but I am left with a severe limp! I guess I did some damage to the nerves in my right leg, it feels totally numb. I thought this to be interesting, I had a dream a few weeks ago that I injured my leg and was walking with a limp! This reminds me of Jacob. After Jacob wrestled with the angel of the Lord all night, he later had a permanent limp. This was not so much a sign of judgment as it was a sign of Jacobs’s determination. Jacobs name gets changed to Israel and he is someone who prevails with both God and men. If you will Jacob had ‘war wounds’ that went on his ‘resume’. Sometimes in the Kingdom we see talented people, that’s good. But often times you don’t see determination. Much of the modern church is built on ‘performance talent’ and personality. People want to look good! Jesus rebuked the religious leaders of his day because they loved the acclaim that came along with religious position. The Kingdom needs people who will persevere [by Gods grace] whether they look good or not! I like the story of Jacob. I know he did some crafty things [supplanter] but this didn’t seem to bother the Lord as much as it bothers us. God is not looking for perfect people in as much as he is looking for ‘persevering people’. Let me exhort you to finish the race and endure by Gods grace to the end of your mission!
(439) Just opened up my newspaper. First thing I saw was ‘man dies swimming at Packery channel’. A 23 year old drowned right at the site that I have been swimming at the last few weeks. It is the first reported drowning this year off of our coast. I do not want to take lightly, or use the death of someone lightly. I want to show you that this channel, which I have spoken on a lot, represents ‘dieing to old things, and a coming alive to something new’. I felt like the Lord was telling me that the old person is passing away for many of us. The old ‘patterns/routines’ are being left behind only as you move ahead to new territory. You must access the ‘channel/highway’ that God is opening at this time, it will mean ‘death’ to the old man. Go and wash in this new open door I am giving you [Siloam/sent] your ‘sending’ will provide a cleansing avenue that will be found no where else!
(440) I was listening to a preacher on the radio; he is a great grace preacher. He is also a ‘cessationist’ someone who believes that the gifts of the Spirit and the 5 fold ministries passed away [the 5 fold refers to Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors and Teachers]. We know there are no more Apostles in the sense of the ‘12 Apostles of the Lamb’ these are a category unto themselves. But scripture says ‘after Jesus ascended on high, he gave gifts unto men; Apostles, Prophets, etc.’ so this category of ‘Apostles and Prophets’ never even existed until after the ascension! Also this is speaking of Prophets that were made after Jesus ascended. So the original 12 and all the Old Testament Prophets are not even in this category. Also some teach that when Paul said ‘Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors and Teachers’ and then he says ‘God gave them to the church until that which is perfect is come’ [Corinthians, Ephesians] some say ‘that which is perfect’ is the completed canon [the Bible] and since we now have the bible we don’t need Apostles and Prophets. Well simple grammar tells you no matter how you interpret this verse, that all 5 of these gifts are clumped together. If you don’t have Prophets, then you don’t have Teachers either! This verse is actually speaking of the perfection of the Bride of Christ that will take place at the second coming ‘for when we see him we will be like him, for we will see him as he is’. So to me ‘that which is perfect’ is not the bible or the second coming, but it is speaking of the Body of Christ coming to maturity [perfection is used in this way in scripture, and this will happen at the second coming, but the ‘perfect’ part is speaking of the bodies maturity at that event. John says ‘when we see him we will be like him’ 1st John]. Also to those who believe the gifts passed away. Peter quotes Joel in the book of Acts and says ‘In the last days I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and daughters will prophesy’ This verse specifically says ‘people will prophesy in the last days’. I know some say ‘this is simple preaching’. But if you continue thru the book of Acts, which Peter describes as ‘the last days’ you will find examples of Prophets ‘prophesying’ and it isn’t simple preaching or exhortation, it is ‘predictive/prophetic’ speaking. The Prophet Agabus takes Paul’s ‘girdle’ [clothing] and says ‘whoever owns this coat will be bound and taken captive’. The Prophet says this as he is ‘Prophetically’ wrapping it around him. Now this isn’t simple preaching or exhortation. I know the critics say ‘this is before the bible is finished’ the point I am making is this defines the actual type of prophecy that Peter spoke of. And it wasn’t PREACHING!
(441) I am going to share a dream, but first this. The main reason the 1st century religious leaders did not receive the prophetic ministry of Jesus was because of their understanding of THE PROPHETS. They truly prided themselves in the fact that they were the keepers of the Old Testament, and that they possessed singular wisdom from the prophets that no one else could see. The great irony was that Jesus was the GREATEST prophet ever, all the Prophets pointed to him! Yet in their religious pride the Pharisees could not see ‘him’. Often times God will use people at certain periods in church history. These ‘prophetic voices’ are not meant to be worshipped or revered [only Jesus] but you will find the most ‘enlightened’ leaders of the day rejecting what they are saying because of their understanding of ‘the prophets’ [Word of God]. Often times these are the biggest obstacles to what God is doing. Jesus said the ‘sinners’ were much more open and willing to receive him than the religious leaders. All these people looking for spirituality in the New Age movement and psychics and stuff. Many of them are really open to the prophetic things of God. I am not saying these ‘spiritual counterfeits’ are prophetic, but people are looking for something real. They don’t find it in these ‘quasi movements’ they find it in Jesus. The woman at the well [John 4] said ‘come see a man that told me my whole life’. The fact that Jesus ‘saw into her heart’ caused her to go and testify of him. A woman who was steeped in sin. The Pharisees avoided and condemned her thru out her life. She was even from the wrong side of the religious world [Samaritan] yet in one prophetic encounter with Jesus she gets converted! Something all the Law and religion of the day could not do! Something that even the religious leaders were unable to receive. They had their views formed by their interpretation of the ‘prophets’ and nothing was going to change that, not even the greatest prophet who ever lived! Moses said ‘the Lord is going to raise up a prophet like unto me, those who will not hear him will be destroyed’. In the book of Acts Jesus is identified as ‘this prophet’. Moses brought the people on a spiritual journey that at first seemed exciting, then it seemed to ‘off the wall’. They found themselves living in the wilderness dependant on this ‘bread’ [Manna] that is coming down from heaven. The name ‘Manna’ means ‘what is it’ they survived on food that was strange to them. The disciples followed Jesus for 3 years and many said ‘who in the world is this guy’ [Manna- ‘what is this?’] Jesus had the audacity to say ‘I am the bread that comes down from heaven, whoever eats of me will never die’ this was too much for the leaders to hear. They would eventually kill him. DREAM; I just dreamt I was in a store. I had a complaint about something and went to tell the manager. The manager said ‘don’t you know that I can call the police on you’ she seemed like she knew the complaint was legitimate, but so what, what can you do to right this wrong. I said I too can call the law. It seemed like a confrontation with ‘Jezebel’. I called on my phone and she called on hers. She seemed like she was used to this challenge to her authority, this time was different. A few minutes after I called the sky started getting dark. It was a warm day, but a storm began to blow in. Everyone started getting scared. As the storm approached it began to snow [I have had snow before in dreams] and it became like hurricane conditions. Everyone began running for their lives. I too was running, but I wasn’t scared. It felt like when I pray outside during a thunderstorm. I was comfortable with it. I did have to avoid things blowing around and all, but it was like calling in ‘friendly fire’ during a war. You ask your own army to bombard your area. You know you might get hit too, but there are so many enemies surrounding you, that you go for it. As the winds and snow and storm got severe, a flash flood came in and covered the ground. I had to climb up a wall. I felt like the woman who challenged me by calling the authorities was like Jezebel. She has been seducing the people of God for so long that the church and its leadership got to a point where they would ignore her. In the past whenever some so-called ‘prophet’ would challenge her, she was able to ‘make them run’. She didn’t count on me ‘calling in friendly fire’ this time it was every man for himself, even her! There were some other parts to the dream that I don’t recall as clearly, but I think they dealt with a warning for those who are seeing stuff from our site [sight!] I felt the Lord said to be careful in dealing with ‘the weeds’ because you might accidentally pull up ‘the wheat’. It is easy for people to see real truth from this site, the intent is for reformation, not destruction. Sometimes ‘Jezebel’ is so rooted in the church that it takes a violent act to root her out. Jehu drove furiously, but he had a job to do! I want all our readers to be careful as you try to ‘root out Jezebel’ in your area [cities/states] she has been ‘welcomed’ for a very long season, she will not leave politely! Revelation- ‘I have something against you, you have suffered that woman jezebel to seduce my servants and commit fornication’ Jesus said this to one of the churches. James says ‘don’t you know that your love of the world is like committing adultery, your heart and desires are in things where God doesn’t dwell’ paraphrase. We suffer ‘Jezebel’ by truly loving the things of the world; we make pleasure and success our god. NOTE: Isaiah says ‘as the snow comes down from heaven and waters the earth, so is my word that goes out of my mouth. It will water the earth and make it bring forth. It will accomplish the purpose for why it was sent’! NOTE: Too often in the church we have labeled women as ‘jezebel’. Sometimes we put this label on women struggling in the ‘sex trades’. Remember, Jesus did not approach the Samaritan woman in this way, he gave her hope and forgiveness! Jezebel to me is more of a ‘seducing spirit’ she [and others] know she is ‘seducing’ the saints, but they allow her [suffer her] to continue! NOTE: The ‘snow’ images I have seen and shared on this blog speak to me of God covering areas with his prophetic word. A few years back it snowed in Corpus. I have pictures of this area covered with snow. I also saw an aerial view and it covered this entire southern coast and spread inland. In the above dream I feel the snow represents God permitting a prophetic word [words] to come from this area and to affect the state, nation and the world! Only God can cause the ‘snow’ [word/seed] to ‘cause the earth to bud’. There are seasons where God desires to bring ‘adjustment’ to the Body of Christ, these times are usually not comfortable! Also a few entries back I spoke on the strong ‘apologist’ movements who seem to only be looking for fault in the church. This has caused good men to go to the other extreme and to never bring correction or reproof at all. This is why you have many good Pastors today who are ‘shaken’ when true correction comes. Its not that they are all ‘wimps’ it’s just the present level of corrective reproof in the church is very low. When children have not been disciplined in a long time, they react violently when you try to correct them. I don’t want to sound demeaning, I am just trying to show you that ‘when it snows’ those who are unfamiliar with it have a hard time. When it snowed in Jersey, the street workers were out and the streets were clean and ready to drive. Not here in Corpus! We were not ‘used to’ snow. Hebrews says when people are ‘chastened’ [disciplined] it does not feel good at the beginning, but afterward it produces righteousness in those who accept it. Let the ‘summer snow’ do its work, it can be refreshing if you receive it in the right spirit. Also I used to have some music from Keith Green [I still love his music, but I gave the CD’s away to a friend!] he sang a song called ‘summer snow’ this verse is somewhere in the bible [Proverbs?] I kinda remember it saying something like ‘as snow to someone in summer’ speaking of a refreshing surprise visitation that ‘feels good’ and refreshing. Keith sang it to show the ‘surprise’ return of the Lord, that people wouldn’t be ready or expecting it. You usually get ready for the winter months while living up north. You don’t get all the snow gear in stores and stuff during the summer! So Jesus return will take many by surprise. A few years ago I took a drive to Jersey. I know it’s long [1800 miles!] but I am one of those road warriors that drives 1100-1200 miles in day one, and then finishes the rest on day 2. [I am also one who will drive wrong for 100 miles before I will ask for directions!] While there [February] we got a severe snowstorm, I loved it. I took a bunch of pictures of my truck being in a few feet of snow [vehicles represent ministries in prophetic imagery] I developed the pictures when I got back to Texas and lost them! They were missing for a few years. As I looked for them on many occasions I realized it was going to be a sign. Sometimes this will happen with me loosing things, when they show up later I know it was for a reason. Well after looking for them for a few weeks, I told the Lord ‘I know they will show up some day, for now I will let it go’ [not by might, nor power, but by my Spirit says the Lord] after a year or 2 [?] one day I walked into my study and they were laying out in plain view on a desk. I never asked who put them there or anything. I took it as a sign from the Lord. The year I found them was 2007, the same year the Lord allowed us to ‘snow’ on the North East. This year was the first year our blog and radio program reached Jersey. The radio station we are on broadcasts on line, so all my old buddies can read the blog and hear our program for the first time. Remember ‘snow’ is an image of Gods word ‘blanketing’ an area! Note: The last few months I debated on what towns we would post our blog. It is a little expensive and I do pay for this stuff out of pocket. I finally decided to ‘skip’ the Dallas/Fort Worth area. They wanted $170.00 for 1 day a month! The area we blog/ broadcast finally ended up being from the valley area, over to Laredo, back over thru the San Antonio/Corpus area, and instead of Dallas we just ‘shoot’ straight over to Houston and even hit Louisiana on a clear day. Plus we blog the New York area. I have this area ‘posted’ on all the maps and stuff that I use as ‘prayer reminders’. I just found the ‘aerial’ shot of the snow in 2004, it is an exact picture of the areas I show on the maps [except for the New York area] I forgot how accurate prophetic things can be! Also I forgot to mention that it snowed on Christmas day. Christmas was a sign of sending for me a few years ago, I saw the ‘tree’ in a dream and in a star pattern that year. So this would signify God ‘sending us out’ thru the various avenues of speaking/prophesying the word. As I just re read the details on the snow of 2004, it was the most snowfall ever recorded for this area. Claim these promises for yourself as God directs, his purpose is for all the Body of Christ to be actively involved with spreading the word! NOTE: see entry 454 as the fulfillment of the dream of flash floods.
(442) I am going to speak this as I just ‘heard’ it. God is requiring some of you to take action like a ‘Samson’. I felt like the Lord was saying that some of you have been preparing for ministry for years. You seem to be stuck at a place where you need to find one more answer, or settle just 1 more issue before you take the plunge. Some of you feel like you need a ‘track’ record of good days before you will act. Samson reached a point in his life where he was reaping what he sowed. His reputation and personal future was beyond repair. He was being mocked regularly while he struggled with ‘bondage issues’. One day he saw an opportunity to commit a single act of bravery that would mean martyrdom for him, but he knew it would be his last chance to ‘make history’. He could have never done what he was going to do. If ‘survival’ and existence was the measuring rule, he would have just been happy by living day to day as the but of the enemies jokes. The court jester if you will. He got tired of that existence. One day as he is being mocked he ‘positions’ himself in a strategic place, it almost looks like a ‘Cross’. His arms are placed from one pillar to another and he ‘goes for it’. Everything comes down, even on him [friendly fire!] but scripture says he killed more of the enemy in his death, than in his entire life [a bit prophetic, don’t you think?] Hebrews 11 records him as one of the heroes of the faith. That’s funny, God didn’t ‘remember’ his bad track record, God saw his act of faith! What are you waiting for? NOTE: I am going to share this as I just ‘heard it’. ‘Your whole life, in Gods eyes is as a single day. God’s mercies are new every morning. If you woke up today and found out that every failure you have ever committed, every wrong thing you have ever done. All the mistakes you might have made in ministry, the friendships that have parted, possibly because you were the one at fault. Your own personal failures and weaknesses. Those of you who have been divorced, had abortions and have done the most horrendous things imaginable. If you just woke up and realized that it was all a dream. That as a matter of fact this is the first day of your life. You were like the guy in ‘it’s a wonderful life’ and you really had a bran new start today. This is how God sees you. Your whole life, all the successes and failures, every single thing that has happened up until now has only been a ‘blip’ on Gods radar screen. Your whole life is like a single day in the mind of God. If your kid woke up today and disobeyed you, you might punish him and send him to his room. By the evening he forgot all about it and wants to throw the football or ride his bike. How do you view him? Do you really hold that ‘one day mistake’ against him? This is how God sees you right now, in his mind none of this ever happened. He really sees you as the little boy/girl who made a ‘one day mistake’ and he wants you to finish the day with him. The night is almost here and you will be sleeping soon, have some fun.
(443) Jesus never used his tremendous wisdom to ‘trick’ or baffle the average person. But he did do this with the religious leaders who were proud. It is easy to fall into the category of ‘wanting to win the argument’. God wants us to be right, but the end goal is to ‘win the person’. I like studying intellectuals and the current trends in theology, I think most Pastors/Leaders are too lacking in these areas. I will notice sometimes that ‘theologians’ will fall into the trap of speaking for hours with such intellectual language that when they are done you have no idea of what they were saying. I have read books like this. They seem to see that as a badge of honor. Jesus only did stuff like this when dealing with the proud ‘preachers’ of his day. ‘Who is the Messiah? Is he the Son of David? Then if this is so, why does David call him his Lord in the Psalms?’ The Pharisees were baffled. The answer is common today. Jesus was before David [John 1:1] and he became ‘incarnate’ after David. It is a theological answer to be sure, but none of the Theologians knew it. But later Jesus will plainly reveal the Love and Mercy of God to man. I do think there are times to be ‘intellectual’, but mostly when dealing with religious leadership who is steeped in their knowledge, they often need to be ‘out trumped’ before they will change. The main message of the Cross is meant to be simple and relevant. Paul had the opportunity to ‘dazzle’ the Corinthians, but he said he stuck with the message of the Cross so their faith wouldn’t be in some intricate system of thought, but in Christ! NOTE: Let me show you how easy it is to ‘not see’ the obvious. The New Testament speaks specifically about the area of giving of finances. If you go to all the direct portions of scripture that deal with it [not simply to the few verses that mention the tithe that are found in the gospels and the book of Hebrews, when the ‘tithe’ is mentioned in these verses it is not speaking on giving in the New Testament church] you will find Paul teaching giving in a ‘non compulsory’ way. Why did Paul actually say ‘ give, not by compulsion, but of a willing heart’? Because the first century Jew knew of only one way to give, and that was by compulsion. The Tithe was by compulsion, no way around it. The teaching in Malachi says to the Jew ‘if you don’t tithe, you are under a curse and are robbing God’ this my friends is compulsion. Now when we in the church teach people ‘if you don’t tithe God will get it from you one way or the other. Either your kids will get sick or you will pay it out at the hospital’ this is also compulsion! So to be contrary to this mindset that was imbedded in the law, Paul purposely teaches the opposite. The fact that the New Testament teaches to give not by compulsion is just like saying ‘don’t give with the tithe mentality’. It actually is very clear! Just like it was clear to Jesus [and to us today] that Messiah was not only the Son of David, but also David’s Lord. Things become obvious when you are taught them by God. Now the New Testament gives a lot of instructions on how Christians should give, this is not a secret! But like anything else we read scripture with preconceived ideas and then we make scripture fit. We are all guilty of this, I just wanted you to see how we are just like the Pharisees in many ways. Thank God that he is a God of mercy. NOTE: It is not our intent to get Christians to stop supporting the ‘church’ they are currently attending, if you dedicated a certain amount of giving then keep doing it. If the church you attend has made certain budget decisions based on what you said you would give, then out of simple integrity to your word try and fulfill these promises. I even believe that certain Pastors can still encourage the people to give 10% without using the ‘tithe’ as the ‘trigger’. Just appeal based on grace. If you as a believer are currently learning these new truths from us, but you don’t effectively share financially thru avenues the Lord has shown you, then continue to support the church you are attending. Truth and reformation are processes that take time. Even though I believe the church is not under the tithe, yet it is not Gods purpose to ‘undercut’ the budget of well meaning Pastors/churches by you seeing this new truth. Let God lead, I don’t want to be the one who gives Christians excuses not to give.
(444) Today its June 25th, 2007. It’s been 6 months since I started this blog. Today is the day the Supreme Court outlawed prayer in Public Schools, this day in 1962 [the year I was born]. Yesterday I took my youngest daughter to church. My wife and other kids were busy, 2 of my daughters went on their own. After church I took my girl to see ‘Evan Almighty’ a good movie that does a spoof on the story of Noah’s Ark, but it is good. I told you guys once about my study, it is set up like a throw back to the 70’s. I have a lot of old stuff. One thing I have is the original ‘Gumby’ rubber man. I saw it once in a store and bought it as a collector’s thing. This week for some reason I was thinking of taking it out of the plastic that it’s in. I have no idea why I would be thinking of Gumby. Yesterday [the day I went to see the movie] I also was looking in the paper and saw some Dell Laptops, this week I have been thinking of getting one. They had a flyer on them in the paper so I was looking at the prices. Last but not least, as I am praying in my study I keep noticing this poster of John Lennon, it is a real charcoal drawing that someone had made. My wife found it in an abandoned apartment that she manages. I have had it for a few years. I was thinking of maybe taking it down, because as I am praying it kind of was distracting me, it’s got these real looking eyes that seem to pierce your soul. Well how in the world can any of this make sense? As I go to the movie I am looking for some signs or stuff the lord wants to say. The God character [Morgan Freeman] has the first conversation with the ‘Noah’ character [Steve Carell- ‘the 40 year old virgin’] and God convinces ‘Noah’ that it is him speaking to him by bringing up a childhood memory, he mentions ‘Gumby’. As the story moves ahead Noah grows hair and a beard, the son calls him ‘John Lennon’ and they play some Lennon music as well. Steve Carrel is doing all his work on a ‘Dell computer’ [a form of communication, like what I am doing on my laptop right now!] I did feel like the Lord showed me a few things. I have seen in the past certain things from Lennon and Dylan. Lennon was shocked by the effect that his words were having on a generation, Dylan was real uncomfortable about being a ‘prophet’ to his generation. If you read or watch stories on these figures, it was like the Lord was giving exponential ‘influence’ by the simple words they were speaking. On one MTV/VH1 special I saw Lennon confront a fan from an old video. Lennon was trying to tell this fan who was obsessed with the words from his songs ‘I am just a man, I am just writing my thoughts in my songs, don’t be so enamored with it’ it was like the Lord allowed certain ‘prophetic/rock’ voices to have tremendous influence, whether or not the ‘prophet’ wanted this attention or not. In the movie Steve Carell builds the Ark and is waiting for the rain, it rains a little, but the flood comes form a broken damn instead. This didn’t really fit in with the prophetic stuff I have been ‘seeing’ recently. I just dreamed of a huge storm the other day, where’s the storm? As we left the theatre my daughter says ‘look at the sky dad, a huge storm is moving in’ on the way home it was one of those flash flood storms that covers the sky and looks eerie. I got home and started writing this stuff on my mission statement, it was pouring at the time. NOTE: The reason God shows up is that Evan becomes a congressman and promises to ‘change the world’ God teaches him that you can change the world by ‘one random act of kindness at a time’ this fits in with my philosophy on the church and ministry. The biblical idea of church is for all believers everywhere to see themselves as the actual ‘fire starters’ of this Jesus revolution. It’s not the multimillion dollar ‘church organizations’ that are always appealing for money that will change the world, its all the ‘simple believers’ who have been told their whole lives ‘you cant have any influence yourself, send your money to us’ that are going to do it!
(445) A while back I read a vision from a prophet. It spoke of a huge wave that was leaving the coast, as it left it exposed the sins and shortcomings of Gods people. The wave ‘covered’ them for a while, but when it left, the people were exposed and suffered shame. Many who were on the ‘coast’ [beach] left out of fear and shame. A few remained and sure enough the wave came back. As it came back it then flooded the entire coastal region. There are verses in the Old Testament prophets that speak of stages where God dealt with the sins of his people. There are specific references to those who ‘fled’ the city [place of destiny]. It speaks of a ‘remnant’ that didn’t flee in the face of their own failure and fear. These were the ones the Lord would use to bring in the harvest. I don’t want to say that everyone who ‘leaves Corpus’ [or your city] is guilty of this, in scripture ‘here we have no continuing city’ the city imagery speaks of your purpose in the Kingdom. God is saying ‘those who stay in the destiny that I have called them to, despite the shame and failures that they have gone thru, will be the ones who will usher in and partake of my wave’.
(446) A few years ago I had a Pastor friend who kind of competed with me in ‘getting’ the addicts/ex-cons to ‘go to his church’. I knew this brother for years. He got saved in his 50’s [?] and started preaching at the jails when I was going in my 20’s. Eventually he left the Pentecostal church he attended and ‘started his own church’. I knew he would talk about me every now and then, and to tell you the truth, it really didn’t bother me. It’s like when you go thru rumors that your are having a gay relationship with an ‘ordained minister/sorcerer’ who started the rumors himself, you kind of don’t mind about the regular normal gossip. I chalked it up to his immaturity in the Lord. Even though he was a good 25 years older than me, he meant well and was going thru the silly games preachers play when they first start out. He did invite me to preach at his church once, and we had a good service. But being he would gossip to me about the Pastor and church he had formally attended, I knew it was only a matter of time before he would get to me! I never even confronted him or anything, I just let it slide. One day he saw me at a restaurant with a brother [ex-con/addict] you could tell he was a little jealous that the brother was with me and not him. I don’t even ‘have a church’ but in his mind he was at the childish stage of ‘why don’t you come to my church’ type thing. This Pastor read my first book ‘house of prayer or den of thieves’ and I think it might have been a little strong. I never gave him my 2nd book, and as we went to the parking lot to get it, he started gossiping about the ex- addict brother who we just left to go into the parking lot! Well I gave him my 2nd book, which challenges the whole concept of ‘local church’ and the role of ‘Pastor’. I knew it wouldn’t be long before he would read it, and more than likely I would become the talk of the town by this Pastor in his 60’s who would probably call me a heretic. I just didn’t worry about it, I figured I would give him the book and just leave it at that. We did have a mutual Christian friend and I finally asked him how Pastor ‘so and so’ was doing. In a nice way, I kinda figured the Pastor might have already gotten to my friend and told him what a heretic I was. My friend said the last time he saw him he was in the hospital and it looked like he was going to die. I don’t think it was because he more than likely talked about me, it was just something that happened. I later thought about it, how so many of us [Pastors/leaders] see people as simple tools in a big game. To try to challenge the present mindset of ‘Pastor’ and ‘church’ is a difficult thing. To be sure all Pastors don’t fall into the category of my friend, but the system itself has a way to bring this type of stuff out of us, even the best of us. NOTE; he died a few months back, the same day I read of his death we had a strange phenomenon in the gulf where I live. We had a real clear ‘water spout’ that the local channels picked up. It was a perfect ‘tunnel’ type spout that showed the water going right up to ‘heaven’ thru this tube. I took it as a beautiful sign of my friend’s home going. Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints!
(447) It is difficult for the American church/Pastor to ‘reform’ his understanding of church from one of ‘the 501c3 organization that raises funds to do projects and support ministries’ to that of a free community of people whom Christ’s Spirit dwells in to ‘reform and effect’ society around them. I remember hearing defenses of the ‘Local church’ from the fundamental Baptists that said ‘some people speak of the ‘invisible church/universal church’ well the bible never speaks of a church ‘you cant see’. While there is some truth to this, what these brothers were saying is ‘the local church is this ‘church building’ and all the functions that surround it’! God has his people strategically located all over the earth. When the Bible speaks of ‘local believers’ versus ‘the universal church’ it is not speaking of 2 different things. It is speaking of Christians who reside locally and to the believers who reside ‘universally’. They are the same thing, just in different locations. We have a tendency as Pastors and leaders to want to do some project, complete some goal. This is good. But it becomes ‘not good’ when we view Gods people at large as the primary ‘funders’ of the ‘big project’. This ‘projects’ a mindset into the people of God that is contrary to the function of the church. Moses, Paul and all the other biblical leaders were men with vision and destiny. Moses did ‘collect funds’ for certain godly purposes [the Tabernacle] while leading the people, but the primary thing they were doing, their ‘vision and destiny’ if you will, was bringing the people of God along a journey that led them to a place of self sufficiency/rule under the headship of God [Christ] that released them into a functioning society of people. You never see Paul or the other Apostles primarily relating to the people along the lines of ‘God has given me this vision, if you Galatians, Ephesians, etc. were simply obedient to fund it, then it would happen’ the vision was not some project or thing apart from their own function and growth. They were not following Paul’s leadership to accomplish something apart from them. What Paul [Moses] were doing was bringing them into the reality that God wants to express himself and who he is thru a people that bear his name. The fact that Israel [or the church] were being governed by God and representing him in the earth gave God ‘opportunities’ to act and show himself strong on their behalf. Society around them were not going to be influenced by the great things they were to build [Babel mindset] but they were to be influenced by who they were and their real relationship with God as a nation. So when we ‘see’ the church as ‘this visible 501c3 organization’ and the people as ‘taxpayers’ [tithers] to the projects and goals of the organization, this causes both the Pastors and the people to fall into roles that are not the primary expression of what God really wants. The people are faced, week after week, month after month, year after year, with leadership saying ‘you are not obedient enough in the area of raising funds’ and the primary challenge to the average saint in the pew is ‘I will give more diligently this time’ and his whole function is measured by this rule. Then leadership reinforces the ‘scriptural mandate’ of this dynamic by appealing to the few areas in Paul’s writings that speak on giving. Though Paul was not primarily dealing with it in the same way. We truly ‘see’ the function of the motivated minister to set goals and somehow inspire people to fund these well meaning goals. This is a very small part of what New Testament leadership was doing. In the very verses we use to justify ‘giving on Sunday’ in a legalistic way, Paul actually says ‘take up the collection before I get there [Corinth] because when I get there we have real important things to do, I don’t want to waste time dealing with the money stuff [1 Corinthians 16]’ so we take these verses that are teaching the small role that finances play in the functioning of the church [to support laboring elders/Pastors and to meet the needs of the less fortunate] and we turn these verses around and teach them in a way that giving becomes thee number 1 measurement of a persons faith. We give the mindset to the average believer that his main function is to ‘attend church and give money’ and he measures his faithfulness this way. And he is taught ‘God highly values the ‘local church’ if he loves it so much that he gave his life for it, how much more should you value the local church in your life and give it priority’ But we seem to be telling the poor people that the ‘it/local church’ is the organization and all that surrounds its ‘corporations life’ [versus corporate life]. Yes God does love the 'local church’ [community of believers] and he did give his life for it [them and you!] and this is why you see biblical leadership so unfocused on some ‘vision to accomplish something’ and so focused on ‘seeing the people of God come to maturity’. They were giving their lives for the thing of value, which were the people of God [the LOCAL CHURCH!] NOTE: This is why you can see Paul in prison, writing letters to the churches and being totally fulfilled while doing this. His purpose was not to be in such a ‘state’ of outward self sufficiency and having all the money to accomplish some goal, he was actually doing the purpose of God by building the church, even though his outward man [and all of its expressions] were ‘passing away’. NOTE: the materialistic mindset in the church, along with the confusion on what [who] the church is, causes us to be unable to grasp how Paul could be ‘fulfilled’ even though he was not ‘building’ a ‘ministry or organization’. Paul was the one who said ‘we look not at the things which are seen, but unseen’ also ‘Abraham believed that the things that God said would come true’. We use these verses to bring us to a point of ‘making things seen’ or building outward stuff. In these verses God was defining faith as actually living in such a way that you knew after your departure that your ‘seed/lineage’ of spiritual children would ‘inherit’ the land. In essence ‘faith’ in these stories is the ability to die without actually seeing or possessing the physical promise in this life. The patriarchs are defined this way in Hebrews 11. They died as they blessed their offspring, believing that God would make a great ‘family/dynasty’ from their offspring. So Paul in prison is ‘unstoppable’ because he knew the Word of the Lord would have free course. He knew ‘by faith’ that these outward things were not really where the Kingdom was at. He knew by faith that after his death the ‘everlasting gospel’ would prevail and that by Gods grace his ‘spiritual seed’ would go on forever. That’s why I am writing about him now, and you are listening!
(448) I read an article the other day that illustrates this stuff. It was about a ‘bi-vocational Pastor’ who was ‘Pastoring’ 3 churches at a time, because the churches were too small to ‘afford a fulltime Pastor’ and there was a need for someone to ‘administrate the ordinances’ so what else could they do? The well-meaning Pastor was in his fifties and was a fulltime military man. And it showed a picture of him innocently ‘manning the pulpit’ as he fulfills this ‘office’ every Sunday for these 3 churches. It showed how much our present mindset of ‘church’ and the protestant office of ‘The Pastor’ is really an unbiblical role. I know this sounds ‘mean’ but for heavens sake lets move on with the program. God has been dealing with the Body of Christ for quite some time. He wants to release/empower us to ‘be the church’ [the mobile community of God functioning and flowing in all areas of society] if we can’t get past ‘how can our church function unless someone is pastoring it?’ then we still have a long way to go! NOTE: My ‘spell check’ is prophetic. When I wrote the word ‘unbiblical’ above, it actually fixed it on it’s own to say ‘umbilical [cord]’ we cant seem to ‘break’ the ‘childish’ connections that we have towards these ‘lifelong ties’ to a ‘Pastor’. God never intended any of his gifted ones to be the ‘lifelong’ overseer of anybody. These gifts [Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors and Teachers] were all given to play a role at various times in your development to bring you to maturity, none of them were to fulfill the co-dependant role that the protestant office of ‘the Pastor’ has become! I think ‘umbilical cord’ was probably the right word! [Sorry, but I just couldn’t help it!]
(449) ‘recognize, don’t organize’ Chee Ann said this [a Pastor/Apostle]. I like this. In business you are taught to set ‘long term goals’ a good thing. Often time’s people in ministry find it helpful to do this. OK. But God has more to give you than just a ‘10’ or ‘20’ year plan. God reveals his ways and purposes to us thru out our lives. If you try to really seek God at the early stage of your walk, he will reveal himself to you. But he will not give you a ‘20’-year plan in full form. Why? Because much of what he wants to do thru you, and show to you is a process of you becoming like him. It is not simply information! If your 5 year old asks you about life and what he should be when he grows up, you will give him basic desires and hopes to shoot for. ‘I want to be a fireman’ or whatever. But if he took the broad overview of what you said, and refused to ‘adjust’ along the way, he would be in trouble. You realize that you are revealing to him basic goals, but that he is really not ‘grown’ enough to fully understand or receive all that you want to show him. God works like this with us. He shows us things by bringing us to different levels of growth. When you reach these different ‘places’ in him, you begin to see and function on a ‘higher’ plane. It’s not so much ‘more information’ in as much as it is ‘more formation’. Set goals, this is good. But be moldable and shapeable along the way. It’s not being unfaithful to adjust as you grow in him. He really wants us to grow into his image along the way; it’s not so much just a task that he wants us to perform.
(450) I was listening to a preacher telling his testimony. I have seen and read his writings before, but never heard him speak. The opinion I had from seeing/reading him was one of a very motivated professional minister. Nothing wrong, just the ‘jet set’ highly mobile successful mega church image. An image that often times is hard for the average person to relate to, though they are still very successful and accomplishing good things in the kingdom. As I finally heard him speak he sounded so much like me. He shared how he grew up in the 70’s, got high, listened to rock music and went to ‘deep purple’ concerts; it was a very real sounding testimony. You almost had the feeling of the voice not fitting the person [I know people feel this way when they see me too. I do not look, or come off as someone who teaches on radio and writes books and stuff]. The point I am making is sometimes the ‘environment’ of professional ministry hinders the ‘realness’ that God intended for the gospel to have. Jesus was very real and human in his lifestyle. Very different from the image/persona of religious leadership. There was no sense of ‘watch what you say, the Pastor is here’ type thing. I think it would do us good if we can be real people with real struggles with real friends. The unbelieving world has so many questions, but the ‘church world’ is so unapproachable that they look elsewhere for the answers. NOTE; In the early church Christianity was not a separate field or vocation like it is today. Today Christianity is a ‘world/business’ unto itself. While God did intend the church to influence all areas of society, he didn’t intend the church to have its own ‘culture’ of Christian things [Christian restaurants, Christian mechanics, Christian bookstores, and on and on] while these types of things are well intentioned, we unconsciously create a separate culture when we do this. The early believers lived and functioned as real people in society, even the Apostles! [Tent makers]. We sort of have developed a society within the church that has young believers seeing ‘the ministry’ as a profession. ‘God has called me to start a [some Christian function] ministry’ and then you have an entire sector of society whose profession and identity becomes defined by ‘full time Christian service’. The New Testament teaches whatever a person is doing as a vocation, he is serving Christ. It does a disservice to the testimony of believers when we make these secular/holy divisions. Christians are to discern between what is evil and what is good, but this does not mean we withdraw from the marketplace of influence, it also does not mean that we influence the market place by ‘Christian stuff’ [holding huge Christian festivals that draw millions of dollars, trying to show the world that we have influence. This really isn’t influence. Though millions are being spent, it is money basically generated by a ‘vacation/tourism’ mentality. While it is beneficial for believers to have times of refreshing, this type of economic impact is not the same as believers actually being owners of the motels and the other establishments that are benefiting from the festival type atmosphere]. I hope you can see what I am saying. It’s OK for a T.D. Jakes to do a ‘mega fest’ but this is not primarily what the scriptures are referring to when it speaks of believers affecting the world by ‘remaining in it’. We affect it by actually being the ‘prime movers’ and shakers in all areas. We carry the Spirit of God within us, we speak the gospel of hope to those around us, and we interact successfully with society, we don’t ‘withdraw’ into some ‘full time ministry’ mentality that causes the church to always appeal for funds [when I say church, I mean believers] because we feel like God has called us to not be employed and instead to make our living by offerings, this really is not a viable Christian testimony.
(451) I want to put some perspective and balance in here. Many people can’t understand my last entry, and how I also can preach so strongly against materialism. I believe there is a big difference between materialism and responsible Christians in the market place. I wont ‘re preach’ it all, but if you read all the stuff on this site you will see what I mean. I also do struggle with the fact that I have made other believers uncomfortable by my dealing with it, I ‘feel’ for the preachers and their kids, I know that because of certain aspects of my calling these individuals have experienced difficulty. I also believe preachers in general have let certain abuses go on for so long, that the Lord allowed our ‘voice’ to be so strong. I like the movie ‘a river runs thru it’ I catch it every now and then. At the end it shows one of the sons who outlived everyone else. His parents have died, his brother is gone and his wife as well. It shows him old and at the end of the journey. He is back home fly-fishing and he is all alone. It puts into perspective the un importance of material things. We will all depart some day, I hope and pray that I will have truly preached eternal things versus temporary stuff. I heard the late J Vernon Magee [sp?] say ‘Now that I have cancer, stuff doesn’t mean so much to me. I have a new reel for my fishing pole that I bought before I found out about the cancer. I was excited about it. Couldn’t wait to use it. Now I look at it and it doesn’t mean anything anymore’ [I am paraphrasing somewhat]. Jesus taught often about the brevity of life. He spoke of the rich man who pulled down his barns to build greater storehouses and have much goods for many days. The mindset of the rich man was his security was in things. Jesus said he would die that night and who then will get his stuff? His family will probably fight over it in probate court. Jesus often pointed to things like this. The Bible teaches financial responsibility and being involved in financial matters, its just Jesus put it all in perspective. I also have heard preachers say ‘the bible speaks more about money than salvation’ [or some other important subject] and the inference is ‘therefore lets make money our top priority’ well if you use this logic, the bible also speaks more on hell [judgment] than heaven, but that doesn’t mean God wants us all to go there! Well anyway I pray that if I outlive my family and friends and make it to a hundred, that if I find myself standing on the end of the North Jetty [Packery channel] that I will have done more then packed away ‘gobs of cash’. P.S. I haven’t been feeling well lately, not only the leg injury. I just saw the x-ray yesterday, one of the discs in my spine is almost completely gone. I was a little surprised to have seen it was really that bad. As of today I think I will have to retire with 25 years as a firefighter. I will be 45 next month, but I didn’t plan on retiring just yet. I really don’t look bad [I hope!] I mean I still look in shape and athletic, but the limp has been giving me away. I also tried to run and realized I cant anymore. I kinda felt a little depressed about that. If I knew that I wouldn’t run again I probably would have done as much as possible this last year. I would appreciate you guy’s prayers, thanks! NOTE: I don’t want you to feel sorry for me, I want to be real with you and get you to pray for me! Because of the way we ‘do church’ it is common to have scenarios where the main leader [Pastor] is overburdened with ‘the pressures of a big ministry/organization’ and the people see this and feel for him. In some more severe situations [where it looks like the Pastor is on the verge of a nervous breakdown!] you can develop really unhealthy environments where week after week the ‘stresses’ are so obvious, and the peoples main relationship with the Pastor is one of ‘I really am trying to do all I can to support you’ even if it means ‘enabling’ situations that are not good. This is an outgrowth of the unnatural environment of the position of ‘the Pastor’ that is not really seen in the New Testament. You did have scenarios of believers [leaders and others] who were struggling and needed prayer. But because there really was no office of a ‘Pastor’ that was the primary speaker [Sunday after Sunday for 30 years in a row] of the local church, therefore you didn’t develop these long scenarios of ‘enabling’ someone and also the co dependency that sometimes can surround the situation. To be sure not all Pastors fall into this category, but I wanted to show how the present model of the Local Church is more prone to allow these things to go on.
(452) Let me give you a little example of how ‘so not in control’ I am. I have been trying to post this blog site in the Bergen Record for a few months. As far as I know they have posted it a few times already [at least I know they deducted the payment from my checking!] Well I finally got a hold of the person who does the church ads, she is a nice lady. But I was kinda concerned because I didn’t get any ‘hard copy’ of the ad, and you cant find it on the papers web site. So after weeks of trying to get this straightened out, I finally got her to send me a page of the paper thru the mail. I was looking for it for a week or so and it never showed up. Then my wife finds it last night in a stack of junk mail [by the way ‘junk mail’ is the name I use to refer to all types of stuff. Critical prosperity brothers who send me rebukes, bills and all sorts of stuff!] I am happy to realize it made it to my house; they did have the wrong zip code on it. I was tempted to open it up while sitting on the couch trying to recuperate from some hard days I have been having. I already have learned to not open mail unless you are prepared to deal with whatever problem might arise. It’s like just picking up the phone when it rings. I NEVER answer my house phone [maybe one time out of 500 hundred]. I will be sitting right next to it, reading the paper or eating. It can ring 50 times [my wife and daughters friends must have the same genetic problem that causes someone to do this!] and I refuse to even look at the caller I.D. I always carry my cell phone and my family knows if they need me to call me on it. Sometimes my kids will see me sitting there as the house phone rings 20 times, they will be in the restroom or something. They will be upset that I didn’t even care to look at the caller I.D. Well anyway the principle is if you allow any interruption to hit you at any time, you will not accomplish much. So even though I was excited to finally have a chance to actually look at our ad that has been running for a few months, I figured let me wait until the morning before I open the envelope, my wife cant do stuff like this! So anyway I just opened it, the religion section looks great. I haven’t read a ‘hard copy’ from a Jersey Paper in a while. I enjoyed seeing all the church ad’s and stuff. I am kinda expecting our ad to be wrong, which would mean I have been paying for a wrong ad for months. It wasn’t wrong at all. As a matter of fact it wasn’t even there! O well, I knew I wasn’t supposed to look at it last night. NOTE: At least all you tithers can now say ‘we told you the Lord was gonna get it from you one way or another!’ NOTE: I know some of you think it’s irreverent to even kid like this. In the New Testament ‘the tithe’ wasn’t the main ‘standard’ of spirituality as it has become today. The main standard was the Sabbath. The Sabbath became the key tool of measurement that the Pharisees would use to judge Jesus. You could have said that Jesus actually ‘was in their face’ on this issue. Jesus purposefully would heal on the Sabbath. In today’s mindset you could have thought ‘well, we know the Pharisees were wrong in the way they elevated the Sabbath to something that it wasn’t, but we do live in a pluralistic society, and in keeping with the respect for all religions, Jesus could have simply avoided healing on the Sabbath. He still could have healed as many as he wished and he would have also been making the gospel more ‘acceptable’ to the religious mindset of the day’ Jesus would have none of it! Why? Because one of the major barriers that would stand in the way of the fledgling church would be legalism. Jesus wanted to be the ‘first’ prophetic sledgehammer that would open the way for the other ‘grace preachers’ who would come after him. In essence Jesus HAD TO HAVE DONE THESE THINGS ON THE SABBATH or else it would not have offended the religious mind enough to provoke it into reformation!
(453) I have recently been thinking on the shortness of life. Not only do the toys we have rust [like my 66 Mustang] but our bodies ‘die daily’. I feel sad for some of the teachings in the church that really are obviously wrong. I really don’t know what else I can do to bring to our attention the need to live above ‘stuff’. As I was just outside praying, not feeling too well, I thought of the time I heard it taught that when Jesus said ‘Lay up for yourselves treasure in heaven where moth doth not corrupt, or thieves break thru and steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also’. I know you guys are tired of hearing me, I am tired too. I really am not in ‘a rebuking’ mode at all right now. I am physically and emotionally drained and tired of the whole thing. It was taught once by the prosperity teaching that this meant ‘when you give by faith, you are actually building up an account in heaven [sort of like a bank book/ledger] and this is what it means to store up treasure in heaven. And then when you have built up a huge account, by faith you can make withdrawals on it here. Your faith is ‘causing the things that are not seen [the account in heaven] to manifest the into things that are seen’. I really feel at times I am at the end of my rope explaining these things. You will be surprised how many intelligent influential people cannot see this as wrong. Do I really need to tell you that this is obviously not what Jesus is teaching. Why do all my prophetic friends not deal with this? Why do you brothers/sisters not give me some help in trying to bring this thing back on track? I don’t think these types of interpretations are funny at all anymore. A lot of my prophetic/pastoral friends will ‘wince’ at stuff like this in private. But in public say things like ‘well, God is happy with all the people who have been won to the Lord thru all the money that the prosperity gospel has brought in’. Just give me some help guys, stuff like what I just showed you is taught en masse thru out this country today [and the world]. I do not want to be an alarmist, I just feel like we need to really build up treasure in heaven, lets not live for this world anymore.
(454) I haven’t Picked up the San Antonio paper in about a week, I got it today on my way to the spine doctor, the headlines were ‘CENTRAL TEXAS GETS DRENCHED’ We have had more flooding this month [6-2007 for those who read this stuff in 10 years from now!] in certain parts of Texas than since 1970. The state is getting ‘poured on’. I told you guys earlier this year that the Lord led me to pray ‘pour out water upon him that is thirsty and FLOODS upon the dry ground’. I also felt like we started ‘flooding’ the dry ground this year more than any other year since we started the ministry. Actually the image I have had while praying outside in the mornings [3 am type mornings!] is God ‘blog spotting’ the state. Pouring out thru the various means that he has given us [you also!] thru his Word like rain and snow. I just quoted the other day in a dream the scripture in Isaiah ‘As the rain and snow come down and water the earth and make it to bud, so is the word that goes forth out of my mouth, it accomplishes the thing for which I sent it’ I just felt like the Lord is really pouring out this year on Texas, especially San Antonio for those of you in our ‘range’. NOTE: I really try to ‘not exaggerate’ when writing, I just heard on the radio, the City of Austin [our Capitol] has had more rain this week that at any other time since the state has kept records [1870]. One city had 19 inches in one day. NOTE: read entry 441, I had a dream of flooding a few weeks ago. These recent floods have been on the news and in the papers. I have been seeing images of entire roadways and regions flooded in ways that I have never seen before in Texas. I have been here for 27 years and have never seen it like this.
(455) I felt like God just had a prophetic word for you ‘There are times in my will where your scenery [that which you see] is going to change. These are transition times. When this happens it is your responsibility to recognize it and allow the scenery to change. You don’t ‘change’ it by any thing you do, you just recognize that things are changing and allow it to happen’. If you don’t transition when these seasons are upon you, then the world will provide a destiny for you [Larry Randolph].
(456) Recently I have been struggling a lot with nervousness and depression. I know leaders are not supposed to say this, but I want to be honest with you, also I need your prayers! I read a story in the paper the other day on some guy who started some Christian paper in California. It works with needy people and all. The story was great. He had suffered the loss of three children thru various mishaps and was mad at God for years. One day he read a verse in Corinthians from the message bible, I don’t have it in front of me, but it’s the verse that says ‘When we go thru struggles God comes and comforts us, so when others struggle we can comfort them with the same comfort God has given to us’ It says ‘God comes along side us’ this is the name of the Holy Spirit, he is called the comforter. During my recent struggles I have felt really desperate. All the verses on Peace that I have memorized over the years are really helpful to me at this time. This is why David says in Psalms ‘thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee’ Also Jesus says to the disciples ‘the Holy Spirit will bring to your remembrance all the things that I have told you’. Wow, I didn’t even realize as I just sat down to write, that I was going to even say this. As you look at it this is one of the ways the Holy Spirit comforts us, by bringing to our remembrance these words of Jesus on Peace ‘Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you, not as the world giveth give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid’ ‘Do the things that make for peace’ ‘he is our peace’. One of the things I am re learning is the importance of thinking and meditating on the Lord. The Christian music channel is on 24 hours a day in my home. A few nights I have just prayed all night, many times the songs are actually psalms of intercession that I simply agree with in prayer. These next few weeks I will try to share things to comfort you as God comforts me. I have had times in the past where I have battled these types of things, it helps me to be more merciful towards others when I go thru this. I realize I have been hard at times, if I have offended any of you guys [needlessly] then I ask for your forgiveness. Thanks, John. ‘Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee’ ‘trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not unto thy own understanding, in all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths’. Christianity isn’t always about climbing the next mountain, sometimes it’s learning to trust him in the valley. ‘thou shalt be far from oppression, for thou shalt not fear. And from terror, for it shall not come near thee’ ‘be not afraid of sudden fear, for the Lord shall be thy confidence and shall keep thy foot from being taken’ ‘this sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God’.
(457) Some of this feeling of disorientation that I am going thru is due to the fact that I haven’t been doing my normal routine that I have been doing for the last 24 years! I have been off of work for a few weeks, and I haven’t been driving thru the towns and praying in that way [though I am still praying]. This is a sense of ‘spatial disorientation’ [I don’t even think this is a word!]. I kind of feel disorientated because of change. This sometimes happens with believers. During times of personal transition as well as corporate [reformation] there is a feeling of unease and upheaval that comes along with change, even if it is God ordained! The natural tendency of the flesh is to rebel against this. Sometimes we mistake the feeling of ‘uneasiness’ as a sign of God not wanting the change. I think it’s more that we often don’t feel comfortable in new environments. That’s why I do understand when certain individuals feel fearful and uneasy about transitioning in the area of moving on with God. I still feel a sense of ‘comfort’ and peace when I visit a Catholic church. It reminds me of my boyhood and provides a sense of ‘attachment’ to my roots. Does this mean I should become Catholic? No. But it shows how in man he identifies his experience with God thru the external environment that he was brought up in. When God ‘changes’ that environment we often measure what we will do based on comfort. If this ‘truth’ [whatever area God is dealing with] makes me uncomfortable there is a natural tendency to return to the ‘environment’ that we are familiar with. We identify it with God. I do not fault people for this, it’s just when God leads us to ‘move on’ we need to take the steps he shows us and trust him along the way, it truly can be scary.
(458) The other day I was feeling so disoriented that I went to a doctor clinic to see if they could give me a temporary sedative, something that could help at this time. Years ago I had gotten a shot of something and it helped. The doctor checked me out and prescribed some medication for anxiety that she said ‘once you get on it, you can not stop taking it’. In essence ‘we will give you something to make you an addict’ gee thanks. I took it for 2 days [2 pills] and looked on line for natural sedatives. I do take around 7-8 supplements every day. Vitamins, natural oils [fish, flax seed] and the other basic good supplements that I have read on. I do believe the ‘leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations’ [bible]. I saw the 2 top natural remedies that were agreed on by most people. They were ‘St. Johns Wort’ a combination of herbs made from a ‘yellow flower’. And ‘Valerian’ another plant that is used widely in Europe. I was going to go with Valerian, I am trying to hear God on this. This last year I have had signs about the ‘yellow sunflowers’ they are the ones in my yard that turn into the ‘puffballs’ and I have had signs about them this year. As soon as I read that St. Johns Wort was made from yellow flowers, I knew that was the way to go. To show you how ‘dense’ I can be, it never dawned on me that my name is John and one of the supplements is ‘St. John’ it’s like God can hit you over the head with a sign and you don’t even see it! Now let me give some spiritual stuff. I just quoted a verse ‘the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations’. God speaks of people as trees. Your life and mine are to ‘take root’ and ‘spread out’. God wants to flow thru you as an extension of his Son in the earth. Jesus is called ‘the branch/vine’ also the old testament has a verse speaking of a person who God has called, it says ‘the man whose name is the branch, he will branch out of his place and build the temple of the Lord’. The tree itself is not ‘for the touching of the nations’ in these images. The tree will produce fruit/leaves/acorns that drop down and others partake of the ‘leaves’ and they are the direct contact points to the nations. God wants our lives to touch others, and thru these ‘leaves’ [people/disciples] he will touch/contact the nations. Our lives and ministries are not for the purpose of us individually [us meaning key leaders] to do all the ‘touching/impacting’ but we do ‘touch/impact’ a key group of people [Jesus had 12] and they in turn go and touch others, and so on. These are the ‘leaves’ of the tree. Let the Lord use you to be a consistent ‘tree’ [mainstay of wisdom] in the lives of key people, and they will carry on the purpose that God has ordained for your life.
(459) ‘ISAIAH 57’ ‘the righteous perisheth and no man takes it to heart, none considers that he is taken away from the evil to come’ God has/is removing some of you from familiar territory. This ‘land’ has been a source of provision in the past, he is now moving you away from it. You seem confused as to why others can receive income/resource from this land, but you cannot. God is saying ‘I am removing you from these sources because they will not be their for ever, they will dry up. Others put their trust in them, they will fear when the source dries up’. ‘He that putteth his trust in me shall posses the land and shall inherit my holy mountain, and shall say cast up, cast up, prepare the way, take up the stumbling block out of the way of my people’ those who trust in the Lord as opposed to their own wisdom will be used to remove the things that have been causing Gods people to stumble. Don’t rejoice in the fact that you see it when others don’t. You only see these stumbling blocks because of Gods grace, a man can receive no ministry unless it was given to him as a free gift from God. ‘I dwell with him that is humble and contrite, I will revive them’ ‘I will not contend forever, nor always be wroth’ God says there are things he wants to remove and change in us. The things he has shown us should produce humility and a contrite spirit. Don’t ‘kick against the pricks’ don’t rebel against the things God has shown you to change. Don’t blame the prophets, they are just seeing/saying the words of God. ‘For the iniquity of his covetousness was I wroth and smote him. I hid [stopped correcting him for a season] and he went on forwardly in the way of his heart [this part of the Body excelled and went forward in the ways that they chose, even though the Lord had previously said no more] I have seen his ways and will heal him and restore comforts unto him and to his mourners’ Many who have become renown in the area of ‘covetousness’ will be healed. They will see how off track they have been and God will forgive and restore and continue to use them [Jim Bakker] but first there will be a humbling. NOTE: All true ministry is really not about us ‘fulfilling our dreams’ or ‘achieving our goals’ it’s about being faithful to God. Saying and doing the things he wants. You will be fulfilled by doing this, but this is a result, not the goal.
(460) I have my original King James Bible that my wife bought me when we were first saved. I gave it to my friend Miguel [the friend who came to Texas with me from New Jersey] and he used it for a year or two. He eventually got a new one and returned it. He later would die of aids. Many years later as I looked thru this ‘keepsake’ I saw the notes he wrote in it. He would underline stuff and write ‘ask John about this’ and stuff like that. I felt the Lord allowed me to have a reminder of our ‘first fruits’ from Jersey. Miguel was the first Jersey friend I led to the Lord. These types of things are where the true riches are found. Don’t worry about who will run the ministry/church/501c3 corporation after you are gone. This isn’t the legacy at all. The legacy is the children of God that you will meet on the other side, this will be a great family reunion for sure. Have you sent any treasures on to the others side?
(461) Felt like I just heard the Lord for Pastors/leaders. Don’t struggle for the success of your ministry/church/organization, but look for the opportunities to simply impact people. Paul rejoiced when God gave him an open door to preach the gospel to various people groups. The New Testament apostles weren’t rejoicing over the success of ‘their ministries’. Don’t spend all your time and focus on the function of the organization, simply build into the people.
(462) Let me share a key with you guys. Over the years there have been times where I have gone thru drastic upheaval and difficulty. Thru out these times I also have consistently prayed a regular intercessory type prayer time for others. Just now I finished a few hour intercession time that goes thru a variety of things. During this time I will quote lots of scriptures that come to memory every time I do this. I have also noticed recently that when you go thru periods of anxiety/depression that it is very hard to focus on things. Watching TV and other things is difficult. At least in my case I find it hard to maintain a long lasting rest. But when I do the regular prayer that includes a continual routine of scripture quotes and intercession, its like the practice of disciplining the mind for over 20 years has benefits. How many people live their lives with no mental discipline? When they go thru a time of testing in the area of the mind, they do not have a ‘stronghold’ of many years of ‘prayer’ practice. This time of a few hours [sometimes more] is a focused time of thought where there is no external media giving you a message. It is also not a desperate cry for help [which is OK by the way!] but it is a consistent act of mental integrity that has been engrained in the mind of the intercessor that makes it easy/routine to have no other thoughts but God during this prayer time. If you haven’t already developed this practice years before, you will not be able to master it when the trials hit. God will still hear you when you pray, don’t get me wrong. But the actual mental discipline of a few hours of focused consistent prayer over a 20 year period provides a ‘marathon’ of mental focus that comes as routine for those who have partaken of it thru out their lives. If you don’t presently do this, then start now! Scripture says that in the end time’s men’s hearts will fail them for fear, today’s # 1 prescribed drug [if I remember right] has to do with rest and overcoming anxiety. Learn this discipline now, cause when anxious times come, it will be impossible to train your mind at that time. NOTE: scripture says the Lord turned the captivity of Job when he prayed for his friends. People don’t pray for others during times of severe trial unless they see it as a function of their responsibilities before God. Job didn’t all of a sudden pray for his friends during his trials, Job had a lifestyle of prayer for others that he saw as a responsibility before God. He prayed for others because during your most trying times you still try your best to do the basic requirements of life, the things you see as necessity. The intercessor naturally sees his time of prayer as one of these basic necessities. He doesn’t view prayer as a religious function. As he lives up to this responsibility before God he unconsciously will continue to pray for others as has been his custom, the turning of the intercessors captivity is a ‘side’ effect of his prayer. He doesn’t realize that as he begins interceding for others that God is actually using this as a tool for his own deliverance, he just realizes it afterwards. Only a true intercessor will find himself in this position. Jesus said it is more blessed to give than receive. The intercessor finds true deliverance as he gives himself away in prayer for others, God comes along side those who stand in the gap for the world. The ‘comforter’ will come when you least expect him [that is for your own benefit].
(463) Let me remind you guys of something. I just had the dream of Jezebel and the friendly fire incident the other day. Within a week all hell broke loose. I just thought I would remind you.
(464) I was just hearing the Lord on transition and change. When God sent Moses to deliver the people from Egypt, this was done out of an answer to their prayers. God said he heard the cry of his people who were in bondage and he raised up Moses. What was one of the bondages they were under? They were forced to build bricks for the ‘buildings of men’ [I don’t relate this to ‘church buildings’ in as much as to modern ministry mindsets that see the people as producers/suppliers to build ministries and other things. We often see Gods people as simply funders of Christian projects]. So God answers their prayers, great! This must mean things get better. O really! One of the results of Moses ministry is Pharaoh makes the children of Israel work twice as hard, and he doesn’t even give them the supplies to do it. Basically the initial result of the answered prayer is difficulty. It just seemed like things got worse. Thanks a lot Moses. Who do you think you are any way, coming to us with this great vision? We think it’s your fault. Moses was thinking ‘hey, you guys have been whining [praying] for help. God took me away from my ranch and comfortable lifestyle as a result of your prayers and now you guys are blaming me!’ You will see this scenario play out time and again with Moses and the people. I see prophetic ministry [the book of Acts calls Moses a prophet] as one of upheaval and transition. Often times we as Christians settle into comfortable places in God. We ‘exist’. We think this is Gods purpose. But we also know there is something more, some destiny in God that he wants for us. We pray for change, we ask God ‘do something’ and then he shakes things up. How do we respond, we want to kill the messenger! Moses was a type of Christ. Jesus showed the high cost of change. He introduced a tremendous transition from old law to new. The message of God accepting us freely based upon Christ’s death and resurrection is a wonderful message. The transition was so great that it instigated the death of the Son of God. Let’s be careful when God uses individuals to shake things up, it might just be an answer to our prayers!
(465) A few years ago I had a knock on the door. I was sleeping on the couch in the middle of the day and got up to get the door. Sure enough it was some Jehovas Witnesses or Mormons [I forget]. I usually do have good talks with them. I also have been rude at times. One time I told a salesman that whatever he was selling was against my religion, and he left. This day I answered the door and saw the surprised look on the face of the brothers. I just knew I must have looked like Moses coming down from the mount when his face was shining. Or maybe it was the strong prophetic anointing on me? Well after a few minutes they left, seemingly without a fight. As I walked back to my living room I caught a glimpse of myself in the hallway mirror. My 2 little girls had put beautiful bows in my hair as I was sleeping. Gosh darnet, I thought it was the anointing!
(466) A few years back I visited my mom in Jersey. She has a good Christian friend [Catholic] that she has told about me over the years. You never know what people think ‘my sons a preacher in Texas’. People think ‘cult/Waco’ and all sorts of stuff. I finally met this nice lady [Joan] and we did have some good fellowship. She had some questions and there were even some prophetic things that happened. I answered a few questions before she asked them. She would say ‘how did you know I was going to ask that?’ I like it when people are not familiar with prophetic things and just respond in childlike faith! Well I do kid a lot. She finally is feeling comfortable with me and asks something about Oprah Winfrey. She then says ‘you do like Oprah don’t you’ and I said ‘we teach that Oprah is the anti christ’ she simply looks at me and says something like ‘o you do’. I of course told her that I was kidding. Thought it funny that she was willing to go along with my doctrine for a few seconds!
(467) Many years ago one of the first friends I met was a drug addict who lived with his aunt. I met him while going to the local jails and preaching to the inmates. He became a good friend of mine and was one of the original guys I worked with. He is dead now, he died while serving the Lord, but reaped many years of physical abuse of his body. He died of liver problems, something addicts deal with. This is not the friend I told you about earlier who also was an addict and became a preacher and later died as well, his name was Elias, this brother’s name was Emmett. He had a son [Emmett Jr.] who is still a good friend of mine till this day. The aunt who raised these boys was a wonderful woman. She was an older Catholic lady in her 70’s and I got to know her as I would pick up her nephews for our home meetings we used to hold. She became a very faithful attendee to our little church. She would tell me stuff like ‘brother John, my Catholic friends ask me “why do you go to brother Johns little church, you are Catholic” and she would say “ I learn more from brother John than from the Mass” now I love the Catholic people and am definitely not what you would call ‘anti Catholic’. I found it interesting that this older woman, who I called ‘Aunt Bee’ was a schoolteacher for many years. She taught famous people from our state as they were growing up. She had Senator Carlos Truan and Representative Irma Rangel as her former students, key influential people who came from a small town in Texas [Kingsville]. It’s funny how the Lord would allow a teacher of leaders to learn from a little insignificant preacher who was doing his best to reach out to addicts. God works in strange ways. He will often open doors of influence to you when you are not looking for them. I have found the friendships made along the journey are the things that really matter. The connections with people as you are ‘doing ministry’ become the thing of value down the road. The ‘act/function’ of ministry is often the side detail, while the valuable things are the friends who are on this road with us. I had someone recently tell me that they heard some of my old cassette tapes that I made years ago [during this time of doing home meetings]. I have had others tell me this before. These old tapes are not at the ‘level’ of thought and understanding that we currently teach at. I actually have told people ‘o, don’t listen to those old tapes, they were at an immature stage of teaching’. But then I stopped saying this because I realized that God speaks to people at the level of where they are at at the time. I don’t want to sound condescending, but God uses us, he is not primarily concerned about whether we look good, or are at our best. He simply desires functional fruit. If a simple tape from days gone by is what he chooses, than that’s fine with me. They don’t have to hear my ‘best’ stuff, that’s not what’s important. Well I find it interesting to realize that God will allow you to be a teacher of ‘teachers’ if you will humble yourself and become a servant of men.
(468) ISAIAH 58 ‘Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins’ When prophets go thru difficulty, the first thing they question is ‘have I been too hard on your people?’ God is going to deal with this in this chapter. He starts by first of all telling Isaiah ‘I have called you to reveal to my people their sins, it is my calling for you to show them the areas they don’t fully see yet. Their ‘sins’ of ignorance. They often ask for me. I am going to show them things about church and the way they worship me that are limited. Showing them ‘their sins’ is not a function of judgment, it is a necessary ‘uprooting’ that they need in order for their prayers to be answered.’ God is basically telling Isaiah ‘when things are hard and difficult, don’t question my basic revelatory ministry thru you. You don’t have the right to stop speaking what I am saying!’ ‘Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, they ask of me the ordinances of justice and take delight in approaching me’ we as believers take the act of seeking and asking and learning, and we turn it into ‘doing what God wants’. In essence we have developed a mindset that says ‘I go to church, I learn all the bible tricks on how to have a happy and prosperous life. If I am ever confronted with teaching that doesn’t appeal to me, or requires sacrifice, I have already learned to ignore it, you cant fly with eagles if you think like a turkey’ we basically have bypassed the instructions on self sacrifice and giving our lives away for the Kingdom. We simply think the ‘acts’ of going and learning from bible truths, even if it is all based on self, that this in itself is pleasing to God. God says why do my people by pass all my instructions and then delight that they are going to approach me? It’s because our ‘approaching God’ in the present mindset of the western church is simply for self-fulfillment. We approach him like a cosmic Santa Clause and this delights us. God says I want to show you things that I require from you and I want you to do them. Don’t simply think that you are pleasing me by ‘approaching me’ I want the action/obedience to be the fruit of your ‘approaching/church going’. [NOTE: It is not totally wrong to seek God for self help/improvement. It’s just many of us in today’s church have made this the priority. When people watch the ‘get rich and famous’ infomercials on the weekends, there is a feeling of ‘hope and self fulfillment’ that simply comes from surrounding yourself in an environment of ‘maybe that can be me someday’. Its OK to hope, but scripture does teach us [1st Timothy 6] to ‘not desire to become rich’ as well as Jesus many other warnings in the gospels. So I just want to warn you to not fall into the trap of making ‘church/approaching God’ a format for self help. It might ‘feel good’ to see Christianity thru this materialistic lens, but in the end it can be dangerous] ‘Is not this the fast that I have chosen? To loose the bands of wickedness, to undo heavy burdens and to let the oppressed go free, that you break every yoke. Is it not to feed your food to the hungry, that you bring the poor to YOUR house. You should clothe the naked, and help your own natural family. If you do these things you will get healed, your goodness will shine like the morning sun. You will call to me and I will hear. Take away from you the bondages, the blaming of others and speaking vanity. Draw out your soul to the hungry, feed them and satisfy them [even with your ministry/teaching] and your light shall rise in obscurity and your darkness will be like day’ you find all the elements of Jesus earthly ministry contained here. The Pharisees lived for religious ritual. They fasted and afflicted themselves [and others] Jesus reached out in love and poured his soul out for the needy, Isaiah is prophesying the heart of Jesus here. God accepts a lifestyle of giving your life away for others. Jesus would teach that this type of love is the greatest commandment. Here we see the heart of ministry. I want to challenge everyone [especially leaders] to re examine your ‘ministry’ does it contain these most fundamental elements? Do we carry out ministry in a way that simply tells the world ‘hey, look at us, we are a highly motivated business and we can compete with any other organization in our area’. Do we view ministry this way? Jesus values the souls of those who lay their lives down for others, don’t fall into the trap of establishing religious functions for the purpose of impressing men. This is what 1st century religion digressed to, even though one of their own prophets [Isaiah] warned against it centuries before! ‘thou shalt be like a spring of water who’s waters fail not. They that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places and make the desolate cities to be inhabited [I added this last part from another place, I am so used to saying it like this] Thou shalt be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of paths to dwell in’ God is saying when you give yourself away for others, when you obey him. When you show compassion. When you do not view ‘ministry’ as trying to attain some degree of respect in the ‘corporate world’ when you approach it like Jesus, then the Lord will allow your influence to go far. The people you impact will be used to spread the Kingdom to various cities. The people will be ‘faithful to the things you spoke’ because they are enjoined to you like a ‘band of brothers’. There memories of you will truly be that of a friend who gave himself away for them. These also will ‘repair breaches, restore paths’ there are so many true Christian values and principles that Jesus taught were the foundations of his Kingdom, things like self sacrifice and laying down your life for others. God will use your ‘seed/offspring’ to restore these ‘lost’ teachings back into the Church. We are so consumed with ‘self help’ that we have lost the foundational principles of the Cross. ‘ If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from doing what you want on my holy day’. In context God is saying ‘if you rest in me, and stop doing your own works in my day of grace, then I will move mightily on your behalf’. If you remember I already showed you on this blog how the Sabbath is a type of entering into the covenant of Grace. When you cease from your own legalistic attempts to do Gods work, then God will come in and do them thru you! ‘not doing thine own ways, nor speaking thine on words’ much of modern ministry [especially Pastoral] is under the burden to ‘come up with something to speak on for an hour on Sunday’ many of these brothers are well meaning, but because we have structured the church in today’s world around the ‘Sunday meeting’ it has put a burden on Pastors to come up with something to say every Sunday at a certain time. The New Testament churches didn’t function like this. Therefore we have a lot of ‘speaking our own words’ we don’t realize that we are doing this, but in essence we are. I would simply encourage all Christian teachers/speakers to speak only what you hear God saying. If God has a certain vision or direction that he has planted in your heart, then build that into the people. Don’t go thru 20 verses all over the bible and then try to make them fit some theme. The bible has plenty of ‘themes’ already. Focus on whole portions of scripture and teach them as God directs. A lot of the unbalanced teaching in the church today is a result of teachers jumping all over the bible in a 30 minute time span and then making the bible say something that it never meant! ‘If you do all this, then I will cause you to ride upon the high places of the earth’ lets conclude this chapter with an overview. If you do all the things in this chapter: give yourself away for people. Have true religion as described in the book of James. Don’t point the finger in accusation at people, when reproving, which is a function of the prophetic, do it in love. When you speak and do what God is saying, instead of coming up with your own ‘peculiar brand’ of seeing everything, then God will exalt you to a high place. In essence this is the ministry of Jesus, who lowered himself more than any man, who did all the things you read about in this chapter and then God gave him a name that is above all others. Do the will of God my friends and he will exalt you in due season.
(469) Just had a dream. I was in a classroom and the teacher had to punish me. The punishment was I had to leave the class and go fishing. I was fishing off the side of a wall and it was a little scary. I felt like the Lord was saying some of us have remained ‘too long’ in the classroom environment. We have made a ‘career’ out of waiting and learning. God says he is more than pleased with the amount of preparation time you have put in, it’s been more than most. Your inability to ‘break’ from this environment of waiting is no longer you being faithful to what God is saying, but it is now more of an insecurity and fear. You have learned to ‘feel comfortable’ in this ‘place’ and God is saying ‘get the seed out of the barn/ cast your bread upon the waters now so you will have some of it come back to you at a future time’ There is a time and season for every purpose. Even a time to cast things away. Be faithful to this time of transition, I will close up old storehouses and open up new ones, I am God! NOTE : The message bible says ‘change the way you think and act because my Kingdom is here now’ The Lord is saying you are so intricately connected to my purpose that you are already being used in a great way to affect my church. This is happening by virtue of the fact that you are a part of my Body. I am changing [giving Grace for this] the way you think and act for your own protection, your own survival. You cannot exist as a functioning part of my Body with old thought patterns and ways. This ‘uneasy’ time of change is for your benefit. You have been co dependant for so long on certain things that your Body and mind are ‘rebelling’ against my divine act of breaking these things off of you ‘your soul is escaped like a bird out of the snare of the fowler, the snare is broken and you are escaped’! PRAISE GOD FOR THIS!
(470) I just went into the kitchen to get a cup of coffee [decaf now!] and caught an interview with a well known Christian leader. He was asked ‘what is your favorite city in all the world’ [they were in Jerusalem] and he said ‘of course Jerusalem, isn’t that the favorite city of all Christians?’ Let me show you how I would have answered; ‘my favorite city is what Paul described in Galatians as the ‘New Jerusalem’ John also calls her ‘the City that comes down from God out of heaven’ [Revelation] he then says this city is ‘the Bride, the lambs wife’. John also records in the gospel he wrote, chapter 3 ‘He that is born from above’. All this imagery speaks of the Body of Christ being Gods favorite city. This includes all nationalities who believe. Jews, Palestinians, Arabs [I didn’t say Muslims] and every other ethnic group on the face of the earth. For a Christian leader to pick any human city [govt.] and to make that the ‘all time favorite city’ is being ‘unequal’. Does natural Jerusalem ever kill Christians? All natural govts have executed people falsely, whether they meant it or not. Does natural Jerusalem ever persecute innocent people? All human govts, no matter how well intended have done this. Than brother, who is righteous in your eyes? The city that comes down from God out of heaven, she is the FAVORITE city, the apple of Gods eye.
(471) I just woke up from a dream a few minutes ago. There was a black man who was experiencing disillusionment from religion and the various streams and divisions in the church. He reminded me of Forrest Whittaker [the actor, I just saw him in the ‘last King of Scotland’ this is a great movie!] This brother was going from town to town in search of answers. He winds up riding along this deserted country road to a little church on the ‘prairie’. He walks in and I see him only sitting in the back row of this empty church. I can hear clearly the voice of the preacher but I do not see him. I only see the black brother. I recognize the preacher’s voice, I haven’t heard him in years, but I am very familiar with the voice. It is Kenneth Hagin. He is preaching on the legitimacy of the gifts of the Spirit, an area where I have credited brother Hagin for doing good. This black brother goes from sitting in the pew and getting up and kneeling and praying. It seems he is still disillusioned and is going thru difficulty. I am not sure what this dream means. Some of it deals with the church in general. Many believers [and many of our blog readers] have questioned things that have been difficult. Areas that you wish you never ‘ran’ into. Some have gone back and looked at the ‘fathers of their faith’ and have had to come to hard decisions. You have gone between sitting and listening and receiving the good things from your past, but you have also had to ‘get out of the pew’ [a place of passive receiving] and PRAY! God will honor your ‘royal courage’ in this and bless you. I also have had some of the most difficult weeks in my life recently. I felt like the Lord was saying to me ‘blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy’. This one area of credit that I have given to brother Hagin has allowed God to be merciful to me. Too often in prophetic correction it is easy to denigrate the people you are reproving. It is too common to attack them personally and be mean. I feel the lord wants us to be merciful as we come out of past errors. God will be merciful to you if you plant ‘seeds of mercy’ along the way.
(472) A few weeks back my wife told me about a dream she had. She was in our local Christian bookstore and was looking at the list of the top ten Christian books. Our materials were on the list. There was a preacher their [who is a friend of mine] and was saying ‘yea, but it doesn’t mean anything, you have to sell them’. A sort of demeaning of our materials because they are free of charge. I have dreamed myself on a number of occasions that we were having influence in this mans life. I feel like there are times when leadership feels insecure or threatened in some way. This exists among good men in the Kingdom. We unconsciously denigrate others [not legitimate reproof] out of this environment of competition. We measure how well we are doing by how well others are doing ‘gee, if they like Johns books, or Johns blog, don’t forget about our church, we have a blog too’ which comes from a sense of insecurity. I do believe the Lord has given us influence amongst key men ‘gentiles shall come to your light, and Kings to the brightness of your rising’. I pray for both the ‘gentiles’ and the ‘Kings’. NOTE: scripture says when a woman is giving birth, the pain is so severe that she wants to ‘undo’ the process, but after the son is born, her joy causes her to forget the pain. There are times where I have felt this way. I would be more than willing to abort the process to just get the pain to go away. I have learned that this doesn’t work! God wants to bring you to a place where he can entrust you to be faithful to what he is doing thru you. Many prophetic people feel insecure in receiving reproof in the areas where they might have prophesied wrong. We need humility in the prophetic. We must continue to speak what God is saying, in love, even if our ‘speaking it’ is the actual source of ‘the birth pains’. God is going to get that baby out of you one way or another, but he doesn’t do ‘C-sections!’
(473) Yesterday I watched a few Catholic services as well as a few Protestant guys. The Lord did speak to me thru the Catholic Church more so than the others. I share this to let you know I am not too proud to receive from any Christian church. Now the other day Pope Benedict ‘clarified’ some things from Vatican 2 [the council from 1962-65]. In this council the Catholic church made a big step towards Christian unity. It for the first time acknowledged other Protestants as ‘separated brethren’ in this statement the church was not teaching that all Protestant churches are viable ‘churches’ it was simply saying they recognized these Christians in these churches as ‘separated Christians’. That is separated from ‘the one true church’. Now Benedict simply clarified this, and many are saying he is going back from the changes that were made in Vatican 2. So I just thought I would ‘clarify’ this as well. Why do Catholics, as well as other Protestants, do this? In the world of theology it is common to try and trace the natural roots of your communion to the original church. Many do this. To be as honest as I can, if this is the rule for ‘orthodoxy’ then I think the Catholics would win this argument. Why? Because the church in her early stages [1st few centuries] did digress into a ‘Catholic form’ early on. This is not to say that all believers took on this form. Nor is it to say that there wasn’t a ‘remnant’ of faithful believers who stood closer to the original intent of the church. This is saying that much of the historical evidence points to the church as being ‘Catholic’ in its expression early on. This is why you find thru out history famous brothers ‘returning back home’ to the Catholic church. I see all these communions as Christian though I certainly find disagreements in certain areas. Paul tells us in the New Testament to ‘no know man after the flesh’ I see the whole exercise of tracing your churches ‘roots’ back to the original Apostles [Apostolic succession] as fruitless. Scripture tells us that even the early Apostles made drastic mistakes that would be rebuked by Jesus saying to Peter ‘get thee behind me satan’ or later Paul rebuking Peter to his face and calling him a hypocrite. So if the ‘rock’ could have made such historic mistakes, you might simply be tracing your roots back to ‘the mistakes’ which I believe some of us have done. I see the true church as every one who names the name of Christ [Catholic, Protestant, etc.] but I do put the limit on having to ‘name his name’ that is I am not so ‘ecumenical’ that I believe all religions lead to God, this is not true! You must embrace the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ as the only way to the Father to get in. Well if you are trying to trace your roots, go ahead and trace them to the man whose name is the branch. John calls him the Vine in his gospel. If your ‘roots’ go back to him you will ‘abide for ever’.
(474) Just had a dream. I was in a study hall area of some college, there was a girl there who was the daughter of a friend of mine. She had a question about the meaning of a word. She asked me what the word meant. I told her, but I also kidded her a little ‘what level of college are you at’? She said she was in her first year. There was another student nearby who kind of smirked at me giving an answer to someone, being I myself have never been to college. This other student said ‘he’s wrong, that’s not the answer’. So I said ‘go look it up for yourself, google it’. She then found that my definition was fully right, while what she thought the definition was, was only a very limited view. The complete definition had all that I had said, while her understanding was only one sentence out of around 5 or 6 possible meanings. She finally had to admit that I was right, and she did not want to admit it. Over the years I actually have had this happen to me. Someone would ask me ‘how do you spell this’ or ‘what does this word mean’ and I actually remember giving a definition or spelling and the person would look it up on line and not say anything. I then would ask ‘well, what did you find’? And they would reluctantly admit I was right. I feel like the Lord is saying many of you have held onto certain limited truths. You had a small area of ‘revelation’ but were not fully seeing the whole picture. Some of you have said ‘who does this guy think he is, he has never even been to bible school/college’. You then looked the stuff up on your own and have found us to be ‘more fully correct’ in our understanding of the ‘teaching’ in question. Even after your own studying has brought this out, you were still reluctant to receive it. You must overcome this pride of ‘being corrected’ and move on to the next level. All correction and rebuking is for the purpose of restoration and continued usefulness. Don’t allow the enemies tactic of pride to stop you from receiving your full inheritance. God has great things for you, who cares whom the Lord uses to ‘instruct us in a more perfect way’ just overcome the personas of men [even me!] and move ahead in Gods purpose.
(475) One of the health problems that I have had for around a month now is extreme dizziness/vertigo. If you read the first few entries of this blog you will see that I have used the imagery of Apostles launching out into ‘new’ territories as the commander of a fleet of ships launching out to colonize new nations. When a ship launches on a long journey like this, one of the initial reactions is feeling ‘sea sick’ or a type of ‘motion sickness’. A period where the body needs to adjust from loosing its ‘footing’ on dry ground [or in dock] and re adjusting to a new type of ‘footing’. Where you learn to walk ‘on the water’ if you will. As God transitions some of you from a place of ‘secure footing’ to a more adventurous place of ‘walking on the water’ I want to encourage you to endure thru the voyage. Many turn back at ‘midstream’ out of fear and ‘cultural identity’ they feel ‘homesick’ and want to return to familiar territory. These types of people are just waiting for the next port to get off. They will never see the ‘new land’. Those who endure to the end [of the journey] will not only ‘save their own lives’ but they will be used to colonize new lands. You will truly be a ‘father of many nations’. NOTE: don’t despise those who left out of fear. The children of Israel treated those who didn’t fully fight the same way as those who went out to war. The ‘punishment’ for those who ‘get off early’ will be there own regret at not having fully finished the course. Those who fully finish will receive a full reward. Leave the ‘judging’ up to God! NOTE; For those of you who have read all my recent entries on my health, go back and read the last note on entry # 405, I think you will find it interesting.
(476) I just got a letter back from one of my friends in jail. He is the son of one of the original ‘addicts/ex-cons’ that were a part of the ministry in the early days. I sent him a package of books and stuff and he was real grateful to have heard from me. He gave the books to some fellow inmates to read [which is why I send the stuff!] and he was telling me how one of the guys was really ‘impressed’. This sounds conceited, but when I hear this I realize that someone who has been a Christian for a while and has had questions about stuff has found our little books to have revealed some real answers. I am going to send him another packet soon. He also told me one of the guys knows me. I do not remember the brother by name, but I have had so many buddies over the years that have become friends that it doesn’t surprise me. I know some people think ‘well, what are they doing in jail?’ Not all go back, but the reality is some do. I also reconnected this week with a homeless friend who I haven’t seen in a few years. I saw him walking down the road and stopped to say hi. He was real happy to get together. I invited him to go catch a lunch. He insisted he would pay, he really did try to, but I wouldn’t let him. It was only around 10 bucks, I didn’t eat. Just had a tea, but I wanted to buy. He did tell me I have taken him out to eat hundreds of times over the years and it was his turn. I think I probably have taken him to eat around a hundred times over the years. This is not ‘speaking evangelistically’ if you will! Being I have felt real sick these last few months I was glad to have had some good ministry time. I believe God wants us healed so we can finish the race. We often make ‘well being’ the goal. The goal is the completion of his will, well being [in all areas-health, finances, etc.] are simply tools for the purpose of doing Gods will. The American church is still at the stage of ‘well being for the sake of well being’ we will need to get past this before we can see true revival in our time.
(477) I am walking in my study praying. I sense the Lord telling me to contact 2 friends of mine and give them the blog site. These are friends I have known for 20 years or more. One is in New Jersey and the other in Michigan. They already are familiar with the ministry and at least one has read my books. As I am praying I am asking the Lord ‘is this of you, is there any connection to these 2 names and why they are coming to mind’? I am sort of asking ‘what’s the connection Lord’ to show you how dense I am, as I pray there names [both first and last] it finally dawns on me that their last names are almost identical. It’s like you can be so dense at times you don’t ‘see’ the most obvious things. Note: These are not common last names either!
(478) The other day I read a testimony from Tony Snow [the white house press secretary] he has been battling recurring cancer and when he returned back to work as press secretary a few months back, people were surprised. Not that he was healed [he’s not] but that he decided to live out his days doing what he felt called to do. The testimony was in Christianity today and it gave God glory. Ever since I heard of him getting cancer [a few months back] I actually have been praying for him by name. Yesterday I saw a picture of Tammy Faye Messner [former Bakker] in the paper, she looked like she was on her deathbed. It said she was 65 pounds and was recently on Larry King. Tammy has always maintained a Christian confession ever since she was well known for PTL and I have written her ex husband over the years [Jim Bakker] and he has sent me hand written thank you notes for the little books I have sent him. I just prayed for Tammy a lot yesterday. I even told my wife how bad Tammy looked and asked her to pray for her. My wife told me later that evening [I fell asleep around 8!] that Tammy passed away. I was glad I spent the day praying for her. I don’t want to make light of it ‘hey don’t pray for me too!’ type thing. I sort of had the feeling that it was too late for her healing. Not that God couldn’t do it, but the prayers were more in line with Gods grace being with her yesterday. It was!
(479) Just had a dream [15 minutes ago] and part of it had my old area from North Bergen in it. Me and a few friends [from the present time] were walking past an old friend’s house. We stopped to look at the beautiful stained glass windows in the house. I told my friends ‘this is my old friends house [Billy Pokluda] he has a sad story. Both of his parents passed away when he was young. His dad used to make these stained glass windows [which was true!]’ I have had 4 dreams about old Jersey friends these past few weeks. In another dream I was with some old friends and we were having a home prayer meeting [which I am hoping to start some soon!] and I was praying ‘Father pour out your Spirit on all flesh’. I felt these dreams are speaking to God really working with some of our ‘blog community’ from Jersey. Any of you guys reading this, e mail me or write some comments in the tape catalog section of this blog. I would like all of our ‘blog community’ to interact this way. Some of you can e mail me for the address of my friends in jail, you can write them! Guys in jail need this, and it would help me out too!
(480) I watched a prophetic conference the other day. I liked it. The brother is a well known ‘Prophet’ in prophetic circles. He did make a statement that I disagree with. He said ‘put behind you all doctrine, theology and creeds and just come to me’. He said this more than once. I do understand that there are times where God says ‘I am God, don’t look to yourselves for help’ I see that there is merit at times in ‘putting all you have learned behind you’ but the overall idea of disregarding theology, doctrine and creeds as ‘old stuff’ is not really biblical. Paul did say ‘hold to the traditions that I have taught you’ it is a funny thing that Paul’s ‘tradition’ in this passage [go and look it up, I forget where it is right now- either 1st or 2nd Thessalonians] is the tradition of ‘getting a job’. He actually is teaching if someone is not working, then he is a troublemaker! The point is ‘all tradition’ is not wrong. Its only when the ‘traditions of men’ usurp the Word of God. This is what you see Jesus rebuking in the Gospels. He says ‘by your traditions you have made void the Word of God’. So anyway I just wanted to clarify that true Christianity doesn’t mean you leave your brain behind you. It does mean that faith in God, even when you don’t understand it, takes priority. The ‘tree of the knowledge of good and evil’ was forbidden to Adam in the garden. This didn’t mean Adam had no wisdom or knowledge, to the contrary he was extremely intelligent. He named all living creatures off the ‘top of his head’. But not eating of the tree meant Adam was not to live his life based on his own moral criteria. His own ability to ‘think things out’. God would be his provider and sustainer. He had full access to the ‘tree of life’. The day Adam made the ‘knowledge of good and evil’ his standard, in that day he died! NOTE: Now look at something prophetic that is going to happen. I just remembered at the end of the above meeting, the Prophet shared a story about Elijah and the woman who was barren. I heard him share this a few times thru the meetings I have caught on God TV this month. The story emphasized ‘making room for the prophet’ at the end of these meetings. This GOOD, WELL MEANING brother is sharing this and saying how the people need to give money into the ‘prophetic’ in order to receive a blessing. This brother is Prophetic, no doubt. He is not a ‘crook’ or ‘fake’, I actually like him. The New Testament leaves NO ROOM for the receiving of money [whether offering/tithe/whatever] directly after the prophetic word. For some reason the early church abhorred doing this. The teaching from Christ about ‘freely you have received, freely give’ is really dealing with the ministry gifts deposited in the people. The earliest writings of the Apostles [early church] that we have today, apart from the bible are called the ‘Didache’ [the teaching of the Apostles]. Though this book is not scripture, it gives us insight into the way the believers dealt with certain things. In the Didache it says ‘if a prophet stays around for more than a few days and is charging money, he is a false prophet’. Now I personally am not that hard. The point is today’s environment of ‘professional minister’ especially as it relates to the prophetic, is not seen in scripture. Though the New Testament leaves room for the financial support of laboring elders [Leaders] it does not permit the direct asking for money right after prophesying. The instance of the guy in Acts, Simon, who thought he could ‘purchase the gift of God’ with money is strongly rebuked by Peter. This guys name later came to represent the abuse of money and Gods gifts and not rightfully dividing the two. The definition of this is called ‘Simony’. The whole point is the above Prophet is a truly gifted brother, he does not see that the direct asking for an offering, and appealing to people to ‘give into the prophets ministry’ is really not scriptural. Though you can use the story of Elijah and others who did get material needs met thru people, the overall teaching that has Prophets actually prophesying and then seeing this as ‘well, I used the gift to build the church, therefore I am worthy of my reward’ and then correlating giving directly into the ministry with ‘giving to God’ is something the first century church would not permit. I am not saying this brother is not a Prophet, or that he is not being used of God. I am saying the Prophets today need to re think what it means to be in ‘Prophetic ministry’ and to bring their gifts more in line with scripture. That is if you ‘didn’t leave doctrine and creeds and theology’ at the door when you came in! NOTE: I have been following the restoration process of Paul Cain. Paul was the Prophet I told you about earlier on this blog. Paul is an older man who is sick and also takes care of some family members who are sick. In following Paul’s restoration I saw how the Christians who are helping him thru this were trying to explain why they feel Paul should start ministering again. Even though others feel he should stay low for a while. One of the reasons was for salary. The team of Christians working with Paul explained that Paul’s only [main] source of income was his prophesying. Therefore he realistically needed to start ministering again. I use this as an example only. I love and pray for Paul Cain. The point is we ‘see’ our gifts as our source of income. This is no where to be found in the New Testament. Again, the actual teaching from JESUS CHRIST was ‘freely you have received, freely give’. The early Christians took this seriously. The teaching from Paul on ‘laborers being worthy of their hire’ was simply showing us that it is all right to support, voluntarily, those who are giving themselves to the word and prayer. There is a big difference between the biblical support of elders [ministers] and seeing our gifts as a means of financial gain. Peter wrote in his letter for elders to not go into ministry for ‘filthy lucre’s sake’. So the idea of a prophetic gift bringing in money, right after the gift was used, is not good. The present church is so inundated with the prosperity gospel that she really doesn’t see or understand this principle yet. When we give, Jesus did say men would give back to us. But these verses must fit in with all the other ones you just saw me quote. Prophets should not ask for money after they prophesy, the New Testament has NO examples of this ever happening. And there is proof that the early church saw it as wrong. It is too common for the modern professional minister to apply ‘sowing into good soil/ giving to God’ to their specific ministry. Over 90 % of New Testament teaching on giving is actually giving to the poor. Meeting the real needs of people. In today’s environment, whether Christian TV or ‘pulpit ministry’ we constantly equate the believer’s faithfulness with giving to US. It is highly irresponsible for so many professional ministries/ministers to continue to do this. We need to redirect our appeal to the church at large and instruct them to give/sow into the needs of the world around us. It is a blatant misuse of scripture for the average believer to hear over and over again that ‘giving to God’ means giving to a ministry or minister. I have tried my best to explain this in the past [the store house being the actual people of God as opposed to the 501c3 church building] but I felt like we needed to be reminded of this.
(481) Let me talk a little on ‘revival’ and ‘revivalism’. In the above meeting there was a real desire to ‘encourage’ the people to get aggressive. A sort of ‘up beat’ tempo that was trying to stir the people up. There is nothing really wrong about getting ‘hyped’ for the big game. There just needs to be an understanding that the locker room hype is only for a short time. The majority of the game is played and won by the consistent diligence of the players. Revivalism describes the rise in the 18th/19th century of strong ‘movement’ ‘revival’ type ministers. This country experienced great revivals during this time. Jonathan Edwards as well as Charles Finney and George Whitefield are well known ‘fire starters’ of these great awakenings. Today you have ‘old time’ preachers who still look for the ‘revival’ as the goal. Then on the others side you have the more refined preachers/theologians [who also can be seen as ‘old school’] who tend to lean more towards the classic strain of Christianity as seen in the creeds of the church. This is why when the ‘more refined’ brothers hear statements like ‘leave behind your doctrine and creeds’ they cringe at that. The strong revivalists are focusing on a repeat [or greater] of the great awakenings. The orthodox brothers keep plodding along at a slower pace, but do seem to have some truth about the turtle finally passing up the rabbit. The strong ‘hype’ type Christianity can really burn you out. Christians cant live on the hype plane of meeting to meeting and getting this adrenaline rush all the time. God does have a few occasional ‘mountain top’ experiences for you. There are set times of drastic change and mountain moving faith. But if you find yourself needing to live daily on a miracle, then something is wrong. What would you think if your kids depended on you like that. ‘Daddy, Daddy, oh please feed me today. I don’t know if I can live another day without you feeding me’ You would say ‘what’s wrong Johnny, you know I have fed you ever since you were a baby. You are now 55 years old, I was hoping you were going to get past this!’ [sorry, I couldn’t help it]. So in reality it is good to expect God to move miraculously on our behalf, and he does! But eventually we need to see that ‘revival’ is not a state of being where Christians live in this ‘high’ atmosphere continually. Pentecost was a good thing, a great thing! But the church eventually settled down and continued STEADFASTLY in the Apostles doctrine. They didn’t ‘put doctrine behind them’ after revival, they allowed the revival to charge them up for the next level of Christian growth.
(482) Last week I watched one of the most famous prosperity preachers do a conference on the west coast. I do not watch to be critical or look for faults. I feel sometimes the lord wants me to watch in order to learn whether or not there are true changes being made. As I watched I kind of felt a little sorry for the brother [for real!] it seemed as if there ministry has taken a toll over these last few years. Many on the west coast have become familiar with the extreme errors of this teaching, and it did look like it was taking a toll. I don’t rejoice over this. I enjoyed the praise and worship part of the meetings. I really felt the presence of God. I also was glad to hear the grandson [?] of the main preacher of this movement. He really preached well and had a greater passion for truth than the leaders of the movement. I watched just long enough to see what the founder of this group [from the Forth Worth area] was going to preach on. There have been times where I have seen brothers truly repent of the more extreme teachings from this camp. Sad to say the brother preached from Corinthians and took a small portion of Paul’s teaching on ‘whoever sows will reap’ and sure enough the whole focus was on getting money. Despite the fact that Paul will later teach Timothy [1st Timothy 6] that in the last days teachers will arise and teach that ‘gain is godliness’ from such turn away. It’s like the most obvious warnings from scripture are consistently overlooked, while we spend entire conferences teaching the side verses of scripture without truly getting to the heart of the matter. I do pray that the next generation coming up will return back to the pure exposition of the Word of God. NOTE: People don’t seem to understand the difficulty of turning from a way you have been taught your whole life and repenting back to the truth. Even when people are faced with indisputable fact, they still will not repent. This is something in man. The root of it is pride. We are all susceptible to this. When Jesus confronted the 1st century religious mind, he did it with absolute undeniable truth. No one could say he was wrong or had a fault. In today’s prophetic environment, you can always find fault with the Prophet. This tends to be the reason why the religious mind today is less open for correction. I have found it utterly amazing that intelligent leaders still dispute the fact that Jesus lived a simple itinerant lifestyle. Some will absolutely teach that Jesus actually was one of the richest men of his day. That he owned an expensive house and bought the most expensive stuff of the day. They will teach that his treasury was so wealthy that he and the disciples were the highest paid ministers of the day. Despite the absolute plain historical, biblical truth to the contrary. The deceitfulness in mans heart is a very hard obstacle to overcome. I do not take it personal when people don’t repent. Paul did instruct us to leave them alone after the 3rd warning of heresy. I still will warn the new believers to avoid it, though I have given up on trying to correct those who have seen the plain error of their doctrine and refuse to repent.
(483) There are a lot of teachings I have done thru the years over radio. You can get an overview of them by reading the tape catalog on this site, but you don’t really get all the teaching unless you listen to all the programs. This would take years! So let me share a little old stuff that I think is relevant. A few years back I was working on my classic mustang in the garage. A couple of Jehovah’s witnesses stopped by. I was dirty and under the car, but I got out from under the car and had one of my good conversations with them. I tell them right off that I do embrace the new Kingdom on earth that God will establish in the future [all Christians do believe this whether they know it or not!] and then I shared how all who know Jesus by faith will have an inheritance in this new Kingdom. Partaking of it is a gift thru Christ, it is not only given to those who join some group. During this particular discussion the lady [they were a couple] mentioned something about the bible, to which I agreed, but I also told her that the 1st century church had no bible [like we do today, they did have the Old Testament and the early epistles were being written] and yet they were a strong church because they were established on the actual person of Christ. Jesus was building his church and this was a real living relationship that he had with his people. To my surprise the husband totally agreed with me. It was like one of those moments where someone has believed something for a while and someone else comes along and confirms it. It was funny, because both me and the husband were agreeing while the wife was ‘on the outside’. The point is we often confuse what the book of Acts describes as ‘they preached the word’. When Acts uses this terminology, the ‘word’ is expressly speaking of the message of God to man thru Christ. The ‘word of reconciliation’ if you will. That Jesus [the word] has now become the fulfillment of all the promises that were made thru the Prophets to Israel. This central message of Jesus gospel is ‘the word’. Now I do believe in scripture and the inspiration of it, but I want you to see that the actual reality of Jesus rising from the dead was the power behind the New Testament church. It wasn’t all the wonderful bible stories that we have today. You didn’t find them preaching on Jonah accept how it would relate to Christ [Jesus says ‘as Jonah was in the belly of the whale, so shall the son of man be in the heart of the earth’] so all scripture, especially the Old Testament, was now presented in a way that pointed to Jesus as the way to God. We often think ‘preaching the word’ is simply going to all these great bible stories or teaching some great bible principle. While these stories and principles are good for learning [Paul taught that all scripture is profitable] they are not the foundation of the church. The church [Spiritual community] is actually built upon the reality of the person of Christ. Jesus was actively administrating the growth of the New Testament church thru his Spirit. He said in the gospel of John that he was leaving them for a little while and then HE would come back. In this text he was speaking of the Holy Spirit. So the message [which by the way the gospel can also be called ‘the message’] was the actual person of Christ. Once the reality of the simple gospel began to spread in the 1st century, there was no stopping this simple truth. They did not have the availability of bibles like we do today. It was not until many centuries later that all Christians would have there own copies of the bible. Yet these ‘bible less’ churches were unstoppable! Lets ‘preach the word’ again like they did in the old days and we will see the same results! NOTE: In all these conversations I have with the Jehovah’s and Mormons I do what Paul did ‘I become all things to all people that I might save some’. I do not compromise to the points of heresy that these groups do embrace, but after a few minutes of talking with them as friends, and them seeing me quote both scripture and the histories of their movements, they begin to see me as one of them. I actually have had some tell me ‘wow, you know all the stuff we know’. One innocent ‘elder’ from the Mormons made the mistake of telling his ‘overseers’ this and he never came back! The point is I truly relate to them as real people who are on a quest for God. If they weren’t really seeking God do you think they would be going door to door for what they believe is Gods truth? Paul preached a sermon in Acts [I think Mars hill?] and the people were ‘superstitious’ which means ‘religious’ in this context. They believed in many gods. Greek culture had this type of Pantheism where all gods were welcome. Rome [who was heavily influenced by Greek thought- the word for this is ‘Helenization’] allowed you to have other Gods. You just had to worship the roman Caesar as ‘lord’ and this is what got the early church in trouble. While Paul was preaching to these ‘religious’ people, they had an altar to so many gods in their town, that to play it safe they even had an altar to ‘the unknown god’. They figured ‘hey, if we missed a god, this will cover it’. So Paul uses this ‘unknown god’ and tells this group ‘I am declaring to you who this unknown god is’. Paul took this opportunity of their religion and used it as best as he could to preach the true God. I see this in my approach to these groups. Identify as best as you can with them. They often don’t have real good conversations/friendships with true believers. If you are solid in the faith, become friends with them. Get the conversation back to ‘who there god really is’ and you will see God reveal himself on the ‘altars’ of religious people!
(484) In a few weeks we will probably be finishing my overview of the last few chapters of Isaiah. As I was just praying I felt the Lord wanted me to speak a little more on ‘freely you have received, freely give’. There is a verse coming up in our Isaiah study [unless we already passed it?] that says ‘come, let him drink. Buy good stuff, without money and free of charge’ [my paraphrase]. Modern ministry is structured along the contemporary way we function in the corporate world. I need to make a distinction here. There are old time preachers who will criticize the church I attend because they play hard rock Christian music [hey, I listen to hard rock ‘unchristian music’]. I don’t want to be flippant here. I have absolutely no problem with modern ministries progressing and doing whatever it takes to get the gospel out. I am not in the camp of these old time brothers who are fighting for the ‘old time gospel’ but are really just defending a culture/heritage that has nothing to do with the gospel. I have already made plain thru all our teaching that the way we normally practice ‘church’ today is not in the New Testament. Now, as we progress as Christians [Pastors/leaders] we normally fall into the same mindset of the corporate world that causes us to ‘get our name known, be at the top of the charts, and publicize our personas for the sake of the ministry’. I just recently spoke on God exalting us in due time for his glory. Fame that comes from God is OK [Billy Graham]. It’s just the modern idea of going after it is so engrained in the way we do business that it’s hard for us to not violate the principle of Jesus when he taught ‘servanthood leadership’. The question of who would be greatest and rise to the top in Gods Kingdom was dealt with by Jesus in the gospels. He tried to change the thinking of ‘roman hierarchy’ to that of being last. It was hard for the disciples to truly grasp this principle, but he basically showed them that the normal idea of every man for himself as he works his way up the ladder was not the way the Kingdom would operate. So today we see nothing wrong with having highly famous people who Christian’s pattern themselves after to the degree where we have the ‘cult of personality’ operating in the Body of Christ. It is common for the universities of our day to put out Pastors/leaders who are looking to advance a business, and to see the ‘pastoring part’ as simply part of the whole package. I will serve these people [Marry, bury, etc] and they will tithe and together we will see this thing grow. The mindset is engrained into the way we function. We see ‘hired clergy’ as a vocation like we see ‘carpentry’. ‘Hey Pastor, you were hired to build this ‘house’ and if we think you are doing shoddy work we will fire you and get another contractor’ we function along these lines that Jesus expressly taught his disciples not to partake of. I just want to encourage all Christians today to see themselves as needed parts of the overall purpose of God for his church. We all are ministers who have gifts in us that are to be used to build up Gods people. Pastors, don’t see yourselves as punching a time clock. Give your self away for the world. Empower your people to do the same. We are not in this to make a name for ourselves, to impress the community around us, we are in this to fulfill his purpose and destiny. God highly values those who lay down their lives [their own desire to be ‘great’ in the eyes of men] and become the least in the Kingdom of God.
(485) ‘Parable from a laptop’ A Few months back I started having problems with my laptop. It was slow and I couldn’t access my hotmail account. I recently told the Lord ‘Lord, I really need to speed this computer up, and I need to access my email, fix it for me’. Now I have tried to ad memory before and the local computer stores tried 4 or 5 different brands of memory and they told me there is something wrong with the computer itself and it will not take any new memory sticks. So I just prayed about it. You know how the Lord answered my prayer? My whole computer crashed! I took it to a friend who does the work on my computers and we put in a new hard drive and all sorts of stuff. It was down for a few days and I had to re learn some new tricks to get everything working right [I am very bad at computers. Though I have typed the lettering off of my laptop with my much writing, yet I am not good with them. Until recently everytime I scrolled down to the end of this site I used to simply do it the long way. One day my youngest daughter shows me something and scrolls all the way down the fast way. I told her I was doing it the other way and she couldn’t believe it!] The Lord answered my prayer by allowing the computer to go thru some drastic ‘down time’ and to come back stronger than before. I feel like the Lord is doing the same with many of us. He knows we have been asking for him to change things in us, it’s just that we never expected to ‘crash’.
(486) I woke up this morning thinking about the incredible teaching/prophetic ministry of Jesus. No one could match his talent. He gave these stories [parables] that contained tremendous hidden truths. He had the ability to stump the greatest theologians of his day, and yet be the most approachable, merciful person that walked the earth. You would think someone with this tremendous talent would ‘protect his anointing’. In today’s environment he would be behind one of those glass bullet proof things, maybe ride in a ‘Pope mobile’. You know what he went and did? He risked all of these tremendous gifts that God gave him and went and hung out with the Lepers! These little kids came up to him one time and the disciples said ‘he doesn’t have time for such childish things, he has a great calling’ Jesus would have none of it. Then one day he shocks his friends. He says ‘I am going to go to Jerusalem to be killed’. What! What on earth gave you such a stupid idea [in so many words this is what Peter said to him]. Jesus understood that the greatest gift he carried was his ability to lay down his life for his friends. He had the greatest love for man than any other human. He did not see his death as an obstacle in the way of a successful ministry. He saw it as the key ingredient to all that the father called him to do. ‘Except a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it abides alone. But if it dies it will bring forth much fruit’ would you really die for God? NOTE; God wants a living sacrifice. People who walk the earth as ‘dead men’. Paul said ‘I die daily’ ‘I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I but Christ who lives in me. The life that I now live, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me’ we are indebted to God to lay our lives down for others.
(487) The other day my wife’s friend dropped her 10 year old boy off at our house when she went to the doctor. She has been sick for many years and the doctors told her ‘you aren’t going to live much longer’ she said ‘I know, I just need to make it till my boy is 18’ the doctor said he didn’t think she would. She is a single mom with lots of struggles. She is sort of like the homeless friends that I have, it’s my wife’s ‘ministry’ if you will. I do like the little boy, he is very hyperactive and really does have A.D.D. I gave the boy a few dollars and an old ‘lost in space’ video. A few years ago I gave him our old Nintendo with some old games, they became his favorite games. I asked the boy ‘where did your mom go today’?[I knew]. He told me she went to the doctors. I asked how he was feeling about it. He said ‘I am very worried John, I don’t want to lose her’ I asked him to pray with me for his mom. I prayed the verse where it says ‘by his stripes we are healed’ and I graphically explained the scars and marks that Jesus received were a part of our healing. I told him to pray this as often as he can for his mom. It will be a great day when death has no more dominion over man. Jesus looked it in the face and came out on the other side. NOTE: Let me tell you guys a few cute stories about this kid. One time after we took him to church he came to spend the day with us. When we got home we had a few movies we had rented and I tried to get him to sit and maybe watch a few movies. He likes to get on my kids play station /game cube games and will play for hours. But he is so hyper that he pulls the whole game off the shelf! So as I am trying to convince him to watch the movies he says ‘John, I can’t watch those. They are scary and my doctor [?] doesn’t want me to see them’ [something like that]. So he goes ahead and plays the games. Later we do put the TV on and as I am flipping thru the channels he says ‘stop’ and I stop on the show he is interested in. Sure enough its some thing on the ‘the top 100 scary movies of all time’. As he is watching he is naming every character to all these movies. He knows them like clockwork. I say ‘Chris, for someone who never watches scary movies, you sure know the names of a lot of them’. After a few minutes of me teasing him he says ‘all right John, so you caught me!’ Also when I gave him the ‘lost in space’ video he was real happy. As soon as he saw his mom he showed her the video. She says ‘wow, are you sure he gave it to you’ the boy says ‘yeah, I know mom. It is a collector’s item. It must be worth money’. It was funny because the mom is the exact same way. She will find old costume jewelry and stuff and tells my wife ‘I have to take it to the jewelers; I don’t know what I got here’. They both thought they hit the jackpot with these simple gifts.
(488) I was praying and writing this morning. I have been taking a month off from ministry stuff, like getting with my friends, because I felt the Lord wanted me to. Not because I have been sick, to the contrary I feel much better when I get out and interact with the brothers. But I just felt the Lord wanted me to take a break. Well one of my buddies rang the bell [a very rare thing] and it was the first real ministry day in over a month. We ran into one of my old friends in town whose is wheel chair bound. I would have taken him to eat with us, but he can’t get out of his chair anymore. It’s a motorized one that ways around 300 pounds, I have tried to put it in my truck before, you cant! He asked if I could help him with 10 dollars, I gave him a twenty. He does not drink, he will use it for stuff he needs. I took the other friend to eat. I felt the Lord wanted me to give him a few dollars too. I gave him a ten and he was really grateful, he said he was going to ask if I could lend him 5 dollars. This friend also will not use it for drugs or drinking. I know both of these guys well, around 15 years. They are real old friends. I later got home [right now!] and thought it interesting. I ‘unknowingly’ gave them 30 dollars. Twice the amount of what they wanted, or asked for. I am actually believing the Lord to work out my retirement where I will bring in around 3 thousand a month. I need a few more things to work out, but I didn’t even realize that I ‘unconsciously’ gave a ‘hundredth’ of that amount. Jesus says some will get 30, 60 and a hundred fold. I have ‘unknowingly’ given the amount that I need to see a ‘hundredfold’ return on. I also spend right at $300.oo a month for radio and news paper ads. I have been ‘tithing’ [though I don’t believe we are under it!] unconsciously on a 3 thousand dollar income. I find it funny that I have been doing all this voluntarily for many years, not even looking for a return, yet God seems to ‘return’ what you need when you don’t do it for money. Jesus said some will say at the judgment ‘Lord, when did we feed you and visit you and clothe you’ the righteous were ‘unknowingly’ doing the things that God wanted. They weren’t doing these things with the return in mind. I thank the Lord that he led me to give away the money, I think he was setting me up for the return! NOTE: My friend reminded me how a few years back we were driving to the other side of town with a bunch of homeless guys, we passed up a guy on the corner with a sign begging for money. One of the homeless guys roles down his window and yells ‘get a job you bum’. These are the same guys who hold signs on my side of town!
NOTE; I just went back and read the last 3 entries. I write these things off the top of my head with no order or thought. # 486 speaks of Jesus ministry to ‘lepers’ [outcasts] and little children. #s 487 and 488 speak of me reaching out to outcasts and little children. Prophetic things are so ‘cool’.
(489) I couldn’t sleep too well last night. I was lying down and just praying for a lot of my friends who are having hard times. I was thinking how earlier in the day I dropped off my homeless buddy at the area of brush that he makes his home in. He showed me how to get to his spot, I used to visit him years ago at another campsite and he would make me ‘hobo’ coffee right over the fire. I kinda felt bad for my buddy today. His spot is back behind a bunch of swamp land. He had to get back and cut some trees and stuff so he would be able to burn them to keep the mosquitoes away at night. It is a hard life. I thought how hard it must be when they struggle with depression and stuff. Being in that type of environment for most of your life. During the day as we went and ate and checked out some of the new development in the Corpus area [new overpasses and Whataburger field [our local baseball teams field] these guys don’t have cars so they don’t get around town to see this stuff that often] he was telling me a few verses that he has put to memory and how he is trying to follow the Lord. Last year one of the other guys beat him up pretty severely. He has seen him recently and was battling the temptation to get even. He told me how he realizes that it’s just pride. He quoted the verse in Proverbs that says ‘don’t make friends with an angry man, because you will get in trouble and have to help him out of trouble over and over again’. He wasn’t sure where this verse was, I told him I thought it was in proverbs. He realized that he didn’t want to be ‘this angry man’. He even remembered the verses from one of the little books I wrote. He read it years ago and still was quoting it. I gave him new copies of all the books and stuff again. A few years back one of my original friends from Kingsville [a whole different time and group of friends/ oikos- God will allow you to impact different people groups thru out your life] came to see me. We were reminiscing about the old days. I was surprised how he would remember the things that I thought were insignificant. I was thinking they would remember all the great prophetic stuff, or the teaching and stuff. He remembered the time he was strung out on dope and I spent the early morning [2 or 3 am] in front of his family’s home in government housing just talking to him about the Lord. He remembered the real times of friendship and stuff like that. I guess that’s why Jesus put such a high priority on loving our neighbor, he new these were the most effective ways of bringing people into the Kingdom. Of having long lasting impact that they would remember for years to come. God wants these things to be our legacy. What good is it if we have the greatest knowledge in the world, or the greatest prophecies? Or even if we do great charity works. If we do it all without true love for people it profits us nothing [1st Corinthians 13], people don’t remember all the great prophetic things. There a dime a dozen. They remember true friendship. NOTE: One of the dangerous mindsets that works against the Kingdom is prejudice and ‘class warfare’. In today’s ‘radio’ environment, it is all too easy to spend hours listening to all the legitimate reasons why we shouldn’t help illegal aliens, or why the poor are ‘getting what they deserve’. In Jesus teaching to us, he instructed us to help the poor. To treat our neighbor with love and respect. These concepts are real ways we spread the Kingdom. Jesus knew that ‘the poor’ were very often people who ‘got what they deserved’. There were obvious reasons why they wound up as the outcasts of society. Jesus told us nevertheless to help them. It is an act of mercy and compassion to treat them with love and respect. Even if they don’t deserve it. It breaks our pride and prejudice to give freely to those who don’t deserve it. This is done because of Gods treatment of us. We were/are undeserving of all the good gifts he has given us. We didn’t get mercy because we deserved it! God requires of us to lay down our lives for others who don’t deserve it. This is how they, and others, will experience Gods GRACE and MERCY. They will see it thru us.
(490) I am adding this note for those who have been following my health stuff. After over a month of extreme vertigo and non stop dizziness, I have learned from my own research [the doctors do their best] that I have acute Labyrinthitis. A problem with the inner ear. Mine is obviously from a viral infection. Because the antibiotics that I finished taking a few weeks back have had no effect on the problem. This was an important part of my struggle, as to the fact that the back problems and the associated anxiety of everything else was being added on to this unexplainable continual dizziness and vertigo. I have researched a lot on all the other stuff, but to be honest this inner ear problem is without a doubt the most disorienting. I am ‘high’ 24/7. I used to think that this would be a good thing! But to be continually disorientated 24/7 is not good. I basically found out that this is what I have thru extensive on line research. There is no doubt that this is one of the problems. I am trusting God to heal this. I can live with the leg/back problems. But this thing is too debilitating. I would appreciate you guy’s prayers, thanks.
(491) ‘No chastening for the present time seems to be joyous, but rather grievous. Nevertheless afterwards it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who go thru it’ ‘It is a good thing that you were afflicted, before you were afflicted you went astray, but afterward you kept my word’ ‘for this cause many are weak and sickly among you, for if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. But when we are judged we are being chastened by the Lord so we will not be condemned with the world’ this is the Word of the Lord unto you today. The hard things that you have been going thru are for my purposes. I have done things thru your suffering that were not being produced any other way ‘though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience thru the things that he suffered’ ‘think it not a strange thing, the fiery trials that you re going thru, as if some strange thing is happening to you. But rather rejoice, knowing that these same afflictions are being accomplished in your brethren thru out the world’ the things you are going thru are not unique to you alone. You are receiving these sufferings as my servant Paul did when he said ‘I am filling up the rest of the sufferings of the Body of Christ’ Your difficulty is part of the overall birthing process of what I desire to do in the earth at this time. Rejoice that you have been counted worthy to suffer because of the name of my Son.
(492) I have a book I was going to read sitting here in my study [I have a few that I have picked up these last few years and haven’t gotten to them yet]. It deals with the story of a large ministry [not in the U.S.] and how by faith the Lord has given them millions of dollars and has truly opened up many doors thru finances for this good work. In today’s environment we often see God thru the lens of ‘you can give me the finances to do this great work’. Many times these are sincere believers whom God does really work in this way on their behalf. We also hear often ‘do you need a financial miracle’ or ‘who needs healing in their finances’ [though Jesus never healed anyone from ‘financial sickness!’] The point is God definitely works in all areas of life. He is our provider and source, the God who is more than enough. It’s just that we really don’t treat him that way. Let me show you what I mean. When the apostle Paul said ‘I have learned in whatever state I am [Texas?] to be content. I have learned to be in need and to be full. I can do all things thru Christ who strengthens me’ we often see ‘doing all things’ as the ‘full’ part. We very rarely see it as the ‘being in need’ part. Because God is truly our source, we don’t always need the financial miracle to see something happen. We actually need him! He has done and will do tremendous things with simple people who do not have lots of money. ‘Well brother how can we reach the world unless we all have lots of money’? Well there goes your lack of faith! Jesus said the gospel is so powerful in the hearts and lips of his people, that the world can and has been revolutionized thru the simple saints thru out the ages. Jesus has truly taken ‘the few loaves and fishes’ and has MULTIPLIED the seed to reach the multitudes. We would have been praying ‘Lord, before we go to the 5,000 people we need to raise lots of money for food. It wouldn’t be responsible for us to have all these people come out and hear you preach until we have the great supply in our hands’ We would have been asking Jesus to give us the actual resources ahead of time in order to ‘reach/feed’ the people. We need a financial miracle Jesus! As a matter of fact that is what the disciples tell him when he says ‘have the people sit down and we will feed them’. The disciples are like ‘we don’t have enough money in the treasury to do this [by the way this also reproves those who teach that the treasury/bag that Jesus and the disciples had was really rich. The disciple in this story plainly states that they didn’t have the treasury money to cover it!] Jesus doesn’t give them a financial miracle in the way they expected. What he does do is he takes the very limited resources of a little boys sack lunch and he multiplies it as they give it away. We don’t really need to be ‘healed financially’ we need to begin giving ourselves away, Jesus will multiply our ‘seed/bread’ [the influence of our lives] when we do this.
(493) It’s Sunday morning. I am watching a few local churches on TV. I caught one of the non denominational guys. Good message [I guess?] a little too much of ‘I am your Pastor. You need to be submitted to me and be under my authority’ he meant well, just doesn’t see the overall view. Basically everything I have taught [and others!] about the office of Pastor and it not being a singular authority position over ANY OF THE CHURHCES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT! I switched to the Catholic mass. They were much more humble. They had a deacon sharing on forgiveness; they then cited the Apostles creed. It got me to thinking about the brother who I wrote on a few weeks ago who said ‘leave behind you the creeds and doctrines’. The contrast between these 2 ways of ‘doing church’ are tremendous. While I do not embrace all Catholic teaching, it is obvious to see that the Protestant brothers meetings were saturated with them. You see their gifts, their abilities. The whole service is really about them. They don’t mean for this to be so, its just the result of ‘doing church’ thru the lens of ‘I am the Pastor, my job is to speak to you every Sunday for the rest of your life. Your job is to come and listen and put the tithe in. Anyone who disagrees is in the camp of those who challenged Moses authority. The earth might just open up and swallow you’. Now, I am being a little sarcastic. The point is ‘church’ is supposed to be the healthy gathering and communing of all believers around the reality of Christ. It was never intended to be a ‘place’ where people are spectators in an audience who are watching others perform. It is very obvious to see how the Protestant church has allowed herself to become ‘personality oriented’ as opposed to Christ being the real center of attention.
(494) To be honest with you guys, I feel like I have been on a acid trip for over a month. It is the most nerve wracking thing I have gone thru in years. Before I realized that the ‘Labyrnthitis’ causes you to see everything thru a ‘glass’ type image [now we see thru a glass darkly- Corinthians] it was unreal to wake up one day feeling totally wasted, nonstop! Well now that I realize what it is, it is not as nerve wracking. I am reading the autobiography of Brian ‘head’ Welch, the ex guitarist of the rock group ‘Korn’. It is real interesting. It reminded me of a few things. Many years ago [around16] I backslid pretty badly. I was already preaching and had pastored our church. But I spent about a year being ‘lost’. During that time I was separated from my wife and was ‘hanging out’ with all types of people. One night me and this ‘girl friend’ who was a full blown junkie wound up off of some street in Corpus Christi [I didn’t live there yet]. It was in a real bad section of town. By the Morgan/Baldwin area. If you’re a white guy, you aren’t supposed to be around there. I remember shooting pool one night in one of the clubs and I was the only English speaking person there. The bartender didn’t know what I was saying when I ordered a drink. I was shooting pool, waiting for my ‘friend’ to get back. I really am surprised I didn’t get shot. Shootings happen weekly in these areas of town. Well when we were at some house not far from there, people were mainlining right there. The girl I was with was getting her fix. Somehow as she introduced me to her Hispanic friends [I really took risks by being there] she mentions ‘John used to be a preacher’. Sure enough one of the guys starts repenting towards me. He’s telling me he feels the Lord sent me there that night as a sign. He says I am like the angel in the show on TV [Michael Landon played an angel, I cant remember the name]. This was pretty surreal. I don’t know why I just thought of this story, but I did. This poor girl, one day a few years later I went to work and they told me some ‘chick’ was dragged by some guy leaving the bar the night before. We all find out if there were any deaths and stuff when we go to work. ‘You guys have any fires or shootings last night’ stuff like that. It winds up that this girl was stuck in the car door with some guy she was fighting with, he drug her a few blocks before he realized she was stuck in the door. When the ambulance got there the skin was ripped from her. Everyone thought she was already dead, then she simply looked at them for help. They did all they could do and she died. Sin is so devastating. May God forgive me, and everyone else who has made these terrible mistakes in life. ‘There is a redeemer, Jesus Gods own Son, precious Lamb of God messiah, holy one’ Keith Green.
(495) When I picked up my homeless friend the other day, we had a good discussion on the ‘Temple of God’ being the people of God as opposed to a ‘place of meeting’. I always emphasize that it is not wrong for believers to meet in buildings, but that the great transition from the Old Testament mindset to the New Testament was one of transition from an actual Temple to a Spiritual one. That is the people of God would become the actual dwelling place and mode of operation that the Father would work thru to establish his purpose in the earth. The famous Old Testament story of ‘Jacobs ladder’ was an encounter that Jacob had with God. When he awoke he said ‘this is the House of God’ though there was no building for miles! It was a preview of Gods house as seen thru the meditation of Christ. The Ladder had angels ascending and descending. It was a type of Christ who would give new access from heaven to earth and from earth to heaven. Wherever you would find this ‘ladder’ being set up in the future, there you would have the ‘house of God’ [all New Testament communities of people]. There was a time in Israel’s history where they came to depend on their temple. They were saying ‘the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord’ and they were rebuked for trusting in this earthly piece of furniture and not trusting in the living God. And of course Jesus prophesied of the temples destruction in the Gospels. The whole point I made to my friend was that God’s mode of operation was to express himself thru a living community of people who would not be limited to a ‘place of worship’ but who would carry this presence of God wherever they go. In essence wherever people were experiencing the reconciliation of the Cross, there a ‘ladder’ [the Cross] would be ‘set up’. God would be setting up these access points from heaven to earth all over the planet. No more ‘dwelling in temples made with hands’. Now the fact that believers do have this ‘atmospheric influence’ wherever they go, means that even if they are in the ‘church building’ or home or park or anywhere, then God will manifest himself there. Not because of these buildings, or because of the lack of a building. But his presence is solely based on the fact that people are there who have accessed ‘Jacobs ladder’ they have access with God thru the Cross. I would encourage you today to ‘plant that ladder’ everywhere you go. Allow God to use you as an access point from heaven to earth. Those you come in contact with, set up that ladder of hope for them. Let them see how simple it is to approach God thru the finished work of the Cross. Let them know that after you leave, that truly ‘this was the House of God’.
(496) I have been interceding for a while this morning. I have been praying for 22 Korean Christian hostages who were taken by the Taliban in Afghanistan for a few days. Today is 7-30-07, I don’t know what has happened to them yet. The other day they killed the 42 year old Pastor of the group. They are South Korean Christians who were there doing charity work. I also was watching a big Christian meeting who gathered conservative Christians from all over to ‘unite for Israel’ these brothers have interviews and meetings with Israeli leaders. They glory in her as a natural nation. They call for more financial support of her military. There is always a danger in supporting any natural nation to the degree where you side with her and almost justify military action to the point of killing other people. Does Israel have a right to defend herself as a Nation? Yes. Do all nations have this right? Yes. Have there ever been scenarios where Christians on the other side [Palestinian or whatever] found themselves stuck in the nation that was on the opposite side? Yes. Is it possible that there might be 10 righteous Christians in the other nation who we are advocating violence against? Yes. So John what’s the answer? Well it certainly isn’t starting some Christian movement where you actually advocate for the build up of Israel’s defenses and you seem to be approaching end time scenarios with this bloodlust to attack other nations. I don’t care what your eschatology is, pray for the peace of Jerusalem and pray for the peace of the ‘Jerusalem of God’ as well. Paul defined this Jerusalem as all Christians. Even those who might be huddled in some corner of a Palestinian home waiting to get the hell bombed out of them from the others side. I just hope they weren’t watching the Christian conference [from San Antonio] who were glorying in a nation’s natural heritage right before they get bombed to death!
(497) Pride hinders the growth of the New Testament church. The way the early Christians ‘did church’ is described in the book of Corinthians. The meeting of believers was a simple informal format of believers gathering together from house to house and sharing with each other. The role of ‘Pastor’s or Elders was simply the oversight of more mature believers living in the city, who gave guidance and direction to the younger believers as they developed in the Lord. The growth of home/cell based churches is basically a return back to a more biblical form. Now pride is the arrogance of any man, who looks at this pattern and says ‘you are not under the local church, or a Pastor. You are out of order’ So here you would find the well meaning Pastor, judging a form of church that is much more in line with the New testament, and actually seeing his understanding of church as the only legitimate pattern. So in essence the humble cell group could actually respond by stating ‘you, Pastor, are holding a title/office that is no where to be found in the New Testament. You coming against us by saying ‘we are not submitted to you, or others like you’ is actually usurping the headship of Christ over his body. And you are placing yourself as Diotrophes did in 3rd John’. Now, I do not see all Pastors like this, the point is the cell group are much more in line and in biblical order than this Pastor. This shows you what happens when man holds on to a limited view of church and then adds to it a strong authoritarian mindset of ‘Pastor’ that is not biblical. God deals in Grace with all of us, it would do us all good to see him thru his various operations, and not try to make a particular mode of worship ‘the only legitimate expression of Christ’s church today’. God has many different expressions.
(498) I am almost finished with the book by Brian ‘head’ Welch. It tells a lot of times when Welch was thinking of getting off of drugs and would find himself doing more. The feeling I have had for a while now reminds me of being on an ‘Acid’ trip. The bad ‘trip’ I had years ago had me seeing ‘things’ pretty badly. I remember looking into this mirror of a bowling alley and seeing my face black/purple. Seeing yourself this way while also experiencing no feeling to your body is a trip. You think your dead. One time during the year where I backslid, I took a friend over to Robstown to score some stuff. He was going to shoot it up, I just went for the ride [really!]. My pay was some real good weed. I sat in the car and got high on this joint. Before I smoked it he told me ‘this is some real good weed’ but he then used a term, which too me in my early days meant ‘week weed’ but in South Texas language this term meant ‘really strong’. Oh well. After smoking this joint I got absolutely wasted. There obviously was something more than just ‘pot’ in it. I drove a few blocks [my friend was still inside fixing] and parked by some Rail Road tracks. I just laid down in the car and went on this trip. It reminded me somewhat of the acid trip I had years before. I later [or earlier] had snorted some cocaine with my friends, but this weed had something much more potent in it. I remember how at times in the past where I would be totally wasted, yet I would not stop partying. It was like I felt ‘man, I really need to come down’ and then keep getting high. In the book I could identify somewhat with Brian’s seeming inability to just stop. Ultimately God does the ‘stopping’ for you. When people are in this cycle they don’t seem to realize the danger of dieing. You seem to think nothing will happen. And then when your ‘tripping’ you think ‘O my God, I feel like I am going to die’ it really is deceptive. Only God can save people from this. NOTE: This brother was one of a whole family of guys I met while preaching to the father in jail. One of these brothers is now one of our main guys in Kingsville serving the Lord. During this year of backsliding, I took him to H.E.B. [our grocery stores in Texas- like Path Mark to all you Yankees!] and he goes in. He comes out with something that he was going to steel from one of the hardware aisles. He walks out with the look on his face like ‘there’s nothing strange about the way I look, I am just normal’ as I see him walking across the parking lot, I could spot the stolen thing under his shirt a mile away! It looked so obvious, like a pregnant woman! When he got to the car I was like ‘I could see you a mile away you idiot, how did you get away with it?’ Of course he bought a stick of gum or something on the way out, he told me ‘I think the chick at the register liked me’ I guess so! NOTE: One time when we were having ‘church’ in an old rented hospital building, I would go and pick up our guys before the service. One day both of my friends had been out the night before shooting up. So when I went to get them the wives and kids got in my suburban but the guys were no where to be found, and as we were driving back to the building, we stopped right at a stop sign where these 2 guys were right next to us in the car that they were using all night to score drugs. Of course their wives were mad, these guys were out all night shooting up. It was too late to hide, but as they were looking straight at us, my one friend [Elias] just ducks down and hides in the seat, my other friend [Juan Saldana] just looked straight forward. It was kinda funny, we did laugh about it later. Elias eventually became the preacher of the local Victory Outreach. He died from a brain aneurism while serving the Lord. Juan, I haven’t heard from him years. I think he is working with a ministry in El Paso?
(499) The benefit of blogging like this is it allows you to hear God and just write what you hear. When writing a book you really cant jump like that. For some strange reason I just saw a whole scenario of legitimacy that comes from being a child of God and how that relates to family/community. We often see believers as a ‘part of the church’. God does deal with us as a community, as well as individuals. You will find the strong Orthodox/ Catholic brothers emphasize the community aspect of Christianity. You will also see the more individualistic style of Christianity emphasize the ‘individualistic’ aspect. ‘Me and Jesus’ both of these are true. What I want you to see right now is how we often try to ‘de legitimize’ Christians by saying ‘who’s local church are you under? What family do you belong to, you cant function/operate outside of the family. You derive your authority from the family’. Now look at this for a moment. When you are born, you are born into some type of family. It might not be fully functional, but there at least had to have been a mom and a dad at the beginning. Now as you develop you are part of a family. You are part of this family by virtue of your birth. You actually do not derive your life from the family. God created you. But family is vital to your growth and health. As you grow older you learn to depend less and less on the authority figures that God has placed over you. Some times the parents want the children to stay ‘under their authority’ for insecure reasons. The empty nest syndrome. But if the family is healthy the children will eventually launch out. There may be times where the waters get rough and they return for a season, but ultimately they launch. If you were to tell little Johnny ‘who do you think you are leaving us? Don’t you realize that you really don’t have a life apart from us? You were born here, we raised you, everything God has done thru you up until this moment has been in the family context. You leaving us is rebelling against our parenthood over you. Don’t forget what happens when you rebel against us. O well you’ll find out the hard way’ Johnny’s parents are sincerely seeing his role as it relates to them, they don’t fully see or function in the reality that their roles are meant to change over the course of Johnnies life. They sincerely think his step of independence is rebellion. After all they have been ‘over’ Johnnie his whole life. Who does he think he is anyway? Sure enough Johnnie will launch out [to the dismay of his other siblings who tried to launch before and had failures. They later returned back home and thought their failures were a sign from God that they should have never launched] When Johnnie does eventually succeed there is an initial reaction of ‘who needs families anyway, they were just holding me back’ this is a natural result from the way the family tried to hold him past the ‘launch date’. As Johnnie matures he will lose this harshness that he is experiencing at this time. Ultimately Johnnie and a whole new generation of ‘Johnnies’ will grow and leave and become all that God originally intended. The insecure parents will warn all the older children who are still relating to them in co dependant ways ‘don’t do like all these rebels, you know what can happen’ and this reinforces the mindset of never fully growing up. And yet the parents will at times say ‘when are you ever going to grow up?’ not realizing that they have had a big part in creating this unhealthy long-term environment. I feel today we are seeing this play out on a large scale in the Body of Christ. There are so many ‘Johnnies’ who have been told ‘your identity to our family is Gods purpose [true] therefore you really have no authority on your own’ [false]. The authority for both family and Johnnie launching are both from God. They all receive their right to do what God is telling them because they were all born of God. It is easy to only view legitimacy from the standpoint of ‘family’. Not seeing that God originally told the man ‘When you launch out on your own someday [a God given thing] then you will leave your parents and cleave to your wife’ [the wife can be the Ecclesia/oikos that God wants you to relate to as an ‘elder’ as well. While all believers are not ‘5-fold’ ministers, they all are to grow and mature. Becoming an ‘elder’ more mature one who gives oversight to others, is a natural function of your growth] God always intended the oversight role of parents [Pastors/Elders] to be temporary. This launching will eventually create a whole new family, with a whole new home of Johnnies. And the process repeats. I find a lot of believers at the ‘launching dock’ who are fearful to launch. They have seen some launch, and sad to say they drowned. A natural risk inherent in all journeys. These have made ‘shipwreck of the faith’. Others launched and never returned for reunions because they were so mad at the original parents calling them ‘lost children’ when they first left. Ultimately when enough Johnnies do it right then the whole family will see and realize that they were at an immature stage and are now seeing this ‘launching’ as in Gods original plan. Have you launched yet? NOTE: Often times the ‘parents’ [Pastors/elders] find their identity in ‘being parents’ they feel good functioning in this oversight role. They preach, organize, strategize and do many good things. Sometimes out of insecurity they add to their preaching, themes that warn the children ‘don’t ever leave us, it would be a big mistake’ and if they see someone leave, they will often say ‘well, now that you left, who is your new father [Pastor] and which family did you join in order to pay your dues?’ [Tithe]. The former Pastor is trying to say to Johnnie ‘well, you left this nest, you cannot function outside of it’ unless you yourself become one of us [a Pastor] then you have the right to not be under one of us. ‘This is Gods order’. The whole thing can be a big mess. Truly God does have order in his family, but we need to be careful that we are not superimposing a modern way of church, and then calling that ‘Gods Order’. NOTE: It is common amongst ‘apostolic people’[people who feel they hold the office of Apostle] to struggle with ‘who’s local church will I be under’. They often start a 501c3 ministry, relate to other ‘local churches’ and preach a very strong ‘You must be under a Pastor’ type message. They then will struggle with ‘which Local church will be my covering, as I also ‘cover’ many other Local churches/Pastors’ all of this language and covering and everything associated with it is really not seen in the New Testament function of Apostles. Apostles were not people going around ‘covering’ all ready established groups of Christians. The true fruit of an Apostle is someone who has the gift to ‘birth’ communities of believers thru the preaching of the gospel. You never find Paul, ever, telling the new believers to be ‘under the covering of a Pastor’ you do find admonitions to submit to Godly leadership that God has placed in ‘your church’ meaning ‘your community of believers that are around you’. You actually will find references in the New Testament to the ‘Elders of your Church/ Elders of your city’ [i.e.; ordain Elders in every city as I ordained you] so the submission to Elders was the simple ‘growing up stage’ in your life as a believer, until you are mature enough to ‘launch’.
(500) I was watching ‘journey home’ on E.W.T.N. last night. I do like the catholic station. They had a panel of ‘ex-Pastors’ from Pentecostal churches who are now Catholic. It was a good discussion and I do see them as Gods people. One area that I often hear on this show is ‘When I was Protestant/Pentecostal we all had our own ideas of what scripture meant. Without the teaching authority [magesterium] of the Catholic Church there is no true order to what scripture means’. Let me address this a little. I too see the danger of everyone coming up with their own interpretation of scripture. Believe it or not I also believe in the ‘teaching authority of the church’ but I see ‘the church’ as all the corporate people of God from century one until today. Therefore all that the Spirit has communicated in unity to the people of God thru out the last 2 thousand years is ‘the teaching authority of the church’. It is obvious to me, and many other voices [even Catholics!] that the ‘Catholic church’ has things that most believers understand to not be true. If most believers [Even many Catholics] as well as many great reformers of the church, who also were Catholic, if they with one voice disagree with the hierarchal interpretation of the ancient church, then this in itself is a function of the ‘teaching authority of the church [Holy Spirit] revealing truth to and thru the Church [corporate people of God]’. Now I don’t want to get too technical here, and I love my Catholic brothers. But the argument that because there are so many wrong interpretations of scripture, for that to lead a person, as humble and sincere as he is. For that person to say ‘therefore, because of the inconsistencies of my former Pentecostal Pastor friends, I have now come to accept a certain strain of hiearchacal truth. Now I am in truth’ without being offensive, this part of the church [Catholic] have erred in the doctrines of the Immaculate Conception as well as other things. It is not me saying this, but the ‘Spirits witness’ thru the church down thru the ages, as expressed thru her own people [i.e.; the many Catholic reformers who have spoken out from inside her walls]. So to be clear, I love the Catholic people, our only safety to guide us into all truth is the ministry of the Holy Spirit. He has surely operated inside of the Catholic Church, as well as all the others ‘churches’ who have spoken in line with the Spirits testimony thru the centuries. The ‘magesterium’ if you will, is the Spirits corporate witness of unity as he has spoken thru the people of God down thru the centuries. The ‘teaching authority’ of the church is not limited to that which comes down from any one ‘part’ of the Body of Christ. God does not ask us to lay down our own moral conscience to accept teachings that in our heart we know are wrong. In many of these testimonies when the Protestant Pastor who has converted to Catholicism is asked ‘how did you overcome your ‘inner rejection’ to finally accept Mary’s role in the Church, and to accept that she was born sinless?’ Many of the brothers simply say ‘I got to a point where I had to overcome my own beliefs [conscience!] and to accept the witness of the ancient church’. This to me is not what God asks of his people. To ‘overcome your inner witness’. Scripture speaks of truth being revealed to us by Gods Spirit as an inner witness. ‘Well brother, then where is the safety mechanism from keeping everyone from going off track’? Well, ultimately it is a function of the Spirit of God working in the people of God [the true magesterium] thru out the centuries. Why does over 90 % of all the church believe in the death, burial and resurrection of Christ? Who has ‘engrained’ this truth into the minds of so many various denominations? Was it a function of the Catholic churches ‘teaching authority’? It was a function of the Spirit guiding the people of God thru out the centuries into all truth. If someone out of fear or confusion relinquishes his own conscience to the interpretation of any ‘institution’ no matter how early their institution began, then you are overlooking the ability of the Spirit, to reveal all truth to all men. I realize that the Catholic argument is ‘the Spirit does this thru the church’ to which I say ‘Amen’, but once again I see the church as all who have seen the father thru the Son. If no man can come to the Father, but by him. Then all who are now in him [all believers regardless of background] are ‘in him’. Therefore all who are ‘in him’ [including Luther, Augustine, Aquinas, Calvin, etc.] are part of the corporate voice of the Spirit as he ‘speaks thru the church’ down thru the ages. The ‘safety mechanism’ to keep every one from his own interpretation is the ability of the Spirit to speak with one voice thru all of his people. Thus we wind up with over 90 % of all believers embracing the true gospel. Well, what about the other 10%? Well, some who don’t embrace this gospel are in all of the other camps. Catholic, Protestant, etc. Liberalism that denies Christ’s bodily resurrection can be found in all ‘churches’. Therefore the ‘magesterium’ did not prevent their own catholic people from ‘departing from the faith’. All Christians are dependant on the Spirit, as well as the guidance from the majority of Christian voices that have come to us down from the centuries. I include Catholics as well as Protestants in this ‘corporate voice’. It’s humility to be able to embrace this.
(501) Over the years I have given lots of my books away. I give them all away now, I don’t sell anything anymore. I actually did have a publishing house print the first few batches of books. This was not cheap! I gave them to a friend as well as all of my other books as I wrote them. This friend had a family member write a book. I told him, ‘as soon as it’s done, give me one!’ After it was finished, the person let me know they were for sale. I wasn’t really offended, I kinda really didn’t have time to read the book. I initially said ‘give me one’ to encourage them in the writing of the book, they are still good friends of mine till this day, real good Christian people. I got the sense that he got offended because I didn’t buy one. Too be honest I had given him all my books for free over the years! I know he was thinking ‘hey, we got this book published. I cant give it to him for free’ I got mine published too, and I gave almost all of them away for free! Even to him! The point is, we see giving the tithe as necessity. But we don’t truly see giving all the other gifts and things we have the same way. I have friends who cant believe I will give away 20 dollars at the drop of a hat. Or simply pay a 100 dollar light bill [not my own, sad to say 100 dollars wouldn’t cover it!] I have been doing it for years with no regret. This stuff is taught in scripture man! Yet most Christians will willingly put 200 dollars in as a tithe, but to give even something worth 10 dollars [a book] is too hard to do.
(502) I just got done doing a little yard work. Nothing heavy, but I risked moving a few bricks and stuff and my back started killing me. I knew better, but o well. To be honest the pain is nothing compared to the vertigo thing. I am remembering some old drug experiences as I read the book from Brian Welch [Korn]. I remembered how after my worst overdose on acid I had flashbacks for years. There came a time in the beginning where I just determined ‘well, if I wind up dieing, there is nothing I can do about it. So be it’ I just remembered this recently. There was a putting of everything into Gods hand, even though I didn’t really know him! I was thinking about the people I know, some who have been diagnosed with fatal diseases. I am praying much for them. No matter what people have done, God is very compassionate. I think we [or at least I] don’t show the level of mercy and compassion that we should. What would you do if you were on death row and knew the exact date of your death? ‘Month away, 2 more weeks, 3 days left, tomorrow when I wake up I am going to die’ how would you react. I am not justifying anything that these guys have done; I just think it takes courage to face it like a man. Some ask both Gods and their victim’s families to forgive them. They go out well. I am praying for a few more people who I have come to know while researching my sickness. I didn’t meet them thru any Christian means, just thru finding answers thru the net. I have given them my blog site and told them up front I am a believer. Maybe they are reading this now! I just think if I could have trusted God and went thru those early years of acid trips and stuff, how much more should we as believers overcome the desolate places we find ourselves at today.
(503) Isaiah 59- ‘Gods hand is not shortened that it cannot save, nor his ear dull that it cannot hear. But our sins have separated us from God acting on our behalf’ one of the themes we will see in this chapter is God wanting us to speak truth and to stand for justice. He will reprove the times we lie and don’t really speak and walk in truth. There are so many issues with the American church at this season. I saw Benny Hinn speaking to a meeting of Pastors. I have sent Benny my books and stuff. I was encouraged to hear him reprove those who teach that Job [in the bible] was making a bad confession and God recorded his words, but didn’t justify Jobs confession. Those of you in the ‘know’ remember how it was [and still is!] taught that Job went thru trials because of a bad confession, and in essence God doesn’t want us reading Job and believing Jobs confession. You just read Job to see what not to do! I have dealt with this error before. But I was glad to see Benny hit on it in such a public way. This is an example of God telling us ‘Church, I love you guys. I have given you time to overcome this. You can’t keep speaking ‘lies’ and think I am going to move in your country [The U.S.]’ So God is dealing with us in mercy, but he is telling all of us ‘I really want to move on your behalf, you must humble yourselves and repent. I want justice, I want truth. You need mercy and love, but they cannot trump my desire for truth and righteous justice’. ‘None calleth for justice, none speak truth. They trust in vanity and speak lies’ There has been a stubbornness on certain parts of the American church that have consistently ‘trusted fake things, and continue to speak fake things’ we are all guilty of this, Gods agenda is for us to seek him and return to a pure biblical gospel. I am so excited about this younger generation. I have been watching the ‘call’ or the ‘cause’. Basically a group of young people on fire for Jesus. The I.H.O.P. meetings with Mike Bickle. The ‘merchant band’ all of these radical kids seeking the face of God. They put me to shame. And in the midst of this there exists an older generation who insist on ‘speaking lies, trusting in vanity’ the older generation needs to listen to these ‘babes’, out of their mouths God is speaking. They sing things like ‘don’t sell out for the stuff of this world’. ‘They hatch eggs, whoever eats their eggs dies. They will not continue to cover themselves with their teachings’ when we steer off course of Christ’s main message, the things we produce [books, blogs, tapes, etc.] only hurt others. We can’t keep ‘feeding rotten eggs’ to Gods kids. These movements who have veered away from the gospel will not continue to ‘cover themselves’ [hide within their groups] because God is calling for repentance and justice. ‘They have made crooked paths, those who go in them will not have peace’ when teachers establish wrong doctrines and teachings in the church, they become ‘crooked paths’ paths that many will go down. It is very hard to undo this. Jesus actually said ‘let them go down these paths. They will all fall into a ditch’ sometimes God allows the wrong paths to exist until both the leaders and followers see the error of their way. I remember reading how Jim Bakker saw how wrong he was. He started reading the gospels while in prison and couldn’t believe that he was a money preacher who taught that Jesus was rich. After reading the gospels he saw how wrong he was. God is going to take those who have made ‘crooked paths’ and he will use them to go straight again.
NOTE: Let me interject a reminder here. All Christians, especially those who feel the Lord has called them to the prophetic ministry, are required to confront [in love] obvious abuses and error in the church. One of the most difficult things about this calling is the majority of people you are called to speak into will reject you at the start. The gift brings with it an ‘inner mechanism’ that causes the messenger to be rejected initially. Why? Be cause to confront and undo mindsets that have existed in certain areas of the people of God is ‘tumultuous’. You go thru a season where you ‘pluck up, root out, tear down’ and then you get to the place where you ‘build and strengthen’ again. I look at these contractors who buy nice homes on prime lots of real estate. They go in and begin to dismantle the house! Even though it is an ‘OK’ structure, it has provided shelter for many years. Lots of kids grew up in that house. Man, what are you doing coming against all my memories! Well the contractor realizes that it served a purpose, but the time has come to realize that the structure is insufficient for the next level of community growth. So I see the temptation for those whom the Lord has called to prophetic things, to go thru this type of rejection. And when these people go thru difficulty it is own natural to say ‘Physician, heal thyself’ those whom the message is directed will have a tendency to say ‘see, that Isaiah fellow, he thought he was such a voice for God, look at him now’ [or Jeremiah or any of the other prophets]. So as we continue thru Isaiah we will eventually get to the ‘building up process’ but first God has to make sure all the debris is truly removed before the next structure can go up. Remember what I said about the prophecy given to the Virgin Mary ‘a sword shall pierce thru your own heart also, that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed’ God allows prophetic people to be ‘pierced’ so he can see the response of those around them. Note; I have found myself at times thinking ‘If I could just overcome this obstacle, if I didn’t have to deal with these difficulties at this time, I would be so much more effective’ I have to remind myself that ‘when I am weak, then God can be glorified thru me’ natural thinking says ‘why the Cross?’ then you learn to say ‘nevertheless not my will, but yours be done’ amen!
‘Therefore we behold obscurity’ I have found one of the worst judgments in my own life is when I ‘behold obscurity’. When I am in sin in some area of my life, Gods mercy is always there, but there is a real sense of the absence of Gods presence. Jesus said ‘the pure in heart see God’ when our hearts are not pure, we ‘see obscurity’. ‘We roar like bears, and mourn like doves’ Have you ever experienced extreme highs and lows. Days where you were ‘roaring like a bear’ and the next day ‘crying like a dove’. When our hearts are not right, these ups and downs are inevitable. Sometimes we even experience this when our hearts are right, but in this context sin is the main reason for it. ‘our transgressions are with us and our iniquities, we know them’ transgressions are the actual breaking of Gods law, the ‘act of sin’ if you will. The ‘iniquity’ is that tendency in us to gravitate towards certain sins. That ‘bent’ that keeps turning us in the wrong direction. You say ‘why brother, I have no idea what you are talking about’. You’re lying! Here God says ‘we know them’. ‘Truth faileth and he that departs from error makes himself a target’ I find it interesting, when people repent from ‘wrong paths’ they then become the target of those who are still on the path! Why? Because if you can do it, make the change, go to the next level. Then there is no more excuse for those who are not changing. This is at the heart of murder and hatred. The bible says ‘for this reason Cain slew Able, because his own works were wicked and his brothers righteous’ Envy and pride are horrible things. They cause us to want the failure of others who are succeeding. We really don’t want ‘that other church to succeed’ in our hearts. If they get 6 thousand people to attend, then all my excuses of why I only have so many attend my church are no longer valid. Those who start going on the better paths than we have been on become a target! ‘And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, those that turn away from transgression in Jacob’ God will come to those who ‘turn away from sin in Jacob’ like Paul says in the New Testament, it is not natural birth that counts. To simply be ‘Jacob’ [Israel] doesn’t cut it. You need to have ‘turned away from sin’ and accepted Gods sacrifice, Jesus! To those [Jew or Gentile] that ‘turn away from transgression’ [this means the actual act of disobedience!] God will reveal himself. ‘This is my promise to you, the word that I have put in your mouth shall not depart out of your mouth, nor out of the mouth of your seed, nor out of the mouth of your seeds seed, from this time forth and forever more’ Yesterday we had a good home meeting in Kingsville. One of the ‘sons’ of the fathers I used to preach to years ago in jail. The son is the ‘seed’ [offspring] of the original person from this family that I preached to. His son [the grandson] lives in Corpus and also is a part of what the Lord is doing. God promises that if you speak his words, they will remain in the mouths of ‘the children’s children’ God is always thinking generationaly /dynastically. Man thinks short term.
(504) I was watching a preacher the other day teaching on end time things. He is very dogmatic in his view. The Rapture and all. I thought it funny, because as he got to the part where he was teaching on the ‘4 horseman of Revelation’ he flatly says ‘the rider on the white horse is the anti-christ’. I know this view fairly well. I was taught it as a new Christian. The last few times I have read Revelation I lean more towards this rider being Christ who is conquering against the forces of evil. Some say ‘well, we know this isn’t Christ, because after him come the other 3 horses which represent death and destruction and bad stuff’. The point I will make is in Revelation your are seeing ‘the wrath of God’ it is Gods judgment on the unbelieving world. It would seem fitting for Christ to appear at the beginning of these judgments, after all ‘all judgment has been committed to the Son’. I really have no idea why I am even getting into this, I haven’t read Revelation in a while. I just thought it funny, how someone can be so sure of his end time scenario, where he might actually be calling a reference to Christ ‘the anti-christ’.[a bit prophetic, don’t you think? Revelation is about the story of the Son of God triumphing over the forces of evil, but those who hold to the strong antichrist view, it just seems fitting for them to mistake ‘Christ’ for ‘antichrist’, if this is all you see when you read the book, then that’s what you will SEE!] NOTE; Let me overview a little bit more. The above interpretation of the rider on the white horse being ‘antichrist’ grows out of an entire ‘scheme’ of end time events that was developed in the 19th and 20th centuries. These were good men [John Nelson Darby] who came to embrace certain views of end time things [Rapture]. To these brothers they see the Church [believers] ‘taken away’ in the first few chapters of Revelation. They say ‘Jesus is speaking to the churches by his Spirit, then you have no more ‘churches’ being spoken to’. God tells John to ‘come up here’ [heaven] and they see this as the ‘secret Rapture’ where the church is taken away. The reason they see it like this is in Revelation you see Gods wrath on those that ‘dwell on the earth’ and therefore believers can’t be here! Even though you will find actual references of the Devil fighting the Saints. Making war against those who ‘keep the Word of God’ and all sorts of references of the enemy fighting believers thru out the book. The ‘Rapture’ brothers will say ‘these groups are those who got saved after the church left’ well, if they are saved, they are ‘in the church’ technically speaking. So it is possible [very likely too me!] that ‘Christians’ are on the planet when these hard times take place. They also will say ‘these references to those who keep the Word of God’ are to certain Jews who are converted [again all new testament language to ‘the Israel of God’ and things like this are speaking of those who have come to know God by faith, even Jews] so the fact that thru out the rest of the book you find language like this, tells me the ‘church’ didn’t get secretly taken away. And then most importantly, you find CLEAR verses actually speaking of Jesus coming, in PLAIN LANGUAGE, and these verses are looked at as ‘the final stage of the second coming’ or other verses referencing Christ [like the rider on the white horse] being called ‘anit christ’. To me all these brothers ‘suffer from’ a mistake that they warn others about making. That is ‘interpret the plain meaning of scripture first, before going to lengths to develop doctrines from that which isn’t plainly in the text’. If God has ANY PEOPLE ON THE EARTH WHO ARE CALLED ‘SAINTS’ THOSE WHO KEEP THE WORD OF GOD and any other references like this, then plainly these references show that Christians are on the planet during this time. The Rapture guys will so much as accept this, but then they come up with all sorts of different categories for these ‘converts’ who are ‘saved’ during the tribulation. My argument would simply be ‘so if you admit there are actual converts in this tribulation time, then it very much is possible, even thru your own interpretation, to have believers on the earth during this time’. So how then does God ‘spare them from his wrath’ while they are going thru all these difficulties? He does it by divine power. You see the believers thru out history going thru many times of ‘great tribulation’. You also see the lost world going thru many periods of ‘Gods wrath’. To the casual observer, these might look like the same thing. But to those going thru it, they know the difference. The simple fact that God has the ability to ‘keep those’ in Christ from his wrath is the answer. You don’t have to come up with all types of belief systems that say ‘Jesus secretly appeared between chapters 3 and 4 and the reason we know this is ….’ Why do stuff like this? There are very real and plain references to Jesus coming again in the book of Revelation. Don’t go and find some doctrine that comes from ‘silence’. That is ‘since the Spirit is no longer speaking directly to the churches after chapter 3, therefore Jesus came and took them all away’. Jesus is no longer speaking ‘to the churches’ because the main issue after chapter 3 is the outpoured wrath of God on an unbelieving world. We know he didn’t come and take all the believers away, because there are many verses dealing with his people being here, as well as very plain and open verses that say when he comes. So lets stick with the plain meaning first, and then you can try and ‘figure out who the 144,000 are’. Another note; I am really ‘delving’ into it for those who were taught his. At the end of the book of Revelation you do see ‘Jesus coming back with his saints’ and in the book of Thessalonians it says ‘don’t worry about those who have died, when Christ comes back, he will bring them also’. There was a very real 1st century fear that the loved ones who have died were gone. Paul deals with this in Thessalonians as well as Corinthians chapter 15. I know to us it seems silly for believers to have held to this fear, but the fact is it was something the Apostle Paul dealt with. So you see the New Testament speaking of ‘Christ coming back with the Saints’ as a hope of the resurrection. That is Jesus brings back [at the 2nd coming] the ‘spirits’ if you will, of all who have been with him for thousands of years. These will ‘reunite’ with their bodies at the Resurrection. Those who are living at this point will be instantly glorified [1st Thessalonians 4] so to read a verse that says ‘Jesus comes back with his saints’ shouldn’t cause you to think ‘well, how did all the saints get there? He must have secretly come back and taken them, there you have it’ well they got there BY DIEING! Jesus brings them back with him as was taught thru out the whole New Testament. Don’t go and develop some doctrine that believers didn’t ‘know about’ for 1800 years to explain this stuff. It’s simple if you just read and believe scripture as it is written. Also there is a real event at the second coming that ‘raptures’ believers into the air to meet with Christ. This event does happen. It happens at the second coming. So we too who are alive will be ‘caught up together with the Lord’. The return of Jesus back to earth takes place with all of the saints at the ‘touch down’ of Jesus feet on the planet. Truly he ‘comes back with all his saints’. Don’t go and develop a secret ‘second coming’ [rapture] that took every one away at another time. The ‘rapture’ takes place at the ‘second coming’ it is the event of us going up to meet him in the air at the moment of resurrection! NOTE; this also brings us back to the verses in Isaiah ‘not speaking your own words’. Many of the brothers who teach these things are well meaning gospel preachers. Good churches who lead people to Christ. Most of them are taught this stuff at bible school, or from well meaning ‘fathers of the faith’ that they looked up to. During these formative years they are told ‘this is what the Rapture is’ along with all sorts of other learning. They don’t have time to spend years ‘un learning’ this stuff. They mean well. Often times they only question it as they leave the learning environment of college and become long term students of the bible and history. A lot of times when we put ‘preachers out into the work’ they come with these pre conceived ideas that they learned along the way. The problem is if people are teaching things that ‘are the words of men’ [to put it nicely!] then they are ‘speaking their own words’. While every teacher is susceptible to this, we do it at an alarming rate in today’s media world. It’s so easy to catch a preacher teaching this on TV, or to read a Tim Lahaye book on the end times. I see some of this as a result of the Protestant churches ‘coming out from all historical truth, the fathers of the ancient church’ and going with the ‘bible only’. Now going with the ‘bible only’ is a good thing. I have used the bible to show you in this whole entry why the Rapture as taught today holds no ground. But the strong independent protestants truncate themselves from the heritage of all the saints [All the great church fathers, down thru the present time] and leave themselves open to having too much influence from a small part of the Christian church. In my experience I found it ‘amusing’ how the Fundamental Baptists were so much like the Assembly of God in all of these doctrines, and yet the fundamental Baptists viewed them as heretics over the gift of tongues. They couldn’t see that they had so much in common, even the wrong stuff on the Rapture! So it would do us all good to sit back, read the writings of church history, study the bible, pray, DO EVANGELISM [the great commission was to go and make disciples, not even get into all this stuff!] and over time allow the Spirit of God to lead you. You will find that you as a believer can disagree on these end time issues and still work together for the cause Of Christ in your community.
(505) The other day when I took one of my homeless buddies for a ride to see some of the new development around town, we stopped by the new baseball field and being we were right there I took for the first time some real good pictures of the Harbor Bridge. I have taken lots of pictures these last few years with my cell phone, sometimes the pictures are prophetic. Once I took some pictures of a train, the same day I read some real significant prophecies on trains. So for around a week I have had this cool looking picture of a bridge on the phone. Just 3 days ago the worst bridge collapse in years [possibly ever] happened in the U.S. It was the I 35 bridge in Minnesota. All you can see on the news for the last few days is the bridge collapse. NOTE; I don’t want to make light of this incident, people died. But I do want to say, people might think ‘hey, go take a picture of a bank, you might get some money!’ It doesn’t work that way. I remember one time at the Fire House I was watching them say the lotto numbers on the news with a friend. I guessed like 3 or 4 of the numbers. My friend, who played ‘religiously’ was a little surprised. So he says ‘how did you do that’ I told him ‘usually the Lord gives me all the numbers, but I don’t think he would want me to use it for this’ he seriously tells me ‘I don’t think the Lord would mind if you gave them to me’!
(506) Today’s 8-3-07, I have been looking forward to this week. I basically have been ‘lying low’ for the summer, and really needed to get out and see our guys. Today I will be ‘driving the perimeter’ of a bunch of cities that I used to drive while going to work. I am still on workman’s comp but plan on putting in for retirement soon. So as I have been looking forward to re connecting with a few brothers, and launching some regional home groups, yesterday I do a little yard work and move some bricks and stuff. Sure enough my back hurt so bad I could barely walk. Besides the fact that I still am having some residual effects of ‘disorientation’ from this viral infection of the inner ear. Its like I can’t walk anyway, plus I can’t see straight! ‘Screw it’ [sorry] but I have too much to do than to sit around and whine about it. I am looking forward to this day, I believe I am going to see some good fruit. ‘Get out of the City and dwell in the fields, even in Babylon. There I will be with you and there I will deliver you from the hand of the enemy’ [bible]. You will never get better if you don’t ‘GO’.
(507) Woke up this morning after a very difficult day, I knew it was going to be hard to pray. I then sat down and wrote for around 2 hours straight! I went back to some older entries and added a bunch of stuff. Was my day hard because of not being able to walk well, or feeling ‘stoned’ 24/7? No, not really. If that’s all I had to deal with, I would have been happy. Why am I sharing this? Because as I sat down to write I covered things that I had no idea I was going to write about, to be honest it feels like a prophetic function. Many times as I made radio messages, I had no idea I was going to say the stuff I said. I will later review the tapes and see things that I didn’t even know I knew! So Paul tells Timothy ‘Preach the word, be instant in season and out of season. Reprove, rebuke and exhort with all longsuffering [ouch- maybe in the Greek it really means ‘short suffering’?] and doctrine. For in doing this YOU WILL SAVE YOURSELF, AND THOSE WHO HEAR YOU’. There is a prophetic function that causes both the hearers and the speakers to ‘receive salvation’ as a result. Paul said ‘woe is me if I preach not the gospel’ Paul knew that he would actually be ‘cursing himself’ if he didn’t preach, or communicate the Word of the Lord. Jeremiah said ‘I determined not to speak anymore in the name of the Lord’ but then there was this ‘fire in his bones’. God said ‘I put this thing in you, if you don’t let this fire out, it will consume you’. It says in Revelation ‘fire proceeds out of their mouths and consumes their adversaries’ ‘we overcame him [enemy] by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony’. God makes deposits into prophetic people [all of us are prophetic!] these deposits are like ‘fire inside you’ it is meant to ‘devour the enemy’. If you don’t let it out it can ‘burn you from the inside out!’
(508) I kid my daughter’s friends and stuff. They will do something silly, and I say ‘I am going to put that on the blog’ or ‘I told that story on the radio’ they know I am kidding, they will say ‘you better not!’ These are all 13-15 year olds. I am finally going to tell one. One of the girls is a real nice kid. She is a Christian and her family goes to church and all. She has a stepfather and a bunch of brothers and sisters. She is Hispanic [I say this for a reason] [actually I was just going to kid and say the reason is ‘I don’t like Hispanics’- but I think that would have been going overboard. Many of my best buddies are Hispanic!] A couple of years ago this girl got on the school bus with a pocket knife. And basically the no tolerance policy had her kicked out of school, and my daughter got put in a disciplinary area of our schools for a few months. It was a mess. Right after it happened I of course forgave the little girl, and I dealt with the whole problem of my daughter getting involved. It was so easy for this nice ‘Hispanic’ family to want to retreat and hide and maybe even move from the block. After all, it was ‘living up’ to all the stereo types that exist. I actually right away waved to the family when I saw them. After the initial punishments that the kids went thru, I let my kids be friends and all. I could tell that at first the family was real worried about living with this ‘mark’ or stereotype. I even would wind up kidding the girl when she would come over. I would say ‘let’s put up all the knives’ and stuff like that. Not to take it too lightly, but to be real. I have been much worse than this in my life. I shared with her a few weeks ago about how I was dreaming of the floods coming, and then a few weeks later Texas got the worst floods on record [apart from a hurricane]. She was shocked, as I was telling her the dream; she said ‘I too just had those dreams’. I shared how the bible says ‘God will pour out his Spirit on all flesh and your sons and DAUGHTERS will prophesy, and dream dreams’. She is a cute kid. I will have to tell her name now, for the rest of the story. Her name is ‘Hannah’ the reason I had to share it is because one time one of the girls asked what a certain name meant [?] and I shared the spiritual meaning behind it. This kid asks ‘what’s my name mean John’ [I know I shouldn’t have] but I said something like ‘the devils child’. Now right away they knew I was kidding ‘like, shut up’ and then I told her the story of Hannah in scripture. But the whole point is it would have been so easy to stereotype this family. This little girl has a calling, like all kids, we obviously don’t want our kids hanging out with kids who get in trouble, but be sensitive to the Spirits leading. These kids remember the stories you tell them about God. It stays with them!
(509) Let me make a distinction here between ‘professional clergy/salary’ and New Testament giving. Jesus had a treasury [a collection of money/material goods to meet his needs and the disciples during the 3 year ministry of Christ]. During this time THEY WERE THE ONLY ‘STOREHOUSE’ OF GOD ON THE EARTH. [Apart from the actual one at the Temple, this is a transition stage if you will] They were the fledgling movement of Jesus in the beginning stage. Theologians usually point to Pentecost [Acts 2] as the birthing of the church; I have no real problem with that. Jesus said if you have a disagreement take it to the church [what church? He said this before Acts 2. And scripture speaks of ‘the church in the wilderness with Moses’ the point is you had groups of people following hard after God!] During the time of Christ’s earthly ministry people did voluntarily give of material goods to Jesus and the disciples, this is acceptable in Christian circles. You also had the Pharisees [hired clergy!] operating along a legalistic system of giving that came along with their religion [The Tithe!] so right from the start you are seeing a major difference in the way the New Testament church would function, as opposed to the religious law. During this time of giving to Jesus they simply received whatever was freely given. Sort of like the ‘freewill offerings’ taught in the Old Testament. You find Judas getting upset because the woman poured the expensive perfume on Jesus. Judas wanted to sell it because he was stealing from ‘the bag’ [of cash]. So during Jesus ministry we find a great example of how giving and receiving would be carried out in the church. Pretty simple. This style was keeping true to the actual teachings Jesus taught ‘give freely, freely you have received, freely give’ and all the other things Jesus taught. Later on in the Epistles and the book of Acts you see real examples of this being carried out. The only ‘tithers’ were the Jerusalem church. I have explained this before. Not real hard to see! But if you never ‘saw’ this before now, then it is hard. After God shows it to you, you begin to see it all thru out scripture. This leaves us today with the free grace and duty to give to those in need, which can include ‘laboring elders/pastors’ a major difference between ‘hired clergy’ or ‘using your gift to make money’. Jesus and the disciples used their gifts many times with out taking offerings. They did not see this as wrong. You often hear in today’s world ‘I am only asking you to give to me for your benefit’ now Paul does say this at times, the point is you have the average believer hearing this thru TV, when he ‘goes to church’ and the appeal is endless. There are many times where ministry was carried out with no appeals for an offering. Let’s be attentive to what God is saying. Paul did like me, he basically said to the Corinthians ‘I have not charged you for the gospel’ he also said ‘I had a right to receive support, but I chose to lay this right down’ it seems quite plain to me that it is very scriptural for lots of ‘ministers’ to decide to take this route. Some do [not just me] but we often don’t leave this option on the table when training young men to be Pastors. We teach a form of giving that simply looks at the basic need for upkeep of the building, paying salary and stuff like this. In this environment you can’t really teach it the way I just did. But then you have the rise of ‘home/cell’ churches. The ‘emerging churches’ and all types of free flowing styles of Christians getting together and sharing their faith. Many of these movements do not take money at all, except maybe for the meeting of the real needs of people around them. As you can imagine this can cause a type of insecurity to rise up in the hired clergy. The Pharisees said ‘If Jesus keeps doing his stuff, we will lose our position and place in society’. There is a real fear when someone sees the possibility of ‘loosing his job’. So the old time clergy will fight against this more legitimate expression of ‘church’ by saying ‘they are not a church’. And then you have all the problems you have seen me write about up until now! So in grace give to support the work of God, there definitely are good ‘churches’ and Pastors doing good works. Use discernment, go with Gods leading. Give freely. Pastors, some of you can take Paul’s example and ‘do it for free’. Some already do! NOTE; I have heard it taught like this ‘well, if people get offended and think churches/ministries are asking for too much money, then let them get offended. I am doing it for their own good’. Paul actually said one of the reasons why he didn’t take money from the Corinthians was so people couldn’t use the ‘money excuse’ against him. Paul’s attitude wasn’t ‘well, if they get offended, let them’ Paul said ‘I will go out of my way to not offend people, or give them excuses to speak against the gospel’ so much of today’s ‘offense’ that is given because of the churches money focus is a bad thing. Christians are responsible to remove any barriers that the world has. Even if we have a ‘right’ to the offering, sometimes you lay that ‘right’ down for the sake of the gospel.
(510) I read a book years ago on ‘church planting’. It was a good book. I remember one of the stories how a brother came to preach a series of meetings in some church. During the week of meetings they collected thousands of dollars. The type of teaching focused on all the scriptures on ‘giving to get’. After the week was over the ‘evangelist’ took the Pastor and their wives to a jewelry store. The Evangelist bought his wife a diamond [or some other jewelry?] and spent all the money on it. He sincerely told the Pastor ‘this is the reward for my service to God’. Because of the tremendous lack of balance in today’s church, stuff like this happens. I do not see this above brother as a ‘fake’ or false prophet [you might!] I see him as a victim [willingly] of the wrong focus and understanding of all we have taught these past few years. I do wonder what they think when they read 1st Timothy 6, or the verses on ‘watch out for the love of money’ or Peters words on ‘elders, take oversight of Gods flock, not for the sake of filthy money, but out of a pure heart’. They seem to think the other verses on Gods provisions trump these verses. It just isn’t so. We do have a long way to go.
(511) I don’t know how many of you old Jersey friends are reading this blog. I know there are a few. To my old friend John Lattarulo, I am looking at some old pictures that I have when we were kids. It’s got one of me and you flying a kite in Hudson County Park. My old friend Mark Lillis is holding the kite. I am holding the string and you are holding the spool of string. The reason I had to laugh is the ‘spool’ of string must have a few 100 thousand yards of string on it. It looks like a full roll of paper towels or something. I said to myself ‘gee, you think we had enough string?’ Thought it was funny.
(512) 500 years ago the bible was written in Latin. A man named William Tyndale secretly published thousands of New Testaments in English. The ‘church’ saw this as absolute rebellion. It wasn’t just the ‘wicked Catholics’ it was a mindset that began to see as ‘sacred’ something that was once truly used of God. But the church couldn’t distinguish between that which they saw as ‘untouchable’ and the true intent of God. I see the same thing among Protestants today. Many of them see it sacrilegious to challenge the whole idea of ‘Sunday Church’. They see this structure that worked well for hundreds of years, and they cant see that God can operate ‘outside’ of this limited perspective. Many believers were killed if they were found with Tyndales bibles. The ‘institutional church’ came against the organic one in a big way. Today we see our mistakes, and we understand that God is merciful. Those who are fighting against the purpose of God for his Ecclesia really think they are ‘doing God service’. In a few centuries we will see different. NOTE; why do I harp on this issue so much? Some theologians actually understand all the things I have written on the ‘Local Church’ and agree that she was a ‘community of people’ as opposed to what we think today. They believe that maybe it was Gods plan for the church to ‘grow into’ a hierarchal institution as seen in the Catholic/Orthodox church. Some think ‘what the church has become is what God wanted, even though it is not what she was like in the first century’. The reason this is bad/wrong is because one of the most basic truths of Christianity is the believers ‘full access and acceptance with God by faith’ Luther’s doctrine of ‘the Priesthood of all believers’. To then develop an idea about ‘church’ that seems to say to believers ‘you are not legitimate unless you do such and such’ this takes away the heart of the believers right to function and spread the Kingdom by virtue of the fact that ‘they believe’. God chose ‘justification by faith’ I know we usually see ‘justification’ in terms of ‘being saved’ but it carries with it someone who at one time was ‘illegitimate’ and has now become ‘legitimate’. So any so called ‘development’ of an institutional church, that lends itself to the de legitimizing of the average believer, in my view is not what God intended. In essence these ‘structures’ can be a real hindrance to the freedom of all believers, if we use them to declare to Christians ‘you are not under the authority of a local church’.
(513) A few months ago, before I got sick or had any physical problems, I wrote a dream on this blog. I forget where it is, but it is on the blog. It said ‘I was in a shop area; I was going to different stands. I stopped at one that was a ‘physician’s stand’ I purchased a trumpet and walked away with a limp’. Now I know I gave the best interpretation that I thought at the time. It just recently dawned on me that I have spent the summer going to ‘physician’s offices’ and I have been walking away from them with this real limp. Sometimes we have a tendency to ‘spiritualize’ prophetic things. Some times they turn out to be more real than you could have imagined!
(514) I am praying one of my ‘intercessory’ prayers where I go thru a long list of things that I feel are important. I just prayed for the church worldwide, the Korean hostages in Afghanistan and a bunch of other stuff. Even by name for the people who have emailed me and asked for prayer! I told them I would regularly pray for them by name! The reason I stopped is not to ‘brag about my praying’ but I just prayed for all the unbelievers in the world. I don’t generalize it too much; I try to pray for specific people groups. I say ‘Father, I pray for every group outside of the Covenant of your Son. For all Muslims, for all Israel and for every one else outside of Christ. Father reveal your Son to them. Send laborers into the harvest’ When scripture says ‘pray for the peace of Jerusalem’ it doesn’t mean for her military success. It doesn’t mean for her ‘standing’ in the geopolitical world ‘more money for defense’. When you ‘pray for the peace of Jerusalem’ or any other people group, you pray that God would open their eyes to the Prince of Peace!
(515) I want to talk a little on politics. I am not a Republican or a Democrat. This week the House of Representatives took a vote on certain pending legislation that would have given illegal aliens Social Security, it was added to a bill as one of the ‘add ons’ that politicians do to ‘slip’ things thru. Both sides play this game. Now during the floor vote the little machine that actually tallies the vote said ‘215-213’ in favor of the minority party [Republicans]. But being the Majority party is Democrat, they actually have the right to ‘say’ what the vote is. So they simply announced ‘the vote is 214 to 214’ and the tie always goes to the majority party. I am sure they figured ahead of time ‘this is what we are going to do, we believe that we are helping people, so what if we do this ‘little lie’. I admit it is no real big thing in the scheme of things, I do find it funny that this same group will state that one of its greatest achievements in this congressional year is ‘ethics reform’. I guess it means the ethics of the opposing side? The whole point is our country is really in serious trouble. This type of major childish division fuels our political parties. It goes on endlessly. I will try and explain the ‘Valerie Plame’ outing. Before we invaded Iraq [which I personally was against from the get go!] you had political people that were for it and against it. A book was just written that shows how the C.I.A. has been in open opposition to the Bush administration from day one. It goes into detail how for various reasons the C.I.A. had things against Bush. So before we invaded Iraq, you had a few people [in the CIA] that were actively trying to come up with evidence of why we shouldn’t invade. During this time a person named Joe Wilson went overseas to see if he could find proof that Iraq wasn’t trying to buy ‘yellow cake’ from the country of Niger. If he could show that there was no evidence, then this would undermine one of the reasons for invasion. He comes back after his trip and writes an open article in the New York Times that says ‘The Bush administration sent me to see if there was evidence, I went and came back and told them there was none. They obviously are ignoring their own people that they sent’. Now when the Bush administration read this, they went ‘huh’ [or some other cuss word]. In essence they had no idea who this guy was, and who sent him. Joe Wilson claimed that the Vice President sent him. Cheney calls the C.I.A. [the group that is overjoyed about this by the way] and finds out after digging into it that some lady named Valerie Plame sent him. She suggested he go, because he speaks French and would be able to handle the people better [I think it was French?] O, I left out one little detail. Valerie Plame is the wife of Joe Wilson. So after a few weeks of the press saying ‘look, Bush ignored his own guy who brought back evidence’ Cheney does something that is natural. It is a real part of politics. He tells his staff [Lewis Libby] get the word out that we didn’t send this guy, his wife did. Why would you do this? So people wouldn’t think that Cheney’s office sent him, like he was saying. During all of this, there was a little ‘oversight’ that nobody took into account. Valerie Wilson had what was called ‘undercover status’ she had previously done some undercover work for the C.I.A. and held this status. This made it illegal to ‘out her name’ in public. Now most reporters in town knew who she was. She had even appeared on the cover of a magazine, using her name! If you are really undercover you don’t do this. Even Andrea Mitchell [a well respected reporter] said ‘everyone knew she worked for the C.I.A.’ Now, of course the other side [Democrats] demanded ‘who outed her on purpose’ they do a special investigation and find out it was Dick Armitage [someone who the Democrats like!] who inadvertently told her name to Robert Novak [who at the time worked for C.N.N.] So what was really a story about ‘get the truth out, we didn’t send Joe Wilson, his wife did’ became a national joke. A huge game of ‘I got you now’ played out on a national scale by politicians who are acting like children while the world is facing real problems. This is why the Democrats will say one of their greatest achievements this year is ‘ethics reform’ they see ‘getting the other side’ as achievement. Today I don’t defend either side. The fact is if these childish games are played on such a large scale. The public thinking ‘wow, Scooter Libby got off Scott free’ for a horrible crime [he did lie during the investigation, and they got him on perjury- Bush commuted his sentence]. While the politicians are playing a game of ‘gottcha’ it is hurting this country. Most of you didn’t even realize all the stuff I just showed you in context, because we are victims of the news medias ‘sound bites’. Pray for our country. No side [Republican/Democrat] are perfect. Scripture says a house divided against itself can not stand. Sad to say, we are looking like that house more and more as the years go by. NOTE; Joe Wilson sued the White House saying they purposely caused harm to him and his family by outing his wife. A Federal judge just recently ruled on their case. The judge said ‘when you plunge yourself into the fray of political action to the degree that you say openly ‘Cheney sent me’. That in this environment it is perfectly acceptable for the other side to ‘get the facts out’. The judge saw it the way I just explained it to you. Also during this whole time, congress did a special investigation concerning Joe Wilson’s open claims that ‘Cheney sent me’ they found him to have been lying. Another interesting thing, the book that just came out exposing the tremendous political rift between the C.I.A. and the Bush administration, shows that there were a few people in the C.I.A. that actually held to the conspiracy theory that the Bush administration knew the planes were heading towards the towers, and let them hit so we would have an excuse to invade Iraq. Sort of like the ‘Gulf of Tonkin’ or how some believe that F.D.R. knew of the Pearl Harbor attack, but let it happen anyway. You will find these ideas on the internet from all types of people. It is alarming to think that people in the C.I.A. actually held to this. I believe Joe Wilson is a good man at heart, his wife also. He sincerely believes that there was more to the ‘outing of his wife’. He felt like Karl Rove was secretly behind it to get him. While there is no doubt that the White House ‘pushed back’ against him and his wife, the evidence seems to show that it was for the purpose that I revealed above. During this time many Democrats knew this to be true, they just played the man to their advantage. It’s like going along with someone’s miss conceptions, because after all ‘he might just take down this President, or at Least Cheney’. So people become tools in the hands of the parties to get what they want. The fact is poor Wilson really had this conspiracy thing going ‘they got my wife’. The judge ruled ‘yes they got her, but it was to show that your story wasn’t true’. It’s like lying on the vote ‘215-213’ into ‘214-214’ you sincerely believe what you are doing is right for the country, so if it means you have to lie to achieve it, you do. Despite the fact that you just passed ‘ethics reform’. All people have ways to justify their own sin, while finding the other sides to be deplorable. NOTE; Let me give you a few known facts in this case. Before the war, Colin Powel gave a speech at the U.N. that included a reference to Iraq trying to purchase ‘yellow cake’ [an ingredient needed to build a Nuclear bomb] from Niger. The C.I.A. had said ‘we are not sure about this piece of intelligence, it is possible to be not true’. The fact that Powel used it is seen to be the Bush administrations ‘selective use’ of intelligence for their own purpose. There was a lot of ‘fabricated’ intelligence that the opposing side in Iraq actually made up so the U.S. would invade. Saddam's enemies weren’t idiots! Now after all was said and done in this affair, some today still believe that Iraq really was trying to obtain this stuff from Niger, others don’t. Great Britain has stated they believe other intelligence to be true, despite the possibility that some was made up. They insist that they have other reasons to believe it. So the Joe Wilson premise, that Iraq wasn’t proved to be trying to get this stuff has some truth to it. After Powell left the administration he also felt like the Bush administration might have taken advantage of his standing by allowing this in the speech. What was also true is the open fact, that many countries intelligence agencies all pointed to the fact that Iraq was wanting a Nuclear Weapon. So to many people this point is moot. My point is both sides play into the game of ‘gotcha on this one’. Most politicians who were fueling the ‘go get em Wilson’ had to have known the basic premise of all I just showed you in this entry. They will ‘blow it out of proportion’ on purpose. After all the Republicans did it to Clinton! [they did!] So the game is non stop. Joe Wilson lied, an investigation showed this. Not about the major stuff, but about the fact that Bush didn’t send him. Clinton lied, not about ‘major stuff’ but about, well you know! Libby lied, not about outing Wilson’s wife, but about who first told him Wilson’s wife was Valerie Plame. He did lie about this, even though he wasn’t the main ‘leaker’. They caught him in a lie. The Judge gave him over 2 years in prison and a huge financial fine. Bush commuted the prison term. Of course the Democrats were outraged. The game never stops! NOTE; Jesus said a strange thing in the gospel. He said ‘if these injustices can happen when the tree is green, what will happen when anarchy is here’ [my paraphrase]. Scripture says ‘where envying and strife are, this is confusion and EVERY EVIL WORK’ The strategy of the enemy is to cause there to be this type of environment. The crucifixion of Jesus took place in the heated political posturing of the day. The Jews saying ‘he claims to be our king, we have no king but Caesar’ [even though they despised Caesar!] the inference was ‘Pilate, if you don’t kill this guy, well you must not think too highly of Caesar’. Pilate writes ‘the King of the Jews’ over the Cross. The Jews say ‘don’t put that! Put ‘he said I was the king of The Jews’ [because this would make it look like the Jews had him killed because of their so called ‘love for Caesar’] Pilate says ‘I have written it and it will stay’. All this happened according to Jesus ‘in a green tree’ which meant during a time of true govt. and law existing. Though Rome was not Christian, they actually had a system of courts and justice that allowed appeals to me made and all. Jesus is saying ‘if they can do this type of injustice during true govt. just wait till anarchy gets here’. When you have this type of political posturing take place, the enemy can ‘slip in’ abortion and all types of stuff. The actual fact that there are occasions in this country where babies ‘slipped out’ during an abortion and made it. And the Doctors cant ‘kill it’ because it’s too late [these things have happened] makes you think ‘what in the world are we doing’ but in the midst of all this strife, there is confusion and ‘every evil work’. The answer is not to be found in politics. Its found in ‘if my people who are called by my name shall humble themselves, and pray and turn from their sins. Then I will hear from heaven and forgive their sin and heal their land’. Our land desperately needs to be healed! NOTE; I do find it ironic that politicians try to pass ‘ethics reform’ while at the same time openly say ‘it is not a politicians job to legislate morality’ ethics [moral standards] reform [repentance] is ‘imposing morality’ by definition! Yet if you were to ask them ‘why do you support the murder of babies in the womb’ they will say ‘I am personally against it, but it is not my job to impose morality’ this my friends is hypocrisy in it’s highest form. NOTE; Jesus one time told the Jews ‘I come to you in truth, I come in the name of my Father. I present myself to you in truth as his Son. I have told you truth. Yet you will not believe me. Yet when another comes to you in his name, you believe him’ Scholars have related this to the anti Christ. It’s possible. But if you put this in context of all I just showed you, it’s also possible that Jesus is foreseeing their future accusation against him by their so called allegiance to Caesar. In essence he might be saying ‘not too long from now you guys will be appealing to Caesar as your king, though you will be doing it at the rejection of your true king’. They were more than willing to acknowledge Rome’s authority over them when it seemed convenient to their cause. Yet the King they have been waiting for, for thousands of years shows up and they wont take his word for it!
(515) I want to challenge you guys. I have spoken a lot on this blog on your responsibility to ‘bring the Kingdom’ wherever you go. Remember, because we have access to God [Jacobs ladder/the Cross] wherever we go we are ‘setting up that ladder’ [bringing an atmosphere where God and man meet]. I have also shown you how God commands us all to go into the world and preach the gospel. Many times we spend way too much time trying to figure out ‘how will I fund it, where will the money come from’ well I hate to say this, but it comes from YOU! What! Show me scripture! Well just a reminder ‘he that is not working, let him get a job so HE CAN HAVE TO GIVE TO THOSE IN NEED’ ‘See a brother in need. Feed him’ ‘give to him that asketh of thee’ ‘how can you say you love God, who you don’t see. When you don’t meet the real needs of your brothers, who you do see’. Now, for sure there are verses where Paul asks for others to give financially into the work. I am not saying there is no biblical authority for doing this. I am saying God does expect all believers to share of their own time and resources to spread the Kingdom. You don’t get off the hook just because you gave into the church offering basket! I want to exhort you today to give yourself away somehow for the kingdom. If all you do is sit around and listen to talk radio, or read the papers and are inundated with how the poor and hurting are such a drain on society, you will get a critical spirit. If you begin touching the lost you will see them as real friends and people. Don’t try and figure out how you will fund your ministry, give yourself away instead!
(516) One of my buddies at the firehouse is a Christian. He sees the ministry stuff I do and all. So one time he makes an honest effort to do something out of charity. He tells me how this lady called the firehouse and asked if any guys wanted some fire wood, all they had to do is come and trim all her trees. To be honest, the cost of trimming these Mesquites would have been more than the value of the wood, but my buddy wanted to do a good deed. He goes over and trims a bunch of trees, he uses his chain saw. As he goes to get more limbs and stuff to bring them back to the truck, he sees his chainsaw is gone! Sure enough someone stole it. He says ‘see, John. I am trying to help the Lord out and the Devil goes and steals my chainsaw’. I told him ‘the way the enemy works, I am surprised when you went back to get the limbs, the lady didn’t say ‘sonny, I hope you don’t think you’re getting that wood for free!’
(517) A few weeks ago I dropped off the tapes for my radio program. The station is right across the street from our mental health clinic. A lot of ‘homeless/mentally challenged’ people always walking around. The secretary from the radio station has told me they lock the doors because they are always getting these guys walking in and stuff. They basically are ‘hiding out’ in their building. So being I think I am the only ‘preacher’ who actually hand delivers the tapes, there is no mail box or anything to put them in. So I have found myself knocking at the door, sometimes for around 10 minutes or so before anyone opens the door. I have told you guys I kinda have long hair, look at little ‘rough’ myself, definitely not what you would think a ‘preacher’ would look like. So the last time I waited for the secretary to get the door, she always looks a little apologetic when they let me in after standing their a few minutes. I finally realized that they must see me thru the tinted glass doors and think I am one of the ‘mentally challenged’ people always walking around. So as I ‘prophetically saw this’ [kidding] I told her as she opened the door ‘Now I realize why you make me wait, you guys think I am one of the ‘strays’, to be honest her face turned a little red. I said ‘I am going to put this on my blog’ she said ‘I never admitted to this!’ I know she didn’t, but to be faithful I thought I would put this entry in like I said. NOTE: If she ever reads this I know she will say ‘I can’t believe he really put this on the blog!’
(518) Yesterday we had a real good outreach day in Bishop. The Lord allowed for a lot of my homeless friends to meet a lot of the original group of guys. Today we plan on going back to Kingsville and just doing an outreach at one of the parks. I feel the Lord wants people to simply ‘act’. Not be a ‘faker’ but an initiator! Get out of the city and dwell in the fields! Sometimes it is the simple act of motion that starts the ball rolling. One of the guys asked me about the vision in Ezekiel ‘a wheel within a wheel’ is it U.F.O.s? I told him I doubt it, but one of the meanings of the vision is God is ‘continually in motion’ as Saint Thomas Aquinas taught, God is the ‘prime mover’. He got the ball rolling! As Gods kids he has given us the inherent ability to ‘get the ball rolling’. Why do we hesitate to act? Out of fear, greed, I want my own thing. All sorts of base lusts and sins keep us from moving. Sometimes we are waiting for the specific exact thing to do, and God says ‘I will give you all the details son, but I can’t give them to you unless your start rolling’! I found it interesting that I hooked up with one of the original families in Bishop. The brother and nephew of real good friends. They have all been to our church in the early days. The brother accepted the Lord thru our ministry [I think the nephew too; I will be baptizing him soon. I know he is a believer for sure, I just didn’t bother to ask if he got saved during those early days] I thought it interesting because the brother [the kid’s uncle] had another brother who was one of our original guys, who died years ago from bad stuff. The brother mentions how I used to know ‘BeBe’ and the nephew says ‘you knew my other uncle brother John’. I didn’t realize he never knew him. There are so many related friends and all thru these families it never dawned on me that this kid was too little to remember the uncle who died years earlier. As we were talking I then re tell some old stories [good ones!] and I trace the original family member, who is this kids Grandfather, who by the way is also dead [many years of drugs] and how the granddad and uncle were some of the original friends of mine. This nephew, who really sees me as his original ‘Pastor’ learned a lot of his family tree from this time. I finally gave him the card to this blog site and he was going to go home and get with another friend [the son of one of our main guys, also related to this family thru the marriage of the mom to the father. It’s a long story!] But these 2 younger kids [now in their early 20’s] were going to get online and read the whole story of the ministry that they never knew before. I just wanted to update you guys today. I didn’t want you to think all I am going thru is struggles. The Lord has really opened some regional doors for us this past week, so keep doing what God is telling you to do, and don’t forget to ‘get moving!’ NOTE; it was weird, as the nephew was asking me if I knew his other uncle who he never saw, but heard stories how he was crazy [shooting cops!] I remembered how 25 years earlier I was visiting his uncle in this exact same ranch property that this family owned. It was another old house that is now gone, but it just happened to have been this exact location of ranch, 25 years earlier! [It’s on the outskirts of Bishop, by Kingsville]. Also I spoke at this uncles funeral years ago, he is buried around 20 yards away from where we were having this discussion, in a little cemetery right next to the house. Also as I was dropping the nephew off in Corpus, he told me ‘brother John, we have your name hanging up in our house’ he told me that his mom has a baby picture of him, I guess when he was born, and it has me signing it ‘brother John’ along with other family members. I surely don’t remember, but it was special for him to have seen this picture for all these years. He must think ‘how in the ‘hell’ has this guy been involved in so many things. This white boy from Jersey’. He is like his dad, still alive by the way, but ‘in hiding’ if you will, he likes to kid a lot! NOTE: I remember taking this boys dad out to eat years ago. His dad tells me ‘brother John, where are we going to eat? I feel uncomfortable being in a crowded place’ he has done lots of prison time and all, but doesn’t like being where he might run into an off duty cop or something. I tell him ‘don’t worry Rudy, it’s just the buffet at Pizza hut’ [Kingsville] sure enough we go in and it’s not too crowded, after around 10 minutes about 25 on duty state troopers walk in and start eating, I guess they were having some convention or something. You could see the panic in my buddies face. It was funny!
(519) Since I have been sick these last few months, one of the results of the ‘vertigo/feeling always high’ thing has caused me to be claustrophobic. I have avoided closed spaces. So these doctor visits and stuff have me going to the stairs and avoiding the elevator. So what, a few flights of stairs are good for you. It’s not like Jersey, where all the buildings are high. Well, I have this appointment at one of our older hospitals. This building is high. I go in and find the doctors name on the wall map. Floor 8! So, you think the Lord made me face my fears? I hoofed it 8 floors! [Note; I just rode in one yesterday, I got tired of the stairs.]
(520) Recently a local ministrty came under fire for some things. They are friends of mine and run a christrian camp. I am not sure of all the accusations in the news. But when these types of problems arise with ministries it is common to hear ‘they are not under a local church’ or ‘a Pastor’. I also recently watched a service from a church in the Dallas area, it’s a large church with thousands of people. One of the comments from the Pastor was ‘the reason you have all these ‘little churches’ on every street corner is because no body wants to submit, everyone wants to do ‘their own thing’. He is a good man, he has been to Corpus before, he holds to strong apostolic thinking in terms of ‘Apostles are over churches’ and stuff. As I finished the book by Brian Welch [Korn] he shared how as he began learning and growing in the Lord that one Pastor/church told him ‘If you keep visiting these other churches I cant mentor you. You must choose loyalty’. Now in all of these areas above, where do people find safety? Is safety found in ‘being loyal to your church’? What if when we say things like this, if we really say it out of insecurity. The Pastors fear of ‘loosing this famous convert’. Or for other less than noble reasons. How can the Pastor with the large independent church see all the ‘little churches’ as ‘Pastors doing their own thing’ but yet not see how he falls into this same category when being looked at by the traditional church? They see all ‘independent bible churches’ in this light. The New testament shows Jesus preaching the gospel to people. Freely sharing and teaching the love of God. Jesus demanded loyalty to him. As the head of the church this is right. All Christian leadership also has a role to play in being ‘under shepherds’ they take oversight of new and upcoming believers. Safety is found in growing and learning from each other. Mutual submission to one another’s gifts. Seeing and partaking from all the believers in your area. It is not found in giving loyalty or submission to a specific group that meets in your part of town, to the exclusion of all other groups. ‘Well, are you with us or not’? When this wording is used to demand allegiance to a project or to tithe to a certain church, then it is unbiblical. Why? Because nowhere in the New testament do you see these divisions. I too believe a lot of the little ‘churches’ who meet on every corner U.S.A. are a result of wrong thinking and acting. It comes from Christians seeing an ‘overabundance’ of Pastors [millions] to the neglecting of the other gifts in the church. The simple fact that other titles/gifts are mentioned more in scripture than ‘the Pastor’ and yet in today’s church this title seems to mean ‘the main person in charge of a local church’ should cause us to re think our dependence on this office. It also leaves you with the majority of young men who feel this stirring in them to serve God, they are taught this stirring means ‘go be a Pastor’ and then of course you need to ‘start a church’ to be one! There you have it, all well meaning people starting tons of ‘well meaning churches’ [places to meet] and even though many of these churches [big and small] have found themselves in deep heresy and problems, yet when a ‘Para church’ ministry gets in trouble, the Pastors think ‘told you, they are not under us’. It is all a big mess. Safety, freedom, staying on course are all outgrowths of believers being ‘part of the Body’. You must be influenced by as many of the church leaders that have gone on before, as well as those speaking Gods Word today. Your loyalty to the people of God and the purpose of God should be fierce. As a leader yourself, don’t demand allegiance from others in a way that violates peoples consciences ‘you are either with me or not’ to the degree where you do like the Pastor did with Brian Welch. You are stifling their growth when you do this. Sure, if someone you are discipling goes off track, or heads towards a cult. You warn them, but this strong ‘you are under me, sit under my ministry for 20 years’ mindset is a hindrance to the growth of the kingdom. It is often born out of insecurity. The underlying idea that the main problem with today’s church is ‘too many people not willing to submit’ might be true. It would be right if ‘submit’ meant to surrender to Gods cause and purpose. But when we use it in a self serving way. To apply it to other independent ministers/churches because they are small, and yet not see it apply to you, because you ‘are big’ is self serving. It tends to say to those in hearing distance ‘get on board with this highly independent ministry’ who in many ways is just as truncated from the rest of the Body as the ‘little churches’ they are referring to. All Christians should function daily with each other as much as possible. Be in touch with all the people of God in your area. Don’t see a limited form of ‘church/Pastor/tithe’ as the primary measurements of your loyalty. I have already shown you how these ideas didn’t even operate in the early church like they do today. The overall themes of all of us as one people, striving for unity as we learn and mature in Christ. Overcoming the sectarian mindset that says ‘be a part of this church only’ rise above these fleshly divisions and tendencies that exist in Gods people. You will find safety in ‘the church’ [all the people of God, past and present!] and in him whom is the refuge of the Saints! ‘The name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous run into it and are safe’.
(521) Was listening to T.D. Jakes the other day. He was preaching on empowering people for the next level. He did share good points. One of the examples was ‘you need people to accomplish something. You can’t do it by yourself. You might be able to make a pound cake, but if you are going to run Sara Lee, you need help’. A good point, scripture shows us how even Moses taught delegated authority. Jesus was the Master at it! My teaching has come against the prevailing mindset in the modern church that says ‘you really can’t make a big impact on your own, you need to give money to us, and then you can reach the world’. Now if you said this, I am not talking about you. I have heard this many times over the years. My point is when we tell people ‘your pound cake doesn’t really matter, or have a big impact’ then we are violating the principle of Jesus when he taught us that our ‘little bit of loaves and fishes’ matters. I know bro. Jakes would agree, he was teaching right on the principle of business that he was sharing. I just wanted to show you how your little bit does matter. Jesus delegated all of us to do our little bit. True delegation empowers everyone. In today’s world we make appeals to people based on money ‘give your money and you will have a reward in all the ministries you support’. There is some truth to this, but Jesus really didn’t teach us that we could ‘witness’ vicariously. Or ‘touch the world vicariously’ he actually told us to GO. So to view the principle of partnering in a way that seems to let the people think if they give money they are off the hook, isn’t a viable biblical alternative. At the judgment he says ‘when I was hungry and thirsty and in jail you didn’t come to me’ he doesn’t say ‘you didn’t support financially the programs that were doing it’. So, go ahead and make your pound cake, you would be surprised how far it can go!
(522) I spent some time the other day with one of my new friends. He is homeless and does suffer from mental problems, more than most. He is a great friend and very smart. He retells all of the movies he has ever seen. He remembers every detail from them, and tells the spiritual lessons that God has shown him thru the movies. Disney stories and stuff ‘Iron Will’ ‘Where the Red Fern grows’. Somehow I mentioned the verse ‘where no Oxen are the crib is clean, but much increase comes from the strength of the Ox’ [somewhere in Proverbs]. I talked about the ‘stuff’ we sometimes have to wade thru in order to see increase. It is popular today to avoid the ‘stuff’ as you make your way to Sunday church. Try to make the goal ‘don’t step in the stuff’ . Heaven forbid one of these guys holding up a sign gets too close to the car, the ‘stuff’ might get on you. It’s possible to live your whole life staying clean and avoiding ‘the stuff’, but you would be surprised of the riches and treasures you can find in the people who are ‘covered by the stuff’.
(523) Yesterday [Sunday] we had a good fellowship day with some of our guys. We went to my church [a mega church] and also visited a friend’s tent church service that he holds in a park. A lot of my homeless friends were there. We also watched a few T.V. church services in between [at my house. Isaiah 58 says you’re blessed if you take the homeless to YOUR OWN HOUSE!] Thru it all we heard the themes of giving for Gods work, that God wants you to have favor and that Paul was content when he had both a little and a lot! I found it interesting, the message on ‘You don’t have to go thru life struggling, you have a ‘crown’ of favor on you’ was good to hear. A little too unbalanced. One of the verses on ‘our crown’ actually spoke of the blessings that the believer gets at the end of his life, a crown [reward] waiting for us at the resurrection. So in context you really can’t apply it to God always wanting us to have ‘the overabundance’ because part of the ‘being content’ verse speaks of being content even in lack. The teaching on giving was fine. Overall it seemed like the Lord was speaking to us that day on giving and serving and being part of the ‘Body of Christ’. All of the ‘church’ are the people of God. My friend who holds the tent meeting invited me to preach. I respectfully told him ‘I don’t do that anymore’. I didn’t want to let him down, there are so many others who can do it, I already speak too much! Radio and writing and all, give someone else a chance. I just have gotten away from the whole routine of ‘preaching at churches’ I feel I am not supposed to do it. Well I thought I would share this one with you guys, hope you got something from it.
(524) Let me give you guys a health update. I at this time only take natural supplements [vitamins and stuff] and am trusting the Lord to heal me. These last few months I have been prescribed various things for pain and the ‘dizziness’ and other stuff. In keeping with what I told you guys in the past, I have basically chosen to not take any medication long term. I have taken some of the med’s I was given, but nothing long term. The last back doctor kind of saw that I was in pain, but I told him ‘Doc, this is my last visit. I don’t want any med’s, lets just wrap this up’. So I don’t want to tell you guys to do this, but I wanted to let you know that this is what’s happening. I am not totally healed yet and I still want you guys to pray for me! But thought I would give you this update.
(525) Isaiah 60 ‘Arise, shine; for thy light has come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. Darkness shall cover thee earth and gross darkness the people, but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee’ Like we said when we spoke on the kingdom of God, though the world is getting darker, the church gets brighter! We are ‘the light of the world’ the world needs us! They don’t want to admit it, but at the end of all atheism, humanism and every other ‘ism’ there is a void. They will be drawn to the light! ‘Gentiles SHALL come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising’ ‘thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side’ though these verses are Messianic in nature [they speak prophetically of Christ] yet they are also fulfilled thru us, because we are ‘extensions of Christ’ in the earth. We ARE his Body! ‘Then thou shalt see, and FLOW TOGETHER, and thy heart shall fear and be enlarged’ When the Lord is magnified, when his will and purpose take precedence, we FEAR him and are enlarged. We also flow together as Gods people. There is a real sense of your success being found in your brothers and sister’s success. We flow together. ‘In my wrath I smote thee, but in my favor I have had mercy on thee. Therefore thy gates shall be open continually’ in the ‘New Jerusalem’ [the Church] our gates are ‘open always’ people find access to come in and rest in God. But open gates also allow for there to be exit. Not ‘damnation’ here, but a going into all the world to preach the gospel. The people of God are made to find rest in him and be by still waters. Then there comes this churning, this ‘inner pull’ to go out ‘is it from God’ yes! God allows you to have seasons of rest and refuge, and then he calls you to the example of Christ. He compels you to look at the harvest and say ‘here am I, send me’. ‘The glory of Lebanon shall come to thee, the Fir tree, the Pine tree and the Box tree together, to beautify the place of my sanctuary, AND I WILL MAKE THE PLACE OF MY FEET GLORIOUS’ God will bring great diversity [Pine, Box, Fir tree’s] into one corporate function and purpose. We will no more say ‘I am Charismatic’ I am Baptist, I am Catholic, I am this or that. We will truly bring our diversity together and lay them at Christ’s feet. He makes the place of his feet glorious. Jesus washed the disciple’s feet; he was showing that this place of humility and service will be honored in Gods economy. It is the place of value and exaltation. He offers it to all, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of takers. ‘Whereas thou hast been afflicted and hated, I will make thee an eternal excellency; a joy of many generations’ God allows affliction and hatred for a season. Both natural Israel and her Messiah went thru this. We all will partake of it at one time or another; REJOICE when it happens, because God is preparing you for eternal excellency! ‘For brass I will bring gold, for iron silver, for wood brass and for stones iron, I will make thy officers peace’ we often preach and teach ‘for stones you will get gold’ we ‘skip’ the steps! God’s prosperity comes to those who patiently and consistently give and love and work and invest and do many things in stages. These people are not trying to turn stones into gold. They realize you go from stones to iron to silver and to gold. They have realistic expectations on living a consistent life. God will make our ‘officials’ peace. The verse that says let all your requests be known to God and Gods peace will keep your hearts and minds, this speaks of Gods peace being the ‘officiator’ Christians make good decisions when they cast all their care over to God. Gods peace comes in to officiate for us, we don’t have to worry about the next step, we simply need to rest and walk in it as it is revealed. ‘Violence shall be no more in the land, nor destruction in our borders, your walls shall be Salvation and your gates Praise’ this is speaking of a spiritual/heavenly city. God is already showing that his future place of rest, the ‘eternal city’ that needs no light, because the Lamb is the light, God is showing that it is a place where walls and gates are praise and salvation. Not brick and mortar! He will make this place glorious. ‘The Lord shall be the everlasting light, the days of mourning shall be ended Thy people shall all be righteous, they shall inherit the land for ever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified. A little one shall become a thousand, a small one a strong nation: I the Lord will do it in my time’ God will extend you and cause all the people you work with to be right. A day is coming where the smallest one [least significant] shall have great influence. He will ‘grow you and your people like a branch thru the earth’ thru the people you bring into the Kingdom, God will allow great influence to go forth. God told Abraham ‘thru your seed shall all nations be blessed’ you are simply the ‘instigator/initiator’ of the thing, it will get carried out thru your spiritual children!
(526) One of the homeless brothers told me how he started feeling dizzy a few weeks back, before I started getting with him on a regular basis. Another friend shared his testimony with me, how God visited him years ago and he had this awesome experience. One of the ‘effects’ was he felt like he was ‘looking thru a glass’. Our key brother in Kingsville [one of them, I have a few] reminded me of a dream he had in prison, where he was on the highway overpass looking into the city and he saw as it were a ‘sea of people’. I have spoken on all of these experiences and images over these past few months. Often time’s people from the same spiritual family go thru like things. Pray for your brothers and sisters. Pray for those who you regularly work with and interact with as a Body. Three fold cords are not easily broken. There is strength in unity and agreement. Jesus said ‘where 2 or more agree, God will act’ be loyal to the brotherhood that exists in Christ.
(527) I was reading on a movement of Christians out of Austin who left the concept of ‘church’ as being the ‘place we go to on Sunday’ and have relocated their families to the lower class areas of town. These are Chinese believers who are seeing ‘church’ as community. I also remember reading an article a few years ago on ‘out of church Christians’. The article spoke on why so many people are ‘leaving church’ and addressed a lot of good things. Later in the article the writer then talked about ‘coming back from the wilderness journey into the church’. He still ‘saw’ church as the Sunday meeting. He misread what God was doing. Those who have left the ‘Sunday church model’ are not ‘in the wilderness’ so to speak. They are seeing ‘church’ as the entire community action that they are involved with. This is much different than simply ‘seeing’ the people who are ‘leaving Sunday church’ as disgruntled or dissatisfied believers. The new paradigm [really not new, it was around for the first few centuries] sees the actual community of people as ‘the church’. So for these to then see ‘going back to the Sunday model’ as coming out from the wilderness is not seeing the heart of the movement. I also read the critics who are against the ‘emergent model’. Some feel that they are giving in to liberal trends in theology [I am sure some are] and are fighting against the community model thinking they are ‘defending the faith’. You don’t have to embrace theological liberalism to see this new way of doing church. The first century Apostles were certainly not theological liberals, but they viewed church as community. I just thought I would share these few thoughts today, hope it helped. NOTE; Another interesting fact about the ‘out of the church building’ movement is that the Lord allowed for there to be a whole new way to communicate this truth thru the internet. During the time of the reformation you recently had the printing press invented by Guttenberg. It’s like the Lord opened up a door of mass communication right at the time of him raising up prophetic voices who would speak into the church at large. There were new groups of believers for the first time publishing all these small articles [Tractarians] and these writings were having a tremendous impact on the church. So today you have the availability of the net to allow the ‘common voices’ to speak into the church at large. This is actually part of the concept of the corporate voice versus the singular one [Pastor]. Many home church movements see the teaching of Paul in Corinthians as telling the church to all have an input, not just one main speaker. This is what is happening thru the net. Many voices are being heard. You then of course have the danger that our Catholic brothers raised during the reformation. The Catholics [some] believed if the bible was translated from Latin into the common language there would be all sorts of interpretations and stuff. Some of this came true! You had certain radical people who started ‘Waco’ [Muenster Prophets? If I remember well] type cults during this time. And it was a result of individuals coming up with their own ‘private’ interpretation of scripture. But the answer wasn’t to stifle the church, but to allow all believers to freely read and see the truth of God, despite the danger of a few going off track. So in the world of ‘being on line’ you can see a real revolution take place, are there possible areas of danger? Sure. But overall the internet has become a ‘printing press’ for the modern reformation! NOTE; another result of the reformation was the fact that many new believers would no longer ‘pay tithes’ into the old system. The instigating factor of the reformation was the abuse of indulgences, a money issue! So likewise today you are also seeing the strong ‘tithe or you are under the curse’ versus ‘give to your brothers in need’ mentality. It is only normal for those dependant on the tithe to fight against this. They see all the good things they want to accomplish, and they realize it can’t be done unless so many people tithe. The new churches are getting away from this. They see the actual concept of all Gods people living every day as ‘the church’ to be the real ‘change factor’ in the world. They don’t view the need for lots of money to come into the institution, they see all the people as the ‘institution’ and therefore the act of releasing them into the harvest will have a greater effect than all the money in the world.
(528) Isaiah 61 ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me BECAUSE the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings to the meek, he hath sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound’ Jesus read this verse in the gospel and said it was being fulfilled thru him. God anoints Jesus and us for set purposes. I find it interesting how this coincides with chapter 58 and deals with the hand of God to free people. To actually minister to real needs. In chapter 58 God rebukes Israel for thinking the anointing [Spirit] is for ritualistic religion, he tells them to do justice and reach out to the hurting. Jesus exemplifies this. He ‘proclaims’ liberty to captives. It’s like if someone were in a jail cell and the governor sent a message that said ‘you are already pardoned’. The message of the gospel is ‘you are free, God is not holding your sins against you. Only believe!’ We often preach ‘you must do so and so to get free’ Jesus said ‘you already are’. ‘To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, the day of vengeance of our God’ we must make it clear that a day of judgment is coming. The reality is God does forgive you, but you must come thru the Cross. It must be plain that all who reject Christ face a sure and certain judgment. A few years ago a very famous Charismatic preacher became a ‘universalist’ [someone who believes that everyone goes to heaven, or in this case that hell and judgment do not exist] He shared how when he stopped preaching ‘hell’ that it just made everyone feel better. It might make you feel better, but that doesn’t mean it’s not real! God wants us to tell people about this ‘acceptable time of the Lord’ but also warn them that if they refuse Gods grace, judgment is coming down the road. ‘To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness’ Now we are going to see a theme thru out the rest of the chapter. God wants to bring you out of mourning and into full restoration. I said in the previous chapters that rebuke and correction lead up to restoration. It is vital that we enter into joy! God wants us to come out of places of ‘heaviness’ [depression] and bring us to places of joy and peace ‘that we might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, and they shall build up the waste places, repair waste cities’ Who will do these things ? Those who have truly entered into praise! This is why it’s vital to make the transition into joy. It is the restoration process that enables us to move on to the next level. God says ‘you will have a scar, but no open wound’ There will be reminders of the desert you were in, that’s good. God says I want you to remember how awful it really was, never forget the ‘pit that I took you out of’ now that you are out, go and do my works! I have claimed these verses for over 20 years concerning building up waste cities and God doing it thru your seed. Yesterday we had a good outreach day in Kingsville. We got with some brothers and met at a park. I have a friend who is a musician, but he only knows the old classics ‘amazing grace’ and stuff. Fine with me, we sang and praised in that park. I felt the Lord said that he was going to restore joy to ‘our mourners’ and it will be thru this restored joy that he will ‘build the old waste places’. ‘You shall be named the Priests of the Lord, the ministers of our God’ this is all of us! No special class here, no ‘clergy’. This is you and me. ‘For your shame ye shall have double, and for confusion they shall rejoice in their portion, they shall posses double, everlasting joy shall be with them’ In Hebrews it says of Jesus ‘he despised the shame, looking ahead to the reward’. Here it says God will reward you by giving you many converts and blessing these converts exponentially based on the shame and confusion you experience. Don’t try to get out of the shame/difficulty/persecution, but see it as part of the cost. Know that as you suffer, God is promising to reward you thru your seed. ‘I the Lord love judgment, I HATE ROBBERY FOR BURNT OFFERINGS’ now I want you to pay attention here. In the New Testament Jesus teaches the way people ‘rob God’ is by not meeting the needs of people. He rebuked the Pharisees for tithing to the temple and using this as an excuse to not meet the needs of their parents. Jesus said when you didn’t meet the needs of the destitute that you were NOT MEETING HIS NEEDS, Jesus is God! John says ‘how can you say you love God who you don’t see, when you don’t meet the needs [love demonstrated] of the brother that you do see’. It is common today to use Malachi and teach ‘robbing God’ in the context of ‘not tithing’. Because the New Testament temple are made up of people, the New Testament teaches ‘robbing God’ is done by not ‘giving’ to this temple, which are people! I have taught all this before, but I want to change your thinking in this area. You must see the people as the temple in order to not ROB GOD. ‘I WILL GREATLY REJOICE IN THE LORD, MY SOUL SHALL BE JOYFUL IN MY GOD’ I want to end on this high note, even though the last verse of this chapter is also good [go read it!] I personally believe this to be a key ingredient at this time for us. The joy of the Lord is our strength. ‘But brother, you ‘rebuke’ so much in your writings, you teach correction a lot. How can you have joy when there is so much difficulty and trials and stuff?’ Our joy is not dependant on our situation, it is fixed in God. Read the Psalms, David understood this principle. Paul said his contentment was not based on outward circumstances. Let’s grasp hold of the great reality of what God has done for us; we are going to live forever! Don’t lose sight of the great things God has done. Be joyful in God at all times. I know he is going to do great things for all of us, let’s rejoice in the Lord, and again I say REJOICE! NOTE; ‘for confusion and shame your children shall posses a double portion in the land’ [my paraphrase] this past year my 2 oldest daughters [19-21] both purchased their own homes. They ‘possessed’ double of what I own. I see God doing things in the natural first, then the spiritual. A couple of our friends from the early years have just begun doing home groups in their cities, they have been serving the Lord, but it’s been a while since we really established anything consistent with these guys. I felt like the Lord was saying ‘our seed [yours too!] will begin possessing the Land this year’.
(529) The other week I took some homeless friends to the church I attend, as well as to a ‘tent church’ that had around a hundred homeless people show up. My intent in telling this is not to condemn any particular style of church. I want to share the reaction/way my friends saw things. In my church the service was focused on tithing. The church recently built a big building [seats around 3 thousand] and it just so happened that this Sunday the message was on tithing. My friends also saw in the church pamphlet that around 8 million was raised from the 10 million needed for the building campaign. Now all of these scenarios play out all across the world on a regular basis. There are well meaning and good intended brothers/churches that find them selves in these scenarios often. My friends liked the church, I was happy to have them see it for the first time. I was not critical nor did I critique the tithing message. My friends later made comments about how the money could be used to house and feed poor people. And they simply saw the other things that the money could be used for, they were seeing thru their world. Later at the tent church many destitute people came. They all had church and ate donated chili dogs. More of a street ministry. Over the years of teaching on church and trying to change the mindset of believers, I have run across well meaning believers who question ‘well brother, where are all the believers going to meet? If you want to reach 20 thousand people, you will need a 20 thousand seat auditorium!’ This is why I am trying to steer us more towards the New Testament mindset. It is all too common to truly reach between 1 to 5 thousand people. To then see growing as expanding in the size of the meeting place, and then the believers see the next level thru the eyes of ‘bring in the money so the rest of the people can be reached’. All well intended, but it lacks the focus of New Testament evangelism. Paul and all the other first century Apostles and believers practiced a type of ‘church growth’ that simply said ‘preach the gospel, allow all the people in the cities to spread the word to all the other people. Meet in your homes, break bread, share the great message of redemption. Send people out to other places as God leads’ [Acts 13- Paul from Antioch] and keep growing along the lines of spreading a revolutionary message about Christ. This New Testament mindset never appealed for the Galatians or Ephesians or any other city of believers to get into building campaigns to reach the rest of the harvest field. This mindset also allows for the rapid growth of the gospel to go forth. It is empowering all Christians to do their part. You see your responsibility more along the lines of spreading the gospel, than along the lines of raising money. I do believe and understand that their truly are good guys [Pastors] and others who are advancing along the lines of mega churches. And it is hard to write entries like this. I just wanted you to see the perspective of my homeless friends, and also how the contemporary church sees evangelism along the lines of ‘I need so many members in order to have the funds needed to go to the next level’. This mindset sees the amount of people that need to come to church and give so much for the organization to grow. It can become very limited in its appeal to the Sunday church goer. They can begin to see themselves solely along the lines of ‘We need to be faithful to raise so much money’ they begin to see their main measure of faithfulness and sacrifice along these lines. The New Testament believers were seeing faithfulness in different ways. There were appeals to help Paul go to the next city to preach, and appeals to help the needy, but they weren’t seeing the appeals that are common today. Paul wasn’t asking ‘we need to raise lots of money to go to Galatia and build a church’ or to fund a huge ministry to reach Galatia. They were simply needing the money to survive and get their bodies to the next city in order to preach the word. This is real people evangelism, all the people seeing their main responsibility as being involved, not giving money. Well I don’t mean to offend in these entries, I pray for the success of all of us [I really do!] I just wanted to share some input. I also at times feel bad for the young Pastors who can get in over their heads financially. They are doing it for the most part out of a true love of God. I feel they put themselves at times under great financial strain because they see it as what God wants. It might be at certain times, but it also is an out growth of seeing ‘church’ as having the building big enough for everyone to attend. Sometimes God wants the growth to go outward. You didn’t see the Ephesians or other New Testament churches finding places big enough where they could all get together. They grew along the lines of more people meeting across the cities and being a part of one family of believers in the city. No need for one place to all meet. Say if you had 50 thousand in a city turn to Christ. I know some mega churches [Paul Yongi Cho-Korea] do try to simply build bigger places, as well as home church growth. But the New Testament mindset was not seeing it at all along these lines. They were spreading a radical revolutionary message in the hearts of people. This allowed for the people themselves to run with the message. NOTE; I usually don’t give examples that ‘hit this close to home’. I want the church I mentioned above to succeed. Those of you in the Corpus area that read this blog and attend this church, I want you to do all you can to give and support the church. If you are not giving money in other well established Christian avenues on a regular basis, then give all you can to help the church you go to! Give 10 % or more! Our goal is to see the overall transition of Gods people from the normal view of church, back to a radical 1st century view. It is common in revolutionaries to go overboard [I have!] and then want to see the ‘old church model’ fail. This is not what God wants. Don’t take entries like this and then wait for your view to win while the other guy fails. This is not Christian! So to all the local brothers who read this, support the church financially as much as possible, also begin spreading the Kingdom as well.
(530) A few years ago a famous atheist, Anthony Flew, renounced atheism and professed belief in God. A very intelligent atheist, he saw the impossibility of life and all things being a result of a past history where supposedly nothing existed. It is impossible! I just read an article how in the year 2000 a famous Paleontologist, Meave Leakey, discovered evidence against evolution. In Kenya she found 2 skulls that were supposed to have been ancestors who ‘evolved’ millions of years apart. She found them in the same location. The same ‘level’ that proved beyond all doubt that these so called ‘ancestors’ lived at the same time. To be honest these so called ‘ancestors’ are simply different species of Apes and Monkeys that people find thru out time. The knowledgeable person realizes this, the evolutionist doesn’t! The fact that Leakey’s find wasn’t published until 2007 [ in the scientific journal ‘Nature’ August 9] makes me wonder why it took so long. Well obviously the find goes against evolution, the evolutionists religiously defend their belief. If they themselves find evidence against their theory, it doesn’t help their ‘religious belief’ to publish it! I just thought it worthwhile to keep you all up to date on the evidence from both atheists and evolutionists that back up Christian belief.
(531) I watched a panel of 3 of the top Prosperity Preachers host a talk show. I thought it was real interesting, the brother hosting the show was informally talking to his friends, but you could tell he wanted to share something. He then reads from Acts where it says ‘the Holy Spirit witnesses in every city that bonds and afflictions await me at Jerusalem’. It is speaking of Paul. I noticed one of the other Prosperity guys kind of looked a little perplexed [?] as the verse was read. I know they have all taught in the past that bonds and afflictions are not what God wants for us. They have intricate systems of belief that do get around persecutions. But the brother shared it in love and seemed to allow the Lord to use him in this public forum to bring some balance back to this thing. The other brothers had no problem receiving the truth, because it was coming from someone within their own camp. I just felt this was interesting to share. We all need reproof at times, and God is jealous for his reputation. He will gain it back in this camp. NOTE; These brothers have taught in the past that when Paul spoke on his thorn in the flesh, that God was saying ‘his grace is sufficient for thee’ meant that God was saying ‘you have the grace/ability to make it go away’ kind of a perverted view of the verse. God actually told Paul ‘you can live with certain difficulties, because my grace is all you need’ in essence ‘you don’t need a perfect, affliction free environment to operate in, I am all you need’ Basically God was not telling Paul ‘you make it go away yourself’. Now I had one of my homeless friends say the other day ‘I think Paul went thru sufferings because he was reaping what he sowed when he persecuted Christians’ you could tell he has been influenced by this teaching. It was a little sad because this friend does suffer from mental problems, and he was telling me that Paul was suffering affliction as a result of his past sins. I then told him this is not true, and I quoted the verses that say ‘it is given to us also to suffer for his name’ God telling Paul ‘I will show thee the sufferings that you will go thru’ at his initial conversion. In context I explained to my friend that these verses show us the afflictions and sufferings that Paul went thru were NOT a result of him reaping what he sowed. They were an up front part of the cost that all the early believers understood. The sad thing is this poor mentally challenged brother was going thru life with a ‘form of doctrine’ that denied Gods power and reality. It had him thinking that he was really reaping what he sowed by going thru mental challenges. This is why I have said in the past that it is no light thing to undermine the word of God and to distort it. Even though many of these teachings are defined as ‘Word churches’ and stuff. This still doesn’t give you the right to distort the Word.
(532) Isaiah 62 ‘For Zion’s sake I will not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until her righteousness goes forth as brightness, and salvation like a lamp that burns’ This is intercession based on natural Israel’s spiritual conversion. He is praying ‘open up Israel’s eyes to true salvation and righteousness’. ‘And gentiles shall see thy righteousness [Christ] and all kings thy glory, and thou shall be called by a new name [the Body of Christ! Spiritual Israel, a ‘new name’ that no one knows but he who gave it] which the mouth of the Lord shall name’. ‘Thou shall no longer be called forsaken or desolate, thy land shall be married’ The great ‘marriage supper of the Lamb’ a day when Israel will no longer be ‘separated/divorced’ from God, but will be part of the ‘bride of Christ’ and thru this holy union be ‘married’ back to God! ‘As the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride [this is actually an intimate term ‘rejoiceth over’ God will actually be intimate with us and we with him!] so shall God rejoice over thee’. ‘I have set watchman on thy walls oh Jerusalem, they shall never be quiet day or night, give him no rest till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth’ Pray over Israel/Jerusalem until he makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth, this will be at the appearing of her Messiah. NOTE; some theologians today are called ‘New Perspective’ they are giving a new perspective on Paul’s theology. There are some good points they bring out. One area is they are showing how the New Testament offer of ‘faith’ to the gentiles was ‘come and believe and you too will be part of the commonwealth of Israel’ they emphasize that faith allowed gentiles to partake of the community that God already had with Israel. There is some truth to this. The extreme says ‘Israel really is in line with God now, gentiles just need to get in on what she has’ this view doesn’t see that in Christ the TWO are made INTO ONE NEW MAN. God is actually creating one new man [not asking gentiles to come into an old man] and this happens thru Christ! ‘The Lord hath sworn by his right hand, surely I will no longer give thy corn to be food for thy enemies, and the son of the stranger shall not drink thy wine for which you have worked, but they that have earned it shall eat it and praise the Lord’ One of the curses for being disobedient is the wages and things you earn count for nothing. There are different types of judgment on sin, one is you have no power to posses wealth. The other is you have no power to keep it! Here God is saying when people are in judgment they lose the stuff they earned. One of the greatest financial wreckers in society today is divorce. Some high wage people have lived in difficulty because of this. They might earn 10 thousand a month and still be broke! This is common. God is telling his people if we get right with him, not only will he give us great opportunities to earn wealth, but we also get to keep it! [That is use it for right things, not horde it!] ‘go thru, go thru the gates, prepare ye the way of the people; cast up, cast up the highway, gather out the stones, lift up a standard for the people’ A few years ago [2004] I felt the Lord tell me to start driving to work in Kingsville thru a longer route that would take me thru regional cities. During this time they also built all these new overpasses that allowed you to ‘drive on the walls of the cities’ and pray over them from a ‘high place’. This was for 3 years until I would retire [which I am in the process of doing]. I felt the lord gave me 3 intense years of prayer and intercession over a region that we have long prayed for. When I read these verses ‘go thru the gates/highway and take out the stones and prepare a way for the people’ as well as God saying ‘I will cause you to ride upon the high places of the land’ I felt things like this were signifying how God wants us to lay the groundwork thru prayer first. As I drove thru the land and ‘prophesied’ and prayed, God was ‘breaking up the fallow ground’. God has ‘land’ for you, you will begin possessing it as you are faithful to ‘go thru the land’ but also ‘gather out the stones’ this speaks of a willingness to both reprove [in love] and remove the ‘stones’ that are hindering the highway. When a road is filled with obstacles, you can still drive it, but very slow. I felt like the Lord was speaking of ‘acceleration’ a ‘suddenly’ when he acts quickly on our behalf. If we want to ‘advance rapidly thru out the land’ then we must get the stones out of the road! NOTE; I have told you guys in the past that sometimes my ‘spell check’ is prophetic. When I wrote ‘reprove’ it spelt ‘repave’.
(533) Just read a letter from my old buddy in New Jersey state prison. He ran into another old buddy of ours in prison. He gave him my books, but wants them back. So he asked if I could send some more, I will today. It’s funny, these are buddies from the past that did bad stuff. I had some crazy times with these guys in the past. Now their interested in the books and stuff. God will open doors if you maintain real friendships with people. My friend even said ‘now you have 2 friends in New Jersey prisons’. I know the Lord will use these guys in some way.
(534) I just remembered a funny story about the friend in prison. Years ago on one of my visits back to Jersey I ran into this friend. I always liked his family. He told his dad ‘Johns in town’ and the dad said ‘bring him by, I want to say hi’. Sure enough the day I am going to see him, my friend takes me down to these docks by the Hudson River. It’s close to Jersey City. We go under some bridge and wind up in some real ‘on the waterfront’ type hideout. My friend brings me to his dads ‘shop’ and he pulls open this raggedy garage door. These guys are ‘working’ on some cars in the dark. They are surprised by us opening the door. The dads ‘worker’ was cutting some car in the back and looks up with this look of ‘I hope I’m not busted’ like from the TV show ‘cops’. The dad then realizes it’s us and is real happy to see me. He was a great guy. My friend introduces me to the other guy in the corner ‘skeeter’ or something? It was hilarious.
(535) Isaiah 63 The first part of the chapter speaks of Gods righteous judgment ‘the day of vengeance’ and then mixes in mercy! ‘In all their affliction, he was afflicted’ this is interesting, God says ‘when you were afflicted, I too experienced it’. Wow, how could our afflictions be experienced by God? In Corinthians you have the doctrine of the ‘sin unto death’. There are various interpretations on this. You see certain believers who are in open sin. God allows judgment on them, even to the point of death, because they are ‘part of his body’. Sort of like God is saying ‘you guys are intricately attached to me, when you, as my Body, sin, then you are dragging me into the situation’. It seems as if God was saying his judgment is a result of them being the church, and at the same time ‘drinking the cup of devils’. You can’t have both! So in this case judgment was pronounced because they were ‘making the Spirit of God partake of evil things’ so to speak. Understand when we go thru things, especially open rebellion, God will eventually judge. It’s not out of meanness, but mercy. You read in Corinthians that when God judges us it is so we will not be condemned with the world. His judgment proves we are his kids and therefore it is really an act of divine mercy! ‘But they rebelled and VEXED his Holy Spirit’ it was ‘vexing’ to the Spirit because they were the temple of the Spirit. ‘O Lord, why hast THOU made us to err from thy ways’ Interesting! One of the prophets said ‘you deceived me, and I was deceived’. A lot of modern translations try to change this. They try to say God wouldn’t be an active partaker in ‘deceiving you’. I see it along these lines, God knows us intimately, he even knows there are fears and shortcomings that prevent us from truly entering into our destiny. He will actively allow us to ‘be deceived’ or cause us to ‘err from his ways’ because he wants us to get to the point of doing his will, he knows it’s best for us. If we don’t do his will voluntarily, he allows us to stray so ‘in the desert’ we will turn back to him. ‘Return for thy servants sake’ after the desert we then are willing! In the day of thy wrath you made us willing!
(536) Isaiah 64 ‘Oh that thou wouldest rend the heavens, that thou would come down, that the mountains might flow at thy presence’ There are pivotal times in our lives where we have done all the planning we could imagine. We have prayed, read the Word and done all the things that we thought were necessary to see God move. It is often at the end of all of our efforts that we get to a place where we see the futility of it all, apart from God! In the end, like Paul said, some water, some plant, but only God can cause it to grow! Have you seen the need for God to come down and move on your behalf? You’ve done everything else, might as well call on God and believe that he alone can do it. ‘As when the melting fire burneth, the fire causes the waters to boil’ WOW! Jesus said ‘I am come to set fire to the earth, how I wish it were already burning’ [my translation]. We will read in this chapter ‘God is a consuming fire’. Jesus understood the role he was to play. He knew it would end in violence and resurrection. He knew it would be revolutionary in nature. How can you expect to come to a group of people who truly believe in God, and then show them that they have fallen away from the true intent of God and then say ‘God sent me to tell you this’. The role of a Prophet is revolutionary by its very nature. It will ‘burn’ things, things that need to be burnt. Jesus knew the course he was on, he knew he was going to start a fire that would consume everything in its path, he said he wished it were already burning. ‘For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what you have prepared for those who wait for you’ Paul quotes this to the Corinthians. This is not really talking about the great ministries and things that we think, it can include that. But this is speaking of the unbelievable mystery of redemption thru Christ. The things that Angels desire to look into. The story of mans redemption and how God preplanned it before the world began is a tremendous mystery that no man can see unless God reveals it to him. Paul says ‘no man can say Jesus is Lord but by Gods Spirit’ Paul was not saying no one could ‘mouth’ it, he was saying no human understanding can grasp it apart from the revelation of God. ‘Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness, those that remember thee in thy ways’ God instituted things so his people would ‘remember him’. The Passover, the Lords Supper. Often time’s people remember him in these rituals, but forget him in ‘their ways’. This is the main rebuke Isaiah gives to Israel in this book. When religion digresses to a point of ritual, apart from righteous action [justice] then we are not remembering God in his ways. Because his ways are justice and mercy and caring for the downtrodden and oppressed. It is too easy today to associate Christianity with ‘conservatism’. I am neither liberal or conservative, but you will find I hold to beliefs in both of these camps. The danger of aligning Christiantiy with a political cause is then you begin to think the ‘cause’ is Christian. You can fight against the illegal alien, or be against ‘welfare’ and the people on it, and if taken to the extreme you begin to see Christianity thru a lens that says ‘we are moral preachers to a fallen society’ to a point where we no longer practice charity or justice for the oppressed. God says he wants us to remember him in ‘ritual’ as long as we also remember him in deed. ‘But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our good deeds are as filthy rags’ This verse has been a key verse in many of the revivalist movements of the 19th and 20th centuries. They focused on mans inability to please God and be good. Later on the ‘Word of Faith/Prosperity movement’ brought out good points when they emphasized that we are now made the righteousness of God in Christ. The balance here is apart from God, we are absolutely unrighteous and unable to please God. In Christ we are ‘acceptable to God’. God sees us as totally righteous. The caveat is Paul will still refer to himself at times as ‘the worst of sinners’ even after his conversion. I see the balance like this; In God we are accepted and God sees his Sons righteousness as being imputed to us by faith. During our journey we are progressively being made actually righteous. We are being sanctified. There are obvious times in this walk where we totally fail God. We then confess and repent and continue the journey. The closer we get to God, the further we see how far we really are. So Paul [and us] can at times see how ‘we are the worst of sinners’ and at the same time thank God that he doesn’t view us that way! ‘Our iniquities like the wind have taken us away’ Jesus says in John 3 ‘those that are born of the Spirit are like the wind’ Paul also teaches that as we once were controlled by sin, now we are to be controlled by righteousness. The ‘wind’ can describe how either we are led by sin or by God. It is an unseen force that cause’s things to turn in a certain direction. You can look at the wind blowing a tree and say ‘wow, that tree is being bent severely’ and yet you know it is a result of the wind. Often times I have seen [and experienced!] the lifestyle of going down paths that you seem to have no control over, friends who are at the stage of being in the street, robbing everything they can get their hands on for the next fix, and then going off to prison. At these stages they are allowing sin to bend them like the wind. I have also seen these same guys later be controlled by the Spirit and serving God. Paul said the way to ‘not walk in the flesh’ is to ‘walk in the Spirit’. Religion tells people ‘don’t do this or that’ while Gods recovery program is ‘do what the Spirit is saying’. The secret to deliverance is for a person to actively give them selves over to God and to do his works. If you ‘walk in the Spirit, then you will not do the works of the flesh’. ‘Commit thy works unto the Lord and thy thoughts will be established’ we need a breakthrough in obedience, in getting out and fulfilling Gods will. Most Christians who are running around from deliverance conference to deliverance conference are not yet ‘delivered’ because they haven’t yet fully given themselves into the active service of the Lord! ‘There is none that calls upon thy name, that stirs himself up to take hold of thee’ Why? Because our sins have separated us from God! In Hebrews it says ‘let us come boldly before the throne with a clear conscience’ it says this in context of the work of Christ in redemption. Because legally God refuses to hold our sins against us, therefore we have confidence. One of the most devastating things about sin is it separates us from God. It keeps us from coming to him. We feel guilty and unworthy and we can’t seem to get thru in prayer. God says ‘come’ and he will heal and forgive and restore. ‘But you are our father, we are the clay, you are the potter, we are the work of your hand. Don’t be really mad, don’t remember our sins, we are your people’ Isaiah uses the same ‘strategy’ as Moses ‘we are yours, we bare your name. For this reason please come and help us. It won’t look good on your record if your people don’t make it!’ We are asking God to help us because all we are is from him. He chose us and fashioned us with a specific destiny in mind. Tell God ‘you made me to do your will, move on my behalf Father, help me at this time. I have come to do thy will O God’ he often will ‘take away the first that he might establish the second’ [Hebrews]. Look for God to allow the first works of ministry to ‘dissolve’ as he transitions you into new things. Sometimes we hold onto our Ishmael’s because we truly have an affinity for them, yet God says ‘let go of Ishmael, I will still bless him, but the promise will be fulfilled in Isaac’. ‘Our holy and our beautiful house is burned up with fire’ interesting, we just read how ‘God is a consuming fire’ and how Jesus said ‘I have come to start a fire’. In the New Testament God transitioned his ‘holy place’ from the natural temple to the spiritual temple [the church/Body of Christ]. Thru out Israel’s history the destruction of the temple always represented Gods judgment. That was the significance of Jesus saying ‘destroy this temple and in 3 days I will raise it up’ this was offensive to the Jewish mind. It was like desecrating the flag [even though Jesus was speaking of his body, the Jews were offended because they took it to mean their temple]. The fact that Israel, as a nation, would not make the full transition into the New Covenant left them with their temple and sacrifices that God already said were an abomination to him [Hebrews]. Ultimately this would lead to the temples final destruction in A.D. 70 under Titus. The destruction of the temple again was Gods way of saying ‘I no longer dwell in temples made with hands, I no longer will accept animal sacrifices. I will dwell in those who accept the sacrifice of my son, and I will receive their sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving, this is the temple I will build, the temple of the Body of Christ’.
(537) Isaiah65 ‘I am sought of them that asked not for me, I am found of them that sought me not’ Paul uses these verses in Romans to show how Gods justification went to the Gentiles and not to Israel. The nation that prided herself in ‘seeking God’ were not accepted because of pride and her refusal to acknowledge the Messiah, the Gentiles were not even thinking there could be a chance of acceptance, and Jesus says ‘to all of you who weren’t even looking, you didn’t even bother to seek me, I am now opening my arms to you’ Wow! ‘I have stretched out my hands ALL DAY LONG unto a rebellious people, which walk after their own thoughts, they continually provoke me to anger, they sacrifice in gardens and burn incense on altars of brick’ God prescribed the way to sacrifice, Israel went another way. In Israel’s history you find times where she introduced a priesthood and system of sacrifice that ‘veered away’ from the ‘orthodox order’. During these times the people still had sacrifice, which they figured was good enough, but God detested sacrifices that were not in his prescribed order. Now all this points to the Cross. In Hebrews God says ‘I will not accept any more animal sacrifices, the prescribed order is now one sacrifice made on the altar of the Cross’. God is showing us here that even though many good people continue to ‘serve God in their own way’ this doesn’t cut it! You must come Gods way, his sacrifice and altar are the only way. It might seem ‘culturally incorrect’ to look at all religion outside of the Cross and deem it useless, but this is what God is saying! Don’t come to me with your own ideas of acceptable sacrifice [Cain/Able] but come to me thru the one sacrifice that I deem worthy. ‘As the new wine is found in the cluster and one saith, destroy it not for a blessing is in it: so will I do for my servant’s sake, that I may not destroy them all. I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob and out of Judah an inheritor of my mountains’ God said if he found 10 righteous people in Sodom he would have spared the whole city for the remnants sake. This is a theme in scripture. God says he spares nations and people groups for the sake of the few who still have potential in them. God does this with individuals also. He sees remnants of good still left in you. You might have failed miserably, done terrible things. Why in the world does God still stick with you? He sees potential in you still, and knows it’s worth the wait! ‘The former troubles are forgotten, they are hid from mine eyes, for I create new heavens and a new earth, the former shall not be remembered or come into mind’ Now, I don’t want to whitewash what comes before this. God does rebuke and punish the people for walking in their own ways, after their own thoughts. God brings very severe judgment on the people for their sin! But after they turn back to God he says ‘I choose to forget the past, don’t keep going back to your ‘old world’ I am creating a new atmosphere for you to operate in’ I don’t want to over spiritualize this. God will make a real new heaven and earth someday. This is true. But he also wants to make a ‘new heaven and earth’ for you right now. He wants you to come out of your own small world of problems. Don’t spend your whole life surrounded by little insignificant problems. I don’t want to demean you; I want to show you that we have a tendency to see everything thru a myopic view. In the microscope everything looks huge, until you pull your head back and look at everything else around you. Sometimes the solution to our problem is to simply pull back and see the new heaven and earth that God has waiting for you; don’t spend so much time looking thru the microscope! ‘For as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and they shall long enjoy the work of their hands’ I have often used the analogy of a tree to describe Gods people, scripture does the same. Jesus is the vine, ‘the man whose name is the branch, he will branch out from his place and build the temple of the Lord’. God wants to branch out thru you, he wants you to grow and extend thru the disciples that you bring to Christ. ‘I am the vine; ye are the branches’ you ‘branch out’ thru the people you bring to the Lord. Are you branching out yet? ‘They shall not labor in vain, nor bring forth for trouble, they are the seed of the blessed of the Lord, and their offspring with them’ these last few passages I have committed to memory. These verses are about as good as any to memorize and pray and claim. I like them better than the prayer of Jabez! ‘It shall come to pass before they call I will answer, and while they are yet speaking I will hear’ A few years ago I was in a Church service and the Pastor asked the whole congregation to pray that the Lord would pay the salary of another staff worker for a campus church in Kingsville [Bay Area Fellowship]. As the Pastor and the congregation prayed this prayer, a few minutes later another staff person came to the front and announced that earlier in the morning, before we prayed, someone already volunteered to pay the salary of the person for one year. Before we asked, God answered!
(538) This past week the Jehovah Witnesses held a regional convention in our city, the theme was ‘Jesus Christ’. The papers said they were making an all out effort to appeal to Christians at large by doing this. The Pope’s most recent book is ‘Jesus of Nazareth’ he is defending the supernatural and historical accuracy of Jesus as described in the Gospels. He is basically defending the truth of Christ. I find it interesting that most ‘Christian’ groups, even those like the Jehovah witnesses, who historically fall into the cult category, realize that the way to be ‘politically correct’ amongst other groups is to acknowledge Christ. Now I am not saying all groups are doing this out of a pure motive, Jesus said many would come in his name and say ‘I am Christ’ this not only can mean they are claiming to be Christ [Moonies] but it can also mean they are saying ‘Jesus is Christ’ but they don’t truly acknowledge his full deity. The point is even Muslims acknowledge Christ as well as do the Jews. They see him differently than Christians, but they can’t deny him fully! God will draw men to Christ; some of them will preach him out of impure motives, like Paul said. But he also said ‘either way Christ is preached’. I find it interesting that God will even use his enemies to preach his name! [Note: I am not saying this about our Catholic brothers!]
(539) Isaiah 66 ‘Thus saith the lord, the heaven is my throne and the earth my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? And where is the place of my rest’ Here we begin to see the transition that will take place in 1st century Rome. These descriptions from Isaiah are prophetic of Gods offer to Israel. Isaiah is saying ‘where is the temple that you can build for me to dwell in’? I do not want a man made temple any more. I am done with all animal sacrifices [we read that next!] God will end the prophetic message of Isaiah with his intent to transfer from an earthly natural temple, to a heavenly spiritual one, the Body of Christ! God will show his displeasure with all animal sacrifices, not just certain ones. For Isaiah to claim to be speaking for God, and to say these things seems blasphemous to Israel at this time. You must see that Isaiah is coming against all the ceremony and system that God instituted. To say these things was to put himself in the same category of Paul who the Jews will accuse of trying to destroy the law and Temple worship. But Paul was saying this post Christ, Isaiah was saying it before the Cross. How could Isaiah get away with this while the law was still in effect? The Spirit of prophecy sees and functions in future realities. When God opens up the future to a prophet, he simply speaks what he is seeing. It is Gods prerogative to proclaim his disapproval of the old system in anticipation of the new one that was to come. ‘For all those things hath mine hand made, but to this man will I look, to him that is of a poor and contrite spirit’ God says ‘I will not dwell in the temples of men, but in those who are humble and contrite’. Jesus said unless we humble ourselves and become as little children, we will not enter Gods kingdom. Here we see the ‘stones’ that the new temple will be made of, humble contrite people. ‘He that killeth an ox is like he slew a man, he that sacraficeth a lamb, as if he cut off a dogs neck, he that offers an oblation, as if he offered swine’s blood [and you guys think I am harsh!] and he that burneth incense as if he blessed an idol’ In essence Isaiah is saying the same as the book of Hebrews. You must see that in the mind of God, all animal sacrifice, after the Cross[which Isaiah is seeing thru prophecy, he is speaking ‘post Cross prophetically’] is an insult and an abomination. I am going to start a commentary on Hebrews as soon as I finish Isaiah, I want to put the book in proper perspective. When the writer of Hebrews says ‘those who continue to sin after they were enlightened, that God will not allow them to renew their repentance’ it is not speaking of believers, as commonly taught. But it is telling Israel ‘if you reject Messiah, and think you can keep bringing me all these sacrifices of repentance, I won’t accept them anymore. You cant be ‘renewed again unto repentance, you have done despite to the Spirit of Grace and have trampled under foot the sacrifice of God’ The reason the language is so strong here, is because God is saying when you continue to sacrifice animals after the once and for all sacrifice of my Son, then you are doing disgrace to Grace. For Isaiah to being saying this, pre Cross, is amazing! ‘Your brethren that hated you, that cast you out FOR MY NAMES SAKE said, let the Lord be glorified, but he shall appear to your joy, and they shall be ashamed’ the brethren of Jesus cast him out for what they thought was Gods will. The rejection of Messiah was seen to be an act of Israel’s orthodox belief. They truly thought they were doing the will of God. Jesus even said a time was coming when people would kill believers thinking they were doing Gods service. But in the end God appeared to Jesus joy and they were ashamed. ‘A voice of noise from the city, a voice from the temple’ Gods ‘city’ and ‘temple’ are the people of God. God has a voice that comes forth out of the temple. Rivers flow from this temple. Jesus said he who believes, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. God speaks thru his church. Some have attempted to ‘de gender’ God. They will say that God is both male and female. This is not so. God is definitively male. Then where is the feminine voice? It comes from what the Spirit is saying thru the bride, the Lambs wife. God has purposed to speak this way. So you have both the male and female sides seen. Paul said that the Jerusalem which is above is the mother of us all. The ‘Jerusalem from above’ is the church, the city of God. Scripture says listen to the voice of your mother and your father. We are to hear what God says [Father] and our mother, the corporate voice of the Spirit that has spoken thru the church, the mother of us all. ‘Before she travailed she brought forth, before her pain came she was delivered of a man child, who hath heard such a thing? For as soon as Zion travailed she brought forth her children. Shall I bring to the birth and not cause to bring forth?’ God is saying there is a process to the things he wants to birth from you. Part of the process is travailing, it is the severe pain experienced at the end of pregnancy. We often equate that pain the wrong way. We think ‘well, things are so hard here at the end, I want to quit and go home’ God is saying don’t quit, you are about to give birth. Don’t misread the labor pains; it is a culmination of the long months of waiting. I determined to bring you to this point of extreme pain, it is my process. Don’t abort! ‘Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, be glad all ye that love her’ It is vital for us to enter into joy. Jesus said after the woman gives birth, she forgets all the pain she went thru, because of the joy of bringing forth the child. Begin rejoicing in God, he will do great things. Scripture says ‘when the Lord turned the captivity of Zion, it was like a dream’ God is going to so move on your behalf that you will think it is too good to be true! ‘I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the gentiles like a flowing stream’ Jesus said ‘Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you, not as the world giveth give I unto you, let not your heart be troubled neither let it be afraid’ You have the inner ability to ‘not let your heart be troubled’ the world runs to doctors and drugs, we run to God. ‘As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you, and you shall be comforted in Jerusalem’ God comforts us ‘in Jerusalem’. In the book of Galatians the Body of Christ is called ‘the New Jerusalem, the Church, the mother of us all’ in the book of Revelation John says ‘the city that comes down from God out of heaven, the New Jerusalem, is the bride, the Lambs wife’ God says we are comforted in community. John also says [in 1st John] ‘when WE walk in the light, WE have fellowship one with another and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses US from all sin’ God works in community, as well as with individuals. Some times we as believers go to one extreme or another. Soren Kierkegaard, the great 19th century Philosopher/Theologian wrote as a Prophet against what he saw as the abuses of the institutional church. The Danish state church had a lot of formality and ‘spectator’ Christianity. Kierkegaard emphasized Gods desire to reveal himself to people individually, outside of ‘the church’. He would say things like ‘the congregations are totally useless, there is nothing good to be found there’ and then he would say you can only truly serve God outside of ‘the church’. Well God does see all of us ‘as the church’ and he works thru individuals as well as ‘groups of people’. God wants to ‘attach’ you to people for his purpose and destiny. You need to ‘walk in the light’ with other believers, so God can ‘comfort you in Jerusalem’ the corporate city of God. ‘For I will set a sign among them, and I will send those that escape of them unto the nations… to the Isles afar off, that have not heard my fame, neither seen my glory, and they shall declare my name among the gentiles’ sound familiar? This sounds just like the day of Pentecost, in Acts. God gathered all types of people groups to Jerusalem for the outpouring of the Spirit, and these nations/people groups went back to their own areas and spread the gospel. God sends those ‘who escape’, out to be evangelists. Many times you will ‘go thru hell’ and barley escape with your life, but the reason God let you escape was for the purpose of sending you out to other places and people. Don’t make bargains with God and not keep them! How many times have people said ‘God, if you get me out of this one I sware to do this or that’ are you out? Then do what you said! [note: in the New testament Jesus and James taught to not even make these types of vows, so I am not advocating doing this, but the point is many of us have, so if you did do it, now fulfill what you promised God you would do!] ‘For as the new heavens and the new earth shall remain before me, so shall your seed and name remain… and all flesh shall come to worship me.. and they shall go forth and look upon the bodies of those who transgressed against me, for their worm dieth not, neither shall the fire be quenched, and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh’ I want to end our study of these last 15 or so chapters of Isaiah with a brief overview. God tells us ‘I am going to make all things new’ God has a real future eternal hope for all those who are in Christ. We need to reaffirm the truth that heaven is real! As well as a ‘new earth’ that he will make new some day. God also affirms thru the Prophet that hell is real! Theologians, even good ones, have differing views on hell. I like R.C. Sproul, he is one of my favorite theologians, he believes the references to ‘hell fire’ are symbolic, but he states ‘the real punishment will be worse than real fire’ the reason I wanted to add the above verses on ‘the worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched’ is because Jesus himself uses this terminology when describing eternal punishment, the ‘worm dieth not’ indicates that there will be a real physical judgment that lasts forever! God doesn’t want ANYBODY to go there. How many will go? I don’t know, but this I do know, we as believers have the only hope in the world to keep people from going there, his name is Jesus Christ. I exhort all of you to begin doing all you can to reap in a huge harvest of souls for God, we can’t bring our cars and houses and money and stocks and all these other things with us, but we can bring people! Gather up as many of them as you can, so you will have some friends and family when you get to the other side.
(540) I got with some friends the other day. We were talking about the Lord. One of the guys brought up the verse where Jesus says ‘it is harder for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven then for a camel to go thru the eye of a needle’ both of these friends are homeless [or about to be]. They are poor and have struggles. The one friend shared the verse to show how riches are not as important as people think. The other friend shared the interpretation that I have heard before. He said some people teach that the ‘eye of the needle’ was a low gate in the wall of Jerusalem, and that the camels can get thru the gate, but they have to crouch down and that makes it difficult. Now this teaching has been taught publicly by prosperity teachers. It used to be fairly popular in this camp. I find it sad that even this homeless guy was affected by it. I told my friend that I too was familiar with this teaching, and that it is fake. Historically there is no evidence of a gate being the ‘eye of the needle’. Second, the response of the disciples to Jesus saying this was ‘who then can be saved?’ they took Jesus words the way you and I would take it. That he was saying something that was impossible to do, except for God. It’s stuff like this that we need to be warned of. You interpret scripture thru the plain meaning, the fact that the context of the verse shows that the disciples didn’t think he was speaking about a ‘low gate’ in the wall should guide us into the right view of the verse. The word for ‘needle’ in this passage is the word used for a regular sewing needle. False teaching is harmful; Christians should refute it in love.
(541) Sometimes we overlook the obvious. In our local news paper they have been doing a story on one of the staff that follows her efforts to lose weight. She is overweight and every week they tell you how good or bad she has been doing ‘this week I feel bad, I ate too much’ and stuff like that. I read a commentary from the section of the paper where they print the public’s letters and comments. Some lady wrote in and said ‘can’t you show us an uplifting story on people who have lost weight’? She went on to describe how this story is depressing, the poor girl is never overcoming anything, always falling off the diet. She then said she even caught her at one of our restaurants with a ‘rather healthy portion of unhealthy food’ [ouch!]. Well I just read her story yesterday. She shared how when she was getting up to walk in the mornings, you are supposed to eat before you walk, so she would. Also you should eat when you get done, she did! Then she found out you shouldn’t eat right before walking, and she walks early, so should you get up at 4:00 a.m. and eat and go back to sleep and wake up at 6:00 a.m. and then walk and come home and catch your ‘after workout meal’ and maybe catch a few more zee’s before starting your day? Obviously the problem is TOO MUCH FOOD! Now, I don’t want to be mean. I have the habit of not eating at all until around 3 or 4 pm. I then will have a light snack around 7 or so. I only eat once a day. I am not bragging, and I have had people tell me this is unhealthy, maybe it is. The point I am making is if you’re ‘routine’ to lose weight has you possibly waking up at 4 a.m. to eat, you have a wrong routine! Don’t overlook the obvious. Christians are notorious for this. I was talking to one of my homeless friends who struggles with mental issues. He is very smart and suffers from a form of Autism. He also has battles in the mind. I recommended him to read a chapter of Proverbs a day. I also have seen Christians who can’t understand why nothing good is happening in their lives. I ask them ‘are you praying, do you read Gods word’? the basics, often they answer ‘no’. Don’t fall into the category of our poor ‘dieting lady’ do what's obvious. If you are having trouble loosing weight, well for heavens sake don’t wake up early and eat 2 meals before you start the day, you are obviously stumbling over a food issue if you are doing this!
(542) I have had an interesting few days. The other day I went to the homeless hangout to see some friends. I usually have a few people ask me for a few dollars, I usually give it. I had an old friend ask for a dollar, I really didn’t have one, but I did have a twenty. I have given away twenty before. But I took a risk and gave him the 20 and asked him to bring me the change. I have done this before and without fail I have always got the change back, often with the receipt! They have to go to the corner store and come back. They usually want it for cigarettes, I know some will rebuke me for this, but I won’t do it for beer. The reason I take the risk by giving them a 10 or 20 is because they can’t believe someone trusts them again, after the many failures they have had in their lives. This is why they can’t wait to get back with the receipt, to them it is an honor to get another chance. Well I waited for Angel to bring me back the change, he never showed up. I am not mad or angry at all, I saw it only as an opportunity to really show trust, I know he failed and I am out the 20, but I have spent many 20’s before. Well I knew as soon as I would see him I would forgive him. I don’t want him to avoid coming around the homeless mission over this. I didn’t realize he was doing that bad. For someone to break trust like this means they are probably on some drug, ‘ice’ is real popular on the street right now. Later in the day I had a few of the homeless guys come back to the house for a fellowship, it was good. The next day my daughter was real sick and I had to admit her to the hospital for a few days [she is still there] sure enough I needed that ‘darn’ 20 for coffee and stuff, no big deal, I hit the ATM machine. I thought it interesting how some people would give up completely on these homeless guys if this happened to them. Mercy and grace are things that are undeserved. God doesn’t require us to let people walk all over us [to a degree] but he does require of us to show love and compassion to those who at times are ungrateful and unworthy. Jesus was spit at, they tore the beard from his face. They put a bag over his face, punched him, took the bag off and said ‘now big prophet, who hit you, you think you’re such a prophet’. They stripped him and nailed his Body to a Cross, they hung him up over this ancient hill. They made his mother watch in tears and agony. They [we] were very cruel to the Son of God. He says ‘Father, forgive them for they don’t understand what they are doing’ and then a little while later will cry ‘my God, my God, why have you left me’. I think we can put up with not getting the change back from a 20! NOTE; I had both the Catholic and Protestant Chaplains come by and see us at the Hospital. They were making the rounds. I spoke to the Protestant brother for over an hour, I was ‘preaching’ and downloading stuff into him at an alarming rate. Usually you can only communicate so much to a person at one time. The Lord really opened a door to fellowship. He has many friends in Alice and told me how he just transferred from the Alice hospital to Corpus this year. I told him I felt the Lord was going to give us an ‘Alice’ connection this year [Alice is the name of one of our regional cities] he indicated he thought it might be him. He is a real good brother, open to the many things the Lord is doing. Maybe we will do a home group or something with him. I gave him this blog site, hopefully we will keep in touch. His name is Jeff, if you read this brother send me an email!
(543) While at the hospital I had the chance to catch the local religious cable channel. I have direct TV at the house and don’t get to see it. I was a little embarrassed, the level of what Christians broadcast makes you wonder if God wants the ‘TV’ to be a medium for anyone who holds a church service. I also saw a commercial for a national ministry who broadcasts locally. It was a short clip on how it is always Gods will for you to have an abundance of money. This is the well known ministry out of the Fort Worth area. There are times in our growth as Christians where we are at a level that is immature. It’s OK to be there when you are growing. It is not good to then broadcast this level on a wide scale to a broad audience. It would be like taking your 3rd grade class lectures and putting them out on the air as university lectures. It just doesn’t fit. The commercial that said it is always Gods will for you to have an over abundance in all areas [money] is a very unbalanced view. I know they sincerely teach this, but it is unbalanced. For the whole region of south Texas [and all the other places where this ministry broadcasts] to hear this level of teaching is not good. Maybe in some cases it would be OK to teach the biblical concept of God meeting our needs in an abundant way, he surely can do this. But to miss the whole point of ‘being content and in Gods will when both having an abundance and lack’ is directly opposed to what this ministry broadcast. So all I wanted to share today is we as Gods people need to recognize when we are really not at the ‘level’ of a broad audience. Don’t seek to make your voice heard beyond the parameters that God has ordained. Let God lead in all the teaching and outreach you do, if he says not to go ‘regional’ or ‘worldwide’ then don’t! If he says ‘go’ then go! But don’t simply get into this arena because you can. Just because a local cable channel allows you to broadcast to a wide region, doesn’t mean you should. It has a tendency to ‘fill the air with our words’ instead of what the Spirit is speaking.
(544) To you guys who never read the introduction any more, I just posted our latest book in the book section of this blog, it is a commentary on Hebrews. That’s why I haven’t updated this section in a while [for those of you who come to this section every week!]. Don’t forget to read the introduction every so often for new updates. Hope you like the commentary, John.
(545) I am reading Deuteronomy and thought I would share a few thoughts [chaps 1-8]. As Moses is standing on the edge of the promised land he asks God ‘can I please go into this land’ God says ‘no, and don’t ask me any more about it’. It seems kind of harsh. It also seems like God is saying ‘I know I have called you to this place. Your whole desire to see the land is something I put in you, but because you represented me in a wrong way before the people, I can’t let you in [yet!]’. Did you know that I found a verse where God let him in? I am not spiritualizing it either. You know the verse also. The Mount of Transfiguration! After all those years God said ‘now I will let your feet touch the land my son!’ it’s like God knew how bad Moses wanted to posses it, so during the true time of inheritance, the coming of Messiah, God said ‘inherit’. God gives a lot of promise’s and lessons in these first 8 chapters of Deuteronomy. He also tells Israel ‘because you didn’t believe me when I told you to go into the Promised Land, therefore I made you wander in the wilderness for 40 years and I caused you to learn a lesson’. What was the lesson? He taught them that man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God! How did he teach them this lesson? He gave them plain Manna every day for 40 years. They couldn’t store it up, they had to trust him for ‘beggars bread’ if you will. Hey, if they took the one big step of faith 40 years earlier they would have had tons of great food that they didn’t have to ‘believe for’ every day, it would have just been there, in abundance! But instead he showed them what it means to trust his word. They got to a point after 40 years where if some stranger showed up and said ‘how are all you guys getting fed?’ they would have said ‘no big deal, every morning God gives us Angel food’. It would have seemed like a big deal to the stranger! God taught them to believe in his consistency. They learned that to believe for the big moment [40 years earlier] would have been better than to believe for the ‘little moments’ thru out the 40 years! We just finished Hebrews. Why does God allow Samson to be in the great ‘heroes of the faith’ chapter? Samson had a lot of problems; he had moral failures and was actually quite the playboy. He also had moments of ‘great faith’. He knew when to lay it all out on the line and risk it all. He pulled down the pillars and killed all the enemies of Israel, and oh yes, he knew he would die too. That made up for a lot! I think it would be easier for us to believe God at the edge of ‘our promised land’ than to go 40 years learning the same lesson, in little bits at a time! They still displayed a lot of faith, but it took 40 years of it to make up for that one day!
(546) Deuteronomy 9-11 In chapter 10 God tells Moses ‘this time when you come up and get the 2nd set of commandments, build me an ark [box!] so you don’t ‘accidentally’ drop them again’. It is a little funny, Moses broke the first set of commandments out of anger. God says ‘lets do it one more time, but just in case you lose it again, bring a box to put them in!’. Moses had an anger problem. This is what kept him out of the Promised Land! But God even uses this as a prophetic type. Moses actually led the people thru their journey under a ‘second covenant’. Of course the 2nd set of commandments had the same words on them as the first. But it was a type of the prophetic ministry of Moses who was a symbol of Jesus. Jesus of course would establish a new covenant in his blood, so Moses was symbolizing that 2nd covenant thru this act. Also if you review the first 10 or so chapters you will see Moses emphasize again and again the need for obedience. He tells the people ‘if you obey, your kids and land and businesses will be blessed. God will take away all sickness and disease from you. All will go well with you and your kids and you will prolong your days in the land’. God also says ‘you have been at this mountain long enough, it is time to move on. Go north’ I felt like the Lord was telling us to begin looking ‘northward’ see beyond where you have been. You might have spent 40 years in a wilderness place, begin obeying and believing God for new things. Look to him alone. When God called Abraham he called him by himself and took him and brought him to a strange land and made of him a great nation [the children we are reading about right now!] Can’t you remember when God called you in the early days, how it was just you and him? Rekindle that original flame, tell God ‘it’s just me and you again Father, show yourself strong on my behalf’. God wants to do great things with you again. One more thing, when God told Moses to come up the 2nd time to get the 10 commandments, he said ‘bring blank slates’. God asks us to bring a clean slate to him. Sort of like a blank canvas that he can paint on. If we have too many preconceived ideas on how we think things should be done, then that hinders God from painting the beautiful picture that he has in mind. Let your life be clean and open for him to do what he wants. God bless you guys, and don’t forget ‘don't brake what he paints this time around!’
(547) I woke up yesterday and wrote down ‘subscribe to a few Christian magazines’. I have subscribed to some years ago, but it’s been a while. When I went to my P.O. Box later in the day, I saw that Charisma magazine sent me a free subscription! The issue [Oct/sept 2007] dealt with so much of what I have been teaching this last year. I wonder if Lee Grady reads my blog? [I have sent him my books over the years] I liked the article he wrote. It was a warning against exalting natural Israel to a point where we undermine the need for Jews to be saved thru the blood of Christ. It was a lot like the themes I have spoken on this year. Then when you went thru the rest of the magazine it was filled with articles and ad’s for all types of Jewish stuff! ‘Buy this Hebrew prayer shawl’ and things like that. It was a little funny to be honest with you. I have subscribed to charisma before, to be honest they are way to ‘shallow’ to truly learn from. Now I am not saying I am too good for them, I think the abundance of articles from well meaning women preachers [I am not against women!] on ‘you can have what you say’ or ‘you can achieve some goal’ is not cutting it in preparing believers to live in society. I was at the homeless shelter a few years back and just hanging out with some homeless friends. I wasn’t preaching or anything. Some brothers were talking about the Lord and a new guy but in. He said he was at one time a professor from Berkeley [the liberal university in California] and that he had taught an entire course on how Greek wisdom and writings contained all types of Christian thought before Christ. Things like the story of Hercules and myths on ‘a son of the gods who would come and save the world’. He explained in true atheistic fashion that all of these sources contained much of what you find in scripture, therefore scripture and the story of Jesus are fake imitations of Greek wisdom. Now I usually do not get into these debates with homeless guys, and to be honest this guy probably thought I was homeless! The long hair and scraggly clothes fit in well with this bunch. But I had to correct this ‘professors’ attack on the faith. I explained to him that I was familiar with this teaching, and that the way I usually answer it is to tell the person [which I was about to do!] that before you had ‘Greek thought’ you had ‘Jewish though’ [the Old testament Prophets and stuff] and that in ‘Jewish thought’ are contained all the hidden shadows of a future Messiah and all other types of ‘pre Christian’ ideas. Therefore any overflow of this ‘thought’ into ‘Greek thought’ was simply a Greek copy of the true! So therefore all of this ‘professors’ refutation of Christianity is now refuted! Touché. He seemed a little depressed over this. It was like he never heard his false ideas challenged before. I did do it in love. But he should have just kept his mouth shut and not have tried to use his ‘Berkeley wisdom’ on some red neck town deep in the heart of Texas [Kidding a little here!] What’s the point? The point is if we keep feeding the church messages on how to get wealthy and to have a successful career, then we are not truly equipping them for society. I thank Charisma for sending me the free magazine, but like I said in the past, the only good stuff in it seems to be the short introduction from Lee Grady.
(548) In reading Deuteronomy God tells Israel to tear down the altars and high places where the pagan nations worshipped their god’s. Later in Israel’s history we find out that they didn’t fully obey God in this. Eventually Israel would wind up offering their children on the altar of Moloch. Moloch was a god [demon] that the pagans made an idol of. This statue was heated up by fire until the arms of the idol were bright red. Then the people would place their babies into the arms. God told Israel they made their babies pass thru the fire unto Moloch. They eventually adopted the practices of the other nations. We do this today, in a much more hidden environment. We allow for a woman to go to an abortion clinic and for a doctor to insert a knife and dismember the baby. We do this under the guise of ‘a free and open minded society’. We lie! I have found it sad how those who pride themselves in being liberal minded often hold to the most bigoted idea’s one could espouse. In Darwin’s last book [descent of man] he taught a type of evolution that said ‘the whites are further along down the path of evolving. It is obvious that the Negro is still much closer to the Monkey/Ape than the white. Both physically and mentally’[paraphrase]. Now, for any liberal to hold to this mans ignorant ideas, and to hold to them in such a way that he is proud to say ‘I believe in Darwin’ is total stupidity. Darwin’s theory has come apart at the seems in the world of science. Many scientists have come to the conclusion that the theory can lo longer be honestly held. There are tons of scientific reasons for this. But the simple fact that many in today’s society pride themselves in being ‘disciples’ of Darwin then also think that those who oppose his views are ‘bigoted’ these same people hold to one of the most racist ideas ever put in print. Hitler himself read and was a believer in Darwin’s theory. He actually believed that the extermination of the Jews was a faster way to eliminate the inferior races. This theory of Evolution is demonic at its core. It makes it easy to abort children with no consideration of the actual life of the child. We have our own Moloch’s today! NOTE; God Said that men who did not retain him in their minds would be given over to foolishness. Recently the fossil ‘Lucy’ has been making the rounds to different countries by way of airplane. Many scientists were up in arms that the flying around of this ‘precious fossil’ might endanger it. There were all sorts of debates on how to protect it and all, the best first class service for sure. How satan must be laughing at the stupidity of men who go to great lengths to protect the flying bones of a monkey, while at the same time aborting thousands of children on the planet who were created in the image of God!
(549) I had a Pastor friend years ago who was struggling to raise money for his church. He was a good man, but because of the heavy emphasis at the time on ‘bring in the wealth’ and other off balanced teaching in the church at large, he began to focus on all the money promises in scripture. A big part of the Sunday service was on God doing ‘money miracles’ any correction would of course be seen as ‘you are an instigator causing trouble’. It was so easy to fall into the category of spending most of you waking hours believing God for a financial miracle. These types of scenarios play out time and again with good Pastors. It becomes easy to fall into the mindset of viewing God and his resources as the primary thing to believe for, because after all these good men are all surrounded by other good Pastors who are all raising money for good churches. We don’t even see the great body of Christian teaching that speaks of the Kingdom of God being carried out by the poor and humble person. There is so much evidence in scripture, but we overlook it in order to fund the modern machine! Paul lived in a day where wealth and meeting places [buildings] were in abundance. You even had huge coliseums! For Paul to have reached as many areas as he did with the gospel, and with the average salary of say ‘a firefighter’ or some other average paying job, is completely overlooked by the good ministers who appeal to Paul's writings to raise wealth. These brothers don’t seem to see that Paul could have easily gone down the road of ‘renting the coliseum’ or organizing the early church around a multi million dollar organization, yet he saw in the simple proclaiming of the gospel, with minimal financial resources, the key to reaching ‘his world’. I want to exhort all the pastors and leaders who read this blog, look to the simple reality of God again. Don’t become so tunnel visioned that you see God only thru the lens of a money miracle. Money is a small aspect of completing the mission, it can become large if you see it that way, but it is small in the overall scope of the Kingdom.
(550) Deuteronomy 13-18 The Lord instructs the people that he will meet all their needs financially, and that they will always have the poor among them. Just like Jesus taught! The balance is that God would give more than enough provision into the community, and whether or not all the needs were met was up to the generosity of the community. The same thing you see in the book of Acts. Certain rich people gave and the poor had their needs met. To develop a doctrine form Deuteronomy that says to the poor ‘if you just had faith you would be rich’ violates Paul’s teachings in Timothy [chapter 6] where he says certain teaches in the last days will teach that gain is godliness [that is you can measure godliness by material wealth] from such turn away, they have erred from the faith. So in context God will bless us all as a family of people, but do not teach a material gospel. Also the Lord tells Israel ‘when you get into the land and set up a King over you, don’t let him accumulate great wealth unto himself’ interesting, God says make sure your leaders are not living high on the hog thru your money. We violate this all the time in today’s church. How many stories of teachers with million dollar condos and homes, all the while appealing to a broad audience of Christians to give sacrificially. God isn’t saying that leaders can’t prosper, but he is saying they should not be getting rich from the overall giving of many average wage workers. It is so easy to simply read all the wealth verses in this book and to look right past all these warnings. Why do we do this? We all have a tendency to ‘see’ what we want to see and overlook the rest. The Lord also gives instruction on Prophets, he says ‘if a Prophet prophesies something and it comes to pass, but he leads you away from the true God, don’t listen’ also ‘if he prophesies something and it doesn’t happen, don’t listen to him’. It is easy to recognize the second one as false, but we often overlook the first one. I have heard so many times over the years ‘well brother, I know my teachers teach that Jesus was a millionaire, and it works for me, that’s all that counts’ no it isn’t! Whether it works or not is irrelevant [in this instance] God says if it leads you away from the truth, then it’s false! Let all of our teaching and instruction bring us back into alignment with the character and nature of God, he is the goal.
(551) Deuteronomy 20-25 You read ‘the elders of the city’ a lot in these chapters. Paul will eventually choose to use this terminology to describe the leadership of the New Testament church. These were plural leaders among a group of believers in a city. Not singular preachers of groups of people in buildings on a set day of the week! You did have the singular model in Paul’s day. Where? In the system of the Pharisees and Synagogues! The concept of a ‘president’ of the synagogue leading the people on Sabbath day in Christian [Jewish] instruction was being carried out in Paul’s day. Paul used to be part of the system! He chose the concept of elders over a city, instead of a singular title over a part of the people that met in a building. I think we need to get back to the better model. Also instruction is given that when the children enter the land they are to share the fruits of the land with the stranger. They are not to totally reap all the fruit from the trees or the fields. The stranger can walk in your fields and eat whatever he wants; he just can’t take it with him. These guidelines are given for the benefit of the alien [stranger]. God says I want you to remember that you too were strangers in Egypt. This cuts to the heart of so much of the present debate over the illegal alien issue of our day. I do understand the anger that some have over this issue, God says ‘remember, you were all aliens at one time or another, don’t get so self righteous. If I tell you to share your goods with those who don’t deserve it, then do it. I am the one who brings forth the produce, so share it with others’. God has blessed us financially and materially, he requires us to share it with others. A few difficult verse’s 23:1 God says if a man is wounded in the ‘private area’ he cannot come into the congregation. God is not telling people if they have had some sexual accident that they cant serve God, he is saying he wants people who can ‘procreate’ in his church! He wants people to be able to ‘reproduce’ [soul winners] for his Kingdom. 23:14-15 God says when you ‘go to the bathroom in the land’ dig a hole and bury it, because he is in the land and your land must be sanctified. If it isn’t then he can’t ‘walk among you’. The spiritual lesson is we can’t accomplish anything without God’s presence. We need him, stay clean so he can work among us. Only by the blood. Also when a man dies without having children, his widow shall marry the brother so he can have seed remain in his name. If the brother says ‘no, I do not want to raise up seed to my brother’ then he is taken before the elders and they take off his shoe, spit in his face, and his name is called ‘the man who has no shoe’. What’s this all about? God is saying be willing to build others up, your gift is not given for you to build your ministry, or the people who relate only to you [church members]. But I have given you gifts to raise up ‘seed to your brethren’ as well. Use your gift to help others, others who can’t repay you [I think I heard this somewhere before? Jesus!] If you don’t, all the people will know your church well, it will be the one in town where every body where’s one shoe!
(552) Deuteronomy 28-31 The Lord promises much material blessings in these chapters, but he also says the Levites who receive the tithes are not to own anything. They could not use the tithe as a means to accumulate wealth. I find it funny that the modern church teaches the tithe, but leaves this part out! Also Moses is told ‘you will not go into the land, but help Joshua go in’. Moses must see his gift as something to use to build others and help them achieve goals that he himself will not achieve. Moses learns the true principle of the least being the greatest. He will be the only one who will enter in after death! Out of all the adults who were in the wilderness, only Joshua and Caleb go in to the Promised Land. Moses goes in after death at the mount of transfiguration. He fulfills the symbol of Christ as the first fruits unto God. Moses tells Joshua ‘you must go in with this people’. In the world of church and Pastoral ministry, I have seen how good men will start a ‘work’ and sometimes out of fear begin to look for someone to ‘take it over’. God tells Joshua ‘you must go in too!’ In Moses case the word of the Lord was ‘don’t go in’ [yet!] in Joshua’s case ‘don’t not go in!’ Have you allowed fear and intimidation to lead you to think it’s time to ‘get out’. Only move [remove] as God directs, don’t start looking for a replacement, you have too many years to fulfill, you must go in with this people! NOTE; I thought I just ‘heard’ someone say ‘is this guy talking about me’? Hey, if it’s for you, then yes!
(553) Deuteronomy 32-34 Moses tells the people after he dies they will fall away from God and spend years in judgment. This is a necessary failure. He will hide his face from them and they will realize that God alone is God and they will find help no where else. God does stuff like this a lot! One of the verses in chapter 28 says ‘you will have confusion for the sight of your eyes’. This summer I had a terrible case of vertigo. I eventually found out it was from damage that is done to the inner ear from a viral infection. I researched some natural supplements and had to choose between 2 types. I chose St. Johns Wort and also eventually took Valerian root as well. The ‘St. Johns Wort’ seemed ‘prophetic’ enough, it has my name in it! But I never saw any prophetic indications with the Valerian Root. I have a homeless friend who is a deep bible student, he has been asking me to look up Spikenard for him. It is a biblical thing. He has been talking about it for a while. Yesterday we were at my house fellowshipping and I gave him a bible dictionary and said ‘look it up’. He reads the definition, it comes from Valerian Root, Oh well there’s the ‘prophetic’ thing. The real point is God allowed me to go thru a season of ‘disorientation’ cause of ‘the sight of my eyes’. You mean to tell me brother that God chastens you? Oh my, I would never go thru stuff like that. You lie! In the last chapter Moses dies and scripture says ‘no man knows where his tomb is till this day’. I like this. Moses is still fulfilling prophetic imagery in death. Years later a prophet would arise in Israel whose name is Jesus. He will claim to be sent from God. Many will challenge this claim. He will do no wrong, and no deceit will ever be found in his mouth. They will get tired of him. They will finally railroad him in an unjust court and bring false witnesses to testify against him. They will crucify him in front of his friends and family. They will put him in a grave and 3 days later he will come back to life. He will give instructions to his followers and ascend into heaven. This fact is the singular most historical fact of the first century [of all centuries!] many will testify to this. Because of the significance of this movement many will do their best over the centuries to disprove his story. They will search high and low for ways to disprove Jesus. They will spend years and millions looking for ‘the tomb of Jesus’ with a body in it. They will never find one. Just like the people of Moses day would never find his body in a tomb either. NOTE; a few verses that I liked at the end. God says ‘a fiery law shall proceed out of thy right hand’ ‘everyone shall receive of thy words’ and ‘my doctrine shall drop down like rain’. I like these images. I have prayed the scriptures ‘pour out your Spirit on my seed, your blessing on my offspring’ ‘I will pour water on him that is thirsty and floods upon the dry ground’. I felt like the Lord was saying he is going to give power and authority to those who are truly speaking what the Spirit is saying. Not just motivational stuff! God raises up prophetic voices to deal with real issues, not just to motivate you into a successful life. They said of Jesus ‘he speaks with authority, not like the regular preachers’ if you want this type of effect, then you must say what the Spirit is saying.
(554) I just got back from some fellowship with one of my homeless friends. He was studying some end time scenarios and discussing the book of revelation. He is very knowledgeable. I tried to steer the conversation more towards the spiritual signs of the end times versus the geopolitical signs. I shared how Jesus will come back for a glorious church not having spot or wrinkle. So an important sign is the condition of the church, the true temple of God. To look at the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem as a major hinge event of Christ’s return, and to the many different end time scenarios as what must happen and when, this gets us off of the main themes taught by Jesus in Matthew. Jesus teaching on the end time is much more basic than these elaborate scenarios. Jesus actually says that after the tribulation of those days that the sign of the coming of the Son of man will be seen. He also says that after the tribulation one will be taken and another left. Pretty plain. I realize that the brothers who hold to the more elaborate themes see that Jesus will take away believers before the tribulation. I know all the explanations of this [I think!] but I shared with my friend that if you simply picked up the bible and read that after the tribulation of those days Jesus will come back and some will be taken and others left, that you would see that Jesus will return and take people after the tribulation. To then develop all types of ‘secret’ comings, to view the verses where the Lord says to John ‘come up hither’ in revelation, and then to say ‘this is where Jesus secretly catches away believers’ is to complicate the simple eschatology of Jesus. My friend was discussing a lot of the other ideas of the end times, I tried to focus him on the fact that Jesus wants us to grow in him, evangelize the world, and not get sidetracked into trying to figure out all types of national scenarios of global proportions. My friend did say that Jesus said the gospel will be preached in all the world before the end comes. I agreed and shared with him that Jesus told us that when the church is loving each other the way he taught [full maturity] then all nations will know that we are his. In essence we got back to the ‘sign’ of the church being mature and being the holy temple that God desires when he returns. My friend saw the point. NOTE; During the conversation I mentioned how we sometimes get locked into certain viewpoints that can lead to ‘seeing’ a possible reference of Jesus and saying ‘this is anti-christ’. I mentioned how many modern preachers see the verse on the rider on a white horse who is going forth to conquer and freely say ‘this is anti christ’ [Revelation 6- Zechariah chapter 6 actually calls these horses the 4 spirits of the heavens, which go forth from standing before the Lord of the earth, hardly a picture of anti christ!] You will see images of Jesus being on a white horse later in revelation, and also one of the reasons people have seen this first reference as ‘anti christ’ is because of the plagues and judgments that follow this rider. I shared with my friend how in Revelation the seals and bowls and other images of judgment are the judgments of God, not satan. So it would not be inconsistent to see Jesus on a white horse prior to the release of judgments, as a matter of fact this is one of the main themes of Revelation. My friend almost saw this idea as heresy. He told me how he too views the rider as anti christ, and how because this rider has a bow [a pagan symbol from Rome] that he is anti-christ. I briefly quoted off the top of my head a few scriptures where God uses a bow in prophetic imagery ‘I will bend Judah like a bow’ ‘children are like arrows in the hand of a mighty man’. I didn’t want to argue with my friend, I just tried to show him how we can be so sure of certain ways of seeing things that we never even give a second thought to interpreting a possible Jesus verse as ‘anti-christ’. This is the problem with a lot of these drawn out end time ‘prophecy charts’ they have way too many dogmatic scenarios that seem to lose sight of Jesus! Revelation says the testimony of Jesus is the spirit [intent] of prophecy. All prophecy should ultimately testify of Christ, not anti christ!
(555) I mentioned the other day how one morning I woke up and thought I heard the Lord telling me to subscribe to a few Christian magazines, and then later in the day I found a Charisma magazine in my p.o. box, well a friend also just gave me a year old Christianity today magazine that someone had given him. I read some articles, I was happy to see the amount of deep Christian books, put out by well respected theologians, on the view of church that I espouse. There were a lot of articles on the church as a natural organic community of people as opposed to the institutional thing. Many thoughts and ideas I have taught. They were coming from brilliant minds. I felt this to be a confirmation to a lot of the things I have taught. So in the past few weeks I saw the Lord confirm many of the things I have been speaking over the years, and it was confirmation that I didn’t expect or seek for. Why is this important? We all need to be encouraged and affirmed in the message we speak. In the previous entry, why is it so hard for intelligent Christians, who really know the word, to see obvious ‘Jesus’ verse’s and see them as ‘anti chirst’. Because we have been taught certain views of religious things and we hold to these views ‘religiously’. When someone comes along and says you need to re examine your views, it hurts! Old Testament prophets were rejected on these grounds. God will often confirm to you a ‘new way’ of seeing things thru the mouths of 2 or more witnesses. I think when I woke up the other day and heard the Lord say ‘get Christian magazines’ that what he was really telling me was he would confirm to me that we were on track thru the witness of 2 Christian magazines. I didn’t look for them; they just ‘accidentally’ found their way into my hands. NOTE; I just looked up the chapters in revelation that deal with the riders on white horses. In chapter 6 you see the rider on the white horse that some say is anti chirst. I think it is Christ. In chapter 5 you see Jesus as the one who has power to open the book that releases judgments on the earth. He is the one opening the judgments in chapter 6. In chapter 19 you see Jesus coming back on a white horse going forth to judge and make war. Some say the verse in chapter 6 can’t be Jesus [hey, you only have 2 mentions of riders on white horse’s in Revelation. In both references war and judgment are seen to be tied in with the rider] because war and judgment come right after. That is exactly why it just might be Jesus! NOTE; I see this thinking as being indicative to the way we truncate Jesus and his prophetic role in judgment and magnify the doctrine of anti chirst. In revelation [the book!] you are not seeing anti christ as someone going forth to conquer, you are seeing the righteous judgments of God and the vindication of Christ’s Kingdom in the earth. The ‘judgment’ of the beast and satan are things coming down upon them, not them going forth to conquer. It is this overall view of prophecy that permeates modern evangelicalism, it has a tendency to see prophecy thru the lens of the anti christ and the beast. It unintentionally ‘exalts’ the work of the enemy. If we follow the guideline given in the book of Revelation itself, that the testimony of Jesus is the spirit [intent] of prophecy, then when you come upon verses of judgment being released after the appearing of a rider on a white horse, your initial reaction isn’t to see this rider as anti christ, but as Christ, the one whom prophecy points too! NOTE; Might as well run with this a little more. Scholarship has shown us that one of the earliest new testament books written was Thessalonians. That’s interesting, why would the lord inspire this book before the others? Because it dealt with a major threat to the early church that was imminent. Paul knew there were to be extreme persecutions coming to the early church. He would write the early believers and warn them of demonized leaders who would attack God's people. Many believe the early writings of anti christ refer to early Roman Emperors [Nero and others]. Now if this is true, and Paul was warning the church of future persecutions that were on the horizon, then it only makes sense that this letter would be written early on, before the persecutions got into full swing. I mention this because another field of teaching goes into elaborate schemes of what will happen in the rebuilding of the temple in the last days. While it is possible that there will be a rebuilding, it is not necessary! You can argue about all the technical details surrounding the scriptures that speak of the destruction and desecration of the temple. You have had multiple times in history where these things happened. Some believe that the later references [like in Thessalonians!] refer to events surrounding the destruction in a.d. 70 under Titus. Now we didn’t always know for sure that Thessalonians was written before a.d. 70 and that would eliminate the references as referring to the a.d. 70 date. But now we are sure that Thessalonians was written before that date, around a.d. 50. So without being dogmatic, I wanted to put some context to the debate. You do not need the revived Roman empire to fulfill things in prophecy if the 1st Roman empire already fulfilled it! So let’s get some balance and knowledge to go along with all our end time scenarios. We might be looking for things that already happened [like the destruction of the temple]. NOTE; It is still possible that a temple will be built in Jerusalem, I just want you to see that there were immediate concerns that Paul was addressing to the readers of his letters. Warning the Christians in Corinthians about marrying, maybe it had something to do with the Lord revealing to him the upcoming persecutions of believers. Paul might have been saying ‘for the present time, don’t get married, we have lots of persecution coming ahead’. The point is we need to understand the real significance that the early epistles had to the hearers of the letters. We can not allow our belief in the inspiration of scripture [which I hold to!] to bypass the practical aspects of the letters that were being written. The recipients had to have had some practical application to what was being written. So any letters referencing the destruction of the temple, or future leaders who would destroy Gods people and desecrate the temple, these references must be seen in the context of the times. If Paul prophesied a coming desecration of the temple, and he said it a few years prior to it’s destruction, then you must question whether or not this is what he was referring to. Jesus early on prophesied the destruction, it is only natural for the Apostles to have held to this belief as an early tradition of the church. It was quite obvious that the destruction that Jesus spoke about happened in a.d 70, it is very possible that this was the same event Paul was speaking of. Don’t always read these letters as future dates, they were future at the time of writing, but a few thousand years have gone by, some of the ‘future’ things might have now past! NOTE; It’s funny, but some of these brothers believe that Jesus comes back in Revelation 4 secretly and takes away half the planet [the church] they seem to find this ‘taking away’ from the verse that says to John ‘come up hither’. They also see a possible verse describing Jesus on a white horse and call him ‘the antichrist’ and these same dear brothers think I am the heretic![they ‘see’ him where he is not. They see Jesus coming and taking away a large population of earth from a verse that simply says ‘come up hither’ to John. They then have a very plain verse of a conquering rider on a white horse and say ‘this cant be Jesus because he has a bow instead of a sword’ this reasoning is crazy!] God does have a sense of humor. Also in the book of revelation you have prophetic imagery. The beast and the dragon and the lamb. Revelation uses extreme figures to clearly show forth either the righteousness [white horse] or the judgment [pale horse] of things. John is seeing things in stark images. To then translate the rider on the white horse in a way that is ‘secretive’ [i.e.; satan appearing as an angel of light] would be going against the main flow of the images in revelation. This prophetic book clearly uses symbols in stark contrast. Though the book itself has many ‘tricky’ symbols, the symbols themselves are not hidden, but obvious. Like the ‘great whore’ and stuff like that. I want to stress that the brothers who believe these silly interpretations are very smart. In the above example they will have all types of deep reasons why a certain image means a certain thing. Deep studies into the possible rise of the Roman Empire and things. While I personally do not see their views as correct, they have done lots of research and background work in espousing their views. How than can intelligent people overlook some of the plain stuff I just showed you? It’s because we have a tendency to go down certain paths in our thinking, and once we go down these paths it never dawns on us to take a breath before you so adamantly describe the rider on the white horse ‘oh, he is the anti christ’. All of us need to lay our knowledge and past influences at the foot of the Cross. I am not saying leave your brain at the door! But we need to approach scripture with a broad view of Gods overall purpose. If you see revelation from the context of Kingdoms being in conflict, and you view Johns prophetic writings as the Spirit showing us that the Kingdom of God will face fierce resistance from the kingdoms of men, then you will be looking for images of Jesus conquering in the face of fierce opposition. You will also see the church going thru great trials throughout the centuries. You will see God vindicating his people, and even honoring the prayers of his martyrs. You will see the empire that John was living in at the time as one of the most severe threats to the fledgling church [Rome and the early centuries]. This will help in the overall view of the book, seeing it in the light of the way it was written. This style of literature was called ‘apocalyptic’ in the early church. There were ways to see this type of writing. I am not saying that revelation isn’t inspired, but see it in context of the larger picture. John shows the Kingdom of God ultimately triumphing over the kingdoms of men at the end of the age. We know that these figures are still in the future, but much of the imagery of Rome [the city on 7 hills] and its war against the saints had fulfillment during the early centuries. It had real meaning to the church then, as it does to us today. Why resurrect the Roman Empire as well as all the other images in order to fit our day. The book was meant for all the church. So our brother’s who lived 2000 years ago had stuff about them and their struggles, as well as the future hopes contained in it for us. The book is a wonderful prophetic vision given to encourage the people of God thru out the ages. The message is the ultimate triumph of the Kingdom of God over the kingdoms of men. We see a victorious Jesus leading a white robed [righteous] army of saints in certain victory. Don’t read the book looking for 666 and stuff, I know it’s in there, but the purpose of the book is to testify of Jesus conquering Kingdom, not the anti Christ.
(556) Started reading Joshua. As God brings them into the land Joshua is like Jesus in Revelation, leading the people into a triumphant victory. In both books you see 2 spies [witnesses] you have the harlot Rahab getting judged [she is declared righteous, a Divine act of justification-Hebrews 11] and you have the great whore of Babylon getting judged in Revelation. You have the Old Testament Joshua which means Jesus in the New. As the children of Israel take Jericho they see how God is working supernaturally on their behalf. They then go to the next city, Ai, and only send in a few thousand troops. They lose around 36 men. Joshua overreacts to this loss and falls on his face. Tells God ‘why did you make us come over this Jordan, we could have stayed on the other side. When all our enemies hear about this they will surround us and kill us’. He has quite a pity party! It’s like God is looking down and telling Jesus ‘hey, I know I picked the boy, but who would have thought he was going to take it this bad!’ It’s funny, the Lord finally appears to him and says ‘get up, what are you doing on your face? You have encountered a problem, so deal with it’ God reveals to Joshua that one of his men has some of the goods hidden in his camp and that’s the sin that caused the defeat. They get the guy, make him confess, and everything is O.K. Not! They stone the brother to death and then to make sure he’s dead, they burn the guy! Ouch! I could just see one of our local gangs standing by thinking ‘and we thought our gang was bad’. The Lord deals with the sin and they regroup. I find it funny how Gods leaders all have a tendency to overreact to problems. I think it’s in our nature. Leaders have the ability to see farther than the rest of the community, they also come to more drastic conclusions when things go wrong. Elijah, Moses, etc... The Lords solution was ‘deal with the problem, do what you have to do, get up off of your face for heavens sake, and let’s get on with the program’. I don’t like these types of answers either. I wish the Lord would give me a special response like ‘son, I see the problem. Your right. I will rapture you and destroy all your enemies. And I will make all those people who talked about you feel bad that you aren’t around anymore. We’ll show them’ God doesn’t do this, he tells us ‘get off the ground and start moving’ are you moving forward yet?
(557) Joshua- As Joshua takes Jericho, they experience failure at Ai. They violate the principle of God being with them as a community. They split off and send a few thousand to Ai, God stayed in the camp! Our victory comes when we see all of our brothers in our region as the corporate people of God, don’t divide the Body of Christ, it is certainly not limited to the Christians who meet in buildings on Sunday. It is also not divided into all these different ‘churches’. We are all the Church, even the ones who don’t ‘go to church on Sunday!’ [That is if you are a believer]. Gibeon sees Israel’s victory and pretends they are travelers going thru the land. They put old clothes on and have moldy bread. They tell Joshua ‘we are traveling thru the land, make a league with us’ Joshua does, and they find out that they are really inhabitants of the land. The people blame the leaders for this bad decision, even though they all thought it was a good idea at the time! This happens all the time in church situations, if you haven’t experienced it yet, you will. So as the children of Israel start possessing land, it becomes easy. They form a habit of possessing! God will bring you to a place where you begin overcoming obstacles on a routine basis. Another dynamic that takes place is the inhabitants of the land begin forming alliances against Israel. One alliance forms, and Joshua conquers them. Then another one forms. Scripture says God put it in their hearts to do this so Joshua would cover more territory rapidly. God was allowing Israel to ‘kill 2 birds with one stone’ so to speak. Do you see your enemies forming alliances against you? Sort of like ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend’. Do people who could never agree on things unite now in opposition to you? Then praise God, he is giving you possession rapidly! The tribe Of Joseph asks Joshua for more land, they have 2 tribes to represent [Ephraim and Manasseh] Joshua says ‘you are right, go take the wood land [forest]’ they say ‘it’s to hard to take’ Joshua says ‘be strong; you would be surprised what you can do with Gods help’ Joshua learned this lesson from experience. Some times we are like the tribe of Joseph, we want people to give us opportunities. We want land given to us free and clear. We have developed this entitlement mentality in the church [and country!] Often times the answer to our problem is ‘overcome it’. We don’t like this answer.
(558) A few more things from Joshua. He tells Israel to build cities of refuge, so when someone is guilty of the blood of another person he can flee into the city for refuge. This is a type of the church. The bible calls the church the New Jerusalem, John calls her the city of God coming down from God out of heaven, the bride the lamb’s wife. All men are guilty of the blood of Jesus, he died for our sins. We can flee into the Body of Christ and find refuge in the church. Those who fled to the cities of refuge stayed there until the death of the high priest. After his death they could go out from the city and live the rest of their days in their land. The death of our high priest, Jesus, allows us to ‘go out and come in and find pasture’ we have release thru the death of Jesus as well as thru his life! The 2 and a half tribes, Rueben, Gad and Manasseh go back to the other side of the Jordan to posses their land. They build an altar on the coast of Jordan. The tribes in the Promised Land hear about it and confront them ‘why did you build this altar? Are you rebelling against God?’ They reassure their brothers that it is an altar of witness only, they will never sacrifice an animal on it. It is standing there alone, away from the tabernacle and is free from all animal sacrifice. What a picture of the Cross! And last but not least Joshua commands all the people to honor God, he makes them publicly commit to serve the Lord. He then sets up this ‘great stone’ and says ‘this stone is a witness for you, it has heard all the words you have spoken. Don’t go against what you have said’. This is another type of Christ. Jesus is the ‘great stone’ that all judgment has been given to. He has ‘heard all the words we have spoken’ and seen our thoughts and intents. Don’t rebel against him. He also is the ‘capstone/headstone’ that completes the temple of God [the church]. In the prophets [Haggai/Zechariah] they shout ‘grace, grace’ unto it as it is being placed at the temples completion. Jesus will return someday and complete the glorious temple of God, the church, and he does it with absolute grace. He is the great stone!
(559) Felt like the lord had a word for you ‘Those who I give great authority to, are required to walk in humility. The authority requires it. If pride gets in the way, I will not remove the authority, but instead allow humiliation. Either you humble yourself, or I will humble you. I am more concerned with fulfilling the mandate thru you, than for your own personal comfort’.
(560) This goes with the last entry, but I wanted that word to stand alone. In the early church you had leaders who raised the dead and operated in miraculous signs. None of them organized a ministry around their personalities or saw their gift as a means to obtain financial independence. They were not operating with today’s mindset. When undue attention was given to them because of their gifts, they saw it as their responsibility to reject it. They would not allow themselves to become famous and become the center of attention. I often hear talk on the return of the early power once again. Until we rethink the purpose and nature of our gifts, we will not have the character to handle it. The present church thru pride has grasped an ideology that sees the gifts and the people as tools to bring success to themselves. This spirit must come down. It is no accident that Jesus dealt with the money changers the way he did. He understood that the merchandising of the gospel would be a tremendous hindrance to his purpose in the earth. We, as a people, must repent and return to a simple concept of all Gods people being equals, and the gifted ones in our midst are simply carriers of the gifts for the mutual benefit of all Gods people. We need to humble ourselves once again.
(561) I heard a brother speak the other day. He shared a good message. He confessed that most of his background and study came from a certain type of Christianity. He shared from A.A. Allen, John G lake, Kathryn Kuhlman and others who were part of the ‘latter rain’ or healing movements from the middle of the last century. He also said how after he became a Christian he called Rhema Bible college and ordered ‘one of everything’ they had. He had quite a big load of books and tapes! The message the brother shared was good, he seems to be a very humble man. I remember studying many of these movements myself, I realized the danger that comes from seeing only one particular aspect of the church. Like studying year’s worth of teachings that all have the same fundamental error. You might think you are learning year’s worth of knowledge, but in reality you are feeding from a very skewed idea of Christianity. The people the lord used in the latter rain movement were good people [with many flaws] that for the most part were gifted in great ways. I feel the problem with this movement was the whole concept of fame and ‘platform performance’. They didn’t see the wrong paradigm that they were operating from. They didn’t realize that these gifts should be used in a limited way from such a platform. They fell into the mindset of the day that created an organization around them and their personas. So you had tremendously gifted people, like William Branham, who operated in tremendous giftings, but who also had some serious doctrinal flaws. He taught racist ideas about blacks, the ‘seed of the serpent’ and things like this. I do not view all of these people as false prophets, the danger was the individualistic style and performance mentality that went along with the gifts. Real gifts, less than ideal ways of expressing them.
(562) John:1 Jesus is called the Word of God, he comes into the earth as the incarnation, the ‘fleshed out’ fulfillment of Gods Word. John the Baptist is asked who he is. The Jewish leaders ask ‘are you that prophet?’ he says ‘no’. What prophet? The one Moses said would come ‘the Lord God will raise up a prophet unto you, like me. Whoever doesn’t listen to him will be destroyed’. We covered this in Deuteronomy. They ask him ‘are you Elijah’ he says ‘no’. John was the fulfillment of the Malachi prophecy that said before the Lord comes he will send Elijah the prophet. Jesus says this about John. Why did John deny it? I am not sure, but it might be because he really didn’t know. Sort of like the thorn in Paul’s side, God allowed things to happen to Paul so he would not get puffed up in pride and side track his mission. Maybe the Lord never let John see how truly effective he was. John does say ‘I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness’ John does see himself thru the prophet Isaiah. I like this. I have personally had many words from Isaiah that I felt the Lord had given me, John saw himself in this book too. John was ‘the voice’ just like Jesus is ‘the Word’ John is ‘the voice’. John was a voice before he was a man. God had predestined John to carry a message before he was born. He had this word in his DNA at birth. His body was simply a carrier, an ‘incarnation’ of the voice that he was to have. God has predestined all of us with a purpose before we were born. Our appearing on the planet is for the sole purpose of carrying out this destiny. You are not here to be happy, have a nice income, go to a nice church. You are here to fulfill Gods will, you can have the other things or not, that is irrelevant. You must first fulfill the mission! John testifies of Christ by the Spirit descending on Jesus. John says ‘I knew him not, but by the Spirit’ John knew Jesus, he was his cousin! But John was only going to recognize the gifts and callings on people. He would follow Paul's admonition ‘know no man after the flesh’. It is incumbent upon us to recognize the gifts in others and to operate accordingly. Don’t make alliances and pacts with people based on friendship and personal affiliations. It’s good to have friends and all, but the Kingdom is built upon recognizing and receiving those who have come with a mandate from God. John saw Jesus in this light. Scripture says ‘the world was made by him, he was in the world, yet they knew him not’ Jesus was creating a divine atmosphere of grace for people to access. They didn’t even know or recognize him, yet this didn’t side track him from his purpose. Understand that God has placed you in a geographical location with a pre planned destiny in mind. God has chosen you to be where you are and for this season. You will fulfill your calling whether people ‘know’ you or not. God requires us to see the gifts in each other, but many will not appreciate what you are doing, do it any way, you have come with a destiny to fulfill, so fulfill it!
(563) John 2- Jesus does his first miracle, changes water into wine. They say ‘most people put the good wine out first, but you have saved the best for last’. This is a type of the new covenant of his blood [wine], Jesus will introduce a better covenant thru his blood. Many will not accept this new way because they have been ‘drinking’ old wine for so long, they are not willing to change. We often see this in Christian circles, people who have functioned in a limited way for years, God might bring to them new ways of seeing things, they will often reject the new wine on the basis of being comfortable with the old way, we don’t want to shake the apple cart. God wants us to shake it! Jesus finds the money changers in the temple and drives them out with a whip, turns the tables over and gets mad. He didn’t take the ecumenical approach! There are times for radical transition, I feel we are at that place now as the people of God. The gospel is not about us increasing our portfolio, it’s about laying our goals down for the kingdom. These money changers lost their influence in the ‘temple’ after Jesus got thru with them, I think it was prophetic. Jesus says ‘destroy this temple and in 3 days I will raise it up’ those hearing this mistake his Body [temple] with the building [temple in Jerusalem]. Evangelicals [some of them] make the same mistake today. They are looking to the natural events in natural Jerusalem, they should be looking at the real temple! [Both Jesus and the Body of Christ]. Jesus goes to the Passover, the people hail him and Jesus says he will not commit himself to them, because he knew what was in man. What was in man? These same people will be asking for his death not long from now. Jesus did not seek commitment from men, contrary to the way we see ministry today. Modern ministry seeks to increase man’s commitment to them ‘pledge so much money, join this or that’ Jesus knew he had a destiny, he would fulfill it without the help of man!
(564) DREAM- I just woke up, I dreamt that I was in this room with a Catholic Bishop. We were friends and helping each other out. He was going to go to some nation or place, before he left I laid hands on him and he was being filled with the Spirit. I feel like this spoke to us ministering to a large Catholic community of people. I have both given and received ministry from Catholics. I felt the Lord was saying we would have influence with our Catholic brothers. Sometimes I ‘spiritualize’ these dreams, it might be that a Catholic Bishop was filled with the Spirit while listening to us?
(565) John 3- Nicodemus comes secretly to Jesus, he is one of the few in leadership that is having doubts. The others with one voice reject Jesus, Nicodemus is wondering. Jesus rebukes him for being a ‘ruler’ of the Jews and not being able to comprehend the most basic stuff. I have found it disheartening over the years to talk with Pastors who heard someone teach that because Jesus had an expensive coat, that he must have been rich. Despite all the evidence in the New Testament how Jesus was the son of a carpenter and lived an average life. The tons of verses where Jesus is reproving rich people. The whole historical and biblical truth of Jesus being a man of humble means. The fact that he had an expensive coat can more than likely be explained by the custom of people doing extravagant acts of worship towards him. The woman and the expensive perfume poured on him. Things like this. Someone probably gave him the coat. But for Pastors, who are good men, to fall for this stuff was unbelievable. Sort of like Jesus telling Nicodemus ‘you are a leader and can’t discern the most basic stuff’! Jesus teaches the reality of the new birth. All people must be born of God thru belief in Jesus, or they will not be saved. We must stand strong for Jesus as the only way to God. John the Baptist will be told that all men are going to Jesus. John says ‘great, he must increase and I must decrease’ John understood that the role of leadership [prophets] was to point to the fame and persona of Jesus. Not to go down the common road of pointing people towards us. In modern ministry we draw people to our gifts and abilities. We structure modern churches around the gift of the Pastor. We allow leadership to become preeminent in our minds and thoughts. John knew better. We also see that the wrath of God abides on all who do not believe in Jesus. If you believe in Jesus you escape Gods wrath. It can’t touch you. Whether you are in heaven or earth, or like David said ‘in hell you are there’. That is you can’t escape Gods presence anywhere. So if you are in Christ, wrath can’t get you. If you are not in Christ, it continually abides on you. You do not escape wrath by leaving the planet during the tribulation. If an unbeliever was on a rocket ship right before the tribulation started, and wound up on the moon during the 7 years of wrath, he wouldn’t escape Gods wrath. You don’t escape judgment by being in the right geographical location, you escape it by being IN HIM! John also says a man can receive nothing unless it is given to him. Why be jealous if all of our gifts and abilities are free gifts? We act like we earned them! John says no man receives his testimony, then he says ‘to those who have received it’. What’s this mean? Paul told the Corinthians that we have received the Spirit of God so we might know the things that are freely given to us from God. God gives us his Spirit first, so we can receive his testimony. This goes back to the early centuries of the church and hits all the major doctrines on sovereignty. Augustine, Calvin, Luther [Yes Luther was a strong believer in predestination, it was no accident that he was an Augustinian monk!] Paul tells the Ephesians that were are dead in sins and completely incapable of receiving spiritual truth until God pours his Spirit into us and we become alive. Thank God that even though no man [in the natural] can receive his testimony, that God gives us his Spirit and births us so we can know the things that he has freely given to us in Christ!
(566) John 4- Jesus talks to the woman at the well. She is Samaritan and he violates the cultural norms of the day by speaking to this woman. Critics often say Christianity is bigoted against women, Jesus gave more honor to women than any other religion of the day. He tells the woman that if she asked, he would give her the Spirit that would be a well of water in her. God wants us to flow in revelation and truth, not just teach from the intellect. Now the intellect is important, God says ‘worship me with you heart, soul, MIND and might’ but you must allow the Spirit to spring up from you like a well. Jesus tells the woman ‘you have had 5 husbands and the guy you’re shacking up with now is not your husband’ she then says ‘I perceive you are a prophet’. Funny, she turns the conversation over to religion! She recognizes the prophetic aspect of Jesus words and says ‘I think you’re a prophet’. Unlike many Christians today, she believed that prophecy was more than just preaching, she knew it carried a supernatural element. They continue to talk ‘religion’ and Jesus tells her all worship takes place in Spirit and truth, not at a specific location. The religious mind looks for ‘religious’ places to carry out worship, Jesus says ‘from now on it will be done thru all who worship in Spirit and truth’. He is speaking of the new concept of the people of God being the temple. No longer will they need the temple down the block, but they will be the actual dwelling place of God. Jesus says his meat is to do the will of him that sent him and to finish his work. We often do the will, but don’t finish the task! I just retired after 25 years as a firefighter [actually the retirement is in process] and I have seen so many talented guys join the dept and do a few years and go somewhere else. They might stay a few years at the next dept. and leave again. It’s not that they aren’t talented, they just don’t stick it out. God wants us to finish his task, don’t have a resume with a lot of activity, have one that has some assignments that were completed. Jesus says look on the fields, they are ready. Don’t say ‘4 more months and then comes harvest’. We are always in the harvest. It is not something that only happens in church on Sunday. Break the mindset that is always looking down the road for ministry to happen. Ministry happens right now, all the time. You and I are in the harvest, are you picking any fruit? Jesus says a prophet has no honor in his own country. We often want a prophetic word from some out of town prophet. We enjoy going out of town to a conference or some vacation venue to get a ‘word from the Lord’. We do not like to receive from prophets in our midst. They often don’t give good words like ‘Thus saith the Lord, you will be rich’ and stuff like that. We need to stop looking for the word we want to hear, and receive from prophets in our area.
(567) John 5- Jesus heals the man at the pool of Bethesda. Scripture says an angel went down into this pool at a certain time and stirred the water, whoever got in after the water was stirred was healed. How do we explain this? Were the people superstitious? Well I think it happened just like John wrote it. We believe in a supernatural God, he raised his Son from the dead, he surely can send an angel to stir up some water. Jesus asks the man ‘do you want to be healed’? You would think ‘of course’ but people that are in situations that can lend to being irresponsible, having others take care of them, they often want to stay that way. It gives them an excuse to ‘not act responsibly’. The man says ‘I have no man to put me into the water after the angel comes’ he is looking for others to do something for him. He has a victim mentality. Jesus says ‘quit blaming everyone else, take up your bed and walk’. It’s time for our society to tell people ‘take up your bed and walk, we love you, we want to help you as much as possible, but you need to eventually take up your bed and walk’ hard stuff! Jesus will call God his father, making himself equal with God. The Jewish leaders will be offended. He then will tell them if they do not honor him, they are not honoring the Father. He says he only does what he sees the Father doing first. His life was an exact duplicate of the heart of God. Our lives should be the result of what God wants and reveals to us. Your life is not the result of your confession, or you seeking success. Your life should be the outcome of what God has revealed to you. It might mean less money, or less success. It might mean a Cross or martyrdom. Don’t presume that Gods plan for you is simply to have lots of money and be successful, it might mean less money and obscurity. But it will be an abundant life because you lived it in the purpose of God. Jesus says the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and they that hear will live. You had as much to do with your spiritual birth as you did with your natural one. Before you were born you had no power or ability to choose to be born, so in your new birth you were dead in sin and unable to ‘choose God’ he chose you. Jesus will tell the religious leaders ‘how can you believe if you seek the honor of men’ he will challenge the religious mindset of the day that thrived off of the notoriety of ‘being in ministry’. The leaders loved the greetings in the markets and public places. They lived for the honor that came from their status as ‘preachers’ who were well known. Jesus condemned this mindset. He says ‘I receive not honor from men’ in essence I am here to lay my life down, I will suffer shame and public humiliation, I will do the will of my Father and bare tremendous reproach and hatred from men. I will please my Father. Jesus tells the Jewish leaders ‘Moses wrote about me, you have his writings. If you don’t believe his writings, how can you believe in me, he wrote about me’ we have covered a lot of the ‘hidden’ images of Jesus found in the Old Testament. Paul will use these images time and again in his debates with Israel. I find it interesting that Jesus saw himself in the Old Testament also.
(568) John 6- We see the first miracle of the feeding of the multitudes. It has been commonly taught that this was a miracle of ‘location’, that is they were far from the market and couldn’t get food to feed everyone. This is not the heart of the story. It is actually a question of finance. Jesus in essence asks ‘how can we buy enough food for everyone to eat, where’s the money gonna come from?’ His disciples say ‘200 pennyworth is not enough to feed them’. They tell Jesus we don’t have the cash to cover it. This is important to see, many have taught a doctrine that says Jesus and the disciples had a large treasury with lots of money. This refutes that. This story is one of God being our supply, we don’t need to trust him for the millions of dollars we think we need to reach the world. We need to believe that he can use our limited finances to reach the world! He did it with Paul, why not you? We also see the doctrine of sovereignty again. Jesus says all who the Father gave to him will come to him, and he will raise them up at the last day. No man can come unless the Father draws him. The Father will draw all who are called. Jesus will lose none of the ones the father gives to him. These doctrines are without a doubt taught in this Gospel. I believe them. Some try to make them ‘fit’ the reasoning of men. They eventually taught that Jesus died only for the elect. That the ‘world’ in John 3:16 speaks of the ‘world of the elect’. Others taught that Jesus blood was only shed for the elect [limited atonement]. Christians have fought for centuries over these doctrines. Our Catholic brothers do not officially teach predestination, though Catholic scholars have believed in it [Augustine]. Some will later be called ‘5 point Calvinists’ others ‘4 points’ and so on. I simply believe the words of Jesus. All that the Father gave to him will come to him, those who come will be raised at the last day. No one comes unless God brings them. The point is God is the initiator, sustainer and completer of our salvation. In our minds we can’t grasp this, but without a doubt Jesus teaches it in this chapter. Now, Jesus will also teach that he is the bread from heaven and unless a man eats his flesh and drinks his blood he will not have eternal life. Many good Christians have taught that the way this is carried out is thru transubstantiation, they teach that the bread and wine turn into the literal body and blood of Jesus at the Mass [Catholic theologian Scott Hahn believes John chapter 6 is the foundational chapter for all Catholic theology]. That it just looks like bread and wine, but it is really flesh and blood. Luther and Calvin taught something almost identical, consubstantiation. The doctrine that the bread and wine stay bread and wine, but that the flesh and blood of Jesus are also literally contained within the bread and wine. This doctrine differs very little from the Catholic one. Both of these doctrines are called ‘the real presence’. The only reformer who taught what much of modern Evangelicals believe was Zwingli. He took it to be a symbol only. Zwingli was the dear brother who killed the Ana Baptists for their faith! I visited the spot where this took place in Switzerland many years ago. There is this huge statue of Zwingli overlooking the town where he drowned the poor brothers! The Jews in this chapter say ‘how can this man give us his flesh to eat and blood to drink?’ They are clearly seeing this in the natural. Jesus goes on and teaches that all who believe in him will never hunger again. He is associating eating with faith. He also says ‘the flesh profits nothing, the words I am speaking to you give life’ he is clearly teaching that he was not going to figure out a way to change bread and wine into his literal flesh. He was teaching that all who would believe in his death and resurrection were eating and getting life from Jesus, they would have eternal life. The bread that if a man eats from will live forever. I believe my Catholic and Orthodox and Lutheran brothers are Christian, I do not hold to the view that the ‘real presence’ is a doctrine from hell. I believe good Christians took the words of Jesus literally and developed a belief that became an historic belief amongst many Christians. Some of the greatest Christian theologians hold to this belief. I simply disagree with them.
(569) In reading this new book I came across a verse I like ‘The rescuer will come out of Zion and rip away iniquity from Jacob’. I am not sure which version of the bible it is, but it sure works!
(570) DREAM- I just dreamt that I took my van to the tire shop to get some new tires and an oil change. The guy asked me how far I was going, 100 miles? I told him no, around a 1,000 miles. I felt like the Lord was saying he is going to increase our [you too!] distance and influence. ‘GET OUT OF THE CITY AND DWELL IN THE FIELDS’ ‘YOU HAVE BEEN FAITHFUL OVER A LITTLE, I WILL NOW GIVE YOU AUTHORITY OVER 10 CITIES’ Be sensitive to the new areas that God is going to open for you. One word from the Lord will accomplish much more than all the good ideas you can come up with. Don’t think in 100 mile parameters, but in a thousand!
(571) Just heard from a friend in Jersey, he just did 5 months in jail. He is a few years younger than me, didn’t grow up with him but met him a few years ago. He told me he had a jail mate [room mate!] that was from my old neighborhood, he was my age and all. He told me the name and I recognized the guy, I went to high school with him. He told my friend how he got busted for holding up the gas station in my old neighborhood with a gun. He is a crack addict and spent the last 27 years after graduating [class of 1980- my graduation year] high school robbing and doing drugs. Sad. A few years ago when I was up north I was walking by my old high school and saw his parent’s deli, they own a deli right by my old high school. I went in to see if he was still around. I spoke to his brother and he simply acknowledged that he was still around, but gave no details. I guess they didn’t want to say anymore. I feel time is running out for some of us. A lot of people reap at the age of 45 [both of our ages as I write this]. Read the death row stories that come out in the paper. Most of the guys are right around that age. The harvest is ready, the laborers are few. If you are a believer and are reading this, go out into the fields and bring in some harvest before it’s too late.
(572) John 7- His brethren say ‘if you do these things, go up to the feast and show yourself openly’. The mindset was if you are really as special or gifted as you think, then go public! Jesus did not seek honor from men. He will ‘go public’ at the right time, but it will be a public crucifixion before many witnesses. He would not let them make him a king, or exalt him in their own way. Before exaltation there would be a Cross. ‘Some say he is a good man, others that he is a deceiver’ Jesus caused polarizing reactions from people. Prophets will be seen as false or good, there is very little middle ground. ‘How knoweth this man letters, having never learned’ Jesus learned, he was a good Jewish boy. They had the Old Covenant and were taught it ‘religiously’. The leaders meant he did not have the ‘higher education’ from the institutions of the day. I want to make a note here, I am not against higher education, Jesus did avail himself of the Old Testament, which was the ‘library’ of the day. A great collection of books and wisdom, if you read the gospels carefully you will also see that Jesus knew current events, he was not an isolated person coming up with his individual conclusions of scripture. I think it hurts the church to have an attitude of ‘all I need to know is the bible’ while it is good to know the Word, you should also expand your knowledge as much as possible. You don’t need the ‘letters’ or titles from men, but you should be educated as much as possible. ‘I have done one work and you all marvel’ the leaders were condemning Jesus for healing the man on the Sabbath, he tells them ‘you circumcise on the Sabbath, why cant I make someone whole on the Sabbath?’ circumcision was the cutting away of the ‘flesh’ in consecration to God. In essence it was saying ‘all that proceeds from me from this day forward, my lineage and seed and everything I am, is dedicated to God’ if they were allowed, by their own conscience, to ‘cut the flesh away’ on the Sabbath, then why not permit [in their own mind] the ‘adding’ unto a person by healing his flesh and giving him back his health. Jesus showed them that even in their own reasoning they could allow for what he did, but they didn’t give him the same lenience that they gave themselves. We often reject what a person is saying based on the actions he has done in the past, even though we allow many of the same things. Jesus said ‘judge rightly’ use the same measure that you would use on your self. ‘Yet a little while I am with you, you will seek me and not find me’ Jesus says this to the Jews who do not accept him as Messiah, they have been looking for him [unknowingly] for 2 thousand years and haven’t found him yet, boy are they gonna be surprised! The Pharisees send the officers to take Jesus, even though he didn’t openly go up to the feast, he later went secretly. He is teaching publicly and the people are amazed. They say ‘if this is the one the leaders are trying to get, why don’t they just take him?’ the officers couldn’t stop him! The Pharisees ask ‘why didn’t you capture him like we asked’ they respond ‘never man spake like him’ the authority that he had from God protected him. As the Pharisees discuss Jesus, they say ‘this people who do not know the law [word] are going after him, none of us are’. Well Nicodemus is in this group, and we know he snuck out in chapter 3 and did go ‘after him’. He is feeling a little guilty about it and speaks up on Jesus behalf ‘well, let’s not be so quick to judge, lets hear him out’. The other Pharisees reject him too ‘are you also from Galilee?’ They had this intellectual argument going that took all the Old Testament prophecies about Messiah and where he would come from. There are different prophecies that speak of Jesus in different ways, they held to a belief that when Messiah came, no one would no where he came from. Their understanding kept them in the dark. They were not willing to be corrected, they saw everyone else as ignorant, and they were the true ‘elites’ of the day. Pride keeps people form truth. We often can’t be corrected, we think the ‘correctors’ just don’t know the word. This comes from spiritual pride. Many who view themselves as religious leaders, or gifted in some way with bible knowledge, can not humble themselves and receive correction in the area where they pride themselves. For the Pharisees to have accepted Jesus, they would have had to admit that they were wrong about certain prophecies, and that the ‘under class’ was right, this was too much for them to accept.
(573) Jesus asked once ‘who do men say that I am?’ then the disciples gave a short list of ideas. How would this question be answered today? If you looked at the best selling Christian books of the last few years you would think God was a cosmic Santa Claus, some success guru who lived to give us a happy, wealthy, trouble free life. We are not the first generation of people that ‘created God in our own image’. That is we see a ‘god’ of our own choosing. We see what we want! Who do you say that he is? NOTE; The problem with modern publishing is the book publishers are in it for profit [nothing wrong about profit] this cause’s them to publish popular names, regardless of the content. So once a Christian preacher becomes famous, his stuff gets published, because it will sell. This lends to the flooding of the market with ‘average’ [or less than average] stuff. The real good stuff can be found, but you have to wade thru the ‘dung’.
(574) I was just praying and incorporated a verse into it. I usually pray for the Lord to ‘pour out his Spirit on our seed [people we are birthing into the kingdom- seed can mean various things in scripture, one of them means offspring] I also pray ‘let your doctrine drop down like rain, your speech distil like due [Deuteronomy]’ ‘Pour floods upon the dry ground’. All of these verses have been added as I read and memorize scripture. The one that we just read in John ‘out of our bellies shall flow rivers of living water’ speak of Gods flow of life and revelation thru his people. So I added this one too. May God flow thru all of you guys and flood the earth so the knowledge of the glory of the Lord will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. You have a river of life inside of you, it gives life to all who come in contact with it, let your life be a river. God wants you to overflow with his Spirit so everything that touches you comes to life.
(575) There is a trend going on among evangelicals that I like. Many of the up and coming believers are getting away from the spooky looking presentations of the TV preachers that you and I are familiar with. Many are becoming environmentally minded, they are holding to more liberal views in politics and describe themselves openly as liberal minded. I too see many of the things they see. I purposefully avoid the whole persona of the religious right. Some on the religious right mean well, some seem to be in it for the glory of the crusade. I believe we all should stand for life, that is abortion is wrong, very wrong. We should have compassion on the abused women who have been victims of the whole mindset of ‘the right to choose’. They are guinea pigs in the system. I recently heard a testimony from a person who worked at an abortion clinic. The girl getting the abortion wanted to see ‘it’ after it was over. The nurse brought the ‘it’ to her. She broke down crying and screaming, she begged God to forgive her for what she had just done. The damage done this poor girl will be with her for the rest of her life. The nurse telling the story said ‘I guess she didn’t realize what she was going to see’. This girl was a victim of the system. She was under the impression that doing this was the ‘progressive’ thing to do. It was ‘open minded’. Though I disagree with the whole persona of the moral crusaders, don’t forget what’s truly important. The death of these little babies is neither a ‘right’ or ‘left’ issue, it is one of truth. Have mercy on all those involved, but do all you can in love to defend the defenseless. NOTE; Let me give you an example on how both sides [right and left] can be ‘married’ to their cause more than truth. I personally was against the war in Iraq from the start. It was not for many of the reasons you hear the liberals give today. Many of their arguments are false. Some of them say ‘I voted for the war, but it didn’t work because Bush mishandled it, he is incompetent!’ the same group will say ‘what idiot thought you could get these warring factions in Iraq to work together, they have been fighting for thousands of years and have never been at harmony’. First, if you thought it could have worked, but bush messed it up, fine. Then don’t come back a year later and give the other argument, both cant be true! Second, these ‘tribes’ have lived together for years in a measure of ‘harmony’. They did it Under Saddam Hussein. This is the very argument that they make, that all was ‘well’ before we went in. These guys are all over the map with their reasoning. Now, when Bush got in office, he was told by the outgoing Clinton administration that the single greatest threat was militant Islam and terrorism. At the same time Saddam just stepped up his shooting at our pilots who were regularly flying the no fly zone [remember Bush 1, he signed a surrender agreement with the guy!] so Bush 2 gets in office, is told the number one threat is militant Islam, Saddam is regularly firing at our planes, also kicking out the weapons inspectors. All the intelligence from ALL the countries said ‘Saddam is massing or developing weapons of mass destruction’. Then 9-11 happens. It was a judgment decision to go in and invade. Many of Bush’s advisors had the ideology [neo con’s] that the only way to truly change the region and deal with this ongoing threat was to go in and establish a democracy in this area. They sincerely believed this, they felt Clintons strategy was not working, just ‘smart bombing’ every now and then to try and kill Osama bin Laden [or 'bin hiding'!] So the critics today would have you believe that all was well in the world before Bush started his crusade against Islam, not true. Can you imagine what Chris Matthews and all the other talking heads would have said if Bush didn’t go in? Saddam just might have succeeded in downing our planes, then what? He would have had no weapons inspectors. Over time things just might have gotten pretty bad. The fact that we did tie up much of Al Qaeda has had an affect on us not getting hit again since 9-11. It is very possible that the invasion has caused the terrorists to focus on Iraq and not have the time or resource’s to hit us at home. The critics of the war never even seem to give this a second thought. Now, why was I against this war? I felt we were spreading ourselves to thin. To go and occupy another country on the other side of the world was just doing too much. If we had to eliminate the guy, then do it like Israel does. Just send a commando force in and do it. I know this also would have had tremendous reverberations, the critics would have decried the instability of Iraq as all the tribes would be fighting for control of the country, and sure enough all the talking heads would have said ‘what in the world is Bush doing, doesn’t he know that you have to occupy a country to change it, you cant just assassinate the leader’ you will never please these news guys [note; It is the policy of our country to not assassinate leaders of other countries, some think we should re think this policy]. So anyway I just thought I would throw this in being we are talking about Christians being both liberal and conservative on various issues. NOTE; recently we have had terrible wild fires in California. Chris Matthews had the Lt. Governor of California on his show [he interviewed him on the screen, he is a Democrat] Bush was going to fly in and see the damage and support the people. Matthews asks the question ‘by Bush flying in, will it hurt or help’ he asks this in a loaded way, expecting the anti Bush answer. The politician says ‘ it will hurt us, he will be taking security resources and be a big distraction’. Matthews espouses the thought that Bush is going for purely political reasons and is actually causing great damage to the state. In essence ‘he shouldn’t go’. This is the same guy who couldn’t stop accusing Bush of insensitivity because he waited too long before he went to Louisiana after hurricane Katrina. No matter what Bush does, Matthews will find something wrong. This is not news reporting, this is simply division for the sake of ratings. I am an avid news watcher, I watch all the stations, both liberal and conservative. Matthews [hardball on MSNBC] is doing a disservice to this country. He also accused Bush of racism and neglecting the poor, he interviewed Peter King [congressman from New York] after Katrina and wanted to know why more money was cut from Louisiana’s budget than any other state in the years before Katrina. He was leading the whole audience to believe Bush was a racist, didn’t care about the poor blacks. He went on for days about this. Finally Peter King informs him on the air, that the same year Matthews is asking about, that Louisiana received more federal money than any other state [not the year of the disaster]. Obviously this is why their budget was cut the most, they still received the most out of all the other states. They cut to a commercial and you never hear Matthews recant of his racist accusations. He just drops the whole matter. So all the viewers of his show who were led to believe that Bush is a racist, they heard it for weeks from this guy, they then never were told the truth. Matthews just stopped talking about it. This guy is dangerous to this country, whether you are to the right or the left of the political spectrum, consistent lying is of no value whatsoever. NOTE; to be honest I have since come to the conclusion that the massive effort, expense and loss of life has caused me to think that the war has not been worth the cost. Hopefully things will work out better than they look right now [11-07] but the fact remains that eventually whoever runs the country in the future, we have no guarantee they will be better than Saddam. As it looks now, the group who holds the most seats in their govt. are the same religious sect that Iran’s madman holds to. Not very comforting! Also the other thing is Christians should question how the teachings of Jesus should mold our thinking in the area of war. I am not a pacifist, I do hold to the classic Christian doctrine of just war, but there are many believers who are pacifists. I remember reading somewhere how a leading Christian pacifist was debating someone who believed in war, the ‘war guy’ said ‘look at how dangerous your doctrine can be, say if everybody embraced it, what would happen?’ The pacifist answered ‘no more war’. I understand it is naïve to believe that sinful man could ever embrace it on a global scale. James tells us all wars come from mans sin and strife, so as believers we should be very ‘slow’ to go to war, a very last resort. Overall I do think the cost of the Iraq war was too much in life and money to have been justified. Do I advocate pulling out before we give the current govt. a chance to stabilize? No, that would be totally irresponsible on our part. We need to do our best to help them stabilize, but we also want to get our guys out as fast as we can. Some believe the problem is the lack of ‘financial well being’ that these Muslim countries have that cause’s the problem. They espouse the view that if the rich nations helped the poor ones [even though many of these nations have wealth, the standard of living for the average Muslim is low] that this would solve the problem of radical Islam. They don’t seem to realize that Osama was very wealthy and affluent. The problem is much deeper than money, seeing money as the answer is symptomatic of the problem with western thought in the world and church. We seem to think that money is the answer to everything, we see our God thru the lens of how he can increase our portfolio. The problem with all mankind is sin, the only solution to the sin dilemma is Christ. This is why I have said before the answer is not killing the radical Muslim, but bringing the truth of the gospel to him. Muhammad saw the idolatry in the Christian church and how far she fell from the standards of God, he saw the inconsistencies of western Christianity [really western, Rome] in the way she allowed the setting up of statues, which Muhammad saw as a violation of the commandment not to make any graven images. He saw the expressions of the Trinity, some that actually said ‘we have 3 separate Gods who are all equal’ this expression violated the teaching in scripture of ‘the Lord our God is one’. Now I am a Trinitarian, but it is not hard to see how even Muhammad could have disagreed with the above language, it is not easy to explain the Trinity! So there were some real problems that Islam saw with Christianity and went down a wrong road. Any road that doesn’t accept the full deity of Christ leads to destruction. So the answer isn’t to kill these guys, or to lift up their standard of living. But to bring the true freedom of Christ to them. Now I realize that our country wasn’t in the business of preaching the gospel of pacifism after we got hit at 9-11, but the overall answer to mans problem [all mankind, Jew, Muslim [Arab], nominal Christians] is Jesus Christ. He said ‘I am the way, the truth and the life. No man can come to the Father but by me’. NOTE; strife is in mans nature. I have a friend up north who was telling me how one of their friends was looking for a place to live, the place he is now living at is not good. The landlords are his sister and her husband. The husband has a bad temper, he has been in prison for murder! So my friend says ‘you can rent from me, I have a room where you can stay’. So they go over to get his stuff, and as their walking up to the house my friend notices they have a nice pool in the yard of this 2 story home [in Jersey where I grew up]. As they keep walking my friend sees all types of stuff in the pool, furniture and stuff. The pool is full of water. My fiend asks ‘what’s all the furniture doing in the pool’ the other guy says ‘o, it’s my landlord, he fights with his wife and throws the stuff out the window and they land in the pool’!
(576) I have a homeless friend who doesn’t like Bush [or the mayor of our city]. He is a believer and is upset that Bush has said that Allah and God are the same, they certainly are not! Every now and then when he is upset about the president, or tells me something that leads to political talk, I will kid him and say ‘well, you know what Bush says ‘Allah and God are the same’ and he will go on for at least an hour after this! He also has something against our Mayor, maybe it’s an authority thing? But he has been harassed over the years by the cops, he doesn’t drink and is a strong believer, but he is homeless. So every so often the cops harass him, he blames it on the Mayor. Sure enough I tell him ‘you mean Henry Garret’ that is the Mayors name. Well my friend didn’t know his full name, my friends name is also Henry, he wasn’t to pleased with this development. Then one day we were just fellowshipping, and I was reading the paper. The Mayor is on the front page with a broad smile, just rejoicing and full of life. I tell my friend ‘hey, your buddies picture is on the front page’ I show it to him and he must have went on for 2 hours about him, I don’t say anything about the Mayor anymore.
(577) Now that I’m telling stories, let me throw this one in. A friend was driving with another friend one day and they make an illegal turn, sure enough the cops are right behind them and turn on the lights. My friend says ‘act like your having a seizure or something, and I’ll pretend I am taking you to the hospital’. Well the cop walks up and asks why they made the illegal turn. Sure enough my friend goes into the explanation as the other person is faking the seizure or something [?] The cop then says ‘I think you are faking it’ and they get a ticket [I think they got the ticket?] Well as my friend is telling me this whole story you can see how mad they were ‘who does this guy think he is, accusing us of lying to get out of a ticket. I should make a formal complaint, how dare they question my integrity’ they went on about how unjust this cop was. I said ‘so you are basically mad that you got caught’ they admitted it!
(578) We are still going to cover the gospel of John, I just felt like the Lord had me sidetrack for these last few entries. I actually have been reading this morning as I penned the last 2 or 3 entries. Let me overview something. I am reading chapter 8 right now, I will cover it soon, but I want to focus you in on the greater objective of Jesus and the introduction of the Kingdom of God to planet earth. In Jesus dealings you see him dealing with the issues of forgiveness, restoration and the breaking in to society of a different kingdom. His concerns are not those of today’s church for the most part. We have a tendency to view scripture and Christianity thru the lens of ‘starting churches’ [Christian places for believers to meet] we view the Kingdom [those of us who don’t believe it is on hold!] thru the lens of man. We see change as something we effect by becoming wealthy and influential in society ‘the world will have to pay attention to us now, look at all the wealth we have’ or ‘look at the big voting block we represent, they will pay attention to this sleeping giant now’ we lose sight of the principles of sacrifice and humility and truly being Christ like. We want the world to notice us because we are more ‘threatening’ and influential than they are. This might get their attention, but it doesn’t really reach them for the kingdom. As we read thru the gospel of John, pay attention to the ‘other worldliness’ of Jesus statements ‘I am not alone, the one who sent me is with me’ ‘you are from below, I am from above’ ‘you can not hear or understand me, you are of this world, I am not’ there is this whole sense of Jesus operating outside of the structures and influence of men. He says ‘I am speaking these things to the world’ yet he never traveled far from his hometown, he did not have the types of journeys that Paul had. Yet he was confident that if he spoke what the Father was saying, then it was Gods job to get the message out. He knew his job was humility and the Cross, he chose to not seek the honor of men, and yet he has had more honor than any other person who has walked the planet. I just wanted to do a little ‘course correction’ here at midstream of our overview of John, don’t just read it for principles to fit in to your present paradigm and structure. It is a gospel that calls us to new birth and new ways of seeing the kingdom. Get your eyes off of the natural, see Jesus for real in this book.
(579) I feel the Lord wants me to speak out on a subject that is controversial. The death penalty. I have never been against it as far as I can tell. I usually answered any questions about it in this way ‘In the bible [Genesis] God says if a man takes another persons life, by man [govt.] his life will be taken’ so this is the justification for the death penalty. Some Christians believe that the teaching of Jesus on the New Covenant being one of turning the other cheek should mean that we should be against the death penalty. I still believe that the govt. has the right to take a life if it is proven beyond any doubt that the person is guilty of murder, and I see the teaching of Jesus as applying to the believer on not personally taking action or revenge. If you apply the teachings of Jesus to all human govts. then you would have a hard time with the teachings of Paul who taught that human govt. has with in it the ability to punish evil doers [Romans]. Now, there have been cases these last few years where people who were in prison with the death penalty have been found to be innocent, I just feel the possibility of executing an innocent person has to override the reality that there are also guilty people on death row. The problem is not with the punishment itself, it is with the weakness of a system that has actually overturned verdicts of people who were on death row. I personally think it’s time for us as a country to put a hold on the death penalty until we can fix the system, or possibly outlaw the death penalty all together. I have felt the Lord wanting me to speak out on this for a while, so here it is. NOTE; I have had friends over the years who came from big families [lots of brothers] who were all robbing, doing drugs and going to prison. One of these guys told me how he got picked up for a robbery that he actually didn’t do. During court the lady pointed him out and swore it was him, he couldn’t believe it. He went and did the time. While in prison his brother, who looked like him, confessed that he did it. My friend did the time, he told me he had done so many other robberies without ever getting caught that he just looked at it as doing time for the other stuff. Well, I just read a story about a guy who was put to death on eyewitness testimony. Someone swore he shot a cop in Texas, after his death years later they found a letter written by his nephew that said his dad [the brother of the man executed] really shot the cop. I do not know all of the details, but I know from personal experience with my friend that it is possible to be found guilty of a crime that your brother committed, the problem is if you already put the guy to death it’s too late to undo it. Also the racial disparity in the amount of blacks that are populating the prison system causes concern. Now, I know whites and Hispanics and other races are also in prison, but the percentage of blacks is not good. Many black kids do not have the same ability to hire lawyers like others due to a lack of finances. So the odds on a black person being executed innocently are higher. The racial disparity should cause us to rethink this policy in our country.
(580) I picked up a book at the bookstore a few weeks ago, I didn’t get it at the Christian bookstore, but at a regular bookstore. It was written by a Catholic theologian and it’s defending Paul’s writings in the New Testament against his critics. A hobby among people today is to say that Paul ‘hijacked’ the real message of Jesus and preached this anti gay, women hating, anti Semitic message. These critics will tell you how Jesus never said anything against homosexuality, but the homophobia you see in the church is a result of Paul. Well needless to say I disagree. Even though the author is trying to defend Paul, he is one of those higher critics who questions the authenticity of some of Paul’s letters. In his defense of Paul he falls into the category of ‘New Perspective Theology’ that just looks at Paul’s statements on Gentiles being brought in to the community of fellowship that Israel already had with God, sort of like focusing only on the verses of us sharing in the fellowship with God that Israel had. This truth, apart from the other verses on how Israel too must accept Messiah, leaves the perception that Israel is just fine in her current state [of being!]. Well in our study of John we read the Jews respond to Jesus ‘God is our Father’ and Jesus says ‘if you don’t honor me, you can’t have the Father’ though Israel ‘believes’ in the true God, yet she doesn’t know him, according to Jesus. So anyway the book wasn’t as good as I thought it would be. A few weeks back I read ‘My new kind of normal’ [I think that’s the title, it’s by Carol Kent] it was real good. She tells the story of how her son joined the military and married a nice girl who had some children from a previous marriage. The son winds up shooting and killing the ex-husband to protect his step daughters. The story is very real, that which is lacking in Christian books today. We have famous Christian celebrity authors writing things that don’t really matter, this book matters. I also just got a book in the mail from Amazon Books on the ‘Children of God’ group. I have studied this movement before, they are a cult. And I have another book coming in a few days on the story of the conversion of Jeffrey Dahmer, he was the serial killer who ‘ate’ his victims. He did accept the lord in prison and I have been wanting to read his story for a while. Have you read any good books lately [or at all]? NOTE; when I went back to spell check this entry it sounds like all I am reading is on cults and killers, trust me I read other good stuff too!
(581) Just reviewing some of the stuff in John’s gospel. The verse ‘those that believe in Jesus, as the scripture hath said, out of their bellies shall flow rivers of living water’ God wants to ‘flow’ multiple streams [rivers-plural] from your life. You must believe on him as the scripture hath said, you can’t come up with your own ideas of Jesus, they must be formed by the witness of the Spirit and the scripture. I can’t help but notice the tremendous lack of authority that comes from the average ‘preaching’ that we hear today. If you are believing in a Jesus that is really not found in scripture, you can’t have ‘multiple’ streams of life flowing thru you.
(582) We have a blind dog, she is old and sweet. Some people were going to put her to sleep and we took her. My daughter gave her a haircut the other day and it looks terrible! All chopped up. I tell her ‘look on the bright side of it, at least she’s blind’.
(583) I just heard on the radio how a famous baseball manager left the Yankees for the Dodgers. The team he was with offered him 5 million a year, he got a better deal somewhere else. I do like the man, Joe Torre. It got me to thinking about some of the mindsets in the corporate/church world. I have heard it taught that if a C.E.O. of a ‘worldly’ business makes 100 million a year, how much more should Gods people value themselves. Now, Paul was the greatest writer of the first century. Though he wasn’t a great speaker, you had others who were [Apollos]. You had the most gifted people in the church in the first century. The writing of the Gospels and the teachings of Jesus have been called the greatest teachings ever. You also had the profession of speaking [rhetoric] and writing books for money that did exist at the time. Why didn’t Paul ‘value’ his letters and get a good price for them? Why didn’t they charge for their ‘value’ in speaking and philosophy? Others did. There was a built in teaching that Jesus left them ‘freely you have received, freely give’. Peter would write leaders in the first century and say ‘take oversight of Gods flock, not for money, but out of a pure heart’. The Old Testament prophets rebuked the shepherds of Israel’s day for ‘fleecing the sheep’, getting gain from the community of God. So, even though it was very possible for Paul and other gifted saints to have made a huge amount of money, they didn’t. We must see this, because the way it is taught today is Christians find the truth out about God blessing Abraham and making him wealthy. They see the many promises of God meeting our needs, and then they go off on this tangent to see nothing wrong about becoming rich off of the people, even though becoming rich off of the people is explicitly forbidden in scripture! If you look at Paul, he was living well below the means that his tremendous gift could have earned him. He is the most well read author today [along with the whole New Testament]. Many people made a good living this way, Paul didn’t. So don’t confuse the times where Paul does speak on contributing to laboring Elders, or where he praises a church [Philippians] for sending him money. He is simply talking about the basic needs being met in these scenarios, it is all too popular for the modern minister to appeal to Paul’s writings on money and then to develop a lifestyle of wealth that Paul himself would warn against [1st Timothy 6]. So today, we do have good men serving the Lord with an honest heart, many are doing good works for the Lord. Some do make a good salary, that’s really not wrong. What I am warning against is the mindset that seems to say ‘if a C.E.O. can make so much, why not Gods leaders’? Well I just showed you why, this is not my idea, it is scripture. That’s the problem, most brothers think an argument like this is simply ‘old tradition wanting to keep Gods people under’ or ‘that old religious spirit again, rearing it’s ugly head’. Sincere people don’t realize the error of this thinking, that’s why we need to be balanced in scripture. I am sure Paul knew the ‘money promises’ in scripture. I know Jesus knew the nature of God as our provider, the God of more than enough. Yet you will find both of them giving many warnings against materialistic mindsets. ‘A mans life doesn’t consist in the abundance of the things he possesses’ ‘it is easier for a camel to go thru the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter heaven’ to the man who was experiencing great financial increase in his business ‘thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee, then who will get the things you lived for’ [his kids will fight over it with Anna Nicole Smith!] The point is You can go thru the many warnings in the New Testament against materialism and develop a doctrine that says ‘this is why Paul and the others ‘devalued’ their earnings potential’ they were explicitly taught that their spiritual gifts [whether preaching or writing bestsellers] were freely given to them, and it was on this basis that they didn’t ‘charge’ or require a salary for their services. I know this is hard to deal with if you are already ‘making a killing’ in the ministry, it’s something that we just cant get around. Don’t take all the verses where you find Paul speaking of receiving offerings, and then use them in a way that violates the warnings he gave to Timothy in 1st Timothy 6. You shall know the truth and it will set you free, but first it makes you miserable! NOTE; Over the years I have noticed a progression that takes place. Very often you will find good men who do not see what I just showed you, after seeing it they usually come back to balance [after being mad for a while!]. Others are so busy fighting their critics that they don’t even listen to any reproof in any area, these often ‘fall’ for the proof texts [individual verses] that say Jesus wore an expensive coat, Judas was stealing out of the ‘bag’ [and ‘the bag’ must have contained millions because Jesus didn’t notice the few thousand that Judas took] and then in total ignorance start teaching a doctrine that says Jesus was rich. Once people espouse views publicly, or teach them for many years to generations of people, it is almost impossible to bring them back from the brink of obvious heresy. They cant admit to themselves that what they thought all along was true revelation from God, was really total deception. It is hard to repent after you have put out tons of books and tapes on these things. My goal is to ‘catch’ the average Pastor before he spends 10-15 years teaching this stuff to his people. If a man is warned in the beginning then he can deal with it better. Why have so many fallen for this? Good men, Assemblies of God, Baptists, etc. I think one of the reasons is other ‘good men’ particularly Prophets, have not warned against it like they should have. Jesus flat out said ‘beware of covetousness’ Paul warns Timothy about this doctrine[1st Timothy 6]. Peter plainly tells the Elders of his day ‘don’t go into ministry with money in mind’. Leaders are plainly told that part of the cost is to warn against this stuff. So many didn’t warn, and many fell for it. So now what? Well at least those of you reading this can avoid this path, and as God directs use the tools you have to warn others. Take this whole blog site and send it to others you know who are dealing with this. Print sections that you think are relevant and send them out. My goal is not to build an organization [we have none!] or to get speaking engagements [I don’t do that] or to make money [we do not take offerings!] my goal is to get this thing back on track before some innocent Pastor spends 20 years wasting his life teaching this stuff! NOTE; so am I saying Christian leaders can’t be rich? No! But brother if Joe Torre can make 5 million or more, why not a believer? You can. It’s just a fact that God ordained that believers do not become rich thru the administration of their spiritual gift in a way that has other believers giving money as a direct result of the administration of the gift. The verses I showed you above do say this. Aren’t the natural gifts, say of a baseball manager, also God given? Yes. Then why can’t you get rich off of a spiritual gift, just like a natural ability, God is the giver of both. I don’t know, why don’t you ask God about it? The point is we get into natural thinking and we come to conclusions that violate scripture. Jesus said it’s very possible for the pursuit of wealth to sidetrack you [the deceitfulness of riches choke the word] Paul said those that desire to become rich have sidetracked from the faith [1st Timothy 6]. There are clear restrictions and warnings given, as well as the reality of God being able to supernaturally give millions of dollars. God is God, he has the right to be the God of abundance and also to put the restrictions in place that I just showed you. We simply need to obey all scripture. NOTE; Let me give you an example, years ago I was watching a famous prosperity teacher who still teaches many of the errors I have shown you. He said when he was younger he remembers looking up as a plane flew overhead, and with great joy and expectation said ‘you wait and see, someday I will own one of those’ he then went on to explain that that day has arrived. The years of faith and confession and ‘thinking on abundance’ finally produced this harvest. I can imagine a young Billy Graham, as a boy looking out over the harvest field of people, of reading where Jesus said ‘go into all the world and peach the gospel’ how he must have believed and confessed and ‘obsessed’ over reaching his world for Christ. A time would come where Billy would become known as the greatest evangelist of all time. What’s the difference? Billy also has brought in huge amounts of money over the years, much more than the brother who saw the obtaining of things as the goal. Billy lived and exemplified the words of Jesus ‘seek ye first the Kingdom and all these things [planes and money and stuff] will be added unto you’ one man made souls the priority, the other saw the ‘stuff’ as the goal and message. Now to be fair the prosperity guy does win souls to the Lord to a degree, but if you listen long enough the gospel of wealth is entrenched in his belief system. I share this to warn you guys, many good men do see financial miracles happen all the time. There are real stories of God doing these things with good men. When they happen we should rejoice, praise God and stick with the main message of the gospel. The deception comes in when a good man sees the true financial miracle and then falls into the trap of seeing God and his kingdom thru the lens of abundance and money and always believing and speaking and centering his life around finances. The reason Jesus and Paul said ‘beware’ is because you must BE WARE! If it wasn’t a dangerous and difficult balance to keep, then they wouldn’t have been so strong in their warnings!
(584) [THIS ENTRY IS FOR ALL OF YOU ON THE ‘MOVING ON’ WEB SITE, THOSE WHO I HAVE BEEN IN CONTACT WITH THRU THE SITE]- This version is ‘Post critics!’ Thanks to ‘Fish’ ‘Limmiwinks’ ‘smshgrl’ ‘sar’ ‘afflic’ [Sp?] and all the other comments from you guys! I sure wish you guys had real names!
I had the book ‘Jesus freaks’ sitting on my desk still wrapped in the box that Amazon used to send it in. I cut the box open and read the whole book in one sitting [around 225 pages, not real big] I have read on this group before and want to share some stuff. First, the thing that caught my interest was not that they are a ‘sex cult’. It was the fact that they started at the time of the Jesus movement out in California in the late 60’s early 70’s. The Jesus movement was a time where many hippies and young people rebelled against authority and were dropping out of the ‘suit and tie’ establishment of their parents.
Many of these kids found Jesus for real, some great ministries came out of this period. Calvary Chapel with Chuck Smith, the Vineyard Churches with Ken Gulliksen and JohnWimber, and the great music of Keith Green and ‘Last Days Ministries’ that was headquartered in Lyndale Texas [now owned by Teenmania ministries with Ron Luce]. One of the ‘coffee houses’ was called ‘The Living Room’, people like Arthur Blessit were popular at the time, the group from the Living Room would also be called ‘Jesus people U.S.A.’ and re locate and start a great magazine that also did a lot of ‘cult exposing’ and even did an expose on ‘ALBERTO’ the Catholic Priest in the ‘CHICK TRACKS’ it showed him to be a total fraud. They also exposed Mike Warnke [sp?] the author of the best selling ‘Satan seller’ who claimed to have run a coven of witches before he was converted. Mike was also a Christian comedian. I actually read the book in the early days and was a fan of Mike. I even invited him to come to our little church at one time, it never worked out. I liked Mike, and after he was ‘exposed’ it seemed to show that Mike really liked ‘telling stories’. A lot of his friends said Mike was sort of a chronic story teller. Mike was a Christian, and after this incident he did submit to other Pastors to oversee his restoration, but the fact was Mike made up most of the stuff in his best selling book. I think the name of the magazine that the ‘Jesus People’ put out was Cornerstone? It is no longer in print but you can find old copies on line.
A lot of good came out from this time. Some of the converts wound up back in their ‘daddy’s religion’. That is after they ‘got saved’ they became true students of the bible and church history and began ‘rebelling’ against their ‘rebellion’. They saw that many of the historic churches had great roots and were not totally worthless. Some went back to the older churches. Jack Sparks had a ministry called ‘World Liberation Front’ and espoused many of the ideas of the strong authoritarian ‘Apostolic’ ministries. These were the ‘shepherding’ movements that were very influential in ‘covering’ young Christians. Bob Mumford and others were leading the Discipling Movement. Sparks got into the strong apostolic stuff and would write ‘we are going to get noticed, those in the churches that do not recognize us, we will take your people’ pretty authoritarian don’t you think? Well Sparks also got into the ‘cult exposing’ movement, which also was birthed at this time, and he eventually became a Greek Orthodox Priest and as far as I know is still one today [Sparks eventually would become one of the critics of the ‘Local Church Movement’ of Watchman Nee, being led by ‘Witness Lee’ in California. The ‘Local Church’ would eventually take the cult exposing ministries to court over this] so you had some interesting fellows at this time.
One of the most interesting was a man named ‘David Berg’ AKA ‘Moses David Berg’. He was the son of Christian ministers, his mom, Virginia, was a traveling evangelist who would eventually set up shop in Florida. David learned ministry and the gospel from his years as his mother’s main helper. He also did a short stint as a Pastor of a Protestant church. David was in his 50’s about the time the Jesus movement hit, he wound up back in California at his moms house. He eventually worked his way into reaching the kids of the area, Huntington Beach and places where the hippies were hanging out. His ministry grew, eventually they would be called ‘the Children of God’ ‘The Family’ and the ‘Family international’. They were around at the same time as the other good ministries that I mentioned.
They were like a commune of hippies/Jesus freaks that eventually would have outposts all over the world. Their language and beliefs were a lot like any evangelical group of the day. Over a period of time their leader ‘David/Moses’ would espouse the doctrine of ‘free love’ which taught ‘we love everyone like ourselves’ and should share everything with everybody else. I mean everything! They became known as a sex cult. They are not the first to believe this either. John Humphrey Noyes of the Oneida Community in upstate New York taught and practiced this ‘open love’ in the 1800’s. Bergs group got a lot of heat when word got out that they practiced sex with under age children. A few magazines and news papers would introduce this strange cult to the world as they covered the story in the 70’s and 80’s. As I have read a lot about this group over the years, I have come to see how many of the kids sincerely thought they were following the Lord, and some were never involved in the strange sex practices [most knew of the open love doctrine, but some did not experience the under age abuse. I say ‘some’ for the benefit of those still in the group who have said this, but there are tons of stories of children who were abused]. Some of these today are still on the mission field with their families and are witnessing for Jesus in the exact same way that many other missionaries do. But of course the doctrine of the leader of this group was classic cult material.
You can go on line and find both pro and con web sites. Just Google ‘The Family’ or ‘Moses David Berg’ and you will find them. The reason I just read this most recent book [the other one I read is ‘Heavens Harlot’s’] is because after a few years of them fading away from public memory, one of the sons of the wife of David Berg [though not Bergs actual son] who was being groomed to be the prophet to take over the group, killed another group member out of revenge and a feeling of trying to get more heat on the group and to bring the group down [The boys mom was Karen Zerby, the leader of the group today, she became pregnant from an Hispanic waiter thru the ‘flirty fishing’[actually called ‘FFing’!] doctrine of the group which taught witnessing and ‘fishing for men’ can be done thru sleeping with men, you sleep with them, show them ‘Gods love’ and there you have it!]
This boy was sexually abused from birth and was to be an experiment on what it would be like if someone enjoyed open sex from birth, sort of a guinea pig for Moses Berg’s doctrine. Eventfully the boy left the group and became part of a growing number of second generation defectors who have made it their goal to expose and bring the group down. Many who are still in the group live in various parts of the world and have said they do not practice sex with kids any more, but still believe in the ‘open love doctrine’.
The young prophet who was to eventually take over the group was called ‘Davidito’ he eventually changed his name to Ricky Rodriguez. By all accounts he was a good young man, who rejected his cultic upbringing and was trying to make a life for himself after leaving the group. A smart, intelligent well liked young man. He could never get over his rage and in 2005 made a videotape of himself getting ready to murder one of the female leaders who molested him as a little boy. He would stab the woman to death, send three copies of his confession video to 3 friends and pull up on some deserted highway in California and put a bullet thru his head. This is why the recent book ‘Jesus Freaks’ just came out, they covered this most recent affair.
This is such a sad story. Many still in the group are trying to change it into a more ‘respectable’ group, those who have defected are trying to bring the group down. All of these kids, being taught scripture, growing up in this perverted environment. Learning true bible stuff along with the distorted stuff. Lifetimes of trying to serve Jesus mixed in with these cruel ideas and actions that are a part of their lives. Many who have defected have committed suicide. Truly David Berg was a false Prophet of the highest order, he has met God now.
There actually has been a very popular well known preacher out of the Atlanta area, Earl Paulk, who I have been praying for now for a few years. I liked watching him on TBN for years. He had a few accusations against him over the years of sexual misconduct. I do not know whether they were true or false. Paulk admitted to certain past indiscretions, but never to the allegations of certain women. They claimed Paulk secretly taught them ‘kingdom /covenant relationships’ which were basically a doctrine to justify adultery. I was hesitant about sharing the Paulk story, but I did so for a reason. Why would I see this doctrine as false, and those who teach it as ‘cultic’, and not hold the same standard to a Jimmy Swaggart or a Ted Haggard? All humans can fall into any type of sin, Paul wrote the Corinthians and told them ‘you have a brother who is sleeping with his mother, this must stop’ If a believer falls into a sexual sin, he either repents or falls into Gods discipline. But if a teacher begins justifying sin as a doctrinal truth, then you have problems. Many of these cults have done this, they see the truth in scripture about loving each other and living communally and sharing what you have with everyone else, but they don’t see the other warnings against immorality. They find polygamy taught in the old testament, or the fact that Adam and Eve’s kids had to have married each other, and they will teach incest or polygamy is for today, not realizing that the new testament speaks of being married to one wife and any thing else is adultery.
When leaders use scripture to justify sin this becomes a cult. I think we should all pray for those involved. Brother Earl Paulk has been sick [he might have even died by now?] but the latest accusation from his worship leader of many years has caused him to step down [a good thing!] but I still pray for the man. Let’s pray for all these kids still in the ‘family’ as well as those who have come out, they need our prayers.
[NOTE; I was just outside praying for you guys as a ‘community’ of people. To be honest I have added all of you as a group to my ‘prayer region’ [whole groups of people I fiercely pray over]. This is what I felt the Lord saying. Many of you have without a doubt come to know the Lord thru this time period in your lives. Many ‘regular’ Christians can’t really discern this. Much of what you see and hear in other Christian groups looks and sounds almost identical to the ‘family’ except for the ‘free love’ stuff. This dynamic has made it hard for you to relate to other Christians. They just look at you as ‘thank God you are free from that sex cult, now God brought you to us to show you all this true stuff’. The problem is many of you already know the ‘true stuff’. I felt the Lord was encouraging you as a group of people to ‘move on’ with him. Many of you are so turned off by what you have seen in other Christian groups, it’s like ‘I’ve been there’. God loves you guys so much [even this sounds abusive to you, you have heard this your whole life from the lips of people that abused you]. My heart breaks for you guys, I am so happy to read some of your stories and how some of you are still walking with ‘Jesus’ so to speak. I personally am worried that I too might come off as a religious nut. All the ‘prophecy’ and stuff I do. Teaching on Prophets and all. I do believe that God has placed Prophets in the church, but what you experienced thru Berg was almost a demonic type of Prophet. A man that had real gifts and talents, but also developed a doctrine that would justify to himself his own impulses and sinful desires that he struggled with his whole life. I believe there were aspects of David’s life that truly wanted to serve God, but like others before him [Noyes] he developed a ‘scheme’ that would appease his own conscience, and he released this evil desire on a whole community of young people. The most difficult thing for some of you is to realize that you truly do love God and have found him while being in this group. I love you guys and will continue to pray for you. As you read [or listen to our radio show] and you hear me speak on Prophets and the Prophetic movement, understand I in no way am speaking of the abusive ‘family’ that you have been involved with thru out your lives. God bless all of you and feel free to email or write me at my P.O. Box. If any of you want to get together while in the area contact me before you come and I will try and get with you. Thanks, John.]
During the time of Bergs rise to ‘Prophet’ he was in an atmosphere where other well known ministries were espousing many of the same views on end time things. You also had Hal Lindsey and many others who taught the same as Berg in the area of the Tribulation and the nearness of the end of the world. Hal wrote the bestseller ‘The Late great Planet Earth’. While Hal obviously isn’t near the category of Berg, it was common for people at the time to be living on the edge of their seats thinking that the world might end at any moment. This led to an environment amongst many well meaning followers of Jesus that had an attitude of ‘if the world will end soon, what the heck, why bother going to school or even worry about planning for a future’ This mindset would later make it hard for those who tried to get out of the cult. They found the most basic things, like writing a check, difficult.
The thing that first interested me about this group was the ‘apostolic’ concept of community. Many who have studied ‘ecclesiology’ [church government] have seen in scripture the more biblical idea of church as community. Some have tried to duplicate the early environment seen in the book of Acts. A common purse and sharing of their goods with the needy. Berg also was a student of communism like Jim Jones, a whole other story. Even though you had all believers sharing and helping each other in Acts, you didn’t see an environment where people surrendered their individual identities and ‘morphed’ into the identity of a group.
In Acts they still lived in their own homes and maintained a family idea. To be sure today’s idea of ‘church at the building on Sunday’ as being ‘the church’ did not exist, but you also didn’t have communes. I believe it is OK for believers who radically sell out to leave the comforts of a home environment and to live daily trusting God. I have met ‘homeless’ friends who were on their own serving God and surviving. But to force a communistic idea upon people, and to cause them to lose their own personal identity for the ‘cause of the group’ is cultic right from the start.
God wants us to be more than ‘pew warmers who are preached at every week’ he wants us to experience this Journey with him as being part of a wonderful Christian family, with many wonderful brothers and sisters. Seeing the ‘other churches’ not as the institutionalized monster, but as sincere Christian’s in the Lord. I know there are times in my own writing that I seem to be hard on ‘the church’ but I do not hold to the view that they are all of the devil!
Berg seemed to confuse the ‘religions of men’ and the establishment with the true boundaries put down in scripture. He would view his own feelings of guilt about his sexual weakness and failure and eventually blame the ‘established church’ for his ‘guilt feelings’. He would develop a doctrine that fit in well with the ‘anti church’ atmosphere of the time. He would see all the free loving hippies and how they jumped in to the open love of the 60’s and 70’s sexual revolution, and then compare that to his own struggle of trying to suppress his sexual desires for many years under what he saw to be the authoritarian religious morals that he heard time and again thru his mothers preaching. It was natural for Berg to view the ‘established religions of men’ as the cause for all the years he spent repressing his sexual urges. Hey, he thought, if God created me [and others] to be able to enjoy the feelings of sex from a young age, then why do I feel guilty if I act out sexually in a way that society deems wrong?
Berg would challenge the mindset of minors being sexually active. He thought it was society that caused the guilt, not his sin. So in the California environment of ‘church religion’ being deceived, he thought ‘they must also be wrong on the sex part too’. Well if Berg was a true student of scripture, he would not have come to this conclusion. Scripture most definitely speaks of God as the creator of sex, but it also puts down definite parameters. ‘Marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled. But adulterers and whoremongers God will judge’ [Hebrews]. Berg thought for sure his belief in open sex with anyone at anytime was a true revelation from God, as opposed to the ‘moral old time religion’ of the past.
His great experiment would be to raise a child from day one in a hyper sexualized atmosphere and to then have the child diagnosed by professionals to see if any emotional damage was done. This experiment was what happened with ‘Davidito’. As Ricky grew older they tested him and others to see if they were harmed emotionally in any way. The ‘family’ found doctors to go along with their belief and to testify that the children were emotionally healthy. Later when Ricky [Davidito] would leave the group and kill one of the ladies who abused him as a child, the group tried to explain that when Ricky was in the group he harbored no ill feelings. It was when he got out and then ‘society’ taught him that what he did was wrong, that at that time he had guilt.
This diabolical social experiment that Berg thought would surely justify his sexual indiscretions did not work the way the family thought. While there are obvious problems with ‘organized religion’ we have to make sure we are not throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Many of the old churches have carried the true gospel of Christ for centuries before us. Scripture says we ‘shouldn’t remove the ancient landmarks that out fathers have set down’. This speaks of being very careful when we critique older religious churches that have been serving God for centuries. There were many ‘Jesus Freaks’ that left the old time churches of their fathers and have done well, they are still serving God and have never went back to the old church model. Others have gone back and even become ‘part of the old church’. But regardless of where you find yourself today, you must be careful that the things you think are ‘just religion making me feel guilty’ aren’t really things that the bible says are wrong. Many people ‘feel guilty’ because they are guilty! The way to get over the guilt is to receive Gods forgiveness and ask him to help you ‘sin no more’.
NOTE; I am not speaking about the guilt that some one might experience as a result of being abused in this group. It is common for victims of sexual abuse to ‘feel guilty’ even though they were victims. In some cases people feel guilty because they might have responded sexually while being abused, thinking that they in some way condoned the abuse, this is not so! Many of you guys have had to deal with this, maybe this had something to do with Ricky’s rage? So I just wanted to release you guys from this.
Let me mention some other stuff on cults and prophets. I have studied various cults over the years, some of them have definitely had demonic powers behind the leadership. When studying ‘heavens gate’ there were things that people experienced that fall under the category of demonic power. People who had a sense of being ‘mesmerized’ while listening to the leader. Or the leader’s ability to actually know what happened or predict future events. A fake imitation of a true prophetic gift.
Others, like David Korresh with the group ‘the branch davidians’ which were an offshoot of the seventh Day Adventist Church would come under the ‘spell’ of Korresh and begin viewing him as one of the end time witnesses spoken of in the book of Revelation. They would eventually see themselves as directly being referenced in scripture. They fulfilled their own ‘prophecy’ about being destroyed at the end of the world. Other ‘non cult’ prophets have also had this strong influence over people. William Brahnam was a very gifted Prophet in the middle of the last century, he without a doubt had extraordinary gifts, some till this day see him as either one of the seven angels in Revelation, or as one of the 2 witnesses in chapter 11.
So it seems to be a theme in some of these groups to come under the ‘mesmerizing’ influence of the gifted leader and to begin to view him in a way that associates him with actual biblical figures. The early church had some doubts about putting the book of Revelation in the New Testament, one of the reasons for this was they feared individuals might interpret it in a way that could cause trouble, a bit prophetic don’t you think? While reading about David Berg I have come to believe he had demonic powers working with him. You might think ‘no kidding man’. I don’t always believe this to be the case, I feel many contemporary Christians have a tendency to over do the ‘demon possession’ thing, always trying to cast a demon out of someone ‘I cast the demon of Marlboro cigarettes out of you’ or the ‘demon of poverty’ and silly stuff like that. I think in some of these cases we should cast the ‘demon of thinking that everything is a demon’ out of them! But in Bergs case there have been some leaders who ran into him thru out their lives and sensed a ‘presence’ that was strange. The brother who had a commune in Texas that Berg would eventually take over and call it ‘The Texas Soul Clinic’ felt like the group had a force behind them that was unstoppable, he till this day has never gotten over his impact with ‘the family’.
So it is more than likely that Berg had some demonic stuff going on. I am asked sometimes about people like John Edwards of the show ‘crossing over’ or other people who seem to have true gifts. I try to distinguish between out right fakers, and those who are really operating with a supernatural ‘element’. I believe many of the Psychics actually have a connection with the ‘spirit world’ that would simply be in the category of ‘soothsayer’ or like the witch of Endor spoken of in the bible. In her story she is requested by King Saul to bring back the Prophet Samuel from the dead. God’s people were forbidden to consult a soothsayer or ‘psychic’. The fact was she was well known, sort of like all these ‘card readers’ and stuff I see as I travel thru South Texas. Well this witch does bring back Samuels spirit, to the amazement of Saul and herself! She actually is portrayed as being afraid when her ‘soothsaying’ works. She was surprised he came back! Some think this was because she knew her gift was fake, and when it worked she scared herself. It’s also possible that the usual ‘spirits’ that did come thru for her were not there this time, she really got Samuel.
The point is in some of the people that are doing these things it is possible that they are ‘picking up’ something in the ‘spirit’, it’s just not what they think! In Edwards’s case he feels he is ‘crossing over’ and contacting the spirits of dead relatives, he might really believe that this is who is speaking to him during his shows. The truth is scripture speaks of ‘familiar spirits’ and demons. A person might have some real gifting going on, but it might not be what they think.
Edgar Casey [sp? It might be Cayce] is another example of a famous ‘prophet’. He was dubbed the ‘sleeping prophet’ because he would give readings while lying down and falling asleep and going into a trance. In all of these cases Christians are forbidden to delve into the ‘unknown’ thru these means. Some believers have gone too far in rejecting ‘prophets’. They do not see the true biblical gift as spoken of in the New Testament. God has clearly placed Prophets in the church, the book of Ephesians says this [as well as Corinthians and other references]. Some Christians believe it is because of the lack of biblical Prophets today, that this is why the world runs to the psychics, that if the church just functioned in the real gift, then you wouldn’t have all the popular psychics. Some who say this have some truth, but then I get a little worried because they seem to espouse the idea that true prophets should have their own call in shows and stuff, sort of ‘1-800-prophecy’ and stuff like that. I don’t think so!
So anyway I think Berg had some demonic stuff going on, as believers we should ‘test the spirits, for every spirit is not of God’ it says this in 1st John. If you read it in context it is not speaking of ‘disembodied spirits’ that are floating around in the sky [which is another off balanced teaching in the Church, Christians starting whole spiritual warfare movements and going around casting these spirits out of the sky. Jesus never cast demons out of the sky, but out of people!] But this verse is speaking of ‘testing spirits’ that are operating in people! That is whether people are ‘true prophets’ or’ false’. Don’t allow the strong giftings of leaders ‘pull you in’ but test everything by Gods Spirit. Be open to true prophetic gifts, don’t reject all prophecy, but be discerning.
I just reviewed the family photos of Ricky Rodriguez on the site ‘moving on’ he looked like such a wonderful kid. Go check them out, they give a face to this whole sad story. A few years ago someone wrote a book on dangerous communal groups, I believe the author was Ron Enroth [churches that abuse?] while the book served a good purpose, they drew some heat over the fact they included some Christian groups that seemed to be serving the Lord. One of the groups they singled out responded in defense of their faith. They answered their critics well [not like the official response of those still in the family. I have read some of the articles from their web site and something seems ‘off’ sort of like a ‘stepford wives’ type response] They explained while it is true that many cults have embraced communal living, Christians have also experimented with these models. They showed that those living in this type of atmosphere, where you are always together [sort of like my job as a firefighter in a way, when you live in 24 hour shifts with people, you get on each others nerves] lends to the complaints of authoritarianism and control.
The fact that the average Christian only spends an hour on Sunday with other believers, while those in a communal atmosphere live all the time with other believers, then you are going to get more complaints from those living together, it’s only natural. So I didn’t want to group every ‘communal group’ as being bad, though they do have a tendency to ‘lord it over the people’. The Boston Churches of Christ [a specific movement, not all the churches of Christ in Boston] are not communal, but they practice a fierce ‘shepherding’ doctrine, where the people must answer to the shepherds in a way that is dangerous.
This was the error of the ‘discipling movement’ also know as the shepherding movement. Berg’s group most definitely had this going on. This type of idea teaches a strong accountability to ‘over shepherds’ in a way that violates the true freedom that we have in Christ. So you don’t have to be living communally to be cultic, you can be ‘doing church’ the Sunday way and also be ‘cultic’.
I am a little hesitant to put this in, but will take the chance. I believe in God giving us prophetic signs and stuff, but many have used ‘signs’ and ‘prophecy’ as a tool of abuse. Yesterday I was out among a lot of my friends who are homeless. Ran into a Pastor friend and some other old friends. For some reason they were calling me ‘David’ and then they realized my name is John. I kinda felt this to be a little strange. I have been praying for the ‘moving on’ group as a Father would pray over his ‘spiritual children’. Now stick with me, I AM NOT SAYING THAT I AM CHANNELING THE DAVID BERG SPIRIT! In a strange way when leaders oversee a group of people they become a ‘Father’ to the group. They carry a special responsibility to lead the people. Berg had this ‘fathering’ responsibility, and he became a ‘child abuser’ towards a whole family of people. So I just felt the ‘sign’ of people calling me David, the day after I spent time praying and trying to speak into the community was in a sense prophetic. Sort of like God saying ‘One by the name of David abused these people severely, I will raise up other ‘spiritual fathers’ who will make up for the abuse they have received, David’s who are men after my own heart’ [King David in scripture is called a man after Gods own heart].
Just felt like the Lord was saying this about multiple people, those who will care for you in the original way God intended, as representative in some way I would like to say ‘please forgive us [Christian leadership] I am so sorry for what I have done to you’. ‘I am the good shepherd, all that ever came before me were thieves and robbers. I come that you might have life. The robber came to steal, kill and destroy you. I am the good shepherd, I have given my life for the sheep’ Jesus Christ.
(585) John 8- The Pharisees catch the woman in adultery and bring her to Jesus ‘Moses in the law says kill her, what about it Jesus?’ Religion digressed into this conservative moral crusade that went and found people in sin and singled them out for judgment. Jesus doesn’t say ‘oh, don’t worry about that silly law of Moses’ he says in essence ‘you guys are right, justice demands strict holiness, you got me now’ instead he agrees that justice does require her death, and he says ‘go ahead, start stoning’. One thing ‘you must be free of sin in order to carry out this punishment’. The law required total righteousness from everyone, even the moral crusaders! When religion digresses to the point where all it does is go out into society and find fault, then this type of religion is powerless to change the ‘fault finders’. Jesus doesn’t side with the ultra liberals either, you don’t see him marching for the right for homosexuals to marry. He tells the woman ‘neither do I condemn thee, go and sin no more’. Jesus said this to the guy he healed a few chapters ago. ‘Go and sin no more less a worse thing happen to thee’. Was Jesus simply telling them the same thing that they heard from the religious right their whole lives? Was he simply saying ‘watch out, if you sin again you will get in trouble’ not really. Jesus words had tremendous power and authority, he told people who couldn’t see ‘see’ and they would! People who couldn’t walk ‘get up’ and they did. He was empowering these people by his words. When he said ‘sin no more’ he was giving them the first freedom from years of bondage that they ever had. He also was saying ‘I don’t condone sin’ but he was saying much more! Jesus tells the Jews who ‘believe in him’ if you continue in my word ye shall be free. In the next chapter [9] we will read of the guy Jesus heals, who also says ‘Jesus healed me’ but doesn’t know who Jesus is yet, then later he believes in him as Messiah. This is the type of belief that Israel and Islam and other religions have about Jesus. They accept him as a good man, prophet even. But not the Son of God. To these he says ‘if ye continue in my word then you will know the truth and be free’ if they stick around long enough they might just see that Jesus is for real! Truth is progressive, often times I will give a book to someone, or teach something over the radio. People will see things that they haven’t seen before. A few years go by and they ‘fall back’ into the old mindset. They sincerely forgot that some of the questions they have now have actually been answered already. ‘Go read the first book I wrote, it explains it’ oh yhea, I see now. People need to ‘continue in the word’ in order to be changed. It is not just the one time ‘revelation’ of a certain doctrine that changes you, it is continuing in Gods truth and knowing him, that is Jesus, who is the way and truth and life. Knowing doctrine does not set people free, knowing Jesus does.
[#’s 586-693] TEACHINGS PART 4
(586) John 8-9 before I cover this, last night I was watching a preacher from a classic type ministry. Not the flamboyant ‘prosperity’ type with gold hanging off and all. I was a bit surprised [let down] to hear him teach the classic errors of the prosperity movement. He took the verse in Corinthians where it says ‘though he was rich yet for your sakes he became poor’ and taught that Jesus died to make you rich financially [ a direct violation of 1st Timothy 6]. He went to Genesis and showed how Abraham was rich, then jumped to Galatians 3 and taught ‘we are Abrahams kids, therefore we get his blessings[stuff]’ a classic mistake in doctrine. I explained this in the book ‘House of Prayer or Den of Thieves’ in the chapter ‘The Abrahamic Blessing’[you can read this book on this site!]. This stuff shouldn’t have been coming from this program, they are not the type that teach this stuff. You could tell from the look on the faces of the audience that they were feeling uncomfortable with what this guy was teaching! Now John 8-9. Jesus says ‘you seek to kill me, a man that has told you the truth that I heard from God’ often times when people are reproved, they don’t like it. It’s not that what the ‘reprover’ is saying is wrong, it’s just we don’t like being confronted with truth. We usually take it out on the messenger. Jesus says ‘before Abraham was, I AM’ this is the name of God in the Old Testament ‘the I AM’. Jesus is the ‘I AM’ in Johns gospel. I AM the door, I AM the resurrection, I AM the way and the truth and the life. I believe you find 7 different ‘I AM’s’ of Jesus in this gospel. Jesus now heals the man who was blind from birth. They ask him ‘who sinned, this man or his parents’? They had a mentality that always wanted to place blame on someone for sickness, sort of like some in the healing movements of today. Jesus said ‘neither’. He simply said ‘this happened to him so I would heal him and God would get glory’. He heals the man and the leaders are mad. ‘Who healed you’? A man called Jesus. They get the guys parents and say ‘you say he was blind, then how come he can see?’ They say ‘ask him’. They go back and ask again. The healed guy answers ‘how many times do you want to hear it, I told you already’. Though the man still doesn’t know Jesus is the Messiah, yet he starts to defend him, and even prophesy! ‘We know that if any man be a worshipper of God, and does his will, him God hears’ good stuff coming from an ‘unsaved’ guy! Jesus hears that they rejected him, he tells the guy ‘I am messiah’ and the guy believes. Jesus says ‘I come to give sight to those who are blind [admit they need help] and to take away sight from those who see’ [think they know it all]. We often can’t receive correction because of religious pride, we think we ‘see everything’ someone comes along and shakes the cart, our first response is ‘who does he think he is, doesn’t he know that we all know more than him’. Quite often whole groups of leaders have the same blind spot. This is what enforces the belief that they must be right! Jesus told them ‘you guys are blind, if you could just admit you didn’t know it all, then I could show you some good stuff, but because you think you already ‘see’ everything, then you are gonna miss out’. Pride is destructive, it keeps us in the dark spiritually. NOTE; Let me give an example. I remember reading an article on tithing from one of the best Christian historical review magazines in print. They do exhaustive historical research on many subjects. To the surprise of the readers, this well respected historical magazine, read by many theologians, showed that all the historical evidence points to the fact that the churches of the first century did not practice tithing! This seemed to go against the grain of what many of the theologians believed, who regularly read this magazine. But you could have easily come to this same understanding from simply reading the New Testament in context. I have basically taught you guys this for years, from scripture. Yet this ‘blind spot’ was an area where many intelligent ‘religious leaders’ were all wrong. They ‘corporately’ were wrong on this subject. It took a ‘jolt’ from true historical evidence before they could ‘see’ the obvious! It would be too humbling to have seen it from a ‘layman firefighter’ who has a web site. NOTE; Tithing as a practice for Christians developed at the same time as ‘the church building’ and the office of ‘Priest’ and eventually the altar [in the Catholic system] and the mass. The church got away from the family/community mindset and took on more of the ‘church building’ form. Tithing fit in easily into an idea of church that asked ‘how much should we put in the offering basket on Sunday’. The whole language and style of church called for the doctrine of tithing to be taught, sort of like a ‘tax’ on the people of God to support ‘the church’. Now, there are some good things that came out of the ‘dark ages’ of Christianity. The ‘desert fathers’, the Catholic mystics and other good spiritual disciplines. I don’t want to fall into the category of those who see the dark ages as a time of no good whatsoever. But we also need to see how the church during that time was very legalistic in the sense that the Mass and Altar and 'Priest’ presiding over the liturgy were all forms of Christian service that were absent from the churches in Scripture. The tithe was just one added aspect of this legalistic approach that seemed to make it all the way into the Protestant churches of today. All these churches are good Christians in my view, but we need to be open to change and reformation as the Spirit leads.
(587) Didn’t plan on writing today, but was praying for you guys and felt something strange. I kinda pray for all of you corporately as a group, I use the image of a field or vineyard. That God would bless you guys, pour out his Spirit on you as a field/garden of people. As I was in this ‘mode’ I prayed that the Lord would ‘flood this vineyard with the Blood of Jesus’ I then felt like the Lord leading me to sing a verse from the old song 'there is a fountain filled with Blood drawn from Immanuel’s veins, and sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains’ as I sang this verse there was a powerful baptism of the Spirit that came over me, sort of like when you ‘get the chills’ and the hair on your arms stands up! I think the Lord was cleansing a lot of us at that moment in a corporate way, it was weird!
(588) John 10- I forgot to mention in John 9 when they asked Jesus who did sin, this man or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus said ‘no one’. Later in the chapter after the Pharisees get done with the guy, they say ‘you were altogether born in sin [after all you were BORN blind!] who do you think you are, trying to tell us what to do!’ that secret mentality of condemnation came out. Religion does this to people. It treats them like ‘yes, God is merciful and we are all sinners’ but in the heat of the argument the mentality of ‘we are really better than you’ exists. Now in this chapter Jesus says ‘I am the door’ and also ‘I am the shepherd who comes thru the door’ how can he be both? Jesus was the one who would fulfill all the required prophetic aspects spoken of in scripture. There were tons of Old Testament prophecies that Jesus met to the tee. These requirements were like a door, as the Jews were waiting for their Messiah they were looking for someone who met this criteria, Jesus met them! He also IS the door, from this time onward all other future leadership in the church would have to come ‘thru’ him and exemplify the servant attitude that he had. Jesus says ‘the hireling flees when the wolf comes’ the hireling is a mentality that looks at church leadership as a hired position. People vote on their pastor, if he does a good job he stays, if not he leaves and they screen for another hired position. Many good men have been down this road. Often when the ‘wolf comes’ he actually says to the leader ‘you cant stay in this town any longer, look at all the mistakes you made’ the accuser gets the hireling to flee, sometimes without the pastor realizing what’s going on. Jesus wants us to ‘come thru the door’ into the sheepfold. The ‘prescribed way’ of servant hood and giving your life for the sheep. I want to encourage all the pastors who read this site, don’t see your job as completing some vision, or rallying people to a cause. Though these things are included in pastoring, the main job for all of us is to give our lives unselfishly for others. It is easy to fall into the trap of ‘the hireling’ but God wants us to view our callings thru a servant hood mentality. The good shepherd gives his life [goals, dreams, etc...] up for the sheep. The Pharisees say ‘he is a mad man, he has a devil, why do you even listen to him?’ The leaders decided to bypass Jesus, they thought ‘we will just ignore him and he will go away’ the only problem was the average ‘congregant’ was listening! Often times in prophetic ministry you will find the bulk of leadership by passing the prophetic word [that which God is saying at the season] it is only later, after the ‘people’ hear it, that leaders will give it a second look. Leaders, don’t fall into this category, if you get in on what God is saying from the start, then you can partake of the good stuff along with the people! Jesus in these last few chapters said he is Gods Son and the Jews understood it to mean his claim of equality with God. They understood right! I mention this because some feel that Jesus didn’t claim deity, he most certainly did. Even 1st century historians noted this in their writings, that the believers worshipped ‘a God named Jesus’. The deity question is vital, if you miss this one, you’ve missed it all! NOTE; Let me make a note here. It would be very easy for me to develop a teaching from this chapter that says ‘because of all you have seen about the idea of modern church, and the unbiblical roles of the hired clergy. That therefore all ‘pastors’ are hirelings’. Some have actually taught this. There are a few reasons why I don’t fall into this camp. First, when God initiates reformation ‘a reforming of the practices of modern church’ he does it with the sheep in mind. Jesus told the disciples ‘I have many things to say to you, but you are unable to hear it’ he could have blown them away with doctrine, but the goal was their development. If all doctrine, even true doctrine, does not build you up in some way, then it is not accomplishing the purpose that God intends. So in all the stuff I have taught you guys, the goal is for all of us [Pastors and people] to grow and change in Gods timing. To use my influence in a way that would split churches, or have the people viewing their pastors as ‘hirelings’ would be unprofitable. Eventually we all, as a Body, will change and reform as God directs. But to use this chapter to tear down all current forms of leadership presently functioning in the church would be irresponsible. With knowledge comes responsibility. God will give us knowledge and wisdom for the purpose of edification, not destruction.
(589) Yesterday I got with some homeless friends. I met Andy a few months back, I have seen him drunk on a few occasions. It surprised me one day when I was giving him a ride to a friend of his house where he was crashing at the time, he asked if I had a big letter King James bible to lend him. This day he was on fire for the Lord. He told me his story about feeling the Lords call on his life, he went thru tons of scriptures and all. I knew he wasn’t faking it. Well I had this expensive large print King James bible in the truck, I gave it to him. I bought it a few months back for 30 dollars, it was worth around 100. They were old bibles that had notes in them from the late 1800’s. Real good study bibles, just outdated. I got it at half price books, it was a collector thing for me. Man he would see me every so often and tell me ‘I am reading the crap [he used the SH-T word!] out of that bible’. I knew he was! Then one day he told me how some college kids ripped him off, that happens to these homeless guys, and he lost the bible. I was kinda mad, I actually valued it. I have a bad habit of giving my books away. I gave away my Greek Lexicon [you use it to study bible words in the original language] and a bible dictionary. Then sure enough I needed them a few weeks later. I have to stop doing this! [I actually got the dictionary back, but let the guy keep the other stuff]. Well yesterday I saw Andy at the homeless mission, he was sober and doing well. He will bring up the Lord to others while I am around, not to brag, I have noticed some of the guys start thinking about the Lord when I am around, even though I usually am just hanging out. They will mention him to others, sure enough Andy witnessed to some new kid [20’s] who was hanging out complaining about his life. Andy told him about the Lord in a straight up way. The kid walked away. Andy says ‘you never know, a few years from now the seeds that I just planted might bring fruit, like Paul says in Corinthians’. I agreed. Another guy, Huey, asked if I could give him a ride back to the hotel where he was staying, he had some clothes and stuff that the mission gave him. I said sure. I gave him some gas a few weeks back, but his truck is broken right now[I actually put the gas in at the station, he would have used the cash for beer]. As far as I know I never witnessed to him before, but he knew I was a believer. He was bringing up the Lord and stuff, talking about the reality of God. As we were leaving the mission, he sees Andy walking and says ‘brother, you need a ride too?’ sure enough we pick up Andy. As I drop them off they are calling each other brother, I do this a lot myself. I then find out they really are brothers! Kinda sad that they are both living this tuff life, they must have had some upbringing from a home that taught them something about God [probably a Mom or Grandma] but for them to both be homeless means they have had problems also. I found it strange how they still cared for each other and all, there are guys who are family on the streets and you would never know it. One day Andy gave me this prophecy that was right on. He didn’t know it, but it was for me. He actually was telling me how he preached to this guy years ago, and as he was telling me the story and recounting what he said, it fit me perfect! This is how I can tell he is not faking ‘the Jesus thing’. After all he was reading the ‘sh-t out if his bible’! [I don’t add this to be funny, I think it shows you the real situations that people are in and this brings us out of our religious shells. God interacts with people all the time, we seem to be un aware of this. Jesus said the harvest is ready but their aren’t enough workers. Find time to give yourself away, it will be worth it].
(590) As a boy growing up I learned how fire fighters can use their badge. My dad was a captain [retired after 25 years] and would keep his badge in his wallet. He would take me over to the city [New York] to go to the museums, he would flash that badge and we would get in free! He would get pulled over one time by a cop for making an illegal turn, sure enough the badge comes out and no ticket! Wow, I liked this. Well when I became a fire fighter you know where that badge went. Right in the wallet. The other guys at the station never caught on to this until years after I was doing it, bunch of rookies! Of course they found out it helps with the cover charge to clubs and all. One day I was going to our post office [Kingsville] and the way the mail boxes are set up is you have to drive around the block to get in the one way street to drop off the mail [if you didn’t want to park and walk it over]. So lots of times people would cheat and just drive in to the one way a few feet and drop off the mail, I am sure I probably did this myself at times. The mail box was so close to the corner it was easy to do. But if there are other cars coming it wont work. So one day I am driving the right way and was going to drop the mail, sure enough some other guy drives in the one way and sort of blocks me, he wants to turn and all, but he doesn’t realize I am also going for the mail box, so he does stuff that I usually do [like when someone tailgates me, watch out. I have been known to slow down to 5 miles an hour in a 55 mile zone. I am not kidding! As they finally pass you can see them cussing and flipping the finger and I just laugh it off, making sure they can see how happy I am] so this guy sees I am getting ready to go to the box and he pulls right next to me in a way where he knows he is winning at this game and I am losing [I don’t like to lose!] So as he does his ‘block’, he pulls up right like he is going to pass me and get to the spot. I roll down my window and tell him ‘stop’. He does, I then pull out the wallet, flash the badge and yell ‘this is a one way man!’ sure enough he backs all the way out apologizing the whole way. You say ‘brother, you lied’. No I didn’t, I never said I was a cop! One time I was driving to the store and some kids are beating up another kid at a bus stop, I pull up and flash the badge and tell them to stop, it worked. One of the guys at the station said ‘you are gonna get shot by a gang kid or something’ I never thought of that. Well I would tease my wife about this over the years. She hates the badge action and all. Sure enough we are in New York City one year for Christmas. We went to Rockefeller center and all. As me and my Dad and Mom are on the bus, the bus was empty except for my wife and my parents. So we are talking to this real nice black bus driver. My dad already had a few beers and was feeling good. Somehow the driver says how when they were kids they used to race on the street and if a cop pulled over and flashed his badge [undercover] they knew the show was over. I don’t remember how it came up, but the driver says something like ‘you know, when you see those badges it puts the fear of God in you’. My dad says ‘yeah, you wanna see 2 of them’ [like father like son] I just glance at my wife and you could see she was ready to go home! NOTE : There are a few Kingsville firefighters who live In Corpus Christi and drive the 40 mile drive to work. Over the years I learned it’s easier for me to drive at 60 MPH and enjoy the ride. I get up real early anyway, why rush and drive 75. In Texas they use the shoulder to let others pass. It took me a few years to figure this out, up north you don’t do this [ in Texas we don’t pass on the shoulder, we pull over and let the other guy by]. So I have a friend at work who would always pass me up at 75 while I am doing 60. He didn’t mind, but would complain that I was one of the ‘slow pokes’ that at times can be a nuisance. Like when there are fifty cars in a line and you cant pass them up. One day my car breaks down at work and in the morning my friend gives me a ride back to Corpus. We pull up to some lady doing around 50, he says ‘that must be your mother’ I tell him ‘no, but this lady is always riding my bumper!’
(591) John 11- Lazarus is sick and Mary and Martha send for Jesus. They were all friends and supporters of Jesus ministry, surely they will get special treatment, they know for sure he will be healed! Jesus waits a few days and lets Lazarus die. When he finally shows up, Martha comes to ask him ‘why weren’t you here! He would have not died if you were here!’ Jesus also earlier said ‘I am glad I was not there’ not ‘I am glad I didn’t heal him’ it’s like Jesus knew if he were there he would have had no choice but to have healed him, his compassion would have taken over. Martha and Mary knew it too. These are Jewish friends that are all sympathetic to his cause, they were known to have been friends with Jesus, they already carried a cross for him. For him to have let this group down was hard. He knew God had a better plan, but it still was hard. Martha tells Mary ‘come quickly, Jesus wants you’ Mary gets up and runs to Jesus. I don’t read where Jesus asked for Mary, I think Martha might have just said this to encourage Mary. Often times the closest followers of Jesus need to be encouraged. They have been with the Lord for years, they have given so much to the cause. They see how God is doing so much for others and yet all things don’t seem to be working out for them. They feel like Mary ‘what’s the use, I was following him years before these others, and yet he doesn’t even have time to come and heal my brother, he’s out all over the place healing everyone else, his so called ‘great ministry for God’ and yet I really needed him’ Mary needed to be encouraged, Martha encouraged her! Jesus does raise Lazarus and God is glorified. Word gets back to the religious leaders and they are afraid if they don’t do something they will lose their influence and power among the people. It was a power issue. Often times leadership will resist the ‘Body of Jesus’ coming into full functioning maturity, they are afraid that if the Body of Jesus becomes too influential, they might lose their place. John the Baptist taught us earlier that this was to be, the Pharisees had other plans. As they hold a council, Caiaphas the high priest says ‘leave him alone, Rome will come and kill him and it will be better. That way they can vent on him instead of all of the Jewish nation’ he prophesies the truth of Christ’s substitutionary death, and doesn’t even realize what he’s saying! Often times you will get a word from the Lord from people that don’t even realize they are prophesying! NOTE; I forgot something. When Jesus and his disciples are going to raise Lazarus, they will be entering an area where the Jewish leaders ‘have a contract on him’ they are looking to get him! Jesus reassures the guys they will be safe if they walk in ‘the light’ of Gods will. Thomas says ‘Oh great, lets all go and die with him’. Gee thanks for the support brother! Jesus never kicks Thomas off of the ministry ‘team’ he lets him stay on. You often hear ‘if you are the smartest person in your group get a new group’ or ‘evil communications corrupt good manners’ [scripture does say this]. But we sometimes teach it in a way that says ‘Don’t ever listen to the naysayers, eliminate them from your group. They will destroy your team spirit’ while there is some truth to this, remember Jesus was the smartest person in the group, his critics actually accused him of having ‘a bad group’ [this man eateth with sinners] so keep a balance in this. We are here to help the sick, not the well. If you don’t have some ‘bad apples’ in your sphere of influence than how are you gonna help them?
(592) This year I gave a prophetic word about a prosperity ministry ‘no mountain shall be able to stand against what God is doing, not even Eagle mountain’ it’s somewhere on this site [do a word search]. Just recently [11-07] the senate finance committee, for the first time ever, broke past precedent and began investigating 6 large prosperity ministries, one of them is the Eagle mountain ministry I spoke of in the prophecy. Over the years I have seen obvious blatant abuse in the area of Bible teaching from this ministry. I did like them as a young believer, but after a while I saw how the brother simply did not truly understand scripture, in many areas. It wasn’t just a mistake here or there, that any one can make, but a ‘current’ of ‘mistakes’ that ran all thru out their teaching. The struggle to finally speak out on these teachers was overcome when I realized how many young believers they were affecting [not to mention Pastors!] They taught that Jesus was very wealthy, that he died to make us very wealthy, that all the warnings that Jesus gave against money were really teachings about getting money. When Jesus says ‘the deceitfulness of riches choke the word’ he taught ‘the deceitfulness of riches is that old tradition that says ‘you cant have lots of money’. Paul to Timothy ‘those that desire to be rich fall into a snare’ they say this is talking about those who don’t already know and believe the prosperity message, because those who believe it are already rich. Paul in Galatians ‘we are the children of Abraham, so the blessing of Abraham comes on us. We receive the promise of the Spirit by faith’ which really means being justified and receiving the Spirit, the blessing that comes ‘thru faith’ [like Abraham had] as opposed to law. These guys teach the ‘blessing of Abraham’ are his stuff. I could go on for days with this. The point is after seeing this non stop attack on the basic truth of scripture, to the point where Jesus actual warnings against money were translated to say the exact opposite, I finally realized there is something more going on here than just a few bad mistakes. It falls into the category of real heresy. So any way, let’s pray God will restore all of these brothers, but I wanted to update you on the prophecy we gave this year. ‘I have raised up one from the north, from the rising of the sun shall he call upon my name. He shall come upon princes as mortar, and the coastlands shall wait for his law’. NOTE; Let me give a little example. Many of these brothers are not obvious ‘crooks’, like the guys who have been caught blatantly robbing churches, or putting microphones in their ears during healing crusades. Many of these men are honest in their dealings. When scripture speaks of ‘wolves in sheep’s clothing’ we often think ‘outright hucksters’ this is not always the case. Jesus said ‘beware of the deceitfulness of riches’ Jesus taught there is a real deception involved with some of these distorted money doctrines. Over the years I have read books from these brothers [not about them!] and have come to see how they fall into this trap. After you justify a particular doctrine, you begin actually believing it to the point where you see your group as having ‘revelation knowledge’ that the mainline churches don’t have. As time goes by any reproof that is given, even reproof that is backed up from scripture, is seen as ‘that old tradition, they don’t see what we see’ [spiritual pride]. Over time the obvious faults in their doctrine are so obvious, that those who are in this camp think ‘surely we cant be this wrong’ like when someone quotes ‘for the love of money is the root of all evil’ they are trained to say ‘see brother, this doesn’t say money, but the love of it’ and this simple explanation justifies the error in their mind. Not realizing that when you ‘love something’ you are consumed with that thing. They can’t see that the love of money, that they teach, is shown by the fact that they have distorted scriptures for years to justify wealth seeking, to the point where they actually changed the image of Jesus and have taken the words from his mouth and turned them around. They truly have fallen down the path of the love of money, but can’t see it! John the Baptist said to leadership ‘It is unlawful for thee to have thy brothers wife’ for a long time these teachers ‘have had the wife’ that is they ‘cohabitated’ with the Bride, who really belongs to Jesus [Jesus called us his brother’s] it is unlawful for them to have had such influence with ‘their brothers wife’ it is time to let her go.
(593) John 12- Jesus goes to Bethany, the town where he raised Lazarus. At the house Mary pours expensive perfume on Jesus. Judas gets mad! ‘We could have sold it and used the money for the poor!’ Judas was the treasurer, he had ‘the bag’. He didn’t care about the poor, but was stealing from the treasury. Some teach that the treasury had millions of dollars in it, if this were so then why would Judas be worried about some perfume worth around $132.00 dollars? You guys teaching this ‘rich Jesus’ stuff need to read your bibles! In the town of Bethany Lazarus is the talk of the town ‘hey, did you see the guy Jesus raised from the dead’? The Pharisees were devising a way to kill Lazarus too! It’s a funny thing, these leaders were sticklers for the law, real legalistic. The number one law out of their 10 commandments was ‘thou shalt not kill’ yet they seemed to be thinking of killing an awful lot! Religion does this to people, it causes you to overlook the obvious while worrying about the details. Jesus called this ‘straining at gnats while swallowing whole Camels’. You see this later on at the Crucifixion, they are all concerned over what day they kill Jesus ‘God forbid we break our rules of purity WHILE KILLING THE SON OF GOD!’ Pathetic bunch of losers. The Greeks come to Jesus disciples and say ‘we want to see Jesus’. They go and tell Jesus ‘these Greeks want to meet you’ Jesus responds in a strange way ‘unless a grain of wheat dies it abides alone, but if it dies it brings forth fruit… If any man serves me, where I am they will be’. In essence Jesus says ‘I am not here to present myself to people on some platform, I am here to do the will of my father. If they want to see me they must lay their lives down and die to self and carry the cross also, where I am they can be’. His answer was a call to self sacrifice and denial of self. Today we have an atmosphere of performance ‘lets go watch the great Prophet’. Going to conferences and stuff. Jesus said prophetic gifts function thru sacrifice, if you are laying your life down for the gospel you will interact with all of Gods gifted 5 fold ministers, but they were not designed to be seen on a stage. ‘While you have the light, walk in it. The darkness comes, and no one can function then’ Jesus was showing us to ‘strike when the irons hot’ act when God opens the door. I have found when I ‘go for it’ during seasons of God showing me stuff, then whatever is instituted at the time [some function of ministry] becomes really effective. Then there are times where I don’t go for it when the Lord opens the door, I miss the ‘open window’ and then later try to get something going, it never works! Like the children of Israel not entering the Promised Land on the first try, the next day they thought ‘what the hell, lets do it today’ it didn’t work! Walk while ye have the light [God showing you the next step] because when it gets dark [you missed the window] no one can work.
(594) Got with 2 homeless buddies yesterday, Steve and Martin [Steve Martin!] met them a few weeks back. They camp about a half mile from my house, right off the bay front. My fishing spot! I told them for a bunch of homeless guys they have it made. Living on the water front. I didn’t realize that Martin is Muslim. He knew I was a Christian and never mentioned it. But Yesterday he brought it up. He didn’t immediately come out and say it, but he was saying ‘I like Jesus as a Prophet, but you shouldn’t worship him’ after a while I caught on. I was honest with him and told him I believe Muhammad made some good points [like being against idols] but that he missed it on Jesus as the Son of God. I did quote some stuff from John’s gospel and gave a lot of scripture on Jesus as being more than a prophet. He did listen to me. I also shared how many Muslims have reported having dreams about Jesus appearing to them and getting converted. This has happened a lot over the last few years. He told me he had a dream he can’t forget, he dreamt of a new book that was to come out. It was Gold and looked like a new ‘book from God’. I interpreted his dream to mean God was going to reveal Jesus [the divine Logos- Gold speaks of divinity, Jesus is the ‘book/word’ of God] to him. He couldn’t really see what I was saying. I tried to explain the concept, he didn’t grasp it [yet!] On my way to drop them off at the fishing spot, I decided I would do some crabbing also. We went to my house to get some traps and I showed the guys my classic mustang. It’s a 1966 with a 281 engine. Real nice car. Martin loved it. I told him I too had a dream, I dreamt I was to give the car away to a Muslim, but he had to convert to Christianity. He looked at me for a second thinking I was serious, I told him I was just kidding. But I did laugh a little, I said ‘you liked like you were ready to say ‘Muhammad, it’s been fun while it lasted’. He laughed too! I caught about a dozen crabs, Martin got a drum and red fish. I also gave them a few of my books, they both are avid readers.
(595) I am a little hesitant to do this, but what the heck! Let’s do another book review. The last one I did, I put on another site [moving on] and the kids ‘cussed’ me out real good! I did not expect the negative response. Some was good criticism, but others were really offended over it. They are ‘ex cult’ members and did not like Christians posting stuff on their site at all. Well I finished the Dahmer book ‘Dark Journey Deep Grace’. It tells of Dahmers conversion in prison. I liked it a lot. The Minister who worked with Jeff was Church of Christ, so some might have some theological differences over Baptism, but it is very real. No doubt that Jeff was a Christian. Found it interesting that Jeff was concerned about a lot of the legalistic problems facing the Church of Christ. He had questions on music in worship, how to take the Lords supper and certain technical issues that the Minister was surprised that Jeff was even concerned about. The minister was a man of grace and tried to focus Jeff on grace. Jeff also said how after his father sent him some materials on Evolution being fake, that this was a ‘hinge’ point in his conversion. He states how he actually used evolution as a way to appease his conscience when committing his horrible crimes. He would think ‘if we are all just random acts of slime, we then have no one to answer to’. After his dad sent him the stuff, Jeff began thinking about answering to a higher court! The story is a good read. Jeff is killed in prison to the dismay of the minister who was developing a good friendship with him. I get the sense that Jeff was a real brother in the Lord. He of course committed terrible crimes, but God forgave him. I also used the name Jeff while writing this entry because one of the point’s of the book was how many people, even believers, were not willing to accept his conversion. No one wanted to speak of him as ‘Jeff’ but only ‘Dahmer’. To personalize it was too much for some. I don’t want to underestimate Jeff’s crimes, nor the great mercy of God and the power of Jesus blood!
(596) DREAM/VISION I dreamt I was in an arcade type game room. I should say ‘half dreamt’. I was awake, but laying in bed. I had the Christian music station on the TV and saw a black man [in the vision] singing the song that was on the TV. I forget the song, but it spoke of this being a time of destiny. He was speaking/singing it to me. I then saw a chandelier light, it was crystal and bright. At this time I was wide awake with my eyes closed. It looked just like a vivid dream, seeing colors and all, but I was awake with my eyes closed. From the light there came down beautiful jewels/crystals that were pouring down like rain. I felt this spoke of a season of ‘releasing precious pearls’ of wisdom to a large group of people. The arcade spoke of a fun type atmosphere. I simply felt the Lord saying ‘release nuggets of wisdom freely, enjoy the time’. I hope you guys are receiving and giving freely, don’t cast your ‘pearls’ before swine, but cast them!
(597) Just outside praying, nice and cold! A few days after Thanksgiving and its nice. Had a thought. We have a tendency to excel in the paradigm that we are given. We have so many talented young men [Pastors] who we graduate from college and put them ‘into the ministry’. They often excel beyond their ‘fore fathers’ in advancing the ministry. Usually they do it in the current ‘framework’ of building centered church. The idea that ‘to excel’ means better ways to do ‘Sunday church’. More innovation, new technology, a ‘jet set’ ideology that goes further and faster than the ‘old time’ guys. All of this is okay to a degree. I think it would be better if we instill the idea of ‘church’ into the next group of leaders as being various communities of people whom you will implant the gospel into and the people themselves become ‘church’. A highly mobile community of people on the move for God. You can have ‘on line campuses’ [which, by the way, I feel are really on the cutting edge of ‘new paradigm’. We often speak in terms of ‘new paradigm/ new wine’ but are really just speaking of doing church in different ways in the same old auditorium mindset!] free flowing ‘open air’ [parks] groups. Meeting in clubs [bars!] on a weekday. Making ‘church’ available in all new types of ways. We can still have the old cathedrals, our eastern orthodox friends, and yes, even a good Old Catholic church! Hey, I like getting in on a Mass every now and then. You would be surprised how ‘prophetic’ the traditional scripture reading can be! My point is we need to ‘re think’ our approach on ‘how to do church’ in this next century [millennia!] Jesus spoke of ‘new wineskins’, as believers we need to ‘divorce’ ourselves from the marriage relationship that we have with ‘going to church on Sunday’. It’s time to expand the paradigm! NOTE; Let me say this. Recently I have had some good conversation [interaction] with a very popular orthodox writer. Most theologians would know his name. I realize that when they first come to our site, we LOOK STRANGE! Many of these guys are very uncomfortable with ‘dreams, visions,…’ and stuff like that. At the risk of offending all my charismatic friends, I confess that out of all the ‘theological communities’ out there, I like Reformed theology the most. I consider myself ‘non denominational’ for the most part, but have found reformed theology the ‘most likeable’ if you will. NOTE; in the ‘Emergent conversation’ I think the danger is in ‘the conversation’. We have a tendency to ‘talk things to death’. I too am guilty of this. The hardest thing for believers is to transition into ‘the doing’ aspect. There is a ton of good teaching out there right now on the church transitioning into this new paradigm, but I feel there really aren’t enough ‘doers’. Jesus said ‘look on the fields, they are ready to harvest. But there aren’t enough doers’. I don’t want to sound self righteous, I too am guilty! I just thought I would throw this in.
(598) I am going a little ‘theological’ today! In the ‘Emergent conversation’, as well as just ‘the conversation’ there are questions about the Kingdom versus the ‘Church’. When Jesus sent the disciples out he told them to cast out devils [demons] heal the sick and proclaim ‘the Kingdom of God has been here’. I see the Kingdom being expressed and manifested wherever Christ’s ambassadors are journeying at the time. In these areas where the gospel would spread certain groups of people would ‘submit’ to the message of the King. The outward sign of this submission was baptism. Those in the surrounding areas knew who these subjects of the Kingdom were, they were ‘branded’ if you will, with the ‘mark of the Kingdom’. Now, these cities [Ephesus, Corinth, Galatia { a group of cities}] would become ‘out posts’ of the Kingdom on earth. The ‘church’ [Ecclesia] in these areas were actual territories of people in whom the King would dwell and have expression thru. From these ‘local churches’ [groups of believers residing locally! Get the idea of a 501 c 3 organization out of your head!] Others would eventually go out and establish ‘new outposts’ thru the proclaiming of this good news [of the Kings reign!]. This organic thing we call ‘Ecclesia’ was the natural outgrowth of the Kingdom in the earth. The scholar N.T. Wright says the Kingdom message was really a proclamation of the Kings reign thru the lips of the Apostles. In essence they weren’t just preaching ‘get saved and join a ‘local church’ but were saying ‘the Kingdom has been inaugurated, submit to the King while you still have time!’ I like this! So today you have ‘regions/groups’ of people on planet earth who are ‘citizens’ of this heavenly Kingdom. The fact that the Spirit of God has taken up residence permanently in these groups of believers shows the ‘long term’ thinking of the Father when he started this thing! There most certainly will be a future aspect of this Kings great entry back into the planet, at that time all will see the outward reality of the fact that the King has been alive and well for a few thousand years [or more, depending on when he returns]. But make no mistake about it, the Kingdom of God has been invading this planet ever since the King took his seat of authority and vested the church with this authority by the pouring out of the Spirit at Pentecost. Be assured that ‘the Kingdom of God has come among you’.
(599) Let me talk some on why I align myself with reformed thinking. After I first ‘got saved’ I became a student of scripture. Within a short time I read the New Testament. I simply saw the passages dealing with Predestination as meaning ‘Predestination’ in the classical sense [Augustine, Luther, Calvin, etc...] .I was then taught that this belief was heresy! So I rejected it. The Baptist Pastor who said that this was ‘hyper Calvinism’ meant well. I would eventually see that believing in Predestination was not heresy. Many of the churches greatest theologians have believed in it. Many groups of Christians have embraced it thru out the ages. I most certainly am one! Now, I am very familiar with the arguments for and against this doctrine. Paul knew about the arguments against it. He actually takes the ‘Augustinian’ view in his defense of this doctrine in Romans [I know Augustine got it from Paul!] the simple fact that Paul, in his defense of this teaching, would actually not defend it from an Arminian view, but from a Calvinistic one, show’s you that he believed it! This really doesn’t take a genius to see [though it takes some basic level of thinking!] So any way I thought I would throw this out there being I have already come out of the closet as being Reformed. To be honest the passages that led me to this belief, before I was even aware of any historical anything, were the verses in Ephesians from my old King James bible. They make it very clear that Predestination not only speaks of being Predestined to conformity into Christ’s image [which Arminians bring out] but that Predestination most definitely speaks of a chosen group of people [the elect] as being predestined before birth unto the adoption of Sons. I always found it strange why Arminians, who are most certainly good brothers, would use the argument that Predestination refers only to those who accept Jesus and are ‘predestined’ to become like him. It takes only a surface, one time reading to see that Predestination speaks of this as well as what I just showed you. Many modern defenses of Arminianism [or semi Pelagianism- wow I really let the cat out of the bag now!] seem to overlook this simple fact. I can’t explain all the ramifications of this, neither could Paul! And the fact that he even said he couldn’t, proves it to be a biblical doctrine! [I blame any recent correspondence with Scot McKnight for this entry!]
(600) I do not feel like writing today. I want to be very honest with you guys. To have a history like I have had, struggling with things thru out my life. It might sound like a good testimony, but make no mistake about it, to have made bad decisions thru out my life has played a toll on me. Don’t think you can dabble in rebellion with out it affecting you! Now, why am I here right now? This last week I took a break from getting with my homeless friends, it was thanksgiving week and I spent time updating this blog. I wound up interacting with a very famous Orthodox scholar. I ‘accidentally’ went to his sight ‘Jesus Creed blog’ [great site, go check it out!] and meant to give my blog to him, I sent it on a comment section and realized it posted to all his readers. I didn’t mean to do this! After an hour or so they took it off the blog. I don’t blame them! We are a little radical for a bunch of orthodox brothers! But I guess the Lord wanted it. Let’s talk a little about the communion of the saints. I feel that protestant/independent Christians make a grave mistake when they view the older church traditions as ‘those deceived traditionalists’. Our brothers and sisters who are either Orthodox or Catholic are truly believers. They have come to the table with things to contribute. We often view them in a wrong light. It is common to hear ‘they practice infant baptism’ or ‘iconography’ [inclusion of art in worship] and to think ‘wow, what a bunch of idol worshippers’. Not realizing that they have come to these beliefs with much thought. Now do I agree? No. But I see how they have come to this belief. Infant baptism [pedo baptism] for the most part was seen as the New Covenant sign of dedicating children to Christ. Sort of like the rite of circumcision in the Old covenant. Those who were circumcised as infants were certainly not aware of what was going on, but God initiated it as a rite to introduce infants into his covenant. So certain new covenant believers saw infant baptism in this same way. Does the New Testament teach this? Probably not, but the Jailer in acts 16 got baptized ‘with his whole house’. Were there younger family members in this? Possibly. Did they all know the doctrines of Christian faith before their baptism? I doubt it. So the possibility of younger family members being baptized can be argued from scripture. Do I believe in infant baptism? No. But I can see how other Christians can believe it. So we shouldn’t just assume that our Orthodox/Catholic brothers are all deceived! It works like this with a lot of stuff. The historic church is really the ‘Father’ [or mother] to a lot of us today. Where did we get our bible from? Whether you like it or not, the Canon developed out of the ancient church. The reformed brothers say ‘we have a fallible collection of infallible books’ the Catholics say ‘we have an infallible collection of infallible books’ hate to say it, but the Catholics are right! Do I believe in the Apocrypha? No. But the truth is God most certainly used the historic church to give us the bible. Protestants who say ‘the bible was simply in existence and the church recognized it’ don’t understand history! God most definitely used the church, thru divine guidance, to give us his word. You can’t get around it. To think that ‘a bible’ was circulating in the first few centuries, like we have today, is simply historically inaccurate. God used his people to get the Canon together and deliver it to the rest of the church, no bones about it! The church is the pillar and ground of the truth, Paul did say this in the New Testament. So today, we have a beautiful people of God, made up of all types [denominations] of believers. We should strive for the unity of the church as Jesus taught us in John 17. We should avoid the mindset that simply looks at all of our brothers and sisters as being lost or deceived. Do we have differences? Yes. Are there important differences that have meaning. Yes. The Protestant reformation didn’t happen in a vacuum, God had real truth that he wanted to bring forth at that time. He brought it forth. As the church progresses in to this next millennia we need to honestly evaluate where we are at, and also see where our brothers and sisters stand. I am not one of those who think returning to orthodoxy [Frankie Schaffer] or Catholicism [Newman – or more recently Frances Beckwith] is a viable alternative, but we need to at least see them as viable Christian communions. Let’s not approach it like George from the Seinfeld episode. He was going to convert to Greek Orthodoxy so he could date some girl. So he goes down to the Greek Orthodox Church and meets with these 2 Priests. As they are testing him for his conversion, they ask him ‘why do you want to be Orthodox’? He answers ‘I like the hats’ to the dismay of these 2 Fathers who are wearing these pontifical looking hats! NOTE; The justification for the use of Art in worship comes from the fact that God himself allowed the use of actual images in worship right after he gave the restrictions on graven images in the 10 commandments. He gave Moses instruction on making images of Angels that would be over the Mercy seat in the Holiest place in the Tabernacle. The Tabernacle was the central piece of furniture for worship in the Old Testament story. Also God will instruct Moses to make a Brass serpent and put it on a pole and have the people ‘look at it as an image of Christ’! Jesus of course uses this story In John 3 with Nicodemus. So in both of these cases images were used with Gods permission [Explicit permission!]
(601) These last few years reformed theology has made a strong resurgence back into the Church. A few years back, the President of the Southern Baptist convention, Al Mohler, was a noted Calvinist. Mike Piper, a very popular Baptist preacher is also having great influence with many up and coming Evangelicals. I feel some of this is due to the fact that younger believers are really hungry for good theology. They are getting tired of all the motivational stuff. Also, like in my own case, if you see these things in scripture you tend to be drawn towards those who see it like you. It is all too common in the American Church to outright reject the true godly heritage of many of our Calvinistic brothers. Men like Jonathan Edwards, George Whitfield and others who were plainly Calvinistic in doctrine. When a younger believer is taught that they weren’t [like I was taught] it is a great revelation to find out that other great thinkers saw the same as you. I remember when I first read in one of the ancient councils of the church [council of Orange?] I read how many of my own conclusions were the same as brothers who lived centuries before. Or when I first studied the Puritans and realized how many of them were Calvinists. To underestimate the influential people who have held to this doctrine thru out the centuries is really miss guided. Now for sure there are some problems when man tries to logically explain the issues involving Predestination. And I feel that many of these explanations have done harm to the truth of this doctrine. I can’t see how telling people that Jesus didn’t die for them [limited atonement] squares with scripture. Some call this ‘4 point Calvinism’ as opposed to ‘5 Point’. My POINT is we do get into trouble when we try to figure out all the logical conclusions. Some times logic doesn’t work! [Sproul would be mad at me for this one]. So in all our teaching, especially when bringing young believers along. Don’t hide the historical fact that Calvinism played a big role in our heritage. It does a disservice to Christian education to tell people ‘Edwards wasn’t a Calvinist’ or for that matter ‘that Finney was’. We need to simply tell the truth about the historic record. Some great men were, some weren’t, no big deal. When you lay out the facts people can come to their own views. When you hide the facts you do a disservice to the work of the Spirit in education.
(602) Got with some homeless brothers yesterday, I will be seeing them in a few more hours. They read some of my stuff, one of them just lost his wife and child in a car crash this past year. He is struggling with it. He told me he was raised Mormon and hasn’t believed in God for years. But he started believing again in the last 2 weeks. I felt he wanted to kind of say ‘do you know why’? And maybe give me some credit, but I didn’t go down that road. I wanted him to believe because he chose to, not to impress me. I dealt with Mormonism in an honest way. Didn’t sugar coat the many problems with this belief [Like the total lack of any historical evidence backing up all of the so called tribes of people that Jesus supposedly appeared to in the Americas. All the names of people, cities, the money they used. None of these things have ever been found! Never mind the fact that the ‘angels’ who translated the ‘plates’ that Smith found in the ground, used King James English in his translation! EEEK!]. Well anyway when I went to see a good Christian friend who knows web sites, he was helping me with a few pointers. He started a business, was telling me how thru the business they get opportunities to witness. A good thing. He is an older man, involved in the local scene. He was getting ready to go the office, also spending time working at his house. I was hoping to finish with what he was showing me so I could get with some homeless guys at the mission. I don’t say this to boast or compare myself with my friend. I want to give an example. As he was telling me how thru the business they have opportunities to witness, he mentioned something about me being a fire fighter. I told him I am in the middle of retiring after 25 years. This brother has been financially independent for many years [he is rich!] I never knew this when I first met him. If I knew it I wouldn’t have paid for him and one of his employees when we went out to eat after a prayer meeting! The point is as we were talking, I was kind of rushing to get with the brothers. He was also rushing to go to the office. Why don’t we see the reality of touching people directly? If we retire as believers, or are financially well off, why not see your situation as being a direct conduit into the lost world around us? We often want to establish things [ministries, businesses, etc] and thru these other things we try to influence society. This is okay to a degree. But also leave yourself open to the concept of Jesus giving us authority and a responsibility to directly impact the world. I didn’t see my rushing to leave as ‘I need to go run the ministry’ or ‘establish our ministry’. I have left that mindset years ago. I saw my ‘rushing to leave’ more like Jesus going after the one sheep while leaving the 99 [I would not dare compare myself to the Lord!] The point is, if your child was starving on the street, strung out on drugs. Would your first thought be ‘how can I go start something that will affect them in the long run’? [a sort of Christian ‘trickle down economics!] Or would you take all you have, your time, resources and everything and directly go find that child and try and help them? I think we need to re evaluate what Jesus calls us to. Go out into the highways and hedges and compel them to come in! Don’t just ‘go out’ hoping to have a successful career, give God 10 % on Sunday while hoping you will in some way have an impact in society. Jesus said ‘when I was hungry you never came to me, I was sick and in prison, where were you’ I don’t want to say ‘at the office’! [Or down at the church!] NOTE; let’s ‘tear down every high thought that comes against the knowledge of God’. I want you to see the subtle mindset of religion. We often appeal to people along the lines of ‘support your church financially, live a good Christian life. Come to church on Sunday and be excited about all the mission works and reaching out and supporting missionaries that the church [organization] is supporting’ while all of these works are good and noble, what this tends to do is develop a mindset in the church [the actual ecclesia who are sitting in the pews!] that their main job is to fund the organization [like giving to the Red Cross] and that by their being faithful to fund it, they will have a reward. Now, I am sure the Lord will honor those who have given this way, as well as honor those fulltime missionaries who are doing good works. But when we frame the conversation this way, the poor people in the pews are only spectators who are living vicariously thru the professionals. They hear all the exciting stories form the visiting missionaries. They see the great things that the Pastor has done over the past year. They are very excited about all the good things that are happening. Then they are told ‘it’s good to believe God to use you to excel in the business world and make more money so we can do more projects. Don’t you know if you only believe for your own needs, you are being selfish!’ So the condemnation is ‘why do I not feel fulfilled by simply supporting this system’? Because God didn’t design you to be fulfilled by simply making money and supporting others who are laying their lives down. He designed you to lay your life down as well. To personally be involved in some way by actually doing the work! Not by simply thinking you will get a reward by giving money to others who are doing it. I have found the breaking of this mindset to be one of the biggest obstacles standing in the way of true revolution in the church. Every time you try and break this barrier, you are looked at as some rebel who doesn’t believe in tithing. Then to top it all off, every time a believer gets close to ‘making the break’ in his thinking and acting, he is then told ‘God will curse you if you rob from him’[Malachi]. May God help us all to get beyond this stuff! NOTE; Remember when we covered Exodus? [on radio] The children of Israel were told ‘you need to make more bricks, the reason the people are complaining is because they are not busy enough’! The bricks were being used to build Pharaohs cities, that which would bring glory to mans legacy. When we tell people ‘make more money, become millionaires so you can fund Christian stuff’ what we are doing is taking a very small percent of truth and applying it on a broad scale. In rare cases people are called to be rich to support ministries. The testimony of scripture does show this! Joseph of Arimathea, the rich guy who gave his grave to Jesus. Those in Acts who sold lands. There are examples of this. But you never see Jesus or Paul telling believers ‘trust God to make you rich so you can give us more money’. We err when we do this! We in essence are preaching a message to people that says ‘you are selfish if you are only working for your own needs, you need to give your life to become rich’ this message becomes a direct violation of scripture. In Hebrews it says ‘be content with what you have’. Paul says to Timothy ‘don’t desire to become rich’. This idea of telling believers to get rich to support ministries is way off. It actually falls into the category of ‘making more bricks for men’s glory’.
(603) Let’s delve into some stuff. In the discussion with my Orthodox friends, there are real differences. But in order to dialogue, Evangelicals need to see beyond their own mindset. While many Evangelicals today would reject ‘Sacerdotalism’ [sacramental salvation, a view of Sotereiology that incorporates the sacraments into salvation] many are also unaware that this belief existed in the minds of the great reformers. Especially Luther’s view on the Eucharist, as well as infant baptism and the remission of original sin! I found it funny how the Baptists, in an effort to be strong on Justification by faith, would kind of find ways to explain away the verses that seem to teach that water baptism has some role in salvation. Acts2:38 ‘repent and be baptized every one of you for the remission of sins’ [I think it’s there, I am too busy to even check it out!] The Baptists would do cartwheels trying to get around this. I have a way to explain it, if I have time I will! The point is there wasn’t a totally honest approach to some of these verses. Peter again will say ‘the like figure whereunto baptism doth also now save us, not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a pure heart towards God’ [somewhere in Peter. I like the way the writer of Hebrews does this ‘somewhere it is said’. He also didn’t look up the verses!] The Baptists would also explain these texts in ways that seemed to get around the text. ‘Well, we know water cant wash away sins’ Peter knew it too! He actually states it in this verse. This fact doesn’t answer the seeming ‘sacerdotal’ meaning of the verse. I even found it funny that the Baptists would quote Paul during water baptisms ‘buried with him in baptism, raised to walk in newness of life’ and not even see that applying this ‘baptism’ verse to water baptism is in itself sacerdotal! I believe the baptism spoken of by Paul in Romans is primarily the baptism of the Spirit placing us into the Body of Christ. Paul’s primary revelation was deeper than Peters. Peter will even say in his epistle that some things from Paul were hard to understand. There seemed to be a growing reality amongst the apostolic leadership of the first century that Paul was ‘seeing’ at a higher level. Some have developed this a little too much. Marcion would eventually develop a cannon based solely on Paul’s writings. The Protestant church has leaned heavily on Paul, while the Catholics on Peter. I see a prophetic significance to this. Now, I believe most of the baptism verses from Peter are dealing with water baptism, most of Paul’s with Spirit. I do not explain away, or spiritualize the water verses and say ‘it’s talking Spirit’. The main verse from Peter [acts 2:38] can be said to be speaking of an aspect of ‘salvation’ that deals more with ‘remission’ than ‘forgiveness’. The Greek word can mean both, but it is a little more than just basic forgiveness. My King James, which I quoted, says ‘remission’, newer ‘models’ say ‘forgiveness’. Don’t mean to split hairs, but there’s a reason for my madness! I feel it is perfectly in keeping with Paul’s theology to see Peter as saying ‘all who have just heard this gospel, if you get baptized, you will ‘sin less’. In essence ‘sins [actually doing them] will be removed. You will live better’. Now, I don’t want to be guilty of ‘explaining it away’ either. I believe it’s possible for Peter to be looking at a different timeline, a more surface understanding of ‘remission’ than Paul. Paul seems to see things from a longer trajectory both past and future. Paul is seeing the work of the Spirit baptizing before the actual ‘work of the water’ baptizing. How can Peter say ‘those who get baptized in water will have sins remitted’? Well he is seeing things a little later on the timeline. Possibly a few seconds later, but later. Peter didn’t know all the ramifications of legal justification like Paul. He did know that Jesus told him to go and baptize. He knew that those who believed and got baptized would ‘sin less’ [remission]. No need to twist all of Peter’s baptism verses into Paul’s way of seeing it. Paul was focused more on deeper stuff in salvation. Another difficulty with believers seeing this is a limited view of soteriology [doctrine of salvation]. Salvation in the New Testament is a much more fluid concept than we grasp today. Evangelicals have a tendency to see it solely on terms of the initial act of conversion, while the New Testament is much broader. The Catholic Church sees the communal aspect of Gods grace being present in society to ‘infuse’ grace, thru the sacraments, into society at large, and thru this making salvation a reality to all people. They see the church herself as a divine sacrament in the earth. Now, I don’t think Protestant’s are as far away from Catholic/Orthodox Christians if we can see some of this stuff. For a Baptist minister to tell a new convert ‘you are now justified, but you need to be baptized so you don’t ‘backslide’ [sin less] and for Peter to say ‘get baptized so you can get sins remitted [sin less]’ might not be as much of an obstacle as we have made it! NOTE; Some of the explanations of Acts 2:38 [wow, as much as I am quoting this, you would think I would go make sure I am quoting it right!] said Peter was saying ‘be baptized for [because of] the remission of sins’ that Peter was saying ‘because you have just accepted the Lord [at some hidden altar call!] now get baptized’. Or later in Acts ‘rise up and be baptized, washing away your sins’ speaking of Paul’s conversion. I think the best way to see it is like the way I just showed you. It seems obvious that early Christians saw a connection with water baptism and ‘washing away, remitting of sins’ but many believers try to interpret everything from the current context and damage scripture while doing it. These verses can all actually be saying ‘wash away, remit sin’ without referring to the act of legal justification that is the foundation of Paul’s teaching. Paul says ‘I thank God I baptized only a few of you guys [Corinthians] Christ sent me not to baptize, but preach the gospel.’ Paul has a deeper thing going on. Some dispensationalists try to ‘explain away’ the Peter verse by saying ‘Jews need it, Gentiles don’t’ and then go into the dispensation of works and explain that the ‘work’ of water baptism saves under the law dispensation that was existing for Israel and will ‘pick up again’ at the beginning of the tribulation. I see this also as silly. The first century church [and Judaism] connected ‘ceremonial/sacred’ cleansing in some way with their faith. In the gospel it says some disciples had a question over cleansing, speaking of baptism. John the Baptist ‘baptized for the remission of sins’ now, I can show you the whole thing on ‘Johns baptism’ versus ‘Christian baptism’ but that would be doing too much! Later on in church history you will see how many restorationist movements [church of Christ, Christian church] also saw water baptism as a restoration of truth and incorporated it into their understanding of salvation. The Baptist brothers would at times view them as a cult over this! Besides the Pentecostals down the road who were going to hell because they spoke in tongues [or didn’t believe in eternal security!]. I believe all of these brothers are Christians, hey they believe in Christ! I guess that would make me a liberal ecumenical heretic that believes in the one world church? [I felt like saying ‘if that’s true than I will at least be with all these brothers in hell’! But Christians get too uptight when you kid like this]. I believe the answer is in coming to the table with grace and humility. Don’t look for reasons to exclude people, but to include them. God’s revelation of himself tends to lean towards inclusion, not exclusion! Peter learned this lesson in Acts 10. NOTE; just to make sure you understand me, I believe a person is born again at the moment of belief. Prior to anything else. Even the ‘sinner’s prayer’. If I had the time I would show you how Romans 10 is not saying a person is saved [justified] when he asks Jesus into his heart. To see the word ‘saved’ as justification by faith would contradict the verse. The verse says ‘with the heart man believes unto righteousness [justification by faith] and with the mouth confesses unto salvation’ once again Paul’s point is if scripture says ‘whoever calls on the lord will be saved’ shows God is not partial. He ‘saves/delivers’ all who call, not just some. But in this argument he says ‘how can they call [pray] unless they already believe’? He just said all who believed were already ‘saved’ in the justification ‘sense’. So once again the fluid concept of Salvation is not seen because every time we see ‘saved’ we think of the initial act! So any way I guess I just explained it. So to me, the moment you believe you are born of God. God himself divinely deposits the ‘gift of faith’ into you, you don’t ‘choose to get saved’. He births you into his family and you are raised from the dead spiritually at that instant. Baptism in water is the outward sign, that also ‘remits’ sin in the same way you would tell any convert ‘obey God and you will grow in sanctification’. I know it’s a little stronger than this, but hey, that’s the best I can do. NOTE; by the way, seeing the word ‘saved’ in this more fluid context helps with all the other difficult passages. James ‘see how a man is saved by his works and not faith only’. I wont explain it now, I will try and just ‘cut and paste’ that entry [the one where I explained this] along with this entry, and put them under the section ‘REFORMED STUFF’ on this blog!
(604) Got with my homeless friend yesterday, the Muslim brother. Found out that he served in Iraq and went thru lots of stuff. His family is Jehovah witness. They were stressed when he became a Muslim. During our conversation I never really push conversion on people. After becoming real friends with people, with no hidden agenda, then when you talk with them the door is open to share truth with a friend. Jesus style! He is knowledgeable in many areas, does read scripture. I spent a few hours answering many misconceptions that he had. I rarely have a bible when doing this stuff, but I have memorized lots of scripture over the years. So during our conversation I realized that my human power of persuasion wasn’t cutting it, I would quote scripture along with my reasoning. Stuff like ‘great is the mystery of godliness, God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, believed on in the world and received up into heaven’ and explain the truth of the incarnation. I went a little thru the history of Islam and the difference between the way Jewish people and Muslims view Jesus as a prophet, but not Gods Son. I did quote a lot from Isaiah 53 and noticed how my buddy was listening intently as I would quote scripture. You could see it was really the power of the gospel thru Gods word that was doing the work. As I was quoting and explaining the substitutionary aspect of Christ’s death, he confessed that he was just reading Isaiah 53 earlier in the day. Wow, I felt like the guy in Acts [Phillip] who was preaching to the Ethiopian Eunuch! [Acts 8?] After a good few hours of really teaching my Muslim friend, I was dropping him off at his spot where he camps by the bay. It’s kind of cold, but I told him [truthfully] that I planned on baptizing some people when the water gets warmer. It’s been too long and I don’t want to neglect this part of the great commission. I didn’t want to push it with my Muslim friend, but he eagerly told me that he wants to get baptized when we do it! Also wants to be involved with some home groups and stuff. It’s only been a few weeks of friendship with this brother and he’s ready to get converted! This is the same brother that I was kidding about giving my classic Mustang to a few entries back. I thank God that he is ready to take the plunge! But he isn’t getting the car! NOTE; Let me say something about this ‘style’ or way of ministry. It is all to easy in today’s current mind set to relate to people on the basis of ‘come to my church/ministry and we will provide services to you and you will give a tithe and we will pay for others [missionaries] to carry the gospel to the world. Just be real faithful to give and we will do great things’. The intent behind this thinking is well meaning, I just believe it is a little misguided. It is all to easy to fall into a style of ministry that begins ‘falling behind’ in the budget and then there develops a tension on ‘why aren’t the people giving’? I know! It’s because we have failed to teach the mandate to tithe! [though there really is no mandate to tithe!] So what starts out as well intentioned people [the Pastors and the congregants] digresses into this power struggle where every time you meet one of the main inferences is ‘lets go people, we have much to do. Obey God, don’t rob him!’ the whole thing is so far removed from true New Testament ministry, yet we don’t really see this! In the above interaction with my Muslim friend, it was obvious to me that he has ‘gotten into it’ with many Pastors thru out his life. He has told me how what turned him off was the arrogance [and ignorance] of ‘chaplains’ [prison] and guys who were always relating to him with an agenda. I don’t want to say ‘I am the first noble person who treated him right’ but I want you to see how all believers need to begin directly relating to people without seeing ‘my church [organization] or the missionaries we support are responsible to do this stuff’ We are all responsible! When the modern system teaches the ‘brick builders’ to simply ‘make more bricks’ [bring in more resources] we are giving the impression to the average believer that this is his main responsibility! NOTE; If you remember that in one of my books I shared some thoughts from my mission statement [I think the last chapter of ‘Further Talks on Church and Ministry’] I shared how in the great commission Jesus simply tells believers to go and preach the gospel and baptize those who believe. Also to teach and make disciples [more than just ‘getting saved’] but there really is no instruction on ‘starting churches’. Later in Acts after the Spirit is poured out on the believers they ‘continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine and breaking of bread’. That is they were growing as a community of people, not a separate organization that was called ‘the local church’. They were ‘the local church’. Because of this subtle shift in our seeing the separate organization as ‘the local church’ it becomes natural to see the bringing in of more money into ‘the storehouse’ [eeek!] so the work of God can be carried out! After all, God chose ‘the local church’ as his instrument to do this stuff! We sure have a long way to go. NOTE; This is the friend who shared the dreams about the ‘gold book of God’ [few entries back]. He also just shared how when he was a boy he had a dream and heard the word ‘unity’ and his mom [or someone?] was aware of this. I think they heard the voice too? The point was I also told him [interpreted] this prophetic sign as from God. During my discussions with him one of he main obstacles of becoming Christian was certain expressions of the Trinity. How Muslims say ‘you cant worship Jesus as God’ or you cant have ‘3 gods’. I tried to explain that Jesus said ‘if you have seen me, you have seen the Father. I am in the Father and the Father in me’. I also explained how the historic church battled over certain expressions of the Trinity. I explained the ‘Arian’ controversy of the 4th [or 5th?] century when the Bishop Arias thought it was wrong to call Jesus God, and ultimately the church had an historic council and came down on the side of Trinitarian language. I brought all this up to show him how believers have struggled with explaining the Trinity. But I used his own prophetic experience of hearing the word ‘unity’ to show him how Jesus and God are one. This was the 2nd prophetic thing that happened with him in concert to bring him to conversion. Which in a way was a fulfillment of what I told him a few weeks back, that many Muslims were having dreams and visions and converting to Christ. This whole experience was a good prophetic clinic to those of you who are not familiar with these things. Signs and visions work in concert with the overall purpose of God in redemption. Just like the book of Acts, those of you who do not believe in these things need to see the ‘orthodoxy’ of all that has happened in bringing my friend to truth. It wasn’t ‘spooky’ charismatic stuff, it was real evangelism! NOTE; Let me give you guys a little ‘prophetic clinic’ in what happened with my Muslim friend. He had these 2 prophetic experiences that stuck with him his whole life. The ‘gold book of God’ and the ‘unity’ word/vision. Both of these signs speak of the deity of Christ, the main obstacle keeping a Muslim from becoming Christian. So for all these years God knew there would be a time where this buddy would go thru as being Muslim. God had a predestined course for him to have had these prophetic experiences in his background. God was waiting for the day to come where Martin would run into ‘an interpreter of dreams’ [don’t want to sound too big headed, at least someone who believed they weren’t from the devil!] so you see how these dream things were not simply ‘eating too much Pizza’ but a collaborative effort with the sovereignty of God to reveal his Son to Martin. God gave his Son for the world, he has the right to divinely arrange the ‘playing board’ so he wins every time!
(605) PARABLE OF AN AUTO MECHANIC I just had this thought. Say if God sent Jesus into the world to solve another problem besides the sin issue. Say if the main problem with men were that their cars kept breaking down. Jesus shows up in 21st century USA and begins gathering a following of disciples. He walks with them for 3 years and sees all these cars broken down. He begins miraculously fixing them. He also shows the disciples how to ‘fix cars’. He gets to the point of his departure and tells his disciples ‘I am going away, but I will gift you with the supernatural ability to not only fix cars, but to train others to do the same. As soon as you fix a car, teach the owner and give him instructions on how to ‘pay it forward’. Then Jesus leaves, he decides one day to come back and see how we did. He thinks ‘for sure there will be a great improvement since I left’. To his dismay he shows up and finds that things really haven’t improved that much. Sure, there’s been some improvement [all the preachers have their cars fixed! Ouch] but the overall scene hasn’t really changed. He asks one of the ‘mechanics’ what happened. Don’t you know how important it was for you to have taken my ‘car fixing ability’ and to have used it to reach the world? The mechanic says ‘we know it’s very important. That’s why we have set up all these ‘mechanic shops’ all over the world. These shops on every corner operate like this. On Sunday all the mechanics go to the shops and read from the ‘mechanic book’. We have a ‘head mechanic’ who knows more about the book than the rest of us, he is really good! We listen to him talk for about an hour or so and he reads all these great stories from the book on how Jesus and the ‘early mechanics’ did great things. We then put in our money at the end of the mechanic talk and go home. So do you see how seriously we take the responsibility of being mechanics?’ What do you think Jesus would say? The simple fact is we have relegated the responsibility of carrying out the great commission to the ‘hired mechanics’. On our way to ‘mechanic shop’ each Sunday we are driving passed a world full of ‘broken cars’. We see the cars being broken, but we think the head mechanic only wants us to send money to other mechanics so they can fix them. We have lost sight of the direct responsibility that we carry as ‘mechanics’. If all Jesus wanted was for us to financially support ‘other mechanics’ or to think it was the job of the ‘mechanic shop’ to carry it out, then we have been duped into inactivity without us knowing it. Then you find a few mechanics along the way that have figured this out. They begin rapidly fixing cars all over the place. They implore their fellow mechanics to do the same. They are shouting at them on the way to mechanic shop and saying ‘stop, help us fix these cars’. The ones going to shop tell the lead mechanic that these new guys are actually fixing cars, without being licensed by the shop! Well, the chief mechanic can’t believe this. He has been taught his whole life that it is his job to talk about mechanics and be a teacher of mechanics, but for someone to break out on their own, and use this wisdom outside of the shop is total rebellion. He starts warning all the others ‘don’t do what these rebel mechanics are doing’. They are told ‘just keep bringing the weekly dues to the shop, because if you don’t you will get in big trouble’. No matter how loud the real fixers of cars shout to the shop attendees, the attendees see the ‘attending’ of shop class on Sunday as the primary responsibility. They believe the doing of this is the main thing that Jesus wanted. When you ask them ‘don’t you remember when Jesus told us to go and fix all the cars in the world and when he comes back he will ask whether or not we actually fixed any cars’ what will your answer be? ‘I guess we will tell him that the dues we paid to the shop on Sunday supported others who were fixing them’? That my friends is not going to cut it!
(606) JOHN 13- Jesus says ‘I am come from God, and I am going back to him’. He had this divine sense of mission. Theologians have disagreed over how much Jesus knew about his own calling as a young person. I kinda see it like he gradually came to greater wisdom and understanding as the father was revealing the mission to him. The fact that Jesus became human also brought with it certain limitations of knowledge and growth. He did come to see his mission at a young age. When he was in the temple as a boy he said ‘I am doing my fathers business’. So I see how he grew in his sense of mission and destiny. You have come from the father, you will some day go back. Live with destiny in mind. At the table Jesus tells the guys ‘I am giving you an example’ as he washes their feet. Peter is like preachers today ‘heavens forbid that you wash me, are you saying I need some correcting’! I have found this response common among leaders [even me!] we sought of cant get corrected, then when we do realize we need it, we go to the other extreme ‘well, go ahead and give me a bath!’ We want to tear everything down and start all over! It is funny. Jesus says ‘what I am showing you, you don’t really know what it means yet, you understand it in your head, but not for real’ I feel the example of ‘servant leadership’ is a subject that most leaders ‘know’ but the fact of it being really lived out is rare. We still see ‘ministry’ and ‘church’ from the paradigm of ‘my successful career’. I am not saying everyone is wrong, I am saying the level we are at is sort of where the disciples were. We ‘know it’ in our heads, but we still ask ‘who will be the greatest in your Kingdom. Can we sit at your right Hand?’ Jesus makes one of the worst statements in all of scripture ‘one of you shall betray me’ he also says in another place ‘it were better for that man if he were never born’ WOW! How would you feel if this were said about you? At the table the disciples were feeling insecure. ‘John, ask Jesus who it is for heavens sake!’ John and Judas know, I don’t know about the others. It seems as if they leave the meal with the possibility of ‘Oh my God, could it be me’ this lets you see into the later distress that Peter has over his denials. He must have thought ‘I am the bad one’. Peter makes every attempt to not be the one. Jesus says ‘where I am going, you can’t follow’ Peter says ‘why not, I will die for you’! Jesus says ‘I tell you, before the cock crows, you will deny me 3 times’! “OH MY GOD IT IS ME!’ do you see the drama here? Why would Jesus say about Judas ‘it would have been better if you were never born’? It sure seems hard. Jesus said this for Judas benefit, not his own. Jesus knew that for the fathers plan to work, someone would have to hate him so much that he would betray him. Jesus loved Judas, he lived with him for 3 years. He saw THE SINCERITY of Judas as a zealot for his political cause. You say ‘but he was a thief from the start’ true. But I am sure he justified it like cheating on your taxes! The point was Judas really thought he was getting in on this new ‘progressive’ political movement of the day. Sure he was stealing, but after all ‘I deserve it, the Pay Jesus gives us isn’t cutting it. Doesn’t he realize we are risking our lives with him. I am deserving of it’. Jesus knew Judas was the average Joe. Jesus had some good times during the 3 years of friendship. Jesus didn’t lie when he said ‘friend, why are you betraying me with a kiss’? Jesus wished he had never been born. NOTE; in the current discussion with ‘Emergent Church’ stuff, some are bringing up the possibility of hell being symbolic in nature. Does ‘fire’ mean ‘fire’ and stuff like that. I believe it does, but want you to understand that true thinkers and movers have differences of opinion on this. Origen, one of the early intellectual church fathers, taught universalism. That all people will ultimately be saved. Of more recent fame, Carlton Pearson left his charismatic roots and embraced ‘no hell’. To be honest, he has gone a lot further than simply being ‘no hell’. He denies the authority of scripture, thinks John wrote Revelation as an expression of being delusional. I feel Pearson, in his journey towards universalism, went way too far. Clark Pinnock, a modern theologian has taught ‘annihilationism’ that all the wicked will be burned up and non existent. There are a few verses where you can get this from! The point is some very good people [and bad] have differences of opinion on this. My point is this statement from Jesus ‘it would have been better if Judas were never born’ sure seems to indicate that every one will not wind up in heaven! It seems as a harsh thing to say if Jesus knew his buddy would one day be in heaven. Judas could rightfully ask ‘why did you say it would have been better if I were never born, after all, all people who were ever born wind up in heaven.’
(607) I just read an article in my local paper on a school teacher who was fired over an evolution thing. I remember watching the whole court case a few years ago on some northern state trying to get ‘intelligent design’ taught in the schools. I think it was Pennsylvania? The judge would rule against intelligent design on the grounds that the schools should teach science and not religion. To put it bluntly, the judge was truly an idiot! Now, why do I say this? If you watched the whole case you saw the evidence, given by the scientific community, that showed Darwin’s theory to have been proven wrong. All the evidence showed how no where do we see any scientific proof that ‘macro evolution’ ever happened in a natural environment. Macro evolution is Darwin’s theory that species change from one thing into another. This has never once happened, ever, according to the evidence. What has happened is ‘Micro evolution’ the adapting of species to its environment. Now, during the hearings this was brought out very plainly by the scientists on the creation side. To be honest, the other side for some reason did not have scientists defend evolution. They had an arrogant school board lawyer who was out of his league on all the scientific issues. Those hearing the case even brought this out. Ultimately when the judge ruled against creationism, it really wasn’t based on science. During the case the evolution side tried to show that ‘Intelligent design’ was a secret way to slip ‘creationism’ into the classroom, and therefore it would be a violation of the separation of church and state. The interesting thing about the case [I think it was in a town called Dover?] was the fact that Darwin’s theory was proven false. Now, the other side can say ‘but you never know, we might find other evidence some day?’ while that may be true, the school system should not be teaching a theory as fact when all scientific evidence shows it to be wrong! This argument is really not about religion, it’s about science. All the fossils and stuff clearly show that things [life forms] appeared on the scene at set times. Not ‘slowly’. This evidence shows that some where these life forms had to have been ‘designed’ prior to there appearing. This is fact, seen from the evidence! Now, whether you want to delve into a creator having designed them, or some other theory, is really irrelevant to the debate. The fact is the evidence shows these life forms to have shown up in complete form, not slowly changing. I find it funny how those who fight creationism by saying they believe in science, really can’t see how science goes against Darwin’s theory, and backs up the Christian worldview!
(608) Let’s do a little more on Evolution. When Darwin popularized the theory, he knew that over a period of time he would be proven right or wrong. If his theory was right you would eventually find Fossils of all types of species in the transition stage. You obviously wouldn’t find something actually changing, but you would see stage 1. Then over a few million years stage 2 and so forth. As a matter of fact you would find these ‘stages’ of fossils all thru out the Evolutionary time table. You would not only need them for one species going to the next, but for all the species that have changed! Over a few hundred years how many have we found? A thousand? 500 hundred? 50? How about the big ZERO! That’s right, science has found none. Wow, you think if this were true that scientists would drop the idea. Many have. Even those who hate God! I have read where scientists have said the biggest problem with Darwin’s idea is the blatant hole in the fossil evidence. They have said ‘we don’t have the evidence to back it up’ or ‘as a matter of fact the evidence we have disproves Evolution’. Now there have been some famous hoaxes. As a kid I used to go to the museum of natural history in New York City. I remember seeing the famous ‘stages of evolution’ on display. They were statues of man evolving. They showed the proof behind each level. One of the levels was a whole man developed by a tooth they found in the ground. Surely science deals with facts. The tooth later was proven to have come from a pig! They built the whole guy from a pig. You guys are really smart. Another great proof was a skull that was found in the ground. It was trumpeted for years as a missing link. They found out it was fake. They were testing it and found ‘Plaster of Paris’ in its ‘DNA’. What has happened is a theory has been held to religiously and made us look like a bunch of idiots. The simple fact that atheistic scientists have come out and said ‘Darwin’s theory is fake, not because religion says so, but because science says so’ should concern all the evolutionists who think they are aligned with the evidence.
(609) Over the years I have seen how division happens among good believers. On this site you can read some good stuff [I think!] on doctrine. You can also read lots of stuff on visions and dreams. I realize that there is a whole sector of the church who believe that the current church ‘is rampant with false doctrine’. I hear a local commercial on the radio station that I broadcast on say this. When I hear it I hope I am not coming across as someone who only sees ‘rampant false doctrine’ in our day. I also see how these reformed guys see ‘rampant false doctrine’. But sometimes there are honest disagreements that wouldn’t fall into the ‘false doctrine’ category. Paul was a tremendous theologian, reformed as much as any one! Yet what would you think if your favorite reformed theologian was raising the dead? Or sending handkerchiefs to sick people to get well? [it might have been Peter?] Or casting blindness on demon possessed followers? We often see only one side of the argument. Then you have the Charismatics who operate in these things, but it is next to impossible to show them that this same Paul who did these things wrote first Timothy 6, one of the strongest reproofs to the money gospel ever written. So we all have a tendency to take what we like and leave the rest behind. Sort of like some of the first canons of scripture, some guys just cut out the stuff they didn’t like! Even the great Luther had problems with James, Hebrews, Revelation, 2nd Peter and others. Sometimes our minds become idols. I want to exhort all my reformed friends to read the New Testament with an open mind, as well as my Charismatic friends. We all have blind spots that we don’t know are there [even me!] God ordained this to be so! That way we would realize we need each other in order to complete the mission. Let the iron sharpen iron.
(610) As you can tell by now, I like to jump around a lot! Recently I have been studying various movements in Christianity. To some degree people would define me as ‘Emergent’ that is I challenge the way we practice church. I have been doing this for years. I have also seen some in this movement who challenge the ‘myth of the Cross’ [ouch!] and historic Christianities content. Just thought I would let you know I do not align my self with this part of being ‘Emergent’.
(611) JOHN 14- Jesus says he is going away to prepare a place for us. He tells the disciples they know where he is going and how to get there. Thomas says ‘we have no idea where you are going, how can we know the way’. Jesus wasn’t talking ‘location’ as much as communion with the Trinity. He was saying I am going to THE FATHER and you now know the Father, because I have revealed him to you. You have seen me, you have seen him. Also, the way to the father is thru the Son, so you not only know where I am going [Father] but the way [Son]. Now I get it! You can take this 2 ways [not three!] you can look at it as Jesus speaking of the sending of the Spirit as his ‘coming again’, in verse 18 he does say this. He says ‘I will come to you’ and he is speaking of the Spirits coming. Thru this chapter the comforter is one just like him. Also you can read this as the literal second coming. We believe Jesus will come again! Some have said this chapter is speaking of something else besides these 2 options, they think this ‘coming’ is the rapture. A separate event from the 2nd coming. I don’t see how you can believe it this way. Also in this chapter Jesus is showing the intent of redemption. He didn’t just come to take us to heaven. In chapter 17 we will read that he prays to the father for us not to be taken out of the world, but to keep us from the evil in it. Thomas seems to be thinking ‘location and how to get there’ when he says ‘we have no idea where you are going, how can you think we know how to get there’? But Jesus is really speaking the language of fellowship in the Trinity/Unity that he has with the father and the Spirit. He is telling Thomas ‘my purpose is to bring you into this oneness that I have with the father, to invite you to partake in this fellowship’ in essence ‘I am not talking about getting you to a location [heaven] in as much as bringing you into a state of being with me and my father’ true ‘HOLY COMMUNION’! You do see this concept thru out the chapter. The disciples seem to be struggling ‘how will you come back and reveal yourself to us and not to the world’ Jesus says ‘if a man loves me he will keep my words, the Spirit will then come and indwell him and we will all have community together’ [Father, Son, Spirit and all believers]. They are grappling with these ideas. They were like us, always thinking in terms of being saved to go to heaven when we die. Now, I thank God for this benefit. I am very happy that I am not going to Hell! Don’t underestimate this blessing. But Jesus is speaking on a much higher plane. He even says ‘the words I am speaking are not mine, but the Fathers’. A few practical things. Jesus says when I leave you will do greater works because I am leaving and the Spirit will come and indwell you. The ‘non Charismatics’ say this is evangelism. Jesus will give us the Spirit and we will evangelize on a mass scale, greater works. The Charismatics say this is doing more miracles, raising the dead and healing the sick and casting out devils. Who is right? Take them all! Just be sure and bring people into the Kingdom. The gifts are not for you to get famous or gain a following, they are for the purpose of evangelism and expanding the Kingdom. In this chapter we see Jesus great promises of peace and his dwelling with us forever. The promise of the Spirit showing us the things of the father. We are invited into this wonderful communion with him. Let’s allow the work of the Spirit to use us to bring others into this community. The 2 great commandments Jesus gives us is to love God and others. The ‘others’ speaks of his desire to bring people into this community. NOTE; on the radio when I spoke on this entry I mentioned some stuff on the historic creeds and the language that the early church used to define the Trinity. In the world today the 3 main religions are Christianity, Islam and Judaism. Islam and Judaism claim to be Monotheistic. Christians also claim this, but Islam and Judaism don’t agree. The reason for this is in the way the historic church came to define the Trinity. There have been Jewish converts to Christianity who accept Jesus as Messiah but do not accept the classic language of the Trinity. The verse that says ‘the Lord our God is one’ is a main text for both Muslims and Jews in their understanding of Gods oneness. Some of the Trinitarian language has been an obstacle to Muslims and Jews converting. Now, like I said before, I do believe in the Trinity. But if you notice the language that Jesus will use in our study in John, it seems more in line with ‘Unity’ then ‘Trinity’. The truth of the Trinity is there, but the explanations that Jesus gives sound better than the way the creeds say it. One of the creeds says Jesus was begotten eternally. That there was never a time where he was begotten. He was always ‘begotten’. They came to this language by trying to defend Christ’s deity. The problem is scripture teaches us that there was a definite point in time when Jesus ‘was begotten’. The fact that Jesus existed always with the father is different from saying ‘he was always born as a man’ which is what begotten refers to. So to be honest about it, the language in this creed is an obstacle. In my recent conversations with my Muslim friend I stood strong for the deity of Christ and God becoming man thru the incarnation, but I also tried to use the actual language of scripture when explaining it. This is going to be important for the future of the church as she tries to bring both Muslims and Jews into the church. We don’t want to compromise on the historic truths of Christianity, but we also want to express our belief in Monotheism in ways that are in keeping with scripture. Also when I say ‘into the church’ I mean bringing them to God thru Christ, not into some ‘culture of Christianity’ that the world sees as ‘church’. NOTE; I also spoke on the second coming and Preterism. Preterism is a way of interpreting the Second coming as having happened in A.D. 70. This belief arose out of a well intentioned answer to the critics of Christianity. Some critics have brought out the idea that the early church were all expecting an imminent return of Jesus, that they took the obvious scriptures that speak of Jesus coming quickly and stuff like that and were let down when Jesus did not come for the first few centuries. So some scholars developed the idea that Jesus did come in ‘judgment’ and fulfilled all the verses of the second coming in A.D. 70. Others have taught how the early church had to later adjust it’s theology around the ‘obvious’ mistaken teachings of Jesus. Some of these guys are believers, but they fall into the liberal camp. My belief is Jesus will literally come again. A Protestant scholar actually made an argument for the ‘literalness’ of Jesus return thru the Catholic teaching on Transubstantiation. He defended our Catholic brother’s ideas on the Real Presence in the Eucharist. He said the church has been faithful to the literal return of Jesus and his immediate presence by the reality of Jesus being present in Communion. Good effort, but a little too much spiritualizing for me. I believe the best argument that can be made, if you were going to go down this road, would be this chapter. Jesus says he will come again and also says the comforter will be the fulfillment of this coming. Now, I also believe in the future literal return of Jesus, because later on in the New testament you see Paul teaching a future return after the initial outpouring of the Spirit at Pentecost. I was watching an end time teacher using the verse where Jesus spoke on the destruction of the Temple and he was applying it to a future Temple. He was wrong. I also believe the Preterists are wrong. I believe the rapture as a separate event from the second coming is ‘extra biblical’. But in all of our seeking for truth, I don’t throw out the historic belief of Christ’s return. I believe the best way to explain the supposed delay of his return is to look at the character of God. The New Testament says the longsuffering of God is because he wants to bring as many people into the church as possible. That which seems to be a delay is really mercy. No need to try and find ways to explain this to the critics, Jesus is delaying his return for their benefit!
(612) I got with some homeless friends yesterday. An older brother showed up. He is a friend of mine, I had met him a few years back. He is very strong on Jewish stuff. I actually refer to him as a ‘Messianic Gentile’. A Gentile Christian who is enamored with natural Israel. When we first met I let him know my feelings on this. Those of you who have read this site know what I mean. I am against the exalting of any natural heritage. But this brother has become a reader of my site and has told a mutual friend that he thinks I am ‘very deep’ in Christian understanding. To be honest I don’t see how prosperity guys and ‘Messianic Gentiles’ could even put up with me. But somehow they see things from our teaching that they like. That’s great! During the conversation my friend was telling everyone how Jesus birthday was today [the first day of Hanukah] and my other friend kinda told me he was announcing this to everyone. I told my friend that most Christians think Jesus wasn’t born in winter. You can look at the surroundings of the birth of Jesus in the gospels and it would seem like it wasn’t in winter. I am not dogmatic at all, I celebrate Christmas with a tree and all. I tried to avoid my Messianic friend. So he and another conservative right winger came and sat at my table [outdoor picnic tables] and started their talk. The conservative guy was also Messianic. He was telling the other guy how he went to the local Jewish meeting last night to light the candlestick and all. Then they started talking about some Christian/Jewish prophet who has this world wide ministry. Moved his family to Israel, looks like a true full blown rabbi and all. I really felt like puking up at this point, but I held it in. The conservative guy would actually ask a question and say ‘I am throwing this out on the table for anyone’s in put’ and as soon as I gave some in put, he would cut me off and say ‘lets stay on track here’. I realized I shouldn’t even get into it with these guys. I tried to ignore the whole deal, but hey they came to my table. After a while I spoke up, didn’t let the guy cut me off. Gave them about a ten minute reproof on some stuff. Quoted lots of scripture and all. Reproved the conservative guys teaching on ‘we create things with prophecy’ sort of a mixture of word of faith elements that he was espousing. I taught the biblical view of Old and New Testament prophecy. Also the ‘extra biblical view’ of Christians being little gods who have the power to create with words just like the ‘Big God’. I explained the reality of prophecy and also the reality of decreeing things as believers. But shot down the ‘we create things with our words like God does’ doctrine. Somehow the conservative Jewish guy had this understanding also. Well I rebuked them for a few minutes, didn’t mean to be mean. But you can only swallow so much of this stuff at one sitting. I have noticed I am becoming a little more known around this mission, kinda uncomfortable with it. A few guys have become avid readers of my stuff. Sometimes people will ask ‘oh, you run the radio ministry for ‘Corpus Outreach’ do you help the main speaker?’ They think someone else is doing the talking on the show. I tell them it’s me, they can’t believe some radio guy would be hanging out with homeless guys. I really like the anonymity, but I figured sooner or later people would become more familiar with what I do. I don’t hide the ministry stuff, I need for friends to listen to the show and read our stuff, I just try to avoid the persona of being ‘a preacher’. There are a few times where the persona comes in handy, like when I rebuked the brothers at the table! Did it in full biblical fashion, quoting scripture and all. Man, all you preachers would have liked me at that point!
(613) This entry is sort of my statement of faith. I believe in the Trinity. I believe in a real Hell. I believe in a real Heaven. I believe in the literal Death, Burial and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. I believe in the full Deity of Christ. I believe in the Physical Return of Jesus to the planet. I do not believe in the Rapture as a separate event from the Second Coming. I believe that all men must be saved, Born Again thru faith In Jesus Christ or they will not go to heaven. I believe in the continuation of the Gifts of the Spirit for the function of the church today. In short, I agree with the historic majority view of all Christians today [Catholic/Orthodox/Protestant] on most major Christian doctrines except for Pedo Baptism [infant baptism] and would disagree with some Protestant views of the cessation of the Gifts of the Spirit and the late development of Dispensational Theology.
(614) JOHN 15 [Radio # 598] Jesus tells the disciples they are the branches, he is the vine. If they truncate themselves from him they will perish. In the world of ‘once saved always saved’ and ‘if you walk away you are lost’ a lot of these verses become arguing points. I believe the main context here is sort of like when I taught Hebrews [read chapter 6 of the commentary on this blog]. I see Jesus telling the disciples as a microcosm of the Nation of Israel ‘If you don’t continue in the Old Testament revelation of me as Messiah, then you will be cut off [AD 70] and be destroyed’. Basically Jesus telling Israel ‘you must remain in me [after all you have all come from me! John 1:1] if you want to be fruitful’. Jesus says ‘I want you to have full joy’ in the same context of bearing fruit. God designed all of us to be active participants in the spreading of his kingdom. In many modern scenarios you have the Pastors and staff finding fulfillment, but the average church attendee is simply a funder of the organization. They see everything thru this paradigm. ‘Give sacrificially, we can reach the world!’ It’s good to give sacrificially, but God wants all of us to ‘reach the world’ to be active participants in this thing. You can’t have ‘full joy’ unless you do the stuff! Jesus says ‘If I had not come and spoken unto them [religious leaders] they wouldn’t have known they were wrong’ also ‘if I had not done the works among them that no one else was doing’. Jesus reproved by word and deed. I find it funny how after preaching that you don’t need lots of money to reach the world for Christ, that preachers get really mad at this. Then when we do impact a large region [basically Texas, New York area and all the African preachers who have been reading/listening to us on the internet] with me paying for everything, that this really gets the ‘religious leaders’ mad. Don’t be mad, instill this same concept into your people and you will have a full reward. Tell them like Jesus told his disciples ‘go into the world, don’t think you need a lot of equipment for this, you are the equipment. No special appeals for funds, keep it simple’ [Message Bible] Jesus taught and lived contrary to the professional clergies agenda. They got mad! NOTE; Jesus says ‘ye are clean thru the word that I have spoken unto you’. As I was reading this chapter for a few days, getting ready to write on it. I usually get up early and pray ‘aggressively’ for a while before I write. Sometimes I just wait on the Lord and just listen [for about an hour] and hear what he is saying. All of these entries come from this ‘hearing’ time, not from much ‘head knowledge’. As I was waiting the other day, the Lord spoke to me about this verse ‘ye are clean [set apart for my purpose] thru the word I speak to you, not thru what you speak [pray] to me’. I felt like the Lord was saying there are times in our lives where we simply receive and become the ‘incarnate’ purpose of God. That God desires to reveal himself to people thru us. The purpose of receiving his word is not for didactic teaching only, but for becoming what he says. Sort of like the imagery I taught in John 1 [go back and read it!] we in essence become what he is communicating. We don’t just ‘hear’ it, we experience it. Like the Prophets in the Old Testament, God would communicate thru them, but they also would go thru some strange stuff! Jesus also says ‘if you abide in me and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what you will and it will be done’. I want to credit the Word of Faith guys for bringing out truth in this area. They popularized the idea of knowing Gods will and purpose by knowing his word. His will is his word, if you will. The problem became an unbalanced teaching thru only seeing the ‘good stuff’ and avoiding the suffering verses. It would become next to impossible to correct these brothers as they went headlong down the path of materialism. Any attempt to reprove them would be seen as ‘don’t listen to the negative naysayer’ and they would develop a mindset that would not receive correction. In the reality of Gods will being his word, we must understand it is his whole word. Even the verses that give warnings about end time teachers who would stray from the faith by becoming money focused! [1st Timothy 6]. So let’s give credit where it is due, but also stay on course.
(615) Took a ride yesterday to San Antonio to pick up family from the airport. It reminded me of the old days. I tuned in to one of the classic rock stations and caught a ‘re-play’ of the first Led Zeppelin concert in 19 years! They played the night before in London. I hope to catch the replay on VH1 some day. The rock station was playing the list that Zeppelin sang, but it was from their old albums. It’s too soon to play the live stuff. Well any way it felt good to jam to Zeppelin while driving thru some real traffic, you know the cutting in front of people and stuff, while all the time not wearing my seatbelt. I guess the old rebellious nature comes out every now and then. At the airport the ladies with the Jehovah Witnesses had a stand and invited me over. I spent around an hour just really having an open discussion. One was an older black woman, the other Hispanic. Very nice ladies. I did the normal routine of quoting scripture and really relating one on one. I actually quoted John 17 ‘to know God and his Son is life’ and then the Hispanic lady walked up [she didn’t hear me] and says ‘do you know what John 17 says’ and the Black lady had to admit ‘he just quoted it!’ I like prophetic stuff! I could tell I was truly having an honest impact with the ladies. The Black lady at one point said ‘do you mean I might have been wrong all these years, I can’t accept that’ she kinda said it in true concern. I was treating them nice [not like the prosperity guys!] I really brought the reality of Gods ‘true church’ as being all who have come to know the Father thru the Son [one of their favorite verses] and tried to show how this ‘true group’ are made up of all those who believe, even the ‘deceived Catholics’! That was a little too much for them. But as I had to leave, they really wanted to keep talking, not so much to convince me, but they seemed taken aback by meeting someone who was knowledgeable and all about their group. Quoted scripture and all, plus looks like one of these hippies who is looking for a fix! I had to go but left them my info. I told them to get the Saturday San Antonio paper and our blog ad and radio stuff is in it. They were too old to know the blog stuff, but the radio program does reach San Antonio. I enjoyed the time, hopefully if I get back to the truck in time I can catch some more Zeppelin on the way home! NOTE; Just got the recent release of their C.D. for Christmas, will be hearing ‘stairway to heaven’ soon!
(616) A few months ago my wife bought a bottle of ‘Pina Colloda’. An alcoholic drink to all you really holy Christians! It was a one time deal for a birthday or something? I told her to save the bottle so I could use it for my water. I fill up bottles of water and keep them in the fridge. I also fill up a gallon jug, but the kids empty it and leave it in the fridge empty. When I go for the drink it’s empty! So I devised a scheme where I fill up bottles, preferably glass ones, and keep them in the fridge. The kids know ‘they are dad’s water bottles, don’t use them’. So this addiction of mine [drinking water!] has led to some funny incidents. Once I took the bottle in the truck and picked up one of the homeless brothers. He sees me sucking on this Pina Colloda thing and asks ‘hey brother, is that straight Vodka you’re drinking’? Of course I couldn’t help it, I told him ‘Yea, the bible doesn’t say drinking is wrong, just that you shouldn’t get drunk!’ he’s like ‘praise God, finally found a preacher who sees the truth on this stuff’. Of course I burst his bubble and told him its water. Then yesterday I went with some family relatives who are down from New York looking for a house. Around 3 o’clock I am getting anxious to get home and start cooking. Hey I get up at 3 AM, by 8 AM I have done a lot of work. At three o’clock I am ready to call it a day. But the realtor just got started at noon! So they can see I’m like ‘just drop me off, I need to get back and do some stuff’. Well when I got home I was desperate for some water. My brother in law sees me go to the fridge and devour that water bottle like a raving drunk. He’s like ‘what’s that your drinking’ it took a good few minutes to convince him that it’s really water! Hey I looked like a drunk who was desperate to get home! I think I need to change the water bottles to something a little less dramatic. NOTE; to be honest, this homeless friend is not a drinker. But I have many others who are. And they have expressed the above sentiment many times!
(617) Let me do one on Politics. At the time of this writing the current presidential field has both a Baptist minister and a Mormon running. Being I leave these entries on for ever, I don’t want to simply comment on the current race, but want to overview some concepts. Some political pundits, as well as leading Christians have brought up the idea that to choose to vote for the Baptist Pastor based on his religious views would be a direct violation of the constitutions article on ‘no religious test’. These same commentators will accuse Christians of religious bigotry if they won’t vote for the Mormon because of his faith. I wonder if these pundits would tell a Muslim that if he voted for a Muslim because he agreed with the basic moral underpinnings of the Muslim candidate, that he would be violating the constitution? The fact is the article of the constitution that speaks of ‘no religious test’ is not telling individual voters that they can’t use their own personal views of religion while deciding who to vote for! You might personally be against this sort of idea, but if any religious person wants to vote for someone of the same religion, that is totally their own free choice. The constitution in no way forbids the individual voters conscience on religion! You would think that these political pundits [Chris Matthews] would be smart enough to figure this out. Now, the constitution does forbid the govt. from having a religious test on who can run for office. This is in keeping with the idea of freedom of religion that was in the founding of our country. My personal view is I don’t believe in picking a candidate on these grounds at all. I like the Baptist Pastor who is running, he sounds fine. My choice out of the Republicans would be the Senator who was a P.O.W. during Vietnam. I doubt he will get the nomination, but I like him the most. I also understand that many Christians do not like him, he has made some bad comments in the past about ‘conservative right wingers’, but I still like him the most. What about the Democrats? If I were ever going to vote for a Pro Choice candidate [which I will never do] the Black candidate would without a doubt get my vote. It actually offends me that other Black leaders are really not rallying behind him. Also that the Woman candidate and her ‘henchman’ make it sound like the Blacks should vote for her, because her husband [Clinton] really deserves the Black support. Frankly, I like the Black guy better than all the other Democrats. I think the lack of support from other Black civil rights leaders shows that they are stuck in a victim mentality that they can’t break out of. Well anyway I am sure I got a few people mad with this entry, the main point is you have the right to vote for whoever you want, even if you choose to pick someone based on your affinity for his religion. Don’t let the pundits tell you otherwise!
{This entry is the introduction to Race, Religion and Politics}
RACE, RELIGION AND POLITICS
They say you should never talk about religion and politics, I guess I’m a glutton for punishment!
Seriously, I believe these issues need to be addressed honestly before we can see real healing in our country. I stand against all racism! Even discriminating against Whites by hiring quotas and affirmative action. I agree with chief justice John Roberts [current Chief justice on the Supreme Court] when he said ‘the best way to stop discriminating against people by race, is to stop discriminating against people because of their race’! This might seem obvious enough, but he was saying this in the context of affirmative action. The policy that looks at a White kid and says ‘you lose 5 points because you are White’ and then says to the Black kid ‘you get 5 points because of your skin color’. Can’t get more racist then that. ‘Why brother, you get me mad when you say that’ good, you need to get mad if you believe in any form of discrimination! As you can see, I am against all racism, even the kind that Parades under the banner of Civil Rights!
(618) JOHN 16 (radio # 599) Jesus says ‘these things I have spoken unto you that you should not be offended’. What things? The reality that after he leaves they will suffer and go thru stuff. He also tells them it is necessary for their own growth for him to leave. If he doesn’t leave them alone they will never experience the true ministry of ‘the comforter’. The Spirit comforts those who need it. They will need it! If Jesus didn’t tell them about the difficulty up front, there would have been cause for offense. When the American church preaches only a gospel of success, when people later go thru stuff they feel like ‘what’s wrong with me? God, you told me thru your preachers that if I believed you all would go well’ they get offended because they weren’t given both sides. Jesus gave both sides. When the Comforter comes he will reprove of sin, righteousness and judgment [do justice]. Some times we think the purpose for the church is to simply reprove of sin. God wants us to do justice [civil rights] and show what is right. I heard a preacher say ‘the only reason Christians should ever practice civil disobedience is if the govt. said you couldn’t preach. But if they are killing babies, you shouldn’t practice civil disobedience’. Remember when we said to use the same measure for others as you would use on yourself? I would ask this preacher ‘what if the law allowed for your 2 year old to be killed.’ Say if the law came to your house and said ‘we are going to get your last bible copy and destroy it, or take your little girl and chop her head off’ would you use ‘civil disobedience’ to save the baby or the book? ‘I have yet many things to say to you, but you can not bear them now’ I think the American church is simply not able to ‘bear stuff now’. It’s not like we couldn’t understand the stuff, or ‘receive it’ into our ears. It’s just we are way too immature as a corporate people to truly grasp it. The need is really not more knowledge, its more growth [not numbers, maturity!]. I remember reading how Dietrich Boenhoffer visited a Christian university in New York. After his trip he commented on the surprise he had to see the level of immaturity in the American church. He would soon become a martyr under Hitlers 3rd Reich. ‘Ye shall weep and lament, the world shall rejoice. Your sorrow will turn into joy’ Jesus wants us to know that a day of recompense is coming. We will go thru stuff, but God will bring you out on the other side! We need both truths to stay balanced. ‘When a woman is in labor, she wants to abort the process. But after the child is birthed, she forgets all the pain’. A very important aspect of your calling is to ‘bring forth’ the thing God has destined you for. There comes a time where you need to pass the test. God is merciful, he lets you ‘re take’ the test. He brings teachers in who know how important it is for you to pass. They even will ‘teach to the test’ some will curve the grade. All types of stuff to get you to the next level. Sooner or later you gotta pass the test. If you don’t, God will still love you. You can even attend the graduations of your friends. But at the end of the day you will have been a spectator in the auditorium as opposed to a graduate on the stage. It’s better to be on the stage! ‘In me you will have peace, in the world you WILL HAVE TRIBULATION, be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.’ Jesus promise isn’t to get us out of the world or the tribulation in it. But to keep us at peace by having our minds fixed on him. The world runs back and forth [I was gonna say ‘to and fro’ but that would have been a little too preachy] trying to extend their lives. Have enough money to retire on. Keep from getting blown up in a terrorist thing. They really have no peace, no matter how hard they try they will all die sooner or later. The only peace to be found is in God. To have the promise of future resurrection and living forever with God is the only lasting thing you can have. All the money you earn and save will be as useless as toilet paper in a few years, start living for eternal rewards!
(619) PARA CHURCH MINISTRIES In all of our writing you can see that because I view ‘local church’ as the organic growing of the Ecclesia, this leaves little distinction from ‘church’ and ‘Para church’. They both are expressions of the ‘local believers’ functioning as God directs. It’s a little more than this, but for now it will suffice. The reason I am bringing this up is because the last few days I had the chance to check out some ministry web sites that I haven t seen in a while. A fellow ministry who used to broadcast on the station we are on has moved to the Chicago area. I had some friend who used to support them financially [still do?]. Good people all around. My friend who supported them was like one of the original funders to get in on it at the beginning. Sometimes I would get the feeling that they were a little uncomfortable with it, the ministry is run by a highly motivated woman who really can stir you up. They are both Navy people and the husband is still an officer in the Navy. I liked them, still do. When they first went on the air I sent them some free stuff. I realize now that we are so radical in some areas that most preachers get offended when they first ‘run into’ us. They have been off the air for a while, went north and I just saw on their site how they got a few Chicago papers to publicize some ministry stuff. They are very into getting their name out, my style avoids this concept. The articles showed how they opened a coffee house in Chicago, giving coffee and doughnuts out. Looking for support, the papers even say ‘the husband works and is paying for it out of pocket, they need help’ the atmosphere seems to be one of the many well meaning believers who kinda launches out and pays for stuff, like I do. But they will then try hard to convince others to support the work. Stuff we forbid ourselves. My local friend who supports them is an unselfish believer. Tithes and gives to ministries. I know he was giving a lot to this person. I also can see how the average believer can tithe, give to others who are reaching out and actually get over their head in sending money out. All the while hearing another ministry, who has been around forever [me!] who also refuse to take money. But instead is always challenging the believer to personally get involved. Direct commands from Jesus to ‘do the stuff’. To the ‘supporter of ministries’ it seems as if you are obeying God by sending money out. ‘After all, we are helping serve coffee to people in Chicago’ all right I guess? But the point is, in all of our involvement Jesus does require us to ‘see a brother in need, give’ ‘how does the love of God dwell in us if we do not help our brother who we SEE’. My point here is all the believers in the above scenario are good people. They know me and I know them. The idea of ‘ministers’ helping others and asking for support is not really wrong, but it can by pass the believers personal responsibility to ACT. We are really challenged to do the hands on stuff ourselves. In the verses I quoted above, our ‘responsibility line’ is IF YOU SEE A BROTHER IN NEED [as opposed to a ministry in need!] Don’t want to be picky, just want to show you that we are the living body of Christ on earth, in the world of virtual ministries [which I like] and TV and RADIO it is easy to SEE others who are reaching out and to start funding them and to leave no room for your own personal responsibility. There are real verses that say ‘let him who is not working get a job [lost half of the church right here!] so he can have to GIVE TO HIM THAT NEEDETH’. Wow, scripture commands us to take the money from our check and meet the needs of people. Surely this cant be as important as tithing? Believe me, if you study everything on this subject, it is more important! I didn’t always see this, but after I did I tried to make this known as much as possible. So today we learned that it’s possible to send money to all sorts of people across the land who are doing good things. It’s possible to be the ministry asking for the money! Just keep in mind the scriptural mandate for all of us to act and function ‘locally’ in the sense of ‘when you see’ a brother in need. God has believers all over the world. He also has lost people all over the world. His plan is for all the believers to act when they see the real needs around them. When the church and ‘Para ministries’ appeal to believers at large to help with some need far away, keep in balance the primary responsibility to act when YOU PERSONALLY see the need.
(620) This kinda goes with the last entry. Jesus said he came to set fire to the earth, and how he wished it were already burning. We are all fire starters in this Jesus revolution. Some mock the revolution. I know of unbelievers who make fun of it. Hey, if you wanna die and go to hell, that’s your problem [you will not start the fires, but believe me, you will see them a lot!] For the rest of us we have a job to finish. Now in this revolution our primary responsibility is to start fires. Sure, there are some who have started ‘fire ministries’ they will tell you how important it is that you recognize that God has called them to start these fires. They will show you the verses where a great past fire starter [Paul] started them. They will even take you to the verses where he asked for others to send him some money because God called him to start fires in other places. He needed bus fare to go to the next place and start another fire. What you usually don’t hear is that the Apostle wasn’t starting a huge ‘fire starter’ ministry to get others to support. He was simply asking for help to go to the next forest and set that thing on fire! Many current fire starters seem to think the job is to convince many others to join the fire starter ministry, when in reality a true fire starter lights the fire and runs! He knows that inherent in this fire is the self sustaining ability to grow and spread rapidly. He will check in every now and then to see how big the fire got, but for the most part he lets the thing burn on its own. One of the things that can stop it is when the future fire starters believe that they only have the responsibility to start the fires. They can unwittingly restrain the nature of the fire. They don’t mean to do this, it is just an outgrowth of viewing ‘fire starting’ as a profession. The early starters all believed that it was everyone’s job to start them. After all, the original fire starter seemed to say this all the time. The early fire starters remembered the words of the first revolutionary ‘I have come to set fire on the earth, how I wish it were already burning’! NOTE; another thing that has hindered the fire is that many starters think the job is to simply raise the money and believe for the money that the fire starter Paul would speak about. These sincere starters have lost track of the original mission, which was to actually start the fire! [win people to Jesus!]
(621) Let’s do another science one. I have told people that the most proof for the existence of God, in the scientific world, has come in the last 50 years. In the last century you had one of the greatest scientific breakthroughs of all time. Do you know what that was? It was the theory that the universe was not only much greater than previously thought, but that it was ‘getting greater’ every day! It was actually expanding! When this theory was first espoused, many scientists rejected it. Why? If this were true [which it was!] it would show that the universe actually had a starting point. If it had a starting point, than ‘someone’ had to start it. At first many scientists rejected the theory. The leading Physicist who came up with this idea had another negative, he was a Catholic Priest. Many thought he was biased towards his theory. As time rolled on, his theory gradually gained support from many other scientists. He had ‘theorized’ that the proof of an ever expanding universe would be a residual ‘heat’ that you would be able to detect in the atmosphere. Another scientist, who was studying something else, released his proof of finding a background radiation that existed in the universe that was coming from all angles. He proved the Priest was right! Today 99 % of science believes that the universe had a starting point. This is accepted science. Very few hold to the old ‘static theory’ that it always existed at the current size. Now, some stayed with the old view. Do you know why? They actually said that if the new view were true [which it is!] that this would undeniably be proof of the existence of a creator. The doubters said this! They in essence were scientists who were not willing to go with the science! They were in the category of the religious skeptics who were not willing to go with science when it showed our solar system to be Heliocentric as opposed to Geocentric [our earth going around the Sun as opposed to the Sun and planets going around the Earth]. During the time of Galileo many scientists believed the old way. When Copernicus came up with the idea that we hold to today, the Church rejected science because of religious bias. Well today you have certain scientists who reject science because of religious bias [the religion of secularism- the worldview that sees a naturalistic explanation for all things]. The fact that science now holds to a ‘big bang’ theory, as well as all the overwhelming evidence against evolution, should rattle the unbelievers. We are at a time in history where science has come to the top of the mountain of exploration, and has found the theologians sitting at the top! NOTE; the story goes that Galileo was before the Bishops and was imploring them to ‘look into the Telescope’ and see for your self the evidence! And the church refused to look, saying all they needed was Gods word. How true this is no one knows. Many skeptics have used the ‘Helio/Geo centric’ argument to show the ignorance of the church. These skeptics say ‘see, the bible taught that all the planets and Sun revolved around the Earth, and science proved otherwise’. First, the church came to this understanding by the themes in scripture of the Planets and Stars in their course and stuff like that. The scripture never taught as fact that the Solar System was Geocentric. When the scientific evidence proved that the Earth revolved around the Sun, the church should have accepted this. Of course she has now. But this should work both ways. Another Catholic scientist wrote a book a few years back ‘Darwin’s black box’ he brought out undeniable scientific proof that Evolution was false! Too much to explain here, but the proof goes along the lines of man having in him ‘closed systems’ that had to have been complete and sealed from the start in order to work. Sort of like what I taught on ‘complex machines’ in this section. The author brought out the fact that man could not have slowly evolved. These parts of man had to have been fully formed and sealed at the time of creation. So the skeptics are just as guilty as the church when they refuse to ‘look into the Telescope’! NOTE- The catholic scientist in the above entry was not the first to espouse the idea of an expanding universe, but he was instrumental in proving this to be true.
(622) [In the next few entries I cover the controversy over John Hagee in the release of his book ‘in defense of Israel’. Since the controversy erupted, John has made successive statements in trying to correct the record. The problem is he has actually said ‘Jesus is not the Messiah to Israel’ in some of these defenses. Then a later defense will say ‘I meant Jesus was the ‘suffering Messiah’ as opposed to the ‘reigning Messiah’. To put it simply, I think John messed up big time in his wording, and has progressively tried to get closer to truth in his words. So if he continues to ‘progress’ in his future statements, then good. But he has said so much already on the subject that I felt it needed to be dealt with]
I want to do something that I usually don’t do. I need to mention the name of John Hagee, the Pastor of Cornerstone Church in San Antonio. The reason I am saying Johns name is because it would be hard to deal with the controversy without saying it. Most of the entries I have written on ‘defending Israel’ and the wrong exalting of Israel’s heritage have actually been reproving John anonymously. The reason I didn’t use his name is because we broadcast and advertise in the San Antonio paper, and I don’t want to really undercut a brother in this way. John just put out a book [11-07] that has gotten a lot of criticism. The book ‘in defense of Israel’ is sort of the stuff I reprove. Christians going to great lengths to exalt natural heritage. John went a step further, he taught that Jesus was not the Messiah [a huge NO NO!] and never claimed to be. At first blush it seemed to be a mistake, but as you get into the book, sure enough he has espoused this heretical idea. Many scholars have come out and rejected it completely. I want to try my best to give John the benefit of the doubt. It seems like what he was trying to say was Jesus never intended to rule as an earthly Messiah over Israel. That he came as ‘savior’ only. Therefore the Jews really can’t be responsible for rejecting him as Messiah, because he didn’t claim it. Now, first of all, this is simply flat out wrong. John seems to not see the most basic stuff. The word ‘Christ’ means ‘Anointed one’ or’ Messiah’. This is theology 101. In the Apostle John’s letter he says ‘whoever doesn’t believe that Jesus is Messiah [Christ] is anti Christ’. You can’t say stuff like this! I am not going to call Cornerstone church a cult. But in the recent arguing over this, Hagee has responded to his critics in a way that seems to defend his belief that Jesus never claimed to be Messiah. Or that he outright rejected this title. Of course Peter says to Jesus ‘thou art the Christ, the Son of the Most High’ which means ‘Messiah’. Jesus doesn’t rebuke Peter, but says ‘blessed are you Simon Barjona, flesh and blood hath not revealed this to thee, but my Father in heaven’. I really can go on with this, but most believers know this stuff. What happened with Hagee? I believe John is a good man, I disagree with him on lots of stuff. In a way if you read all the entries that I have written on John’s belief, they are very prophetic in a way. The entries on ‘seeing a verse about Christ and thinking it is anti christ’ were entries on Hagee. They sure seem very prophetic now! I think the problem with a ministry like Cornerstone church, is it’s very possible to become isolated from the broader Christian community when your whole life revolves around the well meaning ‘limited’ perspective of an old time preacher. A good man, just God never intended you to live your Christian experience being pummeled week after week with a very limited perspective. I have heard Hagee make some obvious mistakes in the past. I have corrected them, but never used his name [on radio]. They were really bad mistakes, not just my disagreement with him on his exalting of Israel. Well, let me say it. He once taught that Jesus wasn’t really forsaken at the Cross when he said ‘Why have you forsaken me’ he said Jesus felt forsaken, but God didn’t forsake him. A major mistake! I corrected it at the time. I give John the benefit of the doubt, but he must reject this recent view of Jesus not being the Messiah of Israel. The scriptures make it very plain that Israel rejected Jesus as Messiah [Christ] and that this rejection was the fundamental hinge point of the Cross. John has developed this belief while trying to hold to the well meaning intention of fighting anti Semitism. But no matter how hard you fight anti Semitism, you can’t say Jesus was not the Messiah of Israel! He really needs to correct this major flaw in his thinking. This is the first time I have used his name, but I felt like this really needed to be said for the sake of our ‘San Antonio’ ecclesia!
(622)In the last entry we showed how it can be dangerous for independent churches, no matter how big or influential they are, to really get off track doctrinally. In Hagee’s view, he grasps the doctrine that Jesus was not the Messiah to Israel. Others also embrace a dual covenant idea [see note at bottom] they see the scriptures in Romans about a remnant of Jews who are still with God, and see that as saying there are Jewish people who are still in covenant with God outside of the New Covenant [a view by the way that Charles Taze Russell embraced, the founder of the Jehovah’s Witnesses]. Most theologians view the remnant as those who have embraced Jesus as Messiah. Like the writer of Romans and all the original Apostles. Even John who would later say ‘he that denies Jesus as Messiah is anti christ’. So the fundamental flaw is this view sees the remnant as being outside of Messiah, while scripture shows them to be in Messiah. Over the years I have seen believers who would start their walk with the Lord and then after a while be introduced to the broader Christian community. Like myself I see all the traditions of Christianity as a real part of this mystical Body of Christ that we call ‘the church’. Some are so excited to find the hidden treasures contained in the study of church history that they eventually become Orthodox or Catholic. They see all the great stuff of the past and join the great traditions. I personally don’t go that far. While I do see merit to this argument, I feel the 1st century church as seen in scripture was a much more organic form than the later development of traditional church. I don’t see the later development as ‘devil worshippers’ as many Protestants do, I see them as true Fathers of the faith with many good things to contribute to the community. I want to espouse the idea that from the development of the Lords supper we can see in microcosm the trend that the Orthodox/Catholic church took as she moved away from Organic church. When Jesus instituted the ordinance of the Eucharist, he told the disciples that from now on when you do this [do what?] that you show his death till he comes. You can almost take it like he was saying ‘as often as you get together [organic community] and eat the fellowship meal, you will be a symbol of the spiritual reality of the truth of all believers feeding and living off of the actual life that is in me’. Not so much a liturgical thing, but more of a spiritual thing. Sort of like saying ‘no more Passover meal, but instead a true sharing of my life as seen in community’. Now, if you read 1st Corinthians 11 you will see this play out. Paul tells the church at Corinth that when they were getting together for these meals [which are actually called ‘love feasts’] that some were eating and getting full and drunk while others were not even getting any food. A far cry from the liturgical thing! This section of scripture also is important to understand the mistaken idea of church at ‘the church building’. Our English bibles say ‘when you come together in the church [ouch!]’ it is easy to read ‘in the church’ as ‘in the building’! Actually ‘in the church’ means in the corporate get together. When believers meet corporately they ‘are the church’. So right off the bat you can go down the later road as seeing the ‘church’ and the ‘Eucharist’ as liturgical, while it is not! As you read the chapter you see Paul saying ‘as you come together [church!] you are disrespecting the great reality of Jesus being the bread and us being the ‘eaters’ or receivers of his life’. He is the bread of life! [John’s gospel]. Now, the reproof is ‘you are disrespecting Christ’s Body [the other believers in the assembly!] by doing what you are doing!’ He reproves them in the context of community. He is not speaking into the later development of liturgical Eucharist! So, as you read the New Testament you see this truth all thru out its pages. Paul referring to all the believers as ‘church’. Never once addressing the ‘Pastor of the church’, but instead all the brothers in the city! He actually tells the church at Corinth ‘you have a brother in open sin, when you all come together [as a communal group] deliver him over to satan for the destruction of the flesh’ he isn’t addressing a Priest or Pastor or Bishop. He is telling ‘the church’ to do this. So as time goes by you have the early development of church and offices and liturgy as a sincere reaction to the fear that the church would apostasize if she didn’t have a strong ‘magisterium’, a teaching authority that could say ‘this is true, this is false’. The well meaning development of strong liturgy was a natural out growth of seeing church this way. At the reformation the Protestant church dealt with important issues, but really didn’t change the way we ‘do church’. The Protestants just replaced ‘the Priest’ with ‘the Pastor’. All good people on both sides, just not what God originally intended. So today you are seeing the idea of church as the strong liturgical communion being challenged by many ‘communal/organic’ ideas of church. A return to the original model [some think ‘model’ is too strong of a word]. But in this whole debate, you also find good men, who have ‘discovered’ the church fathers and all the great wisdom of the Mystics [Christian spirituality] and they cling to liturgy as a welcomed communion as opposed to the truncated independent rebels! These ‘ex Protestants’ are doing a service by re introducing the themes and practices of the early church. But the ‘real early church’ as seen in the New Testament was not liturgical! The above example from the Lords table shows you this. So as we continue to either ‘reform’ or ‘restore’ [those who see a return to the early practices of organic church can be seen as restorationist as opposed to ‘reformists’] we want to embrace and understand the ancient practices of the church, like popular writer Tony Jones speaks about [One of the key leaders in the Emergent church movement] but we also want to use the actual New testament as the most pure form of ‘early church’ [John has clarified his belief on the dual covenant, he has stated that he does not believe in dual covenant. But he seems to have not rejected the idea that Jesus is not the Messiah to Israel- as of 5-08].
(621) This fits in a little with the last one. As I read and study on ‘emergent church’ stuff, I see some good stuff [ortho-praxy; the living out of Orthodoxy] and some bad stuff. I must disagree loudly on some ‘bad stuff’. Classic liberal theology had strains in it that denied the doctrine of ‘Penal Substitution’. The teaching that Jesus was being punished for the sins of the world [or for the really reformed, the ‘world’ of the Elect!]. Some have actually described Penal Substitution as an evil doctrine that a just God would never be a part of. I of course see the doctrine of Penal Substitution as the only hope for mankind! A Christian can’t have a different view on the substitutionary death of Christ [at least in my way of seeing it!]. I know some challenge the way we see things. They feel Evangelicals need to be more open in the discussion. The point is, if you become a ‘flat earther’[ someone who believes the earth is flat] you then don’t say ‘we have different flat earthers, some believe the earth is round’. There are certain basic things that all Christians believe. If you want to have a differing view on Jesus paying for the sins of man on the Cross, you can have that view. But if I really believed the earth was round, why in the world would I want to be accepted by the ‘flat earthers’?
(622) JOHN 17 [radio # 600] Jesus prays to the Father and asks God to ‘glorify him’ with the glory they had in the beginning. In verse 22 he says he gave this glory to the church. That’s strange. Scripture says God will not share his glory with another, yet here he gives it to the disciples. How can that be? Well, as the Body of Christ we are not ‘another’ we are one with him! He also says ‘I have given life to those who you gave to me, you have given me power over all flesh. I have given life to the ones you have chosen’. Here you see the ‘reformed’ part of me. Jesus is not simply offering life to those who want it [though he does this at other times!] but here he is giving life to those whom the father chose. You find both of these themes in scripture. Don’t fight it, we can’t explain it, but praise God, he chose you! [and me]. ‘I have finished the work which you gave me to do’. What work? He hasn’t gone to the Cross yet. I guess you can say in a way that the work was finished from the foundation of the world, and Jesus is saying ‘the course has been determined, I will go!’ But I also see some truth to ‘the work’ being him revealing the Father to the ‘men which you gave me out of the world’ the work of the 3 year mission to disciple and train the 12. God has determined for people to cross paths with you thru out your life. These are ‘the men’ that God has given you out of the world. It is your destiny to reveal THE FATHERS NAME unto them! In present models of church leadership we fail miserably at this. We see ‘the men’ that God has given us as supporters of our ministries. People whom we try to instill ‘faithfulness into’. ‘Be faithful to the vision of this house’ and stuff like that. When these men go their way, we look for ‘new men’ to come and fill the gap. We basically reveal ‘our name’ to them! Keep in mind that you have a destiny to cross paths with people thru out your life. You will have ‘finished the fathers work’ if by the time you part ways, they have seen and come to know HIM. ‘I have given them the words which thou gavest me’ Give people the words that God is speaking. Don’t fall into the trap of communicating only that which benefits the ‘vision’ of your ministry. We often communicate that which brings the crowds in. If we teach something and the offerings go down, we have a tendency to not teach it again! There is so much pressure in modern ministry to tailor the message to the hearer. Speak the things God is saying. Talk on social justice issues. Not only on the popular ones, it’s ‘in’ to be against racial profiling, but how about the truth on quotas and affirmative action? Speak truth in all areas. Speak the words that God wants communicated. You have a destiny to cross paths with people, avoid the temptation to speak with the goal of being accepted. You know, saying things that you know are popular. Speak truth to power! ‘Father, I will that they be with me where I am. That they may behold my glory’ Is he talking heaven only? Remember how Jesus said the Comforter will come and manifest and dwell in those who believe and keep his words? Jesus is speaking in terms of community here. Organic ‘local church’. Where 2 or more are, there is he ‘in the midst’. Jesus wants us to be where he is, Jesus told the Greeks earlier in this gospel ‘If they want to see me, they can meet me at the Cross’ [a grain of wheat falling into the ground and dying]. I think Jesus is speaking of meeting him in true discipleship and union with him and the father. The reality of the New birth and Jesus dwelling in us by the Spirit. Let’s end with Jesus desire for oneness and unity. In the beginning of this chapter Jesus said all who know the father thru the son have life [a big group of believers!] he also wants all of us to be one. This ‘oneness’ is actually a present reality in Spirit, though it is not fully functional and ‘seen’ yet in the world. Jesus wants it to be ‘seen’. This is how the world will know that he was sent by God! Let’s strive for this unity in Christ. I know there are so many divisions in the Body of Christ it isn’t funny. Some people miss read my own belief on this when they see how we reprove lots of stuff in the church. I don’t reprove from the standpoint of ‘we are right and you are wrong’ more from the standpoint of ‘we are all striving to be what the father wants, lets be honest and open with one another. Let’s reprove because we care for each other and don’t want the other to ‘fall off the cliff’. Lets do all we do with the purpose of true unity in mind. I don’t care how afraid you are of ‘the one world church’, but whether you like it or not, you are part of Gods ‘one world church’.
(623) EMERGENT STUFF. Let me explain ‘Emergent’ a little. Some of you guys have no idea what this is, in a nutshell that’s one of the ‘problems’. Not so much that all Christians need to know about this movement, but the movement has a tendency to be a little ‘ivory tower’ isolationist. A lot of theologizing among intellectuals while by passing the ‘nuts and bolts’ stuff. Grant it, they intend to do this on purpose to some degree, but I think they are getting a little too experimental for me. Now, when I first read on this movement I liked the trend towards simple church, the challenging of the ‘way we do church’. There are a whole bunch of radicals like me who see church as a real lived out thing as opposed to ‘going to the church house’ [UGHH!]. It was this part of ‘being Emergent’ that I liked. As I have read a bunch of stuff these last few months I have come to see the war raging in the blogasphere between the ‘Anti Emergent’ and Pro Emergent groups. As you read all the comments I have made you will see there are obvious times where I had to openly disagree with some of the trends. While I believe homosexuality is a lifestyle that scripture sees as sinful, I also do not believe we should discriminate against gays. I also see the point of being open and discussing the ‘pro gay’ side of whether or not gays should be ordained. I think if you are open and honest about it, you would see that they frankly shouldn’t be serving in positions of leadership in the church. We should recognize and not stigmatize people who struggle with this lifestyle. We should help those who struggle with this lifestyle. Those who have a radical agenda to promote it, well I think Christians should disagree and have the freedom to disagree! But when it comes down to it, there is enough scripture and church tradition [AND!] that should lead us into a view of what’s right or wrong. Some in the emergent debate seem to have all the characteristics of being open and willing to hear both sides, but then seem to never come to any firm conclusions. Hey, ultimately we do need some answers! That's where the other problem comes in. Some feel we really can’t know the answers! This is where you have the Chuck Colsons and others come out openly and fight the movement. I like Chuck, I have disagreed with him in the past. I kinda see Chuck as embracing the ‘pre evangelism’ philosophy that says ‘until you change society’s worldview, you can’t really present the gospel effectively’. Sort of like because we live in a postmodern culture, so we need to do battle on the field of ideas and establish the fact that there is ‘true truth’ [some have flipped over this statement] before we can present truth. I actually disagree with this. I think Paul nailed it down in Galatians [chapter 4?] when he said ‘after the fullness of times was come [what fullness?] God sent forth his Son’ if you read it carefully, you see the ‘fullness of time’ as describing the whole period of Old Testament law. God gave man an ‘age’ where he instituted, in humanity, a basic philosophical underpinning of right and wrong. This was law. Since Jesus [fullness of times] all mankind [postmodern, pre modern and every other group!] have been ‘victims’ to the power of the presentation of the gospel. It truly is the power of God unto salvation. You might think you need to go to great lengths to convince people of right and wrong and ‘true truth’ but according to Paul, the ‘pre evangelism’ stage is over! Now, there is some merit to Apologetics and dealing with stuff like this, but the point is God went out of his way to redeem man, the early church had a simple way to present the gospel in ‘a nutshell’ and we need to see it as the answer to peoples needs. We can’t get lost in thinking we have tons of ‘pre evangelizing’ to do before we present the truth [the real true truth- I hope you guys know I’m kidding a little here!]. So Colson fights the Emergents over knowable truth and to be honest the Emergents seem to be saying at times that you really can’t have the final answer. I commend their willingness to be open and invite everyone to the table of ideas, but ultimately we have to eventually come to conclusions. Like the guy in the movie ‘Office Space’ and his ‘jump to conclusions mat’. The debate on ‘penal substitution’ [whether or not God was punishing his Son in anger and wrath when Jesus died on the Cross]. Over the years while reading church history and theology, I have come to see how smart scholars have proposed different ‘ideas’ on Redemption. If I remember right C.S. Lewis, in his famous ‘Mere Christianity’ mentions the different ideas on this. I thought he said we know that Jesus death redeems us, but how it happens we don’t know. Hitting on this idea of differing views of Redemption. Some scholars say we really have multiple choices on the ‘theory’. I think scripture makes it plain. I think Penal Substitution is the plain answer. Isaiah 53 says ‘it pleased the Lord to bruise him’. Some say ‘this is an outrageous idea, how can God punish an innocent man for others crimes!’ some very influential scholars say this! Well, the answer is in the great mystery of the incarnation. God became man so he as man [Jesus] could bear the sins of man. In a mystery that is impossible to explain ‘God was just, and the justifier of those who believe’ [Romans]. At least Paul saw the ‘philosophical’ answer to how a just God could punish his own Son. I realize some great scholars have espoused different ideas like ‘God ransomed man back, as opposed to being the kidnapper’ and they show the ransom idea as opposed to the penalty idea. I see these as both true, not conflicting theories. God ransomed man back to himself, not from satan who now ‘owned them’ but Jesus death ‘saved man from God!’ [his own just wrath- as R.C. Sproul puts it]. So ransom and penal substitution go hand in hand. I don’t want to go on here, I just wanted to show you how we can be open to hearing all sides, but there are final truths that we need to know. We should help all people, we should not discriminate against gays any more than the good old bubba who cheats on his wife every now and than. They are both sinful! We need to be merciful to all sinners [after all we are very familiar with this camp!] but also tell them the truth in love. Contrary to Colsons ‘pre evangelism’ they are dieing to hear the gospel right now! Note; Let me explain my theory on why we do not need to do ‘pre evangelism’ to the extent that Colon sees it. When people reject truth, even as a whole society. That ‘rejecting’ in and of itself is actually sin. Thomas Aquinas [the great 13th century Doctor Angelicas of the Catholic church] said it was possible for man to come to the truth of God thru the study of the natural sciences, but it would take a very long time and only a few could attain it. Therefore God gave us revealed truth so we can quickly see the truth of God without going to great lengths to find it. If we live in a post modern society that rejects the basic premise of ‘knowable truth’ than we live in a willfully ignorant world, much like the world that Paul wrote about in Romans chapter 2. Willful ignorance of the truth of God is not some modern plight, it was around in 1st century Rome. Most adherents to the Colson doctrine seem to see post moderns willful ignorance as a different kind of willful ignorance. The kind that the simple preaching of the gospel can’t really undo! A sort of special class of rebels! My belief is the power of the gospel [Romans 1!] has the power to ‘undo’ this willful ignorance in a millisecond! Hey, you would be surprised at how powerful the gospel really is. It, my friend, is what I call TRUE TRUTH!
(624) JOHN 18 (radio # 601) Jesus is betrayed in the garden. John follows Jesus all the way to the judgment, Peter stops short at the door. Why does John record this? Is he being self serving? He is the only gospel writer that tells you this [If I remember?] I think there is a purpose. Jesus already taught the principle of ‘whoever tries to save his life will lose it, but he that is willing to give it up will save it’. All the others fled out of self preservation. John stayed. All the others will eventually die martyrs deaths, except for John! He will wind up on some island in his old age writing this tremendous prophetic vision [Revelation]. Truly he that was willing to give his life up outlasted them all! Actually if you read the last chapter of John this becomes an issue. Jesus tells Peter ‘if I will that John lives until I come, what is that to thee’? Then a rumor gets started over John not dieing until the 2nd coming! Hey, I wonder what they thought as they were all getting martyred one by one. Each time another disciple dies, they must have been thinking ‘hey, Johns still here, maybe he will live till Jesus comes’? The high priest asks Jesus of his doctrine AND disciples. Both Paul and Jesus had ‘doctrine and disciples’. Paul was a theologian on the run! Getting let down in baskets from city walls. Being stoned and put in prison. Paul was writing theology under crisis. Jesus and Paul weren’t some ivory tower theologians speculating on the latest fad in theology. They were ‘doing the stuff’. I want to challenge all my preacher friends, do you have doctrine and disciples? Let’s end this chapter in a little controversy. In verse 31 it says ‘the Jews’. Verses 35 ‘thine own nation AND the chief priests’. Verses 36 ‘delivered to the Jews’. Verses 38 ‘unto the Jews’. I want you to see how the scripture makes it clear that BOTH the leaders and the Nation of Israel rejected Messiah! Jesus in this chapter says he IS THE KING OF THE JEWS! Peter’s sermons in the book of Acts accuse the Jews as a whole group of rejecting Jesus, not just a ‘conspiracy of the leaders and Rome’ [as John Hagee is teaching]. I don’t want to be anti Semitic, some have actually accused John’s gospel of being anti Semitic. Hey, John himself was a Jew! The point is God has great plans for Israel as a Nation. Read Romans. But it is also a fact that ‘the Jews’ as a people group missed their Messiah. This chapter makes it pretty clear! Also when Peter cuts off the guys ear, Jesus says ‘stop, we are not here to fight. Shall I not drink the cup which my father gave me’? Paul will later teach that his own sufferings were ‘filling up the sufferings of Christ’s Body’ this would be heretical if it weren’t in the bible! Paul and the other early believers understood the calling to suffer along with the ‘being full’ part. I have heard the ‘being full’ verse used out of context a lot! Paul does says ‘I have learned to be content in any condition [state] both having a lot and a little’. I have heard preachers say ‘see, Paul knew how to be rich as well as broke’ no he didn’t! He was never rich. He knew how to have all his needs met [full] and to lack [times of suffering and imprisonment where he couldn’t get the basic stuff to do what he needed to do to carry on the mission]. Jesus says to Peter ‘shall I avoid the cup’? I think the modern American church has answered ‘yes’. I was reading the voice of the martyrs magazine yesterday. How so many believers are suffering and dieing for the faith. In Revelation it says it was the prayers of the martyrs that carried the day. Boy will we be embarrassed at the judgment when we find out it was the prayers of our martyred brothers and sisters who died in our day who really were changing things. And at the same time we were confessing money verses all the way to the bank!
(625) I was gonna wait and share this with the John 19 overview, but what the heck! Yesterday I had a few signs; I haven’t shared them as much as at the beginning of this blog. I want to hear God on sharing this kind of stuff. It’s been only a year since I started really blogging. The blog went up a few months earlier, but I didn’t even know how to access it for the first 6 months. I was praying early under the stars, I was walking around interceding with this stick/rod in my right hand. I was quoting the verses ‘from your right hand will go a fiery law’ and as I held it out, right at the ‘tip’ of the rod a shooting star went forth [from the distance! But you saw it right at the point of the rod]. What are the odds of going outside, quoting stuff like this and then seeing a shooting star right at that spot? If you think ‘oh, brother. It’s just a coincidence’. Let’s do this, start getting up at 3 AM, walk around praying with a stick. Hold it up and quote stuff about fires going forth, and wait till you see a shooting star at the tip. If nothing ever happens, at least you will become an intercessor! Recently a bible scholar wrote another book on how there are so many ‘variations’ in scripture that you can’t trust the word. This happens every so often. Most of these men come from very strict fundamentalist backgrounds. Being brought up in a legalistic environment where the bible was ‘god’. They then actually find a sense of freedom when they do stuff like this. I don’t think they are all lost liberals. I think this at times is a response to the strong ‘fundamental’ Christian life. And when a scholar does this, in some strange way he is opting for a walk of ‘faith’ in the reality of the historic truth of Christ and the traditions of the church as opposed to the ‘jot and tittle’ legalism of his youth. I want you to see this dynamic and not just dismiss these critics out of hand. We can learn something from this. I have said in the past that the reality of redemption does not depend on a bible that has no errors. Now, stick with me. I believe in the canon of scripture. I believe in its inerrancy! I believe it has NO ERRORS! But what I am telling you is when Jesus actually redeemed humanity, it was a real purchase that took place. Your salvation does not depend on whether or not the translators got everything right! It depends on the reality that Jesus actually purchased you! Do you see the difference? There is a difference. When someone lives their whole life in an environment where everything depends and revolves around the debate of the accuracy of scripture. When they ‘rebel’ against this upbringing and leave that mindset, it isn’t always an open act of rebellion. Sometimes it’s an organic reaction of leaving a life consumed with text [like the scribes and Pharisees] and jumping into a life fixed on the actual reality of what Jesus did. I hope you can see what I am saying. To live with the reality of Jesus actually being the risen redeemer, like the first century church. And having a life that isn’t focused around the questions surrounding each verse, as some fundamental believers have experienced. This ‘leap’ while not necessarily the best ‘leap’ to make, is a return [or fleeing!] from a life consumed with the mental gymnastics of what text is the most reliable to one of ‘I am trusting in the great reality of Jesus that has been passed down thru both Tradition and Scripture’. It can be freeing from this point of view. Sort of like the early church and how their power was in the reality of what Jesus did and was continuing to do, as opposed to the accuracy of the recordings of it by the writers of the gospels. To the surprise of some, there have been good theologians who felt the ‘jot and tittle’ argument of accuracy actually harmed the faith. They are true believers in every way [some-not all! There are those in this camp who deny everything along with scripture!] Who feel that when the textual critics find variations, that this proves to the skeptics that ‘see, you Christians are wrong. We have found an error in your bible’. These scholars say ‘who ever said you would never find an insignificant little error’. These guys feel defending all the little variations is not the same as saying ‘Gods word is faithful’. They argue that God only intended for the reality of the major Christian truths to have been transmitted without error. That if you find a ‘flaw’ in some other area, that this doesn’t disprove the reality of everything else. Now, I don’t hold to this idea, but wanted you to see that some good people do. So anyway, the point is our faith rests in THE REAL FACT that Jesus redeemed us. The factual recording of this redemption is most certainly found in scripture, but the ‘finding of it in scripture’ isn’t what redeemed you, it is the actual reality behind the recording of it that redeemed you. Jesus said to the Pharisees ‘[ye] search the scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life. And they testify of me. And you will not come to me that you might have life’. The ‘life’ is actually in him, the scriptures simply bring us into the ‘marriage’. They are proof of what he did. But the marriage is much more than a license!
(626) MEGA CHURCH- I want to speak a little on the trend of ‘mega church’. Those of you who have read all my stuff know the way I view ‘church’. Not so much the ‘church I go to on Sunday’ but more of ‘the group of believers residing in my city’. Now, I am not against mega church. Recently a mega church in Texas taught some stuff that was in the class of real heresy. They denied that Jesus was the Messiah of Israel. This got us to discus how stuff like this can happen. In the idea of church as being ‘to get as many people to attend the Sunday meeting as possible’ this environment often breeds a corporate mindset that sees the ‘filling of the building’ as the goal. Along with this comes the ‘meeting of the budget at all expense’. When we first started reproving the doctrine of Jesus being a millionaire, the disciples having a huge budget, Jesus owning an expensive house and all the other stuff that went along with this distorted view of Jesus. It was hard to ‘correct’ the average Pastor who would hear a ‘proof text’ like Jesus wearing an expensive coat and then falling headlong into the money camp. It really upset me that average Pastors could be so easily ‘moved from the gospel of Christ’. I then began to see that in the context of these men’s lives, the major pressure was to ‘fill the building and meet the budget’. All well meaning guys, just distracted from the real goal [the developing of the character and image of Christ in the people groups [oikos] you relate to over your life]. Now, in this environment [the fill the building one!] you grasp hold of any teaching that helps with the accomplishing of the mission. So good Pastors, wanting to meet the budget, hear something from the prosperity group and take it in hook, line and sinker. Any reproof is seen as ‘these rebels don’t see the truth of money and its major role in the Christian life’. While in reality money is dealt with in scripture, but the overall view can be summed up in Paul’s statement ‘using the things of this world while not abusing them’. An overall balance of finances without falling into the trap that Paul warned about in 1st Timothy 6. But in the highly individualistic style of a Pastor overseeing thousands of people [like the San Antonio mega church- 18,000 members] you can become isolated thru viewing everything thru the lens of million dollar budgets and having people come and listen. The safety mechanism that Jesus put in the ‘church’ [corporate body of people] was when all the believers are together, they share and correct and keep each other in balance. The ‘big church’ model can be in danger of losing this ‘safety mechanism’. Some see this and encourage home groups, that’s a good thing. But some mega churches have Pastors who don’t participate. So these brothers are on a course to accomplish huge goals and then when they get off track doctrinally it is next to impossible to correct them. The members are so enamored with the strong preaching of the leader [in the more authoritative situations, I don’t see this in Corpus Christi] that they fall into the category of hearers only and would never confront the leader. Even if he starts to deny that Jesus is the Christ! [Messiah]. So in all of the varied expressions of church, let’s stay balanced and be open to receive from all the Christian communions that are out there. Don’t go down the road of viewing other Christian churches as ‘those deceived traditionalists’. I find it disturbing that when talking with Jehovah witnesses they espouse the same feelings towards the Catholic Church as many Baptists do. While not defending all the teachings of the Catholic Church, this mindset is inherently unhealthy. When a strong mega church is ‘ruled’ by an authoritarian Pastor, this whole dynamic is absent from the New Testament. There was NEVER a situation, NOT ONE TIME EVER where you would have 18,000 believers under the weekly preaching of any single person who was called ‘the Pastor’. Now you can see why the way you view your function as a Christian can be limited if your whole experience in Christianity is one of sitting in a pew and passively hearing bible words being preached. This perspective is not what you find taught in the New Testament assemblies of believers.
(627) JOHN 19 (radio # 602) The reality of redemption! I want to stress the fact that Jesus actually dieing on the Cross and really shedding his Blood for us is what saves us. No spiritualizing here! Over the years I have seen and read how believers in an attempt to ‘see’ the deep truths of God will sometimes fudge on the real Blood of Christ redeeming us. Let’s make it clear, the New Testament teaches that it was the real Blood of Jesus and his death on the Cross that saves man. Now, were there spiritual aspects to it? Sure. But don’t ‘spiritualize’ the death and real shedding of Blood. Like the recent reproof we did on some who taught that Jesus was not the Messiah, so here we warn that his Blood really saves. I remember reading one of the founders of the Word of faith movement, E.W. Kenyon. He would eventually teach that the ‘death of Jesus [physically] didn’t touch the sin issue’ he would then teach that it was the ‘spiritual death’ that saved us. Then teach that Jesus was the ‘first born again man’ who was separated from God and ‘born again’. The New Testament teaches Jesus was ‘the first begotten from the dead’ meaning the first to rise from the dead to never die again. Not the first person to ‘be born again’! Later on you would have another famous Word of Faith brother teach the same thing. I don't know why we have to always ‘see deeper’ than the plain truth? I guess it offends the natural mind to believe that Jesus physical death and separation from the father actually redeems man. I do believe Jesus ‘went to hell’ I don't teach the ‘hell’ being a separate place called ‘paradise’ that was really like heaven. It would seem strange for David in Psalms to say ‘thou wilt not leave my soul in hell [paradise] nor suffer thy Holy one to see corruption’. It just seems to fit as being ‘hell’, not ‘paradise. But I also believe it was the real death of Jesus on the cross that saves us. He really died and really shed his Blood and it was really finished when he said ‘it is finished’. Jesus will also say to John ‘behold your mother’ and tell Mary to go home and live with John after his death. Catholic apologists use this to defend their belief in the perpetual virginity of Mary. They say ‘if Mary had other natural kids, then it would have been offensive in Jewish culture for Mary to not have gone and lived with them’ good point. But heck, I defend our Catholic brothers an awful lot. Let me defend the Protestants a little. It is also possible that Jesus strong teaching on putting the spiritual family before the natural one might have played a role here. This could be the beginnings of the strong family mindset that you will see playing out later in the book of Acts. True believers living and sharing as strong [or even stronger!] than natural families. Also we already taught how Jesus knew that John would outlive the others. Even Jesus brother James, one of the lead apostles at Jerusalem will be martyred. Maybe Jesus knew [maybe!] that committing Mary over to Johns care was a more long term thing than handing her over to his brothers? We also see Nicodemus openly follow Jesus in this chapter. He is the first of the Pharisees to confess Christ openly. Later in the book of Acts we will see ‘Pharisees who believe’ but most times leaders are the last to repent and change positions. Why? Well some of it has to do with the whole persona of leadership. With this calling comes a type of character that says ‘I preached it, any one who disagrees is simply persecution’. While there are times when this is true, there are also times where God calls leadership to new levels. Some get it on it early [Nicodemus] others later! [some never!] Be part of the early group. I forgot to mention we also see the Jews appeal to ‘King Caesar’ as opposed to King Jesus. They will tell Pilate ‘we have no King but Caesar’. They hated Caesar. The whole Jewish nation were treated like 2nd class citizens under Roman rule, sure they benefited from ‘Pax Romana’ [the peace of Rome] but they hated to be living under an occupying govt. Jesus told them earlier in this gospel ‘you refuse my testimony of who I am, yet you will accept the testimony of another’s name’ some feel this is a reference to anti Christ. I think it fits in good right here!
(628) Been having some good talks with a Muslim friend from England. He is asking good questions about the Christian faith and has been reading this blog! Any of you guys reading this site from overseas, send me an email. I am interested in how well we are doing in other countries. I have gotten some good responses from Africa as well.
(629) More scientific stuff! The Earth is the only planet in existence [as far as we know] to have the EXACT balance of gases and oxygen in its atmosphere to sustain life. If you were to scale down the distance of the Sun from our planet to 100 miles, in this scale if the Earth were either ¼ of an INCH further away from the Sun we would freeze, a ¼ of an inch closer, we would burn to death! If the rotation of the Earth didn’t have the ‘slight’ wobble that science has discovered, we would eventually fall out of orbit and all die. If the Moon wasn’t exactly where it is, with the exact gravitational pull having its effect on our planet, we wouldn’t exist! Not to mention the effect of all the other planets and stars in our Solar System. Do you know what the odds are on this? If you took every computer in existence and linked them together, this would not be enough capacity to even calculate the odds! If you went to Vegas and hit the Dice table, it would be like rolling Sevens every time, all day, every year for millions and billions and trillions of years in a row without ever once missing! Or like walking down to the ocean and finding my 66 Mustang in complete restoration and someone saying ‘the ocean did this’. You would say ‘are you totally nuts!’ and if they said ‘wait, listen to my reasoning. It took the ocean millions of years to do it’ I would still think you were nuts. Yet this scenario is what millions of people believe to be true about the Universe. The world of Physics today is going thru a tremendous upheaval as it is seeing the stuff I just showed you. They are the ones who have come up with these numbers! And I didn’t even include the reality of the most simple cell in the human body and how its design is incomprehensible. And for our planet to be the only one in the entire vast universe to have ‘happened’ to accidentally have this life on it is impossible to have happened by chance! Like I said earlier, the scientists are getting to the top of the mountain of inquiry and finding the Christians sitting at the top!
(630) This week I heard 2 good messages. One from the radio and the other from a conference on TV. Both national ministries. They dealt with poverty/wealth and the biblical perspective. They clearly reproved the prosperity gospel and its extremes. One of them [to my surprise, the very famous prophetic brother] mentioned 1st Timothy chapter 6. A very strong reproof of the prosperity message and its abuses [it’s ok to prosper, but the strong money focus is what I am against!]. One of the areas of disagreement I had was one of the brothers taught that he still was believing for God to bring in billions of dollars thru his ministry for the kingdom. Though he did say he wanted to use it for good things and not horde it, he still was teaching the mindset that I have heard before that says ‘God is raising up people/ministries to flow billions thru’. He also shared how he believed God was calling ‘many’ people to become millionaires for the kingdom. Let me share why I don’t really hold to this view. First, I see the answer more in the mindset of releasing all the people of God into new paradigms of actually seeing themselves as ‘employees’ of the ministry of the kingdom. That is we are all directly responsible to function and ‘give’ directly as God shows us needs. Instead of the limited view of God raising up Christian ‘ministries’ to collect and distribute the billions, just show the people of God that God all ready has the billions collected, it’s just in all of our pockets! Instead of trying to find the right Christian organization to funnel the money thru, just see all of Gods people as the actual conduits who already have the money and just need to obey when they see the need! ‘Do you see a brother in need? If you do and don’t directly help him, then how does the love of God dwell in you’ [John]. The divine mandate is to act when you see the need. A different mindset than for God to raise up Christian 501 c3’s who are going to collect it all themselves! Now, there are times in scripture where corporate collections were made [Acts, Corinthians] it’s just we cant lose the mindset of Jesus actually using our 5 loaves and 2 fish [a little] or the widows mite. I disagree with the teaching that says God is calling many [I think some or a few is better] to become millionaires for the kingdom. Let me also show you how the ‘church world’ and the ‘money world’ get confused. I read Stephen Covey before. An excellent success/motivational writer. He is a Mormon but writes from a Christian/moral perspective. Over the years many of these brothers would share how the ‘poverty mentality’ saw there was only so much ‘pie’ to go around. That you really didn’t have enough for everybody. So in a sincere effort by good Pastors you would hear ‘God wants lots of you to live to become wealthy so you could give it into the ministry’ good intention, bad exegesis! You never [when I say never, it means never!] find Jesus nor any of the apostles teaching this! You do find Christian stewardship and finances taught, but not once a doctrine that said ‘seek God for millions so you can finance worthy causes’. Why don’t you see this taught? Well it would be a direct violation of many other verses ‘Be content with what you have. You came into the world without money. When you die you can’t take it with you’ [Timothy 6]. Jesus ‘You cannot serve God and mammon’. There are too many themes in scripture that just don't fit in with the teaching of ‘become a millionaire to finance God’s kingdom’. Now, it is possible for you to be in business, to invest wisely and to see your calling as providing for the Kingdom. I didn’t say you couldn’t do this! I am telling you that in the New Testament you never see an appeal made along these lines! You see appeals to give to Gods work, share with those in need and stuff like that. Never an appeal for people to seek wealth to fund the kingdom. That appeal would contradict the other plain teachings on NOT SEEKING WEALTH. Simply put, that’s the reason you do not see this doctrine taught in the New Testament. So any way I give credit to the 2 brothers for going as far as they did in their teaching. I just thought it was worth reminding you about this.
(631) JOHN 20 (radio # 603) THE GREAT VICTORY OF THE SON OF GOD. In this chapter we finalize the witness of Jesus from his father. All along he claimed to be the Messiah, here it is truly proven! The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the grave is an historical fact! If you were to try and disprove this fact [many have] you would find more historical evidence backing up the reality of the Son of God than any other person. If you believe in Lincoln, Clinton, Washington or any other historical figure, than for sure you must believe in the Christ! He has so much more proof than all the others. John will say at the end of this chapter ‘Jesus did more signs than these, but these are recorded that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you might have life thru his name’. John tells us that the miracles [signs] that Jesus did were proof of his Messiahship. I hate to have to bring this up again, but being we are reading this during the controversy [12-07] let me say it. In John Hagee’s book ‘in defense of Israel’ John teaches that Jesus was not the Messiah to Israel because God didn’t give him the power to do signs like Moses did. That Jesus told them ‘no sign will be given to you but the sign of the prophet Jonah’. Then in an unbelievable fashion John will teach that because of this, Jesus was not the Messiah. It is almost unbelievable to hear him teach this. Many Messianic groups have come out and openly rebuked Hagee for this. These are the same Jewish groups that you would think would be on his side. They also see the danger of preaching a doctrine that says ‘Jesus was not the Messiah because he refused to do signs’. Peter in Acts will actually preach sermons that say ‘God approved of his Son by giving him the Holy Spirit to do miraculous signs in front of you’. The ‘sign of the prophet Jonah’ was not Jesus telling Israel ‘you will get no signs from me’, like Hagee teaches. He said ‘the sign of Jonah’ was that Jonah went to the gentiles [Nineveh] to preach and not to Israel. Therefore the sign was Jesus telling Israel ‘I am not your Messiah, I am going to the gentiles.’ This is not what the ‘sign of Jonah’ means. The sign of Jonah was ‘as Jonah was in the belly of the whale 3 days and 3 nights, so shall the Son of man be in the heart of the earth [buried] for 3 days and nights’. The sign of Jonah was the death and resurrection of Jesus! Jesus was saying to Israel ‘I have been doing many signs already [raising the dead, opening blind eyes. All the signs that they were rejecting!] And in the ‘sign of Jonah’ statement Jesus was saying ‘this will be the ultimate sign, until you believe in this sign [the resurrection] your eyes will be blinded to all the other signs’. Hagee actually says ‘if God wanted Jesus to be the Messiah to Israel, why didn’t God give Jesus the ability to do signs like Moses’. He did! Moses even says ‘the Lord your God will raise up a prophet LIKE UNTO ME, whoever doesn’t hear him will be destroyed’. Peter says God did signs among you [Israel] to testify that he was the Messiah. The writer of this gospel [John] says ‘these signs have been recorded SO YOU WOULD BELIEVE THAT JESUS IS THE MESSIAH [CHRIST]’. John [the Apostle] will later write in his letter ‘who is anti Christ? He that denies that Jesus is the Messiah [Christ] is anti Christ’. So here we see that Jesus was proven to be the messiah by the miracles he did. The greatest one being his resurrection from the dead!
(632) Yesterday morning I got up early and prayed a weekly prayer that includes the nations. Part of this time goes like this ‘Lord I pray for all religions outside of the covenant of your Son. All Jewish people, that they would see Jesus their messiah. All Muslim people, that you would give them signs and prophetic visions and dreams to show them Jesus is the way’. Then this morning I had a dream that family members were converting to Islam. That they were being ‘attacked’ or influenced by the ‘spirit of Islam’. In the dream I felt helpless against this force. We went to sleep [in the dream!] and I awoke [still dreaming this] with a radical spirit of intercession. I began praying and breaking the power of Islam off of the family members that just a few hours earlier seemed to be fully lost to Islam. I felt this dream spoke to the effectiveness we have been having recently with Muslims. These last few weeks have given opportunity to share with a homeless Muslim Iraq war veteran. Good friend. Then a Muslim friend from England started conversing with me and asking how to become Christian. He is reading this site! It never dawned on me that these were fruits from the prayer time! Like I said before, I can be dense at times. Let me cover some church history. I have had someone argue with me about the history of Islam. Not a Muslim, but a Christian who was saying ‘why do you say Islam started in the 7th century, it started around the 11th’. My answer was ‘Muhammad lived in the 7th century’. Not to hard to see this. So I thought I should cover some history. During the time of the rise of Islam, the Christian church was already dividing from east and west. After Constantine [4th century Roman emperor] consolidated the Roman Empire in the 4th century he set up the capital city of the eastern empire, Constantinople [named after him]. As time progressed the western church would take on the form of Roman Catholicism, the eastern [Constantinople area. Modern day Turkey-Istanbul] would be known as ‘Orthodox’. Though the official split of eastern and western [Catholic-Rome!] churches occurred in 1054 AD, yet the division started years before. The official split is called ‘the great schism’ of the 11th century; it would not be until 500 years later that the church would have her ‘reformation’. The official reason for this split was over a rather silly thing. For centuries the Catholic church had an expression that said ‘the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father’ than they included ‘he proceeds from the father and the Son’. Well the eastern brothers didn’t like Rome telling them what to believe and used this as the official reason to ‘have the schism’. To be honest the divisions were coming for years. After the Roman Empire consolidated under Constantine, he tried to strengthen the eastern territories of his empire and for centuries you had the struggle for which region would be the most influential. At first you had 5 major areas that were divided under 5 main Bishops. As time went on the argument would be ‘which bishop has the most say so’ and it was really a power struggle. Finally Rome said ‘the bishop of Rome is the FIRST AMONG EQUALS [a term that many in the Protestant strain of the discipling movement would later embrace] he holds Peters seat’ and this is really where the divisions started. Eventually Muhammad would rise and Islam would take control of the eastern capital. This later became the reason for the crusades. The Catholic church wanted to regain the territories that she lost in the east. The eastern churches are very much Catholic in many ways. They also hold to a view of Christianity that sees man being ‘joined’ with God and becoming pleasing to God thru Christ’s grace uniting with us and making us like him. A perfectly scriptural view, but a different emphasis from the strong intellectual power that you read about from the western fathers of the church. The Catholic church is noted for her social action in ways that the eastern church is not. So both of these communions have good things to bring to the table. The Orthodox [eastern] churches would not be affected by the major social and political upheavals that took place in the west. The Renaissance, the Reformation and the Enlightenment had major impacts on western Christianity, while not affecting the eastern church in the same way. During the 13th- 15th centuries you would have ‘pre reformers’ rise up in the western church. John Wycliffe, the great Catholic Priest who was at the center of learning in France would become known for his translating the scriptures into the common language. Then you have John Huss and John Knox [3 Johns, scripture says 3 fold cords are not easily broken!] who would have their own influence in western Christianity. At this time you had whole movements of believers who would be seen as neither ‘western or eastern’ but restorationist [the restoring of the early practices and beliefs of the church] Peter Waldo would be the Father of the Waldensians and in the 12th century you would have the Albigenses in the south of France. These groups would be looked upon as ‘cults’ [though the term was not used yet] by the traditional church. So you can see how the church has been growing and reforming ever since the first century. Even though we see many divisions that exist till this day, there are strides being made for unity. The eastern and western church are very close to‘re uniting’ once again. While I do not personally hold to the doctrine of the Pope being the occupier of Peter’s seat, I also see him as a Christian man who is striving for unity in Christ’s church. Some believe the whole attempt for outward unity is futile. The more ardent Protestants see it as ‘the one world church of the anti christ’ I reject that language out of hand. Well I hope you got something out of this short overview of world history [real short!].
(633) Recently saw an appeal to give. The teaching [TV] was well meaning. They were showing how the scripture is loaded with the doctrine of ‘first fruits’. All good stuff on the ‘secret’ of first fruits. The teacher was being hailed as an authority on Jewish history and why ‘first fruits’ is so important. The main problem with this whole mindset is they ALWAYS seem to see giving in the context of sending money to ministries. Jesus taught THEE NUMBER ONE priority of GIVING TO GOD was to be expressed by meeting the real needs of people. Now, you do find the woman giving into ‘the offerings of God’ by giving into the Temple offering. Or giving into Jesus ministry, but the overall main doctrine on giving and how it relates at the final judgment of mankind is ALWAYS based on our treatment of our fellow man. ALWAYS! So, no matter how elaborate we get in finding the real ‘hidden truths’ of money in the Old testament, we do a grave disservice to the Christian community when we equate GIVNG TO GOD with giving money to my ministry! The world sees this and mocks us because of it. Do you not see how foolish we look when we teach GIVE TO GOD and than at the end of the teaching we equate it with GIVE TO MY MINSTRY? Do you not see that the STOREHOUSE OF GOD are the corporate people of God dwelling in the earth? The storehouse IS NOT THE CHURCH BUILDING YOU MEET IN ON SUNDAY! So no human should ever teach ‘if you don’t put 10% of your money in this basket you are under a curse’. Sorry about being riled up, but I get so tired of ministries teaching on the importance of giving to God and then equating that with sending money to them, this is outrageous!
(634) Now that I cooled down a little, let me explain some stuff. Recently I posted our blog on another site of ‘ex Christians’ who left a cult. Good kids, very burned by cultic expressions of Christianity. One of the initial reactions was getting ‘cussed out’ [I used to say ‘cursed’ but in Texas this gives you away as a Yankee!] The kids also accused me of being a money hungry preacher who equates ‘giving to God’ with ‘giving to ME’. I realized how really offensive we are to the world when we do and teach ‘giving to God, test God in this [what?] and he will pour out a blessing’. If you rightfully interpret this verse from Malachi [the only Italian prophet in scripture! Kidding!] The ‘test me’ that God is talking about is testing him in bringing tithes and offerings into the ‘storehouse’. A room in the Old Testament tabernacle/temple where the money went. Now in the New Testament the corporate people of God are the spiritual ‘storehouse’ temple of God. This is a very basic truth. So ‘giving to God’ is really not ‘giving to your ‘church’ or my ministry [though it can include this!] But ‘giving to God’ would be giving directly to meet the real needs of humanity, whether believers or unbelievers. There are tons of verses on this. I have quoted them all over this site! So when we see a TV ministry spend an hour on ‘giving to God’ and then at the end of the show say ‘call this number, don’t test God’ the world LAUGHS AT OUR STUPIDITY! They see right thru this. I am not against giving 10 % of your money. I do [actually more like 25%] it’s just we need to see this stuff. Recently a Prophetic person got a divorce from her husband. Both Christians that I prayed for. The sister was behind on thousands of dollars of taxes for some business venture property. Another ministry gave her thousands to bail her out. I am sure they all meant well, but the media reported how this church gave tens of thousands to help another Christian business venture. It just seems wrong to take the sacrificial giving of the saints and to use it like this. We need an overhaul in our thinking. Be careful not to equate a message on ‘giving to God’ and then appeal for money for your organization at the close. This is a real stumbling block to the world. Some preachers say ‘well, if the world gets offended over this offering stuff, that’s their fault’. Not really, Paul does teach if taking offerings is becoming a stumbling block to people, then you can adjust your procedure! [Corinthians]. So after the kids on the ex-cult site criticized me as a ‘money grubbing preacher’ they then saw that I don’t take money and read some of our stuff. It worked the way it was supposed to!
(635) I want to remind you of a couple of basic principles. The New Testament does give the primary source of funding for the things God requires you to do. Do you know what it is? I have taught it before ‘he who is not working, let him get a job SO HE CAN HAVE TO GIVE TO HIM THAT NEEDETH’. This is the basic ‘funding source’ actually taught to the average believer. Now, Paul did say ‘who goes to war at his own expense’ teaching the basic truth to help leaders financially. But this does not trump what I just showed you. Paul is addressing a basic principle in ministry, but we should not view everything from ‘the ministry’ paradigm. The problem with ‘modern church’ is we live in a day where ‘ministry’ means ‘the huge Christian business that needs tons of cash’. The fundamental error of seeing ministry in this way causes many well meaning leaders to ‘search the scriptures to find true stuff on bringing in money’. This leads to tons of overemphasis in the modern church on the few verses where you find Paul asking for financial help. Or going to the popular verses on David/Solomon getting money for the Temple. We see thru the paradigm of funding the business, we don’t really teach the New Testament simplicity of all believers sharing what they have. The main teaching from Jesus on giving was doing it this way. The verses I quote from John/James ‘if you have the ability to meet the needs of your brother and don’t, how does Gods love dwell in you’? Direct instructions on you simply taking money from your own budget and meeting the need. No teaching here on you going out and starting some ministry to collect money for some good purpose! Now, you can find the principle of collecting money for ministry stuff. It’s just what I showed you is direct teaching from Jesus and the Apostles on how you should see ‘giving’ and it is in the context of community. The actual judgment scenes from Jesus teach this. ‘When I was hungry you didn’t feed me, naked you didn’t clothe me’ the whole context is couched in the idea of personal responsibility to act. Not for you to either fund the ‘acting’ of someone else [ministry] or to begin with the mindset of collecting money from others so ‘you could act’. Do you see this? This is why it ‘bugs the hell out of me’ when I see the average believer inundated with a message that says ‘become wealthy to fund ministries’ or ‘if you don’t give a tithe into this church meeting you are cursed’ wrong ideas breed wrong actions. I wonder if some of us will tell Jesus at the judgment ‘the reason I didn’t feed you was because I put it all in the church basket’ Ouch!
(636) Yesterday I went to the courthouse to get the license sticker for my daughter’s car [98 mustang- I do like mustangs!] As I was leaving I saw the people from the Victory Outreach selling dollar candies for their ministry. They are a great ministry that I have been involved with for years [they do rehab homes for drug addicts]. They don’t know this, but let me explain. As I bought the candy I told them how years ago I used to preach at the jails in Kingsville and one of the first Pastors of their church in Kingsville was one of our original guys. He got saved and helped us for years in our church ‘Christian Outreach Ministries’. He eventually became the main Pastor for the Kingsville Victory Outreach and we had a great friendship. I would one day go on an ambulance run and it was him, he had a massive brain aneurism [years of shooting up] and died. He was serving God and clean at the time. As I was sharing the whole history of the family and the boys [I pray for all the boys from these families. They are the ‘seeds, seed’] the girl who was selling the candies knew them. It was funny, I could tell at first that people think I’m ‘full of it’ when I share stuff like this. Hey, they see some hippie white guy and think I am one of the local MHMR patients! As I left I later remembered that that very morning in prayer I prayed for this family! His name was Elias Alvarado and I was praying for his boys and family as well as some others. I will be leaving in a few minutes to go to Kingsville to drop off my uniforms [Fire Dept.] I have officially retired after 25 years. I will be taking a few of the Corpus brothers [street guys] and hopefully will hook up with some of our original group. I might not see these guys for a few years and when we get together it’s like no time was lost. True friends in the Kingdom. Not ‘church members’ who ask each other ‘I haven’t seen you in church for a while’ [UGGH!]
(637) We had a good outreach day yesterday. Just a brotherhood of believers sharing and living like Jesus and the disciples. Ate some good tacos too! Took my buddies to a Mexican restaurant in Kingsville and had good stuff. Let me challenge you ‘money guys’ [or those of you who are victims of this wrong message!]. Did you know Jesus taught that the power of ‘compounding disciples’ trumps ‘compounding interest’? How many times have we been preached at on ‘the power of money’ ‘you can’t reach the world without money’ ‘if you are not believing God to make you rich, you are sinning’ all wrong stuff that the bible doesn’t teach. You know what the Word teaches? Take your measly little few bucks and give yourself away, the simple work of daily ‘making disciples’ will reverberate and ‘your disciples’ will make more! This is the power of ‘compounding disciples’, it puts the power of ‘compounding interest’ to shame!
(638) It’s the start of a new year [apply this to the ‘new year’ of when you read this!] I felt like the Lord was impressing on me ‘growth thru your seed’ the biblical imperative to expand thru the people groups you influence with the gospel. Last year I had a prophetic dream that spoke of a new season of ‘trumpeting’ [proclaiming] the word of God. In the dream I purchased a little silver trumpet from a Physicians stand and left with a limp. [This dream is somewhere on this section! Either part 1 or 2 under ‘prophecies, dreams, visions’]. Later in the year I wound up injuring myself and actually spent the rest of the year ‘going to doctors offices and leaving with a limp’. I decided to retire from my job [no medical retirement! Just regular after working 25 years]. I felt the dream was speaking of the Lord expanding our ‘voice’ [trumpet] as we ‘walked away from the doctor’s office with the trumpet’ [authority thru suffering]. When I put in for my official retirement [12-07] I took my daughter to the mall and while shopping around ‘accidentally’ saw a ‘silver trumpet’ [little piece of jewelry] that looked like the one in the dream. So of course I bought it as a reminder. As I have been praying for the Lord to expand our parameters/borders thru our people, I went with my wife to do some work on a relative’s house. As we were there the little trumpet fell off of my key chain and I regretted loosing it. I started looking in the yard and it was like looking for a needle in a haystack. I must have spent an hour going thru the grass and my wife [ecclesia] was helping. I was praying ‘Lord, if you want to chalk this up to a loss, then fine. If not show me what I should do’ I felt the Lord saying ‘if you seek for wisdom like silver and gold you will find her’ [proverbs] and the parable of the person who lost the coin and searched diligently until they found it. Kind of felt the Lord said ‘keep seeking and praying’. Sure enough as we were looking, my wife spots it and can’t believe she found it. She usually can’t see good without her glasses. I felt this spoke of our ‘seed’ [wife, ecclesia] ‘seeing’ things that they would have never seen before and thru them seeing these things they will take up the ‘trumpet’ [prophetic voice] and run with it. This was in keeping with the prayers I have been praying, that God would increase our borders thru the people. I want to encourage you guys to declare and speak what the lord has been showing you, run with the vision! ‘Write the vision and make it plain, so he that reads it can run with it. The vision is for an appointed time. Though it tarry, wait for it. At the end IT SHALL SPEAK [trumpets denote voice, speaking gifts] It will come to pass’. ‘Blow the TRUMPET in Zion, Zion. Sound the alarm’. ‘I will exalt YOUR HORN [trumpets are horns of authority] like the horn of a unicorn’. ‘If the trumpet doesn’t give a distinct sound, then how will the people know whether to advance or retreat’ [Paul to the Corinthians]. God gives many images thru trumpets in scripture ‘the seven trumpets’ in the book of revelation. This last year my birthday hit on ‘7-17-07’ felt the Lord was speaking to us about having effectiveness thru the ‘blowing of trumpets’, all the venues of prophetic speaking that he has given us thru the radio, blog and the people. People are called ‘living epistles’ felt like the lord gave us 3 strong avenues of expanding thru the ‘word’. Three ‘scrolls’ if you will. 1- Radio [thru both airwaves and internet] 2- blog [same thing] and the 3rd ‘scroll’ would be the people. These ‘living epistles’ who would take the vision and run with it! Are you running yet?
(639) Been reading Proverbs. The best book on success ever written! Remember though, the same writer [Solomon] would also write Ecclesiastes and speak of the absolute futility of wealth and life apart from a greater meaning! Proverbs speaks of the principle of the ‘storehouse’. ‘The lips of the righteous are a well of life’ ‘the wise son stores up during the harvest, the lazy son sleeps during harvest’ all good principles of storing wealth [both wisdom and finances] and then operating out of the storehouse. Jesus said every scribe instructed in the kingdom ‘brings forth’ both new and old stuff. Notice he is bringing it out of ‘store’. A ‘garner that’s filled’ type thing. You have heard how foolish it is to live from paycheck to paycheck, well apply the same principle to spiritual teaching. Are you feeding from sources that feed from ‘paycheck to paycheck’ that is they start the week with the mindset of ‘what should I teach the people this Sunday’ and then come up with something during the week to say. This is not a storehouse! I like the idea of waiting on God and bringing it forth in his timing. Paul spent many years [around 15] being taught Gods revelation before he brought it forth. One of the reasons for all the shallow teaching in the American church is because we violate this storehouse principle. Remember ‘the lips of the righteous are like a well of life’ store up some wisdom, and in ‘due season’ [the right time] bring it forth. Jesus said the faithful servant knows how to ‘give meat in due season’ at the right time. Hey, I like the meat marinated over night, but if all I can get is a plain steak right from the store, I’ll take it. But the marinated one is much better! They said of Jesus ‘he teaches with authority, not like all the other preachers’ Jesus knew how to let the meat marinate!
(640) BUT YOU CAN REALLY HAVE THE CANDIES! In all of our dealings with the money gospel, I often find the attitude to be one of ‘you don’t understand, God wants you to have all the candy you want. God owns the candy store! Don’t you see how our lives are consumed with the truth of getting candy. Jesus died so we could have it. Him and the disciples had lots of it! Church tradition tells us otherwise and anyone who tries to stop us from getting more candy is deceived’. While I understand fully the joy of becoming a believer and learning that God does own the ‘candy store’. Yet Jesus would say things like ‘Don’t be like the unbelievers, they are thinking about candy all the time! They read about it, listen to it. They are consumed with the obtaining of candy’ Jesus even tells stories about the deceitfulness of it, he says ‘I want you to bear fruit, to be productive believers in the world. Productive in the sense of bearing spiritual fruit and making disciples. Don’t be deceived! The pursuit of candy is deadly’. Then you have preachers who love candy say ‘the deceitfulness of candy is that old tradition that says YOU CANT HAVE CANDY’! Well even the most simple ‘candy eater’ can see that this is twisting Jesus words. When you try to correct this, they say ‘you just don’t know how much God wants you to have candy’? I get tired sometimes with this response. I know God owns the candy store and gives us candy. But when I walk in to the store and see a 50 year old Christian consumed with the candy aisle, I feel like saying ‘brother, you are 50 years old, the candy diet has not been healthy, it’s time to graduate to real meat’!
(641) OVERVIEW OF NEW TESTAMENT CHRISTIANITY AND THE CHURCH. Pretty tall order! As I finish our study on John’s gospel, I am debating on how much New Testament study to plunge into. I know we will cover the letters and all, but don’t want to finish the whole New Testament in a year or two. I heard a few ideas these last few weeks that I want to cover. One was that we are called to be the ‘21st century church, not the 1st century one!’ Good point, needs to be clarified. People will say this to counteract the strong ‘organic church movement’ to which I am a part of. The best way to understand the ‘21st century church’ is to understand ‘church’. If you have the biblical view of church, as found in the ‘1st century bible’ you see church as a community of people. As she grows thru the centuries she will form and interact with each generation as a real ‘person’ changes with the times. She shouldn’t lose her fundamental message [reconciliation of God and man thru Christ] nor her fundamental nature! She is and always will be the people of God! So any development or ‘seeing her in the 21st century’ has to keep in mind the basic nature of community. If you lose this idea of her, and begin to define her as ‘mega church’ or huge Christian corporation, then you are not really sticking with the actual ‘person’ [Ecclesia] that she is. So any growth has to stick with this basic idea of the church as the corporate people of God. The expressions of mega church or ‘Sunday church’ are fine, just don’t lose the fundamental 1st century idea. It’ not so much a following of a model in as much as it is sticking to the organic person we see as defined by community, got it? Now as we proceed from the Gospel into the book of acts and the letters we do find the basic nature of church. Some have made it harder than it needs to be. For example, the whole area of giving. By now you guys should know my position on ‘tithing’. I believe its fine to give 10% of your money, it’s just the whole New Testament is filled with direct instruction on giving. It is always seen in the community context. The later ‘idea’ of tithing into ‘the church basket on Sunday’ as being ‘the local church storehouse’ is really a silly development and digressing away from the idea of community. Not so much ‘those wicked Sunday churches’ an idea seen in George Foxe’s preaching. He was the founder of the Quakers, he would call the ‘churches’ ‘steeple houses’ as he was challenging the mindset of ‘church’ as the building. You would also see the ‘Church of Christ’ emphasize ‘the church of Christ meets here’ as opposed to the word ‘church’ on their buildings. All good people seeing real truth. So as you read into Acts and the epistles you will see Gods people adapting to society around them while not loosing the fundamental nature of being the corporate people of God. We must keep this ‘1st century revelation of Christ’s body’ just as much as keeping the ‘1st century revelation of Christ’. The ways we present the message can change, we don’t have to avoid modern technology or using corporate innovation as a means to advance the gospel. But we cant begin defining ‘church’ as the actual corporation itself! This seems to be the mistake of some who espouse ‘the 21st century church as opposed to the first century one’. So as we begin our way into the New Testament lets keep this in mind. We are going to learn about the great story of redemption, how God chose us and saved us by his grace. Being called the ‘people of God’ and partaking of all the blessings that were once limited to the commonwealth of Israel. Christ destroying racial barriers and ‘making in himself one new man’ from all races of men. Jesus himself being the preeminent ‘stone’ of this building. The singular ‘test’ of whether or not you are ‘one of the stones’ in this building will be defined by Jesus himself who said to Peter ‘upon this rock [your confession of me as Christ] I will build my church’. Jesus himself will be seen as the criterion of whether you are a believer or not. Yes, the message can be seen as ‘narrow minded’, some will challenge this idea ‘who do you think you are telling us we all need Jesus’? But the fact will remain that we all do! You will see thru out history that some will emphasize the teachings of Jesus more than the letters of Paul [Catholics and more orthodox churches] and the Protestants will become focused on Paul’s revelation as seen in justification by faith. While some see these as opposing views, I see them as 2 strains of truth that are destined to merge as Christ becomes more preeminent at the close of the present age. He will truly ‘bring all things together in him’ in ways that we don’t fully understand yet. So as we move ahead, lets fix our eyes on the ‘Captain of our Salvation’ and let him steer this ship the way he wants.
(642) Many years ago I would teach and preach many of the concepts that you read on this blog. At the time I had Pastors who were friends and co laborers in ministry. At times as I would learn and grow in my understanding of church, I would sense a feeling of ‘is John saying I am wrong’! Sort of more of a defensive thing. Older believers would feel like ‘John doesn’t really see the modern office of Pastor as a New testament office’. Today there are many movements and expressions actually operating in many of the ideas that I spoke about. This is not to simply say ‘I told you so’ but to show how we often [we meaning preachers] judge truth from a defensive posture. The same with tithing. Most good men think ‘tithing can’t be wrong, I have done it for years. All the Pastors I know, the great men of the faith teach it, how can it be wrong’! Most men view it from ‘how will this affect the income of the organization [what they see as church]’. All defensive postures. These same men will never question all the well meaning Catholic Priests of the 16th century who were totally uprooted by the truth of the Reformation. The modern Pastor will simply say ‘well, truth is more important than the security of all those Priests and Catholic churches. If the truth of Luther disrupted the whole function and flow of the well meaning churches, then so be it’. Now, I do agree with this to a degree, but then these same brothers will judge the ‘modern reformation of the practices of local church’ from the standpoint of ‘it is disrupting things too much’. They don’t use the same standard that they apply to the Catholic brothers of the 16th century!
(643) I felt like the Lord was saying ‘I am not concerned about who is right or wrong in the argument. I am concerned with what you are passing off to the next generation’. In many of the issues I have recently dealt with, I often hear ‘well brother, we will all find out who is right at the second coming. So for now let’s just have peace’. I am all for ‘having peace’ but God wants us to be responsible and willing to complete the task of our generation. Each generation of believers has a responsibility to the next. I am fully persuaded that there is coming a generation that will say ‘how did you guys miss the most basic stuff’! Some will say ‘I can’t believe you taught that Jesus was rich and he died to make us all millionaires’! We will have some forgiveness to ask for! Leaders, God wants you to deal with the issues in love, but he is more concerned with us passing the baton off to the next generation in a noble way. I fear the next generation of believers will look back and see some very obvious mistakes. Things that we should have dealt with before they took the baton!
(644) The past few weeks I have had an image of ‘unraveling scrolls’ while praying outside. Sort of like taking a scroll and holding one end while letting the tail stream in heaven. When the Lord gives me an image like this I try to stick with it as long as I feel necessary. I also started seeing the ‘scrolls’ as representative of 3 things. The radio outreach [tapes are like little ‘scrolls’ in a cassette case] the blog [I recently updated the site and ‘accidentally’ picked a format called ‘the scribe’] The 3rd ‘scroll’ was seen as the ‘people’ we relate to in the Kingdom. The ‘living epistles’ that the New Testament speaks of. So this morning I got up at 2 am, I really was hoping to avoid waking up like this, but it is becoming routine again. So instead of going right outside to pray I put on the devotional from GOD TV and joined with the prayer kids out of Kansas. The IHOP ministry of Mike Bickle. I prayed along with them for a few hours. Then a black brother interrupted to speak on some racial issues. I usually will try and stick with music when stuff like this happens, or just go and pray. Not that I don’t want to hear a black brother, but when in a prayer mode I find preaching to be disruptive. So I figure ‘what the heck, give it a minute’ the first verse he shares is from revelation 5 ‘The son of man is worthy to open the scrolls’ so I listened to him! Jesus has the authority to open the ‘book/scrolls’ he looses judgments in the earth. Sometimes we don’t fully see the purpose of these judgments. In Revelation he judges the earth with the sword from his mouth. Many people have ‘succumbed’ to this sword already! The Word of God is alive and powerful and sharper than any 2 edged sword. Many ‘have been slain’ by it. So the message dealt with the church and Islam and how these 2 will compete and have conflict. It was a good word, not the ‘militaristic’ stuff you see a lot on Christian TV. I felt the Lord was confirming and speaking to the things he has been showing me. The true battle is for the souls of men. Islam takes people captive. When you intercede you are both ‘judging the ruler of this world’ thru the implementing of the power of the Cross and continuing to be a living conduit thru whom Christ’s Spirit continues to conflict with the spirit of the world. And you are directly standing in the gap for lost humanity. Though we are not Jesus who opens the ‘book/scroll’ yet we are an extension of him in the earth [the body of Christ] and as his ambassadors we have the right to stand on the boundary line of heaven and earth and to open the scroll and read from the final chapter! We stand as both pilgrims and possessors [the earth is the Lords, not the devils! Though satan is called the god of the world [system of unrighteousness] yet God has redeemed this planet! Romans] as pilgrims we say ‘our treasure is not in the things of this world, we live for eternal rewards’. As children of God we say ‘behold, the kingdom of God has come near unto you’. God has given you and me a scroll to unravel during this journey, people need to hear and see what’s in it!
(645) HURRICANE KATRINA Let me share some prophetic stuff. Over the past few years it has been interesting to see the churches approach to this hurricane. First, God is very merciful. He requires us to mix mercy with judgment. Many believers have said publicly that the hurricane had absolutely nothing to do with judgment. Katrina means ‘cleansing’. The actual week [or day?] it hit was the same day that New Orleans was to celebrate a ‘day of decadence’. After the devastating storm, man in all his efforts said ‘we will rebuild!’ Even President bush took the position ‘nothing will stop us’. Sort of a slap in the face to a judgment from God. The tower of Babel mindset ‘we will build and no one can stop us’. Now I want to share an area of ‘judging’ that might not have been as obvious. During the time of our ‘prophesying’ [radio/blog] against the distorted teachings from the more extreme prosperity movement, there were certain ‘weather events’ that would concur with the words. Now, these ‘words’ were not judgment things. Just strong reproofs that needed to be dealt with. The hurricane practically wiped out one of the main prosperity ministries from Louisiana. I did not rejoice, but felt it was significant. I haven't really followed up on this brother, but last night I put his show on for the first time in a few years. I only caught the last few minutes and heard him testify of how they didn’t know how they could afford to stay on the air. Maybe the lord was ‘cleansing’ this movement from the air waves? In love and mercy it is very possible that this was a part of Gods will. Often times the lord gives people serious down time to re evaluate their message. It’s easy to start moving ahead in ministry and never take time to ‘re tool’ the message. Bring it more into alignment with scripture. Well I feel this is part of what God wanted. Then the brother shared how the owners of this particular TV network paid from the networks money for 5 free years of broadcasting. Now, they meant well I am sure. But this might have actually been circumventing a ‘cleansing’ that God wanted to do. The President of this network is a good Christian man who has fought the critics of the prosperity movement for years. I do see how he might have come to the defense of this brother by feeling sorry for him. But it is not right to take the years of sacrificial giving that people have done and to use it to win your side of the fight. This causes the money that was dedicated to spread the gospel to be used to win in the game that people play. Sometimes we prevent what God wants to do when we interfere like this.
(646) Let me pick up a little on the history/purpose of the church and kingdom. As the fledgling movement of Jesus followers were launched out after Pentecost, they went everywhere ‘preaching the word with signs following’. Gods ‘plan of salvation’ if you will included more than simple evangelism. Now, simple evangelism is very important! Some liberal trends of the social gospel of the early 20th century saw the importance of social action and would neglect the need for redemption on an individual basis. As the early church ‘preached the Word’ people in these areas of hearing would believe and thru baptism become outwardly marked as Christ followers. They were literally called followers of ‘the way’. Early believers were not setting up separate Christian social clubs that they called ‘local church’. They were the actual tabernacle that God would dwell in! As Paul will address the letters to ‘the churches’ he was addressing ‘the actual believers’ in these communities, not some separate ‘group’ that were defined by having a Pastor/Priest who was functioning as the ‘under shepherd’ in a way that each city had ‘the church I belong to’. You ‘belonged to’ the believers and the lord Jesus that were present in the community in which you lived. They were all ‘local church’. The Kingdom would be an outward reality of Jesus manifesting his works thru them as his body. The work of evangelism [making new citizens of this Kingdom] and the sending out of these new citizens [ambassadors] would go hand in hand. The church was present in society to impact and affect it for change. Social justice was a major part of the ‘prophetic voice’ of these ‘new people’ who were inhabiting the planet! They weren’t ‘starting churches’ in the sense of setting up ‘lecture halls’ so people could come and ‘do church on Sunday’. As time progressed [lots of time!] Christians in our country would begin seeing the need to ‘preach the gospel of the Kingdom’ and emphasize the importance of the church having a voice in society. You would find a funny dynamic taking place. Many of the strong independent church movements would get a hold of a ‘Kingdom message’ and without realizing it begin imitating both the ecclesiastical structures and programs of the ancient church! In essence many of these Protestants were rejecting the historic expressions of Christianity as seen in the Catholic Church, and then adopting the name ‘Bishop’ and building cathedrals [Atlanta] and begin impacting society in a way that Catholics have been doing for centuries. In essence they were seeing the need for a kingdom message and then mixing it in with their ‘501 c 3 Christian organization’. This would lead to the appeal for money from all the ‘rebellious Christians who are not tithing’ so the ‘church’ could fulfill her mandate to impact society thru ‘the church’. The better perspective [in my view] is to see the great reality of all of Gods people, under the headship of our high priest Jesus, to go forth and be the actual vessels whom God is using to touch the world. The simple strategy of Jesus to empower and entrust the Kingdom message with all who believe. To a degree the Catholic Church had the most influential ‘Kingdom church’ ever! In the sense of ‘institutional church’. After the fall of the Roman Empire [loss of power and influence] the Catholic Church would at one point in history become the sole arbiter in all things pertaining to religion and human govt. The ‘Kings of the earth’ would appeal to her to speak into the ongoing conflicts in the history of man. So in a strange way the 20th century ‘reconstructionists’ [Protestant ideas on the church being very involved in human govt.] were just babies in the sense that our catholic brothers ‘have been there and done that’.
(647) MISTAKING THE CLASSROOM FORUM FOR ‘THE LOCAL CHURCH’. I was listening to Jim Kramer’s radio show one day. He is the nut on CNBC that does all these outrageous things while teaching investing in Stocks. I do like the guy! A lady called in to his show and said ‘you are really good, you are good enough to teach at some university! Have you ever thought of ‘stepping’ up to the next level?’ She meant well, and you could tell by Kramer’s response that he was a little offended. He told her that thru his worldwide radio and TV shows he is doing far more than limiting himself to a few people in a room! In essence what the well meaning woman was advising would really be ‘stepping down’ [loosing influence] as opposed to ‘stepping up’. This last year I have had well meaning comments along these lines. Friends of my homeless friends who are ‘preachers’ or mature believers. When my homeless buddies tell them ‘Johns a good brother, he does all types of ministry stuff’. At first these ‘outsiders’ think ‘poor John, he looks homeless himself. I am sure he means well’. Then they go to this blog or hear us on radio and word gets back to me ‘wow, he should start a church and become more legitimate’! Been there, done that! They seem to think the ‘classroom format’ [Kramer] is more ‘legitimate’ than the much greater format of blog, radio and actually traveling to regions to ‘make disciples’. We have the same mindset of the well meaning woman who called into Jim Kramer’s show! We need to stop viewing the ‘building that we meet in’ as a step up from itinerant ministry. We really need to stop calling the building ‘the Local Church’.
(648) UPDATE ON RACE AND POLITICS As I am following the current Presidential campaign, a ‘funny thing happened on the way to the White House’. The White woman candidate [Hillary] has had some surrogates who have made racial innuendos. Not blatant stuff, but hints that would be considered ‘death’ to any Republican candidate. But being Clinton is a Democrat it took a little longer for it to come to a head. So today [I think it is Martin Luther King Day today? It’s early and I haven’t looked at the calendar yet] the Political world is reeling over race. The black supporters are accusing the white Democrats of being racist. A few years ago President Bush nominated a white judge to the Supreme Court [Thomas Pickering?] he was a conservative. The Democrats played the race card against him. The only problem was he put his life [and his families] on the line in the South by ruling against the KKK and for publicly going against this racist group at a time where it was unpopular to do it. He had a real history of defending blacks. The race card that was used was the fact that in a certain Cross burning case he let the kids off without jail time. The reason he did this was because during the trial he realized that the other kids who were the real instigators made a plea deal and sort of blamed these other kids for the whole thing. Basically the kids he went easy on were guilty, but the main instigators sort of framed them to get a better deal. So Pickering made a just decision. Well this was played in the media as Bush nominating a racist. Though the man went out of his way to defend blacks! This in itself is really racist. For the democrats to have done this for their own political purpose is actually racist. I know they don’t see this, but what do you expect? The republicans can be just as bad. The point is the democrats were all for the railroading of this innocent judge, even Hillary! Now she seems to be at the receiving end and her and Bill Clinton are incensed! ‘How dare the Obama campaign even bring up any racial accusations, we were at the forefront of Civil Rights’ they weren’t singing this tune when Pickering was being blasted. The point is using race in this whole scenario is wrong. But if some of Hillary’s people said the stuff, then they should be just as accountable as any one else. About a month ago I mentioned I liked McCain and Obama the most. I said this when McCain seemed to have no chance and Obama was way behind in the polls. As of today McCain is leading on the Republican side and Obama is about equal with Clinton! I would support Obama if it weren’t for the abortion thing. I still see this crime as the worst atrocity of our time. I don’t blame Obama or any single person for their view, I just believe no matter how good we feel about a candidate we can’t allow these feelings to override the greatest social injustice issue of our time. The murder of untold little Black and Hispanic and White babies. These 6 month developed kids feel safe in the womb, we allow for a doctor to stick an instrument in the Mom and dismember the child. The child cries and feels the pain. The little kid must think ‘O my God, they are really killing me’! Don’t allow your liberal tendencies to forget this atrocity!
(649) Talking politics! While watching some of the ‘talking heads’ they were saying ‘they are using the church for this cause’ or ‘the local churches’ are spoken about in the same context as ‘the local hospital’ or ‘local barber shop’. The more you study the reality of ‘the local believers’ as ‘the local church’ and then hear this kind of talk, it really makes you wonder how much idolatry is involved with the present day view of ‘the local church’. It is almost impossible to up root the prevalent view of the local church as being the ‘church we go to on Sunday’. Why do I make such an issue of this? If you read all the stuff on this site [quite a job!] you will see how we as the people of God have bypassed the actual straight teaching from Jesus on all believers being personally responsible ‘to act’ and the modern church has developed the unbiblical idea of ‘the local church/ 501 c 3 Christian business’ in a way that seems to say to the average believer ‘your main responsibility is to honor and give money to and be in submission to this thing’. While in reality all of the verses dealing with ‘church’ are really speaking of the actual people of God called out of the world unto Christ. When believers are inundated with verses every Sunday on Paul asking for help with finances, these verses are then linked to Malachi ‘don’t rob God’. This leaves the impression that we will get in big trouble if we don’t tithe to the ‘storehouse’. Then the majority of instruction ALL THRU OUT the New testament on giving is seen as some ‘little moral teaching’ from Jesus on helping our neighbor. But if you look at the overall view of scripture, the main teaching on giving is in the context of all believers sharing their stuff with those in need. There is a subtle shift in the mind of the believer when he views the actual Christian business as ‘the local church’. He begins to see his responsibility primarily along the lines of putting 10 % of his money ‘in church on Sunday’. This idea is harmful to the main body of teaching in the new testament on the actual people being ‘the local church’. Well meaning Pastors have engrained verses on tithing into their people. They all know Malachi ‘bring the tithes into the storehouse’ or Paul ‘if you give to me God will supply all your needs’. While these are true scriptures, the main stuff on ‘give to him that asketh of thee’ or ‘if you do not directly meet the real needs of those around you, how does Gods love dwell in you’. The main body of Christian truth is taught in this way. Since the people are really ‘the local church/storehouse’ then they are the main ones who are to carry out the task. I just thought it strange to have been hearing ‘this group was raising money for this or that at their local church’. The language is so confused in the minds of the average believer that it will take at least a generation for us to see and begin implementing these truths!
(650) POPULARIZE REDEMPTION As I get ready to jump into the New Testament, I want to re emphasize redemption. I was reading a testimony from an American believer who went to Turkey to interview a Christian woman who lost her family to martyrdom. The reporter spent a week with the woman. She found the faith of the Turkish believers to be one of ‘having their treasure in heaven’. The Turkish believers would say things like ‘well, we know some of us are being killed for our faith. But we praise God because we have a better treasure in heaven than on earth’. The reporter shared how the American churches message is one of ‘you can be all you can be’ or ‘have your dreams fulfilled’ type theology, while the Turkish church understood the real teachings of Jesus on the temporary stuff of this life. I went to a ministries web site to read some stuff. They are a good church out of San Antonio. I used to listen to tapes from the brother. While thinking of ordering some stuff I noticed how the majority of all the messages were on ‘winning the battle’ ‘achieving your goals’ ‘power of confession’ ‘wealth’. All practical stuff. I then realized how the majority message of the American church is consumed with this stuff. We seem to preach a gospel that sees redemption as the ‘being born stage’ [true!] and then we say ‘now that you are born again, let’s spend 50 years on learning how to prosper in life’. Sure, every now and than this message says ‘O, we believe in prospering to get the gospel out’ but then a year or so goes by and the main message seems to still be ‘how to get stuff’. I want to re focus as we get into the Letters of the New Testament. Redemption does things for you that a million message on money cant! Redemption changes things! You can confess a million times. Renew that mind all day long. Vow money to the TV preachers. But redemption is Gods divine act of changing you and everything about you, and he does it for free! As a matter of fact, if you try to add stuff to his work, it takes away from the power! We will learn the fact that the Blood of Jesus gives you the ability to be free. I know you have been taught ‘well, God saved your spirit, but you still have that old mind’ you are taught this in a way that exalts the verses on ‘renew the mind’ [God thing by the way!] but takes away from the real act of Gods power saving you. When you ‘got saved’ this act of Divine grace changes you in ways that all of you’re confessing and renewing could never accomplish. The New Testament will teach us the absolute power and primacy of this singular thing called ‘Redemption’. We will see a message that includes the practical things of life, but is saturated and inundated with the Cross! If you went to Paul’s web site, you wouldn’t find a bunch of success messages [a few maybe?] but you would see the great themes of justification by faith, the Blood of Christ, Gods sovereignty. You would see the majority theme being that of the great act of Redemption. Paul saw it more than just a way to get into the Kingdom!
(651) STUFF FROM PROVERBS 22:16 ‘he that oppresses the poor and gives to the rich shall come to want’. There are many believers who struggle financially. Many of them are sincere believers who don’t understand why they are struggling. I want to encourage you to read proverbs and look for all the verses on giving to the poor. It is too common for sincere believers to tithe to church on Sunday and not realize that they are overlooking the main body of scripture that speaks of God blessing those who meet the needs of others! Also I have heard it taught that if you give to the wealthy you will be blessed [I heard this actually taught by a prosperity preacher. He used the book of Job and said ‘the world thinks giving to the poor is merciful, God says giving to the rich will give you a blessing!] I figured I would throw this verse in so you can have your mind renewed to Gods Word! Also I just retired as a firefighter. I knew the first month of transition would be financially difficult. You have to wait for your first check and all. I also felt the lord telling me ‘John, you have been slacking on giving to the poor’. The budget for my News Paper ads and radio come from my pocket, so I have been slacking on the ‘giving to the poor part’. So I took out some money [in single dollar bills] and when the guys would ask for a dollar or two I would give it. Not much, 20 dollars or so every week. Really simple. Sure enough I have been getting extra ‘income checks’ that I was not aware of. A few thousand over a few weeks. I felt the Lord said ‘give to the poor’. 26:27 ‘whoever digs a pit shall fall therein, rolls a stone it will come back on him’ many years ago at the firehouse we had an older captain [Kriegel- to all my buddies who read this site!]. He was a good guy, used to give me these Christian papers he would get from his church. The guys liked playing pranks on him. One day they knew he was going to Mexico the next day, about a 2 hour drive. So that night they put a sign on the front of his truck that said ‘HONK, I AM A GAY MAN’ [Something to that affect]. Sure enough he couldn’t figure out why all the Mexicans kept beeping their horns! One time he stuck this mouse trap in his kitchen locker. We all had these lockers for each shift and eventually stuff kept finding its way into the other shifts lockers! So we all put locks on them. Well during dinner if you were short on ketchup or something it was just easier sticking your hand thru the bottom of the cabinet than walking to HEB. The technical term in the Greek for this act is called ‘stealing’. So Kriegel stuck a mouse trap in his locker! One morning the guys are just getting on shift and they hear Kriegel screaming. He forgot his keys at home and stuck his hand in his own locker. ‘Who so rolls a stone, it will come back on him’! [I wonder how he knew sticking your hand thru the bottom would work?]
(652) As I was just praying for all of our people [Gods!] I sensed an outpouring of the Spirit. A sort of tangible anointing. I also remembered a Prosperity preacher’s story and hesitated to share it. The more I felt the anointing I felt the Lord wanted me to share it. Many years ago my father was visiting Corpus and we were driving downtown with KCTA playing on the radio [the Christian station we broadcast on]. At the time the teacher was a prosperity preacher teaching on ‘the anointed one and his anointing’. They got into this teaching of Jesus ‘anointing us’ to get wealth. As the teacher was explaining the ‘oil’ [anointing] he was saying ‘picture yourself rubbing it all over you. Head to toe’ and he was applying it to ‘saturating yourself in Jesus anointing to get money’. I was really tempted to shut it off. My dad says ‘wow, you can really tell how much this preacher is enjoying himself’ my dad said it in a nice way. Sort of complimentary. I didn’t say anything. I just found it so offensive to view ‘rubbing Jesus oil all over your body to get wealth’. Peter says ‘we were not redeemed with corruptible things. Filthy lucre. But by the precious blood of Jesus’. Paul says ‘some have erred from the faith. Teaching that gain is godliness. From these teachers turn away’. I am simply amazed at the amount of Pastors who are still defending this stuff to their people.
(653) While walking in my yard yesterday morning and praying I have an area that I fixed up for fellowships with the brothers. We have used it a few times, but not as much as I would like. So as I was walking and praying I asked the Lord to bring some of our guys together soon. Sure enough I was at the homeless mission later in the day and some Kingsville brothers called my cell phone and within a few hours we were sitting at the exact spot fellowshipping. Planning on doing some outreach in Kingsville. I heard the Lord say ‘make the tree good and the fruit will be good’ sometimes we spend a lot of time working and focusing on the ministry. I felt like the Lord was saying to just wait on him [healthy tree] and he will do the stuff! A few years ago [10?] I bought a lemon tree from the store. It was real small, took about 7 years to grow and produce fruit. Sure enough it wasn’t a lemon tree! It looked like grapefruits. So in keeping with 1st Corinthians 13 ‘love believes all things’- which means it gives the benefit of the doubt. I said ‘O well, I am sure Wal Mart meant well when they labeled it as a lemon tree’ NOT! I thought ‘man those crooks robbed me, some Mexican farmers KNEW that they couldn’t sell the grapefruit trees, so they told Wal Mart ‘these are lemon trees’. I got over it and in time used the ‘grapefruits’. Well I just found out that it is a Mexican Lemon [lime] tree. Supposedly more valuable than the lemon tree! Yet when I thought the ‘fruit was bad’ [not as good as what I bargained for] I was mad. It took time to actually enjoy the fruit. When I found out it was a good deal, I immediately felt better. Why? It still tastes the same. We put value on things by measuring ourselves [or fruit!] by others. I felt like the Lord was saying to be patient with the fruit he has given you. If the fruit tastes good [make the tree good!] then who cares what others think. Just concentrate on the tree being good for you and what the Lord has called you to. Others might think ‘he’s just an old grapefruit tree’ but in Gods eyes you are more valuable than what you thought at the start. NOTE- both of these brothers are around my age [40-45] I used to preach to their fathers at the jails. These brothers eventually got involved with us this way. Thru reaching out to the lost. I wasn’t recruiting them to some thing! Their dads are both dead now. They were both good friends of mine for years. They died in their 50’s, not too much older than me and their boys! We only have so much time in this life, I encourage you to give your life away for eternal rewards.
(654) At the risk of loosing a reward, let me share this. Last week I gave some cash away. At the start of this week I didn’t get any ‘give away cash’ out of my savings [that’s where it comes from!]. But I helped someone out with rent and this one ‘act’ was equal to a months ‘tithe’. But I don’t see it like a ‘tithe’. I will still spend money this month irregardless of the ‘tithe’. But when people are under a law mentality, they see it more from the standpoint of ‘well, I gave my 10 % and I have fulfilled my obligation’. This is why I try to teach you guys giving along the lines of what Jesus taught. The Pharisees said ‘it is Corban’ when it came to taking care of their family. Corban was dedicating a certain amount to the Temple, over and above the tithe. But the mindset was ‘since I have dedicated this to ‘ministry’ I don’t have to meet the real needs of people [parents].’ Jesus said this tradition was making void Gods word. God doesn’t want believers to view giving from the mindset of ‘I gave to the office [Temple] and am free from any other responsibility’. Give to the office, just don’t think that’s all that God requires!
(655) OVERVIEW OF AMERICAN CHURCH HISTORY- Let’s do a little overview of my story. When first coming to Texas I had a catholic upbringing but was pretty well ‘lost’. After truly coming to know the Lord I had the privilege of meeting believers from various backgrounds. I knew good Baptists, Assembly of God, Church of Christ and other good Christians. It didn’t take long to see how the more legalistic believers from all the above groups [some more than others] would view the ‘church down the block’ as either a cult or heretical. They would develop these views from sincere differences they saw from scripture over water Baptism, Gifts of the Spirit, Eternal Security and other important doctrines[I had a friend who would point to the statue of Mary in front of a catholic church. It showed other statues of kids kneeling and praying around Mary. He would say ‘Look, Idols worshipping Idols’!] The infighting from some of these brothers was really detrimental to unity in the Church. Many, like myself, would eventually move on in the Christian experience and continue to hold to the historic doctrines of Christianity while rejecting the strong sectarian mindset that can exist in many of these groups. I still see all of the above groups as Christian. I still actually hold to some of the basic tenets of the Baptist church, as well as the assemblies of God. You would even find me agreeing with my Church of Christ brothers on stuff. But for the most part I see many of these differences as divisive. Some ideas are important to discuss, some basic historic truths are worth dieing for! But not necessarily the ones these brothers have argued over. Other believers who have left the more independent churches will eventually become ‘anti Christian faith’ some will view all Christianity from a negative standpoint because of being burned by one of the above expressions of Christianity. As you study Church history along with the Bible you will begin to see the great revolution of the people of God and the reality of Christianity as the major hinge factor in world events for the past 2 thousand years. You can not trivialize the impact that Christianity has had on world affairs. Some recent books written by Atheists have tried to blame Christianity for all the ills of society, while at the same time others atheists will try to say that Jesus and his movement are a farce and have had little impact historically. Hey, you really cant espouse both of these views at once. The simple fact is Christianity has had a major impact on the world. To refute Christopher Hitchens recent book ‘God is not Great’ he tries to prove that Christianity and religion have done no good whatsoever and the world would be a better place without it. He is not honest about the facts. The truth [historically] is that Christianity has been the major force behind the most noble institutions in our country. The hospital system in the United States as well as the University system was founded by the Church. The major scientific thinkers of history have been Christian [or deist]. The majority of the founding fathers of our country were without a doubt Christian. It is common today for our Public schools to focus on Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson or George Washington when teaching on the founding Fathers. And because you will find certain non Christian statements from Franklin, yet he himself still embraced religion. But more from a Deist standpoint [belief in God while not being a Christian]. This small focus on a few of the fathers [there were at least 50 historic figures who would fall under the category of founding Fathers. Some actually started bible societies. Wrote their own version of the Bible and stuff like that] seems to leave the impression that the founding of our country was by men who were ‘fleeing Christianity’. To start a new world free from religious expression. This is in no way true. Most of the early settlers of our country were called ‘Puritans/Pilgrims’. ‘Pure’ from what? From religious expression? They got the name from being ‘Non Conformists’ under Queen Elisabeth’s rule in England. During the reign of Elisabeth England was dealing with the problem of the ‘Non Conformists’. These were the Christians in her realm who were Protestant, and they didn’t feel the ‘Protestantism of England’ went far enough in her reform. The Church of England was ‘too catholic’ for these brothers. So Elisabeth actually persecuted Protestant brothers under her reign, though she herself was considered to be the ‘Protestant Queen’ after her sister Mary, the infamous ‘bloody Mary’ martyred Protestants. You would think the Protestants under Elisabeth were happy, but they weren’t. Eventually Elisabeth would pass a law that told all the Protestant Pastors to keep wearing the catholic Collar on their vestments during ‘church services’. Eventually these ‘non conformists’ would get their name for not wanting to conform to these regulations. So these eventually would flee England. Some to Holland and other areas. Eventually to the Americas. This is the basic moral underpinning of the religious Puritans [pure form of Christianity as they saw it] who founded our country. In this background you will find the idea of ‘Separation of Church and state’ seen. Though our founding documents reference Christ and God many times, yet this phrase comes from a letter during this time. The phrase itself has been used in the hands of strict separatists as meaning something different from the original ideas of the fathers. Our constitution does have what is called ‘the establishment clause’ ‘Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion, nor prohibiting the free exercise’ but if you read this in the context of all I just showed you, it is quite easy to see that they didn’t mean society should be free from all religious/Christian expression. But they used this language to protect the church from the intrusion of government interference. These fathers were fleeing England and a Queen who kept telling them to ‘conform to the states standards’. They wanted to make sure no state, not even the new one being founded, would ever tell the church how to run her affairs again. I know the other side [the strict separatists] have a different belief about the founding of the country. But this is simple history, you don’t have the option of changing the facts! This is also why Congress still opens in Prayer. Why the Ten Commandments are still found on the walls of government buildings. Why they still ‘have the gall to have our Senators sworn in on the Bible’! It is quite obvious that the majority of the founding Fathers were not atheists who were founding some new world that would be free from religion! Now, this new religious freedom allowed for the ‘starting of many churches/religions’. You would have the rise of many types of religious movements. The breakaway groups from both the catholic church as well as the protestant church would find new freedom in America. Many of these expressions are the churches that I mentioned at the beginning of this entry! But you would also see the rise of ‘cults’. The first major wave of ‘anti cultism’ seen in this country was the strong resistance in the early 20th century against the metaphysical cults. These are the groups known as ‘unity’ ‘Christian science’ or ‘theosophy’. These groups were seen as THE major threat to Christianity in the first part of the 20th century. You would have scholars from the universities, that were founded by Christians, writing against these movements. Princeton, the university from my home state, was one of the Universities that had these scholars. You would also have a strong anti catholic spirit among some of the writings of these Reformed scholars. These were good men who held faithful to what they still saw [and see!] as the major errors of Catholicism. This backlash and anti catholic spirit was seen in the real fear that Many had when John Kennedy ran for President. Kennedy would have to make it clear that his religion would not interfere with his allegiance to our country. The Pope would have no control over him in matters pertaining to state and government. Some feel this is what was behind his assassination, a strong anti catholic spirit. Of course we know this not to be true, Oliver stone [movie maker] has shown us the truth behind his assassination! [of course I had to put this in!] So this leaves us with a good country, with much religious freedom. This also has lead to the freedom for one type of Christian church to bash another type. Even to view them as heretics! So the Christian church of our country is not forced to ‘love our brother in Christ’ by human law, but I think we could find another law in scripture that supersedes human law! Note- There is a ‘curse’ or judgment that believers bring upon themselves when they view other Christian faiths as in total error or apostasy simply because they are catholic, or traditional. I know and believe there are important differences that still need to be dealt with in love. I believe heresy should be dealt with. But I have seen on too many occasions how Christians ‘use’ their judgment on the traditional church in a way that blinds them to truth. How many times have I tried to show someone that Jesus was not about materialistic living. Though he told his followers he would meet their needs, yet he walked above the pursuits of this life. I would get responses like ‘Oh that’s that old tradition/religious teaching the Catholics teach. Vows of poverty and stuff like that.’ These believers sincerely cant see the major body of truth in scripture dealing with the warnings of money because they grasped an idea that all the Catholics or traditional churches are simply wrong. Proverbs says ‘don’t move the ancient landmarks that your fathers put down’ we need to be careful that our view of ‘those deceived Catholics’ is not a blind spot [or should I say log!] in our own eye! NOTE- If you think about it, the effect of the founding fathers writings, our constitution and the Declaration of Independence. Who would have thought these ‘documents from a revolution’ would have had such a major impact? Even today it is considered ‘heresy’ to question the Constitution. Is it a ‘living document’ that changes and grows with the times? Some conservatives will burn you at the stake for saying this! I believe a reason for the influence of these writings can be attributed to the same ‘idea’ as Paul’s letters. Paul wrote most of the New testament. These letters were not ‘university papers’ that Paul spent hours pouring over in some library. These were ‘documents from a Revolution’. Things written during a time of major world upheaval. The instituting of Gods rule thru this new King called Jesus! Writings produced from a Revolutionary mindset. I think we need to get back to laying everything down for this cause once again. We are living and writing from a ‘safe’ harbor. This explains the tremendous lack of authority in the things we are communicating!
(656) PARABLE FROM A TREE! Recently I was having a conversation with a brother who sees himself as part of our ministry [even though we don’t have something to ‘be a part of’ in the traditional sense!] I could tell he has heard ‘John is a cult, he doesn’t believe you ‘need a church’ to be a ‘church’. As my friend expressed his belief that ‘I know the people are the church’ he also said ‘but you need a church building too’! This is a common response from well meaning people. A few years ago I read a story about believers [in Africa?] who had no money to ‘build churches’ so they started a movement of believers ‘meeting under trees’. They used the tree as a meeting place and met there and worshipped and shared in Christ’s life. Great stuff! Can you imagine 10 years going by and all the young believers saying ‘I attend this tree’ or ‘I go to that church [tree!]’. I am sure if you asked ‘why are you calling the tree ‘a church’. They would say ‘well, we know it isn’t ‘the church’ but we just refer to it that way’. Fine. Then after 100 years if you heard these same believers children say ‘We know the tree is not a ‘church’ but you really can’t serve God without a tree’! You would say ‘why not’? I think we need to stop saying ‘we need a tree’ [building].
(657) PROVERBS 30:24-28 Every time I read Proverbs I stop on this [as well as many other!] sections and meditate on it. The ‘Ants’ prepare. The ‘Conies’ [Badgers] take shelter. The ‘Locusts’ go forth as groups in unity without a single head [what, no Pastor!]. And the ‘Spider’ practices Divine Placement! We see preparation, storehouse, having some resource to fall back on. We see the concept of ‘taking shelter’ from the badger. Though badgers are tough animals, yet they ‘break easy’. Their skin is soft! So instead of crying about their weakness, they manage it! They hide in rocks! The Locusts have no single head [much like the organic church movement, they do believe in ‘Elders/Pastors’ but they practice plural leadership, getting away from the idea that church is everybody getting together to hear one person speak!] They practice unity in numbers! Wow, how much more can you accomplish when you have groups of people! And out of all the above, only one thing is in the singular. The Spider. She is fragile, by herself [quiet] and yet over time winds up in Kings palaces! True wisdom brings you before great men! Not a lot of sweat and blood, just divine placement! I see her like the Apostle amongst the other groups. Proverbs says ‘Wisdom sends out her servants and builds her house’. The Spider is wise. Beautiful for ‘situation’ is how Jerusalem is described. She ‘sits’ in an influential place. There are times in our lives [especially leaders] where we need to ‘re position’ and see ‘from a distance’. Sit in the ‘kings house’ if you will. Then you can get some direction before sending the Ants, Badgers and Locusts out! The Merchant ships bring their goods from afar. The Apostle [which is another term for a commander of a fleet of ships] needs to set the course right at the start, or else all the ships will be wasting lots of time. Plus it is next to impossible to turn the fleet around on a moments notice. Sit back and function in the wisdom of the Spider first!
(658) DREAM- MARTIN LUTHER KING; Just had a dream. It is the day after Martin Luther King Day. A few weeks ago as I was channel surfing I stopped at a local preacher’s message. A good man who has Pastored for many years in our city. I visited his church [though I use ‘church’ you know what I mean!] a few times over the years. I listened to him on TV and it was a good testimony of his coming to know the Lord and his calling. Though I knew this brother for years, yet this day was different. Sure enough I watched him again the following week. To catch him twice in a row seemed strange, I very rarely do this. Then a few weeks later I opened the paper and read that he died. I prayed for his wife and church family for a few days, prayed that they would make the transition well. Prayed for the new leadership to actually experience a new resurgence of life and growth. Sort of like what has happened with Jerry falwells son. After Jerry died his son took over the pastorate and they are really growing and on fire for the Lord! The dream I just had [an hour ago] was me going back in time before this pastor’s death and spending the day with him. I knew he was to die soon, and realized he was living his last few days not knowing this [in the dream at least, I know he in ‘real life’ was sick and knew he had cancer]. So as I observed and fellowshipped with him he had to run some errands and I didn’t have time to drive him. But I knew his time was short and made the sacrifice. I was also talking to someone else in the dream and we both knew he had already died [in the future] but wasn’t aware how short his time was. I heard Martin Luther’s speech yesterday, they played a part of the ‘I have a dream’ [notice, Kings dream wasn’t to become ‘all he could be’ it was giving his life for a greater purpose than self fulfillment]. They played the part you normally don’t see. It was a few minutes before the famous part. At one point you could see a very brief moment of fear/anxiety. Sort of a glimpse into the thin veneer of mans flesh and weakness when he is at the crossroads of destiny. A hidden reality of the cost that was to be paid for his cause. I also heard a speech [and read it a few years back] that King made right before his death. He said ‘longevity would be a good thing. But I have been to the mountain and have seen the promised land’ he prophesied of his death. In so many words he knew he would pay for his cause with his death. I just thought the Lord wanted to remind us today that we are like ‘smoke’ that appears for a little time and vanishes away [James]. Or like grass, we grow in the morning and are ‘cut down’ at night. Why are we wasting our lives? We seem to be living for temporary things. Our dreams are all about ourselves. We are not applying our hearts to wisdom. We are not numbering our days. NOTE; During Kings time you saw a dynamic taking place that would become a major cause of strife in our time. The Nation of Islam was founded in the 1930’s in Detroit under Wallace Fard. After his death in 1935 Elijah Muhammad would lead the group until 1975. Malcolm x and Louis Farrakhan would follow. The ‘Nation of Islam’ is not a legitimate Muslim group! Their founding had ideas about ‘UFO’S’ and other very weird doctrines that you would find in the black ‘Jewish’ groups of the time. Groups that tried to trace their ancestry to being ‘the true Israel’. And they would couch the black mans struggle for freedom thru an ‘historic’ mindset. The only problem was the whole ‘history’ of ‘Black Jews’ is just as much fantasy as ‘White Jews’ or British Israelism. The doctrine that the white Europeans are the lost tribes of Israel. These ideas were prevalent at the time. This is also why you hear strange stuff from Farrakhan on UFO’S and stuff. King was a prophetic Christian who was carrying the cause of Civil rights along with the banner of Jesus Christ. The Nation would be a demonic force [copy cat] of the true mantle of King. You would hear ‘white devils’ thru the racist lips of the Nation, while King would include the white man in his struggle for freedom. Today you see Islam continue to counterfeit what the Spirit of God is doing in the earth. The black ‘church’ [I don’t like this term, there is only one church!] needs to understand that in her continued struggle for justice that she does not align herself with the truly demonic Nation of Islam.
(659) PROVERBS ‘The Merchant Ships bring their goods from afar’ Ships represent whole ‘floating communities of people who are launched out under the authority of a commander [the same word used for Apostle in classical Greek!] and inhabit new worlds with the insignia of their ‘home country’. I like that! Noah’s Ark represented Jesus, Peter says the Ark saved us from the world of sin. How did the ‘like figure whereunto baptism doth also now save us, not the washing away of the filth of the flesh but the answer of a pure heart towards God’? Both the rapture guys and the Baptists and the ‘everyone else’s’ could be offended here! The Ark didn’t ‘remove us from the planet’! Like the Rapture guys teach. They say ‘like the days of Noah so shall it be at the end’ true enough, Jesus said this. They then say ‘see, in Noah’s day God took them away before judgment’ no he didn’t! They ‘floated’ in safety inside the Ark while STILL IN THE WORLD! We are all ‘in the Ark’ of the Body of Christ. We are ‘the Merchant ships’ bringing our goods from far [cast not your pearls before swine- we have pearls!] Wherever we ‘harbor’ on this journey we get off and establish a ‘beachhead for the Kingdom’. We ‘Colonize’ new lands for our King. Quit trying to get Jesus to take the boat out of the world. He wants the boat to stay in the world. Hey, after it stops raining [40 days represent judgment and divine cleansing] you are supposed to get out and re populate the planet! NOTE- the Merchant Ships speak of the virtuous woman in the last chapter. How can Jesus be ‘the Ark’ and also the virtuous woman be ‘the ship’. We are Jesus perfect bride. We are called ‘the Body/Bride of Christ’. Paul says this oneness is a great mystery, Christ and the Church. So both Jesus and his Bride can be ‘the Ship/Ark’! Also fundamental to the nature of colonizing is once you establish a presence in a new world you do your best to never lose that piece of territory. You try to keep the flag up at all costs! When Jesus ascended to the father he sent his Spirit to continue the work of colonization that he initiated. The biggest problem with the Rapture theory is it seems to teach a 7 year [or 3.5] period of retreat. Why would Jesus have a 2 thousand year presence, a true testimony of ‘his Kingdom having no end’. And then withdraw all the troops right before the final victory? Sounds familiar doesn’t it! NOTE; The New testament says Jesus will judge the enemy and the unrighteous world with his presence ‘the brightness of his coming’. Paul says the gospel is life saving to those who believe and judgment to those who don’t believe. In the whole debate on whether or not believers can be on the earth during a time of Gods wrath, we miss the reality of Gods presence being his wrath to the unbeliever but being our salvation! We do not ‘flee from the face of him who sits on the throne’. The water in Noah’s day both judged the unbelieving world and saved the believing world. It was the actual thing that caused Noah’s boat to rise above the ungodly earth. It ‘saved’ the righteous and condemned the unrighteous!
(660) I am really frustrated over the current presidential election. Too much racial stuff! I also just woke up at around 1:30 am and the TV was on a documentary about prisons. They told the story of this white kid who went to prison and got into this skinhead stuff. He and another kid killed a Black man in prison. They showed the way this white kid was influenced by all the racist propaganda from these groups. Some of it is the same stuff I have heard taught amongst Baptist groups down here in the Deep South. I remember hearing over the years the doctrine of how Noah’s son, Ham, was the father of all ‘dark skinned’ people and how the Blacks are cursed with being subservient to Whites. Pretty ‘damn’ racist, wouldn’t you agree? Well this is the way it was taught. After the flood in Genesis Noah and his family repopulated the earth. There was an incident when Noah got drunk [like Doug Heffernan says on King of Queens ‘I like my Whiskey’] and one of his 3 sons found Noah uncovered in his tent [all this is true by the way!] and instead of covering him up, he makes fun of his father and tells the others. Some think the wording of this story even means the son might have done some type of incest thing with Noah. Either way the boy was then ‘cursed’ for this. He was told his descendants would be slaves to his brother’s descendants. Those who teach this will show you that one of the interpretations [possible?] for Ham [the boy’s name] is dark skin. Thus all blacks are to be slaves. Does this story teach this? I think not! Hams descendants would become the Canaanites. These tribes were part of the ‘ites’ that the children of Israel kicked out of the Promised Land. These descendants of Ham would eventually ‘serve’ the descendants of the other brothers. Thus the ‘serving other nations’ curse has nothing to do with our African American brothers. It’s sad that the kid in prison believed stuff like this, even sadder that some ‘southern preachers’ actually teach it! Note: You would think at least one of the requirements to be a preacher would be to have some basic level of education, but as you can see this is not always so.
(661) DARWINS DILEMMA When Darwin studied the Finch [bird] on the Galapagos Islands he saw the variations in design with the birds beak. Some were longer than others. He thought this was a sign of Evolution. He figured as time went by nature caused this change in the beak for the survival of the bird. The longer beaks could more easily pick food out of closed spaces and stuff like that. This theory would then be used to explain the existence of man! Quite a jump indeed. But for those who prided themselves in naturalism [natural explanations to the origins of life] they held to a type of intellectual pride that said ‘see, we are intelligent. Not like those ignorant Christians!’ Well Darwin himself admitted in his book, The Origin of Species, that if his theory were true you would eventually have to find lots of ‘in between’ fossil stages. Sort of like if I found a tricycle, bicycle, car and airplane fossilized in the ground. I would look at all 4 different things and say ‘gee, wonder how these 4 separate functioning units got here?’ If I surmised ‘hey, I know! First you had the tricycle, then over a million years it became a bike. Then you had another million or so years go by and the car showed up. And last of all, the wonder of time and chance produced this plane!’ For me to test this theory I would say ‘well, let’s spend the next 100 years digging up these things all over the planet. If you are right, we will find lots of ‘tricycle/bicycle’s’ and ‘bicycle/cars’ and, well you got it. So over the last 150 years how many of Darwin’s ‘missing links’ have we found. Absolutely zero! Not even one. For his theory to hold water you would need MILLIONS of missing ‘links’. That’s how many fossils of things that we have found in the other stages! So the atheist sees this. And in his mad dash for the evidence has come up with some stuff. ‘Piltdown man’ and other so called stages of men that they ‘built’ from missing skeleton parts that they have found [or simply from a single tooth of a pig!] Sort of like the wheel of a tricycle. You could find the wheel of any of the 4 things above and say ‘see, here’s the missing ‘trike/bike’. And I would say ‘that aint no trike/bike, that’s just some wheel from one of the machines!’ And this is what has happened with the ‘Lucy’ fossil and these other things. They have either been found to be hoaxes, or simply parts of human and/or ape skulls. No big discovery at all. This has happened on more than one occasion. Hey if Evolution were fact, you would have TONS OF THESE TRANSITIONAL SPECIES. As of today we have ZERO! That’s what makes me laugh when the ‘average’ evolutionist thinks he’s on the side of science, when he doesn’t realize that his mentors have used him as a guinea pig, convincing him to be an advocate for a theory that is just as ludicrous as a ‘flat earth’. And then to see these ‘flat earthers’ running around priding themselves in their wisdom makes you laugh. So how in the world do we explain the 4 types of machines I have espoused? Well I know the wheel of the plane sure looks like the wheel on the bike. They have the same engineering and all. Maybe instead of this meaning the plane evolved from the bike. It could mean that the original engineer who built all 4 of the vehicles liked the design and used it 4 different times! [The eye, ear, etc.- man and animals have common traits, as well as uncommon ones. Common designer, not all evolving over time!] You say ‘well brother, all this sounds convincing. But I will stick with science’. Hey, where do you think I get all this stuff from? NOTE; I just read an article on how many scientists and educators fully believe in Intelligent Design. All the fossils that we mentioned in the above case [the example I used on the 4 vehicles] were found over hundreds of years in complete form. This EVIDENCE is what intelligent design refers to. [As well as tons of other stuff!] It is simply real TRUE evidence that shows things appeared on the planet already ‘formed’ or designed! All the evidence points to this. No evidence points to the slow evolving of one kind of species into another. So many scientists, even those who hate God, will tell you the evidence for evolution simply does not exist. The article I just finished reading documented how the secular universities are firing these educators when they realize they have real doubts about evolution based on the facts. That’s why when I read articles in my local paper by Libby Averyt [the editor] thinking she is very ‘progressive’ when saying Intelligent design is ‘religious’ and Evolution is science, these people really have no idea what they are talking about. They think they are on the side of ‘all scientists’ when in reality the most educated ones are seriously questioning Darwin’s ideas!
(662) THE STUPIDITY OF THE NEWS MEDIA! I can’t help it! Today is the 2008 Democratic primary vote in South Carolina. By all accounts Barack Obama will win. The only problem is he will probably get 60% of the black vote [great for me, I think he should get all the black vote!]. But only 10 % of the white vote. Why? Because the racist plays of the DEMOCRATS over the last few weeks, that’s why! All the wonderful surrogates and friends of the Clintons [I am tired of the same old dynasty of Bush/Clinton. Do we really need 4[or 8] more years of these same 2 families, please!] He made innuendos about black stereotypes and steered the campaign towards race. I know they will deny it, but when the Republicans deny being racist, the Clintons and all the other liberals [Kennedy] don’t care. They still brand you as playing the race card. So in my view the fact that the Clintons injected certain statements into the media, like ‘cocaine’ should be taken as a political move to turn Obama into the ‘Black candidate’. They know if Obama gets 90% of the Black vote today, they will win. Because the pushback by the White vote [thanks Bill] will see this and vote ‘Hillary’. Now, did Bill Clinton know this? You bet he did! Are you tired yet of seeing him on TV in a mad rage every time the reporter asks the guy a question? I am. Bill says ‘the media is giving Obama a free ride’. What about when his wife had a subpoena to turn over the law records for Whitewater? She denied she had them, and one day out of the blue they showed up on her dinner table at the white House. The maid found them. What did the liberal media say about this? Nothing. They thought ‘we are the media, she didn’t break the law by putting them there. No one can prove she is lying, or for that matter Bill.’ So Bill thinks the media are too easy on Obama! Then yesterday the New York Times [which I read] endorsed Hillary. Their reasoning? They stated ‘we know our paper is adamantly against the war. We see the war as the biggest injustice of our time! Yet we know Hillary voted for the biggest injustice of our time [according to them] and Obama didn’t. But we endorse Hillary because she seems to have a better plan to undo this injustice.’ What a crock! I guess the times would say ‘we know Hitler killed 6 million Jews. And Churchill tried to stop it. But we will endorse Hitler because he seems to have a better handle on managing the war than Churchill’. The Times are part of the elite North eastern mindset that says ‘we are very open minded. Not like those racists in the South’ but yet they play into the elitist liberal racism that says ‘if we think Obama cant win [racist in itself] then lets do what we have to do in order to get Hillary nominated’. So you hear stuff from former Senator Bob Kerry ‘Barack Hussein Obama did Cocaine as a youth’. Now, are we idiots? You think he doesn’t know what he’s doing? I am sure him and the surrogates of the Clintons thought ‘well, we know this is being somewhat racist, but heck. It’s for the benefit of the party and we know if Barack wins the nomination he will lose the general [because in their twisted minds they are saying behind closed doors that a Black can’t win. This ‘secret’ judgment from them is actually racist!]. So they think ‘let’s do what we have to do to stop the Black man at all costs. After all were doing this for their [Black people] own good!’ You see, racism exists even in the minds of those who are always accusing the other side of being racist. Plus if Hillary gets the job, I will have to change my view of the rapture. Because 3.5 years into her rule we get raptured out! [You guys need to lighten up!]
(663) PROVERBS (watch out for this number! Kidding.] I mentioned a few entries back about a local Pastor who had recently died. When I first came to Corpus I gave him one of our books ‘HOUSE OF PRAYER OR DEN OF THEIVES’. I gave them to lots of Pastors. About a year ago I heard him preach on ‘YOU CAN NOT SERVE GOD AND MAMMON’ ‘THE LOVE OF MONEY IS THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL’. Themes that were very rarely heard from ANY preachers in this city! [Shame]. I don’t know if he preached it because our blog site and radio program are very popular with the local believers. This allows for many pastors who ‘by pass’ us to later hear from their people stuff like ‘why don’t you ever preach on the dangers of mammon’? And there you go! Proverbs says ‘there is that withholds more than is right and it tendeth to poverty. There is that scattereth and yet increases’. I took one of the homeless guys to Wal-Mart and offered to buy him a tent. It’s cold and his is leaking. I also paid for a weeks rent for another friend [not the rent I paid a few entries back]. I told my buddy ‘don’t spend more than 50.oo on the tent’. He came back from the aisle and said he didn’t need one. He admitted the one he needs is 70.oo and he could manage with the one he has. I told him ‘no, go ahead and get it’. I wrote the check over at the register and added it to some cash on hand and paid the rent for another friend. They at times even say ‘brother, we don’t want you to drain too much money’! There is that scatters yet INCREASES! Are you scattering? The friend with the tent looks clean cut and all, you would have no idea he is homeless. He works odd jobs and looks cleaner than me! I met him a few months back, he knows a lot of bible stuff. I gave him all the books and stuff I wrote on disks and after he read our stuff was really excited. Many things were confirmed in his mind. He had massive colon surgery 6 months ago. He has told me he has been in pain and needs to get checked. He is totally trusting God for healing and has refused the Chemo treatments. I dropped him off and walked to his campsite in the middle of a wooded area. It’s been a few years since I have been to the camps. I spent a little time with him and he was real excited about setting up the tent. It was around 35 degrees and raining. He promised to pay me back, I refused. I never let the guys pay me back, I see this as giving a ‘tithe’. Something that is rightfully Gods. While walking back to the truck, and thinking and praying for him over the past few days I thought ‘Father, take care of your son. It’s cold and these guys need your help’. They are great guys, many of them are reaping years of their parent’s broken homes and lives. David said ‘I have been young and now I am old, yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken or his seed begging for bread’.
(664) PROVERBS ‘Wisdom sends out her servants/maidens and builds her house’ ‘She hath hewn out her 7 pillars. She hath killed her beasts and mingled her wine. She sends out her maidens and distributes the food/treasures’. Jesus said the Kingdom was like planting seed. Faith sends things forth. Recently I visited a web site [not here! Too many local guys think I am talking about them! Understand, the whole ‘paradigm’ that we challenge applies to everybody! Don’t get self conscious. I very rarely watch or deal with local guys one on one. Sometimes, but mostly these examples are from far away!] They are a good prophetic ministry out of New York. I would guess their budget and staff and facilities run in the millions of dollars. They do lots of stuff. On their site they mentioned that one of their main areas of ministry is their web site. I do like the site. To be honest we do much more teaching and in depth stuff then they do. I don’t want to boast, but give you an example. It might really be this ministries most effective tool. It is a product of much time and money and staff and buildings and millions of dollars of organization. It is a product that could also be done with no money, staff, buildings, etc. Now, I am glad they are doing what they are doing. Wisdom says ‘If you can prepare the table [good teaching/food] Set up the pillars [basic structure of people being the ‘carriers/temple’ of God]. If you can ‘send out your maidens’ [news paper ads, radio, blog, people]. If you can do it all without ANY of the very expensive machinery mentioned above, then BY ALL MEANS DO IT! I tell my buddies all the time ‘YOU GUYS CAN DO THIS’. You are not ‘called’ to simply be excited that I am doing it. You are to see that Jesus said to all the disciples ‘Go into all the world. Don’t think you need a lot of extra equipment for this. You are the equipment. No special appeals for funds, keep it simple [Message bible]’. Don’t fool yourself into setting up a million dollar organization and then wind up producing something that you could have done by simply praying, studying and writing. You say ‘brother, but we need money to eat’. That’s the whole plea Paul and others were making when asking the churches to ‘help them financially’. They were trusting God for the basics. Our problem is we read these verses on ‘the basics’ and quote them in an environment that leaves the impression that Paul was speaking about some multi million dollar organization. Some say ‘well John, we are glad you are doing all this stuff for free. But why teach it to everybody’? Because we need to see the reality of all believers functioning without the need for tons of money and organization. It is a biblical doctrine to teach believers to go and give and live to have a real impact. We limit the Body of Christ when we don’t release them into this freedom. Well, if you have wisdom you can ‘send out your maidens/servants’. Scripture speaks of a poor wise man who takes a city. Jesus was ‘poor’ compared to the elite of his day. Paul as well. They knew how to ‘take cities/regions’ they had wisdom that exponentially increased thru the spreading of the Gospel. A true revolution of heart and mind. They turned their world upside down without tons of money!
(665) I am really going to jump around today. Those of you who read this section in order have realized that I still have to finish our study on John’s gospel! I sidetracked and read Proverbs and wound up teaching highlights as an ‘aside’. So yesterday I woke up and felt the Lord wanted me to read Revelation 11. I have been praying for a few years now with a ‘rod’ [stick] in my hand as I walk in my yard [it’s dark so I don’t look too insane]. Let’s read Revelation 11 [by the way it IS NOT SPEAKING ABOUT ME!] ‘And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, rise and measure the temple of God, and the altar and them that worship therein’. This last week I once again had a discussion with a brother who assumed all the language in the New Testament about the Temple was speaking of a future rebuilt one. Some language MIGHT possibly refer to one. But some referred to the ones in the past; some refer to the people of God as the holy Temple [Ephesians]. So God might be telling John that he will wield authority in ‘judging’ the church. That thru John’s prophetic ministry [the actual writing of this vision called ‘the book of Revelation’] he will wield a rod of purging and chastening. ‘But the court that is without the temple leave out’ John’s prophetic vision is specifically designed to ‘line up’ the people of God. The ‘court’ can represent all the gentile nations whom represent those outside of the church. In essence ‘prophesy into the church John, don’t judge the world! I have not come to condemn them; I have come to save them’. The church has gone thru this ‘moral outrage’ stage and has railed against lost man. People who feel they have no hope, who have tried to overcome their addictions and have failed. They then tried to justify them. Why? Because they want to be accepted, they want society to say ‘we affirm you’. Am I saying we should affirm them? No. But we have used the ‘rod’ to condemn them and God is saying ‘leave those in the courtyard alone’. ‘These will tread the holy city [people of God] 42 months’ God was revealing to John that there would be a set time where the world would ‘tread’ on the church. John is actually living at the beginning of the rule of a bunch of demonic Roman rulers who will ‘destroy the people of God’ for a season. We have also seen a season of mocking and outright laughter at the American church. Some of it was deserved. We have allowed our ‘immature’ spokesman to broadcast their images to society as a whole [thru Christian TV] and some of them truly don’t realize how silly they look. I know they don’t mean to look silly, but they have grasped hold of a temptation that Jesus warned against. He told us leadership in the church was not designed to function like ‘gentile leadership’ seeking fame and position. So the American church fell into it and the ‘gentile’s tread us under foot 42 months’. ‘And I will give power unto my 2 witnesses and they will prophesy’ many cults and well meaning believers have erred terribly in thinking their Pastor/Prophet was one of these guys! I have taken this 2 ways in the past. I have seen it as either Israel and the church [2 witnesses in society] or the 2 offices of Apostle and Prophet. The point is after the humiliation and defeat [both in Johns day under the emperors and in every other day] God restores a prophetic voice back into the church. Be assured this voice will not be seen or heard thru many of the mediums being used today to broadcast Christian stuff. ‘Clothed in sackcloth’ part of the price of prophetic ministry includes ‘being clothed in sackcloth’. There just seems to be a principle you find in the Prophets of scripture that at the same time they are prophesying, they are going thru hell! ‘If any man hurt them, fire proceeds out of their mouth and devours them’ there is this funny dynamic with prophetic ministry. Their critics wind up getting ‘corrected’ by the words of the prophets! ‘And when they finish their testimony the beast makes war against them and kills them’ the reality is/was that there was a real price to pay for their prophetic ministry. I recently wrote on Martin Luther King, there is a real question on whether or not his ‘ministry’ would have took hold in the minds of the public if he were not killed for the cause. John will write thru out this book on the power of the blood of the saints being spilled! Their prayers are like incense to God! ‘And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of THE GREAT CITY WHICH SPIRITUALY IS CALLED SODOM AND EGYPT, WHERE ALSO OUR LORD WAS CRUCIFIED’ Wow, I wonder how well this would have gone over if John preached this at one of those ‘Christians defending Israel’ conventions! All kidding aside, John refused to exalt natural heritage at the expense of the Cross. It is important to see this language in a book that many American preachers use to exalt natural Israel. They will confuse all the imagery of the Ark and the Temple and stuff like this with natural Israel. They truly don’t see what I just showed you! The imagery in a prophetic book like Revelation is IMAGERY! Don’t accuse people of ‘not literally believing the book’ because they interpret this book the way it was meant to be seen. Even the ‘literalists’ will concede that the ‘sword proceeding out of Jesus mouth’ is the word of God. That the ‘lamb on the throne’ is not a real lamb. The one I like is ‘God puts his mark/name on his servants’ and you never see movies being made about Christians getting computer implants in their heads! [Or hands]. ‘And all the nations SAW their dead bodies and refused to bury them [public humiliation] and were so excited over the fall of the believers that they sent gifts to each other’ cant you just see this mindset in the church today. How the late night comedians mock us. They are overjoyed when the church falls openly. They don’t want to ‘bury the mistakes’. They still use Jimmy Swaggart as an example. Even though many of them have secretly been just as guilty as swaggart! ‘After 3 and a half days the Spirit of God entered into them and THEY STOOD ON THEIR FEET and fear fell on them who dwelt on the earth’. God will recover his testimony in the earth. An interesting thing is happening right now with our American political scene. The New York Times announced how the ‘religious right is dieing in influence’. But they don’t seem to realize that Christ’s testimony is not limited to the ‘religious right’. You see the Tony Campolo's and the Jim Wallis’s are just as much ‘filled with Christ's Spirit’ as the Chuck Colson’s. The secret to Jesus kingdom is it starts like leaven. It eventually invades all areas of society. Wont the Times be surprised when they see ‘the Spirit of life enter into them’ from both sides of the aisle! ‘And a great voice said to the 2 witnesses, come up hither’. Funny thing here. This is the exact wording that the rapture guys use in chapter 4 to say ‘Jesus took all the believers off the planet’. Well here God says to 2 prophets ‘come up hither’. According to this reasoning more believers left on this flight! ‘The Kingdoms of the world are become the Kingdom of our God and his Christ’ John is preparing the church for a few centuries of real persecution. He is reassuring them that they will ultimately win! ‘And the nations were angry, and the time of the dead to be judged. And rewards given to the prophets and to those who fear your name’ you have multiple times in Johns Revelation where he sums things up. One of the problems with popular interpretations of this book is they try to teach everything in a ‘Line’. Here John is simply summing up the judgment and nature of all that is to come. Man has been and will continue to be angry at God. The more proof rebellious man sees of the reality of God causes him to hate even more. The church is here to do her best to glorify God and bring people into his Kingdom. But make no mistake about it, the world and her rulers have at times done all they could do to fight against God. John is reminding the early church that the rulers who are setting them on fire and hanging their bodies like lamps along the road have their day coming! ‘And the temple of God was opened in heaven [not a man made Temple! God’s people are ‘the Temple/dwelling place of God’. Heaven is also called ‘the sanctuary’ in Hebrews!] And there was seen in his temple the Ark of his testament [The box with the commandments in them. Not Noah’s Ark- this is for the critics of my theory in entry # 662. Those who say ‘get the boat off the planet’! You will have to read the entry!] and there were lightnings and thunder and earthquakes and hail’. Johns Revelation is a great prophetic encouragement for the church in every generation. When John describes a ruler called ‘the beast’ and the number ‘666’. It is only natural for the early church to have seen this figure as Nero. His nickname was actually ‘the beast’. And one of the numerical spellings of his name and title came to ‘666’. Is it heresy to apply modern interpretations to these figures? No. But it is also ‘immature’ to read a prophetic vision like revelation without a basic understanding of how the church read it for 1900 years! This book has tremendous spiritual significance for all believers. To see it as an exact literal translation of geopolitical events of our time is not being ‘mature in our thinking’. NOTE; I wrote this entry yesterday morning. Later in the day I watched the world news with Katie Couric [to all my conservative friends, forgive me for committing the unpardonable sin!] Katie quoted, to the WORLD! ‘Jesus said, lay not up for yourselves treasures on earth’ and then did an expose on Kenneth Copeland ministries. To update you guys. I prophesied on this site that ‘no mountain will be able to stand against what God is doing. Not even Eagle mountain’. Eagle Mountain church is the name of the church Copeland founded. Then a few months back the U.S. Senate began investigating 6 Prosperity ministries. And last night the ‘world/secular’ media quotes Jesus words in rebuking the money gospel. I do not always agree with the ‘exposes’ of the media. I consider Kenneth Copeland a brother in the Lord. I believe he has been a victim of the enemy’s strategy to sidetrack the purpose of Christ’s Kingdom. The Lord only allows public humiliation/chastening [the bodies were lying in the street 3 and a half days! The above reference from Revelation] for his purpose. Don’t take lightly when the secular media quotes Jesus IN CONTEXT while critiquing a minister!
(666) PROVERBS- A few days ago I woke up and taught Revelation 11. One of the principle ideas of the chapter is ‘after the enemy makes war against you, AND overcomes you. The Spirit of life from God will fill you and you will stand up on your feet’. Whenever I teach a theme like this, it’s like asking for patience! Be assured stuff ‘hits the fan’ [dung- lets stay biblical!] So I just woke up and felt I heard the Lord say ‘If your strength fails in the day of adversity, your strength is small’ [Proverbs]. I then heard on the Christian music station a short testimony from a famous Christian counselor [Steve Arterburn]. He said when growing up his mom had a Christian background that taught temptation and failure will not affect you if you have faith. That true faith will basically safeguard you from bad stuff. I got the sense that he was talking about the Word of faith, Prosperity movement. He then said ‘but then when dad committed suicide’ it made her question her beliefs. And then he said ‘and when my brother died of aids’. I at this point said to myself ‘geez! I hope he doesn’t say ‘and then when the space satellite crashed into the house!’ I don’t want to make light of it, but it was getting weird! The point was he was showing that his mom allowed herself to view faith from an unbiblical standpoint. A few entries back I mentioned how the world news just did an expose on Kenneth Copeland. They quoted Jesus words ‘lay not up for yourselves treasures on earth’ and then showed all the expensive Planes that Brother Copeland has purchased with ministry money. A collection of very expensive Planes that fit more into the category of a collector/investor than a ministry thing. Brother Copeland is an experienced pilot and has a love for flying. I could see how he, thru his own belief system, could justify spending millions on stuff like this. Though Brother Copeland is not extravagant in other areas, it seems like the millions spent on a collection of ‘ministry planes’ from non profit giving is very questionable. The reason ‘churches’ get tax exempt status is for charitable outreach. The idea of meeting the needs of society. To use millions of tax free dollars like this is not right. Now, the verse we begun with. Adversity will come to every believer at one time or another. Jesus told Peter ‘satan hath desired to sift you like wheat. But I have prayed for thee that thy FAITH FAIL NOT. And when you are converted, strengthen thy brethren’. I was thinking the other day how King David could have been so much more successful if it weren’t for the ‘Bathsheba thing’. Or Abraham, what a man of faith! O, except for when he faked that his wife was his sister and she slept with the king. ‘But brother, that’s just one incident’. Your right forgive me! Shall we discuss Hagar? Or Peters denials, hey if the bible is fake, why in the world would these guys be writing such bad stuff on themselves! If you are making it up as you go you can make yourself at least look good! If you think about it God used all these guys despite/because of their humanity. I am not making an excuse for sin! But Jesus actually says that Peters denials and human failure would co exist with ‘his faith failing not’. Faith, in the mind of him WHO GIVES IT, wasn’t some way to by pass failure or discouragement. It was the thing that got you up the next day, after the Bathsheba’s, or the denials. It made you ‘get up seven times’ [Proverbs- a just man will fall 7 times and get up again, a wicked man falls once and stays down for the count. 7 is the number of perfection. Its like God says ‘I will allow you to taste a perfect amount of failure in your life. Just enough to purge you. But be assured ‘after you are converted, after you get back up, you will have this divine ability to strengthen your brethren!’] Do we use our faith to create around us perfect environments? Should we see it as some means to ‘build a fleet of Planes’ [or any other monetary thing]? Faith is being able to keep your eyes on the King. Beholding Jesus in the midst of all the stuff you go thru. Failing in the day of adversity means not being able to see tomorrow. It means you not only ‘denied him 3 times’ but you feel all hope is lost. You want to leave town and start all over. Don’t feel bad if this is you. God is simply showing you that ‘your strength is small’. Hey, when you are weak he is strong. God is just setting you up for some good days ahead! NOTE; I just re watched the story on Kenneth Copeland. You can find it on u tube [or religion news]. They actually show you the offering form from Brother Copeland. It says on the form ‘sow you seed expecting a 100 fold return’. Now, to be fair brother Copeland is not ‘promising’ a 100 times back, like the news reports. But the problem is when Jesus uses this language of the 100 fold return, he actually says ‘the deceitfulness of riches chokes the word’ so you don’t ‘get the full return’ [I taught all this in my FIRST BOOK!]. In essence the ‘100 fold return’ in no way is speaking about CASH! Now, many people like myself have tried to correct this for years. And the fact that many in this movement take it so lightly to actually twist Jesus words like this, it is now being ‘shouted from the rooftops’. [News!]
(667) MORE ON REVELATION- Yesterday I spoke with a believer in New Jersey. They had some questions about a famous radio preacher in the area. He is famous for predicting second coming dates. They have passed and he has missed it. Well what do you know, he has come up with another one! I used to really correct him a lot to this person. He holds to end time stuff that I disagree with. He is also ‘Calvinist’ in his belief, and teaches that all the ‘churches’ are deceived and God is calling true believers out of them! As hard as I have been on the ‘local church’ concept, I couldn’t disagree more with the guy! So in the discussion I told the person, first. John wrote the book of Revelation under present persecution from the Roman government. It is the beginning of a few hundred years of unbelievable persecution. Rome would actually kill believers because they would not say ‘Caesar is Lord’. They were not against ‘the Christian God’, they believed in many gods. They had the Pantheon! But they would not permit this new religion to pledge allegiance ONLY to their God. So John is actually giving images of Rome and her leaders in Revelation. Rome would be THE NUMBER ONE threat to the fledgling church of Jesus. She will ‘kill those who do not worship the beast or bow down to its image’. Now over the last 2 thousand years, if you take a broad look at the scene. You will see the first 3 centuries to be the worst in Roman persecution. You will read John writing that ‘the city on 7 hills’ is the one who is guilty. There are actual historic records referring to Rome as ‘the city on 7 hills’. You can read in history how Nero was nicknamed ‘the beast’ and other images that clearly speak of Rome as the persecutor. Now, which Rome is it? The Rome of Protestantism who saw the Catholic Church as ‘Babylon’? Or the restored Rome of the modern day prophecy preachers? Well all evidence points to the ‘Rome’ spoken of by John as the Rome of his day. There has never been official executions of believers for their confession of Jesus on the scale of the Rome of Johns day. Why look for her in some other day? No need. The point I was trying to make to my friend was don’t be limited in your understanding of scripture. When a preacher starts predicting dates for Jesus return, that is a warning right there! The friend explained how the first ‘date’ he set was explained like ‘something really did happen that day [1994?] but it was hidden’. I told them this is the exact mistake the Millenarian movements made in the last 2 centuries. The ‘Millerites’ were founded by William Miller. A well meaning preacher who was a former game warden who got a hold of dispensational theology. He had a tremendous ‘knack’ for memorizing scripture. He would gather his followers together on more than one occasion to stand on a hillside in white robes and wait for Jesus. When the first date didn’t work, they would come up with a ‘secret’ thing that happened on the day. And then set another date! The Jehovah witnesses and the 7th day Adventists would follow this idea. The point was the setting of dates, and then later saying ‘something really did happen, but it wasn’t what we thought’ is a popular hobby with end time brothers. Now, will Jesus actually return some day? Yes. But we don’t know when. Don’t try to figure out all the details. Don’t re make Rome and the temple and all the hundreds of actual things that have taken place at multiple times over the years. If your scenarios demand a re doing of all these events, then check your facts. The Pharisees could not see how Jesus was already the fulfillment of many prophecies. The thing that blinded them was their intricate interpretations of specific prophecies. They came to hold dogmatic views that were idols in their minds. They tried to make Jesus fit the way they had believed for years. He plainly rebuked them for their narrow ideas ‘you know where the Messiah will come from’ he will shout at one time, responding to their narrow interpretation of prophecy. We need to hear the whole counsel of God. Keep an open mind. I think the Apostle John would be stumped as to how, after all the slayings and killings of believers that took place under the ‘beasts’ of Rome. And how history tells us there was never a time of such religious persecution as this time. That we are still looking for a ‘revived Rome’ to fulfill these things. Why look for her, it is plain to find her in the annals of history!
(668) SERMON ON THE MOUNT Gandhi said ‘if Christians lived what they claimed to believe, they would change the world’. He said this in the context of the Sermon on the Mount. He believed and practiced the principles of Jesus in his fight for justice, he saw the law of ‘non resistance’ as taught by Jesus to be key to changing the hearts and minds of men and government. Though Gandhi was not Christian, yet we could learn from the example he left us by changing society thru the deeds of Jesus! Over the next few weeks I will cover ‘glimpses’ from the gospel of Matthew, chapters 5-7.
Jesus said people went out of their way to hear the Wisdom of Solomon, but a greater than Solomon was here. As we just covered a few weeks in Proverbs, I find it ‘prophetic’ that I accidentally stumbled into the Sermon on the Mount. Of course I knew where it was! But I ‘happened’ to fall upon it and felt the Lord wanted us to do it. The reason it is important to understand that Jesus had greater wisdom than Solomon is because it is a common hobby among Evangelicals/Protestants to ‘search the scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life [success, fame, fortune- the things that we feel will cause our ‘image/legacy’ to continue!] and these scriptures testify of me’. We often approach scripture with the mindset of ‘let’s find all the wonderful promises and ‘keys’ to success. Let’s look from Genesis to Revelation and find all the stories of men who became rich, of people who had the techniques down. Let’s exhaust scripture to get what we want out of it’. And Jesus comes along and says ‘all the wisdom in scripture, all the ‘Solomon portions’ if you will, are really good verses. I put them there! But I am come as one greater than ‘Solomon’ [all the wonderful success techniques you could ever find- confession, meditation, sowing ‘seed’, etc.] In me you will find life’ [all the answers to your questions]. When Jesus told Peter ‘upon this rock I will build my church’ he wasn’t just telling Peter that the church would be made up of success principles and at the end of the service you would tag his name on to it. He was telling Peter ‘I actually am the foundation stone of this building, all who see and confess me are the living stones’ this meant giving priority to Jesus and his teachings over and above all the great ideas we could ever come up with. Today we build the church on motivational stuff. We can go week after week to the ‘Sunday services’ of the American church and find the same stuff you would hear on the real estate infomercials if you stayed home and watched TV. Jesus is going to show us what it means for him to be the ‘rock on which he builds his church’ a re focusing on him and his purpose as the chief priority of the Kingdom.
‘BLESSED ARE THE POOR IN SPIRIT…BLESSED ARE THEY THAT MOURN…BLESSED ARE THE MEEK’. Jesus right off the bat challenges our present mindset of those who are ‘blessed/successful’. A few years ago I read a great book by John Eldridge ‘Wild at Heart’. John dealt with the idea of the church ‘emasculating’ its male members! He showed how God put in men [and boys] this adventurous nature. And when the traditional church said to men ‘die to yourself, lay your goals down’ that men were being told something contrary to scripture. Is this true? I agreed with most of the book, John seems to be a ‘quasi theologian’ [you can pick this up from some of the statements peppered thru out the book- I guess its just something with these Johns!] But I think part of the book missed what Jesus is teaching us. Paul and Peter and all the followers of Jesus had degrees of success and fortune in their careers. Paul’s career was focused on ‘being in ministry’ he will tell us how he excelled above his peers in the theology of his day. Yet when Jesus called these guys to his Kingdom, they really did lay down there adventurous lives for another calling. Now, was this new calling more adventurous? You bet! But not in the way the American church seems to portray it. Peter and Paul lost a degree of wealth and success that never really came back to them in this life. Though today [after their deaths!] they are famous and respected, yet these things escaped them as they walked the planet! Jesus tells us there is an aspect to being ‘poor in spirit, mourning and being meek’ that causes us to experience his Kingdom. Don’t by pass these characteristics as you pursue Gods purpose for your life. Many flee their place of destiny when they taste failure. They don’t want to face their peers. Often they don’t realize that this feeling comes from a pride and religious arrogance that is rooted in the gentile idea of leadership. You have 2 choices when facing this type of obstacle. You can pack up and go somewhere else and apply all the same principles of success at ‘the new place/church’. Or you can swallow some crow and taste ‘poverty, meekness and mourning’. And you will be surprised at the outcome! Solomon did say ‘before a fall man is proud, but honor comes after humility’.
(669) UPDATE! It’s been around a year since I started this blog. Today is 2-5-08. I wanted to update some stuff. I have been retired for a little over a month now. People ask me ‘what are you going to do now?’ I try to explain to them that the ministry has taken up most of my time over the past 20 years! The days at work were days of reading, writing and praying! Of course I would do the regular routine and all, go to a fire and stuff like that, but ‘my life’ did not consist of my job. I realize that many peoples lives do, and this is why when someone retires at say ‘45’ years old, they feel ‘lost’. To be honest I feel as if I just left a ‘part time job’ that I used to go to and study and stuff. So for the most part nothing has really changed. Now scripture says ‘without a vision [purpose-controlling destiny] people perish’ or ‘cast off restraint’. When peoples lives and identities are in their ‘job’ or ‘ministry’ or anything else. When those things change they do lose a purpose to their lives. God created man to have a purpose and fulfill a destiny. It shouldn’t be your job! Also these past few days while praying I felt the Lord impress the verse ‘one shall chase a thousand and two will put ten thousand to flight’. I have prayed this verse over our people for years. I felt the Lord impress ‘the radio ministry started in 1996. The blog in 2007 [2006]. The influence you had in ten years of radio was doubled in one year of blogging’. Sort of like this past year has reached as many people/areas as the previous 10 years combined. I felt like this meant the ‘second’ area of teaching [blog] added to the first ‘stream’, exponentially increased our effectiveness 10 fold. Not like the first stream was ‘10 times less’ but once we added the second ‘stream’ it flowed with the first and caused great increase. If we didn’t have the ‘first stream’ already flowing for 10 years, the effect of the second stream flowing for one year would not have been the same. If you took away the 10 years of radio, the new open door would not have had the same impact. Right after I started the blog, KCTA [our radio station] went ‘viral’. They started broadcasting over the internet. At the same time I put our blog ad in 5 news papers. This allowed for all of my old friends from New Jersey to not only read the blog, but also actually hear our broadcast! God truly gave us exponential growth! The point is be open and FAITHFULL to the areas he is speaking to you about. I never thought we would have another teaching tool as effective as the radio. To be honest this blog has been much more effective than I ever thought. The idea of running the blog ads in news papers was something I ‘felt the Lord wanted me to do’. I had no idea I was going to write so much stuff on this blog. It has become a ‘mini library’ for all of our teaching! The radio is good, but some times you have to wait a few years before you hear what I spoke, we are that far ahead of the schedule at times! But with the blog I might ‘hear’ something, write it and publish it all in one day! A drastic decrease in the amount of ‘down time’ before you actually get the word. Well anyway I just thought I would update you guys a little.
(670) JOHN 21 (radio # 604) wow, I have been putting this off for a while! If you go back a few months you will see that I never finished this study. Jesus finds the disciples went back to fishing. As they near the shore he yells ‘did you guys catch anything’? No! They reply. ‘Cast your net on the other side’. Sure enough they fill the net! Notice something, there is another account where Jesus says ‘cast the nets’ and in that story they only cast ‘one net’. Why? Fishing was a tough business. After pulling in and cleaning all the commercial nets it is not easy to ‘cast them all back out for one last try’. So in that story Peter sort of says ‘Oh fine Jesus, will humor you’ and he cast ONE net. What happened? The net broke! [I think I am remembering right? If not this story will still have some meaning]. Here Jesus says ‘cast it’ they do and he fills it. The point is prepare for the capacity that he wants to give you! If he says ‘nets’ [multiple] do ‘nets’. Don’t think ‘fill the building’ here. Think in terms of harvest. The ‘fill the building’ could be part of it, but I think there’s more. Let the Lord direct your ‘casting’. Don’t focus on ‘my church in my city’ only. You often see these appeals on church web sites. It is not uncommon to find a web site on the other side of the world saying ‘come visit our Sunday meeting’. For heavens sake, if you have a web site [interNET] use it to cast to a broad region. Actually teach and interact with the thing! All the ‘virtual community’ are a real community of people. Don’t take a possible few million potential readers and say ‘come visit my building’. Geez! Get the word out! As the disciples get to shore they realize its Jesus and Peter jumps out and leaves the brothers to bring in the nets. Thanks a lot! But oh wait, then Jesus says ‘bring the fish’ and Peter runs down and grabs the net right at the end! Sort of like what Saturday night live used to say about Bill Clinton. He was a nice guy, the type who would offer to help you move the furniture, but when you let your side down you realize he wasn’t really lifting! Peter was a little ‘showboat’ here. Leaders, be careful about arranging your ‘ministries’ around your personas. Are the majority of the funds being spent on broadcasting your gift and image to people? This is not primarily New Testament ministry! Peter tells Jesus 3 time ‘you know I love you’. Most of you are familiar with this story. Jesus says ‘do you love me’ 3 times to Peter. In the Greek Jesus used the 3 different words for love. But don’t lose the context. Scripture does say Peter was grieved that Jesus asked him this 3 TIMES. Peter understood that Jesus wasn’t asking him 3 different things one time each! Maybe Jesus was allowing Peter to work in his own mind for the 3 times he publicly denied him? Maybe we need to say out loud ‘I LOVE JESUS’ to reaffirm to ourselves that if we really weren’t sincere why in the world would we even be doing these things! It’s easy to question all your motives, especially after reading this site! For the most part all you Pastors and leaders I relate to, you guys are real ‘players’. If you didn’t really love the Lord most of you wouldn’t be doing the stuff you are doing, I commend you! In verse 18 Jesus basically tells Peter ‘I am going to give you one more chance. You feel terrible about not dieing for the cause. Your denials of me were done out of fear of loosing your life. The church is going to enter a period of great persecution, many will die for the faith. When you get old Peter you will stretch forth your hands and be martyred’. It’s almost like Jesus said to him ‘don’t worry, I am giving you another chance at it’. I think this scenario is very possible, he doesn’t tell the others they will die like this. As we conclude John’s gospel, let’s recap some stuff. I said earlier that Johns gospel could be called the ‘gospel of sovereignty’. I believe Jesus taught Predestination in this gospel. At least he hits on this doctrine more in this gospel than the others. I think you could also call it ‘the gospel of belief’. There are more statements on those who believe having eternal life than in any other gospel. I think we should not take this lightly. It is common in Christian circles to add a bunch of stuff to the gospel. Many evangelicals preach a type of altar call that says ‘if you think simple belief in Jesus is going to save you, well you got another thing coming’. But simple belief in Jesus does ‘save you’ [Actually Jesus saves you!]. There is a recent resurgence in Reformed theology going on in the Evangelical church. Good stuff on Orthodoxy and Eastern roots also. Studying Patristics. We need to be careful that we don’t stray from the simple offer of eternal life to those who believe! It is all too easy to ‘fall in love’ with a sort of romanticism with all things Orthodox and mix sacerdotalism in with justification by faith! This gospel falls down heavily on the justification by faith side! [I know my Catholic friends will say ‘hey, chapter 6 says this is my Body!’ I don’t want to re teach it here. Go back and read chapter 6 on this study]. So thank God that he so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him would not perish but have Everlasting life!
(671) SERMON ON THE MOUNT- ‘blessed are they which hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled’ who were those hungering for righteousness in the crowd of hearers? You had 2 groups of people. Those who thought they were already righteous, the religious crowd. And you had the underclass, the ones who were told their whole lives ‘you will never make the grade. You are some sort of illegal alien from the promises of God’. It was to this group that Jesus was the best thing that ever happened to them. The adulteress couldn’t believe that the Messiah, the main leader of the so called religious class. The one who they were all waiting for. The harlots thought for sure when the main one would show up. Well he would surely judge and condemn them. They ‘hungered’ for that which they were told they could never have. To their surprise Jesus would say ‘neither do I condemn thee. Go and sin no more’. Jesus would say these are those who love much because they were forgiven of much. Jesus called them blessed! ‘Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy’. How do you get mercy? Do you ask Jesus for it? Do you memorize and confess ‘mercy verses’? Do you tithe for it? Jesus said the way you get it is by GIVNG IT AWAY! The principle of the ‘golden rule’ which comes later. Be merciful. Mete it out. The Pharisees were always praying and fasting and attending ‘Sabbath services’ and yet passed over the more important matters. They saw their religion as fulfilling some type of job title. Jesus wants compassion and action, he wants social justice! Yes, preach the gospel while doing it. But DO IT! ‘Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God’. How do we live up to this one! It’s not what you think. God says in Psalms it is the contrite person, the broken person. The one like King David, who when confronted by the prophet about his sin. Most kings would have killed the prophet. David said ‘you are right, I have sinned’. Very rare response for someone in power. God said David was a man after his own HEART. David had a pure HEART. Willing to admit his sin and not try to live up to some image to impress men. He took it like a man. What if David kept trying to hide it? Live with the secret of his failure. Worrying about the next ‘prophet’ who would confront him? Then he would not have been able to ‘see God’. We all have sinned. If you choose to do it, God will forgive you again and again. But you will feel a manifest loss of his real presence! Be assured, the day you choose sin, you forfeit all that the Lord wanted to reveal to you in that day. Yes, his mercies are new every morning. But why waste a whole day?
(672) SERMON ON THE MOUNT- ‘Blessed are the peacemakers, blessed are you when you are persecuted for righteousness sake. Blessed are you when men shall talk about you and say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake’. Jesus causes us to rethink the response. He takes from us the normal idea of ‘going thru undeserved suffering’ and tells us it’s a good thing! He shows us that persecution is a tool that God permits for the benefit of his children. When you view it from this standpoint you can rejoice because you are in good company ‘for so persecuted they the prophets which were BEFORE YOU’. In essence ‘this is not some new thing you are going thru’. Peter says ‘when you go thru fiery trials, don’t think it strange. Like you are being singled out. But rejoice, realizing that the SAME stuff is happening to your brothers thru out the world’ [actually worse stuff!] The enemy’s strategy is to tell you ‘wow, look at all the stuff people are saying about you! They are even talking about your family. Look how God is rewarding you for following him. If I were you I would walk away right now before it gets worse’. The enemy wants you to view undeserved difficulty thru this lens. If he can get you to believe the lie, then his plan for the difficulty will prevail. Joseph told his brothers ‘what you meant for evil, God meant for good’. Joseph was mature enough in his understanding to see that it was the intended harm that his brothers meant to do, that allowed him to be in a position of actually fulfilling the destiny God gave him thru his dreams! Seeing the big picture allowed him to overcome the natural bitterness that comes when people unjustly use you. Here Jesus tells us that when you go thru UNJUST CRITICISM there is a real blessing that you can obtain that comes no other way. Look at it this way and you will be able to rise to the top and use your influence to actually bless those who come against you!
(673) TENT STORY- A few weeks back I bought a tent for one of my homeless friends. Nice tent, it cost 70.oo bucks. About a week later he told me he put it up and right at the end of setting it up he noticed it had a factory defect. A part was too short! As I asked him ‘are you sure’. He reassured me he has put up many tents, he was sure. I told him I didn’t have the receipt any more [I am terrible at this!] but we can return it in a few days. As I have been teaching the Sermon on the Mount and praying for my friends I prayed one morning ‘Lord, give our people divine revelation. Show them things thru prophetic dreams’. Sure enough later that day I got with the guys. The ‘tent man’ tells me ‘you know, the strangest thing happened. I had a dream the other night that I set up the tent. I dreamt that it worked’. When he woke up he felt like it was a prophetic dream. He usually will not go thru the 2 hour procedure of setting it up all over again! It is quite a large tent! But he tried and told me when he got to the last step he couldn’t believe the defect was gone. He told me ‘I know for sure the defect was real. There is no way I was simply mistaken’. I felt this was an answer to the prayer! I told him I was just praying for the Lord to reveal stuff to us thru dreams and stuff. He says ‘I have been dreaming about the sermon on the mount also’! GEEZ!
NOTE; the reason I got with the ‘tent guy’ was his employer was moving back to San Antonio and he had to get his stuff out of his bosses house. Lots of stuff! I used my truck to help him get it. About mid way thru putting all his stuff in the truck I told him ‘hey, if you have much more, you will be in danger of violating the verse that says ‘lay not up for yourselves treasures on earth’. As we got back to the ‘tent area’ we unloaded a lot of stuff at his camp. I put a few big things in my garage [he had a desk, microwave and air conditioner!] As we were leaving a guy across the street stops us. He walks up with this ‘Corpus Christi Police’ shirt. He is acting tough. I must admit this is a weakness of mine. When someone acts tough I feel like I have to put them in their place. I know its wrong but I am just being honest. This guy looks like a throwback to the Vietnam era. Long hair in a pony tail and all. My hair is just as long, no pony tail! He starts questioning me as we are leaving in my truck. My 2 homeless friends are used to getting harassed by the cops. So they are being timid. The guy starts acting like he is a cop. I read his shirt and under ‘Corpus Police’ it has ‘citizens association’ basically fake cops. Now I must admit I have a history with ‘fake guys’. I love the volunteer fire dept. I worked with these guys for years. One of the problems was they had the same Fire Dept. Tee shirts that we wore. These guys would wear them all over town acting like paid guys! We would get calls at the fire house ‘one of your guys spotted a violation at my club’ or stuff like that. We would later find out that ‘our guys’ were the volunteers in our shirts! So I have a 25 year history with this stuff. Finally I tell the fake cop ‘hey, I am helping out some homeless guys. That’s why we were in the area’ I also let him know he is a fake cop, and shouldn’t be wearing the shirt presenting himself as the ‘real thing’. I told him I worked as a paid Fire Fighter for 25 years and told him ‘we have had problems with guys like you for years’. Now my buddies are real quiet. You could tell this guy didn’t want to back down. I finally pulled over and as I was getting out my buddies are like ‘no, let’s just leave’. I got out and the guy backed down. I didn’t threaten him, but I let him know he is a fake cop trying to pass himself off as the real thing. Well I finally left. The guys said ‘he changed his tune after you got out’. I knew the guys were used to getting harassed. I did tell them ‘now I have to go home and finish writing on the Sermon on the Mount’. They knew where I was going with it, I realize I did not practice the principles of Jesus in this scenario. But wanted to ‘fess up’. My homeless buddy does tell me later on that he kinda feels guilty that I have spent a lot of money and stuff helping him these past few weeks. I tell him ‘don’t feel guilty brother. I had to make some minor adjustments. I told my kids ‘try not to eat too much this week, we are short on cash’ He laughed! [He knew I was kidding].
(674) SERMON ON THE MOUNT- ‘Ye are the salt of the earth, if the salt loses its flavor, what good is it’ ‘ye are the light of the world, a city set on a hill cannot be hid’ ‘Let your light shine before men THAT THEY MAY SEE YOUR GOOD WORKS and glorify God’. The message bible says ‘you bring out the flavor of the earth, the God colors’. Sort of like our lives actually cause others to think and react to God. There have been many times when I was just hanging out with some lost guys. And somehow someone will say ‘he’s a preacher’ [I hate this language!] but without me saying a word, they will start talking about the Lord! It’s like the ‘God colors’ are already there, as we interact with society we ‘bring them out’. Here Jesus says he wants the world to see our good works. Is he contradicting what he will say in chapter 6? ‘Do not your good deeds to be seen of men’. The distinction is motivation. Jesus said the religious leaders were performing. They sincerely saw their function in ministry as a way to build status and image in society. They did not know they were wrong! I remember years ago I would go to the jails and preach. Many of these guys became my best friends over the years. I had hundreds of letters from brothers asking questions and stuff over the years. Great testimonies. I met a believer who started going to the jails also. One day in a church service they read one of the first letters they received. They seemed to make a very big deal about it. Announcing and reading stuff that was ‘normal fare’. I thought ‘geez, I have read hundreds of these letters before’. I realized to this person the fact that they received a letter from someone in jail was a way to promote their ministry. I think Jesus is making this type of distinction here. He wants our ‘good works’, not ministry performance, to be ‘seen of men’. I want to throw in some context here. The ‘salt of the earth’ and ‘city on a hill’ can most certainly speak of us as Gods people. But like I taught in Hebrews I also want you to see the Jewish context. As Jesus is calling the disciples to himself he is bringing a ‘remnant of Israel’ to himself. He can also be addressing Israel in ‘microcosm’. Saying ‘you guys are salt and light, if you miss out on me you will lose the main ingredient. What good is ‘unsalty salt’? It is good for nothing but to be cast out and trodden under men’s feet’. Has the Nation of Israel been ‘trodden under men’s feet’? They have been despised and mistreated for millennia! Jesus will tell Israel ‘I am the main ingredient, the CHIEF cornerstone, if you miss me you’ve missed it all’.
(675) SERMON ON THE MOUNT- I believe this section may be the most ‘theologically’ important part. ‘Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets, I have not come to destroy but TO FULFIL’ . I have heard this explained ‘see Jesus himself stressed the importance of the law, therefore we should exalt the law as believers’ [Reformed brothers sometimes hold this view]. Or ‘Jesus only did away with the ceremonial law, all the traditions and stuff that rose up along with the law. He never did away with the moral law, the 10 commandments’. Those who hold this view will teach that all the references by Paul about ‘the law being nailed to the Cross’ [Colossians] or ‘if there had been a law given that could have given life than righteousness would have been by the law. I do not frustrate the grace of God, for if righteousness had been by the law, then Christ died in vain!’ [Galatians, Romans]. Or better yet ‘The law was our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ. But now that the fullness has come, there is no longer a need for a schoolmaster’ [Galatians]. Those who see this as ‘ceremonial law’ say these references are not about the 10 commandments, the ‘moral law’. Hebrew says ‘the law was a shadow of the things, not the real image. Now that the real thing is here [Christ] the shadows are getting old and fading away’. Now, all these references are without a doubt speaking of the ‘whole law’, not just ‘the ceremonial law’. The New testament flatly teaches that believers are not under the law. And when it says ‘the law’ it really means ‘the law’! Yet Paul will teach ‘does this mean we go out and kill, steal, commit adultery’? NO! he says now that we are new creatures we have the law of love working in us and we don’t do these things. But there is no doubt he teaches the law having no ‘control’ in the sense that we wake up every day and think ‘now, today my life must be regulated by the rules’. This was a type of legalism that Paul would spend most of his time fighting against in the New Testament. So lets get back to Jesus words ‘for truly I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle shall in no way pass, TILL ALL BE FULFILLED’. This verse is not saying ‘the law will never pass away’. It is saying ‘it will remain in force, it will continue to stand as the ‘standard’ of righteousness that will forever be a reminder of mans total inability to live up to God standards. It will even be the ‘the strength of sin’ in a sense [Paul-Romans] that as man looks to the perfect law and character of God, as seen in the law, he will forever be reminded of his utter inability to be righteous in and of himself’. But then, WHEN ALL IS FULFILLED [thru the perfect life of Jesus and his death and resurrection!] then it will ‘pass away’. It will cease to be a means of condemnation by which sinful man can never live up to it. Now Paul will teach ‘is the law sin, God forbid’. In no way am I saying [or Jesus!] that the passing away of the law means man no longer has to live right! Jesus is saying that when he finishes his work on earth, all ‘new creatures in Christ’ will be fulfilling the law by the new Christ nature that is within them. Sinful man will still be under the condemnation of the law, the only way it ‘passes away’ for them is to ‘get in Christ’. You are either under the law [condemnation] or in grace, there is no middle ground! Be assured Jesus said ‘except your righteousness exceeds that of the Pharisees, you will not enter heaven’. His wasn’t telling the people ‘try harder’. He was saying the standard is so high, no man can do it thru his own works. It will take the divine work of redemption to pull it off. A righteousness equal to the very nature of God. An ‘imputed righteousness’. So in a nutshell Jesus hits on the whole underlying theme of the New Testament, justification by Faith. He in no way is saying ‘see, the law exists along side redemption in the life of the believer’. That my friends would be pure legalism!
(676) AUSTRIA! Got a good e mail from someone in Austria. They were surfing the net and came across the site. Praise God for Austria!
(677) SERMON ON THE MOUNT- ‘Whoever is angry with his brother without a cause is in danger of being judged’ Jesus will show us that one of the major causes of ‘being in a state of condemnation’ is anger and un forgiveness. He will say ‘if you bring your gift to the altar and then remember that your brother has something against you, leave the gift and be reconciled with your brother first’. It’s easy to have ‘aught against your brother’. I took my computer to my ‘computer guy’ the other day. He’s a good friend and wiz at computers. When you master something, it’s hard to be patient with others who have not ‘mastered it’. So as my friend is helping me he will say ‘OK, Press this or do this function’ and as I try it, it doesn’t work. He gets flustered and says ‘you know what we call that’? I say ‘no’. He says ‘Picnic’ which is short for ‘problem in chair, not in computer’. So he does the ‘control, alt, delete’ thing and sure enough it didn’t work for him either! Then he realizes he needed to type something in. I do kid with him. I tell him ‘Gary, I have advanced a lot in the last year with computers’ as he is directing me to ‘uninstall’ a program. I tell him ‘I know how to get to the spot to uninstall stuff’ [I really do!]. So I tell him I have one problem, as I do this and that [going thru all the functions to get to the spot] I come to a screen that says ‘install’ or ‘remove’ programs. I tell him ‘I have been hitting the ‘install’ icon, and for some reason it doesn’t remove the program?’ The only way I could describe the look on his face is ‘disdain, loathsome, utter contempt’. He did know I was kidding! One of the underlying themes thru out the whole Sermon on the Mount is how to relate to others. Don’t fight back, don’t get even, don’t remember faults. This is what makes the Christian life so hard. In and of ourselves these principles go against our nature. Jesus said earlier ‘you must be MORE RIGHTEOUS’ than the so called righteous religious leaders! The only way we can carry out these mandates is thru the Cross and Spirit. Identifying with Jesus in both his death and resurrection and allowing the Spirit of God to do it thru us. There is no way to get around it, we must forgive and not be ‘angry against our brother without cause’. You say ‘well, I have a reason to be angry’. Paul will later teach we are to forgive all, just as Christ forgave us. If you are a believer, you have been given free forgiveness that you don’t deserve. Because of this Jesus requires us to forgive others. We have no cause to be angry with our brother!
(678) SERMON ON THE MOUNT- ‘Agree with your adversary quickly, while you are ‘in the way’ with him’. Look at this principle. Jesus puts it right before he speaks on divorce. Divorce court is the single most contributor to personal bankruptcy. How many times do we see litigation and ‘getting even’ as the primary motivator for going to court? I heard of a guy who sold his house and vehicles for 50 dollars [or some outrageous value] just so his ex wouldn’t get it. Paul says ‘why harm your brother, or own family member. No man ever yet hated his own flesh’! Jesus said your wife was your own flesh. Two have become one. Why sue yourself! As you read further Jesus says ‘if someone takes you to court for your shirt, give him your coat too’! The law of non resistance. This next one is good also ‘if you are compelled to go 1 mile, go 2’! I have heard that in Jesus day the Roman Empire had mile markers all over the place. When a Roman soldier compelled you to carry his pack, you by law were required to carry it. But only 1 mile. Sure enough the legalistic Pharisees figured out a way to just do the bare minimum. So you had these mile markers all over the place. Well after the mile is up, these new Jesus followers said ‘let’s go for one more’. What! Are you outta your mind! The first mile is like the first covenant. The law had you under its grasp. That first mile was like ‘I will do this requirement, but I will be cursing under my breath the whole way’. Now mile 2 was different. Your were still doing all the same requirements of law, but you didn’t have to! The ‘law keeper’ was still watching [soldier] but the terms were turned around. It’s almost like you were in charge now. He couldn’t tell you anything. He almost felt guilty! As a matter of fact after the second mile was completed he was almost your friend! When you are in the second mile [under grace] you still do the moral requirements of the law, but you don’t have the soldier forcing you at the point of a gun [law mentality].
(679) SERMON ON THE MOUNT- ‘Whoever is angry is guilty of murder’ ‘he that lusts after a woman is like committing adultery in his heart’. WOW! Is Jesus saying the consequences are the same? No. If you kill someone you will pay back much more in terms of societal justice. But God sees the root of it before it ever happens, he knows all men are possible candidates for murder. It starts in the heart. I remember during the O.J. trial that people were saying ‘How can you think that someone could do such a thing’? The fact was someone did do such a thing! Whether or not you think O.J. did it, the fact is someone did it! The point is we have a tendency to look at horrible crimes and think ‘surely I am not capable of that’ God sees the heart. Now, in covering the ‘lust verse’ I want to also do the ‘don’t divorce’ verse. Jesus says ‘whoever divorces and marries another is committing adultery’ and also ‘causing the person who you divorced to commit adultery’. First, Jesus says it starts with lust. I know men say ‘You don’t know how much I had to put up with’ and on and on. These guys make their decisions based on what they see from Hollywood. They believe the lie that they see on the screen. All doesn’t end up well. You didn’t divorce over other issues. You more than likely started an emotional relationship that lead to a physical one. All the devastating results of broken homes and broken families come along with this. Can God forgive divorce? Yes, but be warned ahead of time that it is very destructive! ‘If your eye offend thee, pluck it out. Your right hand, chop it off’ Jesus is saying ‘do you see the thing that’s leading you in the wrong direction? Is what you’re looking at and doing causing you to fall?’ Then by all means make the necessary adjustments now. Proverbs says a wise man sees the danger ahead and turns before getting there. A fool goes straight ahead and runs into trouble. One way to bypass the devastating results of sin and its drastic consequences is to operate in the wisdom of God and remove the offence. Does Jesus want you to ‘chop your hand off’? There was a famous church father, Origen. He took this verse literally and ‘self castrated’ himself to avoid sexual temptation. Now that’s what I call reading the bible literally [and painfully!] Jesus isn’t saying that! But he is saying avoid the areas of danger. A fool does not know what’s causing him to stumble, he keeps stumbling because he is not removing the stumbling block. He keeps tripping over the same thing. A wise man will move the thing that’s causing him to stumble. Is the wise man ‘above the temptation to stumble? Inherently more moral than the fool’ No, he simply sees his area of weakness and avoids the pitfall!
(680) SERMON ON THE MOUNT- ‘Give to him that asks of thee, and to him that would borrow from thee turn not thou away’ well, we could spend a lot of time here. Those of you who have read this site for a while know I have a ‘pet peeve’ about believers feeling that if they don’t ‘tithe to the storehouse on Sunday’ [may God deliver us from small paradigms!] they will be under a ‘curse’ but seem to give little or no heed to the actual teachings from Jesus and Paul on the primacy of ‘giving to those in need’. I just finished a study in Proverbs. If you replace all the verses on ‘giving to the poor’ with ‘tithing to the church building’ you could then deem tithing as important. If you replaced the portions of scripture where Jesus actually links GOING TO HEAVEN OR HELL based on our treatment of the poor. If you took those verses and said ‘at the judgment I will say to some ‘go into eternal judgment’ and to others ‘enter into your reward’. And then they said ‘why Lord’ and he said ‘in as much as you did not tithe to the church on Sunday’ then you would have a point about teaching the importance of ‘tithing’. But the fact is Jesus does link all these things to ‘giving to the poor’. Over 90 percent of all teaching thru out scripture deals with this. Even in Israel's economy they had principles of ‘leaving the corners of your farm land un reaped for the poor’. Over and over again is this theme preached. But even today, some of you just read the verse I began with and thought ‘I wonder how this will relate to me’. It relates to you BY TAKING IT SERIOUSLY! By reorganizing your priorities around the actual words of Jesus! By doing this actual thing. I know believers are still going to give priority to the Malachi verse ‘you have robbed God by not tithing to the storehouse’. If they could just see that the ‘storehouse’ in the New Testament are people, not ‘church buildings’ then we would have made some headway, but traditions in the minds of those who are always ‘fighting tradition’ are too hard to pull down!
(681) SERMON ON THE MOUNT- ‘When you pray…When you do good deeds….When you fast….be not like the hypocrites’! WOW! Jesus said hypocrites pray, fast and do good deeds! Who’d a thunk it? I took some guys to the grocery store yesterday. Should I tell this story? Jesus said ‘don’t sound the trumpet before you when you do something good’. Let me tell it and try to defend myself. I took a new brother and he asked if I would buy him some stuff. I was more than glad. The other brothers know I pay for this stuff out of pocket. The new guys think I run some type of ministry that brings in cash! So sometimes they get a little carried away like some church is paying for it. I don’t mind, I buy the stuff any way. The older brothers get mad that some new guy might take advantage. I told these older brothers ‘go ahead, get what you need’. They wanted a few things [avocadoes, razors for shaving, etc.] They saw the price and said ‘no, that’s too much’. I told them don’t worry about it. They felt guilty cause the new guy did pick up lots of stuff. My buddy says ‘some people are selfish, they only care about what they can get from people’. I tell him ‘I know. The Lord has given me this gift of spotting selfishness in others. I can discern others faults. Along with this gift he has also revealed to me that I possess a strong gift of personal humility!’ [They know me enough by now to tell when I am setting them up like this! I am kidding of course!] Jesus rebukes the religious leaders for doing things just for the glory of men. Paul would use examples of what God was doing thru him to edify others. Jesus in the previous chapter said ‘let you light shine so men would see your good works’ [not ministry performance!]. The whole point is, if God is using you as an example to teach others, it’s alright to write about, or teach others by example. But if the primary motivation behind the ‘praying, fasting, good deeds’ is so people can pat you on the back, well then you already got your reward. The reward of self glory and creating an image in the sight of others. Note also that Jesus said ‘when you do these things’ it really isn’t an option! You don't leave the ‘alms deeds’ to the ‘charity mission that the ‘church’ runs’. You personally do it yourself! Jesus also leaves out something. He doesn’t say ‘when you attend Sabbath services’. He kinda thinks this one isn’t as important as the others! Wow. We find a verse here and there ‘forsake not the assembling of ourselves together’ [Hebrews] and we exalt it in the minds of believers to the point where the actual things that Jesus taught as priority take second place! We need to re prioritize our lives around the teachings of Jesus! Become ‘Red Letter’ Christians once again!
(682) I was listening to a famous [and good!] radio preacher. Been around for years and is good. Of course I am mentioning him to disagree with a mindset that is prevalent in Christianity. He was teaching on abiding in Christ from Johns gospel. He said ‘are you feeling bored with attending church week after week, year after year? Does it seem unfulfilling to go to a ‘church’ and sit and listen to the Pastor? You know why you feel this way? It’s because you ARE NOT ABIDNG IN HIM!’ Ouch! God didn’t create you to be fulfilled by ‘going to a church meeting and sitting and listening for 50 years!’ The reason you are not fulfilled doing this, is because you weren’t designed to be fulfilled by DOING THIS! This is the whole reason for the present revolution going on in the church over the practices and function of ‘local church’. Now, when I hear a good man say this. I realize he means well and is still functioning under the old paradigm. But after reading all the stuff on this site it becomes obvious that the problem isn’t ‘abiding in Christ’ [at least in the way he spoke of it] but the problem is you were designed to function and daily experience and live out ‘church’ [ecclesia- corporate expressions of Christ’s functioning society of people- community!] Present church leadership teaches a type of ‘loyalty/membership’ to a ‘local church’ that is contrary to scripture. The idea that leaders were designed to ‘be over/ cover’ believers for their entire lives is unbiblical. When God made man, he explicitly told him ‘when you grow up [could this be the problem! We are not ‘growing up’?] You are to LEAVE YOUR Father/Mother relationship and cleave to your wife’. In essence you are to establish new relationships with ‘your wife’ [the ecclesia- Christ’s ‘wife’] you are to relate on a co equal plain with the broader body of Christ and to not remain ‘cleaving to your former parents’. A lot of the abuses in the shepherding/apostolic covering movement made this mistake. They taught a type of ‘apostolic covering’ that said the problem in present Christianity is most believers are out of order. Out of order to these guys means ‘go find some man to cover you’! Double OUCH! So for the most part the reason you are bored by attending church for 50 years is because you were supposed to ‘leave you former parental structure’ [I am your Pastor mentality] and establish new relationships with the broader body of Christ. In this new relationship you too will eventually have kids, just remember that there will come a time where they too will ‘leave their father and Mother and cleave to their wife’. This my friend is the reason you are ‘bored with church’. Because what you call ‘church’ is simply a lecture hall. What the bible calls ‘church’ is a living organic manifestation of the Spirit of God functioning in a community of people! [That might have been a little harsh!]
(683) SERMON ON THE MOUNT- ‘Lay not up for yourselves treasures on earth, but store up treasure in heaven [why?], because where your treasure is, there will your heart be also’. Well, here we are again! Over the years as I have rebuked the prosperity messages abuses, I stumble across a verse and it ‘re opens’ the wounds! Not in a bad way, but in a way that causes believers who have overlooked the main body of Jesus teaching in this area, to re examine their ideas. Once again the message of Jesus goes against the grain of the modern success gospel. He isn’t teaching ‘don’t have an emergency account’ or don’t save up. He is challenging the single most important obstacle to the gospel. MAMMON! Jesus says ‘the world [unbelievers] spend their whole thought life obsessing over finances’ [the Gentiles are always thinking about these things!]. You see commercials on ‘I am 70 years old, my wife is 67. Our biggest fear is if one of us should die, who will pay the bills’? Their biggest fear, according to Jesus, should be ‘If one of us dies, we will stand before God and give an account of our lives. We will spend the next trillion, billion, gazillion years in heaven or hell’ who gives a ‘rip’ about the bills! Our society seems to magnify the insignificant and trivialize the significant! Jesus taught being responsible. He taught the principle of counting the cost and looking ahead. He also taught his followers to be warned against the deception of riches. Yes he warned about money and materialistic living. The church today needs to re tool her message back to the agenda of Jesus Christ!
(684) SERMON NO THE MOUNT- Two things before we leave chapter 6. Jesus repeats ‘take no thought’ while dealing with mammon and the material things of life. We all know he didn’t mean ‘don’t be responsible’. But he did mean ‘take no thought’. He did tell us to watch out and be ware of the snare of money. I must say it plain like this because the contemporary church doesn’t believe this any more. The modern success gospel sees any teachings from Jesus against materialism as ‘that old tradition’. There minds are blinded from the fact that this theme of ‘material success versus spiritual riches’ is seen over and over again. Now, the Gnostics and the Docetists [early century Christian cults] taught a type of materialism that said ‘all material things are evil’. The reformers of the 16th century would later correct this [as well as the catholic brothers thru out the centuries! Augustine in particular] the church would show that the bible and tradition do not hold to this wrong view of material things. Matter itself is not inherently evil. The word ‘flesh’ in our English bibles sometimes gives the wrong idea. ‘I know that in me is no good thing, that is in my flesh’ yet Paul would also say ‘present your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to the Lord’. So the ‘flesh’ that has no good thing in it is not saying the natural body [material thing] but the sinful nature [carnal-flesh] is absent from any self righteousness. So as the church would correct the false teaching of material things being evil, she would later fall into the snare of seeking material things! It’s like going from one extreme to another. So here Jesus says ‘take no thought’ don’t be consumed with always thinking and meditating and confessing and going to church with the obsession of ‘bringing in my harvest/changing my world’. This inward focus causes us to lose the character of Jesus in giving ourselves away. In forsaking all to gain a true eternal reward. Have you been ‘taking thought’ about these things all the time? Does ministry to you mean ‘finances, buildings, staff, etc..’? All OK things in their proper order, but if you have become consumed with the resources, where it takes up the majority of your thought life, then you are ‘taking thought’ contrary to Jesus commands!
(685) SERMON ON THE MOUNT- ‘Judge not, that you be not judged. Why do you see the little fault in your brothers eye, yet you do not see the log in yours! Or how will you say to your brother ‘let me help you get the speck out’? If you yourself aren’t seeing clearly, then how can you see well enough to assist him? First get the thing out of your eye, then you will see straight enough to help him’. These are all my own paraphrase by the way. Who were the main ‘judgers’ of Jesus day? We all know! The Pharisees. Even unbelievers use this term to describe a hypocrite! How did they get tagged with this universal description? They saw Jesus and his followers as ‘illegitimate’. No matter how many good things he did. Raising the dead, tremendous teaching ministry. True self sacrifice. Demonstrating the kingdom in word and deed. Yet they came to a universal judgment of him and his movement as false. Why? They saw Jesus and hid disciples as ‘un orthodox’. Not going by the ordinances and standards of their religious protocol. They were convinced in their minds that he was wrong, and they made sure others knew it! There was one problem. He was right and they were wrong. It is almost impossible for religious leaders to ever arrive at this conclusion! Some eventually did. Both Nicodemus and the later believers at Jerusalem had a group of Pharisees ‘which believed’. Yet these same brothers would give Paul hell for his gospel to the gentiles! But today, after 2 thousand years. The exact judgment they passed on Jesus ‘you are illegitimate’ has been forever branded on them! Now is Jesus saying ‘don’t judge’ in the way the world thinks? How many times have you heard an unbeliever use this as an excuse? Sort of like ‘no one can say adultery is wrong, Jesus said ‘don’t judge’. Jesus isn’t saying you can not correct or reprove. He is saying what Paul would write to the Galatians ‘see someone in a fault, you who are spiritual [those who have removed their own log!] restore him in meekness’. Jesus is saying you can correct, but do it in love and with the true heart of God. Seeking to restore the ones you reprove. Leaving room for them to repent and be restored to usefulness again. Even Paul will say if you rebuke false prophets sharply, they can repent! Jesus said ‘first cast out the log in your eye, THEN you will be well enough to help others’. The wounds from a friend [correction] are better than the kisses of someone who is just flattering you!
(686) SERMON ON THE MOUNT- ‘Ask and it shall be given, seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall open. Everyone who asks receives, seeks will find…’ I want to credit Brother Hagin/Copeland and the prosperity/word of faith movement for showing us that Jesus doesn’t say ‘ask. And sometimes the answer is ‘no’ sometimes ‘yes’. They did show the truth that in these verses Jesus isn’t saying ‘you always get an answer, sometimes you receive, sometimes not’. They brought out the importance of trusting Jesus to do what he said. The Word is his will, like John Osteen [Joel’s dad] would say ‘this is my bible I can do and have what it says’. The problem comes in when we use these things contrary to the rest of the teachings of Jesus, like say for instance IN THE VERSES SURROUNDING THIS TEXT! James will teach ‘the reason you ask and DON’T RECEIVE [Wow, even James didn’t know this secret formula of always receiving!] is because you ask out of selfishness, wanting to consume things out of lust and covetousness’. So here we see the importance of asking in faith and trusting Gods promises. But we also balance this with Jesus will for us to live above the materialistic pursuits of the flesh. Jesus will meet our needs and even give us material blessings to make us happy. He says ‘if natural fathers give their kids good things, how much more your heavenly father’. God will give you nice stuff, just don’t go overboard with it. I have seen good Pastors actually go down this path and teach their people things that would be considered real heresy. Stuff like ‘Jesus died so you can be rich’ [in money]. Or ‘Jesus wore an expensive coat, owned a fabulous house and preached a message of ‘follow me and you will be rich’. These Pastors have fallen into the warning Paul gave Timothy [1st Timothy chapter 6] they began to teach that gain was godliness, Paul said to ‘turn away from them’. So here we see the good promise of a good God who will give us good things, just stay on course while believing him for good things!
(687) SERMON ON THE MOUNT- ‘ALL THINGS WHATSOEVER THAT YE WOULD THAT MEN SHOULD DO TO YOU, DO YE EVEN SO TO THEM: FOR THIS IS THE LAW AND THE PROPHETS’ this might be the most important single verse in these 3 chapters. Was Jesus opening up a Pandora’s Box here? How did he know people would choose right? He didn’t say ‘treat others according to the ten commandments’. He said ‘treat them the way you want to be treated’. Jesus taught the concept of natural law here. If you remember a few years back when Clarence Thomas was nominated to the Supreme Court. One of the main questions he was asked was whether or not he believed in ‘natural law’. Natural law is the idea that there exists in man this ‘moral compass’ of right and wrong. Paul teaches this in Romans. The fact that all men have a basic idea on how they want to be treated shows you that there is more to man than simple flesh! He has within him this God-given conscience that deep down inside knows what’s right or wrong. The reason senator Joe Biden made such an issue out of it when questioning Thomas, was because those who believe in natural law do see an inherent right to life. The abortion issue. When the Supreme Court legalized abortion, the court found a ‘constitutional right to a woman’s privacy’. Many lawyers, even liberal pro abortion ones, believe this decision is wrong based on faulty law. It would be like saying slavery is acceptable because there is an inherent ‘right to private property’. While there is a right to private property, the problem with this reasoning is OTHER PEOPLE ARE NOT PRIVATE PROPERTY! So even if you believed in a so called ‘right to privacy’ how in the world do you extend that right to include the murder of another human being! All human rights derive from the basic right to life. If human govt. deprives people of the inherent right to life, then you might as well forget about any other so called rights. Some say ‘well, abortion is established law’. So was the racist law of not allowing Blacks to vote! I don’t care ‘how established’ a law is, if it allows for the destruction of biological human life, it’s flawed. Frances Beckwith just released a book on this [1-08] and he shows the legal justification for overturning Roe V Wade. So Jesus was confident enough in ‘natural law’, the basic belief that inherent in man is the concept of right and wrong, that he said ‘do unto others as you want done to you’. He knew men had a basic idea of fairness and justice. Even kids on the playground will shout ‘that’s not fair’. No matter how hard man tries to deny the reality of natural law, its there!
(688) SERMON ON THE MOUNT- ‘BEWARE OF FALSE PROPHETS’ ‘you will know them by their fruits, what they produce. They come to you as wolves in sheep’s clothing’. In Ezekiel the ‘shepherds’ are rebuked because they come to devour the sheep. They see the sheep as a means for self aggrandizement. Here Jesus says ‘they are wearing sheepskins!’ They view ministry and pastoring/shepherding as a means to become wealthy and prosperous! Shall I continue? Let’s also take a broader view. In the history of Christianity you have had Christian cults that were ‘false’ by virtue of the fact that they denied the basic truths of Christianity. In the bible, 1st John deals with ‘those who deny that Jesus has come in the flesh are anti-Christ’. John was targeting the early Gnostic/Docetist sects who said Jesus was a ‘phantom’. He appeared to be ‘real flesh’ but wasn’t. John deals with them as ‘anti christ’ because of their denial of the incarnation. Jesus was truly man and truly God. On a broader scale you have the religion of Islam. Arab [Muslim] people are good people! ‘Why brother how can you say that’? Easy, they were created in the image of God! Allah didn’t make them, Muhammad didn’t create them! They were created by Jesus Christ of Nazareth! Now, have they been led astray? Yes. As hard as it is to say this in today’s pluralistic society, they have been MIS LED. What about Jewish people? Good people! We should love and pray for them, not at the expense of Arabs [Muslims] but in concert for their salvation. Ultimately all religions except for Christianity produce ‘bad fruit’. Why? Because all religions outside of Christ are man centered. You try to self reform thru law. This produces death. Christianity offers a free redemption thru the Blood of Christ. You don’t ‘self reform’. Grace produces the fruit of the Spirit. Jesus does say in this passage ‘narrow and straight is the way to life’. Yes, it sounds narrow minded to proclaim Jesus as the only way. Christians in America have crossed the line in ethnic/religious views. They have wrongfully sided with militaristic views of defending one nation’s military against another’s. Do we as believers have the right to support our countries military actions against radical Islam? Yes. As Christians should we advocate the annihilation of Muslim people because of their religious beliefs? NO! Too many American Christians seem to have not made this distinction. I believe Christians and Muslims and Jews should all work together as much as possible. Respect each others different beliefs. But also advocate for why we believe that Jesus is truly the only way to God. Jesus truly is the answer!
(689) SERMON ON THE MOUNT- ‘Not everyone who says to me ‘Lord, Lord’ shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. But he that doeth the will of my Father’. In John’s gospel Jesus says “this is the will of him that sent me, that you would believe on him who God has sent”. So Jesus isn’t saying ‘you get saved by your works’. But he is showing us that the Evangelical altar call is no guarantee! To be fair, the rise of the ‘altar call/sinners prayer’ was a well intended tool for evangelism. But carried to the extreme it seemed to teach whoever says this prayer [Lord, Lord?] will enter into the Kingdom of heaven. It created a strange type of soteriology that said ‘you might have believed in the gospel. You might have been baptized and joined the church. You might have a vibrant faith life and ascended the ranks of church leadership [Pastor, Priest or Pope!] You might have led a changed life thru your Christian faith. But if you don’t remember when you said the sinner’s prayer, and if when you did say it. If all the preceding ‘stages’ were not ideal [first you fully realized your lost state, then you went to the meeting, then the altar!] Then you are lost! This strange idea taught a type of salvation that was dependant on what you prayed and how you prayed it. The problem with this is Jesus does make it very plain that you very well might know the exact day you prayed the thing, and still be lost! The point is the New testament [1st John] as well as Jesus himself always point to ‘those who have actually done righteous deeds’ as being the outward sign of having been made righteous! John says ‘by this we know we are born of God. He that doeth righteousness is of God, he that doeth evil is not’. Jesus says ‘those that have done good will be raised to the resurrection of life, evil to the resurrection of judgment’. Now, I do not believe these statements are saying ‘you are saved by works’ but they most certainly show you what the life of the believer will look like compared to the life of the unbeliever! So for whole groups of Christians to teach a type of ‘salvation’ that is reassured by the saying of ‘Lord, Lord’. For these brothers to then almost teach a theology that says ‘and after you prayed this formula, if you lived the next 50 years as an old bubba who cheated on his wife. Had a few drinks with the boys, never really had any true faith. But you go to heaven any way because you were just backslidden’ Yikes! I think these brothers need to re read this verse! So The New Testament shows us the end result. The goal of justification by faith is the outcome of actually being made just! Or actually doing right things. Now, there can be some controversy here. One of the main issues surrounding the Reformation had to do with the Catholic belief that ‘we are saved by grace. But this grace infuses us with righteousness and then the righteous works that we do ACTUALLY MERIT a degree of salvation’! [Believe me, it is much deeper than this, and both sides [Protestant/Catholic] have miss represented each others ideas at times]. I do not believe this type of ‘good works’ theology. I know there are many Christians who believe it [Orthodox, certain Pentecostal groups, etc] I hold to the Pauline formula in Ephesians ‘by grace are you saved, not by works’ now, in context Paul is saying ‘the faith God gives you is not of works’. Paul isn’t saying there are no works included in what God is calling you to. He goes on to say ‘created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them’. So the simple fact that Jesus and the writers of the New Testament actually make statements saying ‘those who have done good go to heaven, those who have done evil don’t’. This should steer us away from a doctrine of salvation that is heavily dependant on ‘what you said’.
(690) SERMON ON THE MOUNT- ‘Many will SAY UNTO ME in that day “Lord, we prophesied in your name and cast out devils and have done many good works” and I will say “depart from me, ye that work iniquity, for I never knew you”. I remember how we used this verse as fundamental Baptists to teach how all the Charismatics were going to hell! First, if this is what Jesus meant, then even those who ‘do good works’ [the whole context of the sermon on the Mount!] don’t make it! The point is there are those who see Christianity thru the lens of being familiar with Christian tradition and activity. Hey ‘I have been around the culture my whole life, surely I’m in’? Not necessarily. Also Jesus didn’t say they actually cast out the demons and prophesied, he said ‘they said they did it’. Who knows, maybe this group was fudging? I believe in all the gifts of the Spirit. I don’t believe that all the Charismatics have the definitions right! I was taught a whole view of ‘word of Knowledge, word of Wisdom’, gifts Paul defines in Corinthians. As being ‘knowing the past, or knowing the future’. It was a very limited perspective taught by Brother Hagin that seemed to miss the real intent of the gifts. So you can believe in the gifts, and really be seeing your own idea of what they mean. I also reject the cessationism of certain dispensational groups. The whole idea that the gifts passed away. The broad view of scripture [and church history!] show the outpouring of the Spirit at Pentecost to be an ongoing ‘life of the Spirit’ to be expressed thru the Church thru the Spirits Charisms. God never intended for this major event to be a temporary thing that would pass away. The majority of Christians believe in the gifts of the Spirit. Catholics [this only reaffirmed the anti gifts mindset in the fundamental circles. They would see the catholic churches embracing of the Charismatic movement as proof of the one world churches end time deception] Orthodox and Protestant churches for the most part accept the gifts of the Spirit. Some strains of Protestantism reject them. Well anyway Jesus is telling us don’t rely on ‘religious function- performance’ as a means of ‘getting into heaven’. We don’t want to fall into the error of ‘I was born and raised in ‘the church’ therefore I am Christian’. You might be Christian, but it’s because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ and your faith in his Blood that saves you, not religion! Even Father Groeschel [a favorite Priest of mine on EWTN] will emphasize ‘we are saved thru Jesus Christ’ when asked by sincere Catholic callers to his show ‘how do I overcome guilt and sin’. The point is, we need to re focus people on the meaning and reality of Jesus death and resurrection as being the actual payment for mans sin. It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking ‘I am surrounded by a Christian environment, so I must be one’. If you truly have trust in what Christ has done, then your are one. Even if you have ‘prophesied in his name, cast out devils and done many wonderful works’.
(691) SERMON ON THE MOUNT- ‘whoever hears these sayings and DOES THEM is like a man who built his house on a rock. When the floods and storm came and beat on it, it fell not… whoever HEARS AND DOES NOT DO is like a man WHO BUILT and the storms caused it to fall’. Jesus doesn’t give the 3rd option ‘whoever doesn’t hear and doesn’t build’. In essence he is saying ‘all of you people who have heard this great sermon [Matt:5-7] have just increased your responsibility level. You can no longer say ‘well, we just won’t build!’ the cop out of todays society. The entitlement mindset ‘I will find some way for the govt. to declare me mentally unstable [many of the homeless people get these types of checks! On the 3rd of every month I wondered why the soup kitchens were almost empty. I quickly found out they all were getting ‘ssi’ checks on this day. Most of these checks go right to drugs and drink. I actually had a friend slip up and tell me that his ‘disability’ was having an anger problem and cursing at his boss and getting fired. WOW! What a joke.] Here Jesus is saying ‘you already heard the requirements, something is already being built, whether you like it or not’! Notice the hearers still had ‘structures’ going up! It’s like the city on the hill and the candle on a candlestick verses that we mentioned earlier. Jesus said the city can not be hid. Once the King has given you the responsibility, you can’t opt out and say ‘I will act like I don’t know any better’ too late! I personally have had to play a role in this type of dynamic. I know many well meaning Pastors must think ‘gee, why did I have to luck out by starting a church in the Corpus area, right at the same time when some nut on the computer starts a revolution on organic church and is tearing down all the old structures of church. Why couldn’t I just have done church the old way and never have heard from this guy!’. Who knows? I do know that once the level of teaching goes forth, all the hearers become responsible in some way as to how they respond. In essence ‘those who hear and do… those who hear and don’t do’. ‘But what about my fellow Pastors who are excelling in other cities, they never dealt with all this reproof’ well, they are those who never heard [certain reproofs] and therefore don’t have the same responsibility level of response. The question is moot. You guys reading us have heard certain things and now have 2 responses. Either build on a rock [apply and put into practice all the principles you have heard] or build on sand [pretend you never heard the corrections and build on sand]. Jesus leaves only 2 options, which one will you take? NOTE; I realize there are many cities and regions that are maturing in the broader vision of Gods Kingdom and in seeing church in a more biblical way. But there are cities who are not currently being challenged in the same way. Good churches and Pastors carrying out the work of God in the old paradigm. Inviting people to ‘church’. Doing ‘potluck Sunday’ stuff like that. These are all good people who are truly serving God. But then you have other cities who begin seeing the limited ideas of ‘local church’ and realize that these old ideas have to be dealt with. This certainly causes a degree of upheaval to those still functioning the old way. So instead of thinking ‘I wish I were Pastoring in one of these other cities who never have to deal with all this reproof’ just recognize that the Lord has blessed our city [and those of you who read this stuff!] with a greater degree of instruction and we should take advantage of being on the ‘cutting edge’. [I don’t want to sound too proud, but I had to say this].
(693) CONCLUDE SERMON ON THE MOUNT - Well, we have come a long way. Look at this interesting ending ‘When Jesus finished all these sayings, the people were astonished at his teaching. For he taught as someone who had authority [he knew what he was saying!] not like the regular preachers’. OUCH! Old brother Matthew couldn’t help it, he had to stick it to them! Why was Jesus teaching more powerful than the hired clergy? He was on a mission. His goal was to start a Kingdom revolution that would end in him facing Pilate and winning! Rome will look straight into the face of this radical and say ‘don’t you realize we have been pushing your buttons all along. You had the gall to call us ‘foxes’ [Herod] we have had you in our sights for a while. Now don’t you realize I have the authority to kill you like we did John!’ [The Baptist]. Jesus says ‘you have no authority except what my Father gave you. You are still a bunch of lying foxes! And oh yeah, I am the Son of God!’ WOW. He had authority. As you sum up the sermons message, you see the Jesus style. He embodies the stuff! I think the church needs to see the teachings of Jesus as the ‘constitution’ of the family. I have heard extreme teachings on both the Catholic [Orthodox] and Protestant [dispensational] sides of Christianity. Some Protestants teach the Sermon in a way that says ‘all this was before the Cross, and has no relevance today’ [bad stuff!] and the more liberal believers kind of say ‘Jesus wants us to be nice, and the Sermon should regulate us as opposed to harsh Paul’s epistles’ [too soft!] We should see the attitudes of the sermon as the goal of our faith. We should do the stuff Jesus told us to do! We do overlook the obvious at times. Now the ‘doing of it’ won’t save us. But if God has imputed his righteousness to you [if your are justified by faith] the ‘justification’ will eventually ‘slip out’. And you will look righteous! According to Jesus, ‘looking righteous’ is measured by these things. The religious leaders thought looking righteous was being religious and moral crusaders. Jesus set the proper criteria. God wants us to be like his Son. Don’t build up a record of ‘I went to 10 million church meetings, tithed for 50 years’ but never once did the things Jesus taught in this Sermon. This is the danger of strong Orthodoxy, you can have all the right answers and still be ‘hearers only’. Jesus warned against being ‘good hearers’. The doers are the ones building right! So I would encourage all of us to regularly read and give priority to the words of Jesus. Not at the expense of ‘all scripture’ [the emergent brothers kind of fudge on this at times!] but as the filter thru which all scripture should be seen from. Too many of us do not believe in the actual lifestyle that Jesus called us to. He was a fantastic preacher, because preaching was not his goal! He was leading a revolutionary movement! And like I said before, letters from a revolution have great authority.
[#’s 696-947] TEACHINGS # 5
(696) THOUGHTS FROM GENESIS- Been reading Genesis 12-22. I felt like the Lord wanted me to overview some stuff. Paul will quote the account in Gen: 15 [and 12] a lot. ‘The just shall live by faith’ is oft mentioned in the New Testament. He uses Abraham as an argument for Justification by Faith. Both Romans and Galatians are masterpieces at this. In my first book ‘House of Prayer or Den of Thieves’ I wrote a chapter titled ‘the Abrahamic Blessing’. I tried to undue a false teaching that arose out of the prosperity movement that taught the ‘Abrahamic Blessing’ was believers being promised material stuff. If you read the chapter [Galatians 3] you will see the Abrahamic blessing to mean Gods promise to Abraham that he would bless the whole world thru his child [seed]. Paul uses this to combat the Judiazers who were teaching you get saved by the law. Paul in essence says ‘God promised Abraham that he would bless [in context, to ‘Justify’ and give the Spirit to those who have faith] the world thru his child [Jesus] long before he gave the law to Moses’. And being God can’t lie, the first promise [to Abraham] is stronger than the second promise to Moses [Law]. Good stuff! But a false teaching twists the ‘promise’ and says ‘see, Paul says we are Abraham’s kids [true] and therefore we get his blessings’ [stuff] false! There are many reasons why it is false, but if your Pastor simply reads scripture in context, he will lead you right. I have grown ‘weary’ over the years in trying to correct this stuff. I have come to the conclusion that many well meaning Pastors/Teachers should have never had the large area of influence [media] due to the ‘basic’ level of thought they were functioning at. I want to be kind, but many of these doctrines are propagated because the mass of teaching going out is by brothers who simply can’t grasp scripture in context. Now, they are not all bad! But if your Pastor can’t see that the same writer of Galatians would also write 1st Timothy 6, and say ‘false teachers will rise in the last days, teaching gain is godliness. Turn away from them’ the fact that Paul connects false prophets to those who connect money with ‘godliness’ shows you that Paul is not teaching the Galatians that they were going to get rich because they had faith! Simple stuff, but the average teacher that can’t see or discern this should not be teaching on TV![or radio]. Because they wind up propagating stuff that is false. That’s why James says ‘don’t all try to be teachers, you will be held to a higher standard’. There seems to be a mindset in Christian ministry that says ‘The goal of our ‘church’ is to raise as much money as possible, expand our influence as far as possible, and have our Pastors message go to the ends of the earth’. This causes there to be a basic violation of ‘not many of you should be teachers’. Or a rush to get your words out! Now, God does ordain certain voices at certain times to have great influence. And it is fine for all ministers to try and get the gospel out as much a possible. But when I hear these national voices teach the most obvious mistakes, I think ‘surely these guys are not supposed to be teaching on this level’! So in Abraham’s story, the Lord tells him ‘I am going to bless the whole planet thru your seed’. God is giving us glimpses of Jesus Christ and his purpose to bring blessing to the whole world thru him. Have you been ‘blessed’ [born again] thru Abrahams seed?
(697) GENESIS 12: 1-3 ‘The Lord said unto Abram, get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred and from thy father’s house, unto a land THAT I WILL SHOW THEE. And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee and make thy name great; [God will do it, not him!] and thou shalt be a blessing: and I will bless THEM that bless thee, and curse HIM that curseth thee: and IN THEE SHALL ALL FAMILIES OF THE EARTH BE BLESSED’. The blessing is contingent upon Abraham going on a pilgrimage, for his entire life! Jesus said a prophet has no honor in his home town and among his own family. Over the years I have seen many gifted men along the way. Many still live WITH THEIR PARENTS. Or have a family situation where their wife IS THE PARENT. They have never ‘launched out’ and become responsible adults. There came a time in Abrahams life where the Lord said ‘you must leave your familiar surroundings, in order to become a great nation of people, you must leave the comfortable nation [environment] that you are trusting’. Some times all it takes is a willingness to get up and begin the journey. It’s scary at first, but no adventure is 100 % safe! Notice the Lord also informs him that he WILL FACE OPPOSITION! Those [plural] who are for him will be there. And HIM [singular] that is against thee shall also be there. God promises there are more on your side than on the critic’s side! Hey, they might only be invisible angels [Elijah, Elisha] but God says the numbers are on your side. The enemy often uses this ploy against you. ‘Hey, everyone thinks you are a failure, what are you still doing trying to finish Gods work!’ These were the accusations that Nehemiah would hear. That everyone is talking about what a mess the whole thing is. ‘Who does he think he is anyway’? Who cares what they think! We will ALL be dead and gone in a few years, the voices of opposition will be gone. The only thing that will matter then is what you did with a sincere and noble heart. At least you will have some rewards coming, the critics will only ‘have words’.
(698) GENESIS 12- Abraham goes into the Promised Land. God begins appearing to him, and Abraham builds an altar and calls on the Lord. A key principle to ‘possessing your land’ is responding right! Each time you move forward in the journey it is imperative that you ‘hear God’. He must ‘appear to you’ in some way [thru scripture, prophetic direction, etc] and your response should be prayer. This sequence of events will take place more than one time with Abraham and his kids. Though they are strangers in the land, each time God appears to them they set up ‘outposts’ [altars] for the Kingdom. Altars are places of prayer and sacrifice. They are ‘contact points’ between heaven and earth. Abrahams grandson, Jacob, will ‘set up one’ at Bethel [house of God] and have a dream of angels ascending and descending on a Ladder. Which of course is a type of the Cross. Abraham goes into Egypt and commits a familiar sin that he will pass on to his kids. The famous ‘this is my sister, not my wife’ deal. Pharaoh takes her and God curses Pharaoh and Pharaoh rebukes Abraham for lying out of fear. Isaac will do the same later on. Notice in this chapter the Lord told Abraham to ‘leave his family and go into a new place’ did he fully obey? Not really. He takes Lot [nephew] with him. Of course he was to take his wife, but I am not sure if he fudged on the Lot thing. You will notice later that as soon as he separates from Lot that the Lord begins reaffirming the promise to him. I kinda get the feeling that things were put on hold until he fully obeyed. One of the things we will see in Abraham’s life, was though he was a great man of faith. Yet he struggled like everyone else. He still clung to stuff out of fear. We end this chapter with Abraham going up out of Egypt, a short excursion and lesson in disobedience. Some of these early failures will plague his future dynasty!
(699) GENESIS 13- Abraham leaves Egypt and the scripture says HE WAS VERY RICH! One of the things we want to do as we review these chapters is to rightly divide the word of God. The church went thru an ‘immature’ level of thinking and teaching. She [the church!] saw all these truths on God blessing Abraham. The many true verses on ‘the blessing of the Lord, it makes rich and he adds no sorrow to it’ ‘the Lord gives you power to get wealth that he may establish his covenant in the earth’ and all the other truths on God meeting the needs of his kids and blessing them. But the teachers went overboard and taught a doctrine of a rich Jesus who died to make you rich. They would become the false prophets that Paul would warn Timothy about in 1st Timothy 6. So here we want to see and understand that the Lord blessed Abraham and did make him rich. We also want to balance this with all the teachings of Jesus on ‘beware of covetousness, for a mans life consisteth not in the abundance of the things he possesses’ ‘you can not serve God and money’ ‘the love of money is the root of all evil, while some have gone after it they have left the faith’ [Paul]. All of these scriptures are true, not just the ones we like the most! In this chapter Abraham separates from Lot and the lord reaffirms his promise to him. It seems like God was waiting on Abraham to ‘fully leave his family’ like the earlier verse said ‘get thee out of thy country AND FROM THY KINDRED’ here he finally left ‘the kindred’ and God said ‘now lets keep going’! Sometimes the only thing holding us back is full obedience. You don’t need to re do everything! Just bring some stuff back into alignment. Also after the Egypt ‘side trail’ Abraham renews his ‘first love’ and reconnects with God at bethel, but then moves to another spot and builds another altar. This chapter says ‘he went on his journeys’. God didn’t want Abraham to go stagnant, enjoy the area around the first altar and never advance. The purpose for Abraham was to be a father of MANY NATIONS. You can’t do that if your comfortable just settling down on the street corner and ‘pastoring your little flock’ [ouch!]. God wants us to ‘go on journeys’. I am not saying there are not times where ‘Pastoring the flock’ is OK. But the modern church goes to extremes. She either wants to build huge 20 thousand seat auditoriums [which tends to lead to a spectator mentality] or preach to 30 people at a time! God’s purpose is to impact all of society with the gospel. Jesus gospel was bigger than the one we embrace today. Hey, if you really enjoyed God’s presence at ‘Bethel’ just wait until you get to the next altar! Don’t forget Bethel [your first love] but you have a nation [nations!] to inherit!
(700) GENESIS 14- Abraham goes after the kings who took Lot captive. He takes his 318 trained men and gets Lot and the rest of the spoils from the invading armies. When Abraham brings the stuff back to the King of Sodom, the king tells Abraham ‘take all the goods as well’. Abraham refuses and takes only his expenses. You also find Abraham later on paying for the burial site for Sarah and his family. Even though the people wanted to give it as a ‘tax free gift’! It is important to see that although Abraham was rich, he often refused free handouts! The problem with the church today is you have too many Preachers who see the truths on Abraham being rich and they mix it with a message that says ‘sow seed into my ministry, don’t disobey God!’ it is taught in a way that violates the whole character of Abraham. If you want the lord to bless you, reexamine the way your are expecting it. Abraham would not take free stuff! The church needs to teach prosperity in balance with all the other principles of diligence and giving to God and being smart investors and AVOIDING FREE GIFTS! This mode of operation will be found in the life of Abraham more than once!
(701) GENESIS 15- Abraham has been living for a bunch of years since God told him ‘you will have lots of kids, great nations and peoples’ yet he hasn’t had any children yet! You begin to see the natural mind working. Abraham suggests that one of his servants might become the promised ‘seed’. It was not uncommon for a father with no natural children to give the inheritance to a servant. Scripture says a wise servant will rule over a foolish son. Remember the movie ‘Gladiator’? The King/father chooses the Roman gladiator [Crowe] over the son. So Abraham is thinking maybe this is Gods plan. He will do this later with Ishmael as well. A son born from him, but not from Sarah. The Lord will have to keep reaffirming the original vision, so Abraham will have to trust. Also scripture says ‘the word of the Lord came to Abraham in a vision’. Let’s do a quick study. The New Testament teaches faith comes by hearing and ‘hearing by the Word of the Lord’. In the book of Acts the phrase ‘they preached the Word’ appears. Paul says ‘all scripture is given by inspiration of God’. What exactly is ‘the word of the Lord’? While you certainly can apply it to our bible, yet Paul will use this phrase before the New Testament was complete. The preaching in Acts was ‘the word’ yet they had no bibles like we have today. What is the ‘all scripture’ Paul is speaking of? It is specifically the promised ‘word’ that was fulfilled thru Messiah as the completion of the revelation of God to man. This certainly included the Old Testament, but it was more specific. The preaching in Acts was focused on Jesus being the fulfillment of the promise that all Israel was waiting for. So ‘the word of the Lord’ is not simply some general belief in scripture [though it is good to have this belief!] but it is belief in the promise and revealed will of God to you thru out your life. It is the thing you have been waiting for, as revealed by God to you. If you will, it is the actual vision of God for your life. When you believe and see the purpose of God for you, you will have momentum and a dynamic that can not be achieved thru other means. When God calls you and reveals his will to you, you must reattach to this purpose thru out your life. Even in Abraham’s doubts, he is still trying to figure out how to complete the mission! The whole ‘let my servant be the son’ or later on ‘let Ishmael live before thee’ are doubts that are arising out of his determination to see ‘the word of the lord’ [Gods original promise to him] fulfilled! So I want to encourage you to do a little housecleaning. Have things moved so fast [or slow!] in your life that you have lost the original purpose? Are you spending your time doing things that are not primarily connected to your destiny in God? Re attach to the original purpose. In verse 6 Abraham believes God again and it is accounted unto him for righteousness. God is still wanting you to believe him to bring it to pass!
(702) GENESIS 16- Abraham is around 85 years old. He’s been waiting around 10 years for God to fulfill the promise and give him a child. In the last chapter he suggested for the Lord to count his servant from his household as the heir. Now Sarah says ‘take my maid Hagar and have a son with her’. Of course the sons name is Ishmael. For all you preachers who read this site, well you know the story. But for all my buddies let me explain. Ishmael is usually looked upon as ‘the flesh’. That is Abraham went out in his own strength and tries to make Gods promise happen. True. But Paul will use this story in Galatians 4 and teach the difference between law and grace. Though Ishmael is the father of the Arab nations [Muslim people for the most part]. Yet Paul does not compare Ishmael to ‘natural Arab descent’. He compares Ishmael to JEWISH PEOPLE WHO ARE LAW KEEPERS AND WHO PERSECUTE TRUE BELIEVERS! Now, I don’t want to go anti Semitic. I want you to see this very important distinction. Today we should see this whole story thru the eyes of law versus grace. Not thru the eyes of Jew versus Muslim! When you preach it the ethnic way [Jew versus Muslim] you do harm to the purpose of God. Paul will use the illustration to show how all those who are under grace are free and don’t have to be under a legalistic mindset. He will compare Ishmael to those who are NATURAL JERUSALEM [not Arab people!] and say ‘you must be free from trying to please God thru the law, and come to the Cross!’ [Hebrews, Romans, Galatians, etc.] Preaching it like this is consistent with the New Testament. Preaching it like the American Fundamentalists causes strife in the world! So read this chapter along with Galatians 3 and 4. Think about what I just told you as you read, and see if it falls down on the side of grace versus ethnic division. God loves all people. He is calling all nations to himself thru Christ. Let’s keep this in mind as we ‘preach the bible’. Many times we do damage to the purpose of God because we think ‘preach the bible’ means spewing out hatred to Muslim people. Here we have shown you that this is not the will of God!
(703) GENESIS 17- Once again God appears to Abraham to reassure him of the original promise. What did God promise him again? He will be the father of many nations [Paul will refer this to Abraham being the father, spiritually, of all believers. Not just natural Israel!] God told him he would be a blessing to the whole world thru his offspring [Both Jesus individually, all men being justified and receiving the Spirit by faith. And also thru the ‘corporate Christ’. The whole body of Christ, including Jew and gentile believers] and Abraham would ‘inherit all this land thru his offspring’. If you go back and look at the actual borders that God spoke of, it is much more than what you see on a map of Israel today! We are going to deal with the mistaken idea of the Protestant American Evangelist and his preaching on so called ‘replacement theology’. Now The Lord will reaffirm this basic promise and tell Abraham ‘walk before me and be perfect’. I get the sense that the Lord was waiting until Abraham’s faith was ‘perfect’ enough to fulfill the promise [read my commentary on Hebrews 11 on this site!] It’s like the Lord was saying ‘walk right son, I am waiting to give you all the stuff I spoke of!’ Abraham is 99 and Sarah is 90. God says ‘Sarah will be the mother of many nations’. It seems like Abraham all ready gave up on his future son Isaac and had all his hopes on Ishmael. Abraham will say this in response to the promised Isaac. ‘O that Ishmael would live before thee’ in essence ‘just do the promise thru Ishmael, I’m all right with it’. God says no, he will do it thru the promised child! Now, let’s get into it. Read Galatians 3-4 and Romans 3-4. Paul will take all these promises and say ‘the promise that God made to Abraham that he would inherit the world was not to Abraham or his kids thru the law, but by faith. So at the end [fulfillment] the promise might apply to all the kids, not just to natural Jews who are living by the law’. Paul absolutely is a REPLACEMENT THEOLOGIAN! He is really not guilty of what this so called accusation means. Some preachers will say those who ‘spiritualize’ the promise of God to Israel and apply them to the church are ‘replacement theologians’. But the fact is Paul is doing this! Read Romans 4: 13-14. Paul interprets these passages to refer to the church. Both Jew and non Jew who believe. ‘Why brother, how can the church fulfill the promise of God to Abraham that his seed [kids] would inherit the holy land’? Easy, the New Testament clearly states that we are joint heirs with Christ. We basically own the planet. There are believers right now in every part of the Holy land and all Palestine and Iraq and Egypt and as a matter of fact all over the world! Did you notice Paul will expand the ‘land promise’ from the holy land to the world! Jesus is actually seated at Gods right hand in heaven ruling from a universal throne [which includes Israel!] and is expanding his actual earthly presence thru the church. The fact that right now Abraham has spiritual children inhabiting the whole planet, including Israel. Shows that the promise to Abraham is being fulfilled thru ALL THE SEED, not just those who are ‘of the law’ [natural Israel]. Well in a nutshell, Paul was a ‘replacement theologian’ but I prefer to see it more as a ‘full world theologian’ a type of interpretation that sees all of Gods kids possessing all of Gods world thru the ‘promise of the Spirit’. NOTE; It is vital for believers to see this truth. It will keep us from getting involved in ‘holy wars’ between Israel and Palestine and advocating actual murder as a fulfillment of Gods word! [See entry 827]
(704) GENESIS 18- The Lord appears to Abraham and tells him he is going to destroy Sodom. Abraham has family living there [Lot] and pleads with the Lord not to judge the place. Abraham says ‘what if 50 righteous people are there, will you destroy them with the rest’? The Lord says ‘No’. Abraham goes all the way to ‘what about 10 people’ and the Lord assures Abraham he will not destroy the place if there are 10 righteous people there. Well, you know the story. Lot and his family will leave and God will judge the place. Peter will use the example of Lot and say ‘the Lord knows how to deliver [save] the righteous’. He ‘delivered’ just Lot. Also the Lord ‘saved’ Noah who was a preacher of righteousness. David in Psalms says ‘The righteous cry [call upon] and the Lord hears and saves them’. The theme of God ‘saving the righteous’ is different than God ‘saving sinners’. This is actually what Paul is referring to in Romans 10 ‘with the heart mans believes unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation’. In essence ‘you are saved’ when you believe. And the process of ‘ongoing promised salvation and deliverance will come to all who call’. Hey, once you believe [are made just] you can’t help but call! For the Spirit of God is sent forth into your heart and you will cry ‘Abba, father’. I don’t want to get technical here. If you asked Jesus into your heart and are truly serving God, great! But in context there is a ‘salvation of the righteous’ as well as a ‘salvation of the sinner’. They are intricately connected, but you see the doctrine here. God will save the just over and over again as they call upon his name. The righteous cry and the Lord hears their prayer and delivers them.
(705) GENESIS 19- The Lord tells Lot to leave Sodom quickly. Lot has to be forcibly removed by the angels! The men of Sodom wanted to have ‘relations’ with the angels! Lot offers his daughters instead and the men pass on the offer. God initially tells Lot to flee to the mountain [the name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous run into and are safe- once again we will see the doctrine of the righteous being saved by the Lord]. Lot offers the angels a compromise. He says ‘let me go to this nearby city instead’ the angels say ‘fine’. The next day lot wakes up and sees the total destruction of Sodom and realizes this was the last city he lived in that the Lord wasn’t to happy with. He must have turned around and thought ‘geez, the lord also wasn’t to happy with me going to this other city [Zoar] either, he wanted me to go to the mountain’ and he tells his kids ‘you know what, that mountain retreat sounds like a good idea after all’! The scripture says he feared to stay in Zoar! If you read 2nd Peter 2 and Jude you will see Lot mentioned. The writers will once again say the Lord knows how to save the righteous. These chapters speak of both the deliverance of Noah and the story of Lot. Many times rapture theorists will see the truth of God saving his people from wrath and mistakenly apply it to a geographical deliverance. Both lot and Noah are examples of believers who were ‘removed from wicked places and preserved from God’s wrath’. It was a geographical salvation if you will. In the New Testament the wrath of God is seen in a more universal dimension. In John 3 the scripture says ‘the wrath of God continually abides on the unbeliever’. Paul will say ‘Jesus delivered us from the wrath to come’. Past tense! The New Testament doctrine of promised deliverance from ‘the wrath to come’ is not contingent upon a geographical location. It is based on ‘being in Christ’ [the city of God, the bride the lambs wife! Revelation] and coming ‘out of Babylon’. The world [not the earth!] and its false systems of pride and sin. So in context you can apply these geographical deliverances to the child of God being spared from future wrath. But you shouldn’t develop a doctrine that says ‘Jesus comes back 2 more times, one to take away believers for 7 years and another to reveal himself’. Jesus will come back, but if you haven’t already been ‘delivered from Babylon’ by the time he comes, then be assured ‘the wrath of God abideth on you’.
(706) GENESIS 20- Abraham does it again! He travels to Gerar and tells the king ‘Sarah is my sister, not my wife’. This time the king takes her but before he sleeps with her God appears to him in a dream and tells him not to do it. In this chapter we see dreams, prophets and healing mentioned. All before Pentecost! In the following days we will cover Joseph and his dreams. I want you to see the reality of God communicating and interjecting himself into the human story as he wills. The fact that all thru out scripture AND CHURCH HISTORY we see an ongoing work of God in supernatural things shows us that God is still sovereign and can do all the things he has ever done. One of the big divisions in Christianity today has to do with the Charismatic movement and the more Orthodox/Reformed brothers. While I realize the Reformed brothers do accept the supernatural workings of God, some of them hold to cessationist views of the gifts of the Spirit. The Charismatics will accept the gifts, but often fall short in the simple teaching of scripture. I have been frustrated over the years in trying to tell Charismatic brothers that you can’t teach that Jesus was a very wealthy person who taught a money message. No matter how much proof from scripture or history you give them, they dismiss it as ‘that old tradition’. I can see why the more Reformed guys just avoid the whole deal. But to be honest to scripture we need to see and have a basic belief in a supernatural God who can communicate thru dreams and can use Prophets and does heal miraculously! Now after God appears to Abimilech and tells him ‘don’t do it, she is the mans wife’. The king is also told ‘restore her back to the man and he will pray for you and I will heal you, he is a Prophet’. So Abraham makes it right. Now, the king also gives restitution to Abraham. Lots of stuff. Does this contradict what I taught earlier about Abraham? We showed how he didn’t take free handouts. In this case this is really not a free handout, it is the biblical doctrine of restitution. Jesus taught this in the New Testament. When someone is wronged by you, do what you can to make up for it. So we leave this chapter with Abraham once again coming out on top, even though he messed up! This shows you that it is only by the mercy and favor of God that you are where you are today. You might think ‘you know, I really am a pretty talented guy. If I weren’t with the lord I probably would have succeeded in some other endeavor’ NOT! It is his grace alone that has exalted you to success. If it weren’t for the Lord you would be a big mess!
(707) GENESIS 21- God gives Abraham a child thru Sarah in their old age. Sarah was ‘beyond the time to have kids’ and it was truly a miracle. The child grows and Abraham’s son from Hagar, Ishmael, mocks Isaac. The scripture says ‘cast out the bondwoman’s son, he shall not be heir with Isaac’. This thing grieves Abraham but God says ‘listen to Sarah’ and he sends Ishmael and Hagar out. Once again in Galatians 4 Paul says ‘these things are an allegory’ [wow, talk about presumptuously spiritualizing the word! Many preachers believe doing this is wrong. They seem to not see the heavy amount of ‘spiritualizing’ that Paul does!] Paul says these are examples of how the legalistic Jews would persecute those born of the Spirit. Paul clearly says ‘just like Ishmael made fun of Isaac, so today [the New covenant] those who are born of the Spirit are being persecuted by those born ‘after the flesh’. There simply is no other way to see this. Paul flatly applies this story to law versus grace. Not Jew versus Arab [Muslim]. Paul will even call ‘natural Jerusalem’ Ishmael, who is under bondage with her children. And call those who are born of the Spirit children of ‘the heavenly Jerusalem’ who are born from God. For a first century Jewish former Pharisee to absolutely reject any glorifying of natural Israel, and to call her ‘in bondage with her children’ shows you the strong disconnect that the modern fundamental evangelist makes with scripture when he applies such honor to natural Jerusalem! In a previous chapter Abraham circumcises his son [Ishmael] and himself the same day. Paul will also teach that this shows Abraham to be the father of ‘many nations’. The fact that Abraham was declared righteous before he was circumcised shows you that Abraham is not only ‘the father of Jewish heritage’ but of ‘all who believe, even those who are not circumcised’. This might not mean as much to you today, but in 1st century Rome the Jews considered the uncircumcised as ‘dogs’. For Paul to say Abraham is the father of all who believe, even the uncircumcised, was a major break with ethnic tradition! Sort of like what I just showed you about the ‘natural’ versus ‘spiritual’ Jerusalem. It challenges the strong ethnic ties that believers hold to when they do not rightly interpret scripture. Paul was hated for this type of theology! So we see the Lord finally fulfill his promise to Abraham. The child has arrived! Boy is he gonna be surprised when God says ‘now, go and offer him as a sacrifice’!
(708) GENESIS 22- The big test day! It comes to all of us. A time in your life where you choose to obey or keep playing around the danger zone of disobedience. God tells Abraham ‘you see that boy Isaac, the one you have been doubting me about thru out this journey. You thought I would fulfill the promise thru your servant at first. Then for sure you had your hopes on Ishmael. Boy don’t you remember what we went thru in order to get you to the place of promise’? I could hear Abraham saying ‘I know Lord, forgive me for being so stubborn. I had a hard time believing Sarah could really have a son. She was ‘beyond the time of child bearing’ and I doubted it would happen. But now that it did happen, well I can see Isaac truly being the father of nations, just like you said’. God ‘yeah, it’s been a wild ride son. Oh yeah, one more thing. Take the child and offer him up on an altar!’ WHAT! I am sure Abraham thought the major days of testing were over. The miracle boy has arrived. Things are going well for Ishmael, he’s on his own and enjoying some bow hunting [he became an archer!]. And Abraham wants to settle down and enjoy the rest of his life. But the Lord says ‘let’s go for another round’. In Hebrews 11 the Word says Abraham at this point simply learned how to trust. He knew in his own mind that the only way to get any where was to obey. He tried all the other angles before and they just delayed the promise. He also knows that this child is the one that the promise will be fulfilled thru. Hebrews says Abraham just figured ‘what the heck. I got the boy by way of a miracle. He was as good as dead when he was born. He came from a ‘dead womb’. If God wants me to kill him, I guess he will just raise him up again!’ Abrahams mind was trained at this point in his life to fall down on the side of ‘I will do what God says, and he will do whatever needs to be done to bring the future to pass’. [Read my commentary on Hebrews 11 on this blog!] Often times this Isaac story is taught in a way that says ‘God will ask you to give up on the promise. You must ‘lay Isaac down on the altar’. While there is some truth to this idea, it really doesn’t grasp the full picture. I just showed you how in Abraham’s mind he didn’t think he was ‘giving up on the vision/destiny’ he just learned to allow God to do it the way he said. It is really not a test of giving up the vision, it is a test of how do you think it will come to pass! Have you learned to not try and organize and strategize and be ‘motivated’ enough to make it happen? We usually create idols out of the process, the way we think it should be done [wrong concepts of ‘Local church’] and God doesn’t say ‘lose the vision/purpose’ he says ‘quit trying to do it in ways that are heavily dependant on your own strength’. Abraham wasn’t giving up on the vision, he was giving up on his own wisdom!
(709) GENESIS 23- Sarah is old and dies. Abraham mourns for the loss of the ‘mother of many nations’. She was just as much a recipient of the promise as he was. Abraham offers to BUY a burial spot for Sarah and his family. He tells the people ‘sell me a place to bury my dead’. The sons of Heth say ‘you are a great and influential person. Take any spot you want for free’. Once again Abraham refuses a free gift. He did this earlier with the king of Sodom. Why is this important to see? While in today’s economy we allow for ‘churches’ to be tax free. Yet we need to be very careful about looking like we are freeloaders. I have heard unbelievers in the past say ‘these prosperity preachers are claiming God has prospered them. But they are getting tax free stuff’. While I believe it’s o.k. to use the benefits the government provides for advancing the gospel, we need to be aware of the impression this gives to the unbelieving world. Especially when we use the tax free status and at the same time amass wealth! So here we see Abraham purchase the land for the full price. He buys a field from Ephron and counts the silver in public [open books!] and lets everyone see up front that there are no secret financial dealings. I think Abraham would be a member of the financial accountability groups that oversee the ministries finances!
(710) GENESIS 24- Abraham sends his servant back to his homeland to get a wife for Isaac. The servant asks ‘what if the women doesn’t want to come back to the Promised Land, should I bring Isaac back to your original homeland’? Abraham is adamant ‘under no circumstances is my son to leave this journey and go back!’ the writer of Hebrews says ‘if they were mindful of the land they came from, they might have had opportunity to have returned’. The whole point is the idea of leaving the ‘homeland’ was a type of Israel [and you!] leaving the old ways and traditions that we are familiar with and to launch out into new things. Paul will often use this language in exhorting natural Israel to leave the old law and come into the New Covenant. We need to make sure that we don’t go back! [note: I am not saying all tradition is wrong, but sometimes we are so joined to past ancestry that this hinders the things God has planned for us]. The servant goes and finds a well and says ‘Lord, give me a sign. Let the woman who I ask to give me a drink. Let her also offer to water the camels and I will know she’s the one’. Is it wrong to ask for signs? Sometimes. But God wants us to succeed so much that he will show you beyond a shadow of a doubt what he wants! Sure enough Rebecca comes to the well and she fulfils the sign. They go back to Abrahams relatives [Labans house] and the servant tells the whole story. Rebecca goes back to the promised land with the servant and Isaac marries her. This story is often taught in Sunday school as Abraham being a type of God who sends his servant [Spirit] to get a bride [the Church] for his son [Jesus]. I think it fits. God also sends his Spirit to draw you away from the place of security into a new land. He knows that unless we leave familiar co dependant environments, we will never mature into the full functioning person that he intends for us. Often times the missing ingredient is ‘get up and get out’. We fail to launch!
(711) GENESIS 25- Isaac and Rebecca are married for around 20 years and still have no children. Isaac prays for kids and Rebecca is pregnant with twins! The first one out is Esau and then comes Jacob. Scripture says ‘the older will serve the younger’. Paul will quote this in Romans 9 to explain Predestination. The doctrine of God saving you based on total grace. He chose you before you were born! Now, I have said before that Christians have fought wars over this stuff. After all the studying I have done over the years, I fall down on the side of Calvinism [or Augustine or Paul!]. The critics of this doctrine have good reasons to be critical, there are some difficult questions that come with this teaching. For the most part you see Paul defending it in Romans 9 by using this story. He says God chose Jacob before the boys were even born, they had done nothing to earn Gods choosing. Now those who reject Predestination will say ‘God saw ahead of time the future decisions that the boys were to make’. Fine. But Paul still defends the doctrine from the point of view that ‘before the boys did right or wrong God chose Jacob’. Paul then says ‘you will then say to me, how can God find fault? People are just doing what they were predestined to do’. If God was just choosing Jacob based on his foreknowledge of their future choices, then Paul would have said ‘easy, God is being fair because he based this decision on his future knowledge of what the boys would do’. But Paul doesn’t say this. He answers the critics of predestination by saying ‘who are you to question God? Can the thing that God created question the creator’? Paul will go on in the rest of the chapter and defend classic Calvinism using this defense. I believe there are some real answers to be found thru out Romans that might be a little too ‘heavy’ for us to get into. Most believers who have argued over these 2 Christian views [Calvinism versus Arminianism] have argued over the seeming unfairness of the doctrine. There are things that we don’t fully understand or grasp as humans. When we try to ‘adjust’ scripture to make it fit our rational minds we err. I believe we should rejoice over the mercy of God, teach all people that Jesus loves them and Christ died for them. And thank God that you and I are in this thing because of Gods sovereign choice, it had nothing to do with what we did [or would do!] We also see Esau sell his birthright to Jacob. Paul uses this in Hebrews 12 to warn Jewish people not to despise the privileged position of ‘being first’. The gospel came first to the Jews. Jesus is the Jewish Messiah! The fact that they rejected Jesus has caused there to be a ‘despising’ of that which was originally theirs! Many Jewish people have fallen into the error of Esau. They have rejected something that was designed for their benefit. And while others have benefited from this rejection, they actually despise hearing about their rightful place in Messiah! Many Jewish families see it as heresy for a family member to convert to Christianity. Esau sold what was really his, and he hated Jacob because of it.
(712) GENESIS 26- There is a famine in the land and the Lord warns Isaac not to go down into Egypt. Isaac stays and dwells in Gerar and the surrounding area. He pulls the ‘this is my sister, not my wife’ thing. The king finds out she is Isaacs wife and rebukes him for lying. Isaac is really blessed in the land. Scripture says ‘he sowed and reaped a 100 fold’. Now, let’s do a little stuff. The modern church went thru a whole phase where believers were confessing and believing and doing everything [but working!] in order to get ‘the 100 fold return’. We have previously showed you how when Jesus spoke of ‘the 100 fold return’ in the parable of the sower, he in no way was speaking of money! [Read the chapter ‘twisting the parable of the sower’ the book is ‘HOUSE OF PRAYER OR DEN OF THIEVES’ on this site]. But because the Old Testament is the ‘shadow’ of things to come, and not the true riches. That’s why in this story it is speaking of natural stuff. Now the church went thru this stage of believers doing all they could to ‘reap the financial harvest’. We taught believers to think on money, confess it. Basically consume your thoughts with ‘money thoughts’ [all in violation of Jesus teaching on ‘the gentiles are always thinking about this stuff, let it not be like this with you’!] So we had a whole group of young believers violating the mandate in scripture to work and be diligent. And they often times were doing it by believing a distorted doctrine on the 100 fold return. Well Isaac reaped because HE SOWED. He planted that darn farmland! [To be nice about it]. So today we should teach the believer the responsibility of working and living diligently and being responsible. And we need to teach that the way you reap the 100 fold return is by actually planting that field! Isaac also will re open the wells that his father had dug. They were stopped up out of jealousy by the philistines. Sometimes people ‘who are not doing the work themselves’ [sowing] have a lot of free time. What do they do with this free time? Figuring out ways to stop up other peoples wells! Paul called them busy bodies in the New Testament. These brothers just make more work for those who are in the harvest field! Isaac opens up the wells and honors his fathers heritage. The church goes thru these stages every so often. A re opening of the church fathers. Studying Patristics again [1st 7 centuries of church history]. I think it’s a good thing to honor our spiritual heritage. These wells go deep and have been feeding people for centuries!
(713) GENESIS 27- Isaac is old and ready to die. He calls Esau and tells him to go get some deer and prepare him a good meal. Isaac is going to give the blessing of the firstborn to Esau. Rebecca hears the plan and when Esau goes hunting, she tells Jacob [her momma’s boy!] ‘Quick, go get some cabrito and let’s make some carne’! They dress Jacob in Esau’s hairy clothes and he goes to dad. Dad is a little suspicious but Jacob is a great liar. When Isaac says ‘son, how did you hunt and prepare the food so fast’? Jacob not only lies, but he even invokes the Lord! ‘God was with me and he helped me prosper’ OUCH! This boy likes to fib! The plan works and Isaac blesses Jacob instead of Esau. Notice the blessing, it is the actual blessing that Jacobs’s son Joseph will dream in the future. Isaac says your brothers will come to you and bow down and serve you, I have made you preeminent among them. Years later Joseph will tell these dreams to his father Jacob and Jacob will act surprised. ‘Are we all going to bow down to you, where in the world did you ever get such an idea’? I think Jacob knew where it came from, but he was playing the stoop! Esau comes in with the venison and finds out it’s too late, Isaac already gave the blessing of the firstborn to Jacob. But Isaac musters up a cheap blessing and gives it to him. Esau plots to kill his brother. Rebecca hears and says to Isaac ‘lets send Jacob away to Labans house. God forbid that he takes a wife from this place’! She wants her boy gone to protect him from his brother. Notice this whole story. God is using this family to fulfill his purpose in the earth. These are all the great heroes of the faith for heavens sake! You would be hard pressed to find a more dysfunctional family today. We have a tendency to present leaders and ‘movers and shakers’ as stage performers. They are seen at their best. The average saint feels he cant live up to the high powered models we present to them. That’s why when a book is written from the honest standpoint of failure and struggle, it is popular. The people of God want to know that they are not alone in their struggles and sins. They want to see that many of the ‘great Christians’ struggled like them. I think this story does a good job at accomplishing this purpose. Also in the last chapter I forgot to mention something. One of the wells that Isaac digs is named ‘Rehoboth’. Which means ‘the Lord has made room for us and we will be fruitful in the land’. I have already incorporated this into my prayer time. These chapters carry many tremendous promises of God giving you the influence of a true revolutionary. God telling Abraham ‘all the land you see you will inherit’ reaffirming these promises to his seed. ‘I will multiply you exceedingly, I will make nations out of you and kings will come from you’ ‘your children will inherit this land. They will prosper in all their ways’ all these themes can be found thru out these chapters. Remember Paul teaches these promises are being fulfilled thru the people of God. Claim these promises over you and your children. Claim them over both natural and spiritual offspring. God wants to bless you with the blessing of Rehoboth ‘he will make room for you in this land and make you fruitful’!
(714) GENESIS 28- JACOBS LADDER; Isaac sends Jacob off to Labans house. Esau sees that his father never dealt with Jacobs’s schemes and goes and TAKES A WIFE FROM ISHMAELS DAUGHTERS! A huge no no! Isaacs’s family knows this story like a family taboo. How many times has Esau heard how uncle Ishmael used to mock Isaac. And how ‘Father Abraham’ had to send Ishmael away. This story must have stuck like a thorn in the side of Ishmael and his family. Well, after all these years of family strife and division, old Esau goes and says ‘uncle Ishmael, can I have your daughters hand in marriage’? I am sure Ishmael thought ‘why what have we here, the precious heritage of beloved Isaac wants to associate himself with us. Sure I’ll help you old nephew’. Ishmael was more than glad to oblige. Isaac never really dealt with the inner strife in his family. King David and others would fall into this category as well. Esau did what he did out of spite, and it affected many others. Now on Jacobs journey he stops and sets up a bunch of stones [living stones- Peters epistle calls believers living stones] and makes a pillow for his head [a place to rest his head. Jesus is the ‘head’ of the church [authority!] and he ‘rests’ [abides] in the people of God thru his Spirit. We are the habitation of God!] As the sun sets [it got dark on Golgotha- the place where the sun went down] he falls asleep [Jesus ‘slept’ 3 days and nights in the grave]. During his sleep God appears to him and assures him that because of the journey he will become the heir and father of nations and peoples [Jesus is the actual seed of Abraham that would inherit all kindred’s and nations. He was faithful to go on a journey to earth, the incarnation. And the father made him heir of all things while he ‘slept’] Jacob wakes up [resurrection] and says ‘this is the house of God’ [Jesus made us the house of God thru his death and resurrection] and puts the stones together into a pillar. It actually calls the stones [corporate] ‘the stone’ [singular] at this point. We were all individual stones before Christ. But in him we have become one ‘stone’. The church, the Body of Christ. The pillar is made from the stones [Peter said we are the living stones who being formed together are an habitation for God- Paul said the church was the ‘pillar’ and ground of the truth] and Jacob pours oil on the pillar of stones [Jesus poured out his Spirit on all the living stones on the day of Pentecost, anointing us as his New testament pillar of stones]. Oh, by the way, the ladder that Jacob saw in his dream was a door of access from heaven to earth and earth to heaven, this is a wonderful type of the Cross. Bravo to the great victory of the Son of God!
(715) PARABLE FROM A WATCH- Recently there has been much public debate on the origins of life. Two famous atheists, Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens have written books on the subject. These books have been debunked fairly well by others in the scientific community as well as believers. Ben Stein, the comedian who used to be on T.V. and other various projects has made a movie called ‘expelled’. I haven’t seen it yet but it shows the very real discrimination that is played out against professors who even think to mention the theory of intelligent design. These professors are often silenced, not on the grounds of science, but because of the stigma that comes with being a contrarian when it comes to evolution. Now the parable; Say if 2 people were walking along the highway and stumbled across a watch. They have never seen one before. The materials of the watch are foreign to them. What is this strange thing? One of them espouses the idea that many billions of years ago nothing existed. You had no matter, no life giving entity. You believe that as billions of years went buy, out of nothing came something [a scientific impossibility!] but for the sake of argument, we agree. Now this ‘material’ that came into existence from nothing still had to be formed and designed into this complex watch that we have found. The materialist espouses another billion or so years go by and you had this explosion. Where did the explosion come from? Well lets stick with the same theory of where the materials came from. It just happened! No explanation at all. No scientific fore thought, everything just went ‘boom, boom’. At this point I begin wondering if my materialistic friend is off his rocker! But from this unexplained explosion we have billions of more years [he seems to think the simple concept of billions of years can itself create matter and cause action and create design. This idea is absolutely contrary to all true science. All true science, observable facts, show us that from points of disorder you do not get design! Say an explosion of some other thing, you do not derive order and complexity from the simple act of an explosion. An explosion can never in a billion years produce a watch. It would be like using the common example of an infinite number of monkeys typing on an infinite number of keyboards for an infinite number of years and producing the complete works of Shakespeare!] Now from this viewpoint the materialist says ‘this is how the watch got here, I am a man of knowledge and science’ now as the innocent bystander, I would say ‘you my friend are a complete and total idiot’ [I like using parables, you can have the characters say things that you personally would never say as a believer!]. The bystander says ‘as far as we can tell from all other observable data that we have around us, there has never once been a time where a complex machine like a watch could have simply appeared from nowhere and nothing. You had to have had some initiator [designer] somewhere along the way to have crafted the thing. This designer, be it aliens or whatever, had to have had the ability to also have created the elements of the watch. By sheer logic, this designer himself had to have been around forever or else you would come up with the same problem of ‘something/someone coming from nothing’. The bystander deducts that although he can not explain scientifically all the ins and outs of this designer, yet he without a doubt is much more ‘scientific’ than the materialists idea that all things came from no thing! So today, we have the ‘average Joe’ who simply believes that the materialistic scientist must have the real answers. The average Joe thinks ‘surely I haven’t been believing in a total absurdity my whole life!’ He takes ‘by faith’ the materialists explanation. Most average Joes have heard the argument ‘well, the schools teach science, not religion. Therefore we must believe this absurdity’. It is a proven fact that complex things, be they watches or humans or solar systems, must have come from a designer. How is it proven? It is proven in the sense that all observable complex things have never been shown to have appeared from nothing. Science has never once witnessed the arrival of a new species from nothing. Science simply shows us the factual data that all things that we can now observe coming into existence [births of animals, humans, etc] come into existence by the actions of other things that already exist. The belief the bystander has espoused! So in reality what the average Joe thinks is true science, that all things came from nothing, is not true science at all. As a matter of fact, that which he thought was ‘silly religion’ actually has been closer to the facts all along!
(716) GENESIS 29- Jacob goes on his journey after the Bethel experience and shows up at a well in Laban's land. As he is talking to the brothers who are sitting there at the well he scopes out the situation. He finds out that Rachel, the daughter of Laban, will be coming to water her dads sheep. Great, he is having some success in hooking up with a possible wife. As he is talking to the shepherds he asks ‘why don’t you guys water the sheep, there thirsty and it’s as good a time as any’? Jacob is pro active. His family history is digging up wells. For heavens sake water the ‘darn’ sheep already! The guys answer ‘O heaven forbid it! Our tradition is to wait for all the other brothers who are also bringing sheep. Then someone else rolls the stone away from the wells mouth [the ordained clergy ?] and then, and only then, do we water’. Well Jacobs a newcomer and he can’t figure out what’s wrong with these Yankees from the east. He just keeps his mouth shut. Sure enough Rachel shows up, and what do you know, he goes and rolls the stone away. That unordained rebel! Doesn’t he realize that he is violating the traditions of our fathers? The water in the well is precious, who does he think he is freely watering as if the water was ‘growing on trees’. Well it is! Or better, the ground is full of it. Jesus said ‘feed my sheep, the water that I give freely is available to everyone. This water will become a river in my people. For heavens sake the stone has been removed from my grave [well] for 2 thousand years, why don’t you water the sheep’? We are like the brothers waiting for the official ‘stone roller’ to tell us when it’s OK to water. Jacob was a go getter, if these other guys feel they don’t have the authority to roll away the stone and freely give access to the river of life, then that’s their problem. But ole Jacob is gonna provide that water whether they like it or not! Jacob goes to laban's house and they share the whole story. Laban says ‘just because you are my relative, doesn’t mean you are going to work for free. Tell me your price’. Well, I kinda like Rachel. We did smooch at the well. Sure enough Laban says work for me for 7 years and she’s yours. They sort of had a long time payment plan for stuff like this. Jacob works the full 7 years and scripture says it seemed like a few days to him. The 7 years are up, Laban says ‘your bride is waiting in the tent’. It’s late and dark, Jacob makes love to his wife, and sure enough in the morning its Leah and not Rachel! Jacob is incensed. Laban says ‘Oh, didn’t I tell you we have this custom that the older sister gets married first? But being I am such an honest broker. Just work another 7 years for Rachel’. We often see Jacob as a schemer. After all the whole reason he is at laban’s house is because of his past schemes. But in this instance, laban was the slippery character. This will be the beginning of many years of deceit. Jacob will go ahead and trick laban out of the good flocks. Eventually Jacob will leave under less than perfect circumstances and his wife, Rachel, will learn the supplanting ways of Jacob. We will read how Rachel steals laban’s idols and lies about them. But we leave this chapter with some deep-seated mistrust in Jacobs’s dealings with uncle Laban.
(717) GENESIS 30- I forgot to mention that in the last chapter Leah gives Jacob 4 sons. Now Rachel is barren. Notice how all these mothers of the faith are barren. What’s up with this? Sarah, Rebecca and now Rachel. Paul will quote Isaiah in the book of Galatians ‘more are the children of the desolate, than of the married wife’. Paul quotes this in context of saying ‘the spiritual Israel [church] will actually have more ‘children’ than the natural Israel’. He quotes it in a way to teach the reality of God bringing forth the promises thru the promised seed as opposed to the natural law. I hope you’re following me. It is consistent with everything I showed you when we covered Isaac as the promised seed. Now here we see a theme of the promised mothers as barren. And then God miraculously giving the mothers birth [remember Sarah was past the time of having kids?] So God is doing the same here, Rachel feels hopeless as each year passes and she is barren. Especially because Leah has given Jacob kids! So in this chapter the race is on! It’s actually quite funny. Rachel says ‘Jacob, sleep with my maid’ [A Hagar type thing] and sure enough Rachel starts the competition. Leah is also popping out more kids and is trying to keep up. Then Leah stops getting pregnant and enlists her maid. Sure enough the race continues. Then Leah starts getting pregnant again and names the kid ‘Gad’ which means ‘a troop is coming’ OUCH! Old brother Jacob must have been thinking ‘am I personally going to fulfill grandpa’s dream of populating the earth?’ Then Rachel gets pregnant for the first time. She has Joseph, thru him we will see the prophetic lineage carry on. He will have future dreams and fulfill great destiny. His role will be crucial to the survival of his whole family. Now Jacob tells Laban he wants to move away. Laban wants to work out a deal to keep him as his main worker. Jacob is an excellent employee! So Jacob does a famous scheme. This chapter is one of those stories that people use to try and discredit scripture. The reason is Jacob will take all the sheep with spots and stripes and remove them from the herd. He than tells Laban ‘now, I have removed the spotted sheep. All that is left are plain ones. From now on all the new sheep will be divided like this; those born with spots/stripes are mine. Those born plain are yours’. And scripture says Jacob peeled stripes in Poplar tree branches and placed them at the watering trough. When the sheep conceived while looking at the striped branches they had striped kids! Some have had a hard time trying to explain this story. Does science teach stuff like this? Not really. Some have come up with various excuses. Let me give you my explanation. In this whole story it does say ‘when the sheep mated in front of the branches they gave birth to striped sheep’ and when the weaker sheep were there mating without the branches that they gave birth to plain ones. The scripture doesn’t actually say it was because of the branches! Its obvious Jacob thought it was because of the branches, but if you read it carefully the guy might have been fooling himself! It’s sort of like these mafia guys from New Jersey. Lots of them ran construction crews or Pizza Parlors. They actually made great Pizza! They could have made it legitimately if they wanted. But they wanted their hands in the cookie jar. It’s possible that God was simply giving Jacob favor when the stronger sheep bred! God has been known to favor his kids. But old scheming Jacob needed some angle, like the mafia guys. He very well might have thought ‘look, my scheme is working’ scripture does say ‘when the stronger sheep mated in front of the sticks, they gave birth to spotted babies’. But the lord might have been making those babies spotted regardless of the sticks! It just said the sticks were there! So without being too dogmatic on this, lets say Jacob was the type of ‘supplanter’ [this is what his name means] that was always looking for an angle. He never could fully trust God to simply meet his needs without his own devising. Jacob struggled with ‘trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not unto your own understanding’ he was a lot like us.
(718) GENESIS 31- As Jacobs flocks increase and he becomes highly successful, Labans family gets jealous. Scripture says Labans countenance changed. He began listening to what the critics were saying ‘look, this guy is getting all the credit/blessings that are rightfully yours, it’s coming at your expense’. Notice, Laban probably would have been content that his son in law was prospering. He even says this later in the chapter. ‘I am happy for you son, your wives and kids are part of me’. But the incessant jealousy that he was hearing day in and day out wore him down. Be careful that you aren’t upset about stuff that you shouldn’t be upset about! Jesus gave the parable of the workers who got their agreed wages, but then felt wronged because the master gave the same amount to others who didn’t work as long. Jesus says ‘is your eye evil because I have been extra merciful to others who you deemed less worthy’? Of course this theme fits in perfectly with the Jewish context of the gospels. The Jews would be incensed that Messiah offered the same forgiveness to those who they deemed less worthy, the gentiles. So here Laban has heard it long enough, his ‘countenance changed’. Jacob sees the writing on the wall and what do you know, just in time he says ‘I had a dream and God told me to leave’. Now, I will take the brother at his word. But he has already shown a history of saying ‘God told me, or helped me do such and such’ when covering up deception! [He told pops ‘I got the venison quickly because God helped me’, the brother was lying thru his teeth!] In the dream the lord tells Jacob ‘I am the God of Bethel, it’s time to journey again. Go back to Canaan’. Why would God remind him of this milestone of Bethel? Bethel was the place where Jacob earlier learned to commit all to God. He came to Labans land with nothing, God blessed him tremendously. It’s easy to begin trusting in the success and systems around you. You see your job and career as your source of security. God is reminding Jacob that he is still the God of Abraham and Isaac. Jacob is just a fulfillment of Gods previous decree to his forefathers! When God says it’s time to journey you journey! As Jacob gets his wives and family they sneak away. Laban comes chasing him down and is mad ‘now what, you left secretly at night! I didn’t even have a chance to kiss the kids’ he must have been battling with the gossip that he’s been hearing from his men. They did say ‘watch out for this guy, we don’t trust him’. Jacob makes his defense, even though he himself is not totally innocent. ‘How dare you question my integrity! I have done this and that…and on and on’ he makes laban feel guilty. Now Laban isn’t the brightest light bulb in the chandelier. He tells Jacob ‘someone stole my images [idols!]’ and Jacob says ‘search for them, whoever has them will be guilty’. Jacob does not know that Rachel has them in her tent. Poor Laban goes rummaging thru everything and comes to Rachel’s tent. Rachel says ‘forgive me father for not standing up, but the time of women is upon me. So I can’t get up and let you search the couch I am sitting on. You don’t have a problem with that, do you’? Old brother Laban obviously wasn’t a C.S.I. watcher! So at the end of this chapter they mend relations. Jacob leaves the land where he has been blessed, and now has to deal with some past demons. He will face Esau, the last person that wanted to kill him!
(719) GENESIS 32- Jacob makes the trek back home. He’s burned this bridge in the past, but now he has to go back thru the wreckage! He fears Esau, he thinks ‘does he still hold my trickery against me’? He sends some messengers to talk to Esau. They come back ‘what did he say’? Nothing, he’s just coming with about 400 men. O that’s all. He prays ‘God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and me!’ [Jacob- I fudged, he doesn’t say his own name] he says ‘you told me to go back to Canaan, I am just doing what you said. I trust you to save me and the kids. What in the world will happen if they all get wiped out? You promised…on and on’ Jacob is like me, an over reactor! You will see this thru out his life. He later will think all is lost when Joseph keeps one of the brothers in Egypt before he reveals his identity. He thought all was lost when his boys had those brothers circumcised that raped their sister. They tricked the pagans into circumcising themselves and when they were ‘sore’ the 2 brothers went in and slew the city! Jacob responds ‘what have you done! They will surely wipe us all out’ but instead it put the fear of God in the surrounding enemies. They all thought ‘what in the heck is up with this family. One of the guys from our area had ‘relations’ with the girl, and they go and trick them into mutilating themselves, then the next day they come and finish you off!’ It actually worked out pretty well. So here Jacob trusts the Lord and will commit it all to him, right? Not! Jacob says ‘Quick, split the women and children into 2 camps. Get some bribery packages together. Send a bunch of guys out to Esau and give him the bribes. If he doesn’t bite, and one camp gets wiped out, then the other group will go free’. Gee, I guess he thought the Lord didn’t hear him? Well Jacob finally meets up with Esau and all goes well. O, I forgot, Jacob has the meeting with the Lord. This is the chapter where he wrestled all night with the lord and receives the famous ‘Jacobs limp’. God changes his name to Israel, he will have influence with God and men and will prevail. Despite all his conniving and deal making, yet God sees him as a prince. A man who will influence nations and peoples. He has power with God himself! I guess that leaves room for the rest of us.
(720) GENESIS 33- Jacob finally confronts an old problem. He faces Esau. He has robbed him in the past, not just from his birthright, but from his dignity! Does Esau remember? I am sure. Will we find one of these new gospels some day [the fake ones!]? Will it be called ‘Esau’s revenge’ and tell a different story? Well the biblical one says Esau hugged Jacob and was overjoyed to reunite with his long lost brother. Esau learned the power of forgiveness. Jacob might have been carrying the baggage of his wrongdoing for many years. Esau dropped it long ago. So they have this great reunion, they settle old grudges. Esau says ‘come on brother, lets go back together’. I get the feeling that even though Jacob is back home, he really wants to maintain his own level of independence. He tells Esau ‘O, that’s all right. You go back. We will catch up later’. Esau offers to leave some of his men, Jacob refuses. I get the sense that Jacob is like one of the hometown boys who has been gone for years. Even though his family and friends have also grown and become responsible adults, yet he is different. It was Jacobs willing independence to leave his natural father and journey with God that has been key to his success. He really has found God as his Father. Now Esau was a good man, but over the years as times were rough, he had his family right there to help. Jacob had only God. Jacob didn’t want to sacrifice this precious gift. He’s back home, but he realizes his true home is Bethel! [The house of God].
(721) GENESIS 34- Jacob and the boys start settling down. Before too long one of the local men rapes the sister Dinah! Jacob hears and holds his peace. The boys come home and are livid. How dare these people disrespect us! You get the sense that Jacob is willing to let it slide. He is operating out of fear, self preservation. True courage demands a willingness to take the kingdom by violence! John the Baptist wasn’t weighing his options when he railed against the king’s sin. It cost him his life, but he knew he couldn’t let the injustice stand. So Jacobs’s sons are true warriors at heart. These are the 12 boys who are the beginnings of the heritage of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. These kids were like messing with the sons of Katie Elder [some old John Wayne western. To be honest I don’t think I ever watched it, but it sounded good to mention it] these boys have prophetic destiny written all over them. So here is the plan, they hear about Dinah’s rape. The father of the boy who raped her is the prince of the land. He comes and works out a deal with Israel. He says ‘my son loves the girl, lets be trading partners. We can all live together in harmony’. Jacob seems to think this is a good idea. The Boys have other ideas! They tell the father ‘sure, but we have this custom. We don’t deal with uncircumcised people. So go and circumcise all the men in your town and the deal is on’. Now, this is no small request! The father/ prince goes back to town. He gets together a city meeting. All the towns men are thinking ‘what’s it gonna be now? Another rate hike in our utility bill’. The meeting is held and he tells them the deal. ‘Oh, is that all. Just get circumcised. Doesn’t sound that bad. What does it mean I wonder? Sprinkle a little water on our heads. Some Episcopalian Baptism rite or something?’ Boy were they surprised. I can just see the look on their families faces when they got home to tell momma what the prince wants them to do. The wives must have thought ‘you gotta be kidding me, I want to move out of this county’ [and you thought Nueces county was rough!]. Poor Tommy hears the news from his dad and thinks ‘what in the heck kind of Waco cult are these people, they want me to cut what?’ So the deal is on, they go thru with it and 3 days later 2 of Jacobs sons [Simeon and Levi] get their swords and show up in the middle of the town and say ‘lets get it on’. They slew all the men. They spoiled the town and even took the women and children captive. And you think I’m an over reactor. Jacob is incensed ‘what have you boys done? You will bring the wrath of the whole area down on us. They will wipe us out’. He really was willing to do the fake deal and let his own daughter’s rape go unpunished. He believed the boys offer as much as the town’s people. The boys never intended to let their sister’s rape slide by, Jacob did. This shows you what fear can do, it clouds your thinking. Scripture says the fear of man brings a snare. Fear not the reproach of men. Jesus said don’t fear those who can kill the body only [men] but fear him who can destroy both body and soul [God! Some bad translators have said Jesus was speaking of satan, he was referencing God]. In the next chapter we will see God tell Jacob to go back to Bethel, and as they leave, the surrounding people didn’t lay a hand on them. They feared Jacobs’s boys more than Jacob feared the people of the land.
(722) GENESIS 35- As Jacob fears what will happen to him after his boys killed Hamor and ransacked his city, God tells him ‘calm down, return to Bethel. We need to get some things settled once and for all’. Bethel is the original spot where Jacob made God his Lord. He vowed earlier in his life that if God would be his provider then he would commit his life to him. God wants Jacob to settle down [spiritually!] renew his entire purpose and get his priorities right. As Jacob and the boys leave the area scripture says ‘no one dared touch them, the terror of the Lord was upon all the surrounding people’. I could just see one of the raiding tribes saying ‘hey, look at this group. They have lots of wealth and stuff. How come no one is raiding them? Lets get them!’ and one of the other tribal families says ‘That’s the family who tricked the entire city into mutilating themselves’ Oh yeah, I never heard the story. Tell me more. Where did they cut themselves? He tells them where ‘WHAT IN THE HECK!’ He continues ‘and then 3 days later 2 of the boys with swords show up in the city and announce ‘everybody up. The cuttings not over yet!’ and they killed all the men. Took the women and children and spoiled the place. The raiding group thinks ‘you know what guys, lets pass on this family’. The terror of God was upon them for good reason! At Bethel the Lord reminds Jacob of his calling ‘you are Israel, not Jacob. Don’t forget this, you are a prince and have power with God and men’! It was hard for Jacob to act like a prince. After the Lord instructs him and reminds him of the original destiny, Jacob once again builds a ‘pillar of stone’ and anoints it with oil. I sort of see a prophetic thing here. The first pillar did represent the church, the people of God. I think this ‘second pillar’ can also speak of Gods future purpose to bring ‘another flock’ [Gospel of John] into the fold. In essence this is a type of the church also. The ‘second pillar’ to go with the ‘second covenant’. God is showing Israel his intent to gather together a future community and to ‘re anoint’ [Israel were the first people to have the Spirit. Read Hebrews and Romans] this new people at Pentecost. Also in this chapter we see the birth of Benjamin and the death of Rachel, Jacobs ‘favorite’ wife. It then says ‘Rueben slept with his father’s concubine’ and in the very next verse ‘Rueben was the firstborn from Leah’. I see something here. Why did Rueben purposefully disgrace his dad? It came right after Rachel’s death. Ruben was conceived in a situation where his father was tricked into it. You remember the story of Leah. Now how many times over the years did Rueben witness the favoritism that his father showed towards Rachel’s son Joseph? How long was Rueben waiting for things to turn around? Maybe when Joseph gets older dad will pay more attention to me as the firstborn? Maybe this favoritism is a stage that dad is going thru? Well he hears of the death of Rachel, and also of another new born son! Oh my, will Jacob spend another 25 years pampering this other boy from his favorite wife? Ruben saw the writing on the wall. It was time to let dad know how he felt about this whole situation. He did.
(723) GENESIS 37- Chapter 36 has a lot of genealogies, so let’s skip it. In this chapter we see Joseph having the dreams that his brothers and father and mother will bow down to him. He makes the mistake of telling everyone about it! Rueben is already mad about the favoritism shown towards Rachel’s sons as opposed to him being the firstborn. The other brothers clearly see the favoritism too. Jacob made Joseph the coat of many colors. To me this represents the multi ethnic diversity of Christ’s church [body]. Skins represent ‘covering’ or flesh. All the animals sacrificed in the Old Covenant were a type of Christ. The tabernacle represented a living mobile dwelling place of God, the church. They used skins as a covering. So this coat of many colors is like the body of Christ. Joseph typifying Jesus as the favored son who will eventually bring together all tribes and nations into unity as Jesus ‘wears them like a robe’ [truly we are his dwelling place, covering of flesh if you will!] Jacob sends Joseph to ‘see how his brothers are doing and bring back the report’. Just like the parable Jesus gave about the king sending the servant to check up on the vineyard. Eventually the king says ‘I will send my son’. Jesus says they take the son and kill him. Joseph’s brothers see Joseph coming and say ‘here comes Mr. big shot, the dreamer’. Understand Josephs dreams were simply the destiny of God on his life. It is important to differentiate between ‘what I want out of life’ and Gods purpose. Joseph’s dreams did speak of exaltation and fame. But these were things he did not seek! Jesus gives instruction in the New Testament to actively pursue the lowest place. The teachings on taking the seat in the back of the room and not the front. The teaching against gentile ideas [Roman] of authority. So we must not read into Joseph’s story that God wants us to ‘be all we can be. Become great’. Greatness in Gods kingdom is backwards. You seek not to be exalted and exaltation comes! Now the brothers take him and throw him into a pit [grave] ‘without water in it’. A type of death. Water and spirit are interchangeable words. A pit without water is like the grave [body] without the spirit. James says this is what death is, separation of body and spirit. Now something is happening at this point. The brothers are falling into the trap of group think. Just going along with something because others are doing it. Rueben begins seeing this deception. He also despises Joseph, but begins realizing things are getting out of hand. He says ‘lets not kill the boy, just throw him in the pit’. Judah also speaks up on his brother’s behalf. So they take Josephs coat, put blood all over it. They sell Joseph into slavery and they bring the coat to Jacob. ‘Dad, we found Josephs coat with blood on it. I wonder what happened to him?’ Now, how many options do we have? Maybe the boy got into a scrap trying to save some sheep and that’s what happened, or maybe he hurt himself and used the coat as a tourniquet? Yeah, that’s possible! But Jacob is a pessimist ‘surely some wild animals got to him’ bad enough! But wait ‘and they tore him to pieces, devoured him and he’s gone’ Yikes! Then he says ‘I will be depressed about this for the rest of my life and go to the grave never getting over it!’ Boy, who would have thought the guy was gonna take it like this? We once again see the over reaction of Jacob. It’s so easy for leaders with destiny and purpose to think all is lost. Moses and others have thought the same. Elijah was ready for the Lord to take his life because some Jezebel was giving him a hard time! I want to encourage leadership, don’t make rash or major decisions when your emotions are out of whack. We have a tendency to take reproof or correction the wrong way. We want to quit and start all over. Find someone else to ‘take over the church’ so we can get out of dodge. Jacob thought the worst, but what was actually happening was Gods pre ordained plan that would actually be for his salvation down the road. Jesus is still thought to be dead by Jacobs descendants, they only see the ‘pit without water in it’. They don’t realize that Jesus [Joseph] is actually alive and waiting for them to come and bow the knee!
(724) GENESIS 38- Judah goes ‘down from his brothers’ [isolates himself] and sleeps with some women. He does have a history of ‘going in unto harlots’. This chapter will get graphic, just warning our younger readers! He seems to have a pattern with this. Now, one of the sons, Er, will marry a girl named Tamar. The son is wicked in the sight of the Lord and the scripture says ‘the Lord slew him’. Judah tells the other son, born from his playboy lifestyle ‘Go and have kids with your brother’s wife, and raise up children for your brothers name’. This was a custom of the time. If a brother died before his wife had children, then the other brother was supposed to do this. Now it wasn’t being Mormon! [The old time ones]. They wanted to make sure the lineage of the tribe from whom the son died continued to carry on a legacy. It was for the procreation of the children of Israel. Now Judah’s second boy, Onan, does not want to raise up seed to his brother. I see in him a sickness that plagues the Body of Christ today. Because of the way we have come to view local church as the separate 501 c3 organization, this tends to build a mindset into the clergy that says ‘are you with us [the so called 'local church’] or with the other team down the block?’ There is a strange concept that says ‘I will spend my time, resources and energies raising up seed to my name [my 501 c 3] but I can not give of my gifts and life to build into people who I do not derive some loyalty or benefit from’ [raising up seed to your brother]. Now Onan does something; here’s the warning about graphic language! He ‘goes in unto his brother’s wife and spills it on the ground’. I don’t think I should explain this. Years ago one of the Captains at the fire dept. would say ‘well, the bible says it’s better to spill it in a prostitute, than on the ground’. And he would look at me to confirm his translation. He really thought it was in the bible! I would ‘instruct him in a way more perfectly’. I also had a friend who said ‘well, the bible says “woman, if thy husband hitteth thee [notice how he used ‘hitteth’ as opposed to ‘hit’] divorce him, for he is lower than a rattler’. I would inform him I was pretty sure this wasn’t in the bible. He was adamant! I would tell him ‘besides it being contrary to scripture, I don’t think the Lord would say ‘rattler’ he would use ‘rattlesnake’. So Onan ‘spills it on the ground’ and guess what? The Lord kills him too! Now poor Tamar is real innocent in the deaths of the 2 boys. But Judah begins to wonder. Like the show I saw on some court channel. The woman accidentally shot her husband in the head. The defense had a hard time convincing the jury, being this was the second husband that she ‘accidentally shot in the head’! So Judah tells Tamar ‘go home to your dad, when my young son is old enough I will let him marry you’ sure! He of course tells his young son ‘stay away, you don’t want to die like your brothers’ [I added this part, but it sounds likely]. So one day when Judah is on a business trip, he looks around for the town prostitute. Tamar hears Judah is in town and puts a veil on her face and goes and stands on the corner. Judah doesn’t know it’s his daughter in law and sleeps with her. Judah agrees to pay for her services with a goat. Tamar takes his ring and staff and bracelet as a down payment. A few days later Judah sends his servant with the goat and he can’t find her. He asks the men of the town ‘where’s the harlot who was working the corner’? The men say ‘who’? They tell the servant they never had a harlot working the streets. Judah hears Tamar is pregnant and says ‘she played the harlot and should be stoned’! [He was a member of the Moral Majority]. Tamar sends the staff and ring to Judah and says ‘this is the man who got me pregnant’ and Judah admits his sin. I find it interesting that Judah will be given one of the best blessings from Jacob as Jacob is on his deathbed. Jacob will say ‘The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet. His hand shall be on the neck of his enemies, unto him shall the gathering of the people be. As a young lion he shall crouch down and go up from the prey’. We will read this later on in this study. These are Messianic prophecies. Jesus is called ‘the lion of the tribe of Judah’. God uses people who have done wrong. People who when confronted don’t try and cover it up. People who have made mistakes and are willing to admit them. This leaves room for the rest of us.
(725) GENESIS 39- Joseph goes into Egypt and is bought by Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh. The guy puts Joseph in charge of his entire household. Joseph truly excels in everything he does. The scripture says he prospered in everything he put his hand to! Just keep this truth balanced with all the undeserved suffering and afflictions he experienced. Now Joseph is so good at everything he does, that even Potiphars wife wants to ‘try him out’. She bugs him day after day to sleep with her! Joseph refuses. She gets him alone in the house, grabs his clothes and says ‘sleep with me’. He flees the house naked as she ripped his clothes from him. She then tells her husband ‘this Hebrew mocks you, he tried to rape me’. She lied and the husband puts him in prison. Notice something here, the wife’s accusation included racial stuff. Sort of like the racist movies from the 50s-60s. They played to mans inherent racism and would show the black man as wanting the white woman. These accusations were playing to the heart of racism. Some churches today still teach separation of the races, Christians look askance at mixed marriages. My position is in Jesus Christ these divisions do not exist and we should accept all races without prejudice. Now Joseph goes to prison and he excels again. The jailer makes him trustee of the whole place! You can’t stop this guy. In the next chapter we will see how it was part of Gods plan for this to happen to him. He did not go around rebuking the devil or claiming verses to get out of unjust persecution. He responded like Peter taught in his letter to the Christians ‘if any man suffers as a believer, let him praise God’. Peter makes a distinction between suffering persecution for wrongdoing and suffering as a believer. Peter experienced both. Even though he suffered shame by denying Jesus, God still turned it around and used it for his glory. Joseph understood the simple reality of a just man suffering unjustly. Now I want to emphasize the fact that Joseph was just! Peter also teaches us that we are partakers of the divine nature. John the apostle writes in his 1st epistle ‘whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin [habitually]’ ‘I write these things unto you that ye sin not, but if any man sins we have an advocate with the father’. Though I have shown you the many failings of the great heroes of the faith, I also want to show you the great walk that some of them had. You don’t have to have had a testimony of being a drug addict or ex con or some other terrible past in order to glorify God. It’s like my first Pastor used to say, his favorite song was ‘years I spent in vanity and pride, caring not my Lord was crucified’. But his testimony was getting saved at a young age. I would kid one of my buddies and say ‘Brother Skinners favorite song is about the years he spent in vanity and pride. I guess he meant all the times he acted out in recess!’ I know this is wrong, but it was too funny to leave out. So Joseph shows us the ideal can be achieved thru the wonderful grace of God. But if any man sin, you still have the advocate.
(726) GENESIS 40- Joseph is in prison and Pharaohs chief men get thrown in jail. His butler [the guy who tastes the wine before the king drinks it, to make sure it’s OK] and the baker. One day Joseph notices there sad faces ‘what’s wrong guys’? They tell him they both had dreams the previous night. They were troubled that they did not know what the dreams meant. Does Joseph say ‘O, you had too much pizza last night’ or ‘don’t you know we have the books of Moses completed! There are no more prophetic dreams.’ Instead he says ‘God is the one who can give the interpretation of dreams’. It is understood that some dreams have meaning and come from God. You find this all thru out scripture. I’ll be honest, I have recently had some prophetic dreams but have stopped sharing them on the site. Why? These last few years there have been so many prophecies shared and put on line and I feel the consumers of these words are not getting a steady diet of scripture and New Testament Christianity. I just read a ‘prophetic word’ that spoke of ‘why we are not getting the end time harvest of money yet’ it went into ‘targeting the demonic forces holding back the cash’ and other techniques to use to get the money. I have written and even sent some of our teachings to some of these brothers. Could it be the reason all the wealth hasn’t been released is because we are viewing the ‘end time transfer of wealth’ from an unbiblical standpoint? So I too have grown weary of all the ‘prophecies and dreams’ that seem to miss the mark. But here Joseph jumps write into the fray and interprets the dreams. He tells the butler ‘your dream means in 3 days you will be restored and hold the kings wine glass again’. The baker likes the word and asks ‘what about my dream’? ‘In three days Pharaoh will hang you on the gallows’ OUCH. Never mind Joseph, I don’t believe in prophecy any way. The dreams do have prophetic significance. The wine and bread [baker] speak of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. The 3rd day speaks of the mighty resurrection of the Son of God. Jesus offered his Body [bread] as a sacrifice for all humanity. He ‘hung’ on the Cross for us, just like the baker hung on the gallows. Jesus also was ‘lifted up’ out of the ‘prison’ the 3rd day and once again was restored to his previous position at the right hand of God. He took ‘the cup of his Blood [wine] and presented it once again to his father’. I think these dreams were prophetic.
(727) THE DELUSION OF RICHARD DAWKINS, THE AUTHOR OF ‘THE GOD DELUSION’.
I have been wanting to write a few entries but have hesitated to break into the Genesis study. Recently a noted atheist/scientist Richard Dawkins has been making the rounds to defend the non existence of God. In his comments he has unwittingly defended the existence of God! He is on record as stating that it’s possible that there had to have been a pre existent being who started the ball rolling. He states that this being would have to have great ability and tremendous understanding, very advanced in wisdom. He also acknowledged that he would have had to have either been around forever, or some other being before this being who was around first. He even surmises that this being could be some type of extra terrestrial life. An alien for crying out loud! I am not kidding. Now, what’s wrong with this picture? He seems to not realize that he is making the ancient philosophical case for the existence of God! This whole train of thought is what the ancient philosophers used to prove the existence of God. Thomas Aquinas goes on for hours using this very reasoning. He doesn’t call the being ‘an alien’ but the whole theory of a pre existing intelligent designer is the exact case that Dawkins is making. He seems to be totally out of his league by making this argument. A knowledgeable atheist would never make the drastic mistake of arguing for a pre existent being who started the ball rolling. A true atheist knows that this is basically the proof for the existence of God! I do find it funny how so many people have fallen for Dawkins and the other recent atheists who have become popular. Its funny how one of their leading advocates has actually advocated for God.
(728) SNEAKING A JELLY DONUT- I have been updating the ‘comedy section’ and remembered something. Years ago at the fire house I had a buddy who was trying to lose a few pounds. Firefighters do have a tendency to put on weight if they don’t workout or limit their food intake. I eventually started eating once a day and have kept the habit up now for many years. So this friend stops by the bakery and picks up a dozen jelly donuts [we call them ‘sweet bread’ in south Texas. Which is also a name for a certain organ meat that people cook. It is good, I have eaten it plenty of times. I would kid my Mexican buddies and say ‘you think you guys could come up with anything more confusing than calling a meat product and a jelly donut by the same name!] So my buddy brings back the donuts to our little sub station where we are the only 2 guys working. I had a habit of sitting out in the truck stalls during lunch and reading for around an hour. I did this for 25 years. Sometimes I would sit by the ambulance or behind the fire truck. I would open the rear door and have a nice view of the yard. Well as we got back to the station my buddy would keep offering me a donut. He knew I didn’t eat during the day but was worried he would finish the whole dozen off by himself. I told him not to get the dozen but he didn’t listen! So as the morning rolls on he eats one, than another. Well in a few hours he must have eaten 6 by himself! I would kid him and say ‘brother, for someone whose trying to lose a few pounds, you sure have a strange way of doing it’. He fessed up that he knew he was blowing it. He swore ‘that's it, no more’ after he downed number 7. So as I go into the stalls to read, about 30 minutes go by and I hear the creaking of the dorm door open into the truck stalls. I am quiet and reading. This day I am sitting behind the fire truck reading. I hear someone sneaking around the truck, trying to be quiet. He squeezes his ‘belly’ between the wall and the truck sliding his way right to where I am sitting. He thinks I am sitting by the ambulance. As he slips into the spot where I am quietly sitting, I just wait for his face to pop thru so I can ask ‘what in the heck are you doing’. As his head appears he has the 8th jelly donut jammed in his mouth and the jelly ready to explode all over. He realizes he has been caught and says ‘I thought you were sitting by the ambulance’.
(729) GENESIS 41- Joseph is sitting in prison for 2 full years after he was promised by the ‘cup holder’ to advocate for his cause once he was released! The cup holder forgot to mention it! I think one of the most unjust things that has happened in society has been these brothers who have been falsely accused of some terrible crime and spent years in prison and then later were found to be innocent. I think this is why we need to really rethink the death penalty. Now Pharaoh has these dreams and he calls all of his wise men in and no one can interpret the dream. At this point the cup holder realizes his wrong. He tells Pharaoh that when he was in prison a guy interpreted his dream. Sure enough, after years in jail and having been persecuted by his brothers and sold into slavery, at the age of 30 he finally begins inheriting some stuff. Joseph was 17 when the problems started, he is now 30. 13 years of suffering and obscurity. Now, scripture says ‘see a man skilled in his work, he will stand before kings. He will not serve obscure men’ [Proverbs? It’s a newer version of the bible]. God was ordering things in Joseph’s life to ‘bring him before kings’ men of influence. He was 'accidentally' sold to an officer of pharaoh. He then gets thrown in jail and runs into the ‘chief butler and chief baker’ and now he gets a shot at pharaoh! It was the hand of God positioning him to be in a place of influence. Joseph will interpret pharaohs dreams to mean 7 years of famine will follow 7 years of plenty [read the chapter, I didn’t include the dreams in this entry]. Pharaoh says ‘great, what should we do about it?’ Joseph says ‘how about you find the wisest, smartest most impressive man in your country [gee, I wonder who this could be?] and put him in charge and have him collect a fifth of all the lands produce during the time of plenty and then he can distribute the food during the harvest’. Pharaoh says ‘sounds like a great idea! And who is wiser than you Joseph, you’re the man’. Joseph basically pulled a Dick Cheney [for those reading this in a hundred years, Cheney is the current vice president of George Bush] Bush hired Cheney to find the most qualified vice president he could recruit. Sure enough Cheney says ‘it’s me!’ So Joseph carries out the plan, Pharaoh puts him in charge of the whole country. Pharaoh says ‘only in my official title am I higher than you’. Joseph is truly running everything! He didn’t despise his day of ‘small things’. He ran Potiphars house, then the prison and now the country! Joseph is a type of Christ here. Pharaoh says ‘I give all authority to you, the nation will stand or fall on your word’. Jesus told the people in John’s gospel ‘My words will judge you in that day’. Joseph truly is a man of power and authority. He has 2 kids in this chapter. Manasseh and Ephraim. Their names mean ‘God has caused me to forget all my previous trials’ and ‘God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction’. Isaiah says ‘remember not the former things, nether consider the things of old, behold I do a new thing. Shall ye know it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. Before these things happen I declare them unto you, so when they come to pass you will know I ordained it’. Also Joseph tells Pharaoh ‘God has revealed to you what he is going to do’ by giving him the dreams. Joseph understood that it was Gods purpose to reveal his plan ahead of time to Pharaoh. The coming to pass of these dreams on a national scale was proof positive of the ‘God of Joseph’ being the true God! I remember hearing a testimony of a Muslim tribe who all converted to Jesus in a single day. One morning one of the men woke up and shared a dream he had. He explained how he saw Jesus in the dream. As word spread they soon realized that every single person in the tribe all had the same dream the previous night! When God reveals himself on a wide scale like this it leads to whole nations [groups of people] converting. As Joseph stores up the food for 7 years he strategically puts the food in store house cities thru out the land. This is a type of Jesus future revolutionary movement. In Matthew 13 Jesus speaks of the kingdom as seeds. Both the people and the word are described as seed in this chapter. When Jesus sent out the disciples they were distributing seed [the message] as well as being ‘seed’ [Jesus says the good seed were the children of the kingdom planted and growing in the world]. In essence Jesus was placing garners [communities of people] filled with seed all over the region. Paul himself will target the influential cities of his day with the gospel. He knew if he could spread the fire to strategic places it would take root. So Joseph has all this ‘grain in the barn’ just waiting to bust loose during the famine. And sure enough the famine comes and everyone turns to ‘the garners of wheat in the storehouse cities’ for their sustenance. I believe the people of God, Gods ‘fine wheat’ are truly the ones with the answer to society’s ills. Jesus has planted us ‘in the world’ [not in the church building!] so when the times of famine come, people can run to us for the ‘bread of life’.
(730) GENESIS 42- The famine in the land gets severe. Jacob tells his sons ‘what are we doing, get up and go down to Egypt and buy some food’. This begins the process of Jacob and his boys submitting to God’s higher purpose that they would be saved thru Joseph’s authority. Now of course we see Jesus all thru out this scenario, but we also see the dynamics of prophetic ministries. Jesus said ‘a prophet has honor, except in his hometown and with his own family’. Though Joseph is revered and a man of great authority and gifting, yet it will take Gods sovereign work to bring his brothers to a place where they can benefit from that which was truly meant for their benefit! Jesus says this about Jerusalem ‘O Jerusalem, you kill the prophets and those who have been sent to you for your own benefit’. Joseph’s brothers should have been the first to have bought the food from their brother, but God is revealing a greater plan. Now when the brothers go to Joseph in Egypt, Joseph recognizes them. But he speaks in the Egyptian tongue and pretends he doesn’t understand them. He recognizes them, but they do not recognize him. The bible says ‘Jesus came unto his own and his own received him not’. Now Joseph works out a plan with his brothers trying to entice them to bring Benjamin back with them. He says ‘well, you guys are spies! You came to spy out the land’. They told Joseph that Benjamin [Josephs only brother from his mom Rachel] was still home with the dad. So Joseph keeps the boys in jail a few days and says ‘lets do this, go take the food back to your families. And I will hold one brother [Simeon] and don’t come back without the other boy’. So they leave and tell Jacob about the deal. Well of course Jacob goes overboard. ‘O my God, I have already lost one son [not really!] and now Simeon is gone and you boys want me to give you Benjamin too!’ Jacob says ‘all things are against me’. Gee, would you calm down for a minute pops! Here we go again with Jacob reading the worst into the situation. I forgot to mention that when the boys were talking in front of Joseph, Joseph hears for the first time that some of his brothers were really trying to help him. Rueben says ‘see, I told you we shouldn’t have done this wrong deed against our brother’. Rueben was the oldest brother who was jealous over the favoritism that Jacob showed towards Joseph. For all those years Joseph never knew that Rueben really cared for him. Joseph heard this and had to leave the room so his brothers wouldn’t see him crying over this revelation. Sometimes we don’t realize that people are actually for us. Elijah and others went thru times of feeling like they were all alone. The enemy’s strategy is to make you think ‘yes, everyone really is against me. The whole town hates me. All the people in the church are fighting me’. Joseph was not aware that some of his brothers were actually for him. We end the chapter with Jacob and the boys back in their land, never planning to return and see Joseph again. Jacobs fear almost cost him 2 sons!
(731) GENESIS 43- Jacob and the boys have not acted yet. They came back home and told their dad the situation and it seems as if Jacob is frozen with fear. Being in a place of stagnation. Proverbs says the righteous are as bold as a lion [Judah has lion imagery in the blessing that Jacob will give him!] but the wicked fleeth when no man pursueth. One of the strategies of the enemy is if he can’t out right stop you, then he will try to cause you to simply maintain. Don’t do anything to advance. So the food supply is low and Jacob must decide! He says ‘go back to the governor of Egypt [their brother Joseph] and just buy a little food’. His plan is no plan. He seems to think that if he limits the vision it will be all right! What good is getting a little food? He will be starving again soon. Judah basically says this ‘Dad, the man told us plainly not to return unless we bring Benjamin. If we hadn’t dilly dallied this long we would have already made the second trip and been back by now’! They flatly tell their dad ‘we aint going back without the boy!’ now Jacob agrees to send the boy. He once again falls into the worst case scenario in his thinking. Judah does something important here. He tells his dad ‘I will be surety for the boy. If anything happens to him let the blame be on me’. Why is this important? I mentioned earlier in this study that Judah is the special tribe from which ‘the lion of Judah’ [Jesus] will come. Hebrews says ‘it is evident that our Lord sprang from a tribe which was not represented at the altar’. Basically Jesus had to be born from another tribe that wasn’t a priestly tribe [Levi] in order to fulfill his new covenant priestly image. But why Judah? He doesn’t seem to be super holy, as a matter of fact we already discussed his playboy lifestyle! Judah is the only one in this scenario who sees ‘substitution’ as a viable answer to the problem. He basically says ‘I will be in the boys place’. Now we will see later that Judah will make this offer out right when Joseph attempts to keep Benjamin. But most of all I see Judah and his offer as a forerunner for the future act of Penal Substitution that will be carried out by Jesus, the lion who will spring from his loins. Now the boys pack up some stuff, bring extra money and head back to Egypt. They show up at Joseph’s house and are worried. They tell Joseph’s servant ‘we didn’t steal the stuff last time. When we opened the bags someone put the money back in our bags’. This was a trick that Joseph pulled on them earlier. So the servant says ‘don’t worry, the God of Joseph has shown you favor’. Interesting, though the Egyptians never converted en mass to Joseph’s religion, yet he was showing the reality of his God being the true God. He was a man of great influence who had attained a position of unbelievable authority and he was accepted by the government of his day. I think this is important for believers in our day to grasp. I feel we do damage to our testimony when we do ‘marches on Washington’ and stuff like this. While there might be times for things like this, the overall testimony of the church should be one of ‘the God of the Christians has shown you favor’. We should impact society thru our deeds and social justice concerns, not by our marching in the streets! Well Joseph sees Benjamin [his only other brother born from the same mom, Rachel] and has to leave the room because he almost cried right in front of his brothers. They still don’t recognize him yet. So as we end this chapter he makes all the brothers sit down at the table for a meal. He places them in order of their birth. The boys are thinking ‘how does he know the order of our birth’? They will find out soon enough.
(732) GENESIS 44- Joseph feeds his brothers and fills their bags with food and sends them off to Jacob. This time he put the food and money back in their bags, but also he put a silver cup in Benjamin’s bag. After they leave Joseph sends his servant to stop them. He searches the stuff and finds the cup with Benjamin. Now, Joseph is doing all this just so he could keep Benjamin and have the boys return with Jacob. But the boy’s know how nervous pops gets! Joseph doesn’t realize what a panic button pops has become. The boys realize how bad dad is and they tell the servant ‘well, you got us! I guess we will all go back together to Egypt’. These boys had the chance to escape without Benjamin, they figured they would rather face Joseph than dad, OUCH! If you read thru the story you will see that they really don’t want to go home. Joseph actually says ‘go back, leave Benjamin and see your dad’. Finally Judah says ‘look, our dad has been distraught ever since he lost the other boy [Which is the actual guy they are talking to!] and he took it hard. If we leave without Benjamin he will die. I will stay in the place of the boy’. Once again we see Judah offer ‘substitution’ as an answer to the problem. It seems as if atonement was built into the DNA of the tribe of Judah. Also during this whole scenario the servant mentions ‘divination’. The silver cup that was found in Benjamin’s bag was for the ‘purpose of divination’ [or so the servant thought/said!] Joseph tells his brothers ‘why did you steal from me? Don’t you know a man of my stature can divine’? The art of divination, or obtaining ‘secret knowledge’ thru spiritism existed in ancient times. The pagan nations even had priests for their false gods. All of this is Babylonian in nature and forbidden by God all thru out scripture. The fact that Joseph rose to fame because of his ‘interpreting of dreams’ surely put fear in people, they assumed he was a great ‘diviner’. Now Joseph has said all along that God was giving him the interpretations, but it’s likely that the broader culture just viewed Joseph thru the already existing paradigm of ‘divination’. All people are seeking for some spiritual meaning in life. They often flock to new age teachings or eastern religions. God condemns, in no uncertain terms, all uses of the horoscope and sorcery or witchcraft to seek ‘hidden sources of wisdom’. God does have prophets in the church [no new cannon, but true spiritual direction by those filled with the Holy Spirit] and of course God regularly gives directions to his kids by his Spirit. So I just wanted to clarify, just because this chapter says Joseph used the cup ‘to divine’ in no way means that Joseph was ‘divining’ in the mystical sense.
(733) GENESIS 45- Joseph could not restrain himself any longer and reveals himself to his brothers. His brothers are absolutely shocked. They are hearing him in his own voice [my sheep hear my voice- Jesus] for the first time, they are beginning to see the actual image of their lost brother in the face of this sovereign person who they have been coming to and bowing to and submitting to. They came late to the table, the entire gentile nation [Egypt and the surrounding nations] have already been submitting to him for a while [Christ and the church made up of gentile nations] but Israel has been slow to respond. And since they have been responding they had no idea of the actual identity of this great ruler. Sure, these gentile nations knew his name was Joseph and they heard all the great stories about his rise to power. But the brothers of Joseph were simply submitting to this governor out of necessity. They actually were learning the ropes of how to come to this sovereign and to bow before him with requests [The Jews sure know how to pray to Jehovah, they have the Wailing Wall!] but to hear this ruler say ‘I am your brother Joseph, who you betrayed’ is almost unbelievable to accept! Now Joseph sees the look on their faces. He tells them ‘come here, I am Joseph your brother’ he has to explain the enormity of this revelation. They can’t connect the ruler with their former knowledge of their own flesh! Israel [the nation] has stumbled over the reality of their home town boy actually being their Messiah. Scripture says Jesus is the actual image of the invisible God, we see God and who he is thru Christ. For the brothers to be looking at the actual lord of the land, someone who they have been ‘submitting to’ already [Jehovah] and then to hear ‘I am Joseph’ [Jesus] out of the actual lips of the ruling authority himself, is very hard to grasp. The nation of Israel has been waiting and believing for the Messiah for 2 thousand years. They pray to Jehovah. The stumbling block is in their inability to actually see the face of Jesus in their God! He truly is the image of the invisible God. Now Joseph reassures them that everything that happened to him was truly a sovereign act of God to preserve life. He holds no grudges! [Father forgive them, for they know not what they do]. Pharaoh hears about this great reunion and tells him to go get the rest of his family and bring them back [to Goshen]. Jacob hears the news of his son’s authority and is shocked. He learns that his son is alive, and Lord of the land, all in one day [Scripture says a nation will be born in a day. Referring to Israel’s national repentance and acceptance of Messiah at the second coming- Romans]. So they make preparations to come to Egypt and for all the family to settle down together. I want to stress the importance of seeing the reaction of Egypt [gentile nations] when they hear that Josephs blood relatives are coming to benefit from the lordship of Joseph. The gentile nations are happy and glad to see the reunion! Much like the reaction that Paul writes about in Romans ‘if their falling away [The Jews rejection of Messiah] was for the benefit of all the gentiles [just like Josephs rejection by his brothers was for the benefit of saving Egypt and the surrounding countries] so how much greater will it be when they are reunited with Christ’. Scripture teaches us that it was for the gentile’s salvation that the nation of Israel rejected Christ’s Lordship. So when Israel returns home to their true Messiah, the gentile church will rejoice! I also want to make a note here, you will notice that Jacob had to relocate from the promised land and move over into the region [church- made up of gentile nations] in order to benefit from Josephs rule. Make no mistake about it, at the time of Israel’s conversion she will see that her clinging on to the old culture of law and sacrifice will have to be left behind in order to benefit from the bread that Jesus [Joseph] will provide. Jacob and the boys will carry some degree of national identity with them, after all they are still ‘Israel’, but the relocation from their land speaks of the willingness to uproot and journey towards the messiah.
(734) GENESIS 46-47- Jacob and the family pack up and head to Egypt. They bring 70 ‘souls’ with them. Remember, Jacob is always thinking ‘dynasty’. He has a track record of worrying about his family getting wiped out. He is still relatively small for a ‘nation’ but getting bigger by the day. He enters Egypt and sees Joseph for the first time. What a reunion! I guess now that Jacob realizes all of his worrying was for naught, all the times he allowed his mind to think the worst about stuff, I guess now he learned his lesson? Not. Pharaoh asks him ‘so, how old are you, aren’t you glad to see Joseph? How has life been treating you?’ Jacob responds ‘my days are 130 years, not even close to my forefathers. And they have been short and evil’. Wow, Pharaoh thinks ‘sorry I asked’. Now as Jacob settles down in Goshen, all the nations are coming to Joseph to be sustained. The years of famine that Pharaoh dreamt about are here. Notice something; all the nations spend all their money and the ‘money fails’. Did you know that the overall theme of money taught by Jesus and the apostles was ‘it will someday fail’? James says ‘the rich mans money will evaporate in the day of judgment and it will be to no avail’. Proverbs says the rich mans wealth can not deliver his soul during trouble. Jesus over and over again used examples of people putting their hopes in riches and forgetting the reality of death and judgment. In this chapter the money failed! Now, the nations sell their cattle and lands and eventually themselves to Pharaoh [Joseph]. Joseph and Jacob as well as Joseph and Pharaoh [this one] are types of Jesus and the father. In this case Joseph ‘purchases’ all the people for Pharaoh. Jesus bought us all by his blood. Now, even though I go hard on the prosperity guys, here’s some practical financial advice. Joseph tells the people ‘take the corn [grain-seed] and use it to feed your families and cattle, but plant some of it in the ground for heavens sake!’ he is teaching the mentality of ‘feed a man a fish and you feed him for the day- teach a man to fish and you feed him for life’. Joseph is trying to break the entitlement mentality. Showing the people that a portion of their increase should be invested. Don’t take all your money every month and spend it all. Give a portion to God, and put some in a savings/investment. If you spend all the money you earn [eat all the seeds] then you will be living from paycheck to paycheck. ‘Well brother, I am trusting in social security’ not if you’re a cessationist [someone who believes miracles don’t happen any more] because it would take a miracle for the government to not bankrupt the thing! So we see balance in this chapter. Good financial advice along with the reality that some day ‘your money will fail’. Good Christians maintain good balance.
(735) GENESIS 48- Jacob is old and ready to die. He calls Joseph and his boys. Jacob reminds Joseph that God called him many years before at Luz [Bethel]. Jacob is instilling in his son the reality of him and his family being a part of the divine plan. In essence ‘God has called us to great things, he chose me for this many years ago, you my son are simply an incarnate part of his divine purpose’. Now Jacob does something interesting. Joseph’s boys, Manasseh and Ephraim, are here to see Jacob [grandpa] before he dies. Jacob gives the honor of making Josephs 2 son’s equal heirs with the other boys. Joseph’s sons share equally in the inheritance of the 12 tribes. Jacob also says the younger one [Ephraim] shall be greater than the older one. Joseph kind of says ‘dad, you have your hand of blessing on the wrong boy, your right hand should be on Manasseh’. The right hand denotes special authority and favor. Jacob says ‘don’t worry son, I know what I am doing. God will bless your oldest son, but truly the greater blessing is on the youngest’. Now, to be honest, as I study the history of these boys thru the scripture, it doesn’t seem to me that any thing ‘extra special’ happened to Ephraim. I think Jacob might have made a mistake common to people with destiny. He read his own story line into the lineage of his sons. He might have felt that because God showed him special favor by honoring him over his older brother Esau that this mode of operation was to become a long term thing. Many divisions exist in the Body of Christ today because of this reasoning. I have taught tons of stuff on the idea of local church and how many good men seem to mistake a ‘mode of operation’ that worked well for them, but to then try and read this into the up and coming generation in a way that might be wrong. Paul taught in Corinthians that though there is one Spirit, yet there are many different ‘administrations’ and out workings of the gifts. We often read that passage in a way that says ‘in the Sunday ‘local church building’ mindset, you have different ways God works’. But it is actually saying ‘the Sunday building mindset is only one of the various ways the Spirit works’. Now I know Paul wasn’t directly talking ‘Sunday church’ in the passage, but the point is when the New Testament speaks of different ‘administrations’ and ways the Spirit manifests thru the people of God, it is speaking of Gods ability to manifest himself ‘outside of the box’. Jacob experienced God thru a mode that said ‘the younger shall serve the older’ I think he might have over done it when he tried to project this ‘mode’ onto his posterity!
(736) GENESIS 49- Jacob gathers the boys together to give them a blessing. He realizes the importance of launching them with both blessings and rebukes! Why does he mention the mistakes and failures of the boys? Rueben is unstable like water; he acted spontaneously and out of jealousy. Simeon and Levi have an anger problem. In today’s ‘church world’ we focus and confess the desired outcomes of what we seem to want. We feel it is against a life of faith to even hear or receive reproof. I watched one of the fathers of the prosperity movement the other day. He was overseas doing a convention. I watch now out of prayer and agreeing as much as possible with parts of the meeting. I see this as a function of the prophetic, a willingness to intercede and agree as much as possible with those you have disagreements with. To be honest, you could see a real sense of uneasiness in the audience. It was almost as if these believers were somewhat familiar with this man, but the teachings were really off. During the service the speaker said how people have come up to him and said ‘did you read that book about you’? People who have begun to learn of the errors of this movement. The teacher said he never reads or listens to those who try to rebuke or correct him. This was obvious as to the fact that the meeting ended in the teacher saying ‘satan, get your hands off my money’ in a very aggressive and angry voice. He was leading the people in prayer and said this. The whole thing was very sad. Now Jacob flat out tells the boys where they have done wrong and went off course, he makes no bones about it. These boys heard criticism that was needful. But he also gives some great blessings. I have already internalized and added the blessings from Judah ‘the scepter shall not depart from you’ ‘your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies’ ‘as a young lion you will crouch down and go up from the prey’. To Joseph ‘you are like a bough [vine] by a spring of water, a well. Your branches flow over the wall’ a type of regional influence, reaching beyond your ‘city borders’. The archers hated you and shot at you but did not prevail, but to the contrary your bow has prevailed. The purpose of God for Joseph and his ‘targeting’ of prophetic arrows of destiny would win. These are great promises to these boys. Jacob speaks to his sons as he prepares to die. He wants more than just a successful career during his lifetime, he wants to launch a movement [dynasty] that for generations to come would carry the torch of the original purpose. Jacob tells the boys ‘I am now going to die’ and he instructs them to bury him in the dirt of destiny! He wants to lay in the ground where he first met and learned of the fatherhood of God. He ‘slept’ before in the land and had a true ‘out of body’ experience at Bethel [Not a new age thing, but a real visitation from God]. He will reconnect with this destiny even in death. We still have one chapter left in Genesis, but we have really closed the book for the most part on this entire journey of Jacob and his boys. There is a real sense of this family living and dying with Gods destiny upon them. I want to ‘charge’ all of our readers and ‘family’ to reassess at this point in life. Bring things back into alignment with the true eternal values that count. I know we have rubbed people the wrong way because of our strong stance on a lot of issues. I have been ‘shot at by arrows’ many times, but I feel the Lord has allowed our ‘bow to prevail’ not for the targeting or hurting of people, but for the target that the Lord wants to hit. Children are like arrows in the hand of a mighty man, when they launch in the right direction they hit the target every time.
(737) GENESIS 50- Jacob dies and Joseph buries him in the Promised Land. The cave that Abraham bought years ago as a sign that they would remain in the land of destiny, they even buried their bodies as ‘seed’ in the land! Now the mourning for Jacob is intense. All Egypt and the people of Canaan see what a great loss this is. After Jacobs’s death, the brothers fear Joseph will finally take revenge! They send a messenger to say ‘we are sorry for betraying you as a boy, please spare us’. Joseph is surprised his brothers are still afraid. He assures them all is well, as they come and BOW DOWN TO HIM. Wow, many years earlier it was this very dream ‘shall we bow down to you?’ that caused their jealousy and betrayal. Now that it is being fulfilled to the tee, they are happy to do it, and Joseph feels no glory out of it! This is how scripture is fulfilled when it says ‘you shall see your desire on you enemies’ ‘the sons of those who hated you shall bow down to you’ it is fulfilled not in a self glorying way, but in a prophetic way in order to benefit those who hated and despised you years earlier! I find it funny how some people thru the years will initially meet me at a homeless mission or some other venue where I am just hanging out with buddies. Sometimes I have been treated ‘less than honorably’ by the Christians who think I am just a homeless guy. Now I am not pretending to be homeless! It’s just these guys are really some of my best buddies who I have been around for years. Sometimes I have been yelled at ‘you idiot, get your hands off of that drink’ when I accidentally took a soda 2 minutes before the official lunch bell. Others who are Christians and treat disdainfully some guy who they hear ‘he thinks he is a preacher’ from the homeless guys. It’s a sad commentary on the way believers treat the down and out with such little respect. Now years later some of them actually become students of the ministry, at first finding it hard to associate the ‘radio preacher’ or ‘blog writer’ with the guy that they cursed out at one time. But they are glad to ‘bow down’ [submit] and receive from the ministry. Some will even give the feeling of ‘now that we realize he isn’t a homeless guy, lets get together and talk spiritual stuff’. Sort of the idea that ‘the elite class’ can now accept you, because we see you as elite too. I don’t push them away, I just treat them like any one else. Whether they are ‘elite’ or homeless. In Josephs case he wasn’t thinking ‘now I got you guys, you said you would never bow, well look at you punks now’. He acted right. Joseph also gives a prophecy that after many years God will bring them up out of Egypt and into the land of destiny. Jacob and his sons came into Egypt as a fairly small band of people, they will spend 400 years in difficulty and oppression. God will use this ‘furnace of affliction’ to bring them to a point of supernatural signs and deliverance under Moses. They will add an extra 40 years delay in the wilderness due to their rebellion, and they will once again enter into the land where years earlier Abraham bought the burial ground. The land where Isaac experienced his God, the place where Jacob dealt with his fears and inadequacy. They will come back like stromtroopers as they cross the Jordan and instill fear into the inhabitants of Canaan. God said he would give the land to their forefathers, he kept his promise!
ACTS study
Introduction; Yesterday I took my kids to the mall after church, I usually get lost in the book store. Even though I bought an entire shelf of books a few months back, I still can’t help from buying more books! So I picked up a few more and found a comfortable bench and started reading the History of Christianity. At the house I am almost thru with another ‘history of Christianity’ that covers the story of the church from Pentecost to the present day. I own a few complete volumes and have checked out many from the libraries over the years. I read from both the Protestant and Catholic [Orthodox] perspectives. I also read from the ‘out of the institutional church’ perspective. These are the histories of various groups of believers who never became Catholic, Orthodox or Protestant. I consider all these groups Christian and appreciate the tremendous wealth of knowledge that these communities provide.
Now, as we go thru Acts, I want to stay as close as possible to both the doctrine and practices of the early church as seen in scripture. We are not the first [or last!] study that has attempted to do this. That is attempted to ‘get back to the original design’ as much as possible. Historically you have whole categories of believers who fit into this mindset. They are referred to as ‘Restorationist’ as opposed to Catholic, Protestant or Orthodox. The Church of Christ, The Disciples of Christ, the Anabaptists and others fall into this class. I believe you find true believers in all of these groups.
As you read the history of Christianity as told by the other perspectives, you will find it interesting as to the way the institutional church describes these ‘out of church’ groups. Some are called heretics [Waldensians] others are simply seen as fringe groups. The strong institutional church has branded those who would reject her authority as schismatics and heretics on the grounds of their refusal to submit to the hierarchy of the institutional church.
As we go thru Acts, I want us to read carefully and see the story as told by Luke. We will not find ‘another more true group’ in the sense that I want to start some new denomination. I also don’t want to simply find proof texts to justify doctrine. Many well meaning believers can find the verses they like the most and use them to combat the other points of view. We will see verses emphasizing the importance of water baptism, or various truths on the outworkings of the Spirit. We will see prophets functioning and read texts that clearly teach Gods sovereignty [as many as were ordained unto eternal life believed]. Instead of getting lost on these side trails, I want us to read with an open mind and allow our beliefs to be shaped by ‘the story’.
I will spend time defending my own view of Local church. Not because I believe ‘my view’ is the only thing worth arguing about, but because I believe we see the intent of God for his people to be a living community of believers in this book. Right off the bat we will see giving taught in a radical way. The early church at Jerusalem will ‘continue in the Apostles doctrine and breaking of bread and prayers’. They then sell their goods and distribute to all who had need. Where in the world did they get this idea from? The Apostles doctrine obviously taught the plain teachings from Jesus on sharing what you have with others. So instead of seeing an early tithe concept, you see an early ‘give to those in need idea’ straight from the teachings of Jesus. We will see this early Jerusalem group meet daily, as opposed to seeing ‘Sunday worship’ as some sort of New Testament Sabbath. Of course this group will meet at the Temple [actually an out door courtyard called Solomon’s Porch] and from ‘house to house’. But the simple realty of Christ’s Spirit being poured out on them as a community of people will be the basic understanding of what ‘church’ is.
You will find citizens of many surrounding areas going back to the their home towns after Pentecost. These believers shared the gospel with those in their regions and this is how the early church would spread. Some commentaries will show you how when Paul will eventually show up in Rome there already was an established church there. They obviously heard the gospel from these early Roman Jews who were at Jerusalem during Pentecost. So we will see ‘church planting’ from the paradigm of simple believers going to areas with the message of Christ. Those who would believe in these locations would be described as ‘the church at Corinth’ or ‘the church at Ephesus’ and so on. So we see ‘local church’ as communities of believers living in different localities.
We will see the development of leadership along the lines of ‘appoint elders in every city’. Not a top heavy idea of ‘Bishop’ in the later sense of Catholic belief, but a simple ordaining [recognizing!] of those in the various cities who were stable enough in the basic truths of the gospel, that in Paul’s absence these elders were to be trusted as spiritual guides. Now, many of our brothers can trace the historic office of Bishop as a fairly early development in church history. Polycarp and others were considered direct disciples of the Apostles who would be seen as Bishops and even write of the importance of Bishops for the church ‘Where there is no Bishop there is no church’.
This will cause many well meaning believers to eventually become Catholic/Orthodox as they read the church fathers and see the very early development of Catholic Christianity. In many of the church fathers writings you will also see an early belief in the Eucharist as being the actual Body and Blood of Jesus.
To the consternation of many Protestants you even find Luther condemning fellow Protestants for not taking literally the words of Jesus ‘this IS my Body’. Now, I will not defend transubstantiation, but try to follow the trend lines in Acts as to the lack of this doctrine being a part of the early church. We will find Paul’s letter to the Corinthians addressing the Lords Supper, but for the most part we do not see a strong belief in the transmitting of divine grace to the soul thru the eating of Christ’s literal Body and Blood as they ‘broke bread’. We do see the sharing of the common meal and the ‘Eucharist’ as one meal called the ‘love feast’. Only later on in church history is there a division made between the full fellowship meal and the Eucharist.
So to be frank about it, I will challenge both our Catholic and Orthodox brothers on some very fundamental beliefs. Well I hope this brief introduction sets the proper tone for the rest of this study, God bless you guys and I hope you get something out of it. John.
(738) ACTS 1- Luke, the writer of this book, feels the need to document the ongoing work of Jesus and his revolution. He already wrote a gospel and believes this to be the beginning of the story. In essence, the reality of Jesus and his resurrection are just the start, we have much more to do and become on this journey. Most writers jump to chapter 2. We have churches and music groups called ‘Acts chapter 2’. Why does Luke seem to wait till chapter 2 before getting to ‘the good stuff’? Chapter one records the 40 days of Jesus showing himself alive after his death. Luke feels this singular truth to be important enough to simply stand alone [I do realize the early letters did not have chapter and verse divisions like today]. The real physical fact of Jesus bodily resurrection is without a doubt the foundational truth of the gospel. The outpouring of the Spirit and the whole future of the church depends on the reality of the resurrected Christ. Paul will write the Corinthians and tell them if the resurrection were not true then they are the most miserable of all people. Luke tells us Jesus gave instructions for the Apostles to wait at Jerusalem for the Spirit. They will be witnesses of him to all the surrounding nations after the Spirit empowers them. We also see Peter emerge as the key spokesman for the group. He quotes freely from the Psalms and reads their own history into the book. He sees the prophetic verse from David on ‘let another take his office’ as referring to Judas betrayal and death. They cast lots and choose Matthias as the one to replace Judas. Peter shows the importance of Judas replacement to come from one that was with them thru out the earthly time of Jesus. Someone who saw and witnessed Jesus after the resurrection. Scholars have confused this with the ‘ascension gift Apostles’. Some scholars have taken the truth of the early Apostles having the criteria of being actual witnesses of Jesus, and have said ‘therefore, you have no Apostles today’. Paul will teach in Ephesians that after Jesus ascension on high he gave gifts unto men ‘some Apostles, others Prophets, etc.’ The New Testament clearly speaks of Apostles as an ongoing gift in the church. Barnabas will later be called an Apostles [Acts 14:14] as well as many other references in the original Greek using the same Greek word for Apostle. But here we find Peter seeing the need to replace Judas. Other scholars think Peter might have jumped the gun. They see Paul’s apostleship as the possible person the Lord picked out as the replacement. You do find Paul referring time and again to his Apostolic authority as one ‘born out of due time’ who saw Jesus on the Damascus road. If Paul was simply an ascension gift Apostle, why would he refer time and again to his authority based on being a witness who also saw Jesus? It’s possible that Paul was in this group of ‘Apostles of the Lamb’ who had extra authority based upon their testimony of being eyewitnesses. So in chapter one we see that Jesus appeared for 40 days giving instructions to the early leadership and told them to wait at Jerusalem for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. We see the incarnational purpose of God, Jesus was and continues to be the express image of God to man. He was not some ‘phantom’ like the Docetists will claim, but a very real physical resurrected Lord. Luke begins the early history of the church with this reality being important enough to stand on its own.
(739) ACTS 2- The Apostles are gathered together in the upper room. As they continue in unity and prayer the Spirit of God comes upon them like a rushing wind. There appear ‘cloven tongues’ like fire above each of them. Why this image? Why not ‘ears’ or some other sanctified body part? God is going to give supernatural power to the words that they will speak. In a few chapters we will read how an angel will supernaturally deliver Peter from prison and say ‘go, speak the words of this life’. These tongues are a precursor to the tremendous fire that will be loosed from their lips. James says the tongue is a little member but boasteth great things, it has the ability to start fires. Jesus said he came to earth to ‘start a fire’ and how he wished it were already burning. Here he gets his wish! Now the Apostles and early believers experience the gift of tongues. They begin speaking and prophesying in the unknown languages of all those who are gathered together to Jerusalem for the feast of Pentecost. God ordained this event to be strategically done at this time. All the surrounding regions heard the believers speak the ‘wondrous works of God’ in their native tongue. Peter stands up and delivers a scathing message! He basically tells Israel ‘this is that which the prophet Joel spoke about’ he goes on and says this outpouring is part of Gods predetermined plan to pour out his Spirit on all flesh in the last days. He speaks of divine manifestations [dreams, visions] and carries the prophecy right to the end of the age. He then speaks the gospel of Christ and tells Israel ‘this is the Jesus you killed’. Wow, these guys are bold. Peter leads them to faith in Christ, their public baptism is the immediate sign of their willingness to be identified with Jesus and 3 thousand Jews become believers this day. Now, what is the church? This corporate group of first time followers do 4 basic things. They ‘continue in the Apostles doctrine and breaking of bread and prayers and share their goods with all in need’[true fellowship]. This early community was a brotherhood who actually gave priority to the teachings of Jesus passed on to them from the Apostles. Don’t miss this! Many will develop all sorts of practices and beliefs that ‘make up church’. Some will justify extra biblical beliefs under the guise of ‘the Apostles doctrine’ as in if it were something totally contrary or not known thru the gospels or the writing of scripture. Paul will tell Timothy to stay true to the traditions he passed on to him. But I want to focus on the fact that the Apostles doctrine was not something different then the basic instructions Jesus left us in the gospels. Paul will add to this basic body of Christian doctrine thru his letters to the churches, as well as the whole New Testament. But we do not see a bunch of strange or unknown doctrines that come from this time period. The basics are mentioned above. I do want to stress the fact that this early expression of church life had no ‘Pastor’ in the sense of their gatherings being a time where a singular authority figure had oversight of the entire community. They had strong leaders to be sure, but would avoid the Protestant idea of Pastor. They had no church building or belief in a strong liturgy. The ‘breaking of bread’ was a common meal where they all shared together in a real life setting. And of course their giving was radical, it was not ‘a tithe’ and it was done to meet the real needs of the community around them. All these elements are basic to what the New Testament church is. A functioning society of people in whom Christ Spirit dwells and who see themselves as a real spiritual community of people. As we progress thru out the history of the church as seen in Acts we will never lose this basic mindset. It will be carried into the epistles of the New Testament and remain the best idea of ‘local church’ as found in the first century. There is a trend going on right now in Evangelicalism that says ‘lets return to the ancient practices of the church and see what we can find’. As an avid reader of church history I am not totally against this movement, but I do see a danger in thinking ‘the ancient practices’ are the 2nd or 3rd century development of liturgy and Eucharist and other early ideas, and by passing the ‘real ancient’ story in the book of Acts. To put it simply, some of the Protestant and Evangelical ‘practices and beliefs’ that have developed since the reformation are ‘ancient’. I believe we all have a long way to go, but the ‘low view’ of the Lords Table [low as opposed to ‘high church view’. Though I personally believe in the Lords table as a memorial, not as the actual Body and Blood of Jesus. Yet I personally don’t like referring to such an important practice as low!] seems to be the true ancient practice as seen in Acts. The absence of the Priest officiating over the altar is no where to be seen in the actual ‘church’ setting. This ancient church is really a simple brotherhood of believers having all things common and having the resurrection of the Son of God as the central organizing principle of their lives.
(740) ACTS 3- Peter and John go up to the temple and heal the lame man. This stirs up a commotion and gives opportunity for Peter to preach Christ. I want you to see something here. The miracles of healing thru out this book testify of something specific. They do not simply prove the existence of God. These first century people were not ‘post moderns’ they had no pre enlightenment era that affected their minds. For the most part they were highly religious! Paul will tell them this later in Acts ‘you are too superstitious’ [religious]. The miracles are testifying to the fact that Jesus is alive, he really rose from the grave! Peter’s sermons are centered around the reality of Christ being the fulfillment of all that the prophets have spoken about! The church must not be ashamed of the gospel. Recently the ‘church world’ was up in arms over the Popes recent reinstating of the Tridentine Mass [the Latin Mass]. After Vatican 2 the Mass was done solely in the language of the hearers. Many old time Catholics were wanting the Latin too. So Pope Benedict said fine, you have the option to practice it either way. Now, this ancient Mass had a prayer that simply prayed for the Jewish people to come to know Jesus. Well, this upset the Jewish groups and they demanded a change in the prayer. At first the Pope re wrote it but it still asked for prayer for the Jews to come to Jesus. This still offended them. So finally the church produced some prayer less offensive. We should not be ashamed of the gospel of Christ and his resurrection! Peter was preaching the reality of the resurrection and was in their face about it! Jesus has proven himself to be alive, we are not just witnesses of the existence of God, we are witnesses that Jesus is the way to him. The only way! Now Peter ends this chapter in a unique way. He invokes the ‘blessing of Abraham’ and says it means ‘the blessing of Jesus in turning you away from sin’. We just finished a study in Genesis. I emphasized how the New testament apostles viewed the Abrahamic blessing thru the lens of redemption. They did not teach it in a materialistic way. Peter also quotes Moses [as well as David] and says ‘Moses said the Lord would raise up a prophet like myself, whoever doesn’t hear him will be destroyed’. Peter sees the fulfillment of ‘the Moses type prophet’ in Christ. Peter has a great gift of taking the old testament prophets and proving Christ from them. There is a young hearer in this early church. He will eventually become one of the first Deacons. His name is Stephen, boy he must be drinking everything in. He is seeing and hearing the testimony of Jesus straight from those who walked with him. He hears Peter’s teachings on Christ. He becomes familiar with the way Peter associates the ‘Moses prophet’ with Jesus. This young man will testify in Acts 7 of the reality of Jesus being the fulfillment of the Moses prophecy. He will give the longest recorded sermon in scripture. He will brilliantly trace the roots of Israel and show how Jesus is the fulfillment of the prophets. He will be accused of going against the law and the temple. He has the first grasp of ‘Pauline theology’ [actually Paul got it from him!] and does such a convincing job of proving Jesus to be Messiah that they stone him to death. He becomes the first martyr in the book of Acts. At his death he says ‘forgive them; don’t hold this sin against them’. A witness named Saul is sitting by. God answers Stephens’s prayer and Saul will become one of the greatest fire starters known to man.
(741) ACTS 4- The religious leadership at Jerusalem bring the Apostles in for questioning. The reality of the lame man being healed and the fact that Peter was doing it in the name of Jesus was an offence to them. Part of the group were called Sadducees. We often think of them as simple Pharisees who disbelieved in the resurrection of the body. While this is true, we must not overlook the demonic strategy behind the rise of a religious group, just prior to the resurrection of Jesus, who would imbed doubt in the minds of people concerning resurrection. Peter and John are questioned concerning the healing of the lame man. The leaders really had no problem with the healing, they did not want them doing this stuff in Jesus name! Why? Once again we see the fact of mighty works being done in Jesus name as proof of his resurrection. If the resurrection is true then Jesus must be the Messiah. If Jesus is the Messiah then this first century group of religious leaders killed the only Messiah that they will ever have! Peter actually tells them this in the chapter ‘you rejected the chief cornerstone’. Jesus was not simply one religious figure in a religion of many religious figures. Let’s see, we have Mary the mother of Jesus, a great woman to be sure. What about old John the Baptist, man was he a firebrand! And don’t forget Moses and the prophets. But Jesus stands out because he is the cornerstone. He alone is the mediator. Peter says ‘neither is there salvation in any other, there is no other name given among men whereby we must be saved’. These religious leaders killed the main person! Once again we see the church practice ‘communal giving’. They sell their lands and houses and bring the money and lay it at the apostle’s feet. The money is used 100 percent for distribution to the communities needs. Why is this so important to see? As you read all my writings you will see me teach over and again this basic Christian principle, that giving in the New Testament churches was primarily focused on meeting the needs of people. There was no sense of tithing to the storehouse as being a practice of ‘giving to the church meeting on Sunday or you are under a curse’. Now, it’s fine to give 10 percent on Sunday, it’s just we shouldn’t by pass the actual documented practice of giving as seen in the New Testament. Now, we do have the advantage of hind sight. Paul will continue to write the epistles of the New Testament and never once stray from this principle. In every single case, bar none, is New Testament giving taught as a voluntary free will offering. It is radical, taught in proportionality [as God has blessed you lay by you in store- Paul] but never once is it taught as a compulsory tithe that if not obeyed will bring the curse of the law upon the believer. Now, in the very next chapter we will see 2 people die because of lying in the area of giving. But it’s not because they didn’t tithe. Nor is it because they didn’t give all the price of the land. It was because they were lying to the Holy Spirit, they were introducing a deadly poison into the fledgling church. Jesus warned them in the gospels to avoid this cancer. He told them ‘beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy’. He wasn’t saying ‘beware of their doctrine’ in the sense of don’t listen to what they teach. He was saying ‘beware of actual hypocrisy’! The leaven of trying to present an image of yourself contrary to truth. Faking it so you look good. Now the leadership will warn the Apostles not to speak or teach in Jesus name. Peter says ‘we ought to obey God more than you’. Was he being rebellious against God ordained authority? Jesus did teach in the gospels ‘they sit in Moses seat, do what they say, not what they do’. Paul will respond later ‘I didn’t know I was speaking against the high Priest, I know he should be treated with respect’ as he defends himself before this same group. Some believe Luther and the reformers and even people like me are rebelling against authority when we question the system. To be sure Peter was ‘rebelling’ against an authority system that actually served God to a degree. This religious system [Judaism] did preserve the writings of the prophets. Peter was quoting the Psalms and prophets and utilizing the actual writings the scribes passed on to him. But there comes a point in time where ‘we ought to move on with God, rather than man’ a radical break from past well meaning systems, and a moving forward with God and the working of his Spirit. We end the chapter with the Apostles and believers rejoicing over the fact that Jesus movement is winning and Gods word is being fulfilled ‘of a truth the kings of the earth and its rulers are coming against God and his holy Son Jesus’. They knew they were in some rough waters but heck, Jesus has been raised from the dead! What can they really do to us? We will soon see. We also see another description of early church life. The term ‘church’ is referencing a corporate group of people who are meeting daily, both at the temple and from house to house. They are sharing their material things with one another. The Apostles are testifying of the resurrection of Jesus and his Messiahship every where they go. A believer named Barnabas sells some land and brings the money for distribution. Another couple will make the mistake of trying to ‘be like the Joneses’ they will pretend to do the same, Peter will judge them severely!
(742) ACTS 5 – As the word spreads rapidly, all the surrounding towns bring the sick and vexed to lie in the streets. Even the possibility of Peters shadow passing over them for healing is hoped for. Notice the charismatic reality of this early church. I do realize the many reasoning’s that intelligent people use to explain the miracles as limited to the Apostolic period, but for the most part we see a supernatural church in Acts as well as thru out the epistles and well into the first few centuries of Christianity. The 20th century story of Pentecostalism and the awakenings just prior, seem to show the reality of a supernatural church existing alongside a theological one! There is much proof to the orthodoxy and giftings of the church all thru out scripture and church history. Peters shadow healed people, how can we explain this away? [p.s. Phillip, who is not an Apostle, will also perform miracles. Just thru this in for those who teach the Apostles were the only miracle workers!] Now, the immediate response of the high priest and religious leaders was ‘if we don’t do something about this, their movement will gain momentum’. They imprison Peter and the Apostles. An angel appears and frees them and tells them ‘go back to the temple and speak the words of this life’. When the authorities realize what has happened they once again warn them about using Jesus name in their ministry. They even say ‘do you intend to bring this mans blood upon us’. Basically Peter says ‘yes’. Peter has been ‘putting it in their face’ ever since Pentecost. He has blamed BOTH the nation of Israel and her leadership for the death of Christ. He does not worry about offending them! During this time some priests become believers. The majority of them do not. Why? What has happened is common among movements. When an initial movement starts up, there is always the question of ‘is it from God or not’? A few years back the church went thru a renewal movement. Some referred to it as ‘the Toronto blessing’ ‘the laughing revival’ and other names. You had those who were 100 % against it and those 100 % for it. Who was right? Well, to a degree both of them! The point is there were some things that were needing rebuke, but to throw it all out was wrong. The defenders appealed to Jonathan Edwards’s writings and how during the first great awakening he experienced many of the same manifestations as the Toronto movement. Edwards left quite a bit of room for God being present in the religious emotions of the people. The critics were offended that the revival guys were appealing to Edwards and they would appeal to other stuff Edwards wrote in concern over the religious affections. You also had the same manifestations a century later under the second great awakening. The revivals in Kentucky had laughter and ‘strange barking’ and other weird stuff. The point is you always have a response to a religious movement. Once the battle lines are drawn, it is very hard to switch sides. In this chapter we see Gamaliel, a very respected Pharisee, stand up for the Apostles and say ‘lets give them some room, others before them rose up and gained a following, they all passed on. If this work is of God you can’t stop it, if it’s of men it will fail’. There was some breaking thru to the religious mind that was taking place in the elite religious thinkers of the day. After all, Peter has been quoting Psalms and Joel in ways that were confounding the religious thinkers. Don’t forget, Peter is an uneducated fisherman. Jesus deposited some stuff in his men that was way beyond the basic understanding of the day. Some ‘thinkers’ and intellectuals were humble enough to listen, most were not!
(743) ACTS 6- There arises the first controversy in the Jerusalem church. The fact that they were doing this daily massive food distribution led to an area of prejudice. The ‘Grecians’ [Greek speaking Jews] were being neglected. They were seen as a little lower on the scale of racial purity. They were speaking a language less pure than the Hebrew tongue. So the Apostles heard of the problem and said ‘pick out 7 men of good report, who have favor and wisdom and put them in charge of ‘this business’. In essence these were the first Deacons. The business was simply speaking of the duty of serving the food. Up until now the Apostles were involved with the distribution. But they said ‘we will devote ourselves to prayer and the Word’. This chapter is important, many well meaning church communions trace their practices of church government to this time. Are Deacons positions who ‘do the business of the 501 c 3’? Not really. Well, not at all! Are there ‘Pastors’ here in the modern idea of the office of a person who is over the flock and is the weekly speaker whom the people see every ‘Sunday’. No. Are these practices all wicked and from the devil? Of course not! But it does help to see what is actually going on. This early community saw the need for the leaders to devote time to the word and prayer. Fulltime ministry? Really more of a community adjustment allowing those with greater insight to propagate the gospel. Paul will later show us this doesn’t mean each separate community had ‘full time ministers’ who were forbidden to work secular jobs. He will continue to make tents thru out his life. But he will also teach that it is all right to meet the material needs of those who are ministering spiritual food. We also see the Apostles lay their hands on these first deacons. Is this some type of official ordination [recognition, licensing] from a seminary? Of course not. Is it wicked to attend seminary and have an ordination? Of course not. The principle of the ‘school of the prophets’ in Elijah’s day shows the possibility of God working thru these universities. It’s just we need to be careful we are not reading ideas into the story that are not faithful to the text. My reading of this chapter shows an organic community of people who were ‘the church’. They did have leadership and sought God for direction and weren’t imprisoned by any specific form of ‘church’. The main ingredient was a group of people sharing the life of Christ and living this life out as a community. All church communions have a tendency to read there own story into ‘Gods story’. That is we find isolated verses of scripture and say ‘see, this is why our church government does it this way’. It’s OK to a degree, but then when you see ‘our church government’ as the only true church government, that’s where problems arise. I think we should avoid looking for prescriptive patterns of ‘church government’ from the book of Acts. We should read the story as a community of people who are experiencing God and learning to walk out this experience as the Body of Christ. The great mystery is that God is ‘no longer dwelling in Temples made with hands’ but in a vibrant Body of people! [p.s. Stephen will quote this prophetic scripture in the next chapter as he does one of the most masterful jobs of an Old Testament survey to be found in the New Testament].
(744) ACTS 7- At the end of chapter 6 we saw the accusation against Stephen ‘he teaches the temple will be torn down and that Jesus will change the laws and customs of Moses’. There are a few key chapters in Acts, this is one of them! Up until this point we have seen Peters message of the Messiah thru the lens of repentance and baptism. You will notice Peter is very strong on ‘you guys need to repent and show it’. Strong word indeed! Peter also introduced the scripture ‘the Lord your God will raise up a prophet like unto me [Moses speaking of Christ] whoever doesn’t listen to him will be destroyed’. But Stephen is the first one to teach publicly the passing away of the law and the temple and the new ‘house of God’ to be the people. It’s the beginnings of Pauline theology. Now I have read how this chapter was questioned and doubted as to why Stephen was teaching this. Some theologians thought the chapter was questionable as canon because of it’s seeming to be so out of context. These are the times where I do agree with the ‘seminary as being a cemetery’! This chapter is absolutely brilliant! I don’t want you to miss the main point. Stephen traces the history of Israel and uses the verse from Moses ‘the Lord will raise up a PROPHET LIKE ME’. Stephen explains that when Moses first showed up on the scene to deliver his people, that the people said ‘man, who do you think you are! Who made you the boss’? Then Stephen says ‘yet this Moses, who the people refused. He was actually the ruler and deliverer that they refused’. Stephen is showing them that the prophets actually prophesied of the first century reality of Israel rejecting Jesus because Moses said they would! Don’t miss this point. This is the main point of Stephens message. He is telling the religious leaders ‘you simply fulfilled prophecy by rejecting the Messiah’. He even compares the miracles and great works that were done by Moses to the great miracles Jesus did. Stephen ends the chapter by also tracing Jewish history to David’s son Solomon and how the future temple that he would build was simply a shadow of the New Testament house of God. He quotes David in Psalms ‘God will not dwell in temples made with hands’. Now, this has nothing to do with ‘church buildings’. This has everything to do with Stephen’s insight into the theological truths contained in Jesus teachings about the destruction of the temple. In today’s ‘church world’ we have a very unbalanced view of temple rebuilding and the significance of the passages in Matthew that prophesy of its destruction. In Stephen’s mind the future destruction [that is future from his time. A.D. 70!] showed the passing away of the old law and its entire system of worship. The first century Apostles and teachers saw the eschatological portions of scripture from a redemptive lens. Peter earlier said ‘repent and be baptized… so your sins will be blotted out at the return of the Lord’ ‘whom the heavens must receive until the times of restitution of all things’. He couched individual salvation in with Gods ‘full world’ purpose of redemption [Romans]. They saw it from a wider angle than just ‘me and Jesus’. Now Stephen is doing the same. The whole Apostolic tradition concerning the destruction of the temple showed the purpose of God in ending the old concept of law and ‘limited kingship’ [from Jerusalem’s throne] and how God raised up his Son and placed him at his right hand and made him Lord and Christ. The passing away of the temple and Stephens preaching on ‘the customs being changed’ was right on! When I taught Hebrews I tried to bring this out. I realize that some teachers say Paul didn’t write Hebrews. I attribute it to him simply because no one else had the revelation he had in these areas. But I wouldn’t argue with saying Stephen might have penned it [depending on the dates!] Now we end the chapter with Stephens’s famous martyrdom and him saying ‘lay not this sin to their charge’. Saul [Paul] is a witness to this killing, he will become the greatest advocate for grace versus law that the church will ever know. NOTE- I forgot to mention that Stephen even compares the mass killing of babies at the time of Moses with the mass killing done under Herod during Jesus time. He shows how Moses and Jesus were alike in many ways.
(745) ACTS 8- After the death of Stephen the church scatters thru out the region. We see Phillip being used and directed by God. An angel will speak to him, he will be supernaturally translated from one place to another. We see the simple reality of all believers having Gods legitimacy to function. This is important to see! Later on we see the first gentile church at Antioch being told ‘separate me Paul and Barnabas unto the work which I have called them to’[Acts 13]. Some will develop unbiblical restrictions from this verse. The strong ‘local church’ view [the view that sees local church thru the 501c3 Sunday building mindset!] will later teach ‘see, you can’t function on your own. If you are not under a ‘local church covering’ you are an independent rebel out of Gods authority’. Here we see the simple reality of God sending and communicating to Phillip on the basis of him being a child of God. In Acts 13 the Spirit communicated his purpose to an entire group, in this chapter he communicates to an individual. The legitimacy comes from the reality of God being the one who is giving the directions! Now, we see Phillip at Samaria preaching the Kingdom and doing miracles. The sorcerer Simon gets converted. The church at Jerusalem sends Peter and John to see what’s happening and they lay hands on the Samaritan believers and they ‘receive the Holy Ghost’. This is also described as the Holy Spirit falling on them. This chapter is used as a proof text for pro Pentecostal theology and anti! The Pentecostals say ‘see, believers don’t have the Holy Spirit until a separate Baptism takes place’. The anti Charismatics say ‘this is an anomaly. God did this because he didn’t want to have a competing church in Samaria that did not have the approval of the Jerusalem church’. I will agree and disagree with both of these propositions [yes, at the same time!] Paul will teach in his epistles that it is impossible to believe without having the Spirit. He will also teach a doctrine of being filled with the Spirit. The arguments over the terms used can be confusing. The fact is we see both the experiences of believers [who have the Spirit] still experiencing greater empowerments down the road. And we see believers ‘getting it all at once’ [Acts 10]. Theologically, you can’t be born again without having the Spirit. But you can call ‘the Spirit falling on you in a fresh way’ ‘getting the Spirit’. The different expressions people use do confuse the matter. The hard and fast Charismatics will not agree with me. And the old time Calvinists might disagree with me. I believe both sides have things to add to the debate. I want all of us to be open and daily expecting God to renew us with the Spirit on a daily basis. I know one thing for sure, Paul taught we can water and plant all day. But if the Spirit doesn’t do his work we will never see any real increase! Simon the sorcerer sees that thru the laying on of hands the Spirit is given. He asks ‘Hey, I will pay you money for the gift of being able to lay hands on people and have them receive the Spirit’. Peter responds ‘you wicked sinner! How dare you think you can purchase Gods gift with money! You and your filthy money will perish together! You better pray that God forgives you for this’. Simon says ‘can you pray for me’? He didn’t want to get struck down that instant! Peter will later teach in his letters ‘take oversight of Gods flock, not for filthy lucre. But of a ready mind’. James will write in his letter ‘woe to the rich, their day is coming’. John writes in 1st John ‘love not the world neither the things in the world’. Paul will pen ‘The love of money is the root of all evil. Some went coveting after it and have left the faith’. Where in the world did all these first century Apostles get this idea from? Was it the devil tricking them out of the truth of wealth? Were they under the spell of church tradition? Lets see, Jesus said ‘the rich man dies and goes to hell. The poor man to Abrahams bosom’ ‘it’s harder for a rich man to go to heaven than for a camel to go thru the eye of a needle’ ‘the rich man went away very sad because he had much riches’ [after Jesus said go sell all you have and give to the poor] ‘you can not serve God and mammon’ ‘the deceitfulness of riches choke Gods word’ ‘thou fool! This night thy soul shall be required of thee’ [to the rich man who was planning on building more storage for his stuff!] The simple fact is the early church had imbedded in their minds a non materialistic gospel. The modern church seems to read scripture thru the lens of the prosperity promises that you do find thru out scripture. The prosperity promises are true and should be understood, but we need to also see the reality of what I just showed you. The church will eventfully coin the phrase ‘Simony’. It will refer to those who use money to gain influence and official positions in the church. Simons name does become famous, but not in the way he wanted!
(746) ACTS 9- Paul gets permission from the high priest to go to Damascus and arrest the believers. On his way the Lord appears to him and Paul is told to go to Damascus and wait for instructions. He is blind for 3 days. God gives a vision to Ananias and tells him to go to Paul in Judas house, because he too had a vision of a man coming to him and laying hands on him. Ananias is afraid but does it at the Lords insistence. I want you to see the role of visions and divine guidance in this event. The purpose of the visions and supernatural events has nothing to do with the canon of scripture. Some teach that the only reason you had supernatural guidance in the early days was because the canon was not complete. But after its completion you no longer had these types of things. First, no where is this doctrine taught in scripture. Second, you did not have total agreement on ‘the canon’ [all the books that make up our bibles] until the 4th century! Now you did have a basic group of letters and writings that were accepted as authoritative, but there was not total agreement. Many early believers had the epistles of Barnabas and a few other letters that were accepted. Some did not include Revelation at all. Others questioned Hebrews and James. You also did not have a workable, readable ‘bible’ in actual book form until the 12th-13th century! That's right, the actual form of our modern books was not invented until that late date. Plus the availability of books on a mass scale did not appear until the Guttenberg printing press of the 16th century. Just in time for Luther’s Reformation! The first book printed on his press was the Guttenberg bible. So the point is, the idea that somehow right after the early Apostles died off you had all believers going to ‘their bibles for direction’ as opposed to having dreams or visions or other divine guidance, really isn’t a workable solution. In this chapter God needed to get orders to his people, he gave them visions! Now Paul immediately preaches Christ as the Son of God and Messiah. He stirs up the waters and they sneak him out of town and send him to Jerusalem. The church at Jerusalem are leery of him, Barnabas vouches for him and he is received. He starts preaching there and once again they want to kill him. He eventually is sent back to his area of Tarsus. Now Peter is still on the road preaching Christ. He heals a man at Lydda and many come to the Lord. A woman named Tabitha dies at Joppa, a town close to Lydda. They call for Peter to come and he does and raises her from the dead. What are we seeing here? An early church [community of believers] preaching the gospel and doing miracles and affecting large regions without lots of money. Without hardly any organization. Without setting up ‘local churches’ in the sense that each area has separate ‘places’ they see as ‘local churches’ with salaried pastors running the ‘churches’. You are seeing a radical movement of Christ followers who are sacrificially giving there lives away for the gospel. No prayer meetings on ‘how in the world are we going to reach the region for the Lord. We need tons of cash’! They believed the simple instructions Jesus gave to them on going into all the world and preaching the gospel. Sure there will be times where support is sent to help them make it to the next location. But the whole concept of needing tons of cash and to build huge ‘church buildings/organizations’ and to set up salaried ministers is not seen in this story. I do not think the development of these things over the centuries means ‘all the churches are deceived’ type of a thing. All ‘the churches’ [groups of believers who are presently identifying themselves this way] are great people of God. They are doing the works of Jesus and functioning to a degree in the paradigm that they were given [either thru their upbringing or training]. But today we are seeing a rethinking of the ‘wineskin’ [that which contains the new wine] on a mass scale. As we read this story in Acts I want to challenge your mindset. Don’t fit the story into your present understanding of ‘local church’. But let your understanding of ‘Local Church’ be formed thru scripture. This chapter said ‘the churches had rest and were edified and were walking in the fear of the Lord’. The ‘churches’ are defined as all the communities of believers living in these various locations!
(747) ACTS 10- This is another key chapter in Acts. Peter is still in Joppa and while praying on the roof he has a vision. God shows him all the non kosher animals that Jews were forbidden to eat and says ‘rise Peter, kill and eat’. Peter refuses and tells the Lord he has never allowed himself to eat unclean stuff. The Lord reveals to him the principle of not making judgments of what is ‘clean or unclean’ according to the old standards of the law. It is important to fully see this. God wasn’t simply saying ‘now all things are clean’ he was saying ‘the old prism of law and moral standards are no longer to be used as the measuring rule of clean or unclean’. Now, was God throwing out all ‘measuring rules’? No! He will flatly show Peter that ‘all who believe in Jesus are justified from all things that you could never be justified from BY THE LAW’. In essence God is saying to Peter ‘Jesus is the new measuring rule!’ [Actually he was the original one the law always pointed to]. Well at the same time Peter has this vision, a man named Cornelius has an angel appear to him and tells him to send men to Joppa and get Peter. So as Peter is wondering about his vision of the unclean animals, the brothers knock on the door and relate the angels message to him. Peter goes to Cornelius house and preaches the gospel and the Gentiles become believers. Is this the first time we see Gentile converts in Acts? No. Phillip converted the Ethiopian eunuch in chapter 8. But this is seen as the Lord giving Peter the ‘keys’ of the kingdom to the Gentiles. In the gospels we read how Peter was given the keys to the kingdom. Our Catholic brothers see the office of Pope as ‘the keys’. I think a better view is to see how the Lord used Peter in Acts 2 and here to be the one to ‘introduce’ the gospel to both Jew and Gentile. Keys open things. They open doors. Jesus is the open door that Peter walked them thru by faith. Now we also see Peter preaching justification by faith for the first time in Acts. His other invitations were legitimate, but they focused on repentance and baptism. Here Peter says ‘and to him give all the prophets witness that whoever believes in him shall receive remission of sins’. Now I have taught this before on this blog. I try not to make excuses for the teaching by Peter on baptism. He even says in his epistle ‘the like figure whereunto baptism doth also now save us, not the washing away of the filth of the flesh but the answer of a pure heart towards God’ [quick quote, go find it for an exact wording!]. Now, if you do a word check on this blog, probably in the section ‘prophecies, dreams, visions part 2’ and you find the teaching on baptism from Acts 2:38, I do give an explanation on this. I believe we are seeing the natural progression of greater understanding that Peter and the brothers were attaining as they progressed on the journey. I showed you how Stephens sermon in acts 7 hit on Pauline theology for the first time in Acts. A few chapters later we see Peter quoting a scripture on ‘all who believe’ are justified. The first connection from Peter on ‘believe and be justified’. Now that Peter has opened this ‘door’ we will see Paul preach this thru out the rest of the book. We see the famous verse in acts 16 ‘believe on the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, and your house’. The point is we are seeing not only the development of the Body of Christ in this book, but also the development of Christian theology. Many believers fight over these various verses and even trace the authenticity of their movements to these verses. Others try to brand you as a heretic over which scriptures you see as the ‘conversion text’. While I fully agree with the doctrine of Justification by faith as one of the foundational doctrines of scripture, I avoid calling the churches who trace their ‘altar call’ experience to water baptism as ‘Cambellites/heretics’. I also disagree with those who are strong water baptism advocates when they say those who do not believe in full submersion are not Christian. In this chapter these Gentiles were justified by passive belief! No evangelical altar call at all ‘the Spirit fell on all who heard the word’. Peter says ‘can we forbid water to those who received the Spirit like we did’? There was no altar call because Peter would have never given one! Even though God gave him the whole vision and all, yet they were shocked when God actually ‘saved them’. So we see the will of God in accepting all who believe in Jesus. The justifying of these Gentiles was passive, they had no ‘sinners prayer’ they were justified before they got in the water. So to all those Church of Christ [or even Catholic and Orthodox brothers] it is not totally wrong to trace your outward experience of becoming a Christian to the time of baptism [I will not get into infant baptism here!]. But it also is not wrong to trace it to the time of simple belief. Gods purpose is to save people. Acts is revealing to us the progressive journey of man with God. God does put down the requirement to ‘believe in Christ’. The entrance into communion with God is limited to all who believe in him! But don’t make it harder than this. NOTE- I didn’t get into all the particulars of repentance and baptism and exactly how many ‘steps’ you need to ‘get saved’. Seeing Acts this way misses the main thrust of the book. But let me add, why don’t we see Peter mention repentance here? Cornelius is called ‘one who feared God’. This description didn’t just mean ‘he prayed and fasted’ it actually described Gentile converts to Judaism. These were called ‘God Fearers’. They practiced Judaism already, except for the rite of circumcision. So this fact meant they ‘already repented’ to a degree. The law did teach repentance well. It had a system that engrained the moral concept of sin and repentance into man. Hebrews chapter 6 teaches this. So you can say Cornelius and his relatives were already aware of sin and the need to turn from it [also the basic elements of John’s baptism] so here Peter bypasses the repentance part and simply shows them the missing ingredient, which was faith in Christ.
(748) ACTS 11- Peter recounts his vision and experience he had at Cornelius house. The Jews at Jerusalem were upset that he went and ate with non Jews. He explains that the Lord showed him not to view these gentiles as unclean. They were accepted and made clean thru Christ’s blood. The leadership at Jerusalem agree [for now!] We begin to see the tension that will play out thru the rest of the New Testament. This struggle between Jewish law and grace will become the number one issue of contention in Paul’s letters. In this chapter we see Barnabas go down to Antioch and eventually get Paul from Tarsus to help him establish the fledgling church at Antioch. After Peters experience they began preaching to gentiles and Antioch becomes the counterbalance ‘church’ [community of believers] to Jerusalem. I want you to see something important here. The church at Antioch does not have ‘Temple worship’ along side ‘home meetings’. The believers ‘assembled’ as a brotherhood. They met in homes to be sure, but ‘the church’ was simply a description of a called out group of people who continued in grace and lived as a fellowship community. The reason I emphasize this is because we grasp limited ideas of church and then we try and make others fit our ideas. The church at Antioch [and Corinth, Ephesus, Galatia, etc.] will continue to maintain this basic identity all thru out the New Testament and well into the second century. The earliest archeological find of a ‘church building’ is found in the 3rd century. There was an inscription discovered that spoke of the ‘church’ meeting here. The ‘here’ was the home of a believer! [I think the find was ‘Europa/duropa’ or something to that effect]. The point here is I want you to see the original design of the church. Up until this point we see the early church evangelizing large regions by simply being led of the Spirit. The finances are simple, this chapter will end with the believers at Antioch pooling their resources to send relief to the church in Judea. It will be the beginnings of Paul’s ministry of relief that we read about in 1st Corinthians 16. This chapter says Prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. Agabus prophesied of a famine to come, the church made arrangements to send relief to their brothers. One of the main Apostles at Jerusalem, James, will oversee a group of poor saints thru out his life. There is no early doctrine seen of rebuking the poor saints and teaching them how they were redeemed from poverty and the curse of Deuteronomy in a way that poverty was see as a sin. James will actually pen his letter and say ‘God chose the poor of this world [not just ‘poor’ in spirit] rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom’ he will also rake the rich over the coals! The whole point is as we read the bible, we need to read it in context and allow the story to shape our views, not the other way around. This Antioch community received New Testament prophets, they did not view the verse in Hebrews ‘God spoke to us in the past by prophets, but in these last days by his Son’ they didn’t see this as meaning there were no more prophets. These believers were not tithing, they did not have a church building, not ordained clergy or ‘high church’ model. They were a vibrant bunch of grace believers who will be told they don’t have to keep the law to be saved! From this point forward, no New Testament church in scripture will lose this basic idea. Some will struggle [Galatians, Corinth] but the basic truth of ‘the church’ being the people of God justified freely by grace, will remain strong. They are still living a communal type of idea, and giving is still radical, done to meet the real needs of people, and is not a tithe!
(749) ACTS 12- Herod kills James [not the brother of Jesus who is one of the lead Apostles at Jerusalem] and puts Peter in jail. The church has a prayer meeting for Peter and an angel goes into the cell and wakes Peter up. He leads him outside the city and frees him. Peter thinks it’s a vision and realizes it really is happening! Note how real their visions and dreams must have been, Peter at times can not determine fact from vision! He shows up at the prayer meeting and a girl named Rhoda hears a knock at the door. She asks ‘who is it’? He says ‘It’s me, Peter!’ She can’t believe it and leaves him standing at thee door! She tells the prayer group ‘it’s Peter’ they tell her ‘no way, maybe his angel?’ Funny, you can believe his angel showed up, but no way could the Lord deliver him from jail. At the end of this chapter we see the return of Paul and Barnabas after they brought the relief money to the saints at Jerusalem. It calls it ‘their ministry’. This early church did not see ‘the ministry’ as the actual business and the need to raise funds for the ‘church’. Now, it’s fine to pool your money for good cause’s with other believers. When I teach we are not ‘under the tithe’ this does not mean we shouldn’t support good ministries with 10 percent or more of our money. The point is, here we see Peter going back out to the field, Paul and Barnabas returning back from ‘the field’. Spontaneous prayer meetings. No set time or way to give offerings, just a true freedom of giving themselves away for the cause of Christ. Leadership does exist, but the normal function and flow of this church is not centered around ‘the Sunday Sabbath’ [EEK!] There is a real sense of this community of believers being led by the Spirit. It would be wrong to say ‘hey, Phillip went out on his own! He is not under the local church covering’! Or ‘now that we are back from Jerusalem, lets ask Pastor so and so [the supposed Pastor of the ‘church at Antioch’] what's next’. There were no ‘Pastors’ in the sense of the fulltime Christian minister who oversees the ordinances on Sunday. Now, these developments will arise as the centuries progress. Many good Pastors and Priests will function this way for centuries. They will see the church ‘building’ as ‘the church’. Our Catholic brothers will begin to see ‘the altar’ as the actual place ‘in the church’ that Jesus Body is ‘re offered’ [presented] as a ‘bloodless sacrifice’ for the salvation of the world. All developments that are not seen in Acts. The point is, we limit the flow of Gods Spirit thru his people when we regress from ‘the true has now come’ [the whole reality of Jesus and the church being the real image of things. The law and it’s shadows were only an incomplete picture]. When we as believers go back to ‘the shadows’ thinking that form and ‘pictures of things’ [symbols] are the way we will touch the world, then we lose the reality of us being the actual people of God showing the world Christ thru our unselfish lives. Jesus said when the people of God love each other and lay their own desires and goals down for his Kingdom, then the world will see our actions and believe. Jesus did leave us memorials ‘do this in remembrance of me’ ‘as often as you do this you SHOW the Lords death till he come’. I do realize that the church does have an element of ‘presenting thru picture [art] the Lords death and resurrection’ [passion plays and so forth] but when we lose the real fellowship mentality of this first century church, we then lose the greatest picture of all. Being the actual functioning Body of Christ on earth. John writes ‘how can you say you love God, who you don’t see. When you can’t love your brother, who you do see?’ [1st John] the New Testament clearly shows us that the love we have in word and deed is the greatest ‘sacramental’ picture we can declare to the world. Our Catholic friends have a song ‘they will know we are Christians by our love, by our love. Yes they’ll know we are Christians by our love’. I agree.
(750) ACTS 13- The believers at Antioch were praying and fasting and the Holy Spirit said ‘separate me Paul and Barnabas unto the work which I have called them’. Then the whole group laid their hands on them and sent them out. Notice, there was not a singular authority figure who was the overseer of this church [community of believers]. It is important to see this, because when you share the oversight of a body of people with a plural team [Elders/Pastors- the title you use is insignificant] then there is less of a chance of one person becoming too elevated in the minds of the group. There is also a dynamic of the group coming to maturity as they see themselves as being able to ‘ordain-lay hands’ and send out. Now Paul and Barnabas begin their missionary journeys. At Paphos Paul casts blindness on a sorcerer and the chief deputy believes. At Antioch [Pisidia] they preach in the synagogue. Paul does a good Old Testament survey and mentions ‘Saul from the tribe of Benjamin’ as being part of Gods plan. I always wondered if Paul saw himself in this image [Saul from Benjamin]. Jesus did tell Ananias that Paul was a chosen vessel to bear his name. Notice also that Paul's message saw the promise to David in Psalms ‘the sure mercies of David’ as being fulfilled thru Christ’s resurrection. The theme of the message was not ‘Jesus rule is delayed’ [dispensational teaching] but that thru Jesus the promises to the fathers have come to fruition. While it is true that the Jewish hearers will reject their Messiah as a people, yet this did not mean that the Kingdom was delayed or that the ‘church age’ was a parenthetical time until the ‘Kingdom age’ reconvenes. The whole tenor of Paul’s message is the reality that Jesus resurrection and being seated at Gods right hand is the promise being fulfilled that God made to the fathers. It is important to see his theme all thru out the Apostolic writings. The following week after Paul delivers his message, many gentiles come back to hear the word again. The leaders get jealous and Paul rebukes them. He tells them it was necessary for the Jews to have heard the word first, but then in fulfillment of the prophets, Jesus will be a light to the gentiles also. Paul and Barnabas sail off to Iconium next. An important theme in all the sermons in Acts is how the main message is that Jesus is the fulfillment of the Prophets. Paul tells them that they heard the readings from the prophets [Old Testament] every Sabbath day, but they also fulfilled the prophetic word by not being able to understand what the prophets were saying. So they crucified Jesus because of their blindness to the meaning of scripture. We need to see Jesus as the fulfillment of the prophets. The ultimate end of our purpose. To become like him in every way. In today’s church world it is so easy to see the word and ‘church attendance’ as a means to self fulfillment. But we need to re focus on becoming more like him. I am sure it was a shock to Paul when he realized all the time and study he did as a Pharisee was missing the main intent of scripture. It was humiliating to find out that the simple men who became these followers of Christ were closer to the truth than the theological doctors of the day. Jesus said we must become like little children again in order to see Gods kingdom.
(751) ACTS 14- Paul and Barnabas continue going thru different cities [Iconium, Lystra] Paul heals a man who was lame from birth and the whole city says ‘these men are gods who have come down in human form’. Paul barely stops them from offering sacrifices to them! In each city they travel to, they have a routine. They go into the synagogue and speak to the gathered. Both Jews and ‘God fearers’ [gentile followers] the pattern of some believing and others resisting becomes routine. Paul also has to deal with the Jews who were following him from past cities. They were sort of 1st century ‘apologists’ who made it their purpose to simply stop Paul. I want you to see that the ‘churches’ were the various groups of people who believed. They did gather together [Ecclesia] but they did not see ‘church’ as a place they went to for religious instruction. They did not start ‘gentile synagogues’ in competition with Judaism. Now Paul goes back thru the cities and at that point ‘ordains Elders in every church’. This is important to see. The ordaining of Elders was the simple process of seeing who had the maturity of understanding in the gospel and could be looked up to as a spiritual guide. Any questions or new converts in the towns would know ‘so and so’ is a responsible believer who Paul put his stamp of approval on. Why even do this? Remember, the enemies of Paul [Jewish law keepers] are going behind Paul’s back and trying to undo all the work that Paul was doing. Elders were gifted men who had the ability to push back against those whose ‘mouths must be stopped’ [Paul’s future language against false teachers]. These Elders were not full time Pastors in the modern sense. They were not singular authorities who ‘cover the flock’. They were not hired clergy! The reason why it is important to see this is because we want to stay as close as possible to the historic picture of the church as we read thru Act’s. These ‘local churches’ were caring communities of Christ followers who did have spiritual oversight that were to be respected and held in high esteem. Paul and Peter will teach the concept of giving honor to those who have spiritual accountability for you. But we can’t apply this to unbiblical forms of ecclesiology/hierarchy that will develop over the centuries. In Luther’s day many well meaning men felt Luther [the 16th century reformer] was rebelling against God ordained authority by going against the Pope. We need to understand that John the Apostle rebuked the rise of singular authorities who would seek to have the preeminence amongst Gods flock [Diotrephes- 3rd Jn]. Paul will warn the Ephesian church [later in Acts] that after his departure men would rise up seeking to make disciples after themselves. The point is any future use of the teaching of Elders/Pastors and the true responsibility to honor and submit to godly authority has to be seen in context with the complete story. While Luther’s [and Paul’s] critics could make the case that they were rebelling against God ordained authority, yet at the same time true revolution always carries an element of casting off old systems and restraint. Paul will confront Peter openly over his hypocrisy between treating Jewish believers different than Gentile believers. Peter was an Apostle before Paul and the argument could have been made ‘who does Paul think he is, going over the head of Peter’. So we need to see the biblical truth of God ordained leadership. The fact that many good Pastors and men of God have faithfully served Christ’s church. But we do not want to develop mindsets contrary to the freedom that we have in Christ while teaching the truth of godly leadership. Paul ordained ‘Elders’ on his way back thru Lystra and Iconium. He sails back to Antioch and recounts all the wonderful success that they had with the gentile believers. Antioch has this free flowing spirit amongst the church. They are gentiles and are not keeping the Jewish law. Paul and Barnabas were getting a reputation amongst the Jewish leadership in the cities and towns. Word gets back to Jerusalem and we will see whether Paul’s gospel will prevail before the ‘church authorities’? I believe we could describe Luther’s response before the Catholic church as fitting Paul’s spirit ‘unless I am persuaded by scripture I can not go against my conscience. Here I stand, I can do nothing else’.
(752) ACTS 15- Some brothers from Judea came down to Antioch and taught the believers that they had to be circumcised and keep the law in order to be saved. These are the Pharisees out of Jerusalem who became believers. They tried to put the gentile believers under the yoke of the law. Paul and Barnabas disagree strongly with this teaching. They decide to bring the question before the Apostles and Elders at Jerusalem. This is the first ‘church council’ in history. The ‘Jerusalem council’. At the meeting the dispute arises. Peter speaks up and recounts his experience at Cornelius house. How God showed Peter that he would justify people by faith, without having to become converts to Judaism. James chimes in and quotes a famous verse [famous now!] from the prophet Amos ‘in those days I will rebuild David’s tabernacle and all the gentiles upon whom my name is called will see me’. I want to stop here for a minute. On this blog I wrote a chapter on David’s tabernacle. It is in the booklet ‘The great building of God’ you might want to read it if you are not familiar with David’s tabernacle. I want to note that scholars disagree on what James means here. Some see ‘David’s tabernacle’ as the house or dynasty of David. Like Paul saying ‘house of God’ when speaking of ‘the family of God’. Others say this verse teaches the rebuilding of the Temple. The main reason James is quoting this verse is really not for the ‘rebuilding of David’s tabernacle’ section. It is for ‘all the gentiles who call upon my name’ part! James is agreeing with Peter and taking the side of grace when he says ‘look, even Amos said gentiles would call on Gods name’. Paul does this in Romans, he quotes the Old Testament prophets in context of the gentiles being accepted. So I wanted to just put some context to why James is bringing up this verse. But I also give credence to seeing ‘David’s tabernacle’ as speaking of the New Testament house of God [the Body of Christ] and Gods intent to ‘tabernacle in his people’. Acts does teach that Jesus has ascended and is seated on a throne that includes Israel as well as the whole universe! So in this context Christ can be seen as ‘building the tabernacle of David’ [spiritual temple of believers] that includes all ethnic groups. Yes, gentiles too can call upon his name! The Apostles and Elders and brothers all reach agreement and write a short letter and send Judas and Silas along with Paul’s group back to Antioch to read the final decree. They told the gentile believers they were not under the law and did not have to convert to Judaism to be saved. They did give four simple restrictions. Don’t eat meat with the blood in it, don’t eat food offered to idols or strangled animals. Don’t commit fornication. Basic requirements that later on will lose their emphasis as the church grows in grace [accept for fornication! God does require believers to walk in holiness]. Now this chapter is vital for every believer. The 16th century reformation restored the truth of people being saved freely by grace. Many Christians were lost in the legalistic requirements of religion. Many believers thought they could buy their way out of purgatory with money! Others thought they would be saved by keeping church law. This early church council gave freedom to the church in seeing herself accepted by grace. The church grew in her understanding of Gods grace. As God’s revelation of himself progressed thru out the early church, they saw him as being ‘inclusive’ not exclusive! The more they learned about God, the more they understood him justifying people freely. It is easy to lose the reality of God justifying man freely thru grace. No excuses for living in sin, but true acceptance and forgiveness because of Christ. This is truly the heart of the gospel. The first church council laid the foundation of Gods free grace. The gentiles at Antioch and the other towns were ecstatic over this decision. Truly the gentile churches are experiencing more freedom than the church at Jerusalem, after all they had the ‘Pharisees who believed’ at Jerusalem, and they weren’t willing to give up on their belief of the importance of the law and circumcision. They will haunt Paul thru out his life. After the letter is read, Paul and Barnabas continue to teach at Antioch and the 2 brothers who were out of Jerusalem are free to leave. Judas goes back, but Silas likes the freedom at Antioch and decides to stay. Paul says ‘lets go visit all the brothers in the cities where we preached’ Barnabas says ‘great, lets take John Mark!’ Paul doesn’t want him because he abandoned them on an earlier missionary journey. Paul takes Silas and John goes with Barnabas. The ‘visiting of all the brothers’ is also described as ‘visiting the churches’. Once again, the brothers [and sisters] in the cites are defined as ‘the churches’. They were called out groups of believers who were recognized not because they ‘attended church on Sunday’ but because they were followers of ‘the way’.
(753) ACTS 16- Paul and Silas hit the road. They are being led by the Spirit and are evangelizing large regions without a lot of money, organization or ‘corporate help’. Now, these things are permitted, but we need to make sure we are seeing this story right! Jesus imbedded a mindset into the Apostles, he told them ‘don’t think you need a lot of extra equipment for this. You are the equipment! No special appeals for funds [ouch!], keep it simple’ [Message bible- Jesus instructions when he sent them out by two’s]. So here we actually see the Apostles living the vision. Paul by the way has a vision! He sees a vision of a man in Macedonia saying ‘come and help us’. Luke writes ‘we took this as a sure sign of God sending us’. Wow, what childlike simplicity. The great theologian Paul, the man who could argue orthodoxy all day [and win]. He has a vision and says ‘we took it as Gods will’. Don’t develop doctrines that cut you off from God’s supernatural guidance. Sure, people have gotten into trouble with visions. Cults have ‘prophets and apostles’. But the church also had these things and it helped on the journey. Now at Philippi they convert a woman down by the river. They cast out a demon from a fortune teller. The ‘masters’ see they lost their ‘money maker’ and stir up trouble in the city. Paul and Silas get thrown in jail. They praise God and sing, an earthquake happens. The doors swing open. The jailer thinks they all escaped and is going to kill himself. Paul and Silas preach the gospel and he asks ‘what must I do to be saved’ they say ‘believe on the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, your family too!’ The whole house gets baptized and the city leaders send word ‘tell them to leave’. Now, Paul is a lot like me. He doesn’t let stuff slide. He says ‘they beat us unlawfully, we are Roman citizens! Now they want us to leave secretly. Let them come and tell us publicly’ the leaders hear they are Romans and are worried. Paul made them squirm! Let’s do a little overview. We are halfway thru the book of Acts and we see the ‘churches’ as these free flowing believers carrying out the gospel. Baptisms and healings and visions. We also see doctrinal growth. We challenge the mindset of many evangelicals, baptismal regeneration is not taught [at least I don’t see it] but baptism in water is the immediate outward identification of the believer. In essence it was the New Testament ‘altar call’. Our Catholic friends will eventually develop an idea of baptism as washing away original sin. But sometimes we miss the other idea of putting off adult baptism because of fear of future sins. Saint Augustine, the emperor Constantine and others delayed their baptism thinking they would use it to ‘clean them up’ after any future faults. The doctrine of baptism in Acts is seen as an immediate rite that does affect the believer [as do all outward acts of obedience! Even the Lords Supper strengthens the faith of the believer]. But justification and believing are prior to baptism. But not two weeks or two years prior! But a few minutes. I also forgot to mention that Paul has Timothy circumcised in this chapter. The great Apostle Paul, who will eventually pen the words ‘circumcision means nothing, but a circumcised heart is what matters’ here he gave in. Paul and Silas are fresh off the recent Jerusalem council. They have been accused of teaching Jews ‘abandon the law and circumcision’. The decree from Jerusalem said the gentiles don’t need to worry about these things. But they were still teaching Jewish converts to maintain Jewish law and custom. Timothy was not circumcised, and everyone knew it! His mother was Jewish but his father was Greek. So Paul realized that the judiazers would eventually say ‘see, Paul is even teaching Jews to break Moses law’ so Paul gives in and compromises here. Do the restrictions at the Jerusalem council still hold sway over Jewish believers today? No. Paul will eventually abandon all Jewish law and custom from his doctrine of justification by faith. But at this stage they are still learning and growing. The mindset of ‘God’ in this book is one of ‘less restrictions’ and more acceptance as time rolls on. We see enough stuff on baptism to not call the churches who emphasize baptism ‘Cambellites/heretics’ [the term Cambellite comes from the founder of the Church of Christ/ Disciples of Christ groups. There founder was Alexander Campbell. He falls into the restorationist camp. He saw the emphasis on adult baptism in scripture and many of his followers see the act of water baptism as the moment of conversion]. But we also see the basic ‘ingredient’ for acceptance as faith. So God is not excluding those who focus on baptism [Peters initial converts] but showing us greater acceptance among ‘those who believe’ [Acts 10]. This is what I tried to say in our introduction to this study. As we read we shouldn’t be looking for formulas or hard and fast verses to simply justify our churches beliefs against the church down the block. But we need to see the heart and mind of God. We also shouldn’t trace our peculiar belief to this historic church and say ‘see, our group is the most accurate one’. Why? Don’t I believe my idea of simple church is closer to the historic church? Yes. But the ‘church’ will develop in good and bad ways as the centuries roll on. The fact that many Catholics and Orthodox and future Protestants will grow and fight and reform, means the church herself has within her the inherent ability to ‘get back to the Cross’ or the reality of all of these groups believing in Jesus causes there to be a fundamental unity that exists because we all possess Christ’s Spirit. So even though I personally see the organic church in Acts, this doesn’t mean that I see the other expressions of church as totally illegitimate or lost! So let’s end this chapter rejoicing with the jailer who heard the gospel and ‘believed with all his house’.
(754) ACTS 17- Paul heads to Thessalonica and preaches 3 Sabbath days in the synagogue. Once again the unbelieving Jews follow him and stir up trouble. Paul heads to Berea and speaks the word. The Bereans are said to be more noble because they heard Paul out and then searched the scriptures to see if he were telling the truth. The message he preached is that Jesus is the Messiah that the Old Testament prophets spoke of. In 1st John, John says ‘whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God’ Paul was showing them that Jesus was the Christ. Again trouble arises and Paul sails off to Athens and sends for Timothy and Silas later on. Now, Paul spent 3 weeks at Thessalonica. No huge budget, no message on ‘how can we reach Thessalonica without lots of money’ [I have heard it taught that you cant even begin to think about planting a church unless you have $250,000 dollars!] Paul believed in the power of the gospel. It took 3 weeks of simply sharing the gospel to plant this church! He will write them a few letters and give them some instruction, but the simple truth is every believer has the ability to ‘plant churches’ [speaking the gospel to people groups and those people believing and becoming ‘the church’]. At Athens Paul is troubled by all the ‘superstition’ [religion]. He runs into the philosophers. It said the people there spent all their time in either telling or hearing some new thing. An ancient form of ‘the view’ [the television show where the ladies talk about nothing all day long!] So Paul disputes with them and uses their own altar to ‘the unknown God’ and declares Christ unto them. Recently a Catholic priest made headlines because he advocated for Christians to use the name Allah instead of God. He felt the name was referring to the same God. Does Paul’s use of the ‘unknown God altar’ fall into this category? No. When any religion names their god and defines him, then this god is a false god [unless your speaking of the true God]. So in this case Paul was simply saying ‘this altar to the God you don’t know, I will show you how to come to know him’. Now, why were these philosophers in Athens? A few centuries before Christ you had the rule of Alexander the great. The Old Testament prophet Daniel speaks in detail of his rule. Alexander ruled one of the greatest empires known to man. He established the greatest library of the ancient world. He made Greek the common language. This is why the New Testament was written in Greek. Though Rome was the ruling empire of Jesus day, the culture was still Greek to a degree. This is called ‘Hellenization’. The Greeks even translated the Old Testament into Greek before the days of Christ. This translation is called the Septuagint, which means 70. This comes from the supposed number of scholars who worked on the translation. This period just prior to Christ was the time of the great philosophers. Plato, Aristotle and others. These Philosophers laid down a foundation of sorts for morality and the cultures that would develop down the road. The church fathers disagreed somewhat to the degree of mixing Christian faith with the thought of the pre Christian philosophers. Origen thought these men were Christian to the degree that God used them to instill types of thought and belief in the immortality of the soul and other concepts as a precursor to Christ. Others thought they were competing worldviews for the religion of Christianity and should be rejected. Paul himself will write the Colossians and warn them of the philosophies of men. Many thinkers were affected by the ‘new age’ concepts that came from these groups. Augustine, the great 4th-5th century Bishop from North Africa was into Manichaeism prior to his conversion to Christianity. He eventually would sit under the sound teaching of Ambrose and leave his former ideas. These groups had strange beliefs and concepts that would sound like the scientology adherents of our day. Others were not as drastic but would still be seen as on the verge of Christian truth. Marcion was sort of in this class. The point is Paul will take advantage of the philosopher’s willingness to delve into all types of ideas, and use this as an open door to preach Christ. Some breakaway groups from the more Orthodox churches will claim that the Catholic churches belief in the immortality of the soul is not scriptural. These groups teach that the ancient church picked these beliefs up from the philosophers of the day [some of the seventh day brothers say this]. You also find some Protestant brothers challenge the authenticity of various bible translations based on the Septuagint translation from ancient Greece. The church father Jerome will use the Septuagint in his popular translation of the Latin Vulgate. Some Protestants see Jerome’s version as less than pure. This is also why the Catholic bibles have the Apocrypha in them [The books between Malachi and Matthew that the Protestant bibles don’t have]. When Jerome translated his vulgate, he brought these books over from the Septuagint version. Jerome did put an asterisk next to the apocryphal books, he noted they were included from the Septuagint, but were not seen as authoritative. Simply added for historical content]. So we see the tremendous influence that Greek culture and philosophy played in the early stages of the church. Paul knew their thought, but his gospel was founded on more than some new belief system. Paul claimed that Jesus had been raised from the dead!
(755) ACTS 18- Paul goes to Corinth, he meets Aquila and Priscilla. They are all tent makers and he stays with them and does some manual labor! Poor Paul, he just didn’t understand that when we read earlier in Acts, that the Apostles at Jerusalem devoted themselves to prayer and the word, that this meant they were in ‘full time ministry’. I am being sarcastic! The point is Paul did not see his very gifted apostolic ministry as a ‘ministry’ that would be run like a modern business. He certainly did not see manual labor as some type of lack of faith. In today’s environment you can ask a brother ‘how are you supporting yourself’ and many times the answer is ‘we are a faith ministry’ kind of saying ‘I don’t work, but I ask for money’ [Ouch!]. Now, Paul will say it’s good to meet the material needs of laboring elders/pastors, but don’t develop more into it than this. At Corinth Paul teaches for a year and a half, one of the longest recorded stays at any of his ‘churches’ [cities with believers in them]. He goes to Ephesus and back to Antioch. Then makes a tour of the cities where he originally preached. Basically going back and strengthening the churches. The Lord speaks again to Paul in a vision while at Corinth, he says ‘don’t be afraid to speak, no one will lay a hand on you. I have lots of people here’. Simple encouragement by divine means. Why, or how Christians can develop doctrines that say ‘these things don’t happen any more’ is beyond me. At Ephesus Aquila and Priscilla hear a great preacher. His name is Apollos and he is very well spoken. He is also limited in his understanding of the gospel. They take him and ‘expound unto him the way of God more perfectly’. It took humility on both sides for this to happen. Over the years I have had good friends who were/are pastors. As the Body of Christ goes thru transition it is becoming very well known that the development of the full time clerical office of Pastor was really not a scriptural development. Sort of like realizing during the reformation that there were limited teachings from the church that were simply wrong. As the people of God become more aware of ‘the more perfect’ things [more mature understanding on stuff] there is a humility that needs to be present in order for the proper change to occur. In many cities across the nation [and world] there are structures of church and practice that are limited. As Gods people [both pastors and parishioners] see this, then there is a process of change that occurs. In the more limited ‘churches’ you have scenarios where well meaning men often rebuke any freedom of growth along the lines of ‘I am your pastor, your role is to come to the Sunday [they view it as some type of Sabbath] service, pay your tithe to the storehouse [which they actually see as the church building!] and any rebellion against this order is like rebelling against Moses in the wilderness!’ Now, all good pastors obviously are not like this, but there are more situations that fit this example than you realize. So like Apollos [a good public speaking ministry- Pastor] he simply had to go thru a stage of seeing things at a deeper level. Simply submitting to the gifts that exist in the Body of Christ and being humble enough to learn. After Apollos learns, he is even stronger than he was before!
(756) ACTS 19- Paul runs into some of Apollo’s disciples at Ephesus, he asks them if they received the Spirit ‘since they believed’ [Notice what they were believing!] And they said they have never heard about the Holy Spirit. He questions them on what they are believing in. They answer John’s baptism. They only knew the message of John the Baptist on repentance. The basic preaching from Apollos before he was ‘instructed in the way of the Lord more perfectly’. Paul does not say ‘now, believe in the Holy Spirit and you will have the baptism in the Spirit’. He says ‘John [the Baptist] preached that you should believe on him, that is JESUS, who would come after him’ after hearing THIS [the basic message of Jesus!] they were baptized in Jesus name and Paul laid his hands on them and they received the Spirit. There are lots of things here that different groups use to justify there beliefs. I fully believe in all the gifts and workings of the Spirit, but once again many well meaning pastors [from Pentecostal backgrounds] teach this chapter as saying these disciples were believers in Jesus and did not have the Spirit. This is not true! They were not yet believers in Jesus and the actual person they believed in to get the Spirit was Jesus, not the Spirit! But all in all we see the laying on of hands, prophecy and tongues happen. So these guys are charismatic! But also Calvinist [in my mind- I believe Paul was strong in predestination, but also operated in the gifts]. Now Paul goes and ruins his reputation! Can you believe he is actually sending handkerchiefs to sick people and they are getting healed and delivered from evil Spirits! Old Jonathan Edwards would never do that! [Or Calvin or Luther…or would they?] Paul casts out some demons in Jesus name [that’s it, he is cancelled from speaking at our reformation conference!] and 7 sons from a Jewish family try to cast out a demon from some guy using Jesus name. The demon says ‘Jesus I know, and Paul too! But who in the heck do you think you are’ and the guy who’s possessed beats the hell out of them! Ouch! I find it funny that the demons knew Paul by name. They must have heard how Paul was one of the deadliest enemies to satans agenda. The demons who were showing up for orders were scared they would be assigned to Paul, they knew he had some strong handkerchiefs! Demetrius, a guy who made his living building idols to Dianna, a false goddess, realizes that if Paul keeps preaching about Jesus that his living will be threatened. So he stirs up trouble. He says ‘if we don’t stop these guys, our shrine making business will be in jeopardy, oh, and the great goddess Dianna will also lose her honor’ He couldn’t give a rip about the fake god, he was worried about the bottom line! I find it funny how people will choose which image of ‘God-Jesus’ they believe in based on the bottom line. Some choose to grasp an image of Jesus contrary to the New Testament, if you challenge this belief, they will simply ignore you based on the bottom line. The Jesus of scripture challenges the materialistic gospel that permeates many in today’s church. Some grasp this modern image of Jesus because they can’t let go of the possibility that there ‘trade’ [belief system of profit] is going away!
(757) ACTS 20- Paul travels with some brothers on the journey. This mode of visiting different regions and bringing brothers with him is exciting! They are truly seeing the Kingdom of God becoming established in the earth. Scripture says ‘they broke bread on the first day of the week’ we read later in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians that when they met on the ‘first day of the week’ he asked them to take up a collection before he arrived [so he could take the money and meet the needs of the poor saints at Jerusalem]. Do we see here some type of Sunday Sabbath, that is the ‘church day to pay tithes’ so you don’t get cursed? Of course not. You are seeing the simple practical outworking of a people who are becoming the people of God. It’s fine to meet on a Sunday and to ‘break bread’. Hey, the group needs to know when to meet for the meal! But don't develop liturgical/sacramental ideas out of this. You say ‘hooray for John [me], he is really giving it to those Catholics’ well, don’t say hooray yet. Now he calls for the Elders at Ephesus to come to Miletus so he can give them some instructions and a farewell. This address from Paul is one of the best in the New Testament. He covers the basics for leadership and church growth. Now, he tells them ‘all the time I was with you guys I was upright. I taught you publicly and from house to house. I showed you repentance toward God and faith towards Jesus Christ. I worked and did not covet your money. I did this to prove I was not there to gain financially from you. To give you an example as Elders yourselves, so you would not see the responsibility of oversight thru a covetous mindset. Beware! After I leave you there will be an attempt by the enemy to undo the work of the Cross. Some men, even from your own group will rise up and speak twisted doctrines. They will try to become eminent in the group, drawing away disciples after themselves. Don’t become sidetracked and become followers of men! Guard the flock over which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Feed them Gods good word’. Paul lays down strong guidelines here. He actually teaches the elders that he worked when he was among them to leave this example of leaders not seeing ministry as a means to get gain. In one of his future letters [Timothy or Thessalonians?] he actually says this ‘working’ that he did was a tradition for them to keep. He said this in context of those who refused to work. Very strong indeed. Peter also will teach the Elders to take oversight of Gods flock ‘not for money, but out of a pure motive’. In the wars that rage over ‘simple church’ versus the modern 501c3 model, both sides have shot at each other wrongfully at times. There are very intelligent brothers who will take this chapter and teach that the modern Pastor has fallen into the trap of ‘making disciples after themselves’. They see the development of the role of Pastor as becoming the fulfillment of this. Now, I do see some merit to this, but I see most pastors [all the ones I know and have known personally over the years] as Elders who are striving to help Gods People. I see a real need for all leadership to see that ministry is not a fulltime clergy type office that has developed over the centuries! Paul is simply addressing the Elders [more mature ones- in the gospel, not necessarily old!] and showing them that their purpose is to help the people of God grow in grace and make it to a place of self sufficiency in Christ. Paul is pretty much laying down the gauntlet that leadership is not some ticket of ‘now that I am in ministry, my income comes from the God ordained tithe’. This is never taught as a means of support for New testament ministers. These ideas have developed out of the Old Testament idea of the tithe supporting the Levitical Priests. In the New Covenant all are Priests and we don’t practice this type of thing. But Paul does teach that it’s good to support materially [financially] those who are feeding you spiritual food. He does teach ‘don’t muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn’ [he called us ox's!] seriously, he lays down the biblical guideline of supporting those who minister the word. But it is important to see he was not establishing some type of clergy system, the fact that he was working while with these Ephesians and actually used this as an example for OTHER ELDERS as well as the believers shows you this. All in all the main point Paul is getting across is he wants the basic truth of the gospel to prevail and he does not want top heavy leadership to come in and draw away disciples after them. That is for strong gifted leaders to become the main focus of these Ephesian believers. So this chapter is important because we see Paul address these elders that he has been ‘ordaining’ in the churches [groups of believers]. We see the basic character and function of these men. We see the warning that cults will arise. In Paul’s day groups did come forth from the basic Christian communities [Gnostics and Docetists] that had a basic understanding of certain Christian things, but would deny the reality of Jesus. Paul bids them Farwell as they all embrace on the shoreline. The Elders were heartbroken over Paul’s words that he will probably see them no more. He wanted to keep the upcoming feast at Jerusalem and eventually preach at Rome. He was on this obsession to carry this gospel to the seat of the empire, even if it means his life.
(758) ACTS 21- Paul goes to Tyre and the saints prophesy for him not to go to Jerusalem. He makes it to Caesarea and Phillip has 4 daughters who also prophesy. Agabus shows up, he is a prophet, and he takes Paul's garment and does one of those weird prophetic actions and wraps it around him and says ‘the Lord says whoever owns this garment will be bound like this at Jerusalem’. A few things, many good men teach that the word for ‘Prophecy’ [to prophesy] is simple preaching. Now, true simple preaching of the gospel is a function of the prophetic. Paul says in Corinthians that whoever says the name of Jesus is speaking mysteries that only the Spirit knows. So preaching does fall into this category. But a simple reading of the text shows you that Agabus, who functioned in the office of a Prophet, was doing more than simple preaching. There obviously was a predictive element to what he did. Agabus is an ‘ascension gift Prophet’. In Ephesians Paul teaches that after Jesus ascended he gave gifts unto men. Some of these gifts are Prophets. Why would Jesus establish an entire class of New Testament Prophets, and take them away as soon as the New Testament was complete? Now Paul makes it to Jerusalem despite the warnings. Right away James and the Elders call him to a meeting. They rejoice over all the Lord is doing with Paul’s gentile outreach, but they tell him ‘look, we have many Jews. They are all believing in Messiah, and they all keep the law’. There is a fundamental rift between James and Paul. Most preachers do not say or admit this, they feel to admit it would violate the Canon of scripture. First, read my commentary on Hebrews 11 on this site. Second, I believe we are simply seeing the historic development of truth as we progress thru Acts. Peter, James and Paul [later we read Johns epistles] never contradict each other as far as the overall message of the Cross is concerned. But God does allow us to peer into the different insights that these key 1st century elders were seeing. So James might really be seeing things from a different vantage point than Paul. Paul might not fully see James reasoning. They are both being used of God, their writings will harmonize. But they don’t necessarily see it yet! James pressures Paul to take a vow with some brothers to basically show he isn’t teaching Jews against the law. Paul does it. The city finds out Paul is in town and they drag him out of the Temple and they beat the guy! The local police come and rescue Paul. As he is being carried away he speaks Greek to the soldiers, they are surprised he speaks Greek. He then addresses the Jews and speaks Hebrew. Paul used positioning and all the influence he had in any area [even language] to make his point. In the next chapter we will read his defense. I want to close with us seeing that Paul was being accused of teaching Jews against Moses and the law and Temple. Was he? Actually as Paul’s understanding of the gospel of grace increases, he does teach this. If you believe Paul wrote Hebrews [the letter] then you see it there. But Paul initially was only preaching grace to the gentiles. James even says ‘show the people that the rumors about you are wrong, show them that you too are keeping the law like all Jews’ and basically Paul gives in by agreeing to join in the vow with the brothers. Some times we read Acts [as well as the bible] as if it were a single book written at one sitting. When you do it like this you don’t leave room for the development and growth of the characters themselves. God is allowing Peter to preach in a more limited way in the first few chapters, after Peter hears from Stephen and Paul he seems to leave more room for believing and being justified. He is learning and growing as the story progresses. The same with James. His epistle is obviously a different view point from Paul. Do they contradict? No. But some commentators do not honestly look at the different angles. James will actually say ‘see how a man is justified by his works, and not faith only’. Now, he does say ‘faith without works is dead’. And many good teachers say ‘all James was saying was you need active faith at the time of conversion’ [James isn’t speaking about the ‘time of conversion’!] Well actually , he was saying more. Was he teaching justification by works? No, at least not in the way most theologians see ‘justification’. But James was seeing justification thru the lens of the future result of the believer actually becoming just! [What some believers call sanctification] He was seeing the Genesis 22 justification of Abraham offering Isaac, not the Genesis 15 account that Paul emphasizes. So James is teaching ‘justification by works’ that is, Gods grace that legally justified you when you believed, actually changes you to the point where you do good works, and at that point God continues to say ‘good job son- you are doing what’s right’ [another word for doing what’s just/right- justification!] Now, I can’t explain the whole thing here, the point is James is dealing with Jewish believers and he is seeing things from a different timeline than Paul. The strife between the early Jewish believers and Paul is intense. Ultimately the Temple will be destroyed and the future of the Christian church will be shaped by Paul’s theology. James writes a great letter! But Paul will carry the day. NOTE- I see James saying ‘see how a man is justified by works’ meaning the future act of God being pleased with the changed life of the believer. We see ‘see how a man is justified by works’ and try to make that fit ‘see how a man is initially saved/born again’ but James, in my view, is not speaking of the initial act of justification [which is solely by faith] when he says ‘see how a man is justified by works, and not by faith only’ James is working on a different timeline!
(759) ACTS 22- Paul makes his case before the Jews at Jerusalem. As he speaks in Hebrew, they give him special attention. We learned earlier [Acts 6] that Hebrew speaking Jews were looked upon as better than non Hebrew speakers. Paul tells the Jewish people that he too used to be zealous of the law and also hated the new movement of Messiah. He informs them that he was raised under Gamaliel’s school of Phariseeism! You had different schools of learning, even within the class of the Pharisees, Paul was what you would call a Harvard man. He explains that on his previous trip to Damascus he encountered Jesus. He gives his conversion testimony, which by the way contains most of the elements of all the various conversion accounts in Acts ‘arise, be baptized and wash away thy sins, calling upon the name of the Lord’. Paul was such an anti Christian that the Lord made sure he would cover all the angles![and also be received amongst all the different groups of believers thru out the church who will claim strong baptism verses, or calling on the Lord verses. In essence you can find in him the varied experiences of believers thru out the centuries]. Now Paul recounts how after his conversion he had a vision in the Temple at Jerusalem. He has his audience captivated until he says how Jesus appeared to him and told him to go to the gentiles. This was too much for the elite Jewish mind to grasp. The people chant ‘away with him’ they want him killed! As the soldiers are getting ready to beat him some more, he says ‘is it lawful for you to beat a Roman citizen like this?’ Paul was quite a guy, he used any advantage he had to win the argument. The soldier's enquire how he obtained Roman citizenship, he tells them he was ‘free born’. All people under the rule of Rome were not Roman citizens. The region of Judea and the area of Jesus and his men were considered the ‘wrong side of the tracks’ Galileans were a low class. Most scholars believe Jesus spoke Aramaic, the language from his area. Paul was the first out this bunch of radical followers who had an upper class image. His pedigree was good. He surprised his opponents by having a good education and being a Roman citizen. Paul also wrote [Corinthians] how not many noble and educated people were chosen by the Lord. It wasn’t because the lord didn’t want the upper class folk! It was the fact that education and ‘class’ can be such obstacles in the minds of those who posses it. It’s the sin of pride. Also in this chapter Paul describes his vision at the temple as ‘being in a trance’ the same language used of Peter in chapter 10. A trance is a different type of experience. St. Thomas Aquinas, considered by many to be the most intellectual apologist of the latter middle ages [scholastic period] shared experiences he had right before his death. He would call them ‘being in a state of ecstasy’. These were sort of ‘trances’ where he would experience the presence of God so mightily that he would describe it as almost unbearable. He would say that the Lord revealed so much to him during these times that all he had ever written or taught in the past seemed trivial compared to what he was ‘seeing’ during these events. Paul himself will write about being caught up into the 3rd heaven and not knowing whether he was in the body or out of it. He would say he saw things that were impossible to explain in human words. In this chapter Paul says Jesus appeared to him at the beginning of his journey, it seems as if this wasn’t the only time he saw the Lord.
(760) ACTS 23- Paul continues his defense before the council and chief priests. He realizes that the council is divided ‘politically/religiously’ along the lines of the Pharisees versus the Sadducees. Though these were both religious groups who were Jewish, yet they had major disagreements. The Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection or spirit or angels [why in the heck would you even want to be religious if you rejected these things? ‘Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow you die’! The philosophies that rose out of the enlightenment era and the French revolution were based on ‘nihilism’ the idea of having no moral compass. The rise of Marxism and other communist expressions of Government had good intentions at times! The problem was they espoused the atheistic philosophies of the time and ultimately this leads to a total loss of purpose and meaning. Though these philosophers tried to say that religion and the ‘God delusion’ were the cause of all the ills of society, there grand scheme would ultimately lead to forms of human government that disrespected human life. Hitler of course was an extreme example. He did embrace eugenics, the idea that the stronger races will eventually win and the weaker races/classes will die off. He simply thought he was speeding up the process by exterminating Jews. Though the philosophers of the enlightenment fall into different groups. Some for example did believe in deism and they felt God could be proved from natural means. Others saw religion as the ‘opiate of the people’ and ultimately did disgrace unto the human race!] The Pharisees believed in resurrection. So good old Paul stands up and says ‘I am a Pharisee, and the very reason I am in trouble is because I believe in the hope of the resurrection’ Paul knew how to ‘triangulate’ [politically]. Well of course the Pharisees say ‘well, we see nothing wrong with this man. If an angel or spirit appeared to him, then Gods will be done’. So the group splits. Paul is put under guard and eventually appeals to the next step. The authorities send him to Governor Felix in Caesarea for the next appeal. Why is it important to see the legal maneuverings of Paul? Jesus even appears to him again and says ‘you will testify of me in Rome’. The religious leaders of the 1st century did all they could to not report the facts of the early followers of Christ. The gospels tell us that they even resorted to outright lying to cover up the fact of the resurrection. Paul’s interjection into the legal arena caused there to be a written record of these events! The historians of the day were covering the legal events of the day. The record of Jesus and his followers would be forever imbedded in the historic records of the time. God wanted Paul in this system as a sure testimony of the witness of Christ’s resurrection. We end the chapter with Paul waiting at Caesarea for the accusers to come and make their case.
(761) ACTS 24- Paul’s accusers come down from Jerusalem. They hired a lawyer [orator] to accuse him! Tertullus gives a speech to the Governor that could be defined as the classic political ‘suck up’ speech of all time. Paul defends himself and says ‘I am not guilty of these so called accusations. But I am guilty of believing the law and the prophets. I believe that what they spoke of [the shadows] have happened! I believe in the resurrection. Jesus has fulfilled the promises of the prophets!’ I had a discussion with a good friend the other day. We have a mutual friend who is really into Messianic stuff. He has espoused the idea that the feasts and images of Israel are EXACT PICTURES that give us a detailed road map to Christ’s return. Basically the friend believes that all the shadows and images are exact descriptions of all future events. I shared with my friend that I too believe that the feasts of Israel are prophetic signs of things. Surely Passover and Pentecost have had great meaning for the people of God. Paul says ‘Christ our Passover died for us’. Some see the end time feast of the latter harvest as having future fulfillment in the ingathering of the nations to Christ. I have taught some of this on the radio before. The problem with this other stuff is it takes the feasts and shadows and tries to ‘detail’ every little thing. Paul understood the prophets and law having been fulfilled thru the present work of Christ and his resurrection. I can’t stress enough how the apostolic witness in Acts sees Jesus as the fulfillment of these things. They do not preach a heavily nationalistic [Jewish] message, though they are all Jews! [The Apostles] As Paul defends himself, the governor listens and trembles! Paul spoke of judgment and temperance and the reality of a future resurrection of the just and unjust. The basic apostolic message as seen in the classic creeds of the church. Paul will sit under house arrest for 2 years until another person takes over Felix’s position. The guy’s name is ‘Porcius festus’ [I think I would prefer the name Judas over Porcius!] We end the chapter with Paul waiting to give another witness of Jesus before another ruler. The legal problems of Paul were Gods providence to give Paul opportunity to speak the gospel all the way up the chain. The chain ends at Rome.
(765)ACT 25- Festus hears the Jews at Jerusalem, they want him to bring Paul to Jerusalem. Festus goes back to Caesarea and asks Paul ‘why don’t you go back with me’? Paul appeals to Caesar! Of course going to Rome was part of the plan. Now King Agrippa [another one of the many ruling authorities that Rome had over the people!] comes to Caesarea and Festus tells him about Paul. Agrippa will get a strong word in the next chapter. Also the Jews come down from Jerusalem and accuse Paul of many things. I want to make a note here. In the area of apologetics, which we do a lot of, you need to be careful that you don’t jump on the bandwagon of unfounded accusations. There are and have been real doctrinal heresies that needed to be dealt with, but some of the apologists really get personal. Even calling family members degrading names! In Paul’s case he had accusations that were not true. He does defend himself against the false ones, but also admitted that he believes in Christ’s resurrection and that this is considered heresy among certain Jews. Paul’s main message was Christ and the resurrection! As we get ready to close our study in a few more days, I want to recap the importance of seeing Jesus and his fulfillment of the Old Testament prophets as the main message of the Apostles. This early teaching by the Apostles needs to be the ‘tradition’ if you will, once again. We [believers] have a tendency to delve deeply into all sorts of stuff. Paul will warn his spiritual sons ‘don’t get lost in endless genealogies and debates about the law’ and Hebrews says ‘it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace, not with meats [legalistic doctrines] which have been unprofitable to those who have gone that route’. Now, you guys know I believe in correct doctrine, and Paul wasn’t advocating ‘no doctrine’. But it is easy to get lost in endless debates that lead to nowhere. Ultimately our goal is to present every man perfect in Christ. Paul will stick with this message all the way to Rome!
(766) ACTS 26- Paul makes his case before Agrippa. Paul says that he is being accused of the hope that all the Jews are waiting for and serving God day and night to receive! It’s funny how all the religious requirements of the law and temple, the whole culture of Judaism. All the symbols that made up their heritage. All the times they would quote Moses or Abraham ‘we have Abraham as our father’ ‘we know God spoke to Moses’ all of these things were for THE SOLE PURPOSE of coming to a point in Jewish history where the Jews would receive their Messiah. Paul states ‘this actual hope and reason for our existence as a Jewish nation is the cause of contention that the Jewish leaders have against me’. What an amazing thing! Now once again Paul will state the basic Christian doctrine of Jesus and his resurrection ‘king Agrippa, why would it be so hard to believe that God can raise the dead’? Did you ever ponder this question? A few years ago you didn’t exist [30-50-70?] since you were born you have been taught that you exist because of certain natural means. You learned the process of birth, and some of you have actually had kids yourselves. During your life you have heard and learned about the universe, planets, the history of man. We have lived thru an industrial and technological revolution. We put men on the moon, we splice genes, we take men’s hearts out of their bodies and put pumps in there place! Plus all these things came from a point in time where there was no thing! Hebrews says God made every thing from nothing! Science actually does agree with this [read my section on Evolution] and after all this experience and knowledge you have attained in your very short life, yet if God were to say ‘I will raise the dead’ people say ‘now, how can you expect me to believe that?’ We do have pea brains at times! Paul also retells his conversion and says how Jesus told him he would be a witness of the historical events of Christ and his resurrection, but Jesus also said ‘and you will testify of the things I will reveal to you in the future’. Now we have to do some stuff. What were the things that Jesus was going to reveal to Paul in the future? We read these things in Paul’s letters. Basically the great reality of our sharing in the divine nature [actually this is Peter] our sonship. The great mystery of God making one new man out of Jew and Gentile. Truths concerning the ascension and the heavenly realities of redemption [Hebrews]. The point is the ‘future revelation’ of Jesus to Paul was not some knowledge outside of the boundaries already laid down in the gospels. The doctrine of the Apostles was already being taught thru out the book of Acts. God simply gave Paul greater insight and revelation into the truths that already existed. The Gnostics [early second century cult of Christianity- the word comes from the Greek term ‘Gnosis’- knowledge]. They taught a type of special knowledge that said the basic Christian who only has the historical truths of Jesus are at a lower level. Once you become a Gnostic, you then have special revelation that can’t be learned thru normal means. A popular Christian teaching comes close to this ‘revelation knowledge’. Many years ago I was a student of E.W. Kenyon and the word of faith movement. Brother Kenyon taught a type of mystical teaching that said God can reveal things to people outside of the 5 senses, and this is ‘revelation knowledge’. Can God do this? To a degree, yes. We actually read how Agabus gave Paul a prophecy about being bound at Jerusalem. Or Paul dreaming about a man in Macedonia asking for help. I see the reality of God being able to reveal things to us supernaturally as a gift of the prophetic. We are born of Gods Spirit and we do receive understanding from God as his Spiritual children. But yet Paul will write ‘study to show yourself approved’. So Jesus told Paul he was going to show him stuff in the future. Paul based his apostolic authority on this fact [Galatians 1-2]. He would say ‘the gospel I preach was not given to me by men, but God revealed it to me’ what gospel is Paul talking about? The gospel [good news] of the grace of God. Jesus revealed the more important stuff to Paul as time went on, Paul was seeing more and more grace!
(767) ACTS 27- Paul heads to Rome! He sets sail under guard and has a few harrowing experiences. He warns the ships captain not to sail at one stop, the time of severe weather is at hand. They refuse to listen, they set sail and wind up almost dying. Paul gives them a classic ‘I told you so!’ and says ‘don’t worry, an angel from God appeared to me and told me your lives will be spared’ [poor Paul, when is he going to see that these prophetic experiences are ruining his ministry!] they all swim to shore after the ship gets stuck off shore. At one point while still stuck in the water Paul tells them ‘you guys have not eaten in 14 days, have some food’ he breaks bread, thanks God and invites them to eat. I really see this as a type of ‘Lords supper’ thing. I have showed you guys in the past that the early church practiced a type of ‘common meal’. They seemed to take Jesus words in John 6 [Paul in Corinthians too] to teach that ‘as oft as you do this’ [do what? As oft as you get together and eat a meal from this time forth, you will remember that your actual spiritual life is pictured by you eating and drinking for physical life. I am your daily bread of life. You live because I live!]The early believers seemed to take it in this ‘buffet style’ way. So Paul seems to be holding some type of ‘invitation Lords meal’ and saying come and dine! At the end of this chapter Paul’s life is spared by the favor he had with the centurion Julius. God gave him protection to complete the mission. Paul has been witnessing of Jesus to all these gentile [Roman] authorities and he will take it to Rome. Ultimately it will take 3 centuries before the whole kingdom [Roman Empire] will bow the knee, but Paul was the firebrand who set the match.
(768) ACTS 28- After the shipwreck they wind up on an island called Melita. Paul meets the barbarous people and they welcome him. During a bon fire type thing, Paul is collecting wood and a poisonous snake bites him. The people think ‘surely this man is a murderer and ‘vengeance’ got him!’ Notice the fact that moral/natural law was imbedded in the consciences of these savage like people. Where in the world did they come up with such an idea of right and wrong and justice? The atheists say ‘well, all people simply come up with some type of code to live by. This is really not proof for moral law’. The Christian answers ‘so how come you never find some isolated tribe who rewards murder and punishes goodness’! Now, I realize there are distant tribes who practice violent stuff. The point is in all of these societies, there is a basic right and wrong that is honored. If the tribe is violent, they still don’t reward the cowardly killing of one of their own kids! These savages had the built in conscience of moral law that Paul teaches in Romans. Now after Paul doesn’t get sick or die from the bite, they ‘change their minds’ and say he is a god! People are fickle. Paul heals the father of the chief of the island, a small healing revival breaks out. Paul demonstrates the power of the gospel in word and deed. Even today, in many 3rd world countries you see healings and miraculous signs along with the preaching of the gospel. They launch off and land in a few more spots and finally make it to Rome! Paul calls the Jewish leaders and makes his familiar defense. He lists the accusations against him and defends himself. He thought the whole Jewish world knew about the gossip! The leaders tell him ‘we haven’t heard any stuff about you, but tell us more about this sect’. Leaders, don’t make the mistake of defending yourself over personal stuff from the pulpit! Often time’s people don’t now what you are talking about. Paul does set up a day and teaches the Jews in Rome from morning till evening showing them all the scriptures that testify of Jesus in the Law of Moses and the prophets. He ‘testified of the Kingdom of God and Christ’ [they go hand in hand!] Some Jews believe, others don’t. Paul then quotes the most quoted verse from the Old Testament in the New Testament ‘Isaiah was right about you! Having eyes you can’t see, ears you can’t hear…’ Luke ends the chapter [and book] with Paul living 2 years in a rented room and preaching the kingdom of God to all who will listen. Paul finished his days infecting the capitol city of the empire with the gospel! Church history tells us that Paul [and Peter] were martyred under Nero’s persecution. John [the apostle] writes about the beast making war against the saints and killing them. No wonder why the early church called Nero ‘the beast’. Paul writes one of his best letters to the Roman saints and the church will forever have an ‘eternal witness’ in the city of Rome. Paul got his wish.
(769) ACTS CONCLUSION- As we finish our study in Acts, I want to review a few things. The ‘church’ [ecclesia] as seen in Acts are without a doubt ‘organic’ this term describes the community of people in the various locations who believed the message of the Messiah. These people were not establishing ‘church meetings at the church on Sunday’ to compete with the Jewish meetings at the synagogues on Saturday. The transition from the old law into the new covenant was not only one of a change in message [law versus grace] but also a transition from shadows to reality. All the ways of worship and ‘liturgical’ form were part of the old law. The temple and priest and altar were important types and symbols of what was to come. But in the New Testament communities these ideas of physical worship changed. The actual praise of Gods people and doing good deeds will become the sacrifices that God is well pleased with [New Testament]. The Lords meal was actually a meal! The gathering on the first day of the week became a good tradition in memory of Christ’s resurrection. But as time went on many well meaning believers would return to the symbols and incorporate them into their worship. The church would be seen as the ‘church house’ the altar would be seen as a real place upon which the ‘bloodless sacrifice’ [Eucharist] would be re offered again for the sins of the world. The priest would be seen as having special powers given to him by Jesus, that during the mass the host becomes Jesus flesh and blood and as the people ‘eat’ him they are partaking, literally, of Jesus flesh and blood. Now, are all these believers wrong? Should we see the development of sacramental theology as pagan? I personally don’t think so. I prefer to view the changes that took place in the church as part of a process of Gods people grappling with doctrines and beliefs while at the same time struggling to maintain unity as the centuries progressed [I am not making excuses for wrong doctrine, I think well meaning church fathers grasped wrong ideas out of a fear of loosing their identity. The idea of a strong magesterium [teaching authority] gave room for wrong doctrines to become firmly entrenched in the collective mind of the early church]. For the first 1000 years of Christianity the people of God were primarily seen as Catholic. In 1054 the official split between eastern and western Christianity will take place. Another 500 years until the Catholic Church split again [1517]. The host of churches that came out of the Protestant Reformation are too innumerable to mention. Should we view all of these groups as deceived religionists? Of course not. Do we find a pattern in Acts that would allow us to trace ‘the true group’ and lay claim to being the most authentic? I don’t believe so. But as all the people of God strive for the unity that we actually posses in Christ, we have the great resource of the church fathers, the wisdom and insights of the reformers. The heritage of the outgrowth of the restorationist movements. The excitement of the Puritans as they launched out to found a new world free from religious persecution. If it weren’t for the strong institutional church we wouldn’t have had the opportunity to have even had a Luther [Wittenberg] Calvin [first Paris then Geneva] or Zwingli [Zurich]! Or the ‘pre reformers’ Wycliffe, Huss and Knox. These men were products of Catholic higher learning! It was the reality of Catholic institutional Christianity that allowed for these men to be trumpets of truth in their day! The university cities that they taught in as Catholic priests allowed for their influence to spread far and wide. In each generation of believers you have had Gods people progress so far and leave us with great treasures that were intended to be passed on to future generations If we severe ourselves from historic Christianity, then we lose the great gains that have been made in the centuries gone by! The book of Acts shows us the freedom of the people of God. ‘Where 2 or more are together in my name, I am in the midst’ isn’t some description of ‘local church’. As in if we copy the formulas of what happened in Acts [break bread, prayer, etc.] then you ‘have a church’. Jesus promise to be with us when we are together is the act of brotherhood. Surely we saw Jesus going along with the people of God all thru out Acts. The Spirit of God that indwelt them in chapter 2 was the promise that he would be with them. He legitimized them! Not some institution [‘local church’] that they were to start! So today all the people of God are striving to find a closer identity with each other as fellow believers in the Lord. I believe the book of Acts gives us a beautiful picture of the church in her infancy stage. I also believe the growth seen as we read Paul’s letters to these churches indicates the heart of God for his people to remain in grace. Paul warns the churches to not fall into the legalism of observing days and regulations and legalistic requirements. He wants them to live simply, free from sin and to be the people of God in society. Some branches of Christianity took hold of the strong ‘we are pilgrims’ view [which is true to a degree] and would separate from society. Not realizing we are pilgrims and strangers to the worlds system, but our Father is God of heaven and earth! We are here to impact this planet! So let’s run with the exciting message and revolutionary mindset that the early church possessed. They weren’t in this thing for what they could get out of it, they were really laying their lives down for the gospel. They were sharing their stuff with each other. They were loving God and their fellow man in ways that were uncommon for their time. It wasn’t only what they said that allowed them to ‘turn their world upside down’ it was who they were, the People of God.
[These next 3 are out of order, I penned them during our study in Acts but wanted to separate them from the study]
(762) ZECHARIAH 3:4 ‘I HAVE CAUSED THINE INIQUITY TO PASS FROM THEE, AND I WILL CLOTHE THEE WITH CHANGE OF RAIMENT’. SPECIAL NOTE- I have been hesitating to break into our study in Acts. But I felt the Lord wanted to do a few prophetic things. The other morning I woke up and did the usual prayer, study and writing. I basically read and meditate for an hour or so. Then I pray for an hour and teach [write/make radio stuff] for an hour or so. This usually starts at around 3:30 am and by 8:00 or so I have done all the teaching. Some days I just wait on the Lord and rest. I will spend the day just praying, more like being in the yard and not reading or doing any outward stuff. It feels like a ‘prayer day’ when this happens. I felt the Lord communicate the verse ‘in the day I deliver you from all of your iniquities I will cause you to dwell in the CITIES and the wastes shall be built’. I have memorized this years ago. At around 3:00 p.m., after sort of sensing the whole day as kind of an offshoot of this verse. Sort of just resting and not putting your hand to the ‘cart’ [trying to figure things out or make stuff happen]. I prayed ‘Lord, show me a miracle right now’ [hey, sometimes this does work!] I really didn’t expect one to be honest. But at that moment a page from some paper flew over the roof and into my yard. I immediately got up and thought ‘I bet this thing is prophetic’. Stuff like this has happened before. The paper was an old page torn out of some tourist magazine, on one side it had every city in the state of Texas just listed with no explanation. Of course I just spent the whole day praying about having an effect in all these cities! Many of the cities I was naming were right there in print. Of course stuff like this could be a coincidence, but try it yourself and see how long it takes for a page to blow in your yard? A few verses ‘THIS MAN IS LIKE A STICK [BRANCH] PLUCKED OUT OF THE FIRE’ ‘I have taken away your iniquity, I will clothe you in clean clothes’ these are references to Joshua the high priest [not the other Joshua!] in Zechariah 3. The Lord rebukes satan who was standing at his right hand to resist him. Joshua was also standing and fulfilling his priestly purpose. The Lord allows him to function initially in a state of uncleanness. He is doing it by the righteousness of God. The resistance is coming as a direct result of him fulfilling the purpose of God. The filthy clothes and the resistance of the enemy are direct results of his calling and purpose. The enemy has spent extra time trying to soil his garments. The Lord supernaturally removes his iniquity in a day. It also says the nation’s iniquity was removed at the same time. The corporate purpose of God was fulfilled thru his ministry at the same time he experienced individual cleansing [Paul Cain and others who represent the former times?] the Lord puts a turban on his head and he fulfils his purpose in God. I simply felt like the lord was speaking to many of us at this season, he is going to do a ‘sudden work of cleansing’ on many of his prophetic voices as a precursor to his corporate purpose in the earth.
(763) ZECHARIAH 3:7 ‘IF THOU WILT WALK IN MY WAYS AND KEEP MY CHARGE, THEN THOU SHALT JUDGE MY HOUSE AND SHALL ALSO KEEP MY COURTS, AND I WILL GIVE THEE PLACES TO WALK AMONG THESE THAT STAND BY’- I felt like the Lord was saying to take advantage of this special season of change. Sort of like the Lord saying to Abraham ‘if thou will obey me’. God is saying it’s up to you to avail yourself freely of this time of grace that he is making available. The imagery of the ‘stick/branch plucked from the fire’[Zechariah 3] fits with the study we did in Genesis. Jacobs blessing on Joseph was he would ‘be like a bough [vine] planted by a well [source of life giving water] whose branches go over the wall [influence beyond the ‘wall’ group you associate with]. The archers shot at you [Joseph] but did not prevail. Yet your bow prevailed and I strengthened your arms’. Also the blessing on Judah ‘the scepter shall not depart from Judah [the authority to carry out the mission at this time] nor a lawgiver from between his feet [the means by which he communicates the message thru you] unto him shall the gathering of the people be [many will come to see this new strange work] and his hand shall be on the neck of his enemy [the evil one will lose authority] and as a young lion [the youth will play a major role!] he shall crouch down and go up from the prey’. In this chapter [Zechariah 3] Joshua is a type of Christ who is THE BRANCH. Jesus is the vine/bough [John 15] planted next to the spring/well, he ‘grows’ thru out the earth. Of course we are his body [‘ye are the branches’ Jn. 15] so the well of life giving water in us will be life to the nations. I felt like the Lord was saying this is a set time for many of us to access the flow that is going forth at this time and be a part of ‘the man whose name is the branch, he will branch out from his place and build the temple of the Lord’. NOTE- Because I have been doing a chapter by chapter study in the book of Acts, I haven’t shared prophetic stuff in a while. I recently had a few dreams that I felt were significant. I dreamt again, for the second time, that I was laying hands on a Catholic bishop and he was being filled powerfully with the Spirit. I feel this speaks of God doing a special work amongst the Catholics. I also dreamt Billy Graham, I can’t recall everything about it. But he does represent a sort of passing of the torch from our father’s generation to the next. This could signify the younger generation that God is going to use in this next step.
(764) ISAIAH 22:23- I took a 3 day excursion away from our study in the book of Acts, this should be it for now ‘AND I WILL FASTEN HIM AS A NAIL IN A SURE PLACE’. In our look at the ‘stick/branch’ verses in Zechariah, I felt the Lord wanted us to mention this as well. The stick plucked out of the fire [Zechariah 3] was dressed in dirty clothes and yet continued to stand and perform his function as God required. The resistance he was feeling was a direct result of his prophetic calling [priestly]. The fact that he was ‘plucked’ from the fire speaks of him having been in a place of judgment/purging. Jesus spoke of sacrifices being purged with fire. Joshua [the priest who is referred to as ‘the stick/brand’] will eventually be like ‘the nail in a secure place’ some versions say ‘tent stake/peg’ [stick!] God has allowed you to go thru a purging/burning period of your life. The fact that your ‘rod will bud’ [divine production] in itself will be a sign to others. When the rod budded as a sign under Moses leadership, it was a stick that was ‘from dry ground’. That is a plain stick without any roots. Isaiah says this about Christ ‘root out of a dry ground’. The fact that many of you have been thru this process has qualified you to be ‘a peg/stake in a secure place’. Everything that God will produce thru you at this point will obviously be a work of divine grace, there will be no other way to explain it! Also we quoted ‘if you walk in my ways AND keep my commands, then you will judge my house and keep my courts and have a place among these’. I felt like the Lord was speaking ‘process and conduct’. Some of you [us!] have had process; you knew the ways/methods of the Lord, but lacked conduct. Others had good conduct, but had no vision or purpose. God wants to tear down old methods [processes] that have hindered your walk. He wants to uproot demonic strongholds in your thought processes. Don’t be deceived! The renewing of your mind is not a legalistic work of you trying to change your own thoughts. Scripture says ‘you who were enemies and alienated IN YOUR MINDS by wicked works, now hath he reconciled thru the body of his flesh by death’ the work of redemption is what reconciles your mind. Jesus blood didn’t just ‘save your spirit’ but you now have to redeem your own mind. Jesus blood radically affected your mind! Renewing your mind means living and acting out based on this truth of grace! As you meditate on the Cross and the grace of God, then the stronghold of the enemy will be rooted out. At that point you will also have ‘good conduct’. ‘Commit your works unto the Lord and your thoughts will be established’ God will plant you like a tent stake that is secure for expansion. ‘Strengthen thy stakes and lengthen thy cords, for thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left… your seed will inherit the gentiles and make the desolate cities to be inhabited’ Isaiah.
(770) JUDGES 1-2 This part of the story of Israel’s walk with God is a stage where God ‘raised them up judges’. When God initiates divine leadership, it works. Don’t confuse the act of God with the ideas of men. There will come a time where Israel tells God ‘we want a king like the other nations’ and God says by asking this they rejected his headship over them. Being we are coming off of our study in Acts, I want you to see these judges thru the lens of God ordained Elders [leaders]. In Acts, God used men. He even allowed Paul to tell the Christians ‘ordain [recognize] elders in every city’. So it is fine to have a recognized leader in the community [actually in Acts it’s ‘leaders’ plural!] Now the children of Israel ask the Lord ‘who should go up first?’ and the Lord says ‘Judah’. Remember, Jacob blessed Judah and said ‘the scepter shall not depart from Judah’ Judah [praise] is ordained for battle! They start inheriting the land and they leave a remnant of the old ‘ites’ in the land. They basically are so excited about the amount of ground they are covering, that they fail to maintain what God is giving them! ‘Strengthen the things that remain, that are ready to die’ REVELATION. An angel rebukes them in chapter 2 for failing to fully [with all their heart] follow the Lord. Caleb’s daughter asks Caleb ‘you have given me a southland, give me also springs of water’. Let’s read this thru the eyes of ‘LECTIO DIVINA’ , an ancient way of reading scripture in a devotional sense. You basically try to hear God personally speak to you thru the text. This ‘way’ of reading is not in context, you shouldn’t develop doctrines from it, but it is useful for personal stuff. I just finished praying for ‘the southland’, all the regions in South Texas that we are reaching out to. I [we] need ‘springs of water to go along with the land’. Paul said we can plant and claim and confess all day long, but if Gods Spirit doesn’t fall [water] we will never see a harvest! Israel catches a king on the run and chops off his big toes and thumbs. The king says ‘God paid me back, I too have done this to other kings’. What’s up with this? Basically the guy without thumbs and toes is simply surviving. He can fetch you some water, hold the bucket and all. Or walk around and be your ‘go- for’ guy. But don’t dare try and wield one of those heavy swords, it will come out of your hand! Or don’t try any quick foot moves, you will fall in an instant. The enemy wants to ‘immobilize you’. Give you a retirement mentality ‘sit back and worry about whether or not you have enough resources to make it to 76 and die’. Geez, get up out of that Lazy boy and act like you got some big toes and thumbs! The Israelites also catch some guy fleeing one of the cities and they make him tell them how to get into the city. They then raid the city and take it. Work smarter, not harder! Sometimes we have the mindset of ‘If we just had more money we could change the world’ they could have beat on the walls of the city all day, hired guys to bang on it with hammers! But once God shows you the entrance [key to get in] it goes much smoother. God can knock the walls down [Jericho] but seek him for the process he wants to give to you. Don’t assume the pattern that so and so used will automatically work for you. Don’t confuse the goal [taking the city] with the procedures of the past. God just might want to give you a secret entrance into the city, and you are praying for ‘more wall breakers’ [didn’t me to be crude!].
(771) JUDGES 3- The Lord allows the enemies to remain partly in the land to ‘prove [test] the children who saw not the wars of Canaan’. God allowed the younger generation to learn what it meant to overcome some stuff. We live in a day where many believers are used to sitting in ‘church’ and being passive listeners their whole lives. They are all good people, it’s just they have never really learned how to war. To go out on their own and experience the kingdom. God taught the younger generation how to war. They cried unto the Lord during their oppression and the lord raised up Othniel. [Just a note, the way I do all our teaching (radio/blog) is I read the stuff ahead of time and when I teach I do it from memory. So sometimes you will see a misspelled name!] He is the younger brother of Caleb and he delivers the people. They soon back slide after his death and Eglon, the ‘fat king’ of Moab oppresses them. The Lord raises up Ehud. Notice the Lord is raising these judges up from the community! [Like the elders in Acts]. These judges experienced the same oppression as all the people around them. They lived with the complaints and bitterness of a people oppressed ‘geez, what does Eglon want now!’ The deliverers also didn’t carry all the weight, they simply showed the people that it’s possible to stand up for yourself and fight! Ehud goes to Eglon with ‘a present’ [tribute, the payment for being under him. But Ehud’s present doesn’t end there!] Ehud enters the king’s chamber. He says ‘I have a secret message from God for you’ and Eglon thinks he is going to get a little something extra. He does. Ehud takes his dagger out and shoves it all the way into Eglons fat belly! The handle and all. He escapes thru the porch and locks the doors behind him. He runs back to Israel and blows a trumpet and all the people descend upon Moab and slaughter 10 thousand mighty warriors. God gave them peace for 80 years. The description is graphic. The reason why Eglon is described as ‘fat’ is to show how this rule of lethargy and gluttony was suffocating God’s people. It took a risky, radical act of one man to say ‘I have had enough of this guy, I don’t care if I get killed, I am going to take him down!’ Sometimes it takes radical action to overthrow the spirit of mammon off of Gods people [you fight covetousness, not people!] After the violent [prophetic] act of Ehud, the people gained enough courage to cast the entire ruling nation of Moab off of them. Sometimes God will raise up a singular voice [John the Baptist was a voice in the wilderness] to stir up the people to action. The individual can’t do it alone [he might take down an Eglon] but the people have to cast off the oppressors themselves [or at least finish the job].
(772) JUDGES 4- Deborah judges Israel. Let’s get into the role of women in the ‘church’. Wow, talk about being a glutton for punishment! First, the New Testament clearly teaches that in Christ there is neither male or female, Jew or Greek, bond or free. Paul also lays down some guidelines in Corinthians and his pastoral epistles [Timothy, Titus] on the role of women and leaders in the church. We taught the book of Acts and saw that Phillip had 4 ‘virgins’ who prophesied. Peter quotes the famous Joel prophecy and says ‘in the last days I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, your sons and DAUGHTERS will prophesy’. So we see two themes in the New Testament on women. One, they most certainly can be used in spiritual gifts, even ‘speaking ones’. While at the same time Paul tells the Corinthians to not allow the women to have authority over the men. He even says ‘let them keep silent in the ‘church’. [note- as you read all my teaching on this blog on what the church is, this will answer many questions on this subject. I also am aware of those who make a distinction here between ‘women’ and ‘married women’, the idea that the wives were asking their husbands questions during the meetings and how this could be seen as disorderly and out of custom for the time. The same idea on the subject of women and ‘hats’ in church. Were these instructions dealing with certain customs at Corinth that were peculiar to that city? Corinth was a wild place, the ‘women’ on the streets had customs that went along with ‘their trade’. Some think this played a role in Paul’s guidelines in this letter]. So obviously Paul did not see the reality of all being equal as meaning all have the same roles and responsibilities. Would it be wrong for God to not make everyone an Apostle or Prophet? Of course not. Does this mean that all cant prophesy? No. But God given roles and being equal [in value] in Gods eyes are different things. Would a father be fair if he let 2 of his boys join the football team [or boxing] and discouraged his daughter from doing the same? Just because people have different roles does not mean they do not share equal value. Now, we could go on forever with this. Some used arguments like this to justify slavery, I certainly disagree with that! But I also believe we have gone overboard [certain church ideas] in introducing Pastors as ‘Pastor Bob and Pastor Betty’ to the degree where we feel it would be bigoted to not see them as having the same role. Now, as you understand that the church is the corporate people of God, you will see that God is not ‘restricting’ the function of women as much as it might seem. The fact that the New testament did not have the singular role of ‘The Pastor’ as the primary functioning gift in the Local churches, would show you that even if women were not seen as Elders or Pastors [they were not by the way] would not mean they couldn’t function in spiritual gifts. But because we practice Local church in a way that has a few main leaders doing most of the functioning, this does seem to tell the women ‘you cant be one of us, you cant function’. While in reality this limited view of Local church not only restricts the function of women, but of most of the men as well! So here we see the Lord use Deborah in a leadership position, but even she seems to think that Barak is shrinking back from the role of leadership. She tells him ‘the Lord wants you to go up and defeat the Canaanites’. He is fearful and says ‘I will go if you go too!’ She agrees and also gives a prophetic statement ‘this journey will not be for your glory’. I think the present mindset of church and modern ministry needs to get back to this principle. Jesus told us we are to deny ourselves and take up our cross daily and follow him. We often approach Christianity with the mindset of ‘I will achieve great goals and dreams by using God and scripture to attain all that I want out of life’. While it is true that God loves us and has good plans for us, we also need to see the virtue of actually denying ourselves for Christ. There are [and should be] real things that you desired to do or be at one point in your life, that you consciously laid down for Christ. This is a very real practice that most believers in today’s church environment don’t hear about. What have you given up for Jesus? Even saying it like this sounds strange to our ears! So ‘this journey is not for our glory’. Deborah tells Barak to go and defeat Sisera, the leader of Jabins army [geez, I am quoting all these names as I write, double check the spelling for yourselves]. He goes and defeats the mighty 900 steel chariot army of Jabin. Sisera escapes and hides in Jaels tent [the wife of Heber, descendants of Moses in laws]. He asks her to hide him, she covers him with a blanket. She gives him some milk, as he is sleeping she drives a tent stake thru his head! [Ouch] She then shows Barak that he is dead. God used women to help with the cause. He always has and always will. Jesus broke the etiquette of his day by allowing women to be ‘on his team’. He spoke to the Samaritan woman at the well, a huge no no! He allowed Mary Magdalene to be part of the group. Prostitutes received mercy and wiped his feet with their hair! Jesus broke barriers and used women, but staying within the basic guidelines of ones calling [like women not being elders in the new testament churches] should not be seen as chauvinistic, but as simply submitting [both men and women!] to Gods basic order laid down in the new testament. NOTE- A few years back the southern baptist convention reaffirmed the basic truth that wives should submit to their husbands and husbands should love their wives as Christ loves the church. Boy did you have a firestorm in the liberal media over this. Both sides [even in the church] have a tendency to use the verses that seem to present their side the most. Paul actually referred to a woman [Junia- Romans 16:7] as a possible Apostle ‘who are of note among the Apostles’[depending on how you read the text]. So I believe the scriptures give us much leeway way in God using women in the church, but we should not think it ‘progressive thinking’ to simply by pass all the other portions of scripture that teach the different roles of men and women.
(773) PATRICKS STORY! This is a testimony from the prayer request section. Patrick is my sisters boyfriend. He is around ten years younger than me [I am 45 right now] my sister is a few years older than me. I have no other siblings. Patrick has struggled with drug addiction for many years. My sister became an addict at a young age and has been on the Methadone treatment stuff for years. Most addicts that are on Methadone [a manmade form of ‘heroin’] say it’s worse than the real thing. They often do both at the same time. Being on the ‘maintenance program’ basically means you are addicted to the drug. It eventually ruins your mind. My sister has had dramatic effects from the drug, she comes off as someone with severe mental problems. I met Patrick a few years back on one of my visits back to Jersey. He hung out with me for a week or so, we visited different churches on Sunday and just became buddies. I taught him stuff about the Lord. He is very smart, watches all the shows from the history channel and stuff. Was also aware of all the skeptics arguments against God. I basically gave him the other side. Though I never actually ‘led him to the Lord’ I realized he was affected by my visit. I really only saw him one more time after that. I spoke to him a few times over the phone, but I could tell he was like ‘one of my sons’ [referring to all the brothers that I have known over the years]. There was that ‘brotherhood connection’ that started. Well about 2 weeks ago when I was talking to my mom on the phone, I asked how Patrick was [he lives in my old house where I grew up as a boy in Jersey]. She admitted to me that he overdosed pretty bad and has been in the hospital for a few weeks. He was off of drugs for a while and was doing very good. He was attending the N.A. meetings [that’s the equivalent of A.A. for addicts] and was doing well. My mom told me how they thought he was dead when he was found, he was put on a respirator, had damage to his lungs and his kidneys quit working. I immediately knew his chances were slim. I have had friends die from overdoses before. When you are at this point your odds are not good! So I told my mom I would put him on the prayer list on this blog and we’ll see what happens. To be honest I thought he was gonna die. During this time I happened to do a study from Zechariah 3 and Isaiah 22 [you can go back 5 or so entries from here and find them]. The verses in these chapters include ‘your sons shall be as signs’ and ‘this iniquity shall not pass from you until you die’ [ouch!] I wasn’t looking for ‘signs’ so to speak, but when stuff like this happens it’s hard to ignore! Also during these few weeks I had 2 cats die and a strange appearing of a beautiful red cardinal [bird] in my yard. I have only seen a few down here over the years. I don’t think I have ever seen one in my yard before? Well I felt the bird might have represented ‘new life’ it could have meant my friend died, or maybe a second chance. I remember hearing the testimony of Joel Osteen’s mom, how before her husband died [John] she noticed this pretty bird at her window as she did the dishes. Then after a year or so it stopped coming around. When John died she felt lonely, and sure enough one day the bird showed up. She saw it as a sign from the Lord. So as I prayed for Patrick, he became part of the brotherhood of friends I regularly pray over. Also my mom had told me how when they first saw him at the hospital he was asking ‘where’s John’. My mom thought this strange, like why would someone who is on his deathbed, half conscious and half awake, ask for her son. I knew the connection thru the prayers and few visits over the years was real. Also he was in between life and death and I was doing the early morning prayers. It’s like if you are on the verge of dying and someone else is regularly interceding for you, you really can’t pass on without ‘permission’. So I didn’t call home [Jersey] in a few weeks and I really thought Patrick died. I finally told my wife ‘I better call, if he died then my sister must be really flipping out’. Before I called I prepared myself for the news. I even felt like if the Lord spared him [which would truly have been a miracle] that it would be a second chance for Pat to sell out for the Lord. Sure enough as I called and talked to my mom, she tells me ‘Patrick came home a few days ago, you wanna talk to him’. I knew it was a miracle. As my mom is telling me he made it, the red cardinal flew right into my yard [I was on the cell phone in the yard]. I had a long talk with Pat. He told me how they said ‘you will always need to be on dialysis from now on’. But after a few days they said ‘well, your kidneys are back to normal, you can go home’. When I first read the verses on ‘your sons are for signs’ and ‘this sin will not pass till you die’ [strong stuff!] I felt like the signs were saying we were going to lose Pat. During my prayers I invoked the Lord on Pats behalf, telling the Lord ‘you already lost a Son, thru that loss I reclaim Patrick’s life’. I felt the bird could have been a sign of Patrick dying, or a second chance at life. The lord gave us the better option. NOTE- I definitely credit your prayers as a direct cause of Patrick’s healing! Thank you.
(774) JUDGES 5-6 Deborah sings a victors song in chapter 5. I only want to mention one verse, she says ‘the mountains melted before you, even Sinai’. In the beginning of Judges I skipped the part where Judah defeats Jerusalem. This wording sounds strange in a way! Jerusalem of course was inhabited by the Jebusites and Judah took it. Sinai represents the law and Moses, grace and truth come from Jesus. I simply felt these ideas to be prophetic, speaking of a time in the future [Now, the New Covenant] where these natural identities will bow before the King! ‘The law came thru Moses [Sinai] but grace and truth came from Jesus Christ’. In chapter 6 we see one of the famous stories of a judge, Gideon. At this time in Israel’s history the Midianites were coming up every year during the harvest and wiping them out. It’s not that Israel wasn’t sowing [planting] it’s just they weren’t enjoying the harvest! The enemy left them enough freedom to plant and work the fields, it was just at harvest time when he gave them a hard time. Now Gideon is threshing wheat at ‘the winepress’ which is basically a hole in the ground. You can’t really thresh wheat in a cave! You need a ‘thresingfloor’, an open area where you can throw the wheat in the air and let the wind blow the chaff away. But all the children of Israel were doing this in secret spots to hide from the Midianites. So once again the people call out to God and he does it a little different this time. He sends them a Prophet first who says to them ‘God delivered you from Egypt and bondage, yet you feared the enemy and served false gods’. They were living in fear and permitted idolatry to become part of their worship [covetousness is the New Testament equivalent to idolatry]. Then the Lord sends an angel to Gideon and he tells him ‘you mighty man of valor, God is calling you to lead the people’. Gideon says ‘I come from poverty, I am the least in my family. How can I be the one’? The Lord doesn’t say ‘don’t worry, I will make you rich’ he simply tells Gideon ‘I will go with you’. Jesus used a rag tag team of disciples to turn the world up side down. They would ask ‘how can we feed this multitude, we don’t have the cash’ Jesus was with them! Gideon does this prophetic act and destroys the altar of Baal that was in his city. At night [because he was afraid] he takes 10 guys and they tear it down and erect an altar to God right in the city square. In the morning the men of the city say ‘who in the heck did this’? They are infuriated that someone would disturb the system that they became comfortable with [ouch!] They find out it was Gideon and they go to his house and want to kill him. The dad says ‘hey, if Baal is so offended, then let him do something about it’. Gideon’s dad had a little bit of the Elijah thing going on. Elijah tells the false prophets of Baal ‘where’s Baal? How come he can’t come and consume all this wood? Maybe he’s busy with some other stuff?’ One translation actually says ‘maybe he is on the potty’ these idol destroyers seemed to have no respect for the scared cows of the day. So Baal leaves Gideon alone and Gideon blows the trumpet and sends word to the various tribes. God is raising up Gideon to ‘come upon the enemy as one man’. We will later see the enemy have a dream of Gideon and the people rolling into the enemy’s camp as a Barley loaf. These are prophetic images of the Body of Christ. We are ‘one bread’ so to speak. Notice how the people became accustomed to the altar of Baal in their midst. They were irate that someone came along and shook the apple cart. At first they wanted to kill the guy, but then they recognized [grudgingly!] that Gideon was right. Sometimes the Lord will speak a word into the church that at first seems unbelievable. ‘Who does so and so think he is?’ But if the word is from the Lord, the people will eventually get on board with it and even partake of the benefits from the word. Gideon didn’t turn the troops on the men from his city who wanted to kill him. He simply fulfilled his prophetic destiny and attacked the enemy, not his fellow citizens! He allowed them time to get on the bandwagon, they eventually did.
(775) JUDGES 7- God calls Gideon to the battle. He rounds up the troops and is ready to storm the enemy. One thing, God says ‘you have too many resources’. What? I thought you were the God of abundance, don’t you want to multiply everything? Well he is the God of abundance, but that doesn’t always mean ‘more is better’. So God instructs Gideon to simply say ‘we have too many people, so whoever is afraid can go home’. 22 thousand walk out. Ouch! I think Gideon would have snuck out with the crowd too if he wasn’t the Pastor. So they have 10 thousand left. Gideon brings them to the water and God shrinks the group down to 300. So Gideon is supposed to defeat the Midianites and Amalekites and some others with 300 men. He feels ill. The Lord tells him to sneak into the enemy camp at night and listen to what they are saying. He sneaks in and hears one of the guys telling a dream how he saw a Barley loaf [a type of the Body of Christ- we are ‘one bread’ who partake of the bread of life] roll into the camp and flatten a tent. The other guy says ‘this is the sword of Gideon, God has delivered us into his hands’. Gideon hears this prophetic word [from the enemy! I guess Gideon didn’t have any prophets on his team?] and stirs the troops up and says ‘here’s the plan’. He lays out a strategy of splitting up into 3 groups of 100 each, and having them hold a lamp in a pot in one hand and a trumpet in the other hand. They go down into the enemy camp and surround the camp. Gideon’s group breaks the pots and blows the trumpets, the others follow. They all shout ‘the sword of the Lord and of Gideon’. This causes fear in the enemy camp. They panic and start turning on each other in order to escape. They pulled a ‘George’ from Seinfeld! George is at this kid’s birthday party and someone burns some food on the stove. They think it’s a fire and George panics and knocks the kids over in his attempt to save himself. He even pushes an old grandma out of the way in the process! So the Midianites pull a George and flee at the expense of their own people. Gideon calls the other tribes to join in on the route and they defeat the enemy. Notice that God didn’t use the 300 hundred to do all the work, they simply were the brave ones who were willing to risk everything for the cause. Ultimately the rest of the nation had to get on board with the program. There are times in church history where God will raise up radical groups who are pursuing hard after God. Initially they will be the igniters of the fire. But for the full purpose of God to prevail others will have to join in. This dynamic has a tendency to cause jealousy in the church. We will see this in the next chapter. Note- The lamps [oil-Spirit] in the clay pots [we are called earthen vessels in Corinthians] represent the Body of Christ. It was in the breaking [repentance, brokenness] of the vessels that allowed the light to shine forth. God used an army of broken light bearers who trumpeted his word to take the enemy. The same idea of the ‘fiery tongues’ on the early church. The fire from their mouths [the preaching of the gospel- Revelation says ‘fire proceeds out of their mouths and devours the enemy’] went forth like a trumpet and took over the entire roman world!
(776) JUDGES 8- As Gideon routes the enemy, the children of Ephraim got in on it. Were they thankful that Gideon gave them a shot? No. They were mad that he didn’t let them in on it from the start! Gideon appeases their jealousy and says ‘you guys have done more than me. I take no personal glory from this’. Gideon saw his calling as one that would benefit the other ‘tribes’ [denominations]. He knew his purpose was not to start his own tribe! Now as Gideon is pursuing the 2 kings of Midian [Zeba, Zalmunna? In keeping myself honest, I did not just check the spelling] he comes thru 2 cities [Succoth, Penuel?] and asks the men ‘can you help us out? We are pursuing the kings of Midian and the troops need some food’. The men of Succoth say ‘why should we help? We don’t see them in your hands yet’. In essence, they were not sure if Gideon and his personal little ‘vendetta’ was going to prevail. We need to be careful that we don’t judge a prophetic act of God and take things personal. These cities needed to get on board when it counted. Gideon is not going to need their help after the job is done! So he tells them ‘fine, but when I’m done with the job, I will come back and whip your Elders with thorn bushes’. Gideon is treading dangerous territory. He actually is setting his judgment up against the God ordained elders of this city [Romans]. But like the Apostle Paul, his unique calling was unstoppable. They would go against elders or whoever they needed to, in order to complete the mission. So Gideon catches the 2 kings and tells his son ‘fall upon them with the sword’. His son hesitates out of fear. The 2 kings actually rebuke Gideon’s boy and tell him to have courage. Gideon takes the sword and kills the kings. A few interesting notes. The people are so overjoyed with Gideon’s authority that they say ‘Be our king, rule over us as a dynasty’. Gideon refuses and says this would be a rejection of Gods authority. Eventually Saul will become the king that fills this role. Even though God raised up strong authority figures, yet there was a distinction between over doing mans rule and recognizing Gods authority. Paul will teach the concept of God recognized elders in the New Testament church. But will also warn of men wanting to draw away disciples after themselves. Some will fall into the snare of ‘becoming kings’. Also Gideon took all the gold jewelry from the Midianites and made an Ephod [a priestly object] and it became an idol to the people. They fell into the snare of covetousness/idolatry that would become a hallmark of Israel’s rebellion.
(777) JUDGES 9- Gideon died in the last chapter and his 70 sons were to rule as a plurality of elders. The same picture we see from Moses and the 70 elders. In Judges we see the dynamic of a plurality of leadership, along with the input of strong Apostolic/Prophetic voices. The same idea we saw in the book of Acts. Now Gideon previously refused the role of singular kingship over the people. It took both courage and humility to say ‘I will not be a king over you’. In the struggle to return back to a more biblical example of Christian leadership functioning in the ‘local church’ you need both humility and courage to resist the impulse in man to want a ‘famous leader’ to ‘rule over them’. Now Abimelech, Gideon’s son, was born from one of Gideon’s mistresses from the town of Shechem. Do you remember when we studied this town in the past? It was the town where the son of the prince raped Dinah, the daughter of Jacob. Jacobs’s boys had the towns men circumcise themselves and they went in and slew the city. Well, the boy who raped Dinah was Shechem. The town is named after him. So the history of this city is one of humiliation. Like Germany after WW1, they felt humiliated as a people. The maniac Hitler used a false ethnic nationalism to mobilize the people under him. This is what Abimelech does. He tells the men of Shechem ‘do you want the 70 sons of Gideon to rule over you [plurality] or one king?’ Here you have the temptation of power and authority seen in Abimelech. He does contrary to his father’s rejection of singular headship and thru deception takes a position that was never originally intended [he falls into the trap of singular authority over the people. A trend that the Christian church will also develop over many centuries] so the men of Shechem agree and Abimelech goes and kills the 70 sons of Gideon. But the youngest one escapes. His name is Jotham. He gives this prophetic speech from a hill [God ordained forum] and tells a parable. The parable has these trees asking the olive tree ‘come and reign over us’ and the tree says ‘should I leave my God ordained place and be promoted over other trees’. The same thing happens with the fig tree and the vine. They recognize the futility of leaving their God ordained position and trying to become a ‘ruler of other trees’. Finally the bramble [weed] rules over them. Jotham sees the rule of Abimelech as a twisted distortion of Gods authority. For three years Abimelech rules Israel and a local guy says ‘why should we have him rule over us? I can do a better job’ notice, just because Abimelech is ruling outside of Gods order, does not mean that any ‘Tom, Dick or Harry’ can come along and mount a successful over throw! This local stirs up the men of Shechem and turns the city against Abimelech. Another local resents this and sends word secretly to Abimelech ‘Hey, some guy is telling everybody he can do a better job than you. Come and put him in his place’. Sure enough a few days go by and Abimelech descends the hill with his troops. The rebel who is trying to displace Abimelech says ‘what’s that? I see men coming down’ the other local says ‘you must be seeing things’. Finally the rebel says ‘no, I see an army’. The secret confidant of Abimelech says ‘It’s Abimelech. Where’s you big mouth now! You talk a tough talk, let’s see some action’. Sure enough he realizes that this guy set him up. So Abimelech, even though he is operating unlawfully [outside of Gods original purpose] mounts a strong attack. He has resources and ‘supporters’ who took pride in his ruthless rule. Much like the mafia guys who would help their neighborhoods and gain the support of others, even though they were ruthless murderers! Abimelech defeats this challenge to his rule, but chases the enemy into a city and this lady from a tower drops a stone on his head from the tower and kills him. God did avenge the ruthless slaughter of Gideon’s 70 sons [Gods relational/plural plan of ruler ship] but the immature challenge to Abimelechs rule from an inexperienced local was not going to cut it. I see a lot of pictures from this story. The parable of Jotham really has some spiritual meaning to it. The idea of the trees rejecting false promotion has elements of Jesus teaching in it ‘the gentiles exercise authority by being promoted over people, this shall not be so with you’. The power struggles between those who resent all authority! Some simply challenge the present authority structures in Christianity out of an immature spirit [like the local guy in Shechem]. Over all we see the rebellion in Abimelechs rule and taking a position that his father had previously rejected. Just because someone might be in a position of promotion that God doesn’t want, this does not mean that all challenges to this authority are God ordained. As the Body of Christ struggles to get back to a more biblical idea of Christian leadership, getting away from the strong ‘I am your Pastor’ mentality and returning to a respect and honoring of spiritual elders in your midst [the term pastor is fine by the way] we need to recognize both sides of the coin. Don’t simply follow anyone who says ‘why should so and so think he can tell us what to do’. Some of these voices speak out of immaturity and rebellion. But in Gods timing the mature ‘trees’ will be wise enough to say ‘why should I go and be promoted over other trees’. Leaders will learn to blossom and produce fruit while not taking positions of promotion contrary to their nature.
(778) JUDGES 10- The children of Israel forsake the Lord and he delivers them into the hand of the enemy. They do the usual ‘Lord, help us!’ But this time they get a different response. The Lord says ‘I am tired of helping you guys time and again. Every time I come thru for you, you eventually go back to your former ways. Go and cry unto the gods you are serving, see if they can help you!’ Wow, they never got a response like this before. They decide to clean up their act anyway, they put away their false gods and ask the Lord ‘How about helping us one last time?’ The King James Bible says ‘Just this day’. You can take it as ‘one more time’ or ‘help us in this immediate situation’. Jesus taught us in the Lords prayer to pray ‘deliver us from evil, give us this day our daily bread’. Sometimes the view gets so dark that even if you have lost faith for the ‘long term vision’ you can at least ask the Lord ‘what about intervening for the simple fact that we can’t make it today unless you move’. The daily Manna was Gods help and sustenance on a daily basis. He purposely set it up like this so they would learn to depend daily upon him. We all have a tendency to develop systems and ideas about God. The whole concept of ‘ministry’ entails a system of function that we expect God to bless. It’s easy to lose sight of the sovereignty of God and come to depend on the system. Some teach that God has done all he can do to save you, or help you in this present life. That the answer to your problem is to learn the ‘system’ he uses from the bible and implement it. In essence ‘God is continually transmitting what you need, the trick is getting your spiritual antenna in the right direction’ [I just heard it preached on radio a few days ago]. While there are some applications of truth to this idea, it can also lead to a legalistic road of thinking that the answer to your problem is found in you DOING SOMETHING. Ultimately the answer to our problem is WE NEED GOD TO ACT ON OUR BEHALF! So the children of Israel say ‘Lord, how about helping for just this day’. Well we already know the answer. He will raise up another judge in the next chapter. But he wants us to learn the lesson. He does want us to get to a stage where we don’t keep falling into the same rut [iniquity- patterns ‘ruts’ of sin]. God will come thru for you today, Jesus ‘ever lives to make intercession for us’ he will help you if you ask.
(779) JUDGES 11- The children of Gilead [Israelites] live in an area named after their father. They have a brother who was born from ‘a harlot’. The brothers kick him out of town and tell him ‘you will have no inheritance with us’. He is seen as illegitimate. He gathers a ragtag team of ‘vain’ men around him. He is despised and rejected of men. He is a type of Jesus. He reminds me of King David and his disgruntled men. This mans name is Jephthah. In process of time the children of Ammon harass the sons of Gilead. They posses the ancient land of Ammon. The king of Ammon lets Gilead know that he is re-staking his claim on his forefather’s territory. Gilead is scared and feeling threatened by Ammon. The king of Ammon knows it, he is like the bully in school who makes his first threat and realizes that he can get away with it. Now, the Elders of Gilead have a little council meeting. They discuss the situation. Sure enough a motion is made ‘I move that we hire our brother Jephthah to become our leader’. What! We kicked him out, we judged him illegitimate. Don’t you remember his bad upbringing? They bite the bullet and send word to Jephthah. Now Jephthah will take the job, but first he makes them eat a little crow [very unkosher!]. He says ‘now you guys need me, what happened to all the talk of me being a trouble maker and some unordained rebel?’ They swallow the crow. Jephthah agrees and signs a contract [of course I am ad libbing here]. Now the king of Ammon has been getting away with his bravado for a while. Jephthah takes the job and immediately sends a response to Ammon. ‘Why are you messing with me? I am giving you fair warning to back off’ Huh? The king of Ammon thinks ‘who in the heck is this guy? Oh well, I guess someone from Gilead finally got some courage’ [I’ll be nice!]. Ammon responds and sends word back ‘I am reclaiming the land of my forefathers; you are dwelling illegally in my territory’. Now an interesting thing happens, though Jephthah is deemed ‘uneducated’ he responds with a strong historic apologetic for their right to the land. He knows the history well! He says ‘a few hundred years ago our forefathers were leaving Egypt and as they came to your father’s territory they simply asked for safe passage. They were denied. Eventually you fathers started a fight [they had the bully blood of Ammon!] and our fathers got into it with them and ‘beat the dung’ out of them. Therefore we rightfully own this land. Who in the heck do you think you are anyway buddy, are you better than the kings before you? You need to back off now!’ Well, Ammon is not used to getting a response like this. The brothers of Jephthah knew all along that he was a hothead, that’s why they hired him. So Ammon gets word from Jephthah and has a meeting on what to do next. I am sure Ammon is a little scared by now ‘who in the heck is this new comer? Who does he think he is to challenge me like this?’ Before he gets a chance to find out, someone says ‘hey look, here he comes now’. The Spirit of God came upon Jephthah and he stormed in and kicked Ammon's butt. He did a repeat of years gone by. Don’t you just hate getting beat up by the kid who beat you up before? Jephthah repeated history. Ammon got whupped. The men of Gilead renewed the 2 year contract with their brother, even though he was the black sheep of the family.
(780) JUDGES 12- Jephthah has a great victory over Ammon. Ephraim confronts him and says ‘why didn’t you tell us you were going to battle? Who do you guys think you are, hogging up all the glory’? Jephthah responds ‘I did ask you guys to help! You guys are always talking a big game, but you never show up when we need you!’ Ephraim does have a history of doing this. They said the same thing in an earlier chapter, I think to Gideon? There is a Psalm that says ‘Ephraim turned back in the day of battle, even though they were fully armed’. They truly were a legitimate tribe, who had the goods to war, but they seemed to be more concerned about ‘their image’ and what so and so was doing down the road, than in actually going out and winning some wars! Jephthah is the type of brother you don’t want to mess with. He is mentioned in Hebrews 11 among the great heroes of the faith. Why would he be in there? He led a tribe that was insignificant, yet he rose to the occasion and displayed great courage, at the risk of his own life, and was a true warrior. Jephthah responds to Ephraim’s big words by ‘beating the hell out of them’. He strapped it on! Ephraim was one of the big 12, a legitimate warring tribe from Israel. Jephthah made a name for himself and his people. He was like the Arturo Gatti’s [Jersey City] who were simple hometown boxers who rose to fame and put his town on the map [even though Gatti was out of his class against De Lahoya]. Or a Bret Favre from Green Bay [Packers] who in the heck ever heard of ‘Green Bay’? Jephthah put Gilead on the map of history. I just recently studied some stuff on the Jesus movement of the 60’s -70’s. One of the interesting characters was a brother by the name of Lonnie Frisbee. Someone just made a documentary on him [Life and times of a Hippie preacher] and tried to show how he had a lot of influence in the beginnings of the Calvary Chapel and Vineyard movements [2 of the most successful Church movements that came out of this time]. The brother who made the documentary felt like the leaders of the movement did not give him due credit because he died of Aid’s. Lonnie struggled with homosexuality for most of his life. Many of the people who were interviewed gave strong testimonies of Lonnie’s influence in their lives. While looking up some stuff on U Tube I found a few videos of him sharing his testimony, there seems to be no doubt that he was a child of God. Some apologists [Hank Hannegraff] attribute Lonnie’s ‘anointing’ to the demonic realm. They brought out the fact that Lonnie’s initial conversion took place while he was high. They showed how some of the Shamans shared the same types of things that Lonnie operated in [Jim Morrison of the doors is thought to have been a Shaman, the name ‘Lizard King’ spoke to this]. I for the most part accept Lonnie’s own testimony of believing in Jesus. I know it’s difficult to understand how the Lord could have used someone who struggled like this, but some of these judges [Like the next one we will discuss- Samson] had many struggles along with their victories. I don’t want to give people excuses for sinning, but I want to encourage you to allow God to use you right where you are at. With all the faults of Lonnie Frisbee, the Lord still used him to play a key role in the early Jesus movement.
(781) JUDGES 13- We begin the story of Samson. While all the judges are called by God, Samson has this prophetic type calling from birth. An angel appears to his mother and foretells of his birth. She is barren and it is one of those Divine pronouncements like the birth of Jesus or John the Baptist. These types of callings have special meaning to them. You can study the callings of contemporary prophets and see many of these same characteristics. Though the critics have found faults with many of these men, yet they have had supernatural occurrences surrounding their births and destinies that cannot be explained away. When these children are growing they are surrounded by the stories of these supernatural events. They often do not realize the special signs that accompanied them. When John the Baptist was asked ‘are you the prophet that was spoken about, the ‘Elijah type prophet’ that appears before the Messiah’? John says no. But later the disciples say to Jesus ‘before the Messiah comes, the Elijah type prophet is to come first’ and Jesus says it was John. I think the Lord will allow certain prophetic people to not realize the impact of their destinies during their lives, they will see some day, but not now. So Samson’s mom has this special angelic visitation and the husband hears about it from his wife. They pray and ask the Lord to come again and give them more instructions about the boy. The Lord sends the angel back and they receive instructions about the boy. His calling is special, he will be dedicated to God from birth to death. The parents are to raise him in a way that will simply facilitate the gift. This is important to see. Often times we see ministry as ‘look what God is doing with Corpus Christi outreach ministries’ [or any other name!]. Or ‘God, please use this ministry for this purpose’ God gifts people with special callings and giftings. ‘Ministry’ is simply the parameters, the borders that help facilitate the gift. We too often confuse Gods sovereign gift with the ‘procedures’. God uses people [individuals and groups] to carry out his purposes, all ministry structures should be seen as simple instructions to properly ‘harness the gift’. Samson’s parents receive the instructions and raise him according to the angel’s directives. The Spirit of God will come on him at set times and he will begin to display the anointing at a young age. We will learn from Samson that the gifts and callings of God are without repentance. God will continue to use him thru out his life even though he will stray from the guidelines of his parents. Of course there will come a day where he loses the special ability that God gave him, but his willingness to lay it all down at the end will gain him a place in the great faith hall of fame! [Hebrews 11]
(782) JUDGES 14- Samson goes to the Philistine area and sees a woman who he likes. He tells his parents ‘get her for me’! He does seem spoiled. Now his parents have good reason to be a little intimidated by him, after all they know the miraculous events surrounding his birth. They tell him ‘look at all the great women from our own ‘ethnic background’ why do you want this stranger’? The scripture says they did not realize that this thing in Samson was FROM THE LORD. The scripture says the Lord did this so Israel could have an occasion/situation to go to war. Paul says in the New Testament ‘there must be heresies among you’. Some see this as meaning God allowed certain things to go wrong so he could create a situation where ‘war’ would occur. Then out of chaos and violence truth would be more clearly defined. Romans does say ‘all things eventually work out for the good to those who love God’. In Samson’s case his family didn’t understand why he was so adamant about this girl, but God was seeking ‘an occasion’. Now Samson and his family make a visit to the area [Timnath] and he hooks up with the woman. During one of Samson’s trips he comes upon a lion and the Spirit of God comes upon Samson and he tears it to pieces with his bare hands. I’m sure even Samson was a little surprised about this supernatural anointing. On his way back thru the area he finds that a bee hive formed in the dead lion and made a bunch of honey, he takes a scoop of the honey and gives some to his family but never reveals the source. He keeps the story to himself. At the wedding party he tells the guests ‘I have a riddle, if you figure it out I will give you the garments of 30 men. If you don’t guess it in 7 days you pay me’! He tells the riddle ‘out of the eater came forth food, out of the strong came forth sweetness’. The riddle speaks of the honey that Samson found in the dead lion. After a few days the locals can’t figure it out. They beg the wife for her to tell them the secret. She gives in and the men tell Samson the answer. He tells them ‘if you didn’t plow with my heifer, you would have never found out the answer’. This is the beginning of an area of weakness that will dog Samson thru out his life. He will experience defeat in the future on these grounds. Well Samson is furious, he goes and kills 30 men from some nearby town and pays off the bet. I see Jesus ‘the Lion from the tribe of Judah’ in the riddle. Jesus will eventually come and die on a Cross, from his ‘dead Body’ sweet honey and meat will flow to the nations. It was the death of the lion that created an environment for honey and food to come forth. Gods Word is described as honey and meat. Jesus death created ‘an environment’ for life to flow to the nations.
(783) Let me interrupt our Judges study a little. Right now [2008] there is another renewal/revival movement taking place in Florida [Lakeland]. The brother who was used as the ‘fire starter’ is Todd Bentley. I have tried to catch the services on T.V. and appreciate the presence of the Lord. Of course you can go on line and read terrible stuff about the revival. Once again some are 100 % against it, others are a little too exaggerated in their language in defense of it. What I mean is it’s easy to see a move of God and believe ‘this is the final move that will out do all other moves in the history of the church’ the ‘latter glory’ if you will. Let’s do a little history on moves of God. The present Pentecostal movement started at the beginning of the last century [for the most part]. You had a brother by the name of Charles Parham in Topeka, Kansas who had this little bible school. One day they experienced an unusual event. Gods Spirit fell on the students and they all ‘began to speak in other languages’. Now, to those who reject the modern gift of tongues as ‘gibberish’, I want you to see something. The ‘tongues’ [languages] of this experience were actually real foreign languages that the speakers never learned. They were very much like the ‘tongues’ at Pentecost! Parham took this as a modern day Pentecost and began sending these students to foreign countries, believing that they would be able to evangelize the world without having to teach the students/missionaries the foreign language of their field. Well this experiment flopped! Even the accurate Pentecostal historians will tell you this. But we are still left with the supernatural account of the kids having spoken in languages that they never learned. Parham was a strange type of fellow. He believed in the ‘seed of the serpent’ doctrine and a few other weird things. He was also very racist! He allowed a black student by the name of William Seymour to sit out in the hall and hear his teaching. He could not ‘intermingle’ with the white students in class. Seymour was a humble uneducated man who had a heart for God. Seymour would eventually find his ‘harvest field’ in Los Angeles. He began preaching at different churches and would experience strange manifestations equal to the things that Parham experienced. The churches did not appreciate this unlearned, one eyed black preacher introducing these strange ‘manifestations’ into their congregations and eventually Seymour rented a building on Azusa street. In 1906 this Azusa street mission would become ground zero for the outpouring of the modern day Pentecostal movement. Seymour was a very humble man by all accounts. He was known for sticking his head inside a box on the pulpit so the people wouldn’t see him instead of the Lord. The L.A. papers would run front page stories on ‘the strange tongues of Babel’ and stuff like that. Though Seymour was young and inexperienced at ‘running a revival’ he tried to the best of his ability to follow the Lord. He would contact Parham and ask him to come and check out the move. Parham came and totally denounced the wild meetings as spiritists run amok! Even though Parham had himself experienced the gift of tongues at his bible school, he saw the unrestrained nature of Azusa and condemned it. Seymour would never invite him back. The little mission building at Azusa would become the place of pilgrimage for 20th century Pentecostalism. Some were adamantly opposed to the outpouring, others 100 % supporters. After 100 years of seeing what the outcome would be, the historical significance is hard to refute. Some still see the worldwide spread of Pentecostalism as error. Others see it as a fulfillment of the scriptures that in the last days God would pour out his Spirit on all flesh. I see Pentecostals as part of the Body of Christ and in no way reject them as heretics. This doesn’t mean I agree with them in every doctrine! [As you can see when you read this site]. I feel we need to keep things in perspective when we feel God is moving in a new way. Is it possible that ‘this move’[any move that you happen to be in at the time] will have worldwide historic results? Sure. But because the Body of Christ is so wide and diverse in our day, it is harder for a single move to have the same type of impact as the original Pentecost. Should we judge the initial outpouring at Parham’s school as demonic? I don’t think so. The fact that they mistakenly took the gift as being missionary in nature does not disqualify the gift. In Act’s chapter 2 the gift of being able to speak in a language never learned did allow the immediate hearers to hear the gospel in their distinct languages. But the actual ‘missionaries’ [the hearers who went back to their towns] spread the message in their own known language. So in all types of moves you can find real fault, as well as real truth [most of the time]. We as the people of God should ‘test the spirits, because every spirit is not of God’ [1st John] while at the same time keeping an open mind like the head leader of religion in the book of Act’s, Gamaliel. He said ‘let’s leave the disciples alone for now, if this work is of God you will not be able to stop it. If it’s not of God it will fall by itself’. I personally believe in most of the renewal and revival movements of our day. I try not to get over excited by some of the language that tends to see these moves as ‘the last and greatest move of all time’. But I also avoid the constant attacks by the apologists who seem to never find a move they can agree with. [see entry # 844]
(784) Let’s stick with a little contemporary church history. In the last century you had what many believe to be one of the missing ‘planks’ of restoration of truth. The renewed emphasis on spiritual gifts, the idea that Apostles and Prophets were still gifts that people walked in. During the middle of the century you had the ‘Latter Rain movement’ and the rise of platform healing evangelists. The popular T.V. movie Elmer Gantry showed how the various church communions reacted to some of these evangelists. Many ‘old time’ churches were shocked at the persona and public display of these men [and women!] Some were shown to be outright hucksters! But others did have quite extraordinary gifts. The ‘most gifted’ brother was William Branham. William was a simple uneducated man who grew up in squalor conditions. The story of his birth and the supernatural signs surrounding his life are pretty interesting [look it up on Google, you will find tons of stuff on him]. Branham was gifted with the supernatural ability to know things about people, he had the singular ability to read the exact details of people’s lives. While many brand him as a false Prophet, he did seem to be a humble man that was doing his best to serve the Lord. This does not mean that I agree with all of Branham's teachings or gifts! Other Christians who worked with Branham at the time would eventually leave his ministry out of a concern that his gifts might have been ‘mixed’ with other spiritual means of obtaining knowledge [like fortune telling and soothsaying]. Things that scripture forbids. I personally don’t know whether or not these accusations have merit to them, but it is important to see that these concerns were not coming from those who simply oppose all supernatural gifts. These concerns were voiced by some of Branham's friends. During this time you had a few famous traveling ministers. A.A. Allen, Jack Coe and a few others became famous on the circuit. Many today testify of how the Lord used them in their lives. There were also many rumors [some true] that these men struggled with Alcohol and other vices. The Assemblies of God denomination would eventually openly rebuke a few of them who had credentials from their denomination. Brother Branham [he did believe in Jesus!] would embrace some weird doctrines. He had questions about the Trinity [well, he actually denied the doctrine] and would be impacted by the ‘Jesus only’ Pentecostal movement. He eventually felt like the death of his wife and child was a result of him not being more willing to minister among the oneness groups. As the century progressed you had the waning influence of the platform preachers. Some would still function from this paradigm, but for the most part the men and their movements passed on. You do still find a sort of cultic following of believers who remain loyal to brother Branham. Some believe he is one of the 2 witnesses spoken about in the book of Revelation. How come Branham had such influence over people’s lives? There is no doubt that this can be attributed to the actual real manifestations that took place under his ministry. Even the critics agree that there was some very unexplainable stuff going on. Some of the teachings of this period still influence believers today. The ‘Manifest Sons of God’ doctrine taught that there was coming a generation of saints who would walk in the fullness of all that God has promised, some believed that this group would even attain immortality in this life. The book of Romans does say that the whole creation is groaning and waiting for the day the Sons of God would fully manifest, but in context this is speaking of the resurrection. So the Lord used some of these brothers in a limited way. For the most part they suffered from a lack of a good education [don’t want to be demeaning] but were avid students of the Word. But as you can see this combination of knowing bible verses outside of the historic context of Church history [how others viewed these verses before them] can lead to dangerous conclusions. I for the most part do not condemn these brothers as outright fakes [some were, but not all] but I see in them a willingness to do their best in serving the Lord, but to a degree became victims of the fame and style of public platform ministry. Jesus taught the danger of our own personalities becoming too central to the people we are ministering to. Some of these brothers fell into this ditch!
(785) Let’s end this little excursion from our study in Judges and finish our look into the 20th century as one of ‘the Spirit of Pentecost’. During the 60’s you had what was known as the Charismatic Movement. On the west coast there was an Episcopal Priest who announced to his congregation that he experienced the Baptism in the Holy Spirit and began speaking in tongues. The area Bishop forbid the Priest to introduce his experience as one accepted by the denomination. Some of his congregants disagreed with this decision and took it upon themselves to contact the media. Soon word spread like wildfire. You also had an outpouring of the Spirit at Duquesne University. Some see this as the historic beginning point of the Charismatic movement. Basically the movement speaks of the gifts of the Spirit, specifically Tongues, breaking into and across denominational lines. Eventually the Catholic Church would put her stamp of approval on the movement. Which after all would be in keeping with their official doctrine. They have always believed the gifts of the Spirit to be available to believers in all ages. During the late 60’s early 70’s the Jesus Movement would spring up on the west coast and many hippies and flower children would ‘turn on to Jesus’. Chuck Smith and John Wimber [initially Ken Guliksen] would lead 2 of the most successful church movements of the late 20th century. Smith would head up Calvary Chapel and Wimber would take the lead in the Vineyard churches. You had Keith Green [musician] room mating with Randy Stonehill at the time. Keith was searching for answers, Randy would recommend him to attend a Vineyard bible study led by Ken Guliksen. Keith would finally accept the Lord at the study and become this on fire musician for the Lord. Though the music industry saw him as ‘a prize’ Keith would start ‘Last Days Ministries’ and relocate to Lyndale Texas [across the road from Youth with a Mission- YWAM]. He would sadly die in a plane crash with 2 of his children on board. In 1989 you had the mixing of the Vineyard with some of the Prophets known as ‘the Kansas City Prophets’. These were the brothers out of Kansas City who were part of Mike Bickles church. Now Metro fellowship in Kansas City. Mike is no longer the lead Pastor, he heads up ‘I.H.O.P’ International House of Prayer, a great group of young people who take turns praying 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Now Paul Cain would meet Wimber and declare that Wimber was the Apostle that the Lord was going to use for the ‘great end time revival’. Paul Cain was so accurate in his ability to know the details of people’s lives, and to predict earthquakes and supernatural signs, that many were convinced that what Paul said was 100% accurate. The ‘marriage’ between the Vineyard and the modern prophetic movement [which is usually seen to have started out of Kansas City with Mike Bickle and Bob Jones, Paul Cain and a few other Prophetic brothers] was debatable. Some Pastors in the Vineyard churches [Tom Stipe among others] would eventually feel their churches were suffering from a lack of true biblical Christianity. Many new believers were looking too much to dreams, visions and personal prophecies as the normal guides for their lives. These believers were straying from the more sure path of prayer, bible study and simple trust in God. Chuck Smith would early on disassociate from the more flamboyant signs of the movement. He would take charge and let his churches know that they were to stick with the verse by verse exposition of the word at the normal church meetings. The Vineyard would run with the ‘go with the Spirit’ type mentality. Eventually the split between the movement known as the ‘Toronto blessing’ ‘Laughing revival’ would occur when John Arnott, Pastor of Toronto airport Vineyard church [in Toronto Canada] would break away from the Vineyard oversight. John Wimber would sadly pass away and the leadership of the Vineyard would return back to a more scripture oriented church [note- John Wimber himself was going this direction before his death, it seems as if he saw too much into the words that were being spoken to him from Paul Cain. Paul is a very humble man, who has fallen on some very hard times these past few years. It was easy for Wimber to believe all the wonderful words given to him from Paul, Paul was operating at a level of gifting that was unheard of for the time. Paul was the only ‘throwback’ from the mid century latter rain movement. He was a student under William Branham and sometimes would fill in for him at his meetings. By all accounts Paul received much of the anointing that Branham operated in]. The century will close out with the Toronto movement, as well as the Brownsville revival [Florida] having a fairly large impact on the church at large, as well as having many critics of the more extreme manifestations of the revivals [Toronto- people barking like dogs and stuff]. I do find it interesting that the century began with a movement that was for the most part associated with crying and repentance and would end with one of laughter and revival. In the restoration books of the Old Testament you have a seen where the foundation is being laid for the rebuilding of the temple. You have the younger generation happy and excited over the prospects of a new temple, but the older generation is standing there and weeping because to them it doesn’t seem to live up to their memories of ‘the good old days’. You had weeping and laughing as legitimate reactions to a real work of God. I think the ‘new’ moves need to be careful that they don’t read too much into the historic aspects of their movements until history itself writes the final chapter. But the ‘old timers’ also need to be open to the possibility of God ‘rebuilding the temple’ [spiritually speaking here!] and allowing the ‘latter house to receive more glory than the former’.
(786) JUDGES 15- Samson cools down and goes back to see his wife. As he tries to make things right her father reveals to him that she is now married to his best friend! What? Yup, the dad said they thought he was so mad that he gave up on her. Well Samson goes and ties the fox’s tails together and sets these torches on fire between their tails. He lets them run thru the fields of the Philistines and burn up the crops. The Philistines say ‘who did this’? They find out Samson did it because of the wife thing. So they blame it on the wife and her father and go ‘burn them’ [ouch!]. Samson doesn’t stop! He gets into it with a few more guys and whips them good. He escapes to this stronghold in Judah’s territory and the Philistines are looking for him. Judah finds Samson and says ‘why are you hiding among us? Don’t you realize the Philistines rule over us?’ Samson says ‘I’ll let you tie me up if you promise not to kill me yourselves’ so they promise. When the Philistines get him, the Spirit comes on Samson and he breaks the cords and ‘beats the hell out of them’. He finds this jawbone from a donkey and kills a thousand of them with the jawbone. He then gets thirsty and says ‘I need something to drink, why would you let me have such a great victory and feel like I am going to die of thirst’? God breaks a hole in the jawbone and Samson finds water from the instrument he used to defeat the enemy. Now, notice the unbelievable amount of war, division and devastation that is coming from one man! He is actually negotiating like he is an army! God knew what he was doing when he raised Samson up ‘because he wanted an occasion to deal with the Philistines’. John the Baptist was like this. A single prophetic voice who had the gall to tell Herod ‘you can’t have your brother’s wife!’ How do these guys do stuff like this? In Samson’s case he got away with it because he had the goods to back it up! He was like the other judges who knew how to strap it on. But this guy seems to be a one man steamroller. Notice that the Lord refreshed him from the same tool he used to war with. Paul tells Timothy ‘preach the word, in doing this you will save yourself and those who hear thee’. Paul says ‘woe to me if I preach not the gospel’. Over the years I will listen to our radio messages one time before I broadcast them. I am so far ahead of schedule that I will preview the message about a year or more after I make them. Yet I actually will get ‘a prophetic word’ that I never even knew I spoke! God will allow you to be refreshed from the refreshing you give others. Don’t be too self absorbed, but recognize that ‘he who waters will himself be watered’ [somewhere in the bible].
(787) JUDGES 16- This is the famous ‘Samson and Delilah’ story. Samson once again falls for some strange woman. The philistines ask her to find out the secret to Samson’s strength. She goes thru this procedure of ‘bugging him to death’ until he spills the beans. Scripture says ‘she pressed him until his soul was vexed unto the point of death’ double ouch! Well she finds out the strength is in his dedication unto God, shown thru the act of not cutting his hair. She shaves his head and he is taken captive. Scripture says he woke up and thought ‘I will fight the enemy as usual and win’ and he didn’t realize the Lord wasn’t with him anymore. Now Samson becomes a source of entertainment for the lost world. They bring him out every now and then and parade him around as a ‘jack ass’. Do you remember how the media and late night comics just couldn’t get over the fact that Christian celeb’s have fallen? Re running the crying videos of Brother Swaggart and Bakker. Parading the ‘lover’ of Ted Haggard on all the shows. The Philistines loved using the ‘big buffoon’ as sport. So one day they take him out of his cell and have him stumble around at some party. Samson has some kid place his hands on the 2 main pillars that are holding up the building. He asks the Lord ‘Lord, please return my strength this one last time’ and he pushes on the pillars and the whole corrupt society around him comes down and they all die as one big happy family! Samson killed more of the enemy in his death than thru out his life. Just a few thoughts; right now in the present ‘media church’ there is another tragic situation of a famous celebrity couple who have divorced. Sad story, God will forgive people for their mistakes. But the problem is the wife feels like she should maintain the whole public persona. Now I like these people. I am not a fan of their teachings at all, but the wife has come a long way from a difficult life. When I first read about these things I always pray for the people. But we [the people of God] need to seriously re evaluate the whole ‘celebrity persona’ that allows good people, who seemingly represent the church to society at large, to do stuff like this. Its like the world tunes us in every now and then ‘for sport’. Also Samson used wisdom in avoiding a direct shot at a few Philistines, and placed himself in a position where he could bring down the whole corrupt group at one time. We need to avoid individual skirmishes with people. God is working in our day like he has in every other generation. There are some serious things that the previous generation wrongfully built into the church. The younger generation sees the absolute absurdity of some of these things. Prophetic voices need to ‘position themselves strategically’ and take out some of these pillars [doctrines, not people!] so we can give the next generation a fresh start.
(788) I just remembered a story for the ‘comedy section’. Years ago at the fire department we had a few guys who would come in to work and the first thing they would do is read the run reports from the previous day. They would get a kick out of the misspelled words and stuff. Though all of our guys were smart guys, some of the brothers couldn’t spell well. One time one of my buddies got a hold of a report [or maybe some type of test the volunteers took?] One of the answers to a question was ‘he died from loss of blood’. The poor volunteer wrote ‘it means hims bleeds to dead’ [sic].
(790) JUDGES 17- This is quite an interesting chapter. Micah steals money from his ‘mother’. He tells her ‘I took it’ [managed to gain precious riches from you] and she commends him. He then says he took it from her to give it back to her. Let’s spiritualize a little. The ‘sons of the church’ [the New Jerusalem is the corporate church, the ‘mother of us all’] some times take by violence the hidden riches that were contained ‘in the church’ [which possesses the mind of Christ!] so they can ‘give the riches back to the mother’ [feed my sheep!] and receive commendation from her. Now, all analogies eventually break down. Micah’s mom says she was going to build an idol [institution?] with the money. Micah becomes the overseer of this ‘false system of worship’. He actually ‘hires’ [hireling mentality- seeing ministry as a profession] a legitimate priest from the tribe of Levi to call ‘father- priest’ [ouch!] Micah pays him a salary [double ouch!] and says ‘now I know the Lord [God of the Christians] will bless me seeing I have a priest under my authority’. [Rome and her emperors?] Lots of imagery here. First, Micah felt like he would gain Gods blessing if he ‘hired’ and institutionalized the real priesthood. We must see that what happened during the first 4 centuries of Christianity was a type of ‘hiring’ and legitimizing the ‘priests of God’ for the purpose of favor and unity within the Roman Empire. It is no secret that the emperor Constantine looked for unity in his empire by embracing and professionalizing the ‘priest hood’. They will actually be called ‘fathers, priests’. Also, this priest that Micah hired was a real representative of God! He did come from a true tribe. It is difficult for Protestants to see that although the institutional church ‘married’ Rome, yet she still contained part of the real people of God. This is not to say all that happened in the first millennium [thousand years of Christianity] was of God, but it also means we need to understand that there are some ‘precious riches’ [1100 pieces of silver!] that are hidden within her for the purpose of ‘true sons’ to go and take these riches and re distribute them back to her for her own benefit. You would be surprised by the amount of spiritual truths contained in the writings of the Catholic [Orthodox] fathers. Many of these truths are being ‘re found’ by protestants! And some of these Protestants have given them back to the church and shown her ‘look, even your own church fathers saw such and such’. I see the whole concept of Micah hiring the Priest as a type of ‘hired clergy’ mentality that all the people of God wrongfully took hold of. We need to recognize that just because this Levite went down this road, this does not mean he was not a true Levite [person of God]. It just meant he allowed his gift/office to be used in a wrong way to bring legitimacy to a form of worship that had vestiges of idolatry contained within.
(791) JUDGES 18- The tribe of Dan sends 5 spies to check out the land of Laish, it was supposed to be part of their inheritance. On the way they pass Mount Ephraim, where Micah and the ‘hired priest’ live. They enquire in the house of Micah about their journey. They are assured God is with them. They see Laish and return with the good report. Laish is a land where the people are ‘isolated’ they do no business with any other tribes. Too sectarian in their little community [ouch!]. So the tribe of Dan hears the report and arms 600 men for battle. As they go to get their land, they once again stop at the idolatrous house of Micah. They make a ‘job offer’ to the ‘hired priest’ and appeal to success and status among clergy ‘do you want to come and be our hired priest? Wouldn’t you rather be priest of a whole tribe instead of one household’? He takes the job promotion and on their way out Micah tries to stop them from taking his priest but doesn’t have the manpower to do it. Dan introduces this false priesthood on a large scale to the people of God. Scripture says while they were involving themselves in this false worship, the House of God was still in Shiloh. Now we have covered a lot of ground here. I want to be careful but truthful about wrong worship in the church. First, I do find it amazing that the Lord did not cut Micah off originally when he got into his stuff! The history of Israel includes a time period where they thought the high places in their land were a sign of true religion. When some of the kings institute a return to the Lord, they leave the high places alone. Although these high places were idolatrous, yet in their ignorance they really thought they were honoring God. I see a degree of this here. Now the hired priest continues to represent the mentality of the hired offices of the clergy. All good people, but often operating in systems that lend themselves to the co dependency of Gods people. It is easy to see the idea of false worship and simply use this to bash Catholics. I prefer to see the false worship of Dan as a mark of all wrong tradition and teaching that come to us from the mind of man. Jesus rebuked the traditions that made void the Word of God, but Paul will tell his spiritual sons ‘hold to the traditions you have been taught by me’. Some traditions are needful. Things that our spiritual fathers have passed down to us. Don’t despise all tradition! Don’t see ‘the ministry’ as a way to gain status and climb the ladder in the corporate world. This priest of Micah took a position based on gentile authority. Something Jesus forbid for the leaders of his church. This priest saw self advancement in moving ‘his ministry’ to oversee the tribe of Dan. This root of pride will cause the limited idolatry at Micah’s house to leaven an entire tribe. Often times well meaning people become part of ‘extending wrong ideas’ thru out the church as they seek fame and recognition. Jesus taught us that true servants will not make decisions based on ‘how will this move promote me, how will I gain a name for myself’ these motivations blind us to the idolatry that exists in the church in our day. The New Testament equivalent of idolatry is covetousness. Leadership often overlooks the blatant abuse in this area as they pursue a name and advancement for ‘their ministries’. It’s easy to not want to hear Paul’s strong words in 1st Timothy 6 concerning leaders. We want to be able to ‘seek fame and fortune’ because it does feel good to be famous! Hebrews says ‘sin does have pleasure for a season’. So I see the whole scenario of Micah’s hired priest in all of us. I see the idolatry of Dan and false worship as leaven that affects all of Gods people [Protestants and Catholics alike]. I see the fact that God still used Micah to be a voice and instrument to the people of God even though he thru ignorance allowed idolatry to be entrenched in Israel. God is merciful and he will put up with our ignorance for a season, but I think that season has already passed. [Though his mercy endures forever!]
(792) CHICKEN BREATH- Strange place to write one for the comedy section! I just remembered a funny incident at the Fire House. When a call would come in for an ambulance run, it would come over a loudspeaker. This gave the guys time to prepare and get ready for the accident. Sometimes you could hear the caller a little differently than the guy who picked up the phone. You could also hear the firefighter talking and asking questions ‘what’s your address, give me your phone #’ and stuff like that. One time the firefighter asked the husband [who was calling for an ambulance for his wife] ‘Sir, what’s wrong with your wife’ and the poor guy says something that sounds like ‘chicken breath’ to the firefighter on the phone. He asks again ‘what!’ sure enough he hears ‘chicken breath’. So he goes thru this for a few seconds and asks the guy ‘what do you mean she has chicken breath’ and finally the guys in the station who are hearing this yell at him ‘he is saying ‘she can’t breathe’ you idiot’! [Chicken breath- shicken breath- she can’t breathe. I guess?]
(793) HELP! One more from the Fire Dept. Over the years when new guys would get hired, they would ride the Fire Trucks and Ambulance to get a feel for the job. When they are rookies we don’t let them do any major stuff. Maybe get a stretcher or call the station for backup, simple stuff. So one day they go on an Ambulance run and take one of these rookies. Sure enough it’s a code [heart attack] and they use the rookie to get the equipment and stuff from the ambulance. They have him running back and forth doing errands. Of course he is fairly new at this. The guys tell him ‘go call for help’ [we need backup]. So he runs to the Ambulance and gets on the radio. The guys at the station are eating dinner or watching T.V.? As they are sitting there, they are getting a kick out of hearing some guy over the speaker say ‘HELP, HELP, HELP’ They are thinking it’s some inexperienced sheriffs deputy or something. As they listen for a few more ‘HELP’S’ they realize it’s one of us! Hey, they did tell the rookie ‘call for help’. [He should have said ‘unit 162 to Central, we need backup’].
(794) JUDGES 19- We have another strange story. There is this Levite who has a concubine [servant-wife]. She plays ‘the harlot’ on him and goes back home to Judah. The Levite goes to get her. He shows up at her dad’s house and the father welcomes him [Judah- Israel loved the law- Levite]. The Levite informs him that he came to take back his wife and the dad won’t let him go! He keeps holding on and for a few days convinces him to ‘just stay for one more night’ [Israel’s mindset in the first century. They tried to hold on to the law past it’s time]. The Levite leaves and on his way back to Ephraim they need a place to spend the night. They show up at Gibeah, where the Benjamites dwell. As they are on the street all day, no one offers to take them in. This younger generation forgot all the ‘elementary’ teachings of the Law of Moses [Hebrews 5]. An old man who was from Ephraim was living there. He sees the Levite and his wife and servants on the street. He asks what’s up and the old man offers to take the Levite in. He says ‘don’t worry about the cost, I will cover it’ [The Good Samaritan]. At night the men of the city knock on the old mans door and want the Levite to come out ‘and play’ [The sin of Sodom!] the old man offers the men the women instead of the man. They take the wife of the Levite and abuse her all night long. She shows up at the door in the morning and is dead. The Levite takes her dead body home and cuts it into 12 pieces and sends them to Israel as a witness. This drastic symbol shocks the nation. There are lots of spiritual points that could be made. The law [Levite] was welcomed for a time [Galatians 4] but when it’s time t let it go don’t keep holding on. The old man in Gibeah practiced the art of hospitality to strangers/aliens that was contained in the original precepts from Moses. The younger generation forgot the true principles of their law. Paul will argue over and over again from the law to persuade Israel to come to Messiah. They forgot the basic truths of their own law and this made it harder to show them that Jesus was the fulfillment of their law. Of course the old man taking in the Levite is like the story of the Good Samaritan who took care of his neighbor at his own expense. Paul told the Corinthians that he would ‘spend and be spent’ for them. And the drastic act of the Levite cutting up the wife and sending her body parts to Israel shows the utter terror of the law. The law ultimately demands justice, it shows no mercy. Israel might have had an affinity for the law, but if you keep it around too long it can really ruin the party! [The New Covenant is one of joy and peace in the Spirit. We are at Jesus ‘wedding party’ if you will].
(795) JUDGES 20- The nation of Israel gather together as ‘one man’ to figure out what is going on. They all received the body pieces of the concubine as a sign of judgment. Remember, the law [Levite] can not give life to that which is ‘dead in trespasses and sin’ [the dead wife!] but the law can only reveal sin and call for justice. So the tribes are gathered to meet out judgment! They decide to get an army together, 400,000 men. They go to the town of Gibeah, where Benjamin [the tribe] lives. They tell the people ‘you have done wickedly, give to us the men who have infected this whole tribe [denomination/whole groups of believers who have been affected in a wrong way by certain teachers who have ‘crept in unawares’]. Benjamin says no! There is a strange dynamic that takes place in the Body of Christ. Whenever the Lord moves in a big way to correct or reform wrong doctrine, very rarely do the victims of the wrong doctrine want to admit that they were wrongly influenced. The sin of pride says ‘are you telling me that I was duped’? Benjamin actually goes into this protection mode and defends the wicked doers in their midst! So Israel encamps against Benjamin and they fight. Sure enough Benjamin wins! Wow, they must have thought ‘see, we were correct in refusing to deal with the wrong stuff in our community’ [whole groups of believers who harbor false things]. Israel is distraught, were they wrong in going against Benjamin? You honestly have to ask yourself this question at times. God might really have raised you up to deal with some stuff. You might actually lose a battle or two! The Lord tells them ‘No, you weren’t wrong in dealing with the false stuff in the tribe of Benjamin, go back and give it another shot’. The next day Israel attacks again, and again they lose! They ask the Lord about it and he says keep trying. On day three they adjust their procedure; they set an ambush and eventually overthrow Benjamin. Now, this is no great victory, God actually called the rest of the people of God to deal with an aberrant tribe. The church goes thru reformation seasons where she needs to deal with wrong stuff on a global scale. The history of Christianity shows us the great ecumenical councils of the church. Times where the whole Body of Christ had to agree that certain things were right or wrong. It is only natural for those being rebuked to fight back and not admit their fault. This process is very difficult. Paul wrote the Galatians and told them if a brother is in a fault, that the more mature [spiritual] ones should correct it in love. Over the years I have been involved with trying to explain to sincere believers, some of them who hold positions of leadership, how we can’t keep teaching things that have been shown to be blatantly wrong. Often times the ‘tribes’ [groups] will fight back, and win a war or two! Understand, Benjamin was running their tribe as an efficient unit to a degree. Even though they had ‘bad seed’ in their group, yet the fact that they did exist as a functioning unit allowed them to successfully resist a few previous challenges to their tribe [belief system]. But ultimately there came a challenge that was too hard to resist, the rest of the nation joined as ‘one man’ to say ‘enough is enough, we love you as a brother tribe, but this stuff has gone on way too long’. It was the radical act of the Levite that brought the attention to the rest of the tribes of what was going on. It was the responsibility of the nation as a whole to deal with the ‘lost tribe’.
(796) PARABLE OF TARES AND WHEAT- I just had a dream [about an hour ago] and I was with an old friend from New Jersey. We were both going to join the high school football team. I remember saying ‘wow, weren’t we doing this 25 years ago? Can you believe after all this time we are partnering again?’ Yesterday I spent a lot of time re reading the parables of Jesus. His mindset in the parables are so much different than ours. He says ‘The good seed that God planted grows up among the weeds that the enemy plants’ and they ask him ‘should we root out the bad tares?’ and he says ‘no, leave them alone. Let them grow together until the harvest [end of the age] and then the reapers [referring to the angels] will come forth and separate them’. Do we think like this? How many times has the ‘good wheat’ [believers] tried to root out the bad? We start movements that seem to tell the lost world ‘we don’t want you influencing our kids, we want your lifestyle as far away from us as possible’ in essence we try to ‘root them out’. Jesus said the field in this parable was the world. He told us to stop trying to pull the weeds out of society! Now, we are here as salt and light. We are supposed to have an effect on society. But the message and spirit that the lost world ‘feel’ from us should be one of reconciliation, not condemnation. We offer hope and forgiveness to the unbeliever. At the end of the day after all the sides are taken and the arguments are over. It’s up to us to be there for the unbeliever when his life and philosophy fail him. I just heard a testimony on how one of the most famous atheists of the last century, Anthony [Antony] Flew rejected his former belief and had to acknowledge the absolute scientific impossibility of all existing things having come from a point in time where no thing existed. Now, most unbelievers do not realize the total absurdity of holding on to a belief like this. Flew was considered one of the top intellectual atheists of the 20th century. He debated the best of them. But the simple reality of his false belief system finally was too much to bear. In his book explaining why he changed positions, he had to admit that the unbelievable intricacy of man. The complexity of human DNA. All of these complex systems that science has shown us over these last 25 years. They are proof of someone having to have a hand in designing the things. To believe that such unbelievable complexity could have arrived from NO THING is absolutely scientifically impossible! You can not get life and the universe and all other things from NO THING. He agreed. Jesus told us there would come a time at the end of the world where God would separate the good wheat from the bad. Until that time comes we need to let both grow together, some times what we thought were weeds turn out to be wheat.
(797) -INTRODUCTION TO THE PARABLES- I was going to finish our study in Judges today, but I felt like sharing something else. Recently I have been reading the parables of Jesus out of my first King James Bible. Even though I give away lots of my books and stuff, yet I managed to hold on to this keepsake. Actually I did give it away and eventually got it back! That’s why I am writing this entry. If you read the first 50 or so entries [1-50!] from the section ‘Prophecies, Dreams, Visions part 1’ you will read the story of my journey to Texas as a young rebel and how after I became a believer I led one of my old buddies from Jersey to the Lord. This friend became a believer and we learned and grew as Christians. Eventually he would die of Aids. I had given him my first bible and years later got it back. As I read thru it I realized he made notes and stuff in it. Things like ‘ask John about this?’ and other interesting stuff. Of course this bible is special to me because it contains personal insights from my first convert to the Lord. So let me share a few things I recently read. He wrote ‘God will take care of you if you have faith’ and ‘the presence of contrary winds does not mean you are out of Gods will’. Hebrews says ‘though he is dead he yet speaketh’. I consider this a privilege of being part of a Christian communion that all believers belong to. We have brothers who are looking at us from heaven right now. We truly belong to a ‘communion of saints’. After all these years, for you to get something from this simple sharing of my brothers thoughts is part of the process of being in this communion. Look at the simplicity of these words ‘God will take care of you if you have faith’ ‘the presence of contrary winds does not mean you are not in Gods will’. As I finish our study in Judges I think I am going to share a few of Jesus parables. In these parables we see Jesus ethos of the Kingdom, the things he puts value on. These things are contrary to what we value, especially as we look at ‘modern ministry’. Jesus will teach the value of not being famous or recognized! The value of becoming ‘the least of all’. Things like the mustard seed being the least of all seeds, but when it is sown it becomes the greatest. We often see faith from this. While this does apply, we also see Jesus ‘the grain of wheat falling into the ground and dying’ [John’s gospel] Jesus, who Isaiah prophesied ‘I am a WORM AND NO MAN’. The Son of God who would become the least of all ‘seeds’. Who actually experienced the accumulated feelings of unworthiness and absolute condemnation that all the sins of the world could bring upon a person. He personally experienced the actual act of being forsaken and told by God ‘you are now a worm and no man’. You think ‘how could this be’ this was an aspect of bearing the sins of humanity on himself. Jesus will teach us the importance of being last, how it is of great value if in the eyes of man you look like a failure, but in the eyes of God you lived humbly. Jesus even values the words of people who lived sinful lives and failed often. He never condones sin, but he still values these ‘little ones’ [in the eyes of men] he will even use the words of one who died of aids.
(798) JUDGES 21- We end the book of Judges with the nation of Israel mourning over the fact that they had to deal with one of their own tribes who left the true path of God. They vowed ‘not to give their daughters any more to them’. They made a determination ‘no matter how much we personally like them, the many good memories of days gone by. The good old stories of our past heritage together. The actual good things that we all shared over the years’. Yet they decided this was the generation that would make the break. By not giving their daughters unto them they were in essence saying ‘we will no longer allow your tribe to effect the whole nation’. Tough stuff, Paul does this with the Corinthians; he says ‘remove the wicked from among you’. Now, Israel does not want the total destruction of the erring tribe! [nor Paul, read 2nd Corinthians]. They work out a deal where the ‘virgins’ of the tribe that did not show up for the initial battle [Jabesh Gilead] would become the wives of the surviving Benjamites. They allowed the tribe to survive, post judgment day! I see lots of spiritual meaning to this stuff. Often times we as believers do not want to deal with ‘errant tribes’. We prefer to think ‘well, we all believe in Jesus. Lets just love each other’. Hey, I am all for love. I have come to realize many well meaning Christians really don’t like dealing with stuff because it gets rough. Jesus said ‘do you think I have come to bring peace? No, I tell you I have come to bring division. Homes will be divided. Brother against brother and family member against family member’. Now, we know Jesus is the prince of Peace. The angels would say ‘peace on earth and good will towards men’. But Jesus was speaking of the reality of having to take sides at certain times. The inevitable conflict that comes with saying ‘this is true, this is false’. Israel dealt severely with a brother tribe, it would not have been ‘love’ for them to have ignored the problem! Let’s end Judges with a brief overview. Why did we see all the problems in this book? Time after time God would deliver them and time after time they would fall back into sin. God knew all along that this would happen. The intent of the law was to reveal to man his inability to ‘self reform’. The season of judges was simply a foreshadowing of a future day [now] where there would be a ‘judge’ [Jesus] who would be able to continually save the people because he would have a rule that would not end. Israel did fine as long as the judge was alive, after his death they would fall. So today we have Jesus, the Great High Priest who is able ‘to save to the uttermost, those who come to God by him. For he ever liveth to make intercession for them’ [Hebrews].
(799) JESUS PARABLES- Well I already covered the ‘mustard seed’ in the introduction and spoke on the Tares and Wheat. I forgot to mention that we see a simple end times teaching from Jesus in these parables. Now I realize the many varied views on the subject of the parables and end time dispensationalism. Good Christians [I find myself having to say this a lot!] at times have taught a type of scenario where many of the sayings of Jesus about the end times seem to refer only to the Jewish people and they have ways of ‘watering down’ the many plain statements of Jesus about the final judgment. But notice how he says ‘at the end of the world the angels go forth and separate the good from the bad’. The ‘tares are taken away’ and the good wheat remains. In the parables you see both the believers and unbelievers together right up until the second coming. You don’t see a time where there are ‘no good wheat’ and the tares are saying ‘hey, where did all the good wheat go? Maybe the aliens took them’? [I know this sounds silly, but many believers espouse stuff like this!] So anyway we see the idea of Jesus people being present right up until the judgment. The ‘bad seed’ are taken away first, then the righteous shine forth in their fathers Kingdom. Also we see the value that Jesus places on ‘nothingness’ that is becoming least, giving up the pursuits of glory. He is not looking for ‘great faith and men of great stature’ he is looking for ‘the mustard seed mentality’. Now in the introduction I hit on the idea that Jesus himself embodies the mustard seed. He was truly ‘the least of all seeds’ and buried himself in the ground. He has become the greatest ‘tree’ in all the earth! The Christian church [his Body!] is the biggest worldwide movement today [I know Islam is trying hard to catch up]. Jesus ‘smallness’ allowed him to attain greatness. In Philippians Paul says Jesus emptied himself and became the lowest of all, and because of this the Father gave him a name above every name. Jesus taught this to the disciples when James and John were looking for advancement. Their mother requested that they would have high positions of authority in his Kingdom. Jesus would respond that authority and influence come from servant hood and ‘being least’. Jesus would say of John the Baptist ‘he is the greatest of the prophets, nevertheless he that is least in the kingdom is greater than John’. Some have taught this to mean John was the last of the Old Testament order of prophets, and therefore even the smallest ‘born again believer’ is better than John. But you could also take it as Jesus saying ‘John, you have a great calling. You opened the way for the Messiah. You truly are one of the greatest Prophets of all time. But I, the Messiah, am the least of all seeds to ever be in the earth. I have emptied myself more than any other person. I John, am greater than you’.
(800) PARABLE OF THE LEAVEN- I guess we need to do a little more ‘teaching’ than I planned on. I am using the parables from Matthew’s gospel. Matthew uses ‘Kingdom of Heaven’ instead of ‘Kingdom of God’. I have heard different ideas on why Matthew said ‘heaven’ instead of ‘God’. The idea that I need to correct is that Matthew was speaking of something totally different than ‘The Kingdom of God’. This belief rose up among the 19th century Dispensationalists, it basically says ‘Kingdom of Heaven’ means the world of Christendom [all religions that make up Christianity] and the Kingdom of God is that future thing that happens some day. Well, both of these are not real good. Most of all you should reject the first idea. The simple reason is that the other Gospels have these same parables with the term ‘God’ in place of ‘Heaven’. For this interpretation to be true [the Christendom one] you would have to believe that Jesus spoke about an entirely different thing, at an entirely different time and setting in Matthews gospel. When believers interpret stuff like this, it is simply not in keeping with ANY of the previous ways believers saw these verses in 1800 years. Plus it seems odd that Matthew would be the only writer who recorded the ‘Kingdom of Heaven’ parables while the other writers recorded the Kingdom of God ones. So for whatever reason you think Matthew said ‘Heaven’ and not ‘God’ you should at least understand that he was not speaking of different parables. Now ‘the Kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till the whole was leavened’. Most of the brothers who believe the ‘heaven-Christendom’ idea teach that Jesus was speaking of sin and wickedness invading the world of Christendom. They get this idea from the fact that leaven does describe sin in most [if not all?] of the other pictures of leaven in scripture. First, leaven [yeast] is something that God created. In and of itself it isn’t ‘wicked’. Second, Jesus can use any physical thing he wants to use in any way he wills to use it in his teachings, he is God after all! And third, I think it fitting that Jesus would take a term used to describe sin and turn it around and ‘redeem’ its use to describe righteousness. After all ‘where sin abounded, grace did much more abound’. Now to the meaning. Jesus values ‘least ness’ in his teachings. He absolutely challenges the present idea of Christianity in many of the American churches. He time and again lets his followers know that they must die to their own agendas and ideas. They must put priority on eternal versus material riches. They must seek to become small and last in order to be first. In all of these teachings he also rewards those who follow his ideals with great influence. The things they do ‘will go far’. Their children will impact society [Genesis 12 and 15- Abrahams seed touching nations]. Jesus calls for carrying our cross daily, dying to our own desires and dreams so his purpose thru us can reach all nations. The ‘hiddeness’ of the yeast speaks of this aspect of kingdom living. You don’t take yeast and ‘spread it all over the outside of everything’ [modern ideas of ministry- ‘get our name out, have everyone know about us’. Hire an image consultant!] Jesus says ‘hide the yeast inside of stuff’ package the gift and talents in such a way that they will ‘secretly’ be in many places. You will hardly even know its there, it’s hidden! Then after a while the effect of the yeast will be so hard to stop you will have a revolution on your hands! ‘Who in the heck started this ball rolling?’ The effect will be great, the fame and recognition will be minimal. Now Jesus taught in all of the parables that his kingdom would be like this. It would be silly to apply the yeast here as wickedness taking over Christendom, he doesn’t use these explosive images to describe sin in his other parables. They speak of small things becoming large in righteous ways [note- the tares are an exception, they are the full harvest of unbelievers along with believers. But the kingdom images [seed and stuff] speak of the radical explosive nature of the kingdom of God in the earth]. So lets look for ways to ‘hide the leaven’ in stuff. Is the most effective way to either write a book? Start a blog? What do you think it is for you? I feel many talented Pastors limit their voice by spending the majority of their teaching efforts on preaching to a room full of people and never even recording [in writing or by voice] the teaching. Make it available in various forms. If you saw some great insights from your study time, why have it taught in a forum where only a limited amount of people will hear it one time? We read of Jesus and Paul and think that they taught a form of ‘local church’ that says ‘give priority to the Sunday pulpit’. Now Paul did say ‘how can they hear without a preacher’ [Romans]. But this applies to hearing Paul’s letters as they were ‘re read’ in the churches. We are right now reading the recorded parables of Jesus that millions upon millions of people read every year! Be wise in putting leaven [good leaven!] in places where it can multiply good things. NOTE- leaven represented sin during the Passover feast. That’s why they couldn’t have it in their meals. But it was permitted during Pentecost. Why? Pentecost would come to represent the outpouring of the Spirit and the intended growth of Christianity, at Pentecost God wanted a massive explosion. Leaven was allowed!
(801) TREASURE IN A FIELD- Jesus said the Kingdom is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man finds it, he hides it and goes and sells all that he has and buys the field. One of the main values of the kingdom is having a willingness to ‘sell all that you have’ make sacrifices and give priority to God’s purpose. In the history of Christianity you have had famous stories of people who felt like the Lord was requiring them to actually do this. They would take vows of poverty and forsake a life filled with the pursuits of things and self, and would make Gods calling number one. We need to be more in tune with this mindset than we are presently at. It is common to read all the statements from Jesus on forsaking all to follow him, and to say ‘well, in so and so’s case [rich man stories and stuff] money was his idol. But Jesus really isn’t talking about money, he is showing us that you can’t put other things ahead of God’. I think we are missing stuff when we do this. In many of these stories the reason Jesus says ‘he sells what he has’ or ‘leave your nets and follow me’ was because he was showing the natural tension that arises between living ‘our dream’ or fulfilling his purpose. A big part of ‘our dream’ is imbedded with ‘stuff’ ‘more stuff’ ‘more stuff than you could ever imagine’! Jesus taught a mindset that said ‘give and it will be given to you, pressed down shaken together and running over’ but along with this he teaches ‘the world is pre occupied with stuff [what should you wear and eat] and I don’t want my followers to be pre occupied with stuff’. The value of the Kingdom is so great, that Jesus said this man sold all that he had to purchase the true riches. Sometimes it is our unwillingness to ‘sell all that we have’ that keeps us from the true riches.
(802) U.F.O.’S AND THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT! Hey, I needed to get your attention! A few years back I took a few weeks off from the Fire Dept and drove to New Jersey [or Florida?]. I didn’t keep up with the news and all, but I would catch glimpses every so often. The movie ‘Blair Witch Project’ had come out during my trip. I heard that it was supposed to have been a real documentary film that some kids found, but I wasn’t sure of the whole story. When I got back to work some of the guys were discussing it and I naively said ‘I heard that it was real’ [note to self, don’t blurt stuff like this out]. Sure enough I experienced the portion of scripture that says ‘he was despised more than any man’. I wasn’t alone in this mockery, one of my other buddies at the station said ‘yeah, I heard that too!’ For full disclosure I am going to have to share his first name. It was Sammy! [Sorry Sam, but I need to use your first name for a reason]. So after a few weeks of ridicule we repented of our false belief and accepted the fact that the movie was fake. Then the guys rented ‘The Jersey devil’ and sure enough the talk was ‘this one is real’. As a joke I told Sam ‘Yeah, this is the one we meant. This one is real! Right Sam?’ he wanted nothing to do with it. I remembered a funny story while writing this. The reason I had to use Sam’s name was he had an Anglo sounding first and last name. He was light complexioned and would easily pass for a white guy. One day it slips out and Sam says at some class he told the instructor he was Mexican. Me and my other buddy [a Mexican] said ‘what do you mean you’re Mexican’? And he fessed up, although he looked white and had a white last name, he was 100% Mexican. He admitted that when he was in school some of his friends didn’t know he was Mexican until years later. So I tell Sammy ‘you know I also had that problem growing up’ [he looks at me real seriously! He was still fairly new to the fire Dept. at this point] I said ‘many of my buddies didn’t realize I was black’ [P.S. I am Italian, could pass for Mexican, darker skin than most whites. But it would be a stretch to pass for Black!] Now to the U.F.O.’S. Do I believe in them? No. Do I believe people have seen things in the sky that are unexplainable? Yes. You have had reputable people see things that were unidentified. So I believe in the fact that there are unidentifiable things people have seen. I also do not totally discount the possibility of increased angelic activity as the Second Coming of Christ nears. Now, over these last five years I had a ‘sign’ that kept reoccurring. I would often notice the digital clock time of ‘8:44’. It was so noticeable that I have even written before on this blog about it. Thinking of verses that are ‘8:44’ and stuff like that. It never dawned on me that it might actually be a sign about the time ‘8:44’. So a few nights ago I am watching Larry King on CNN. He was doing a show on the most witnessed UFO event since the famous ‘Phoenix Lights’ where many witnesses saw lights in the sky. Now the one Larry king is showing is the event in Texas. I think the date was 1-2008. As I am watching they have real clear video of these multicolor lights. It simply looks like a glorious light show. There were parts of the video where I thought ‘there is no reason why this couldn’t be an angel’. Sure enough the UFO guys got the government to release the radar from that night. It showed lots of points where something was in the air. Things that were unidentifiable. Now the interesting part was, the radar showed all these things flying towards Crawford Texas where President Bush lives. The many witnesses, along with the actual video, do seem to show real activity. The most prayed for person in the world today is very likely to be the President. God does send angels in scripture to help people who are praying. Is it possible that a bunch of angels were sent on assignment that night? Wouldn’t the Lord give some kind of sign or warning if he were to send an angel? The thing that really caught my attention was as I am watching the repeat of the video during the program; it has the time the video was taken- at exactly 8:44 P.M.
(803) Let’s throw in one on Evolution. The dating of the earth and universe and when man appeared in modern form vary somewhat depending on who you listen to. But for the most part you have these brothers who think the earth is under 10 billion years old while the universe is over that [around 13 billion or so, give or take a few billion!]. Now, these brothers also espouse the idea that man in his present form evolved around 150 thousand years ago. At least this is the official stuff you’re taught in high school. Now, according to the atheistic scientist [There are tons of Christian scientists by the way, who reject Evolution as a theory that has been unproven!] man showed up 150 thousand years ago. At the present population growth rate of a little less than one half percent growth annually, do you know how many people would be on the planet by now? A number way over the present population [around 6.5 billion is the present population of our planet]. The number you would get by estimating the 150 thousand date would be so great that you wouldn’t be able to fit all the people on the planet [this of course includes the death rate as well]. Well say if you lowered the evolutionary number and said man showed up around 100 thousand years ago? Still too high. What about 50? Nope. 25 thousand years ago? Still too high. Well let’s see what these silly ‘bible Christians’ believe. The bible gives the date of mans appearance on the planet to be around 6 thousand years ago. But wait, these silly Christians also believe the story of Noah and some huge ark that held all these animals and stuff, along with eight people. The date for Noah’s ark is around 4,500 years ago. Lets say we used the present growth rate for the human population [a little under 1 half percent annually] and ran the numbers from 8 people who left the ark 4500 year ago. I wonder what the number would be. Between 6.4 and 6.5 billion! Wow, for a bunch of people who believe these silly stories in the bible, they keep ‘getting lucky’ when it comes to the facts. NOTE- In keeping myself honest, I am not necessarily a ‘young earth creationist’. I believe it’s possible for the earth to be a lot older than 6 thousand years old. Now, you have varying views among Christians on this. You have ‘young earth creationists’ ‘old earth creationists’ [which I lean towards] and ‘Theistic Evolutionists’. The Theistic Evolutionists basically believe the naturalists timeline on man evolving from primitive life forms. The main problem with this theory is most of the recent [last 50-75 years] discoveries in Paleontology, Biology and Physics absolutely prove otherwise. The ‘Cambrian explosion’ is the earliest fossil ‘level’ [some say 540 million years ago]. This level contains multiple life forms and structures appearing in complete form. This fact is an admitted problem among evolutionists. They know this does not line up with their theory. In the world of Cosmology [Cosmos!] we have discovered an unbelievable amount of ‘fine tuning’ in the universe and solar system. Our Solar system contains 9 Planets [well, I think they dropped Pluto off the list?] In this system you have a Planet, Jupiter, that is larger than all the other planets combined. We now realize that this creates an effect that cause’s meteors to either be deflected by the strong gravity of Jupiter, or to be drawn in to it. This formerly unknown reason for the size of Jupiter now has a reason. In the past you had one basic scientific theory on the universe. It was the ‘static theory’. All scientists held this theory for thousands of years. You had Greek thinkers who espoused this before Christ. The only people who had a theory that the universe had a beginning were the Christians, Jews and Muslims. Basically all who believed in the Old Testament. You were considered ‘loony’ to have believed this. In the last century [1900’s] science came to the conclusion that this silly ‘religious belief’ was correct. You have a very small number of scientists who deny that the universe had a beginning [Stephen Hawking has a ‘multi-verse’ idea. He believes that our universe is part of a series of never ending big bangs. That from all time there have been big bangs that have birthed universes and then this kept repeating from eternity past. It should be noted that very few, if any, other scientists believe this. Some hold to the old steady state theory and deny the big bang]. So anyway after all these year’s science has got it right again! Sort of like Jack Blacks wrestling partner in the movie ‘Nacho Libre’. Black asks him why he never got baptized and the brother says ‘ I believe in science’. Then Black [Libre] forces his head into a pan of water. Hey, they were going up against ‘satan's kids’ that night! [In the ring]. So we now have the young versus the old earth creationists. Let me say even though I lean towards a possible older earth, I do not see a gap theory [a belief that between ‘in the beginning God created’ and ‘the earth was without form’ that you had a pre adamic civilization]. I believe it’s possible to simply have an extended time from ‘in the beginning’ [Gen 1] and the 6 days of creation. I do not see a race of men that had ‘no souls’ and then later another human race. Some old earth brothers espouse this idea. The young earth brothers simply see the 6 days of creation literally [as I do!] but leave no room for any time period for an older earth. To be honest they have some very good proof that has come out to defend this argument. And some of the proof for an old earth is not as strong as you might think! But I want to stress that all the proof shows that there was a beginning to our universe, and that fact alone is one of the greatest scientific breakthroughs of all time. This fact also backs up what the Christians were teaching all along.
(804) A BUNCH OF PEARL HUNTERS! As long as I can remember I have been a ‘pearl hunter’. You too! I don’t mean literal pearls, but things that we fixate on. I would venture to say that all you male readers [most all] have been on the B.B. gun hunt at one time. I still remember seeing my buddies at grade school with the cherished pearl! [actually the pearl handles were nice] I eventually persuaded my dad to convince my mom that I would not shoot my eye out. It was not too longer after that I possessed the precious object. [To me it was like getting that special thing, even though hundreds of thousands of other boys were presently shooting birds, windows and all sorts of things on a daily global scale]. Then came the go-cart. I learned from this experience that if you can’t get your own hands on the coveted material object, that the next best thing is to become friends with the kid who has it! I made lots of new friends. I must have bought and sold 8-10 dirt bikes before the age of 16. I loved them. I also noticed something with these toys, the moment you fixate on a ‘new toy’ you lose interest in the old one. There seems to be a thing in man that says ‘I must acquire that special object that is so coveted, that it deserves to be on a pedestal by itself’. How dare that go–cart take up all that room in the garage, I need that space for the dirt bike! Jesus said ‘The Kingdom is like a merchant man seeking goodly pearls, when he finds one of great price, he sells everything [get that go cart out!] so he can purchase that one pearl’. There is just something that takes place when you stumble across the kingdom. It offers eternal life for free to everyone who believes. As you journey along the road you learn that the actual choice that you thought you made to ‘purchase the pearl’ was really pre ordained of God! In essence it is so secure that you didn’t even have the option of not purchasing it! How do you know when you have found it? Easy, you see all the other ‘toys’ as being not worthy to compete with it. You sell out because of its significance. I thank God that as men [40-60 years old] we grow out of that childish stage of wanting silly toys. Or do we? A few years back I was shopping at our local flea market [it’s named ‘the trade center’] and as I hit all the ‘men’ booths, Knives, Guns, Etc. [toy guns] I saw the booth that had the blow guns and crossbows. I of course had to stop there. You never know, maybe there was some responsible purchase to be made? They did have every imaginable blow gun to fit any future scenario. As I am asking the lady ‘how strong is this one’ [a small hand held crossbow] she says ‘well, my husband shoots the arrows thru a steel shed in our yard’. The lady had to be nearing 65 years old!
(805) A BIG NET- Jesus said the kingdom was like a net that was cast into the sea and caught all types of fish [people]. After it was full they pulled it to shore and put the good fish in baskets and thru the bad out. He explains that at the END OF THE WORLD the angels come forth and separate the wicked from the just and cast them into a fire, there will be ‘wailing and gnashing of teeth’. Again we see the simple end time teaching of Jesus. Don’t overlook the truths in Jesus simple sayings! He was a master teacher not because he was one of those theological brains that you could never fully grasp, but because he communicated tremendous truths thru simple stories. For those who fight and argue over whether or not Jesus will ‘rapture’ all the believers away and then the unbelievers have a time by themselves on earth before the final judgment. All you need to do is look at Jesus sayings. He teaches again that both good and bad fish are on the shore together. The bad fish are the ones who are separated and removed, the good get to stay [new heavens and new earth]. Jesus says this happens at the ‘end of the world’. So you see the believers being here right up until the end. Now the main point is Jesus wants the message of the kingdom to go out into all the world. The fact that this net ‘catches’ all types of fish signifies the very broad casting of the message. All people have heard and been effected in some way by Christ’s message. This does not mean all make it into the new heaven and earth! Jesus shows that the full net is a time of full harvest. There comes a real future time of judgment. Jesus teaches the good will be spared, the bad will suffer. When we studied Acts we showed how judgment was part of the message. I had a discussion the other day with a well meaning person. They shared a belief like ‘well, it doesn’t matter what type of religion you are, God just wants us to treat others right’. They were sincere and asking me questions about the Lord. I simply shared the historic Christian belief that even though you have differing religions and different types of Christian churches, yet Christianity teaches that salvation comes exclusively thru Christ. There is coming a time when the bad fish get thrown out. Now God most certainly wants good fish [treating people right]. The way this is accomplished is thru faith in Christ. God ‘imputes’ righteousness to those who believe [not trying to become ‘good’ by their works!] and this imputed righteousness eventually makes them good [note- at the moment of belief you are completely good and righteous. The process of this being made evident, sanctification, is showing a real distinction between the ‘good versus bad fish’]. What about the bad fish? A famous preacher a few years back was branded as a heretic because he publicly came out and rejected the doctrine of hell. I sent him some stuff at the time [books]. He did attend Oral Roberts University and stirred up a lot of stuff. Many Pentecostals distanced themselves from him [rightfully so]. As I heard him speak [T.V.] about his reasons for rejecting the doctrine, I realized he suffered from a lack of historical thinking. Now I don’t want to be mean, but as he questioned his own beliefs he came to see for the first time that other Christian thinkers of the past also embraced a ‘no hell doctrine’. This seemed to confirm in his mind that the ‘no hell’ belief was an historic belief that traditional Christianity suppressed. If he had a rounded education from the start, he would have learned this early on. The fact that hell and other historic doctrines have been questioned and debated for centuries should have come as no surprise to him. But in his area of learning and the churches he was familiar with he never found any need to venture out into the world of theology and church history. And when he finally did venture out he saw these beliefs for the first time. He was also very inconsistent in his thinking. He shared how he found in the Hebrew and Greek languages that the bible says different stuff than in the English [true to some degree- some words for hell speak of the grave, others of judgment]. But this also is no real secret. Then the conversation jumped to ‘John the Apostle was delusional when he wrote Revelation’. Geez, you don’t have to reject the Canon of scripture to be a universalist! The point here is the historic Christian doctrine of eternal judgment comes from the basic themes of scripture. Sure, some have studied the various texts that speak of judgment and have come to differing ideas. But the historic belief is hell is a real place of eternal separation from the presence of God. The rejection of Jesus Christ as the Son of God who died for your sins, was buried and rose from the grave is the only sin that will send a person to hell. As much as we should love people of all religions, we also need to let them know there is coming a time where the bad fish get cast out of the net. NOTE- Jesus referred to hell as ‘a furnace of fire’ here. There are other descriptions of ‘hell fire’ in scripture. This is why hell has been historically seen as ‘a place of fire’.
(806) WHY A ‘MULTI-VERSE’ THEORY IS FALSE. Jumping back to apologetics. Some atheists have espoused the ‘multi-verse’ idea to try to explain away the unbelievable complexity of the universe and our galaxy and solar system. The further along we advance in the study of Physics and Cosmology, we find a degree of ‘fine tuning’ in the universe that is incomprehensible. We have learned things about our universe that were previously thought of as mere chance. Even though we theorize that there may be millions or billions of planets in the universe, as far as we know the only one that has the unbelievable delicate balance of air and atmosphere to support life is ours. Our unique placement in our galaxy [Milky Way] allows our solar system to be in a position where we can ‘see’ our actual location in space [thru telescopes of course!] there are many other ‘spots’ that we could have been placed in that would not have allowed our own viewing of our position. Did God realize [did!] that there would come a time in human history as man advanced in wisdom where he would figure out the absolute need for a designer to have done these things? Richard Dawkins and other atheists realize what a losing game they are playing. They see how it is impossible for all of this complexity and design to be in our universe and for all of this to have happened from no thing! So in sheer fantasy they have come up with a solution. A ‘multi-verse’. That is if the probabilities of our existence in our own universe are so complex, then instead of admitting the astronomical odds [impossibility!] of all this happening by chance, they just ‘changed the odds’. How so? If you flipped a coin and it landed on heads, all day every day for the rest of your life. What conclusion would you come to? You would check out the coin to make sure it doesn’t have 2 heads! Or in other words the first reasonable, logical conclusion would be ‘someone designed the coin to make this happen’. Now say if you had someone who said ‘I don’t believe that someone designed this to happen’. I would ask ‘than how else can you explain, that by pure chance this unbelievable result has occurred’ he could then say ‘well, say if right now as you were flipping the coin, at the same time there are an untold number of other people all over the world right now flipping coins. Let’s say the whole population of 6.5 billion people on the planet are flipping coins!’. Well, I would have to admit that the odds of one person getting heads every time just went up. Even though it would still be highly unlikely that out of all 6.5 billion people you would still have one who hit heads non stop for 25 years in a row, yet the fact is the odds have changed in favor of my friend who does not believe in ‘an intelligent designer who caused the unbelievable odds to happen’. This in a nutshell is what the ‘multi verse’ brothers believe. They have simply changed the odds by saying ‘there are an infinite number of universes’. Now, what evidence do we have that there are multiple universes existing outside of our present universe? None! No wait ‘absolutely none’. ‘Well John, do you mean to tell me that these geniuses of intellect are trying to pass off something as ridiculous as this without any evidence’? Yes. The fact is by definition there can be no evidence. Our universe is described as all that is presently existing in our space/time continuum. Anything that we could ever learn or see is by definition ‘in our universe’. This is why science has proven that for all things [space and time included] to have had a beginning [which is scientific fact!] then there must have been an outside causal agent, who himself was not limited by time or space [our universe!] who acted upon his own purpose and will to bring into existence all things. For Dawkins or Hawking to simply say ‘well, we believe there are untold numbers of infinite big bangs and infinite universes’ is as ridiculous as saying ‘everyone else on the planet are flipping coins’! NOTE- the ‘multi-verse’ idea is gaining ground as an answer to the intelligent design problem seen in our universe. The increased complexity and fine tuning that science is discovering in our universe poses a tremendous threat to the old ‘it just happened’ theory. The obvious ‘silliness’ of the multi- verse theory is its absolute contradiction. In essence it says ‘we have been saying for years that the high improbability of our universe coming into existence from a ‘big bang’ which has no prior cause, is next to impossible’. But this ‘impossible’ supposition is now explained by saying ‘there have been an infinite number of big bangs and an infinite number of universes’. If the odds on all of this coming into existence from ‘nothing’ are small [impossible] what are the odds that this next to impossible phenomena has been going on for ever?
(807) THE WEDDING SEAT- Jesus said when someone invites you to a wedding, don’t sit in the place of promotion/honor. But sit in a low place. If you seek power and position the man who invited you will come and say ‘please give up your place for this man’ and you will be humbled and lose significance. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, but he that humbles himself will be exalted. Once again Jesus contrasts the idea of ‘being all you can be’ ‘being the most motivated person in the room’. All natural tendencies that well meaning people fall into when they fail to follow the actual precepts that Jesus gave us for the Christian life. It’s only natural for up and coming ‘ministers’ or believers who feel called to ministry to begin to seek position and prominence. Now most of the time we don’t realize this is happening, it can be a tricky balance to keep. Sometimes it happens, not out of pride but insecurity. People want to be affirmed. If I feel like my position and success are indicators of God being pleased with me, or outward signs of Gods vindication ‘wow, wait until my enemies see me now!’ This can become a trap. The fundamental truth of our acceptance with God is proven by the death and resurrection of his Son. ‘God loved us and he gave his Son to prove this’. Now Jesus showed us the process of being a child of God. His ultimate act of emptying himself [Kenosis] would seem to be contrary to completing his mission. If you possessed all the attributes of God and were given a task of supreme importance [redeeming man] the last thing you would want to do is give up the position and power that you have. It seems contrary to fulfilling the mission! Jesus would ask ‘father, if this is the path to completing the mission, then so be it. But if there is any other way possible, besides me drinking the cup, show me’. It’s only natural for us to want to hold on to power and prestige, to go for ‘the chief seat’. Now in the parable Jesus said the man who invited you will come and say ‘give this man place’ [position]. When the Father exalted the Son and seated him at his right hand, it was after extreme humility. The man who Jesus takes by the hand and says ‘come, sit here in the front’ isn’t jumping up and down and saying ‘I was waiting for this my whole life. I knew if I waited my turn I would be exalted’. He is simply fulfilling the course that was his destiny. He already has learned the futility of trying to gain acceptance and honor from other men. He simply allows the master to move him from a place of insignificance to one of influence. This process is played out time and again in God’s kingdom. We rarely see the practical aspect of truly being Christ like. We think things like ‘God has great plans for me. I am the head and not the tail’ while these things are true, we often mistake the values of the world while seeking ‘headship’. Being the ‘head and not the tail’ means growing up into ‘him’ who is the head! [Jesus]. It is using his own kingdom values as a measuring rod. It means facing the most important decision of your life and saying ‘if you want me Father to give up my position and glory, if you tell me that this path is the one to fulfilling ‘my dreams’. Then even though it seems contrary to all that I see and understand, yet I will do it. Father, your will, not mine be done’.
(808) PLANT THOSE SEEDS! - Jesus uses the idea of seeds again. The kingdom is like casting seed into the ground. You plant it and go to bed and get up and live a consistent life, before you know it the seed grows. The earth brings forth fruit OF ITSELF. You ‘knoweth not how’ this is happening. Much of kingdom living is simply trusting in God to produce after you obey. Our natural minds say ‘well, it will take so much money and resource to do this. How in the world can we expect the ‘seed to grow’ unless we all become millionaires’ there goes that ‘stinkin thinkin’ again! Hey, the thing will grow while you are sleeping! Our natural talents and abilities [even to raise funds!] has nothing to do with it. Now, after the process of natural [supernatural] growth takes place, you then can harvest it. The seed goes thru growth stages. The blade, ear and ‘full corn’. Here in South Texas we have these beautiful wild flowers that grow every year. In the wild they grow great, but it’s hard to get them going in your yard! The reason is the flowers need to make it to ‘full growth stage’ and then the seedlings die and fall. If you mow them down before full seed stage they don’t reproduce. There are things in your life that God wants to bring to ‘full harvest stage’ [or dying stage!] A place where you don’t know or even care how the thing will grow, you simply cast the seed because you have learned if you ‘don’t cast it, you will be miserable’ in essence you are obeying out of sheer experience! [Paul- woe is me if I preach not the gospel]. Jesus said ‘I have given them the words that you gave me’ [John 17]. There are so many ‘seeds’ that you have been entrusted with. Some have more than others [30,60,100 fold]. God is not holding you accountable for the ‘size of the harvest’ he is holding you accountable for what you did with the handful of seeds he gave you. When Jesus returns he asks 'what did you do with the talent I gave you’? Some times we fail to plant out of fear ‘I need the land, then some equipment. How much money will it take to plant the first field?’ Just simply plant what you have right now! Jesus said ‘he knoweth not how it is growing, the earth brings forth fruit of itself’. Once you reach the ‘full harvest stage’ the thing looks like its dead [it is] but what do you know, next year you have a yard full of the stuff!
(809) GUESS WHO’S COMING TO DINNER? Jesus said when you have a feast, don’t invite your friends, neighbors or rich people. For they can benefit you in some way, you can get ‘repaid’. But instead invite the down and out, because they can’t repay you. You will be repaid at the resurrection and return of Christ. Once again Jesus precepts are so contrary to the engrained mindset of ‘getting a reward’. We have an endemic problem in the American church. We do most everything with ‘repayment in mind’. We want it, we want it now and we want an overabundance of it! Heck, didn’t Jesus teach this? Well yes he did ‘give and it will be given unto you….’ Hebrews says ‘those who come after God must believe that he is and that he rewards us’. The point is a great body of Jesus teachings show us that this life and all it can afford are temporary riches. Paul said in 2nd Thessalonians chapter 1 that God will repay us at the appearing of Jesus. We need to re- tool our motivations for ‘ministry’ [service] and understand that our real reward is at the end [or beginning!]. Do we really live like this? Do we give and serve with the expectation of getting our rewards soon? Do we ‘sow seed’ [give money] with this very understanding as the primary motive for giving? Jesus said ‘when you do charitable deeds [note- he is not addressing this responsibility to the mission outreach of ‘the church’ or the barrio ministry!] do it with the mindset of not receiving a reward until I return’. Well brother, what’s the use of doing good stuff then? Well its service to our King, its part of counting the cost. It’s part of taking up our cross daily. Make no bones about it, there is an aspect of service to Jesus that says ‘we do not live for present rewards, but our lives show thru word and deed that there is an afterlife. We fully expect to be rewarded then’. I realize that we have focused and gone way overboard on the reality of God blessing us in this life. I understand why people do not like to hear this stuff. But the time has come for the American church to repent of our idolatry and get on board with the rest of the Body of Christ. Our brothers and sisters worldwide have learned to live [and die!] for the cause of Christ, and we can’t even hold a free B.B.Q!
(810) WHY SO MANY THEORIES? I know I jump around a lot! Recently I have been reading some stuff on all the recent [50 years] evidence of God coming from the study of the Cosmos. I have mentioned that the accepted science for the existence of our current universe is ‘the big bang theory’. Now, the reason this theory is ‘accepted’ by well over 90 percent of the scientific community is because as time progressed after it’s initial discovery, all the evidence kept pointing to an initial event [big bang] that was the beginning point of all matter, time, energy and space. For many thousands of years thinkers and scientists did not believe this. It was considered ‘ignorant’ to hold to an idea that said ‘there was a beginning point to time and space’. To many of you this sounds strange even now! But be assured, science has proven this to be true. One of the great intellects of the 20th century, Albert Einstein, who came up with the ‘theory of relativity’ introduced new concepts of time and space that were revolutionary breakthroughs in thought. After a multiple of new discoveries [Hubble- the expanding universe] the century progressed to a point where that which was seen as ignorant in days gone by [that time and space actually had a beginning point] was now accepted mainstream science. Now, all scientists were not so willing to give in to the accepted theory. Many of them openly said ‘if this theory [big bang] is true, then God is a necessary being’. Many realized that for all things to have had a starting point, especially time and space, that the only reasonable explanation for the existence of all things is ‘God’. I know it’s hard to grasp the concept that God exists outside of the parameters of time and space. We often see God as this being who was ‘floating around’ in eternity in some empty void, who one day said ‘Let there be light’ and he began creating things. But in all actuality God wasn’t ‘floating in space for all time’, he simply WAS. That is there was no time or space for him to have been floating in! His omniscience and omnipresence was all there was! Now, as hard as it is for us to grasp this concept, I want you to see that the only people who held to this idea of a transcendent being [someone who transcends time and space] were people who believed in God! It seemed humorous and ignorant to believe in a pre existent being who was self existent and lived outside of time and space. But be assured, this ‘silly’ belief in Gods characteristics, as revealed thru scripture, is now absolutely proven to be the most feasible solution to the existence of our universe! That’s why Stephen Hawking and Richard Dawkins and others have tried very hard to introduce other views of the existence of our universe [multi- verse, oscillating, steady state, ‘vacuum’] all attempts at trying to undo the majority accepted view. The problem is at this point they are not fighting the Christians as much as their fellow colleagues! After a hundred years of true science, we now know that all things [except God] had a beginning point. The atheist knows if this is true he will have to admit God. They should listen to one of the great thinkers of all time who when trying to come up with an overriding answer that would ‘unify’ [explain] all the various fields of science, said ‘God doesn’t roll dice’. Einstein was too smart to leave God out of the equation.
(811) HE SPENT HIS MONEY ON PROSTITUTES AND GOD THREW HIM A PARTY! In Luke 15 we have the famous parable of the Prodigal Son. The chapter begins with the religious leaders becoming offended that Jesus was receiving sinners. This is the backdrop to why Jesus gives the story. He starts with 2 other brief parables of lost sheep and coins. The themes of these are ‘just like a man rejoices over finding something that was lost, so likewise God rejoices ‘throws a party’ when a sinner comes home’. This begins the story. Jesus says a man had 2 sons [Jew/Gentile] and one son said ‘Father, give me the inheritance that is rightfully mine’ [the immature son learned the truth of ‘requesting his inheritance’ –money, and getting it rightfully. This did not mean that he was mature or correct in doing what he did. Even though the father had prepared it for him, the son was preoccupied with getting it NOW!] The father divides the inheritance to both boys. The young son goes off and lives it up. He spends all his money and ends up eating pig food. He comes to his senses and says ‘I will return home, my father has servants living better than this! I will request a job from dad’. As the boy nears the house the father runs and grabs the boy. He tells his servants ‘go, kill the calf and let’s have a party!’ He puts a robe on him and gives him a ring. Now the older son [Israel- she has been struggling for centuries to try and please God. Sure she has failed, but heck these other nations weren’t even trying!] hears the uproar and says ‘what’s going on?’ They tell him ‘your brother returned and your father has thrown him a party’. He sulks in his room. The father asks what's wrong and the older son says ‘I have tried my best to live up to your standards [Law] and yet my younger brother spent all his money rebelling against you. Where was he when things got rough? I was here to give you a hand, not him! And as soon as he shows up you are overjoyed about it. What about me?’ Remember, Jesus is giving this story in response to the offence that the Jewish leaders had at the beginning of this chapter. The father says ‘son, you have always been with me [God made his covenant available to Israel for many years. Just because he was opening it up to the ‘sinning nations’ didn’t mean that he cared less about them]. The father tells the son ‘you have always had access to my covenant, this other son [gentile nations] went astray for many years. Don’t take it wrong that I am happy over his return. He was lost and now he’s home’. Jesus challenged the mindset of Israel in this parable. It was only natural for the nation of Israel to have been offended. Jesus even taught ‘offenses must happen’. But they were going to reject their Messiah because of this offense. They couldn’t believe how Jesus treated the outcasts ‘they wasted your money on harlots’! was the corporate cry of Israel. ‘How could you even think of eating with them’. Often times we get offended because God is merciful. Jesus gives other parables along these lines. The hired workers who worked all day felt like they got cheated when the master paid them all the same. In that parable Jesus has the master saying ‘are you mad because I did what I wanted with what was mine? I didn’t cheat you , I gave you what I agreed to pay you’ once again they were offended that Jesus was offering equal access to those who were deemed ‘less worthy’. Jesus did tell the older son ‘all that I have ever had has been made available, don’t let your offense keep you from enjoying the party’.
(812) NEW WINE NEEDS NEW BOTTLES- Jesus said no man takes a piece of new cloth and sews it onto old clothes. Or no one takes new wine and puts in into old wineskins. If you do the wineskins will break and the wine is lost. Jesus was a radical revolutionary, his message and Kingdom were one of tremendous change and transition. The New Testament calls this ‘the time of reformation’. In John chapter 3 he told Nicodemus ‘unless a man is born again he cant even see or begin to perceive this new thing’. We often seek for new understanding, trying to improve our lives and callings. Sincere people who are looking for innovation and trying to be on the ‘cutting edge’. One of the common mistakes we as believers make is we often approach ‘new ideas’ with ‘old structures’ in mind. Much of the stuff I have written on ‘local church’ fits into this category. Jesus is primarily teaching the reality of his New Covenant being one of complete transition and change. He knew that the old mindset of law and legalism would not be able to contain the New Covenant. The Spirit of God needs ‘new’ [born again] vessels to be poured into. Jesus also said those who have been ‘drinking the old wine’ have a natural tendency to resist change. They are comfortable with the traditions and form that have surrounded them for most of their lives. There is ‘special value’ on ‘wine that is old’. Jesus told the disciples ‘I have many things to teach you, but you are not able to hear them right now’ in essence ‘their old wine skin mentality’ couldn’t handle the new things. In all growth and maturing there also needs to be a basic understanding that it does no good whatsoever to change or introduce reformation to the degree that both the wine and the wineskins are lost. Jesus realized there were certain things that the disciples just couldn’t handle, and it would have been pointless to have ‘cast the pearls’ at that time. I want to challenge you, God often holds back the answer to a question or problem because he realizes we need to be re-positioned before we can receive it. He doesn’t simply communicate ‘new and deep revelation’ for the sake of making us smarter! He wants the people of God to come to maturity so he can be glorified in all the nations. New wine is good, in fact it is a necessity! But it does absolutely no good if it’s spilled all over the ground.
(813) I was going to do the parable [some say story! - I explain it later] of the rich man and Lazarus, but felt we should go another way. Yesterday I was reading some stuff on line and learned of the book Frank Viola wrote ‘Pagan Christianity’. I have not read it, but I have read other books from Frank and I think he is an excellent teacher. As I was ‘perusing’ the comments from Pastors and others who read the book, I realized that it stirred up a controversy in many circles. I thought it interesting that a big part of our teaching has been debated recently and I wasn’t even aware of it. Let me make some comments about ‘the comments’. The title might be a little strong, I understand the actual fact of many modern Christian practices arising from ‘pagan’ sources. But this in itself was no secret to the believers who willingly did this at the time! I remember reading one of my ‘history of Christianity’ books and hearing a Catholic author explain why the 4th century church did embrace, to a degree, certain pagan things. Some Protestants seem to think that the fact that Christmas and Easter have obviously pagan histories is a secret known only to them [them being protestants]. But the Catholic author explained that ‘changing’ pagan holidays into ‘Christian ones’ was done on purpose. The intent was to allow the pagans to keep their special days, though the institutional purpose of those days was changed, as the Emperor Constantine was legitimizing Christianity [his brand of it]. Now was this ‘compromising’? Sure. But was this a secret pagan take over of Christianity? Probably not. So when we see ‘pagan’ things [cultural changes] being mixed in with Christianity, sometimes it doesn’t mean what we think. Paul teaches in Timothy to give honor to Elders and respect those in authority. Paul says ‘I am writing these things so believers will know how to behave in the House of God’. In context, the elders and the ‘House of God’ are simply speaking about the mature saints who were living and dedicating their lives for the propagation of the gospel and spending extra time ‘building Gods House’ [the actual community of believers in their midst]. But later on as Christianity developed the ‘House of God’ would be seen as the ‘church building’. The hired positions of clergy were seen as ‘Bishops, Pastors, and Priests’. So when you would have a reformer rise up [Luther] it was easy to initially brand him as a heretic who was ‘going against Gods House’. Who was ‘not honoring’ the Elders [Pope and Bishop]. The mistake was reading the New Testament and simply applying the names [House of God- church building. Bishop [of Rome] - Catholic apostolic succession from Peter] of things to the present understanding. So the Protestants would have their Reformation and only go so far. For all practical purposes the ‘House of God’ was still seen as ‘the church building’. And the Protestant Pastor was still seen as the office of someone who ‘oversees the church’. There really was no reformation of ‘church practices’ or the way ‘we do church’. Now, are all of these practices inherently wicked? No. Do they hinder growth and maturity among believers? To a degree, yes. Paul's words to Timothy on honoring Elders, giving them ‘double honor’. This speaks about actually sharing your material goods with those in the community who were dedicating themselves to learning and teaching this ‘new way’. All believers did not have access to scripture like we have today. The scrolls of the Old Testament and the letters of Paul were circulating, but some of the new believers couldn’t even read! So in these communities of people, which Paul describes as ‘The House of God’ you had ‘spiritual parents’. More mature Elders who had a stable grasp of doctrine. They would help keep the believers on course in a day where there was no internet, libraries [available to the general public at large] no radio or T.V. [this one could be a blessing!]. In essence these Elders, Bishops [overseers] were simple believers who were worthy of ‘double honor’ [feed them, help them out materially, they are meeting a real need and for all practical purposes they are needed!]. But as Constantine would ‘marry’ the Empire and institutionalize the church, the ‘double honor’ portions of scripture were used to justify a ‘tithe system’ that would support ‘the church’. Priests and Bishops took on a different meaning than the way Paul would use the term. The development of hired clergy and the overall institutionalizing of the church used common New Testament terms, but for the most part these terms were taken out of context. The Protestant Reformation dealt with important doctrinal issues, but this basic ‘way of seeing church’ did not change. While I haven’t read Franks book yet, I plan on reading it in the future. Understand I am not commenting on what frank Viola means when he says ‘Pagan Christianity’. I am simply sharing my thoughts on the development of Christianity.
(814) OUR WE A BUFFET OR A PARK? I guess we need to do some more on ‘the house church movement’. First, the New Testament addresses ‘the church’ as the corporate people of God. The great mystery is that Christ is dwelling in our hearts by faith. That all believers are walking around as ‘the mobile dwelling place of God, THE HOUSE OF GOD!’ Now, from this standpoint we live and function as the people of God. As we learn and grow we realize that ‘along the way’ we have grasped on to limited ideas about who we are and what the church is. Many of these concepts are shared by both Catholic and Protestant believers. Some who have been helpful in showing us the limited perspective of ‘church at/as the building’ as being silly, seem to have grasped on to the idea that ‘church at the house’ is the basic organic nature of ‘church’. I disagree. In society today you have all sorts of family units. Kids are being born and leaving home and going out into this ‘brave new world’ and imprinting their name on the world. All over the earth you have parents who are writing and keeping in touch with their offspring as they learn and grow as people. These kids are doing all sorts of things [shopping, eating, going to movies, going to the buffet on Sunday]. Now say if you as a parent changed the way you wrote your letters; ‘Dear Johnnie and family’ turned into ‘dear kids who meet and eat every Sunday at the buffet’. The kids would be wondering ‘what’s up with dad, why does he see us only thru the lens of us eating on Sunday’ [or whatever day you eat]. The basic mistake that dad is making is he is seeing one of the functions of his kids [meeting for the purpose of eating] and mistaking that function for ‘the kids’. That is he is beginning to identify his kids in a limited way by viewing them only thru this lens. Now say if dad does some research and finds out that the first century ‘kids’ were having their meals in the park. It was only as time progressed that they built ‘buffets’ and places to go on Sunday to eat. And as time progressed all the kids from future generations starting viewing themselves thru the lens of ‘we are families, we are people who eat at buffets on Sunday’. Now say if the researcher who has discovered that the early families really never ate at buffets [met in buildings!] begins to teach that ‘true family’ are those who meet at parks. The fundamental mistake, in my mind, would be defining ‘the people’ [church] as the kids who eat/meet at the park. While in reality, these first century ‘kids’ were defined as being ‘real kids, who were living and ‘eating’ and functioning as real people as a result of really being born by real parents’. That is the real definition of ‘being kids’ is neither ‘meeting at the 4th century church building’ [or calling the actual building ‘the kids’!] nor is it ‘meeting at the first century park’ [home meetings]. The researcher, as helpful as he has been in showing us the limited model of 4th century ‘buffet eating’ has also been limited in his replacing of ‘the church’ as building based versus home based. Would you address your kids as ‘buffet based’ or ‘park based’? That is would you define them by using the measuring rod of ‘where they met to eat’? Of course not! They are ‘kids’ [children of God] because they have been born into human [spiritual] families. Their fundamental nature as ‘children of humans’ [of God] is what makes them ‘kids’. So today I wanted to re focus our attention on what the ‘church’ actually is. The church are all the people of God [both those in buildings, parks and any where else they happen to be] who are alive because they have been actually born from God the father. Our identity is not based on 4th or 1st century ‘ways of meeting’. Our identity is based on being ‘born from above’.
(815) It seems as if every time I take an excursion from a ‘study’ I do 3 or so posts. So let’s see if I can close here. There are obviously major hurdles and feelings at stake when any body says ‘look, I have found some great stuff in the bible. Lots of it has to do with the fact that what you thought was ‘church’ is not ‘church’. What you thought was a fulltime position of ‘Pastor’ is no where in scripture. And what you have been doing for the past 20 years is off track’. Any job description [Prophet!] that carries this type of function is not going to be well received! [I am not talking about me]. So as we examine and learn about the church and the role of leadership, we must realize that feelings are going to get hurt ‘who does he think he is! Man that guy is threatening my livelihood!’ Well, yes it is possible that the fact that there were no 1st century ‘Pastors’ in the context of what that word means today, can be threatening. So do we never address the issue because it is threatening? But do we go around and teach all the believers that they should abandon all present structures? I appreciate all the good teachers I have learned from over the years. Real insights into things that I would have never seen without their help. Some of these teachers have been excellent on revealing the fact that the 1st century church did not have the office of Pastor as the weekly speaker to the ‘local church’. This was not the normal way believers met. The 1st century gatherings were corporate ‘body life’ experiences. People learn and grow in a conversation with others. They stagnate by sitting in an audience [both the pastors and the spectators]. Now, some have argued that Elders, Pastors and Overseers in general had a very limited, if not non existent, role in the first century churches. This can be debated somewhat. I don’t want to argue the point, but simply say that there is enough evidence in scripture to believe that Elders [basic oversight] existed as a regular part of the communities of Jesus in the first century. These leaders were simply more mature men who gave direction and oversight to the flock as God ordained. They were not ‘Pastors’ in the sense of today’s Pastoral office. But they did exist in scripture. So in all of the well meaning efforts of returning back to a more biblical form of church life, I think we need to leave room for leadership to exist and function to some degree. Some of the brothers seem to have gone a little too ideological in the area of ‘no human headship’. They teach that the 1st century churches declared the headship of Jesus by having no human ‘control’ at all in the meetings [communities]. I kind of see their effort as noble, but a little too impractical. Some of this teaching goes along the line of ‘the biggest hindrance to the Body of Christ are the Pastors/Elders’. While I do see a negative result from believers overly depending on the present pastoral office. Yet I do not see a type of New Testament ecclesiology that was absent all human leadership. Leadership is there, it is plural [obey THEM that have the ‘rule’ over you- by the way ‘rule’ here is different than ‘rule’ when referring to human govt. and kings. Jesus did teach that Kingdom leadership would be thru care and oversight] and it is communal. It exercises itself thru leaders [Apostles, Prophets, Elders, etc.] as they live together as a community of people. So the basic reason I am bringing this up is I feel some have drawn a little too idealistic picture of ‘the local meetings’ in the first century. Sort of like the meetings were very spiritual because of a total lack of oversight. I don’t see this description at all. I see Paul writing the Corinthians and rebuking them strongly for having terrible meetings! Now his solution isn’t ‘have everyone one shut up and listen to the Pastor’ [there was no ‘Pastor’!] but there certainly wasn’t some type of purposeful ‘leaderless’ church that had no recognized leaders. To the contrary Paul will give specific instructions in his pastoral epistles [Timothy, Titus] to make sure the local saints knew who were recognized Elders. Paul was not afraid of saying ‘these guys are leaders, if you have problems and situations that arise in my absence, don’t be afraid to go to them. They are stable in the faith’. So while it is true that the first century churches did not have the office of Pastor as we have come to define it today. Yet they weren’t a bunch of ‘leaderless’ people. Elders existed and Paul seemed to have no problem with everyone knowing who the Elders were.
(816) Okay, I lied! Just to clarify, these last few entries are dealing with years of studying and dealing with ‘organic church’. Many fine authors; Austin Sparks, Gene Edwards, Watchman Nee, Robert Banks, etc. There are varying themes and ideas that arose out of the ‘Rethinking the Wineskin’ mentality. One of the other areas of concern has to do with the understanding of ‘Apostles’ [itinerant workers] as it relates to the ‘Ecclesia’. I am grateful over the amount of believers in general who have recently come to grips with the fact that Apostles do exist today according to the plain reading of the New Testament. The ‘older idea’ of dividing up the portions of scripture that say ‘after Jesus ascended he gave gifts to men, Apostles, Prophets, etc.’ it is fairly obvious that these ‘Apostles’ were made after Christ’s ascension [Ephesians] and that they exist alongside the other gifts. Now, with all the recent dialogue on Apostles and ‘church planting’, do you know how many times the command is given in the New Testament to ‘start churches’? Zero! That’s right, no where in the New Testament are we [or Apostles] commanded to ‘go and plant a church’ Huh? All Christians [Apostles too!] are commanded to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. It is obvious that in the New Testament the Apostles did have a strong gifting to present the gospel and the gospel taking root in the people [which is what ‘church planting’ is!] But there is no reason to believe that as we challenge the idea of ‘hired clergy’ and the average believer’s dependence on them, that at the same time we should teach a concept that says ‘it is impossible to have a true ecclesia without the extra local worker’. This has been taught many times over the years as I have studied this movement. I feel the mistake is in seeing the power of ‘church planting’ residing in a specific role, and ONLY that role, while at the same time trying to free Gods people from the un biblical role of ‘full time Pastor’. As far as I can tell the church at Rome was ‘started’ by the Diaspora who were scattered sometime after Pentecost. Paul wrote them a letter [Romans] but did not arrive there until later. The point I want to make is this, as we challenge the present ideas and limitations that the ‘institutional church’ has put on the people of God, we don’t want to make the mistake of telling them that ‘the Apostle’ is now the ‘office’ that is indispensable to your healthy existence! The power of the gospel is what makes ‘healthy churches’ [communities]. Sure Apostles are important, but it is the power of the Spirit in the work of regeneration that ‘plants churches’. Now, someone does have to get the message to them! But whether that’s an Evangelist, Prophet or little old grandma! Once the gospel is proclaimed to a group of people, all the essential elements of life are present.
(817) ARE CHURCH BUILDINGS, PAID LEADERS AND PUBLIC SCRIPTURE READING PAGAN PRACTICES? There are a few reasons why I avoid ‘going too deep’ on this site. The obvious one being I can’t do it very well! Plus it has its ups and downs. I turned 46 the other day. I like taking the kids to the beach and all, growing up in Jersey it was cool to ‘show off’ and ‘go deep’. I have this inner temptation to ‘go deep’ in the Gulf. But there is also a restraining factor; It works like this- I can risk looking cool at the age of 46 and swim out real far, it might be over my head, but heck the kids will think ‘wow, he is really deep’! Then this nagging fear pops up in my mind. I see my self being pulled to shore by some 18 year old lifeguard. I am strung out on the beach with a group of spring breakers hovering over me with Budweiser cans. The local news channel has their cameras in my face as the lifeguard explains how they ‘brought me back with C.P.R.’ and the college kids are saying ‘are you all right old man’? As you can see ‘going deep’ has its risks! Now, what does the bible teach about ‘church [sacred] buildings’ ‘paid clergy [leaders]’ ‘the public reading of scripture’ ‘meeting on Sunday’ and all the other practices associated with ‘the institutional church’? Well actually these things are not as ‘Pagan’ as you might think! In fact the public reading of scripture is commanded in scripture. The ‘paying money’ to Elders is taught. Christians meeting in ‘sacred buildings’ actually did happen to a degree in scripture! Both the Temple and the Synagogue continued to be places where early Jewish [and some Gentile- ‘God- fearers’] believers ‘met’. The point is these actual practices are not necessarily ‘Pagan in origin’. Am I defending the later development of ‘the church being the church building’ along with the clergy system and all that it entails? No. I believe Christians have been confused on what the ‘church is’ and how we as the people of God should function in society. But I also believe that a strong case could be made that the present ‘ideas’ about church that are unbiblical could be traced to ‘Judaism’ instead of ‘Paganism’. The development of the church [sacred] building along with the Altar and officiating Priest can be seen as Legalistic [law mentality] as opposed to Pagan. Now I see both of these developments as bad, but the basic idea of believers having recognized leaders [Elders] who are supported financially [free will –no tithe or ‘salary’] is in scripture. The fact that Paul rented a building in the book of Acts [hall of Tyrannus- Acts 19:9] to teach in a public forum is not pagan! The whole point being we as the Ecclesia are the actual dwelling place of God. As we learn and grow as believers we have tremendous freedom to have public places dedicated to God, scenarios where leaders speak to us in a public forum. Actual ways of supporting leaders who are dedicating their time to teaching and preaching. These things are permitted and at times commanded in scripture! Where we need to re examine our beliefs is when we see the ‘church building’ and the ‘Sunday message’ and all of the things associated with ‘Sunday church’ as actually being ‘the local church’. It is the limited mindset that hinders us. Now, to simply replace the ‘Sunday church building mindset’ with ‘the house church mindset’ doesn’t necessarily fix the problem. Some teach the idea that the ‘natural habitat’ of the believer is the ‘open meeting’. That when you remove the believer from the open meeting format, that in essence you have taken him out of his natural setting and therefore he cant develop right. If you read the teachings of Jesus on how the believer is to ‘act’ and function in society. If you follow the ministry of Jesus and imitate as much as possible his life and precepts. If you do the things Jesus said to do, then you are ‘living in the designed natural habitat’ of the believer! The idea that the ‘open house meeting’ versus the ‘Sunday public meeting’ is the answer for the modern believer is very limited. The problem with most of us is not how or where we are meeting, it is our natural instinct to not want to carry our cross. To live an unselfish life. To give ourselves away for a higher purpose. The main body of the New Testament has very little to say about ‘how to meet’. Sure we have a few well-known scriptures that we are all familiar with ‘forsake not the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some’ [Hebrews]. In context this is speaking of the ‘open meeting’ idea. It speaks of exhorting one another. More like Paul’s instruction to the Corinthians. But the point I want to make [without the risk of getting pulled to shore!] is that the answer to the present day dilemma of ‘non functioning’ believers is not going to be found in changing the way we meet. Our natural habitat is not sitting in someone’s living room! It is going into all the world and preaching the gospel to every creature. It is being an example of living a sacrificial life as much as possible. Trying to follow the admonition of James on pure religion ‘to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction and keeping yourself unspotted from the world’ [not how you meet!]. In a nutshell the problem is most of us are falling short in actually living the life! So I don’t want to contradict all the writings that I have done on this site about the need to change our mindset on ‘what is Local church’. But I feel some have tried to replace the way believers meet, thinking that this in itself is the main problem with modern Christianity. I see it a little differently.
(818) The recent discussion over ‘pagan church practices’ and the organic versus the ‘church building’ model have been good. It might have surprised some of you to see me ‘defend’ to a degree the ‘church building’- let me explain. Some teach a type of ecclesiology [church govt.] that says ‘you have the institutional church’ [church building, denominational, organized] and the ‘organic’ church. The distinction they seem to be making is ‘although there are Christians in the institutional model, the ‘out of church’ brothers are really the ‘truest form of church’. Sort of like trying to trace ‘your roots’ thru out church history. I covered this concept in the study we did on the book of Acts [read the intro and conclusion]. The problem I have with this is it seems to trace the ‘truer church’ as to a specific historical group of believers, who thru out the centuries resisted the ‘intuitional church’ and these ‘out of church’ believers have really carried the torch for the Gospel. I see this idea fundamentally flawed. It seems to not take into account that many of these groups were outright heretics! It also seems to miss the fact that many believers who were in the ‘organized church’ were actually part of the ‘organic church’ in the sense that they were a living, breathing functioning part of Christ’s church! So you might very well have had a true believer in the ‘organized church’ and an unbeliever in the ‘unorganized church’! That is you really can’t trace ‘the true church’ along these lines. Now, I believe there is a fundamental fault line that does run thru the collective mind of many Christians. Too many of us seem to not make the functional distinction between ‘Ecclesia’ versus ‘church’. We do need to be challenged in the way we read the New Testament and apply current miss-concepts of ‘the local church’ to the text. It is a fact that as far as we [we being those who try their best at studying the history of the 1st century church] can tell, the idea of the modern Pastoral office, along with the strong ‘go to church’ idea was absent in the 1st century church. Some scholars have made a noble effort to present the other side [institutional] but the weight of historical evidence falls on the ‘organic church’ model. As we struggle to become ‘the church’ in a more biblical way in the 21st century, we need to be careful that we don’t give Christians the idea that all ‘church building’ churches are outright pagan! The fact that many true believers worship according to this model shows us that the ‘organic Body of Christ’ is truly being represented in them. I thank God for all the recent discussion over these issues. It was a much needed ongoing conversation. We need to have this conversation with much grace!
(819) THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS- Let’s try to get a few more parables in before we start the book of Romans. In Luke 16 we have the Rich Man and Lazarus. First, some say this is not a parable, but a true story. Why? Well in all the parables Jesus never uses proper names, here he uses the name ‘Lazarus’ so this cant be a parable! Let’s see, if this is a parable [which I believe it is] then Jesus does use proper names in parables! I realize that many well meaning believers hear things thru out their lives, we all want to do our best in life. We grasp on to certain things out of good intentions, it’s just we need to allow our minds to be ‘molded’ by Gods Word. Now Jesus says there was a rich man who had it made, he ‘fared sumptuously every day’ [he had more than enough all the time!] and a poor man at his gate [border]. The poor man begged for help and was desperate. The rich man, by law, had no responsibility to help. He didn’t! The poor man dies and goes to ‘Abrahams Bosom’ [I really don’t want to do the whole thing to be honest. I believe this is simply a figure of speech. He is in ‘Paradise- Heaven’ I know some have really built some doctrines from this parable]. The rich man dies and ends up in Hell. The rich man asks Father Abraham if he can send Lazarus to give him some water. Abraham replies he can’t, there is an impassible gulf between them. Plus the rich man was rewarded in life and now he is suffering. Lazarus suffered in life and is now rewarded. The rich man asks ‘well, at least send Lazarus back [raise him! –note, I do find it interesting that Jesus is the one ‘making up the names’ in this story. He picks the name ‘Lazarus’ a real name of one of his friends, Mary and Martha’s brother. Jesus also chooses to speak about him being ‘sent back’ [raised from the dead] in this story. Of course Jesus actually does raise Lazarus from the dead, and some Jews- i.e.; the rich mans ‘5 brothers’ still don’t believe!]. Jesus says let the 5 brothers hear Moses and the Prophets [the law for Jews, Jesus showed here that eternal judgment was a foundation of the Old Testament law -Hebrews 6]. The rich man says ‘no, they will believe if one comes back from the dead’. Jesus says ‘if they don’t believe the testimony from scripture, they will not believe even if one comes back from the dead’! This could be one of the most prophetic statements Jesus ever made in a parable. This chapter [Luke 16] also has Jesus famous saying ‘you cannot serve God and Money’ and right after he says it the next verse says the Pharisees, who were covetous, heard him. Jesus once again is dealing with the responsibility that ‘wealthy people, nations’ have towards ‘poor neighbors’ [at your gate- border]. This was one of the fundamental violations of the religious development of Judaism. The Pharisees loved the technicality of scripture and religion, but they found ways to justify not ‘caring for their neighbors’ [or families- Corban!]. This parable warns the rich not to allow himself to become arrogant and uncompassionate. Even though Lazarus [Mexico- illegal aliens] did not have the legal right or power to get the food from the rich man, yet this did not excuse the rich man from the fundamental ‘take care of your neighbor’ ethos. He should have still treated his neighbor with respect and compassion. Though legally it was not required, yet ethically it was. And Jesus once again portrays material wealth in a negative light. Now, I didn’t say he condemned the rich man because he was rich! But he was held to a higher standard because ‘to whom much is given, much is required’. Paul and James will use this same mindset in their letters [Timothy and James]. They will warn the rich to not be ‘high minded’ but to be willing to ‘communicate’ [distribute what they have] to help others. You never see a teaching from the Apostles that says ‘seek to become wealthy so you can use your wealth to advance the Kingdom’. Sorry, it just isn’t there! The principle of God using wealth is found in scripture ‘The Lord gives you the power to get wealth so he can establish his covenant in the earth’ [Deuteronomy]. In context God is speaking to Israel as a nation and is telling them he is going to economically bless them for his purposes. But Paul will actually teach that ‘they that desire to become rich will fall into a snare’ 1st Timothy 6. The point is Jesus often used wealth in a negative way in his parables. His teachings affected the writings of the Apostles. They never praised wealth! [Also the earliest ‘Apostolic’ writings apart from scripture are called the Didache, if you want a real negative view of ‘filthy lucre’ read this!]
(820) ROMANS 1: 1-16 many believe this letter to be Paul's best, I wouldn’t disagree. The letters of the New Testament do not appear in chronological order, some feel this to be a huge obstacle in understanding scripture. I think it helps to know the times when Paul wrote the letters, but this in itself doesn’t prevent us from learning scripture. Romans is addressed to the church at Rome and is significant in that Paul did not ‘plant this church’. Unlike the other letters of Paul, he is writing to the believers with whom he had no strong prior relationship. He roots his gospel in the historical facts of history and scripture. ‘The gospel of God that the prophets foretold- Jesus of the seed of David who was proved to be the Son of God by the resurrection’. Make no bones about it, Paul is coming down strong on the gospel of Jesus Christ and he positions himself well right at the start. There were ‘other gospels’ [Galatians] that were circulating and at times might have even outnumbered Paul's message! The Jewish sect from Jerusalem who embraced both Jesus and the law were very influential in Paul’s day. When Paul combats a legalistic gospel, at times he is running ‘neck and neck’ with the Judaizers. Paul will make a foundational statement that will run true thru out the rest of the New Testament. ‘I am not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ, it is the power of God unto Salvation to everyone who believes. For in it is the righteousness of God revealed’. Now, I have hit on this theme before, but it is so fundamental to the rest of this study that we need to spend some time with it. I always wondered why so many Evangelicals, and scholars, could not ‘rightly divide’ this biblical doctrine. I am speaking of ‘Righteousness by faith’ as being the root of all other ‘Salvation’. What I mean is many have confused the doctrine of ‘the salvation of the righteous’ with the salvation of the sinner. The reason why the gospel is one of salvation, is because this is the tool that God has ordained to administer ‘righteousness- justification’ to the believer. When God ‘saves- delivers’ a sinner from an ‘unjust state of being’ this act can be called ‘being saved’ [Ephesians 2]. Also thru out the scriptures you have people who are ‘just- righteous’ who experience ‘continual salvation’ because of the fact that they are righteous. This doctrine can be called ‘the salvation of the righteous’. David in Psalms says ‘the righteous cry and the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles’ ‘The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord’. Peter speaks of God delivering the ‘just- righteous’ from wrath. Both Lot and Noah are said to have been ‘saved’ because they were righteous. The whole point here is as we progress thru Romans Paul will use the term ‘salvation’ and ‘righteousness’. Whenever [chapter 10] you have a combining of the righteous [believers] calling, crying out to God for ‘salvation’ it needs to be understood that this does not mean ‘salvation’ in the sense of the initial act of justification. While the two are closely related, the testimony from scripture does make a distinction. So Paul shows us that the reason the gospel is Gods power ‘unto salvation’ is because this is the way God chose to ‘make people just’. Paul will spend a few chapters [3 and 4] laying the foundation of righteousness by faith. But first he will argue his case for why all men need to have this righteousness. [ see entry # 704 for more comments on ‘the salvation of the righteous’]
(821) ROMANS 1:17-21 ‘for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness’. Now, we have already established the ‘mode’ by which the gospel ‘saves’ us. Once we believe in the gospel, it immediately, and progressively ‘saves’ us. The immediate act of justification can be described as ‘getting saved’. But there is also a large amount of scripture that speaks of ‘continual and future salvation’. Now Paul begins showing us how this salvation works. He says ‘the wrath of God is revealed against unrighteousness’ the previous verses showed how the believer is made righteous. So we are ‘delivered from the wrath to come’ [Thessalonians] ‘saved by wrath thru his life’ [Romans 5:9] ‘he will appear from heaven the second time to bring salvation to those who look for him’ [Hebrews] and many other verses testify of this theme. Paul is showing us one aspect of this ‘ongoing, future’ salvation by saying ‘see, since Gods wrath is promised to come upon the unrighteous, once you believe with the heart unto righteousness, you then become someone who is off the radar screen from wrath’ [John 3- the wrath of God abides on the unbeliever, but the believer is in a state of ‘no condemnation’]. This understanding will be important as we get to the later chapters in Romans. Now I also want to share a somewhat ‘unique’ interpretation of the following verses ‘that which may be known of God is manifest IN THEM [some say ‘to them]; for God hath showed it unto them [not necessarily meaning ‘showed it to them from created things’!] For the invisible things of him [his attributes! Invisible stuff] from the creation of the world [since the beginning of time, that is since God created all things he has imbedded a witness of himself into all creation; ‘all creation groans and travails’ Paul will attribute ‘human like’ characteristics to all creation. In essence all creation has this testimony and yearning for God in it] are clearly seen [not with the natural eye, but thru this ‘imbedded testimony of Gods attributes that he has placed in all creation’] being understood by the things that are made [not understood by ‘looking at the things that are made’; creation. But actually being understood ‘by them’] so that they are without excuse’. The normal way of seeing these verses says ‘God has left a witness of himself thru his creation. All people are without excuse because they can see his creation and know he is’. Now, is this concept true? Of course! David says ‘the heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament SHOWETH his handiwork’. The only problem is ‘all men can’t see!’ I don’t mean to be trivial here; I want to show you that if you read this passage like I just taught it, that it basically is saying ‘since the beginning of Gods creation he has left man without excuse. He has always revealed his inner attributes to man. The witness of moral law and conscience is imbedded in the creation. All men ‘hold’ [possess] the ‘truth’ [this inner moral witness] in unrighteousness, therefore they are without excuse’. I don’t want to be a contrarian simply for the sake of being one. But if you see what I just told you, this fits in with Paul’s understanding of salvation. God’s wrath is revealed against all unrighteousness, yet those who say ‘that’s not fair, God made us this way!’ have no excuse, because God gave all men [and creation] an inner witness that they could have acted on- ‘when they knew God, they glorified him not as God but became vain in their imaginations’. All men have at one time ‘known God’ even those who have never seen Gods testimony from creation! Therefore they are without excuse.
(822) ROMANS 1:21-32 the scripture says that all creation ‘knew God’. The indictment is ‘there is no excuse’. The previous verses proved that God not only made man, but that because man was made in Gods image, he therefore had an ‘inner imprint’ of his maker inside him. Now man chose to ‘change the image of God into that of animals’. Man could not escape this inert desire to worship, this thing in him that said ‘there’s more to life than simple flesh’. So he didn’t just become an atheist [though that’s what they would have you believe] but they became ‘changers of Gods image’. They came up with an alternative ‘religion’. Scripture says they changed God's image into that of an animal [idolatry] and worshipped and served the creature more than the creator. Evolution was Darwin’s feeble attempt at ‘changing the image of God into that of animals’. How so? Modern man was too enlightened [after all we had the enlightenment!] to actually go out and make an image of an animal and bow to it. Instead he bought into the idea that he evolved from animals. Scripture says we are made in Gods image, evolution says ‘we are made in the image of an animal’. Men did not ‘like to retain God in their knowledge’. They had to have some controlling worldview, they came up with one. Now Romans says God gave them up to become like that which they chose to worship. Man was designed to worship God, in seeking and going after God they would become more like him. When man chooses to empty his mind from the creator, God allows him to fill it with what he wants. He receives a ‘reprobate mind’. He fixates on the animal instincts that are a natural result of ‘worshipping four footed beasts’. Now man has no choice but to be formed into the thing that he worships. Paul is here telling us that man became immoral as a result of his own choice to eradicate God from his thoughts. Man received the just recompense of his choice. At the end of the chapter Paul closes with ‘they know that those who do these things are worthy of death’. Once again the idea of judgment ‘the wrath of God is revealed from heaven’. Paul’s summary; Man is unrighteous. God is righteous in punishing man. Man chose to become like this. The only way to escape an inevitable meeting with wrath is to ‘become righteous’. This is accomplished thru believing the gospel. When you believe you become righteous and are no longer on Gods radar screen for judgment.
(823) ROMANS 2:1-13 ‘Therefore thou art inexcusable, o man, whosoever thou art that judgest’. Now, this chapter will run with the theme ‘who do you think you are to judge, you do the things that you say are wrong’. Yikes, this type of preaching convicts us all. But we need to understand that Paul is saying a little more [well, a lot more!] than this. Here’s where we need to do some history. This letter is addressed to believers in Rome, those ‘called to be saints’. Paul is also giving one of his strongest defenses of his theology, he realizes that a large Jewish population are also at Rome [Acts 28]. By the time of this letter the lines are being drawn between ‘Paul’s gospel’ [the true gospel] and the ‘Jewish law gospel’ coming from the Judaizers out of Jerusalem. The main fight is over whether or not Gentile believers need to be circumcised and come under the law in order to ‘be saved’ [Acts 15]. Now the mentality of the Jewish mind was ‘we have been given Gods precepts [true] and because we are the inheritors of the law and moral standards of God, this puts us in a better class than the Gentiles’ [false]. In essence the law was supposed to reveal mans sin to himself, it was to show us our need for a Savior. But in the legalistic mind it created enmity between Jew and Gentile. This is what it means when Paul writes the Ephesian letter and says ‘the middle wall of partition has been removed in Christ’ this ‘middle wall’ is referring to the law and how it divided Jew and Gentile. So here Paul is saying ‘you Jews who are trusting in the fact that you were the recipients of the law, who use the law as a measuring rod to justify yourselves. This measuring rod was actually given to show you your sin. Did it never occur to you that the very fact that the ‘rod’ says “don’t commit adultery, don’t steal” that these things are actually sins that you yourselves do [the legalistic Jews]. And yet the very rule [law] of God that you are using to justify yourselves, this law you actually break!’ Now you are beginning to see the context. And not only were they breaking the law, but at the same time they were saying to Paul's Gentile churches ‘unless you get circumcised, you are not accepted with God’. The Gentile believers were actually born of God and stopped doing the things that the law commanded them not to do. They were ‘fulfilling the law by nature’. So Paul is really rebuking this hypocritical mindset that said to the Gentile believers that they weren’t saved. And at the same time the ‘judgers of the law’ were actually breaking the law, while the Gentle converts were keeping it by nature! In this context verse one means a lot. Now to an important verse ‘for not the hearers of the law are just before God, BUT THE DOERS OF THE LAW SHALL BE JUSTIFIED’. Just the fact that this statement is made by Paul in this letter is amazing. Paul will spend lots of time in this letter saying ‘those who try and become justified by keeping the law are missing it’. He will go over and over again stating that trying to become righteous by works and law keeping are futile. Yet here he says ‘the doers of the law SHALL BE JUSTIFIED, not the hearers’. Keep in context what I just showed in the beginning of the chapter. The New Testament has a theme that I have hit on before [read the Hebrews 11 commentary on this site]. The theme is ‘men are justified’ [declared legally righteous] by faith. This faith also ‘sanctifies’ [which can also be called ‘justified’ a sort of progressive justification. James uses this in his letter. Paul says in Galatians ‘having begun in the Spirit [legal justification] are you now made perfect by the flesh’ [law keeping]. Now the New Testament teaches that God wants people to actually ‘be righteous’. Johns 1st epistle uses this as the marker of whether or not you are a child of God ‘by this we know… those that do what is righteous are born of God, those that do evil are not’. In Jesus judgment scenarios ‘those that have DONE good are raised to life, those that have done evil to damnation’. So Paul in essence is saying ‘God ‘justifies’ [using the term in a ongoing- futuristic sense] the righteous, not the ones who only hear the law [the Jewish legalists] but those who by nature do it’ [Paul’s gentile converts]. Got it? This distinction is very important. One of the historic reasons why the Protestant and Catholic churches are divided is over this issue. The Catholic Pope [Leo] who initially condemned Luther did so on grounds like this. The Pope who succeeded Leo re-read all of Luther’s documents, in an honest effort to bridge the schism, and came to the same conclusion. Now I like Luther and side with him more so than the Pope, but one of the problems was some of Luther’s writings seemed to say ‘Justification is solely by faith [true] therefore sin hardily’ [false]. Now Luther didn’t intend to come off this way, but that’s the way it sounded. So the Catholic doctrine fell more on the side of ‘Gods grace makes you righteous, God cant declare people actually righteous until they actually are righteous’ this is called the ‘Legal fiction’ argument. They said Luther’s idea was a ‘legal fiction’. In essence some of what the Catholic scholars were saying was correct. Now God does declare us righteous at the moment of belief, before we actually ‘become totally righteous in practice’. But the error of the Catholic argument saying ‘God cant declare you righteous until you are’ was missing the point. When God says ‘you are righteous’ then you are! God doesn’t lie. But I understand the Catholic point. I think Paul understood it too. In this chapter Paul says ‘not the hearers of the law, but the doers shall be justified’.
(824) ROMANS 2:14- 3:18- Paul says ‘you are called a Jew and are confident that you are a teacher and an instructor of the law’. Read my Hebrews commentary, chapters 5 and 6. It is interesting that Paul understood the teaching role that the Jewish nation was to play among the Gentile nations. In Jesus parables he also hits on these themes. Hebrews says ‘when the time has come [the appointed time of Messiah- Galatians 4] that you ought to be teachers, you have need to be taught the first principles again’. Here Paul tells them they are proud to be the ‘possessors’ of the Old Testament, yet thru their disobedience to it the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles [ouch!] Paul fully acknowledges the privileged role that Israel had, he himself was brought up with this ‘elitist/intellectual’ mindset. But here Paul rebukes them for not fully living up to the law. ‘Well brother, how could they live up to it? Paul himself says that this is impossible.’ If they carried thru with the receiving of Messiah, which their law spoke and testified of, then truly they would have been fulfilling the law as new creatures in Christ. In essence their indictment is ‘you never fully followed thru with your own law’! Now Paul will flatly say that circumcision and being the guardians of the law profit nothing. That the ‘circumcision of the heart’ is what matters. He says if the gentiles, who have no historical attachment to the law, if they do by nature the things in the law then they are ‘spiritually circumcised’ [set apart unto God]. But if the circumcised do not obey the law and character of God [thru the new birth] then it profits nothing. I want to note the strong disconnect between the way Paul speaks about natural Israel and her heritage, and how some in the American church present her. Paul, who himself is a Jew, makes it very clear that Israel is in a state of ‘danger’ by not receiving Messiah. Though he will admit their special place and role in history, yet he refuses to exalt her in her natural ‘state’ [of being]. Now Israel’s response to Paul [which by the way Paul interjects himself. I want to make a note here. Paul will give ‘both sides’ of the argument in his letters. He will say things like ‘and you will say to me such and such’. He actually try’s to add both sides of the conversation in his letters. Recently there has been some discussion on whether or not we can really understand the New Testament without fully knowing all the background and history of the letters. Some have said just knowing the letters are like hearing only one side of a phone conversation. To be honest this isn’t really true. The writers of the letters and the gospels lived in an ‘oral culture’. This is why Paul himself gives instructions on his letters being read- as opposed to saying ‘pass the letters around for everyone to personally read’. The point is we can understand a whole bunch of scripture just by reading it!] Now Israel asks ‘what good is the whole thing, why even have Jews or circumcision or any history with God at all’? Paul realizes that his whole argument for law and circumcision meaning nothing without a changed heart, that some would respond back like this. He in turn says ‘the law and all the history of Israel with God were very important! It was Gods way of getting his prophetic word [oracles] to man’. In essence God chose to ‘start a conversation’ with Abraham and extend it forward to his children. Over a long history of God interacting with Israel, God would speak thru prophets and ‘wise men’ and these prophetic words were being recorded [meticulously by the way!]. God would reveal himself and his purpose of Messiah thru these writings that came from this relationship [though rocky!] that he had with Israel. Now Paul will say ‘does their unbelief negate Gods promise’? No! Let God be true and every man be a liar. The fact that Israel as a nation were ‘not believing’ in their Messiah, didn’t effect the actual power of the Messiah to be believed on among the Gentile nations. A couple of things here; dispensational theology teaches that the Kingdom of God has been postponed until Christ’s return. I think this contradicts Paul's argument. Paul said Israel’s unbelief could not negate the full purpose of God. The fact that Jesus rose from the dead and is presently seated at God’s right hand proves this. Also Paul will teach later in this letter that the actual reason why salvation has gone out to the gentiles is because Israel rejected Messiah. In essence Israel’s unbelief could not negate what God purposed to do all along.
(825) ROMANS 3:19-31 ‘Now we know that what things the law says, it says to those who are under the law… that every mouth may be stopped and all the world becomes guilty before God’. One of the questions that arise as a response to Paul’s gospel is ‘if the law cannot make us righteous, then why even have it’? Paul will consistently teach the concept that Gods intention for the law was simply to reveal mans sin to him. Man would have this ‘form’ of the law written on stone tablets and as he tried to live up to God’s standards he would come to the proper diagnosis that all men are sinners. This diagnosis would then lead him to a place of faith in Jesus. After he believes in Jesus he then fulfills the law naturally, out of having a new nature ‘yea, we establish the law’ [3:31]. I have found it interesting over the years to teach people this. To explain to sincere people, church goers. To say ‘did you know the bible says that no man can be saved by trying to obey Gods Ten Commandments’? I will always explain that this doesn't mean that God wants us to break them! But when we come to the Cross we by nature keep them. These verses lay down the foundation of ‘justification by faith’. He that believes is righteous. To declare Jesus righteousness for the remission of sins that are past. Having faith ‘in His Blood’. Both Jews and Gentiles need to be made righteous thru faith/belief in Jesus. I want to establish this fact in your mind. Paul without a doubt describes this experience as being ‘justified by faith’. This is the same as saying ‘believing with the heart unto righteousness’. Later on [chapter 10] this needs to be understood when parsing the verses that say ‘with the heart a man believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation’ many are confused about this, to get it right you need to see that Paul spends much time early on establishing the fact that ‘those who believe unto righteousness’ are justified by faith already!
(826) ROMANS 4: 1-12 Now, Paul will use one of his most frequent arguments to prove that all men, both Jews and Gentiles, need to be justified by faith and not ‘by works’. The most famous singular figure that natural Israel looked to as the ‘identifier’ of them being a special people was ‘Father Abraham’. Paul does a masterful job at showing how Abraham was indeed justified by faith and not by works. The ‘work’ of circumcision came before the law. It would later become synonymous with law keeping [Ten Commandments] and Paul can certainly use it here as implying ‘the whole law’. But to be accurate this work of circumcision was a national identifying factor that Israel looked to as saying ‘we are better than you [Gentiles]’. Paul is showing Israel that God in fact ‘made Abraham righteous’ before he circumcised him! [Gen. 15] And the sign of this righteousness was circumcision. This meaning that Abrahams faith in Gods promise [a purely ‘passive’ act! This is very important to see. Later on as we deal with the famous ‘conversion texts’ we need to keep this in mind] justified him without respect to the law. God simply took Abraham outside and said ‘look at the stars, your children will be this abundant’ and Abraham simply believed this promise to be true. Much like the passive belief of Cornelius house at their conversion [Acts 10]. The simple belief in the promise of Jesus justifies the sinner! Now this fact of Abraham believing and being made righteous, before being circumcised, is proof [according to Paul] that Abraham is the father of ‘many nations’ not just natural Israel. All ethnic groups who HAVE THE SAME FAITH AS ABRAHAM are qualified to be ‘sons of Abraham/ heirs of God’. The fact that Abraham carried this justification along with him as he became circumcised, shows that all Jewish people as well can partake of this ‘righteousness by faith’ if they have the same faith as Abraham had. Jesus did say ‘Abraham rejoiced to see my day’[ John’s gospel]. In Gods promise to Abraham of a future dynasty of children, this included the promised Messiah. So indirectly Abraham’s belief in the promise of being the father of ‘many nations’ included belief in the coming Messiah. So according to Paul, all ethnic groups who have faith in Jesus are justified/made righteous. The very example Israel used to justify ‘ethnic/national pride’ [Father Abraham] was taught in a way that showed the truth of the gospel and how God is no respecter of persons.
(827) ROMANS 4:13-14 ‘Now the promise that Abraham would become the inheritor of the world was not going to be fulfilled thru the law [natural Israel] but thru faith [all who believe, both Jew and Gentile]’. I have spoken on this before [see note at bottom] and will hit on it a little now. The historic church can be defined for the most part as ‘a-millennial’, that is they interpreted the parables on the Kingdom of God and the promise of ‘inheriting the world [which includes the Promised Land]’ as being fulfilled thru the church. That Jesus established Gods kingdom and the church basically fulfills these promises by expanding Christ’s ‘rule’ thru the earth. Some historians saw the 4th century ‘marriage’ of Rome and Christianity as a fulfillment of this. During the 19th and 20th century you had the rise of Dispensationalism, a ‘new/different’ way of interpreting these land promises. Many good men showed the reality of Christ’s literal coming and pointed to a future time where Jesus literally sits on a throne in Jerusalem and rules all nations. These brothers are called ‘Pre-millennial’, they believe that Jesus comes back first [pre] and then establishes his ‘millennial rule’ on earth. The Premillennialists would see the Amillennialists as ‘replacement theologians’. They said that these brothers were taking the actual promises that God made to Israel and ‘replacing’ Israel with the church. In essence they accused the Amillennialists of spiritualizing the promises to Israel and saying the church would be the recipients of the promises. Now, both sides have truth to them, I personally believe the Amillennialists have a lot more truth! But I do see some of the good points that the Premillenialists made. I want you to simply read these verses [Romans 4:13-14, Galatians 3:18] and see for yourself how Paul does teach the reality that the promises to Abraham are to be fulfilled thru the church [spiritual Israel]. This does not mean that there is no future physical return of Jesus. But the body of scripture leans heavily on the Amillinnialists side. [see entry 703] NOTE- To be fair, some historic thinkers held to the Premillennial position. The majority were Amillennial.
(828) ROMANS 4:15-25 ‘For the law worketh wrath, for where there is no law there is no transgression’. I simply want to touch on the concept of ‘wrath’ being a very real part of judgment. One of the ways the gospel ‘saves us’ is by promising a future [and present!] deliverance from wrath. While death ‘reigned’ before the law was given, it wasn’t until the law where you had a clear picture of transgression and atonement. We will deal with this later in Romans. Now Paul once again hits on the theme of Abraham being the ‘spiritual father’ of many nations [all who believe] and how the promises of God to Abraham were to be fulfilled thru this ‘new race of people’ [the church]. Paul is careful to not demean Israel; he couches his terms in a way that says ‘God will fulfill these things thru the circumcision who believes [Jews] and the un-circumcision who believe’ [Gentiles]. I want to stress the very plain language Paul uses to show us that we should not be seeing Gods ‘covenant promises’ thru a natural lens. Christians need to be careful when they support [exalt!] natural Israel in a way that the New Testament doesn’t do. ‘To the end that the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is the faith of Abraham’. Now Paul tells us that when God made promises to Abraham that Abraham believed against hope. When all things looked really bad, he still believed. When he was 100 years old and Sarah around 90, he held to the promise [read my commentaries on Genesis 15-18 and Hebrews 11] and therefore God imputed righteousness to him. How closely are you paying attention to Paul’s free use of Abraham and Genesis? If you carefully read this chapter you see Paul ‘intermingle’ the story of Abraham being ‘made righteous upon initial belief’ [Gen. 15] and the later story of Sarah having Isaac [Gen. 17]. I think Paul was simply using the description of Abrahams faith, as seen in the Gen. 17 [and 22!] accounts of his life, to show the type of faith he initially ‘exercised’ [I don’t like using this term to be honest. God actually imputes faith to the believer at the initial act of regeneration]. The important chapters from Genesis that we all need to have a ‘working knowledge’ of are Chapters 12 [the initial promise], 15 [the oft mentioned ‘imputed righteousness’ verse], 17 [the receiving of the promised seed- Isaac], and 22 [the ultimate act of obedience that Abraham showed in offering up Isaac. This will be described in James epistle as ‘righteousness being fulfilled’. James, who is concerned about ‘works’, will say that when Abraham offered Isaac he was fulfilling the ‘imputed righteousness’ that God gave him earlier. James actually describes this as ‘being justified by works’ {James 2:21} and James says ‘the scripture was fulfilled that saith Abraham believed God and it was imputed to him for righteousness’… ‘see how that by works a man is justified and not by faith only’. The classic view taken by many confuses the ‘justified’ part with the initial act of justification that Paul centers on. James uses ‘see how he was justified by works’ in a future ‘judicial decree’ sense; that is God having the ongoing ‘freedom’ to continually say ‘good job son, you did well’. The word justification is used in a fluid sense much like salvation. Christians need to be more ‘secure’ in their own assurance to be able to see these truths. When we approach all these seemingly ‘difficult passages’ in a defensive mode, then we never arrive at the actual meaning]. When we see the overall work of God in Abraham’s life we see the purpose of God in ‘declaring people just’ [initially ‘getting saved’]. The purpose is for them to eventually ‘act just’ [obey!] ‘Jesus was delivered for our offenses and raised again for our justification’ thank God that this process is dependant on the work of the Cross! [see entry # 758]
(829) Romans 5:1-9 ‘Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God thru out Lord Jesus Christ’. There are certain benefits ‘results’ of being ‘made righteous by faith’, peace being one of them. Paul goes on and says we glory in hope and also trials, because we realize that thru the difficulties we gain experience and patience. Things that are needed for the journey, we can’t substitute talent and motivation and ‘success principles’ for them. We need maturity and God produces it this way. Those who teach otherwise have a ‘self inflicted wound’ their teachings are very immature! That is there was a ‘strain’ of teaching in the church that said ‘we don’t learn thru difficulty and suffering, we learn only thru Gods word!’ [that is reading it]. Those who grasped onto this false idea have produced some of the most unbalanced teaching in the church, stuff that even the younger generation is saying ‘what in the heck are these guys preaching’? If you by pass the difficult road, you will be shallow. Now Paul says ‘God commended his love toward us, that when we were sinners Christ died for us’ ‘being now justified by his death, we shall be saved thru his life’ [saved from wrath thru him]. Once again this theme pops up; ‘since we are justified, made righteous by believing with the heart, we shall be saved [continual, future deliverance] from wrath thru him’. I don’t know if you ever realized what a major theme this is in Romans? The ongoing, future ‘being saved’ is a result of ‘being made righteous’. Later on in chapter 10, when we read that the righteous call for salvation, we need to understand this context. Remember, when the two are linked together in the same verse, it is not saying ‘saved’ in the sense of some sinner’s prayer. It is speaking of the ongoing, promised deliverance [from many things, not just wrath!] to the ‘justified caller’. We have access ‘by faith into this grace wherein we stand’. Wow! That's some good stuff, Jesus ever lives so that those who come to him are ‘being saved’ to the uttermost. This grace we are in is available to us all of the time, are we availing ourselves of it?
(830) ROMANS 5:10-21 ‘For if, when we were enemies of God, we were reconciled to him by the death of his Son… much more we shall be saved by his life’. Now, some have ‘divided’ the role of Jesus death and resurrection in salvation. I heard a radio preacher teach that all the people who think they are ‘saved’ because Jesus died for them were deceived. He used this verse to say they need to believe in his ‘life’ [resurrection] to ‘be saved by his life’. Well I get the point, but he was missing the meaning of the verse. Why? Because once again we see ‘saved’ as initially ‘getting saved’ while here it is in a continual sense. Paul is saying ‘if God reconciled us [justification] while we were deadly enemies, how much more shall the actual ministry and life of Jesus at Gods right hand do for us!’ The New Testament teachers that we have actually entered into an eternal covenant with God thru his Son. Jesus ‘ever lives’ to make intercession for us [Hebrews]. Therefore he is able to ‘save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him’. The bible teaches an ongoing ‘saving’ relationship that believers have with the Messiah. This ‘relationship’ would not be possible if he were dead. Now we ‘joy in God thru Jesus Christ from whom we have received the atonement’ good stuff! Isaiah says God will meet with those who ‘rejoice and do what is right’. We have both of these ‘abilities’ because of the atonement. The rest of the chapter teaches the Pauline doctrine of original sin. That because Adam sinned, death and sin passed to all men. So likewise the ‘righteousness’ of one man [Jesus- the last Adam] has passed upon all men [those who receive of the abundance of grace and the gift of life]. This is an interesting angle that Paul uses to teach redemption. He shows the reality that there are only 2 ‘federal heads’ of mankind. You are either in the first or last Adam. The ‘righteous act’ is speaking of the Cross [Philippians says Jesus was ‘obedient unto death’. The singular act of obedience that allows this righteousness to pass to all who believe is the Cross. Some have misunderstood this chapter to teach that the obedient life of Christ, his sinless life, saves us. I feel this is a wrong reading of the chapter. The sinless life of Jesus, pre Cross, made him the true candidate to be the substitute for man. He was able to die in our place [obedience unto death] because he was the sinless Son of God. We are now ‘saved by his life’ because he ever lives to make intercession for us]. All who believe in Jesus can now trace their lineage to the ‘last Adam’ [Jesus] and be free from ‘original sin’.
(831) ROMANS 6- Lets talk about baptism. To start off I believe that the baptism spoken about in this chapter is primarily referring to ‘the baptism of the Spirit’, that is the work of the Holy Sprit placing a believer in the Body of Christ. The Catholic and Orthodox [and Reformed!] brothers believe that Paul is speaking about water baptism. The MAJORITY VIEW of Christians today believe this chapter is referring to water baptism. Why? First, the text itself does not indicate either way. You could takes this baptism and see it either way! You are not a heretic if you believe in it referring to Spirit or water. You are not a heretic if you believe in Paedo baptism [infant baptism]. ‘What are you saying? Now you lost me.’ Infant baptism developed as a Christian rite over the course of church history. The church struggled with how to ‘dedicate’ new babies to Christ. Though the scriptures give no examples of infant baptism, some felt that the reason was because the scriptures primarily show us the conversion of the first century believers. There really aren’t a whole lot of stories of ‘generations’ of believers passing on the faith to other generations. So some felt that the idea of dedicating babies to the Lord through infant baptism was all right. The examples they used were the circumcision of babies in the Old Testament. Infants were circumcised [a rite that placed you under the terms of the Old Covenant] though they weren’t old enough to really understand what they were doing! This example was carried over into the Christian church and applied to infant baptism. Now, I do not believe in infant baptism. But I can certainly understand this line of reasoning. As Christian theology developed thru the early centuries, particularly thru the patristic period, you had very intellectual scholars grapple with many different themes and ideas. Some that we just studied in chapter 5. Some theologians came to see infant baptism as dealing with original sin. They applied the concept of infant baptism as a rite that washes away original sin. The church did not teach that this meant you did not have to later believe and follow Christ. They simply developed a way of seeing baptism as ‘sanctifying’ the new members of Christian households. This basic belief made it all the way to the Reformation. The Reformers themselves still practiced infant baptism. It was the Anabaptists [re-baptizers] who saw the truth of adult baptism and suffered for it, at the hands of the reformers! Ulrich Zwingli, the Swiss reformer, would have them drowned for their belief. Some Protestants stuck with the infant rite, while others [the Restorationists] would reject it. Today most Evangelicals do not practice infant baptism, the majority of Christians world wide do. Now, the reason I did a little history is because Evangelicals [of which I am one] have a tendency to simply look at other believers who practice this rite as ‘deceived’. Many are unaware of the history I just showed you. The reasons the historic church developed this doctrine are not heretical! They used scripture and tradition to pass it down to future generations. I do not believe or practice infant baptism, many good believers do.
(832) ROMANS 6: 1-11 ‘shall we continue to sin, so grace may abound? God forbid! How shall we, who are dead to sin, live any longer therein?’ Now begins the ‘actual part’ the result, if you will, of being ‘made righteous by faith’. One of the main accusations against Paul, by the Jewish believers, was that he taught ‘sin a lot, because you are no longer under the law’. Paul spends time defending himself against this accusation thru out the New Testament. Here Paul teaches that the believer has been joined unto Christ [baptized, immersed into him] and this ‘joining’ identifies him with Christ’s death. So how can ‘we, who are dead to sin, live any longer in sin’? Paul’s argument for righteous living comes from the fact that we have died with Christ unto sin. ‘We have died with him, and we have also been raised with him to new life’. In Ephesians chapter 2, Paul says we who were dead in sins have been made alive in Christ. Now, we live a new life, free from sin [practically speaking- not absolute sinless-ness!] because we are identified with Jesus in his new life, we are ‘alive with and in him’. ‘Since we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection’! Jesus died once, and now he lives forever unto God ‘likewise count yourselves dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God thru Jesus Christ our Lord’. Paul’s basis for the transformed life is Grace and being ‘in him’. Paul does not appeal to the law to try and effect holiness in the believer, he appeals to Christ ‘in him you have died to legalistic practices, trying to earn salvation and acceptance; and now because of this new position [placement] you too have died to the old man [lifestyle] and are alive unto God’. Paul obviously did not teach ‘sin hardily’ to the contrary he taught ‘live unto God’.
(833) EVOLUTION- I hate to interrupt Romans, but I needed to share some stuff while it’s fresh. I also finished Frank Violas book, Pagan Christianity, and have put off commenting on that as well. For all my Atheist and Agnostic readers, it absolutely astounds me to read the research and evidence coming from the scientific community against evolution. Many hold to very outdated theories and ‘religiously’ will not let them go! One of the most famous experiments that has been touted for years as evidence for evolution was the ‘Stanley Miller experiment’ [1953]. This experiment used the supposed atmosphere of the early earth and created a scenario using electrical sparks, to simulate the possible environment of lightning causing human cell life. During the experiment, Miller was able to produce a ‘goo’ that contained Amino acids [basic building blocks of life]. Now, don’t get too excited. Even if this were possible, it’s quite a leap to start with an ‘atmosphere and lightning’ as well as an unexplained earth! The experiment would only prove the possibility of naturalistic life, it would not be able to explain the intricate design of the planet and universe that Miller assumed were ‘just there’ [besides the fact that Miller spent hours technically designing this ‘atmosphere’ in the laboratory- this is what we call ‘intelligent design’!]. But for years this experiment was used to ‘prove’ evolution in the classroom. Now as time has passed since Stanley’s experiment, science has discovered that the atmosphere that Stanley used could not have been the atmosphere of the early earth. While there still is disagreement on the exact atmosphere, there is agreement that Stanley’s model got it wrong. If you used the current accepted model, do you know what you would get? You get Formaldehyde and Cyanide. Hum, what do they do? They make it impossible for actual cellular life to co exist! The real experiment would prove contrary to evolution. We use these chemicals today, they are called ‘Embalming Fluid’. God does have a sense of humor.
(834) Romans 6:12-23 ‘Let not sin therefore rule in your mortal body’ if we have died with Jesus, we are ‘dead with him to sin’. If we are risen with Jesus ‘we are alive unto God thru him’ for this reason don’t sin! Paul makes sure his readers understand him, he in no way was teaching a sinful gospel. He encourages the believers to renew their minds to this truth. ‘For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under the law, but under grace’ Paul clearly saw the dangers of legalism [living under strict ‘do this, don’t do this’ guidelines] he saw that the law actually quickens the fleshly nature and brings to the surface mans sin. Now, because we are under grace, does this mean we get to keep on sinning? ‘God forbid!’ Paul launches into the explanation of sin and bondage. Remember, sin was in the world before the law. Men were dying ever since Adam sinned. So for Paul, this means even though we are not under the restraints of law, yet the reality of sin, bondage and punishment still exist. Paul says ‘if you yield to sin and allow it to rule you, you will become its slave’. There will be a penalty and price to pay ‘the wages of sin is death’. But because you are identified with Jesus ‘sin shall not have dominion over you… you have been made free from sin’. Paul teaches the victorious Christian life. He does not deny the struggle [next chapter!] but he shows the reality of redemption. He obviously never taught the concept of ‘sin more, so grace can abound’. He understood the dangers of preaching ‘we are not under the law’ but he also understood the reality of ‘being under grace’ he figured it was worth the risk of being misunderstood if he could truly imbed the gospel into the believing community.
(835) ROMANS 7:1-4 Paul uses the analogy of a married woman ‘don’t you know that the law has dominion over a person as long as he is alive’? If a married woman leaves her husband and marries another man she is guilty of breaking the law of adultery. Now, if her husband dies, she is free to marry another man. The act that freed her from sin and guilt was death! Every thing else in the scenario stayed the same. She still married another, she still consummated the new marriage. But because her first husband died, she has no guilt. I always loved this analogy. For years I wondered why these themes in scripture are for the most part not ‘imbedded’ in the collective psyche of the people of God. We have spent so much time ‘proof texting’ the verses on success and wealth, that we have overlooked the really good stuff! Now Paul teaches that we have been made free from the law by the ‘death of our husband’ [Jesus] so we can ‘re-marry’. Who do we marry? Christ! He has not only died to free us from the law, he also rose from the dead to become our ‘husband’ [we are called the bride of Christ]. Paul connects the death and resurrection of Jesus in this analogy. Both are needed for the true gospel to be preached [1st Corinthians 15]. Notice how in this passage Paul emphasizes ‘the death of Christ’s body’. The New Testament doesn’t always make this distinction, but here it does. In the early centuries of Christianity you had various debates over the nature and ‘substance’ of God and Christ. The church hammered out various decrees and creeds that would become the Orthodoxy of the day. Many of these are what you would call the ‘Ecumenical councils’. These are the early councils [many centuries!] that both the eastern [Orthodox church] and western [Catholic] churches would all accept. Some feel that the early church fathers and Latin theologians [Tertullian, Augustine and others] had too much prior influence from philosophy and the ‘forensic’ thinking of their time. They had a tendency to describe things in highly technical ways. Ways that were prominent in the legal and philosophical thinking of the West. Some of the eastern thinkers [Origen] had more of a Greek ‘flavor’ to their theologizing [Alexandria, named after Alexander the great, was a city of philosophy many years prior to Christ. This city was at one time the center of thinking in the East. That’s why Paul would face the thinkers at Athens, they had a history in the east of Greek philosophy]. Well any way the result was highly technical debates over the nature of God and Christ. The historic church would finally decree that Christ had 2 natures, Human and Divine. And that at the Cross the ‘humanity of Jesus’ died, but his ‘Deity’ did not. I think Paul agreed by saying ‘we are free from the law by the death of Christ’s Body’ here Paul distinguishes between the physical death of Jesus and his Deity.
(836) ROMANS 7: 5-13 ‘But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of the Spirit, not in the oldness of the letter’. This is such a powerful statement! WE ARE DELIVERED FROM THE LAW, surely Paul must mean ‘the fleshly law [carnal nature] in our members’? No, he means ‘the law’, the actual moral code that was contained in the Ten Commandments. He writes to the Colossians ‘Jesus took the handwriting of ordinances that were against us [the real law, not the sinful nature!] and nailed it to his Cross’. He tells the Ephesians ‘the middle wall of partition [law] has come down in Christ’. I know it’s easy to develop ideas that justify this radical grace concept in our minds, it’s just part of mans nature to want to be able to do something, contribute some way to our salvation. ‘Surely the law helps me stay in line’? No it doesn’t! You are 'dead to the law by the Body of Christ’. We now live and are regulated by the ‘Spirit of life in Christ Jesus’. It is the fact that we have been raised to life in Christ that frees us, not the law. Paul goes on and explains that there was a time when ‘he was alive without the law’ but when the commandment came ‘sin revived, and I died’. Paul was a strict Pharisee, the further he advanced in law, the more he found himself to be ‘exceeding sinful’. The more he learned, the worse he got! It’s sort of a catch 22, you see and hear the ‘do not do this’ portions of law, and it stirs up the sinful nature to ‘do it’. Now Paul recaps an earlier theme of the law serving the function of revealing sin to man. He defends the law by saying ‘was that which is good [law] death unto me’? No, but the law simply ‘awakened’ the sin that was always there, hiding under the covers. It brought to a head the ‘disease’. The law revealed the underlying problem of sin, and made it ‘exceeding sinful’. The law is good, we are bad! [apart from Christ and the Spirit of life].
(837) ROMANS 7:14-25 Paul now shows us the reality of Gods law and its effect on man. ‘When I do something that I DON’T WANT TO DO, then I consent unto the law that it is good’. Did you ever think of this? The fact that you [or even the atheist!] have done things that ‘you don’t want to do’ proves the existence of God and natural law [which the 10 commandments were only a glimpse, they reveal a small part of Gods character and nature]. So if you, or anybody else, have ever struggled with ‘I am doing something that I hate’. Then why do it? Or better, why hate it? You yourself are an actual living testimony of ‘the law of God’. Your own conscience testifies that there are ‘good things’ and ‘bad things’. You also testify of the fact of sin ‘why do you keep doing the bad things’? Alas, that thing called ‘sin’ does exist! Paul shows us that the experience of every human member on the planet testifies to both the righteousness of God and the sinfulness of man. Freud [the father of modern Psychology] saw this war rage in the psyche of man, he came up with an idea that we need to ‘free man’ from this inner moral struggle. He espoused the idea that in mans ‘head’ he has this preconceived image of ‘God’ and right or wrong. Being Freud was a child of the Enlightenment, as well as a student of Existentialism [though the Father of Existentialism was a Christian, the Danish theologian/ philosopher Soren Kierkegaard] he taught that if we could just eliminate this ‘God idea’ and ‘church moral code’ from mans mind, then all would be well! Geez, I could hardly think of a more destructive thing than to tell man ‘if it feels right, do it’! Paul taught ‘if you can’t stop doing something that ‘feels right’ then you are sinning!’[if that which ‘feels right’ is making you miserable!] And the very fact that you can’t escape the guilt, proves that God exists and that his law is this unstoppable force that invades all human consciences. Paul knew the struggle, he testifies thru out scripture that he tried to become right with God over and over again, but the ‘law of sin’ [the sinful nature. Here ‘law’ is speaking of the ‘principle of sin’ and the fleshly nature] prevented him from keeping the ‘law of God’ [doing what’s right], he then found the ‘righteousness of God that comes thru faith in Christ’. Paul ends the chapter ‘O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death’? ‘I thank God thru Jesus Christ my Lord’. Paul found the answer, his name was Jesus.
(838) FINE TUNING IN THE UNIVERSE- Over the last 20 years or so, science has discovered such overwhelming evidence for an ‘intelligent designer’ that even the naturalistic scientists have said ‘the level of fine tuning in our universe cant be explained in any other way, except for the fact that some one has been messing around with the controls’! What exactly is fine tuning? In the field of Physics [which can get complicated!] scientists have discovered these unbelievable ‘measurements’ that exist in the universe, that previously were unknown. One of these is called the ‘Cosmological Constant’ [the measure of energy density in empty space]. This measurement has to be so finely tuned, that if it were just off a tiny bit, life could not exist in the universe. It has been explained like this; if you took a ruler [12 inch kind] and extended it lengthwise thru out the whole universe, and then had a random penny fall from space. If the penny did not land exactly on a specific ‘inch measurement’ on the ruler, life could not exist! Now, what are the odds that a ‘random penny’ would hit this spot? The odds of this happening by pure chance are next to impossible. But you say ‘well, it might have been an accident’. The problem is this isn’t the only measurement you need to get ‘right on target’ in order for life to exist. You have the same problem with Gravity. Science has also discovered the same unbelievable measurement with Gravity. A small degree off of the present measurement would crush everything. It would prevent the actual ‘combining’ of mass and material where you couldn’t even have a universe! This measurement has been found to simply be exactly correct. There are no laws of nature that make this measurement exact. In fact, logic would dictate that if everything is random, that the measurement would be at the higher end of the spectrum, but instead it is very low on the scale. Now, putting these 2 unbelievably precise things together [both the Cosmological Constant and Gravity] would make the odds next to impossible that this just ‘happened’. It would be like you walking into a Museum and finding a pre built enclosed ‘world’. As you entered the model you saw all types of very technical gauges on this control panel. Say around 30 gauges. These were precise settings that all had to be exact, set to the smallest possible place on each dial. Now, if before you left the room, little Johnnie went over and messed up each dial, he spun them around and screwed up the entire display. You would quickly tell Johnnie ‘let’s go see the Dinosaur exhibit’. You got out of there as soon as possible! Now say if little Johnnie insisted that he left one of his favorite toys in the ‘fake world’. You finally take the risk of getting caught and go back to the model world. Surprise! All of the very technical gauges have been set and put back in order. Did this just happen by mere happenstance? Of course not. Obviously some knowledgeable person [an intelligent designer] found out about the problem and put the gauges back in their proper setting. This is basically what Physics has found out over the recent years. And the finely tuned measurements that need to be set just right keep going up! That is we keep finding more things that need to be ‘just right’ in order for life to exist. Many in the field of Physics realize that these discoveries are a huge ‘smoking gun’ that backs up the argument for intelligent design. They realize that if this knowledge ever becomes public, to the degree where the average person grasps and understands this truth, that the reality of an intelligent designer being behind it all is the only explanation for it. Contrary to public opinion, science is getting closer and closer to proving the existence of God [though ultimately he can’t be totally proved by science, he exists outside of the physical realm]. I just wish the Atheists would quit trying to convince everybody that they are the ones who are on the side of true science!
(839) ROMAN 8:1-4 ‘There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh [sinful nature] but after the Spirit [new nature]’. Now, having proved the reality of sin and guilt [chapter 7] Paul teaches that those who ‘are in Christ’ are free from condemnation. Why? Because they ‘walk according to the Spirit’ the ‘righteousness of the law is being fulfilled in them’. Having no condemnation isn’t simply a ‘legal function’ of declared righteousness, and Paul didn’t teach it that way! Paul is saying ‘all those who have believed in Jesus and have been legally justified [earlier arguments in chapters 3-4] are now walking [actually acting out] this new nature. Therefore [because you no longer walk according to the flesh] there is no condemnation’! This argument helps bridge the gap between Catholic and Protestant theology, part of the reason for the ongoing schism is over this understanding. After the Reformation the Catholic Church had a Counter Reformation council, the council of Trent. They dealt with a lot of the abuses of the Catholic Church, things that many Catholic leaders were complaining about before the Reformation. They did deal will some issues and reformed somewhat. To the dismay of the more ‘reform minded’ Catholics [with Protestant leanings] they still came down strong on most pre reform doctrines. This made it next to impossible for the schism to be healed. But one area of disagreement was over ‘legal’ versus ‘actual/experiential’ justification. The Catholic position was ‘God can’t declare/say a person is justified until they actually are’ [experientially]. The Protestant side [Luther] said ‘God does justify [legal declaration] a person by faith alone’. Like I taught before, both of these are true. The Catholic view of ‘justification’ is looking ahead towards a future reality [The same way James speaks of justification in a future sense- He uses the example from Genesis 22, when Abraham does a righteous act] while the Protestant view is focusing on the initial legal act of justification [Genesis 15]. Here Paul agrees with both views, he says ‘those who walk after the Spirit [actually living the changed life] have no condemnation’.
(840) ROMANS 8:5-13 Paul will teach the impossibility of the ‘carnal minds’ ability to submit to Gods law. Those who are ‘in the flesh’ [the unregenerate nature- not simply ‘in the body’. We will get into these distinctions in a minute] can’t submit to God. Society spends so much time and effort trying to get the ‘lost man’ to do what's right. The prohibition movement [outlawing liquor], the increase in the severity of punishment for crimes dealing with drugs. Making the child kidnappers crime punishable by death. While all these laws are necessary and good [though some debate the wisdom of the kidnapper one, they think the kidnapper might just go ahead and kill the victim if the same punishment applies to both crimes] they have little effect on getting ‘the carnal man to submit’. Paul also says ‘if the Spirit of him who raised up Christ from the dead dwells in you, then he that raised up Christ from the dead shall quicken [make alive] your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwells in you’. Let’s do a little teaching here. Most commentators see this as speaking of the promise of the resurrection ‘your mortal bodies’. I see this more in line with the context of chapter 7. The discussion of ‘mortal bodies’ [your actual body, the flesh- which is different than ‘the fleshly nature’ which refers to the sinful nature] speaks of your actual life now ‘let not sin therefore reign in your mortal bodies’. Also in verse 13 of this chapter the same theme is seen ‘if ye thru the Spirit mortify the deeds of the body ye shall live’. I believe Paul is primarily saying ‘if you are in the Spirit [born of God] the Spirit of life will make alive your physical life in such a way that you will glorify God in your body and spirit, which are Gods’ [Corinthians]. Chapter 12 says your bodies are living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God. Now later on in this chapter [8] we do see the resurrection, which is called ‘the redemption of the body’ [verse 23] so these two concepts work together. The fact that the believer is ‘training his mortal body’ for God [thru obedience] is sort of a precursor to the resurrection! Now, some believers confuse the resurrection of the body and the work of regeneration in ‘making you alive’ [Ephesians 2]. The work of regeneration brings your dead spirit back to life [born again] when you believe [which is a Divine imputation of faith at the moment of conversion, a sovereign act]. This ‘coming alive’ is purely spiritual. This qualifies you for the future physical resurrection of the body [Ephesians calls this the ‘down payment’, the ‘earnest of our inheritance, until the redemption of the purchased possession’. The word ‘earnest’ here is used in the same way as ‘earnest money’ in a real estate transaction. The fact that we have been ‘sealed’ with the Holy Spirit is our ‘guarantee of future bodily resurrection’]. Bishop N.T. Wright, the bishop of Durham [the church of England- Durham is the 3rd most influential post in the Church of England. Canterbury is at the top] has recently written on the truths of the resurrection of the body. He is an excellent scholar, way way above my league. He has been instrumental in ‘re introducing’ the reality of Christ’s resurrection as well as our future resurrection as a very real Christian belief [and historic truth as well]. I have read some of Wrights stuff and am a little surprised at some of the ideas on ‘soul sleep’ and the immortality of the soul. Bishop Wright seems to side with some of the ideas that certain restorationist groups [7th day Adventists] espouse, that the Catholic Church kind of corrupted the ideas of heaven and the soul by being overly influenced by Greek thought. While it is possible for Bishop Wright to have come to his understanding entirely thru scripture and history, yet I felt it a little strange to see him make these arguments. For the most part I like brother Wright and totally agree with his stance on the future ‘new heavens and new earth’ as the final place of rest [as opposed to dying and going to heaven now, which is a temporary place] but there is the biblical reality of a present ‘heaven’ and this doesn’t only come from Greek thought. I have often used the Christian doctrine of the new heavens and new earth while speaking with the Jehovah’s witnesses, I always agree on the reality of a future kingdom on earth. I simply steer the conversation back to ‘who qualifies for it’ and get straight to the gospel. Well anyway we have a promise of a future resurrection, and also a ‘quickening of the body now’ [God actually using our physical life to glorify him]. These are both great truths!
(841) ROMANS 8: 14-18 ‘For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the Sons of God’. Many of us are familiar with this verse [I hope!]. We often see it as saying ‘Gods direction in our lives is proof that we are Christians’ true enough. But in context ‘being led by Gods Spirit’ means living the new life thru Christ. The putting to death of the old man and being ‘made alive’ thru Christ is what this is saying. Paul agrees with John [1st John] ‘those that do what is right [led by the Spirit] are of God’. Paul says ‘we have received the Spirit and a natural result of this is crying “Abba, Father”. I don’t want to do too much here, but Paul sees the ‘confession’ and heart cry of the believer as proof, a result of being ‘a habitation of the Spirit’. A sign, if you will, of being born of God is confessing/ praying to the Father. Paul quoted David in chapter 4 ‘for this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found’ [Psalms 32- actually Paul quotes a different section from the Psalm, but this theme is consistent with Paul’s view]. Paul knew the reality of ‘the godly calling upon God’ they have an inner cry of ‘Abba, father’. ‘We are heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ’. For many years this has been a popular verse among many believers, often times it is used to say ‘God owns the cattle on a thousand hills’ [which he does] therefore if we are heirs ‘give me some cattle’! [stuff]. Here Paul uses this term in speaking of our identification with Christ’s sufferings. ‘If we suffer with him, we too shall share [joint heir!] in his glory’ [future glorification at the resurrection- we shall see him and be changed in a moment, at the twinkling of an eye. This mortal shall put on immortality]. It’s a symptom of modern American Christianity to view all these scriptures thru a materialistic lens, Paul held to the promise of a future reward [at the resurrection] that enabled him to go thru great difficulty and suffering in this present life. He counted the suffering as a privilege that he shared with Christ.
(842) PROOF FROM DNA- One of the other fields of science that has radically identified ‘intelligent design’ in creation is the study of human DNA. Scientists have discovered [to the dismay of the Atheist!] an unbelievable amount of ‘data’ that has been stored in DNA. They have found a code consisting of four basic parts [referenced by 4 letters] that is much like the computer programs of our day. This information that is stored in DNA has no rational [or scientific] explanation of how it got there! Darwin’s theory of Natural Selection can not explain how this massive amount of information has been stored in DNA. As scientists have racked their brains in trying to come up with an explanation, some have simply said ‘all evidence points to an intelligent being who had to have had a hand in this’. Even those who are not believers in God have said stuff like this. The point is that as science advances, there is more evidence of a designer, not less! To add this information to the other fields of science is no doubt causing great consternation to the atheistic scientist. He can no longer reject the proof of intelligent design as seen in science. God is proving himself a better ‘chess player’ than they thought.
(843) ROMANS 8: 19-25 ‘the sufferings of this present time [are you ‘presently’ suffering?] are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us’. Paul compares the difficulty to the reward. The reward here is the future resurrection. Paul did not see suffering as ‘from the devil’ or the reward as something material [monetary stuff! The resurrection body will be ‘material’ - real]. Paul teaches that the whole creation is waiting for this day. Not only will we get a ‘makeover’ but there will be a new heaven and a new earth! The creation itself longs for this [almost as much as Al Gore!] This resurrection is called ‘the redemption of our body’. The next verse says ‘we are saved by hope’. John also says [1st John] that the future reality of the resurrection ‘causes us to be pure in this life’ [every one that has this hope in him purifies himself, even as he is pure]. Why? Because we know God has a purpose for our bodies as well as our spirits! The ‘getting saved by hope’ simply means the future hope of the resurrection ‘encourages’ us to live clean now. Once again ‘saved’ is a neutral term. In can apply to all sorts of things. I always found it funny how when you read certain commentaries, that you see the difficulty Christians have when coming across these types of verses. There’s a verse that says ‘the woman will be saved thru childbearing’ geez, you wouldn’t believe the difficulty some writers have when they come across this stuff. Some teach ‘she will be ‘saved’ thru the birth of a child [Jesus]’ and all sorts of stuff. I think if we simply changed the word ‘saved’ for ‘delivered’ [which are basically the same thing] that maybe this would help. But thank God that we have a future resurrection to look forward to, let this truth ‘deliver’ you from the temptation to think ‘what’s all this suffering worth, why even go thru it?’ Because we have a great promise at the other end!
(844) UPDATE- TODD BENTLEY AND THE LAKELAND REVIVAL- Well, sad to say, but I just found out that Todd and his wife are separating. I feel I need to speak a little on this [not the separation, but the whole Lakeland Revival] because I spoke on it before. What happened? First, those of you who read this site realize that I believe in the supernatural gifts of the Spirit. Second, you also realize that I am not a fan of the fame and image that go along with many contemporary expressions of ‘church and ministry’. I am not one of those critics who simply jump on the bandwagon either. Did God do some things at Lakeland? I think so. Were there lots of mistakes made? I think so. I was really uncomfortable when some very ‘well known prophets/apostles’ spoke of the revival in very ‘exalting’ ways. Some went to endorse it at the beginning and went way overboard in their language. I feel the ‘platform’ persona and the absolute lack of discernment from God T.V. in broadcasting something beyond the intended parameters led to this fall. I appreciate the willingness of Christian networks to want to get the Word out, but most all of the networks have no [or very little] discernment on what they do! So as of now I think believers should pray for Todd and his family. I think the networks should simply stop broadcasting it altogether. And the people of God need to re-focus on Christ and his Word.
(845) ROMANS 8:26-28 ‘Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities’ why does Paul say ‘likewise’? He is saying ‘not only does the future hope of the resurrection sustain us, but also Gods Spirit helps us’! He knows how to make intercession for us in ways that we cannot. I just finished an hour prayer time, not an ‘official’ intercession time [which I do a few times a week now]. But an ‘unofficial’ time where I try and hear what the Spirit is speaking. When you are ‘praying in the Spirit’ [which can include the charismatic expression of tongues] you are depending upon the Spirit to transcend your limited ability to articulate what needs to be said. ‘All things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are ‘the called’ according to his purpose’. A very famous verse indeed. What does it mean? It means what it says! Over the years I have heard so many excuses for trying to get around difficult things. Why do the righteous suffer? Some taught it was because of their ignorance of scripture. Why did the things that happened to Job happen? Some said it was because he ‘feared’ that the things would happen [this group seems to miss the whole underlying reason for the book. Job’s friends are continually looking for a reason thru out the book. The point is, sometimes there is no reasonable explanation. I realize you can pick apart certain statements from Job and come up with ‘reasons’, but the meaning of the book is God is sovereign and we shouldn’t always think we can figure him out or ‘work the system’]. Here Paul says ‘whatever is happening to you right now [even very bad stuff!] will eventually work out for you benefit’. What about Hitler? Did he love God? I don’t believe so. This scripture says ‘to them that love God’. Your only responsibility thru the difficulty is to ‘love God’.
(846) ROMANS 8:29-30 ‘for whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed into the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: whom he justified, them he also glorified’. Let’s talk a little. When I first became a Christian I began a lifelong study of scripture, where I continually read a certain amount of scripture every day for many years. Over the years I have varied on how fast I should read [that is how many chapters per day and so forth]. But during the early stages I always took these verses to teach predestination in the classical sense. Simply put, that God ‘pre chose’ me [and all whom come to him] before we ‘chose him’. The Fundamental Baptist church I began to attend [a great church with great people!] taught that ‘classic Calvinism’ [predestination] was false doctrine, and they labeled it ‘Hyper Calvinism’. I simply accepted this as fact. But I never forgot the early understanding that I first gleaned thru my own study. I also was very limited in my other readings outside of the scripture. I did study the Great awakenings and Charles Finney. I read some biographies on John Wesley and other great men of God. These men were not Calvinistic in their doctrine [which is fine], as a matter of fact Wesley would eventually disassociate from George Whitefield over this issue. Whitefield was a staunch Calvinist! Over time I came to believe the doctrine again, simply as I focused on the scriptures that teach it. Eventually I picked up some books on church history and realized that Calvinism was [and is] a mainstream belief among many great believers. I personally believe that most of the great theologians in history have accepted this doctrine. Now, for those who reject it, they honestly struggle with these portions of scripture. Just like there are portions of scripture that Calvinists struggle with. To deny this is to be less than honest. The Arminians [Those who deny classic predestination- the term comes from Jacob Arminias, a Calvinist who was writing and studying on the ‘errors’ of ‘arminianism’ and came to embrace the doctrine of free will/choice] usually approach the verses that say ‘he predestined us’ by teaching that Gods predestination speaks only of his foreknowledge of those who would choose him. This is an honest effort to come to terms with the doctrine. To be ‘more honest’ I think this doesn’t adequately deal with the issue. In the above text, as well as many other places in scripture, the idea of ‘Gods foreknowledge and pre choosing’ speak specifically about Gods choice to save us, as opposed to him simply knowing that we would ‘choose right’. The texts that teach predestination teach it in this context. Now the passage above does say ‘those whom he foreknew, he also did predestinate to be conformed into the image of Christ’ here this passage actually does say ‘God predestinated us to be like his Son’. If you left the ‘foreknowledge’ part out, you could read this passage in an Arminian way. But we do have the ‘foreknowledge’ part. So I believe Paul is saying ‘God chose us before we were born, he ‘knew’ ahead of time that he would bring us into his Kingdom. Those whom he foreknew he also predestinated to become like his Son.’ Why? So his Son would be the firstborn among many. God wanted a whole new race of ‘children of God’. Those he predestinated he ‘called’. He drew them to himself. Jesus said ‘all that the Father give to me will come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no way cast out’. Those who ‘come’ are justified, those who are justified are [present tense] glorified. Gods design and sovereignty speak of it as a ‘finished task’ like it already happened. God lives outside of the dimension of time. I believe in the doctrine of predestination. Many others do as well. You don’t have to believe it if you don’t want to, but I believe scripture teaches it.
(847) ROMANS 8: 31-39 ‘What shall we say then to these things? [what things? The fact that God predestined us and has guaranteed completion of the purpose he has designed us for!] If God be for us, who can be against us?’ Paul teaches that Christ is the only one with the ‘right’ or authority to pass judgment. If the only person in existence who can ‘officially’ condemn and pass legal judgment has actually died for us for the purpose of ‘freeing us from a state of condemnation’, then who ‘gives a rip’ about others opinions and views of us? Most of us struggle with how others view us. Paul did teach that Elders should have good character and a fine reputation in the community. But there is another type of ‘persona’ that preachers can fall into. A sort of ‘concern’ about what the critics are saying. In this context Paul says ‘If the opinion of the only person in existence whose opinion really matters, is one of “I accept you unconditionally, I declare you free from what others think, you are my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. Ever since I have known you, you have been pleasing in my sight” [all true scriptures by the way] Then who cares what others think! Paul also teaches that nothing can separate us from Christ’s love ‘not tribulation or distress or famine or persecution’ IN all these things we are more than conquerors thru him who loved us. Most times we view this passage from a ‘Calvinistic’ lens. I want you to see the impact of this statement thru a different lens. In the American church we have taught people ‘would a good father not pay the bills of his kids? Would a good father allow his kids to suffer? If you were really partaking of the New Covenant you would have it made’. While I do realize that many well meaning ministers have taught these viewpoints with honest and sincere hearts, I also have seen how this mindset accuses the saints. It basically tells the struggling believer ‘what kind of father do you have? If he really loved you would you be going thru these things’? In essence we are saying ‘tribulation and distress and persecution’ are all signs that ‘you have been separated from Gods love’! Paul blows this false [materialistic] mindset out of the water. He says it is thru these things that we are more than conquerors. It is the ability to look into the face of Pontius Pilate and say ‘you have no power over me, my father has permitted these things to take place. I am here to lay my life down for his glory’. Paul said all these things we are suffering are opportunities to glorify our father. To look into the face of society and say ‘nay, we are more than conqueror's thru him that loved us’. The early church set the world on fire when they were laying their lives down for the cause, refusing to deny their Lord even at the point of death. They were ‘more than conquerors’.
(848) ROMANS 9: 1-8 Paul returns to an earlier theme ‘Christ came, as pertaining to the flesh, in response to the covenants that God made with Israel’ [my paraphrase!] Paul says that natural Israel played a very important role in the coming of Messiah. He was [is] the fulfillment of the prophecies that came as a result of Gods interaction with ‘the commonwealth of Israel’. Now Paul again says ‘they are not all Israel, which are of Israel, but “in Isaac shall thy seed be called’”. Understand something here, Paul is not teaching ‘another’ natural lineage to Christ. The mistake of the worldwide church of God [Herbert Armstrong] which teaches British Israelism, trying to trace the natural lineage of Europeans and saying ‘these are the lost tribes’. Paul is simply saying ‘those who are of the Law, the natural tribe of Israel [Jews] are not automatically counted as ‘the seed’ [children] but those who ‘are of promise’. Paul also uses this in Galatians 3 and 4. ‘Of promise’ is simply saying ‘those who have been born of Gods Spirit [Jew or Gentile] are the children that God promised to Abraham’ he is the father of ‘many nations’. All who would believe. These themes are building upon Paul’s earlier theology in this letter. This letter [Romans] has a little more ‘weight’ than say a pastoral epistle [Timothy, Titus]. Now, I am not saying it is ‘more inspired’ but I want you to see that even in the book of Acts you see Paul place special emphasis on ‘I must make it to Rome’! Paul fully realizes that this letter will be read among the believers and Jews at Rome. Rome is the capitol city of the Empire. He wants the early believers to understand the role and purpose of God for Israel. Paul’s efforts are being seen by some Jewish believers [Jerusalem] as antagonistic. Paul wants to make it clear that he was not trying to start some type of movement that rejected natural Israel. At the same time he wants natural Israel ‘my kinsman according to the flesh’ to receive their Messiah! So in this context Romans is a theological treatise saying ‘God wants to bring both Jew and Gentile together as one new man in Christ [Ephesians]’. When he argues ‘they that are the children of the flesh ARE NOT THE CHILDREN OF GOD[verse 8] but the children of the promise are counted for the seed’ he is simply saying ‘all people, both Jews and Gentiles [which includes all races that are ‘non Jews’ even Arabs!] can partake of this free gift by grace’. The promise is to all who ‘will believe’.
(849) ROMANS 9:9-23 now we get into predestination. Paul uses the example of Jacob and Esau [I spoke on this in the Genesis study, see chapter 25], he says God chose Jacob over Esau before they were born. He also uses the story of Pharaoh and says God was the one who hardened his heart. Paul says these things show us that God’s mercy and choice are a sovereign act. He specifically says ‘God chose Jacob, not on the basis of any thing he did [or would do!] but because of his own sovereign choice’. Now, this is another one of those arguments where Paul says ‘you will then say to me, how can God find fault? If everyone is simply doing the things he preordained, fulfilling destiny, then how can God justly hold people accountable’? First, I want you to see that this statement, that Paul is putting into the mouths of his opponents, only makes sense from the classic position of predestination. Second, if predestination only spoke of Gods foreknowledge of the choices that people were going to make [like asking Jesus into their heart!] then the obvious response to the argument would be ‘Oh, God chose Jacob because he knew what a good boy he was going to be’. Not only would this be wrong, Jacob [the supplanter] was not a ‘good boy’, but Paul does not use this defense in arguing his case. He simply says ‘who are we to question God? Can the thing formed say to him that formed it “why have you made me like this”? It seems as if Paul’s understanding of predestination was in the Augustinian/Calvinistic Tradition. A few years back a popular author on the west coast, Dave Hunt, wrote a book called ‘what kind of love is this’? He took on the Reformed Faiths understanding of predestination. Dave was a little out of his league in the book. He seemed to not fully grasp the historic understanding of the doctrine. He quoted some stuff from Charles Spurgeon that made it sound like he was not a believer in predestination. Spurgeon did make strong statements against certain ideas that were [are] prevalent in classic Calvinism. Some taught that Christ’s Blood was shed only for the elect. This is called ‘particular redemption’ or from the famous ‘Tulip’ example ‘limited atonement’. Spurgeon did not embrace the idea that Christ’s Blood was not sufficient to cover the sins of the whole world. The problem with Hunt using this true example from Spurgeon, is that he overlooked the other obvious statements from Spurgeon that place him squarely in the Calvinistic camp. Some refer to this as ‘4 point Calvinism’. I myself agree with Spurgeon on this point. The reason I mention this whole thing is to show you that major Christian figures have dealt with these texts and have struggled with the obvious difficulties involved. I think Paul does a little ‘speculative theology’ himself in this chapter. He says ‘what if God willing to show his mercy and wrath permitted certain things’. He gives possible reasons for the seeming ‘unfairness’ of this doctrine. The point I want to stress is Paul never tries to defend it from the classic Arminian understanding, that says ‘God knew the way people were going to choose, and he simply ‘foreordained’ those who would choose right’. To be honest, this argument does answer the question in the minds of many believers, I simply don’t see it to be accurate.
(850) PROPHETIC UPDATE! As of today [8-08] enough has happened in the last few years to kind of encapsulate the state of the church [Gods people] and where we are heading. Whenever you have ‘prophetic people’ and movements make some real obvious mistakes, I always feel tempted to go thru this site and delete everything that deals with ‘prophecies, dreams and visions’. This has happened to me on more than a few occasions. But the Lord kind of stops me. Now, why do I mention this? Because these last few years the charismatic/prosperity churches have gone thru some turmoil. The ‘Emergent’ movement has also struck a nerve with the Reformed defenders of the faith, and they have also had some battles. In the midst of it all you also had a resurgence of Catholic apologists [Scott Hahn] and ‘the defend the fullness of truth’ conferences. First, I felt the Lord was going to deal with the more obvious abuses of the prosperity movement a few years back. I even ‘prophesied’ that this would happen [on this site!]. So this is a legitimate ‘correction’ that is taking place as of this year. Some of the main leaders of the movement have come under some serious ‘judging’. Also, the more theological/mature Emergent movement has come under fire by the Reformed preachers because of some real problems. Some in the Emergent church have espoused ultra liberal ideas on the Atonement, Hell and other basic Christian doctrines. The problem is the older reform minded ‘correctors’ are for the most part absolutely ignorant of their own ‘blind spot’ in the area of Ecclesiology. They seem to think ‘defending the historic faith’ includes defending a ‘limited’ Ecclesiology. It’s too easy to just believe that Edwards, Luther, Calvin and all the other great minds of their eras must have been right on Church government and structure. For the most part they were not. So this part of the ‘emergent church’ have it right [those who challenge limited ideas of ‘church’]. Now, the recent ‘fiasco’ of the Lakeland revival. I believe the whole ‘group’ of Apostles and Prophets [?] that initially gave their approval are very questionable. Some of the men I do like [Rick Joyner], but the whole ‘apostolic network’ that some of these brothers belong to is very questionable [when I say ‘questionable’, I do not mean they are frauds or fakes. I mean the whole idea of having an ‘apostolic network’ seems to be missing the target]. I believe most of Gods true Apostles and Prophets today are men of great humility, they suffer persecution [like Watchmen Nee] and for the most part are serious students of the Word and ‘followers of the way’ [Christ’s example of a servant]. So today [2008] we need to be open to correction in the areas that are off base. We also need to be careful not to reject all ‘prophetic things’ out of a feeling of being embarrassed to even use the same terminology as some of these guys. And we need to recognize that some of the old time defenders of the faith [Sproul, Macarthur, Colson] do have very good points they are making when the emergent brothers reject the very basis of ‘knowable truth’, but they also have a huge blind spot in their ecclesiology [thinking defending the truth includes ‘Sunday Church’]. Also, the Catholic resurgence is important not to discount, some Evangelicals are becoming so frustrated with the Protestant ‘craziness’ and divisions, that they seem to find refuge in joining this ancient expression of Christianity. Let’s have a good vigorous debate, let’s strive for unity. The prophetic movement needs to receive correction. The prosperity movements more extreme elements need to be rejected outright. At the end of the day God is still going to do a great work in the earth. His people will show forth his glory and truly be the glorious temple that he desires.
(851) ROMANS 9:24-29 Paul quotes Hosea and Isaiah to show that God has a purpose for both Jew and Gentile. He uses a few verses from Isaiah 10 and 13 to say ‘except the lord had left us a remnant, no one would be left’. Now, once again we come up against the mindset of always reading ‘saved’ as meaning ‘born again’. In context, God ‘saving’ a remnant simply means ‘he spared them from ruin and total destruction’. There is a verse in Revelation that says ‘the nations of them which are saved shall enjoy the new heavens and earth’. Some commentators will show you how some versions leave out ‘which are saved’ which would leave the text as saying ‘the nations [that are left, remain!] shall walk in it’. This is the context here. Paul is saying God always had a few from Israel that remained, he didn’t utterly wipe them out. Now, this of course fits in with ‘having sins forgiven’, being ‘saved’ or redeemed. There are prophets who say ‘the Lord will turn away ungodliness from Jacob’ [delivered from sin] and ‘the lord comes to those who have turned away from their sin’ speaking of Israel. So I want you to grasp the biblical concept of God saving [sparing] a remnant. The word ‘remnant’ actually speaks of the part of cloth/ material that is ‘left over’ from the whole piece. Jesus also said ‘unless those days were shortened, their would no flesh “be saved”’. Once again meaning ‘no human would survive unless God cut short his wrath’. Paul also uses this language here ‘the lord will do a quick work on the earth and cut it short [shortened!] in righteousness’.
(852) EVOLUTION AND RACISM- Jesus said if you call someone a fool ‘without a cause’ that you would be in danger of ‘hell fire’. One of the most famous ‘Evolution versus Christian’ cases in the 20th century was known as ‘The Scopes Trial’ [monkey trial]. I remember as a boy watching the made for T.V. movie ‘Inherit the Wind’. The movie portrayed the Christians as ‘ignoramuses’ while showing the defense side as ‘enlightened’. The key figures were Clarence Darrow [1857-1938] and William Jennings Bryan [1860-1925]. John Scopes was the teacher accused of teaching evolution from the book ‘Civic Biology’ by George Hunter. Tennessee had recently passed a law forbidding the teaching of evolution in their schools [Butler act]. Scopes was found guilty and fined 100 dollars, but the intent of trying to show the Christian fundamentalist as ‘backwoods idiots’ was achieved. Darrow managed to get Bryan to admit that the creation account of Genesis might be speaking of ‘ages’ when it says ‘days’ [the very popular gap theory was accepted by many fundamentalists at the time. C. I. Scofield's bible popularized this belief in the notes]. After the trial the fact that the A.C.L.U. lost the case was insignificant, they won in the media. Till this day many people see this event as a victory for freedom and human rights. What is not commonly known is that the book Scopes taught from was one of the most racist books of the age. It freely taught Eugenics [the stronger more ‘nobler’ races winning out over the less valuable inferior races!] it even had a scale showing the 5 races of humans from the most valuable and intelligent, to the least valuable and ignorant. The book had whites at the top and blacks at the bottom. Bryan was a defender of civil rights for all humans, he stood on the side of blacks and minorities being equal. The so called ‘advanced’ bunch [the evolutionists] were on the side of the K.K.K., they espoused the doctrine of white supremacy as taught in the book Scopes used. Bryan felt the danger of this so called ‘scientific theory’ was that it would lead to disaster and the degrading of human dignity. It is an historical fact that Hitler read and believed in Eugenics and Evolution, he felt his atrocities against the Jews were simply mans way of ‘wiping out the inferior races’. His demonic attack would occur a few years after Bryan’s warnings. Now, for those who view the famous ‘Monkey Trial’ as a great victory for humanity, I have one response ‘the men who wrote and espoused such racist beliefs were quite obviously FOOLS!’
(853) ROMANS 9: 30-33 ‘What shall we say then? That the Gentiles which followed not after the law of righteousness have attained it, even by faith’. Paul concludes the chapter by summing up his ‘righteousness by faith’ argument. Natural Israel, who sought to become righteous by law, who were always striving for perfection thru the keeping of the law. They did not attain that which they sought after. Why? Because they sought it ‘not by faith, but by law’. No law could ever make a man righteous. The Gentiles, which were not even looking! They got it. Why? Because they simply believed in the Messiah, it was the best message they ever heard. They were told their whole lives ‘you are separated from Gods promises. You are not included in the commonwealth of Israel’. They never dreamed that the Jewish Messiah would say ‘neither do I condemn thee, go and sin no more’. They received Gods righteousness by faith. Israel ‘stumbled’ at the stumbling stone. Jesus is called a precious stone and also a rock of offence. To those who believe, he is great, precious. To those who don’t believe he is this tremendous obstacle. The unbelieving world doesn’t know what to do with him. I was watching Ravi Zacharias the other night. He is a good Christian apologist. He was telling the story of being in Russia and speaking to a large group of Atheists. During his talk they were really aggressive, making motions with their hands and all. He was told ahead of time to be prepared. At the question and answer time a Russian Atheist asked ‘what are you talking about when you say God? I have no idea what you mean by this false concept’. Ravi asked him ‘sir, are you an Atheist?’ He replied yes. ‘What is an Atheist’? Ravi asked. The man responded ‘someone who denies God’. Ravi said ‘what exactly is it that you are denying’? The unbeliever has come up against this ‘rock of offence’. He tries to get around it, to develop all types of systems and philosophies to deny it. The rock is there, you can either ‘fall on it’. That is admit he is who he claims to be. Submit and be ‘broken’. Or it will eventually ‘grind you to powder’. You will pass from the scene and the next crop of Atheists will rise and face the same dilemma. This rock ‘aint going away’.
(854) ROMANS 10: 1-13 Many years ago I referenced all the back up scriptures for this chapter [and book!]. The study was intense because I saw a fundamental ‘fault line’ that ran thru many in the Evangelical church [the revivalist tradition]. The ‘fault line’ was reading this chapter as in if it were saying ‘ask Jesus into your heart, or you won’t be saved’. Now, I have no problem with those who trace their conversion to an experience like this. But I want to give you my understanding of this chapter, based on the exhaustive study I did years ago. Also, I will probably quote some verses and you will have to find them later [I forget where they all are]. Paul begins with his desire for ‘all Israel to be saved’. I taught in chapter one how come the gospel is the power of God unto salvation. Because all who believe ‘become righteous’. After 9 chapters of Romans, we have seen that when Paul refers to ‘justification by faith’ this is synonymous with ‘believing with the heart unto righteousness’. Here Paul’s desire is for Israel to experience ‘all facets of salvation’ [present and future] to ‘be saved’. Now, he will say ‘Christ is the end of the law to all who believe’ Israel did not attain unto ‘righteousness’ because they sought after it by trying to keep the law. But it comes only by faith. Then Paul quotes a kind of obscure verse from Deuteronomy saying ‘Moses says the righteousness which is by faith’ [note- this whole description that follows is describing ‘the righteousness that comes by faith’] and says ‘the word is near thee, in thy mouth and heart’. Paul then says ‘whoever calls on the Lord will be saved, with the heart a man believes and becomes righteous [which according to Paul means ‘justified’] and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation’. In this text, Paul once again is ‘dividing’ the common understanding of ‘salvation’ meaning ‘getting initially saved’- which is ‘believing and being justified’. And simply saying ‘believers will inevitably call and be saved’ [in a generic sense]. Why would he do this? In the context of his argument, he is simply showing the ‘righteousness which is from the law’ [the man under the law is described as ‘doing something’ continuing under the load and strain of law] versus the ‘righteousness which is by faith’ [described as a person who believes and speaks, as opposed to ‘does stuff’]. It is not inconsistent for Paul to use the term ‘confessing and being saved’ as speaking of something different than meaning ‘accepting Christ into your heart’. Paul is simply giving a description of those who believe ‘all who believe will call’. And yes, they will and do experience ‘salvation’. It’s just in this example Paul is not saying ‘they are saved initially upon confession, calling’. At least not ‘saved’ in the sense of ‘getting justified by faith’. Why? Because the rest of the chapter doesn’t make a whole lotta sense if he were saying this. ‘How can they call on him in whom they have not believed’? He already showed us that ‘believers are justified’. The very argument Paul makes distinguishes between ‘believing unto righteousness, and calling unto salvation’. You can see it like this, there is a verse I stumbled across years ago. It is in one of the prophets [Old Testament] and it says ‘Gods wrath will come upon all them WHO HAVE NOT CALLED UPON HIM’. In this context Paul can be saying ‘whoever calls upon God will never enter judgment/wrath’ [a description of a particular lifestyle, remember Paul said Gods Spirit makes us cry ‘Abba Father’] in this light Paul can be saying ‘all who call [both Jew and Gentile- simply making an argument for inclusion. God accepts ‘all who call’] will not come under future [or present!] wrath’. This would be in keeping with Peters scathing sermon in Act’s where he quotes the Prophet Joel and says ‘whosoever calls upon the Lord shall be saved’. If you go back and read Joel you will see that in context he is saying ‘at the future time of God’s revealed judgment, those who cry for deliverance will be spared’. Peter quotes it in this context as well. He shows Gods future time of judgment and ends with ‘all who call will be saved’. How do we know that Peter was not quoting Joel for some type of ‘sinner’s prayer’ thing? Because after the Jews say ‘what should we do’? He doesn’t lead them in a sinners Prayer! I don’t want to be picky, I simply want you to see context. Paul has already established multiple times thru out this letter how righteousness comes to those who believe. One of the descriptions of ‘those who believe’ are they ‘call upon God’. They even call upon God ‘to save them’. In this chapter the reason Paul uses ‘whosoever calls upon the lord will be saved’ is to simply show God will deliver both Jews and Gentiles. His promise of salvation is ‘to all’. When he uses ‘believing and being made righteous’ along with ‘calling and being saved’ he obviously can not be speaking about the same thing! He even states it this way in his argument. ‘How can they call unless they already believe’? He was simply giving a description of ‘those who believe’. This ‘calling for salvation’ that ‘all who believe’ partake of can speak both of a ‘present tense’ being saved, that is from any and all types of bad things, and a ‘future tense’ deliverance from wrath. Even when Paul quoted David in Roman’s 4, he is ‘describing the blessedness of the man unto whom God will not impute sin’ [Psalms 32] if you go back and read that psalm David says ‘for this shall EVERY ONE THAT IS GODLY PRAY UNTO THEE’. David uses this in the context of his confession of his sin. So the ‘everyone that is Godly’ describes ‘the righteous’ and they WILL CALL! Also in 2nd Corinthians Paul quotes Isaiah ‘now is the acceptable time, now is the day of salvation’ in the context of ‘God heard you and saved you’. Why would Paul use this in 2nd Corinthians? They need not be told ‘pray and get saved’. In context he used it to encourage them to return back into full communion and fellowship after their restoration and reproof he gave them in the first letter. He is saying ‘I rebuked you guys harshly, you repented and asked for forgiveness. God ‘heard you’ in his acceptable time, now get over it and ‘be restored’. Salvation to them came by ‘calling’ but it was not describing an initial conversion experience. Well, I didn’t realize I would go so long, but this is a good example of having a ‘holistic view’ of scripture. You try and take all the quotes the writers are using, put them in context of the broad themes of scripture. Add that to the immediate context of the letter [Romans] and then come to a deeper understanding of truth. I am not against those who see this chapter thru an evangelistic lens, I just think the way I taught it is more faithful to the text. [NOTE- Thru out this site I have taught the doctrine of ‘the salvation of the righteous’. I mentioned it earlier in Romans and have spoken on it before. If you can find these entries they will add some insight to this chapter. NOTE- verse 20 actually has Paul quoting Isaiah ‘I was found by them who did not ask for me’. This would sure seem strange to say in the same chapter that taught a concept of ‘all who ask for me will enter the kingdom’. It is quite possible to ask and pray and confess everything ‘just right’ and still not find him. And according to this verse, the ones who did ‘find him’ [Gentiles] did not ask! After years of coming to the above understanding I read a church council [Council of Orange?] and I was surprised to see how they actually dealt with the issue of believing versus ‘calling upon God’. They quoted some of these texts to show that before a person could call upon the Lord, he first needed faith. They used this example to show Gods sovereignty in salvation. I thought it interesting that they came to the very same conclusions that I did. They even used the same examples! This shows you how the corporate mind of the church is manifestly expressed thru out the ages. I think the council was in the 8th or 9th century?
(855) ROMANS 10:14-21 [Just a note for the previous entry. In the conversions recorded in scripture [Acts] do you know how many times there is a reference to ‘calling upon the Lord’ during the conversion? Surprisingly one time. The conversion of Saul [Paul]! During one of the ‘re-tellings’ of his own story he says ‘I was told to arise, and be baptized. Washing away my sins while calling upon the Lord’. Wow, could we have arguments over this one! Do you identify the ‘washing away of sins’ with baptism or the ‘prayer’? I actually previously taught [somewhere on this long blog!] how in the 1st century Jewish mindset ‘washing from uncleanness’ and water were related. I taught it in a way that did not teach ‘baptismal regeneration’ but more along the lines of ‘discipleship’ you might find the entry under ‘my statement of faith’. The point I want to make here is Paul spent 3 days after the Lord appeared to him before he actually got baptized and made an open confession of faith. Paul’s reputation was so bad [he killed Christians!] that his conversion and confession needed to have all the weight possible. Others needed to know that he now ‘confessed Christ’. Most commentators will look to the appearance of Jesus to Paul on the Damascus road as his conversion. The point I want to make is in the book of Acts, the main ‘altar call’ was actually baptism. This was the normal means to identify with the believing community. We also see the fact that once people believed, they then were baptized. The same distinction can be made with ‘confessing’. Neither can take place until one believes. I would assume that Paul said something like this at his baptism ‘O Jesus, please forgive me for what I have done. I killed your people and have committed a terrible crime’. There obviously were some serious things he needed to confess! But the overall view of conversion in Acts does not show a ‘sinner’s prayer’ type conversion.] Paul indicts Israel ‘The word did come to you, you didn’t believe’. He also quotes Moses ‘God said he would provoke you to jealousy by a nation who were “no people”’. We are beginning a portion of Romans where Paul will try and explain the dynamic of Gods purpose for Israel, and his ‘use’ of the Gentile nations to ‘make them jealous’. When we studied the parables we saw this dynamic at work. Israel was offended that God [Messiah] was offering equal access to the promises of Israel thru Jesus. Israel was jealous of this free grace. Paul shows them that Moses prophesied that this day would come. You also see this in Stephens’s sermon in Acts chapter 7 ‘Moses said the Lord would raise up a prophet like me [Jesus!]’ and then Stephen shows how Israel also did not recognize that Moses was the intended deliverer of the people. So likewise 1st century Israel also did not recognize their Messiah [the first time around!]. God’s acceptance of the Gentiles was difficult for Israel to embrace. It took a divine vision for Peter, and he still ‘fell back’ into a caste system mentality. God is not finished with these dealings [Paul will say in the next few chapters] and he will make every effort to show both Jews and Gentiles that they are both important pieces to this ‘divine puzzle’. He will even warn the Gentiles ‘don’t get proud, if God cut off the true branches to graft you in, watch out! He might do the same with you.’ Paul is striving for both Jew and Gentile to live in harmony as much as possible, he did not want to come off as a defender of the Gentiles only. He was ‘defending the gospel’.
(856) PARABLE FROM A PLANE [or any other mode of transport!] this parable is in response to all the various ‘Calvinistic’ sites I have read from in the last few years. I believe in the doctrine of classic predestination [Calvin, Augustine, Paul] but I feel there are some problems with the way believers approach this issue. Say if you were taking a flight from New York to Texas. You have been on this flight hundreds of times. In fact your father is the pilot! Now, when you were growing up you were reassured that the plane was safe, the pilot is well trained and for all practical purposes you know nothing can go wrong [I realize this analogy isn’t perfect, but just pretend that this flight is guaranteed not to have any problems]. Over the years you have enjoyed the journey. Then one day you meet a fellow passenger [an Arminian- Someone who does not believe in the doctrine of predestination, at least not in the way you do]. You begin having some good discussions, he espouses his belief that it is quite possible for something to go wrong. He agrees that the plane itself is safe and the pilot is qualified. But he states ‘if you want to jump out you can’. This idea never entered into the original passenger. He always believed that the security of the flight was so ‘secure’ that even if he tried to jump, he couldn’t open the exit. Now, the Arminian says ‘I think you could’ the Calvinist says ‘no way’. During their discussion they disagree, but no one attempts to actually ‘jump’. Now a few weeks later the Calvinist is afraid to get on the plane. He has taken the flight many times, but now he wonders ‘What if the Arminian was right? Say if the pilot [his dad] actually has the ability and power to open the hatch and throw me out? The possibility of this actual thing has now frozen me with such fear that I will not get on the plane’. The father [pilot] would seem offended. How many times have children fallen asleep in the car when their father was at the wheel? Even though it’s in the realm of possibility that dad will ‘throw you out’ [I don’t embrace this, but follow me] it would still seem dysfunctional for the child to say ‘I refuse to drive with dad until I have some guarantees that he will never open the door and dump me’. As a matter of fact, I feel so insecure of the possibility that dad can throw me out, that I even hate the other kids [or passengers!] that even brought it up! As I have read from some ‘Reformed sites’ I have seen this type of dynamic more than one time. Some of the brothers see the Arminian camp as heretics. I think we need to step back and take a breath. Even in the Arminian camp, they have faith that ‘dad isn’t going to stop short and open the exit’ [for the most part]. Most simply believe that ‘dad’ leaves this option open for the ‘jumper’. I know this silly parable doesn’t do justice to the whole issue of Gods sovereignty. I just find it disturbing how some of my fellow Calvinists seem to view the other side as ‘the enemy’.
(857) ROMANS- Let me overview a little. This entry goes along with the last one [#856- those of you reading this straight from the Romans study will need to find it under one of the ‘teaching’ sections]. Paul deals with the issue of ‘being provoked by/to jealousy’. Many times believers remain divided because of pride and jealousy. We often do not want to accept the fact that God actually is working thru other camps, groups of Christians who are ‘not like us’. It challenges our very identity at times! We feel like ‘well, my whole experience with God has been one of coming out of [name the group- for many it’s Catholicism] and I KNOW that I have found and experienced God by leaving mistaken concepts about God. Therefore any other ‘defender’ of Catholics is challenging my core experience’. I myself attribute my conversion to ‘leaving religious ideas’ and reading the bible for the first time. Though I had various believers witnessing to me, it was the actual reading of John’s gospel [and the whole New Testament] that clinched it for me. The reality of ‘whoever believes’ as opposed to religion. But my own experience should not limit [in my mind] the reality of others who also embraced the Cross without ‘leaving’ their former church. It is quite possible that other ‘Catholics’ arrived at a serious level of commitment to the Cross, while remaining faithful to their church. Now I realize this in itself can become an issue of contention, all I want to show you is we should not limit the power of the gospel to our own personal experience. During the recent controversy [2008] over certain Pentecostal expressions of ‘revival’ some old time churches simply made a case against all the Charisms [gifts] of the Spirit. The fact is most theologians accept the gifts of the Spirit as being for all ages of the church. Sure, there have been problems with them, even early on [the Montanists] but the fact is there has always been some type of Charismatic expression of Christianity thru out the church age. But the more Reformed brother’s sound [and are often!] more ‘biblical’ than some of the crazy stuff that happens under the banner of ‘Pentecostal/Charismatic’. So the divisions exist. In this chapter [Romans 11] Paul is dealing with a very real dynamic that says ‘I find my whole identity in the way God has worked with me for centuries [Judaism]. The fact that he began a new thing with other groups who I detest [Gentiles] has offended me to the point where I can’t even experience God any more’. Israel could not see past her own experience with God. The fact that God was ‘being experienced’ by other groups in ways that seemed highly ‘unorthodox’ did not mean that their former experience was illegitimate. It simply meant that Gods experience with them was always intended to ‘break out’ into the broader community of mankind. They lost this original intent and used their ‘orthodoxy’ as a means of self identification. An ‘elite’ religious class, if you will. I find many of these same dynamics being present in the modern church. We should stand strong for orthodoxy, we also need to expose and correct error when it gets to a point where many believers are being led astray. But we also need to be able to see God at work in other groups, we should not use our own experience with God [no matter how legitimate it is!] as the criterion of what’s right or wrong.
(858) EVOLUTION- I just read another one of those articles in the news paper. How Florida just mandated the teaching of Evolution in their public schools [I figured it already was mandated?]. They of course described the theory as the ‘central organizing principle of life science’ BULL! Now, I have heard scientists say ‘what in the heck do you mean by this’ [the so called idea that evolution is this amazing ‘organizing principle’]? The truth is evolution has fallen so badly in recent years that many scientists are scrambling for alternative theories. The ones that disbelieve in creation or intelligent design are even looking for a way out of evolution! The old theory has no more legs to stand on. Let me try and show you the desperation of some. Stephen Hawking has espoused various theories on the universe. One of the theories [which is difficult to describe without diagrams] basically looks like a ‘funnel’ or ‘cone’. The present accepted scientific theory of Big Bang Cosmology would look like a cone, with a minute starting point that grows wider as you pan to the top. This accepted theory shows a ‘point of singularity’. This is basically the point on the diagram that says ‘all things started here’. Now, even though this is accepted science, the ‘contrarians’ are desperately trying to come up with other alternatives. Why? Because if the ‘big bang’ is true, then God is a necessary being! So how does the brilliant Hawking get around this? He comes up with a theory [besides the ‘multi-verse’ one!] That says ‘my cone/funnel has a round indistinguishable knob for a point’. Sort of like a dunce cap with a ball at the end [Prophetic? Just kidding]. Hawking espouses that there is no discernable ‘edge’ or starting point. He feels that this concept can explain away the ‘point of singularity’. Why is this absolutely ridiculous? It would be like me trying to prove to you that this roll of duct tape that I hold in my hand ‘had no beginning’. And if I was able to ‘hide’ the starting point of the tape, where you couldn’t peel a piece off, that this would prove ‘walla, the tape has no starting point’ [that is it was never made]. Absolute lunacy! You say ‘well, John, who are you to question the intellect of such an austere man as Hawking’? Many other Physicists have said the exact same thing. It’s simple logic that tells you this. Just because you can hide the beginning point of a thing, this does not mean the thing had no beginning! I just get riled up when I read these news paper articles and they espouse some of the most ridiculous stuff. Maybe their world really does look like a ‘dunce cap with a knob on the end’. God created the one I live in.
(859) NOTE TO THE PASTORS IN CORPUS CHRISTI- I need to do a little ‘local stuff’. First, when I first came to corpus [1992] there were many areas of ‘lack’ in the preaching. Too much materialistic stuff. After a few years of public teaching [first radio, then the blog- as well as actually publishing books] we made enemies. Some who disliked us later became advocates of what I was teaching. I am speaking of key leaders in our region. They realized the damage that the prosperity message caused abroad [Africa and other nations [though Africa is a continent!]]. There came a strong return back to the message of the Cross. How much effect we have had in other regions, I don’t know for sure. But in our region [Corpus and the surrounding areas] we had an effect. Good. Some felt that I was a little too strong in that I mentioned actual names of other preachers. Let me say this; if a preacher endorses, by name, another teacher from his pulpit. He then later needs to ‘un-endorse’ him ‘from the pulpit’ if he has now come to reject the preachers doctrine. I realize some preachers accept our stand now, but disagree with me because I mentioned names. Maybe I wouldn’t have had to ‘mention names’ if preachers did not publicly endorse these same men? Also, I am glad that many In Corpus Christi are really preaching the biblical gospel in a stronger way than before. This was imperative for the purpose of our city to be carried out. There have been many prophetic words over Corpus Christi stating that we would be a ‘representative city’ to some degree because we bear the name ‘The Body of Christ’. I realize that some who finally came along [after many years!] to seeing things ‘my way’ have now been challenged all over again in other areas. This can cause another ‘rift’ like the first stage. I simply want to commend my ‘fellow elders’ for the great changes that they have made. Don’t feel like ‘geez, we can never please this guy [me!]’. I understand that many of you [key leaders] have made real adjustments as a result of reading/hearing our teaching. I commend you all.
(860) WHAT WAS IN THOSE DARN BUCKETS? Imagine yourself sitting on some roadside and you witness way up on a mountain the sight of an old man throwing a bucket of some unknown substance off the cliff. You then assemble a group of detectives and begin researching what was in the bucket. You interview eyewitnesses who say ‘we saw a bucket full of numbers’. Some say the bucket had even and odd numbers, others say only odd numbers. Well, now we have a dilemma. Both sides are adamant about their belief! They will not budge. So you begin an exhaustive 150 year archeological dig to find the numbers. After 150 years you have found ones and threes and sevens and so forth. You have found thousands of these odd numbers. What would your conclusion be? The evolutionist has had 150 years since Darwin to ‘unearth’ all the ‘missing numbers’. We have found fossils of all different kinds of life forms. The problem is there are no ‘even numbers’ [transitional species]. How do we explain the absence of all these so called ‘transitional species’? The intelligent thing to do is admit there were no ‘even numbers’ [transitional species] from the start? But the evolutionist can’t admit ‘the old man had a bucket full of odd numbers’. So he comes up with all types of explanations for the ‘missing numbers’. The problem is there is absolutely no reasonable explanation for why all the odd numbers survived [fossils of complete things, structures] and not a single even number has been found! [Though some clever ‘number hunters’ will try to pass off a broken odd number every so often]. They have even found so called ‘missing even numbers’ and later discovered that they were fakes! I think its time to admit that the old man on the hill had a ‘bucket full of odd numbers’ [there never were any so called ‘missing links’!]
(861) Romans 11:13- ‘For I speak to you Gentiles, in as much as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify my office’. Let me just make a few comments today. How is Paul 'exercising’ his apostolic authority over the Gentiles in Rome? We know he hasn’t been there yet [since becoming a follower of Jesus]. He did not have some type of relationship with them where they contributed to him. He was holding no ‘church services’. He exercised it by speaking into their lives and caring for their welfare. He did this by WRITING THIS LETTER! Recently there has been some discussion on ‘Gods government’ and the apostles ‘bringing things into alignment’ [dealing with the mistakes at Lakeland]. Lots of talk that I am familiar with. What is Gods government? In the world we have 2 competing ‘world views’- systems or modes of operation. You have God’s kingdom, and then the worlds system. When the apostle John said ‘love not the world, neither the things that are in the world’ he was referring to this system of lies and pride and sin. In Gods kingdom you operate under his laws ‘love the Lord thy God with all thy heart… and your neighbor as yourself’. In this family [children of God] you have different types of ‘gifts’. Some are apostles, others prophets, etc. All these gifted ones are given for the singular purpose of building you up so you can have a mature faith grounded in Christ and be the ‘glorious temple’ of God in the earth. Paul was playing his part by communicating Jesus to these Roman Gentiles. He did not have some type of a corporate relationship with them where he said ‘commit to my authority over you. Either I will be your ‘covering’ or someone else!’ These are mans ideas. Now, we often say ‘Paul didn’t receive money from the Corinthians, but he did from the other churches’. I have said this myself. Paul did receive support from the Philippians, but that was support for his traveling ministry. To get him to the next place. If you read carefully you will see Paul telling the Thessalonians ‘when I was with you I did not eat, or take stuff for free. My hands ministered to both me and those that were with me’ I think he even said he worked night and day. When he spoke to the Ephesian elders in the book of Acts, he also said ‘I labored when I was with you, I did not take support from you when I was there. I did this to leave you ELDERS an example’. Now, the point I want to make is it seems as if Paul did not take money when he was actually living among the saints. It seems he took it only for traveling expenses [and of course for his ministry to the poor saints at Jerusalem]. Now, I believe and teach that it is scriptural to meet the needs, financially, of laboring elders. The reason I mention this is to show you that being an ‘apostle’ or any other gifted minister in the church simply means you bear extra responsibility to bring Gods people to maturity. It was not some type of office where you were a ‘professional minister’. When I hear all the talk of ‘Gods apostles are bringing Gods government back into alignment’ for the most part these are men’s ideas being applied to an American corporate 501c3 ministry. Gods ‘government’ operates along different lines. So in this example Paul said ‘I magnify my office’ he was simply imparting some truth to them for the purpose of their own edification. Paul did not see them coming under ‘his covering’.
(862) ROMANS 11- let me make a note on the previous entry. Over the last few years, as well as many years of experience with ‘ministry/church’, I have seen how easy it is to fall into the well meaning mindset of ‘I am going into the ministry, this is my career choice. My responsibility is to do ‘Christian stuff’ and the people’s role is to support me’[ I am not taking a shot at well meaning Pastors, I am basically speaking of the many friends I have met over the years who seemed to think ministry was a way to get financial support]. In the previous entry I mentioned how Paul seemed to have a mode of operation that said ‘when I am residing with a community of believers, I refuse to allow them to support me. I will work with my own hands to give them an example, not only to the general saints, but also to the elders. I am showing you that leadership is not a means to get gain’. It does seem ‘strange’ for us to see this. Of course we know Paul also taught the churches that it was proper and right to support those who ‘labor among you’. I have taught all this in the past and I don’t want to ‘re-teach’ it all again. The point I want to make is we ‘in ministry’ really need to rethink what we do. How many web-sites have I gone to that actually have icons that say ‘pay me here’. The average person going to these sites must think ‘pay you for what’? Paul did not teach the mindset of ‘pay me here, now’. Also in this letter to the Romans we are reading Paul’s correspondence to the believers at Rome. He often used this mode of ‘authority’ [writing letters] to exercise his apostolic office. Of course he also traveled to these areas [Acts] and spent time with them. And as I just showed you he supported himself on purpose when he was with the saints. Basically Paul is carrying out the single most effective apostolic ministry of all time [except for Jesus] and he is doing it without all the modern techniques of getting paid. He actually is doing all this writing and laboring at his own expense. He told the Corinthians ‘the fathers [apostles] spend for the children, not the children for the fathers’. So in todays talk on ‘apostles’ being restored. God ‘bringing back into alignment apostolic government’ we need to tone down all the quoting of verses [even the things Paul said!] that seem to say to the average saint ‘how do you expect us to reach the world if you do not ‘bring all the tithes into the storehouse’! When we put this guilt trip on the people of God we are violating very fundamental principles of scripture. Now, let’s try and finish up chapter 11. Paul is basically telling Israel and the Gentiles that God’s dealings are beyond our understanding [last few verses]. God is using the ‘unbelief’ of Israel as an open door to the Gentiles. He is also using the mercy that he is showing to the Gentiles as an ‘open door’ to Israel! He will ‘provoke them to jealousy’. There are a few difficult verses that would be unfair for me to skip over. ‘All Israel shall be saved’. Paul uses this to show that God’s dealings with natural Israel as a nation are not finished. Who are ‘all Israel’? Some say ‘the Israel of God’ [the church]. I don’t think this fits the text. Some say ‘all Israel that will be alive at the second coming’ I think this is closer. To be honest I think this can simply mean ‘all Israel’ all those who are alive and also raised at the return of the Lord. Now, this would be a form of universalism [all people eventually being saved]. I am not a Universalist, but I don’t want any ‘preconceived’ mindset [even my own!] to taint the text. I think God has the ability to reveal himself to the whole nation of Israel in such a way that ‘they all will be saved’. If I were a Jewish person I wouldn’t wait for this to happen! Just like the Calvinists argument of ‘why witness’? Because God commands it. So even though you can make an argument here for a type of universal redemption at Christ’s revealing of himself to Israel at the second coming [which is in keeping with this chapter, as well as other areas in scripture; ‘they will look upon him whom they have pierced’ ‘God will pour out the spirit of mourning and supplication on Israel at his appearing’. Which by the way would fit in with ‘whoever calls on the Lord will be saved’ which I taught in chapter 10. This is a futurist text implying a time of future judgment and wrath’]. So God’s dealings with Israel are not finished. Paul also warns the Gentiles ‘don’t boast, if God cut out the true branches [Israel] to graft you in. He can just as quickly cut you out too’! It would be dishonest for me [a Calvinist] to simply not comment on this. You certainly can take this verse in an Arminian way. Or you can see Paul speaking in a ‘nationalistic sense’. Sort of like saying ‘if Germany walks away from the faith, they will be ‘cut out’. [France would have been a better example! Speaking of the so called ‘enlightenment’ and the French Revolution]. In essence ‘you Gentiles, don’t think “wow, look at us. God left Israel and we are now special!”’ Paul is saying ‘you Gentiles [as a whole group] stand by faith. God could just as quickly ‘cut you out’ and replace you with another group’. I also think the Arminians could use this type of argument for the previous predestination chapter [9]. But to be honest I needed to give you my view. One more thing, Paul quotes Elijah ‘lord, I am the only one left’. He uses this in context of God having a remnant from Israel who remained faithful to the true God. God told Elijah ‘there are 7 thousand that have not bowed the knee to baal’. Paul uses this to show that even in his day there were a remnant of Jews [himself included] who received the Messiah. An interesting side note. The prophetic ministry [Elijah] seems to function at a ‘popular level’. Now, I don’t mean ‘fame’, but Elijah was giving voice to a large undercurrent that was running thru the nation. If you read the story of Elijah you would have never known that there were ‘7 thousand’ who never bowed the knee! Often times God will use prophetic people to ‘give voice’ or popularize a general truth that is presently existing in the ‘underground church’ at large. Sort of like if Elijah had a web site, the 7 thousand would have been secretly reading it and saying ‘right on brother, that’s exactly what we believe too’!
(863) INTELLIGENT DESIGN- In some of my recent posts on Evolution, I have tried to show the desperation that many scientists are experiencing because of the evidence that is mounting on the side of Intelligent Design. All scientists have ‘preconceived ideas’ that affect the way they view the evidence. Some hold to a theory [note- this is only a theory!] that all things ultimately have to be explained thru naturalistic means. For instance, no matter how much evidence arises on the side of intelligent design, they will continue to reject the theory. Why? Because they are approaching modern science from a naturalistic perspective. They will say ‘if it can’t be explained by natural means [things that can be examined physically- Physics] then we must continue to look for other theories’. This mindset is not necessarily scientific. Nor have all scientists, past and present, assumed this position. So, first we need to understand that the view of science that says ‘no matter how much evidence points to intelligent design, I will never accept it’ is an actual bias on the part of the scientist. Also some of the most ‘notable’ critics have actually embraced this same ‘metaphysical concept’ [that which can’t be seen or measured thru naturalistic means] in trying to refute a creator. [Note- intelligent design and creationism are not the same thing. Intelligent design is simply the discovery of complex information and fine tuning in both the Cosmos as well as created beings. There are so many factors that lead us to believe that a ‘higher intelligence’ had to have been involved. Some espouse other ideas on what/whom the higher intelligence is. For Christians, Muslims and Jews he is God]. Hawking [Stephen] has espoused a ‘multi-verse’ concept of the universe. I have explained it before and wont do it here again [It’s under the evolution section]. The hypocrisy of this theory is it is by definition ‘metaphysical’. It is a theory based, by definition, on ‘supernatural/other than natural’ explanations. It theorizes that there might be an untold number of universes out there, and therefore we are not as unique as we think. The problem is this theory could never be proven by way of using the ‘naturalistic mindset’ that Hawking espouses. By definition ‘any thing that we could see or ever examine by natural means would be in our universe’ [Physics]. So in essence those who hold to a natural explanation to all things are actually contradicting themselves when they espouse this theory. They are using the same scientific logic as the ones who embrace intelligent design. They are saying ‘since we can not come up with a naturalistic explanation to the existence of all things. We too are espousing a ‘metaphysical theory’. The only difference is there god is called a ‘multi-verse’.
(864) ROMANS 12:1-8 ‘I beseech you by the mercies of God to present your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service [spiritual worship]’. Most times we see ‘by the mercies of God’ as a recap of all that Paul has taught from chapters 1 thru 12. This is true to a degree. I think Paul is honing in on the previous chapters that dealt with the purpose of God specifically seen in the resurrection of the body. As we read earlier ‘for we are saved by hope’ [the hope of the resurrection]. Basically I see Paul saying ‘because of what I showed you concerning Gods redemptive purpose for your body, therefore present your body now, in anticipation of it’s future glorious purpose, as a living sacrifice ‘holy and acceptable unto God’. Why? Because you are going to have that thing [body] forever! [in a new glorified state] Paul exhorts us to be changed by the renewing of our mind, the way we think. I have mentioned in the past that this renewing is not some type of legalistic function of ‘memorizing, muttering the do’s and don’ts all day long’. But a reorganizing of our thoughts according to this new covenant of grace. Seeing things thru this ‘new world’ perspective. A kingdom view based upon grace and the resurrection of Jesus. This resurrection that is assured to us because we have the deposit of the Spirit which is our guarantee that God will complete the work that he has begun in us. And Paul will jump into one of his ‘Body of Christ’ analogies which he uses often to describe the people of God. Because we are all one body, we should think soberly about our different gifts and purposes. God gave some ‘better’ [or more noticeable] gifts for the overall edifying of the body. So don’t boast about it. All have varying gifts, freely given. Administrate them with much grace. Do it with humility and cheerfulness. We are simply children thru whom Gods Spirit manifests himself in different ways. Don’t boast that ‘Wow, daddy gave me a bike’. Or look, I got a more expensive Christmas present than you. Daddy distributes the gifts freely as he wills. They are for everyone’s benefit. Don’t use this grace gift as a means of self importance or prestige. It would be like ‘prostituting’ a gift for self aggrandizement. People have done it, but it displeases the giver of the gift.
(865) ROMANS 12: 13 Paul continues to give some basic guidelines on practical Christian living. Notice his teaching on financial giving ‘distribute to the necessity of the saints’. This basic Christian doctrine from Jesus teachings has become the premier act of giving for the New Testament saint. The reason I have stressed this teaching as opposed to the more popular view of tithing, is because the scriptures place such a high priority on Christian charity. As I have mentioned before, Jesus even uses this basic description to describe those who ‘are righteous’ or ‘unrighteous’. He teaches the final judgment will be based on this outward identifier of ‘what we did to the least of these’. If you read carefully the New Testament epistles you will see a picture of ‘local church’ as a caring community of people who show their love for one another thru these acts of kindness and compassion. None of the New Testament letters teach a type of financial giving that focuses on ‘support the ministry/institution’ as being ‘the new testament church’ that replaced the ‘old testament temple’. For example a tithe system that supports the ‘pastor/priest’ in the same way the Levitical priests were supported under the law. It’s so vital for us to see and understand this. Because the average believer is taught thru out his life that his primary expression of giving is to ‘bring the tithe into the storehouse’ in such a way that it violates the actual primacy of giving as taught in the New Testament. Which is to regularly give to meet the needs of those around you. The fact that there were instances in the book of Acts or the letter to the Corinthians where believers gave an offering in a corporate way [the collection for the poor saints- 1st Cor. 16, or the laying of the money at the apostles feet in Acts] does not excuse the believer from the teaching that we should all regularly give to meet the needs of those around us. This is flatly taught as a regular part of the Christian experience. The other fact that Paul never once teaches the tithe as a function of giving for the Gentile churches should cause us all to take another look at the way we teach giving in the church today.
(866) ROMANS 12:14-21 Notice how Paul puts such a high priority on the principles of Jesus. He exhorts the saints to live by the precepts of the great ‘sermon on the mount’. Often times believers try and make a division between Paul’s revelation of justification by faith and the ‘liberal moral teachings of Jesus’. I see no division here. Paul actually quotes Jesus ‘if you’re treated badly, respond in love. By not getting even you heap “coals of fire on your enemies head”’. Actually, I remember how a few years back, when everybody was coming up with their ‘new revelation knowledge’ ideas on scripture. Things like ‘the camel going thru the eye of the needle’. Some taught Jesus was not really rebuking wealth, he was simply talking about a ‘low gate’ thru the wall of the city that was called the ‘eye of the needle’ and the camels had to crouch a little to get thru, true silliness! This verse ‘coals on the head’ was taught as saying Jesus was simply saying you were helping your enemy on cold nights by ‘keeping his head warm’! Sad. Jesus said don’t avenge yourselves, God will avenge you. Doesn’t sound like the lord is talking about ‘head warmers’! Look at these verses carefully. Paul incorporates the teachings of Christ as having a very high priority for the believer. We are often inundated with modern concepts of ministry. How to raise funds [or amass wealth]. Paul ‘locates’ the important thing as being centered on Christ. He knew if the churches [believing communities] of the first few centuries would follow this idea, that they would truly turn their world upside down for the cause.
(867) ROMANS 13:1-6 Paul teaches that believers should ‘be subject’ unto human government. He shows us that ‘the powers that be are ordained of God’. All human leaders are given their position of authority, ultimately, from God. What about Hitler? Or evil Pharaoh? Did God ‘put them there’? If God is sovereign [which he is!] then he permits all things to transpire, that actually transpire! He does not ‘ordain evil’ in the sense that he initiates unrighteous things. But because he has the power to prevent anything from happening, if ‘it happens’ that a wicked ruler is in authority, then he in that sense ‘ordained it’. Understand Paul is writing this at a time in Roman history where the leaders were quite wicked. They worshipped false gods, and even claimed to themselves the title of ‘a god’. For Paul to use this language in this chapter, he even says ‘they are the ministers [servants] of God to thee for good’ is strong. Paul is also not teaching that there is never a cause for civil disobedience, in the sense of ‘whatever the government says, we will do’. In the New Testament we have Peter resisting the order to ‘not teach or preach in Jesus name’ [Acts]. He even says ‘should we obey God or man’ in his defense. Of course today we have legalized abortion, and in the case of later term abortions, the practice is equal to infanticide. We should do all that is in our legal power to stop the murder of unborn children. This law violates Gods law, from whom all human government is derived.
(868) ROMANS 13:7-14 ‘For this cause pay your taxes also, for they are Gods ministers’ I noted earlier how Paul taught ‘give to those around you that are in need’ [chapter 12] and here he teaches the importance of ‘paying taxes’. Where is the exhortation to ‘pay tithes’? In the ecclesiology of Paul, the ‘corporate community of people’ are the ‘new testament temple of God’. Therefore you see the need to ‘pay tribute’ to only two ‘institutions’. One being the ‘local church’ [as seen in simple giving to the needs of the community around you] and the other being ‘the government’. Paul sees no 3rd ‘institution’ that is called ‘the local church’ to which the tribute of the tithe belongs. To correctly apply the verse in Malachi [if you were going to use it at all. It is obvious that the prophet is directing the rebuke towards natural Israel] you would simply see the ‘bring all the tithes into the storehouse’ as ‘give to meet the needs of the community [Gods new testament storehouse] around you’. Now Paul teaches the primacy of the law of love for the believer. If we walk in Jesus command to love, we fulfill the law. And again Paul uses the language of ‘fluent soteriology’ [salvation]. He says ‘now is our salvation nearer than when we believed’. Paul comfortably jumps in and out of ‘being saved’ and ‘will be saved’. It is this free use of the term that we need to become familiar with. The New Testament clearly teaches a future salvation. And it is not as simple as ‘My spirit is saved, my mind [soul- which is really a very weak translation for soul. The soul is much more than the mind, emotions and intellect!] is ‘being saved’ and my body will be saved’. It is not his cut and dry. Your spirit is saved, your spirit will be saved and is being saved [he ever lives to make intercession to God for us- this ongoing intercession deals with all aspects of the humans salvation. Not just the body!]. All 3 modes of salvation [past, present and future] can apply to ‘all of you’ [spirit, soul and body]. Don’t think future salvation only deals with the ‘salvation of the body’.
(869) ROMANS 14:1-9 Paul discusses Christian convictions. Things that are personal habits of discipline where the scripture is silent on. Some believers abstain from certain types of food. Others see certain days as ‘more special’ than the others. It’s important to see that in this discussion Paul is not concerned with ‘who is right’. Though he will describe the legalistic believers as ‘weak in the faith’. And he himself will say he is convinced that ‘nothing is unclean in and of itself’. He is speaking about the convictions mentioned above. When I first became a believer I attended a good church. It was a Fundamental Baptist church that was a little legalistic in these areas. I remember a funny story, some of the brothers went on a canoe trip. We had a blast. One of the guys was wearing these old cut off shorts that looked like ‘blue jean hot pants’ [who wears short shorts, we wear short shorts!] the pants were old and the ‘fly’ kept unzipping. We told the brother ‘hey James, your gonna get us arrested or something if you can’t keep your shorts on!’. He got mad and called us a bunch of legalists! As you can see there are times where this accusation can simply be an excuse. But seriously the church was old fashioned [though well meaning]. I had another friend of mine that I led to the Lord and he asked ‘what’s wrong with the Christian rock, I like it’? He had heard some songs from the group Petra and he thought they were great. He also questioned why it was wrong for his boys to play mixed sports in public school. He was taught that the boys and girls wearing shorts in mixed company was wrong. So things like this are personal convictions that believers should not use to judge others. I want to stress that Paul does not condemn the more legalistic brothers, but he does make it clear that this is a sign of ‘weaker faith’. A faith that looks at the insignificant things and makes them significant. Many ‘Emergent’ church folk [of which I am one to a degree] seem to have had this type of background. Or at least are familiar with the classic evangelical message and preaching. Some have found a revolution in their thinking by re-organizing their lives around the actual lifestyle and teachings of Christ [which is a very good thing!]. But some seem to despise the older type churches and expressions of Christianity that they experienced while growing up. Some even cast away the good with the bad! Though many of the more legalistic churches practiced this type of Christianity, yet I commend them on spreading the gospel of Gods grace. Taking seriously their faith in the Lord. And being historic defenders of the faith at a time when the more liberal universities were throwing out the baby with the bathwater [the 20th century fundamentalist movement].
(870) ROMANS 14: 10-23 ‘As I live…every knee shall bow and every tongue confess’. Paul teaches that we will all give an account of ourselves to God. He shows that one of the proofs that ‘he lives’ rides on this fact. How? The context of every one giving an account of his life is speaking of a future judgment day. But we also see the reality of Gods existence in the fact that most people [even atheists!] have at one time or another ‘spoken to God’. I was listening [or reading?] a testimony of a woman who was an atheist. Her child became critically ill and as the days went by in the hospital she had a conversation that went like this ‘I cant pray to God now. I would be a hypocrite. I have denied him my whole life’. The point is she actually knew that in time of need you should pray to God. This universal reality that most people on the planet have at one time or another ‘confessed to God’ is proof of his existence. Paul says because of this fact that we all will give an account to God, therefore don’t judge other people [motives] before the time. If you have the freedom to ‘eat meat’ [less legalistic] then by all means do so. But if this freedom causes another to stumble, then your first priority as a Christian is to live your life in an unselfish way for the benefit of others. So do not let your freedom become an offence to those who have ‘weaker faith’. Do all things with the benefit of others in mind. When Paul says ‘don’t judge your brother’ he is not saying there is never a time for correction and reproof. Paul used very harsh language when dealing with the Judaizers. These Jewish legalists did believe in Christ, they just mixed the law in with the gospel. Paul rebuked them harshly [just like Jesus and the religious leaders of his day]. But when dealing with new believers, those who are ‘weaker in the faith’ you don’t want to overload them with too much stuff. You want them to grow and mature in the proper time. If you used to be legalistic [not going to movies, not eating pork, all types of stuff] and now are more mature in your thinking [though some movies are bad and pork isn’t real good for you!] you should not despise those who still see the practice of their faith thru this lens. Paul said ‘he that eats, eats unto the Lord. He that abstains does it also to the lord’. In these less important restrictions that some believers abide by, most of the times their motives are pure. We shouldn’t demean them. We should try to live peaceably with all men as much as possible, we will all give an account some day.
(871) ROMANS 15:1-7 ‘we then that are strong [more mature] ought to bear the infirmities of the weak and not please ourselves’. In Philippians we have the ‘KENOSIS’ the act of Jesus, who being in the form of God, thought it not something to be used for his own advantage. He did not see his purpose in the kingdom as one of ‘let’s find out our rights in the covenant and posses what’s rightfully ours’. A few years back it was common to hear ‘God told me his people don’t have a problem with giving [oh really?] but they need to learn how to receive’. While their might be a ‘speck’ of truth in this, the overall ethos of the kingdom [according to Jesus and Paul] is ‘we are not here to please ourselves, but give up our rights and blessings for the purpose of pleasing others’ [building them up, edifying them]. Paul makes this statement right after the chapter on Christian convictions. He shows us that even if we are right on a particular issue, it is ‘more right’ to not offend or put a stumbling block in our brother’s path. It is possible to ‘be right’ in a particular doctrine or truth, and yet ‘be wrong’ in that we might have used it in a way that destroyed the purpose of God in building others up. Many in the church [at large!] have unwittingly ‘tore down’ the poor and oppressed by seeking ‘their own pleasure’. Many overseas countries have been hurt by the amount of pleasure seeking doctrines that went into their countries. Many 3rd world Pastors gave sacrificially out of their extreme poverty to rich American ‘pleasure seekers’ and their poor people suffered greatly when they did not get a literal 100 fold return as was promised. Paul said ‘we that are strong ought to help the weak, and not please ourselves’.
(872) ROMANS 15: 8-14 Paul freely quotes from Psalms and Isaiah [the 2 most quoted Old Testament books in the New Testament] and shows how God always had a future plan to include the Gentiles. In the first century mindset, ‘salvation’ was seen more in a nationalistic sense than an individual ‘me and Jesus’ type thing. The messianic promises were for the ‘commonwealth’ of Israel. As the gospel would expand into the Gentile nations, Peter would call us ‘a holy nation’. Still couching the purposes of God and his kingdom in a nationalistic way [not human ‘nations’ but Gods people]. So for Paul it is significant to show how King David [the greatest king Israel ever had] actually prophesied [Psalms] of the future inclusion of the Gentiles into the corporate ‘nation of God’. Also Paul says ‘you are able to admonish one another’. A theme in Paul's writings is the ability of the ‘local believers/church’ to have within them a corporate ability for self edification. He teaches an idea that says ‘you are all able members of Christ’s Body, therefore build each other up’. Notice how Paul is not speaking into the modern day concept of ‘the Pastor’ who is usually seen as the main ‘builder’. In all of Paul’s letters he addresses the entire body to carry out the function of the church. He tells the Corinthians ‘when you are all gathered together, commit the unrepentant believer over to satan for the destruction of the flesh’. He gave this very heavy charge to the church. He did not see it as something that was to be carried out by a singular office [Bishop or Pastor]. So here we see Paul admonish the local believers to build each other up.
(873) ROMANS 15: 15-20 Paul appeals to his apostolic authority as ‘the apostle to the Gentiles’ in defense of his strong letter. He also says ‘I dare not use any thing that Christ has not wrought by me to make the Gentiles obedient’. Was Paul saying he would not speak about his past testimony and struggles with sin? I don’t think so. He already spoke of these struggles in this letter [chapter 7]. If you keep reading he says ‘thru mighty signs and wonders, by the power of Gods Spirit’. If you read Galatians, Paul says ‘how did you receive the Spirit, by the works of the law or the hearing of faith’ [P.S. for those still stuck on chapter 10 of Romans, see here how Paul saw the passive hearing as the only outward sign of receiving the Spirit- not calling!] here Paul appeals to the Galatians and says they received the Spirit and God wrought miracles among them [mighty signs and wonders] thru faith. In Acts we saw how the primary purpose of the charismatic signs and wonders was for the proclaiming of the gospel. The signs testify of Jesus being the Messiah. So here in Romans I think Paul is simply saying ‘I will not resort to the preaching of the law’, the main tool used by the Judaizers to try and gain ‘obedience’ among the Gentiles in order to make the Gentiles obedient [these are the things that Christ has not wrought by him. They represented Paul's past experience in Judaism]. But instead he will declare the gospel of God’s grace. He will lean on the Cross of Christ as the functional tool to ‘bring obedience to the Gentiles’.
(874) ROMANS 15: 20-33 ‘Now I go to Jerusalem to minister to the saints’ ‘my service to them’. Paul tells the Romans that he is going to ‘minister’ and have ‘service’ towards the Jerusalem saints. How would you take it if I said ‘I am going to New York to minister, hold a ‘service’ in the church’. You would see me as saying I was going to preach in a building, do my best to encourage the people. And before I left I was going to receive an offering. Paul is saying nothing of the sort! His ‘ministry and service’ are speaking of his charitable work among the poor. He received gifts from the churches for the sole purpose of meeting the needs of the poor. He even says ‘if you Gentiles have been made partakers of their blessings, you should help them out financially’. We are familiar with this terminology when Paul uses it to speak of meeting the needs of Elders, but we very rarely apply it to the meeting of the needs of the poor. Paul had a ‘service’ for the saints, and he was not speaking in terms of going to some town and preaching a message and taking an offering. Service in the first century context was giving of your time and resources for the benefit of others. Doing things at your own expense, not always receiving a recompense yourself. I wonder where they got such an ‘unbiblical idea’. It reminds me of the time when Jesus put on a towel and washed the disciples feet. Another one of those strange passages that seem to teach that leadership is here to serve, not be served. These kingdom precepts do not fit in with the modern idea of ‘ministry/service’.
(875) ROMANS 16- Some debate the ‘canonicity’ of this chapter. They feel that all the personal greetings from Paul are too personal. Let’s talk a little about the Canon [inspiration of the scriptures]. First, I am a ‘bible believing Christian’ who holds to the historic doctrine of scripture. But you do have varying views on what the historic doctrine is. I hold to the idea that God never intended for the letters that were written in the first century, which have become our New Testament, to be writings that were pulled out of time. That is the writers had to have been writing with a contextual purpose in mind. The recipients of the letters had to have had some type of practical instructions that they could wrap their minds around. So for John to say something to the seven churches in Asia Minor [Revelation] it was just common sense that the actual recipients of the letters would expect something practical for their day. This of course does not mean there are no further applications or instructions for us today, but we need to have a more personal understanding of the give and take between the Apostles and the people they were writing to. So this is how I think we should view the personal stuff in the Canon. This also needs to be understood when interpreting scripture. I have made the argument before for the 1st century belief in Christ’s literal second coming. I have also taught how the early church had no concept of a Rapture that was separated from the return of Christ. The event spoken of by Paul in Thessalonians chapter 4 is a real thing that takes place at Christ’s return. We get ‘caught up to meet him in the air’. Now how confusing would it be for the first century readers of Paul's letters, to have one letter that speaks of a second coming, and another that spoke of a rapture? It would be next to impossible to have any coherent view of scripture if they did stuff like this. You could then make an argument for any doctrine. There would be no coherent thinking if you were living in Thessalonica and read a letter from Paul that used the same terminology about the return of Christ as he used in a letter to the Corinthians. And if you relocated to Corinth and said ‘Oh, yes. Paul wrote to us about the resurrection and return of Jesus. But when he wrote to us he was speaking of the rapture, but when he wrote to you he was talking about a different event called the second coming’. This type of thinking would have been disastrous for the early church. They were all receiving letters from Paul that contained basic truth. The fact that these letters were not included in an entire collection [as we have today] leads us to believe that the basic message had to stay the same in all of these letters, or else you would have had havoc in the early church.
(876) ROMANS 16- CONCLUSION Okay, lets try and finish up Romans. We do see some good stuff in this last chapter. We see Paul addressing women as functional ministers in the church. Phoebe is a deaconess, Junia an apostle! I still believe that Elders were only men, but women did function in the first century Ecclesia’s. Paul also says ‘mark those which cause divisions contrary to the doctrine you have learned and avoid them’. Now, I have heard the strict Baptists use this against the Pentecostals, and it did put the fear of God in you! But then I heard the Pentecostals use it against the strict Baptists, and it also put the fear of God in you! [maybe another fear?] The point being you could use this to defend any doctrine you ‘have been taught’ by well meaning men. Here Paul is warning against those who were early on departing from the faith [the basic elements of the gospel and Gods grace]. The apostle John addresses those who ‘went out from us, but were not of us’ ‘whoever rejects Christ as come in the flesh is anti christ’ [1st John]. You did have those who rejected the basic elements of the gospel and the incarnation of Jesus. Paul warned the Corinthians not to depart from the reality of Christ's resurrection [1st Corinthians 15]. And of course Paul openly rebuked the Judiazers for trying to put the gentile believers under the restrictions of the Mosaic law. So even though these types of verses seem to fit in to our present day controversies and differences among various denominational groups, yet in context they refer to those who were rejecting the basic tenets of the faith. Paul also encourages ‘God will crush satan under our feet shortly’ ‘God is able to establish us thru the gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ’. Let me defend the concept of ‘old fashioned preaching’ a little. While I and many others have publicly taught a type of new testament ecclesiology that is absent the ‘weekly pulpit Pastoral office’. Yet there is biblical precedent for the preaching of the Word. Paul taught in chapter 10 ‘how can they hear without a preacher, and how can they preach unless they are sent’? God strengthens believers thru the preaching of Gods Word. While it is wrong for the average believer to depend solely on this preaching to become educated in the things of God, yet there is a strengthening that God gives to the believer when he comes under the pure preaching of Christ. As we end Romans, I want to re emphasize the major doctrine of justification by faith. The reformation of the 16th century did not happen in a vacuum. God restored a very vital truth back to the people of God. All Christians should be grounded and well versed in the reality of God freely accepting us based on simple faith in Jesus Christ. Now, I realize that many are returning to a more 'sermon on the mount’ orientation of the Christian lifestyle. As I have taught before I think this is a good thing. A ‘re-focusing’ on the teachings and instruction of Jesus. But I think we also need to emphasize the many statements from Jesus himself on those who believe having everlasting life [John’s gospel]. Romans is a masterpiece letter from Paul, one of his main points was justification by faith. God wants believers to be grounded in this truth.
(877) HURRICANE IKE- It’s 9-12-08, 6:20 am. I want to be careful in sharing this entry. We have friends in Houston who read our blog and hear our radio stuff. This week we had one of the worst predicted hurricanes to hit Texas in many years. For the first time since I have lived in Corpus all the projections had us as a direct hit. I have never seen the local officials ‘fear’ one as much as this one. Now, before I retired as a fire fighter I always stayed for the storms. It was part of your job. Of course as this last week progressed I made a few preparations and had plans to go inland [to stay at my daughter’s ranch]. I also prayed for the thing to ‘go north or south’ or at least not be a direct hit. Also a few weeks back as I was reading Isaiah I added a new prayer verse to my weekly intercession, it went ‘hear me oh islands, and you from afar’ [Ike?]. I simply felt the lord wanted me to start praying this. This was a week or two before any signs of a hurricane [I didn’t even connect it until this morning!]. Now as all the locals were in sheer panic, I kept up my routine. As many were evacuating I mowed the grass. I told my wife I think I am going to go down by the water and try and record the thing. I regularly pray outside during storms [and yes lightning!] and I was getting mad about all the fear. I told my wife ‘you guys go inland, I just might hang out and see what happens’ [I live in a flood zone very close to the water]. I did not want to change my schedule because of fear. Now, here’s where it gets tricky. There are some very accurate prophets [internationally known] who have been right on concerning natural disasters. One lives in the Dallas area. A few years back he predicted the tsunamis and where they would hit. He did gain national attention. I sent him some ‘reproof’ a year or so ago. He was quoting ‘the wealth of the wicked is for you’ a little too much. I have read his stuff and do like his ministry. I also noticed he quit using the verse after I sent him some stuff [I don’t know if he read it or not. I might have just emailed him our stuff? I have sent both hard copies and email at times]. I haven’t gone to his site in over 6 months. A few weeks back I went to his site and read ‘get ready Corpus, your gonna get hit!’ I felt it to be prophetic because it was the only thing he wrote about Corpus, and it was the first day I went to his site in many months. Then I opened one of my bibles [their laying all over the place!] and opened to a page in Isaiah that said ‘I am going to change your scenery’. This was a notation I put in a few years back. It was a simple prophecy I had read somewhere [or heard]. These things led me to believe we were gonna get hit. Then as I woke up yesterday, a couple of days before land fall. I took the prophecy about Corpus personal. I had corrected this brother somewhat and felt it to be a little personal. I am not saying that’s why he prophesied it, I just took it personal. So as I prayed I was wishy washy about where to ‘send it’ [in a decree type thing]. But was mad and said ‘I decree in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth that you turn north. I forbid you [Ike!] to come within 100 miles of Corpus Christi’. Now, I felt I needed to be specific about it, so I was. Sure enough after I finished my prayer and writing time, I checked the coordinates, and to the surprise of everyone in Corpus, it turned north! Now, I am not saying it was because of my prayer [though it might have been!] but the indicators that I had all along, before any hurricane was in the gulf, seemed to connect this whole event with national prophetic things. I feel the spiritual callings on our city do play a major role in events like this. Jesus commanded the winds and seas and they obeyed. I feel the Prophetic/Apostolic callings have a role in stuff like this. As of right now the storm is predicted to be severe in Houston. I don’t want that! I even prayed ‘Lord, keep it away from the more populated area’. But I couldn’t help shake the feeling I had when I ‘aggressively’ rebuked it, by name. And said ‘go north’. I just felt like there was a little prophetic vindication in some of this. NOTE- The storm has passed, and it has caused the most destruction to the scenery of Texas since I have been here [28 years]. I just want you to see the reality of prophetic things. When I woke up one day and turned to the prophetic word in my bible that said ‘your scenery is about to change’ I felt it to be a warning about the change of scenery/landscape as a result of a hurricane. Within a few weeks [or less! It might have been a few days to be honest. But I try to go the extra mile in not over exaggerating these types of things] it actually happened. We don’t rejoice over the ‘accuracy of a prophetic word’ while people have lost their lives and homes. We should simply recognize and pray when God reveals stuff like this. UPDATE- I just remembered something. About a week or so before the storm hit, I drove to port Aransas [a beach town] and bought a souvenir picture of a huge wave coming over a pier. I hung it up in my yard where I pray. I also felt like the Lord was telling me to lie on the beach and pray while face to face in the sand. So we went to the same beach a week later and I did it. This day there was another storm just leaving the gulf and as I was in the ocean I got caught in a storm surge type wave. It was simply the sensation of a huge amount of water coming to shore. Not a high wave, but the tide came in a few hundred feet past the normal line. I feel like the Lord prophetically had me pray this day to avert our area from a direct hit. Our local pier was struck by a huge storm surge [just like the picture I bought] and caused massive damage to the pier.
(878) RUTH 1- During the time of the judges there was a famine in the land. A Jewish couple, Naomi and Elimelech, leave their home land and travel to Moab. They take their two boys. During their time in Moab the boys marry. The girl’s names are interesting. One has the same name as a famous TV talk show host, Oprha! [actually it’s Orpah] the other is Ruth. Elimelech dies and eventually the two boys die as well. You have to stop and think of this tragedy for a moment. Is it possible that relocating to Moab was rebellion against the Lord? They did leave the promised land because things got tough. How often do we relocate under these types of circumstances? Naomi is left with her two daughters in law and she decides to return to the homeland. The girls want to go with her, but Naomi tells them ‘why go with me? I am too old to give you any more husbands. Stay in your own land and culture’. Orpah stays and becomes a very popular woman talk show host [okay, that’s it. I won’t do this again] and Ruth says ‘I will return with you and your family and culture AND GOD will be mine’. She chooses the true God of Israel over the pagan gods of Moab. Now, Naomi has suffered tragedy, she refers to herself as bitter. By all outward appearances she has failed in life. But wait, one of the most coveted things to happen for a woman of Israel was to have a part in the role of the Messiah. Ever since the promise in Genesis ‘the woman’s seed shall bruise the serpents head’ [the earliest evangel in scripture] all women from Israel wanted to be the mother of ‘that seed’ [Messiah]. If you weren’t the mother, the next best thing was to play a role in the lineage. Naomi will be the matchmaker of a couple that the lineage of messiah will be traced thru. God often used barren women, women who were deemed ‘cursed’ to play a major role in his purposes. I do realize that in the natural it did not look good for poor Naomi. I am sure all her friends gave her the standard ‘Oh dear, we are so glad to see you’ but later on must have thought ‘what on earth happened to that family? She left with big dreams and came back a widow!’ Are you feeling barren right now? Do you feel humiliated because the vision and purpose you told everyone about has not come to pass? Now is the time to find your purpose and destiny in God. You might just be in line to fulfill a greater, less obvious destiny. It might not look so glorious now, but maybe one day when the history books are written, your role will outlive the naysayers of the present hour.
(879) RUTH 2- Ruth goes out during the Barley harvest and gleans in the field. Gleaning was engrained in the law of Israel. It allowed for the poor of the land to gather up the leftovers from the initial harvest. The land owners had to leave the corners of the field ‘un reaped’ as well. Ruth ‘happens’ [by chance] to glean in the field of Boaz, a next of kin. He is called the ‘kinsman redeemer’ this speaks of being a close relative [from the Hebrew word ‘go’el’] who had the right to redeem the goods of a relative who had died. Their stuff would go up for public auction and the redeemer had first shot at it. He also had the right to buy back a fellow relative from slavery, or even avenge the blood of a relative who was murdered. Ruth just happened to come into his portion of the field. He was a relative of her father in law Elimelech who had died in Moab. Boaz asks who she is, the men tell her she is the Moabite who came back with Naomi. Boaz tells his men ‘take it easy on her, let her get a good portion of barley. Even let some extra fall for her’. He favors Ruth. She even asks why he is treating her so well and he tells her it is because he heard how she did such a noble thing in staying with Naomi after no one was left. It kinda reminds me of the good works of Cornelius in Acts chapter 10. Scripture says his alms and prayers came up before God as a memorial. Boaz didn’t simply treat Ruth well for no good cause, she reaped what she sowed! Ruth goes home and tells Naomi about the situation and she says ‘great, he is a next of kin. Keep working with him’. Naomi realizes that if things work out that Boaz just might claim Ruth for himself. The Kinsman redeemer is a type of Christ. He needed to have the substance to ‘buy back’ the possessions. He needed to be related [by blood] and he needed to be willing. Unlike the mandate for a brother to marry a sister in law and raise up children to his dead brother, the Kinsman redeemer had free choice. He could pass up on the offer if he wanted. Jesus chose to go to the Cross for all humanity. He had the ‘substance’ [he had the perfect life to lay down] and the willingness to purchase us. In this chapter we see the sovereign hand of God at work. Though the scripture says ‘she happened’ by chance upon the field, yet we realize that in Gods plan nothing ‘just happens’. God was directing the course of Ruth to meet up with Boaz, God knew that he would use their eventual marriage as a tool to bring forth the messiah.
(880) RUTH 3- Naomi advises Ruth to go to Boaz at night and lay down beside him. Boaz is at the threshing floor, a place where you went to thresh the wheat/barley. Threshing was simply the process of sticking a pitch fork type instrument into a bushel full of wheat and throwing it into the air. The wind would blow away the chaff [bad stuff] and the good stuff would fall onto the floor. Sort of like sifting for gold. In the New Testament Jesus is said to be coming with the pitchfork in his hand and he is going to thresh his wheat. This was a symbol to natural Israel that the time of judgment and cleansing had arrived. Jesus would spiritually shake things up and allow the wind of the Holy Spirit to cleanse away that which was useless. Ruth lays next to Boaz and Boaz wakes up startled. He realizes that Ruth is basically showing that she wants Boaz to redeem her. For him to function as the kinsman redeemer and marry her. Boaz informs Ruth that he will do it, but first he has to make sure the closer relative to Ruth doesn’t want to perform the task. Boaz was second in line as the redeemer. He asks Ruth for her veil and he fills it up with barley [like a sack] and she returns to Naomi. Let’s spiritualize a little bit. Often times the lord will take the ‘veil’ [darkness/depression] and turn it into a full harvest. The very thing that seemed to be a dark period in your life becomes the actual capacity for a full reward. Scripture commands us to come out from a place of mourning and darkness and to put on a new veil of rejoicing. Ruth’s experience was one of difficulty. She originally married into what seemed to be a stable family. After the death of her Father in law and husband [and brother in law!] things were not looking too good. Ruth persevered and transitioned into a new culture and environment. A very difficult thing to do during a time of upheaval and disappointment. The scripture says ‘if your strength fails in the day of adversity, it is small’. Don’t feel condemned, but if the truth be told it really isn’t our knowledge and natural ability that brings us into success, it is the maturity that God builds into you thru out your life. The ability to face difficult situations and to press ahead. Ruth prevailed thru some tuff stuff, she got a ‘veil full of barley’ in return.
(881) RUTH 4- Boaz tells Ruth that he must first ask the closer relative if he wants to inherit Ruth and her husband’s inheritance. The closer relative turns down the offer, he can not harm his own inheritance by building up the heritage of Ruth. Boaz goes thru the public act of calling ten elders of the city together to witness the passing of the title deed to him. He marries Ruth and they have a son named Obed. He will become the father of Jesse who is the father of King David. The Lord used the tragedy of Naomi to carry thru her a divine link to the Messiah. The women of the town praise Naomi and tell her how blessed she is to have obtained an inheritance for her son and lineage when all hope was gone. There was a time in Naomi’s life when all looked lost. The odds of her pagan daughter in law Ruth, to have actually returned with her to the land and to have married back into the family were next to zero. Naomi reminds me of the verse in Isaiah that says ‘when I was in oppression and unstable I had all these children. How could this have happened’ [my paraphrase!] This was speaking of Israel’s fruitfulness despite her own trials and difficulties. In Isaiah 53 it says of Jesus ‘thou wilt see of the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied. Thru his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many’. God often sees us in the midst of adversity and watches to see how we will respond. He is not looking for perfection, never stumbling. He is looking for a willingness to continue to trust in him thru it all. These are Divine tests. Naomi prevailed thru great difficulty, she will forever be named as someone who had a role in the history of the Messiah.
(882) 1ST SAMUEL; INTRO, CHAPTER 1- Originally the books of 1st and 2nd Samuel were one volume. When the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament was made [the Septuagint] they were added with 1st and 2nd Kings and were called ‘The books of the kingdoms’. In order to keep this volume from becoming too big, they were divided into the present divisions. In chapter one we see the family of Elkanah and Hannah [and wife #2 Pininnah!]. They go up to the Tabernacle of the Lord in Shiloh to worship the true God. Hannah has no children while wife # 2 does. This becomes a point of contention and jealousy between the two wives. Hannah pours her heart out to the Lord and makes a vow. She tells the Lord if he gives her a son that she will dedicate him to the Lord. Eli the priest sees Hannah praying silently [her lips moving but hearing no voice] and he assumes she’s drunk! Why? Was she stumbling and acting drunk? No. It was because he thought she was mumbling [speech] like a drunk. In Acts chapter 2 the same thing is assumed. Those who received the outpouring of the Spirit were thought to be drunk. Why? Were they stumbling and falling? No, once again it was a speech thing. They were speaking all types of unknown languages [known to the various groups their that day] and people thought they were acting like drunks when they can’t talk clearly. I emphasized this because it’s common today for renewal movements to associate the Spirit with people actually stumbling and driving in a drunken type state. While I don’t want to be dogmatic and say this can never be of God, yet many of these believers will use the Acts chapter 2 example to justify their belief. Act’s 2 does not teach ‘being drunk in the Spirit’ in this manner. Now the Lord hears Hannah’s request and she gives birth to Samuel. She keeps him until he is weaned [2 or 3 years old] and then she honors her vow and dedicates him to the Lord. She actually gave him up to become a full servant of God at Shiloh. It was not an easy vow to keep. As we go thru this book we will cover lots of interesting history. Samuel will become a mighty prophetic leader in Israel. He will be the one to introduce king Saul as Israel’s first king. The last verse in Judges says ‘there was no king in the land in those days, every man did what he thought was right in his own eyes’. It’s common to think this means God punished Israel for not having a human king. In actuality God will tell Israel that they were rejecting his kingship over them by wanting a ‘king like the other nations’. We will learn that God did not originally intend for Israel to have a singular human king. The description from judges simply shows us that sinful people, who reject God’s law, will go astray. In these instances a king can bring some sort of stability and government. The kings of Israel will serve in this capacity.
(883) WHAT IN THE WORLD ARE THE CATHOLICS/ANGLICANS THINKING? Our readers realize that I am not anti catholic at all. Some believe I am too pro catholic! But these past few weeks have been horrendous for Intelligent Design proponents [like me!]. First, a bunch of Catholic statements have been made that are pro evolution. While nothing is ‘Ex- Cathedra’ [the official stamp of approval from Rome] many Catholic statements have been made in defense of evolution. The Anglican Church just officially apologized to Darwin for heavens sake! What’s going on? You have many good Catholic scientists who do lean toward Darwin’s theory in the sense that they view all the GOOD science that has come from the reality of grappling with the issue. And there have been great strides made. The fundamental error of Darwin is there is tremendous scientific evidence against all life forms having evolved from one common cell. Even if a person wanted to believe that living cells erupted spontaneously from a pre biotic soup, the honest reality is that it is absolutely unproven that humans themselves can be traced back to a single pre biotic living cell. Now a few years back you had the major scientific finding that all humans shared a common human parentage. The secular media actually reported this story as ‘the genetic Eve’ [the mother of all living]. This scientific breakthrough showed us that the ‘silly’ bible story of Adam and Eve might actually be literal! Yes folks, science says that we all have a common mom and pop! But can we trace a common ancestry to a single original cell from which ALL LIFE came from? Absolutely not. To the contrary you would be better off trying to make an argument for multiple ‘first cells’ instead of one. The study of DNA absolutely shows us the impassible gulf between human and animal life. No matter how hard science tries to bridge this gap, it can’t. They have tested monkeys that seemed to show human traits, hoping that the link between human and monkey could be made. What have they found? To their dismay, it was a monkey. All science shows us that human beings and animals are of distinct origin. If one wants to reject the literal reading of creation in the Genesis account [which seems to be what all the recent fuss is about] you still cannot teach Darwinian Evolution as a viable alternative. True science will not allow it.
(884) SAMUEL 2- Hannah gives great praise to God for Samuel. This prophetic utterance is a lot like Mary’s ‘Magnificat’ in Luke chapter one. She says ‘God brings low the rich and helps the poor’. This week we had one of the worst financial disasters in U.S. history [9-2008]. It could have been worse, the government took over some major financial [and insurance] institutions. One of them was A.I.G., a major insurer. A day or so before they were taken over I asked my wife ‘did you take out the girls trust money’. We had a lot of money for our girls in the company [lets say between 50 and 100 thousand dollars]. My wife says ‘no, not yet’. I was a little perturbed to say the least. My wife is the trustee for the girl’s accounts, and I have been telling her for about a year to take the money out. So the day she makes the request all the talk on the financial shows is ‘will A.I.G. declare bankruptcy today’? I was upset. Another day went by and they said ‘overnight they will declare’. And we still didn’t get the money. Well the government stepped and basically took the company over and we got our checks. I was talking to my homeless buddies and they were somewhat aware of the crisis, but they could care less. Their lives were not tied up in these systems. They were still going to live the way they were living for most of their lives. Trusting God daily to meet their needs. It made me think of Hannah’s prayer. Also we see the first use of the word ‘Messiah’ [anointed] in the bible. ‘God will strengthen his king and exalt the horn of his anointed’. I read this yesterday and was quoting it all day. It’s appropriate that Mary uses this prophetic utterance while speaking of Jesus, the Messiah. The sons of Eli the priest are wicked. They are robbing the people and sleeping with the women at the tabernacle gate. Scripture says ‘the people abhorred the offering of the Lord’ because of their abuse. For many years I heard ‘if people are offended because the church emphasizes money so much, well let them be offended’. I never really questioned this reasoning. Then I began to see how the majority offence to unbelieving friends and family was the money issue. While most of the pastors were well meaning, they seemed to not realize that we do have a responsibility to not offend in the area of offerings. The apostle Paul adjusted his ministry in such a way that he would not allow the churches to support him while he was with them. [Not just Corinth either, but Thessalonica and Ephesus! Read Thessalonians and the chapter in Acts that deals with the Ephesian elders- 22?] The point being the church bears much responsibility to how the world views us in the area of offerings to God. Eli's sons abused the system to their own benefit and the people began to despise the whole concept of ‘church and money’. A prophet will pronounce judgment on Eli’s household and Samuel will ‘grow in favor with God and men’. Just like Jesus. Samuel is a type of Christ who knew his prophetic/priestly destiny from a young age. Jesus was in the Temple questioning the leaders at the age of 12, Samuel was serving the Lord at an even younger age.
(885) SAMUEL 3- Samuel is laying down at night and hears someone call him ‘Samuel’. He thinks it’s the voice of a man [Eli] and he goes to him and says ‘what’s up, why did you call me’? Eli tells him he didn’t call him. This happens 3 times and finally Eli realizes that the Lord is speaking to Samuel [though Samuel doesn’t realize it!]. Eli tells Samuel to simply reply ‘speak Lord, for thy servant heareth’. Sure enough the Lord returns and reveals to Samuel that he is going to judge Eli’s house and dynasty. Eli asks ‘what did the Lord tell you’? And Samuel tells it all. A few things. First, it’s possible for gifted young prophetic people to mistake men’s leadership for God. In Samuels’s case the Lord purposely bypassed human leadership. Even leadership that was God ordained to a degree! When we become over dependant on human leadership God will shake up the apple cart. Also Eli was still mature enough to direct Samuel towards the Lord. He knew it was not his job to mediate this gift. He could have been jealous and said ‘well, I guess you need to ignore the voice. After all who do you think you are trying to hear God while bypassing the official channels’. But Eli directed Samuel to the Lord. Also this chapter says ‘God let none of Samuels words fall to the ground’ all the people from Dan to Beer-Sheba knew that Samuel was a prophet. I have said in the past that true ministry does not seek fame and recognition. This does not mean that these things won’t happen! Often times God will elevate a prophetic gift while the person themselves are not seeking it. Jesus was a great example of this. He said in John’s gospel ‘I don’t seek the recognition from men, I know what’s in man’. What was in man? The same people who were extolling him would be part of the crowd who would yell ‘crucify him’ later on. The vanity of men’s glory is a shameful thing. Yet Jesus became the ‘most famous’ prophet in the history of the world. Samuel had a divine mission to accomplish, he was well recognized as a prophet sent from God for a particular season. Even Eli [the recognized official leadership] saw something special with Samuel, he was humble enough not to stand in the way.
(886) SAMUEL 4- DOES TRUE SCIENCE BACK UP BIBLICAL CREATIONISM? The reason I stuck this in here is because this chapter deals with the Ark of the Covenant [the box that ‘contained God’ or his ten commandments!]. I want to deal with the biblical revelation of Gods character and how it relates to creation. Do you remember the Indiana Jones movies? The Raiders of the Lost Ark. They showed a view of the Ark of the covenant as God being this super energy/light force that if ‘unleashed’ would completely decimate everything around it. Sort of like an Atomic bomb. The biblical account of creation is that in the beginning [of time and all matter and everything else, except God] that all you had was this self existent all powerful being who is Spirit [not matter]. And that by a singular act of speaking he created all matter and everything else in our universe. This concept was rejected by philosophers and scientists for over 2 thousand years. Even Saint Thomas Aquinas, the premiere apologist of the Catholic Church, believed that the universe always existed. He chose to defend God from the idea of ‘prime mover’. That is God is the initiator of all motion. He accepted the basic belief that the universe always existed. So you had the biblical world view, as seen in those who said ‘all matter and existence came into being at a point in history where God [this being of infinite energy and light] spoke and unleashed his creative power’. The majority scientific view was ‘this is impossible’. The 20th century will go down in history as the century that made the most breakthroughs in scientific thought up until the present time. Michael Faraday [the 19th century] would unlock certain keys that would become the groundwork for Einstein’s breakthrough in Physics. Up until that time all science treated energy and matter as separate fields. Faraday discovered that light itself was a beam of energy. He discovered Electro Magnetism. Einstein had an obsession with light as a little boy. He wanted to know what it was, how it functioned. Einstein’s famous theory E= MC 2 combined energy and matter in a way that was revolutionary to the scientific world. For the first time science would view energy and matter as co related fields. What worked in one field was true for the other. His theory stands for ‘Energy = Matter times the square of the speed of light’ C represents the speed of light- 670 million miles per hour! Einstein unlocked a tremendous secret that was hidden to the world of science up until his day. He showed that time itself is relative. Until that time Newton’s view was if you could actually travel at the speed of light and ‘catch up’ to the end of a beam of light, that it would still be moving away from you at the speed of light. Einstein believed this didn’t make sense. But the laws of physics up until his time did not leave room for a reasonable explanation. His breakthrough idea was that if you could actually catch up to the speed of light, you would theoretically be at a point where time stood still. These concepts seemed ridiculous before. The only place where you would find such silly ideas as ‘time being no more’ or as ‘all matter came into existence by this supreme light force’ were in the ancient biblical texts. So true science was getting closer to biblical revelation, not the other way around. Now Einstein’s theory meant that if you not only caught up to the speed of light, but actually surpassed it, what would happen? The energy used to surpass the speed of light would turn into density, matter. So you would actually be able to get matter [Hebrews 11] from ‘things that are not seen’ [immaterial]. This theory also meant that if you could unleash the potential energy from matter, you would be unleashing one of the greatest forces known to man. The Atom Bomb. Einstein’s theory has been measured and been proven to be true. As hard as it is to wrap your mind around, studies have shown that things do not age as fast when traveling at high rates of speed for extended periods of time. Einstein’s theory has made possible the belief that all things came into existence at a specific point in time. This supreme being of light and energy had the potential to create all the matter in the universe in a matter of seconds. This ‘super fast light being’ also transcends time, a thing thought to have been impossible in the past. Einstein enabled man to come closer to the ‘stuff of God’ more than at any other time in history. One other thing, Einstein’s theories break down right at the point of ‘singularity’. The exact moment of creation. Hey, God isn’t going to let you see it all without having some faith! NOTE- I am not advocating Pantheism here [the belief that the universe and the creation itself are actually God]. Light and energy [power] and ‘Logos’ [The Greek word for ‘Word’] are all descriptions of God, that he himself uses to reveal himself to finite man. But because he is the creator of light and energy and all things, he is revealed to man by his creation. But God himself is a personal self existent being. In his revelation of himself thru Jesus Christ he also exists in a bodily resurrected state at the right hand of the majesty on high.
(887) SAMUEL 4 CONTINUED- Okay, let’s finish it up. In this chapter we see an important historical event, the capture of the Ark of the Covenant [the box that held the 10 commandments, not Noah’s Ark!] The children of Israel fight with the Philistines and take a loss of 4 thousand men. They go back to camp and regroup. They decide to take the Ark of God and involve it with human warfare. A big mistake! This speaks of the sad history of the crusades and other mistaken ideas of ‘holy war’. God does not involve himself in mans efforts of domination thru power. So the Philistines hear that the Ark is in the battle and they fear. ‘Oh my God, this is the God of Israel who defeated the Egyptians’. They knew the history of Israel and how the God of Israel was great. The battle rages and Israel takes a greater loss of 30 thousand men. Plus the Ark is captured and the two sons of Eli are killed. The runner runs back to Shiloh [the headquarters of the Ark, where the tabernacle of Moses still stood] and brings the terrible news to Eli [the high priest]. Eli hears about the Arks capture and falls back and breaks his neck and dies. One of the daughters in law to Eli goes into labor and delivers a boy. She names him Ichabod, which means God's glory has departed. She did this because the Ark was taken. The Ark represented Gods glory and presence among the people. It seems as if Israel began to treat it in an idolatrous way. Sort of like what happened with the brass serpent that Moses made in the wilderness. God has to step and rebuke his people when they mistake the true worship of God with religious objects. The history of the Christian church has been divided over this for centuries. You can have religious art, it should not become a thing of worship. The iconoclast controversy of the Catholic and Orthodox churches have gone to extremes on both sides. At times believers would go into the ‘churches’ and destroy all the religious art they found. Others would hold to a view of icons [religious paintings] and statues that would seem to cross the line in areas of worship. I remember hearing a story about a prophet who stood up in a church meeting and said ‘thus saith the Lord, I have judged this church and people. My glory is no longer here. I have written ‘Michelob’ on your door posts’. Well, after he sat down he realized he mistook the word ‘Michelob [beer]’ for 'Ichabod’. He then stood up again and said ‘Thus saith the Lord, I meant to say Ichabod’.
(888) SAMUEL 5- The Philistines take the Ark back to their cities and every city the Ark is taken to experiences judgment. They get ‘tumors’ [hemorrhoids!] and rats. At one point they put the Ark in the ‘house of Dagon’ [a false idol. A fish head type thing with a human body] and the next morning their idol is found lying at the feet of the Ark. They set him up again and low and behold, the next morning the fish god is found at the foot of the Ark with his head and hands chopped off! Hey, if your god started as a fish and turned into a stump, then it’s time for a new god! Eventually they decide to send the Ark back to Israel. Let’s do a little history at this point. The Ark of God is the box that contained the 10 commandments. God had Moses make a box to put the tablets in [the 2 tablets that the commandments were written on]. The reason destruction will happen to those who ‘peak in the Ark’ is because the cover of the Ark was called ‘the Mercy seat’. This was the place where the high priest would make a yearly atonement [the Day of Atonement] for the sins of the people. The sacrificial blood was placed on the cover to be for a covering of sin. The Ten Commandments represented Gods Holy character, and the only way he could dwell with the people was on the basis of this atoning blood [a type of Christ]. When you remove the cover [the mercy seat] in essence you are causing the absolute righteousness of God to come into contact with the absolute sinfulness of man. That’s why those who peak in it are destroyed. Now the Ark was originally carried around with the tabernacle system in the wilderness. A sort of movable tent that was set up and taken down as God willed. A mobile piece of furniture. When the children of Israel came into the Promised Land it was placed in Shiloh. After it’s capture and return [which we will read about in the coming chapters] it will eventually be placed in the city of Jerusalem under King David’s rule. This tent that David puts it in is referred to as ‘David’s tabernacle/tent’. It will be a type of the new covenant ministry of Jesus. The tent of David will have no tabernacle structure like Moses tabernacle in Shiloh. There will be no veil or holy of holies or any other impediment to God’s presence. All you have is the Ark and the mercy seat. This showing us that in Jesus priesthood [typified by David’s kingly/priestly ministry] all you need is Jesus atonement and Gods glory. All have equal access to God, not just the priestly class [or another way to put it is all are priests!]. So as we progress thru these books keep your eyes open to the prophetic pictures that are being painted by the Spirit. All scripture testifies of Christ. He is the underlying figure that the Spirit is continually pointing to.
(889) SAMUEL 6- The Philistines are reeling under the judgment of God. They call a meeting of their priests and diviners, and they ask what they should do. Their ‘religious’ leaders advise them to send the Ark back to Israel and make an offering. They were to make gold images of their judgments, rats and tumors, and place them in a box with the Ark and send it on a cart being pulled by two cows. They would take the cows calves and bring them home, but place the cows and cart on a road to Beth Shemesh. If the cows go down the road, they took it as a sign from God. Sure enough the cows take the Ark to Beth Shemesh and dump the cart in a field belonging to Joshua. Israel rejoices that the Ark is back and sacrifices the cattle with the wood from the cart. Their joy is short lived. They peek in the Ark and are destroyed. They removed the ‘Mercy seat’ [see last chapter-#888]. Over fifty thousand men from Beth Shemesh are killed. They decide to send it to the men of Kirjath Jearim. Over the years I have seen this story used in various ways to justify different ‘ways of doing church’. Some taught how God judged Israel because they didn’t follow the prescribed methods of Ark handling. We will see this happen with David and his men later on. Then the teacher would relate how important it is for us to follow Gods prescribed method, but then teach ‘Gods method’ is their various slant on how ‘we should do church’. I see some good stuff from this story, but I don’t see it in that light. The Philistines were advised by their own pagan priests ‘don’t harden your hearts like Pharaoh’. The story of Gods miraculous intervention in Egypt became lore of the day. All the surrounding nations knew that you don’t mess with the God of Israel. God didn’t destroy the men of Beth Shemesh because they didn’t fully follow prescribed law [though later on this will be part of the problem with David’s men] but they died because they took themselves out from under the covering of Gods mercy as represented in the Mercy seat [the lid on the Ark]. A few years back a famous believer, Reggie White [former football pro.] was known for his Christian faith. He was later influenced by Muslim teaching and made the statement ‘I am going directly to God, without a ‘go between’ [meaning Christ]’. He obviously was influenced by Muslim teaching and was coming out from the ‘covering of Christ’ [mercy seat]. Sadly, Reggie tragically died not too long after this from a sickness. He died in the prime of his life. I do not want to judge Reggie. I simply want to show you the danger of sinful men [all of us!] trying to approach a Holy God without the ‘mercy seat’ [Cross]. The men of Beth Shemesh removed the covering, and they suffered for it.
(890) SAMUEL 7- The Ark arrives at Abinadab's house in Kirjath Jearim, it will remain there until David retrieves it [it was there for around 100 years in total-1100 BC- 1004 BC]. Samuel calls the people to repentance and makes intercession for them at the same time. This leads to great victory over the enemy. Jesus ‘lives forever to make continual intercession for us’. We need to combine repentance and dependence upon Christ’s mediation in order to gain victory. This chapter also has the famous name ‘Ebenezer’ that makes it into the history of the church. Both songs and churches will use it in their names. Martin Luther King preached at Ebenezer Baptist church. This stone was simply a rock of remembrance for the victory of God. It spoke of Gods help for man. Jesus is the ultimate ‘stone/rock of defense’ for man. Scripture says ‘there is no rock like the Lord’ ‘Jesus is the precious stone, all who believe will be delivered’. The imagery of Jesus/God as a rock of defense is all throughout scripture. We see Samuel as the key leader of Israel and scripture says he judged them at this time. He lived in Ramah and ‘rode a circuit’ between the various cities on a rotating basis. He was the first ‘circuit rider’! The circuit riders were the famous American evangelists during the 19th century. As the Puritan east coast churches were becoming well established in the original colonies, there was a need to reach out to the West [and south] with the gospel. The circuit riders were the evangelists who traveled to various areas preaching the gospel and establishing churches [The great Methodist Frances Asbury became famous for his circuit riding and church planting]. During this time you had the famous ‘camp meetings’ where many believers from all over would gather at these outdoor ‘brush arbors’ and hear the gospel preached and commit their lives to the Lord. Over time the more staid Reformed churches of the east coast would view the ‘camp meeting’ brothers as a little ‘un hinged’. You would also have some of the ‘Spirit led’ groups condemn the old time reformed brothers as ‘unconverted’. There was a tendency to lean towards one side or the other. The various Quaker [shaker] type groups would emphasize the Spirit being premiere in all Christian understanding. While this is of course true, this in no way means believers do not learn thru the normal means of study and reading. Some of the more ‘Spirit minded’ believers would come to view the more ‘head knowledge’ brothers as ‘unconverted’. One of the worst cases was the Ann Hutchison controversy. She was a believer who began teaching under the ‘Spirits guidance’ and would give the impression that the more refined ministers were not of God. She would ultimately pay with her life for her beliefs. NOTE- The terminology of ‘New lights’ versus ‘Old lights’ was often used to describe the different emphasis between these 2 camps. There was a brother by the name of Davenport who would travel around and accuse all of the old time preachers as being unconverted. While it is possible for a minister to have never truly made a strong commitment to Christ, to paint them all with this broad brush was very unbalanced.
(891) SAMUEL 8- Samuel’s sons are appointed as judges over Israel [leaders]. They are wicked, just like the sons of Eli. I find this interesting, Samuel was a product to some degree of his ‘spiritual elder’. Even though Samuel himself was a righteous man, yet he passed on to his kids the same leadership style that he tutored under. The children of Israel come to him and request a king ‘like the other nations’. It is important to see that God states clearly that this is not part of ‘the original plan’. God will tell Samuel that this desire for human leadership, along the lines of other ‘gentile nations’ is rebellion. Jesus will tell the disciples ‘the gentiles exercise lordship over one another, it shall not be like this with you’. Israel wanted to be dominated by a king! God tells Samuel to show them what they are asking for. And then goes thru a long list of things ‘he will take the best of your people and use them for self advancement. He will require a tenth of all you have. He will build a legacy for himself and his name by using you as resources to attain a personal goal of achievement’. In essence the lord is warning them that when you raise up human leadership in a singular way [one king] that violates the plural mindset of scripture, then you inevitably will become a servant to human institutions and purposes. I find it interesting that the Lord mentions the tithe and how this will arise as a result of wrong ideas on what leadership should be. Historically the early church did not practice tithing. As the centuries rolled along tithing was originally instituted as a ‘tax’ from the church/state on the people to support the institutional purposes of the church/state. In essence the tithe/tenth did become a means whereby human government would obtain power and prestige among the gentile nations. The word of the Lord was true! [It’s okay for believers to give 10 % to the church on Sunday, the curse of the law on those who do not do this should not be invoked from Malachi. The appeal should be based on grace giving]. Israel will get her king, God will eventually use the Kings of Israel for his prophetic purposes. David and Solomon will be pictures of Jesus and his future rule. Just like the temple, God will initially tell David ‘who do you think you are trying to build a house for me’? [Thru the prophet Nathan] but will still use the temple as a prophetic type of the people of God being a ‘holy temple’. So the Lord will allow sinful man to obtain things contrary to his original purpose, and yet still be glorified thru these requests. Also the sons of Samuel went astray ‘after lucre’ [verse 3]. Just like Paul and Peters warnings in the New Testament ‘taking the oversight, not for filthy lucre’ ‘some have strayed from the faith while coveting money’ so Samuels boys fell to this temptation. I know it’s popular in today’s circles to simply overlook all these verses from scripture. Many sincere men do not see them because their ‘grid’ of interpretation won’t allow it. I just wanted to note how this theme of covetousness is a scarlet thread that runs thru out the entire body of scripture.
(892) SAMUEL 9- This is a prophetic chapter that parallels the book of Acts to a degree. Remember when we did Acts I showed you how it seemed that Paul [Saul] from Benjamin might have seen some prophetic significance to the fact that he too shared the same name and heritage [Benjamite] as Israel’s first king? Here we see Samuel play a roll similar to Ananias [Acts 9] in hearing the lord give instructions concerning Saul. Both Paul and Saul were told to go into a city and receive instructions. The lord confirms his word to Samuel that ‘this is the man I told you about’. Both Ananias and Samuel have prophetic signs that confirm the sovereign choice of God. Saul in this chapter is seeking for his fathers lost donkeys. They are about to give up and Saul’s servant says ‘there is a man in the city who hears from God’. Samuel had a reputation of being a prophet [seer]. Seers [another word for prophet. There is some distinction between a ‘prophet seer’ and ‘prophet’. But they are basically the same thing in my mind] were able ‘to see’ into the future about things. Samuel is said to be able to ‘tell Saul the secrets of his heart’. His words ‘come to pass’. He has God communicating to him in a direct way. Samuel is like Agabus in the book of Acts. A prophet who experienced God in supernatural ways. Samuel confirms Gods call on Saul’s life and tells him ‘I have some instructions to give you’ [next chapter!] What role did Samuel play in Israel? He obviously functioned in a prophetic gift that not only predicted what would come to pass, but also gave direction and spiritual oversight to Gods people. The New Testament teaching on prophets clearly teaches that they are part of the functioning ministry of the church. There have been many heresies and mistakes and even cultic ‘prophets’. But the basic teaching in scripture is they are a God ordained ministry that never passed away. We should approach prophets as we do pastors or teachers or any other gift. Are they stable in the faith? Do they have a good grasp of scripture? Good character? All the same principles that apply for Elders. The idea that after the canon of scripture was complete there were no more apostles or prophets has no scriptural support [read my section on apostolic, covering, shepherding]. Both church history and scripture support the ongoing role of prophets in the church. Now, I really doubt that all the fine brothers who declare themselves as prophets are. Some are learning about the gift. Some are functioning at various prophetic levels. But the office carries a lot of weight with it. I see Martin Luther King as a prophetic voice to our nation. He actually spoke of his death in a prophetic way the night before he was assassinated. There are also prophetic voices in history who spoke to their nation and people at crucial times. Alexander Solzenitzen [Russia] would speak out against repressive regimes. But we need to understand that the basic revelatory element of the prophetic [to be able to see and know things supernaturally] was included in the biblical gift of the prophet.
(893) SAMUEL 10- Samuel anoints Saul with oil. He gives him very specific prophetic direction ‘you will meet 2 men, then 3. They will be carrying 3 loaves of bread and give you 2’. Very particular information. Saul will meet a company of prophets and prophesy with them. The scripture says the Lord changed Saul into another man thru this prophetic experience. Once again we see not only the significance of Israel being under the divine direction of the prophetic [thru Samuel]. But his prophetic office also opened the door for a ‘whole company of prophets’ having freedom to function in their gifts. Over the years I have found it interesting to see how easy it is to live your entire Christian experience in different camps. Some of the more refined brothers [Reformed, Orthodox] have a great advantage in the field of intellectual pursuit [which is a good thing!] but might not be aware of the sector in the church that deals with the prophetic. The prophetic ministry has grown and even produced some fine intellectual material [some bad stuff too!] The point is we need to try and be aware [at least have a working knowledge] of the many streams that operate in the Body of Christ. You might not agree with a lot of the doctrinal positions that these various groups hold to, but as members of Christ’s church they do represent a certain sector of the church. Saul will follow thru and see all the prophetic signs come to pass in one day. Samuel instructs him to wait for him to come and publicly recognize him as king. After 7 days Samuel comes to town and Saul is hiding. He feared all the things that were coming upon him. Samuel finds him and publicly recognizes him. Also Samuel told the people that their choice of a human king was rejection of God. Some of the people are glad about Saul, others despise him from the start. There is a strange dynamic that I have seen at work over the years. When individual personalities and goals pit themselves against other people’s visions, there seems to be a division that is not healthy. I have had good friends who wanted to publicly join and be identified with ‘my ministry’. I would simply tell them ‘there really is nothing to join, we are simply believers trying to live out the Kingdom of God’. Then other pastors would see that some of the homeless people that they are working with have become ‘joined’ to us in a strong relational way. Then I would sense a kind of mindset that would say to the homeless person ‘well, if brother John has such good influence with you, maybe you should be with him instead of us’. They would not say this in a bad way, just in a way that is prevalent in the present mindset of ‘doing church’. I see all these divisions as silly, they come from an idea of local church that has many various ‘local churches’ [Christian ministries] as seeing themselves as independent entities who are trying to instill loyalty in people. ‘Are you with us or against us’ type attitudes. In Saul’s case he had friends and enemies right from the start. When individual personalities and agendas [which God warned them about!] become preeminent in the minds of the people [contrary to the corporate comminutes as seen in the local churches in scripture] then there is a natural tendency to take sides.
(894) SAMUEL 11- Saul will face his first major test. Nahash the ammonite comes up against Jabesh Gilead, a fellow tribe in Israel. He encamps against them and the men of Jabesh say ‘make a deal with us and we will be your servants’. Nahash says ‘under one condition, all your men need to have their right eyes poked out’. ‘Oh, is that all’. Sure enough Jabesh says ‘well, let us think about it. Give us seven days respite that we can send messengers to all the coasts of Israel. Maybe they will come and help. If not, then sure, we are willing to lose the eyes’! Now the messengers go to all Israel, and Saul hears the story. The scripture says he got angry and Gods Spirit came upon him. Saul will eventually become known for his temper. He will make rash decisions out of anger and jealousy. I want you to see that part of his anger was actually God ordained. Sort of like a Jehu [king of Israel] who rode furiously. Or a John the Baptist who took the Kingdom by force and violence. Saul was initially scared to become the king, God gave him a degree of righteous fury to be able to enter the fray without fear. Now Saul sends word back to Jabesh ‘by the time the sun is hot tomorrow, you will have help’. He takes these oxen and cuts them in pieces and sends the parts to the rest of the nation ‘whoever doesn’t come and help. God so help me, I will do this to your oxen too’! [ It would have sounded better if he said ‘so will I do to you’. But Saul is still kinda new at the prophetic stuff]. So Israel rallies, Saul splits the men into 3 groups [did he get this idea from Gideon’s army?] and they storm Nahash and save Jabesh. A few things. Saul is better at this king thing then originally thought. The men are so overjoyed that they say ‘hey, who were those guys that rejected Saul the other day? Lets go and slay them’. Saul steps in and acts righteously and says ‘no, today is a day of great victory, we will not kill our own men’. Saul had the potential to be a good king, he will succumb to pride and jealousy down the road. Also the men of Jabesh were in trouble. They were running out of options. They were contemplating losing their eyes for heavens sake! ‘Just give up part of your vision’ was the threat. The enemy often intimidates us because of the vision/purpose that God places on our lives. If he can just get us to ‘lose the vision’ and live in bondage [servitude] he will be happy. What did the men of Jabesh do? They simply bought some time ‘give us 7 days respite and we will see what we can come up with’. There are times in the journey where we simply need ‘7 days of rest and rethinking’. When you are right up against a seemingly impossible struggle, it’s hard to see any light. You simply need to be able to sit back and tell the Lord ‘give me a little season of rest, help me refocus on some things’. Do a little regrouping and reconnecting to the original purpose. Don’t think you need to come up with an answer on day One! Often times the stress and pressure of the initial attack is too much for you to think clearly on day one. Don’t make major life changing decisions while under stress. After the 7 days pass, you will be able to review the counsel from the Lord and see if the situation has improved. Make your decision then.
(895) SAMUEL 12- Samuel is getting old. He calls the people together and reviews his life before them. His defense sounds a lot like Paul's defense to the Ephesian elders in the book of Acts [chapter 20]. Samuel tells the people ‘all the time I have been with you, did I ever take your goods to enrich myself? Did I use my authority in a way to advance myself?’ he basically witnesses before the people that he was not in this for self gain. He also reviews the history of Israel. He reminds them of their past and how the Lord delivered them from Egypt. It is important to see that although Samuel was a great prophet who operated in tremendous gifts, yet he saw the need to also ground the people in history and doctrine. He knew the importance of remembering past events. Both the Passover and the Lords Table are Divine instances of ‘remembrance’ that God has ordained for his people. Samuel will once again rebuke them for rejecting God by choosing a king. He will call down thunder and rain during their wheat harvest as a sign of Gods anger. The people see this and fear greatly ‘pray to the Lord for us Samuel, we have sinned’. He encourages them and tells them ‘even though you have done lots of wrong stuff, yet it’s not too late to turn to the Lord from this day forward and make a course correction’. In all reproving and correcting we need to always leave room for repentance. Some will never change the way ‘they think and act’ [message bibles version of repentance] but we need to understand that this is the goal of all correction and judgment. Samuel tells the people he will ‘not cease praying for them’ and continue to teach them well. Jesus told Peter ‘if you love me, feed my sheep’. John says ‘this is how we can tell we love God, when we love his kids and obey his commands’. What is Jesus command? ‘Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, soul, mind and might. And thy neighbor as thyself’. Samuel realizes that his faithfulness to God is directly related to his treatment of Gods people. Though he is a gifted prophet, yet he prays and teaches and remains consistent in the more mundane areas of ‘the ministry’. I have found that God looks for faithfulness in the mundane things before he honors the more flagrant gifts. It’s good to have the ability to speak or prophesy or sing for the Lord, but the need to be a consistent intercessor for God’s people takes priority. Samuel taught them history. He oversaw the problems and situations they went thru. He did not become wealthy from the people. He served the lord faithfully from his youth. Hannah gave him to the Lord at a very young age, God took what was given and made the most out of it.
(896) SAMUEL 13- DON’T RETREAT TOO MUCH! In this chapter we see the famous story of Saul offering a burnt offering at Gilgal. He was supposed to wait for Samuel and he got impatient and offered it himself. Samuel tells him that the Lord will judge him severely for this and raise up a man after his own heart [David]. In the beginning of the chapter we see Saul and Jonathan separate into 2 camps, Saul keeps 2 thousand men and Jonathan a thousand. Jonathan is a capable warrior and has some good victories. The Philistines say ‘enough is enough!’ and mount a counter attack. They muster so many resources that Israel fears. They retreat into the rocks and hills, some go back over the Jordan! I read a recent Christianity today article that had one of the leaders of the Emergent Movement speaking with one of the more Reformed defenders of the faith. It was a sincere meeting between two seemingly opposing camps. The Emergent brother questioned the Reformed guy ‘what did you tell the people about what was taught in the first thousand years of Christianity before Anselm’? Anselm is the great Christian theologian who is often credited for ‘coming up’ with the ‘theory of Penal substitution’. Now, I love church history and do understand that this is an idea that many good men have espoused, that Anselm came up with the doctrine of Penal substitution. The point I want to make is this fundamental doctrine was taught by the first century Apostles. Our scripture is filled with the doctrine of Penal substitution! So in these cases I think the Emergent brothers have ‘retreated too much’. In their honest and good efforts of changing the way the church interacts with society, they have damaged their movement by doing stuff like this. Challenging too many core beliefs of the faith. In essence they went ‘all the way back over the Jordan’. The Philistines learn a trick from Israel and divide up into three groups and send out ‘raiders’ my King James says ‘spoilers’. They begin chipping away at the confidence of Israel. Saul has 600 men left with him and they are all trembling. Saul himself must be in tremendous doubt about his own life. He just received a strong rebuke from Samuel. He might have been preparing for the worst. But we will find out that there are still more battles to be won, Jonathan will make his dad proud of him.
(897) SAMUEL 14- Saul and the people are hiding in fear, Jonathan tells his armor bearer ‘Lets go up to the enemy and show ourselves. If they tell us ‘come here’ we will take it as a sign from the Lord and fight. God can save by many or by few’. They go up and defeat around 20 men in half an acre of land. The scripture says the enemy trembled and the earth as well! It seems like the Lord shook things up, literally! [Another reminder of the book of Acts]. Saul and his people see the enemy fleeing and can’t figure out what’s happened. He takes a quick roll call and realizes Jonathan is gone. They figure out what has happened and enter the fray. The people pursue the enemy and have great victory. Saul says ‘let no man eat today until the sun goes down’. He begins making community wide decisions that are harmful to the people. Jonathan doesn’t hear this rash decision and eats some honey. The people are shocked. They know the curse of Saul. They finally win the battle and they seek the Lord for further instructions. God is silent. Saul figures it’s because there is sin in the camp and they find out that Jonathan was the one who ate the honey. Jonathan says ‘yea, I did eat it, and now I must die’? Sort of like ‘what a stupid and rash thing for you to have said! The people were all tired and drained because of following your singular ideas that were pronounced to the whole community. They would have gained strength if they simply did what was natural and ate when they were hungry’. Saul honors his stupid agenda over his own son and says ‘that’s right, you must die’. He was more willing to kill his son then to admit he was wrong. The people stand up with one voice and say ‘no way Saul, Jonathan has won a great victory. You will not get away with this’! What happened here? Was Saul so inherently evil that he couldn’t help himself? I think what we see here is the result of the mistake for Israel to have wanted a king like the other nations. When the church historically began to be centered around singular authority figures [monarchial episcopacy] you began to loose the freedom and health of the people of God to ‘feed themselves when hungry’. They began to become dependant upon the institutional church to tell them about God and his truth. Eventually you would have the modern expression of highly entrepreneurial ministries that would find well meaning Pastors trying to make corporate wide decisions in ways that were absent from the local churches in scripture. When the people of God lean too heavily on the gifts and leadings of one man, there is a tendency for the leader to come up with goals and decrees that are contrary to the full purpose of God. It is inherent in man to set goals and make broad decisions. That’s not wrong in itself. But the people of God in scripture are formed along the lines of a community of people, not a 501c3 corporation. So the well meaning Pastors have a natural tendency to say ‘what decisions should I make for the church this year? What goals and dreams should we put before the people’ and this inevitably leads to entire communities of believers being too focused on the singular directions of well meaning men. I think Saul simply came up with things to say because he felt he needed to exert leadership. God’s people really didn’t need Saul from the start! As far as I can see from reading the New Testament, the only corporate ‘goal’ or project that Paul would put before the people was his collecting of money for the poor. Now of course there were many spiritual goals of growth and becoming mature believers who praise and glorify God. But I don’t see any other ‘project’ that Paul was regularly laying before the people to join. No structure in the churches of scripture where Paul would say ‘Now Corinth, when I come back next year lets see 50 house churches, reaching 48 % of this region. And oh yes, lets raise this much money for this project’. Much of the modern church is too centered around these types of pleas. The many well meaning men who are operating out of good intentions for the most part are ‘just doing what kings [leaders- C.E.O.'s] are supposed to do’. The fundamental flaw is God never originally intended for his people to be structured along these lines. Many up and coming believers are seeing this and coming out of these limited structures. They are telling Saul with one corporate voice ‘you wont get away with this anymore’. [‘Saul’ in this scenario is not your individual Pastor, who for the most part is probably a good man who loves God. But ‘Saul’ is speaking to the whole concept of modern pastoral ministry that is absent from the churches in scripture].
(898) SAMUEL 15- Samuel instructs Saul to go and wipe out the Amalekites. He goes and conquers the city but saves the sheep and oxen and other valuables. Samuel confronts Saul and says ‘you disobeyed the Lord by not totally destroying everything’. Saul says ‘Well, we saved the good stuff so we could sacrifice it to the lord’. Samuel tells him ‘to obey is better than sacrifice’. God wanted obedience more than religious worship. The writer of Hebrews quotes David in the Psalms ‘sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a Body hast thou prepared me’. Jesus obedience to the father by dying on a Cross trumped the sacrificial system of the law. Saul messed up the picture! Samuel calls for king Agag, the Amalekite king who Saul captured. Agag thinks ‘great, they aren’t going to harm me now. After all the Pastor wants me’! Well surprise, Samuel takes out his sword and hacks old Agag in pieces! Saul must of thought ‘Gee, I really messed up this time. I never even knew the Pastor carried a blade’. A few things. Over the next century or so [if the Lord tarries] I believe the church is going to go thru a type of modern reformation. Today we see many well meaning believers ‘sacrificing’ their time and money and lives into a system of church that is fundamentally disconnected from the picture and nature of church as described in the New Testament. Now, I am not calling for an iconoclastic tearing down of all church buildings! But if the American church stopped all new building programs [finish the ones that are in transit, but no more!] and if we all began actually, daily giving of our time and resources to helping the poor and reaching out to the lost. We would need a hundred years at least in order to bring the balance back to the New Testament [where over 90 % of all giving was charitable]. Jesus and the disciples practiced a lifestyle where all were responsible to lay their lives down for the gospel. There are actual commands in scripture that say ‘you who are not working, get a job so you can have something to give away to those who are in need’. These are real commands that should be ‘obeyed’. But what we have taught Gods people is if they work real hard and sacrifice [as compared to obeying !] then they can put lots of money in towards the next project or building or whatever. Now some of the resources being gathered in this way are used for good things, but the underlying problem is we have given the average saint the impression that this way of sacrificing is more important than actually obeying. I cant tell you the number of believers who simply do not see it as their personal responsibility to ‘give to him that asks of you’ ‘how does Gods love dwell in you if you see a brother in need and don’t help’ ‘if you do it to the least of these my brethren you do it to me’. But there is not a single command in all of the New Testament to bring a tithe for the purpose of building a church facility. Now, it’s okay to build them to a degree, but are we teaching people that this type of sacrificial giving [towards the machinery of modern ministry] releases them from the primary command to obey? The church will go thru a rethinking of what church means, as we travel along this road we need to obey more than to sacrifice.
(899) SAMUEL 16- Samuel is coming from the recent ‘hacking incident’ of king Agag, and the Lord tells him to go to Bethlehem and anoint a new king. Samuel is afraid ‘what if Saul hears about it? He will kill me’. Notice, Samuel feels intimidated and fearful. When he gets to Bethlehem the scripture says the Elders were all in a panic, they said ‘are you come in peace’? Hey, they just heard about the hacking incident, word spreads fast when a prophet straps it on with some pagan! They must have been thinking Samuel was on a warpath. He tells them he is come in peace and wants to sacrifice with them and worship. As a little aside, when you have prophetic ministers in a city, it’s only natural that Elders [pastors] are going to feel intimidated. Why? Are prophets better men? No, but the prophetic operates under a different type of anointing. Don’t forget you already saw Samuel gain a reputation among the people because of his strong prophetic gift. Sometimes pastors can feel intimidated ‘geez, that guy hit the nail on the head. I hope he doesn’t call me out by name too!’ Samuel doesn’t ‘call them out’ but says ‘hey Elders, where all in this together. Let’s worship God’. Samuel finds David and anoints him. Saul is battling with all sorts of personal issues [evil spirit]. Even his close associates can pick up on it. The servants recommend for Saul to get a worshipper who can play music and minister to Saul. They tell him ‘yeah, there is this guy named David. He’s real good at playing music. Plus he is a valiant and mighty warrior’. We often see David as a ‘mamby pamby mamma’s boy’ at this stage of his life. But scripture says he already built up a reputation as a fighter. David takes the job and becomes a musician for Saul. A few thoughts. In this chapter we see Gods Spirit [anointing] leaving Saul and going with David. David himself in Psalms pleas with the Lord ‘take not thy Holy Spirit from me’ after his sin with Bathsheba. Let me encourage some of my Pastor friends. It’s easy to read stuff like this, or for some ‘prophet’ to pronounce stuff like this to a pastor. I really don’t see applying this scenario to modern day ministers. God’s Spirit in the Old Testament was operating differently than today. Only one king at a time could have the ‘kingly anointing’. When the Spirit left Saul for David it was because God was only anointing one person for the job. Today, while it’s possible for a pastor/minister to mess up and ruin his ministry, I still wouldn’t apply stuff like this in too much of a personal way. Sort of like ‘The Lord must have left me and now he’s chosen so and so on the other side of town’. The Lord ‘doesn’t leave you’ in this way under the New Covenant. Paul said the gifts and callings of God are without repentance, in context he is speaking of natural Israel, but you can also apply it to believer’s gifts today. How much God uses you does depend on your willingness and obedience to his call, but don’t think he left ‘your church’ and went to the other one down the street! [he hasn’t written ‘Michelob’ on your door! See entry 887]
(900) SAMUEL 17- David goes down to the battle front and hears Goliath mocking God. The Philistines are confronting Israel and they have their champion giant [almost 10 feet tall! Like the Roman emperor Maximus, he was huge] Goliath. David hears the enemy challenge Israel day after day and he decides to take him on. Saul tells him ‘you can’t do this, you are too young and inexperienced, he is a man of war from his youth’! David insists that he is able, he killed a lion and bear while defending his father’s sheep, why not ‘this uncircumcised rascal’! Saul says ‘fine, hears my armor’. David tries it on and realizes it’s not his style of armor. He goes back to the simplicity of a sling and stone. He goes out to the battle, Goliath can’t believe his eyes ‘did you send me some mammas boy with a stick? I am not some dog that you can tame with a stick’! Oh really? David says ‘sir, not only will I win this thing, but I will remove your stinking pagan head from off that 10 foot frame and feed you and your buddy’s carcasses to the animals’! Old Saul must of been thinking ‘what in the world did we get ourselves into’? Sure enough the battle begins and David runs up to the giant and sinks a stone into his head. He stands over him and severs his head with his own sword. Now the poor Philistines heard the whole conversation and didn’t want to hang around for the rest of David’s mission statement to be fulfilled. They fled! Israel pursues and has a great victory. A few things; David show us the necessity and simplicity of warfare. Jesus taught the disciples that they had what it took to carry out the mission. He warned them not to fall for the wrong headed idea of ‘God has called us to start an organization, and the organization will accomplish this noble task’. After all the years of befriending and working with the homeless and down and out. I realize that many well meaning believers will see the needs of people, but then want to ‘put on Saul’s armor’ to effect change. Try and start another mission ministry, or make others aware of the problem. I have found the biggest need to be that people are simply not willing to actually give their time and substance and get involved. Jesus told the disciples ‘don’t think you need a lot of extra equipment for this, you are the equipment. No special appeals for funds!’ [Message bible]. We get lost in trying to put on Saul’s armor [lot’s of complicated ministry ideas] when Jesus says ‘just use the stone and sling that I have given you’. The church of Jesus needs to realize that the power to effect society is in the hands of simple followers, truly the meek will inherit the earth.
(901) SAMUEL 18- David is accepted by Saul and seen as a hero. Upon his victory over the giant all the women begin praising and worshipping in the streets with tambourines and musical instruments. Why this exuberant awakening of the women of Israel? It seems to me that David’s skill as a warrior/worshiper brought a degree of respect to the ministry of praise and music that might have been lacking up until this time. Even though the Lord instilled worship as an intricate part of warfare [Judah=praise], yet it seems likely that being a musician during a time in Israel’s history where violence and war were respected might have been seen as a less than noble pursuit. So David restored a sort of freedom and respectability to praise. Now Jonathan, Saul’s son, becomes ‘linked’ to David in a strong way. Some advocates of the gay lifestyle have actually tried to use this scripture to defend the gay lifestyle, but it seems to simply be saying that Jonathan and David became best of friends. What might have caused this initial bonding? Don’t forget Jonathan himself was a warrior who was willing to lay it all on the line against great odds. He already confronted the enemy single-handedly and won! It’s possible that during Goliaths 40 days of mocking and tempting Israel that Jonathan said ‘I’ll do it dad’ and Saul would have never allowed his own son to face the giant. If so then the victory of David was even sweeter to Jonathan than the others. David begins receiving praise from the people because of his wisdom and skill on the battlefield. Jealousy arises in Saul and he tries to kill David with a spear. This begins the history of Saul trying to kill David on various occasions and David’s noble responses. Never trying to hurt Saul himself. Let’s end this chapter with a re-cap of the open type worship that is happening with the women under David’s ministry. It is much like the taboo that Jesus broke in the gospels. Jesus ministry was revolutionary in the way he welcomed and allowed women to be an open part of his ministry. The other written works of the day did not see women from this open standpoint. This is one of the proofs used to defend the canonicity of the scripture. If the stories were all being made up, then you would never include women in this way. Because it would tend to discourage others from believing the story! Jesus broke barriers, David’s ministry and rule will be a picture of the restoration of the dignity and usefulness of women in society. David’s Psalms were actually the song book of the nation. These songs were written during the time of David’s ministry in Jerusalem when the tent of David was the only thing containing the retrieved Ark of the Covenant. A type of the open access that would come to all people under the future ministry of Jesus. David was not only a great warrior, he was a passionate worshipper of his God.
(902) SAMUEL 19- Saul puts out the word to his men ‘if you see David kill him’! Jonathan tells David ‘go hide in the field and I will go out where you are and speak on your behalf to my father. Then I will come and tell you all the words he has spoken’. Jonathan speaks well to Saul on David’s behalf and David is restored back into the presence of the king. I see Jesus intercession ministry here. Jesus goes to the father on our behalf, we ‘rest in a hiding place’ [in Christ] while he speaks well of us to the father. He ‘gives us the words that the father has given him ‘[Johns gospel] and we are restored back into the ‘presence of the king’. But in David’s case the restoration doesn’t last long. David will flee to Samuel in Ramah, Saul sends his men to get David. Each time they show up they are confronted with this prophetic weapon of intercession in the hand of the lead prophet, Samuel. Samuel is prophesying over a company of prophets and Saul’s men ‘fall under the Spirit of prophecy’ and prophesy too! This happens with 3 different groups of men until Saul himself comes. The same thing happens with him. The ministry of prophecy testifies of Christ. The gift itself is a Divine mechanism in the community of God that protects/defends Gods anointed king [David/Jesus]. Samuels’s gift was meant for more than just personal fulfillment, a ‘my ministry’ mentality. He was overseeing a company of prophets and instilling this dynamic into the broader community of Israel. In the church today prophets should function along the lines of building into the broader community for the overall benefit of the church. There have been good men who have operated in the prophetic gift for many years. They have raised up younger prophetic ministries under them and have lived very effective prophetic lives for many years. It is sad that many in the Body of Christ have no idea of this entire section of the church. Because of abuses and flagrant bad doctrine, many simply live their entire lives without ever experiencing the prophetic aspect of Christ’s church. In this story we see the prophetic ministry, under Samuel, playing a key role in the life of Gods people. NOTE- One example of a modern day prophetic ministry that has been stable and has launched many young prophets would be Bishop Bill Hammon out of Florida. He has been around for years and has had a very influential ministry over the lives of many good young men.
(903) WHY BELIEF IN GOD IS PROOF AGAINST EVOLUTION- The theory of evolution is an attempt to explain all human life and interaction from a naturalistic perspective. The theory not only attempts to say ‘we came by way of natural selection’ but if this theory were true, it would by necessity have to be able to explain the totality of the human condition. His reason for life, his emotions and goals, even his ‘irrational’ belief that God is! Now, if you were studying a tribe of isolated pygmies, and time and again you noticed that they all gravitated towards a belief in a supreme being. If natural selection were true, then the ‘more advanced’ this tribe became, you would find less of a belief in a supreme being. But instead, as many has ‘evolved’ the process of natural selection [which would mean the inferior species are falling away] has not been able to produce this superior race of beings who have advanced to the point where evolution itself has become the obvious explanation of all things. The fact is, the more man ‘evolves’ the more religious he becomes! The mere fact that human beings have this inner belief and desire for a supreme intelligence can not be explained away by saying ‘well, this silliness will eventually pass away’. The facts show us that this ‘silly belief in God’ is increasing at an alarming rate among the most ‘advanced peoples’ of the earth. If natural selection were true, then the end result is ‘God exists’.
(904) SAMUEL 20- David is on the run, he tells Jonathan ‘why is your dad trying to kill me? I have done nothing wrong!’ Jonathan tells David that he knows nothing about it, it must be a rumor. David says ‘no, your dad knows you like me, he isn’t telling you because he thinks you will reveal it to me’. Jonathan says ‘my dad does nothing unless he reveals it to me’. A type of Jesus in John’s gospel. David says ‘I’ll prove it. Tomorrow is a feast day, I am supposed to sit at the kings table. Instead I will hide in the field for 3 days [a type of Jesus in the grave] and when you are eating with Saul, if he says ‘where’s David’ and gets irate, then the cat is out of the bag’. So the plan is launched and Saul holds the dinner. On day two he asks Jonathan ‘where’s’ old David today, I noticed he has been missing’. Jonathan says ‘Oh, I let him go to his home town for a special family thing’. Saul says ‘thou son of that rebellious women’! You think he went for the bait? Sure enough Jonathan confirms to David that he was right and they make a covenant to always respect and protect each other and their future kids. This will come back to David down the road when he spares a relative of Jonathan. Saul confronted Jonathan and said ‘why are you protecting David? As long as he lives you will never be established’. Saul knew that Jonathan’s success was dependent on David’s downfall. Jonathan was very noble, he didn’t see the success of another Israelite as something to compete with. Leaders often fall into this trap of comparing their ‘ministries’ with so and so. I feel the wrong idea’s of local church breed this attitude. When we see ‘local church’ as the various independent Christian businesses that are all trying to accomplish tasks, then this breeds this competitive spirit. When we see ‘local church’ as the entire family of believers in our city [Jonathans family mindset] then we will overcome the spirit of competition.
(905) SAMUEL 21- David is fleeing from Saul and he goes to the priest at Nob. The priest wonders what’s up. David tells him he is on a special assignment from the king and he and his men need food. The priest tells him the only food available is the consecrated bread that is only for God and the priesthood. David convinces the priest to let them eat and David asks ‘do you have any weapons here’. The priest says ‘I have the sword you used to kill the giant’ David says ‘great, that will work just fine’. Jesus used this story to describe himself and the disciples [Mark 2]. One day Jesus and the disciples were going thru the grain fields and the disciples picked the grain and ate it on the Sabbath. The Pharisees said ‘your disciples are breaking Gods law by picking it on the Sabbath’. Now, to be honest they were breaking the over extended ideas that the religious Pharisees came up with thru their legalism. But Jesus still used this example as a defense. He says ‘have you not read what David and his men did? They ate the ceremonial showbread that was not lawful, only the priests could eat it’. David and his men are a symbol of Jesus and his men. While it is true that the bread was only lawful for the priests, David is a king/priest who gets away with doing ‘priestly things’ because of his picture of Christ. Scripture says he put on an ephod [priestly garment] which only priests could do. David functioned before the open Ark in Jerusalem. He did things that other kings were punished for [Saul, Uzziah]. Jesus in essence was saying to the Pharisees ‘I am the new priest/king from which all future law and worship will be measured by. Me and my followers are not under the law, the law serves us’! In Christ we are free from the guilt of the law, we live above legalism and follow the master. David and his men were acting like priests and kings contrary to the economy of their day. David was a type of Jesus whose future priestly ministry would ‘out trump’ the law.
(906) SAMUEL 22- David escapes to the cave at Adullam. As he is in hiding the scripture says ‘when his family and friends heard where he was, they gathered to him’. Notice, David is beginning to enter into a time of rule and authority. He was already anointed by Samuel, but this is where the rubber meets the road. He already won some battles, but that was still under Saul’s reign. Now he’s on his own. It’s not that easy! Sort of like when the sparring partners turn pro and think ‘I can whip the champ, I’ve done it already in the ring’. But then when they get in for real, it’s another story. The prophet Gad tells David ‘don’t stay in the place of hiding, get out and go to Judah’. Judah is a place of praise. When we are on the run and are not sure what’s going to happen next, we have a tendency to ‘go into hiding’. Now, sometimes it’s good to find a place of rest and hiding, but these are not permanent positions! We eventually need to escape to a place of praise. At this point David’s men are at around 400 strong, just the right number to start a movement! I believe we all have the potential to be ‘church planters’. If you have the tools to effectively speak into at least 400 people on a consistent prophetic basis, then you can do it! Hey, start a blog, it’s free! Now Saul finds out where David’s at and goes after him. He tells his men ‘why did none of you take my side, or feel sorry for me? Can David give you stuff like I can?’ The brother was making campaign promises for heavens sake! Notice how fear and paranoia were affecting Saul’s mind. He was having a pity party. He is told by one of his men how the priests at Nob helped David, and Saul calls for them and kills the entire company of priests. One son escapes, Abiathar, and tells David what happened. David takes him under his wing. A few things, when we are in the battle and are not sure what’s happening, we have a tendency to draw back. Now, it’s fine to have a period of rest and renewal, it’s just not supposed to be a permanent place! You also have to fight some battles first. We live in a day where people want to ‘be retired’ at the age of 21! I like the commercial I saw a few years back, the parents are at their son’s college graduation and they ask him ‘so son, what’s next’. The boy compliments his dad on his sweater vest and says ‘I think I am just going to retire and move back home’. Let me challenge you, get out of the place of fear and anxiety and by Gods grace start a revolution. You leaders who are reeling because of the battle, enter into Judah. Begin praising God again like in the early days. I just finished a prayer time, I incorporate lots of thanksgiving when praying for stuff. Do you have a regular time of thanking the Lord on a consistent basis? When leaders feel overwhelmed and ‘in the cave’ it’s easy to forget praise. I adjure you ‘get out of the cave and flee to Judah’!
(907) SAMUEL 23- David hears that the Philistines are fighting against another town, he asks the Lord ‘Lord, should I go and fight against them’? This is the beginning of David’s secret campaign against the enemy. As he flees from Saul he also fights the enemy secretly. Now the Lord says ‘go, fight them. I have given them to you’. Now his men are scared, they tell David ‘geez, we are in distress now, in our so called ‘home land’ and you want us to go and fight on foreign ground’! One of the characteristics of Gods heroes of the faith was a willingness to uproot and travel ‘to a place that God will reveal to you’ often times you have no idea where you are heading! You just start the journey in faith [Abraham- Hebrews 11] and learn as you go. Now David’s men caused David to ask the lord again ‘Lord, are you sure you want us to do this’? The Lord reaffirms the plan. Sometimes we need confirmation for the mission. It’s alright to have second thoughts, as long as you obey at the end! Remember Jesus teaching on the 2 sons? One said ‘yes father, I will obey’ [Jews] and didn’t. The other said ‘no, I wont obey’ [gentiles] and later obeyed. David stumbled a little here in doubting the first word, but the lord said ‘that’s alright son, I will give you some reassurance.’ David goes and Saul finds out and traps him in some town. David seeks the Lord and the Lord says ‘yes, Saul is coming and these people will turn you in’. David flees and Saul surrounds him. Then Saul hears word that the philistines have invaded their land and Saul leaves the area. Sometimes we get into situations where we truly don’t have what it takes to win. Even though David is God’s anointed man, yet he would not have been able to withstand Saul at this early stage of his ‘ministry’. God realizes what we can handle, sometimes we survive because the Lord divinely manipulates the circumstances to our advantage! In this case David would have been thinking too highly of himself if he thought ‘well, I am up here with the big boys now, I can take him’. God might be using you in a special way, this doesn’t mean you are advanced enough in everything to ‘go it with the big boys’. Wisdom allows us to recognize whether or not we should take on all the tasks that we think are needed. I enjoy studying from many other web sites and reading books and hearing good teaching. But there are obvious times where I realize ‘geez, was this brother really called to speak to such a large sector of the church at this time in his growth’? It’s not demeaning, we just need to recognize that all battles are not our battles. Sometimes the Lord says ‘David, you really can’t handle this fight right now’ and he diverts a possible tragedy.
(908) SAMUEL 24- Saul heard that David is at Engedi, he pursues him. When they get in the area Saul goes into a random cave to ‘use the restroom’. Lo and behold, this just happens to be the one cave that David and his men are hiding in! David’s men tell him ‘see, the lord has delivered your enemy into your hand’. David secretly cuts a piece of Saul’s robe off. As Saul leaves the cave David reveals himself and bows to the ground and tells Saul ‘see my father, today I had the chance to kill you, but instead I spared your life. Why are you listening to all the rumors that people are saying about me?’ Notice, Saul was being fed gossip about David, and this was affecting David! We need to overcome the reality that part of the cost of ministry is people are going to lie about you and other people will believe it. Yes, Jesus did say this was part of the cost ‘if they spoke falsely about me, then they will about you. But when this happens rejoice! For this is also what happened to the prophets’. Hey, if you want to run with the big boys, then this is part of the price. Now David’s men also were affecting his thinking ‘Look, now’s the chance to get your enemy. After all if God didn’t want you to get even he would have never brought Saul into the cave’. Leaders have to be worried about their own men’s advice as well! It’s hard to walk this fine line at times, but true leadership listens to council and should err on the side of mercy. This is a good rule of thumb. Saul tells David ‘forgive me son, this day you have proven me wrong. Surely you will eventually become the king’. Saul goes home and David goes back to the stronghold in the wilderness. David realized that no matter how many times the lord would defend him against Saul, that Saul would be a permanent obstacle. Why? It’s in mans nature to want to retaliate against change. Especially change that involves a removal of authority that was at one time used by God! Saul was not the original intent of God [or David!] but once God’s people traveled down the road of kingship, God did use this mode of authority. Now Saul did become addicted to power. Even though leaders have good hearts and mean well, when there comes a change of authority [like the movement of communal church where there no longer is the role of ‘the pastor’] this challenges leadership at its core. Even if leaders become convinced that a change is coming [like Saul recognizing David’s destiny] still the sinful nature of man will come back and rears it ugly head. David knew that Saul would be back on his trail soon.
(909) SAMUEL 25- THERE ARE MANY SERVANTS THESE DAYS WHO BREAK AWAY FROM THEIR MASTER! We see the death of Samuel and the story of David and Nabal. When David was on the run with his small army, he had provided shelter for Nabal's men while in the fields. So David figures it’s time to cash in on the goodwill that he showed to Nabal’s men. He sends some servants to Nabal’s house to remind him of the favor that was done, and to humbly ask ‘can you in return show us some favor and provide us with some supply’? Nabal is considered a fool and replies ‘Who is this David, another one of the many rebels of this day?’ and Nabal refuses to help. Now David hears of the response and decides ‘I have had it! Let’s strap it on’. On the way to wipe out Nabal the servants of Nabal tell his wife Abigail what happened. They speak well of David and Abigail quickly puts together a supply and sends it to David. She averts the disaster that was imminent. The next day Nabal hears what happened and falls into a stroke type condition and dies within a few days. David takes Abigail to be his wife. I sort of see in Nabal a type of response to the new authority structures that God is raising up in the kingdom. David of course is a type of Jesus, but we also see all leadership types in David. In the present system of ‘local church’ there is a legitimate challenge to the ‘old type pastoral model’. Now, some in the past have challenged leadership out of rebellion. But there are very scriptural questions to the development of the one man leadership model that prevails in today’s idea of church. It is easy to mistake these challenges as ‘another rebellious movement like the others of days gone by’. During the reformation of the 16th century you also had this response. But there actually are real times of change and upheaval that come from God. Nabal stuck David in a category of ‘another one of those rebellious types’ but his judgment was way off. Nabal did not act righteously in this challenge to Godly authority. He used ‘rebellion’ as a false defense of his unwillingness to give David and his men their due. There are good men who are seeing the legitimacy of the present challenges to the old authority structures. But then there are others who are not even willing to give a fair hearing to the ‘David’s’ and just assume all new ideas are acts of rebellion. This can breed dangerous responses from both sides. Out of frustration David, who was right in this case, almost committed an act of retaliation that would have forever scarred his ministry. Nabal realized what a foolish judgment he had made and lost his life over it. It would have been better if the old guard recognized the legitimacy of the new guard and tried to hammer out an amicable solution.
(910) SAMUEL 26- Saul pursues David in the wilderness of Ziph. David hears that Saul is still on his trail, and he tells his men ‘who wants to go down with me and see if we can spy on Saul’? Abishai goes. They sneak into Saul’s camp and find the men sleeping, they steel Saul’s spear and water supply. They go to the other side and yell 'what's up, why couldn’t a man like Abner protect Saul’? David reveals the stolen stuff and Saul realizes that once again David had the chance to kill him but let him go instead. Saul goes thru the whole ‘you are a better man than me’ thing. But the problem is no matter how many times God vindicates David, Saul still goes after him! I think David would have preferred for Saul to really learn the lesson instead of just making these worthless treaties. It’s like signing these treaties with North Korea on nuclear stuff. Then a few years go by and they say ‘well, you caught us, we were cheating’ and then we go and sign another one! David wasn’t putting much stock into Saul’s words. David also says ‘if God has told you to get me, than explain the reason, I will try and make any fault right. But if it’s these gossiping people that have turned you into my enemy, then let them be cursed’! Notice, it wasn’t just the fact that Saul was pursuing David, it was the reality that David’s secret enemies were the deceivers behind the whole thing. It’s like David has more respect for Saul, because he at least is open and willing to confront him publicly. But the troublemakers spend all their time poisoning the minds of others against you. They are too scared to confront you themselves. Bunch of wimps! Once again Saul recognizes Gods calling on David ‘you will do great things and prevail’. David is Gods new order of leadership, Saul is stuck in the old school. It was obvious that Saul was never going to transition and live peaceably with David as the king. Saul had his ways and he basically was going to live out his days functioning in the comfortable patterns of kingship that he was familiar with. He also could see the writing on the wall. He saw that David had the lord helping him, he was still humble enough to have glimpses of clarity. Being able to see the future and what God was going to do. Saul just couldn’t get to a point where he would peacefully accept the new king.
(911) SAMUEL 27- David realizes that as long as he stays in the area, Saul will never change. He goes to Achish, king of Gath, and asks if he could stay there. David is given Ziklag and it becomes a permanent possession for Israel. David recognized that no matter how many efforts he made to show Saul that the rumors about him were false, that this was going down a dead end trail. Sometimes we need to simply ‘walk away’ from some stuff. It’s not like David was hating Saul, he just recognized that all his efforts to try and get Saul to approve of him were vain. Jesus told the Pharisees that they were seeking glory and acceptance from men. He said those who seek to please men in this way could not please God. He challenged their core reason for being ‘in the ministry’. They wanted to be accepted and successful in the eyes of others. They did not realize that their ideas of ministry strayed so far from the intent of God. Jesus showed them that if their motivation was how others viewed them [they loved to make long public prayers and show themselves to be spiritual] then God was no longer in it. David quit trying to spend so much time and effort in getting Saul to like him, he fled to Gath. Now the king of Gath is overjoyed to get such a talented member ‘on staff’. He believes David is now with him as opposed to Israel. We will see later that this trust he places in David blinds him from David's real motives. The king’s men will advise against using David in a key battle against Israel. Leaders need to be careful in seeing the talents and gifts of people as simple additions to their ministries. Because we live in a day where church and ministry are so intertwined with corporate ideas, this leads to a dynamic of pastors looking for ‘the best men I can find’. In actuality Jesus was seeking the worst! Now, I realize Paul wanted good men to work with him and he rejected those who would quit half way thru the task. But don’t view ministry thru the lens of ‘great, David is now with me instead of Saul’! In Gods kingdom we are all equal as brothers and sisters, we should not allow the talents and gifts of others to cause us to favor them more than others. David stayed in the philistine’s area for around a year and a half, sort of like Paul’s time at Corinth. The whole time he is secretly fighting the enemies of Israel while Achish thinks he is fighting against Israel. Notice also that Ziklag became a permanent inheritance in Israel. A city that David didn’t even fight for! Sometimes when we simply recognize the transitions that God is leading us into, we yield and at the same time take ground. I used to make decisions quickly, recently I had to make some ministry decisions. Changes that I would have preferred not to have made. In the old days I would have jumped thru these changes without really waiting on the Lord. Or I would have persisted to not change and struggle along the sure path. But now I try and wait and decide as a few days go by. If things look like the new direction is the way to go, then I go with it. David left the territories of his homeland for a while, he hooked up with Achish and during this seeming distraction he possessed some territory peacefully. Sometimes we need to relax during the distraction, and allow the lord to give us some easy land.
(912) SAMUEL 28- Saul prepares for battle against Achish. The philistine king thinks David is with him. Saul seeks God and doesn’t receive an answer by ‘dreams or prophets’. Saul expected to get some kind of supernatural sign. Samuel is dead, but he released a prophetic mantle/anointing into the community that showed the people that God can reveal himself in these ways. Saul goes to a witch who works with familiar spirits, a thing forbidden for Gods people! I have had friends ask me about reading the horoscope and going to palm readers. God forbids his people to dabble in sorcery and witchcraft, don’t do it! Saul manages to bring back Samuels spirit from the grave and Samuel rebukes Saul and tells him he and his sons will ‘be with me tomorrow’ [dead!]. Saul is reproved for two things. He didn’t fully obey God, and he refused to carry out judgment/justice [when he was supposed to wipe out Amalek]. I have seen many well meaning men in ministry. Good people who mean well. Ministry can be a tough thing. When people feel intimidated they have a tendency to not want to ‘execute judgment’. To only teach and preach good things, never dealing with error or blatant heresy. God wanted Saul to obey AND do judgment. Not judgment in a wrong way, but a willingness to see things that are out of alignment and to deal with them. God wants truth, truth in love, but truth. When Gods leaders get to a point of both obedience and justice, then we will experience his presence in a strong way.
(913) SAMUEL 29- The philistines go up against Israel. David is with his men and Achish, king of Gath, wants him to join the battle. The other kings say ‘what in the heck were you thinking? You can’t bring David to fight against Saul. What better opportunity than this will he ever have to reconcile with Saul? Surely he will kill us and reconcile!’ Now, Achish disagrees and says ‘David’s been with me for a while and he has been perfect’ actually not. David was secretly fighting the enemies of Israel all along. We have already seen David’s penchant for trying to vindicate himself. How many times has he taken opportunity to say ‘see Saul, I had the chance to get you but I didn’t’. Achish tells David ‘sorry David, I trust you but the other kings don’t’ David makes this defense and says ‘why, what have I done’ [he knows what he’s done! Achish doesn’t]. So David goes back and the philistines proceed without him. I really think David was going to do what the kings thought. He probably was going to try and reconcile with Saul one more time. In this case the other kings had it right. Scripture says in the multitude of counselors there is safety. Achish was so enamored with David’s skill that he wasn’t thinking clearly. The council of others was right. Also David would have interfered with this battle, this is the battle where Saul will lose his life and David will take over as king. In essence David’s idea was to eventually reconcile with Saul and Israel and have a wonderful time of transition. God had other plans. The time for David to step up to the plate and rule was now. Not a few more years of trying to ‘make things right’. Samuel and David mourned for Saul and over did their loyalty to him. God told Samuel at one point ‘quit crying about it son, I have rejected the man. Get over it for heavens sake!’ David’s good intentions were well meaning, but God had another plan. It wasn’t going to work as smoothly as David wished.
(914) SAMUEL 30- David returns from the battle lines and finds out his town was sacked by the Amalekites. They took everything and spared the lives of the women and children. David’s men see the disaster and cry bitterly. They have a deacon board meeting and contemplate stoning him to death. Things were bad, David encourages himself in the Lord. He asks the Lord ‘should I go after them and try and recover our families’? The Lord says ‘go, you will recover all’. David pursues and gets his people back and kills the enemy. Four hundred young men escape. The same amount of men that went with David, 200 stayed behind out of weakness. Why did the 400 Amalekites flee? It’s possible that the Lord used these 400 survivors to spread the word about David’s fierceness. This battle was pumped up, David showed no mercy! After they return, the 400 man army of David despises the 200 who stayed behind and say ‘we will give you your families, but no goods!’ They treated them as lesser men. David would have none of it and says ‘we can’t withhold the things the Lord has freely given us [freely you have received, freely give- Jesus] but we will treat everyone alike’. I see the New Testament ministry of giving and sharing as a community here. What happened in this chapter? David experienced a tremendous possible loss this day. His men were at the lowest point of ‘the ministry’. All seemed lost, they even feared the loss of their families. The Lord does restore to David that which seemed gone for good, and David’s men regroup. All this happens at the next to the last chapter of Samuel. In the next chapter Saul dies and David becomes king. Everything seemed hopeless right before the greatest victory of all! David was soon to enter into his prophetic destiny in God. There is a theme in scripture that goes like this ‘right before, and right after great victories there are great trials’ geez, that means there are always trials! Yes, to a degree this is true. I also want you to have a biblical perspective on what it means to ‘recover all’. The church went thru a stage where we learned all the verses on ‘the enemy must repay 7 fold’ and other themes on ‘all the years the locust hath eaten will be restored’. I like and have used these themes in my own life over the years to claim victory. But I want you to see from an eternal perspective. The theme of the New Testament is one of eternal rewards. Not so much focused on ‘what we get here and now’ but on us having a ‘better reward in heaven’ [Hebrews]. Those of you who have lost loved ones, finances [we just had a tremendous stock market crash 10-08]. What if I were to tell you ‘you are not really much worse off than those who haven’t lost all’. In a few short years all our loved ones will be gone. We will have lost control over all of our wealth and riches. We will all be gone [in the natural!]. But yet there awaits a real future resurrection where we will all get our loved ones back. Where we will reap eternal rewards for a life well lived. In the eternal perspective we do ‘recover all’, all isn’t lost! I want to encourage you today to believe God to restore some things in the here and now. Yes, God can bless you and restore to you wealth and health and family and many good things. And for those who have lost some of these things permanently, God will restore to you real soon.
(915) SAMUEL 31- The Philistines pursue Israel and Saul and his sons are killed. Saul tells his armor bearer to kill him, the armor bearer is afraid to do it. So Saul falls on his own sword. The enemy takes Saul’s body and cuts off his head and they pin him and his sons up on a wall for public humiliation. The inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead hear of it and they get his body and give him a proper burial. David will soon become the king. It’s kind of a sad way to end 1st Samuel. Saul and his sons really die, Jonathan was killed. A true warrior with a pure heart. I think we need to recognize the danger involved with the kingdom. There are times where men and woman of God have come under attack and have fallen. A few years back there were a few public scandals of believers who fell. Some just go away, others try and get back into the ministry. Often times there is no real facing up to the issues and an honest appraisal of what happened. I think many of these believers would be helpful if they wrote a book or shared openly about their struggles and difficulties. But the church has a tendency to cover up the real dangers involved in the ministry. Also Saul commits suicide. There are few suicides in scripture. We know Judas killed himself as well. If I remember right there is a Psalm that speaks of the sword of your enemies entering into them! A basic reality of a curse that comes upon those who fight believers [Gods anointed ones] that they will die at their own hands [or you don’t have to ‘get them’ yourself!]. Jesus taught us to not resist and take out vengeance on our enemies. It seems as if in both of these cases [Saul and Judas] that they fell victim to this judgment from God. How should we view this? Jesus and David were Gods ‘anointed ones’. Can we say that those who challenge present authority structures are rebelling against ‘Gods anointed’? This challenge has been made many times over the years. The two great divisions of western Christianity, the ‘Great Schism’ of 1054 [where the Eastern church- Orthodox, split from the Western branch] and the 16th century Reformation. Both had to do with believers resisting what they felt to be unscriptural authority as seen in the doctrine of apostolic succession thru Peter to the Popes. In both of these cases the ‘rebels’ were considered to be resisting ‘Gods authority’. I see it a little different. In Saul’s case he actually was the old order authority who was resisting change to the ‘old way’. God was bringing in a new anointed one thru David, and Saul was fighting the change. And of course Judas was coming against Jesus, who would institute the most radical change to mans approach to God that would ever come on the scene [in essence Jesus was eliminating the old order priesthood and making all believers priests!] I feel that these truths can apply to the current of change in our day. As the people of God transition from an ‘old order’ idea of leadership, to a more communal concept, both sides need to have respect and appreciation for each other. The new order [organic ecclesia] needs to appreciate all that the old order accomplished, and the old authority structures need to see the writing on the wall.
2ND SAMUEL
(916) 2ND SAMUEL 1- David returns to Ziklag after recovering everything and a messenger from the battle with Saul comes thru. David asks ‘what happened at the battle’? David hears for the first time that Saul and Jonathan died. He asks for details and the Amalekite tells the story of Saul’s death. This story is a little different from the one previously recorded. In the previous chapters Saul is said to have fallen on his sword. Here the Amalekite says ‘I saw Saul wounded and he asked me to slay him. He was at the point of death so I killed him to take him out of his misery’. Some feel this is a lie, that the brother was trying to make himself look good by fudging. I think he might be telling the truth. After all if he were trying to make himself look good, you probably wouldn’t say ‘I killed a wounded guy’. Either way he tells the story. David responds in anger ‘why do you think your bragging about this is noble! You killed a leader who God used mightily’ and David instructs his men to kill him. David finishes the chapter with a song of praise and remembrance for Saul and Jonathan. He extols their virtues in battle ‘swift like eagles, strong like lions’ and he invokes Israel to mourn for the great loss. I see a noble thing here. Even though Saul was rejected and his leadership style was being removed, yet the ‘new order’ [David] refused to despise the reality of the good times that were initiated under Saul. He still showed respect for ‘the old order’. Many times in studying church history you read of ‘the dark ages’. The centuries that are between the intuitional period of Christendom and the renaissance/reformation era. Often times this period is looked at as a period of ‘no value’. But in reality there were some spiritual things that came forth from the ‘old order’ that were of great value. The desert fathers and other great Christian mystics. The reality that the church became the sole arbiter in many international disputes of the times. Yes there were some bad things, but good stuff too! David was smart enough to begin his dynastic rule with crediting his former enemy with the respect and honor he deserved.
(917) 2nd SAMUEL 2- David inquires of the Lord if he should go up into the cities of Judah. The Lord tells him to go to Hebron. David becomes the king of Judah and rules from Hebron for 7.5 years. From this point on the southern portion of Israel will be referred to as ‘Judah’ and the northern tribes are called ‘Israel’. Abner, king Saul’s commander, anoints another son of Saul as the king of the other tribes. So you have Joab, David’s commander and Abner, the military leader of the opposing king. Joab and Abner meet up on the field. Abner suggests a sort of competition between the men. A fight ensues and good men die needlessly. Joab pursues Abner and his men and Abner winds up killing a brother of Joab. He did not want things to escalate to this degree! He tried to spare the brother, but in self defense he killed him. Abner tells Joab 'stop chasing us, why should there be more bloodshed between us, we are all brothers’? I see here the ‘innocent’ spirit of competition that got out of hand. When God’s leaders begin comparing the skills of their people against the skills of others, then people become pawns on a ministry chess board. Competition is a deadly thing that exists in the church, the lines between successful corporate ideas and Gods communal church have been blurred for a long time, this causes us to be vulnerable to this type of thing. Joab and Abner retreat and go home. David becomes king of Judah in Hebron. He will eventually consolidate the kingdom under his rule [he will reign for 33 years out of Jerusalem. A type of Jesus, who walked the holy land for 33 years until the Cross] and the kingdom will split again under Solomon’s sons rule. The divided history of the northern [Israel] and southern [Judah] tribes are seen as a judgment from God for various reasons thru out Israel’s history. For the most part the kings of Judah are better than the kings of Israel, but they will both have good and bad kings over time. I see a picture of the historic divisions of Christianity thru this history. Eventually you will have some who feel they have a ‘more pure religion and priesthood’ under the Orthodox and Protestant expressions of Christianity [I too hold to this to some degree] but yet God will eventually rebuke Judah as being worse than her northern ‘sister’! As we teach the Old Testament in the years to come I will try and trace these developments as we get to them.
(918) 2ND SAMUEL 3- Ishbosheth, the son of Saul, king of Israel. He accuses Abner of sleeping with one of his fathers concubines [second wife type thing]. And Abner, the military leader who for the most part propped up Ishbosheth as a puppet king for his own sake, gets irate and says ‘who do you think I am that you accuse me like this? I am not some dog that you can mistreat! I will now turn over the kingdom to David. If it weren’t for me you wouldn’t even be a king!’ and Ishbosheth remains stunned and silent. What happened here? When men join a ‘team’ [church-organization] out of jealousy and competition, they see themselves as helping the leader as a by-product of there own selfish motivations. We often see churches/organizations compete with one another like professional ball teams ‘how many games did your team with this season/ what was your average attendance this year?’ and stuff like that. When ministry leaders/staff see their ‘church’ from this type of perspective, then as soon as the leader offends you, you respond like Abner ‘how dare this guy speak to me like that! Doesn’t he know if it weren’t for my support he wouldn’t even be here!’ Now, I am not defending either side in this scenario, I feel for the most part that both of these responses/attitudes are not found in the churches of the New Testament. Because the churches in scripture were communities of believers who lived in your city. They weren’t established along these corporate ideas at all. Now Abner goes to David and tells him ‘I am now with you [people can be fickle!] and will do my best to bring all Israel to you’ David makes the deal and Joab, David’s military man says ‘what did you do? Abner was here simply to spy on you, his motives are wrong!’ Joabs brother was killed earlier by Abner himself, Joab was not willing to make peace with Abner. After all there is only room for one military commander, and Joab is not about to accept a demotion for this late comer to the party. Joab calls Abner back and kills him. David hears what happened and washes his hands from the whole matter. In this chapter we see how the motivations and selfish intentions of people cause strife. I feel the whole scenario of ‘whose side are you on, which ‘local team’ [church] is your team?’ leads us into these types of positioning and intrigue. In the New Testament you did not see Paul interacting this way between the local churches [communities of believers] he was establishing. For the most part he was teaching them to be faithful to the gospel and would only exercise apostolic authority when things got out of hand. He would appeal to his proof of who he was by saying ‘I am the one who brought you the gospel in the first place, don’t listen to these false teachers who are drawing you away from the truth’. But you did not see a dynamic of ‘are you supporting my apostolic ministry or not? If you are not faithful to my ministry then I no longer have time for you’. These limited ideas cause us to compete with one another. Abner and Joab were men who wanted self advancement and recognition, they aligned themselves with various leaders for their own purposes, this is not the family mindset that Jesus will instill in his future leaders.
(919) EVOLUTION AND THE EARTHS AGE? One of the difficulties in harmonizing the biblical record of a 6 day creation with modern science is the measured age of the earth and universe. Christians and scientists have debated this issue for years. Some believers explain away the seeming contradiction by challenging the science used to estimate the age of things. There are a few separate ways science measures this. The problem with challenging the actual science is these different ways of measuring do seem to confirm the long age belief [universe around 13-15 billion years old. The earth less than 10 billion]. One of the ways science measures this is thru carbon dating. All living things have radiation remnants in them. When you measure the carbon ratings [carbon 14 and carbon 12] that are in fossils, you can come up with an approximate age based on the ‘half life’ of carbon 14. Basically it looses so much carbon after so many years. If you assume this loss to be at a constant level you can approximate the age of the fossil. Some young earth creationists say this science is questionable [possibly so] and they simply say the amount of radiation that was lost in the early days could have been much greater than what is being lost now, therefore it ‘looks’ like the fossil is millions of years old, but in actuality it is young. Some teach that God could have made the original young creation with ‘age’ already planted inside the creation. I do not hold to these ideas myself, but I understand the possibility of these things being so. Now, if you trace the biblical history of man and compare it with modern archeology. You find surprising agreement between the two. The biblical record of the Bronze Age speaks of Tubal- Cain as the inventor of bronze instruments. The archeological record dates the Bronze Age to be around 4500 years ago, the same date of Tubal Cain. True archeology confirms biblical dates. Now, after the creation of Adam on day 6, most all of the known ages of man are in line with the bible. The problem arises when you try and date the previous 5 days of creation. The bible says God did this in ‘6 days’. Some teach the ‘day-age’ theory. The bible says a day with the Lord is like a thousand years, and they teach that these are simply descriptions of long ages. Others say there was a gap between verse one and two of Genesis and you had a whole pre-Adamic race of men. And of course some say they literally believe the 6 day account and all science that points to billions of years is either wrong, or that God tested man by putting fossils in the earth with ‘pre-programmed’ age already in them. Let me espouse another way to look at this. In the field of theoretical physics, Einstein came up with the single most amazing breakthrough in time and matter, the famous E=Mc2. This theory [which is no longer theory, but proven law] showed that time itself is relative. Up until Einstein’s day, the accepted law on time was Isaac Newton’s understanding that time was absolute. No matter where a person was in the universe, time was always the same. Now Einstein challenged this and taught that time itself, depending on who is ‘holding the clock’ actually changes. You can have a single event in history, and 2 different people can actually have 2 real different measurements of the same event. If one of the clock holders is approaching the break neck speed of light, his actual measurement of the one event will be different. We are not saying it simply seems different, but there actually are different times that the same exact event transpired in. This has been proven to be true. This opens the door for a possible real 6 day creation [not spiritualizing days into ages] and also the scientific measurement of a 15 billion year old universe. The difference is between who is ‘holding the clock’. After man was created on day 6, it seems as if man was holding the clock. And that’s why most biblical and archeological dates are the same. But before day 6, who was holding the clock? Now, I am not saying the 5 days prior to day 6 have to be taken as ages. It’s scientifically possible for the actual 5 day event to have taken place in 5 literal 24 hour days, but the fact that God is ‘holding the clock’ can explain the seeming contradiction between 6 thousand and 15 billion years. This is an actual scientific possibility that was made understandable because of Einstein’s break thru theory. I am not saying this explanation is the correct one, but I am trying to show you that we are not as smart as we think we are.
(920) 2ND SAMUEL 4- Ishbosheth hears of Abners death and falls into a state of fear and depression. Even though Ishbosheth was the king, Abner was the power behind the scenes. He is lying on his bed at noonday [a bad thing to do! Start your day early and don’t sleep until the evening, this would eliminate most of the sleeping and anti anxiety pills that are prescribed today]. Two of Ishbosheths men come in and kill him while lying down on the job. They cut off his head and bring it to David. They assumed David would rejoice over this act of vengeance. After all don’t you feel good when God avenges you? Jesus taught us not to rejoice over our enemy’s downfall. Scripture says God sees it and it displeases him. David was not happy about the news and killed the two guilty messengers. In this chapter we also see Mephibosheth, a son of Jonathan who is lame. The story goes that when he was 5 years old and the news of Saul and Jonathans death came back, that the nurse fled and dropped him and he has been crippled ever since. Some of us have had ‘crippling’ experiences that have permanently sidetracked us. Now Jesus is the master at healing people who can’t walk. In John’s gospel he asks the lame man ‘do you really want to be healed’ and Jesus heals him. Sometimes we allow past experiences to permanently affect our future. Have you ‘been dropped’ by somebody who was supposed to take care of you? Have any of your inner circle betrayed you while ‘lying on your bed at noonday’ [in a position of intimidation and weakness]? I want to exhort you to let Jesus heal you. Jesus told the blind guy to go ‘wash in the pool of Siloam’. Siloam means ‘sent’, you have been destined to be sent on a mission from God. ‘Get out of the city and dwell in the fields, there I will deliver you from the enemy’ [bible!] I think some of us have been waiting for perfect conditions before we act, God says get out of the bed while there’s still time. If not you are in danger of ‘losing your head’ [losing the authority of a leader].
(921) 2ND SAMUEL 5- David consolidates the northern and southern tribes and they find unity thru his reign [in Christ 2 are made one- Ephesians]. Israel says ‘we are part of your bone and flesh’. Wow, what a picture of the New Testament church. Jesus actually uses these exact words when speaking of himself after his resurrection ‘bone and flesh’. David takes the capital city of Jerusalem. He defeats the Jebusites who are mocking his ability. Scripture says ‘David dwelt in the fort and called it the city of David. And he built round about from the surrounding areas and inward’. I have been quoting this for 15 years now. I saw it as a personal word to me when moving to Corpus Christi. The principle is God will give you a home base of operation, and from that base you establish and branch out to the surrounding areas. Sort of an apostolic calling, Paul did this in the book of Acts. David ‘perceived that the Lord had established him for the sake of his people Israel’. David understood that the Lord gave him special favor, not for his own benefit but for Gods people. Other scriptures speak of God telling his people ‘remember the word which Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you. The Lord hath given you rest and this land. Your wives and little ones and cattle shall remain in the land that the Lord gave you, but you shall go before your brethren armed, all the mighty men of valor, and help then until the Lord establishes them like he did for you’ [The word to the children of Israel who received the territories before crossing the Jordan]. God establishes leaders [and saints!] so they can branch out and have the security to move forward. All of us live in areas of the world where a mission field is right outside our door. If people simply reorganized their lives around the priorities of Jesus as seen in the gospels, we would have a great impact in society. But instead we are inundated with this political class warfare message that estranges us from the ones Jesus died for. God blessed David with wealth and affluence. He was to use this great influence for ‘the least of these my brethren’.
(922) 2ND SAMUEL 6- David attempts to retrieve the Ark and bring it to the new capital city of Jerusalem. On the way back one of the brothers tries to steady the ark as it was about to fall. They were carrying it on a ‘new cart’ with oxen pulling it. This was not the way the law prescribed carrying it! This was the formula that the Philistines used earlier. So David’s man touches the Ark and is killed. They leave it at another brother’s house for three months and the brother is blessed, David goes and retrieves it. This chapter doesn’t say what changed, but obviously David went back to the law and used the prescribed manner this time around. As he enters Jerusalem with it there is this joyous picture of everyone leaping and dancing and praising the Lord. Sort of like the triumphal entry of Jesus [Gods ‘fleshly’ ark, who had all the fullness of God dwelling in his physical body!] to Jerusalem when the people shouted ‘Hosanna’. David places the ark in a tent/tabernacle that he personally made for it. I wrote earlier how this was an open tent that had no barriers between the ark and Gods people, a contrast between Moses tabernacle where God and the people were separated [law versus grace type thing]. David’s wife mocks him because he took off his royal robes and wore an ephod [priestly garment] and danced and humbled himself before the Lord. David says ‘I will even be more lowly than this’. His wife is barren for the rest of her life as a judgment for mocking David. What ever happened to the ark? Well let me give you some history. The ‘story’ [tradition] says that when the queen of Ethiopia visits Solomon to see his wealth, that eventually he ‘marries’ her and they have kids. The queen goes back to Ethiopia and supposedly takes the ark from Solomon as a gift. The Ethiopian orthodox church claims to have it in the main ‘church’ in Ethiopia. Because of this history all the Ethiopian churches have replicas of the ark in their buildings as well. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church is one of rich tradition. They are technically not considered ‘Catholic’ [western] or ‘Orthodox’ [eastern]. They are part of the church who are sometimes referred to as Oriental. This referring to the historic churches [not necessarily Oriental in geography] who never accepted the traditional churches belief in certain expressions of the Trinity and the relationship between Jesus and God. They stuck with the Arian view of Jesus deity and are not considered ‘orthodox’ in this area. As the centuries developed and various barbarians who were raiding the empire were converted, they also believed in a Christianity that would be more aligned with this type of belief. Now, I know Christians do not consider this to be correct doctrine, but I am simply sharing the history with you. I am not siding with their belief! We really have no idea where the ark is today, to be honest it doesn’t matter. We ‘see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the purpose of dying, and he was raised again for us’! [Hebrews]. We have the real McCoy!
(923) 2ND SAMUEL 7- As David’s house is becoming established, he says to himself ‘I live in this great cedar house, and God is dwelling openly in this tent. I know what I will do; I will build a house/building for God also’. Good intent, bad imagery! David tells the plan to Nathan the prophet and Nathan says ‘go, do all that is in your heart’ and everything seems fine. That very night the Lord appears to Nathan in a vision and rebukes the whole scheme ‘Have I ever asked for someone to build me a house? All the years of journeying with my people, don’t you think if I wanted to dwell in some temple that I would have already done it!’. Basically Nathan and David get reproved big time. Why? Up until now God ‘dwelt’ in 2 separate tabernacle/systems. The Mosaic one was a type of law and separation between God and men. You had the classic veil separating God from the people. The ‘holy of holies’ [back room] was a type of mans separation from God because of mans sin. Now, after David retrieved the ark and brought it to Jerusalem. He set it up under an open tent called ‘the tent/tabernacle of David’. From this vantage point you had a beautiful picture of the future Messianic reign under Christ [of whom David is a symbol] where the people would all have open access to God. In essence ‘no more veil’. So even though David’s intentions are good, he is messing up the image. God still confirms his calling on David and his family/dynasty and we see one of those dual messianic prophecies that speak of Solomon and Jesus at the same time. God says he will raise up a permanent throne thru the loins of David and David will have a never ending rule. For this to happen someone obviously needs to be born from the lineage of David who will ‘have the power of an endless life’ [Hebrews]. Gee, I wonder who that could be? God’s intricate plan of salvation that is contained in these Old Testament books, written many years before Christ, couldn’t have been some made up 1st century story. It would have been impossible to have coordinated all the prophetic portions of scripture that tie together in Christ. Even the original writers and readers of Israel’s history could not have seen the unfolding of prophetic events that were to be fulfilled in Christ. We finish the chapter with David praising God and recognizing in humility that God has spoken about his family and purpose for ages to come. David sees that God is calling him to something greater than just being a human king, having a brief political history. God has plans for David even after David’s death! God spoke of David’s ongoing effect thru his seed [kids] that would continue for many generations to come. God wants all of us to live with a kingdom [not human!] legacy in mind. Paul the apostle built a gentile church that has lasted for 2 thousand years, he was a man of humble means. He left behind no edifice or bulky institution. But his ‘seed’ [spiritual kids] have outlasted him for many generations to come.
(924) 2ND SAMUEL 8- As David extends his rule he allows the defeated territories to maintain a level of self governing. The military principle is defeat [demoralize] your enemy, but don’t totally wipe him out. Either put a puppet king over them [Israel’s enemies will do this to her down the road!] or allow the ruling leaders to stay under tribute. Why do this? Some feel our country violated this principle in the present war with Iraq [2008]. The pundits say ‘why did Bush dismantle the Iraqi army, they should have simply allowed them to remain under U.S. rule’. First, the talking heads would have never been satisfied. I could hear Chris Matthews now ‘why in the world did Bush leave the army in place! Doesn’t he know that they were infiltrated with terrorists?’ But David allowed the defeated areas to exist under his rule. He wiped out some of their men, but not all. I think the modern concept of ‘extending Christ’s rule’ thru church planting can learn some lessons here. In the first century ‘church planting’ was the simple process of preaching the gospel to regions of people. Those who believed were baptized and continued in the apostle’s doctrine and the ways of Jesus. The first century ‘church planters’ were not trying to provide buildings and weekly ‘preaching services’ and long term dependence upon the Pastoral ministry. For the most part these new converts were to ‘self maintain’ under the direction of more grounded brothers in the Lord [elders]. This allowed for the ‘conquered territories’ [conquered by the sword of the Spirit, not the sword of man!] to function relatively easily on their own with out a lot of heavy financing and building programs and all sorts of stuff that the modern concept of ‘church planting’ has brought along for the ride. David simply put troops in these conquered cities [Jesus sent them out 2 by 2] and these areas of people understood that they were servants to the king! They paid tribute [I would associate this with the New Testament doctrine of giving as a community, not the Levitical tithe] and the Davidic kingdom [gospel] could spread rapidly in a short period of time. David had men working along side him; priests and scribes and stuff. He did ‘justly’ and ruled with integrity. He exemplified the character of a true leader, but did not back down from his God given authority. God established him as a leader in Israel. The boy did his job!
(925) 2ND SAMUEL 9- David inquires if there are any sons of Jonathan still alive, he wants to keep his oath to Jonathan that he would treat his offspring well when he became the king. Sure enough they find out that Mephibosheth, the crippled son, is still alive. David tells Ziba, former servant in Saul’s house, to become the servant of Mephibosheth. Later on we see Ziba speak badly about Mephibosheth; he will tell David that he was unfaithful to his rule. It’s possible that Ziba resented this new position of servitude that David put on him and his house. We read stories in the New Testament how the mercy Jesus shows to certain groups of people [lame and crippled and poor] will create a dissension among the others. David’s treatment of Mephibosheth is much like Jesus treatment of the down and out. David honors this lame boy, he allows him to sit at the kings table [Jesus in the parables calls people to ‘his dinner banquet’] and he outwardly, publicly associated himself with the sick and disabled. Truly David is fulfilling his role as a type of Christ. The jealousy of Ziba [down the road] reminds me of the story of Haman in the book of Esther. Haman was this wicked brother who hated the Jews. He particularly loathed this brother named Mordecai. This Jew refused to bow down as Haman rode by. Haman was close to the king [non Jew]. So Haman devises this plot to kill all the Jews and ultimately Esther saves the day [thus the name of the book]. But at one point the king asks Haman’s advice ‘what should I do for the man I respect and like so much’? Haman thinks the king is talking about him, so of course he says ‘Well, have him exalted to the highest position next to the king, let all the kings servants bow down and respect him…and on and on’. Haman thinks ‘Now I’ll get that rat Mordecai to bow!’ And the king says ‘sounds like a great idea, now go and make all this happen for Mordecai’. This was not Haman's day. Jesus challenges our hidden agendas. How do we respond when other ministries excel? Do we secretly feel good when we hear about the failure of a ministry that never honored us? Do we root for the church we attend and kind of have an attitude of ‘we are doing better than the other guys’. All these attitudes violate the family mindset of the Body of Christ. When David, or Jesus or any other king show special favor to another subject, our ‘eye shouldn’t be evil because the king did what was his right to do with what was his’. David honored his former vow to his best friend Jonathan, he kept his word.
(926) 2ND SAMUEL 10- The king of Ammon dies and David sends messengers to show due respect. The son, who is now the new king, receives David’s men. But the princes of the land say ‘what in the heck were you thinking? Surely David has sent these men to spy on us’. Why would the princes say this? Possibly because the king treated David well when he was alive. He sent David materials and workers to help. Sometimes people resent it when they feel others are getting the favor that they really deserve. They poisoned the mind of the new king. Now he takes David’s men and shaves half of their beards off and cuts their robes in half. An act of public humiliation. David hears about it and the fight is on. Ammon requests help from Syria and Syria says ‘sure, why not?’. I’ll tell you why not, because the scripture says don’t get involved with fights and issues that don’t concern you, that’s why! Well David confronts the armies and wins. Syria winds up surrendering and making a treaty with Israel. What happened here? Once again we see the poor decision making of a younger king. He took the advice of the other princes who were speaking out of wrong motives and intentions. Solomon’s future son will do the same and it will lead to another division in Israel. Paul instructs Timothy [or Titus?] to not allow a novice to be an elder. Does this mean young men can’t be spiritual leaders? Not necessarily. Timothy was fairly young at the time of getting this instruction. But new believers [leaders] have a tendency to grasp doctrine and ideas that might not be totally wrong, but they have a tendency to emphasize them in a distorted way. How many times have I heard teaching on the ‘importance of money’, or some other single issue. The preacher will often defend his distortion by saying ‘look how many times this subject is mentioned in scripture’ not realizing that this in itself does not justify the wrong emphasis. For instance many of the times this subject is mentioned it is in the context of warning believers to not become side tracked with seeking wealth! I could start a doctrine on the importance of ‘water’ or ‘bread’. Look how often water is mentioned! We have it in Genesis and Revelation. Jesus speaks of the waters of life. And I could go on and on. But the fact that this subject is found in so many various ways, doesn't mean we should exalt it into an idol. So young [new] believers do have a tendency to lift things out of proportion at times. The new king acted foolishly and the Syrians came along for the ride. Wisdom would have said ‘let the king of Ammon do what he thinks he should, we will sit this one out’.
(927) 2ND SAMUEL 11- David sends Joab and his men out to war. He stays home and takes a walk on his roof and spots Bathsheba. He sends a servant to contact her and he sleeps with her. He finds out she’s pregnant and the gears in his mind start moving. He calls her noble husband, Uriah, from the front lines of battle and pretends he just called him to inquire about the battle. He sends him home, hoping he will sleep with his wife, and then David will be off the hook. Sure enough Uriah is so noble that he refuses to sleep in his house when his men are in the battle. So David gives it a second shot and gets the brother drunk. He sends him home again and Uriah refuses to sleep with Bathsheba. So David calls for Joab, the lead commander of his army, and says ‘put Uriah in the front lines and draw back and let him die’. Something interesting happens. Joab carries out the plan but also allows some of David’s other men to die. Then he sends a messenger to tell David ‘we were at the front lines, close to a wall, and some of our guys were killed’. Joab tells the messenger ‘if David gets mad and says “what were you thinking by getting close to the wall? This is a basic mistake that should have never been made!”’ Joab says if David asks this, then say ‘Uriah is dead too’. It’s possible that Joab stuck it to David here for making him partake in his personal problems. Military men do not like carrying out personal political vendettas. Either way the messenger goes and tells David and David feels he covered up his sin. Of course we will soon find out the cover up didn’t work. Bathsheba does move in with David and they make plans for the coming baby. A few things; David was a great man, he followed God as a man ‘after Gods own heart’. David was also human. Hebrews says ‘every high priest taken from among men must make sacrifice for his own sin as well as the peoples’. I don’t want to excuse sin, but I want you to see that all of us have ‘feet of clay’. Modern ministry has a system where we present the best image of leadership to people. We feel this is part of the role of leaders. The scriptures show you ‘the good, the bad, and the ugly’. We just saw the ugly.
(928) 2ND SAMUEL 12- Nathan confronts David over his sin. He gives a parable about 2 men in a town, one owned lots of flocks and sheep, the other owned one precious lamb. The man with all the sheep had a visitor come to him in need. So instead of sacrificing his own sheep, he went and took the precious ‘only lamb’ from his neighbor. David is incensed over this injustice, he declares ‘This man will pay back what he did and also die for this sin’! Nathan says ‘you are the man’. David realizes he did this very thing with Bathsheba and Uriah. Notice how we have a tendency to be enraged over the sin and faults of others, but we make room for ourselves when we are guilty of the same things. Jesus confronted the religious hypocrisy of his day when he showed the Pharisees that they were guilty of lust and anger and jealousy, the same root causes of murder and adultery. They wanted strict judgment on others who were guilty of the same sins that they were guilty of. Also the fact that the man with one little lamb lost his favorite, this speaks of the great sacrifice of giving up the ‘only begotten Son of God’. Jesus sacrifice was great because the father gave his only Son. Now David receives the reproof from the prophet and Gods judgment is pronounced ‘the sword will never leave your house. From within your own family treachery shall arise. Your wives will be taken from you and publicly disgraced. The son from Bathsheba will die’. Very strict judgment indeed, yet the Lord says ‘nevertheless, I will spare your life’. This was something David did not leave room for in his earlier judgment on the sheep stealer! David mourns and fasts for the child’s life, but the child dies. David has another son with Bathsheba and his name is Solomon. One of the greatest/wisest kings Israel will ever have. A few things; in David’s earlier scenario he said the ‘sheep stealer’ should pay restitution. He wanted the man to right the wrong. In David’s case he killed the very man whom restitution should have been made to! In essence his sin was so severe that it actually cut off part of his future reconciliation. Unforgiveness towards others falls into this same category. God requires us to forgive those who have wronged us. We often do every thing else under the sun to get back on track, but we ‘eliminate’ the very person that stands in the way of total reconciliation! That person is often times the offender. Also at the end of the chapter David is told by Joab that he is on the verge of taking a city and David should come and finish the job so Joab won’t get the credit. David musters his forces and finishes the job. One of the hardest things to do in ministry/service is to regroup and move forward again. David had some very serious issues he had to deal with. The situation with Bathsheba was not going away. He couldn’t completely resolve this issue. But he still needed to function and carry out his responsibilities. Faithfulness means sticking it out even thru your own personal failures. Completing the task to the best of your ability. At one point they asked David ‘why were you grieving and fasting while the boy was still alive, and after he died you ate and functioned again’? David said ‘who knows, when the boy was alive there was a possibility that God would change his mind and let the boy live. After he died there was nothing else I could do’. Most of us would have been angry at God. David didn’t have all the answers, he knew Nathan was an accurate prophet. The things Nathan said were from the Lord. But David also was ‘from the Lord’. He too had a relationship with God. He depended on this relationship to guide him thru stuff. Maybe God would do something? David did not have all the answers. And when God didn’t do what he wanted, he didn’t take it personal. He moved forward the best he could. God showed tremendous mercy in allowing this sinful situation to produce a future king. Solomon was born from this turmoil and he was a great man of God. Look to the lord to bring forth wisdom from the failures in your life. The ‘first son’ might not have survived, but the second son just might be a prodigy.
(929) 2ND SAMUEL 13- In this chapter David begins reaping the judgment on his household. Amnon, David’s son, falls for Tamar. Tamar is the sister of Absalom, another son of David. David had kids from various wives, so you had sons and sisters who were not from the same mother. Amnon devises a scheme and sleeps with Tamar. Then he rejects her. Absalom is incensed over this. David hears about it but doesn’t deal with the problem. Two years go by and Absalom gets even. He tricks Amnon and his other brothers to come to his territory. Then he kills Amnon. Word gets back to David ‘all your sons have been slain by Amnon’. David thinks ‘surely, this is my punishment’. He mourns and is shaken to the core. Now, the report was false. It really wasn’t as bad as David thought. Leaders, don’t always believe the initial report. The first intuition might be wrong. It’s difficult for leaders to recognize that something needs to happen, and then to wait on the Lord for clear directives. Leaders often want action, so they will respond and act based on the initial report. It’s better to sleep on it for a few days. David finds out that all the sons are not dead, just Amnon. Absalom flees to another king and is gone for a few years. David is distraught over the loss of one son and the reality that the other son is estranged from him. Could David have prevented this whole scenario? Maybe not, we do know the Lord said a sword would be in his family. A division and fighting would arise from within. But David also failed in that when he heard of the situation he never dealt with it. Sort of like Samuel and Eli. Eli let his boys run wild and they ruined Gods house. Though the Lord ‘promised’ David would reap what he sowed earlier on, yet the reaping was not as severe as he initially thought. Absalom could have very well killed all the brothers, but the Lord only allowed a limited judgment. Sometimes we mess up and make wrong choices, remember; God is for us. He is on our side. All chastening and discipline are for our ultimate benefit. What good what it have done for David to have been totally wiped out? God was disciplining David and his family, but God was still on David’s side.
(930) 2nd SAMUEL 14- David is broken over the estrangement of his son. Joab realizes that the kingdom can’t function to its full potential under this strain. But he knows he can’t confront David himself. Why? Maybe it’s because of the nature of leaders. It’s a very rare thing for one leader to confront another leader over an issue. The natural response is to look for ways to justify ourselves. So instead Joab finds a ‘wise woman’ and gets her to put on this act for the king. She tells him this sob story about one of her sons killing the other one. She is a widow and is left with only one son, but all the other relatives want justice! They can’t forgive the only heir. Well David falls for this scenario again! He did this with Nathan and Bathsheba. So he tells the woman ‘God forbid that someone takes vengeance on the only son. Over my dead body…. on and on’. Now the woman says ‘can I say one last thing’? Knowing David’s history of getting trumped at the end of these things, I would have said ‘no maam, you’ve said enough already’. But David says ‘go ahead’. She tells him ‘you’re the man!’ [Ouch! I wonder if this woman was the wife of Nathan?:-)] So David realizes he’s been duped again. The woman says ‘O, you are so wise and smart and….’ Gee, for someone who is so swift, he sure falls for these stories a lot. David sends Joab to get Absalom and Absalom returns to Jerusalem but the king avoids him for 2 years. Finally he sees his son. All is not well, Absalom resents the fact that his father called him home but never really made things right. Joab is glad that David gave it a shot. And the nameless wise woman gives us a quote worth remembering ‘For we must needs die, and are as water spilled on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again; neither doth God respect any person: yet doth he devise means [the Cross], that his banished [humanity] be not expelled from him [reconciliation]’. Couldn’t have said it better myself.
(931) 2ND SAMUEL 15- Absalom sits daily at the city gate and when the people come to the king, Absalom ‘steels their hearts’. He says ‘o, if I were the king I could do such a good job. I am better than the one God appointed’. Avoid trying to gain peoples acceptance by comparing yourself with others. God might use you to be an example in some way, but this is a matter of grace. Paul said he excelled more than the other apostles who were ‘in Christ’ before him, but nevertheless it was Gods grace that caused this to happen. Absalom slowly wins the hearts of the people and stages a takeover. Some men go willingly, others followed ‘out of simplicity’. They were led astray like sheep. Remember, when dealing with followers of groups who have ‘rebelled’ [classic cults] some have been raised innocently with their beliefs. Try and honestly talk to them and treat them courteously. God can give you an open door with them if you see them as people who have value and worth. We see David as a type of Christ in this chapter. He is forsaken by the city of Jerusalem and loses his following. He even ascends the Mount of Olives while weeping! He says ‘If God chooses to forsake me, so be it. But if he brings me back again [resurrection!] and allows me to see the Ark in Jerusalem, then let his will be done’. Jesus said ‘not my will, but thine be done’. The Father, who forsook his Son, did delight in him and ‘brought him back again’ to see ‘the Ark in the city of Jerusalem’. Jesus saw the tabernacle of God [Gods people, the dwelling of God] in ‘the city of God’ [the church is called the city of God that comes down from God out of heaven] and he was restored to his former place of exaltation at the fathers right-hand. David is reaping some stuff here. He makes some plans for a future return to leadership, but recognizes when it’s time to retreat. Now, I realize that God wants us to move forward and ‘take the kingdom by force’. But Jesus also gave us a principle; he said ‘when one king is facing another king. He sends out messengers to check out the opponent. If word comes back that you are really out of your league in this battle, then try and come to terms of peace if possible’. In essence there are times where taking a step back and re-evaluating is a wise thing. David plants a few spies in Jerusalem who will report back to him every now and then. David also finds out who his true friends are. Some follow him instead of Absalom, even though Absalom is the ‘hot ticket item’ at the time. These brothers who stick with you till the end are true friends, but they aren’t always the most encouraging. Thomas [one of Jesus disciples] says at one point ‘Lets go, we might as well follow him all the way to our deaths’. Thanks for the willingness to follow Thomas, but you think you could change the attitude a little! So David is doing the best with what he has, Gods people are surviving, but they are being used as pawns on Absalom’s chess board. Absalom looked good at the start, but he will not finish well.
(932) 2ND SAMUEL 16- As David flees Jerusalem, Ziba, the servant that was under Mephibosheth joins with him. David asks ‘what are you doing here? You should be home with your master’. Ziba says ‘as soon as Mephibosheth heard about the take over, he said “I will stay in Israel and become the new king, God will restore to me Saul’s throne”’. Now David believes it and says ‘I now put you in charge of all the household of your former master, it belongs to you’. Later on Mephibosheth will deny all of this. Its possible Ziba made this up for his own benefit. Leaders, be careful of advice from people with a personal agenda. They often make themselves look better than others. Now as David flees another enemy comes out and curses and throws stones at him along the way. This guy says ‘look at you now, you rebelled against the old king [Saul] and now you are receiving the just reward’. Now David responds with a Christ like attitude and says ‘let the guy curse me, I will not retaliate. Maybe God will look on this persecution and reward me’. One of David’s men wanted to ‘take his head off’. Gee, David has all types in his leadership circle! Did this guy who was cursing David misread the whole situation? Yes, but don’t forget we are reading this story from the real perspective, some people living at the time of David and Saul saw this new king [David] as a threat to the old ways. It’s only a few days after the 2008 presidential election. Barack Obama won. Though there were many reasons for and against him, now that he won we ALL need to pray for him. But some of the supporters of McCain sincerely saw this ‘new kind of person’ as a rebellious threat to the ‘old order’. Sincere people who saw things from a different angle. So David’s accuser sees the story from a wrong lens. David was being judged by God, but not because he toppled the old order of King Saul. Back at Jerusalem Absalom listens to the advice of Ahithophel and sleeps with his fathers concubines. The advice was that when all Israel heard about it, they would realize that this rebellion was a real rebellion and the people would unite under his illegal rule. Scripture says Ahithophels counsel was like ‘hearing from God’ in those days. Leaders, be open to the counsel that is coming forth from particular streams at certain times. It is not only important for believers to ‘learn the bible’, but also to be able to discern the signs of the times. Specific things God is saying and doing in our day. If you were living in the 16th century the issue of the reformation was vital for every one who was a believer. Whether you were Catholic or Protestant, you needed to be up on the issues. Erasmus, the great Catholic scholar and humanist [not ‘secular humanist’] wrote insightful criticisms against his own church, yet remained within her fold. So matter what Christian tradition you align yourself with, you need to be aware of the seasons and purposes of God for your generation. In Absalom’s day, Ahithophel was the go to man.
(933) HAS MODERN SCIENCE PROVEN THE EXISTENCE OF GOD? Does the long age theory of the earth and universe disprove God? After the enlightenment era and the general scientific/industrial revolution, many people were taught that science held to ‘real truth’ while scripture dealt with ‘myth’. Myth in this context did not mean ‘fake’ but simple stories that conveyed spiritual meaning. In the field of theology you had what was called higher criticism. Well intended theologians tried to come up with liberal ideas that could join science and theology together in a compatible way that would suit the modern man. Many people grasped a naturalistic explanation to the universe and world and life on our planet. After Darwin advanced his theory of Macro- Evolution, science began a long haul survey of the data and came up short. After 150 years of honestly searching for the proof of Evolution, the sincere scientists [many of whom are Atheists] have seen the writing on the wall. What they were told to look for is not there! The data show that even if you were to follow the old age theory of the earth and universe [15 billion for the universe, 5 billion for earth- approximately] this in no way would leave enough time for the random development of life on our planet. Even the old age model doesn’t work. The evidence for the old earth perspective shows that life appeared on our planet around 3.5 billion years ago. Even if you believe in the spontaneous generation of the living cell [which is actually very difficult to believe in!] the short time period between the earth’s age and the first appearance of life [according to the science itself] is in no way enough time for the random development of life to have occurred. In actuality the 15 billion year old date of the universe would still not be enough time, according to the scientific statistical odds, for life to have spontaneously developed by mere chance. The problem is the average public school taught citizen does not know this! He thinks that science has somehow proven that all life and existence has come about by naturalistic means. Science has PROVEN this to be impossible! Even unbelieving science. In 1980 you had the famous conference on macro evolution held in Chicago, the famous paleontologist from the Museum of natural history in New York, Niles Eldridge, said ‘the pattern that we were told to find for the last 120 years does not exist’ [New York Times- Nov. 4, 1980]. He was stating the obvious findings of the scientific community, that Darwin’s ideas, no matter how noble and ‘enlightening’ they seemed to be, were completely shown to be false. Some from the scientific community were willing to accept this truth and begin a new journey for a different explanation of life. Some espoused that life could have started some where else, and wound up on our planet by chance [or design!]. This explanation seemed to give a little room for the impossibility of random chance to have brought about life in the short timetable and constraints of earth. Simply put, this idea acknowledged that life could in no way have developed on its own; therefore some other set of circumstances that might exist in some other place [extra-terrestrial] might have done this. Of course this idea is getting very close to the biblical world view of life having started with a creator. In essence the ‘extra terrestrial’ is actually God! The whole point is the ‘average Joe’ simply believes that science has answered all the questions of the origins of life, but the scientific community knows otherwise.
(934) 2ND SAMUEL 17- Absalom is strengthening his position as the new king. Ahithophel, his chief counselor, advises to strike while the irons hot. He tells Absalom ‘let me gather a 12 thousand man army and quickly pursue David. I will come upon him and his men while they are tired and fearful, then I will kill David only and bring the people back to you’. Now, this advice was the best, but Absalom asks for the advice of Hushai also. He was the secret spy that was really on David’s side. He advises Absalom to wait and gather all the people and mount a broad attack. God put it in the heart of Absalom to believe the bad advice [bad for Absalom, good for David!]. So Ahithophel sees that his counsel is rejected, he goes and hangs himself! Once again we see the ‘sword of David’s enemies enter into their own heart’. Remember what we said earlier about this? So Hushai sends word to David about the plan and David responds accordingly. Leaders, understand the strategy of our mortal enemy [satan]. He wants to target you when you and your people are weary and tired. He wants to take you down more than any other thing. The bible teaches ‘smite the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered’. Now this is a Messianic prophecy with a lot of meaning, but one of the points is the lead ‘point man’ is usually the main target of the opposing side. How can we mitigate this factor? Practice plural leadership as much as possible. The new testament churches were not ‘run by a Pastor’ in the way we do it today. So adjust your leadership paradigm and bring it more into alignment with scripture. Also, spread ‘the wealth around’ [a recent key issue with the newly elected president, Barack Obama]. If you can get the wisdom and truth that God has communicated to you into the hands of many others, then you have accomplished a lot. Paul told Timothy ‘the things that you have learned and been assured of, commit to faithful men who will be able to teach others also’. This is true apostolic ministry. David will survive this rebellion against his kingdom, but if Absalom listened to the best counsel David would have been finished for sure.
(935) 2ND SAMUEL 18- David and his men regroup and mount a counter attack against Absalom. They divide into 3 groups and go for it. David tells his men ‘take it easy on Absalom’. Why? Understand that David is seeing the prophetic judgment upon his family that was a result of his own sin. I wonder how many times David saw the fulfillment of this former word [the sword will never depart from your house] thru the seeming insignificant acts of Absalom along the way. David felt guilt over this whole rebellion mounted by his son. Now the battle rages and David and his men kill around 20 thousand troops of Absalom. Word gets back to Joab that Absalom got his hair caught in some tree and is hanging in the tree. Joab says ‘why didn’t you kill him!’ the messenger says ‘God forbid that I should kill the king’s son! I heard the strict orders from the king for no one to take his life’. My King James Version says Joab responded with ‘I may not tarry thus with thee’ in today’s terms ‘I can’t waste time listening to your reasoning’. Joab goes and kills the king’s son. When I read thru this chapter earlier this morning I saw 2 possible things here. First, Joab and his history with David are one of Joab being a ‘bloody man’. He killed Abner against the king’s wishes, and now Absalom. Why in the world did David not remove Joab from this position earlier? One reason, Joab knew how to war. The boy was capable; he knew how to get the job done. In ministry [or business] loyalty is important; people need to be able to carry out the decisions of leadership. But loyalty in and of itself doesn’t cut it, you need skills and abilities as well. You say ‘that’s not fair’ well if you don’t have the skills go get them for heavens sake! Proverbs says knowledge is in the street corners calling out to the simple and saying ‘come, receive of my learning’. The resources are there, laziness prevents people from accessing them effectively. Now Joab also acted responsibly to some degree. He realized that Absalom would be a permanent threat to David’s rule, he killed him and saved many. Right after his death Joab blows the trumpet and the battle is called off. 2 Messengers run to bring the word to David. Ephesians says ‘blessed are the feet of those who bring the gospel’ Gospel simply means ‘good news’. In the New Testament this good news was the reality of Jesus death, burial and resurrection [1st Corinthians 15] but in the Old Testament it was simply the news from ‘the runner’. You could tell from the way the runner was running whether the news was good or bad. How? Say if your wife took a lotto ticket that said ‘you one a million dollars’ and said ‘I am going to ask the store clerk if it’s real’. As you are waiting in the parking lot you see her coming out of the store. Do you think you would be able to tell if the news was good or bad by watching the way she approaches the car? So this was what the king looked for as the messengers came running. If they bore good news their feet had this special pep to them. News gets back to David and he is broken over the death of his son ‘O Absalom, my son Absalom. Would God I had died in your place’ I always stop and meditate this verse every time I read it thru my yearly reading thru the bible. This contains the heart of the Father in redemption. A few more things; in this chapter it said that Absalom raised up a monument/pillar after ‘his own name’. Because he didn’t have any sons to carry on his legacy, he left ‘a thing’ that would honor his name after he died. Absalom didn’t simply have a rebellion issue against his father, he really wanted to build for himself a legacy. His motivations were self serving. Jesus warns the leaders of his movement not to approach ‘church and ministry’ with the same ‘gentile’ [worldly] concepts of leadership. The world often succeeds thru the motivation of greed and lust and power. It’s very easy to fall into the Absalom mindset and take it out on Gods people when the ‘pillar’ [the thing of ministry] doesn’t ‘go up right’. Many well meaning sincere men have been side tracked into seeking fame and acceptance by seeing ministry thru the lens of ‘I want to leave some institution that will bear witness to my name after I am gone’. Ministry, according to Jesus, does not operate along these lines. In Absalom’s obsession to become famous in the eyes of men, he went down a path that did leave a memorial to his name for generations to come. We just read it.
(936) 2ND SAMUEL 19- David sends word to the elders of Judah ‘why are you guys so late in receiving me back to Jerusalem as your king? I am your own kin for heavens sake!’ After the death of the rogue king Absalom, Israel came to her senses and began saying ‘you know, when David was our king things weren’t all that bad, now that Absalom is dead, what are we waiting for, lets call David back’. So David sends word back that he is reuniting with the people again. He also makes some strategic moves; he tells Amasa ‘when I get back, you get Joab’s job’ Ouch! David finally dealt with the talented, yet self willed commander of his men. On the way back one of the first guys that greets him is the same brother that cursed him and threw stones at him earlier. David lived to see the day of Gods vindication. The brother repents and David forgives him. Also the son of Jonathan, Mephibosheth, greets David with great joy. The first thing David says is ‘why didn’t you leave with me at the beginning?’ The earlier slander of Ziba stuck in David’s mind. Mephibosheth swares that Ziba tricked him. David forgives him and says ‘enough! You split the inheritance with Ziba’. Mephibosheth replies ‘Let him keep it, I don’t need the material wealth. I am just glad to be with you again’. The church does not see the reality of this test contained in scripture. There are times where ‘David’ does offer opportunities of self advancement that are simply a test to see what our motives are. In this case David rightfully gave material stuff to Mephibosheth, it was the maturity and character of Mephibosheth to say ‘thanks, but no thanks’. The scripture contains many examples of Christ followers forsaking things for his cause. Just because the bible ‘offers opportunities for wealth’ does not mean Gods best is for you to ‘go for the wealth’. Now that David’s back in Jerusalem, the divided tribes [Israel-10 tribes, and Judah] have a squabble. Israel says ‘Judah, who do you think you are in being the first ones to escort the king back, he is our king too’! And Judah replies ‘yeah, but he is our blood kin, David is from our tribe. We hold a ‘special’ relationship with him because of natural heritage’. It’s funny, these guys were on Absalom’s side a few days ago, now they are fighting over him! I kinda see Jesus and natural Israel in this story. The nation of Israel became offended over the fact that they were ‘blood heirs’ of the Jewish Messiah. They held to this ethnic pride that would be destroyed thru the Cross. It offended the natural mind to see this ethnic figure [in the historic mind of Judaism] to be accepted by ‘all the tribes’. They wanted him solely for their own purposes. So here we see Judah and Israel fighting over David, he will unite them both under his rule [Ephesians ‘the 2 are made one, Jew and Gentile, and God hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us] and Jerusalem will once again be called ‘the city of the great king’ [we are the ‘city that comes down from God out of heaven’ the bride, the Lambs wife!]
(937) 2ND SAMUEL 20- Now David comes up against another short rebellion. Sheba, a Benjamite, blows the trumpet and says ‘what part have we in David, every man for himself’. Sheba draws Israel away from her king and Judah remains loyal. David quickly tells his new commander, Amasa, ‘go and gather Judah together and meet me in 3 days’. He takes longer than 3 days and David says ‘surely this Sheba is going to be trouble’ and he sends Joab out too. What’s going on here? First, David removed Joab from the commander position and replaced him with Amasa. For whatever reason Amasa is taking longer to gather Judah, David is reading into it thru the paranoia of Sheba’s rebellion. Was Amasa turning against him too? David then turns to his former commander Joab and seems to be using him as the back up ‘go to man’. Leaders, if you changed the staff for a reason, don’t keep going to the former guy for advice. It only creates tension with the new team. If you think the new guy isn’t working well, then give him a little time and if you have to then go and make the change. But don’t simply give him a title and then undercut his job. Now Joab goes out after Sheba and finds Amasa and kills him. He then chases down Sheba into a city of Israel. Joab comes against the city and a wise woman says ‘why are you trying to destroy us, we are a special town in Israel’? Joab says ‘we just want Sheba’. Sure enough the woman says ‘wait a little bit’ and next thing you know Sheba’s head comes over the wall. You don’t want to mess with these Israeli women! So Joab gets his job back, thru violent means. David puts down this short rebellion. And he has to regroup big time. Leadership means being able to function in the midst of turmoil and inner strife and infighting. That’s part of the cost. There is a verse that says ‘rule thou in the midst of your enemies’. God doesn't tell us ‘I will remove all the problems so you can rule’. He tells us ‘lead right thru all the stuff’!
(938) 2ND SAMUEL 21- After David gains back his kingdom, there is a 3 year famine in the land. David seeks the Lord about it. God tells him it is a result of the violence that Saul committed against the innocent blood of the Gibeonites. The Gibeonites were the people who tricked Joshua [Joshua 9] into staying in the Promised Land. After Joshua gave his word, they later found out that they were tricked. Well Saul obviously went back on this promise of protection and came against them. When ever there is a nation wide judgment, we need to see what the possible causes might be. We just elected a new president of the U.S. [11-08]. While there are obviously great historic realities to our new president being the first Black man to attain this honor, yet we also need to seek God over the way we treat the ‘innocent blood’ in our land. Barack Obama has already floated the idea that he will overturn the executive decision of President Bush on our foreign aid being used for abortions in other countries. To be honest it surprised me that he even floated this idea so soon. This is a direct contradiction to the statement he made at the forum at Rick Warrens church earlier in the year. He said he would work to reduce abortion and that the goal of reducing them would be part of his governing philosophy. He simply mislead us on this issue. Also the Gibeonites were ‘illegal aliens’ in the sense that they were the only people group allowed to remain in the Promised Land along with Israel. Our country has had open borders for many years. True, we do have procedures to go by if you want to come to our country. But we have previously promised ‘protection and safety’ to those who wanted to come. Much like the Gibeonites we began to resent the aliens in our midst. We now treat them with less respect and honor than was originally promised. We told the tired masses at one time ‘to come’ but now we want to build fences to keep them out. On both of these issues our country needs to seek God, we are just beginning a few years of very bad national economic times. For those who think this president [or any other!] has the ability to turn this economic disaster around, you are only kidding yourself. The next 4 years will not be good. We need to pray for our president and honor him, but in reality our economy is very bad. Also in this chapter we see David and his men fight the sons of Goliath, the giant who David defeated earlier in his life. Old enemies are resurfacing. David is in a battle with one of them and is almost killed. To the rescue comes Abishai, the brother of Joab. These were the brothers who gave David ‘hell’ all thru out his reign. Self willed, violent. This time David was grateful for the violent ability of these brothers. Sometimes we have to put up with people in our cities, areas. We might not always agree with their style. But when things get rough, we can count on them to get the job done. David and his men wipe out the rest of the giants sons and they tell David ‘you can’t war with us any more, it’s too dangerous’. David recognizes it’s time for a personal transition, he likes being in the battle front, but he is risking too much to think that time has not affected his ability. God leads us thru various stages of growth and development thru out our lives, the bible says ‘there is a time and season for everything’. We need to be able to follow the course as God directs. David was a true warrior, he did not want to adjust his procedure. Wisdom allows us to do what’s best for the overall community and not to please ourselves.
(939) 2ND SAMUEL 22- David exalts the Lord and mentions many themes that are found thru out scripture. He also says ‘the Lord has rewarded me according to the cleanness of my hands… he has recompensed me according to my righteousness’. Though David is renown for his sin with Bathsheba and the killing of her husband, yet we must see that David’s repentance was real. Ultimately David turned from his sin and God did bless him. We don’t want people to get the impression that repentance did not matter, in David’s case it made all the difference in the world. David also says ‘the Lord is merciful to those who are merciful…and hard with those who are hard’ Jesus says this in Matthew 5. David says ‘God took me and placed me in a large place’. One of the most frustrating things is to be operating from the wrong paradigm. Too often we leave the impression with young Pastors that their ‘job’ is to preach to 30 people a week for 30 years, marry them, bury them, perform the job of the ‘hired clergyman’ and this is what it means to be faithful. While I recognize that many well meaning men are functioning out of this mind set, yet God puts in people [all of his people, not just ‘full time ministers’!] a ‘large place’ to function out of. Now, when I say ‘large place’ don’t think building, think ‘the area, groups of people that I will influence thru out my life’. Scripture says God took David from ‘following the sheep’ [small pastoral mindset] to being king over the nation. God simply gave David great influence and stature for the sake of his people. Jesus said ‘you have been faithful over a little, I will now give you authority over 10 cities’. Are you frustrated because you are supposed to be ‘over 10 cities’ and are still dealing with ‘the little’? Be faithful to the day of small things right now, promotion comes from God alone. ‘You have made me the head of the heathen…strangers shall serve me. As soon as they hear me they will submit’. These are Messianic themes found elsewhere in scripture ‘ask of me and I will give you the heathen for your inheritance, the ends of the earth for your possession’. Jesus became the ‘head of the heathen’ he is Lord over the gentile nations, John calls this ‘the other flock’ in his gospel. God gave both David and Jesus authority for the benefit of people. What kind of people? The lost, down and out. Those who society rejected. God gives us authority for the ‘sake of the heathen’. Don’t see your ‘ministry’ as a gift to the ‘upper class’ only, spend some time ‘with the heathen’.
(940) 2ND SAMUEL 23- David recounts his life and the mighty men who were with him thru the ups and downs. He says ‘God raised me up on high, the anointed of God. He spake his words thru me’ Jesus was raised up ‘on high’ he was/is Gods anointed one [Messiah] and he spoke only the words that the Father gave him. Now David has some valiant men to mention. Some fought the enemy against all odds. One was in a lentil field and the rest of the people fled. This brother stood his ground and won! This characteristic is important for leaders; there are times where you must stand, even if the rest of your people are afraid! If you start running, then forget it, there isn’t a ‘snowball’s chance in Hades’ that the job will get finished. Also David was in the cave Adullam, and he longed for the water at Bethlehem. His 3 mighty men heard him and they secretly snuck out and broke thru the Philistines front line and got the water for David! A valiant deed. Then they bring it to David and he pours it on the ground! He says ‘God forbid that I should drink the water that you risked your lives for’. I don’t know about you guys, but if I were one of the mighty men, my next valiant act would be ‘watch me make the king drink water off the ground’. One of the brothers killed a lion in the snow. I grew up in New Jersey, when it’s freezing out its hard to carry out tasks. You really don’t want to fight battles and ‘slay lions’ in difficult environments. The mighty men were able to function well, even in harsh conditions. The rest of the chapter is simply the naming of all the others. A few things; God raises up leaders and ‘kings’ at various times in history [Luther, Calvin, Graham, etc.] these men make their mark on history with the help of many other valiant men. In David’s case one of the men saved him from sure death in an earlier fight with the giant’s sons. The point is we are not in this thing to make a name for ourselves or to think ‘I could do a better job than David’ [Absalom] and go and start our own ‘kingdom’. God places key people in key places at certain points in time. It is vital for all the ‘actors’ [those who act/function!] to be courageous, take risks as God ordains, and fulfill the mission to the best of your ability. There are times where leaders WILL HAVE TO LEAD! That means you sought God, you heard what he said, and you followed thru on it. Many sincere men try all sorts of ‘new ideas’ in an attempt to get something off the ground. A year goes by and they have a new idea their working on. What happened? Ultimately you have to lead. You have to follow thru on the directives that God gave you. The problem isn’t with the plan [most of the times] but it’s with the faithfulness to follow thru with the mission. David’s men had the character to stick things out when others fled. Sure, those who flee will be back to check things out every now and then. Don’t despise them, but you know who can be trusted with the next mission. These are the noble warriors who acted valiantly in the face of great odds. These are the ‘go to men’ if you will.
(941) 2ND SAMUEL 24- David numbers the people. Joab and his men tell David not to do it. Why? Well to be honest we really don’t know for sure, but let me give you my spin on it. The nation of Israel were very religious and sticklers for specific things. You see this development years later with the religious Pharisees, a tendency to focus in on specific instructions and these ideas becoming obsessive in their minds. All Israel knew the original promise that God made to Abraham. God told him that his ‘seed would be like the stars for multitude and the sand by the shore’ [Genesis 15] included in this famous promise were the words ‘go, see if you can count them’? It was understood that God was saying to Abraham ‘go, if you want to test me, try and count them’ [the stars]. It’s possible that the counting of the people was considered a taboo for this reason. Now David does count them and his ‘seer/prophet’ Gad tells him ‘you messed up, you have 3 choices of judgment that will come on you’. David picks the 3 day judgment under Gods hand and 70,000 Israelites die. The census David took showed that Israel had 800 thousand people, Judah 500 thousand [1.3 million total] without counting the women and children! So you can multiply this number by at least 3 to figure the actual size of the nation. God stops the judgment short and David builds an altar at the place where he saw the destroying angel. David also pleads with the Lord ‘why kill the people, let the judgment be on me and my family instead’. David shows the heart of Moses here. Also David had a ‘seer/prophet’ that was part of his ‘ministry team’. In the prophetic churches it is common to have real prophetic people [not flakes!] who are stable in the word, and also give good advice to the leadership. There are real life prophets/seers who function in the church and can play a key role in the future of the church. We end Samuel with David overseeing a large kingdom. The people were the prophetic fulfillment of Gods purpose in the earth at that time. The letter of Peter says we are Gods holy nation today. The Father promised the Son that he would give him ‘the heathen for his inheritance and the ends of the earth for his possession’. Just like David, the anointed king/priest of Israel, Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father and sees the great multitude of people on the earth [and in heaven] that are the fulfillment of the promise of God to him. We are living proof of the faithfulness of God to his Son.
(942) 1st CORINTHIANS INTRODUCTION- Out of all of Paul’s letters, this one is ‘the most verified’ as being his. Of course we know this because Paul says so in the letter! But for all those intellectual higher critics, this helps. Corinth was a city of great influence and trade, many land and sea routes converged at Corinth and her port. The city was also known for her philosophers and ‘preachers of wisdom’ [Rhetoric]. They actually had a custom at Corinth in which you could ‘hire’ your own ‘preacher of wisdom’. These were the traveling teachers who made a living at speaking. This also might be why Paul specifically said ‘when I was with you I did not take money from you’. The custom of the traveling preachers was you could pay a one time honorarium for a single speech, or you could actually hire a regular speaker and have him ‘on salary’. Paul did not want the Corinthians to think that he was their hired preacher! How much influence this type of trade would have on the later development of the ‘hired clergy’ is unknown, but the similarities are striking. The famous 5th century bishop of Hippo, North Africa, Saint Augustine, made his living as one of these traveling teachers of philosophy before becoming a Christian. It’s believed that Paul wrote a 3rd letter to the church at Corinth, so what we know as 1st, 2nd Corinthians might actually be letters 2 and 3. I personally think Corinthians holds special value for the church today. The 21st century believer is being challenged on her Ecclesiology, the whole idea of what the church is. In Corinthians we see a specific picture of what the church is and on how she should meet. Paul will not address ‘the Pastor’ [there was none in the modern sense of the office] but he will speak directly to the brothers at Corinth and give them some heavy responsibilities to carry out [like committing a brother to satan for the destruction of his flesh! Ouch]. Paul went to Corinth on his 2nd missionary journey and spent 18 months with them [Acts 18] one of the longest stays at any church. Because of the pagan background of the city Paul will address specific issues related to believers and certain practices of idol worship. Eating meat offered to idols and stuff like that. Corinth also practiced a form of idolatry that included prostitution, so he will deal severely with the loose sexual morals of the people at Corinth. Well we have a lot to cover in the next few weeks, try and read Corinthians on your own as we plunge into this study, it will help a lot.
(943) 1ST CORINTHIANS 1:1-17 Paul greets them as an apostle called by God, he affirms his authority and ‘fathering ability’ as coming from God. He tells them he thanks God all the time for the fruit that he sees in their lives, the thing that made Paul rejoice was the work God was doing in the communities he was establishing as an apostle. Today ministers have a tendency to ‘rejoice’ over the Christian enterprise that we oversee. Whether its’ how well the budget went this year and stuff like that. Paul’s joy wasn’t in the fact that God called him to some great personal ministry where he would find self fulfillment. His joy was in the actual growth and freedom that ‘his churches’ [communities of people] were experiencing. He also defines them as ‘those that call upon the name of the Lord like all the others’. Remember what we said when studying Romans chapter 10? One of the signs of the believer is ‘they call upon Jesus name’. They are believing communities of ‘Christ callers’. Not so much a one time evangelical altar call, but a lifestyle. Jesus said we are ‘a house of prayer’. A spiritual community/house who intercedes for all nations. It’s in our very DNA! Paul also commends them as being enriched by God in all ‘knowledge and utterance’ [speech]. It seems funny that he would say they were blessed and enriched in speech. Paul will give some of his strongest rebukes over speaking gifts [tongues, prophesy] to this community. Yet he does not approach it from the strong anti charismatic view. He doesn’t say ‘your speech is demonic’ he says it is enriched by God! We will deal with the gifts later on. Now for the first real rebuke. Paul says he has heard reports that there are divisions and strivings among them. They are already dividing up into various sects. Some follow Paul, others follow Cephas, some say ‘we are the true Christ followers’. Paul rebukes them sharply over these divisions, he does not want the early church to identify with individual personalities and gifts at the expense of true unity. Was this the early development of denominationalism? To a degree yes. But I also don’t think we should view the various Christian denominations as deceived or ‘lost’. The modern church has become what we are thru many struggles and difficulties over a 2 thousand year history. My personal view is we should strive for unity, not by trying to dissolve all the various ‘tribes’ that exist in Christ’s church, but by growing into a more mature view of all who name the name of Christ as being fellow believers who partake of a common grace. I applaud all the efforts being made by various Christian churches today to come to a greater outward unity [for example the Catholic and Orthodox dialogue] but I also believe as we see each other as fellow believers and learn to appreciate our different emphasis, that this approach can also lead to greater unity among believers today. Paul saw the beginnings of division in the early Corinthian community, he did his best to quell the coming storm.
(944) 1ST CORINTHIANS 1:18-31 Paul declares the actual preaching of the Cross to be the power of God. The Jews sought for a sign [remember the sign of Jonas?] and the Greeks prided themselves in wisdom. Paul declares that Jesus IS the wisdom and power of God. In Christ is contained all the wisdom and power [signs] in the universe! Paul says God destroyed the wisdom of unregenerate man and that Gods foolishness is wiser than men’s greatest achievements apart from God. Wow, what an indictment on enlightenment philosophy. Man goes thru stages of learning and knowledge [renaissance, enlightenment. Industrial, scientific revolution] these are not bad achievements in and of themselves. Many of the greatest scientists and scientific discoveries were made by men of faith [Newton, Pascal, Faraday, etc] the problem arises when men think that sheer humanistic reasoning, apart from God, is the answer. Right now there is a movement [11-08] going on where some atheists bought ad space on the sides of buses that say ‘why believe in a god? Do good for goodness sake’. So they had both sides [Christian /Atheist] debate it. The simple fact is, sheer humanism cannot even define ‘what good is’. ‘Good’ becomes a matter of what serves me best at the time of my decision. Without God and special revelation [scripture-10 commandments] good can be defined by Hitler’s regime as exterminating one class of society for the benefit of the whole. Only Christian [or Deist, Jewish, Muslim] beliefs place special value and dignity on human life. It is a common misconception to think that all the enlightenment philosophers were atheists; this was not the case at all. Locke, Hume and others simply believed that thru human logic and reason people could arrive at a sort of naturalistic belief in God. This would form the basis of Deism, the system of belief in God but a rejection of classic Christian theology. Benjamin Franklin and other founding fathers of our country were influenced by this style of belief. Now, getting back to the Greeks. Paul says ‘God destroyed the wisdom of this world’. What wisdom is Paul talking about? The enlightenment philosophers of the 18th century had nothing on the Greek philosophers going all the way back to a few centuries B.C. Plato, the Greek wrestler turned philosopher, had one of the most famous schools of Greek philosophy. At the entrance of the school the words were written ‘let non but geometers enter here’. Kind of strange. Geometry simply meant ‘form’ in this use. Most of the great theoretical physicists were also great mathematicians [Einstein]. The Greek philosophers were seeking a sort of ‘unified theory’ that would explain all other theories and bring all learning together under one intellectual ‘roof’. Sort of like Einstein's last great obsession. The Greeks actually referred to this great unknown future ‘unifier’ as ‘the Logos’. Now, some atheists will use this truth to undercut the New Testament. They will take the common use of these words ‘The Logos’ and say that Johns writings [Gospel, letters] were simply stolen ideas from Greek philosophy. This is why believers need to have a better understanding of the inspiration of scripture. John’s writings were no doubt inspired, he of course calls Jesus the ‘Logos’ [word] of God. But he was simply saying to the Greek/Gnostic mind ‘look, you guys have been waiting for centuries for the one special ‘Word/Logos’ that would be the answer to all learning, I declare unto you that Jesus is this Logos’! So eventually you would have ‘the wisdom of the world’ [both Greek and enlightenment and all other types] falling short of the ultimate answer. They could only go so far in their journey for truth, and ultimately they either wind up at the foot of the Cross [the wisdom of God] or the ‘tree of the knowledge of good and evil’. God said this ‘tree’ [sources of wisdom and knowledge apart from God] would ultimately lead to death if not submitted to ‘the tree of life’ [the Cross]. You would have some of the enlightenment philosophers eat from this tree all the way to the ‘death of God’ movement. Man in his wisdom would come to the conclusion that ‘God is dead’. If this is true, then the slaughter of millions of Jews is no moral dilemma. If God is dead then man is not created in his image, he is just this piece of flesh that you can dispose of at will. To all you intellectual types, it’s Okay to have a mind, but you must love God with it. If all your doing is feeding from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you will surely die.
(945) 1 CORINTHIANS 2- Paul tells them that when he came to them to declare Gods wisdom, that he did not do it with excellency of speech or with enticing words of men’s wisdom. What is he saying here? Remember, Corinth had the background of traveling philosophers of rhetoric who could ‘dazzle the average folk’. Sort of like the role science would come to play with modern man. All science is good, it’s when man in his arrogance begins to espouse or ‘twist’ things to his advantage that the problem arises. That’s when the arrogance of mans wisdom simply says to the average Joe ‘who do you think you are to question me! I am a man of wisdom’ Phooey! [I know it’s corny]. The fact is that natural man has always had the ability to deceive or come up with ‘evidence’ just in the nick of time. Did you know there was/is an entire cottage industry in ‘finding’ fossils to prove evolution is true? Do you really think men were above deception in the 1800’s? That they were above the temptation to come up with findings so their funding would not be cut off? Darwin wrote his famous book ‘the Origin of Species’ in 1851. Right after the book became popular there was a race among the archeologists to find the missing link. It just so happened that within a few short years they found it! [or something they thought fit]. It was also a ‘coincidence’ that some of the findings were discovered right before the grant/funding would run our for the researcher. Now, don’t you think the poor brother was tempted to fudge? Do you think that some of these findings, which later fell into the category of various bones simply being found in one location, were simply hyped for the benefit of the researchers to continue their work? You bet stuff like this happened. Some of the discoveries of skeletons that looked a little different were determined to be modern humans that simply suffered from various growth deficiencies. Scientists said this publicly! But this finding didn’t ‘fit’ all the excitement that was happening around the ‘new knowledge’ of Darwin. And the fact is that some of these early findings, with all of these obvious opportunities for fraud, stand today as the best evidence for evolution. After 150 years, these guys just happened to come up with the best evidence under these highly suspicious circumstances. But the average man, like the brothers living in Corinth, were simply dazzled by all the technical jargon. ‘Neanderthal man’ wow, that’s scientific brother! The name comes from a Christian whose name was ‘Neander’ and the famous discovery of the bones were in a field where he lived. Now that’s what I call the wisdom of man! So Paul lets the Corinthians know that his gospel isn’t some fabricated wisdom that has no basis in reality, he was preaching the historical fact of the resurrection of Jesus Christ! [chapter 15]. He does say this wisdom and truth of Jesus is ‘hidden wisdom that the princes of this world can’t grasp’. He teaches that only God himself can teach a person this true wisdom of the gospel. But when Paul says ‘hidden wisdom’ he is not talking about the Gnostic belief [early cult of Christianity] of ‘special wisdom that only an elite few have’. Paul is saying mans unregenerate nature cannot grasp the great riches of the gospel. God regenerates us and gives us freely of his Spirit so we can ‘know the things of the Spirit of God’. Make no mistake about it, in Christ there are tremendous sources of riches and wisdom. This wisdom is sound and sure, not like the wisdom of the philosophers. There wisdom often times was based on sheer fantasy.
(946) 1 CORINTHIANS 3:1-10 Paul tells them that because of their immaturity he has ‘fed them milk, not meat’. He continues to correct them on their penchant for ‘men worship’. He says ‘I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase’. He even says ‘we are nothing, its Gods Spirit that counts!’ I guess poor Paul wasn’t up on the contemporary self esteem movement in the church? Paul says ‘as a wise masterbuilder I have laid the foundation and others have built upon it’ also ‘ye are Gods building, Gods garden’. I have studied this concept of the ‘wise masterbuilder’ a lot over the years. The Apostle is known for his wisdom. Jesus said ‘I have sent you [Jerusalem] wise men and prophets’. The Apostles are the ‘wise men’. If I remember I will try and paste some entries on the reality of the apostolic ministry today. That is the teaching from scripture on the ongoing apostolic ministry. Don’t mistake it for the original ‘apostles of the Lamb’. They were special eyewitnesses of the resurrection. The ongoing gift which is spoken about in the New Testament plays a different role, yet we can glean things from Paul and others on this ministry gift. Paul was primarily a ‘foundation layer’ he spent no time building ‘buildings’ or human institutions, but he knew the reality of foundation laying. His proclamation of the gospel had the inherent ability to change a region for Christ and his kingdom. He had the wisdom to build into the communities a self sustaining mentality. A few months to a few years was the amount of time Paul spent in these communities. When he left them they were for all practical purposes self sustaining communities of Christ followers. How in the world did he do this on such a shoestring budget? The reality of Jesus and his resurrection was tremendously good news. Paul started them right. In today’s church world we seem to lay all sorts of other ‘foundations’. Faith, prosperity, healing, the ‘house church’; all good things in their proper place, but the reality of Christ seems to take second place. Also, Paul did not institute the pastoral office that we have come to depend on in the modern church. He did establish Elders, but he did not leave a ‘professional minister’ as the primary functioning ‘elder’ in their midst. Why is this important to see? Because when people are given ‘crutches’ they will use them! If momma eagle never kicks baby eagle out of the nest, then baby eagle will wind up on food stamps [Don’t feel bad if you are on them, I am just using this as an example]. In essence Paul built into the first century churches a self sustaining mindset. They were the church and they had the responsibility to represent Christ in their locals. They couldn’t pawn it off on ‘the pastor’. Paul would also do some writing. These letters would circulate throughout the communities and were regularly read by a literate believer in these churches. I know it’s common to think that the early believers ‘had bibles’ but this wasn’t the case. Paul’s letters were part of the early ‘canon’ but you wouldn’t have total agreement on the canon until around the 4th century. But these letters played a major role in ‘foundation laying’. The modern believer is primarily educated thru the sermon. Sermons are okay, but without literature, the job won’t get done. Say if your doctor, or mechanic or tax man told you ‘I have never been educated in school, but every Sunday I attended a lecture at the local lecture hall. I did this for 50 years. So let’s get on with the operation.’ Ouch! But we approach Christianity with this mindset. Paul wrote letters, short booklets if you will. These letters could be looked to as a stable source of doctrine for the early church. They would eventually be canonized and would be passed down to us 2 millennia later. We are reading from one right now.
[These 2 entries simply give scriptural evidence for the ongoing function of Apostles/Prophets today]
(739) ACTS 1- Luke, the writer of this book, feels the need to document the ongoing work of Jesus and his revolution. He already wrote a gospel and believes this to be the beginning of the story. In essence, the reality of Jesus and his resurrection are just the start, we have much more to do and become on this journey. Most writers jump to chapter 2. We have churches and music groups called ‘Acts chapter 2’. Why does Luke seem to wait till chapter 2 before getting to ‘the good stuff’? Chapter one records the 40 days of Jesus showing himself alive after his death. Luke feels this singular truth to be important enough to simply stand alone [I do realize the early letters did not have chapter and verse divisions like today]. The real physical fact of Jesus bodily resurrection is without a doubt the foundational truth of the gospel. The outpouring of the Spirit and the whole future of the church depends on the reality of the resurrected Christ. Paul will write the Corinthians and tell them if the resurrection were not true then they are the most miserable of all people. Luke tells us Jesus gave instructions for the Apostles to wait at Jerusalem for the Spirit. Thy will be witnesses of him to all the surrounding nations after the Spirit empowers them. We also see Peter emerge as the key spokesman for the group. He quotes freely from the Psalms and reads their own history into the book. He sees the prophetic verse from David on ‘let another take his office’ as referring to Judas betrayal and death. They cast lots and choose Matthias as the one to replace Judas. Peter shows the importance of Judas replacement to come from one that was with them thru out the earthly time of Jesus. Someone who saw and witnessed Jesus after the resurrection. Scholars have confused this with the ‘ascension gift Apostles’. Some scholars have taken the truth of the early Apostles having the criteria of being actual witnesses of Jesus, and have said ‘therefore, you have no Apostles today’. Paul will teach in Ephesians that after Jesus ascension on high he gave gifts unto men ‘some Apostles, others Prophets, etc.’ The New Testament clearly speaks of Apostles as an ongoing gift in the church. Barnabas will later be called an Apostles [Acts 14:14] as well as many other references in the original Greek using the same Greek word for Apostle. But here we find Peter seeing the need to replace Judas. Other scholars think Peter might have jumped the gun. They see Paul’s apostleship as the possible person the Lord picked out as the replacement. You do find Paul referring time and again to his Apostolic authority as one ‘born out of due time’ who saw Jesus on the Damascus road. If Paul was simply an ascension gift Apostle, why would he refer time and again to his authority based on being a witness who also saw Jesus? It’s possible that Paul was in this group of ‘Apostles of the Lamb’ who had extra authority based upon their testimony of being eyewitnesses. So in chapter one we see that Jesus appeared for 40 days giving instructions to the early leadership and told them to wait at Jerusalem for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. We see the incarnational purpose of God, Jesus was and continues to be the express image of God to man. He was not some ‘phantom’ like the Docetists will claim, but a very real physical resurrected Lord. Luke begins the early history of the church with this reality being important enough to stand on its own.
HEBREWS commentary copyright 2007 John Chiarello www.copruschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com P.O. box 181256 C.C. Tx. 78480
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CHAPTER 1:
‘God, who at sundry times and in diverse manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the Prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds’ Many years ago when I was going to a fundamental Baptist Church, they would interpret this passage in a ‘cessationist’ way. They would say because God says in the past he spoke by prophets, but now by his Son. That this means he doesn’t speak thru Prophets any more. The Prophets here are Old Testament voices. In Ephesians it says after Jesus ascended up on high he gave gifts unto men, some Apostles, some Prophets, etc. The fact that Jesus made Prophets after the ascension teaches us that there were to be a whole new class of New Testament Prophets that were different from the old. I find it strange to believe that Jesus would create a whole new class of gifts, and then take them away as soon as the Bible is complete. Why would Paul give instruction in the New Testament on how Prophets would operate [Corinthians] and then to say ‘as soon as this letter is canonized with the others, all this instruction will be useless’ it just doesn’t seem right.
The reason Paul is saying in the past God used Prophets, but today his Son. Paul is showing that the Jewish Old testament was a real communication from God to man. But in this dispensation of Grace, God is speaking the realities that the Prophets were looking to. Paul is saying ‘thank God for the Old Jewish books and law, they point to something, his name is Jesus’! The Prophets [Old Testament] served a purpose; they brought us from the shadows to the present time [1st century] now lets move on into the reality. Now you must see and hear the Son in these last days. ‘Who being the brightness of his glory and the express image of his person…when he by himself purged our sins SAT DOWN on the right hand of the majesty on high’ here we are at the beginning stages of themes that we will see later in the letter. The significance of Jesus ‘sitting down’ will be contrasted with the Old testament priests ‘standing up’. Paul [for the record I think Paul wrote this letter, from here on I will probably just refer to the writer as Paul] will teach that the ‘standing up’ of the Levitical Priests represented an ‘incomplete priesthood’ the reason Jesus sat down was because there would be no more sacrifice, and no more priesthood made up of many priests who would die year after year. This doesn’t mean there would be no more New Testament priests as believers, but that there would be no more Old Testament system. Paul will find spiritual truths like this all thru out the Old Testament.
Some theologians feel that Paul is a little too loose with these free comparisons that he seems to ‘pull out of the hat’, for the believer who holds to the canon of scripture, it is the Word of God. ‘Being made so much better than the angels…but unto the Son he saith “thy throne O God is forever and ever, a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of thy Kingdom”. Here Paul introduces another theme that will be seen thru out this letter. The superiority of Jesus over angels. Why is this important? Most believers know that Jesus is greater than angels, don’t they? Here we see why context is important to understand this letter. In Jewish tradition it is believed that the law was given to Moses by God thru the mediation of angels. Some say ‘well, we don’t use Jewish tradition, we use scripture’. First, Paul used anything he could to win the argument. Second, if we believe Hebrews is an inspired book, then when we read later on that the law given thru angels received a recompense if broken, then right here you have scripture [Hebrews] testifying that God did use angels to ‘transmit’ the law to some degree. Now, why is it important for gentiles to see this? Well it really isn’t! But it is vital for a first century Jew to see it. If Paul can show that Jesus is greater than the angels, then he is beginning to make the argument that the New Covenant is greater than the Old.
Here is the context. Moses law is highly revered in the first century Jewish community, so here Paul says ‘how much better is the law/word given to us from Gods Son’. Since Jesus is much better than the angels, therefore pay closer attention to the words spoken thru Gods Son, he is greater than the angels! ‘But to which of the angels said he “sit at my right hand until I make thy enemies thy footstool” we end chapter one with the theme of Jesus being better than the angels, yet in chapter 2 something funny happens, Paul will make the argument of Jesus being “a little lower than the angels” lets see what this means.
(947) 1ST CORINTHIANS 3:11-23 Paul teaches that once the foundation of Jesus is laid, that no other foundation can come in and replace it. Remember, Paul is speaking about a spiritual foundation. He is not building ‘a literal building’! I know we know this, but for some reason modern church planters can’t seem to break the mindset of having a building ‘to do church’. Now we begin to get into some doctrine. I believe Paul begins a New Testament doctrine here that could be called ‘the sin unto natural death’ or the judgment of a believer when he falls into open sin and rebellion and refuses to repent. Now, I have looked at this doctrine from different views over the years. I try not to allow my own leaning towards reformed theology to effect me. But I have come down on the side of ‘eternal security’ in viewing these verses. Paul teaches that even though the foundation of Jesus is laid, it’s still possible to build a life of worthless things upon it. He says ‘if any man defiles Gods temple, him will God destroy’. This same language will be used in chapter 5 ‘deliver the sinning brother to satan for the destruction of the flesh so the spirit may be saved’. Paul also uses the term again here in chapter 3 ‘yet he will be saved as by fire’. Also in chapter 11 ‘for this cause many sleep [physical death] and are sick among you’ he uses this as a judgment that came upon them for their abuse of the Lords table. So reading this in context it sure seems that Paul is saying ‘if you, as a believer, allow yourself to fall into sin in such a way that you are doing permanent harm to the temple [which he describes as their bodies, both individually and corporately] than God will destroy you’. This seems to fit all these other verses. The apostle John also speaks on the ‘sin unto death’ [which I see as physical death] in his letter. He says ‘if any one sees his brother sin a sin unto death, I do not say you should pray for them’. Now, the Arminian brothers [those who do not believe in eternal security] obviously see these a different way. They would apply some of these verses as meaning the loss of salvation. Though I personally do not see it this way, yet they have some of their own scriptures to back up their belief. They are certainly not out of line with historic Christian belief to hold to this view. So Paul introduces [in my mind] the concept of the possibility of the rebellious believer falling into such a sin that he can ‘be destroyed’ [lose his life] while at the same time saying ‘yet his spirit will be saved’. This ‘in house’ instruction [in house meaning Paul’s dealing with them as believers who fall into sin] should not taint the overriding view of Paul in his entire corpus of teaching. His main teaching on ‘those who live in constant sin’ is they will not inherit the kingdom of God. John also teaches this doctrine in his epistle. So we begin to see the ‘minefield’ we can get into as we tread thru the New Testament. It will be important to make these distinctions with much grace as we continue our journey thru the New Testament. Many well meaning believers view the ‘other camps’ as heretics over these issues. I see it more as a matter of believers being influenced to see these verses from a sincere standpoint of their upbringing. If you were raised Baptist, you more than likely view them from a Calvinistic lens. If you were raised Pentecostal [or Methodist], from an Arminian lens. Both good camps, with their own ‘slant’ affecting their view. I don’t think we should call each other heretics over stuff like this.
[#’s 942-1073] TEACHINGS PART 6
(942)1st CORINTHIANS INTRODUCTION- Out of all of Paul’s letters, this one is ‘the most verified’ as being his. Of course we know this because Paul says so in the letter! But for all those intellectual higher critics, this helps. Corinth was a city of great influence and trade, many land and sea routes converged at Corinth and her port. The city was also known for her philosophers and ‘preachers of wisdom’ [Rhetoric]. They actually had a custom at Corinth in which you could ‘hire’ your own ‘preacher of wisdom’. These were the traveling teachers who made a living at speaking. This also might be why Paul specifically said ‘when I was with you I did not take money from you’. The custom of the traveling preachers was you could pay a one time honorarium for a single speech, or you could actually hire a regular speaker and have him ‘on salary’. Paul did not want the Corinthians to think that he was their hired preacher! How much influence this type of trade would have on the later development of the ‘hired clergy’ is unknown, but the similarities are striking. The famous 5th century bishop of Hippo, North Africa, Saint Augustine, made his living as one of these traveling teachers of philosophy before becoming a Christian. It’s believed that Paul wrote a 3rd letter to the church at Corinth, so what we know as 1st, 2nd Corinthians might actually be letters 2 and 3. I personally think Corinthians holds special value for the church today. The 21st century believer is being challenged on her Ecclesiology, the whole idea of what the church is. In Corinthians we see a specific picture of what the church is and on how she should meet. Paul will not address ‘the Pastor’ [there was none in the modern sense of the office] but he will speak directly to the brothers at Corinth and give them some heavy responsibilities to carry out [like committing a brother to satan for the destruction of his flesh! Ouch]. Paul went to Corinth on his 2nd missionary journey and spent 18 months with them [Acts 18] one of the longest stays at any church. Because of the pagan background of the city Paul will address specific issues related to believers and certain practices of idol worship. Eating meat offered to idols and stuff like that. Corinth also practiced a form of idolatry that included prostitution, so he will deal severely with the loose sexual morals of the people at Corinth. Well we have a lot to cover in the next few weeks, try and read Corinthians on your own as we plunge into this study, it will help a lot.
(943)1ST CORINTHIANS 1:1-17 Paul greets them as an apostle called by God, he affirms his authority and ‘fathering ability’ as coming from God. He tells them he thanks God all the time for the fruit that he sees in their lives, the thing that made Paul rejoice was the work God was doing in the communities he was establishing as an apostle. Today ministers have a tendency to ‘rejoice’ over the Christian enterprise that we oversee. Whether its’ how well the budget went this year and stuff like that. Paul’s joy wasn’t in the fact that God called him to some great personal ministry where he would find self fulfillment. His joy was in the actual growth and freedom that ‘his churches’ [communities of people] were experiencing. He also defines them as ‘those that call upon the name of the Lord like all the others’. Remember what we said when studying Romans chapter 10? One of the signs of the believer is ‘they call upon Jesus name’. They are believing communities of ‘Christ callers’. Not so much a one time evangelical altar call, but a lifestyle. Jesus said we are ‘a house of prayer’. A spiritual community/house who intercedes for all nations. It’s in our very DNA! Paul also commends them as being enriched by God in all ‘knowledge and utterance’ [speech]. It seems funny that he would say they were blessed and enriched in speech. Paul will give some of his strongest rebukes over speaking gifts [tongues, prophesy] to this community. Yet he does not approach it from the strong anti charismatic view. He doesn’t say ‘your speech is demonic’ he says it is enriched by God! We will deal with the gifts later on. Now for the first real rebuke. Paul says he has heard reports that there are divisions and strivings among them. They are already dividing up into various sects. Some follow Paul, others follow Cephas, some say ‘we are the true Christ followers’. Paul rebukes them sharply over these divisions, he does not want the early church to identify with individual personalities and gifts at the expense of true unity. Was this the early development of denominationalism? To a degree yes. But I also don’t think we should view the various Christian denominations as deceived or ‘lost’. The modern church has become what we are thru many struggles and difficulties over a 2 thousand year history. My personal view is we should strive for unity, not by trying to dissolve all the various ‘tribes’ that exist in Christ’s church, but by growing into a more mature view of all who name the name of Christ as being fellow believers who partake of a common grace. I applaud all the efforts being made by various Christian churches today to come to a greater outward unity [for example the Catholic and Orthodox dialogue] but I also believe as we see each other as fellow believers and learn to appreciate our different emphasis, that this approach can also lead to greater unity among believers today. Paul saw the beginnings of division in the early Corinthian community, he did his best to quell the coming storm.
(944)1ST CORINTHIANS 1:18-31 Paul declares the actual preaching of the Cross to be the power of God. The Jews sought for a sign [remember the sign of Jonas?] and the Greeks prided themselves in wisdom. Paul declares that Jesus IS the wisdom and power of God. In Christ is contained all the wisdom and power [signs] in the universe! Paul says God destroyed the wisdom of unregenerate man and that Gods foolishness is wiser than men’s greatest achievements apart from God. Wow, what an indictment on enlightenment philosophy. Man goes thru stages of learning and knowledge [renaissance, enlightenment. Industrial, scientific revolution] these are not bad achievements in and of themselves. Many of the greatest scientists and scientific discoveries were made by men of faith [Newton, Pascal, Faraday, etc] the problem arises when men think that sheer humanistic reasoning, apart from God, is the answer. Right now there is a movement [11-08] going on where some atheists bought ad space on the sides of buses that say ‘why believe in a god? Do good for goodness sake’. So they had both sides [Christian /Atheist] debate it. The simple fact is, sheer humanism cannot even define ‘what good is’. ‘Good’ becomes a matter of what serves me best at the time of my decision. Without God and special revelation [scripture-10 commandments] good can be defined by Hitler’s regime as exterminating one class of society for the benefit of the whole. Only Christian [or Deist, Jewish, Muslim] beliefs place special value and dignity on human life. It is a common misconception to think that all the enlightenment philosophers were atheists; this was not the case at all. Locke, Hume and others simply believed that thru human logic and reason people could arrive at a sort of naturalistic belief in God. This would form the basis of Deism, the system of belief in God but a rejection of classic Christian theology. Benjamin Franklin and other founding fathers of our country were influenced by this style of belief. Now, getting back to the Greeks. Paul says ‘God destroyed the wisdom of this world’. What wisdom is Paul talking about? The enlightenment philosophers of the 18th century had nothing on the Greek philosophers going all the way back to a few centuries B.C. Plato, the Greek wrestler turned philosopher, had one of the most famous schools of Greek philosophy. At the entrance of the school the words were written ‘let none but geometers enter here’. Kind of strange. Geometry simply meant ‘form’ in this use. Most of the great theoretical physicists were also great mathematicians [Einstein]. The Greek philosophers were seeking a sort of ‘unified theory’ that would explain all other theories and bring all learning together under one intellectual ‘roof’. Sort of like Einstein's last great obsession. The Greeks actually referred to this great unknown future ‘unifier’ as ‘the Logos’. Now, some atheists will use this truth to undercut the New Testament. They will take the common use of these words ‘The Logos’ and say that Johns writings [Gospel, letters] were simply stolen ideas from Greek philosophy. This is why believers need to have a better understanding of the inspiration of scripture. John’s writings were no doubt inspired, he of course calls Jesus the ‘Logos’ [word] of God. But he was simply saying to the Greek/Gnostic mind ‘look, you guys have been waiting for centuries for the one special ‘Word/Logos’ that would be the answer to all learning, I declare unto you that Jesus is this Logos’! So eventually you would have ‘the wisdom of the world’ [both Greek and enlightenment and all other types] falling short of the ultimate answer. They could only go so far in their journey for truth, and ultimately they either wind up at the foot of the Cross [the wisdom of God] or the ‘tree of the knowledge of good and evil’. God said this ‘tree’ [sources of wisdom and knowledge apart from God] would ultimately lead to death if not submitted to ‘the tree of life’ [the Cross]. You would have some of the enlightenment philosophers eat from this tree all the way to the ‘death of God’ movement. Man in his wisdom would come to the conclusion that ‘God is dead’. If this is true, then the slaughter of millions of Jews is no moral dilemma. If God is dead then man is not created in his image, he is just this piece of flesh that you can dispose of at will. To all you intellectual types, it’s Okay to have a mind, but you must love God with it. If all your doing is feeding from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you will surely die.
(945)1 CORINTHIANS 2- Paul tells them that when he came to them to declare Gods wisdom, that he did not do it with excellency of speech or with enticing words of men’s wisdom. What is he saying here? Remember, Corinth had the background of traveling philosophers of rhetoric who could ‘dazzle the average folk’. Sort of like the role science would come to play with modern man. All science is good, it’s when man in his arrogance begins to espouse or ‘twist’ things to his advantage that the problem arises. That’s when the arrogance of mans wisdom simply says to the average Joe ‘who do you think you are to question me! I am a man of wisdom’ Phooey! [I know it’s corny]. The fact is that natural man has always had the ability to deceive or come up with ‘evidence’ just in the nick of time. Did you know there was/is an entire cottage industry in ‘finding’ fossils to prove evolution is true? Do you really think men were above deception in the 1800’s? That they were above the temptation to come up with findings so their funding would not be cut off? Darwin wrote his famous book ‘the Origin of Species’ in 1851. Right after the book became popular there was a race among the archeologists to find the missing link. It just so happened that within a few short years they found it! [or something they thought fit]. It was also a ‘coincidence’ that some of the findings were discovered right before the grant/funding would run our for the researcher. Now, don’t you think the poor brother was tempted to fudge? Do you think that some of these findings, which later fell into the category of various bones simply being found in one location, were simply hyped for the benefit of the researchers to continue their work? You bet stuff like this happened. Some of the discoveries of skeletons that looked a little different were determined to be modern humans that simply suffered from various growth deficiencies. Scientists said this publicly! But this finding didn’t ‘fit’ all the excitement that was happening around the ‘new knowledge’ of Darwin. And the fact is that some of these early findings, with all of these obvious opportunities for fraud, stand today as the best evidence for evolution. After 150 years, these guys just happened to come up with the best evidence under these highly suspicious circumstances. But the average man, like the brothers living in Corinth, were simply dazzled by all the technical jargon. ‘Neanderthal man’ wow, that’s scientific brother! The name comes from a Christian whose name was ‘Neander’ and the famous discovery of the bones were in a field where he lived. Now that’s what I call the wisdom of man! So Paul lets the Corinthians know that his gospel isn’t some fabricated wisdom that has no basis in reality, he was preaching the historical fact of the resurrection of Jesus Christ! [chapter 15]. He does say this wisdom and truth of Jesus is ‘hidden wisdom that the princes of this world can’t grasp’. He teaches that only God himself can teach a person this true wisdom of the gospel. But when Paul says ‘hidden wisdom’ he is not talking about the Gnostic belief [early cult of Christianity] of ‘special wisdom that only an elite few have’. Paul is saying mans unregenerate nature cannot grasp the great riches of the gospel. God regenerates us and gives us freely of his Spirit so we can ‘know the things of the Spirit of God’. Make no mistake about it, in Christ there are tremendous sources of riches and wisdom. This wisdom is sound and sure, not like the wisdom of the philosophers. Their wisdom often times was based on sheer fantasy.
(946)1 CORINTHIANS 3:1-10 Paul tells them that because of their immaturity he has ‘fed them milk, not meat’. He continues to correct them on their penchant for ‘men worship’. He says ‘I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase’. He even says ‘we are nothing, its Gods Spirit that counts!’ I guess poor Paul wasn’t up on the contemporary self esteem movement in the church? Paul says ‘as a wise masterbuilder I have laid the foundation and others have built upon it’ also ‘ye are Gods building, Gods garden’. I have studied this concept of the ‘wise masterbuilder’ a lot over the years. The Apostle is known for his wisdom. Jesus said ‘I have sent you [Jerusalem] wise men and prophets’. The Apostles are the ‘wise men’. If I remember I will try and paste some entries on the reality of the apostolic ministry today. That is the teaching from scripture on the ongoing apostolic ministry. Don’t mistake it for the original ‘apostles of the Lamb’. They were special eyewitnesses of the resurrection. The ongoing gift which is spoken about in the New Testament plays a different role, yet we can glean things from Paul and others on this ministry gift. Paul was primarily a ‘foundation layer’ he spent no time building ‘buildings’ or human institutions, but he knew the reality of foundation laying. His proclamation of the gospel had the inherent ability to change a region for Christ and his kingdom. He had the wisdom to build into the communities a self sustaining mentality. A few months to a few years was the amount of time Paul spent in these communities. When he left them they were for all practical purposes self sustaining communities of Christ followers. How in the world did he do this on such a shoestring budget? The reality of Jesus and his resurrection was tremendously good news. Paul started them right. In today’s church world we seem to lay all sorts of other ‘foundations’. Faith, prosperity, healing, the ‘house church’; all good things in their proper place, but the reality of Christ seems to take second place. Also, Paul did not institute the pastoral office that we have come to depend on in the modern church. He did establish Elders, but he did not leave a ‘professional minister’ as the primary functioning ‘elder’ in their midst. Why is this important to see? Because when people are given ‘crutches’ they will use them! If momma eagle never kicks baby eagle out of the nest, then baby eagle will wind up on food stamps [Don’t feel bad if you are on them, I am just using this as an example]. In essence Paul built into the first century churches a self sustaining mindset. They were the church and they had the responsibility to represent Christ in their locals. They couldn’t pawn it off on ‘the pastor’. Paul would also do some writing. These letters would circulate throughout the communities and were regularly read by a literate believer in these churches. I know it’s common to think that the early believers ‘had bibles’ but this wasn’t the case. Paul’s letters were part of the early ‘canon’ but you wouldn’t have total agreement on the canon until around the 4th century. But these letters played a major role in ‘foundation laying’. The modern believer is primarily educated thru the sermon. Sermons are okay, but without literature, the job won’t get done. Say if your doctor, or mechanic or tax man told you ‘I have never been educated in school, but every Sunday I attended a lecture at the local lecture hall. I did this for 50 years. So let’s get on with the operation.’ Ouch! But we approach Christianity with this mindset. Paul wrote letters, short booklets if you will. These letters could be looked to as a stable source of doctrine for the early church. They would eventually be canonized and would be passed down to us 2 millennia later. We are reading from one right now.
[These 2 entries simply give scriptural evidence for the ongoing function of Apostles/Prophets today]
(739) ACTS 1- Luke, the writer of this book, feels the need to document the ongoing work of Jesus and his revolution. He already wrote a gospel and believes this to be the beginning of the story. In essence, the reality of Jesus and his resurrection are just the start, we have much more to do and become on this journey. Most writers jump to chapter 2. We have churches and music groups called ‘Acts chapter 2’. Why does Luke seem to wait till chapter 2 before getting to ‘the good stuff’? Chapter one records the 40 days of Jesus showing himself alive after his death. Luke feels this singular truth to be important enough to simply stand alone [I do realize the early letters did not have chapter and verse divisions like today]. The real physical fact of Jesus bodily resurrection is without a doubt the foundational truth of the gospel. The outpouring of the Spirit and the whole future of the church depends on the reality of the resurrected Christ. Paul will write the Corinthians and tell them if the resurrection were not true then they are the most miserable of all people. Luke tells us Jesus gave instructions for the Apostles to wait at Jerusalem for the Spirit. Thy will be witnesses of him to all the surrounding nations after the Spirit empowers them. We also see Peter emerge as the key spokesman for the group. He quotes freely from the Psalms and reads their own history into the book. He sees the prophetic verse from David on ‘let another take his office’ as referring to Judas betrayal and death. They cast lots and choose Matthias as the one to replace Judas. Peter shows the importance of Judas replacement to come from one that was with them thru out the earthly time of Jesus. Someone who saw and witnessed Jesus after the resurrection. Scholars have confused this with the ‘ascension gift Apostles’. Some scholars have taken the truth of the early Apostles having the criteria of being actual witnesses of Jesus, and have said ‘therefore, you have no Apostles today’. Paul will teach in Ephesians that after Jesus ascension on high he gave gifts unto men ‘some Apostles, others Prophets, etc.’ The New Testament clearly speaks of Apostles as an ongoing gift in the church. Barnabas will later be called an Apostles [Acts 14:14] as well as many other references in the original Greek using the same Greek word for Apostle. But here we find Peter seeing the need to replace Judas. Other scholars think Peter might have jumped the gun. They see Paul’s apostleship as the possible person the Lord picked out as the replacement. You do find Paul referring time and again to his Apostolic authority as one ‘born out of due time’ who saw Jesus on the Damascus road. If Paul was simply an ascension gift Apostle, why would he refer time and again to his authority based on being a witness who also saw Jesus? It’s possible that Paul was in this group of ‘Apostles of the Lamb’ who had extra authority based upon their testimony of being eyewitnesses. So in chapter one we see that Jesus appeared for 40 days giving instructions to the early leadership and told them to wait at Jerusalem for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. We see the incarnational purpose of God, Jesus was and continues to be the express image of God to man. He was not some ‘phantom’ like the Docetists will claim, but a very real physical resurrected Lord. Luke begins the early history of the church with this reality being important enough to stand on its own.
HEBREWS commentary copyright 2007 John Chiarello www.copruschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com P.O. box 181256 C.C. Tx. 78480
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CHAPTER 1:
‘God, who at sundry times and in diverse manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the Prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds’ Many years ago when I was going to a fundamental Baptist Church, they would interpret this passage in a ‘cessationist’ way. They would say because God says in the past he spoke by prophets, but now by his Son. That this means he doesn’t speak thru Prophets any more. The Prophets here are Old Testament voices. In Ephesians it says after Jesus ascended up on high he gave gifts unto men, some Apostles, some Prophets, etc. The fact that Jesus made Prophets after the ascension teaches us that there were to be a whole new class of New Testament Prophets that were different from the old. I find it strange to believe that Jesus would create a whole new class of gifts, and then take them away as soon as the Bible is complete. Why would Paul give instruction in the New Testament on how Prophets would operate [Corinthians] and then to say ‘as soon as this letter is canonized with the others, all this instruction will be useless’ it just doesn’t seem right.
The reason Paul is saying in the past God used Prophets, but today his Son. Paul is showing that the Jewish Old testament was a real communication from God to man. But in this dispensation of Grace, God is speaking the realities that the Prophets were looking to. Paul is saying ‘thank God for the Old Jewish books and law, they point to something, his name is Jesus’! The Prophets [Old Testament] served a purpose; they brought us from the shadows to the present time [1st century] now lets move on into the reality. Now you must see and hear the Son in these last days. ‘Who being the brightness of his glory and the express image of his person…when he by himself purged our sins SAT DOWN on the right hand of the majesty on high’ here we are at the beginning stages of themes that we will see later in the letter. The significance of Jesus ‘sitting down’ will be contrasted with the Old testament priests ‘standing up’. Paul [for the record I think Paul wrote this letter, from here on I will probably just refer to the writer as Paul] will teach that the ‘standing up’ of the Levitical Priests represented an ‘incomplete priesthood’ the reason Jesus sat down was because there would be no more sacrifice, and no more priesthood made up of many priests who would die year after year. This doesn’t mean there would be no more New Testament priests as believers, but that there would be no more Old Testament system. Paul will find spiritual truths like this all thru out the Old Testament.
Some theologians feel that Paul is a little too loose with these free comparisons that he seems to ‘pull out of the hat’, for the believer who holds to the canon of scripture, it is the Word of God. ‘Being made so much better than the angels…but unto the Son he saith “thy throne O God is forever and ever, a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of thy Kingdom”. Here Paul introduces another theme that will be seen thru out this letter. The superiority of Jesus over angels. Why is this important? Most believers know that Jesus is greater than angels, don’t they? Here we see why context is important to understand this letter. In Jewish tradition it is believed that the law was given to Moses by God thru the mediation of angels. Some say ‘well, we don’t use Jewish tradition, we use scripture’. First, Paul used anything he could to win the argument. Second, if we believe Hebrews is an inspired book, then when we read later on that the law given thru angels received a recompense if broken, then right here you have scripture [Hebrews] testifying that God did use angels to ‘transmit’ the law to some degree. Now, why is it important for gentiles to see this? Well it really isn’t! But it is vital for a first century Jew to see it. If Paul can show that Jesus is greater than the angels, then he is beginning to make the argument that the New Covenant is greater than the Old.
Here is the context. Moses law is highly revered in the first century Jewish community, so here Paul says ‘how much better is the law/word given to us from Gods Son’. Since Jesus is much better than the angels, therefore pay closer attention to the words spoken thru Gods Son, he is greater than the angels! ‘But to which of the angels said he “sit at my right hand until I make thy enemies thy footstool” we end chapter one with the theme of Jesus being better than the angels, yet in chapter 2 something funny happens, Paul will make the argument of Jesus being “a little lower than the angels” lets see what this means.
(947) 1ST CORINTHIANS 3:11-23 Paul teaches that once the foundation of Jesus is laid, that no other foundation can come in and replace it. Remember, Paul is speaking about a spiritual foundation. He is not building ‘a literal building’! I know we know this, but for some reason modern church planters can’t seem to break the mindset of having a building ‘to do church’. Now we begin to get into some doctrine. I believe Paul begins a New Testament doctrine here that could be called ‘the sin unto natural death’ or the judgment of a believer when he falls into open sin and rebellion and refuses to repent. Now, I have looked at this doctrine from different views over the years. I try not to allow my own leaning towards reformed theology to effect me. But I have come down on the side of ‘eternal security’ in viewing these verses. Paul teaches that even though the foundation of Jesus is laid, it’s still possible to build a life of worthless things upon it. He says ‘if any man defiles Gods temple, him will God destroy’. This same language will be used in chapter 5 ‘deliver the sinning brother to satan for the destruction of the flesh so the spirit may be saved’. Paul also uses the term again here in chapter 3 ‘yet he will be saved as by fire’. Also in chapter 11 ‘for this cause many sleep [physical death] and are sick among you’ he uses this as a judgment that came upon them for their abuse of the Lords table. So reading this in context it sure seems that Paul is saying ‘if you, as a believer, allow yourself to fall into sin in such a way that you are doing permanent harm to the temple [which he describes as their bodies, both individually and corporately] than God will destroy you’. This seems to fit all these other verses. The apostle John also speaks on the ‘sin unto death’ [which I see as physical death] in his letter. He says ‘if any one sees his brother sin a sin unto death, I do not say you should pray for them’. Now, the Arminian brothers [those who do not believe in eternal security] obviously see these a different way. They would apply some of these verses as meaning the loss of salvation. Though I personally do not see it this way, yet they have some of their own scriptures to back up their belief. They are certainly not out of line with historic Christian belief to hold to this view. So Paul introduces [in my mind] the concept of the possibility of the rebellious believer falling into such a sin that he can ‘be destroyed’ [lose his life] while at the same time saying ‘yet his spirit will be saved’. This ‘in house’ instruction [in house meaning Paul’s dealing with them as believers who fall into sin] should not taint the overriding view of Paul in his entire corpus of teaching. His main teaching on ‘those who live in constant sin’ is they will not inherit the kingdom of God. John also teaches this doctrine in his epistle. So we begin to see the ‘minefield’ we can get into as we tread thru the New Testament. It will be important to make these distinctions with much grace as we continue our journey thru the New Testament. Many well meaning believers view the ‘other camps’ as heretics over these issues. I see it more as a matter of believers being influenced to see these verses from a sincere standpoint of their upbringing. If you were raised Baptist, you more than likely view them from a Calvinistic lens. If you were raised Pentecostal [or Methodist], from an Arminian lens. Both good camps, with their own ‘slant’ affecting their view. I don’t think we should call each other heretics over stuff like this.
(948) PROOF FOR GOD FROM THE LAW OF CAUSALITY- One of the foundational laws of man and physics is the law of causality [cause and effect]. In essence this law teaches us that every effect has a cause. Nothing can just happen on it’s own, some previous thing [or series of ‘things’] had to precede the event. This is basic scientific reality that cannot be denied. Now, this truth allows for only 2 possible scenarios to explain the existence of man and the universe. One idea says ‘there was no initial cause, or being who started the ball rolling. All you have had is an infinite number of past caused events’. This idea is contrary to the laws of logic and math. For instance, today we live in a certain time in history [11-2008]. There are real phenomena that surround us. Existence is without a doubt real. Now, for us to logically have arrived at this point in time, you had to have had a beginning point. If you hold to the old earth theory, you say the earth ‘happened’ around 5 billion years ago, the universe around 15 billion. Logically, this leads us to a future point in time where we can ‘be here’. There were so many events of the past that brought us to this time. No matter how you measure this, it can be measured. Now for the concept of an infinite number of past causes and events to have occurred, logically you could never arrive at ‘now’. Why? Because how many previous billions of events have to have occurred to bring us to the present? If there was never any starting point, then today could never have arrived! [I don't want you guys to think I am nuts and making all this up, many brilliant thinkers use this as proof for Gods existence. It is an argument made that is consistent with the laws of logic]. In essence the only workable solution to this problem is there had to have been a ‘prime mover’ [Aquinas]. Someone who actually ‘caused’ the first event. Now don’t make the mistake that some smart men have made. They mistook the law of cause and effect to mean ‘every thing, or being had to have had a cause’. This is not what the law says. It says ‘every effect had a cause’. These two are not the same. So the belief that there was an infinite, eternal being who was around forever allows for there to be an initial ‘causer’. This idea is in keeping with the current accepted science of ‘big bang cosmology’ [that every thing started at a specific time in history]. This view allows for there to have been a definite first cause, which according to the laws of logic allow for us to ‘be here today’. Got it?
(949) 1st CORINTHIANS 4: 1-7 Paul says we are ‘stewards of Gods mysteries’. This hidden knowledge of the gospel that can only be revealed by divine revelation has been committed to us. These great treasures of God’s wisdom are not products of our own intellect, therefore there is no reason to glory in men! Paul says stuff like this in Romans 4 ‘if it is by grace that Abraham became righteous, then there are no grounds for boasting.’ Now, because of this reason we ‘ought not to think of each other in an exalted way’. All men [apostles, prophets, teachers] that you have received truth from are simply ‘carriers of a gift freely given’. When you check out a book from the library and it contains great truth, do you exalt the librarian for it? Of course not, she is just a ‘steward of the book’. So Paul says this about him and Apollos and all other human teachers. Paul also teaches that we all will be judged according to the motives and intents of our hearts. He could care less about the private judgments that others made of him, he realized that all men would give an account some day. Therefore why waste time trying to impress people, it is about the most useless thing a person can do. Why? Because all men are like grass, we are here today and gone tomorrow. How much effort would you make in trying to impress your lawn? It’s all wasted time. Paul is not degrading human dignity, he is battling with the mindset of men worship that the church was falling into. Jesus himself said he would not commit himself to man because he knew what was in man [John’s gospel]. What’s in man? Do you ‘know yourself’? Have you ever tried to impress people? Did you later realize what a useless waste of energy this endeavor was? Well all men are like you [and me!] so why waste your time doing something that has no lasting value. Paul said it concerned him very little, he knew God would some day see all of our motives. He focused on stuff that mattered for eternity.
(950) 1ST CORINTHIANS 4: 8-20 Paul tells them he’s glad they have an abundance of material things, though he as an apostle is lacking. He’s happy about their sterling reputation [among the elite, though a bad reputation as believers- see chapter 5!] though he is mocked and treated badly. He even says ‘till this hour I labor, working with my own hands trying to make ends meet’. I don’t want to harp on this too much, but I am trying to show you one of the themes that we overlook in today’s pastoral ministry mindset. When we taught the book of Acts [chapter 20] I showed you how Paul purposely worked to leave an example TO THE ELDERS at Ephesus. He called them over to Mellitus and gave them these instructions as he was about to depart. Here we see Paul telling the Corinthians, in a letter [he is not with them at this time] that he is STILL working with his own hands. We often think Paul only worked while at Corinth, in order to not take offerings from them. But a careful reading of the New Testament will show you that Paul made a habit of working all thru out his life. He never became ‘a fulltime apostle’ who was supported thru his apostolic gift. Now we also see Paul send Timothy to them as a ‘carrier’ of doctrine and order. Paul wrote 3 pastoral [I prefer to call them apostolic] epistles. Titus and 1st and 2nd Timothy. These brothers were Paul's apostolic co-workers. They deposited the faith [basic Christian truth] into the communities they were overseeing. Paul knew he could trust them to ‘set things in order’ [an apostolic characteristic]. Some teach that in today’s ‘church world’ you can’t ‘have a church’ without the interplay of an apostle. That basically you need an apostle [in person] to interact with your community to keep things in order. Now, I think apostolic men are needed and helpful, but we also need to realize that we live in a day of mass communication like never before. The web, telecommunications. All sorts of stuff that Paul didn’t have. So let’s not be too dogmatic on stuff like this. I am sure Paul would have used these things if he had them. The basic thrust of Paul having a Timothy who could be sent to a community was for the purpose of seeing and impacting them in a ‘real time’ way. Paul was hearing rumors about their conduct, he is writing these letters to them. But he really needs to have ‘boots on the ground’, he needs to know firsthand what’s going on. Today this real time knowledge could be gained with a simple phone call, or e-mail. Paul also says Timothy will bring them into remembrance of his ways/teachings that Paul teaches ‘every where in every church’. Paul was depositing a consistent message of ‘faith and rule’ with all the churches he was planting. This of course didn’t mean the gentile churches had no individual expression of church life, but it did mean there were some consistent ‘rituals’ they were to follow. Things like we read in Acts ‘continued steadfastly in the apostle’s doctrine and breaking of bread and prayers’ simple instructions on living as a community of people. The historic church has a tendency to use these verses to say ‘Paul taught high church liturgy’ well, not really. The ‘radical house church brothers’ [they describe themselves this way!] tend to teach that any consistent rule, or way ‘to act’ violates the ‘no leader rule’ [no pastor] and prohibits the free expression of the ecclesia. Well, this sounds noble, but Paul told the Corinthians ‘Timothy will show you my ways that I teach in all the churches’. It’s not wrong to have some basic order and instructions on ‘how to act, function as the New Testament ecclesia’.
(951) MORE PROOF FROM SCIENCE- Yesterday I went to pick up my daughter from the airport and picked up a science magazine to read while waiting. The magazine was the December 2008 issue of ‘Discover’. They had a real interesting article on the reality of ‘fine tuning’ in the universe and how the only viable alternative [apart from God] to try and explain this fine tuning is this theory of multiple universes. The article kept referencing God! The interviewer went into all the unbelievable scientific discoveries that have been made in the field of Physics these last few years. He explained how these truly unbelievable measurements that must exist in order for life and man to exist, that these measurements have no naturalistic rational explanation of how they ‘just happened to be exactly right’ [I explain fine tuning in the Evolution section]. The article quoted other scientists as saying ‘even though the concept of a multi-verse is very, very doubtful, yet it is the only excuse for not having a creator in your system of belief’. The person being interviewed admitted that he did not want to accept the God explanation. The interviewer challenged him on the absolute shallow idea of a multi-verse [this is absolutely not true science!]. The scientist admitted the doubtfulness of the whole theory, but then said ‘what other options do we have? It must be true, because there is no other explanation apart from God’. The article was very revealing. The obvious bias of the defender of the multi-verse concept came thru clearly. The other scientists admitted the possibility of God as being the only true answer to the problem. They even showed the utter foolishness of the multi-verse theory as being true science. The fact that the ‘God question’ came up over and over again made me stop and look at the cover of the magazine to make sure I wasn’t reading this article from Christianity Today [Okay, I am exaggerating for effect]. The interviewer [also a scientist] explained the anthropic principle to the tee! This principle being the fact that the universe and all of its unbelievable components seem to be existing for the sole purpose of serving man. Returning to the old idea that things exist for mans benefit, man isn’t simply a blip on the cosmic radar screen. This concept was supposedly ‘undone’ by the Copernican revolution when he revealed that our Solar system was Heliocentric as opposed to Geocentric [the earth revolves around the Sun, not the other way around]. But all the recent developments in cosmology have turned the tables back to the idea that the universe really does exist, and has been designed for the purpose of mans survival. The multi-verse concept is a theory without any proof. Even if it were proven to be true, it still does not explain the obvious problem of ‘where did this universe spewing machine come from? How in the world did we ever arrive at a time in history where some unknown, non existent universe duplicator simply popped into existence from nothing?’ the multi-verse in reality is a desperate attempt to not believe in a creator. Even if it were proven true, you still haven’t really solved the problem.
(952) 1ST CORINTHIANS 5:1-7 Okay, now we get into some tough stuff. Paul tells them that he has heard about a situation where one of the brothers is sleeping with his step-mom [fathers wife, though probably not his mother]. And the rebuke is they are not repenting over it, but instead are kind of proud of the whole thing! Paul says to ‘deliver him to satan for the destruction of the flesh so the spirit may be saved’. Now I already showed you the way I view this verse. I tried to follow the other times where Paul speaks this way in this letter and when using this type of language I see him speaking of physical death [chapter 11- sleep-death as judgment to a believer who sins]. I often ‘day dream’ how bout you? I’m not sure if it’s the lord at times trying to tell me stuff. One of my noble fantasies is I can picture myself as the sole Christian preacher who has survived some nuclear holocaust and I am responsible to train the survivors. In this scenario [I am kinda ad libbing here, I don’t day dream this much!] I have both Catholic and Protestant believers. Although I am tempted to raise this new generation of people as Protestants, I instead teach the Catholics true Catholic doctrine [though I don't fully agree with it all] and I teach the Protestants their stuff. Now, I think this little day dream in some way speaks to what I need to do at times on this blog. I need to honestly tell both sides! In this verse ‘commit to satan for the destruction of the flesh’ some do see it a little differently. You can read ‘flesh’ as meaning ‘fleshly nature’. Paul does use the word this way at times. You can’t really make the distinction by going to the Greek. Instead you have to simply look at the context. So this view would be saying ‘deliver this believer to the enemy, don’t allow him to remain ‘in the camp’ and continue to receive the benefits of the believing community. As you ostracize him he will feel the effect of not being with you, he will come to his senses and leave his sin’ [which in this scenario is ‘his fleshly nature’] so the ‘destruction of the flesh’ in this interpretation would fit in well with Arminians. Now, do I believe it this way? No, but I sure feel noble, sort of like the Protestant preacher in my ‘day dream’. [p.s. if you tell anybody about this day dream, I will deny it!]
(953) Yesterday I managed to catch a few TV shows that were good. National geographic did a special called ‘the first Christians’. It was excellent. They covered more historic truth in one hour than you would get from years of sermons. They basically taught the New Testament word for ‘church’ [Ecclesia] and showed how because the early Christians did not believe the ‘church’ was a building, that therefore they spread rapidly without lots of money. They then covered the historic development of the ‘church building’ and the effect this had on them. They also got into the ‘end times’ scenarios that are played out over and over again by today’s prophecy teachers. They interviewed true theologians who put Johns Revelation in historical context. Just an excellent job overall. I also caught the show ‘Journey Home’ on E.W.T.N. [the Catholic channel]. I do like the show, it often gives good historical stuff. Last night they were a little ‘too Catholic’ [I know, what should I expect]. They had a good brother on who left ‘non-denominational Christianity’ and became Catholic. Now, most of these brothers are very intelligent believers who make this choice out of sincerity. They usually study the early church fathers and realize the ‘Catholic tone’ of these early believers. I simply felt the brother who spoke last night was a little too critical of his former church experience [Willow Creek]. I then caught Scott Hahn [an excellent Catholic scholar and apologist], he always has stuff that interests me. He brought up an argument I have heard before on how the early church saw the ‘real presence of Christ’ as being in the Eucharist. Others have made this argument before from the Catholic perspective of Jesus being with us, as opposed to the detractors arguments that he misled the early followers to think that he would soon return and set up a literal earthly kingdom. I have heard and do understand this reasoning. In essence it defends Jesus and his followers by saying ‘Jesus didn’t let down the early church by not returning and ‘being with them’ he was with them all along thru the Eucharist’ good intentions. I would prefer to argue the same point thru the fulfilling of the Fathers promise and the outpouring of the Spirit at Pentecost. Jesus says in John’s gospel ‘I will not leave you comfortless, I will come to you’ it is understood by most theologians [Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant] that Jesus is speaking of the Holy Spirit. Jesus actually refers to the Spirit as ‘One just like unto myself’. The new testament very Cleary speaks of the Holy Spirit as Gods presence tabernacling among us in a real way. So in my thinking I would prefer to argue the real presence of Christ as being among the early believers as fulfilled thru the Comforter. Overall it was a good night of viewing some good teachers. I also couldn't help but notice how I have been skipping over the ‘more popular’ preaching shows of the day. I did click on one of the prophecy guys, he was defending ‘the rapture’ and I couldn’t help but notice the difference between the good theological discussions from the earlier shows, and the ‘silliness’ of what this brother was teaching. I don’t want to demean you if you hold to the rapture theory, it was just such an obvious ‘step down’ from the level of theologian to the level of popular prophecy preaching. In our current study of Corinthians we just went thru the verse ‘though you have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you have only one father’ [Paul referring to himself]. I couldn’t help but get this sense of the modern seen. You could flip thru all the religious broadcasting of our day and get every possible conceivable viewpoint on some subject, ten thousand of them! But there is a consistent voice of truth and wisdom that comes to us from both scripture and church history/tradition. I think we would be better off sticking with ‘the father[s]’.
(954) NOW IT’S A PARALLEL/BUBBLE UNIVERSE! I watched the first TV special I ever saw on the multi-verse theory. I think it’s the first one of its kind by the history channel. It was very eye opening. It seems as if its defenders have been told ‘your initial argument is nonsensical’ and they have made some adjustments. As you read down thru the Evolution section you will see that one of the arguments against a multi-verse is that it is a ‘non physical’ argument. It is metaphysical. This meaning that you could never truly prove the existence of another universe thru the science of Physics. Why? Because the original definition of ‘the universe’ was every thing that exists in the time/space continuum. If by definition, all that can be seen or detected is ‘part of our universe’ then how in the world can you detect something outside of it? [they have some ideas on this, but its pure speculation as of right now] Once you detect it, it, by definition is in our universe! Well the brothers now realize that they fell into this obvious contradiction, so they seem to be moving the goal posts a little. In the special I just saw, they now seem to be saying that our universe is simply one ‘bubble of universes’ that’s floating around in space [before, space and the universe were synonymous!] so they seem to be simply shrinking down the definition of universe and making it mean ‘our closed existing time space continuum, which is simply one of many’ Ahh, you guys are cheating with his one! But hey, how many viewers realized this? That’s the problem with these theories, they come up with them for the purpose of having another explanation for existence, but they then get into more trouble trying to keep their theory alive. Remember, the reason this theory started in the first place was to come up with some type of explanation, apart from God, to explain the fine tuning of the Cosmos [read my sections on fine tuning under Evolution]. The unbelievable fine measurements that have been found to be exactly right to support life have no other real explanation apart from a creator. The multi-verse theory simply says ‘well, if you have millions and billions of unseen universes [pure speculation!] then the odds on one of them getting it right just went up’. So this theory was originally floated for this reason. Now, even if this theory were ever proved [according to the new definition of the universe!] it would simply mean that instead of trying to figure out how ‘our universe got here’ [the original question] now we have to figure out how they all got here! It really proves nothing. But I thought it interesting to see how these giants of Academia now realize that they were violating the basic laws of logic by espousing the theory in its original form! [In essence, all these so called floating, bubble like universes would have originally fallen under the heading of ‘the universe’. You wouldn’t have seen them as a bunch of separate universes. But they had to change the definition in order to keep their argument in the boundaries of logic and common sense]. They also borrowed from Einstein’s theory on worm holes. But Einstein surmised that worm holes might be these tunnels in space/time that one could travel thru and exit at another dimension, a different location of the universe. He did not use this idea as traveling from one ‘bubble universe’ into another, like the proponents of the multi-verse were doing. The show then got too silly to even give it a speck of serious thought. They then theorized that there are possible duplicates of us, and duplicates of other sports teams and presidents and all types of stuff. They thought it possible for the Giants to have won the super bowl in one universe, though losing it in ours [and you call this science!] they even said that this theory has moral implications. How did they come up with this? One of them explained that you could be ‘good’ in one universe, but if you realize that this holy altar image of yourself is doing good somewhere else, then this might effect your choice of being righteous in ‘this universe’ WOW! As we continue our study thru the book of Corinthians, keep in mind Paul’s teaching on the foolishness of men’s wisdom, I think we just saw a good example of it. There is this stature that we give in our modern day to any ‘Tom, Dick or Harry’ that comes down the pike with any nonsensical idea. We see them as a special class, the Academics can’t be wrong! After all it sounds intellectual. A few centuries before Christ you had the great philosopher ‘Philo- Betto’ [O wait, that was Clint Eastwood's character in ‘every which way but lose!’] I mean Plato. Truly Plato and Aristotle and Socrates have had tremendous influence on Western thought. You would be hard pressed to find other later philosophers who have had the same influence [maybe Immanuel Kant]. Plato built this great school of learning in ancient Greece. He bought the land from a man by the name of ‘Academe’. Eventually we would call this pursuit of knowledge ‘the Academic world’ or Academia. Hey, don’t be intimidated by these guys.
(955) 1st CORINTHIANS 5:6-8 Okay, lets get back to Corinthians. ‘Your glorying is not good, get rid of the old leaven. Don’t you know that a little yeast can affect the whole lump? Get rid of it, you are all unleavened, Christ is our new Passover Lamb who has been sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with the old leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth’ [my own paraphrasing]. A few things. I want you to see something here, over the years I have read and studied lots of great theologians. It is common for these brothers to go back to the reality of the early church fathers belief in the ‘Real Presence’ of Christ in the Eucharist [Lords supper]. It is also becoming less common [in theological circles!] to defend the symbolic view of the Lords Supper. I believe Paul is presenting the idea of all believers spiritually sitting at the ‘table of life’ on a daily basis and receiving from Christ’s new life in a spiritual/symbolic way. He clearly says ‘let us keep the feast with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth’ [clearly symbolic!] Peter writes of the new sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving. Jesus speaks in an interesting way about this in John chapter 6. The Jews ask him ‘show us a sign, Moses gave us bread to eat from heaven. If you’re from God then prove it like Moses’. I find it interesting that in the key chapter of Jesus being the bread that comes down from heaven, the conversation turns to Moses. The beginning of the chapter does say the Passover feast was getting close, but the imagery is Moses and Manna. Moses represented the Old system of law and works, John’s gospel tells us that ‘the law came from Moses, but grace and truth from Jesus’. Jesus contrasts himself with Moses. He says ‘I am the real bread that has come down from heaven, if men eat my flesh and drink my blood they will live’. Now we must understand the tremendous offence this statement caused. The Jewish people had Levitical laws [commands in their law] that forbid the drinking of any type of blood, never mind the blood of a person! But yet Jesus would speak this way to them. In the conversation the hearers acknowledge the difficulty of the saying, Jesus will say ‘the flesh profits nothing, it is the Spirit that gives you life. The words I am speaking to you are Spirit and life’. At the last supper [which was the symbolic end of the Passover and the beginning of a new celebratory meal centered on the final scarf ice of Jesus, the Lamb of God] Jesus seems to be saying ‘from now on, as long as you do this, you are showing my death until I come again’ [we get this from Paul later on in Corinthians]. As you put all of this imagery together, you get the sense of the New Covenant being one of an ongoing continual New Covenant meal from which all believers daily eat from and ‘keep the feast with the new leaven of truth and sincerity, not the old leaven of sin and wickedness’. You clearly see a symbolic element in this language. Now, I do not discount the importance of the actual ordinance of the Lords Table. I recently defended the Catholic idea to an ex Catholic who is now Protestant. They said ‘how can people believe something so silly’ I had to say that many serious intellectual believers accept the Real Presence doctrine by faith in the literal reading of Jesus words. Luther himself believed it, he made no bones about it when he slammed his fist on the table in his dispute with Zwingli and said ‘this IS MY BODY!’ Standing for the literal interpretation of the sacrament. John Wesley, the founder of the great Methodist movement, wrote many hymns speaking of the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. So make no mistake about it, many good believers hold to the literal belief. I just wanted you to see that it is also in keeping with the scripture to see the entire Christian walk as one huge ongoing ‘feast’ that is kept with spiritual sacrifices and symbolic language. Jesus is the bead that came down from heaven, those who would stay with ‘Moses bread’ [law] would die, those who would eat from this new table would live forever.
(956) EMERGENT STUFF- yesterday I spent most of the day reading up on the Emergent movement and its trends. I am not one of those critics who never actually reads the books that these brothers put out. Nor am I one of the guys who simply reads to find fault. A few years back I read ‘The sacred way’ by Tony Jones. I enjoyed the book. I incorporated some of the ideas [Jesus prayer] into my prayer time. And I even begin my intercession time with the historic crossing of myself [in the name of the Father and Son and Holy Spirit] this was nothing new to me, I did grow up Catholic and was confirmed and made my communion in the church. Now, what do I see as a little dangerous [others see a whole lot that’s wrong]. Some of the teachings say ‘Jesus really didn’t come to start a new movement, he was a Jew who was simply incorporating others into Judaism’. Also lots of talk on the Sabbath and the religious rhythm of the ancient church. Fixed time prayers and stuff like that. Okay things that many believers practice. But all of this type of talk needs to include why so many Evangelicals do not practice these rituals. One big reason is because the New Testament has a theme of grace that teaches us that Jesus did institute a ‘new religion’ [new covenant] that fulfilled all the types and symbols of the old. Paul would rebuke the early believers for wanting to return back to these things [Galatians, Colossians]. He would say ‘you are observing days and seasons and old covenant rites, I fear for you’. Paul did not teach the Sabbath as an ongoing practice for the Gentile churches. There were SOME symbols left to us [Lords Supper, baptism- I wouldn’t argue with other Christians who have a few more] but the overall Ethos of this New kingdom was not one of liturgy and symbol, it was one of fulfillment. I liked Tony’s book, but some of the ideas could easily lead a new believer down the road of legalism. If we put [or offer] too many ritualistic practices back into the New Covenant community of grace, then we are in danger of going back under a legalistic mindset. Now, what about the issues of slavery and women in the church and homosexuality [gee, you think I might be biting off a little too much?] This conversation says ‘just like preachers used scripture to defend slavery, but later the church needed to shape her overall view by the broad themes of scripture, as opposed to any single verse. So likewise we need to approach the issue of women in the pulpit and the ordaining of homosexuals thru the same lens’. Okay, I see some merit to this argument with the ordaining of women [some!] but the issue of sexual morality is different. The scripture never said ‘slavery is good, freedom is bad’. To the contrary scripture teaches the opposite. Now I have mentioned how you could justify slavery from certain passages, but freedom itself is never explicitly condemned. The scripture specifically condemns the sin of homosexuality, no bones about it [not just the Old Testament either]. Does this mean we should be mean and discriminate against the gay community, no. But we need to be open and honest about the way scripture deals with this issue. Some challenge the idea of scripture being authoritative in this way for our day. Well that’s an argument some make, but the Orthodox view of scripture doesn’t see it like that. So basically I think we need to be careful when telling new believers that Jesus never intended for the old rituals to pass away, he was starting a new revolutionary kingdom movement that would be free from the former restraints of the law. This is basic to the whole teaching of the NEW covenant.
(957) 1ST CORINTHIANS 5:9-13 Now Paul clarifies what he meant when he said ‘don’t associate with those who sin sexually’. He wants to be clear that his instructions on ‘not being with sinners’ is not misunderstood. After all we are called salt and light, Jesus himself was accused of spending too much time with the lost. So Paul says ‘what I meant was don’t keep ongoing fellowship with a brother who is practicing unrepentant sin’. He also says ‘if you thought I meant all sinners in general, then heck you wouldn’t be able to live in society this way’. Some believers have taken a stand on ‘separation from the world’ in such a way that they have no unbelieving friends. Others seem to view the unbeliever as the enemy. Sort of like we are in this culture war and the enemy is YOU! I can’t even watch the O’Reilly factor [Fox news] too long, he says he’s fighting this culture war and then in the ads for upcoming shows he shows the raciest pictures on any news show. What’s up with that? I feel we need to make the distinction between separating from a sinning brother [for his own good] and having friendships with unbelievers. People you can influence down the road. Paul also says if we judge our own [by shunning them for their own good] that this is a type of ‘present chastening’ that believers do experience. But those who are ‘outside the camp’ [unbelievers] are left to be judged by God. We see this same theme in chapter 11 ‘when we are judged we are disciplined by the Lord so we will not be condemned with the world’ [at the final judgment]. I believe that this idea is one of the best arguments for eternal security [once saved, always saved. Though I don’t like this language, you get the hint]. The concept of believers being presently dealt with for sin, even to the possible point of physical death, seems to indicate that they will not face a future judgment like the lost [eternal damnation]. When we recently did one of our Old Testament studies, I overlooked a verse that said to King David ‘I will raise up one of your sons [Solomon/Jesus- dual Messianic prophecy] and he will build this new temple/people. The way I will deal with the people under this new covenant is, if they commit sins, I will chasten them, but I will not utterly take my mercy from them’ [my paraphrasing- it is said to the actual son, Solomon/Jesus, but in the New Covenant revelation of the church actually being part of the Body of Christ, this is how you could apply it]. You can also read this idea in a few other places. I think Jeremiah uses it ‘I will give them a new heart and I will put my Spirit in them’ and he also speaks about not being totally rejected if they commit sin under this new covenant. So the point is, if there is a mechanism under this new covenant whereby sin is dealt with in the present time, and if this is compared to the other choice which is ‘judgment at a later time’. This would seem to indicate a type of ‘in house discipline’ that says ‘if you openly sin now, God will judge you now. He does this for your own good, so you won’t face the judgment of the unbeliever at the end’. So the fact that some were sinning, even pretty badly! Did not mean that they were expelled completely from the benefits of the covenant. As a matter of fact, temporal excommunication itself was one of the benefits! I don't want to be too dogmatic on this, I just want you to see a repeated theme in scripture that says God will deal with his kids in the here and now [no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous- Hebrews] but this in itself is a blessing that is designed to ‘produce the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them that are exercised thereby’ Hebrews.
(958) 1ST CORINTHIANS 6: 1-7 Paul rebukes them for taking each other to court. He tells them ‘don’t you have any wise people among you who could handle this? Why go before unbelievers!’ he also tells them ‘plus, why even fight for your rights, if you think you have been wronged in some way by your brother, then simply see it as part of the cost of carrying your cross’. Paul contradicts the prevalent mindset in much of Christianity today. He doesn’t teach ‘get what’s yours, know your rights!’ he teaches the ethos of self denial, of living with the expectation of giving up your rights and dreams. Of taking loss, if it glorifies the Father. Now we get into some ‘stuff’. Paul appeals to them by saying ‘don’t you realize that we shall judge angels some day, we shall judge the world’. A few years back there was a debate going on in theological circles. Some theologians popularized a new way to look at God’s sovereignty. This new system was called ‘Open Theism’. Scholars like Clark Pinnock and others held out the possibility that God doesn’t foreordain all future events, they actually went further and said ‘he doesn’t know all future events’. Well of course this sparked off a firestorm among the Calvinists. Does scripture teach that God is sovereign and does know all that will happen? To be honest about it, yes. But the idea of open theism was saying ‘because God has chosen to give man free will, he, by his own design, has chosen to limit his knowledge in the area of knowing all of mans future choices’. In essence that God purposely ‘does not know’ the future outcomes of decisions that have not been made by humans. If free will is real [of course the Calvinists say no] then God must limit himself to knowledge in these areas. I personally do not believe this, but I think I needed to share it to explain this section of scripture. Paul does tell them they will judge the world and angels. In second Peter 2, the apostle says the fallen angels are being held for a future day of judgment. In Matthew [19-?] Jesus says those who follow him will play a part in a future ruling over human government. These scriptures do indicate that believers will play a role in future judgment scenarios. So if we ‘judge angels and the world’ we should be able to arbitrate between ourselves! Now, in the world of theology you have sincere questions on ‘is it fair for God to judge people who have never heard the gospel’ or ‘if God is truly sovereign in all things, even in predestinating certain people to salvation, then this is unfair’. Many have turned to universalism, or a belief in ‘no hell’ in order to quell these questions. I want to simply float a scenario to you. Jesus says ‘whosoever sins you remit [forgive] they are forgiven. Those you retain [not forgive] will be retained’ while there are differing views on these verses, I want you to see how these scriptures, in keeping with all that I just showed you, might leave us room for another possible way out of all the so called questions on Gods ‘fairness’. Say if at the judgment, we are all gathered [Calvinists, Arminians, Catholics,…] and say if we are all waiting to see who’s right ‘I’ll show that Arminian…I’ll show that Catholic…’ and we are at the day where the future destinies of millions are at stake. What will God do? It’s possible that much of the final decision will rest in the hands of the church. I know it sounds heretical, but keep in mind all the verses I just quoted to you. Say if all of our pompous pontificating [wow!] amongst varying theories of the atonement and universalism and all the other stuff. Say if Jesus turns to us and says ‘You are now going to make the most important judgment of your lives, you shall judge the world and angels’ and all of a sudden all of our scrutiny of God’s fairness turns on us. We see in the crowd of masses, faces of people who we hate. People who have been demonized by history [Darwin, Hitler]. Those we always wondered about [eastern religions] and now much of their final destiny rides on us. Even the possibility of fallen angels being forgiven! [Hey, maybe Origin was right?] The whole point of this scenario is to simply say we might have been asking the wrong questions all along. Now for sure, no one gets in without Jesus and his blood! But there are also a few other verses [Peter] that seem to indicate a second hearing [or first!] of the gospel before the final day. The point being how willing are you to really carry out something like this? Are you really ready for the great responsibility of having someone’s destiny depend on how forgiving you are? I really don’t believe 100 % in this scenario I just floated. But Jesus does put us in positions of responsibility all thru out our lives. He does say ‘whoever’s sins we don’t forgive, these sins will be held against them by your own choice’ we keep people in ‘chains of bondage’ today! Never mind the future. God has committed to us great responsibility as believers, if we are still fighting each other over insignificant things [taking our brothers to court, if you will] then we are truly not ready to ‘Judge the world’.
(959) 1ST CORINTHIANS 6: 8-20 Paul paints a ‘canvas’ of those who will not inherit the Kingdom. The list not only includes the big ones, but also the ‘average Joe’. Homosexuals, covetous, straight people who commit sexual sin; just the whole gambit. I do want to stress that Paul is not politically correct, he does categorize homosexuality as sin. He is not simply saying ‘non monogamous homosexuality’ but all types. I know there is an honest effort being made to try as much as possible to be more inclusive of other people’s views and lifestyles. I am for this approach as much as possible, but we also need to be honest about sin, all sin. Now covetous is that strong desire to amass wealth, it is the daily longing and confessing and believing for more material abundance. Yes folks, it’s what many of us have been duped into thru wrong teaching. I had a homeless friend who used to tell me how his dad, who was retired, used to wake up every day and simply consume his day with the stock market and how his retirement was going, he didn’t realize that he made the funding of his retirement [an okay goal] the main thought pattern of his life. I also just saw a story similar to this on some business channel. We need to be ‘ware’ of covetousness. Now Paul makes special mention of the destructive nature of sexual sin, he says ‘it destroys you’. I have been reading Proverbs the last month or so and there are many warnings about sexual sin. It says ‘he that does this destroys his own soul’. A few years back I watched [or read?] a local story of a professor who came down with a disease called Dementia. As they shared his story they described the progressive nature of him slowly losing his mind, and how his family eventually brought him back home [he was not married, his parents took him in] as they shared the sad story, they kinda of tactfully said ‘one of the possible signs of this disease is obsessive compulsive sexual behavior’. They basically were saying part of this mans history included obsessive sexual sin. I wonder if the dementia in some way is a result of the behavior, as opposed to a symptom. There was also as study done years ago that showed the difference in the brain scans of Homosexuals and Heterosexuals, they seemed to have found some real physical brain distinctions. But once again, is it possible that sexually engaging in certain sinful behaviors is actually ‘destroying the soul’, or causing a change in the brain? Paul singled out this sin [not just Homosexual behavior, but all sexual sin!] as causing actual damage to a person’s physical make up in a way that was more damaging than other sins. I think we all need to heed his warning. [note- sexual sin is a common struggle in life. Many believers do struggle and have fallen into this sin. Paul actually is addressing these sins because of the prevalence of the problem. I don’t want to condemn any one who reads this site and struggles this way, Paul is offering hope and forgiveness thru out this letter. He seems to be extra harsh with the Corinthians because of their lax attitude towards this sin].
(960) MATT 24:36-39 what in the world does ‘as it were in the days of Noah’ mean? Let’s go on a rabbit trail today. The other day I took my daughter to the Laundromat [our dryer broke!] and had some ‘down time’ to kill. So I grabbed a few news papers and sat in the truck while listening to Christian radio. I heard an old time brother who has broadcast on the station I am on for years. They are good Christians, from the ‘tribe’ of dispensationalism. The fundamentalist ‘King James only’ type. They taught a little on the verse above. I also recently saw a TV evangelist [may there tribe decrease] deal with the verse. The TV brother, who by the way also had the same type of fundamentalist background, taught his own spin on the verse. He said ‘just like in Noah’s day, you had aliens/fallen angels visit the earth and cohabitate with women, so Jesus taught that near the end time there would be an increase in u.f.o. sightings’ [ouch!] The radio brothers have taught that just like Noah entered into the ark, so the church would be raptured before Christ comes, because Jesus said ‘just like the days of Noah’. If you read the passage [Matt. 24:36-39] Jesus plainly tells you what he means. He is not talking about aliens or ‘raptures’ he is simply warning the people about the suddenness of the coming judgment day. Jesus is saying ‘just like in Noah’s day, the people were marrying and partying and living it up, right until the day when Noah entered the ark, and then the flood came and caught them off guard. So shall it be in the day when the son of man returns’. Basically Jesus is saying the people of Noah’s day didn’t give heed to the warnings of Noah, they probably looked at him as some nut! But their lethargy and sinful state put them in a position that caught them off guard. Sure enough the judgment that Noah warned about did come. So Jesus is warning people not to be caught off guard like the people of Noah’s day. Now, why would preachers take these types of verses and teach aliens and raptures? For the most part this branch of Christianity means well, there are times where I have learned interesting facts and stuff from them. But there is an approach to scripture that says ‘because Gods word [King James] is perfect [true] therefore we can find all these hidden meanings that are not in the original context’. Is this what the historical doctrine of verbal inspiration teaches? Not in a million years. The reformers taught that scripture still needed to be seen thru the historic churches understanding. They did teach that all believers had the right to expect God to speak to them thru his word, but they did not teach the type of private interpretation as seen above. To the contrary you had other radicals who were reading the book of Revelation [or more commonly known as ‘the Revelations’J] and began seeing themselves as the end time witnesses who were to establish the New Jerusalem on the earth. They would mount a violent rebellion and get killed! These groups were straying outside of the magisterial reformers ideas on scripture. Though it seemed silly to hear some of the recent preaching on Noah’s day, these types of ideas can become dangerous if they lead us away from the actual meaning of Gods word. Even though these brothers highly value the doctrine of verbal inspiration [their view of it] they do a disservice to Christian learning when thy do stuff like this.
(961) 1ST CORINTHIANS 7:1-15 Paul addresses divorce. It is interesting that Jesus himself actually raised the bar from the Old Covenant practice to the New. In most other areas he emphasized grace as opposed to law ‘the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath’ but in this area Jesus said ‘Moses made an exception under the law for divorce, but from the beginning this was not Gods plan’ and Jesus restricted divorce to the cause of adultery only. Here Paul gives some direction. First, you shouldn’t divorce. You also shouldn’t be married to an unbeliever. Well, what should happen to those who were unbelievers when they married, but now one is a believer? Paul says if the unbeliever is ‘pleased’ to stay in the union, then that’s fine. Well what does ‘pleased’ mean? If the unbeliever is physically abusing his spouse, then that doesn’t seem ‘pleasing’ to me. Paul will say if the unbeliever departs, let them go. The believer should not feel condemned by this. He/she had no control in this case. But if there is a divorce, let the one who left remain unmarried. So what happens if you were forced into it, can you re marry? Paul does not specifically say. He does say to the one who left the marriage, they should not remarry. Divorce is a tricky issue. When attending the fundamental Baptist church they taught that if one were divorced they could never be ‘a Pastor’ [even though no one was ‘a pastor’ in this way in the first century church!]. Many teach that Paul’s instructions on Bishops/Elders said a divorced person should not be an overseer. Paul actually said ‘they should be the husband of one wife’. This most certainly could simply be saying they shouldn’t be in a plural marriage. This was common in the first century, so you could take it this way. Overall I find it strange that someone could have been a murderer [Paul] or any other type of sinner, but the divorcee' seems to be the only sinner that is excluded. The other problem is how much of ‘a believer’ were you at the time of your divorce. There have been well known preachers who initiated the divorce from their wives, they remarried and later wanted this to be treated as any other sin, just forgive and forget. The problem is if you were wise enough in the lord to have known better, then true repentance would entail making things right. Whether that’s reconciliation or simply remaining single, but it sure seems like these types of brothers who went into the whole remarriage thing with their eyes wide open, they should be held to a higher standard. Overall, we should not be in bondage to things that were out of our control. Those who were victimized and the partner left you, you should not be condemned for something that was out of your control. Believers who initiate the divorce from someone who was willing to stay in the marriage, they should not remarry. There have been too many cases where believers divorce other believers, without biblical grounds, and then remarry someone from the church. These situations are not permitted. If the believing spouse was simply ‘difficult to live with’ then that doesn’t cut it. In situations where there was actual physical abuse, well I don't believe the Lord wants you to stay in the house under these circumstances. But the only biblical excuse for divorce, according to Jesus, is adultery. In all of these gray areas, wisdom must be applied. The high profile ministers who have initiated their divorces and remarried, without the proper biblical grounds, should not be simply ‘forgiven’ and permitted to continue in their public role in ministry. True forgiveness and restoration would entail some sort of repentance and a public change in the situation. Like Paul says ‘to the rest speak I, not the Lord’. I am giving you my opinion on some of this stuff, but I too think I have the Spirit of Christ.
(962) 1ST CORINTHIANS 7:16-24 ‘Were you circumcised when you were called into the Christina life? Then don’t become uncircumcised’ [that would be quite a feat!] ‘Were you uncircumcised when called? Don’t get circumcised’. What’s Paul saying? Basically he is keeping the decrees that were made at the Jerusalem council [Acts 15]. He is stressing the importance of Christ’s spiritual kingdom. To the Jew, he is not saying ‘keep trying to become justified by the law and sacrifices’ but he is saying ‘I am not trying to wipe out your culture and heritage, I am trying to bring you into the fullness of what the Prophets have foretold’. This is Paul’s ongoing defense in the book of Acts ‘I stand condemned because I believe that what the prophets said would happen, did!’. Paul says the thing that matters is ‘the doing of Gods commandments’. When we studied Romans I showed how Paul did say ‘the hearers of the law are not justified, but the doers shall be’. Here again Paul stresses the importance of the Christian life being one of true conversion. Those who believe are changed and become doers of Gods law by nature. The mechanism of conversion is Faith, the outworking of that conversion is obedience. So even though Paul is not putting the law on the gentile converts, yet he does teach that they will by nature keep the law [Romans again]. Now he says ‘were you a slave when called? Seek not to become free. Were you free? Don’t become a slave’ and ‘be not the servants/slaves of men’. We actually have hit on this a few times in recent months. Once again Paul says ‘don’t see this new faith as an opportunity to mount a civil disobedience campaign’ but at the same time he makes it clear ‘don’t put yourself under servitude either!’ The New Testament does not justify the institution of slavery or racism! The basic ethos of this new kingdom is freedom from bondage, it was only a matter of time before this new movement would shake the foundations of society and uproot this evil. Make no mistake about it, the anti-slavery movement was instigated by the people of God [William Wilberforce, Charles Finney and many others].
(963) 1ST CORINTHIANS 7: 25-40 let’s be a little unconventional today. This passage deals with Paul’s counsel on celibacy and marriage. The historic church has had a bad rap on this issue. It is common today to say the church devalued marriage [and sex] and therefore we should exalt it. Sometimes this attempt at trying to correct the perceived imbalance puts a stumbling block in the way of those who are truly called to live the single life. Though marriage is an honorable thing, a true gift from God, yet living the celibate life can also be considered a very noble thing. It is rare in contemporary evangelicalism to leave this option open. Paul does say this option is not only available, but a noteworthy calling! He also makes it clear that only those who are called to this single lifestyle should attempt it. The church should not force celibacy on people. Now, do our catholic brothers force it upon the Priests? In a way, yes. But don’t forget that no one is ‘forced’ into the priesthood. Some feel like the scandals of catholic priests who abused children can be blamed on forced celibacy. The problem with this idea is many protestant ministers have also fallen sexually, and they were not celibate! The point being we need to be careful when we brand any Christian denomination with an accusation. Now, Paul also makes an interesting statement that we need to look at. He says ‘for the present distress I give these guidelines’. Is it possible that Paul's seeming harshness on marriage was due to the fact of some type of distress that he saw coming? Possibly the Neronic persecutions? If so, Paul could be saying ‘because of the upcoming severe persecution I recommend everyone just laying low for the time, if married, seek not to be single and vice a versa’. This is possible, we need to keep this in mind when reading this section of scripture. But most of all I think the modern evangelical church needs to retool her message in this area. Marriage and sex are good, God ordained these things in their proper place. But living single and celibate is also considered a very noble calling, we do not normally reflect this balance in the present atmosphere. Also as an aside, a few years back it was common to teach ‘the world/public schools have taken sex and taught it to our kids. They have usurped the job of the family/church’ while there is some truth to this, the problem was some well known TV evangelists began to discuss sex in the Sunday morning setting that was improper in a way [If you local Pastors who read this have done this, be assured I am not talking about you!]. I remember watching a national minister speak openly, with grandma’s and children in the service, and say ‘now speaking about sexual climax’ Yikes!! Just because the family/church dropped the ball on these issues, this doesn’t mean there are no barriers at all while dealing with these issues. Those who do this type of stuff seem to be saying ‘sex is not a dirty thing, therefore we need to bring it out into the open’ while this is true to a degree, there are also age appropriate subjects that should be taught in a private setting. If the church feels the need to delve into these subjects, we need to be careful that we are not crossing boundaries when doing it.
(964) MORE PROOF FOR GOD- Okay, what’s up with ‘dark matter’? In the 20th century the amazing breakthroughs in science showed us that what we thought was a limited universe, was actually a growing universe that was expanding at a faster rate every day. The further out you got, the faster it was expanding. This discovery [Hubble] worked in harmony with Einstein’s theories. This discovery also created a problem. If the universe is so much more vast than previously thought to be, then the amount of known matter needed in the universe in order to maintain the proper gravitational force was not there. Basically you need so much matter to exist in order for this newly discovered expanding universe to hold together and function right. The problem is that the matter is not there![some say it is still not detected]. So the theory of ‘dark matter’ [unseen, undetected matter] has been floated. This invisible matter is supposedly the single greatest matter in existence, though we have no proof that even one tiny particle exists! Ahh, when stuff like this happens, we need to pay close attention. Why? Well some who defend the young earth theory of creation use this to back up their claim of a young universe. It’s kinda technical stuff, but this ‘dark matter’ has to be there to defend the old age theory [for some!]. Another problem is we have absolutely no proof that this dark matter exists. It is simply believed in because the naturalistic explanation demands it! Sort of like coming to a part in a puzzle where a piece doesn’t fit, so you simply make something fit. Now, the bible does teach that the vast universe is held together [a key role of so called dark matter] by Christ’s absolute power. The other explanation for how the vast universe is able to function smoothly, without the needed matter to create the huge amount of gravity, is that God himself is holding all things together by his omnipotence. In essence, we need God for this puzzle to fit. I am not saying the idea of dark matter is totally false, but as far as we know today, there is no proof that it exists. We as believers should not take an anti scientific stance on everything, to the contrary, true science always backs up the Christian world view [in general] but we also need to be suspicious when science floats an idea that can be explained by the existence of a creator. If the idea is simply out there, with no proof at all [the multi-verse] then we certainly have the right to challenge whether the whole thing is a bunch of ‘dark [invisible] matter’!
(965) 1st CORINTHIANS 8- Once again Paul will deal with the issue of what’s clean or unclean, the Christians convictions. Corinth not only had low sexual standards, but also much idolatry. This led to a problem of whether or not believers should purchase the meat sold in the market that was used for idol worship. After the sacrifice was made, whatever good meat was left could be sold on the streets. Now, Paul says the believer knows there is only one true God, so with this knowledge you are not sinning because you know the meat really wasn’t used to worship other gods, because there are no other Gods! But he also says that every man does not have this knowledge. So just like he taught the Romans, he teaches the Corinthians that in all of your freedom, the highest standard is whether you are building others up or tearing them down. If you have a free conscience to eat the meat, then fine, it is no sin to you. But if this liberty is offending the minds of those who are weaker in the faith, then your freedom just became a stumbling block and worked against the main goal of building others up. So the real question isn’t ‘can I do this with a clean conscience’ but ‘does my practice offend or build others up’? Many years ago I had a friend who smoked cigars, he was a believer and simply saw nothing wrong with it. We had a mutual friend who found out about it and bought some cigars and gagged on them. His conscience was emboldened to ‘eat the meat’ and by doing it he sinned. Why was cigar smoking sin to the weaker brother? Because he really wasn’t doing it out of a pure heart with a clean motive. Though the cigar smoker felt he had the freedom to smoke [it wasn’t an every day thing] yet his freedom caused another to fall. So Paul consistently takes this position in his letters. Some day we will get to other verses like ‘the things the gentiles offer to idols are being offered to demons, so don’t partake with them at the same table’ this is dealing with a different thing, I’ll explain it at another time. Paul also says ‘knowledge puffs up, but charity builds up’. One of the side trails believers can easily fall into is thinking the Christian life is simply an exercise is learning things. That is knowledge for knowledge’s sake. While Paul was not advocating ignorance, he was dealing with carnal believers who walked in pride. He was showing them that those who think they stand should be careful lest they fall. Paul was calling them to a higher purpose than just learning scripture and applying it for personal satisfaction, he was calling them to live sacrificially, to take the wrong done to you [legally in court stuff]. To give up the freedom to ‘smoke cigars’ if you will, for the sake of others. Paul was teaching them that it was possible to be right and have the answers to back up your position, but if you are truly not dieing to self, you are simply getting ‘puffed up’.
(966) 1ST CORINTHIANS 9:1-14 Paul defends his apostleship and gives a strong defense for the New Testament doctrine of financially supporting Christian leaders. Now, I never want to be one of those types of teachers who skews or bypasses scriptures that seem to contradict previous teachings. It’s common for good men to do this, all leaders need to avoid doing it. Recently I added my comments to a debate that raged in the blogasphere. You had Frank Viola put out the book ‘Pagan Christianity’ [good book, I read and do recommend it] and another good theologian, Ben Witherington, gave a good critique [I also recommend Bens site, you can find both Frank and Ben’s sites on my blog roll]. Part of the debate hinged on the financial support of elders/ministers. I must admit I fell on Ben’s side in this argument, though I probably would agree with Frank around 90 % of the time on all the other stuff. Ben argued for the biblical mandate to support elders, frank seems to teach the support of apostles [itinerant workers] is okay, but does not leave room for the support of elders who live in the community. Now, you really need to read all I have written under the ‘what in the world is the church’ section of this blog to get my full view on all of this stuff, but this section of Corinthians makes this stuff pretty clear. Paul says ‘I have the right not to work and only live off of the offerings of the people’. So Paul defends this practice, but he also says ‘I choose not to use it’. He also uses two interesting examples from ‘the law’ [Old Testament] to defend the financial support of leaders. ‘The Ox who is treading out the corn shouldn’t be muzzled’ and ‘the priests who serve at the altar get to eat the meat from the sacrifices’. What is the most obvious example that he does not use? The tithe! I would say this is one of the best proofs for the tithe not being a normative practice of the early church. But Paul does use the other examples to say its right to financially support those who labor among you. But Paul has also given examples to elders [read my Acts 20 commentary] to show them that they are not in this for the money! Paul will actually defend the practice of working and not taking money from the believers. So we see a wide range of freedom in this area. I feel the biblical example is it is fine to financially support Christian leadership who are dedicating their lives to teaching and ministering the word. It is also fine to not use these ‘rights’ as a Christian leader. But nowhere are we taught a type of Levitical tithe system for the support of Christian leaders. Why? Paul’s main message was one of grace and coming out from the requirements of the law. To have used the tithe as an example to give financially would have been counterproductive to his whole message. Eventually believers would come to view ‘the church’ and ‘the priest/pastor’ as the single head of ‘the church building’ who would be supported like a Levite who served as a priest under the old covenant [bring all the tithes into the storehouse type concept]. This legalistic view of ‘the church’ is prevalent today in much of Christendom, both Catholics and Protestants seem to cling to this limited view of the church. The modern house church movement is giving the old view quite a run for its money! But let’s not throw out the baby with the bath water. Paul said its okay to financially support Christian leadership among you, just don't see it as a tithe that is supporting some type of Christian New Testament Levitical priest!
(967) PROVERBS- Up early praying and stuff. A few years back when I started writing this blog I never thought I would write so much! I just took the spot where I was reading thru my yearly schedule and began teaching it. It’s really easy to be honest. Sometimes I just do a brief reading and then sit down and write [actually all the time- note that I always pray/meditate for at least one hour prior to writing. Scripture [actually Proverbs!] says ‘write the commandment on your heart [teachings of your father- Gods Word] and bind the tradition around your neck’ [teaching of your mother- church history and stuff]. When you do this it will ‘keep you when you lay down, guide you when you go out, and speak/talk to you when you wake up’. I am not advocating slack studying before preaching, I am advocating that you fill your mind and spirit continually, then when ‘the spot light hits you’ your ready!]. This keeps me from my old routine of reading and meditating slowly. So I try and read other devotional sections of scripture at the same time. I am doing Proverbs right now, I like the wisdom literature. The Old Testament can be divided into three sections; 1- Wisdom literature 2- The law 3- The Prophets. The ‘keeper’ of the law is the Priest, the Prophets are of course the Prophet. The wisdom literature; Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, Job and Psalms [James in the New Testament] are associated with the ‘Sage’ or wise man [Apostle]. So Maybe during our ‘down time’ [days where I purposely don’t teach! Because it’s so routine to just get up, pray and teach that it can become a rut. I don’t want to brag, but I am two years ahead of schedule on all our radio broadcasts. I have around 630 individual radio messages already done!] So maybe I will just hit high points from these devotional readings. I recently read ‘LABOR NOT TO BE RICH, CEASE FROM YOUR OWN WISDOM’. I originally felt like just quoting it and saying ‘look! What is he saying now? Hear we go again on his anti prosperity campaign!’ And then responding ‘why brothers, I didn’t say anything, I just quoted scripture’. Well, I guess I just did it. ‘WISDOM BUILDS HER HOUSE, UNDERSTANDING ESTABLISHES IT AND BY KNOWLEDGDE SHALL ITS CHAMBERS BE FILLED WITH ALL PLEASANT AND PRECIOUS RICHES’. Over the years I have had friends who were really knowledgeable, but there knowledge was only available for a short season. Why? They didn’t have the wisdom and understanding to put systems in place that would be the structure that could contain the knowledge. Then you have those who are wise, they can get structures up. But then a year goes by and they are working on another structure! The old ‘house’ is either left for someone else to deal with, or they simply ‘walk away’ from the mortgage [spiritually speaking] and start all over. Then you have those with wisdom, knowledge and understanding. They get things going, they establish systems in place that can maintain and keep things functioning for the long term, and they make sure all these strong systems and ministries are ‘filled with precious riches’. It’s all too common for some very stable ministries to have the structures and systems in place for the long term, but then propagate a message that is ‘less than precious’. Lets ask God today for the grace to function in all three of these divine attributes. When it is all said and done, only God can provide the increase!
(968) WHAT’S UP WITH THE CORPUS CHRISTI POLICE DEPARTMENT! I have hesitated to add this one, but the time has come. My wife just woke me up to tell me that earlier in the evening a drunk driver slammed into my daughters car while parked at her house and slammed into 2 other vehicles as well. Sure enough they called the police and they still haven’t showed up [as of our last call]. Many years ago when first moving to Corpus I had called the cops over my daughters car that was vandalized, I waited for around an hour and no cop showed. I then drove into town, to where the supposed kid who vandalized the car worked [a high school thing] and re-called the cops. Sure enough a no show again. I finally drove to the police dept. and walked in the front door. No one was around! I called 911, from the police department, and some girl answers and I tell her I have been trying to get a cop for around 2 hours and no one will show. She asks where I am, I tell her I am at your police station right now! They finally send a secretary from the back room to take the info. I had also called once about a salesman that wouldn’t leave the front door. To be honest I almost got into it with him. Sure enough I called the cops and they said ‘wait inside, don’t go out’. I assumed this meant until they sent a cop. I guess they just meant until you can solve the problem yourself, sure enough no cop showed. I recently was talking to a local guy who told me they were robbed at a business years ago, they called the cops and never even had someone show up to do a report. I worked for the Fire Dept. for 25 years in Kingsville, to be honest we [the city] would send a cop for all of these incidents. I know of no other city that does not respond to these types of calls. This has happened way too many times for me to think it’s just a one time thing. I needed to write this entry because I believe this is a real problem for Corpus Christi. [www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com- I will be emailing this to the city, so I added my blog site].
(969) 1ST CORINTHIANS 9:15-27 I have a letter sitting here from some northern radio station. I guess these guys hear us some how? It’s a great offer to be on 140 stations for next to nothing [$140.00 a month]. I have had radio stations write us before. I choose to stay small so I can be consistent in not taking offerings. I am sure if I took offerings I could easily expand like this, but I think I need to set the example for others. This fits in with the following.
Now Paul will say ‘I would rather die than take money from you’ [and you guys think I’m an over reactor!] and also ‘I don’t take money from you because I want to make the gospel free of charge’. Remember, this is in the same chapter where he says it’s okay to support leaders financially. But yet he also makes these strong statements. Does Paul contradict himself? Some have tried to harmonize these statements by either saying Paul wasn’t really teaching the financial support of elders, or by saying Paul only restricted taking money from the Corinthians. Both of these are not true [Read my Acts 20 study]. Paul was hard on whatever group he was addressing. If he is speaking directly to the local saints, he says ‘you should make sacrifice and support those who labor among you’ but to the elders/leaders he says ‘I worked with my own hands while among you [elders!] to give you an example not to expect the people to support you’ [Acts 20]. He appeals to both sides to lay down their rights and give themselves away freely! He also says he adapts to every type of situation, he ‘becomes all things to all men, that he might save them’. He also brings his body under discipline so that after preaching to others, he himself will not be ‘cast away’. In my Proverbs reading I just came across ‘he that has no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down and without walls’. God wants you to succeed and accomplish things, the enemy wants to sidetrack you. Allow God to have the upper hand, let the fruit of ‘self control’ [one of the fruits of the Spirit] abide in you. Now remember, Paul says ‘they do it to obtain a corruptible crown’ [material, temporary stuff. Money included] but we do it [discipline ourselves] for an ‘incorruptible crown’. The scripture is filled with examples that contrast money [material rewards] with true spiritual riches. In these examples the scripture teaches us to expend our time and efforts in building a spiritual heritage as opposed to a financial one. Yet some will even use this scripture ‘running the race’ and apply it to stuff! Ahh, when we do stuff like this we are ‘reading/quoting scripture’ without truly knowing it. Jesus told the religious leaders ‘you search the scriptures because by doing this you think you have eternal life, but you will not come to me that you might have life’. It’s possible to spend your whole life searching scripture [for what you want] and still miss the chief cornerstone! [The main point]
(970) CORINTHIANS ‘woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel’ ‘they which preach the gospel should live by the gospel’. Let me do a quick review before we jump into chapter 10. Over the years of re-learning the style and function of the New Testament church, it took time to read these scriptures without superimposing my preconceived ideas upon the text. For instance, you could easily read these verses and simply fit them into the ‘church building’ [as the church!] mindset. I know of, and have partaken of, the excitement that preachers experience when they ‘preach the gospel’. It’s a fulfilling thing. But the problem is much of the present day church follows a program where one main person becomes the attraction of the community. We live and hear and vicariously learn thru the growth experiences of a single individual. Now, we don’t realize that this is not the main intent of meeting together as a community. God originally intended for his people to share as a community of grace. There are specific warnings in the New Testament to avoid the Christian community’s penchant to identify around an individuals giftings [we actually just covered some of these in this study]. But when we simply read ‘they which preach the gospel should live of it’ we think this is justifying the present day context. It really simply meant that those in the community with the ability to read and teach should be taken care of while they are giving themselves for the benefit of others. The first century believer’s could not all read, the majority probably were illiterate. This created a need for those who were literate to actually read Paul's letters out loud in the assembly. These sincere men were not modern day full time Pastors! This is why it’s important to read the scripture with historical context in mind. When I meet with the brothers, or travel to another town. I usually simply ask the guys ‘what’s the Lord been saying, do you have a word to share’? And sure enough, by the time our fellowship is over most everyone feels edified because they gave of themselves for others. One of my homeless friends is an excellent teacher. Believe me, he knows more scripture than many Pastors. He excels in this environment. There is really no need for one person [like myself!] to dominate the conversation, or to think that my calling entails me being the primary voice of the community. Sometimes when I find myself at some Christian function, I can tell that when people find out that you speak on the radio, that they kinda want you to preach. I always [yes always!] avoid it. Not because it would be wrong to teach, but the modern church has made such a profession out of it, that the average saint never really expresses himself on a regular basis. God never intended the church to be a place where people learn and grow and experience most of their Christian lives thru the experiences and gifts of one person. I just wanted to challenge you today with these few verses. When you just read them did you see them thru the old mindset? Don’t feel bad about it, just allow the Lord to ‘re-wire’ your brain as we continue to teach thru the New Testament. We find stuff like this all the way thru.
(971) THE PLAYPIPE AND THE ‘RED LINE’- Well it’s been a while since I gave an example from the fire Dept. I was thinking of this the other day and still get a laugh out of them. On our rookie tests at the fire dept. the captains and chief would make up questions to test the guys. One question would ask ‘how many parts are there to a playpipe’ [a type of nozzle for the fire hose]. The answer would say something like ‘5’. One of the expected ‘parts’ was ‘the playpipe itself’. Well that’s like asking ‘how many parts to a car’ and the answer being ‘the wheels, motor, windshield, and the car itself’. The ‘car itself’ can’t be a part of ‘the car’. What you could say is ‘the body/chassis’. So the poor rookies who would get the question wrong were actually right. The funny part was trying to explain this to the captain. In his mind he couldn’t see what he was trying to say was ‘the shaft’ [the actual pipe part of the nozzle]. The other funny thing was on one of the fire trucks we had what was called a ‘booster line’ [or red line]. Most of the modern trucks had red hose for this line. So it was common to call it ‘the red line’. The problem was one of the old trucks had a black hose for the ‘booster line’. So the question would ask ‘what color is the red line on unit 104’. So the poor rookie, who wasn’t really around long enough to memorize all the hose colors, what put ‘red’. You simply would think this was a gimme question, a trick question. It would be like asking ‘what color is the red truck’. The problem was the poor rookies would answer ‘red’ and to their dismay they would get it wrong. The ‘red line is black’! Once again, trying to explain this to the test makers was like trying to convert the Pope to Protestantism! The captain would insist ‘the red line is black’! Not realizing what they should have said was ‘what color is the booster line’.
(972) 1ST CORINTHIANS 10:1-4 it’s actually Christmas morning, 2008, as I write. Paul says ‘all of our forefathers were under the cloud, they were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and sea’. Note- 2 baptisms ‘Cloud’ [Spirit] ‘Sea’ [water]. Let’s do a little thinking here. How can Paul refer to the Jewish fathers as the Corinthians forefathers? Is he expecting a large Jewish group to read this letter? [Like Romans- both Jews and Gentiles were in mind]. Is he addressing them like the author of Hebrews, who is speaking directly to a nation in transition? While it’s possible for a few Jewish believers to have read/heard the reading of this letter. Yet I think Paul is simply being consistent with his letters to the Galatians and Romans, where he taught that all who would believe were the ‘children of Abraham by faith’ Abraham is ‘the father of many nations’. Now, I like the way Paul ‘spiritualizes’ here. Moses was the prophet who typified Jesus. The people were baptized [joined] to him both thru the good times and the bad. There was quite a rough history between Moses and the rebels! Times where they wanted to change leadership. Times where God even said ‘I have had it with this bunch, let’s just wipe them out and start over’. They had history. Also Paul says ‘they all ate of the same spiritual meat and drank from the same spiritual rock. Christ’. Again, Paul seems to teach the symbolic, as opposed to literal, view of ‘eating/drinking Christ’. Israel did have some physical ordinances in the wilderness. The Passover and the bread from heaven [Manna] already happened. But Jesus himself [John 6] would say ‘Moses didn’t give you the real bread, I am the real bread!’. So Paul’s use of the ‘Rock’ is purely symbolic. The story relates to the time where God gave the children of Israel water from an actual rock in the wilderness. Moses spoke to/struck the rock and water came out. Paul sees this as a symbolic picture. He is saying ‘this foreshadowed Christ, the true rock who would be the ‘Rock of ages’ who would be struck on the Cross and water would flow from his side’. Once again, this leaves us some context to interpret the Lords supper in a symbolic way. Was Paul teaching the Corinthians to go out in the fields and actually drink real water from a rock? No. He was simply saying these physical symbols would be fulfilled at a future time, and that time was now! All who believe in Christ are partaking [spiritually] of the water of life, the Holy Spirit. Tomorrow we will get into the examples that were left to us from these stories. I just want to mention that the Apostle Paul freely uses the Old Testament [his only bible at the time!] and applies these stories to both Gentile believers and 1st century Israel. The writer of Hebrews [who I think was Paul] says ‘just like the forefathers missed out on the promise by unbelief- entering the promised land- so too there is a danger that you, 1st century Israel, might miss out on eternal life by not receiving the Messiah by faith’. In this context, Israel of the Old Testament represents Israel in the first century. But when addressing a gentile church [Corinth] it is also okay for Paul to say ‘just like Israel faced physical death by being disobedient, so you too have had premature physical deaths in your community by rebelling against God’. In this comparison Israel [Old Testament] is simply being used as an example of God judging his covenant people for their disobedience. I feel these distinctions are important, they help us to keep the New Testament in context.
(973) 1ST CORINTHIANS 10:5-13 Paul warns the Corinthians not to fall for the same temptations that Israel committed in the wilderness. ‘Don't sin sexually, don’t complain about stuff [ouch!] don’t be idolaters [lovers of your cash flow!]’ basic sins that effect us all. He also says something interesting ‘you are now those upon whom the end of the world [age] has come’. Not the ‘end of existence’ but the time period where Gods fullness has come [Galatians 4]. I find this interesting. The first century Apostles saw the breaking in of the Kingdom of God, thru Christ, as the event and ‘moment’ that all human history hinged upon. There was a real sense of ‘this is the special kairos season that all men have been waiting for’. The New Testament teaches that even the angels were waiting to see this day. One of the errors of dispensationalism was the idea that the important, main event was still some future happening [the second coming]. While it is true that this event will happen, and it will be glorious. Yet there was a sense in scripture that said the time of Christ’s death, burial and resurrection was the act of reconciliation that turned the destiny of man. Paul in essence was saying to the Corinthians ‘you don’t understand the full import of all that the Father has called you to. You are part of the most important movement in human history, all humanity has been waiting for this season, the ‘ends of the ages’ have come to this point. Don’t blow it for heavens sake’! Got it? Let’s grasp the fact that we too are part of this ‘time period’ [the new covenant kingdom age] and realize that our forefathers are watching from the stands [Hebrews]. Let’s not blow it [I was going to say ‘like the Cowboys’ but this gets too many locals mad].
(974) 1ST CORINTHIANS 10: 5 ‘But with many of them God was not well pleased, for their bodies were scattered in the wilderness’. As I just sat down and was debating on how much to cover, I felt the Lord wanted me to stop with this one verse. Let’s review a little. Does this experience of being ‘scattered in the wilderness’ define past experiences for you? [Or present!] Historically the church has always had to deal with wilderness times. St. John of the Cross called this ‘the dark night of the soul’. After Mother Theresa’s death we found out that she struggled with doubt many times thru out her life. The historic church has been ‘scattered in the wilderness’ over truly insignificant stuff. I find it ridiculous that one of the main reasons the western [Catholic] and eastern [Orthodox] churches split in 1054 a.d. was over the silly distinction of whether the Holy Spirit proceeded from the Father [the historic creed] or the ‘father and the Son’. This is considered the official cause of the split, though there were many other factors as well. In a day or so we will cover a verse that says ‘God is the head of Christ’. I had a friend that used to point out the fact that many Baptists would refer to ‘God and Jesus and the Spirit’ he would think this was in error because they would leave out ‘the Father’. To be honest he was consistent with Trinitarian thinking [I am one by the way!] If the ‘sole’ definition of God in the New testament were ‘3 separate persons who equally posses the Divine attributes’. Then the phrase ‘God is the head of Jesus’ would not make sense. It would be like saying ‘God [Father, Jesus and Holy spirit] are all the head of Jesus’. What am I saying here? Basically the historic church came to certain ways of framing the argument that were limited in their application. Does the New testament teach the Trinity? Yes. Does the word ‘God’ primarily refer to ‘the father’ in its language? To be honest, it does. Though the reality of the Trinity is there, yet the normative language of ‘God’ is referring to ‘the Father’. So my Baptist buddy was right in seeing a contradiction when Baptists said ‘God, Jesus and the Spirit’. If they were true to all the historic language, then they should have said ‘the father’ not ‘God’. Because ‘God’ would be the all encompassing language of ‘3 distinct persons who all posses the divine attributes’. But in fact, my friend was wrong. Why? Because the language of scripture mostly means ‘God the Father’ when simply saying ‘God’. Now why go into all this? Because the historic church has been divided over the language used. Arian, the Catholic Bishop/Priest, said that Jesus is ‘not God’. That ‘God the Father is God’. He was rightfully condemned, and the Trinitarian language would prevail. The problem is some of the language of the creeds and councils that would follow were not totally accurate. Some of the Creeds would say ‘Jesus was eternally begotten [always begotten]’ this statement was for the purpose of refuting those who said ‘Jesus had a beginning’ [Arianism]. Now, did Jesus ‘have a beginning’? John’s gospel says Jesus was with the father from the beginning, and that ‘the Word was with God, and was God’. Jesus had no beginning! But, does this mean he was ‘eternally begotten’? No. He was begotten by Mary 2 thousand years ago. Begotten refers to the incarnation, not the preexisting Son who was with the father from all eternity. So the well intended phrase ‘eternally begotten’ was wrong. Why even discuss this? Because most of Christian Orthodoxy would still condemn certain aspects of the Syrian and Ethiopian churches over this. We at times are ‘scattered in the wilderness’ and our ‘bodies’ [denominations, divisions in Christendom] are a sad representation to the world. [NOTE- I want to restate what I have said in the past. I believe in the Trinity. But I also want you to see how other Christian perspectives have viewed these things in the past. There are large groups of ‘historic churches’ [not Gnostics and stuff like that, the so called ‘lost Christianities’] who lean towards Arianism. Most of the invading barbarians who sacked the Western Roman empire were converted to this ‘brand’ of Christianity. So while I hold to the historic orthodox view, I wanted you to see that we too have been inconsistent at times].
(975) PROVERBS 27:1 I made some plans to go to Kingsville last week. The morning I woke up I felt the word of the Lord to me [during prayer] was ‘Boast not thyself of the morrow, for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth’ [James]. Sure enough I got sidetracked and had to cancel. The next day I read Proverbs chapter 27, the spot where I left off last. I am kinda just reading a chapter at a time over a few month period. The first verse is the same one I just quoted from James! God does speak in stereo. I also read a good article from my January [2009] issue of Christianity Today magazine. It was an excerpt from a new book titled ‘Brand Jesus’. Exposing the dangers of ‘marketing Jesus’ as a product. It was good. I just felt like the word of the Lord today was for us to be careful when we ‘boast of tomorrow’. When we plan great goals [which is not wrong in itself] which seem to be ‘Christian goals’. As I am writing this entry I can hear a Christian song from my TV in the other room. The singer is singing about the temptation of being a singer and glorying in the spotlight! It seems funny that he is sharing this struggle [of self glory] thru this medium. The point being it’s easy to ‘Christianize’ our self motivations. To approach ‘Jesus’ as a brand product that can do something for you. Improve you in some way. Maybe he can carry us to stardom and fame, hey he wants us to fulfill our desires doesn’t he? Well actually not the way the contemporary church preaches it. A main theme of New Testament Christianity is learning to lay down your desires and wants for a greater purpose. Now, this greater purpose will wind up being more fulfilling than what you thought you wanted. That's why ‘your desires’ are not a good measurement of the purpose of God. He that seeks to save his life [get what you think is best] will lose it. He who learns the secret of giving up his life [carrying the Cross, self denial] will find it. What are you ‘boasting about’? Where do you ‘see yourself’ ten years from now? Remember, we as believers do not measure success and fame the way the world does. Our reward is in heaven, from whence also we look for the Savior. I know this sounds ‘corny’ and old fashioned, but sometimes we need to be reminded about this type of lifestyle. We spend so much time boasting about our dreams and goals, Jesus gets lost in the background as some product who can help me achieve ‘all that I can be’.
(976) THE NEW ATHIESTS LOSE AGAIN! I watched a good debate last night between an atheist [Christopher Hitchens] and a believer. I like Hitchens, but the shallowness of his arguments were very revealing. Richard Dawkins [one of the so called ‘new atheists’] has said that Darwin made it possible to be an intellectually fulfilled atheist. Oh really? During the debate Hitchens challenged the ‘morality’ of the Christian church. He rightfully exposed the hypocrisy of Christian leaders who abused children and the many other sins of the church. He says ‘how dare these immoral Christians challenge my morality. I am more moral than many of them’. Now, where does Hitchens come up with his standard of ‘morality’? The very fact that morality exists as some existential character measurement is simply making one of the classical arguments for God. One of the proofs for God is that man has this moral conscience that tells him what is right or wrong. This moral code that is implanted in the conscience of humankind is one of the historic arguments for Gods existence. Poor Hitchens made a big boo boo. Second, the whole argument of Hitchens [and most every other atheist] is one of naturalism, materialism. That is they claim that the believer argues his point from the mindset of ‘faith’ while the atheist argues his point of view from the hard facts [Dawkins so called intellectually fulfilling position]. The main problem with this view is when the atheist is asked to explain the most fundamental question of science ‘where did all things come from’ his response is one of the most un-intellectual arguments that can ever be made. When Hitchens was posed the question, he simply said ‘all things came from nothing, and I have no intellectual curiosity or need to say any more’ [and they call this being intellectually fulfilled? Gee, maybe my daughters play station game would fulfill them!] What’s the problem with this response? The problem is the Christian answers the question with the only scientifically feasible answer that can ever be given. He says ‘there was a preexistent actor who entered into the physical realm and caused the effect of what we now know as creation’. The Christians response is in keeping with all the known laws of physics and reason. If science teaches us anything, it teaches the impossibility of something coming into existence from nothing. This is thee most attested to scientific fact in all of human history. When we study ‘nothing’ and put it under the microscope, we never, ever get ‘something’. Now when we study ‘something’ [any material thing that can ever be studied] there is one scientific fact that can be applied to all the ‘something’s’. That fact is that some other thing caused, or preceded the ‘something’. That is it is scientifically impossible to get an entire creation and universe and all things that exist out of nothing! But this argument is the most prevalent argument used today by the intellectually fulfilled atheists! Now, many brilliant men realize the stupidity of this position. Some of the intellectually fulfilled atheists have proposed the possibility of other extra terrestrial beings who might have ‘deposited’ some type of ‘space dung’ [I am not kidding!] when their craft flew thru our solar system, and that this ‘dung’ might have spawned life on our planet [who ever thought they could lower their family tree from a monkey?]. The very fact that many scientists are actually espousing the possibility that there might be other civilizations that spawned life on earth shows you the dilemma of proving, from a materialistic perspective, that all things came from ‘no thing’. To put it bluntly, these scientists [some of whom are atheists] realize that the argument Hitchens and all the other ‘fulfilled’ thinkers are making, are sheer nonsense and stupidity! How can any thinking person espouse the belief that all things came from nothing? I don't want to go on with this, but I simply wanted to show you that in the debate I watched last night, the atheist espoused arguments that were nonsensical. It is all too common today for the rejecter of God to give the impression that Christians are idiots, while they are intellectual. This just simply isn’t being ‘intellectually honest’ [or fulfilling].
(977) 1ST CORINTHIANS 10:15-17 ‘The cup that we bless, is it not the communion of the Blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of Christ's Body? We are all one bread, we all partake equally of Christ’s Body and Blood. We exist as a community because of him’ [my paraphrase]. Here in my study I have various volumes on church history. I own catholic volumes, protestant ones, and even some from ‘the out of the institutional church’ perspective. Over the years I have learned that most believers tell their story from their perspective. This is not a wrong thing, nor is it a purposeful act to distort history. It’s just natural to see ‘your world’ thru your lens of past experiences. Around the 17th century the Jesuit priests were some of the first Christians to write systematic church histories. Though you had many scholars who were informed on the subject, the Jesuits were the first to try and bring all the previous centuries together and present them in an orderly way that could be understood and read by the average student. There is some debate on how accurate some of these first ‘tellings’ of history were. For instance, some classic church histories [both catholic and protestant] show an early 2nd century development of belief in the Eucharist as being the literal Body and Blood of Jesus. Also most volumes focus on church figures such as Iraneus , Tertullian, Augustine [4th-5th centuries] and many other good men [I know I spelled these names wrong!]. There seems to have been a basic belief that this history is the only ‘history’ of the first few centuries. The problem with this approach is we now have archealogical evidence from the first few centuries that would support the idea that the early church might not have been as ‘institutional’ as previously thought. For instance, most histories say the development of the monarchial episcopacy [single bishop over ‘a church/region’] was early. But the evidence discovered shows that as late as the 2nd, possibly early 3rd centuries you had bishops who were simply elders/overseers in the early church. Burial places were uncovered that showed multiple ‘bishops’ all buried in one spot. The evidence seems to indicate that these were all men who served at the same time. Not one bishop dieing off while others took his place. This would mean that some practicing Christians never fully accepted the institutional idea of the single bishop. But you really couldn’t find this out from a wide reading of all the different church histories. Why? Were the Jesuits who put together the first cohesive history trying to deceive people? Of course not! They were seeing church history thru ‘their lens’. Now, what in the world does this have to do with the verse on communion? The word for communion here is a translation from the Greek word ‘koinonia’, which simply means ‘fellowship’. The church at Corinth practiced ‘communion’ as a love feast. The early believers had their ‘communion service’ as a type of buffet type fellowship where they all shared and came together in real friendship. Now in the next chapter we will deal with some of the problems that arose out of this practice, but the point today is I want you to see that when Paul says ‘we are all one bread who are partaking from one loaf’ he is simply saying ‘just like when we all get together and share in the communal meal, this is the same way we all spiritually live off of the Body and Blood of Christ. We are ‘one bread’ [people/communion] because we all derive our life from Jesus, the true bread that came down from heaven’ [John 6]. I simply want to give you the flavor of what Paul is saying. It’s easy to read these verse’s from the sacramental perspective. To see the focus being on the actual bread and wine of the meal. I think it’s better understood from the broader communal idea that I just espoused. Our entire New Testament is the most verifiable collection of first century documents ever to be found. Though we as believers take them as Gods word, they also show us the most accurate historical picture of what the early church believed and practiced. I think the reformers of the 16th century were right in stating that the final authority should be the word of God. They did not reject church tradition, but they said the final arbiter in controversial issues was Gods word. Even the great Catholic humanist, Erasmus, was known for his desire to ‘get back to the original sources’. He was helpful in urging the Catholic Church towards reform by going back to the Greek New Testament [most scholars were using the vulgate version, which was the Latin translation. The Latin did not do justice to the Greek!] Well today’s point is our New Testaments are accurate first century documents on early church belief and practice. I think Erasmus cry to ‘get back to the sources’ would do us all some good.
(978) 1ST CORINTHIANS 10: 18-33 Paul ‘re-uses’ a previous analogy of the priests partaking of the meat from the altar. Here he uses it to describe the reality of fellowship and being joined to that which you worship. Now he deals with the idea of the meat from the idol worship that was sold ‘in the shambles’ [market place]. He already said this meat was fine. But here he says ‘the things the gentiles offer are being offered to demons, so I don’t want you joining in with this type of demonic worship’. It’s not a matter of the meat, or the idol! It’s a matter of being unequally ‘yoked together with unbelievers’. This is a theme that Paul discusses in this letter. It not only applies to marriage, but also to any type of intimate fellowship with an unbeliever. Here's where a distinction should be made. Yesterday one of my homeless buddies stopped by. His name is Tim [carpenter Tim]. I mentioned him before. Tim’s a great friend who I have known for many years. He just stopped by to say hi, he told me he caught my radio show on Sunday and really enjoyed it. They get a kick out of being real friends with some so called ‘radio preacher’. I think it’s hard at times to connect the ‘radio guy’ with the simple brother who takes them out to eat and stuff. Tim is a believer who works regularly [thus the name carpenter Tim!] He does not take the free handouts and stuff that are offered to the local homeless population. But I have helped Tim as a friend and brother in the Lord for many years. I asked if he has heard anything about Bill ‘painter Bill’. I have known Bill just as long as Tim. These are the original homeless guys I met in the early 1990’s. Bill is in his 70’s, Tim is around my age [I am 46 years old as I write]. Bill was a bitter homeless person. Just too many years of going thru stuff. Over the years we had become real good friends. I think he sees me as one of his best friends. A few weeks back I heard he was on a respirator and they though he wasn’t going to make it. It sounded pretty bad. As of right now I don’t know if he’s alive or not. A few months back I was giving Bill a ride home. He had a temporary place to live at the time. He did ask if I had a few dollars to spare. I don’t remember if I did or not to be honest. But I told Bill I don’t make the same amount of money since I retired. Just to let him know that’s why we haven’t gone to eat recently. He also asked me if I wanted to get the free eye checkup from the mission. They had some locals donate their time and they would get the guys free glasses. I told him that's all right, I don’t want to take stuff that’s meant for the homeless [I also don’t eat the free meals]. They get upset that I don't use the system. So as we arrive at Bills trailer he asks if I could come in for a minute. I told him sure. He handed me the free glasses he recently got, he asks me to try them on. I did. He than offers them to me. I told him no thanks, though I appreciated the offer. Bill was willing to give me his glasses. When Paul the apostle deals with having fellowship with unbelievers, he is not telling us to have no contact with the lost world. He is showing the Corinthians that they were not to be partakers of evil things along with the world. We are here to reach out to the world, not to have fellowship with evil things, but to be like Jesus. He was accused of being ‘a friend of sinners’. Do you have any ‘sinner friends’?
(979) PROVERBS 28: 22 and 27- ‘HE THAT HASTETH TO BE RICH HAS AN EVIL EYE AND CONSIDERS NOT THAT POVERTY SHALL COME UPON HIM….HE THAT GIVES TO THE POOR SHALL NOT LACK’. I just finished making a radio program and wanted to share some stuff from my Proverbs reading. I still have the original cheap second hand desk that I bought over 20 years ago in Kingsville. I think I paid 20 bucks for the thing. Though it’s ancient and looks ‘crappy’, it still gets the job done. Over the years I have learned that it can be exciting to amass wealth. Yes even believers can ‘sanctify’ the pursuit of wealth, that is justify it’s pursuit by thinking ‘I am going after money and riches so I can fund kingdom ventures’! While God certainly uses rich people to do his will, the overall ethos of the kingdom is one where you choose not to pursue the wealth of the world, you instead pursue ‘spiritual riches’. This contrast can be found all thru out scripture [read my section on ‘word of faith- prosperity gospel’]. Paul actually tells Timothy ‘those that desire to be rich will fall into a snare’. Notice, Paul doesn’t say ‘unless they desire riches for kingdom things’. He simply says the pursuit of wealth is a deadly game, don’t be ‘wise in your own eyes’ and think that you can tame the monster! Recently the stock market had another one of the worst crashes in history. How many ‘pursuers of wealth’ had ‘poverty come suddenly upon them’? Another verse says ‘don’t set your eyes on wealth, they make themselves wings and fly away’. Ouch! As I sit here and type this entry I will be dropping of 3 months worth of radio messages in a little while. I made them from a cheap recorder purchased from radio shack. I store them in my cheap desk that I bought years ago. I am sitting on used furniture that I bought 25 years ago! I furnished my study/office with it. But yet I have a study filled with excellent books that I purchased over the years. Year’s worth of radio teachings that cost me next to nothing to make. I gave one of my homeless buddies a little money the other day. I take no offerings and spend a little under half my monthly retirement income on ministry stuff. To my amazement the Lord has allowed us to have real impact in a large region, and it’s done on a shoe string budget. ‘He that gives to the poor shall not lack’. Don’t seek to become rich, the scripture forbids it. Give to the down and out, give your life away. Be a servant of people, God will reward you and you will have enough to get the job done.
(980) 1ST CORINTHIANS 11: 1-16 at first I was just going to skip this section and say ‘I know you didn’t get your moneys worth, but wait, you guys didn’t give me any money!’ But this would be a cheap shot. So what do we do with portions of scripture that are difficult? I have heard this taught in a way that says ‘Christ is the head of the church [both men and women- true] and any distinction between a man being ‘the head’ of the woman only applies to natural families’. The problem is Paul mixes the analogies ‘Christ is the head of a man, a man [husband] is the head of the woman [wife], and God is the head of Christ’. To dissect these verses into a ‘secular/religious’ division is next to impossible! So what do they mean? I believe the New Testament does teach a type of functional difference between men and woman. Now, Paul teaches that women ‘can prophesy’ in ‘the church’. He says so in these verses! In Romans 16 Paul refers to Junia as an apostle and Phoebe as a deaconess. In the Old Testament Deborah was a mighty judge. Peter says that both sons and daughters will prophesy [Acts 2, quoting Joel]. I could go on. Then why make a distinction? Paul gives his rationale in this section. Believers show the order and submission of the Godhead when they willingly take their God ordained positions in society. When husbands love their wives as Christ loves the church, God is glorified. When wives submit [oh no, I can’t believe I said it!] to their ‘loving’ husbands they show the role of Christ’s willful submission to the Father. And yes, Paul also teaches we all submit to each other in love as well. Those who see all of Paul’s teaching on women as a cultural thing will have a problem with the inspiration of scripture. But on the other hand the strong fundamentalist/literalist also has a problem here. Should we mandate the wearing of ‘coverings’ [hats] when women prophesy? I don't think so [some do think so!]. But most fundamentalists have no problem chalking up the ‘hat wearing’ portion to culture. Also in this debate, one of the obvious questions is ‘can a woman be a Pastor over a church’? Or Bishop or whatever. Remember, no one was a ‘Pastor over a church’ like we think until around the 4th century. So before we judge whether or not it is fair to restrict women from certain roles ‘in the church’ we need to understand what roles there are ‘in the church’. Did you ever wonder who was marrying and burying the people for the first few hundred years of Christian history? It is quite obvious that Paul and the first century Apostles/Elders were not doing it. So when did the ‘clergy’ pick the practice up? During Constantine’s legalization of Christianity in the 4th century, the church took over the rites and ceremonies from Rome. The Roman ‘philosopher/speakers’ could be hired to speak a eulogy when someone died, they could conduct wedding ceremonies. They for the most part were ‘the Pastors’ of the day! Now we simply took the job from them. Does this mean all Pastors are pagan funeral directors? No. It simply shows us that when we ask the question ‘why can’t women be pastors like men’. Maybe the question should be ‘were men ever supposed to be pastors either?’ [in the contemporary use of the term] So in this little excursion into history I think we all have some lessons to learn. The people of God are made up of men and women and Jew and Gentile, scripture says in Christ there are no more distinctions like this. We are all considered the Body of Christ equally. Yet this does not mean [in my view] that everyone does the same job as everyone else. The New Testament clearly says ‘are all Apostles, all Prophets’. God has distinctions in this Body. Do these distinctions carry over to the woman/man issue in functionality? It seems so to me to a degree. Those who are striving for more equality in function for women, I think the best way to approach it is not to by- pass all these difficult portions of scripture. But to take the approach that as the church grows she allows the greater overriding truths of scripture to over shadow any personal advice given by Paul to a specific church in the first century. Now I don’t fully take this approach myself, but to a degree many of us do accept this approach when dealing with the ‘hat/covering issue’. So instead of just showing you my view, I wanted to paint a little broader picture. Ultimately how you come down on this is between you and God. Women most certainly can and do function in Christ’s church today, they always have and always will.
(981) TRIALS/END TIME STUFF- As I was praying this morning I was meditating on what verse to share. Sure enough as I was listening for guidance, I remembered that right before I woke up I had a dream. In the dream I picked up a green Gideon’s bible and read from James. I think it was ‘Blessed is the man that endureth temptation, for when he is tried he shall receive the crown of life’. I have been reading a scholarly work on the book of Revelation. Much better than the more popular ‘prophecy teachers’ stuff! The author is a little too Preterist for me, but overall very good. Preterism is the view that sees all of the prophetic end time passages thru a historical view. They teach that everything already occurred, even the final resurrection and judgment verses! I think the modern popular view is too futuristic, that is they seem to take most of the book and try and ‘news paper prophecy’ the thing. I see John’s work as primarily dealing with kingdoms in conflict. The kingdoms of the world warring against the kingdom of God. So he most definitely has Rome and her emperors in view. But this does not mean that John’s vision is limited to Roman leaders. The book can have meaning for believers in every age as they deal with ‘Babylon’ [the world] and the ‘kings of the earth’. So I see both a present reality [present for John’s actual readers who lived in the first century] and a future application. And of course I see the second coming of Christ and the final judgment as future! Now John was ‘on the island of Patmos for the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus’. John was a partaker, along with the suffering church, of the trials and difficulties of the first century church. His banishment to Patmos [an island off modern day Turkey, in the Aegean Sea] , most likely by the emperor Nero, was for the purpose of ‘the word of God and testimony of Jesus’. He was being persecuted for the faith, but also for the purpose of receiving and writing down God’s word. Jesus says in John 17 ‘I sanctify myself and ask that they would be sanctified too. I sanctify myself for their sakes. I have given them the words you gave me.’ [my paraphrase] Jesus had a task to get certain words from the father to the elect, he fulfilled the task! John had some trials and things to deal with, it was part of the cost. I felt the Lord wanted to encourage some of you today, you are going thru stuff ‘because of the word of God and testimony of Jesus’. You are being ‘targeted’ because of your destiny! In the gospels Jesus says ‘when the word comes then tribulation and persecutions arise’. One of the strategies of the enemy is to come against you hard ‘after the word comes’. Once God has revealed and made plain to you the purpose and vision, then the enemy works overtime to stop you. He doesn’t want you to ‘deliver the word/purpose’ to those that the father has given you out of the world. Your trials and difficulties are a direct attempt of the enemy to stop you from getting the message out! Don’t take it personal.
(982) WILL JESUS RULE FROM A REAL ‘ALTAR’ SOME DAY? Watched an interesting show last night. The brother was sharing on the ‘Davidic kingdom’ and all the scriptures associated with it. I am familiar with the man, I used to get a Christian paper from him years ago. It’s obvious that he has a tremendous storehouse of ‘knowledge’ he can take you all over the bible and quote all types of stuff. He comes at you from the fundamentalist/dispensationalist viewpoint. He laid out the case that all the promises of God to David have to be literally fulfilled thru David. He even espoused that David himself might actually be the one reigning from the Millennial throne! [most see Jesus in this role- but to be fair, those who see Jesus do spiritualize the promises to David [Solomon] and apply them to Christ, which is what they despise doing!] Any way the brother espouses the idea that Jesus might actually be sitting on the Mercy Seat during his millennial reign. I have taught you guys what this seat is in the past. It was the actual lid to the box [Ark] that held the tablets of the Ten Commandments. It was a place [altar] where the blood of the yearly sacrifice [Day of Atonement] was placed. If you will it was the ultimate picture of sacrifice and altar that could be found in the Old Testament economy. This example will show you the danger of not being able to rightly understand and interpret scripture. Right now, as I write, there is another all out war going on between Israel and Palestine [Hammas]. Truly bad stuff. Of course I condemn all terrorism, make no mistake about it, Hammas are terrorists! I also see the right of a nation to defend itself against terrorism. But the overall viewpoint of the believer should be ‘we are not of this world, we represent Jesus, the prince of peace. He offers salvation to all mankind [Jew, Arab] and we do not advocate a view of Jesus that has him coming in a militaristic way, in a way that says ‘he will return and lead the Israeli military to victory and actually kill your women and kids’! [a view that does more harm to true evangelism than any other thing! How would you feel if I was trying to convert you to be a follower of some king who was going to come back and kill your natural family?]. Now, first of all we need to know the underlying intent of all the sacrifices and ‘altars’ in scripture. They all point to Jesus as the ultimate sacrifice for man on The Cross. They are SYMBOLIC! That is Hebrews teaches that they have all been fulfilled thru Jesus and any future idea of a restoration of animal sacrifices or altars would be considered blasphemous! This is one of the reasons Protestantism does not celebrate the catholic mass, they feel the catholic teaching is a ‘re-doing’ of the sacrifice [the catholic theologians deny this]. Either way any idea that there would be a restoration of the altar system is anathema! Now, for you to see Jesus actually sitting on the ‘mercy seat’ while literally ruling from a restored Temple with renewed animal sacrifices, this has to be one of the most heretical ideas you could ever espouse. The New Testament teaches that any return to a sacrificial system, after the Cross, is doing ‘despite unto the Spirit of grace, treading the Blood of the Covenant [Jesus blood] under foot’. The language used to warn against a return to the animal sacrifice system is very strong. The dispensationalists belief says ‘God will put a ‘hold’ on the church age and return to a ‘kingdom age’ in which he deals with Israel again as a natural nation’ they see Jesus violating his own teaching that ‘my kingdom is not from this world’. This view places Christ back into a law system, in which Jesus will oversee a restoration of a literal temple [another violation of the symbols in scripture] and from this literal system, he physically wars against, and kills Arabs and Muslims as he directs their military. Now, can you see how destructive this view can be? Can you see what a violation it is to the spiritual kingdom of Christ who is the final sacrifice for man? When revelation says ‘a Lamb is sitting on the throne’ don’t you see it as a symbol of Jesus in a position of authority? Hebrews says Jesus entered into the true Holy Place [heaven- Gods presence] and presented his Blood to the Father on our behalf. Any view of him returning and reinstituting a literal reign from an earthly ‘holy of holies’ while actually sitting on a physical altar is blasphemous! I believe in a literal second coming. The church historically has had differing views on the millennial rule. But wherever you come down on these issues, you must not present Jesus future reign in a way that violates the fundamental truths of reconciliation and salvation [i.e.; him sitting on an altar from a physical holy of holies!] the types and pictures in scripture that have been fulfilled are not to ‘make a comeback’. The New Covenant and Kingdom of God thru Christ are one of where all men are offered forgiveness and peace thru Christ. Whether or not there ever will be a restored temple and sacrificial system in Jerusalem is questionable. But no matter what your view on this is, be assured that Jesus is not going to come back and rule while being seated on some sacrificial altar! This would violate one of the most fundamental teachings of the New Testament. [Note- it is possible that natural Israel will rebuild and reinstitute a sacrificial system, but this would only be a sign of condemnation. A result of their denial of the one sacrifice of Christ. Any return of Jesus would not be to vindicate their restored system, but a judgment on them for rejecting the one and only sacrifice and returning to the law!]
(983) 1ST CORINTHIANS 11:16-34 ‘When you come together IN THE CHURCH’ [king James version] ‘when you come together AS THE CHURCH’ [new king James version]. In this section of scripture we see a real good definition of ‘church’ and also a bad one. The word for church is found over 100 times in the New Testament [114? - if I remember right] in every occasion, bar none, it refers to the people of God. Sometimes it refers to them as ‘coming together’ or simply as ‘the called out people of God’ [that is they are all spiritually gathered as a community in Christ]. The word never refers to a ‘church building’ [there is one reference in James that can seem to indicate a place to meet. James is speaking to Jews, the synagogue [or Jerusalem temple] as a building is different from the term for church in Paul’s letters!]. In the example I just gave you from the king James versions, it shows you how Gods people viewed this term for church [Ecclesia/Ekklesia] as time rolled along. The original translators of the King James saw it as ‘a place you meet in’ the new version saw it ‘as when Gods people come together’. You say ‘what’s the big difference’? Well I am sure the original translators meant well, but in actuality there is a big difference between ‘being an organic family’ or ‘being a building’! As Paul addresses the Corinthians he says ‘your coming together is not for the better, but for the worse’. They were using the gathering as a means of self gratification. ‘What can I get out of this’ type thing. I do see a parallel in much of today’s ‘church meeting’. Do we see Christianity thru the lens of ‘what am I going to hear this Sunday that I can implement in my own personal life for self improvement’? This mindset prevails in today’s church environment. The ethos of Jesus was contrary to this. He challenged his followers to lay down their rights and desires and seek another kingdom, one that was not measured by the standards of this world. Paul rebuked the Corinthians for seeking ‘their own wealth [benefit] and not the other’s’. He also told them to examine their hearts before coming together so they would not be judged. I have heard the new generation of church thinkers [which I am one myself!] kind of mock the old time churches by saying ‘Oh they tell you communion is some dangerous thing that you must approach with a holier than thou attitude’. Most mean well when they level this charge, but the ‘old time churches’ are not without scriptural support for this approach. Paul did say ‘you guys are too flippant in your attitude towards the Lords table, you need to straighten up and take more seriously your corporate call to those around you’. Understand, the celebration of this ‘love feast’ was to ‘show the Lords death till he come’. Who were they ‘showing it to’? The entire ‘unchurched’ community around them! Their selfless lives of being the community of God, loving and sharing of themselves as a spiritual family, was for the intent of having an effective community wide witness. They reminded not only themselves, but those around them ‘of the Lords death’. It was truly a corporate witness! Our Catholic brothers might not be as wrong as most Protestants seem to think. The Catholic Church sees the Eucharist as the central witness and part of their meetings. The Protestants see the preaching of the word from the pulpit. Though the Protestants are sincere in their efforts to teach the word of God, there is a tendency to become ‘pastor/pulpit’ centered, as opposed to being ‘Christ centered’. All in all Paul rebukes and corrects them based on their self centered actions when meeting together. He also sees ‘the gathering’ as ‘the church’. Not the place their meeting at! It’s easy to confuse this when reading ‘when you come together in the church- in one place’ it sure seems like he can be referring to a church building. Take my word for it, he’s not.
(984) 1ST CORINTHIANS 12:1-6 ‘There are different gifts, ministries and out workings of the Spirit’ [my paraphrase]. In this section we see an idea that I feel gets lost in the current paradigm of ‘doing church’. When Paul addresses a church [community of believers] he is speaking to all the believers in the city. When we think ‘church’ we assume it means ‘church’ as ‘going to the church [building] on Sunday’. Therefore we tend to read these types of verses as ‘there are different gifts and functions in ‘the church’- the Sunday school teacher, nursery worker, door greeter’ well you get it. The better reading would be ‘there are various expressions and ways the Spirit works and administers thru/in the community’. For instance, those who labor in ‘Para-church’ ministries are often considered noble, but not ‘a church’. But according to this passage, they would be just as much ‘church’, a legitimate part of the local body, as the home meeting [of course we know in Paul’s day there were no church buildings]. So the broader view of church as community would see these verses saying ‘where you live there are a variety of gifted ones whom the Spirit of God lives and operates thru. These saints all express the community of the Spirit in various ways. All these expressions are just as legitimate as the other, it is one Spirit manifesting himself in diverse ways for the overall benefit of all the believers in your city’. When we label what the Spirit is doing thru other ‘administrations’ as ‘Para-church’ we violate this passage of scripture. When we limit the various expressions and gifts to ‘the Sunday church meeting’ we actually are violating the intent of these verses. In your city you have doctors, lawyers, and all types of trades. While it is fine for them to operate out of a building and to keep regular business hours. Yet you wouldn’t describe them as separate, individual little ‘cities’ who all operate out of your town. You would see all of them as various gifted people who ‘operate out of your city’. So this is the broader view of what I think Paul is saying. Now he will also give directions on how these various gifts work in the meeting, this of course is part of it. But we need to see the broader view of what the Spirit is saying. Jesus expected his disciples to go out into the highways and hedges and ‘compel them to come in’ [not into the church building for heavens sake! But into the Kingdom] Paul taught that the Spirit accomplishes this in many different ways thru ‘the church’ [people of God].
(985) 1ST CORINTHIANS 12:7 ‘But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to EVERY MAN to profit EVERY BODY’. I want to share a criticism that sometimes gets made against me. I know ‘the critics’ mean well, and are actually sincere men. It’s just they have been ‘shaped’ by the present system of ‘church’. The criticism goes like this ‘sure John has an effective teaching ministry [blog/radio] but if you need someone to come pray for you, lets see if he will come’. The idea is that the true legitimate ‘elders’ are those you can ‘call for’. James says ‘if any one is sick among you, let him call for the elders of ‘the church’. They see ‘the church’ as the actual 501c3, building, Sunday meeting [storehouse] type thing - they are simply seeing thru their ‘lens’. What James is simply saying is ‘if someone is sick in your community/local body of believers, call for the elders [more spiritually mature ones] and let them pray for you and anoint you with oil’. Now, I have personally spent many thousands [yes thousands!] of actual man hours on the streets helping people. I have helped and given to some of the local homeless population who attend some of these ‘churches’, out of my own pocket. Yet these same homeless brothers are encouraged to give ten percent of their money to ‘their church’. What am I saying here? I know the men who level this type of accusation are often intimidated by peer pressure and stuff. But the verse above says ‘the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every believer to profit every one around them’. The biblical view of ‘church’ would simply require all believers to ‘administer the gift’ in a way that would profit all those around them. There is no need to make these types of distinctions between ‘the elders of our church’ or ‘the spiritual leaders in our region’. They mean the same thing. So see your gift as a freely received charism that should be used unselfishly for the benefit of others. Also some Pastors do seem to come around to ‘my view’ after many years of hearing us. They might then try and do some city wide ministry, open to all the body. Then if the results are not good, they can become discouraged also. Understand, many of these men took many years before they could really see what we were saying, don’t expect a majority of local believers to see things that took you years to see! The paradigms don’t come down that easily.
(986) CORINTHIANS 12: 8-10 this section deals with the various gifts of the Spirit. The list is not exhaustive, Paul speaks in Romans and Ephesians about other ones as well. Instead of diving into a definition for each gift, lets look a little at the various ‘modes’ and characteristics of the Spirit of God. In revelation we have a scripture that many seem to stumble over, it says ‘the 7 spirits of God that are before his throne’. Some associate Isaiah 11 with this. In Isaiah 11 you can find 6 distinct characteristics of the Spirit of God, some see 7. Or you could say ‘God has 7 actual Spirits’. Does God have 7 spirits? Or 25 or 10,000? God is the creator of all spirits. He is the Father of lights! In revelation you have Jesus holding the ‘7 stars’ in his hand, which are said to be angels. Then you have the ‘7 angels of the 7 churches’. I showed you before why these angels are not ‘Pastors’ they are angels! [You can find the post somewhere under END TIMES STUFF]. Revelation has 7 seals, bowls, candlesticks. The book is a prophetic book that has angels revealing and operating and functioning. The 7 spirits before God’s throne are probably the 7 angels spoken about in the book. Hebrews says the angels are ‘ministering spirits’. Well let’s get off the rabbit trail. In Isaiah 61 we have the famous verses that Jesus read and applied to himself in the New Testament [Luke 4]. Jesus opens the scroll and reads about the Spirit of God upon him, the eyes of everyone in that place were fixated on him. Notice how both in Isaiah 11 and 61, one of the main purposes of the anointing was to administer justice to the poor and oppressed. Much of Evangelicalism has opted out of this responsibility. There was an overreaction to the social gospel of the late 19th, early 20th century. The social gospel had a tendency to overemphasize good deeds, without focusing on conversion. But the Fundamentalist movement of the 20th century neglected the social justice aspect of the kingdom, thank God for the Catholics who picked up the torch. The point today is the purpose of the gifts, which we will get into tomorrow, is not simply for self glory and edification. Or should I say the purpose of the anointing. Jesus made it very clear that his mission involved justice for the poor and oppressed, he did not limit his ministry to ‘the church’.
(987) SPOT THE TREND LINES- One of the themes of proverbs is reproof, correction. Proverbs teaches us that correction/reformation are noble things. Fools despise it, wise men take it to heart. Over the years of dealing with controversial issues in the church, I have found different responses from good men. Most leaders do not initially appreciate correction, they [we] have a tendency to want to use our knowledge and experience as an excuse to not receive correction. We often defend our positions by thinking ‘look how many other men/leaders are doing it [it being whatever area you feel threatened in] so I am at least in good company’. While there is some truth to this [being in the majority] this doesn’t work well when there is a groundswell of reformation on the horizon. For instance, during the 16th century Reformation, I am sure the new reformers looked and acted like contrarians at the time. There were many good catholic priests doing their best to serve the Lord in the limited understanding of the ancient church. I am sure many of these men simply steered clear of Luther and his ‘rebels’ but ultimately God was wanting change! So today we have certain undercurrents of reformation, sure not all the current trends fall into this category, but some do. So leaders should be open to correction or reproof coming from a broad range of influential men. Over the years I have spotted ‘trend lines’, certain changes that I see/hear from a wide range of Christian expressions. When I see them coming ‘from afar off’ I try and make the adjustment before the trend ‘hits the fan’. This is another wisdom nugget from Proverbs, a wise man sees the change coming and prepares himself, the simple pass on and make no adjustments. Another important characteristic is the ability to ‘not change’ too fast or too much! ‘Meddle not with those who are given to change’ reformation takes time and is a process. If I learn or see some knew area of truth that most of my contemporaries don’t see yet, then it would be foolish to think that God has called me to ‘straighten them all out’. God often shows you ‘the trend lines’ so you in wisdom can plant certain seeds that will keep the other leaders on track as the train moves along. In essence your job isn’t to say ‘see, I know more than so and so’. Your job is to be open to avenues of influence that eventually bring ‘correction/course change’ to the rest of the body. I felt like the word for today was for us to re examine the reproofs that we might have heard over the years. Does it seem like we keep hearing the same reproof from different voices thru out our lives? Maybe there’s more to it than just a bunch of disgruntled believers. Wise men take note and seek God for his timing in the course change, foolish men make no adjustment.
(988) NO, I AM NOT CRYING! AND YES, THEY WILL SHOOT YOU! Many years ago me and my wife took a road trip to New Jersey from Texas. I have driven it many times since. One of the problems with a trip like this is it’s easy to make it all the way to Jersey, but once you get close to the area where I grew up [the New York city area] the exits and roads are a mess! I think the Newark airport has been under road construction since I was born! So as we were nearing the area to exit for the final 10 miles of the 1800 mile trip, I get off at a Newark exit and wind up on some bad streets. Now, as a boy I would have enjoyed the threat. But being married and stuff, I knew it wasn’t too good to be driving the Newark streets at night. But I tried to find the turn around to get back to the right spot. As I am driving I have the vents open and pointed at my face. The cold air keeps me awake during the long drives. My wife sees I am a little ‘p-o’ed’ about the whole thing. She notices my eyes are tearing [from the cold air!] and asks ‘are you crying’. Now, most men are too proud to stop and ask for directions, how do you think we respond to stuff like this? Heck, I used to pride myself as being a tough guy! So I tell her ‘are you kidding me, I have the darn vents open’ [something to that effect]. Then she says ‘why don’t you stop and ask for directions’? Now, I am a few miles from home, I don’t want to ask now for heavens sake! So I tell her ‘if you roll down your window here they’ll shoot you’ [or slit your throat?] Sure enough she made sure the windows were up tight.
(989) TRIBUTE TO SHELBY [January 2009]- A few posts back I mentioned my homeless friend ‘painter Bill’. He was very sick and I thought he might have died. Sure enough he made it, with some extra equipment! [They put a pace maker in him]. But sad to say my friend Shelby passed away this week. I have known Shelby for a few years, he was around 70 and had an interesting story. He at one time owned and operated an independent news paper. He got in debt and eventually lost his business and property. Though I never saw Shelby drink, or drunk, yet the word was he battled with alcoholism. After I befriended Shelby he went thru a ‘mini revival’ type period. I took him with me to Kingsville and Bishop for fellowships with some of the brothers. He went thru a period of renewal and excitement about the things of the Lord. It kind of surprised some of the local pastors who knew him. He would give testimonies about the simple things we were doing, to him it meant a lot. He shared with me how in the 70’s he ran a ‘hippie bus ministry’ for a church somewhere in Texas [Austin area?]. How they had some miracles and stuff happen. One time they were driving to some revival or something, they needed money for fuel. They stopped at some Pentecostal church and before they could say anything some Pentecostal/Prophet type brother said ‘the Lord sent you here so we could give you the money for your trip’. One of those common prophetic things that happens every so often. At one time I added Shelby’s articles to my tape/book catalog [I think it’s still on there?] though it was a simple thing, it meant allot to him. The last few months I didn’t get with Shelby as much as I wanted to, I think he got a little offended about it. You can tell when the brothers are mad, they don’t hide it like the ‘rich folk’. They let you know. I let it slide and eventually he got over it. The last few months he also had a renewed vision for starting a Christian paper. I was going to help him, kept an eye out for a used typewriter and stuff [he didn’t want to mess with computers]. He shared with me the plans on getting a used car and starting the paper from his room. He was living at the time with some Christian friends of mine who have a communal type home. I had Shelby over a few times to the house, he saw my cats and dogs and loved them. We have a little blind dog named Molly, he would always ask about her. Shelby just started getting Social Security about a year ago, though he was eligible, he put off applying for it. He was getting around 700.00 a month and he was trying to get a permanent place to stay. I am glad that Shelby had a personal revival in his life right before he died. The few simple things we did together made him proud. He would tell his daughter about it and stuff. I had the sense that after many years he began hoping again, sort of like the Lord was going to use him after feeling hopeless for many years. Shelby was a good man, a good friend of mine. Goodbye my friend.
(990) PROVERBS 31: 8-9 ‘Open thy mouth for the dumb [voiceless] in the cause of ALL such as are appointed to destruction [abortion, poor, unjust death sentences]. Open thy mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy’. This chapter is famous for the second half, the virtuous woman. I have been praying parts of this chapter 3-5 times a week for around 20 years now. I pray the part ‘your wife we be like the merchant ships that bring their goods from afar’ over my wife. I also pray ‘your wife will be like a fruitful vine by the sides of your house, your children like olive plants round about your table’. For some reason the ‘plant’ imagery stuck in my head as a good prayer reminder. The other day, before Shelby passed away [my homeless friend] I was going thru the pictures on my cell phone. I happened to come across a picture I took of Shelby. I have a few pictures from the fellowships and stuff. This one was taken with Shelby and a few other homeless brothers at a park in Kingsville. Sure enough I put the picture as the ‘wallpaper’ [the first picture that shows up as you turn on the phone] on Sunday. He passed away on Wednesday. My daughter says ‘don’t put my picture on your phone’! Actually I kind of see it as a prophetic thing. In some way the Lord was telling me my friend was going to become a ‘memory’ real soon. Also a reminder for prayer. The day I found out about Shelby’s death I took a few homeless people around town to run errands and stuff. We stopped for coffee and one of the brothers insisted on paying this time. He had around 10 bucks and really wanted to. I paid, he left a 2 dollar tip. During the day they were trying to accomplish small tasks that can become real obstacles in their lives. I took one of the guys to the driver’s license place, he got his I.D. but could not get his license. They have a very old charge against him about not appearing for court on some minor thing. He never got the notice, they sent it to his last known address, he hasn’t lived there for years! He simply can’t fix this problem, he has no resources and ability to fix it! I of course helped him with the ride and some money and stuff. But when these guys get into these seemingly small obstacles, when you’re homeless and without a phone and regular transportation, they seem hopeless at times. Now, what do you think happens when the entity they are dealing with decides to mess with them? I canceled a credit card a few years back. I paid the balance and specifically said ‘make sure you cancel the card, I don’t want to keep getting notices that I owe an annual fee and stuff’! Sure enough, a few months go by and they send me a notice that I am delinquent for around 70.00 dollars [not an old balance, but a new annual charge!] and if I don’t pay it the fine will go up. What happened? Someone decided to simply ‘screw me’ [sorry]. The point being, when you are homeless you have very little ability to correct any wrongs done against you, the entity that is messing with you always wins. Society seems to think ‘they got what was coming to them’. The reason God wants us to speak up for all those who are ‘voiceless’ is because this is part of the purpose of Gods anointing. Jesus clearly was anointed for this purpose [Isaiah 11, 61. Luke 4]. There are times when the voiceless are ALWAYS innocent [abortion] and times where they did ‘get what was coming to them’. But Jesus requires us to treat the poor and hopeless with respect and concern. Every now and then I catch a show on E.W.T.N. [the catholic channel] the name of the show is ‘the church and the poor’. It’s the ministry of some priest [Wen Ho Lee? Something like that] who was a Jesuit priest living in the states and having a comfortable life. Then the Lord challenged him to give it all up and move to some foreign land and give his life away for the poor. His message is soul stirring. He often tells the people during the Mass ‘do you think coming to church and going to confession and doing religious things are the main requirements for a Christian’? He then goes on and shares the judgment scenarios that Jesus gave in the gospels. He shows how Jesus couches the judgment of man based on his treatment of the poor and down and out. He sounds like me! God requires us to speak up for those who cannot, he requires us to give our lives away. As you read thru this chapter [Proverbs 31] you will see that kings [leaders] are not supposed to get drunk [like Paul's admonition to elders]. Why? So they don’t forget to do justice and look out for those who are under their care, specifically the down trodden. God wants us clear and sober minded for a divine purpose, to be social activists on the behalf of those who ‘have no voice’.
(991) 1ST CORINTHIANS 12: 8-11 Instead of giving you my definition for each one of the gifts of the Spirit, let me just give you a sense of where I’m coming from. Over the years I have learned the normal Pentecostal understanding of these gifts. I also have learned the ‘anti-Pentecostal’ view. I take a little from each camp. The strong Pentecostal view usually sees all the gifts as ‘supernatural’ I do too! But to them this means the gifts of Wisdom and Knowledge can’t be ‘regular wisdom or knowledge’. Okay, so what are they? Some teach that the ‘word of wisdom’ is simply a prophetic word about future stuff. The ‘word of knowledge’ is simply prophetic insight into ‘past stuff’. To be honest I have no idea how people come up with stuff like this [well, actually I do have an idea]. I see Paul as operating in a strong gift of knowledge, though Paul was trained and had a good education, the Spirit took all of his ‘head knowledge’ and quickened it. I see James as having a strong gift of wisdom, his epistle is the only New Testament work considered to be part of the corpus of wisdom literature. Of course the gifts of healing[s] and prophecy are supernatural, but wisdom and knowledge can be ‘supernatural’ without having to fall into some prophetic type category. If it’s wisdom and knowledge from God, then it is supernatural! I have known Pastors who had the gift of wisdom, sometimes they would come to the same conclusions as me, but they took a different route to get there! They might not have ‘seen’ all the knowledge portions of scripture that I saw, but the wisdom they operated in caused them to arrive at the same place. Some teach that after the Spirit fell on the church at Pentecost [Acts 2] that you no loner had miracles, dreams and visions or angelic visitations. Why is this wrong? The book that records more miracles and angels and visions than any other book [except for the gospels] is the book of Acts. In essence, one of the major New Testament books on these manifestations shows them to be a result of the Spirits outpouring! The point being these things didn’t end after Pentecost. I realize both camps [Pentecostal- non Pentecostal] have had their wars over this stuff. I find that both sides can be just as legalistic and judgmental in their views. I think one of the major ‘signs’ of being ‘Spirit filled’ is a life based on free grace. When people grasp the gospel and are filled with the Spirit, they should be free from living their lives out of a state of condemnation and guilt. Many ‘Spirit filled’ churches operate in the gifts [their view of them] but are just as legalistic as the non Pentecostals. To me this is not what it means to be ‘Spirit filled’. Overall we should be open to the working of the Spirit in supernatural ways. We should avoid making this the goal or identity of our Christian walk, but we should not reject or despise prophetic/supernatural things. They are available and necessary at times for completion of the mission.
(992) JAMES 1: 2-4 ‘Count it all joy when you fall into various temptations [trials] knowing that the testing of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work [completeness, the end of ‘a thing’] that you may be perfect and entire, lacking nothing’. When I first started this blog, I was surprised that brothers from Africa quickly found out about us. I kinda thought that all the invites from the continent were part of the scams that go on incessantly on line. I can’t tell you how many ‘Dear brother, I am a Christian millionaire trying to free up my millions in the U.S.’ or something like that type pleas that I get. It usually gives them away when they spell something like ‘Godd blees yeo’. Yes, I admit I have responded at times by saying ‘I hate to inform you but I am an undercover F.B.I. agent, we have traced your computer to its location. YOU WILL BE EXTRADITED TO THE U.S. SOON!’ I quickly ask the Lord to forgive me after I send it off. But the African contacts were legit. The reason I am even mentioning this is because I feel the Lord has a purpose for messages like ours to go out to the nations. Not ‘my message’ per se, but the basic return to a Christ oriented gospel. Africa has gone thru a few decades of becoming ‘Christianized’ by the American gospel. The most prevalent strain of American Protestantism on the continent is the prosperity message. I don’t know if you knew this or not, but it is common to find African churches that are saturated with the prosperity gospel. Now, after all I have written and taught over the years on the abuses of this type of message, yet I do not see this development as totally ‘from the devil’. I believe it to be possible for the Lord to have used the basic message of self reliance, believing God to improve your economy, a basic message of ‘you can do it’ as a foundation for future growth. That is many Africans needed to be told ‘God does have a future and a hope for you and your continent, start believing and trusting God to turn things around’. But after the ‘elementary teachings’ of this type of message are laid, then the ‘more mature’ message of Christ’s calling needs to come in and build upon the basic self help gospel. So, James says ‘count it a blessing when you go thru stuff, God is working things in you, he is bringing you to a point of completeness in your life. Don’t look at all the trials as things from the enemy that must be rebuked, God allows trials for your personal growth and development’. There is a Christian message that teaches us that the Lord brings us to maturity thru difficult things. The basic message of ‘self help’ has an ethos that says ‘Confess, rebuke and apply all the bibles procedures and you will grow’. Much of this message has you rebuking the God ordained tests! Yes, we don’t like the tests. When the big test day comes along [or all the little ones] it can be nerve racking. So modern psychology says ‘lets avoid the pressure that tests put on people. Lets just tell little Tommy ‘you spelled the word the way you felt it should be spelled’ [Ouch!] I want to encourage you today, God has brought you thru some things for your own growth and benefit. You might look back ten years from now and think ‘Thank God I went thru those tough times, they allowed me to avoid going thru years of teaching and believing a limited gospel’. To all my preacher friends who read this site, God wants to ground you guys in some basic Christian truth, things that are foundational to our call in the kingdom. It is all too common for successful ministries to be built on self help principles. After many years go by this self help message can become too self centered, the people need to be taught ‘count it all joy’ once again.
(993) THE BILLIONAIRE SUICIDES- ‘Let the brother of low degree [not rich] rejoice in that he is exalted: but the rich in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away. … so shall the rich man fade away in his ways’ James 1:9-11. These last few weeks have had a strange thing happen. After the recent fall in the stock market [1-09] there were 3 billionaires who killed themselves. I also watched on the news last night how a stock guy faked his death by crashing his plane, they found out he parachuted out first! Some of the news media said ‘I don’t understand these billionaires killing themselves, sure, they lost billions but they still have money’. This is the deceit of riches. These rich guys were in it for the game, not simply to have enough money to live off of. They fell for the addiction of the game. After losing great sums of money, they weren’t thinking ‘well I still have enough to make it’. No, they were thinking ‘I can never get back to where I was, I will never win the game now’ which to them meant having more than the others ‘in the game’. James said the rich will fade like the grass, they allow their lives to feel secure by the amount they have. When they lose that sense of security they feel all is lost. James was one of the lead elders at the Jerusalem church [Acts 15] he had spiritual oversight to a large group of poor believers. These were the same poor Christians that Paul was taking up offerings for [1st Corinthians 16]. James understood the temporary nature of worldly wealth. I find it notable that James lived and grew up with Jesus, he was his brother. What were the important messages he picked up by living with Jesus most of his life? He understood the shallowness of the rich man. James said ‘they will fade like the flowers on a hot day’. The billionaires took their lives because all that they were living for was gone. The hot sun came up and they were found wanting.
(994) 1ST CORINTHIANS 12: 12-26 Paul uses the analogy of a body to describe the church. Keep in mind that the ‘church’ in Paul’s writings mean ‘all Gods people in the region/city’. Not just the gathered assembly! It’s important to make this distinction because much of the talk on the restoration of the organic church versus the institutional church focuses too much on the way believers meet. Here Paul is saying ‘you are all individual distinct members in the local community, you express Christ in various ways, though you have unique gifts you also are part of one corporate expression of Christ in your city’. The distinct gifts function in your community, not just in the meeting! [Whether it be the Sunday building type thing or the living room!] Paul also tells them to be on the guard for the ‘one member dominating the group’ expression of church. If everyone is centered on one particular gift then the corporate expression of the Body of Christ is diminished. Or if everyone saw ‘full time ministry’ as being a modern Pastor then you would have too many sincere believers all seeking to serve God in a limited way ‘if all were an eye, ear, mouth [speaking gift]’ then where would the Body be? I find this chapter to be a key chapter in the current reformation of modern church practices. As Gods people strive for a more scriptural expression of ‘being the church’ we need to keep this chapter in mind. Now, a word for the strong organic church brothers. The fact that Paul encourages a corporate expression in the church does not mean the gatherings of Gods people must be leaderless. Paul includes the concept of Elders in his writings. To be sure these men were not to dominate the meetings, or be the weekly speaker on an ongoing basis. But some hold to a type of idea that the way the church is supposed to testify of the ‘headship of Christ’ is by demonstrating a human leaderless church. That is God ordained the local bodies of believers to have no functioning human leaders in order to show forth Christ’s headship. To be honest I don’t see this in scripture. I see leaders in plurality [never a one man show] and Paul was not afraid to tell Titus and Timothy to ‘ordain’ [recognize!] Elders in the church. But the overall instruction in this chapter is God wants all of his people to function on a regular basis in the Body of Christ. This of course includes the gatherings, but it is not limited to them. The primary way we ‘show’ the world the Lordship of Jesus is by the selfless love we have one for another. When we daily live charitable, sacrificial lives, this demonstrates the ‘headship of Jesus’ over the church. The way believers meet has some effect on this, but most of Jesus instructions to the disciples was on how they would go out into the world and bring the great message of the kingdom to society. The primary ‘battlefield’ of the church militant is the world, not the meeting place!
(995) IS MODERN ISRAEL THE SAME AS ANCIENT ISRAEL? Why bring this up now? At the time of this entry [1-09] we have another one of those endless wars in the Middle East. Israel has been bombed over the past few years on a regular basis from Hamas. Hamas are the rogue ruling authority in the Gaza strip. Israel made a deal with the Palestinians to give them the strip of land, in return Palestine promised not to use the land against Israel. What happened? After the Palestinians took the land, they elected Hamas to be their ruling authority! Hamas are terrorists, make no mistake about it. So after a few years of regular bombings from the Gaza strip into Israel, Israel said ‘that’s enough’ and started a military campaign to up root Hamas. To be honest, they are using the exact same justification as the U.S. action against terrorism. Now, Israel as a modern state is quite a miracle. Or are they? After the destruction of their temple and the loss of their national identity in A.D. 70 they have been without a homeland for 2 thousand years. In the 20th century [1949] Israel once again became a state with a homeland for the first time in nearly 2 thousand years. Most evangelical Christians in the U.S. equate modern Israel with the promises made to Abraham by God in the Old Testament. God promised Abraham that he would give the land to him and his seed. In Deuteronomy 28 we see that the promise of Israel keeping the land was contingent on their obedience to his covenant. The history of Israel in the Old Testament shows them violating Gods laws at various times and God allowing them to be taken captive and losing their land. So the promise of inheritance was based in part on their obedience to God. Now, after W.W.1 the League of Nations made an agreement with modern Israel to give them a homeland. This promise was not carried out until after W.W.2. The United Nations agreed to give them the land and the British carved out a portion of the land and Israel became a nation once again. Let me make myself clear, as a nation Israel has a right to exist. After the initial taking of the land, the neighbors had various wars with Israel and in every case Israel won and took some more land. How Christians view the present status of the modern nation state is important. Most believers look at every modern conflict thru the promise of God made to Abraham thousands of years ago. The normal reaction by the fundamentalist/evangelical preacher is ‘God promised them the land, and by golly if Israel has to kill some poor Arabs to keep it, then that’s Gods will’! This is where we need to be careful. As an ally of the U.S. Israel is a small lone Democracy in a tough region of the world [there are other democracies, but they don’t border Israel]. Our country does have a responsibility to back up our allies. Israel does rule herself in a modern way with a rule of law and a humane judicial system that are rare for the region. So all in all they are a good ally who has a right to exist. But should believers equate this right with some biblical promise made to Abraham by God? Remember, God himself said that the promise of them dwelling in the land had to do with their obedience to him. Modern Israel is a religious nation. But they are also cultural. Many Jews presently living in the land do not practice Judaism, they simply see themselves as ethnic Jews. Those who do practice their faith practice a form of Judaism that can be called ‘Rabbinic Judaism’. This form of Judaism is what the Pharisees practiced during Jesus day. They elevate the traditions of the elders to a degree equal to [or greater than] the Old Testament law. If you remember Jesus rebuked this religious mindset when he told the Pharisees ‘by your tradition [the tradition of the elders] you make void the commandments of God’. So first of all, modern Israel is not in good standing with Jesus! [At least on covenantal grounds]. Second, did you ever wonder if the modern religious defense of Israel coincides with the actual Promised Land mentioned in scripture? If you go back and read the actual borders that God promised Abraham, you have a region extending to parts of Turkey, Syria, Iraq, Egypt and a few other spots. In essence, many of the defenders of Israel’s right to the land, are not even talking about the actual borders mentioned in the bible! What does this mean? If God conditioned the obtaining of the land on the obedience of natural Israel to his law, is modern Rabbinic Judaism fulfilling it? If the promise of the land by God to Israel are what most evangelicals are fighting over, are they using scriptural borders to define ‘the land’ or are they using a 20th century land agreement made by human nations after the world wars? I believe Christians should stand for the right and freedom of all people [including modern Israel!] to exist and practice their religion freely. I believe modern Israel has as much right to the land they inhabit as any other nation who dwells on territory that used to belong to other people groups. That is if any nation engages with other nations in an aggression, if the nation who attacked you loses, you bet your gonna lose some land. That’s the way the ball bounces. The point of this entry is to simply call the American church to rethink the attachment she places on Gods promises to Abraham when making these arguments. A case could be made that modern Rabbinic Judaism is in fact still rejecting the law of God and does not fulfill the requirement, given by God himself, to ‘dwell in the land’. We as believers need to be careful when we simply jump headlong into these world affairs in a way that says to the world ‘God is on this nation’s side, and anyone who challenges their borders is in the wrong’. Understand, the ‘borders’ in these scenarios were carved out by human nations coming to certain land agreements. Be careful when you equate modern borders with Gods covenantal promise to Israel. We all need to pray for peace, we need to act justly in the world. We need to be against all racism, even anti Semitism! But we also need to stand true to the New Testament Ethos of all ethnic barriers being destroyed in Christ. We don’t want the world to think that King Jesus is going to return and physically war to protect a border made-up by the United Nations! This type of end times teaching can get us into real trouble.
(996) 1ST CORINTHIANS 12:27-31 Lets talk about ‘the fivefold ministry’ [some say four]. In the 90’s there was a real interest in this subject. It comes from this portion of scripture [and Ephesians 4]. The basic teaching is/was that God was restoring all these ministries [Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors and Teachers- some see this as one combined gift] and that this restoration was one of the final things to happen before Christ’s return. I read and bought lots of books on church planting and how Apostles are gifted to ‘plant churches’. This teaching really wasn’t a new thing. Back in the 1800’s you had Edward Irving head up an apostolic movement called ‘the apostolic catholic church’ [Irvingites]. You had interesting folk like John Alexander Dowie who would start a modern city of God called ‘Zion’ in Illinois. Brother Dowie saw himself as an apostle and felt the Lord led him to start an apostolic city. You can still visit the city today. It was also common for many ‘up and coming’ preachers to begin seeing themselves as ‘apostles/prophets’ and actually advertise their callings in this way. Well of course the old time brothers who reject the gifts all together, saw this as another sign of the end time apostasy. You also had a strange phenomenon take place. It was common for ‘apostolic/prophetic’ people to be taught ‘the missing ingredient is covering and authority’- the churches are weak because they are under pastoral authority, they don’t have apostles ‘covering them’ [ouch!]. So it was not uncommon to have respected men kind of stepping over the normal boundaries of relating to churches and to say things like ‘you need to do this’ ‘you over there, be quiet. I don’t give you permission to speak’ and stuff like this. These sincere men thought it their responsibility to act this way. They felt this was a part of the restoration of apostles. Now, do apostles exist today [and prophets]? To be honest with you, yes. If you read this section along with Ephesians chapter 4, it is next to impossible to teach that they passed away in the first century. These scriptures make it clear that after Jesus ascended he gave ‘some apostles, others prophets’ they are included in the list of evangelists, pastors and teachers. If you lose one gift, then you lose them all. Also the timing of their ministries is given ‘till we all come to the unity of the faith unto a perfect man’. These gifts are all given to build Gods people up until we come to fall maturity. We aint there yet! So it’s pretty obvious that these gifts exist. Those who believe they don’t exist usually refer to the fact that the apostles of the Lamb [a category unto itself] did pass away. They will show you the truth of these apostles having to have been witnesses of Jesus actual resurrection. But these are a different category of apostles. The ones in this chapter were not even ‘made’ until after Jesus ascended on high. The same for the prophets. So, what do these strange fellows do? In all the books and stuff I have read on these movements, I feel some have been too limited in their definitions. Some taught that they were primarily itinerant men [traveling church planters]. Of course Paul was the master at this. But you find James as a stable pillar of the church at Jerusalem. Peter did travel, but he was no Gentile church planter like Paul! And Timothy in the New Testament had an apostolic type gifting, yet he was a protégée under Paul. So for the most part apostles do carry a special ability to ground Gods people in truth. Those who are called to ‘plant churches’ need to be more in tune with the example of Paul. Many modern day ‘apostles’ see church planting as going to a region and organizing Christians to meet in certain ways. I have heard it said ‘I have planted an organic church’ ‘I have planted a home group’ or of course the standard ‘I have planted a building based church’. The main ‘church planting’ of Paul was bringing the gospel to UNREACHED PEOPLE GROUPS and evangelizing those groups. Now of course he did give instructions to them on ‘how to meet’ [like in this book we are reading!] But don’t confuse ‘church planting’ with organizing believers around a new way to meet. All in all God gave us these gifts to build each other up and bring us to maturity, a place where we are no longer dependent on these gifts to function. I feel one of the greatest dangers was the strong authoritarian mindset that some of the apostolic brothers had, they meant well, but they stepped over their boundaries at times.
(997) JAMES 1:13-15 ‘LET NO MAN SAY WHEN HE IS TEMPTED “I AM TEMPTED BY GOD” [TEMPTED TO DO EVIL] FOR GOD CANNOT BE TEMPTED BY EVIL, NEITHER DOES HE USE EVIL TO TEST PEOPLE. BUT EVERY MAN IS TEMPTED BY HIS OWN SINFUL DESIRES. HE IS DRAWN AWAY BY THEM AND TRAPPED. THEN WHEN LUST IS COMPLETE IT LEADS TO SIN, AND SIN WHEN IT IS FINISHED GIVES BIRTH TO DEATH’ [my paraphrase] James already showed us that tests are good things, but here he makes a distinction between a test and sinful lusts. It is never Gods process to test people to lust. This desire is imbedded in sinful man. Proverbs warns us to avoid ‘the harlot’ it says many strong and mighty men have been slain by her ‘by her a man is brought to a piece of bread’. How come strong men have been pulled down by her, not weak men? The point is once you allow the process to begin [being drawn away by your own lusts] then no matter how strong you are, you will lose! James teaches us that this process is a ‘three fold cord’. Scripture says 3 fold cords are not easily broken. I just finished a regular prayer time, to be honest praying for around an hour and a half seems very easy. It wasn’t that way at the beginning of my Christian life, but after doing it for around 20 plus years, it’s a simple routine. I am now in ‘stage 2’ of my normal daily routine; I am writing/teaching. Stage 3 will be when I clean the house [yes, being I am retired I do about an hour of cleaning every morning] during this time I review future radio messages and also listen to good teaching on c.d.’s or radio [theological stuff]. All in all I get a good 3-5 hours of daily prayer/teaching/studying in. Yes I also read both scripture and books as well [once again the books are usually scholarly works of some sought. I try to avoid simply reading stuff that’s popular in the Christian bookstores ‘how I lost weight, made a million’ or whatever]. The reason I share this is to tell you that after you establish godly ‘3 fold cords’ [habits of righteousness] it’s hard to break them! Now, the same goes for ungodly cords. I have known [and experienced!] ungodly habits in life. Sinful stuff that’s hard to break. I have also noticed how many of my good friends who are addicted to hard drugs, many of them are extremely smart, they have talents, and all in all they could have been successful in life. But the enemy [and their choices] hooked them at a young age. People learn habits early in life. If you take someone at the age of 18-23 and train them in some addiction/habit, it sticks with them for life [until they allow God to break the cords]. Many of my buddies established habitual sin habits and these have dogged them for life. We all struggle with stuff and I don’t want to give the impression that it’s just ‘those people’. Now James tells us that God can break this process. James teaches us the wisdom of being ‘doers and not hearers only’. God breaks stuff when you decide to act and function toward his purpose on a daily basis. James will say ‘true religion is visiting the fatherless and widows and keeping yourself clean from the world’. Note the order, first commit to do good works, then avoid sin. There is a scripture that says ‘commit your works unto the Lord and your thoughts will be established’ [Proverbs?]. We learn the lesson of establishing habitual patterns of righteousness to go along with our head knowledge of truth. Do you have ‘cords’ that you are struggling to break? Have you established righteous cords [habits] that flow thru out your week? I don’t want to be legalistic about this, Jesus is the only one with the power to deliver a person from sin, but there are practical righteous habits that God wants you to engage in on a regular basis. You might not pray and study for 5 hours a day! But you can have a regular devotional time [even if it’s only 30 minutes a day] and stuff like this will make a difference. Learn to nip it in the bud when it comes to temptation, once you allow lustful desires to rule, it always ends up in death, even strong men are brought down by it.
(998) CORINTHIANS ‘DO ALL SPEAK WITH TONGUES’? - Before we leave chapter 12, let me overview a little. Paul mentions ‘do all speak with tongues’ and the presumed answer is ‘no’. I love my Pentecostal brothers, but some have developed an interesting doctrine that says ‘God wants all to speak with tongues’ though here it is obvious that all don’t! I am familiar with the classic defense of this. It says that in the beginning of the chapter the gifts are individual gifts that all believers can have [true enough] but that later in the chapter the ‘tongues’ that all don’t operate in is speaking of some sort of ministry gift of tongues. That Paul is basically saying ‘you can all prophesy, speak with tongues, etc..’ but you are not all going to have public ‘ministry gifts’ in these things. Okay, I got it. What’s the problem with this defense? Simply that when your done making the case, the brothers usually wind up saying ‘therefore, we should all speak with tongues’! Any argument [case] made from scripture, needs to use the plain language/thought flow to interpret that which is not plain. I believe all the gifts are for today [though I would disagree on certain Pentecostal definitions of them] but I also believe we violate the New Testament when we teach that certain gifts are supposed to operate in every person. Sure, you can find tongues and other gifts as signs in the book of Acts that believers were filled with the Spirit. But this doesn’t mean that those who don’t speak in tongues are not filled with the Spirit. Paul’s teaching here is that we are all baptized into Christ by the Spirit and we are all ‘drinking in the one Spirit’ but yet he empathically says ‘you all will not have the same gifts operating’. I think it is a violation of scripture to develop a doctrine that says ‘unless you function in a certain gift, you are not Spirit filled’. I do not see the classic Pentecostal division between ‘public tongues’ [that everyone doesn’t do] and ‘private tongues’ that you must have in order to have proof of being baptized in the Spirit. I do see the division to a degree, but I feel the Pentecostal brothers are being legalistic when they make this case.
(999) 1ST CORINTHIANS 13:1 ‘THOUGH I SPEAK WITH THE TONGUES OF MEN AND OF ANGELS, AND HAVE NOT LOVE, I AM BECOME AS SOUNDING BRASS OR A TINKLING SYMBOL’ Over the years I have seen how the church can ‘have a voice-make noise’ without actually effecting change. Last night I watched some Martin Luther King stuff. Without ‘sucking up for political purposes’ I must admit that Martin is at the top of my list of personal heroes. Martin spoke with a revolutionary purpose in mind, he was not ‘delivering sermons’. One time I spoke at a friends church, I only spoke for around 15 minutes [much like my radio show] and the pastor said ‘no wonder John doesn’t have a church/ preach regularly, you have to at least speak for 45 minutes’ [something like that]. Though after the message I had good comments from the people, the sincere pastor felt like we didn’t ‘put the time in’ in order to fulfill the Sunday morning practice of ‘church’. Were did we get our modern sermon from? [The actual format]. If you go to Bible College you can take a course called ‘homiletics’ this course will teach you the structure of speaking and putting a message together. If you study Greek rhetoric you will find that this science existed in the Greek intellectual world before Christians embraced it [the actual format and structure taught in homiletics comes right out of the Greek system of rhetoric, to the tee!]. I find it funny how many modern pastors seem to measure a persons degree of ‘being scriptural’ by this measuring rod. ‘Well brother, didn’t they preach in scripture’ you bet they did. We see Jesus reading from the scroll in the synagogue. Paul and Peter were master ‘preachers’ if you will [though Paul himself was no ‘golden tongue’] basically the biblical concept of preaching/teaching was more of a spontaneous thing. It’s certainly not wrong to borrow the sermon from the Greeks [which we did do] but we don’t want to fall into some mindset that sees modern ministry [pastoral] as being a professional speaker. Here Paul says there is a danger of believers becoming like ‘sounding brass and tinkling symbols’ we can lose the reality of simple communication. We also can lose the prophetic edge of speaking into society over issues of justice. If we become too mundane and ‘professional’ then the world simply views us as another program to simply pass over when clicking the remote. Both Martin Luther King and Charles Finney were known for their social activism. One of the charges [actually true] made against them was that they held to liberal theological positions. Finney was effected by the higher criticism of his day [the trend in the universities to deny the supernatural elements of scripture] he embraced certain doctrines that could be viewed as heretical [things on the atonement and mans sinful nature]. King’s critics make note of the fact that he also accepted certain types of bible interpretation that viewed some of the miraculous stories as ‘myth’ [not fake, but simple allegorical stories that were not literal but simply meant to convey a spiritual theme]. Things like Jonah and the whale, or Ballams talking donkey [or the talking snake in the garden!] Some intellectual brothers view these stories this way. Is there any validity to these views? Actually yes. I personally hold the ‘literal’ view with stuff like this, but ‘literal’ does not mean the bible does not contain different styles of writing. You do have poetry, allegory, symbol and other types or forms of grammar in scripture. Even the strong literal brothers will contradict themselves when they fully accept the ‘Lamb on the throne’ as not being a literal Lamb! [or when they interpret the scorpion like demons in Revelation as Black Hawk helicopters] So scripture does use allegory and symbol. But why did Luther and Finney associate with the more liberal trends in theology? I feel it was because of the strong anti social gospel that the fundamentalists embraced. The more conservative thinkers who rejected the liberal trends in teaching, would also reject social activism. Luther and Finney simply gravitated towards those who were like minded in their concern to speak into society. Basically they didn’t just want to be theologically correct [though they might have been in some of there views] but they wanted to be able to effect change in society. They wanted to be more than just a tinkling symbol that could tickle your ears.
(1000) ABORTION- Today is the first official day of President Obama as being our new president. I did not plan on writing this entry, but as I was praying earlier for him I felt the Lord release me to do this. I have prayed, by name specifically, many times for our new president [a few times per week over the past few months] I believe when we respect and honor those in office, that God allows us to speak to certain issues. A few years ago Senator Barbara Boxer [Ca.] was at some floor debate on an issue over abortion. Another senator [Sam Brownback?] put up a picture of an aborted child. The picture was clear and plain to see. There was no doubt that the carcass was that of an innocent child. Brownback simply asked her ‘is this a human being or not’. Her answer was that making a judgment like that was not her right or responsibility. If a person can not discern what makes up a human baby, then how in the world can they make any judgment issues over any thing? Yesterday, the inauguration day of our new president [1-20-09] the stock market dropped more than on any other inauguration of any other president. Now, do I think that there is a connection between one of the underlying defenses of abortion [financial gain, convenience] and stuff like this? To a degree, yes. When a society chooses to overlook the actual dismemberment of thousands of little children at the altar of convenience [i.e.; I can’t afford the child. What responsible person would bring a child into the world? Etc.] When we make these types of judgments, then we reap judgment. I know the progressive Christians say ‘I wish the church would get over her love affair with the fetus’ [would you say I wish the church could get over her love affair with the slave during the civil war?] but the fact remains, there is no other single social justice issue of our time equal to the tragedy of abortion. The fact that a sitting U.S. senator could not say that the picture of a beautiful little baby was ‘a human being’ shows you the deception that we have succumbed to in our efforts to be ‘progressive’.
(1001) DAY 2- Today the president will overturn the ‘Mexico city agreement’ [that’s the word in the media] this agreement was created under Reagan and forbid federal tax money to support pro abortion organizations in foreign lands. Say if I visited your family and you had 5 new borns. Now I want to like you, you are a Christian who believes the dismembering of human babies in the womb is murder. I am also a Christian but I have convinced you that my goal is to also protect your 5 baby’s lives. I convince you that the way to go about it is to not outlaw the actual murder of your kids. Okay, it sounds strange; would you be into outlawing the murder of innocent Jews during the holocaust? Or outlawing the enslavement of the Black race? If it were fundamentally wrong, which it is, then I want it outlawed. ‘You mean to tell me you would OUTLAW the murder of babies’ you bet ya! Just as much as outlawing Hitler’s gas chambers. Now, even though the parent with the 5 kids wants to ‘reduce the number of murdering his kids’ somehow he has been duped into believing that the way to protect his kids is by not outlawing, or fighting against the murder of kids! So the parent agrees to support the ‘pro abortion’ candidate, he has convinced you that his progressive thinking is the way to reduce the murder of your kids. Then the next thing you know people are knocking at your door wanting to kill your kids. These people have been hired and funded by the well meaning man who convinced you that he cares for your kids just as much as you. Don’t ‘kid’ yourselves, he is dangerous to the life of your kids. I realize that in today’s environment even describing this hideous act as murder is ‘old fashioned’. Have you seen the pictures of aborted kids? I have. They look exactly like the preemies in your local hospital nursery. The only difference is some of them are burned, others chopped up. Some look like they were killed by less traumatic means. All perfect little babies, simply dead. I am not a ‘fundamentalist, evangelical, bible toting, sin hating’ stereotypical Christian. But we need to realize that the expansion of our tax dollars to pay for and fund organizations in foreign lands that engage in this act can have no other effect that bring a curse on ‘our tax money’. If we believe that we can engage in this type of monetary genocide and at the same time turn our economy around, then we are fooling ourselves. Our nation will reap a financial disaster like a hurricane. [1-22-09]
(1002) 1ST CORINTHIANS 13: 2-3 ‘and though I have the gift of prophecy [Pentecostal, prophetic expressions] and understand all mysteries and all knowledge [Orthodox, Reformed, intellectual creedal churches] and though I have all faith that I could remove mountains [the Faith camp] and have not charity [Agape- love] I am nothing’. Whew! Thank God us mission/outreach type guys are not in there. ‘And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor [ouch] and have not love it profits nothing’. I love the various expressions of the church, I feed from the Reformed brothers teaching, love reading and studying Orthodoxy and Catholicism. I of course favor the outreach/hands on type ministries, but according to this text we can have all these things and still be missing the mark. Our intellectual type brothers are engaging the culture and defending the faith, but without love we don’t even put a dent in the culture. The apologists are great at refuting the new atheists, to be honest about it the Christian intellectuals are head and shoulders above the atheists [Craig Lane and men like him] but I have noticed that we don’t really change that many minds even when all the proof is on our side. And I cant tell you how many well meaning missions and soup kitchens I have been too, but often times there is a disconnect between the people being served and the ‘servers’. You get the feeling sometimes that the well meaning helpers are simply punching a time card. We all need to reevaluate our motives. People can tell when we are in ‘ministry’ for the love of the business. Or for the self glory and adulation that comes with our service. Jesus rebuked the Pharisees because they truly were in it for the recognition of men. They wanted others to see that they were ‘successful in the ministry’ so they could receive recognition in public. Paul tells the Romans ‘he that shows mercy, let him do it with love [cheerfully]’. It’s easy to fall into a rut and simply be functioning out of a sense of duty. Now duty can be a good thing, there are times where we just need people to report for duty! [The harvest is plenteous, but the workers are few] but we need to examine ourselves and make sure we are functioning out of the Love of God. Often times the various ministries and expressions of the church are simply God ordained ‘places’ where we can connect with people. As we interact with the lost world, lets do our best to win the arguments, give proof for the legitimacy of Christianity. Combat false ideas and mindsets that are imbedded in our culture, but lets leave room for the other side to get in with us. Understand that they have a ‘missing piece’ [Augustine’s hole in the heart] and we are the only ones that can show them how to fill it.
(1003) CORINTHIANS 13:4-10 Okay, what exactly is this love that we need? Paul has told us that all religious activity apart from it is vain. Paul here simply gives us a picture of the way it acts. You can read this section and substitute your name for the word love ‘love puts up with stuff and is kind’ ‘John puts up with stuff and is kind’ [ouch] ‘It does not boast or show off’. ‘It does not seek its own benefit’ a ‘what’s in it for me’ type mentality. Love is being just like Jesus. James tells us ‘if you fulfill the royal law of scripture, you do well’. The law is to love thy neighbor as yourself. Paul also shows us why love outshines the other gifts of tongues and prophesy and knowledge. He says ‘we know in part, prophesy in part. But when we are made perfect and mature at the appearing of Christ the partial gifts will no longer be distinguishable. Only love will rule’ [my paraphrase] I find it interesting that Paul says knowledge itself will cease. Will actual knowledge cease? What exactly is ‘knowledge’? When we use this term in society what we usually mean is the degree of ones learning/education compared to someone else. If you have a masters and I have a high school diploma, we see a difference. We measure knowledge by the amount we have as compared to others. Now, at Christ’s appearing when we all ‘shall know, even as we are known’ this fine distinction will ‘pass away’. We still will have knowledge, but as a tool that we use to measure one another, it will cease. It wont make a difference how much of the ‘knowledge pie’ [know in part] you possess, at that time everyone one will have ‘all pie’. Knowledge is a funny thing, our understanding of it has developed thru the centuries. During the enlightenment era the concept of ‘what does it even mean to know’ was tackled. One of the famous sayings was ‘I know/think, therefore I am’ [Descartes? Hey, I forget sometimes] the study of ‘how we learn/know things’ is called epistemology. The enlightenment produced a way to approach knowledge that can be called ‘modernism’ mans modern way of knowing stuff. In essence, there exists real truth that a person can know and learn. There is/was a challenge to this mode of thought. Many in the Emergent church movement would grasp on to another theory of ‘knowing’ loosely defined as being in the category of ‘post modernism’. Some challenged the actual ability to know a thing. The emphasis is on who is actually viewing/learning the thing. The terms ‘metta- narrative’ are sometimes used to describe this dynamic. There is some truth to the fact that our context, who we are and where we are coming from, can shape the actual stuff learned. But the question is ‘does our perspective actually change the thing, make it real or not’. Some in the field of Cosmology have grasped on to this post modern theory and have surmised that the very act of human beings studying and examining a thing can in and of itself cause the thing ‘to be’. You can see how this theory would be helpful to the atheist. ‘Where did every thing come from?’ ‘it is a result of human kind’s thoughts and inquiry’ [Ouch]. This sounds a lot like the metaphysical cults that espouse that reality is a product of what you think, confess. That man has the power to create reality simply by the act of studying a thing. Well this is of course a challenge to the truth of God. Jesus and the Cross aren’t ‘real’ because men ‘put their mind to them’. They are real whether or not man ever thought about them. ‘Let God be true, but every man a liar’ Romans. Paul tells us that all these varying degrees of knowledge will some day ‘pass away’. We will all stand before a self existent God and give an account of our lives. This day is coming whether you ‘think about it or not’.
(1004) CORINTHIANS 13:11-13 WHEN I WAS A CHILD I UNDERSTOOD AND THOUGHT AND SPOKE LIKE A CHILD, BUT WHEN I GREW UP I PUT THOSE THINGS BEHIND ME- Paul shows us that we presently see and understand things thru ‘a glass’. God gives us insight and glimpses into Divine truth, but we need mercy because we all have limited sight. Over the years I know I have ruffled some feathers. Whether it be our teaching on what the church is, tithing, end times stuff. How New Testament believers should view the nationalistic promises made to Israel under the Old Covenant. I have found that the problem usually isn’t solved by simply proving something from scripture. For instance someone might become convinced by an ‘avalanche’ of information, they might actually see what I am saying. They can even articulate it to a degree [sometimes better than me!] but at the end of the day the answer to the problem is we all need to ‘grow up’. We need an overall change in the way we view things thru a legalistic lens. For instance, the tithe issue. Over the years I have taught the concept that believers are not under this law. Those of you who have read this site for any length of time know this. But I have also taught that it is fine to put 10% of your money into the offering on Sunday. It’s okay to support those who ‘labor among us’. But there are also many examples in the New Testament warning Gods leaders to not be in it for the money. Now, if we took seriously the mandate in Malachi to tithe. If we want to actually bind the believer’s conscience in this way ‘how are you robbing God? By not bringing in the tithes!’ Then we need to also look at the context. Israel as a nation was mandated to ‘tithe’ of their goods [not money] in three ways. They gave to support the Levites, also for the poor, and then they gave a tithe for religious feasts. In essence this ‘tithe’ was a total of around 30 % of their annual income, not 10%! [This by the way is right around what I spend on a monthly basis for the ministry stuff I do]. So, if we were telling people ‘you are going to be cursed if you don’t pay 10%’ we are actually misreading this verse. Also, how many believers think they are going to be cursed if they don’t ‘tithe to the poor’? Most modern preaching on the tithe simply puts it in the category of the Sunday offering. Most of this type of giving goes to support salaries, building upkeep, light bills, insurance for staff. I could go on and on. A very minute portion of this money [in general] goes to the poor. Certainly not a third! Also the portion that went to the Levites could not be used to purchase anything that would be owned by the Levite. They were forbidden to own any type of personal inheritance as Levitical priests. How often does the modern concept of tithing include this? The whole point is if we are going to bind peoples consciences in this way [which we shouldn’t] then we need to make sure we are at least teaching it right! Why bring this up? This is simply a good example of what Paul is saying. ‘When I understood in a limited way, I spoke and acted in a limited way’. The answer to the problem is simply ‘becoming mature in our thinking and speaking’. Recently I read an article from a U.S. congressman, he was speaking about the situation between Israel and Palestine. He sided with a military interpretation of the Old Testament promise to Abraham to ‘posses the land’ and used that to influence his political activism for war. How ‘mature’ is this type of thinking? Did any of the JEWISH apostles do this? No. So instead of trying to ‘crisis manage’ every single doctrinal problem, we really need to mature on an overall basis and view these doctrines thru the paradigm of Jesus and his life and work. Are we imitating his ethos when we do these things? Was this the primary message and life of Jesus when he walked the earth? How did he respond to Roman oppression and unjust govt.? Did he advocate military action in defense of the promises of God made to the nation of Israel? If we as the 21st century church do not ‘rightly divide’ these things, then we are of all men ‘most miserable’ [1st Corinthians 15].
(1005) HAS DARWINS ‘TREE’ DIED? This week the Texas school board voted down a standard that was in the school system for 20 years. They got rid of a clause that said when teaching evolution, you should teach both the strengths and weaknesses of the theory. Certain lobbying groups wanted this out because they felt it gave an open door to intelligent design theorists. So they gave it the boot. When stuff like this happens it’s usually reported as ‘another victory for intelligence versus backwoods creationists’. I read a statement from a scientist who is an agnostic [not a Christian]. He shared how many scientists have abandoned Darwin’s theory based on the facts. In the last 25 years or so science itself has dealt a real death blow to evolution. The poor brothers are in a real bind. Some realize that Darwin was way out of his ‘skill set’ compared to today’s understanding and knowledge. These scientists see the absolute silliness of many of Darwin’s thoughts and ideas, but they also realize that to associate yourself wit the ‘anti evolution crowd’ is to heap upon yourself ridicule and scorn. The science is on their side, evolution doesn’t just have ‘weaknesses’ it has basically been overthrown by science, but you don’t dare say this out loud! [The movie ‘Expelled’ by Ben Stein deals with this]. Now, what is Darwin’s tree all about? Darwin surmised that the more we learn and ‘unearth’ over the next few centuries after he espoused his theory, that what we should find [if he was right] was a sort of ‘tree’ paradigm. The evidence would show simple cell organisms evolving and growing into multi-cell organisms and you would see a pattern of all life [plants, animals, humans] having evolved from a single original cell. The symbol for this was Darwin’s ‘tree’ analogy. Now, what has science found? Science has discovered no tree, to the contrary we have found that the ‘tree’ concept is actually false. Religion hasn’t proved this. Bible toting backwoods idiots haven't shown this. But atheistic, agnostic, unbelieving scientists have discovered this. Do you now see the dilemma? These poor brothers don’t know what the heck to do! [Also many believing scientists have seen this, the point I am making is this discovery is not religious in nature]. Basically science shows this; around 3.8 billion years ago [for the sake of this argument I will use ‘old earth’ age, I realize that this is a very hot debate among many groups] the first life showed up on our planet. It was a single celled organism called ‘Blue-Green Algae’. Now, if Darwin were correct, you would be able to trace following eras as slowly evolving from simple cell to multiple cell life over a very long period of time. Well what does the evidence show? Science says [not religion!] that in the Cambrian era we have what has come to be known as the ‘Cambrian Explosion’ [around 400-500million years ago. The dates vary depending on whose ‘science’ you are using]. This evidence showed us that the basic structure and systems of multiple celled organisms showed up all at once. No ‘tree’ or evidence of things slowly evolving over millions of years. We went from ‘Blue Green Algae’ [3.8 billion years back] to a whole strata of life [known as Phyla- things like sponges, certain vertebrates and stuff like that] in one giant leap! Nothing evolving from the 3.8 billon year mark to the 4-500 million date of the Cambrian Explosion. This is verified fact amongst the majority in the scientific community. This is just one of hundreds of ‘weaknesses’ to Darwin’s theory. The evidence is not there! We know this! But when the average citizen reads a story like this in the paper, he simply thinks ‘there go those bible thumping ignoramuses trying to outlaw true science’, they really don’t have all the facts.
(1006) CORINTHIANS 14:1-20 Lets deal a little with ‘Tongues’. I have written before on the various ways believers view this gift. Much has been taught over the years that can be seen as extreme from both camps [the Pentecostals and the non charismatics]. Is Paul speaking about the same gift as seen in Acts 2? If not, then does that mean the only legitimate ‘tongues’ are the Acts 2 expression? If a distinction is made, then Paul obviously put his stamp of approval on the second type of tongues by actually writing about it here! Ecstatic utterance was not exclusive to the early church. Paul earlier taught that the pagans engaged in this type of speech when worshipping false idols. This does not mean that true spiritual worship has no ecstatic type elements to it. The gifts themselves are seen as divinely inspired speech [the speaking ones]. Isaiah 8:1 says ‘TAKE A LARGE SCROLL AND WRITE ON IT WITH THE PEN OF A MAN’. God was telling Isaiah that he would use his actual writings as inspired instruments from him. Scripture also speaks of ‘the tongue of a ready writer’ we are called ‘living letters’ by Paul himself. Paul doesn’t challenge the legitimacy of this type of gift, but he does stress the importance of approaching all the gifts from a standpoint of unselfishness. If when the believers are gathered, they are all functioning in self edifying gifts, then they are making the same mistake that Paul rebuked earlier with the Lords table. The purpose of the gathering and gifts are for the building up of others and not for self gain. So Paul warns them of the selfish use of the gifts. He says it’s better to use Prophecy or Teaching because others can learn and grow. Some Pentecostal groups make a distinction between the prayer time and the ministry time. They practice tongues during corporate prayer and then treat ‘a tongue uttered’ during the service as something that needs interpretation. I see some merit to his, but it should be noted that here Paul does say ‘when you bless with the Spirit’ [prayer over a meal or something like it] that your prayer is fine, but still the other person doesn’t benefit. So Paul actually includes both ‘prayer tongues’ and ‘a word in tongues’ as needing to be tamped down during the public gathering. Of course we will see the teaching on private tongues as being fine, the point I am making is Paul includes ‘prayer tongues’ along with the other type. The main thrust of Paul’s teaching on Tongues is that the gift itself is legitimate [definitions of the gift vary!] but that all the gifts of the Spirit should be used unselfishly. ‘Well brother, Paul himself says it’s fine to pray in tongues to build yourself up! Got you now!’ well actually you don’t! ‘Building ones self up’ in a private setting can be considered beneficial to the overall corporate group. I just prayed/mediated for around an hour before writing, this was personal ‘self building’ for the purpose of corporate teaching. No matter where you personally come down on the various gifts of the Spirit, it is important to do all things with the benefit of others in mind. I hate to stick this example in here, but heck I just came up with it! Last night I was watching the news. I channel surf from CNN, MSNBC, FOX and even hit the PBS station every now and again [plus the big 3 networks]. Its still the first week of President Obama’s presidency and I couldn’t help but notice the unbelievable amount of ‘slobbering’ [yes, I borrowed it from Bernie Goldberg] that was taking place. I actually clicked the channel from Hannity to CNN. Hannity just finished talking about the embarrassing amount of gushing that the media were doing over Obama. As I clicked to Anderson Cooper, they were showing clips from the first media interview that Obama has given since being in office. It was a very good interview to an Arab language station. As Cooper was asking the reporters on their first thoughts of the interview, one actually said ‘it is so unbelievably outstanding that I am actually ‘giddy’. Now, I don’t subscribe to the Hannity/Limbaugh stuff 100%, but this really was too much. The media are putting such a high expectation on the poor man that no human being could possibly fulfill their image of the man. It was also reported that George [Stephanopoulos-?] actually cried during the inauguration. Of course Chris Matthews will go down in history for describing a ‘feeling going up his leg’ during coverage of an Obama speech. What’s wrong with this picture? I understand that the average white man feels self affirmed when he engages in public displays of support for Black advancement. I too like our President and do pray regularly for him. Not too long ago I met a black homeless friend, he actually has a little apartment but he was at the free mission so I sometimes refer to all these brothers as homeless. He was under the impression that I ran some type of ministry that took in money [I never take any offerings, for radio or anything else] so as I offered to by him some groceries and stuff, he kinda went a little overboard. I really didn’t have any ‘extra money’ but I bought it any way. I didn’t get mad or feel bad about it. I still see the brother every now and then and am still willing to help him. Now, is it better to show your love for the black man by publicly crying and gushing and describing sexual type feelings when listening to the new president speak, or to actually go out and find some black person in need and meet the need? I don’t want to get into the whole political scene at all, sometimes it gets me mad. I have actually ‘cussed’ [yes, I admit it] at the screen at times. [Little curse words, not the big ones!] The point being we all need to heed the admonition in scripture to show our love by our deeds and actions. To simply put on a public display for the world means very little.
(1007) CORINTHIANS 14:20-33 Paul instructs the church that when they are gathered together they should do things ‘decently and in order’. God is not the author of confusion. Notice the ‘order’ of the early church meeting. It is participatory in nature, those who give a word should take turns, those who give ‘a tongue’ need to let someone interpret. But there is no sense of ‘a pastoral speaking gift’ in this mix. Some teach that here Paul was giving directions to ‘the home group’ but they still had a regular ‘church service at the building’. This of course has no support at all from scripture or 1st century church history. Paul was simply telling ‘the church’ how to act when they met. I don’t see any hard and fast rules in which Paul is dictating some type of mandatory liturgy to the people. He is giving them some basic guidelines that are in keeping with the idea that God’s people are ‘a body’. He encourages open participation in the group. He shows how someone could be sharing and another who is ‘sitting by’ can also have a revelation. The idea is people grow and mature when they function. People become co-dependant when they simply observe. The modern church service for the most part has believers as spectators while one person speaks. While there are times where one person speaking/teaching is fine, what we have done is exalted this very limited format of ‘church’ and made it the criteria of what church is supposed to be. Note how Paul does allow for the gift of tongues to be used in the gathering, but only when there is an interpreter. He even ‘lifts’ an obscure verse from Isaiah that says God used ‘the languages of foreigners’ as a sign of judgment against unbelief. This verse has been used by the strong anti charismatic crowd to kind of say that the whole tongues thing is ‘of the devil’. Basically Paul was applying this Old Testament verse to show that when languages are spoken that people don’t understand, then unbelievers and judgment can be present. In Acts 2 there were those who said ‘what is this strange thing [tongues] are they drunk or what’. Yet others heard the ‘wonderful works of God’ in their native tongue. The lack of spiritual discernment among those who thought they were drunk was a sign showing their ignorance of Gods Spirit at work. Grant it, you could hardly blame them for thinking this, but the point Paul is making is that unknown languages being used in a setting where unbelievers can walk in does act as a sign of judgment. Paul wasn’t teaching that the gift of tongues was itself a false gift. I think this chapter is important for the present day because very few places in scripture actually deal with the way believers should meet. This chapter gives some of the basic guidelines of what our meetings should look like. I think we could all learn from the Corinthian experience.
(1008) CORINTHIANS 14:34-40 ‘Let your women keep silent in the gathering, for it is not permitted for them to speak. If they have any questions let them ask their husbands at home’. As a practical matter, when me and my wife attend church, I bring one of those little note pads with me. You never know when your wife has a question! [This is a Joke! But now you can see why I don’t take offerings]. What is Paul saying here? In chapter 11, verse 5, he also told the women not to ‘prophesy’ with uncovered heads. Some think Paul is forbidding women to operate in the speaking gifts, specifically tongues. Here he seems to be addressing a specific issue at Corinth. He says ‘if they have questions let them ask their husbands’. It’s possible that the wives were interrupting the meetings, or taking an authoritative role that was beyond their calling. I already discussed how Corinth had a form of idolatry that incorporated ‘temple prostitution’. Paul did not want the churches to go the way of the culture at Corinth! Paul is not forbidding women in general to never ‘talk in church’. He closes this chapter with the admonition to do all things decently and in order. Paul has a special relationship with these believers. He spent quite a long time in their city [18 months] he launched another very effective ministry while at Corinth. Do you know what that was? He began his ‘writing ministry’ while at Corinth. He wrote his first 2 letters to the Thessalonians from the city. Paul was very hard on this church, but he did not yet challenge their basic identity as believers because of all their misgivings, he still treated them as Gods holy people. In the next chapter he will question whether or not ‘they are in the faith’. He will challenge them on their unbelief in the resurrection of Christ.
(1009) A PALESTINIAN PASTOR- Let me share a little about our Christian brothers who live in Palestine. The purpose of sharing this is so we as American believers could have a different way of viewing the Middle East situation. Not for defending terrorism or embracing anti Semitism, but a whole ‘other worldly’ view. I recently read a story from a Lutheran Palestinian pastor. He is part of a small percentage of Christians living in the land. Around 3% of the population are believers. Some of these groups date back to the early centuries of the Christian church, others to the Reformation period. The point being a historic church actually exists amongst the Palestinian people. The Pastor was looking forward to his son’s graduation day, they were going to travel to the ‘Holy city’ for the special occasion and it was considered the big graduation day for the whole family. The Pastor made sure he had all the paperwork together for the trip. The big night of the graduation celebration they were stopped at a border checkpoint by an Israeli soldier and were denied entry. The Pastor humbled himself and showed the soldier that his paperwork was in order, that he was a Christian minister who meant no harm. He went out of his way this night to show the soldier that he and his family were really no threat at all. After much pleading the fine Pastor and his family turned around and had their celebration back at home. Now, I do not know what the situation was on the ground that night, maybe there was a threat in the area. The point is too many American believers view the whole situation in the middle east from some type of ancient old testament story in which the Israelis are possessing their promised land while driving out the ‘Canaanites’. This ‘lens’ is not in keeping with the Christian gospel. The Palestinian Christians were asked how they felt about having true fellowship with Christians from the outside. They said they were often viewed as ‘cultural Christians’ only. Sort of like in name only, they were not seen as truly being ‘born again’. They were excited at times when Christian groups did interact with them as fellow believers in the faith. But the majority of contact from the outside Christian world were the various ‘prophetic/evangelical’ type Christians who were visiting the holy land as tourists. For the most part these American believers were there to see ‘the holy sites’ to view the restored Jewish state. To see how work was going among the various orthodox groups who were re making the utensils that were to be used in a future rebuilt temple. But for the most part the American believers viewed these brothers in the faith as something less valuable than the actual land that they were visiting. These mindsets show us that we have a long way to go to regain a pure biblical view of the gospel and how it relates to society today. The gospel puts tremendous value on the people for whom Christ died [both Jews and non Jews]. When Jesus spoke of ‘the restoration of the temple’ he was speaking about his own Body, not Herod's building. When American evangelicals place a greater emphasis on the natural land and the hope of a restored temple with renewed animal sacrifices, than on the actual living Body of Christ on earth [believers of every ethnic background] then we have shown a tremendous lack of discernment equal to those who mistook Jesus words as applying to the natural temple of his day.
(1010) CORINTHIANS 15:1-19 Paul will deal with the greatest threat yet to the Corinthian church, their doubt over the physical resurrection of the body. Various ‘Christian’ groups over the years have doubted the physical resurrection. Now, some have done this out of a sincere attempt at trying to defend the faith! [their view of it] In the 1900’s you had one of the most popular theologians by the name of Rudolf Bultman [most of his career was spent at the University of Marburg, Germany. Much of the higher criticism of the day originated from Germany] He wrote a book called ‘Kerygma and Myth’. What he tried to say was that any modern man living in the 20th century, with all the breakthroughs in science and knowledge, could not ‘literally’ believe the miraculous stories in scripture. Or even the way scripture spoke of heaven and hell and used limited terms to describe spiritual truths. He used the bibles terminology on Cosmology as an example. How could man believe in a Cosmos where ‘heaven is up there, with the stars and all’ and he felt that enlightened man needed to ‘re-tool’ the bible and cleanse it from all these mythical images, but yet keep the spiritual aspects of it. The moral teachings of Christ and stuff like that. So you have had sincere men doubt the truth claims of scripture. The problem with this attempt [higher criticism] is it throws out the baby with the bathwater. The resurrection of Jesus is presented by the apostles as a real event. The fact of this resurrection can also be attested to by examining the historical events of the day. Simply put, there is a ton of proof for the real resurrection of Christ. Bultman and others meant well, but some of the ‘facts’ that they were using were later proven to be false. Bultman used a model of cosmology that would later be rejected by science. Yet the testimony from scripture would remain sure. Paul told the Corinthian's that they needed to reject any attempts at spiritualizing the resurrection of Christ. Sometimes believers grasp hold of limited proof’s for certain doctrines. For instance, the New Testament does speak of a spiritual resurrection. In Ephesians Paul says we are presently raised with Christ. In Romans chapter 6 we have all ready been raised with Jesus. This reality does not mean there will be no future resurrection of the saints. In John’s gospel Jesus speaks of the resurrection as being a future real event, as well as a present reality. Those in the graves will hear his voice and be raised from the dead. And those who were presently ‘dead in sins’ would ‘come alive’ [spiritually] when they heard and believed the testimony of Jesus. It is important for the believer to be familiar with the various theories and ideas that theologians and believers have grasped over the years. It is a mistake to simply see all higher learning as ‘liberalism’. There are some very important things that we have learned thru the great intellectuals of the church. But we also need to stick with the ancient traditions as seen in the creeds, as well as the plain testimony of scripture. If Christ ‘be not raised from the dead, then we are of all men most miserable’.
(1011) CORINTHIANS 15:20-28 here we see the guarantee of mans resurrection based on Christ's resurrection. ‘As in Adam all die, so in Christ shall ALL be made alive’. Is Paul teaching a form of universalism [all being saved]? He is showing us that all men will someday be raised from the dead. Now, does Paul leave room here for a type of Pre-millennial resurrection? A ‘raising’ of the dead prior to a thousand year literal reign of Jesus. Then another resurrection at the end? Yes he does. If you read Revelation you will see this type of scenario play out. Also Jesus speaks of the resurrection of the just and the unjust. Historically the church has held 3 basic views on this. Pre-millennialism says Jesus returns first [pre] before the literal thousand year rule occurs. ‘Post’ says the thousand year rule is literal, and after that Jesus comes back. Those who held to this view were excited at the turn of the first millennium [1000 ad] they thought it possible for Jesus to have returned after the first thousand years since his death and resurrection. And then you have A-millennial, they spiritualize the thousand year reign spoken of in the book of Revelation as being a symbol of Christ’s present rule and kingdom. Now, today’s most popular form of Pre-millennialism is not historic, it dates back to the 19th century. Today’s form is called ‘Pre-tribulational, Pre-millennial’ this teaching [dispensationalism] says Jesus comes back 2 more times. One is called ‘the rapture’ the other is the second coming [revealing]. The proponents of this form find little [or no] early Christians who believed this. There is one early writing by a Syrian brother who speaks very clearly about a rapture type event. Some think he speaks a little too clearly! The writing is believed to have been a fake. Either way we do have Paul teaching stages involved with the coming of the Lord and the kingdom. It is possible to have 2 future resurrections, this would not mean you need two future ‘second comings’. The first resurrection takes place at Christ’s return. He rules a literal thousand years and ‘the dead are raised again’ at the end of the literal rule on earth [ a literal reading of Revelation]. Also Paul does use the language of Jesus submitting to the Father at the end so ‘God will be all in all’. I feel believers have been confused and at times contradictory while trying to explain the nature of God and the Trinity. I recently read a teaching on the Trinity that tried to compare the Trinity to the nature of the organic church. It seemed confusing to me, they tried to say that just like in the Trinity you have no one ‘being’ having authority over the other, but instead you see all three persons equally submitting to one another [Father, Son and Spirit] so in the church you have equality. Now, I do believe that there is equality in the church, but I felt the example was way off. The New Testament clearly teaches the willful ‘submission’ of the Son to the Father. God [the father] is clearly the one ‘in charge’. Now, I admit it’s difficult and brothers have spent years trying to explain all the ins and outs of this. Here Paul shows us that the Son has willingly submitted to the Father so the father can put all things under him. Then once again at the culmination of the kingdom the Son submits to the father and God receives the glory. We will praise and worship Jesus thru out all eternity, it is his willful submission to the father’s plan that makes this happen. NOTE- Some believers spiritualize the first resurrection spoken of in Revelation, they relate it to those who have been ‘born again’ spiritually. Modern ‘Preterism’ holds to this view.
(1012) JAMES AND REVELATION- I have been reading James along with some stuff on Revelation. James says ‘though the ships are driven with fierce winds, yet they turn by the steering of the captain. He sets the course with a small helm/rudder’. Also that the tongue is a ‘world of sin, it sets the course of nature on fire’. In revelation Jesus is depicted as a warrior LAMB. He is also called the Lion of Judah. He ‘slays the wicked’ with the sword [word!] from his mouth. The word for conquer/victory in Revelation is the Greek word NIKAN-NIKE. Yes, the famous sneaker comes from this word! Nikan was a Roman conqueror god. Rome was a conquering nation who used force and brutality to win. John depicts her as Babylon in his apocalypse. When we read of the victorious Lamb and his followers [believers] overcoming and conquering the beast, we are seeing the nature of Jesus kingdom at work. We too are lambs sent out into the world. We turn the other cheek, we forgive and love our enemies. We reject violence as a means of victory. We conquer too by the sword that comes out of our mouth! [The blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony]. What we say, as the corporate church of God, matters! We can turn entire ‘ships’ [nations and governments] by the things we proclaim as Gods people. We can also release the nature of man and cause a huge ‘firestorm’ without realizing it. When we present Jesus and his kingdom thru a view of ‘conquering’ [Nike] that is done thru violence, nuclear war, Jesus literally treading people’s blood until it drips from his garments, when we give this imagery as actual killing, then we thru our lips are releasing the violent course of man in the earth. We have believers reading the popular end times books and fantasizing about end time scenarios of survivalism and warfare. These images are actually things the 'beast’ uses to obtain authority and rule. To the contrary Jesus and his followers are conquering thru a different means. We are followers of the Lamb who ‘kills with the sword of his mouth’. When the citizens of ‘Rome’ [unbelievers] are confronted with the testimony of Jesus from our lips, then they ‘die to their old lives’ and are raised to walk in newness of life [Romans 6]. The blood imagery of Jesus being drenched in it, can be saying that Jesus identified so much with man in his bloody death, that as he ‘treads the enemy’ he becomes identified with the human condition so man can become identified with him. In essence Jesus ‘co-mingled’ with us thru death, so we could be united with him in life. The point I am making is we as Gods people need to be careful when we run headlong into violent war scenarios when presenting the word of God. It is obvious that Jesus is not literally killing people with a real sword [made out of metal] from his mouth. He conquers thru love and death and resurrection, the world conquers thru violence and oppression. When we ‘paint’ an inaccurate picture of these things thru our teaching/preaching, then we are releasing thru our tongues a ‘world of iniquity that sets on fire the course of nature’. This is not the testimony that we should be speaking that truly causes us to overcome.
(1013)CORINTHIANS 15:29-49 the resurrection body is a real ‘spiritual’ body. Paul describes the natural body [us now] as fleshly and like Adams body. He then describes the promised resurrection body as being like Jesus in his raised state. These verses can be a little confusing. When Paul says the resurrection body is ‘spiritual’ as compared to earthy, is he saying it is not real? No. But you can see how some early sects could use these verses and teach a ‘phantom’ type resurrection [Gnostic, Docetist type groups]. I was once asked by a Catholic believer if the church taught the physical resurrection. I assured the person that both Catholic and Protestant [and Orthodox] expressions of Christianity embrace the real future resurrection of the body. Now, is it the same body? Well, the way Paul describes it is by comparing the planting of seeds. When you plant a seed you don’t simply get a bigger seed! But you get various types of growth, whether it’s a tree or plant or whatever. So Paul says our future bodies will be new and glorious in this way, but if it weren’t really you, then it wouldn’t be a resurrection! So you will come back, but it will be a ‘new you’. Over the years I have studied various theologians [Christian ones] and I have seen the penchant for various groups to focus in on a certain doctrine and to stray somewhat from the faith. Now, they aren’t always cults, some of them are highly knowledgeable Christians who seem to be testing the boundaries of orthodoxy. I like N.T. Wright, the famous Bishop of Durham [Church of England] but you need to be grounded in what you believe before you can really read him. I feel at times he is helpful in bringing new perspectives to things, I have seen some of the things he teaches myself. But there is also a danger of ‘re-thinking’ stuff a little too much. By the way Wright has written on the resurrection and has done a great job at defending the historic churches position. He’s in somewhat of a theological controversy at the moment, some of the strong reformed brothers have come out and challenged his view on Justification. Wright teaches that the historic reformers kind of missed what Paul was saying. Wright ‘extends’ the doctrine to mean ‘a sign/badge of those who are already in Gods covenant community’. The historic reformers taught a more forensic meaning of the doctrine. That justification is primarily saying that God imputes the righteousness of Jesus to the believer. That Jesus took our sins, and we get his righteousness. Now, I feel there is some truth to Wrights view. But I would be careful to throw out the reformed view all together. There certainly is much truth to the reformed view. John Piper [a reformed Baptist] just released a book on the reformed view, Wright has one coming out pretty soon [Wrights is already published overseas, but the states wont get it for a few months]. So, the point is I believe the historic church and the ancient creeds ‘got it right’ on the resurrection. It is real, it will happen to all people some day. Those who have ‘done good’ [wow- these are Jesus actual words when describing the final judgment!] will be ‘raised to life’. Those who have done evil will be raised to face judgment. We can all escape the coming judgment, Jesus died for us. If we believe and accept his death, burial and resurrection, then we will be raised to a new life some day. 378- (I stuck this entry in here because it deals with the ‘baptism for the dead’, I didn’t want you to think that I just skipped over the verse) Let me give a little example of the ‘overriding act of redemption’ trumping any little verse or experience. Paul actually tells the Corinthians ‘if the dead are not raised, then why are you baptizing people in ‘proxy’ for the dead?’ This is tough stuff. Let me give you one way to see this. The ‘baptism for the dead’ seems to have been a real cultural thing that took place in a specific time and setting [like the slavery verses I mentioned earlier]. There seems to have been a concern specifically to the 1st century church that said ‘this new doctrine of Jesus is great, but being its only been around a few years, and you are telling us [Paul] that you must embrace it to be saved. Then we have a problem. A lot of our loved ones never got a chance to hear. How do you expect us to quell these concerns?’ And it’s possible that the ‘baptism’ by proxy [like a father or son getting baptized in the place of the loved one who died] was a 1st century cultural thing that grew out of this. The fact that they were doing this does not mean that Paul the Apostle was condoning it. Paul was simply saying ‘if you guys really don’t believe in life after death, then why are you bothering with this rite?’ Its like Paul was using their own cultural thing to show them the inconsistency of their thinking. He wasn’t really teaching the baptism for the dead. [This is my view, Mormons believe different. They do practice this today and they use this verse as justification].
(1013) JAMES ‘with our tongues we bless God the father and we curse men, who are made after his image and likeness’ [my paraphrase] In keeping with the recent theme of James and Revelation [end time views] I want to talk a little about our view of human kind. We often read the words of Jesus in Johns gospel ‘ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father you do’ [8:44] and we use this understanding to devalue humanity. The liberal movement spoke of ‘the brotherhood of men and the fatherhood of God’ sort of like we are all brothers, Jews, Muslims, Hindus and all other religions, we are all just on different paths to the same God. Is this true? No. Jesus is the only path to God. But does this lesson the value of our fellow man? James isn’t saying ‘only Christians are made in Gods image’ he is saying all humans have special value, they are made in Gods likeness. When we grasp on to belief systems that devalue human rights and dignity, then we are speaking and acting with a forked tongue! Jesus rebuked the religious leaders and told them they were going the way of satan by rejecting him as the true Messiah, the religious leaders were choosing to say no to Christ. Spiritually they were following satan as their father. But yet James says all human beings originated from God and therefore people have much more value than land [even the holy land!], animals, temples and all other images that can be found on the planet. When we ‘bless God’ and claim to be speaking for him from the evangelical pulpits and media outlets, then we must be careful to not ‘curse men’ or to give an idea that these ‘Muslims’ or any other ethnic/religious grouping of people are not valuable. A distinction should be made between the value and rights of all people, and the various religions and false ideas that people have embraced. The world should not be hearing a message from us that says ‘by golly, Jesus is gonna come back and wipe the ground with the blood of these Muslim nations who are attacking Israel. Their blood will drip from his clothes! Bless be to God!’ Don’t you see how these images are ‘blessing God’ and at the same time ‘cursing men’ who are made in his likeness? [I realize some of these images are found in scripture, but we need to correctly interpret them. All these symbols need to be seen thru spiritual eyes, understanding the true meaning of the verses and interpreting them thru the overriding view of the gospel].
(1014) CORINTHIANS 15:50-58 Okay, let’s wrap up this chapter. ‘Flesh and blood will not inherit the kingdom’ Paul speaks a little on the nature of the resurrected body. It is real, but not mortal [flesh and blood] without getting lost in the technical aspects of the actual body, Paul does make a distinction between the natural life of man [blood gives life to the mortal man] and the supernatural life of the resurrected body [spiritual life]. Then Paul shows us a mystery [something that was hidden up until the time God reveals it- here thru Paul!] that ‘we shall not all experience death, but we shall all get new bodies’. Paul teaches that some believers will not face natural death, they will be the generation that is alive at Christ’s coming. Paul says this happens at the ‘last trumpet’. For those of you not familiar with some of the silly stuff that passes under the heading of ‘theology’, let me explain some stuff. In the world of ‘dispensationalism’ there is an entire body of teaching that deals with the trumpets in scripture. Basically if Paul is teaching that this event, getting raised from the dead and being transformed, if this takes place at ‘the last trump’ then it is pretty clear that this event is not some type of rapture that takes place 7 years prior to Gods ‘last trump’ [last day, when God wraps things up]. But if you read the portions of scripture that speak about Christ’s return and the resurrection [Thessalonians 4, John 14, Matthew 25] you will see that all these scriptures teach that the resurrection takes place at the end, when Christ returns. So anyway a whole lotta time is spent by the rapture guys to explain that when you are in school, you might say ‘hey, that’s the last bell [trump] before class starts’ and that ‘last bell’ doesn’t mean ‘last bell’, but it means the ‘last bell for now’. It’s kind of silly stuff that preachers do in order to back up their theories. If scriptures ‘last trump’ isn’t really the ‘last trump’ then you can fit the rapture in as a separate event from the second coming. I think doing doctrine like this is silly and hairsplitting. The first century believers who were reading these letters [not all at once, but as they were slowly being penned and sent] simply saw all of the references on the second coming as one event. It’s silly to try and make two separate lists of the New testament verses on Christ’s coming and then place some verses under a rapture heading, and others under a ‘second coming’ heading, especially when the rapture brothers themselves cant agree on which ones belong to which list! Well any way we have a glorious promise of a future resurrection body, the last enemy that Jesus destroys is death. Revelation says ‘death and hell are cast into the lake of fire’ Jesus has power over death, hell and the grave. He will totally eradicate all death some day, Jesus tasted death for every man [Hebrews] so that man does not have to be in bondage under its fear any more.
(1015) ‘THE LOCATABLE LOCAL CHURCH’? I remember how we were taught in the Baptist church that the local church is ‘locatable’ that it is a real ‘place’ that you could find when visiting a city. This tended to confuse the matter somewhat. In church history you can find teachings on the visible church versus the invisible church. Saint Augustine is famous for this distinction, as a matter of fact Augustine taught that it was possible [not probable] that a person who is a member of the visible church might not really be a believer, and that it was possible for someone to be a believer and not be a member of the visible church, though he did see this dynamic as a rare thing. Even some of today’s organic church teachings seem a little confused at times on this. They seem to indicate that a ‘locatable church’ means a home type meeting that you can find if you visit a particular city. While it is true that in the New Testament you most certainly could locate a home meeting [or temple one or one at the synagogue while Paul was teaching the local Jewish community- evangelistically] yet I prefer to see it like this. If I were to tell you that a wonderful community of people exist, let’s say in Houston. And I described these ‘Houstonians’ as being bright, progressive go getters. I explained to you that they are all real people who live and function as citizens of Houston. If you then studied the history of Houston a thousand years from now, how would you describe them? Were they ‘locatable’? Well yes, of course. If you went to Houston you would be able to most certainly ‘locate’ them. How? Well you would run into them at the store, see them shopping. Possibly playing ball at one of the parks. There are hundreds of ways to ‘locate them’. You would even be able to locate them at some home meeting [or church building]. But you certainly would not describe their ‘locate-ability’ [if this is even a word!] as being the home or building. They were/are locatable because they really exist as citizens from another place! So likewise I think it would be better to describe the ‘locatable, visible church’ as being the actual communities of people who reside in your area and are believers in Christ. Now, you should be able to locate a place where they meet and celebrate the Lords Table and stuff like that, but don’t confuse locating a meeting with the actual people themselves.
(1016) JAMES AND HUMILITY- ‘Humble yourselves in Gods sight and he will lift you up’ ‘He gives grace to the humble’ I was reading a testimony from a reformed type brother who is also an excellent writer on the ‘out of the institutional church movement’. He shared how early in his Christian life he was grounded in truth, he eventually became more reformed in his thinking and pastored various expressions of church. He recalled a few divine appointments in life where he was confronted by truth in a new way. He pastored during the years right after the hippie movement of the late 60’s and he ran into a few simple believers who simply challenged him on why the meetings he was pastoring were centered around his speaking gift. These were simple believers who came to know the Lord outside of the traditional church and naturally developed along the lines of a community. Now the pastor was much more knowledgeable in all things religious, but his humility caused him to rethink his understanding of what these simple brothers said. So over a period of a few years he studied the scriptures with an eye for this type of thing. He realized that most of the examples of one person preaching to a group were actually evangelistic in nature. The times the brethren met for fellowship were in fact not centered around one persons speaking gift, he realized that the questions posed to him from the simple believers were right. So he made adjustments to his ministry. This example shows you the need we all have for true humility. This type of openness is rare in ministry today, most leaders would have simply dismissed the questions that the other believers asked. Most well trained educated men would see their background as a defense for their practices. This does not mean we have no need for a well educated church, in this mans case he still uses his knowledge and education as a benefit for the church at large, it’s just we all have a responsibility to respond to truth in Gods timing. I have read testimonies of ex-pastors who felt like they were filling a position of performance and ‘looking good’ and living up to the expectations of people in a way that was phony. Men who felt like they had to go to some other town to simply enjoy being a simple believer. They were carrying a weight of fame and expectation that they felt were not a real part of Christianity. It was more of a by product of the development of the hired clergy position that they held. So these men left the pastorate out of conviction and humbled themselves in the sight of the Lord. I don’t recommend this for all pastors who see and learn these things on their journey, but this is the correct response for some. I simply want to challenge you today on your response to being confronted with truth on your journey. Do you have a tendency to dismiss all criticism as wrong? Would you have judged the simple believers who challenged your mode of ministry as ‘less than you’? I know I have done this at times, had the wrong response when confronted with truth. I appreciate the pastors/leaders who read this site, my goal is to help all of you on the mission God has placed on your lives. Some of you will have different responses to the things we share, my goal is that we would all come to maturity and unity as a corporate people in Gods timing. I certainly do not advise all pastors to ‘close up shop’ and start from scratch, but to some this might be a real option. But in each case if we respond in humility God will give us more grace, this is something we can all use. NOTE- The brother I used in the above example is Jon Zens, his web site is on my blog roll, it’s called ‘searching together’.
(1017) MONKEY BONES AND SPACE SHIPS- I read an interesting piece on the exhibit of Lucy in Seattle. The article showed how the famous bones, discovered in the 1970’s, were not getting the attention they felt it deserved. The display itself was considered less than what it had been advertised, many said they were surprised at the small amount of scattered bones that comprised the main exhibit. It almost seemed to look like a scattered display of monkey bones! [watch out] But alas, as you progressed to the part of the ‘show’ that had the man made models of what Lucy might have looked like with flesh and structure and all, sure enough she looked great! Exactly like a missing link. The article also mentioned how the scientist, who was an expert in bone structure, that when he was first contacted to ‘create’ the model for the exhibit, that he was quite surprised at the bones too. He said he had a very difficult time in structuring a bi-pedal model [walks on two feet] from the scant bone evidence. What made it difficult was the bones all seemed to indicate that the creature was exactly like a regular ape! [He didn’t realize that he was letting the cat out of the bag] But nevertheless he fulfilled his obligation and did his darndest to make a statue like being, contrary to what the bones really showed, and it looked great. Those who doubted the actual evidence at the exhibit were convinced by the good looking model. Now to the space ships. What if I told you we discovered a small scattered section of a U.F.O.? I created a special exhibit and explained to you all my theories on how this craft ‘evolved’ from other craft and eventually became the modern plane. I went thru all sorts of efforts to back up my claim. Then we discover that Joe’s mechanic shop out in the New Mexico desert actually has a working fleet of these craft! He has been flying them on routine missions for years [thus all the sightings] he uses the fleet for all sorts of projects; delivering the local produce to parts unknown, he holds special stunt shows and all for the regulars. We have hit the jackpot when it comes to finding out the truth about the U.FO. Mystery. We certainly don’t need the old exhibit of scattered parts that was promoted in days gone by. In essence this is what we have when it comes to examining the evidence of whether or not monkeys turned into people. We have the capability thru advanced DNA testing to show us the very unique makeup of living things. This advanced knowledge shows us one conclusive fact; living things stay in their categories! They have such unique genetic coding that it is impossible for one group to jump and become another group. We really don’t need to look at all the scattered ‘bone’ evidence to determine whether or not monkeys turn into people. We have the actual ‘craft’ to examine! The bible says that God created things ‘after their kind’ they would reproduce and multiply within their specific genetic group. For many thousands of years the bible plainly stated that these species do not slowly [or quickly] jump into another group. Darwin said they did, after 150 years of research, science has advanced to a point where we can clearly examine ‘the working fleet’. We don’t need a bunch of dead bones to figure this thing out. I just wish the evolutionists would get on the bandwagon and come take a look at Joe’s fleet.
(1018) JAMES AND THE RICH- as James encourages the saints he also rebukes the ‘well to do’. He tells them they have heaped treasure together for the last days and the rust of it will testify against them. He tells the poor believers that the rich blaspheme Gods name and oppress the poor. He tells the poor that God has chosen them to be heirs of the kingdom. One of the main themes of James is that God is on the side of the oppressed person, the down and out. God defends those who have ‘no voice’. They lack the finances and influence to speak up for themselves. Martin Luther King said the New Jerusalem is both a present reality breaking into our current lives ‘New York’ ‘New Chicago’ etc. He spoke of it as the beloved community. He understood that God was not only concerned with the after life, but with society here and now as well. One of the main purposes of prophetic ministry is to bring Gods people back into alignment and to speak out against injustice and materialism. I find it interesting that one of the main themes of James is defending the poor while rebuking the rich. Like we said before James was the half brother of Jesus, he grew up in the same home with the Lord. He experienced the tremendous ministry of Jesus for three years. He heard him speak the parables on rich men in hell and Lazarus in ‘Abraham’s bosom’. He saw the young rich man go away sad because he had lots of stuff and was not willing to give it up for a higher purpose. He heard the parable of the rich guy who wanted to build more storage for his stuff and feel secure by thinking he had abundance for years to come, but then Jesus said he would die that night. James picked up some themes from Jesus, one of them was that those who focused on material wealth were not focused on spiritual things. They seemed to spend most of their time thinking about their stuff. James was one of the lead apostles at the Jerusalem church, their were many poor saints living there. He was not preaching a prosperity gospel to them, he told them their present suffering was only for a short time. They would be rewarded by God for the difficulties they faced, the comfortable would have some stuff to answer for as well.
(1019) CORINTHIANS 16:1-4 ‘When you come together on the first day of the week, let every one of you put some money aside as God has provided for you. So when I come we won’t have to waste any time taking offerings. And we will use this money for the purpose of meeting the needs of the poor saints at Jerusalem. Whoever you approve to take the money to Jerusalem can do it, I might also go with them if the Lord permits. I gave this same order to all the churches in the Galatian province’ [my own paraphrase]. These verses are usually used to justify the Sunday morning offering. They are also used to teach ‘Sunday as the Lords special day’. Let’s talk a little. Paul gave these instructions to at least this church and all the churches of Galatia. We have no idea if all the first century churches actually did this. But let’s say they did. What exactly are they doing? They are taking a Sunday offering and using it 100 percent for charitable purposes. Remember how I have taught in the past that the main teaching from Jesus on giving dealt with the poor? So if we want to use this text to command believers to give on Sunday, then we need to use ALL THE MONEY for helping poor people. Paul also says ‘do it before I arrive, I don’t want to have to spend time messing around with collections’. I find it interesting that it is common today to spend a good portion of the Sunday service [any church U.S.A.] to kind of do a celebratory offering thing. Lots of time to stop and emphasize the importance of worshiping God with our money. The point I would make is Paul did none of this. He actually said he did not want to have to set aside time for the collecting of money when he arrived, and for this very reason he said take up the offering on Sunday! One more thing; it is obvious that the early believers began a tradition of meeting on Sunday. Jesus appeared to the disciples after his resurrection on 2 consecutive Sundays. Acts 20 has believers meeting on Sunday. Jesus of course rose from the dead on Sunday. But there is no indication from scripture that believers are under some type of New Testament Sabbath law. Sort of like Sunday is now the ‘special day’ just like Saturday for Judaism. Various groups argue over this issue, I have taught on it before. In the New Covenant we have tremendous freedom to meet or not meet on Sunday. Or to meet or not meet on Saturday for that matter! But doctrinally we are free from the law and all of its observances. I appreciate the work that has been done by various scholars [Especially some catholic ones] on showing how Sunday became the special day of observance for believers. But we need to be careful when we read what the believers did in the New Testament and then proclaim it as law. I believe its fine to meet on Sunday, to take offerings and to do all of these types of things. But when we grasp hold of limited ideas, and then exalt them to a place of law, we err. Paul was simply telling this church to collect some money on the first day of the week for the sole purpose of charity. If modern day believers want to apply these scriptures literally, then we should use all of the Sunday offering for charity. If we apply them literally, then there is absolutely no sense of a tithe system to pay for salaries, building upkeep, insurance, on and on. For modern day believers to engage in such things is fine. If these expenses seem needed for the overall purpose of Gods work, then fine. But to use these verses and actually tell believers they are robbing God if they don’t tithe on Sunday is absolutely not true. I have written a lot about these things over the years [you can find stuff on my ‘statement of faith’ section and ‘what in the world is the church’ section] I do not condemn all the churches who practice these things, it’s just we need to be careful when we take examples from scripture, lift them out of context, add a few verses from Malachi and then teach some air tight system that if not obeyed brings the curse of God on someone. Do all things in grace, remember THE POOR, and you will do well.
(1020) CORINTHIANS CONCLUSION- Paul concludes this long letter with a bunch of personal notes. He tells them that the Lord has opened up a great effective door for him at Ephesus and there are many adversaries. He wanted Apollos to make a visit but he did not want to at this time. He told them to go easy on Timothy because he was a fellow worker in the Lord. Overall Paul’s message to this church was one of true grace. I want to emphasize again [like we did when studying Romans and the other epistles so far] that one of the main themes of the first century apostles was belief in the gospel. Paul told these believers that it was believing in the message of the Cross that saves them. He defined the gospel as Jesus death, burial and resurrection. He encouraged them to live free as Gods community and to help each other out. Paul did not lay on them some type of guilt trip to become some high powered institution in order to ‘change their world’. He believed that the simple lifestyle of love and purity would be able to do the job. I see a contrast from the first century church and its simple gospel and today’s idea of church. Also notice how Paul was ‘planting’ these churches. He visited them, spent time with them, LEFT THEM, and continued corresponding with them thru letters and friends. In essence, first century church planting was simply establishing groups of people on the foundation of Christ. They were not organizing under some type of 501c3 model [I do realize they didn’t have this back then!] they didn’t see ‘church’ as some type of social group that you joined [Elks lodge type thing]. They actually were the church! I want to stress this theme as we continue teaching thru out the New Testament. Many times believers hold on to and embrace ideas that seem to be biblical [you can find a verse here and there type thing- proof texting] but when you see the whole story you get a better picture of what’s going on. Well I hope you guys got something out of this brief study, try and keep in mind the things that challenged you as we read thru this book. Did you see some things differently than before? Did some stuff get you mad? Did we challenge your belief system in some way? My goal is to encourage reformation in the church, not disorder! Take the new things you might have seen and implement them in Gods time. Those of your starting from scratch [first time church planters] can start with a clean slate and implement many of these ideas from day one, others who are already in ministry will have to take a more measured approach. Do all things as God leads and in his time. To all you ‘church members’ don’t take the stuff that you learned and use it to come against your ‘church’. Let God lead you on your journey and reform as God directs. It’s easy for some young rebels [or old!] to take the stuff on tithing and use it against your current church, that’s not our goal. Be patient with your pastors and leaders and allow God to use you as a force for change, not destruction. Well that's it for now; I am not sure what study we will jump into next. Recently got some good emails and phone calls from some of our friends laboring in other towns, people I did not even know of, but who follow the ministry. Those of you out there who are following along, send me an email every now and then so I can see what type of growth we are having, the different regions we are impacting. Those of you who have launched home groups, let me know how things are going. God bless till next time, John.
(1021) LUCY IN THE SKY WITH DIAMONDS ON HER FINGERS? I talked about the Lucy skeleton the other day. She is the closest thing that comes to a missing link. When they found her bones in the 1970’s she was scattered all over the place. Some think she is actually a collection of different bones from various species. Either way when they found her she had no hands or feet! You might think this was a bad thing for the evolutionist, but it turned out pretty well. The fact that she was absent hands and feet allowed the model makers to craft human hands and feet onto her. Since the initial find we have discovered plenty of hands and feet from other ‘Lucy’s’. Her species of ape has been found on a number of occasions, it is no longer a secret, the hands and feet are 100% ape. This fact is disheartening to the cause of Lucy. One of the main things the evolutionist looks for is a transition ‘ape’ that walked and held things just like humans. They have committed themselves to this picture. I mentioned a few entries back on the model of Lucy in the Seattle museum, well most natural history museums have their own models of Lucy. Some look much more human than others. One museum [I think Chicago?] had such a human like model that they were informed that the current evidence shows the model to be wrong. The model shows human hands and feet, the scientific community has notified the museum that the updated data has changed, Lucy looked nothing like that. The museum took it down for a little while, but eventually put it back up. Hey, funding is scarce nowadays, they can’t afford a new model! When they were confronted again by the obvious false impression they were leaving with the community, they responded by saying they realize that the display does not factually represent the real Lucy, but they are going to use it because it ‘gets the point across’. What point? You see evolution itself has religious connotations to it, it is more of a worldview than true science. In this case the Museum acknowledged the fact that they were misrepresenting the evidence, but their point was being made. They simply wanted to make the point that monkeys do turn into people, and if they need to skew the evidence to ‘make their point’ so be it. The Lucy statue had hands that you could slide a diamond ring on. The real ‘Lucy’s’ have hands fashioned for grasping and climbing, they don’t even come close.
(1022) ECCLESIASTES Solomon said there was nothing new under the sun. During the 16th century reformation you had a number of ‘offshoot’ movements that sprouted. Some define these as the radical reformers. Groups like the Anabaptists [re-baptizers] and others. As you read the writings of many of these groups you find that they were definitely seeing truth for their day. George Fox, the founder of the Quakers, was hitting the nail on the head when it came to ‘church as the building’ he exposed the limited mindset that many believers embraced. He would refer to the churches as ‘steeple houses’. Many of these groups were deemed heretical for a myriad of reasons. The Quakers would embrace a belief that emphasizes the truth from the Spirit versus the letter of the law. Some would carry this to an extreme and associate all ‘head knowledge’ faith as wrong. Any doctrinal correction from the more reformed brothers was seen as ‘dead knowledge’ coming against Spirit truth. So they would get branded with the heretic title by some. The same goes for the Anabaptists and many others. The sad thing is many of these movements were partial ‘reformers’ in their own right. They had good things to add to the debate. If you read some of their writings you would think they were a few hundred years before their time. I have read scholarly works from Catholic theologians on the Ecclesia [church] and what she is. These works were right on! Even though the average Catholic might not be aware of them. So you find real treasure in many of these groups. Their really is ‘nothing new under the sun’. You should avoid a mindset that begins seeing ‘my group’ or ‘my way of seeing things’ as the true group, and the majority of other Christian groups as false. While it is easy to see whole mindsets of limited understanding that exist in the church at large, I feel it’s dangerous to grasp hold of an idea that says ‘90% of all Christianity is dead wrong, they have all been duped until now’. This is sort of like the teenager saying to dad ‘you’re so behind the times, my new way of seeing things is better than yours’. Most times the teenager later realizes that this was an overreaction. I think we all need to read the great writers of days gone by, Bonhoeffer wrote excellently on the communion of the saints. Our Church of Christ brothers had real truth on the church as the people. The Catholic mystics new that there was more to the Christian way than simple knowledge, they sought a real experience with God. As you enter into this glorious communion of the saints, there will be obvious blind spots that you can find in many of these writers, but maturity allows us to by pass the faults of others [love covers a multitude of sin] while receiving the valuable stuff. Avoid the strong ‘they are all wrong’ spirit, remember ‘there is nothing new under the sun’.
(1023) ECCLESIASTES- I PLAYED THE GAME AND WON! Solomon was in a position where he could do and try anything. I recently read how a very famous Christian singer has come out of the closet and began living the gay lifestyle. He is married and has kids, he is in his fifties. He simply said he woke up one day and told the Lord that he was tired of fighting the desire and gave in. Solomon said he gave in to pleasure, he decided that trying to restrain himself was unfulfilling and he gave in to every pleasure his heart desired. Did it fulfill him? No, he said it was folly. He became the most successful business man in Jerusalem. No one before him was able to achieve the success and prominence in this city where he resided, yet at the end it meant nothing. In essence he played the game, by the rules, and it still wasn’t worth it. Yesterday I was helping out some homeless friends, a sincere older lady asked me if I had a few dollars, I actually didn’t. But I went to the store and bought a few things and took out an extra 20.00. I split it between 4 people; friends that I knew weren’t going to get drunk. They were so happy and grateful, I still can’t get over what a simple 20 dollar bill can do for people. In ‘this game’ that we are in [called life!] God is the scorekeeper, I realize that many modern ‘theologies’ have turned the tables. Some teach that God does keep score by how much material success we achieve before we die, they sincerely think this is right. I watched an exposé on U- TUBE that showed a CNN reporter interviewing one of the prosperity ministers who has come under fire. The reporter got smart, she actually read from scripture the passage where Jesus challenges the young rich man to sell all he has and give to the poor. She quoted the passage where it says it’s harder for a rich man to go to heaven than for a camel to pass thru a needle. The preacher defended his pursuit of wealth by saying ‘if you read the rest of the story, he sold his wealth and God gave him a hundred fold back.’ He said ‘God was telling the man to worship him with his wealth’. I actually was surprised that this minister said this, he does know scripture. He definitely was wrong about this, the rich man went away sad because he had ‘much wealth’ and did not want to depart from it! God keeps score differently than the world. Solomon tried all the options, he was way ahead on points. He was so far ahead that no one was going to catch up, he then realized that ‘being ahead’ wasn’t all that it was cracked up to be.
(1024) ECCLESIASTES 3:11 ‘No man can find out the work that God has made, from the beginning to the end’. No man can completely find out Gods works from beginning to end. A few weeks ago as I was praying/meditating I had a thought; I said to myself ‘what in the world are the evolutionists going to say when science ultimately overthrows their theory’ and in a moment of clarity, I kinda heard ‘they will slowly develop ideas that will make it look like they were right all along, even when these ideas themselves are contrary to evolution’. I realized that mans inability to admit he was wrong will cause him to lie. Sure enough, a few days later I caught an interview on the P.B.S. news that had 2 scientists who were speaking on Darwin. It just so happens that both Darwin and Lincoln celebrated their 200 year anniversaries on the same day. During the interview these men reveled in the wonder and amazement of Darwin, they were falling over themselves in worshipping the man. They explained how evolution is this reality that is the basis of all types of scientific advances. They went on and on. The interviewer then asked about all the science and opponents on the other side. How there were most certainly proofs that seemed to debunk Darwin’s theory. They responded by saying ‘Evolution has opened the door for all sorts of understanding and theories, one of them is called ‘punctuated equilibrium’, evolution has made this idea possible. Therefore thanks to evolution we have these other truths to look to for answers’. These men were doing the exact thing I ‘thought about’ a few days earlier. They were taking the scientific data that disproves evolution, and saying ‘evolution made this possible’! Punctuated Equilibrium [or Equilibria] is a theory that was espoused to explain how things really did not slowly evolve over millions of years. In effect the scientific evidence shows us no slow evolving of one species into another. As this reality began to settle in, the scientists realized that they needed to begin floating alternative theories to Darwin. They knew that if they religiously stuck with Darwin, that someday they would be disproved. So they floated this competing theory. The theory basically says that since the fossil record shows no data that things slowly evolved, how do we answer this? They said ‘maybe things changed so fast [what!] that the fossil record didn’t catch it’. In essence this theory says things did not slowly evolve! This theory does not back up evolution at all, it denies it. In essence the evolutionists in the interview were contradicting themselves, they were taking proofs against evolution and saying ‘see, the wonderful knowledge of evolution has lead us to this point in human history where we now know species DID NOT slowly evolve’. Are you guys kidding or what?
(1025) GREAT AWAKENING- In between studies I have been reading the ‘shelf of books’ I bought a few months ago. I bought about 70 dollars worth of books at the half price book store, they are worth a few hundred at least. The last three I just went thru were published by universities; Oxford, Princeton, etc. I have learned over the years that your time is well spent in the ‘higher education’ category. You can spend a lifetime reading the popular Christian culture stuff and never really get educated. The book I just started is called ‘Revival and Revivalism’ it was put out by Princeton and covers the history of the first great awakenings. I want to give you a long quote from Samuel Davies, the son in law of Jonathan Edwards. The Lord used him in Hanover, Va. ‘In all the sermons I have preached in Virginia, I have not wasted one minute in reasoning against the peculiarities of the established church; nor so much as assigned my own reasons of non-conformity. I have not exhausted my zeal in railing against the established clergy, in exposing their imperfections, or in deprecating their characters. I have matters of infinite importance to spend my time and strength upon, to preach repentance towards God and faith towards Jesus Christ.’ ‘What an endless variety of denominations, taken from some men of character, or from some little peculiarities, has prevailed in the Christian world and crumbled it to pieces…what party names have been adopted by the Protestant churches, whose religion is substantially the same common Christianity, and who agree on much more important truths than in those they differ. To be a Christian is not enough now-a-days, but a man must be something more or better, that is he must be a strenuous bigot to this or that particular church…but to glory in the denomination of any particular church, as my highest character, to lay more stress on my denomination than on my being a Christian…to make it my zeal to win people to my peculiar denomination than to Christ, to overlook the faults of those in my own party and to be blind to the good in others, or to diminish them; these are the things that deserve condemnation from God and man. These proceed from a spirit of bigotry and faction, directly opposite to the generous catholic spirit of Christianity, and subversive of it. This spirit turns men from the important matters of Christianity, to vain jangling and competitions about circumstantials and trifles. Thus the Christian is swallowed up in the partisan, and the fundamentals are lost in extra essentials’ [I paraphrased a little] I find it interesting that Davies and the other leaders in the awakening were anti sectarian, though most of them were Presbyterian/Reformed, yet they saw their task above denominationalism. In Davies case the main denomination he came up against was the Anglican church, many in Virginia contrasted the traditional church with the ‘new light’ brothers. Many associated with the revivals were seen this way. You can still find prejudicial comments made against Catholics during this period, but I find it interesting that many of the revival leaders were aware of the sectarian spirit and saw it as a danger to the work of God. They warned against what many of their ‘offspring’ would become. I find it hard to understand how many of the offshoots of the awakenings can read and study their history and not see the error that their own fore-fathers warned them about. But for the most part God was working in their day and they were wise enough to rise above religious bigotry.
(1026) YOU CAN GO STRAIGHT TO HELL! I was watching King of Queens [TV show] the other day, and Arthur [Jerry Stiller] who is Doug’s [Kevin James] father in law tells Doug ‘I don’t want to die’ as the plane their on gets shaky. Doug tells Arthur ‘don’t worry, it’s not that bad’ and Arthur replies ‘you don’t understand, I don’t want to die, EVER!’ hey, we all gonna die! Then Arthur asks Doug ‘do you think I will be going up or down when I die’ and Doug reassures him that even though he’s been a real pain, he thinks he will go up. Arthur says ‘Good, cause thru out my life I have had a number of people look me straight in the face and tell me “Spooner, you’re going straight to hell someday”. So much for comedy/theology. Solomon tells us there is a time/season for everything; a time to cast away and a time to gather, a time to be born and a time to die. God has ordained that certain things happen at certain seasons. One of the pitfalls of modern ministry is we often seek God with ambition and determination. We come up with goals and plans [often good] and then we get in situations where we feel if people would just support us [with money] or ‘pastor so and so’ would just recognize my gift, then the plan would work! Most times these types of plans are simply results of well intended ambitious people. But God does things in seasons, when he ‘opens a door’ no man can shut it. When he ‘closes a door’ no man can open it. I like Sarah Palin [former republican vice presidential nominee] I don’t hold to many of her Christian beliefs [basically Assembly of God, end times stuff] but she seems to be a good lady who the media treated badly. I told one person who was all up in arms about her daughter’s pregnancy, the person told me how the sex lives of her kids were ‘fair game’. I asked the person if they knew about the sex lives of Joe Biden's kids. If they think his boys ever ‘slept with someone out of wedlock’. I asked if they even thought a question like this was relevant. They then realized that they were using a measuring rod for one political party, but would not use it on their preferred party. Nevertheless I heard Palin say ‘hey, if God opens a door I will run thru it. Or even if I see a little crack in the door, I will plunge right thru’. I sensed a kind of ambition in this statement that many believers have. I think it’s better to be less ambitious, and more sensitive to the seasons. Yes, seasons and ‘open doors’ are alike, but God works with us in process. He shows us stuff to mold us, shape us. After we ‘are shaped’ then we fit into the next part of the puzzle. We too often are looking for plans and schemes to follow; God is walking with us on a journey. I am sure all the people who told Spooner to ‘go to hell’ were sincere, but you can’t live your life by what other people think about you!
(1027) ELIJAH PRAYED THAT IT WOULD NOT RAIN- I woke up this morning with this verse in my head ‘Elijah was a man subject to the same weaknesses as us, yet he prayed that it WOULD NOT RAIN FOR 3.5 YEARS and it didn’t’ [James]. As the first few weeks of president Obama’s presidency gets into action, I can’t but help notice the dilemma we are in. First, I like Obama and Biden. It is obvious that the president is a little ‘green’ [immature] at this. The problem with Biden is he has made a career at being ‘antiauthority’. A true lawyer/politician at heart. All the years in the senate he learned how to argue the opposite case whether he believed it or not. During the Bush years he came out and floated a very bad plan on the war. He said ‘let’s divide Iraq into 3 separate states and let each ethnic/religious group run their own province’. Quite frankly, this would have been a disaster. But he became an arguer in opposition to whatever Bush was doing. Now, in his first few weeks in office he still had some of this opposition/critical spirit going on. Even Obama became visibly upset with him when he dissed John Roberts in public, or when he blabbed ‘there is a 30 % failure rate in what we are doing’. Basically, he has spent a career at pointing out the flaws of others while not really accomplishing anything. So what’s the problem? Well, when you do this stuff, and then find yourself in the same position of those you criticized, you reap much more than if you just kept your mouth shut. This week the U.S. struck the mountainous region between Afghanistan and Pakistan and killed many civilians. The president wants to make good on his campaign promise to step it up in Afghanistan and route the Taliban [opposition govt. in Afghanistan]. Where are all the liberal Democrats who said Bush was a liar who killed innocent kids? “Bush lied and people died” was on Kerry’s lips as he ran for president, though the ‘lie’ was believing the bad intelligence of the C.I.A. and acting on it. Kerry himself voted for the war based on the same intelligence! But lo and behold, yesterday Pakistan began talks with THE TALIBAN to strengthen their rule in the area. What was the result of the bombings in Pakistan? They are no longer going to cooperate with the U.S.. Secretary Clinton goes to North Korea, another person who spent much time blasting Bush on his incompetence and stupidly in world affairs. They said they would regain respect in the world, they openly mocked bush and Cheney as imbeciles. Well Clinton announced what wonderful progress she made while in North Korea. The next day North Korea announced its intention on testing a long range missile that could reach parts of the U.S. Now, am I rejoicing over the obvious failures of this team? No, I do pray for them. But if you spent much time openly denigrating the former office holders, you will reap it when you yourself are up at bat. Now, Elijah prayed for no rain because the leadership of Israel was wicked, they oppressed God’s people and worshipped false gods [ideals-idols]. Ahab [king at the time] was more concerned about the environment than the welfare of the people, he sent one of his men out to find water to save THE ANIMALS! Our country can not blatantly disregard the lives of unborn children and at the same time try and look tough while killing innocent civilians. We cannot tell one ‘ruling party’ “the fact that our soldiers are even there is the reason for all the problems” and then send an extra 10,000 of them into Afghanistan. We speak with a double tongue. It is obvious to me that our country is going into a time of ‘famine’, we have some very tough times ahead. The present ruling authority needs to quickly drop the criticism of those who are no longer relevant [Bush, Cheney, Palin] and realize that they have a serious job to do. I believe God can cause it to ‘rain again’ in our land, but we need to be mature in our understanding as well.
(1028) TWO ARE BETTER THAN ONE, IF ONE STUMBLES THE OTHER CAN HELP HIM. AND A THREEFOLD CORD IS NOT EASLIY BROKEN- Solomon understood the principle of 2 or more witnesses. Our laws usually go by this principle based upon Old Testament law, we recognize the importance of corroborating evidence. Yesterday I listened to the testimony of the Texas school board president as he laid out the case for teaching both the strengths and weaknesses of evolution. He is a doctor who is well versed on the facts, not some ‘creationist nut’. He quoted sections of the most accepted literature on the subject. They were excerpts from books that evolutionists themselves published. These men stated the major problems with evolution [though they themselves believed in it]. First, the fossil record shows the ‘stasis’ of all things. Once something shows up in the record, it does one of two things. It either remains the SAME throughout its existence until the point of extinction, or it is alive today in the actual form of when it first appeared! In essence ALL the science shows that these life forms do not actually evolve. Number two, the advanced knowledge we have today in genetics and DNA show us the virtual impossibility of species ‘jumping’ categories and turning into other species. As noble as Darwin’s theory was, he simply did not have the ability to test whether or not this could actually happen, today we KNOW that this does not happen. And for the ‘third cord’. Evolution demands a simple cell, cellular life at the basic level that is sort of a ‘blob’ of simple matter that can be shaped and formed and change as time goes by. We have proven that this is absolutely not the case. The ‘simple cell’ is not simple! We have discovered that it is a complex machine that has very intricate systems and functions that far surpass our most advanced computers. In essence, the cell is NOT some shapeable, moldable matter that can evolve over millions of years. It is a complex thing that has to be functioning in a complete, cohesive way right from the start. Notice, all three of these scientific discoveries have nothing to do with religion, this is simply the process of science examining the evidence and trying to fit the pieces together. Many of the men who were helpful in discovering these facts were actually evolutionists, they also recognize that the science is moving further and further away from Darwin at a very rapid rate. A wise man told us many years ago that 2 proofs are better than one, but when you have three definitive proofs of something, you would be a fool not to give it some serious thought. Many evolutionary scientists are giving it some serious thought.
(1029) ECCLESIASTES- 5:1 KEEP THY FOOT WHEN YOU GO TO ‘THE HOUSE OF GOD’ [ECCLESIA] AND BE MORE READY TO HEAR THAN TO GIVE THE SACRAFICE OF FOOLS- Yesterday we had a good outreach day in Bishop and Kingsville [2 south TX. Cities] I had a few homeless brothers with me and we drove thru a few areas and hooked up with some of the brothers we have been working with for around 20 years. I am always tempted to answer more questions [speak more!] than I should. It’s important to let the brothers ‘do the talking’ they benefit more when there is a real give and take. I read this verse the day or so before the trip, it makes a lot of sense. To all my Pastor/leader friends, do you consciously make an effort to ‘keep silent’ when going to the ‘house of God’ [times of fellowship and community]? I know this needs to become learned behavior for many of us. We usually have grown up in a church environment that emphasizes the need for strong preaching, mounting the ‘sacred pulpit’ [double ouch!] and stuff like that. We are usually well intended, but we need to relearn some stuff. I was surprised how the homeless brothers shared many spiritual truths with clarity. One of the brothers does suffer from mental problems, he is extremely intelligent. He is a machinist who worked for many years in Ohio and knows his stuff. But he is a little unstable in his thoughts at times. Sure enough when he was sharing about the Lord one of the other brothers really took it to heart. On the way to back to Corpus I asked what they learned today. He said he really enjoyed being able to speak and help others. I could tell that this in itself was therapeutic for him, it truly is ‘more blessed to give than receive’. This is why Paul taught the interactive church meeting [Corinthians]. In the background there was a TV preacher on, my buddy put the Christian channel on for atmosphere. Some preachers were answering questions on the Rapture and all, it seemed to be ‘endless chatter’ on stuff that was not even true! I couldn’t but help wonder what the apostle Paul would have thought if he saw his writings being used in this way. On the TV there was no real sense of community, simply preachers telling people their endless views on various subjects. I am glad I tried to ‘keep my mouth shut’ as much as possible [hey, this is hard for preachers to actually do!] I too learned some good stuff.
(1030) ECCLESIASTES 6:1-3 ‘There is a COMMON evil under the sun. Men who have much wealth and labor, they live long and have many kids, yet they have no ability to enjoy anything. They die and don’t even have a proper burial’ [paraphrase]. I was asked what I thought about a recent popular movie about a gay rights activist who was killed. I haven’t seen the movie but it’s up for awards. I told the person that even though I am not ‘anti-gay’ to the degree that many preachers are, yet the problem with media portrayals of the gay lifestyle is that usually [always?] they portray it as some type of civil rights struggle on par with the civil rights movement. I think it is an insult to compare the black mans struggle for equality with a person’s sexual preference. Now, the last word in the last sentence [preference] is what I want to discuss. Over the years I have been clear about my beliefs on homosexuality, I do believe the practice is sin. Now, are there many sinful practices of all types of people? Sure. But there is a political [and religious] trend going on that is trying to equate this action [not feelings!] to be compatible with heterosexual marriage. To show the person who asked me if I saw the movie, to give them an example of media bias towards homosexuality, I asked them when was the last time they saw on the news any story about homosexuals raping children. ‘Oh brother, are you saying all gays do this?’ Of course not, but there have been many THOUSANDS of cases on a yearly basis where gays have sinned sexually towards others, just like heterosexuals, yet you would be hard pressed to see it in the media. I remember a story where some gay men raped, sodomized and killed another person. This was not widely reported at the time. Also stories of people who have been harassed by the more militant branch of ‘the movement’. Do we see stories about the wonderful Christian civil rights people who have had their rights abused by homosexuals? Now, I believe Christians have been inconsistent in their arguments at times. Does it really make a difference if someone was ‘born that way’ or acquired the lifestyle later on? No. The scripture teaches all men were born in sin, if the ‘sin’ that you practice has been with you from birth, that does not justify the sin. I don’t know why we fight over this stuff. Even in the pro-life cause, to which I subscribe, we have made inconsistent arguments. The idea that no person has the right to take another persons life is of course true, but when we debate euthanasia we sometimes seem to be saying that elderly people should be kept alive at extreme costs. That if someone is 90 and has cancer and does not want treatment, but wants to die in peace without all types of procedures, then that’s wrong. Of course we should never force this on someone, but to tell them they have ‘no right’ to deny treatment is wrong. Why are believers inconsistent when they make this argument? Because the founding person of our religion, Jesus Christ, actually said that no man had the right to take his life [speaking of himself], but he himself chose to lay it down. The founder of our ‘movement’ said this! So it does seem a little inconsistent to make the extreme argument on the other side. Well anyway, the point is ‘there are common evils that happen to many people’. Just because a whole group of people [whether gay people or any one else] struggle with a certain type of temptation from their youth, this still in no way excuses the sin. Remember, you want to finish life well. Don’t be like the man in the above scripture who accomplished much, but didn't finish well [bad burial-remembrance]. Don’t think ‘Gee, every one else in society divorces, or lives their desires out, why not me?’ Because the media portrayal of these choices tends to be rosy, they do not show you the other side.
(1031) ECCLESIASTES 7:19 ‘WISDOM STRENGTHENS A WISE MAN MORE THAN TEN MIGHTY MEN IN A CITY’- this chapter has a few good verses in it. It says it’s better to go thru some stuff than to live in continual ‘abundance’. Wise men have increased in the ‘house of mourning’. I watched some stuff on Lincoln the other day, it’s obvious that he grew in wisdom and stature as he battled depression and difficulty. His life’s motto was not ‘discover the champion in you’! When I went to Kingsville the other day I noticed our blog ad was not only running in the Kingsville Record, but also the Kingsville Journal. I am not sure how it got in there. I also have a bunch of papers lying around my office, papers from New Jersey and Houston and stuff. I have been getting some contacts from ‘former’ church members of years ago, they are on fire for the Lord. I kinda think they have friends who learned about us on their own and then they realized that they were talking about us. These old buddies see themselves as part of us, but many of them are not on-line geeks. So they run into other locals who follow us on-line and then they realize they are following our story. The point being ‘wisdom strengthens wise men more than ten mighty men in a city’. A few years ago I felt the lord said to start the blog and put the ad in regional papers. The ‘effort’ to do this was not as much as the various outreach projects I have been involved in over the years, but the results have gone much further. If you gave me ‘ten mighty men’ [employees/staff] and I sent them all over to effect the region, I don’t think they could equal the simple effect of me hearing and responding to the Lord in these simple ways. Now, we most certainly have ‘ten mighty men’ a group of both leaders and ‘regular saints’ [ouch!] who follow the journey, but they are a result of hearing and responding. The wisdom [ideas] from God have a greater effect than the efforts of men. Remember, the battle is not to the strong or swift, the victory comes from the Spirit of God. When we learn to listen and respond, the things we do will go far. When we put a lot of money and effort into stuff, without really listening, we get stuck with Ishmaels [something our govt. should learn!] Also, it is often in the ‘house of mourning’ [seasons of extreme difficulty] that God deposits the wisdom into you. Padre Pio [Catholic Priest] said ‘souls come with a cost, somebody has to pay the price’ are you willing to pay the price?
(1032) ‘A GIFT DESTROYETH THE HEART’ Ecclesiastes 7:7b Over the last few years I have read testimonies from Pastors who said they felt like they were unconsciously being manipulated to look good or perform for the community. Though they were well meaning, and the people they were ‘pastoring’ were also good people, yet the system of being a paid clergyman caused there to be a degree of inauthenticity. A famous quote of a quote [Frank Viola quotes another person in the book ‘Pagan Christianity’] says it’s hard to convince someone about something when their salary depends on them not being convinced! [paraphrase] So the actual position of being dependent on the offerings/tithes of people can put pressure on leaders to not deal with certain subjects. I have had fellow ministers over the years reject what I was saying simply because they felt it would affect their income. Their priority was on surviving. These men are not bad people, they mean well and don’t purposely want their message to be shaped by their dependence on a job/position. But in many cases the temptation is too great. Solomon said a ‘gift’ can corrupt the motives of people. While it is fine for ministers to receive financial help out of respect for their labor, yet we need to examine whether or not the salaried position of the fulltime minister is in keeping with New Testament ecclesiology. Are you tailoring your message by the support you bring in? Do you view success from the standpoint of material assets? Do you see ‘your ministry’ as a career choice? Lets all examine our hearts and motives, we might not be taking bribes in the classic ‘Mafia’ sense, but if we are allowing our financial support to effect the way we live and teach, then we are allowing our hearts to become ‘corrupted’.
(1033) ‘DON’T SAY “WHY IS IT THAT THINGS WERE BETTER IN THE PAST THAN NOW” [GOOD OLD DAYS] FOR YOU ARE NOT ASKING A WISE QUESTION WHEN YOU DO THIS’ Ecclesiastes 7:10 [my paraphrase] Is God telling us never to examine our selves? Or our nation? No. But this question speaks of the journey of life. Lets see if I can come up with an original way to state this, I know! How bout we say ‘life is like a box of chocolates’ [Okay, I pulled a Biden]. Let’s just say life is like a train/plane trip. Part of the trip entails some turbulence, there are spots along the way where the scenery is great, but also spots where it doesn’t look so good. Many years ago me and the family took the train from San Antonio to New Jersey, the kids were young and it was too long. But I love trains. Anyway when the train finally made it to my home state, my young daughter innocently says ‘why does everything look dirty’ [Ouch!] Trips have ‘built in’ obstacles, times where things don’t go as smooth as before. Why is it not wise to ask ‘why are things not as good during this phase’? It’s because the goal isn’t to continually have a great ride! The goal is to complete the course and finish the race put before you. I know American Christianity has for the most part rejected this, but it is without a doubt biblical. The apostle Paul ended his life in a rented room in Rome, Nero finally took his head off [Peters too]. Now, I am not saying we should all lose our heads, but we need to realize that God has a purpose for the bad spots in the tracks. This chapter speaks of the riches that we get in ‘the house of mourning’ the great things we obtain when the ride is rough. Are you asking the Lord ‘why is this happening to me, why was it better in days gone by’ try and retool your questions to ‘what do you want to teach me during this time? What kind of character development do you have for me during this phase of my life?’ these are the questions that should be asked. The American church spends way too much time trying to ‘beautify the journey’ learning tricks and confessions to make things ‘go away’, God says some of these things are here for a purpose.
(1034) Ecclesiastes 8:4 WHERE THE WORD OF A KING IS, THERE IS POWER. AND WHO MAY SAY UNTO HIM ‘WHAT DOEST THOU’- The other day I took my daughters out to eat Chinese food. My daughter’s friend came along, she is studying to get her degree in geology. So I thought it would be a good chance to talk a little on Evolution. Though she is a Christian, she had no idea about the science against Evolution. We got into Eugenics [Darwin’s relative came up with this ‘science’ it was what Hitler used to justify the holocaust and the murder of handicapped people. It justified [in Hitler’s mind] the destruction of the weaker races in society. Though Darwin did not call for forced ‘natural selection’ yet this theory led to Hitler’s justification of it] I was surprised that she knew nothing about it. Especially the fossil evidence against Evolution, she is studying Geology for heavens sake! Some how we started talking about the various things you can read in the fortune cookies. My kids came up with stuff they have read and all. Of course I had to add my two cents, I said ‘I had a note that said ‘Chinese rule and Whites drool’. My daughter’s friend said ‘are you kidding me’! Of course I was. Now, when the word of a king goes forth [when God is speaking truth about any thing at any season- Evolution and its false claims, Church structure, Reformation] then our only option is to learn and make adjustments as time goes by. We all have a tendency to stick with the popular opinion, until it gets overturned. Wisdom allows you to spot the trend and get in on it at the beginning, to see that God is speaking about a subject and be willing to go with it as God leads. I am absolutely convinced that science will reject evolutionary theory in a few years. Like I said before, they will do it in an ‘unrepentant way’ but it will be done. Certain things going on in the ‘church world’ right now are going to be ‘the norm’ in a few generations. I believe the church is going to re-think our whole world view concerning ‘church’. Now, we will not abandon the ‘faith once delivered to the saints’ [the body of Christian truth that all Christians hold in common] but there is going to be a revolution in our basic understanding of ‘church’. When God decides to ‘speak into the community at large’ we really have no option. We just need to listen and make adjustments in his time. The key is knowing when it’s God who is speaking! I do not advocate jumping into every new fad and new Christian movement that goes on in Christian circles. But I recognize there are key times when God is speaking with a loud voice to the church in the world, when God is speaking there is power. Don’t say unto him ‘what doest thou’ [or who gave you the right to speak].
(1035) ‘Who ever keeps the commandment shall feel no evil thing… because judgment against evil is not swift, therefore men feel confident in their sin… though a sinner sin a hundred times, and get away with it, yet judgment is sure to come’ [various verses/ paraphrase’s from chapter 8- Ecclesiastes] as I continue to watch the political scene it’s sad how various media outlets [both pro and anti Obama] simply tell you what you want to hear. I found it interesting that during the campaign they managed to make Palin look like an idiot. She supposedly questioned her campaign handlers on South Africa. The rumor was she thought South Africa referred to the southern tip of the continent, as opposed to actually being a state/country itself. Hey, it’s a simple mistake if your main job is not world affairs. Oh did the media blast her as an idiot. Yet Biden was at some event, he spoke to the crowd about his ‘good friend’ who was there [the politician from the state]. He even told his good friend ‘Chuck, stand up for the people, go ahead don’t be modest, you deserve it’. Well, as he was telling his ‘good friend’ to stand up, some stage hand had to tell Biden ‘he has been crippled in a wheel chair for years, he can’t stand’! You see, the media chooses to brand certain people as idiots. Now, as we progress into the first year of the president’s administration, a few things bother me. First, don’t keep saying ‘the problems we inherited’ every president inherits stuff, that’s why you run for the office. It is immature to keep saying ‘I inherited the problem’ just deal with it as best as you can and let the chips fall. Also, the Obama justice dept. just sided with the Bush administration in not granting constitutional rights to the detainees in Afghanistan and Iraq. There are a few hundred that we are holding captive in Afghanistan and a few thousand in Iraq. Liberal civil rights groups have taken the case to court and are trying to obtain rights for the detainees. These prisoners are in the exact same situation as the guys in Cuba [Gitmo]. Yet Obama just argued for them to not receive constitutional rights. The exact opposite of what many of his supporters argued over Cuba. Even Obama has indicated that our country does not have to violate the rights of these prisoners [at Gitmo] in order to carry out our war on terror. Yet the guys in Iraq and Afghanistan don’t get these same rights? The problem is we need to get back to ‘obeying the commandments’ that is we can’t lie and deceive and speak out of both sides of our mouth and expect things to turn around. We can’t expand the murder of innocent children and think ‘well, let’s get over our love affair with the Fetus’. Just because a crime is committed ‘a hundred times’ [over and over again] and just because it seems like ‘we have been getting away with it’ [judgment is delayed] this does not give us the right to keep doing it. If we truly love our fellow man we won’t KILL HIM. If we truly are concerned about the rights of certain prisoners, then we can’t argue the opposite when it comes to Iraq and Afghanistan. Leadership is tuff, especially when the media and opposing party call you a murderous war criminal [Bush/Cheney] when it’s your turn up at bat you better know what you are doing.
(1036) FIRE DEPT. STUFF- ‘Flight inseminators and don’t ask a question if you don’t know the answer’! Let’s do one for the comedy section, I get too riled up when talking politics. Over the years at the Fire Dept. certain quotes made it into the hall of fame. You know, we all say stupid stuff at times [in many things we offend all- James] but every now and then you hit a real winner. The Fire Dept. I worked at was in a naval base city [Kingsville]. One year we hosted the city manager and a few local politicos, as our chief was speaking about the local economy and stuff, he spoke of the value of the ‘Flight inseminators’, as you could imagine a hush came over the room as we realized this one would go down on the hit parade [the proper word was simulator!] We had a new class of recruits come in one year, we gave them the introduction and all. One of the guys asked a question, the chief responded ‘don’t ask a question if you don’t know the answer’. That was a quiet year. This one is kinda serious, but I’ll put it in for my firefighter buddies who still follow the site. Like I said before I have all these news papers from New Jersey sitting around my office. I run our blog ad’s in them so they send me the paper. I enjoy reading the stories from my old turf. Sure enough one headline caught my interest, it said ‘local firefighter gets 10 years for punching his captain in the face’. As I read the story the guys were at some fire and the captain ordered the firefighter in the building, the guy wouldn’t go, so the captain supposedly called him a coward, the rest is history. In the article it said ‘as we investigated this story, we also found out that the firefighter has been reprimanded before for violence, he assaulted one of his coworkers at the station with a frying pan’.
(1037) One of the themes of Ecclesiastes is ‘one event happens to all, both to him who sacrifices and to him who does not. Both to the poor and rich, the wise and foolish’. Solomon is writing from the perspective of ‘naturalism’, he sees only what is happening in the here and now. Even with this ‘worldly’ perspective he still favors the ‘God cause’. In essence it’s still better to obey and serve God than not to. Most believers are taught the virtues of standing strong in tough times, fighting the ‘good fight’ putting on that armor! The problem is these really mean little until the ‘rubber meets the road’. I am a boxing fan, love the sport. Most ‘observers’ have no idea how difficult/tiring it can be. Even other pro athletes will sometimes turn to fighting and not realize the strain of the game. I especially find it amusing when some TV star thinks he can do it because he’s ‘done it’ on screen. In the Christian life there are times when you realize ‘this is the season for sticking it out, for enduring hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ’. All the stuff you learned and were taught was for this time, the knowledge of ‘blessed is the man that endures tests’ meant little, until this day! I like Evander Holyfield, he had the heart of a warrior. Was he ‘great’? Probably not, he was what you would call a ‘blown up light heavyweight’ he worked out and got big. I know in the later years it sure looked like he was a full fledged heavyweight, but in the beginning he wasn’t. In the skill department he was not spectacular. We often minimize Tyson’s career/skills because he finished bad. I have heard commentators say he will not go down in history as a great fighter. I must admit he blew it many times, but if you simply look at the few short years he was at the top of his game, he might very well have been the most devastating heavyweight ever! But when Holyfield faced Tyson, he was less skilled [in my mind] not as strong [heavy fisted] but he was enduring, and he had this trait where when you ‘got him in trouble’ [hurt] he became more dangerous! He would actually fight better when hurt! To all you brothers who are in round 11 [or 14 for the old guys- that’s when championship fights went 15 rounds instead of 12] I want to encourage you, now is the time when sticking it out matters. When you question whether or not all you have taught was right on or a little lacking. When the critics seem to have a hotline to your number. Solomon also says ‘don’t listen to every word spoken about you, or else you will hear people curse you. For you yourself know you have spoken badly about others as well’ wow! Today [or this week, month, year!] is a time to endure, not a time to ‘show those critics a thing or two’ but a time to show the heart of a warrior, to stand up against the so called ‘bigger, badder opponent’ and win on sheer guts. I do realize that in our own strength we can do nothing, but I am appealing to the New Testament command to endure some stuff, to recognize that one of the reasons of testing and trials is they can come as a result of our effectiveness, our calling. After Jesus was baptized by the Spirit by John [and the father] he did a 40 day stint in the wilderness, when he came out of the desert he had power. Hey, maybe the Lord is working on your strength factor.
(1038) ‘The race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong, neither bread to the wise, nor riches to men of understanding...for time and chance happens to them all. For man also knows not his time, as fish are taken in a net and birds caught in a snare; so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it comes suddenly upon them’ Ecclesiastes 9:11-12. I was watching ‘King of Queens’ the other day, Arthur [Jerry Stiller] asks the waitress how much his coffee and donut will be, as he takes out his checkbook she says ‘never mind, it’s not worth getting a bad check for a few dollars’. Arthur is insulted! “How dare you” he then explains that his money was being transferred at the time in his ‘offshore accounts’. This reminded me of the time I had a renter who liked to bounce checks. He was an older brother who made more than me [as a firefighter] but couldn’t write a good check! So after a few months I wrote him a notice of eviction. He responded by telling me it wasn’t his fault the checks bounced, his money was in ‘off shore accounts’ [oh please!] It was funny, at the end of his response letter he says ‘sincerely, your brother in Christ’. This was the first time I had any inkling that he was a brother! So time and chance affect all of us, we can’t always control the ‘roll of the dice’. A few years back a bunch of guys lost money in their firefighter retirement funds, the guys at the station were all convinced by the stock guys to invest money in the stocks. Well, I looked at the papers and realized you could make a guaranteed 4%, tax free, from one investment. I was the only one who took this option. If you balance the risk of possibly making 5 % in the market [possible!] along with the risk of loosing it all, then why not do the fixed 4 % tax free? It comes to around 6 % with no risk of loss. It’s just common sense. Sure enough one of my buddies took my advice and did the same. Then the guys took a real hit, the stocks crashed and sure enough ‘time and chance happened to them’. As they were all mulling over their losses, my friend who took my advice was asked ‘how much did you loose’ he said ‘nothing’. He told them he took Johns advice. Now, even though we have little control over the global economy, we can make wise choices and prepare ahead of time. I have no idea why any sane person would stay in the market right now [2-09]. But people take bad advice, like ‘dollar cost averaging’ and say ‘well, if I just keep buying into a sinking ship, it will all average out some day’. I know of no other business where you are told ‘keep buying the bad product, someday it will average out’. While no one can time the market, you should be able to see storms coming. If you think the signs are saying ‘bad storm ahead’ then what in the heck are you doing on the ship! Solomon said there are events that we can’t control, many times we get ‘caught in nets suddenly’ things happen that are out of our control. These events happen to the wise, intelligent and fool alike. When stuff like this happens to you, don’t live in regret, but learn some lessons. Stop listening to the people whose living depends on you staying in a certain investment [like stocks!] I can’t tell you how many times I have heard these investors say ‘sure, you can invest in a C.D., but who can live on less than one percent interest’. While all the while you can be getting around 4 %, guaranteed! You see, people have listened to bad [biased] advice and have come up short. Well, the purpose of this entry is not to be ‘anti stocks’ but to show you we all need to re-evaluate at times. Many times ‘the same event happens to all’ because the wise are making the same bad decisions as the fool. Think ‘outside of the box’ hey, everyone in the box just might be wrong.
(1039) Ecclesiastes 10:7-9 ‘there is an evil I have seen under the sun, AS AN ERROR WHICH PROCEEDETH FROM THE RULER: folly is set in great dignity, and the rich sit in low place. I have seen servants upon horses, and princes walking as servants upon the earth’. In the last few weeks [3-2009] we have had an interesting dynamic at work. Our new president [ruler] has engaged in a type of class warfare; it goes like this ‘the rich and successful have been riding high on the hog for too long, the poor can not afford the same privileges as the rich. So we are going to tax the rich more and provide for the rest of the people who can’t provide it for themselves’. Now, I am not a staunch republican free market capitalist who believes that the free market solves all things. I have said in the past that the mandate for fair wages is actually found in scripture! That’s why many of the historic churches [Catholic] have sided on the side of labor. But in the current scenario we have dragged the corporate ‘big wigs’ before congress [which is always a joke, these guys are like the kettle calling the pot black!] and we have fostered a sort of attitude that says ‘lets make the rulers walk, while the servants ride the horses’. Even though I have been hard on the rich and famous in many of my writings, yet the reason many of them are successful is because they worked hard at it. I have been retired for over a year now, I retired with 25 years in as a firefighter. The main reason was because over the years my back started killing me. You get various injuries that come with my type of job, that’s just the way the ball bounces. Now, my retirement is solely the money that went into my account over the years, I get no type of injury pay at all! I always found it sad that there were many days when I would be at the homeless mission and many of these guys are in much better shape than me, yet many of them have been receiving govt. aid for years. I mean young guys who spend their whole check on crack! When the ‘ruler’ decides to put in place policies that simply say ‘even though you didn’t earn it, we will give it to you’ this undermines society as a whole. At the same time when the rulers call the business heads together and berate them, this is a game the servants love. It’s sort of like a dignified execution type thing. Third world countries kill the authorities they don’t like, we mock them. ‘Folly is set in great dignity, the rich sit in a low place’. I believe there is a time and place for our country to seriously look at corporate abuse, I myself have been a defender of the poor. But when you treat the poor in a way that says ‘nothing is your fault, we will solve your problems by taking from the rich and giving it to you’ you dignify folly. Many of my friends are poor because of very bad decisions they have made. Many of the ‘well to do’ have made wise decisions, when you simply transfer wealth from one group to another, without dealing with the underlying issues, you really haven’t addressed the issue at all.
(1040) Ecclesiastes 10:16-18 [Just a note, I wrote the last entry yesterday morning. That same day the stock market dropped below 7,000 for the first time since 1997 [it dropped to 6,700]. I guess you could say it was prophetic.] ‘Woe to thee, oh land, when thy king is a child [immature/inexperienced] and thy princes eat in the morning [spend and consume before earning it- deficit spending]. Blessed are you when your king is the son of nobles [doing right for ‘rights’ sake] and your princes eat in due season [they withhold consuming/spending until the proper time]...by much slothfulness the building decayeth, and thru idleness of the hands [a nation on welfare] the house drops thru’. During the end of the Bush presidency our nation passed ‘tarp’ a 700 billion emergency spending bill that was supposed to bail out the credit system. President Obama then passed another 800 billion dollar ‘stimulus plan’ that economists on both sides of the aisle disagreed with. Last week the president came up with another 450 billion dollar ‘omnibus bill’, this one is filled with ‘ear-marks’ something the president spent much time condemning! Some of the forecasts I heard yesterday were telling, it is now becoming common to hear that we might experience a ‘mild depression’ this is something that people normally don’t say! Our president has not been a ‘radical liberal’ who seeks to socialize our govt. His choice to increase taxes on business, to expand ‘free’ govt. aid to the populace at large, to spend so much money that our nation does not have [we either borrow it from China-they buy our debt, or we simply print the stuff like monopoly money!] these choices can be devastating to our economy. So why try and do all of these things at once? The president believes that during times of economic crisis, you can ‘take advantage’ of the situation and make major transitional changes, thus the conservatives accusation of ‘socialism’. I believe the wise, adult thing to do right now [3-09] is to drop the whole ‘big bang theory’ of radical economic change and to deal head on with some major crisis. We still have not fixed the credit problem with the banking system. This is thee number one ‘adult’ problem that needs to be worked on. When you by-pass the serious issues, and hand out tons of ‘free money’ in essence you are ‘eating in the morning’, you are saying to people ‘you can have your cake and eat it too’. As noble and sincere as many of these democratic principles are, you must first deal with the real problems. When people say ‘let’s tax the rich’ [a class I do not belong to] they need to understand that during times of recession this can be devastating, your ‘great new agenda’ can turn into a disaster! Solomon saw the danger in ‘child princes’ [immature leaders] he warned against ‘eating before you put in a full day of work’. Though the theme of responsibility and a good work ethic do not always fit in to a liberal agenda, yet maturity faces reality head on and does not make decisions based on popular opinion. And don’t support the ‘united nations population fund’ a fund that provides money to China’s ‘one child policy’, a tragic human rights violation that forces women to have abortions! Our new president wants our nation to start supporting it, this is something that we presently don’t do.
(1041) THEY DID IT AGAIN! A few posts back I wrote on the topic of evolutionists and their inability to admit defeat. I shared how they were actually clinging on to new theories/ideas that contradicted evolution, and then claiming that evolution made these new theories possible! Sure enough I read an article from a secular paper [non Christian] that had a scientist say ‘most all of us accept the theory of evolution, its accepted science. But there are many new ideas about the MECHANICS of evolution. Though the mechanics are coming into question, yet evolution itself is not’. What happened here? Remember when I wrote on ‘the bubble universes’? [under the evolution section] I showed you how people can change the definition of a thing midway thru the debate, and that by doing this you are committing the classic mistake of Equivocation. That is in the laws of debate and logic, when someone changes the definition midstream, he is cheating. Now, in the above statement ‘evolution is not being challenged, but the mechanics are’, what’s wrong with this statement? Evolution is a theory ABOUT MECHANICS! Make no mistake about it. Darwin’s original book that popularized this theory was titled ‘the origin of species’ [1859] the whole premise of the book was to say how various species ‘originated’. The ‘mechanics’ that Darwin espoused was called natural selection [survival of the fittest] he claimed that over very long periods of time, the stronger more ‘noble’ genes win out. The weaker, inferior species die off and more advanced species arrive on the scene thru this process [the mechanics of natural selection]. Now, like I taught many times before, the main problem today is science has advanced to the point where we have absolutely no evidence that stuff like this ever happens. The whole ‘mechanics’ of evolution is shot thru with holes. So what did the scientist do in the above argument? He changed the real definition of evolution [which most definitely is one of mechanics/mechanism] and said ‘evolution itself is true, but whether things actually evolved or not is up for debate’ these guys must take us for total idiots! To all of my ‘laymen’ readers, keep an eye out for this in the coming years. I believe science is on a sure road of absolutely proving evolution to be a fallacy, beware of those who will try and change the meaning of the word and make you think that evolution has made possible the fact that things did not evolve!
(1042) ‘Curse not the king, no not in thy thought; and curse not the rich in thy bedchamber’ Ecclesiastes 10:20a- These past few weeks there has been much ‘silliness’ in the media. They have been going back and forth on the debate over whether or not Rush Limbaugh is the titular head of the Republican Party. To my dismay, the Obama administration has added fuel to the fire. His chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, has enlisted the media to do his bidding, truly sad stuff. We have a national crisis and these guys are ‘cursing’ each other! Now, what do I think of Rush? He is an entertainer that captures a large audience. When he runs ads on his radio show that sing ‘Barack the magic negro’ then it’s time to shut him off. Both ‘cursing the king’ [open mocking] and ‘speaking badly about the rich’ [class warfare] are detrimental to our country. There is a proper way to disagree with the president, without demonizing the man. The same goes for the other side. Do I want Obama to succeed? You bet I do! Do I want him to succeed at stuff that I disagree with, like the expanding of funding for abortion? No. I want bad policies to ‘not succeed’. Now the media says ‘how dare you’! Yet all the while they wanted Bush ‘to fail’ in their view of what he was doing to our constitutional rights. They believed Bush was undermining our rights in his war on ‘terror’. So both sides want the other side ‘to fail’ in the things they perceive to be wrong. I am surprised [well, not really] on how the media is so willing to play this silly game. The market has been crashing, there are major world events going on, and Chris Matthews opens his ‘news’ show with ‘is Rush Limbaugh running the Republican Party’ you gotta be kidding me! Solomon said it was wrong to demonize people, even if you think their demons! I believe it’s all right to be critical of the administration when you have real disagreements with them, but to call our president ‘a magic negro’ is going way over the line.
(1043) HOW CAN ANYONE BELIEVE THERE WERE CAMELS AT CORINTH! These last few days my back injury has been pretty severe, I just finished praying/walking for about an hour and a half in my yard [early prayer time 3-5 am] and when I sit down to type it gets bad. So which way should we go? I was thinking of doing an entry called ‘were there camels at Corinth’? Kind of a spoof of a local Baptist radio preacher who has been making the argument ‘how can anyone read Revelation and think Christians are on the planet during that time of great tribulation’. He makes the false argument that if God is dealing with the nation of Israel and not the church, therefore the church can’t possibly ‘be on the earth’. True silliness indeed! Besides the fact that the church is mentioned in Revelation, terms like ‘those who keep the word of God’ and stuff like that are most definitely speaking of believers, not ‘tribulation Jewish converts’ but the church, the New Testament apostolic writers referred to the church as the ‘Israel of God’. The Jews who rejected Christ were of the ‘synagogue of satan’. John, the writer of Revelation and the gospel of John, is often accused of being anti Semitic because of his strong language about unbelieving Jews. So any way when you read phrases like ‘those who keep Gods testimony’ ‘The true Jews who are sealed by God’ these terms most definitely refer to true believers [whether Jew or gentile]. Either way, lets get to the camels. Suppose I were to tell you that there were no camels at Corinth, they were all miraculously raptured from the city! And the justification of my belief was ‘Paul makes no mention of camels in the book, how in the world can anyone believe there were camels at Corinth’! Well, the reason you would believe there were camels there, is simply because camels existed at that time. Whether or not Paul mentions them is irrelevant. You should not develop some doctrine that has them raptured away because they are not mentioned in the letter. So anyway this is my rebuttal to the argument ‘how can anyone believe that the church is on the earth in revelation’. You can ‘believe it’ because the church was on the earth in every other New Testament letter, they are even said to be going thru ‘great tribulation’ in some of the letters! To make an argument for their absence because you think they are not mentioned [which argument I believe to be wrong] is just as silly as arguing for no camels at Corinth.
(1044)‘Cast thy bread on the water, for you will find it after many days…give a portion to seven, even to eight…sow your seed in the morning and withhold not your hand in the evening, who knows what one will profit? Or maybe they will both be good!’ Ecclesiastes 11:1, 2, 6- Many years ago I gave a bunch of our teaching tapes to some people up north, years later when visiting them I noticed they still had our tapes in their car! God wants us to ‘cast bread/seed’ scripture says some people hold back [horde] more then they should and it leads to poverty. Remember the children of Israel in the wilderness? Those who kept back the manna, it ‘bred worms’. Don’t be stingy when it comes to planting seeds [sowing Gods word] go ahead, give some to seven, even to eight; that is don’t be afraid to scatter the seed. Jesus taught in his parables that some seed planting would go to waste, but plant it anyway! And he also taught that the harvest is not dependant on us, he said ‘you sleep and awake and the seed springs forth, but you know not how’. If your faithful thru out your life to make sincere efforts to speak and do Gods word, you will be surprised at the effect. You will think ‘geez, I never realized what an effect we were having’. Jesus said when the righteous go before the judgment they will ask ‘when did we feed you and clothe you and visit you’ they were unaware of the effect their lives were having on others! I want to encourage you today, are you ‘liberal’ in your planting? Scripture says ‘the liberal soul shall be made fat’ [not politically!] there are those that don’t seem to have much [could it be because they are always giving it away?] but God continually gives them supply/bread to give to others. Hey, cast your bread upon ‘the waters’ [multitudes of people] for after many days you will be glad when you see the results.
(1045) Okay, I am up early and just finished prayer time. I kind of heard [spiritually speaking!] the lord speaking to me about a few various subjects, things I haven’t recently studied. I also ‘heard’ the verse ‘there are 12 hours in the day, if a man walks when it is light out, he does not stumble. Walk while you have the light, for a dark time is coming when no one will be able to walk’[Jesus- John’s gospel]. These last few weeks have been pretty bad for me, my work injury has been bad. I really am not sleeping at night because of the severe back pain. I only missed one early prayer time because of it. Not because I am some super hero, but if I don’t ‘walk when it’s light’ [or dark! 3-5 am] then I miss the daily opportunity of real prayer. I realized that to miss a daily prayer/study/teaching time is detrimental to my own health. To get up early and start is difficult, I make a few attempts at standing before I make it to the yard for prayer. I always walk while praying, but after the hour or so prayer walk, I can function okay for a while. I realized that my day starts at around 3:30 am, and it usually ends around 3-4 pm- 12 hours! Jesus gave us a 12 hour work day, we complain about 8! Actually the Jewish day was a 12 hour day, that’s why he said it. Now, let’s talk a little on apologetics. I recently read a few statements from various church traditions that seemed ‘apologetic’ and defensive. The historic church still ‘smarts’ over the whole Galileo affair. Let me defend the historic church a little. A few hundred years before Christ the great philosopher Aristotle developed a cosmology [stars and stuff] that wasn’t that bad. It is a common error to believe that we all believed the world was flat before the 16th century, only a few people believed the flat earth theory, most accepted Aristotle’s [and later Ptolemy] view. Aristotle’s concept was improved a few centuries later by Ptolemy. Ptolemy developed a system that had the sun and planets and stars all orbiting around the earth on a system of ‘Crystalline spheres’ sort of like the earth was the center of an onion and the stars/planets were stuck on these outer layers and they appeared in certain places at certain times. Now, Ptolemy did not differentiate between stars and planets. He simply saw the planets as stars that were ‘irregular’ in their patterns. These ‘irregular stars’ were called ‘wanderers’ that’s where we get the term for planet. Well anyway this system was obviously flawed, but it worked well for almost 2 thousand years. So during the 15-16th century when Copernicus came up with a more accurate system [our present understanding of the solar system- one where we orbit the sun and not vice versa] he was initially rejected on good grounds. What! Do you mean to tell me you believe in the old idea? Of course not, but the first system Copernicus floated was actually wrong! Many people don’t know this. When the church and science looked at the initial theory they found it to be lacking in certain areas. Copernicus had the planets orbiting the sun in a circular orbit, they orbit more on an Ellipsis like pattern. Also Kepler had to make other adjustments to the system to get it to work [complicated stuff like the retrograde motion of mars]. So the church had some ground to stand on when they rejected Copernicus/Galileo. Of course we later accepted the truths of science and do not see science and reason as ‘anti’ Christian. But it is this embarrassing history that puts us on the defense at times, that’s why some notable Christians have embraced evolution as a tool that God used to create man. These Christians are over compensating [in my view] for the bad history on stuff like this. I reject evolution based on scientific grounds, not biblical. If God wanted to use evolution as a tool to create man, he most certainly had that option. But science does not show that ‘tool’ to be true. Those who reject all the evidence of Intelligent Design are standing with the Bishops of Galileo’s day, who when invited to just look into the telescope and ‘see for yourself’ rejected the invitation.
(1046) ‘The words of the wise are like nails fastened by the masters of assemblies’ Ecclesiastes 12:11. A few years ago I studied much on the apostolic movement and prophetic stuff. Apostles relate strongly to the gift of wisdom, they are foundation layers of ‘assemblies’ [of believers!] Much of modern Christianity has a tendency to fellowship mainly within their own circle. On my blog roll you will find sites that are reformed, catholic, emergent and prophetic. This does not mean that I agree with everything these various streams teach, but for the most part they all have something profitable to add to the conversation. I recently read a few stories on ‘modern day apostles’ these are humble men who have ‘fathered’ large church movements in other countries. Simple, non famous brothers who are spreading the gospel and planting churches in a humble way. They relate to, and train, other men under them to also launch out and bring the gospel to other places. For all intents and purposes [or as some say ‘intensive purposes’!] these men fit into the category of modern day apostles. Some use the term missionary to describe them. God has placed ‘wise men’ in the church who have the Divine ability to ‘sink nails’ [words of wisdom/ the Cross] in strategic locals for the construction of assemblies [local communities of believers]. Part of the verse I didn’t quote says ‘nails given from one Shepherd’ these men specialize in the message of Christ, they really don’t waste a lot of time on all the ‘new revelation’ stuff that the American church is consumed with. I would encourage all my ‘more reformed readers’ to be more open to the gift of the apostle, they are not all nuts who run around with strange doctrines. Many of them are dedicated servants of the Cross who are gifted with great grace to ground the people of God on a sure foundation. Their words are divinely placed in strategic locations and they play a major role in building Gods assemblies, they carry the words/nails given by the great Shepherd.
(1047)KINGS; INTRODUCTION- There is no greater Old Testament king and dynasty than that of David. While there are many other types and symbols that point to Jesus [Moses, Joseph, etc.] yet the rule of David and the promises of God to him [raising up a son from his lineage with an endless life who will sit on the throne forever!] are directly related to the purposes of God for his church and the messianic fulfillment of Jesus and his kingdom. Kings was originally one book [1st and 2nd kings]. It was divided when the Septuagint was written [the Greek version of the Old Testament] and stayed divided in Jerome’s Latin vulgate. We will see the division of Israel as a nation [northern tribes-10, southern tribes-2] take place in this book. More time will be spent on the history of the northern tribes, possibly because they needed more prophetic correction, so the recorded words of the prophets are more prevalent in Israel’s history than Judah’s [Paul said to the Corinthians that it was needful for heresies to rise up among them, this gave opportunity to deal with problems that would be beneficial centuries later to all who would read the story!] We also see some practical stuff that applies to the present moment [2009]. The division of the kingdom will be spurred on by the immature decisions of Rehoboam to listen to the bad advice of inexperienced advisers, should I say more? I can’t stress enough the role that David’s dynasty played in the national psyche of Israel and her future hopes of a restored theocracy. In essence their entire national hope was based upon a restored Davidic kingdom that would usher in the Messiah and bring deliverance to the nation from her oppressors [Rome]. Herod the great, Rome’s political leader who oversaw Israel and her land under Roman rule, built the restored temple in hopes of being seen as the leader who would fill the shoes of the promised Davidic restorer. Though Herod was not Jewish, yet he adopted Jewish custom and law in an effort to be seen as the legitimate savior of Israel. Saint Augustine [the bishop of Hippo, North Africa] would later say ‘I would rather have been Herod's pig than his sons’. He would not eat his swine, but yet he would murder his own sons! Herod was a madman at heart. Well let’s cut this intro short and keep our eyes open as we see Jesus and his messianic kingdom in this story. The church herself will become the fulfillment of this future kingdom under the reign of Jesus as king over all the earth. The New Testament writers will eventually portray Jesus as being the present fulfillment of the promises of God made to David centuries ago, they saw the promises of God as being a presently fulfilled reality thru the death, burial, resurrection and ascension of Jesus, the Son of God. And his being seated at God’s right hand as the ultimate fulfillment of ascending to the throne.
(1048) 1st KINGS 1- David’s son, Adonijah, plots to take the kingdom and become king in his fathers place [after he would die]. He chooses a team of talented men to become his inner circle, he prepares chariots and gets a force together. David does not discourage him, he seems to be willing to let it slide. One problem, David’s son Solomon was chosen by God himself to be the next king. David’s key men, who were left out of the celebration ceremony that Adonijah threw for himself, realized that if they didn’t act quickly they would be left out in the cold. So Nathan tells Solomon’s mother, Bathsheba, to go in to the king and tell him about the problem. Nathan then will go in after her and also confirm the bad news. Note, Nathan was a powerful prophet, he was the one who faced David head on about the sin he committed when sleeping with Bathsheba and killing her husband. But David is old and sick, even if Nathan took the risk to confront him again in a ‘thus saith the lord’ type thing, there was no assurance that David would listen. Or worse, tell him he has had enough of his ‘prophetic ministry’ and take his head off! Nathan chose influence and common sense to get his point across, he was even a little deceptive in the way he planned it out. David then tells his men ‘go, anoint Solomon as king’ David’s men prevail and they quickly form a new team around Solomon. Zadok, Nathan and Benaiah will be the Prophet, Priest and military commander. Now word gets back to Adonijah that Solomon has been anointed by David, their party ends abruptly and Adonijah flees for his life. These men [Adonijah and his team] had real hopes and dreams for their new administration, but God had other plans. A few things; was Adonijah in total rebellion in doing what he did? Not really, he was fourth in line to the throne, above Solomon. Remember, the Old Testament puts special weight on this seniority thing! And David never discouraged the boy. It’s very possible that Adonijah thought he had the green light in this thing. Solomon will take the throne and though he will become famous for his wisdom, he will also be pretty brutal in his first days as king. He quickly warns Adonijah and in the next chapter we will see him take swift and decisive action to route out his adversaries. I see a little too much personal ambition in Adonijah and his men. One of them was Joab, a great military leader with much experience. If you remember when we studied Samuel he also had his run ins with David. These men were playing party politics and positioning themselves for a ‘wonderful future’. The only problem was God wasn’t in it! I remember many years ago when a friend of mine ‘started a church’. He was quite a few years older than me, but still new ‘to the game’. He made the statement ‘God has now made all my dreams come true’. He innocently fell into the trap of seeing ministry and ‘church’ as some type of structure/business that God allows people to engage in, in order for them to ‘fulfill their dreams’. Adonijah and his men were excited about the launching of their new ‘career’s’ the wind went out of their sails when Gods ordained plan took precedence over their dreams.
(1049) 1st KINGS 2-The best way to describe this chapter would be ‘Solomon practices shock and awe’. The young king is given the charge by his father David to settle some old scores. Was David being vindictive? No, he realized that there were experienced ‘politicos’ who knew how to manipulate things to their own advantage, and they would do it at the expense of ethics [note- after all I have seen and learned these last few months, I believe president Obama, though a good man himself, is surrounded by men like this. His chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, is a political insider from Chicago, he has already been involved with all types of insider political intrigue that is corrupt at heart]. So David advises Solomon to eliminate these threats and Solomon surprises the opposing team by acting decisively. He even kills Joab while clinging to the ‘horns of the altar’. His brother, Adonijah, who tried to claim the kingdom first, Solomon kills him because he requested to have King David’s maid servant after his death. Basically Solomon cleaned house and knew he would make some enemies in the process. Leadership can be tough at times, you might deal with people who are problematic, everyone knows they need to be dealt with! Yet after you deal with them, you become the bad guy! I get a kick out of people who absolutely hate and oppose me, they sincerely believe our challenges in certain areas are wrong. Then a few years go by, they read and listen to our stuff, and walla! They now think we are on the cutting edge, maybe [to them] even at the top of the list of teaching and understanding. Why do I not get excited about stuff like this? If someone can go from thinking we are a cult to thinking we are one of the best teaching ministries around, who in the heck knows where they will be in another year or two? Now don’t get me wrong, I am glad they came around, but I can’t put a whole lotta stock in this. Now, I have had friends who have been with us for years. To be honest, some of the stuff I teach is over their heads. But they were fruit from the basic years of outreach and evangelism. They identify me with the time in their lives where they were reached with the gospel. Times when I spent many hours helping them on their journey. These brothers are faithful and stick with us out of brotherhood. Solomon knew the difference, he was willing to sacrifice talent [Joab] and stick with those who would be loyal. [Note- sometimes you choose talent over loyalty. That is people do need to be able to handle the job, the point is if you can’t trust people, it doesn’t matter how talented they are, things won’t go well for you or the team that is depending on them]
(1050)1st KINGS 3:1-15 this is a prophetic chapter, Solomon goes to Gibeon to offer on ‘the great altar’. What is the great altar? There is a remote verse [somewhere in the Old Testament- I didn’t look it up] that says Moses tabernacle is located at Gibeon. How it got there we don’t know, but the picture is important. The tabernacle of Moses represents the Old Covenant [law], during David’s rule the Ark of the covenant that was stolen, David retrieves it and places it at Jerusalem [the tent that he puts it under is called the Tabernacle of David- a type of the new covenant people who have free access to God, no more veil!] So Solomon more than likely sacrificed at Gibeon [picturing the Old Covenant] and then has the famous dream where God appears to him and he asks for wisdom. This ‘dream’ can be a type of death. Jesus referred to death as ‘sleeping’ Paul too. So after ‘the dream’ [death] he goes to Jerusalem and is at the place of the Ark [a type of Gods presence, it was not in Moses tabernacle, but under the tent that David set up] and eventually the remnants of Moses tabernacle [at Gibeon] will be joined to the Ark [at Jerusalem] and their will be ‘one new temple’ [Ephesians speaks of the 2 becoming one in Christ, both Jew and Gentile]. So under Solomon’s rule [a type of Christ] we have the joining of the Old Covenant people of God along with the Gentile church. Jesus did not forsake his ‘people that he foreknew’ [Romans] but thru his death he took away the ‘law of commandments contained in ordinances and nailed them to his Cross’ [Colossians, Ephesians] thus removing the enmity and making in himself ‘one new man’. Solomon was definitely prophetic! [see 2nd Samuel study, chapter 7- entry 923]
(1051) 1st KINGS 3: 16-28 Now to the famous story. Two women [harlots] come to Solomon with a problem. They both had children within a few days of each other, and one night one of the babies died. The other woman woke up and had the dead baby with her, but after she looked at it she realized it wasn’t hers. The real mother of the dead child did a swap at night. So as they are pleading their case to the king, they both claim that the living child is theirs. So Solomon calls for a sword, they bring him the sword and he tells his men ‘take the baby and divide it in two, give half to each mom’ sounds fair enough. Of course the real mom says ‘no, don’t divide it. Give the baby to her’ and the fake mom says ‘no, divide it!’ Ahh! Got ya. Solomon says ‘give the child to the one who did not want to divide it, the child belongs to her’. A few things, it just so happened that the last book we studied was Ecclesiastes, I didn’t plan it like that, it just ‘happened’. Ecclesiastes was written by Solomon. One of the verses I didn’t cover says Solomon wrote on all types of subjects and put together three thousand proverbs. Proverbs are short, concise bits/nuggets of wisdom that get the point across in a nutshell. While there are times when you need to read large volumes and stuff, yet wisdom allows you to cover a lot of content in a little space. In this case Solomon used his wisdom to quickly come to a conclusion that could not be refuted; Jesus did stuff like this with his parables. Notice also that after the judgment was made, there really was no ‘if, ands or buts’ about it. He was right and that settled it. I still have old preacher friends who can’t discern the most basic stuff. Now, I don't want to be mean or condescending, but there comes a time where things are right or wrong. Many years ago I taught how leaders were making a serious mistake when they grasped on to the prosperity interpretation of Jesus parable of the sower [read the chapter ‘twisting the parable of the sower’ in the book ‘house of prayer or den of thieves’ on this site]. Basically many preachers, good men, were going around and teaching that Jesus was speaking about getting a huge harvest of cash. In the parable Jesus says one of the things that hinders the full harvest is ‘the deceitfulness of riches’, so I taught how Jesus was not saying ‘the deceitfulness of riches is holding back the cash’. Now, this is really elementary stuff, but some preachers still can’t discern this, after 20years! There comes a time when Solomon [Jesus] sends a judgment forth, and we ultimately become responsible for what we do with it. In this case, one of the ladies was right the other wrong. Solomon plainly told us who was telling the truth. [note- the other day as I was flipping channels, I stopped at a ‘prophetic’ brother who I haven’t watched in a while. In the past he has had some good words that were right on. But I felt that too many ‘prophecies’ were going forth on a yearly basis that were not really accomplishing anything ‘this year is the year of increase, Rebuke the demon of poverty’ stuff that was being repeated over and over hundreds of times, and yet the word of God was not being taught. Well on the program I tuned in on, the brother was saying how all the media complaints about Sarah Palin's expensive wardrobe were ridiculous [I agree] but then he said that it was nothing but a ‘spirit of poverty’ that needed to be rebuked. Are there ‘spirits/demons of poverty’ no. At least we see no cases of Jesus casting out spirits of poverty in scripture. There comes a time when preachers/media outlets need to return to a sober message of the Cross. I believe in prophecy and miracles and have experienced many of these types of things over the years, but we need to stop being silly with some of this stuff.
(1052) 1st KINGS 4- ‘And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness [generous] of heart…and his wisdom was greater than all the children of the east and Egypt…and all the people and the kings of the earth [gentiles shall come to thy light and kings to the brightness of thy rising] came to hear the wisdom of Solomon’- In this chapter we read of the tremendous storehouse of goods and resources that God gave to Solomon. His wisdom was in many areas, not just ‘theology’! He was a true Renaissance man. Before the reformation and the ‘enlightenment’ you had the Renaissance period. For many years the wisdom and knowledge that prevailed in early Greco-Roman society was lost/hidden from the public. Through process of time and events [like the crusades] some of these hidden resources of knowledge were re-discovered and the world went thru a renewal period in wisdom and philosophy. It was thanks to the catholic churches preserving of these early works [Monks and monasteries] that would later lead to them being recovered. Now, even though these works were recovered, they weren’t readily available to the general public on a wide scale. You simply did not have the tools [internet/public libraries in abundance] to disseminate the information at large, but you did have men who became educated in these areas and they were the ‘renaissance men’. Sort of like walking libraries of wisdom, ‘Solomon’s’ if you will. Solomon wrote and studied on all sorts of subjects, he did not limit himself to one field only. Often times in the area of ‘full time preaching’ we send kids off to college [okay] and they get an education that only applies to one field [full time ministry]. I think it would be better if all the ‘preachers’ became well rounded in many practical areas of learning, getting skills in various areas [Paul-tent making] that would enable them to transition when reformation happens [like the current challenge on church practices and the full time pastoral office. Many sincere men are too dependant on their jobs as full time ministers to seriously reconsider the scriptural grounds for their office]. So Solomon was the type of brother who could converse with you in all types of fields. Many of the world’s greatest scientists/mathematicians were Christians, a common mistake is to think the scientific revolution was launched by anti religious men, this is simply not true. A careful study of history would show you that the majority of the great scientific minds were products of the church. It was common to major in theology and use that field of study as the foundation for all the other fields of learning. Jesus said of Solomon that kings and queens went out of their way to hear the wisdom of Solomon [the Warren Buffet of his day] but yet a greater than Solomon was here! [Speaking of himself]
(1053)1ST KINGS 5-Solomon contracts with Hiram, king of Tyre, to supply Cedar wood and trees for the construction of the temple. He also raises up a mighty labor force who will work in 3 shifts, one month in the forest and two months back home. They helped cut down and deliver the logs on rafts back to Solomon. He has a massive labor force of stone cutters as well, they are cutting stone for the foundation of the temple. Like I said in a previous chapter, the temple is a picture of both the Old Covenant [law] and the new gentile church uniting as ‘one new man’ in Christ. Though the temple is basically a large scale replica of the Mosaic tabernacle, yet the only actual piece of furniture that makes in into the temple is the Ark of the Covenant. The Ark represents Gods presence, in the New Testament we see that Gods Spirit and presence left the Old law system [as typified by the temple- Hebrews] and ‘entered’ into the new temple, made up of both Jew and Gentile believers! [Ephesians]. Solomon was wise enough to realize that he personally did not possess all the skills to accomplish the mission, he knew how to hire other skilled people to help with the completion of the task. In ministry we often try and accomplish too much through the personal attributes/gifts of the leader. One of the plagues on the Body of Christ today is the American system of entrepreneurial church, we seem to exalt the personalities and gifts of the main leader at the expense of the functioning of the people of God. Though many good men are involved with this system, yet we need to transition to a place where we understand that in Christ’s church he uses many gifted people in various ways to build his temple [the people of God].This chapter says God gave Solomon ‘peace on every side, he had no adversaries nor evil occurrence’. Scripture says when a mans ways please the Lord he makes even his adversaries to be at peace with him. God gave Solomon a season of peace and rest, not for the purpose of sitting back and resting on his laurels, but for the purpose of building his kingdom. Solomon walked ‘while he had the light’ [he took advantage of the window of opportunity that God put before him].
(1054) 1st KINGS 6 ‘CONCERNING THIS HOUSE WHICH THOU ART IN BUILDING, IF THOU WILT WALK IN MY STATUTES, AND EXECUTE MY JUDGMENTS, AND KEEP ALL MY COMMANDMENTS TO WALK IN THEM; THEN WILL I PERORM MY WORD WITH THEE, WHICH I SPAKE UNTO DAVID THY FATHER’ [verse 12] Part of the promise of God to David was he would set up a son, from his natural heritage, that would take an everlasting throne. God would be faithful to his part of the bargain as long as his son walked in obedience, ultimately these promises would be fulfilled thru Christ. We can also apply them to our lives as well, we are all ‘building a house’ in a sense. Jesus said those who heard his words and did them were like those building on a sure foundation; those who ‘heard only’ were building on sand. I find it interesting that many of us seem to think that gathering one day a week to ‘hear words’ is what God requires, in a sense we have become professional hearers! [and speakers] As you relate to the house you are building, seek the Lord for wisdom and insight into how you should build. God gave Moses specific directions in the building of the tabernacle; these are the same blueprints Solomon used, only on a larger scale. Solomon did not have to get ‘another blueprint’ he simply needed to be faithful to what the Lord already revealed. Recently in the ‘church world’ we had the passing of two good men; Avery Dulles and John Neuhouse [spelling?] If I remember right, Avery Dulles said that he was no innovator, he would not be known for his new ideas, but he was just a faithful servant in Christ’s church. I liked that, we too often want to find ‘new blueprints’ sometimes the Lord is simply looking for those who will hear and obey. [Both Avery and John were Catholic’s involved in the evangelical/catholic alliance]
(1055) 1ST KINGS 7- We have more details of what went into the building of the temple. The ‘foundation stones’ were large and costly. Remember, Solomon was said to have ‘largeness of heart’. In the New Testament the Apostles are called the foundation stones of Gods spiritual temple. Peter calls us living stones. Let’s do a little house cleaning; in all areas of church renewal/reformation, we need to be careful when handling the foundation stones. In some efforts to reform [Emergent] there is an attempt to return to the teachings of Jesus, as opposed to Paul. The problem with this effort is the historic church [and scripture!] teach us that Jesus appeared to Paul [Acts 9] and told him he would be a witness of the things that Jesus would reveal to him. So if the revelation/teaching from Paul on the atonement and the substitutionary sacrifice of Christ, if these teachings are things that were shown to Paul from Jesus himself [which I believe they were] then to ignore them would be like removing the ‘foundation stones’ of the temple. These are ‘large stones’ [doctrines accepted across the broad stream of Christian churches; Catholic, Orthodox, Reformed, Radical Reformers, etc...] large stones that form the foundation of all Christian truth, C.S. Lewis’s ‘common hall’ if you will [though Lewis himself said some shaky stuff on the atonement]. I want to restate that we sometimes confuse the foundational doctrines of Christianity with the limited practices of Christianity that have developed over the centuries. We need to understand/embrace the ‘faith once delivered to the saints’ while at the same time being flexible in the various structures that Christians have developed over the centuries to express their faith. As we challenge ‘high church’ [liturgical] structures, we need to be careful that we are not also challenging the heart of the gospel as well. I have heard/read too many statements from certain reformers that are way too pluralistic in their expression of the gospel. Denials of the Cross being the key mechanism that God chose to use to redeem man [foundation stones!] Or the mistake of thinking that the Cross was simply a display of the injustices of man, a challenge to unjust governments oppressing men. While the apostle Peter does teach us that the Cross was a display/example left to us on how we should react to suffering and oppression, yet it wasn’t ONLY that. It was also a redemptive sacrifice made on the behalf of sinful men; ‘Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures’ [Corinthians]. Well, lets just keep in mind that as God’s ‘living temple’ we are being built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets [Ephesians] Jesus himself being the ‘chief corner stone’, be careful when messing with the stones!
(1056) 1ST KINGS 8- This chapter shows the coming together of the Ark and Temple at Jerusalem. Solomon makes a great dedication to the Lord. He acknowledges the reality that God does not ‘dwell in temples made with hands’ but he asks the Lord to show preference to the temple and the prayers of the people. We really have a tremendous picture of Gods kingdom and rule thru these images. The temple centers the people on the reality of God dwelling in their midst. They worship him from Jerusalem and their king honors the father and leads the people in community wide intercession. There are even provisions made for ‘strangers’ who will become influenced by God’s reality, they will hear about Gods great story with his people [narrative!]. They will then come and also make intercession to him. I find it interesting that in the book of Acts [and 1st century church history] we read about the pagan converts to Judaism, the ‘God fearers’. Israel always maintained this aspect of their culture with God, they left the door open for converts. I also find it interesting that converts came! After all, the Jews did not practice a type of ‘soul winning’ that actively sought proselytes. It was simply the reality of God working with his people that drew others in. These last few years much has been said/written on the church and her mission. Is the gospel too small or too big? Sometimes in our efforts to ‘go deep’ we make it difficult for new converts to come into the church. In all of our efforts to present a gospel that affects society as a whole, the social aspects of our calling. The greater kingdom vision of Jesus as seen in ‘the gospels’ we also want to make sure that the simple initiation of new converts is made plain and easy to understand [in essence we need the Gospels AND the epistles both. A kingdom message is not complete without the reality of Atonement!] Solomon makes a great speech/prayer in this chapter, he worships God for standing true to his promise that he made to David his father. The people hold a seven day city wide celebration and go back to their homes. Even though the temple and it’s structure were not in Gods original plan [go read about David and Nathan] yet God will honor and use this limited system for a season. In the present day reformation of the church and her structures, we always need to keep in mind that we are still dealing with the people of God. Many of them worship God in ‘limited structures’ but yet they still worship God! So as we reform and grow in the coming decades, we also want to leave room for the prayer of Solomon ‘I know you cant be limited to a structure like a temple, but please honor the prayers and simple sacrifices of your people. They are doing it out of dedication to you’ [my paraphrase].
(1057) 1ST KINGS 9- The Lord honors Solomon’s request and tells him he will hear the prayers of the people. He also warns Solomon to walk in the ways of David his father. God tells him that David walked right and did good, funny thing, the Lord doesn’t bring up the Bathsheba incident! His mercies are new EVERY morning. Now Solomon becomes firmly established as Israel’s king, he puts the pagan nations under tribute/slavery and sets his people up as the overseers. I just finished reading the book on ‘Revival and Revivalism’ and started a new one on ‘in search of Paul’ yes, it’s written by a few of the Jesus seminar brothers! [you know, the guys looking for the real Jesus, Yikes!] but the book does have some excellent historical content. It brought out a recent archeological discovery of a synagogue on the island of Delos [in the Aegean]. Delos was never visited by Paul, but he sailed by it on his journeys. It is the supposed birth place of the Greek god ‘Apollo’. The interesting thing was that the synagogue looked like any other meeting place of a voluntary society of people. It did have ‘Moses seat’ [the Jewish pulpit!] and the ‘collection plate’ [at least the history of the Jewish collection late was discussed. By the way, this backs up my theory [over against Frank Viola’s] that it’s very possible that the development of the ‘church as the building’ concept came from Judaism as opposed to paganism!] But anyway, the island of Delos, under Roman rule, was encouraged to allow for the free worship of the Jewish religion. The Roman empire wanted freedom of religion! As long as it did not challenge their multitude of gods [Pantheon]. Solomon did not totally wipe out the enemies in the land, but he let them know who was in charge. He understood that there are realities to living in a pluralistic world, you don’t have to always agree with every point of view, but it’s noble to treat people with respect [I am not saying slavery is respect!] and get along as much as you can with those of opposing views. But also don’t feel intimidated by being part of a victorious kingdom that God himself set up, Solomon allowed the pagans to function in the land, but they knew who was in charge.
(1058) 1ST KINGS 10- The queen of Sheba hears about the wisdom and wealth of Solomon and makes a trip to check it out, she says ‘the half has not been told’. Solomon established an impressive economic and military system for the nation; he knew how to accomplish stuff. Wisdom [Solomon’s gift] allows for there to be action along with knowledge. Jesus knew how to use wisdom, scripture says he ‘is the wisdom of God’. The book of Proverbs [written by Solomon] personifies wisdom as Gods firstborn, God possessed him before all things. Scripture says ‘wisdom sends out her servants/ships’ remember when Jesus ‘sent the word’ and healed people? Or when the Leper was told to ‘go wash’ [by Elijah] he almost didn’t follow through because he was expecting some big show. Wisdom does not need you to personally ‘be there’ for all the action. I get frustrated at times when the modern church implies to the average saint that they really cant effect society ‘on their own’ but it is said in a way that makes the average ‘churchgoer’ think that the only way they can have a part of the action is in if they give exorbitant amounts of money ‘to the church’. And then ‘the church’ will send their money to other professional ministers who will carry out the job. Or the church will send their minister all over the world and he will do the job for them! This mindset ‘de-claws’ the average saint, it makes him think his main contribution is ‘the collection plate’! Use wisdom to impact society, you don’t always have to ‘be there’ [physically] to have an impact, but you are not limited to simply giving money to others who will act on your behalf. The believer’s greatest tool is his/her ability to make disciples wherever you are. Of course you can use modern tools like the internet. These things can be done for little or no cost and you can have a worldwide impact. The point is wisdom allows you to get things done by establishing systems of communication and ‘sending’ that can reach far and wide. In this chapter we read of Solomon’s navy, a previous chapter said ‘Hiram [and Solomon] made rafts and floated the trees to Solomon, there they were discharged for the work’. God can give you ‘divine rafts’ systems of delivery and discharge where you can impact large regions with little effort! All in all the wisdom of Solomon put in place systems that could carry the workload, without having to use actual manpower to get everything done by hand [can you imagine the manpower that would have been needed to hand carry all the trees!] To all my readers, you can impact ‘your world’ by listening to God and responding as he directs. Solomon said [in Proverbs or Ecclesiastes] that there was a poor wise man who delivered a city [and no one remembered him- non famous!] yet his wisdom gave him great influence ‘with the elders of the land’. Paul established the greatest ‘church planting movement’ known to man, and he did it on a shoestring budget! Don’t let man tell you that you can’t really accomplish much without being rich, you are a child of God and he that is in you is greater than he that is in the world! [note- as an aside, I was listening to a testimony of a minister who said how he thought it was sad that in the ‘ministerial’ environment there were times when the pastors would gather and the church members as well. But in these scenarios there seemed to be a distinction that was unbiblical; sort of like the ministers were fellowshipping amongst themselves, being excited over the plans and activities of ‘their church’ while the average saints were also fellowshipping amongst themselves and sharing about their lives and stories. In actuality the New Testament communities did not have these types of divisions. You did not have a separate class of ‘minister’ who ‘ran the church’ as a separate business enterprise. All the people [Elders and Saints] were of one community and their stories and lives commingled in a more communal way. There was no separation between the ‘classes’.]
(1059) 1ST KINGS 11- THE SIN OF SOLOMON- Now we get to the part where Solomon blows it. As I read these stories of the great men who failed, I continually fall into the trap of rooting for them, even though I know the end of the story! The trap being that failure in a sense was built into the story. How could God fulfill his purpose thru the coming Messiah if one of the sons of David actually lived up to the standard? Solomon, in a sense, was destined to fail. So what happened? This chapter says Solomon loved many women [1,000 to be exact!] and IN HIS OLD AGE began worshipping their gods. He set up altars for sacrifice and allowed the pagan gods to affect Gods people. I find this interesting, it wasn’t the actual act of having all those other women, but the sin of being too accommodating to the other ‘world religions’. I’m presently reading a book written by what you would call a liberal scholar, you know, the brothers who challenge the authenticity of just about everything. But I also have some good scholars that I read from. To be honest, at times you still might read something that makes you a little uneasy; they too at times have been affected by higher learning. But the difference between the ‘good and the bad’ ones is the fact that the good ones remain true to the historic gospel. N.T. Wright is a great scholar, he sits in the middle category, between the conservatives and the liberals [in my view]. The prolific Bishop of Durham [Church of England] has written excellent stuff on the resurrection and the kingdom of God. The liberal scholars view him as ‘behind the times’ why? Because he actually defends the historic resurrection of Christ! Yet you can read some higher criticism in Wrights stuff, not real bad stuff, just things that the average fundamentalist might be uncomfortable with. So getting back to Solomon, he became way too accommodating to the religions of his day. Sort of like calling Islam, Christianity and Judaism the ‘great Abrahamic faiths’. Now, I love Muslims/Arabs, I have written in their defense! I also think some Muslim apologetic arguments for the existence of God are good, but I would not describe Islam as one of the great Abrahamic faiths. Just like I would not call Mormonism one of the great ‘restorationist faiths’. A while back a bunch of believers had an ecumenical meeting with Muslims and Jews. Noble efforts to tone down world violence in an attempt to all get along, I think stuff like this is good. But some Christians defended Allah as being the same God as the Christians, just a different name. In my view they went too far. So Solomon became too pluralistic in his old age. Beware of the trend to abandon central elements of the faith as you mature in your thinking. There is a real temptation to want to look ‘enlightened’ to try and put distance between your intellectual faith and those ‘silly fundamentalists’, because if your not careful you might just end up with a bunch of pagan altars at your doorstep. [Ben Witherington and R.C. Sproul are other favorite scholars of mine; one is Arminian and the other Calvinistic, it’s good to read scholars from various points of view].
(1060] THE MARK OF THE BEAST! Let’s talk a little today. This past week I had a few people ask me about their church. They said they liked the church, but they thought there was too much emphasis on money and practical matters. They said they realized the need for Christians to ‘be practical’ but they felt like they really weren't growing spiritually. First, I told them that I felt they were doing good by attending/helping the church out. I did not want to give them the impression that it was okay to just drop out. I also told them to read our site, that many of the questions they had were dealt with on the site. Then yesterday I had a believer asking me all types of stuff on the book of Revelation and the mark of the beast and the whole computer chip in your head thing. Okay, I must admit I made a joke about the mark of the beast, something like ‘it really isn’t talking about an actual number that will be implanted in someone’s skin’ [I do really believe this by the way] I said ‘for instance, it’s no secret that the Pastor was born with a birthmark of three 6’s on his head, no big deal’ [I know, this is bad]. But I did try and put some stuff in context, the head represents the thoughts of man, the hand represents his actions. The world thinks they need to cheat and steal to get ahead [worldly thinking and acting- hand and head] and those who are part of Christ’s new kingdom [as opposed to Rome-Babylon] think and act in a different manner. There did come a time under the Roman empire that if you didn’t bow the knee to the cult of emperor worship [confess Caesar as Lord] you would be persecuted or killed for your faith, in essence ‘no man could buy or sell [function in society] unless he received the mark of the beast and the number’. So anyway I advised this person to read our site. I have known them for some time, but I don’t think they read the site. They finally ask me ‘who is Corpus Christi outreach, who makes up the organization’. I told them that it’s just me, but I stuck the name on it years ago. Now, don’t get me wrong, my goal is to initiate a movement of sorts. I do pray and work towards that end. I believe it’s possible for us to have a worldwide impact, equal to any other movement [Jehovah witnesses or Mormons]. I do believe we can do this, but at the same time staying within the confines of historic Christianity, which these other movements do not do. All in all it’s been an interesting few days, I want to encourage you guys who read and follow the site, use our stuff freely. Make copies of our books and studies, send and publish our blog anywhere you wish. All of this stuff is free and available for anyone to use as they wish [except for making money!] also, keep in mind the example I gave above, don’t discourage people from being involved ‘in church’ if people eventually move on to more mature understandings and practices of church life [leaving the institutional system if you will] that’s fine, but don’t fall into the trap of ‘nudging them along’. All in all we are in this thing together, I appreciate the Catholics, Protestants, Orthodox and all other expressions of Christianity that the Lord has allowed us to minister to. Strive for unity of the Sprit in the bond of peace, let your thoughts and actions be in harmony with Christ. Don’t worry about computer chips in the head, but have the mind of Christ instead.
(1061) 1ST KINGS 12- At the end of the last chapter Solomon died, Rehoboam his son will now ascend to the throne. Rehoboam is confronted by the nation, they tell him ‘your father was a slave driver! He made it hard on us, we were tools that were being used for his own self advancement’ [my paraphrase] they plead with Rehoboam to go easy on them. I find it interesting that Solomon’s reputation outside of Israel was great, he excelled and the kings of the earth knew it [image building]. But amongst his own people, those who knew him best, he was driven by ambition. Though they liked the man and he was a great leader, yet they associated him with always putting a yoke/burden on them to build. ‘More and more’ was the logo. The people were tired, they wanted to simply exist as Gods people. They weren’t asking Rehoboam to totally put them on welfare, they just wanted a break from viewing their lives thru the unrelenting pressure of ambition. So Rehoboam consults with two groups; he asks the elders of the land for advice, they advise him to ‘become a servant of the people, go easy on them’ What! A servant, are you kidding me man. Sounds like the teaching of Jesus ‘he that wants to be greatest must serve’. He then consults the young guys, peers in his own age group, they tell him ‘go for it, tell them you aint seen nothing yet! You think daddy was tough, my little finger will be heavier than his leg!’ Rehoboam listens to both groups and chooses the bad advice of the younger generation. So the people [with Jeroboam as the head speaker] come back on the 3rd day for the response, they don’t like what they hear and mount a revolt. The kingdom becomes divided under Jeroboam as the new king of Israel [ten tribes-northern] and Rehoboam as the king over Judah [and Benjamin] the southern tribe. Now Jeroboam realizes that he will lose control of the people if they keep their religious feasts at Jerusalem every year. Jerusalem is the capital where his adversary Rehoboam is at, so he sets up two golden calves [just like what happened in the wilderness in Moses day] and he places them in the city of Dan and Bethel. He also sets up a new class of priests, in violation of Gods law, and he makes up his own religious calendar. This single action of rebellion introduces false religion on a large scale to Gods people. Rehoboam gets together an army and is about to fight and regain his rightful place, God sends a prophet to him and tells him ‘leave it alone, the thing is from me’. God allowed for the split, Rehoboam had the chance to humble himself and instill a new mindset into Gods people. Yet he went for ‘the glory’. There are obviously a lot of lessons here, I don’t have to show them all to you, they are plain enough to see. To all the leaders/pastors who follow us, how are you viewed by those closest to you? Do outsiders see you as a successful leader, ambitious and able to get stuff done? Do those closest to you seem to be saying ‘lets take a break, we have had many years of never being able to sacrifice enough, building things. Okay things, but the job has been tough, we need a break’. Be sensitive to the real purpose of God, for him to be fully glorified and expressed thru His church, the community of God. Solomon reigned over a great people, but he was too ambitious, ambitious in the area of image building. The people themselves should have been the important thing, not the amount of stuff they could produce! In the end Rehoboam lost more than he would have ever gained by choosing the hard route. Allow God to lead you in the paths that he has set before you, the people you lead are the thing of value, not the things that they can produce [financially or any other way].
(1062) 1st KINGS 13- Jeroboam is confronted by a prophet as he is worshiping at the idol/altar in Bethel. The prophet gives a significant word, he mentions by name a future king [Josiah] who God is going to raise up to institute reform in the nation. When someone’s name is prophesied before their birth, that is a special anointing. Both Jesus and John the Baptist had stuff like this surrounding their births. Now Jeroboam stretches out his hand against the prophet, God curses his hand and the prophet prays for him and he gets healed. Jeroboam invites him to stay for a meal and the young prophet says ‘no, God told me not to stay and eat here’. On his way home an older prophet invites him to come back and eat with him, he tells the young prophet ‘I too am a prophet and the Lord told me for you to “eat and sit at my table’” [a type of fellowship]. Now, the old prophet lied, why? It seems as if he did not do this on purpose, he heard the story about the young man, possibly remembered the glory days of old and simply wanted the fellowship. As the young prophet ‘sits at the table of deceit’ the word of the Lord comes to the old prophet and says ‘because you disobeyed and stayed and ate, you will die’. The old prophet gave a true word and the young prophet leaves and is killed by a lion. His ‘movement’ died prematurely because he ‘sat’ at the table of deceit and disobeyed God. A few things; many years ago as I saw certain things going off track with certain movements [prosperity] I saw things that seemed to be fake, brothers sharing dreams and prophetic words that seemed false. Yet I felt these brothers weren’t doing this on purpose, that in some way they fell into a trap of wanting to be involved and accepted by their peers. And when confronted by real reproofs, they simply retreated into their own groups and refused the reproof. There are things like this happening now with certain elements of the modern prophetic movement. In the above story, the older prophet meant no harm, but yet harm was done! The younger prophet wasn’t there [in Bethel] to rebuke the old man, he was simply carrying the torch of prophetic rebukes that were needed at times. The mistake the younger generation made was being too willing to ‘sit and eat’ at the old mans table. I believe that certain elements of the older ‘prophetic’ movements need to be abandoned and left alone to die [false doctrines, not people!]. Those who walk in wisdom and obedience will refuse to ‘sit and eat at the old mans table’ and those who decide to stay at the table will die prematurely [that is their ministries and movements will be cut short] which group are you in?
(1063) Yesterday I took my daughter and her friends to help out with a school sports program, they volunteered to help. On the way home I checked my P.O. Box and sure enough one of my regular radio listeners sent me 10 bucks cash. I hate when people do this. Why? Because I have a policy of taking no money, ever! So it costs me 25 cents [or whatever stamps cost now] to mail it back. This brother has listened and written me ever since I’ve been on radio [1996-2009]. He used to rebuke me for teaching against the prosperity gospel; his letters reveal that he is an older guy who is an ‘expert’ in that doctrine. But he also compliments me about our program, times where he really agrees and says ‘wow, that was real meat’ [good teaching] this week! So anyway I put up with him. So as I get home I write a short thank you note, stick the money in an envelope and put a stamp on it, figure I’ll mail it out later. Then one of my homeless buddies stops by, I haven’t seen them in a few weeks, been feeling bad with my back and all. Also, just a note to my old buddies, I am still in good shape, hey I used to hold the arm wrestling title at the fire house! It was funny beating the young jocks, the point is I am not out of shape or overweight or anything like that, it’s just my back really hurts at times. I don’t carry health insurance on myself [only the kids] because it’s too much, so I don’t ever go to doctors [only when first injured] so I deal with it by overdosing on Advil’s and stuff. But anyway my buddy came by and I decided to change plans for the day [I was going to do some reading] and had a B.B.Q instead. I also ripped open the envelope and gave my friend the 10 bucks; I felt I wasn’t violating my policy of ‘no offerings’ by passing it along to a friend in need. We had a good fellowship and my daughters came over thru out the day, they help out at the church [Bay Area fellowship] on Saturdays with the child care. So they have been asking me questions and stuff about the bible, my second oldest, Rebecca, does not have the internet at her ranch yet. She owns a few acres out in the country and hasn’t set up wireless yet, so she can’t read this site and learn the stuff. I have been passing books along and stuff to her, I do lend my books out- sometimes they never make it back, but I see this as ministry of sorts, who knows where the books will end up someday. Also I have a tendency to ‘correct’ the stuff I don’t agree with by adding notes to the books, so it gives a better balance [in my view] than jut passing stuff along without doing a little teaching myself. But the ‘dynamic’ of the day was interesting, I have been praying that ‘all my children would be taught of the Lord’ [both natural and spiritual kids] and that ‘God would pour out his Spirit on our seed, our young men would see visions, old men dream dreams. Our handmaidens [ladies!] would prophesy’ [Acts 2] so this was a good interaction of spiritual ‘sons’ and my natural daughters all getting excited about the things of the Lord. Also one of my Christian neighbors who I have known for years stopped by while walking his dog out in the front. He knows I do radio and stuff, but he has never visited this site! He does some teaching on a local basis thru a Christian publication, I like the paper. But the sister who runs it must not like me [probably because of our stance against the prosperity gospel] I have mailed her a few checks over the years and asked for a subscription, not only do they rip the checks up [I guess?] but they don’t respond at all, I just leave it alone [I know she gets the checks, but does not agree with my teaching. To be honest it’s just bad business to not even respond, plus your paid advertisers are getting the short end of the stick as well]. But anyway I gave my neighbor the blog address and hope he learns from it. It’s funny, we have friends all over the world who regularly follow the journey with us, yet brothers right down the block might be ‘out of the loop’ that’s fine, we don’t have to be ‘known’ by everyone. So anyway I just thought I’d share a little today, was going to do the next chapter of Kings, but will get to that tomorrow, God bless till next time.
(1064) 1st KINGS 14- Jeroboam’s son gets sick, he tells his wife ‘disguise yourself and go to the prophet Ahijah, he will tell you what will happen to the boy’. She goes and the Lord reveals the identity of the wife to Ahijah, he is old and blind. As soon as she gets to the house he gives her a strong rebuke, tells her the child will die and that her husband was wicked. Sure enough she takes the message back to Jeroboam and these things come to pass. Why did Jeroboam disguise his wife? Ahijah was the original prophet who told Jeroboam that he would be king, Jeroboam knew that he was doing wrong by instituting idolatrous practices into the nation; so why did he do it? Basically he trusted in the arm of the flesh to maintain would God gave him. He did it so he wouldn’t lose the kingdom. He obviously avoided the prophet for as long as he could, he thought he would send his wife incognito and who would know? The Lord knew. God has ways of getting information to you [and me!] whether we want to hear it or not. Also Ahijah was a prophet, another name for prophet is ‘Seer’ [some feel seers are totally different gifts/offices, for the sake of this basic teaching they are closely related] but yet he couldn’t ‘see’ for himself. I find it interesting that many of Gods greatest gifted people can’t seem to find help for themselves. There is a prophecy about Jesus that says ‘physician, heal thyself’, Paul had a thorn in the flesh that wouldn’t go away! Many people that are used by God to pray for healing and get results, they themselves struggle with sickness. Ahijah had a word; not only about Jeroboams son [a localized situation] but also a national word ‘Israel will be shaken like a reed in the water’ the Lord used the local situation to speak to the broader community. The people would ‘be shaken’ because they permitted idolatry into their lives. Understand, we see the idolatry of Israel as blatant [actual idols and stuff] but they really thought that the forms of idolatry that they were practicing were pleasing to God! I often find that well intentioned believers have a difficult time ‘seeing’ idolatry [covetousness, greed]. The American church has incorporated ‘success/abundance’ so deeply into the minds of the saints that we view our worship of God thru this skewed lens. ‘If God wants me to have an abundant life, then what’s wrong with me centering my church life around being successful, confessing and thinking about abundance/money all day long’? Well, what’s wrong with it is Jesus told the church that he didn’t want us ‘thinking’ about these things all the time, he said the ‘gentiles [unbelievers] are always thinking about the stuff, it shall not be so with you’. So it takes time for Christians to see these things, Jeroboam instituted a form of idolatry into Gods nation, the people sincerely went along for the ride. God said they were going to be shaken ‘like a reed in the water’.
(1065) 1ST KINGS 15- In this chapter we see the various kings of Israel and Judah. Some good, some bad. Scripture says even though some did evil, yet for the sake of David, and the promises of God to him, the Lord still worked thru their reigns. I find it interesting how we are all part of a divine/dynastic rule. In essence we are inheriting the promises that God made to others who came before us. One of the previous verses we looked at [I think?] said ‘I have heard your prayers concerning this place [Solomon praying about the temple] and my eyes and heart will always be there, walk in my statutes and do my judgments and I will keep the promises that I made to David your father’ God is looking to fulfill his word to the previous generations, we are simply parts of the puzzle! It’s important for us to keep this in mind, it keeps us humble. Over the years I have lived in ‘two worlds’. As a firefighter I had friends/co-workers that took the road of responsibility in life, some invested in real estate [like myself] and did the whole rental thing. I sold everything and got out of the business years ago. Then I lived in the ‘homeless/drug-addict/ex-con’ world. These were/are my buddies who I have spent most of my ‘other life’ with. Not ‘a ministry’ per se, but real friends helping one another out. Many of these friends were/are talented and gifted, many actually work! Yes, I have had many homeless friends who worked on a regular basis- carpentry, yard work, painting. Now, many times the ‘normal world’ would simply see the plight of the ‘other world’ [of those who never seemed to make it in life] and think/say ‘look at our lives [normal world] we have pulled ourselves up by our own boot straps, and now the government wants to penalize me so I have to help those who were not responsible like me!’ while there is some degree of truth to this complaint, yet it misses something. Many who ‘have made it’ were not much different than those who didn’t. Many ‘normal’ people have, to a degree, been the recipients of the promises that God made to their fathers, simply a result of having stable lives as youngsters, or living at a time where immigrants were welcomed. That is their heritage is one of immigrant [like me being an Italian] and our forefathers made it in for us. We now say ‘geez, my parents did it legally! What’s up with these modern immigrants?’ [usually speaking of Mexicans] the whole point being much of your success in life really had little to do with you pulling yourself up by your own boot straps! Now, I am not saying responsibility and diligence don’t count, they do count for something, but I am saying we at times have been blessed because of previous promises of God [and blessings] upon others who came before us. Paul taught ‘some watered, some planted but only God can make it grow’ and he said others have entered into the labors of those who worked hard before them. Do the best with the deck that was dealt to you; be humble about all the good you might accomplish thru out your life. And when you see others who have not been as blessed as you, be kind and patient, maybe God blessed you so you could someway be a blessing to them. It just might be your [mine too!] job to help them get a leg up in life.
(1066) EVOLUTION- It’s time to do a little update. These past few weeks in Texas we have had a debate on evolution and how it should be presented in the text books. The final decision seemed to give both sides a little wiggle room. During the debate news papers would report things like ‘all scientists agree that proofs of evolution are all around us’ and basic misinformation on the whole subject. But to be fair, what do the advocates of evolution mean when they say there are proofs all around us? Basically they are speaking about known changes in the various classes of species that exist. Technically they are claiming that genetic mutations are proof of evolution. What are genetic mutations? All living things have a specified code of information built into their systems, this code is called DNA. Over time as science has advanced in its ability to examine and test DNA, the evolutionists thought for sure that they would find NEW/ADDED genetic information in the changes that were taking place in the various species. In point of fact, if Darwinian evolution [macro] were true, you would find numerous examples of new information in these mutations. How many species have they found with this new information? Absolutely none! Again, stuff like this isn’t just a glitch in the system, it is absolute scientific/observable truth that tells us evolution, on a large scale, never happens. What does happen is various changes take place within their own set/class of being. That is God made things ‘after their own KIND’ this would mean that God did not create all the changes in the various species in the initial act of creation, but he set things in categories ‘kinds’ if you will. Now, in no way is it a violation of scripture for species to change/adapt along the way, this would be consistent with the language used in the bible. But what have we discovered? We have found that whenever a change takes place, the ‘change’ that is taking place is simply a rearrangement of already existing information. DNA has the ability to replicate itself, sometimes in the process of duplicating, mistakes happen. Sort of like if you copied something and the copy had a glitch. Well when this happens you have a mutation, a change in the DNA. Sometimes this process actually is beneficial to the species. This is basically what they mean when they say ‘evolution is all around us’, what they are not telling you is that this actual process has proven that new information NEVER shows up. That in order for evolution to happen you NEED NEW INFORMATION, new genetic information that did not exist in the original parent. So to be honest about it ‘all the proofs’ that are around us are simply showing us that evolution, to the point of new species evolving from previous ones, actually never can happen! This singular problem in the field of genetics is considered to be the single greatest obstacle that science has run into in trying to prove the reality of evolution. When Richard Dawkins [one of the so called new atheists] was asked if he could give any examples of new information being discovered in living things, he hesitated and stuttered as he realized that the interviewer had him trapped in a corner. The atheist knows that this is only one of many scientific proofs that speak against evolution. Like I said before, the more science advances, the more proof we have against Darwin’s theory.
(1067) 1st KINGS 16- Jehu, a prophet, receives Gods word and rebukes Baasha, king of Israel. What is God upset about? That Baasha not only sinned himself [bad enough] but that he chose to cause Gods people to sin. Last night I watched an excellent program on P.B.S. about Jerusalem and its history. They covered the story of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. I still can’t bring myself to view Islam as a faith that is legitimate. Now I know and love Muslim people, as a matter of fact I recently had some emails from a Muslim friend who defends his faith, he found our site a few years ago and has corresponded with me. But the problem I have with Islam is it has introduced religious beliefs and ideas that are totally contrary to the revelation of God thru Christ. What do I make of a faith that calls God ‘Allah’ and Jesus ‘Isa’, that denies the deity and incarnation of Jesus. That basically decimates the truth of God as seen in the gospel. I think believers should be fair and balanced and NON RACIAL when dealing with stuff like this, but we cant take lightly a ‘world religion’ that has introduced error on such a large scale. Now Jehu will be mentioned again, he was a prophet with a ‘violent streak’! He will be recognized by those who know him as ‘one who rides furiously’ that is he tended to ride outside of the perceived parameters of prophetic/pastoral leadership. When he was coming to town, everybody knew about it. Also at the end of this chapter we are introduced to king Ahab, one of Israel’s worst kings. He also will lead Gods people astray, Elijah the prophet will become his nemesis. Jesus said of the religious leaders of his day ‘you compass land and sea to make one convert, and when he is made you make him twice as much the child of hell than yourselves’. It’s interesting, you would think people who are zealous to make converts would always be doing it out of a right motive, but Jesus told us this isn’t always the case. Sometimes people are power hungry, or they simply want a following for the sake of being in charge. I admire the dedication of the Mormons and the Jehovah’s witnesses, their founders sacrificed much in the pioneering of their movements. But just because leaders/movements manage to gain a following, that in itself does not mean the outcome will be good. There are many adjectives used in scripture, to be a ‘child of hell, twice as much as your founder’ is one description we ought to avoid.
(1068) 1ST KINGS 17- This chapter is pretty famous among Christians, not like the others we have looked at. God’s word comes to Elijah and he enters the scene as a significant Old Testament figure. Jesus will refer to John the Baptist as one who came in ‘the spirit and power of Elijah’. The religious people of Jesus day held on to the prophecy of Malachi that ‘before the great day of the Lords coming, Elijah would appear’ [Jesus applied this to John the Baptist] so the brother has good credentials. He comes out of the shoot like a rocket; he confronts Ahab, the wicked king of Israel and prophesies no rain in the land. God directs him to go into hiding/obscurity and live by a brook. The Ravens bring him food and he drinks from the brook. The drought causes the brook to dry up and God instructs him to go to a city and be cared for by a widow woman. He goes and asks the woman to provide for him, she fears she won’t have enough for both him and her small family [a son]. He encourages her not to fear and take care of him, she does and God provides supernaturally for the woman. Eventually her son dies and she blames God ‘did God bring you hear to show me what a sinner I am? Now my son dies!’ She was feeling condemned/guilty. Elijah takes the child and lays on him and God raises the boy from the dead, one of the greatest miracles that God does with men. A few things; Elijah was not there to instill fear into the average ‘church folk’. Last night I again made the mistake of channel surfing the Christian channels during ‘praise athon month’ [Double ouch!!] One channel had a brother telling the people ‘God is not moved unless your giving is sacrificial, it must hurt you to please God’ [in so many words] The other channel had a brother saying ‘God said if you hear preaching and benefit, and you don’t give money in return, you are sowing to the corruption of the flesh’ I am familiar with this passage, it is found in Corinthians. The tone and overall ‘sense’ of these appeals was wrong. It seemed to leave a feeling of fear and condemnation to the average channel surfer who might be looking for answers. Elijah told the widow woman ‘don’t fear’. Elijah also had the capacity to live in obscurity, though God spoke highly of him, yet he recognized that there would be seasons of obscurity; times when you simply serve the Lord thru simple tasks and go unrecognized for many years. I cant stress enough the contradiction between Jesus ethos of Christian leadership and what the average Christian is taught in our day. We connect Christian success in ministry with the tools of corporate growth and we simply set young ministers on a purpose driven course that often by passes the teachings and character of New Testament leadership. Elijah will eventually appear again on the scene, but he spent an awful lotta time by the brook!
(1069) 1ST KINGS 18- After three years in hiding the Lord tells Elijah to show himself to Ahab, rain is on the way! He appears once again on the scene and Ahab says ‘here he is, the one causing all the trouble’. Elijah says ‘you got it wrong buddy, it’s your wickedness and turning away from proper paths that has caused this trouble’. Elijah sets up a contest ‘go, get all the false prophets of Baal and let them come and set up an altar. Let them place a bull on it and pray and see if Baal will come and show himself alive’. So Elijah has them crying and cutting themselves [pagan ritual] and pleading all day for Baal to come and consume [by fire] the sacrifice. He even mocks them ‘where is Baal? Maybe he went on a trip? Maybe he’s sleeping’? One translation says ‘maybe he’s on the pot’ [toilet] Elijah was not above scathing sarcasm! So after Baal doesn’t ‘act’ Elijah sets up his own altar, puts a bull on it, soaks the whole thing with water and prays for God to reveal himself. Sure enough fire falls from heaven, burns the bull, stones and everything else! Elijah takes the false prophets and puts them out of their misery. These brothers had a bad day, the same day they find out that their religion is false, they meet Jehovah face to face! And then Elijah tells Ahab ‘get ready, the rain is coming’. God ‘showed’ himself thru a great act; he let it be known that the true God made a real difference. I recently read a story about an atheist. He is an intellectual and lives in Africa. Over the years he observed these ‘silly Christians’ coming to his nation and spreading their ‘ignorant beliefs’. He also noticed something else, they were the only real ongoing group of people who regularly gave their time and lives for the betterment of his fellow Africans. Sure, his intellectually arrogant friends would look at the whole thing as a charade, watching these missions groups spending time trying to teach silly stuff like the Trinity, declaring that this Jesus was ‘Gods son, God in the flesh’ but the atheists never organized a community that would actually help his fellow Africans, there was almost a built in bigotry that said ‘why even help these poor blobs of flesh, after all, we all came from nothing. When we die we simply cease to have feelings and pleasure, our lives basically consist of enjoying pleasures and being happy, what eternal significance is there in caring for the poor ignorant masses’. The observant atheist realized that thru out his life, his closet friends, the people who shared his own beliefs. They were the ones who didn’t ‘give a damn’ about his fellow black countrymen, but the Christians whom he and his friends spent their who lives mocking and resisting and verbally abusing, these Christians were the ones who gave of their lives for the betterment of his fellow man. God revealed himself thru Elijah’s ministry on this day, he showed the people that the God [system] you believe in really does matter. In all of our talking and debating between various religions and belief/unbelief systems, at the end of the day look at the results, Christianity has had her faults to be sure, but she has done a lot better than the prophets of Baal!
(1070) 1st KING 19- Ahab tells his wife, Jezebel, about Elijah’s victory, she sends word to the prophet ‘so help me God if I don’t do the same to you as you did to my prophets’. Understand, Elijah did not simply ‘rebuke’ false doctrine here, he actually dismantled an entire ‘religious system’ that was contrary to the purposes of God. It is very difficult to uproot all that you have put in place for the sake of reformation. I find this to be one of the hardest obstacles to overcome when seeking God for true change in the church. Christians too often associate their relationship with God along with the systems of religion that they were brought up with. Now Elijah flees for his life, God will appear to him at Horeb; he is not in the wind, earthquake or fire, but in the ‘still, small voice’. Elijah is told to anoint a king of Syria, also anoint Jehu as king of Israel and go get your protégée Elisha. Elijah is also told by God there are seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal. We see the danger of prophetic ministry; God vindicated Elijah and truly did miraculous stuff with him. It was easy for Elijah to fall into the trap of ‘I am the only one who sees this stuff’. God reassured him he wasn’t alone. These last few years I have been surprised by the number of Christians who have corresponded with me thru our blog, it seems as if the present challenges to ‘church/clergy’ are becoming commonplace to the believers at large. It is no longer a secret. But it is also disheartening to see many of my friends who have served the Lord for years; they seem to be oblivious to the same truths that the church worldwide is seeing. So with Elijah you did have false prophets who were all wrong at the same time. Yes, just because there were so many who held on to the same view of religion [Baal worship] this did not mean they were right. But at the same time it was obvious to at least seven thousand others that the popular religious system was actually wrong! James says that Elijah was a man ‘subject to the same weaknesses as all men’ yet the Lord used him mightily. All Gods servants have feet of clay, many of the greatest reformers of church history also made big mistakes. Luther was a tremendous force for change, but his anti Semitic writings would later be used as a justification for Jewish oppression. As we strive for truth and justice in the days ahead, let us all remember that some of Gods greatest voices are ‘compassed about with the same infirmities as us all’ God does use clean vessels, but even clean vessels sometimes have cracks.
(1071)1ST KINGS 20- Benhadad, king of Syria, besieges Israel and threatens Ahab ‘give me your gold, wives and kids’. Ahab was a demoralized man, his wife was already running the show, he relinquished any remnant of nobility years ago. He responds ‘sure, take it all. What do I care?’ So all goes well, Not! Benhadad says ‘one more thing, tomorrow my men will come and inspect your stuff, if they see anything else of value, they taking that too!’ So Ahab consults with his men, he tells them the situation and they decide to reject the final offer. The fight is on. Notice how the Lord sends Ahab true prophets who give him guidance along the way, it’s like the Lord was willing to allow Ahab some time to get things right. The false prophets are dead, Elijah rebuilt the altar, who knows, maybe God was giving Ahab a real chance at reform. So Ahab does okay, he has a few battles with Syria, and at the end he LETS THE WICKED ENEMY GO! God rebukes him for this thru a prophet. God basically says ‘look, I gave you a second chance. I had a task for you, your job was to recognize and eliminate the threats to my people’ what happened? I have noticed thru the years that leaders, good men, will often fall into mindsets that say ‘well, after all our goal is to succeed and be happy. Have good church attendance, good income. Why even bother dealing with stuff that’s wrong?’ There are times in church history where God is looking for reformers, men and women who are willing to take a stand and say ‘enough, this stuff has be going on for too long, we will have no more of it’ [doctrines and stuff that lead Gods people astray]. It seems as if Ahab was living for the day, willing to let the wicked king live another day. After all, what harm can it do? He disobeyed God, he was given a mandate to execute justice, he didn’t. God chose him to complete the task, not just survive. Ahab blew it big time.
(1071) I was gonna cover Jezebel today, but lets save it for later. I have a package sitting here, getting ready to send it off to a New Jersey prison. One of my buddies is in prison and it’s a good chance to get him to read some stuff. I copied a bunch of stuff from this blog and added a few notes. He is the friend we prayed for that almost died around a year ago. His name is Patrick, he had a bad overdose on drugs, but the Lord healed him in a miraculous way. You can read about it under the prayer request section. But he was not healed of everything. One of the ongoing problems is he did permanent nerve damage to his leg. One of the problems is ‘it kills you to go to the bathroom’ if you get my drift. Well anyway as it was being explained to me, I really couldn’t empathize that much. I of course would continue praying for him, but couldn’t totally relate. Then after my most recent bout with severe back pain, I too had the problem! I notice that after the severe pain finally goes away, there will be an increased loss of feeling to my right side. Well that affects the nerves in the leg as well, now I can empathize! When one of my homeless buddies came by last week, he asked if his brother could send me some money for him thru the internet. I told him I didn’t have an account like that. He believed me and all, but I explained to him that other ministries are set up like that, they receive offerings that way. But I don’t do anything like that, I don’t take offerings. So as we talked a little I let him know that I also don’t deduct any giving from my taxes [to be honest, now it’s cheaper for me to do the standard deduction. But when I first started doing this it was not for that reason]. Well anyway he said how it’s not wrong to at least benefit in some way thru the ministry stuff I do. I told him that I do realize that many good ministries do use these advantages, yet I have seen over the years that many unbelievers use this single excuse to reject the gospel. So I personally take that excuse away when it comes to us. The bible says Jesus suffered so he might have compassion and be able to identify with our struggles [Hebrews]. Paul told the Corinthians that the suffering he endured enabled him to better empathize with others. If I stopped spending the money on the ministry, or tried to set up an income stream from it, then I could probably afford health insurance. But I’d rather suffer a little now, and build up some eternal rewards for later. We need to understand the biblical doctrine of sacrifice a little bit more, for I trust that ‘the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us’ [Paul]. NOTE- actually, as I thought about it, I spend almost half of my monthly income on ministry stuff. It might be more profitable if I took a deduction. But I won’t.
(1072) 1ST KINGS 21- Ahab wants the field of Naboth, he owns a field next to Ahab’s palace and Ahab wants to make a deal for it. Naboth says ‘no way, this is a part of my family inheritance’. So Ahab goes home, falls on his bed and refuses to eat, in the Greek this is called ‘being a big baby’. So Jezebel asks him ‘what’s wrong’? He gives her the scoop and she says ‘what’s wrong with you, you are the king! Your word/name has great power, use it to get what you want!’ So she manipulates the situation and sends letters to the elders of Naboth's city, she signs the kings name and says ‘set up 2 false witnesses against Naboth, hold a public mock trial and kill the man’. The accusation against him is blasphemy. This sure looks like a prophetic sign of the Cross. So the plan is carried out, the guy is killed and Ahab gets the land. Now, the Lord speaks to Elijah about the whole thing and he confronts Ahab, he pronounces judgment on him and his wife. Ahab repents somewhat and God delays the judgment. In the book of Revelation God warns the church of Thyatira ‘you have permitted that woman, Jezebel, to teach and seduce my servants to commit fornication and to eat things sacrificed unto idols’. John the Baptists head was taken off by a Jezebel [the wife of a king who used her husband’s authority to get what she wanted- manipulation]. What/who is Jezebel? A few years back it was common to hear teachings on her, whole books have been written on the subject. It was one of those fads where the church thought we were really doing ‘spiritual warfare’ by exposing her, but in reality we were being duped by focusing too much on the enemy. So what about the rebukes? How do we ‘spot her’? In the cases mentioned above, it is speaking of a form of manipulation that gets the ‘authorities’ to commit wickedness. When the govt. can stamp its approval on an act, like abortion, then the wicked act can be carried out because the ‘law’ permits it. In Naboth’s mock trial, he was murdered, but it was under pretense of law. Of course Jesus trial was the same. And John the Baptist was beheaded because the ‘kings word is law’. Oliver Cromwell, the 17th century parliamentarian reformer, would face his Jezebel in the king’s wife, she was the Catholic wife of King Charles [Stuart the 1st] and the puritan reformer saw her as a threat. He would eventually lead parliament to execute the king and himself hold the title ‘The Lord Protector’ his epitaph would read ‘Christ, not man, is King’. So every age has had to deal with Jezebel. One thing for sure, when the people of God permit, and at times agree, with the unjust manipulation of human govt. [like Supreme Court decisions that give voice to the murder of children] then we are to a degree ‘suffering that woman Jezebel’. The reason John the Baptists head was removed was because he spoke up loudly against a public sin. The king married his brother’s wife, they were committing adultery. Now, everyone knew it, it was the sort of thing that you learned to live with, but John felt it his duty to publicly speak out against it. So today, when we as believers become desensitized to the sins that take place with the governmental stamp of approval, then we too are allowing the unjust manipulation of human govt. [Jezebel] to have her way.
(1073) 1st KINGS 22- Well, this study went fast! I basically write a chapter a day and it fly’s by. Ahab consults with Jehoshaphat, king of Judah. He convinces him to fight against Syria and take back Ramoth-Gilead. Jehoshaphat asks Ahab ‘are there any prophets we can get advice from?’ Ahab brings out the troops, these were 400 PAID prophet’s who were ‘on staff’. Sure enough these brothers know how to ‘prophesy’. They all with one voice [unity] prophesy a great victory ‘surely you will prosper’ is the mantra. One brother even makes these iron horns and says ‘just like these horns you will push the enemy back’ they put on quite a show. But wait, Jehoshaphat wants to play it safe, he asks ‘are there any more prophets that we need to hear from’? Sure enough Ahab says ‘well, I have this guy, but he is so negative! He never agrees with these other fine brothers, but what the heck, lets get him’. So they send a servant to retrieve Micaiah. On the way back to the king, the poor messenger says ‘Now look, all the other brothers are on board, they know how to toe the party line. Please give your reformation preaching a rest’. So they arrive at the designated spot, and Micaiah prophesies good stuff. He gave into the pressure. Ahab says ‘how many times do I have to tell you to speak what’s really on your heart’ then he gives the true prophecy ‘I saw Israel like scattered sheep across the terrain’ basically he was saying ‘don’t go to battle’. Ahab says ‘see, what did I tell you! This brother is bad news’ they lock him up and go to battle. Sure enough Ahab gets killed ‘by chance’ [a stray arrow] and the battle goes bad. Also, a story is told how the host of heaven appeared before God and the lord said ‘how will we convince Ahab to go to battle’? And the story says that God allowed a lying spirit to be in all the prophets. It was Gods judgment on Ahab to let him hear what he wanted to hear! Paul says that people will ‘heap to themselves teachers, wanting the ears tickled’ we live in a day where church attendance is ‘seeker friendly’ people want their ‘felt needs’ met. Sometimes the Lord gives people what they want, even if it’s not good for them! [Remember King Saul?] So we end 1st Kings with judgment falling on Ahab, the dogs ‘licked the blood’ from his chariot in Samaria as a fulfillment of Gods judgment on him. We also see the possibility of ‘prophetic ministers’ looking really good, putting on a show, if you will, and yet being dead wrong! In today’s internet environment we live in a day where multiple prophecies go forth on a regular basis, we need to be wary of listening to the ‘many prophets’. I have found a few good prophetic words thru this venue, but for the most part the ‘prophets’ have a tendency to go with the flow. This is not to say that all prophecy needs to be doom and gloom, but we often give voice to the image of Jesus that suits us best. We like a rich, successful, wealthy Jesus, a real go getter if you will. We then speak words that are coming from our distorted image of him. In essence we prophesy [speak] words that are in agreement with the image of Jesus that we choose to hold on to. Ahab had a bunch of prophets who were looking real good, surely they all couldn’t be wrong! God let them prophesy the things that they wanted to prophesy.
1074- Yesterday I met Edward; he is a homeless brother from San Antonio. He located to Corpus a few months ago. As I was helping him out during the day I realized he had a situation with another brother who owns a ‘church building’. The building is not being used so they worked out a deal with my friend, he would live in it and kinda be a caretaker while they are trying to sell it. Well after being with the brother most of the day I ‘discerned’ how he is in great strife with the owners. They have told him to leave and all, he is telling me about his ‘legal rights’ to stay [you do run into brothers like this. I have had buddies tell me stuff like this before ‘squatter’s rights’ and stuff. When one of my friends refused to get his motorcycle motor out of my garage, he started using the squatters rights ‘provision’ he saw how quickly I began dragging it out to the curb! He got it out.] So this is kind of a funny thing that the guys do at times. But it did get me to thinking about how often we mix ‘business’ with ‘church’ [charity]. I have a policy, whenever someone asks to borrow money, I NEVER do it, but I will GIVE them some, with the explicit directions to ‘not pay me back’. A few posts back I mentioned how I used to do the real estate thing; buying a cheap rental [some were not cheap] and renting it out until I could sell it. It’s not wrong for believers to do stuff like this, but Jesus also taught us that the pursuit of wealth can affect you in a bad way. At the time I was reading and learning about all types of money investments, consuming my thoughts and energies with this stuff. Then my bible reading/teaching would inevitably become ‘affected’ with this paradigm. I would just naturally gravitate towards the money portions of scripture, when coming across the classic ‘you cannot serve God and money’ verses; I would unconsciously stick it in the category of ‘church tradition’ even though Jesus was the one who said it! So its a popular trend for believers to get into the whole ‘God has called me into the ministry of teaching believers how to become financially independent, so lets spend our time building wealth for my business and at the same time helping other believers build wealth’ sounds noble, but it usually winds up focusing on the money stuff most of the time. It gets your focus on the wrong thing. So anyway I think we need to refocus our thoughts on the New Testament priorities, sure you can be a responsible business investor, nothing wrong with it. But don’t go down the road of ‘my ministry is to bring in the wealth’ you wont be the first [or last] person that has ‘felt this calling’.
TEACHINGS- PART 7
(1074)Yesterday I met Edward; he is a homeless brother from San Antonio. He located to Corpus a few months ago. As I was helping him out during the day I realized he had a situation with another brother who owns a ‘church building’. The building is not being used so they worked out a deal with my friend, he would live in it and kinda be a caretaker while they are trying to sell it. Well after being with the brother most of the day I ‘discerned’ how he is in great strife with the owners. They have told him to leave and all, he is telling me about his ‘legal rights’ to stay [you do run into brothers like this. I have had buddies tell me stuff like this before ‘squatter’s rights’ and stuff. When one of my friends refused to get his motorcycle motor out of my garage, he started using the squatters rights ‘provision’ he saw how quickly I began dragging it out to the curb! He got it out.] So this is kind of a funny thing that the guys do at times. But it did get me to thinking about how often we mix ‘business’ with ‘church’ [charity]. I have a policy, whenever someone asks to borrow money, I NEVER do it, but I will GIVE them some, with the explicit directions to ‘not pay me back’. A few posts back I mentioned how I used to do the real estate thing; buying a cheap rental [some were not cheap] and renting it out until I could sell it. It’s not wrong for believers to do stuff like this, but Jesus also taught us that the pursuit of wealth can affect you in a bad way. At the time I was reading and learning about all types of money investments, consuming my thoughts and energies with this stuff. Then my bible reading/teaching would inevitably become ‘affected’ with this paradigm. I would just naturally gravitate towards the money portions of scripture, when coming across the classic ‘you cannot serve God and money’ verses; I would unconsciously stick it in the category of ‘church tradition’ even though Jesus was the one who said it! So it’s a popular trend for believers to get into the whole ‘God has called me into the ministry of teaching believers how to become financially independent, so lets spend our time building wealth for my business and at the same time helping other believers build wealth’ sounds noble, but it usually winds up focusing on the money stuff most of the time. It gets your focus on the wrong thing. So anyway I think we need to refocus our thoughts on the New Testament priorities, sure you can be a responsible business investor, nothing wrong with it. But don’t go down the road of ‘my ministry is to bring in the wealth’ you wont be the first [or last] person that has ‘felt this calling’.
(1075) Last night I caught a good interview on ‘the Colbert report’. They had Bart Ehrman on, the author of ‘Jesus interrupted’. I had just read a critique of his book on Ben Witherington's site [go check it out, he did a great job. His site is on my blog roll]. Colbert actually used some basic Christian arguments to refute Ehrman. Basically Ehrman is somewhat of an intellectual critic of Christianity, his background is one of ‘fundamentalist’ and as he learned of various criticisms of Christianity he became a vocal opponent. When young kids are brought up in church, taught the basics of bible faith, they then go off to college [Christian ones] and depending on how ‘liberal’ the university is, they get challenged on many of their core assumptions. Now, some of these challenges are good, believers should be familiar with the basic challenges to the authenticity of the faith. We often fail to prepare younger believers for this world. What Ehrman seems to be doing is taking many of these basic challenges and saying ‘see, all true university professors know that there are many contradictions/falsehoods in the bible, it’s a secret that the average bible toting Archie Bunkers don’t know about’. Well, he does overstate his claim. What are some of the basic challenges to the faith? Some teach that the scriptures [gospels] teach contradictions, last night Ehrman said that the crucifixion accounts were contradictory. He quoted from various accounts and said ‘see, one writer has Jesus depressed, the other upbeat’ to be honest, NO gospel shows Jesus ‘upbeat’ on his way to the Cross! But he was basically saying the gospel writers told conflicting stories. Geez, I could have come up with better challenges myself! Or the accusation of plagiarism, I am presently reading a book written by John Crossan, an ultra liberal ‘Jesus Seminar’ brother. They challenge everything about the faith. He chops up the scripture in a way that would make it next to impossible to comprehend. He has the list of the letters that most accept as legitimate [Paul’s] then the list of ‘maybe Paul’s, maybe not’ then those he says were not written by Paul, though the letters themselves claim to be written by him. Is it possible that a letter in the New Testament could have been written by someone else? Sort of like a ghostwriter? To be honest about it, it’s possible. Now wait, I know some of you will write me off for this. It’s possible because 1st century writers did do stuff like this, the official name for doing this is [I know I can’t spell it] called ‘pseudepigraphal’ or something like that. The point is it would not be wrong or deceptive for a first century Christian writer to have done this, it would not be considered lying. Do we have any examples in scripture where stuff like this happened? There are references [not symbolic] that have writers in scripture saying ‘greet those at Babylon’ or ‘to those at Babylon’ and the writer means Rome [I think Peter and John do this?] In these few cases it is understood that they used Babylon because they were writing to areas that they did not want to be exposed, they did not want Rome to know who or what they were writing about. So this is considered acceptable, not a deception. Likewise in the gospels you read one account of Peter’s denials where it says ‘before the cock crows twice you will deny me three times’ and another gospel says ‘before the cock crows’ well, which one is right? They both are, one is just giving more detail than the other. Is this lying, of course not. It was perfectly acceptable in 1st century biographical writing to do stuff like this. Biographies are held to different standards then intense historical accounts. That is not to say the gospels are not historical, it’s just to say the writers were writing biographies and it should be understood that way. Even Colbert [a Roman Catholic believer] brought this out in his mock challenge to Ehrman, he used the classic elephant example. Four blind guys all give different descriptions of the part of the elephant they feel. I think believers should be familiar with the historical arguments against the faith, they should not simply respond ‘that’s God's word and that settles it’ while this might suffice for ones personal faith, it does nothing to refute Ehrman, or his disciples! NOTE- I believe all the letters, writings in the New Testament that say who wrote the actual letter, were written by that writer. The problem is some writings do not say who wrote them. But we can still figure out some of them by other means. Luke tells the person he addressed Acts to, that he wrote his gospel account on an earlier occasion. John’s gospel says it was written by the ‘disciple who Jesus loved’. So even writings that do not specifically say ‘written by Matthew’ or Mark or whoever, you still can find hints to who wrote them.
(1076) Being we are in between studies I thought I might talk a little on the books I recently read. One was an older scholarly work on revivals and ‘revivalism’. It covered the history of the great awakenings [18th-19th century America]; while I am familiar with this period and have read on it before, the interesting thing I learned was the intense disagreement between the Arminians [those who reject the classic doctrines of Predestination] and the Calvinists. The degree of anti-Calvinism was surprising. Many average readers of church history do not realize the role that Calvinism played in the beliefs of many of the famous reformers [Spurgeon, Edwards, Whitefield]. Also the intense disagreement between the ‘new measures’ [altar call] and the more reserved churches. I must admit I personally came to distrust the amount of weight that is put on the evangelical ‘altar call’. I remember as a new believer, being excited about the things of the Lord, I was working for a construction crew and worked with a bunch of good old boys. They were around my age [19-20] and were local Texans. I was this Yankee from New Jersey, but I liked the brothers. I remember how after witnessing to them non stop for a period of around a year, one of them sincerely tells me ‘Oh, we are all saved, we all got saved as kids in our churches’. I realized the popular terminology of ‘getting saved’ and associating that with the evangelical altar call, was just as legalistic as some of our Catholic brothers trust in infant baptism and the sacraments. That is the Protestants would criticize the Catholics for ‘trusting in tradition’ while they were just as bad! So in the recent book they showed the intense disagreements over this, many reformed brothers felt that telling people to raise their hands ‘in church’ and come to the altar to ‘get saved’ was simply giving false hope to many people who clearly had no real understanding of the gospel. But the other extreme was the strong Calvinists who seemed to indicate that total passivity was the way to go. Some got the impression that you could not make ‘a choice’ to follow the Lord, so they didn’t. For the most part I recognize that it is possible to have gone thru all the motions [whether Protestant or Catholic] and to lack a real trust and faith in Christ, but some carry this too far and judge others as ‘not being saved’ because they did not say ‘the sinners prayer’ or ‘accept Jesus into their heart’. The scriptures clearly teach that those who believe in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, that they are children of God. Now, I realize this is not speaking of simple American ‘I believe in God’ type faith, where people have no real walk with the Lord. But we also don’t want to reduce salvation to an evangelical [or Catholic] technique that you blindly follow in order to ‘get saved’. My well meaning friend who told me ‘we are all saved’ was simply viewing ‘being saved’ from a religious lens, just like a cradle Catholic might view the sacraments. I believe we should encourage people to have a strong commitment to the faith, trusting and relying on Christ’s work for our redemption, but we need to be careful that we are not viewing ‘being saved’ only thru our own religious paradigm.
(1077) Let’s talk a little about conversion and ‘being born again’. This past week was Easter week; I made it a point to watch the Catholic Mass from Rome. The Pope presides over this service. The English translator shared how the Popes usually do not give a message write after the reading, they always give an address to the world, but not an actual sermon. But Pope Benedict made it clear that he wanted to take the opportunity to actually preach. Hey, all good preachers couldn’t pass up an opportunity like this! Sure enough he gave the clearest Easter message of the week, out of the few other sermons I caught during the week, his was the clearest. He explained the Passover Lamb and how Jesus was the fulfillment. He gave a very ‘Christocentric’ message [centered on Christ]. I thought it was a great opportunity for the world to clearly hear the message of the Cross. Now, being ‘born again’ is a very real thing that ALL people must experience in order to have a relationship with God. The term comes from Jesus own lips as recorded in Johns gospel. John mentions it in his epistles [as well as Peter]. And Paul most certainly taught regeneration. If you read the chapter where Jesus speaks about it [John 3] you will see how he is challenging the religious mindset of his day, he is talking to a religious leader and telling him ‘you must be born again in order to see Gods kingdom, to understand the truths I am showing you’. In Johns letters [1st,2nd and 3rd John] he clearly defines being born again as believing that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. So the reality of all men needing this new birth is true, the problem arises when different Christian groups put their ‘slant’ on it. Some groups emphasize water baptism, others ‘the sinners prayer’, the more sacramental churches [Catholic, Orthodox, etc.] have a mix of the sacraments along with faith. My own view is the strong Justification by faith belief. Now, some believers who were raised in the more traditional expressions of the church, after they experience a definite conversion to Christ, will often view all of their former brethren as lost. They will associate their real conversion experience as being truly born again. The problem with this approach is some will view their experience as the plumb line for all other faiths. They sincerely see the other Christian groups as lost, they want them to experience what they experienced. Now, even though I do not personally believe in infant baptism, or adult baptismal regeneration [read my statement of faith section] yet I do see the reality of other church traditions grounding their people on the foundation of Christ. That is they might not have been ‘born again’ when their church officially claimed that over them, but if their denomination still teaches the gospel, and they believe it, then they are in fact ‘born again’ according to the New Testament criteria of ‘being born again’. I believe it is important for all traditions to emphasize the reality of Jesus and his death for us. For people to understand that God accepts us on the basis of the death and resurrection of his Son, this is the foundation of our relationship with God. Too many people are struggling with self worth, trying to live up to others expectations, to impress others. They then struggle with their inability to overcome sin, feelings of unworthiness, and they hear a message from the ‘church world’ that sounds condemning. They have no real hope in God. We need to reorient the message around the Cross, to let people know that God accepts them based on the redemption that Christ accomplished on the Cross. Christian churches might [and do!] disagree on the technical aspects of ‘being born again’ but we all agree on Jesus being the Messiah, the Son of the Most High.
(1078) I’m getting ready to email one of our news papers [the ones I run the blog ad in] they double billed me again! I have these papers do direct withdrawals from my account, when a few of them over bill in one month it puts me in a bind. Sometimes it bugs the ‘heck’ out of me, but then I calm down and try and correct it the next day. I believe the Lord allows you to have influence, to ‘go far’, by his sovereign will. Not too long ago I emailed a national radio/prison ministry. He’s based out of Washington, famous brother. Sure enough as I heard his 5 minute radio program one morning, he used a rare example that I have taught on our site. I thought ‘geez, he must be reading our stuff’. It was one of those teachings that is hardly ever heard, a short thing on Jesus words about ‘the camel going thru the eye of a needle’. I refuted the silly teaching that used to say ‘the eye of the needle’ was the name of a ‘low gate’ in the city wall, thus- the poor camel can make it thru, but he has to crouch! OUCH! So any way this brother used the example, good for him [and me]. So if the Lord wants a person to have influence that goes far, he will do it. But there are also times where the Lord holds us back, that is he is simply waiting for our maturity to catch up with our ability. What I mean by this is it is all too common for preachers/ministries to master the art of bringing in the finances, getting things together, then expanding their message way beyond the borders of their maturity. That’s why there is so much unbalanced teaching in the church today, the American church spends exorbitant amounts of money on teaching stuff that is ‘less than perfect’ if you get my drift. So let the Lord lead you in how far your voice should go. He might be saying ‘look son, I have great purposes and plans for you, I have given you a gift and talents that are going to be used in a great way in my kingdom. But for the present time this does not include a national/world-wide audience’.
(1079) let’s see, I was gonna talk about the movie ‘there’s something about Mary’ they have been playing it on cable. It is funny! But a little too racy. Then I thought about doing one on ‘the Ort cloud’ a so called spot in space where comets are waiting on the runway to launch into our solar system, after all comets lose mass in their orbits. If you measured the amount of mass being lost with the old age of the earth/solar system, they wouldn’t be around any more! So the Ort cloud is ‘an idea’ that fits in with the old age theory [I lean towards the old age theory myself]. And last of all I was going to delve into the authorship of the New Testament, I spoke about this a few posts back and thought we should do a little more. Right after I started reading the bible I came across an interesting fact, I noticed how the letter of Jude was almost identical with a chapter in 2nd Peter. It was more than just common themes; it seemed to be a duplication. I remember mentioning this to my Pastor [a good man who had graduated from a fundamentalist bible college] he was not aware of this. I told him I had no problem with it, that it was certainly possible for the Holy Spirit to inspire two separate writers to say the same thing, and I left it at that. Are there any other solutions to this type of thing? Well, it is also possible that Peter [or Jude] read the other brothers letter and used a portion of it. Peter states in his writings that he was reading Paul’s stuff. The New Testament leadership knew each other fairly well, ALL the early Christian leaders lived in the same region of the world and had contact. There is one more explanation that scholars give; in the first century it was common for a writer [scribe-personal secretary of an author] to write/compile the teachings of a few various leaders [with permission!] and to attribute the whole letter to the main contributor. The book of Proverbs is attributed to Solomon, yet there are a few other authors mentioned in the book [king Lemuel, Agar] same with Psalms. So it is possible that a compiler [scribe] put together a letter with parts of Jude in it, but the entire letter would be attributed to the main contributor, Peter. The point being that there are solutions to difficulties like this, Christians should be familiar and trained in stuff like this. My original pastor, though a good man, was not familiar with stuff like this because the strong fundamentalist background simply ignores these types of scholarly questions. All in all I believe 2nd Peter [and Jude] are inspired books canonized by the church for our benefit, but the first century writers did not write [or compile] in a vacuum, they did use scribes [Paul did as well] and sometimes this sort of compiling did go on, not in deception, but as an accepted practice of first century writing. I would have no problem with accepting a book as inspired, even if it was possibly a compilation of more than one author.
(1080) In keeping with our recent train of thought, lets talk a little on who wrote the New Testament, and when did they write. During the rise of higher criticism in the universities [a type of learning that cast serious doubt on many of the truths of scripture, though some of the elements of higher learning were helpful; like the historic method, learning to study scripture thru a contextual lens] you had some who dated the gospels as being written by the end of the first century, even into the second! Today, no serious scholar would put them anywhere near the second century. And like I said the other day, those who attribute Paul’s writings to various unknown sources, they also can stick the older label on Paul's stuff. Do the scriptures themselves give us any hint at when they were written? Sure. They don’t tell us exactly, but some good hints. The gospels contain lots of historical records in them, who was ruling at the time. Certain census that were being taken, things like that. Of course this doesn’t mean the writers were writing at the exact time of the events, but it shows you their familiarity with them. Or if a gospel writer [I think its Luke] says ‘just as others compiled stuff about Jesus and all that he did, so I thought it good that I should do the same’. This would show you that the writer was not as close to the actual events as others. Or when Luke writes the book of Acts, he states that he had already written his gospel. Luke is pretty meticulous about historic stuff in Acts; he records the believers who were killed for the faith [Stephen, James- the disciple, not the Lords brother who was one of the main leaders at Jerusalem, who is also believed to be the author of the epistle]. The point being, if Luke ends Acts with Paul living in a rented room in Rome; plus he never mentions the martyrdom of Paul or Peter, this would indicate that Acts was written before their deaths. Nero killed them both in the 60’s, Nero died a couple of years before A.D. 70. It would seem rather odd for Luke to have left their martyrdoms out of the book! Peter and Paul are the two main characters in the book. If Luke is recording the martyrdoms of less known figures, you think he would have at least mentioned them. So this is kind of internal stuff you look at, and if Luke says he wrote his gospel earlier, Walla! This would give you an early date to his gospel, before Acts was written. Also, we have various common names; did John the apostle write all the ‘Johns’? The gospel, the 3 letters and Revelation. Most scholars have him writing the gospel and letters, some attribute Revelation to another John ‘John of Patmos’. They feel the Greek text in revelation is too different from the other writings, so they think another John wrote it. When I wrote my Hebrews commentary, I think I must be the only person left on the planet who still thinks Paul wrote it! I realize that this makes you look ‘illiterate’ in the scholarly world, but I have my reasons. If you believe in the real late dates to some of the books, you can cast too much doubt on the accuracy of the sources, if you go too early, you reject too much evidence. And in some cases, the dates are very important to the beliefs of the group. Preterists believe you can make a case for all the apocalyptic portions of scripture having been fulfilled in A.D. 70, they will bring up historical evidence of witnesses seeing chariots in the sky at the time of Titus overthrow of the city, signs and stuff that Jesus said would happen ‘at the end’ so to them ‘the end’ was A.D. 70. If revelation was written around A.D. 90, then it doesn’t fit. John [whether the apostle or the Patmos brother!] still shows the apocalyptic stuff as being in the future. So they make a case that revelation was written before A.D. 70, is it possible, sure. But we really don’t know. Plus, if you think it was written late, you place Domitian as the possible anti-christ figure, early- it’s Nero. So you see some brothers have put a lot of thought into this stuff. It’s good to be familiar with some of these basic things, especially when you have anti Christian activists using some of these things as sources for their activity. Christians should be able to debate coherently with them, if not they win their point. Most of all we have a tremendous amount of textual/historical data that backs up the record of Jesus and the New Testament. There is absolutely no other writing from antiquity with this kind of backing, the gospels and the new testament are historically trustworthy, whether or not we know for sure which John wrote revelation, or which James wrote James, really doesn’t matter. We KNOW which Jesus rose from the dead!
(1081) Was thinking earlier what we should talk about today, I have been jumping around thru some of the prophetic books [Revelation, Zechariah, etc.] but then I remembered I got a letter yesterday from my buddy in the New Jersey jail [I have some in the city jail, some in the state prison system of Jersey]. So I thought I should read the letter and mention it. Sure enough they didn’t take the check, I sent him a 25.00 dollar check and they sent it back; it needs to be a money order. The guys need money to get stuff from the commissary and stuff, I have done this plenty of times [by ‘done this’ I mean sent the money!] I realize now that the Lord is going to have me do a little more writing than I expected. Nothing wrong with it, for some reason I didn’t expect my buddy to write back and want to keep in touch. That’s fine. He also told me he was reading the stuff I copied from my blog; he says ‘it’s strange I can hear your voice when I read your stuff’. Just a few weeks back I was ‘thinking’ about the dynamic of hearing someone’s voice when you read their books, I mean it was a conscious thought that I couldn’t shake. Now I realize it was one of those prophetic moments, basically the Lord was telling me ‘people will hear your voice when they read your stuff’. My buddy handed out a few of the ministry cards I sent, he told me some of the other brothers might write. It’s strange, I felt the Lord was telling me a few years ago that he was going to expand my territory and I would once again have contact with New Jersey, and at the same time some of the Texas contacts would wane [the prison stuff- I still have a bunch of cities we speak into]. So it seems like some of this is coming to pass. To be honest with you guys, I have had some tough times these past few weeks. I can’t be ‘too real’ on a public blog like this! But take my word for it, I have struggled somewhat. You know what's funny [or sad?] I have preacher ‘acquaintances’ who preach great, they always have an excellent public persona. Some think I am too ‘worldly’ [possibly so!] but they mean my open sharing and stuff on the blog. Sort of like we should always be in a preaching mode and ‘God’ forbid we should ever be real. I know some of these men personally, some of them have had more ‘private’ problems than you could ever imagine. Now, I am not judging them, but if all we ever see/know about people are their platform image, then we are seeing an unrealistic picture of the Christian life. Our preaching [American Christianity] is consumed with self-help techniques and psycho babble. We present an unreal picture to the world. Then I hear preachers say that this real life style, being open and not perfect, is wrong. I think the American church needs an overhaul in general. I got an email from the news paper that messed up my bill last month, this paper [Jersey Journal] is the only one I put my name in with the ad, the purpose is for any old friends to see it and maybe read the site. In the other papers I just run the blog ad. But the Journal always treats me right, the poor brother who handles my account always profusely apologizes when something goes wrong ‘please forgive us for the mistake’ and stuff like that. So this time I just couldn’t resist it, I emailed him back ‘NO, I CAN NOT FORGIVE YOU GUYS THIS TIME!’ of course I was kidding, but I would have loved to have seen the look on his face when he read it. So anyway, today we learned that we are all in the same boat, we all struggle with things in life, but during this life we are also called upon by God to give ourselves away for others. To transcend our own weaknesses and give of our time and money for the benefit of others. People who live in the real world need others who live in the real world to reach out and help. One of my favorite movies is Donnie Brascoe [yes, I watch the mafia stuff]. It’s the true story of an undercover F.B.I. agent who infiltrates the mob, he made it further in than any other agent in history. The danger was he identified so much with the brothers, that he had a difficult time differentiating between which world he was in. There is always a danger when living in the real world, we are to be in the world, not of it. But for mere mortals this can be difficult, surely Jesus would never identify too much with such sinful creatures! Oh wait, there is this little doctrine that just popped into my head, I think they call it THE INCARNATION.
(1082) ‘For the priest’s lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth. For they are the messengers of the Lord’ Malachi 2:7. I remember a few years back, I was listening to the various teachings that were on the radio station that I broadcast on. Some brother out of the Fort Worth area used to buy air time and all. One time the focus was ‘what is Gods essential character?’ if there were only one word to describe who God is, what his essential makeup was, what would that word be? And of course the answer was ‘abundance’ specifically ‘financial increase’. I know of know other way to describe stuff like this, it falls under the category of ministerial malpractice! God commands leaders/teachers to seek the truth coming from him, we are responsible to at least get the most basic things right! What would be the most obvious answer to the question of how to define God in a word? Surely every preacher should know the answer. It would be ‘God is love’. While there are many attributes of God [omnipotence, omniscience, etc.] yet the ‘one’ word definition, if you had to give one, would be love [yes, he is Spirit too]. The last word you should use to describe God would be ‘much money’. Paul said the false teacher’s god is their belly; their appetites, they live to satisfy their desires. Jesus taught us one of the greatest desires of man is acquiring great wealth. He said you can’t serve God and money [mammon]. Why people still send their offerings to ministries like this is beyond me. The challenge to wealth and oppressive wealthy nations/peoples is sown all thru out human history; Homers Iliad revealed the monster 12 centuries before Christ in his writings on the Trojan War. Adam Smith penned his famous book ‘wealth of nations’ in 1776. Challenges to oppressive govt's. of men who use wealth and power to come against the poor in society are noble themes that all great prophetic voices have hit on [Gandhi, Martin Luther King, etc.]. Who was thee singular greatest prophetic voice who engaged in this type of polemic? Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Most know him as the carpenter, but the actual word used to describe his trade in the Greek means ‘hand laborer’ [or day laborer] you know, those poor brothers we see waiting for a job on the corners of streets, going to ‘labor ready’ [a local place to find daily work]. It is quite possible that Jesus was ‘less’ than a carpenter/tradesmen, but more of an odd jobs worker. Willing to take any job he could get. Well, once he entered his teaching ministry, boy did he speak to power and wealth. If you read all the actual words of Jesus [yes, the red ones!] and try and come up with a singular theme thru out his writings, it could very well be his contrast of the rich and poor. The powerful oppression of wealth and unjust govt. against the poor and weak in society. His incessant condemnation of the wealthy and affluent, I mean you can’t possibly miss this! Unless you are not seeking the ‘law’ [words] that actually were coming from his MOUTH! Malachi rebuked the priests of his day, they were functioning and active and everyone knew they were priests, yet they were not really listening to the words of God himself, I think we need to all give heed to what the brother said.
(1083) Let me do a compilation of various readings. In Isaiah we read the famous verse ‘I have laid a cornerstone in Zion, a rock of offence and stumbling; those who believe will not make haste’ [somewhere in Isaiah?] Paul quotes it in Romans. If you go read the chapter [look it up] you will see that the reason God raises up this ‘cornerstone/rock of offence’ is because the leadership of Israel became wicked, they were fulfilling roles in the community, but they left the intent of God behind. So God raises up prophetic voices at certain seasons for the purpose of creating a divine tension in the community. Voices that will be a stumbling stone and offensive to others; this is part of the process. In Zechariah/Revelation you have the witnesses who also ‘devour those that speak against them by the words of their mouth’. The adversaries really cannot refute what the prophets are speaking; Jesus also metes out justice with the Sword coming from his mouth [the word of God]. The lord speaks to Joshua the high priest [Zechariah] and he is standing before God and making intercession with dirty clothes. Like Hebrews says ‘every priest taken from among men is compassed about with infirmity’ this is so the priest can identify with those he is interceding for. Then the Lord removes the dirty clothes and puts a clean garment on him [robes of white/righteousness- revelation] and does this divine act of cleansing. The lord also says he will remove the sin of the land in ‘a day’. All these images speak of the purposes of God, he allows people to speak into his community at set seasons for the purpose of a corporate work. These voices often cause turmoil, they shake things around; Pastors wish they never heard some of the stuff! Why? Because then they realize they have to reform also, a tough process indeed. As you follow along on this blog, you see how I ‘dwell’ in different camps at different times. Whole seasons of doing prophetic stuff, or history, or traditional church stuff. I believe the Lord wants all of us to come out of our secluded shells, our ‘peculiar’ doctrinal slants, and to embrace the broader context of what he’s doing in the nations. We need to quit viewing ‘ministry’ thru the lens of starting a business, raising money for the business [church/para church] to carry out certain functions, and then living our lives in the context of ‘God wants us all to be happy and have a good time, and whatever happens in the rest of the world is none of my concern’. Jesus challenges us with a kingdom message, he told us that we would need to lay down our lives/agendas for a higher, more noble purpose. He constantly challenged those on the edge to jump in and forsake all to follow him. As I read the prophets, I see that God uses them to directly challenge leadership, he raises them up as a result of leadership going off track. Jesus was the cornerstone/rock of offence that made the religious leaders very uncomfortable. The New Testament says they feared they would lose their positions of status if Jesus kept gaining a following. You see, the things he was saying were a direct offence to their way of life, the way they perceived their service to God. Those who believed [Nicodemus] would enter into the beginning of a new worldwide movement that would never end, those who stayed offended would wind up crucifying ‘their rock of offence’.
(1084) I was thinking of doing some politics, but it jut gets me mad. One of the homeless brothers has a unique tattoo; he has the letters that were on Christ’s Cross inscribed on his forehead! You can’t miss it, it’s huge. I have run into Grumpy a few times over the years, he was never really in the group of close knit brothers that I hang with. Some of the guys are heavy drinkers and violent, good guys, but you can tell the regular brothers try and avoid them at times. Not too long ago I had a good chance to fellowship with Grumpy, he was of course drunk, but it was early enough in the day for him to function coherently. He was staying at this ‘flop house’ with a few guys. Grumpy has a Catholic background, at one point he clearly articulated Gods majesty thru the story of Moses, he was quoting the famous ‘I AM’ name that God spoke to Moses. I could tell that he knew his stuff. Over about an hour conversation, and a short bible study thing that I was asked to give, Grumpy really opened up, he cried as he shared his past failures and stuff. Though he was one of the violent guys [fight at the drop of the hat] yet the Lord was dealing with him. After talking for a while, he even got into Revelation and the scriptures on those who have the mark of the beast or Gods mark on them. He then mentions the tattoo on his forehead, realizing that I must have been noticing it as we were talking. At first, when he mentioned the ‘mark’ I didn’t know what he was referring to, it did not register in my mind that he had this huge tattoo on his head, for some reason I simply did not ‘see it’ the whole time of our conversation. I guess it’s hard for people to live down their failures, the stupid things they have done in life. I don’t know if Grumpy regrets the mark on his head, but I know he seemed surprised that I really did not notice it at all, sort of like ‘how can he not see this mark on me!’ Scripture talks about people having marks/stains that they can’t seem to get rid of. After Cain killed Abel God marked him for life. Isaiah says ‘though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow’. My friend must feel self conscious about this permanent mark that he probably got when drunk, this sign of the guilt he feels because of the many failures in his life, seeing himself as one ‘cursed on a Cross’ but the fact the Cross happened means we don’t have to struggle with guilt [though we all do, at least I do] but his mercies are new every morning. Not too long after my conversation with Grumpy he took off to California, he will continue walking the streets with this mark/sign that will prophetically speak to the world around him. Christians driving to church will no doubt see him on some street corner, trying to stop their cars a few feet before the light, doing their best to not have to look into the face of fallen man. Then maybe as they speed past him they will get a good look at his eternal mark. Maybe for a second they will see Jesus thru fallen humanity, maybe they will think of the words of Jesus when he said ‘when you did not show mercy to these, you did not show mercy to me’.
(1085) I was reading Ezekiel, this verse struck me ‘the Lord took me to a high mountain, and I saw something like the structure of a city on the south’ [40:2]. To my Corpus friends, these types of verses are really prophetic. The Lord uses imagery in scripture; the Church is a city, a ‘city set on a hill’ that cannot be hidden. Sometimes the atheists try to hide us, they make arguments that the whole Christian faith is a big lie, that we have all been duped! Then they say the church has been the biggest force of evil known to civilized man. If I believed the Easter Bunny was a myth [I do, by the way] and then I spent the rest of my life tracing the history of Easter bunnies; how everywhere you turn they have affected society, from kings to peasants. These bunnies are everywhere! Both of these arguments can’t be true at the same time. Either they are insignificant things that people made up, or they are so insidious that they are the biggest nuisance the world has ever known! The poor atheists haven’t got a clue. God says he has set up his people like a city on a hill, he says she ‘can’t be hidden’ both the good and bad stuff has been recorded for all human history to see. The fact is, since this city has been impossible to erase from the annals of history, this fact in itself testifies to the reality of the masterbuilder who created her. Jesus said we would be set on a ‘hill’ a mountain for all the world to see, they have seen!
(1086) The last day or so I didn’t write any posts, but if I did, they would be something like ‘to be honest, today was a difficult day. Recently there have been some ‘old demons’ from my past that have haunted me. They visit every now and then, they always eventually leave, but they have a tendency to leave some marks’. Now, that’s as close as you can get to confessing stuff on a public blog! James says ‘confess your faults one to another, and pray for each other that you might be healed’ it’s hard to confess your faults when the modern church is consumed with image ‘how we look, who’s the new up and coming ministry on the horizon’? Geez, I feel like ‘if I can survive this day, that’s fine with me Lord’. Well enough of me. I have been reading the prophets, let me give you some advice; if times are hard, read Psalms. If you need wisdom- Proverbs. And if you’re in the mood to get chewed out, read the prophets! It’s hard to not feel convicted when reading the brothers. I was also thinking about the lives of people who have impacted society to some degree, often times they are tragic figures. Jesus, from the natural standpoint did not look like he had it together; sure, he was healing [helping] people, a couple of resurrections and all, but as the leader of this rag tag team of radicals, things weren’t going to well. The disciples thought they were in on the beginnings of a revolutionary movement that would throw off the oppression of Rome. The war that led up to the eventual overthrow of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 was actually initiated a few years earlier by this type of mindset. In the apocryphal books [the catholic books between Malachi and Matthew in the Old Testament] you have the recording of the Maccabean revolt, when the Jews attempted to throw off the ruling govt. The whole history of Israel was one of learning how to be a free people, coming out from the rule of other human governments [Exodus, Joshua, etc]. So these disciples of Jesus really thought they were in on the right political party, the one that would succeed in turning things around. After all, if you were waiting for some Messianic figure to show up, if your bibles [old testament] said he was going to come and deliver you from the Roman oppressors [read Mary’s magnificat] you would naturally think that Jesus was going to set up a physical throne out of the city and Rome would be cast off. But what happened? This great religious leader, this miracle worker, he is always talking about this new kingdom. He’s dropping little hints that it’s not going to be what they think, he says things that seem to not even make sense ‘the last shall be first’ ‘he that seeks to save his life shall lose it’ ‘this kingdom does not come with observation, it’s within you’. Oh well, the disciples figure ‘what the heck, we cant understand all that he’s saying, but man he’s got the authorities scared. I mean you can feel it in the air brother!’ So they stick it out, but he also drops little hints ‘the son of man is going to go to Jerusalem [Yea, now were talking! This is the part we’ve been waiting for Jesus, no more of this talk about laying your life down, that’s just depressing] and be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified’ What! What are you telling us? We quit our jobs, left our homes; we gave up a lot for this movement, now your telling us your gonna die! This is way too much to handle! By all outward appearances he seems like such a tragic figure. They accuse him of not being able to help himself ‘if this man were the Son of God [legit] surely he would come down from the Cross [a place of weakness, public humiliation] and save himself. He helped others, and he can’t even save himself!’ The accusation was he must be a hypocrite, he talked a big talk, but even his closest friends are no where to be found. One of the most vocal [Peter] is out right now swearing up and down that he doesn’t even know the man. ‘Jesus, I have no idea who your talking about’ the bible says he cursed and swore, lets try and be tactful, this is a Christian site ‘I don't know what the hell your talking about’ how’s that? What a sad ending to such a promising career, he seemed like he had so much going for him. Man, could he teach! You know we heard when he was only 12; he was asking the scholars questions that they couldn’t answer. One time he stood up in the synagogue and opened up this scroll, you know the Isaiah one. He read this strange verse about Gods Spirit being on some future person, how that person would do justice for the poor, speak out against things that he felt were wrong. He would be genuine, then you know what happened? He said “this day is this prophecy being fulfilled in your ears” Man, it gave us all chills. But what in the world happened to the guy? We heard he was unstable and all, the religious leaders have diagnosed him as a nut! But how do you explain all the good he was doing, after all nuts don’t raise the dead? Oh, that’s easy, he was doing it by the power of satan. Well I guess they were right, after all look at him now, such a pathetic figure. Naked on a cross! All that we expected from you, you could at least have the courtesy of deconstructing in private; I mean really, do we all have to watch this tragic end? Well of course we know the rest of the story, it didn’t actually end tragically. But he couldn’t seem to find help/vindication until after he died, can you wait that long?
(1087) People like stories, there is actually an age old [few centuries] debate on whether or not the historic church got their theology messed up because of missing ‘the story’. In the 18, 1900’s liberal strains of Christian teaching showed how the Hebrew culture was one of narrative, stories. And that as the Gentile church grew and lost part of her Jewish heritage, that they messed up by taking ‘the story’ about God and his people and turned it into systematic theology. That basically the church allowed herself to be influenced by philosophy and intellectualism and they produced creeds and councils and stuff, but lost the romantic nature of Christ and his bride [the church!]. The early church father, Tertullian, said ‘what does Jerusalem have to do with Athens’? Meaning what does philosophy have to do with Christianity. So either way some think we have lost the story. I was watching King of Queens the other day, it’s the episode where Doug [Kevin James] is supposed to attend this overeater’s class. So as he goes to the building where all these 12 step programs are being held, he sees that in his room the snacks are all fruits and carrots and stuff, but he catches a glimpse of a room across the hall and he sees these luscious donuts! So he wanders into the room and begins stacking up for the trip, and as he is about to leave the room the main counselor sees him and introduces himself and all. Doug tries to explain that he’s really not supposed to be in this class [it’s a program for men being beat up by their wives] but the counselor thinks he’s in denial. Sort of like ‘does your wife make you feel unworthy, is that why you eat too much?’ so as he thinks about it for a few minutes, the next shot is him walking back and forth during the meetings, eating the doughnuts and blaming all his problems on his wife ‘she calls me fatty’ and stuff like that. So what was supposed to help him [the 12 step program across the hall] turned out enabling him to eat! So as the weeks pass Carrie [his wife] is so happy about his enthusiastic attitude when that day of the week rolls around, he seems to be enjoying this program more than she thought he would, she gets a little suspicious as he is standing in the doorway getting ready to leave, as she looks at him she notices something; a real tangible difference in him since he’s been attending. She asks ‘Doug, are you getting fatter?’ Of course he’s put on a few pounds as he’s been consuming all the doughnuts. He tries to wiggle out of it, he responds ‘that’s the motto, you will get fatter before you get skinnier’ and he bolts out the door. Well now she has to see what’s been really going on with him, she goes to the building and finds the overeaters class, she asks one of the guys ‘is Doug here?’ and he tells her there is no Doug in this class. So as he is piling up his snack plate with carrots and stuff, she says ‘isn’t this the overeaters class’ and the poor guy gets offended and says ‘no, this is Jenny Craig’ and tells her ‘why do you have to hurt’. So she realizes something’s going on, sure enough she spots her husband at the doughnut bar with the guys who are getting beat up by their wives. The poor guys are dejected, living their lives with the stigma of, well getting beat up by their wives! So she confronts Doug, they get into it. The counselor and all the guys in the class who have been hearing all the stories of how terrible she is, come to his defense. Things get out of hand, she spills the beans on how he always was overweight, it’s not her fault; he leaves and as she is leaving the room she stops at the door for a moment; looks back at the room of dejected men, they look like they have lost all sense of self respect, such timid creatures, and she kind of makes a quick move at them, you know like if you were gonna hit someone, and they all flinch at the same time. She walks away smiling. Well, quite a long story/narrative. What did we learn? That if you are going to an over eaters class, don’t eat the doughnuts for heavens sake! Well, not really. We learned that stories are interesting, they catch peoples attention, and you want to hear ‘the rest of the story’ so to speak. Our lives are stories for people to read, God wants us to be open books as much as possible. This can be a very difficult thing, I mean really, do you want me to know about your personal history? The things you have struggled with in life. God wants us to be more than ‘doctrinal dispensers of truth’ [systematic theologians] now don’t get me wrong, that’s a part of it, but it has to proceed from the story of our lives. Twelve step programs help people because the basic concept is based on Christian principles. One of my main teachings is on what the church is, part of it includes a community of people who are open and honest with each other, who share their struggles with each other, so that’s the basis of the programs. As Christians I think we need to let people into our story, they need to not only hear proofs for Gods existence, or the quoting of bible verses. We need to let people into our stories, live openly and vulnerably before the world. Naked on a Cross, if that’s what it takes.
(1088) still jumping around in the prophets, was surprised to see how many verses I quote during prayer that come from Micah. Just read the famous prophecy about Jesus ‘out of thee Bethlehem, the least of all places, shall come forth one that will rule, have great authority’. The strange thing about the calling and destiny of Jesus was he grew up and spent his whole ministry in a sort of backwoods region of the ancient world. His spoken language [Aramaic] was considered underclass. You see two very distinct types of living in our New Testament; Rome was a strong civic center, an upper-class place where knowledge and politics ruled the day. These outlying areas that Rome conquered and placed leaders over them, these areas were low class places. You see this play out in the gospels, a sort of fishing/agrarian lifestyle, as opposed to Rome and her obvious ruling aura. Paul going thru all these legal loopholes as he defends himself. Appearing before these puppet kings and rulers, going up against the quasi religious authorities that Rome allowed some freedom for the sake of stability in their realm. That’s why you see the religious authorities appealing to Pontius Pilate, he, as Rome’s representative, had the power to execute Jesus, the religious authorities did not. So anyway Jesus starts his ministry in these territories that are basically low class. He gathers around him a hapless bunch of followers, and starts his little ‘movement’. That’s fine, let him humor himself; after all he isn’t the first to claim some type of Messianic title and to think he will challenge society. He does seem to have somewhat of an aura that compels people to listen to him, this irks the religious class ‘why are you listening to him!’ They figure if they ignore him he will go away. His family actually thinks he is becoming unhinged, the type that would need one of those interventions ‘Now Jesus, we love you, we know your into this religious thing and all, that’s fine. But we are now getting a little worried, you seem to think you are on this special mission from God, that you must complete it at all costs’ They feared he was losing his mind! But hey, there is only so much you can offer a person, if they don’t get the help, it is their choice. So Jesus continues riling up the authorities, his silly movement consists of him spending all his time with these low life’s of society. I mean, can’t he see their pulling him down! He has these whole nights where he prays to God, and then these underclass are pulling at him, always needing help! Geez, they are in their circumstances because of their own sins, just let them reap what they sowed. Well don’t worry about it, he will soon fade. He is causing somewhat of a stir with the Roman authorities, they really are not up on all the religious questions that seem to be causing the problems between him and the Jewish religious figures, but the territories are experiencing disharmony, Rome does not like this! So settle it quickly before things get out of hand, these Jews might seem harmless, but they have a history of rebelling against other nations who bring them under tribute, so we need to quell the uprising. So Jesus continues on this somewhat destructive course, I mean even Peter tells him ‘there is no way we are going to let you go to Jerusalem and be killed! Now this thing is getting out of hand, listen to some sense man’ Jesus responds ‘get behind me satan, you are more concerned with the things of men than of God’. Jesus really believed he was on this divine mission, nothing we say to the guy can dissuade him! But really, how much ultimate effect can he have, he is from this low class area, what an ignorant bunch of hopeless slobs! Well the day has come, enough is enough, for some reason the Jewish leaders won’t leave it alone, now they managed to frame him with some trumped up charges and get him before the Roman court. Pilate has a lot on his plate, the leaders at Rome want him to settle this thing, quickly! So he does a brief reading of the charges and sees that this Jesus is accused of claiming to be Gods Son, this sent one from eternity past into this time and place of human history. How could this be, what type of god would predetermine his own Son to arrive in these low class areas, this cant be. Pilate asks the man himself ‘do you really think you are Gods Son? Brother, you better start speaking up for yourself, you don’t realize we are not playing games here, you managed to stir your people up to the point where they are pressuring me to execute you’. Jesus is somewhat different than all the other criminals, he seems to be in control, saying his only crime was speaking the truth. He claimed to be Gods Son, the promised messiah spoken about in the Old Testament prophets. How does he know this, how can he be so sure that this destiny he seems to be fulfilling is really from God? Maybe he’s just misreading the whole thing, sure Micah says God predestined one who will come from this area, but how does he know it’s him? Pilate has a tuff decision to make, as he mulls it over his wife tells him ‘don’t have anything to do with this man, I dreamed a dream, this man is just!’ Wow, my wife never told me anything like this before! I know, I will give the Jews what they want, convict him of the crime and pass the death sentence on him, but there is this tradition they have, during this special religious season [Passover] they have a custom of pardoning one who is going to face death. Surely they will pardon Jesus, the only other guy scheduled for execution is Barrabas, everybody knows he deserves it! The day arrives, Pilate goes thru with the plan and the people holler ‘crucify Jesus, let Barabbas go!’ What! He has really done nothing wrong, I wouldn’t have even passed the sentence if I knew you would actually go thru with the whole thing. He is mad, the Jews tricked him ‘I know, I’ll put this accusation over the cross- THE KING OF THE JEWS, this will stick in their craw!’ he does it, they are infuriated ‘don’t say he is our king! Say he claimed to be our king’ Pilate says ‘what I have written, I have written’. Well this isn’t the end of our story, but I have gone on too long for now. Who would have ever thought this simple carpenter from such an insignificant town could have stirred up so many emotions, man he is carrying this destiny of his thru the lives of many people, he took it all the way to the leaders of the empire for heaven’s sake! Oh well, we tried to help the poor guy, we tried to talk him into dropping this whole purpose and destiny thing. We tried to tell him ‘good, we are happy you are healing and helping people, you managed to get this little following of unlearned men’ [not illiterate, but no higher learning in the whole group, not even Jesus!] but he took the thing too far, he wouldn’t back down. He got way too many people mad, the ruckus made it back to Rome and they did what they thought they needed to do to settle things down, just make it go away. Boy were they wrong.
(1089) it’s a Monday morning right now, last night I had one of those nights where you can’t sleep. I was up until around 2 am, I thought ‘well, maybe I won’t pray the normal Monday intercessory prayer thing’. On Mondays I make it a point to do a consistent prayer time for family, friends, and nations, lost people groups, the persecuted church and many other things. I do this at least three times a week. Usually from around 3:30 -5:15 am. Every morning I spend time with the Lord, if it’s not intercessory prayer, it’s an hour or 2 of praise and meditation. I have often thought there might me something wrong with me, I mean I am still praying for friends from high school, the kids of some of my buddies who have died years ago. And to be regularly praying for nations, lost people groups, the persecuted church; to be doing this, even in the midst of personal turmoil, is simply not normal. I know you will think I’m kidding, but I do have somewhat of a compulsive nature, I think I have inklings of O.C.D. [obsessive compulsive disorder] to be honest about it. You know what also doesn’t help? After finally falling asleep at around 2 or so, I thought ‘well maybe I will miss a day, what harm could it do; after all the Lord is full of mercy, he’s no slave driver!’ Then the first verse I read in Micah was ‘arise, contend thou before the mountains, let the hills hear thy voice!’ [6:1] Gee, thanks a lot. Part of my prayer time actually quotes ‘listen oh mountains and you from afar, the Lord has called me from the womb, from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name! I will not fail or be discouraged until I have set justice in the earth, I will call a nation that I do not know, and nations that do not know me will come running to me’ [various collection of verses] I quote this, along with many other verses that I have added to memory over the years. Sounds kind of noble and dramatic, doesn’t it? Hey, I would have settled for ‘now I lay me down to sleep’ but the Lord had other plans.
(1090) this is the second post within a few minutes, I rarely [never?] do this. I just read Micah chapter 6 again, the verse ‘the Lords voice crieth unto the city and the man of wisdom shall see thy name’ 6:9 [or recognize the Lord speaking thru people, and not seeing/hearing mans wisdom] I want to say something to my Pastor friends who have known me and followed our teachings now for a few years. It makes me a little uncomfortable when I see leaders make actual changes because of what they hear me teach. Now, I commend you guys that have done this, some of it is obvious and noble. I just want you guys to know that when you hear something from me that is kind of strong, try not to take it personal, it’s not meant that way. Also, change takes time, I do not expect Pastors/churches to ‘live up to’ any/all the things I feel the Lord is presently communicating to this generation; sometimes he deposits lots of reformation truth into a generation, but this does not mean it is going to be fully implemented in that generation! It’s takes mature leaders to see and function in that reality. It also takes maturity to recognize when God is speaking, when he ‘cries to a city’ it takes men of wisdom to discern what’s from God and what’s proceeding from human intellect.
(1091) it’s funny [or sad?] the other day I told you how when I read Micah chapter 6, the first verse spoke to me. Then recently I have been going thru some things, and this morning the first verse in chapter 7 is ‘WOE UNTO ME’ old brother Micah was definitely a prophet! Let’s do one of those Jeff Foxworthy things, you know ‘you might be a redneck if your front yard looks like a salvage yard’ type stuff. I get amused when brothers/Pastors tell me about their sufferings, you might ask them ‘okay brother, tell me what’s going on?’ and they might say ‘well, my parishioners are gossiping about me’ oh please, this stuff doesn’t even register on the meter! Here's a good way to define it ‘you might be going thru some stuff if people say to you ‘cheer up things can’t be that bad’ and after they get a glimpse of the things, they say ‘you know brother, things can’t get much worse’! Hey, we all need a sense of humor. Or say if your history was one of eating chocolate cakes, and you say ‘I fell off the wagon, I ate too many sweets this month’ of course that would be bad, but the difficulty will be measured by what type of wagon you fell off of! So Peter tells us to rejoice thru suffering, he also tells us that we shouldn’t suffer as evildoers. That is if you’re in prison for murder, sure your gonna suffer, but what the heck do you expect! But Peter also suffered for past sins, things that he did wrong. One of the gospels says right after the Rooster crowed, Jesus looked at him and he went out and ‘wept bitterly’. You see, Peter had a destiny to fulfill. Jesus knew that he had to taste some difficulty in preparation for it. Time was running out, Jesus has been training these guys for three years, he has given them all the great teachings about the kingdom, tried to instill in them a new mindset, showing them that this new movement of his church/kingdom would be lead by people who are like sheep going to the slaughter. These leaders would taste much death in their lives; as a matter of fact these death experiences would be totally necessary for the purposes of God to be fulfilled. But it’s been three years now and Peter is still struggling with pride, trying to create this macho image of himself, in on this great revolutionary movement ‘hey, look at me, the Messiah has come and I am one of the inner circle’. But he saw Jesus lean on John the disciple’s breast at the supper ‘the special disciple who Jesus loved’. Jesus would confide in him that Judas was the betrayer ‘what about me Jesus’ thinks Peter ‘why not let me in on some of the secrets too’? still struggling with self worth. He will see some things, but first he has to face his Cross, his day of failure, the thing that will torture him for the rest of his life ‘How could I have been so stupid! I denied the Lord! My whole purpose for existing, the reason I am here; I have committed acts of betrayal against Jesus and myself!’ Now hang on Peter, this is part of the preparation, be careful to not get too consumed by this failure, it has a purpose ‘what purpose, what good can come out of this whole sordid affair’? Now, there is something else going on down the road, Judas starts feeling guilty too, he is appearing before the religious leaders, he tells them ‘I have betrayed an innocent man, I have stooped very low in my life. Not only do others see me as a failure, the one of whom Jesus said ‘it would have been better if this man were never born’ [the man who can’t escape his own guilt!] but I too see myself as one of little worth’ he tells the leaders ‘here’s the damn money, 30 pieces of silver, please take it back’. They don’t want it either! ‘No, please take it, I’m trying to penalize myself in some way for what I’ve done, you don’t understand, I need you guys to take it, to in some sense absolve me of my guilt’ it was too late, he set the course and could not change the outcome, he tried, but the eternal laws of guilt and reaping were bearing down on him ‘too much to bear! I can’t stand this damn guilt anymore’ he does the tragic deed; he ends it all on some tree. As he hangs himself his ‘bowels’ gush out, his insides were killing him and it just seems fitting that he detached himself from them in his death. He chose wrong, make no mistake about it, this act is never acceptable! Well Peter will go on to be one of the greatest leaders in Gods church, I’m sure he remembered the words of Jesus when he said ‘don’t forget Peter, the least will be the greatest’ Peter will ascend the heights of church leadership; he will be used of God in a great way. History tells us when Nero killed him that he requested to be crucified upside down, he did not feel worthy enough to die like his Lord. Old brother Peter, I guess he never really overcame the guilt of that day. That one damn offense that haunted him thru out his life, this terrible thing allowed him to taste death in such a way that would qualify him for great things. But why couldn’t there have been some other way? who knows, Peter will write to the believers ‘it’s good if a man suffers justly, if he lives with difficulty as an innocent victim’ but he also said ‘let none of you suffer for your own faults and actions. Don’t put yourselves in situations where you will have to live with the penalty of your own guilt, it can be tormenting!’ Peter knew what he was talking about.
(1092) Wasn’t too sure which way to go? Was thinking of the verse ‘for this reason have I brought you to this PLACE [of mourning] so you could see and understand and meditate on the things I am showing you and then you can speak it to my people’ [have no idea where this verse is!] Then started reading Jesus great Sermon on the Mount; he starts [Matt. 5] ‘blessed are the poor in spirit, those who mourn, those who are meek’ these are the ones who will inherit the earth. Just finished an early prayer time, it’s strange but when you pray regularly for nations and regions, in some cosmic sense you are ‘dwelling in the nations’, I mean you can see/sense yourself inheriting the earth! Yesterday I was going to get with the homeless brothers, but I had to run some errands with my daughter so I changed plans. I wound up driving to the gulf, where I live I am surrounded by bays, oceans [Gulf of Mexico] and all sorts of streams. So I spent a few hours under a bridge where you can listen to the cars driving overhead, right next to this channel. My truck radio went out a few weeks back, good! I would have probably had the news on and would have missed an opportunity to meditate. I was thinking about how I always have had the next project, mission, ‘thing to accomplish’ on my mind. I was too consumed with accomplishing some task. No matter what stage of my life, there always seemed to be the never ending thought of ‘what’s next’ and all the baggage that’s comes with it; ‘what will it take to accomplish it, what’s the ten [5] year outlook, who are the key people who will be involved’ [remember- don’t associate with people who will kill your vision!] Jesus is talking to his disciples and he says ‘blessed are those who struggle with stuff, who mourn [go thru deep valleys] these are the ones who inherit’ Jesus style of ministry is so radically different than ours. He had no need to make it to Rome, he was content to give himself away for ‘the least of these’. He invested in people who seemed worthless, people that you would disassociate from ‘look Jesus, we caught this woman in adultery, in the very act!’ [I guess they were voyeurs?] and how does he respond? ‘I don’t condemn you, go and sin no more’ he doesn’t whitewash the offense, chalk it up to some religious system of morality that man has inflicted upon society [Freud’s theory] but he plainly says ‘yes, you have been found out. You have sinned, like every one else on the planet, you have sinned’ this was no secret, she couldn’t hide anymore. Her dark secret has now been exposed, the lifestyle she has struggled with is now in the open for all to see! Not only that, but the long awaited for Messiah, the one who was foretold by the prophets, the holiest man to ever walk the planet! He too has seen my humanity, my utter failure to live up to the moral code. My story is forever recorded in the gospels for heavens sake! [Well, she didn’t now that] All the efforts to cover up, to bide a little time until she could get her act together have now been crushed. Her day of mourning has now arrived. Jesus tells her ‘I do not condemn you, don’t do this again’ Wow! Blessed are those that mourn.
(1093) woke up too early today, around 1 a.m. The first sound I heard was Dick Van Dyke singing ‘put on a happy face’ from some classic movie on the AMC channel. I never really listened to the words before, but he sings ‘don’t use the word tragic/tragedy in your vocabulary’ I must admit I have been using those words a bit too much. It sounded like a Joel Osteen sermon in stereo for heavens sake! I guess the Lord knew I wouldn’t have received it from a prosperity preacher. But how could I brush off Van Dyke? I know ‘who does Van Dyke think he is! Mr. big shot, big screen actor who stooped so low that he made the Dick Van Dyke show, no REAL actor would do a TV series’ yea, that makes me feel better. I was at the homeless hangout the other day [will be there today as well] now there are also a bunch of gang kids who hang out there, in Corpus we have somewhat of a gang problem, kids shooting every week and all, deaths every so often. I was walking with one of the homeless brothers passed a few of them, I mean you can tell by the way they look, I could never wear my pants half way down my backside! What the heck kind of cool look is that, I think it makes you look like an idiot! Well anyway one of them said something as we walked passed, I of course had to stop and give them one of those ‘are you talking to me’ type looks, to be honest I think the kid got a little scared, just being honest. Okay, I never listen to myself on the radio [maybe 5 times total in 13 years] and the other day I put the station on, seeing who’s new in the area and all. Sure enough I hear this brother, can’t really recognize the voice, but he sounds pretty good. It took me a minute to realize it was me! I quickly turned it off. Remember the Jeff Foxworthy thing? You might be going thru some stuff if you hear yourself on the radio and don’t know it’s you. Thought it fit in good here. My wife got an email from an old friend, she lives in Germany with her ‘new’ husband. We were friends with the lady years ago, I was friends with her first husband. She was the secretary at a Baptist church and yes, she ran off with the Pastor! She divorced my friend and married the Pastor. He left his family and they have been together for around 10 years now. I know people are human, they fall into stuff [I really know!] But I can’t see how the ex pastor can try and get things right and stay in the marriage, over the years I have had ups and downs, yes even times where me and my wife were separated but after getting things right, any side relationships had to go! I mean even stuff like ‘maybe God is in this’ being said by the other person [talking years ago by the way!] wouldn’t even register in my mind! I don’t know how pastors/ex pastors can continue in these types of relationships, God forgives, but the relationships just can’t go on like that. And I am not judging, been there done that, just when things are over you have to do your best to make things right. Just read ‘blessed are the pure in heart, they shall see God. Blessed are the merciful, they shall obtain mercy’ I have learned in my life that there are times where I can ‘see’ God. Days when I know if I stay on course I will hear him, I am the type that if I backslid into drugs and bought a bunch of stuff, that I would not be able to keep the stuff overnight, I would have to throw it out. Or if I woke up and thought ‘later on I will mess up, but for now let me do the prayer/teaching thing’ I wouldn’t be able to do it. Now, if later on wound up being bad, that’s another story, but to actually premeditate the thing doesn’t happen with me, I know I ‘cant see God’ when not truly desiring a pure heart! Now, I have had Christian friends who could do stuff like that, i.e.; staying in the new marriage after leaving your former family, I know I could never do this. Now, don’t get me wrong, there are divorced people who move on with their lives and God forgives them, but the above situation is much worse than that. God says ‘if you regard iniquity in your heart, the Lord will not hear you’ to live with the conscious, ongoing acceptance of sin in your life will cut you off from the presence of God! Blessed are the pure [not perfect!] in heart, for these are the ones who get to see God.
(1094) I know I shouldn’t write posts when mad, but I can’t help it! I am on the verge of just deleting the Emergent Village icon from my blog roll. Just listened to an interview by Tony Jones, he’s talking to a Christian minister who wrote a book from the view point of Evolution as fact; now, I know there are many theistic evolutionists [Christians who embrace evolution] and I do understand their arguments, but the tone of this interview just irked me! ‘what’s the psychological reason/problem with believers not accepting it as fact’ [paraphrase]. I don’t want to get into all the scientific reasons that Christians [and many non Christians!] do not accept the theory, but it just seems like Tony Jones has responded to his many critics by taking on a casual persona that allows him to make statements that turn many sincere believers away. Any thinking Christian can easily find evidence against Darwin’s theory; the problem is certainly not a psychological one!
(1095) I had one of those weird prophetic experiences yesterday, I was reviewing a radio tape that I made a while back [6 months to a year?] though I don’t listen to myself on the radio, I review the tape one time before airing, and I will be surprised how many times the thing I just wrote on the blog matches what I said a year ago! I mean the exact words. So yesterday as I am listening to the tape while cleaning the house, I am saying to myself ‘wow, this is exactly what I just taught’ and then on the tape I say ‘you know, sometimes people hear these messages years later and say “wow, that’s exactly what I just went thru”’ weird, isn’t it? Okay, being we have been talking somewhat about Jesus and his movement, let’s do a little about style/procedure. A few weeks back we had a busy day around the mission where I hang out; various Christians/ministers donating time to help out. I met a new brother who introduced himself and we both shared about our various ministries, I told him how I have made many homeless friends and we get together and do stuff. Sometimes we travel to another town and ‘see how the brothers are doing in all the towns where I have preached the gospel’ [Paul does this in the book of Acts] But most of the time we are just friends. During this day as the other Christians were chipping in, fixing things and stuff, my other ‘ministry friend’ kind of wanted to talk ‘ministry’ he saw me sitting with my friends and kind of couldn’t understand what I was doing [just being friends!] sort of like ‘when are you going to do the preaching/teaching thing and then talk ministry?’ He was well meaning, but he just didn’t get the whole point. I do not see/have a ‘ministry’ thing that takes place outside of the confines of simply trying to live out the kingdom of God as a real person with other real people. These people ARE REALLY my friends, I don’t wrap things up and then ‘talk serious ministry’ this is serious ministry! It took some of my preacher friends some time to really see this, sort of like ‘gee, John has some ability to teach and all, if he would only get his act together and start a ‘church/ministry’ he could really be successful’! I have heard/felt this mindset many times. I believe we need to live as real people in society, the great need isn’t for more ‘ministries/businesses/churches’ to stir people up to give more money in order to carry out another endless series of projects! The need is for us to return to the ethos of Jesus as seen in the gospels and try to emulate [by the Spirits power] the things he did and taught. Jesus spent much time among the hopeless; he was teaching and doing good deeds. At the same time you had the religious class of professionals living as some type of upper-class clergy. Jesus style works a lot better.
(1096) THE FINAL DAY these past few weeks we have looked at the circumstances surrounding Jesus and his friends, their struggles and weaknesses. Thought it fitting to do one from the perspective of Jesus himself. Theologians have questioned how much Jesus himself knew of his own purpose and destiny. When he was 5 years old did he fully comprehend the things that awaited him? Of course not, but at the age of 12 he most certainly was seeing the ‘writing on the wall’. His own mother Mary was told early on ‘this child will effect many, nations and people groups will stand or fall based on his life’ oh, and one more thing Mary ‘a sword will pierce thru your own heart also’. Did she reveal this to her son? Did she embrace the fact that she too would experience terrible loss over her involvement in the life of Jesus? The bible says she ‘pondered these things in her heart’ she basically realized that a little more was going on than meets the eye, this strange experience, prophets and religious experiences that are intruding into her average life. Seeming to see future things about her son, things that he wasn’t fully aware of at the time. Oh well, file it away until another day. As Jesus grows in wisdom and stature he begins to grasp more fully the day that awaits him, he sees the prophetic things that surround him, things that were unexplainable, except for the fact that God was showing him what must happen next. Is he wondering somewhat? He goes out to his cousin John at the age of 30, John says ‘behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world’ he tells Jesus ‘I am not worthy to fulfill this task, I am not worthy to even untie your shoes!’ Now steady John, I know this seems to be going too far, you being the one prophesied by Malachi, the ‘Elijah to come’ but I have to deal with a much heavier matter, you said it right when you just called me ‘Gods Lamb’ I will fulfill my destiny in a way that my closest friends don’t understand yet. Some of them are very close to me, ‘swords’ will pierce thru their hearts. They do not fully see the bigger purpose, their attachment to me was meant for a higher purpose, my father knew that to get their attention they would need to be involved with me in some way, then when my destiny is complete, they will forever have been effected. John baptizes his cousin and from the sky a voice says ‘this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased’. Jesus knew the course by now, too many signs for all of this to be some type of coincidence. But what about my friends father? My disciples, people who have become emotionally attached in some way? The recent discussions over the DaVinci code and stuff like that have caused many to wonder about Jesus’ ‘love life’. Was Mary [the female follower] possibly more than a friend? [By the way, the answer is NO!] But people have asked. The Catholic Church has changed it’s stance on the traditional belief that Mary Magdalene was the same woman that Jesus cast 7 unclean spirits out of, the prostitute. But whether she was that Mary or not, we don’t know. But surely she must have been affected by this whole scenario. This person who accepted her fully, he truly did love her, but not in the way normal people would define it, but yet in a greater way! It’s hard to explain, he knew her brief attachment to him would end with a sword piercing thru her soul as well. But what could he do? This was part of the destiny he now fully understood, his friends can’t really see it all yet, they are being drawn into this drama by events that seemed to be an accident, Jesus knew better. As the tragic day draws near, though it will end great in the victory of mans redemption, yet tragic in the sense that he could not really live a normal life with his good friends ‘attending the school reunion’ are you kidding! I am about to fulfill a destiny that will impact the world! No time for that sort of stuff. Now we have already covered the emotions of Judas, Peter and others. Is Mary [the disciple] thinking ‘who knows, maybe Jesus will marry me? After all it is a custom for many of the religious leaders of the day’ was she hoping for more than his destiny would allow? He realizes that he has brought these friends along for a ride that they didn’t fully see yet, but when it’s all over it will have turned out all right, but for now they will sacrifice the normal pleasures of life. Jesus has now spent 33 years contemplating the big day, he now fully grasps what it’s all about, no more possibility of persuading him to not go thru with it. Sure, his friends will try ‘God forbid that you even have the thought of going to Jerusalem to die! Why are you even having these thoughts’? Peter felt responsible in some way to help his friend out, to intervene in any way he could. Jesus was determined; there was no stopping him now. Oh well, let the chips fall, we did all we could do. He begins to agonize over the actual event itself, wondering if there might be some other way. Mary [his mother and the disciple] was surely praying for it, they hoped with all of their hearts for another end, they have prayed and asked God ‘please help him, we love him so much, please let him live!’ Jesus is very tired now, it’s been quite a long road to this point, he now fully grasps what’s going to happen, he hoped he could have handled it a little better. He doesn’t want to show weakness right now, but he is fully man and fully God. The man says ‘Father, I know we have come to this predetermined place. My mother heard about it from the prophet at my birth, I realize that I have come for a much greater purpose, but PLEASE, PLEASE listen to me, if it’s possible, let me not go thru with this. If there is another way, please lets do it that way’. He knows deep down inside that he shouldn’t be asking this, he prepared himself mentally for this day for quite some time now, but a big part of ‘this day’ would be his struggle, his inner turmoil. His friends will one day read what went on behind the scenes, they will get a glimpse of the intensity of the struggle; they will see why he seemed so intense at times, things that they didn’t really know about, but the agony was part of the whole story. He will sweat drops of blood; the turmoil seems too much to bear. Sure, those around him would taste part of it, but they would have no idea how much it was effecting him, he was the target. He comes back to his disciples, they are sleeping! ‘Didn’t I ask you to pray? I really need you guys right now, please don’t give up on me now!’ they were dumbfounded ‘why is he so upset?’ they weren’t seeing it from his perspective. ‘It is enough, I am now going to be given to sinful men, they will do to me as they will’. Jesus once said ‘when the salt looses it’s flavor, it is good for nothing but to be cast out and trodden under men's feet’. The three year ministry of Jesus had lots of flavor, many who followed his calling were really blessed, I mean no one could teach like him! Plus he really did do a lot of good, lives were touched for ever, but things are now wrapping up with him, his friends didn’t turn out as good as he had hoped, they are denying him left and right! The flavor is being lost, he is about to be cast out and trodden under men’s feet! His long awaited for day has arrived, the day he looked forward to ‘for this purpose was I born!’ he would say, but yet he was in agony, you could almost taste it! So here we go Jesus, the time has come, any last words ‘You will see me coming in the power and glory of my fathers kingdom, do what you have to do’. Wow, we never had a final statement like that! They scourge him, a brutal act of whipping a person until his flesh falls off of his bones, ‘some king’ quick lets cover his face with this bag ‘Whack’ they beat the hell out of him ‘prophesy now Jesus, who hit you’. Well let’s nail the prophet to the tree. He is suspended between heaven and earth, he looks down. His mother is there, his poor mom. She somehow knew this day was coming, she hoped it could have been avoided, but it’s here. She remembers the prophecy from years ago ‘a sword will go thru your soul Mary’ the sword has penetrated. The other Mary now knows ‘it will never be! I had hoped that maybe this person who loved me more than anyone would be mine alone’ but he was given to the world, Mary will never be the same. Jesus is determined, it’s gone too far now, his friends are tasting death themselves. He mentally knew what the Cross would entail, being forsaken by God for the sins of men. A feeling of ‘forsaken-ness’ that no other person would ever be able to comprehend, though he intellectually knew it, yet he still had never really tasted it. No man ever has. What’s it feel like Jesus, if your who you said you were, come down and we will believe. They put a sponge on a stick with ‘vinegar and gall’ actually an act of mercy from his executioners, they had experience with others who have died this way, right at around this point they all drink the gall, it was a painkiller of sorts, helps you thru the pain- Mick Jaggers ‘mothers little helper’. He refuses ‘no, I'll drink in the pain’ seems a little self destructive? He cries something that is misunderstood, they think he’s calling for Elijah, but his words are garbled, he is unrecognizable for heavens sake, a truly tortured man! He was once again calling to his God. It all seems too much, way too much intensity for such a short life. He had his struggles, don’t get me wrong, HE NEVER SINNED, but did go thru stuff. We heard lots of rumors about him, but now this day, this tragic day has arrived. Of course we know it was really a great victory, but tell that to the pitiful figure on the Cross as he screams ‘Oh my God, why have you forsaken me like this’ and dies.
(1097) Okay, lets do one on apologetics, the last few posts drained me too much! During the time of the Reformation, Enlightenment and scientific revolution [15-1700’s] you had people dealing with the reality that many of the former institutions that they trusted in [Catholic Church] were being challenged at the core. Though the scientific method was introduced by the church, yet as time advanced many would use science as an excuse to challenge the existence of God. As certain philosophers grappled with the effect that this would have on society [Immanuel Kant] they developed belief systems to explain the necessity of some type of belief in a moral higher power, versus the other extreme which is defined as Nihilism. That is the basic belief that nothing really has meaning at all, as the rock group Kansas put it ‘all we are is dust in the wind’ [p.s. try not to listen to this song if your feeling depressed!] Those who advocated Nihilism [Niestche] still had to explain away the reality of this almost universal belief in God. Where does it come from? Why do people gravitate towards this belief? For the most part the atheistic philosophers said it was born out of this innate desire of man to want more than Nihilism, basically man could not accept the reality that he came from nothing and was heading nowhere, so that’s why he came up with God and religion. Now it was important for the atheistic philosopher to come up with some answer to the dilemma, and this was basically it. What's the problem with this answer? The majority view of God [Christian, Jew, Muslim] is a view that God is this all-powerful being who knows all things. He also has this moral code that if broken demands strict punishment, and man in his humanity has a really difficult time living up to this code [of course Christians solve this problem thru the Cross!] and any man who lives his life as a lawbreaker will not be able to escape this all knowing judge who has all power to carry out all justice for all men. In short, if man developed a god for psychological reasons, as some type of cosmic crutch to help him thru his meaningless existence, for heavens sake it wouldn’t be this one! Thus the explanation that the atheistic philosopher gave didn’t really solve the problem. Now Kant rejected natural theology, he did not believe the arguments used to prove the existence of God from natural means were valid [Anselm, Augustine, Aquinas] but he was accused of driving God out of the front door and letting him in thru the back. Kant said in order for man to have rule and order, civil society, that you would need some basic things. Man would have to have some type of moral code to live by, he would also have to be assured that those who broke it would have to pay some type of penalty [in the after life as well as now]. In order for a just future judgment you would need an all knowing judge who you couldn’t slip something by, he had to be just, not one you could bribe! He would also have to be all powerful, if by chance he couldn’t execute the judgment then crime would still prevail. Kant called this basic moral requirement ‘ought ness’ that is the things that all people ‘ought to do’ the moral code implanted in man. Kant recognized the danger of Nihilism, if man had no outside moral agent to whom he was accountable to, then civil society would eventually be lost. So you now see the problem with the period of human history where men went thru a revolutionary stage. As they tried to cast off the church and God, they also realized that these things provided the very foundation of civil society. If Nihilism won out, society would eventually collapse.
(1098) been reading a little in Matthew, lets look at chapter 4. After Jesus fasts for 40 days and goes thru the temptation, he ‘re-locates’ he hears that John is in jail and leaves Nazareth and goes to Galilee. Now in another gospel account we read how the imprisonment of John upset Jesus. John’s course is already fixed, he is going to die. Jesus knows this. Jesus also realizes that these things are happening to John as a result of his calling and relationship with Jesus. John actually sends a note to Jesus while in jail, he asks ‘are you the messiah that was to come, or should we look for another?’ Some feel John was doubting, others think he was saying ‘Geez, I am your cousin for heavens sake! Don’t you remember the day I baptized you? Even when Aunt Elisabeth, my mother, saw Mary when they were both pregnant with us, the story goes I ‘leaped’ in my mom’s womb. What’s going on FRIEND, cant you get me out?’ So it’s possible that Jesus was having a hard time not intervening for John. Maybe Jesus was thinking ‘John, I want to help you more than you know. For heavens sake I don’t want you to die! But some day you will go down in history for fulfilling this purpose. I too will die soon as well, you must foreshadow my death as the forerunner, the one prophesied to come and prepare my way. Its hard for me to let this happen, it’s part of my Cross too’. Now Jesus enters a new phase of his ministry, he begins teaching and gaining a crowd, the bible says ‘his fame went all thru out Syria’ and the last verse of chapter four says he gained a following that extended to 5 different regions/cities. God expanded Jesus’ borders and influence thru great difficulty. He just went thru a great test and the realization that he was about to lose a close ally in John. Certain sign posts on the journey are beginning to happen, and God is increasing his influence thru it all. I want to encourage you today, you might have just gone thru [or going thru!] some stuff, be aware that God might be expanding your influence, he might be positioning you for the next step. When God told Moses ‘my name is I AM’ God was saying ‘I am the one who is here in the present moment’ can you ‘see’ God from where you are at right now ‘in the present moment’ if you will? Yes, you might ‘lose a John’ someone that has been with you for quite some time, a person who identified and saw things like you, but we all eventually walk the road alone, doing what we know needs to be done because it’s our purpose. God told Abraham ‘I called you when you were by yourself, no one else was around, I made you into this great nation and people. Don’t forget your beginnings’ it’s difficult to lose those close friendships, it feels like we lost part of us. But God says ‘I AM present’.
(1099) in the temptation of Jesus, he told satan ‘man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God’ proceedeth seems to indicate an ongoing act, that God is ‘still speaking' if you will. Now, as believers we understand that this does not mean God is giving more scripture, the canon [bible] is complete. But this does mean that God is the I AM, that is he reveals himself in the moment, we live daily by Gods directions and voice [not audible]. The word we use to define the nature of our bible is ‘inspiration’ it comes from the verse where Paul says to Timothy ‘all scripture is given by inspiration from God’. Some scholars feel a better translation would read ‘expiration’ not meaning it has expired/died! But that the actual meaning is ‘God breathed’ and it has the connotation of God breathing out his life/word [like when he created man, he breathed into man and man became a living soul] and the writers of scripture spoke out that which God breathed in. I like that, I feel this is the heart of all true teaching/preaching, it needs the element of being extemporaneous, a spur of the moment type element. Of course this doesn’t mean not to study, Paul also told Timothy to study to show himself approved, but we need to embrace the ‘I AM-ness’ of God. We need to live our lives based out of him being the source. Jesus also said in John’s gospel ‘my meat is to do the will of him that sent me’ the thing that sustained him was living out the Divine plan. These past few weeks I have tried to re-think some things, understanding that I need to wait on God a bit more [okay, a lot more!]. Sometimes as I review my mission statement I will hear ‘John, if you never made another radio message, or wrote another blog entry- there is still enough in storehouse to complete the job’. Sort of like learning to rest and understand that I don’t have to always be in ‘production mode’. I do have to struggle at times to enter into this rest, this idea of ‘standing still, and seeing the salvation of the Lord’ one translation says ‘you don’t have to do anything, God will fight for you’. I have a verse written down in my mission statement, it says ‘your warfare is accomplished, your iniquity is forgiven. Now is the judgment of this world, now is the prince of this world cast out’ it is a compilation of various verses, it grounds me in grace when I meditate on it. What do you ‘feel’ like today? Are you struggling with acceptance, wanting people to approve of you? Are you trying to earn Gods acceptance by what you do? Even in ministry things? Jesus said man lives by Gods breathed out word, his daily, active revealing of himself and his purpose to you thru an intimate fellowship with him. It’s hard to hear him if your always building stuff, the noise of construction drowns him out!
(1100) Yesterday I went to my P.O. box and had a bunch of mail. My prosperity friend wrote again, he writes every so often. He’s the older brother I mentioned before, kind of ‘corrects’ me every now and then, recently he has simply thanked me for the messages [long letters!] I also had a package from Jackson, Mississippi. It was a book by a brother who emailed me about a month ago. He is a reformed elder [minister] and must have found out about my site. He kindly asked if I would review a book he wrote last year. I really don’t have time to do a full book review; but Jack, if your reading this here are a few comments. I read the book yesterday, the title is ‘Corinthian elders’ by Jack Fortenberry, put out by bridgepoint publishing co. Brandon MS. I liked and agreed with 90% of the book, much like the themes I teach on organic church life. Jack lays out a good case for unpaid elders, but also makes the case for ‘paid’ apostles [not salary, just worthy of the hire type thing] I have heard and am familiar with this distinction. I believe the New Testament leaves room for the monetary support of elders/leaders, whether apostles, pastors or whomever. I also believe strongly in the ‘do it at your own expense’ mentality of Paul [I receive no money, ever!] But this would be about the only disagreement I would have. I do recommend the book to our readers. Okay, just read a little more from Matthew, Jesus healing and doing good, teaching in ‘their’ synagogues and going thru the cities and villages. I just like his style! Freewheeling, couldn’t care less about what the religious class were saying, his disciples said once ‘don’t you know your offending the leaders’? He said every plant that his Father didn’t plant would be rooted up. He had no time to present a phony image of himself to people, he knew he was losing support amongst the religious class, but he also knew that system was on it’s last leg [Judaism apart from Christ] so he said ‘let them be offended, who cares!’ Ah, what a preacher. The blind men come, he says ‘do you really believe I can do this’? He heals them, but he wanted to know that they were becoming convinced. They had to be willing to go out on a limb for him. After all, Jesus healed people who did not fully believe in him before. They asked once ‘who healed you’ and the man said ‘I don’t know, all I know is I was once blind but now I can see’ [Johns gospel] but this time it’s different ‘do you believe or not’! It was time to be willing to lay it on the line for Jesus. ‘Yes, we have been sick for too long, we need help! To hell with our damn pride, please help us’! Okay, they walked away seeing. No one did this stuff like Jesus! How could you not hear his teaching, the religious leaders were telling the people ‘he doesn’t fit our mold, stop listening to him!’ They were being eaten up by jealousy, the same thing that haunted Cain. He killed his brother Abel because his brothers works were accepted, his weren’t. The religious leaders could not stand the fact that Jesus was being accepted by the common folk, he was moving in on their place of authority. They fed off of the limelight, the prestige of position. Jesus would have none of it, he tells the people he’s healing ‘Don’t spread the word about this, okay’ and sure enough they go out and tell everybody! Jesus fame spread abroad thru the whole country, but he was heading to the Cross for heavens sake! No time to gloat in the honor of men. Yes Jesus was truly one of a kind, people were fascinated by him ‘isn’t he the carpenters son? Isn’t this the kid we played stick ball in the street with’? They couldn’t connect this Divine destiny with the boy they grew up with, he had them all wondering. But don’t forget, he told Peter and Andrew ‘follow me guys, I will teach you how to catch men’. He knew the way to ‘catch them’ wasn’t the route of the religious class, they just spouted their doctrinal positions all day long, told the people how bad they were, the average folk saw right thru the hypocrisy. Jesus had a different style, it would take him all the way to Golgotha, the ‘place of the skull’ [death].
(1101) Jesus was telling the disciples that they were going to go thru some stuff ‘you think that I am come to bring peace? No, but a sword! Families will be divided, they will deliver each other up to death!’ he said we would be brought before kings and governors for his sake. How? By some type of presidential invitation to give the inaugural prayer? I don’t think so! We would be brought before authorities as a witness, just like Peter said, that Jesus gave a good testimony before Pilate, he certainly wasn’t on the way to a prayer breakfast! So Jesus is preparing his men, he is telling them that they too will have cross’s to bear, they will suffer and sacrifice for the greater purpose, they will die to their own desires and dreams, it’s not about us or what we can get or accomplish in life. This is what’s so insidious about the American gospel, it's basically a cross-less message. We go to church and live our lives for self attainment ‘what can I get out of this’ type of mentality, Jesus told us those who seek to save/preserve their lives will lose them. Yet the American church is consumed with building our portfolios for heavens sake! We need to hear Jesus words, there most definitely will be times of difficulty and suffering for a higher purpose, don’t try and get around the cross [your weaknesses] don’t cover them up [cross’s entail public humiliation] simply recognize the reality of them being part of the Christian life, when you get to the point where you can embrace it, allow it to take it’s full course, full impact if you will, then you can embrace the death experience and come out on the other side. That’s the only place where truth and life exist, every thing ‘pre-cross’ is simply mans agenda.
(1102) FOOTBALL JIM- I have never written about ‘football Jim’ before, he is one of the first ‘street people’ I met around 15 years ago. Jim is in his 70’s and doesn’t really qualify as homeless. He lives on social security and shares a small apt. with his brother. He walks around a lot, goes to the mission to eat the meals and I have taken Jim out to eat over the years. Jims the type that doesn’t really want to ‘talk religion’ that’s fine, I actually hardly talk it myself! A few weeks back I heard he was in the hospital with walking pneumonia [or should I say ammonia?] I asked a lady friend of his where he was at and she told me. Then yesterday I saw his lady friend and asked how he was doing and she said he’s out and will be here soon. So when he showed up I asked how he was feeling and all, he’s doing fine. I told him I did ask about him and had him in my prayers. As the serving time comes for the meals I just sit out front [where you see me sitting in my photo] and read or meet new friends. Jim came out and sat with me a little, told me how he heard some people didn’t ask about him and all, I could tell he was keeping score, asking his lady friend ‘did anybody ask about me?’ and stuff. He must have heard that I did ask. Jim sat with me for a few minutes, told me why he doesn’t go to the other free meals that a Pastor friend of mine does twice a week. He said he doesn't like it when people offer food but require you to hear preaching. He then told me that even though he doesn’t go to church that he does believe in the Lord, that when Jesus was on the Cross he told the thief ‘today you will be with me in paradise’. I told Jim it’s true, that all who believe and accept the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus will go to heaven. I didn’t want to really go any further, Jims been around for many years, he’s heard it all. But I found it interesting that after 15 years of Jim knowing that I was somewhat of a ‘street preacher’ that he shared this story with me. It meant a lot to him to know that I simply asked about him when he was sick, somehow this broke a barrier and Jim talked ‘religion’ for the first time in 15 years. Funny thing isn’t it?
(1103) A few posts back I discussed John the Baptist, just read Matthew 11 and this is the chapter where Jesus says much about John. Now John was in jail and he sends the messengers to Jesus asking if he is the Messiah or not. I explained this a few days back and won’t do it again here. But Jesus begins telling the people that John was the one the prophet Malachi spoke of ‘God will send the messenger Elijah before the Messiah; he will prepare things for me’ John was also called ‘the voice of one crying in the wilderness’. Jesus says to the people ‘what did you go to see? When you went to hear John in the desert, were you finding a reed shaken with the wind [a wishy washy pleaser of men] or did you expect someone in a three piece suit?’ John basically ran rough shod over the entire image of sophistication and affluence, yes he was rough and looked a little scraggly [leather loin cloth and eating locusts!] didn’t dress the part, that’s for sure! Then Jesus gave a description of the day, he said they were like kids in the market place saying ‘we sang for you and you didn’t dance, we mourned for you and you didn’t cry’ he was telling them that they expected performance, they wanted to illicit a response from those who were supposed to be teachers of the law. He said they were never satisfied, they complained that John didn’t eat regularly and must be demon possessed. Then they accused Jesus of eating too much! Ah, there was just no pleasing this bunch. Reminds me of the political world of our day. A few things; these last few weeks I have tried to share the story of Jesus and his disciples. The feelings they were experiencing and the things they had to deal with. In the case of John the Baptist Jesus said he was the specific person spoken about in the Old Testament, as we identify and see ourselves in these stories, we should NEVER begin viewing ourselves as the actual persons spoken about in the stories! For instance, many have read revelation chapter 11 and began seeing themselves as the actual witnesses spoken about, the ‘two witnesses’ thing. Many have become cult leaders by doing this! From my part of the world David Koresh did this in Waco. But the Muenster prophets did this 500 years ago during the Reformation, so the tendency to begin seeing yourself as actual biblical characters ought to be rejected! But you say ‘well brother, how do you know I’m not one of the two witnesses spoken about in revelation’. The reason I know is because I’m the other one and your not one of them! ONLY A JOKE!! Take my word for it, none of us are the two witnesses in Revelation 11. Just needed to make sure everyone stays on track here. Now back to John [the Baptist!] he challenged the people to ‘repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand’ in the message bible it says ‘change the way you think and act, because Gods kingdom is here now’. Yes, this does include turning away from sin, but it also means we need to look at things from a different view. Much of what I have written on the nature of the church would fit in here. As people see the church for what she really is [community of people] they will act differently, their priorities will change. I took a few homeless brothers to a park/lake area in my town and we had a good fellowship. These guys are smart! One was a realtor in San Antonio for many years, the other is like a scholar of sorts. I mean I mentioned the philosopher Immanuel Kant and my friend read and was aware of his system of belief! As we talked we shared a little about the wrong priorities of much of modern day church. My one friend [the realtor] said if the church was really doing it’s job in reaching out to the poor and oppressed, then there would be no need for the mission out post that we meet at. He understood how so much of modern church spends millions on facilities and salaries and stuff, yet the lost world is really not being touched in a real way. The overall discussion was good, these guys knew their stuff. The lake area we were at is off the beaten path, hidden inside some nice subdivision. We were surrounded by nice expensive homes, I’m sure many sincere believers were in them at the time, others at work trying to make a future for themselves. The collective offerings given by all the residents on any given Sunday is probably in the thousands, yet right outside their windows were a few homeless Christian brothers. If I weren’t with them they probably would have had the cops come and harass them. John was preaching in the wilderness telling the people ‘change the way you think and act, God’s kingdom is here right now’ I think John knew what he was talking about.
(1104) was watching one of those ‘prophecy conference’ things last night, you know, the brothers with the charts on the wall and all. Kind of funny, as they were being introduced the moderator shared their backgrounds ‘he belongs to the pre-trib study group for advanced stuff’ and then mentions the books and all the brothers wrote. ‘In the 1990’s he wrote the best seller THE END IS NOW UPON US, THERE IS NO TIME LEFT!’ [something to that effect] it does seem strange that it is now 2009 and he’s still around to talk about it! Don’t get me wrong, these are all fine believers, it’s just we need to take a second look at the persona/image that we are projecting out to society at large. As I have been reading the gospels I like the mindset of Jesus ‘the Kingdom of God is now here/coming’ to be sure the historic church has had battles over these concepts, and I don't want to re-do it all here, you can read more on it under my end times section. But I want to look at the scope of Jesus teaching/outreach ‘ministry’. Even though he limits himself physically to a small region of the world, he had no desire to travel the globe, but yet he sees his purpose thru a much broader paradigm ‘the kingdom of God is here!’ How could such a limited charitable ministry make such bold claims? He was giving himself for ‘the least of these’ and the Father would recompense him for it ‘the gentiles shall come to your light, kings and nations shall be influenced by you’ declared the prophets. Now, in the current day we often see ‘ministry’ as going to a town/area and establishing some type of meeting environment where people will attend every week and hear preaching. While this is okay to a degree, it is fundamentally disconnected from the kingdom mindset of Jesus. He believed that he was starting a word-wide movement that would shake the foundations of all mankind! Quite a bold mission statement from such a seemingly insignificant life ‘Come on Jesus, you have never even studied in the upper-class schools of the day’ but that didn’t stop him. These followers of his are not the primary focus of his calling; understand that in today’s ‘church mindset’ everything is focused on getting so many people to attend/join/partner up [money!] we measure our self worth by these things. Jesus told us ‘cast the seed on the ground; sure some will be eaten by birds, others will spring up quickly and have no root. But some will take root, these will change the world!’ He didn’t spend a whole lotta time trying to convince the unproductive seed/plants to ‘re-dedicate’ give it one more shot ‘please attend my meetings’ type of a thing, he had no time for that sort of silly stuff, he was changing the world for heavens sake! I want to challenge you today, God does have a great purpose and destiny for you, you do not exist simply for the purpose of helping people ‘get saved’ while the rest of the planet goes to hell in a hand basket! Jesus started a world wide revolutionary movement that has competed with all the major world philosophies of the last 2 thousand years, the church has been the greatest influence in society for good, more than any other single institution [despite what Christopher Hitchens says!] we are truly the people of God. See yourself as a citizen of this movement, as Christians we are members of the city that is set on a hill; our purpose isn’t just to ‘be the city’ but it is to shine to all of those that see us on the hill and affect the planet for good. It’s time to tear down the silly prophecy charts and get to business, don't you think?
(1105) Isaiah says ‘before you call/ask I will answer’. Have you ever had your prayers answered before you called? Here in my office I have these maps all over the place; Texas maps, U.S. ones and world maps. I recently felt like I should pray for the Lord to expand us on the world map. I picked India and simply began praying for India. I mark off the countries/nations when they contact me and I can see the progress as time goes by. I mean I was believing for India! ‘Lord, let me mark off the country, I know I will mark it soon!’ Then as I was updating the ‘Texas/global’ section of the blog, I realized that I have had India on there all along. They contacted me a while back and I simply forgot! They were on the blog, but not on the maps. So now I marked them on the map, they weren’t there before, I trusted they would be there soon, does this qualify for an answer to prayer? Yes. God said he would answer before we ask, he simply gave me the exact answer to this payer before I asked, strange isn’t it? Jesus tells his disciples ‘you guys are seeing and hearing things that many prophets and holy men have desired to see and hear, and have not’. As Jesus was teaching the terms used to describe the responses from the people are ‘astonished at this teaching’ ‘where did he get this wisdom from’ ‘he teaches as one who has authority, not like the regular preachers’ it was obvious that when you heard him there was something more going on than just the dispensing of knowledge. Jesus was fulfilling a divine destiny that would impact the world, those listening were just experiencing the tail end of the great drama, he wasn’t doing these things to gain a audience for heavens sake! He was simply fulfilling destiny; the audience came along for the ride. Scripture says ‘the people who sat in darkness saw great light’ the confluence of events in Jesus’ life allowed people who would normally be in no position to hear good teaching, to hear it. These people would benefit directly from the destiny of Jesus. In 1st century Rome there was a profession called ‘rhetoric’ if you lived in an influential cosmopolitan city [Rome, Corinth, etc.] you had the benefit of availing yourself of higher learning. Sort of like saying ‘I went to M.I.T.’ or Harvard, but in the lower class areas of Jesus ministry these things were not readily available. The Old Testament prophets said that ‘those who sat in darkness [these areas that had no real opportunity for improvement] would see great light’. God permitted the ministry of Jesus to bring ‘higher education’ to those who normally would not be able to access it. Jesus said ‘many prophets and holy men wish they were seeing the things that you are now seeing, but have never seen them’. God reveals things ‘to babes’ the humble class, so they might confound the wise! [Corinthians]
(1106) been reading some of the parables, I have already covered them in the past and don’t really want to do them again. But do want to share a few thoughts; recently I have struggled with regretting certain words and things that I have said; the book of James says ‘in many ways we all offend others, if we learn not to offend with our words we are mature’ so anyway mistakes were made. But as I read the parables of the sower [planter of seeds] and the man who planted seed in the ground [2 separate parables in Matthew 13] I liked the idea that only 1/4th of what you ever say makes it! I know I’m taking it out of context, but it spoke to me. The birds eat some seeds [words we plant] thorns and weeds kill others, and the cares of the world creep in and people forget/forgive the past. In the parable of the guy who planted good seed, while he slept an enemy came and planted tares [weeds]. His men come and say ‘do you want us to go and root up the weeds’? And the owner says no, let them grow together until the harvest; because if you try and undo the mistakes you might affect some of the good stuff as well! Sort of like some of the people we offend have also learned some good things as well, and if you try too hard to make things right the end result could be worse. So I felt the lord spoke to me thru these things. Of course Jesus explains the parable to the guys, he tells them the field is the world [not the church!] and in the world you have good seeds/plants [Gods people] and bad seed [unbelievers]. I find it interesting that the servants wanted to tear out the weeds so they wouldn’t effect the good plants [they were members of the Moral Majority- you know the whole culture war thing!] But the owner [God-Jesus] says ‘leave them alone!’ let them both grow together until the harvest. Leave them alone! Don’t you understand if we allow gay marriage it will be the ruin of society!! Jesus says ‘leave them be’. At the end of the world [age] he will send forth his messengers [angels- or some translate ‘messengers’ as us! Christians] and they will separate the good stuff from the bad, he says the angels will ‘remove the bad weeds from my Fathers kingdom’ and the good stuff gets to say. What, a reverse Rapture? Yup. We see a redemptive purpose for the planet in these teachings, Jesus doesn’t take away the church and let the world [earth] go to hell in a hand basket, he takes away the bad stuff and calls the world his father’s kingdom! I guess he was one of those progressive types, always worrying about the environment and stuff? All kidding aside, God has a plan and purpose for society and the world, it is redemptive in nature [Romans 8] we need to avoid the ‘culture warrior’ mindset that is always looking to pull the weeds out of society, they wont hurt you! Jesus said so. And as we ‘re-think’ our purpose and place in the world, lets also hope that the bad seeds we have planted will soon be forgotten.
(1107) let’s teach a little today. Recently I have been listening to lectures on Philosophy; they got into the modernist/liberal movement that took place in the 19th/20th centuries, the higher criticism that was taught mainly in the Christian universities in Germany. This view tried to ‘modernize’ the bible and make it more compatible to modern man, though these brothers meant well, they for the most part would come to reject the historic truths of the faith, including the bodily resurrection of Christ. But you had others who were not quite that extreme. The famous theologians Karl Barth and Emil Brunner taught that it was possible for Jesus, in his human nature, to make mistakes! Why? Jewish tradition attributes the first five books of the bible [Pentateuch- Greek word meaning ‘5 scrolls’, Torah in Hebrew, meaning Law] as being written by Moses. Later on certain scholars would challenge that assumption [after all Moses didn’t sign the books!] and reject the Jewish tradition. Is that a problem? Somewhat. Jesus himself speaks of the books as being from Moses, he often says ‘Moses said to you this’ and he is quoting the Torah. So now we have a problem. Barth and Brunner reconciled this by saying Jesus was simply speaking out of the tradition of the time, most Jews believed the books were written by Moses, Jesus in his humanity would have no way of knowing who wrote them, so he attributed them to Moses as well. Now this is a problem, theologically speaking. Barth and Brunner used a classic belief of historic Christianity to back up their idea; the early church councils had said that the human and divine natures of Jesus were separate and that they did not share each others attributes. The example would be when Jesus was asked about his coming and he said ‘no man knows, not even the Son, only God’ so Barth was on some good grounding for his idea. The Catholic Church would come to reject the division between the human and divine natures of Jesus. Why? For theological reasons, the Mass teaches that the physical body of Jesus is actually present in all Catholic churches at the same time. The only way this could happen is if the Divine attribute of omni-presence was shared with Jesus’ physical nature. St. Thomas Aquinas would call this ‘the communication of attributes’. So anyway the liberal scholars tried to reconcile so called ‘modern historical truth’ with scripture. I personally do not accept the theory that Jesus might have made a mistake in his teaching, this would verge on the questioning of his sinless perfection and challenge his requirement to die for mans sins! During the time of the higher critics an interesting thing happened, you had the industrial revolution take place. Men began laying rail road tracks, digging up the earth for commercial purposes. And what did they ‘accidentally’ find? A ton of evidence backing up the historical claims of scripture! The very things the critics were doubting! This was the era of Archaeology; the historians would find evidence backing up the historical accuracy of scripture. Many critics doubted the New Testament [and Old] documents, they said the names of political rulers of certain districts were false. When Luke records things in Acts they said there was no proof of Luke's accuracy. All this changed thru the science of archeology. As a matter of fact the historical accuracy of Luke [Acts] is now said to have been at the highest of levels! In the Popes recent book ‘Jesus of Nazareth’ he critiques the historical method [not the true historical findings, but the liberal trends coming from the universities] and warns that if your view of Jesus devolves into this forensic examining of him thru an historical lens only, then you run the risk of missing out on a true devotional experience with Jesus as Lord and savior. I agree. One time the religious leaders said to Jesus ‘tell these people to stop praising you’ and he said if they stopped testifying to who he was, that the ‘rocks’ would cry out. I think they have. [Rocks- archaeology, get it?]
(1108) got up early today, did one of those 2-5am prayer things, happens every now and then. Here in my office I can see my old sea bag from the Navy, I still have it! I remember getting it around 30 years ago in Great Lakes IL. My boot camp city, I actually live right next to the base in Corpus Christi, the spot where they kicked me out 20 something years ago! Though I was stationed in Kingsville, I attended my ‘captains mast’ [court thing] in Corpus. It reminds me of a funny story, one of the guys went to his hearing and the judge says ‘salute’ so he puts his hand up and salutes, then the judge says ‘to’ which means put your hand down. Instead, he saluted with the second hand! [two- get it?] and we are the guys protecting you! Okay, I was thinking of sharing the verse where Jesus says ‘every scribe taught about the kingdom brings forth both new and old things from his treasure [teaching]’. Over the years I have noticed the different dynamics at work amongst various strains of Christianity. The danger with the strong independent churches is you can go thru stages where you are never taught ‘things new and old’. I used to read the prophetic type sites [Elijah list] but haven’t been there in quite a while. There is a tendency for various groups to overdose on one particular slant and to never ‘bring forth the old’ [sound, stable teaching on the scripture and foundational truths of Christianity]. You can spend years feeding at the trough of well meaning ‘prophets’ but the message never seems to move on, how many thousands of words about ‘rebuke the spirit of poverty’ ‘this is the year of increase’ ‘now is a season of suddenlies’ I mean all well meaning people, but the poor saints are overdosing on stuff that might be simple repetition of what people feel like saying! We need both new and old [sound doctrine]. The same can be said of the prosperity groups, or any other Christian group that has no real connection to historic Christianity. A good Pastor may get a hold of the truth of prosperity, then you might spend a few years simply talking about finances, every thing will be seen thru that lens. New Christians entering that environment may never learn the reality of justification by faith, or other foundational truths [things old!] that are vital for a strong walk with the Lord. So anyway I felt the Lord simply wanted to challenge us to bring forth both new and old. It’s okay if people focus on different areas for a short season, but avoid spending all your time and energy in one doctrinal ‘room’ we all need both new and old stuff to stay healthy.
(1109) Last night my wife plugged in the vacuum and we lost power to part of the house! I have had this problem before, it was a loose outlet. So I started pulling out the outlets that were not working and began tightening the loose connections, of course I’m the type that over reacts so it’s getting late and I’m moving furniture, outlets hanging out all over the place [with the power on] and my wife is saying ‘are you sure your not going to electrocute yourself?’ ‘What, what do you think I am, some novice’! [To be honest I am the type that would electrocute myself]. So anyway I think I found the outlet that’s bad [they run in series, so if one goes out you loose the rest down the line] and hopefully will get to it soon [it’s 4:30am, too early to be waking everybody up- you know ‘where’s the screwdriver! Quick, go turn this breaker on and off!’ Somewhat of taskmaster!] It actually reminds me of a funny story, one year at the fire dept. me and one of the guys took the fire truck to some pre school church thing; you know, shoot some water, do a little safety class. So as we are doing our thing, I see out of the corner of my eye that one of the kids is grabbing on to what he thinks is a power line. It’s simply a cable going to the power line, but it’s still a bad thing to do! I hear the kid telling his buddy ‘see, it wont shock you to DEATH’! Geez, I’m like ‘hey, cut that out’! I could just see the story in the paper ‘Fire dept. electrocutes two church pre schoolers while giving a safety class’ that would have been an early retirement for sure. Okay, I was reading Matthew 16 and the famous confession of Peter; Jesus asks ‘who do men say that I am’ and Peter responds ‘thou art the Christ, the Son of God’ Jesus says ‘blessed are you Peter, for flesh and blood have not revealed this to you, but my father in heaven. And upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it’. Our Catholic friends focus on Peter, they see Jesus giving special authority to Peter [by the way, he does!] and have developed the Papacy from this. Our Protestant brothers see little about Peter, they say Jesus was saying ‘you Peter, your just a pebble [a play on the Greek wording] and I Jesus, am the rock’ true enough. Our Word of Faith friends have said Jesus was speaking about ‘revelation knowledge’ [a type of prophetic thing] that Jesus was saying he would establish his church on the gift of being able to receive spiritual knowledge directly from God. To be honest about it, I think there is some truth to each one of these views. I primarily think Jesus was saying ‘Peter, this confession of me as Gods Son is the foundation of the spiritual temple that my father is building’ Peter referred to us a ‘living stones’ in his letter. We are called a spiritual temple that God is building out of spiritual stones, so we qualify as building stones in this temple, as ‘stones’ we are ‘chips off of the rock’ so to speak, so we are the corporate expression of Jesus in the earth ‘the Body of Christ’ and therefore Jesus is the rock, and as he ‘grows thru us’ we show forth his glory to the nations. But I also sensed the lord telling me ‘John, the things you build out of a response of hearing and ‘seeing’ me are the things that will last, the gates of hell will not prevail against these things’ [communities, reached people groups]. Jesus said the Holy Spirit would ‘take of mine and show it unto you’ God reveals his Son to us, Jesus told Peter that’s how he knew who Jesus was, when we live out our lives as a response of the revelation of God to us thru Christ, then these are the things that will last, the eternal riches if you will. When we live our lives based on our own priorities and desires, these are the things that fade away. I want Jesus to see me as one who is blessed because the father has revealed his Son to me, someone who is living and teaching and acting out of divine revelation, not out of human desires.
(1110) yesterday I fell asleep on the couch watching Shindler’s list, of course I have seen it before but it’s worth watching a few times. My daughter woke me up to give me a letter she found in the mail box from an old friend of mine. I was surprised to have received a letter from Leonard; I used to preach to his dad in the county jail back in the 80’s, I became friends with the whole family [6 sons 5 daughters- if I can remember?] One of the boys eventually became one of our best brothers in Kingsville today. Still serving God and drug free after many years in prison and on hard main line drugs. The last time I spoke to Leonard [now in prison] was around 19 years ago. At the time I was ‘backsliding’ and ran into him in some alley in Kingsville. He ‘jumped’ me, hit with a sucker punch. I can still remember it. I took my glasses off and whacked him hard, I had him on the ground nailing him in the face, his sisters pulled me off. A bad time for me. I don’t think I have spoken to him since, I know all is forgotten. I have heard from his brother how he is back serving the Lord and all [in prison!] and his brother has kept him updated on ‘our journey’ [the progress of the ministry since those days]. I will read the letter later today. Now, Shindler’s list was good, there is a scene where the kids are being separated from their mothers and being taken to the death camps, the mothers are weeping. It reminded me of the Old Testament prophets words ‘Rachel weeping for her children, they are no more’. This verse was fulfilled in Jesus day when king Herod slaughtered the children, the wise men did not reveal to the king who Jesus was so he slew the kids from 2 years and under. God had his prophet speak about young children who would be born at some future date and who would live very short lives. They were important enough to make it into the prophetic history of Israel, don’t tell me God doesn’t care for the unborn! At the end of the movie Shindler buys as many Jews as he can to save them, and he begins regretting that he didn’t do more, he cant seem to see what he did as noble, something effects him and he is wracked with the guilt of not doing more. There are a few verses that I come across every few years, and when I read them I stop and allow them to have full impact. One is the verse from King David where he mourns over the death of his son ‘Oh Absalom, my son Absalom, would to God I had died in your place’ this verse reveals the brokenness of God over the loss of his Son, an aspect that is rarely seen when discussing the Atonement [God was punishing Jesus on our behalf, Penal substitution. Yet at the same time broken over his death!] The other verse is when Jesus says to his friends ‘the things concerning me have an end’ it strikes me as both sad and tragic, his friends were hoping for a full life ‘long live the king’ type of a thing, but Jesus was surrounded with the reality of death. His close friend John recently died, they took his head off in prison. He is traveling a road that will end fairly soon, his friends wanted more. Jesus said ‘greater love has no man than this, that he would lay his life down for his friends’ how does a statement like ‘the things concerning me have an end’ affect you? What would you say to Jesus if he expressed these feeling towards you? We would want to say ‘No way, don’t talk like that!’ we would be more concerned with the things of men than of God. Live your life to the fullest, don’t get me wrong, but live it with the understanding that we are all mortal ‘the things concerning us will soon come to an end’. Shindler did all he could do, at the end he felt like he didn’t do enough. Live well.
(1111) was reading where the disciples ask Jesus ‘who is the greatest among us’? And Jesus takes a little child and says ‘unless you become like this, you wont even see the things that I am doing’ [Gods kingdom]. Yesterday I was reading up on the Orthodox church, how in the 9th century the two great missionaries Cyril and Methodius evangelized the Slavic peoples of Moravia, the Latin rite churches were already there [Catholic/western] but these brothers knew Greek and had the ability to hold the Mass in the common language, the Catholic brothers were doing it in Latin. Eventually this drew more Slavs to the Greek Church than the Latin one. Well this caused some friction with the Bishop of the area and they sent them packing to the Pope, at this time the eastern rite churches [Orthodox] were still submitting to Papal authority to a degree. After making their case the Pope sent them back to continue their work [well one of them passed away while at Rome, but the other made it back]. True servants of God who gave their lives for the gospel, as opposed to living the comfortable life. In the 10th century, the story goes, the Russian prince Vladimir sent his men out to examine the various religions. They said the Muslims were okay, but they lacked joy. The Catholics seemed dedicated, but you can’t understand the Mass! It’s Latin. But when they visited the great Orthodox Church at Constantinople, they said you couldn’t tell if you were in heaven or on earth! The Divine Liturgy floored them. How true these stories are [this one comes from a 12th century telling] we don’t really know, but we do know that in their own way these churches have impacted entire regions of the earth with the gospel, long before we Evangelicals even existed! What am I saying here? In today’s world we measure ourselves ‘amongst ourselves’ to see who is the greatest in the kingdom, half the times we are not even aware of the history of the kingdom! There have been, and will continue to be many people whom the Lord will use to bring his truth to various people groups, these ‘little children’ will spend no time trying to gain a name for themselves, or to make it into the history books. Little children have no time for that sort of stuff, all they want to do is go outside and play with their friends. They don't really get all uptight about their little Jewish buddies, the Protestant kid down the block. The little black kid who might be Baptist, they simply see them all as friends. Do you want to be great in Gods kingdom? Then start playing like a kid.
(1112) I was just reading Matthew 19 and the story of the rich guy. He asks Jesus ‘what GOOD THING must I do to be saved’ reminds me a lot of Evangelicalism, many sincere believers are hung up on ‘the good thing you must do’ or the singular act of conversion. While it is true that regeneration/conversion takes place in an instant, yet oftentimes believers can’t pin point that instant! Like Paul told the Galatians ‘I travail with you again in the birthing process, until Christ be formed in you’. So sometimes it’s more of a process than a singular act [or better- conversion has both of these aspects present]. Now Jesus tells the brother ‘keep the law’ ah, now were getting somewhere! He’s pinpointing Jesus down to a yes or no answer on conversion; the man asks ‘which one’? Again, back to the ‘one thing’. So Jesus quotes a few of them, the man says ‘great, I have kept these ever since I was a kid’. Jesus says ‘one more thing, go sell your stuff and give it to the poor, and come follow me’. The man left sad, because he was rich. Then Jesus gives the famous statement that I have explained many times on this site, it’s harder for a camel to pass thru the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom [for an explanation go to my ‘prosperity/word of faith’ section]. The disciples are shocked ‘who then will ever make it’ Jesus says not to worry, with God all things are possible. Peter says ‘we left all, what do we get’ Jesus says those who have forsaken things for him will receive back a 100 fold and in the world to come eternal life. I have taught this before as well, how did Peter get more ‘houses and mothers and brothers’ in this life? In the book of Acts they all shared and helped each other, their conversion brought them into a big family who had ‘all things common’ [common purse] and that’s how this was fulfilled, it is obvious Peter did not become rich [silver and gold have I none- remember?] But we see an interesting thing here, the rich young man prospered according to the laws of the old covenant, which many prosperity believers will rightfully tell you brings prosperity. The verses in Deuteronomy that speak of God giving us the power/ability to obtain wealth so his covenant might be established [chapter 8?] But Jesus is doing more here, he is telling the man who did become rich by obeying Gods law, he is saying ‘now it’s time to give it up’. What! I have prospered according to Gods explicit will as revealed thru the prosperity promises in scripture! What kind of preacher are you Jesus? Don’t you know that it’s mans tradition to tell the rich to give up their wealth? It’s the devil trying to trick us out of our wealth! Jesus says ‘give it up’ you have learned and mastered the basics of Old Testament law and blessing, and now you must master the art of self sacrifice, of laying everything down to follow me. It was my father's will to have prospered you thru your obedience to his law, this was necessary, how else would I have ever been able to challenge you to lay it down? If you never had something to give up, then you could never have been in a position to show me your sincerity in giving it all away. Jesus was not telling him it was wrong to have attained this status in society, but he was giving him the choice of whether or not he would willingly lay it down for a higher cause. Are you willing?
(1113) just read the parable of the vineyard owner who goes out and hires workers at different times of the day. The ones he hires early in the day agree to a ‘penny’ a day. Thru out the day he brings more workers in and agrees to pay them the same. When time comes to pay them, he calls the workers who only worked a few hours and pays them the penney. Now the guys who worked all day are thinking ‘Geez, he probably will pay us more than the original agreement, surely he wouldn’t pay these guys the same as us, we worked all day for heavens sake!’ But when it was their turn he paid them the same. Now, these guys got mad, why? Simply out of their own view of ‘fairness’ they were mad that the land owner made these other ‘less worthy’ workers equal to them. The guys who worked all day were not cheated, they got what the boss told them they would get, they were simply mad that the boss treated the less worthy guys the same. This story speaks to the mindset of the first century Jew with regards to their offence at Jesus acceptance of the Gentile nations. What offended the Jew was they felt like Jesus should not have been so willing and accepting of those who came in ‘at the last hour’ so to speak. The Jews went thru hell for many years, suffered as Gods people, stuck up for Gods name and honor. They were waiting for the day that God was going to teach these pagan nations a thing or two! Instead God treats them as equal partners! This offence would cause them to reject their Messiah, Paul speaks about this in Romans. God will work thru the jealousy that the Jews are feeling over his receiving of the Gentiles and this will eventually bring the Jews in, God ways are higher than ours. When I first read the story earlier I felt like it spoke to my situation as well. After I moved to Corpus from Kingsville, I had some of our old buddies feel bad ‘hey, John is now spending all his time with these homeless bums!’ They wouldn’t say it like that, but they did say things like ‘don’t forget about us!’ One of my buddies from Kingsville was the son of one of the heroin addicts that was part of the first-generation of guys I worked with [not the same family I mentioned the other day, we had a few families of addicts/convicts that made up the core ‘membership’ of our church] But it was funny, I would go and pick up the son [he was only a couple of years younger than me, I was in about the same age group as the sons, though the fathers were my friends] and the aunt would tell me ‘Emits in the back room brother John, go get him for church’ the whole family would come to our meetings. I would knock on the door and tell Emit ‘brother Emit lets go. I hope you guys are not in their smoking pot!’ [I was just kidding, or prophesying?] Years later Emit would tell me he was in their with his buddies getting high, and they would be in shock ‘who the hell is banging on the door!’ and ditch the pot! I would loved to have seen their faces! Emits dad would raid my fridge when he came to our garage meetings. We rented a building at first [an old hospital- just a conference room area] but eventually moved the meetings to my garage, I fixed it up nice, it looked good. As soon as Emit senior would arrive, he’d go into the house and raid the fridge! I eventually would hide the good stuff before church. These are the brothers that have expressed to me the feelings of ‘hey, we were with you from the beginning, these Corpus guys came in at the end, why are you making them equal to us’? Because they never raided my fridge! KIDDING! People go thru various stages in life, in the past I have struggled with letting go of some of the old ministry patterns, still wanting to travel to the old towns and help. I had to recognize that certain things were meant for only a season, they will hopefully bear fruit for a long time, but my active involvement was only for a season. They said to the vineyard owner ‘you are making these others equal with us’ and it offended them, but Jesus wasn’t dismissing his first group [Jews] he was simply helping others get in on it while there was still time left.
(1114) Jesus makes his entry into Jerusalem and the Pharisees are mad, the people and children are praising him. He overturns the prosperity preacher’s tables and whips them! He rebukes the Pharisees ‘the whores and tax collectors are entering the kingdom ahead of you!’ WOW, talk about rough speech! He tells them that the sinners listened to John the Baptist, they came to hear what he had to say and changed their lifestyles, but the religious leaders were too hung up on their own agendas. And after they saw the results of John’s ministry, they responded out of jealousy and still didn’t re-think their views. Who were the Pharisees, how did they come to represent hypocrisy and religious vanity? A few hundred years before Christ you had the nation of Israel taken captive and living under foreign occupation [like Rome was doing during Jesus day] it was in this environment that the Synagogues were established, they were meeting places where the Jews could gather and practice their religion while in exile. This was when the Pharisees and Sadducees were introduced. They regulated the religious worship of Israel while in exile. The Sadducees were less of a religious order than the Pharisees. The Sadducees were more of a political class that traced their natural bloodline to the priest Zadok [sort of like a Holy Grail thing, the DaVinci code type stuff]. Eventually the Pharisees turned into a class of professional ‘pains’. They knew all the rules and traditions surrounding their religious office and often laid these rules as burdens upon the people, rules that went against Gods commands. It is real important not to underestimate the common themes found in synagogue worship and the ‘church service’. I have written much on what the New Testament church is and how she should function; I have also traced the modern day practice of church to Constantine and the 4th century. But I have also taught that it is very possible that much of modern-day ‘church practice’ might also have come from the practice of Jewish synagogue worship. They bear a striking resemblance to say the least! It is a common mistake to think that Jewish-Christian worship ceased as a distinct practice after the destruction of the temple in a.d. 70 under Titus, but the synagogue made it all the way into the 2nd century, I believe it was the Roman emperor Hadrian who finally put an end to it. Some historians will tell you that there remained a Jewish church all the way up to the 5th century! If so, then it would be a major historical mistake to discount the possible role that the synagogue played in the ideas of Christian worship. Well anyway, these are the same religious leaders that Jesus rebuked in his day, they had their own ideas of what true worship meant, and they would not receive correction! Jesus said the whores and tax collectors had more spiritual discernment than them, sad thing.
(1115) I have been driving around the past few days with a package of materials that I needed to send off to my buddy in prison. I kept putting it off, then I got a message on my cell from his brother in Kingsville, he wants to know if I can send his brother a bible too. So I will stick a bible in the package in a little while, it saved me the extra mailing. Just read the parable of the vineyard owner who leases out his land to caretakers. When the owner sends his servants for the produce, they beat the brothers up! The owner sends his son [Jesus] and they say ‘here’s the son, if we kill him we can have the inheritance [worldly wealth] to ourselves’. I have seen ‘an evil done under the sun’ it’s virtually impossible to preach a materialistic gospel with the Jesus of the New Testament in it. I mean he rails time and again against wealth ‘what does it profit a man if he gain the whole world and loses his soul’ I can go on forever quoting him. But some have ‘killed the son’ [eliminated his true image] from the vineyard, and now they can cease upon the inheritance! OUCH! [By ‘eliminate’ I mean they have refashioned his image and message and have presented him in a different light than what the scripture portrays]. I have been reading a little on the church fathers, these are the brothers during the post apostolic period up until around the 4th century. Many Anglicans/Protestants have converted back to Catholicism because of the reading of these men. These church leaders shared a sort of general view of conversion and Christian living. Evangelicals often have difficulty reading them, they don’t teach a strong ‘one time’ ask Jesus into your heart type conversion, more along the lines of ‘believe the gospel, obey Gods commands, get baptized in water and become a member of the church universal’. I love studying the brothers! Cyprian, the 3rd century bishop from Carthage, North Africa was embroiled in the ‘lapsed’ controversy. During one of the persecutions many of the believers forsook Christ and burned incense to the cult of the emperor. After the persecution ceased, some wanted back in to the church. Those who did not reject Christ said ‘no way, you guys walked away, it’s all over’. But Cyprian would say that Jesus told Peter that even if your brother sins seventy times seven, you are to forgive. Cyprian erred on the side of mercy [a good way to err!] he would ultimately be killed in the year 259 for the faith. Though these church fathers were not doctrinally perfect, and they also weren’t the only expression of the Christian church in the first few centuries, yet they supply a wealth of knowledge and experience that we can all learn from, these are ‘part of the vineyard’ if you will. When you have a broad range of reading and study from all the various Christian communions, then it’s easy to spot the false, these might try to ‘kill the son’ but wisdom won’t allow it.
(1116) This past week Pope Benedict made his first visit to the Middle East. I caught a few of the appearances on E.W.T.N. I really liked his spirit and Christ centered approach, of course there will always be some disagreements [a little too much ecumenism when it came to Christian/Muslim stuff, but that’s to be expected, the Pope not only represents a large portion of Christians, but also is seen as a head of state to some degree]. Overall his words were measured and clear, human rights were at the top of the list. I then watched an apologists T.V. show, it’s a good show I catch every now and then. But sometimes they ‘stray’ into the old prejudices that have been around for many years. They were discussing Tony Blair [former P.M. of Britain] and mentioned how he took this new position where he is going to work for world cooperation amongst various groups, they then showed a picture of him with the Pope and mentioned Blair’s recent conversion to Catholicism, they were nice enough to say ‘we are not saying for sure that Blair is the anti christ [gee, thanks!] but we see in him all the signs of the anti christ’. I don’t want to do the whole anti christ thing again, I’ve hit on it in the past, but I want to mention the mindset that sees any ‘world cooperation’ amongst Christian groups as ‘the one world religious system of the anti christ’. Most of this mindset comes from the book of Revelation; John speaks about Babylon [Rome] and the religious ‘whore’ and stuff like that. Of course Rome was known as a great persecutor of the saints, and part of it had to do with the cult of emperor worship ‘Caesar is Lord’ type of a thing. So the apostle John is writing his Revelation while in exile under Nero’s rule. What type of connection would John be making when speaking of a one world religious system that uses the power of human govt. to kill and persecute the saints? Obviously the religious/governmental system of Rome, not the Pope for heavens sake! And any ‘anti christ’ figure is not going to be part of a Christian church that confesses Christ! During the Reformation of the 16th century, it was common for the Protestant reformers to view Rome and papal authority as ‘the anti christ’ they were battling centuries of religious tradition and dogma that they felt contradicted Gods word, so it was natural for both sides to brand the other as ‘the anti christ’ [both Luther and the Pope tagged each other with the title] and it was also common to read the commentaries and histories of this time thru the lens of ‘Babylon/Rome is persecuting the saints, Rome is even mentioned in the book of Revelation [city on 7 hills] as the oppressor, so there you have it, how much clearer can it be?’ The problem with this thinking is it overlooks what I just told you, the primary religious/governmental persecutor during the time of John, and well into the 3rd century was the Roman empire, not the Catholic church. So we need to read these books [Revelation, prophets- Daniel, Ezekiel, etc.] thru an historical lens. Of course this doesn’t mean there are no future applications to these writings, but to miss the historical aspect can cause real trouble. When reading the Old testament prophets there are stunning prophecies about Alexander the great, Antiochus Epiphanies and other world shaking events. Most of these prophecies have been fulfilled already. But some ‘prophecy teachers’ teach these things in such a way as to cause real problems for any true ecumenical spirit amongst believers. Jesus wants unity for his church, not at the expense of truth, but unity never the less. I have stated in the past that the system of belief that I most align myself with is Reformed theology, but I simply see myself as a Christian who is part of a 2 thousand year tradition [Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox] there are serious doctrinal differences that do need to be understood and not ‘white washed’ but at the same time we need to advance from some 500 year old ideas that were birthed at the time of the reformation, viewing other Christian traditions as ‘the anti Christ’. Jesus told the religious leaders ‘you do err not knowing the scriptures or the power of God’ when we make the mistake of reading scripture thru a limited perspective, we err.
(1117) Was just reading the chapter where Jesus rebukes the religious leaders for their love of fame and recognition, they loved to be known and recognized. They loved places of honor. It’s the same chapter where Jesus tells his leaders ‘it shall not be this way with you guys’. He is trying to instill a new mindset in this fledging church. The New Testament speaks of godly leadership, but it warns against authoritarian leadership [see 3rd John- Diotrophes] Jesus tells his men ‘he that humbles himself [on purpose!] will be the greatest, have the most effect’. Would you be willing to live a life where you purposely removed your image and persona from those who wanted to exalt you? To purposefully not allow others to become too enamored with your gifts and abilities? Jesus says ‘among you guys, let none of you be called master, rabbi [leader, the main one] for you are all equal’. How do we reconcile this with the obvious portions of scripture that speak about leaders? A careful study of the New Testament will show a type of leadership that was not the predominant voice of any believing community [local church]. Though you see Paul traveling to different regions and having no problem telling them ‘listen to my instruction’ yet you don’t see any office where one person is the main functioning person in the community. Because of lots of reasons we do this in today’s ‘church world’ environment, but it was not this way at the start. I find it interesting that Jesus taught his men about true leadership in the same chapter where he rebuked those who loved the glory of being a successful leader [there is a difference between being fulfilled as a godly leader, and deriving great joy from the recognition of fame and success!] I see Jesus’ frustration with the religious leaders; he calls them vipers, hypocrites, fools! I know we have a tendency to read these words in King James English, and not realize what he is saying. It would be like basically saying ‘what a bunch of idiots you guys are! You have come to religious understandings that don't even make sense’ they developed an idea that said the gift on the altar was special, but the altar that sanctified the gift wasn’t [they were technical hairsplitters!] Jesus says ‘what's greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies/makes the gift what it is’? Well, I guess the altar? All leaders and gifted people face the temptation to exalt the gift to a place of honor that God never intended. All we have and accomplish in life is simply a gift that comes thru Christ’s Cross [the altar that sanctifies the gift] when we put the Cross first, ahead of the things it can give us, then we will do well.
(1118) In Matthew 24 Jesus speaks about the end times, some day I will try and fit everything into what I believe is the proper perspective. I basically hold to the classical view of end time events. I realize there are varying ‘classical’ views, but I mean I reject the late development of dispensationalism. One thing I will note is in this chapter Jesus warns the Jews that a time is coming when the temple and city will be utterly wiped out, most teachers rightfully see this as the destruction of the temple in a.d. 70 under Titus, but Jesus says ‘when you see the abomination that makes desolate stand in the holy place’ and then the writer says ‘[let him who reads understand]’. My bible has this in red letters, meaning these are Jesus spoken words. They might be the words of the writer of this gospel. In the last few years Christian teachers have come to understand more fully the oral nature of first century Judaism. Many things were passed on by word of mouth, some feel the writer of Matthew [or Jesus?] might have been saying ‘when this is read someday, make sure “he that readeth” understands what in the heck they are saying’! Get it? This insert might be a warning to the future lecturer. They were warning of the possibility of people misunderstanding this part of the teaching. Most modern prophecy teachers read this ‘abomination of desolation’ as a future political figure who will enter into a restored Jewish temple and claim to be God. Others view this thru an historical lens and see the invasion of the Roman soldiers with the marks of pagan gods on their shields as the desecration of ‘the holy place’. In Jewish thought, the room of the temple that contained the box that held the 10 commandments was super holy; the fact that Roman pagan soldiers went in and defiled it could be what the abomination of desolation is speaking about. It is an historical fact that many Jews who believed that Jesus was a true prophet took his warning literally, when they saw their city compassed with the Roman armies they ‘fled to the hills’ and did escape destruction. This was somewhat of a testimony to the accuracy of Jesus prophecy at the time. The whole point today is we need to be aware of various ways to read these prophetic portions of scripture, the original writer of Matthew said ‘let him who is reading this stuff understand for heavens sake!’ I think we need to ‘understand’ a little bit more.
(1119) yesterday I took a ride to Mathis [a small town in the area] my daughter and her boyfriend invited me to do a BBQ at the lake. As I drove thru town [it was Sunday] I noticed all the church buildings, some had 20-30 cars, others just a few. It was obvious that the city didn’t need any more places for believers to sit on Sunday! Jesus said ‘who is a faithful AND wise servant whom his Lord makes ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season, when the Lord comes he will make him ruler over all his goods’. Recently the church suffered a loss, a very famous church leader passed away. The loss was two-fold, though this man was influential in fostering unity and was helpful in civil rights and other social justice issues, he was surrounded by scandal most of his life. I used to watch him on TV and did enjoy his ministry, but he was plagued with accusations of sexual impropriety. The straw that broke the camels back was the current pastor of this huge mega church [cathedral that’s worth 25 million dollars!] was thought to have been the nephew of the famous pastor, it was found out that he was actually his son, the ‘father’ was really his uncle, tragic indeed. The building is now on the market and the son now preaches ‘the gospel of inclusion’ [a message that accepts all religions as from God]. I remember one time hearing the famous pastor speak on tithing, he actually taught that those who did not tithe were violating Gods covenant and would not be saved! Much more radical than the normal fare. I thought how sad, the 25 million dollar facility was paid for by many innocent believers who were told if they did not put 10% of their money in the basket, they would go to hell. Now all the money will simply fall into the system of a real estate deal. Jesus said the servants who were wise and faithful would be given charge over all his masters goods, is it wise for Gods people to continue building facilities all over the world, at the cost of billions of dollars? Is it wise for any small [or large] city to see ‘church’ thru a lens that has all these buildings sitting empty on any given Sunday? Many good men start their service to the Lord this way, the church meeting thing, I started this way myself. Over time God adds wisdom to ‘our faithfulness’ he shows us smarter ways to apply our efforts. There are currently worldwide church planting movements who pay no salaries, own no buildings, take no tithes, yet they are literally reaching the world. This should cause us to re-think some things. Is it proper to tell Gods people they will be under a curse if they don’t tithe to the old system? Especially when the ‘new system’ [not really new, it was Paul’s system in the book of Acts] does the whole thing for free! Jesus said the servants are to distribute the meat in due season, faithfully and with wisdom. Paul said to the Ephesian elders in Acts 20 ‘feed the flock of God over which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers’ he is talking to church leaders here, he tells them [the elders!] ‘All the time I was with you [around 3 years] I did not take offerings from you, I did not allow you to fund me or ‘my ministry’ I worked with my own hands to support myself and those who were with me. I did this to give you [leaders!] an example, so you too would see your ministry thru this voluntary lens, not as some type of career!’ [my paraphrase]. Its makes you wonder how ministers can read the bible and not see this stuff! I want to encourage all my Pastor/leader friends who do frequent this site, seek the Lord for wisdom to go along with faithfulness, examine the way you present Gods word to people, don’t say to them ‘I am appealing for money because this is Gods plan’ Paul didn’t think it was Gods plan [in the salary, building way- he did in other ways] Sometimes God gives us time to step back and sharpen the ax, you might feel like it’s your responsibility to keep hacking away at the tree [faithfulness] but wisdom allows you to step back and sharpen the ax, sure it means you might go a week or month or year without the familiar habit of hacking away, but after you sharpen the ax you will accomplish much more.
(1120) Was reading the parables of the ten virgins and 5 talents [money]. The key to all the parables is reading them in the historical context in which Jesus gave them; The Jews are a nation that were entrusted with great riches [oil, talents] and they will be held responsible for how well they ‘spread the wealth’ so to speak [ spiritual truth, not money!] I also saw some practical stuff as well, all ten virgins had lamps [the capability to communicate, shine] but only the wise ones made preparation for the long haul, they ‘stored up’ oil in their vessels, the others were just winging it. We too often approach ministry with the mindset of ‘Lord, give me a pulpit and auditorium [church building] to speak, and I’ll be faithful’ the problem with this mindset is it is very limited in its capacity to ‘store oil’. Usually the well meaning weekly speaker [Pastor] shows up on Sunday with his lamp and does his best to tell you what he felt like God was saying in the past week; well meaning, but very limited. The wise virgins told them ‘go buy some oil from those who have it for sale’. Over the years I have ‘bought oil’ tons of books and teaching aids that allowed me to store up some stuff. Thru writing and radio I have had the privilege to share a storehouse of stuff that has been accumulated over many years, I am not simply trying to come up with ‘a message’. The Lord also gave 5 pieces of money to one guy, 2 to another and 1 to the last. As he reckons with them some turned out a profit, the last one buried the money in the ground. Those who put their gifts to work and gained more were rewarded, those who didn’t suffered punishment. Wisdom allows you to put the gifts and abilities God has given you to work. Establish systems that are not dependant on you actually having to be there all the time! I know we think ‘the weekly pulpit’ is Gods ordained way, after all we read how God uses the ‘preaching of the Cross to save the lost’ or ‘how can they hear without a preacher’ [Corinthians, Romans] yet we forget that we are READING these things! Paul had enough discipline to pen this stuff down and circulate the letters to the early communities of believers. Paul understood that it was necessary to write in order to have long lasting influence. We live in a day where it is much easier to write and communicate to the whole world [like this blog!] yet we don’t usually use the tool effectively. Many church web sites are simply ways to advertise their meetings. If I had the cure for cancer, I mean I knew exactly what you needed to do to get cured; and then I started a website that could reach the world with the cure, and if you went to my site and read 'please show up Sunday at such and such location and I will personally tell you what the cure is’ you would think I was nuts! For heavens sake, if you have something worth saying, then say it! God has given us ‘lamps and talents’ to complete the mission, only the wise ones utilized what God gave them to the full potential, are you a wise one?
(1121) ‘Dinosaurs with wings and Darwin’s winged rats’ Let’s do a short thing here; recently I have seen a few silly things and thought I should expound. First, the common argument on the road of evolution is that dinosaurs turned into birds [or as G.K. Chesterton expounded, evolutionists would have you believe that running rats turned into flying ones!]. I know that the average consumer of public school evolution does not fully realize the total lunacy of many of evolutions claims. What would be the most obvious problem with dinosaurs turning into flying reptiles/birds? If you had a very slow period where many thousands of species SLOWLY evolved wings where their front legs used to be, this species would be the first to die off! For Darwin’s theory to work, only the fittest survive! So according to Darwin’s own theory, the so called ‘in between’ species would have never been able to have made it! This is the exact observation that G.K. Chesterton used [famous Catholic writer] about the rats, he said it was quite obvious to any rationally thinking person, that if the walking rats slowly developed wings and turned into the flying ones, how in the world would the sad little rats have survived during the many thousands of years where they couldn’t walk or fly? You say ‘Now John, surely there must be a reasonable explanation to this dilemma, true thinking evolutionists aren’t that dumb’ the majority of evolutionists believe that all things came from no thing, a scientific impossibility. If they could swallow that, then surely they could swallow anything.
(1122) Jesus is getting ready to eat the Passover meal with his disciples, a woman pours very expensive oil [perfume] on his head. The disciples [Judas] are mad ‘we could have sold this perfume and made money! Oh, and we could have given it to the poor too’. Which meant put it in the offering bag Judas was in charge of. Jesus rebukes his disciples ‘you always have the poor with you, but my time is very short now. What this woman did was a prophetic act preparing my body for burial’ [I wish he would quit talking like this!] Jesus says what this women did would be told all over the world, wherever his story would be told. Quite a bold statement, don’t you think? Jesus has this little rag tag group of followers, they are feeling somewhat let down, I mean Judas goes out to betray Jesus right after this act. He goes and makes a deal for thirty pieces of silver, what was in his mind? The trigger seemed to be the fact that he didn’t get his hands on the perfume money! Go read the story, it’s in there. We often brand Judas as this guy that was all bad right from the start, understand, Jesus knew his men were in his movement for political reasons, a sort of messianic group that was challenging the system if you will. His men did not realize the nature of his movement yet. So it was quite natural for Judas to feel disappointed, in some way he realized he was not going to get what he wanted by being a member of ‘Jesus church’. So Jesus sits down with his men, takes the bread and wine and breaks it, showing them that it will be his own act of brokenness that would be the glue that would hold this group together. The prophet Isaiah said ‘as many as were astonished at your torment/suffering, so likewise you will reach many nations’ Jesus knew it was in this act of sacrifice that he would be planting the seeds of true revolution, a little too much for the average follower. He even will pray in the garden ‘if its possible let this thing pass, lets do it another way God’ when he returns to his disciples they are sleeping, he will tell them ‘its enough, I now have settled what will happen, lets go’. We often think that the Father told Jesus ‘no Son, you must do this’ but in a little while Peter will cut off the ear of a soldier in trying to protect Jesus, Jesus will respond by saying ‘don’t you know I could call down angels right now and get out of this’ maybe the fathers answer was ‘Son, this is up to you, its totally on your shoulders now. If you decide not to go thru with it, its your choice’ the bible does say that Jesus purchased us by himself, that is it was riding on him. I don’t want to be too dogmatic about this, just something to ponder. Of course we know the rest of the story, this selfless act of Jesus would be the seedbed for a great worldwide revolutionary movement that will touch all nations, it was not an easy cup for him to drink.
(1123) FORM CRTICISM back in the early part of the 20th century you had various scholars come up with new ways to approach scripture, it seems as if the intellectual capacity of certain scholars was not being satisfied by the normal historical approach and belief in scripture. While most scholars accept the reality that there are different styles of writing in the bible; poetry, symbol, apocalyptic, etc. The form critics would take this study another step [out in left field!] and say that the gospels are actually stories that ‘were formed’ by the evangelists from small portions of deeds and sayings of Jesus. In essence they were saying that between the time of the actual events in the gospels and the recording of them [20-25 years] that the early Christian communities simply developed the stories in the gospels for the sake of the community, the only ‘reliable’ historical portion was the passion narrative. One of the most famous of the form critics was Rudolph Bultman. Over a period of time these brothers would make it next to impossible to accept the basic truths of the gospels. The famous writer C.S. Lewis found it amazing that these 20th century German thinkers, some 2 thousand years removed from the actual events themselves. Those who did not live in the actual culture of the time, didn’t speak the language. Yet these modern day critics somehow stumbled across this way of interpreting the bible that really unlocked the true intent behind the writers. Lewis himself lamented many times over the way the critics of his own writings were almost always 100 % wrong when it came to their judgment of his own motives behind what he wrote. He did not ‘mind’ the actual criticism of his writings, but the criticisms that said ‘this is what he really meant to say’ or ‘this is why he said this’ Lewis would testify that they were almost always [if not always!] wrong when they leveled these charges at him. He then turned the table on the form critics and said that they were engaging in this same type of criticism of the gospel writers, who were removed from the present day by some 1900 years! Lewis simply found it unbelievable to accept the possibility that they were even right 1% of the time. Ultimately these higher critics would be proven wrong for the most part by the discoveries that were taking place in archaeology. Many doubted the stories of scripture, their historical accuracy; things like the names of families in the book of Genesis, many said these family trees were fake, archeology proved otherwise. Or the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, most of the new critics simply saw these stories as ‘myth’ symbolic stories meant to convey spiritual truths, but were not really true. Then lo and behold, they uncovered the historical cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, and also found evidence of some type of natural disaster that actually ‘rained down hot hailstones that burned up the cities’ Ouch! The higher critics were squirming in their seats as these historical facts were being uncovered. For the most part these popular early 20th century ways of approaching scripture have now been rejected. Of course you still find some who lean towards that system, but most able scholars realize that these brothers went so far out into left field that they were ignoring the most basic principles of true historic criticism and were engaging in a type of philosophical critique that had no real basis in truth. How in the world did these brothers determine what sayings of Jesus were really his, and which were not? The same goes for Paul's letters and the rest of the New Testament. C.S. Lewis was open to modern ideas and concepts about Christian truth, but he could also see the things that were simply trends that had no real foundation in truth, Lewis was a wise man indeed.
(1124) Let’s do some more apologetics [by the way, the word means ‘give a defense’ it does not mean to apologize! It comes from the bible, in Peter it says ‘be ready to give an answer to those who ask for a reason for the hope in you’] One of the other areas of doubt raised by the atheist is the fact that there are various accounts of creation and the ‘flood story’ found in other civilizations. The Babylonians have ‘the epic of Gilgamesh’. This is an account of a worldwide flood. The fact that there are other stories about a major world event, would not in and of itself cast doubt on the event! Where I grew up in New Jersey you would have been able to actually see the world trade center disaster on 9-11. As an Italian, say if I wrote a report of the events for my fellow Italian buddies. Then let’s say a thousand years go by and you find out that the Cuban papers also reported it, and the Puerto Ricans, as a matter of fact you might find many cultures that have their own reporting of this event. Would that cast doubt on my report? No, as a matter of fact if no one else had a report, except me, then that would cast doubt! Now, how do we know which report is true? Out of the various other stories about creation and a flood, the one that is the ‘least fantastic’ is the biblical one. The others definitely have a tinge of unreality about them. Some say the earth was flooded, but it rained for 7 days [not long enough to flood the earth!] and the waters receded in one day [cant happen!] the biblical account has both a longer period of rain as well as a longer period of the waters receding. The actual dimensions of Noah’s Ark were huge! The huge boat looked more like a giant rectangular barge, you could fit huge jetliners in the thing! It was three levels high, but not like the silly kids pictures found in fables. That topsy turvy thing with animals peeking off the deck! The actual dimensions could have worked, really! The point is the simple fact of other cultures having their own stories of events like this does not mean the events themselves were fake, to the contrary, if only one culture had these stories, that would cast more doubt on the events themselves.
(1125) If you have been paying attention, you’ll notice that I have been reading thru Matthew these last few weeks. Let’s finish this sporatic thing with Jesus final command ‘go into all the world and preach the gospel to every one, baptize them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Teach them to observe all the things I taught you, I will always be with you, all power is now given to me, I authorize you to go’ [my paraphrase] I wanted to hit on the command of Jesus for us to teach the nations the things he taught us. Over the years you will notice that one of my pet peeves has been the emphasis the modern church puts on the command to tithe found in Malachi, yet the many commands of Jesus about giving to the poor, helping out the down and out; these commands of Jesus seem to take second place in the tier of importance for the average church goer. In a sense we [leaders] have failed to actually teach the nations the things Jesus taught us! We have taught the nations good stuff from Malachi, boy do they have a grasp on Paul! And oh yes, John writes with such love and compassion, doesn’t he? I don’t want to be crude, I understand that as Evangelicals we believe all of Gods word [Malachi, Paul, etc.] the point I am making is all of these writings have to be seen thru the primary ‘constitution’ of Jesus and his gospel. The Old Testament says we should execute homosexuals, kids who curse their parents and women caught cheating! Now, most of us realize that these commands are no longer valid in a literal way [I hope you understand!] So as believers we need to view all of the words of scripture thru the ethos [values] of Jesus. How did he respond when the Pharisees brought the woman taken in adultery to him? They even said ‘Moses in the law said she should be stoned, what do you say’? He forgives the woman, does not condone her sin, and lets the religious leaders know that they were in no position to judge this woman. As the church embarks on the next millennium, we need to re focus our efforts and instructions on the life and purpose of Jesus. I am not advocating rejecting Paul’s teachings [as some advocate!] or doing away with the Old Testament [as others also advocate] but I am saying we need to take seriously the great commission that Jesus gave us. Are we really teaching people the actual things that Jesus made the priority? I know he told the religious leaders ‘you tithe and stuff, but have overlooked the heavier matters of the law; yes, you should have tithed [telling this to Jews under the law sitting in ‘Moses seat’ not to Gentile believers!] and also have shown mercy and love and compassion’ even the law put the emphasis on these things! Lets try and re balance some things these next few years, lets look seriously at the things that Jesus actually taught [the red letters!] and see if these are the same things we are focusing on. He doesn’t say a whole lot about the ‘just war’ doctrine, he seems like he’s always rebuking the wealthy folk! Let’s see the things he actually taught, and then teach those things! Got it?
(1126) Just started Nehemiah, I always loved the restoration books of the Old Testament; the prophets who were involved with the rebuilding of the walls and city of Jerusalem. Nehemiah hears about the sad state of affairs back in Jerusalem, he gets permission from the king to go back home and build. He faces opposition [of course!] and organizes the people to build their portion of the wall and gate. You will notice that once he gets a system going that works, he sticks with it! I recently read an article from David Brooks [writes for the Wall Street Journal?] it was in my local paper. He talked about a recent study that evaluated the top C.E.O.s of successful companies, the article was in keeping with previous studies. It basically showed that the most effective [not famous!] leaders were the old school guys who knew how to get the job done. They were skilled in their field, they knew how to implement steady growth over the long haul, and they were not ‘touchy, feely’ type leaders. They didn’t spend time getting their people to like them, or tried to empathize with them. They weren’t looking for the new fad thing to implement; they were steady, old fashioned guys that did not fit the mold of ‘the new, big idea’. Nehemiah was that type of leader. Once he organized the people and got them moving, he simply stuck with the plan. The critics said ‘what in the world do you think you’re doing!’ he just ignored them and moved ahead. I always get a kick out of it when I run into some ‘preacher’ during my normal rounds with the homeless brothers. My buddies will often introduce me as ‘John is a retired firefighter, and also a minister’ I have asked them not to say ‘minister’ but they say it anyway. I often look a little scraggly and the preachers will hear about ‘my little outreach’ and sometimes I get the sense of like ‘bless his poor heart, he’s trying’. They might say ‘and what do you do’ and it’s kind of hard to explain it to be honest, but every now and then they realize I’m the guy they’ve been hearing for years on the radio! Or they see the blog is all over the place and then they kind of change their tune, like people treat you better if you’re successful. I basically ignore the whole thing, it just hinders my work to be honest. But Nehemiah had his critics, they laughed at him ‘oh, and you think your gonna do what?’ One of the enemy’s strategies is to get you to listen to the critics, now there are times when you need to hear reproof and correction, but the critics are another thing. There the ones who can always tell you what you are doing wrong, but never get anything done themselves! These are the brothers that Paul called ‘busy bodies’ in the New Testament, they weren’t working or providing for their families, and had all this free time to critique everyone else. Let God give you the patterns and principles of how he wants you to accomplish the task, once you implement it, the key to success is sticking with it in the face of opposition. As the critics kept laughing, the walls kept going up, eventually you won’t be able to see them anymore!
(1127) let’s see, I wanted to do Nehemiah, talk a little about the recent abortion debate, and also discuss modern philosophy! Let’s see what we can do. In Nehemiah the workers are scattered all along the wall, they are responsible for their section. Nehemiah tells them that because they are so far apart, they need the ability to be able to hear the warning from the main overseer of the work [namely him!] so he has this trumpet guy next to him, if danger shows up he will blow the trumpet and they will be forewarned, hey in a day without electronic communication, this is a good idea! Recently [5-09] there have been some debates over the abortion issue and some high profile cases as well. Just 2 days ago one of the most notorious abortion doctors in our country was shot down in cold blood, his name was George Tiller. His abortion clinic was only one out of three places in the U.S. that performed late term abortions. This is the procedure where you insert a forceps into the womb, pull apart the legs and arms of the baby. Then you position the forceps over the head and squeeze till the brains come out [I know this is graphic, if you want to learn more about it, go to the Priests for life icon on my blog roll]. While we in no way shape or form condone the murder of doctor Tiller, it should be noted that he took part in the most wicked act that can ever take place, the murder of unborn children. Now in this debate some Christians [Catholics] have brought up the recent speech by president Obama at Notre Dame, some boycotted the speech. The problem was that Notre Dame actually honored the president with an honorary law degree. It is one thing to allow both voices to be heard, quite another to honor the most anti life president in the history of the untied states! He has made more pro death decisions than any other president in history. The U.S. Catholic Bishops had passed a resolution a few years back that stated no Catholic institution should give honorary degrees to those who are in violation of the churches teaching on major issues, obviously Notre Dame violated this rule. Now, some Catholic media persons were defending Obama, they even criticized their own church for hypocrisy! They were saying that honoring Obama was no different than honoring any other leader who might be pro capital punishment. These Catholic media persons were equating the churches stand on abortion with her stand on capital punishment; these two are not in the same league! The Catholic church teaches a sort of hierarchy of offenses [as a boy I still remember being taught mortal and venial sins] the church sees abortion as an intrinsically evil act, the outright murder of innocent defenseless persons. The church also teaches against the death penalty, but the execution of a criminal is not to be equated with the murder of unborn innocent children [some 4 thousand per day!] so these Catholic believers were wrong on the stance of their own church. Today’s ‘post-modern’ philosophy will argue that truth and morals are relative [subjective] they see truth thru the lens of ‘that might be wrong for you, but not for me’ or ‘I personally am against abortion, but I don’t want to push my views on others’. In the world of postmodern thinking, this is considered acceptable. This view of right and wrong is based on the view that there really is no objective truth, that is truth does not correspond to any outside reality. Truth, in their view, is simply the way various cultures perceive and understand things at different times in human history, but it’s possible for other societies to interpret the data coming into their senses and arrive at another view of truth, and who am I to say that ‘my truth is real and yours is false’. Obviously in the field of theology this would be [and is!] disastrous. Paul himself would say ‘if Christ be not risen [a real fact!] then we are of all men the most miserable’. The biblical worldview of truth is objective; truth is something that corresponds to something else that is real. This does not always mean material, but real never the less. For instance mathematical equations are real truth, or feelings of love are real, but not material. This would be the foundation for saying ‘the murder of babies is wrong, always has been, always will be’ whether my view is contrary to your view is meaningless, the act itself is wrong! Your view of that oak tree might be different than mine, but if you run into it with your car, the only view that counts is what reality is. It really was a tree that was there, it was not simply my perception of ‘a tree’ my perception corresponded with reality and the truth was that the tree really was a tree, whether you like it or not! The modern philosophers would say ‘the only real question left for philosophy to answer is the viability of suicide’ [either Sartre or Camou said this] When philosophy severs itself from true moral reason and foundational ethics, it has no leg to stand on. When society can accept that murder might be wrong for you, but not for me, then the basic fabric of civilization is no more. Well I think I covered all three of the things I set out to do at the start, hope it helped.
(1127) Let me share a few testimonies; I type all this stuff from my laptop, I never work from a desk top. I have 2 laptops that I use, one as a backup if the other goes down [I realized a while back that it disturbs things too much to not type until it gets fixed!] One laptop misses letters as you type, I used to think it was my novice typing skills [I am bad! My daughter caught me doing the one finger thing while looking at the keys and couldn’t believe it] that was the problem, but I actually started looking at the screen while typing and realized certain letters don’t show up, you have to backspace and do it again. The other laptop has a mouse problem, it won’t always respond, this is frustrating for someone who cuts and pastes all over this blog! So when one computer gets me mad, I switch to the other one. Yesterday as I was battling with the mouse problem, out of frustration I said ‘Lord, give me a break! I can’t deal with this’ and it immediately started working, for the first time ever since I got it [it was a used computer when I bought it]. I also prayed about it these past few days while typing, sort of like seriously believing the Lord could fix it, you know you forget stuff like this at times. Then the other day I told you guys how I had an old buddy from prison write me, I had a package of teaching stuff I was going to send him. In the old days I would write the brothers in prison while at the fire house, you have time to sit around and do this stuff. But it’s really been a while since I regularly wrote any prison buddies [I have written many hundreds of letters in the past, no exaggeration] but I had the letter and stuff in the truck and kept putting it off. Finally the day I sent it was the same day my daughter got hired for a job with the state. My two oldest daughters attend college and have had good jobs. My oldest [24] is now a teacher at the high school she graduated from. My second oldest was a veterinarian assistant, but was looking for something else. She applied for some counselor thing with the state, a job that you usually don’t get unless you have connections. Sure enough the day I sent the packet, she got it! The bible says if you help the poor, reach out to the hurting, spend your time and resources freely for others, that God will reward you. I felt like the Lord returned the favor. As I just read Nehemiah chapter 5, Nehemiah rebukes the leaders for charging interest from the people. The Jews were mortgaging their lands and homes and going into debt trying to accomplish Gods work. The leaders were profiting from the situation. Nehemiah rebuked them, he even sounds like Paul when he says ‘all the time I was with you as governor [type of an apostle] I never took a salary, I provided for myself and my staff’ Paul says the exact same thing to the elders in Acts chapter 20. I think we as leaders need to re think some things. I was thinking the other day how that I have no Christian relationships with anybody in which I ever ask, or receive any financial reward. No offering thing, never speak in ‘a church’ and take an offering. I simply have the freedom to by pass the whole mess. One time the homeless brothers told me ‘brother, if you need your yard cut, or any work done at your house, let us know’ I could tell that they talked about it amongst themselves, sort of like ‘hey, the brother spends a lot on us, lets help him’. I turned down the offer anyway, they are used to local contractors hiring them at slave wages, I wanted them to know I wasn’t trying to get something from them. Although I have kidded about it at times, one time one of them finally got accepted for social security, they were gonna get a big check. I told them ‘you know I sense the Lord telling me that I am supposed to start hanging out with you a little more’! In the long run God will reward you if you really do stuff for free. Leaders, do you have regular friendships with people whom you never bring up money or offerings with? Are the people who know you most always being challenged in a financial way? Always needing to give more? Nehemiah rebuked the nobles because the ‘laity’ were being consumed with having to pay their own bills, plus support the nobles financially, and pay for the structures! Nehemiah said he wouldn’t charge the people, that God would reward him instead, I think he did.
(1128) yesterday I got with a few homeless buddies, found out that Eddy got arrested and sent back to San Antonio, some sort of serial killer charge, KIDDING! A child support thing, it is funny, the guys have picked up my morbid sense of humor. One time I had Tim with me, a good friend who has been homeless for years. We picked up my daughter from school, they know my friends and all, sometimes as they were growing up they would drive by them with their high school friends and all, see them at the corners. They would be like ‘oh, those are my dad’s friends’. So when I had Tim in the truck as we were picking up my daughter, I tell her ‘this is my friend Tim, he has spent many years in prison [she looks at me like ‘are you kidding me dad, picking me up from school with these bums in the truck!’] Tim tells her ‘yes, I had some serial killer charges that I was dealing with at the time’ he was kidding too! But anyway Eddy got sent to San Antonio, and the cops have been harassing some of the guys. I also wanted to talk a little bit more on Nehemiah chapter 5, Nehemiah really gets on the nobles/elders, he tells them that they were putting too much of a burden on Gods people, some of them were going into debt to simply pay the required taxes to the leaders. Nehemiah rebukes them strongly! He says ‘all the time I was laboring among you as a governor, I turned down the normal pay governors get. I also paid out of my own pocket for the expenses of my team and staff, plus I did not purchase any real estate of my own, but totally dedicated myself to the cause’. The nobles were engaging in the building up of their own financial fortunes, understand this wasn’t forbidden in and of itself, but at the same time the average people were being told to do and give more, to the point where they were actually going in debt as the leaders were increasing in wealth, Nehemiah felt this was wrong. Like the apostle Paul, he would lay down the right to build wealth [purchasing his own land] while working and leading Gods flock. He simply felt it to be a wrong example for him to be gaining in wealth while the people were going into debt; he laid down his own right to prosper for the sake of the people. One of the things Jesus rebuked the Pharisees for was they were putting heavy burdens on the people, but they themselves were not willing to bear the same load. Often times in the world of ‘full time ministry’ we see good men get into scenarios where they unwittingly fall into this mindset, they fall into patterns of becoming wealthy, receiving large salaries at the expense of many low wage supporters, they often see this as a legitimate expression of ‘church/ministry’ while the scripture warns against leaders profiting from the people, while the people themselves are under a burden. I like Nehemiah’s example, he willingly gave up the right to grow his own portfolio while the average church goer was struggling, although he had a right to the governors salary, he saw it to be more noble to donate his time and skills at his own expense, freely he had received, freely he gave back.
(1129) I am somewhat hesitant about sharing this, but will do it anyway. This morning I had a dream, I was back at the fire house and we had a major wreck. Somehow I found myself preserving the severed hands of a victim. Either his hands were purposefully amputated to save the limb, or maybe just severed. My job was to preserve the hands [to be honest, I think I also might have been used to remove them?] I wasn’t sure if this had any meaning at all. Then I read Nehemiah chapter 6 and he says ‘oh God, strengthen my hands for the work’. I also felt like the words of Jesus ‘if your hand offends you, cut it off’ applied. While we know the Lord doesn’t mean this literally, it does speak of removing the things that are in the way, getting rid of the trash, so to speak. One of the verses in Nehemiah says ‘the workers are tired and there is much rubbish’ speaking of the hindrances to the work. In this chapter the critics are trying to get a message to Nehemiah, they keep sending signals, but he won’t bite. They want him to come to them and justify his work. He says no way ‘I am doing a great work, I don’t have time to set it aside and go justify it to my critics!’ The critics went out on a limb already, they publicly prophesied of failure, now they have a personal reason to make their prediction come true! In this chapter we also read of a bunch of ‘prophets’ and a prophetess who tried to hinder Gods work. Let me make a note here, in Gods work in general you will always have people who feel that they are personally called to be ‘your prophet’ that is they become consumed with how you personally respond to their views. Some of these people mean well, others do not. In Nehemiah’s case the men who publicly reproved him were trying hard to stop him. They finally send an open letter accusing him of wanting to build the wall so he could become the new king! The charge was ‘he’s in this for himself, self gain’ now be careful here, Nehemiah thwarts this charge by actually not ‘being in charge for good’! There are many contemporary challenges to present church structures that do say ‘the modern view of church leadership is geared towards the promotion of the talented leader’ in many cases this reproof is accurate. In order for this charge ‘not to be accurate’ you must ultimately do the John the Baptist thing and decrease! John said ‘he must increase and I must decrease’ so here we see that Nehemiah had no problem using his skill and position to accomplish Gods work, but he will eventually walk away and leave the city in the hands of the people, he is not building the wall and city so he could have some permanent type of leadership position, he was not trying to ‘become the king’. Nehemiah finishes the wall in 52 days, quite a feat. He faces accusations, false prophets and much criticism, if you read the one liners from Nehemiah, you get the sense that he was so occupied with the work that he didn’t take a lot of ‘down time’ to think things out. He just shoots up a quick prayer ‘strengthen my hands’ or ‘look upon the critics and help us’ he simply rolls along and finishes the work as God ordained. He listens to good advice, but manages to discern between the good and bad. He refuses self preservation, one of the schemers tries to get him to hide in the temple [use Gods work for self preservation] and he refuses to do it! It would have taken away from his radical reputation as someone who was not seeking self gain. He asked God to strengthen his hands, to help him have the sufficient skills to complete the task. He, like the apostle Paul, will eventually walk away from the work, he will not create a ‘church/ministry’ that will become a lifetime financial source of income or personal prestige, he will simply build Gods work and then move on, how bout you? [note- this does not mean all Pastors have to eventually leave town! You did have elders who stayed in the communities of the new testament, but as an apostle, Paul functioned in an itinerant way. He was not looking to the churches as a permanent source of income or position]
(1130) Nehemiah gets the walls up, the doorways [gates] are in place, all that’s left is to put the doors on the hinges! The bible says ‘the wall was built, the spaces were large [broad in space] but the houses and people were not established yet’. As a man of wisdom Nehemiah knew that he had to get the walls up before he could build the town. Often times in ministry leaders read these verses and apply them to actual building plans for, well buildings! The better way to view these is thru the paradigm of Gods people being a glorious city, the ‘city that comes down from God out of heaven’ and we as leaders are given skills to help get Gods city established. One of ‘the walls’ that needs to be repaired is the basic lack of belief in the authority of scripture. Many believers struggle with the concepts they learn at college, the things the public schools teach ‘as fact’ that seem to contradict what they were taught as kids. Okay, let’s hit evolution again. I was reading an article from a scientist [I don’t believe he was a Christian?] who simply said that enough time and research has passed in the effort to prove whether or not life can simply spontaneously appear from dead matter. In order for the most popular form of atheistic evolution to have happened, you need spontaneous generation. Now, science has two major problems when it comes to trying to prove that atheistic evolution can actually happen; the appearance of matter from nothing, and the appearance of life from dead matter. Both of these things have been shown thru science that they never happen, not once! The scientist mentioned above simply was saying there comes a time where enough evidence comes in and you have to admit that the possibility of your theory is simply unworkable. Evolution [macro-Darwinian] has seen its day come and go. It is interesting that the foundational belief for many evolutionists, the science of ‘abiogenesis’ [the belief that living organisms can spontaneously come about from decaying matter] was actually disproved by Louis Pasteur in 1861, just a couple of years after Darwin published Origin of Species. Pasteur showed that the common belief that life sprang forth from dead stuff was false! This has nothing to do with religion or faith; this is pure scientific fact that simply states that the spontaneous generation of life springing up from some type of primordial soup can not happen! Now, is it still possible that matter came into existence from nothing? Or that life, living cells came forth from dead matter? Can ‘chance’ make the impossible happen? Chance is only a word that describes the odds of a certain thing happening, chance in itself can not make anything happen! The point is we as a society have swallowed the prevailing secular view that Darwinian evolution is a scientific fact, and the biblical worldview needs to be adjusted. This wall of secular thinking needs to come down, while the ‘wall’ of true biblical and scientific reason go back up. True science is in no way an obstacle to biblical faith, the problem is false science is too often peddled as true!
(1131) Nehemiah 8- This is really a key chapter. After the walls are built the process of reviving the community can move ahead. Nehemiah already gave the ‘charge’ of the city to two men who he could trust [last chapter] sort of like a Timothy, Titus deal with Paul. Now he lets Ezra do the pulpit preaching! Ezra begins reading straight from the law and gives the understanding, read this chapter and see how many times it says ‘they gave the understanding, the people were very attentive’ it reminds you of the description of the people who heard Jesus! I want to emphasize that Ezra and the teachers [Levites] were simply giving the people Gods word in context! There is a trend going on right now where some of the ‘flashy, young’ pastors are returning to the historic gospel and preaching the word IN CONTEXT! These past few years many of the mega churches focused on a ‘be all you can be’ type message, but there is a new focus going back to the ‘old word’ and simply teaching it in context. You don’t need Paul’s ‘new perspective’ on justification to make it interesting, while some of these viewpoints have stuff to add to our learning [I like N.T. Wright personally] yet the classic Pauline doctrine of justification by faith is more than enough to satisfy the hungry heart! Ezra gave the ‘sense’ and meaning of the law, and the people soaked it in. They are all gathered together at the ‘water gate’ [too much typology to do it all] and the people as ‘one man’ receive the word. Let me quickly quote a bunch of scattered verses ‘the people will come up like a river who overflows her banks and pour out into Judah’ ‘the people will be like fountains dispersed abroad’ ‘out of our bellies shall flow rivers of living water’ ‘pour out your Spirit on our seed’ ‘let your doctrine drop down like rain, your speech distill like dew’. God pours and flows his Spirit thru his people to the nations. The fact that Ezra is pouring Gods word into the people, before the temple [building] is even rebuilt is important. In this picture Gods people are the temple! A few points; Nehemiah willingly functioned as the governor [a type of an apostle] when it came time to hand over the leadership to others, he did it! Often times in modern church scenarios we don’t practice this part well, we feel like ‘geez, I spent my time building this thing, I deserve to be the main person’! In the New Testament churches there were no ‘main persons’, that is the communities that Paul was building were not ‘local churches’ that were providing him with long term income. These communities were the people of God who had the ability to function on their own after Paul left. The local leaders [elders/pastors] were simply men who had a stable grasp of doctrine that the local believers knew they could look to for support. Elders were more like facilitators of the corporate/communal experience, they were not professional speakers that the people listened to week after week! So this distinction is important to see. To all you ‘church planters’ out there [we have a lot of contacts from Kenya, some from Pakistan] understand that the apostles/governors played an important role in setting doctrine, letting the elders and people know what was true and what was false, but the apostle/church planter doesn’t have to be ‘the weekly’ speaker to any specific group of people. It’s okay to have a routine forum in which you can communicate on a regular basis to the communities that your are planting [I use this blog and radio] but don’t think you personally have to ‘be there’ every week! Nehemiah had the self security to hand the daily functions over to trusted men and allow them to ‘get the glory’. I find it interesting that after many years of church planting the apostle Paul wound up living in a rented room in Rome and preaching to those who would listen. Was poor Paul ‘devaluing himself’ by not setting a high salary! [silly things that preachers fall into by using the standards of modern business as opposed to the New Testament] Paul purposefully told us time and again why he did not set up for himself a steady ‘cash flow’ from the communities he was establishing [read Acts 20]. Leaders today need to re evaluate what their doing and why their doing it. Leaders need the self confidence to be able to ‘walk away’ from the communities they are building and to allow the saints themselves to learn how to become dependant/interdependent. Governors [apostles] need to have the self assurance to let the Ezra’s [scribes/teachers] come in and ‘get the glory’ leaders need a basic overhaul in why they do the things they do.
(1132) Nehemiah 9- as the people repent, they stand, fast, confess their sins and read from God’s law for a quarter of the day! There is a real renewal that takes place thru the reading of the word. In the last chapter we saw the emphasis on the teaching of Gods word, the bible says the Levites not only taught/read, but also gave the sense, the meaning of it. Jesus rebuked the religious leaders of his day, not because they weren’t ‘reading/quoting’ bible verses, they were doing it all the time! But because they weren’t really grasping the principles behind the word. In this chapter the people were not only hearing, but also understanding. Now they also do an historical remembrance of Gods great past works. They recount his promise to Abraham, the story of Egypt and Gods great deliverance. The giving of the law to Moses and the rebellion of their fathers during the time of the judges. It’s a great retelling of their history, sort of like Stephen in Acts 7. They also praise and worship God as the creator of all things. I have been reading a good book on the current debate between ‘young earth’ and ‘old earth’ creationists. Though I personally lean towards the old earth idea, yet the book brings out very good arguments for a young earth. They show the historical development of the geologic table [the levels of earth and the dating of these levels] and the book also brings out the fact that though many of the church fathers spiritualized the days of creation, this did not mean they were old earth creationists! Augustine believed in ‘instantaneous creation’ in a moment. So his idea was really young earth, even though he did not take the creation days as literal. One of the points brought out is the basic belief in God as creator, man seems to have a difficult time simply believing in the fact that God made all things out of nothing [Ex-Nihilo] whether you are an old earth or young earth advocate, the fact is God made it all by his word! The people in Nehemiah’s day praised him for his great works as seen in creation. It’s important to see the role that the reading of the law played in this national revival. We see this happen a few times in Israel’s history. Times where they rediscover the law after many years and repent as they return to Gods precepts. Recently I have been reading/studying from around 11:00 am to 3-4 pm. Not every day, but a few days a week. I found it interesting that the people were giving one fourth of their day to reading the law; God saw it as vital for the restoration of his city and people. I want to encourage all my Pastor friends, as you build Gods people, don’t underestimate the importance of good bible teaching. Don’t just give people verses to memorize/hear [what the Pharisees were good at] but give them the understanding too. God used his law [word] to revive the people after the walls were built.
(1133) Nehemiah 10- Because of the reading of the law, the people reform. They were ignorant of many of Gods commands, after they had their minds renewed to the Word, they made adjustments. The scripture says they separated themselves and walked according to God’s wisdom. Let’s talk a little. What does it mean to be ‘separated’ from the world? I have mentioned in the past that right after becoming a believer I attended a Fundamental Baptist Church for a few years. The church and the Pastor/people were and are great people. After leaving the church [and while attending as well] I came to see that certain groups practice a form of ‘separation’ that can be legalistic. This view sees current dress standards, watching movies [or TV] and other cultural trends as being worldly. Now, there is no doubt that movies and the media bombard the Christian with images and ideas that are contrary to Gods Word! But my view is these things [forms of media themselves, or changing dress codes] are not the heart of the matter. But there is a ‘worldly’ mentality that people can embrace. The current debate on abortion has the pro abortion groups lobbying for changes to the law on who has to provide abortions. President Obama is changing the standards that have been in place for years. There is currently a loophole for Christian doctors to abstain from this procedure because of conscience sake. Obama is trying to change that. They want to make it where if there are no other providers around, that the Christian doctor must ‘kill your kid’. Think of this for a moment; some people are so influenced by the culture of death that they would see it as a great victory to make a Christian doctor dismember their baby! The world’s mindset can be deadly. Now as the people in Nehemiah’s day repent, they restore the practice of the Sabbath year forgiving of debts. Israel had both a 7 year ‘bankruptcy’ type thing, where after 7 years the books are cleared. They also had a 50 year Jubilee, at the end of 50 years the title deeds to properties went back to the original owner. Once again, lets examine our mindsets; what would you say if Obama tried something like this? Would you rant and rave about socialism? Would Rush and Hannity fall over dead? Yet Gods ways are not ours, he is neither a Republican, Democrat, Socialist or any thing else. His kingdom is a Divine monarchy for heavens sake! He is the King and what he says goes, that’s it. By the way, this principle of letting things go back in the 50th year engrained in the community that they really didn’t own stuff. They were just stewards of Gods stuff. The biblical picture of land and homes and farms was that people simply were taking care of these things, God was the true land owner. That’s why Jesus and his men ‘picked the corn [grain]’ and ate it. God had already instilled this command in the law. Though the farms and fields were ‘owned’ by the land owner, yet ultimately everything belonged to God. How do we live our lives? Have we become affected by the culture to such a degree that the U.S. constitution takes precedence over Gods Word? Do you get upset [or enraged!] when some politician questions your right to own a gun? Jesus said someday the guns will be beaten into farming tools! I don't want to debate the whole gun thing, I just wanted to give you a little test to see whose standard you are being effected by, we all need to re-tool our thinking to a biblical worldview, it is often mistaken with human world views.
(1134) Nehemiah 11- After the walls are up, the city now needs some residents! At one time Jerusalem was a glorious city, when David captured it, it was considered a tuff city to take. He built it into a strong capitol city. But after many years of captivity and difficulty, it lost its luster. Sort of like when Katrina hit Louisiana, at first there was lots of talk about rebuilding all the devastated areas, but the ‘rich folk’ [politicians and others who stood up for the rebuilding of the minority areas] underestimated the ‘detachment’ that poor folk have to temporary things. Many of the evacuees relocated [many to Corpus] and simply started over. So Jerusalem needs some volunteers! The bible says the leaders dwelt there [influential kingdom men] and they cast lots for 1 out of 10 to move back. God also didn’t want everyone at the home base; this would have limited Israel’s influence as a people. Let me be honest, pioneering is difficult; times of relocating to new places, starting over again. Thru out my life I have gone thru these various stages and it’s not easy. Abraham’s life and destiny depended on his willingness to uproot and ‘search for a city that had foundations’ [a symbol of the church, the ‘city that comes down from God out of heaven’]. The bible speaks of his willingness to go to a place that he didn’t even know yet! God would give him the plans as he moved ahead. Let me quote a few verses off the top of my head ‘get out of the city and dwell in the fields, even Babylon, and there I will be with you and deliver you from the hand of the enemy’ ‘remember the word which Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, saying your wives and your little ones and your cattle shall remain in the land the Lord gave you on this side of Jordan, but you shall go before your brethren armed, all the mighty men of valor, and help them to obtain their inheritance’ [saying this to the two tribes who settled outside of the promised land]. And the last one ‘David dwelt in the fort and called it the city of David, he built round about from the surrounding cities and inward, and the Lord was with David and prospered him for the sake of his people Israel’. God wants his people to be willing to dwell in the places that he has ordained, some made the sacrifice to move back to Jerusalem and rebuild. Others made the sacrifice to go out and pioneer new cities and nations. The key is being able and willing to make the steps of faith at the right time, don’t let anybody kid you, it’s not easy! But it’s always worth it in the end.
(1135) Nehemiah 12- Nehemiah restores Davidic worship, he sets praisers on the city wall. They provide financially for full time worshippers of God to continually worship the Lord. They give much thanks and praise! When I just read this chapter a few hours ago, I did my normal prayer/praise time before writing; I made a conscious effort to thank and praise God. This chapter also speaks of the key leaders/books that are still to come in the Old Testament [Ezra, Jeremiah, etc.] Some men are mentioned as ‘chief among the priests/leaders’. God’s city [the church, the New Jerusalem] has various gifted ones. Some are leaders of other leaders [Apostles/Pastors type thing] others are priests [Pastors- note, we are all priests as Christians] Some gifts are meant to play a foundational role in the community, there are good gifted teachers that often share good truth, but there are times of upheaval and reformation/revolution that call for more than simply being faithful to a ministry. These times require Prophetic voices who often run rough shod over the routine experience of church and ministry. These men are no better than any one else, they just play a different role in the city/community of God. We also see the Fish gate, Sheep gate. We have already discussed the Water gate. These gates are obviously prophetic with meaning. Jesus said we are ‘fishers of men’ we are also called sheep, this picture of the city of God surrounded by worshipers on the wall; with gates that let things out and in [Jesus said he was the door, by him the sheep go out and in- access] these pictures are all prophetic types of Gods spiritual community, they pre figure us, the people of God.
(1136) Nehemiah 13- Nehemiah takes control once again and settles some scores. First, the main instigator who butted heads with him the whole time, Tobiah, is exposed. All along he had an ulterior motive; he had a personal chamber [room] for personal wealth that was part of his connection with ‘the ministry’ [like Judas]. He had connections to the regional priests and the money that was supposed to be used for Gods work was being used instead for personal cash flow! Nehemiah rebukes this strongly and also reinstitutes the real purpose for the tithes and offerings. Now, to be fair here, he does rebuke the people for not rightfully distributing the tithes to the Levites; they were supposed to provide for the leaders who were giving their time and efforts for the work. A few things; this also included the singers. The money was to be used as support for God's city/work. I do teach the New Testament doctrine of ‘the laborer being worthy of the hire’ and I believe it can apply here. But we also must understand that the personal development of wealth was just rebuked! And these Levites [leaders] were not allowed to own anything themselves, the support from the tithe could not be used for their own personal investments. And last but not least, New Testament elders/pastors are not Levitical priests! He also rebukes the merchandisers, it reminds you of the scene where Jesus turned over the money tables in the temple. These business guys were doing business on the Sabbath, Nehemiah rebuked them and ran them out, they hung out at the gates for a few days and Nehemiah says ‘if you keep doing it, I will come and lay hands on you’ he was not talking ordination here! All in all Nehemiah was a radical reformer, he challenged the leadership and the people. He gave 12 years of his life free of charge, at his own expense. He restored the walls and dignity of the people, he often prayed ‘look upon me God, reward me for my sacrifice’ he really seemed to have a grasp on God being his audience, that he was not deriving some sort of self respect from the people. He wasn’t trying to impress the crowd or his peers, he had a job to do and he did it! When I first started this book a few days ago I had no plans on doing a study. So this is a ‘short study’ [no in depth chapter by chapter teaching]. In the future I will try and hit on short and in-depth stuff, let the Lord lead you guys in what you read from this site. Don’t get me wrong, I believe it’s all good, but many of you are at different stages of the journey. Try and be open to the Lords leading as you venture thru this very long blog, my goal is to deposit ‘meat in due season’ to be open to what the Spirit is saying and sharing it at the right time. God bless you guys, not sure what will do next, John.
(1137) Not sure which way to go, either the danger we are in right now as a country; that both sides [right and left] seem to be going to extremes, some wanting failure for the purpose of feeling vindicated. Or the liberal side that seems to always overlook the devastation of late term abortions. Never able to actually see and realize that we are actually dismembering real babies, babies that cry and squirm and wince on screen as they actually have taken pictures of this horrible act! Of course the murder of the man who engaged in this act for 5 thousand dollars a shot was wrong, very wrong. But the act itself is still horrendous! Both sides [right and left] are truly wanting the failure of the other side, even if it means national disaster! Bad stuff indeed. Okay, recently I have been reading up on the various views of Genesis and the recording of creation. Some scholars see the reality of other ancient near east [A.N.E] stories about a flood and creation, that have similar things to the biblical account, they see this as a key to understanding the Genesis account [I don’t fully hold to this myself]. While it’s interesting to note that some of these other stories have similarities [7 days are used frequently, the story of a man building a boat and saving his family as the world floods] and some of these stories existed before the Genesis account was written [around 1500 years B.C.] this in and of itself does not cast doubt on the biblical version. So what was the reaction to those who found out that these other stories had similarities to Genesis, and were written before Genesis? Some saw this as a clue to understanding the Genesis account; for instance they would say that when Moses recorded the Genesis account, he was a man influenced by his time and culture, so he obviously wrote in a sort of symbolic way, a style that he knew would be understood by the culture of his day. These scholars don’t reject the belief that creation did happen by God, they are simply trying to resolve some of the seeming problems [like God creating light on day 1, while the sun wasn’t created until day 4!] and feel there are some answers by using this paradigm. How else could you resolve the fact that other cultures [Babylonian, Egyptian] actually had their own stories of creation and a flood, before Genesis was written? Well the other possibility is that if Genesis is telling us the literal truth, that all people came from Adam [and later Noah] and that a great flood occurred, and that God really did make everything in 7 days, if these things really happened [by the way, I believe they did!] then why would you think it strange that the Babylonians and Egyptians had their own telling of these events, the other explanation for these other cultures having their own stories about these things is that these things really did happen to them! If all people really did come from Adam, then every culture would eventually have some type of telling of these stories passed along thru their culture. The possibility that some of these stories would be recorded before Genesis, does not diminish at all from the biblical account. No where in scripture does it tell us that the bible is the only book that would ever record the events of creation or a worldwide flood. The way people view these various truths depends a lot on their pre conceived mindsets. If you lean towards skepticism, then you tend towards seeing these things as ‘aha, I knew the bible was fake all along’ but if you lean towards a real belief in scripture, you could see it like the way I just showed you. In the future I will tackle some more of these issues [like light being created before the sun] and will try and give you both sides of the debate. But for now I wanted to just drop this in, to give your mind some things to chew on. The over spiritualizing of the creation account can be dangerous, Paul and Jesus both use the creation account in their teachings as historical narrative! In Romans Paul even says ‘like death entered into the world by one mans disobedience [Adam] we receive eternal life thru one mans obedience [Jesus]’ so to over spiritualize the creation account can be problematic. But even the literalists have some hurdles to overcome when reading the account. Most of all we know we can trust God’s word, and if there are portions of it that are Prose, Narrative, History or Phenomenological in language, this does not mean the Word of Gods is not true.
(1138) CREATION DAY 1- In Genesis 1:1-5 we have the first recording of Gods creative acts, over the years Christians have struggled with this text. One of the main reasons believers ‘struggle’ with it is because modern scientific understanding [majority view- not all!] indicates that the earth is quite a lot older than 6 thousand years. Some scholars believe that the church has been duped into believing in old earth science and because of there acceptance of science, above Gods word, they have come to compromise Gods word. A simple reading of the first 5 verses of Genesis tell us that ‘in the beginning’ God made the heaven and the earth. At this point, God is not constrained to a time/space continuum of ‘day’ [the Hebrew word Yom]. The day itself will be created in this time period called ‘in the beginning’. God will create light and separate the light from the darkness and call this ‘day’. I see the possibility of there being a very long period of time having passed at this point, at least according to this text [we will look at Exodus 20:11 in a moment]. I do not see a need to create a ‘gap theory’ between verse one and verse two, some theorize that you had an entire pre adamic world, that God judged this world and this is how they explain the long age of the earth. I believe that a simple reading of the first five verses could go like this ‘at the start of all things, God made the heaven and the earth [no day constraint yet] and he also made light and dark [now we are getting into Gods cycle for man] and he saw that all these things were good. He made the day itself at this time, and the day became mans measurement of time’. Now, this is my paraphrase on how this text could be read. I do find it interesting that out of all the scholars I am presently reading on this subject, none of them are making this simple point; that the 24 hour day constraint was itself created ‘in the beginning’. Now, exodus 20:11 does say that God made all things in ‘6 days’, this verse seems to indicate that there was a time constraint to the actual making of the heaven and earth ‘in the beginning’ so to be fair to both sides [young and old earth creationists] I had to throw this in. Jesus also refers to the creation of man as an historical event [as opposed to a theistic evolutionary view] he says ‘in the beginning God made them male and female, and for this cause a man leaves his parents and is joined to his wife’ the young earth brothers will use this to show that Jesus believed that God created man ‘in the beginning’ as opposed to there being billions of years passing before man showed up [which is also a progressive view of creation- a sort of joining together the timeline of long age science with the Genesis account]. The point I would make is if God created time at ‘this point in time’ then the phrase ‘in the beginning’ could refer to thousands, or millions of years all being ‘at the start’ [compared to forever!]. I do not hold to a ‘progressive view’ myself, I simply believe that a plain reading of the first 5 verses of Genesis shows that the time constraint of day [Yom] was itself created at this time. The Exodus verse does seem to say that all the events of Gods creative acts did fit into the time/space of 6 days, but this first Genesis reading seems to leave room for a longer period of ‘one day’ when speaking of the creation of heaven and earth. While the young earth creationists do seem to fault the old earth creationists for trying to make scripture fit into current scientific theories of the earths age, I would like to point out the fact that both sides [young and old earth groups] see the first 3 days as distinct from all the other days that have occurred since that time. All agree that the sun was not the original light source for the first three days [well, some believe God was not giving us an exact consecutive recording of creation. So these see the sun as being the source of light for all the creation days] the charge could be made that even the young earth creationists are admitting that some of the creation days are not ‘days’ in the classical sense of the word. These first days were not solar days! The whole point is we do find some room for the interpretation of the creation days as having some areas that we don’t fully understand, or at least we don’t know all that was going on in a scientific sense [was the light for the first three days God himself? Possible. But then that would leave the door open that God created himself! A much greater theological heresy than the long earth view!]. I also believe that the fact that ‘the day’ itself was said to have been created by God ‘in the beginning’ leaves much room for a longer time period of the earths age. Out of all the other ancient near east [A.N.E] stories of creation, none of them have ‘a god’ who himself transcends time and space and actually created time itself. For thousands of years the common belief was that either matter itself always existed, or that time always existed. So the competing stories of creation found in other cultures have a god that was himself formed from matter, or creation itself was a process of these dependant gods fighting each other. No other view has a god that transcends time and space and actually creates time and space. It wasn’t until the 20th century that science itself proved this to be a fact, Einstein’s theories on time and space gave us proof that all things did have a starting point [big bang cosmology]. So anyway, in the coming weeks I might hit on these things a little more, but for today I wanted to emphasize that a simple, literal reading of Genesis 1:1-5 does show us that God created ‘the day’ [the actual time measurement that man goes by] during his initial act of creation. God himself was not ‘bound’ or constrained to the time/space continuum, he actually made the time/space continuum at ‘the time’.
(1139) CREATION DAYS 2-6 There are various views on these days; of course the literal view, each day is a 24 hour day that ends with the description of ‘evening and morning’. The symbolic view would argue that there was no ‘real’ evening and morning until day 4, because on day 4 God made the sun. So an ‘evening and morning’ that would be measured by the earth’s rotation as it relates to the sun [solar day] could not happen in a literal sense. These see certain poetic elements in these verses. A repetition of certain phrases- evening and morning, let there be, God said. These repetitive phrases show a stylized Hebrew narrative. It should be noted that this argument is true, whether you believe in the literal or figurative reading. It is still possible to have this type of stylized element, while at the same time speaking a real historic narrative. Another interesting view is called The Framework Theory. This view has been around since the early 20th century. It’s a topical view of the creation days. It sees the first 3 days and the 2nd set of three days as basically describing the same time frame. Basically this view says that God simply used the ‘framework’ of the 7 day week to give to man a real historic explanation of creation, but God used the framework of the 7 day week in a symbolic way for mans benefit. This view will compare day 1 [the first day of the first 3 day set] with day 4 [the first day of the second 3 day set]. Day one has God creating light, day 4 has the sun and stars. This view says these are 2 descriptions of the same creation act. The light from day one comes from the luminaries in day 4. Day 2 coincides with day 5. Day 2 has the heavens appear when God divides the waters [heaven and sea] day 5 [the second day of the second set] has the things that fill the heavens and seas- birds and sea creatures. Day 3 has land and vegetation, day 6 has land animals and man- things that eat the vegetation and walk the earth. It’s interesting, though not exact. You could see the seas as being part of day 3, and as you read both creation accounts [Genesis 1 and 2] there is a mixture of when things showed up. Are there other explanations for why the account in chapter 2 differs from chapter one? [chapter one has man being made after the animals, chapter 2 shows Adam before the animals, God brings the animals to show Adam, he sees nothing fitting for him and God then makes Eve]. Some see a purposeful inconsistency, put in the text by God himself, to show man that this was not to be taken in a literal, consecutive way. Sort of like the critics of the gospels, they will find various inconsistencies in the gospel narratives, like one gospel having two angels at the tomb, the other showing one. The critics say ‘see, inconsistent’ but the other argument can say if you had exact testimony from various eyewitness accounts in a courtroom, this would not convince the jury that their testimony was true, to the contrary it would indicate that the witnesses were coached. So the various different details might be actual clues to the validity of the gospel writers! So in Genesis, some feel there are purposeful poetic structures and differing accounts for the purpose of telling the reader ‘don’t take this too literal’. I don’t personally hold to this, but do see the point. It should be noted that in Exodus 20 and 31 Moses will speak about the creation days as historical narrative. No matter which view a person takes [literal or symbolic] the fact that creation itself happened by the hand of God is an undeniable fact of history and science. All things could not have come from nothing, there had to be an initial cause some where down the line. This initial cause himself had to have had no beginning [logic and science show this] and it just so happens that these attributes belong to the God of the bible, even before we knew that creation needed an initiator that possessed them!
(1140) CREATION DAY 7- On the seventh day God rested and enjoyed what he had made. This does not mean he was tired, or that he ceased from activity. But it shows us the process and ways of God. When you read the parables of Jesus he often uses land and seed analogies to explain God’s kingdom ‘the kingdom is like planting a seed’ and stuff like that. God rested because it was his purpose to initiate the first 6 days of creation and for that creation to be self sustaining/propagating [under his sovereignty]. It’s important to see this aspect of creation. In chapter 1 God chose to use the words ‘let the waters bring forth’ and ‘let the ground bring forth’ when speaking of land and sea creatures. Why not simply ‘let there be animals, fish’? It seems as if God himself is leaving some room here for a reading of the text that has more to it than meets the eye. Does this mean the Progressive creationists are right? [or theistic evolutionists] not necessarily, but it shows us that there is some language in the text itself that shows a sort of ‘co-operative effort’ where God caused the initial base elements to ‘bring forth’ life. Some see this as God using simple language to describe deep scientific truths that would be found thru out the ages. Some equate this language with deep time ideas [old earth]. Also in chapter 2 we see the Lord describe the entire creation event as happening in ‘a day’ [singular]. This simply meaning ‘at the time period’ the young earth creationists are correct in pointing out that this does not mean the first 6 [or 7] days were not literal 24 hour periods. Scripture does use the word Day to speak figuratively at times; the ‘day of the Lord’ and stuff like that [meaning both a day and a time period]. But the point can be made that very early on [Gen 2] God chooses to use the word Day in the singular to describe the entire event. Also the writer of Hebrews will ‘spiritualize’ the phrase ‘and God rested on the seventh day’ to describe the age of grace, the new covenant ‘rest of God’ [read my Hebrews commentary, chapter 4- To be honest I don’t remember what I said at the time, but I’m sure I must have explained it!]. Once again, this would not necessarily leave the door open for a symbolic, non literal reading of day 7. But it shows us the various ways other new testament teachers used these scriptures, they were not afraid of applying them in theological ways. Of course we can get into trouble if we carry this too far. In the early days of the church you had the Alexandrian school, a great 3rd century Christian school, that adopted a highly symbolic way of reading scripture. The famous teacher Origen would head up the school at one point. He taught a type of spiritual interpretation of the bible that had 4 meanings to it, it was a little [or way] overboard to be honest about it, but the school was very influential. Eventually saint Augustine would embrace many of these ideas. Augustine was a titan in the early church and has been said to have had more influence in the later centuries of the church than any other teacher next to the apostle Paul! So we have had somewhat of a history at how far we should go when reading these texts. I would simply point out that there is some room here, early on in the bible, to see that even a straight forward reading of the text leaves room for some progressive ideas, some ‘spiritualizing’ of certain aspects, and a certain feel for the text that seems to say ‘there’s more going on here than initially meets the eye’. This does not mean we should abandon a literal view of the days, but shows us that God can use natural, normal days and extend his ideas to us in a manifold way [like Jesus use of the seed in his parables- real seeds, greater meaning]. Also the text shows us that God created the heavens and earth first and used language that said ‘let the waters/ground bring forth’ showing us that all other things were made from the basic stuff of the original heavens and earth. Does natural science go along with this? Yes, science shows us that all the base elements of all things come from the initial base elements that were used in the creation of the material world [The 90 or so elements found in the periodic table- hey, it’s been a long time since high school!] So even science itself would agree with the biblical record! How would the writer of Genesis have known this at such a pre scientific time? These things testify of the Divine nature of scripture itself. So we need not abandon a literal view, but we also see there is room for more than initially meets the eye.
(1141) UNIFORM OR CATASTROPHE ? One of the key verses in the debate between young and old earth creationism is in 2nd Peter chapter 3. Peter says that in the last days scoffers will doubt two specific things; the second coming and the flood of Noah’s day. I find it interesting that some theories on the long age of the earth also incorporate a local flood for Noah’s day. The young earth guys will use the Peter verse to show that if you purposefully rule out a world wide flood from your theory, that you fall into the snare of viewing certain scientific data [geologic table] as being a result of millions/billions of years of gradual uniform time [uniformitarianism] as opposed to being a result of the flood. The young earth brothers point to the fact that much of the fossil evidence and geologic column [like the Grand Canyon] can be a result of the universal flood. These brothers see the catastrophe [catastrophism] of the flood as the cause for these things. Does Peter [or any other bible passage] shed light on this subject? Yes, even though the bible does not speak to us in scientific language, it is reliable on all the things it does speak about; history, events like a flood, the future judgment, the second coming, etc. So it is important to not rule out the effects that a worldwide flood might have had on the data. Do we have any examples of the bible referring to worldwide things, and not really meaning ‘the whole world’? Yes, in Acts 2 the bible says there were people gathered from ‘every nation under heaven’ at the time, but the chapter gives us the nations that were there, there were obviously no people from America! So does ‘every nation’ simply mean every nation from the known world of the time? Yes. So some local flood believers use this type of stuff to defend their view. We do need to be careful when doing theology like this. Does the biblical account give us other clues that the flood was worldwide? Sure, why in the world would God have Noah build a huge ark, gather all these animals, have them in it for a long time while the earth floods. If the flood was regional, just tell the guy to move! The biblical account says the waters covered the highest mountains of the day, this could not happen unless the flood was world wide. So even though the bible does say ‘world wide/all nations’ at times in a non literal way, this does not mean we can change all the events described as world wide into local events. Some who read the first few chapters of Genesis in a poetic language way, also have the problem of deciding when the poetry stops! Is the Genesis 6 account of a flood real? What about the tower of Babel in chapter 11? Once you start going down the road of over spiritualizing the bible, you can run into problems. Overall I believe we need to be open and willing to see both sides of this argument [young and old earth views] there is somewhat of a tendency to view opposing views as real heresy [I sense this mostly from some of the young earth writers]. But there is also a condescending attitude towards young earth believers that at times seems to say ‘how can you be so behind the times in your views’? This debate on the age of the earth and the various progressive stages of evolutionary progress [cosmological evolution- stars producing basic elements over billions of years and these things ‘birthing’ planets and so forth] these theories are in no way definite! There are a lot of things that we simply don’t know for sure. But at the same time there are and have been true scientific breakthroughs that have challenged the mindset of the church and have corrected the church’s view in certain areas. As believers we need to hear both sides, while avoiding the warning of Peter who did say that there would be scoffers who purposefully would overlook the historical event of the flood of Noah’s day, we must let scripture form our views, while at the same time understanding that the bible does not give us a scientific explanation for all things.
(1142) MAN, GODS UNIQUE CREATION- Okay, we already saw how God made the animals and fish and birds, but when he describes mans creation he shows us that it is unique. Out of all the other created things, man alone is in ‘Gods image’ and bears his likeness. Man is a moral being with a built in conscience, he has the capacity to know God and live with him forever. This is the basis of the Judeao Christian value on human life. Those religions who believe in the Genesis account of creation, see man as having special value. The Darwinian worldview [social Darwinism] sees man as a simple blob of meaningless flesh, no different than the other life forms along the line. I always found the atheists reasoning to be a little illogical; they will argue that they are the real intellectuals, the so called ‘brights’ [a recent term they have come up with to describe their group] they will then explain to you how their view of their mind and brain is purely naturalistic, their brains are simply these jumbled masses of cells that are the result of thousands of years of meaningless process. Their whole being started as an accident, they have no initial purpose or final end. They see themselves, and along with it, all their reasoning and education and knowledge as being the result of years and years of luck and chance, and then they want you to trust in their conclusions! Ah, the utter foolishness of mans wisdom. God formed man from the dust of the earth and breathed into him his own breath and man became a living soul. Though the basic material of man is the same as the other material things God made, yet he only breathed his own image into man. The great 17th century philosopher/mathematician Blaise Pascal was reading the gospel of John one night, he was meditating on John 17 and had an awakening, he began to see that God was ‘the God of Jesus’ not the God of the philosophers. He saw that having a real relationship with God was different than simply knowing the things about him. God built into man the capacity to know him, while all other creatures are valuable and special to him [Jesus said not even a little sparrow dies without God caring about it!] yet man alone has the capacity to know and be in true communion with his creator, man was created in Gods image.
(1143) THE FALL- God puts man in the garden, he gives him only one restriction ‘don’t eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil’ sure enough, he does! The serpent [satan] tempts Eve in 3 areas, the tree is good for food [lust of the flesh] good to look at [eyes] and can make you wise [pride]. In 1st John 2 we see these three areas mentioned as the common categories of all other temptation. These were the same areas the devil used on Jesus in Matthew 4. The temptation to Eve essentially said ‘look at this God of yours! He wont give you the freedom to do anything you want, he is withholding such a good tree from you’ sounds like the philosopher Freud, he taught that the problem with man was Gods restrictions. That if man would cast off the limits that religion imposed upon them, then all would be well. But what man did not know was that these basic limits were for his own good. When man would choose to walk out from under Gods limits, he would suffer for it. In this chapter [Gen. 3] we also see the great prophecy of the child of the woman eventually crushing the serpents head [called the Protoevangelium- Latin] a prophecy about Christ’s future victory at the Cross. God also covers man with animal’s skins, a type of the future sacrifice of Christ on behalf of man. Man tried to cover up with leaves, God said it wont do, so he sacrificed the life of an animal and used the skins as a covering. The wages of sin is death, the price was paid. In Romans chapter 5 Paul will show us that death and sin passed upon all mankind from Adams sinful act, but thru the obedience of one man [Jesus dying on the Cross] righteousness comes to those who believe. This is the basic Christian doctrine of original sin. Some refer to this as the federal head theory of redemption. I believe it’s vital for Christians to have a grasp of this doctrine. In the 19th/20th centuries you had liberal theologians deny the doctrine of Jesus dying on behalf of man. Along with this they also denied that original sin existed. Most believers realized that this denial was heresy and avoided it, but some are playing with the idea again. The bible clearly teaches the substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ on the behalf of man [Isaiah 53] and it is a foundational doctrine for all true believers. To some it seemed unfair to charge God with the doctrine of original sin, and along with it the doctrine of Penal substitution [Christ being punished for us] these are core Christian truths, if people want to deny them, that’s their choice. But to be a Christian in the biblical sense of the word, these truths are necessary, they are part of the foundation of all true Christian churches.
(1144) CAIN AND ABEL- After the fall of man, God kicks him out of the garden and he loses intimacy with God. Eventually Eve has kids and Cain kills Abel his brother. In Hebrews 11 and 1st John we read the story. Abel brought an animal offering, Cain brought from the fruit of the ground. Some say this was a comparison between Jesus [typified in Abel's sacrificial animal] and the law [Cain’s work of his hands, the ground]. Maybe so? Hebrews says God accepted Abel’s offering because it was in faith and rejected Cain. Cain got jealous and killed his brother, the first recorded murder in the bible. Cain has a son named Enoch [which means teacher- rabbi] he builds a city and names it after his son [God is building us, the city of God- we are named after his son, the Body of Christ] and Enoch will eventually be caught up bodily into heaven [a type of the ascension]. The skeptics often ask ‘where did Cain get his wife’? The most likely answer would be from his extended family. There was no rule against marrying your kin back then, so this sounds reasonable to me. But wait! The skeptic says because we don’t know for sure where Cain got his wife, therefore atheism is true. They then will tell you where all people really came from. Around 15 billion years ago nothing existed [not even God] and from this point of nothing something exploded into existence [without an exploder!] eventually the earth showed up and it rained on the earth for millions of years. Somehow the rain on the rocks produced this soupy mixture [primordial soup] that all by itself produced the first living cell. After millions of more years man showed up. Yeah brother, that explanation sure puts to shame the Cain and his wife thing! The story of Cain warns us of the danger of jealousy, comparing ourselves with others. Putting pressure on people to make things happen so you look better. I recently read a story about a mega church [not in Corpus] and they went thru a few years of battles. They were building a new expensive building; the pastor put pressure on the people to give. Some of the people felt like they were always being challenged to give more money. Then word got out that the Pastor bought expensive gifts for his friends with church money, 3-4 thousand dollar suits and jewelry. He was flying all over the world at great expense, doing public speaking and stuff. It was a big mess, lawsuits entailed and relationships ruined. From what I read about it in the news paper stories that were on line, it seemed like there were mistakes on both sides, both the church leadership and those who wanted to expose it. The bigger problem is this basic style of church, the high powered world traveling leader, spending lots of money on seemingly okay things. The people being supporters of the gifts and persona of the charismatic personality [whether thru media or personal travel] this whole system is being rightfully challenged at the present time by a new generation of community minded believers who see that this high powered style of an individual leader is not the pattern of church found in the New Testament. Often time’s jealousy can be a factor on both sides of these issues, but we also need to understand that there are legitimate challenges against this whole expression of church. Most of all we want to avoid taking things into our own hands, trying to personally stop what we might perceive as wrong. Cain was jealous; he allowed his rage to lead him to the killing of his own brother. He might have gotten rid of the thing he felt was an obstacle, but he would live with the guilt for the rest of his life.
(1145) THE FLOOD- Okay, this is a hot topic. First, the flood really happened! Some old earth creationists insist on a local version of it, others say it was worldwide [I’m in the world wide camp]. God tells Noah to embark on a very long building program. He certainly looks like a nut to those around him. Eventually the Ark is finished and Noah and his family get in, they bring 7 of every clean animal and 2 of every ‘unclean’ type. It rains [some say 40 days and nights, others think it rained longer] and the ‘fountains of the deep are opened up’ obviously a reference to some type of Tectonic action. After everything dies, the Ark rests and Noah and his family repopulate the planet. The young earth creationists have good arguments from this story [real event!] some of the old earth brothers tend to trivialize it. Ever since the science of geology gained ground [19th-20th centuries] many have argued for a very old earth based on the geologic table. They look at the different strata of the earth [levels] and say ‘see, these levels took millions of years to develop, you have dinosaurs buried in the lower levels, then other types of animals, birds and then man is rarely found fossilized’ these brothers see a sort of scientific record that backs up the progressive creation view. They say the creation days are ages, and the science shows us deep time. Are there any other explanations for the various fossil levels? Yes. The young earth brothers will make a very good argument that the cataclysmic effect of the flood caused the levels. They say the reason you find dinosaurs and other land animals at lower levels is a result of natural panic and survival during the flood. The slower, heavier animals would die first and get buried first. The birds lasted longer of course; they kept flying to high land until they too died off. Man was the smartest of the bunch, he managed to survive longest, and that’s why you don’t find as many fossils of man as you do other creatures [those who die late would not get covered in sediment and would simply rot!] This argument isn’t that bad, to be honest. There are of course many other things besides this, the point I want to make is if you rule out the biblical record of a world wide flood, then you are leaving out other interpretations of the data. Most young and old earth brothers agree on the actual record [i.e.; we do see things buried at different levels] they simply disagree on the interpretation of the data. Lets do a few practical things here, God had Noah prepare things ahead of time. He also spent some down time in a huge boat with a ‘lot of dung’ [ouch!] Often times on the journey we hit spots that don’t look [or smell] that great. People might even mock us ‘look at that idiot Noah, he’s even got his family believing in this stuff!’ but when it was all said and done he was vindicated. Those who tend to spiritualize the stories of Genesis usually see the first 11 chapters as a mix of symbol and history. The genealogies of chapters 4, 5 and 11 are sometimes seen as not exact [by the way, in the last entry I used Enoch as an example of the ascension, the Enoch who was taken up was the Enoch of chapter 5]. The reasons are various [like the other ancient near east genealogies used 10 generation lists, both chapter 5 and 11 are 10 generation lists]. Some do this in order to fit more time into the biblical record. Jesus, Peter and the writer of Hebrews all speak of Noah and his flood as a real historic event! There should be no reason for believers to doubt or spiritualize these stories away. But we also want to be open to the reality that other cultures had their own tellings of these stories, and that the recording of genealogies does not mean there is no room for an older earth [the genealogies are accurate, but they don’t start right at the beginning of time!]. And let’s finish in a practical way, are you going thru a season of feeling stuck in a big box with a lot of dung? Sometimes the word of the Lord to us is ‘just survive at this time, when the storms over things will look better again’. The Lord used Noah to have an influence on the entire civilization that would re-populate the planet! God will increase your influence if you simply find a way to survive the flood.
(1146) SONS AFTER THE FLOOD- In Genesis 9 we read the account of Noah and his sons repopulating the planet. God promises Noah that he will never destroy the earth again [by way of water- what about fire? We’ll get to that in a minute] and we see the beginning of man eating animals for the first time, the institution of the death penalty and civil justice [Romans 13] and the famous promise of the rainbow ‘when ever it rains again you will see my bow in the clouds and know I will not flood the earth again’. Are there natural explanations to things that the bible ascribes to God? Yes. Does that mean the bible is a book of myths and fables that were fake and only meant to give us moral lessons? No [contrary to liberal theology]. The fact that we know every time there is a rainbow in the sky, that there is a natural explanation to it, this does not mean this story is fake. God obviously created a repeatable situation that never occurred before, and he told man it was for a sign. Just because science can ascribe a naturalistic explanation to a thing, this does not mean the thing has no supernatural elements to it. This is also where the theistic evolutionists/progressive creationists make parts of their case. Does the fact that God created something mean that there are no possible natural means for him to work by? They will show you that when David said God formed him in his mothers womb, that obviously ‘God formed’ David in a different way than Adam! When you look at ‘a test tube baby’ do you not see a creation of God? Yes, even though there are obvious natural explanations to the conception and birth [like the rainbow being explained by nature] yet the actual life itself is still a mystery that can only be attributed to God. Also God reassures man not to worry about a total future destruction of the planet, in the last verse of chapter 8 he says as long as the earth remains there will never be another worldwide ceasing of the created order [seedtime and harvest]. How do we square this with the Christian doctrine of ‘the end of the world’? Now, this can get complicated and take more time than I have right now, but let’s try and take a quick ride. The famous New Testament verse on the future ‘destruction’ of the planet is found in 2nd Peter 3 [the same chapter that deals with the flood] Peter says the elements will melt with a fervent heat and we await a new heaven and earth. In the gospels Jesus also speaks about ‘the end of the world’ the word for world does not mean the planet, but the age. Just like when the bible says ‘satan is the god of this world’ it speaks of age, not earth. So a careful reading of the ‘end of the world’ verses show us that there will be a future time of cleansing ‘by fire’ that will usher in a new age/order. Preterists [those who believe the future judgment scenarios were speaking of a.d. 70 and the end of the old order of the law] take these verses to mean that God was ending ‘the old order/age of law and bringing in a new age of grace’ I see partial truth to this, but don’t fully accept that there is no future aspect to it. The futurists [dispensationalists] see a destruction of the world and sometimes allow this view to effect their responsibility to the planet and society at large ‘heck, why worry about the environment and future stuff, it’s all coming to an end soon’ type mentality. Some, not all, have this mindset. The Preterists think the Futurists have made a fatal mistake in misreading the verses that should say ‘age’ instead of ‘world’. There are very good points that the Preterists make, though I don’t fully embrace everything they have to say. Overall we see that God wanted to reassure man that he was not going to totally wipe the earth out again like he did in the past. Whether you see the future fire burning up the elements as some sort of nuclear thing [I don’t] or a reference to the glory of Jesus burning up the chaff at his return, the important thing to remember is God wanted man to know that the natural order of day and night would go on, and a new heaven and earth would continue to exist for all eternity. The mindset of ‘don’t give up on the mandate to have dominion and care for the planet’ was being instilled in Noah and his sons. I think it would do the evangelical church some good if we looked more seriously at some of these issues.
(1147) Lets do a brief overview. Those of you reading these last 10 or so entries from the Genesis Study will see that I taught the chapters 12-50 a few years ago. I had no real reason to have left out the first 11 chapters; it just worked out that way. It gave me some time to look at both sides of the creation debate [young versus old earth]. First, I want to say that I still lean towards old earth myself, but do not consider myself a Progressive Creationist. These brothers view the creation days as long ages, the problem I have with that view is it has God intervening directly and creating life at many different intervals over millions of years. I don’t hold to that. But I do believe it’s possible to have an old earth and a literal reading of the days [I already explained it in these last few posts]. Most of all I want to stress that the bible is not clear when it comes to the age of the earth. The young earth brothers have made a very noble effort from verses that connect the beginning of creation with man [Mark 10:6] or other verses speaking about things from the start [Mark 13:19-20, Luke 11: 50-51]. Too much to do now, but it is a long argument for a young earth. The other word that comes up often is Phenomenological, this word is used to explain the language of scripture that is used when speaking to the common man. Like when the bible speaks of the Sun set and Sun rise, most of us realize that the Sun is not the object that is moving! So to technically argue something that we know is ‘not true’ would be silly. Mark Noll wrote about stuff like this in the popular book ‘Scandal of the Evangelical mind’. So, how much science do we accept? Do we use these arguments to open the door to Evolution and everything else that comes down the pike? Of course not! But we try and stay open to science while at the same time staying true to Gods word. For many years science and philosophy believed in an eternal earth and universe. It wasn’t until the tremendous breakthroughs of the 20th century that the Big bang Theory became accepted science. If you listened to Einstein’s theories at the beginning, they seemed utterly ludicrous! His ideas about time not being fixed, and the relationship between time and space were way out there. Many Christians did not accept his ideas. But there were many atheistic scientists who were more troubled, if Hubble and Einstein were right [they were] that would mean the universe had a starting point [the so called point of singularity] the atheists knew that this would sound the death bell for their belief in atheism. If there was a starting point to time and matter, then there was no way to get around it, you would need an initial starter [Aristotle and Aquinas would be right- prime mover, though they both believed in an eternal universe]. So today the majority view of cosmology is the Big Bang theory, some scientists still argue for the eternal universe, but most believe in the Big Bang. In essence this is an example where science has handed to the theologian one of the greatest weapons to argue for the existence of God. But just like the age of the earth debate, you have believers who challenge Big Bang cosmology. Some are smart and have good reasons to challenge it. When I say I believe in the Big Bang, I am not saying I hold to the various views of evolutionary processes that come along with the theory; things like the stars producing the matter that swirled out over millions/billions of years and formed planets. There are obviously parts of the Big bang theory that are questionable. So scientists try and come up with ideas to make the questions go away. A major problem to the Big bang theory is how can the universe have such a stable balance of temperature all over the place. If everything expanded [that’s really a better word to explain it than explosion] at such a rapid rate, you would not have the stable atmosphere that science shows us. So a professor at M.I.T., Alan Guth, came up with an idea called ‘inflation’ he guessed that at the initial point of singularity, everything first expanded to the size of a basketball and all the matter of the universe was stabilized at this point. Then the massive expansion took place and that’s why you have a steady balance when there shouldn’t be one. To say the least these ideas are very questionable, that’s why some scientists don’t accept the whole theory. But for the most part the accepted truth that all matter did have a beginning point is one of the strongest apologetic arguments that science could have ever given to the church. The point being we as believers need to look at both sides of these issues, the debate between young and old earth creationism has at times lost the Christian mandate to deal charitably with each other. I realize the views held are sincere, and many believe the integrity of Gods word is at stake. But we need to present our views and let the chips fall where they may. I will probably finish this short excursion into Genesis tomorrow, but those of you reading these entries from other parts of the blog besides the ‘Evolution/Cosmology’ section, I would suggest reading the stuff I have written in that section along with these last 10 posts. It will help give you a better idea of where I am coming from.
(1148) THE TOWER OF BABEL- Today I finish the Genesis study that I started a few years ago. Sort of a milestone if you will. In chapter 11 we see the famous story of the Tower of Babel. Man united his efforts, learned how to build things contrary to God's initiative [brick and mortar versus stone] and gave his time and efforts willingly in order to make a name for himself [image building]. Over the years I have observed the church of God go thru various seasons, sometimes I cross paths with good men who are at different levels of the journey [like myself]. One of ‘the levels’ is the realization that ministers/pastors have often unconsciously built towers of Babel when they meant to build Gods church. Babel was an affront to what God wanted. Babel was an edifice that drew your attention to man and his ability to get things done, it shouted ‘look how much I have been able to accomplish, cant you see what I’ve done’! Contrary to mans building plan, God used stones that were honed and fashioned at the quarry before they were brought to the temple site. This represented the reality that though man is used in Gods building program, yet he is simply a stone carrier/placer. He doesn’t actually produce the building materials [brick and mortar]. The Lord stopped the tower of Babel by confusing the languages of men and scattering them throughout the land. The contrast to this chapter is Acts 2, where the Lord supernaturally allowed men of many different languages to once again come together and understand each other. Sort of like Gods divine imprimatur on the new building/tower that he was going to build [the church]. He would allow men once again to take part in this unified effort to build something. But it would be like the prophet said ‘not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit saith the Lord’ [stones versus brick]. On the journey most leaders will eventually see the common mistake that many Protestants have made in allowing the things we have built to bring honor and attention to who we are, what we have been able to do. This mindset of building is exactly what God rebuked at Babel, he did not want man to ‘build a tower unto heaven’ and believe in his own intellect and abilities. Jesus often challenged the mindset of the disciples on the nature of leadership, he built into them a new way of seeing leadership, it would not be a means to become the greatest, the most well know one among the group. It is common today for the leader/pastor of a congregation to unconsciously become the center of attention; this is a mistake that Christians have made by not seriously following the commands of Jesus about leadership in his kingdom. Most leaders will face a time where they will have to die to this addiction that is common among good men, men who mean well. When confronted with this challenge it is a conscious choice that leaders will make that is not easy, it truly will be a Cross to bear. But it’s better than God having to come down and personally stop the building program!
(1149) Just started reading Luke, in chapter one we see the story of the birth’s of John and Jesus. We see the dual ways that God works. In John’s birth the angel appears to his parents and reveals that Elisabeth will get pregnant, though she and her husband are old. She has been unable to have children and they have prayed for kids. God does it thru a miraculous intervention and reveals it thru an angel. The same angel appears to Mary and tells her she will have Jesus, Mary asks ‘how can this be, I know not a man’. It’s almost if she was looking at the miraculous situation of her cousin and the fact that God allowed her to get pregnant, but yet there were natural means that God used. John’s parents did sleep together and God gave them the child; miraculous in that Elisabeth was beyond the age of kids, but also a natural explanation can be seen. So Mary must be thinking ‘now Gabriel, I do realize you are an angel and all, you have a pretty good prophetic track record when it comes to announcing births; but you must understand there is only so much God can do, if you don’t know yet, I’m still A VIRGIN!’ The fact is that both John and Jesus births were considered miraculous, the fact that a natural explanation could be attributed to the process with John, this did not mean that there had to be a natural explanation to all miraculous births! As we just came off a series of posts on creation and science, I want to overview a few things when it comes to the miraculous. First, the act of creation itself is a tremendous miracle that can never be fully explained by naturalistic means. Hebrews says ‘by faith we understand the worlds were framed by the word of God’ there are things that God does, that often can not be explained thru science. Though we try and make a noble effort to use the tool of science to argue for the reality of God, yet we don’t want to fall into the trap of Mary, who thought ‘how can this be?’ It ‘can be’ because God said it can be! God’s creative power causes things to be! There is a danger of skepticism creeping into the ranks when we try and affix a scientific explanation to all the aspects of creation, the fact is the actual act of God bringing things into existence by his spoken word is a mystery that can never be fully explained by science. We can try and understand things as much as possible, like the light from galaxies that are supposed to be 13 billion light years away, if the earth were only 6-10 thousand years old, then we wouldn’t be able to see the galaxies yet. The light wouldn’t have had enough time to travel to our telescopes! Okay, sounds good. But then the young earth creationists will explain that the light from all the super novas that occur [the deaths of stars that put off tremendous light] if the planet were billions of years old, we would be seeing the light from many more of these star deaths than we currently see. The light from these explosions would literally be bombarding the planet at a much higher rate than we now observe. So these are two good arguments made from both sides of the debate. But can we hold God down to these types of natural explanations? How can science fully measure the creative act of God? The appearance of all things from nothing can not be measured in the same way as all other things that currently exist. The divine act of creation was a one time event that can not be repeated. It does not fall under the scientific category of testability, it is in the category of observable past events. We know it occurred, we look at it, but we can’t repeat the process and test the event itself. Some say that at the initial creation God created the light ‘in transit’ he was not limited to the natural speed of light that would need 13 billion light years to travel from the furthest galaxies to the planet, he made these things in a truly miraculous way! To be sure there are many other things like this that can be used to defend both sides of the issue, today’s point is in the situation with the miraculous births of John and Jesus, both were considered miracles, but one birth had a natural explanation to it [God used his power to enable the barren womb of Elisabeth to conceive thru natural means of conception] and the other didn’t [Mary was really a virgin, the only way you could explain the event itself was that it was a miracle from God- no natural explanation could suffice]. When it’s all said and done we do our best to understand and love God with our minds and intellect, but there are things that we cant always wrap our minds around, these are the ‘things we understand by faith’.
(1150) In Luke 2 we see the prophetic events surrounding the birth of Jesus, notice how his mother Mary is keeping these things in her mind. We also see the first recorded relationship of Jesus with the temple and its leaders. He is 12 years old and questioning the doctors of the law. Both his questions and later teachings amaze people. This will begin a long and strained relationship between the popular themes of the religion of Jesus day and the breaking in of God’s kingdom. He will combat a mindset in Judaism that was obsessed with the temple and the rites that surrounded it, the religious leaders had their ‘tower of Babel’ if you will. A system of temple and religion that said to the world ‘look at us, look at how important we are!’ Jesus will later rebuke the leaders for their love of men’s glory. He will say ‘how can they please God, who seek the honor that comes from men’. I believe one of the areas the evangelical church needs to ‘grow in’ is the popular end times scenarios that seem to be focused on a future literal temple being rebuilt, and the anti-christ making a covenant with natural Israel, and the whole teaching that places so much emphasis on some future temple. While there are varying views among well meaning Christians on this subject, we need to keep in mind the significance of the ministry of Jesus and the temple of his day. It would be a mistake to miss the spiritual significance of the destruction of the temple in a.d. 70 and how that represented the change from the old law to the new covenant age. I believe the most significant signs surrounding the temple and its destruction have already happened. I seriously question the popular teaching of the prophecy teachers and their obsession with some future temple. Jesus will eventually overturn the tables of the money changers in the temple courts. The religious leaders will even arrange the events of the crucifixion around the rites of the temple, making sure the religious requirement for cleanness was not violated while they kill their Messiah! The eventual destruction of the earthly temple will signify a new glorious building plan of the New Testament church, the true temple of God [made up of all ethnic races who receive the messiah]. Yes, Jesus had a long history with the temple, he told his men at one time ‘see all these expensive buildings? There shall not be left one stone upon another when all is said and done’! I wonder why we keep looking for the stones to be ‘set back one upon another’?
(1151) Just finished reading ‘Coming to Grips With Genesis’ by Terry Mortenson and Thane Ury, probably the best argument for a young earth view put out in the last few years. Though I am still an ‘old earther’ it’s a good read. I am in the middle of ‘Last days Madness’ by Gary Demar [Preterism] and yesterday the book I ordered last ‘Why we’re not Emergent’, by Kevin Deyoung and Ted Kluck, showed up at my door. I am about 1/3 rd thru it. I recently read a quote from one of the famous philosophers that said ‘it is the mark of a mature intellect to be able to read and grasp another persons view, to understand what they are saying and where they are coming from, without fully embracing their view’ [paraphrase] I am applying this wisdom to all three of the above books. Not because they are not good, or because I disagree with everything in them, but because all people share from a limited view of the things they are seeing from their perspective [yes, me too!] that’s why God tells us there is safety in a multitude of counselors [not all counselors from your limited group either!] Okay, in Luke 3 John the Baptist is baptizing and calling people to repent [obviously not an emergent brother, or post modern or neo orthodox- yes, this can go on for ever- he told them what was right and wrong!] Look at the three groups coming to him; he tells the regular people ‘sell what you have, give it to the poor, share your stuff with those who are in need’. He tells the tax collectors ‘stop taking more money than you’re supposed too! It’s okay to collect a normal amount, but don’t go overboard’ and he tells the military ‘don’t use your power in an unjust way, when things go wrong, don’t bear false witness. Don’t cover it up’. I think all of these areas can apply to our lives today. There is somewhat of a resurgence of liberal social justice issues emerging in the church. It’s not out of the mainstream to talk about ecology, or ‘the military industrial complex’ and things of that sort. But we also must realize that in order to have these types of discussions there are times where we say to people ‘yes, we are not perfect, we have our faults. But it is still wrong to kill babies, or to discriminate against minorities, and to neglect our neighbor’. Would you tell a backslidden Christian who was hiding Jews in Nazi Germany ‘who do you think you are hiding these Jews, you are just as bad as Hitler’! Though the church has made mistakes, and Christians have been hypocrites, yet the reality of the ‘wrongness’ of killing Jews is not effected in any way by the perceived hypocrisy of the religious right. It’s still wrong to kill Jews whether or not Jimmy Swaggart messed up! The point being as the church tries to cast off the image of moral superiority that offends the world, we at the same time need to tell the world ‘yes, these things are still wrong, and these other things are still right’. When society came to John in the wilderness, he told them ‘what they must do’ he did not engage them in a long discussion on whether or not we can even determine what they need to do! He simply called them to repentance and back to the original intent of the law, he was preparing the way for Messiah.
(1152) In Luke 4 we read the temptation of Jesus by the devil. The basic temptation to lust [eat bread- hedonism] to gain self glory [all the kingdoms will be yours] and last but not least, the temptation of victim hood [cast yourself down!] Being I am reading somewhat on the various ideas of the inspiration of the bible, let’s do the response of Jesus to the bread test. Jesus said ‘man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God’. Over the centuries you have had various views on the inspiration of scripture, did the historic church believe in it, some ask. Others say the doctrine was invented by scholars in the 19th century. Some say the main intent of God is inspired ‘the voice’ of God, while the individual words are not. Karl Barth is considered one of the most influential theologians of the 20th century. The Swiss scholar had a view of inspiration that said the bible ‘becomes’ the word of God to us when the Spirit himself communicates to us thru it. It was sort of a ‘Rhema’ type teaching, that which is popular among Word of Faith churches. Barth was actually making a noble effort to regain the authority of scripture at a time where many scholars were throwing out the baby with the bathwater. Is Barth's idea the same as what the historic church believes? No. Does his idea have some truth to it? Yes. There are times where we as believers ‘hear’ God in a special way thru scripture. He might even speak to you in a way that is ‘out of context’. Sort of like if you were seeking insight to something, and then a verse says something that causes you to see things from a different perspective. The verse might not be speaking directly about your situation, but you know the Lord has spoken to you. This is okay for personal stuff, but you should not use this method to develop doctrine. Jesus told the devil that we need to live off of every word from God, the whole voice of God in context with the whole story. To proof text stuff [picking out single verses and making them say what you want] is not eating every word! As the church changes and reforms in our day, some have seriously questioned the idea of inspiration. Some have questioned the idea of whether or not we can even know what God is saying! Ultimately, the truth of God must be objective in order for any case to be made about anything. Is it possible for things to be true even if the record of those things are not infallible? Of course! We believe the history of our country and the history of the world based on fallible documents. We can know certain facts beyond a reasonable doubt with out having to have an infallible recording of those facts. But this is not what the church teaches about the bible. The church teaches that we have an inspired record of those facts. The word of God is true, it does not err! I believe this, though I am somewhat of a radical in the things I teach, whether it’s on church reform or end time stuff or railing against the prosperity movement. Yet without a truth standard that we can all go by [the bible] these arguments would all fall to the ground. As we change and reform as the people of God, we want to be open to different sides of the debates that go on in the church, hear and listen to what people are saying. But don’t reject/challenge things just because it’s popular to do so, in the end we don’t want a whole new crop of believers who don’t believe in the word of God, this would hurt the cause of Christ.
(1153) Almost finished with the book ‘Why we’re not Emergent’ [by Kluck and DeYoung]. It’s an excellent book, I recommend all of you guys to read it. I agree with much of the book, but it comes short when defending the historic reality of public preaching. It does show the biblical basis for declaring truth [public preaching] and shows the connection between a movement that questions whether or not truth can be known [Emergent subjectivism] and it’s de-emphasis on pulpit ministry [the two go hand in hand] but fails to see that the organic church reform movement does not really challenge the need for ‘preaching’ in so much that it challenges the style of church being a lecture hall environment where people simply sit and listen week after week, month after month and practice a form of ‘church’ that was absent in the new testament story. But all in all I liked the book. Now in Luke 4 Jesus says ‘you guys will want me to do the same miracles in my home town as in other places’ he prophesies their future questioning of him about the legitimacy of his calling. Jesus was ministering in an environment that was performance minded. The Pharisees and religious leaders loved to put on a public display. The people saw ministry as ‘we will pipe and you will dance!’ Yet Jesus will correct this mindset, he tells them the story of both Elijah and Elisha. He says there were many people who lived in ‘the days of Elijah’ who did not see him function. There were many lepers in Elisha’s day and only Namman got healed. He is telling them ‘your measurement of prophetic ministry is not based on Gods truth, you are basing it on public exposure instead’. They even tell him at another time ‘if you are for real, show yourself to the world!’ they simply associated ministry with public performance, and Jesus would have no part of it. Just because someone is sent by God, does not mean they will come and preach/publicly perform at the drop of a hat! Jesus actually offended people by not stopping and mingling with the crowd. In John’s gospel Phillip says ‘the Greeks want to see you’ they were at the big public gathering, the great feast. Word had gotten out about the success of Jesus ministry, now is the time to gain some exposure! Phillip tells Jesus ‘hey, these intellectuals are willing to hear you speak’ Wow, what an open door to the Greek thinkers, now's the chance to show them my talent. Not! He tells Phillip ‘unless a grain/seed falls into the ground and dies, it abides alone. But if it dies it will bear much fruit’ in essence he was saying ‘these Greeks can find/see me if they want to die to themselves and take up the Cross and follow me. They can find me in true discipleship, but I am not going to go and put on a public show for them’. Leaders, have you fallen into this trap? We all have at times, don’t feel too bad, just repent!
(1154) Something else I wanted to mention about the book ‘Why we’re not Emergent’ was they bring out the penchant of some bible teachers to over do the comparisons between pagan myths and Jesus as Gods Son. When I was reading the book by John Crossan [ultra liberal scholar who denies the resurrection] I found the book to be full of examples that Crossan would quote, then after the quote he would say ‘see, the Romans believed in a divine incarnation who would come and save the world from sin’ but if you read the actual quote he used, it said nothing of the sort! Likewise the Emergent movement has some associated with it that do this same thing. It’s become a common internet ‘truth’ that there was a saying running around about Caesar in Jesus day; it said ‘there is no other name under heaven given among men where by we must be saved’. Wow! Doesn’t that sure seem to cast doubt on the Christian religion? The brother who popularized it seems to honestly want to challenge the traditional church and her views, sort of like saying ‘look how much we have been affected by the culture’. The problem is there is no evidence that this saying is true. As far as I can tell, this story about Caesar is not true. So in general we need to be careful when reading certain sources, some are over associating the early pagan myths with Jesus. Now, there are no doubt certain myths that shared common traits to the early church, but to over do these associations is not right. Also when I was reading the book from Crossan [in search of Paul] it had lots of heavy historical information, stuff that I personally like to read. But for some reason I could not get into the book. I got around half way through and quit. I very rarely do this. Then I was reading in another source how at one time Crossan posited the possibility that dogs came and ate the remains of Jesus Body, that’s why you had the empty tomb. Needless to say this is blasphemous. So when studying any subject, be open and willing to hear both sides. Don’t jump to early judgments about people or movements, but if there are enough warnings along the way, then feel free to come to a final conclusion. One of the more popular quotes from an emergent leader has him answering a question about homosexuality, he basically says no matter what way he answers some one will get offended, so he gives no answer. This response has been quoted a few times as a type of wise answer. I think this sums up one of the problems with the church, we at times want everybody to like us, there are times where we need to say what is true, sure we might not be 100% sure of our belief, but there are many beliefs we can be sure on. I am sure the dogs didn’t eat the remains of Jesus!
(1155) let’s do something for our intellectuals out there. Over the course of the last few hundred years you have had smart philosophers/atheists challenge the Christian faith. The current bunch [Dawkins, Hitchens or a comedian like Bill Maher] are really lacking in the intellectual prowess of past atheists! Let’s hit a few arguments that are made against the Christian faith. In the field of proving the reality of God, one of the classic arguments is a First Cause. I have taught it before under the evolution section. If you study things you realize there are no events in history that happen without a cause, nothing happens out of thin air. Logically this would lead us to the conclusion that somewhere down the line you have to have an ‘original causer’. Logically you can’t go on forever without an initial cause somewhere down the line. This is a real argument made for the existence of God that has been popular over the centuries. In the 18th century you had a Scottish philosopher by the name of David Hume who challenged our ability to know causes. He taught that man simply observes stuff happening, he perceives supposed connections to what the cause is, but he can not say 100% what the cause is. The famous example he used was the pool table, we see a man use the cue stick to hit one ball and it bangs into another and goes in the hole. Hume said it sure seems like the cause of this series of events is the act of the pool player hitting the ball, but he said we don’t know for sure whether this is the cause. Grant it, Hume had a point, but we observe things all the time in the field of science, we come to conclusions based upon reasonable evidence, and we ‘trust’ our senses to a degree. But some have taken this argument by Hume and have used it to rebut the Christian argument for a first cause. This use of Hume is dishonest. Hume did not say there were no causes for things, he simply said we can’t be 100% sure of what the cause is. Hume himself said ‘chance is simply a word used to define our ignorance of real causes’. Many appeal to Hume and use the argument that things can happen ‘by chance’ sort of like chance has the ontological status of causing things to come into existence! Hume said chance was simply a word we use to fill in the blank until a true cause is determined. Well, I hope I didn’t lose you guys today, but this is one of the more popular arguments used in the field of philosophy to try and refute the Christian faith. So I thought it good to refute the refuters!
(1156) Okay, lets talk about something simple today, no more quoting 18th century Scottish philosophers for heavens sake! I know, let’s talk Quantum Physics and the study of sub atomic particles! [No, I am not kidding ] One of the most difficult obstacles for the atheist to overcome is the question ‘what was there before the big bang’? They really have no answer to this question, the answer can’t be ‘nothing’ and if it was ‘something’ then what was it? [Of course we know that something is God] So this has lead the atheistic scientists down a path to see if we can find something popping into existence from nothing, the ultimate uncaused effect. Have they found it? No. But this won’t stop them from trying. The most popular scientific evidence used to prove that you can get something from nothing is found in the field of Quantum Physics [the study of really small things]. Scientists have discovered a phenomenon that occurs when a Proton strikes an Atom. It seems as if the Electron will disappear and reappear at the same moment in another location, without having traveled the distance. The second it disappears it shows up at another location. Some type of metaphysical wormhole? Who knows. The point is some have said this is proof for the idea that matter can pop into existence without a prior cause. Not! All this shows us is that material things can act in such a way that the examiner cannot explain what’s happening. In the above case you have matter already existing and a clearly recognizable repeatable pattern that can be observed. This in itself is an argument for an intelligent designer and a caused effect [the proton striking the atom and causing the electron to disappear/reappear]. So today I thought I would show you what goes on in the debate over trying to come up with an uncaused effect, and how vital this question is in the area of apologetics. Oh, I almost forgot, do you know what the name of this phenomenon is? It’s the famous ‘Quantum Leap’.
(1157) I have been stuck in Luke 6 for a few days, let’s hit it briefly. Jesus is walking with the disciples thru the grain fields; they pick the grain on the Sabbath and eat some. The religious watchdogs got him now! ‘Why do you and your followers break the commands’ the religious leaders of his day are 3rd-4th generation Pharisees, their office began a few centuries earlier during a time of captivity from foreign powers. Though they know a lot about ‘the bible’ they have developed this entire tradition around their religious lives [the tradition of the elders- rabbinic Judaism] and it was this interpretation of the law that they used to judge people. Jesus responds by reaching back into the history of David and says ‘don’t you remember when David was on the run from Saul and he entered the house of God and ate the special bread and gave some to his men’. Notice, Jesus will also tell them ‘which was unlawful to do’. He doesn’t seem to challenge their accusation by saying ‘no, I am not violating the Sabbath, just your view of it’ instead he says ‘yes, I am greater than the Sabbath’ in so many words. I find it interesting that Jesus saw himself as the David who shared the holy bread with his men, a type of the future communion meal that Jesus will inaugurate. He associates his movement and followers with a time in David’s life where the world was against him. David was on the run, he was attracting disgruntled men around him, a time of difficulty and going up against the authorities of the day. Sure, David will also go thru a stage of life where he will become the legitimate king, but this is not the David that Jesus is identifying with at the time. As you read thru the chapter they will accuse him again of healing the mans hand on the Sabbath, and Jesus will give the famous ‘if the blind are leading the blind they will both fall into the ditch together’. It really took guts for Jesus to say stuff like this, he had more problems with the religious folk than any other group! In today’s ‘church world’ you have well meaning people who believe the main job of the church is to defend orthodoxy, to fight for the truth at all costs. Others see a re-thinking of everything, they will say things like ‘Jesus was not a Christian’! Simply meaning that Christianity developed a culture and system that became more important than the person himself. I see validity to both views at times. When you read Jesus and his following, try and look past the technical examining of Jesus thru a microscope, and see him thru a magnifying glass [the big picture] the psalmist said ‘magnify the Lord with me, let us exalt his name together’ the religious crowd were always looking thru a microscope.
(1158) Just finished an early morning prayer time [early means 3:30 -4:00 till around 5:30-6:00 am] I say this to let you know that doing regular prayer is still really important! We can get so hung up on the ministries [Christian business] that we are building that we neglect the real house of God [my house shall be called a house of prayer- remember?] Any way I got a letter the other day from a childhood buddy who is doing some serious prison time in Rahway N.J. I have had many, many good friends over the years who spent lots of time in prison, usually for robberies related to drug addiction. This friend has much more serious charges, he will not get out in a long time. He’s really going thru some serious depression, he is ‘trying’ church and all, but it’s not helping. It’s funny [not really] that this old buddy has kept in touch over all the years. This old friend knew me to be somewhat of a violent person, he ‘experienced’ my violence a few times. But after I converted to the Lord he still kept in touch, sort of like ‘wow, who would have thought John would get into religion’? You know, one of those types of things. But now, after 30 years I guess a real door is opening. I was copying some stuff for him off this blog [p.s. you preachers/churches that are copying our studies and books from this blog, great, keep doing it. But if you can, make me a bunch of copies and send them to me, I don’t have the capability to print mass stuff!] and the ‘darn’ printer messed up. I then went to delete the document, and lo and behold, I deleted the printer from the computer. You know, its stuff like this that makes it tuff to do the Christian thing. You wind up getting mad [at least I do] say a minor curse [you know, not the big one like the kid in the TV movie Christmas Story] and then you finish the project, asking the lord to forgive you, trying to download the printer hardware [who in their right mind saves the disk!] and trying to be spiritual while performing the whole task. Well anyway I got the stuff printed and will send it out soon. I have had a few letters from old friends in prison that I need to respond to. I already sent them some study materials, but need to do some more. I was reading Luke 7 earlier, Jesus heals the roman soldiers servant, raises a woman’s child from the dead. He’s doing one on one ministry while fulfilling the greatest ministry that any one could ever have. Jesus made time for people, while at the same time avoiding the ‘fame and recognition’ crowd. He just didn’t rub shoulders with the elite class! I had a good friend tell me ‘I don’t know who those people are’ when discussing some famous media persons [Benny Hinn, etc.] he was a homeless brother, who knew lots of stuff about the lord and Christianity, but told me ‘if these people you are naming are TV stars, I don’t know them’. I thought it strange how there are different groups of Christians who live their whole lives and never interact with the famous crowd [good thing in my view]. Jesus fame went out, don’t get me wrong. After he raises the kid in Luke 7, word got out. But you get the feeling that he really didn’t want the word to get out! It seemed to hinder his ministry, the whole town winds up at his door and he can’t hear the father’s voice like that. He finds time to pray all night, or to launch out in some boat. He had a mission to complete and becoming famous was not a secret desire of his, sort of like ‘I knew if I waited long enough my day would come’. His day came alright, but like the prophets said ‘why are people saying “we want the day of the Lord” they don’t realize what they are asking for’. Jesus day was great agony and suffering, yes a resurrection too, but first the Cross.
(1159) Just read the story where the prostitute pours expensive perfume on Jesus. A Pharisee named Simon invites Jesus to dinner, the woman comes and does this act of worship, she wipes his feet with her hair, she cries and worships him. The Pharisee thinks to himself ‘wow, if he were a prophet he would have known what type of woman this is’. The problem? He did know. Simon simply assumed that a true prophet would not receive a wicked woman. So Jesus does one of those things where he tells a simple story that even a child could understand, he says ‘Simon, there were these 2 guys that owed money to a lender, one owed much more than the other. The lender forgave them both, which one do you think would be more grateful’? Simon, not realizing that he’s on the hook, says ‘O, I don’t know, I guess the one who owed more’. Caught ya! Jesus says that’s why this woman is so extravagant towards Jesus, she was forgiven more than Simon. A few things, it is becoming popular today to teach that all religions mean well, they want to worship ‘the God of Abraham’ and we should be open and accepting of them. First, this woman worshipped Jesus. She was accepted because of her willingness to love and know him. Paul told the religious folk at Mars hill ‘I will reveal to you the unknown God that you have this altar set up for’ [Acts 17]. In all of our pluralism, we need to bring people to the Cross! Two, Simon simply misjudged Jesus. He figured if a prophet was really a prophet, he would act a certain way. Simon was simply wrong. If you look at this woman’s conversion, most evangelicals would say ‘she didn’t get saved’. I mean Jesus does put some liberal spin on it. The woman loved much, so she is forgiven much. What! Where are all the steps that end in a sinner’s prayer! You know according to that standard none of the apostles made it either [you find none of them asking Jesus into their hearts!] The point being we want people to come to Jesus, to know him and accept him as the messiah. Too often Christians can be a little technical in all the aspects of conversion while overlooking the main thing. The apostle John will write ‘those that do good are of God, and those that do evil are not’ Wow. Of course John also taught that those who deny that Jesus has come in the flesh are antichrist. So the basic belief in Jesus as Gods Son, the deity of Christ, is a foundation of the faith. But John’s test is not what type of conversion prayer you prayed, but a changed life. Simon invited Jesus to dinner, he was a Pharisee who was willing to give Jesus a chance. But he was too quick to come to a judgment about him. Over the years I have had friends who might get challenged in some area of reformation, something that God is doing to change things. Often they will say ‘O, I know about that belief. I have had friends try and tell me that before’ but they respond in a way that says ‘Yes, I have heard it and judged it and rejected it’. Too quick to think that God can’t be in it. Yes, John also told us to test the spirits, because every thing out there is not from God. But make sure you are not rejecting a prophet because you think he’s hanging out with the wrong crowd!
(1160) In Luke 8 Jesus gives the parable of the sower, in the parable the last group are the good ground that the seed takes root in and bears fruit with patience. In psalms one David says that the good tree planted by the water source brings forth fruit in its season/time. Both of these teachings show us that God’s kingdom, though explosive in nature [starts really small, gets really big!] works along the lines of patient, steadfast plodding. Faithfulness is needed because it takes time for the root system to develop and get to a point of consistent fruit bearing. When I moved to Corpus around 17 years ago, I bought a small grapefruit tree. It was about a foot high, now it’s a huge tree that always produces fruit. I have fruit all year long. Right now it’s got around 50 ripe grapefruits, and around fifty new ones ripening. I have had friends tell me that it’s not natural to have them produce all year like this. Maybe so? The point is it took a long time and lots of watering for the first few years. But now I hardly ever mess with it, just prune it every now and then. Jesus also taught that the things which grow fast [the seed on the rock] don’t have enough time to develop strong roots. They shoot up and are not around for the long term. This doesn’t mean every big ministry has no roots! But it warns us to be careful when things grow big fast, make sure there is some strong root connections to under gird the tree [good ministry relationships with other stable people!]. I like the parables of Jesus, they make a lot of sense and are not long, drawn-out sermons that nobody ever remembers! The psalmist said the tree planted by the water brings forth fruit that lasts, it is a mainstay for those who come back year after year looking for fruit. It is no good to have a tree that has great tasting fruit, but dies in a few years. It’s better to have fruit that might not be as flashy, but can sustain you for life.
(1161) As I sat down this morning, I wasn’t sure what to share. I felt like the Lord wanted me to re-read my friends letter from prison. I always read them again before I send the packets of materials out to them, they usually ask a question or two and I try and make sure I respond to them. Sure enough, as I am reading the letter [a minute ago] he makes note of the drawing he sent me. It’s a great picture of a gang brother with tattoos and all, giving praise to God. Many of the brothers in prison are good artists and they have sent me things like this over the years. I hung it up yesterday, it’s been sitting in the envelope for a month. Well in the letter he reminds me that it is a drawing of a candle/man on fire for the lord, being ‘lit’ for God. So I got up and turned on my desk light and sure enough the picture is a man whose bottom half is a candle, I didn’t see it before. It’s significant because the past month or so I have been quoting ‘no man lights a candle and puts it under a bushel, but on a candlestick’. The image of Jesus words have been in my mind recently, so I felt the ‘candle-man’ to be prophetic. I really re-read the letter because I wanted to share Leonard’s testimony with you. Like I said in the past I have known Leonard for around 30 years, used to preach to him and his dad and brothers at the county jail. Many years of knowing him and his family. In the letter Leonard testifies and thanks me for the times I spoke Gods word to him, he testifies how Gods word has always stayed with him, thru the good times and bad. Days where he was living on the streets trying to grub up money for the next fix, yet the Lord was always with him, the ‘hound of heaven’. By the way he asked me if I could find this famous poem for him and send it, it took me a while to find a free copy on line! Everyone wanted to sell one [shame] I would have bought it if I had to but I needed to print one quickly, finally found one. Leonard testified how the Lord was the ‘hound of heaven’ who would never give up on him. Well I included the poem with my study on Romans in the packet [I already sent him Acts] and will be mailing it off soon, along with the other packet for my buddy in Rahway prison in N.J. Even though these are simple tasks, one on one stuff that might seem to have little effect, yet Jesus modeled this style of ministry for us, he showed us that if we faithfully plant seed, eventually we will get a harvest. Occupy yourself with helping and reaching out to others, don’t spend time trying to build ‘your ministry’ but give yourself away for Gods kingdom, whatever you do for the least of these, Jesus friends, you do for him. It’s hard to have a greater impact than that!
(1162) I mailed the materials off yesterday, let me mention one more thing about the letters from my friends in prison. The letter from Leonard, it is full of praise and thanksgiving and glory; it reminds me of the testimonies of new believers. Many times over the years I have noticed good friends of mine come to know the lord, doing things in ministry and fellowship together. Sometimes these brothers struggle for years and go back to prison. The genuine brothers really do experience a ‘mini’ revival when this happens. It’s common for the average person to judge them as getting ‘jail house religion’ they can’t see that the process of chastening and the guys renewing their faith are a real process that brings great joy to them. Believe me, I have seen this happen many times and know that for the most part these guys are not faking. Okay, in Luke 9 we have lots of good stuff; Jesus sends his guys out light ‘don’t take money, extra goods, etc.’ Herod hears about Jesus and wonders if it’s John the Baptist risen from the dead [guilty conscience no doubt!] Let’s hit the statement ‘some of you standing here will not die until you see the kingdom’. Over the years commentators have had various views on this, a common view is right after Jesus says this the transfiguration happens and this might be referring to that, it’s possible? The New Testament has various statements like this that the critics of Christianity have used over the years to debunk the faith. The famous atheist Bertrand Russell wrote a book called ‘why I am not a Christian’ one of the reasons stated was the so called missed prophecies of Jesus, these statements in the bible about Jesus coming kingdom that would take place within the lifetimes of those who heard him. Russell also rejected the faith based on a faulty idea from the philosopher John Stewart Mill. Mill said if every thing must have a cause, then God must have a cause, and if God is the first cause, then why not say the universe/world are the first cause instead of God. Russell believed this faulty argument, the law of causation does not teach that every thing must have a cause; it teaches every effect must have a cause. Any way Russell got duped by this fictitious argument and kept it his whole life. But back to those who read the statements in the bible about Jesus coming quickly, the things being written that will happen shortly [revelation] and stuff like that. There is some truth to the Preterists argument that the ‘last days’ that were taking place were speaking of the end of the present age of law and the introduction of the new age of grace. These brothers also link most of the ‘seeing the kingdom come’ verses with a.d. 70 and the destruction of the Jewish temple and law system. There are various views on these subjects. What about Jesus saying that some of the disciples would not die until they saw God’s kingdom? Preterists think the transfiguration happened too quickly after the statement for it to be speaking of that, it’s possible? I think some of the Preterists are too ‘futuristic’, let me explain. Jesus is functioning and operating out of the reality of Gods kingdom, he’s healing people, raising the dead, doing all sorts of things that are contrary to the natural order of things. He is introducing God’s kingdom to his disciples, they are actual witnesses to the events of Gods order breaking into mans order. The greatest events of this kingdom that they will witness will be the death, burial, resurrection and ascension of Jesus, these ‘parts’ of the kingdom will be the most significant aspects that they will ever SEE in their lives. I prefer to see the reality of God’s kingdom, and the statements about certain followers being alive at the time of God’s kingdom coming, thru this lens. To push the majority of the significance out to a.d. 70 and the destruction of the temple seems to miss the great reality of Jesus death, burial, resurrection and ascension as actual witnessed events of the first century church. So, Russell and others who thought Jesus statements were false prophecies did not really see the reality of these things. I do believe that the events surrounding the destruction of the temple are important, and that you can find many verses that speak of the passing of the old testament order as the ‘end of that world/age’ but I believe the actual work of Jesus in redemption, as being witnessed by the early church, would be a better ‘location’ for the explanation of these types of things. Got it? [note- the main point being the importance the new testament puts on the eyewitness accounts of the disciples to the work of Jesus in redemption, any connecting with ‘the seeing’ of things and the witnesses of those things ‘seen’ has to be viewed thru this lens, the most important ‘seen things of the kingdom’ are without a doubt speaking of the great work of Jesus. This was so important that when Peter mentions the replacement for Judas office, he states that the new apostle must have been a witness of these things from the beginning of Jesus ministry]
(1163) Just read the story where the disciples tell Jesus that they found some people casting out demons in Jesus name and the disciples told them to stop because ‘they followeth not us’. It reminded me of one of the first official ‘church sermons’ I preached. It was during the early days of ministry, I was a youth pastor at a Fundamental Baptist Church, the pastor was a good man, he would ask me to preach every now and then. I remember speaking on this verse and sharing how we as Christians shouldn’t cut others off because they are not part of our group, it was a courageous message at the time, being young and all. This type of sectarian mindset was strong in this group. Jesus told his men to not forbid others who claim the name of Jesus. I realize that there are many different groups of Christians in the world today, it would be ignorant to believe that some of the doctrinal differences do not matter any more. But it would also be childish to view these brothers and sisters from a view point that sees them as all wrong, or even lost! The real fundamentals of the faith are held by the majority of these groups. Yes, it sounds liberal, but we all meet at the Cross. I noticed recently in the Corpus paper, that a church that advertises in the section where I run this blog ad, changed the name of the ad [and church?] they are a good Baptist church that would emphasize the ‘come as you are’ type of thing, the last time I saw the ad, it had a new name for the church called ‘acceptance’. I believe sometimes we might go overboard in the unity thing, we don’t want people to think there are absolutely no ground rules to this thing, there are some basic rules. But we want them to know that they do not have to be just like us [whoever ‘us’ is!] in order to be accepted, Jesus says if you name the name of Jesus, you’re in, can’t get much better than that.
(1164) Went to the radio station yesterday to drop off some programs, picked up a local Christian paper and read an interesting prophetic word for our area, I did like it but felt some of the more ‘interesting’ aspects of certain images need to be kept to ourselves unless we feel strongly that God wants us to speak them. I stopped reading on line ‘prophetic words’ a while back, too much area for error, to many wild images that might, or might not, mean anything. To publish them to the world might be a mistake. Okay, I read Psalms 2 and Luke earlier, felt like ‘the word’ for today had to do with declaration/decree. In Luke Jesus sends them out by 2’s and when they come back they are excited about being able to cast out demons. Jesus warns them to rejoice over their names being in heaven and not over their authority. He tells them they have power over all the power of the enemy and nothing shall hurt them. In Psalms 2 God says he has set ‘his king on his holy hill- declare the decree, this day I have begotten thee, thou art my Son in whom I am well pleased’. There are times in prayer where we simply decree/declare stuff. I just finished praying from 4-5:30, early outside prayer under the stars. I look towards the regions of Texas and the country while praying for those areas. My yard ‘just happens’ to be located perfectly for this. I look south to the valley, scan over the Texas Mexico border and pray for the areas working up to Laredo and over towards Del Rio. Then scan over to the San Antonio/Austin section. Up thru Houston/Galveston, jump thru Beaumont and hit New Jersey, then the nations. I do lots of decreeing/declaring during this time. Things like ‘cities of Judah, behold your God’ ‘let your doctrine drop down like rain, your speech distill like due’ ‘you will call a nation you do not know, nations that do not know you will come running to you’ [bible verses]. Lots of stuff like that, this decreeing is a form of prayer. Now Jesus said we do have the authority to do stuff like this, but the church went thru a whole spiritual warfare stage where we spent years decreeing things to the devil! Every now and then you might need to tell him ‘get thee behind me satan’ but avoid getting into long drawn out conversations! In Psalms 2 Jesus is pictured as the king who is PRESENTLY sitting in his place of rule and authority, we are ambassadors of his kingdom on the earth, he tells us ‘ask of me, I will give you the heathen for your inheritance, the ends of the earth for your possession’. He says this right after the decree thing. You say ‘now brother, you don’t believe that for real, do you’ you bet I do! As I pray for these ‘ends of the earth’ on a regular basis, we have blog ad’s running in these cities, our radio show hits the Texas borders, and I get contacts from all over the world from people reading the blog. Yes, God will do what he said if we do our part. He said ‘ask of me-decree/declare’ are you speaking?
(1165) Just read the story of the Good Samaritan, Jesus is confronted by a lawyer. He asks Jesus what good thing he must do to have eternal life. Jesus asks him ‘what do you read in the law, how do you see it’? We all come to the table with glasses on, we have preconceived prejudices that taint the way we view scripture. Jesus was asking the man what pair of glasses he used. The man tells him ‘well, the law says we are to love God with all that is in us; our hearts and souls and minds, and love our neighbor as ourselves’. Wow, you got it right man! What an intellect, you sure showed us how smart you are. One more thing Jesus, who is my neighbor? Ah, he couldn’t leave well enough alone. So Jesus says there was a man traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho, on the journey he gets mugged. The robbers beat him, strip him and leave him on the road ‘half dead’. Sure enough a priest and Levite pass by, they probably are on their way [or coming from] some great religious conference, you know, the type where we all get to show off our knowledge and skill, sort of like what the lawyer was just doing. When they see the man they pass him up. Were they thinking how they might use the poor victim in their next sermon? Maybe they will go home to their religious communities and bring the need before them and start some type of mission to the ‘road to Jericho’ homeless? Either way they certainly never thought about actually acting themselves! What, are you kidding me? I am a priest/Levite; my calling is to engage in the teaching/preaching of what God wants, to build a life/ministry around telling others what they should do. I am not responsible for this poor slob, he is reaping what he sowed. But Jesus says a Samaritan [a half breed, low class mutt!] passed by and saw him. He stopped, helped him and brought him to a place to stay. He took money out of his own pocket [not some church budget] and paid the hotel owner and told him ‘if the cost is more, when I get back I’ll cover it’. Wow, all the religion and ministry and preaching in the world didn’t help this man, but a simple act of true compassion reached him. Jesus asks the lawyer ‘which one of these do you suppose treated the man like a good neighbor’? The lawyer says the Samaritan. Great, you answered right again! You do seem to have all the correct answers to these questions. Now, go and do likewise. The problem with most of us is we really don’t want to act ourselves, we want to take this story, and maybe use it in a sermon [like now!] or think about the spiritual lessons of how if you don’t serve God you will wind up like the poor man. But we very rarely read the New Testament and think we are required to do these things. There are many people within the vicinity of your home that are in some way like this poor man, they are surrounded by religious institutions [priest/Levite] that mean well, most of them have some type of charitable outreach that tries to meet the need. But the man needed someone to pro actively get involved with him, someone who would simply act like Jesus acted. Not keeping a record of how much he already tithed to the church this past week, but someone who would reach into his own pocket and cover the cost, no questions asked. The lawyer already knew the answers to Jesus questions, he knew what was right. The only thing he lacked was the doing of the things he knew in his heart were the right things to do. He knew that to truly love God was to also love his fellow man, Jesus helped him to see what he needed to do.
(1166) yesterday I was finishing up Last Days Madness, by Gary Demar, and the book by Mark Noll showed up at my door [the scandal of the evangelical mind] I got thru the first 50 pages and really like it a lot. I do realize these books are dated, they’ve been around for a while, but I have been trying to catch up on the classics that I have never read before. Lots of my library has scholarly stuff, but most of the books were purchased at half price books, or ordered from Amazon, so I tend to miss some of the classics. I just read Luke 11, the disciples ask Jesus to teach them how to pray. I like Luke’s version of it ‘give us bread day by day’ the daily bread request. Then Jesus goes right into the story of the guy whose friend shows up at his door, he realizes that he doesn’t have enough bread for his friend so he goes to another friend at midnight and asks for help. The other friend is in bed, but because of his friend’s boldness and persistence he gives him bread. James says we have not because we ask not, then he says sometimes we have not because we are asking out of selfishness, to simply get stuff to feed our lusts. Did James contradict Jesus? Did Jesus teach that we get whatever we want? I do find it interesting that Jesus gave us the story about the friend right after the Lords Prayer. In the Lords Prayer we ask ‘give us enough bread for today’ and then Jesus shows us what type of ‘bread asking’ this is. Asking for another! Basically when we recognize that we don’t have the wherewithal to meet the needs of others, we go to God and say ‘lord, I know these friends of mine are looking to me for answers, I really don’t have what it takes to be honest about it, but if you can give me some bread/life for them I will do my best to share it with them’. I like that, Jesus gives the bread to those who recognize that they are insufficient, they know they don’t have the ‘intellectual gravitas’ to cut it! When I was reading yesterday, I also grabbed one of my church histories off the shelf and started thru it. I like re-reading the good stuff, there are too many facts in these books to read them only once and think that’s enough. So as I’m reading thru I realize that it’s a very good read, you know, one of those books that reads easily. I was reading Karl Barth's history on 19th century Protestant Theology and it was a tough read. He was teaching on Immanuel Kant and it was rough, maybe because it’s an English translation of the Swiss theologian? Kant is tough enough on his own, but reading him thru a translation of Barth might be a little too much. So anyway I felt good about myself when reading Bruce Shelley’s church history, I mean it was easy, I thought ‘yeah, maybe I can hack these intellectuals, look, this read is child’s play’ I then flipped to the title to see the exact wording, it’s ‘church history in plain language’ which in layman’s terms means ‘history for dummies’ oh well a good dose of humility does the soul some good. Jesus said those who recognize that they don’t have ‘the bread’ for their friends on the journey are in good shape, they know to go to ‘other friends’ and ask for help, they’re not too proud to realize they don’t have all the answers. I think we need more of this in today’s church world. We all need to receive from one another. I like Nolls book, he shows the need for the intellectual wing of the church to receive from the ‘non intellectual’ wing. But he also takes the evangelical church to task for its neglect of the Life of the Mind. Hopefully I’ll share more in the coming posts. But for today this is all ‘the bread’ I have, thank God we all know where to go for some more! [I also ordered Brian Mclaren’s Generous Orthodoxy, but the order messed up. I will try and review it in the next month or so, it’s important for the emergent critique]
(1167) Last night I had a rough night, I thought I would skip the Monday morning intercession time, I do pray regularly during the week and figured it would be no big deal. But when I got up [a few hours ago] I felt the Lord wanted me to pray, so I did the normal intercession thing [3:30-5-5:30]. I read earlier in Luke 11 where Jesus is accused of casting out demons by the devil, he then corrects the accusers and says when a strong man is in control of his house, his goods are at peace, but when a stronger man comes upon him and overcomes him, he robs him of his goods. During my prayer time I quote lots of stuff, one of the regular quotes is ‘strengthen the bars of our gates, bless our children within, let peace be within our borders and let out garners be filled, providing all manner of store’. I felt like the Lord was telling me that when we pray we are ‘binding the strongman’ and ‘our goods’ [the people/communities we are working with] experience peace. Jesus said when the leader is leading his ‘goods are at peace’ I thought this was interesting. I at first felt like I was the one who was being overcome by the strongman, having a tough day and all, but then I felt like the lord was saying ‘no, when you persevere in prayer, you are overcoming his goods!’ [The people he holds in bondage]. Jesus also gives the famous quote ‘a house divided against itself can not stand’ I think Lincoln quoted this during the Civil war. As of today [7-09] I feel this is a sad description of the political environment of our country. I am not a conservative per se, or a liberal! But as a Christian I think we should be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. I want national heal care! I don’t have any medical coverage for myself right now, so yeah, I want it. Our country is in pretty bad financial shape right now, don’t let the media fool you. We have sent representatives to China and other nations that lend us money, we have asked them to please not cut us off as borrowers, this my friends is not a good thing. California has the eighth biggest economy, in the world! They are giving out i.o.u’s for heavens sake! I am not an alarmist, but you would have to be blind to think that things are all right, and yet the politicians are making decisions based on their political interests. I know our president means well, but it is simply irresponsible to try and initiate a trillion dollar national health plan at this time, he realizes this, but they still talk about it as a possible option. Or to be the only country that passes ‘cap and trade’ laws [cutting back pollution- or simply new laws to make more money for the govt.] as of now the bill has passed in the house, but is having problems with the conservatives in the senate [Democrats and Republicans]. Obama just went to the G-8 [meetings with the top industrial nations] and not a single nation would bind itself to any pollution control mandates. But they agreed to ‘try not let the world temperature rise by more than a few degrees over the next 50 years’ wow, what a deal! The whole point being these other industrial nations laugh at us for doing what we do. In a time of national economic crisis, you cant pass laws that would put an extra burden on any type of business in the U.S. Now, I believe the environment is important, but we our not ‘the globe’! Global warming is warming effecting ‘the globe’ if the other nations on the globe don’t give a rip, we are fooling ourselves by strapping our nation with restrictions, we cant change the global environment by ourselves. Now to be doing all this at a time where the world markets are thinking of raising our debt risk is truly irresponsible. Then why are we doing it? Because the political wars are on and each side wants to score points with it’s base, truly sad. Lincoln quoted Jesus and realized that a nation divided against itself would not stand, I fear we are looking like that nation more and more each day.
(1168) Jesus told the Jews that they were seeking a sign and they would get no sign except the sign of the prophet Jonah. He was speaking of his death and resurrection [I explained this in the ‘Messianic, Jewish, Gentile’ section under the John Hagee comments]. Jesus also warned us about the things we see, accept as models for the way we live as individuals and as a society. He talked about the eye being the gateway to the body, what we ‘look at’ informs the way we live. Whenever I hear of these reports of a 5 year old accidentally shooting someone, I think to myself how in the world do these kids know what to do with a gun? They obviously were informed to some degree by ‘what they saw’ whether it be a cartoon or whatever. The point being what we see gives us information that can be acted upon. Now I am not saying that every person who sees a shooting will commit murder! But you get the point. What ‘we see’ as a society also effects the way we live. Right now the senate is grilling Obama’s Supreme Court nominee, Sonja Sotomayor. She is the first Hispanic women to be nominated to the court. I really have nothing against her to be honest, but she has made statements saying she believed that the fact that she is Hispanic and a woman, that that would help her to come to better conclusions than white men. Maybe so? The main point is if you had a white woman say that her ‘whiteness’ would help her make a better decision than a Black/Hispanic woman, she would be thrown out as a racist. But we allow minorities to make statements that are at their heart racist in nature, because it’s cool to be on the side of the minority. So we ‘see’ how this is wrong, basically a double standard, yet we allow it because it’s trendy. Now, I know I lose readers when I talk about this stuff, but frankly I could care less. I do not believe this woman is a racist, and I think she should get on the court. But we need to stop allowing double standards like this to slip by. Of course she just got overturned by the Supreme Court for her ruling in the Connecticut firefighter’s case. The fire dept. gave a promotional test, around 16 White firefighters passed and 1 Hispanic, no Blacks passed. So the city simply thru out the test. This stuff is blatantly racist at its very core, every body knows this! Things like this fuel these white skinhead groups; this makes other ethnic groups mad at Blacks. When you allow certain racial prejudices to exist in society, it affects the ‘whole body’. Jesus said we function according to the models that we are given, according to the things we see others do. When young kids see the blatant acceptance of racist actions as acceptable, they will grow up with the same frame of mind. I realize that many people who use this lens for their worldview are good people, I also realize that because of past sins against minorities that we do need to try and make up for these sins as best as we can. If institutional racism has kept minorities out of the colleges and other professions, then lets do our best to right these wrongs, but you cant right them by discriminating against the white grandchildren of those who might have been part of this institutional racism, it simply breeds future generations of racist thoughts and ideas. If the ‘light’ [the things that inform us as a people] that be in us is dark, then the whole body [society] will be affected in a negative way.
(1169) let’s finish up Luke 11. Jesus is invited to dinner again at a Pharisees house, you think the brothers would have learned not to do this by now! So as Jesus eats he doesn’t wash his hands first, the Pharisee ‘thinks within himself’ wow, this is the proof I was looking for, he’s not the one! Of course Jesus knows his heart and rebukes him for being more concerned with outward religion/cleansing than the heart. Jesus tells him ‘did not he that made the outer things [material world] also make the heart/soul of a man’? He was rebuking him for having a sense of ceremonial cleanness, a view of ‘being clean’ that was legalistic, but Jesus said God was more concerned about our inner actions and thoughts. Now, he does connect the ‘right heart’ with a particular act of worship. He says ‘give alms [do charity] with all that you have and this is what cleanness is about’. The same rebuke the prophet Isaiah gave to Israel of old, he said ‘this is not the type of fast God wants, to do outward acts of casting yourself down and rending your garments, but God wants you to loose the chains of those who are suffering, to set the oppressed free’ the same type of idea that is expressed when Jesus quotes Isaiah in the synagogue and says ‘the Spirit of the Lord is upon me, he has anointed me for opening blind eyes, preaching the gospel to the poor’ the anointing of Jesus, God’s religious way of ordaining people, was to do justice and show mercy. Jesus rebuked this Pharisee because he lost the original intent of Gods law and digressed into this religious mindset that was looking to find fault, that was obsessed with outward standards of holiness [they washed their hands obsessively! It wasn’t just a one time deal before a meal, this ‘washing’ became a religious obsession with them, this is the mindset Jesus is rebuking]. Jesus corrected this mistaken view and showed him what was really important, to do charity, justice, mercy and good deeds, this is the new testament sacrifice of the believer [along with praise- Peter] and Jesus said when you do charity, this is what makes you ‘ceremonially clean’ in the eyes of God.
(1170) yesterday I was reading the paper and saw an article on a local guy who attacked a cop with a meat cleaver, as I looked at the brothers face he looked familiar. It took me a few seconds to recognize it was Martin, a friend of mine. He stopped by a few months ago, just to say hi and all. I have had Martin over a few times, been to his apartment a few times. We fished together; he had lots of good questions. Martin is a good friend who I would get together with again if the chance arose. The picture and story in the paper would have you thinking he was an ax murderer, in reality the cop was off duty when he approached him. He is paranoid, and he probably thought they were going to jump him. Meat clever does sound bad, but it was probably a kitchen knife! We see people from different perspectives than God, people need the Lord. Well I know I said we were done with Luke 11 yesterday, but let’s get in one more. Jesus rebukes the lawyers for taking away ‘the key of knowledge’ and hindering others to find the truth. A few years back when Texas passed tort reform, I would be at the fire house and see the new commercials the lawyers came up with. Instead of advertising for accident victims, they ran commercials on other lawyers who were ambulance chasers. They were wanting the public to contact their law firm, so they could sue the other law firm who got to them first. Lawyers suing lawyers, now that’s what I call poetic justice! Here Jesus rebukes these ‘lawyers’ [religious leaders] because they did a specific thing, they rejected the gifts that God sent to them in the past. Jesus says ‘God sent you prophets and apostles and you rejected them’. In essence they wouldn’t hear the corporate wisdom/correction of God. I have heard this verse used in various ways over the years; some said this was speaking of the Christian church who reject these gifts today [apostle/prophet] some say it’s speaking of their own religious view of things. I think an overall understanding is God sends us messengers thru out the history of the church, we become acquainted with them thru their writings and the histories that tell about their stories. Often times the modern church is too quick to associate all past ‘churches’ as traditional, dead churches. This is a serious mistake in my view. When Jesus rebuked those who held to the traditions of men over God’s word, he was not saying that we should reject all tradition! He was primarily speaking of ‘the tradition of the elders’ a specific body of tradition that rose up around rabbinic Judaism, not tradition in general. Paul will instruct timothy to hold to the traditions that he was giving him [grounded in the word!] So Jesus rebuked the lawyers for their rejecting of the messengers of God, in essence they wanted to re invent the wheel all over again for each new generation, this in itself is a rejection of the communion of the saints that understands that we are all part of a 2 thousand year tradition of Christian believers. While wisdom allows us to discern between what traditions are good, and which are bad. Yet we don’t want to reject the entire body of Christian tradition that has come down to us from our forefathers. Jesus said he who receives those he sends, receive him. Jesus has been sending us prophets and wise men for centuries, are you hearing them?
(1171) Just read the story where a brother asks Jesus to help him with his finances; he asks ‘tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me’. Jesus says ‘man, who made you think I was about money stuff’? Then he gives a famous verse ‘beware of covetousness, for a mans life consists not in the abundance of the things that he owns’. It’s strange, but this is one of the first verses I memorized as a Christian, there was no particular reason for me to have focused on it, but now all these years later it seems to have been prophetic, being a major part of our teaching is based on this verse. Jesus then gives the parable of the rich man who tore down his barns and built greater ones to store his goods, Jesus puts these words in his mouth ‘I will say to myself, soul you have many goods for many years down the road. I can now find comfort in my wealth and enjoy the coming years’ Jesus says the man died that night. He then warns the rich to be rich towards God, and not to find a sense of security by the size of their 401 k. I remember seeing a commercial on investing, it shows a woman discussing her wealth and she says ‘I feel so safe’ about her wealth. She was expressing the feeling of security that comes from investments. It caught perfectly the warning of Jesus, covetousness has effected the church because we have allowed our financial empires to give us a sense of peace and security, contrary to the teaching of Jesus. Jesus warned us to beware of this type of mindset, if it wasn’t a real danger that people would fall into, he wouldn’t have told us to beware!
(1172) Yesterday was my birthday, I turned 47 [7-17-09] I don’t do stuff for my birthday anymore, but last night I caught the trilogy of the Gatti/Ward fights, watched all three back to back on HBO. It was a true present for me. The only sport I have ever really followed thru out my life has been boxing. Last week I saw a news brief on the death of Gatti, it effected me more than Michael Jackson to be sure. It’s sad for any one to die, but for boxing fans Gatti was a real hero. I grew up in the same area as Gatti [Jersey City, N.J.] Actually I run the blog ad in the Jersey Journal. Both Arturo Gatti and Mickey Ward [Lowell, Mass.] were not world champions, but their fights were considered world class. It was interesting to hear Emanuel Stewart, one of the all time great trainers, really enjoy the fights. Plus the fact that these fights allowed the fighters to make more money [especially Ward] than ever before was a good story. They deserved it. Gatti and Ward became good friends during this time, Ward retired after these fights and Gatti fought seven more fights. Ward trained Gatti for the last fight. One of the things I like about the sport is you have Blacks/Whites rooting for their guy whether he’s Black or White. Gatti and Ward are White, yet Gatti’s corner man was Buddy McGirt, a great Black fighter in his own right. When Gatti broke his hand early in the second fight, he tells Buddy when he goes back to the corner, Buddy asks ‘what do you want me to do’ meaning you want to stop the fight, Arturo says lets go on. Only a good trainer is willing to stop a fight if his man is hurt. At the end of the Atlantic City fight you see a Black brother wearing a suit in the ring, you know when they are announcing the decision and all, he is happy about the results, the fight went all 10 rounds [as did all of them] and the Black guy tells Mickey ‘I am proud of you’ you could tell he meant it. He seemed to have been one of the promoters. Mickey was hurt at various times [as was Gatti] and it would have been easy to have not fought on, but he did. The promoter of course wanted to put on a good show, and he was proud that Mickey didn’t take an easy paycheck and quit. I liked the whole environment of these various ethnic guys all in it together, to accomplish a common goal. Sure you have bad guys that have been in the sport, but the Whites/Blacks [Hispanics] all working together, rooting for their guy regardless of race, the whole trilogy of fights was a real treat. True champions at heart who became good friends during their fights, guys who had many chances to stop their fights for valid reasons [Gatti’s broken hand!] but chose to fight on, I enjoyed re-watching the fights last night, it was one of the best birthday presents I could have gotten.
(1173) I have a few things that I need to hit on today. First, recently there has been some criticism of the freedom to blog. Some have said that because blogging is so accessible, that for that very reason those who blog are not credible. I would like to point out that any venue of ‘speaking’ whether it be Pulpit, TV, Radio, whatever- has both good and bad aspects to it. Around a month or so ago the lord spoke to me from Romans [I think 13?] ‘The powers that be are ordained of God’ while it is true that anyone can do anything [blogging, public speaking, etc.] it is not true that anyone/everyone is doing it by Gods grace. So to be sure, anyone can blog, but if God is giving anyone a voice of influence, be assured that he alone [God!] has the power to ‘ordain powers’ or set up those who have authoritative voices in the community. Number 2, I want to comment on the book ‘scandal of the evangelical mind’ by Mark Noll, but I still have a few chapters left. But let me say I want all of our ‘followers’ to read it, especially you pastors and leaders. I recently checked my email [something I only do every few weeks, or once a month! I got away from the distraction that it can cause] and I had a few church planting networks contact us. I am glad we have some readers who are actively planting churches. One of the things Noll brings out in his book is the lack of good intellectual learning available to the average evangelical Christian. I like Noll, don’t agree with every thing he says, but I do agree with him on this. To all of our leaders/church groups that follow us, make an honest effort to buy, borrow or READ BLOGS that have good in depth teaching. You are a product of what you read. If the majority of your Christian experience is simply listening to modern success type preaching, then you and the people you lead will suffer for it. Now, lets do Luke 12; Jesus gives the famous story from the birds and flowers, he is rebuking the natural instinct of man to find security and interest in the pursuit of material wealth. He says the birds do not invest, they have no storehouses or barns, yet God feeds them. The flowers don’t struggle and toil, yet they look great. Then Jesus says he doesn’t want us preoccupied with the material pursuits of life. He says the unbelievers allow their lives to be consumed with this stuff and we should not be like that. Okay, Jesus is not teaching financial irresponsibility, but he is telling us not to allow wealth building to become an adventure that consumes our thoughts and time. When I first became a Christian I had the ‘disconnection’ that Jesus spoke about here. For many years I passed up chances to make wealth and stuff like that. Then after a period of listening to a lot of off balance teaching that focused a lot on money, I got into the money thing. Investing, real estate, the whole 9 yards. It wasn’t that awful, but I did notice that I spent lots of time thinking about investing, buying books and tapes on the subject; catching all the business and investing shows on TV. I did it all. Then I went thru a period of time where I walked away from the whole deal. It took time to sell the rentals and all, but I realized that for me it was a distraction, it affected the way I viewed God’s kingdom and work. Most of the money teachers/preachers had a feeling of disdain towards the verses like this. I realized that the overall environment of the financial/wealth building focus was something Jesus was against. Being consumed with the stuff. So today, where are you at personally? If you’re a Pastor, do you do this? Has your teaching become affected too much by personal success and wealth? Are you simply a believer who wants to sell out for the gospel? After I retired I stopped balancing my checkbook, put my investment money in a fixed interest savings, and really backed off of the regular overactive concern about wealth. Of course I still check my account on line a few times a month, making sure the automatic bills are being paid, checking up on my direct deposit from my retirement. But that’s all; I have no other schemes or ‘fishing lines’ out there trying to bring in some type of financial harvest. That’s a simple return to basic responsibility without spending an inordinate amount of time thinking ‘money thoughts’ all day long. Jesus said the world was consumed with this stuff, are you?
(1174) Almost finished with Noll’s book [scandal of the evangelical mind] and thought it time to comment. The book was published in 1994 and I realize a lot of water has gone under the bridge since then. Noll brings out great points; he shows a fundamental weakness in American evangelicalism because of the way the movement shaped a sort of anti intellectual way/thought pattern of viewing the world and society. He really takes the dispensational wing of the church to task, frankly, I was surprised how willingly he dismantled many of their belief systems. I agree with him on this issue, but was surprised that a very popular book would go this far [and still be nominated book of the year by Christianity today- back in 1994!]. I think an area of weakness in the book is Noll’s ‘over association’ of young earth creationism with the Seventh Day Adventist church, and his repeating of the charge that creationists [and fundamentalists in general] are practicing a form of ‘modern Manichaeism’. He basically links an ‘anti material spirit’ that was seen in the early Christian heretics [Gnosticism, Docetism and Manichaeism] and applies this to the views of creationists and their so called unwillingness to allow the facts from nature speak for themselves. I wrote the note ‘way too much’ a few times when reading the book. I think he’s basically mistaken on this, many early Christian thinkers did hold to a young earth view, and they were the same thinkers who rebuked these cults who rejected the natural world as evil. Overall the book is a worthwhile read, it exposes the weakness of the fundamental/evangelical movement to ‘think Christianly’ about the world and society around them. Too often believers think ‘thinking Christianly’ means introducing bible verses into the conversation, this is not what Noll is speaking about. He shows the fundamental error that arose during the modernist/fundamentalist debates of the 19th/20th centuries, and how this caused the church to accept modes of thinking and learning that were disconnected from the fathers of these movements. For instance, Jonathan Edwards, who is considered to be the greatest homegrown thinker of the American experience, he embraced an acceptance of the natural sciences as a way to learn more about the ways of God. True studies of the earth and universe and things in the world were accepted as a means of God communicating truth to his people thru the ‘book of nature’. Noll shows how the fundamentalist movement came to reject this willingness to look at the natural world and learn from it. Thus his overstated charge of Manichaeism, a group that saw the natural world as evil. A blind spot of Noll is his seeming belief that the majority of all Christians/scientists accepted as fact the old earth views of the Geologic table and the other sciences that arose at the time [like evolutionary theory]. He paints a picture that says ‘see, most believers were open to learning from science back then, but the fundamentalist movement and the rise of creationism side tracked the church’. This is simply not true. Many scientists and Christians did not accept the science of an old earth and the interpretation of the geologic table. Many fathers of the church accepted a young earth view [Noll's creationism] since the beginning of church history. Though Noll quotes saint Augustine in his defense of thinking critically, yet Augustine himself believed in a young earth. He actually believed God made everything in an instant and the 6 days of Genesis 1 were symbolic, that God used the ‘6 day framework’ to show us his creative acts. The point being, Augustine’s spiritualizing of the days of creation did not make him an old earth believer! So there were a few things like this that I take issue with, overall I think every evangelical/protestant believer would benefit from reading the book. Noll’s challenge to the evangelical church to ‘think Christianly in all areas of life’ is a needed rebuke to many in the church. Noll is correct in showing the weakness of the American protestant church and her basic disdain of intellectual learning, thinking that higher learning in and of itself is a bad thing. This has fostered a community of believers that has cut itself off from the basic institutions that effect society as a whole [the research universities being one example]. If Christians shy away from the natural sciences and the reality that even unbelievers have at times revealed to us true things thru these studies, then we are going down a road that will eventually cut our influence off from the broader society at large.
(1175) Let’s talk a little; here in my office I have a couple of tool boxes that are around 70 years old. They are machinist tools that belonged to my father’s dad. He died before I was born, but as a boy growing up I used to regularly go thru the interesting tools, micrometers and stuff. The reason they are in my office is funny, a few years ago I was in New Jersey visiting family. My mom would kid with me about stuff, and sure enough I found out that my sisters ‘boyfriend’ was gradually depleting the inventory of the tool boxes for drug purposes! My sister has had a long, sad history of drug addiction, and her friends too. I actually have made some headway in helping her present boyfriend of a few years, he is almost like one of the buddies I help here in Texas, the same type of friendship and all. So I would kid my mom ‘gee, I always looked forward to getting these tools as an inheritance someday, I thought at least I will get something. And now I find out that they have been making their way out the back door for the last year or so’. Now, my mom laughed and all, I know it sounds strange, but it was kinda funny. But she does ask me if I feel bad about it, I told her I would get over it. But I said if I’m on my way back to Texas on the plane, and we have some bad turbulence. And per chance the pilot informs us ‘folks, we regret to inform you that we have encountered mechanical problems. They are so serious that we believe we might suffer loss of life before the flight is over. If you have loved ones you need to call, go ahead and do it now. One more thing, we might have a slim chance of repairing the engine, but we don’t have the proper tools. Does anybody on board happen to have a micrometer’? I told her then I will be mad! One other thing, my mom asked my advice about borrowing money from a reverse mortgage, I told her if the charge and interest are in a reasonable range, then do it. I feel my parents at times have felt guilty over the years because I left Jersey when I was 18 years old, and they thought I would eventually move back. You know, it’s common for kids to launch out when their young, to face the brave new world. And after a few years wind up back home. But in my case I never went back. So there has always been a sense like ‘gee, we never really helped John, he’s had to fend for himself all these years’ and I felt my mom was asking me about the reverse mortgage sort of like getting permission to ‘sell’ part of any future inheritance. I of course have advised her to sell her house and do whatever she needed to do to get herself in a better situation. My parents are divorced and my mom lives in an expensive home that is taxed at a very high N.J. rate. So my advice has been to sell it years ago. But anyway I told my mom to do the reverse mortgage if the price was right. So she borrowed around 25 thousand from the equity at around 6 %, an okay deal. Then I find out that they charged her 25 thousand as a one time fee, along with the 6%! I told her ‘mom, that means they charged you 106%, not a good deal’. Oh well at least I still have a few micrometers. The point is my poor mom does not know financial stuff, I felt bad for her, not me. They basically ripped her off. In Luke 12 Jesus said some servants that knew their lords will and did not do it would suffer many stripes [punishment] and those that were ignorant and did wrong stuff would suffer few stripes. The fact that my poor mom was ignorant of the deal didn’t protect her from taking a loss. In the world of reformation, God changing things in the church, new ways of seeing and doing things, I have Pastor friends who really are like my mom, they are good people who have a basic grasp on stuff, but they are out of their league in other areas. Then there are those who do see and recognize the real problems that the church is facing, they see the limited paradigms that the people of God have functioned under for all these years. Jesus said both groups would give an account for their response to truth. Those who really knew what was wrong, and let it slip by will suffer much. But those that didn’t really know what was going on in the current church world, they served faithfully to the best of their ability in the limited mindset of church and ministry, they too will suffer, not as much as those who had more understanding, but yet they will suffer. I believe God wants all of us to serve him and do our best to live up to the things he requires of us. I also believe that too many of us [Pastors/Leaders] struggle for too long in places and ideas that are outmoded and calling for change. If we simply take the attitude ‘well, people have been doing it this way for years’ without truly educating ourselves as much as possible, then we too will suffer. Hey, don’t get stuck on the plane with out a micrometer, it could prove hazardous to your health! [get it? The right tool for the journey- hey it’s the best I can do]
(1176) In Luke 13 the people ask Jesus about a current event, there were these people who Pilate executed and mingled their blood with their sacrifices. Jesus says ‘do you think these sinners were the worst? No, but unless you repent you too will perish’ and then Jesus volunteers another news story ‘and what about the 18 people that died when the tower of Siloam fell, do you think they were worse than the common man? No, but you all need to repent’. Recently there was a story in the news about a nurse who worked for an abortion doctor, she testified to the fact that there were times when the babies were born alive, and you simply left them to die. She explained that on one occasion the doctor placed the tiny baby in a disposal basin and put it in a closet. She went back into the room and heard the poor mutilated baby crying its brains out. She finally took the baby out and held it until it passed away, the baby lived for 45 minutes. We as a society have a tendency to look back at the past injustices of man; we see the horror of slavery or the holocaust. We often think ‘how could people have been so blind to have allowed these atrocities to happen’ and yet we allow for things that are worse. Jesus rebuked the people of his day for thinking that other people must have been worse because of their fate, he said not so, you too allow for evil things. Picture a white doctor dismembering a baby, the arm is cut off. But by some accident the baby comes out alive and screaming. Let’s say the baby is Black, then let’s say he stuck it in a disposal box and left it to die while screaming in a closet. Can you honestly tell me that this act is not as horrendous as the poor Black slaves that were killed on the ships from Africa to America? Or the innocent Jews who were gassed under Hitler? One of the things that disturbs me about our current president is when he was in the Illinois senate he was one of the few [if only?] senators who voted against a bill that would have protected the live birth abortions. They tried to make it illegal to not administer treatment to a child that came out alive. I know the politicians lie and say ‘well, we voted against it because it would have opened the door to the pro life groups’. I don’t care what your reasoning is, if you cant protect the life of an innocent living baby, you have no right to be in office. We are talking about the babies who popped out alive for heavens sake! Jesus told us to beware of the tendency to look at the abuses of others while not seeing that we are just as bad. I can think of no greater application than this.
(1177) I would like to talk on a few things today to be honest, I just heard a good radio debate on evolution and it gets me in the mood to argue; but I am still in Luke and want to hit some stuff. Jesus said he came to set a fire on the earth, that he would cause divisions in homes and among ‘families’ [even church families]. His radical kingdom passion had people lining up on opposite sides. Mother and father against son and daughter, stuff like that. I have found that most revolutionaries get this type of response, it comes with the territory. You find some who hear and think ‘wow, this is the best teaching I have ever heard’ and others who say ‘look, he’s stirring the waters too much’ Jesus was that type of a preacher. Okay, let’s do the science thing; the debate I just heard was good, the presenters of the Christian show did a good job airing it, yet they were a little confused on thinking that Intelligent Design and Creationism were the same thing, they are not. Lets talk a little on the Scientific Method, during the enlightenment of the 18th century you had the method develop called ‘the analytical method’ this added to the scientific method and stated that you had 2 sides to examining and learning stuff- the inductive side [gathering of facts/data] and the deductive side [coming to some basic conclusions based on the facts]. The biggest problem with modern science in my view [if I can be so bold] is it’s inability to rightfully use the second part of this method, that is there comes a time where any scientific endeavor has to capitulate to the overwhelming inductive data and come to some basic set of beliefs. You can’t go on ad infinitum looking for missing facts to prove your conclusion. That would be getting the method backwards. So for example if you are looking to prove that a living cell can come into existence ‘by chance’ without any real cause, then you look at as many examples of living things and try and trace a point where something popped into life without a prior cause. After a few hundred years of doing this, science has gathered tons of real evidence that show us that this never happens. Now, if your theory on evolution NEEDS this to happen, and you continue to promote that this ACTUALLY HAS HAPPENED, you are basically taking the scientific data and coming to a false conclusion, you have deduced an idea that is not consistent with the facts. Now, you can argue that there still is the slight possibility that new data will arise to back up your theory, possible. But the point is you can’t promote your theory [evolution] over other theories [creationism or intelligent design] and say yours is science while the opponents is not. This just is not true. The field of intelligent design is loaded with scientific facts that lead to the conclusion that there was intelligence behind the created order. They have the science to back up their theory, evolution does not! [Darwinian macro view] So anyway Jesus said he was going to set fire on the earth, he was starting a revolution that would get out of control, I think it’s time for us to start some fires.
(1178) Jesus is in the synagogue, the religious leaders are watching, sure enough he does it again. He heals a woman who had a sickness for 18 years. The ruler of the synagogue stands up and in a non direct way says ‘well, we have 6 other days to come and get healed, if you need to be healed get it in those days, not on the Sabbath’. Now this brother is the God ordained leader of this group, I mean Jesus himself said to obey those who ‘sit in Moses seat’ [basically the pulpit of the synagogue]. So how does Jesus respond? Does he simply think praising God and speaking only ‘nice’ words will get the job done? Jesus responds ‘you hypocrite! Don’t you rescue your own beast on the Sabbath if it falls into some ditch?’ Jesus minced no words, he let him have it. Paul does stuff like this as well, he says some teachers mouths needed to be shut, and Paul was on a mission to shut them! The point being we don’t take this approach with every one we disagree with, but there are times when leaders get in this mode of survival, they want to be happy and wealthy. They want that for their people, and any perceived intrusion by the Kingdom of God into their little world is seen as a threat, in these cases truth trumps personal doctrine and security. Sure Jesus was tough on the brother, but he showed him an error in his thinking, he showed him how he wasn’t allowing the same grace and mercy for human beings as he was for animals! He showed them how their ideas of Gods law [Sabbath keeping] were way off track, he then let the chips fall. The people in the room were obviously in shock, Jesus by passed Pastoral etiquette and rebuked this man to his face [Like Paul did with Peter] I know one thing, this was a lesson that he [they] would never forget.
(1179) OFFICER CROWLEY VERSUS THE PROFESSOR- Okay, this week there was an incident that happened that has riled up the racial tensions in the country. In Cambridge Mass. a Black Professor was locked out of his house without his keys, a neighbor sees him trying to get into his house with a Black cab driver who drove him home. The neighbor calls the police thinking it’s a possible break in. The cop gets there and sees the Black guys in the house, he questions them. The Black owner [Gates] is mad, he is in his own home and a cop is there questioning him. Sure, I could see how I would be mad if this happened to me. Now, the White officer is simply doing his job, he was called to the scene by a concerned neighbor and he is being treated disrespectfully by the Professor, as was the Professor feeling disrespected too. So during the incident the Professor gets mad, it seems as if he was out of line in the way he spoke to the cop [can you really blame him?] but the cop is doing his job and is being labeled as a racist by the Professor. Now, Professor Gates is a Harvard Professor who teaches African /American studies, his whole life is dedicated to examining the class/culture realities of Black Americans. He is up on all the latest statistics on racial profiling, he has studied past incidents of Blacks being targeted by White cops, and he for the most part has spent more time than the average person looking at these things. Now the cop just happens to be the local officer who was chosen by the Black police commissioner to teach other cops how not to racially profile. Good enough so far. As things seem to get out of hand at the scene, the cop tells Gates to go outside and talk, obviously Gates knows he will be more susceptible to arrest if he leaves the house, so he musters up all the intellectual resources he can find, he draws upon his years of experience on how not to fall into the stereotypical Black mans response, and he says- quote ‘I’ll meet your mamma outside’. Probably not a good thing. So he gets arrested and the nation is up in arms, oh one more thing. As President Obama is giving a very lack luster speech on his effort to save his health insurance policy, he struggled thru a difficult time in trying to present his case. The last question of the night is ‘what do you think about the Professor Gates incident’ and he does his best to be measured, he says he wants to be careful because he doesn’t know all the facts, and then he ads ‘The police acted stupidly’ ah, just the thing we needed to tone down the tensions. The President is a personal friend of Gates and he knows he is an upstanding man, he of course assumes that something went wrong. Most of us would, but still he jumped the gun. And of course the conservative talk shows can’t get enough of reminding the world that Obama called the cops stupid. What happened here? Innocent people were drawn into a drama by innocent events and both sides are being demonized. It’s a shame that the cop does seem to be an outstanding cop when it comes to racial profiling. There are truly rogue cops in the world, who do treat minorities bad, this guy isn’t one of them. Gates has every right to be mad, of course he thinks the cop is a racist, he is in his home and being targeted. Does he know that a neighbor called about a possible break in? Not at first. Did race play any role in this, probably. We would be ignorant to think race played no role. Did the neighbor feel like there was a break in because there were 2 Black guys there? Possibly so, now that doesn’t mean the neighbor was racist, but I’m sure it played a role. But it seems wrong for Gates to have called the cop a racist, just as it was wrong for a Black man to be questioned in his own home as in if he was a criminal. It was not wrong for the cop [Crowley] to question him, but for Gates to feel like he was being treated like a stereotypical Black man by being treated like this in his home. We as Christians need to tone down the rhetoric, I have been strong on my disagreements on racial things [like affirmative action] and I have disagreed with the president on lots of stuff, but we need to be careful when choosing sides in these types of situations. Both Crowley and Gates have real legitimate complaints in defending their points of view. The national voices who are defending both sides also have real legitimate issues they are bringing up, but to only see one side of this issue would be a mistake. The President has since said he overreacted in his initial statement, the poor guy is trying his best at a very difficult time in the world, North Korea refers to Hillary Clinton [secretary of state] as a schoolgirl, or a pensioner shopping at the mall! I do find it ironic that Hillary was one of the vocal critics of Bush’s ‘Cowboy Diplomacy’ and used to criticize him for losing respect in international affairs. But Obama has since invited Gates and Crowley to the White House for a beer, I think we should try and see both sides to these types of issues and forgive those who we seem to disagree with. [note- since I wrote this post, we have found out that the caller did not identify any of the men as black, she thought one might have been Hispanic]
(1180) FRIEND, GO UP HIGHER- its 5 a.m. right now, just finished around an hour prayer time. In a few hours I will be heading to San Antonio for the day. My daughter’s birthday is today [7-25 Bethany, the oldest is 24]. Her boyfriend of a few years proposed to her last night. We will be riding the inner tubes at one of the rivers and hitting the good spots, river walk and stuff like that. San Antonio is one of our outreach cities; it will be a prayer time as well for me. In Luke 14 Jesus says when you get invited to a wedding don’t take [seek] a place of honor and recognition, but take the humble seat. Because if you go ‘for the glory’ the person who invited you will have to tell you ‘I’m sorry, but this seat is reserved for someone else, but you can sit here in the back’ and the man will have been humbled on purpose, as opposed to having done it himself. This theme is pretty consistent in the teaching of Jesus, he was instilling the mindset that greatness in Gods kingdom would not be measured by worldly standards. Religion in Jesus day developed along the lines of class warfare, you had the leaders hold a special place over the people. God’s people were already under Roman dominion, they felt like they were always having to answer ‘to the man’ being on their guard for stepping on the wrong toes. And religious Judaism fell into this same mindset. The leaders primarily saw their role as being in charge of people, that is they derived joy out of knowing they were a special chosen group, better than the average laymen. In essence the leaders were always going for the best seat in the house. Now Jesus comes along, he really rebukes them all thru out his ministry, he’s been taking the outcasts of society and elevating them to a position that really offended the clergy! At the same time he’s been telling the elite class ‘you belong down here, in the back of the room’. Ouch! He was really changing the mindset of authority and leadership in a major way. Leadership was not to take a pre imminent role among the group, they were to be servant leaders. Jesus tells those who take the low road ‘friend, go up higher’. It’s funny, Jesus will exalt and use the lowly in a great way, it’s just they aren’t in it for the fame.
(1181) Well we had a good day at the river yesterday, we went to San Antonio [New Braunfels] and rode the river in the inner tubes. I actually pray regularly for this area, stuff like ‘your people will rise up and overflow the river banks and flow into Judah’ ‘you will be like fountains dispersed abroad, like rivers of waters in the streets’ [bible verses] so it was cool floating down a river with hundreds of people who you regularly pray for. On the ride back I also noticed some famous churches along the highway, basically good people, charismatic type personalities who I used to catch on TV [I haven’t watched shows like that in a few years now, not because their bad or wicked, but too disconnected from the historic context of Christianity- a simple success gospel with no real attachment to the historic church]. So it was fun. Okay in Luke Jesus says when you have a dinner [B.B.Q.] invite the poor and down and out, don’t invite the rich and well to do [man, he is so hard on the affluent!] because if you invite people with the mindset of ‘reaping a harvest’ now, you forfeit a true reward. Jesus says the reward you get will be at the resurrection [no material mindset here, no money thing in the here and now] this is Luke 14 by the way. It’s a mystery to me how so many well meaning streams of Christianity can completely by pass this central mode of Jesus teaching. James, Jesus’ brother, wrote in his epistle ‘when you favor the rich in your assembly and treat them better than the poor you are doing wrong’ [James 2- by the way this is the only reference in the New Testament that speaks of an assembly that can be translated as a place to meet. The context of James is Jewish believers, he obviously is referring to meeting at the synagogue. That probably would have been a better translation. The term for church, Ecclesia, never refers to a building]. So James obviously picked up this mantra from Jesus, you know, the whole negativity on the rich type preaching! Well today we see how Jesus wants us to approach our service to him, when we love our neighbor we are to act and show kindness and spend money [hey, brisket isn’t cheap!] and do it all with a mindset that says ‘no, I am not doing all this so I can get some type of financial reward in the here and now, Jesus will reward me at the resurrection’ I like this stuff, you might not like it, but I love it.
(1182) I JUST GOT MARRIED AND AM NOT ALLOWED TO COME- Ouch! In Luke 14 Jesus gives the parable of the great supper; he says a man makes this great feast and sends out his servant to tell the intended guests ‘all things are ready NOW, it’s supper time’ [not breakfast time! Supper time is a time of completion, Galatians says the fullness of the times were already present in the 1st century]. So the servant goes and tells the people ‘come’. But the people make excuses, one says ‘I have bought some land and need to go see it’ [his lucrative real estate business was too important] another said ‘I have bought some ox and need to go try them out’ and the last guy said ‘I just got married, I can’t come’. It’s been said in the annals of famous repeated jokes from previous Pastors/Teachers that this was the only brother who had a legitimate excuse [sorry about this]. So the servant comes back to the man and says ‘I invited all the intended guests [1st century Israel] and they couldn’t come’ and the master gets mad and sends the servant back out to gather all the poor and lame and outcasts of society, and they come. But the original guests are left out. This parable, like all the others, must be seen in context. Obviously Jesus is speaking to the nation of Israel and telling them that as a nation their time has come, he is their Messiah and the supper is ready. In New Testament thought [as opposed to the multitude of various theologies that people espouse] the appearing of the Messiah in the first century was the defining moment in all of human history. The national rejection of Jesus by Israel did not postpone Gods intended Kingdom work. The other guests that came to the table were all the Gentile nations who benefited by the rejection of Israel [book of Romans]. The supper time indicates that Jesus initial presenting of himself to Israel was not a sort of evangelistic call to get saved [though that was a small part of it] but it was Gods plan for the ages being fulfilled, it was a passing away of a former age [law- Old Testament economy] and a bringing into existence of a new way, the Blood of Jesus and his New Covenant. This new way was presented as ‘a full course meal’ so to speak. It was there in its fullness and would be inaugurated by the Messiah, whether Israel wanted it or not. So when we read the epistles in the New Testament we read a story of God bringing in many Gentile nations, the non Jews are now considered citizens of God’s kingdom and fellow partakers of all the Divine blessings that were restricted to Israel under the first covenant [Ephesians]. When we read the New Testament it is important to read it thru the proper lens [this being one of the pairs of glasses!] when you do it this way it allows you to see the truth of many other things. It puts the proper perspective on things. We as Christians are not waiting for a Kingdom that has been postponed for 2 thousand years, but we are already partaking of the benefits of ‘the supper’. Sure, there will be a great future day when the King returns, that’s true. But we are already living in the Kingdom at this time. In essence we are the eternal generation that Jesus spoke about when he said ‘some of you will not die until all these things are fulfilled’. If you see this ‘some of you’ as the church age, the people of God from day 1 until now. Then truly some of our brothers and sisters have gone on to be with the Lord, but there are still some of us hanging out on the planet; but whether we are alive or not when Jesus returns, I know for sure that ‘this generation’ [the church] will not pass away until all these things are fulfilled [note- I am not saying this is the only way to read these verses, but I think there is much truth to some of the way I just taught it]
(1183) I HATE YOU! Felt like this was a prophetic word to all of my critics [KIDDING!] Jesus said unless we hated our families and lives we could not be a true disciple. Over the years I have seen the church go thru stages; one of the areas of popular teaching is the entire field of family life. Now to be sure the bible speaks about family life, husbands loving wives and bringing up their children in the fear of God. But I want to give you another side, while I don’t believe Jesus was speaking of ‘hate’ in a way that means anger, but I do believe the people of God have at times made ‘family things’ an idol. I remember years ago when first coming to Texas, I had a good friend who made the second trip back to Texas with me. He had a hard time [as I] in trying to make it as young kids in a strange new world [you know, cowboys and stuff shooting regularly in the streets- or Bush and his cronies running rough shod over the population as Cheney acts as an oil czar!] At one point my friend, who was now married and had kids, was having a hard time making it. We were both in our mid 20’s with families and kids. I had just started our church and he was an original member. My focus was on doing Gods work and branching out in outreach to as many people as possible. I was working at the Fire Dept. and doing my best to ‘run the church’. My friend told me one day he decided to leave Texas and take his family back to New Jersey, it was rough on him to be sure. At one point I could sense he was missing his natural family back home, he was raised by his Cuban grandmother [she used to make us some great Cuban food!] and he expressed a feeling of ‘wow, I can’t wait until I get back home and grandma can make us good food again’. While his love for his natural family back in Jersey was fine, yet he based his decision on past family affinities, as opposed to current situations. I felt he made a mistake in going back. Jesus challenged us to put his kingdom first, even ahead of well meaning family things, things that can be hindrances at times. When I first started helping street people and addicts, I had some people say ‘gee, why don’t you help your natural family and not worry about all these other people’ some thought I was rich and spending lots of money on these friends. Then when they found out I was simply doing it on a fire fighters salary [now a retirement check] they kind of had the feeling ‘gee, the guy doesn’t make that much, he shouldn’t be spending the little he has on these bums’. You know, you can’t win for losing! Jesus wants us to do what he says, sure he also wants us to be responsible people as well, good family lives and well adjusted kids. But as in any area of life, we need to keep the proper balance, there will be times when you will need to make a choice between what’s better for you and your family situation, or moving ahead by faith in the Kingdom. My buddy went back to eat some good Cuban food, but I fear he might have missed out on the real supper the Lord had for him in Texas.
(1184) LETS TONE DOWN THE RHETORIC As of this month [7-09] the president has been in office for 7 months, and we need to talk. First, the present media atmosphere [radio, TV, blog] is really bad. The racial accusations are too high, you have both ‘right’ and ‘left’ wing voices that are way over the top. The president also suffers from inexperience, though he is a smart man, he is very inexperienced in executive stuff. I remember how during the campaign this was an issue, many Obama supporters actually appealed to his experience at running his campaign as the actual experience that he had. Are we kidding ourselves or what? I mean serious voices said this, then if you asked these same media persons ‘what about the experience of Palin’ they would ridicule her experience as governor of Alaska and mayor. If you then asked ‘why aren’t you counting her campaign as experience’ the answer was not given. I like our president, he was asked how he wanted to fund health care reform, how would he pay for it. He said it wasn’t his idea to tax current health care benefits. Okay, got it. What about any specific ideas at all? The problem is he is asking his fellow Democrats to make the tuff choices, Max Baucus [top financial guy for the Dem's] is taking heat for trying to foster an agreement, his idea is you do need to take away the tax free benefit for other health care policies, this is a way he feels you can accomplish reform. But if the president is saying publicly ‘hey, that’s not my idea’ and at the same time asking them to pass something, hey, this doesn’t cut it. People don’t work like that. This is what you call ‘executive inexperience’ ah, maybe some of the critics were right after all. Fine, we are here now and we should support the president as much as possible. The media types who are playing the race issue are in dangerous territory. Frankly, some of them seem to really believe in the conspiratorial idea of the president being involved in some type of purposeful destruction of our economy for the sole purpose of instituting socialism. These guys really believe this! This is bad. But some of the liberal voices constantly accuse the critics of Obama as being racist, geez, can’t you disagree with a Black person without being tagged a racist. So both sides are going way overboard. Those who doubt the legitimacy of the presidents citizenship, okay, I think there a bit nuts. But why in the world does the president not release the actual birth certificate from Hawaii? By not doing this he feeds into the hysteria of the nuts. I heard Bernie Goldberg espouse the idea that Obama’s insiders [Rham Emanuel] are purposefully withholding the actual documents so they can associate the Republicans with the right wing nuts. That is the more the right wingers accuse Obama of not being a citizen, this feeds the ‘Limbaugh/Beck’ stereotypes and will help Obama in the end. I don’t know if Goldberg is right, but if he is this ‘Chicago’ style stuff is just as bad as Beck’s rants. And then Chris Matthews accuses the ‘birthers’ [those who question Obama’s citizenship] as trying to brand Obama as an illegal alien so they can deport him out of the country! As he interviewed Gordon Liddy he said ‘the papers reported Obama’s birth when he was born, this would mean his mother knew he would run for president someday and pre planned all the right moves’ Liddy tells him no, he says it’s perfectly possible for a good mother to want her son to have U.S. citizenship, and it’s possible that Obama was born in Kenya and quickly flew back into the states and the mom did her best to establish U.S. citizenship. Okay, stuff like this does happen, many Mexican moms have their kids on this side of the border for that very purpose. Do I think this happened with Obama? No. But those who do think this would benefit if the president released the real birth certificate, but once again he won’t do it, ah the politics of the whole thing. But Matthews is publicly stating that those who have doubts about this are claiming Obama was born ‘in the slums of Kenya’ and they are trying to get him deported because of his race, this is just as bad as what Beck does. Our president is not a socialist, he is not purposefully trying to destroy our economy for this purpose. But he is inexperienced, he very much underestimates the reality of spending way too much money at a time in our economy when we are still very shaky. We need to be able to disagree with people over real issues, without accusing each other of racism. We need to tone down the rhetoric on both sides. We need to pray for our president and the country.
(1185) THE SHEEP AND THE COIN- Once again Jesus stirs up the crowd, as his teaching ministry flourishes he gains a listening audience of tax collectors and sinners. Basically he’s speaking the language of the people. It’s interesting to note that around 70 % of the Old Testament quotes of Jesus found in the New Testament are taken from the Septuagint version of the Old Testament. This translation was a collaboration of 70 scholars [so the tradition goes] and was the Greek cultural version of the Old Testament that was popular in the Greek speaking world, it was also seen as an ‘impure’ version among the religious leaders of Judaism, it was not the most pure Hebrew text that the orthodox used. But Jesus was attempting to speak to the common people as much as possible and he wasn’t the type of preacher to engage in these long debates over the most pure text of scripture! So anyway he gives the stories of a man who lost 1 sheep out of 99 and goes and finds it; also the woman who lost 1 coin out of 10 and she too seeks for it. Jesus says that’s what he’s doing when he receives these so called low class people; he’s seeking the ones who are lost. He says when they find the lost sheep/coin they bring it home and call their neighbors and friends and rejoice with them. Jesus did put a priority on spiritual riches versus natural stuff, to seek the lost and save them was valuable in his eyes, to live your life based on class issues was not valuable. The religious leaders despised these down and out folk, they wouldn’t stoop so low as to actually befriend them. That was the real accusation they made against Jesus, he was ‘their friend’ this just irked the religious leadership terribly! It’s too easy for well meaning Christian leaders to live their lives in an environment where most of your time and thought is spent in public speaking, running the 501 c3 operation of ‘ the church’ and mingling with the elite crowd as much as possible. The lifestyle of Jesus was a total repudiation of this professional ministerial class, they were building their careers while Jesus was out looking for sheep.
(1186) PARABLE FROM A PARABLE- I woke up this morning and was praying for ‘my sons’ [this refers to all the people we are reaching out to] I had a dream and after thinking about it I felt the Lord wanted me to pray this. Then I opened Luke 15 and read ‘a certain man had 2 sons’ and figured I’d better do it. In Luke 15 we have the parable of the prodigal son, a younger son [inexperience] approaches his dad and requests too much money to soon [economic stimulus- 800 billion, possible health care cost- 1 trillion. You get the point] and the son goes into a far country and wastes the money [it could have had a better effect if spent properly, i.e.; I like Nancy Pelosi, but I heard her defend the Democratic plan for the economy as green jobs, energy reform and insurance reform, while these are noble things, they are not things that drive our economy] so after the son wastes his money, he repents and says ‘I will go back to my dad and admit I blew it, I will tell him I am no longer worthy to be called his son [doubting his legitimacy, citizenship!] and will work as a hired servant’. The father receives the son back, makes a huge feast [media adulation] and all is well. Oh wait, the older brother [more experienced conservative type, he knew all along that this younger inexperienced person would blow it, he’s just waiting for others to see it too] the older brother comes close to the house and hears all the ruckus ‘what’s going on’ he asks. They tell him your younger brother is home and your dad thru him this big bash. He gets mad, he says he has been doing right all these years, faithfully serving in a conservative way, he never wasted the people’s money! And now, after all this waste, this younger guy is getting all the credit for things. He’s being treated in a way that I have never been! Being appreciated and all. The older brother refuses to rejoice as well, he really doesn’t want the young brother to succeed. I believe many people who voted for ‘the young son’ thought he would be more main stream than he actually turned out. Some fiscal conservatives thought he would be a pragmatic type, who could talk to both sides and come down in the middle. The truth is he has turned out much more liberal than expected by the moderate group who voted for him. I am not saying this is bad in itself, but this is political reality. Now, there are some major things that can go either way right now, and I fear that some of the more conservative ‘brothers’ really don’t want the younger brother to make it. Just like they did to the last president [the Dem's to Bush]. The point is we do need to root for the success of the younger brother, even if his wasteful spending lead to ‘a famine in the land’ we need to allow room for rejoicing once again, and the possibility of things going well for all parties involved. It’s only natural for the older group to feel animosity towards the younger brother, he was treated with great bias by the media, they truly did a disservice to the country by not fairly presenting both sides. Too much adulation, I heard a recording of two reporters at one of the appearances of Obama during his campaign. On the air they were having a conversation about Obama’s I.Q. it went like this ‘What do you think his I.Q. is? I don’t know, but it must be one of the highest I.Q.’s of any president ever. Do you have any idea what the number is? No, but I have a feeling it’s really high’ now, lets be honest, when the opponents hear this stuff, they develop a natural animosity to the man. The older brother heard the tremendous noise from the party, a party he really didn’t deserve. And this caused him to not want to side with the younger man. The father finally says ‘look, you are all in this together, you could have partaken of the inheritance all along, just like your brother is doing now’ the father turned the conversation from ‘us versus them’ to one of ‘we are all the same family’ I think we need to heed this parable.
(1187) CASH FOR CLUNKERS- In Luke 16 we have the parable of the steward who wasted his master’s money. Jesus says there was this employee who was reported to have swindled his boss. The boss calls him on the carpet and the employee gets busted. He thinks ‘geez, I am going to lose my job [you know, the recession and all] what will I do for cash?’ [Oh, I don’t know. What about taking whatever you can find?] He says ‘I can’t dig [why not?] to beg I am ashamed [now we are running out of options] I know, I’ll contact all my bosses debtors and reduce their bills’. He takes option number 3 and gets in good with the guys who owed his boss money. Notice, this option really didn’t produce wealth, it simply lost it. Right now our country is doing the ‘cash for clunkers’ program, you can take your old gas guzzler in and the govt. pays the dealer $4,500 dollars for the car. The dealer then destroys it. The idea is the govt. is getting the polluters off the road while the dealers are doing business. You know how many of these clunkers could put my buddies to work? Guys trying to buy clunkers for a few hundred, these so called clunkers that are being traded in are pretty good vehicles. If you simply gave them to unemployed people who really needed them this would help them and the economy. How many junk yards could have done business with the parts? I realize the reason for destroying them is for environmental concerns, but we are having major unemployment right now, this deal doesn’t help them. So the steward wrote off some value. Then at the end the Lord commends the guy for being wise, doing what he had to do. The parable ends with the famous verse ‘you cannot serve God and money, if you try and do both you will wind up hating one and loving the other’ note to you readers, if this verse just offended you, in a small sense you are ‘hating one of them’ right now. I like Jesus forward preaching, you never left the sermon wondering what his point was. In life we all do what we need to at times, this employee cut off two viable options right at the start [work, beg] make sure the reason you seem to have no options isn’t because your standards are too high. I get a kick out of some of my buddies who wont work for a ‘measly 7 dollars an hour’ but have no problem dumpster diving for a left over pizza! Sometimes we are the problem. And sometimes we are ‘unprofitable’ because we are too caught up in the material pursuits of life. Jesus does say those who were not faithful in temporary riches [money] would be unfaithful in the true riches [spiritual wealth]. I know there are many ideas on what this means, but one way we become faithful in natural wealth is by not letting it consume us, by not being too preoccupied with the obtaining of the stuff. These are the main points of Jesus in these stories; we seem to miss the main points a little too much.
(1188) Right after Jesus gives the parable of the wise steward [Luke 16] he launches into the parable of the rich man and Lazarus [yes, I know some think it not a parable! I explained this before] it’s like Jesus was hitting the subject of riches and poverty thru the whole chapter. In verse 14 the bible says the Pharisees, who were covetous, were there. We often don’t think of them as covetous, Jesus says they esteemed the things of men highly while those things that men value are an abomination in Gods eyes. They valued their image/status a lot, how others viewed them. Often times people seek wealth and fame for these reasons, thus they coveted money for the wrong reasons. Jesus also speaks of John the Baptist ‘the law and the prophets were until John; since John came on the scene the Kingdom is being declared’. John was a transitional figure, the people of Jesus day knew lots about the law and prophets, they were sticklers when it came to ‘bible facts’ but John came on the scene and turned the tables upside down. He was a different sort of preacher, that’s for sure! With the preaching of John [and Jesus] all of a sudden there was this whole new context to put everything else in. The didactic teaching of the Old Testament was not being seen in context. Jesus himself will show his men all the things that were written about him in the law and prophets. In the end of this chapter Jesus tells the rich man that if his brothers don’t hear ‘the law and the prophets’ then they will not listen, even if one rises from the dead. Jesus was showing us that it’s possible to know bible facts, without really grasping the reality of God. I just read an interesting article in Christianity Today magazine [8-09] it showed how the countries of Latin America were being inundated with a very limited preaching of the prosperity gospel. How the country is flooded with ‘Christian TV’ and how many uneducated preachers have gotten a hold of the principle of ‘sow money into my ministry and God will bless you’ yet many of these ministries have no real preaching of the gospel. Jesus rebuked the lifestyle of the Pharisees because of their underlying sin of covetousness, they knew how to quote scripture and function as religious leaders of the community, yet they weren’t really listening to the one whom scripture testified of [Him]!
(1189) In Luke 17 the Pharisees ask Jesus when the Kingdom of God is going to come, Jesus tells them that the kingdom does not come by observing things; it’s not about geopolitical events if you will, but it is ‘within you’. He then says some will come and say ‘see here’ or ‘look there’ and Jesus says ‘go not after them, don’t follow them’. What were the Pharisees asking Jesus? To the first century Jewish mind, their expectation of the kingdom entailed the setting up of the messianic rule thru the messiah. They were looking for an outward, physical kingdom that would be set up at the capital city of Jerusalem and throw off the dominion of Roman rule. They in essence were looking for the same exact thing that the modern prophecy teachers have popularized over the last 50 years or so, they wanted Jesus on the throne and openly fighting off Israel’s physical enemies. Jesus clearly told them this was not the way the kingdom would come, or be expressed. He also warned of those who would be obsessed with ‘looking there’ or ‘seeing here’ those who would be scanning the geopolitical landscape with the goal of finding specific signs that would ‘hasten the kingdom’. Over the years I have observed various strains of belief that exist within the Christian church, I have always been uneasy about the proliferation of end time books that espouse a very limited view of end time events. Many of these scenarios are a compilation of prophetic portions of scripture from all over the bible, but they seem to ‘paste’ them together as one divine master plan that will all culminate in our day. They take Daniel, Ezekiel, Thessalonians, the Gospels and Revelation and seem to find a pattern that has all these various references speaking of one specific period of time, namely the late 20th [or early 21st] century. These passages speak of ‘the beast’ ‘the anti christ’ ‘the prince that will come’ and other descriptions of wicked men and rulers, but they apply all these verses to one man who is yet to appear on the scene. This is not the proper way to do ‘bible study’. Some of these passages might refer to the same person, but some have had their fulfillment centuries [or millennia] ago. Let’s just hit one scenario for today. In Daniel we read of a prince that will come and in the middle of the last week [7 year period] will cause the sacrifice to cease. Most commentators teach this in a way that has a future ruler who is yet to establish a peace treaty with Israel and in the middle of a 7 year period he breaks the covenant and stops the sacrifices that are taking place in a restored Jewish temple based out of Jerusalem. Now, the prophecies of the Old Testament do have remarkable accuracy. You find the appearing of Jesus prophesied to the tee from the 490 year prophecy of the ‘70 weeks’ of years. You can actually trace the years of the prophecy and they do bring you right up until the time of Christ’s appearing to Israel in the first century. But what about the last 7 [or 3.5] years? Does the prophecy about ‘the prince causing the sacrifice to cease’ mean that we have to postpone the last 7 year period for at least 2 thousand years? Right after Jesus appeared to Israel he entered into a 3 and a half year period of ministry, he in essence was with them for the first part of the last week. What happened in the middle of the week? He dies on a Cross and becomes the final sacrifice that God will ever accept for the sins of man. He in effect was the prince that caused the sacrifice to cease in the middle of the last week. But what about the other 3 and a half years? And the abomination that makes desolate that Jesus himself talked about? Let’s see, you have the nation of Israel rejecting the messiah for a 40 year testing period. They continue to practice animal sacrifices and this practice itself is called an abomination in the book of Hebrews. God was telling the 1st century Jewish community that they had so much time to accept or reject their messiah. 40 years has always been a time of probation for Israel. But they continued to reject the final sacrifice of Jesus right up until the destruction of their city and temple in A.D. 70. When Rome sacked the city under the military leader Titus, they actually besieged it for 3 and a half years. This time period was considered one of the most terrible times of trials for the nation. It was reported that women actually reverted to eating their own babies! There were also a few candidates for the ‘abomination that makes desolate, standing in the holy place’ you had the zealots [radical group] who actually desecrated the holy of holies on purpose to bring a quick uprising, you had various periods of time where certain Roman emperors attempted to set up an image of themselves in the sacred court [Caligula]. You had times where swine were purposefully sacrificed on the altar of God [Antiochus Epiphanies in the days of the Maccabees] and of course you had the actual sacrificing of animals, which the New Testament describes as an ‘abomination’ taking place in the city of Jerusalem. The point is we have a whole bunch of historic events that we can look at and see if they play any role in the various scattered prophecies in scripture. I am not saying that this view is the only valid view, but we have a type of ‘prophecy teaching’ that takes place in the U.S. that seems to discount all these other options. It is a view that is obsessed with outward signs and telling the average Christian ‘look over here, see this sign’ it is a view that Jesus rebuked when he was confronting the Pharisees. They, of all people, had every right to believe that Gods kingdom was about an actual setting up of a military type rule that would throw off Israel’s enemies, Jesus flatly told them that this was not what the kingdom was about. If the Jews of the first century were told not to look at the kingdom thru this lens, how much more should the American church re evaluate her view on end time things?
(1190) In Luke 18 Jesus gives the story of the woman who keeps hounding the judge for vengeance, the judge is not a good man. He does not fear God or care about man, yet he finally avenges the woman because of her consistent pleading. Jesus says we should learn the principle of consistent prayer thru this story. At the end of this chapter a blind man comes to Jesus and begs for mercy, Jesus asks ‘what do you want me to do’? The man says ‘restore my sight’ Jesus did. Some times we as believers overlook the obvious, we plan and scheme and strategize, we come up with bible formulas to make stuff happen, often times we forget to simply ask. Now, sometimes we have to wait for a while before we see results, but it is during these waiting periods that God enlarges us. I like studying Cosmology [universe] and science, one of the major breakthroughs in science occurred in the last century with Hubbell’s discovery of the expanding universe. Some have a limited idea of what this means; for instance if you took a game board and placed a bunch of stars and planets on the board, you could move the planets and stars away from the earth and it would give the appearance that the earth is the center of the universe, how else could everything be moving away from one point, unless that point were the center? Well this really isn’t what is meant by the expanding universe, a better model would be like taking a balloon and placing a bunch of stars and planets on the balloon, as the balloon inflates the stars and planets all move away from all the other points at the same time. The stars and planets are not actually moving; they are simply part of an expanding universe. So in this model the earth would not necessarily be at the center, because the expanding universe creates an environment where all things are expanding at once. Okay, I don’t know if you got it or not, the point I want to make is during times of waiting and asking and trusting, God ‘expands our universe’ if you will, he doesn’t just bring us along further down the road [distance] but he ‘enlarges our steps under us’ [Psalms] The bible says a mans gift makes ‘room’ for him. Jesus said he was going away to prepare a place for us, that in his Fathers house there were many rooms/mansions. We often read this as meaning Jesus is building us a spot in heaven. A better reading would be that Jesus was leaving the disciples so that they would ‘move into the room/place’ that God had for them [on the planet]. His leaving would allow the Spirit to come and then they would function in the capacity that God had for them. Sort of like saying ‘I am leaving to prepare a place for your gifts and abilities to function, they will only function by me leaving and creating space for you to function in by my absence’ got it? So the bible says a mans gift makes room/space for him, it expands your field of operation. The gifts are described as precious stones, in whatever way it turns it prospers. This speaks of a multifaceted gem, a diamond that you can observe from many different angles. During times of waiting God allows us to grow, not just in size, but depth. The bible says ‘God stretches out the heavens’ this is a good description of the expanding universe, given centuries before science knew about it. God also taught us that we would grow and expand during seasons of waiting and trusting, I think he knew what he was talking about.
(1191) THANK GOD I’M NOT LIKE YOU! - Jesus said 2 men went up to the church house [temple] to pray; one was a tax collector [a despised class in the 1st century, they collected taxes for the Roman govt. from their own people [Jews] they were seen as sell outs] the other man was a Pharisee, those who were deemed more holy than everyone else. You know, the whole aura of the room would change when these guys showed up [the preacher/pastor is here, watch what you say type of a thing] the Pharisee prayed ‘I thank you God that I am not like other men, adulterers, liars and even like this low class neighbor of mine, this tax collector’ he saw his religious life as a means to self betterment. Something that made him a cut above the rest. He tithed, fasted and attended the temple meetings. Now the tax collector was struggling with guilt, the weight of all the years of being hated and despised, sure he pretended it was just part of the job, but it affected him. He even feels unwanted at the temple, I mean this Pharisee is using him in his sermon illustration for heavens sake! He does not even feel worthy enough to look into the eyes of other people, fearing he might see someone that he has had shady dealings with in his extortion type job. He simply says ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner’ Jesus said this man went back home accepted in Gods eyes, the religious leader did not. This week [8-09] the congress went on break, they are back home in their districts and getting an earful, angry constituents chewing them out. The conservative media says these folks are mom and pop types, just innocent citizens expressing themselves. The liberal media say they are republican plants who are part of the K street lobbying conspiracy to thwart health care by the corrupt insurance profiteers! Probably a little truth to both views. The problem is our country has about 20-25 % who are uninsured [around 40-50 million people] the rest of the population has insurance, when the liberal media portrays the country as being willing to sacrifice their present system [whether it’s broken or not] and to have a possible increase in taxes, when the media says the 80 % of the insured really do want to do this for the 20 %, they are not being realistic. I want universal health care, I don’t have insurance right now and I need it! But the reality is most Americans are not willing to make more sacrifices for a group of uninsured people who for whatever reason have not been able to get insurance. Many seniors are worried that their Medicare will be affected, it surely will. Right now about half the country wants it, about half say leave the thing alone. Our society measures ‘winners’ by the success that they have attained, one of the scoreboards is how well you are doing compared to the next guy ‘I thank thee that I am insured, been responsible, done what I was supposed to do. I give tithes/taxes of all that I possess, fasted [been frugal] but look at this other 20 %, they are reaping what they sowed, sure they don’t have health care, but why couldn’t they have done the responsible thing and gotten it like me? Now you’re asking me to sacrifice for them’ the main reason why people are against it is not because the conservative lobbyists have tricked grandma to go to the town hall meeting and scream, the reason is people will only go so far to ‘help the other guy’ when you tell people that they should be willing to make all types of sacrifices for the betterment of the whole, this usually does not work. Some people are saying ‘hey, I don’t even have a job and you’re asking me to agree to support one of the biggest expenditures in U.S. history’. There are many reasons why people are disgruntled, as of today I think the president is not going to pass reform. Maybe some type of a private co-op thing, but not reform with a public option [like Medicare]. When society digresses to a point where one group is pitted against the other, ugly things happen. Both sides [liberal/conservative] have misrepresented stuff, have used racial/class distinctions to fight the other side, no group has clean hands in this stuff. The church/people of God should function with a higher morality, speak with a clear voice and not misrepresent issues or people. I believe that overall, we should have true health care reform. I realize there are many pros and cons to the debate, but as a principle, we should strive to provide care for all Americans whether or no they can afford it. This principle is noble, it doesn’t help when both sides brand the other as the real enemy, look at the issue, take a principled stand and let the chips fall where they may.
(1192) ARE WE SUPPOSED TO BE DUMMIES? Still in Luke 18, the disciples forbid the young children from coming to Jesus; Jesus rebukes the disciples and tells them that the Kingdom of God is made up of little children. There is a theme in the New Testament that goes like this ‘become childlike in your faith and trust in me, but be mature in your thinking and understanding’. Often times these two things are confused. Why? In the letter to the Corinthians Paul will rebuke the wisdom of the world, he states that when he was among them he did not use men’s wisdom to convince them of the message of the Cross. Paul also encourages believers to be ‘child like’ as well. Many confuse Paul’s teaching with an idea that says Christians should not be engaged in the development of the mind. Paul was not rebuking all wisdom and forms of knowledge, but a specific kind of wisdom. In Acts 17 we read of Paul at Athens, the Greek intellectual city of his day [Alexandria was the philosophical center in Egypt]. As Paul disputes with the philosophers of his day he actually quotes their own poets/philosophers in his sermon, he does not quote from the Old Testament, but uses the sources that they are familiar with. Right after Athens Paul goes to Corinth, the cities are very close geographically. There was a form of philosophy at Corinth that was very popular, you had the Sophists and the professional speakers [Rhetoric] operating out of Corinth. The Sophists were the philosophers that came right before Socrates in the Greek cultural world, around 6 centuries or so before Christ. Their form of philosophy was what you would describe as the first Relativists [or post modern thinkers who appeal to subjective knowledge as opposed to objective] they taught that philosophy and arguing were simply things you do ‘just for the heck of it’. Sort of like a hobby of simply disputing things while never being able to arrive at truth, something Paul will rebuke in the New Testament by saying some people were ‘always learning and never being able to come to the knowledge of the truth’ Paul himself tells the Corinthians ‘where is the disputer of this world’. So the Sophists were famous for this type of thing. Now the great philosopher Socrates disagreed with the Sophists, Socrates taught that thru the practice of thorough debate and the art of constantly asking questions, that you could arrive at truth [seek and ye shall find type of a system]. He believed real knowledge could be found thru seeking after it. Socrates stirred the waters too much, he was put to death by being made to drink the famous hemlock, the city where this happened was Athens. So Paul more than likely is disputing the system of thought that said you could not arrive at objective truth. It’s no secret that his letter to the Corinthians has one of the strongest statements of factual [objective] belief found in the New Testament. The great chapter 15 reads like an early creed to the church ‘Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures…’ It’s very probable that this chapter was used as a sort of creed in the early Pauline churches. So, what exactly was Paul saying [and Jesus] when they taught us to be like children, to reject the wisdom of the world for the wisdom of Christ? Simply that our approach to God and the things of God should be done in a humble manner, being childlike and open to God all throughout our lives. Paul was not teaching us that the following ages of great Christian thinkers was wrong; men like Anselm, Aquinas, C.S. Lewis and G.K. Chesterton. It is perfectly acceptable for the believer to become well versed in the field of philosophy, to argue the Christian worldview from a biblical perspective. While it is true that no church was founded by Paul after his Athens visit, and some feel he abandoned his use of ‘worldly wisdom’ at Corinth because of this failure, but I think Paul continued to appeal to the intellectual world thru his great wisdom [God given] thru out his life [read Galatians and Romans!]. Ultimately it is the wisdom of the Cross that saves people, a wisdom that Paul said he communicated not in the words of mans intellect, but in the direct ability of the Spirit to speak. Sometimes that ability came thru a sermon that quoted the philosophers of old [Athens] sometimes thru the simple sharing of the message of Christ. Jesus grew in wisdom and stature with God and man, he knew the ideas of his day, so did Paul. Do you?
(1193) The rich ruler asks Jesus ‘what good thing must I do to inherit eternal life’? Jesus responds ‘you know the commandments, do these and you will live’. The man says I have kept them since I was a kid, Jesus says there is still one thing lacking ‘go, sell all that you have, give it to the poor. And come and follow me, you will have treasure in heaven’. As you continue thru the chapter [Luke 18] you see that Jesus then gives the famous ‘it is easier for a camel to pass thru the eye of a needle than for a rich man to make it to heaven’. The disciples wonder ‘who then can be saved’ and they also tell Jesus they forsook all in this life to follow him, Jesus says they will be rewarded both now and in the future for their sacrifice. Now, I explained this section of scripture many times over the years, the camel quote and what Jesus was telling Peter about ‘getting more in this life and later as well’ either read the short book ‘house of prayer or den of thieves’ [on this site] or go thru the ‘prosperity gospel/word of faith’ section on this blog for an explanation. I just want to hit on one angle today, over the years it has become popular to make a charge against the historic church that when they made vows of poverty and did stuff like that, that they were simply being deceived out of the truth of wealth and the devil tricked them into ‘forsaking all to follow him’. Many preachers who have made this charge are well meaning men who have been wrongly influenced by the prosperity/materialistic gospel without realizing it. In this story Jesus clearly challenges the rich person to sell his goods, give to the poor and follow him. If this type of teaching was limited to this one story, then I could see where people might be taking it out of context, but this theme of choosing Christ over the material pursuits of life is woven all throughout the New Testament. You find it in the writing of the epistles, the book of Acts, the Revelation of John. I mean this is a central theme of scripture. To charge that the people in church history who have actually felt that Jesus wanted them to ‘sell all and follow him’ to say that they were being tricked into doing this by ‘church tradition’ simply is not true. Many believers have made these choices because of what they read in the bible, many of them went on to found great worldwide movements [some of the famous Monastic movements were started this way] and their lives truly were a fulfilling of this type of teaching. In essence they left the pursuit of material wealth and founded movements that continue today for the cause of Christ. I do realize why many well meaning Pastors have overlooked this, but this still does not excuse the fact that a majority of the New Testament speaks against the pursuit of wealth versus the Kingdom of God. It wasn’t a Bishop, or Pope, or Reformer or Orthodox priest who told the man ‘sell all you have and give it to the poor’ it was Jesus himself! I think it’s time we stop accusing the saints of old who have made this same decision because of the words of Christ, they were not acting out of ignorance or tradition. It is our modern day ignorance that often is the problem.
(1194) HELP THE POOR AND YOU WILL GET TEN CITIES- It’s Sunday morning right now, around 4:40 a.m., just finished around an hour and a half prayer time. I want to mention that there are regular prayer times when I pray a specific intercession thing, and also just times where I talk without any particular structure. I have noticed that the structure really helps a lot, when you’re done praying your focus is much stronger, just a hint to all you Pastors/leaders. Now, I was going to do Zacchaeus [Luke 19] but think I will just hit a few things. Notice in the story that when he repents, he ‘gives half of his goods to the poor’. Also in our last post I mentioned how the rich ruler was told to ‘sell his goods and distribute to the poor’. Ever wonder why these guys don’t feel lead to run down to the temple and put in a tithe? We have a habit of reading the bible thru a certain lens, that lens ‘colors’ everything else. Now, when Jesus gives the story of the guys who were given so much money [pounds] and then when he returns he asks ‘what did you gain’ you’ll notice that the 10 pounds [around $450.00 dollars] gained the same amount, good, this guy gets ‘10 cities’. The guy with 5 pounds [around $250.00 dollars] gets 5 cities and the guy who hid the pound in the ground loses out. As I was reading this story, I realized that the money I spend every month on ministry stuff is between ‘5-10’ pounds. That covers all of the stuff I do, yet when praying this morning I realized that we are regularly preaching/reaching a whole region of Texas [at least 10 cities] plus the New Jersey area, and of course thru radio, blog and paper ads we have contacts all over the world. What! How can you have a ‘10 city outreach’ [large region] with only ten pounds? Don’t you know we need millions to reach the world? There goes that stinkin thinkin again. Jesus said ‘the things that are impossible with men [like reaching a large region with 10 pounds] are possible with God’. I want to challenge you today [especially you leaders] have you fallen into a mindset that sees money as the solution to the problem? Do you see ‘faithfulness to God’ thru the lens of giving money to ‘the church’? How often do you regularly, personally meet the needs of others out of your own pocket? When we obey the Lord in giving to the poor [not thru the church budget, but personally] then God will increase your parameters. As I was doing the Sunday morning prayer thing a little while ago, I walk around the yard and prayer over regions. I have around a 5 foot section of railroad track set up in my yard, these are real parts of track and piling that I picked up over a year period when they were tearing up all the old tracks and putting new ones in. They are a composite road of all the cities that I used to drive thru on my way to work. When I pray in the yard and see the tracks it reminds me of the Lord increasing our parameter. I used to personally drive by the tracks in Kingsville when picking people ‘up for church’ now we reach all the cities on a regular basis, the ‘10 cites’ if you will. Be faithful in the little and God will give you 10 cities.
(1195) Was reading Psalms 19 and it speaks of Gods law being perfect; it converts [restores] the soul, makes us wise. By them we are warned and in keeping of them there is great reward. It reminds me of James ‘be ye doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves’. Some day I will teach the letter of James in its entirety, it is important and generally misunderstood. Many Reformers [I lean towards reformed theology personally] tend to say that James was saying ‘the faith that saves is active/working faith’ and that’s what James was talking about. While this certainly is true, James does say ‘see how Abraham/Rahab were saved/justified by their works’. This statement is saying something different than just ‘the faith that saves is active’ this is saying these folks ‘were saved’ by their works. I believe in the classic Pauline doctrine of justification by faith, don’t get me wrong. I think we miss it when we don’t leave room for something like ‘see how God also declared them righteous/acceptable when they did good works’. I think the statement ‘saved by works’ can actually mean something different than ‘accepted the Lord and got saved’. The solution is in seeing the fluent language of the New Testament when it deals with salvation/justification [soteriology]. It’s perfectly biblical to say ‘these people were saved [declared pleasing and acceptable in Gods eyes] by their works’ without having to apply it to the initial act of legal justification that Paul emphasizes in Romans/Galatians. Well I cant do it all right now, but will get to it someday. Today’s point was ‘keeping Gods commands, doing what he says’ brings great reward. It is easy to fall into the trap of becoming a professional learner/hearer of Gods word. Basically seeing our role as someone who learns a lot about the bible, preaches it, talks about it, but has little time to actually apply the things that it says. I was listening to a preacher who excelled high up the ranks of scholarly things; he became very smart in many things. He earned his masters and other degrees and was an accomplished writer and theologian. He then shared how the Lord began leading him to actually obey the things he learned in the Gospels. To take literally the words of Jesus on serving others and giving all your material goods away to serve the poor. He did it. He left his influential position as a teaching scholar, he moved to a foreign country and started a mission to the poor. I heard him speak on TV. I find it interesting that it can be so easy to make Gods word and Christian doctrine a priority, that is we can master knowledge of the things in them, but yet we might not actually be doing what it says. This is a danger for all of us. A big part of the present challenge to ‘institutional church’ deals with this. Many organic/community based movements are trying to get back to functioning and acting like the early churches acted. I of course think this is a good thing. One of the dangers can be falling into the trap of seeing ‘how we meet’ as the main criteria of what’s really ‘true church’ versus ‘institutional’. The New Testament does not teach that the way we as believers meet is the way to identify who are ‘true or not’. The New Testament says those who do the works are the ones who are of God. Works in an active/charitable sense, you know ‘pure religion before God is visiting the fatherless and widows in their affliction and keeping yourself unspotted from the world’ type thing. So anyway today we learned that actually doing what God says brings great reward. It’s good to pray and read the bible and attend church, but if we are not doing the stuff, we are missing out.
(1196) WE STILL KILL THE PROPHETS- At the end of Luke 19 Jesus rebukes Jerusalem for not knowing the time of her visitation. He says there were things that were presently part of her peace, but because of a wrong ‘timing’ issue, she couldn’t see them. In Revelation 21 we read of the New Jerusalem, God’s holy city. The chapter says she is the Bride, the Lambs wife. She is ‘coming down from God out of heaven’ this city truly is a product of God. Jesus sits at the right hand of the father as its head, a ‘present’ [not future!] reality. In the New Testament the church is described as ‘The Israel of God’ ‘The New Jerusalem’ ‘The Bride of Christ’ ‘The City of God’ it’s not hard to see that John is speaking of the church. He also says there was no temple in the new city, but the lamb is the light of this city and God dwells [tabernacles] directly in this city with his people. The gates of the city bear the names of the 12 tribes of Israel and the ‘foundation’ has the names of the 12 Apostles, this being a symbol for the church being comprised of both Jew and Gentile people [though the Apostles are also Jewish, they represent the new Gentile church, and the 12 tribes show that natural Israel would still play a part, but only as she is connected with the church]. In the New Testament [and Revelation] natural Jerusalem and natural Israel are described in strikingly bad terms, John calls her ‘spiritual Sodom, the place where our Lord was crucified’. The writer of Hebrews says those who continue in the sacrificial system and law, after the Cross, are treading the Blood of Jesus under foot. The basic theme of the New Testament is that thru this New Covenant in Jesus Blood, all nations and people groups [including Israel] can partake of this new City that comes down from God out of heaven. The temple and its sacrifices are associated with ‘old Jerusalem’ and the coming judgment [that came in A.D. 70]. John’s description of the new city having no temple was theologically significant; he was saying the old law system had no part in her. Truly the book of Revelation is a wonderful prophetic book given to the ‘new Jerusalem’ and Jesus himself said the things that John wrote about were realities that would ‘happen soon’ [soon even to the 1st century readers of the letters!] Johns prophetic vision [actually Jesus’] is a wonderful prophecy that belongs to us, it is ‘part of our peace’ if you will, but because we know not the ‘time of our visitation’ many of the things written in it are hidden from our eyes.
(1197) JESUS ASKS A QUESTION- In the beginning of Luke 20, the religious leaders ask Jesus who gave him the right to do what he was doing ‘who gave you this authority’? He tells them ‘I will answer you if you answer my question’ say on ‘the baptism of John [John’s destiny to impact the nations] was it from men or God’. Jesus clearly shows us that there are 2 different ways that men receive authority, from men or God. Now the religious leaders were no idiots, they knew that John was a prophet from God. So they reason among themselves that if they say God, then Jesus will say ‘why didn’t you believe him’ and if they say ‘from men’ well all the people would be in an uproar, they knew John’s mission was from God. So they tell Jesus ‘we can’t answer the question’ Jesus says neither will I answer you. What was going on here? Religion in general has certain protocols that people go thru to receive authority to function. In Jesus day you had all the hoops that the Pharisees and religious rulers jumped thru to become legitimate, to ‘be ordained’. Jesus operated outside of that system. Now, this did not mean that all those ‘in the system’ were not of God [you know, the strong anti –institutional church thing] but yet Jesus and John were not ordained in that way. Over the years I have seen how certain limited views of ‘local church’ and what it means to be ordained have at times fallen into this mindset. Ordination, in the bible [Paul ordaining/recognizing elders] was the simple process of Paul telling the local believers who they could look up to and go to for advice in his absence; it was a simple type of a thing. Though Paul himself had the official ordination of the day [he was a Pharisee] yet he himself would say that he had to go thru a process where he counted that past as ‘dung’ so he could gain Christ [Philippians]. His past knowledge and learning was not dung, but the whole idea of status and legitimacy that came thru that way of feeling authorized/accepted had to be abandoned. I believe the Lord uses both ‘ordained’ and un-ordained people to carry out his mission on the earth, when people are sent by God with a divine mandate, their authority comes directly from God. Ordination and all the other tools that the Christian church has used over the years are okay things in their proper place. But when it comes down to the bottom line, your authority either comes from God or man. I think I know who’s I want, how bout you?
(1198) GET OFF THE TRACKS! Jesus said the stone that the builders rejected became the head of the corner, the chief cornerstone. Whoever falls on the stone will break, but whoever the stone falls on, watch out, you will be ground into dust! Jesus said this in the context of Israel rejecting him as the Messiah. Christians are notorious for making the main thing a side issue, and then making side issues the main thing. In the history of Christianity there have been numerous times when the Lord used people to encourage radical change in the church. Right before the 16th century Reformation you had a sort of pre reform movement. The English scholar/clergyman John Wycliffe headed up a strong teaching ministry out of England [14-15th centuries]. He had such a strong influence on the population that during the Catholic repression of his movement many people died all over the country. Wycliffe taught the basic New Testament doctrine of the mystical church, he had said that the true church consists of all the spiritual children of God, whether they are part of the institutional church or not. He did not claim that there were no believers in the Catholic Church, but he resisted the idea that God had placed the sole authority on the earth within her. He rejected the Petrine doctrine of the Pope. His books were eventually condemned and he died for his position. Then you had John Huss, the Bohemian reformer [modern day Czech Republic] who also headed up a strong movement in his land, he was a student of the writings of Wycliffe and many local Bohemians supported him. He too would eventually be killed for his position. A few years ago the Catholic Church officially did an investigation into their treatment of Huss, they apologized for the mistakes made and recognized that Huss accepted the Pauline idea of the mystical church versus the Papal system. I found it interesting that the church acknowledged that there was a difference between the two. These men were fire starters who’s ‘fires’ would burn right up until the present day. Jesus said when you live in a time of significance, a time when God is doing real reform. You can respond in a few different ways; you can resist the thing the Lord is doing and hurt your purpose and destiny, in effect you can ‘fall on the rock and be broken’. You can fight the thing God is doing [the main stone] and suffer for it. Or you can find yourself sitting on the tracks, not realizing that the thing ‘the stone’ [prophetic voices] is targeting are the actual things you are doing! When that happens the best option is to get off the tracks, these reformers have a tendency to not slow down.
(1199) WHY ME? As we wrap up Luke 20, we see Jesus dealing with a few issues. The religious leaders are trying to trick him into saying something that will offend the people [or the govt.] ‘Should we pay taxes or not’ one of those questions that gets you into trouble no matter what you say, Jesus answered with wisdom. Again they put a question to him about the resurrection; he stumps them on this one too! Now it’s his turn ‘you tell me, how can Christ be David’s son if David prophesied about him, saying “the Lord said unto my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool” [Jesus was quoting King David in Psalms]. They had no idea how to handle his wisdom, they decided to go another route [like crucify him]. I find it amazing that Jesus saw himself in the prophetic portions of the Psalms, I mean He and the Father and Spirit all existed together from eternity, they had a Divine counsel that knew that one of them would eventually become man and die for the world. Yet the Holy Spirit would ‘give voice’ to the Sons agony and victory before the Son was born into a human body. Sort of like a pre incarnation of the Spirit thru the prophets, King David being one of the most significant of the prophets. Jesus would see his own agony being prophesied thru the prophets ‘my God, my God, why have you forsaken me’- ‘thou hast done this to me’ David would say in Psalms 22. I read a good article last week about a Christian professor from Harvard. He shared how thru out the years he felt guilty that he had such a good life, that things always seemed to turn out good for him. Then one day he had a flat, got out of the car to change the tire and did something to his back. Since that time he has suffered chronic back pain that is excruciating, I could identify. Then after he took the job at Harvard one of his children contracted a deadly disease and his marriage was on the rocks. Then he found out that he had cancer, they treated him and he prayed that the lord would heal him, after a year or so it has spread to his lungs and other areas, he has around a year or so to live. He shared his thoughts and spoke of the sovereignty of God. Talked about what the biblical characters went thru, things that they suffered. He placed everything in proper balance and understood that though God didn’t ‘do this to him’ yet God did permit it to happen. I also realize that there are whole belief systems that as soon as they read this entry they started looking for the reasons ‘a ha, see, he didn’t know/practice a positive confession. That’s what happened’ this belief system confronts the suffering person with the same accusations of Job’s friends, not much help when your going thru hell. Jesus was reading the Psalms ever since he was a boy, he began seeing how he was fulfilling something that was put into action before the foundation of the world was laid. He was the second person of the Trinity who would come to the planet and suffer many things, he would be rejected of men and rise on the third day. He knew a lot was riding on his shoulders, he must have been impacted to some degree when he realized he was reading his own biography thru the writings of Kind David, especially when he said ‘thou hast done this to me’.
(1200) MICHAEL VICK, THE LIBERAL MEDIA AND OTHER MUSINGS- Yesterday Michael Vick, the football player who did 18 months in prison for running an illegal dog fighting operation, was reinstated by the N.F.L and signed on with the eagles. I heard 2 conservative pundits debate it. One said lets forgive, the other wanted Vick to serve the whole term [I think 10 years]. Michael is a black man and racial tensions are high right now in the country. I am an animal lover; own many cats and 2 dogs. You have had other pro athletes accused/involved in actual cases where people were murdered. Some were involved in shooting crimes and all sorts of stuff. These guys played the game right thru the legal wrangling and some never paid any penalty at all. I think Vick should have been suspended for 18 months [no prison time] and paid a fine. I am not excusing what he did, but in comparison to the way others have been dealt with, I think this would have been a better deal. Of course he should play again, it’s the mans livelihood for heavens sake! Now, the disaster that is taking place with health care and the town hall meetings. First, President Obama is very inexperienced at actually running things. I like and pray for the man regularly, but he has made some major mistakes. The strategy he used to try and pass health care reform was to not personally shape the plan, but let congress do it. They went into the current recess with 5 plans floating on Capitol Hill. This created an environment where the representatives had to defend 5 different things, and the media lying about it. Okay, MSNBC has said those against the plan are racists [yes, this was said] they mocked the peoples concerns. They tried to portray ALL the opponents as idiots. Some real concerns are on ‘end of life’ issues, [not death panels] rationing and other real things that are being mentioned in the plans. MSNBC implies that the people raising these concerns are uninformed idiots ‘no plan is going to kill grandma’ ‘no plan is going to fire doctors or prevent students from becoming doctors’. But these are not what the serious opponents are saying; end of life issues were part of one of the plans, fine. Not killing grandma, but a serious discussion went on over the fact that most health care money is spent on a person during the last 6 months of life; therefore any serious reform will have to deal with this issue. But some in the media made it sound like the people who brought up these concerns were totally misinformed, not so, these are real concerns that serious people look at. Senator Grassley has since dropped the wording from the plan on end of life issues [the wording in the plan simply said the insurance would pay for the consultations over living wills and stuff like that, the point is a real discussion does go on over how to voluntarily, or in some countries its forced upon people, that at the end of life people should consider how much should be spent on the patient]. Rationing, is this also a question that only idiots have been asking? When you take a system, any system, and inject another 40-50 million people into the system, rationing will occur to some degree. If you took your high school and doubled the students in a year, you get less one on one time between teacher and student. This is a simple reality that many older folks are asking about; the media portrays them as ignorant. The political strategy of some Democrats was to push back and portray all of the town hall opponents as misinformed insurance lobbyist plants. Big mistake, more than half of the American people are now against the present reforms being floated, and the independent voters have turned 2 to 1 against it. When you portray more than half of the country as ‘the enemy’ you are making a major political miscalculation. I believe those in the media who have said the current behind the opposition is racism; these pundits are the most dangerous. Of course you have those on Fox news who have made just as outrageous comments on the other side, but the media usually does not cover the liberal slant, they don’t see their own biases. I still believe universal health care is a noble goal that our country should strive for, but if our representatives portray the voices of their own constituents as ‘un-American’ [yes, Pelosi and Hoyer did say that those who were shouting down the other side were acting un-American. Yet every year you have liberal voices who shout down [and tear down] stuff at the world summit meetings, and they are not portrayed as un-American] then the odds of something passing looks worse each day.
(1201) In Luke 21 Jesus tells his men that there will come a time when they will be persecuted and brought before the authorities as a testimony. He tells them not to pre meditate what to say, but that the Spirit will speak thru them. God will supernaturally give them ‘a mouth [ability to communicate] and wisdom’ [something worth communicating!]. In Isaiah 8 the word says ‘take a great scroll and write in it with the pen of a man’ in Jeremiah 36 the Lord says ‘take another scroll and write in it all the words of the first scroll’. God historically has communicated truth to his people. Our bibles are like ‘2 scrolls’ if you will, all the words that were in the first part [Old Testament] were brought forth and revealed in the 2nd part-scroll [New Testament]. God has communicated much to his church; Isaiah was to write on a ‘great scroll’ lots of good stuff. Now, we [American church] have a tendency to master one part of the verse that says ‘mouth AND wisdom’. We have all the techniques down to get our message out, we know how to teach the verses that talk about ‘sowing into this ministry for a harvest’ and we communicate this type of limited message to the nations. I recently wrote an entry on how the Latin American countries have been inundated with this type of TV message, and many preachers proclaim this limited message over and over again to the masses, we have mastered ‘the mouth’ part. There are many African churches who have read the Gospels and New Testament and have come to reject the American success gospel. They came to this conclusion by their own reading of scripture, yet the American gospel mastered the techniques of broadcasting a limited message into the country. The natural indigenous church has come to rebuke us. We had the ability/finances to communicate, but lacked wisdom. In the 5th century [452 to be exact] Attila the Hun and his hordes marched up the Danube and struck fear into the hearts of the people, he seemed to be this unstoppable force that would make it all the way to Rome and topple the seat of the Western Empire. The emperor sent a party to try and reason with him, Pope Leo would personally speak to the raider and turn him back from sacking the city [though it would fall a few years later under Geaseric]. How could a simple Pope, without military might, stop a man that no human army could stop? God gave him ‘a mouth and wisdom’ he obviously spoke something that touched the mans heart. I think the American church needs to trust the Lord for more wisdom to go along with ‘our mouth’. We simply speak/communicate much too much, we have too much to say and not enough depth in what we say. We have churches in other countries who have been hurt by the tremendous immaturity of the things we are teaching them. These fellow believers have rebuked us and told us to please stop teaching this materialistic gospel to their nations. We desperately need both a mouth and wisdom to go along with it.
(1202) I hit Barnes and Noble yesterday, picked up; 1- everything must change, Mclaren [couldn’t find generous orthodoxy] 2- surprised by hope, N.T. Wright [the one on justification was there, but felt this one would be better] 3- why we love the church, Deyoung and Kluck [I liked their first one, ‘why we’re not emergent’ they seem to be filling in the role of countering Viola, Barna] and last but not least 4- will Catholics be left behind, Olson. I have heard him before, he is an ex fundamentalist/evangelical and defends against the dispensational model of eschatology. The reason I wanted to mention these books is not to show off, but I want to encourage our readers to get a broad depth of what’s going on [and has gone on] in the Church worldwide, the current trends if you will. I of course realize that these few books don’t cover everything, but they challenge us to think and read from a broad based perspective, hearing what the Lord ‘might’ be saying thru other groups of Christians. Okay, lets hit one verse, in Luke 21 Jesus says as the times of judgment draw near, be careful to not fall into three traps; 1- Overeating 2- Drunkenness 3- excessive worrying. I find it interesting that Jesus mentions excess and worry as traps that believers need to avoid. How do these fit together? I finally started a subscription to the San Antonio paper, I’ve been running our blog ad in there for a while and got tired of picking the paper up every other Saturday to make sure the ad was running. I also get the Corpus paper delivered. Sure enough they did an article on one of the major prosperity ministries in the Fort Worth area, they were holding some meetings in the area. They were critical of course, quoted the main speaker ‘God has ways to get the money to you’ spoke on reassuring the audience to give, don’t let fear keep you from giving. One trucker who was in debt said he came to test God because he really needed to get out of debt. The whole environment was money focused, the article mentioned how many millions the ministry brings in annually. Jesus said fear and worry lead to excess, wanting ‘excess food, drink’ or creating an overabundance to kind of be your safety net if things go bad. Paul said we live in the world, but we use the things in it [money, material stuff] without abusing them, we don’t center our lives around wealth and investing like the unbelievers do. Sure we can be responsible and knowledgeable in these areas, but don’t make it your God. After reading the article in the paper you got the feel that the Christian group who was holding the meetings were joined by a common bond of wealth, that is the desire to make it, talk about it, focus on all the scriptures and techniques to get it. And of course at the end of each sermon they would be challenged to ‘give it’ these types of environments are focused on the wrong thing. Jesus said beware of excess, beware of letting the cares and worries of life lead you down a road where you are trying to find security in your portfolio. God will meet your needs, don’t get me wrong, but the focus should be on God, not on getting our needs met.
(1203) In Luke 22 Jesus sends Peter and John into town to get things ready for the Passover meal. They ask Jesus where they should get a room, how will they know where to go. Jesus gives them real specific instructions ‘you will meet a man carrying a container of water, follow him into the house. Then ask the owner of the house “where will we meet” and he will show you a room all ready for the purpose’. How did the man know what to do? Did he have a dream/vision from the Lord? Probably. I was watching a show the other day that was dealing with angels, they were showing clips from the popular TV shows about angels. They showed a clip from ‘touched by an angel’ and it really spoke to me. The angel is sent to some guy and tells him ‘God loves you, but he does not like what you have become’. Sort of like the saying ‘God loves the sinner but hates the sin’ but it was powerful because it was done dramatically and open for the public world to tune in and watch the show. Then the clip ended and the preacher hosting the show rebuked the use of stuff like this on TV and said how in the bible angels only mete out judgment when dealing with sinners. I got the type of feeling that they were from the camp that gets offended when other groups/media try to deal with biblical things, sort of like ‘how could God step outside of the parameters of orthodox belief and speak to people’. The brother wasn’t offensive, he was simply sharing their point of view that ‘true, biblical angels’ don’t do stuff like that. Actually biblical angels do do stuff like that! You do have stories in scripture where angels appear to unbelievers and give them direction [Acts 10, Cornelius]. The point is sometimes believers develop belief systems, and these systems become our identity. If in any way we feel that others are ‘moving in on our territory’ [holy things] we often respond out of ignorance/arrogance. We feel like our very identity is on the line. Many good Christians/preachers live their whole lives this way. I don’t know if the man that Jesus sent Peter and John too for the room was a believer or not, but God is able and willing to use whatever means possible to accomplish his purpose. Now, I am not saying that God uses all religions and any type of belief to get stuff done, but I am saying that God is not boxed in by a system that must respond only in a certain perceived way. Christians need to let down the mindset that seems to say we have a corner on the market of God acting in the nations/world. While we know and believe Jesus is the only way to the Father, yet the Father is creator of heaven and earth and he most certainly can send an angel to get his message across if he wants to.
(1204) There was this man stuck on a deserted island, he was there for 30 years. Finally one day he saw a ship pass by and he started a fire to signal it. When they came to his rescue they saw that he had made 3 huts. They asked him what they were for; the first one was his house, the second was his church. What about the third one? Oh, that’s the church I used to go to [you have to be a Pastor/ex-Pastor to get his one]. I am about 1/3rd thru with the book ‘why we love the church’ [Deyoung, Kluck]. While it’s too soon to review it, let me make a few comments. First, I really like these guys a lot, I read their first book [why we’re not emergent] and will stick with their journey for now. They write from an informed historical perspective. Unashamedly Calvinist [like myself] but yet cool enough to challenge the other cool guys [emergent cool]. I don’t know if they did a chapter on ‘ecclesiology’ [their view of local church] but it would be helpful if they did/do one. They do a great job defending the historic gospel, they defend the ‘church’ and all of the great things the old traditional ‘churches’ have done over the years. They rightfully take the emergent crowd to the woodshed on their willingness to reject certain historic claims of Christianity. But I think they do not really see the legitimate challenge to the church as community versus the people who ‘go to the church on Sunday’. I think their voices are important to hear, and everyone who is reading the organic church stuff should read these guys, but I am not sure they fully see the biblical idea/concept of church as community in the New Testament. In their noble efforts to refute those who have gone too far in other areas, they might be missing the truth of the Ecclesia as defined in scripture. Okay, enough said. Jesus is eating the Passover with the disciples, he tells them he will not eat/drink with them again until the Kingdom of God comes. Was he speaking of a future restoration of nationalistic Israel and his eating the restored Passover/Communion meal at that time? I don’t think so. After Jesus rose from the dead it was important for the ‘witnesses’ [disciples] to have seen testimony that Jesus rose bodily from the grave. He tells Thomas ‘thrust your hand into my side’ he eats with them on a few occasions. He was showing them he was really alive. John’s gospel is the only one [I think] that mentions the blood and water coming from Jesus side after being pierced on the Cross. In John’s letters he speaks of the blood and water as a testimony. John also says that they were testifying of the Son, who they saw and whose hands have handled. John was combating the soon to rise Gnostic/Docetist heresies that would doubt the physical resurrection of Christ. They would say he was ‘a phantom’ [spirit]. So, why did Jesus emphasize his eating with them ‘when the Kingdom came’ [after his death and resurrection]? I think he was giving them a sign/truth that he was physically coming back. They still did not fully grasp what he was going to do, there would be some who would doubt that he really died and rose [see 1st Corinthians 15]. He was telling them that he was really going to die and really come back from the dead. The whole Christian faith stands or falls on this single reality, Paul said ‘if Christ be not risen then we are of all men most miserable’. Jesus said ‘don’t worry guys, when I come back we will eat again’.
(1205) THE LAMBS TABLE- Jesus has the meal with his men, he tells them because they have stuck it out with him thru the temptations he is appointing to them a kingdom just like his Father did with him. They will rule [exercise authority] over the 12 tribes and ‘sit with him at his table’. A few verses earlier Jesus said ‘the hand of him who will betray me is at the table’. I want you to see that ‘the table’ is a reference to the communion of the saints that Jesus brings into existence by the breaking of his Body and shedding of his Blood. Jesus was more than likely telling the disciples ‘because you guys have stuck it out, you will be the first tier of leaders in my new kingdom [the church] and will sit at my table in this kingdom [a type of the communion table]’. Now, he just gave them a lesson on what it means to exercise authority in his kingdom. He told them the world exercises authority over people by being in charge of them, ruling over them. But Jesus says he is among them as one who serves, that authority in the kingdom means you will serve others and give of your life for others. Truly the apostles will go on to found the great church of Jesus Christ thru much difficulty and suffering, none of them held the honor of a 4th century bishop in Constantine’s Rome. So the picture of them having authority at the table in his kingdom can very well mean the church. Now, I do not discount a real [literal] future application to stuff like this. I know I have riled up all my dispensationalist friends over these last few years, and I fret every day because of this! [Not] But I do realize that many good Christians read these verses and do not apply them in this way, that’s fine. My job is to show the other points of view and allow believers to come to their own conclusions. I like the Catholic scholar Scott Hahn, I don’t agree with everything he says, but I like his teaching on the book of Revelation and the ‘Lambs Supper’. Scott sees the prophetic significance of the kingdom and the church meeting around the communion table thru these images. It’s a glorifying of the Lamb type of a view, as opposed to seeing the anti- christ on every page. I disagree with Scott’s application of these truths when he applies them only to the Catholic faith. I like the idea of seeing ‘the lambs Supper’ as a glorious view of the communion of the saints of all ages, I would just give it the broader application of applying to all the saints, not only Catholic ones. Jesus told his men that they continued with him in his time of trial, because of this they would have authority in his church. I think this is a lesson for us all.
(1206) CASH FOR KLUNKERS AND KLUCK- Okay, I mentioned a few weeks back about the cash for klunkers program, I thought it was a bad idea. A day ago the govt. officially scrapped the plan. Dealers all over the country were decrying the red tape and bureaucratic hoops that they needed to jump thru to get their money, they started dropping out. I also read a story in the paper how many used car dealers were losing their normal used vehicle flow; some actually went out of business. One guy said ‘what about all my customers that needed the $3,ooo dollar cars? Where can they go for the cars, the govt. is crushing them at their expense’ in essence the people who were smart enough to trade in their $1,ooo dollar cars for $4,500 were not the ones who were really struggling financially, these folks had enough to finance new cars at the publics expense, the public tax payers were footing the bill, and losing the used cars that they needed to meet their needs. Wow, and you want the govt. to run your healthcare. Okay, I read a few more chapters of ‘why we love the church’ Deyoung [Pastor] and Kluck [sheep- he attends Deyoung's church] take turns writing their own chapters, just like their first book. Kluck shares a story about being at a Pastors convention, all the good preaching and a few top notch evangelicals. He shares from a sincere perspective how all these men are sincere, how they were encouraged to get back to expository preaching in ‘their churches’ and he gives a few examples how ‘at his church’ they have a time when everyone gets a chance to talk every few months, you know a service of testimonies. And how it usually is not the most edifying thing in the world, but he appreciates it when his Pastor [Deyoung] is prepared and teaches a good old expository message. Okay, I think I too would appreciate attending a theologically reformed church [I don’t] and probably would like hearing good in depth stuff, but these examples show me that Kluck and Deyoung are dealing with a different type of thing than the organic church movement is trying to address. They are basically saying the ‘churches’ on every corner are a good thing, the stable preaching from the heritage of fine pastors over the years has served a noble purpose, but they don’t seem to realize that the New Testament concept of church [Ecclesia] is much different than this. Now, I too think lots of good men have pastored noble ‘churches’ and have served the Lord well. I too think many emergents have stepped over the line and have fallen into the category of heresy, questions on the Atonement and stuff like that. I just get the feel that these brothers [Kluck and Deyoung] are addressing certain issues, while probably not fully seeing the other side. The whole idea of ‘churches on every corner’ [a critique that the authors made of another author] and defending that mindset is really not biblical. While the example used, that the ‘churches on every corner have done a good job’ was understood, yet this idea of buildings on every corner, as separate ‘local churches’ where the main form of community is sitting in a room every Sunday and listening to a sermon, as noble and well meaning these expressions are and have been, yet this very concept is being challenged by the organic church movement. It simply is not biblical to see all these fine church buildings, with fine Pastors and parishioners as ‘local churches’ in the biblical sense. So, without re-teaching everything I have already taught over the years, I appreciate these authors’ skill and honesty in their writings, but I think they are not fully seeing the other side.
(1207) Jesus said ‘Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me; nevertheless not my will, but yours be done’. David said in Psalms ‘the troubles of my heart are enlarged, bring me out of my distresses’. Yesterday [Friday evening, the time Presidents release bad news for the least possible effect] the govt. released an updated deficit number. It went up an extra 2 TRILLION for the next ten years, it’s estimated now to be 9 trillion. This is totally unbelievable and absolutely irresponsible. Even Warren Buffet, who publicly endorsed Obama, recently wrote an op-ed warning of the global economic danger that this type of deficit can cause. I was reading in the paper how many of the normal 30 year mortgages are beginning to go into default, these are not the shady ones that already went under. These are the homes of unemployed people who can’t find jobs. Okay, what could we [the country] do? First, if you use the 800 billion dollars of stimulus to actually lift the burden on small businesses [tax breaks] that would do wonders. Second, if you simply stop using a national credit card [increased deficit spending] it would help bring down the debt. And for heavens sake, don’t implement any new laws that will actually hurt the economy [cap and trade]. Then why are we not doing these things? Because certain political leaders believe that the American people want all these things, Nancy Pelosi lives in a very liberal part of the country, she perceives these things as what everyone wants, even though California has an entire immigrant population going under because in their efforts to save a certain species they have stopped the water flow to these farmers. Unbelievable. I was talking to someone the other day and explained to them that many businesses would fire employees if the govt. mandated them to either cover the health ins. of their people or pay an 8 percent charge per person [of their salary], the effect; cut their pay or fire them. We don’t need to be geniuses to figure this stuff out. I believe our nation is going to ‘drink from a cup’ whether we like it or not, we are going to seek God and ask him to ‘bring us out of all these distresses’. I do not believe the overall economic picture is as good as the media seems to be portraying it, and we still are losing 200-250 thousand jobs a month, and the media says that’s good news! The responsible thing for the president to do is realize that he came in with many good intentions, people did want to hope and believe in change. After he got the job he saw the numbers were a lot worse than he thought, in this type of environment the responsible thing to do is spend the next 3.5 years dealing responsibly with our books. Sure, this will not create a great legacy, and it is easier to simply start a new program [Social Security, Medicaid,- universal insurance] because the programs will be remembered, whether or not they get funded. So it is a matter of having a fiscally responsible leadership, or leaders that are willing to cut off the water supply to thousands of farmers in order to save some rat.
(1208) yesterday I went to my daughter’s ranch house to work on her A.C., it was over 100 degrees in the direct sun. I thought I threw my tee shirt in the car, but couldn’t find it. I worked in a long sleeve black shirt, wound up taking the whole darn thing apart [in direct sun at noon!] and felt like I got some heat exhaustion. So, it was in this environment that I finished [almost finished] the book ‘why we love the church’, boy do I have some major disagreements with Deyoung’s fundamental view of church. I think his view is very limited, I think it’s unbiblical and I almost don’t want to recommend the book at this stage [contrary to my earlier endorsement]. I was not sure if I should try and go thru some quotes and refute them, this mode often turns into a ‘he said, you say’ type of argument and usually does not convince either side. Let me simply hit a few things; page 110 ‘I do appreciate church as staged drama’ [quoting someone else] page 164 ‘the Body of Christ becomes visible to the world in the congregation gathered around word and sacrament’ [quoting the great martyr Bonhoeffer] 166 ‘you and your buddies who never ‘go to worship services’ are under no ecclesiastical authority’ 168 ‘the office itself [pastor] is not to blame’ then quotes Ephesians 4:11 to justify the modern office of ‘the pastor’, and on pages 132-135 his overall view of the crusades, well I simply wrote ‘unbelievable!’ on the margins. I always found it untenable when someone quotes the actual interaction between Paul and his first century ‘organic, communal, mystical, house churches’ in order to justify the institutional church against the ‘out of church’ church. Many learned scholars have looked at the term ‘pastor’ in Ephesians 4 and none of them [learned!] believe that this term defines the later development of pastor as the head of a local congregation who ‘administers the sacraments to the people in the building on Sunday, the Lords day’. Which reminds me of Deyoung's use of John ‘on the Lords day’ in the book of Revelation. He believes John was speaking of Sunday ‘the Lords day’, this term more than likely is speaking of the great dramatic view of revelation and of course Jesus future coming as well as the whole period of conflicting kingdoms and Jesus final great victory. ‘His day’ simply speaking of Jesus victorious time period. Some see a set period of wrath as ‘the Lords day,’ to see an early ‘Lords day’ as Sunday as church day from this verse is ridiculous. And the overall argument that Deyoung makes about Christians ‘leaving church’ and trying to be Christians ‘without church’ is simply a huge blind spot of Deyoung. He tries to say [or says] that because the word ‘church’ [ecclesia] means assembly [true enough] that those groups who practice community without ‘church building, liturgy, offices, etc..’ are trying to ‘be the church without the church’. Yet every single New Testament church in the bible, according to Deyoung’s view, would be ‘the church without the church’. Needless to say I disagree almost 100 percent with his view of what the Ecclesia is. This will probably be my last entry on the book [unless the last chapter has some major things that need to be addressed] Deyoung’s view of church is important for all to see [emergents, out of church believers, etc.] it is probably the basic view that most well meaning men would use to defend the traditional view. I believe this view to be very limited and fundamentally disconnected from scripture and the first century churches described in the bible. For the record, in a few hours I will be ‘attending church’ at the mega church I attend here in Corpus. I also appreciate the historic church tremendously, I agree with Deyoung [and Kluck] on the bad attitude that many in the ‘out of church’ movement have towards the historic church. I just think Deyoung went way over board in trying to say that ‘the Sunday church meeting, in the church building, with the liturgical sacraments being administered by the ecclesiastical authorities’ is what church really is. I see this view to be extremely limited and disconnected from the Ecclesias spoken about in scripture. I simply believe Deyoung has got it wrong. [If you think this review was too tough, just imagine if I wrote it yesterday with the heat exhaustion!] Note- To be fair Deyoung does say that you can ‘have church’ without the building, as long as you have the offices, liturgy, etc. Sort of like saying if you move the entire Sunday liturgical drama into the basement, then yes you can ‘have church’ without the building. I simply disagree with his entire view of ‘having church’.
(1209) Okay, in the last post I was kinda hard on Deyoung. I said I wouldn’t write any more posts on it unless there were some real surprises in the last chapter of the book. Well, lo and behold, in the last chapter Deyoung gets saved and admits the error of his way! [Not] Well actually I want to end my critique in a nice way. I did go to ‘church’ yesterday and on my way out heard someone call my name. As I turned I saw it was a former church member of my original church that I planted in the 80’s. She was married to one of our main guys, was the daughter in law to one of the original drug addicts that we worked with [who died a while ago] and was the daughter of one of our faithful women preachers [ordained by Joel Osteen’s church when Joel’s father was pastoring] all in all we have quite a history together. We had a good talk; I asked her how long she’s been attending, around 4 months. She introduced me to her young family [she has a few young kids, the ones I knew from the early days are all older [20’s] but these she described as a new crop]. I was real glad to see her, glad to see she had her kids in church and all. I wanted to mention this because the last chapter of Deyoung's book [why we love the church] was pastoral and came from a concerned heart. Deyoung is writing from the view of a pastor who has been reading all these emergent books, with titles like ‘velvet Elvis’ ‘blue like jazz’ ‘blue steel’ [oh wait, that’s a Ben Stiller character!] names that make me want to say ‘what the hell does this mean’ [sorry] when browsing thru the book store. Many of these types of books have espoused real heresy, denying central truths of the gospel and stuff like that. Deyoung, as a good pastor, also sees the danger of many believers thinking its fine to just drop out of church all together and simply meet at Starbucks. I understand his concerns and they are sincere. To be honest I have never read any of the emergent books with all the strange titles, my first emergent book will be Mclaren's ‘everything must change’ that is here sitting on my shelf [just remembered, I read Tony Jones sacred way] the point being I have come to rethink the usual model of ‘local church’ thru years of personal experience, reading scripture, and reading the works of those who teach on the organic expressions of community/body life. I don’t come to the table having overdosed on a bunch of theologically questionable authors [which is the feel I get when reading Deyoung, he has researched and read all these books in a short period of time, and it’s natural to blast the whole bunch of them in one shot]. So I too was glad that a past friend of mine was ‘back in church’ and had all her kids in the cool looking youth groups [boardwalk stuff, Noah’s ark theme, cool things that mega churches do] so as an ‘ex-pastor’ I understand Deyoung’s concerns. There is always the danger of Christians just dropping out of community all together and leaving all expressions of meeting as believers and praying and sharing the common meal and continuing in the apostle’s doctrine; all important things that Christians should be doing. My main disagreement was the limited concept of the traditional Sunday meeting as being the actual ‘local church’. This theme is engrained into the minds of many well meaning believers/pastors and is quite unbiblical. So any way this really will be my last post on the issue, unless something really big happens [like say Deyoung flips out and makes the headlines by cursing out Obama at a town hall meeting, then yes I will write one more post!] I am not sure what we will do next, I’m finishing up Luke and going thru Psalms, kinda hitting some high spots. Tune in tomorrow and let’s see what happens.
(1210) SAVE THY PEOPLE AND BLESS THINE INHERITANCE. FEED THEM ALSO AND LIFT THEM UP FOREVER- Psalms 28:9 I guess I will hit a few scattered Psalms, these last few weeks I have been reading the Psalms and trying to add a verse to memory every day or so. Sort of praying/meditating on them like the famous ‘Jesus prayer’. The Jesus prayer is an ancient simple prayer that says ‘Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me a sinner’ but you actually say it all day long until it becomes part of your psyche. So these single Psalms can be used in this way. Okay, God wants to feed his people and bless them, Jesus told Peter ‘if you love me, feed my sheep’. In the 20th century you had the famous existentialist/atheist philosophers like John Paul Sartre and Albert Camou, these guys sought for purpose and meaning thru philosophy but wound up as nihilists [no hope] because of their rejection of God. Sartre would say ‘man is a useless passion’, Camou would say the only question left for philosophy to answer was the viability of suicide. The famous atheist Antony [Anthony] Flew, who has now become a believer in God [Theist], used to use a parable about a garden to challenge belief in God. He said man and his religious quest is like men who are journeying thru a forest and all of a sudden they come upon a garden; it is manicured and detailed in every way, it ‘appears’ to be a product of a designer. But then flew said as the men look around for the gardener they can’t see him, they then espouse all types of ideas about the master gardener. They come to various conclusions; he must be all knowing, very talented, transcendent- they develop views about this gardener/God that in Flews mind were just as silly as saying you might as well have no gardener at all! Flew thought if believers came to all these ideas about God, what’s the difference whether you believe in a God or not? The obvious answer is ‘then where in the world did the garden come from’. The challenges to Christianity, Theism, Deism try and convince people that there really is no purpose to your existence, you are a ‘useless passion’ you came from nowhere and are heading nowhere. Initially, this philosophy sounded liberating to those who embraced it. Sort of like telling the kids that schools out and you have no more teachers to listen to. But when you embrace this form of meaninglessness, you can not then try and instill purpose and meaning into people. Sartre and Camou rejected the foundational basis for man to have meaning in life, they tried to tell man ‘look, here is the purposeful garden, but it came from nowhere’. After many years of Anthony Flews insistence that there was no gardener, the evidence that caused him to change his mind was the evidence of design. He kept telling himself ‘there is no gardener’ and realized he was trying to convince himself of a lie, he knew he was logically wrong. He has since joined the ranks of those who now seek to know more about the master gardener.
(1211) LIFT UP YOUR HEADS, O YE GATES; AND BE YE LIFT UP YE EVERLASTING DOORS; AND THE KING OF GLORY SHALL COME IN. Psalms 24:7 God sees us as his temple, his city, his vineyard. We all have ‘gates’- doors, areas where we have been ordained to function; people groups who make up our parameters. God put Adam in a specific setting, he placed him in the garden and told him to take care of it, watch over it. Many animals would come and go and dwell within its borders, there was even a 4 lane river that flowed out of it. There was much activity in the garden; Adams job was to maintain the garden. The other aspects would basically take care of themselves. Over the course of Christian history there have been times when Gods garden has lost her focus, become haphazard and full of weeds. At these times he raises up people/movements to help bring her back into shape. Around the 7th century you had a man named Benedict start the first monastic order, the Benedictines. He would establish the famous abbey at Monte Casino; these monasteries would eventually become centers of learning and wisdom for the people of the time. In the 13th century you had the Dominicans and the Franciscans. Around the time of the Reformation you had the Jesuits, a brother named Ignatius left his wealth and former life as a soldier to found these ‘soldiers for God’. The Jesuits would play a major role in the scientific revolution, the percentage of leading scientists who were Jesuits was very high compared to their numbers. They would send missionaries into Japan and make the first inroads for the gospel. They would be persecuted and martyred in a famous city, they were crucified on the sides of the road as a witness for their faith. The name of the city where this happened was Nagasaki, sometimes the previous acts of violence that a society permits opens up the door for all types of future bloodshed. These movements arose out of a sense of the people of God losing her way, the church becoming rich in goods, but not in spirit. So God raises up people/movements to tell his people ‘lift up your heads o ye gates- look to me again and I will come in’ there are times when the garden lost her luster, the Lord didn’t simply plow it under, he allowed those who were tilling her time to get her back in shape. I think it’s time for all of us to ‘lift up our heads/gates’ so the king of glory can come in, he is a strong king, mighty in battle. When he comes in [thru our praise] then a banner of war is lifted up against the enemy, victory will not be far behind.
(1212) THOU PREPAREST A TABLE BEFORE ME IN THE PRESENCE OF MINE ENEMIES, THOU ANOINTEST MY HEAD WITH OIL, MY CUP RUNNETH OVER- Psalms 23:5 These last few weeks I have been praying/meditating these single Psalms. Remember, try and pray them in the attitude of the ‘Jesus prayer’ [continual repetition thru out the day]. In the last chapter of Luke Jesus ‘opens up their understanding’ he shows them all the things in the law and the prophets and the psalms concerning him. They say ‘did not our hearts burn within us when he spoke to us’ they were fixated on his ability to reveal the scriptures to them. He also tells them to wait at Jerusalem for the promise of the Spirit, he sends us out like him. In Luke we read Jesus quoting Isaiah about the Spirit of the Lord being on him, how his calling and teaching were Divine functions. He tells his men he will do the same for them. Here in my ‘prayer yard’ I have all these scriptures and maps of nations and signs all over the place, my yard is designed for early morning intercession. A few weeks back I painted a plastic table with this verse, it was an old table that I had for years. I drew a picture of the loaves and fish that I saw on the church page of my paper and added this Psalm. It speaks to me of ‘the table’ that the lord sets before us. Proverbs says wisdom prepares her table, mingles the wine and sacrifices the animal. Wisdom also ‘sends out her servants’. I see a great picture of Jesus and his disciples thru this. He prepared his table [with his own Body and Blood- mingled wine and sacrifice] he sends us out to tell the world ‘all things are ready, come and dine’ and he gives us the Divine unction to carry this out [1st John]. David said the Lord prepared a great table before him in the presence of his enemies, God didn’t say in their absence. Psalms 110 says of Jesus ‘sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool- rule in the midst of your enemies’. Paul said ‘a great door has been opened for me, and there are many adversaries’ [Acts]. God has prepared a table for you, a place and giftings for you to function and feed his people. The process is not without difficulty and testing, but the important thing is to get the riches from the table to the people, to ‘send out the servants’ if you will. Cast your bread upon the waters, for after many days it will return. Have you cast the bread yet? Or is the seed still in the barn.
(1213) MY EYES ARE EVER TOWARD THE LORD, HE SHALL PLUCK MY FEET OUT OF THE NET- Psalms 25:15 There’s a verse that says ‘our souls have escaped like a bird out of the snare of a fowler’. I hate snares, here where I live we have these lawn stickers, you know the type that when you walk in the house they stick all over you. You usually don’t know they are there until you take your shoes off and step on them. Proverbs says that when you walk by the house of the sluggard the weeds and stuff have overtaken it, the wall is broken down. God delivers us from these snares, he ‘plucks’ our feet out of the net. When you’re in a net you can’t pull yourself out. It’s not a matter of strength or effort, its gravity! You basically need an outside source to act on your behalf. That’s what we call original sin and substitutionary atonement. I just started N.T. Wright’s book ‘surprised by hope’ I think I am going to like it. He lives in England and is sharing from a ‘beyond the pond’ perspective. He already has laid out the case that the hope of the believer is resurrection, not evacuation! He will challenge the traditional belief of heaven as the goal, and speak about resurrection and how it relates to the here and now. That is when the church embraces a view that sees the departed soul in heaven as its goal, then we have a tendency to neglect the kingdom here and now. I get the point, and also see how Wright would appeal to the emergent brothers, but I have read Wright on line in the past and felt like he might go a little overboard in the ‘soul sleep’ category. These are the groups that believe the soul is in a state of ‘sleep’ or unconsciousness at death, and at the resurrection it reunites with the body again [true enough] and ‘wakes’ up back into a conscious state. This is not the classic/orthodox view, though some ‘Christian’ groups embrace it. The New Testament most certainly teaches that ‘to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord’ [Paul] and ‘he had a desire to depart [die] and be with Christ which is far better’ [Paul again]. So let’s see what happens in the book, I do like his approach and style, as long as Wright doesn’t totally abandon the present, as well as future hope of the church. We have the assurance that no matter how difficult things get, no matter how many ‘nets/snares’ we have to deal with, that the lord will ‘pluck us from the net’ our hope truly is in the Lord, are your eyes ever towards him?
(1214) YOU WILL NOT LEAVE MY SOUL IN HELL, OR ALLOW ME TO DECAY- Psalm 16:10 [my quick version of it!] This verse is quoted in Acts 2 and 13; it speaks of the Fathers promise of resurrection to the Son. Being I am reading Wright’s book on the resurrection at this time, I thought it good to talk a little. Wright lays out a good historical argument for the resurrection of Jesus. He shows how the liberal belief that the disciples ‘felt a real spiritual change after Jesus died’ wouldn’t cut it in a society that had other messianic figures rise and later be killed. The fact that these others stayed dead was a sure sign of their failure. Wright goes and gives a little parable on how the followers of past dead messiahs would have never gotten away with ‘let’s claim victory for our movement, even though our leaders died’. Good point, but the skeptics could point to Muhammad in the 7th century to refute this. But I get the point. Also, when I say ‘liberal theologians’ on this blog, I am speaking of historical liberalism, not the truncated view that certain fundamentalists hold to; you know, those who view liberalism thru the lens of what bible version a person uses, or whether or not you hold to certain end time scenarios. These views are not what I mean when speaking of liberals. Classic historical liberalism is a tag that gets put on those who begin denying the physical resurrection of Jesus and other fundamental truths of Christianity. So both Catholic and Protestant groups are not considered liberal, unless they deny the basic fundamentals [i.e.; you are not liberal, in the classic sense, just because you embrace the sacraments or other disagreements between Protestants and Catholics]. Now some liberals have done some good. The 19th century liberal scholars- Van Harnack and Albert Reitschal [I know these names are spelled wrong, but no spell check can fix stuff like this] challenged the development of historic theology by promoting the view that because the Old Testament was written in Hebrew, and the New Testament in Greek, that the early councils and systematic theologians lost the feel for story/narrative because they allowed Greek philosophy to influence their creeds and councils. They would point to the fact that much of the language used to ‘dissect’ the three persons of the Trinity was borrowed from the Greek philosophers and stuff like that. They argued that the church should return to her Jewish roots as seen in the Hebrew culture and begin ‘telling the story’ once again, as opposed to getting into the technical aspects of Greek language and thought. Now, were they right? Partially, in my view. But the problem with their view is it did not fully appreciate the fact that the New Testament did come to us thru the medium of the Greek language. So just because the Hebrew language is short on detail and long on story, this does not mean that the church also needs to be ‘short on detail’, because our New Testaments are in Greek. But they did make some good points. So anyway God promised Jesus [and us] that he would not leave us ‘in hell’ or allow us to corrupt/decay. The early church most certainly believed in the physical resurrection of Jesus from the grave, though the liberals have some good things to add to the conversation, some of their ideas are down right lethal.
(1215) BE WISE NOW THEREFORE O YE KINGS, BE INSTRUCTED YE JUDGES OF THE EARTH- Psalms 2:10 This is the psalm that speaks about the rulers of the earth trying to cast off the restraints of God and ‘his anointed’. Scripture says God will have them in derision; he will laugh at their stupidity. This reminds me of the atheistic enlightenment philosophers, men who embraced ‘rational thought’ and supposedly would not believe anything unless it was ‘scientific’, men like Nietzsche and Freud who felt like the problems with man were the restraints that the church put on people. Freud taught that the reason mankind suffered from so many ailments was because the church and religion put these Victorian restraints on man and that these false restraints [like not sleeping around] were the root cause of mans problems. So Freud tried to ‘cast off the restraints of God and his anointed’ he taught that man should fully embrace sexual freedom and do whatever he wanted, the result- total devastation of mans psyche [and body]. God had them in derision. Getting back to N.T. Wrights book that I’m reading [surprised by hope] Wright brings out a great point, he shows how the materialist [those who say they will only believe things that can be proven scientifically] are contradicting themselves when they reject the resurrection and historical claims of Christianity on these grounds. Wright shows that every one of them accepts all types of historical facts that can not be proven ‘by science’. Let’s see, do you believe in Lincoln? Or say the civil war? There are tons of non scientific historical events that people believe all the time, one time events that are nor repeatable and can’t be proven by the scientific method. He makes a good point. The rationalists said ‘we will only believe in reason, not in faith’ this is a false view of faith. Pope John Paul the 2nd said ‘faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth’ [Fides Et Ratio]. To believe in God, and to be reasonable/rational go hand in hand. The atheist claims to only believe in things that can be proven, yet the claims of Christianity [the death and resurrection of Christ] have more historical/rational proofs than any other historic event in history, the historical method used to examine things shows us that these things did happen, for real! Just because an event is a one time supernatural event, this does not automatically make it ‘irrational’ or untrustworthy. If the event passes the smell test of historical inquiry [which it does] then it is as ‘believable’ as any other historic event in history. You see, God said those who try to cast off the restraint of God and church would make fools of themselves, that they would think they were wise when they were fools. I think this is a good example.
(1216) lets try and do a few things; first, I read a few more chapters in Wrights book [N.T. Wright] and as much as I really like his writing, I do have a few problems with some of the ways he states stuff. He kinda tries to walk the middle road in the area of the second coming and the physical nature of it. He does say he believes in the real second coming and that it did not happen yet. He does teach that Jesus is ‘in heaven’ [Gods realm] physically- good. But he also says stuff like ‘when Jesus ascended you don’t believe he lifted off vertically from the planet’ [actually I do!] or when Jesus comes back it wont be like some spaceman descending out of space [well I know he’s not a ‘spaceman’ but I do believe he will come from ‘out there’]. It was statements like this that caused me a little concern in the past. He also states that he is not a full Preterist, and distances himself from those who tried to claim him as one. But you can hardly blame them, he really does at times sound like he is one [Preterists believe the second coming happened in a.d. 70- it’s a long story] Wright empathically says he does not believe that. Yet he says all the statements from Jesus on ‘his coming’ do not refer to an actual second coming in the future. But he believes Paul and other New Testament passages do teach a real, literal second coming, but that Jesus never spoke of it. To be frank, I think brother Wright opens up the door to all the accusations and confusion that some people have about his position. I still like Wright, he is an excellent N.T. scholar and 1st century historian, but I think there are some problems with his views on the second coming. He definitely states he believes in a real, physical second coming. But instead of it being ‘Jesus coming down from somewhere’ it will be more like ‘Gods realm [heaven] joining our realm’ and at that time he will physically be with us. Well I do believe that at the second coming ‘both realms unite’ that at that moment we will have a ‘new heavens and earth’ I just don’t see the point in Wright’s language when he seems to make light of the physical aspects of Christ’s return. I also agree with him 100% about the New Testament not teaching a ‘rapture’ he rightfully shows us that the ‘rapture chapter’ [1st Thessalonians 4] is the same as 1st Corinthians 15. There simply is no ‘secret coming’ taught in the New Testament [some will be caught by surprise, but it will be no secret!] All in all I like Wright, will continue to read him, just thought I needed to mention these points. Okay, let’s turn to politics. The climate in the country continues to be really bad at this time [9-09] I watched MSNBC show over and over again a picture of a man toting a sub machine gun on his back at some Obama town hall. Of course this is dangerous and nuts! The problem is Chris Matthews portrayed it along with the mindset of ‘see these white skinhead radicals, these racists who are against change’ his whole rant against the people opposing Obama is done in this vain. Sure enough, another news organization showed you the full picture of the man with the gun on his back; he was a black man. Why mention this? Stuff like this, purposefully not telling the whole story, or taking an incident and being dishonest about it to prove your point, this stuff creates racial tensions all on its own. There is no need to try and fabricate a scenario in order to make it fit your story. There are enough real nuts in the country for the news media to not have to fabricate stuff like this, to make the audience think that the ‘gun man’ was an anti Obama ‘right winger’, he obviously was not. Those who oppose the president should do so on purely political grounds, those who support him should take the same view. To be against or for a person because of their race is wrong, very wrong. But people should not feel intimidated if they want to oppose him for the right reasons. When the country sees this type of race card being played, this breeds a type of racism all on its own. Did the bill being floated on Capitol Hill fund abortions- you bet it did! I know the denials have gone forth vehemently, Obama himself publicly said that his position in national health care would include provisions for women’s reproductive rights; he was point blank asked this question. In no uncertain terms he said it would. But after the heat hit the fan they of course would not say it like this. In essence the proposed bill would have included language for ‘women’s reproductive rights’ but because the term ‘abortion’ was not specifically stated, the politicians said ‘oh no, those who think abortion is in there are misleading you’ they lied to you. So let’s try and pass what both sides agree on; pass laws on making it illegal for an insurance company to drop you if you get sick. Provide funding for those who can’t buy insurance and try and get everyone insured. Do tort reform. Get the stuff done that can get done, don’t create all types of problems by bringing up ‘reproductive rights’ there are too many people [Democrats and Republicans] who are truly opposed to abortion in a fundamental way, leave that language out. And for heavens sake, if the media has a picture of a man with a gun strapped to his back, don’t portray him as some white skinhead, especially if the guys black!
(1217) THE VOICE OF THE LORD IS UPON THE WATERS: THE GOD OF GLORY THUNDERETH: THE LORD IS UPON MANY WATERS Psalms 29:3 Last night I was watching the news, I was doing something at the time [reading?] but for whatever reason I was listening and not looking at the screen. I heard a reporter asking one of the ‘tea party’ protesters about his views. As I listened to him speak against the socializing of the country, his disgust over the free hand outs and all, I thought I recognized the voice. As I looked up, it was Larry! One of the first homeless buddies I met in Corpus. He went West quite a few years ago, haven’t heard from him in a while. Larry was really smart, he had a couple of old boats, an old ice cream truck and an old school bus scattered all over the Bluff [where I live]. One of the boats was a small 10 footer, he had it at some boat dock, the thing was probably worth around 20 dollars. Every day he went and pumped the water out, it was funny. I had this old Datsun 280 zx that I bought during an early mid life crisis; I blew the darn motor in it. I was gonna junk it. Larry saw that I had an extra junk car sitting in my yard, I bought it for the wheels for around 100 bucks. He said lets put the engine from the junker into the good car. Sure enough we did it in a couple of days; pushing the cars under my garage doorway, using a bumper jack and chain as a lift. Pulling engines out and dropping the good one in, I could have never accomplished it by myself, he was a talented brother. He looked a little like Ted Kaczynski [unibomber] scruffy hair and beard. He looked exactly the same on the news show, I think Larry worked about five days the whole time I knew him, yet he was protesting Obama’s socializing of the country and the free handouts, stuff like this is too funny to not write on. Okay I read more from Wrights book [surprised by hope] he brings out the biblical basis of the believer’s hope, which is the resurrection, not heaven. He is correct on this. He traces the roots of Western thinking all the way back to the ancient philosophers [Plato] and shows how the Greek belief in the ‘immortal soul’ did effect the thinking of Western Christianity and eventually made it’s way into the church thru the medieval influence of men like Dante [his inferno] and other beliefs on purgatory and so forth, Wright is an excellent scholar and historian. He does quote the verse I used when first defending against the concept of ‘soul sleep’, the famous verse from Paul ‘to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord’ he rejects soul sleep and teaches the correct doctrine of a believer being in Gods presence at death. Wright, like myself, does not see the future hope of the believer as ‘going to heaven when you die’ but correctly teaches the hope of a resurrected body and a new heavens and earth. He also correctly shows how immortality of ‘the soul’ is really not a biblical doctrine. For as long as I can remember, I have always believed that immortality referred to the resurrected body of believers and not to the soul/spirit. I have heard/read many good men speak of it as pertaining to the soul, Wright correctly shows us the biblical view. When I first read his defense a while ago, I was a little confused when he used an argument from scripture that immortality belongs ‘only to God’ and his argument that the ‘immortal soul’ was a Greek doctrine not founded in scripture. The reason I was a little hesitant when I first heard him make this argument [reading on line a few years back] was because I heard the same exact argument made by the 7th day Adventist church in their defense of soul sleep [the view that the soul is unconscious at death until the resurrection] but Wright has clarified that he does not accept this view. He also rightfully shows us that in scripture the divisions of ‘soul/spirit/body’ are not as clear cut as many modern Protestants teach. Over the years I have often heard the famous verses on the soul ‘receive with meekness the engrafted word which is able to save your souls’ ‘he that corrects a sinner from the error of his way saves a soul from death’ [James] and in Hebrews ‘the word of God dividing asunder soul and spirit’ there is a very popular teaching that relates the three ‘parts’ of man with the Triune nature of God [Father, Son and Spirit] and tries to say that when the New Testament speaks of ‘soul’ it is speaking of mans emotions/will, and that the spirit and body are two other things. This really is not biblical, the two verses I quoted from James are speaking of the whole man, not his emotions/will only. This is a wrong teaching that many have embraced because of a low level of education in the pulpit [to be frank about it]. Which gets me to my final point, to all my Pastor/leader readers, try and read/listen to university level scholarship as much as possible. Avoid leaving the radio-TV on and hearing hours and hours of teaching that is really not high quality, it will affect you in a bad way. I called a ministry a few weeks back to order a special offer from the scholar/theologian who is the teacher. The cd’s were lectures given in a university classroom from a real theologian [not the guys running around with honorary doctorates!] I did have the chance to do something I have been wanting to do for a while. The offer was whatever gift you want to give to the ministry [money] you can give and get the cd’s. The poor sister asks me ‘and how much will you be donating today for the cd’s’ I of course tell her ‘I will be donating one penny’ she is silent for a few seconds until I tell her I’m just kidding. The point is try and read/listen to scholarly stuff as much as possible ‘the Lords voice is upon many waters, it thunders’ when God speaks to you thru the collective voice of the church triumphant [in heaven- I mean read the works of the saints who have died!] and the church militant [on earth] then you are hearing his voice over the ‘many waters’ the various communions that make up the corporate people of God, Gods wisdom resides in her.
(1218) REMEMBER ALL THY OFFERINGS, AND ACCEPT THY BURNT SACRIFICE Psalms 20:3- A few years ago the Lord began showing me the concept of ‘accumulated prayers/alms’ [good deeds]. The medieval church developed a distorted view of this idea; they began to teach that the good works of the saints who have died are like a bank of good deeds [treasury of merits] and that when Christians die without being fully purged [made holy] that they go to Purgatory. In Purgatory they ‘do time’ in order to be made fully ready for Gods presence. Right before the Reformation the doctrine of indulgences became a hot issue among many Catholic scholars. These Catholic teachers disagreed with the churches position on buying the good works of the dead saints in order to lesson the time of their loved ones in purgatory. The famous priest named Tetzel was selling these indulgences and that was what sparked Luther’s Reformation. Now, is the doctrine of purgatory/indulgences scriptural? No. Is the doctrine of ‘stored up good deeds/prayers’ scriptural? Yes. In Acts 10 the angel tells Cornelius ‘your prayers and alms [good deeds] have come up as a memorial before God’ in Revelation the stored up prayers of the martyrs ascends up to God like incense. Our good deeds and prayers do not earn us salvation, but they most definitely affect things. James says the fervent effectual prayer of a righteous man avails much. John says that when we walk in holiness then we have confidence that God hears and will answer our prayers. Doing good is very important, not ‘religious’ ceremonial goodness, but religion as defined by James ‘visiting the fatherless and widows in their affliction and keeping yourself unspotted from the world’. These are what ‘alms-deeds’ mean, works of charity. I find it interesting that 2 conservative Catholic scholars of the 20th century disagreed on the doctrine of purgatory as a waiting place after death. One was named Rahner, the other one was Ratzinger [Pope Benedict]. During the Reformation you had a Catholic group called the Jansenists [the leader was a priest named Jansen]. They held to the doctrine of Predestination [like Luther and Calvin]. They rejected certain forms of Catholic teaching; when the practice of devotion to the ‘Scared Heart’ of Jesus was introduced, they called it ‘cardi-olatry’ [idolatry and cardiology combined]. The point being you have many intelligent Catholic scholars who disagree with the official stand of the church. Even though the doctrine of purgatory is unbiblical, yet the concept of our accumulated prayers and good deeds going up to God as ‘a memorial’ [sort of like when Nehemiah prayed- ‘Lord look upon my sacrifice that I have made for your people and reward me’. Or Hebrews ‘God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labor of love which you have showed toward the saints’] is biblical. We certainly don’t earn salvation or merit grace, but to say to God ‘remember all your offerings and accept thy burnt sacrifices’ is okay.
(1219) SAVE LORD, LET THE KING HEAR US WHEN WE CALL- Psalms 20:9 I woke up too early yesterday, around 1 a.m. This has happened a few times in the last few days. So I just move the 3:30-8:30 prayer/study/teaching time up a few hours. It leaves me an hour or two extra to catch up on one of my books. At around 8:30 I felt the Lord wanted me to go and check up on the homeless guys, it’s been a few weeks since I have gotten with them, but I was tired and thought I would just spend a few hours with them. I brought the paper and headed out to the mission. Andy showed up, he’s one of the brothers who has struggled with alcohol for years, just got out of the ‘teen challenge’ program and is doing well. He has two other brothers, I have written about them before. He told me his older brother [59], John David, was supposed to show up at the mission this day and he wanted to make sure he didn’t hook up with the wrong crowd. Andy is 58 and he has a younger brother named Huey. I have fellowshipped with Andy and helped Huey out over the years, but John David is the oldest and he keeps his distance. He looks a little intimidating [to be honest, this stuff never affects me- but to some people they stay away]. If you see him as one of the homeless on the streets where I live, he is a little scary. Anyway Andy was glad I showed up, and Henry [one of the strongest homeless believers, really a fine Christian] showed up. Henry will actually come check up on me if I don’t come around for a few days. Well John David showed up, he has spent 40 days in a local drug rehab and looks great. He is on fire for God, has had a real experience with the Lord. He really loved fellowshipping this day. John David told me his whole story; when he and his family were living near Houston back in the 60’s- 70’s, he killed his best friend with a shotgun. His buddy was violent and one night was coming after him, John David pulled his friends shogun off the rack in the truck and emptied 5 shells into him, he had pellets in the bottom of his feet all the way to the top of his head. His father, who was also an alcoholic by the name of John, died a few weeks before this incident. Johns mother asked around for the best lawyer, she was told the name of a lawyer in Dallas who was the best [Percy something?]. He recently was Lee Harvey Oswald’s attorney, and after Jack Ruby shot him he defended Ruby. Sure enough she went to Dallas and the secretary told her the attorney would cost too much, that he wasn’t even in the building that day. She waited all day until around 10 p.m. and the attorney came out of the office. He asked her about the case and she told him and gave her title deed to her little trailer as payment. He took the job pro bono and got her son off at trial. John David told me that a year later he- quote ‘went and pissed on the grave of his dead friend’. He was ungrateful and unrepentant. Eventually the family wound up in Corpus and all the brothers are living on the streets. When they first got here they did okay, John David had his own concrete company and was making lots of money. He was doing well, but the alcohol and cocaine were his downfall. He told me he hated the homeless guys, he looked down on them and disrespected them. He eventually went thru five marriages and lost everything and became one of the most despised street guys in the Bluff. John passed his alcoholism off to his sons, one night his son was leaving the school dance, he was walking home drunk. A doctor ran him over and killed him. The doctor was also drunk. The boy was only 15, this was another setback in a long series of regrets. We spent the whole day having a good fellowship, I bought some grape juice [in the little bottles] a few weeks back, I felt like the lord said get some for a communion thing. Sometimes when I get with the brothers when we come back to the house we will do an outside communion/fellowship thing. Sure enough this was the day for the juice. I lent Andy one of my good books, he is a serious student and was sharing with me the stuff he has been studying recently. I know he’s reading right now so I lent him some good stuff. Henry took a few reference books, he keeps his books at my house and I’ll lend him stuff from my library as well. He will be preaching Sunday at ‘Church without walls’ a homeless church that sets up a tent every week and holds street services. Yeah, sometimes I don’t get the books back, but it’s worth the investment. John David was a different man this day, all the years I have seen him, never was he like this. He told me a few months back as he was sitting out by the intercoastal waterway where we live, he was strung out on coke, tired of his whole life. He screamed and cursed God, he said ‘if you are f…ing real, then do something’. It was within a few days that someone paid 5 thousand dollars out of pocket to send him to this rehab, the ‘king heard him when he called’.
(1220) VAN JONES- This week the news media have been dealing with one of Obama’s ‘czars’, he is in charge of ‘green jobs’. What’s the problem? Well he seems like a nice fella, until Glen Beck researches all the history of the man, and it turns out he is as bad as any white racist. Now that’s a problem. Why is Beck doing this? Van Jones also leads a group that started an advertising boycott against Beck, he went and personally tried to put Beck out of business. So Beck found all these past things, stuff like ‘the whites are purposefully poisoning the blacks thru polluting the environment’ or he signed his name on one of the ‘9-11’ truther petitions. These people claim that Bush purposefully allowed the attacks to happen. Quite frankly you’re a nut case if you believe this. Now, are people allowed to be nut cases? Sure. But not if you work for the White House. Any white man who would espouse that blacks are purposefully killing whites through pollution would be run out on a rail [rightfully so!]. The reality now is that this man must go, you got into a fight with a conservative broadcaster and alls fair in love and war. To keep a guy on the team that has espoused racist beliefs and comments won’t fly. I am writing this post on Friday, 9-4-09- 5 a.m., it wouldn’t surprise me if he resigns today. Why do I even get into stuff like this? When the media allows one group get away with stuff like this [liberal!] then the poor older white senior citizens, who have been scared out of their wits by both real and false accusations. When these older folk see stuff like this, they think they have a true radical in the white house. During the last election you had a couple of black panthers manning a polling place. The pictures have been all over the media. Quite frankly, they looked quite intimidating. There is no doubt that some elderly white folks kept on driving when they saw these guys at the polling place. If you never saw the pictures they looked just like radical black panthers, the contrast would be having a bunch of skinheads with bats at a black voting location. The uproar would be tremendous. So when we allow for any group to get away with stuff like this, then it breeds fear and racist thoughts on the other side. I don’t know Van Jones, but when you’re on record espousing the stuff that he espoused, you need to leave now! No if, ands or buts. Get out, get out quick- go join some ministry and leave the public eye. These rules should apply to both sides. Martin Luther King led a movement that would not allow for these types of thoughts or beliefs. He gave his life at the hands of white racists, but he refused to lower himself to the level of those who killed him. Luther is a man worth admiring and honoring.
(1221) Lets finish up some thoughts on the book ‘surprised by hope’ [N.T. Wright] all in all I liked the book and brother Wright, but to be honest I didn’t like it as much as I thought I would. Wright is the very popular Bishop of Durham [Church of England] and has sort of a ‘cult’ following. Let me state a few things that I disagreed with [I have already written some posts on the agreement stuff]. Wright believes third world debt/economic imbalance is the number 1 moral problem of our time. He equates it to slavery and the holocaust, I would not go that far myself. He makes a strange case for a new type of epistemology [way of knowing things- it’s a philosophical thing!]. He calls it an epistemology of love; he challenges the ‘modern’ [as opposed to post modern] epistemology of Objective truth. He believes post modernism has shown us that you can’t separate objectivity and subjectivity, they go hand in hand. Grant it this is somewhat of a difficult discussion for a brief review, but this is an area where emergents would line up with Wright. He uses the example of Thomas and his insistence on Objective truth before he would believe in Jesus [Thomas says I will not believe unless I see it myself]. The next week Jesus appears to Thomas and tells him ‘see, go ahead and touch me. Here's the proof’! Thomas then says ‘my Lord and my God’. Wright uses this example to refute a purely objective epistemology. I think he’s contradicting himself on this one. All in all, he’s okay- but not as good as I thought [hoped?] One more thing, Wright does say that it’s obvious that the gospels have contradictions, I know where he’s coming from [Bart Erhman types jump on this stuff] but I personally don’t use this language. I prefer ‘discrepancies’ or ‘biographical literature standards’ to explain this stuff. Some pastors/believers are not familiar with the varying accounts of certain events in the gospels. There are some; one gospel says there was one angel at the tomb, another says two. One gospel says Peter will deny Jesus 3 times before the rooster crows once- another says before the rooster crows twice. There are a few other things like this that caused some to develop differing views on inspiration. Karl Barth [the great and influential Swiss theologian of the 20th century] developed an idea that said the early church practiced a form of ‘Docetism’ when teaching the infallible inspiration of the scriptures. Docetism is an early Gnostic cult that embraced Greek Dualism. The Greek philosophers taught that matter itself was evil, and that salvation/freedom comes to man when he separates himself from the material world. This view is not the Christian view. But early cults [Manichaeism] formed these systems where salvation comes thru God freeing man from all these levels of materialism. Docetism had a too exalted view of the Divinity of Jesus, in which it taught that Jesus was never really a true man, this view denied both the incarnation and resurrected body of Jesus. So, Barth said those who unduly exalted [in his view] the ‘divinity’ of scripture were making the same mistake. The liberal scholars tried to form views that said the scriptures do have mistakes in them, and this doesn’t mean the faith itself should be doubted. Barth made this defense in a well meaning way; it’s just not the historic orthodox view. So anyway I got the feel that Wright [as many noble and good scholars] might hold to something like this. Good book overall, just thought I should give both sides. NOTE- Most of the discrepancies in the gospel accounts can be resolved. For instance to say ‘there was one angel at Jesus tomb’ and for another gospel to say ‘there were two’ in itself is not a lie/contradiction. If I told you there was ‘only one angel’ then that would be a logical contradiction. So the reason I mentioned this is not to cause believers to doubt the scripture, but for them to be aware of both the problems and solutions to these types of things. Some believers go off to college and depending on how liberal the college is, they get attacked with stuff like this and many of them abandon the faith.
(1222) BY THY FAVOR THOU HAST MADE MY MOUNTAIN TO STAND STRONG- Psalms 30:7 These last few weeks we have been hitting some single Psalms and reviewing some good books. I wanted you guys [and gals] to start committing to memory some of these verses. I also wanted to develop an appetite in you for reading, reading good stuff [you know, avoiding stuff like ‘the mark of the beast is here’ and other silly stuff]. I was just outside praying [early] and in the distance I saw the lightning. This last week we have had rain, thunder and lightning. Texas has been in one of the worst droughts ever, one of the Psalms I added to memory this last week was ‘the voice of the Lord is upon the waters, the God of glory thundereth. The Lord is upon many waters’ I have been praying it and incorporated it into my intercession time- not for literal rain, but in a spiritual sense. Yet it worked for the real stuff too! I want to encourage you guys, be steadfast in prayer. These last few weeks I felt the Lord speaking to me about not growing weary in prayer; we covered the parable of the lady who kept pleading with the judge and finally got an answer. Jesus teaching us on consistent prayer. We hit some verses from James on enduring thru trials and difficulty. The scripture says not to grow weary in doing well, in due season we shall reap if we don’t faint. Getting back to our verse ‘you have made my mountain to stand strong’ your ‘mountain’ if you will is the whole area/region that God has ordained for you to function in. To some of you that’s the local church group you relate to, others it’s the state or country. And for others it’s a world wide ‘mountain’ [place of authority/ministry]. God alone can make you fruitful in the field/area of influence he has given you, but it’s your part to maintain the field, the ‘home base’ the capitol city if you will. Scripture says ‘David [King David] dwelt in the fortress city and called it the city of David [he knew who he was and what area of influence he was to wield] and he built round about from the surrounding terraces and inward’. He knew that for him to have a broader regional influence he had to have stability at the home base, the main city [Jerusalem in his case]. As you trust God to show favor to your mountain, remember to be faithful to the home base as well. Jesus sent the Spirit to the church and gave her a witness in Jerusalem, Samaria and the uttermost parts of the earth. If you don’t start at home, it will never spread to the uttermost!
(1223) 2ND CORINTHIANS; INTRO, CHAPTER 1- Out of all of Paul’s letters, this one is the most autobiographical. This is Paul’s 3rd letter [some think 4th] to the Church at Corinth. There is a missing letter that we don’t have. Some scholars feel parts of the missing letter are in this letter [chapters 6, 10-13] either way, we know the letter is inspired and part of the canon of scripture. In chapter one Paul recounts the difficulties he went thru [and continues to go thru] for the sake of the gospel. Paul sees both his sufferings AND his deliverance as beneficial for the communities [churches] he is relating to. He says ‘God establishes/strengthens us and anoints us together with you’. Paul’s view of the church [his ecclesiology] is that God works with corporate groups of believers. His view on discipline is seen from this angle. In 1st Corinthians he says because we do not live to ourselves, therefore if one is in open, unrepentant sin, then commit him to judgment. Why? Because everything that one member does affects the others. I would not go so far and say that Paul taught ‘no salvation outside of the church’ but he sees salvation and Gods working with humans as a corporate experience. The Catholic Church for the first time in her history accepted other Protestant churches who confess Christ and his deity as ‘separated brethren’. This happened at Vatican 2 [1962-65]. The council explicitly taught the other churches were actually ‘churches’. They specifically used the word ‘subsists’ when describing their view of the church. They said the church of Christ subsists in the Catholic Church in it’s fullness. They still believe that the fullest expression of Christ’s church on earth is contained within her, but they rejected the hard line doctrine that the church exclusively resides within her. They realized that God was working with all Christian groups/churches, not just one. I recently saw an ad in my local paper from one of the traditional Latin churches, these are the old ‘tridentine’ churches who observe the mass in Latin. The ad said that salvation is only in the Catholic expression of the church. I hate to correct my Catholic brothers [being I am a Protestant] but this language is not in keeping with the spirit of Vatican 2. Paul understood that God was working with him along with the corporate groups of people that he was relating to as an apostle. He will even teach that this dynamic can take place when they are physically separated, i.e.; he did not have to be in the same room/city for God to be working with them as a community. This is very important to see, it comes against certain expressions of local church. It also opens the door for other expressions of church, like ‘on-line’ communities. There are passages of scripture where Paul does say that whether he is with them in body or not, yet he is present in spirit joying and beholding their growth in Christ. Or he says word got back to him about their growth and he rejoiced in it. While believers should physically meet together as a testimony of their faith, yet the fact that there are occasions where this might not be possible does not mean that they can’t be joined together in spirit and truth. Peter says ‘you who were not a people are now the people of God. You who did not obtain mercy have now obtained it’. God ‘birthed’ churches [communities of believers] thru the apostolic ministry of Paul, these groups were both birthed and received mercy as a corporate event, they understood that they were brothers and sisters in Christ.
(1224) 2nd CORINTHIANS 2- Paul instructs the church to forgive the brother who was excommunicated earlier on [1st Corinthians] he tells them just as they were zealous to carry out the previous judgment, so now they should be willing to forgive. He says it’s possible for people to be overcome with too much sorrow. The other day I wrote a post on Obama’s green jobs czar, I felt [and still feel!] that he needed to resign, he resigned 2 days after I wrote the post. I have also seen some conservatives say good things about the man [Van Jones] that in essence he has also done some good things. But they feared that he will be tagged as this nut case who signed the 911 ‘truthers’ petition [well, he really should not have signed the thing]. The point was it’s possible to over do an attack on an individual like this, to not stop until all the czars fall type of a thing. Paul reminds us that there are times of being hard with people, but the purpose for it is too bring them to their senses. Here Paul warns against being unforgiving. He also says that when he shared Gods word with them he did not do it like others; he said they were ‘peddling/corrupting’ Gods word. This carries with it the idea that certain people/ministers were preaching for profit. Paul is not saying ‘too much profit’ he is simply saying those who were sharing the word and taking money in return. We already know that Paul's mode of operation was to support himself when with the churches [see Acts 20] and at times he even paid the way for his fellow workers. Paul carried out the greatest apostolic ministry known to man [apart from Christ] and he did it free of charge at his own expense. Paul tells them that when he wrote to them he did it thru much affliction and difficulty. He previously spoke about God opening up great opportunities for him, but along with the gift came a great price. Let me share a little personal stuff with you guys. My wife went to the E.R. the other day with some serious problems; she has been admitted into the hospital. We do not have health care insurance. When I retired I couldn’t afford to keep it. I managed to get my kids insurance, but me and my wife are on our own. Out of the 2 of us I have a few more serious health problems than she does. Some have been self inflicted [past mistakes] others just happened. The way I ‘self-treat’ is I go on line and do ‘home cures’- this my friends is not good. Some have helped, others I am not sure of. But this past year I had some things that needed to be checked [like bleeding from places where you shouldn’t be] and frankly, I haven’t done it. But I needed my wife to stay healthy, so this has been pretty awful for me. At the same time we had some serious problems with one of our daughters, and we were/are in a real bind over this. During this whole time I started this new bible study [2nd Corinthians] and whenever I start a study I just do a chapter a day and it doesn’t take long at all to finish. But I wonder how many I’ll be able to do over the course of my life. I would like to do the whole bible, but I realize that it’s thru ‘much affliction and suffering’ that I have written to many of you. Paul said he had the ‘sentence of death within himself’ so he would learn not to trust in himself, but in God who raises the dead. As we read thru these letters, see the real problems and difficulties they were facing; hear Paul when he says ‘I am not peddling Gods word’ he was not taking offerings or collecting money for his own well being. He collected only for the poor saints at Jerusalem. Watch the give and take, the beliefs of the early church. We need an overhaul in our thinking and acting, ‘ministry/preaching/church’ all need to be re looked at, we need to teach/train the upcoming ‘crop’ of pastors in a new way. Don’t see these things as jobs, or opportunities for self advancement, see these things as opportunities to lay your life down for others, to cling to the death experiences and not run from them. Paul said we are the sweet fragrance of Christ to the nations; in both them who are dieing and those who are being saved. God reveals his knowledge thru us to all people groups, we die daily so this fragrance can go forth.
(1225) 2ND CORINTHIANS 3- Paul defends his apostleship, he states he needs no letters of approval for them or from them. They are his ‘letter of proof’ written on their hearts. Paul puts more weight on the work of the Spirit in them as a church, than on written letters. I find this interesting; the historic church has been divided over the issue of how much weight should be placed on tradition versus scripture. There is some confusion on the matter; lets clear it up. First, the Catholic Church does not teach that there are 2 words from God, sort of like tradition is one word and the bible is the other. They believe Gods word comes to us in two forms/ways- both scripture and tradition. The Protestant reformers did not totally reject tradition, they are creedal churches! They simply taught that Gods word was the final arbiter in issues of faith and morals. I do find it interesting that Paul put more weight on the ‘fleshly letters’ [the church] than written ones. He also contrasts the Law of Moses [10 commandments] with the New Covenant in Jesus Blood. He says if the glory of the old law, which was fading away, was so strong that Moses had to put a veil on his face. Then how much more glorious is the New Law in Christ! Some feel that Paul was saying that Moses veil was covering up the glory on his face that was fading away. When Moses went to get the law, on his return from the mountain his face shown, some feel this glory/shining was beginning to fade and Moses put the veil on so the people wouldn’t see it fading. In context I don’t think this is what Paul was saying. The thing that was fading [passing away] was the law itself [see Hebrews]. Moses was not a vain man; I don’t think he was hiding the fact that the glory was leaving his face. All in all Paul says this New Covenant of Gods grace is much greater than the Old Covenant of condemnation. That in this New Covenant we behold Gods face openly, by the ministry of the Spirit. No more veil, we are changed by the Spirit of God and the work of Jesus. Paul says these two covenants are like comparing apples and oranges; they are in a whole different class.
(1226) 2ND CORINTHIANS 4- In chapter 3 Paul said we are beholding/seeing God in an open way as compared to the old covenant. In this chapter he shows us how we ‘see God’. We see him in his Son. God has chosen to reveal himself to us thru his Son. One of the first Christian councils [after the one at Jerusalem in Acts 15!] was held in the 4th century under the Roman emperor Constantine. The reason was to bring unity to the church on the issue of Christ’s divinity. These councils played political roles as well as theological. After Constantine became emperor he established the great city in the eastern empire called Constantinople. This city [named after him] became both the theological and political seat in the eastern half of the empire. So you had both a religious and political competition going on in the empire. Rome, situated in the west, was feeling like she would lose her position if the eastern half started gaining too much influence. So you had differing reasons for these councils. But you also had sincere men who held to various beliefs at the time. The bishop Arius came to teach that Jesus was the Son of God, but not God himself. This created a stir in the empire and Constantine called a council to settle the question. The debates went forth, both views were discussed and classic Orthodoxy came down on the side of Jesus being God. Now, there would be more councils dealing with Gods nature and Christ’s role, but this was a defining moment in Christian history. The church [and the scriptures] teach that God became man [incarnation] and thru Jesus we ‘see God’. Paul also relates the many sufferings and trials he was going thru. He says he tastes death and bears in his body the death of Jesus. He simply does not give a picture of the Christian life that is common in today’s world. Many believers are taught that these types of difficulties and sufferings are a result of their lack of faith, or their inability to rightfully ‘access their covenant rights’. Paul refutes this doctrine strongly. Paul has already mentioned those who ‘peddle Gods word’ or who twist the scriptures for their own benefit. It always amazes me to see well meaning believers/teachers go thru the entire corpus of the New Testament and never see these things. It’s so easy for preachers/teachers to read the scriptures with blinders on. Here Paul taught that the many sufferings [both physical and spiritual] were an honorable thing, they were his way of sharing in the sufferings and death of Christ. They were ‘death in him, but life in you’ he saw his difficulties thru a redemptive lens. He says the present sufferings are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed in us. The first verse of this chapter says seeing we have received this great ministry, we don’t faint. I like Eugene Petersons Message version, he says ‘just because times get hard, we don’t throw up our hands and walk off the job’ I like that.
(1227) 2ND CORITNHIANS 5- Paul speaks of the Christian hope- resurrection! This chapter can be confusing if not taken in context. You could think that Paul is saying when we die we have a house/room in heaven ‘waiting for us’ and this seems true enough. But he is really saying something more along the lines of ‘in heaven [Gods realm] we have a promise of a new body. The Spirit in us is the down payment, but full redemption will be complete when we are raised from the dead’ the hope is a new body, not our souls living some type of disembodied existence in a heavenly mansion. Now, Paul teaches us that this new covenant [last chapter] is one of reconciliation, not condemnation. That because of the work of the Cross, all men have been reconciled to God! It is therefore our job to tell them. In the field of Christian thought there have been thinkers [Origen, Carlton Pearson, etc.] who have dabbled with the doctrine of universalism. They believe that ultimately all people will be saved. I do not believe in this doctrine myself [though I wished it were true- I mean wouldn’t you want everyone forgiven and with God?] but those who embrace it find their reasoning in these types of verses. The New Testament teaches a theme of redemption that says ‘all men have been reconciled to God; Jesus has died for all men. God wills for all to be saved’ and it is because of this theme that some have held to universalism. The point I do want to make to all my orthodox friends is the New Testament message is one of total acceptance based on Christ’s death for us. Sometimes Christians ‘make it hard’ for people to ‘get saved’. The bible doesn’t make it hard, it says it’s a free gift that anyone can have [I know my Calvinist friends are upset right now, but heck I cant please all the people all of the time]. We want the world to know that ‘God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself’. These major themes need to be engrained into the mind of the church and the world. I am not talking ‘easy believism’ in the sense that God requires no repentance, but I am talking the reality of the free gift based upon what Jesus has done. There are so many people struggling with so many things, many have prayed and pleaded with God for change. Many have given up; they see God as a demanding judge whom they could never please. The message of the Cross is ‘you can’t please God, make up for your own sins. God placed those sins on Jesus, that’s why you can be accepted’. He was made sin for us, who knew no sin. That we might be made the righteousness of God in him. Once you see this truth, God will set you free. You will change, you will become ‘righteous’ but it’s a result of the Cross, not your own efforts.
(1228) 2ND CORINTHIANS 6- Paul tells them to not receive Gods grace ‘in vain’. He quotes a very popular verse among Evangelicals ‘now is the acceptable time, now is the day of salvation’. He says the Lord heard their prayer and ‘accepted/saved them’. Paul is referring to salvation in the sense that after his first letter, they repented, asked God for forgiveness and responded in the right way. Now in this letter he’s saying ‘look, God heard your heart. He has received you. Don’t keep repenting over the thing’. Paul also gives another list of his trials. He gave one in chapter 4, will give another one in chapter 11. I like the part where he says ‘we are unknown, yet well known’. In today’s Protestant/Evangelical churches, we are often ‘well known, yet unknown’. Let me explain. In Paul’s day he raised up quite a stir. In the book of Acts we see how when he was at the temple in Jerusalem someone finally recognized him and accused him. He wasn’t’ well recognized/known like we are today. Yet his writings and the communities of believers he was establishing were well known. People knew his message and gospel. Yet today, we have so many Christians who follow a cult of personality. They associate ‘the church they attend’ with the main leader. Often these men are well meaning, in some cases their public persona is known world wide. Yet the average viewing audience has no grasp on what they are teaching. They see our famous images [well known] yet what we are speaking is often irrelevant [unknown]. And last but not least Paul teaches what I like to call ‘an incarnational ecclesiology’- in simple terms, God lives in his people in a real way. The real presence of God in society is manifest thru his actual people. Often times the historic churches will emphasize the Eucharist as the way Gods presence is in the world. Some argue for ‘an incarnational sacramental’ view of Christianity. They teach that because God manifested himself in a material way thru Christ [the incarnation] that this principle continues today thru the sacraments that the churches practice. I respond this way; while this is true that God has/does manifest himself in real ways in the world, the primary method of him dwelling in the world in a real way is thru the people of God. Paul refers to us as Gods temple in the world. While the history of Israel in the Old Testament is somewhat liturgical, I feel to carry sacramental theology too far into the New Covenant misses the point. Jesus did give us the communion meal, and we do ‘show his death’ while celebrating it. But Gods primary means of ‘showing’ himself to the world is thru the charitable deeds of his saints. They will ‘know we are Christians by our love, by our love’. This theme is woven thru out the entire New Testament. Its’ fine for believers to have ‘sacred space’ [church buildings] to celebrate liturgy and traditional forms of Christian worship, but to keep in mind that we are the actual dwelling place of God in the world, we are his temple. During the first millennia of Christian history the church developed an idea that said because Jesus did come in the flesh, therefore it is now permitted to have Icons [special religious paintings that have special meaning in the Greek/Eastern Orthodox churches] and physical ways for Gods presence to manifest. The western church [Catholic] would struggle over this issue. One of the Popes would condemn iconography and some would destroy these religious paintings from the church buildings. Eventually an Orthodox theologian [I think John of Damascus?] would develop the theology that I explained above and the church would accept the practice of God manifesting himself in a special way thru religious objects. I personally enjoy the Catholic/Orthodox and traditional expressions of Christianity, but I think they over did it in this area.
(1229) 2ND CORINTHIANS 7- Paul tells them that at first he regretted being so hard on them in his 1st letter. But now he rejoices that he was so hard, because they fully heard him out and came to their senses. I have found over the years that many people initially ‘hate’ me for some of the stuff I write. But sometimes they really reconsider certain beliefs that they picked up along the way and they make adjustments, this is the purpose. So Paul was glad he did it. Now when he was in Macedonia he was in distress 'without were fighting’s, within were fears’ he struggled daily with difficulty. But in all these troubles he rejoiced when the good report came back to him from Titus, his co worker who was sent to check up on the Corinthians. Titus came back and told Paul how they listened to him and repented. This was Paul’s reason to rejoice. I want you to see the give and take between Paul and these churches/communities. In the next chapter we will deal with money issues, but for now he is giving his life away for the benefit of these churches. He preaches the pure gospel of Jesus, he does not view ‘being a child of the king’ thru the lens of making wealth or having no problems, to the contrary he will teach that these doctrines are not from the Lord [see 1st Timothy 6]. Paul’s intent was to establish these churches on the reality of Christ and what the Cross meant in their lives. He urges them to separate from idolatrous and sinful practices and for them to be holy [set apart] for Gods work. He warns his churches not to come under the influence of false teachers, people who were bringing in ‘damnable heresies’ even denying the faith of Jesus. All in all Paul made plain the reality of Jesus and how we as believers do not pursue the desires of the world, he tells Timothy ‘we came into the world without wealth and material goods, when we die we can’t take it with us. So lets be happy with what we have’ no doctrine of seeking extreme wealth to advance the kingdom, but to live soberly and righteously in the present world. These letters that we are covering [all the studies we have done so far on this blog] are the foundational documents of the church, we need to read and hear what they are saying. Too many churches are built upon proof texts found all over the bible, but when you read the actual story in context, they tell a different story. Paul rebuked this church in a strong way; they were sorry and broken over the things he said. Then after a period of time they humbled themselves and made some changes. That’s all Paul wanted, for his converts to stay on course.
(1230) YOU LIE!- I was going to do chapter 8 of our 2nd Corinthians study, but I just finished a regular Monday morning prayer time and felt I should go another way. On Mondays I do a regular prayer thing that includes praying for the president as well as world leaders. I have prayed for President Obama, by name, every Monday [and sometimes a few more times a week] ever since he’s been in office. I did the same with Bush. This week Obama gave a speech to congress in an effort to salvage his health care reform. During the speech you had a Republican, Joe Wilson, shout out ‘you lie’ at the place where Obama said that those who were saying illegal aliens would be covered under the bill were lying. First, Wilson was wrong to do what he did and he apologized. Second, did the president lie? A little bit, probably not on purpose, but he wasn’t totally accurate. Joe Wilson is one of the key Republicans dealing with a part of the bill that would either exclude or include illegal aliens under the plan. The fact is every time Wilson tried to add language specifically excluding illegals, he was shot down by the Democrats. This has happened a number of times and it is quite obvious that the Democrats were signaling that they did not want to exclude illegal aliens from the plan. One part of the bill said ‘no illegal aliens will benefit from tax benefits proposed under the bill’. This language does not say no illegals will benefit from the plan itself. Now, when it comes to illegals, I am more liberal than many of my friends, who are Mexican. When I was working at the fire dept. I was one of the few [if only] guys that sided with the illegal immigrants when it came to showing them sympathy after they got into the country. Many of my Mexican buddies said ‘hell no, my parents did it right, these illegals should have to do it the legal way’. I didn’t side with doing illegal things; I just sided with their plight and felt we should avoid the strong racial stuff that usually comes up in these scenarios. So anyway why did Wilson say ‘you lie’? As an insider, who knew for a fact that the Democrats were purposefully opposing language in the bill that would exclude illegals, in his view the president did lie. He is sitting there and being accused of misleading the American people, that is Wilson is being told by the president in front of the world that those who are saying illegals might get covered are lying to you. Wilson knew Obama was in fact wrong, in his view Obama very well lied. Now, like I said at the beginning, did Obama know all these inner workings of every group writing stuff in all these comities? Obviously not, but he did not tell the whole truth about this specific issue. I do not hold to the view that our president is a secret socialist trying to undermine our economy for the purpose of a communist overthrow of the country. Do all the media persons who are espousing this view really believe it? I think Beck is a sincere guy, but really not ready for ‘prime time’. He might very well believe his views, and at times does show the other side of the story, but his overall framework is dangerous. I think Rush is too smart to really believe this stuff, but he is an entertainer. Hannity? I think he believes some of his own rhetoric. But I know for a fact that the president has said, on record, that he wanted to initiate a single payer health system that would eventually lead to universal health care for all Americans. He said this in 2007 when he advocated for the govt. to run the entire system. Okay, Barney Frank said the same thing a few months back; they caught him on tape saying it. So for the president, or Democrats in general, to say that the Republicans are lying to the American people when they warn about this, then they are actually not telling the whole story. Today’s point is we need to hear and listen to all side’s of these issues, we need to avoid the mindset that demonizes the president, or those who honestly disagree with him. We need to pray for our leaders and the president on a regular basis. We need to act right in this whole mess.
(1231) 2ND CORINTHIANS 8- Paul talks about giving in these next 2 chapters. It’s important to see the context in which he is speaking. Many fine men [pastors] and believers will use a verse or two out of these chapters and apply them in a wrong, or out of context way. We find verses like ‘he that sows [plants] sparingly will reap sparingly’ or ‘God shall supply all your needs according to his riches and glory’. These verses [as well as a few others] are to be seen in the context of giving in a charitable way, doing it by ‘choice’ and not by force, and giving freely to help the poor saints that were living at Jerusalem. But too often these verses are used to tell believers if they do not tithe 10 percent of their income into a Sunday morning offering, they will be cursed. Or appeals are made by the TV preachers that say ‘sow into this ministry and reap a harvest’ in many of these scenarios there is tremendous force and manipulation used to get the saints to give money for all types of projects, or to fund the rich lifestyles of charismatic figures. These things ‘ought not to be done’. In this chapter Paul says he that gathered little had ‘no lack’ how often have we taught believers to ‘get a full harvest’ and said it in a way that says unless you ‘gather much’ you will be in lack? Here Paul says those who gathered ‘just enough’ those who were satisfied with the basics ‘had no lack’. Or ‘give according to what you have, not according to what you don’t have’ how many appeals are made all the time telling believers ‘if you don’t have it, make a vow anyway’? We tell people to give according to what they don’t have all the time. And the churches of Macedonia did give ‘out of their poverty and great affliction’ you do not measure the success or spirituality of believers by the amount of financial wealth they have, these giving churches had ‘poverty’. All in all we need to rethink much of what the contemporary church/ministry does when it comes to money. In these chapters Paul teaches voluntary giving along the lines of helping the poor, we often use all these verses and simply apply them to our ‘churches’ ministries or personal callings. We err. In the next chapter Paul will quote Psalms ‘he hath dispersed abroad, HE HATH GIVEN TO THE POOR, his righteousness remains forever’ again, the whole context is giving to the poor. I know we mean well as believers, but we need to get back to really reading what the text is saying and applying it in that way. To give to churches, or ministries is fine. To give 10 % of your income is fine. To meet the needs of laboring elders/pastors is fine, but we should not use these types of scriptures in a condemning way when exhorting the saints to give, doing that is ‘not fine’.
(1232) 2ND CORINTHIANS 9- Paul encourages the church to be generous ‘give much, and you will be blessed much’. The principle is clear. The other day I wrote on the verse ‘he hath distributed and given to the poor, his good works will endure’ [my paraphrase] let me give you what the message bible says- ‘he throws caution to the wind, giving to the needy with reckless abandon’. Yesterday my friend John David came by. He’s the friend I wrote about a few weeks ago, one of the local homeless guys. John is doing well; he made it thru the local drug rehab and is attending the aa/na meetings. John is really excited about the lord, even though he is an older brother [57] he really wants to do things for God. I gave him a few old copies of some of my original books I wrote years ago, and I gave him all the cash I had [around 15 dollars from my wallet]. He didn’t ask for it, I just felt ‘what the heck, if I don’t give it I’ll just spend it’. Later my wife asked me if I could take my daughter to get her I.D. at the driver’s license place. You need cash, it’s around 16 dollars. I thought ‘geez, maybe I’m too reckless in giving to my buddies’ and then I read this verse this morning. Paul exhorts these believers to give themselves and their goods away for the gospel. He challenges us to live with ‘reckless abandon’ knowing that our lives are like a vapor that appear for a little while and then vanish away [James]. If you give yourself away, God will increase ‘your seed’ and multiply the results 100 times, but you must lay down your life first. Jesus said unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it abideth alone. But if it dies it will bring forth much fruit. He was speaking of his impending death, how he saw it as a necessary event for the purposes of God. Paul also says in his letter ‘if Jesus died for everyone, then we are all dead. He then that lives should now live for God.’ We are not here to please ourselves, to derive some type of fulfillment through our Christian experience. That is to ‘seek to save our lives’ we are here to lay them down for a greater cause, Jesus showed us how this must be done.
(1233) 2ND CORINTHIANS 10- Paul defends himself once again, he says ‘the weapons of our warfare are not fleshly, but mighty thru God to the pulling down of strongholds. Casting down imaginations [arguments] and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God’. Contrary to popular opinion, Paul is not speaking about ‘spiritual warfare’ in the sense of casting demons out of the sky, but he is talking about refuting false opinions and ideas that the false teachers were popularizing. In essence true spiritual warfare is presenting the truth of Christ in its purist form and undoing false/popular ideas that don’t line up with scripture. Paul also defends his right to speak into their lives/location. He says he has been given a sphere/place of authority by God, and this area did indeed cover Corinth. He also claims authority for other regions. In scripture Apostles do have more of a regional authority/influence than other types of callings. Paul did not exercise his authority in a way that said ‘you guys must only listen to me’ in the sense that ‘submitting’ to authority meant actually listening to him preach every Sunday. The New Testament churches had tremendous freedom and sharing in their corporate get togethers. It actually was the false teachers who tried to cause these early believers to come under their control. In Galatians Paul says ‘who hath bewitched you’ or cast a spell on you. Paul would only come in and use his authority in a strong way when the churches strayed from the simplicity that was in Christ. In this chapter he says the authority that he had was for the purpose of building them up, not tearing them down. The main way Paul ‘did battle’ was thru the refuting of the false teachers thru the scripture [Old Testament] and presenting the fullness of Gods grace in Christ. Paul often used examples from urban life to help him get his point across- things like sports, arenas, military, etc. Jesus used more of an agrarian type setting in his parables- fishing, seed planting, etc... Of course they both used other symbols as well, but the point was they spoke and argued their ideas in ways that their hearers would be familiar with. When Paul refuted the philosophers at the Areopagus [Mars Hill, Acts 17] he made use of the public forum to get his points across. Paul operated in an intellectual world, as opposed to Peters fishing background. But they all presented Christ in his fullness, whether the message came from a fisherman or a theologian. Paul simply had a little better equipment when it came to refuting the false philosophies of his day. He didn’t buy the argument that ‘they were not in his sphere’ sort of like religion belongs ‘in the church building’ but leave the science and philosophy to us. He had authority from God to function in those spheres.
(1234) 2ND CORINTHIANS 11- Paul fears that the church will be drawn away from the simplicity that is in Christ. He warns of false teachers/apostles and defends his own calling. He says he espoused them to Christ in marriage, yet the false teachers were bringing in a different gospel, spirit and Jesus. He uses this same language in his letter to the Galatians. Who were these false teachers? Probably the Judaisers, the main instigators of Paul. Over the years many well meaning believers who are members of various churches have used verses like this to describe the ‘church down the block’. Whether it was over the gifts of the Spirit, water baptism, or a host of other doctrines. Often times these verses on ‘false teachers’ would be used to strike fear into the hearts of their members. In context these types of verses are speaking of those who reject historic Christianity, the reality of grace and other Christian teaching. Those who were trying to supplant the true gospel and bring the churches under legalism. Now, in this chapter we see Paul make a defense by saying he did not take financial support from the Corinthians, but ‘robbed other churches’ instead. Meaning he did receive financial aid from other believers. He says the churches of Macedonia helped out. We also read in the letter to the Philippians that they too helped Paul with money. I used to think that the only church that Paul did not receive aid from was the Church at Corinth. He does seem to say that he used this style of ‘taking no offerings’ only when at Corinth. Many believers are under the same impression. A careful reading of the New Testament shows us that this was not the case; in Acts chapter 20 [read my commentary on Acts 20] he teaches us that when he was staying with the church at Ephesus he also worked and provided for himself and those who were with him. He says he did this to give the leaders an example, so the Ephesian elders/pastors would not see ministry thru the lens of a hired profession. Peter says the same when speaking as ‘an elder to fellow elders’ taking the oversight of the believers, willingly, not for ‘filthy lucre’. And Paul says the same to the church at Thessalonica. Now some argue that leaders/elders should never accept financial help. I think that is going too far myself [though I never take a dime!]. The point is it was okay for Christian brothers to help other brothers out when in need. The things that Paul tried to avoid was elders/leaders seeing ministry thru the lens of ‘it’s my job’ type of a thing. But Paul clearly says stuff like ‘they that preach the gospel should live of the gospel’ here he is saying those who are actively giving themselves to teaching the word should be taken care of. I suggest you read the sections ‘what in the world is the church’ and ‘prosperity gospel’ I have many posts in there that deal with this issue. Overall Paul did not forbid fellow believers from helping him, but he certainly did not teach a doctrine of ‘sow into my ministry for a harvest’ type of a thing, in a way where he justified extreme wealth coming from the offerings of the churches. We need to keep the entire story/picture in mind when appealing to these verses in the current day. The New Testament is not a materialistic book, it warns against those who ‘peddle the word’ [taught for money]. It plainly tells leaders ‘don’t do it with financial reward in mind’. In today’s media environment these warnings are mocked and described as ‘that old tradition’ many err because they know not the scriptures.
(1235) 2ND CORINTHIANS 12- Before I get into a long history discussion with you guys, let’s hit a few verses. Paul says ‘when I was with you, did I gain a profit from you, take advantage of you?’ or ‘when I sent Titus, did he gain a profit from you?’ He then goes on and says the fathers lay up money for the kids, not the other way around. He says he has spent out of his own pocket for them, and he will continue to do so. He says he does all this so people won’t have the excuse ‘he’s just in it for the money’. Notice, Paul himself did not have the common mindset we see in ministry today. Often times financial appeals are made from Paul’s writings in Corinthians, these appeals often say ‘we are not asking for ourselves, but for you’ it is put in a way that says it would be wrong to not take money from people. That in some way not taking an offering would violate scripture. Paul flatly said he did not take money from them for personal use, nor would he. When the modern church uses Paul’s other sayings in this letter to appeal to giving, we need to share ‘the whole counsel of God’ not just a few verses that fit in with what we practice. Now, Paul speaks about being caught up into ‘heaven’ [Gods realm-Paradise] and hearing truths from God that were not lawful for men to speak. He states that God gave him truth that came from Divine revelation. If you skip a few pages over in your bible, you will hit Galatians. In the first chapter he says how after he was converted he did not confer with the other leaders at Jerusalem, but received teaching straight from God. Let’s discuss what revelation is, how we come to know things. The last few centuries of the first millennium of Christian history you had the ‘Holy Roman Empire’ which was a political/religious union of church and state. Under the emperor Charlemagne the territories of the empire were vast. Those who came after him did not have the same control over the regions that were vast. Eventually you had a form of rule arise that was called Feudalism; the sections of the empire that were too far to benefit directly from Rome would simply come under the authority of the local strongman [much like the present dilemma in Afghanistan, I think it’s time to get our boys out of that mess]. People would come under the authority of a ruler and he would lease out land to the citizens and they would benefit from his protection. The citizens were called Vassals and the land was called a Fief. At one point king John of England would do public penance in a disagreement he had with the Pope and all of England would become a Fief under the rule of the Pope. Now, this would eventually lead up to the development of the strong nation states, an independent identifying with your state/region as opposed to being under Rome and the papacy. This type of independence would allow for the 16th century reformation to happen under Luther. If it were not for Frederick the Wise, the regional authority in Germany where Luther lived, he would have never had the protection or freedom to launch his reformation. Luther also had the influence of being a scholar at Wittenberg. Around the 12th-13th centuries you had the first university pop up at the great cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris. The word university simply meant a co-operative effort from two or more people. It applied to many things besides learning. It was also during this time that the church began to develop a system of harmonizing Christian doctrine; she began to do systematic theology. The writings of the Greek philosophers [Aristotle] were rediscovered after centuries of them being hidden, and the great intellectual Saint Thomas Aquinas would wed Aristotle’s ideas with Christian truth. This became known as Scholasticism. Aquinas believed that men could arrive at a true knowledge of God from pure reason and logic. But man could not know all the truths about God and his nature without ‘special revelation’ [the bible and church tradition]. All Christians did not agree with Aquinas new approach to Christian truth, the very influential bishop Bernard would initially condemn Aquinas over this. Bernard said ‘the faith that believes unto righteousness, believes! It does not doubt’. The Scholastic school taught that the way you arrive at knowledge was thru the continuous questioning and doubting of things until you come to some basic conclusions. These issues would be debated for centuries, and even in the present hour many argue over the issue of Divine revelation versus natural logical reasoning. Tertullian, an early North Afrcian church father, said ‘I believe because it is preposterous, illogical’ he became famous for his saying ‘what does Jerusalem have to do with Athens’ meaning he did not believe that Greek philosophy should have any part with Christian truth. Origen, his contemporary, believed the other way. So the debate rages on. Why talk about this here? Some believers ‘believe’ in a type of knowledge called ‘revelation knowledge’ they mean something different than the historic use of the term. Historically ‘revelation’ meant that which God revealed to us THRU THE BIBLE, not something outside of the bible. For instance, the first canon of scripture put together was by a man called Marcion. His ‘bible’ contained the letters of Paul and parts of :Luke. He believed the revelation God gave Paul was for us today, not the Old Testament or the historical gospels. He was condemned by the church as a heretic. The point being some took Paul’s writings about receiving knowledge from God as an indicator that what God showed Paul was different than what the church got thru the other apostles. In point of fact the things that God revealed to Paul, or to you or me; all truth is consistent, it will not contradict any other part of Gods truth. Paul’s letters are consistent with the gospels, not in contradiction. When believers cling to an idea that their teachers are sharing ‘special revelation’ or a Rhema word that is somehow above the scrutiny of scripture, then they are in dangerous territory. Paul did appeal to his experience with God as a defense of his gospel, but he backed up everything he said with Old Testament scripture. God wasn’t ‘revealing’ things to Paul that were outside of the realm of true knowable ‘truth’. You could examine and test the things Paul was saying, he wasn’t saying ‘because God showed it to me, that’s why I’m correct’. So in today’s church world, we want all the things we learn and believe to be consistent with what the church has believed thru out the centuries. Sure there are always things that are going to be questioned and true reform entails this, but beware of teachers who come to you with ‘revelation knowledge’ or a ‘Rhema word’ that goes against the already revealed word of truth.
(1236) 2ND CORINTHIANS 13- Okay, it took 13 days to do this brief study. Paul finished up his letter by telling them that God gave him authority to build them up, not tear them down. The message bible says ‘to not tear them apart’. Why say this? Because after 13 chapters [yes, I know the chapters are not in the original!] it sure felt like he wrung them thru a wringer. In Jeremiah 1:10 God gives him power to root out, tear down, uproot and also build up. If you read the exact wording Jeremiah does 4 ‘deconstructing acts’ and 2 constructing ones. It is part of leadership to spend more time dealing with the problems than doing the good stuff. Dealing with the problems is actually part of ‘the good stuff’. We spent a few weeks simply trying to look at the context of Paul and his relating to the Corinthians. How many good men and churches spend whole lifetimes quoting a verse or two from this letter, maybe during an offering time. Then applying it in a way that has people focused on money and wealth building [a verse like ‘he became poor so we might be rich’] and yet the verse is totally taken out of context. You might hear it a million times thru out your whole church going experience, and yet never really come to a sober understanding of the text. These types of problems [proof texting] are a major problem in the Protestant/Evangelical churches, good men simply losing their way. Paul was tough on the believers, but when he was thru with them they were much better off for it. The level of correction and reproof in the modern church is very low, we simply do not receive or listen to reproof. Those who wish to excel in their callings and purposes in God are those who listen and make the proper adjustments. Proverbs says reproofs and correction are the path to life. As I finish up another one of our many blog studies, I am not sure what we will do next, but as you read these brief New Testament studies, see them in context. Look at them as whole letters that have meaning, don’t just see individual verses. When you read these letters as a ‘whole’ you will stay on course and avoid the snares and weeds that may prominent preachers and teachers have fallen into, you will avoid the pitfalls of creating a story from a few chopped up sections of a letter. Seeing these wonderful New Testament letters in context will ground you in grace and keep you on course, in the end you will be built up on a good foundation. Like Paul said in his first letter to them ‘if any man build wood, hay, stubble- or precious stones’; the day of judgment will show what you valued the most. Those who take these letters and turn them into moneymaking schemes, or techniques for worldly success, they have built things that will burn up. Those who take these epistles and build their lives on Gods grace and the reality of the Cross, their lives will show good fruit that will not be burned up on the Day of Judgment.
(1237) WHAT DOES ‘SOLA SCRIPTURA’ MEAN? During the 16th century Protestant Reformation you had the Reformers [Luther, Calvin, Zwingli, etc.] come down on the side of ‘sola scriptura’ which meant ‘the bible alone’. That is they felt the scriptures should have the final say in deciding the doctrinal matters of the church. Many modern Protestant groups have taken a wrong view of sola scriptura; they seem to think it means ‘solo scriptura’- me and my bible. What’s the difference? The historic Protestants felt the bible had the final say, but they also taught that the scriptures should be understood and read thru the historic framework of the church. That is the ‘sense’ that most believers have had when reading Gods word. Calvin would appeal to the past writings of Augustine and other church fathers when making his case. During the time of the Reformation you also had what came to be called ‘the Radical Reformation’ or the Ana-Baptists [which meant re-baptizers]. They rejected infant baptism and wanted to make a clean break from all traditional Christianity. The Magisterial Reformers thought they went too far, I stood at the spot in Zurich where Zwingli ‘baptized’ them in the river [he drowned them]. So as you can see there are various degrees of ‘sola/solo scriptura’. Is it possible to come to a right conclusion from reading the bible alone? Sure, most of my ideas have come this way. The problem seems to be when preachers/believers read things out of context. When reading any book, if you took a verse/sentence from one chapter and added it to another chapter. And then memorized all these sentences and put together your own meaning, then no matter how ‘well meaning’ the person is, he is going to get the story wrong. The Reformers believed it was important to read and understand the bible in the context of the wider church. Pope Benedict agrees, he said it was important to know how the whole church has viewed a particular truth thru out all time. These insights are important for our day. Is it possible for ‘all the church’ to have missed it on a certain subject? You bet, the point is when ‘the whole church’ begins to rise up and say ‘yeah, we missed it’ then you have true reform. Too often you find separated groups of believers who have grasped onto some truth, maybe it’s a real insight that others don’t see yet, but then they become isolated and their truth becomes a stumbling block. They often use their truth as the criteria to judge all other Christians. They will discount everything the other Christian groups have to say, because they ‘know for sure’ that they are wrong on that one particular doctrine. I think it’s time for the Protestant/Evangelical church to get back to ‘sola scriptura’; that is to read and believe in the bible as the final authority on doctrinal decisions, but to also have a working knowledge on how all other Christian groups see, or have seen these same truths.
(1238) PSLAMS 37- I have been meditating on this Psalm for the past few days, it speaks to our day ‘fret not thyself because of evildoers, for those who seem to prosper in what they are doing’. Recently we have had the political storm over ACORN, the community group who has it’s hands in all types of things. They actually have done some good in helping the poor, but the conservatives finally got them! What do you expect when your people offer help to a fake pimp and prostitute when they are looking for ‘housing’? Oh my, how have we fretted over the wicked. Or ‘a little that a righteous man has is better than the riches of many wicked’ last night I was reading the bio’s of John Wycliffe and John Hus, the two great ‘pre-reformers’. Wycliffe preached/taught out of Oxford England and would contrast the riches and wealth of the Pope with the poverty of Jesus and his men. He taught the ‘true church’ were those who knew God and were part of the spiritual community of believers, not limited to any earthly institution. He would send his poor preachers out 2 by 2 and they would infiltrate England [they were called Lollards]. Hus would read the writings of Wycliffe and lead Bohemia down the same road. Hus preached at the influential Bethlehem church in Prague and also had influence at the university. These men believed that ‘the poverty of the righteous would go further than the riches of many wicked’. They truly turned their world upside down while rejecting the idea that we all need to become rich in order to have real influence. This Psalm says the meek will inherit the earth and delight themselves in the abundance of peace. The wicked might seem like he’s spreading out like a huge tree, but his efforts are temporary. Jesus said the kingdom of God was like planting a small seed and it becoming a huge tree, are you looking to plant ‘a huge tree’? We often view the kingdom thru God using us to gather great wealth and resources, organizing some corporation, and then this ‘huge tree’ will get the job done. Jesus approach was to gather these outcasts of society, invest his life into them, and his life, death, resurrection and example would become the ‘seed bed’ that would start a worldwide revolution. Don’t fret over what it seems like the ‘wicked’ are getting away with, just simply follow Jesus, your little bit can accomplish much more than the riches of many wicked [geez, ACORN was getting millions, but the church of Jesus has been helping the poor for 2 thousand years. I don’t know why we fret over this stuff!]
(1239) CATHEDRAL OF THE MIND- I came across this phrase the other day while reading some church history, I liked the idea that it expressed. These last few years I have ‘weaned’ myself off of the standard preaching shows. But I have watched/listened/read from theologians, both Catholic and Protestant [primarily from the Reformed tradition]. I include Eastern Orthodoxy under the subtitle of Catholic [though they would see it the other way around]. Now, the Christian church has had a voice of justice to the nations for many centuries. The Catholic Church gets credit for having a system in place that can speak cohesively and with authority to the nations. The Protestant church has yet to achieve this type of unity. But there are many noble scholars and teachers from the Protestant tradition that the average Protestant is unfamiliar with. Most of the preacher friends I know and have fellowshipped with over the years have spent lots of time listening and learning from the popular media channels, the books read and programs watched are for the most part modern success teachings. Much of it is void of the gospel as seen in the New Testament. During the Reformation you had a transition from the ‘church meeting’ that went from sacrament/Eucharist as being the central theme of the meeting, to preaching/pulpit as becoming the center. While this was a noble attempt to get the average church goer back to Gods word, it also produced a passivity in the life of the average believer. He became accustomed to thinking worship primarily consisted of going to a building and hearing a lecture. So even though the ancient Mass had some problems, the New Protestant church service had some of their own. Now, the ‘cathedral of the mind’- the manifold wisdom that exists in the intellectual mind of the church is tremendous. But you really can’t access it unless you read and learn from the classics. There is a verse that says ‘son, cease to listen to the teaching that leads you astray’ the Christian needs to make a conscious effort to ‘cease to listen’ to some stuff. Now I am not advocating the boycotting of any contemporary preachers, but to truly become educated we need to choose wisely. Many of the Catholic voices have tremendous wisdom, but to listen to them you need to acquire a different type of ear. Father Groeschel says listening to the Protestant sermon is often like trying to get a drink from a fire hydrant. He doesn’t mean to offend, but I understand where he is coming from. To listen to certain scholars you need to develop a new intellectual capacity that contrasts the average way Protestants learn [the preaching of the word]. I do believe there are important doctrinal differences between Catholics and Protestants, that’s why I am still a Protestant. But many times Protestants are misinformed on some of these things. Bishop Fulton Sheen used to say ‘there are 10 thousand people who hate what they think is the Catholic Church, only a few actually hate the church’ while he might be overstating his case, I get his point. For the believer to truly understand why he associates with either the Catholic [Orthodox] or Protestant wing of Christianity, he first needs to develop an appetite for true learning, there are many areas of knowledge and wisdom that the average believer needs to become familiar with. God does not require all believers to become intellectuals, but he does want us to love him with all of our hearts, souls, minds and might. Do you love God with your mind?
(1240) 2nd KINGS 1- The king of Israel is on his roof in Samaria and falls thru. He sends his men to inquire from a pagan god whether or not he will get healed. On the way Elijah meets them and tells them because he sought information from a forbidden source, he will die. They go back and the king realizes it was Elijah. So he sends 50 men to tell Elijah to come and see the king; Elijah calls down fire from heaven and they get ‘sacrificed’. This happens with the second group of 50 as well. The third group comes and says ‘please, we don’t want to die like the rest, just come and see the king for heavens sake’. Elijah goes. He tells the king that he will die because he sought foreign gods and rejected the true God. In Luke 9 the disciples ask Jesus ‘do you want us to call down fire from heaven and burn them up, like Elijah did’? They treated the story as literal. Why did the disciples ask this? Jesus was going to Jerusalem and he sent two men to Samaria, the same city where the king of Israel was associating himself with. The people did not welcome him because he had his mind already set on Jerusalem. The whole history of Israel and Judah [northern and southern tribes] involved a debate over where true worship occurred. Samaria was considered a low class place; the people had little respect in the eyes of the pure Jew. Jesus disciples saw nothing wrong with the death of these Samaritans. Jesus told them that his kingdom was not about getting rid of the ‘heretics’ but redeeming them. It seems strange that the disciples would even contemplate the death of these ‘illegals’, after all Jesus is going around healing and helping people who are considered low class. He is trying to instill this mindset into his men, but yet somehow on the road to the Kingdom they see no contradiction in thinking that part of the process would include the destruction of a whole society of people. Many sincere Christians/preachers seem to make this same mistake in their treatment of Muslims/Arabs. No matter how theologically wrong a certain class of people are, yet their destruction is not part of the plan. Let me also mention the error that many well meaning Catholics have fallen into in my part of the world. Over the years I have had the privilege of working with lots of brothers who have come from strong Mexican/Catholic backgrounds. Often times they would see nothing wrong with going to a ‘Catholic fortune teller’ or hiring someone to place a curse on an enemy. The Catholic Church expressly teaches against this. There are many differences between Catholics and Protestants; one of them is the teaching of asking the saints who have died to intercede for us. The Catholic Church does not teach ‘praying to the saints’ in the sense of praying to God for prayer to be answered. Many Catholics and Protestants are confused about this, many do think that praying to the saints is like asking God to answer a prayer. The official Catholic doctrine is you can ‘pray’ in the sense that you are asking a believer who has died to ‘pray for you’. In essence the doctrine teaches you can ask a believer who has died to pray for you, because in reality they are still alive. Okay, I personally don’t go for this, but I get the difference. Here close to Mexico there is a superstitious mixing of saints with actual occult practices [Santeria]. Many Catholics have a misguided understanding of seeking these practices and thinking they are Catholic in nature. They are not. So in this chapter we see that seeking wisdom from a pagan/occult source brought death upon the king. I want to warn all of our readers [both Catholic and Protestant] that the official teaching of both churches condemns doing this, don’t do it!
(1241) 2nd KINGS 2- Elijah is going to be taken up into heaven and Elisha follows him, Elijah tells him to leave but Elisha requests a double portion of the Spirit that anointed Elijah. He tells Elisha that if he witnesses his translation into heaven he will get it. As Elisha follows Elijah to the various towns [Bethel, Jericho, etc.] he runs into the ‘sons of the prophets’ who independently tell Elisha that Elijah will be taken this day. These sons of the prophets are the same group from the ‘school of the prophets’ under Samuel. They lived a communal lifestyle, were provided for by offerings from the community and were recognized as a legitimate group sent from God. Over the years I have had both ‘prophetic’ type experiences as well as learning and growing in Christian truth. Often time’s believers will live their whole lives only experiencing and learning Christianity from their particular group. While many of these various denominations are fine groups, they are only a limited picture of the church. The problem comes in when one group sees itself as ‘the group’ to the exclusion of the other groups. There are ‘prophetic groups’ who operate in these gifts, these gifts do exist and function in the church today. Many of these groups have cut themselves off from the ‘intellectual’ branch of the church. Some seem to regulate their entire Christian experience around the gift. Often times it is next to impossible to correct them doctrinally, because they believe that the fact that they do experience real prophetic gifts justifies all their beliefs. Often times they are wrong. Many times the young believers who follow these gifted men/movements become infatuated with the gift and never truly grow in the things of God. Having said all this, we also need to be open to the miraculous gifts of the Spirit that the bible speaks about. The majority view of Christianity [Catholic, Orthodox and most Protestants] do believe in the charismatic gifts of the Spirit. There are those who try and make a case for their cessation [cessationists!] but for the most part these gifts do and have functioned since the early days of Christianity. I can personally give you many examples from my own story; let me share a recent one. A few weeks ago I had some of my homeless friends over for a fellowship time. We had communion and shared the word in my yard. This spot is the same spot where I pray over the communities of people that we relate to. I have a habit of ‘anointing’ myself with oil while praying for the brothers. I will actually put anointing oil on my head and pray ‘just like this oil is on me, Lord anoint all those we are reaching out to’. One of the homeless guys is very gifted and he does function in the gift of Prophecy, he will often make off the cuff comments and he does not realize that he is actually prophesying. So any way as we were all sitting in my yard he keeps telling me ‘you know brother, I keep thinking of the verse in the bible where the oil was on Aarons head and it ran down to the rest of his body’. This is a verse in Psalms that coincides with the exact type of prayer thing that I regularly do over the guys in this exact spot. So it’s stuff like this that shows me that prophetic people and gifts are not all fakes. Now Elijah does a few prophetic things before the chariots from heaven come and take him; he strikes the Jordan with his mantle [coat] and it dries up for him to cross. After Elisha witnesses Elijah’s ascension he does receive the ‘double portion’ and on his way back into town he does the same thing. The sons of the prophets recognize that the mantle [gift] passed from Elijah to Elisha. A few things; in this chapter we see that those who witness the ascension of ‘the prophet’ receive a greater anointing. Of course this reminds us of the early church, they were the group that saw Jesus ascend and did receive the Spirit. Some say that Elisha does twice the miracles as Elijah [the double portion]. I underlined all the miracles once and think they might be off one or two miracles, but they do come close [Elijah 7, Elisha 13 or 14]. Jesus said we would do greater miracles than he did [in number we would do greater works as the family of God]. And of course the miracles surrounding the Jordan and Elisha pouring salt in the fountain of water to ‘heal the waters’, all these images speak of the ministry of Jesus and John and the significance of baptism and how Jesus would ‘heal the waters’ i.e.; he would unite with us in the waters of the Jordan and we would meet with him thru the ordinance of baptism, in essence Jesus ‘healed the waters’ by his pure life, his ‘saltiness’ [preservation power]. Jesus said we were the salt of the earth. So there are some good prophetic pictures from a prophetic chapter. All in all we as believers are to be grounded in the word, have a grasp on all the various groups/movements that constitute Christianity, and be open to the miraculous. God has given us his Spirit and we do have the ability as Gods people to function in these gifts. But at the end of the day our assurance is in the Lord, not in our gifts.
(1242) Read a few chapters from Brian McLaren’s ‘everything must change’ thought I’d comment. I like Brian’s writing style, I agree with him on believers needing to be challenged to see things differently, but I disagree on some of his ‘everything’s’. He challenges the idea of objective thinking as defined as foundationalism. He explains well the questioning of modern intellectuals after the world wars and Holocaust of the 20th century. He shows how certain thinkers began looking for answers to the problem of society’s failure as seen in these events. He also shows how some blamed the events on ‘foundationalism’ which is a way of ‘seeing things’ [epistemology] as defined by Rene Descartes. These thinkers diagnosed the problem as society’s acceptance of absolutes, they felt that this led to an ‘overconfidence’ in right and wrong and this in turn allowed for these atrocities to happen. Many modern thinkers would disagree with this conclusion. I find it interesting that Brian makes some statements about Evolution that seem to say he accepts the theory, but yet he fails to see the role that Social Darwinism played as a precursor to the Holocaust. You could make the opposite argument that it was the rejection of absolutes, and the rise of liberal theology from the universities in Germany that led to these events. Many scholars began questioning Gods truth and laid a foundation that said ‘we really can’t trust Gods truth’ [or even know it]. To be honest these debates are a little philosophical and I didn’t think Brian would go down this road, but he does so I will deal with it. Many ‘post moderns’ believe that one of the things that must change is the ‘old’ [what is termed modern] way of thinking. These new thinkers assert that truth itself, as an absolute thing that people can know for sure, is out of mans reach. They question the modern way of thinking that teaches there are certain absolutes [preconceived ways of thinking that everyone accepts]. These new thinkers say this ‘foundationalism’ is the problem. Did the enlightenment invent this mode of objectivism? No. Thinkers from Aristotle to Aquinas to Descartes all approached thinking this way. It was defined more clearly during the enlightenment period. But this is a philosophical debate that goes on in these various camps. You have had very smart people disagree on these things. The great theologian Karl Barth would say you are not truly educated until you can ‘affirm both sides of an argument, accept contradictory definitions of the same thing’ many believe this would lead to lunacy! The two greatest theoretical physicists of the last century also disagreed on this. Neils Bohr would say that you can have two contradictory truths about a subject, and they could both be true, Einstein disagreed. So these things have been around for a while, many of the eastern religions teach the same [Zen]. So I would disagree with Brian on this, but do agree with him on the need for believers to expand their concerns from simple ‘going to heaven when I die’ concerns, to social justice concerns in the nations. He does give some good examples along these lines.
(1243) 2ND KINGS 3- Jehoram, king of Israel, goes after the king of Moab because he stopped paying him the taxes/extortion fees after his father died. Ahab, Jehoram’s father was feared [because of his wife Jezebel] and the king of Moab figured ‘heck, we were scared of the other president, but this new young buck doesn’t instill the same fear’ [sound familiar?]. Never the less the ‘young buck’ forms an alliance with two other kings [France, Germany? Or Britain, you pick] and he goes after Moab. They go on this 7 day journey to attack Moab, and lo and behold they realize that they don’t have the resources to finish the job [Afghanistan?]. They never took into account the actual problems they would run into with the terrain; they found no water sources for their troops or the animals. Now, Moab probably knew about the land situation, he knew it would turn to their benefit [Taliban]. So the 3 kings- Jehoram king of Israel, Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and the king of Edom are facing a dilemma. They have all their troops already in the field [their committed] and yet they don’t have the proper resources to finish [oh let’s say they need 40 thousand more]. So the King of Judah asks Jehoram if there is a prophet in the land who can help. Enter Elisha. They go to the prophet and he rebukes them, but for the sake of the king of Judah he seeks God and gives them a word from the Lord. He tells them to dig holes thru out the area and God will supernaturally fill them. I don’t know how God did it, but the chapter says he brought the water over the land, possibly some regional flood? The point is that what they saw as a major obstacle, lack of resources, turned out to be a key element of their victory. The fact that the king of Moab knew there was no water in the land, this led him to believe that what he saw in the morning was blood from the slain army. He looked out over the land and the reflection of the water looked like blood to him. So he mounts an attack and gets defeated. God often times allows our perceived weaknesses to become the key to our victory. Paul said he gloried in his faults and weaknesses, because it was thru these things that God’s power rested upon him. At the end of the battle the king of Moab realizes that he is in over his head and makes one valiant attempt to at least take the king of Edom down with him. He must be thinking ‘geez, I’m fixin to get wiped out, might as well make one last ditch effort to take out this punk’ he takes 700 men and makes a charge, he can’t break thru. So he offers his son on the wall as a sacrifice to his god. Moab would have been better off if they simply kept paying the taxes. Okay, I really don’t want to draw too much of a comparison with president Obama and the present situation, but there are some common themes. He does seem to have less ‘fear/respect’ in the area of military might than his predecessor. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but it could turn out to be bad. Our situation in Afghanistan is not good; we do not presently have the troops in there to do whatever the heck we are trying to do. It looks like we are going to change strategy and downsize. And last but not least, we need to be more careful when making decisions that adversely affect our allies. The decision to drop plans to place a ground based missile defense system on the border of Poland and Russia was probably a good strategic move. But politically it did hurt some allies. The day Obama made the decision not to go ahead with the Bush agenda was the anniversary of a previous invasion of Poland by Russia, not a smart decision to say the least. All in all the king of Israel made some decisions, he got in over his head but thanks to some allies and a word from the Lord, things turned out for the better. I think we can all learn some lessons from this chapter.
(1244) 2ND KINGS 4:1-7 A wife of the prophets whose husband died asks Elisha for help. She is in debt and the creditors have come to take her sons as payment. Elisha asks her what she has in her house; she says a pot of oil. He tells her to go borrow empty pots from her neighbors and go in her house and shut the door and fill the empty pots. She fills them all by a miracle and he tells her to sell the oil and pay off the debt, and use the rest to live off of. This chapter has a few more miraculous things that remind us of the ministry of Jesus, we will do it tomorrow. But this miracle shows us the ability of God to ‘take little’ and make it go far. Jesus does this with the loaves and fish. Some see these miracles as Gods way of telling us he will increase our material wealth, after all he gave this woman a goose that lays golden eggs! I see these stories thru a different light; Jesus was showing us that ‘our little bit’ can go very far. In the stories of Jesus multiplying the bread and fish, the disciples actually tell Jesus ‘how can we feed the multitudes, we don’t have enough money’? He shows them that they don’t ‘need enough money’ all they need is him! When people read the bible with their ‘pair of glasses on’ they naturally see these stories in ways that justify their preconceived ideas, we need to let God change these ideas.
Now to the book ‘Everything must change’ by McLaren. I read a few more chapters and thought I’d talk. Brian compares the conventional view of the gospel with the Emergent view. He seems to be too critical of some of the basic elements of the gospel. He kinda speaks condescendingly about original sin and Jesus death saving us from God’s wrath and how these things apply to God’s chosen. He actually states the gospel fairly well, but he does it in a critical way. He then states the Emergent view and shows how Emergent’s see a global justice picture for all people. I don’t see the need to reject the first view in order to embrace the second. He uses an example from the gospels and Mary's Magnificat to prove his point. He shows us the expectation of natural Israel when they saw the appearing of the Messiah thru a nationalistic lens; true enough. He then uses this example to show us that the conventional view of Jesus and personal conversion is missing the point, that the true ‘framing story’ is about social justice in the nations. I think you can take the story the other way around; that Jesus actually corrects the immediate expectation of Israel and their nationalistic view and tells them ‘the kingdom of God must first begin in you’. In essence Jesus interjects the ‘conventional view’ and the need to deal with ‘original sin’ before they can expect any outward changes in society. I am not sure why Brian seems to be so against the doctrine of original sin, the only thing I can imagine is he has read a lot of social gospel material and 19th, 20th century liberal theology. These teachings were very much against original sin because they felt it instilled in man a sort of hopelessness to effect society as a whole. The liberal theologians rejected classic expressions of original sin because they felt these doctrines gave to man an excuse to not work for change and social justice in society. Good men like Charles Finney embraced these beliefs. The only problem with this is the bible most definitely teaches the doctrine of original sin! ‘In Adam all die, so in Christ shall all be made alive’ ‘As by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; so thru the righteousness of one man [Jesus] shall many become holy’ [Romans, Corinthians]. The doctrine of original sin is biblical, and being saved from Gods just wrath thru the atonement of Jesus is the heart of the gospel. I accept McLaren’s call for believers to be more concerned and active on the social justice seen, and he does make some good points about the kingdom of God and how it’s much greater than the reductionist ‘me and Jesus’ view. But I disagree on his approach that the conventional expression of the gospel needs to change. Jesus kingdom does begin with the fundamental doctrines and beliefs of redemption and God restoring man back to God thru the atonement, to discard these truths and to replace them with ‘another framing view’ in my mind is a big mistake.
(1245) 2ND KINGS 4:8-37 Elisha travels thru a town called Shunem and a woman decides to prepare a little ‘prophets room’ for him on the city wall. She goes out of her way to assist in Elisha’s ministry. So he wants to return the kind deed and he asks what he could do for her. He finds out that she has had no kids and prophesies that she will have a child. She disbelieves the word but sure enough she has the child. One day when the boy is in the field with his dad he gets sick and dies. The woman lays his body in Elisha’s room and heads out to meet him. He comes back with her and raises the child from the dead. Elisha has already multiplied the oil supernaturally [well God did it] and here he raises the dead. He truly is doing the miraculous signs of a prophet among them. I am still reading Brian McLaren’s book ‘everything must change’ and I like the way Brian shows us how the ministry of Jesus was a challenge to unjust power and human government. He actually uses the example from Pontius Pilate, when Jesus was asked ‘are you the king of the Jews’ and Jesus says yes, he came to testify of the truth. Pilate says ‘what is truth’ and McLaren uses this to illustrate that unjust power structures see truth as this ‘wishy washy’ type thing. I find it funny that Brian accuses Pilate of being a ‘postmodern, relativist’ McLaren himself espouses postmodernism! In the prophetic ministry of Jesus the father gave him the tools he needed to accomplish the mission, in the gospel of John we read ‘many other miracles did Jesus do that are not written in this book, but these are written so that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, and that by believing you would have life thru his name’. Jesus shook up the systems of his day; he knew the prophecies concerning him that were found in the Old Testament. One of them said ‘Gentiles shall come to your light and kings to the brightness of your rising’ when Pilate asked Jesus ‘are you this king or not’ Jesus replied ‘did someone tell you this about me, or did you come up with this idea on your own’. Jesus knew that the Father had promised him that he would impact nations, that kings and rulers would hear his ‘narrative’ and be changed. He fulfilled the 3 years of earthly ministry; he raised the dead, opened blind eyes, fed the masses. Now his time has come to take the cup and drink it. Much is on his mind, at the moment of truth Pilate asks him if he is really who he said he was. Jesus says ‘I can’t lie, for this reason was I born. I am taking this thing to the end, I am going to finish the course that God has set before me’. Pilate was simply a ‘first fruit’ of Roman rulers that would hear about the story of Jesus. After his death and resurrection many kings and aristocrats would come to the Christian religion. Within a few short centuries the whole empire would succumb to a form of Christianity under the Emperor Constantine. Truly Gentiles have come to his light and kings to the brightness of his ‘rising’, before you can rise, you must die. Jesus drank the cup and finished the course, the Father kept his promise.
(1246) 2ND KINGS 4:38-44 Elisha has a ministry to the younger prophets; they see him as a father figure in a way. He prepares a ‘great pot’ of food for them, but one of the inexperienced prophets accidently picked a poisonous plant and put it in the pot. Once they start eating they realize that they have all been feeding off of something that is damaging, they panic! Elisha quickly puts another ingredient in the stew to undo the bad effects. Okay, I see a parable here. Often time’s good young men are feeding from sources that have much good in them. These sources believe Gods word, confess it regularly, they have much good in ‘the pot’. But because of inexperience some bad things get into the pot. These bad things have a way of infecting the entire meal. When you first start eating from the pot, you don’t realize it’s bad. When someone tries to tell you there is some bad stuff in the pot, the normal reaction is ‘how dare you tell me that I have been duped! Who do you think you are, there is much good in this pot’? But eventually after the dust settles down, they recognize the experience of the older prophet and allow him to ‘add his meal’ to the pot. I want to encourage all of the ‘younger prophets/leaders’ don’t be too willing to eat everything in the pot, there are many sources of teaching and preaching that are very abundant in today’s church world, I mean it’s a big pot, but it’s takes discernment to know that sometimes bad weeds get into the pot. Let mature leadership add their part, it often neutralizes the bad stuff. And the last miracle in the chapter has Elisha multiplying the loaves and grain for the prophets. He does a multiplication miracle like Jesus did in the New Testament. The church went thru a stage where she rejected the miraculous stories in the bible, this period took place in the late 19th, early 20th century. It was called liberalism/higher criticism and it arose primarily out of the universities in Germany [Marburg being a main one]. Men like Rudolph Bultman reacted to enlightenment thinking and tried to create a view of scripture that still had value, but was not to be taken literally when it came to the miracles. This was called ‘de-mythologizing’ they used the word ‘myth’ to mean stories that had good moral value, but weren’t meant to be taken literally; sort of like a parable. So these brothers would say that Jesus really didn’t multiply the loaves and fish, but that he appealed to mans better instincts and the people all shared their food with everyone else. Or that the parting of the Red Sea was really the ‘Reed Sea’ and stuff like that. Some still hold to these types of things, but for the most part this way of seeing scripture is no longer a popular view. Elisha had some supernatural stuff going on, there was no reason to reject or disbelieve the things that happened, but this does not mean that there is never a time for correction and reproof. Many who operate in these gifts are very limited in their understanding and grasp of scripture. I don’t want to sound condescending, but the history on this stuff is out there; many have gone off the deep end doctrinally while operating in supernatural gifts. Elisha was prophetic, but he also knew when it was time to add ‘some meal’ to the pot, to put some stuff in that would neutralize the poison. I think we need some meal.
(1247) 2ND KINGS 5- A Syrian army commander has leprosy, he hears about Elisha the prophet and goes to get healed. He is carrying a letter from the king of Syria that requests that the king of Israel heal him. The king of Israel is distraught ‘who does he think I am? Am I God?’ Elisha hears about the matter and says ‘send him to me, after I get thru with him he will know that there is a prophet in the land’. As Naaman arrives at the door of Elisha, Elisha sends out a servant to give him a message ‘go, dip yourself 7 times in the Jordan and you will get healed’. Naaman is upset, he says ‘I thought he would at least come out and make a big show and do some great healing! Are not the waters of Syria better than this stinking Jordan!’ He storms off. His men tell him ‘look, if he told you to do some great act, wouldn’t you have done it? So why not give it a shot and go get wet’. He dips in the Jordan and gets healed. He is elated! He goes back to the prophet and wants to give him an offering, Elisha refuses to take it. On his way back home Elisha’s servant stops him and says ‘my master changed his mind, 2 prophets just stopped by and he now will accept the money/gift’. He lied. As the servant arrives back at Elisha’s house, Elisha confronts him ‘hey Gehazi, where did you go’ he tells him nowhere. Elisha tells him ‘did not my heart go with you when the chariot turned’ he knew he was caught. Elisha rebukes him strongly over wanting to make material gain at this time ‘is this a time to build wealth! To gain land and servants and stuff’ he curses him and puts the leprosy of Naaman on him. Okay, let’s do a little stuff; first, the king of Israel felt like the expectations of the other ‘middle eastern’ Arab countries were too high. The king of Syria flat out treated him like he was God! Oh I don’t know, have there been any leaders recently that have been given the title ‘messiah’ [they gave it mockingly, but the expectations were very high]. And we must not overlook the strong rebuke of Gehazi, and Elisha’s unwillingness to take an offering. We often read all of these stories and only see the parts where God provided for someone, or reduced their debt [the woman with the oil]. We read and preach on the ‘wealth verses’ to the degree where we don’t even see the ‘rebuking of wealth’ verses. Then after many years we develop a wealth mentality in the people of God to the point where they never see the warnings. Without going too far down this road, remember Jesus told his men ‘freely you have received, freely give’. In context he was speaking of the divine gifts of the Spirit that they were given. He was sending them out to heal and cast out demons, he was telling them don’t turn this thing into a money making enterprise! And let’s end with some practical stuff- as I continue to read thru Brian McLaren’s ‘everything must change’ I appreciate his emphasis on helping the poor and reaching out to the outcasts of the world. I also understand his view of changing the way we see things, the language used is ‘framing story- narrative’. But I see a problem with overdoing the concept of ‘framing stories’. For instance some Emergent’s believe that the classic expressions of the gospel are no longer valid. That Jesus really didn’t come to call people to repent and believe in the way we think [Brian quotes N.T. Wright and supposes that the term ‘repent and believe’ was more of a popular saying that military commanders used to simply tell people to surrender over to the new empire. He uses an example from Josephus. I get the point, but believe that this association is rather week. Jesus very much did call people to repent and believe in the classic way we understand it]. Anyway to ‘re-frame’ the gospel in a way that says the real message/purpose of Jesus was to simply change the pictures we use in ‘our story’ is too simple. The best example I can think of would be Jesus conversation with Nicodemus in John’s gospel. Jesus is speaking from the ‘narrative’ of Gods kingdom, Nicodemus is hearing from his own religious frame work. No matter how hard Jesus uses the new framework, or how hard Nicodemus tries to see this new story, he can’t. Jesus tells him it’s impossible to change his ‘framing story’ without changing him! ‘Unless a man is born again, HE CAN NOT SEE THIS KINGDOM’ so I think we can go too far in restating the classic gospel. Yes, believers should be challenged to see things from new/fresh perspectives. But these new perspectives can only be truly seen when we experience personal conversion. Jesus very much wants us to see the story from his perspective, but realistically he knows unless we are born again, we will never truly see it.
(1248) AX HEADS THAT FLOAT!- 2ND KINGS 6:1-7 The prophets tell Elisha that their current ‘dwelling place’ is too small, they request permission to go to the Jordan and build a new dwelling. Jordan in scripture represents more than just a river that John baptized people in. In the history of Israel Jordan has been a type of crossing over from a previous identity and becoming mature and responsible as Gods people. It was a cutting off from the old land and economy and things they trusted, and coming into a new kingdom, one ruled by God. This also played a role in Johns baptism, Israel knew what Jordan meant; John was telling them to leave their old world mindsets and step into a new kingdom. So the prophets go and build a new place by the Jordan. One of the brothers dropped an ax head into the water and panics ‘Oh no, I lost the ax head, it was borrowed’. Elisha brakes off a stick and throws it into the water and the head floats, King James say ‘it swam’. So the brother got the ax head back. How do we relate stories like this and make them applicable to our day? I know, let’s say you were working at a building site and dropped the power saw in the water, and… Well not really. The bible has lots of ‘unorthodox’ stuff in it. I mean Paul sent handkerchiefs to sick people and they were healed. Jesus turns water into wine. Ax heads float. Our Christian experience very much entails supernatural stuff. The other side of the coin is ‘the fake stuff’. Recently the author Dan Brown released another book on supernatural stuff, he wrote the previous best seller ‘The DaVinci code’. These books appeal to mans natural desire for supernatural stuff. The problem with Dan brown is he mixes all types of fairy tale stories in with some valid points. The average reader can’t really tell the difference. I have a book here in my study titled ‘the lost books of the bible’. I bought it years ago for a few dollars at half price books. It really is a treasure; I mean it does have great books from antiquity in it, to get it for a few dollars was a great deal. Now, some of the books were legitimate contenders to have possibly made it into the bible. The epistle of Barnabus, the Didache, possibly the Shepherd of Hermes. There were a few books that the early church debated about including in the canon. But you also had a plethora of obviously fake stuff. The Gnostic writings were well known as cheap imitations of the real thing. These writings are from the late 2nd, 3rd centuries. No legitimate argument was ever made about these writings; all Christians rejected them as being authoritative. But the Dan Brown stories have people thinking that these writings were at one time up for possible inclusion into the canon, that’s just not so. How do we tell the difference between stuff that’s historically reliable and stuff that isn’t? In the field of historiography [looking at ancient writings and weighing their legitimacy] you have scholars who have spent years doing this sort of thing. You look at the actual recording of the events, were they written down fairly closely to the event? Did the authors know the people they were writing about, were they eyewitnesses? How many manuscripts are left? Were they widely accepted? There are real ways to determine stuff like this, the bible stands head and shoulders above all other ancient writings. The Greek New Testament has over 5 thousand original manuscripts. The only other work that comes close is Homer’s Iliad, it has a little over 6oo. Most others have around 10-20. If you include the Latin versions [and other languages besides Greek] you have around 25 thousand copies. The evidence is overwhelming. Now this does not speak to the inspiration of scripture, but it shows us that the bible itself is a highly reliable document when measured by historical standards. What about the Gnostic wrings? They do not stand the test of time in this way. The point being Dan Brown might have piqued the interest of many novice readers of history, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. It’s just Christians should be able to give a defense of their faith and appeal to a broad range of actual proofs that defend their position. Hey, if you want interesting stories, come ‘back to the bible’ it has ax heads that can swim for heaven’s sake!
(1249) 2ND KINGS 6:8-23 The king of Syria wars against Israel, but every time he tries to set up an ambush someone keeps informing the king of Israel about it. So the Syrian king calls in his men and accuses them of leaking the info. They inform the king that this is the prophetic work of Elisha. So they go get him. As the Syrian army encamps around Elisha’s place, his servant wakes and up sees the troops and panics, Elisha prays and asks God to ‘open his eyes’ and he gets a sneak peek into the supernatural realm and sees all these chariots of angelic hosts around him ‘there are more with us than with them’ a famous verse indeed. So Elisha prays to the Lord to ‘blind’ the Syrians from his true identity [sort of like when Jesus was with the disciples on the Emmaus road] and he goes to the troops and tells them ‘the man you’re looking for is not here, follow me, I’ll show you where he is’. So he leads them into the midst of Samaria and right into the hands of the king of Israel. Then he prays ‘Lord open their eyes’ and they are in ‘shock and awe’ [to quote Rummie]. The king of Israel asks Elisha ‘should I slay them’? Elisha says no, but feed them and treat them well. He asks the king ‘would you slay those whom you captured thru military means’? Obviously the answer is no, so likewise they should be treated like captives and not harmed. Okay, how should we read the biblical narratives on war? One of the most known atheists in the country today is Sam Harris; he is a sincere writer and speaks against what he sees as the flaws of war based religion. He echoes the words of Thomas Paine in his book ‘the age of reason’ [18th century]. Harris sees the danger of world religions embracing a war mentality and believing that terror and warfare are on their side. He cites realities like the Muslim radicals who shout ‘God is great’ as they blow themselves and innocents up. He points out the stories in the bible where God commands his people to wipe out other ethnic groups [genocide] and he berates the Christians for their militaristic end time views and how their beliefs in a violent return of Jesus hinder world peace. Many thinkers have raised these questions and the church shouldn’t simply shrug these men off as pagans. In the story we just read it should be noted that God himself, thru his prophet, commanded the fair treatment of captives. That Jesus and the New Testament revelation are a radical revolution of peaceful demonstration ‘if your enemy hits you, don’t retaliate and return evil for evil. Instead bless them’. In general believers need to reorient their world view around the gospels and the actual message and life of Christ. When using the Old Testament we are to look for the hidden nuggets of wisdom that can apply to our lives today, but we need to avoid a direct application of wiping out our enemies with today’s military conflicts. The church in our day really needs an overhaul in our thinking in these areas, just the other day the U.S. military accidently killed an Afghan family of 6, kids and parents. A few months back we bombed an area and accidently killed around 140 civilians. The military at first said it was possible that the Taliban killed these people. After a few months review we came out and admitted that we did not properly screen these homes for civilians. We messed up and killed a bunch of people. I know all the reasons behind the things we are doing [I think!] but if your wife and kids were just bombed right now, by accident, would it make you feel better to know they really didn’t intend on killing them? Our country was/is up in arms over the sprinkling of water on the face of a few terrorists, one of the reasons is said to be that when we ‘torture’ terrorists we give fuel to the Muslim world by not playing by the rules. Or when we detain enemy combatants at Gitmo that this becomes a selling point to Muslim radicals that they can use to recruit people to their cause. I can see no greater ‘recruiting tool’ than the accidental killing of innocent Muslim women and children, yes I do realize that we do not mean to ‘kill them’ but this still does not change the reality on the ground.
(1250) 2ND KINGS 6:24-33 The king of Syria comes up against Israel and shuts her in. No one comes in or goes out [embargo]. Israel as a nation experiences a recession and the price of their goods rise exponentially [inflation]. Once again we see the conflict with Arab nations costing too much! As the king walks thru town a woman cries for help, he says ‘who am I, God? If the Lord does not intervene what can I do? Can I go to the storehouse and fix all these problems’? Many Americans are truly unaware of the economic danger that our country is in. Private business thinks that the govt. can bail out anybody, we can’t. The insurance money that the govt. provides for banks that fail is running out, the stimulus money will not have the desired effect because it simply filled the hole that was created by the recession and tremendous job losses. The king can’t do miracles by continually going to the barn floor! So the woman tells the king ‘I made a deal with another lady that we would cook and eat my son today, and the next day we would cook her son. Now she won’t live up to the deal’ the king can’t believe his ears. In the midst of all their economic and military turmoil, they are killing their children in a vain attempt to extend their own lives. This last year more official attempts have been made to increase spending and have the federal govt. provide funding for the development and killing of unborn children than ever before. Many appeal to the cause of helping others who suffer from incurable diseases ‘look how much good it can do for those who are sick’. The nation of Israel was so lost that she couldn’t see the connection between her economic and military problems, and how that related to the destruction of their own children. Gee, I wonder if the bible is relevant anymore?
(1251) 2ND KINGS 7- Elisha is before the elders and the city is in trouble, the king of Israel is blaming the recession on the Christian conservatives and Elisha is being targeted. Now comes the true test of a prophet; Elisha says ‘by this time tomorrow the price of goods will be next to nothing, inflation will be gone and the recession over’. How can this happen? One of the men says ‘even if God opened the windows of heaven things cannot turn around this fast’. Wrong response, Elisha tells him ‘because you doubt, you will see it with your eyes but not experience it’. Okay, that night there are these 4 outcasts of society living at the city gate, they are lepers. You know, the type of people that nobody wants to be around. O sure the religious institutions have started all types of leper helping ministries, and the local religious folk give to these ministries, but nobody really wants to personally get involved. So these outcasts are at the city gate and they say ‘look at our plight, we are sitting here at the gate and will surely die, if we go into town the famine will kill us. If we go to the Syrians, sure they might kill us too, but maybe they will feed us and spare us, heck if we die we die!’ I like their outlook, even in the midst of great personal turmoil and sickness; they make one last ditch effort to turn things around. We need more brothers like this. So they go to the enemy camp and lo and behold [yes it’s corny] they find all the wealth and goods of the Syrian army, but no one’s there! God supernaturally caused the sound of the heavenly chariots to be heard by the army and they fled out of fear, casting away all their goods on the way out. So these lepers cant believe their eyes, they hit the jackpot. So they start going from tent to tent and take the stuff and go and hide it. After a few hours of hording and building wealth, they realize they are not doing right. They decide to go back to the city and tell their people what happened. They go to town and tell the king, he can’t believe it, he thinks ‘sure, this is a trap set up by my enemies’. Notice how both sides were battling paranoia, the Syrians fled thinking the armies were at the door, and the king of Israel thinks it’s a trap too. So they send some men to check it out and sure enough it’s true, the famine is over and the commodities are selling at a ridiculously cheap price. The brother who said ‘God could not do this even if he opened up heavenly windows’, he gets trampled at the gate by the gold rush and sees it with his eyes but never benefits from it, he dies. Okay, God is able to turn things around on a dime, though the economy was in shambles, the king/president thinks all is lost, no chance of a second term. Yet at the moment of great desperation God comes thru, the prophet [believers] was willing to use his gift to turn things around, and that’s exactly what happened. We as a people need to check our hearts and see if we really want the success ‘of the king’. Are we willing to do what Elisha did and pool our gifts for the success of the nation? Or have we become so cynical that we secretly desire the failure of the nation so we can feel vindicated? The lepers were tempted to horde the wealth and use it for their own benefit; after all they were God fearing capitalists! Why should they have to share their stuff with everybody else? Yet they chose to not ‘store up for themselves treasures on earth’ [Jesus] and did the right thing. Geez, I just wish we could find some contemporary comparisons for this stuff.
(1252) ARDI THE MONKEY BOY! Okay, I was gonna do 2nd kings 8 but I just couldn’t resist. The other day I read an article from the N.Y. times that spoke about the most recent discovery of a missing link. The problem is this ‘missing link’ was discovered in 1992, 17 years ago. The article showed you the drawing of a wonderful looking ‘half man/ half human’ being. It went on to tell us the story of Ardi, he/she was found in an area of Africa not too far from the famous Lucy fossil. Ardi is a little over 4 million years old, Lucy is over 2 million. So Ardi fits in well with a transitional species that could tell the story of human evolution. O how the story went on, it explained how Ardi lived and often would come down from the trees and walk on 2 feet [bi-pedal, to find a link that walks on 2 feet is essential for the theory of evolution to be true]. The article really described well everything that the evolutionist would need to tell his story. The problem? Ardi is a collection of monkey bones that were scattered all over the place; these bones are so brittle that the process of cleaning them for examination actually destroyed the bones. All indications are that these highly questionable bones are simply brittle monkey bones, this is why it took 17 years before ‘the find’ hit the headlines. So why did Ardi make it into the papers now? Because fellow evolutionists put the pressure on the original archeologists to ‘come out with the truth’! So they made up a wonderful tale, with pictures and all, and Walla- Ardi the monkey boy lives! How can I be so sure that Ardi was not a bi-pedal half man/monkey? Because science tells us this, not religion. If Lucy comes along 2 million years after Ardi, then surely Lucy must have really mastered the art of walking on 2 feet. Evolutionists have actually spent many years trying to ‘make Lucy walk’. The more they found out, the less proof she walked. First, the original find did not have hands and feet with it, so they gave her human like hands and feet. But after they found many other species of the same kind, they found many hands and feet also, they were not human like at all, the feet were truly monkey feet and not the structure you would find from a ‘walking monkey’. Next, they examined the bone structure of Lucy over many years and there were some major problems with the hip area that needed to be different if Lucy was to walk. Finally they made a documentary on Lucy and explained away the problem with the hip, they said that it was possible that a dear stepped on the hip and crushed it. So they had a brother on the show explain that he had to ‘re-make’ the hip back into the original hip. They actually showed him grinding down the model, with chips flying in the air, to get the walking hip. I mean it was hilarious! Years ago we also found a bunch of human footprints close to where Lucy lived in Africa, these prints were touted by the evolutionists as proof of Lucy being a bi-pedal monkey/human. The prints were so human like, many wondered if they were human. The only difference between these prints and a normal human print was the arch of the foot, it was a little flatter than ours. But after careful examination these prints did fit the exact prints of tribes that lived their whole lives bare foot. In essence these were human prints! The prints also had the foot prints of little feet inside the adult feet. How did this happen? More than likely the kids were having fun and stepping in the prints of their parents. So after many years of trying to make Lucy walk on 2 feet, the evidence shows otherwise. So if Lucy didn’t walk on 2 feet, there isn’t a chance in Hades that Ardi did! A few years back I was watching a Seinfeld episode and George wanted a cool nickname, so during lunch he orders a T Bone steak, he figures the nick name will stick. But sure enough the next guy orders a T Bone as well, and they give him the nick name. George is furious! So he confronts his co worker in the hall and you can see George jumping up and down and arguing for the right to the name ‘T Bone’. His co worker gives in and says sure, the only problem is the boss and the other guys saw George thru the window when he was throwing his fit, and they said ‘look, George looks just like a monkey’ and before George could tell everyone that he obtained the rights to T Bone, they stuck the nick name ‘Coco the Monkey boy’ on him. I appreciate the N.Y. times, the picture of Ardi looked great! But I think they tried to stick us with a tale, they tried to gives us Ardi the Monkey boy, when in reality he was just a bunch of brittle monkey bones.
(1253) NOTE ON THE CURRENT HEALTH CARE DEBATE- 10-09 let me do a quick update on abortion, as of today, 10-6-09, all the bills under consideration for health care reform most definitely include funding for abortion. These bills have been gone over by lawyers and every word was read and looked at. Technically speaking they allow for abortion. Now, as much as I pray for our president, he has misled the public on this issue. In his speech before the congress he did deny this, and he has stated on other forums that those who say that these bills would cover abortion are misleading you. I don’t know if he truly believes this or not, and I take very seriously my responsibility about not misleading people about the president, but he is wrong on this and he has accused those who are telling the truth as misleading people. We need to pray and be informed; we need to let our voices be heard on this important issue. We don’t need to go down the radical path of the right wingers who are accusing the president of trying to undermine our country and create a socialist state [Beck, Limbaugh, etc.] but we very much need to speak the truth when the president himself is either unaware or purposefully misinforming people. The Catholic bishops have gone over these bills with a fine tooth comb, their legal experts have concluded that abortion will be covered in some way thru these bills; these men are not listening to the radical right. We as the people of God need to tell the truth on these issues, pray for our president, but vocally disagree when you need to.
(1254) 2ND KINGS 8:1-6 Elisha tells the woman whose son he raised from the dead ‘go, leave the land because a 7 year famine is about to come’. So she leaves, after 7 years she comes back and requests of the king for her land and goods back; understand the king might have been perturbed about this citizen who fled during the time of trouble, after all the other citizens carried the burden. But just as she was about to make her request, it ‘just so happened’ that the king asked Elisha’s servant about the great miracles he did. And Gehazi tells the king the story of this woman and how Elisha raised the boy from the dead, and at that moment the woman approaches the king to make her request. The servant says ‘look, this is her and her son’! Talk about Divine confirmation. Okay, let’s do a few things. When we read earlier in this study about the boy being raised from the dead I hesitated to share a story from my own life where something like this happened, but now I thought I would do it. If you want to read about it I posted it under the ‘prayer requests’ section, you can find it under ‘answered prayer’. God will give people signs at times that will be a precursor to future callings. The New Testament says the disciples went all over, the Lord confirming the word with signs following. We live in a day where the church in general does not have the maturity to truly walk in these gifts. Sure, there are some of these things operating in a limited way in the world today; but the American church is too geared up for display and personal promotion. Jesus gave us an example of someone who refused the honor that came from men; you read in the gospels that he would tell people ‘don’t go blabbing all over the place about what just happened’. He would say this after he performed some miracle, and sure enough the person would blab it anyway! Today’s ministry environment would have these miracles promoted in a shameless way, we think this is part of the mission. So in Elisha’s case God allowed him to do some supernatural stuff, not for self promotion but for Gods glory. In the gospel of John when Jesus opened the eyes of the blind man, he was a walking testimony to the ministry of Jesus. This same thing happened with the disciples in the book of Acts. We often think ‘how can I impact the world unless I have great resources’ [money] believe me, if you do one resurrection it will go farther than all the money in the world.
(1255) 2ND KINGS 8:7-29 Elisha goes to Damascus and the king of Syria hears about it, he sends his servant to inquire ‘of the prophet’ whether or not he will get well from some sickness. The servant goes and finds Elisha and Elisha says ‘yes, he would recover. But instead he will die’. What ? Elisha sees that the sickness would not be fatal, but that the king will be assassinated! The servant in front of him will be the killer. So Hazael goes back to the king and says ‘he said you would get well’ true enough, but he left out the part where he was going to kill him! So the next day he does the deed and becomes the king. A few things, I find it interesting that the Syrian king had no problem receiving Gods prophet. They believed in prophets! Now, they did not have a ‘Christian/Judeo’ culture, but they had a religious background that accepted ‘messengers from God’. In today’s world the church needs to take advantage of the willingness of other world religions to listen to prophets. We need to appeal as much as possible to the Muslim world and use any agreement on religious things as a tool to share the gospel. Right after the 16th century reformation the world would embark on a couple hundred year age of exploration and colonization. The Protestants were good at exploring the seas and impacting Europe, but they failed at reaching the Far East. Instead the Catholic Church had great success thru the Jesuits at impacting the Far East. They would make inroads into Japan and China and eventually take the gospel to the influential city of Peking. The problem arose when the Dominicans and Franciscans [Catholic orders] came in after them. They felt that the Jesuits were too accommodating in mixing in the religious beliefs of the east along with Christianity. Many Chinese believers were still practicing a form of worshipping dead ancestors and stuff like that. The Jesuits justified this by seeing these things as cultural beliefs and felt like allowing them to ‘keep their culture’ along with the faith was okay, the Dominicans and Franciscans disagreed and took the argument to Rome. Eventually this disagreement would leave a bad taste with the leaders in China and all Catholic expressions of the faith would be banned. This is called Syncretism, the mixing of religious beliefs. Now, why get into this? Christians should appeal to the willingness of Muslims and other world religions to hear religious voices. Both Jews and Muslims believe in Jesus, now they don’t believe the way Christians believe, but we should take advantage of this basic belief when appealing to them. Muslims reject the doctrine of the Trinity, but a careful study of history shows us that the actual Trinity they are rejecting is not the Christian understanding. Muhammad was actually rejecting a skewed view of the Trinity that saw Jesus and God and Mary as the Trinity. Obviously a pretty big mistake. So we as believers should be willing to correct and give a word to the ‘Muslim messengers’ when they come looking for answers. We should give them credit where credit is due, like their development of apologetical arguments in the Middle Ages [the Kalaam cosmological argument] but at the same time present the uncompromising gospel of Jesus Christ to them. I side with the Franciscans and Dominicans on this one.
(1256) 2ND KINGS 9:1-6 Elisha tasks a young prophet to go to Ramoth Gilead and anoint Jehu as the new king. He is told to set him apart and give him a special charge. When he arrives at Jehu’s spot, he takes him to a separate room and pours the oil on him. Jehu will clean house. First, this prophet had a special calling to leadership; Jehu had to be open to receiving direction from this source. This did not mean that Jehu was going to have an ongoing personal prophet to direct his life, it simply meant he had to recognize that in order for him to fulfill Gods mission, he had to be willing to receive the instructions from the prophet. Second, Jehu would be held to a higher standard in the sense that the other captains were not singled out in this way. Jehu had to be willing to go the extra mile and not follow the crowd. Often times God will challenge leaders to go a certain direction, sometimes the course is not popular, but often necessary for the completion of the work. Jesus called his disciples from their jobs and businesses; they had to sacrifice the normal pursuit of wealth and success in order to follow Jesus. Sure, there would be many ‘regular believers’ who would still believe in Jesus and not go this extra mile, but those who wanted to excel in discipleship would have to make some tuff choices. If you look long enough you will find just about any teaching to fit in with the personal pursuit of happiness, the American dream type mindset. But the calling of Jesus as seen in the bible always challenges us to sacrifice personal pleasure and success at the altar of a higher purpose. This does not mean you can’t experience a degree of success and stability in your life, but these things are secondary to the call of Christ. Jehu ‘got up from the room’ and separated himself long enough to hear the message from the prophet. There were other captains in the room, they would still pursue their military goals and live their lives as responsibly as possible; but Jehu would make permanent changes in the nation that would turn the course of history. In order for him to fulfill his mission he had to receive the word from the prophet that would set him apart from the rest of the crowd, he had to be willing to go the extra mile.
(1257) 2ND KINGS 9:7-37 Jehu receives the charge from Elisha and heads to Jezreel, the city where Jezebel resides. Her son Joram is the present king of Israel and Ahazia is king of Judah. By Divine appointment all three of them [Jezebel, and the 2 kings] are at the same location. As Jehu approaches the city, Joram sends a messenger to see what’s up ‘are you for peace’? What peace! Get behind me. A second messenger goes and gets the same response. Joram says ‘okay, let’s get the chariot ready and see what in the heck is going on’. He goes out to meet Jehu and it just so happens that they meet in the area where Jezebel illegally stole the land from Naboth and had him killed. Joram says ‘Jehu, is this a peaceful visit’ ‘peace, how can there be peace when your mother the witch is still throwing her weight around, and your fathers wicked deeds are still not avenged’. Jehu was on a prophetic rampage and would not stop until the house was purged. Joram sees the writing on the wall and turns to run; Jehu pulls the bow full length and drives an arrow thru his chest. Ahazia, king of Judah flees; he gets wounded and will die. Jehu is off to meet the queen, he approaches the city wall and Jezebel ‘painted her face’ and fixed her hair to meet Jehu. Why? Well we really don’t know, but Jezebel was a master manipulator, she did what she needed to do to survive. She was the power behind her husband Ahab’s wicked rule and she was doing the same thru her son. She very well might have been trying to look her best for the new king! Who knows, maybe she thought he would take her. She looks out a window on the wall and warns Jehu ‘remember Zimri, he rebelled against his king and God judged him’ she is trying to bide some time. Jehu is of noble blood, his father was a former king. He is also a trained fighter, a President Dwight Eisenhower type figure; someone who would rule as president but had a former military background. Basically Jehu doesn’t play games, he yells out ‘who in the city is on my side’? A few eunuchs look out over the wall; he says ‘throw her down to me’. He quickly accomplished his mission with virtually no civilian causalities. Jehu took out two kings and the ‘queen mother’ in one day. Jezebel’s body is quickly eaten by the dogs, a fulfillment of the prophecy of Elijah, and all this took place in the area that was well known as a place where injustice took place [the field of Naboth]. Okay, yesterday the country woke up to some surprising news, our president received the Noble Peace Prize, it was a surprise to everybody, even him! He actually made a tactful acceptance speech and acknowledged that he really didn’t deserve it, but would accept it in the spirit of good will and as a symbol of his role in the future, he did the best he could do. The reason? Because the conservatives tore him up over it, the London Times even said he did not deserve it. So he really was put on the spot, some even said ‘are you for peace’- translated, he is a bloody man who is bombing people every day in Afghanistan/Iraq, how come he gets it! First, as believers we should support the president as much as possible, it’s okay to be happy about the world honoring our president [or at least Norway!] Second, the criticisms against him not really deserving it, well he basically said the same thing. It’s really not the man’s fault that he got the prize. I do think that our president is ‘a man of peace’ and he has some real challenges down the road. Jehu was used of God to correct some long standing grievances that were in the nation, Jezebel operated for too long, the people knew her history. Jehu was charged by God to ‘wipe out the house of Ahab’ or to put an end to family lines that were destructive to the people of God. I’m talking spiritually now, not real war. There are times in the history of the church where things creep in and get a foothold; many times these teachings become accepted fair. We become comfortable with them, even though most of the nation/church realizes that it’s a manipulative thing, they learn to live with it. Prophetic voices are often raised up to say ‘enough, the whole house of Ahab will be wiped out’ in essence there are times when Gods people say ‘we understand that these doctrines have been around for a while; we also know the people who introduced these things on a large scale. We now reject the basic foundation upon which these things were built’ there comes a time when the ‘ministry’ of Jehu cleans house. We just need a few eunuchs [those who are separated for the purpose of serving the king. Because they were eunuchs, they could be trusted with the kings Bride, they would/could not take advantage of her for personal procreation/image building] who are willing to rise up and ‘throw her off the wall’.
(1258) WHAT LASTS? - These past few weeks while praying early in the mornings, I have been meditating on verses like ‘the steps/paths of a good man are ordered by the Lord and he delights in his way’. David said he desired to always dwell in Gods ‘tabernacle’, while thinking on these verses I felt like the Lord was speaking to me about the effects we have, the planting of his word in regions. I even began thinking about the fact that we will die, and the people we minister to will pass away, but in some sense the words we taught will remain. In essence the thing that will last is the gospel and truth that is sown, not the institutions, or even the people, but the word. Now John says because we have the word in us we will abide forever, that is the word of God will raise the dead up some day and they will endure forever; but it’s the word of truth that is lasting. So anyway I felt like the Lord was directing me to read Isaiah, I read the first 10 verses of chapter 40 and the theme goes like this ‘all flesh is like grass, it will pass away; but the word of God endures forever’ basically exactly what God was speaking to me. This section also speaks of John the Baptist ‘prepare the way of the Lord, make a straight highway/path for him in the desert’ this was along the lines of ‘creating a path/ place for God’s word to flow’. Isaiah also has the famous verse ‘you will be called the restorer of paths to dwell in’. I felt like God was telling us to lay down some paths, have consistent areas where you faithfully teach and speak truth and these areas will ‘abide forever’ that is your impact will affect many generations to come. Right after the 16th century Reformation you had what is referred to as the Enlightenment, or the ‘age of reason’. Many thinkers began to challenge the institutional church [and institutions in general] and believed that reason and rationality would lead the way. In France [1700’s] Paris became a center of thinking for these Deists. These men were smart enough to realize that the total denial of God was too ridiculous to accept, they instead embraced Deism. Deism is a type of belief that said God started the ball rolling, but he left the rest on auto pilot; the same belief that the Greek philosophers embraced. Now, one of the famous ‘Philosphes’ [sic] was a man by the name of Voltaire, he is well-known as an infamous atheist today, but he did not totally reject God. These men did have tremendous influence and they produced the French Encyclopedias which backed up their cause. Eventually they would overthrow the Catholic Church and kill the king in their mad rush towards ‘reason’. They were wrong on their basic understanding of reason and rationality as they applied it to the church. They believed that rational thought meant ‘naturalistic thought’ that is in order for things to be rational, they could not be supernatural. They were wrong, in fact those who would later take the next step into full atheism would deny the laws of reason and logic all together. I saw Richard Dawkins do an interview the other day, he is one of the popular atheists of our day. These men who reject God accept a view of creation that violates the laws of logic; they teach/believe that all things came from ‘no-thing’ a scientific impossibility. This idea violates the law of ‘reason’ known as the law of ‘non contradiction’. This law states that a thing cannot be and ‘not be’ at the same time and in the same relationship. For all things to have come from nothing [self creation] would mean that all things created itself. It would have to 'have been’ before it was. This common system of belief is absolutely irrational, even though the atheist believes it to be rational. To believe that God is a self existent being who created all things does not violate the laws of logic, you might think it does, but it doesn’t. For someone to have existed forever does not violate the classic laws of logic. So these thinkers who thought that their rejection of God was ‘rational’ were in fact wrong. Their ideas led to effects that were horrendous, they in effect ‘planted seed’ [bad doctrines] that would outlast them and their generation, their bad ideas had bad consequences. But the truth of God and his kingdom have also been ‘planted’ in the world, these seeds will last forever. If you want to effect society for good, then plant the seeds that will have an eternal impact, for ‘he that does the will of God will abide forever’ [1st John].
(1259) 2nd KINGS 10:1-10 Jehu just wiped out 2 kings and a wicked queen, he sends a letter to Samaria and says ‘okay, here’s the deal, I just took out your kings; you have 70 sons of the king [Ahab] who are still alive. Go ahead and set one of them up as your new king and I’ll be there soon to fight’. Now Jehu has no intent on fighting, but as a strategic leader he is ‘working smarter, not harder’ [not more troops, but strategic thinking]. So the leaders who have raised up Ahab’s kids say ‘geez, the guy took out 2 kings like they were nothing, what chance do we have?’ and they send a message saying ‘we will be your servants’. Okay, so far so good. Jehu says ‘one more thing, if you mean this then take the 70 sons of your master and cut their heads off and send them to me at Jezreel’. The dirty deed is done and Jehu is told ‘the heads have arrived’. Jehu says ‘now, go and make 2 piles of heads at the city gate and let everyone in Israel see what happened’. They do it and Jehu tells the town ‘I know you guys are righteous, you decide what to do- yes I killed my master and it might have been unjust in your eyes; but your elders have taken the heads off of 70 sons of their king, so who do you think is worse’. Remember Jezebel said to Jehu ‘remember Zimri, he rose up against his master and was punished’ so this whole scenario needed to play out so Jehu would have the support of the local population [Afghanistan?]. He knew that just having the military might was not enough; he needed the support of the people. Jehu was a wise man, he could have easily taken the 70 sons out himself, without warning. But instead he let the city elders think he was giving them an option, he knew all along what needed to be done. Right now our country is on the verge of deciding about more troops going into Afghanistan, whatever your belief on this is; know for sure that if the people begin to view us in a bad way, then no matter how many troops are sent the mission will be a failure. My personal belief is I would not want my kids to die on the wasteland that is called Afghanistan, we have been there for 8 years and to try and establish some type of central govt. like we did in Iraq is much harder. The former ruling govt. was not a central ruling authority like Iraq had, the place has had a history of low rule and scattered tribal type living. In order for us to do what we did in Iraq, we basically have to create a nation out of nothing- in my view this is too much to ask at the price of our young men and women. Either way we need the wisdom of a Jehu, a real military commander who used wisdom and strategy to accomplish the mission, sure more firepower could have taken out the enemy, but to have the people themselves do it created an environment where he would be accepted after the action ceased. He was a smart brother indeed.
(1260) 2ND KINGS 10:11-36 Jehu heads to Samaria to clean house, he already wiped out the sons of Ahab and will now deal with the false prophets that Jezebel installed. He tells the people in Samaria ‘Let’s worship Baal’ and he sends his men out to gather all the priests and prophets of Baal, he says ‘make sure you get all the Baal worshipers, this is going to be a really big sacrifice to Baal’ ouch! So they get all those who were worshiping at the altar of a false god and they pack Baal’s temple out. Jehu tells his men ‘make sure we got them all- go in and give all the Baal worshipers these special robes- and make sure no one who worships the true God is in there’. So the men carry out the task and Jehu and his men ‘sacrifice’ the whole denomination in one shot. This chapter tells us that Jehu had ‘zeal for God’ and he purged Israel from false Baal worship, but it also says that Jehu did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam who made Israel sin. Jeroboam was the first king of the northern tribes when Israel broke up under the reign of Solomon’s son Rehoboam. At the time Jeroboam made these 2 golden calves and placed one in the city of Dan and the other at Bethel. The purpose was strategic, Jeroboam feared that if the northern tribes went to Jerusalem every year to keep the religious feasts that eventually they would ‘long for the good old days’ and return to the leadership of the kings of Judah. Now Jehu is a noble warrior, he understood the idolatrous nature of Baal worship, why did he not deal with these 2 calves? Jehu was also a practical ‘patriot’ he wanted to maintain Israel’s identity as a separated people, he thought Jeroboams idea actually worked, so at the ‘altar of national unity’ he permitted a degree of idolatry to exist. Now we get into the tuff stuff; Jesus kingdom message calls people to a higher patriotism; he tells his followers that they are to be ‘patriots’ in a new way. Though their national alliances [the countries we live in] are to be respected and honored, yet when the rubber meets the road we owe our allegiance to ‘the Cross’. Jehu was willing to sacrifice total dedication to God for the sake of national cohesion, ouch again! Karl Marx [the 19th century socialist] once said ‘the economists are like the theologians, they believe every one else’s religion is a man made distortion, but that their own is an emanation from God’ it is obvious that religious divisions effected the way he thought, he saw the futility of manmade religion but made the mistake of rejecting God. He saw religion as a threat to true national pride and cohesion and tried to eject God from the national psyche, he failed. When believers of any nation hold the ideals of the nation higher than the ideals of Christ’s kingdom, then they have in a sense ‘left the calves of Jeroboam in place’.
(1261) THE ALABASTER MAN- The other day my daughter was telling us a funny story, how she was looking for her pizza pan and asked her fiancé if he knew what happened to it, he admitted that he used it to cover a hole in the yard to keep the dogs from getting out. She was recounting the story to my wife and saying ‘just like dad used to do’. Boy did they get a laugh, I felt like rebuking them for not honoring their elder, but as I contemplated my best defense I realized that right now there sits one of my wife’s baking pans on top of the chimney on the roof, tied with bailing wire to keep the rain out; I figured I would just let it slide. I have been reading Isaiah along with the Kings study we are doing, Isaiah 40 thru the end has been one of the most prophetic portions of scripture for me in my own personal life. ‘I will make you like a new threshing instrument having teeth, you will thresh [cut apart] the mountains and beat them small; the wind shall carry them away’ ‘who raised up the righteous man from the east, called him to his foot and gave the nations before him; he will rule over kings’ ‘the voice of one crying in the wilderness, make straight in the desert a highway for our God’ I like all these verses, they have given me direction over the years. Here at my house I have a few things that I kept from my childhood, one of the mementos is a 1 inch figurine of an oriental wise man that is made out of Alabaster, I simply call it ‘the Alabaster man’. My dad bought it for me when I was around 10 years old; he used to take me over to the city [New York] and when we went to China Town one year he bought it for me. I have it in the yard next to a prayer area where I pray. I also have written various verses all over my yard, on the wooden fence and on my gazebo, it does look a little trashy but my wife learned to live with it. The verses ‘his fan is in his hand’ ‘before it happened I showed it to you’ are from Isaiah, one of the verses is right next to this man, as I was looking at the verse ‘before it happened I showed it to you’ I realized that this statue of the sage [wise man] has a fan in one hand and a staff in the other, these images have been significant to me, I have been praying with a staff in my hand for many years. I just never really noticed the little fan in the hand; I felt like the Lord was simply confirming these many various promises, I bought this statue in New York City when I was a boy, the wise man represents authority and these past few years we have been reaching into the New York City area in a greater way than ever before. In essence the Lord gave me a wise man from New York with a staff and fan in his hand, years before I would ever even contemplate anything along these lines. Isaiah said ‘before it happened I showed it to you, so when it would come to pass you would know that it was my work, not yours’.
(1262) 2ND KINGS 11- After Jehu killed the 2 kings he would become the king of the northern tribes [Israel] but who would take over the southern tribe of Judah? It would have normally gone to the oldest son of the king who died, but in this case the mother of the king that Jehu killed, Athaliah, would kill all her grandchildren so she could become queen. But they managed to hide one child from her, his name was Joash. He stays in hiding for 7 years and the priest Jehoiada brings him forth at the age of 7 to rule from the throne. They kill the wicked grandma and the throne is restored back to the king’s true lineage. Okay, what practical stuff can we get from this? The wicked grandma saw her own children as a threat, the natural flow of these sons rising up and taking their place was seen as competition. Over the years of ‘church and ministry’ as the church became more identified with the corporate 501 c3 model, this lent to the competitive spirit in a greater way than we see in the New Testament. Grant it you did have problems like this in the New Testament churches, but when we view church thru the lens of ‘I Pastor this church’ or ‘I attend this local church’ when we see it more along the lines off the corporation type model, then this leads to power struggles. One year I was reading the story of some church members who took their Pastor to court over ‘the church’. They tried to wrest it out of the hands of ‘the Pastor’ the Pastor fought back and gained control once again over ‘the church’. While stuff like this is the extreme example, the fact is many well meaning Pastors and church members view church thru this model, that it is actually the business enterprise as opposed to the community of people. This leads to these types of power struggles. You never see the Apostle Paul [or any other ‘church planter’] fighting over control of ‘the churches’ in this way. You do see Paul engage in some heavy theological debates with those who were trying to sidetrack the gospel of grace, but never the type of struggle that I just outlined above. Athaliah saw the kingdom thru the lens of ‘what can I get out of this, here is my chance to have authority’ she viewed the possibility of other gifted leaders as a threat to her goals. Healthy leadership today needs to release control of the people more so than we usually see; we often teach young Pastors how to spot threats to ‘the church’ how to fight back challenges to their authority, to be honest many of these skirmishes are fought outside of the biblical parameters of church. These are simply results of losing the biblical identity of ‘church’ and replacing it with a western corporate model. Nevertheless God had a Joash in the wings [a type of true headship- as seen in Christ as well as a return to the biblical model of leadership] and in Gods time Joash will come forth.
(1263) THEY MADE HIM WALK ON NON WALKING FEET! A few weeks ago I wrote an entry on Evolution [Ardi the monkey boy] at the time I had read a few articles on this so called missing link, but it wasn’t until last night that I caught the show on TV, it was a 2 hour special done by one of the science channels. Boy was it eye opening. First, when I wrote the entry a few weeks ago I saw enough from the few articles that I read that they tried their ‘darndest’ to make these silly bones walk! That is one of the most sought after fossils in the evolutionary community is a bi-pedal monkey/man. A link that began walking on 2 feet. The show was unbelievably biased, they showed you the development of the find over the past 15 years, many efforts at making computer graphic images and artists rendering and all types of advanced technology and many man hours to make these scattered bones do what the evidence shows they could not do; walk on 2 feet! I was surprised to see them admit that the actual fossils of the feet [a toe bone] were the feet of a mammal that were exactly like the feet of other mammals THAT DO NOT WALK ON 2 FEET. They explained how the bone structure from Ardi’s feet were the bones of animals that did not walk on 2 feet. That all living species today that have these types of feet do not walk upright. They also admitted that all fossils ever found with feet like this came from animals that did not walk on 2 feet. Then in an unbelievable turn of events, they said ‘therefore Ardi is such a special find, he/she is the first fossil ever found where the creature walked on feet that were not designed for walking!’ This stuff is too funny to be legitimate. Why is this absolutely snake oil science? These men realized that the biggest problem of presenting this find as some type of link between men and monkeys was the fact that the feet were non walking feet. They waited 15 or so years before coming up with this absolute fantasy; and they made a conscious decision to tell the unsuspecting public that this animal walked on 2 feet with feet that were designed to climb, not walk. It would be like me trying to prove monkeys can fly, and I spent a whole lifetime looking for a flying monkey. But these creationists insist monkeys didn’t fly. In my mad rush to prove my point, I find a monkey fossil that I think might make the headlines, I present it as ‘the flying monkey’ and I realize that my creationist critics are going to be watching very carefully for the proof I have that monkeys actually did fly. And during my argument I show all these computer images of flying monkeys, I hire an ‘artist’ to draw me a flying money. But when I show you the actual bones from the monkey, Walla- they show no wings. So I state ‘this fossil is so special, we never anticipated such a find, this fossil is the first creature that used its feet to fly’. This my friends is not true science, which is allowing the evidence to speak for itself; this is false/faulty science with an agenda, after all their hours of work and effort and personal prestige on the line, they actually took the evidence of a non walking animal and made him ‘walk on feet that can’t walk’ this is what Paul described in the book of Romans ‘they did not want to retain God in their knowledge, so God gave them over to a reprobate mind’ these fellas have minds that do not function properly.
[This is the original article I wrote on Ardi] (1252) ARDI THE MONKEY BOY! Okay, I was gonna do 2nd kings 8 but I just couldn’t resist. The other day I read an article from the N.Y. times that spoke about the most recent discovery of a missing link. The problem is this ‘missing link’ was discovered in 1992, 17 years ago. The article showed you the drawing of a wonderful looking ‘half man/ half human’ being. It went on to tell us the story of Ardi, he/she was found in an area of Africa not too far from the famous Lucy fossil. Ardi is a little over 4 million years old, Lucy is over 2 million. So Ardi fits in well with a transitional species that could tell the story of human evolution. O how the story went on, it explained how Ardi lived and often would come down from the trees and walk on 2 feet [bi-pedal, to find a link that walks on 2 feet is essential for the theory of evolution to be true]. The article really described well everything that the evolutionist would need to tell his story. The problem? Ardi is a collection of monkey bones that were scattered all over the place; these bones are so brittle that the process of cleaning them for examination actually destroyed the bones. All indications are that these highly questionable bones are simply brittle monkey bones, this is why it took 17 years before ‘the find’ hit the headlines. So why did Ardi make it into the papers now? Because fellow evolutionists put the pressure on the original archeologists to ‘come out with the truth’! So they made up a wonderful tale, with pictures and all, and Walla- Ardi the monkey boy lives! How can I be so sure that Ardi was not a bi-pedal half man/monkey? Because science tells us this, not religion. If Lucy comes along 2 million years after Ardi, then surely Lucy must have really mastered the art of walking on 2 feet. Evolutionists have actually spent many years trying to ‘make Lucy walk’. The more they found out, the less proof she walked. First, the original find did not have hands and feet with it, so they gave her human like hands and feet. But after they found many other species of the same kind, they found many hands and feet also, they were not human like at all, the feet were truly monkey feet and not the structure you would find from a ‘walking monkey’. Next, they examined the bone structure of Lucy over many years and there were some major problems with the hip area that needed to be different if Lucy was to walk. Finally they made a documentary on Lucy and explained away the problem with the hip, they said that it was possible that a dear stepped on the hip and crushed it. So they had a brother on the show explain that he had to ‘re-make’ the hip back into the original hip. They actually showed him grinding down the model, with chips flying in the air, to get the walking hip. I mean it was hilarious! Years ago we also found a bunch of human footprints close to where Lucy lived in Africa, these prints were touted by the evolutionists as proof of Lucy being a bi-pedal monkey/human. The prints were so human like, many wondered if they were human. The only difference between these prints and a normal human print was the arch of the foot, it was a little flatter than ours. But after careful examination these prints did fit the exact prints of tribes that lived their whole lives bare foot. In essence these were human prints! The prints also had the foot prints of little feet inside the adult feet. How did this happen? More than likely the kids were having fun and stepping in the prints of their parents. So after many years of trying to make Lucy walk on 2 feet, the evidence shows otherwise. So if Lucy didn’t walk on 2 feet, there isn’t a chance in Hades that Ardi did! A few years back I was watching a Seinfeld episode and George wanted a cool nickname, so during lunch he orders a T Bone steak, he figures the nick name will stick. But sure enough the next guy orders a T Bone as well, and they give him the nick name. George is furious! So he confronts his co worker in the hall and you can see George jumping up and down and arguing for the right to the name ‘T Bone’. His co worker gives in and says sure, the only problem is the boss and the other guys saw George thru the window when he was throwing his fit, and they said ‘look, George looks just like a monkey’ and before George could tell everyone that he obtained the rights to T Bone, they stuck the nick name ‘Coco the Monkey boy’ on him. I appreciate the N.Y. times, the picture of Ardi looked great! But I think they tried to stick us with a tale, they tried to gives us Ardi the Monkey boy, when in reality he was just a bunch of brittle monkey bones.
(1264) 2nd KINGS 12- Joash institutes a process of restoring the temple that was broken down. Under the spiritual direction of Jehoiada the priest, he sets up a system [a box with a hole in the lid] where the people’s offerings would be ‘protected’ from the priests. The problem we see in this chapter is the priests were abusing the offerings that were set aside for 'the house’. Now, they were being maintained by the Levitical offerings, they were getting a steady salary/support that was modest and commensurate with their service, but they went overboard in raiding the ‘household’ cash for personal profit. After they collected enough money for the repair of the house of God they gave it to the carpenters and workman to finish the job. These men contrasted the priestly ministry in that they used the money for actual building materials, they did not see it as simple compensation for being ministers. At the end of the chapter Joash is attacked by a foreign king and he takes all the riches that were in Gods house and gives it as a ransom to bribe the king to go away. This act is seen as disgraceful in the eyes of the ‘traditional generation’ and 2 of his servants kill him. Okay, there is a tension between the younger brothers [Emergent’s, contemporary expressions of ‘church’] and the older guys [Sproul, Macarthur, Colson, etc.] the younger guys are sincere, but at times seem too willing to ‘ransom out the goods in the temple’. That is along with the new style of church/ministry we need to be careful that we are not throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Also this chapter shows us that it was perfectly legitimate to meet the basic needs of the priests, but they sort of fell into a habit where all the resources were being used for personal benefit. Now we need to be careful here, in the New Testament ‘the house of God’ is the actual corporate community of people, not the buildings we meet in. So a better way to see this is that we need to be careful that the money and resources that are being given by Gods people are primarily used ‘for the building’- that is the actual people. In the New Testament over 90 % of the scriptures on giving do show us this. The majority of the actual money contributed went to meeting the actual needs of people. In today’s church world we do not follow this guideline at all. Many millions are spent on many things, but in comparison to the ‘actual house spending’ [on the real needs of poor people] we spend very little on real needs. So God used Joash to do some good, but when he came out from under the influence of true spiritual elders [Jehoiada] he desecrated the ‘holy things’ and lost the respect of the people. As we in the 21st century strive to be relevant as Gods people, we need also be sensitive to the ‘treasures in the house’ the ‘old time’ classic doctrines that have been preserved and passed down to us from spiritual elders; things like the Atonement, the Substitutionary death of Christ, the Resurrection. Some of the new contemporary brothers seem to be raiding the temple a little too freely and thinking that this will bring us a little respite from foreign enemies, I fear that in the long run it will only lead to trouble.
(1265) Almost finished Brian McLaren’s ‘everything must change’ as is my habit let me close my comments before I read the last chapter or 2. First, I really agree with Brian’s stance on challenging western capitalism; he does it in a way that simply holds true to the biblical ethos of ‘beware of covetousness, for a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses’ [Jesus]. Yesterday I went thru around 5 news papers that built up at my doorstep this past week, if I don’t read them the day they come I try and go thru them on Saturday in one lump sum. I read some articles on the world’s poor, that every 6 seconds a child starves to death somewhere in the world; how there are a little over 1 billion people on the planet today who are malnourished. How many of the countries who can’t feed their people are paying back interest payments to the rich countries who lent them money. These kids starve because the country must pay the interest! In Isaiah God tells us often that one of the main functions of the church is to do justice; to speak out and also act in society as a plumb line. Too many times the American church has been aligned with a political ideology and has defended that view at the expense of doing what is just. As I close my comments on McLaren, I agree 100 % with him on these issues and appreciate his willingness to be branded as some ‘loony liberal’ for speaking out. I also would disagree on Brian’s seemingly ‘low church view’ when it comes to the classic doctrines of Christianity [Atonement, Original sin, etc.] There is a tendency among believers to either reject everything a person says, or accept everything he says; In Brian's case I think we should take what is good and leave the bad alone.
(1266) 2ND KINGS 13- Israel is under oppression from Syria, they cry out to God and he delivers them. But they have a diminished army when all is said and done. In the New Testament Jesus said wise kings take inventory of their forces; when one army comes up against another, wise kings look at the match up and if they think they can’t win they make arrangements for some type of peace. Strength isn’t always about how much force you have or can display, sometimes it’s realizing your limits and having the wisdom of not letting a bunch of your soldiers die for a lost cause. In this chapter we also see the death of Elisha, it’s been over 40 years since his last true public appearance, here at the end of his life the king comes and feels overwhelmed. Elisha was a true stabilizing force for the nation; the king knew he had an experienced prophet who could lend support when the time called for it. But now he realizes he will have to go it on his own, sure he had other prophets around; but they were young guys, still dealing with inexperience and stuff. It’s not that they were of no value, but you could tell that they were going to go thru some learning curves in the years ahead and Elisha had already been thru all that. So Elisha encourages the king and says ‘take your bow and shoot thru the east window’ so he does this prophetic act and Elisha tells him he will overcome the enemy from the east [Syria]. Then he tells him to stomp the ground with the arrows, so he does it 3 times. Elisha says he should have done it 5 or 6 times! But because you were a little lackluster you will only have a partial victory over your enemy. And last but not least Elisha dies and is buried and some brothers bury one of their dead in the same grave and as soon as the body touches Elisha the guy comes back to life. Elisha was raising brothers from the dead after he died! What do we make from this? Various Christian churches put different emphasis on what the dead can do; relics, praying to those who have passed on. I want only to stress the biblical importance of the body. In scripture the body is a holy thing, God himself dwells inside the bodies of believers. The New Testament doctrine of the resurrection speaks to the importance of the body. In Greek thought the body was seen as evil, a temporary ‘prison’ that the soul/mind was captive in until death. Some of these beliefs [Greek Dualism] did affect the thinking of the church over the centuries. Many good theologians have corrected these mistakes over the years [Augustine, Reformers, Etc.] They showed us that the body itself is not evil, but that when the bible speaks about ‘the flesh having no good thing in it’ it is speaking about ‘the fleshly/carnal nature’ not the physical body. But some who embraced Greek Dualism interpreted these verses as saying the actual body is evil. In Romans Paul says to give our bodies up to God as living sacrifices, HOLY AND ACCEPTABLE to God, which is our reasonable service [worship]. So the body is actually referred to as holy in this passage. Elisha obviously had some ‘residual’ anointing going on, as soon as death touched his body there was enough of Gods Spirit present to raise a guy from the dead, how much more so for those of us who are still alive.
(1267) 2ND KINGS 14:1-20 Amaziah becomes king over Judah and avenges the assassination of his father. Yet he does not kill the sons of those who murdered his father, why? Because the law of God said the children should not be put to death for the sins of their fathers, Amaziah did justice, but also melded it with mercy. He then sends a message to the king of Israel to come and meet in a challenge. The king of Israel gives him a little parable that basically says ‘look, you had a victory over Edom, don’t let that go to your head, just because you won in one nation doesn’t mean you can repeat the strategy everywhere [ouch! That is ouch to our present situation in the world]. But Amaziah won’t listen and they come out to battle, sure enough Judah suffers a loss and Israel breaks down the wall of Jerusalem and takes the precious riches from the temple. Okay, sometimes wisdom says slow down and don’t start too many wars at once; in this case Amaziah did a few good things but then allowed inexperience to rule the day. He also acted justly in the execution of those who killed his father by not taking it out on the kids. We seem to have 2 extremes in the modern church; 1- we really don’t like to deal with past mistakes and errors that have caused damage to Gods people, we feel like dealing with issues in a just way is wrong. 2- When we do decide to deal with them, we usually ‘kill the kids’, that is we go too far and mount a personal campaign against those who were really not responsible for the ‘parent’s sins’. We as believers need to be careful when embracing ideologies that say ‘let's kill those damn terrorists, along with the families and kids and every one of their offspring’ these ways of thinking are not in keeping with even the Old Testament ethics of war, never mind the actual pacifist teachings of Jesus! I was watching a conservative news program the other day [you can guess the network- it’s the same name that Jesus called Herod] and the commentator said he wanted our military to go out and kill as many of these radical Muslims as we could find. Will that strategy ever really work? You will have no end to the killing because the mindset has not changed. Now I do realize that as a country we do have the right to intercept and go after those who are planning and strategizing against us, but the point is to simply think if we try and kill all ‘the offspring’ of those who harmed us will work, we are fooling ourselves. Amaziah dealt with the parents and stopped short when it came to the next generation. He also overstepped his resources by assuming a victory over one nation [Edom-Iraq] could easily be repeated in another [Israel-Afghanistan] as believers we need to have more of a plan than just ‘lets kill them all’ we need both progressive [liberal] and conservative voices to be heard, don’t just swallow the party line [on either side!].
(1268) 2nd KINGS 14:21-28 Jeroboam [the 2nd] had a fairly long reign, he captured lost territories and extended Israel’s borders. Jonah the prophet lived and prophesied during his realm [Jonah the son of Amittai] and yet the scriptures say he was an evil king. Sometimes God allows people to come to rule during prophetic seasons, prophetic in the sense that the times themselves are significant. The church might be called to speak in a special way to society, you might have the rise of prophetic men [Martin Luther King jr.] and because of the significance of the time, even an ‘evil ruler’ [pro abortion, pro gay agenda, well you get the picture] can be used for good. Jeroboam accomplished much, not by his own laurels, but because he had ‘come to the kingdom for such a time as this’. The prophetic word of Jonah was going forth at this season and God was going to restore Israel’s borders whether or not the king was righteous. I was reading an article the other day, it showed how many of the Christian leaders in Africa had very high hopes for president Obama, they were seeing great significance out of the historic election of one who descended from a race who were formerly enslaved by White men. These leaders took a very different stand than the American believers, many of whom view the president as a threat to civilization! When I pray for the president, I also pray for the leaders of the world, my prayer goes like this; I pray first for those who are believers, I ask the Lord to guide them in right paths and to give them the courage to rule justly. I pray for those who are unbelievers, that the Lord would reveal the truth of the gospel to them and that they would rule justly thru ‘common grace’ that they would be like the ‘unjust judge’ in scripture who did what was right out of political expediency. And then I pray for the 3rd group, all those who are actively fighting against the people of God and are openly wicked; I pray that these would be removed from office and replaced with righteous authority, but then I add ‘until they are removed, may God be glorified even thru their rebellion as happened with Pharaoh king in Egypt’. I basically acknowledge that the king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord and he can turn it any way he wants. So in Jeroboams case it would have been counterproductive to have fought against the man all thru his reign, he was chosen by God [and the people] to be there, he ruled during a prophetic season in the church [prophetic in the sense of justice] and God did use him to restore much land that was lost under ‘previous administrations’ all in all God used a king that ‘did evil’ but ruled during a crucial time in national history.
(1269) 2ND KINGS 15- This chapter has lots of various kings, instead of covering them all let me just hit a few verses. One of the kings is being challenged by Assyria, so he ‘exacts money from the wealthy’ to pay the guy off. Another verse speaks of a king with a long 52 year rule who also had leprosy. Let’s start with the ‘taxing the wealthy’ brother. Right now [10-09] the congress is about to vote on health care reform [actually today is 10-22, they vote today] and to be sure there are challenges on both sides. I was talking to a north eastern ultra liberal the other day; this person defended the president and accused all those who were against him as being racists. I explained to the person that there were many White independent voters who sincerely voted for the president, many of whom do oppose him on actual policy disagreements; these voters who have been publicly accused of being racists will never vote Democrat again. The statements of President Carter, though taken out of context somewhat, were the worst thing that could happen to a political party. A few months ago Chris Matthews [MSNBC] interviewed a woman columnist who wrote a piece for the Times that was called ‘the southern strategy’ she explained how the real reason for McCain putting Palin on the ticket was to contrast the ‘sexual aggression of the Black man against the southern white woman’. Now, it was obvious to me that McCain chose Palin as a counterbalance to the historic nature of the Obama candidacy, they waited until Obama picked his running mate and when they saw he didn’t pick Clinton, McCain figured let’s put a conservative woman on our ticket who could help with the base [which McCain had trouble with] and also could appeal to a historic candidacy [the first woman V.P.]. So any way it was obvious that this was more than likely the reason. But for a national show to accuse the entire McCain candidacy as being racist in this way simply alienates many sincere White voters who will simply reject the entire Democratic ticket the next time around. Okay, if we pass health care and mandate every American to purchase it, it is wrong not to have the so called ‘public option’ [Medicare for everybody]. Why? Because you are thrusting the populace into buying from private industry, without any checks and balances on that industry. I know states do this with car liability, but nevertheless to do this on a federal level without offering some type of govt. plan would be a mistake. How to pay for it? Some say ‘exact money from the millionaires’ others want to tax the high end insurance policies that are out there [the Cadillac plans]. However this is done we need to avoid strapping the middle income worker with too high a price. Some estimates, from Democrats, say that an average 4 family household who brings in 60 k a year would have to pony up an extra 700 a month under the plan. That if this family presently cannot pay for the coverage, they would be fined. This takes into consideration the govt. offset. The average insurance plan costs around 13 thousand a year, the govt. would pay for around 7 thousand in the above example and this family would be mandated to pay the rest. So some of these plans are not good. My view is, let’s do the thing and have the public option with it. If you can’t have the public option than this would simply be a regressive tax on middle income families. When the president was asked this question by George Stephanopoulos he denied this being a tax, but George told him if you mandate a fine on these people and then require them to pay by law, then it is a tax. The whole point today is we need to realize that simply ‘taxing the rich’ does not solve the problem. We should make sure that companies and rich folk pay their fair share, but they are not some type of secret answer to all the problems. This week a boy asked the president ‘why do people hate you’? and Conan Obrien said the boy then looked at Biden and said ‘I know why people hate you’. Ouch! There is plenty of room in this debate to hear both sides, not demonize the opposing side, and try and work out a compromise that everyone can live with. We certainly don’t need to hate either side.
(1270) CONC. 2ND KINGS 15- Azariah the king had a long reign and also was a leper. We read earlier how Naaman the leper was a great military leader. A few weeks ago as I was channel surfing I caught a biography on Father Damien, a Belgian Priest who went to Hawaii in the 1800’s to serve Gods people. Hawaii had a problem with Leprosy at the time and they eventually quarantined the lepers to an island named Molokai [sp?]. Father Damien used to visit the island and eventually requested permission to stay on the island and serve the people. He eventually caught leprosy himself and wrote how he so identified with the people that it was only fitting that he should die from the common disease of the people he loved. The next week I read an article or 2 on Father Damien, it just so happened that he was up for being canonized as a Saint by the Pope. So a few stories covered some of the controversy that surrounded him; some accused him of sleeping with some of the women on the island and they said that’s how he got sick. Other critics said he wasn’t really as dedicated as the stories portrayed; that he actually traveled to a part of the island where normal people lived and then he would later go back to the side where the lepers were. So the critics had their reasons, some of the critics were sincere in their beliefs and did not intend for their critiques to be made public. So to be honest reading these stories did cause me to doubt some of the heroic things I saw in the biography. All in all Father Damien was made a ‘Saint’ and in order for this to have happened under Catholic teaching the stories about father Damien’s infidelities had to be considered untrue. I actually found it fitting in a way that a man could still be recognized and honored even if he had these failings. Officially the church said these stories were false, but they might very well have been true and yet the good work Father Damien did was still honored. Now I in no way want to leave the impression that this would be some sort of accuse for sin, I just thought it fitting that the man was still honored even with the question out there about his faults. King Azariah ruled a long time [52 years] and yet he had a disease that was considered like having aids. There was a stigma to it. The people on Molokai were quarantined there because they were actually following the rules given in the Old Testament on how to deal with leprosy. In Jesus day you saw the same thing apply, people had to be separated from the population and there were cleansing rules for the houses they lived in and stuff like that. So in a primitive way the Hawaiians did their best to deal with the problem. Yet God shows us that some of his great leaders, men he used to do good things, also suffered from physical ailments that were considered tragic. In Isaiah 53 the bible says ‘it pleased the Lord to bruise him, thru his suffering my righteous servant shall justify many’. Jesus of course suffered by the will of God and God saw the things he was going thru, these things were the very acts that bought our redemption! Father Damien saw his affliction and eventual death as some type of redemptive price that he would pay for his efforts to redeem the people of Molokai, in essence ‘it pleased the Lord to bruise him, and thru his suffering he justified many’.
(1271) 2ND KINGS 16- Ahaz the king of Judah is attacked by Israel and Syria; he takes the treasures from the temple and buys the help of the Assyrian king. The king in return attacks Syria’s capitol city of Damascus and Ahaz is off the hook. Now Ahaz goes to check out Damascus and the job that he paid to have done; as he is there he sees the pagan altar of the Syrians and likes it so much that he sends the design back to his ‘arch bishop’ [priest] and tells him to make one for them. He also takes the brass/bronze altar from Gods tabernacle and mixes it in with this pagan contraption. Okay, first we see that once you open the financial door it’s hard to shut it. What made the king think about buying the services of Assyria with the temple goods? Well they did this before and once it became a viable option it was easy to just go back to the same source. That’s why we need to be careful as a country as we establish ‘new sources’ of income for various projects; these sources tend to get raided when needed [S.S. trust fund!]. Also Ahaz desecrated the holy things by his willingness to mix pagan worship along with God’s true worship. He basically liked the artistic value of the pagan altar at Damascus and wanted one. Last night I watched the documentary of the Monte Python guys. Back in the 70’s they were popular where I grew up in Jersey and they hit the TV about the same time as SNL. I never really saw how ‘anti Christian’ these guys were. I know they spoofed the Holy Grail stuff and all, but as they were talking on the documentary you could tell that they were truly ‘enlightenment’ babies. British mockers of the faith. Now, right after the documentary they showed their film ‘Life of Brian’ which I never really saw before [just parts] and it was a total mockery of the faith. The actor who spoofed Christ died not long after, he got cancer and died young, in his 40’s [I’m not saying God killed him!]. They showed his funeral during the documentary and it was sad, in keeping with their style the comics cursed at the Eulogy, dropped the ‘f’ bomb and said ‘we now know that Graham is gone, he no longer exists, all we have is memories’. They did the best they could, but as you saw the kids in the audience and the faces of friends and family, this end of dissolving into nothingness seemed so hopeless. The kids were taught you live, do what you want in life without purpose or meaning, and then evaporate into the cosmos! No real hope at all. I appreciate art, I don’t really get too offended when Christians are spoofed and all, I think our skin is too thin at times. But the constant mocking of Christ and the faith at the ‘altar of art’ seems to parallel Ahaz and his willingness to allow the beauty of the pagan altar to become part of his worship. Much of the so called ‘religious art’ is simply a mockery of the faith. Crosses in urine, the Virgin Mary depicted with porno- stuff that simply is not art. I read an article a few years back, the picture showed a 70 year old Black janitor standing next to a bunch of trash; it was dog poop, an old coke can and a bunch of trash just sitting in some building, it was actually one of the art displays. The poor janitor saw it while he was cleaning the museum at night and like any good worker, he threw the ‘dung’ out. Oh was he excoriated for this senseless act of disrespect and his inability to appreciate true art! In the article he said ‘it just looked like trash to me’ amen brother.
(1272) THE O’RIELLY FACTOR- The other day as I drove past the auto store O’Reilly’s I had the sense that I would be going there soon. In the old days I used to do all my own work on the junker cars I purchased. I remember many days in Kingsville going to every auto store in town, I used to frequent a little rinky dink place called ‘GAF auto’. They had a real nice older Mexican brother named Red; he always helped find me just the right part in their disorganized store. So any way my daughter’s radiator on the Mustang had a few problems and I managed to take off the overflow reservoir and patch the leak. But then the electric fan motor [I hate them!] would not turn on. I actually replaced the fan motor a few years back and was not sure what the problem was. I told my wife ‘Look, I am not going to start replacing stuff [like the old days] until I hit the jackpot, this time you guys need to take it to the shop’. I am trying to get away from doing stuff like this nowadays. So she looks on line and says ‘it might be the resistor’ [type of fuse]. As I pull out these fuses you really can’t tell if their bad or not so I think one sounds bad as I shake it. I am also trying to check the connections themselves to see if I loosened one when fixing the reservoir. So any way I really can’t tell what’s wrong, I’m running the engine to see if the fan will turn on and messing with everything. I go into the garage to look if I have the repair book for this car [1998 mustang]. I have bought books over the years for the various vehicles we have owned but couldn’t find one for this car [I have one for my 66 mustang but not for a 98]. As I pull the books off of a top shelf a resistor falls down. It says ‘ford’ on it and it looks like the part I’m looking for. As I think back I must have replaced them when I originally changed the fan motor a few years ago and I guess I kept a good one. So I stick it in and sure enough it’s fixed. What are the odds that this loose part just happened to fall down off a shelf? Red would have been proud of me. I bought these original parts at O’Reilly’s auto a few years ago; I guess the lord was telling me I would be fixing a car with an O’Reilly part soon. In Isaiah God says ‘ask me about the future of my sons, concerning the work of my hands command me’ ‘these people I have formed for myself, they will show forth my praise’ ‘before stuff happens I show it to you, before it springs forth I reveal it’. God is telling us ‘look, I am the one who has brought you to the place where you are at today; I have guided your steps. I have the power to manipulate the environment to give you a favorable outcome- you have not chosen me but I have chosen you and ordained you that you should go and bring forth fruit and that it will last’ God is on our side, even little things like allowing a part to fall off of a shelf in the nick of time, God does stuff like this. I want to encourage all of our leaders who read this blog, be sensitive to the little ‘impressions’ God gives you on the journey, they might not seem significant at the time, but God does speak to us in simple ways. Look for the confirmation on stuff, I was really ready to give up on the car but I knew the lord had impressed ‘auto shop’ on my mind just a few days earlier, I had no idea how the details would work out but knew that God had spoken in this seemingly minor way. God is the one who brought us here, he will help with the little [and big] stuff along the way.
(1273) 2ND KINGS 17 in some ways this is a transitional chapter; up until now foreign countries attacked and suppressed Israel, but in this chapter we see the first real captivity of the people as a whole. Hoshea the king over the northern tribes [Israel] rebels against the king of Assyria who had them under tribute. So the king of Assyria puts Hoshea in jail and besieges Israel for 3 years, they take the city [Samaria] and they remove the majority of the people out of the land. He also places foreigners in the land to repopulate it. These foreign nations eventually mix in with the remnant that remained and these descendants are what we read about in John’s gospel, they were considered ‘half breed’ Samaritans. Now after the new inhabitants settle in the ‘Lord sent lions among them’. The people see this as judgment from God and request the Assyrian king to send them a priest so they could learn the ways of the God of the land and not die. This priest arrives and to some degree teaches these pagans the true worship of God, they of course kept their pagan beliefs as well, but it is interesting to see how the Lord even used a judgment scenario to redeem people. Okay, last night I was reading some of the history of the 18th-19th centuries and how after the French Revolution and the era of Napoleon many Europeans began to fear the idea of total and free Democracy, there was a sort of romantic musing upon the good old days of the Monarch. Many Frenchmen longed for the stability of the old Catholic church, these were called ‘Ultramontanists’ which meant ‘beyond the mountains- Alps’ and stood for their desire to re attach with the old Roman church in a way that allowed the church to reassert a global oversight over France as it used to have before the Revolution and Reformation. Part of the fear had to do with the nation states being their own sovereign, that whatever the nations wanted to now do they could do without any outside oversight; in essence part of the role of the Roman church was to provide a type of ‘united nations’ oversight over the individual states. Ultimately Democracy would eventually prevail and the new world of the Americas would be the first nation to adopt Democratic principles right from the start. When reading the history of the world, often time’s revisionists put their own spin on stuff. For instance we often read the history of Darwin in the latter half of the 19th century and see him as some enlightened figure who stood up against the bigotry of the church. But a generation or 2 before Darwin you had many ‘enlightened’ Evangelicals who fought for human rights and the dignity of man. William Wilberforce and the ‘Clapham community’ were men who used their political and social status as a means of freeing the Black man from the horrendous slave trade in Britain. Clapham was a small town around 3 miles outside of London; the town was sort of an elite place for the higher ups of society. Sort of like the Hamptons. Yet it was from this area in the late 18th century that many of the modern programs of the Evangelical movement were launched. The wealth and influence of these men launched the first bible societies, they started mission organizations for the poor; and even tried to instill a schema of social justice in their business dealings [the head of the East India trading company was part of the group]. These men wrought good social change and fought for the rights of the Black man, for him to be treated as a human and not some type of lower class chattel property. Darwin’s ideas would put into print the racist ideas of those who opposed the outlawing of slavery as a legitimate trade. Those who resisted freeing the slaves [both in Britain and the colonies] believed that the Black man was an inferior race to the White man. Darwin taught these beliefs openly in his books; he believed the Black race was proof of Evolutionary theory, that the Blacks proved to us that there were intellectually inferior races of men that did not advance along the more educated road of White men. The point being that a full 70 years before Darwin you had very influential Christian men who fought for the rights and freedom of Black men, and yet history normally portrays Darwin as the person who fought the bigotry of the church in his noble journey for truth. Okay, God allowed his people to be taken captive, they rebelled against him and they lost their freedom as a people, yet they still had a history of great and noble deeds, they accepted proselytes into their nation and treated the poor in their land with respect. It would be wrong to view the entire history of Gods people [both now and then] from the lens of the sins and wrongs that occurred, yes the church has made her mistakes and it sounds noble to say ‘lets cast off all the restraints of religion’ but in the end you might wind up looking past the Alps for some help.
(1274) VISION FOR THE CITY? As I’m doing the Kings study I have also been reading Isaiah, they kinda fit because in Isaiah God uses the prophet to rebuke and correct his people; in Kings we see Gods actual correction. In Isaiah 48 God tells his people ‘I showed you the future before it happened, I am doing new things with you; these are things that never existed until right now. I am revealing things to you for the first time ever; no one has seen these things before’. God really gives them some great promises, he also tells them ‘don’t you think I foresaw all the sins and mistakes you were going to make? I knew that you were going to be stubborn and not listen, I chose you anyway- not as some favor to you, but because this whole thing was my purpose from the start’ [my paraphrasing]. Over the years my thinking has changed/grown in certain areas, I remember a time when it was popular to focus on the ‘destiny of your city’. Many books written on the subject, studying the history of your city and looking for clues to Gods purpose. Now I want to be careful here, I do believe in the concept of God wanting to use his people to have a real impact on society, God does want our cities and nations to experience him. But now as I look back I feel some of the over emphasis on our cities was a little off balance. It was common to read/hear ‘what is happening now in our city [any name can fit] has happened before in other places on the earth, we are now living in a time of unbelievable destiny’ and yet as you looked at the actual scene, things pretty much were chugging along at the same pace as years gone by. In the New Testament you never see this type of emphasis on your particular city, there is a transitional mindset that went from ‘natural Jerusalem’ [your actual city where you live] to the New Jerusalem that comes down from God out of heaven [the church/people of God]. So instead of Paul writing letters to the churches and saying ‘you have no idea how great a destiny God has for Corinth/Ephesus/Philippi’ you read what a great purpose God has for those who name the name of Christ who live in these areas. So you see some excitement over what God is doing in these cities, but the actual emphasis is on the spiritual development of the communities of God dwelling in them. Got it? I say all this not to ‘pop anyone’s bubble’ so to speak, I just think we need to rethink some of the excitement that comes along with wanting God to work in our cities. God told his people he was going to do some awesome things thru them, he was going to show them things that no one has seen before- he would establish purposes and ministries that he had planned long before we were ever born. Just don’t confuse natural Jerusalem with spiritual Jerusalem. Earthly kingdoms and nations [and yes cities] will all pass away, but we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be removed, we are being built into a habitation for God, we look for a city that hath foundations whose builder and maker is God [Hebrews].
(1275) IS THE PRESIDENT KNOWINGLY LYING TO US? As of today- 10-28-09, the current health care plan still does not have language in it that would forbid your tax money from paying for abortions. There are various views on this issue, some liberal politicians feel you don’t need to have special language put into the bill, they feel the current law on the books banning federal funding for abortions would cover this [the Hyde amendment]. Others insist that the Hyde amendment would not cover the new law that would fund changes in health care, these pro life politicians [led by Bart Stupak, a Democrat] are calling for specific language in the bill that would prevent tax money paying for abortions. Now, I just read a very disturbing article where this Democratic house member- Bart Stupak, was told by the President himself that when he said ‘under my plan no federal money will pay for abortions’ that he was not referring to the actual plan that congress is voting on, that the words ‘under my plan’ referred to a theoretical plan that Obama had ‘in his own mind’. Stupak was grilled on this by the news reporter who interviewed him; Stupak said he actually called the President to make sure he was not misunderstanding him. Stupak told the president that he himself [the president] did not have a plan, that the only real plan was what congress was working on. In essence Stupak said to the president that he was misleading the public by saying ‘my plan will not cover abortions’. Obama knew good and well that ‘his plan’ was not the plan that the congress was working on, or that they would ever work on. The president was referring to ‘a plan in his mind’ that he could use to defend his language. If this story is accurate, I have no other option than to believe that the president has purposefully lied and misled the public on an issue that is crucial to many Americans. If this type of semantic talk is being used by the president, while calling those who were disagreeing with him as ‘misleading you’ he simply can’t be trusted. He seems to be allowing the pressure of the job to get to him to such a degree that he feels doing these types of things are justifiable, after all it’s for ‘our own good’. Lets continue to pray for the president, if he lied to us [which it sure looks like he did] it wouldn’t be the first lie a president told, but the manner in which it was done- telling the nation ‘under my plan abortions won’t be covered- and those who are telling you different are misleading you’ and then to tell Stupak that he was referring to a ‘plan in his own mind’ this is really bad, it accuses those who were actually telling the truth as being liars, many Democrats who have been honest and open about the issue have been tagged liars by the president himself. This is not good.
(1276) 2ND KINGS 18- Hezekiah rules in Judah and is the first king to tear down the high places of idolatry that Jeroboam instituted and he destroyed the calf’s and rid the nation of other idols [the bronze snake image that Moses had made was being used as an idol]. When I first read this chapter I of course wanted to credit this king as being one of the best, after all the chapter tells us this. But don’t underestimate the importance of surrounding events that aided in Hezekiah’s purging the nation of its idols. The northern tribes are in captivity, this gave the king of Judah room to function. It’s probable that most of the kings of Judah would have preferred ridding the nation of these calves, because their existence was for the purpose of preventing the children of Israel from reuniting with Judah, but Hezekiah had the opportunity to finally do it. Also the king of Assyria will come up against Hezekiah and threaten him ‘what makes you think that your God can do any better than all the other gods of the nations that our king has defeated’. These messengers are treading on dangerous ground, they are having a public discourse right outside the wall of Jerusalem, they are speaking the language that all the people know [probably Aramaic] and the leaders of Jerusalem say ‘don’t talk to us in the common language, after all we don’t want all the citizens to know our problems’ and the Assyrian messengers say ‘no, we want the people to hear- so they can know that they will be [quote] drinking their own piss and eating their own dung’. These brothers must have been the political ancestors of Alan Grayson! [the Democratic congressman from Fla. who calls women whores and stuff like that]. So anyway the Assyrians leave the threat and Hezekiah and his men do some soul searching. We’ll read the results tomorrow. Okay, there was a conscious effort on the part of leadership to ‘hide the discussion from the public’ Hezekiah did not want to post these things on the internet for 72 hours- or put it on C-span like the president initially said he would do. Also, don’t underestimate the role that our moral decisions have to do with whether or not things turn out good. Hezekiah will get some help from God because he really did seek to do the right moral thing in ridding the nation of idols. Right now [like today] there are many efforts going on in the congress to include abortion in the current health care funding. This would be a major national change in policy for our country. In the past the president is on record as saying he wants abortion covered in national health care [he said this in 2007]. So there is a debate going on in the Democratic party over this, there are around 40 Democrat congressmen who are opposing this bill over this issue. I applaud these men. I still believe that our nation can overcome some major problems that are facing us, but we can’t overcome them if we disregard Gods word. I am not advocating a theocracy, but to extend the coverage of abortion to a degree that has never happened before would be a big mistake. I realize the president has misled us on this, the facts are out there. I think he did it out of fear of not getting something passed, which would be a major political defeat for his agenda. But to purposefully mislead people, no matter how well intentioned you feel the end result is, this is still unjust. The king of Judah has a dilemma, he will find some help in seeking God, I think this strategy can work for all of us.
(1277) These past few weeks I have been adding a bunch of new verses to memory from Isaiah. Every so often I will read chapters 40 thru the end of the book and I always see new stuff. This morning I was reading the first few verses in chapter 49; the Lord is confirming the special calling on Israel as well as speaking about the Messiah- ‘It is a small thing to me to use you to restore the nation of Israel, I will also give you as a light to the Gentiles’ Paul uses this quote in Acts [I think it’s Paul]. One of the responses of Israel to seeing the truth of Messiah is ‘I have labored in vain; all the years of my efforts were worthless’ [these are all my own paraphrasing]. I find this interesting, Paul says the same thing in the letter to the Philippians, after his conversion and revelation of the grace of God he actually viewed all of his previous efforts to advance what he thought was Gods cause, he now saw his own energies under the law as vain. He called them ‘dung’ his efforts at trying to produce a self righteousness were working against the actual grace of God. Often times in ministry we believe that the key to success is much effort ‘try harder’ ‘if we just had more money Gods work would get done’. One of the great dichotomies of the kingdom is that our efforts often work against Gods purpose, this is not to say we shouldn’t work and function for Gods kingdom, it’s just not a matter of self effort. This passage in Isaiah also talks about Jesus being despised and hated with a passion, yet he will touch kings and nations. A previous chapter says ‘men of stature shall come over to thee- you will influence kings and princes’ God will give us great influence to touch nations and kings, but we need to also embrace the words of Jesus in Johns’ gospel ‘how can you please God, you who are trying to please men- spending energy on the glory that comes from being recognized by man’. Let all our efforts be based upon the grace of God, this thing is not about us or are gifts being put under the spotlight, it’s about entering into the true purposes of God and ceasing from our own labors ‘trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not unto thine own understanding’ we often lean too heavily on our own understanding.
(1278) 2ND KINGS 19- The king [Hezekiah] sends a messenger to Isaiah the prophet and goes into the house of God to seek the Lord. Isaiah informs Hezekiah that God will defend Judah. Isaiah also gives a rebuke to the king of Assyria. God used this pagan king to judge many nations, in essence he was fulfilling a type of ‘manifest destiny’ [American exceptionalism] and yet he grew proud over his victories. To be honest about it I see some of this going on in our nation at this time. While I do not subscribe to the ultra conservative critics of the president, these past few weeks have convinced me that he has lied to the American public on a huge scale over his willful misrepresentation of the abortion issue [read my recent posts under the abortion section]. I feel there was a disdain towards the Christian community and that the Chicago style politics simply ruled the day ‘hey, if we lie about this, what’s the big deal? We are fighting fire with fire- they lie about us [Fox news, the presidents critics, etc.] so this is simply part of the game’. I feel the president bought into this and at the same time underestimated the role that lying about abortion so it could be federally funded will play in any economic recovery. In essence our country will not recover if we disregard the heritage of Christian morality in this way. So God rebukes the Assyrian king for thinking he could do whatever he wanted and the Lord sends an angel and kills 185 thousand Assyrian troops. The Assyrian king goes home and dies while worshipping at his pagan gods altar. Okay, his arrogance led to a massive troop defeat as well as his own personal demise. One of the other major problems that out country is facing is the military situation in Afghanistan, those of you who have read my site for any length of time know that I do not support this war, I want our troops out. I find it unbelievable that this week the media exposed the fact that our CIA was paying off the brother of Hamid Karzia [the president] who is a drug lord. Some of our troops have died fighting the drug lords, yet our own govt. has them on the payroll. How did the media cover this? If we found this out under Bush/Cheney what would the outrage be? One of CNN’s most able commentators on the Afghanistan war [Michael Ware] said he would be shocked to find out that we weren’t doing this, sort of like it was the right thing to do. Unbelievable. The now famous tour of America by Alexis De Tocqueville in the 19th century has been cited by many historians. He praised our country for many things, but he also warned of ‘the tyranny of the majority’ that is he said that any society that measured right or wrong solely on what the majority wants is doomed to fail. Hezekiah sought the Lord and this made the difference, the nations that ‘forgot God’ and at the same time prided themselves in their military arrogance were judged [I honor our men and women who serve, but for our govt. to be paying those who have killed our men is a travesty!] I think the Old Testament is still relevant today.
(1279) THE ROSE OF SHARON- Last Sunday I tried to catch one of the services on TV that I watch every so often, but when I checked the channel guide it wasn’t on. So instead of reading I thought I would see if there was anything else on that would be profitable. They were showing the classic movie ‘The Grapes of Wrath’ and I always try and watch it annually. Back in New Jersey we read Steinbeck’s classic in high school and I have the novel sitting here in my office. I asked the Lord to show me something that would have some spiritual meaning, I focused on a few things- Tom Joad [Henry Fonda] says about ‘preacher Casey’ [John Carradine] ‘He was a lantern/light, he made us see things differently’ and the name of Toms younger sister is ‘Rose a Sharon’. This term comes from the bible [Song of Solomon chapter 2] and most preachers use the language to describe Christ and his bride [the church]. So anyway I like the image of wild flowers and stuff, so it was good. The last day or so one of the Christian TV stations has been broadcasting some prophetic type meeting out of Kansas. I have written on these brothers before and over the years there have been some interesting prophetic type signs that I received from these guys. As I’m watching the meeting they are recalling their ‘prophetic history’ and they share how one of the key images that was given them thru a prophet was the image ‘Rose of Sharon’, I thought that was cool. In Isaiah God says ‘I have engraven you on the palms of my hands, your walls are continually before me’ ‘you will spring up like wildflowers/lilies along the water ways’. God uses lots of ‘flower’ imagery when speaking of his people. Paul uses the language of us being Gods garden. Jesus said he was the vine and we are the branches. The verse in Song of Solomon says that the Rose of Sharon is like the lily of the valley. God’s community of people are a natural outgrowth of the message and life of the kingdom going forth into all nations. We do a disservice at times when we [theologians/teachers] emphasize that the church technically started on the day of Pentecost; I really don’t disagree with this idea, I understand it was the day the Spirit birthed the church in a sense, but the problem is we tend to neglect the actual style that Jesus used when making disciples. That is Jesus is going around preaching the kingdom, healing people, doing all these great kingdom works and he is instilling in the disciples this free flowing mindset of simply sowing the seed and allowing God to ‘make them grow’. Jesus even says in his parables that when farmers plant seed, they sleep and rise day and night and the seed produces on its own. The disciples ask him once ‘these other guys are using your name and we forbid them because they are not part of our group’ and Jesus rebukes them and tells them to leave them be. He was challenging the ‘ownership mentality’ the idea of ‘local church’ and ministry as being things that we own/oversee as some sort of business enterprise. You never see Jesus trying to recruit people’s loyalty in a way that modern church scenarios do in our day. He was sending his men out to preach the kingdom, those who would believe and become followers would be part of his kingdom- no need to create all sorts of ways to tell people ‘if you are committed to this work/this vision- the vision of the man of God who oversees this house’ all well intended language that is often used to try and instill loyalty, but this type of mindset is really not seen in this free flowing ‘wild flower’ ministry of Jesus. He knows his followers will ‘spring up like wild flowers along the waterways’ they will be like ‘lilies in the valleys’ beautiful things that seem to spring up outside of the constraining barriers of man. Sure the potted plants at Wal Mart have some value, but then when you leave the store and see all the natural lilies springing up along these roads and high ways, you think ‘wow, these things look great and they need no maintenance and seem to be unstoppable’. The plants in the garden centers are high maintenance, the ‘Rose’s of Sharon and lilies in the valleys’ seem to have a life of their own.
(1280) 2ND KINGS 20 Hezekiah gets sick and the prophet Isaiah tells him that he will die. Hezekiah seeks God and before Isaiah leaves the courtyard God tells him ‘turn back, he will get another 15 years’ God extends his life. But he asks for a sign from the Lord to know that he will live, God gives him the sign of ‘the sundial’ it will go back 10 degrees and not forward. Hezekiah allows the Babylonians to see all his treasures and God rebukes him for 'casting his pearls before swine’ and pronounces judgment that will take place when his son comes to the throne. This chapter also mentions the project that Hezekiah built, an underground water source [tunnel] that ran from the spring Gihon and brought water secretly into Jerusalem. This was a smart engineering move on the part of the king, in bible times when one king attacked another he would cut off the water source from the city; this secret underground tunnel was undetectable. For many thousands of years this story has been in the bible, some mocked it ‘where is the source’? In 1880 archaeologists found the tunnel with inscriptions on it. Let’s do a few things; the story of the sun dial going back is like the story of Joshua and God keeping the sun from setting a whole day until Joshua routed the enemy. One of the major challenges to believing the bible literally [face value] was the entire discovery of how our solar system worked [Copernicus, Galileo] and fitting that in with the biblical accounts [sun setting and rising language]. So many of the biblical critics came to reject these stories based on the fact that in order to ‘make the sun go back/stop the sun from setting’ you would have to stop the earth from rotating, or turn the rotation backwards! And science tells us that this would have catastrophic effects on the earth and seas, the gravitational effects would be enormous. In essence natural science tells us this can’t happen. Are all miracles like this? The event of the worldwide flood had natural events that caused the earth to flood. In today’s world a few well placed meteors hitting the oceans could easily repeat the event, so some supernatural acts of God coincide with natural explanations. But some don’t. The God of Christian theology is both Transcendent and Immanent, that means he is ‘above us’ [higher class than humans] and yet omnipresent, he has his hands in everything! Transcendence does not mean he is simply geographically far away, but that he operates in another dimension, he is not limited to the time/space continuum like we are. Einstein blew away many preconceived ideas about time and space with his ingenious theories, he showed us that things don’t always work the way we think. A being who can operate outside of these dimensions can do things that would defy all natural explanations, this is what I believe happened with these types of miracles, we don’t always have to find a natural explanation to a supernatural event. God spared Hezekiah and he was a great king, he made some mistakes and suffered for it. Yesterday I lost my vehicle keys, I looked all day and interrogated my wife and kids [they have taken them before] and after many hours of seeking I came to the logical conclusion that they were gone for good. My wife told me ‘lets wait and see, who knows maybe they will show up’ Oh yea sure, I guess they will just fall out of the sky! I am a man of action and decision; the keys were to my truck and my 1966 classic mustang in the garage. So I did what any reasonable man would do- I removed the ignition from the mustang [yes this is bad] and cut the wires out so I could splice the new ignition in its place. The official way to replace it calls for the removal of the dashboard and that’s quite a job. I could have called the lock guy and they could make a key, but I was already having a few problems with the ignition so I figured just do the whole thing. I also got the number to the dodge dealer so I could call them and get another key made from the VIN number on the truck. At around 11:00 pm the keys were found in the spot where I accidently put them, in a few hours I will be heading to Pep Boys for the ignition, the car sits in the garage with the wires hanging out from under the dashboard. Hezekiah was a good man, he did good things; but he also acted presumptuously at times, he let the Babylonians see the stuff that was supposed to be secret. Sometimes we can have all the good intentions in the world; this still will not immunize us from stupid decisions.
(1281) THE LORD HAS GIVEN ME THE TONGUE OF THE WISE THAT I WOULD KNOW HOW TO SPEAK A WORD IN SEASON TO HIM THAT IS WEARY…HE OPENS MY EAR IN THE MORNING- Isaiah 50. I was reading John 17 earlier and Jesus speaks about giving the words that the Father gave him, Jesus then communicates these words of value to his men. Jesus says ‘these are yours and yours are mine… you gave me these men out of the world and I have shared with them your truth’. There is a Divine sense of value on the words that God speaks. I read an article a while back written by a person who sold documentaries to TV stations, the person shared how they presented a valuable series of programs to one of the leading Christian stations. She was surprised that the station said they were not interested and would never pay a person/producer for a program. She explained to the station that these shows were high quality and that she would normally get paid for these shows, but the network said the only criteria they ever use is simply whether or not the church/ministry pays the required amount for airtime, the station never decides what to air based on quality. The person said they finally worked out a deal where the station accepted the programs but would not pay for them; the producer ran them for free. When we in the ‘Christian world’ operate along the lines of simply speaking/teaching words based on whether or not people can pay for the broadcast, then we are not even living up to the standards that the secular world uses. The same goes for Christian ‘movies’ many are done on a scale that’s quite frankly embarrassing. I rented a DVD a few months ago that was promoted by a Christian network, I got it for the girls and had them watch it. I asked them how it was, they said ‘it was okay dad, but you can tell it was cheesy’. Now there are excellently done movies with Christian themes, movies like ‘the mission’ with Robert Deniro, or ‘Les Miserable’s’ with Liam Neesan, these are high quality works of art. But much of what we call Christian broadcasting is simply the broadcasting of church meetings, very limited stuff. I simply want to encourage you today; God has given you a ‘set of words’ and a group of people that you are to communicate these words to over your life. Jesus understood that he was doing more than just 'giving sermons’ he was getting the specific message across to the men that the father gave him out of the world, his ear was open to hear what the father was saying and he spoke those words. Let’s reevaluate what we as leaders/believers say and do, let’s strive for quality and be sensitive to what we are communicating, if the level of Christian programming that we are releasing is either low quality or low value [some high tech shows still teach silly stuff!] then lets reevaluate the stuff and if necessary pull some words back. It does no good to the minister/church or to the people when we speak words that are not coming from the Father.
(1282) 2ND KINGS 21:1-17 Manasseh rules and rebels against the reforms that his father Hezekiah instituted; he rebuilds the pagan altars and even brings pagan altars into the temple and court. He sheds innocent blood by sacrificing his children to Moloch and ‘making them pass thru the fire’. Moloch was an idol statue that the pagans heated up until the arms were bright red; they then laid the babies in the arms. God pronounces judgment on Judah and they will eventually go into Babylonian captivity. Manasseh was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Manasseh’s father was a great king, yet the turn around from one ruler to another was astounding, many years of reforms and respect for human life were undone under this wicked king. Often time’s society embraces ideas that seem open and liberal, yet when they disrespect human life these ideas lead to captivity. I know our country faces many real problems right now in our history. The average citizen who watches the news hears about them to a degree, but the behind the scenes dangers are much greater than we see. Other countries are seriously looking at our economic problems and making moves to shield themselves from a future collapse of our economy. Many banks are still failing and the economic numbers that seemed good in the last quarter are really inflated math; in essence the cash for clunkers program and the free money given to first time home buyers [that was just extended today- as well as another extension for unemployment] these well meaning programs give a false sense of economic improvement. If I told you I was going to help your son get on his feet, and after 6 months of ‘my help’ you visited him and he seemed to be doing well, he had a car and place to live, food and a check. Wow, I kept my word. Then you found out that I gave him the car and house and was simply giving him free money every month, then in essence I falsely stimulated ‘his economy’, to a great degree this is what we are doing. Whenever you pump billions of dollars into the system, sure it will have some effect, but unless you give little Johnny the real tools for success, a pro small business environment, means to get real funding to become successful, unless you do the real stuff that makes a difference you are not truly going to change things. Manasseh was a progressive type person, he was open to all sorts of religious beliefs, tried implementing them in with the worship of the true God, he disrespected that old silly belief that you shouldn’t sacrifice babies on an altar of convenience, and he made some real changes from the previous king. His actions had some very serious consequences, the nation suffered for it.
(1283) TRAGEDY AT FORT HOOD- A few days ago as I was praying the regular routine of praying over areas of Texas I sensed a really strong leading from God to extend my prayer region to include highway 35 from San Antonio up thru the Dallas Fort Worth area. For years I have prayed over the area of 35 that extends from San Antonio to Austin, but I always stop at Austin. But the leading of the Lord to ‘pray further north’ was so strong, that I added some changes to my prayer maps in my office and even ‘staked out’ a new spot in my yard while praying in the early mornings. Yesterday we had the worst mass killing in US history that took place on a military base, it was FORT HOOD. Fort Hood is located directly off of highway 35 between San Antonio and Dallas, just a little past Austin. The tragedy is the reality that both Muslim Americans and military people will be hurt thru this event. That there are certain elements in radical Islam [not all Muslims!] that see the present situation thru ethnic/religious eyes. It’s also tragic that there are Fundamentalist Christians that see it the same way. I do not see this Army Major as an evil man who set out in life to hurt Americans, he is an American himself. Born and raised in the U.S. But the various ideologies of the wars and the disagreements between Islam and Christianity play a role in the way people’s ideas are formed, then these ideas can lead to violence on either side. The other day I received another email from some Pastors in Pakistan, they read the site and appreciate our teachings. If you look under the sections ‘Trinity, Christian, Muslim stuff’ and ‘Gentile, Jewish, Christian’ you will read many entries that stand against the popular American preachers ideas about Muslims and Christians. In a way I defend Muslims/Arabs to a degree. I also totally reject all acts of violence on either side, I do not support our current war in Afghanistan and want our troops out. I guess it’s because of this progressive/liberal stance that I have both Arab Christians and Muslims who read our site, great! I simply want to exhort all Muslims, Christians and other faiths; no matter how sincere we are in our beliefs, no matter how much we think certain views are right and others are wrong, we need to outright reject violence as a means of winning our points. We need to have the freedom of our beliefs and there expressions, the freedom to say ‘I believe Jesus is the way’ while at the same time respecting other cultures and religious beliefs. This entire incident is so tragic, it will drive a wedge between Muslim Americans and right wing radicals. It will play into the stereotypes that the radical Muslim fundamentalists want for recruiting purposes. It will justify the un Christian mentality of ‘let’s just blow them away’ that has been expressed by the religious right. A tragedy indeed. To all my Muslim readers, please reject these extreme views, they do no good for honest and peace loving Muslims. To all my Christian readers, do not view these events thru a ‘Christian lens’ that sees these events as justification for the killing of Muslims in other countries. We all need to pray for our country at this time and we need leaders from all religions to take public stands against this type of violence. May God help us all.
(1284) FOR A LAW SHALL PROCEED FROM ME AND I WILL MAKE MY JUDGMENT TO REST FOR A LIGHT OF THE PEOPLE Isaiah 51:5 I found out last week that one of my friends converted to Islam, he spent some time in New Jersey jails and rehabs and the Muslim influence is strong in Jersey. He explained to a friend how ‘God doesn’t share his glory’ and that he was taught that the Christian view of Jesus violates this truth. First, it would take too much time to overview the entire history of various beliefs and questions on different expressions of the Trinity, suffice it to say that there have been Christian groups from the first century up until today who have had difficulties with the Orthodox expression of the Trinity. I am Trinitarian, but understand how these various groups have had difficulty. Just to name a few; the Ethiopian Orthodox churches reject Trinitarian language. The Oriental Christian churches in general reject the language. The invading barbarians who attacked the Roman Empire were eventually converted to a form of Christianity that would reject Trinitarian language. The great Blasé Pascal thought it to have been a false teaching. I could go on and on with many groups who believed in God and Jesus but did not accept strong Trinitarian language. The point being, if someone thinks that all Christians hold the same views on the language, they are mistaken. I wrote a letter to my friend who converted to Islam, I simply shared the main difference between Christianity and Islam [and all religions], that Christianity teaches forgiveness and acceptance with God as a gift that comes thru the Atonement of Christ. Jesus died for men’s sins and rose again as a sacrificial atonement for man, Islam has some well meaning teachings in it but at the end of the day it is a religion that is legalistic. People attempt to gain Gods favor thru their own efforts; this is opposed to the Christian view of grace. I basically think it to be a red herring to use the language of the Trinity as a reason to reject Christianity and become Muslim, as I already stated there are many Christian groups who would agree with some of the issues that Muslims raise; this does not deal with the fact that man cannot atone for his own sins, man is unable thru any religious works to make himself right with God. The ‘law that proceeds from God’ to the nations is a law based on grace, not works. Paul calls it ‘the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus’ [Romans] he contrasts it with the law of works. Now the whole history of Justification by faith and how different Christian groups see it is another intramural war that rages within the church, N.T. Wright recently put out a book on it, John Piper wrote one in defense of the historic Reformation view- Wright’s view has some excellent points, but would be considered New Perspective. So there are differences in the way Justification by Faith is seen, but all groups agree that man is accepted by God based on the free gift of Grace that comes thru the Cross. Yes, Catholics and Protestants agree with this language, though there are other differences. The point today is I believe we as believers need to make clear the differences between law based religions and Christianity, Jesus offers free forgiveness based on his death burial and resurrection. Law based religions might seem noble at the start, but at the end of the day they lead to condemnation and frustration, they are a vain attempt by man to make himself pleasing to God- an impossible task.
TEACHINGS 8- Numbers 1285 to 1439
(1285) Yesterday I had some time to read my latest issue of Christianity Today, was kinda surprised that they had a few articles on the Prosperity Gospel. It’s really been a while since I dealt with it myself, but I always felt that the effect of the more extreme teachings from the movement had more bad influence on many good believers than the average pastor/preacher understood. To have entire groups/generations of Christians thinking that Jesus and his men were rich and that those who rejected extreme wealth were ‘old traditionalists’ these major distortions have had a terrible effect on biblical Christianity. But it usually takes a generation or 2 before people can really see the mistakes and grow in their understanding, most times people will defend to the death their positions with proof texts that ‘prove I’m right’ and that the other guy is wrong. Well anyway I thought it interesting that they covered the subject. I mailed off a package of tapes/materials to my friend who converted to Islam, I included the latest posts I wrote on the Ft. Hood tragedy. It really is a sad situation, I don’t mean to sound like I am defending the actions of the Major who committed the crime; we just need to realize that these radical ideas exist on the internet sites and they do have an effect on unstable people. Many Christians hold to violent militaristic views of the Old Testament in a way that they view the fulfilling of prophecy thru the lens of killing non Jews. These believers think that it is the purpose of God to involve himself on the side of the military of Israel and that current successful missions are a testimony to God’s grace. These views can be just as off base as those embraced by the Muslim extremists; they view God and his kingdom thru violent means that has one side killing the other and thinking that this is God’s will. Christians and religious people as a whole need to reject all types of killing scenarios as being from God. Yes nations and countries will fight and war, I am not advocating national pacifism, but when we mix in the wars of nations with the kingdom of God we err. Well anyway I felt like I should share these few thoughts today, it’s a rainy Sunday morning and I had a good early prayer time and got a little wet. But I like quoting the verses ‘let your doctrine drop down like rain and your speech distill like dew’ when praying in the rain, it ads texture to the prayer. Hopefully will do another chapter of 2nd kings tomorrow, I plan on doing Galatians after that. I will do both radio and blog when teaching Galatians, I haven’t done a new radio teaching in over a year! Just running old studies that have never aired yet. Try and read up on Galatians in the next few weeks and familiarize yourself with the text before I teach it, I will probably ‘correct’ some off balanced prosperity teaching on the ‘blessing of Abraham’ and some stuff like that. Okay that’s it for now, God bless for today and try and remember to pray weekly for us- check out the prayer request section on the blog and pray thru it weekly, it helps.
(1286) ISAIAH 53- This chapter is without a doubt the most Messianic chapter in the Old Testament; I find the character of Jesus described in this chapter to be a challenge to many modern concepts of ministry and leadership. Jesus is described as a ‘tender plant’ who grew up out of dry ground [type of virgin birth] we a have tendency to want well watered ground, we do all we can to create a favorable environment around us, Jesus thrived in ‘dry ground’. He is described as someone who had no outward flash that would attract us to him if we saw him; he was not the type of personality that sucked all the air out of the room when he showed up. I was listening to a testimony of a minister who attended a ‘preacher’s convention’ he shared how he felt being in an environment where everyone spoke in a baritone type voice, putting on a preachers garb/persona. How when the pastor/preacher of a group showed up amongst the regular crowd, that there was an expectation of the leaders persona to take over and become the central voice in the group. While there are many well meaning men who fall into this category, yet Jesus was someone who when you saw him was unpretentious, there was no ‘beauty- outward persona’ that would attract you to him. Isaiah says he was acquainted with grief and was not respected, as he bore the problems and failures of others he remained faithful to intercede for the transgressors. God would give him a portion with the great men because he was faithful in obscurity; many judged his difficulties as being a sign that God rejected him. He would make no effort to hide his trials, contrary to the media image that the modern church presents. Jesus was truly a Lamb led to the slaughter who would not open his mouth or defend himself when maligned, his entire style of leadership goes contrary to what we see in the modern day. You read in the New Testament that certain authorities were excited when they found out that Jesus would appear before them, thinking ‘wow, here’s my chance to see him perform’ type of a thing. Yet they would be let down because Jesus didn’t play that game, he was not seeking an audience. I like this chapter a lot, it makes us re-think many of the things we do in our day, things that we associate with ‘successful ministry’ I think Jesus’ pattern is the way to go.
(1287) 2nd KINGS 21:18-26 Amon takes the throne and has a short 2 year rule, he does wicked stuff. Verses 23, 24 say that the kings own servants conspired against him and ‘killed the king in his own house’ and that the people rose up and executed those who killed the king. This week/month the big political story is the health care debate, though there have been other major world events; the political story is health care. The ‘kings own party’ are divided over a few major points; abortion funding is one of them. Basically the Democrats seem to be doing themselves in and ‘killing’ the political hopes of their own ‘king’. Now, the recent elections in N.J. and Va. were a tell tale sign of things to come, both states went Republican with their governorships. The independents voted 2 to 1 for the Republicans, not good at all for the Democrats. The current health plan, after hearing the pros and cons, looks like it probably should be scrapped and start over again with real reforms that both sides agree on. The goal is noble, it’s just this plan seems to be a bad deal. Why? There are lots of reasons, let me just hit one or two. This plan will mandate by law that all people must buy insurance; this group will include many young single college kids who honestly can’t afford insurance. The plan includes language about doing PRISON TIME [up to 5 years] if you don’t buy the insurance and don’t pay the fine to the IRS if you don’t purchase insurance. It is probable that some Americans will do prison time as a result of this bill. Many Americans do go to prison every single year due to IRS violations, this is no joke. The president stated during the campaign that his plan would not do this; he contrasted his plan with Hillary’s plan and emphatically said he would not have any punishment for those who did not participate. He also criticized McCain’s plan because he said he might tax current health plans to fund it. Both of these options are now on the table under the current plan and it seems as if the media are treating the president like a ‘child king’. They do not hold him responsible for any of his actions. If you said you would not do these things and are now trying to do these things then you should be held responsible. The current plan will not control costs, they estimate that the public option would only be used by around 2 % of the uninsured and that the govt. option would cost more than private coverage. It is wrong to thrust 30-40 million people into a federally mandated plan, to threaten these people with possible prison time, and at the same time not lower the cost of insurance. After the kings ‘own house’ did him in, the people then rose up and kicked the whole house out of office, I think the country might be looking to do some house cleaning in around a year from now.
(1288) 2ND KINGS 22- Josiah takes the throne at the age of 8; he institutes reform among the people. He begins a restoration of the temple and finds a hidden copy of Moses law. He reads the law and realizes that they need to repent. It’s probable that the wicked king Manasseh destroyed all the copies of the law and one was hidden in the temple by Solomon. Either way the finding of the law sparks reform. This chapter says they did not take an audit of the money that was given to the builders because they could be trusted; it’s too bad that this standard wouldn’t work in our day. Josiah does some great stuff and God tells him he will honor his repentance and humility, but the nation has gone too far down the wrong path. The course for the nation was set in stone and judgment was still going to come, yet under Josiah there was a season of mercy. As believers study the history of Christianity one of the most well known events/times is the 16th century Protestant Reformation, it was a reform/time period that truly could be credited to a rediscovery of the Christian scriptures. Though there were learned men who knew scripture [like Erasmus and his efforts to get ‘back to the sources’ and his love for the Greek original New Testament] yet the populace at large did not have the availability of owning their own copies of the bible. But this time period produced the Guttenberg printing press and an aggressive effort to publish English versions of the bible. It would not be an understatement to say that the Reformation period was the single greatest upheaval and change that the church would go thru in her 1500 year history. Of course Catholics and Protestants would disagree on the value of these changes, but the reality is that the restoring of the bible into the hands of the common people was revolutionary. Josiah was this type of reformer, he sought the Lord after the discovery of the missing copies of the law and he acted upon Gods word- two basic principles that could apply to all of us. I want to note that historians sometimes make the mistake of discounting the ‘dark ages’ of the church, the term itself is misleading. There were many noble believers and movements that took place prior to the reformation period. The Christian mystics, the great thinkers like Anselm and Aquinas, the tremendous value that comes from reading the fathers of the church. The creeds and councils of this period. It is a wrong view to say that everything that was going on in Christianity prior to the reformation was darkness, there were some bright spots, but without a doubt putting the English bible into the hands of the common people would have reverberations that the world has yet to overcome.
(1289) 2ND KINGS 23:1-28 Josiah institutes the reforms that he learned when ‘re-reading’ the lost law of God. He tore down all remaining vestiges of the idolatrous high places. He reinstituted the Passover celebration and he dug up the bones of the false prophets and burned them on their own altars [ouch!]. A few things; in the New Covenant the Passover represents the new community life that we all share in Christ. In Corinthians Paul says ‘Christ our Passover was sacrificed for us’ and when he teaches the Lord’s supper he does it in a communal way, it’s not just a liturgical Mass type of a thing [or a Protestant time for grape juice servings!] but the Lords meal was more of a buffet type atmosphere and the idea was based on a community model. So I think one of the lessons we learn from the reforms of Josiah is God wants to restore ‘the communal Passover- meal’ or that God is challenging many current concepts of church and as we ‘re-read’ our New Testaments we are seeing the church [ecclesia] again ‘for the first time’. Number 2- it sure seemed a little drastic to have dug up the bones of the false priests and to have burned them on their altars! As we went thru this Kings study we covered the fact that Israel permitted certain wrong things to exist for various reasons. Many people eventually associated their worship of God with these idolatrous practices. These were good people who received these wrong ideas from previous ‘leaders’. Josiah fulfilled a prophecy given 300 years earlier that someday the bones of the false priests would be burned on their altars. To me this represents the need for believers in our day to be willing to look at some of the erroneous doctrines of past movements [remember, idolatry in the new Testament is covetousness, people who love and seek wealth!] and to realize that many of these un balanced teachings came from wrong things that were taught and accepted in the past. Things taught by good people, people who meant well, but wrong never the less. The ‘digging up of the bones’ represents the process of going back and doing a little history on some of these things and finally once and for all setting the record straight. All in all Josiah instituted more reform than any other king before him, he was the only king to restore the Passover, he had the courage to see things for the first time and to act in a righteous way before God. His reforms were great, but they came too late in Judah’s history to prevent final judgment, as a nation they dug themselves too deep of a hole and they were going to suffer for it whether they liked it or not. God is merciful, his mercies are new every morning, but when nations go down long paths of disrespecting human life; of mocking God and Christian principles [not right wing stuff!] then we can’t keep thinking that all will go well, that the recession will turn out just fine. No, there are many things not ‘just fine’, as an economy it is foolish to think that we can have 10.2 % unemployment and still have a jobless recovery. When the jobless rate is that high, and going up, then who are all the people that will be buying and spending and working and doing all the things that are part of a recovery? We are kidding ourselves when we think like this. Josiah did some good stuff, but the people needed to change course a long time ago, it was too late to avoid some national consequences.
(1290) YES, I DID IT AGAIN! I have a confession to make, yes I’m gonna come clean- last night I committed an act that I vow never to do again every time I engage in it- I channel surfed the religious stations. It’s not totally my fault, I woke up at around 12:20 and I am trying not to get up until at least 2-2:30. For a few years [yes years!] I was getting up every night and praying most of the night. After that time passed I stuck with getting up early, usually try to lay down till around 3, then the clocks went back an hour and I’m all messed up. So that’s why I channel surfed, I caught a few good teaching shows but then surfed and saw the ones that are so outrageous that the viewing public usually watches as a joke. One brother was quoting Zechariah [Old Testament book] and using a verse about a plumb line [measuring rod, line- a type of judgment and God bringing his people into alignment. I had a friend who wrote an entire book on these passages from Zechariah] and the brother was teaching how the plumb line represented a 7 fold return on money and church members and all types of stuff- I mean he was teaching stuff that when the true plumb line shows up, these are the things that need to be corrected by the plumb line! Then I surfed a few prosperity guys, and I finally settled on the Catholic station, they were doing a documentary on a catholic nun who started a ministry to the Italian immigrants coming to N.Y. and how she helped them and stuff. It was peaceful enough to leave on. So as I opened the bible to Matthew 13 to share some stuff, I saw the verse in chapter 12 ‘the men of Nineveh shall rise up in the judgment day with this generation [group] and shall condemn them, for they repented when Jonah preached and yet a greater than Jonah is here’ it seemed to fit. Okay this week I read some from Matthew 13, from the message bible, it really spoke to me. A few entries back I shared how I tore out the ignition from my classic 66 Mustang and had to get some parts, well I wound up ordering them on line and it took 2 days to figure out a minor detail, it’s sort of a trick you do to get the ignition cylinder to fit into the ignition switch- a secret locking pin and all, any way I thought ‘geez, I am spending too much time stuck at this place’. But when I wrote the entry I shared a little about going to auto parts stores and all, and then I read one of Jesus’ parables ‘the kingdom is like a general store owner, he knows how to get just the right part at the right time- either a new or old part’ I liked that. Sometimes we [leaders/pastors] go thru stages where we grasp hold of some ‘new part’ and we spend years stuck at that spot, it’s not so much that the part is bad, or wrong, but it’s just ‘a part’. You might go thru a stage where you find out biblical principles of finances, that’s fine- but don’t go and change the whole bible into a money manual! Or the house church movement. Good part, but people still need to grasp justification by faith and the other ‘old parts’. A good auto parts store will get you the right part, it doesn’t matter whether or not it’s the latest technology [any part for a 66 mustang is not new] what matters is for it to be the part that works for you- sometimes we need the old parts!
(1291) I LOVE THAT COW! 2ND KINGS 23:28-37 Pharaoh, king of Egypt, sets up one of the sons of Josiah as a puppet king and gives him a new name. The people pay taxes to this new king and to Pharaoh, but their dominator does not totally dismantle their self rule. I have mentioned this before; that one of the primary ways one kingdom would take over another was to allow them the freedom to run things on their own, but let them pay tribute to their new ‘world order’. In the New Testament you see the kingdom of God grow this way, Jesus and the disciples were making followers of the king. But they did not see this as a means to make people totally co-dependent to the point where they did everything for them. In modern church planting scenarios we see ‘church planting’ as setting up places where people will meet. Providing a regular weekly preaching service. The ‘church/corporate entity’ will meet the needs of the people and the people in turn will ‘pay tithes to the storehouse’ we really have a very limited idea of church planting. It would be more effective if we led people to this new kingdom of God, but didn’t make them so dependent on a particular system, let them grow and govern themselves under the reality of them being servants of the king, this style allows people to experience God in a greater way. Okay, as I have been reading some of the parables of Jesus from the message bible, the one on the treasure hidden in a field spoke to me. The message bible says the kingdom is like a person accidently stumbling across a buried treasure in a field, when he realizes what he’s got he sells everything else and buys the field. At the risk of being crude this reminds me of a joke from the King of Queens, Arthur [Jerry Stiller] is dating Doug’s aunt [Doug- Kevin James] and Doug doesn’t like it. And obviously they are sleeping together and all. So Arthur falls in love with the aunt and informs Doug that he is going to propose marriage to her; Doug is furious. Arthur tells Doug ‘I know you’re wondering why I want to buy the cow if I’m getting the milk for free, well I love that cow, that’s why!’ Arthur was willing to give up everything for ‘the cow’. In essence he wanted to commit to the new found treasure, in a way this is what happens to people when they find the kingdom, you don’t have to set up systems to make people loyal to the kingdom [modern concepts on church membership that have all sorts of ways of trying to instill loyalty into people] when people realize the true value of the kingdom they are willing to give up everything in their pursuit. They will continue to function in society, you don’t have to go build places for these people to meet, let them meet wherever they were meeting before they were brought to the kingdom [homes, etc.] Just do your best to present the kingdom to them in its truest form, let them see the true riches that come with the kingdom. Don’t worry about gaining their loyalty, once they see the treasure they will sell all for it.
(1292) I HAVE CREATED THE SMITH [blacksmith] THAT BLOWETH THE COALS IN THE FIRE AND BRINGS FORTH AN INSTRUMENT FOR HIS WORK, AND I HAVE CREATED THE WASTER TO DESTROY- Isaiah 54. God made the man who figured out if you get the steel hot enough you can shape it into a tool that will be effective. If God made the man who figured out this ingenious process, where do you think the man got the idea from? God will turn up the heat, so to speak, so he can re-shape some stuff in us. This last year I have tried to read up on some of the trends that go on in the world of Christianity. Sometimes I wonder if after all the great ideas, new ways of seeing things; lots of talk about the church needing to get back to social justice issues, all types of stuff I agree with, but at the end of the day I wonder how many of us are actually doing the stuff. Have we been duped into a system that enables articulators to have a forum, that produces a class of professional hearers of the articulators; but at the end of the day a great majority of us have not really been moved to act? Sort of like I can tell you how important it is to reach out to the poor and hurting, you might really belive me when I tell you this [in all sorts of ways- books, pulpit, etc.] but if all we have accomplished is to have come up with another subject to talk about, and for people to listen- then have we really accomplished anything? God wants ‘instruments’ for his work; tools that really function! It’s okay for the church to have great articulators and for people to have an attentive ear to hear- but it doesn’t stop there. After so much hearing and so much speaking, we then need some volunteers to get into the action! And this means more than just finding some ‘mission to the poor’ ministry that we can write a check to. I fear that the thing that’s lacking with most of us is the willingness to act, to get involved, to be the tool that actually works. Over the years I have bought tools that looked good, but were not well made. They might have been priced cheap, but they did not function well. Like buying the pens from the dollar store, what good is it if you got 50 pens for a dollar and none of them work? So in the kingdom God will often allow the heat to turn up because he wants to fashion some instruments that work, that do more than just speak or listen, but instruments that really get the job done. I have learned over the years that lots of people mean well, but if you want the job to get done you need people that don’t blame everything on others. People who are not professional victims, who find their whole identity in faulting others for their lot in life. I hired a guy to do a small job, to remove some wood from behind a rental house I owned years ago. It was maybe a 20 minute job, he had a truck. He was one of the guys I knew from working with addicts and ex-cons. I made the mistake of paying him the 25 dollars before the job was done. After a few weeks would pass I’d ask him ‘did you move the wood yet brother’? He would have some excuse why he didn’t do it. Finally I drove by the alley and saw the wood was gone. Great! I then found out that the renter got tired of the wood in the alley and hauled it off himself. We need people in the kingdom that act, that function and do what God tells them to do. We already have enough able articulators; enough people willing to buy the books and read about how the church should do more. We simply need some brothers who will actually move the wood.
(1293) 2ND KINGS 24- Babylon finally takes Judah captive, there is a specific sin mentioned in this chapter that said ‘God would not pardon’. It was the sin of King Manasseh and his introduction of the pagan rite of sacrificing babies at pagan altars. As I mentioned before, all sins can be forgiven by God, but there seems to be an inescapable national judgment on the sin of abortion. When nations willfully shed innocent blood on such a large scale, these nations cannot escape judgment. Around the year 605 BC Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, began taking people from Judah to Babylon. It was in this early group that the prophet Daniel and his 3 companions went. Then around 597 BC Jerusalem fell. All the nobles and influential people were taken captive, only the poor remained in the land. In a strange way ‘the meek would inherit the earth’. God’s principles are inescapable, often times we think that strength and influence come from wealth and nobility- we feel if we can attain some level of outward success then we can change the world. In Jesus’ kingdom the poor in spirit, the downtrodden, those who suffer ridicule and difficulty- these are the ones that ultimately inherit the promises. This week the president is on an Asian tour, he is trying hard to present a good picture to Japan and China; they are having doubts about lending us any more money. The political line that is given to the American citizen doesn’t cut it with these countries. They know full well that the money our nation is spending is way over the limit of being considered a low risk borrower. They basically don’t swallow the line that a country can initiate all these new programs and have them deficit neutral. So they are checking us out very closely, and if they don’t buy our debt like in the past, we really don’t have many choices. We can just print money, but that would make the problem worse. Israel’s final collapse was due to her national sin of shedding innocent blood, and her pride and arrogance. The ones who suffered the most were the well to do, the poor actually got blessed! They would inherit more under the judgment of God than they did when the nation was running well. I believe there is hope for our country, but I fear that the average American really does not see some of the major hurdles that we are facing, both on an economic and global scale. If we ignore the voice of those who are defending the rights of the unborn, we will suffer. If we continue to worship at the altar of wealth and success, God will ‘remove the wealthy’ from the land and exalt the humble [remove= slashing that 401 K!]. Right now some of the wealthy think all will go well- after all the Dow Jones just went up to 10,400! This indicator is not always what it seems. Sometimes stocks go up because they believe the fed will keep interest rates low, the reason the fed keeps them low is because all is not well yet. So sometimes these signs are not what people think. All in all there are some bright spots, I’m not saying all the signs are bad, but many are. God allowed his people to be judged by his Divine decree. Even in captivity there were still some noble stories to tell [Daniel and his friends]. But Psalms says as a nation the people hung up their harps, how could they sing the songs of Zion in a strange land?
(1294) EVERY ONE WHO IS THIRSTY, COME TO THE WATER AND BUY WITHOUT MONEY AND WITHOUT PRICE. HE THAT HAS NO MONEY, LET HIM BUY AND EAT FOR FREE! Isaiah 55:1 my own paraphrase. Last night I caught Larry King interviewing T.D. Jakes, I always liked brother Jakes. Larry did ask him about prosperity preachers and Jakes rejected being associated with the movement. He said his ‘good news’ was that Jesus rose from the dead- bravo for Jakes. King did say that Jakes was ‘selling God’ and Jakes did a rare mild rebuke, he flatly said he does not ‘sell God’. Many years ago I was a fan of the late Keith Green [still am]. I love Keith’s music and read his book and used to send money to his ministry in Lyndale Tx. Keith was one of the original Jesus movement brothers, though he was a musician he really saw what he was doing as ministry and you could tell he meant it. Keith struggled with whether or not he should sell his music, or just give it away. He read this verse from Isaiah and began offering his albums for free, something unheard of in the business. He would eventually settle on a policy of making his music available to those who couldn’t afford it. One time I went to a ministry site that I liked, I saw the on line teachings [audio] and thought ‘great, I’ll listen to a message’ after the first minute of listening, you were cut off and if you wanted to hear the rest you had to cough up money- what a shame on the gospel. Though I like brother Jakes, I have come to reject the entire media sensation type personality that comes with the territory of modern ministry. Many modern scenarios have huge budgets and often times ‘the ministry’ becomes a clearing house for the highly charismatic personality; millions are spent on broadcasting the personas of the talented leaders. The whole scene violates the New Testament concept of servant leaders and selfless living. If any of the churches in scripture were becoming platforms for one single personality in the group, this would be rebuked. Paul actually does rebuke this in Corinthians. So anyway Isaiah said let those who have no money come and buy and eat, we need to offer the gospel for free, we need to make Gods truth available for free. I realize that these concepts are often overlooked in today’s world, and people like Larry King sincerely view what we do as ‘selling God’ I think too often we are to blame for this perception. NOTE- If you go to U TUBE you can find a bunch of Keith Green stuff, if you never heard Keith I suggest you give it a shot.
(1295) FOR AS THE HEAVENS ARE HIGHER THAN THE EARTH, SO ARE MY THOUGHTS HIGHER THAN YOUR THOUGHTS; AND MY WAYS HIGHER THAN YOURS Isaiah 55:9 the other night I caught an interview of Frances Schaffer on the Rachel Maddow show. Frances is the son of the famous Frances Schaffer senior, the prolific author/speaker of the 20th century who dealt with Christian worldviews. He wrote Christian Manifesto and How shall we then live, among other titles. Frankie and his dad were key leaders in the rise of the religious right and the moral agenda type groups. Frankie eventually converted to Eastern Orthodoxy and is now a vehement opponent of the religious right. First I want to commend him on his conviction of not being willing to abandon Christianity all together; some children of famous Christian leaders have taken that route, but Frankie [he calls himself Frances now, but for this entry I’m using the old title] has chosen a great Christian tradition to place himself in and for this he should be commended. But he is so vehement against the religious right that he equates it with the Muslim extremists. Now I believe that there are dangerous ideas that the religious right holds to, and that there are extreme elements that shoot abortion doctors and stuff like that. But to lump all the religious right with the radical Muslims is going too far in my view. Just like it would be wrong to lump all Muslims with the few who commit acts of terror. There have been Muslim Americans who have died on the battlefield defending the American side, we should not forget this. But Frankie just tore into all the religious right in a way that does more harm than good in my view. One of the reasons his father was so popular was because he dealt with Christian worldview issues, he was filling a void in the Evangelical world. After the Fundamentalist movement of the 20th century many Protestant believers were lacking a stable diet of ‘higher learning’ [to be nice about it]. There was this religious angst against many types of higher learning. The history of Protestantism in America shows a period where many of the great Protestant theologians [Edwards, etc.] accepted the idea that the mind and faith went hand in hand, but Protestantism for the most part would walk away from this heritage and begin seeing higher forms of learning as bad. The one bright light in the migration from Europe to the Americas was the teaching of the Dutch Reformed theologian Abraham Kyper; he wrote extensively on the Christian worldview and gave Protestants a good foundation to build upon. Well anyway Frances Schaffer also labored in this field. Isaiah said Gods ways are on a higher plane than ours, we often think and function for years at a certain level, and then God comes in and causes us to rethink the whole platform. It’s not so much more information at the current level, but it’s an overall paradigm shift from a previous way of seeing things to a whole new view of things. The philosopher William James describes it like this- He has a study much like my own, with maps and globes and books all over the place. He says when his dog comes into his study the dog sees everything that James sees, but the dog has no ability to understand what these things mean. Even though he ‘sees’ the stuff, he really doesn’t ‘see it’. Sometimes God opens our eyes to the things we have been staring at for years, when this happens we then see more fully what it means when Isaiah says ‘Gods ways/thoughts are higher than ours’ it’s like seeing stuff again for the first time.
(1296) 2ND KINGS 25- The ultimate fall of the city takes place around 587-86 BC, the king of Babylon sets up a governor [Gedaliah] and this is how one nation would rule over another and bring her into submission. The governor tells the leaders who came back to settle in the land to not be afraid of serving under the new empire [Babylon]. But they will kill the governor and this act brings on the final destruction of the city of Jerusalem. Okay let’s do a few things, the other night I caught the Rachel Maddow show, they did a story on how some Christian company is selling ‘anti Obama’ stuff. Teddy Bears with words that say ‘pray for Obama’ and then the verse given is from Psalms ‘let another take his office’. This is a famous verse that the apostle Peter quotes in Acts when discussing the replacement for Judas. The show pointed out that the following verse says ‘let his children be fatherless and his wife a widow’. As I close our study in Kings I want to stress that all the teaching and ‘tongue and cheek’ stuff I do, that we need to clearly point out that talk about ‘assassination’ and one king killing another, we need to reject any real time scenarios that use this language when speaking of the president. I realize that the company that is using the verse obviously does not want to suggest the killing or death of the president. But there are unstable people in the world, both from Muslim and Christian extremes, as believers we need to discern between honest ideological differences and a flat out conspiracy type mindset. Now, has the president opened himself up to guys like Glenn Beck? Yes, when you have people working for you that say they respect General Mao, then yes the right wingers will play into this mindset and present you as some type of Manchurian candidate that has secretly risen to power to undermine the govt. These right wing ideas are obviously loony, yet there are a percentage of people that believe in them. The governor told the men ‘don’t fear serving under the new administration’ Judah was in trouble, they lost their freedom and the nation was in a bind, but to disagree with your president on real issues is different than instilling real fear in people, telling them that the president is a dangerous man. I disagree with the president on some political issues, I wrote an entry a while ago that said how the cash for clunkers program and the free 8 thousand dollars given to first time home buyers, how these things don’t really help the economy, they give an inflated view of the economy. Then yesterday I read how the economic numbers for October were worse than expected. Both home prices [actually new home starts] and used and new car prices actually went up and the sale of these items went down. Why? They blamed it on the free money programs and the fact that destroying all the used vehicles under the clunker program reduced the inventory of used vehicles and the prices went up. The new car prices rose because so many people took advantage of the programs that this created a shortage. The point is I have real disagreements with the president on some things, but don’t take these real differences and stoke the fires of conspiracy, people should not ‘be afraid’ to serve under the ‘new king’.
(1297) LET THE WICKED FORSAKE HIS WAY AND THE UNRIGHTEOUS MAN HIS THOUGHTS AND LET HIM RETURN UNTO THE LORD- Isaiah 55. Yesterday I took my daughter to the doctor and they admitted her into the hospital, she possibly has swine flu and a bladder problem. They won’t tell us if its swine flu because they say the treatment is the same for swine or regular, sounds fishy to me. Then the nurse tells me that the whole family should get checked. This is the second time in the last month that I’ve had to explain that I personally don’t have a doctor because I don’t have health ins. They seem surprised that a retired fire fighter does not have insurance, when I retired I asked the city how much it would cost to cover my family. They told me a figure that was equal to half of my check; there was no way I could do it [I do have insurance for my kids]. So sometimes I have to reject ‘my thoughts’ and simply return unto the Lord. The bible says ‘thou will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on him’ ‘I hate vain thoughts but thy law do I love’ meditating on God’s word like this does help, it’s good to read the bible like a book, but there are times for Christian meditation- focusing on specific scriptures and practicing a form of contemplative prayer. I hope my daughter gets home today but please keep her in your prayers. Thanks, John.
(1298) THEY ARE GREEDY DOGS WHICH CAN NEVER HAVE ENOUGH AND THEY ARE SHEPHERDS THAT CANNOT UNDERSTAND: THEY ALL LOOK TO THEIR OWN WAY, EVERY ONE FOR HIS GAIN… THEY SAY TOMORROW SHALL BE MUCH MORE ABUNDANT- Isaiah 56:11-12 In the mid 18th century we had what is commonly called ‘the industrial revolution’. In Europe there arose a new class of people that never existed before, these were the capitalists that were making lots of wealth and the laborer was drawn from an agrarian type lifestyle [country/hamlet living] into the strong industrial cities like London. These poor workers were thrust into a system of profit that consumed their days and surrounded them with a new atmosphere of industry/factory. The invention of the steam engine by James Watt was one of the catalysts of this new era. Men like William Booth [founder of the Salvation Army] would see the hopelessness of these Londoners and start a ministry to help them. Even in our day the effects of the industrial revolution still impact us, as a boy growing up I listened to Black Sabbath, Ozzy came from an area like this. Contrast his songs with Kiss and you can see the difference! There was an observer of this scene who would write a document and launch a revolution as a result of what he saw as the encroachment of capitalism on the common person- His name was Karl Marx, his document was called ‘the communist manifesto’. Many people resent the western mindset because of its seeming inability to never be satisfied with finally having enough, we are a consumerist nation. I caught a quick few minutes of religious channel surfing the other day and of course I heard the normal preaching on ‘this year is the year of more abundance than any other year’. Have we ever asked ourselves when we will have enough? Seriously Isaiah is pronouncing a judgment on ‘greedy dogs- those who are never satisfied’ one of the condemnations in Revelation is to believers who say ‘I am rich and increased with goods’ yet they were spiritually poor. Jesus challenged his followers on many occasions to forsake all to follow him. Now I am not advocating irresponsibility, but I am challenging our western mindset and our inability to say ‘that’s enough’. We preach a message that never seems to leave this option open; we create an insatiable desire within the church to live each day with an obsession to gain more. The bible condemns this attitude over and over again, yet we as westerners never seem to get it, if we ever want to truly have peaceful relationships with the rest of the world, then we will have to change our mindset in these areas. Many Muslim countries see our materialist arrogance and use this as an excuse to reject ‘the Jesus of the west’ [though he was technically from the east!] We as the people of God need to return to our own ‘manifesto’ [the gospels] and live them out in reality, if not there will always be a Marx waiting in the wings with his own.
(1299) Last night I had a rough night, couldn’t sleep and dealing with lots of stuff. I wasn’t sure what to read [Isaiah or start Galatians] and I felt the Lord leading me to read John 14. Right after I read it I put the Catholic station on and they were quoting from it. In John 14 Jesus tells his men that he is leaving them for a purpose, that in his Father’s house there are many mansions. If he doesn’t leave them they will never become what he wants. In the New Testament [and old] ‘house of God’ refers to Gods people, in the Old Testament you did have the temple, but when referring to ‘the house of David’ it speaks of community/dynasty- so the ‘house of God’ are the actual people groups that God is bringing into his kingdom. We corporately make up ‘the house of God’. Now Jesus is not telling the disciples ‘I am going to build a room for you in heaven, and when I come back I will take you to heaven’ he is saying something more along the lines of ‘I am leaving you to make room for you to learn to function and grow on your own, when I leave the Holy Spirit will come and indwell you- you will become the new habitation of God’. In essence ‘he goes to prepare a place for us’ is speaking more along the lines of us becoming this corporate dwelling place as opposed to building a room in heaven. And his ‘coming again to receive us unto himself’ in this context is speaking of the Holy Spirit (one just like unto himself) being sent back after Jesus leaves, so this Comforter will dwell in us- he ‘receives us unto himself’. Thru out this chapter Jesus is speaking on a higher level than what the guys are hearing ‘where I go you know and the way you know’ what! We don’t know where you are going and how can we know the way? The disciples seem to be saying ‘hold this ship up Jesus, we are feeling a little intimidated, you’ve been telling us that we will have what it takes when the rubber meets the road- we sense that you are ‘pushing us out of the nest’ and if we don’t fly we will crash!’ Jesus knew that his departure was needed for them to become this house of God, this great community of diverse people groups [many mansions]. The disciples would become recipients of the Spirit and sure enough everything Jesus told them would come to pass, but at the moment of trial/decision they felt inadequate- they weren’t really sure they were ready. I know I can identify with them, can you?
(1300) HE KNEW WHAT A SHAPE-SHIFTER WAS! Isaiah 57- This chapter contains a strong rebuke against God’s people for their ‘working knowledge’ of idolatry; the people were well taught in patterns and ways that were empty. I was watching an episode of Scare Tactics and they did a scenario where they had some oriental kid in a trailer out in the boonies and they set up a fake meteor crash. Part of the skit had the pranksters asking the kid ‘do you know what a shape-shifter is’ and to their surprise the kid answers yes! He then explains that shape shifters are humans who have the ability to transform themselves into animals; the kid knew the definition to the fake word! That’s funny. God rebuked his people for knowing wrong things, in Revelation one of the churches are commended because they were not familiar with the ways of satan. Over the years I have found it troubling that many young believers were taught things that were flat out wrong, it was plain to see that the interpretation of the scriptures that they were taught were wrong, and yet many of them clung to an obvious mistake. The problem was the teachers were continuing to propoagte a wrong view, even though they were told time and time again that the view was wrong. I am not talking sincere differences of belief, but blatant false stuff. In some ways we have trained God’s people to know and understand and believe definitions of stuff that do not exist! They know what shape shifters are for heavens’ sake! In this chapter God rebukes the people and also offers mercy. He says he will raise people up who will remove these stumbling stones, who will clear the way for God’s people and lead them back into paths of peace. When God’s people return to a trust and dependence on him once again, they will feel less troubled when the economy tanks. But when the people of God trust in material riches, they too feel a loss when the things they trusted in begin to fail. Jesus said ‘you believe in God, believe also in me- peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you. Not as the world giveth give I unto you, let not your heart be troubled neither let it be afraid’.
(1301) THEY CRASHED THE PARTY FOR HEAVENS SAKE! Last night on the news the big story was how some couple managed to crash the president’s party at the White House. They showed this reality couple posing with Biden for pictures and all, the good looking woman dressed in a flashy red dress, hugging Biden and all- to be honest Biden looked a little too happy about posing with the woman. As I am watching all the speculation on how they snuck in, and they keep showing all the shots of them with various officials [Rahm Emanuel] I wanted to give this poor team the benefit of the doubt, thinking ‘hey, they know what they are doing’ but then this image in my mind of the Keystone Cops kept creeping up. I don’t totally blame the president for these types of things, but can you imagine the outrage that would have been expressed if Bush and his team allowed such a stunt to happen? SNL just spoofed the president on his Asian tour, they did a skit that had Biden sitting in the Oval office and musing [or gaffing!] about stuff, they spoofed how Obama would sign any stack of papers that simply had the words ‘health care’ written on top. And most observers believe that China ‘managed’ the president in a way that no other foreign leader would have allowed, they managed to get their points across while making the president look weak. All in all it’s been a rough few weeks. Jesus said the kingdom was like a big wedding feast where all these people were invited, but someone snuck in without an invitation [the proper wedding garment] and they were confronted and tossed out! In our pluralistic society we don’t want to allow for the fact that some ‘get tossed out’ or that there is a requirement to gain entry, his name is Jesus. Hey, don’t get caught at the party without the proper credentials, it could get you [and Biden] in trouble.
(1302) Isaiah 58- This is one of the chapters that I quote from a lot when praying. God rebukes his people because they were fasting and practicing religious functions but were neglecting the ‘weightier matters of the law’. They forgot about the poor, doing justice and showing mercy, the same themes you hear in Jesus teaching. But God does say if his people will return to acts of charity, to lifestyles of humility and not trying to ‘get their voices to be heard’ [seeking fame and promotion] then he will exalt them, he will allow their ‘light to rise in obscurity’ [great influence with little personal fanfare and glorying over men]. We will be like ‘a well watered garden and a spring of water whose waters fail not’ God will cause us to ‘ride upon the high places of the earth’ [positions of influence]. This chapter is a great chapter, but it comes with some strong correction- if we heed the warnings the blessings will follow, but sometimes we keep looking for the blessing and never receive the correction, this my friends will never work.
(1303) A few hours ago I caught a prophetic conference on TV, I wasn’t too sure if I was going to watch it but the brother opened up with talking about ‘high ways’ from Isaiah. This past week that has been a theme I have been focusing on. ‘Prepare a high way in the desert for our God’ ‘my ways are higher than yours’ ‘I will cause you to ride upon the high places of the earth’ Isaiah. Here in my office I have old model battleships and WW2 planes and stuff; in my yard I have signs that say ‘N.Y. C.C. port’ ports, waterways and highways are all familiar themes. The brother was also sharing about battleships, so the themes seemed to fit. So I get up to pour a cup of coffee, as I turn the light on there is this book sitting on my kitchen table, never saw it before- don’t know who brought it home. As I read the title it’s simply a dictionary on interpreting dreams, I was thinking ‘who brought this new age book into my home’ I open it up and the first word I see is ‘Port Authority’ the definition is having authority in new places/highways/ports, you can’t make stuff up like this [there are Christian books on dreams and also non Christian ones, sometimes the definitions are the same- I do not advocate looking for signs in non Christian books]. Well anyway in Isaiah 59 the Lord rebukes his people for believing and trusting in lies, things they know are not true. Sometimes people convince themselves of their own lies. I hate to harp on this but I want to be clear that as of today [11-09] I believe that many people simply do not fully grasp the major economic troubles that face us. The government is talking about another stimulus and I read the statement from a Ca. Democrat, she was incensed ‘we need to do something about jobs’! Well we all know that, and you agreed with others that you would not spend the trillion dollar stimulus on real jobs growth, sure it was an honest difference of opinion between a conservative versus liberal economic model- but you chose the liberal model [spend most of it on federal spending and programs] and you got the result. How you can now be mad about not having jobs is beyond me! But people believe ‘in lies’ that is they make choices that have certain real effects and they still believe their choices were right- even in the face of the truth on the ground. As we close 2009 I foresee a bad year for 2010, as well as the next 5-10 years. Now I’m not saying the world will collapse, but there are long term decisions our country has made and we are not going to escape by trying to manipulate the value of the dollar or by the fed acting in cooperation with the White House. We have run up very unrealistic debt, we are trying to pass some stuff that all honest economists know will cost lots of money, and the global markets are very worried about the possible collapse of our dollar. Some serious people are seeing this. But as a nation we have a tendency to ‘believe in lies’ not mean people who are partisans, just we reject the reality of the fiscal situation, we think we can simply survive by doing ‘jobs summits’ and extending unemployment insurance. This is not going to work, never has- never will. Now, the Christians who have ‘built upon a solid foundation’ will survive and even thrive thru these times, but many churches/ministries who depend upon million dollar budgets and high income will suffer. When underground churches in China function without owning property, paying salaries and having no ‘corporate identity’ these churches thrive during times like this, they are not dependant on needing lots of money to operate, they simply function like the churches in the bible. So we need to be clear about how we are building our churches/ministries, we need to be able to have a witness to society that we as Gods people survive because we don’t put our trust in the economies of men. And this does not always mean that our bank accounts won’t suffer, just ask any Christian 401 k holder! But it means that God’s people value their membership in Christ’s body and they will help one another out when in need. I don’t want to be an alarmist but I believe we are in denial, I read an article on ‘the jobs are coming back’ [something to that effect] the article said the number of those filing for unemployment was ONLY 400 thousand, a drop from the previous week of 450,000. Are we kidding ourselves or what? I have never seen the media speak about growing jobs and how many thousands were saved by the stimulus, if since January we have lost 3.5 million jobs, that means we have not ‘created/saved’ jobs, it’s that simple. But we want to ‘believe in lies’ we want to tell ourselves we can build an economy on free handouts without helping private business. Sure taxing millionaires sounds great, but most of these ‘evil millionaires’ are small businesses who file as individuals, you can’t consistently do the actual things that kill jobs and then say ‘lets have a jobs summit’ okay I don’t want to rant too much, we as the people of God live by different standards than the world [I try!] and we will not be immune to the economic difficulties that lie ahead, but our response and trust in the Lord will be a witness to those in need. Our willingness to help our neighbor, free of charge, will be a sign of the gospel to them. All in all we are going to have some great opportunities in the next few years, let’s just stop believing in lies.
(1304) ARE WE REALLY IN THE 2ND GRADE BUT JUST DON’T KNOW IT YET? As I was praying this morning I was thinking about the various ministers and testimonies I have heard over the years, many have spoken on/experienced a process where they went from ‘church/ministry’ as being some type of business enterprise, to transitioning and seeing themselves as humble servants in Gods kingdom. Both hearing and seeing these types of stories would make me wonder if there was an entire ‘body of people’ who have gone thru the ‘childhood stage’ and have learned the next stage of true discipleship. Are these people willingly withdrawing their images from the public forums? Are there whole groups of them who have been chastened over former ‘fame/glory’ seeking and now realize that they were really in the 2nd grade- doing things and acting out of the excitement of being entrepreneurs, versus true kingdom building? Are many of these believers possibly the ones that we have looked at thru out our lives and tagged them as ‘lost traditionalists’? Jesus gave examples of the kingdom often being something that we don’t see at the beginning, we are looking for ‘outward signs’ and it’s coming another way. I remember hearing a very gifted prophetic brother sharing some stuff along these lines, how he felt the Lord telling him that those who would reject fame and the lime light would be the ones God was going to use in a great way. Over the years I tried to Google him, find his web site- anything about his ministry and what he was up to! I found nothing, I then began to wonder if he actually implemented what he felt God was saying, that he left the entire atmosphere of ‘rubbing shoulders’ with the movers and shakers and actually began living his life without the fame and recognition of professional ministry. Every day we drive past schools full of children, great kids- but children. Many of them have dreams about life, all good goals and all. But as we see them we realize that at one time we ‘were them’ and they still have a long way to go and much to learn. We don’t despise their ‘childishness’ but the reality is the grownups all know they are children. I fear there might be a ‘secret group’ of grownups that see all the ‘children’ running around at the playground, trying to outdo their fellow playmates. Needing lots of attention, wanting to impress their peers. And I fear that there is another group, those who have ‘grown up’ and these don’t really despise the younger ones, they have simply learned it was time for them to grow up.
(1305) I’M USING YOU FOR THEIR SAKE, NOT YOUR’S! Isaiah 59:21 says ‘this is my covenant WITH THEM’. I have been quoting the last part of this verse for years, I am sure I have said it in prayer at least 10 thousand times over my life- ‘ the words that I have put in your mouth shall not depart out of your mouth from this time forth and forevermore’ God says your ‘seed’ [offspring] and your seeds seed will quote and teach them. Good promise for church planters—but when I recently read it I felt like the lord was saying ‘leader/pastor- listen up- I am going to consistently use you and speak thru you, not out of some favor to you, but as a promise TO THEM!’ In Isaiah God says ‘I will give him as a covenant to the people’ [Jesus]. God takes people and uses them to fulfill his promises to nations/people groups. He has covenanted with these people groups, made promises to them that he would teach them and show them things that they never saw before. The Message bible says when Jesus preached in his hometown, the people said ‘we knew he was a preacher, but we didn’t know he was this good’! God promised that the people who sat in darkness would see great light. That kings/leaders would ‘shut their mouths’ because they were learning things that they never saw before. Jesus told his men ‘many people wished they were seeing the things that you are seeing/hearing, yet they never had the chance’ [Message bible again] God used Jesus to reveal truths that were hidden from the foundation of the world, he promised this to the people. When God uses leaders/prophetic people to reveal things that were previously hidden, he is doing this out of faithfulness to the people. He is keeping his promise to the people, he has made a covenant with them and God does not break his promise.
(1306) DARKNESS SHALL COVER THE EARTH AND GROSS DARKNESS THE PEOPLE… BUT GODS GLORY SHALL BE UPON US AND THE GENTILES SHALL SEE THIS LIGHT/HOPE AND BE DRAWN TO US- Isaiah 60:1-3 Tonight the president will give a speech at West Point and tell the nation that we will be sending another 30 thousand troops to Afghanistan, pretty serious stuff. But the news media has been stuck on another story, the couple who crashed the White House party the other night. Oh how they have mused about the fact that even though they passed thru metal detectors, they still could have hurt the president. Some have espoused that they could have picked up a fork and gouged his eyes out- others said they could have spiked his drink with Anthrax; the theory I found the most amusing was they might have been trained in Martial Arts and could have had the purely human ability to kill or mame the leader of the free world. Sort of like if the woman with the red dress was a black belt that somehow this would have enabled her to decapitate the president with her bare hands! Like what Will Farrell did in the highly acclaimed movie ‘Glory Blades’ the plot was Farrell was banned from the Olympics but they found a glitch in the system- he could get in as this top ice skater if he registered under the couples rule. So he and his partner [Napoleon Dynamite] get on the team. One problem, the famous move that they need to perform has been tried in the past by their coach- as they show the clip of what happened in slow motion, the skater does this move where as he jumps in the air and flips he accidently decapitates his partner! So you can see the serious dilemma that the movie engages in. I just thought it too funny for the media to have spent so much time on this story. Isaiah said ‘gross darkness’ shall cover the people, they would be consumed with stuff that has absolutely no value [like watching Glory Blades] but that the people of God would be this worldwide community of people who had purpose and hope in the midst of a fallen world. Yes the world system will get worse, but the kingdom of God and its witness in the nations will grow brighter. As the world obsesses about whether or not the woman in the red dress might have been some secret mixed martial arts expert [Royce Gracy in drag?] we have true things of value to share, hope and light and peace; as the Christmas season is upon us let’s do our best to share it.
(1307) CHRISTMAS- being I mentioned Christmas the other day, let’s talk a little. First, does the bible give us [in the New Testament] any special memorials to celebrate? Yes, the New Testament teaches us that when believers celebrate the Lords supper that we ‘show the Lords death’ until he comes back. This is the only explicit memorial given to New Testament believers. Does this mean it’s wrong to celebrate other days? Not really. The early church, contrary to popular opinion, did celebrate ‘Christmas’ before the days of Constantine in the 4th century. They celebrated Christ’s ‘birthday’ on January 6th. But they also celebrated ‘Easter’ as well, and Easter played a more significant role in the church. But in the 4th century the church was grappling with different issues, one of the main ones was the nature of Christ [Christology] some questioned his true humanity. So as a result the celebration of the Incarnation [Jesus being born and taking on real human flesh] took on special importance, the church wanted to stress the ‘birthday’ of Jesus as a theological event. Now the story of Constantine and his conversion to Christianity is famous and many different groups see it in different ways. Many see him as the enemy of true Christianity and as a Roman Emperor who paganized the church. Many associate Catholic Christianity as the false religion set up by Constantine in the 4th century- I do not hold to this view myself. But the fact is that Constantine did legalize Christianity and he did ‘change’ the celebration of Christmas day from January 6 to December 25. Everyone knew that 12-25 was the official pagan holiday of a pagan god. Rome had Sun worship going on and December 25th was a pagan celebration day. So why did the church allow for the change? In reality Constantine was trying to bring a degree of stability to his empire and the fact was that many of his citizens [and soldiers] did practice the pagan holiday of 12-25. So as a compromise move, with the churches new found emphasis on the humanity of Christ [new found in that they willingly wanted to emphasize Christ’s birth in a greater way because of the theological controversies going on] they changed 12-25 into the celebration of Christ’s birth. It really was not some type of secret pagan takeover of Christianity. It was more along the lines of how in our day many believers celebrate ‘Halloween’ by calling it ‘fall festival’ and simply are redeeming the season for God. If in a thousand years Christians are all celebrating ‘fall festival’ instead of Halloween, I think that would be a good thing. But if you went back and found out that it started as a pagan thing, then would you consider all the ‘fall festival’ folks as pagan? So that’s the dilemma. Many serious minded believers do not celebrate Christmas and that’s fine, the scriptures don’t mandate it. But many serious believers do, I think it’s wrong to simply make the connection of the pagan roots of the day and to see this as a reason to reject it. Like I just showed you, you can look at it in a way that sees it as the church ‘taking over’ the pagan day and redeeming it back unto God.
(1308) I caught an interview last night of an Indian author who wrote a book, the title is ‘truth and transformation’ it deals with how India and much of the Eastern world has a great degree of economic dishonesty and hiding of money from the govt. and so forth. But that the Western world has less of this dishonesty going on in a large scale. It was interesting to hear the point of view that because the west still had a degree of Christian morality that this had a lasting effect on society. You rarely hear this view from Easterners. But the brother warned how we are fast approaching the rest of the world in the area of economic/corporate corruption. Any way he mentioned how in the book of Revelation the church is described as ‘a city’- the city that comes down from God out of heaven. I always liked this imagery, in Isaiah we read how this city of God has it gates open ‘day and night’ that there is never a moment where life and transactions are not happening. How can this be? Recently as I have been praying over stuff, and also have posted various requests on the blog I realized that we have people praying and reading and ‘partaking’ of the stuff we are doing, this happens on a 24 hour basis because we have friends from around the world who are connected to us. So Gods ‘city’ is one that consists of believers the world over. There are Christians ‘in church’ 24-7, you don’t have to start a 24 hour prayer service to accomplish this, God has done it by having a worldwide community of people who he describes as ‘my House of Prayer’. This house/temple is open all the time, Isaiah also says that the city will have ‘no walls’ because of its great size, the multitude of men and cattle within is so large that it doesn’t need to wall herself off from society! As a matter of fact a river flows from this temple to the nations and all the kings of the earth will bring their glory and riches into her. I like the city imagery a lot, Revelation says this city has no need for a sun or moon, because the Lamb is the light of the city. No need for a temple either, we are the temple! [as well as Jesus, we as his Body join with him in the temple imagery] When reading scripture it’s important to see things thru a correct lens. I am half way thru the book by Carl Olson ‘will Catholics be left behind’. Carl is an ex Fundamentalist who converted to Catholicism and he gives an excellent overview of the history of Eschatology [end time stuff] much of my teaching agrees with Carl’s view. But reading thru it reminds me of some of the silly views that people hold about end time things, how some see the city ‘coming down from God out of heaven’ as an actual physical city that will be suspended above the earth during the Millennium and that believers will be living in ‘the sky’ while having access to the planet and interacting with Millennium citizens. Silly stuff, the city is called ‘the bride, the Lambs wife’ it’s quite obvious that John is using prophetic imagery to describe the church. But this is a problem among certain Fundamentalists and this view is quite popular in our day. When we grasp the ‘better’ view of these things then we can apply them in practical ways that effect society in a positive way- Gods people/city being open/available for light and help and mercy to all the ‘kings/nations of the earth’ Jesus who is our light can also enlighten the nations who are willing to hear. Stuff like this is helpful, while also recognizing that there are real/literal things that Revelation deals with, like the 2nd coming and resurrection and final judgment. Well anyway we are all part of this 24-7 community that has things happening all the time, we belong to a great worldwide church, the city of God, let’s let our light shine to the nations as much as possible.
(1309) Got up early today, around 1:30, I usually try and lay down until around 2:30, but this morning I felt like the Lord was saying ‘no, today you need to start early’. So as I went outside to pray it was barely drizzling, but it’s really cold. I do pray in the rain often, but when it’s cold I adjust my prayer schedule. Right when I was wrapping up the prayer time at around 4 it started raining, I’m glad I started early. This morning I read ‘your people shall all be made righteous, they shall inherit the land forever, the branch of my planting the work of my hands’ Isaiah 60:21. I felt like the Lord was saying to leaders/pastors ‘these people are my work, my planting. When I made Adam I put him in the garden that I created. He had responsibilities to take care of it and be a faithful steward over it; but it was my garden, not his’. We often worry about ‘the garden’ [the work/people that God has called us to] but the lord says they are his people, his ‘branch’ the work of his hands and he simply allows us to enjoy the field/garden with him. Paul told the Corinthians that they were God’s field, that some water and others plant but God alone makes it grow. Jesus said the kingdom was like a man who planted some seed and when he ‘slept’ God made it grow. ‘What, you mean I was sleeping when the thing was really productive’? Yes, humbling isn’t it. Isaiah said ‘I was in difficulty, oppression, going back and forth and then I said “ who are all these children that I have born, where did they come from?’” sort of like when you are at a stage in life where you can’t micro manage the thing, God says ‘there we go, now I can do a thing thru you that you can’t take credit for’. God said the people would ‘all be righteous’ that the garden was his responsibility and he simply put ‘you in the garden’ sometimes your most productive seasons are when you’re sleeping! [when your hands are off the thing].
(1310) In Isaiah 61 the chapter starts with the famous scripture speaking about the Spirit being on Jesus to preach and proclaim to the people. At the end of the chapter Isaiah says ‘as the earth brings forth the plant/bud, and the garden causes the things that are planted in it to grow, so the Lord will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before the nations’. In the earlier verses it also said ‘they will be trees of righteousness’. Those who were in mourning, those who were oppressed and suffering, they are the ones who are given beauty for ashes and the spirit of praise and joy in return for the garment of heaviness. Jesus said ‘blessed are they that mourn/suffer’ these things are the currency of the Kingdom; you can trade them in and ‘buy’ the true riches. Notice also how the earth/garden causes the things that are planted in it to spring forth; as Protestants many times we emphasize the importance of the ‘preached word’ sort of like the art/profession of preaching is the vital thing. To be sure it is important [how can they believe unless one is sent- Romans, as well as the first verses of this chapter] but the chapter closes with the ‘ability’ of the garden itself to bud, to cause the things that were preached/sown to become reality. The field/garden is more important than we think [that is the people groups are the ones causing the things taught/preached to be fleshed out, in reality we can’t just ‘preach’ and be successful anywhere, sort of like the gift/talent itself is the important thing. In these verses the important thing is the garden/earth]. So for all of our leaders/pastors, your role is important, but God is the one cultivating and taking care of the garden [John 15]. You [me!] are expendable, God is the one who is going to make the praise spring up before all nations- we either partake of it or not [woe is me if I preach not the gospel- Paul] but the praise is going to come!
(1311) FOR YOUR SHAME YE SHALL HAVE DOUBLE [PORTION/BLESSING] AND FOR YOUR CONFUSION THEY SHALL REJOICE IN THEIR PORTION, THEY TOO WILL HAVE A DOUBLE PORTION IN THEIR LAND – Isaiah 61:7 In the book of Acts Peter says God has highly exalted Jesus and he has received the promise of the father [Spirit] and because of this he has poured out ‘this which you see and hear’. I like that, God gave 2 types of testimonies; things you see and things you hear. That spoke to me because I do both radio [hear] and blog [see]. I was watching a prophecy brother the other day, he’s a good man, comes from the strong Dispensational school. As he was reading the declaration of the angel in the book of Luke- that Jesus will sit on the throne of his father David, the wife said ‘gee, I never saw that before, Jesus has never yet sat on David’s throne’. And the husband said ‘see, your theological training is kicking in’. If you actually read all of Peter’s sermons in the book of Acts, you will see that the apostolic witness sees Jesus as presently ruling on the throne from the exalted right hand of God. They do not see an idea that the promise from the angel about Jesus has yet to be fulfilled. I am familiar with the distinctions that dispensationalist’s make, I just think they go too far in postponing the ‘actual/literal’ rule of Jesus to some future date. The apostle’s language includes the fulfillment of the Davidic rule with the present ruling position of Jesus at Gods right hand. I do not totally discount the reality that at the Second Coming there will be literal future aspects to that rule, but scripture already ‘sees’ Jesus ruling in Gods kingdom. Well anyway Jesus received this high position because of the shame and confusion [agony] he went thru. He now has the right to pour out things both ‘seen and heard’. He poured out the promise of the Father on his people and they became this great kingdom of Priests and Kings unto God and his father [Revelation and Isaiah]. In this present kingdom we overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony. Jesus is the Lamb as it were slain sitting on the throne- he’s not waiting for some future date to receive the throne, he’s already there!
(1312) THE INCARNATION- The most influential philosopher on Western thought is probably the philosopher Immanuel Kant. Kant wrote the influential work ‘In critique of pure reason’ at the close of the 18th century in response to the pure rationalists [David Hume] of the Enlightenment. Kant read Hume’s works and was said to have been ‘aroused out of his dogmatic slumber’ and dispatched his response. Kant espoused that you had the physical and metaphysical worlds, and the 2 are completely separate. He refuted the argument for God made by the apologists and said it was impossible for man to ‘know God’ thru rational/physical means. Kant did not totally reject ‘the idea’ of God; he simply said the efforts of the Christian philosophers to prove God were futile. Was Kant right? Yes and no. In the 13th century you had another great Christian thinker by the name of Thomas Aquinas, Thomas is considered one of the greatest [if not greatest] thinkers of the Catholic tradition, Thomas wrote extensively and re-introduced the Greek philosophers back into Christian theology. Sometimes referred to as ‘Aristotelianism’ [Aristotle]. Thomas taught that it was possible to obtain true knowledge of the existence of God from the natural world, but that to have particular revelation from God you needed the church and tradition [revelation]. Some feel that Thomas was teaching a ‘secular/sacred’ division that hurt the work of the church. But if you read Aquinas in the context of his time he really was not doing this. Thomas ‘rescued’ apologetics [proof for God] from the philosophers of Islam who were teaching that you could have 2 types of truth- religious and scientific. They taught that religious truth could ‘be true’ by faith, but that it could be false by science, and vice versa. Thomas was refuting this idea and was showing us that real truth, whether from the natural sciences or from ‘revelation’ never contradict, it’s just science can only go so far in arguing for the existence of God. But the influence of Immanuel Kant on western thinking has many believing that God and ‘religion’ are okay things for people to believe, but that ‘real truth’ is found in the natural sciences and God is excluded from this ‘secular’ realm. This is a false view. God can be ‘proved’ by studying the natural sciences, like Aquinas said. Now this doesn’t get you all the way to the God of Christian theology, but it can take you up to the point where God’s existence is proven to be reality. The main point is it is wrong to think Christianity is relegated to the realm of faith while ‘real truth’ is in the realm of science. The Incarnation was God’s divine act of breaking into the physical world thru the birth of his Son. God became man and dwelt among us, you can study all the history of the time and find many historical proofs of the reality of Jesus and the fact that he died and rose again, these ‘truths’ are not only religious in nature, they are factual in history. So while I appreciate the work that Kant put into his book, I will stick with the other ‘Immanuel’ the God who is with us.
(1313) GOD WANTS TO MARRY YOU! Isaiah 62- This chapter uses a lot of marriage imagery, the bridegroom rejoicing over his new bride and ‘all your sons being joined to you’. In the New Testament Jesus himself uses this imagery when speaking about Gods people and the relationship God had with Israel. Now, it’s important to see that the New Testament [especially Paul] uses the imagery of the bride and bridegroom when speaking of the church; Paul will teach that both Jew and Gentile are making up this bride that the Lord ‘is married to’. Some dispensationalists [end time beliefs] make a distinction between the language used concerning Israel [Gods wife] and the language used concerning the church [bride] but if you see the mystery that Paul is speaking about you see that the fulfillment of this bride [both Jew and Gentile] being joined unto Jesus includes both people groups. What I’m saying is the New Testament teaches us that all these Old Testament promises of God rejoicing over his bride are being fulfilled thru the ‘eternal purpose’ spoken of by Paul in the letter to the Ephesians. God has his bride! This chapter also speaks of the sons coming to this new land [the church-people of God] and being joined to her as a bridegroom is joined to his bride. Recently I have had some good brothers express a desire to ‘join up-team up-partner with us’ in some way thru the ‘ministry’. These are Pastors from Pakistan and are doing a great work reaching out to Muslims. They are doing a very dangerous work, pray for them [they just got out of jail; they were thrown in jail for preaching the gospel]. Anyway somehow they found this site and really like it, that’s great. But I gave them the same response that I give to everybody who contacts us with the well meaning intent to ‘join up’ with us; I simply told them that there is nothing to join, no money to ‘partner up with us’ we are simply a voluntary group of Christ followers who are trying to spread the kingdom by doing what the Lord tells us. In essence if you are blessed by the teachings, just do your best to follow our example and let the work grow on its own, no need for me to come and preach, take offerings, or anything along those lines- just take the word of God and run with it! The point is sometimes ‘our friends/sons’ [those we are reaching out to] are so excited about the stuff they are learning that they want to be joined to us. It’s our job [and yours] to lead them in a way that they are joined to Christ and find their identity in him. God promised his people that he would ‘marry them’ Jesus spoke about the great marriage supper of the Lamb. These are intimate images; Paul said this was a great mystery when speaking of marriage and how it was a sign of our union with Christ [Ephesians] we need to remind ourselves that we are joined unto the Lord- not to men and their well meaning organizations.
(1314) IN DEFENSE OF THE HOMELAND- As a young boy growing up in New Jersey I had the privilege of having many different ethnic friends, but at times I found it difficult to defend the homeland [Italy]. I mean the Brits could appeal to the heroism of a Churchill, the Russians could even have their Rommel, but I was caught between a rock and a hard place. Sure I could resort to ‘what about that El Duce’ but I was grasping at straws man! This week Italy has been in the headlines, they convicted an American exchange student [Amanda Knox] on murder and she got 23 years in prison. As I listened to the news media berate the Italian judicial system I realized that they weren’t upset about the high probability of the girls guilt, they were upset that the standards of the American system of justice were not applied. The case involved 4 students who were involved in some type of sex game and one of the girls did not want to do it. So one of the boys killed her. After the initial arrest Amanda Knox admitted to being there at the time, she told the prosecutor and police that she was there. But after a while she claimed it was a false confession and the Italian courts actually threw out her first confession on the grounds that she wasn’t properly represented at the time. The jury convicted her based on the high probability that she was there and she was seen as an accomplice. The person who murdered the girl confessed and it seems like a very sad case all around. But the American media portrayed it as an unjust conviction, even though common sense seemed to be part of the jury’s verdict. They did not claim she killed the girl, just that she was present. I remember a case a few years back where a neighbor was being tried for the kidnapping and murder of a little girl. During the trial at one point the defendant was in negotiations with the prosecutor about getting a lighter sentence if he showed them where the girl’s body was. These were private discussions that the jury was not aware of. Instead the body was found and the deal was off. The trial proceeded and the defense dragged the history of the parents into the case, they were swingers and the defense tried to say that one of the swingers could have done it. The problem with this type of justice is everyone behind the scenes knew for a fact that the man raped and murdered this little innocent girl, but according to our rules it would be ‘unjust’ to tell the jury. In Isaiah 63 the prophet says the Lord looked down and realized that no one was standing up for justice, so the Lord himself rode thru and set things in order. He used ‘the right hand of Moses’ and delivered the people. He put on Salvation and took care of some things. Over the years I have seen how it is so easy for the people of God to allow for wrong stuff to take place over long periods of time, things that everyone knows in their heart are wrong. But we become desensitized, we believe in the fair market and if religious TV networks continue to pump out blatantly false stuff, so what- it’s a free world. But yet Gods standards are different than ours, even if society as a whole has accepted lower standards, it’s still wrong to do/teach false stuff year after year after year without ever truly dealing with the stuff. The American church has infected the world with these materialistic teachings to the point where we have whole nations being sidetracked thru these networks and quite frankly the network leaders couldn’t ‘give a rip’. God got tired of the inability of his people to deal with stuff, the mindset that says ‘even though we all know he molested the girl’ yet our view of justice is it’s all right to legally allow for the defense to try and convince the jury that the parents friends did it, even though the judge and prosecutor and defense all know it’s a big game! God looked down and said ‘enough’ I am going to bring some things into alignment that have been crooked for too long. God is merciful, but when we refuse to honestly deal with stuff, he will step in.
(1315) NATIONAL HEALTH CARE- As of today [12-11-09] it looks like health reform might pass, but it’s not certain. The CBO [congressional budget office] is ‘scoring’ the bill and they need to see how much it will cost. I can’t imagine it being deficit neutral, it is going to extend Medicare to millions of more people between the ages of 55-64, I personally need it but I don’t know if it will fly [I’m 47 now]. Let’s talk honestly about the country and the president. As of today the country is more polarized than it has been in a long time. How is the president doing? The president is a good man that has absolutely no experience in the business world. Many democrats [Bill Clinton] felt that the nomination of a first term Illinois senator with as little experience as Obama was- quote ‘a joke’. When he said this he was not demeaning his race [I hope!] but was speaking political reality. Most of the people who the president has surrounded himself with are academics and well meaning ideologues who also have no real world business experience. I am not saying they are wicked people, it’s just they come from this background. So the fact is the president has not done a ‘good job’ up to this point- sure the republican obstructionism doesn’t help, but the man is really learning on the job. Then why did the nation elect the man? Much of it had to do with a national guilty conscience of racist sins of the past, many felt it was time for the nation to do ‘penance’ and this was how it would be accomplished. Those who expressed real concerns about nominating [and electing] the most inexperienced person in the history of the country were tagged as racists, yes this is a fact. So today we have to pray for the man and his family, we recognize that he did inherit many fiscal problems when elected, but it does absolutely no good for the democrats to continually harp on this. I mean some news shows [MSNBC] act like the campaign is still on, they can’t get enough of Sarah Palin and Dick Cheney- please give it a break for heaven’s sake! Palin wrote her book and the AP [associated press] had 11 reporters assigned to the book to go thru it with a fine tooth comb looking for discrepancies. The president has written 2 books, the AP had no reporters looking for discrepancies. The media [both right and left] does an extreme disservice to the country when they play these types of games. So the reality is we need to support as much as possible our president, when we have real disagreements then we need to speak out [like abortion funding in the health bill] but also understand that the basic premise of insuring all Americans is a noble, yes even Christian principle. That is to try and help as many people as you can. There are many Americans who have lost their jobs and have no insurance and yes they can still access the health system but many of them have gone into bankruptcy and lost their homes and been left on the street, so to do nothing about this is wrong. So there are real problems that need to be dealt with and there are sincere differences of opinion on how to accomplish these goals. Republicans have some ideas as well as democrats, we should try and pull together and come up with a solution, to simply want the thing to fail for political purposes is wrong, and to brand the opposing side as racists is wrong too.
(1316) I LIKE FREE STUFF! ‘FOR SINCE THE BEGINNING OF TIME MEN HAVE NOT HEARD, NOR PERCIEVED BY THE EAR, NIETHER HATH THE EYE SEEN, O GOD, BESIDE THEE, WHAT HE HATH PREPARED FOR HIM THAT WAITETH FOR HIM’- Isaiah 64:4 Last night I caught a story on the news, it showed how terrorists were using an ingenious way to communicate; instead of sending electronic emails thru the internet, they would share a common email account and paste their messages to the saved drafts, then the other guy would simply read the drafts. The FBI/CIA could not detect the message. Over the years I have heard how people really don’t value teaching unless they pay for it, and the more they pay the greater the value. Some Christian motivational speakers have actually charged many thousands of dollars just to share a word from God. Paul wrote the greatest letters known to man [the New Testament] and circulated them freely and encouraged their duplication- we need to reevaluate the standards we live by. Isaiah said God would reveal things that were secret since the world began. In the gospels it says that Jesus fulfilled this verse thru his teaching. In Corinthians Paul said the Spirit is continuing this ‘revealing’ ministry thru the church. In Revelation chapter 5 you have the vision of John seeing God on the throne with a scroll; no man is worthy/able to reveal the things in the scroll. But Jesus, the Lamb who was slain earned the right to walk up to the throne and take the scroll and open it. Jesus continues to reveal things to the church based on his righteousness, not ours. He specifically instructed his men that the things he was freely giving to them [spiritual gifts and insights] should be shared with others free of charge [thus Paul’s unwillingness to charge for his very valuable insights]. We need to get back to the basic reality of scripture; no speaker/teacher was to become rich off of the revelation of God that was purchased by the Blood of Jesus. These spiritual gifts were not to be used for one preacher to gain authority over others, that is the idea that the most gifted one in the group would ‘be over’ the others was rejected. Jesus explicitly taught this to his men. The false teachers at Corinth were saying of Paul ‘sure his letters are weighty, but he’s not even on the scene, wait till he shows up’ in essence they tried to devalue the ministry of Paul because he was communicating thru letters as opposed to having some regular office where he was exercising authority over them. The important thing to remember is Jesus is the one who has earned the right to open the scroll, we simply freely receive the gift of communicating it as the Spirit wills. We should value the free things, on the news story about the emails they said how this tool of the internet and the free access of the emails were accomplishing more than the older ways that cost thousands of dollars to get the message out. As the people of God lets value the free stuff, don’t teach people that ‘the free stuff’ has no value. Don’t tell them that we are charging them for their good and not ours, these arguments fall on deaf ears as the media exposes the million dollar mansions and 5 thousand dollar a night hotel fees. Let’s use the wisdom of the terrorist, communicate the stuff for free, I don’t know how many lives have been changed over the years thru a free Gideon’s bible placed in the hands of some soldier or in the drawer of a hotel. These bibles are the free gift of revelation that Jesus poured out on Paul and the other writers of the New Testament, thank God that they never copy wrote the thing!
(1317) A DIFFERENT LAKE OF FIRE- Isaiah says ‘Oh that thou wouldest rend the heavens and come down…like when a fire makes the water to boil, that you would come down’ [Isaiah 64] the imagery of fire and water are both used as pictures of the Spirit. On the day of Pentecost God ‘ripped open the heavens and came down’. Jesus said he came to set the earth on fire and how he wished it was already burning! Since the day the Spirit of God has been poured out on ‘all flesh’ these ‘fleshed out ones’ have been stirring the waters and making it boil. Psalms says why do the heathen rage and the people imagine a vain thing? Why do the kings of the earth try to rise up and resist Gods anointed ones? In John’s gospel Jesus said the religious leaders were going around trying to kill him. Why? Because when he came and did the works that no one else was doing, it took away their cloak of an excuse. In essence the reason the ‘waters’ [nations/peoples] are boiling [tribulatin’] is because we as the people of God are a natural thorn in the side of society who wants us to just go away. I watched a news show this week interview an ex-gay man who started a ministry and who is now married and lives a good life. I know for a fact that the woman interviewer is a lesbian [she says so on her on line profile] and of course she was upset that any person would claim that they were once gay and now have left the life and are happy. The man’s ministry was not ‘anti gay’ he said his ministry simply works with those who want to leave the lifestyle, but that still offends the mind of modern man. The presidents ‘school czar’ [Jennings] is an open advocate for the gay agenda in the public school system. He has praised men who were affiliated with ‘NAMBLA’ [the North American man/boy love association] and he does advocate for the public schools to teach the gay lifestyle as a perfectly legitimate way of life. Now I’m sure there are many gay/lesbian people who sincerely have seen and experienced discrimination based on their sexual orientation. I’m sure many of them feel that teaching this agenda to kids would be helpful in combating future discrimination against kids. But those who have this agenda can’t stand any group who simply says ‘being [acting out!] homosexual is a sin’ this simple reality causes them to be upset and in a way ‘have no cloak for their sin’. If ex-gays have left the life and are now happy, then their life is a rebuke to homosexual acts. Yes, it’s like starting a fire that causes the water to boil. We are liquid Napalm for heaven’s sake! Christians should avoid stereotyping gays/lesbians; there are many sincere people who struggle with various things. Many people out of a good motive feel like pushing the gay agenda would be helpful; but at the end of the day homosexual acts are physically more harmful than heterosexual/monogamous relationships, even if you put aside the religious convictions of many people, it is still dangerous to push this agenda in the public school system. Obama needs to fire his ‘school czar’.
(1318) PROTESTANT/CATHOLIC RELATIONS? Those of you who have read this blog for any length of time know that as a Protestant believer [though I prefer simply Christian] I write often on the Catholic tradition and I also see them as fellow believers in the Lord. I do realize that I have lost readers over the years because of this. Recently there has been another effort among Catholics and Evangelicals to join together in common cause; the name of this effort is ‘the Manhattan Declaration’ it’s a simple statement amongst Catholics and Protestants stating our common belief in areas of life and morality. It’s a good statement that I signed. Since the 16th century Reformation [the beginning of Protestantism] you have had varying approaches to these things. Some see the Catholic Church as a ‘non church’ they see her as a false religion who might have some Christians within her but for the most part it would be like saying Mormonism might have some believers in it despite the false beliefs. Others see the Catholic Church as a good church that has certain beliefs that Protestants don’t accept, but never the less she is part of the Body of Christ [this is my view]. So for the sake of unity amongst the various groups of Christians in the world today, I write on both traditions. Okay, during the Reformation the Catholic church had what some refer to as a ‘counter reformation’ the 16th century council was held at Trent and the church for the most part came down strong on retaining most of the Catholic tradition that existed for centuries; they reaffirmed the 7 sacraments, stuck with papal authority [though the doctrine of Papal infallibility would not become official doctrine until Vatican 1 in the 1800’s] and history tells us that the Catholics came down on the side of very little change in the area of doctrine. They even retained the doctrine of indulgences that is very questionable indeed. But they also dealt with corruption in their ranks to some degree and this was noble. They also had some good points to make in refuting what they felt was not enough emphasis on ‘good works’ amongst the reformers [Luther]. So the church in no uncertain terms rejected any idea that the Reformation was a move of God, they saw it as a rebellious split. Now in the 19th century you had Vatican 1 [the name of the council] and once again the church affirmed her stand on coming down strong for the traditional Catholic position; this council officially recognized the infallibility of the Pope [only when speaking ‘Ex Cathedra’ which means ‘from the chair’]. The church does not teach the infallibility of the Pope unless he is making a doctrinal statement in his official capacity as Pope. This teaching has a special importance for today’s Catholics. Pope Benedict was a prolific writer/theologian before becoming Pope and he has written extensively on doctrinal issues and it would not be difficult to find some of his teachings coming down more in favor of a strong Christology than previous Popes- a good thing in my view. So anyway it wasn’t until the last few centuries that some very difficult doctrines would become official; Immaculate Conception, the assumption of Mary and the infallibility of the Pope. These are all fairly recent developments that would make it more difficult for outward unity. But in the 20th century you had somewhat of a change in attitude from the Vatican [at least from Pope John the 23rd]. From 1962-65 Vatican 2 was convened and you had somewhat of a division between the conservative Catholic Bishops and the more progressive types. There were a couple hundred Bishops from the U.S. alone that would attend; it was really a worldwide council. The more liberal minded wanted less of a hard line position in some areas while the more conservative stuck with the old hard line position. When all was said and done there was a more open spirit towards change and acceptance of other Christian churches at the end. Many of the changes were seen to be too much from the conservative Catholic view; things like saying the mass in the common language, moving the altar forward in the ‘church building’ and the Priest facing the people during the mass [the old mass had the Priest facing the altar along with the people] so anyway lots of Catholics did not like the change and there was a dispute among many conservative Catholics. Then in 1968 Pope Paul issued an encyclical [official paper] called ‘Humanae Vitae’, which rejected the use of contraceptives and it was a step back towards the old hard line church. Some Protestants go a little too far in praising Vatican 2, they might refer to it as a revolution in the Catholic Church, this might be going a little too far. I recognize and appreciate the new attitude of Vatican 2, and I believe some of the more hard line Protestants [Reformed] should show a little more tolerance because of it [some of the older reformers still hold to ALL the beliefs of the Westminster confession, which officially teaches the Pope is the Antichrist! Ouch] But as a realist myself I still see some real doctrinal differences that I still have major problems with. But in some areas I am in more agreement with the Catholics than with Protestants- especially on some of the end time teachings that American Fundamentalists hold to. So all in all I appreciate some of the changes, I think some Protestants need to be more willing to come to the table, and I personally would not go so far as to actually become Catholic [which many good men have done, and I do not reject their convictions at all, they did have personal reasons for doing so]. All in all I agree with the Catechism of the Catholic Church that states ‘Christ is the unique word of God in scripture’ this is something we should all be able to agree with.
(1319) Isaiah 65:1-10 Isaiah says that the Lord was ‘found’ by those who were not looking for him, and that those who were looking for him [thru religious actions] were not finding him. He rebukes his people Israel because they developed a religious mentality that took the true revelation of God and exchanged it ‘for a lie’. But the lord says he still saw a remnant of value within her; she was like a cluster of grapes that went bad but had a few ‘good apples’ left. When Jesus appeared to Israel in the 1st century they were waiting for Gods promise to them to be fulfilled. They were ‘waiting for the kingdom’. If you were to encapsulate any singular idea in the preaching of Jesus that was the most prominent, it would be his declaration of the Kingdom of God being now present as he preached. Israel saw the kingdom thru natural eyes, they believed that the restored temple played a major role in Gods coming kingdom. Understand that the restoring of the temple by Herod [the one before the Herod of Jesus day] was a spectacular event; the temple was grand and the Jewish people regulated their life around its rituals. It was only reasonable for Israel to believe that the next step would be the restoring of her national sovereignty by a coming Messiah. They had their temple restored first and were waiting for the national independence to follow- a reverse of what many modern dispensationalists believe. But instead Jesus tells them in no uncertain terms that their understanding of the kingdom is wrong, that the kingdom will not come by observing outward events, but it was already present thru his appearing. In Jesus parables he speaks of the values of this kingdom, forgiveness, laying down your rights for others; he is talking about a spiritual kingdom. When the disciples show him the temple and its grandeur, he states flatly ‘there will not be left one stone upon another when all is said and done’ huh? So Jesus without a doubt challenged their understanding of the kingdom and how it would outwardly manifest in society- it’s not about temples and homelands! He gathers a ‘few grapes’ from the cluster [The 12 disciples] and uses them as the foundation stones of a new kingdom and temple. These apostles would launch the great new movement/kingdom of God thru the proclamation of the gospel. They would write some harsh things about the temple and old law economy of Israel as a nation. The disciple John would refer to the synagogue as ‘the synagogues of satan’ ouch! [Revelation] Paul would say those are not Jews who are Jews ‘outwardly’ [it wasn’t an ethnic thing anymore] but those who had the ‘circumcised heart’ would be counted as the true Israel of God [Romans/Galatians]. And the overall language of the 12 Jewish apostles was not one that would fit in with a scenario of a restored Jewish temple with restored sacrifices and a national homeland. I mean you can’t get much more clearer than this! And yet in our day you have many well meaning believers looking for all these outward signs of ‘when the kingdom will come’. We bypass the main writings of the New Testament [like the things I just quoted] and we go hunting in Daniel, Ezekiel, Revelation- we find all types of prophetic words that seem to support our obsession with some outward restoration of these things in order to justify our system, we basically have fallen into the same error of first century Israel, we are looking for the kingdom in all the wrong places. I understand that many believers who hold to these beliefs are sincere and well meaning, many of them have a genuine love for the Jewish people and this is commendable. But we need to heed the words of ‘the few good grapes in the cluster’ they did not exalt Israel’s natural status nor did they see the kingdom of God thru the lens of restored temples and homelands, they believed that all who would receive the Messiah were presently being built into a temple made without human hands, the ‘true Israel of God- the heavenly New Jerusalem that is coming down from God out of heaven’.
(1320) Isaiah 65:17-19 ‘I create a new heavens and new earth…the former has passed away and shall not come into memory…rejoice in my work, I too joy in it’ [my paraphrase] When God does new things, he allows the former things to fade and eventually pass. Hebrews says the old things are fading quickly. Often the transition period from the old to the new is difficult; we become accustomed to certain patterns of thought and action and if these old structures are being challenged we have a natural tendency to resist, often in the face of irrefutable evidence! When Jesus challenged the religious concepts of his day the leaders made an effort to refute him. He of course would win all these theological skirmishes, but this made no difference to those who did not want to accept the truths he was speaking. As time went on they simply hated him and decided to stop him, it was no longer a matter of truth- they hated what he stood for and that was that. A few years ago I bought a book on the case of the military doctor who was convicted of murdering his family. The book is ‘fatal justice’ the made for TV movie was called ‘fatal vision’. The movie did portray the doctor as evil and it was easy to hate the guy. But the book brought out some real questions about the case and it did put doubts into my mind. Well anyway I was telling this to a person who has seen the movie many times and has a real hate for the man. I tried to present both sides of the case and in some way defend the doctor. The person was mad; they even said that they didn’t care anymore whether he was guilty or innocent, because he was such an ‘SOB’ that he deserved to rot in prison anyway. The religious views that the people held were more important than the actual truth, the enemies of Jesus got to a point where they really weren’t open to truth anymore, they had their view and they simply wanted to kill him. We are truly creatures of habit and when ‘new things’ are presented to us, things that we never really considered before, we have a tendency to harden in our position and it no longer becomes a sincere search for truth. In essence we want the guy to rot in prison whether he’s guilty or not!
(1321) WONDERFUL, WONDERFUL COPENHAGEN! Today the president jets off to Copenhagen for the closing of the world summit on global warming. He originally was going to go at the start but the politicos figured if he went at the end he might be able to undo the last failed Copenhagen venture- getting turned down for the next Olympic Games at Chicago. But what has happened instead is the summit has been a disaster. Why? First you of course had the nuts in the streets destroying stuff, but more importantly you had some major disagreements between the nations attending. The poorer nations actually walked out at one point because they want the industrialized world to fund them at 100 billion dollars for their part in cutting greenhouse gases, the rich countries are pledging 10 billion. China and India, 2 of the greatest polluters on the planet [they make up a total of 80 % of all the pollutants] are not willing to sign a binding agreement which can be verified. Why? These countries are at the beginning of their own industrial revolutions, they still have many years of rapid growth ahead before their overall population benefits from their growth. India has many people still in the extreme poverty class and for all practical purposes you are asking them to trade much of the future of their country for a possible fraction of a degree of global warming over a hundred year period. I mean it’s really a cost/benefit scenario. Now, am I a global warming denier? No, the science seems pretty clear, the nations of the world have gone thru an industrial age and the effects of burning coal and other dirty energy have produced lots of green house gasses that get trapped in the atmosphere and cause the heat to stay in. Not too hard to understand. So what’s the problem, well we don’t really know for sure how much of an overall effect we can have over the long haul. For instance our planet has gone thru at least one ice age and we have only been keeping global heat records for a short time. We don’t know if the earth goes thru thousand year cycles of cooling and heating that we could have little effect on. For instance if we are on a warming trend, and say the planet is going to warm so many degrees over the next thousand years, well maybe our efforts at cooling it less than one degree in the overall scheme really doesn’t count for much. Then there is the real cost/benefits analysis- I’m not talking profits for industry, but real questions on whether or not the global community should sink trillions of dollars over many years into this project, which might not save too many lives; or sink the money into these 3rd world countries who have hundreds of thousands of kids dying because they simply don’t have the money to feed them or provide them with cheap vaccines. This same money today can save so many lives. A serious global warming believer has done the analysis and believes it simply is not feasible to spend the money on the global warming efforts. If we had the extra billions to spend, sure let’s do it. But if we are doing it at the expense of real time lives, then it’s simply foolish. Last night I watched a documentary on the logging business in the Amazon, how so many poorer areas have learned the trade of tree chopping and have lifted themselves out of poverty by cutting down the trees. Now lots of the Amazon has been destroyed and it is an environmental disaster to some degree. So they started this fund that pays the tree choppers more money to not cut the trees. As they interviewed this brother who seemed to be on the lower income scale of society, they showed you him with his used chain saw and his truck and all the ‘blessings’ he has reaped from his new found job; they asked him why he won’t stop chopping the trees. He said they don’t want to get paid for doing nothing. Ouch! They rather cut the trees and feel industrious than take the free welfare money that the west wants to appease them with. What a lesson for the victim hood mentality of the west. The reporter drove down the road to an Indian tribal area that never cut the trees; they always respected the land and lived off of fishing and hunting. What did their chief say? That they are not getting money because they have always preserved the trees, therefore they will start chopping the trees so the west will pay them to stop. What’s going on here? We have many well meaning people on both sides of all these issues, overall we have to be realistic about this stuff. Poor countries are not going to sacrifice their people on the altar of global warming science when they are not sure their efforts will really pay off in the long run, many of them attended the summit because they were simply hoping the rich countries would give them money. Rich western nations can’t expect to impose these types of restrictions on developing nations, it’s just unrealistic. And last of all the president just told us the country will go bankrupt if we don’t pass the latest version of health reform; you know, the version with no public option, no Medicare buy in, no real control over what the insurance companies will charge us. This bill has now become a bad bill as far as I can tell, then what in the heck are we doing making the second trip to Copenhagen in the last few months? The president used to say he was not like the last administration, he could walk and chew gum at the same time- I’m beginning to wonder about that.
(1322) RACISM- As I was reading my hometown news paper over the last year [Jersey Journal] I followed a story about a racist right wing radio/web guy who finally got thrown into jail. The guys name is Hal Turner and the thing that caught my interest was he was from my hometown of North Bergen. Why do people like this attract an audience? A while back I was watching MSNBC and the host that day was Lawrence O’Donnell, he was talking to someone about the Sonya Sotomayor nomination to the Supreme Court. He mentioned how the fact that the judge was accepted at Princeton under the affirmative action program, that even though she scored lower than some of the other applicants, she eventually had high grades down the road. He then said that this is proof that we shouldn’t accept kids based on their score or achievements, but that this proves that the institutions should be able to pick people because they prefer their race. The point of course is this is blatant racism; everyone knows this. But yet those who espouse this view in public forums also accuse those who disagree with them as being racists. Now, the average White person sees right thru this, they know that if O’Donnell’s kid was rejected in her life based on race that he would be fuming, yet he publicly accuses others who would have the same response as racist. These double standards are seen for what they are. They just recently promoted the fire fighters who took their case to the Supreme Court because the city threw out their test scores because no Blacks passed the test. They won their case and finally got promoted. When the firefighters who passed [not all Whites, there were some Hispanics] sued for what was right and just, those representing the Black firefighters went to the Hispanic candidate and tried to talk him out of suing, so they could portray the White guys as being racists. The Hispanic guy said he was agreeing with the White guys because they were simply right. As I listened to the tortured defense of those representing the Black guys, it was absolutely nonsensical. I mean you can argue forever why the Whites and Hispanics passed and the Blacks didn’t, but to actually accuse the ones who passed as being racists is racist itself. These things are what causes there to be an audience for the Hal Turner’s, the liberal minded elite media feel good about themselves when they side with obviously racist views. They think it good to say ‘if a university rejects you because your White, that’s good’ they feed into the hate mongers and allow themselves to be fuel for the Hal Turners of the world.
(1323) WHERE IS THE HOUSE THAT YOU ARE BUILDING FOR ME? Isaiah 66:1, leaders- think on this for a moment; what is it exactly that you are building for God? What are the main themes of scripture that you are communicating? Verse 2 says ‘all these things hath [past tense] my hand made and all these things HAVE BEEN, says the Lord’. In Ephesians 2 Paul says that we are ‘his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works that he chose for us before the world began’. We are simply fulfilling the pre-ordained destiny of God. That is if we are proclaiming and doing what’s right. Yesterday I read a news article on a mega church out of Ohio, they broadcast a plea that they immediately needed 3 million in donations or they were in trouble. The plea was looked into and it seems like they ‘fudged’ on the seriousness of the appeal- basically they used ‘disaster’ language for a problem that was not as urgent as you might think; sort of like what our country did with TARP and what we are doing today [12-19-09] with saying we urgently need to pass health reform before Christmas, a false deadline that is being used as a political tool. Why do well meaning ministries/preachers often focus so much on money? Why is it common for many sermons and messages to be centered on this? In the first century when the Apostle Paul was circulating his letters, he would write about 95 % on real theological truth, maybe a few % of the letters would deal with giving, most of that small percent was in the context of giving to the poor. Then you had an even smaller % of that deal with giving to help Paul on his way to the next town, or giving to meet the needs of laboring leaders in their midst. So if you were a first century church receiving the letter you would not see Paul’s main message being one of always appealing for funds. But over the first few centuries of Christianity the church collected these letters and put them in a book [our New Testament]. This has enabled people to scour thru the corpus of Paul’s writings and to pick this small percentage of appeals for funds and to basically present them in a way that says ‘look how important it is to always speak about money, after all the bible is full of it!’ Which is really a distortion of the actual themes of the letters; much of Paul’s writings taken in context actually reprove what the modern preachers have done with this proof texting tool [read 1st timothy 6]. So you find many well meaning brothers seeing the need for more and more money, for a never ending series of good projects, and this causes there to be a general focusing on a very small percentage of actual New Testament teaching and presenting it in a way that causes the average believer to think that this is the main thrust of scripture. So what are you building? Have you never really seen this before? If not then ask the lord to help you re-focus on the important stuff. Pastors, leaders- most of you brothers mean well, just allow the Lord to bring forth out of you the things that he has fore ordained for you. One of those things might have been stumbling along and reading this blog.
(1324) THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE MYSTERY- Ephesians 3:9. One of my favorite historical persons is Einstein; I like him because he was sort of a rebel for his day. In the university he did bad, missed class and scored low. He could not find a job in his field of physics so he took a job in Berne, Switzerland as a patent approver. During his spare time he wrote a few papers on theoretical physics and these papers were circulated but had no good response. Why? No one took seriously the writings from a patent worker! Then one of his ‘letters’ made in into the hands of one of the top scientists of the day, Max Planck, and he would make history. Planck recognized the genius that others couldn’t see. In Ephesians 3 Paul says the Lord gave him [and the apostles and prophets] the gift of being able to ‘see’ and understand truths that were hidden in God since the beginning of the world. Now, it was good to have the gift, to be able to see the truths that others could not yet see; but this gift would be useless unless it came along with the ability to effectively ‘make others see’ it too. So Paul prays for the churches that he is writing to that they, by the Spirit, would have the gift to comprehend the mysteries that he was writing about. In essence the Spirit was Paul’s Max Planck! In time others would see the great things Paul was teaching but there needed to be the Divine work of revelation both on the part of Paul as well as those who were reading his stuff. Paul would call this dynamic ‘the fellowship of the mystery’. In the book of Acts there were those who willingly rejected this revelation and that was their own choice. Paul says they themselves made the choice to cut themselves off from eternal life. Today we don’t have ‘revelation’ [new truths] in the same way Paul and the apostles had, but we certainly have gifted ones who the Spirit is communicating truth to, but we must not make the mistake of Einstein’s peers, they saw him as a layman and initially missed out on the revolutionary truths he was seeing. They chose to cut themselves off from the ‘fellowship of the mystery’ how bout you?
(1325) BEFORE SHE SUFFERED SHE GAVE BIRTH, BEFORE HER PAIN SHE GAVE BIRTH. WHO EVER HEARD OF SUCH A THING? SHALL I BRING YOU TO THE POINT OF BIRTH AND NOT FINISH THE JOB? FOR AS SOON AS YOU SUFFERED WITH BIRTH PAINS THEN YOU BROUGHT FORTH WHAT I WANTED- Isaiah 66:7-8 [my paraphrase] In Johns gospel Jesus said when a woman is going thru birth pains it’s difficult because her time has come, the moment of accomplishing the purpose. Jesus says ‘she has sorrow’ but after she gives birth she forgets the sorrow because a man is born into the world. Jesus makes this statement as he himself is entering into his time of sorrow; he prays ‘Father, if it’s possible for me to not have to go thru with this, if there is any way you think we can do something about this situation, then please lets go another route’! The agony was very real, he wasn’t afraid of death, but he dreaded the fact that he would ‘become sin’ for us; he would be separated from the Father and experience extreme turmoil. He sweat great drops of blood, a physical act of excruciating anguish that causes this to happen. Jesus told us that we too had to be willing to carry our cross. I know some feel Jesus was talking about his cross and death, but in context he was talking about the difficulties that would come along with following him and denying ourselves. Peter said that when we go thru fiery trials that we should take comfort in the fact that other brothers are going thru the same things, even worse things than us. A few years ago a prominent local figure was arrested and sent to jail for soliciting a minor over the internet; he worked for the parks/beach dept. and was active with the Fire Dept. and EMS. Of course the news shocked people; he seemed to be a good person who gave of himself to help others. A year or so later I read an article that he had died in prison, though the article did not go into detail there were enough hints to tell that after he went to prison he rededicated his life to God and tried to make amends. It also said how his kids attended his funeral but his ex wife wanted nothing to do with the man. I thought to myself how hard it would have been for him and his family to have gone thru this tragic thing. I put his family on my prayer list for a few years, a time where I pray for fellow believers who have messed up and are in jail, whenever I read these stories they become part of this prayer time. Or people who have terminal illnesses, don’t you think it would be hard to pray and continue to do God’s will knowing that you only have so much time left? There are times in life when the purpose of God must take precedence over the things we are going thru. I am not saying these examples are the only types of ‘cross’ experiences people go thru, but they give us some insight into the difficulties that can happen. In Hebrews the scripture says that Jesus endured the Cross, despising the shame and has been seated at the right hand of God. Make no mistake about it, the shame and agony of the Cross were not things that ‘felt good’ to go thru, they were things that were despised, but they were things that needed to take place in order for a greater purpose to come forth. I mean whoever heard of a woman giving birth before the pain, and likewise we believers will go thru some tough things before Gods purpose will be fulfilled.
(1326) FOR AS THE NEW HEAVENS AND EARTH, WHICH I WILL MAKE, SHALL REMAIN, SO SHALL YOUR SEED AND NAME REMAIN- Isaiah 66:22 Well the senate finally passed health care reform; they still have some hurdles ahead, but they got the 60 votes needed to move forward. I do find it utterly corrupt that any single party would actually pass something that took away benefits from Republican states and not take them away from Democratic ones. And then have the audacity to make the ‘losing states’ underwrite the ‘winning states’. I can’t imagine the uproar in the country if Bush did this. Nebraska [Ben Nelson] cut a deal where they will never pay for the extended costs of Medicaid, ever. The ‘Federal govt.’ will forever cover their new costs. They are the only state that gets this deal. The Federal govt. pays stuff by taxing other states; in essence the rest of the country will be underwriting Nebraska, simply because they needed the Democratic vote. Florida, under Bill Nelson, another Democrat, will be the only state that will not lose Medicare Advance. This is a very popular program with senior citizens and every other state will lose this program. Why not Florida? Florida has lots of retired seniors, they need to keep the senate seat Democratic, so to get the seniors votes they did this deal. These deals are fundamentally corrupt, we are doing this at a time in the nation where we will be forcing families to pay a yearly 750 dollar fine if they don’t get insurance [or a 2% fine of their income, whichever is higher!] and many average income earners are really going to be in a bind. Much of the money will pay the profits and salaries of multi millionaires; this is wrong. In the 1960’s Harvey Cox [professor at Harvard] penned the book ‘the secular city’ it was a play on words from saint Augustine’s ‘city of God’. Augustine, as a true Amillennialist, wrote about the influence of the church/kingdom of God on the nations of the world, and how you could not separate virtue from public/political life. Cox would challenge this idea and teach that you could have a separation; you could run a nation apart from the morality of the church. Harvard would also produce the philosophy of ‘Pragmatism’ you govern by what is expedient, do what it takes to get the job done- don’t worry about what’s right or wrong type of a thing. God says his word/standards don’t go away, the things he states/creates are there for good. The Democratic Party ran rough shod over some very basic principles of right and wrong, when Harry Reid was asked about these insider deals, he said that’s the way they do business. In essence he said if your state didn’t get to do some under the table deal, then that’s your senator’s fault. The senate leader was being very pragmatic, doing what he needed to do to get the votes. I think they might have traded for a few votes today, at the expense of a bunch of them tomorrow.
(1327) GALATIANS; INTRO- Okay, finally made it, been wanting to teach this letter for a while. Let me overview some church history that I feel would be helpful in understanding the book. During the 16th century Reformation you had an explosion take place within Christianity, though the official ‘schism’ dates back to the year 1054 between the western [Catholic] and eastern [Orthodox] expressions of the church, yet in reality it was the 16th century upheaval that really split the church. A few centuries before [14-15th century] you had rumblings within the church that had well taught Catholic men challenging many of the institutional concepts of the church; men like John Huss, Wycliffe and others. These men were extremely influential and had an effect on the church. Then in the 16th century you had Catholic writers who remained within the Catholic Church, but they too challenged the status quoi. Men like Erasmus of Rotterdam, these intellectuals would call for the idea of going back to the original sources of study [Greek New Testament and also other renaissance ideas] and this too would lead to the historic Reformation. But without a doubt Martin Luther [the Catholic monk out of Wittenberg, Germany] would be the firebrand of the movement. Martin was a well trained Augustinian monk who struggled with the guilt of sin for many years. Not normal guilt, but extreme. A fellow Catholic leader would encourage Luther to trust in the grace of God for his forgiveness. While reading the book of Romans [whose themes relate strongly to Galatians] he would come along the famous passage ‘the just shall live by faith’ and in Luther’s mind this was a total release from the bondage of trying to appease God thru all the religious works that he was going thru. In essence Luther discovered the historic gospel of grace thru the reading of Romans and was set free. Now Luther had no intention of leaving the Catholic Church, but as a very influential teacher/scholar out of the university city in Germany, he had lots of influence. The Catholic church at the time was worldwide and you had differing views of the church in various states. Many saw the state of the church in Rome as having given in to materialism and become too worldly. Rome was at the time trying to raise money for the restoring of the religious buildings at Rome and one of the priests going around selling indulgences was named Tetzel. The abuse of selling these ‘get out of purgatory early’ things was offensive to many Catholics, and Luther had ‘no small stir’ when Tetzel reached his area. These things would lead to the famous nailing of the 95 questions on the door of Catholic academia and would be the beginnings of the historic split. While it would take way too much time to go into all the theological differences between the Protestants and the Catholics, one of the main issues deals with how we as Christians view ‘being saved’. The historic Protestant position is called ‘justification by faith alone’ [Sola Fide] the Catholics counter with ‘the only time ‘faith alone’ is mentioned is in the book of James, where it says a man is not saved/justified by ‘faith alone’. Ouch! The main point I want to make is this letter deals with the early church’s belief that man is accepted with God based on the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross. Paul will challenge the ‘Judaisers’ [those who believed you needed to keep the law in order to be saved] and will argue that the law itself [Old Testament books] teaches that men are justified/accepted with God based on believing in the free gift of God thru Christ. Make no mistake about it, the New Testament clearly teaches this doctrine. Catholic and Protestant theologians BOTH agree that man is freely saved by the grace of God in Christ. But at the time of Luther’s day these glorious truths were lost in the morass of religious tradition and works. As we read thru this letter in the next few days, I want all of our readers to see the argument Paul is making from this basic theological view point. Is man saved by works [keeping Gods law] or grace? The bible teaches grace. Now I don’t have the time to also introduce the modern controversy between the ‘new view’ of Paul between Protestants [called new perspective]. There is an ongoing debate over whether or not the historic Reformation view of Paul is correct [men like N.T. Wright and John Piper are hashing it out] and I do think there are some merits to this discussion, but before we can delve into that aspect, we first need to see the historic question of works versus faith, and this letter is one of the best to deal with the issue.
[Just a comment I left on Trevin Wax’s site- good site by the way- Trevinwax.com] Good article Trevin. As somewhat of an advocate for teaching a biblical worldview, I too feel that we might be missing the boat at times. In Galatians Paul tells us ‘when the fullness of times came, God sent forth his Son…’ In context this ‘fullness’ was speaking about the time period God gave to man under the Old Covenant in order to bring man to a point of helplessness, knowing he could not justify himself thru works. Then after this preparatory time he introduces the New Covenant and man is now ‘ready’ for the Messiah. Some worldview concepts seem to say that the ‘post modern’ man is not ready! That he needs another ‘fullness of time’ in order to prepare him for the gospel, C.S. Lewis’ pre-evangelism. Anyway the article was good. God bless from Corpus.
(1328) GALATIANS 1- Mark Twain said ‘the classics are books that everyone loves to praise, but nobody wants to read’. As we begin this study I can’t emphasize enough the need for Christians to read the bible! Many of the current problems in Christianity would be solved if we simply got back to reading the bible in context. Okay, in chapter one Paul defends his authority as being one who was sent by God, not man. He explains how after his conversion he spent years receiving direct revelation from God; he was not taught the gospel of grace by consulting with man. Paul was in a unique situation compared to the other apostles, Paul was the first apostle to have had a strong intellectual background in both Judaism and philosophy; he knew his stuff. This ‘allowed’ God to reveal things to Paul FROM THE SCRIPTURES that revealed Gods grace and the reality of how men are justified by faith and not thru the law. In essence Paul wasn’t out in left field receiving Divine revelations about things that nobody ever heard about. They were new things in the sense that they were hidden in God until the time that God chose to reveal them [Ephesians 3]. Paul rebukes them for forsaking the true gospel and being drawn to another gospel ‘which is not another’. Okay, what’s the true gospel Paul is speaking about? It’s not only the definition given by Paul in 1st Corinthians 15 [the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus] but it includes being justified by faith and not by the law. The Judaisers did believe in Jesus, but they were rejecting justification by faith alone. The false gospel that Paul is refuting is the gospel that said the Gentiles must ‘keep the law in order to be saved’ [see Acts 13 and 15]. In no uncertain terms Paul condemns this message; there was no compromising the reality of Gods free grace given to the elect. The actual faith itself that is deposited in the elect is a divine act of God [Ephesians 2] the unbeliever is dead in sins with no ability to ‘resurrect himself’ and the new birth is Gods sovereign act of raising a person from the dead [spiritually] and giving them faith. This is the gospel of grace. Paul was adamant about rejecting false gospels! In our day there are so many ‘gospels’ going around it’s not funny. I caught a few minutes of a TV evangelist the other day quoting verses from all over the bible in order to entice people to vow money to him; yes he used these words in no uncertain terms. He told the people they must quickly pick up the phone and dedicate the money to him, because it was this act of faith that would release the harvest. Now I don’t know how much longer God is going to allow stuff like this to go on, how much longer networks will continue to air this stuff, but we as believers/preachers need to condemn these false gospels in no uncertain terms. Paul will use strong language when defending the gospel; we need to get back to defending it too.
(1329) GALATIANS 2- Paul recounts his meeting with the apostles at Jerusalem; some feel he is talking about his first visit [Acts 11- before AD 50] others think he is discussing his Acts 15 meeting [right at around AD 50] I’m in the latter camp. Paul is basically telling the churches of Galatia that he already went thru this whole discussion with the main apostles at Jerusalem [Peter, James and John] and that they had already agreed that the Gentile believers did not need to get circumcised and come under the law in order to be saved. I do find it interesting that out of the 4 decrees that were made [read Acts 15] that the only one Paul recounts here is ‘to remember the poor’. The only decree worthy enough for Paul to recount is the one on charitable giving; those of you who have followed this blog for a while know how much I emphasize this point. If the early church was teaching tithing to the Gentile churches, surely it would have come up at the Jerusalem meeting, but it didn’t. This chapter has some important verses that all believers should commit to memory ‘if righteousness come by the law, then Christ died in vain’ ‘the life that I now live I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me’ etc. I really want all my Catholic/Protestant readers to pay attention to the verse’s that I just quoted; the bible clearly teaches that if men could ‘be saved’ by keeping Gods law, then Christ died in vain. Paul will go on to teach [chapter 3] that if there had been a law given that could have given men eternal life, then ‘being saved’ would come that way; but he then goes on to say that there never was a law given that men could keep in order to be saved. Paul always gives the caveat ‘does this mean we go out and break the 10 commandments’? And his answer is always a big NO! The point of this chapter is we as believers are saved because Jesus died to pay the penalty for our sin; the proof that the penalty was completely paid is in the fact that Jesus rose again [Romans 5]. All who believe in this reality are now the children of God, indeed ‘we are all the children of God by faith in Jesus Christ’.
(1330) GALATIANS 3- The main point of this chapter is God made a promise to Abraham that he would ‘bless’ all nations thru one of his kids someday [Genesis 12). This promise was given to Abraham 430 years before God gave the 10 commandments to Moses. Therefore the promise that men would be justified/saved by faith cannot be ‘undone’ by a later act of giving the law to Moses. The point being that Paul is arguing with the Galatians that their new view that they need to keep the law in order to ‘be saved’ [the blessing of Abraham IN CONTEXT!] is false because God already told Abraham it would be by faith in the coming Messiah. Paul then asks ‘is the law then against Gods promise’? No, it was given to man [Israel] until the time came for the promised child to be born [1st century], but now that the promised child is here we are no longer under the ‘schoolmaster’. The schoolmaster term can be confusing; the word in Greek means the person who walked the kids to school [truth] and then dropped them off AND LEFT. Paul is saying the law period served its purpose; it revealed mans sinful nature to him and then ‘dropped him off at the Cross’. Paul is saying the law fulfilled its purpose and we are now under grace. As new creatures in Christ we walk in love and fulfill the righteousness of the law by our new nature, it’s not a legalistic thing. There is some confusion today on this chapter; some were taught that ‘the blessing of Abraham’ was speaking of the promises in Deuteronomy on financial blessings. And that the curse is speaking about the curse of ‘poverty’. Though it is true that the bible does speak about this in the Old Testament, in context Paul is not saying this here. Paul explains what he means about the ‘curse of the law’. He says it’s the curse of never being able to do enough to appease God, the man that is under the law puts himself under this mindset of perfectionism and lives under this constant feeling of never being able to do enough. This was Paul’s previous experience as a Pharisee. When Paul teaches that we are delivered from ‘the curse’ so the ‘blessing of Abraham might come on the gentiles, that we might receive THE PROMISE OF THE SPIRIT BY FAITH’ he is not saying Jesus died to make us financially rich, he is saying Jesus delivered us from the old law mindset of legalism and we now have forgiveness and acceptance as a free gift- ‘being now justified by faith we have peace with God thru our Lord Jesus Christ’ [Romans 5].
(1331) GALATIANS 4- Paul says there was a time period before the promise would be fulfilled thru Christ; that time has come to an end [the law] and we are now in ‘the fullness of times’. When we were under the law we were no different than servants, but now in grace we are mature sons, people able to inherit the promise. Paul says why do you desire to go back under the ‘restraint’ phase, the time of discipline and legalism, we are now in a fullness stage thru the New Covenant and we don’t need the old mentality anymore. Once again Paul really ‘spiritualizes’ the Old Testament in his teaching, he says that the law [Old Testament] taught this difference between law and grace. He uses the story of Abraham having 2 sons [Ishmael, Isaac] and he says ‘cant you hear what the law is saying’? One son was born by promise [Isaac] the other thru the works of the flesh [law]. And just like it was back then, the one born after the flesh persecuted the one born after the Spirit, so today [1st century] those after the flesh/law are persecuting those born after the Spirit. It’s important to see that Paul DOES NOT use this analogy to describe Jewish/Muslim [Arab] relations; he actually refers to natural Israel as ‘Ishmael’! He says the Judaisers [Jews zealous of the law] were fulfilling the type/symbol by persecuting Gentile believers. We need to keep these distinctions in our minds, because when we don’t rightfully discern the truth we do damage to the non ethnic testimony of the gospel. Paul says the law relates to natural Israel/Jerusalem who is under bondage with her children, but the ‘New Jerusalem’ which is above is the mother of us all, and this Jerusalem relates to the church. The New Jerusalem is not referring to a physical city that will ‘hover over the earth during the millennium rule’ [EEK!] But it refers to the new community people of God, the church. I have written on this before and these references in the New Testament [Revelation, Hebrews- us being the new Zion, etc.] are speaking of the church, the people of God. Paul once again speaks of ‘natural Jerusalem’ in a negative light, in the sense that he teaches those who are under the law are not walking in the fullness of the promises of God as come in the Messiah. The New Testament spends no time engaging in the glorying of any ethnic group [whether it be Israel, Gentile, etc.] It’s not that the apostles were being anti Semitic, it’s just the emphasis is on the new kingdom of God and the new people of God [the church made up of both Jew and Gentile]. Its striking to compare the writings of the first Jewish believers to the current trends amongst many evangelical preachers, the two don’t mesh well.
(1332) Been doing some reading on church history/philosophy, it’s interesting to see the role that theology/Christianity played in the universities. Theology is referred to as ‘the queen of the sciences’ and philosophy was her ‘handmaid’. They saw the root of all learning as originating with the study ‘of God’. Many modern universities have dropped the term ‘theology’ and call it ‘the study of religion’. The study of religion is really the study of how man relates to God, his view of God; this would fit under anthropology/sociology, not under theology. Modern learning has lost the importance of the study of God and the role it plays in all the other sciences. The classic work of Homer [8th century BC] called the Iliad, has Achilles debating whether or not he should ‘stay and fight along the city of the Trojans’ and attain the legacy of a warrior; or to go ‘back to my homeland and live a long life’. He chooses to fight and lay his life on the line. The themes of the classics [courage, heroism, etc.] are biblical themes, even if God is not directly mentioned. The point being to try and exclude God from learning is silly, you can’t do it. Around the 17-18th century you had the philosophy of Existentialism rise up, as an ‘ism’ it really is a misnomer; ‘ism’ is a suffix that you add to the end of a word that makes it a system- ‘humanism’ ‘secularism’ etc. but existentialism is a word that means ‘anti-system’. Nevertheless the person who popularized this belief was a Christian, Soren Kierkegaard. The system he was rebelling against was the dead institutionalism of the Danish church, he felt that Christianity devolved into dead orthodoxy and lost all of its passion for true living and experiencing God. Nietzsche would pick up on this philosophy and apply it to atheism, and in the 20th century men like Albert Camou and John Paul Sartre would also embrace it from an atheistic worldview. They would say things like ‘man is a useless passion’ or write books titled ‘Nausea’ summing up the human condition. Though the 19th century atheistic humanists tried to give value and exalt the state of man, in their rejection of God and Christianity they were taking away the foundation for mans value. If you tell society that they arrived on the scene by some cosmic accident of evolution, and when you die you dissipate into nothingness, then how do you at the same time glory in his natural abilities to reach some point of Utopia? As the late Frances Schaeffer said ‘they were philosophers who had both feet planted firmly in mid air’. The point being when you neglect the reality and role that God and Christianity play in every sphere of life, you are then removing the foundation that these spheres were built on, true science and learning derive their basis from God. The greatest scientific minds of the past were either Christians or Deists, they were too smart to try and reject the reality of an eternal being.
(1333) THE CHRISTMAS DAY PLOT [12-09] The talk of the town this past week has been the failed bombing attempt of an airplane over Detroit. The Nigerian man [looks like a young boy!] came from a well to do family and was radicalized while attending an upper class school in London. He made contact with Al Qaeda in Yemen and did some training there before boarding an American bound plane from the Netherlands to Detroit. The mans father had previously contacted our U.S. embassy and informed them that he felt his son was a danger, that he had embraced radical Islam. When the man boarded the plane he paid cash [around 3 thousand dollars] he had no luggage and bought a one way ticket. He was on a terrorist watch list [with some half a million names] and never made it to the smaller ‘no fly’ list. The plot failed because the man was unable to light the explosive, just like Richard Reid, another terrorist. The initial response from the white house has come under lots of criticism; it took the president 3 days before responding to the public from his Hawaiian vacation. The head of homeland security, Janet Napolitano, made the statement ‘our system worked’ and also has been criticized. Okay, the administration’s response has been lacking and defensive. They still dragged out ‘the Bush card’ in their defense. The president said the security policies that have been in place for years [Bush] failed and he would do all in his power to fix it. Why did it have to wait till now? The president ran on a platform that accused the previous administration as utter failures in all areas and that if elected he would go in and fix the failures. The fact that he now says these failures were Bush’s policies is simply an immature excuse from someone who is in over his head. If you thought there were problems to begin with, and stated this ‘thought’ publicly many times, then you can’t now say we didn’t fix it, and it was Bush’s fault! It’s been a year since the inauguration and they need to stop doing this. One of the president’s top security guys, John Brennan, made the Sunday rounds on the talk shows. He said ‘there was no smoking gun that we missed’. What! You have to be kidding me. The Republicans are not without fault, some have used this event as a political tool, that’s wrong. One of the main problems as I see it is the president did run on a platform that said over and over that he would take a different ideological approach than the previous administration. The approach would be less of a ‘war on terror’ idea, and more of a war against individual groups who are trying to harm us, this is a real difference, if he is now coming under criticism for his approach, he can’t keep saying ‘we’re doing everything Bush did’. If that’s true then he lied when he said he would not operate like Bush. The fact is we just bombed the actual camps that this young man was trained in, in Yemen. A few weeks later he was bound for the U.S. with explosives. The reason we gave this man a lawyer and allowed him all the rights of a U.S. citizen, is because the president believes this approach is more noble and would bring better results in our image with the world. Some have brought out the fact that Richard Reid was also prosecuted in U.S. courts under Bush [there goes that card again!]. The fact is Reid was not given a lawyer until many months after being interrogated. So the president has chosen to not interrogate, but to treat him like a criminal. The problem with this approach is this man might have easily been killed by our predator drone attack a few weeks earlier, attacks that our country regularly engages in, in Muslim countries. Many of these bombings have killed innocent Muslim/Arab women and children. Yet he could have been killed on the spot by the current administration without judge or jury. Why, well because we are ‘at war’. Yet this same person, who was at the risk of being bombed for simply training in a camp that wants to attack us, this same person- if he makes it on to a plane with actual explosives and actually attempts to detonate the thing, he is protected by the U.S. constitution, will get to ‘plea bargain’ and will have his day in court where he can espouse his radical beliefs. Gee, it seems to me that we are simply encouraging these guys to make it to the U.S.
(1334) One of the most important finds of the 20th century was a little book called ‘the Didache’, it is either a first or 2nd century document that encapsulates a short instruction for new comers who wanted to be a part of the church. It is important because it gives us a glimpse of how the early Christians viewed the faith. For instance it puts much importance on caring for the poor and doing works of charity, it goes so far to speak about fasting for the purpose of saving up some extra money to feed the poor. It warns strenuously against greed, it calls people false prophets if they stick around town too long and ask for money. I mean it’s strong. It also shows us how disconnected we have become from what the early believers valued. Yesterday I had a good day with my homeless buddies; I ‘heard’ that Buck had died. Buck was a good friend who struggled with alcoholism, many of the guys drink, but Buck was what you would call a ‘falling down in the street’ drunk. But when he was sober he was a good guy. I guess he was around 60 or so. I remember one time he showed up at the homeless hangout and he was all beat up, black eyes and stuff. The story was he went thru an ‘initiation’ at the camp, 2 of the other guys ‘initiated’ him by beating the hell out of him and taking his wallet, Buck said it was a voluntary thing that he agreed to go thru for ‘protection’. I said that’s funny, we used to call that ceremony ‘getting mugged’. All in all Buck was an all right friend, with many struggles. He did attend the local street ‘church meetings’ and made attempts to go to some of the retreats they hold for the guys. I spent some time with Henry; he is a very knowledgeable brother who always asks great questions. I mean he knows the bible by heart, studies the original Greek and Hebrew meanings of the words, he is a real pro. He has been living in an old run down RV for a few months. The people let him stay in it and he does some work around the property. They have a beautiful horse and a bunch of fruit trees; I filled up a bag with lemons and had a good time fellowshipping with Henry. My friend John David has been clean for 6 months now and is living up in Austin, that was great to hear. John was addicted to Cocaine, I told you his story around 6 months ago [in the homeless section]. His other brother Andy went to Mexico, he’s the brother I lent one of my good study books to, O well. All in all the guys are doing as well as can be expected, it’s pretty cold right now, that’s why some of them come south for the winter. My good friend Dirk is back, I have known Dirk for 20 years, he lives in an old beat up van and survives on a disability check, he’s legally deaf. He is a good friend, he comes for the winters and heads back to Michigan in the summer, he really is homeless but tries to pass himself off [to the cops] as a retired tourist, it is funny. And old Roger has been in jail since last Christmas, he walked into HEB [grocery store] and saw Tommy Nichols [a cop who the locals hate] Roger has been arrested many times by Nichols and Roger was drunk and told him ‘I’ll kill all you cops’ they arrested him and charged him with making a terroristic threat, he’s still got some time to do. I want to encourage you guys; do you spend any time reaching out to the hurting? Maybe fast a day or 2 and send the money to the feed the children groups? I just renewed my own effort in sending money to the kids, I was reading Christianity today on line and the screen kept asking if I would send some money, I kept clicking it off and then realized I need to send some. So I started sending $22 a month, not much, but it helps. I just want to challenge all of us to become involved in some way, maybe you won’t make as many homeless friends as I have, that’s fine- but try and make at least one! Make an effort and see what the Lord will do, it will be well worth trying.
(1336) Just a comment I left on Christianity Today magazine- ‘Many good points- I think we need to distinguish between those who see ‘organic church’ as a vessel of transformation, and those who are seeking a historically/biblical understanding of the Ecclesia and exactly what the word means. The New Testament clearly speaks of 'church’ as an organic community of people, to understand and come to terms with this reality might take different forms and have various ways people express it, but to understand the biblical basis of 'organic church’ is more than just a new movement/way of 'doing church'’.
(1335) GALATIANS 5- Paul’s main theme is if we possess the Spirit as believers [being indwelt by God’s Spirit] then let us also walk in/by the Spirit, as opposed to trying to please God by the law and being circumcised. Paul will use the somewhat controversial term ‘ye are fallen from grace’ which simply means that these Gentile believers started by faith and went back to the old Jewish system, much like the themes in the book of Hebrews. Paul says when you go back to the law you have left grace. Christ has ‘become of no effect to you, you who are justified by the law’. This is a good example of how words and certain phrases can develop over the centuries of church history and develop a different meaning over time. In essence the bible does teach that a person can ‘fall from grace’ but this does not describe what the modern reader might think. The first church father who attempted to formulate the Christian doctrine of the Trinity was a man named Tertullian, he lived in the second century and was what theologians refer to as one of the Latin fathers [as opposed to the Greek ones- Origen, etc.] Tertullian was famous for the sayings ‘what does Jerusalem have to do with Athens’ and ‘I believe because it is absurd’ he was resisting the influence of Greek philosophy on the church, he felt that Greek wisdom was influencing the church too much. He was trained in law before becoming a theologian [like Luther and Calvin of 16th century Reformation fame] and he used the words ‘God is one substance/essence and also three persons’ later church councils would agree with this language. But the word ‘person’ at Tertullian’s time was the Latin word ‘personi’ which was taken from the theater and meant a person/actor who would put on different masks during the play; the word had a little different meaning then what we think of today as ‘person’. Later centuries would come to condemn certain Christian groups who seem to have formulated language on the Trinity that expresses the same thing as what the original developer of the doctrine meant to say, but because words and their meanings change over time we get ourselves into disputes that might be getting us off track. Paul also tells the Galatians that if they become circumcised that they are obligating themselves to keep all the law. Of course the medical procedure that many have done in our day is not what he is speaking about, but in Paul’s day getting circumcised was the religious rite that placed you into the religion of Judaism, and this is what Paul is refuting among the Galatians, he tells them not to go down that road. This chapter has lots of good ‘memory verses’, the famous lists of the works of the flesh versus the fruit of the Spirit are found here, and it seems pretty clear to me that Paul identified circumcision with the moral law of the 10 commandments, that is he saw being circumcised as an act that obligated you to ‘keep all the law’ some theologians are discussing whether or not Paul meant the law of Moses when speaking about going ‘back under the law’ some think Paul was speaking only of the ceremonial law and the system of animal sacrifices when he was telling the gentiles that they should not go under the law, I believe if you read Paul in context both in this letter and the book of Romans, that he is speaking of the moral law too, not just the ceremonial law. All in all Paul exhorts these believers to fight for their right to be free from the past restraints of religion and bondage, he tells them to not desire to go back under a system of bondage, that Christ has made us free from that legalistic way of life and he has liberated us by giving us the Holy Spirit- if we ‘walk in the Spirit we will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh, for the flesh lusts against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh, and these two are contrary one to the other, so that you cannot do the things that you would’ amen to that.
(1337) IS THERE MORE GOING ON WITH THE CHRISTMAS DAY PLOT? While not a conspiracy theorist myself, if you pay close attention to the last few statements from the white house, there seems to be a bigger problem than the president is willing to admit. There have been some insiders who have floated the belief that the president believes that the CIA and other intelligence people might have purposefully allowed this tragedy to happen. In one of the last speeches the president made on the plot, the lead up to the speech was the president was going to drop a bombshell, his people said this. Yet during the speech there was no bombshell, yet he really rebuked the intelligence agencies and said he would not tolerate such incompetence. Then Richard Wolf, a regular on MSNBC who has inside access to the president [he has written a book on the president and is writing another one now] said on MSNBC that the president and his people believe that it’s possible that the intelligence agencies purposefully withheld information as some type of political vendetta. In the second hour he came back and ‘corrected’ his statement, he then said ‘well it’s a theory that is still 10 steps down the road’. It’s obvious that someone from the white house contacted him and told him to shut up. How could something like this be possible? When the president appointed Leon Panetta to head the CIA, as a democrat Panetta was furious over the way the democratic liberal agenda was going as it related to his agency. Nancy Pelosi would accuse them of regularly lying all the time to congress, other democrats/liberal politicians also went so far as to say it was possible that those who carried out the interrogations using the accepted practices that they were told to use, that these employees might now have committed war crimes! And last but not least the attorney general, Eric Holder, opened up investigations into the employees that might lead to convictions and imprisonment. What exactly were the crimes these govt. employees engaged in? They simply followed the orders of the previous administration, orders that were approved by the previous attorney general [Alberto Gonzales]. Do you know what this does to the morale of these agencies? You now have govt. employees going home to their wives and kids, and not just worrying about their jobs, but real fears that our govt. might do some outrageous thing and who knows, maybe turn them over to the world court in the Hague to face a war crime tribunal. This stuff is not funny, this is why Leon Panetta and other democrats who know how these communities work were outraged over our politicians regularly accusing them as being lying criminals. Now, as someone who worked as a firefighter for 25 years, the truth is if you feel your superiors are going behind your back and accusing you of dereliction of duty, if they told you to do things and later said that these orders you carried out are now making you liable to do prison time, this would affect the inner working of the community in a terrible way, no one would want to go out of his way and speak up and say ‘sure, I’ll be the one to go out on a limb and turn this possible bomber in’ no, you clam up because you have created a political environment that has people walking on eggshells, this is the real world my friends. Now with all this as the background, you can see how it ‘slipped out’ that the president and his people believe its possible that these agencies didn’t act on purpose, this might very well be an in house war that is affecting the nation in ways people don’t know. I do not know what the ‘bombshell’ was that the president was supposed to say, but he changed his mind and did not say it. But it’s very likely that he was going to say something along the lines of ‘I will not tolerate the purposeful holding back of information because of political vendettas’ or something like that. I in no way blame this incident on the president or our people, but when you play politics with people’s lives, like going after your own employees as criminals, by publicly accusing them of always lying to congress, it’s inevitable that this creates a non cooperative work place environment, everyone with real world experience knows this.
(1338) GALATIANS 6- Paul closes this short theological treatise with some practical stuff; help each other out with their burdens, if you see a brother struggling, restore him in the spirit of meekness. Those who are teaching you Gods word, ‘communicate’ to them in all good things [share with them financially and materially]. Good advice that Paul gives to all of the churches he writes to. As we close our study of this letter, I want to emphasize that the majority of what Paul is teaching [over 90%] is great theological truth, it would be silly for preachers/teachers to grasp hold of any single verse and to exalt that above the main body of truths that we have discussed. It isn’t hard for any preacher/teacher to go thru this letter on a few Sundays and teach the main truths of the letter. We desperately need to get back to doing it this way in many Pentecostal/Protestant/Evangelical churches- and yes, the ‘organic church’ guys too! We all have a tendency to pick out pet doctrines out of the New Testament and then to make the side issues the main thing. I think the main thing [justification by faith, the blessing of Abraham in context, etc.] is good enough without us having to try and find some type of ‘Rhema word’ that is not the main word of God. Recently a good man died, Oral Roberts. A few weeks have passed and I think it is okay to mention a few things. The media reported how many preachers showed up to the funeral in Cadillac’s and expensive cars, there have been various articles written about the legacy he will leave behind. Some wrongly said he was the father of the ‘Word of Faith/prosperity movement’ [E.W. Kenyon was the real father, and Kenneth Hagin and others lay claim to the title]. The point I want to make is Brother Roberts was a good man who did good things, but his way of doing doctrine is not my cup of tea. He was famous for popularizing the ‘seed-faith’ teaching. It comes from Paul’s letters when he does tell believers that if they give in faith God will bless them, true enough. But when we read the New Testament there are many warnings against greed and materialism, and when we take a simple practical truth from Paul, even though it’s true, and when this truth becomes our main message, then we err. In this last chapter of Galatians Paul gives practical advice about giving financially to those who are teaching you, good. But this is one verse in a letter filled with other main teachings, the important stuff if you will. For believers in our day to have built ministries/churches and to have as the foundation of these ministries the few practical side verses, is wrong. We need to focus on the main thing, and keep the main thing the main thing! [Redemption thru Christ’s Blood, eternal life to those who believe, etc.] I don’t want to speak bad about brother Roberts, he was a good man who went home to be with the Lord, it’s just the discussion that has happened after his passing shows us how easy it is for good men to get sidetracked with a verse or 2 and then to exalt it out of context. As I conclude this brief study on Galatians, I think I will go back over a few main verses in the next week or so and give you some ‘practical’ things that I have gleaned these last few weeks. In a sense I will show you how God can speak to us in a personal way thru these letters, yet at the same time not losing the original meaning of the letters. One of the distinctions of the early church fathers was this Christ centered approach to the scripture, they looked for Jesus on every page. I’ll end with an example from Saint Augustine; he shared a thought on the story of Jesus walking on the water to the land, and that the disciples needed a wooden boat to ‘cross over’ he then applied the wood of the boat to the wood of the Cross and said how the Cross allows us to cross over to God, just like the boat let them cross over to the land. Now this is a simple example of applying scripture in a sort of symbolic way that is not in context, but nevertheless it’s okay to do. So I will do a few things like this in the next few posts. But while doing this, we want to not forget the main meaning of the letter, a good ‘side example’ should never negate the main body of truth.
(1339) In Johns’ gospel, chapter 3, John the Baptist’s disciples tell him ‘look- Jesus is baptizing more converts than you and you are losing the crowd’. John tells them that he is fine with losing the limelight, he says his joy is in the fact that the bride [believers] is heading towards the bridegroom [Jesus] and he is glad that he can at least hear the interaction. I find it interesting that John did not find his identity in how many people he was personally ministering to, he did not need a large audience [or any!] in order to feel fulfilled. But he did need to hear the voice of Jesus; he had to at least have that. Over the years of ‘doing ministry’ I have always found it troubling that so many men in ministry seem to be in a race to get people to show up at some meeting environment, if you can ‘pack the parking lot’ you feel fulfilled. Now, God is concerned about numbers, don’t get me wrong, if you ‘pack the parking lot’ fine. The point is we should be able to ‘feel fulfilled’ by simply hearing the voice of the bridegroom. When the church gives in to the pressure of class and status, she loses her prophetic voice to society. In 14th century England you had a general distaste for the church, the people resented the wealth and class that the church achieved, many voices [John Wycliffe] spoke out against these abuses, even the great English poet Geoffrey Chaucer would write about it in his famous ‘Canterbury tales’ [how many of you still remember English Lit?] The church achieved numbers and wealth and fame, but lost her prophetic voice and influence to the world. To all you Pastors/leaders, are you more focused on big numbers and how many need to attend in order to bring in enough tithes to accomplish certain goals? If so then re-focus, don’t let your emotions go up and down based on stuff like this, one things is needful, John said that’s what made him happy, his ‘joy was fulfilled’ in hearing the voice of Jesus, how about you?
(1340) GALATIANS AFTER-THOUGHTS: As I said the other day I will try and go back over a few verses and share a few more things on Galatians. One of the things I wanted to mention was the fact that I purposefully chose to teach the letter in the classic Protestant way [mostly] I avoided getting into the ‘New Perspective’ ideas on Paul and ‘what he really meant’. So let’s talk a little on it; as of the date of this writing there is a theological debate going on [mostly in the ivory towers, but seeping somewhat into mainstream thought] that re-looks at Paul and what the context of his day was. For instance when the Reformers of the 16th century spoke about being Justified by Faith and not by works, many of them were speaking about the works of tradition and the things they felt were wrong in the Catholic faith. Were they wrong in applying Paul this way? No. In context was Paul talking about the works of ‘Catholic tradition’ when saying men are not justified by works? No. So it’s good to point stuff like this out. The problem I see with some of the New Perspective theologians is they can explain stuff and when you’re done listening [reading] it’s possible to miss the heart of the New Testament doctrine on Justification by faith, we don’t want to lose people in the weeds when trying to peel the layers of the onion. So I purposefully chose to teach this letter in the plain way that most Protestants would understand it, but I do think that N.T. Wright [Bishop of Durham, Church of England] has good things to add to the debate [as well as John Piper- the Reformed Baptist preacher who has taken the New Perspective group and rebuked them]. It’s good and profitable to engage in these types of theological discussions, but we need to once again ‘keep the main thing the main thing’. I also avoided getting into the debate on exactly what ‘works of the law’ meant. Some think Paul was only referring to the rite of circumcision. In some verses [both here and in Romans] this is true. But some [N.T. Wright] apply this in a way that says the act itself was simply an ‘identifying badge’ that brought you into the community of God, while this is true, they get a little off track by not fully seeing that in Paul’s writings these things go hand in hand. Paul mixes in the ‘work of circumcision’ with the idea of keeping the moral law/10 commandments. When saying ‘we are not under the law’ Paul includes all of it, not just the ceremonial law. How do we know this? Because whenever Paul makes this argument he always adds ‘does this mean we go out and sin’? And his answer is always no, but instead of saying ‘no, don’t sin because we are still constrained by the 10 commandments’ he says ‘no, how can we who died to sin still live in it’. To be frank about it, many of the Reformed guys have problems with this as well, they teach a kind of theology that says the N.T. believer is under the law, I disagree. So as you can see this debate can go on for a while, that’s why I chose to avoid it in this study. I want all of our readers to be grounded in the basic truths of the letter before launching into a deeper level. Okay enough for now, tune in the next week or so and I’ll try and do some practical stuff from Galatians.
(1341) MEDIA BIAS- This week the big story is the statement from Harry Reid, when discussing Obama’s chances at becoming president he said ‘he’s light skinned, and doesn’t speak with a Negro dialect, unless he wants to’ OUCH! Okay, the Black leadership has for the most part forgiven him and he admitted he was wrong. Everyone knows that if a Republican said it he’d be run out on a rail, but that’s politics. The media bias I want to talk about is more serious than this. A few weeks back I watched a news show that profiled a business woman who owned a bike store and they showed how she had customers with all this money to buy, but she couldn’t get a loan from ‘the evil banks’ and because of this she had no money for inventory or expansion. And then they showed a guy who owned a scooter store and he faced the same problem. The media has been trying to portray the economies problems on the fact that some businesses are unable to obtain loans and that this is why the recession is lingering. This is fundamentally not true, then why are they saying it? It’s because they are such strong advocates for the president that this story line sort of gets him off the hook. The majority of small businesses are not in trouble because they can’t secure loans, many of them are feeling the heat of customers who are not purchasing because of loss of jobs and an overall sluggish economy. Many businesses are facing a very anti business environment from this president, that’s just a fact. Businesses will not hire new employees in an unstable atmosphere where they don’t know what their costs are going to be. They are facing the huge cost of having to provide health care to their workers, or pay steep fines if they don’t. Cap and trade [the president’s way to appease his environmentalist constituency] will be a disaster for an ailing economy; it will raise the cost of business all around and even raise the cost of energy for every homeowner in the country. You simply can’t follow these types of policies in an economy that is weak like ours. So the problem is not that businesses can’t get loans, it is the other major factors that are anti business that play a bigger role. A few years ago the well meaning political lobbying groups who advocate for the rights of minorities put pressure on the politicians to force the banks to make more loans to minorities, though they meant well, the banks said if you force us to not use the simple credit standards that we have always used, regardless of race, then we will have problems. Nevertheless the pressure on the banks was ‘you guys must be racists because you are not lending enough money to minorities’. So men like Barney Frank and Chris Dodd oversaw the policies that forced the banks to lend money to many innocent blacks who were in over the heads. These are not the scams that were done by crooked lenders, these were simple home loans to people who normally would not qualify, but because of politics they ‘qualified’. During the Bush administration there were a few people who raised the red flag and began saying ‘we are going to face a huge problem if we don’t fix the problems with Fannie and Freddie’ [the governments insurance for home loans] Barney Frank and other democrats actually said that these Republicans who raised the red flag were trying to create a crisis environment where there was none. In essence Frank and Dodd ignored all the real warnings and this led to the financial disaster the country faced. Now you would think that after this almost criminal negligence [Dodd did get a sweetheart deal from these same banks that he was working with] these guys would be removed from these positions and never have their influence felt again. But instead they led the charge in blaming everything on Bush and the evil bankers who were always out to get you. So now we are demonizing the banks, after all it’s their so called unwillingness to lend that’s behind all the problems. The media tells this story over and over again until we believe it. Sure, the banks were part of the problem, and the fact that AIG operated like a bank, but without the regulations of a bank, these things added to the problem. But today the overall policies of the govt. can either be realistic or ideological; you can say your plan is to pour tons of money into ‘green jobs’ but this is a joke, to be honest about it. The govt. just admitted that all the billions that were poured into ‘road ready’ projects did not create any jobs, most of the other bailout money that was sent to the states was simply used to pay bills and payroll for the states, and it too did not create jobs. If the president does not seriously see the problem, then no matter how much more ‘stimulus’ you put into the economy, it will fail, it is simply creating a bigger debt which in itself is a drag on business. While the Harry Reid stories are fodder for the media, the media does a greater disservice to the country when they advocate so strongly for a president to the point where they play along with the skewed story line, they need to stop blaming everything on the evil bankers and the fat cats on wall street, they need to seriously get back to reporting news.
(1342) WHEN THE SEED SHOULD COME TO WHOM THE PROMISE WAS MADE- As I was teaching thru Galatians this verse ‘spoke to me’ in a personal way [will explain it in a second]. I felt like the Lord was saying that there are long term promises/destinies that he has planted within us, both as individuals and communities, and that often times he is waiting for the ‘seed to come to whom the promise was made’. In the parables of Jesus the seed speaks of a few things. Most of us are familiar with 'the seed as the word’ imagery- ‘the sower sows the word’. But Jesus also speaks of ‘the seed’ as the children of the kingdom that his father has planted in the world. And of course in Galatians Paul is specifically referring to the singular seed, who is Christ. Every few years I go thru our radio messages and will adjust the programs I air. I often find that the messages that I marked as ‘o.k.’ are not o.k. anymore, it’s not that they are bad, it’s just I notice a tone/level of ‘seed’ [spoken word] that is not mature enough, it seems like as the years roll by the later messages just sound better. God has all of us in a maturing process; things that we thought were ‘deep revelation’ at one time, now sound quite silly. As I was marking off the programs that sounded too immature, I felt like the Lord was saying ‘the seed has come to whom the promise was made’ sort of like the lord was saying ‘son, I was waiting for your level of maturity to catch up to the promise’. Also in Romans it says ‘the whole creation groans and travails in pain together until now’ I also felt like the Lord was saying the seed, as it pertains to all the people groups we relate to, were also in a ‘birthing process’ that too had to mature to a point where the promises could be inherited- ‘when the fullness of times was come, God sent forth his son, made of a woman, made under the law’ [Galatians] God has ‘fullness seasons’ times [Kairos] when he says ‘okay, the promises I made to you at the beginning of the journey are now ready to be experienced’ in essence the seed has come to whom the promise was made. Now, this sort of spiritual/symbolic way of hearing God, is it a good way to develop doctrine? No! Never, ever! Pope Benedict critiqued the ‘historical, critical’ method of liberal theology in his book ‘Jesus of Nazareth’ the method developed out of the liberal universities in Germany in the 19th- 20th centuries. Men like Rudolph Bultman would popularize it. It was a way of reading scripture thru an historical/archeological lens. Some of the ideas are good and profitable, but some are not. Many would reject the supernatural aspects of scripture and come to deny the resurrection. Not good. The Pope also warned against this way of ‘dissecting’ Jesus and Christianity to a point where you really don’t see the true Jesus anymore. The real Jesus of Christianity and history, the Jesus that we all have a relationship with by faith. The point being we want to go to scripture with an open heart and expectancy to ‘hear God’. While doing this, we also want to recognize that the scripture had the SAME MEANING to the first century church as to us today, the meaning never changes, the applications do. That’s the main point I want to make, so today the Lord might be speaking to you about certain ‘seeds’ coming to maturity in your own life, things that you have been waiting for and maybe the lord was saying he needed a maturing process to take place, both in you and the people you relate to. The ‘whole creation’ if you will.
(1343) One of the other themes that spoke to me from Galatians was the idea that Israel and the world were under a ‘schoolmaster phase’ until the fullness of times arrived. This phase was the whole economy of Old Testament law and rule. I felt like the Lord was saying that many of us have been led, and actually have arrived, at places and purposes the hard way; i.e. - the ‘tutor’ phase. That is God allowed the process of trial and error and discipline to work in us until we arrived at the purpose and goal. Isaiah says that ‘I have chosen you in the furnace of affliction’ yes, this way of ‘arriving’ is much more painful, but it still gets you there. Now the entire discipline phase for the world was the time period before the Cross. The law and the Old Covenant were the only way to ‘get there’ so to speak. If people wanted to have a relationship with God, they were either born Jews, or converted to Judaism. Today of course we have access thru the Cross. One of the earliest ‘cults’ of Christianity was a sect call ‘Gnosticism’ these early adherents mixed Greek dualism [material world bad, spirit world good type of a thing] in with Christianity, they taught that the God of the Old Testament was the evil God who created the material world, and that thru Jesus we can come to know the true God of the New Testament, the God who gives us salvation by delivering us from the material world. Though it seems like there are verses in the New Testament that teach that the ‘world’ is evil and that God wants to ‘deliver us from this present evil world’ [Galatians] yet in these contexts ‘the world’ is simply speaking of the lost system of man and the ‘way of the world’. In Christian theology matter is not inherently evil. The Apostle John would deal with the Gnostics in his first epistle by saying ‘whoever denies that Jesus has come in the flesh is not of God- they are anti-Christ’. Because the Gnostics believed all matter to be evil they would reject the humanity of Jesus, John was targeting them in his letter. As I mentioned before the controversy over the Trinity was settled at the council of Nicaea [a.d.325] but the church still battled with the nature of Jesus. Nicaea said ‘God is one essence/substance and 3 persons’. But this did not fully deal with the nature of Jesus, various ideas rose up [Monarchianism, Dynamic Monarchianism] that challenged the nature of Christ. In 451 a.d. the church settled on the language that ‘Jesus is one person with 2 substances/essences [natures]’, though to some this looks like a contradiction to the earlier language of Nicaea, this council in 451 [Chalcedon] was simply saying Jesus was ‘fully God and fully man’ so anyway we were all under the discipline phase until the ‘fullness of times’. I am believing God to get us to the destination with less ‘tutoring’ if you will, less trial and error. Sure, we will never fully get to the point of not making a few mistakes and stumbling along the way, but as we get older hopefully we will ‘stumble less’.
(1344) THE WEEK IN REVIEW- Okay, we had lots happening this past week; the tragic earthquake in Haiti, estimates are that there might be around 100,000 deaths, tragic indeed. The firestorm from MSNBC over the comments made by Pat Robertson, he said Haiti made a deal with the devil to get free from French rule and that all has gone bad since, not to smart of a statement. And there is a possible upset for the democratically held seat of former senator Ted Kennedy, the Republican [Scott] might beat the Democrat [Coakley] this would be a major disaster for the Democrats. First, Haiti is a real tragedy and we need to pray and send help and support and get behind the presidents efforts to help. Now, the statement from Pat Robertson, did it deserve the apoplectic response of the MSNBC talking heads? Not really. There is a story that Haiti did ‘sign a pact with the devil’ and that because of Haiti’s majority religion of choice, Voodoo, this has affected the country. Do we know for sure about ‘the pact’? No, but the demonism practiced by many does have a negative effect on Haiti. The nonsensical argument made by the critics of Robertson goes like this ‘Robertson, and all other adherents to right wing conservative Christianity suffer from a collective arrogance/ignorance because of the choice of their religion- their religion has effected them for the worse in a corporate way- i.e. made them ignoramuses’ and then they say it is reprehensible to even think about the possibility that the religion of Voodoo could have a corporate negative impact on Haiti. Am I missing something here? Now to the Massachusetts race, why is the Democrat having so much trouble [besides the fact that she ran a terrible campaign]? The Republican candidate has made health care the number one issue in the race, the state is 3 to 1 Democratic, with a large group of Independents. Like I said before, many well meaning, elderly north eastern liberals/moderates voted for the president, these voters have for the most part turned against the health care debacle, they have been told ‘you will lose 500 billion from your main insurance provider [Medicare] you will pay higher taxes in general for these reforms, many of your current premiums will go up, you might have to deal with adding 30 million people into a hospital system that can’t handle the overflow- and we are asking you to make all these sacrifices at the ending stages of your life so we can insure 30 million or so people, the majority of whom are lower wage workers’. These efforts are not even providing universal care, you will still have around 20-25 million uninsured when all is said and done, and the ‘political incentive’ for all these scared elderly citizens is ‘you need to sacrifice because it’s right’. Now, realistically these voters are not saying publicly ‘you got to be kidding me’ but they are saying it with their vote. Yesterday the unions- of which I was a member for 25 years [AFLCIO- firefighter] made another ‘special deal’ with the president, they will get a special 5 year exemption on the extra taxes being added to the expensive insurance policies that are held by many union workers. Now, I believe we should not tax any health care policies at all; after all we are trying to make it more affordable for people to obtain insurance! But the fact is this is another way the president wants to raise the money needed for the program. But you have many other working Americans who are not part of the union constituency who Obama needs, these people will simply foot the bill for the president’s ‘friends’. This whole thing from the Nebraska deal right down to the final secret deals being made right now is a totally corrupt process that the majority of American people are against. As an advocate of a single payer system myself [yes- call me a liberal if you will] this white house and congress are a total disaster when it comes to health care, sorry, that’s just telling the truth. And let’s end with the outrageous article that the New York Times did on congressman Bart Stupak, the congressman from Michigan [Democrat] who has been heroic in his stand against the funding for abortion that is in the bill. The times did a story on how his son killed himself a few years back with the congressman’s own gun, and how Stupak still achieved a high rating from the NRA by his ‘pro-gun’ votes. This is absolutely despicable, the congressman gets high ratings because he believes in the rights of Americans to own firearms, in no way is it right to connect blame, or cast dispersion on the man because of what happened to his son. All in all it’s been a bad week for the media, and a tragic week for the innocent victims in Haiti, pray for our country and the world, we all need it.
(1345) BUT BEFORE FAITH CAME, WE WERE KEPT UNDER THE LAW,SHUT UP UNTO THE FAITH THAT WOULD AFTERWARDS BE REVEALED- Galatians 3:23 Over the years I have grown in my understanding of ‘church/ministry’ and have come to see that God requires of us to ‘do justice, love mercy and walk humbly’- that is we often begin the Christian life [especially minister/pastor] with a bunch of noble goals and dreams and we become fixated on the finances and buildings and all the outward stuff that we think is needed to ‘reach the world’. All well meaning men with noble goals, but often times the whole thing devolves into ‘if these parishioners would be obedient and tithe 10 % of their income we could do great things’ and behind the scenes there begins to be an accusatory spirit by the leaders/pastors towards ‘these rebels’. As someone who does not receive offerings or money I have been freed from this whole scenario. Now, how does ‘faith come/ be revealed’? In contrast to the above picture, God will often speak to us and use us when we do not have the cart before the horse- when our time and efforts are not always consumed with building ‘our ministry’ or getting the funds needed for what we think is Gods purpose. In the parable of the great supper, Jesus says a man prepared this great meal/table and he sent his servant out at suppertime to call the guests, and out of the first 3 groups he goes to, 2 out of 3 couldn’t make it because they purchased stuff [land, livestock] then the master gets mad and sends him to the poor, blind and maimed [do justice] and there is still room so he is told to go out into the highways and hedges and compel them to come in. The point I want to make is those who were preoccupied with stuff missed the true riches, it’s not that they meant to be rebellious; it’s just the nature of the beast. I want to encourage all of our leaders to re-focus as the New Year begins, sure- you are going to have to deal with practical things [money, etc.] but don’t become so consumed with ‘the ministry’ that this becomes the driving factor of your life. I have had ‘minister friends’ who were always talking about, or trying to ‘build up the work’ some times when we would interact [run into each other] if I had a homeless guy they couldn’t wait until I would ‘lose’ the brother so we could talk ministry. I know they mean well, but they are so consumed with ‘the stuff’ they couldn’t see the true riches; they were missing the ‘great supper’ and didn’t even realize it. ‘In as much as you did it unto the least of these, you did it unto me’.
-(1346) In Luke’s gospel the parable of the pounds [money] has the master giving 1 pound to each servant and when he returns he takes the 1 pound from the brother who hid it and gives it to the other guy who made 10 more pounds with the first pound. Moral of the story, don’t squander your capital! One of the most influential works on human government was Plato’s ‘Republic’ Plato lived 4 centuries before Christ and in the famous work he has Socrates [his mentor] having a dialogue and discussing the elements needed for ordering a just society. The leaders must be educated and put the good of the people/community above their own personal desires. Leaders should be statesman and not politicians. As I was watching the news over the weekend they are still debating health care and both sides have stooped so low as to use the Haiti tragedy for political gain. On one of the Sunday shows, the person representing Bush was trying to be non partisan and praised Obama for his actions. Then the Democrat had the gall to contrast the quick response of Obama with the poor response of Bush to Katrina, these guys are never going to learn. Why are the Democrats willing to be the first party in history to push thru major legislation in secret meetings against the majority public opinion? They have calculated the cost, politically, of not passing something and have come to the conclusion that it would be better politically to pass something and take the heat, than to not pass something. Bill Clinton and others have openly said this, they have been found out on more than one occasion to have made this crass political choice. So in the minds of many of them it’s not a matter of telling many American workers ‘you are going to pay an extra 40 % tax on your health ins.’ and then tell the other worker, doing the same job ‘you do not have to pay the tax because you are a union member and we need your votes’ this is not statesmanship, this is political expediency- do whatever it takes to get your side to win, even at the expense of the public. President Obama [who I just finished praying for, and his family!] had lots of political capital at the beginning of the year, much more than any other president in recent history; but he took the ‘1 pound’ and squandered it, he blew it by making these terrible political calculations. As this new year begins it seems as if he really hasn’t made much out of the ‘pound’ that was given him at the start. It looks like the voting public is about to say ‘take from him the pound and give it to someone else’.
(1347) IF WE KILL THE SON, THEN THE INHERITANCE WILL BE OURS! Many years ago while working at the fire dept. we had a new chief come in and the city commissioners let it be known that they weren’t happy with the way the last chief kept them informed, they wanted a more detailed update of the emergencies we had. Sure enough we had a train derailment and this was the chance for the ‘new boss’ to prove himself. The problem was the incident itself was not a major thing, we had to wait for the company’s private haz-mat crew to get there, but it was more of a stand- by situation. But most of the night was spent detailing every single thing; times, who you called, what step you did next- it was overkill of the emergency for the purpose of proving to the commissioners that ‘the new boss was better than the old one’. This week the White House put out a very detailed play by play accounting of the president’s response to Haiti, I mean it covered 4 days of intense detail. Many of the president’s people have made the rounds on the talk shows and have emphasized the fact that ‘this president is not like the last one, he acts fast to help’ type of a thing. If you listen to the ‘noise’ from these politicos there is no doubt that ‘all the president’s men’ got together and made a political decision to play this incident for all its worth. Now I am not saying they truly don’t want to help [just like my train emergency] but you can tell that they also are making the argument that ‘Obama acts fast, not like Bush’. If they simply did their job and didn’t say anything about Bush, then I would feel differently. Why would they be so crass? Many people voted for the president because they had such high hopes of change, hopes beyond all reason. Because the president did not have a long past record, and the fact that the media did not vet the man, this created an atmosphere where you could project your own image onto the man, and this then created a ‘candidate’ that was all things to all people. The first year has gone so bad that they are looking for anything to turn things around. Now the opposing side are like the care-takers in the parable of the vineyard. Jesus said the owner of the vineyard leased out the land to some guys and when he sent his workers to get the harvest they abused them. Finally the landowner sent the son, and they said ‘if we take this premier one down, surely the inheritance will be ours’. So the Republicans have decided to ‘take down the heir’. Now, I am sure there are good people on both sides of the aisle that have good motives, but this seems to be the game right now. I remember during the campaign that ‘news’ got out that Obama voted to push the gay agenda for young school children in the schools of Illinois, the gay and lesbian groups were part of his constituency [fine] and he represented their cause. The problem was when this leaked out he said he was only supporting the awareness of young children being molested by older people, that he did not support legislation that promoted the gay agenda to kids. The media backed him up and played this story line. They lied over and over again about this. The fact was Obama did back up much more than he admitted, and those he accused of being liars were telling the truth. Okay, he’s not the first to lie, I got ya. But he recently appointed the first ‘transgender’ person to his administration; the wonderful looking picture of ‘the woman’ with her hair all made up and the makeup and all looked like a woman, but it was a man. Okay, I am not here to make fun, these people are obviously struggling with some emotional/psychological problems, but to appoint them to open positions means you do support the ‘gay’ agenda much more than you previously admitted. Fine, if that’s your position then say so, don’t tell everyone you simply were trying to warn underage kids about molestation. Last but not least the president has advised people to go to the white house web site to support the Haiti situation; are there any comparisons between Bush and Obama that might be deemed political on this site? Yes, there is wording that says Obama will act fast on disasters, not like the mistakes of the previous administration. If your gonna play non stop politics, then don’t use the tragedy in Haiti IN ANY WAY to do it. You should not tell people to go to a web site, purely as a matter of helping with a tragedy, and have anything on the site like this- you are playing politics with people’s lives when you do this type of stuff, period [he should send them to the Red Cross or the many other good groups for this, or make sure you are not making political statements on the site].
(1348) HE’S FOR WATERBOARDING! Well I was up late last night and the upset of the year gave the Massachusetts senate seat to Scott Brown. Okay, the liberal media are in denial. Chris Matthews was coming up with all sorts of reasons why this happened; was it because the woman candidate, Martha Coakley [or like Kennedy likes to say ‘Marsha’] brought with her a stern prosecutors personality and Scott was a more down to earth guy? Some surmised that the state really wasn’t ready for a woman senator, and the analyses went on and on. It was quite comical to see Matthews trying to figure out what happened, while on the split screen the Brown supporters are holding up signs that said ‘Was that loud enough’- ‘can you hear us now Washington’! and things to that effect. But the liberal media [by the way, in some ways I’m liberal, others conservative- I prefer to not go by party names] could not accept the reality of a popular groundswell at the grass roots level that is going on in the country. They have tried so hard to demean the ‘tea partiers’ and even label Brown as a ‘truck drivin’ hick’ but they simply can’t come to grips with the fact that many Americans are fed up with all the schemes and secret meetings and messages from Washington elites that simply treat the popular groundswell as ignoramuses. And Norah O’Donnell [MSNBC] says that Brown even supports water-boarding, she said it in a way that made it sound like he’s a nut! Okay, now let’s do some serious stuff. First of all most Americans are not up in arms over pouring water on the faces of terrorists to obtain information, but the liberal media seems to think that this is such a hot topic. Is it fundamentally wrong to do this? Possibly, but what is one million times more wrong is flying these remote control planes [drones] over civilian neighborhoods and regularly blowing away innocent women and children. Now, like I said before I do not fault our heroic service men for this, but the president should stop doing this. I do realize we are targeting terrorists, but we are also killing many innocent women and children when we do this. Why is Obama stepping up these attacks in a much greater way than Bush? Could it be that he needs some good news politically and the death of Bin Laden would surely be an easy comparison of how Bush couldn’t get him in 8 years and we got him in one? I don’t know what the true reason is, but it is much more unjust to ‘accidently’ kill many Muslim/Arab innocent people than to water board a terrorist. I would like to ask Nora O’Donnell and all the talking heads if their families and children were taken by some group, and the group contacted them and said ‘you have 2 options, we water board your kids or drop a drone bomb on them’ how many would opt for the bomb? One night while watching a debate over this issue the ‘supporter’ of water boarding was going back and forth with the anti water boarder, who was a liberal legal scholar. The liberal was asked ‘do you think it was more unjust for us to drop the bombs on Japan and kill a few hundred thousand innocent people, to have caused years and years of slow radiation deaths on the generations of many Japanese people- was that more unjust than water boarding’? And the liberal had the nerve to say water boarding a terrorist was more ‘unjust’. Our problem is we seem to think its okay to actually kill, yes that’s part of war. If you argued with the liberals about how the actual act of killing in war is also a ‘tool’ that the other side uses to recruit, they will readily admit that yes, killing other people groups is a tool-but that’s the price to pay for freedom. But the same people who justify actual killing, also say that Gitmo needs to shut down and we need to stop the horrible practice of water boarding. Even though these tools might have actually helped in some way, yet the tool of water boarding [or Gitmo] is deemed a horrendous thing. Yet these drone attacks are not even questioned by these people. I think we should stop doing these drone attacks if we can’t direct the ‘darn’ things out of the way of innocent people, period.
(1349) THE SAGA CONTINUES- Okay, I know you guys are getting tired of my ranting, but I’m in between studies right now and you can jump to the other parts of the site if you’re not into politics. Right after the Massachusetts miracle the Dems got together and were desperately trying to figure out a way to pass health care reform before the new Republican was certified. John Kerry, the other Mass. senator was saying ‘well, it might take 10 days or more to certify’ and they really wanted to ‘fight the opposition’ to the end! They were mistaking the popular voice of the people, in one of the most liberal states in the country, as ‘the opposition’. Finally Jim Webb, the Democrat from Virginia had enough and sent word out to the networks that ‘we should not try and cast any votes until the New senator is seated’ then of course Obama came out and said ‘lets not rush anything thru’ after he realized they couldn’t. These guys can’t hear the voices of the people, it’s sad. Why did Mass. have an interim senator? After Kennedy died the state Democratic lawmakers changed the law and said ‘the Governor can appoint an interim’ the governor is a Democrat, so he appointed one of his own. Why did they have to change the law? For years Mass. had a law that said the governor has the right to appoint an interim in cases like this. Then when Mitt Romney, a Republican, became governor ‘oh no, lets change the law’ and they did. The new law said ‘no longer will the governor appoint, let the people decide in a special election’ sounds noble. The voice of the people and all. Then when Ted Kennedy announced he was dying of cancer, low and behold they changed the law back again. I mean talk about political games, this is ridiculous. So they were rushing to pass something with the vote of the interim, who was really no longer the senator, but they felt like ‘what the heck, with the cornhusker kickback, the Louisiana purchase and the special deal with the unions, this is nothing’. And finally the Democrats themselves [Webb] said ‘enough, the president and his agenda has harmed us enough, now we are trying to do crooked deals to get around the peoples voice’. I mean these guys are bad, really bad. I hope and pray that the new situation [59 Dems- 41 Republicans] will cause them to really work together and try and actually govern, the liberal agenda of ‘tax and trade’ and these other things are not going to make it, maybe we can still pass individual parts of health care reform one by one, but for the most part the idea of doing ‘huge, major things’ in the sense that Rahm Emmanuel said ‘never waste an emergency’ those days are over. The media needs to get back to doing its job, why are they not reporting more on the innocent deaths of civilians in these wars? They made that the major issue during Bush’s presidency, that is the casualty count. We have killed many more civilians in the last year thru our drones than in all the years of Bush [Bush did not regularly use drones for bombing people]. Where are the media on this? The Haitian situation is turning into a major disaster, that is the humanitarian response, there are estimates that 20 thousand people a day are dying simply because of a lack of getting medical supplies and treatment to the people, where’s the media uproar? They are silent [to a degree- Anderson Cooper from CNN is doing good reporting] because they have already decided to play along with the initial political line of ‘look how good Obama is doing, not like Bush’s Katrina’ so they are now reluctant to report on the failures because Obama made the political calculation to wed himself to the response. We need statesman, not politicians, the media needs to report, or the blogs and on line sources will take up the slack. I do not want the defeat of our president, he has made some mistakes and he has the chance to make a course correction like Clinton did, he can still do well. But he needs to do things the right way, the Chicago style deals that he is doing will not fly with the American people, you can’t promise openness and no ‘behind the door backroom deals’ and then actually be the worst administration in memory for ‘behind the door backroom deals’ stuff like this must stop, hopefully he got the message from Mass.
(1350) THE ANTICHRIST IS HERE! Okay, probably not a good heading for following the last few political posts. But I’ve been reading in the gospels and wanted to share a few thoughts. The apostle John, who wrote the book of Revelation [a popular book in today’s prophecy teaching] also wrote the epistles of John, in 1st John chapter 2 he says ‘it is the last [end] time, as you heard that antichrist will come, even now are there many antichrists and this is how we know it is the last time’. Most prophecy teachers are aware of this verse and it’s usually chalked up to the fact that ‘yes John is speaking of ‘the spirit of antichrist’ and the Gnostic cults who rejected Christ’s humanity’ while this is true, it’s also important to see that there is language in the New Testament that places antichrist/antichrists as a possible 1st century figure. I have hit on this before and just wanted to cover this concept a little. Many believers saw Nero as the antichrist, others see various Roman Emperors as fitting the title, and of course the most popular teaching in America is he is a future person [usually said to ‘be living somewhere in the world today’-even if today ranges over hundreds of years!] So we have had our speculation on the fella. I certainly believe that the apostle Paul was writing about a real man who would be a rejecter of Christ and persecute the church fiercely, and Jesus did speak about the ‘desolation of Daniel’ so I don’t want to spiritualize the man, I just wanted us to be challenged when we read John saying stuff like ‘even now there are many, this is how we know we are living in the end times’. I mean he is saying this a few years before writing the book of Revelation, it should cause us to re-think some of the ‘end times’ scenarios that we espouse today. John was exiled to the island of Patmos by the emperor Nero. Nero died a couple years before AD 70, it is possible that Johns Revelation was written before Nero died [being Nero was the one who put him on the island] and this would leave room for an early dating of Revelation and possibly a still living Nero to have been Johns target. Regardless of all the dating questions, it is striking to read the language of the 1st century apostles and see how they believed the key transition time of an ‘old age’ passing away and a new era coming, they saw it as the time of Christ and his death, burial and resurrection; they used ‘end time’ language as a description of their own day, not a bunch of geopolitical speculation of world events that would take place thousands of years in the future. Surely we are also considered to be ‘in the end times’ and I do believe in a literal future return of Jesus to the earth, I just wanted us to be open to the actual language that the bible uses when speaking about ‘the end times’ and allow our thinking to be shaped more by the scripture and not so much by the popular end times teaching of our day.
(1351) EVERYONE LOVES A POPULIST! [well not everyone] I was reading the story of Jesus and his men, how they picked the corn [grain] on the Sabbath and the religious leaders [those darn conservatives!] found fault. Jesus defends himself and his men by telling them ‘have you never read what David did in the days when he was fleeing from Saul- the days of Abiathar the priest’? The story is found in 1st Samuel and it shows David going into ‘the house of God’ and eating the hallowed bread with his men. Jesus says ‘see, the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath’. The moral of the story is David [and Jesus ‘the son of David’] had the right as Priests of God in this new Divine Davidic line [of Judah] to eat and to give to those who follow them as well. John wrote ‘he has made us kings and priests to God and his father’ [Revelation]. David and Jesus were populists in a sense, fighting the current of the big institutions [religion/Saul and the kingdom] and the common people were behind them. This week the president made a shift in this direction, he’s been on the stump and preaching against the big banks and wall street fat cats. When campaigning with Coakley he was railing against these enemies, even though Brown was riding a pickup! Okay, what’s up with this? The president also just released his plan to limit the banks from getting too big ‘to fail’. The reason we bailed out the banks [not very populist] was because there was this general fear that if the banks failed [and wall street] that there could be a global economic crisis like the great depression. Maybe so? But by bailing the big banks and companies out we also tried to regulate them and put limits on what they can pay out in bonuses and compensation. The banks caught on and quickly paid the money back with interest, the companies that were unable to pay the govt. off simply lost their CEO’S [A.I.G.]. So that got the monkey off their back and they made record profits and payments to their people. Obama really had no control over them anymore, or did he? He then began to go after them with a special tax that would only apply to them, and to try and prevent them from passing the cost off to consumers [too much micro management for sure]. And then he put a limit on their size, how big they could get. Warren Buffet, a strong supporter of the president, and also one of the richest men in the world loved Obama, after all Obama bailed out the banks and wall street. One of the big banks bailed out was Goldman Sachs, a bank that Buffet sunk 5 BILLION dollars into as an investment. One of the main banks that Obama is targeting is Goldman Sachs; Buffet seems to be having second thoughts. The stock of these banks will suffer, and no one in their right mind will buy these stocks for a while. Should the govt. be doing this? Tim Geithner [treasury secretary] and Ben Bernanke [fed. Chairman] think not, but Paul Volcker [another former fed. Chairman] thinks we should. So for the past year Obama listened to Geithner, and now he’s shifted to Volcker. The govt. does have the right, in my view, to tell big banks ‘if you expect us to insure your deposits- FDIC- then we have the right to prevent you from getting too big and risking people’s money in hedge funds’. The govt. could also tell them ‘no more bailouts, get as big as you want but let the buyer beware’ [the stock investors]. It would be like telling McDonalds ‘sell as many burgers as you want, but if you get into trouble we won’t help’. So it’s really a matter of opinion between how much ‘free market’ or regulation you want. The problem is the president has chosen to demonize these big banks and wall street companies in a way that’s simply a political populist message. It gives him an enemy to target while getting the message off of failed health care. He’s trying to tap into the same populist anger that led to the victory of the Republicans in Mass. But it affects the average person too- the stock market went down 500 hundred points in a couple of days because of this, many 401ks are held by average people. Then when giving an interview to ABC he explained the reason why the Republicans won in Mass, he said ‘the people are upset with Washington, not just the last year, but the last 8 years’ I knew the Bush card would be played in some way. But to say ‘the people are so mad at Bush that they replaced one of the longest held Democratic senate seats with a Republican’ is quite delusional. Okay, we all like an underdog, the David’s who are on the run and fleeing from Saul, but if you aren’t careful it can do more harm than good, it can adversely affect the ‘average Joe’ in a way that you never counted on.
[just a comment I made on a Christianity Today article] As an 'ex-catholic’ who loves the catholic people, and has somewhat of a ministry to Catholics, as well as all believers, I do see a real need for both Protestants and Catholics to better understand the historic differences between the faiths. I quote, read and enjoy many catholic teachers and theologians [even the Pope!] but there are very real theological differences that need to be understood better on both sides. I love Catholics and appreciate the Catholic Church and voice for justice in the world; we just need to make clear where the real differences are.
[just a comment on Christianity Today’s top 10 books for this year] I Loved Kluck and DeYoung’s first book, but they did not really 'see’ what the organic/out of 'church’ movement is saying [theologically]. I really think their first work [why we’re not Emergent] deserved last year’s list, but would have given them a pass for this year.
(1352) ARE YOU A POLITICAL ‘DONATIST’ [what?] – In an effort to mix in a little ‘religion’ with politics, let’s do some church history. In the 4th century you had a debate raging in the church that was called ‘the Donatist controversy’ some taught that the efficacy of the sacraments were dependent on the ‘holiness’ of the Bishops/Priests, that is if your church leaders were really not regenerated then you also suffered spiritually as a result of their lack of integrity. The very influential bishop of Hippo, a city in north Africa, would refute this doctrine and argue that the sacraments and rites of the church did not depend on the spirituality of the leaders, that if you were baptized and believed in the Lord that the sacrament counted even if the Priest was an unbeliever. The famous bishop who argued against the heresy was Saint Augustine. In today’s world we often practice a form of political Donatism, we label our leaders as either liberal or conservative [or any other number of things] and we believe that depending on the tag, that they can either do no wrong or nothing good. I believe good [and bad] can come from all groups whether or not they hold to my political slant. Now, ideas do have consequences and if you are unwilling to change course and run against your own biases, then yes you will get into trouble. But like the argument Augustine made, everything does not depend on the holiness [political bent] of the leader, he might be wrong/hold different views than you and still be able to ‘carry out an effective baptism’ if you will. We need to have enough ‘faith’ in the institution of Democracy and free govt. that we can still believe it to work, even if a less than perfect bishop is running the show.
(1353) THE LAW AND THE PROPHETS WERE UNTIL JOHN, SINCE ‘THAT TIME’ THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS PREACHED- When teaching Galatians we got into the ‘Kairos’ season- that is a time period when God said ‘the old dispensation has fulfilled its purpose and the new time has come’. In the above heading Jesus says it’s a ‘kingdom time’. One of the good things about the New Perspective teaching is they bring out Gods greater world purpose for the whole creation [Romans 8]. It is easy for believers to see their entire Christian lives thru the lens of individual salvation, while this is certainly an important subject, if this becomes the main focus of the believer he can become myopic and miss the greater intention of God- the ‘since that time the kingdom of God’ intention. When Jesus turned the water into wine at Cana, what exactly was he trying to show us? Do you find it strange that there just happened to be all these water containers sitting around? The Jewish religion was very familiar with the idea of ‘washings/baptism’ the temple system was surrounded by these baths and pools and in the gospels we see people linking water with ceremonial cleansing. No one said of John ‘what in the heck is he doing baptizing people in the Jordan’ they were familiar with the rite. Now Jesus doesn’t pick any old water buckets lying around, he is using the symbol of ‘old law’ cleansing, he’s saying ‘look, I just turned your water [old way of getting clean] into wine [my Blood which will replace/fulfill the old system]’. The significance of what he did was heavy. The appearing of Jesus in the 1st century and his death, burial and resurrection [ascension too] enacted a major change from old testament economy into a new kingdom age, the water served its purpose, but the new wine has come- party on.
(1354) O FOOLS AND SLOW OF HEART TO BELIEVE ALL THAT THE PROPHETS HAVE SPOKEN; WAS IT NOT NECESSARY THAT THE SON OF MAN SHOULD SUFFER THESE THINGS AND ENTER INTO HIS GLORY? Jesus said this to his men after he rose from the dead, they were doubting and wondering about his crucifixion and he told them that all these things were written in ‘the prophets’. Jesus also said ‘Moses said this, but I say this’. Moses said- was a reference to the first 5 books of the bible [Torah, Pentateuch] and the ‘prophets’ is referring to the rest of the old testament, apart from the wisdom books [Psalms, Proverbs, etc.] The rebuke was the fact that they had the truth all the time, they were ‘slow to believe’ all of it. As I was finishing up the Galatians study a few days ago I showed how Paul was always making his case from the Old Testament, he used the stories in scripture to prove his points. When teaching on this site, I try and share a broad range of church history, from many various perspectives. In essence I try and include ‘the whole thing, all that has been taught by the church fathers’ it’s important to read and learn from a broad perspective, it keeps you out of trouble. Today’s word is simply ‘are you listening to all that the prophets have spoken’ are you hearing all the sides of the issues your church/denomination teaches? This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have convictions about your own beliefs [I do] but it does mean that we are all part of a broad community of believers, many various ‘camps’ and perspectives. In order for us to fulfill our mandate to be ‘one in Christ’ it is our responsibility to be challenged in our views and to also have the love and concern for other believers to challenge them too. This should always be done in love and for the benefit of the whole body, take some time to hear what ‘all the prophets have spoken’ it will do you [and me] some good.
(1355) ‘For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly [it’s not your fault!] but by the will of him who subjected it in hope’- Paul addressing the church at Rome. A year or so ago I read a story on a famous underground author, Hunter Thompson, who committed suicide. Supposedly he was suffering from some type of sickness and simply left the world behind; he had ‘no hope’. It reminded me of the famous author Ernest Hemingway; he too shared the same fate. Both of these men rejected God. In the above passage of scripture Paul is speaking about the redemption of the whole creation. God was the one who ‘subjected it to futility’. When speaking about the story of David and his men a few posts back, Jesus said ‘have you never read what David did’ and he was talking about the story of king David eating the ceremonial bread and giving it to his men- it says ‘he ate, and gave to them who were with him’. At the last meal Jesus takes the bread and wine and says ‘this is my body which is broken for you’ a type of the sacrificial death of Jesus. He too ate, like David. How could Jesus also be a partaker of his own ‘bread’ [Cross]? Paul said that he was ‘filling up in his body the sufferings of Christ’ there is an aspect of suffering that the people of God go thru, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope. These sufferings glorify God and in a sense ‘Jesus too receives glory from the broken bread’ [us!] The Hunter Thompsons and Hemingway’s of the world see futility and to them there is no future hope of redemption, they chose to ‘not hope’. Paul said the sufferings of this present time were not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in/thru us. James said ‘count it all joy when you fall into various trials and tests’. Remember, the creation is subjected to futility, not willingly, but by Gods purpose- don’t blame yourself for ‘the futility’.
(1356) LET THE NATIONS BE GATHERED TOGETHER AND THE PEOPLE BE ASSEMBLED- In the gospels Jesus uses the imagery of a table to describe the kingdom ‘They shall come from the north and south and east and west and sit at my table in my kingdom’. Psalms says ‘thou preparest a table before me in the presence of my enemies’ God has a way of ‘setting the table’ if you will. Now the church has been divided over the use of the gospels versus the epistles [letters of Paul]. Historically Protestants have focused more on the epistles, specifically Galatians, Romans- and the Catholic/Orthodox include much of the gospels in their services. When we leave out either we get into trouble. A strong focus on the gospels without the epistles can lead to a legalistic righteousness- trying to simply live up to the moral law type of a thing, without a good understanding of the Spirit empowered life. But too much of a focus on the epistles without a high regard for the gospels can lead to a view of Christianity that sees ‘right doctrine’ as being more important than ‘right acting’ [orthopraxy]. So for sure we need both. One of the other interesting things we see in the gospels is the ‘kingdom’ in action versus an ecclesiology focused on ‘church meetings’. For instance we read of Jesus sending out the disciples and telling them ‘go, preach, heal, do good- and whatever city/place rejects you then wipe off the dust of that place when you leave’ Ouch! Yet at the same time you find the crowds drawn to Jesus everywhere he goes. Sort of like a message/lifestyle that goes out into society to impact it, but not a whole lotta ‘come to my church’ type stuff. In American Christianity we see too much focus on ‘come to/support this ministry’ type of a thing, and not enough ‘shaking the dust off our feet’- that is doing the will of God and then being able to walk away. In John’s gospel John the Baptist [not the author] says ‘he must increase and I MUST decrease’ there really isn’t much of a choice. I want to challenge you today, are you [especially Pastors/ministers] spending too much time trying to raise support for ‘the church’? Do you primarily see your responsibility as filling up a meeting room? Reorient your life around the action seen in the gospels, impact people and give them leadership, but then be able to decrease, to let them see you ‘less and less’ as time goes by- and be willing to walk away from some things, not walk away from responsible leadership, but from things that center too much on our individual personas. Just because people want to hear us speak in person, or just because the crowds get bigger, this is not automatically a signal for building a bigger building! We need to re-look at lots of things, let the people be gathered together and the nations be assembled [i.e. be available to impact groups] but don’t be obsessed with forcing people to gather [come to church type of a focus].
(1357) I WILL UNCOVER THINGS THAT HAVE BEEN HIDDEN SINCE THE WORLDS FIRST DAY- [Jesus]. Yesterday I read an article in the paper that talked about an amazing dinosaur find in China; they found around 15 thousand fossils in a cave area. The amazing thing was the fact that so many dinosaurs would have been in one place right when they died. I immediately saw this as proof that would back up the creationist cataclysmic view of a worldwide flood destroying all life on the planet. As I read thru the article they explained how much of ‘fossil science’ has been done thru finds in the U.S., but over the last few years China [and the eastern world in general] have undergone their own industrial revolution and this has led to the unearthing of new ground for the purpose of construction and these new projects are unearthing these fossils. Much like what took place in the 19th century when many archaeologists were discovering ‘hidden things’ that seemed to be buried ‘since the foundation of the world’. In the 19th century it was popular for the intellectuals in theology to embrace the ‘historical/critical’ method of bible learning. Many began to reject the early dating of the New Testament [early- a.d. 50-70] and began accepting a theory that said much of the New Testament was written in the 2nd century. These ideas were promoted by men like Rudolph Bultman and were made popular at the German university which he taught at [in Marburg]. So it became ‘intellectually fashionable’ to accept this new way of critiquing scripture. One problem- as the industrial revolution took off in the west archeology rose as a new science and we now had the ability to historically search for clues. A famous historian by the name of Sir Ramsey went on this exhibition to see whether or not the bible was accurate when it spoke about ‘so called’ first century things. Our bibles do have lots of names of political characters and certain historical events that can be measured for accuracy. Ramsey found to his dismay that all the evidence leaned towards the ‘less enlightened’ view of an early dating of the New Testament. This was a tough pill to swallow by the intellectuals who had already formed their opinions on the subject, but in due time most trustworthy scholars would come to accept [for the most part] the earlier dating. So now back to the dinosaurs, as the article went on they admitted that it’s possible that a Tsunami might have caused the dinosaurs to gather in one place before their deaths- A FLOOD! It’s funny because some in the modern scientific community have argued, very convincingly, that the Geologic table and the extinction of the dinosaurs can be attributed to a world wide flood. Others have vehemently opposed this idea [most evolutionists]. And now the new evidence seems to be backing up a flood theory, they simply don’t want to admit it. Like the intellectuals of Sir Ramsey’s day, the smart thing to do is to go where the evidence leads. The facts don’t lie; these are ‘facts’ that are being now uncovered, things hidden ‘since the world’s first day’.
(1358) LOTS OF PEOPLE WOULD HAVE GIVEN ANYTHING TO SEE WHAT YOU ARE SEEING AND TO HEAR WHAT YOU ARE HEARING, BUT THEY NEVER HAD THE CHANCE- Jesus to his men- Message bible. This week we had the passing of the famed author J.D. Salinger. He wrote the famous Catcher in the Rye and around 3-4 other books. He dropped out of sight in 1965 and gave 1 interview thru out the years [1980]. Though he was considered a great writer [by some] he chose to ‘not write’ [or at least publish- some think we will find a hidden trove of his books]. He hated publishing and rejected the limelight and success. But in a strange way this added to his mystique and eventually his book would become standard reading in many high schools. In essence ‘many people would have loved to see what he was able to see/write, but never had the chance’. As I am reading thru the gospels right now it’s interesting to see ‘the Jesus model’- his men are arguing over who will be ‘the greatest’ as he is getting ready for the Cross! Come on guys, the time is short and you still haven’t learned? He asks them ‘who is greater, the one who serves or the one who is being served’? In their minds the one who is being served, the owner/master has achieved the greatness and success and notoriety. But then Jesus does the unthinkable [for a king] he takes a towel and washes the disciples feet, he tells them that he that becomes the least- walks away from the fame and recognition- this one is the greatest. Truly Jesus was the ‘small seed, the least of all seeds. But when he was planted he became the greatest tree in the earth’ He practiced what he preached. Who knows, maybe Salinger would have never gained the recognition of being a great author if he sought to be a great author. Either way he fulfilled the mystery of an enigma, he ran from the glory and it chased him till the end.
(1359) ‘Now go, write it before them on a tablet [in a table] and note it in a book, that it may be for the time to come, forever and ever’ Isaiah 30:8 ‘Take a large scroll and write on it with the pen of a man’ ‘Write the vision and make it plain upon tables [tablets] that he may run that reads it’ ‘all these sayings were noised abroad, and all who heard them laid them up in their hearts’ [Jesus in the gospels]. Last night I caught an interesting movie ‘the book of Eli’ with Denzel Washington. If you haven’t seen it yet then don’t read the rest of this post. Eli lives in this future apocalyptic world [Mad Max] and is on this mission to travel west, he encounters all types of obstacles on the way [lots of blood and guts] and finally arrives at his destination, it’s a publishing house stuck on Alcatraz where these survivors spend all their time copying any books they can get their hands on for the future world; Eli announces ‘I have a King James Bible’ and he gets in. The book of Eli was the bible. In the above verses God shows us how important it is in the history of Salvation for people to write and record his words. In the middle ages you had the Monastic movement [Monks, monasteries] and these Catholic brothers separated themselves from the corruption of the world and became spiritual hermits. They were experts at 2 things; farming and the copying of important manuscripts. In the middle ages secular society learned farming thru the monks. The art of copying ancient books not only preserved theological works, but also secular ones. It was their dedication to saving these works that led to the Renaissance and rediscovery of the ancient works of philosophy and Greek thought. They were like the scribes of Jesus day. Do you value the ability to have and access great treasures? Even the bible, as history, is incredibly valuable. I mean how many other First century [and earlier] documents are lying all over the place and are being read and quoted by 1st graders as well as professors? With the great library system of our day [which I used extensively over a 15 year period] as well as the internet we have the ability to truly learn stuff that past generations would have given anything to have learned. Proverbs says wisdom is lying in the streets, at the crossroads of every city- yet fools have no appetite for it. I want to challenge you guys today, especially all our Pastors and leaders, take time to acquaint yourself with the great classics of western literature, read the great Christian [and non Christian] works of the centuries, don’t spend all your time reading/learning from one group or movement [especially if it’s one of these isolated Christian denominations] God [and men] have gone to too much trouble to get these valuable words copied and distributed to the world, take some time to read them.
(1360) Lets do a little Catholic/Protestant stuff. First, those of you who have read this site for any period of time know that as a Protestant I am ‘pro Catholic’ that is I read and study Catholic scholars, believe in the ECT statement [Evangelicals and Catholics together] and for the most part am pro Catholic in that sense. I have offended more Protestants because of this stance than Catholics. But sometimes I need to state the differences and be honest about them, true ecumenical unity should never be achieved on the altar of doctrine, we should not sacrifice sincerely held beliefs while seeking unity for Christ’s church. Last night I caught the journey home show with Marcus Grodi as well as Catholic scholar Scott Hahn [EWTN- the Catholic network]. Scott was doing a teaching on the sacraments of the church and shared a common belief in the ‘incarnational’ aspect of matter. Some theologians believe [both Catholic and Protestant] that since God became man in Jesus, that this united/sanctified matter in a way that never occurred before. They will carry this thought into sacramental theology and teach a kind of ‘connection’ with God thru material things; both Baptism and the Eucharist would be major examples. I believe the historic church was well intended when they developed this idea, they were combating the popular Greek/Gnostic belief that matter is inherently evil, not a biblical doctrine. As Scott Hahn made the argument I simply felt that he gave too much weight to the idea that because of the incarnation [God becoming man] that now there is a special ‘sanctity’ to material things when connected with the sacraments. Does the bible teach that there are actual physical things in this world that carry out the truth of the incarnation in a material way? Actually it does, the bible teaches that the bodies of believers have this special aspect because Gods Spirit lives in us. In essence the idea of ‘special matter’ that is often taught by well meaning scholars can be applied to the physical church in the earth, all who believe. I do not totally dismiss sacramental theology, many Protestants who dismiss it out of hand are not aware of the strong beliefs that the reformers held too in these areas. Luther is often misunderstood when it comes to his disagreement with Calvin, many teach and think that he split with Calvin over the doctrine of Predestination, he did not- Luther’s written views on the doctrine were just as strong [if not stronger] on the subject. Calvin never wrote a book dedicated solely to the doctrine, Luther did [bondage of the will]. But they did split on the sacrament of the Eucharist, Luther’s view [consubstantiation] was much closer to the Catholic view than Calvin, and Zwingli [the Swiss reformer] was further away than both Calvin and Luther. Lutheranism would eventually be developed by a protégé of Luther, Philip Melanchthon, and the Lutheran church would bear the image of Melanchthon more than Luther. The point being many good men have held to very strong views on these matters. I believe the biblical doctrine leans more heavily on the ‘material body’ of the believer as being the major material change since the incarnation, I do not hold to the idea that ‘God becoming man’ fundamentally changed the nature of matter when dealing with the sacraments. Matter is not [nor ever was] intrinsically evil, Greek dualism got it wrong from the start- we do not need a strong sacramental theology to refute this, scripture itself will do.
(1361) EUTOPIA OR BUST- Thomas More, the Catholic churchman who was martyred for his faith by Henry the 8th because he would not assent to the newly formed doctrine of the king of England being the head of the church, wrote the Latin book ‘Utopia’ in the year 1516. Utopia was this fictional island, ruled by ‘king Utopas’ and was the ideal society where wealth and power were not the characteristics of success. They lived a communal life where each person would take yearly turns of working on the farms where the people’s needs were met. No private ownership of property- just everybody living in this ideal world. Marxists would later lay claim to this idea and prove the futility of man in attempting to create this world. Scholars disagree over what More was trying to say; but for sure he was challenging materialistic worldviews and longing for some type of communal society as seen in the book of Acts [everyone sharing in the common purse type of thing]. Yesterday I watched Judd Greg rip thru Peter Orzag. Greg is the top Republican for finances and Orzag was defending the president’s new budget. The budget includes 30 billion for ‘jobs stimulus’ basically another tarp thing for business. The reason Greg was furious is because the tarp law said that any money eventually paid back, by law would have to go to reducing the debt. Instead the president wants to use this money as an open account that could be spent on a regular basis. Why? There are various ways any president can try and boost jobs/economy, you can implement serious fiscal discipline and make it easier for small business to operate [part of the 30 billion for small business] or you could say ‘lets spend tons of federal money on all types of things- 1st time home buyers, cash for clunkers, new billions every year for the next few years until my term runs out’ you can engage in simply digging the country deeper into debt for the next few years and this would initially make things look better. Walla, Utopia is here! When the administration makes the defense ‘we inherited these problems from Bush’ it is usually presented in a way that says the failed economic policies of the past president caused us to be dealt a hand that was bad. Okay, got it. But every president has been dealt some type of hand. Bush did inherit a recession from Clinton, grant it, it wasn’t near as bad as what Obama got, but it was real. Then 911 happened and this tragic event froze the global economy in just as dangerous a way as the banking crisis. And of course we had 2 wars. The point is all these things [except the wars] were also things out of the control of the former president; he inherited things that Obama too would ‘inherit’. But the administration does not include this when they make their case; they simply say it was the failed Bush presidency that led to where we are today. That’s why the blame game doesn’t work too well. We all want Utopia [in a sense] but we live in the real world and we can’t resort to tricks and schemes to make things look better, just for now. These policies often cause the disease to linger on longer than if we let it run its course. Many real estate experts are fearing another big drop [10 %] in home prices for this year. Why? They believe that the delaying of foreclosures and giving low % money and an extra 8 thousand dollar tax credit to buyers, that all these things prevented the market from reaching a real floor in prices, and so the market will still have to balance out and finally reach its low. It would have been better to have swallowed the medicine the first time around. For any president to have a ‘slush fund’ of billions of dollars that the govt. can dole out on a rotating basis is really not playing by the rules. Politically it can make it look like ‘see, we have improved things’ but not only is this fund limited by law from being used in this way, it often delays the real pain for another year- say in a non election one.
(1362) SPANDEX! The other night my daughter called my wife and invited her to go workout at the gym, I told her ‘tell her dad wants to go too, he’s changing into his spandex right now’ she replied she can only take one guest per day. Now, were her words accurate? Yes. Was that the primary reason I wasn’t going? Highly doubtful. In the Christian world there are times when the things we say might be ‘orthodox’ but the motives might be questionable. The other night I caught Hank Hanegraaff’s [bible answer man] show. I at one time was accused of being like him [heresy hunter] but it’s only been the last few months that I’ve ever really heard him. We don’t get his radio show in Corpus and his TV show just started airing on the religious networks. But I did read his groundbreaking book ‘Christianity in Crisis’ and some thought my stand against the prosperity gospel came from that, they were wrong. I did not agree with all the arguments and style of the book. But this month’s magazine from Hank [which I also don’t subscribe to] deals with the ‘Local Church’ movement started by the great apostle/missionary Watchmen Nee. I have written on Nee before [under the cults section- not because I think their one!] and have read on the movement before. Nee started an indigenous Chinese church that has been persecuted for years by the communist govt., he died for the faith in prison and his house church movement is considered one of the most influential in the world today. Back in the 70’s during the Jesus movement on the west coast they had some influence in the area, this was at the same time the ‘counter cult’ movement sprung up. Many of the statements from Nee and his successor ‘Witness Lee’ were scrutinized and labeled as cultic, a war raged between the apologists and has even gone to the courts. The Local Church sued Harvest house [Christian book publisher] and claimed they were defamed by the cult books that included their church in them, and the Texas Supreme court eventually sided with harvest house, the Local Church is appealing. Enter Hank H., the original research done against the movement was by Hank Hanegraaff and CRI, others followed. The reason they were labeled as a cult was primarily because of their statements on the Trinity and the ‘deification’ of the believer. Some of their official statements said ‘Jesus is the Holy Spirit’ and ‘Jesus is also the Father’. These statements were deemed ‘Modalistic’ [an ancient heresy condemned by the early church that described God as having different modes as opposed to being One in 3] and thus the title cult was stuck on them. But after many years of research and fellowship with the group, Hank changed his mind and came to their defense. This made him a target for the other apologetic groups and they strongly disagreed with his change of mind. Hank said that even though many of the statements sounded questionable, that as you read further into their materials and personally interview members of the group that they for the most part accept the Trinity and do not fall into the cult category. Some of the on line stuff against them states ‘they believe that Jesus is the Spirit, this is heresy’ yet the movement quotes Paul in Corinthians ‘The Lord is that Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty’. This verse actually says ‘the Lord is that same Holy Spirit’ does this mean that Jesus and the Holy Spirit are ‘the same person’? No, but it does use language that is in keeping with what the Local Church movement has said. The other verse in Isaiah speaks of Jesus as ‘the mighty God, everlasting Father’ so this also is language that the movement has used ‘Jesus is the Father’. Though these statements from the movement cause some concern, overall Hank believed that they did not finally fall into the cult category. When reading some of their statements on line last night I still had some problems with the way they said stuff [that after Jesus rose from the dead he became the Spirit] but I also see how difficult it is to explain both the Triune nature of God and also declare his Unity. When Jesus was asked what the great commandment was, in Marks gospel he begins the famous answer with ‘hear O Israel, the Lord our God is one’ he is quoting Deuteronomy. So those who focus on the Oneness of God can see these verses as saying ‘yes God is Father, Son and Spirit- yet they are also one’. So as you can see we need to be careful when parsing words like this. All in all I always accepted the Local Church movement [which is not a name they have given to their movement, but it is how they are labeled when reading about them] as fellow believers in Christ, while at the same time having problems with some of the official statements that the church has made [and still holds to] but wanted to give Hanegraaff credit for his change of mind, while I have not read the article in their magazine [Christian Research Journal] I have been familiar with this debate for a few years. I appreciate Hanks willingness to say ‘we were wrong’.
(1363) THE BAPTIST MISSIONARIES IN HAITI- Okay, thought it was time to do this. As most of you know there have been 10 American missionaries in Haiti that have been arrested for child trafficking. They took a bus load of children from a devastated area and were trying to take them into the Dominican Republic to an ‘orphanage’ that their church was starting. Actually they rented a motel to house the kids until the orphanage could be built. The story seems to be that although these people did violate laws and lie along the way, that they were not stealing or trafficking with these kids. Some of the kids did have relatives that willingly gave the kids over because the Haitian govt. is such an abysmal failure thru the decades of corruption that these kids had no food or housing or anything; their relatives said ‘please, please take them- if not they will die’. Since the devastating earthquake many children have been sold as sex slaves and illegally taken from the country. The Haiti govt. has been corrupt for many years, many of the kids and adults who have just died would have survived if the leaders did not steal billions of dollars of aid over the years, money that could have been used to fix their infrastructure and developed better programs to deal with natural disasters. But their own corruption has led to the deaths and trafficking of many of their children. Haiti’s main response to the disaster has been to ask for the U.S. and other nations to come in and do the job for them, a job that they cannot do in part because of their own corruption. If your country is depending on the free will of Americans to come in, to pay with their tax dollars to help- and at the same time your own governments history of corruption has caused the expense and efforts to fall on to Americans, the last thing you should do is charge these same Americans, who were basically asked to please take these kids, with child trafficking. Why? Because the country has real traffickers that they let slip by, if you are going to do a high profile case with people who did wrong, but by all accounts were not in any way stealing kids- these same Americans who you have dumped the responsibility of your own people on, then you are acting as an ungrateful ‘friend’. The missionaries did wrong, but in no way should a govt., who has actually done much more ‘wrong’ over many years, now take the same Americans and use them as some type of test case. The reason they need to ‘forgive’ is because they have dumped all the expense and responsibility on us, you can’t then tell the same people who you are begging to come into your country that if you mess up you will be held to higher legal standards, standards that real traffickers and our own leaders have never abided by.
(1364) MANY SHALL COME IN MY NAME SAYING ‘I AM CHRIST’ AND SHALL DECIEVE MANY- Jesus, Mark’s gospel. Many years ago while reading thru this portion of scripture I saw this verse from a different angle; instead of seeing it like a false prophet claiming himself to be Christ [Sun Yung Moon] I saw it applying to many well meaning preachers who come in Jesus name and confess him as Christ, but yet are prone to propagating errors in an unconscious way. They say ‘Yes, we believe Jesus is Christ’ and yet mess up in other areas. I remember hearing a ‘revelation word’ [EKK!] on God’s creation of Woman. It went like this- Wo-Man means ‘wombed man’ and that after God made man, he then made woman [another man] and put a womb on him, thus the term ‘wombed man’. You might be laughing right now, but this silly way of interpreting the bible has been repeated over and over again on national TV networks where the network leaders agreed with the teacher and saw it as some deep truth, then the poor audience of millions is encouraged to give more millions so the word can be sent out into all the world. Basically well meaning people teaching fake stuff to the world, over and over again. Now, does ‘woman’ mean ‘wombed man’? No. Our bibles were primarily written in Hebrew and Greek, when these words are translated into English, the way the English word sounds has nothing at all to do with the actual meaning of the word. I mean this is very basic hermeneutics [way of interpreting scripture] so how can it be that a very ‘uneducated’ way of teaching would be broadcast to the whole world when even the most basic bible student knows it’s wrong? One of the great benefits of the 16th century Reformation was the return of interpreting the bible in a ‘literal sense’- now, many Protestants are confused by this term. Literal sense means the bible should be read as actual literature, like if you were reading history or poetry or any other book. So when you are reading portions of the bible that are historical narrative, you take it as history. When reading portions of poetry, you read it like you would read any poetry- in a literal sense, not taking the actual poetry as history! Like when the Psalms speaks of the hills skipping or the trees clapping their hands, you don’t take it literally in the sense that the trees have actual hands. This hermeneutic was not new, but it was a minority way of viewing scripture during the middle ages. Many teachers at the time were influenced strongly by the early Greek idea of scripture having 4 different ways it could be understood. Each passage having a moral, symbolic, literal meaning. In the third century you had the famous school in Alexandria, Egypt. This was the first 'Christian school’ where you could learn theology and philosophy. One of the famous teachers was Origen, he was heavily influenced by a man by the name of Plotinus- a philosopher credited with the founding of a philosophy called ‘Neo Platonism’. This Greek philosophical way of seeing things impacted not only Origen [and many other Greek fathers] but also the highly influential Saint Augustine. So for many centuries you had very respected church teachers hold to this highly symbolic way of reading the bible. It’s important to note that when reading Augustine, if you are reading his earlier works they are more heavily influenced by Greek philosophy than his later works. Near the end of his life Augustine re-evaluated all of his former works and wrote a paper called ‘retractions’ in which he cleared up some of his earlier stuff. Anyway the Protestant Reformation returned the church to a more solid way of reading scripture. But ‘literal sense’ does not mean you take the portions of scripture that are poetic or symbolic and turn them into history! During the rise of ‘liberalism’ in the 19th century you had many holding to a view of scripture that rejected all the supernatural portions of the bible as ‘myth’. The story of Jonah being swallowed by the whale was considered a ‘well meaning’ story, but just a story. Was it only the ‘liberal’ theologians that rejected the historical truth of Jonah? No, you also have well grounded teachers that too take Jonah in a non historical way. Why? The book of Jonah starts out as historical narrative, but then you have portions [Jonahs prayer in the belly of the whale] that are a very high form of poetry. Does this mean the story didn’t really happen? No, but some good theologians would doubt the history of Jonah based on this [I don’t]. The whole point being when we read the bible, we should have some basic historical framework when reading it, that is how did other believers thru the centuries view these things. Be aware of the various different approaches to the bible, and for heaven’s sake, if a word sounds like it means something in English [woman= wombed man] do a little background study before proclaiming it to the whole world, for many ‘shall come in my name, believing that I am Christ, and shall deceive many’.
(1365) THIS IS MY BLOOD OF THE NEW TESTAMENT- I was reading Mark’s account of the last supper. The disciples realize the importance of keeping the ancient feast day and they ask Jesus ‘where do you want us to prepare the meal’? Just a chapter earlier they were glorying in all the ‘holy buildings’ of the temple and Jesus told them ‘see all these wonderful places- there shall not be one stone left upon another when all is said and done’- ouch! But now he seems to need a building, or at least a place to sit down and eat. He tells his men ‘go into town and you will meet some guy carrying a water container, follow him into the house and ask the master where the room is, he will show you a large upper room, all furnished- that’s the spot’. Jesus didn’t need to spend any money on building his own temple; he knew the voluntary community would provide places to meet. They sit down and he tells them ‘understand, this is the New Testament, the new ‘oath’ the scroll of redemption that John will write about in Revelation, it is being purchased with my Blood’ they seemed to not comprehend what he was saying. He often made statements that went right over their heads- then he quotes another one of those obscure prophetic scriptures that nobody seemed to focus on ‘the chief one will be smitten and the sheep will be scattered’ [Zechariah] he tells them ‘see, the prophets said you guys are going to be scattered, be offended and deny me’. Peter says ‘what! No way Jesus, maybe these other guys but not me’. Poor old Peter, Jesus says ‘buddy, you will be one of the worst’. Man things don’t seem to be going good at this point, I mean when the leader of a community is about to face his toughest test yet, the last thing he needs is a bunch of offended staff! Nevertheless he takes with him Peter, James and John and they head off to the garden, you know the place where they crush olives to get the precious oil, very prophetic indeed. Jesus tells the guys ‘stay here while I go and pray’. He walks a little further and falls down and is in agony ‘Father, all things are possible with thee, I know I have come for this purpose in my life, but please, if there is another way to accomplish this, then let’s go the other route’. Who knows, maybe the father will do something that no one expects? He goes back to his men, hey maybe they will say ‘wow Jesus, as you were praying Moses and Elijah appeared to us, like before- and they told us ‘the father said there’s another way’. But instead Jesus finds them sleeping! What, you guys couldn’t even pray with me for an hour? I’m here pouring out my life for you, giving it all I got, and I was hoping that the 3 years I invested in training you might have had better results, you guys are letting me down. This happens 2 more times and Jesus says ‘enough, go ahead and sleep, I’m going to have to die and seal this scroll in my Blood- after 3 days I will be back and go before you into Galilee, but these will be the longest 3 days in the history of man’. Of course we know the rest of the story. As the church worldwide enters into Lent, let’s remember the price that Jesus paid for the New Testament signed in his Blood, as Protestants and Catholics let’s celebrate the historic churches 40 day season of fasting and prayer, you don’t have to do a ‘full fast’ maybe just a Vegan type fast, which was what the early church practiced, but let’s try and be a little more appreciative of the price that was paid so the ‘table’ could be set. Jesus said ‘this is my Blood, the whole thing rides on me’ he met the challenge and redeemed the world, may the world be grateful for it.
(1366) IT’S NOT A CHARGER! I was reading the account of Jesus on the Cross. One of the accusations that his enemies hurled at him was ‘he said that the temple would be destroyed and he would rebuild it in 3 days, wow, what happened to your big expectations’? Actually they misunderstood him, Jesus was speaking of his own death and resurrection when he said this, but the misunderstanding remained. Of course Jesus could have said ‘you fools! I am presently in the process of doing it’ but he decided earlier not to waste his time refuting all the accusations against him. Many years ago I had some neighbors who were good friends, but they kinda gave the impression ‘O no, these guys are one of those bible Christians’. Though they never expressed the thought, you could sense it. Anyway one time the wife rang the bell and asked if I could jump start her car, she was late for an appointment and had no time for a battery charge. So she expressly tells me ‘I need a jump, not a charger’. Well I have one of those ‘chargers’ that also ‘jumps’ the car [booster]. So as I was walking to her driveway she managed to start it, but not before expressing her attitude of ‘I told you I don’t need a charger [you idiot!] but never mind I got it started’. Now it would have taken around 8 words to explain why I’m not an idiot, but why waste the time. Till this day she still thinks I brought the charger. Some times in life it’s worth the time to correct and even at times defend your position, but you can also become consumed with trying to correct the record, in the long run its really a waste of time. This week the president shot back at his critics over the handling of the Christmas day bomber. He sent out one of his intelligence men [John Brennan] to defend their actions. The problem is that Brennan wrote an op-ed in the USA today that made it sound like they briefed the top intelligence officials along with the Republicans and that they had enough info to know that they were going to read the Miranda rights to the guy. But during the recent public hearings on the case, both Democrats and Republicans revealed that the top officials were not consulted, they were simply ‘informed’ of the decision that Attorney general Holder had made. Why did the FBI read the rights to the man? In their defense the administration has brought up the fact that Bush also did this with Richard Reid [shoe bomber]. Bush did this around 9 years ago, shortly after 911. Our govt. admittedly did not have the procedures in place to deal effectively with detaining terrorists. Bush and Cheney spent a few years retooling our govt. to fit the job. That’s why we built the jail and military court system at Gitmo, the ‘enhanced’ interrogation unit [water boarding] and various other tools to handle the new threat. The tapping of suspected phone calls leaving the country was a new procedure that also came under fierce criticism from the Democrats. One of the main tools Bush implemented was a team of top interrogators from the CIA who mastered the art of apprehending the suspects and interrogating them before reading them their rights. The whole system at Gitmo was Bush’s way of trying to bypass the entire American court system and have a way that these guys would be first dealt with as possible outlets of info. Of course the Democrats spent many years condemning all these new procedures, from accusing the administration as being torturers to saying we threw out the constitution in our efforts to deal with the problem. So Obama made a very conscious choice to say he would close Gitmo in a year [still not done] he ‘un-did’ the governments wire tapping program for suspects calling from inside the country- and he straight out dismantled the interrogation unit from the CIA. At the time there actually were military trials under way, Obama stopped them, read all the detainees their Miranda rights and started over. Okay, many felt that all these things seriously set back the country in its fight against terror, that’s why Cheney was so vocal. So why did we treat the Christmas bomber like a criminal? Obama never replaced the dismantled CIA interrogation unit with a new unit from the FBI [like he said he would do]. In essence they did drop the ball. But they are sending out their guys to make it sound like ‘look, we are doing the same stuff as Bush, look at Richard Reid’ but that was a few months after 911, grant it Bush did treat him like a common criminal ,because it took them a few years to develop all these other tools. But if you dismantle the tools, then yes, you are willingly going back to square 1 with the whole thing. The whole point is Obama certainly did ‘un-do’ many of the procedures put in place by Bush- fine. But don’t now defend yourself by saying ‘we are doing all that Bush did’. This new administration has made some very serious mistakes and dropped the ball on some stuff; both Democrats and Republicans agree. Lets rethink some stuff and if need be re institute the interrogation team from the CIA [absent the water boarding]. Don’t simply spend all your time trying to say ‘we did nothing wrong’ it’s about as futile as telling my neighbor ‘it’s not a charger’!
(1367) IS ‘I.D.’ DEAD? I read an article the other day on ID [intelligent design] it was written by an able scientist, Stephen Barr, and it severely challenged the science of ID. ID is a field of study that would fit under the apologetic category of ‘teleology’ the argument for the existence of God from design. That is we see design in the cosmos, in living things, etc. And all evidence indicates that design/information cannot randomly appear without an intelligent mind as the source. Many have challenged this idea; Richard Dawkins [the famous atheist] calls it ‘the appearance of design’. In the field of ID, many very capable scientists [Stephen Meyer, William Dembski, Michael Behe] and others [lawyer Phillip Johnson] have shown us that you can ‘use’ evolution as a tool to try and explain how things got here, but as a tool it is utterly helpless in showing us where design/information actually come from. Sometimes this argument is referred to as ‘irreducible complexity’. That you can simplify things down to the most basic form of life, and even at that level you have an extremely high degree of information [DNA] that evolution has no way of explaining how this information got there [this field is called information theory]. So the basic argument from the ID standpoint is science shows us that evolution is not the answer to the origin of life [which Darwin never claimed it was- he claimed it was how species got here, thus the 1859 book ‘on the origin of the species’]. Yet most average students of science [high school stuff] think that evolution is a proven theory that has answered these questions. If the truth be known the more we learn, the less likely evolutionary theory will answer these questions. Now in the article the Christian scientist challenged the other Christian scientists over the validity of ID. Science has various definitions; the actual word simply means knowledge. But some say unless you can demonstrate a repeatable experiment in the lab, that it’s not technically science. Yet evolution, in all of its efforts to demonstrate the most basic plank of its theory, has failed miserably. Science has not been able to demonstrate how one species can change into another [common ancestry] the many hundreds of thousands of poor fruit flies who have been genetically engineered in trying to get this to happen, has failed over and over again. Science can’t even demonstrate the most basic plank of evolution, never mind all the other impossible things that evolution supposedly does. So if the truth be known, according to this definition of science, neither evolution nor ID work. But this is not the only way to define science, when dealing with origins [how things get here] you can never find a theory that can be viable according to the definition of ‘repeated, observable testing’- creation itself is not a repeatable event [unless of course God decides to create something!] The article stirred up a hornets’ nest among both sides of the debate [the article is on the catholic site ‘first things’ you can also link to it from Christianity Today- it’s called the death of ID]. As you read some of the debate it can get a little Ivory Tower, but for the most part it’s a good debate to have and many well informed points have been made by both sides, I would encourage all of our readers to go check it out.
(1368) FOR HE LOOKED FOR A CITY WHICH HATH FOUNDATIONS, WHOSE BUILDER AND MAKER IS GOD- Hebrews. In keeping with the last post, let’s talk some more on the debate between Evolution and Design. When the able Stephen Barr shot the round that was heard around the world [at least the world of IDer’s] he made some good points, even though I disagree strongly with the way he represented the other able scientists in the field. One day I had a talk with a geologist, it was a happenstance meeting [friend of my daughter] and during a normal friendly conversation I brought up many of the opposing views to ‘uniformitarianism’ and the challenges to a ‘deep time’ geology. While not a young earther myself, I found it amazing that this scientist was totally unaware of any opposing viewpoints to the standard theories. In the halls of academia the majority opinion is without a doubt that of Darwinian Evolution, it is also true that many people [even scientists!] are really not familiar with all the data [lots of data!] that challenge the standard view; many have come to challenge the basic Darwinian timeline [thus punctuated equilibrium] and have admitted that the tremendous ‘gap’ in the fossil record, along with the discovery of high complexity in the most simple cell, that these scientific discoveries have made it difficult to accept the Darwinian idea. Now the adherents of Evolutionary theory accuse the IDer’s of resorting to a ‘God of the gaps’ excuse. That is they claim that all the IDer’s are doing is finding places in the record that have no explanations [information, complex machines, etc.] and are inserting ‘God’ into these gaps. The Evolutionists say ‘given enough time, maybe we will find naturalistic explanations to fit the gaps’. And they claim that any ‘gap theory’ actually hinders scientific discovery, because it has a tendency to say ‘well, might as well stop looking for a naturalistic cause, God just filled the gap’. First, the IDer’s are not saying that because we have run across unanswered difficulties, lets stick God in there. What they are saying [for the most part] is that observable data [science] show us, in every case, that when you have complex systems that are ‘irreducible’ and stored data/info at the most simple level; that these facts point to an intelligent mind having been the cause of these things. Now, Stephen Barr and Francis Beckwith [two of the main scientists/philosophers in the debate] do not reject the idea that yes, an intelligent mind is behind the design/info, what they are saying is it’s still possible that science will discover a ‘naturalistic’ explanation/mechanism to it. That is God might have created some other unknown mechanism that is simple [or complex] that can be credited with bringing into existence the design/info. They are simply arguing that it’s possible, and not in contradiction with historic Christianity, to embrace this view. Barr also seems to be saying ‘yes, it is very possible that we will never find a reasonable, naturalistic explanation for this, and at that point the IDer’s might be right, but then you jump out of the field of science [observable data] and carry the argument into another classroom’. I believe the ‘God of the gaps’ accusation is erroneous, I also believe that far too many adherents to Evolutionary theory are not giving the proper weight to the gaps, some are not even aware of them! Thomas Aquinas is sometimes misunderstood and is said to have advocated a secular/religious division in apologetics; that is some say he taught that the natural sciences and religious truth were 2 totally different fields, sort of like the thought of Emanuel Kant [Physical/Metaphysical division] but Thomas taught that science could show us many truths about God, just because you have naturalistic explanations to things, this does not discount the Divine hand- but he also taught that science could only go so far down that road- for instance it would take many years to arrive at a naturalistic proof of Gods being, while revelation [thru tradition and scripture] could get you there quicker. Also science can prove that God exists [prime mover] but for truths on the nature of God [Trinity] you need revelation. So Aquinas leaves room for science to go so far, and if it ‘hits a gap’ then yes, you have every right to carry the argument into ‘another classroom’ so to speak. It is not wrong to say ‘yes, we are searching for a city, one that has been built by God’ but to also recognize that the city has foundations [whether discovered thru naturalistic or religious truth]; both seekers can be on the right track, arriving at different times/ways.
(1369) Been reading Hebrews 11 ‘by faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things we see were not made from things that appear’ in keeping with the last few posts, it seems that God himself has said we will eventually get stuck at a point of irreducible complexity- or at least we will get to a point where the actual act of God creating the physical realm will be ‘unseen’ by physical means [Physics]. Any way I wanted to mention Moses, Hebrews says that by faith his parents hid him for 3 months, by faith he forsook the pleasures/riches of being a son of pharaoh, by faith he kept the Passover and sprinkling of blood, etc… Often times Moses and the story of the children of Israel fleeing Egypt is seen thru a materialistic lens- ‘look, God gave them all the riches of Egypt on their way out, a Divine transfer of wealth’ actually God simply made the Egyptians reimburse them for all their years of free slave labor, we call that evening the playing field [reparations]. The point I want to make is Moses made a conscious decision, by faith, to not walk the path of the highly successful ‘jet setter’ he rejected a lifestyle that would have elevated him to the top of society and instead chose to ‘suffer affliction with the people of God’. Hebrews 11 also speaks of those who ‘by faith’ were tortured, not accepting deliverance- that is in today’s church world we very rarely view successful faith thru this lens- we actually give the impression of Jobs friends ‘surely Job, you must be messing up in some way, look at the hell your going thru’ but the scriptures teach us there are definite times where the cost of faith will be making the decision to not take the bait, to make the decision to make less money- or to attain less status; these are very real choices that the bible tells us about over and over again. If we were told ‘look, I am going to give you a book by some revolutionary, in it he will give you the keys to greatness and being a true follower’ and then you received a New Testament, and you start reading it for the 1st time- you would be inundated with a message and calling that says over and over again ‘unless you forsake all, you can’t follow me’ ‘whoever loves this life, can’t be my disciple’ ‘unless you take up your cross and follow me, you are not worthy of me’ ‘you can’t serve God and money’ ‘it’s harder for a rich man to enter the kingdom than for a camel to pass thru the eye of a needle’ I mean you would be hard pressed to walk away from the New testament with a message of wealth and luxury! Moses, by faith, chose to forsake a life of luxury and success, he chose ‘affliction’ for the sake of a higher calling- I want to challenge you guys today [especially all our Pastor/leader readers] have you been influenced too much by the modern 'health/wealth’ message? Has the busyness of ministry and the pressures of life ‘choked these words that they have become unfruitful’ [Jesus parable of the sower]. Remember, Jesus said the enemy comes to steal the words of Jesus; he tries to cause us to forget, to ‘not see’ the actual things that Jesus said. Don’t feel guilty if this is you, just rethink what I shared in this post and by Gods grace make the adjustments- God is challenging many ministries at this season, there are good men who mean well, but lots of ministry that is focused on extreme wealth and needing millions to accomplish the mission, these are going to be challenged in the economically challenging days ahead. But if your ministry/mission is seen the thru lens of the great revolutionary [Jesus] you will do well. Hey, sometimes faith is the act of walking away from the status and limelight, sometimes it’s ‘forsaking the riches of Egypt’ and embracing some affliction.
(1370) BY FAITH THE WALLS OF JERICHO CAME DOWN, AFTER THEY WERE COMPASSED ABOUT FOR 7 DAYS- Hebrews 11. Also ‘Moses and the children of Israel went thru the Red Sea like it was dry ground, others drowned in the same attempt’. We often view ministry/serving God thru a mindset that says ‘I have this vision, this thing I want to do for God- I see myself being in ‘full time ministry’ and I am not cut out to live a normal life’. Now, many good men with noble goals have done great things ‘for God’, the point I want to make, in keeping with the previous post, is that Jesus gave us a way to approach ‘Christianity’ and it doesn’t start with ‘my big vision’ it starts with service and sacrifice. Years ago when I was pastoring I had friends who would come to our meetings, others who were members, who were ‘word of faith- prosperity’ brothers. I had one friend who was actually an ordained ‘WOF’ [word of faith] pastor. I advised him to try and get a ‘secular job’ while waiting on his ministry, he refused to work. It was common to run into brothers with this mindset. They meant well, but they were approaching the Christian life thru a lens that said ‘I am not cut out for the working world, so I aint gonna work, period!’ What can you do with these types of mindsets? In the above verses the people of God did not disconnect faith from action, real consistent action. Faith made the walls of Jericho fall down, AFTER 7 days of labor! Moses attempted something that others died attempting; he then kept the ordinances and remained faithful for 40 years in the dessert. We often say ‘well, it wasn’t Gods plan for them to wander for 40 years, they brought that upon themselves’ true; but then Jesus would have never been able to say ‘Moses gave you manna for 40 years, I am the true bread that comes down from heaven’. The point being we need to be prepared for a consistent life of faithfully doing God’s will, there will be times when the glory of the Red Sea experience will turn into a bunch of rebels whining about Quail! Much of Christianity in our day has mastered the ‘Quail request’ we say ‘give us abundance, more and more’ God said ‘okay, you got what you wanted’ and the bible says they ate Quail till it came out their nose! I believe God has some good things in store for us down the road, we are all in this together [Abraham dwelt in tents with Isaac and Jacob- all heirs of THE SAME PROMISE] Its just every now and then we need to make some adjustments, it seems this season is one of those times.
(1371) CAN SOMETHING COME FROM NOTHING? Part of the recent debate going on in the field of Physics argues whether or not you can get something from nothing. One of the arguments says ‘look, we have been able to detect certain phenomena that seem to show us things popping into existence from A FIELD [AREA] WHERE NOTHING EXISTS’. Now, the same Quantum Physics that supposedly shows this, also teaches that our universe has around 90 % of all matter hidden, they say that this ‘dark matter’ is everywhere, you can’t escape it! Yet at the same time we have no way of detecting it. My question for the Quantum physicist would be ‘where are you getting this pristine field, this area where ‘nothing exists’ that you are examining, that seemingly shows you things coming from nothing?’ The problem with some of these brothers is they make nonsensical statements, things that violate the laws of logic, and then they call us idiots!
(1372) JOHN 17:1-7 Jesus said his hour has come, ‘glorify me with the glory which I had with you before the world was. I have manifested your name [who you are] to the men that you gave to me, they were your men and you gave them to me. They have received the words that you gave me, and they know for sure that the things that I taught them came from you.’ There is an element in Christian ministry/teaching when the rubber meets the road, after a period of time people either say ‘you know, I believe what he is saying is accurate’ or when you say ‘enough, I really can’t take this anymore’. Now Jesus will also tell us later in the chapter ‘I have kept the men you gave me, but Judas had to fall away for the scriptures to be fulfilled’ Jesus also dealt with the pain of losing one of his guys. A while back I read an article about a famous evangelical in the UK, he made some waves by referring to the Mother of Jesus in a sort of Catholic way [I forget the exact wording] but he got some heat over it. While trying to defend his new view of becoming more open to the Catholic Church, he said ‘I am as sure about this as I was about the truth of the prosperity movement’ not too comforting for me. The point though is Protestants have a tendency to journey thru the Christian life in sort of a haphazard way, we often see a certain viewpoint about some doctrine [whether true or not] and that becomes what we teach the people, then we see another thing and that becomes the next road. Too often the individualism of the Protestant way of approaching Gods kingdom has us ‘revealing to them the next new thing coming down the pike’ as opposed to saying with Jesus ‘I have manifested thy name unto the men which you gave me’. We have all been put here with a predetermined purpose from God, we can’t say ‘glorify me with the glory which I had with you [father] before the world was’ but we can say ‘father, carry out the purpose that you gave to me before the world was, that eternal purpose that you destined me for, before I ever existed’ we need to grasp a better hold on the purpose of God for our lives. We need to stop following people, even good intentioned people, thru all their ups and downs and highs and lows of new experiences and teachings; in Ephesians Paul said the purpose of us being ‘a body/community’ was so we could be built up and not be tossed around by every whim and new doctrine that people come up with. The ‘Body’ imagery speaks of the people of God as a worldwide community, a living corporate being whom God indwells. When we hear and grow with the ‘whole church- of all time’ then we do well, when we follow too closely individual men/teachers we spend too much time going up and down.
(1373) JOHN 17:8-14 Jesus says he has given the words that the father gave to him, to his men. He is preparing to be ‘no more in the world’ but these are in the world, and I am glorified in/thru them. Jesus saw his mission thru the paradigm of having faithfully deposited Gods truth into the people that the father ‘gave him’. This group of men were planned by the father to have been impacted thru his life, Jesus did not see them thru the lens of ‘these men are here to promote/support my calling’ sort of like God gave them to him in order for them to help him reach some type of goal or personal achievement in life. Instead he realized that thru serving them and laying down his life for them, that thru these acts he would be ‘glorified/honored thru them’. That is the people of God would carry on the legacy of Jesus after he was gone, they too would be ‘sent out into the world, even as the father sent me into the world’. He would entrust to them Divine realities and they would pass these truths along to those who the father ‘gave to them’ [Paul- I do all things for the elects sakes]. I want to encourage/challenge our leaders today- do you primarily see the people around you [whether church members or simple friendships in the kingdom] as people God has brought to you in order to help you achieve your mission? That is are they simply assets to ‘the ministry/church’? It’s easy to fall into these mindsets, and it’s not wrong to see God as bringing relationships into your life for the purpose of a great goal, but I think it would be better if we saw these things thru the mindset of Jesus; he knew that his life being poured out as a sacrifice would impact his followers in such a way that for generations to come the ‘words that the father gave to him’ would continue thru the lives of his friends. Don’t be too consumed with the material aspects of the here and now [facilities, finances, etc.] they will all pass away, but those that do the will of God will abide forever.
(1374) let’s talk a little about the current church scene in certain evangelical circles. I read a news article about a church in Texas, Fellowship church- pastored by Ed Young [the son of the able senior Ed Young] the article showed how brother Young came under criticism for possibly leasing a private jet and mixing the selling of his teachings too much with the non profit ‘church ministry’. Overall it seems like brother Young is a well intentioned pastor, not in the category of ‘the prosperity gospel’ [which some seem to think] and he is a good man, who has been affected by mixing in 21st century corporate models with the biblical idea of Ecclesia [church]. All things I have written about before. Also Pastor Rick Warren [the good pastor from the west coast- Saddleback church] made the statement that the church at Jerusalem was a Mega Church, because some historians tell us that the ‘church’ grew to around 100 thousand believers. Now, I consider both of these men good men, I do not put them in the category of some who truly have lost a biblical message and traded it in for a wealth gospel. But these recent examples show us how we need to re-evaluate the way we think and function. For instance if I were to say ‘the church at Corpus Christi numbers 50 thousand’ you would take that statement to mean there are around 50 thousand believers who reside in the city. To then justify an environment [building] being built to house 50 thousand people, because after all the Jerusalem church had 100 thousand ‘members’- this would be silly. The church at Jerusalem met at Solomon’s Porch, an open space outside the temple. You did not have 100 thousand people ‘showing up for church on Sunday’ [ouch!] but some historians estimate that the ‘church at Jerusalem’ [the believers residing in the city] eventually numbered a high number. Also how should we approach the sale of teaching materials that Christians produce? First we should look at the overall view of scripture, both the basic teachings from Jesus and how the early church operated. Jesus did teach his men ‘freely you have received, freely give’ in context he was talking spiritual gifts [casting out demons, healing, etc.] Both Paul and Peter would give instructions/warnings to younger leaders [elder’s- pastors] to be very careful about mixing in money with ministry. And even though it was possible to make a good living through the profession of preaching in the 1st century [Rhetoric] yet we know that none of the early apostles/pastors did this. One time Larry King was interviewing a prosperity preacher, King asked him ‘how can you believe that Jesus was a very wealthy man, doesn’t the bible show us that he was a humble man’ and the preacher, who obviously knows much more about the bible than King, responded by quoting a few proof texts [Jesus wore an expensive coat] and dismissed Kings criticism. Now, who was right? The image that King [and most people] have of Jesus and his humble life [carpenter] is actually the correct image. The image that the well meaning prosperity preacher had was actually wrong. Now it would take way too much time for me to explain the whole thing [go read my prosperity section] but this example shows us how we can sincerely believe the views we hold are in keeping with scripture, while the whole time they are violating scripture. The purpose of this post is not to condemn Rick Warren or Ed Young, I believe these are good men who I can recommend, I would not tell people ‘don’t give to their ministries’ but I do think we need to function in the 21st century, with all the benefits of modern technology and contemporary conveniences, while also keeping our motives in line with scripture.
(1375) SOCIAL EVOLUTION- As I have been doing some blogging on other sites over the science of evolution, I thought it would be good to do a little on the philosophical ideas that spawned from it. Many sincere people do not realize the bias that comes along with a full embrace of a purely materialistic approach to life. There once was a woman named Margaret Sanger, she was a strong believer in Evolution and its sister science, Eugenics. Eugenics was an idea espoused by a relative of Darwin that taught that if you ‘quickened’ evolution by eliminating the so called ‘inferior races’ by human action, that this would advance the purer races faster and man would arrive at his Utopian state quicker. Darwin himself used the Black Aborigines tribes as an example of the inferiority of the ‘lesser races’. He looked at them as an in between race of people who were not fully human [like the white race] but were sort of a mix between man and ape. Anyway Sanger developed this idea to the point where she set up an organization that would assist the inferior races in the rush to eliminating their offspring; less child bearing, the quicker the more noble whites would advance. She received praise from another man who believed in the same principle, Adolph Hitler. After WW2 it became quite unpopular to continue to associate her organization with a megalomaniac who also carried out the same plan with the Jews, so she renamed her organization- today we know it as Planned Parenthood. Now as hard as this is to believe, the facts on this have been out there for many years. This is also why many advocates for minorities are upset that the planned parenthood clinics are located in poor minority areas, they see this as an attempt to get rid of minorities. The point today is the social construct of evolutionary theory has had disastrous effects; from biblical theology [documentary theory advanced by Wellhausen- he taught that the bible followed the ‘evolutionary model’ of mans advance from primitive religions to Monotheism, an idea espoused by the philosopher Hegel] to the public school systems embrace of evolution as the answer to all things from biology to cosmology. When Christians advocate a progressive-theistic evolutionary model, and when they do a worldwide ‘Darwin week’ [like we just did!] we need to also recognize the social effects of Darwinism as well as the scientific advances that some believe have been made thru the theory.
(1376) I AM DOCTOR AMY BISHOP! This week a Harvard trained professor shot and killed 3 of her fellow professors. As the story unraveled it seems that the woman has a history of treating ‘biological life’ with disdain; she shot her brother with a shotgun when a teenager, killed him. She was suspected of sending a bomb to another person, and she had a history of seeing herself as better than other ‘less developed’ people. One time at a restaurant another lady took the last child seat and Bishop yelled ‘I am doctor Amy Bishop’! Obviously the poor woman has some problems, but what the media is failing to tell you is this professor is no ordinary teacher- she is a biologist, a person whose main study is evolution. A while back when reading the story of the serial kill Jeffrey Dahmer, he said the way he justified in his mind the senseless taking of other human life was thru his belief in evolution. If people are truly just these overgrown blobs of meaningless flesh, then why not eliminate the ones we deem less desirable? Can you imagine the way the media would be in an uproar if this person was a creationist or believed in Intelligent Design? I mean that’s all you would hear about the case, how these ignorant tea party types have allowed their radical beliefs to undermine society at large, but they never report on the obvious effects of a belief system that says all people came from slime. While I do not label all evolutionists and see them as Amy Bishops, the truth is the way a person views the value of other people effects the way we treat them. Professor Bishop’s ideology permitted her to see herself as someone who had more value than the other less developed people she would run into thru out her life, the Christian ethic would have told her ‘no, you can’t kill or poison or shoot other people with shotguns just because you deem them less worthy’ but Bishops worldview seemed to have no problem with it.
(1377) Last night I caught a good program on Christian apologetics. Apologetics is the term used to describe the ministry of those who contend for ‘the faith’. In the early church you had men like Justin Martyr who defended the nascent church from those who would accuse her of wicked things [like cannibalism! A misreading of the Lords supper]. The show last night had a bunch of apologists that dealt with cults; they included the main ones as well as some Christian branches of Pentecostalism. They critiqued the UPC [untied Pentecostal churches] as a cult because of her unique view of the ‘oneness’ of God as seen thru Jesus. Now, I have written on this before [under the Trinity section] and don’t want to explain it again, but I do want to examine the way believers view other churches. During the program the able apologists used lots of wording from the early creeds and councils; Subordinationism, Monarchianism, Modalism, etc. These are all words I am familiar with and have used on this site, as a believer who loves to study church history I understand where these men are coming from. But at one point it seemed as if they were critiquing certain aspects of other churches, sincere believers who have certain views that they have developed thru their reading of the bible, and that these apologists were really not giving a fair shake to these other groups. You also had both the cults and some of the more extreme restorationist groups [restorationism refers to those Christian groups who reject the Protestant Reformation as being ‘the offspring’ of the Catholic church and view their faith thru the idea that we should return to the original sources, primarily the book of Acts, and start from scratch] share the view that the historic Orthodox churches [Catholic, Orthodox, Reformed] were basically pagan expressions of Christianity and their creeds and councils usurped the word of God. I believe there are real expressions of Christianity found in all of the above [excluding the actual cults] and that the Christian church should know the historic creeds and councils, but also be willing to see how these other Christian groups have come to form their opinions thru actual scripture. I mean at one point there were so many categories being quoted by the apologists to refute the Pentecostal view, that they weren’t really allowing the scriptures to be the final authority on the matter [I agreed more with the apologists, being I am one myself, but at the same time sensed too mush rigidness]. I also believe it’s dangerous for any Christian group to leave the impression that most other historic expressions of Christianity are out right pagan. Overall we all need grace when dealing with others that we disagree with, yes there are times when we need to take a strong stand on stuff and let the chips fall where they may, but at the end of the day we should be striving for unity as much as possible.
(1378) DON’T BEGIN BY TRAVELING TO SOME FAR OFF PLACE TO CONVERT UNBELIEVERS. AND DON’T TRY TO BE DRAMATIC BY TACKLING SOME PUBLIC ENEMY. GO TO THE LOST, CONFUSED PEOPLE RIGHT HERE IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD. TELL THEM THAT THE KINGDOM IS HERE [NOT POSTPONED UNTIL A NEW TEMPLE GETS REBUILT!] BRING HEALTH TO THE SICK, RAISE THE DEAD, TOUCH THE UNTOUCHABLES- FREELY YOU HAVE RECEIVED, SO DO THIS FOR FREE! Message bible/ my own ad libbing. I like this, Jesus sends his men out with a mission to declare that Gods reality is here. He even tells them not to approach this kingdom with a preconceived mindset of gathering wealth and funds. In another verse he says ‘don’t think you need a lot of equipment for this- you are the equipment’. One of the strange things I have experienced over the years is that I have had been acquainted with many pastors and leaders of ministries. Many times [some times] I would get the feeling that when they would stumble across some of our teachings, they would sort of think ‘yes, that’s what I felt all along!’ and yet thru their public statements you would have never known it [whether some teaching on the prosperity gospel or end times or whatever]. Some actually would use the same arguments from the groups that they supposedly rejected. Why not be upfront about their beliefs? Because modern ministry has lost the mandate from Jesus ‘go, don’t worry about lots of fund raising for heaven’s sake, just trust me to meet your needs each day and be like me’. We often approach ministry with the exact opposite mindset ‘well brother, how can we ever have an impact unless we have enough faith to bring in a harvest of money’? Well the way you will do it is by believing what Jesus just said, don’t start with your own preconceived mindset [God is big enough to get the money to me] but start with Jesus mindset [God is big enough to do it without all the stinking money!] Often times we simply need to re-evaluate along the way, re-tool some things. I want to challenge you today with the simple [yet great!] mindset of Jesus- yes Gods kingdom is here, he is alive and well and ruling in heaven and earth, we express this rule by being like him, not by amassing great wealth!
[just a comment I left on Ben Witherington’s site, good article on finding an early temple, go check it out] 'The temple begat the city’ prophetic indeed. Wellhausen [Hegel] believed that man evolved religiously from Animism, Polytheism, Monotheism- any evidence that shows an early temple-worship mindset does indeed challenge modern [liberal] theory!
(1379) HOW SHOULD WE RESPOND TO UNJUST GOVERNMENTS? One of the most famous dissidents of the soviet era was Alexander Solzhenitsyn; Alexander was a simple school teacher who would serve in the military when Stalin was in power. He had written some critical things about Stalin in a letter to a friend and was put in the communist prison camps. While doing time he met believers and returned to his early faith as a Christian. In the year I was born [1962] he wrote the famous ‘A day in the life of Ivan Denisovich’ it was a fictional account of a man in the prison camps and how he dealt with his captors. The main character would meet a Baptist believer while doing time and sort of represented Alexander’s own plight. Alexander came to fame when Khrushchev would permit him to publish his book, Khrushchev was advancing his own program of Destalinization and he underestimated Alexander’s criticism of all communist type systems, not just Stalin. He would also expose the evils of the prison camps in his other work titled ‘The Gulag Archipelago’. Eventually he was exiled to the U.S. [Vermont was his home] and received much notoriety as a prophetic voice who spoke out for justice. He gave a controversial speech at Harvard [1978?] and the western media came to dislike him; he was critical of loose morality and the evils of western society as well, he was not the sort of liberal crusader that they mistook him to be. Eventually he would return home to Russia and live to see the fall of the system he despised. History is filled with people who stood for what was right against all odds and impacted society for the better, Alexander was a school teacher whose life took a turn of events that he simply followed; he was not ashamed of the gospel and did not tailor his message to please the audience. I like that style; it reminds me of another revolutionary who gave his life to save the world.
(1380) THE KILLER WHALE- This week we had a tragic event happen when a killer whale at sea world killed its trainer. Now, as I have watched the evolving story get out into the media I believe that they are purposely portraying the story more as a ‘drowning accident’ than a whale attack. Why? First, the initial response from sea world said ‘we had a trainer that fell into the pool and drowned’. Yet every witness to the event said it was very obvious that this whale was either upset or simply decided to attack the trainer. The witnesses above ground said the whale came up out of the water and grabbed the woman by the arm and drug her under; those who were viewing from a below ground room saw the whale with the woman in its mouth, turning over and over again in a motion that killed the woman. Sea world has described the event as a woman that fell into the water and drowned, they are lying. This whale was involved with 2 other human deaths, described as accidents as well. One was a homeless man who illegally snuck into the park at night and climbed into the tank, the whale killed him. The other is described as, quote ‘someone who fell into the tank and drowned’ the same official description of this attack. It is obvious to me that both the advocates of the fish, as well as the business enterprise of sea world do not want to admit that this fish killed this woman, as well as others. The money involved in raising these animals and caring for them for many years and training them is a much bigger enterprise then ‘putting to sleep’ a pit bull that kills a human. There are obvious financial reasons to avoid describing this event as a ‘fish kill’. Then you do have a purely naturalistic mindset that is common in our day that sees man as this evil intruder into the realm of nature, and that nature itself could never be deemed as ‘bad’. The biblical story tells us that after man fell in the garden, that the earth and all things in it were cursed. Animals were not created in their original state with an instinct to kill, the scriptures teach us that this instinct came as a result of mans sin. The bible speaks of a day when ‘the lion will lay down with the lamb’ so the reality of animals having this killer instinct is a biblical doctrine that witnesses to the fact of original sin. For modern man to immediately come to the defense of the fish [animal kingdom] in a way that says ‘in no way could this animal [or animals in general] be exhibiting a killer instinct’ is naturalistic mans attempt to portray man as the pollutant to society and nature, while exalting nature to some pristine status that is in conflict with the biblical view. I believe in and appreciate all the great works that these people do; and I understand the mindset of those who don’t want a tragedy like this to hinder the future of these types of displays; but to continue to describe this event as ‘a trainer that fell into the pool and drowned’ is really a disgrace to the life of the poor woman who really did love these animals.
(1381) DON’T THINK YOU NEED TO PUT ON A FUNDRAISING CAMPAIGN BEFORE YOU START, YOU ARE THE EQUIPMENT… WHEN YOU ENTER A TOWN/CITY, DON’T INSIST ON STAYING IN A LUXURY INN, GET A MODEST PLACE WITH MODEST PEOPLE, AND BE CONTENT WITH THAT- Jesus, message bible [Matthew 10] One day I was reading the Billy Graham column in the paper; the question asked ‘Dear Doctor, I am having a problem with ED [erectile dysfunction] and would like your advice on…’ I thought, you gotta be kidding me man! Then I realized it was a question to another ‘doctor’ that gives medical advice on the same page. It’s easy to confuse ‘the way of the world’ with the way of God. Notice in Jesus above words that he clearly lays down the parameters for us; he flat out tells us ‘don’t go for the luxury, the expensive ‘go getter’ lifestyle, you guys are my witnesses and it won’t help the cause’. Now was Jesus saying there should never be an expression of ministry that uses lots of wealth? No. A good example would be Billy Graham, though his organization has used lots of money over many years, yet society at large does not view brother Graham as a luxurious high thrift spender. You don’t hear messages from Graham on ‘we are the king’s kids! We are the head and not the tail!’ type stuff. Even though you can find this ‘head and not the tail’ principle in scripture [Duet. 28] yet in context we need to hear the whole counsel of God. Jesus flat out gives us up front instructions on how to operate in the area of staying in motels for heaven’s sake, the last thing we need to see is another media expose on some evangelist who stayed in a 5 thousand dollar a night luxury resort on the peoples tab, and then using these other [out of context] verses to justify it! This week we had a guy fly his plane into the IRS building in Austin, as the story unfolded he was disgruntled about the way the IRS fined him and taxed him. In his on line rant he accused the catholic church [and churches in general] as being these hypocrites who use all this money, live these flashy TV lives, and yet have IRS exempt status. It turns out that the scam he was caught up in was he and a bunch of friends started their own 'house churches’ and would use this as a tax dodge. The IRS caught up with them and fined them for back taxes. In the rant the man sort of admitted that they weren’t really ‘a church’ but at least they weren’t using there status to connive people out of money [like the churches- in his mind]. Do we as believers have a responsibility to examine our selves and how we approach ‘wealth and luxury’ and re-tool our lives/ministries back to the Jesus mandate? I recently had a bill from one of the news papers that I run the blog ad in; it was an unexpected bill that really was a mistake from the papers billing dept. But I did have some past months that they forgot to automatically deduct from my checking. So anyway as I was discussing the situation [thru emails] I finally worked out a deal, but also explained to the paper that I’m not trying to be a cheapskate, but that I pay for all of this stuff from my retirement check and do not take offerings [or accept money in any way]. I also do not use any ministry stuff in any way to gain a financial benefit [I do not deduct my giving from my taxes]. It seems as if when they realized where I was coming from that their attitude changed somewhat. The point being Jesus wants us to approach the kingdom thru a different lens, seeing things differently. How would you feel if you saw Billy Graham on TV doing some teaching on the end time transfer of wealth and heard him justifying his Rolex watch or something to that effect? It would seem to not fit the man’s message; I would hope that we could claim that too.
(1382) IN THE BEGINNING WAS THE WORD; AND THE WORD WAS WITH GOD, AND THE WORD WAS GOD- John 1:1 Jesus is called ‘The Word’, the Greek word for ‘word’ is Logos. In the first century this word was common among the philosophers, it stood for a sort of overriding principle that would explain and bring together all the fields of science and learning, the same obsession of Einstein in his search for a unified theory. The philosophers believed that there had to be some type of base principle of truth that would bring together all the other fields of wisdom and learning. In essence John was saying ‘This is it, we have found the Logos- the answer to everything- his name is Jesus!’ It’s always difficult to teach these types of verses, they are fraught with only seeing one aspect of what God is saying, and then dividing lines are drawn between the Christian camps. I was having a conversation yesterday with a person who was asking questions about a Muslim friend who used to be a Christian. The Muslim said that he wanted a religion that he could understand, that God is the only God and Jesus is not God. I explained the best I could and shared this verse and a few others, but I also explained that various ‘Christian’ groups have argued over the way to express the deity of Jesus for centuries. There are groups that say ‘Yes, Jesus is the redeemer, he is Gods Son, but only God is God’. From the catholic bishop Arius in the 4th century all the way up to the Unitarians in Boston in the 20th century, people have debated the language we use. I explained to my friend that the bible clearly does teach us that Jesus is God, but I do see how people have problems with the language. But I told my friend that for a person to use the difficulty over the Trinity to embrace Islam is going way too far in my view. I mean the fact that someone has a problem with the wording of the Trinity should not mean you abandon all the realities of redemption and Christianity and embrace a movement that was started by a ‘prophet’ who killed and murdered and had ‘many women’, I mean no other prophets ever had a track record like that! As we read the rest of John chapter 1 we see how John the Baptist says he came to bear witness, to give a record of Jesus, the ‘Lamb of God’. The religious leaders come to John and ask him ‘who are you, we need an answer to bring back to the authorities, the movers and shakers of our day’ John says ‘I am the voice of one man crying in the wilderness, get ready, the lord is on his way’. John quoted Isaiah 40, he is also said to be the prophetic voice that Malachi spoke about- the Elijah that was to come. Johns only significance was in the fact that he was chosen by God to trumpet the reality of the Messiah, his purpose was not about him or his prophetic gifts, his purpose was to proclaim the last true prophet [in the sense of Hebrew messengers who came down the line- see Hebrews chapter 1] and John the Baptist said ‘this is the one, the one whom the Spirit descended on- he’s going to baptize you guys with the Spirit’ [and fire!]. John testified that Jesus was the end of the line for promised Messiahs, he was the ONE. Why look we for another?
[just a comment I left on Scot McKnight’s review of Brian McLaren’s latest book- can read it on line at Christianity Today magazine] Is it possible that Brian leaves out the atonement because the classical view seems to not fit with the more advanced [evolved] view of God? The problem with those who do theology from a sort of philosophical/historical lens is that they often find themselves in conflict with biblical theology. I like Brian [somewhat] and appreciate his stance on social issues, I just don’t think we need to ’re-shape’ orthodox Christian theology to get to the place where he seems to want to go.
(1383) WHEN PEOPLE REALIZE IT IS THE LIVING GOD YOU ARE PRESENTING AND NOT SOME IDOL THAT MAKES THEM FEEL GOOD, THEY ARE GOING TO TURN ON YOU- Jesus, message bible. In keeping with the above comment [those reading from the ‘most recent- teaching section’] let’s talk a little. Some authors have reintroduced some of the more liberal versions of Christianity and it’s good for people to be aware of the pros and cons. Recently I received a teaching catalog from an excellent company called ‘the teaching company’ as I perused the courses they had some really good stuff; I ordered and have already started on a course on Einstein and Quantum theory [Physics] I love the course and these teachings [audio and book] are really at the university level. But I have noticed an area where the able professor is mistaken; he says ‘the universe is ruled-governed BY CHANCE’. Now, I know what he means, but that doesn’t change the fact that he is violating the laws of logic and reasoning by making this assumption [by the way this professor is also a philosopher, he should know better!]. Basically you can say ‘there are causes, things happening in the material realm that we are unaware of, as of now we have no definite identified cause’ but to say that ‘chance’ itself is the ruling agency is nonsense. The point being we should all have some background before accepting anyone’s teaching 100%. So in some of the recent Christian teaching some have resurrected the older liberal theories that arose in the 19th century out of the universities in Germany. Some teachers taught that the first 5 books of the bible couldn’t have been written by Moses because at the time of Moses writing was unpopular, and that the concept of ‘codified law’ was foreign, and that the commandment against idols was ‘too advanced’ for Moses to have written down around 14-1500 BC. So these liberal theories espoused a sort of view of God and religion that was ‘evolving’ over time. Von Harnack, Wellhausen, the philosopher Hegel all advanced this view [sometimes referred to as the documentary theory]. Well as time rolled on and we became more proficient in archaeology, low and behold we found out that 3-500 years before Moses societies were advanced enough to write down laws. The famous code of Hammurabi was discovered, it was a law code with 282 specific laws written down; something that supposedly was never done at the time. So how did the liberal theologians respond? ‘You are right, Moses very well could have written down the 10 commandments around 1500 BC, as a matter of fact we now think he copied it from Hammurabi’! Yikes! You see when people exalt their view-theory above the actual evidence, then you have problems. It’s not to say that we should blackball their ideas, it’s just we need to know that some of these ideas have been around for a while and they have been fairly well debunked by other able theologians. Just because a ‘new’ theory sounds interesting, doesn’t mean it’s correct. In the teaching course catalog that the teaching company sent me, they also have stuff on the bible and early Christianity and theology. I did not order those courses because I am familiar with the theology of the professor [Bart Erhman] and though I’m sure he is a good man, I know he espouses views that are really not in keeping with mainstream thought. Now, if I had the teachings already, sure I would work the course, but I won’t spend a few hundred dollars on stuff that I already am aware of and have rejected. The point today is historic orthodox Christianity has answered many of the critics questions over the years, it’s not ‘wicked’ for a teacher/writer to reintroduce some of these ideas all over again, but people need to be aware that these things have been floating around for a while and the historic orthodox view is really the better [more historically reliable] view. Yes, momma and daddy’s church, old fashioned as it may be, probably had it right all along!
(1384) YOU’RE NO EINSTEIN! A few weeks back my wife was getting on me for looking like a homeless guy, she tells me ‘John, why don’t you cut your hair- at least brush it’ and I responded ‘Einstein let his hair grow out’- the response ‘your no Einstein’. Humility is one of those gifts that just keeps on giving. Okay, seriously I have become a little messy these last few years. I am feeling okay physically though I realize all things are not well. About a year [actually a few years] ago I noticed some physical signs that probably needed to be checked out, but I had just lost my health insurance and finally went on line and did the best with what I had. At the same time there were days where I would get off of work and barely be able to walk [back problems] and would go to the homeless mission to see the brothers and some of them are in there 20’s, doing much better than me, and yet they are on Social Security, getting medical stuff for free, and I couldn’t even get the darn VA clinic to check me out! [I was in the navy, and my wife also. Tried but failed to get approved for the clinic]. So I guess after a while you get frustrated. Okay, in John chapter 2 Jesus turns the water into wine. The governor of the wedding drinks it and says ‘wow, most people serve the best stuff first, and after everyone is feeling good- then he sets out the cheap stuff. But you have saved the best for last’. Of course we know this is a story that speaks about the New Covenant in Jesus Blood being better than the old, but the point I want to make is this governor testified about Jesus and he didn’t even know it. Later on after the leaders draw up their personal opinions of him, they will not give him the credit for ‘the good wine’ they will find all sorts of reasons to demean him, but those who simply got a taste of the wine said ‘wow, that’s some of the best ever’. Do you [I] have a tendency to reject the ‘wine’ because we have already pre judged the source? Have people ever approached you and said ‘hey, did you hear that brothers teaching, it’s really good’ and yet you felt offended because ‘that brother’ might have hit a nerve or 2 along the way. Jesus turned the water into wine, not just any wine, but some of the best stuff on the planet. Many wouldn’t access it because they were offended by his straight forward approach- they even said of John the Baptist that he had strange eating habits [locusts!] and looked a little shabby [camels hair wardrobe]. Don’t let the personal animosities keep you from the good wine, people are going to drink it whether you like it or not, might as well get in on it while there’s still some time left.
(1385) JOHN 4- Jesus does the unthinkable, he travels thru a bad side of town- Samaria. If you read our Kings study you will remember the history of the region, by the time of Jesus day they were considered the ‘dogs’ of society. Now Jesus meets the woman at the well and they engage is this intriguing conversation, she brings up the debate over where the true place of worship should be- do we meet in the church building or the house? Ah, Jesus says ‘woman, the time is coming and it is even here now when the true worshippers of God will do it in spirit and truth’. It really wasn’t a matter of ‘where’. Okay, she gets into this religious discussion with this strange person in the middle of her busy day, she really doesn’t have time to get into the whole thing. But for some reason she’s drawn to this person, he seems to have insight that is rare for the day. Jesus tells her ‘if you knew who it was that you were talking to, you would have asked for water and I would have given you water that once a person drinks from they will never thirst again’. Okay, another one of those strange sayings, but she’s running out of time, she needs to finish her business at the well at get back to town. What the heck, she says ‘Okay, give me the water’ well, first we have to deal with a few things- remember I’m looking for sprit and truth, brutal honesty about your life and situation. This isn’t an encounter with some ‘wealth coach’ for heaven’s sake! Here we go ‘call your husband’ what? What a strange question to interject at this point-okay, she knows how to answer questions about her past in a way that makes it sound like everything is all right, when we all know it’s not. She says ‘I have no husband’ got ya now. Jesus tells her ‘you have spoken the truth’ the man your living with now is not your husband, and you have been divorced 5 times already, so yes, you ‘have no husband’. Okay, this is where the rubber meets the road, this is what Jesus was getting at when he told her that worship is not about ‘where’ but about truth and honesty when confronted by God. At this point many walk away and stay offended for life, but she was thirsty enough to allow the confrontation/offense to happen. ‘Well, I know that the Messiah is going to come some day, and when he comes he will tell us all things’! It was really a shot at Jesus ‘sure, you know SOME STUFF about me, but the real Messiah knows everything!’ Jesus says ‘I that speak unto you am he’. At that point the disciples returned with the food, they are shocked that Jesus is engaging this woman, they must be thinking ‘thank God the Pharisees aren’t here for this one’ I mean they were always looking for an excuse to discredit him. Well the woman goes back into town and tells all the other ‘mongrels’ about Jesus, he is invited to the town and spends 2 days and this truly is the first great ‘gentile/Samaritan’ outreach of the first century. In our day there is much debate about the how and way to ‘do church’ much of what is missing from the conversation is the ‘spirit and truth’ aspect. I have noticed that when a famous preacher falls into some public sin, that when they make the rounds [Larry King, etc.] there is much interest. People want to know that the things that they have struggled with are also things that we all deal with. The ‘spirit and truth’ aspect is often missing from our modern practice of Christianity. This woman allowed the confrontation to happen; it needed to happen for her to get to the next step where she would believe that Jesus was the Messiah. She truly found the water that she asked for.
(1386) DROP THE BED [AND GIVE ME THE WINGS] - I was reading a news story about a Dominoes guy who was robbed; the brothers who robbed him found out he had no money on him, so one of them said ‘just give me the wings’, now that’s a brother that I could go easy on if I was on the jury. Recently I made a few comments on line dealing with the Emergent movement and stuff, all things I have written on before. Though I have been both critical and at times supportive of certain aspects of the movement, I felt some who also made comments were not leaving enough ‘room’ [grace] for the author of the book being critiqued. In John chapter 5 Jesus heals the guy at the pool of Bethesda and he tells him ‘take up your bed and walk’- take up my bed! That’s the reason I have not been able to get healed by making it into the water after the angel troubles the water, I mean if I could walk I wouldn’t be in this dilemma. The poor brother didn’t realize that he was talking straight to the source ‘forget about the angel thing, I am the Messiah man! Take up the bed now’ the man walks. Now that’s a real miracle, something that we could all be happy about, right? Not. The religious folk saw the man and their first response was ‘who in the heck told you to carry that darn bed on the Sabbath’? They immediately saw the perceived violation of their religious point of view, the bible says ‘they sought to kill him’. What! The same 10 commandments that speak about keeping the Sabbath has a little bit to say about killing people too. Sometimes we as believers [defenders of the faith] need to be able to look past the things we perceive as wrong- now there are times where we take a stand and say ‘enough is enough’ but there are also times where we need to ask ourselves if we are just looking for some guy carrying his bed- the person who seems to be violating one of our ideas. There is a difference between true rejecters of Jesus, and people who believe in Jesus but are coming at stuff from a different point of view. To shoot a pizza delivery boy in a robbery is a serious crime, to say ‘give me the wings’ I don’t know.
(1387) FOR THE FATHER HAS LIFE IN HIMSELF, AND HAS GIVEN TO THE SON TO HAVE LIFE IN HIMSELF; AND HAS GIVEN HIM AUTHORITIY TO EXECUTE JUDGMENT ALSO- In John chapter 5 one of the statements that irks the religious leaders is Jesus calling God his father- thus making himself equal with God. Those who doubt the deity of Christ should look at the way the religious leaders viewed him, they knew that he claimed equality with God. In some of the recent musings on the liberal ideas of ‘the evolution of God’ [those who see the church evolving in her view of God as time goes by] I want to say a few things. First, the incarnation is Gods way of saying ‘yes, your view of me was limited, the very fact that the incarnation is the full revealing of myself to man, shows that man never had the complete [full] view of me yet’. So in a sense, yes, our view of God ‘evolved’ [so to speak] from the wrathful God of the Old Testament to the merciful God of the New Testament. Now, are these contrary views of God? No. Are they views like some in the early days of the church taught- that the God of the Old Testament was a different God than the God of the New [Marcion and other Gnostic cults]? No. But our view of God from the Old Testament is a view of Gods holiness and judgment apart from the grace of the New Covenant. He is the same God, seen absent the Cross [for the most part, yet we do see Gods attribute of mercy even in the Old Testament]. Now, without getting off track too much, in the New Testament we are told that Jesus is the complete picture of God to us; Colossians says that ALL the fullness of the God head dwelt in Jesus bodily. We never had this fleshly reality of God before- the apostle John will say ‘we handled the word of life’ [1st Jn]. A few weeks back while watching an apologetic show I mentioned how some of the staunch apologists were labeling the UPC [united Pentecostal churches] as a cult because of their unique view of the oneness of God. The apologists at one point quoted the verse ‘all things were made by him’ referring to Jesus, and said ‘therefore Jesus is God’ true. But they were trying to combat the UPC brothers by using this verse, the apologists were using it in a way that said ‘see, Jesus created everything too, just like it says about God’ sort of in a disconnected way. In John 1 we read that in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. In Genesis we read that God ‘spoke’ all things into existence. Jesus in the New Testament is called ‘the word of God’ to try and simplify it, when Colossians says ‘all things were made by him’ it does not mean that Jesus created things separately from God, it means God spoke and that ‘the vehicle’ of creation was the Son. The act of God’s word [also called Jesus] going forth created all things. God did not create separately from the Son, or the Son from the father. I really loathe teaching this stuff because church history is filled with names that get tagged on all the various views of explaining the oneness of God while at the same time upholding the reality of the Trinity. The main point today is mans view of God did ‘evolve’ in a sense, it became fully revealed in Jesus. Now the liberal view of the evolution of God is something different than this, but I wanted to make clear that if the only view of God is seen thru the Old Testament, then yes we are not ‘fully’ seeing God, the full view comes thru Jesus. We reject the Marcion idea of 2 different Gods, the Gnostic belief that the God of the Old Testament was the God of matter and thus an evil God, while the God of the new testament is the spirit God- this is true heresy, but as Christians we accept the incarnation as the complete picture and revelation of God to man. This in no way negates the wrath of God [eternal judgment] but it tempers it with mercy.
(1388) 1, 2 MANY BISHOPS? In John chapter 6 Jesus is confronting the religious leaders, they are always appealing to some ancient hero of the faith [Moses, Abraham] and they are doing it in a way that violates the supremacy of Jesus. Jesus tells them ‘look, you guys are always appealing to the writings of Moses, if you really believed in the guy you would have also believed in me- he wrote about me!’ In ‘blog world’ there has been a scuffle over an overseas church that many have labeled as a cult. On the site ‘religion news blog’ they have been doing an expose’. The church is led by a man who calls himself a Bishop and one of his satellite churches had a Pastor walk out and split the church. The coverage of the ministry that I have read seems to place them in the prosperity/apostolic covering type movement. I have written on this before and have always felt that there were too many independent churches-ministries claiming ‘apostolic authority’ and these well intentioned people have crossed the line when it comes to the freedom of the individual believer’s conscience. Many are famous for rebuking ‘the maverick spirit’ while at the same time they seem to be totally mavericks themselves! In the above case I think the religious site went too far in calling them a cult. I have read from this site in the past and they are run by fine Catholic Christians, but they are too quick to holler ‘cult’. I personally do not recommend these types of church movements, but avoid the cult label. I also read an article a while back written by a leader in one of the more historic churches, they were rebuking the rapid spread of these types of churches thru out the world. The leader said they were sprouting up like wild fire, all with their self proclaimed bishops, who were basically starting their own independent churches and everyone in the organization is ordaining everyone else as a bishop, the leader saw this as a major problem. What exactly does the bible teach about this? The words for ‘bishop, overseer and elder’ in the bible seem to speak of the same office. Though different Greek words are used, most scholars agree that they seem to be used interchangeably. One thing we know for sure is in the New Testament there were no Bishops in the sense of an ecclesiastical authority over a number of churches. This developed over time and my purpose here is not to get into the whys and how’s this happened, I am not ‘anti clergy’ in that I reject the modern role today [in the historic churches]. Does the bible have any office that does show an extra local authority? Yes, the apostle Paul had a very effective oversight ministry to most of the churches we read about in the New Testament. So the idea of a church planting ministry to have a number of ‘satellite churches’ is okay. The Catholic Church has Bishops in the Cathedral cities who oversee the entire region. I live In Corpus Christi; the cathedral for this south Texas region for the Catholics is located in my city. San Antonio has another region. While living in New Jersey, Saint Patrick’s was the Cathedral in N.Y. that covered the region. So you have different views and out workings of how bishops work. The thing I would warn about is when these bishops [the independent ones] seem to teach a strong type of ‘covering’ authority over people. Many of these movements [sometimes referred to as the shepherding, discipleship movement] teach a controlling type spirit that has the main apostle as the person that the community submits to, but it is done in a way that violates the freedom that we see in the New Testament. The religious folk of Jesus day were enamored with Moses, to the point where they were never fully able to move on to Jesus as being the true authority figure that they would submit to, I think we could all learn from their mistake.
(1389) THIS IS A LARGE WORK I HAVE CALLED YOU INTO, DON’T BE OVERWHELMED BY IT- Jesus to his men, message version. The other day I read some stuff from a fairly conservative blog site [Christian post] and was surprised to see that one of the blogs they recommended had a scientist espouse a sort of theistic evolutionary view. He spoke about ‘human like beings’ who lived before man and had no souls and all, he also gave a version of Noah’s flood that said it was possible that meteors might have impacted the ocean and caused a regional flood. The man is smart and gave many fine examples and stuff, I just felt like he was off the mark. Over the years of looking at the various views among believers I have noticed that often times we can believe that biblical accounts happened, but we have a tendency to want to reduce them down to size. The God of deism has no problem with a God who is ‘hands off’- that is they view God from a perspective that says ‘yes, he started things at the beginning, but it took billions of years for things to form’. Sort of like God could have created the first living cell, but in no way could he have actually formed a complete man in one lump sum! In the middle of the Atlantic Ocean there is this huge ridge, a possible crevice that broke up during the shifting of the Tectonic Plates when the continents first separated. Some scientists believe this happened when the planet spread apart in the distant past. Now, it is perfectly plausible to theorize that if this event happened in a short time [like a year] instead of a long time over many thousands of years, that this breaking up of the floor of the ocean might very well have created an effect that caused the ocean floor to rise and much of the water in the Atlantic could have ‘spilled out’ and easily covered the entire planet in a short period of time [Gore thinks a little ice melting can do it!]. The biblical account of Noah’s flood tells us that it not only rained for 40 days and nights, but that the ‘fountains of the deep broke open’. The point being there are many plausible ideas on how the earth could have experienced a global flood, much like the account in Genesis gives us. But we have a tendency to want to break things down into small chunks, and then think these ‘small chunks’ are reasonable enough for enlightened man to accept. I am personally an ‘old earth’ adherent, I do not believe the earth is only 6 thousand years old, but at the same time we need to be open to the arguments that both sides of these issues make. To be honest, many of these endeavors are ‘large’ that is God has called the church to engage in all realms of society; science, philosophy, etc. - at times it seems like a huge task, something that can be overwhelming to the average student of the bible, take heart, there are many able believers in all these fields that are doing a superb job. Don’t let ‘science’ tell you that all the facts are on the side of the atheists, that’s just not true.
(1390) THE EXCLUSIVITY OF JESUS CHRIST- John chapter 8 begins with the woman caught in adultery, Jesus refuses to judge her but also tells her to go and sin no more. Then we launch into a conversation between Jesus and the religious leaders. Basically they claim belief in God and tell Jesus that he is their father. Jesus replies that if they do not believe that he is the Messiah, then in reality they do not have God as their father- he flat out tells them that satan is the father of those who claim belief in God while not accepting and honoring the Son. This chapter is important for the pluralistic society we live in today. How should believers approach other faiths that claim belief in God, but do not accept Jesus as the Messiah? First, we should respect the various beliefs/religions of other people groups. Now when I say ‘respect’ I mean we should give people room to form their own beliefs while at the same time challenging them with the truth claims of Christianity. We should not leave the impression ‘well, we all believe in the same God, so what’s the difference whether or not you believe in Christ’ well frankly the difference is between heaven or hell! The point being Jesus is ‘exclusive’ in the sense that you can’t really have God as your father without having Jesus as your savior. He can’t just be ‘one of the prophets in a long line of prophets’ no, he alone is the God man! God became flesh and dwelt among us thru the Son, Jesus said if you don’t hear his words, believe that he is the one sent from the father, then you don’t have God as your father. Jesus is ‘inclusive’ in the sense that he even accepted the woman taken in adultery, something the so called ‘God believers’ would not do. The religious acceptance of belief in God, absent the reality of Jesus, treats women and others with disdain [wearing veils, etc.] those who ‘have God’ and the Son, are truly the liberators of society. The world might accuse the church of being arrogant and believing in exceptionalism, but in the end we have the only answer to the human sin problem, that which G.K. Chesterton called the only Christian doctrine that has 100% empirical evidence of being true! Truly Jesus is the answer to fallen man, let’s not be ashamed of that fact.
(1391) NO MAS [SA]! Back in the 70’s us boxing fans were treated to one of those so called ‘super fights’ you know, a matchup between greats. Roberto Duran faced Sugar Ray Leonard. A few rounds into the fight Duran got so frustrated that he walked out of the ring while chanting ‘NO MAS’. Yesterday a Democratic congressman from N.Y. - by the name of Massa- resigned his seat and went on the war path against his own party. It seems like he has a history of making racy comments to other men, but his excuse for being rail roaded is that he voted against Obama Care. It’s quite sad, he is making the rounds [today he’ll be on Beck] and he’s describing all these encounters with the administrations men, he says they approached him in the showers at the gym, wearing nothing, and he describes Rahm Emanuel’s ‘tush’. He seems like he can’t escape language that pits him up against other men, while nude! All of this wouldn’t be so tragic if it weren’t happening to the most ethical congress in U.S. history! Plus, it really stains N.Y. politics, I bet Spitzer and Patterson can’t even sleep at night. Okay, in John chapter 9 Jesus heals a man that was blind from birth, the disciples ask him ‘who did sin, this man or his parents, that caused this man’s plight’? Jesus said neither, but this happened so the works of God could be manifested in him. This might be the most important verse in the chapter. This man and his family lived many years with the insinuation that they must have been children of a lesser God, sure their neighbors didn’t come right out and say it, but you could sure feel the underlying accusation. Now, the news makes it to the religious crowd and they find out he was healed on the Sabbath, a big no no, a real ‘No Mas’ moment. They question the man and his family, they can’t escape the fact that this is a real miracle, so they try and convince the man that he should thank God for the miracle, but this Jesus is not authentic. The more they question him, the more he becomes a vocal advocate for Jesus. Finally at one point the religious leaders get fed up and they say ‘who are you to teach us anything, YOU WERE ALL TOGETHER BORN IN SIN!’ There it is, that underlying accusation that he always felt from the religious crowd- you know, the group who always had their act together, they prided themselves in their upper class status ‘thank God that I am not like this beggar’ type of thing. But now, at the moment of truth, they blurt it out ‘Look at you, your whole life has been a testimony of your utter worthlessness, sure we never said it openly, but we always felt that way’ so the truth came out. I had a good friend a few years ago, New York Tony, he was a homeless brother that came from my home turf, never knew him from the north, but ran into him while making the rounds. Tony was a good friend, hooked on Coke and Crack, but a hard worker and Army vet. Tony used to always question why he was like the way he was, he was adopted and he thought maybe his real mom passed something off to him- was he like this because of what he did, or what his parents did? In the religious world we often create mindsets that say to people ‘surely if you were right with God, these things wouldn’t have happened to you’ we often violate the mandate from James ‘Don’t despise the poor’. At the end of the chapter Jesus tells the man that he came into the world to make the blind see, and the ‘seers’ blind. The religious leaders would find no help until they got to the end of their rope, the point where they could say ‘No Mas’ to the road they were on, but instead they said to Jesus ‘No Mas’.
(1392) CAN A DEVIL OPEN THE EYES OF THE BLIND? In John 10 Jesus defends his deity in sort of a strange way; he says ‘if those to whom the word of God came are called “gods” how much more shall it be said of him whom the father hath sent and sanctified, that he is called the Son of God’. Jesus is quoting Psalms 82, as far as I can tell this is the only attempt that Jesus makes to justify his deity thru scripture. He has said things like ‘before Abraham was, I AM’ and ‘how could David call the Messiah his Lord, if he is the Son of David’ all statements that speak of his deity, but this quote from Psalms 82 seems to be a direct reference to him claiming deity [Son ship] based on a verse that calls us ‘gods’. Over the years this verse has been used by certain camps to teach dominion theology, but I think they missed the point. The Psalm itself is a rebuttal to the religious leaders of Jesus day, it argues for the defense of the poor, the doing of justice- it is the ministry of Jesus in a nutshell, a strong reproof against those who refused to do justice and defend the poor and needy. I mean Jesus healed the crippled guy and all they could do was critique him for violating their view of the Sabbath. In this chapter they say ‘can a devil open the eyes of the blind’? Jesus purposely healed these people on the Sabbath, I mean there really were 6 other days to do these healings, why keep doing it on the Sabbath? I think he was sticking it in their faces, causing them to have to rethink their religious views. He was showing them the reality behind the law ‘the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath’ the rebuke of psalms 82 ‘do justice and quit using the law as some religious measurement of class and status’. Contrary to popular opinion, Jesus didn’t heal every sick person he met- I know the bible says ‘he healed them all- he went around healing all who were oppressed of the devil’ but this does not mean every person on the planet. I mean at the pool of Bethesda he healed only one, I mean that pool was like a hospice, people who were ready to die were showing up for one last miracle, yet Jesus healed only one. But these outstanding cases were proofs that just wouldn’t go away. The religious leaders kept going back to those events in their minds ‘can a devil do this’? The father testified of the authenticity of the Son by doing these miracles, Jesus even says ‘look, if you don’t believe me because you think my doctrine and claims are wrong, then at least believe for the actual works that I’ve done’ no matter how hard they tried, they couldn’t deny the reality of those few outstanding miracles-‘can a devil really do this’? No.
(1393) POLITICAL EXPEDIENCY- in John chapter 11 Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead. The news gets back to the religious leaders and they say ‘If this keeps going on, we will lose our influence with the people and the Roman authorities will come and take away our position’ and one of their own, the high priest Caiaphas, says ‘Don’t you guys understand that it is expedient that one should die for the nation, instead of the whole nation suffering’ and John says ‘this spake he by the Spirit, being he was the high priest he was prophesying of Jesus death’. Okay, did the brother realize what he was saying? I doubt it. But he was stating a political reality of the time, that this railroading of Jesus would play a cathartic role for the political times that they were in. I finally watched the interview with the disgraced congressman, Eric Massa. He went on Beck and the whole thing is really a fiasco. Beck was hoping to expose the hidden conspiracies of the administration, instead Massa confessed to tickling his navy bunkmates! The sad thing is, as I listened to Beck, he really believes in many of the conspiracy theories he espouses. It doesn’t help that the president, as well meaning and pluralistic as he is, puts people to work for him that have held fringe beliefs. This allows the Becks of the world to find these hidden treasures [UTUBE] and lo and behold, we have one of his people praising Mau Se Tung, or signing a 911 petition that claims Bush was in on it. What purpose do the Becks of the world [or to be fair, the MSNBC crowd] play? I see them as sort of a cathartic for the people who also hold to their views, it seems to be a necessary evil that allows people to vent, a sort of political necessity if you will. I saw Patrick Kennedy, son of the late Ted Kennedy, rebuking the media for their coverage of Massa, while at the same time they have forgotten about the seriousness of the war in Afghanistan and the money and cost of lives on both sides, he was mad and raging on the floor. Though I am not a fan of Kennedy, yet I believe he spoke much truth. I thinks its appalling that the media has dropped the ball on this, every so often a story or so will leak out, a bunch of accidental deaths that our govt. denies being involved with, then a month or so passes and a small report comes out ‘yes, we did accidently kill 40 people’ what? The media seems to not hold the current president accountable in these things. They play sides to the point where real atrocities are glossed over. How many more stories on Sarah Palin’s daughter will they do? They trodded out the ex boyfriend onto the main media outlets to share their dirty laundry. They gave a forum to a disgruntled kid who posed for playgirl, and they keep on doing this stuff. I mean this is the daughter of a ‘private’ citizen for heaven’s sake. How much coverage did they give to the ‘partner’ of Joe Biden’s daughter who made a sex tape with her? How often have you heard the story? How many stories on Chelsea Clintons sex life? MSNBC is just as bad as Beck when they do these things to a girl dealing with all the situations that life can throw at you, and yet from letterman to Chris Matthews to the major news outlets, they have all been guilty of this double standard. Caiaphas saw the writing on the wall, he wasn’t worried about the fact that what he was prophesying was that a corrupt system was going to railroad someone thru a kangaroo court and execute an innocent man, he was simply calculating the political balances of the day ‘will this help or hurt our cause’ type of a thing. They should have been more worried about losing their souls, then their seats in congress.
(1394) THE TEXAS SCHOOL BOOK DEPOSITORY? In John 12 the Greeks come to Jesus disciples and want a meeting with Jesus, the Greeks are those who prided themselves in their wisdom. Jesus basically brushes them off and refuses to cow tow to the elites. He responds ‘unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it abides alone’ in essence- you guys ‘abide alone’ [no meeting with me] until you take up the Cross and follow me. This week [yesterday] the news has been reporting the Texas school book story. Basically every few years Texas school board members go thru the process of what the books for the state should include; basic guidelines and stuff. Texas is the nation’s number one purchaser of textbooks, so the theory is if Texas ‘conservatives’ get their way, then the rest of the nation gets stuck having to buy books that are tainted with backwoods idiots who imposed their views on the rest of the ‘Greek’ [intellectual world]. Do our schoolbooks in general steer away from the religious history and statements of many of the founding fathers? Yes. Do our schoolbooks in general avoid/edit out religious statements from their coverage of the founding documents. Yes. Why? There is a basic mistake made by many of the publishers of schoolbooks that say ‘if we show religious content, then we are violating the separation of church and state idea’. The problem with this approach is they have left out a large portion of history while trying to produce a product that will be accepted in both ‘liberal’ and conservative states. If you read the founding documents in their entirety [Mayflower Compact, etc.] they read like a ‘church covenant’ that any Christian community could adopt. Yet when the history books show quotes and portions of the documents, they never quote these sections, why? Because of what I just showed you. This has happened time and time again over many years until we have gotten to the point where many public school children are really not learning an accurate history of the country. The well meaning [but grossly misinformed] opponents simply do not know this. They see the struggle as one between ‘those darn Christian ignoramuses’ versus the enlightened crowd, they are really the ones who have no idea what they are talking about. Now, are we- quote ‘a Christian nation’? Not really. At least not in the way that some Protestant preachers claim. During the founding of our country you had the mindset of the European enlightenment affecting much of western society. Lines were being drawn that pitted a humanist form of belief in God [Deism] against the classical Christian view. Some of our founding fathers did adhere to a Deistic view. Deism said ‘we do not need tradition or religion to inform us of human value and dignity, we can hold to these principles by virtue of our human nobility and intelligence’ that is they believed these truths to be self evident, sort of like the current theme from some of the more popular atheists ‘do good for goodness sake’ [which by the way, fails in the long run- too much to explain right now]. Now, with this background, when our founding documents say ‘we hold these truths to be SELF EVIDENT’ this term smacks of the fact that some of our fathers did indeed reject the classical Christian view. So what does this show us? That some of the founders purposefully included language that would veer away from the Christian view. But you will never understand or learn this simple thing that I just showed you, if we continue to expunge from the record all the religious statements and views of the fathers! So the point is, when these so called enlightened ones try and approach teaching from a biased view, a view that they often don’t realize is biased, they do more harm than good to their cause. The Greeks said ‘we are willing to hear Jesus, let’s set up an appointment’ they went further than most of the liberals on the Texas school board.
(1395) GLTB community [might have left a letter out?] Last night I caught an interview on CNN with a transgender person. Tonight they will be doing a special on him called ‘my name was Stephen’ he has ‘transitioned’ and is now living as a woman. Then the next show [Anderson Cooper] interviewed Chas [former Chastity] Bono, the daughter of Sony and Cher who also is transgender. A few years ago I saw a documentary on a phenomenon where people had this compulsion, sometimes from as long as they can remember, to want to rid themselves of a limb. The interesting thing was many of these people came from various backgrounds and had no idea that others too grappled with ‘this feeling’. Eventually a community formed around them to affirm them and tell them there really is nothing wrong with them, after all many others have struggled with the same feelings from their youth, so it must be an identity thing. During the show they interviewed family members who dealt with the fact that many of their loved ones went thru with these desires and found ways to get their limbs amputated [freezing them to the point where the ER had no choice but to amputate the limb]. One person who finally gave in to ‘who he really was’ found out that after the first amputation, yes he felt a sense of relief, sort of like ‘well, I was told by many others that it was the answer to my problem, so I did it’ he was later interviewed and described how he eventually sought counseling and he now realizes that both his desires, and the good intentions of others who tried to affirm his desires, were actually very damaging. Others felt affirmed in their acceptance of his desires, but they really did not realize that their acceptance and encouraging was actually harmful. He said that after the first amputation, some time elapsed and he began having a desire to amputate another limb. He thanks God that a good counselor treated this disorder and he is happy he stopped at limb one. In the interview with the transgender person it showed how he went for many years without any inkling of wanting to go from man to woman, then one day he watched a show and they espoused this belief as the answer to some people’s problems. This idea stuck in his head and through the process of time he acted on it. His son and wife dealt with it the best they could, but it no doubt affected his entire life. They went thru the whole procedure of surgeries and hormone treatments and dealing with severe depression [and a high suicide rate] that many of these people deal with, and yet the whole flavor of the show was geared towards saying it was societies fault [church, morals] that has caused these people to feel unwanted. There was really no thought given to the possibility that these decisions, acting out on years of feelings, might in the long run solve nothing and actually lead to more problems. In so many words the psychologist who was also interviewed admitted that the depression rate is almost 100 % after the ‘transition’ is made. How should we as believers respond? In John 13 Jesus is with his men at the last supper, he takes a towel and begins to wash the disciples feet, Peter gets upset ‘No way Jesus, I won’t let you wash my feet’! Jesus says ‘Peter, if you don’t let me wash you, you have no part with me’. Then Peter says ‘fine, give me an entire bath’ and Jesus says he really only needs to admit that sometimes in life we need foot washings, not entire body makeovers! Some in the progressive church are trying honestly to deal with these issues by saying ‘they don’t need a foot washing, that’s the way God made them’ they are trying to be affirming towards people with struggles, but in the long run this affirmation will not work. Imagine trying that with the brother who kept ‘feeling’ that it was right to amputate his limbs! Jesus shows us that all people get defiled in life, whether a person’s struggle is with a sexual identity issue, or a heterosexual issue, we all have times where we need to go to Jesus for cleansing. It might very well be that some of our brothers and sisters in Christ will struggle and stumble in life with these things. We should help them ‘get clean’ even if it’s a life time struggle. But to espouse the idea of the world that says the answer is to affirm them in their sin, this is neither helpful to them nor the biblical thing to do. When the religious conservatives brought the woman in adultery to Jesus, Jesus received the woman; he accepted and did not reject her. He also told her to sin no more, he empowered her not by saying the lifestyle she was living was okay, but by telling her ‘yes, I love you, and this lifestyle you think is fulfilling you is not- you must let me wash you from it’. I know these issues are hot button issues, and I know many well meaning Christians are presently trying to work thru these issues, but the fact is many who have been told ‘to keep resisting this desire, to not give in to it is living a lie’, they are being misled. They are told year after year that to give in to whatever temptation they are facing would be the answer, this simply is not true. Many will eventfully find the same struggles all over again [remove another limb?] and finally realize that in life there are times when yes, our feet get dirty- we might fall and struggle for many years, but Jesus said you could still have a part with him, if you let him wash your feet- if you keep coming back, 70 times 7, he will keep working with you. The tragic thing is many of these precious people are told that this struggle, to keep trying to overcome, is not being open and honest, they are told this at times by the church. My brethren, we ought not to do these things. [Just a note- last week I noticed that one of the news papers that runs our ad put us under the section for ‘metropolitan community churches’ to those in the know, these are churches who affirm GLTB persons. At first I thought I better contact the paper and tell them they have us in the wrong section, then I thought ‘what the heck, Maybe the Lord has a purpose for it’. I had no idea I would soon write this entry!]
(1396) THE NATURAL STATE IS MOTION- Jesus said there are 12 hours in the day [Jewish day] and that if we walk during the day we would not stumble. He said that he came to do and finish the work that the father gave him to do, that he had to keep moving to arrive at the final destination, he described this work as his meat- the very thing that sustained him. Ancient physics taught a theory that said the natural state of things on earth was ‘rest’. They observed that if you drop something from the air that it always finds the lowest spot and stops. But they taught that the natural state of motion in the heavens was circular, they observed the stars and moon and planets and saw that things orbit, they go in circles. The ancient view of Aristotle [Ptolemy] was the earth was the center of the universe and that there was this crystalline type sphere surrounding the earth and that the stars and moon and sun revolved around us. Galileo and Copernicus shook the world of science when they discovered that the earth really wasn’t the center of all things [Anthropic principle- man being the center of everything] but that our solar system was heliocentric instead of geocentric [we orbit the sun, not the other way around]. Isaac Newton is often said to have discovered gravity, in the sense that he observed things falling to the ground [the public school story of the apple hitting him on the head] but this observation of things falling was really no secret. What Newton discovered was that the motion of things in heaven [celestial motion] and things on earth [terrestrial] was the same- that is the natural state of things was not rest for the earth, nor circular for the heavens. But that all things would naturally flow in a straight line, unless acted upon by another force [classical view]. This ‘straight line motion’ [inertia- Newton’s first law] would be interrupted by gravity and cause the things in motion to be drawn off course. Thus when the apple falls to the ground, if it weren’t for the ground stopping the fall, it would keep going in motion- gravity is pulling it to the earth and the ground is stopping the motion. The same for the heavens. The earth’s gravity is ‘pulling’ on the natural straight line motion of the moon and causing it to deviate from a straight line path and orbit the earth. The same with stars and planets and our sun. Depending on the size [mass] and distance of one body from another, you get varying degrees of pull and this is how everything functions. During the turn of the 20th century we entered the era of modern physics, and Einstein and others would challenge many of the classical norms. Newton’s theories still hold true, but not everywhere at all times, when things approach the speed of light, everything changes. But for the most part Newton’s laws are still valuable when dealing with modern engineering and the basics of science. So what did we learn? That God created things to be in motion, not stagnant. Jesus said he had to keep moving ‘in the day’ because when the night comes no man can work. Proverbs tells us that the lazy person will not work during the planting season, and therefore will wind up begging in the harvest. The Old Testament says ‘get out of the city and dwell in the fields, even Babylon, and there I will be with you and deliver you from the hand of the enemy’. We all know the story of king David, when it was the time for kings to be leading their men in war, David stayed home and saw Bathsheba. What has God called you to do? Are you doing it? Have you organized your life around the priorities of his purpose for you? The natural state of motion on earth [and in heaven] is forward motion, what’s stopping you?
(1397) IN MY FATHERS HOUSE ARE MANY MANSIONS- Yesterday I read an article by an Arab believer who grew up in a Muslim country. He shared how over the years he has learned how to dialogue respectively with Muslims and how important it was to share the Christian faith with respect, I really liked the tone. Jesus said ‘I have other sheep which are not of this fold, I must gather them too’. In context he is telling Israel that he too will gather Gentiles into the kingdom. I also read a verse [?] the other day that spoke to me about leaving the door open when dialoging with various groups. One of things that has surprised me since I started blogging is the Arab brothers [Christians] who have contacted me over the years and have been excited about our site. Many of them are pastors and are really laying their lives on the line to bring the gospel to Muslims. I do realize that my stance on natural Israel as well as how the western world should treat Muslims/Arabs is part of the reason why fellow Arab believers have been drawn to our site. For the most part I believe the church should put the gospel of Jesus above all ethnic/political concerns- when preaching the gospel we need to avoid getting into geopolitical wars or wars in general! Many believers in Palestine who are Arab face persecution from fellow countrymen who are Muslim, as well as persecution from Israel. These believers generally do not get support from believers from the U.S., instead when American believers go over there to interact, we usually are there to support natural Israel and to see how well the future ‘temple’ plans are going, and stuff like that. The Arab believers feel neglected by this attitude, some have actually said ‘why don’t you care for us, don’t you understand that we have been persecuted at times by Israel’? They feel confused and rejected when they read in the bible how Christians should love and care for one another, and then they see western believers taking sides in natural conflicts. Jesus said his house had many rooms, the people of God [Gods house] are diverse and come from many varied backgrounds. I do not hold to the thinking that says ‘all religions are Gods children’ in a pluralistic sense of all monotheistic faiths have the same faith. But when dealing with other fellow believers in the world [whether Arab, Jewish, etc.] we should defend our brothers and sisters and side with them in times of conflict, by ‘siding with them’ I mean we need to speak out in support of them and call for justice and help when they are in trouble. I do not advocate ‘siding with people’ when talking about actual warfare- believers should not be in the business of siding with any conflict when it includes killing other people [the sides you take as a citizen of a country are a different matter, I am speaking here as a citizen of Gods kingdom]. I am grateful for all my Arab friends and pastors who have been in touch with me over these past few years, I pray for them regularly and have embraced them as sort of part of the fellowship of brothers that I regularly reach out to. I do realize that they also enjoy the level of teaching we do [not that we are that great, but we do share from a broad range of teaching that many individual pastors might not be able to access on their own]. I thank God that ‘his house’ has many mansions, that Jesus calls sheep from 'other folds’ that we might not be familiar with, let’s be open to those from other ethnic backgrounds that share the same faith in Jesus Christ- they are all our brothers and sisters in the Lord.
(1398) REV. ZEKE- [pastor from India] Brother, I accidently deleted your email, if you are reading this, email me again and I’ll put your email on our global section.
Okay, it’s a rare thing for me to take a ministry off of my blog roll. Once I put someone on our site I feel it would be irresponsible to drop them for any minor disagreement, or because they might hold differing views than my own. For the most part I add other web sites because I feel they add to the diverse conversation in the global church. Having said this, I recently deleted the site for Charisma Magazine. I originally put them on because I was blogging on their site and they eventually removed the blog section, but I felt it was okay to leave them on anyway. But after a period of time I just couldn’t keep endorsing ‘the level’ of stuff they teach- in all good conscience I hit the delete button. The other day I thought I’d give them a visit, on the main article page they had some sister sharing a vision and on the heading it said ‘I saw snakes wrapped around [something- I forget]’ and I just felt bad that a major Christian magazine would do stuff like this. In John 14 Jesus says he’s going away and will send ‘another comforter’ this word speaks about the Spirit coming, one just like Jesus. The disciples ask him how he will reveal himself to them, and not to the world. Jesus says if we keep his commandments and do his will, that the Spirit will manifest and come to us- but the world cannot see him and they will not benefit from his work. Though many Christians are divided over ‘Charismatic churches’ yet the need for the work of the Spirit is vital, I personally believe in the gifts of the Spirit and do not hold to a cessationist view. Over the years as I have read this chapter I have been inclined to see the promise of Jesus ‘going away and coming again to receive us’ as actually referring to the Spirits outpouring at Pentecost. This does not mean I reject a literal physical return of the Lord at the end of the age, but in context it seems that Jesus was telling the disciples that he would ‘come again and receive them’ in the sense that the Spirit would complete the ministry of Jesus by sealing them until the day of redemption [Ephesians]. Jesus said those who hear his word and do his will are promised the presence of the Spirit; truly God is no respecter of persons. There is a movement in the church today that appeals to the kingdom call of Jesus, versus trying to convince people of the truth claims of Christianity- to some degree I like this emphasis, it appeals to other religions in the sense that we are telling people ‘we are not here to change your culture [and make you accept ours] but we are here offering you the promise of Jesus, if you believe his words and do his will he will manifest himself to you’. There actually are some in the Muslim community who are claiming belief in Jesus [not just the ‘Jesus’ of the Koran] and yet still consider themselves cultural Muslims, this is certainly interesting. The point today is we need Gods Spirit desperately, though we have been guilty at times with confusing the work of the Spirit with people having visions of snakes! Yet we need the Spirit to work, Jesus said he would manifest himself to those who are keeping his word- a great promise indeed.
(1399) A FISH FOSSIL? I was watching a show last night and they showed the standard view of how fossils become fossils. The scenario explained how they get fossilized fish. It went like this; when a fish dies it sinks to the bottom of the body of water, it lays there for many thousands of years and eventually over a long period of time it gets covered with sediment and it becomes a fossil. Now, this stuff is actually taught today as scientific truth! How many fishermen do we have out there? How many times do you remember being out in the water and spotting a dead fish just sitting ON THE BOTTOM of the water? Then let’s say you come back to the same fishing hole year after year, would it still be sitting there, intact and waiting for the thousands of years of slow sediment to cover it? The way fish get fossilized whole, is they get buried rapidly by some cataclysmic event [let’s say like Noah’s flood] and this quick burial preserves the fish from rotting and predators, and this gives us a perfect fossilized fish. After the famous eruption of Mt. Saint Helens in the 1980’s, scientists discovered phenomena that they used to think took million-billions of years to happen. They noticed sedimentary rock layers that formed in days after the disaster, they found ravines/caverns that were forged in a short period of time- things that they used to argue could not happen unless millions of years of time slowly passed and caused these things to occur. Why make these arguments? The point is there is lots of ‘science’ that cannot only be debunked by other scientists, but that the average fishermen could spot as silly. The reason these debates are important is it gives us another look at evidence that we were taught as school children that might need a little re-tooling. I mean the stuff on a fish lying, intact, at the bottom of the ocean for thousands-millions of years until it slowly gets buried, this is absolute nonsense, it could never happen, ever! We need the courage and conviction to tell our kids ‘yes son, this is what we have learned thru the natural sciences, and this other stuff is simply not true’.
(1400) IF I HADN’T DONE WHAT I HAVE DONE AMONG THEM, WORKS NO ONE HAS EVER DONE, THEY WOULDN’T BE TO BLAME. BUT THEY SAW THE GOD SIGNS AND HATED ANYWAY… THEY HATED ME FOR NO GOOD REASON- John 15, message bible.
This is the chapter where Jesus tells us he is the vine and we are the branches; the father is the main gardener. If we remain-abide in him we will bring forth fruit, if we do not ‘remain in him’ we are cut off and burned. In Johns other writings [1st John] he speaks about those who did not remain in the doctrine of Christ, they went out ‘from us, but were really not with us’. John was speaking of the Gnostic/Docetist groups that would reject the incarnation of Jesus; these did not ‘remain in him’. Also what about the immediate circle of disciples that Jesus was speaking to, did any of them ‘not remain’? Judas would also reject Christ, and Jesus said he too was not really a part of them from the start. In the above quote Jesus challenges the religious leaders of the day by doing the works that he did. The religion of the day viewed God’s will as religious performance, public praying on the street corners, fasting ‘to be seen’, their mindset was one of public performance. Jesus put priority on doing acts of justice, reaching out to the poor, spending time with the down and out, and also rejecting the ‘crowd pleasing’ mentality of the day. In John’s gospel his brothers tell him ‘go up to the public feast and show thyself, no man who does these things secretly will not eventually go public’ they thought there was something strange about his unwillingness to ‘go public’. I have often found it strange that we as believers put such a high priority on ‘public meetings-ministry’ to the point where we really believe that this is the main part of Christianity. A few years back I visited/stayed with some brothers in Europe, they ran a Christian community where they all lived and helped each other out [addicts and stuff]. I spent about a week with them and it was great, I immediately saw the work as a legitimate expression of ‘local church’ [Ecclesia] I even defended them to others who were saying ‘they are not church’. During the week I spent with them, the main leader of the group was just beginning to rent another building so they could ‘do church’. I went to a few of the meetings and it was okay. The point being they kind of felt like the public meetings were ‘really church’ and the actual community was 'Para church’ a very limited view indeed. The same thing has happened with many well meaning churches/ministries thru out the years. Jesus put a priority on things that the religious crowd deemed ‘non legitimate’ they would ask him ‘where are you getting your authority from, who gave you this authority’? In today’s jargon it might be said ‘who’s covering are you under, what ‘local church’ has legitimized you’. We often err, not knowing the scriptures or the power of God. Jesus put such a high priority on social justice, reaching out to the poor and needy, speaking out for the widow and oppressed. This same theme runs thru out the entire teaching of the New Testament. Very little time is spent on the idea of public meetings/ministry. Yet we have exalted the idea of church and ministry to the point where we see public performance as the main thing, that’s what we usually regulate our lives around. Jesus told the religious crowd that he came and did all the things that Gods kingdom was really about [helped the poor, raised the dead, etc.] Yet they found fault with him, they fulfilled the scriptures that said ‘they hated me for no good reason’ do the things we do have good reasons, or are we just following the crowd?
(1401) GLENN BECK- Okay, this past week Beck stirred up a controversy by telling people that if their churches use language like ‘social justice’ that you should leave the church. Beck showed how many of the liberal movements of the past, both inside and outside the church, used this language and also were socialist. Is Beck right to warn people about this? 50-50. In reality most Christian churches [if not all] have some belief about social justice, that is doing good, being charitable, etc. You also have strains of theology that touch on these issues [liberation theology, Rev. Wrights church, etc.] these see the role of the church in setting up systems that would mediate ‘social justice’ programs thru the state- not all Christians accept this premise. Overall we as believers should value social justice very highly on the scale of Christian service and belief. Beck seems to mean well, but the poor brother seems to be a little unhinged at times [like between 4 pm and 5pm every day or so]. In John 16 Jesus tells his men ‘a time is coming when those who kill you will think they are serving God’. Here in is a strange thing; out of all the commands of God, one of the most important ones is not to kill. But Jesus says that men are so susceptible to the influence of the world that they can even be convinced that killing other people is ‘doing God’s will’. Now, if I were to tell you at a young age ‘little Johnny, you will walk the planet for a few short years [70-80?] one of the most important things you need to avoid, more than anything else, is don’t kill other people’ got it- I mean how hard can this be? Yet Jesus says there will come a time when people think killing other people is ‘doing God’s will’ Huh? Okay as the year’s role by people all over the world are born and have been taught some version of this natural law, often given by their own belief system in God. So you have those in Islamic countries who eventually are shaped by their nations political causes and a time comes when they blowup other adherents to their own religion and shout ‘God is great’ as they kill themselves and others with them, they think they are doing ‘God service’. But you also have little Johnny growing up in the western world, he attends church as a boy, is taught lessons from the bible, and thru process of time joins the military. He is a good man, means well, and is taught that God and country go together. He even remembers attending some patriotic religious rallies over the years. He gets sent off to Afghanistan and winds up killing a woman with child. He either mistook her for an enemy combatant, or maybe she violated a safe zone. Either way, the one main command above all other commands, the thing that you were always told was the main thing to never do, you wind up doing. You even think that it is your patriotic duty to do this, yes you think the doing of this act is not only acceptable, but in a way it is ‘doing God service’. Now, as an ex Navy person, I support and believe in our military men and women, and in no way equate the act of a terrorist with that of our people; but what I am trying to show you is that as we go through life we can become effected by ideologies that are in conflict to our base principles, we can even do things that violate our most fundamental ideals, and be convinced that doing it is from God. When dealing with all types of social justice issues, we need to put Gods will first and foremost, above all other things. The message of Gods kingdom often runs contrary to the nations and governmental systems we espouse. When we confuse the two [whether the Christian patriot who chooses a career that may involve killing people] or the radical Muslim who confuses Gods will with the advancing of his political ideas, we need to re-evaluate our motives and think things thru before we embrace any world kingdom over Gods kingdom. Beck obviously had a point about the radical liberation theologians and their mixing of liberal politics with ‘church’, but Gods kingdom is all about social justice. Isaiah prophesied of the Spirit coming upon Jesus- to carry out social justice! NOTE- As I wrote this entry I used the example of a soldier accidently killing a pregnant woman as a hypothetical situation, as far as I know this had never happened yet. About a week after posting this entry, it has happened in a very public way in Afghanistan and it has become a cause célèbre for those against the war.
(1402) THIS IS WHAT I WANT YOU TO DO, ASK THE FATHER FOR WHATEVER IS IN KEEPING WITH THE THINGS I’VE REVEALED TO YOU; ASK IN MY NAME AND ACCORDING TO MY WILL AND HE WILL GIVE IT TO YOU. YOU’RE JOY WILL BE LIKE A RIVER OVERFLOWING IT’S BANKS- Jesus, message bible. In John 16 Jesus says the father will show us the things of the Son ‘all that the father has is mine, and he will take of mine and show it unto you’. I have been doing a little teaching on the nature of the church and how we as believers are affected by the way we ‘see church’. For instance in the bible the terms ‘where do you attend church’ ‘I am looking for a church to join’ ‘the tithe belongs to the local church’ all of these modern ways of viewing church are really not found in scripture. In the bible the gospel of the kingdom is proclaimed, those in the local communities who believed were baptized and became openly identified with the Jesus movement. From that time forward these communities of believers would be referred to as ‘the church’- they were not looking for a church to join, choosing between a buffet of ‘meeting places’ in their respective locals, no, they were actually referred to as the church! Of course it’s fine for believers to meet in buildings and give money to ‘the church’ and all the contemporary things we usually associate with church, but a part of the ministry of the Spirit is he takes what is Jesus’ and shows it unto us; he reveals the nature of the church to us [the church being the Body of Christ, his Body]. Recently I did some blogging at a Christianity Today article on Scot McKnight’s critique of Brian McLaren’s latest book. I Like Scot and have read McLaren. One of the critiques of Brian by Scot [of a previous book] Is Scot felt like McLaren left out Ecclesiology while talking Kingdom. While I do not defend Brian’s works [too much rejection of orthodoxy] yet in this area I think Scot may be confusing contemporary ideas of church [ecclesiology] with the idea of church in scripture. For instance, many theologians teach that Jesus really had no ‘ecclesiology’ in his teaching [or very little] and that Jesus preached a Kingdom message that was different than the church, I think this idea is wrong/limited. It is in the preaching of the reality of the kingdom of God, and the people of God actually doing kingdom works, it is in this atmosphere that true church occurs; people are being called out of the world unto Christ and these people are becoming the church. It’s really a matter of fully grasping the nature of the kingdom alongside the reality of what church means in the bible. Now, I think modern expressions of church are okay. Much of my criticism of modern church has a lot to do with losing the real message of Jesus in the bible and having replaced it with a modern success gospel, but there are some mega church expressions that are utilizing all the modern means of communicating while at the same time holding true to biblical teaching. Mark Driscoll pastors Mars Hill church in Seattle, Mark teaches historic reformed theology in a contemporary setting. So the reality of the church being much more than we usually understand, does not mean that every modern expression of meeting in huge buildings should be condemned. The point today is Jesus wants to reveal to us much more than we have seen up until this part of the journey. When we ‘see more’ it usually brings with it adjustments and changes that at times can be difficult; I want to encourage all of our Pastor/Leaders to be open to the ministry of the Spirit in the area of him revealing to us the nature of the church, there are many learned men [Kluck, McKnight, Galli, etc.] who I think are not fully seeing what the more mature Organic church movement is really saying, we also need to be careful not to write off the historic church in one fell swoop- both of these extremes do not help the church in the long run.
(1403) SIGNS, SIGNS, EVERY WHERE ARE SIGNS. BLOCKING UP THE SCENERY, BREAKING MY MIND, DO THIS, DON’T DO THAT, CANT YOU READ THE SIGNS- Tesla. Yesterday while reviewing some old radio messages, I listened to a message made around 6 years back- as I was debating how to check it off [either good to play, or don’t play] I shared on the tape how at the time of making the program it was pouring rain and how the rain seemed to be a sign because I was teaching on the feasts of Israel and talking about the rainy season and stuff [it was record rain for Texas, like more rain than in 100 years type thing]. I also mentioned how these ‘signs’ can happen even if you’re listening years later, I basically dated the radio message for the purpose of saying ‘look, no matter when you are hearing this message on the radio, it can still be significant’ sort of like be on the lookout for weather signs. I thought ‘geez, I don’t think I will play the message, sounds too spooky’. Then as I was in my yard trying to study, the sky got dark and it started down pouring, I mean I got flooded, I was upset- too much rain! Then the hail came, ice balls all over the place, my kids are like ‘hey dad, it’s raining ice’. Now, we get hail maybe a few times a year? It’s certainly not a monthly type thing. I’m sitting in my yard on a spring like day, just planted tomatoes and am surrounded by ice all over the ground, maybe I’ll play the tape after all. Okay, the point being we need to not read too much into stuff like this, but also not be too intellectual to dismiss these types of things. The other day I was watching an apologetic show and a woman called in and asked whether or not dreams mean anything, the able teacher basically said no, that Christian theology does not teach that dreams have meaning. A few years back I was listening to another apologist, Ravi Zacharias, and he was relating an experience about this tribe of people who converted en mass to Christ. One morning they woke up and as the day went on they all found out that the same evening everyone in the tribe had dreamed of Jesus coming to them. They took the dream as a sign from God and converted. If you do a detailed study from genesis to revelation you will find many instances of God using dreams and signs, in the book of acts Paul has a vision of a man from Macedonia calling for him to come. The bible says they took it as a sign from God. Without getting into the whole debate over cessationist doctrine, the point I want to make is God can give us direction in ways that seem unorthodox. The apologist who simply answered the woman in a way that he felt was safe ‘there are no meaning to dreams’ really didn’t do justice to the scriptures by giving this type of answer. I understood his concern for opening the door to all types of problems with the whole charismatic movement, but the honest answer should have included the pros and cons. I’m glad the tribe who converted to Christ because of their dreams didn’t ask the apologist first.
(1404) UNLESS I AM CONVICTED BY THE TESTIMONY OF SACRED SCRIPTURE OR BY EVIDENT REASON [I DONOT ACCEPT THE AUTHORITY OF POPES AND COUNCILS, FOR THEY HAVE CONTRADICTED EACH OTHER], MY CONSCIENCE IS CAPTIVE TO THE WORD OF GOD. I CANNOT AND I WILL NOT RECANT ANYTHING, FOR TO GO AGAINST MY CONSCIENCE IS NEITHER RIGHT NOR SAFE. GOD HELP ME. AMEN- Martin Luther. This was the statement from Luther after previously questioning himself over his revolt in the church. The day before he was brought before the council and given the chance to recant his books. He acknowledged the books were his and said he needed time to think about recanting; Luther seriously questioned whether or not his revolt was going too far. The humanist Erasmus would write scathing criticisms against the Catholic Church, but would not join Luther in what he thought was a rebellious schism. It’s interesting to note that the pope of Luther’s day was actually quite a good pope [Leo] in Luther’s correspondence with him Luther regrets that the reform is happening under such a good pope. Luther will eventually call him the anti Christ! The interesting thing to note is in the midst of all the action and debate, Luther himself had questions. There were times when he thought other reformers were going too far. At one point Luther left the safety of a secluded castle hideout to return to the university at Wittenberg and reign in the radical teachings from the self proclaimed prophets who were teaching a total rebellion against the entire government of Germany; Luther said if the reformers do this, they will be siding with those who oppose law and government, things ordained by God. When the famous Peasant’s Revolt took place, Luther sided with the state and used harsh language in putting down the revolt. Many rebels saw Luther as the leader of their cause; they were shocked and disappointed when Luther would not join in their revolt. In all Christian controversies and debates there is always the danger of certain groups going too far in their view of things. While teaching on the true nature of the church [community of people] I have noticed that some mistake this teaching and embrace a radical anti clericalism and ‘anti church building’ mindset to the point where they are going to extremes at certain times. I admire Luther for his stance, after giving serious thought to whether or not he should recant and go the route of Erasmus, he chose to stay true to his conscience and lead the German reform movement till the end. In the current day, both Protestants and Catholics need to look at the past reasons for the protests, and allow room for unity where room exists. But to also acknowledge that there still exist official doctrines/statements from both sides that are quite difficult to reconcile; it is possible for Christian communions to work things out and truly achieve a greater degree of unity than what we have had in the past, but it’s also important for all sides to have a working knowledge of the differences. At the end of the day Luther sided with his conscience and what he felt to be true, the other side felt the same way- when working towards unity as believers we need to keep this in mind.
(1405) THE APOSTLES CREED
I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again;
he ascended into heaven,
he is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and he will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. AMEN.
HE SHALL SEE OF THE TRAVAIL OF HIS SOUL AND SHALL BE SATISFIED; BY HIS KNOWLEDGE SHALL MY RIGHTEOUS SERVANT JUSTIFY MANY- Isaiah. This past year I have been doing some reading on the Emergent movement as well as always reading some book on the ancient church; there are many moderns who long for the old days, sometimes referred to as ‘the smells and bells’ liturgy. Then you have some who are drawn to 19th/20th century liberalism- the social gospel stuff. One thing that all these groups need to keep in mind is the classic message of the Cross, that God was ‘pleased to bruise his Son’ on the Cross [Isaiah 53]. Some in their efforts to make Christianity more acceptable to modern man began to reject this doctrine, the Atonement. Many are surprised to find out that one of the great evangelists of the second great awakening, Charles Finney, embraced some of these views in his writings. Today these views are deemed heretical [the denial of the Atonement] but at the time progressive thinking believers were affected by the charge of ‘how can a holy, loving God punish an innocent person on the behalf of other criminals’? So after hearing the charge for so long, some adjusted their belief to fit the times. There are some things that the church has said ‘I believe’ about; these things are the non negotiables; it’s not that we can’t discuss them, or should be afraid of others who do question them, but to say ‘yeah brother, I hear what you’re saying about these classic doctrines and I believe you are placing yourself outside of the borders of classic Christianity, I love you and like dialoging with you, but this is where I stand, along with the ancient church’. Many Protestants disdain the creeds of the church; they feel that they are simply tradition and that all we need is the bible. This attitude neglects the importance of listening to the council of our fathers and those who have gone on before us, a rule that scripture itself testifies about [Proverbs]. As the Evangelical movement struggles in our day for a unifying voice, I think the creeds are a good place to start.
(1406) ‘Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him man. For he was a doer of wonderful works…this man was the Christ, and when Pilate had condemned him to the Cross, upon his impeachment by the principle man among us, those who had loved him from the first did not forsake him, for he appeared to them alive on the third day, the divine prophets haven spoken these and thousands of other wonderful things about him. And even now, the race of Christians, so named from him, has not died out’- Josephus, Antiquities, 18.3.3 [1st century historian] A few months ago while surfing the internet, I stumbled across an interesting apologetic ministry, I forget the brothers name but he had a well developed radio and on line ministry. They had lots of great tools for people who wanted to learn good teaching, historic stuff and all. But I also noticed that they were very anti charismatic, to the point where I felt they weren’t being honest with both scripture and church history in their view of non charismatic stuff, it was also the time of the Todd Bentley situation in Lakeland Fla. I mean they left him no room at all, he was branded an unbelieving heretic thru and thru [I personally had lots of problems with the Lakeland thing, but still pray for Todd and his situation]. Within a week or so of finding the site, the ministry folded and the main teacher got divorced, I thought it odd that they were up and running for many years, and I just happened to stumble across them at the end of their career. One of the things that I have found troubling over the years is the inability of certain believers to ‘judge righteous judgment’ the bible says of Jesus that he will not judge by outward appearances, but he sees the true motives. Often times the charismatic expression of Christianity will write off all reproof as ‘those unbelieving intellectuals’ they see that their critics willfully reject the portions of scripture that speak of supernatural stuff, and they simply think that all the critics are blind; they don’t ‘see’ the truth. Then at the same time when trying to deal with other real problems [like the unbalanced prosperity gospel] they too think the critics just don’t ‘see’ the truth about prosperity, so they write the critics off. In general this type of thing happens all the time in the Body of Christ. Josephus gave us an historical account of the reality of Jesus and his movement; he based his account on factual evidence, not fairy tales! Josephus was a true historian who had little gain from making up a story that could be proven false; it would damage his reputation among the Roman elites if he did that. But he, like many others, looked at the evidence and was open minded, he came to the conclusion that the historical resurrection did actually take place in time, though it was a supernatural event, yet it passed the smell test of historical inquiry. The above apologist seemed to be a good man, he left no room open for the possibility of certain charismatic gifts as being legitimate for our day, he rejected the supernatural aspect of the gifts of the Spirit. And many who hold to the reality of the gifts, these often have little education in the other areas that they are not focused on, they too leave the door wide open to much unbalanced stuff. As the historical people of God, a true worldwide movement that the historians look at, they will know we are Christians by our love; as we correct and reprove each other, we need to make sure that we are doing it in love.
(1407) THESE THINGS DOES THE LORD HATE…HE THAT SOWS DISCORD AMONG BRETHREN. HE DEVISETH MISCHIEF CONTINUALLY, HE SOWETH DISCORD. Proverbs 6. Okay, the health care package passed, many are upset and some have crossed the line in their language. Even though statements like ‘reload’ [Palin] ‘he’ll be a dead man’ [Boehner] and others are talking political speech, yet in this atmosphere we all need to avoid using words that can be taken the wrong way by unstable people. Recently here in Texas we had the famous school board controversy over what to include in the schoolbooks, I have written about it a few posts ago. One of the school board people is from my home town of Corpus; she is a Hispanic woman who is involved in politics a lot. Now, I’m sure she means well, but our paper had a picture of her sitting at her office desk with a bunch of anti white slogans all over her desk. I’m sure she does not mean to be racist, I’m sure she views her opinion thru the light of standing up for minorities, but the fact is you can’t have any ethnic representative openly advocate for their own race, and to use wording that publicly says things that imply ‘whitey is the enemy’ [she has regularly used the term ‘white wash’ in describing the white board members resistance to including more Hispanic people into the history books]. Now I’m going to be honest about South Texas politics, I have been living here for 30 years, many of the prejudices against minorities have been expressed by the majority Hispanic democratic leaders [I am not saying all Hispanics are racist!] The reality is the Black minorities have been discriminated against in the political system. Some have actually said ‘when they were in power they didn’t help us, now it’s their turn’ [a prominent Hispanic politician about not supporting president Obama]. So the facts on the ground are different than what many people think. I believe we should include prominent Hispanic and Black leaders into the history books, men like Cesar Chavez are truly great examples, but when any representative publicly says her goal is to advance her ethnic groups cause, and that the ‘white washers’ are the enemy- this is unacceptable speech too. Who has opened the door for this type of stuff? Gods people. One of the most prominent themes of American preaching is a theme that is shot thru with racist overtones. The popular prophecy preaching of the day teaches that Gods end time events are triggered by a special role that ethnic Israel plays in God’s plan. This system [dispensationalism] teaches that God most certainly prefers one ethnic race over another. It is in contradiction to the ethos of the New Testament which teaches that in Christ there is ‘neither Jew nor Greek, male or female, slave or free- we are all one in Christ Jesus’. The people of God are the plumb line of society, the world around us will never display a higher level of morality than the church- when we as Gods people rise above these ethnic divisions, we will be like leaven in society that effects the whole lump. When we continually sow discord we displease God.
[Just a comment I left on an article about the camel method of evangelizing Muslims. This method uses the verses from the Quran that talk about ‘Jesus’ to convert Muslims. ‘If the verses quoted from the Quran are simply a bridge to get you to the Jesus of the New Testament, then I think we could let it slide; but if we are leaving the impression that the 'Jesus’ [Isa] of the Quran is the same Jesus of the New Testament, then we have a problem.’
(1408) IN THE CROSSHAIRS? Last night I watched the CNN show hosted by John King, he had on a Democrat and Republican and they were talking about the rhetoric used primarily by the Republicans and how there is absolutely no excuse for the imagery of targets and battleground and other words that imply violence. As they were incensed over the face book page of Sarah Palin, she has little ‘targets’ placed over the states that they are ‘targeting’ for the upcoming election, I found it ironic that the Democrat on the panel used to host a show called CROSSFIRE; it was actually on CNN for many years. The logo of the show was the crosshairs of a rifle; week after week after week- for years, they would invite politicians on and say ‘today we have ‘so and so’ under the crosshair’s’, I mean these media people gotta be kidding me. I have written [last post] on the need for all sides to tone down the rhetoric, but the media are the ones purposely raising this to a level never seen before. How many violent acts have we seen this past year by protesters? A Black man was knocked down and beaten at a rally, he was called ‘n-gger’ by the assailants. Have you heard of an uproar by the media about this? The Black man was a Republican who was against Obama and the men who beat him were union members from the SEIU. It took months to even charge the men with public disorder, where’s the hate crime? Another protester had his finger bitten off [yes, he lost his finger] have you seen a media uproar over this- Nancy Pelosi saying she fears for the country? The man who lost his finger, well you guessed it- Republican, the ‘biter’ yes, a Democrat. The point being the media could have taken these incidents and blown them up out of proportion if they wanted to, they chose not to. Now they ‘choose’ to, they are irresponsible in their coverage of these things. Many people are upset with the health care law because it contains things that the president was against and said he would never do. During the campaign he was asked why he was against Hillary Clinton’s ‘mandate’ [to force people to buy insurance] he rightfully answered that to solve a problem by telling people ‘you must buy a product’ is ridiculous; he said it would be like saying we are going to solve the problem of homelessness by mandating people to buy homes- he said it was wrong, really wrong. When asked why John McCain’s plan to tax high cost insurance plans that currently have tax exemptions was wrong; once again he said it was wrong to penalize people who have insurance to pay for people who don’t have it. Then when asked how in the world his plan will ever accomplish universal coverage without these tools; he simply said by making insurance affordable this would draw people into the plan. He was challenged that this would never work, he insisted it would. Well the plan just passed contains all the things that he said were wrong, unfair and unjust. Where’s the media? Instead they are accusing many of those who are upset with the plan as racists; they are actually saying that is why many people are upset, not because he did what he swore he would never do, but because white people can’t accept the fact that a black man won. Many of the people who are upset voted for the president, and did not vote for the other candidates because of what he said he would not do [force people by law to buy insurance]- he has done it. But yet the people have no right to dissent based on principle. No- they are racists. When the media claims to be ‘fair and balanced’ they need to think twice before they schedule a show to critique crosshair’s on Palin’s face book page, and the main Democratic critic being the host of the longest running show in the history of the world that used the imagery of rifle crosshairs, called CROSSFIRE.
(1409) ‘THE ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT @$#@!’ How did you just feel when you read this title? What if I were to tell you that an anti Obama demonstrator held up a sign that said this at a tea party rally. Actually the full title is called ‘the assassination of George W. Bush’. It’s the title of a movie that came out during the Bush presidency. Many liberal moviegoers bought popcorn and took the kids for an evening of enjoyment as they watched a fictional portrayal of Bush getting his head blown off. Oh yes you would see the title in your local papers movie section; you would see it on movie marquis all across the country- you can go rent it today at your local movie rental spot. What was the media reaction to this? Zero. As a matter of fact it went over so well with the liberal media that Ron Howard just released another one ‘the assassination of Richard Nixon’ I just saw it the other day while channel surfing. Who said this ‘I could go to the White House and KILL one bird with one stone’? It was John Kerry, U.S. senator, on national TV talking about Bush. He basically said he could kill Bush, the same man he publicly accused of murdering your children because he was a liar. The lie? Bush believed the same faulty intel that Kerry believed about weapons in Iraq, the same intel that led to the war that Kerry voted for. But in Bush’s case Kerry portrayed him as a liar who killed your kids. What was the media response to a US senator saying he would like to go to the White house and kill the president? Zero. What would the media response be if a movie came out titled ‘the assassination of Barack Obama’? Congressman Bart Stupak received death threats from pro abortion candidates while opposing the health care bill, these threats were not played over national TV for the world to see. After voting for the bill he received the same kind of threats from anti abortion conservatives- the national media played the audio and showed you the transcript night after night. The media has chosen to become outraged over things that they never were outraged over before. They reported on vandalism at Democratic offices, but when a Republican had a bullet hole put thru his window, they investigated and came to the conclusion that it was a ‘random bullet’ HUH? They were able to detect the motive of a bullet- wow. The media’s acceptance of not only the language ‘assassination of Bush’ but even the defending of a movie that you could go and enjoy while viewing the fictional killing of a sitting president, to the point where they allow for another fictional portrayal of another Republican president being killed, for the media to say this is acceptable free speech, and then to be outraged that someone would simply say ‘you lie’ to the president, is the absolute height of hypocrisy. I believe all this language is wrong and should not be used, but the conscious choice the media has made in finding every use of a word that can be deemed offensive, and then to hunt down the offenders, is total hypocrisy. Especially when John Kerry got away with saying ‘I could kill one bird with one stone’ while actually talking about a sitting U.S. president.
(1410) ‘But the Jews were so exasperated by HIS TEACHING, by which their rulers and chiefs were convicted by the truth…that at last they brought him before Pontius Pilate, at the time Roman governor of Syria, and, by the violence of their outcries against him, exhorting a sentence giving him up to them to be crucified’ Tertullian, [160-220 a.d.] church father from Carthage- North Africa. Proverbs tells us that wisdom was dwelling with God before the earth and hills were brought forth, that this wisdom from God rejoices with the father in the ‘habitable parts of the earth’. Jesus told the disciples that they were clean [set apart] by the words he had spoken unto them, that he chose them before the world was made to use them to bring forth fruit. In a sense God has pre-ordained a skill set of wisdom and understanding that he foresaw us communicating in time. He pre-planned this wisdom before the actual land/earth even existed! In each generation God has ‘set people’ whose job is to deposit these words/truths from God into a set area [city, nation, world]. It is thru the depositing of these words that others will be ‘set apart’-be made clean thru the words that we have spoken unto them. Be clean- how? The word also means being sanctified, that is God setting you apart in a specific way in order to carry out his purpose. When Nehemiah started out he had a burden for the city of his father’s that was broken down and destroyed, he then embarked on a special mission to a set place to build, yes he had lots of resistance and opposition, but God called him to finish the task for a set season at a set time. Leaders, have you learned and heard things these past few years that have caused you to make course corrections? Were there things that you never saw until now that have affected the way you see God’s kingdom? These things are for the purpose of God to be fulfilled, he wants you to impact large ‘open spaces’ he has pre-planned areas for you to speak into, but he had to first set you apart, make you clean thru these words that he has spoken unto you.
(1411) DON’T MOURN FOR ME, BUT FOR YOURSELVES- In Isaiah 54 the prophet says ‘more are the children of the desolate than of the married wife’. In Galatians the apostle Paul uses this reference to speak about spiritual Israel [the church] and shows us how the spiritual people [those who did not come from natural reproduction- any children by natural means, those born not of the will of the flesh, but of God- John 1] will have much more offspring than natural Israel. Truly the church today has fulfilled this prophecy. In Isaiah 44 the prophet says God will pour water on the thirsty, floods upon the dry ground- and these will spring up like wildflowers along the water courses. Notice it’s the ‘dry ground’ the ‘desolate ones’ that have the promise of bearing much fruit. The title of this post comes from the words of Jesus when the people were broken over the fact of his being framed as an innocent man; his followers and the women were upset about the railroading of Jesus by the political manipulation of the day. Jesus warned that if they could get away with this ‘in a green tree’ just wait and see what will happen when the tree is dry! The analogy meaning if the govt. could get away with this when there still was a semblance of rule, wait until anarchy gets in the air. Many in our country are upset about many things, some feel that the recent health care law will permit federal funding for abortions [it’s really a technical argument to be honest] but the point is, would you feel better about the fact that the govt. didn’t fund your illegal execution? The fact is that we permit the brutal dismembering of children in their mother’s womb, hundreds of thousands of times over and over again, for the simple reason of convenience. This act is practiced as a means of birth control the majority of the time, and we as a people allow it. If we permit these acts to take place ‘when the tree is green’ what will happen when anarchy hits? The promises of God to those who are without children are wonderful, but he warned the women who were broken over his execution ‘don’t worry about this illegal act, because a day is coming when the women who never nursed children will be the blessed ones’ because the children themselves will experience horrendous acts against them; I think that day has arrived.
(1412) IN DEFENSE OF JEREMIAH WRIGHT- Last night an interesting thing happened; as I was channel surfing the news shows I saw that Larry King had on a few ‘ex’ conservatives who are now under fire for their left wing leanings. These are traditional white guys basking in their new found social justice beliefs. I could only watch for a minute or so, it just came off as inauthentic. Then as I scrolled thru Fox, MSNBC, and a few of the CSPAN channels I came across a Tavis Smiley forum that was being held in Chicago. I was fixated for 2 hours [or more!] The panel included many of the famous Black progressives- Jesse Jackson, Louis Farrakhan, Michael Eric Dyson, just to name a few [Rev. Wright was not there by the way] and in the center of the roundtable discussion there was a simple sign that said ‘love’. The amazing thing was though these men were espousing many of the same ideas as the white liberals on the Larry King show, yet I was not offended in the least. I listened intently to Farrakhan freely quoting scripture along with the Quran, he actually only quoted from the Quran one time, and he quoted the bible more than all the others. But the bible was also quoted freely thru out the discussion; many of the questioners from the audience also were pastors and Christians. Now, I have written on the Nation of Islam before [under the cults section] and I do not accept that religion as even a legitimate expression of Islam, so don’t take me wrong on this. It was the simple reality that these Black leaders would freely see their cause for racial justice tied in with scripture. Some did express the belief that the older Black church did hinder the Black people because of their ‘wait on the Lord’ attitude; but all in all they were up front and willing to speak what they felt was the truth in an open way. Tavis Smiley also brought out the fact that many Black leaders felt like doing a public forum discussing the short comings of the president would be wrong; many on the panel challenged the presidents ‘bi-racial’ stance in political matters. Many in the Black community feel like the president has let them down because he does not hold to the more radical ideas of Black justice. Overall it was an excellent discussion that I was glued to, and to repeat, there was absolutely no feeling of offense or animosity with any of the speakers. I found it odd that I couldn’t stomach a few minutes of the white guys on Larry King, but was enthralled for 2 hours with this forum. When Reverend Wright came under fire during the Obama campaign, he obviously was demonized by the media and the repeated showing of his statements that were wrong and offensive to many people [including Blacks]. Yet Wright comes from a Black liberation theological background, it’s in his DNA to challenge the current system of government and to see strains of the gospel in communistic type systems; he isn’t the first to embrace these beliefs. Many Catholic theologians in Latin American countries hold to the same ideas; the Catholic Church officially rejects this idea. One of the tragedies of the Black people is the fact that so many young Black kids make bad choices that land them in prison, many of these young men become effected with the Black Muslim leanings in the prison system; they are sold a bill of goods that simply is not true; if we really believe as Christians that Jesus is the only way, then how can we sit idly by and not be concerned over the Black exodus into Islam? Though I disagree with many of Rev. Wright’s ideas and beliefs, yet if I had the choice between sending my Black brother to the Nation of Islam or to Rev Wright’s church, I would choose Wright 7 days out of the week.
(1413) O THOU AFFLICTED AND NOT COMFORTED, I WILL LAY THY STONES WITH FAIR COLORS, AND THY FOUNDATIONS WITH SAPPHIRES- Isaiah 54. A few weeks ago I read a story in the paper about the problems Europe is having with their new common currency, called the Euro. A few years ago Europe had a bunch of countries join together and share a common money system, the purpose was to give them more influence in the global market place. But Greece is going thru their own economic catastrophe and it’s affecting the other countries in the group. So they are debating whether or not to bail out Greece, their own TARP thing. Some of the countries are mad and are wanting out of the whole deal; Germany has criticized Greece by saying ‘well if you guys need cash, why don’t you sell one of your islands’ not a very brotherly thing to say. Greece responds ‘well if you gave us back the money the Nazis stole from us during the war, maybe we wouldn’t be in such a bind’. Like Jesus said ‘nation rising up against nation’ to be honest it’s quite funny. Okay, let’s talk the concept of reparations. I know some of you are saying ‘that’s it, this guy has just gone too far for me! I’m gonna shut this blog and go watch Beck’. Just a warning to all my readers; you will read sections on this site where you will think I’m a stark raving conservative, other posts might sound like I’m a socialist, just to be clear- I consider myself an independent and believe that Christians should not be bound to any one party or group, except the kingdom of God. Now, what does the bible say about reparations? [The idea that the sins of White America against the Blacks should be atoned for in a monetary way] Most Americans cringe at the thought, though the idea itself is not totally foreign to scripture. The bible teaches us that when people [or people groups] wrong and sin against other groups, that the groups who committed the sin should try and make things right thru a process called restitution, which includes paying back what was stolen. Now I am not saying that the current ideas on reparations fall into this category, but the concept is there. Some people feel the years of the slave trade that produced a financial harvest for the nation overall, that the generations of Black kids that never had the opportunity to have grown up in families with wealth, they missed out on building wealthy dynasties for their kids, that we as a govt. should try and make up for this sin, not by punishing whites today for the sins of their forefathers, but by seeing this reality and making things right generationally- so to speak. I do not fully hold to the idea myself, but wanted to give you an honest view from scripture. I believe that we as a people [we being all Americans] should strive for equality and a color blind society as much as possible, we should advocate for all our brothers and sisters regardless of race or creed. We should avoid seeing our positions of influence thru a lens that says ‘I am White, Hispanic, Black, etc. and my job is to advance my ethnic group at the expense of other ethnic groups’. This mindset, which I see all the time, is frankly racist at its core. Now I am not saying that an ethnic person can never try and improve the plight of his own ethnic group, he just needs to make sure that he is not doing it at the expense of the other groups he represents. Years ago while working at the fire dept we had a new group of rookies get hired, one of them was a Black brother. When a promotional test was coming up I had a Mexican friend tell me ‘well, why even take the test, so and so will get pushed to the top no matter what we score’. One day while on shift I went upstairs to the dorm area and noticed my Black friend mopping the floors, it was ‘floor day’ and it just so happened that he was the only one mopping the floor [often times the other guys might be on a run, or doing another chore]. Though I was in a supervisory type job at the time [which means I did not really have to help!] I immediately grabbed a mop and helped. I am not telling you guys this to make it sound like I am more noble, I am saying that we all need to be aware of both the things that look racist, or actually are racist. My Mexican friend was not a racist, he simply has been brought up with the reality of seeing how affirmative action [hiring quotas] has caused what he saw as an injustice to exist. The fine Black friend might have gotten the top score regardless of affirmative action, and yet he would be seen as getting the promotion because of an unfair policy. When we as Americans try and do the right thing now, to make up for the sins of the past, we need to make sure that we don’t create a new environment that discriminates against other races as well, because in the end it only makes things worse.
(1414) A SMASHING SUCCESS- This week we had the first successful test of the Hadron Collider. This is an underground tunnel/chamber like device that stretches 17 miles around in a circle and is used to smash atoms. It was built in Switzerland at much cost and when they first tried it out around 6 months ago it failed. Well this week they did a test and it worked great. They shot 2 protons at each other at 99% the speed of light and they examined the explosion, they hope to find clues to the beginning of creation by doing this test. It was the first time man has ever come close to examining an explosion of this type. Einstein would have loved it, one of his thought experiments was to see what a beam of light would look like if he were traveling at the speed of light and glanced over; for theoretical physicists this is a big deal. I would note that quantum theory and quantum mechanics has its critics; some in the scientific world doubt many of the ideas that these physicists have espoused. Einstein himself disagreed with another famous physicist of the day-Neils Bohr. Einstein had his doubts about some of the basic premises of quantum theory, ideas that said you work only in probabilities and not in the realm of fixed, certain truth. Einstein believed that all science and testing could ultimately lead to very exact equations, he himself proved this thru his own exact theories that would be mathematically proven over time. As believers we should not be wary of true science, it’s just we need to discern between what is really science and what is pure speculation. Some quantum theorists espouse an idea that says human beings have ‘alter egos’ of themselves living in another realm of the universe, these ideas not only violate common sense, but have all types of theological problems that go along with it [i.e.; If I am saved, what about my alter ego! Yikes!] So we should be careful when we are sold things under the heading of science, when in reality it is simple nonsense. I look forward to the success of the collider, it really is the future for particle physics, hopefully we can learn some things that will bring us closer to our understanding of the beginning of time. The article I read in the paper was loaded with language like ‘we can now discover what Genesis chapter one means’ and stuff like that. These were scientists talking this way in a secular news paper for heaven’s sake! Seek and ye shall find, and if you really want to know what Genesis chapter one means, then go read it.
(1415) BENNY HINN VERSUS JOHN PIPER- Yesterday I was reading some Christian news on line, I was surprised to see that the famed author/pastor, John Piper, was stepping down from his pastorate to take an 8 month sabbatical. As I read the story there was no scandal, he just simply examined his soul and felt like he saw pride creeping in and thought it good to re focus. I also read the latest from Benny Hinn, the famous healing evangelist, his wife recently filed for divorce and his web statement said ‘I will keep going, and not slow down one bit’. I would note that Benny and his wife also have no sexual scandal to deal with, it must have been the pressure and all, it caught the family by surprise when Susanne filed for the divorce. Now, many view Benny as a false prophet and an outright huckster- I don’t. I have major problems with the entire character of ‘ministry’ that platforms the Holy Spirits gifts in such a public way that draws great attention to the gifted person, the New Testament warns against various gifted people becoming the center of attention in the community of believers. Paul rebuked the Corinthians for centering their spiritual lives around the persona of any man [this would even include prominent well meaning pastors, who often don’t see this dynamic in our day-many feel it’s scriptural to have the life of the community centered around the weekly speaking gift of an individual, there really is no mandate in scripture for this. It’s okay for gifted leaders to teach, prophesy, function in some spiritual gift, but the New Testament does not show us a pattern of local churches centered around the office of any individuals gifts. One of the common mistakes church historians make is we read some of the 1st, 2nd century writings of the church fathers [Clement of Rome, Irenaeus, etc.] and we see how the able bishop rebuked the Corinthians for not submitting to the ecclesiastical office of Bishop, the letter portrays the Corinthian church as a bunch of rebels who are rising up against the authority of the Bishop and other leaders. It’s usually assumed that the Corinthian church was at it again, ‘there goes those darn troublemakers’ type of a thing. But it’s very possible that the Corinthian community was heeding the admonition from their founding apostle [Paul] and were actually resisting the idea of allowing any singular authority to take a position that was contrary to what Paul wrote to them in his epistles!]. The main point is you can have legitimate gifts being expressed thru a person [prophecy, healing, or even the pastor/teacher gift of speaking] but if these gifts are being used in a way that draws undo attention to the individual; then it is a violation of the character of New Testament ministry, although the gift itself might be legitimate. I was watching an ‘apostle’ out of Newark one day on Christian TV; they are a Pentecostal group that are heavy into spiritual warfare. The main leader was dressed in military type garb [corporal, cornel stripes and all] and they were doing the best they could. An interesting thing was they were doing a teaching on Paul’s words ‘the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty thru God to the pulling down of strongholds’ [Corinthians] and they actually taught it right! The apostle shared how many people mistake the meaning of the verse and apply it to strategic spiritual warfare prayer directed at territorial spirits and stuff like that. But the apostle explained how it was really speaking about apologetic type arguments that Christians make against the false ideas and strongholds of false doctrine. But then they went on to say that they arrived at this true understanding thru the apostolic gift of ‘revelation knowledge’ sort of like if it weren’t for the gift of the ‘apostle’ they would never have known this truth. I would venture to say that the majority of scholarly works that deal with this verse probably have it right; in the world of ‘intellectual Christianity’ [which is usually disdained by these independent type churches] most teachers knew this all along; we did not need the ‘gift of apostolic revelation knowledge’ to know this. Okay, the point being we have good people, who operate at times in true gifts, but also have a long way to go in growth and maturity. In the above example of Piper versus Hinn, I believe both of these men are good men, Piper comes from the baptist [reformed] tradition, Hinn from the charismatic wing. Maybe the Lord directed Benny to ‘keep on going, don’t slow down a bit’ and maybe Piper felt the Lord saying ‘slow down, take time off’ I just felt it striking that Piper was doing this because of what he sensed was the hidden sin of pride, no big scandal, just time to examine his soul. While Benny felt like ‘slowing down’ was not an option. These 2 examples give us a glimpse into the present day expression of church/ministry, and how we have all been affected by the times we live in.
This was a comment I left on Scot McKnight’s Jesus creed blog; it was a response to his latest Christianity Today article on rethinking the historical Jesus school of theology. I advise all our readers to go read it. As of now it’s only in the print version- ‘Scot just finished reading the article in CT on the historical Jesus, it does seem you’ve come some distance back from earlier beliefs. I remember reading you defend McLaren’s contradictions once by showing us how he uses that type of method to get his points across [the method of overstating something and then retracting it a few pages later!] Anyway I did like the article, will go read Tom Wrights response now. God bless from Corpus Christi.’
(1416) THE PHANTOM PASTOR? I read an article on multi site churches [one church, many locations] it was interesting; it showed how some were experimenting with hologram images of the main pastor being projected to the various sites every Sunday ‘for church’. I found it interesting that many of our modern concepts of legitimate local church revolve around the Sunday meeting, the main speaker, the tithe, etc. you know the deal. Many of these expressions seem to teach that the main authority given by God to a believer comes thru his or her submission to the actual meeting; if you are not in a meeting where you actually ‘see’ the minister, then you are not in ‘local church’ [limited indeed]. So Paul’s relating to the churches he planted, primarily thru letters, was really not ‘local church’. I know some will say ‘yet these churches had a pastor over them’ this simply is not true in the singular sense. They had groups of leaders [elders] who exercised oversight, but no weekly speaking office given to any one person. The point today is I find it interesting that some are seeing the validity of having a hologram of a pastor, but do not see the validity of other modes of local church expressions that do not submit to the actual Sunday church model. I think its fine to do multi site ‘church’ but we really need to define ‘local church’ more along the lines of the local community of believers, and less along the lines of a meeting [whether church building, movie theatre, home group, etc,] when we see the people of God as the actual expression of local church, then we won’t get all hung up on the different ways we communicate with one another. It’s good to actually meet, don’t get me wrong- but if a hologram pastor can be deemed ‘real’ why not other modes?
(1417) THOU HAST GIVEN A BANNER TO THEM THAT FEAR THEE, THAT IT MAY BE DISPLAYED BECAUSE OF THE TRUTH- Psalms 60:4. I wasn’t sure which way to go today; either discus the media hyped charges against the Pope or overview the Scot McKnight article in the current issue of Christianity Today magazine. First, I have the news article right in front of me over the so called comparison that the Vatican made of its current troubles with the Holocaust. The article gives the quote of the personal preacher of the Pope during a service he gave during this holy week. The Priest is quoting a Jewish friend who said he felt like the accusations against the church reminded him of anti Semitism; in that people who are anti Semitic usually stereotype whole groups of people in inaccurate ways. This simple letter, read by a Priest has been portrayed by the media [New York Times] as saying the Vatican has compared their recent struggles against accusations that the Pope knew more than he admits about covering up for Priests who abused children, the media said the Pope has compared himself to the persecuted Jews during the holocaust. This is an outright lie that the media has chosen to engage in. The Vatican did not compare themselves to Jews who were gassed during the holocaust; a Priest read a letter from a Jewish friend who said he saw the same stereotyping and group accusations against the church that he himself has seen by those who also attack Jews. That’s it. But what do you expect from a paper that reported as a front page story, weeks before a presidential election, that one of the candidates [John McCain] had disgruntled staff who were fired and also said there were rumors going around that McCain was too friendly with a female staffer. Now, there were no reports of any indiscretions, just that there were rumors that others felt he was ‘too friendly’ this ran as a front page news story! And another candidate who was known by the insiders in the media to have actually fathered a child with another woman, they deemed this story unworthy as news. The media are upset that the Catholic Church inserted influence in the health debate and they have been fabricating a scandal against the Pope when there is no scandal. When the Pope was Bishop in Munich there was a priest transferred to another diocese that was involved in a child sex scandal. The truth is the Pope did not personally oversee or know about the details of the transfer, this job was the responsibility of another administrative person under the Bishop. The Pope at the time was already involved in universal doctrinal issues that the church was engaging in, he would soon become the main person in charge of doctrine for the church. So in reality the story is the Pope did not personally involve himself with these types of decisions, yet the media is saying he was involved in a cover up, that’s just not true, they have ‘a banner’ but they don’t use it for displaying truth. Okay, I guess I won’t do the McKnight article. Today as I write it is Easter morning, God bless all our readers today, Jesus truly is alive!
(1418) IS COLSON A MODERN DAY ERASMUS? I have been re-reading volume 6 of the Story of Civilization by Will Durant; this volume covers the Reformation period. It resounds with the warnings of the Catholic humanist Erasmus to his fellow critic of the church, Martin Luther. Many good men challenged what they saw as the corruption of the church, they wrote and spoke out against her abuses, Erasmus was one of her strongest critics. He was a true renaissance man who traveled a lot during his career. At one point he settled down in Basel, Switzerland and would thoroughly enjoy the metropolitan character of the region. He loved being in a community where the classics were widely read, as well as the modern ideas on theology. Calvin himself would eventually wind up in Basel for part of his education and he too would be influenced by Erasmus’s works. One of the fears that Erasmus and others had was they felt like Luther’s protest was going too far, they feared the toppling of order in society if the nation states would throw off all ecclesiastical control. They were afraid of anarchy [the same fears that the Ultramontanists in France would feel a couple of centuries later]. In my recent Christianity Today magazine I read an interesting column by Chuck Colson [the famous brother of water gate fame- he went to prison and converted to Christ] Colson seemed to strike a tone much like Erasmus, he was speaking about the current Tea Party movement. Colson warned that a popular uprising in and of itself can be dangerous, that Christians have every right to be upset and protest against what they feel is unjust, but believers need to heed the teachings of the new testament in being good citizens who submit to earthly authorities [a theme found thru out the New testament, especially in Paul’s letter to the Romans]. Colson warned that believers need to counter what they see as bad government with positive ideas and other options; we should not simply be a party of rebels! I sensed a sort of fear in Colson, sort of like he sees a danger in the country which can lead to bad things. Luther would eventually reject the warnings of his less rebellious contemporaries and follow thru with his rebellion; Germany would divide as a nation state between catholic and protestant churches, other nations would soon follow. The actual term Protestant speaks of a technical protest over a proposed rule that would allow the catholic churches/regions to remain catholic without any interference from the protestants; this was protested by the ‘protestants’ and thus the name stuck. The point being the reformation moved forward with a viable alternative to what they saw as a corrupt system, Luther himself rejected others who did advocate for what he saw as leading to anarchy. The famous Munster prophets believed they were to cast off all control of human government and establish their own New Jerusalem as an earthly city that would be governed directly by God. Luther eventually would sound like Erasmus in warning against a total rejection of human government and would appeal to Paul’s writings as well, showing us that good Christians submit to human authorities as much as possible, this warning fell on deaf ears- they read some of the caustic language that Luther himself used against the church and they saw him as a hypocrite. All in all we as believers should voice our protests and displeasure with human government when we see its failings, but we also need to understand that the changes that we want to be made will be done thru prayer and the ballot box, not thru any actions that can lead to the things that former ‘reformers’ warned against. Let our voices be heard, but let our non violent action be a witness to the kingdom from which we derive our beliefs.
(1419) ARE WE STILL UNDER THE LAW? I am a little of course this week; one of my favorite theologians who I hear just about every day on the radio is doing a series on how the believer is still under the law. He is a great reformed theologian, but in this area I have so small dissent. Just to be clear, I consider this a major error that strikes at the foundation of the gospel of grace. Many good men have held to this idea, they are confusing the gospel of grace when they do this. In reformed theology you have the majority of believers holding to ‘covenant theology’ versus ‘dispensational’. I agree 100 % with the dispensational view of the reformed [that is they reject it] but their understanding of the covenants also has some problems with it. They see the old covenant and the New Testament as 2 covenants [true] that have an overriding covenant of grace that works independently between them both. Again, another major error in my view. The idea is that in the old covenant people believed in the coming Messiah and as they looked forward to his future coming they were ‘saved’. There is some truth to this, Paul does use this example from the life of Abraham to prove this very point, but to than develop an idea that all the old testament saints sort of had this working knowledge of looking forward to Jesus and understanding that they were all saved by faith, well this goes too far in my view. First, Paul in the New Testament clearly lumps all the law together [ceremonial, sacrificial, moral] when saying Jesus nailed the written law to his Cross and freed us from it. You can’t read Romans and Galatians and not see this [Colossians too] the New Covenant in Jesus Blood is exactly that, a new covenant! [it did not exist before!] To carry the idea that people generally knew they were saved by grace under the old covenant seems to miss this truth. The law came by Moses, but grace and truth thru Jesus. While I agree that this reality does not mean we have the right to break Gods moral law, yet we are clearly not under it in an Old Testament sense. I can’t stress enough how much I think this doctrine is a major error in the understanding of many reformed theologians, it is often presented in a way that says this is the very reason why there is so much sin in the church, because Gods people don’t realize they are still under the law. Big, big mistake in my view. I still like much of reformed theology; it’s just in these areas I have major disagreements, to say the least.
(1420) THE DOCTRINE ON WHICH THE CHURCH STANDS OR FALLS- In keeping with the last post lets overview some stuff. One of the main themes in the New Testament is the theme of justification by faith; the great reformer Martin Luther called this the doctrine on which the church stands or falls. If you go thru this blog and read the Galatians, Romans and Acts studies you will see what a major subject this is in the bible. Read Acts chapter 15 and you will see 3 specific statements made about what exactly the Jewish teachers out of Jerusalem were trying to put on the believers at Antioch; the chapter says they were trying to make them become circumcised, then it says to become circumcised and KEEP THE LAW OF MOSES, and then James will say the same in the final decree that was sent out to the gentile believers at Antioch. The point being the question very much was whether or not the gentile churches were to submit themselves under the ‘law of Moses’. In Galatians Paul says ‘if righteousness comes by the law, then Christ is dead in vain’ ‘I am crucified with Christ… and the life which I now live I live by the faith of the Son of God’ this theme runs thru out the corpus of Paul’s writings and there is absolutely no doubt that the apostle is saying the believer becomes right with God, by faith apart from the law. And that ‘the law’ in context means the whole law [ceremonial, sacrificial and the moral code- 10 commandments]. Paul himself told the Galatians ‘if you become circumcised Christ shall profit you nothing, for he that is circumcised has become a debtor to the whole law’ all of these statements in context would be meaningless if they simply meant the gentiles were not under the ceremonial law, but still bound by the moral law. When the decree made it back to the church at Antioch they rejoiced in the fact they they were not bound under the law, not so they could go on sinning, but because the New Covenant of grace frees us from the legalistic approach to Gods kingdom. Remember, Paul associated the ceremonial law [circumcision] with the moral law- if he were just speaking of believers not being under one aspect, but another, then this distinction would be meaningless. James said the church at Antioch were troubled by those who went to them and told them they needed to become circumcised AND keep the law of Moses, it is clear from these passages that the message of the New testament is believers are under grace and are not under the old law; once again we are told ‘does this mean we keep on sinning’? Paul’s response is always no, not based on the fact that we are still bound to the law, but based on the fact that we have been risen with Christ, we are ‘new creatures in Christ, the old has passed away’- I do not frustrate the grace of Christ, if righteousness comes by the law, then Christ died in vain!
(1421) THE FOOL HAS SAID IN HIS HEART, THERE IS NO GOD- Psalms. Caught an interesting special last night on evolution; they got into many of the fallacies and false things that have been foisted upon the general population over the years. They went to a famous natural history museum and interviewed the scientist responsible for teaching one of the most popular missing links for whales. Darwin believed that whales came from swimming bears who after many years evolved into whales- stuff that today would put you into the intellectual category of believing in a flat earth! Darwin held to many primitive beliefs that are disproven today, many of these beliefs were central to his theory. He believed in spontaneous generation, that living cells can self generate from dead matter. His proof? Well look at the piece of meat that is left out and rots, sure enough over time maggots ‘self generate’. This man believed this! It took a simple test to prove this theory false; they put cheesecloth over the meat, which prevented flies from landing on the meat and laying their eggs in the meat, and Walla- no maggots. This silly belief of Darwin cannot be written off as ‘well he wasn’t perfect’ no, this belief is central to the idea of evolution; it has been proven false beyond all doubt. So back to the whale fossil, as they interviewed the famous scientist responsible for the whale fossil, they also spoke to other scientists who fully held to the belief that science has proven the missing link of the whale. They pointed to the famous specimen of a 4 legged animal with this elongated nose and, well yes, the tail of a whale! All the men interviewed used this as proof of evolution, many school text books taught it, surely it must be true! As they looked at the actual fossil [not just the pictures in the books] they discovered that the famous fossil actually has no tail. They then asked the scientist where he came up with the tail. He said he had to speculate at that point. What! The most famous evidence for the evolution of the whale, the fossil that all the other experts noted as absolute proof for evolution- it was a creation in the mind of an evolutionist. The history of fossil hunting is shot thru with these types of examples; there is actually an entire cottage industry of ‘fossil hunters’ who have been caught time and again fabricating missing links. Why so much effort? They know that many would pay much money for these fossils. Why? Because they do not exist for real. If you were finding tons of these transitional fossils, which Darwin said we would have to eventually find if his theory were true, then there would be no market for the fake ones. And the history of fake ones is quite large; they have caught people doing this a lot. Chinese fossil hunters presented to national geographic 2 so called fossils that were supposedly proof that dinosaurs turned into birds. They hired a top team of researchers to look at the fossils. The team determined that the Chinese fossils were frauds. The first fossil was shown to have been fabricated with modern day materials. Then the Chinese finders found another one- hey there’s much money in this field. The second fossil was also proven to have been ‘fixed’ by the finders. To the surprise of the researchers, national geographic went with the fossil anyway [hey they need to pay the bills too!] and it was presented as absolute proof for evolution. When the true researchers, the ones who proved the fossils fake, confronted the scientists who were on the payroll of national geographic, they responded that yes- all the fossils coming from china have these types of problems. In essence they said the standard practice of faking it was to be expected. These types of things are usually not known by the general public at large, hey we’re taught things in school, we see the pictures, and who has time to do the research? The apostle Paul said men chose to reject the knowledge of God; they have made a conscience choice to do stuff like this. There actually is a psychology to atheism. Believers need to be aware of these so called belief systems and contend for the truth. In the end many of the opponents have reprobate minds; they don’t want to really see the truth, and they will fabricate stuff to prove their points.
(1422) THE APOSTLE, THE PROPHETESS AND FIRST DEGREE MURDER- Last night I watched a dateline special on a church that made the headlines because of a series of actions that led to the murder of the youth pastor’s wife, by the youth pastor. The church started out as a nice independent church in a good community, the original pastor moved on and a new pastor came in. He felt his calling was that of an apostle and he instituted the casting out of demons and new concepts on spiritual warfare. They also had the charismatic gifts of the Spirit operating. One of the ladies was a ‘prophetess’, if I remember right I used to see some of her stuff on a fairly popular prophetic web site. Either way she functioned in what she felt was a prophetic gift and she eventually gave a prophecy to the youth pastor that his wife was going to die and she would marry him after the death. The youth pastor wound up giving his wife an overdose of Benadryl and started an ‘accidental’ house fire and she died. The youth pastor had a few affairs with some of the other church members and eventually the sister who functioned in the prophetic gift confessed. Okay, how does stuff like this happen? It is easy to come away from this story with a negative view of all charismatic expressions of the church; that would be unfair. Purely as a doctrinal issue you do find the gifts of the Spirit as a legitimate part of Christianity. The church’s emphasis on spiritual warfare techniques and the normative act of identifying demon spirits in its members, well I do have a problem with that. Christians go thru fads/phases as the years roll by, one of the popular ideas was the whole spiritual warfare thing that involved strategic level prayers and identifying territorial spirits and stuff like that. Most fads have some type of doctrinal truth; for instance you do read in the prophetic book of Daniel how his prayers were being resisted by a ‘prince’ which more than likely was referring to a demon spirit, and how God used an angel to break thru the heavens and bring the answer to Daniel. So we see glimpses behind the scenes at times. But the normative teaching on prayer does not carry with it a regular process of identifying and engaging with these demons. So you have some truth, but usually associated with error. Many who appeal to the Daniel example fail to see that Daniels prayer eventually was answered, not because Daniel did some strategic prayer thing, but because he simply prayed to God in faith. At no time did Daniel cast the prince down thru his own techniques. So basically this independent church got into the whole thing. Many years ago when I was pastoring my own independent church, I had a lady [she was a good friend and Christian] who too felt like she functioned at times as a prophetess. She was ordained by Joel Osteen’s church out of Houston and I worked with family members who were involved [married to] some of the drug addict guys I was helping at the time. She did become a member of our church and she was an able person. But at times I had to warn her off of beliefs that she felt were from God. Her previous church [a word of faith church] had a good pastor whose wife was not helping the minister; she felt like the Lord told her that some day she would be married to the pastor, that either the wife would die or the pastor would get a divorce, but that she felt God had told her this. She gave me examples from the bible that seemed to justify in her mind how God can tell people things that seem out of the ordinary [like God telling one of his prophets to marry a prostitute] but I always tried to steer her into the direction that the gift of prophecy never contradicts the known revealed will of God as found in the bible. The point today is as believers we need to be careful that our expression of Christianity does not become isolated from the broader Body of Christ, we should be reading the Christian classics, should have a basic view of the people of God as a worldwide community that we can all glean guidance from. Many independent type churches get a hold of some doctrine [even if it’s true] and make the error of exalting the teaching to a point where they get out of balance with the historic church, then they focus all their teaching and reading around a small group of authors and preachers who also hold to the same limited ideas. This reinforces in the minds of the adherents that they surely must be in a balanced group, after all look at all the other good people who follow the same path! I would advise all believers [pastors especially] build up a good library of the Christian classics, pick up Augustine’s confessions, collect some writings from the early church fathers; develop a library that spans the ages- you can read and study the current movements and all, don’t reject all movements and fads, some movements do have historic implications to them, but only time will tell. And avoid the idea that God is telling people stuff like ‘your husband/wife will die and I will marry you’ these ideas are way off the mark and should be rejected outright without any second thoughts.
[just a comment on an article critiquing Scot McKnight’s recent CT article] Good response- Just a note or 2; Scot doesn’t seem to be saying that all historical studies of Jesus are wrong, but that the actual process called 'historical criticism’ is actually flawed. Also the example in this article 'how can we know the meaning behind the act of Jesus and the money changers without 2nd temple context’ most believers have a good grasp of the prophetic challenge of Jesus to the religious leaders of the day by simply reading this gospel account in context 'my father’s house was to be a house of prayer. You have made it a den of thieves’. Simply reading this account from the gospels gives us enough context to glean the truth of the passage. Good response anyway. God bless, John
(1423) WHO KNOWS WHETHER YOU HAVE COME TO THE KINGDOM FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS- The famous words to queen Esther in the book of the bible with the same name. God said to Abraham that he called him when he was alone; he had no support base, no family, nothing. God told him to go to a country that he would later receive as an inheritance, Hebrews 11 tells us ‘he went out, not knowing where he was going’ often times on the journey we end up in places that we never planned on being; strategic situations where we might influence key kingdom leaders- the bible says ‘men of stature shall come over to thee and be thine’ ‘gentiles shall come to thy light and kings to the brightness of thy rising’. God has ways of placing us in strategically important locations, places we are not even aware of! Yesterday I googled the ministry name and saw a few foreign blogs that have been posting our stuff, great! They are from Indonesia, the most populated Muslim country in the world; we have been ‘dwelling’ in a place that I knew not. Be sensitive to the people you are influencing, often times just your presence in a place can be a fulfillment of Gods calling, even if you have no idea how you wound up being there. Often times there are other key leaders [pastors, etc.] that God is raising up for a national/worldwide influence; part of your calling might be to influence them, keep them on course, so that they too will keep those they are mentoring in a straight path. I like the fact that God called Abraham when he was alone; it was really a personal calling between him and God; it’s good to have friends and supporters along the way, but in the end this thing started with you and God alone, it will be up to you and God to finish the race by faith. The bible says ‘look to the rock I have cut you out of, look to Abraham and Sarah, I called them when they were alone’ are you alone? Have people you counted on moved on? Are you feeling tempted to move on too? ‘Fear not, for I am with thee, be not dismayed for I am thy God. I will strengthen thee and uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness’ says the Lord- ‘endure hardness as a good soldier in Christ’ says Paul. ‘Blessed is the man that endures temptation, for when he is tried he shall receive the crown of life’ James. ‘To him who overcomes will I make a pillar in the temple of my God’ Jesus.
(1424) AVOIDING THE ECHO CHAMBER- A week or so ago the president was asked his opinion about the cable news shows and the talk radio community; he wisely answered that he felt there was a sort of dynamic like an echo chamber with these shows, that people need to be careful that they are not simply spending all their time and effort bouncing their own ideas off of the walls of others who only think in the same framework. In Christianity this is a problem that we all regularly deal with. I remember listening to a tape by an ‘organic church’ brother one time, he was trying to explain where the idea of elders arose in the writings of the apostle Paul. Now he was speaking from/to a community of people that at the time were writing and teaching against the New Testament idea of leadership, many felt like leaders in the New Testament were forbidden based on verses like ‘the gentiles exercise lordship over each other, it will not be like this with you’ and other verses that speak of servant leadership. The well meaning brother went on to espouse his theory that when the Jewish Diaspora took place in the first century, many were sent to the Christian churches and they told the leaders of the churches ‘here are our people, who are your elders that they need to report to’ and that in response Paul and the others said ‘Oh yeah, here they are’ sort of like they were ad libbing just to appease the Jewish converts. Now, this idea is interesting, but there is no foundation for it to rest on. The New Testament had elders, leaders, etc. for this brother to have thought this deeply about the matter was simply a symptom of living in the echo chamber of others who also rejected elders/leaders as a normative role of the New Testament churches. But many of these brothers have brought out the fact that none of the churches in the New Testament had the singular office of ‘the pastor’ that functioned as the weekly speaking office that the believers would gather around and hear, week after week, month after month, year after year. The development of this office [often referred to as the pastor] took place over time; some ascribe its development to 4th century pagan sources, others see it as arising out of the synagogue to church model [it should be noted that in the synagogues you had a person overseeing the meeting, but anyone could take the scrolls and read as the lord led- that’s why Jesus could read from the scrolls, even though the Pharisees did not think he was ‘ordained’ by God]. The point being we all have blind spots that we need to be aware of. Most bible schools, universities teach courses on ‘pastoral counseling, finances, budgets, speaking, etc.’ and to be honest they too usually are approaching things from the echo chamber of ‘church’ as the corporate model, the actual meeting place of believers, as opposed to a community of people. Many of these courses never really question the validity of this singular role that we define as pastor, they just teach around it as a given office that existed in this way. The other night I was watching the Huckabee show on Fox news, they had on the actor Jon Voight. I liked Voight in the movie The Deliverance and of course George from Seinfeld was elated when he thought he bought Jon’s used car [though Jerry doubted it was authentic, being the name was spelled differently] as Voight was being interviewed he read a prepared letter that he had brought with him. Voight expressed many of the key talking points of Beck, Rush and Hannity; he mentioned the Olinsky method, hit a few more ideas on Obama being a socialist, you know the whole deal. When he was thru Huckabee graciously defended Obama in saying that he disagreed with his policies, but felt like the president means well. Voight is a victim of the echo chamber, seeing and hearing things on a regular basis, without a regular inflow of contrary data. As believers we need to be willing to hear both sides of the issues, maybe the critics are right about one thing, and wrong about another. That’s fine, just be willing to hear. Living in the echo chamber can be deafening at times.
[comment I left on Trevin Wax’s site] Really interesting, she seems to deal with many issues that do need to be dealt with among believers. We often do not see the inconsistencies of our own ideas. I heard a Catholic convert share how she always looked down on Catholics for having statues; she one day realized that they too had mangers every Christmas. They seemed to have no problem with 'little’ statues of Mary, only the big ones! God bless from Corpus.
[follow up comment on Trevin’s site] Good interview Trevin/Gina. I would note that there are 'psychological’ reasons to why people embrace atheism [i.e.; believing I am not accountable to a higher authority just being one!] but I like Gina’s openness and hope she would read some of the more recent arguments for the existence of God, Keller’s work being one of many. Okay Gina, here you can stereotype me 'lets pray for Gina’ sorry, couldn’t help it.
(1425) SPECIFIED COMPLEXITY- In the struggle over evolutionary theory, one of the approaches used to debunk Darwinian Theory is the concept called ‘information theory’. This idea refutes a purely atheistic view of evolution. First, we must understand that the most popular form of evolution today is absolutely proven to be untrue! I know that’s a surprising statement to some, but stick with me. The current theory that most atheists hold to is the idea that at one point in time nothing existed [true]. They then say ‘by chance all things eventually came into existence’ they do not believe, for the most part, that any being existed prior to creation. This idea is blatantly false from the start, it is scientifically impossible to get something from nothing- people must know this. Now does evolutionary theory explain how all things came from no-thing? Absolutely not. That’s why some evolutionists espouse a theory called panspermia, this idea says that it’s possible that life started somewhere else, possibly by extra terrestrial beings, and that it was seeded on our planet either by accident or design. Men like Richard Dawkins [the famous atheist] have espoused this idea. If you were to ask them ‘and exactly what do you think this being is like, is it intelligent or not’ they would reply ‘oh, it’s definitely intelligent- how else could it have spawned intelligent life’ [good question!] if you then asked ‘is the being powerful, does it have the skill to do great things’? ‘Oh yes, of course, how else could it have spawned matter and life’? Another excellent question! One last thing, how old is this being, has he a starting point in history as well? Come to think of it, now that you ask, he [or his ancestor] must have been around forever, because if there was a point in time where he did not exist, then we have the problem of explaining where he came from, so logic tells us that this all knowing, all powerful, ever existing being is the only logical explanation for the existence of the created order. In a nutshell the atheistic evolutionist has come to the logical conclusion that some being, which just happens to possess all the attributes of the Christian God, must exist in order for anything to exist, after all you can’t get intelligent life from non intelligence. The evolutionist who espouses this view [and there are a growing number of them by the way] has simply replaced the idea of God with another god that he has developed in his own mind. This very dilemma, trying to explain how everything came from nothing, how information in the human cell got there, these questions can only be answered by the scientist who embraces some type of deity, that’s why the famous atheist Antony Flew finally embraced belief in God after many years of denying his existence. He realized the futility of holding on to a world view that said all things came from no-thing. How bout you?
(1426) ‘You brought us into the net, you laid affliction upon us; you caused men to ride over our heads, we went thru fire and water; but you also brought us out into a wealthy place’ Psalms 66:11-12. Yesterday I mailed off a letter to a child hood buddy who is doing time in prison. We grew up as little hoodlums, he was Greek Orthodox, I Roman Catholic- but the only ecumenical act we ever engaged in was jointly taking the Lords name in vain. This last year he has been in touch with me, I have written and been a friend. This last letter he asked if I could give a shout out to him by name and also to all the brothers in Rahway prison; his buddies think he’s making it up that we were friends as kids. He has lost all- family, business, home- he is going thru depression and all, but I am encouraging him to get with the other brothers and read and pray, I am printing relevant sections from my blog and sending them as well. I stuck a bunch of my ministry cards in the last letter and he obviously gave them to some Christian brothers from the ‘free world’ who have access to computers and stuff, that’s why they wanted the shout out. The guys in prison do not have access to the internet. If you want to write him, his address is ‘ James Dalskov 558763 lock bag R Rahway, N.J. 07065’. Sometimes in life we wind up in situations where we feel like we are in a net, others ‘ride over us’ being told what to do and what not to do. Going from the free world into these types of environments can be tuff. But God can also use these experiences to do things in us that we never thought possible. At the end of the above verse it says when the process was over ‘He brought us out into a wealthy place’. I also got an email yesterday from one of our original guys who used to be a mainline addict, spent many years doing robberies and spending years in prison; he has been out for a long time and been clean for many years. He was letting me know that one of our other brothers just moved to Corpus and wanted to get a hold of me. I gave him the cell #, but those of you who know me realize that getting in touch with me by phone is next to impossible; I never answer my phone unless I recognize the number. The point today is God wants all of us to interact with society, the lost ones! The religion of Jesus day was centered on religious performance and ritual; though the concepts of justice and reaching out to the poor and needy were engrained in the Mosaic law, yet for some reason this priority was lost to tradition. Jesus would quote the famous verse from the prophet Isaiah about the Spirit being on him to do justice. When questioned about his legitimacy ‘are you the one or look we for another’ he replied in social justice terms ‘the poor have the gospel preached, the dead are raised’ etc. The proof of his ordination was not being licensed by the religion of the day, but the proof was the works of justice that he did. Leaders, what is the environment that surrounds you? Is most of your life spent on a preaching platform or stage? Are you rarely in the environment that Jesus and his men were surrounded by? The leaders of Jesus day were offended by his closeness to the world, the crowd he hung with, the prostitutes who wiped his feet with their tears; this whole scenario was unacceptable to the religious class of the day. The only time they referenced the hurting in prayer was when they said ‘Thank you God that we are not like them’ they spent their lives in a net, a religious place of bondage, many of them never came out into the wealthy place.
[Comment on Ben Witherington’s site on his recent historical Jesus book] I like it Ben. Went to the first post and read the intro; good and balanced. I have been critical of 'historical criticism’ and recently made some comments on Scot McKnight’s article on rethinking Jesus studies. Overall I think its okay to do historical research and harmonies like this; as long as we add the warning that these studies are not meant to challenge the canonical accounts [which warning you gave in the intro!] God bless Ben thanks for sharing excellent scholarship like this in a free format. John
(1427) THE LORD GAVE THE WORD; GREAT WAS THE COMPANY OF THOSE THAT PUBLISHED IT- Psalms 68:11 In the 14th century you had the Oxford scholar, John Wycliffe, challenge the church and publish an English bible that would be understood by the common man. His view of the true church was that all those who believed in Christ comprised the mystical Body of Christ thru out the ages; he held to the same view that many believers would later embrace. His works would eventually influence John Huss, the great Bohemian priest, and Huss too would preach a doctrine of the universal church which transcended institutional boundaries. In the 16th century William Tyndale would take up the charge to get the bible into the hands of the common man; he longed for the day that the simple plowman would know the scriptures as well as the trained clergy; Tyndale would die for the faith [as Huss] but would pray/prophesy that God would touch the heart of the king of England and make his word known. Henry the 8th would eventually place an English bible into every church building thru out his realm. The history of God getting his word into the hands of the common man is great, many divine interventions [or inventions!] came along just at the right time to aid in the efforts. Guttenberg would invent the printing press in the 15th century and Luther’s reformation would take off as his books and tracts would get published by the boat loads [as well as many other great teachers’ stuff- like Erasmus Greek New Testament bible]. The institutional church would resist the free flow of these writings, they feared that the people might teach wrong doctrine, or that the masses might interpret the bible in a wrong way. Were these fears groundless? Not really. Many did mess up in their reading of the bible, and others would start their own sects based on faulty interpretations. But for the most part God was in the business of getting his word out to as many people as possible. I have found over the years that believers have a sort of blind spot when it comes to the ‘sacred’ modes of transmitting the bible. For instance many well meaning men believe that the process of meeting in a building on Sunday, and the bible being preached to as many as you can get to come to the meeting; many feel that this expression [being only one of many] is the actual God ordained way of getting the bible taught to the people. Many who hold to this singular idea, to the point where they feel the doing of this is actually called ‘the local church’ will look down upon other means of getting the word out. The explosion of the internet has truly been the printing press of modern times. Many average believers now have the ability to reach the world from their computers; are their dangers with this process? Sure. Will some teach wrong stuff? As Sarah Palin would say ‘you betcha’. But all in all people should embrace the reality that we live in a day where once again the average saint has the ability to get the word out to the masses with little, or no cost. I don’t want people to get me wrong, going to ‘church’ to hear the sermon is fine [most of the times!] but the bible does not teach the concept that the meeting of believers in buildings on Sunday is actually called ‘the local church’. For sure this is an expression of ‘local church’ it is a way that many believers have come to practice their faith; but it would be wrong to exalt this view of church to the point where we hinder others who are getting the word out in many different ways. In the New Testament, the ‘local churches’ referred to communities of believers who lived in your city/region- the term does not refer exclusively to meeting in a lecture hall environment to hear a lecture! Psalms says God gave the word and great was the company of those that published it; lets rejoice in the fact that we live in a time where a great company of people can ‘publish it’.
(1428) THE NAME OF THE LORD IS A STRONG TOWER, THE RIGHTEOUS RUNNETH INTO IT AND ARE SET ALOFT [ARE SAFE]- Proverbs. Been reading a little in Psalms and Proverbs these last few weeks, so much of it deals with receiving correction; seeking wisdom, going after knowledge. The Christian life is a process of dealing with things that we thought were true, or that our viewpoints were the ‘best’ on a particular subject, and then we get challenged on those points and divide over those views. I was listening to a radio preacher one Sunday, comes on the same channel that we broadcast on. I listened to him, not because he was really knowledgeable [to be honest, he wasn’t] but because he reminded me of all the drug addicts/ex con’s that I have worked with for many years. He was a brother that has been down that road. One day while talking about Jesus’ baptism he described it as ‘the day Jesus got saved’. Most teachers cringe at a statement like this [for many theological reasons] but I managed to overlook it and tried to see what the sincere brother was trying to say. To my surprise I recently read some article by an able scholar, he spoke of Jesus’ baptism as ‘being baptized and washing away his sins’. Frankly, I was shocked that he would say something like this. But I understand that people see things, and use common phrases, that others are uncomfortable with, over time if these brothers are simply stating things in ways that seem highly unusual to our common Christian language, but are still embracing orthodox Christian beliefs, then we need to approach these things with much grace. Recently I have posted various comments on excellent sites that have been re-hashing the historical critical method of scholarship, I have written lots on this before and don’t want to go into the whole thing again. But I found it interesting that many of today’s most able scholars, men whose sites I have on my blog roll, have disagreed strongly with each other. Now these are good scholars, not men who are simply uninformed about the subject. As I have read some of this back and forth, I see how even some of the best men can read past each other, and not fully see what the other side is saying. We all have a tendency to put our critics in the worst possible light, and to represent our position in the most noble light. Sometimes the only way we can arrive at a ‘more noble’ understanding of the subject [whatever the subject may be] is by returning to a trust in the Lord, letting our souls be renewed by Gods grace. I have this gazebo in my yard, I built a deck on top and placed a chair on it. It’s like a loft, sometimes I’ll just sit up on top and enjoy the escape from all the things that surround me. I’ll be praying early in the morning, the stars out and the planets beaming; and I’ll climb the loft and sit in the presence of God for a while. I just want to encourage you guys today, spend time in ‘the loft’ seek the face of God- if you are embroiled in controversy, maybe have been the target of criticism; then just spend some time with God. King David said how he wished he had the wings of a dove so he could fly away and be with God. The bible says ‘our souls have escaped like birds out of the snare of the fowler, the snare has been broken and we have escaped’ we do have these wings, this ability to be free from the snares and dwell in the presence of God. Our wings are prayer.
(1429) ‘There shall be a handful of corn in the earth upon the top of the mountains; the fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon: and they of the city shall flourish like grass of the earth’ Psalms 72:16. Most of the time there is a portion of good truth available to believers from various sources; as believers we need to be picky at times, because if we simply consume everything from the buffet, we will get sick. The bible says honey is good, but too much will make you vomit! Years ago there was a preacher that I liked to listen to, he was from another city and I had heard him speak before and ordered some of his teaching materials. I noticed over time that though he associated with many famous prosperity preachers, yet he would make statements that showed he was not in total agreement with their doctrine. I then read a news story on a problem the church was having; the minister came under fire for putting pressure on people to give for the new building fund and yet was kind of frivolous in the ministries spending of money. One of the leaders in the church sought to expose the minister as a false prophet, they went to the courts and eventually the courts sided with the church. One of the complaints that was made was the preacher had bought a 4 thousand dollar suit for one of the church board members as a gift of appreciation. The disgruntled member thought this was wrong to do at a time when the church was putting pressure on people to give. The minister defended this act by saying Jesus wore an expensive coat, and that a woman also poured expensive perfume on Jesus [I’m not sure if he used one or both of these examples]. I have heard this defense made many times in the past by prosperity preachers, it is a lame excuse to be honest; I have explained this before and don’t want to do it again here. Let’s just say that these examples do not excuse ministries from financial indiscretions. The main point is even though this well meaning preacher, who I liked to listen to, tried to separate himself from the more extreme teaching of the prosperity movement; yet when all was said and done he resorted to the same miss use of scripture in defending himself; he could not avoid the traps of those who surrounded him. He spent time inviting these ministers to ‘the church’ went to do conferences in their churches and was doing lots of ministry things with them. In the above verse we read that there is a handful of corn in the earth, a quality supply of good meat [teaching] that God has made available to us, if we associate too much with teachers that are not really giving us the good corn, then no matter how hard we try, we will become like them. I want to encourage you today, what are the streams you feed from? Do you read the latest pop culture Christian best sellers? Things on how to get what you want out of life, or how you can succeed in some venture; or are you reading scholarly stuff, the Christian classics, the church fathers. If you spend most of your time surrounded by unbalanced teaching, it will affect you in the end, even if you think it won’t.
(1430) UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES- Okay, health care has passed and many people are surprised already with the consequences; people who advocated strongly for it, the ones who said ‘there’s nothing bad with the plan, it’s those crazy tea partiers with the false accusations of death panels’. So as I was talking to a north eastern liberal person the other day, they were shocked to find out that one of their relatives was just told that the state of New Jersey will no longer cover them for drug treatment. This person has been covered for 30 years, no longer. The person asked me why this happened. I explained that one of the things about the new law is the govt. will force the states to accept an extra 30 million people onto their insurance rolls, many of the states cannot afford the extra influx of people [the state pays a portion of the coverage and the federal govt. a portion] so that’s why the governors were against the plan. Now, the famous cornhusker kickback was a deal that was supposed to help Nebraska with the cost, eventually the administration said they will put the cost off for all the states- but someday they will pay. So of course the states are looking for ways to save costs, and those who were getting coverage by Medicare for drug treatment will no longer get covered in Jersey. My liberal friend was irate ‘how dare the state do this’! This from a person that supported the plan 100%! AT@T is the biggest private employer in the country, the plan changed the amount of money a business can deduct for the health costs of their employees; the result? AT@T lost 1 billion in the first ¼ of the year. The new health law cost them an extra 1 billion on the books. Many employees are irate ‘how dare they do this to us, threaten to cut our drug coverage’! This from the same employees that voted for the plan, they are union members who were told ‘don’t worry, it’s those racist tea partiers that are lying to you’ well maybe not. Then for the grand finale, the N.Y. times did a story on how the plan inadvertently kicked off the senators and congressman from federal insurance; there was a mistake in the plan that would forbid the politicians from keeping their coverage! The times said ‘well, if they let something like this slip in, who knows what accidental affects the plan might have on the populace at large’ to which I respond ‘DUH’. All this would be funny if it weren’t so sad. As I told my liberal friend from the north that the taxes from dividends will now go up from around 15 to 40 %, they said ‘what, do you mean to tell me that my income from my investments will go down’ yes. It amazes me that those who either supported the plan, or those who opposed it; that many of these people had no idea what they were for/against. The person whose relative lost the drug coverage told me that there is only one doctor in the area [a highly populated area right in the crowded N.Y. city area] that will accept Medicare, that this doctor has told them that it really isn’t worth the hassle to treat Medicare patients. Now, if this doctor all of a sudden gets an influx of new Medicare patients, what do you think he will do? He will drop out of the system like all the other doctors in the area, then my friend will not only lose the drug treatment coverage, but will have no doctors in the area at all. All these things are consequences that come with the new law, people should have known these things before they simply accused the opposition of being a bunch of racists. So the plan passed, let’s do what we can- hey, I will try and get insurance when I can, but for now much is still up in the air. I just finished a time of prayer, which includes praying for the president and his family by name, so we need to separate our politics from our duty to pray for those in authority. All in all let’s do our best with what we have, but be informed about the issues. Don’t be surprised if things happened that you didn’t expect, the bible says don’t answer a matter before you hear both sides of the issue. My liberal friend is distraught over their situation, they really don’t know what to do, they feel desperate, they wish that the new law never passed, yet they supported it with much vigor before it passed; they would get into heated discussions over how this plan was the best thing that ever happened to the country! Now they think it’s the worst. I feel bad for those who supported something when they had no idea how it would affect them, become informed as believers. Know the issues, don’t just listen to the right or the left, but be honest when hearing both sides and then make an informed decision. Don’t just be for or against something because it’s the trendy thing to do, that will always get you into trouble. Note- I meant Medicaid.
(1431) HE THAT HAS PITY ON THE POOR LENDS UNTO THE LORD, AND THAT WHICH HE HAS GIVEN WILL BE REPAID BY GOD. Proverbs 19:17 The other day I read an interview by an author who attended Liberty University [Falwell’s bible school] as an undercover atheist, she was on assignment to see behind the scenes of evangelical Christians. She wrote her book and some of the insights are helpful for believers to see some of our blind spots. One thing that struck me was her criticism of how Christians talk about ‘giving to God’ she found it odd that to the majority of believers; they equated ‘giving to God’ with giving to their churches. She found it strange that believers seemed to make no difference between the 2. She also noted how when she asked believers about whether or not the church was responsible in the finances; that if this made a difference when speaking of giving to God. Most believers told her that it was their responsibility to put in the offering/tithe, and that they would not be personally responsible for the decisions of the leaders. I have always found it strange that in the bible, giving to God is primarily expressed thru meeting the needs of people, helping the poor, feeding the hungry, etc. and yet most believers do view giving to God as giving money to ‘the church’ or to a ministry. Jesus said things like ‘if you did not help the least of these, you did not help me’ and the above verse speaks of lending to God when we help the poor. I wonder if we will give an account to God someday for the fact that the majority of Christian funds in the American church are used to build/create comfortable environments for us to meet in? We spend most of our money on ourselves, and we do call this ‘giving to God’. Now many churches and ministries are doing a good work, sending missionaries out, helping the poor, etc. It’s just we as individual believers seem to think that this gets us off the hook. The bible says if we see a person in need and do not help, how dwelleth the love of God in us? There are many direct portions of scripture that say these things, most of the time we do not associate giving to God with what the bible actually teaches. We have developed unbiblical concepts on what the ‘storehouse’ in Malachi means, and we take this skewed idea of the storehouse and apply it to the meeting places of believers, and then we say ‘the tithe belongs to the storehouse’ it’s too much to do the whole thing right now, but I want to challenge you, are we overlooking actual direct commands of Jesus in scripture? Do we make the mistake of equating giving to God with putting money in an offering plate? I’m glad the author went undercover and gave us a glimpse into our own shortcomings, we could learn from her insights.
(1432) WHEN I RECEIVE THE GREAT CONGREGATION I WILL JUDGE UPRIGHTLY- Psalms 75:2 Many years ago when I was the youth pastor of a fundamental Baptist church, I had a new boy join our youth group; it was common to get new comers from the navy base where the church was located. He was an older teen [17?] but would attend our little group’s outings and all. Good kid. One time he shared how he needed to recommit his life to God; that he had slipped away from his earlier time of being baptized with the Spirit and speaking in tongues. Now, the church we were in did not look upon these experiences in a good light, it would have been easy for me to have challenged the boy on his past experience with God, but that would not have been the right thing to do. As his youth pastor I just encouraged him to remain on course and stay in prayer and fellowship. There are times in our walk with the Lord where we need to simply judge uprightly, that is we need to do what’s best for the person at the time, not necessarily always win the argument or prove our point. In the Christian experience we interact with many various groups of believers who have come to the table with different backgrounds. It’s a common thing for believers to not really appreciate that other believers might have come to the table with a different background. We all have a tendency to view our particular background as the best one out of the bunch; at times we feel a sense of security ‘knowing’ that our groups particular slant is the best slant. Then we approach other groups with a less than sincere acceptance of their ‘slant’. We all have groups of people that we will speak into thru our lives, ‘the great congregation’ so to speak. God wants us to do what’s right when we receive them, when they cross paths with us at various junctures in the journey. There will be times for reproof and correction, yes sometimes that’s ‘judging rightly’ but there will also be times when we need to look past our own concerns and simply do what’s in the best interest of the other person. Jesus said the Pharisees went high and low to make one convert, and after they made him he became a ‘child of hell’ more than they were. Paul said the Judaisers were glorying in the fact that they convinced the Galatians to become circumcised; these examples show us that we can be in leadership roles with the wrong motive, we might even be fooling ourselves, thinking that ‘hey, I wouldn’t be doing this stuff if I weren’t sincere’ but in these scenarios the thing that was motivating the leaders was the fact that they were able to convince others that their group was the right one, they were winning converts for their own glory, not for the sole benefit of the people. I want to challenge all of us today, what are we in this thing for? Are we more concerned with fighting for our particular view point than we are for the people? Do we have a tendency to present our views as the only views that can be right? Are we able to actually give a fair hearing to other sides of the issues, sides that we think are wrong, but to be willing to come to the table with an open heart and mind. You and I ‘receive’ the great congregation in many ways thru out our lives, let’s try and do what’s right when it’s our turn.
(1433) THE LAZY WILL NOT WORK BECAUSE OF THE COLD, THEREFORE WILL HE BEG IN THE HARVEST TIME AND HAVE NOTHING- Proverbs 20:4 Out of all the writings I have done about the poor and homeless, over 99% is pro homeless. But every so often I need to deal with the other side. A while back I met a new homeless friend here in Corpus, his name was Nick and he seemed like a nice guy. Nick was from out of state and the rumor was that he might have been hiding from the law for some reason. Nick was around 30 or so, had a decent truck and was an able bodied person. But over time I realized his problem was he did not want to work. Now there are guys I know who are hopeless drunks, good guys, but these are the ones you usually see begging with the signs. Most of the others actually do work, and many times people pick them up at the homeless spots for jobs. But Nick just did not want to work. At first he seemed to put on a good impression, he would talk about different schemes to make money, he was smart. He even told one of the other guys ‘I’ll pick you up early in the morning and we’ll go down to the shrimp docks and make some money’ he told my buddy that he picked him because these other bumbs don’t want to work! Sure enough Nick never showed up, my buddy saw him at the mission and said ‘hey, I was waiting all morning for you’ Nick made some excuse about driving up and down the block and never spotting him, you could tell it was a story. Nick also hung out with another older drunk who was good at begging, he was sickly and you felt sorry for the man, people would give him money- Nick saw this as a good way to get some cash. One day he showed up at the mission after a few weeks of doing some painting job, his girlfriend, who was homeless too, put pressure on him to work and they both started painting. Then lo and behold Nick showed up with his arm in a sling, he even had the x-rays to show everyone how he broke his arm when some college kids stole his ice chest at the beach and he reached in and grabbed it out of their car and broke his arm. No cast, and the x-rays to prove it! I didn’t even bother to look at the x-rays, which Nick seemed to want everyone to see, to prove it was true. One day I saw Nick on the other side of town holding a sign for money, he looked like a normal healthy guy asking for cash. I had a friend tell me ‘hey, I saw some guy begging for money at the Wal Mart, he looked like he was able to work’ sure enough it was Nick. The point today is sometimes it’s our fault, if people don’t want to work during the years of their youth, when they are young and healthy, then they will beg during harvest and have nothing. Paul the apostle rebuked those who did not want to work, but caused trouble; he said they should not eat! So we need to distinguish between those who are truly in need and those who are in rebellion, Jesus said some people were following him because they knew they could get a free meal [John’s gospel] as believers we need to be discerning, we also need to help those who are truly in need, we can’t put all the homeless in the category of Nick, but every now and then you will run across a Nick.
(1434) THE WINGLESS BEATLE- Recently there has been some hot debate going back and forth amongst Christians over the concept of I.D. [intelligent design] and evolution. I want to bring out a few important points; first, why are there intelligent Christian thinkers and scientists who hold to the idea of evolution? Are all of these smart men simply being duped? Of course not. We need to understand that the breakthroughs in science since the time of Darwin have shown us the reality that species very much do ‘evolve’ over time, the mechanism called Natural Selection is real. Many Christians believed that the various types of different animals in certain groups were all created by God in their original form in the first 6 days of creation. What Darwin observed was that animals [finches] actually would adapt to their environment over time, and these changes would indeed get passed off onto the next generation. So as science advanced we have seen that this process called natural selection does work in this way. The problem with a full throttled Darwinian view is Darwin concluded that this process was the reason why we have all the different species of life on the planet. Darwin carried his idea too far. Why do I say this? As science has advanced over time we have also discovered that living cells are highly complex, animals and humans have encoded within them a sort of computer program called DNA, in Darwin’s day we did not know this, but today we know it. As a matter of fact one of the main arguments of the ID movement is the very fact that there is absolutely no naturalistic explanation to where this information [program] has come from, but in fact all observable evidence around us indicates that you can only get intelligence like this from an intelligent mind. DNA does not evolve over time, in that succeeding generations of living things are developing new information; this does not happen. In order for Darwinian evolution to be true, then you would need some naturalistic explanation to where this new information is coming from. Now to the beetles, there is a case where these beetles were observed on this windy island over a period of years, the wind would blow the beetles into the ocean and they would drown; over time the beetles ‘lost’ their wings. Yes, successive generations of beetles would be born wingless. The process of natural selection worked in a way that the species dropped off the information in their DNA that called for wings. Does this mean Darwin was right? Not at all, what happened with the beetles is over time the species adapted to its environment by losing information, not by gaining it- in essence this is what natural selection does, it mutates, adapts, drops off info. But in no case does it create new data, in order for you to have new data you need some intelligent force/being to actually program the info. Most computer people have no problem with this concept. So Christians need to be careful when they reject all the good science that has come down the pike since Charlie’s day, but the evolutionist too needs to be willing to go where the data leads, thus far we have much data that says one species has never changed into another new species, you need a programmer for this to work.
(1435) I WILLPOUR OUT MY SPIRIT ON THE SERVANTS…AND THEY SHALL PROPHESY- Acts 2. This morning I read this chapter in the Message Bible. A few things stood out; as the Spirit came to the church they spoke in such a way that all the various dialects of the Jews that were gathered at Jerusalem for the feast, these all heard the wondrous works of God in their own dialect. These Jews came from various areas that spoke in different ways, yet the message of God was spoken in a way that they could identify with. Also we in the modern church usually get the cart before the horse, we are expecting God to pour out his Spirit on those who can prophesy- we are looking for God to find gifted preachers/speakers and for God to bless the talent. God is pouring out his Spirit on servants, those who have been shaped in the community of laying down their lives and not seeking self promotion for their gifts, these are the ones who are getting the Spirit and pouring it out on others in such a way that these other groups can for the first time understand the message of the Cross in their own context. That is they are hearing things in ‘their dialect’ for the first time. This chapter has been one of controversy for many years amongst the people of God. I remember in the early days how one time the fundamental Baptist church I attended had an evangelist come and speak; he told of an experience he had when he was younger- he was baptized by some Pentecostals in the name of Jesus, came up out of the water speaking in tongues, became part of the Pentecostal church and after a few years finally got saved for real! He then went on and gave all the horror stories of people that spoke in tongues and a visiting missionary was there who understood the language and later told the pastor that the tongue talker was worshipping satan in this foreign dialect. Then you have the other side, those who were raised Baptist, and eventually had a charismatic experience and now view their entire Christian lives thru the context of the Pentecostal message as being the best thing since sliced bread. Often times this culture will truly have the expression of the gifts flowing, but many times its easy to make the Christian life all about the gifts; creating atmospheres [meetings] where people get together to hear/see someone function in the gift. Many times these believers will spend their whole lives in a charismatic environment and never really catch the vision to reach out to the poor and hurting, to grow in their knowledge of the things of God in a greater way. In this chapter God fulfilled the prophecy of Joel and poured out his Spirit on a bunch of servants, yes they did experience a legitimate expression of the charismatic gifts [no one was praising satan in some Haitian dialect!] and yet their excitement was over the message of the Cross, not the fact that the Spirit gave them some gifts. In today’s church world we value the talents more so than the service mentality. We look for talented ‘prophets’ [proclaimers] whom the Spirit can fall on and use, we have gotten the cart before the horse. Peter said what happened on this day was God found a bunch of servants that he could entrust with the gifts of the Spirit, and he chose these humble ones to speak in such a way that for the first time a bunch of various dialects/groups would finally understand and hear the works of God in a simple way, a way that they could come and identify with the message of the Cross.
[Comment I left on Trevin Wax’s site on an interview with Scot McKnight] I have noticed that Scot’s article was kinda like Stephen Barr’s recent shot against the I.D. movement! That is he seems to have stirred up a hornets’ nest. I agree with Scot on most of what he is saying, and I have noticed that many of his critics think he is against history itself, which is not what he is saying at all. Good interview Trevin, you might need to do another one with Tom Wright so you won’t be accused of taking sides. God bless, John
[Comment I left on McKnight’s Jesus creed blog] 'I read what I said, and this is what I think I meant’ this can only be said by someone who has ruffled some theological feathers. I agree with you Scot, I never read you saying 'historical work is wrong’ I read your criticism as being against the actual faulty method of hj [historical Jesus] studies- faulty in the sense that it 'strives’ to present an unorthodox Jesus as its goal. Do we really want this Jesus?
(1436) COMMON CONSENSUS- The last few months believers from various philosophical/theological backgrounds have been debating various issues and there has been some good give and take in the process. Last night I caught a Larry King interview with Jennifer Knapp, the Christian singer who has announced she is a lesbian; once again you can read the debate raging in the blogosphere. Often times Christians can get a little confused when they see intellectuals debating things from opposite sides, the question comes up ‘if these learned men/women have sincere differences, then I guess that means there is no final word on anything’ and that’s where the Catholic apologists jump in and say ‘see, we have the magisterium [the teaching authority of the church] and that’s the answer’. To be honest, I have heard certain Catholic apologists use this argument a few too many times against a straw man; some have said that Protestants have a thousand beliefs on just about every subject, so that’s how you know they can’t be right. Actually most believers worldwide have come to a consensus on the main things, the things that matter. Now I do understand that there are still areas where we all fall short in our thinking, but there has been a fairly stable stream of truth coming down to us thru out the centuries. We can often look back and see how certain generations saw clearly in one area, yet might have had a blind spot in another. Then a little further down the road they correct that area, and other following generations repeat the pattern. Let me hit on just one example that I have seen a lot; as someone who likes to read/study good theology, listening to reformed and orthodox thinkers, reading the current scholars of the day, I have found that most of them come to the table with a certain view of church [this study is called ecclesiology] that is limited in perspective. They have usually been influenced by their background [as we all are] and they might have thought long and hard about many theological issues [the sovereignty of God, apologetics, etc.] but when challenged in some way [like a popular book on church government] they usually resort to arguments that are common across the spectrum, but limited in view. I don’t know how many times I have heard believers defend a certain form of church and tithing by going to the famous passage in the book of Malachi ‘bring all the tithes into the storehouse’ but yet have never really given serious thought to what they actually mean by applying this scripture to the New Testament church, they usually simply see storehouse as ‘the church building’. Now, it takes very little time to do a good study of this passage and see that this is a very limited view of the passage. And many scholarly men have done extensive study in the area of ecclesiology and these men have truly seen things that for the most part the other groups haven’t yet seen. But in time, as generations roll on, these realities of God eventually seep into the Christian populace at large. The problem is we all need lots of grace during the process; I have learned much good from many theologians who I know don’t fully see the truth in every area, yet many who agree with me on the nature of the church would never give the time of day to other scholars who have limited views of the ecclesia. So these will never benefit from the broader insights of the world wide Body of Christ, they only listen to those directly related to their own view of the church. Many of these believers will master the art of ecclesiology, to the degree where it can become an unbalanced focus, reading too much into the proper way to ‘do church’. I only share this as one example, you can find things like this all over the Christian landscape. But overall the Christian church has arrived at truth, has had real consensus on the major things. Yes, you will have debates about lots of stuff, but we shouldn’t resign ourselves to the hopeless excuse of ‘well, everybody has their own interpretation of the bible’ sort of like saying ‘you believe your way and I’ll believe mine’. No, this really doesn’t work in the long run. We need grace when dealing with each other, especially an issue like when a believer comes out and is dealing with sexual identity issues; we need to not set these individuals up as targets, but at the same time deal honestly with what the scriptures teach [yes, the bible is pretty consistent on the issue]. At the end of the day we can, and do arrive at a common consensus most of the times, it’s important that believers know this so they don’t fall into a snare of thinking that everyone has their own view of what the bible says- to be honest this really isn’t the case.
(1437) FOR HE HAS ESTABLISHED A TESTIMONY IN JACOB, AND A LAW IN ISRAEL…THAT THE GENERATION TO COME MIGHT KNOW THEM, EVEN THE CHILDREN THAT SHALL BE BORN; AND THEY WILL DECLARE THEM TO THEIR CHILDREN. Psalms 78:5-6 I might overview this chapter the next day or so, it covers the history of Israel and Gods dealings with them. God set a testimony among his people for future generations to come and be influenced by it. This testimony was not only the written laws and statutes, but also the great works that he did; they were to memorialize them thru their holidays and holy feasts, just like the church does when celebrating the Lords Supper. This chapter will go on and tell us how God took King David from following the sheep and brought him to a position of authority in the kingdom. The Lord brought his people to a special border and mountain that he had foreordained for them to dwell in. He set up his tent among them and he poured down manna like rain all around their camps. This picture shows us how God dwells among us; he gives us certain prophetic people/leaders who will come from places of pastoral concern [following the sheep] and they will speak/teach things that are destined for generations of people to hear; that is this testimony is not simply a word about how to deal with your current problems, but it is a word meant to be transmitted to generations of people to come. God will let this ‘manna from heaven’ drop down all around the tents and camps where the people dwell, they will see/hear the works of God and be so impacted that they will declare it to their children and their children will also speak it to the following generation. I have found it interesting over the years when dealing with various subjects amongst the people of God. The other day I mentioned how some of my favorite theologians/scholars might have great insight into certain areas of God’s kingdom, yet they might have blind spots in others [like the nature of the ecclesia]. Yet I have found that there are whole generations of young believers who are now 2nd generation ‘organic churhcers’ and these kids, for the most part, have a better grasp on the principle and nature of the church. They don’t disdain the older guys, it’s just the idea in scripture of the organic church comes easy to them; they see right thru the old paradigms that many from the older generation can’t really see. Just a humble process of one generation of organic church movement ‘fathers’ having passed off to the next generation a ‘testimony in Israel’ a specific word/teaching that was meant to have long term effects for many generations to come in specific locations [mountains boundaries]. That is the things being taught by the Spirit are not simply one time truths that fade away in a few years, no these types of testimonies have staying power and future generations to come will all be affected by it. Have you been on the receiving/giving end of this type of testimony? Pastors, do you now say/see things differently in a permanent way? That is have you been taught in such a way that the things you have seen have changed certain ways you see church and the kingdom of God to the point where you will ‘never be the same again’? We all go thru stages like that, it’s important to remember what Jesus said ‘a good steward brings forth both new and old’ sometimes the new way of seeing things can be so overwhelming that we forget to teach the old stuff as well. It’s never good to neglect the great doctrines of the Atonement, justification by faith alone, solo scriptura, etc. But we also need to remind each other of the new things, the stuff that we have been corrected on during the journey. Gods purpose was to establish a testimony among his people that would be strong enough to reach down into future generations of people to come; he would rain this manna down from heaven all around their dwellings- it was an inescapable word from God that would become imbedded in the minds of many generations to come; when these things happen with Gods people, it’s always wise to get in on it at the beginning, it will benefit you more if you do.
(1438) HE SPLIT OPEN THE ROCKS IN THE WILDERNESS, AND GAVE THEM DRINK OUT OF GREAT DEPTHS. HE BROUGHT STREAMS ALSO OUT OF THE ROCK, AND CAUSED WATERS TO RUN DOWN LIKE RIVERS- Psalms 78:15-16 The story of Moses striking the rock is found in Numbers 20, the Israelites were complaining about the lack of water and all the good things they had back in Egypt, but now thanks to this big shot Moses we are stuck in the desert without any water! So God tells Moses ‘I hear what they are saying, go speak to the rock and water will come out’. Now Moses had a temper, so he goes to the rock- preaches a short Baptist sermon ‘you bunch of no good nothings!’ and he hits the rock with his staff, twice! The water comes out and they all drink from the rock. In 1st Corinthians 10 Paul uses this story as an analogy of Christ and says ‘all our forefathers drank from the rock, which was Christ’. Jesus used the example of Moses making a snake statue and putting it on a stick [John chapter 3] as a type of his own crucifixion. One time the Israelites were complaining again and God sent snakes to bite them, so the people are dying and they don’t know what to do, God tells Moses to make a bronze snake image and stick it on a pole and when the people are bitten they just need to look at the snake and they will live. Jesus told Nicodemus that this was a type of his death on the Cross, that all who ‘look to the Son’ will live. The famous song ‘rock of ages, cleft for me’ also speaks of the imagery of Jesus being the rock from the Father who was opened up on the Cross. The above passage says God gave them drink out of the ‘great depths’; the New Testament says Jesus descended lower than any man, and that because of these great depths the Father exalted him to his right hand. I find it interesting that all these stories, written and experienced hundreds of years before Christ, just so happened to fulfill his destiny. We live in a day where we do not understand, or appreciate, the process of the cross in our own lives. Paul got to a point where he could glory in his weakness, in the fact that he died daily, he knew that it was these ‘great depths’ that would allow a river of life to flow thru his lips and pen; when God wants to bring forth some great rivers, he looks for some rocks that he can break.
(1439) WHY ARE WE STILL KILLING INNOCENT AFGHAN/MUSLIM PEOPLE? The other day I read a few papers that built up over a few days at my doorstep. One day an article read ‘4 people killed in Afghan attack’ and the article went on to say that the coalition forces shot into a car and killed 4 people; the local authorities insisted these were innocent civilians- our side said we looked into the identity of the victims using high tech fingerprinting technology and that 2 of the 4 were enemy combatants. The local authorities said not only were the 4 people innocent civilians, but one was a cop, the other a 12 year old boy. The paper from the following day said ‘the 4 people were civilians- one a cop, the other a small boy’ any explanation for why we lied? Any questioning on how we were so quick to produce high tech evidence on the guilt of these people? Any major news coverage, you know pictures of the shot up vehicle? What about any media pressure at all about the presidents promises to end these atrocities? The media does not care about reporting stories that under the previous administration were considered highly important, how many main stream news stories of bombings and deaths and burning vehicles have you seen lately? The media has attached itself to the side of an administration to the point where atrocities are not being reported. Understand, the Afghan president has been under tremendous pressure over these incidents; he has made his concerns known over and over again; how have we responded? The other week we sent some top aides to the country, they publicly portrayed the Afghan leader as corrupt [as most of them are] we then made the story about the corruption of the Afghan leader. How did he respond? He threatened to join the Taliban. These last few months many big mistakes and problems have arisen in these wars, things that would have normally caused the Democrats to go on a war path, the Harry Reids of the day going on national TV and proclaiming ‘we have lost the war’. But they have been mute on the subject, portraying any criticism as either being racist, or the party of no. Right now they are attempting to pass financial reform, some think it will do the job, others think it’s problematic. The reform would create a 50 billion dollar account to ‘liquidate’ big financial institutions if they got into trouble, sort of a bailout program that would prevent another major disaster. Some feel we should not promise any bailouts at all, that to give this guarantee to the big banks, while not giving it to the smaller ones, that this would give an unfair advantage to the bigger banks- after all people will do business with the firms that have the special bail out provision, plus these banks would be able to borrow at a lower rate than the smaller banks. In essence some think this reform bill is actually unfair and favors the wall streeters in the end. But the media simply reports that those opposed are ‘in bed with wall street’. An independent study just came out and told us that passing health care will add around 350 billion to the cost over the first 10 years, not reduce the cost as promised. The reality is when you rush things thru, in the sense that every program you pass is portrayed as an emergency that can’t wait, then you get childish government; an administration that portrays things in a wrong light, and when the facts come out- there are no questions from the media about ‘who knew what when’ no questions about our continued involvement in the deaths of many, many Afghan civilians, and our lying about it, over and over again! It’s not a onetime occasion, we will not stop doing this- we keep saying ‘the evidence shows us that these people were guilty’ and time and time again the reports later say ‘no, we killed a bunch of women and kids’ how long are we going to keep doing this? This from an administration that condemned the fallout from the previous administrations actions, a man who said we must simply get our troops out of these bad situations [Iraq] because our troops presence stir up animosity. Then why does this president insist on ratcheting up the violence? That country is eventually going to go back into the hands of the Taliban, they rule the entire country right now, all the local tribal type regions have Taliban rule, or are favored by the majority of the people. The Afghans see us as the danger, not them! So why waste any more precious lives of our boys and girls over there? Why keep killing innocent civilians, cops and little boys, and then lying about it? It’s time for us to wake up and let our voices be heard, just like the nonstop opposition on national media during the Bush years, nonstop coverage over these events, questions on who knew what and when. Instead the media has an agenda, they keep reporting on how the republicans are in bed with wall street- I could care less about all the democrats and republicans who are all just as guilty as the next guy, the president himself having taken a million from the most recent wall street firm he has dubbed as the enemy [Goldman Sachs] we need to get back to what’s really important, one of them being the disaster of our current war in Afghanistan.
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TEACHINGS 8- Numbers 1285 to 1439
(1285) Yesterday I had some time to read my latest issue of Christianity Today, was kinda surprised that they had a few articles on the Prosperity Gospel. It’s really been a while since I dealt with it myself, but I always felt that the effect of the more extreme teachings from the movement had more bad influence on many good believers than the average pastor/preacher understood. To have entire groups/generations of Christians thinking that Jesus and his men were rich and that those who rejected extreme wealth were ‘old traditionalists’ these major distortions have had a terrible effect on biblical Christianity. But it usually takes a generation or 2 before people can really see the mistakes and grow in their understanding, most times people will defend to the death their positions with proof texts that ‘prove I’m right’ and that the other guy is wrong. Well anyway I thought it interesting that they covered the subject. I mailed off a package of tapes/materials to my friend who converted to Islam, I included the latest posts I wrote on the Ft. Hood tragedy. It really is a sad situation, I don’t mean to sound like I am defending the actions of the Major who committed the crime; we just need to realize that these radical ideas exist on the internet sites and they do have an effect on unstable people. Many Christians hold to violent militaristic views of the Old Testament in a way that they view the fulfilling of prophecy thru the lens of killing non Jews. These believers think that it is the purpose of God to involve himself on the side of the military of Israel and that current successful missions are a testimony to God’s grace. These views can be just as off base as those embraced by the Muslim extremists; they view God and his kingdom thru violent means that has one side killing the other and thinking that this is God’s will. Christians and religious people as a whole need to reject all types of killing scenarios as being from God. Yes nations and countries will fight and war, I am not advocating national pacifism, but when we mix in the wars of nations with the kingdom of God we err. Well anyway I felt like I should share these few thoughts today, it’s a rainy Sunday morning and I had a good early prayer time and got a little wet. But I like quoting the verses ‘let your doctrine drop down like rain and your speech distill like dew’ when praying in the rain, it ads texture to the prayer. Hopefully will do another chapter of 2nd kings tomorrow, I plan on doing Galatians after that. I will do both radio and blog when teaching Galatians, I haven’t done a new radio teaching in over a year! Just running old studies that have never aired yet. Try and read up on Galatians in the next few weeks and familiarize yourself with the text before I teach it, I will probably ‘correct’ some off balanced prosperity teaching on the ‘blessing of Abraham’ and some stuff like that. Okay that’s it for now, God bless for today and try and remember to pray weekly for us- check out the prayer request section on the blog and pray thru it weekly, it helps.
(1286) ISAIAH 53- This chapter is without a doubt the most Messianic chapter in the Old Testament; I find the character of Jesus described in this chapter to be a challenge to many modern concepts of ministry and leadership. Jesus is described as a ‘tender plant’ who grew up out of dry ground [type of virgin birth] we a have tendency to want well watered ground, we do all we can to create a favorable environment around us, Jesus thrived in ‘dry ground’. He is described as someone who had no outward flash that would attract us to him if we saw him; he was not the type of personality that sucked all the air out of the room when he showed up. I was listening to a testimony of a minister who attended a ‘preacher’s convention’ he shared how he felt being in an environment where everyone spoke in a baritone type voice, putting on a preachers garb/persona. How when the pastor/preacher of a group showed up amongst the regular crowd, that there was an expectation of the leaders persona to take over and become the central voice in the group. While there are many well meaning men who fall into this category, yet Jesus was someone who when you saw him was unpretentious, there was no ‘beauty- outward persona’ that would attract you to him. Isaiah says he was acquainted with grief and was not respected, as he bore the problems and failures of others he remained faithful to intercede for the transgressors. God would give him a portion with the great men because he was faithful in obscurity; many judged his difficulties as being a sign that God rejected him. He would make no effort to hide his trials, contrary to the media image that the modern church presents. Jesus was truly a Lamb led to the slaughter who would not open his mouth or defend himself when maligned, his entire style of leadership goes contrary to what we see in the modern day. You read in the New Testament that certain authorities were excited when they found out that Jesus would appear before them, thinking ‘wow, here’s my chance to see him perform’ type of a thing. Yet they would be let down because Jesus didn’t play that game, he was not seeking an audience. I like this chapter a lot, it makes us re-think many of the things we do in our day, things that we associate with ‘successful ministry’ I think Jesus’ pattern is the way to go.
(1287) 2nd KINGS 21:18-26 Amon takes the throne and has a short 2 year rule, he does wicked stuff. Verses 23, 24 say that the kings own servants conspired against him and ‘killed the king in his own house’ and that the people rose up and executed those who killed the king. This week/month the big political story is the health care debate, though there have been other major world events; the political story is health care. The ‘kings own party’ are divided over a few major points; abortion funding is one of them. Basically the Democrats seem to be doing themselves in and ‘killing’ the political hopes of their own ‘king’. Now, the recent elections in N.J. and Va. were a tell tale sign of things to come, both states went Republican with their governorships. The independents voted 2 to 1 for the Republicans, not good at all for the Democrats. The current health plan, after hearing the pros and cons, looks like it probably should be scrapped and start over again with real reforms that both sides agree on. The goal is noble, it’s just this plan seems to be a bad deal. Why? There are lots of reasons, let me just hit one or two. This plan will mandate by law that all people must buy insurance; this group will include many young single college kids who honestly can’t afford insurance. The plan includes language about doing PRISON TIME [up to 5 years] if you don’t buy the insurance and don’t pay the fine to the IRS if you don’t purchase insurance. It is probable that some Americans will do prison time as a result of this bill. Many Americans do go to prison every single year due to IRS violations, this is no joke. The president stated during the campaign that his plan would not do this; he contrasted his plan with Hillary’s plan and emphatically said he would not have any punishment for those who did not participate. He also criticized McCain’s plan because he said he might tax current health plans to fund it. Both of these options are now on the table under the current plan and it seems as if the media are treating the president like a ‘child king’. They do not hold him responsible for any of his actions. If you said you would not do these things and are now trying to do these things then you should be held responsible. The current plan will not control costs, they estimate that the public option would only be used by around 2 % of the uninsured and that the govt. option would cost more than private coverage. It is wrong to thrust 30-40 million people into a federally mandated plan, to threaten these people with possible prison time, and at the same time not lower the cost of insurance. After the kings ‘own house’ did him in, the people then rose up and kicked the whole house out of office, I think the country might be looking to do some house cleaning in around a year from now.
(1288) 2ND KINGS 22- Josiah takes the throne at the age of 8; he institutes reform among the people. He begins a restoration of the temple and finds a hidden copy of Moses law. He reads the law and realizes that they need to repent. It’s probable that the wicked king Manasseh destroyed all the copies of the law and one was hidden in the temple by Solomon. Either way the finding of the law sparks reform. This chapter says they did not take an audit of the money that was given to the builders because they could be trusted; it’s too bad that this standard wouldn’t work in our day. Josiah does some great stuff and God tells him he will honor his repentance and humility, but the nation has gone too far down the wrong path. The course for the nation was set in stone and judgment was still going to come, yet under Josiah there was a season of mercy. As believers study the history of Christianity one of the most well known events/times is the 16th century Protestant Reformation, it was a reform/time period that truly could be credited to a rediscovery of the Christian scriptures. Though there were learned men who knew scripture [like Erasmus and his efforts to get ‘back to the sources’ and his love for the Greek original New Testament] yet the populace at large did not have the availability of owning their own copies of the bible. But this time period produced the Guttenberg printing press and an aggressive effort to publish English versions of the bible. It would not be an understatement to say that the Reformation period was the single greatest upheaval and change that the church would go thru in her 1500 year history. Of course Catholics and Protestants would disagree on the value of these changes, but the reality is that the restoring of the bible into the hands of the common people was revolutionary. Josiah was this type of reformer, he sought the Lord after the discovery of the missing copies of the law and he acted upon Gods word- two basic principles that could apply to all of us. I want to note that historians sometimes make the mistake of discounting the ‘dark ages’ of the church, the term itself is misleading. There were many noble believers and movements that took place prior to the reformation period. The Christian mystics, the great thinkers like Anselm and Aquinas, the tremendous value that comes from reading the fathers of the church. The creeds and councils of this period. It is a wrong view to say that everything that was going on in Christianity prior to the reformation was darkness, there were some bright spots, but without a doubt putting the English bible into the hands of the common people would have reverberations that the world has yet to overcome.
(1289) 2ND KINGS 23:1-28 Josiah institutes the reforms that he learned when ‘re-reading’ the lost law of God. He tore down all remaining vestiges of the idolatrous high places. He reinstituted the Passover celebration and he dug up the bones of the false prophets and burned them on their own altars [ouch!]. A few things; in the New Covenant the Passover represents the new community life that we all share in Christ. In Corinthians Paul says ‘Christ our Passover was sacrificed for us’ and when he teaches the Lord’s supper he does it in a communal way, it’s not just a liturgical Mass type of a thing [or a Protestant time for grape juice servings!] but the Lords meal was more of a buffet type atmosphere and the idea was based on a community model. So I think one of the lessons we learn from the reforms of Josiah is God wants to restore ‘the communal Passover- meal’ or that God is challenging many current concepts of church and as we ‘re-read’ our New Testaments we are seeing the church [ecclesia] again ‘for the first time’. Number 2- it sure seemed a little drastic to have dug up the bones of the false priests and to have burned them on their altars! As we went thru this Kings study we covered the fact that Israel permitted certain wrong things to exist for various reasons. Many people eventually associated their worship of God with these idolatrous practices. These were good people who received these wrong ideas from previous ‘leaders’. Josiah fulfilled a prophecy given 300 years earlier that someday the bones of the false priests would be burned on their altars. To me this represents the need for believers in our day to be willing to look at some of the erroneous doctrines of past movements [remember, idolatry in the new Testament is covetousness, people who love and seek wealth!] and to realize that many of these un balanced teachings came from wrong things that were taught and accepted in the past. Things taught by good people, people who meant well, but wrong never the less. The ‘digging up of the bones’ represents the process of going back and doing a little history on some of these things and finally once and for all setting the record straight. All in all Josiah instituted more reform than any other king before him, he was the only king to restore the Passover, he had the courage to see things for the first time and to act in a righteous way before God. His reforms were great, but they came too late in Judah’s history to prevent final judgment, as a nation they dug themselves too deep of a hole and they were going to suffer for it whether they liked it or not. God is merciful, his mercies are new every morning, but when nations go down long paths of disrespecting human life; of mocking God and Christian principles [not right wing stuff!] then we can’t keep thinking that all will go well, that the recession will turn out just fine. No, there are many things not ‘just fine’, as an economy it is foolish to think that we can have 10.2 % unemployment and still have a jobless recovery. When the jobless rate is that high, and going up, then who are all the people that will be buying and spending and working and doing all the things that are part of a recovery? We are kidding ourselves when we think like this. Josiah did some good stuff, but the people needed to change course a long time ago, it was too late to avoid some national consequences.
(1290) YES, I DID IT AGAIN! I have a confession to make, yes I’m gonna come clean- last night I committed an act that I vow never to do again every time I engage in it- I channel surfed the religious stations. It’s not totally my fault, I woke up at around 12:20 and I am trying not to get up until at least 2-2:30. For a few years [yes years!] I was getting up every night and praying most of the night. After that time passed I stuck with getting up early, usually try to lay down till around 3, then the clocks went back an hour and I’m all messed up. So that’s why I channel surfed, I caught a few good teaching shows but then surfed and saw the ones that are so outrageous that the viewing public usually watches as a joke. One brother was quoting Zechariah [Old Testament book] and using a verse about a plumb line [measuring rod, line- a type of judgment and God bringing his people into alignment. I had a friend who wrote an entire book on these passages from Zechariah] and the brother was teaching how the plumb line represented a 7 fold return on money and church members and all types of stuff- I mean he was teaching stuff that when the true plumb line shows up, these are the things that need to be corrected by the plumb line! Then I surfed a few prosperity guys, and I finally settled on the Catholic station, they were doing a documentary on a catholic nun who started a ministry to the Italian immigrants coming to N.Y. and how she helped them and stuff. It was peaceful enough to leave on. So as I opened the bible to Matthew 13 to share some stuff, I saw the verse in chapter 12 ‘the men of Nineveh shall rise up in the judgment day with this generation [group] and shall condemn them, for they repented when Jonah preached and yet a greater than Jonah is here’ it seemed to fit. Okay this week I read some from Matthew 13, from the message bible, it really spoke to me. A few entries back I shared how I tore out the ignition from my classic 66 Mustang and had to get some parts, well I wound up ordering them on line and it took 2 days to figure out a minor detail, it’s sort of a trick you do to get the ignition cylinder to fit into the ignition switch- a secret locking pin and all, any way I thought ‘geez, I am spending too much time stuck at this place’. But when I wrote the entry I shared a little about going to auto parts stores and all, and then I read one of Jesus’ parables ‘the kingdom is like a general store owner, he knows how to get just the right part at the right time- either a new or old part’ I liked that. Sometimes we [leaders/pastors] go thru stages where we grasp hold of some ‘new part’ and we spend years stuck at that spot, it’s not so much that the part is bad, or wrong, but it’s just ‘a part’. You might go thru a stage where you find out biblical principles of finances, that’s fine- but don’t go and change the whole bible into a money manual! Or the house church movement. Good part, but people still need to grasp justification by faith and the other ‘old parts’. A good auto parts store will get you the right part, it doesn’t matter whether or not it’s the latest technology [any part for a 66 mustang is not new] what matters is for it to be the part that works for you- sometimes we need the old parts!
(1291) I LOVE THAT COW! 2ND KINGS 23:28-37 Pharaoh, king of Egypt, sets up one of the sons of Josiah as a puppet king and gives him a new name. The people pay taxes to this new king and to Pharaoh, but their dominator does not totally dismantle their self rule. I have mentioned this before; that one of the primary ways one kingdom would take over another was to allow them the freedom to run things on their own, but let them pay tribute to their new ‘world order’. In the New Testament you see the kingdom of God grow this way, Jesus and the disciples were making followers of the king. But they did not see this as a means to make people totally co-dependent to the point where they did everything for them. In modern church planting scenarios we see ‘church planting’ as setting up places where people will meet. Providing a regular weekly preaching service. The ‘church/corporate entity’ will meet the needs of the people and the people in turn will ‘pay tithes to the storehouse’ we really have a very limited idea of church planting. It would be more effective if we led people to this new kingdom of God, but didn’t make them so dependent on a particular system, let them grow and govern themselves under the reality of them being servants of the king, this style allows people to experience God in a greater way. Okay, as I have been reading some of the parables of Jesus from the message bible, the one on the treasure hidden in a field spoke to me. The message bible says the kingdom is like a person accidently stumbling across a buried treasure in a field, when he realizes what he’s got he sells everything else and buys the field. At the risk of being crude this reminds me of a joke from the King of Queens, Arthur [Jerry Stiller] is dating Doug’s aunt [Doug- Kevin James] and Doug doesn’t like it. And obviously they are sleeping together and all. So Arthur falls in love with the aunt and informs Doug that he is going to propose marriage to her; Doug is furious. Arthur tells Doug ‘I know you’re wondering why I want to buy the cow if I’m getting the milk for free, well I love that cow, that’s why!’ Arthur was willing to give up everything for ‘the cow’. In essence he wanted to commit to the new found treasure, in a way this is what happens to people when they find the kingdom, you don’t have to set up systems to make people loyal to the kingdom [modern concepts on church membership that have all sorts of ways of trying to instill loyalty into people] when people realize the true value of the kingdom they are willing to give up everything in their pursuit. They will continue to function in society, you don’t have to go build places for these people to meet, let them meet wherever they were meeting before they were brought to the kingdom [homes, etc.] Just do your best to present the kingdom to them in its truest form, let them see the true riches that come with the kingdom. Don’t worry about gaining their loyalty, once they see the treasure they will sell all for it.
(1292) I HAVE CREATED THE SMITH [blacksmith] THAT BLOWETH THE COALS IN THE FIRE AND BRINGS FORTH AN INSTRUMENT FOR HIS WORK, AND I HAVE CREATED THE WASTER TO DESTROY- Isaiah 54. God made the man who figured out if you get the steel hot enough you can shape it into a tool that will be effective. If God made the man who figured out this ingenious process, where do you think the man got the idea from? God will turn up the heat, so to speak, so he can re-shape some stuff in us. This last year I have tried to read up on some of the trends that go on in the world of Christianity. Sometimes I wonder if after all the great ideas, new ways of seeing things; lots of talk about the church needing to get back to social justice issues, all types of stuff I agree with, but at the end of the day I wonder how many of us are actually doing the stuff. Have we been duped into a system that enables articulators to have a forum, that produces a class of professional hearers of the articulators; but at the end of the day a great majority of us have not really been moved to act? Sort of like I can tell you how important it is to reach out to the poor and hurting, you might really belive me when I tell you this [in all sorts of ways- books, pulpit, etc.] but if all we have accomplished is to have come up with another subject to talk about, and for people to listen- then have we really accomplished anything? God wants ‘instruments’ for his work; tools that really function! It’s okay for the church to have great articulators and for people to have an attentive ear to hear- but it doesn’t stop there. After so much hearing and so much speaking, we then need some volunteers to get into the action! And this means more than just finding some ‘mission to the poor’ ministry that we can write a check to. I fear that the thing that’s lacking with most of us is the willingness to act, to get involved, to be the tool that actually works. Over the years I have bought tools that looked good, but were not well made. They might have been priced cheap, but they did not function well. Like buying the pens from the dollar store, what good is it if you got 50 pens for a dollar and none of them work? So in the kingdom God will often allow the heat to turn up because he wants to fashion some instruments that work, that do more than just speak or listen, but instruments that really get the job done. I have learned over the years that lots of people mean well, but if you want the job to get done you need people that don’t blame everything on others. People who are not professional victims, who find their whole identity in faulting others for their lot in life. I hired a guy to do a small job, to remove some wood from behind a rental house I owned years ago. It was maybe a 20 minute job, he had a truck. He was one of the guys I knew from working with addicts and ex-cons. I made the mistake of paying him the 25 dollars before the job was done. After a few weeks would pass I’d ask him ‘did you move the wood yet brother’? He would have some excuse why he didn’t do it. Finally I drove by the alley and saw the wood was gone. Great! I then found out that the renter got tired of the wood in the alley and hauled it off himself. We need people in the kingdom that act, that function and do what God tells them to do. We already have enough able articulators; enough people willing to buy the books and read about how the church should do more. We simply need some brothers who will actually move the wood.
(1293) 2ND KINGS 24- Babylon finally takes Judah captive, there is a specific sin mentioned in this chapter that said ‘God would not pardon’. It was the sin of King Manasseh and his introduction of the pagan rite of sacrificing babies at pagan altars. As I mentioned before, all sins can be forgiven by God, but there seems to be an inescapable national judgment on the sin of abortion. When nations willfully shed innocent blood on such a large scale, these nations cannot escape judgment. Around the year 605 BC Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, began taking people from Judah to Babylon. It was in this early group that the prophet Daniel and his 3 companions went. Then around 597 BC Jerusalem fell. All the nobles and influential people were taken captive, only the poor remained in the land. In a strange way ‘the meek would inherit the earth’. God’s principles are inescapable, often times we think that strength and influence come from wealth and nobility- we feel if we can attain some level of outward success then we can change the world. In Jesus’ kingdom the poor in spirit, the downtrodden, those who suffer ridicule and difficulty- these are the ones that ultimately inherit the promises. This week the president is on an Asian tour, he is trying hard to present a good picture to Japan and China; they are having doubts about lending us any more money. The political line that is given to the American citizen doesn’t cut it with these countries. They know full well that the money our nation is spending is way over the limit of being considered a low risk borrower. They basically don’t swallow the line that a country can initiate all these new programs and have them deficit neutral. So they are checking us out very closely, and if they don’t buy our debt like in the past, we really don’t have many choices. We can just print money, but that would make the problem worse. Israel’s final collapse was due to her national sin of shedding innocent blood, and her pride and arrogance. The ones who suffered the most were the well to do, the poor actually got blessed! They would inherit more under the judgment of God than they did when the nation was running well. I believe there is hope for our country, but I fear that the average American really does not see some of the major hurdles that we are facing, both on an economic and global scale. If we ignore the voice of those who are defending the rights of the unborn, we will suffer. If we continue to worship at the altar of wealth and success, God will ‘remove the wealthy’ from the land and exalt the humble [remove= slashing that 401 K!]. Right now some of the wealthy think all will go well- after all the Dow Jones just went up to 10,400! This indicator is not always what it seems. Sometimes stocks go up because they believe the fed will keep interest rates low, the reason the fed keeps them low is because all is not well yet. So sometimes these signs are not what people think. All in all there are some bright spots, I’m not saying all the signs are bad, but many are. God allowed his people to be judged by his Divine decree. Even in captivity there were still some noble stories to tell [Daniel and his friends]. But Psalms says as a nation the people hung up their harps, how could they sing the songs of Zion in a strange land?
(1294) EVERY ONE WHO IS THIRSTY, COME TO THE WATER AND BUY WITHOUT MONEY AND WITHOUT PRICE. HE THAT HAS NO MONEY, LET HIM BUY AND EAT FOR FREE! Isaiah 55:1 my own paraphrase. Last night I caught Larry King interviewing T.D. Jakes, I always liked brother Jakes. Larry did ask him about prosperity preachers and Jakes rejected being associated with the movement. He said his ‘good news’ was that Jesus rose from the dead- bravo for Jakes. King did say that Jakes was ‘selling God’ and Jakes did a rare mild rebuke, he flatly said he does not ‘sell God’. Many years ago I was a fan of the late Keith Green [still am]. I love Keith’s music and read his book and used to send money to his ministry in Lyndale Tx. Keith was one of the original Jesus movement brothers, though he was a musician he really saw what he was doing as ministry and you could tell he meant it. Keith struggled with whether or not he should sell his music, or just give it away. He read this verse from Isaiah and began offering his albums for free, something unheard of in the business. He would eventually settle on a policy of making his music available to those who couldn’t afford it. One time I went to a ministry site that I liked, I saw the on line teachings [audio] and thought ‘great, I’ll listen to a message’ after the first minute of listening, you were cut off and if you wanted to hear the rest you had to cough up money- what a shame on the gospel. Though I like brother Jakes, I have come to reject the entire media sensation type personality that comes with the territory of modern ministry. Many modern scenarios have huge budgets and often times ‘the ministry’ becomes a clearing house for the highly charismatic personality; millions are spent on broadcasting the personas of the talented leaders. The whole scene violates the New Testament concept of servant leaders and selfless living. If any of the churches in scripture were becoming platforms for one single personality in the group, this would be rebuked. Paul actually does rebuke this in Corinthians. So anyway Isaiah said let those who have no money come and buy and eat, we need to offer the gospel for free, we need to make Gods truth available for free. I realize that these concepts are often overlooked in today’s world, and people like Larry King sincerely view what we do as ‘selling God’ I think too often we are to blame for this perception. NOTE- If you go to U TUBE you can find a bunch of Keith Green stuff, if you never heard Keith I suggest you give it a shot.
(1295) FOR AS THE HEAVENS ARE HIGHER THAN THE EARTH, SO ARE MY THOUGHTS HIGHER THAN YOUR THOUGHTS; AND MY WAYS HIGHER THAN YOURS Isaiah 55:9 the other night I caught an interview of Frances Schaffer on the Rachel Maddow show. Frances is the son of the famous Frances Schaffer senior, the prolific author/speaker of the 20th century who dealt with Christian worldviews. He wrote Christian Manifesto and How shall we then live, among other titles. Frankie and his dad were key leaders in the rise of the religious right and the moral agenda type groups. Frankie eventually converted to Eastern Orthodoxy and is now a vehement opponent of the religious right. First I want to commend him on his conviction of not being willing to abandon Christianity all together; some children of famous Christian leaders have taken that route, but Frankie [he calls himself Frances now, but for this entry I’m using the old title] has chosen a great Christian tradition to place himself in and for this he should be commended. But he is so vehement against the religious right that he equates it with the Muslim extremists. Now I believe that there are dangerous ideas that the religious right holds to, and that there are extreme elements that shoot abortion doctors and stuff like that. But to lump all the religious right with the radical Muslims is going too far in my view. Just like it would be wrong to lump all Muslims with the few who commit acts of terror. There have been Muslim Americans who have died on the battlefield defending the American side, we should not forget this. But Frankie just tore into all the religious right in a way that does more harm than good in my view. One of the reasons his father was so popular was because he dealt with Christian worldview issues, he was filling a void in the Evangelical world. After the Fundamentalist movement of the 20th century many Protestant believers were lacking a stable diet of ‘higher learning’ [to be nice about it]. There was this religious angst against many types of higher learning. The history of Protestantism in America shows a period where many of the great Protestant theologians [Edwards, etc.] accepted the idea that the mind and faith went hand in hand, but Protestantism for the most part would walk away from this heritage and begin seeing higher forms of learning as bad. The one bright light in the migration from Europe to the Americas was the teaching of the Dutch Reformed theologian Abraham Kyper; he wrote extensively on the Christian worldview and gave Protestants a good foundation to build upon. Well anyway Frances Schaffer also labored in this field. Isaiah said Gods ways are on a higher plane than ours, we often think and function for years at a certain level, and then God comes in and causes us to rethink the whole platform. It’s not so much more information at the current level, but it’s an overall paradigm shift from a previous way of seeing things to a whole new view of things. The philosopher William James describes it like this- He has a study much like my own, with maps and globes and books all over the place. He says when his dog comes into his study the dog sees everything that James sees, but the dog has no ability to understand what these things mean. Even though he ‘sees’ the stuff, he really doesn’t ‘see it’. Sometimes God opens our eyes to the things we have been staring at for years, when this happens we then see more fully what it means when Isaiah says ‘Gods ways/thoughts are higher than ours’ it’s like seeing stuff again for the first time.
(1296) 2ND KINGS 25- The ultimate fall of the city takes place around 587-86 BC, the king of Babylon sets up a governor [Gedaliah] and this is how one nation would rule over another and bring her into submission. The governor tells the leaders who came back to settle in the land to not be afraid of serving under the new empire [Babylon]. But they will kill the governor and this act brings on the final destruction of the city of Jerusalem. Okay let’s do a few things, the other night I caught the Rachel Maddow show, they did a story on how some Christian company is selling ‘anti Obama’ stuff. Teddy Bears with words that say ‘pray for Obama’ and then the verse given is from Psalms ‘let another take his office’. This is a famous verse that the apostle Peter quotes in Acts when discussing the replacement for Judas. The show pointed out that the following verse says ‘let his children be fatherless and his wife a widow’. As I close our study in Kings I want to stress that all the teaching and ‘tongue and cheek’ stuff I do, that we need to clearly point out that talk about ‘assassination’ and one king killing another, we need to reject any real time scenarios that use this language when speaking of the president. I realize that the company that is using the verse obviously does not want to suggest the killing or death of the president. But there are unstable people in the world, both from Muslim and Christian extremes, as believers we need to discern between honest ideological differences and a flat out conspiracy type mindset. Now, has the president opened himself up to guys like Glenn Beck? Yes, when you have people working for you that say they respect General Mao, then yes the right wingers will play into this mindset and present you as some type of Manchurian candidate that has secretly risen to power to undermine the govt. These right wing ideas are obviously loony, yet there are a percentage of people that believe in them. The governor told the men ‘don’t fear serving under the new administration’ Judah was in trouble, they lost their freedom and the nation was in a bind, but to disagree with your president on real issues is different than instilling real fear in people, telling them that the president is a dangerous man. I disagree with the president on some political issues, I wrote an entry a while ago that said how the cash for clunkers program and the free 8 thousand dollars given to first time home buyers, how these things don’t really help the economy, they give an inflated view of the economy. Then yesterday I read how the economic numbers for October were worse than expected. Both home prices [actually new home starts] and used and new car prices actually went up and the sale of these items went down. Why? They blamed it on the free money programs and the fact that destroying all the used vehicles under the clunker program reduced the inventory of used vehicles and the prices went up. The new car prices rose because so many people took advantage of the programs that this created a shortage. The point is I have real disagreements with the president on some things, but don’t take these real differences and stoke the fires of conspiracy, people should not ‘be afraid’ to serve under the ‘new king’.
(1297) LET THE WICKED FORSAKE HIS WAY AND THE UNRIGHTEOUS MAN HIS THOUGHTS AND LET HIM RETURN UNTO THE LORD- Isaiah 55. Yesterday I took my daughter to the doctor and they admitted her into the hospital, she possibly has swine flu and a bladder problem. They won’t tell us if its swine flu because they say the treatment is the same for swine or regular, sounds fishy to me. Then the nurse tells me that the whole family should get checked. This is the second time in the last month that I’ve had to explain that I personally don’t have a doctor because I don’t have health ins. They seem surprised that a retired fire fighter does not have insurance, when I retired I asked the city how much it would cost to cover my family. They told me a figure that was equal to half of my check; there was no way I could do it [I do have insurance for my kids]. So sometimes I have to reject ‘my thoughts’ and simply return unto the Lord. The bible says ‘thou will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on him’ ‘I hate vain thoughts but thy law do I love’ meditating on God’s word like this does help, it’s good to read the bible like a book, but there are times for Christian meditation- focusing on specific scriptures and practicing a form of contemplative prayer. I hope my daughter gets home today but please keep her in your prayers. Thanks, John.
(1298) THEY ARE GREEDY DOGS WHICH CAN NEVER HAVE ENOUGH AND THEY ARE SHEPHERDS THAT CANNOT UNDERSTAND: THEY ALL LOOK TO THEIR OWN WAY, EVERY ONE FOR HIS GAIN… THEY SAY TOMORROW SHALL BE MUCH MORE ABUNDANT- Isaiah 56:11-12 In the mid 18th century we had what is commonly called ‘the industrial revolution’. In Europe there arose a new class of people that never existed before, these were the capitalists that were making lots of wealth and the laborer was drawn from an agrarian type lifestyle [country/hamlet living] into the strong industrial cities like London. These poor workers were thrust into a system of profit that consumed their days and surrounded them with a new atmosphere of industry/factory. The invention of the steam engine by James Watt was one of the catalysts of this new era. Men like William Booth [founder of the Salvation Army] would see the hopelessness of these Londoners and start a ministry to help them. Even in our day the effects of the industrial revolution still impact us, as a boy growing up I listened to Black Sabbath, Ozzy came from an area like this. Contrast his songs with Kiss and you can see the difference! There was an observer of this scene who would write a document and launch a revolution as a result of what he saw as the encroachment of capitalism on the common person- His name was Karl Marx, his document was called ‘the communist manifesto’. Many people resent the western mindset because of its seeming inability to never be satisfied with finally having enough, we are a consumerist nation. I caught a quick few minutes of religious channel surfing the other day and of course I heard the normal preaching on ‘this year is the year of more abundance than any other year’. Have we ever asked ourselves when we will have enough? Seriously Isaiah is pronouncing a judgment on ‘greedy dogs- those who are never satisfied’ one of the condemnations in Revelation is to believers who say ‘I am rich and increased with goods’ yet they were spiritually poor. Jesus challenged his followers on many occasions to forsake all to follow him. Now I am not advocating irresponsibility, but I am challenging our western mindset and our inability to say ‘that’s enough’. We preach a message that never seems to leave this option open; we create an insatiable desire within the church to live each day with an obsession to gain more. The bible condemns this attitude over and over again, yet we as westerners never seem to get it, if we ever want to truly have peaceful relationships with the rest of the world, then we will have to change our mindset in these areas. Many Muslim countries see our materialist arrogance and use this as an excuse to reject ‘the Jesus of the west’ [though he was technically from the east!] We as the people of God need to return to our own ‘manifesto’ [the gospels] and live them out in reality, if not there will always be a Marx waiting in the wings with his own.
(1299) Last night I had a rough night, couldn’t sleep and dealing with lots of stuff. I wasn’t sure what to read [Isaiah or start Galatians] and I felt the Lord leading me to read John 14. Right after I read it I put the Catholic station on and they were quoting from it. In John 14 Jesus tells his men that he is leaving them for a purpose, that in his Father’s house there are many mansions. If he doesn’t leave them they will never become what he wants. In the New Testament [and old] ‘house of God’ refers to Gods people, in the Old Testament you did have the temple, but when referring to ‘the house of David’ it speaks of community/dynasty- so the ‘house of God’ are the actual people groups that God is bringing into his kingdom. We corporately make up ‘the house of God’. Now Jesus is not telling the disciples ‘I am going to build a room for you in heaven, and when I come back I will take you to heaven’ he is saying something more along the lines of ‘I am leaving you to make room for you to learn to function and grow on your own, when I leave the Holy Spirit will come and indwell you- you will become the new habitation of God’. In essence ‘he goes to prepare a place for us’ is speaking more along the lines of us becoming this corporate dwelling place as opposed to building a room in heaven. And his ‘coming again to receive us unto himself’ in this context is speaking of the Holy Spirit (one just like unto himself) being sent back after Jesus leaves, so this Comforter will dwell in us- he ‘receives us unto himself’. Thru out this chapter Jesus is speaking on a higher level than what the guys are hearing ‘where I go you know and the way you know’ what! We don’t know where you are going and how can we know the way? The disciples seem to be saying ‘hold this ship up Jesus, we are feeling a little intimidated, you’ve been telling us that we will have what it takes when the rubber meets the road- we sense that you are ‘pushing us out of the nest’ and if we don’t fly we will crash!’ Jesus knew that his departure was needed for them to become this house of God, this great community of diverse people groups [many mansions]. The disciples would become recipients of the Spirit and sure enough everything Jesus told them would come to pass, but at the moment of trial/decision they felt inadequate- they weren’t really sure they were ready. I know I can identify with them, can you?
(1300) HE KNEW WHAT A SHAPE-SHIFTER WAS! Isaiah 57- This chapter contains a strong rebuke against God’s people for their ‘working knowledge’ of idolatry; the people were well taught in patterns and ways that were empty. I was watching an episode of Scare Tactics and they did a scenario where they had some oriental kid in a trailer out in the boonies and they set up a fake meteor crash. Part of the skit had the pranksters asking the kid ‘do you know what a shape-shifter is’ and to their surprise the kid answers yes! He then explains that shape shifters are humans who have the ability to transform themselves into animals; the kid knew the definition to the fake word! That’s funny. God rebuked his people for knowing wrong things, in Revelation one of the churches are commended because they were not familiar with the ways of satan. Over the years I have found it troubling that many young believers were taught things that were flat out wrong, it was plain to see that the interpretation of the scriptures that they were taught were wrong, and yet many of them clung to an obvious mistake. The problem was the teachers were continuing to propoagte a wrong view, even though they were told time and time again that the view was wrong. I am not talking sincere differences of belief, but blatant false stuff. In some ways we have trained God’s people to know and understand and believe definitions of stuff that do not exist! They know what shape shifters are for heavens’ sake! In this chapter God rebukes the people and also offers mercy. He says he will raise people up who will remove these stumbling stones, who will clear the way for God’s people and lead them back into paths of peace. When God’s people return to a trust and dependence on him once again, they will feel less troubled when the economy tanks. But when the people of God trust in material riches, they too feel a loss when the things they trusted in begin to fail. Jesus said ‘you believe in God, believe also in me- peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you. Not as the world giveth give I unto you, let not your heart be troubled neither let it be afraid’.
(1301) THEY CRASHED THE PARTY FOR HEAVENS SAKE! Last night on the news the big story was how some couple managed to crash the president’s party at the White House. They showed this reality couple posing with Biden for pictures and all, the good looking woman dressed in a flashy red dress, hugging Biden and all- to be honest Biden looked a little too happy about posing with the woman. As I am watching all the speculation on how they snuck in, and they keep showing all the shots of them with various officials [Rahm Emanuel] I wanted to give this poor team the benefit of the doubt, thinking ‘hey, they know what they are doing’ but then this image in my mind of the Keystone Cops kept creeping up. I don’t totally blame the president for these types of things, but can you imagine the outrage that would have been expressed if Bush and his team allowed such a stunt to happen? SNL just spoofed the president on his Asian tour, they did a skit that had Biden sitting in the Oval office and musing [or gaffing!] about stuff, they spoofed how Obama would sign any stack of papers that simply had the words ‘health care’ written on top. And most observers believe that China ‘managed’ the president in a way that no other foreign leader would have allowed, they managed to get their points across while making the president look weak. All in all it’s been a rough few weeks. Jesus said the kingdom was like a big wedding feast where all these people were invited, but someone snuck in without an invitation [the proper wedding garment] and they were confronted and tossed out! In our pluralistic society we don’t want to allow for the fact that some ‘get tossed out’ or that there is a requirement to gain entry, his name is Jesus. Hey, don’t get caught at the party without the proper credentials, it could get you [and Biden] in trouble.
(1302) Isaiah 58- This is one of the chapters that I quote from a lot when praying. God rebukes his people because they were fasting and practicing religious functions but were neglecting the ‘weightier matters of the law’. They forgot about the poor, doing justice and showing mercy, the same themes you hear in Jesus teaching. But God does say if his people will return to acts of charity, to lifestyles of humility and not trying to ‘get their voices to be heard’ [seeking fame and promotion] then he will exalt them, he will allow their ‘light to rise in obscurity’ [great influence with little personal fanfare and glorying over men]. We will be like ‘a well watered garden and a spring of water whose waters fail not’ God will cause us to ‘ride upon the high places of the earth’ [positions of influence]. This chapter is a great chapter, but it comes with some strong correction- if we heed the warnings the blessings will follow, but sometimes we keep looking for the blessing and never receive the correction, this my friends will never work.
(1303) A few hours ago I caught a prophetic conference on TV, I wasn’t too sure if I was going to watch it but the brother opened up with talking about ‘high ways’ from Isaiah. This past week that has been a theme I have been focusing on. ‘Prepare a high way in the desert for our God’ ‘my ways are higher than yours’ ‘I will cause you to ride upon the high places of the earth’ Isaiah. Here in my office I have old model battleships and WW2 planes and stuff; in my yard I have signs that say ‘N.Y. C.C. port’ ports, waterways and highways are all familiar themes. The brother was also sharing about battleships, so the themes seemed to fit. So I get up to pour a cup of coffee, as I turn the light on there is this book sitting on my kitchen table, never saw it before- don’t know who brought it home. As I read the title it’s simply a dictionary on interpreting dreams, I was thinking ‘who brought this new age book into my home’ I open it up and the first word I see is ‘Port Authority’ the definition is having authority in new places/highways/ports, you can’t make stuff up like this [there are Christian books on dreams and also non Christian ones, sometimes the definitions are the same- I do not advocate looking for signs in non Christian books]. Well anyway in Isaiah 59 the Lord rebukes his people for believing and trusting in lies, things they know are not true. Sometimes people convince themselves of their own lies. I hate to harp on this but I want to be clear that as of today [11-09] I believe that many people simply do not fully grasp the major economic troubles that face us. The government is talking about another stimulus and I read the statement from a Ca. Democrat, she was incensed ‘we need to do something about jobs’! Well we all know that, and you agreed with others that you would not spend the trillion dollar stimulus on real jobs growth, sure it was an honest difference of opinion between a conservative versus liberal economic model- but you chose the liberal model [spend most of it on federal spending and programs] and you got the result. How you can now be mad about not having jobs is beyond me! But people believe ‘in lies’ that is they make choices that have certain real effects and they still believe their choices were right- even in the face of the truth on the ground. As we close 2009 I foresee a bad year for 2010, as well as the next 5-10 years. Now I’m not saying the world will collapse, but there are long term decisions our country has made and we are not going to escape by trying to manipulate the value of the dollar or by the fed acting in cooperation with the White House. We have run up very unrealistic debt, we are trying to pass some stuff that all honest economists know will cost lots of money, and the global markets are very worried about the possible collapse of our dollar. Some serious people are seeing this. But as a nation we have a tendency to ‘believe in lies’ not mean people who are partisans, just we reject the reality of the fiscal situation, we think we can simply survive by doing ‘jobs summits’ and extending unemployment insurance. This is not going to work, never has- never will. Now, the Christians who have ‘built upon a solid foundation’ will survive and even thrive thru these times, but many churches/ministries who depend upon million dollar budgets and high income will suffer. When underground churches in China function without owning property, paying salaries and having no ‘corporate identity’ these churches thrive during times like this, they are not dependant on needing lots of money to operate, they simply function like the churches in the bible. So we need to be clear about how we are building our churches/ministries, we need to be able to have a witness to society that we as Gods people survive because we don’t put our trust in the economies of men. And this does not always mean that our bank accounts won’t suffer, just ask any Christian 401 k holder! But it means that God’s people value their membership in Christ’s body and they will help one another out when in need. I don’t want to be an alarmist but I believe we are in denial, I read an article on ‘the jobs are coming back’ [something to that effect] the article said the number of those filing for unemployment was ONLY 400 thousand, a drop from the previous week of 450,000. Are we kidding ourselves or what? I have never seen the media speak about growing jobs and how many thousands were saved by the stimulus, if since January we have lost 3.5 million jobs, that means we have not ‘created/saved’ jobs, it’s that simple. But we want to ‘believe in lies’ we want to tell ourselves we can build an economy on free handouts without helping private business. Sure taxing millionaires sounds great, but most of these ‘evil millionaires’ are small businesses who file as individuals, you can’t consistently do the actual things that kill jobs and then say ‘lets have a jobs summit’ okay I don’t want to rant too much, we as the people of God live by different standards than the world [I try!] and we will not be immune to the economic difficulties that lie ahead, but our response and trust in the Lord will be a witness to those in need. Our willingness to help our neighbor, free of charge, will be a sign of the gospel to them. All in all we are going to have some great opportunities in the next few years, let’s just stop believing in lies.
(1304) ARE WE REALLY IN THE 2ND GRADE BUT JUST DON’T KNOW IT YET? As I was praying this morning I was thinking about the various ministers and testimonies I have heard over the years, many have spoken on/experienced a process where they went from ‘church/ministry’ as being some type of business enterprise, to transitioning and seeing themselves as humble servants in Gods kingdom. Both hearing and seeing these types of stories would make me wonder if there was an entire ‘body of people’ who have gone thru the ‘childhood stage’ and have learned the next stage of true discipleship. Are these people willingly withdrawing their images from the public forums? Are there whole groups of them who have been chastened over former ‘fame/glory’ seeking and now realize that they were really in the 2nd grade- doing things and acting out of the excitement of being entrepreneurs, versus true kingdom building? Are many of these believers possibly the ones that we have looked at thru out our lives and tagged them as ‘lost traditionalists’? Jesus gave examples of the kingdom often being something that we don’t see at the beginning, we are looking for ‘outward signs’ and it’s coming another way. I remember hearing a very gifted prophetic brother sharing some stuff along these lines, how he felt the Lord telling him that those who would reject fame and the lime light would be the ones God was going to use in a great way. Over the years I tried to Google him, find his web site- anything about his ministry and what he was up to! I found nothing, I then began to wonder if he actually implemented what he felt God was saying, that he left the entire atmosphere of ‘rubbing shoulders’ with the movers and shakers and actually began living his life without the fame and recognition of professional ministry. Every day we drive past schools full of children, great kids- but children. Many of them have dreams about life, all good goals and all. But as we see them we realize that at one time we ‘were them’ and they still have a long way to go and much to learn. We don’t despise their ‘childishness’ but the reality is the grownups all know they are children. I fear there might be a ‘secret group’ of grownups that see all the ‘children’ running around at the playground, trying to outdo their fellow playmates. Needing lots of attention, wanting to impress their peers. And I fear that there is another group, those who have ‘grown up’ and these don’t really despise the younger ones, they have simply learned it was time for them to grow up.
(1305) I’M USING YOU FOR THEIR SAKE, NOT YOUR’S! Isaiah 59:21 says ‘this is my covenant WITH THEM’. I have been quoting the last part of this verse for years, I am sure I have said it in prayer at least 10 thousand times over my life- ‘ the words that I have put in your mouth shall not depart out of your mouth from this time forth and forevermore’ God says your ‘seed’ [offspring] and your seeds seed will quote and teach them. Good promise for church planters—but when I recently read it I felt like the lord was saying ‘leader/pastor- listen up- I am going to consistently use you and speak thru you, not out of some favor to you, but as a promise TO THEM!’ In Isaiah God says ‘I will give him as a covenant to the people’ [Jesus]. God takes people and uses them to fulfill his promises to nations/people groups. He has covenanted with these people groups, made promises to them that he would teach them and show them things that they never saw before. The Message bible says when Jesus preached in his hometown, the people said ‘we knew he was a preacher, but we didn’t know he was this good’! God promised that the people who sat in darkness would see great light. That kings/leaders would ‘shut their mouths’ because they were learning things that they never saw before. Jesus told his men ‘many people wished they were seeing the things that you are seeing/hearing, yet they never had the chance’ [Message bible again] God used Jesus to reveal truths that were hidden from the foundation of the world, he promised this to the people. When God uses leaders/prophetic people to reveal things that were previously hidden, he is doing this out of faithfulness to the people. He is keeping his promise to the people, he has made a covenant with them and God does not break his promise.
(1306) DARKNESS SHALL COVER THE EARTH AND GROSS DARKNESS THE PEOPLE… BUT GODS GLORY SHALL BE UPON US AND THE GENTILES SHALL SEE THIS LIGHT/HOPE AND BE DRAWN TO US- Isaiah 60:1-3 Tonight the president will give a speech at West Point and tell the nation that we will be sending another 30 thousand troops to Afghanistan, pretty serious stuff. But the news media has been stuck on another story, the couple who crashed the White House party the other night. Oh how they have mused about the fact that even though they passed thru metal detectors, they still could have hurt the president. Some have espoused that they could have picked up a fork and gouged his eyes out- others said they could have spiked his drink with Anthrax; the theory I found the most amusing was they might have been trained in Martial Arts and could have had the purely human ability to kill or mame the leader of the free world. Sort of like if the woman with the red dress was a black belt that somehow this would have enabled her to decapitate the president with her bare hands! Like what Will Farrell did in the highly acclaimed movie ‘Glory Blades’ the plot was Farrell was banned from the Olympics but they found a glitch in the system- he could get in as this top ice skater if he registered under the couples rule. So he and his partner [Napoleon Dynamite] get on the team. One problem, the famous move that they need to perform has been tried in the past by their coach- as they show the clip of what happened in slow motion, the skater does this move where as he jumps in the air and flips he accidently decapitates his partner! So you can see the serious dilemma that the movie engages in. I just thought it too funny for the media to have spent so much time on this story. Isaiah said ‘gross darkness’ shall cover the people, they would be consumed with stuff that has absolutely no value [like watching Glory Blades] but that the people of God would be this worldwide community of people who had purpose and hope in the midst of a fallen world. Yes the world system will get worse, but the kingdom of God and its witness in the nations will grow brighter. As the world obsesses about whether or not the woman in the red dress might have been some secret mixed martial arts expert [Royce Gracy in drag?] we have true things of value to share, hope and light and peace; as the Christmas season is upon us let’s do our best to share it.
(1307) CHRISTMAS- being I mentioned Christmas the other day, let’s talk a little. First, does the bible give us [in the New Testament] any special memorials to celebrate? Yes, the New Testament teaches us that when believers celebrate the Lords supper that we ‘show the Lords death’ until he comes back. This is the only explicit memorial given to New Testament believers. Does this mean it’s wrong to celebrate other days? Not really. The early church, contrary to popular opinion, did celebrate ‘Christmas’ before the days of Constantine in the 4th century. They celebrated Christ’s ‘birthday’ on January 6th. But they also celebrated ‘Easter’ as well, and Easter played a more significant role in the church. But in the 4th century the church was grappling with different issues, one of the main ones was the nature of Christ [Christology] some questioned his true humanity. So as a result the celebration of the Incarnation [Jesus being born and taking on real human flesh] took on special importance, the church wanted to stress the ‘birthday’ of Jesus as a theological event. Now the story of Constantine and his conversion to Christianity is famous and many different groups see it in different ways. Many see him as the enemy of true Christianity and as a Roman Emperor who paganized the church. Many associate Catholic Christianity as the false religion set up by Constantine in the 4th century- I do not hold to this view myself. But the fact is that Constantine did legalize Christianity and he did ‘change’ the celebration of Christmas day from January 6 to December 25. Everyone knew that 12-25 was the official pagan holiday of a pagan god. Rome had Sun worship going on and December 25th was a pagan celebration day. So why did the church allow for the change? In reality Constantine was trying to bring a degree of stability to his empire and the fact was that many of his citizens [and soldiers] did practice the pagan holiday of 12-25. So as a compromise move, with the churches new found emphasis on the humanity of Christ [new found in that they willingly wanted to emphasize Christ’s birth in a greater way because of the theological controversies going on] they changed 12-25 into the celebration of Christ’s birth. It really was not some type of secret pagan takeover of Christianity. It was more along the lines of how in our day many believers celebrate ‘Halloween’ by calling it ‘fall festival’ and simply are redeeming the season for God. If in a thousand years Christians are all celebrating ‘fall festival’ instead of Halloween, I think that would be a good thing. But if you went back and found out that it started as a pagan thing, then would you consider all the ‘fall festival’ folks as pagan? So that’s the dilemma. Many serious minded believers do not celebrate Christmas and that’s fine, the scriptures don’t mandate it. But many serious believers do, I think it’s wrong to simply make the connection of the pagan roots of the day and to see this as a reason to reject it. Like I just showed you, you can look at it in a way that sees it as the church ‘taking over’ the pagan day and redeeming it back unto God.
(1308) I caught an interview last night of an Indian author who wrote a book, the title is ‘truth and transformation’ it deals with how India and much of the Eastern world has a great degree of economic dishonesty and hiding of money from the govt. and so forth. But that the Western world has less of this dishonesty going on in a large scale. It was interesting to hear the point of view that because the west still had a degree of Christian morality that this had a lasting effect on society. You rarely hear this view from Easterners. But the brother warned how we are fast approaching the rest of the world in the area of economic/corporate corruption. Any way he mentioned how in the book of Revelation the church is described as ‘a city’- the city that comes down from God out of heaven. I always liked this imagery, in Isaiah we read how this city of God has it gates open ‘day and night’ that there is never a moment where life and transactions are not happening. How can this be? Recently as I have been praying over stuff, and also have posted various requests on the blog I realized that we have people praying and reading and ‘partaking’ of the stuff we are doing, this happens on a 24 hour basis because we have friends from around the world who are connected to us. So Gods ‘city’ is one that consists of believers the world over. There are Christians ‘in church’ 24-7, you don’t have to start a 24 hour prayer service to accomplish this, God has done it by having a worldwide community of people who he describes as ‘my House of Prayer’. This house/temple is open all the time, Isaiah also says that the city will have ‘no walls’ because of its great size, the multitude of men and cattle within is so large that it doesn’t need to wall herself off from society! As a matter of fact a river flows from this temple to the nations and all the kings of the earth will bring their glory and riches into her. I like the city imagery a lot, Revelation says this city has no need for a sun or moon, because the Lamb is the light of the city. No need for a temple either, we are the temple! [as well as Jesus, we as his Body join with him in the temple imagery] When reading scripture it’s important to see things thru a correct lens. I am half way thru the book by Carl Olson ‘will Catholics be left behind’. Carl is an ex Fundamentalist who converted to Catholicism and he gives an excellent overview of the history of Eschatology [end time stuff] much of my teaching agrees with Carl’s view. But reading thru it reminds me of some of the silly views that people hold about end time things, how some see the city ‘coming down from God out of heaven’ as an actual physical city that will be suspended above the earth during the Millennium and that believers will be living in ‘the sky’ while having access to the planet and interacting with Millennium citizens. Silly stuff, the city is called ‘the bride, the Lambs wife’ it’s quite obvious that John is using prophetic imagery to describe the church. But this is a problem among certain Fundamentalists and this view is quite popular in our day. When we grasp the ‘better’ view of these things then we can apply them in practical ways that effect society in a positive way- Gods people/city being open/available for light and help and mercy to all the ‘kings/nations of the earth’ Jesus who is our light can also enlighten the nations who are willing to hear. Stuff like this is helpful, while also recognizing that there are real/literal things that Revelation deals with, like the 2nd coming and resurrection and final judgment. Well anyway we are all part of this 24-7 community that has things happening all the time, we belong to a great worldwide church, the city of God, let’s let our light shine to the nations as much as possible.
(1309) Got up early today, around 1:30, I usually try and lay down until around 2:30, but this morning I felt like the Lord was saying ‘no, today you need to start early’. So as I went outside to pray it was barely drizzling, but it’s really cold. I do pray in the rain often, but when it’s cold I adjust my prayer schedule. Right when I was wrapping up the prayer time at around 4 it started raining, I’m glad I started early. This morning I read ‘your people shall all be made righteous, they shall inherit the land forever, the branch of my planting the work of my hands’ Isaiah 60:21. I felt like the Lord was saying to leaders/pastors ‘these people are my work, my planting. When I made Adam I put him in the garden that I created. He had responsibilities to take care of it and be a faithful steward over it; but it was my garden, not his’. We often worry about ‘the garden’ [the work/people that God has called us to] but the lord says they are his people, his ‘branch’ the work of his hands and he simply allows us to enjoy the field/garden with him. Paul told the Corinthians that they were God’s field, that some water and others plant but God alone makes it grow. Jesus said the kingdom was like a man who planted some seed and when he ‘slept’ God made it grow. ‘What, you mean I was sleeping when the thing was really productive’? Yes, humbling isn’t it. Isaiah said ‘I was in difficulty, oppression, going back and forth and then I said “ who are all these children that I have born, where did they come from?’” sort of like when you are at a stage in life where you can’t micro manage the thing, God says ‘there we go, now I can do a thing thru you that you can’t take credit for’. God said the people would ‘all be righteous’ that the garden was his responsibility and he simply put ‘you in the garden’ sometimes your most productive seasons are when you’re sleeping! [when your hands are off the thing].
(1310) In Isaiah 61 the chapter starts with the famous scripture speaking about the Spirit being on Jesus to preach and proclaim to the people. At the end of the chapter Isaiah says ‘as the earth brings forth the plant/bud, and the garden causes the things that are planted in it to grow, so the Lord will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before the nations’. In the earlier verses it also said ‘they will be trees of righteousness’. Those who were in mourning, those who were oppressed and suffering, they are the ones who are given beauty for ashes and the spirit of praise and joy in return for the garment of heaviness. Jesus said ‘blessed are they that mourn/suffer’ these things are the currency of the Kingdom; you can trade them in and ‘buy’ the true riches. Notice also how the earth/garden causes the things that are planted in it to spring forth; as Protestants many times we emphasize the importance of the ‘preached word’ sort of like the art/profession of preaching is the vital thing. To be sure it is important [how can they believe unless one is sent- Romans, as well as the first verses of this chapter] but the chapter closes with the ‘ability’ of the garden itself to bud, to cause the things that were preached/sown to become reality. The field/garden is more important than we think [that is the people groups are the ones causing the things taught/preached to be fleshed out, in reality we can’t just ‘preach’ and be successful anywhere, sort of like the gift/talent itself is the important thing. In these verses the important thing is the garden/earth]. So for all of our leaders/pastors, your role is important, but God is the one cultivating and taking care of the garden [John 15]. You [me!] are expendable, God is the one who is going to make the praise spring up before all nations- we either partake of it or not [woe is me if I preach not the gospel- Paul] but the praise is going to come!
(1311) FOR YOUR SHAME YE SHALL HAVE DOUBLE [PORTION/BLESSING] AND FOR YOUR CONFUSION THEY SHALL REJOICE IN THEIR PORTION, THEY TOO WILL HAVE A DOUBLE PORTION IN THEIR LAND – Isaiah 61:7 In the book of Acts Peter says God has highly exalted Jesus and he has received the promise of the father [Spirit] and because of this he has poured out ‘this which you see and hear’. I like that, God gave 2 types of testimonies; things you see and things you hear. That spoke to me because I do both radio [hear] and blog [see]. I was watching a prophecy brother the other day, he’s a good man, comes from the strong Dispensational school. As he was reading the declaration of the angel in the book of Luke- that Jesus will sit on the throne of his father David, the wife said ‘gee, I never saw that before, Jesus has never yet sat on David’s throne’. And the husband said ‘see, your theological training is kicking in’. If you actually read all of Peter’s sermons in the book of Acts, you will see that the apostolic witness sees Jesus as presently ruling on the throne from the exalted right hand of God. They do not see an idea that the promise from the angel about Jesus has yet to be fulfilled. I am familiar with the distinctions that dispensationalist’s make, I just think they go too far in postponing the ‘actual/literal’ rule of Jesus to some future date. The apostle’s language includes the fulfillment of the Davidic rule with the present ruling position of Jesus at Gods right hand. I do not totally discount the reality that at the Second Coming there will be literal future aspects to that rule, but scripture already ‘sees’ Jesus ruling in Gods kingdom. Well anyway Jesus received this high position because of the shame and confusion [agony] he went thru. He now has the right to pour out things both ‘seen and heard’. He poured out the promise of the Father on his people and they became this great kingdom of Priests and Kings unto God and his father [Revelation and Isaiah]. In this present kingdom we overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony. Jesus is the Lamb as it were slain sitting on the throne- he’s not waiting for some future date to receive the throne, he’s already there!
(1312) THE INCARNATION- The most influential philosopher on Western thought is probably the philosopher Immanuel Kant. Kant wrote the influential work ‘In critique of pure reason’ at the close of the 18th century in response to the pure rationalists [David Hume] of the Enlightenment. Kant read Hume’s works and was said to have been ‘aroused out of his dogmatic slumber’ and dispatched his response. Kant espoused that you had the physical and metaphysical worlds, and the 2 are completely separate. He refuted the argument for God made by the apologists and said it was impossible for man to ‘know God’ thru rational/physical means. Kant did not totally reject ‘the idea’ of God; he simply said the efforts of the Christian philosophers to prove God were futile. Was Kant right? Yes and no. In the 13th century you had another great Christian thinker by the name of Thomas Aquinas, Thomas is considered one of the greatest [if not greatest] thinkers of the Catholic tradition, Thomas wrote extensively and re-introduced the Greek philosophers back into Christian theology. Sometimes referred to as ‘Aristotelianism’ [Aristotle]. Thomas taught that it was possible to obtain true knowledge of the existence of God from the natural world, but that to have particular revelation from God you needed the church and tradition [revelation]. Some feel that Thomas was teaching a ‘secular/sacred’ division that hurt the work of the church. But if you read Aquinas in the context of his time he really was not doing this. Thomas ‘rescued’ apologetics [proof for God] from the philosophers of Islam who were teaching that you could have 2 types of truth- religious and scientific. They taught that religious truth could ‘be true’ by faith, but that it could be false by science, and vice versa. Thomas was refuting this idea and was showing us that real truth, whether from the natural sciences or from ‘revelation’ never contradict, it’s just science can only go so far in arguing for the existence of God. But the influence of Immanuel Kant on western thinking has many believing that God and ‘religion’ are okay things for people to believe, but that ‘real truth’ is found in the natural sciences and God is excluded from this ‘secular’ realm. This is a false view. God can be ‘proved’ by studying the natural sciences, like Aquinas said. Now this doesn’t get you all the way to the God of Christian theology, but it can take you up to the point where God’s existence is proven to be reality. The main point is it is wrong to think Christianity is relegated to the realm of faith while ‘real truth’ is in the realm of science. The Incarnation was God’s divine act of breaking into the physical world thru the birth of his Son. God became man and dwelt among us, you can study all the history of the time and find many historical proofs of the reality of Jesus and the fact that he died and rose again, these ‘truths’ are not only religious in nature, they are factual in history. So while I appreciate the work that Kant put into his book, I will stick with the other ‘Immanuel’ the God who is with us.
(1313) GOD WANTS TO MARRY YOU! Isaiah 62- This chapter uses a lot of marriage imagery, the bridegroom rejoicing over his new bride and ‘all your sons being joined to you’. In the New Testament Jesus himself uses this imagery when speaking about Gods people and the relationship God had with Israel. Now, it’s important to see that the New Testament [especially Paul] uses the imagery of the bride and bridegroom when speaking of the church; Paul will teach that both Jew and Gentile are making up this bride that the Lord ‘is married to’. Some dispensationalists [end time beliefs] make a distinction between the language used concerning Israel [Gods wife] and the language used concerning the church [bride] but if you see the mystery that Paul is speaking about you see that the fulfillment of this bride [both Jew and Gentile] being joined unto Jesus includes both people groups. What I’m saying is the New Testament teaches us that all these Old Testament promises of God rejoicing over his bride are being fulfilled thru the ‘eternal purpose’ spoken of by Paul in the letter to the Ephesians. God has his bride! This chapter also speaks of the sons coming to this new land [the church-people of God] and being joined to her as a bridegroom is joined to his bride. Recently I have had some good brothers express a desire to ‘join up-team up-partner with us’ in some way thru the ‘ministry’. These are Pastors from Pakistan and are doing a great work reaching out to Muslims. They are doing a very dangerous work, pray for them [they just got out of jail; they were thrown in jail for preaching the gospel]. Anyway somehow they found this site and really like it, that’s great. But I gave them the same response that I give to everybody who contacts us with the well meaning intent to ‘join up’ with us; I simply told them that there is nothing to join, no money to ‘partner up with us’ we are simply a voluntary group of Christ followers who are trying to spread the kingdom by doing what the Lord tells us. In essence if you are blessed by the teachings, just do your best to follow our example and let the work grow on its own, no need for me to come and preach, take offerings, or anything along those lines- just take the word of God and run with it! The point is sometimes ‘our friends/sons’ [those we are reaching out to] are so excited about the stuff they are learning that they want to be joined to us. It’s our job [and yours] to lead them in a way that they are joined to Christ and find their identity in him. God promised his people that he would ‘marry them’ Jesus spoke about the great marriage supper of the Lamb. These are intimate images; Paul said this was a great mystery when speaking of marriage and how it was a sign of our union with Christ [Ephesians] we need to remind ourselves that we are joined unto the Lord- not to men and their well meaning organizations.
(1314) IN DEFENSE OF THE HOMELAND- As a young boy growing up in New Jersey I had the privilege of having many different ethnic friends, but at times I found it difficult to defend the homeland [Italy]. I mean the Brits could appeal to the heroism of a Churchill, the Russians could even have their Rommel, but I was caught between a rock and a hard place. Sure I could resort to ‘what about that El Duce’ but I was grasping at straws man! This week Italy has been in the headlines, they convicted an American exchange student [Amanda Knox] on murder and she got 23 years in prison. As I listened to the news media berate the Italian judicial system I realized that they weren’t upset about the high probability of the girls guilt, they were upset that the standards of the American system of justice were not applied. The case involved 4 students who were involved in some type of sex game and one of the girls did not want to do it. So one of the boys killed her. After the initial arrest Amanda Knox admitted to being there at the time, she told the prosecutor and police that she was there. But after a while she claimed it was a false confession and the Italian courts actually threw out her first confession on the grounds that she wasn’t properly represented at the time. The jury convicted her based on the high probability that she was there and she was seen as an accomplice. The person who murdered the girl confessed and it seems like a very sad case all around. But the American media portrayed it as an unjust conviction, even though common sense seemed to be part of the jury’s verdict. They did not claim she killed the girl, just that she was present. I remember a case a few years back where a neighbor was being tried for the kidnapping and murder of a little girl. During the trial at one point the defendant was in negotiations with the prosecutor about getting a lighter sentence if he showed them where the girl’s body was. These were private discussions that the jury was not aware of. Instead the body was found and the deal was off. The trial proceeded and the defense dragged the history of the parents into the case, they were swingers and the defense tried to say that one of the swingers could have done it. The problem with this type of justice is everyone behind the scenes knew for a fact that the man raped and murdered this little innocent girl, but according to our rules it would be ‘unjust’ to tell the jury. In Isaiah 63 the prophet says the Lord looked down and realized that no one was standing up for justice, so the Lord himself rode thru and set things in order. He used ‘the right hand of Moses’ and delivered the people. He put on Salvation and took care of some things. Over the years I have seen how it is so easy for the people of God to allow for wrong stuff to take place over long periods of time, things that everyone knows in their heart are wrong. But we become desensitized, we believe in the fair market and if religious TV networks continue to pump out blatantly false stuff, so what- it’s a free world. But yet Gods standards are different than ours, even if society as a whole has accepted lower standards, it’s still wrong to do/teach false stuff year after year after year without ever truly dealing with the stuff. The American church has infected the world with these materialistic teachings to the point where we have whole nations being sidetracked thru these networks and quite frankly the network leaders couldn’t ‘give a rip’. God got tired of the inability of his people to deal with stuff, the mindset that says ‘even though we all know he molested the girl’ yet our view of justice is it’s all right to legally allow for the defense to try and convince the jury that the parents friends did it, even though the judge and prosecutor and defense all know it’s a big game! God looked down and said ‘enough’ I am going to bring some things into alignment that have been crooked for too long. God is merciful, but when we refuse to honestly deal with stuff, he will step in.
(1315) NATIONAL HEALTH CARE- As of today [12-11-09] it looks like health reform might pass, but it’s not certain. The CBO [congressional budget office] is ‘scoring’ the bill and they need to see how much it will cost. I can’t imagine it being deficit neutral, it is going to extend Medicare to millions of more people between the ages of 55-64, I personally need it but I don’t know if it will fly [I’m 47 now]. Let’s talk honestly about the country and the president. As of today the country is more polarized than it has been in a long time. How is the president doing? The president is a good man that has absolutely no experience in the business world. Many democrats [Bill Clinton] felt that the nomination of a first term Illinois senator with as little experience as Obama was- quote ‘a joke’. When he said this he was not demeaning his race [I hope!] but was speaking political reality. Most of the people who the president has surrounded himself with are academics and well meaning ideologues who also have no real world business experience. I am not saying they are wicked people, it’s just they come from this background. So the fact is the president has not done a ‘good job’ up to this point- sure the republican obstructionism doesn’t help, but the man is really learning on the job. Then why did the nation elect the man? Much of it had to do with a national guilty conscience of racist sins of the past, many felt it was time for the nation to do ‘penance’ and this was how it would be accomplished. Those who expressed real concerns about nominating [and electing] the most inexperienced person in the history of the country were tagged as racists, yes this is a fact. So today we have to pray for the man and his family, we recognize that he did inherit many fiscal problems when elected, but it does absolutely no good for the democrats to continually harp on this. I mean some news shows [MSNBC] act like the campaign is still on, they can’t get enough of Sarah Palin and Dick Cheney- please give it a break for heaven’s sake! Palin wrote her book and the AP [associated press] had 11 reporters assigned to the book to go thru it with a fine tooth comb looking for discrepancies. The president has written 2 books, the AP had no reporters looking for discrepancies. The media [both right and left] does an extreme disservice to the country when they play these types of games. So the reality is we need to support as much as possible our president, when we have real disagreements then we need to speak out [like abortion funding in the health bill] but also understand that the basic premise of insuring all Americans is a noble, yes even Christian principle. That is to try and help as many people as you can. There are many Americans who have lost their jobs and have no insurance and yes they can still access the health system but many of them have gone into bankruptcy and lost their homes and been left on the street, so to do nothing about this is wrong. So there are real problems that need to be dealt with and there are sincere differences of opinion on how to accomplish these goals. Republicans have some ideas as well as democrats, we should try and pull together and come up with a solution, to simply want the thing to fail for political purposes is wrong, and to brand the opposing side as racists is wrong too.
(1316) I LIKE FREE STUFF! ‘FOR SINCE THE BEGINNING OF TIME MEN HAVE NOT HEARD, NOR PERCIEVED BY THE EAR, NIETHER HATH THE EYE SEEN, O GOD, BESIDE THEE, WHAT HE HATH PREPARED FOR HIM THAT WAITETH FOR HIM’- Isaiah 64:4 Last night I caught a story on the news, it showed how terrorists were using an ingenious way to communicate; instead of sending electronic emails thru the internet, they would share a common email account and paste their messages to the saved drafts, then the other guy would simply read the drafts. The FBI/CIA could not detect the message. Over the years I have heard how people really don’t value teaching unless they pay for it, and the more they pay the greater the value. Some Christian motivational speakers have actually charged many thousands of dollars just to share a word from God. Paul wrote the greatest letters known to man [the New Testament] and circulated them freely and encouraged their duplication- we need to reevaluate the standards we live by. Isaiah said God would reveal things that were secret since the world began. In the gospels it says that Jesus fulfilled this verse thru his teaching. In Corinthians Paul said the Spirit is continuing this ‘revealing’ ministry thru the church. In Revelation chapter 5 you have the vision of John seeing God on the throne with a scroll; no man is worthy/able to reveal the things in the scroll. But Jesus, the Lamb who was slain earned the right to walk up to the throne and take the scroll and open it. Jesus continues to reveal things to the church based on his righteousness, not ours. He specifically instructed his men that the things he was freely giving to them [spiritual gifts and insights] should be shared with others free of charge [thus Paul’s unwillingness to charge for his very valuable insights]. We need to get back to the basic reality of scripture; no speaker/teacher was to become rich off of the revelation of God that was purchased by the Blood of Jesus. These spiritual gifts were not to be used for one preacher to gain authority over others, that is the idea that the most gifted one in the group would ‘be over’ the others was rejected. Jesus explicitly taught this to his men. The false teachers at Corinth were saying of Paul ‘sure his letters are weighty, but he’s not even on the scene, wait till he shows up’ in essence they tried to devalue the ministry of Paul because he was communicating thru letters as opposed to having some regular office where he was exercising authority over them. The important thing to remember is Jesus is the one who has earned the right to open the scroll, we simply freely receive the gift of communicating it as the Spirit wills. We should value the free things, on the news story about the emails they said how this tool of the internet and the free access of the emails were accomplishing more than the older ways that cost thousands of dollars to get the message out. As the people of God lets value the free stuff, don’t teach people that ‘the free stuff’ has no value. Don’t tell them that we are charging them for their good and not ours, these arguments fall on deaf ears as the media exposes the million dollar mansions and 5 thousand dollar a night hotel fees. Let’s use the wisdom of the terrorist, communicate the stuff for free, I don’t know how many lives have been changed over the years thru a free Gideon’s bible placed in the hands of some soldier or in the drawer of a hotel. These bibles are the free gift of revelation that Jesus poured out on Paul and the other writers of the New Testament, thank God that they never copy wrote the thing!
(1317) A DIFFERENT LAKE OF FIRE- Isaiah says ‘Oh that thou wouldest rend the heavens and come down…like when a fire makes the water to boil, that you would come down’ [Isaiah 64] the imagery of fire and water are both used as pictures of the Spirit. On the day of Pentecost God ‘ripped open the heavens and came down’. Jesus said he came to set the earth on fire and how he wished it was already burning! Since the day the Spirit of God has been poured out on ‘all flesh’ these ‘fleshed out ones’ have been stirring the waters and making it boil. Psalms says why do the heathen rage and the people imagine a vain thing? Why do the kings of the earth try to rise up and resist Gods anointed ones? In John’s gospel Jesus said the religious leaders were going around trying to kill him. Why? Because when he came and did the works that no one else was doing, it took away their cloak of an excuse. In essence the reason the ‘waters’ [nations/peoples] are boiling [tribulatin’] is because we as the people of God are a natural thorn in the side of society who wants us to just go away. I watched a news show this week interview an ex-gay man who started a ministry and who is now married and lives a good life. I know for a fact that the woman interviewer is a lesbian [she says so on her on line profile] and of course she was upset that any person would claim that they were once gay and now have left the life and are happy. The man’s ministry was not ‘anti gay’ he said his ministry simply works with those who want to leave the lifestyle, but that still offends the mind of modern man. The presidents ‘school czar’ [Jennings] is an open advocate for the gay agenda in the public school system. He has praised men who were affiliated with ‘NAMBLA’ [the North American man/boy love association] and he does advocate for the public schools to teach the gay lifestyle as a perfectly legitimate way of life. Now I’m sure there are many gay/lesbian people who sincerely have seen and experienced discrimination based on their sexual orientation. I’m sure many of them feel that teaching this agenda to kids would be helpful in combating future discrimination against kids. But those who have this agenda can’t stand any group who simply says ‘being [acting out!] homosexual is a sin’ this simple reality causes them to be upset and in a way ‘have no cloak for their sin’. If ex-gays have left the life and are now happy, then their life is a rebuke to homosexual acts. Yes, it’s like starting a fire that causes the water to boil. We are liquid Napalm for heaven’s sake! Christians should avoid stereotyping gays/lesbians; there are many sincere people who struggle with various things. Many people out of a good motive feel like pushing the gay agenda would be helpful; but at the end of the day homosexual acts are physically more harmful than heterosexual/monogamous relationships, even if you put aside the religious convictions of many people, it is still dangerous to push this agenda in the public school system. Obama needs to fire his ‘school czar’.
(1318) PROTESTANT/CATHOLIC RELATIONS? Those of you who have read this blog for any length of time know that as a Protestant believer [though I prefer simply Christian] I write often on the Catholic tradition and I also see them as fellow believers in the Lord. I do realize that I have lost readers over the years because of this. Recently there has been another effort among Catholics and Evangelicals to join together in common cause; the name of this effort is ‘the Manhattan Declaration’ it’s a simple statement amongst Catholics and Protestants stating our common belief in areas of life and morality. It’s a good statement that I signed. Since the 16th century Reformation [the beginning of Protestantism] you have had varying approaches to these things. Some see the Catholic Church as a ‘non church’ they see her as a false religion who might have some Christians within her but for the most part it would be like saying Mormonism might have some believers in it despite the false beliefs. Others see the Catholic Church as a good church that has certain beliefs that Protestants don’t accept, but never the less she is part of the Body of Christ [this is my view]. So for the sake of unity amongst the various groups of Christians in the world today, I write on both traditions. Okay, during the Reformation the Catholic church had what some refer to as a ‘counter reformation’ the 16th century council was held at Trent and the church for the most part came down strong on retaining most of the Catholic tradition that existed for centuries; they reaffirmed the 7 sacraments, stuck with papal authority [though the doctrine of Papal infallibility would not become official doctrine until Vatican 1 in the 1800’s] and history tells us that the Catholics came down on the side of very little change in the area of doctrine. They even retained the doctrine of indulgences that is very questionable indeed. But they also dealt with corruption in their ranks to some degree and this was noble. They also had some good points to make in refuting what they felt was not enough emphasis on ‘good works’ amongst the reformers [Luther]. So the church in no uncertain terms rejected any idea that the Reformation was a move of God, they saw it as a rebellious split. Now in the 19th century you had Vatican 1 [the name of the council] and once again the church affirmed her stand on coming down strong for the traditional Catholic position; this council officially recognized the infallibility of the Pope [only when speaking ‘Ex Cathedra’ which means ‘from the chair’]. The church does not teach the infallibility of the Pope unless he is making a doctrinal statement in his official capacity as Pope. This teaching has a special importance for today’s Catholics. Pope Benedict was a prolific writer/theologian before becoming Pope and he has written extensively on doctrinal issues and it would not be difficult to find some of his teachings coming down more in favor of a strong Christology than previous Popes- a good thing in my view. So anyway it wasn’t until the last few centuries that some very difficult doctrines would become official; Immaculate Conception, the assumption of Mary and the infallibility of the Pope. These are all fairly recent developments that would make it more difficult for outward unity. But in the 20th century you had somewhat of a change in attitude from the Vatican [at least from Pope John the 23rd]. From 1962-65 Vatican 2 was convened and you had somewhat of a division between the conservative Catholic Bishops and the more progressive types. There were a couple hundred Bishops from the U.S. alone that would attend; it was really a worldwide council. The more liberal minded wanted less of a hard line position in some areas while the more conservative stuck with the old hard line position. When all was said and done there was a more open spirit towards change and acceptance of other Christian churches at the end. Many of the changes were seen to be too much from the conservative Catholic view; things like saying the mass in the common language, moving the altar forward in the ‘church building’ and the Priest facing the people during the mass [the old mass had the Priest facing the altar along with the people] so anyway lots of Catholics did not like the change and there was a dispute among many conservative Catholics. Then in 1968 Pope Paul issued an encyclical [official paper] called ‘Humanae Vitae’, which rejected the use of contraceptives and it was a step back towards the old hard line church. Some Protestants go a little too far in praising Vatican 2, they might refer to it as a revolution in the Catholic Church, this might be going a little too far. I recognize and appreciate the new attitude of Vatican 2, and I believe some of the more hard line Protestants [Reformed] should show a little more tolerance because of it [some of the older reformers still hold to ALL the beliefs of the Westminster confession, which officially teaches the Pope is the Antichrist! Ouch] But as a realist myself I still see some real doctrinal differences that I still have major problems with. But in some areas I am in more agreement with the Catholics than with Protestants- especially on some of the end time teachings that American Fundamentalists hold to. So all in all I appreciate some of the changes, I think some Protestants need to be more willing to come to the table, and I personally would not go so far as to actually become Catholic [which many good men have done, and I do not reject their convictions at all, they did have personal reasons for doing so]. All in all I agree with the Catechism of the Catholic Church that states ‘Christ is the unique word of God in scripture’ this is something we should all be able to agree with.
(1319) Isaiah 65:1-10 Isaiah says that the Lord was ‘found’ by those who were not looking for him, and that those who were looking for him [thru religious actions] were not finding him. He rebukes his people Israel because they developed a religious mentality that took the true revelation of God and exchanged it ‘for a lie’. But the lord says he still saw a remnant of value within her; she was like a cluster of grapes that went bad but had a few ‘good apples’ left. When Jesus appeared to Israel in the 1st century they were waiting for Gods promise to them to be fulfilled. They were ‘waiting for the kingdom’. If you were to encapsulate any singular idea in the preaching of Jesus that was the most prominent, it would be his declaration of the Kingdom of God being now present as he preached. Israel saw the kingdom thru natural eyes, they believed that the restored temple played a major role in Gods coming kingdom. Understand that the restoring of the temple by Herod [the one before the Herod of Jesus day] was a spectacular event; the temple was grand and the Jewish people regulated their life around its rituals. It was only reasonable for Israel to believe that the next step would be the restoring of her national sovereignty by a coming Messiah. They had their temple restored first and were waiting for the national independence to follow- a reverse of what many modern dispensationalists believe. But instead Jesus tells them in no uncertain terms that their understanding of the kingdom is wrong, that the kingdom will not come by observing outward events, but it was already present thru his appearing. In Jesus parables he speaks of the values of this kingdom, forgiveness, laying down your rights for others; he is talking about a spiritual kingdom. When the disciples show him the temple and its grandeur, he states flatly ‘there will not be left one stone upon another when all is said and done’ huh? So Jesus without a doubt challenged their understanding of the kingdom and how it would outwardly manifest in society- it’s not about temples and homelands! He gathers a ‘few grapes’ from the cluster [The 12 disciples] and uses them as the foundation stones of a new kingdom and temple. These apostles would launch the great new movement/kingdom of God thru the proclamation of the gospel. They would write some harsh things about the temple and old law economy of Israel as a nation. The disciple John would refer to the synagogue as ‘the synagogues of satan’ ouch! [Revelation] Paul would say those are not Jews who are Jews ‘outwardly’ [it wasn’t an ethnic thing anymore] but those who had the ‘circumcised heart’ would be counted as the true Israel of God [Romans/Galatians]. And the overall language of the 12 Jewish apostles was not one that would fit in with a scenario of a restored Jewish temple with restored sacrifices and a national homeland. I mean you can’t get much more clearer than this! And yet in our day you have many well meaning believers looking for all these outward signs of ‘when the kingdom will come’. We bypass the main writings of the New Testament [like the things I just quoted] and we go hunting in Daniel, Ezekiel, Revelation- we find all types of prophetic words that seem to support our obsession with some outward restoration of these things in order to justify our system, we basically have fallen into the same error of first century Israel, we are looking for the kingdom in all the wrong places. I understand that many believers who hold to these beliefs are sincere and well meaning, many of them have a genuine love for the Jewish people and this is commendable. But we need to heed the words of ‘the few good grapes in the cluster’ they did not exalt Israel’s natural status nor did they see the kingdom of God thru the lens of restored temples and homelands, they believed that all who would receive the Messiah were presently being built into a temple made without human hands, the ‘true Israel of God- the heavenly New Jerusalem that is coming down from God out of heaven’.
(1320) Isaiah 65:17-19 ‘I create a new heavens and new earth…the former has passed away and shall not come into memory…rejoice in my work, I too joy in it’ [my paraphrase] When God does new things, he allows the former things to fade and eventually pass. Hebrews says the old things are fading quickly. Often the transition period from the old to the new is difficult; we become accustomed to certain patterns of thought and action and if these old structures are being challenged we have a natural tendency to resist, often in the face of irrefutable evidence! When Jesus challenged the religious concepts of his day the leaders made an effort to refute him. He of course would win all these theological skirmishes, but this made no difference to those who did not want to accept the truths he was speaking. As time went on they simply hated him and decided to stop him, it was no longer a matter of truth- they hated what he stood for and that was that. A few years ago I bought a book on the case of the military doctor who was convicted of murdering his family. The book is ‘fatal justice’ the made for TV movie was called ‘fatal vision’. The movie did portray the doctor as evil and it was easy to hate the guy. But the book brought out some real questions about the case and it did put doubts into my mind. Well anyway I was telling this to a person who has seen the movie many times and has a real hate for the man. I tried to present both sides of the case and in some way defend the doctor. The person was mad; they even said that they didn’t care anymore whether he was guilty or innocent, because he was such an ‘SOB’ that he deserved to rot in prison anyway. The religious views that the people held were more important than the actual truth, the enemies of Jesus got to a point where they really weren’t open to truth anymore, they had their view and they simply wanted to kill him. We are truly creatures of habit and when ‘new things’ are presented to us, things that we never really considered before, we have a tendency to harden in our position and it no longer becomes a sincere search for truth. In essence we want the guy to rot in prison whether he’s guilty or not!
(1321) WONDERFUL, WONDERFUL COPENHAGEN! Today the president jets off to Copenhagen for the closing of the world summit on global warming. He originally was going to go at the start but the politicos figured if he went at the end he might be able to undo the last failed Copenhagen venture- getting turned down for the next Olympic Games at Chicago. But what has happened instead is the summit has been a disaster. Why? First you of course had the nuts in the streets destroying stuff, but more importantly you had some major disagreements between the nations attending. The poorer nations actually walked out at one point because they want the industrialized world to fund them at 100 billion dollars for their part in cutting greenhouse gases, the rich countries are pledging 10 billion. China and India, 2 of the greatest polluters on the planet [they make up a total of 80 % of all the pollutants] are not willing to sign a binding agreement which can be verified. Why? These countries are at the beginning of their own industrial revolutions, they still have many years of rapid growth ahead before their overall population benefits from their growth. India has many people still in the extreme poverty class and for all practical purposes you are asking them to trade much of the future of their country for a possible fraction of a degree of global warming over a hundred year period. I mean it’s really a cost/benefit scenario. Now, am I a global warming denier? No, the science seems pretty clear, the nations of the world have gone thru an industrial age and the effects of burning coal and other dirty energy have produced lots of green house gasses that get trapped in the atmosphere and cause the heat to stay in. Not too hard to understand. So what’s the problem, well we don’t really know for sure how much of an overall effect we can have over the long haul. For instance our planet has gone thru at least one ice age and we have only been keeping global heat records for a short time. We don’t know if the earth goes thru thousand year cycles of cooling and heating that we could have little effect on. For instance if we are on a warming trend, and say the planet is going to warm so many degrees over the next thousand years, well maybe our efforts at cooling it less than one degree in the overall scheme really doesn’t count for much. Then there is the real cost/benefits analysis- I’m not talking profits for industry, but real questions on whether or not the global community should sink trillions of dollars over many years into this project, which might not save too many lives; or sink the money into these 3rd world countries who have hundreds of thousands of kids dying because they simply don’t have the money to feed them or provide them with cheap vaccines. This same money today can save so many lives. A serious global warming believer has done the analysis and believes it simply is not feasible to spend the money on the global warming efforts. If we had the extra billions to spend, sure let’s do it. But if we are doing it at the expense of real time lives, then it’s simply foolish. Last night I watched a documentary on the logging business in the Amazon, how so many poorer areas have learned the trade of tree chopping and have lifted themselves out of poverty by cutting down the trees. Now lots of the Amazon has been destroyed and it is an environmental disaster to some degree. So they started this fund that pays the tree choppers more money to not cut the trees. As they interviewed this brother who seemed to be on the lower income scale of society, they showed you him with his used chain saw and his truck and all the ‘blessings’ he has reaped from his new found job; they asked him why he won’t stop chopping the trees. He said they don’t want to get paid for doing nothing. Ouch! They rather cut the trees and feel industrious than take the free welfare money that the west wants to appease them with. What a lesson for the victim hood mentality of the west. The reporter drove down the road to an Indian tribal area that never cut the trees; they always respected the land and lived off of fishing and hunting. What did their chief say? That they are not getting money because they have always preserved the trees, therefore they will start chopping the trees so the west will pay them to stop. What’s going on here? We have many well meaning people on both sides of all these issues, overall we have to be realistic about this stuff. Poor countries are not going to sacrifice their people on the altar of global warming science when they are not sure their efforts will really pay off in the long run, many of them attended the summit because they were simply hoping the rich countries would give them money. Rich western nations can’t expect to impose these types of restrictions on developing nations, it’s just unrealistic. And last of all the president just told us the country will go bankrupt if we don’t pass the latest version of health reform; you know, the version with no public option, no Medicare buy in, no real control over what the insurance companies will charge us. This bill has now become a bad bill as far as I can tell, then what in the heck are we doing making the second trip to Copenhagen in the last few months? The president used to say he was not like the last administration, he could walk and chew gum at the same time- I’m beginning to wonder about that.
(1322) RACISM- As I was reading my hometown news paper over the last year [Jersey Journal] I followed a story about a racist right wing radio/web guy who finally got thrown into jail. The guys name is Hal Turner and the thing that caught my interest was he was from my hometown of North Bergen. Why do people like this attract an audience? A while back I was watching MSNBC and the host that day was Lawrence O’Donnell, he was talking to someone about the Sonya Sotomayor nomination to the Supreme Court. He mentioned how the fact that the judge was accepted at Princeton under the affirmative action program, that even though she scored lower than some of the other applicants, she eventually had high grades down the road. He then said that this is proof that we shouldn’t accept kids based on their score or achievements, but that this proves that the institutions should be able to pick people because they prefer their race. The point of course is this is blatant racism; everyone knows this. But yet those who espouse this view in public forums also accuse those who disagree with them as being racists. Now, the average White person sees right thru this, they know that if O’Donnell’s kid was rejected in her life based on race that he would be fuming, yet he publicly accuses others who would have the same response as racist. These double standards are seen for what they are. They just recently promoted the fire fighters who took their case to the Supreme Court because the city threw out their test scores because no Blacks passed the test. They won their case and finally got promoted. When the firefighters who passed [not all Whites, there were some Hispanics] sued for what was right and just, those representing the Black firefighters went to the Hispanic candidate and tried to talk him out of suing, so they could portray the White guys as being racists. The Hispanic guy said he was agreeing with the White guys because they were simply right. As I listened to the tortured defense of those representing the Black guys, it was absolutely nonsensical. I mean you can argue forever why the Whites and Hispanics passed and the Blacks didn’t, but to actually accuse the ones who passed as being racists is racist itself. These things are what causes there to be an audience for the Hal Turner’s, the liberal minded elite media feel good about themselves when they side with obviously racist views. They think it good to say ‘if a university rejects you because your White, that’s good’ they feed into the hate mongers and allow themselves to be fuel for the Hal Turners of the world.
(1323) WHERE IS THE HOUSE THAT YOU ARE BUILDING FOR ME? Isaiah 66:1, leaders- think on this for a moment; what is it exactly that you are building for God? What are the main themes of scripture that you are communicating? Verse 2 says ‘all these things hath [past tense] my hand made and all these things HAVE BEEN, says the Lord’. In Ephesians 2 Paul says that we are ‘his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works that he chose for us before the world began’. We are simply fulfilling the pre-ordained destiny of God. That is if we are proclaiming and doing what’s right. Yesterday I read a news article on a mega church out of Ohio, they broadcast a plea that they immediately needed 3 million in donations or they were in trouble. The plea was looked into and it seems like they ‘fudged’ on the seriousness of the appeal- basically they used ‘disaster’ language for a problem that was not as urgent as you might think; sort of like what our country did with TARP and what we are doing today [12-19-09] with saying we urgently need to pass health reform before Christmas, a false deadline that is being used as a political tool. Why do well meaning ministries/preachers often focus so much on money? Why is it common for many sermons and messages to be centered on this? In the first century when the Apostle Paul was circulating his letters, he would write about 95 % on real theological truth, maybe a few % of the letters would deal with giving, most of that small percent was in the context of giving to the poor. Then you had an even smaller % of that deal with giving to help Paul on his way to the next town, or giving to meet the needs of laboring leaders in their midst. So if you were a first century church receiving the letter you would not see Paul’s main message being one of always appealing for funds. But over the first few centuries of Christianity the church collected these letters and put them in a book [our New Testament]. This has enabled people to scour thru the corpus of Paul’s writings and to pick this small percentage of appeals for funds and to basically present them in a way that says ‘look how important it is to always speak about money, after all the bible is full of it!’ Which is really a distortion of the actual themes of the letters; much of Paul’s writings taken in context actually reprove what the modern preachers have done with this proof texting tool [read 1st timothy 6]. So you find many well meaning brothers seeing the need for more and more money, for a never ending series of good projects, and this causes there to be a general focusing on a very small percentage of actual New Testament teaching and presenting it in a way that causes the average believer to think that this is the main thrust of scripture. So what are you building? Have you never really seen this before? If not then ask the lord to help you re-focus on the important stuff. Pastors, leaders- most of you brothers mean well, just allow the Lord to bring forth out of you the things that he has fore ordained for you. One of those things might have been stumbling along and reading this blog.
(1324) THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE MYSTERY- Ephesians 3:9. One of my favorite historical persons is Einstein; I like him because he was sort of a rebel for his day. In the university he did bad, missed class and scored low. He could not find a job in his field of physics so he took a job in Berne, Switzerland as a patent approver. During his spare time he wrote a few papers on theoretical physics and these papers were circulated but had no good response. Why? No one took seriously the writings from a patent worker! Then one of his ‘letters’ made in into the hands of one of the top scientists of the day, Max Planck, and he would make history. Planck recognized the genius that others couldn’t see. In Ephesians 3 Paul says the Lord gave him [and the apostles and prophets] the gift of being able to ‘see’ and understand truths that were hidden in God since the beginning of the world. Now, it was good to have the gift, to be able to see the truths that others could not yet see; but this gift would be useless unless it came along with the ability to effectively ‘make others see’ it too. So Paul prays for the churches that he is writing to that they, by the Spirit, would have the gift to comprehend the mysteries that he was writing about. In essence the Spirit was Paul’s Max Planck! In time others would see the great things Paul was teaching but there needed to be the Divine work of revelation both on the part of Paul as well as those who were reading his stuff. Paul would call this dynamic ‘the fellowship of the mystery’. In the book of Acts there were those who willingly rejected this revelation and that was their own choice. Paul says they themselves made the choice to cut themselves off from eternal life. Today we don’t have ‘revelation’ [new truths] in the same way Paul and the apostles had, but we certainly have gifted ones who the Spirit is communicating truth to, but we must not make the mistake of Einstein’s peers, they saw him as a layman and initially missed out on the revolutionary truths he was seeing. They chose to cut themselves off from the ‘fellowship of the mystery’ how bout you?
(1325) BEFORE SHE SUFFERED SHE GAVE BIRTH, BEFORE HER PAIN SHE GAVE BIRTH. WHO EVER HEARD OF SUCH A THING? SHALL I BRING YOU TO THE POINT OF BIRTH AND NOT FINISH THE JOB? FOR AS SOON AS YOU SUFFERED WITH BIRTH PAINS THEN YOU BROUGHT FORTH WHAT I WANTED- Isaiah 66:7-8 [my paraphrase] In Johns gospel Jesus said when a woman is going thru birth pains it’s difficult because her time has come, the moment of accomplishing the purpose. Jesus says ‘she has sorrow’ but after she gives birth she forgets the sorrow because a man is born into the world. Jesus makes this statement as he himself is entering into his time of sorrow; he prays ‘Father, if it’s possible for me to not have to go thru with this, if there is any way you think we can do something about this situation, then please lets go another route’! The agony was very real, he wasn’t afraid of death, but he dreaded the fact that he would ‘become sin’ for us; he would be separated from the Father and experience extreme turmoil. He sweat great drops of blood, a physical act of excruciating anguish that causes this to happen. Jesus told us that we too had to be willing to carry our cross. I know some feel Jesus was talking about his cross and death, but in context he was talking about the difficulties that would come along with following him and denying ourselves. Peter said that when we go thru fiery trials that we should take comfort in the fact that other brothers are going thru the same things, even worse things than us. A few years ago a prominent local figure was arrested and sent to jail for soliciting a minor over the internet; he worked for the parks/beach dept. and was active with the Fire Dept. and EMS. Of course the news shocked people; he seemed to be a good person who gave of himself to help others. A year or so later I read an article that he had died in prison, though the article did not go into detail there were enough hints to tell that after he went to prison he rededicated his life to God and tried to make amends. It also said how his kids attended his funeral but his ex wife wanted nothing to do with the man. I thought to myself how hard it would have been for him and his family to have gone thru this tragic thing. I put his family on my prayer list for a few years, a time where I pray for fellow believers who have messed up and are in jail, whenever I read these stories they become part of this prayer time. Or people who have terminal illnesses, don’t you think it would be hard to pray and continue to do God’s will knowing that you only have so much time left? There are times in life when the purpose of God must take precedence over the things we are going thru. I am not saying these examples are the only types of ‘cross’ experiences people go thru, but they give us some insight into the difficulties that can happen. In Hebrews the scripture says that Jesus endured the Cross, despising the shame and has been seated at the right hand of God. Make no mistake about it, the shame and agony of the Cross were not things that ‘felt good’ to go thru, they were things that were despised, but they were things that needed to take place in order for a greater purpose to come forth. I mean whoever heard of a woman giving birth before the pain, and likewise we believers will go thru some tough things before Gods purpose will be fulfilled.
(1326) FOR AS THE NEW HEAVENS AND EARTH, WHICH I WILL MAKE, SHALL REMAIN, SO SHALL YOUR SEED AND NAME REMAIN- Isaiah 66:22 Well the senate finally passed health care reform; they still have some hurdles ahead, but they got the 60 votes needed to move forward. I do find it utterly corrupt that any single party would actually pass something that took away benefits from Republican states and not take them away from Democratic ones. And then have the audacity to make the ‘losing states’ underwrite the ‘winning states’. I can’t imagine the uproar in the country if Bush did this. Nebraska [Ben Nelson] cut a deal where they will never pay for the extended costs of Medicaid, ever. The ‘Federal govt.’ will forever cover their new costs. They are the only state that gets this deal. The Federal govt. pays stuff by taxing other states; in essence the rest of the country will be underwriting Nebraska, simply because they needed the Democratic vote. Florida, under Bill Nelson, another Democrat, will be the only state that will not lose Medicare Advance. This is a very popular program with senior citizens and every other state will lose this program. Why not Florida? Florida has lots of retired seniors, they need to keep the senate seat Democratic, so to get the seniors votes they did this deal. These deals are fundamentally corrupt, we are doing this at a time in the nation where we will be forcing families to pay a yearly 750 dollar fine if they don’t get insurance [or a 2% fine of their income, whichever is higher!] and many average income earners are really going to be in a bind. Much of the money will pay the profits and salaries of multi millionaires; this is wrong. In the 1960’s Harvey Cox [professor at Harvard] penned the book ‘the secular city’ it was a play on words from saint Augustine’s ‘city of God’. Augustine, as a true Amillennialist, wrote about the influence of the church/kingdom of God on the nations of the world, and how you could not separate virtue from public/political life. Cox would challenge this idea and teach that you could have a separation; you could run a nation apart from the morality of the church. Harvard would also produce the philosophy of ‘Pragmatism’ you govern by what is expedient, do what it takes to get the job done- don’t worry about what’s right or wrong type of a thing. God says his word/standards don’t go away, the things he states/creates are there for good. The Democratic Party ran rough shod over some very basic principles of right and wrong, when Harry Reid was asked about these insider deals, he said that’s the way they do business. In essence he said if your state didn’t get to do some under the table deal, then that’s your senator’s fault. The senate leader was being very pragmatic, doing what he needed to do to get the votes. I think they might have traded for a few votes today, at the expense of a bunch of them tomorrow.
(1327) GALATIANS; INTRO- Okay, finally made it, been wanting to teach this letter for a while. Let me overview some church history that I feel would be helpful in understanding the book. During the 16th century Reformation you had an explosion take place within Christianity, though the official ‘schism’ dates back to the year 1054 between the western [Catholic] and eastern [Orthodox] expressions of the church, yet in reality it was the 16th century upheaval that really split the church. A few centuries before [14-15th century] you had rumblings within the church that had well taught Catholic men challenging many of the institutional concepts of the church; men like John Huss, Wycliffe and others. These men were extremely influential and had an effect on the church. Then in the 16th century you had Catholic writers who remained within the Catholic Church, but they too challenged the status quoi. Men like Erasmus of Rotterdam, these intellectuals would call for the idea of going back to the original sources of study [Greek New Testament and also other renaissance ideas] and this too would lead to the historic Reformation. But without a doubt Martin Luther [the Catholic monk out of Wittenberg, Germany] would be the firebrand of the movement. Martin was a well trained Augustinian monk who struggled with the guilt of sin for many years. Not normal guilt, but extreme. A fellow Catholic leader would encourage Luther to trust in the grace of God for his forgiveness. While reading the book of Romans [whose themes relate strongly to Galatians] he would come along the famous passage ‘the just shall live by faith’ and in Luther’s mind this was a total release from the bondage of trying to appease God thru all the religious works that he was going thru. In essence Luther discovered the historic gospel of grace thru the reading of Romans and was set free. Now Luther had no intention of leaving the Catholic Church, but as a very influential teacher/scholar out of the university city in Germany, he had lots of influence. The Catholic church at the time was worldwide and you had differing views of the church in various states. Many saw the state of the church in Rome as having given in to materialism and become too worldly. Rome was at the time trying to raise money for the restoring of the religious buildings at Rome and one of the priests going around selling indulgences was named Tetzel. The abuse of selling these ‘get out of purgatory early’ things was offensive to many Catholics, and Luther had ‘no small stir’ when Tetzel reached his area. These things would lead to the famous nailing of the 95 questions on the door of Catholic academia and would be the beginnings of the historic split. While it would take way too much time to go into all the theological differences between the Protestants and the Catholics, one of the main issues deals with how we as Christians view ‘being saved’. The historic Protestant position is called ‘justification by faith alone’ [Sola Fide] the Catholics counter with ‘the only time ‘faith alone’ is mentioned is in the book of James, where it says a man is not saved/justified by ‘faith alone’. Ouch! The main point I want to make is this letter deals with the early church’s belief that man is accepted with God based on the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross. Paul will challenge the ‘Judaisers’ [those who believed you needed to keep the law in order to be saved] and will argue that the law itself [Old Testament books] teaches that men are justified/accepted with God based on believing in the free gift of God thru Christ. Make no mistake about it, the New Testament clearly teaches this doctrine. Catholic and Protestant theologians BOTH agree that man is freely saved by the grace of God in Christ. But at the time of Luther’s day these glorious truths were lost in the morass of religious tradition and works. As we read thru this letter in the next few days, I want all of our readers to see the argument Paul is making from this basic theological view point. Is man saved by works [keeping Gods law] or grace? The bible teaches grace. Now I don’t have the time to also introduce the modern controversy between the ‘new view’ of Paul between Protestants [called new perspective]. There is an ongoing debate over whether or not the historic Reformation view of Paul is correct [men like N.T. Wright and John Piper are hashing it out] and I do think there are some merits to this discussion, but before we can delve into that aspect, we first need to see the historic question of works versus faith, and this letter is one of the best to deal with the issue.
[Just a comment I left on Trevin Wax’s site- good site by the way- Trevinwax.com] Good article Trevin. As somewhat of an advocate for teaching a biblical worldview, I too feel that we might be missing the boat at times. In Galatians Paul tells us ‘when the fullness of times came, God sent forth his Son…’ In context this ‘fullness’ was speaking about the time period God gave to man under the Old Covenant in order to bring man to a point of helplessness, knowing he could not justify himself thru works. Then after this preparatory time he introduces the New Covenant and man is now ‘ready’ for the Messiah. Some worldview concepts seem to say that the ‘post modern’ man is not ready! That he needs another ‘fullness of time’ in order to prepare him for the gospel, C.S. Lewis’ pre-evangelism. Anyway the article was good. God bless from Corpus.
(1328) GALATIANS 1- Mark Twain said ‘the classics are books that everyone loves to praise, but nobody wants to read’. As we begin this study I can’t emphasize enough the need for Christians to read the bible! Many of the current problems in Christianity would be solved if we simply got back to reading the bible in context. Okay, in chapter one Paul defends his authority as being one who was sent by God, not man. He explains how after his conversion he spent years receiving direct revelation from God; he was not taught the gospel of grace by consulting with man. Paul was in a unique situation compared to the other apostles, Paul was the first apostle to have had a strong intellectual background in both Judaism and philosophy; he knew his stuff. This ‘allowed’ God to reveal things to Paul FROM THE SCRIPTURES that revealed Gods grace and the reality of how men are justified by faith and not thru the law. In essence Paul wasn’t out in left field receiving Divine revelations about things that nobody ever heard about. They were new things in the sense that they were hidden in God until the time that God chose to reveal them [Ephesians 3]. Paul rebukes them for forsaking the true gospel and being drawn to another gospel ‘which is not another’. Okay, what’s the true gospel Paul is speaking about? It’s not only the definition given by Paul in 1st Corinthians 15 [the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus] but it includes being justified by faith and not by the law. The Judaisers did believe in Jesus, but they were rejecting justification by faith alone. The false gospel that Paul is refuting is the gospel that said the Gentiles must ‘keep the law in order to be saved’ [see Acts 13 and 15]. In no uncertain terms Paul condemns this message; there was no compromising the reality of Gods free grace given to the elect. The actual faith itself that is deposited in the elect is a divine act of God [Ephesians 2] the unbeliever is dead in sins with no ability to ‘resurrect himself’ and the new birth is Gods sovereign act of raising a person from the dead [spiritually] and giving them faith. This is the gospel of grace. Paul was adamant about rejecting false gospels! In our day there are so many ‘gospels’ going around it’s not funny. I caught a few minutes of a TV evangelist the other day quoting verses from all over the bible in order to entice people to vow money to him; yes he used these words in no uncertain terms. He told the people they must quickly pick up the phone and dedicate the money to him, because it was this act of faith that would release the harvest. Now I don’t know how much longer God is going to allow stuff like this to go on, how much longer networks will continue to air this stuff, but we as believers/preachers need to condemn these false gospels in no uncertain terms. Paul will use strong language when defending the gospel; we need to get back to defending it too.
(1329) GALATIANS 2- Paul recounts his meeting with the apostles at Jerusalem; some feel he is talking about his first visit [Acts 11- before AD 50] others think he is discussing his Acts 15 meeting [right at around AD 50] I’m in the latter camp. Paul is basically telling the churches of Galatia that he already went thru this whole discussion with the main apostles at Jerusalem [Peter, James and John] and that they had already agreed that the Gentile believers did not need to get circumcised and come under the law in order to be saved. I do find it interesting that out of the 4 decrees that were made [read Acts 15] that the only one Paul recounts here is ‘to remember the poor’. The only decree worthy enough for Paul to recount is the one on charitable giving; those of you who have followed this blog for a while know how much I emphasize this point. If the early church was teaching tithing to the Gentile churches, surely it would have come up at the Jerusalem meeting, but it didn’t. This chapter has some important verses that all believers should commit to memory ‘if righteousness come by the law, then Christ died in vain’ ‘the life that I now live I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me’ etc. I really want all my Catholic/Protestant readers to pay attention to the verse’s that I just quoted; the bible clearly teaches that if men could ‘be saved’ by keeping Gods law, then Christ died in vain. Paul will go on to teach [chapter 3] that if there had been a law given that could have given men eternal life, then ‘being saved’ would come that way; but he then goes on to say that there never was a law given that men could keep in order to be saved. Paul always gives the caveat ‘does this mean we go out and break the 10 commandments’? And his answer is always a big NO! The point of this chapter is we as believers are saved because Jesus died to pay the penalty for our sin; the proof that the penalty was completely paid is in the fact that Jesus rose again [Romans 5]. All who believe in this reality are now the children of God, indeed ‘we are all the children of God by faith in Jesus Christ’.
(1330) GALATIANS 3- The main point of this chapter is God made a promise to Abraham that he would ‘bless’ all nations thru one of his kids someday [Genesis 12). This promise was given to Abraham 430 years before God gave the 10 commandments to Moses. Therefore the promise that men would be justified/saved by faith cannot be ‘undone’ by a later act of giving the law to Moses. The point being that Paul is arguing with the Galatians that their new view that they need to keep the law in order to ‘be saved’ [the blessing of Abraham IN CONTEXT!] is false because God already told Abraham it would be by faith in the coming Messiah. Paul then asks ‘is the law then against Gods promise’? No, it was given to man [Israel] until the time came for the promised child to be born [1st century], but now that the promised child is here we are no longer under the ‘schoolmaster’. The schoolmaster term can be confusing; the word in Greek means the person who walked the kids to school [truth] and then dropped them off AND LEFT. Paul is saying the law period served its purpose; it revealed mans sinful nature to him and then ‘dropped him off at the Cross’. Paul is saying the law fulfilled its purpose and we are now under grace. As new creatures in Christ we walk in love and fulfill the righteousness of the law by our new nature, it’s not a legalistic thing. There is some confusion today on this chapter; some were taught that ‘the blessing of Abraham’ was speaking of the promises in Deuteronomy on financial blessings. And that the curse is speaking about the curse of ‘poverty’. Though it is true that the bible does speak about this in the Old Testament, in context Paul is not saying this here. Paul explains what he means about the ‘curse of the law’. He says it’s the curse of never being able to do enough to appease God, the man that is under the law puts himself under this mindset of perfectionism and lives under this constant feeling of never being able to do enough. This was Paul’s previous experience as a Pharisee. When Paul teaches that we are delivered from ‘the curse’ so the ‘blessing of Abraham might come on the gentiles, that we might receive THE PROMISE OF THE SPIRIT BY FAITH’ he is not saying Jesus died to make us financially rich, he is saying Jesus delivered us from the old law mindset of legalism and we now have forgiveness and acceptance as a free gift- ‘being now justified by faith we have peace with God thru our Lord Jesus Christ’ [Romans 5].
(1331) GALATIANS 4- Paul says there was a time period before the promise would be fulfilled thru Christ; that time has come to an end [the law] and we are now in ‘the fullness of times’. When we were under the law we were no different than servants, but now in grace we are mature sons, people able to inherit the promise. Paul says why do you desire to go back under the ‘restraint’ phase, the time of discipline and legalism, we are now in a fullness stage thru the New Covenant and we don’t need the old mentality anymore. Once again Paul really ‘spiritualizes’ the Old Testament in his teaching, he says that the law [Old Testament] taught this difference between law and grace. He uses the story of Abraham having 2 sons [Ishmael, Isaac] and he says ‘cant you hear what the law is saying’? One son was born by promise [Isaac] the other thru the works of the flesh [law]. And just like it was back then, the one born after the flesh persecuted the one born after the Spirit, so today [1st century] those after the flesh/law are persecuting those born after the Spirit. It’s important to see that Paul DOES NOT use this analogy to describe Jewish/Muslim [Arab] relations; he actually refers to natural Israel as ‘Ishmael’! He says the Judaisers [Jews zealous of the law] were fulfilling the type/symbol by persecuting Gentile believers. We need to keep these distinctions in our minds, because when we don’t rightfully discern the truth we do damage to the non ethnic testimony of the gospel. Paul says the law relates to natural Israel/Jerusalem who is under bondage with her children, but the ‘New Jerusalem’ which is above is the mother of us all, and this Jerusalem relates to the church. The New Jerusalem is not referring to a physical city that will ‘hover over the earth during the millennium rule’ [EEK!] But it refers to the new community people of God, the church. I have written on this before and these references in the New Testament [Revelation, Hebrews- us being the new Zion, etc.] are speaking of the church, the people of God. Paul once again speaks of ‘natural Jerusalem’ in a negative light, in the sense that he teaches those who are under the law are not walking in the fullness of the promises of God as come in the Messiah. The New Testament spends no time engaging in the glorying of any ethnic group [whether it be Israel, Gentile, etc.] It’s not that the apostles were being anti Semitic, it’s just the emphasis is on the new kingdom of God and the new people of God [the church made up of both Jew and Gentile]. Its striking to compare the writings of the first Jewish believers to the current trends amongst many evangelical preachers, the two don’t mesh well.
(1332) Been doing some reading on church history/philosophy, it’s interesting to see the role that theology/Christianity played in the universities. Theology is referred to as ‘the queen of the sciences’ and philosophy was her ‘handmaid’. They saw the root of all learning as originating with the study ‘of God’. Many modern universities have dropped the term ‘theology’ and call it ‘the study of religion’. The study of religion is really the study of how man relates to God, his view of God; this would fit under anthropology/sociology, not under theology. Modern learning has lost the importance of the study of God and the role it plays in all the other sciences. The classic work of Homer [8th century BC] called the Iliad, has Achilles debating whether or not he should ‘stay and fight along the city of the Trojans’ and attain the legacy of a warrior; or to go ‘back to my homeland and live a long life’. He chooses to fight and lay his life on the line. The themes of the classics [courage, heroism, etc.] are biblical themes, even if God is not directly mentioned. The point being to try and exclude God from learning is silly, you can’t do it. Around the 17-18th century you had the philosophy of Existentialism rise up, as an ‘ism’ it really is a misnomer; ‘ism’ is a suffix that you add to the end of a word that makes it a system- ‘humanism’ ‘secularism’ etc. but existentialism is a word that means ‘anti-system’. Nevertheless the person who popularized this belief was a Christian, Soren Kierkegaard. The system he was rebelling against was the dead institutionalism of the Danish church, he felt that Christianity devolved into dead orthodoxy and lost all of its passion for true living and experiencing God. Nietzsche would pick up on this philosophy and apply it to atheism, and in the 20th century men like Albert Camou and John Paul Sartre would also embrace it from an atheistic worldview. They would say things like ‘man is a useless passion’ or write books titled ‘Nausea’ summing up the human condition. Though the 19th century atheistic humanists tried to give value and exalt the state of man, in their rejection of God and Christianity they were taking away the foundation for mans value. If you tell society that they arrived on the scene by some cosmic accident of evolution, and when you die you dissipate into nothingness, then how do you at the same time glory in his natural abilities to reach some point of Utopia? As the late Frances Schaeffer said ‘they were philosophers who had both feet planted firmly in mid air’. The point being when you neglect the reality and role that God and Christianity play in every sphere of life, you are then removing the foundation that these spheres were built on, true science and learning derive their basis from God. The greatest scientific minds of the past were either Christians or Deists, they were too smart to try and reject the reality of an eternal being.
(1333) THE CHRISTMAS DAY PLOT [12-09] The talk of the town this past week has been the failed bombing attempt of an airplane over Detroit. The Nigerian man [looks like a young boy!] came from a well to do family and was radicalized while attending an upper class school in London. He made contact with Al Qaeda in Yemen and did some training there before boarding an American bound plane from the Netherlands to Detroit. The mans father had previously contacted our U.S. embassy and informed them that he felt his son was a danger, that he had embraced radical Islam. When the man boarded the plane he paid cash [around 3 thousand dollars] he had no luggage and bought a one way ticket. He was on a terrorist watch list [with some half a million names] and never made it to the smaller ‘no fly’ list. The plot failed because the man was unable to light the explosive, just like Richard Reid, another terrorist. The initial response from the white house has come under lots of criticism; it took the president 3 days before responding to the public from his Hawaiian vacation. The head of homeland security, Janet Napolitano, made the statement ‘our system worked’ and also has been criticized. Okay, the administration’s response has been lacking and defensive. They still dragged out ‘the Bush card’ in their defense. The president said the security policies that have been in place for years [Bush] failed and he would do all in his power to fix it. Why did it have to wait till now? The president ran on a platform that accused the previous administration as utter failures in all areas and that if elected he would go in and fix the failures. The fact that he now says these failures were Bush’s policies is simply an immature excuse from someone who is in over his head. If you thought there were problems to begin with, and stated this ‘thought’ publicly many times, then you can’t now say we didn’t fix it, and it was Bush’s fault! It’s been a year since the inauguration and they need to stop doing this. One of the president’s top security guys, John Brennan, made the Sunday rounds on the talk shows. He said ‘there was no smoking gun that we missed’. What! You have to be kidding me. The Republicans are not without fault, some have used this event as a political tool, that’s wrong. One of the main problems as I see it is the president did run on a platform that said over and over that he would take a different ideological approach than the previous administration. The approach would be less of a ‘war on terror’ idea, and more of a war against individual groups who are trying to harm us, this is a real difference, if he is now coming under criticism for his approach, he can’t keep saying ‘we’re doing everything Bush did’. If that’s true then he lied when he said he would not operate like Bush. The fact is we just bombed the actual camps that this young man was trained in, in Yemen. A few weeks later he was bound for the U.S. with explosives. The reason we gave this man a lawyer and allowed him all the rights of a U.S. citizen, is because the president believes this approach is more noble and would bring better results in our image with the world. Some have brought out the fact that Richard Reid was also prosecuted in U.S. courts under Bush [there goes that card again!]. The fact is Reid was not given a lawyer until many months after being interrogated. So the president has chosen to not interrogate, but to treat him like a criminal. The problem with this approach is this man might have easily been killed by our predator drone attack a few weeks earlier, attacks that our country regularly engages in, in Muslim countries. Many of these bombings have killed innocent Muslim/Arab women and children. Yet he could have been killed on the spot by the current administration without judge or jury. Why, well because we are ‘at war’. Yet this same person, who was at the risk of being bombed for simply training in a camp that wants to attack us, this same person- if he makes it on to a plane with actual explosives and actually attempts to detonate the thing, he is protected by the U.S. constitution, will get to ‘plea bargain’ and will have his day in court where he can espouse his radical beliefs. Gee, it seems to me that we are simply encouraging these guys to make it to the U.S.
(1334) One of the most important finds of the 20th century was a little book called ‘the Didache’, it is either a first or 2nd century document that encapsulates a short instruction for new comers who wanted to be a part of the church. It is important because it gives us a glimpse of how the early Christians viewed the faith. For instance it puts much importance on caring for the poor and doing works of charity, it goes so far to speak about fasting for the purpose of saving up some extra money to feed the poor. It warns strenuously against greed, it calls people false prophets if they stick around town too long and ask for money. I mean it’s strong. It also shows us how disconnected we have become from what the early believers valued. Yesterday I had a good day with my homeless buddies; I ‘heard’ that Buck had died. Buck was a good friend who struggled with alcoholism, many of the guys drink, but Buck was what you would call a ‘falling down in the street’ drunk. But when he was sober he was a good guy. I guess he was around 60 or so. I remember one time he showed up at the homeless hangout and he was all beat up, black eyes and stuff. The story was he went thru an ‘initiation’ at the camp, 2 of the other guys ‘initiated’ him by beating the hell out of him and taking his wallet, Buck said it was a voluntary thing that he agreed to go thru for ‘protection’. I said that’s funny, we used to call that ceremony ‘getting mugged’. All in all Buck was an all right friend, with many struggles. He did attend the local street ‘church meetings’ and made attempts to go to some of the retreats they hold for the guys. I spent some time with Henry; he is a very knowledgeable brother who always asks great questions. I mean he knows the bible by heart, studies the original Greek and Hebrew meanings of the words, he is a real pro. He has been living in an old run down RV for a few months. The people let him stay in it and he does some work around the property. They have a beautiful horse and a bunch of fruit trees; I filled up a bag with lemons and had a good time fellowshipping with Henry. My friend John David has been clean for 6 months now and is living up in Austin, that was great to hear. John was addicted to Cocaine, I told you his story around 6 months ago [in the homeless section]. His other brother Andy went to Mexico, he’s the brother I lent one of my good study books to, O well. All in all the guys are doing as well as can be expected, it’s pretty cold right now, that’s why some of them come south for the winter. My good friend Dirk is back, I have known Dirk for 20 years, he lives in an old beat up van and survives on a disability check, he’s legally deaf. He is a good friend, he comes for the winters and heads back to Michigan in the summer, he really is homeless but tries to pass himself off [to the cops] as a retired tourist, it is funny. And old Roger has been in jail since last Christmas, he walked into HEB [grocery store] and saw Tommy Nichols [a cop who the locals hate] Roger has been arrested many times by Nichols and Roger was drunk and told him ‘I’ll kill all you cops’ they arrested him and charged him with making a terroristic threat, he’s still got some time to do. I want to encourage you guys; do you spend any time reaching out to the hurting? Maybe fast a day or 2 and send the money to the feed the children groups? I just renewed my own effort in sending money to the kids, I was reading Christianity today on line and the screen kept asking if I would send some money, I kept clicking it off and then realized I need to send some. So I started sending $22 a month, not much, but it helps. I just want to challenge all of us to become involved in some way, maybe you won’t make as many homeless friends as I have, that’s fine- but try and make at least one! Make an effort and see what the Lord will do, it will be well worth trying.
(1336) Just a comment I left on Christianity Today magazine- ‘Many good points- I think we need to distinguish between those who see ‘organic church’ as a vessel of transformation, and those who are seeking a historically/biblical understanding of the Ecclesia and exactly what the word means. The New Testament clearly speaks of 'church’ as an organic community of people, to understand and come to terms with this reality might take different forms and have various ways people express it, but to understand the biblical basis of 'organic church’ is more than just a new movement/way of 'doing church'’.
(1335) GALATIANS 5- Paul’s main theme is if we possess the Spirit as believers [being indwelt by God’s Spirit] then let us also walk in/by the Spirit, as opposed to trying to please God by the law and being circumcised. Paul will use the somewhat controversial term ‘ye are fallen from grace’ which simply means that these Gentile believers started by faith and went back to the old Jewish system, much like the themes in the book of Hebrews. Paul says when you go back to the law you have left grace. Christ has ‘become of no effect to you, you who are justified by the law’. This is a good example of how words and certain phrases can develop over the centuries of church history and develop a different meaning over time. In essence the bible does teach that a person can ‘fall from grace’ but this does not describe what the modern reader might think. The first church father who attempted to formulate the Christian doctrine of the Trinity was a man named Tertullian, he lived in the second century and was what theologians refer to as one of the Latin fathers [as opposed to the Greek ones- Origen, etc.] Tertullian was famous for the sayings ‘what does Jerusalem have to do with Athens’ and ‘I believe because it is absurd’ he was resisting the influence of Greek philosophy on the church, he felt that Greek wisdom was influencing the church too much. He was trained in law before becoming a theologian [like Luther and Calvin of 16th century Reformation fame] and he used the words ‘God is one substance/essence and also three persons’ later church councils would agree with this language. But the word ‘person’ at Tertullian’s time was the Latin word ‘personi’ which was taken from the theater and meant a person/actor who would put on different masks during the play; the word had a little different meaning then what we think of today as ‘person’. Later centuries would come to condemn certain Christian groups who seem to have formulated language on the Trinity that expresses the same thing as what the original developer of the doctrine meant to say, but because words and their meanings change over time we get ourselves into disputes that might be getting us off track. Paul also tells the Galatians that if they become circumcised that they are obligating themselves to keep all the law. Of course the medical procedure that many have done in our day is not what he is speaking about, but in Paul’s day getting circumcised was the religious rite that placed you into the religion of Judaism, and this is what Paul is refuting among the Galatians, he tells them not to go down that road. This chapter has lots of good ‘memory verses’, the famous lists of the works of the flesh versus the fruit of the Spirit are found here, and it seems pretty clear to me that Paul identified circumcision with the moral law of the 10 commandments, that is he saw being circumcised as an act that obligated you to ‘keep all the law’ some theologians are discussing whether or not Paul meant the law of Moses when speaking about going ‘back under the law’ some think Paul was speaking only of the ceremonial law and the system of animal sacrifices when he was telling the gentiles that they should not go under the law, I believe if you read Paul in context both in this letter and the book of Romans, that he is speaking of the moral law too, not just the ceremonial law. All in all Paul exhorts these believers to fight for their right to be free from the past restraints of religion and bondage, he tells them to not desire to go back under a system of bondage, that Christ has made us free from that legalistic way of life and he has liberated us by giving us the Holy Spirit- if we ‘walk in the Spirit we will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh, for the flesh lusts against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh, and these two are contrary one to the other, so that you cannot do the things that you would’ amen to that.
(1337) IS THERE MORE GOING ON WITH THE CHRISTMAS DAY PLOT? While not a conspiracy theorist myself, if you pay close attention to the last few statements from the white house, there seems to be a bigger problem than the president is willing to admit. There have been some insiders who have floated the belief that the president believes that the CIA and other intelligence people might have purposefully allowed this tragedy to happen. In one of the last speeches the president made on the plot, the lead up to the speech was the president was going to drop a bombshell, his people said this. Yet during the speech there was no bombshell, yet he really rebuked the intelligence agencies and said he would not tolerate such incompetence. Then Richard Wolf, a regular on MSNBC who has inside access to the president [he has written a book on the president and is writing another one now] said on MSNBC that the president and his people believe that it’s possible that the intelligence agencies purposefully withheld information as some type of political vendetta. In the second hour he came back and ‘corrected’ his statement, he then said ‘well it’s a theory that is still 10 steps down the road’. It’s obvious that someone from the white house contacted him and told him to shut up. How could something like this be possible? When the president appointed Leon Panetta to head the CIA, as a democrat Panetta was furious over the way the democratic liberal agenda was going as it related to his agency. Nancy Pelosi would accuse them of regularly lying all the time to congress, other democrats/liberal politicians also went so far as to say it was possible that those who carried out the interrogations using the accepted practices that they were told to use, that these employees might now have committed war crimes! And last but not least the attorney general, Eric Holder, opened up investigations into the employees that might lead to convictions and imprisonment. What exactly were the crimes these govt. employees engaged in? They simply followed the orders of the previous administration, orders that were approved by the previous attorney general [Alberto Gonzales]. Do you know what this does to the morale of these agencies? You now have govt. employees going home to their wives and kids, and not just worrying about their jobs, but real fears that our govt. might do some outrageous thing and who knows, maybe turn them over to the world court in the Hague to face a war crime tribunal. This stuff is not funny, this is why Leon Panetta and other democrats who know how these communities work were outraged over our politicians regularly accusing them as being lying criminals. Now, as someone who worked as a firefighter for 25 years, the truth is if you feel your superiors are going behind your back and accusing you of dereliction of duty, if they told you to do things and later said that these orders you carried out are now making you liable to do prison time, this would affect the inner working of the community in a terrible way, no one would want to go out of his way and speak up and say ‘sure, I’ll be the one to go out on a limb and turn this possible bomber in’ no, you clam up because you have created a political environment that has people walking on eggshells, this is the real world my friends. Now with all this as the background, you can see how it ‘slipped out’ that the president and his people believe its possible that these agencies didn’t act on purpose, this might very well be an in house war that is affecting the nation in ways people don’t know. I do not know what the ‘bombshell’ was that the president was supposed to say, but he changed his mind and did not say it. But it’s very likely that he was going to say something along the lines of ‘I will not tolerate the purposeful holding back of information because of political vendettas’ or something like that. I in no way blame this incident on the president or our people, but when you play politics with people’s lives, like going after your own employees as criminals, by publicly accusing them of always lying to congress, it’s inevitable that this creates a non cooperative work place environment, everyone with real world experience knows this.
(1338) GALATIANS 6- Paul closes this short theological treatise with some practical stuff; help each other out with their burdens, if you see a brother struggling, restore him in the spirit of meekness. Those who are teaching you Gods word, ‘communicate’ to them in all good things [share with them financially and materially]. Good advice that Paul gives to all of the churches he writes to. As we close our study of this letter, I want to emphasize that the majority of what Paul is teaching [over 90%] is great theological truth, it would be silly for preachers/teachers to grasp hold of any single verse and to exalt that above the main body of truths that we have discussed. It isn’t hard for any preacher/teacher to go thru this letter on a few Sundays and teach the main truths of the letter. We desperately need to get back to doing it this way in many Pentecostal/Protestant/Evangelical churches- and yes, the ‘organic church’ guys too! We all have a tendency to pick out pet doctrines out of the New Testament and then to make the side issues the main thing. I think the main thing [justification by faith, the blessing of Abraham in context, etc.] is good enough without us having to try and find some type of ‘Rhema word’ that is not the main word of God. Recently a good man died, Oral Roberts. A few weeks have passed and I think it is okay to mention a few things. The media reported how many preachers showed up to the funeral in Cadillac’s and expensive cars, there have been various articles written about the legacy he will leave behind. Some wrongly said he was the father of the ‘Word of Faith/prosperity movement’ [E.W. Kenyon was the real father, and Kenneth Hagin and others lay claim to the title]. The point I want to make is Brother Roberts was a good man who did good things, but his way of doing doctrine is not my cup of tea. He was famous for popularizing the ‘seed-faith’ teaching. It comes from Paul’s letters when he does tell believers that if they give in faith God will bless them, true enough. But when we read the New Testament there are many warnings against greed and materialism, and when we take a simple practical truth from Paul, even though it’s true, and when this truth becomes our main message, then we err. In this last chapter of Galatians Paul gives practical advice about giving financially to those who are teaching you, good. But this is one verse in a letter filled with other main teachings, the important stuff if you will. For believers in our day to have built ministries/churches and to have as the foundation of these ministries the few practical side verses, is wrong. We need to focus on the main thing, and keep the main thing the main thing! [Redemption thru Christ’s Blood, eternal life to those who believe, etc.] I don’t want to speak bad about brother Roberts, he was a good man who went home to be with the Lord, it’s just the discussion that has happened after his passing shows us how easy it is for good men to get sidetracked with a verse or 2 and then to exalt it out of context. As I conclude this brief study on Galatians, I think I will go back over a few main verses in the next week or so and give you some ‘practical’ things that I have gleaned these last few weeks. In a sense I will show you how God can speak to us in a personal way thru these letters, yet at the same time not losing the original meaning of the letters. One of the distinctions of the early church fathers was this Christ centered approach to the scripture, they looked for Jesus on every page. I’ll end with an example from Saint Augustine; he shared a thought on the story of Jesus walking on the water to the land, and that the disciples needed a wooden boat to ‘cross over’ he then applied the wood of the boat to the wood of the Cross and said how the Cross allows us to cross over to God, just like the boat let them cross over to the land. Now this is a simple example of applying scripture in a sort of symbolic way that is not in context, but nevertheless it’s okay to do. So I will do a few things like this in the next few posts. But while doing this, we want to not forget the main meaning of the letter, a good ‘side example’ should never negate the main body of truth.
(1339) In Johns’ gospel, chapter 3, John the Baptist’s disciples tell him ‘look- Jesus is baptizing more converts than you and you are losing the crowd’. John tells them that he is fine with losing the limelight, he says his joy is in the fact that the bride [believers] is heading towards the bridegroom [Jesus] and he is glad that he can at least hear the interaction. I find it interesting that John did not find his identity in how many people he was personally ministering to, he did not need a large audience [or any!] in order to feel fulfilled. But he did need to hear the voice of Jesus; he had to at least have that. Over the years of ‘doing ministry’ I have always found it troubling that so many men in ministry seem to be in a race to get people to show up at some meeting environment, if you can ‘pack the parking lot’ you feel fulfilled. Now, God is concerned about numbers, don’t get me wrong, if you ‘pack the parking lot’ fine. The point is we should be able to ‘feel fulfilled’ by simply hearing the voice of the bridegroom. When the church gives in to the pressure of class and status, she loses her prophetic voice to society. In 14th century England you had a general distaste for the church, the people resented the wealth and class that the church achieved, many voices [John Wycliffe] spoke out against these abuses, even the great English poet Geoffrey Chaucer would write about it in his famous ‘Canterbury tales’ [how many of you still remember English Lit?] The church achieved numbers and wealth and fame, but lost her prophetic voice and influence to the world. To all you Pastors/leaders, are you more focused on big numbers and how many need to attend in order to bring in enough tithes to accomplish certain goals? If so then re-focus, don’t let your emotions go up and down based on stuff like this, one things is needful, John said that’s what made him happy, his ‘joy was fulfilled’ in hearing the voice of Jesus, how about you?
(1340) GALATIANS AFTER-THOUGHTS: As I said the other day I will try and go back over a few verses and share a few more things on Galatians. One of the things I wanted to mention was the fact that I purposefully chose to teach the letter in the classic Protestant way [mostly] I avoided getting into the ‘New Perspective’ ideas on Paul and ‘what he really meant’. So let’s talk a little on it; as of the date of this writing there is a theological debate going on [mostly in the ivory towers, but seeping somewhat into mainstream thought] that re-looks at Paul and what the context of his day was. For instance when the Reformers of the 16th century spoke about being Justified by Faith and not by works, many of them were speaking about the works of tradition and the things they felt were wrong in the Catholic faith. Were they wrong in applying Paul this way? No. In context was Paul talking about the works of ‘Catholic tradition’ when saying men are not justified by works? No. So it’s good to point stuff like this out. The problem I see with some of the New Perspective theologians is they can explain stuff and when you’re done listening [reading] it’s possible to miss the heart of the New Testament doctrine on Justification by faith, we don’t want to lose people in the weeds when trying to peel the layers of the onion. So I purposefully chose to teach this letter in the plain way that most Protestants would understand it, but I do think that N.T. Wright [Bishop of Durham, Church of England] has good things to add to the debate [as well as John Piper- the Reformed Baptist preacher who has taken the New Perspective group and rebuked them]. It’s good and profitable to engage in these types of theological discussions, but we need to once again ‘keep the main thing the main thing’. I also avoided getting into the debate on exactly what ‘works of the law’ meant. Some think Paul was only referring to the rite of circumcision. In some verses [both here and in Romans] this is true. But some [N.T. Wright] apply this in a way that says the act itself was simply an ‘identifying badge’ that brought you into the community of God, while this is true, they get a little off track by not fully seeing that in Paul’s writings these things go hand in hand. Paul mixes in the ‘work of circumcision’ with the idea of keeping the moral law/10 commandments. When saying ‘we are not under the law’ Paul includes all of it, not just the ceremonial law. How do we know this? Because whenever Paul makes this argument he always adds ‘does this mean we go out and sin’? And his answer is always no, but instead of saying ‘no, don’t sin because we are still constrained by the 10 commandments’ he says ‘no, how can we who died to sin still live in it’. To be frank about it, many of the Reformed guys have problems with this as well, they teach a kind of theology that says the N.T. believer is under the law, I disagree. So as you can see this debate can go on for a while, that’s why I chose to avoid it in this study. I want all of our readers to be grounded in the basic truths of the letter before launching into a deeper level. Okay enough for now, tune in the next week or so and I’ll try and do some practical stuff from Galatians.
(1341) MEDIA BIAS- This week the big story is the statement from Harry Reid, when discussing Obama’s chances at becoming president he said ‘he’s light skinned, and doesn’t speak with a Negro dialect, unless he wants to’ OUCH! Okay, the Black leadership has for the most part forgiven him and he admitted he was wrong. Everyone knows that if a Republican said it he’d be run out on a rail, but that’s politics. The media bias I want to talk about is more serious than this. A few weeks back I watched a news show that profiled a business woman who owned a bike store and they showed how she had customers with all this money to buy, but she couldn’t get a loan from ‘the evil banks’ and because of this she had no money for inventory or expansion. And then they showed a guy who owned a scooter store and he faced the same problem. The media has been trying to portray the economies problems on the fact that some businesses are unable to obtain loans and that this is why the recession is lingering. This is fundamentally not true, then why are they saying it? It’s because they are such strong advocates for the president that this story line sort of gets him off the hook. The majority of small businesses are not in trouble because they can’t secure loans, many of them are feeling the heat of customers who are not purchasing because of loss of jobs and an overall sluggish economy. Many businesses are facing a very anti business environment from this president, that’s just a fact. Businesses will not hire new employees in an unstable atmosphere where they don’t know what their costs are going to be. They are facing the huge cost of having to provide health care to their workers, or pay steep fines if they don’t. Cap and trade [the president’s way to appease his environmentalist constituency] will be a disaster for an ailing economy; it will raise the cost of business all around and even raise the cost of energy for every homeowner in the country. You simply can’t follow these types of policies in an economy that is weak like ours. So the problem is not that businesses can’t get loans, it is the other major factors that are anti business that play a bigger role. A few years ago the well meaning political lobbying groups who advocate for the rights of minorities put pressure on the politicians to force the banks to make more loans to minorities, though they meant well, the banks said if you force us to not use the simple credit standards that we have always used, regardless of race, then we will have problems. Nevertheless the pressure on the banks was ‘you guys must be racists because you are not lending enough money to minorities’. So men like Barney Frank and Chris Dodd oversaw the policies that forced the banks to lend money to many innocent blacks who were in over the heads. These are not the scams that were done by crooked lenders, these were simple home loans to people who normally would not qualify, but because of politics they ‘qualified’. During the Bush administration there were a few people who raised the red flag and began saying ‘we are going to face a huge problem if we don’t fix the problems with Fannie and Freddie’ [the governments insurance for home loans] Barney Frank and other democrats actually said that these Republicans who raised the red flag were trying to create a crisis environment where there was none. In essence Frank and Dodd ignored all the real warnings and this led to the financial disaster the country faced. Now you would think that after this almost criminal negligence [Dodd did get a sweetheart deal from these same banks that he was working with] these guys would be removed from these positions and never have their influence felt again. But instead they led the charge in blaming everything on Bush and the evil bankers who were always out to get you. So now we are demonizing the banks, after all it’s their so called unwillingness to lend that’s behind all the problems. The media tells this story over and over again until we believe it. Sure, the banks were part of the problem, and the fact that AIG operated like a bank, but without the regulations of a bank, these things added to the problem. But today the overall policies of the govt. can either be realistic or ideological; you can say your plan is to pour tons of money into ‘green jobs’ but this is a joke, to be honest about it. The govt. just admitted that all the billions that were poured into ‘road ready’ projects did not create any jobs, most of the other bailout money that was sent to the states was simply used to pay bills and payroll for the states, and it too did not create jobs. If the president does not seriously see the problem, then no matter how much more ‘stimulus’ you put into the economy, it will fail, it is simply creating a bigger debt which in itself is a drag on business. While the Harry Reid stories are fodder for the media, the media does a greater disservice to the country when they advocate so strongly for a president to the point where they play along with the skewed story line, they need to stop blaming everything on the evil bankers and the fat cats on wall street, they need to seriously get back to reporting news.
(1342) WHEN THE SEED SHOULD COME TO WHOM THE PROMISE WAS MADE- As I was teaching thru Galatians this verse ‘spoke to me’ in a personal way [will explain it in a second]. I felt like the Lord was saying that there are long term promises/destinies that he has planted within us, both as individuals and communities, and that often times he is waiting for the ‘seed to come to whom the promise was made’. In the parables of Jesus the seed speaks of a few things. Most of us are familiar with 'the seed as the word’ imagery- ‘the sower sows the word’. But Jesus also speaks of ‘the seed’ as the children of the kingdom that his father has planted in the world. And of course in Galatians Paul is specifically referring to the singular seed, who is Christ. Every few years I go thru our radio messages and will adjust the programs I air. I often find that the messages that I marked as ‘o.k.’ are not o.k. anymore, it’s not that they are bad, it’s just I notice a tone/level of ‘seed’ [spoken word] that is not mature enough, it seems like as the years roll by the later messages just sound better. God has all of us in a maturing process; things that we thought were ‘deep revelation’ at one time, now sound quite silly. As I was marking off the programs that sounded too immature, I felt like the Lord was saying ‘the seed has come to whom the promise was made’ sort of like the lord was saying ‘son, I was waiting for your level of maturity to catch up to the promise’. Also in Romans it says ‘the whole creation groans and travails in pain together until now’ I also felt like the Lord was saying the seed, as it pertains to all the people groups we relate to, were also in a ‘birthing process’ that too had to mature to a point where the promises could be inherited- ‘when the fullness of times was come, God sent forth his son, made of a woman, made under the law’ [Galatians] God has ‘fullness seasons’ times [Kairos] when he says ‘okay, the promises I made to you at the beginning of the journey are now ready to be experienced’ in essence the seed has come to whom the promise was made. Now, this sort of spiritual/symbolic way of hearing God, is it a good way to develop doctrine? No! Never, ever! Pope Benedict critiqued the ‘historical, critical’ method of liberal theology in his book ‘Jesus of Nazareth’ the method developed out of the liberal universities in Germany in the 19th- 20th centuries. Men like Rudolph Bultman would popularize it. It was a way of reading scripture thru an historical/archeological lens. Some of the ideas are good and profitable, but some are not. Many would reject the supernatural aspects of scripture and come to deny the resurrection. Not good. The Pope also warned against this way of ‘dissecting’ Jesus and Christianity to a point where you really don’t see the true Jesus anymore. The real Jesus of Christianity and history, the Jesus that we all have a relationship with by faith. The point being we want to go to scripture with an open heart and expectancy to ‘hear God’. While doing this, we also want to recognize that the scripture had the SAME MEANING to the first century church as to us today, the meaning never changes, the applications do. That’s the main point I want to make, so today the Lord might be speaking to you about certain ‘seeds’ coming to maturity in your own life, things that you have been waiting for and maybe the lord was saying he needed a maturing process to take place, both in you and the people you relate to. The ‘whole creation’ if you will.
(1343) One of the other themes that spoke to me from Galatians was the idea that Israel and the world were under a ‘schoolmaster phase’ until the fullness of times arrived. This phase was the whole economy of Old Testament law and rule. I felt like the Lord was saying that many of us have been led, and actually have arrived, at places and purposes the hard way; i.e. - the ‘tutor’ phase. That is God allowed the process of trial and error and discipline to work in us until we arrived at the purpose and goal. Isaiah says that ‘I have chosen you in the furnace of affliction’ yes, this way of ‘arriving’ is much more painful, but it still gets you there. Now the entire discipline phase for the world was the time period before the Cross. The law and the Old Covenant were the only way to ‘get there’ so to speak. If people wanted to have a relationship with God, they were either born Jews, or converted to Judaism. Today of course we have access thru the Cross. One of the earliest ‘cults’ of Christianity was a sect call ‘Gnosticism’ these early adherents mixed Greek dualism [material world bad, spirit world good type of a thing] in with Christianity, they taught that the God of the Old Testament was the evil God who created the material world, and that thru Jesus we can come to know the true God of the New Testament, the God who gives us salvation by delivering us from the material world. Though it seems like there are verses in the New Testament that teach that the ‘world’ is evil and that God wants to ‘deliver us from this present evil world’ [Galatians] yet in these contexts ‘the world’ is simply speaking of the lost system of man and the ‘way of the world’. In Christian theology matter is not inherently evil. The Apostle John would deal with the Gnostics in his first epistle by saying ‘whoever denies that Jesus has come in the flesh is not of God- they are anti-Christ’. Because the Gnostics believed all matter to be evil they would reject the humanity of Jesus, John was targeting them in his letter. As I mentioned before the controversy over the Trinity was settled at the council of Nicaea [a.d.325] but the church still battled with the nature of Jesus. Nicaea said ‘God is one essence/substance and 3 persons’. But this did not fully deal with the nature of Jesus, various ideas rose up [Monarchianism, Dynamic Monarchianism] that challenged the nature of Christ. In 451 a.d. the church settled on the language that ‘Jesus is one person with 2 substances/essences [natures]’, though to some this looks like a contradiction to the earlier language of Nicaea, this council in 451 [Chalcedon] was simply saying Jesus was ‘fully God and fully man’ so anyway we were all under the discipline phase until the ‘fullness of times’. I am believing God to get us to the destination with less ‘tutoring’ if you will, less trial and error. Sure, we will never fully get to the point of not making a few mistakes and stumbling along the way, but as we get older hopefully we will ‘stumble less’.
(1344) THE WEEK IN REVIEW- Okay, we had lots happening this past week; the tragic earthquake in Haiti, estimates are that there might be around 100,000 deaths, tragic indeed. The firestorm from MSNBC over the comments made by Pat Robertson, he said Haiti made a deal with the devil to get free from French rule and that all has gone bad since, not to smart of a statement. And there is a possible upset for the democratically held seat of former senator Ted Kennedy, the Republican [Scott] might beat the Democrat [Coakley] this would be a major disaster for the Democrats. First, Haiti is a real tragedy and we need to pray and send help and support and get behind the presidents efforts to help. Now, the statement from Pat Robertson, did it deserve the apoplectic response of the MSNBC talking heads? Not really. There is a story that Haiti did ‘sign a pact with the devil’ and that because of Haiti’s majority religion of choice, Voodoo, this has affected the country. Do we know for sure about ‘the pact’? No, but the demonism practiced by many does have a negative effect on Haiti. The nonsensical argument made by the critics of Robertson goes like this ‘Robertson, and all other adherents to right wing conservative Christianity suffer from a collective arrogance/ignorance because of the choice of their religion- their religion has effected them for the worse in a corporate way- i.e. made them ignoramuses’ and then they say it is reprehensible to even think about the possibility that the religion of Voodoo could have a corporate negative impact on Haiti. Am I missing something here? Now to the Massachusetts race, why is the Democrat having so much trouble [besides the fact that she ran a terrible campaign]? The Republican candidate has made health care the number one issue in the race, the state is 3 to 1 Democratic, with a large group of Independents. Like I said before, many well meaning, elderly north eastern liberals/moderates voted for the president, these voters have for the most part turned against the health care debacle, they have been told ‘you will lose 500 billion from your main insurance provider [Medicare] you will pay higher taxes in general for these reforms, many of your current premiums will go up, you might have to deal with adding 30 million people into a hospital system that can’t handle the overflow- and we are asking you to make all these sacrifices at the ending stages of your life so we can insure 30 million or so people, the majority of whom are lower wage workers’. These efforts are not even providing universal care, you will still have around 20-25 million uninsured when all is said and done, and the ‘political incentive’ for all these scared elderly citizens is ‘you need to sacrifice because it’s right’. Now, realistically these voters are not saying publicly ‘you got to be kidding me’ but they are saying it with their vote. Yesterday the unions- of which I was a member for 25 years [AFLCIO- firefighter] made another ‘special deal’ with the president, they will get a special 5 year exemption on the extra taxes being added to the expensive insurance policies that are held by many union workers. Now, I believe we should not tax any health care policies at all; after all we are trying to make it more affordable for people to obtain insurance! But the fact is this is another way the president wants to raise the money needed for the program. But you have many other working Americans who are not part of the union constituency who Obama needs, these people will simply foot the bill for the president’s ‘friends’. This whole thing from the Nebraska deal right down to the final secret deals being made right now is a totally corrupt process that the majority of American people are against. As an advocate of a single payer system myself [yes- call me a liberal if you will] this white house and congress are a total disaster when it comes to health care, sorry, that’s just telling the truth. And let’s end with the outrageous article that the New York Times did on congressman Bart Stupak, the congressman from Michigan [Democrat] who has been heroic in his stand against the funding for abortion that is in the bill. The times did a story on how his son killed himself a few years back with the congressman’s own gun, and how Stupak still achieved a high rating from the NRA by his ‘pro-gun’ votes. This is absolutely despicable, the congressman gets high ratings because he believes in the rights of Americans to own firearms, in no way is it right to connect blame, or cast dispersion on the man because of what happened to his son. All in all it’s been a bad week for the media, and a tragic week for the innocent victims in Haiti, pray for our country and the world, we all need it.
(1345) BUT BEFORE FAITH CAME, WE WERE KEPT UNDER THE LAW,SHUT UP UNTO THE FAITH THAT WOULD AFTERWARDS BE REVEALED- Galatians 3:23 Over the years I have grown in my understanding of ‘church/ministry’ and have come to see that God requires of us to ‘do justice, love mercy and walk humbly’- that is we often begin the Christian life [especially minister/pastor] with a bunch of noble goals and dreams and we become fixated on the finances and buildings and all the outward stuff that we think is needed to ‘reach the world’. All well meaning men with noble goals, but often times the whole thing devolves into ‘if these parishioners would be obedient and tithe 10 % of their income we could do great things’ and behind the scenes there begins to be an accusatory spirit by the leaders/pastors towards ‘these rebels’. As someone who does not receive offerings or money I have been freed from this whole scenario. Now, how does ‘faith come/ be revealed’? In contrast to the above picture, God will often speak to us and use us when we do not have the cart before the horse- when our time and efforts are not always consumed with building ‘our ministry’ or getting the funds needed for what we think is Gods purpose. In the parable of the great supper, Jesus says a man prepared this great meal/table and he sent his servant out at suppertime to call the guests, and out of the first 3 groups he goes to, 2 out of 3 couldn’t make it because they purchased stuff [land, livestock] then the master gets mad and sends him to the poor, blind and maimed [do justice] and there is still room so he is told to go out into the highways and hedges and compel them to come in. The point I want to make is those who were preoccupied with stuff missed the true riches, it’s not that they meant to be rebellious; it’s just the nature of the beast. I want to encourage all of our leaders to re-focus as the New Year begins, sure- you are going to have to deal with practical things [money, etc.] but don’t become so consumed with ‘the ministry’ that this becomes the driving factor of your life. I have had ‘minister friends’ who were always talking about, or trying to ‘build up the work’ some times when we would interact [run into each other] if I had a homeless guy they couldn’t wait until I would ‘lose’ the brother so we could talk ministry. I know they mean well, but they are so consumed with ‘the stuff’ they couldn’t see the true riches; they were missing the ‘great supper’ and didn’t even realize it. ‘In as much as you did it unto the least of these, you did it unto me’.
-(1346) In Luke’s gospel the parable of the pounds [money] has the master giving 1 pound to each servant and when he returns he takes the 1 pound from the brother who hid it and gives it to the other guy who made 10 more pounds with the first pound. Moral of the story, don’t squander your capital! One of the most influential works on human government was Plato’s ‘Republic’ Plato lived 4 centuries before Christ and in the famous work he has Socrates [his mentor] having a dialogue and discussing the elements needed for ordering a just society. The leaders must be educated and put the good of the people/community above their own personal desires. Leaders should be statesman and not politicians. As I was watching the news over the weekend they are still debating health care and both sides have stooped so low as to use the Haiti tragedy for political gain. On one of the Sunday shows, the person representing Bush was trying to be non partisan and praised Obama for his actions. Then the Democrat had the gall to contrast the quick response of Obama with the poor response of Bush to Katrina, these guys are never going to learn. Why are the Democrats willing to be the first party in history to push thru major legislation in secret meetings against the majority public opinion? They have calculated the cost, politically, of not passing something and have come to the conclusion that it would be better politically to pass something and take the heat, than to not pass something. Bill Clinton and others have openly said this, they have been found out on more than one occasion to have made this crass political choice. So in the minds of many of them it’s not a matter of telling many American workers ‘you are going to pay an extra 40 % tax on your health ins.’ and then tell the other worker, doing the same job ‘you do not have to pay the tax because you are a union member and we need your votes’ this is not statesmanship, this is political expediency- do whatever it takes to get your side to win, even at the expense of the public. President Obama [who I just finished praying for, and his family!] had lots of political capital at the beginning of the year, much more than any other president in recent history; but he took the ‘1 pound’ and squandered it, he blew it by making these terrible political calculations. As this new year begins it seems as if he really hasn’t made much out of the ‘pound’ that was given him at the start. It looks like the voting public is about to say ‘take from him the pound and give it to someone else’.
(1347) IF WE KILL THE SON, THEN THE INHERITANCE WILL BE OURS! Many years ago while working at the fire dept. we had a new chief come in and the city commissioners let it be known that they weren’t happy with the way the last chief kept them informed, they wanted a more detailed update of the emergencies we had. Sure enough we had a train derailment and this was the chance for the ‘new boss’ to prove himself. The problem was the incident itself was not a major thing, we had to wait for the company’s private haz-mat crew to get there, but it was more of a stand- by situation. But most of the night was spent detailing every single thing; times, who you called, what step you did next- it was overkill of the emergency for the purpose of proving to the commissioners that ‘the new boss was better than the old one’. This week the White House put out a very detailed play by play accounting of the president’s response to Haiti, I mean it covered 4 days of intense detail. Many of the president’s people have made the rounds on the talk shows and have emphasized the fact that ‘this president is not like the last one, he acts fast to help’ type of a thing. If you listen to the ‘noise’ from these politicos there is no doubt that ‘all the president’s men’ got together and made a political decision to play this incident for all its worth. Now I am not saying they truly don’t want to help [just like my train emergency] but you can tell that they also are making the argument that ‘Obama acts fast, not like Bush’. If they simply did their job and didn’t say anything about Bush, then I would feel differently. Why would they be so crass? Many people voted for the president because they had such high hopes of change, hopes beyond all reason. Because the president did not have a long past record, and the fact that the media did not vet the man, this created an atmosphere where you could project your own image onto the man, and this then created a ‘candidate’ that was all things to all people. The first year has gone so bad that they are looking for anything to turn things around. Now the opposing side are like the care-takers in the parable of the vineyard. Jesus said the owner of the vineyard leased out the land to some guys and when he sent his workers to get the harvest they abused them. Finally the landowner sent the son, and they said ‘if we take this premier one down, surely the inheritance will be ours’. So the Republicans have decided to ‘take down the heir’. Now, I am sure there are good people on both sides of the aisle that have good motives, but this seems to be the game right now. I remember during the campaign that ‘news’ got out that Obama voted to push the gay agenda for young school children in the schools of Illinois, the gay and lesbian groups were part of his constituency [fine] and he represented their cause. The problem was when this leaked out he said he was only supporting the awareness of young children being molested by older people, that he did not support legislation that promoted the gay agenda to kids. The media backed him up and played this story line. They lied over and over again about this. The fact was Obama did back up much more than he admitted, and those he accused of being liars were telling the truth. Okay, he’s not the first to lie, I got ya. But he recently appointed the first ‘transgender’ person to his administration; the wonderful looking picture of ‘the woman’ with her hair all made up and the makeup and all looked like a woman, but it was a man. Okay, I am not here to make fun, these people are obviously struggling with some emotional/psychological problems, but to appoint them to open positions means you do support the ‘gay’ agenda much more than you previously admitted. Fine, if that’s your position then say so, don’t tell everyone you simply were trying to warn underage kids about molestation. Last but not least the president has advised people to go to the white house web site to support the Haiti situation; are there any comparisons between Bush and Obama that might be deemed political on this site? Yes, there is wording that says Obama will act fast on disasters, not like the mistakes of the previous administration. If your gonna play non stop politics, then don’t use the tragedy in Haiti IN ANY WAY to do it. You should not tell people to go to a web site, purely as a matter of helping with a tragedy, and have anything on the site like this- you are playing politics with people’s lives when you do this type of stuff, period [he should send them to the Red Cross or the many other good groups for this, or make sure you are not making political statements on the site].
(1348) HE’S FOR WATERBOARDING! Well I was up late last night and the upset of the year gave the Massachusetts senate seat to Scott Brown. Okay, the liberal media are in denial. Chris Matthews was coming up with all sorts of reasons why this happened; was it because the woman candidate, Martha Coakley [or like Kennedy likes to say ‘Marsha’] brought with her a stern prosecutors personality and Scott was a more down to earth guy? Some surmised that the state really wasn’t ready for a woman senator, and the analyses went on and on. It was quite comical to see Matthews trying to figure out what happened, while on the split screen the Brown supporters are holding up signs that said ‘Was that loud enough’- ‘can you hear us now Washington’! and things to that effect. But the liberal media [by the way, in some ways I’m liberal, others conservative- I prefer to not go by party names] could not accept the reality of a popular groundswell at the grass roots level that is going on in the country. They have tried so hard to demean the ‘tea partiers’ and even label Brown as a ‘truck drivin’ hick’ but they simply can’t come to grips with the fact that many Americans are fed up with all the schemes and secret meetings and messages from Washington elites that simply treat the popular groundswell as ignoramuses. And Norah O’Donnell [MSNBC] says that Brown even supports water-boarding, she said it in a way that made it sound like he’s a nut! Okay, now let’s do some serious stuff. First of all most Americans are not up in arms over pouring water on the faces of terrorists to obtain information, but the liberal media seems to think that this is such a hot topic. Is it fundamentally wrong to do this? Possibly, but what is one million times more wrong is flying these remote control planes [drones] over civilian neighborhoods and regularly blowing away innocent women and children. Now, like I said before I do not fault our heroic service men for this, but the president should stop doing this. I do realize we are targeting terrorists, but we are also killing many innocent women and children when we do this. Why is Obama stepping up these attacks in a much greater way than Bush? Could it be that he needs some good news politically and the death of Bin Laden would surely be an easy comparison of how Bush couldn’t get him in 8 years and we got him in one? I don’t know what the true reason is, but it is much more unjust to ‘accidently’ kill many Muslim/Arab innocent people than to water board a terrorist. I would like to ask Nora O’Donnell and all the talking heads if their families and children were taken by some group, and the group contacted them and said ‘you have 2 options, we water board your kids or drop a drone bomb on them’ how many would opt for the bomb? One night while watching a debate over this issue the ‘supporter’ of water boarding was going back and forth with the anti water boarder, who was a liberal legal scholar. The liberal was asked ‘do you think it was more unjust for us to drop the bombs on Japan and kill a few hundred thousand innocent people, to have caused years and years of slow radiation deaths on the generations of many Japanese people- was that more unjust than water boarding’? And the liberal had the nerve to say water boarding a terrorist was more ‘unjust’. Our problem is we seem to think its okay to actually kill, yes that’s part of war. If you argued with the liberals about how the actual act of killing in war is also a ‘tool’ that the other side uses to recruit, they will readily admit that yes, killing other people groups is a tool-but that’s the price to pay for freedom. But the same people who justify actual killing, also say that Gitmo needs to shut down and we need to stop the horrible practice of water boarding. Even though these tools might have actually helped in some way, yet the tool of water boarding [or Gitmo] is deemed a horrendous thing. Yet these drone attacks are not even questioned by these people. I think we should stop doing these drone attacks if we can’t direct the ‘darn’ things out of the way of innocent people, period.
(1349) THE SAGA CONTINUES- Okay, I know you guys are getting tired of my ranting, but I’m in between studies right now and you can jump to the other parts of the site if you’re not into politics. Right after the Massachusetts miracle the Dems got together and were desperately trying to figure out a way to pass health care reform before the new Republican was certified. John Kerry, the other Mass. senator was saying ‘well, it might take 10 days or more to certify’ and they really wanted to ‘fight the opposition’ to the end! They were mistaking the popular voice of the people, in one of the most liberal states in the country, as ‘the opposition’. Finally Jim Webb, the Democrat from Virginia had enough and sent word out to the networks that ‘we should not try and cast any votes until the New senator is seated’ then of course Obama came out and said ‘lets not rush anything thru’ after he realized they couldn’t. These guys can’t hear the voices of the people, it’s sad. Why did Mass. have an interim senator? After Kennedy died the state Democratic lawmakers changed the law and said ‘the Governor can appoint an interim’ the governor is a Democrat, so he appointed one of his own. Why did they have to change the law? For years Mass. had a law that said the governor has the right to appoint an interim in cases like this. Then when Mitt Romney, a Republican, became governor ‘oh no, lets change the law’ and they did. The new law said ‘no longer will the governor appoint, let the people decide in a special election’ sounds noble. The voice of the people and all. Then when Ted Kennedy announced he was dying of cancer, low and behold they changed the law back again. I mean talk about political games, this is ridiculous. So they were rushing to pass something with the vote of the interim, who was really no longer the senator, but they felt like ‘what the heck, with the cornhusker kickback, the Louisiana purchase and the special deal with the unions, this is nothing’. And finally the Democrats themselves [Webb] said ‘enough, the president and his agenda has harmed us enough, now we are trying to do crooked deals to get around the peoples voice’. I mean these guys are bad, really bad. I hope and pray that the new situation [59 Dems- 41 Republicans] will cause them to really work together and try and actually govern, the liberal agenda of ‘tax and trade’ and these other things are not going to make it, maybe we can still pass individual parts of health care reform one by one, but for the most part the idea of doing ‘huge, major things’ in the sense that Rahm Emmanuel said ‘never waste an emergency’ those days are over. The media needs to get back to doing its job, why are they not reporting more on the innocent deaths of civilians in these wars? They made that the major issue during Bush’s presidency, that is the casualty count. We have killed many more civilians in the last year thru our drones than in all the years of Bush [Bush did not regularly use drones for bombing people]. Where are the media on this? The Haitian situation is turning into a major disaster, that is the humanitarian response, there are estimates that 20 thousand people a day are dying simply because of a lack of getting medical supplies and treatment to the people, where’s the media uproar? They are silent [to a degree- Anderson Cooper from CNN is doing good reporting] because they have already decided to play along with the initial political line of ‘look how good Obama is doing, not like Bush’s Katrina’ so they are now reluctant to report on the failures because Obama made the political calculation to wed himself to the response. We need statesman, not politicians, the media needs to report, or the blogs and on line sources will take up the slack. I do not want the defeat of our president, he has made some mistakes and he has the chance to make a course correction like Clinton did, he can still do well. But he needs to do things the right way, the Chicago style deals that he is doing will not fly with the American people, you can’t promise openness and no ‘behind the door backroom deals’ and then actually be the worst administration in memory for ‘behind the door backroom deals’ stuff like this must stop, hopefully he got the message from Mass.
(1350) THE ANTICHRIST IS HERE! Okay, probably not a good heading for following the last few political posts. But I’ve been reading in the gospels and wanted to share a few thoughts. The apostle John, who wrote the book of Revelation [a popular book in today’s prophecy teaching] also wrote the epistles of John, in 1st John chapter 2 he says ‘it is the last [end] time, as you heard that antichrist will come, even now are there many antichrists and this is how we know it is the last time’. Most prophecy teachers are aware of this verse and it’s usually chalked up to the fact that ‘yes John is speaking of ‘the spirit of antichrist’ and the Gnostic cults who rejected Christ’s humanity’ while this is true, it’s also important to see that there is language in the New Testament that places antichrist/antichrists as a possible 1st century figure. I have hit on this before and just wanted to cover this concept a little. Many believers saw Nero as the antichrist, others see various Roman Emperors as fitting the title, and of course the most popular teaching in America is he is a future person [usually said to ‘be living somewhere in the world today’-even if today ranges over hundreds of years!] So we have had our speculation on the fella. I certainly believe that the apostle Paul was writing about a real man who would be a rejecter of Christ and persecute the church fiercely, and Jesus did speak about the ‘desolation of Daniel’ so I don’t want to spiritualize the man, I just wanted us to be challenged when we read John saying stuff like ‘even now there are many, this is how we know we are living in the end times’. I mean he is saying this a few years before writing the book of Revelation, it should cause us to re-think some of the ‘end times’ scenarios that we espouse today. John was exiled to the island of Patmos by the emperor Nero. Nero died a couple years before AD 70, it is possible that Johns Revelation was written before Nero died [being Nero was the one who put him on the island] and this would leave room for an early dating of Revelation and possibly a still living Nero to have been Johns target. Regardless of all the dating questions, it is striking to read the language of the 1st century apostles and see how they believed the key transition time of an ‘old age’ passing away and a new era coming, they saw it as the time of Christ and his death, burial and resurrection; they used ‘end time’ language as a description of their own day, not a bunch of geopolitical speculation of world events that would take place thousands of years in the future. Surely we are also considered to be ‘in the end times’ and I do believe in a literal future return of Jesus to the earth, I just wanted us to be open to the actual language that the bible uses when speaking about ‘the end times’ and allow our thinking to be shaped more by the scripture and not so much by the popular end times teaching of our day.
(1351) EVERYONE LOVES A POPULIST! [well not everyone] I was reading the story of Jesus and his men, how they picked the corn [grain] on the Sabbath and the religious leaders [those darn conservatives!] found fault. Jesus defends himself and his men by telling them ‘have you never read what David did in the days when he was fleeing from Saul- the days of Abiathar the priest’? The story is found in 1st Samuel and it shows David going into ‘the house of God’ and eating the hallowed bread with his men. Jesus says ‘see, the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath’. The moral of the story is David [and Jesus ‘the son of David’] had the right as Priests of God in this new Divine Davidic line [of Judah] to eat and to give to those who follow them as well. John wrote ‘he has made us kings and priests to God and his father’ [Revelation]. David and Jesus were populists in a sense, fighting the current of the big institutions [religion/Saul and the kingdom] and the common people were behind them. This week the president made a shift in this direction, he’s been on the stump and preaching against the big banks and wall street fat cats. When campaigning with Coakley he was railing against these enemies, even though Brown was riding a pickup! Okay, what’s up with this? The president also just released his plan to limit the banks from getting too big ‘to fail’. The reason we bailed out the banks [not very populist] was because there was this general fear that if the banks failed [and wall street] that there could be a global economic crisis like the great depression. Maybe so? But by bailing the big banks and companies out we also tried to regulate them and put limits on what they can pay out in bonuses and compensation. The banks caught on and quickly paid the money back with interest, the companies that were unable to pay the govt. off simply lost their CEO’S [A.I.G.]. So that got the monkey off their back and they made record profits and payments to their people. Obama really had no control over them anymore, or did he? He then began to go after them with a special tax that would only apply to them, and to try and prevent them from passing the cost off to consumers [too much micro management for sure]. And then he put a limit on their size, how big they could get. Warren Buffet, a strong supporter of the president, and also one of the richest men in the world loved Obama, after all Obama bailed out the banks and wall street. One of the big banks bailed out was Goldman Sachs, a bank that Buffet sunk 5 BILLION dollars into as an investment. One of the main banks that Obama is targeting is Goldman Sachs; Buffet seems to be having second thoughts. The stock of these banks will suffer, and no one in their right mind will buy these stocks for a while. Should the govt. be doing this? Tim Geithner [treasury secretary] and Ben Bernanke [fed. Chairman] think not, but Paul Volcker [another former fed. Chairman] thinks we should. So for the past year Obama listened to Geithner, and now he’s shifted to Volcker. The govt. does have the right, in my view, to tell big banks ‘if you expect us to insure your deposits- FDIC- then we have the right to prevent you from getting too big and risking people’s money in hedge funds’. The govt. could also tell them ‘no more bailouts, get as big as you want but let the buyer beware’ [the stock investors]. It would be like telling McDonalds ‘sell as many burgers as you want, but if you get into trouble we won’t help’. So it’s really a matter of opinion between how much ‘free market’ or regulation you want. The problem is the president has chosen to demonize these big banks and wall street companies in a way that’s simply a political populist message. It gives him an enemy to target while getting the message off of failed health care. He’s trying to tap into the same populist anger that led to the victory of the Republicans in Mass. But it affects the average person too- the stock market went down 500 hundred points in a couple of days because of this, many 401ks are held by average people. Then when giving an interview to ABC he explained the reason why the Republicans won in Mass, he said ‘the people are upset with Washington, not just the last year, but the last 8 years’ I knew the Bush card would be played in some way. But to say ‘the people are so mad at Bush that they replaced one of the longest held Democratic senate seats with a Republican’ is quite delusional. Okay, we all like an underdog, the David’s who are on the run and fleeing from Saul, but if you aren’t careful it can do more harm than good, it can adversely affect the ‘average Joe’ in a way that you never counted on.
[just a comment I made on a Christianity Today article] As an 'ex-catholic’ who loves the catholic people, and has somewhat of a ministry to Catholics, as well as all believers, I do see a real need for both Protestants and Catholics to better understand the historic differences between the faiths. I quote, read and enjoy many catholic teachers and theologians [even the Pope!] but there are very real theological differences that need to be understood better on both sides. I love Catholics and appreciate the Catholic Church and voice for justice in the world; we just need to make clear where the real differences are.
[just a comment on Christianity Today’s top 10 books for this year] I Loved Kluck and DeYoung’s first book, but they did not really 'see’ what the organic/out of 'church’ movement is saying [theologically]. I really think their first work [why we’re not Emergent] deserved last year’s list, but would have given them a pass for this year.
(1352) ARE YOU A POLITICAL ‘DONATIST’ [what?] – In an effort to mix in a little ‘religion’ with politics, let’s do some church history. In the 4th century you had a debate raging in the church that was called ‘the Donatist controversy’ some taught that the efficacy of the sacraments were dependent on the ‘holiness’ of the Bishops/Priests, that is if your church leaders were really not regenerated then you also suffered spiritually as a result of their lack of integrity. The very influential bishop of Hippo, a city in north Africa, would refute this doctrine and argue that the sacraments and rites of the church did not depend on the spirituality of the leaders, that if you were baptized and believed in the Lord that the sacrament counted even if the Priest was an unbeliever. The famous bishop who argued against the heresy was Saint Augustine. In today’s world we often practice a form of political Donatism, we label our leaders as either liberal or conservative [or any other number of things] and we believe that depending on the tag, that they can either do no wrong or nothing good. I believe good [and bad] can come from all groups whether or not they hold to my political slant. Now, ideas do have consequences and if you are unwilling to change course and run against your own biases, then yes you will get into trouble. But like the argument Augustine made, everything does not depend on the holiness [political bent] of the leader, he might be wrong/hold different views than you and still be able to ‘carry out an effective baptism’ if you will. We need to have enough ‘faith’ in the institution of Democracy and free govt. that we can still believe it to work, even if a less than perfect bishop is running the show.
(1353) THE LAW AND THE PROPHETS WERE UNTIL JOHN, SINCE ‘THAT TIME’ THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS PREACHED- When teaching Galatians we got into the ‘Kairos’ season- that is a time period when God said ‘the old dispensation has fulfilled its purpose and the new time has come’. In the above heading Jesus says it’s a ‘kingdom time’. One of the good things about the New Perspective teaching is they bring out Gods greater world purpose for the whole creation [Romans 8]. It is easy for believers to see their entire Christian lives thru the lens of individual salvation, while this is certainly an important subject, if this becomes the main focus of the believer he can become myopic and miss the greater intention of God- the ‘since that time the kingdom of God’ intention. When Jesus turned the water into wine at Cana, what exactly was he trying to show us? Do you find it strange that there just happened to be all these water containers sitting around? The Jewish religion was very familiar with the idea of ‘washings/baptism’ the temple system was surrounded by these baths and pools and in the gospels we see people linking water with ceremonial cleansing. No one said of John ‘what in the heck is he doing baptizing people in the Jordan’ they were familiar with the rite. Now Jesus doesn’t pick any old water buckets lying around, he is using the symbol of ‘old law’ cleansing, he’s saying ‘look, I just turned your water [old way of getting clean] into wine [my Blood which will replace/fulfill the old system]’. The significance of what he did was heavy. The appearing of Jesus in the 1st century and his death, burial and resurrection [ascension too] enacted a major change from old testament economy into a new kingdom age, the water served its purpose, but the new wine has come- party on.
(1354) O FOOLS AND SLOW OF HEART TO BELIEVE ALL THAT THE PROPHETS HAVE SPOKEN; WAS IT NOT NECESSARY THAT THE SON OF MAN SHOULD SUFFER THESE THINGS AND ENTER INTO HIS GLORY? Jesus said this to his men after he rose from the dead, they were doubting and wondering about his crucifixion and he told them that all these things were written in ‘the prophets’. Jesus also said ‘Moses said this, but I say this’. Moses said- was a reference to the first 5 books of the bible [Torah, Pentateuch] and the ‘prophets’ is referring to the rest of the old testament, apart from the wisdom books [Psalms, Proverbs, etc.] The rebuke was the fact that they had the truth all the time, they were ‘slow to believe’ all of it. As I was finishing up the Galatians study a few days ago I showed how Paul was always making his case from the Old Testament, he used the stories in scripture to prove his points. When teaching on this site, I try and share a broad range of church history, from many various perspectives. In essence I try and include ‘the whole thing, all that has been taught by the church fathers’ it’s important to read and learn from a broad perspective, it keeps you out of trouble. Today’s word is simply ‘are you listening to all that the prophets have spoken’ are you hearing all the sides of the issues your church/denomination teaches? This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have convictions about your own beliefs [I do] but it does mean that we are all part of a broad community of believers, many various ‘camps’ and perspectives. In order for us to fulfill our mandate to be ‘one in Christ’ it is our responsibility to be challenged in our views and to also have the love and concern for other believers to challenge them too. This should always be done in love and for the benefit of the whole body, take some time to hear what ‘all the prophets have spoken’ it will do you [and me] some good.
(1355) ‘For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly [it’s not your fault!] but by the will of him who subjected it in hope’- Paul addressing the church at Rome. A year or so ago I read a story on a famous underground author, Hunter Thompson, who committed suicide. Supposedly he was suffering from some type of sickness and simply left the world behind; he had ‘no hope’. It reminded me of the famous author Ernest Hemingway; he too shared the same fate. Both of these men rejected God. In the above passage of scripture Paul is speaking about the redemption of the whole creation. God was the one who ‘subjected it to futility’. When speaking about the story of David and his men a few posts back, Jesus said ‘have you never read what David did’ and he was talking about the story of king David eating the ceremonial bread and giving it to his men- it says ‘he ate, and gave to them who were with him’. At the last meal Jesus takes the bread and wine and says ‘this is my body which is broken for you’ a type of the sacrificial death of Jesus. He too ate, like David. How could Jesus also be a partaker of his own ‘bread’ [Cross]? Paul said that he was ‘filling up in his body the sufferings of Christ’ there is an aspect of suffering that the people of God go thru, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope. These sufferings glorify God and in a sense ‘Jesus too receives glory from the broken bread’ [us!] The Hunter Thompsons and Hemingway’s of the world see futility and to them there is no future hope of redemption, they chose to ‘not hope’. Paul said the sufferings of this present time were not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in/thru us. James said ‘count it all joy when you fall into various trials and tests’. Remember, the creation is subjected to futility, not willingly, but by Gods purpose- don’t blame yourself for ‘the futility’.
(1356) LET THE NATIONS BE GATHERED TOGETHER AND THE PEOPLE BE ASSEMBLED- In the gospels Jesus uses the imagery of a table to describe the kingdom ‘They shall come from the north and south and east and west and sit at my table in my kingdom’. Psalms says ‘thou preparest a table before me in the presence of my enemies’ God has a way of ‘setting the table’ if you will. Now the church has been divided over the use of the gospels versus the epistles [letters of Paul]. Historically Protestants have focused more on the epistles, specifically Galatians, Romans- and the Catholic/Orthodox include much of the gospels in their services. When we leave out either we get into trouble. A strong focus on the gospels without the epistles can lead to a legalistic righteousness- trying to simply live up to the moral law type of a thing, without a good understanding of the Spirit empowered life. But too much of a focus on the epistles without a high regard for the gospels can lead to a view of Christianity that sees ‘right doctrine’ as being more important than ‘right acting’ [orthopraxy]. So for sure we need both. One of the other interesting things we see in the gospels is the ‘kingdom’ in action versus an ecclesiology focused on ‘church meetings’. For instance we read of Jesus sending out the disciples and telling them ‘go, preach, heal, do good- and whatever city/place rejects you then wipe off the dust of that place when you leave’ Ouch! Yet at the same time you find the crowds drawn to Jesus everywhere he goes. Sort of like a message/lifestyle that goes out into society to impact it, but not a whole lotta ‘come to my church’ type stuff. In American Christianity we see too much focus on ‘come to/support this ministry’ type of a thing, and not enough ‘shaking the dust off our feet’- that is doing the will of God and then being able to walk away. In John’s gospel John the Baptist [not the author] says ‘he must increase and I MUST decrease’ there really isn’t much of a choice. I want to challenge you today, are you [especially Pastors/ministers] spending too much time trying to raise support for ‘the church’? Do you primarily see your responsibility as filling up a meeting room? Reorient your life around the action seen in the gospels, impact people and give them leadership, but then be able to decrease, to let them see you ‘less and less’ as time goes by- and be willing to walk away from some things, not walk away from responsible leadership, but from things that center too much on our individual personas. Just because people want to hear us speak in person, or just because the crowds get bigger, this is not automatically a signal for building a bigger building! We need to re-look at lots of things, let the people be gathered together and the nations be assembled [i.e. be available to impact groups] but don’t be obsessed with forcing people to gather [come to church type of a focus].
(1357) I WILL UNCOVER THINGS THAT HAVE BEEN HIDDEN SINCE THE WORLDS FIRST DAY- [Jesus]. Yesterday I read an article in the paper that talked about an amazing dinosaur find in China; they found around 15 thousand fossils in a cave area. The amazing thing was the fact that so many dinosaurs would have been in one place right when they died. I immediately saw this as proof that would back up the creationist cataclysmic view of a worldwide flood destroying all life on the planet. As I read thru the article they explained how much of ‘fossil science’ has been done thru finds in the U.S., but over the last few years China [and the eastern world in general] have undergone their own industrial revolution and this has led to the unearthing of new ground for the purpose of construction and these new projects are unearthing these fossils. Much like what took place in the 19th century when many archaeologists were discovering ‘hidden things’ that seemed to be buried ‘since the foundation of the world’. In the 19th century it was popular for the intellectuals in theology to embrace the ‘historical/critical’ method of bible learning. Many began to reject the early dating of the New Testament [early- a.d. 50-70] and began accepting a theory that said much of the New Testament was written in the 2nd century. These ideas were promoted by men like Rudolph Bultman and were made popular at the German university which he taught at [in Marburg]. So it became ‘intellectually fashionable’ to accept this new way of critiquing scripture. One problem- as the industrial revolution took off in the west archeology rose as a new science and we now had the ability to historically search for clues. A famous historian by the name of Sir Ramsey went on this exhibition to see whether or not the bible was accurate when it spoke about ‘so called’ first century things. Our bibles do have lots of names of political characters and certain historical events that can be measured for accuracy. Ramsey found to his dismay that all the evidence leaned towards the ‘less enlightened’ view of an early dating of the New Testament. This was a tough pill to swallow by the intellectuals who had already formed their opinions on the subject, but in due time most trustworthy scholars would come to accept [for the most part] the earlier dating. So now back to the dinosaurs, as the article went on they admitted that it’s possible that a Tsunami might have caused the dinosaurs to gather in one place before their deaths- A FLOOD! It’s funny because some in the modern scientific community have argued, very convincingly, that the Geologic table and the extinction of the dinosaurs can be attributed to a world wide flood. Others have vehemently opposed this idea [most evolutionists]. And now the new evidence seems to be backing up a flood theory, they simply don’t want to admit it. Like the intellectuals of Sir Ramsey’s day, the smart thing to do is to go where the evidence leads. The facts don’t lie; these are ‘facts’ that are being now uncovered, things hidden ‘since the world’s first day’.
(1358) LOTS OF PEOPLE WOULD HAVE GIVEN ANYTHING TO SEE WHAT YOU ARE SEEING AND TO HEAR WHAT YOU ARE HEARING, BUT THEY NEVER HAD THE CHANCE- Jesus to his men- Message bible. This week we had the passing of the famed author J.D. Salinger. He wrote the famous Catcher in the Rye and around 3-4 other books. He dropped out of sight in 1965 and gave 1 interview thru out the years [1980]. Though he was considered a great writer [by some] he chose to ‘not write’ [or at least publish- some think we will find a hidden trove of his books]. He hated publishing and rejected the limelight and success. But in a strange way this added to his mystique and eventually his book would become standard reading in many high schools. In essence ‘many people would have loved to see what he was able to see/write, but never had the chance’. As I am reading thru the gospels right now it’s interesting to see ‘the Jesus model’- his men are arguing over who will be ‘the greatest’ as he is getting ready for the Cross! Come on guys, the time is short and you still haven’t learned? He asks them ‘who is greater, the one who serves or the one who is being served’? In their minds the one who is being served, the owner/master has achieved the greatness and success and notoriety. But then Jesus does the unthinkable [for a king] he takes a towel and washes the disciples feet, he tells them that he that becomes the least- walks away from the fame and recognition- this one is the greatest. Truly Jesus was the ‘small seed, the least of all seeds. But when he was planted he became the greatest tree in the earth’ He practiced what he preached. Who knows, maybe Salinger would have never gained the recognition of being a great author if he sought to be a great author. Either way he fulfilled the mystery of an enigma, he ran from the glory and it chased him till the end.
(1359) ‘Now go, write it before them on a tablet [in a table] and note it in a book, that it may be for the time to come, forever and ever’ Isaiah 30:8 ‘Take a large scroll and write on it with the pen of a man’ ‘Write the vision and make it plain upon tables [tablets] that he may run that reads it’ ‘all these sayings were noised abroad, and all who heard them laid them up in their hearts’ [Jesus in the gospels]. Last night I caught an interesting movie ‘the book of Eli’ with Denzel Washington. If you haven’t seen it yet then don’t read the rest of this post. Eli lives in this future apocalyptic world [Mad Max] and is on this mission to travel west, he encounters all types of obstacles on the way [lots of blood and guts] and finally arrives at his destination, it’s a publishing house stuck on Alcatraz where these survivors spend all their time copying any books they can get their hands on for the future world; Eli announces ‘I have a King James Bible’ and he gets in. The book of Eli was the bible. In the above verses God shows us how important it is in the history of Salvation for people to write and record his words. In the middle ages you had the Monastic movement [Monks, monasteries] and these Catholic brothers separated themselves from the corruption of the world and became spiritual hermits. They were experts at 2 things; farming and the copying of important manuscripts. In the middle ages secular society learned farming thru the monks. The art of copying ancient books not only preserved theological works, but also secular ones. It was their dedication to saving these works that led to the Renaissance and rediscovery of the ancient works of philosophy and Greek thought. They were like the scribes of Jesus day. Do you value the ability to have and access great treasures? Even the bible, as history, is incredibly valuable. I mean how many other First century [and earlier] documents are lying all over the place and are being read and quoted by 1st graders as well as professors? With the great library system of our day [which I used extensively over a 15 year period] as well as the internet we have the ability to truly learn stuff that past generations would have given anything to have learned. Proverbs says wisdom is lying in the streets, at the crossroads of every city- yet fools have no appetite for it. I want to challenge you guys today, especially all our Pastors and leaders, take time to acquaint yourself with the great classics of western literature, read the great Christian [and non Christian] works of the centuries, don’t spend all your time reading/learning from one group or movement [especially if it’s one of these isolated Christian denominations] God [and men] have gone to too much trouble to get these valuable words copied and distributed to the world, take some time to read them.
(1360) Lets do a little Catholic/Protestant stuff. First, those of you who have read this site for any period of time know that as a Protestant I am ‘pro Catholic’ that is I read and study Catholic scholars, believe in the ECT statement [Evangelicals and Catholics together] and for the most part am pro Catholic in that sense. I have offended more Protestants because of this stance than Catholics. But sometimes I need to state the differences and be honest about them, true ecumenical unity should never be achieved on the altar of doctrine, we should not sacrifice sincerely held beliefs while seeking unity for Christ’s church. Last night I caught the journey home show with Marcus Grodi as well as Catholic scholar Scott Hahn [EWTN- the Catholic network]. Scott was doing a teaching on the sacraments of the church and shared a common belief in the ‘incarnational’ aspect of matter. Some theologians believe [both Catholic and Protestant] that since God became man in Jesus, that this united/sanctified matter in a way that never occurred before. They will carry this thought into sacramental theology and teach a kind of ‘connection’ with God thru material things; both Baptism and the Eucharist would be major examples. I believe the historic church was well intended when they developed this idea, they were combating the popular Greek/Gnostic belief that matter is inherently evil, not a biblical doctrine. As Scott Hahn made the argument I simply felt that he gave too much weight to the idea that because of the incarnation [God becoming man] that now there is a special ‘sanctity’ to material things when connected with the sacraments. Does the bible teach that there are actual physical things in this world that carry out the truth of the incarnation in a material way? Actually it does, the bible teaches that the bodies of believers have this special aspect because Gods Spirit lives in us. In essence the idea of ‘special matter’ that is often taught by well meaning scholars can be applied to the physical church in the earth, all who believe. I do not totally dismiss sacramental theology, many Protestants who dismiss it out of hand are not aware of the strong beliefs that the reformers held too in these areas. Luther is often misunderstood when it comes to his disagreement with Calvin, many teach and think that he split with Calvin over the doctrine of Predestination, he did not- Luther’s written views on the doctrine were just as strong [if not stronger] on the subject. Calvin never wrote a book dedicated solely to the doctrine, Luther did [bondage of the will]. But they did split on the sacrament of the Eucharist, Luther’s view [consubstantiation] was much closer to the Catholic view than Calvin, and Zwingli [the Swiss reformer] was further away than both Calvin and Luther. Lutheranism would eventually be developed by a protégé of Luther, Philip Melanchthon, and the Lutheran church would bear the image of Melanchthon more than Luther. The point being many good men have held to very strong views on these matters. I believe the biblical doctrine leans more heavily on the ‘material body’ of the believer as being the major material change since the incarnation, I do not hold to the idea that ‘God becoming man’ fundamentally changed the nature of matter when dealing with the sacraments. Matter is not [nor ever was] intrinsically evil, Greek dualism got it wrong from the start- we do not need a strong sacramental theology to refute this, scripture itself will do.
(1361) EUTOPIA OR BUST- Thomas More, the Catholic churchman who was martyred for his faith by Henry the 8th because he would not assent to the newly formed doctrine of the king of England being the head of the church, wrote the Latin book ‘Utopia’ in the year 1516. Utopia was this fictional island, ruled by ‘king Utopas’ and was the ideal society where wealth and power were not the characteristics of success. They lived a communal life where each person would take yearly turns of working on the farms where the people’s needs were met. No private ownership of property- just everybody living in this ideal world. Marxists would later lay claim to this idea and prove the futility of man in attempting to create this world. Scholars disagree over what More was trying to say; but for sure he was challenging materialistic worldviews and longing for some type of communal society as seen in the book of Acts [everyone sharing in the common purse type of thing]. Yesterday I watched Judd Greg rip thru Peter Orzag. Greg is the top Republican for finances and Orzag was defending the president’s new budget. The budget includes 30 billion for ‘jobs stimulus’ basically another tarp thing for business. The reason Greg was furious is because the tarp law said that any money eventually paid back, by law would have to go to reducing the debt. Instead the president wants to use this money as an open account that could be spent on a regular basis. Why? There are various ways any president can try and boost jobs/economy, you can implement serious fiscal discipline and make it easier for small business to operate [part of the 30 billion for small business] or you could say ‘lets spend tons of federal money on all types of things- 1st time home buyers, cash for clunkers, new billions every year for the next few years until my term runs out’ you can engage in simply digging the country deeper into debt for the next few years and this would initially make things look better. Walla, Utopia is here! When the administration makes the defense ‘we inherited these problems from Bush’ it is usually presented in a way that says the failed economic policies of the past president caused us to be dealt a hand that was bad. Okay, got it. But every president has been dealt some type of hand. Bush did inherit a recession from Clinton, grant it, it wasn’t near as bad as what Obama got, but it was real. Then 911 happened and this tragic event froze the global economy in just as dangerous a way as the banking crisis. And of course we had 2 wars. The point is all these things [except the wars] were also things out of the control of the former president; he inherited things that Obama too would ‘inherit’. But the administration does not include this when they make their case; they simply say it was the failed Bush presidency that led to where we are today. That’s why the blame game doesn’t work too well. We all want Utopia [in a sense] but we live in the real world and we can’t resort to tricks and schemes to make things look better, just for now. These policies often cause the disease to linger on longer than if we let it run its course. Many real estate experts are fearing another big drop [10 %] in home prices for this year. Why? They believe that the delaying of foreclosures and giving low % money and an extra 8 thousand dollar tax credit to buyers, that all these things prevented the market from reaching a real floor in prices, and so the market will still have to balance out and finally reach its low. It would have been better to have swallowed the medicine the first time around. For any president to have a ‘slush fund’ of billions of dollars that the govt. can dole out on a rotating basis is really not playing by the rules. Politically it can make it look like ‘see, we have improved things’ but not only is this fund limited by law from being used in this way, it often delays the real pain for another year- say in a non election one.
(1362) SPANDEX! The other night my daughter called my wife and invited her to go workout at the gym, I told her ‘tell her dad wants to go too, he’s changing into his spandex right now’ she replied she can only take one guest per day. Now, were her words accurate? Yes. Was that the primary reason I wasn’t going? Highly doubtful. In the Christian world there are times when the things we say might be ‘orthodox’ but the motives might be questionable. The other night I caught Hank Hanegraaff’s [bible answer man] show. I at one time was accused of being like him [heresy hunter] but it’s only been the last few months that I’ve ever really heard him. We don’t get his radio show in Corpus and his TV show just started airing on the religious networks. But I did read his groundbreaking book ‘Christianity in Crisis’ and some thought my stand against the prosperity gospel came from that, they were wrong. I did not agree with all the arguments and style of the book. But this month’s magazine from Hank [which I also don’t subscribe to] deals with the ‘Local Church’ movement started by the great apostle/missionary Watchmen Nee. I have written on Nee before [under the cults section- not because I think their one!] and have read on the movement before. Nee started an indigenous Chinese church that has been persecuted for years by the communist govt., he died for the faith in prison and his house church movement is considered one of the most influential in the world today. Back in the 70’s during the Jesus movement on the west coast they had some influence in the area, this was at the same time the ‘counter cult’ movement sprung up. Many of the statements from Nee and his successor ‘Witness Lee’ were scrutinized and labeled as cultic, a war raged between the apologists and has even gone to the courts. The Local Church sued Harvest house [Christian book publisher] and claimed they were defamed by the cult books that included their church in them, and the Texas Supreme court eventually sided with harvest house, the Local Church is appealing. Enter Hank H., the original research done against the movement was by Hank Hanegraaff and CRI, others followed. The reason they were labeled as a cult was primarily because of their statements on the Trinity and the ‘deification’ of the believer. Some of their official statements said ‘Jesus is the Holy Spirit’ and ‘Jesus is also the Father’. These statements were deemed ‘Modalistic’ [an ancient heresy condemned by the early church that described God as having different modes as opposed to being One in 3] and thus the title cult was stuck on them. But after many years of research and fellowship with the group, Hank changed his mind and came to their defense. This made him a target for the other apologetic groups and they strongly disagreed with his change of mind. Hank said that even though many of the statements sounded questionable, that as you read further into their materials and personally interview members of the group that they for the most part accept the Trinity and do not fall into the cult category. Some of the on line stuff against them states ‘they believe that Jesus is the Spirit, this is heresy’ yet the movement quotes Paul in Corinthians ‘The Lord is that Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty’. This verse actually says ‘the Lord is that same Holy Spirit’ does this mean that Jesus and the Holy Spirit are ‘the same person’? No, but it does use language that is in keeping with what the Local Church movement has said. The other verse in Isaiah speaks of Jesus as ‘the mighty God, everlasting Father’ so this also is language that the movement has used ‘Jesus is the Father’. Though these statements from the movement cause some concern, overall Hank believed that they did not finally fall into the cult category. When reading some of their statements on line last night I still had some problems with the way they said stuff [that after Jesus rose from the dead he became the Spirit] but I also see how difficult it is to explain both the Triune nature of God and also declare his Unity. When Jesus was asked what the great commandment was, in Marks gospel he begins the famous answer with ‘hear O Israel, the Lord our God is one’ he is quoting Deuteronomy. So those who focus on the Oneness of God can see these verses as saying ‘yes God is Father, Son and Spirit- yet they are also one’. So as you can see we need to be careful when parsing words like this. All in all I always accepted the Local Church movement [which is not a name they have given to their movement, but it is how they are labeled when reading about them] as fellow believers in Christ, while at the same time having problems with some of the official statements that the church has made [and still holds to] but wanted to give Hanegraaff credit for his change of mind, while I have not read the article in their magazine [Christian Research Journal] I have been familiar with this debate for a few years. I appreciate Hanks willingness to say ‘we were wrong’.
(1363) THE BAPTIST MISSIONARIES IN HAITI- Okay, thought it was time to do this. As most of you know there have been 10 American missionaries in Haiti that have been arrested for child trafficking. They took a bus load of children from a devastated area and were trying to take them into the Dominican Republic to an ‘orphanage’ that their church was starting. Actually they rented a motel to house the kids until the orphanage could be built. The story seems to be that although these people did violate laws and lie along the way, that they were not stealing or trafficking with these kids. Some of the kids did have relatives that willingly gave the kids over because the Haitian govt. is such an abysmal failure thru the decades of corruption that these kids had no food or housing or anything; their relatives said ‘please, please take them- if not they will die’. Since the devastating earthquake many children have been sold as sex slaves and illegally taken from the country. The Haiti govt. has been corrupt for many years, many of the kids and adults who have just died would have survived if the leaders did not steal billions of dollars of aid over the years, money that could have been used to fix their infrastructure and developed better programs to deal with natural disasters. But their own corruption has led to the deaths and trafficking of many of their children. Haiti’s main response to the disaster has been to ask for the U.S. and other nations to come in and do the job for them, a job that they cannot do in part because of their own corruption. If your country is depending on the free will of Americans to come in, to pay with their tax dollars to help- and at the same time your own governments history of corruption has caused the expense and efforts to fall on to Americans, the last thing you should do is charge these same Americans, who were basically asked to please take these kids, with child trafficking. Why? Because the country has real traffickers that they let slip by, if you are going to do a high profile case with people who did wrong, but by all accounts were not in any way stealing kids- these same Americans who you have dumped the responsibility of your own people on, then you are acting as an ungrateful ‘friend’. The missionaries did wrong, but in no way should a govt., who has actually done much more ‘wrong’ over many years, now take the same Americans and use them as some type of test case. The reason they need to ‘forgive’ is because they have dumped all the expense and responsibility on us, you can’t then tell the same people who you are begging to come into your country that if you mess up you will be held to higher legal standards, standards that real traffickers and our own leaders have never abided by.
(1364) MANY SHALL COME IN MY NAME SAYING ‘I AM CHRIST’ AND SHALL DECIEVE MANY- Jesus, Mark’s gospel. Many years ago while reading thru this portion of scripture I saw this verse from a different angle; instead of seeing it like a false prophet claiming himself to be Christ [Sun Yung Moon] I saw it applying to many well meaning preachers who come in Jesus name and confess him as Christ, but yet are prone to propagating errors in an unconscious way. They say ‘Yes, we believe Jesus is Christ’ and yet mess up in other areas. I remember hearing a ‘revelation word’ [EKK!] on God’s creation of Woman. It went like this- Wo-Man means ‘wombed man’ and that after God made man, he then made woman [another man] and put a womb on him, thus the term ‘wombed man’. You might be laughing right now, but this silly way of interpreting the bible has been repeated over and over again on national TV networks where the network leaders agreed with the teacher and saw it as some deep truth, then the poor audience of millions is encouraged to give more millions so the word can be sent out into all the world. Basically well meaning people teaching fake stuff to the world, over and over again. Now, does ‘woman’ mean ‘wombed man’? No. Our bibles were primarily written in Hebrew and Greek, when these words are translated into English, the way the English word sounds has nothing at all to do with the actual meaning of the word. I mean this is very basic hermeneutics [way of interpreting scripture] so how can it be that a very ‘uneducated’ way of teaching would be broadcast to the whole world when even the most basic bible student knows it’s wrong? One of the great benefits of the 16th century Reformation was the return of interpreting the bible in a ‘literal sense’- now, many Protestants are confused by this term. Literal sense means the bible should be read as actual literature, like if you were reading history or poetry or any other book. So when you are reading portions of the bible that are historical narrative, you take it as history. When reading portions of poetry, you read it like you would read any poetry- in a literal sense, not taking the actual poetry as history! Like when the Psalms speaks of the hills skipping or the trees clapping their hands, you don’t take it literally in the sense that the trees have actual hands. This hermeneutic was not new, but it was a minority way of viewing scripture during the middle ages. Many teachers at the time were influenced strongly by the early Greek idea of scripture having 4 different ways it could be understood. Each passage having a moral, symbolic, literal meaning. In the third century you had the famous school in Alexandria, Egypt. This was the first 'Christian school’ where you could learn theology and philosophy. One of the famous teachers was Origen, he was heavily influenced by a man by the name of Plotinus- a philosopher credited with the founding of a philosophy called ‘Neo Platonism’. This Greek philosophical way of seeing things impacted not only Origen [and many other Greek fathers] but also the highly influential Saint Augustine. So for many centuries you had very respected church teachers hold to this highly symbolic way of reading the bible. It’s important to note that when reading Augustine, if you are reading his earlier works they are more heavily influenced by Greek philosophy than his later works. Near the end of his life Augustine re-evaluated all of his former works and wrote a paper called ‘retractions’ in which he cleared up some of his earlier stuff. Anyway the Protestant Reformation returned the church to a more solid way of reading scripture. But ‘literal sense’ does not mean you take the portions of scripture that are poetic or symbolic and turn them into history! During the rise of ‘liberalism’ in the 19th century you had many holding to a view of scripture that rejected all the supernatural portions of the bible as ‘myth’. The story of Jonah being swallowed by the whale was considered a ‘well meaning’ story, but just a story. Was it only the ‘liberal’ theologians that rejected the historical truth of Jonah? No, you also have well grounded teachers that too take Jonah in a non historical way. Why? The book of Jonah starts out as historical narrative, but then you have portions [Jonahs prayer in the belly of the whale] that are a very high form of poetry. Does this mean the story didn’t really happen? No, but some good theologians would doubt the history of Jonah based on this [I don’t]. The whole point being when we read the bible, we should have some basic historical framework when reading it, that is how did other believers thru the centuries view these things. Be aware of the various different approaches to the bible, and for heaven’s sake, if a word sounds like it means something in English [woman= wombed man] do a little background study before proclaiming it to the whole world, for many ‘shall come in my name, believing that I am Christ, and shall deceive many’.
(1365) THIS IS MY BLOOD OF THE NEW TESTAMENT- I was reading Mark’s account of the last supper. The disciples realize the importance of keeping the ancient feast day and they ask Jesus ‘where do you want us to prepare the meal’? Just a chapter earlier they were glorying in all the ‘holy buildings’ of the temple and Jesus told them ‘see all these wonderful places- there shall not be one stone left upon another when all is said and done’- ouch! But now he seems to need a building, or at least a place to sit down and eat. He tells his men ‘go into town and you will meet some guy carrying a water container, follow him into the house and ask the master where the room is, he will show you a large upper room, all furnished- that’s the spot’. Jesus didn’t need to spend any money on building his own temple; he knew the voluntary community would provide places to meet. They sit down and he tells them ‘understand, this is the New Testament, the new ‘oath’ the scroll of redemption that John will write about in Revelation, it is being purchased with my Blood’ they seemed to not comprehend what he was saying. He often made statements that went right over their heads- then he quotes another one of those obscure prophetic scriptures that nobody seemed to focus on ‘the chief one will be smitten and the sheep will be scattered’ [Zechariah] he tells them ‘see, the prophets said you guys are going to be scattered, be offended and deny me’. Peter says ‘what! No way Jesus, maybe these other guys but not me’. Poor old Peter, Jesus says ‘buddy, you will be one of the worst’. Man things don’t seem to be going good at this point, I mean when the leader of a community is about to face his toughest test yet, the last thing he needs is a bunch of offended staff! Nevertheless he takes with him Peter, James and John and they head off to the garden, you know the place where they crush olives to get the precious oil, very prophetic indeed. Jesus tells the guys ‘stay here while I go and pray’. He walks a little further and falls down and is in agony ‘Father, all things are possible with thee, I know I have come for this purpose in my life, but please, if there is another way to accomplish this, then let’s go the other route’. Who knows, maybe the father will do something that no one expects? He goes back to his men, hey maybe they will say ‘wow Jesus, as you were praying Moses and Elijah appeared to us, like before- and they told us ‘the father said there’s another way’. But instead Jesus finds them sleeping! What, you guys couldn’t even pray with me for an hour? I’m here pouring out my life for you, giving it all I got, and I was hoping that the 3 years I invested in training you might have had better results, you guys are letting me down. This happens 2 more times and Jesus says ‘enough, go ahead and sleep, I’m going to have to die and seal this scroll in my Blood- after 3 days I will be back and go before you into Galilee, but these will be the longest 3 days in the history of man’. Of course we know the rest of the story. As the church worldwide enters into Lent, let’s remember the price that Jesus paid for the New Testament signed in his Blood, as Protestants and Catholics let’s celebrate the historic churches 40 day season of fasting and prayer, you don’t have to do a ‘full fast’ maybe just a Vegan type fast, which was what the early church practiced, but let’s try and be a little more appreciative of the price that was paid so the ‘table’ could be set. Jesus said ‘this is my Blood, the whole thing rides on me’ he met the challenge and redeemed the world, may the world be grateful for it.
(1366) IT’S NOT A CHARGER! I was reading the account of Jesus on the Cross. One of the accusations that his enemies hurled at him was ‘he said that the temple would be destroyed and he would rebuild it in 3 days, wow, what happened to your big expectations’? Actually they misunderstood him, Jesus was speaking of his own death and resurrection when he said this, but the misunderstanding remained. Of course Jesus could have said ‘you fools! I am presently in the process of doing it’ but he decided earlier not to waste his time refuting all the accusations against him. Many years ago I had some neighbors who were good friends, but they kinda gave the impression ‘O no, these guys are one of those bible Christians’. Though they never expressed the thought, you could sense it. Anyway one time the wife rang the bell and asked if I could jump start her car, she was late for an appointment and had no time for a battery charge. So she expressly tells me ‘I need a jump, not a charger’. Well I have one of those ‘chargers’ that also ‘jumps’ the car [booster]. So as I was walking to her driveway she managed to start it, but not before expressing her attitude of ‘I told you I don’t need a charger [you idiot!] but never mind I got it started’. Now it would have taken around 8 words to explain why I’m not an idiot, but why waste the time. Till this day she still thinks I brought the charger. Some times in life it’s worth the time to correct and even at times defend your position, but you can also become consumed with trying to correct the record, in the long run its really a waste of time. This week the president shot back at his critics over the handling of the Christmas day bomber. He sent out one of his intelligence men [John Brennan] to defend their actions. The problem is that Brennan wrote an op-ed in the USA today that made it sound like they briefed the top intelligence officials along with the Republicans and that they had enough info to know that they were going to read the Miranda rights to the guy. But during the recent public hearings on the case, both Democrats and Republicans revealed that the top officials were not consulted, they were simply ‘informed’ of the decision that Attorney general Holder had made. Why did the FBI read the rights to the man? In their defense the administration has brought up the fact that Bush also did this with Richard Reid [shoe bomber]. Bush did this around 9 years ago, shortly after 911. Our govt. admittedly did not have the procedures in place to deal effectively with detaining terrorists. Bush and Cheney spent a few years retooling our govt. to fit the job. That’s why we built the jail and military court system at Gitmo, the ‘enhanced’ interrogation unit [water boarding] and various other tools to handle the new threat. The tapping of suspected phone calls leaving the country was a new procedure that also came under fierce criticism from the Democrats. One of the main tools Bush implemented was a team of top interrogators from the CIA who mastered the art of apprehending the suspects and interrogating them before reading them their rights. The whole system at Gitmo was Bush’s way of trying to bypass the entire American court system and have a way that these guys would be first dealt with as possible outlets of info. Of course the Democrats spent many years condemning all these new procedures, from accusing the administration as being torturers to saying we threw out the constitution in our efforts to deal with the problem. So Obama made a very conscious choice to say he would close Gitmo in a year [still not done] he ‘un-did’ the governments wire tapping program for suspects calling from inside the country- and he straight out dismantled the interrogation unit from the CIA. At the time there actually were military trials under way, Obama stopped them, read all the detainees their Miranda rights and started over. Okay, many felt that all these things seriously set back the country in its fight against terror, that’s why Cheney was so vocal. So why did we treat the Christmas bomber like a criminal? Obama never replaced the dismantled CIA interrogation unit with a new unit from the FBI [like he said he would do]. In essence they did drop the ball. But they are sending out their guys to make it sound like ‘look, we are doing the same stuff as Bush, look at Richard Reid’ but that was a few months after 911, grant it Bush did treat him like a common criminal ,because it took them a few years to develop all these other tools. But if you dismantle the tools, then yes, you are willingly going back to square 1 with the whole thing. The whole point is Obama certainly did ‘un-do’ many of the procedures put in place by Bush- fine. But don’t now defend yourself by saying ‘we are doing all that Bush did’. This new administration has made some very serious mistakes and dropped the ball on some stuff; both Democrats and Republicans agree. Lets rethink some stuff and if need be re institute the interrogation team from the CIA [absent the water boarding]. Don’t simply spend all your time trying to say ‘we did nothing wrong’ it’s about as futile as telling my neighbor ‘it’s not a charger’!
(1367) IS ‘I.D.’ DEAD? I read an article the other day on ID [intelligent design] it was written by an able scientist, Stephen Barr, and it severely challenged the science of ID. ID is a field of study that would fit under the apologetic category of ‘teleology’ the argument for the existence of God from design. That is we see design in the cosmos, in living things, etc. And all evidence indicates that design/information cannot randomly appear without an intelligent mind as the source. Many have challenged this idea; Richard Dawkins [the famous atheist] calls it ‘the appearance of design’. In the field of ID, many very capable scientists [Stephen Meyer, William Dembski, Michael Behe] and others [lawyer Phillip Johnson] have shown us that you can ‘use’ evolution as a tool to try and explain how things got here, but as a tool it is utterly helpless in showing us where design/information actually come from. Sometimes this argument is referred to as ‘irreducible complexity’. That you can simplify things down to the most basic form of life, and even at that level you have an extremely high degree of information [DNA] that evolution has no way of explaining how this information got there [this field is called information theory]. So the basic argument from the ID standpoint is science shows us that evolution is not the answer to the origin of life [which Darwin never claimed it was- he claimed it was how species got here, thus the 1859 book ‘on the origin of the species’]. Yet most average students of science [high school stuff] think that evolution is a proven theory that has answered these questions. If the truth be known the more we learn, the less likely evolutionary theory will answer these questions. Now in the article the Christian scientist challenged the other Christian scientists over the validity of ID. Science has various definitions; the actual word simply means knowledge. But some say unless you can demonstrate a repeatable experiment in the lab, that it’s not technically science. Yet evolution, in all of its efforts to demonstrate the most basic plank of its theory, has failed miserably. Science has not been able to demonstrate how one species can change into another [common ancestry] the many hundreds of thousands of poor fruit flies who have been genetically engineered in trying to get this to happen, has failed over and over again. Science can’t even demonstrate the most basic plank of evolution, never mind all the other impossible things that evolution supposedly does. So if the truth be known, according to this definition of science, neither evolution nor ID work. But this is not the only way to define science, when dealing with origins [how things get here] you can never find a theory that can be viable according to the definition of ‘repeated, observable testing’- creation itself is not a repeatable event [unless of course God decides to create something!] The article stirred up a hornets’ nest among both sides of the debate [the article is on the catholic site ‘first things’ you can also link to it from Christianity Today- it’s called the death of ID]. As you read some of the debate it can get a little Ivory Tower, but for the most part it’s a good debate to have and many well informed points have been made by both sides, I would encourage all of our readers to go check it out.
(1368) FOR HE LOOKED FOR A CITY WHICH HATH FOUNDATIONS, WHOSE BUILDER AND MAKER IS GOD- Hebrews. In keeping with the last post, let’s talk some more on the debate between Evolution and Design. When the able Stephen Barr shot the round that was heard around the world [at least the world of IDer’s] he made some good points, even though I disagree strongly with the way he represented the other able scientists in the field. One day I had a talk with a geologist, it was a happenstance meeting [friend of my daughter] and during a normal friendly conversation I brought up many of the opposing views to ‘uniformitarianism’ and the challenges to a ‘deep time’ geology. While not a young earther myself, I found it amazing that this scientist was totally unaware of any opposing viewpoints to the standard theories. In the halls of academia the majority opinion is without a doubt that of Darwinian Evolution, it is also true that many people [even scientists!] are really not familiar with all the data [lots of data!] that challenge the standard view; many have come to challenge the basic Darwinian timeline [thus punctuated equilibrium] and have admitted that the tremendous ‘gap’ in the fossil record, along with the discovery of high complexity in the most simple cell, that these scientific discoveries have made it difficult to accept the Darwinian idea. Now the adherents of Evolutionary theory accuse the IDer’s of resorting to a ‘God of the gaps’ excuse. That is they claim that all the IDer’s are doing is finding places in the record that have no explanations [information, complex machines, etc.] and are inserting ‘God’ into these gaps. The Evolutionists say ‘given enough time, maybe we will find naturalistic explanations to fit the gaps’. And they claim that any ‘gap theory’ actually hinders scientific discovery, because it has a tendency to say ‘well, might as well stop looking for a naturalistic cause, God just filled the gap’. First, the IDer’s are not saying that because we have run across unanswered difficulties, lets stick God in there. What they are saying [for the most part] is that observable data [science] show us, in every case, that when you have complex systems that are ‘irreducible’ and stored data/info at the most simple level; that these facts point to an intelligent mind having been the cause of these things. Now, Stephen Barr and Francis Beckwith [two of the main scientists/philosophers in the debate] do not reject the idea that yes, an intelligent mind is behind the design/info, what they are saying is it’s still possible that science will discover a ‘naturalistic’ explanation/mechanism to it. That is God might have created some other unknown mechanism that is simple [or complex] that can be credited with bringing into existence the design/info. They are simply arguing that it’s possible, and not in contradiction with historic Christianity, to embrace this view. Barr also seems to be saying ‘yes, it is very possible that we will never find a reasonable, naturalistic explanation for this, and at that point the IDer’s might be right, but then you jump out of the field of science [observable data] and carry the argument into another classroom’. I believe the ‘God of the gaps’ accusation is erroneous, I also believe that far too many adherents to Evolutionary theory are not giving the proper weight to the gaps, some are not even aware of them! Thomas Aquinas is sometimes misunderstood and is said to have advocated a secular/religious division in apologetics; that is some say he taught that the natural sciences and religious truth were 2 totally different fields, sort of like the thought of Emanuel Kant [Physical/Metaphysical division] but Thomas taught that science could show us many truths about God, just because you have naturalistic explanations to things, this does not discount the Divine hand- but he also taught that science could only go so far down that road- for instance it would take many years to arrive at a naturalistic proof of Gods being, while revelation [thru tradition and scripture] could get you there quicker. Also science can prove that God exists [prime mover] but for truths on the nature of God [Trinity] you need revelation. So Aquinas leaves room for science to go so far, and if it ‘hits a gap’ then yes, you have every right to carry the argument into ‘another classroom’ so to speak. It is not wrong to say ‘yes, we are searching for a city, one that has been built by God’ but to also recognize that the city has foundations [whether discovered thru naturalistic or religious truth]; both seekers can be on the right track, arriving at different times/ways.
(1369) Been reading Hebrews 11 ‘by faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things we see were not made from things that appear’ in keeping with the last few posts, it seems that God himself has said we will eventually get stuck at a point of irreducible complexity- or at least we will get to a point where the actual act of God creating the physical realm will be ‘unseen’ by physical means [Physics]. Any way I wanted to mention Moses, Hebrews says that by faith his parents hid him for 3 months, by faith he forsook the pleasures/riches of being a son of pharaoh, by faith he kept the Passover and sprinkling of blood, etc… Often times Moses and the story of the children of Israel fleeing Egypt is seen thru a materialistic lens- ‘look, God gave them all the riches of Egypt on their way out, a Divine transfer of wealth’ actually God simply made the Egyptians reimburse them for all their years of free slave labor, we call that evening the playing field [reparations]. The point I want to make is Moses made a conscious decision, by faith, to not walk the path of the highly successful ‘jet setter’ he rejected a lifestyle that would have elevated him to the top of society and instead chose to ‘suffer affliction with the people of God’. Hebrews 11 also speaks of those who ‘by faith’ were tortured, not accepting deliverance- that is in today’s church world we very rarely view successful faith thru this lens- we actually give the impression of Jobs friends ‘surely Job, you must be messing up in some way, look at the hell your going thru’ but the scriptures teach us there are definite times where the cost of faith will be making the decision to not take the bait, to make the decision to make less money- or to attain less status; these are very real choices that the bible tells us about over and over again. If we were told ‘look, I am going to give you a book by some revolutionary, in it he will give you the keys to greatness and being a true follower’ and then you received a New Testament, and you start reading it for the 1st time- you would be inundated with a message and calling that says over and over again ‘unless you forsake all, you can’t follow me’ ‘whoever loves this life, can’t be my disciple’ ‘unless you take up your cross and follow me, you are not worthy of me’ ‘you can’t serve God and money’ ‘it’s harder for a rich man to enter the kingdom than for a camel to pass thru the eye of a needle’ I mean you would be hard pressed to walk away from the New testament with a message of wealth and luxury! Moses, by faith, chose to forsake a life of luxury and success, he chose ‘affliction’ for the sake of a higher calling- I want to challenge you guys today [especially all our Pastor/leader readers] have you been influenced too much by the modern 'health/wealth’ message? Has the busyness of ministry and the pressures of life ‘choked these words that they have become unfruitful’ [Jesus parable of the sower]. Remember, Jesus said the enemy comes to steal the words of Jesus; he tries to cause us to forget, to ‘not see’ the actual things that Jesus said. Don’t feel guilty if this is you, just rethink what I shared in this post and by Gods grace make the adjustments- God is challenging many ministries at this season, there are good men who mean well, but lots of ministry that is focused on extreme wealth and needing millions to accomplish the mission, these are going to be challenged in the economically challenging days ahead. But if your ministry/mission is seen the thru lens of the great revolutionary [Jesus] you will do well. Hey, sometimes faith is the act of walking away from the status and limelight, sometimes it’s ‘forsaking the riches of Egypt’ and embracing some affliction.
(1370) BY FAITH THE WALLS OF JERICHO CAME DOWN, AFTER THEY WERE COMPASSED ABOUT FOR 7 DAYS- Hebrews 11. Also ‘Moses and the children of Israel went thru the Red Sea like it was dry ground, others drowned in the same attempt’. We often view ministry/serving God thru a mindset that says ‘I have this vision, this thing I want to do for God- I see myself being in ‘full time ministry’ and I am not cut out to live a normal life’. Now, many good men with noble goals have done great things ‘for God’, the point I want to make, in keeping with the previous post, is that Jesus gave us a way to approach ‘Christianity’ and it doesn’t start with ‘my big vision’ it starts with service and sacrifice. Years ago when I was pastoring I had friends who would come to our meetings, others who were members, who were ‘word of faith- prosperity’ brothers. I had one friend who was actually an ordained ‘WOF’ [word of faith] pastor. I advised him to try and get a ‘secular job’ while waiting on his ministry, he refused to work. It was common to run into brothers with this mindset. They meant well, but they were approaching the Christian life thru a lens that said ‘I am not cut out for the working world, so I aint gonna work, period!’ What can you do with these types of mindsets? In the above verses the people of God did not disconnect faith from action, real consistent action. Faith made the walls of Jericho fall down, AFTER 7 days of labor! Moses attempted something that others died attempting; he then kept the ordinances and remained faithful for 40 years in the dessert. We often say ‘well, it wasn’t Gods plan for them to wander for 40 years, they brought that upon themselves’ true; but then Jesus would have never been able to say ‘Moses gave you manna for 40 years, I am the true bread that comes down from heaven’. The point being we need to be prepared for a consistent life of faithfully doing God’s will, there will be times when the glory of the Red Sea experience will turn into a bunch of rebels whining about Quail! Much of Christianity in our day has mastered the ‘Quail request’ we say ‘give us abundance, more and more’ God said ‘okay, you got what you wanted’ and the bible says they ate Quail till it came out their nose! I believe God has some good things in store for us down the road, we are all in this together [Abraham dwelt in tents with Isaac and Jacob- all heirs of THE SAME PROMISE] Its just every now and then we need to make some adjustments, it seems this season is one of those times.
(1371) CAN SOMETHING COME FROM NOTHING? Part of the recent debate going on in the field of Physics argues whether or not you can get something from nothing. One of the arguments says ‘look, we have been able to detect certain phenomena that seem to show us things popping into existence from A FIELD [AREA] WHERE NOTHING EXISTS’. Now, the same Quantum Physics that supposedly shows this, also teaches that our universe has around 90 % of all matter hidden, they say that this ‘dark matter’ is everywhere, you can’t escape it! Yet at the same time we have no way of detecting it. My question for the Quantum physicist would be ‘where are you getting this pristine field, this area where ‘nothing exists’ that you are examining, that seemingly shows you things coming from nothing?’ The problem with some of these brothers is they make nonsensical statements, things that violate the laws of logic, and then they call us idiots!
(1372) JOHN 17:1-7 Jesus said his hour has come, ‘glorify me with the glory which I had with you before the world was. I have manifested your name [who you are] to the men that you gave to me, they were your men and you gave them to me. They have received the words that you gave me, and they know for sure that the things that I taught them came from you.’ There is an element in Christian ministry/teaching when the rubber meets the road, after a period of time people either say ‘you know, I believe what he is saying is accurate’ or when you say ‘enough, I really can’t take this anymore’. Now Jesus will also tell us later in the chapter ‘I have kept the men you gave me, but Judas had to fall away for the scriptures to be fulfilled’ Jesus also dealt with the pain of losing one of his guys. A while back I read an article about a famous evangelical in the UK, he made some waves by referring to the Mother of Jesus in a sort of Catholic way [I forget the exact wording] but he got some heat over it. While trying to defend his new view of becoming more open to the Catholic Church, he said ‘I am as sure about this as I was about the truth of the prosperity movement’ not too comforting for me. The point though is Protestants have a tendency to journey thru the Christian life in sort of a haphazard way, we often see a certain viewpoint about some doctrine [whether true or not] and that becomes what we teach the people, then we see another thing and that becomes the next road. Too often the individualism of the Protestant way of approaching Gods kingdom has us ‘revealing to them the next new thing coming down the pike’ as opposed to saying with Jesus ‘I have manifested thy name unto the men which you gave me’. We have all been put here with a predetermined purpose from God, we can’t say ‘glorify me with the glory which I had with you [father] before the world was’ but we can say ‘father, carry out the purpose that you gave to me before the world was, that eternal purpose that you destined me for, before I ever existed’ we need to grasp a better hold on the purpose of God for our lives. We need to stop following people, even good intentioned people, thru all their ups and downs and highs and lows of new experiences and teachings; in Ephesians Paul said the purpose of us being ‘a body/community’ was so we could be built up and not be tossed around by every whim and new doctrine that people come up with. The ‘Body’ imagery speaks of the people of God as a worldwide community, a living corporate being whom God indwells. When we hear and grow with the ‘whole church- of all time’ then we do well, when we follow too closely individual men/teachers we spend too much time going up and down.
(1373) JOHN 17:8-14 Jesus says he has given the words that the father gave to him, to his men. He is preparing to be ‘no more in the world’ but these are in the world, and I am glorified in/thru them. Jesus saw his mission thru the paradigm of having faithfully deposited Gods truth into the people that the father ‘gave him’. This group of men were planned by the father to have been impacted thru his life, Jesus did not see them thru the lens of ‘these men are here to promote/support my calling’ sort of like God gave them to him in order for them to help him reach some type of goal or personal achievement in life. Instead he realized that thru serving them and laying down his life for them, that thru these acts he would be ‘glorified/honored thru them’. That is the people of God would carry on the legacy of Jesus after he was gone, they too would be ‘sent out into the world, even as the father sent me into the world’. He would entrust to them Divine realities and they would pass these truths along to those who the father ‘gave to them’ [Paul- I do all things for the elects sakes]. I want to encourage/challenge our leaders today- do you primarily see the people around you [whether church members or simple friendships in the kingdom] as people God has brought to you in order to help you achieve your mission? That is are they simply assets to ‘the ministry/church’? It’s easy to fall into these mindsets, and it’s not wrong to see God as bringing relationships into your life for the purpose of a great goal, but I think it would be better if we saw these things thru the mindset of Jesus; he knew that his life being poured out as a sacrifice would impact his followers in such a way that for generations to come the ‘words that the father gave to him’ would continue thru the lives of his friends. Don’t be too consumed with the material aspects of the here and now [facilities, finances, etc.] they will all pass away, but those that do the will of God will abide forever.
(1374) let’s talk a little about the current church scene in certain evangelical circles. I read a news article about a church in Texas, Fellowship church- pastored by Ed Young [the son of the able senior Ed Young] the article showed how brother Young came under criticism for possibly leasing a private jet and mixing the selling of his teachings too much with the non profit ‘church ministry’. Overall it seems like brother Young is a well intentioned pastor, not in the category of ‘the prosperity gospel’ [which some seem to think] and he is a good man, who has been affected by mixing in 21st century corporate models with the biblical idea of Ecclesia [church]. All things I have written about before. Also Pastor Rick Warren [the good pastor from the west coast- Saddleback church] made the statement that the church at Jerusalem was a Mega Church, because some historians tell us that the ‘church’ grew to around 100 thousand believers. Now, I consider both of these men good men, I do not put them in the category of some who truly have lost a biblical message and traded it in for a wealth gospel. But these recent examples show us how we need to re-evaluate the way we think and function. For instance if I were to say ‘the church at Corpus Christi numbers 50 thousand’ you would take that statement to mean there are around 50 thousand believers who reside in the city. To then justify an environment [building] being built to house 50 thousand people, because after all the Jerusalem church had 100 thousand ‘members’- this would be silly. The church at Jerusalem met at Solomon’s Porch, an open space outside the temple. You did not have 100 thousand people ‘showing up for church on Sunday’ [ouch!] but some historians estimate that the ‘church at Jerusalem’ [the believers residing in the city] eventually numbered a high number. Also how should we approach the sale of teaching materials that Christians produce? First we should look at the overall view of scripture, both the basic teachings from Jesus and how the early church operated. Jesus did teach his men ‘freely you have received, freely give’ in context he was talking spiritual gifts [casting out demons, healing, etc.] Both Paul and Peter would give instructions/warnings to younger leaders [elder’s- pastors] to be very careful about mixing in money with ministry. And even though it was possible to make a good living through the profession of preaching in the 1st century [Rhetoric] yet we know that none of the early apostles/pastors did this. One time Larry King was interviewing a prosperity preacher, King asked him ‘how can you believe that Jesus was a very wealthy man, doesn’t the bible show us that he was a humble man’ and the preacher, who obviously knows much more about the bible than King, responded by quoting a few proof texts [Jesus wore an expensive coat] and dismissed Kings criticism. Now, who was right? The image that King [and most people] have of Jesus and his humble life [carpenter] is actually the correct image. The image that the well meaning prosperity preacher had was actually wrong. Now it would take way too much time for me to explain the whole thing [go read my prosperity section] but this example shows us how we can sincerely believe the views we hold are in keeping with scripture, while the whole time they are violating scripture. The purpose of this post is not to condemn Rick Warren or Ed Young, I believe these are good men who I can recommend, I would not tell people ‘don’t give to their ministries’ but I do think we need to function in the 21st century, with all the benefits of modern technology and contemporary conveniences, while also keeping our motives in line with scripture.
(1375) SOCIAL EVOLUTION- As I have been doing some blogging on other sites over the science of evolution, I thought it would be good to do a little on the philosophical ideas that spawned from it. Many sincere people do not realize the bias that comes along with a full embrace of a purely materialistic approach to life. There once was a woman named Margaret Sanger, she was a strong believer in Evolution and its sister science, Eugenics. Eugenics was an idea espoused by a relative of Darwin that taught that if you ‘quickened’ evolution by eliminating the so called ‘inferior races’ by human action, that this would advance the purer races faster and man would arrive at his Utopian state quicker. Darwin himself used the Black Aborigines tribes as an example of the inferiority of the ‘lesser races’. He looked at them as an in between race of people who were not fully human [like the white race] but were sort of a mix between man and ape. Anyway Sanger developed this idea to the point where she set up an organization that would assist the inferior races in the rush to eliminating their offspring; less child bearing, the quicker the more noble whites would advance. She received praise from another man who believed in the same principle, Adolph Hitler. After WW2 it became quite unpopular to continue to associate her organization with a megalomaniac who also carried out the same plan with the Jews, so she renamed her organization- today we know it as Planned Parenthood. Now as hard as this is to believe, the facts on this have been out there for many years. This is also why many advocates for minorities are upset that the planned parenthood clinics are located in poor minority areas, they see this as an attempt to get rid of minorities. The point today is the social construct of evolutionary theory has had disastrous effects; from biblical theology [documentary theory advanced by Wellhausen- he taught that the bible followed the ‘evolutionary model’ of mans advance from primitive religions to Monotheism, an idea espoused by the philosopher Hegel] to the public school systems embrace of evolution as the answer to all things from biology to cosmology. When Christians advocate a progressive-theistic evolutionary model, and when they do a worldwide ‘Darwin week’ [like we just did!] we need to also recognize the social effects of Darwinism as well as the scientific advances that some believe have been made thru the theory.
(1376) I AM DOCTOR AMY BISHOP! This week a Harvard trained professor shot and killed 3 of her fellow professors. As the story unraveled it seems that the woman has a history of treating ‘biological life’ with disdain; she shot her brother with a shotgun when a teenager, killed him. She was suspected of sending a bomb to another person, and she had a history of seeing herself as better than other ‘less developed’ people. One time at a restaurant another lady took the last child seat and Bishop yelled ‘I am doctor Amy Bishop’! Obviously the poor woman has some problems, but what the media is failing to tell you is this professor is no ordinary teacher- she is a biologist, a person whose main study is evolution. A while back when reading the story of the serial kill Jeffrey Dahmer, he said the way he justified in his mind the senseless taking of other human life was thru his belief in evolution. If people are truly just these overgrown blobs of meaningless flesh, then why not eliminate the ones we deem less desirable? Can you imagine the way the media would be in an uproar if this person was a creationist or believed in Intelligent Design? I mean that’s all you would hear about the case, how these ignorant tea party types have allowed their radical beliefs to undermine society at large, but they never report on the obvious effects of a belief system that says all people came from slime. While I do not label all evolutionists and see them as Amy Bishops, the truth is the way a person views the value of other people effects the way we treat them. Professor Bishop’s ideology permitted her to see herself as someone who had more value than the other less developed people she would run into thru out her life, the Christian ethic would have told her ‘no, you can’t kill or poison or shoot other people with shotguns just because you deem them less worthy’ but Bishops worldview seemed to have no problem with it.
(1377) Last night I caught a good program on Christian apologetics. Apologetics is the term used to describe the ministry of those who contend for ‘the faith’. In the early church you had men like Justin Martyr who defended the nascent church from those who would accuse her of wicked things [like cannibalism! A misreading of the Lords supper]. The show last night had a bunch of apologists that dealt with cults; they included the main ones as well as some Christian branches of Pentecostalism. They critiqued the UPC [untied Pentecostal churches] as a cult because of her unique view of the ‘oneness’ of God as seen thru Jesus. Now, I have written on this before [under the Trinity section] and don’t want to explain it again, but I do want to examine the way believers view other churches. During the program the able apologists used lots of wording from the early creeds and councils; Subordinationism, Monarchianism, Modalism, etc. These are all words I am familiar with and have used on this site, as a believer who loves to study church history I understand where these men are coming from. But at one point it seemed as if they were critiquing certain aspects of other churches, sincere believers who have certain views that they have developed thru their reading of the bible, and that these apologists were really not giving a fair shake to these other groups. You also had both the cults and some of the more extreme restorationist groups [restorationism refers to those Christian groups who reject the Protestant Reformation as being ‘the offspring’ of the Catholic church and view their faith thru the idea that we should return to the original sources, primarily the book of Acts, and start from scratch] share the view that the historic Orthodox churches [Catholic, Orthodox, Reformed] were basically pagan expressions of Christianity and their creeds and councils usurped the word of God. I believe there are real expressions of Christianity found in all of the above [excluding the actual cults] and that the Christian church should know the historic creeds and councils, but also be willing to see how these other Christian groups have come to form their opinions thru actual scripture. I mean at one point there were so many categories being quoted by the apologists to refute the Pentecostal view, that they weren’t really allowing the scriptures to be the final authority on the matter [I agreed more with the apologists, being I am one myself, but at the same time sensed too mush rigidness]. I also believe it’s dangerous for any Christian group to leave the impression that most other historic expressions of Christianity are out right pagan. Overall we all need grace when dealing with others that we disagree with, yes there are times when we need to take a strong stand on stuff and let the chips fall where they may, but at the end of the day we should be striving for unity as much as possible.
(1378) DON’T BEGIN BY TRAVELING TO SOME FAR OFF PLACE TO CONVERT UNBELIEVERS. AND DON’T TRY TO BE DRAMATIC BY TACKLING SOME PUBLIC ENEMY. GO TO THE LOST, CONFUSED PEOPLE RIGHT HERE IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD. TELL THEM THAT THE KINGDOM IS HERE [NOT POSTPONED UNTIL A NEW TEMPLE GETS REBUILT!] BRING HEALTH TO THE SICK, RAISE THE DEAD, TOUCH THE UNTOUCHABLES- FREELY YOU HAVE RECEIVED, SO DO THIS FOR FREE! Message bible/ my own ad libbing. I like this, Jesus sends his men out with a mission to declare that Gods reality is here. He even tells them not to approach this kingdom with a preconceived mindset of gathering wealth and funds. In another verse he says ‘don’t think you need a lot of equipment for this- you are the equipment’. One of the strange things I have experienced over the years is that I have had been acquainted with many pastors and leaders of ministries. Many times [some times] I would get the feeling that when they would stumble across some of our teachings, they would sort of think ‘yes, that’s what I felt all along!’ and yet thru their public statements you would have never known it [whether some teaching on the prosperity gospel or end times or whatever]. Some actually would use the same arguments from the groups that they supposedly rejected. Why not be upfront about their beliefs? Because modern ministry has lost the mandate from Jesus ‘go, don’t worry about lots of fund raising for heaven’s sake, just trust me to meet your needs each day and be like me’. We often approach ministry with the exact opposite mindset ‘well brother, how can we ever have an impact unless we have enough faith to bring in a harvest of money’? Well the way you will do it is by believing what Jesus just said, don’t start with your own preconceived mindset [God is big enough to get the money to me] but start with Jesus mindset [God is big enough to do it without all the stinking money!] Often times we simply need to re-evaluate along the way, re-tool some things. I want to challenge you today with the simple [yet great!] mindset of Jesus- yes Gods kingdom is here, he is alive and well and ruling in heaven and earth, we express this rule by being like him, not by amassing great wealth!
[just a comment I left on Ben Witherington’s site, good article on finding an early temple, go check it out] 'The temple begat the city’ prophetic indeed. Wellhausen [Hegel] believed that man evolved religiously from Animism, Polytheism, Monotheism- any evidence that shows an early temple-worship mindset does indeed challenge modern [liberal] theory!
(1379) HOW SHOULD WE RESPOND TO UNJUST GOVERNMENTS? One of the most famous dissidents of the soviet era was Alexander Solzhenitsyn; Alexander was a simple school teacher who would serve in the military when Stalin was in power. He had written some critical things about Stalin in a letter to a friend and was put in the communist prison camps. While doing time he met believers and returned to his early faith as a Christian. In the year I was born [1962] he wrote the famous ‘A day in the life of Ivan Denisovich’ it was a fictional account of a man in the prison camps and how he dealt with his captors. The main character would meet a Baptist believer while doing time and sort of represented Alexander’s own plight. Alexander came to fame when Khrushchev would permit him to publish his book, Khrushchev was advancing his own program of Destalinization and he underestimated Alexander’s criticism of all communist type systems, not just Stalin. He would also expose the evils of the prison camps in his other work titled ‘The Gulag Archipelago’. Eventually he was exiled to the U.S. [Vermont was his home] and received much notoriety as a prophetic voice who spoke out for justice. He gave a controversial speech at Harvard [1978?] and the western media came to dislike him; he was critical of loose morality and the evils of western society as well, he was not the sort of liberal crusader that they mistook him to be. Eventually he would return home to Russia and live to see the fall of the system he despised. History is filled with people who stood for what was right against all odds and impacted society for the better, Alexander was a school teacher whose life took a turn of events that he simply followed; he was not ashamed of the gospel and did not tailor his message to please the audience. I like that style; it reminds me of another revolutionary who gave his life to save the world.
(1380) THE KILLER WHALE- This week we had a tragic event happen when a killer whale at sea world killed its trainer. Now, as I have watched the evolving story get out into the media I believe that they are purposely portraying the story more as a ‘drowning accident’ than a whale attack. Why? First, the initial response from sea world said ‘we had a trainer that fell into the pool and drowned’. Yet every witness to the event said it was very obvious that this whale was either upset or simply decided to attack the trainer. The witnesses above ground said the whale came up out of the water and grabbed the woman by the arm and drug her under; those who were viewing from a below ground room saw the whale with the woman in its mouth, turning over and over again in a motion that killed the woman. Sea world has described the event as a woman that fell into the water and drowned, they are lying. This whale was involved with 2 other human deaths, described as accidents as well. One was a homeless man who illegally snuck into the park at night and climbed into the tank, the whale killed him. The other is described as, quote ‘someone who fell into the tank and drowned’ the same official description of this attack. It is obvious to me that both the advocates of the fish, as well as the business enterprise of sea world do not want to admit that this fish killed this woman, as well as others. The money involved in raising these animals and caring for them for many years and training them is a much bigger enterprise then ‘putting to sleep’ a pit bull that kills a human. There are obvious financial reasons to avoid describing this event as a ‘fish kill’. Then you do have a purely naturalistic mindset that is common in our day that sees man as this evil intruder into the realm of nature, and that nature itself could never be deemed as ‘bad’. The biblical story tells us that after man fell in the garden, that the earth and all things in it were cursed. Animals were not created in their original state with an instinct to kill, the scriptures teach us that this instinct came as a result of mans sin. The bible speaks of a day when ‘the lion will lay down with the lamb’ so the reality of animals having this killer instinct is a biblical doctrine that witnesses to the fact of original sin. For modern man to immediately come to the defense of the fish [animal kingdom] in a way that says ‘in no way could this animal [or animals in general] be exhibiting a killer instinct’ is naturalistic mans attempt to portray man as the pollutant to society and nature, while exalting nature to some pristine status that is in conflict with the biblical view. I believe in and appreciate all the great works that these people do; and I understand the mindset of those who don’t want a tragedy like this to hinder the future of these types of displays; but to continue to describe this event as ‘a trainer that fell into the pool and drowned’ is really a disgrace to the life of the poor woman who really did love these animals.
(1381) DON’T THINK YOU NEED TO PUT ON A FUNDRAISING CAMPAIGN BEFORE YOU START, YOU ARE THE EQUIPMENT… WHEN YOU ENTER A TOWN/CITY, DON’T INSIST ON STAYING IN A LUXURY INN, GET A MODEST PLACE WITH MODEST PEOPLE, AND BE CONTENT WITH THAT- Jesus, message bible [Matthew 10] One day I was reading the Billy Graham column in the paper; the question asked ‘Dear Doctor, I am having a problem with ED [erectile dysfunction] and would like your advice on…’ I thought, you gotta be kidding me man! Then I realized it was a question to another ‘doctor’ that gives medical advice on the same page. It’s easy to confuse ‘the way of the world’ with the way of God. Notice in Jesus above words that he clearly lays down the parameters for us; he flat out tells us ‘don’t go for the luxury, the expensive ‘go getter’ lifestyle, you guys are my witnesses and it won’t help the cause’. Now was Jesus saying there should never be an expression of ministry that uses lots of wealth? No. A good example would be Billy Graham, though his organization has used lots of money over many years, yet society at large does not view brother Graham as a luxurious high thrift spender. You don’t hear messages from Graham on ‘we are the king’s kids! We are the head and not the tail!’ type stuff. Even though you can find this ‘head and not the tail’ principle in scripture [Duet. 28] yet in context we need to hear the whole counsel of God. Jesus flat out gives us up front instructions on how to operate in the area of staying in motels for heaven’s sake, the last thing we need to see is another media expose on some evangelist who stayed in a 5 thousand dollar a night luxury resort on the peoples tab, and then using these other [out of context] verses to justify it! This week we had a guy fly his plane into the IRS building in Austin, as the story unfolded he was disgruntled about the way the IRS fined him and taxed him. In his on line rant he accused the catholic church [and churches in general] as being these hypocrites who use all this money, live these flashy TV lives, and yet have IRS exempt status. It turns out that the scam he was caught up in was he and a bunch of friends started their own 'house churches’ and would use this as a tax dodge. The IRS caught up with them and fined them for back taxes. In the rant the man sort of admitted that they weren’t really ‘a church’ but at least they weren’t using there status to connive people out of money [like the churches- in his mind]. Do we as believers have a responsibility to examine our selves and how we approach ‘wealth and luxury’ and re-tool our lives/ministries back to the Jesus mandate? I recently had a bill from one of the news papers that I run the blog ad in; it was an unexpected bill that really was a mistake from the papers billing dept. But I did have some past months that they forgot to automatically deduct from my checking. So anyway as I was discussing the situation [thru emails] I finally worked out a deal, but also explained to the paper that I’m not trying to be a cheapskate, but that I pay for all of this stuff from my retirement check and do not take offerings [or accept money in any way]. I also do not use any ministry stuff in any way to gain a financial benefit [I do not deduct my giving from my taxes]. It seems as if when they realized where I was coming from that their attitude changed somewhat. The point being Jesus wants us to approach the kingdom thru a different lens, seeing things differently. How would you feel if you saw Billy Graham on TV doing some teaching on the end time transfer of wealth and heard him justifying his Rolex watch or something to that effect? It would seem to not fit the man’s message; I would hope that we could claim that too.
(1382) IN THE BEGINNING WAS THE WORD; AND THE WORD WAS WITH GOD, AND THE WORD WAS GOD- John 1:1 Jesus is called ‘The Word’, the Greek word for ‘word’ is Logos. In the first century this word was common among the philosophers, it stood for a sort of overriding principle that would explain and bring together all the fields of science and learning, the same obsession of Einstein in his search for a unified theory. The philosophers believed that there had to be some type of base principle of truth that would bring together all the other fields of wisdom and learning. In essence John was saying ‘This is it, we have found the Logos- the answer to everything- his name is Jesus!’ It’s always difficult to teach these types of verses, they are fraught with only seeing one aspect of what God is saying, and then dividing lines are drawn between the Christian camps. I was having a conversation yesterday with a person who was asking questions about a Muslim friend who used to be a Christian. The Muslim said that he wanted a religion that he could understand, that God is the only God and Jesus is not God. I explained the best I could and shared this verse and a few others, but I also explained that various ‘Christian’ groups have argued over the way to express the deity of Jesus for centuries. There are groups that say ‘Yes, Jesus is the redeemer, he is Gods Son, but only God is God’. From the catholic bishop Arius in the 4th century all the way up to the Unitarians in Boston in the 20th century, people have debated the language we use. I explained to my friend that the bible clearly does teach us that Jesus is God, but I do see how people have problems with the language. But I told my friend that for a person to use the difficulty over the Trinity to embrace Islam is going way too far in my view. I mean the fact that someone has a problem with the wording of the Trinity should not mean you abandon all the realities of redemption and Christianity and embrace a movement that was started by a ‘prophet’ who killed and murdered and had ‘many women’, I mean no other prophets ever had a track record like that! As we read the rest of John chapter 1 we see how John the Baptist says he came to bear witness, to give a record of Jesus, the ‘Lamb of God’. The religious leaders come to John and ask him ‘who are you, we need an answer to bring back to the authorities, the movers and shakers of our day’ John says ‘I am the voice of one man crying in the wilderness, get ready, the lord is on his way’. John quoted Isaiah 40, he is also said to be the prophetic voice that Malachi spoke about- the Elijah that was to come. Johns only significance was in the fact that he was chosen by God to trumpet the reality of the Messiah, his purpose was not about him or his prophetic gifts, his purpose was to proclaim the last true prophet [in the sense of Hebrew messengers who came down the line- see Hebrews chapter 1] and John the Baptist said ‘this is the one, the one whom the Spirit descended on- he’s going to baptize you guys with the Spirit’ [and fire!]. John testified that Jesus was the end of the line for promised Messiahs, he was the ONE. Why look we for another?
[just a comment I left on Scot McKnight’s review of Brian McLaren’s latest book- can read it on line at Christianity Today magazine] Is it possible that Brian leaves out the atonement because the classical view seems to not fit with the more advanced [evolved] view of God? The problem with those who do theology from a sort of philosophical/historical lens is that they often find themselves in conflict with biblical theology. I like Brian [somewhat] and appreciate his stance on social issues, I just don’t think we need to ’re-shape’ orthodox Christian theology to get to the place where he seems to want to go.
(1383) WHEN PEOPLE REALIZE IT IS THE LIVING GOD YOU ARE PRESENTING AND NOT SOME IDOL THAT MAKES THEM FEEL GOOD, THEY ARE GOING TO TURN ON YOU- Jesus, message bible. In keeping with the above comment [those reading from the ‘most recent- teaching section’] let’s talk a little. Some authors have reintroduced some of the more liberal versions of Christianity and it’s good for people to be aware of the pros and cons. Recently I received a teaching catalog from an excellent company called ‘the teaching company’ as I perused the courses they had some really good stuff; I ordered and have already started on a course on Einstein and Quantum theory [Physics] I love the course and these teachings [audio and book] are really at the university level. But I have noticed an area where the able professor is mistaken; he says ‘the universe is ruled-governed BY CHANCE’. Now, I know what he means, but that doesn’t change the fact that he is violating the laws of logic and reasoning by making this assumption [by the way this professor is also a philosopher, he should know better!]. Basically you can say ‘there are causes, things happening in the material realm that we are unaware of, as of now we have no definite identified cause’ but to say that ‘chance’ itself is the ruling agency is nonsense. The point being we should all have some background before accepting anyone’s teaching 100%. So in some of the recent Christian teaching some have resurrected the older liberal theories that arose in the 19th century out of the universities in Germany. Some teachers taught that the first 5 books of the bible couldn’t have been written by Moses because at the time of Moses writing was unpopular, and that the concept of ‘codified law’ was foreign, and that the commandment against idols was ‘too advanced’ for Moses to have written down around 14-1500 BC. So these liberal theories espoused a sort of view of God and religion that was ‘evolving’ over time. Von Harnack, Wellhausen, the philosopher Hegel all advanced this view [sometimes referred to as the documentary theory]. Well as time rolled on and we became more proficient in archaeology, low and behold we found out that 3-500 years before Moses societies were advanced enough to write down laws. The famous code of Hammurabi was discovered, it was a law code with 282 specific laws written down; something that supposedly was never done at the time. So how did the liberal theologians respond? ‘You are right, Moses very well could have written down the 10 commandments around 1500 BC, as a matter of fact we now think he copied it from Hammurabi’! Yikes! You see when people exalt their view-theory above the actual evidence, then you have problems. It’s not to say that we should blackball their ideas, it’s just we need to know that some of these ideas have been around for a while and they have been fairly well debunked by other able theologians. Just because a ‘new’ theory sounds interesting, doesn’t mean it’s correct. In the teaching course catalog that the teaching company sent me, they also have stuff on the bible and early Christianity and theology. I did not order those courses because I am familiar with the theology of the professor [Bart Erhman] and though I’m sure he is a good man, I know he espouses views that are really not in keeping with mainstream thought. Now, if I had the teachings already, sure I would work the course, but I won’t spend a few hundred dollars on stuff that I already am aware of and have rejected. The point today is historic orthodox Christianity has answered many of the critics questions over the years, it’s not ‘wicked’ for a teacher/writer to reintroduce some of these ideas all over again, but people need to be aware that these things have been floating around for a while and the historic orthodox view is really the better [more historically reliable] view. Yes, momma and daddy’s church, old fashioned as it may be, probably had it right all along!
(1384) YOU’RE NO EINSTEIN! A few weeks back my wife was getting on me for looking like a homeless guy, she tells me ‘John, why don’t you cut your hair- at least brush it’ and I responded ‘Einstein let his hair grow out’- the response ‘your no Einstein’. Humility is one of those gifts that just keeps on giving. Okay, seriously I have become a little messy these last few years. I am feeling okay physically though I realize all things are not well. About a year [actually a few years] ago I noticed some physical signs that probably needed to be checked out, but I had just lost my health insurance and finally went on line and did the best with what I had. At the same time there were days where I would get off of work and barely be able to walk [back problems] and would go to the homeless mission to see the brothers and some of them are in there 20’s, doing much better than me, and yet they are on Social Security, getting medical stuff for free, and I couldn’t even get the darn VA clinic to check me out! [I was in the navy, and my wife also. Tried but failed to get approved for the clinic]. So I guess after a while you get frustrated. Okay, in John chapter 2 Jesus turns the water into wine. The governor of the wedding drinks it and says ‘wow, most people serve the best stuff first, and after everyone is feeling good- then he sets out the cheap stuff. But you have saved the best for last’. Of course we know this is a story that speaks about the New Covenant in Jesus Blood being better than the old, but the point I want to make is this governor testified about Jesus and he didn’t even know it. Later on after the leaders draw up their personal opinions of him, they will not give him the credit for ‘the good wine’ they will find all sorts of reasons to demean him, but those who simply got a taste of the wine said ‘wow, that’s some of the best ever’. Do you [I] have a tendency to reject the ‘wine’ because we have already pre judged the source? Have people ever approached you and said ‘hey, did you hear that brothers teaching, it’s really good’ and yet you felt offended because ‘that brother’ might have hit a nerve or 2 along the way. Jesus turned the water into wine, not just any wine, but some of the best stuff on the planet. Many wouldn’t access it because they were offended by his straight forward approach- they even said of John the Baptist that he had strange eating habits [locusts!] and looked a little shabby [camels hair wardrobe]. Don’t let the personal animosities keep you from the good wine, people are going to drink it whether you like it or not, might as well get in on it while there’s still some time left.
(1385) JOHN 4- Jesus does the unthinkable, he travels thru a bad side of town- Samaria. If you read our Kings study you will remember the history of the region, by the time of Jesus day they were considered the ‘dogs’ of society. Now Jesus meets the woman at the well and they engage is this intriguing conversation, she brings up the debate over where the true place of worship should be- do we meet in the church building or the house? Ah, Jesus says ‘woman, the time is coming and it is even here now when the true worshippers of God will do it in spirit and truth’. It really wasn’t a matter of ‘where’. Okay, she gets into this religious discussion with this strange person in the middle of her busy day, she really doesn’t have time to get into the whole thing. But for some reason she’s drawn to this person, he seems to have insight that is rare for the day. Jesus tells her ‘if you knew who it was that you were talking to, you would have asked for water and I would have given you water that once a person drinks from they will never thirst again’. Okay, another one of those strange sayings, but she’s running out of time, she needs to finish her business at the well at get back to town. What the heck, she says ‘Okay, give me the water’ well, first we have to deal with a few things- remember I’m looking for sprit and truth, brutal honesty about your life and situation. This isn’t an encounter with some ‘wealth coach’ for heaven’s sake! Here we go ‘call your husband’ what? What a strange question to interject at this point-okay, she knows how to answer questions about her past in a way that makes it sound like everything is all right, when we all know it’s not. She says ‘I have no husband’ got ya now. Jesus tells her ‘you have spoken the truth’ the man your living with now is not your husband, and you have been divorced 5 times already, so yes, you ‘have no husband’. Okay, this is where the rubber meets the road, this is what Jesus was getting at when he told her that worship is not about ‘where’ but about truth and honesty when confronted by God. At this point many walk away and stay offended for life, but she was thirsty enough to allow the confrontation/offense to happen. ‘Well, I know that the Messiah is going to come some day, and when he comes he will tell us all things’! It was really a shot at Jesus ‘sure, you know SOME STUFF about me, but the real Messiah knows everything!’ Jesus says ‘I that speak unto you am he’. At that point the disciples returned with the food, they are shocked that Jesus is engaging this woman, they must be thinking ‘thank God the Pharisees aren’t here for this one’ I mean they were always looking for an excuse to discredit him. Well the woman goes back into town and tells all the other ‘mongrels’ about Jesus, he is invited to the town and spends 2 days and this truly is the first great ‘gentile/Samaritan’ outreach of the first century. In our day there is much debate about the how and way to ‘do church’ much of what is missing from the conversation is the ‘spirit and truth’ aspect. I have noticed that when a famous preacher falls into some public sin, that when they make the rounds [Larry King, etc.] there is much interest. People want to know that the things that they have struggled with are also things that we all deal with. The ‘spirit and truth’ aspect is often missing from our modern practice of Christianity. This woman allowed the confrontation to happen; it needed to happen for her to get to the next step where she would believe that Jesus was the Messiah. She truly found the water that she asked for.
(1386) DROP THE BED [AND GIVE ME THE WINGS] - I was reading a news story about a Dominoes guy who was robbed; the brothers who robbed him found out he had no money on him, so one of them said ‘just give me the wings’, now that’s a brother that I could go easy on if I was on the jury. Recently I made a few comments on line dealing with the Emergent movement and stuff, all things I have written on before. Though I have been both critical and at times supportive of certain aspects of the movement, I felt some who also made comments were not leaving enough ‘room’ [grace] for the author of the book being critiqued. In John chapter 5 Jesus heals the guy at the pool of Bethesda and he tells him ‘take up your bed and walk’- take up my bed! That’s the reason I have not been able to get healed by making it into the water after the angel troubles the water, I mean if I could walk I wouldn’t be in this dilemma. The poor brother didn’t realize that he was talking straight to the source ‘forget about the angel thing, I am the Messiah man! Take up the bed now’ the man walks. Now that’s a real miracle, something that we could all be happy about, right? Not. The religious folk saw the man and their first response was ‘who in the heck told you to carry that darn bed on the Sabbath’? They immediately saw the perceived violation of their religious point of view, the bible says ‘they sought to kill him’. What! The same 10 commandments that speak about keeping the Sabbath has a little bit to say about killing people too. Sometimes we as believers [defenders of the faith] need to be able to look past the things we perceive as wrong- now there are times where we take a stand and say ‘enough is enough’ but there are also times where we need to ask ourselves if we are just looking for some guy carrying his bed- the person who seems to be violating one of our ideas. There is a difference between true rejecters of Jesus, and people who believe in Jesus but are coming at stuff from a different point of view. To shoot a pizza delivery boy in a robbery is a serious crime, to say ‘give me the wings’ I don’t know.
(1387) FOR THE FATHER HAS LIFE IN HIMSELF, AND HAS GIVEN TO THE SON TO HAVE LIFE IN HIMSELF; AND HAS GIVEN HIM AUTHORITIY TO EXECUTE JUDGMENT ALSO- In John chapter 5 one of the statements that irks the religious leaders is Jesus calling God his father- thus making himself equal with God. Those who doubt the deity of Christ should look at the way the religious leaders viewed him, they knew that he claimed equality with God. In some of the recent musings on the liberal ideas of ‘the evolution of God’ [those who see the church evolving in her view of God as time goes by] I want to say a few things. First, the incarnation is Gods way of saying ‘yes, your view of me was limited, the very fact that the incarnation is the full revealing of myself to man, shows that man never had the complete [full] view of me yet’. So in a sense, yes, our view of God ‘evolved’ [so to speak] from the wrathful God of the Old Testament to the merciful God of the New Testament. Now, are these contrary views of God? No. Are they views like some in the early days of the church taught- that the God of the Old Testament was a different God than the God of the New [Marcion and other Gnostic cults]? No. But our view of God from the Old Testament is a view of Gods holiness and judgment apart from the grace of the New Covenant. He is the same God, seen absent the Cross [for the most part, yet we do see Gods attribute of mercy even in the Old Testament]. Now, without getting off track too much, in the New Testament we are told that Jesus is the complete picture of God to us; Colossians says that ALL the fullness of the God head dwelt in Jesus bodily. We never had this fleshly reality of God before- the apostle John will say ‘we handled the word of life’ [1st Jn]. A few weeks back while watching an apologetic show I mentioned how some of the staunch apologists were labeling the UPC [united Pentecostal churches] as a cult because of their unique view of the oneness of God. The apologists at one point quoted the verse ‘all things were made by him’ referring to Jesus, and said ‘therefore Jesus is God’ true. But they were trying to combat the UPC brothers by using this verse, the apologists were using it in a way that said ‘see, Jesus created everything too, just like it says about God’ sort of in a disconnected way. In John 1 we read that in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. In Genesis we read that God ‘spoke’ all things into existence. Jesus in the New Testament is called ‘the word of God’ to try and simplify it, when Colossians says ‘all things were made by him’ it does not mean that Jesus created things separately from God, it means God spoke and that ‘the vehicle’ of creation was the Son. The act of God’s word [also called Jesus] going forth created all things. God did not create separately from the Son, or the Son from the father. I really loathe teaching this stuff because church history is filled with names that get tagged on all the various views of explaining the oneness of God while at the same time upholding the reality of the Trinity. The main point today is mans view of God did ‘evolve’ in a sense, it became fully revealed in Jesus. Now the liberal view of the evolution of God is something different than this, but I wanted to make clear that if the only view of God is seen thru the Old Testament, then yes we are not ‘fully’ seeing God, the full view comes thru Jesus. We reject the Marcion idea of 2 different Gods, the Gnostic belief that the God of the Old Testament was the God of matter and thus an evil God, while the God of the new testament is the spirit God- this is true heresy, but as Christians we accept the incarnation as the complete picture and revelation of God to man. This in no way negates the wrath of God [eternal judgment] but it tempers it with mercy.
(1388) 1, 2 MANY BISHOPS? In John chapter 6 Jesus is confronting the religious leaders, they are always appealing to some ancient hero of the faith [Moses, Abraham] and they are doing it in a way that violates the supremacy of Jesus. Jesus tells them ‘look, you guys are always appealing to the writings of Moses, if you really believed in the guy you would have also believed in me- he wrote about me!’ In ‘blog world’ there has been a scuffle over an overseas church that many have labeled as a cult. On the site ‘religion news blog’ they have been doing an expose’. The church is led by a man who calls himself a Bishop and one of his satellite churches had a Pastor walk out and split the church. The coverage of the ministry that I have read seems to place them in the prosperity/apostolic covering type movement. I have written on this before and have always felt that there were too many independent churches-ministries claiming ‘apostolic authority’ and these well intentioned people have crossed the line when it comes to the freedom of the individual believer’s conscience. Many are famous for rebuking ‘the maverick spirit’ while at the same time they seem to be totally mavericks themselves! In the above case I think the religious site went too far in calling them a cult. I have read from this site in the past and they are run by fine Catholic Christians, but they are too quick to holler ‘cult’. I personally do not recommend these types of church movements, but avoid the cult label. I also read an article a while back written by a leader in one of the more historic churches, they were rebuking the rapid spread of these types of churches thru out the world. The leader said they were sprouting up like wild fire, all with their self proclaimed bishops, who were basically starting their own independent churches and everyone in the organization is ordaining everyone else as a bishop, the leader saw this as a major problem. What exactly does the bible teach about this? The words for ‘bishop, overseer and elder’ in the bible seem to speak of the same office. Though different Greek words are used, most scholars agree that they seem to be used interchangeably. One thing we know for sure is in the New Testament there were no Bishops in the sense of an ecclesiastical authority over a number of churches. This developed over time and my purpose here is not to get into the whys and how’s this happened, I am not ‘anti clergy’ in that I reject the modern role today [in the historic churches]. Does the bible have any office that does show an extra local authority? Yes, the apostle Paul had a very effective oversight ministry to most of the churches we read about in the New Testament. So the idea of a church planting ministry to have a number of ‘satellite churches’ is okay. The Catholic Church has Bishops in the Cathedral cities who oversee the entire region. I live In Corpus Christi; the cathedral for this south Texas region for the Catholics is located in my city. San Antonio has another region. While living in New Jersey, Saint Patrick’s was the Cathedral in N.Y. that covered the region. So you have different views and out workings of how bishops work. The thing I would warn about is when these bishops [the independent ones] seem to teach a strong type of ‘covering’ authority over people. Many of these movements [sometimes referred to as the shepherding, discipleship movement] teach a controlling type spirit that has the main apostle as the person that the community submits to, but it is done in a way that violates the freedom that we see in the New Testament. The religious folk of Jesus day were enamored with Moses, to the point where they were never fully able to move on to Jesus as being the true authority figure that they would submit to, I think we could all learn from their mistake.
(1389) THIS IS A LARGE WORK I HAVE CALLED YOU INTO, DON’T BE OVERWHELMED BY IT- Jesus to his men, message version. The other day I read some stuff from a fairly conservative blog site [Christian post] and was surprised to see that one of the blogs they recommended had a scientist espouse a sort of theistic evolutionary view. He spoke about ‘human like beings’ who lived before man and had no souls and all, he also gave a version of Noah’s flood that said it was possible that meteors might have impacted the ocean and caused a regional flood. The man is smart and gave many fine examples and stuff, I just felt like he was off the mark. Over the years of looking at the various views among believers I have noticed that often times we can believe that biblical accounts happened, but we have a tendency to want to reduce them down to size. The God of deism has no problem with a God who is ‘hands off’- that is they view God from a perspective that says ‘yes, he started things at the beginning, but it took billions of years for things to form’. Sort of like God could have created the first living cell, but in no way could he have actually formed a complete man in one lump sum! In the middle of the Atlantic Ocean there is this huge ridge, a possible crevice that broke up during the shifting of the Tectonic Plates when the continents first separated. Some scientists believe this happened when the planet spread apart in the distant past. Now, it is perfectly plausible to theorize that if this event happened in a short time [like a year] instead of a long time over many thousands of years, that this breaking up of the floor of the ocean might very well have created an effect that caused the ocean floor to rise and much of the water in the Atlantic could have ‘spilled out’ and easily covered the entire planet in a short period of time [Gore thinks a little ice melting can do it!]. The biblical account of Noah’s flood tells us that it not only rained for 40 days and nights, but that the ‘fountains of the deep broke open’. The point being there are many plausible ideas on how the earth could have experienced a global flood, much like the account in Genesis gives us. But we have a tendency to want to break things down into small chunks, and then think these ‘small chunks’ are reasonable enough for enlightened man to accept. I am personally an ‘old earth’ adherent, I do not believe the earth is only 6 thousand years old, but at the same time we need to be open to the arguments that both sides of these issues make. To be honest, many of these endeavors are ‘large’ that is God has called the church to engage in all realms of society; science, philosophy, etc. - at times it seems like a huge task, something that can be overwhelming to the average student of the bible, take heart, there are many able believers in all these fields that are doing a superb job. Don’t let ‘science’ tell you that all the facts are on the side of the atheists, that’s just not true.
(1390) THE EXCLUSIVITY OF JESUS CHRIST- John chapter 8 begins with the woman caught in adultery, Jesus refuses to judge her but also tells her to go and sin no more. Then we launch into a conversation between Jesus and the religious leaders. Basically they claim belief in God and tell Jesus that he is their father. Jesus replies that if they do not believe that he is the Messiah, then in reality they do not have God as their father- he flat out tells them that satan is the father of those who claim belief in God while not accepting and honoring the Son. This chapter is important for the pluralistic society we live in today. How should believers approach other faiths that claim belief in God, but do not accept Jesus as the Messiah? First, we should respect the various beliefs/religions of other people groups. Now when I say ‘respect’ I mean we should give people room to form their own beliefs while at the same time challenging them with the truth claims of Christianity. We should not leave the impression ‘well, we all believe in the same God, so what’s the difference whether or not you believe in Christ’ well frankly the difference is between heaven or hell! The point being Jesus is ‘exclusive’ in the sense that you can’t really have God as your father without having Jesus as your savior. He can’t just be ‘one of the prophets in a long line of prophets’ no, he alone is the God man! God became flesh and dwelt among us thru the Son, Jesus said if you don’t hear his words, believe that he is the one sent from the father, then you don’t have God as your father. Jesus is ‘inclusive’ in the sense that he even accepted the woman taken in adultery, something the so called ‘God believers’ would not do. The religious acceptance of belief in God, absent the reality of Jesus, treats women and others with disdain [wearing veils, etc.] those who ‘have God’ and the Son, are truly the liberators of society. The world might accuse the church of being arrogant and believing in exceptionalism, but in the end we have the only answer to the human sin problem, that which G.K. Chesterton called the only Christian doctrine that has 100% empirical evidence of being true! Truly Jesus is the answer to fallen man, let’s not be ashamed of that fact.
(1391) NO MAS [SA]! Back in the 70’s us boxing fans were treated to one of those so called ‘super fights’ you know, a matchup between greats. Roberto Duran faced Sugar Ray Leonard. A few rounds into the fight Duran got so frustrated that he walked out of the ring while chanting ‘NO MAS’. Yesterday a Democratic congressman from N.Y. - by the name of Massa- resigned his seat and went on the war path against his own party. It seems like he has a history of making racy comments to other men, but his excuse for being rail roaded is that he voted against Obama Care. It’s quite sad, he is making the rounds [today he’ll be on Beck] and he’s describing all these encounters with the administrations men, he says they approached him in the showers at the gym, wearing nothing, and he describes Rahm Emanuel’s ‘tush’. He seems like he can’t escape language that pits him up against other men, while nude! All of this wouldn’t be so tragic if it weren’t happening to the most ethical congress in U.S. history! Plus, it really stains N.Y. politics, I bet Spitzer and Patterson can’t even sleep at night. Okay, in John chapter 9 Jesus heals a man that was blind from birth, the disciples ask him ‘who did sin, this man or his parents, that caused this man’s plight’? Jesus said neither, but this happened so the works of God could be manifested in him. This might be the most important verse in the chapter. This man and his family lived many years with the insinuation that they must have been children of a lesser God, sure their neighbors didn’t come right out and say it, but you could sure feel the underlying accusation. Now, the news makes it to the religious crowd and they find out he was healed on the Sabbath, a big no no, a real ‘No Mas’ moment. They question the man and his family, they can’t escape the fact that this is a real miracle, so they try and convince the man that he should thank God for the miracle, but this Jesus is not authentic. The more they question him, the more he becomes a vocal advocate for Jesus. Finally at one point the religious leaders get fed up and they say ‘who are you to teach us anything, YOU WERE ALL TOGETHER BORN IN SIN!’ There it is, that underlying accusation that he always felt from the religious crowd- you know, the group who always had their act together, they prided themselves in their upper class status ‘thank God that I am not like this beggar’ type of thing. But now, at the moment of truth, they blurt it out ‘Look at you, your whole life has been a testimony of your utter worthlessness, sure we never said it openly, but we always felt that way’ so the truth came out. I had a good friend a few years ago, New York Tony, he was a homeless brother that came from my home turf, never knew him from the north, but ran into him while making the rounds. Tony was a good friend, hooked on Coke and Crack, but a hard worker and Army vet. Tony used to always question why he was like the way he was, he was adopted and he thought maybe his real mom passed something off to him- was he like this because of what he did, or what his parents did? In the religious world we often create mindsets that say to people ‘surely if you were right with God, these things wouldn’t have happened to you’ we often violate the mandate from James ‘Don’t despise the poor’. At the end of the chapter Jesus tells the man that he came into the world to make the blind see, and the ‘seers’ blind. The religious leaders would find no help until they got to the end of their rope, the point where they could say ‘No Mas’ to the road they were on, but instead they said to Jesus ‘No Mas’.
(1392) CAN A DEVIL OPEN THE EYES OF THE BLIND? In John 10 Jesus defends his deity in sort of a strange way; he says ‘if those to whom the word of God came are called “gods” how much more shall it be said of him whom the father hath sent and sanctified, that he is called the Son of God’. Jesus is quoting Psalms 82, as far as I can tell this is the only attempt that Jesus makes to justify his deity thru scripture. He has said things like ‘before Abraham was, I AM’ and ‘how could David call the Messiah his Lord, if he is the Son of David’ all statements that speak of his deity, but this quote from Psalms 82 seems to be a direct reference to him claiming deity [Son ship] based on a verse that calls us ‘gods’. Over the years this verse has been used by certain camps to teach dominion theology, but I think they missed the point. The Psalm itself is a rebuttal to the religious leaders of Jesus day, it argues for the defense of the poor, the doing of justice- it is the ministry of Jesus in a nutshell, a strong reproof against those who refused to do justice and defend the poor and needy. I mean Jesus healed the crippled guy and all they could do was critique him for violating their view of the Sabbath. In this chapter they say ‘can a devil open the eyes of the blind’? Jesus purposely healed these people on the Sabbath, I mean there really were 6 other days to do these healings, why keep doing it on the Sabbath? I think he was sticking it in their faces, causing them to have to rethink their religious views. He was showing them the reality behind the law ‘the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath’ the rebuke of psalms 82 ‘do justice and quit using the law as some religious measurement of class and status’. Contrary to popular opinion, Jesus didn’t heal every sick person he met- I know the bible says ‘he healed them all- he went around healing all who were oppressed of the devil’ but this does not mean every person on the planet. I mean at the pool of Bethesda he healed only one, I mean that pool was like a hospice, people who were ready to die were showing up for one last miracle, yet Jesus healed only one. But these outstanding cases were proofs that just wouldn’t go away. The religious leaders kept going back to those events in their minds ‘can a devil do this’? The father testified of the authenticity of the Son by doing these miracles, Jesus even says ‘look, if you don’t believe me because you think my doctrine and claims are wrong, then at least believe for the actual works that I’ve done’ no matter how hard they tried, they couldn’t deny the reality of those few outstanding miracles-‘can a devil really do this’? No.
(1393) POLITICAL EXPEDIENCY- in John chapter 11 Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead. The news gets back to the religious leaders and they say ‘If this keeps going on, we will lose our influence with the people and the Roman authorities will come and take away our position’ and one of their own, the high priest Caiaphas, says ‘Don’t you guys understand that it is expedient that one should die for the nation, instead of the whole nation suffering’ and John says ‘this spake he by the Spirit, being he was the high priest he was prophesying of Jesus death’. Okay, did the brother realize what he was saying? I doubt it. But he was stating a political reality of the time, that this railroading of Jesus would play a cathartic role for the political times that they were in. I finally watched the interview with the disgraced congressman, Eric Massa. He went on Beck and the whole thing is really a fiasco. Beck was hoping to expose the hidden conspiracies of the administration, instead Massa confessed to tickling his navy bunkmates! The sad thing is, as I listened to Beck, he really believes in many of the conspiracy theories he espouses. It doesn’t help that the president, as well meaning and pluralistic as he is, puts people to work for him that have held fringe beliefs. This allows the Becks of the world to find these hidden treasures [UTUBE] and lo and behold, we have one of his people praising Mau Se Tung, or signing a 911 petition that claims Bush was in on it. What purpose do the Becks of the world [or to be fair, the MSNBC crowd] play? I see them as sort of a cathartic for the people who also hold to their views, it seems to be a necessary evil that allows people to vent, a sort of political necessity if you will. I saw Patrick Kennedy, son of the late Ted Kennedy, rebuking the media for their coverage of Massa, while at the same time they have forgotten about the seriousness of the war in Afghanistan and the money and cost of lives on both sides, he was mad and raging on the floor. Though I am not a fan of Kennedy, yet I believe he spoke much truth. I thinks its appalling that the media has dropped the ball on this, every so often a story or so will leak out, a bunch of accidental deaths that our govt. denies being involved with, then a month or so passes and a small report comes out ‘yes, we did accidently kill 40 people’ what? The media seems to not hold the current president accountable in these things. They play sides to the point where real atrocities are glossed over. How many more stories on Sarah Palin’s daughter will they do? They trodded out the ex boyfriend onto the main media outlets to share their dirty laundry. They gave a forum to a disgruntled kid who posed for playgirl, and they keep on doing this stuff. I mean this is the daughter of a ‘private’ citizen for heaven’s sake. How much coverage did they give to the ‘partner’ of Joe Biden’s daughter who made a sex tape with her? How often have you heard the story? How many stories on Chelsea Clintons sex life? MSNBC is just as bad as Beck when they do these things to a girl dealing with all the situations that life can throw at you, and yet from letterman to Chris Matthews to the major news outlets, they have all been guilty of this double standard. Caiaphas saw the writing on the wall, he wasn’t worried about the fact that what he was prophesying was that a corrupt system was going to railroad someone thru a kangaroo court and execute an innocent man, he was simply calculating the political balances of the day ‘will this help or hurt our cause’ type of a thing. They should have been more worried about losing their souls, then their seats in congress.
(1394) THE TEXAS SCHOOL BOOK DEPOSITORY? In John 12 the Greeks come to Jesus disciples and want a meeting with Jesus, the Greeks are those who prided themselves in their wisdom. Jesus basically brushes them off and refuses to cow tow to the elites. He responds ‘unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it abides alone’ in essence- you guys ‘abide alone’ [no meeting with me] until you take up the Cross and follow me. This week [yesterday] the news has been reporting the Texas school book story. Basically every few years Texas school board members go thru the process of what the books for the state should include; basic guidelines and stuff. Texas is the nation’s number one purchaser of textbooks, so the theory is if Texas ‘conservatives’ get their way, then the rest of the nation gets stuck having to buy books that are tainted with backwoods idiots who imposed their views on the rest of the ‘Greek’ [intellectual world]. Do our schoolbooks in general steer away from the religious history and statements of many of the founding fathers? Yes. Do our schoolbooks in general avoid/edit out religious statements from their coverage of the founding documents. Yes. Why? There is a basic mistake made by many of the publishers of schoolbooks that say ‘if we show religious content, then we are violating the separation of church and state idea’. The problem with this approach is they have left out a large portion of history while trying to produce a product that will be accepted in both ‘liberal’ and conservative states. If you read the founding documents in their entirety [Mayflower Compact, etc.] they read like a ‘church covenant’ that any Christian community could adopt. Yet when the history books show quotes and portions of the documents, they never quote these sections, why? Because of what I just showed you. This has happened time and time again over many years until we have gotten to the point where many public school children are really not learning an accurate history of the country. The well meaning [but grossly misinformed] opponents simply do not know this. They see the struggle as one between ‘those darn Christian ignoramuses’ versus the enlightened crowd, they are really the ones who have no idea what they are talking about. Now, are we- quote ‘a Christian nation’? Not really. At least not in the way that some Protestant preachers claim. During the founding of our country you had the mindset of the European enlightenment affecting much of western society. Lines were being drawn that pitted a humanist form of belief in God [Deism] against the classical Christian view. Some of our founding fathers did adhere to a Deistic view. Deism said ‘we do not need tradition or religion to inform us of human value and dignity, we can hold to these principles by virtue of our human nobility and intelligence’ that is they believed these truths to be self evident, sort of like the current theme from some of the more popular atheists ‘do good for goodness sake’ [which by the way, fails in the long run- too much to explain right now]. Now, with this background, when our founding documents say ‘we hold these truths to be SELF EVIDENT’ this term smacks of the fact that some of our fathers did indeed reject the classical Christian view. So what does this show us? That some of the founders purposefully included language that would veer away from the Christian view. But you will never understand or learn this simple thing that I just showed you, if we continue to expunge from the record all the religious statements and views of the fathers! So the point is, when these so called enlightened ones try and approach teaching from a biased view, a view that they often don’t realize is biased, they do more harm than good to their cause. The Greeks said ‘we are willing to hear Jesus, let’s set up an appointment’ they went further than most of the liberals on the Texas school board.
(1395) GLTB community [might have left a letter out?] Last night I caught an interview on CNN with a transgender person. Tonight they will be doing a special on him called ‘my name was Stephen’ he has ‘transitioned’ and is now living as a woman. Then the next show [Anderson Cooper] interviewed Chas [former Chastity] Bono, the daughter of Sony and Cher who also is transgender. A few years ago I saw a documentary on a phenomenon where people had this compulsion, sometimes from as long as they can remember, to want to rid themselves of a limb. The interesting thing was many of these people came from various backgrounds and had no idea that others too grappled with ‘this feeling’. Eventually a community formed around them to affirm them and tell them there really is nothing wrong with them, after all many others have struggled with the same feelings from their youth, so it must be an identity thing. During the show they interviewed family members who dealt with the fact that many of their loved ones went thru with these desires and found ways to get their limbs amputated [freezing them to the point where the ER had no choice but to amputate the limb]. One person who finally gave in to ‘who he really was’ found out that after the first amputation, yes he felt a sense of relief, sort of like ‘well, I was told by many others that it was the answer to my problem, so I did it’ he was later interviewed and described how he eventually sought counseling and he now realizes that both his desires, and the good intentions of others who tried to affirm his desires, were actually very damaging. Others felt affirmed in their acceptance of his desires, but they really did not realize that their acceptance and encouraging was actually harmful. He said that after the first amputation, some time elapsed and he began having a desire to amputate another limb. He thanks God that a good counselor treated this disorder and he is happy he stopped at limb one. In the interview with the transgender person it showed how he went for many years without any inkling of wanting to go from man to woman, then one day he watched a show and they espoused this belief as the answer to some people’s problems. This idea stuck in his head and through the process of time he acted on it. His son and wife dealt with it the best they could, but it no doubt affected his entire life. They went thru the whole procedure of surgeries and hormone treatments and dealing with severe depression [and a high suicide rate] that many of these people deal with, and yet the whole flavor of the show was geared towards saying it was societies fault [church, morals] that has caused these people to feel unwanted. There was really no thought given to the possibility that these decisions, acting out on years of feelings, might in the long run solve nothing and actually lead to more problems. In so many words the psychologist who was also interviewed admitted that the depression rate is almost 100 % after the ‘transition’ is made. How should we as believers respond? In John 13 Jesus is with his men at the last supper, he takes a towel and begins to wash the disciples feet, Peter gets upset ‘No way Jesus, I won’t let you wash my feet’! Jesus says ‘Peter, if you don’t let me wash you, you have no part with me’. Then Peter says ‘fine, give me an entire bath’ and Jesus says he really only needs to admit that sometimes in life we need foot washings, not entire body makeovers! Some in the progressive church are trying honestly to deal with these issues by saying ‘they don’t need a foot washing, that’s the way God made them’ they are trying to be affirming towards people with struggles, but in the long run this affirmation will not work. Imagine trying that with the brother who kept ‘feeling’ that it was right to amputate his limbs! Jesus shows us that all people get defiled in life, whether a person’s struggle is with a sexual identity issue, or a heterosexual issue, we all have times where we need to go to Jesus for cleansing. It might very well be that some of our brothers and sisters in Christ will struggle and stumble in life with these things. We should help them ‘get clean’ even if it’s a life time struggle. But to espouse the idea of the world that says the answer is to affirm them in their sin, this is neither helpful to them nor the biblical thing to do. When the religious conservatives brought the woman in adultery to Jesus, Jesus received the woman; he accepted and did not reject her. He also told her to sin no more, he empowered her not by saying the lifestyle she was living was okay, but by telling her ‘yes, I love you, and this lifestyle you think is fulfilling you is not- you must let me wash you from it’. I know these issues are hot button issues, and I know many well meaning Christians are presently trying to work thru these issues, but the fact is many who have been told ‘to keep resisting this desire, to not give in to it is living a lie’, they are being misled. They are told year after year that to give in to whatever temptation they are facing would be the answer, this simply is not true. Many will eventfully find the same struggles all over again [remove another limb?] and finally realize that in life there are times when yes, our feet get dirty- we might fall and struggle for many years, but Jesus said you could still have a part with him, if you let him wash your feet- if you keep coming back, 70 times 7, he will keep working with you. The tragic thing is many of these precious people are told that this struggle, to keep trying to overcome, is not being open and honest, they are told this at times by the church. My brethren, we ought not to do these things. [Just a note- last week I noticed that one of the news papers that runs our ad put us under the section for ‘metropolitan community churches’ to those in the know, these are churches who affirm GLTB persons. At first I thought I better contact the paper and tell them they have us in the wrong section, then I thought ‘what the heck, Maybe the Lord has a purpose for it’. I had no idea I would soon write this entry!]
(1396) THE NATURAL STATE IS MOTION- Jesus said there are 12 hours in the day [Jewish day] and that if we walk during the day we would not stumble. He said that he came to do and finish the work that the father gave him to do, that he had to keep moving to arrive at the final destination, he described this work as his meat- the very thing that sustained him. Ancient physics taught a theory that said the natural state of things on earth was ‘rest’. They observed that if you drop something from the air that it always finds the lowest spot and stops. But they taught that the natural state of motion in the heavens was circular, they observed the stars and moon and planets and saw that things orbit, they go in circles. The ancient view of Aristotle [Ptolemy] was the earth was the center of the universe and that there was this crystalline type sphere surrounding the earth and that the stars and moon and sun revolved around us. Galileo and Copernicus shook the world of science when they discovered that the earth really wasn’t the center of all things [Anthropic principle- man being the center of everything] but that our solar system was heliocentric instead of geocentric [we orbit the sun, not the other way around]. Isaac Newton is often said to have discovered gravity, in the sense that he observed things falling to the ground [the public school story of the apple hitting him on the head] but this observation of things falling was really no secret. What Newton discovered was that the motion of things in heaven [celestial motion] and things on earth [terrestrial] was the same- that is the natural state of things was not rest for the earth, nor circular for the heavens. But that all things would naturally flow in a straight line, unless acted upon by another force [classical view]. This ‘straight line motion’ [inertia- Newton’s first law] would be interrupted by gravity and cause the things in motion to be drawn off course. Thus when the apple falls to the ground, if it weren’t for the ground stopping the fall, it would keep going in motion- gravity is pulling it to the earth and the ground is stopping the motion. The same for the heavens. The earth’s gravity is ‘pulling’ on the natural straight line motion of the moon and causing it to deviate from a straight line path and orbit the earth. The same with stars and planets and our sun. Depending on the size [mass] and distance of one body from another, you get varying degrees of pull and this is how everything functions. During the turn of the 20th century we entered the era of modern physics, and Einstein and others would challenge many of the classical norms. Newton’s theories still hold true, but not everywhere at all times, when things approach the speed of light, everything changes. But for the most part Newton’s laws are still valuable when dealing with modern engineering and the basics of science. So what did we learn? That God created things to be in motion, not stagnant. Jesus said he had to keep moving ‘in the day’ because when the night comes no man can work. Proverbs tells us that the lazy person will not work during the planting season, and therefore will wind up begging in the harvest. The Old Testament says ‘get out of the city and dwell in the fields, even Babylon, and there I will be with you and deliver you from the hand of the enemy’. We all know the story of king David, when it was the time for kings to be leading their men in war, David stayed home and saw Bathsheba. What has God called you to do? Are you doing it? Have you organized your life around the priorities of his purpose for you? The natural state of motion on earth [and in heaven] is forward motion, what’s stopping you?
(1397) IN MY FATHERS HOUSE ARE MANY MANSIONS- Yesterday I read an article by an Arab believer who grew up in a Muslim country. He shared how over the years he has learned how to dialogue respectively with Muslims and how important it was to share the Christian faith with respect, I really liked the tone. Jesus said ‘I have other sheep which are not of this fold, I must gather them too’. In context he is telling Israel that he too will gather Gentiles into the kingdom. I also read a verse [?] the other day that spoke to me about leaving the door open when dialoging with various groups. One of things that has surprised me since I started blogging is the Arab brothers [Christians] who have contacted me over the years and have been excited about our site. Many of them are pastors and are really laying their lives on the line to bring the gospel to Muslims. I do realize that my stance on natural Israel as well as how the western world should treat Muslims/Arabs is part of the reason why fellow Arab believers have been drawn to our site. For the most part I believe the church should put the gospel of Jesus above all ethnic/political concerns- when preaching the gospel we need to avoid getting into geopolitical wars or wars in general! Many believers in Palestine who are Arab face persecution from fellow countrymen who are Muslim, as well as persecution from Israel. These believers generally do not get support from believers from the U.S., instead when American believers go over there to interact, we usually are there to support natural Israel and to see how well the future ‘temple’ plans are going, and stuff like that. The Arab believers feel neglected by this attitude, some have actually said ‘why don’t you care for us, don’t you understand that we have been persecuted at times by Israel’? They feel confused and rejected when they read in the bible how Christians should love and care for one another, and then they see western believers taking sides in natural conflicts. Jesus said his house had many rooms, the people of God [Gods house] are diverse and come from many varied backgrounds. I do not hold to the thinking that says ‘all religions are Gods children’ in a pluralistic sense of all monotheistic faiths have the same faith. But when dealing with other fellow believers in the world [whether Arab, Jewish, etc.] we should defend our brothers and sisters and side with them in times of conflict, by ‘siding with them’ I mean we need to speak out in support of them and call for justice and help when they are in trouble. I do not advocate ‘siding with people’ when talking about actual warfare- believers should not be in the business of siding with any conflict when it includes killing other people [the sides you take as a citizen of a country are a different matter, I am speaking here as a citizen of Gods kingdom]. I am grateful for all my Arab friends and pastors who have been in touch with me over these past few years, I pray for them regularly and have embraced them as sort of part of the fellowship of brothers that I regularly reach out to. I do realize that they also enjoy the level of teaching we do [not that we are that great, but we do share from a broad range of teaching that many individual pastors might not be able to access on their own]. I thank God that ‘his house’ has many mansions, that Jesus calls sheep from 'other folds’ that we might not be familiar with, let’s be open to those from other ethnic backgrounds that share the same faith in Jesus Christ- they are all our brothers and sisters in the Lord.
(1398) REV. ZEKE- [pastor from India] Brother, I accidently deleted your email, if you are reading this, email me again and I’ll put your email on our global section.
Okay, it’s a rare thing for me to take a ministry off of my blog roll. Once I put someone on our site I feel it would be irresponsible to drop them for any minor disagreement, or because they might hold differing views than my own. For the most part I add other web sites because I feel they add to the diverse conversation in the global church. Having said this, I recently deleted the site for Charisma Magazine. I originally put them on because I was blogging on their site and they eventually removed the blog section, but I felt it was okay to leave them on anyway. But after a period of time I just couldn’t keep endorsing ‘the level’ of stuff they teach- in all good conscience I hit the delete button. The other day I thought I’d give them a visit, on the main article page they had some sister sharing a vision and on the heading it said ‘I saw snakes wrapped around [something- I forget]’ and I just felt bad that a major Christian magazine would do stuff like this. In John 14 Jesus says he’s going away and will send ‘another comforter’ this word speaks about the Spirit coming, one just like Jesus. The disciples ask him how he will reveal himself to them, and not to the world. Jesus says if we keep his commandments and do his will, that the Spirit will manifest and come to us- but the world cannot see him and they will not benefit from his work. Though many Christians are divided over ‘Charismatic churches’ yet the need for the work of the Spirit is vital, I personally believe in the gifts of the Spirit and do not hold to a cessationist view. Over the years as I have read this chapter I have been inclined to see the promise of Jesus ‘going away and coming again to receive us’ as actually referring to the Spirits outpouring at Pentecost. This does not mean I reject a literal physical return of the Lord at the end of the age, but in context it seems that Jesus was telling the disciples that he would ‘come again and receive them’ in the sense that the Spirit would complete the ministry of Jesus by sealing them until the day of redemption [Ephesians]. Jesus said those who hear his word and do his will are promised the presence of the Spirit; truly God is no respecter of persons. There is a movement in the church today that appeals to the kingdom call of Jesus, versus trying to convince people of the truth claims of Christianity- to some degree I like this emphasis, it appeals to other religions in the sense that we are telling people ‘we are not here to change your culture [and make you accept ours] but we are here offering you the promise of Jesus, if you believe his words and do his will he will manifest himself to you’. There actually are some in the Muslim community who are claiming belief in Jesus [not just the ‘Jesus’ of the Koran] and yet still consider themselves cultural Muslims, this is certainly interesting. The point today is we need Gods Spirit desperately, though we have been guilty at times with confusing the work of the Spirit with people having visions of snakes! Yet we need the Spirit to work, Jesus said he would manifest himself to those who are keeping his word- a great promise indeed.
(1399) A FISH FOSSIL? I was watching a show last night and they showed the standard view of how fossils become fossils. The scenario explained how they get fossilized fish. It went like this; when a fish dies it sinks to the bottom of the body of water, it lays there for many thousands of years and eventually over a long period of time it gets covered with sediment and it becomes a fossil. Now, this stuff is actually taught today as scientific truth! How many fishermen do we have out there? How many times do you remember being out in the water and spotting a dead fish just sitting ON THE BOTTOM of the water? Then let’s say you come back to the same fishing hole year after year, would it still be sitting there, intact and waiting for the thousands of years of slow sediment to cover it? The way fish get fossilized whole, is they get buried rapidly by some cataclysmic event [let’s say like Noah’s flood] and this quick burial preserves the fish from rotting and predators, and this gives us a perfect fossilized fish. After the famous eruption of Mt. Saint Helens in the 1980’s, scientists discovered phenomena that they used to think took million-billions of years to happen. They noticed sedimentary rock layers that formed in days after the disaster, they found ravines/caverns that were forged in a short period of time- things that they used to argue could not happen unless millions of years of time slowly passed and caused these things to occur. Why make these arguments? The point is there is lots of ‘science’ that cannot only be debunked by other scientists, but that the average fishermen could spot as silly. The reason these debates are important is it gives us another look at evidence that we were taught as school children that might need a little re-tooling. I mean the stuff on a fish lying, intact, at the bottom of the ocean for thousands-millions of years until it slowly gets buried, this is absolute nonsense, it could never happen, ever! We need the courage and conviction to tell our kids ‘yes son, this is what we have learned thru the natural sciences, and this other stuff is simply not true’.
(1400) IF I HADN’T DONE WHAT I HAVE DONE AMONG THEM, WORKS NO ONE HAS EVER DONE, THEY WOULDN’T BE TO BLAME. BUT THEY SAW THE GOD SIGNS AND HATED ANYWAY… THEY HATED ME FOR NO GOOD REASON- John 15, message bible.
This is the chapter where Jesus tells us he is the vine and we are the branches; the father is the main gardener. If we remain-abide in him we will bring forth fruit, if we do not ‘remain in him’ we are cut off and burned. In Johns other writings [1st John] he speaks about those who did not remain in the doctrine of Christ, they went out ‘from us, but were really not with us’. John was speaking of the Gnostic/Docetist groups that would reject the incarnation of Jesus; these did not ‘remain in him’. Also what about the immediate circle of disciples that Jesus was speaking to, did any of them ‘not remain’? Judas would also reject Christ, and Jesus said he too was not really a part of them from the start. In the above quote Jesus challenges the religious leaders of the day by doing the works that he did. The religion of the day viewed God’s will as religious performance, public praying on the street corners, fasting ‘to be seen’, their mindset was one of public performance. Jesus put priority on doing acts of justice, reaching out to the poor, spending time with the down and out, and also rejecting the ‘crowd pleasing’ mentality of the day. In John’s gospel his brothers tell him ‘go up to the public feast and show thyself, no man who does these things secretly will not eventually go public’ they thought there was something strange about his unwillingness to ‘go public’. I have often found it strange that we as believers put such a high priority on ‘public meetings-ministry’ to the point where we really believe that this is the main part of Christianity. A few years back I visited/stayed with some brothers in Europe, they ran a Christian community where they all lived and helped each other out [addicts and stuff]. I spent about a week with them and it was great, I immediately saw the work as a legitimate expression of ‘local church’ [Ecclesia] I even defended them to others who were saying ‘they are not church’. During the week I spent with them, the main leader of the group was just beginning to rent another building so they could ‘do church’. I went to a few of the meetings and it was okay. The point being they kind of felt like the public meetings were ‘really church’ and the actual community was 'Para church’ a very limited view indeed. The same thing has happened with many well meaning churches/ministries thru out the years. Jesus put a priority on things that the religious crowd deemed ‘non legitimate’ they would ask him ‘where are you getting your authority from, who gave you this authority’? In today’s jargon it might be said ‘who’s covering are you under, what ‘local church’ has legitimized you’. We often err, not knowing the scriptures or the power of God. Jesus put such a high priority on social justice, reaching out to the poor and needy, speaking out for the widow and oppressed. This same theme runs thru out the entire teaching of the New Testament. Very little time is spent on the idea of public meetings/ministry. Yet we have exalted the idea of church and ministry to the point where we see public performance as the main thing, that’s what we usually regulate our lives around. Jesus told the religious crowd that he came and did all the things that Gods kingdom was really about [helped the poor, raised the dead, etc.] Yet they found fault with him, they fulfilled the scriptures that said ‘they hated me for no good reason’ do the things we do have good reasons, or are we just following the crowd?
(1401) GLENN BECK- Okay, this past week Beck stirred up a controversy by telling people that if their churches use language like ‘social justice’ that you should leave the church. Beck showed how many of the liberal movements of the past, both inside and outside the church, used this language and also were socialist. Is Beck right to warn people about this? 50-50. In reality most Christian churches [if not all] have some belief about social justice, that is doing good, being charitable, etc. You also have strains of theology that touch on these issues [liberation theology, Rev. Wrights church, etc.] these see the role of the church in setting up systems that would mediate ‘social justice’ programs thru the state- not all Christians accept this premise. Overall we as believers should value social justice very highly on the scale of Christian service and belief. Beck seems to mean well, but the poor brother seems to be a little unhinged at times [like between 4 pm and 5pm every day or so]. In John 16 Jesus tells his men ‘a time is coming when those who kill you will think they are serving God’. Here in is a strange thing; out of all the commands of God, one of the most important ones is not to kill. But Jesus says that men are so susceptible to the influence of the world that they can even be convinced that killing other people is ‘doing God’s will’. Now, if I were to tell you at a young age ‘little Johnny, you will walk the planet for a few short years [70-80?] one of the most important things you need to avoid, more than anything else, is don’t kill other people’ got it- I mean how hard can this be? Yet Jesus says there will come a time when people think killing other people is ‘doing God’s will’ Huh? Okay as the year’s role by people all over the world are born and have been taught some version of this natural law, often given by their own belief system in God. So you have those in Islamic countries who eventually are shaped by their nations political causes and a time comes when they blowup other adherents to their own religion and shout ‘God is great’ as they kill themselves and others with them, they think they are doing ‘God service’. But you also have little Johnny growing up in the western world, he attends church as a boy, is taught lessons from the bible, and thru process of time joins the military. He is a good man, means well, and is taught that God and country go together. He even remembers attending some patriotic religious rallies over the years. He gets sent off to Afghanistan and winds up killing a woman with child. He either mistook her for an enemy combatant, or maybe she violated a safe zone. Either way, the one main command above all other commands, the thing that you were always told was the main thing to never do, you wind up doing. You even think that it is your patriotic duty to do this, yes you think the doing of this act is not only acceptable, but in a way it is ‘doing God service’. Now, as an ex Navy person, I support and believe in our military men and women, and in no way equate the act of a terrorist with that of our people; but what I am trying to show you is that as we go through life we can become effected by ideologies that are in conflict to our base principles, we can even do things that violate our most fundamental ideals, and be convinced that doing it is from God. When dealing with all types of social justice issues, we need to put Gods will first and foremost, above all other things. The message of Gods kingdom often runs contrary to the nations and governmental systems we espouse. When we confuse the two [whether the Christian patriot who chooses a career that may involve killing people] or the radical Muslim who confuses Gods will with the advancing of his political ideas, we need to re-evaluate our motives and think things thru before we embrace any world kingdom over Gods kingdom. Beck obviously had a point about the radical liberation theologians and their mixing of liberal politics with ‘church’, but Gods kingdom is all about social justice. Isaiah prophesied of the Spirit coming upon Jesus- to carry out social justice! NOTE- As I wrote this entry I used the example of a soldier accidently killing a pregnant woman as a hypothetical situation, as far as I know this had never happened yet. About a week after posting this entry, it has happened in a very public way in Afghanistan and it has become a cause célèbre for those against the war.
(1402) THIS IS WHAT I WANT YOU TO DO, ASK THE FATHER FOR WHATEVER IS IN KEEPING WITH THE THINGS I’VE REVEALED TO YOU; ASK IN MY NAME AND ACCORDING TO MY WILL AND HE WILL GIVE IT TO YOU. YOU’RE JOY WILL BE LIKE A RIVER OVERFLOWING IT’S BANKS- Jesus, message bible. In John 16 Jesus says the father will show us the things of the Son ‘all that the father has is mine, and he will take of mine and show it unto you’. I have been doing a little teaching on the nature of the church and how we as believers are affected by the way we ‘see church’. For instance in the bible the terms ‘where do you attend church’ ‘I am looking for a church to join’ ‘the tithe belongs to the local church’ all of these modern ways of viewing church are really not found in scripture. In the bible the gospel of the kingdom is proclaimed, those in the local communities who believed were baptized and became openly identified with the Jesus movement. From that time forward these communities of believers would be referred to as ‘the church’- they were not looking for a church to join, choosing between a buffet of ‘meeting places’ in their respective locals, no, they were actually referred to as the church! Of course it’s fine for believers to meet in buildings and give money to ‘the church’ and all the contemporary things we usually associate with church, but a part of the ministry of the Spirit is he takes what is Jesus’ and shows it unto us; he reveals the nature of the church to us [the church being the Body of Christ, his Body]. Recently I did some blogging at a Christianity Today article on Scot McKnight’s critique of Brian McLaren’s latest book. I Like Scot and have read McLaren. One of the critiques of Brian by Scot [of a previous book] Is Scot felt like McLaren left out Ecclesiology while talking Kingdom. While I do not defend Brian’s works [too much rejection of orthodoxy] yet in this area I think Scot may be confusing contemporary ideas of church [ecclesiology] with the idea of church in scripture. For instance, many theologians teach that Jesus really had no ‘ecclesiology’ in his teaching [or very little] and that Jesus preached a Kingdom message that was different than the church, I think this idea is wrong/limited. It is in the preaching of the reality of the kingdom of God, and the people of God actually doing kingdom works, it is in this atmosphere that true church occurs; people are being called out of the world unto Christ and these people are becoming the church. It’s really a matter of fully grasping the nature of the kingdom alongside the reality of what church means in the bible. Now, I think modern expressions of church are okay. Much of my criticism of modern church has a lot to do with losing the real message of Jesus in the bible and having replaced it with a modern success gospel, but there are some mega church expressions that are utilizing all the modern means of communicating while at the same time holding true to biblical teaching. Mark Driscoll pastors Mars Hill church in Seattle, Mark teaches historic reformed theology in a contemporary setting. So the reality of the church being much more than we usually understand, does not mean that every modern expression of meeting in huge buildings should be condemned. The point today is Jesus wants to reveal to us much more than we have seen up until this part of the journey. When we ‘see more’ it usually brings with it adjustments and changes that at times can be difficult; I want to encourage all of our Pastor/Leaders to be open to the ministry of the Spirit in the area of him revealing to us the nature of the church, there are many learned men [Kluck, McKnight, Galli, etc.] who I think are not fully seeing what the more mature Organic church movement is really saying, we also need to be careful not to write off the historic church in one fell swoop- both of these extremes do not help the church in the long run.
(1403) SIGNS, SIGNS, EVERY WHERE ARE SIGNS. BLOCKING UP THE SCENERY, BREAKING MY MIND, DO THIS, DON’T DO THAT, CANT YOU READ THE SIGNS- Tesla. Yesterday while reviewing some old radio messages, I listened to a message made around 6 years back- as I was debating how to check it off [either good to play, or don’t play] I shared on the tape how at the time of making the program it was pouring rain and how the rain seemed to be a sign because I was teaching on the feasts of Israel and talking about the rainy season and stuff [it was record rain for Texas, like more rain than in 100 years type thing]. I also mentioned how these ‘signs’ can happen even if you’re listening years later, I basically dated the radio message for the purpose of saying ‘look, no matter when you are hearing this message on the radio, it can still be significant’ sort of like be on the lookout for weather signs. I thought ‘geez, I don’t think I will play the message, sounds too spooky’. Then as I was in my yard trying to study, the sky got dark and it started down pouring, I mean I got flooded, I was upset- too much rain! Then the hail came, ice balls all over the place, my kids are like ‘hey dad, it’s raining ice’. Now, we get hail maybe a few times a year? It’s certainly not a monthly type thing. I’m sitting in my yard on a spring like day, just planted tomatoes and am surrounded by ice all over the ground, maybe I’ll play the tape after all. Okay, the point being we need to not read too much into stuff like this, but also not be too intellectual to dismiss these types of things. The other day I was watching an apologetic show and a woman called in and asked whether or not dreams mean anything, the able teacher basically said no, that Christian theology does not teach that dreams have meaning. A few years back I was listening to another apologist, Ravi Zacharias, and he was relating an experience about this tribe of people who converted en mass to Christ. One morning they woke up and as the day went on they all found out that the same evening everyone in the tribe had dreamed of Jesus coming to them. They took the dream as a sign from God and converted. If you do a detailed study from genesis to revelation you will find many instances of God using dreams and signs, in the book of acts Paul has a vision of a man from Macedonia calling for him to come. The bible says they took it as a sign from God. Without getting into the whole debate over cessationist doctrine, the point I want to make is God can give us direction in ways that seem unorthodox. The apologist who simply answered the woman in a way that he felt was safe ‘there are no meaning to dreams’ really didn’t do justice to the scriptures by giving this type of answer. I understood his concern for opening the door to all types of problems with the whole charismatic movement, but the honest answer should have included the pros and cons. I’m glad the tribe who converted to Christ because of their dreams didn’t ask the apologist first.
(1404) UNLESS I AM CONVICTED BY THE TESTIMONY OF SACRED SCRIPTURE OR BY EVIDENT REASON [I DONOT ACCEPT THE AUTHORITY OF POPES AND COUNCILS, FOR THEY HAVE CONTRADICTED EACH OTHER], MY CONSCIENCE IS CAPTIVE TO THE WORD OF GOD. I CANNOT AND I WILL NOT RECANT ANYTHING, FOR TO GO AGAINST MY CONSCIENCE IS NEITHER RIGHT NOR SAFE. GOD HELP ME. AMEN- Martin Luther. This was the statement from Luther after previously questioning himself over his revolt in the church. The day before he was brought before the council and given the chance to recant his books. He acknowledged the books were his and said he needed time to think about recanting; Luther seriously questioned whether or not his revolt was going too far. The humanist Erasmus would write scathing criticisms against the Catholic Church, but would not join Luther in what he thought was a rebellious schism. It’s interesting to note that the pope of Luther’s day was actually quite a good pope [Leo] in Luther’s correspondence with him Luther regrets that the reform is happening under such a good pope. Luther will eventually call him the anti Christ! The interesting thing to note is in the midst of all the action and debate, Luther himself had questions. There were times when he thought other reformers were going too far. At one point Luther left the safety of a secluded castle hideout to return to the university at Wittenberg and reign in the radical teachings from the self proclaimed prophets who were teaching a total rebellion against the entire government of Germany; Luther said if the reformers do this, they will be siding with those who oppose law and government, things ordained by God. When the famous Peasant’s Revolt took place, Luther sided with the state and used harsh language in putting down the revolt. Many rebels saw Luther as the leader of their cause; they were shocked and disappointed when Luther would not join in their revolt. In all Christian controversies and debates there is always the danger of certain groups going too far in their view of things. While teaching on the true nature of the church [community of people] I have noticed that some mistake this teaching and embrace a radical anti clericalism and ‘anti church building’ mindset to the point where they are going to extremes at certain times. I admire Luther for his stance, after giving serious thought to whether or not he should recant and go the route of Erasmus, he chose to stay true to his conscience and lead the German reform movement till the end. In the current day, both Protestants and Catholics need to look at the past reasons for the protests, and allow room for unity where room exists. But to also acknowledge that there still exist official doctrines/statements from both sides that are quite difficult to reconcile; it is possible for Christian communions to work things out and truly achieve a greater degree of unity than what we have had in the past, but it’s also important for all sides to have a working knowledge of the differences. At the end of the day Luther sided with his conscience and what he felt to be true, the other side felt the same way- when working towards unity as believers we need to keep this in mind.
(1405) THE APOSTLES CREED
I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again;
he ascended into heaven,
he is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and he will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. AMEN.
HE SHALL SEE OF THE TRAVAIL OF HIS SOUL AND SHALL BE SATISFIED; BY HIS KNOWLEDGE SHALL MY RIGHTEOUS SERVANT JUSTIFY MANY- Isaiah. This past year I have been doing some reading on the Emergent movement as well as always reading some book on the ancient church; there are many moderns who long for the old days, sometimes referred to as ‘the smells and bells’ liturgy. Then you have some who are drawn to 19th/20th century liberalism- the social gospel stuff. One thing that all these groups need to keep in mind is the classic message of the Cross, that God was ‘pleased to bruise his Son’ on the Cross [Isaiah 53]. Some in their efforts to make Christianity more acceptable to modern man began to reject this doctrine, the Atonement. Many are surprised to find out that one of the great evangelists of the second great awakening, Charles Finney, embraced some of these views in his writings. Today these views are deemed heretical [the denial of the Atonement] but at the time progressive thinking believers were affected by the charge of ‘how can a holy, loving God punish an innocent person on the behalf of other criminals’? So after hearing the charge for so long, some adjusted their belief to fit the times. There are some things that the church has said ‘I believe’ about; these things are the non negotiables; it’s not that we can’t discuss them, or should be afraid of others who do question them, but to say ‘yeah brother, I hear what you’re saying about these classic doctrines and I believe you are placing yourself outside of the borders of classic Christianity, I love you and like dialoging with you, but this is where I stand, along with the ancient church’. Many Protestants disdain the creeds of the church; they feel that they are simply tradition and that all we need is the bible. This attitude neglects the importance of listening to the council of our fathers and those who have gone on before us, a rule that scripture itself testifies about [Proverbs]. As the Evangelical movement struggles in our day for a unifying voice, I think the creeds are a good place to start.
(1406) ‘Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him man. For he was a doer of wonderful works…this man was the Christ, and when Pilate had condemned him to the Cross, upon his impeachment by the principle man among us, those who had loved him from the first did not forsake him, for he appeared to them alive on the third day, the divine prophets haven spoken these and thousands of other wonderful things about him. And even now, the race of Christians, so named from him, has not died out’- Josephus, Antiquities, 18.3.3 [1st century historian] A few months ago while surfing the internet, I stumbled across an interesting apologetic ministry, I forget the brothers name but he had a well developed radio and on line ministry. They had lots of great tools for people who wanted to learn good teaching, historic stuff and all. But I also noticed that they were very anti charismatic, to the point where I felt they weren’t being honest with both scripture and church history in their view of non charismatic stuff, it was also the time of the Todd Bentley situation in Lakeland Fla. I mean they left him no room at all, he was branded an unbelieving heretic thru and thru [I personally had lots of problems with the Lakeland thing, but still pray for Todd and his situation]. Within a week or so of finding the site, the ministry folded and the main teacher got divorced, I thought it odd that they were up and running for many years, and I just happened to stumble across them at the end of their career. One of the things that I have found troubling over the years is the inability of certain believers to ‘judge righteous judgment’ the bible says of Jesus that he will not judge by outward appearances, but he sees the true motives. Often times the charismatic expression of Christianity will write off all reproof as ‘those unbelieving intellectuals’ they see that their critics willfully reject the portions of scripture that speak of supernatural stuff, and they simply think that all the critics are blind; they don’t ‘see’ the truth. Then at the same time when trying to deal with other real problems [like the unbalanced prosperity gospel] they too think the critics just don’t ‘see’ the truth about prosperity, so they write the critics off. In general this type of thing happens all the time in the Body of Christ. Josephus gave us an historical account of the reality of Jesus and his movement; he based his account on factual evidence, not fairy tales! Josephus was a true historian who had little gain from making up a story that could be proven false; it would damage his reputation among the Roman elites if he did that. But he, like many others, looked at the evidence and was open minded, he came to the conclusion that the historical resurrection did actually take place in time, though it was a supernatural event, yet it passed the smell test of historical inquiry. The above apologist seemed to be a good man, he left no room open for the possibility of certain charismatic gifts as being legitimate for our day, he rejected the supernatural aspect of the gifts of the Spirit. And many who hold to the reality of the gifts, these often have little education in the other areas that they are not focused on, they too leave the door wide open to much unbalanced stuff. As the historical people of God, a true worldwide movement that the historians look at, they will know we are Christians by our love; as we correct and reprove each other, we need to make sure that we are doing it in love.
(1407) THESE THINGS DOES THE LORD HATE…HE THAT SOWS DISCORD AMONG BRETHREN. HE DEVISETH MISCHIEF CONTINUALLY, HE SOWETH DISCORD. Proverbs 6. Okay, the health care package passed, many are upset and some have crossed the line in their language. Even though statements like ‘reload’ [Palin] ‘he’ll be a dead man’ [Boehner] and others are talking political speech, yet in this atmosphere we all need to avoid using words that can be taken the wrong way by unstable people. Recently here in Texas we had the famous school board controversy over what to include in the schoolbooks, I have written about it a few posts ago. One of the school board people is from my home town of Corpus; she is a Hispanic woman who is involved in politics a lot. Now, I’m sure she means well, but our paper had a picture of her sitting at her office desk with a bunch of anti white slogans all over her desk. I’m sure she does not mean to be racist, I’m sure she views her opinion thru the light of standing up for minorities, but the fact is you can’t have any ethnic representative openly advocate for their own race, and to use wording that publicly says things that imply ‘whitey is the enemy’ [she has regularly used the term ‘white wash’ in describing the white board members resistance to including more Hispanic people into the history books]. Now I’m going to be honest about South Texas politics, I have been living here for 30 years, many of the prejudices against minorities have been expressed by the majority Hispanic democratic leaders [I am not saying all Hispanics are racist!] The reality is the Black minorities have been discriminated against in the political system. Some have actually said ‘when they were in power they didn’t help us, now it’s their turn’ [a prominent Hispanic politician about not supporting president Obama]. So the facts on the ground are different than what many people think. I believe we should include prominent Hispanic and Black leaders into the history books, men like Cesar Chavez are truly great examples, but when any representative publicly says her goal is to advance her ethnic groups cause, and that the ‘white washers’ are the enemy- this is unacceptable speech too. Who has opened the door for this type of stuff? Gods people. One of the most prominent themes of American preaching is a theme that is shot thru with racist overtones. The popular prophecy preaching of the day teaches that Gods end time events are triggered by a special role that ethnic Israel plays in God’s plan. This system [dispensationalism] teaches that God most certainly prefers one ethnic race over another. It is in contradiction to the ethos of the New Testament which teaches that in Christ there is ‘neither Jew nor Greek, male or female, slave or free- we are all one in Christ Jesus’. The people of God are the plumb line of society, the world around us will never display a higher level of morality than the church- when we as Gods people rise above these ethnic divisions, we will be like leaven in society that effects the whole lump. When we continually sow discord we displease God.
[Just a comment I left on an article about the camel method of evangelizing Muslims. This method uses the verses from the Quran that talk about ‘Jesus’ to convert Muslims. ‘If the verses quoted from the Quran are simply a bridge to get you to the Jesus of the New Testament, then I think we could let it slide; but if we are leaving the impression that the 'Jesus’ [Isa] of the Quran is the same Jesus of the New Testament, then we have a problem.’
(1408) IN THE CROSSHAIRS? Last night I watched the CNN show hosted by John King, he had on a Democrat and Republican and they were talking about the rhetoric used primarily by the Republicans and how there is absolutely no excuse for the imagery of targets and battleground and other words that imply violence. As they were incensed over the face book page of Sarah Palin, she has little ‘targets’ placed over the states that they are ‘targeting’ for the upcoming election, I found it ironic that the Democrat on the panel used to host a show called CROSSFIRE; it was actually on CNN for many years. The logo of the show was the crosshairs of a rifle; week after week after week- for years, they would invite politicians on and say ‘today we have ‘so and so’ under the crosshair’s’, I mean these media people gotta be kidding me. I have written [last post] on the need for all sides to tone down the rhetoric, but the media are the ones purposely raising this to a level never seen before. How many violent acts have we seen this past year by protesters? A Black man was knocked down and beaten at a rally, he was called ‘n-gger’ by the assailants. Have you heard of an uproar by the media about this? The Black man was a Republican who was against Obama and the men who beat him were union members from the SEIU. It took months to even charge the men with public disorder, where’s the hate crime? Another protester had his finger bitten off [yes, he lost his finger] have you seen a media uproar over this- Nancy Pelosi saying she fears for the country? The man who lost his finger, well you guessed it- Republican, the ‘biter’ yes, a Democrat. The point being the media could have taken these incidents and blown them up out of proportion if they wanted to, they chose not to. Now they ‘choose’ to, they are irresponsible in their coverage of these things. Many people are upset with the health care law because it contains things that the president was against and said he would never do. During the campaign he was asked why he was against Hillary Clinton’s ‘mandate’ [to force people to buy insurance] he rightfully answered that to solve a problem by telling people ‘you must buy a product’ is ridiculous; he said it would be like saying we are going to solve the problem of homelessness by mandating people to buy homes- he said it was wrong, really wrong. When asked why John McCain’s plan to tax high cost insurance plans that currently have tax exemptions was wrong; once again he said it was wrong to penalize people who have insurance to pay for people who don’t have it. Then when asked how in the world his plan will ever accomplish universal coverage without these tools; he simply said by making insurance affordable this would draw people into the plan. He was challenged that this would never work, he insisted it would. Well the plan just passed contains all the things that he said were wrong, unfair and unjust. Where’s the media? Instead they are accusing many of those who are upset with the plan as racists; they are actually saying that is why many people are upset, not because he did what he swore he would never do, but because white people can’t accept the fact that a black man won. Many of the people who are upset voted for the president, and did not vote for the other candidates because of what he said he would not do [force people by law to buy insurance]- he has done it. But yet the people have no right to dissent based on principle. No- they are racists. When the media claims to be ‘fair and balanced’ they need to think twice before they schedule a show to critique crosshair’s on Palin’s face book page, and the main Democratic critic being the host of the longest running show in the history of the world that used the imagery of rifle crosshairs, called CROSSFIRE.
(1409) ‘THE ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT @$#@!’ How did you just feel when you read this title? What if I were to tell you that an anti Obama demonstrator held up a sign that said this at a tea party rally. Actually the full title is called ‘the assassination of George W. Bush’. It’s the title of a movie that came out during the Bush presidency. Many liberal moviegoers bought popcorn and took the kids for an evening of enjoyment as they watched a fictional portrayal of Bush getting his head blown off. Oh yes you would see the title in your local papers movie section; you would see it on movie marquis all across the country- you can go rent it today at your local movie rental spot. What was the media reaction to this? Zero. As a matter of fact it went over so well with the liberal media that Ron Howard just released another one ‘the assassination of Richard Nixon’ I just saw it the other day while channel surfing. Who said this ‘I could go to the White House and KILL one bird with one stone’? It was John Kerry, U.S. senator, on national TV talking about Bush. He basically said he could kill Bush, the same man he publicly accused of murdering your children because he was a liar. The lie? Bush believed the same faulty intel that Kerry believed about weapons in Iraq, the same intel that led to the war that Kerry voted for. But in Bush’s case Kerry portrayed him as a liar who killed your kids. What was the media response to a US senator saying he would like to go to the White house and kill the president? Zero. What would the media response be if a movie came out titled ‘the assassination of Barack Obama’? Congressman Bart Stupak received death threats from pro abortion candidates while opposing the health care bill, these threats were not played over national TV for the world to see. After voting for the bill he received the same kind of threats from anti abortion conservatives- the national media played the audio and showed you the transcript night after night. The media has chosen to become outraged over things that they never were outraged over before. They reported on vandalism at Democratic offices, but when a Republican had a bullet hole put thru his window, they investigated and came to the conclusion that it was a ‘random bullet’ HUH? They were able to detect the motive of a bullet- wow. The media’s acceptance of not only the language ‘assassination of Bush’ but even the defending of a movie that you could go and enjoy while viewing the fictional killing of a sitting president, to the point where they allow for another fictional portrayal of another Republican president being killed, for the media to say this is acceptable free speech, and then to be outraged that someone would simply say ‘you lie’ to the president, is the absolute height of hypocrisy. I believe all this language is wrong and should not be used, but the conscious choice the media has made in finding every use of a word that can be deemed offensive, and then to hunt down the offenders, is total hypocrisy. Especially when John Kerry got away with saying ‘I could kill one bird with one stone’ while actually talking about a sitting U.S. president.
(1410) ‘But the Jews were so exasperated by HIS TEACHING, by which their rulers and chiefs were convicted by the truth…that at last they brought him before Pontius Pilate, at the time Roman governor of Syria, and, by the violence of their outcries against him, exhorting a sentence giving him up to them to be crucified’ Tertullian, [160-220 a.d.] church father from Carthage- North Africa. Proverbs tells us that wisdom was dwelling with God before the earth and hills were brought forth, that this wisdom from God rejoices with the father in the ‘habitable parts of the earth’. Jesus told the disciples that they were clean [set apart] by the words he had spoken unto them, that he chose them before the world was made to use them to bring forth fruit. In a sense God has pre-ordained a skill set of wisdom and understanding that he foresaw us communicating in time. He pre-planned this wisdom before the actual land/earth even existed! In each generation God has ‘set people’ whose job is to deposit these words/truths from God into a set area [city, nation, world]. It is thru the depositing of these words that others will be ‘set apart’-be made clean thru the words that we have spoken unto them. Be clean- how? The word also means being sanctified, that is God setting you apart in a specific way in order to carry out his purpose. When Nehemiah started out he had a burden for the city of his father’s that was broken down and destroyed, he then embarked on a special mission to a set place to build, yes he had lots of resistance and opposition, but God called him to finish the task for a set season at a set time. Leaders, have you learned and heard things these past few years that have caused you to make course corrections? Were there things that you never saw until now that have affected the way you see God’s kingdom? These things are for the purpose of God to be fulfilled, he wants you to impact large ‘open spaces’ he has pre-planned areas for you to speak into, but he had to first set you apart, make you clean thru these words that he has spoken unto you.
(1411) DON’T MOURN FOR ME, BUT FOR YOURSELVES- In Isaiah 54 the prophet says ‘more are the children of the desolate than of the married wife’. In Galatians the apostle Paul uses this reference to speak about spiritual Israel [the church] and shows us how the spiritual people [those who did not come from natural reproduction- any children by natural means, those born not of the will of the flesh, but of God- John 1] will have much more offspring than natural Israel. Truly the church today has fulfilled this prophecy. In Isaiah 44 the prophet says God will pour water on the thirsty, floods upon the dry ground- and these will spring up like wildflowers along the water courses. Notice it’s the ‘dry ground’ the ‘desolate ones’ that have the promise of bearing much fruit. The title of this post comes from the words of Jesus when the people were broken over the fact of his being framed as an innocent man; his followers and the women were upset about the railroading of Jesus by the political manipulation of the day. Jesus warned that if they could get away with this ‘in a green tree’ just wait and see what will happen when the tree is dry! The analogy meaning if the govt. could get away with this when there still was a semblance of rule, wait until anarchy gets in the air. Many in our country are upset about many things, some feel that the recent health care law will permit federal funding for abortions [it’s really a technical argument to be honest] but the point is, would you feel better about the fact that the govt. didn’t fund your illegal execution? The fact is that we permit the brutal dismembering of children in their mother’s womb, hundreds of thousands of times over and over again, for the simple reason of convenience. This act is practiced as a means of birth control the majority of the time, and we as a people allow it. If we permit these acts to take place ‘when the tree is green’ what will happen when anarchy hits? The promises of God to those who are without children are wonderful, but he warned the women who were broken over his execution ‘don’t worry about this illegal act, because a day is coming when the women who never nursed children will be the blessed ones’ because the children themselves will experience horrendous acts against them; I think that day has arrived.
(1412) IN DEFENSE OF JEREMIAH WRIGHT- Last night an interesting thing happened; as I was channel surfing the news shows I saw that Larry King had on a few ‘ex’ conservatives who are now under fire for their left wing leanings. These are traditional white guys basking in their new found social justice beliefs. I could only watch for a minute or so, it just came off as inauthentic. Then as I scrolled thru Fox, MSNBC, and a few of the CSPAN channels I came across a Tavis Smiley forum that was being held in Chicago. I was fixated for 2 hours [or more!] The panel included many of the famous Black progressives- Jesse Jackson, Louis Farrakhan, Michael Eric Dyson, just to name a few [Rev. Wright was not there by the way] and in the center of the roundtable discussion there was a simple sign that said ‘love’. The amazing thing was though these men were espousing many of the same ideas as the white liberals on the Larry King show, yet I was not offended in the least. I listened intently to Farrakhan freely quoting scripture along with the Quran, he actually only quoted from the Quran one time, and he quoted the bible more than all the others. But the bible was also quoted freely thru out the discussion; many of the questioners from the audience also were pastors and Christians. Now, I have written on the Nation of Islam before [under the cults section] and I do not accept that religion as even a legitimate expression of Islam, so don’t take me wrong on this. It was the simple reality that these Black leaders would freely see their cause for racial justice tied in with scripture. Some did express the belief that the older Black church did hinder the Black people because of their ‘wait on the Lord’ attitude; but all in all they were up front and willing to speak what they felt was the truth in an open way. Tavis Smiley also brought out the fact that many Black leaders felt like doing a public forum discussing the short comings of the president would be wrong; many on the panel challenged the presidents ‘bi-racial’ stance in political matters. Many in the Black community feel like the president has let them down because he does not hold to the more radical ideas of Black justice. Overall it was an excellent discussion that I was glued to, and to repeat, there was absolutely no feeling of offense or animosity with any of the speakers. I found it odd that I couldn’t stomach a few minutes of the white guys on Larry King, but was enthralled for 2 hours with this forum. When Reverend Wright came under fire during the Obama campaign, he obviously was demonized by the media and the repeated showing of his statements that were wrong and offensive to many people [including Blacks]. Yet Wright comes from a Black liberation theological background, it’s in his DNA to challenge the current system of government and to see strains of the gospel in communistic type systems; he isn’t the first to embrace these beliefs. Many Catholic theologians in Latin American countries hold to the same ideas; the Catholic Church officially rejects this idea. One of the tragedies of the Black people is the fact that so many young Black kids make bad choices that land them in prison, many of these young men become effected with the Black Muslim leanings in the prison system; they are sold a bill of goods that simply is not true; if we really believe as Christians that Jesus is the only way, then how can we sit idly by and not be concerned over the Black exodus into Islam? Though I disagree with many of Rev. Wright’s ideas and beliefs, yet if I had the choice between sending my Black brother to the Nation of Islam or to Rev Wright’s church, I would choose Wright 7 days out of the week.
(1413) O THOU AFFLICTED AND NOT COMFORTED, I WILL LAY THY STONES WITH FAIR COLORS, AND THY FOUNDATIONS WITH SAPPHIRES- Isaiah 54. A few weeks ago I read a story in the paper about the problems Europe is having with their new common currency, called the Euro. A few years ago Europe had a bunch of countries join together and share a common money system, the purpose was to give them more influence in the global market place. But Greece is going thru their own economic catastrophe and it’s affecting the other countries in the group. So they are debating whether or not to bail out Greece, their own TARP thing. Some of the countries are mad and are wanting out of the whole deal; Germany has criticized Greece by saying ‘well if you guys need cash, why don’t you sell one of your islands’ not a very brotherly thing to say. Greece responds ‘well if you gave us back the money the Nazis stole from us during the war, maybe we wouldn’t be in such a bind’. Like Jesus said ‘nation rising up against nation’ to be honest it’s quite funny. Okay, let’s talk the concept of reparations. I know some of you are saying ‘that’s it, this guy has just gone too far for me! I’m gonna shut this blog and go watch Beck’. Just a warning to all my readers; you will read sections on this site where you will think I’m a stark raving conservative, other posts might sound like I’m a socialist, just to be clear- I consider myself an independent and believe that Christians should not be bound to any one party or group, except the kingdom of God. Now, what does the bible say about reparations? [The idea that the sins of White America against the Blacks should be atoned for in a monetary way] Most Americans cringe at the thought, though the idea itself is not totally foreign to scripture. The bible teaches us that when people [or people groups] wrong and sin against other groups, that the groups who committed the sin should try and make things right thru a process called restitution, which includes paying back what was stolen. Now I am not saying that the current ideas on reparations fall into this category, but the concept is there. Some people feel the years of the slave trade that produced a financial harvest for the nation overall, that the generations of Black kids that never had the opportunity to have grown up in families with wealth, they missed out on building wealthy dynasties for their kids, that we as a govt. should try and make up for this sin, not by punishing whites today for the sins of their forefathers, but by seeing this reality and making things right generationally- so to speak. I do not fully hold to the idea myself, but wanted to give you an honest view from scripture. I believe that we as a people [we being all Americans] should strive for equality and a color blind society as much as possible, we should advocate for all our brothers and sisters regardless of race or creed. We should avoid seeing our positions of influence thru a lens that says ‘I am White, Hispanic, Black, etc. and my job is to advance my ethnic group at the expense of other ethnic groups’. This mindset, which I see all the time, is frankly racist at its core. Now I am not saying that an ethnic person can never try and improve the plight of his own ethnic group, he just needs to make sure that he is not doing it at the expense of the other groups he represents. Years ago while working at the fire dept we had a new group of rookies get hired, one of them was a Black brother. When a promotional test was coming up I had a Mexican friend tell me ‘well, why even take the test, so and so will get pushed to the top no matter what we score’. One day while on shift I went upstairs to the dorm area and noticed my Black friend mopping the floors, it was ‘floor day’ and it just so happened that he was the only one mopping the floor [often times the other guys might be on a run, or doing another chore]. Though I was in a supervisory type job at the time [which means I did not really have to help!] I immediately grabbed a mop and helped. I am not telling you guys this to make it sound like I am more noble, I am saying that we all need to be aware of both the things that look racist, or actually are racist. My Mexican friend was not a racist, he simply has been brought up with the reality of seeing how affirmative action [hiring quotas] has caused what he saw as an injustice to exist. The fine Black friend might have gotten the top score regardless of affirmative action, and yet he would be seen as getting the promotion because of an unfair policy. When we as Americans try and do the right thing now, to make up for the sins of the past, we need to make sure that we don’t create a new environment that discriminates against other races as well, because in the end it only makes things worse.
(1414) A SMASHING SUCCESS- This week we had the first successful test of the Hadron Collider. This is an underground tunnel/chamber like device that stretches 17 miles around in a circle and is used to smash atoms. It was built in Switzerland at much cost and when they first tried it out around 6 months ago it failed. Well this week they did a test and it worked great. They shot 2 protons at each other at 99% the speed of light and they examined the explosion, they hope to find clues to the beginning of creation by doing this test. It was the first time man has ever come close to examining an explosion of this type. Einstein would have loved it, one of his thought experiments was to see what a beam of light would look like if he were traveling at the speed of light and glanced over; for theoretical physicists this is a big deal. I would note that quantum theory and quantum mechanics has its critics; some in the scientific world doubt many of the ideas that these physicists have espoused. Einstein himself disagreed with another famous physicist of the day-Neils Bohr. Einstein had his doubts about some of the basic premises of quantum theory, ideas that said you work only in probabilities and not in the realm of fixed, certain truth. Einstein believed that all science and testing could ultimately lead to very exact equations, he himself proved this thru his own exact theories that would be mathematically proven over time. As believers we should not be wary of true science, it’s just we need to discern between what is really science and what is pure speculation. Some quantum theorists espouse an idea that says human beings have ‘alter egos’ of themselves living in another realm of the universe, these ideas not only violate common sense, but have all types of theological problems that go along with it [i.e.; If I am saved, what about my alter ego! Yikes!] So we should be careful when we are sold things under the heading of science, when in reality it is simple nonsense. I look forward to the success of the collider, it really is the future for particle physics, hopefully we can learn some things that will bring us closer to our understanding of the beginning of time. The article I read in the paper was loaded with language like ‘we can now discover what Genesis chapter one means’ and stuff like that. These were scientists talking this way in a secular news paper for heaven’s sake! Seek and ye shall find, and if you really want to know what Genesis chapter one means, then go read it.
(1415) BENNY HINN VERSUS JOHN PIPER- Yesterday I was reading some Christian news on line, I was surprised to see that the famed author/pastor, John Piper, was stepping down from his pastorate to take an 8 month sabbatical. As I read the story there was no scandal, he just simply examined his soul and felt like he saw pride creeping in and thought it good to re focus. I also read the latest from Benny Hinn, the famous healing evangelist, his wife recently filed for divorce and his web statement said ‘I will keep going, and not slow down one bit’. I would note that Benny and his wife also have no sexual scandal to deal with, it must have been the pressure and all, it caught the family by surprise when Susanne filed for the divorce. Now, many view Benny as a false prophet and an outright huckster- I don’t. I have major problems with the entire character of ‘ministry’ that platforms the Holy Spirits gifts in such a public way that draws great attention to the gifted person, the New Testament warns against various gifted people becoming the center of attention in the community of believers. Paul rebuked the Corinthians for centering their spiritual lives around the persona of any man [this would even include prominent well meaning pastors, who often don’t see this dynamic in our day-many feel it’s scriptural to have the life of the community centered around the weekly speaking gift of an individual, there really is no mandate in scripture for this. It’s okay for gifted leaders to teach, prophesy, function in some spiritual gift, but the New Testament does not show us a pattern of local churches centered around the office of any individuals gifts. One of the common mistakes church historians make is we read some of the 1st, 2nd century writings of the church fathers [Clement of Rome, Irenaeus, etc.] and we see how the able bishop rebuked the Corinthians for not submitting to the ecclesiastical office of Bishop, the letter portrays the Corinthian church as a bunch of rebels who are rising up against the authority of the Bishop and other leaders. It’s usually assumed that the Corinthian church was at it again, ‘there goes those darn troublemakers’ type of a thing. But it’s very possible that the Corinthian community was heeding the admonition from their founding apostle [Paul] and were actually resisting the idea of allowing any singular authority to take a position that was contrary to what Paul wrote to them in his epistles!]. The main point is you can have legitimate gifts being expressed thru a person [prophecy, healing, or even the pastor/teacher gift of speaking] but if these gifts are being used in a way that draws undo attention to the individual; then it is a violation of the character of New Testament ministry, although the gift itself might be legitimate. I was watching an ‘apostle’ out of Newark one day on Christian TV; they are a Pentecostal group that are heavy into spiritual warfare. The main leader was dressed in military type garb [corporal, cornel stripes and all] and they were doing the best they could. An interesting thing was they were doing a teaching on Paul’s words ‘the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty thru God to the pulling down of strongholds’ [Corinthians] and they actually taught it right! The apostle shared how many people mistake the meaning of the verse and apply it to strategic spiritual warfare prayer directed at territorial spirits and stuff like that. But the apostle explained how it was really speaking about apologetic type arguments that Christians make against the false ideas and strongholds of false doctrine. But then they went on to say that they arrived at this true understanding thru the apostolic gift of ‘revelation knowledge’ sort of like if it weren’t for the gift of the ‘apostle’ they would never have known this truth. I would venture to say that the majority of scholarly works that deal with this verse probably have it right; in the world of ‘intellectual Christianity’ [which is usually disdained by these independent type churches] most teachers knew this all along; we did not need the ‘gift of apostolic revelation knowledge’ to know this. Okay, the point being we have good people, who operate at times in true gifts, but also have a long way to go in growth and maturity. In the above example of Piper versus Hinn, I believe both of these men are good men, Piper comes from the baptist [reformed] tradition, Hinn from the charismatic wing. Maybe the Lord directed Benny to ‘keep on going, don’t slow down a bit’ and maybe Piper felt the Lord saying ‘slow down, take time off’ I just felt it striking that Piper was doing this because of what he sensed was the hidden sin of pride, no big scandal, just time to examine his soul. While Benny felt like ‘slowing down’ was not an option. These 2 examples give us a glimpse into the present day expression of church/ministry, and how we have all been affected by the times we live in.
This was a comment I left on Scot McKnight’s Jesus creed blog; it was a response to his latest Christianity Today article on rethinking the historical Jesus school of theology. I advise all our readers to go read it. As of now it’s only in the print version- ‘Scot just finished reading the article in CT on the historical Jesus, it does seem you’ve come some distance back from earlier beliefs. I remember reading you defend McLaren’s contradictions once by showing us how he uses that type of method to get his points across [the method of overstating something and then retracting it a few pages later!] Anyway I did like the article, will go read Tom Wrights response now. God bless from Corpus Christi.’
(1416) THE PHANTOM PASTOR? I read an article on multi site churches [one church, many locations] it was interesting; it showed how some were experimenting with hologram images of the main pastor being projected to the various sites every Sunday ‘for church’. I found it interesting that many of our modern concepts of legitimate local church revolve around the Sunday meeting, the main speaker, the tithe, etc. you know the deal. Many of these expressions seem to teach that the main authority given by God to a believer comes thru his or her submission to the actual meeting; if you are not in a meeting where you actually ‘see’ the minister, then you are not in ‘local church’ [limited indeed]. So Paul’s relating to the churches he planted, primarily thru letters, was really not ‘local church’. I know some will say ‘yet these churches had a pastor over them’ this simply is not true in the singular sense. They had groups of leaders [elders] who exercised oversight, but no weekly speaking office given to any one person. The point today is I find it interesting that some are seeing the validity of having a hologram of a pastor, but do not see the validity of other modes of local church expressions that do not submit to the actual Sunday church model. I think its fine to do multi site ‘church’ but we really need to define ‘local church’ more along the lines of the local community of believers, and less along the lines of a meeting [whether church building, movie theatre, home group, etc,] when we see the people of God as the actual expression of local church, then we won’t get all hung up on the different ways we communicate with one another. It’s good to actually meet, don’t get me wrong- but if a hologram pastor can be deemed ‘real’ why not other modes?
(1417) THOU HAST GIVEN A BANNER TO THEM THAT FEAR THEE, THAT IT MAY BE DISPLAYED BECAUSE OF THE TRUTH- Psalms 60:4. I wasn’t sure which way to go today; either discus the media hyped charges against the Pope or overview the Scot McKnight article in the current issue of Christianity Today magazine. First, I have the news article right in front of me over the so called comparison that the Vatican made of its current troubles with the Holocaust. The article gives the quote of the personal preacher of the Pope during a service he gave during this holy week. The Priest is quoting a Jewish friend who said he felt like the accusations against the church reminded him of anti Semitism; in that people who are anti Semitic usually stereotype whole groups of people in inaccurate ways. This simple letter, read by a Priest has been portrayed by the media [New York Times] as saying the Vatican has compared their recent struggles against accusations that the Pope knew more than he admits about covering up for Priests who abused children, the media said the Pope has compared himself to the persecuted Jews during the holocaust. This is an outright lie that the media has chosen to engage in. The Vatican did not compare themselves to Jews who were gassed during the holocaust; a Priest read a letter from a Jewish friend who said he saw the same stereotyping and group accusations against the church that he himself has seen by those who also attack Jews. That’s it. But what do you expect from a paper that reported as a front page story, weeks before a presidential election, that one of the candidates [John McCain] had disgruntled staff who were fired and also said there were rumors going around that McCain was too friendly with a female staffer. Now, there were no reports of any indiscretions, just that there were rumors that others felt he was ‘too friendly’ this ran as a front page news story! And another candidate who was known by the insiders in the media to have actually fathered a child with another woman, they deemed this story unworthy as news. The media are upset that the Catholic Church inserted influence in the health debate and they have been fabricating a scandal against the Pope when there is no scandal. When the Pope was Bishop in Munich there was a priest transferred to another diocese that was involved in a child sex scandal. The truth is the Pope did not personally oversee or know about the details of the transfer, this job was the responsibility of another administrative person under the Bishop. The Pope at the time was already involved in universal doctrinal issues that the church was engaging in, he would soon become the main person in charge of doctrine for the church. So in reality the story is the Pope did not personally involve himself with these types of decisions, yet the media is saying he was involved in a cover up, that’s just not true, they have ‘a banner’ but they don’t use it for displaying truth. Okay, I guess I won’t do the McKnight article. Today as I write it is Easter morning, God bless all our readers today, Jesus truly is alive!
(1418) IS COLSON A MODERN DAY ERASMUS? I have been re-reading volume 6 of the Story of Civilization by Will Durant; this volume covers the Reformation period. It resounds with the warnings of the Catholic humanist Erasmus to his fellow critic of the church, Martin Luther. Many good men challenged what they saw as the corruption of the church, they wrote and spoke out against her abuses, Erasmus was one of her strongest critics. He was a true renaissance man who traveled a lot during his career. At one point he settled down in Basel, Switzerland and would thoroughly enjoy the metropolitan character of the region. He loved being in a community where the classics were widely read, as well as the modern ideas on theology. Calvin himself would eventually wind up in Basel for part of his education and he too would be influenced by Erasmus’s works. One of the fears that Erasmus and others had was they felt like Luther’s protest was going too far, they feared the toppling of order in society if the nation states would throw off all ecclesiastical control. They were afraid of anarchy [the same fears that the Ultramontanists in France would feel a couple of centuries later]. In my recent Christianity Today magazine I read an interesting column by Chuck Colson [the famous brother of water gate fame- he went to prison and converted to Christ] Colson seemed to strike a tone much like Erasmus, he was speaking about the current Tea Party movement. Colson warned that a popular uprising in and of itself can be dangerous, that Christians have every right to be upset and protest against what they feel is unjust, but believers need to heed the teachings of the new testament in being good citizens who submit to earthly authorities [a theme found thru out the New testament, especially in Paul’s letter to the Romans]. Colson warned that believers need to counter what they see as bad government with positive ideas and other options; we should not simply be a party of rebels! I sensed a sort of fear in Colson, sort of like he sees a danger in the country which can lead to bad things. Luther would eventually reject the warnings of his less rebellious contemporaries and follow thru with his rebellion; Germany would divide as a nation state between catholic and protestant churches, other nations would soon follow. The actual term Protestant speaks of a technical protest over a proposed rule that would allow the catholic churches/regions to remain catholic without any interference from the protestants; this was protested by the ‘protestants’ and thus the name stuck. The point being the reformation moved forward with a viable alternative to what they saw as a corrupt system, Luther himself rejected others who did advocate for what he saw as leading to anarchy. The famous Munster prophets believed they were to cast off all control of human government and establish their own New Jerusalem as an earthly city that would be governed directly by God. Luther eventually would sound like Erasmus in warning against a total rejection of human government and would appeal to Paul’s writings as well, showing us that good Christians submit to human authorities as much as possible, this warning fell on deaf ears- they read some of the caustic language that Luther himself used against the church and they saw him as a hypocrite. All in all we as believers should voice our protests and displeasure with human government when we see its failings, but we also need to understand that the changes that we want to be made will be done thru prayer and the ballot box, not thru any actions that can lead to the things that former ‘reformers’ warned against. Let our voices be heard, but let our non violent action be a witness to the kingdom from which we derive our beliefs.
(1419) ARE WE STILL UNDER THE LAW? I am a little of course this week; one of my favorite theologians who I hear just about every day on the radio is doing a series on how the believer is still under the law. He is a great reformed theologian, but in this area I have so small dissent. Just to be clear, I consider this a major error that strikes at the foundation of the gospel of grace. Many good men have held to this idea, they are confusing the gospel of grace when they do this. In reformed theology you have the majority of believers holding to ‘covenant theology’ versus ‘dispensational’. I agree 100 % with the dispensational view of the reformed [that is they reject it] but their understanding of the covenants also has some problems with it. They see the old covenant and the New Testament as 2 covenants [true] that have an overriding covenant of grace that works independently between them both. Again, another major error in my view. The idea is that in the old covenant people believed in the coming Messiah and as they looked forward to his future coming they were ‘saved’. There is some truth to this, Paul does use this example from the life of Abraham to prove this very point, but to than develop an idea that all the old testament saints sort of had this working knowledge of looking forward to Jesus and understanding that they were all saved by faith, well this goes too far in my view. First, Paul in the New Testament clearly lumps all the law together [ceremonial, sacrificial, moral] when saying Jesus nailed the written law to his Cross and freed us from it. You can’t read Romans and Galatians and not see this [Colossians too] the New Covenant in Jesus Blood is exactly that, a new covenant! [it did not exist before!] To carry the idea that people generally knew they were saved by grace under the old covenant seems to miss this truth. The law came by Moses, but grace and truth thru Jesus. While I agree that this reality does not mean we have the right to break Gods moral law, yet we are clearly not under it in an Old Testament sense. I can’t stress enough how much I think this doctrine is a major error in the understanding of many reformed theologians, it is often presented in a way that says this is the very reason why there is so much sin in the church, because Gods people don’t realize they are still under the law. Big, big mistake in my view. I still like much of reformed theology; it’s just in these areas I have major disagreements, to say the least.
(1420) THE DOCTRINE ON WHICH THE CHURCH STANDS OR FALLS- In keeping with the last post lets overview some stuff. One of the main themes in the New Testament is the theme of justification by faith; the great reformer Martin Luther called this the doctrine on which the church stands or falls. If you go thru this blog and read the Galatians, Romans and Acts studies you will see what a major subject this is in the bible. Read Acts chapter 15 and you will see 3 specific statements made about what exactly the Jewish teachers out of Jerusalem were trying to put on the believers at Antioch; the chapter says they were trying to make them become circumcised, then it says to become circumcised and KEEP THE LAW OF MOSES, and then James will say the same in the final decree that was sent out to the gentile believers at Antioch. The point being the question very much was whether or not the gentile churches were to submit themselves under the ‘law of Moses’. In Galatians Paul says ‘if righteousness comes by the law, then Christ is dead in vain’ ‘I am crucified with Christ… and the life which I now live I live by the faith of the Son of God’ this theme runs thru out the corpus of Paul’s writings and there is absolutely no doubt that the apostle is saying the believer becomes right with God, by faith apart from the law. And that ‘the law’ in context means the whole law [ceremonial, sacrificial and the moral code- 10 commandments]. Paul himself told the Galatians ‘if you become circumcised Christ shall profit you nothing, for he that is circumcised has become a debtor to the whole law’ all of these statements in context would be meaningless if they simply meant the gentiles were not under the ceremonial law, but still bound by the moral law. When the decree made it back to the church at Antioch they rejoiced in the fact they they were not bound under the law, not so they could go on sinning, but because the New Covenant of grace frees us from the legalistic approach to Gods kingdom. Remember, Paul associated the ceremonial law [circumcision] with the moral law- if he were just speaking of believers not being under one aspect, but another, then this distinction would be meaningless. James said the church at Antioch were troubled by those who went to them and told them they needed to become circumcised AND keep the law of Moses, it is clear from these passages that the message of the New testament is believers are under grace and are not under the old law; once again we are told ‘does this mean we keep on sinning’? Paul’s response is always no, not based on the fact that we are still bound to the law, but based on the fact that we have been risen with Christ, we are ‘new creatures in Christ, the old has passed away’- I do not frustrate the grace of Christ, if righteousness comes by the law, then Christ died in vain!
(1421) THE FOOL HAS SAID IN HIS HEART, THERE IS NO GOD- Psalms. Caught an interesting special last night on evolution; they got into many of the fallacies and false things that have been foisted upon the general population over the years. They went to a famous natural history museum and interviewed the scientist responsible for teaching one of the most popular missing links for whales. Darwin believed that whales came from swimming bears who after many years evolved into whales- stuff that today would put you into the intellectual category of believing in a flat earth! Darwin held to many primitive beliefs that are disproven today, many of these beliefs were central to his theory. He believed in spontaneous generation, that living cells can self generate from dead matter. His proof? Well look at the piece of meat that is left out and rots, sure enough over time maggots ‘self generate’. This man believed this! It took a simple test to prove this theory false; they put cheesecloth over the meat, which prevented flies from landing on the meat and laying their eggs in the meat, and Walla- no maggots. This silly belief of Darwin cannot be written off as ‘well he wasn’t perfect’ no, this belief is central to the idea of evolution; it has been proven false beyond all doubt. So back to the whale fossil, as they interviewed the famous scientist responsible for the whale fossil, they also spoke to other scientists who fully held to the belief that science has proven the missing link of the whale. They pointed to the famous specimen of a 4 legged animal with this elongated nose and, well yes, the tail of a whale! All the men interviewed used this as proof of evolution, many school text books taught it, surely it must be true! As they looked at the actual fossil [not just the pictures in the books] they discovered that the famous fossil actually has no tail. They then asked the scientist where he came up with the tail. He said he had to speculate at that point. What! The most famous evidence for the evolution of the whale, the fossil that all the other experts noted as absolute proof for evolution- it was a creation in the mind of an evolutionist. The history of fossil hunting is shot thru with these types of examples; there is actually an entire cottage industry of ‘fossil hunters’ who have been caught time and again fabricating missing links. Why so much effort? They know that many would pay much money for these fossils. Why? Because they do not exist for real. If you were finding tons of these transitional fossils, which Darwin said we would have to eventually find if his theory were true, then there would be no market for the fake ones. And the history of fake ones is quite large; they have caught people doing this a lot. Chinese fossil hunters presented to national geographic 2 so called fossils that were supposedly proof that dinosaurs turned into birds. They hired a top team of researchers to look at the fossils. The team determined that the Chinese fossils were frauds. The first fossil was shown to have been fabricated with modern day materials. Then the Chinese finders found another one- hey there’s much money in this field. The second fossil was also proven to have been ‘fixed’ by the finders. To the surprise of the researchers, national geographic went with the fossil anyway [hey they need to pay the bills too!] and it was presented as absolute proof for evolution. When the true researchers, the ones who proved the fossils fake, confronted the scientists who were on the payroll of national geographic, they responded that yes- all the fossils coming from china have these types of problems. In essence they said the standard practice of faking it was to be expected. These types of things are usually not known by the general public at large, hey we’re taught things in school, we see the pictures, and who has time to do the research? The apostle Paul said men chose to reject the knowledge of God; they have made a conscience choice to do stuff like this. There actually is a psychology to atheism. Believers need to be aware of these so called belief systems and contend for the truth. In the end many of the opponents have reprobate minds; they don’t want to really see the truth, and they will fabricate stuff to prove their points.
(1422) THE APOSTLE, THE PROPHETESS AND FIRST DEGREE MURDER- Last night I watched a dateline special on a church that made the headlines because of a series of actions that led to the murder of the youth pastor’s wife, by the youth pastor. The church started out as a nice independent church in a good community, the original pastor moved on and a new pastor came in. He felt his calling was that of an apostle and he instituted the casting out of demons and new concepts on spiritual warfare. They also had the charismatic gifts of the Spirit operating. One of the ladies was a ‘prophetess’, if I remember right I used to see some of her stuff on a fairly popular prophetic web site. Either way she functioned in what she felt was a prophetic gift and she eventually gave a prophecy to the youth pastor that his wife was going to die and she would marry him after the death. The youth pastor wound up giving his wife an overdose of Benadryl and started an ‘accidental’ house fire and she died. The youth pastor had a few affairs with some of the other church members and eventually the sister who functioned in the prophetic gift confessed. Okay, how does stuff like this happen? It is easy to come away from this story with a negative view of all charismatic expressions of the church; that would be unfair. Purely as a doctrinal issue you do find the gifts of the Spirit as a legitimate part of Christianity. The church’s emphasis on spiritual warfare techniques and the normative act of identifying demon spirits in its members, well I do have a problem with that. Christians go thru fads/phases as the years roll by, one of the popular ideas was the whole spiritual warfare thing that involved strategic level prayers and identifying territorial spirits and stuff like that. Most fads have some type of doctrinal truth; for instance you do read in the prophetic book of Daniel how his prayers were being resisted by a ‘prince’ which more than likely was referring to a demon spirit, and how God used an angel to break thru the heavens and bring the answer to Daniel. So we see glimpses behind the scenes at times. But the normative teaching on prayer does not carry with it a regular process of identifying and engaging with these demons. So you have some truth, but usually associated with error. Many who appeal to the Daniel example fail to see that Daniels prayer eventually was answered, not because Daniel did some strategic prayer thing, but because he simply prayed to God in faith. At no time did Daniel cast the prince down thru his own techniques. So basically this independent church got into the whole thing. Many years ago when I was pastoring my own independent church, I had a lady [she was a good friend and Christian] who too felt like she functioned at times as a prophetess. She was ordained by Joel Osteen’s church out of Houston and I worked with family members who were involved [married to] some of the drug addict guys I was helping at the time. She did become a member of our church and she was an able person. But at times I had to warn her off of beliefs that she felt were from God. Her previous church [a word of faith church] had a good pastor whose wife was not helping the minister; she felt like the Lord told her that some day she would be married to the pastor, that either the wife would die or the pastor would get a divorce, but that she felt God had told her this. She gave me examples from the bible that seemed to justify in her mind how God can tell people things that seem out of the ordinary [like God telling one of his prophets to marry a prostitute] but I always tried to steer her into the direction that the gift of prophecy never contradicts the known revealed will of God as found in the bible. The point today is as believers we need to be careful that our expression of Christianity does not become isolated from the broader Body of Christ, we should be reading the Christian classics, should have a basic view of the people of God as a worldwide community that we can all glean guidance from. Many independent type churches get a hold of some doctrine [even if it’s true] and make the error of exalting the teaching to a point where they get out of balance with the historic church, then they focus all their teaching and reading around a small group of authors and preachers who also hold to the same limited ideas. This reinforces in the minds of the adherents that they surely must be in a balanced group, after all look at all the other good people who follow the same path! I would advise all believers [pastors especially] build up a good library of the Christian classics, pick up Augustine’s confessions, collect some writings from the early church fathers; develop a library that spans the ages- you can read and study the current movements and all, don’t reject all movements and fads, some movements do have historic implications to them, but only time will tell. And avoid the idea that God is telling people stuff like ‘your husband/wife will die and I will marry you’ these ideas are way off the mark and should be rejected outright without any second thoughts.
[just a comment on an article critiquing Scot McKnight’s recent CT article] Good response- Just a note or 2; Scot doesn’t seem to be saying that all historical studies of Jesus are wrong, but that the actual process called 'historical criticism’ is actually flawed. Also the example in this article 'how can we know the meaning behind the act of Jesus and the money changers without 2nd temple context’ most believers have a good grasp of the prophetic challenge of Jesus to the religious leaders of the day by simply reading this gospel account in context 'my father’s house was to be a house of prayer. You have made it a den of thieves’. Simply reading this account from the gospels gives us enough context to glean the truth of the passage. Good response anyway. God bless, John
(1423) WHO KNOWS WHETHER YOU HAVE COME TO THE KINGDOM FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS- The famous words to queen Esther in the book of the bible with the same name. God said to Abraham that he called him when he was alone; he had no support base, no family, nothing. God told him to go to a country that he would later receive as an inheritance, Hebrews 11 tells us ‘he went out, not knowing where he was going’ often times on the journey we end up in places that we never planned on being; strategic situations where we might influence key kingdom leaders- the bible says ‘men of stature shall come over to thee and be thine’ ‘gentiles shall come to thy light and kings to the brightness of thy rising’. God has ways of placing us in strategically important locations, places we are not even aware of! Yesterday I googled the ministry name and saw a few foreign blogs that have been posting our stuff, great! They are from Indonesia, the most populated Muslim country in the world; we have been ‘dwelling’ in a place that I knew not. Be sensitive to the people you are influencing, often times just your presence in a place can be a fulfillment of Gods calling, even if you have no idea how you wound up being there. Often times there are other key leaders [pastors, etc.] that God is raising up for a national/worldwide influence; part of your calling might be to influence them, keep them on course, so that they too will keep those they are mentoring in a straight path. I like the fact that God called Abraham when he was alone; it was really a personal calling between him and God; it’s good to have friends and supporters along the way, but in the end this thing started with you and God alone, it will be up to you and God to finish the race by faith. The bible says ‘look to the rock I have cut you out of, look to Abraham and Sarah, I called them when they were alone’ are you alone? Have people you counted on moved on? Are you feeling tempted to move on too? ‘Fear not, for I am with thee, be not dismayed for I am thy God. I will strengthen thee and uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness’ says the Lord- ‘endure hardness as a good soldier in Christ’ says Paul. ‘Blessed is the man that endures temptation, for when he is tried he shall receive the crown of life’ James. ‘To him who overcomes will I make a pillar in the temple of my God’ Jesus.
(1424) AVOIDING THE ECHO CHAMBER- A week or so ago the president was asked his opinion about the cable news shows and the talk radio community; he wisely answered that he felt there was a sort of dynamic like an echo chamber with these shows, that people need to be careful that they are not simply spending all their time and effort bouncing their own ideas off of the walls of others who only think in the same framework. In Christianity this is a problem that we all regularly deal with. I remember listening to a tape by an ‘organic church’ brother one time, he was trying to explain where the idea of elders arose in the writings of the apostle Paul. Now he was speaking from/to a community of people that at the time were writing and teaching against the New Testament idea of leadership, many felt like leaders in the New Testament were forbidden based on verses like ‘the gentiles exercise lordship over each other, it will not be like this with you’ and other verses that speak of servant leadership. The well meaning brother went on to espouse his theory that when the Jewish Diaspora took place in the first century, many were sent to the Christian churches and they told the leaders of the churches ‘here are our people, who are your elders that they need to report to’ and that in response Paul and the others said ‘Oh yeah, here they are’ sort of like they were ad libbing just to appease the Jewish converts. Now, this idea is interesting, but there is no foundation for it to rest on. The New Testament had elders, leaders, etc. for this brother to have thought this deeply about the matter was simply a symptom of living in the echo chamber of others who also rejected elders/leaders as a normative role of the New Testament churches. But many of these brothers have brought out the fact that none of the churches in the New Testament had the singular office of ‘the pastor’ that functioned as the weekly speaking office that the believers would gather around and hear, week after week, month after month, year after year. The development of this office [often referred to as the pastor] took place over time; some ascribe its development to 4th century pagan sources, others see it as arising out of the synagogue to church model [it should be noted that in the synagogues you had a person overseeing the meeting, but anyone could take the scrolls and read as the lord led- that’s why Jesus could read from the scrolls, even though the Pharisees did not think he was ‘ordained’ by God]. The point being we all have blind spots that we need to be aware of. Most bible schools, universities teach courses on ‘pastoral counseling, finances, budgets, speaking, etc.’ and to be honest they too usually are approaching things from the echo chamber of ‘church’ as the corporate model, the actual meeting place of believers, as opposed to a community of people. Many of these courses never really question the validity of this singular role that we define as pastor, they just teach around it as a given office that existed in this way. The other night I was watching the Huckabee show on Fox news, they had on the actor Jon Voight. I liked Voight in the movie The Deliverance and of course George from Seinfeld was elated when he thought he bought Jon’s used car [though Jerry doubted it was authentic, being the name was spelled differently] as Voight was being interviewed he read a prepared letter that he had brought with him. Voight expressed many of the key talking points of Beck, Rush and Hannity; he mentioned the Olinsky method, hit a few more ideas on Obama being a socialist, you know the whole deal. When he was thru Huckabee graciously defended Obama in saying that he disagreed with his policies, but felt like the president means well. Voight is a victim of the echo chamber, seeing and hearing things on a regular basis, without a regular inflow of contrary data. As believers we need to be willing to hear both sides of the issues, maybe the critics are right about one thing, and wrong about another. That’s fine, just be willing to hear. Living in the echo chamber can be deafening at times.
[comment I left on Trevin Wax’s site] Really interesting, she seems to deal with many issues that do need to be dealt with among believers. We often do not see the inconsistencies of our own ideas. I heard a Catholic convert share how she always looked down on Catholics for having statues; she one day realized that they too had mangers every Christmas. They seemed to have no problem with 'little’ statues of Mary, only the big ones! God bless from Corpus.
[follow up comment on Trevin’s site] Good interview Trevin/Gina. I would note that there are 'psychological’ reasons to why people embrace atheism [i.e.; believing I am not accountable to a higher authority just being one!] but I like Gina’s openness and hope she would read some of the more recent arguments for the existence of God, Keller’s work being one of many. Okay Gina, here you can stereotype me 'lets pray for Gina’ sorry, couldn’t help it.
(1425) SPECIFIED COMPLEXITY- In the struggle over evolutionary theory, one of the approaches used to debunk Darwinian Theory is the concept called ‘information theory’. This idea refutes a purely atheistic view of evolution. First, we must understand that the most popular form of evolution today is absolutely proven to be untrue! I know that’s a surprising statement to some, but stick with me. The current theory that most atheists hold to is the idea that at one point in time nothing existed [true]. They then say ‘by chance all things eventually came into existence’ they do not believe, for the most part, that any being existed prior to creation. This idea is blatantly false from the start, it is scientifically impossible to get something from nothing- people must know this. Now does evolutionary theory explain how all things came from no-thing? Absolutely not. That’s why some evolutionists espouse a theory called panspermia, this idea says that it’s possible that life started somewhere else, possibly by extra terrestrial beings, and that it was seeded on our planet either by accident or design. Men like Richard Dawkins [the famous atheist] have espoused this idea. If you were to ask them ‘and exactly what do you think this being is like, is it intelligent or not’ they would reply ‘oh, it’s definitely intelligent- how else could it have spawned intelligent life’ [good question!] if you then asked ‘is the being powerful, does it have the skill to do great things’? ‘Oh yes, of course, how else could it have spawned matter and life’? Another excellent question! One last thing, how old is this being, has he a starting point in history as well? Come to think of it, now that you ask, he [or his ancestor] must have been around forever, because if there was a point in time where he did not exist, then we have the problem of explaining where he came from, so logic tells us that this all knowing, all powerful, ever existing being is the only logical explanation for the existence of the created order. In a nutshell the atheistic evolutionist has come to the logical conclusion that some being, which just happens to possess all the attributes of the Christian God, must exist in order for anything to exist, after all you can’t get intelligent life from non intelligence. The evolutionist who espouses this view [and there are a growing number of them by the way] has simply replaced the idea of God with another god that he has developed in his own mind. This very dilemma, trying to explain how everything came from nothing, how information in the human cell got there, these questions can only be answered by the scientist who embraces some type of deity, that’s why the famous atheist Antony Flew finally embraced belief in God after many years of denying his existence. He realized the futility of holding on to a world view that said all things came from no-thing. How bout you?
(1426) ‘You brought us into the net, you laid affliction upon us; you caused men to ride over our heads, we went thru fire and water; but you also brought us out into a wealthy place’ Psalms 66:11-12. Yesterday I mailed off a letter to a child hood buddy who is doing time in prison. We grew up as little hoodlums, he was Greek Orthodox, I Roman Catholic- but the only ecumenical act we ever engaged in was jointly taking the Lords name in vain. This last year he has been in touch with me, I have written and been a friend. This last letter he asked if I could give a shout out to him by name and also to all the brothers in Rahway prison; his buddies think he’s making it up that we were friends as kids. He has lost all- family, business, home- he is going thru depression and all, but I am encouraging him to get with the other brothers and read and pray, I am printing relevant sections from my blog and sending them as well. I stuck a bunch of my ministry cards in the last letter and he obviously gave them to some Christian brothers from the ‘free world’ who have access to computers and stuff, that’s why they wanted the shout out. The guys in prison do not have access to the internet. If you want to write him, his address is ‘ James Dalskov 558763 lock bag R Rahway, N.J. 07065’. Sometimes in life we wind up in situations where we feel like we are in a net, others ‘ride over us’ being told what to do and what not to do. Going from the free world into these types of environments can be tuff. But God can also use these experiences to do things in us that we never thought possible. At the end of the above verse it says when the process was over ‘He brought us out into a wealthy place’. I also got an email yesterday from one of our original guys who used to be a mainline addict, spent many years doing robberies and spending years in prison; he has been out for a long time and been clean for many years. He was letting me know that one of our other brothers just moved to Corpus and wanted to get a hold of me. I gave him the cell #, but those of you who know me realize that getting in touch with me by phone is next to impossible; I never answer my phone unless I recognize the number. The point today is God wants all of us to interact with society, the lost ones! The religion of Jesus day was centered on religious performance and ritual; though the concepts of justice and reaching out to the poor and needy were engrained in the Mosaic law, yet for some reason this priority was lost to tradition. Jesus would quote the famous verse from the prophet Isaiah about the Spirit being on him to do justice. When questioned about his legitimacy ‘are you the one or look we for another’ he replied in social justice terms ‘the poor have the gospel preached, the dead are raised’ etc. The proof of his ordination was not being licensed by the religion of the day, but the proof was the works of justice that he did. Leaders, what is the environment that surrounds you? Is most of your life spent on a preaching platform or stage? Are you rarely in the environment that Jesus and his men were surrounded by? The leaders of Jesus day were offended by his closeness to the world, the crowd he hung with, the prostitutes who wiped his feet with their tears; this whole scenario was unacceptable to the religious class of the day. The only time they referenced the hurting in prayer was when they said ‘Thank you God that we are not like them’ they spent their lives in a net, a religious place of bondage, many of them never came out into the wealthy place.
[Comment on Ben Witherington’s site on his recent historical Jesus book] I like it Ben. Went to the first post and read the intro; good and balanced. I have been critical of 'historical criticism’ and recently made some comments on Scot McKnight’s article on rethinking Jesus studies. Overall I think its okay to do historical research and harmonies like this; as long as we add the warning that these studies are not meant to challenge the canonical accounts [which warning you gave in the intro!] God bless Ben thanks for sharing excellent scholarship like this in a free format. John
(1427) THE LORD GAVE THE WORD; GREAT WAS THE COMPANY OF THOSE THAT PUBLISHED IT- Psalms 68:11 In the 14th century you had the Oxford scholar, John Wycliffe, challenge the church and publish an English bible that would be understood by the common man. His view of the true church was that all those who believed in Christ comprised the mystical Body of Christ thru out the ages; he held to the same view that many believers would later embrace. His works would eventually influence John Huss, the great Bohemian priest, and Huss too would preach a doctrine of the universal church which transcended institutional boundaries. In the 16th century William Tyndale would take up the charge to get the bible into the hands of the common man; he longed for the day that the simple plowman would know the scriptures as well as the trained clergy; Tyndale would die for the faith [as Huss] but would pray/prophesy that God would touch the heart of the king of England and make his word known. Henry the 8th would eventually place an English bible into every church building thru out his realm. The history of God getting his word into the hands of the common man is great, many divine interventions [or inventions!] came along just at the right time to aid in the efforts. Guttenberg would invent the printing press in the 15th century and Luther’s reformation would take off as his books and tracts would get published by the boat loads [as well as many other great teachers’ stuff- like Erasmus Greek New Testament bible]. The institutional church would resist the free flow of these writings, they feared that the people might teach wrong doctrine, or that the masses might interpret the bible in a wrong way. Were these fears groundless? Not really. Many did mess up in their reading of the bible, and others would start their own sects based on faulty interpretations. But for the most part God was in the business of getting his word out to as many people as possible. I have found over the years that believers have a sort of blind spot when it comes to the ‘sacred’ modes of transmitting the bible. For instance many well meaning men believe that the process of meeting in a building on Sunday, and the bible being preached to as many as you can get to come to the meeting; many feel that this expression [being only one of many] is the actual God ordained way of getting the bible taught to the people. Many who hold to this singular idea, to the point where they feel the doing of this is actually called ‘the local church’ will look down upon other means of getting the word out. The explosion of the internet has truly been the printing press of modern times. Many average believers now have the ability to reach the world from their computers; are their dangers with this process? Sure. Will some teach wrong stuff? As Sarah Palin would say ‘you betcha’. But all in all people should embrace the reality that we live in a day where once again the average saint has the ability to get the word out to the masses with little, or no cost. I don’t want people to get me wrong, going to ‘church’ to hear the sermon is fine [most of the times!] but the bible does not teach the concept that the meeting of believers in buildings on Sunday is actually called ‘the local church’. For sure this is an expression of ‘local church’ it is a way that many believers have come to practice their faith; but it would be wrong to exalt this view of church to the point where we hinder others who are getting the word out in many different ways. In the New Testament, the ‘local churches’ referred to communities of believers who lived in your city/region- the term does not refer exclusively to meeting in a lecture hall environment to hear a lecture! Psalms says God gave the word and great was the company of those that published it; lets rejoice in the fact that we live in a time where a great company of people can ‘publish it’.
(1428) THE NAME OF THE LORD IS A STRONG TOWER, THE RIGHTEOUS RUNNETH INTO IT AND ARE SET ALOFT [ARE SAFE]- Proverbs. Been reading a little in Psalms and Proverbs these last few weeks, so much of it deals with receiving correction; seeking wisdom, going after knowledge. The Christian life is a process of dealing with things that we thought were true, or that our viewpoints were the ‘best’ on a particular subject, and then we get challenged on those points and divide over those views. I was listening to a radio preacher one Sunday, comes on the same channel that we broadcast on. I listened to him, not because he was really knowledgeable [to be honest, he wasn’t] but because he reminded me of all the drug addicts/ex con’s that I have worked with for many years. He was a brother that has been down that road. One day while talking about Jesus’ baptism he described it as ‘the day Jesus got saved’. Most teachers cringe at a statement like this [for many theological reasons] but I managed to overlook it and tried to see what the sincere brother was trying to say. To my surprise I recently read some article by an able scholar, he spoke of Jesus’ baptism as ‘being baptized and washing away his sins’. Frankly, I was shocked that he would say something like this. But I understand that people see things, and use common phrases, that others are uncomfortable with, over time if these brothers are simply stating things in ways that seem highly unusual to our common Christian language, but are still embracing orthodox Christian beliefs, then we need to approach these things with much grace. Recently I have posted various comments on excellent sites that have been re-hashing the historical critical method of scholarship, I have written lots on this before and don’t want to go into the whole thing again. But I found it interesting that many of today’s most able scholars, men whose sites I have on my blog roll, have disagreed strongly with each other. Now these are good scholars, not men who are simply uninformed about the subject. As I have read some of this back and forth, I see how even some of the best men can read past each other, and not fully see what the other side is saying. We all have a tendency to put our critics in the worst possible light, and to represent our position in the most noble light. Sometimes the only way we can arrive at a ‘more noble’ understanding of the subject [whatever the subject may be] is by returning to a trust in the Lord, letting our souls be renewed by Gods grace. I have this gazebo in my yard, I built a deck on top and placed a chair on it. It’s like a loft, sometimes I’ll just sit up on top and enjoy the escape from all the things that surround me. I’ll be praying early in the morning, the stars out and the planets beaming; and I’ll climb the loft and sit in the presence of God for a while. I just want to encourage you guys today, spend time in ‘the loft’ seek the face of God- if you are embroiled in controversy, maybe have been the target of criticism; then just spend some time with God. King David said how he wished he had the wings of a dove so he could fly away and be with God. The bible says ‘our souls have escaped like birds out of the snare of the fowler, the snare has been broken and we have escaped’ we do have these wings, this ability to be free from the snares and dwell in the presence of God. Our wings are prayer.
(1429) ‘There shall be a handful of corn in the earth upon the top of the mountains; the fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon: and they of the city shall flourish like grass of the earth’ Psalms 72:16. Most of the time there is a portion of good truth available to believers from various sources; as believers we need to be picky at times, because if we simply consume everything from the buffet, we will get sick. The bible says honey is good, but too much will make you vomit! Years ago there was a preacher that I liked to listen to, he was from another city and I had heard him speak before and ordered some of his teaching materials. I noticed over time that though he associated with many famous prosperity preachers, yet he would make statements that showed he was not in total agreement with their doctrine. I then read a news story on a problem the church was having; the minister came under fire for putting pressure on people to give for the new building fund and yet was kind of frivolous in the ministries spending of money. One of the leaders in the church sought to expose the minister as a false prophet, they went to the courts and eventually the courts sided with the church. One of the complaints that was made was the preacher had bought a 4 thousand dollar suit for one of the church board members as a gift of appreciation. The disgruntled member thought this was wrong to do at a time when the church was putting pressure on people to give. The minister defended this act by saying Jesus wore an expensive coat, and that a woman also poured expensive perfume on Jesus [I’m not sure if he used one or both of these examples]. I have heard this defense made many times in the past by prosperity preachers, it is a lame excuse to be honest; I have explained this before and don’t want to do it again here. Let’s just say that these examples do not excuse ministries from financial indiscretions. The main point is even though this well meaning preacher, who I liked to listen to, tried to separate himself from the more extreme teaching of the prosperity movement; yet when all was said and done he resorted to the same miss use of scripture in defending himself; he could not avoid the traps of those who surrounded him. He spent time inviting these ministers to ‘the church’ went to do conferences in their churches and was doing lots of ministry things with them. In the above verse we read that there is a handful of corn in the earth, a quality supply of good meat [teaching] that God has made available to us, if we associate too much with teachers that are not really giving us the good corn, then no matter how hard we try, we will become like them. I want to encourage you today, what are the streams you feed from? Do you read the latest pop culture Christian best sellers? Things on how to get what you want out of life, or how you can succeed in some venture; or are you reading scholarly stuff, the Christian classics, the church fathers. If you spend most of your time surrounded by unbalanced teaching, it will affect you in the end, even if you think it won’t.
(1430) UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES- Okay, health care has passed and many people are surprised already with the consequences; people who advocated strongly for it, the ones who said ‘there’s nothing bad with the plan, it’s those crazy tea partiers with the false accusations of death panels’. So as I was talking to a north eastern liberal person the other day, they were shocked to find out that one of their relatives was just told that the state of New Jersey will no longer cover them for drug treatment. This person has been covered for 30 years, no longer. The person asked me why this happened. I explained that one of the things about the new law is the govt. will force the states to accept an extra 30 million people onto their insurance rolls, many of the states cannot afford the extra influx of people [the state pays a portion of the coverage and the federal govt. a portion] so that’s why the governors were against the plan. Now, the famous cornhusker kickback was a deal that was supposed to help Nebraska with the cost, eventually the administration said they will put the cost off for all the states- but someday they will pay. So of course the states are looking for ways to save costs, and those who were getting coverage by Medicare for drug treatment will no longer get covered in Jersey. My liberal friend was irate ‘how dare the state do this’! This from a person that supported the plan 100%! AT@T is the biggest private employer in the country, the plan changed the amount of money a business can deduct for the health costs of their employees; the result? AT@T lost 1 billion in the first ¼ of the year. The new health law cost them an extra 1 billion on the books. Many employees are irate ‘how dare they do this to us, threaten to cut our drug coverage’! This from the same employees that voted for the plan, they are union members who were told ‘don’t worry, it’s those racist tea partiers that are lying to you’ well maybe not. Then for the grand finale, the N.Y. times did a story on how the plan inadvertently kicked off the senators and congressman from federal insurance; there was a mistake in the plan that would forbid the politicians from keeping their coverage! The times said ‘well, if they let something like this slip in, who knows what accidental affects the plan might have on the populace at large’ to which I respond ‘DUH’. All this would be funny if it weren’t so sad. As I told my liberal friend from the north that the taxes from dividends will now go up from around 15 to 40 %, they said ‘what, do you mean to tell me that my income from my investments will go down’ yes. It amazes me that those who either supported the plan, or those who opposed it; that many of these people had no idea what they were for/against. The person whose relative lost the drug coverage told me that there is only one doctor in the area [a highly populated area right in the crowded N.Y. city area] that will accept Medicare, that this doctor has told them that it really isn’t worth the hassle to treat Medicare patients. Now, if this doctor all of a sudden gets an influx of new Medicare patients, what do you think he will do? He will drop out of the system like all the other doctors in the area, then my friend will not only lose the drug treatment coverage, but will have no doctors in the area at all. All these things are consequences that come with the new law, people should have known these things before they simply accused the opposition of being a bunch of racists. So the plan passed, let’s do what we can- hey, I will try and get insurance when I can, but for now much is still up in the air. I just finished a time of prayer, which includes praying for the president and his family by name, so we need to separate our politics from our duty to pray for those in authority. All in all let’s do our best with what we have, but be informed about the issues. Don’t be surprised if things happened that you didn’t expect, the bible says don’t answer a matter before you hear both sides of the issue. My liberal friend is distraught over their situation, they really don’t know what to do, they feel desperate, they wish that the new law never passed, yet they supported it with much vigor before it passed; they would get into heated discussions over how this plan was the best thing that ever happened to the country! Now they think it’s the worst. I feel bad for those who supported something when they had no idea how it would affect them, become informed as believers. Know the issues, don’t just listen to the right or the left, but be honest when hearing both sides and then make an informed decision. Don’t just be for or against something because it’s the trendy thing to do, that will always get you into trouble. Note- I meant Medicaid.
(1431) HE THAT HAS PITY ON THE POOR LENDS UNTO THE LORD, AND THAT WHICH HE HAS GIVEN WILL BE REPAID BY GOD. Proverbs 19:17 The other day I read an interview by an author who attended Liberty University [Falwell’s bible school] as an undercover atheist, she was on assignment to see behind the scenes of evangelical Christians. She wrote her book and some of the insights are helpful for believers to see some of our blind spots. One thing that struck me was her criticism of how Christians talk about ‘giving to God’ she found it odd that to the majority of believers; they equated ‘giving to God’ with giving to their churches. She found it strange that believers seemed to make no difference between the 2. She also noted how when she asked believers about whether or not the church was responsible in the finances; that if this made a difference when speaking of giving to God. Most believers told her that it was their responsibility to put in the offering/tithe, and that they would not be personally responsible for the decisions of the leaders. I have always found it strange that in the bible, giving to God is primarily expressed thru meeting the needs of people, helping the poor, feeding the hungry, etc. and yet most believers do view giving to God as giving money to ‘the church’ or to a ministry. Jesus said things like ‘if you did not help the least of these, you did not help me’ and the above verse speaks of lending to God when we help the poor. I wonder if we will give an account to God someday for the fact that the majority of Christian funds in the American church are used to build/create comfortable environments for us to meet in? We spend most of our money on ourselves, and we do call this ‘giving to God’. Now many churches and ministries are doing a good work, sending missionaries out, helping the poor, etc. It’s just we as individual believers seem to think that this gets us off the hook. The bible says if we see a person in need and do not help, how dwelleth the love of God in us? There are many direct portions of scripture that say these things, most of the time we do not associate giving to God with what the bible actually teaches. We have developed unbiblical concepts on what the ‘storehouse’ in Malachi means, and we take this skewed idea of the storehouse and apply it to the meeting places of believers, and then we say ‘the tithe belongs to the storehouse’ it’s too much to do the whole thing right now, but I want to challenge you, are we overlooking actual direct commands of Jesus in scripture? Do we make the mistake of equating giving to God with putting money in an offering plate? I’m glad the author went undercover and gave us a glimpse into our own shortcomings, we could learn from her insights.
(1432) WHEN I RECEIVE THE GREAT CONGREGATION I WILL JUDGE UPRIGHTLY- Psalms 75:2 Many years ago when I was the youth pastor of a fundamental Baptist church, I had a new boy join our youth group; it was common to get new comers from the navy base where the church was located. He was an older teen [17?] but would attend our little group’s outings and all. Good kid. One time he shared how he needed to recommit his life to God; that he had slipped away from his earlier time of being baptized with the Spirit and speaking in tongues. Now, the church we were in did not look upon these experiences in a good light, it would have been easy for me to have challenged the boy on his past experience with God, but that would not have been the right thing to do. As his youth pastor I just encouraged him to remain on course and stay in prayer and fellowship. There are times in our walk with the Lord where we need to simply judge uprightly, that is we need to do what’s best for the person at the time, not necessarily always win the argument or prove our point. In the Christian experience we interact with many various groups of believers who have come to the table with different backgrounds. It’s a common thing for believers to not really appreciate that other believers might have come to the table with a different background. We all have a tendency to view our particular background as the best one out of the bunch; at times we feel a sense of security ‘knowing’ that our groups particular slant is the best slant. Then we approach other groups with a less than sincere acceptance of their ‘slant’. We all have groups of people that we will speak into thru our lives, ‘the great congregation’ so to speak. God wants us to do what’s right when we receive them, when they cross paths with us at various junctures in the journey. There will be times for reproof and correction, yes sometimes that’s ‘judging rightly’ but there will also be times when we need to look past our own concerns and simply do what’s in the best interest of the other person. Jesus said the Pharisees went high and low to make one convert, and after they made him he became a ‘child of hell’ more than they were. Paul said the Judaisers were glorying in the fact that they convinced the Galatians to become circumcised; these examples show us that we can be in leadership roles with the wrong motive, we might even be fooling ourselves, thinking that ‘hey, I wouldn’t be doing this stuff if I weren’t sincere’ but in these scenarios the thing that was motivating the leaders was the fact that they were able to convince others that their group was the right one, they were winning converts for their own glory, not for the sole benefit of the people. I want to challenge all of us today, what are we in this thing for? Are we more concerned with fighting for our particular view point than we are for the people? Do we have a tendency to present our views as the only views that can be right? Are we able to actually give a fair hearing to other sides of the issues, sides that we think are wrong, but to be willing to come to the table with an open heart and mind. You and I ‘receive’ the great congregation in many ways thru out our lives, let’s try and do what’s right when it’s our turn.
(1433) THE LAZY WILL NOT WORK BECAUSE OF THE COLD, THEREFORE WILL HE BEG IN THE HARVEST TIME AND HAVE NOTHING- Proverbs 20:4 Out of all the writings I have done about the poor and homeless, over 99% is pro homeless. But every so often I need to deal with the other side. A while back I met a new homeless friend here in Corpus, his name was Nick and he seemed like a nice guy. Nick was from out of state and the rumor was that he might have been hiding from the law for some reason. Nick was around 30 or so, had a decent truck and was an able bodied person. But over time I realized his problem was he did not want to work. Now there are guys I know who are hopeless drunks, good guys, but these are the ones you usually see begging with the signs. Most of the others actually do work, and many times people pick them up at the homeless spots for jobs. But Nick just did not want to work. At first he seemed to put on a good impression, he would talk about different schemes to make money, he was smart. He even told one of the other guys ‘I’ll pick you up early in the morning and we’ll go down to the shrimp docks and make some money’ he told my buddy that he picked him because these other bumbs don’t want to work! Sure enough Nick never showed up, my buddy saw him at the mission and said ‘hey, I was waiting all morning for you’ Nick made some excuse about driving up and down the block and never spotting him, you could tell it was a story. Nick also hung out with another older drunk who was good at begging, he was sickly and you felt sorry for the man, people would give him money- Nick saw this as a good way to get some cash. One day he showed up at the mission after a few weeks of doing some painting job, his girlfriend, who was homeless too, put pressure on him to work and they both started painting. Then lo and behold Nick showed up with his arm in a sling, he even had the x-rays to show everyone how he broke his arm when some college kids stole his ice chest at the beach and he reached in and grabbed it out of their car and broke his arm. No cast, and the x-rays to prove it! I didn’t even bother to look at the x-rays, which Nick seemed to want everyone to see, to prove it was true. One day I saw Nick on the other side of town holding a sign for money, he looked like a normal healthy guy asking for cash. I had a friend tell me ‘hey, I saw some guy begging for money at the Wal Mart, he looked like he was able to work’ sure enough it was Nick. The point today is sometimes it’s our fault, if people don’t want to work during the years of their youth, when they are young and healthy, then they will beg during harvest and have nothing. Paul the apostle rebuked those who did not want to work, but caused trouble; he said they should not eat! So we need to distinguish between those who are truly in need and those who are in rebellion, Jesus said some people were following him because they knew they could get a free meal [John’s gospel] as believers we need to be discerning, we also need to help those who are truly in need, we can’t put all the homeless in the category of Nick, but every now and then you will run across a Nick.
(1434) THE WINGLESS BEATLE- Recently there has been some hot debate going back and forth amongst Christians over the concept of I.D. [intelligent design] and evolution. I want to bring out a few important points; first, why are there intelligent Christian thinkers and scientists who hold to the idea of evolution? Are all of these smart men simply being duped? Of course not. We need to understand that the breakthroughs in science since the time of Darwin have shown us the reality that species very much do ‘evolve’ over time, the mechanism called Natural Selection is real. Many Christians believed that the various types of different animals in certain groups were all created by God in their original form in the first 6 days of creation. What Darwin observed was that animals [finches] actually would adapt to their environment over time, and these changes would indeed get passed off onto the next generation. So as science advanced we have seen that this process called natural selection does work in this way. The problem with a full throttled Darwinian view is Darwin concluded that this process was the reason why we have all the different species of life on the planet. Darwin carried his idea too far. Why do I say this? As science has advanced over time we have also discovered that living cells are highly complex, animals and humans have encoded within them a sort of computer program called DNA, in Darwin’s day we did not know this, but today we know it. As a matter of fact one of the main arguments of the ID movement is the very fact that there is absolutely no naturalistic explanation to where this information [program] has come from, but in fact all observable evidence around us indicates that you can only get intelligence like this from an intelligent mind. DNA does not evolve over time, in that succeeding generations of living things are developing new information; this does not happen. In order for Darwinian evolution to be true, then you would need some naturalistic explanation to where this new information is coming from. Now to the beetles, there is a case where these beetles were observed on this windy island over a period of years, the wind would blow the beetles into the ocean and they would drown; over time the beetles ‘lost’ their wings. Yes, successive generations of beetles would be born wingless. The process of natural selection worked in a way that the species dropped off the information in their DNA that called for wings. Does this mean Darwin was right? Not at all, what happened with the beetles is over time the species adapted to its environment by losing information, not by gaining it- in essence this is what natural selection does, it mutates, adapts, drops off info. But in no case does it create new data, in order for you to have new data you need some intelligent force/being to actually program the info. Most computer people have no problem with this concept. So Christians need to be careful when they reject all the good science that has come down the pike since Charlie’s day, but the evolutionist too needs to be willing to go where the data leads, thus far we have much data that says one species has never changed into another new species, you need a programmer for this to work.
(1435) I WILLPOUR OUT MY SPIRIT ON THE SERVANTS…AND THEY SHALL PROPHESY- Acts 2. This morning I read this chapter in the Message Bible. A few things stood out; as the Spirit came to the church they spoke in such a way that all the various dialects of the Jews that were gathered at Jerusalem for the feast, these all heard the wondrous works of God in their own dialect. These Jews came from various areas that spoke in different ways, yet the message of God was spoken in a way that they could identify with. Also we in the modern church usually get the cart before the horse, we are expecting God to pour out his Spirit on those who can prophesy- we are looking for God to find gifted preachers/speakers and for God to bless the talent. God is pouring out his Spirit on servants, those who have been shaped in the community of laying down their lives and not seeking self promotion for their gifts, these are the ones who are getting the Spirit and pouring it out on others in such a way that these other groups can for the first time understand the message of the Cross in their own context. That is they are hearing things in ‘their dialect’ for the first time. This chapter has been one of controversy for many years amongst the people of God. I remember in the early days how one time the fundamental Baptist church I attended had an evangelist come and speak; he told of an experience he had when he was younger- he was baptized by some Pentecostals in the name of Jesus, came up out of the water speaking in tongues, became part of the Pentecostal church and after a few years finally got saved for real! He then went on and gave all the horror stories of people that spoke in tongues and a visiting missionary was there who understood the language and later told the pastor that the tongue talker was worshipping satan in this foreign dialect. Then you have the other side, those who were raised Baptist, and eventually had a charismatic experience and now view their entire Christian lives thru the context of the Pentecostal message as being the best thing since sliced bread. Often times this culture will truly have the expression of the gifts flowing, but many times its easy to make the Christian life all about the gifts; creating atmospheres [meetings] where people get together to hear/see someone function in the gift. Many times these believers will spend their whole lives in a charismatic environment and never really catch the vision to reach out to the poor and hurting, to grow in their knowledge of the things of God in a greater way. In this chapter God fulfilled the prophecy of Joel and poured out his Spirit on a bunch of servants, yes they did experience a legitimate expression of the charismatic gifts [no one was praising satan in some Haitian dialect!] and yet their excitement was over the message of the Cross, not the fact that the Spirit gave them some gifts. In today’s church world we value the talents more so than the service mentality. We look for talented ‘prophets’ [proclaimers] whom the Spirit can fall on and use, we have gotten the cart before the horse. Peter said what happened on this day was God found a bunch of servants that he could entrust with the gifts of the Spirit, and he chose these humble ones to speak in such a way that for the first time a bunch of various dialects/groups would finally understand and hear the works of God in a simple way, a way that they could come and identify with the message of the Cross.
[Comment I left on Trevin Wax’s site on an interview with Scot McKnight] I have noticed that Scot’s article was kinda like Stephen Barr’s recent shot against the I.D. movement! That is he seems to have stirred up a hornets’ nest. I agree with Scot on most of what he is saying, and I have noticed that many of his critics think he is against history itself, which is not what he is saying at all. Good interview Trevin, you might need to do another one with Tom Wright so you won’t be accused of taking sides. God bless, John
[Comment I left on McKnight’s Jesus creed blog] 'I read what I said, and this is what I think I meant’ this can only be said by someone who has ruffled some theological feathers. I agree with you Scot, I never read you saying 'historical work is wrong’ I read your criticism as being against the actual faulty method of hj [historical Jesus] studies- faulty in the sense that it 'strives’ to present an unorthodox Jesus as its goal. Do we really want this Jesus?
(1436) COMMON CONSENSUS- The last few months believers from various philosophical/theological backgrounds have been debating various issues and there has been some good give and take in the process. Last night I caught a Larry King interview with Jennifer Knapp, the Christian singer who has announced she is a lesbian; once again you can read the debate raging in the blogosphere. Often times Christians can get a little confused when they see intellectuals debating things from opposite sides, the question comes up ‘if these learned men/women have sincere differences, then I guess that means there is no final word on anything’ and that’s where the Catholic apologists jump in and say ‘see, we have the magisterium [the teaching authority of the church] and that’s the answer’. To be honest, I have heard certain Catholic apologists use this argument a few too many times against a straw man; some have said that Protestants have a thousand beliefs on just about every subject, so that’s how you know they can’t be right. Actually most believers worldwide have come to a consensus on the main things, the things that matter. Now I do understand that there are still areas where we all fall short in our thinking, but there has been a fairly stable stream of truth coming down to us thru out the centuries. We can often look back and see how certain generations saw clearly in one area, yet might have had a blind spot in another. Then a little further down the road they correct that area, and other following generations repeat the pattern. Let me hit on just one example that I have seen a lot; as someone who likes to read/study good theology, listening to reformed and orthodox thinkers, reading the current scholars of the day, I have found that most of them come to the table with a certain view of church [this study is called ecclesiology] that is limited in perspective. They have usually been influenced by their background [as we all are] and they might have thought long and hard about many theological issues [the sovereignty of God, apologetics, etc.] but when challenged in some way [like a popular book on church government] they usually resort to arguments that are common across the spectrum, but limited in view. I don’t know how many times I have heard believers defend a certain form of church and tithing by going to the famous passage in the book of Malachi ‘bring all the tithes into the storehouse’ but yet have never really given serious thought to what they actually mean by applying this scripture to the New Testament church, they usually simply see storehouse as ‘the church building’. Now, it takes very little time to do a good study of this passage and see that this is a very limited view of the passage. And many scholarly men have done extensive study in the area of ecclesiology and these men have truly seen things that for the most part the other groups haven’t yet seen. But in time, as generations roll on, these realities of God eventually seep into the Christian populace at large. The problem is we all need lots of grace during the process; I have learned much good from many theologians who I know don’t fully see the truth in every area, yet many who agree with me on the nature of the church would never give the time of day to other scholars who have limited views of the ecclesia. So these will never benefit from the broader insights of the world wide Body of Christ, they only listen to those directly related to their own view of the church. Many of these believers will master the art of ecclesiology, to the degree where it can become an unbalanced focus, reading too much into the proper way to ‘do church’. I only share this as one example, you can find things like this all over the Christian landscape. But overall the Christian church has arrived at truth, has had real consensus on the major things. Yes, you will have debates about lots of stuff, but we shouldn’t resign ourselves to the hopeless excuse of ‘well, everybody has their own interpretation of the bible’ sort of like saying ‘you believe your way and I’ll believe mine’. No, this really doesn’t work in the long run. We need grace when dealing with each other, especially an issue like when a believer comes out and is dealing with sexual identity issues; we need to not set these individuals up as targets, but at the same time deal honestly with what the scriptures teach [yes, the bible is pretty consistent on the issue]. At the end of the day we can, and do arrive at a common consensus most of the times, it’s important that believers know this so they don’t fall into a snare of thinking that everyone has their own view of what the bible says- to be honest this really isn’t the case.
(1437) FOR HE HAS ESTABLISHED A TESTIMONY IN JACOB, AND A LAW IN ISRAEL…THAT THE GENERATION TO COME MIGHT KNOW THEM, EVEN THE CHILDREN THAT SHALL BE BORN; AND THEY WILL DECLARE THEM TO THEIR CHILDREN. Psalms 78:5-6 I might overview this chapter the next day or so, it covers the history of Israel and Gods dealings with them. God set a testimony among his people for future generations to come and be influenced by it. This testimony was not only the written laws and statutes, but also the great works that he did; they were to memorialize them thru their holidays and holy feasts, just like the church does when celebrating the Lords Supper. This chapter will go on and tell us how God took King David from following the sheep and brought him to a position of authority in the kingdom. The Lord brought his people to a special border and mountain that he had foreordained for them to dwell in. He set up his tent among them and he poured down manna like rain all around their camps. This picture shows us how God dwells among us; he gives us certain prophetic people/leaders who will come from places of pastoral concern [following the sheep] and they will speak/teach things that are destined for generations of people to hear; that is this testimony is not simply a word about how to deal with your current problems, but it is a word meant to be transmitted to generations of people to come. God will let this ‘manna from heaven’ drop down all around the tents and camps where the people dwell, they will see/hear the works of God and be so impacted that they will declare it to their children and their children will also speak it to the following generation. I have found it interesting over the years when dealing with various subjects amongst the people of God. The other day I mentioned how some of my favorite theologians/scholars might have great insight into certain areas of God’s kingdom, yet they might have blind spots in others [like the nature of the ecclesia]. Yet I have found that there are whole generations of young believers who are now 2nd generation ‘organic churhcers’ and these kids, for the most part, have a better grasp on the principle and nature of the church. They don’t disdain the older guys, it’s just the idea in scripture of the organic church comes easy to them; they see right thru the old paradigms that many from the older generation can’t really see. Just a humble process of one generation of organic church movement ‘fathers’ having passed off to the next generation a ‘testimony in Israel’ a specific word/teaching that was meant to have long term effects for many generations to come in specific locations [mountains boundaries]. That is the things being taught by the Spirit are not simply one time truths that fade away in a few years, no these types of testimonies have staying power and future generations to come will all be affected by it. Have you been on the receiving/giving end of this type of testimony? Pastors, do you now say/see things differently in a permanent way? That is have you been taught in such a way that the things you have seen have changed certain ways you see church and the kingdom of God to the point where you will ‘never be the same again’? We all go thru stages like that, it’s important to remember what Jesus said ‘a good steward brings forth both new and old’ sometimes the new way of seeing things can be so overwhelming that we forget to teach the old stuff as well. It’s never good to neglect the great doctrines of the Atonement, justification by faith alone, solo scriptura, etc. But we also need to remind each other of the new things, the stuff that we have been corrected on during the journey. Gods purpose was to establish a testimony among his people that would be strong enough to reach down into future generations of people to come; he would rain this manna down from heaven all around their dwellings- it was an inescapable word from God that would become imbedded in the minds of many generations to come; when these things happen with Gods people, it’s always wise to get in on it at the beginning, it will benefit you more if you do.
(1438) HE SPLIT OPEN THE ROCKS IN THE WILDERNESS, AND GAVE THEM DRINK OUT OF GREAT DEPTHS. HE BROUGHT STREAMS ALSO OUT OF THE ROCK, AND CAUSED WATERS TO RUN DOWN LIKE RIVERS- Psalms 78:15-16 The story of Moses striking the rock is found in Numbers 20, the Israelites were complaining about the lack of water and all the good things they had back in Egypt, but now thanks to this big shot Moses we are stuck in the desert without any water! So God tells Moses ‘I hear what they are saying, go speak to the rock and water will come out’. Now Moses had a temper, so he goes to the rock- preaches a short Baptist sermon ‘you bunch of no good nothings!’ and he hits the rock with his staff, twice! The water comes out and they all drink from the rock. In 1st Corinthians 10 Paul uses this story as an analogy of Christ and says ‘all our forefathers drank from the rock, which was Christ’. Jesus used the example of Moses making a snake statue and putting it on a stick [John chapter 3] as a type of his own crucifixion. One time the Israelites were complaining again and God sent snakes to bite them, so the people are dying and they don’t know what to do, God tells Moses to make a bronze snake image and stick it on a pole and when the people are bitten they just need to look at the snake and they will live. Jesus told Nicodemus that this was a type of his death on the Cross, that all who ‘look to the Son’ will live. The famous song ‘rock of ages, cleft for me’ also speaks of the imagery of Jesus being the rock from the Father who was opened up on the Cross. The above passage says God gave them drink out of the ‘great depths’; the New Testament says Jesus descended lower than any man, and that because of these great depths the Father exalted him to his right hand. I find it interesting that all these stories, written and experienced hundreds of years before Christ, just so happened to fulfill his destiny. We live in a day where we do not understand, or appreciate, the process of the cross in our own lives. Paul got to a point where he could glory in his weakness, in the fact that he died daily, he knew that it was these ‘great depths’ that would allow a river of life to flow thru his lips and pen; when God wants to bring forth some great rivers, he looks for some rocks that he can break.
(1439) WHY ARE WE STILL KILLING INNOCENT AFGHAN/MUSLIM PEOPLE? The other day I read a few papers that built up over a few days at my doorstep. One day an article read ‘4 people killed in Afghan attack’ and the article went on to say that the coalition forces shot into a car and killed 4 people; the local authorities insisted these were innocent civilians- our side said we looked into the identity of the victims using high tech fingerprinting technology and that 2 of the 4 were enemy combatants. The local authorities said not only were the 4 people innocent civilians, but one was a cop, the other a 12 year old boy. The paper from the following day said ‘the 4 people were civilians- one a cop, the other a small boy’ any explanation for why we lied? Any questioning on how we were so quick to produce high tech evidence on the guilt of these people? Any major news coverage, you know pictures of the shot up vehicle? What about any media pressure at all about the presidents promises to end these atrocities? The media does not care about reporting stories that under the previous administration were considered highly important, how many main stream news stories of bombings and deaths and burning vehicles have you seen lately? The media has attached itself to the side of an administration to the point where atrocities are not being reported. Understand, the Afghan president has been under tremendous pressure over these incidents; he has made his concerns known over and over again; how have we responded? The other week we sent some top aides to the country, they publicly portrayed the Afghan leader as corrupt [as most of them are] we then made the story about the corruption of the Afghan leader. How did he respond? He threatened to join the Taliban. These last few months many big mistakes and problems have arisen in these wars, things that would have normally caused the Democrats to go on a war path, the Harry Reids of the day going on national TV and proclaiming ‘we have lost the war’. But they have been mute on the subject, portraying any criticism as either being racist, or the party of no. Right now they are attempting to pass financial reform, some think it will do the job, others think it’s problematic. The reform would create a 50 billion dollar account to ‘liquidate’ big financial institutions if they got into trouble, sort of a bailout program that would prevent another major disaster. Some feel we should not promise any bailouts at all, that to give this guarantee to the big banks, while not giving it to the smaller ones, that this would give an unfair advantage to the bigger banks- after all people will do business with the firms that have the special bail out provision, plus these banks would be able to borrow at a lower rate than the smaller banks. In essence some think this reform bill is actually unfair and favors the wall streeters in the end. But the media simply reports that those opposed are ‘in bed with wall street’. An independent study just came out and told us that passing health care will add around 350 billion to the cost over the first 10 years, not reduce the cost as promised. The reality is when you rush things thru, in the sense that every program you pass is portrayed as an emergency that can’t wait, then you get childish government; an administration that portrays things in a wrong light, and when the facts come out- there are no questions from the media about ‘who knew what when’ no questions about our continued involvement in the deaths of many, many Afghan civilians, and our lying about it, over and over again! It’s not a onetime occasion, we will not stop doing this- we keep saying ‘the evidence shows us that these people were guilty’ and time and time again the reports later say ‘no, we killed a bunch of women and kids’ how long are we going to keep doing this? This from an administration that condemned the fallout from the previous administrations actions, a man who said we must simply get our troops out of these bad situations [Iraq] because our troops presence stir up animosity. Then why does this president insist on ratcheting up the violence? That country is eventually going to go back into the hands of the Taliban, they rule the entire country right now, all the local tribal type regions have Taliban rule, or are favored by the majority of the people. The Afghans see us as the danger, not them! So why waste any more precious lives of our boys and girls over there? Why keep killing innocent civilians, cops and little boys, and then lying about it? It’s time for us to wake up and let our voices be heard, just like the nonstop opposition on national media during the Bush years, nonstop coverage over these events, questions on who knew what and when. Instead the media has an agenda, they keep reporting on how the republicans are in bed with wall street- I could care less about all the democrats and republicans who are all just as guilty as the next guy, the president himself having taken a million from the most recent wall street firm he has dubbed as the enemy [Goldman Sachs] we need to get back to what’s really important, one of them being the disaster of our current war in Afghanistan.
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RECENT STUFF- F [1442 to 2010]
(1442) WHAT ABOUT THE ARIZONA LAW? This week Arizona passed one of the most restrictive immigration laws in the nation. Many have opposed the new law; there is so much speculation by the media that it’shard to get to the truth. I personally would be against any law that made a U.S. citizen have to show his birth papers or be detained. But I also understand the major border problem that Arizona and the other Mexico/AmericanBorder States have to deal with; I live in Texas, one of these states. Last night I caught an interesting interview on the Rachel Maddow show, she had on some guy from a group that supposedly had something to do with crafting the new law. I never heard of the group before but they seem to be one of the right leaning groups that at times espouse things that can be taken as racist. The interesting thing was Rachel’s staff looked up all sorts of past statements and beliefs of people associated with the group; she then grilled the representative on the air. The problem was she found past statements that held to the belief that some races of people are more ‘evolved’ than others, statements that said some humans possibly have a better learning capacity than others. And she also brought out those who held to the belief that it would be better for humanity as a whole if we did not encourage the ‘lesser groups’ to breed! What Rachel did not realize is she was quoting to the tee many of the beliefs of social evolution. At one point she brought out a picture from a magazine associated with the group, the title of the article was ‘Homo Erectus walks among us’ it actually showed a picture of a half black/ape like being. In essence Rachel was rightfully condemning social Darwinism, a belief that she personally holds to! I have written on this before and don’t want to re teach the whole subject, suffice it to say that many have warned that these racist views of evolution are extremely dangerous, but if a person truly believes in Darwin’s theory, then the logical conclusion is yes- there are races on the planet that are less advanced than others- you can’t get around it, evolutionary theory breeds racism. I like the Rachel Maddow show, and like most North Eastern liberals they are usually able to see the faults and racist tendencies of the right, but are totally blind to their own racist views. I personally am weary of any law that puts people under suspicion because of their race; whether it be White, Hispanic, Black or any other group. If the federal govt. did not drop the ball on immigration and border security then Arizona would not have been pushed into what looks to be a bad law, I hope that we can come to a fair solution to the immigrationproblem. For the record I am pro immigrant, I have said this before and want to be up front about it. I take the Catholic view onimmigration; I side with treating the immigrants with mercy and grace. I know there are legitimate arguments on both sides of this issue; Ijust wanted to be upfront about where I stand.
(1443) NOW THE LORD HAD SAID UNTO ABRAM, GET THEE OUT OF THY COUNTRY AND FROM THY KINDRED AND FROM THY FATHERS HOUSE, UNTO A LAND THAT I WILL SHOW THEE. AND I WILL MAKE OF THEE A GREAT NATION AND I WILL BLESS THEE AND MAKE THY NAME GREAT AND YOU WILL BE A BLESSING- Gen 12:1-2. I think for the next few days I will try and cover some key verses in both the old and new testaments that deal with the doctrine of justification by faith. I covered this subject in my Romans, Galatians, Hebrews [chapter 11] studies; and of course the doctrine of believing in Jesus and ‘being saved’ is found in the gospel of John study and the Acts study. But for the most part the main verses on the subject are these few in Genesis and the key chapters from Romans [3-4] and Galatians [2-4]. The doctrine simply means that God has chosen to justify [declare legally righteous] all those who have faith in Christ. There are many varied ways that Christian communions deal with the whole process of salvation, some churches are what you would call Sacramental [they believe in the process of God using the sacraments to administer grace to the soul of the believer, and that thru these sacraments, mixed with faith, believers become justified] and others hold more closely to the Pauline idea of faith being the actual mechanism that God uses to justify [which is my personal view]. Many modern Protestants who strongly disagree with the sacramental churches [Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican] fail to see that most of the reformers embraced some form of sacramentalism along with their belief in justification by faith. Luther being the strongest example; his embracing of the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist[body, blood, soul and divinity] caused him to split from the great Swiss reformer, Ulrich Zwingli, and Luther believed Zwingli to be damned because he rejected the body of Christ! So for today’s ‘neo-reformed’[the resurgence among Calvinism in our day] to be so quick to condemn many other types of Christians [Like those who follow Tom Wright] these are not ‘being fair’ to the broad system of belief that many of the great reformers held to. Okay, the above verse begins the journey between God and Abraham, thru a series of events thru out Abraham’s life God will reveal himself to Abraham, and at those times Abraham has a choice to either believe the promises of God to him- or reject them. These promises center around God telling Abraham that he will have a future dynasty of children that will bless the whole earth. In this dynasty there will be a special son that comes out of the tribe of Judah [Jesus] and he will be the promised seed to whom the promises were made [Galatians 3,4]. Paul the apostle will use the great father of the faith, Abraham, to convince the Jewish people that God justifies people by faith, and not by the works of the law. Paul goes to these past historic events [Gen 12, 15] and shows his fellow Jews that God did indeed justify Abraham [count him righteous] when he believed in the promise made to him by God [Gen 15]. Paul says ‘see, God justified Abraham before he was circumcised, therefore justification [being legally made right with God] is by faith and not by the keeping of the law’. This argument from Paul is simple, yet masterful. His Jewish audience knew these stories well, they just never ‘saw’ what Paul was seeing; once he broke thru ‘the veil’ [Corinthians] that blinded their hearts from the truth, then they could not escape the reality of what he taught them- these cultural stories of father Abraham would never be the same again. As I progress over the next few days I want to note that when we get to the book of James, we will be looking at a different type of justification than what Paul focused on. James will use the great event from Abraham’s life, the offering up of his son Isaac on the altar [Gen 22] as the event to define justification from his view. Many reformed do not fully see what James is saying, in my view. This type of ‘bible study’ [the type where we try and make everything fit our view] is common among many good men, but it fails to see that the scriptures come to us more in the sense of a portable library of books that cover the various perspectives of the time. Now, I am not advocating the view that the scriptures err, or that the bible has ‘competing theologies’ what I am saying is James use of the word ‘justification’ is actually a different use than what Paul means when he uses the Genesis 15 example to explain justification. Instead of trying to reconcile James with Paul by saying ‘all James means is the faith that saves has works’, which is limited indeed, we should leave room for seeing how James is coming to the table from a different point of view. James being one of the lead apostles at the Jerusalem council from Acts 15, and his defense of the importance of works from the strong Jewish background. I think Hebrews 11 actually deals with this subject [go read my commentary on the chapter to see where I’m coming from]. Okay, let’s leave off for now- go read the studies I just mentioned, familiarize yourself with the key chapters and will do some more tomorrow.
[comment on Ben Witherington’s site] I like it Ben; one short comment- I see Jesus doing healings on the Sabbath as a direct challenge to the religious authorities of the day, not just because the need arose. He was showing them that 'Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath' I see it more as being a purposeful act. God bless, John
(1444) AND HE TOOK HIM OUTSIDE AND SHOWED HIM THE STARS AND SAID ‘LOOK AT THEM, CAN YOU NUMBER THEM’ AND THE LORD SAID ‘SO SHALL YOUR OFFSPRING BE’ AND ABRAHAM BELIEVED IN GOD AND HE CREDITED IT TO HIS ACCOUNT AS RIGHTEOUSNESS. Genesis 15:5-6 [my paraphrase] As we journeyed from chapter 12, where God made the initial promise to Abraham, a few things occurred; God separated Abraham from his nephew Lot. The kings attacked Sodom and took Lot captive, Abraham took his men and went and freed Lot. The king of Sodom tries to reimburse Abraham for his good deed, Abrahamturns him down. Abraham also went into Egypt and lied about Sarah his wife, out of fear he told the Egyptians she was his sister [so they wouldn’t kill him to get his wife] and the king takes her and later rebukes Abraham for lying. So he returns to the special place named Bethel [house of God] and regroups. Now in chapter 15 Abraham has some doubts, God gave Abraham this great promise of many children; but he has no kids yet! Abraham is getting up in years [around 75] and so is Sarah his wife; Abraham asks the Lord to consider counting his servant as his heir, this was done in those days. The Lord turns him down and says ‘no, one born from you will be the heir’ and this is just one stop of many along the path of Abraham’sdoubts. Yes, he comes up with another winner down the road [like having a kid with the maid!] But this promise in chapter 15, andAbraham’s response by faith, is the actual text Paul uses in Galatians and Romans to show that being justified comes by faith, and not by keeping the law. I want to stress, this example from Abrahams life was real, he really was justified in Gods eyes by believing in the future promise of having a great dynasty; like I said in the last post, he was believing in Jesus when he believed in the promise. In the next few days I will try and cover some key verses in Galatians and Romans, but most of all I want you to see how God forgives people, makes them legally just in his sight, not because of what they have done- trying to do good, be a church goer, trying hard to keep the 10 commandments; all of these things are noble efforts, but they don’t earn God’s forgiveness, but God’s forgiveness is based on the grounds that Jesus died for our sins and rose again. All who believe in this promise are described as ‘the children of God, by faith in Jesus Christ’. Many of the Jewish people looked to Abraham as a great hero of the faith, Paul shows them thru these examples that all who believe, whether Jew or Gentile, become the ‘children of Abraham’ by faith, it’s not an ethnic/cultural thing anymore. If only the Muslims, Arabs and all other groups heard this message from the church; how liberating would this be! But we too often present an ethnic message based upon Old Testament verses that call certain Middle Eastern states ‘the enemies of Israel/God’. These views, not being rightfully filtered thru the message of the Cross, make it very difficult to evangelize the Arab world, after all would you want to embrace a religion whose book said ‘thus saith the Lord, all you white Europeans are a stench in my nostrils’! But because of our unwillingness to present a gospel based solely on faith, and not the ethnic backgrounds of individuals, we have reduced the message of the Cross from the wide net that the apostles used when presenting the message of Jesus- Lets declare with certainty ‘yes, we are all the children of God by faith in Jesus Christ’ Amen.
(1445) WAS NOT ABRAHAM OUR FATHER JUSTIFED BY WORKS WHEN HE OFFERED ISAAC HIS SON UPON THE ALTAR- YE SEE THEN HOW THAT BY WORKS A MAN IS JUSTIFED AND NOT BY FAITH ONLY- WAS NOT RAHAB THE HARLOT JUSTFIED BY WORKS? James 2:22-26. Okay, in Genesis chapter 22 we read the story of God telling Abraham to offer up his son Isaac upon the altar. Abraham obeys God and at the last minute the Lord stops him; but the angel of the Lord says because he did this, that now God knows he can be trusted and God will fulfill his promise to him. James uses this story to define what he means when he speaks of ‘being justified’ in Gods sight. I believe there have been many noble attempts at trying to reconcile this passage with the passages in Romans and Galatians where Paul specifically says ‘a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith’. Paul clearly teaches us that men cannot be justified by the works of the law; James says ‘see how men are justified by works’. The explanations I have heard go like this ‘James was simply saying the faith that saves is an active living faith’ ‘James is simply saying men are justified in the sight of other men by their works’ ‘James is simply saying true faith has works along with it’ while all of these things are true, they seem to not adequately deal with the 3 passages I quoted at the top. James says that when Abraham offered up his son on the altar that the scripture was fulfilled that said ‘he believed in God and he counted it to him for righteousness’. James is fully aware of the Genesis 15 promise to Abraham, the key verse Paul uses to define justification by faith; it’s just James is speaking about the process thru out life where men actually become righteous in practice, which is a result of being legally made righteous by faith. In essence when James says ‘see how men are justified by works’ he is describing the act of God being pleased with us, God having the right to say ‘yes, you obeyed me son, and I call you righteous in my eyes because you did obey me’. This process can be defined as being ‘justified by works’ while not contradicting Paul’s use of the term ‘justification by faith’. Tome it is quite clear that James is saying more than just ‘real faith has works’ no, he is saying that the legal/forensic act of justification by faith [Gen. 15] leads to a life of actually doing just things [obeying God- Gen. 22] and when the legally justified believer obeys God, in a sense he is justified in Gods sight [not men’s!] by these works. Now, this does not mean men are ‘saved’ by doing good works, in the sense that Paul uses ‘saved’ but James is saying that when believers do good works, these works cause a response from God that can be defined as ‘being justified in Gods sight by our good works’ a totally different theme than Paul. This passage has been a difficult one for many years, Luther battled with it and at one point called James epistle a ‘straw epistle’ he doubted itscanonicity. The Catholic Church used this very passage in their council at Trent to refute what they saw as Luther’s neglect of good works. I have had Mormons and other various Christian groups use this passage in defending certain aspects of their churches; this passage is well worn in the annals of Christian apologetics, I think the explanation that I just gave is the best one; the other efforts that have been made to explain this passage have some truth to them, but at the end of the day they don’t fully explain the clear text of the above passages. I think this explanation explains them.
(1446) ‘Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no man be justified’ ‘I do not frustrate the grace of God, if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain’ ‘But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for the just shall live by faith’ Galatians 2:16, 21, 3:11. Okay, these verses [as well as the book of Romans] strongly show us the New Testament doctrine of being justified when we believe in Christ. To many people this idea seems contrary to the normal belief that being a good person, doing good, going to ‘church’ trying to keep the 10 commandments; these are the normal ideas on what people think they need to do to ‘be saved’; yet the apostle shows us that our redemption is solely based on Christ’s death for us. He even says ‘if righteousness [being made just legally] comes by keeping the law, then Christ died in vain’! It almost seems strange for this doctrine to be found in the bible! Yet it is the basis of New Testament Christianity, which is based on a New Covenant [in contrast to the old one, which was the law] this New Covenant is grounded on the death and resurrection of Jesus; as Paul says ‘if Christ died for all of us, then we are all dead- so let those who now live, live unto God’. When I first became a Christian and started reading the bible, I saw these promises as saying ‘all who believe in Jesus are saved’ but I noticed how many believers taught a type of conversion that watered down this doctrine; some said ‘yes, you accept the Lord by faith’ and they seemed to add all types of steps that needed to be ‘done in faith’ in order to be a true believer. Whether it was an elaborate evangelical scheme that eventually led to kneeling at an altar in some church, or whether it was the exact memory and dating of the day you asked ‘Jesus into your heart’. Now I’m sure there are many fine believers who have come to the journey this way, my point is not to doubt their conversion; but the more I became aware of these many ideas, the more I studied the scriptures to see if faith really meant ‘faith’. My own conversion came from truly seeing the promises in John’s gospel on believing and having eternal life. It was more of an awakening, sort of God breaking thru and revealing grace to me. Now, my conversion was rather drastic, it wasn’t a slow coming to the Lord, but it didn’t fit the sinner’s prayer scheme that many of my Baptist friends embraced. I also noticed how many of my friends, after hearing the evangelical version for so long, would then ‘get saved’ for real! They would be convinced by some well meaning evangelist that their initial conversion was shot thru with holes, then they would sort of fabricate a ‘morelegitimate’ conversion. Even strong believers would do this. So then you had to deal with the fact that these fellow believers, who were truly walking with the Lord for a while, were really lost all along! This process struck fear intothe hearts of all the other church members, after all how many of them were deceived too? So I began to study the bible to see if bible conversions really meant this often elaborate schema. One thing I noticed is all of these verses on being justified by faith were based on the main promise to Abraham from God, which consisted of God taking Abraham outside and telling him ‘see the stars, your offspring will be like this’ and it actually was a passive act of belief, not some act of Abraham doing something, that is defined as the day God justified Abraham. Then I ran across Acts chapter 10, and this story shows Peter preaching to the gentiles and they simply believed the message and the Spirit fell on them- Peter was not expecting a conversion, they were surprised. This also was a passive type conversion. In the letter we are quoting from in this post [Galatians] Paul describes it like this ‘He that works miracles among you, does he do it by the works of the law or the HEARING OF FAITH’ Paul will describe their conversion as a point in time where they heard and had faith, again another seeming violation of the active conversion model. The main point being that yes, there are cases where the conversion is reduced to the simple act of believingin the gospel when it’s first preached. To be fair, in the New Testament the outward ‘act’ that usually took place on ‘conversion day’ was water baptism, so if we were totally honest with ourselves we could say that water baptism was the altar call of the New Testament, but the fact is faith itself is identified as the basis of our justification, faith in Christ.
(1447) THE BARNES AND NOBLE JESUS? WAS B.P. A GOD CAUSED DISASTER?Yesterday I saw my recent issue of Christianity Today had arrived, I planned on reading some news papers and catching up on the weeks past events; but instead I spent about an hour going thru the mag. Found it interesting to see many of the ruffled feathers among the elites of the day. BrianMcLarenfinally responded to ScotMcKnight’s criticism of his most recent work; Brian defended himself as not being antievangelical. Tom Wright had a book review done by Michael Horton [that could be trouble!] but Horton was pretty fair, and pointed out how Wright pictures the Reformers as neglecting virtue and morality on the altar of faith. Horton exposes this weakness in Wright, surely many of the reformers [particularly the Puritan strain] emphasized virtue and morality. Found it interesting that some of these authors responded to recent critiques in a way that seemed to indicate that the critics served a good purpose; it caused the authors to have to defend themselves and make statements saying they were closer to the evangelical faith than their critics indicated. As I read the back and forth between these fine men, I couldn’t help but wonder what practical effect all this is having on the church at large. Are they simply hashing things out amongst the book store crowd [of which I am one] and in the end the church at large is preaching/believing in a Jesus who would probably be uncomfortablehanging out at the Barnes and Noble? Okay, this week my governor said the B.P. oil spill in the gulf was an act of God; the critics got on him and he had to defend himself. It does seem strange that a failed oil rig can be blamed on the Most High. The broader question being, how do we explain the real natural disasters of the world?In the 18th century [1755 to be exact] believers from all over the world were in church celebrating All Saints Day, just off the coast of Portugal a major earthquake struck, thousands of believers who were attending services in the capital city of Lisbon were crushed under the collapsing buildings. Many fled to the coast and were swept up in the tsunami; it was a major disaster for the time. One of Christianities critics, Voltaire, used this event to refute the popular notion that God was sovereign over allthings and good as well. Voltaire, who is often accused ofbeing an atheist [inactuality he was a theist- believed in a God but rejected Christianity] found evil in the world as proof of God being absent from the daily affairs of men, a common accusation from atheists/agnostics. How do believers explain these types of events? Did God purposely cause the earthquake to happen on that day, knowing that all the worshippers would be in church that morning? God of course knows all things, and nothing happens outside of his sovereignty. But we also live in a world that is a result of mans choice to sin and plunge the creation into a cursed situation [Genesis, Romans] so thingshappen in the world that are a result of the curse that came upon creation when man sinned. Things like the B.P. spill are obviously not God caused disasters, but we also can’t blame every natural disaster upon God. True, sometimes they can be a divine act of judgment [Noah’s flood] and there certainly are scriptures that speak about God revealing himself and his wrath thru these types of events, but we also should not discount the reality that some events happen as a result of mans failure to properly take care of the creation that God put under his dominion. The fact that God is not directly involved in all these types of events does not mean that he is removed from the scene, but we also need to be careful when we blame God for things that are clearly not his fault.
(1448) ‘Now we know that what things so ever the law saith, it saith to them that are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law shall no person become just in God’s sight: for by the law comes the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is manifested, even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all that believe’ Romans 3:19-22. Once again Paul makes clear that people become right in God’s eyes when they believe in his son, the attempt at becoming right with God by obeying the law is futile. Why? Because that was never the intended purpose of the law. God gave the law to reveal to man his sin; when men would try to live up to the standard, they would fall short and realize their need for a savior and then would turn to Christ. Paul says before the law came [before he personally became aware of it] he was without guilt, but once he realized the statutes of God and saw Gods holy standard; he said that sin in him revived and he died. Or the law caused a reaction in him that made his sinfulnature appear to be much worse than he originally thought. Paul said in Galatians that the law was our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ, but after faith has come we are no longer under a schoolmaster. He said ‘wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions till the seed should come [Jesus=seed, offspring] to whom the promise was made’. Paul taught that the purpose of the law was to reveal to man his own sin, that there never was a law given that a man could obey in order to become saved. The other day I googled the ministry name and was glad to see that some Catholic friends have been posting our site on Catholic sites. Great! My goal is not to convince fellow Christians to change churches, or become Protestant; my goal is to accurately teach the truth to all who want to hear. To some of our Catholic friends these verses seem unbelievable, that is they might seem too good to be true. I want to assure you that the Catholic churchbelieves the things that I just taught! But like allChristian churches, sometimes we don’t effectively communicate these truths to the people. Many people do not realize that the current Pope, Benedict, is one of the most able theologians that the church has had in this office. John Paul the 2nd was a great man, don’t get me wrong. But he was more of a philosopher/humanist charismatic figure; Benedict is more of a teacher. Why mention this? Because you will notice that the last year or so the Pope has made an extra effort to teach Paul’s epistles and to focus more on a strong Christology than in past years. This Pope has made efforts to bridge the gap between Protestants and Catholics; he also has come closer to the Protestant view of certain passages that speak of justification by faith. A few years ago a jointstatement was made that many Protestants saw as amajor breakthrough in this very area. I want to assure my Catholic readers, yes- it sounds too good to be true, but it is! Even your churchbelieves it! That is we all believe that we are freely saved by Gods grace that comes to us thru the Cross of Christ. I would be dishonest to say there are no more difficult doctrinal issues between the great Christianconfessions, but I can say for a surety ‘we are all the children of God by faith in Jesus Christ’. Note- I am not saying the Catholic church does not believe in the importance of keeping the 10 commandments, they believe that all Christians should keep the commandments.
(1449) ‘What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein’? Romans 6:1 Being we are just hitting on the theme of justification by faith, and because I already did an entire study on Romans, I will skip over chapter 4; but I want to mention that chapter 4 covers a lot of important material about Abraham and the fact that God justified him prior to his circumcision, Paul uses thisillustration to show us that being accepted with God transcends ethnic/racial lines. Many of the Jewish people of Paul’s day [including Paul’s former life!] saw acceptance with God along the lines of ethnic/cultural relations; if you were part of the Jewish nation and partook of all the rights and privileges of ethnic Israel, then you were seen as being accepted with God. But Paul’s messageof justification by faith applies to ‘all the seed’ [offspring] not just to those who have become circumcised and have joined into ethnic Israel. So these points are important to understand. But now let’s get to the above verse. Paul will emphatically teach that the message of free grace does not mean we have a license to sin; he teaches this in ALL of his letters. It’s easy to focus in on the justification by faith themes [which we are doing in this study] and overlook the moral teachings of the apostle. Paul will teach ethics, not from a legal/law grounding [obey the 10 commandments] but from a new resurrection reality. He states that those of us who have been joined [baptized] into Christ have identified with him in death; the old man [sinfulnature] has died along with Jesus and has been buried. Now that we are alive with him we live a new life unto God. Paul will say ‘shall we sin because we are now under grace and not under law’ and notice, he does not appeal to the law, instead he says ‘no, because whoever you serve [sin or righteousness] you become a slave to it, and if you are a slave to sin you will die’. Paul appeals to the reality of sin and death as still being a real price to be paid by those who reject Jesus. It’s important to see this theme from Paul, it backs up his teaching that believers are not under the law. In the next day or so I will wrap up this study; if I had the time and space I could go thru all the moral mandates we find in Paul’s letters, and it would be an important thing to emphasize. It’s just this is not the purpose of this study. But I would be remiss if I did not at least hit a few key scriptures from the apostle himself that show us that he certainly was not teaching lawlessness; he himself stressed the need for believers living a holy life. Its just the grace to live it comes from the power of the Cross, not from the law.
(1450) BUT NOW WE ARE DELIVERED FROM THE LAW, THAT BEING DEAD WHEREIN WE WERE HELD; THAT WE SHOULD SERVE IN NEWNESS OF SPIRIT, AND NOT IN THE OLDNESS OF THE LETTER. Romans 7:6 I think this will be a good chapter to end our series on justification by faith. Paul uses one of my favorite analogies to describe the new relationship we have in Christ; he says a woman, as long as her husband is alive, is bound by the law to her husband. If she goes out and sleeps with another man, she is convicted by the law and is committing adultery. But if the husband dies, then the same act of being with another man [in marriage] is no longer called adultery, by virtue of the death of the husband she has become free from the law that condemned her. Now Paul teaches that we too have become dead to the law thru the death of Christ, so that we should be married to another; even to him who died and rose again! I have often said it’s sad that believers in our day know all the catch phrases, they are familiar with the pop Christian culture verses and all, but these very important themes are often overlooked. Would to God that all believers were familiar with this scripture, walking around in life quoting ‘we have become dead to the old law thru Christ, we are now alive with him and are married to him who rose from the grave’. Thru out this chapter Paul once again shows that the law is holy and good, but its purpose was to arouse in us our sinful nature in order to reveal to us the need for a savior. The old way of life for Paul was one of condemnation and never being able to do enough to appease his sinful conscience, when he saw the realities of the new covenant he was delivered from that old mindset and began to see a new way to approach God, a free liberating walk with God, apart from the daily grind of trying in his own power to become righteous. Many good believers struggle with this for years, and there really is no trick or gimmick to the spirit filled life. Paul will go on and teach the need for self discipline; he said he ‘beat his body to bring in into subjection’ he obviously was not espousing a Christian walk that never had struggles again. But he was telling us that there is a fundamental difference between approaching the Christian life thru a legalistic mindset, or thru the freedom that comes from Christ. In conclusion we have learned that right from the early days of Abraham God had revealed to us that there was coming a day when men would approach God upon the grounds of faith, and not by works; that God included this great promise in the bible since the beginning; it was not an afterthought! Paul showed us that this new way of life was ordained of God before the law was given; it just took a couple of thousand years to get to the promised ‘seed’. Paul showed us that Jesus of Nazareth was the promised child, and now that he has come we are no longer under the schoolmaster [law] but we have been freed from the old law thru the death of Christ, we are now married to another, even to him who rose from the grave- AMEN!
(1451) CHRISTIAN-MUSLIM BELIEFS- As I did the study on Justification by faith I hit a few verses that I felt were vital for our day; things that said Gods kingdom is not based on ethnic/racial lines, but it is based on faith in Jesus Christ. One of the major divisions between Christians and Muslims is Islam teaches that Jesus was a prophet from God, but they reject his deity. They claim that the Christian church fell into apostasy and over the centuries heresy was introduced thru the councils and creeds of the church. They believe that in the 7th century God restored true monotheism [belief in one God] thru the prophet Muhammad and that Jesus [Isa] agreed with this. In the 19th century you had the rise of religious liberalism and many theologians espoused a belief that ran along these same lines; many taught that the early message of Jesus became distorted thru the over intellectualizing of the faith, and that Greek philosophy and Latin legal minds [Tertullian] ‘extended’ the faith to parameters that went far beyond the teachings of Christ. The Muslim scholars saw this as proof that they were right all along, after all these Christian scholars were basically saying the same thing! And then within the past 30 years or so you had the rise of historical Jesus studies, and men like John Dominic Crossan [Jesus seminar] would basically deny much of the gospels. They used a skewed method of determining what was real or fake, and when all was said and done you basically had a few verses from Johns gospel that were deemed true as well as a host of other ‘questionable’ sayings of Jesus from the other gospels. Why was this an important development for the rejecters of Christ’s deity? John’s gospel is the strongest teaching in the New Testament on the deity of Christ. We call this ‘Logos Christology’ John’s gospel teaches us that in the beginning was the word [Logos in Greek] and the word was with God and the word was God. So you have a distinction between the word [Jesus] and God, and at the same time the word is described as God. So to be fair about it, the deity of Jesus was not a latter development that was spawned out of the Greek/Latin mind, but was a part of Christianity right from the start. Grant it that the later creeds and councils [4th century Nicene, 5th century Chalcedon] did use some technical language to distinguish between the nature of God and Jesus, but the teaching of Christ’sdeity is found within the body of the New Testament. Islam teaches that Jesus was born from a virgin, and that he was a prophet sent from God- isn’t that enough? No, they also teach that at the Cross another person died in Jesus place and that Jesus never died and rose again, this my friends can never be accepted by true Christianity. I believe we as believers should respect Muslim people, we should not denigrate them or their religion- but to have an honest conversation we need to tell the truth. Jesus was given for the sins of the whole world, he was God in the flesh dwelling among man- he died, was buried and rose from the grave. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of God. He will come again to judge the living and the dead.
(1452) IMPUTATION- Okay, I am going to get a little technical today. Being we just came off of both a study of Galatians and a series on justification by faith, I want to hit a little on the doctrine of imputation. During the time of the reformation one of the areas of disagreement between Protestants and Catholics was the doctrine of justification by faith. Those of you who have read my studies realize that in this area I am Protestant, but my explanation on James chapter 2 [read the Justification by Faith study] leaves room for more agreement between Catholics and Protestants than we have had in the past. One of the other points of contention is the reformed position on God imputing the righteousness of Christ to the believer. Some Protestants teach it in a way that is not fully defined in scripture. Some teach that the righteous life of Christ, as a separate transaction from the sin bearing work of the Cross, is ‘imputed’ to the believer and this righteous account from Jesus is now counted towards us. I am not totally in disagreement with this doctrine, but some seem to teach it in a way that misreads some of the passages used to defend it. In my Romans study [chapter 5] I explained it somewhat. In Romans, Corinthians and Philippians we read verses that say ‘we are now saved by his life’ ‘we are made the righteousness of God thru Christ’ ‘thru the obedience of one man [Jesus] many are made righteous’- these verses teach us that the obedient life of Jesus qualified him to be the sin bearer of the sins of the world; he took our sins because he was sinless. He also lives at the right hand of God and is continually ‘saving’ us by his life. His obedience ‘unto death’ is also referred to in some of these passages- that is he obeyed the Father and went to the Cross for us- ‘thru one man’s obedience many are made righteous’ ‘he was obedient unto death, even the death of the Cross’ [Philippians]. Some seem to have confused some of these verses by teaching that they are saying ‘the obedient life of Jesus is now credited to us’. In actuality these few examples are really not saying it in this way. To be fair we do have the verses that say we are made the righteousness of God in Jesus- that Jesus is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification, and of course my last study showed all the verses that speak of us being justified by faith. But technically it is not a clearly taught doctrine that the positive account of Christ’s righteousness is taken and put on our account. At least it isn’t as taught as clearly as the actual doctrine of justification by faith, and as I just showed you some of the verses that are used to teach it are being read in a particular way that might not be in keeping with the text. Why wade into this discussion, isn’t it true that we are made just in God’s eyes because Jesus lived a holy life and died for us? Yes. It’s just some areas that are not clearly defined in scripture should be left open for further discussion and thought. As of the time of this writing this area is one of contention between some reformed theologians and other Orthodox/Catholic/Anglican believers [Anglican scholar Tom Wright being one]. I do not totally reject the doctrine; I believe the righteous life of Christ was a requirement for him going to the Cross for us. And I do believe God makes us righteous as a free gift of God, as Luther said ‘an alien righteousness’ it’s just not taught as clearly as some reformed teachers have developed the doctrine, and we want to be honest when dealing with these issues. I know for some of you guys these types of posts are a little ivory tower, but for others these things are important as we strive for greater unity among the Christian faiths.
[1453] TURN US AGAIN OH GOD AND CAUSE THY FACE TO SHINE AND WE SHALL BE SAVED- Psalms. As I was reading in the Psalms I came across a passage that said ‘why God have you allowed the wall of protection to come down’. The psalm goes on and recounts God’s work in bringingIsrael out of Egypt and into the Promised Land; it says God took this vine from captivity and caused it to take root and its branches spread over the earth. And then God allowed her walls [protections/foundations] to fail. Last night I was watching the results of some of the elections across the nation. They showed how some politicians were rejected because of various flip flopping and stuff. They also showed a breaking scandal of some attorney general; he is running for higher office and for many years he presented himself as a Vietnam vet. He has said ‘when I served in Nam’ and stuff like that. News papers referred to his record as a Vietnam vet, and it was quite obvious that the man ran on a record of having been in Nam. Then it was found out that he never served in Vietnam; he was in the reserves stateside during the war. How did he explain this contradiction? He said he was taking full responsibility for this [sounds good] and then he said he will not let ‘a few misplaced words’ ruin his integrity. He said he meant to say things like ‘when I served [in the reserve, stateside] during the war’ and as he was questioned why he never corrected the many news stories about him being a Vietnam vet, he said he was not responsible for what the news reports. What’s the problem here? Okay, the man was caught lying, yes, like all of us he is a sinner and let a lie go on for too long. But in his apology, he said he was taking responsibility, while at the same time not admitting his sin. This is an example of what goes on over and over again in our great land. It’s not so much the fact that yes, people sin and have made mistakes; it’s just our continual unwillingness to accept the blame for our sins. Ergun Caner, the ex Muslim who is now a Christian and the president of Liberty University [Jerry Farwell’s bible college] has also been caught in a scandal where he has presented himself as a radical Muslim who was raised in Turkey and converted to Christianity in a radical way. But it has come out that though he was raised Muslim, he really grew up in Ohio [he lived in Turkey as a boy] and his conversion was not as radical as his testimony seemed to imply. He also seems to have misled people about his debating certainMuslim scholars, some people have looked into the situation and it seems as if he has not been honest about it. Okay, we have all made mistakes in life, and as a president of a bible school stuff like this can be damaging, but our response makes the difference between a successful future or one where ‘the hedge of protection is broken down’. God can, and does forgive all sins; but if we claim we are taking responsibility for our ‘misplaced words’ and then deny the fact that we lied, in essence we are not taking responsibility. God allowed the protections to come down around Israel because she accepted as normative things that were sinful, God would have continued to work with her, but she allowed sinful practices to become accepted in her midst. I do not see the hope of our nation being in the political realm, yet the continual dissembling that takesplace, over and over again, can’t go on without us as a people suffering for it. As of the time of this writing [5-2010] there are still many national/economic problems that we have to face; there is still a fear that the problems in the European currency [Euro] will have worldwide effects for the worse. We should not think that we can continue to do business as usual without the walls coming down; if we want God to ‘shine his face on us once again’ we can’t keep doing stuff like this and thinking it’s acceptable, it’s not.
[1454] ON INFANT BAPTISM- I have been listening to an interesting debate on infant baptism; it’s being held between two good scholars. I have said before that I do not believe in infant baptism, but I also understand the case made for it. Basically those who practice it believe that baptism is a sign of the new covenant, and like circumcision in the old covenant, it’s alright to baptize new borns under the new. The minister presenting the adult baptism only side did a good job, as did the one who advocated for infant baptism. The only problem with the argument from the ‘adult baptism’ advocate was at the end of his message he appealed to the great 16th century reformers [Luther, Calvin, etc.] and made the case that those who practice infant baptism are not in keeping with the reformers character in rejecting the ‘old papal heresies’. In fact the reformers accepted infant baptism and fought against those who rejected it. The most famous example being that of the Swiss reformer Ulrich Zwingli; he famously drowned the ‘Anabaptists’ [re-baptizers] for their unwillingness to baptize their new borns. The Anabaptists are sometimes called ‘the radical reformers’ they were a strain of believers who felt the reformers were still too bound by tradition, and they wanted a total return to the early practices of the church. And the centuries following would give rise to a whole host of various groups staking their claim on being the most accurate New Testament church. The point being that even though the minister who defended adult baptism only was standing on good biblical grounds, yet he used an example that was not totally accurate. It benefits all believers to be familiar with these arguments, if they are done in a spirit of friendship [which the above debate was done in] then they can help us progress along the lines of Christian unity. That is we still mayhold to our peculiar position, and at the same time see the other point of view. Too often we are only familiar with our own position.
[1455] ‘IN MY FATHERS HOUSE ARE MANY MANSIONS’ Jesus- Yesterday I read a news story about a famous evangelist who is building a multimillion dollar mansion, 7 bathrooms- in home theatre, etc. The expose’ showed how the minister was doing it all with ministry funds and the title of the property will be in the name of the ministry. I am familiar with the man, even heard him speak in person once. He seems to be a good man, but he is a proponent of the prosperity gospel and he sees things like this to be in God’s will. Many of the ministriessupporters who were interviewed defended the man; they said it was fine for this to be done. I will not quote to you all the passages that tell us these things are not fine [just scroll thru the prosperity section and you will find them] but overall we need to be careful that we are not justifying our actions by ideas that are contrary to the main body of scripture. Peter warned the elders not to take the oversight of the ministry for financial gain; God rebuked the Pastors who said ‘we never have enough’ and they were feeding themselves and profiting from the flock. These themes are found all thru out scripture. Many times these types of ministries mean well, they just don’t realize what they are doing. But it is common to hear appeals from these types of ministries for funds, many times they appeal by ‘the word of the Lord’ for people to give ‘till it hurts’. The audience is told ‘if it’s not sacrificial, it’s not a real offering’. There are many elderly people who respond to these appeals who are on fixed income, and these widows mites are often funneled into the million dollar budgets that are used for many of these types of expenses. This my brothers ought not to be done, especially in the name of Jesus. I have hope for the church, and I believe many have been seeing things differently in these last few years- I thank God for it. We need to pray for the people of God at large, even those who are still doing these types of things. But I thank God that we are seeing these types of things happen less as time goes by.
[1456] THEY HAVE SAID COME AND LET US CUT THEM OFF FROM BEING A NATION- Psalms 83:4. During the time of the reformation in the 16th century you had various groups of Christians who felt the church lost her original purpose and purity, these believers sparked reform, that is they did not abandon all the previous creeds and councils of the church; they simply tried to bring God’s people back into shape. Because of this, most of the Christian denominations today have the same basic creeds and statements of faith that have come down to us from the early days. That is we have been able to maintain some sense of ‘national’ unity/cohesiveness even though we have many divisions. The enemies ofIsrael were not so much trying to wipe them all out; they were upset that Israel had achieved a national identity. When Gods people existed in Egypt, sure they were a thorn in the side of society at times, but they were still citizens of another people. In the New Testament Peter says we are a holy nation, a special people; that is the people of God right now belong to a kingdom made up of priests and kings [Revelation]. It is the enemy’s tactic to cause us to view ourselves as independent churches all doing good things for God, but still seeing each congregation as existing separately from the whole. In a sense the enemy has caused us to ‘stop seeing ourselves as a nation’ sure we still exist, and to be honest there are lots of us! But Like Israel in Egypt we too often are looked upon as a bunch of illegal aliens that the nation doesn’t know what in the heck to do with! Don’t get me wrong, I am not advocating a theocracy [a govt. run by God] that is not a worldly/earthly one; but I am advocating that as believers, we should strive for a ‘national’ identity, that is we should appreciate all the great things that have happened and come down to us from the fathers of the past. We have sort of been given the baton and we need to run with it. But too often we don’t recognize that the baton is something that gets passed off to us, we are a living tapestry of people who together form this beautiful Joseph’s garment, the enemy would be happy if we simply lost this unifying identity. He doesn’t seem to care too much when we live in our own identities, when we lose the identity of a holy nation.
[1457] THE EYES OF THE LORD ARE UPON THE RIGHTEOUS AND HIS EARS ARE OPEN TO THEIR PRAYER- Psalms. The apostle Peter will quote thisPsalm in his epistle. The last few weeks we covered some verses on justification by faith; we also hit the book of James and spoke on ‘justification by works’. As we read thru the bible we find many passages where God says he hears the prayers of those who actually do what is right ‘God will not withhold any good thing from those who walk uprightly’ ‘the face of the Lord is against them that do evil’ over and over again, doing right works means something. In the New Testament Jesus speaks of us as candles, he says ‘who lights a candle and puts it under a basket? But you put a candle on a candleholder and it gives light to all those in the house’ then he goes on to say that we should let our ‘good deeds’ shine like the candle. Notice what Jesus means by saying ‘we shine’. He is not talking about fame or performance as we usually view it; but he is talking about the good deeds of social justice. In context our good works are the works of justice we do; defending the poor, reaching out to the hurting, speaking up for the voiceless. Jesus was not saying ‘we shine’ when we achieve fame, contrary to this he told us the least among us would be the greatest, have the most influence. A commonly used example is mother Theresa, most people have heard and are familiar with the nun who gave her life to help the poor in Calcutta, she spoke to kings and presidents thru out her life; yet she really worked in obscurity for many years, others made her famous, she did not seek it. God says when we do what is right he will work on our behalf, turn our enemies back; he says to Israel ‘if you only listened to me, obeyed my voice, then your peace would have been like a river and I would have done great things for you’ God wants us to do just things, to forsake sin and selfishness and pursue his face. It’s easy to equate ‘serving God’ with putting in the hours required ‘for ministry’. Thinking that if we preach, teach or do some other function, that we have met the weekly requirement for service; God wants our hearts, he seeks for those whose hearts are turned towards him. If we do what is right he will hold no good thing from us.
[1458] CONTACT! The other night I caught the movie Contact; I have seen it before but figured I’d re-watch it. The movie pits science against religion; the religious figure [Mathew Mconaughy] is talking to the scientific atheist [Jodie Foster] as she makes her case against God she asks the religious figure ‘are you familiar with Ockham’s Razor’ [wow, isn’t she smart!] and the ex-priest says ‘no, is it some sort of porno movie?’ and of course the atheist goes on to quote the famous saying. Ockham’s razor is the principle developed by William of Ockham that says when you have multiple solutions to a problem that the simplest answer is usually the correct one. Sounds good, what’s the problem? The problem is William of Ockham was indeed a Christian philosopher; he was a contemporary of Thomas Aquinas and John Duns Scotus. They all lived in the high middle ages [13th-14thcenturies]. So for Jodie Foster to have appealed to him while trying to make the point that religion and science don’t mix, well it would be like me debating someone on Halloween. I say it never existed as a pagan holiday; you insist it did! As we debate, I say ‘have you ever heard of the term trick or treat’ and you say ‘no, what’s that’. I then changed the channel to the news and they were doing a story on some scientist who supposedly invented synthetic DNA, they then gave the various statements from religious groups who were against it and thought it violated ethics. It was a replay of the same themes of the movie, pitting science against religion. Science and religion are not enemies, the scientific method was invented by the church, most of the greatest minds in science have been Christian [or religious] and even till this very day many of the great men of science are believers. At the end of the movie they gave a short dedication to Carl [Sagan]. Sagan was the famous atheist who said the universe is all there ever was and all there ever would be. The apostle Paul said ‘men chose to worship and serve the creation rather than the creator, therefore God gave them up to reprobate minds’. The other night I watched the special called ‘Hawking's universe’ I don’t know why they called it Hawking’s, it was a simple rehash of the idea of cosmological evolution, nothing new at all. Let’s make something clear, those who espouse the idea that because we have discovered that most all of the base elements of creation and man are also found in the stars, this in no way proves that men and creation all evolved from stars! This is one of the most ridiculous ideas I have ever heard, and yet many learned men are making this case. Some are saying that when stars explode [novas] that these base elements then form planets and people and monkeys and elephants and- well you get the idea. What mechanism are they giving us that shows us that something like this is even possible? Absolutely none. They are simply making the claim that because we share most of the same matter, thattherefore the stars themselves created everything. This is not only not truescience, but it doesn’t pass the smell test of elementary school! It would be like me stumbling across some computer disk, and then finding a computer to pop it into. Lo and behold I have found the complete works of Shakespeare on the disk. How did they get there? Sure enough some analyst figures out a way to examine the matter that makes up the disk [not the intelligence on it!] and lo and behold he identifies the makeup of the disk. He then proclaims ‘aha, I have figured out where the works of Shakespeare came from’ and he then goes on to give us the elements that make up the disk. What’s the problem? He simply identified the matter of the disk, he did not identify where the actual intelligence on the disk came from. So when people espouse the idea that the stars ‘made everything’ they are talking absolute nonsense. The onlytrueexplanation for the contents on the disk [or the intelligence found in the universe] is the reality that an intelligent agent put the contents there. There is no other rational explanation. Jodie Foster was right- when you have multiple solutions to a problem, the simplest is usually correct. Either the stars made everything [impossible], or God. I’ll go with God.
[1459] GROW A BRAIN YOU MORANS! Last night as I was watching the news they showed some protester sporting this large sign at some rally; I’m not sure if he was a tea partier or not. The point being that there is a danger in mounting the horse of judgmentalism, that is if you are trying to expose others faults, you usually wind up in the same ditch over time [he meant to say moron!] I also caught an apologetics show that I found interesting in the past, but recently they have been spending too much time exposing the ‘one world economy/church’ and have been dwelling on themes that I haven’t heard in years. The brother went on to explain the importance of exposing the one world banking system and how the bible speaks about a one world govt. so this is a way to show unbelievers the reality of the bible. The problem then becomes a sort of fear/unwillingness to address any global problems on a global scale. All organizations like NATO or the UN are deemed tools of the future anti Christ, this outlook usually overlooks the fact that the majority of the references found in the bible dealing with a ‘one world govt./kingdom’ are actually references that speak about the kingdom of God, so there is a danger that believers simply become stumbling blocks to any future endeavors for peace or any joint action on dealing with hunger or world poverty; these concerns are usually looked at as things that we can’t really doanything about on a global cooperative scale. In a nutshell we look like the above protestor carrying the sign; he thinks ‘boy did I show them’ and in reality, well yes he did show them! As believers we need to be bold about the truth claims of the gospel; yes it is exclusive, that is it tells people you can’t come to God any other way accept thru the Cross, but we need to be willing to work with the religious people who inhabit the earth, to not be so exclusive that we never join any cooperative efforts to deal with problems on a global scale. Just because people/leaders use the term ‘global village’ or ‘global order’ this does not mean they are all tools of some future global govt. that the anti Christ will head up! Jesus said many things that could fit into the category of a religious liberal; he advocated a passivist message for heaven’s sake! Let’salign ourselves with Jesus and his gospel, if we feel governments are doing wrong, then yes it’s our responsibility to speak up against oppressive regimes, to speak out against these types of things; but let’s also be willing to unite with other nations/govts. when they are sincerely trying to tackle world problems on a global scale, as long as we stick to the reality of the message of Jesus, we should not fear any and all efforts at global harmony.
[1460] TEACH ME THY WAY O LORD; I WILLWALK IN THY TRUTH, UNITE MY HEART TO FEAR THY NAME. Psalms 86:11. In the book of Hebrews repentance is described as afree gift from God, if he does not freely give it; we can never truly repent. This Psalm tells us that the Lord teaches us to fear his name; he unites our hearts to fear him. We often think of the fear of the Lord as something that we conjure up; a task that must be done, though we find it difficult to perform. Last night I saw the latest news on the Black mayor from the north east, Kwamie Kilpatrick, who was embroiled in scandals andgot kicked out of office a year or so ago. Of course there were many racial overtones to his firing; both sides claimed racial motives. Last night he was sentenced to 18 months in jail for violating his probation; part of the rules were he had to show all of the money he had or would make; he still has a million dollar fine to pay. They found out that he had some money that he did not declare. So they sent him to jail for a couple of years. As I watched the story it was easy to get caught up in the arguments on either side; those who think he was picked on because he is Black, or those who think he got what he deserved. As I heard the former mayor speak, he shared his faith in the Lord, he told the judge he has rededicated his life, become a good husband and father; that he has made efforts to reform. The judge simply said ‘that boat has sailed already’ and he gave himjudgment without mercy. As I heard the mayor I felt bad for him, he has done some wrong things in the past, and hiding the money was wrong; but this was not a case of some drug addicted person who went out and stole a bunch of money and shot a cop, this was a man who gave in to temptation in the past and seemed to be trying to make things right. Maybe they should have taken the money they found and let him try and restore his life. It would be sad if after he gets out of jail that his life took a turn for the worse and he never fully recovered. In all these types of cases the Lord has to grant us repentance as a gift, it is not something we can make happen on our own. Let’s ask God to unite our hearts to fear his name- ‘turn us again O Lord and cause thy face to shine and we shall be saved’.
[1461] LORD THOU HAST BEEN FAVOURABLE UNTO THY LAND, THOU HAST BROUGHT BACK THE CAPTIVITY OF JACOB- Psalms 85:1. Today we find out if the ‘top kill’ method of plugging up the oil leak in the gulf will work. We have had the ‘top hat’ ‘junk shot’ and even the ‘sombrero’ as options in the past, yes the 1979 leak in the bay of Campeche tried the sombrero! The sad thing is all the politics surrounding the whole thing; those in the media who are simply cheerleaders for the president, they can’t be trusted as news people. Those who are only critics, they can’t either. But you do have some fair reporting by some. Anderson Cooper of CNN seems to be doing the best job. Chris Matthews actually said at one point ‘I guess the republican critics are mad that this president is so ‘damn’ competent’ well what would you expect from him. And Bill OReilly had Glen Beck on to discuss ‘are some of the presidents critics going too far’ that’s like asking Hitler to comment on the Jews plight! All in all the media have treated this situation very favorably to the president; Bush would have been hammered from day one. I find it odd that the pictures of dead birds and the environmental disaster of disturbing the wetlands [a true tragedy indeed] have caused such concern; yet the same advocates seem to care less about the disruption of ‘the natural life cycle’ that is called abortion. I mean if you had pictures of babies washing up on shore by the millions, would some of these advocates have the same concern? If the babies that ‘washed up’ all were aborted one minute before birth, it would be considered legal; one minute after birth- murder. We need to re examine our values. The above psalm tells us that when things go well for a land, that is a sign of God’s blessing; when things go bad, it is a sign that we are doing things that displease him. Our country is debating gays in the military, I am not against gay people, but should this issue be coming up at this time? We came off a year of a fabricated emergency on passing health care; a good cause, yes- but to have spent an entire year on nothing else, bad move. North Korea sunk a South Korean battle ship and killed 43 men- these countries are on the verge of all out war. Iran has no respect at all for us; they will continue to pursue Nukes regardless of what we say. And John Brennan, the top guy at homeland security just gave a public speech saying ‘Jihad is an acceptable struggle for Muslims and we are not at war with terror or Islam’ Okay, I agree we are not a war with Islam per se; but to call Jihad an acceptable Muslim struggle, you got to be kidding me! If we as a people turn back to God, he will be favorableunto our land; if we continue to see our struggle as one where gays in the military, abortion on demand; appointing the first openly transsexual persons to the administration; if these things are looked upon as the ‘moral’ priorities of this administration, then yes, things will not go well for us. When the president appointed Elena Kagan as the most recent Supreme Courtnominee, one of the major news stations reported that she was the first openly gay nominated for the court. Then a day or so went by and they retracted the statement, but the reporter said it is an open fact that the woman lives in an open lesbian relationship with another woman, and that the people around her know this. Then another day or so went by and the news organization dropped the story. If the woman’s gay, I don't know. But this president seems to be pushing an agenda that the majority of the American public are not in sync with. Should we discriminate against gays, or cross dressers, or people who have had sex change operations? No. But is it possible that manyof these people are struggling with deviant lifestyles? Yes. Is it possible that changingones sex might be a disorder, and not simply a civil rights issue? Yes. Then why would this president be on such a fast track to appointthesetypes of people to the highest positions in the land? Our country still has lots of issues to deal with, and we should pray for the president and do our best to support him when possible, but it is obvious that he has an agenda that fundamentally undercuts many American values; if we continue to pursue this type of course, things will not go favorably for our land.
[1462] ANSELM- Over the next few months I will do some brief overviews on important historical figures from church history. They will be under a separate section after the same name. Anselm was born in Italy in the year 1033, he eventually became a very influential church teacher and is famous for a few things; he came up with an argument for the existence of God called ‘the Ontological argument’ ontology is a word that means the nature of being. His idea went like this ‘Because there is no other greater conceivable being than God, that means God must exist’ in so many words he said because humans have this conscious belief in God as the greatest being, that therefore he must be that being. I’ll admit when I first read this argument I had some difficulties withit, I think you can find problems with it. But he nevertheless introduced it and it has become one of the classical apologetic arguments for God’s existence. The second major teaching that Anselm gave us was the teaching on the Atonement; Anselm taught that Jesus died to ransom man back to God, the penalty of death was a penalty paid to God. You say ‘what’s so new about that’? Many other church teachers taught that Jesus died to pay a ransom to the devil, that at the fall of man satan gained dominion over man and that Jesus death purchased us back from satan. Though there is some truth to man being under the dominion of satan after the fall, yet Anselm was ‘more right’ in the way he approached it. As a matter of fact his teaching eventually became the norm for the church. Anselm introduced Reason into the argument for the existence of God. Many teachers used scripture and appealed to the church fathers to prove the reality of God, Anselm was one of the first to lean heavily on logic when arguing for Gods existence. He is considered one of the greats of church history and we still benefit from the influence of Anselm to this day.
[1463] BE OF GOOD CHEER,MASTER RIDLEY, PLAY THE MAN; WE SHALL THIS DAY LIGHT SUCH A CANDLE, BY GOD’S GRACE, IN ENGLAND, AS I TRUST SHALL NEVER BE PUT OUT’ Hugh Latimer, 16th century Bishop of the church of England. Many years ago when I first read this quote, it struck me. I recently came across it again, and it struck me again! Over the years of reading the lives of the saints there are certain words that were spoken at the point of martyrdom that for some reason have a lasting effect. One of the church fathers attributed this to the fact that the words that are spoken at this point are actually the words of God, not of men. Latimer was around 80 when he was burnt at the stake, under ‘bloody Mary’s’ reign. These words were to a fellow martyr, Ridley, who was also an influential Christian during the time of back and forth between Protestant and Catholic debates. During the reign of Henry the 8th he had various key influential figures that advocated for the Protestant position; manyargued the Protestant position for the political expediency of not having to answer to the Papacy, or to continue to ‘pay tithes’ to Rome. Henry the 8th is usually known for his penchant for executing his wives, but a careful study of history shows us that at a younger time in his reign he was a great king. He informed himself about the debates surrounding the reformation; he knew both sides and at one point wrote a rebuke to Luther and defended the 7 sacraments of the church. For this noble effort he would be given the title ‘defender of the faith’ by the Pope. But as time went on Henry would break from Rome and launch the English church. In many respects the Church of England was simply a Catholic church without a Pope; or to put it another way, the king became the new Pope. The reformation happened at a time in history that was politically ripe for it. The rise of the nation states and the yearning for national identity played a major role as the individual nationstates sought to break away from Rome. Luther would receive special protection by the political leaders in Germany because they liked the idea of independence. The same would happen in England, many around the King [and queens] were jockeying for position and trying to influence the leader in ways that they thought were the most advantageous for their own cause. But you also had some committedbelievers from both sides of the aisle that gave their lives for their strong convictions of their faith. Thomas More would die for his unwillingness to reject the Pope and accept the king as the new head of the church. And Latimer and others would die for their rejection of Catholic teachings. Though the king had many wives, he would only have 3 children to ascend to the throne. Edward, Mary and Elizabeth. Edward would die young [15 years of age] and Mary and Elizabeth would take turns at the helm. Mary was known for her ‘bloody reign’ and Elisabeth would turn out to be an exceptionally great leader, the greatest one sided naval victory in history took place under her realm while Spain suffered a great defeat. They too would be influenced by those insiders who had personal axes to grind. At first Mary wasn’t 'bloody', but she would eventually be convinced to execute those who were deemed a threat to the realm. The poor folks of England were at times dumfounded by those who were being killed; under Henry you could die if you rejected the doctrine of transubstantiation [the bread and wine being the literal body of Christ] but you could also be put to death if you believed the Mass to be a sacrifice of Christ. So you weren’t always sure what would get you killed! But those who died for their faith and refused to recant gave atrue testimony of their convictions; at the age of 80 Bishop Latimer encouraged a fellow martyr to ‘play the man’ he knew if they died well their testimony would light a candle that would burn on; he was right.
[1464] CHRISTIAN THE LION- ‘Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder, the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet’ Psalms 91:13.The other night I watched the viral video of Christian the lion. It’s been a hit on U-TUBE for a while. It’s the interesting story of these 2 Christians who saw this lion cub for sale in a store; they felt the cub should have a home and they bought him and raised him at their church. When he got too big to handle they brought him to a wildlife refuge and he was set free. A year or so went by and they thought they would go back and see if he still remembered them. The video shows the tense first sighting- is he going to remember them? Will he attack them? As they stand there in the open, the lion eyes them from a short distance; then one of the men yells ‘Christian’ and the lion recognizes his ‘parents’ and runs and jumps playfully all over them. It’s really a great story. Jesus told us we would tread on the serpents and lions; that is we would have dominion over the things that we perceive as our enemies. Jesus also told us that the meek would inherit the earth. We often view ‘lion treading’ as some type of Samson re-play; he killed alion with his bare hands. But the bible also speaks of a time when the lionwill lay down with the lamb- that is in Gods kingdom things that were once natural enemies are now reconciled. Are you facing some lions in your life right now? Have you been worrying about what strategy to use to ‘tread them down’? Have you thought of dominating thru love? I am not talking about a peace treaty with the enemy; I am talking about the reality that love never fails. These men had complete dominion over their lion cub, they loved him and cared for him and when it came time where they could have easily been overcome by him, instead love prevailed. The bible says we now have faith, hope and love- the greatest of these is love.
[1465] THE WORST ENVIRONMENTAL INCIDENT IN U.S. HISTORY! We are now in the 40 something day of the oil spill in the Gulf; it is now being called the worst environmental disaster in our nation’s history. Both the critics and the supporters of the president have been giving there sides of the situation. I want to try and give a fair analysis of the incident. Could the president have done more about the situation? Some have said he has done everything possible [Douglas Brinkley] others have said no [both Democrats and Republicans]. Even though the president has little control over stopping the leak, he could have been more pro active about getting the cleanup resources in place. He has yet to mobilize the amount of resources needed to mitigate the oil coming to shore in the Gulf States; he could have had the govt. go in and contract with thousands of private haz mat workersand they could have been in place much earlier than they were. The president could have contracted with private business and had tankers going back and forth over these huge spills and skimming as much oil as possible. These arereal things that were not done, and in some cases are still not being done. Number 2- the president seems to have had no initial concept of the ‘incident command system’ as a retired firefighter I have some experience with the concept. In the old days when fire depts. dealt with hazards they usually did their part at the scene, while the other entities did their own thing [Police, Highway patrol, etc.] but for many years now we use the Incident Command System; that is at each incident you have one main person designated as the go to man, he coordinates all the other heads of departments. He doesn’t do their jobs, but he is the person ON SCENE that is in charge. It took around 40 days before the administration began referring to Admiral Thad Allen as the incident commander. Many in the media began saying that they needed an incident commander, and it seems as if the administration realized they needed to say they have one. It is obvious to me that the fine admiral was not doing what incident commanders do. He has said over and over again that there were aspects of his job that did not mix with B.P. Though this is true, yet the incident commander does over see all operations. You have also had Parish Leaders telling us that the president has told them to call him directly if they have problems. In one instance the media reported that the president and the admiral were all meeting with the local leaders and the local leaders overruled admiral Allen about how to deal with a certain problem; this my friends is not an incident commander. All in all the president does seem to be learning these things as ‘onthe job training’. I had a strong supporter of the president ask me why he seems to not be able to handle the situation. I reminded the person that one of the debates that went on during the campaign had to do with job experience; many argued that Obama had no executive experience- they said as a former intellectual, and his experience as a ‘community organizer’ that these things did not give a person the executive experience that was needed for the job. In some ways it does seem like they were right. I do not blame the president for the leak [though it was under his administration that B.P. and other drillers received special treatment to continue off shore drilling] but it is obvious to me that he has dropped the ball on some things. This morning oil is washing up on the beaches of Pensacola, why didn’t we have all the cleanup people out in force since last week? Instead they showed pictures of beach goers picking up oil balls with their kids! You do not have to be an oil professional to have the insight to get people in place ahead of time, but you do need some minimal ‘executive experience’.
[1466] ‘Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most high, thy habitation; there shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling’ Psalm 91:9-10. The other night we had some severe wind storms, as I walked out into my yard the next morning, I could barely open the door; one of my trees came down and covered the entire yard! As I spent the day cutting it with my new chainsaw; I realized that just a week or so ago I was looking at the tree and thinking I should cut it down some day. I have lived in Texas since 1980 and have never owned a chain saw, but a few weeks back I saw an ad in the paper and it was a great deal [35 dollars- electric] and I had to go for it. Then the morning I found the tree down I had first read Psalms 91 ‘he will give his angels charge over thee…no evil will come near your dwelling’ I realized the tree could not have fallen in a better spot. I had very little damage to myfence and no damage to the house, even though branches were up against the windows. As I spent the day cutting, I realized that in some ways this was a divine conspiracy! I mean why did I just happen to by a chainsaw, and why would I have been thinking about cutting this treedown just a few days earlier? As I watched the local news I saw all the damage that other trees did during the storm; it looked like a hurricane hit [you will see it with your eyes, but it will not affect you- Psalm 91]! The falling of the tree created a new area in the yard for me to see ‘further’ when praying early in the morning; it was a change in environment- in what I see as I pray. The Lord said to Abraham ‘look, all the places that YOU SEE, those are the places that I give to you, and your children/seed after you’. Sometimes the Lord allows some former markers to pass away so he can establish some new things. At first I was upset because I did not plan on spending a day messing with a downed tree, but then I realized if the tree had to come down, there really was no easier way to have done it. Sure these types of events interfere with your normal routine, but you might as well make the best of them when they wind up on your front [or back] door.
[1467] JESUS MANIFESTO, Frank Viola and Leonard Sweet. The other day I received an interesting email, Thomas Nelson book publishers offered me a free advanced copy of the above book, they are giving away 200 advanced copies and they offered one to me. They simply said they would appreciate it if I mentioned the book on my blog. So here I am; I’ve read a few chapters and ‘Frank-Len’ make a good case for restoring the church back to a strong Christology [I think I would have said ‘Christ centric model’ instead]. The point they argue is that the people of God and Christianity itself has lost the matchless vision of a magnificent Lord and has replaced it with all types of other stuff. They give a list of some of the stuff; it includes end time things, prosperity, leadership…theology, evolution versus creation- well you get the hint. While it’s difficult to argue against the authors main point [who can argue against returning the church to Christ?] the danger is in thinking that ‘theology’ or any other attempt at clarifying the orthodox Jesus is a substitute for Jesus himself, that is we as believers do need to be aware of the many rabbit trails we often get sidetracked on but at the same time we need to understand the need for good Christian doctrine [theology]. I noticed that the authors did not include ‘organic church’ on the list. I do like the many quotes from historic church figures; Tertullian, Aquinas, Barth, etc. and I like the ‘folksy-popular’ style the book is written in, sounds like reading Eugene Peterson’s Message version. All in all the first few chapters are well worth reading, they do center you back on Jesus Christ, and the devotional style restores the soul. To be fair the authors do answer the charge that the bible itself teaches lots of subjects, so why be against all the other things on their list? They explain well that although we as believers will learn and teach various subjects, yet according to the apostolic pattern, these things are like ‘spokes on a wheel’ they are needed at times, but Jesus is the center of the wheel. All in all it’s hard to disagree with the main point of the book. I have found the argument ‘we focus on Jesusonly’ to be at times an excuse for ‘unlearned preaching’ sometimes preachers have used this as an excuse to not delve into good Christian ‘theology’ but I don’tsensethis with this book. Over the next few days I will finish the book [it’s not big, I’m just busy!] and hopefully will comment a few more times. I’m not sure how I got on the list to receive an advanced copy, but I’m grateful for the copy- as a book collector its cool to have a copy that says ‘advanced copy- uncorrected proof- not for resale’. I guess Frank must have recommended me for the book; I have blogged on a mutual site in the past. I have heard of Leonard Sweet before, but am not familiar with him at all. I should note that I have taught many of the same themes found in this book, and I think it would benefit all of us to re focus on the early church’s emphasis on knowing the Lord, not just doctrinally, but in a real way- this is the main point of the book.
[1468] FOR THOU LORD HAST MADE ME GLAD THRU THY WORK, I WILL TRIUMPH IN THE WORKS OF THY HANDS- Psalms 92:4. The Psalms talk a lot about God establishing the work, revealing his works to his people. Israel had a history of recalling the works of God; often times you read ‘where is the God of our fathers, the God who we heard such great things about’? As somewhat of a student of church history, we always want to be conscious of the fact that God is ‘making history’ even in our time; that is he still wants to set down some important markers, he still is enacting key moments in time. As believers we want the Lord to reveal to us in a fresh way ‘the works of his hands’ that is we want to enter into the works of the Lord. Now I am not speaking about being busy for God; involving ourselves in all types of programs and churchy type things, but more of an understanding of the times we are in and how we fit into the broader picture. Once we ‘see’ the times we are living in, the things God is doing [as opposed to men] then we will be working smarter- not harder. Remember, as a child of God you possess all the legitimacy to walk as a kingdom person, God will connect you to the people he wants you to be connected to, but your legitimacy comes from God. Once you see his purpose in this generation, and your part in it, then you will be empowered with divine energy to do your part. ‘Write the vision and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it- for the vision is for an appointed time, though it tarry, wait for it, because it will surely come’.
[1469] AQUINAS, THOMAS- Thomas is considered to be one of the greatest Christian thinkers of all time. Born in Naples around 1225, he studied in Cologne under the Dominican order. During Thomas lifetime there was a rediscovery of the ancient writings of the philosopher Aristotle. Thomas would write commentaries on the philosophy of Aristotle and he would attempt to introduce reason into the arguments to prove the existence of God. He was a follower of that form of Christian teaching called ‘scholasticism’ this method used reason and logical debate to arrive at truth. Other scholars would reject this method [Bonaventure] they felt that using these rational methods was a contradiction to faith. Thomas would become famous for his ‘five ways’ also referred to as Natural Theology. Thomas taught that there were 5 basic ways man could examine the natural created order and come to a rational belief in the existence of God; Thomas taught that the first cause of all things had to be God, you logically needed a first ‘causer’ to start the ball rolling[prime mover]. John Duns Scotus was a contemporary of Aquinas and he disagreed with the scholastic method. Scotus would become famous among the Franciscans; Aquinas would be famous among the Dominicans. Today many Catholic scholars pride themselves in being ‘Thomistic’ in their thought. Thomas also spoke much about ‘just war’ theory, originally introduced by Augustine. He taught that the means of war had to be just in order for the war itself to be ‘justified’; in today’s wars [Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan] I believe the use of unmanned drone attacks that kill civilians can be considered an unjust method. Thomas’ great works are Summa Contra Gentiles and Summa Theologiae, Thomas is called the ‘angelic doctor’ of the Catholic faith.
[1470] PSALM 95- I find it interesting that right now the country is fixated on the underwater video of the leak in the gulf, I mean they just recently released the high def.version! It seems that for some strange reason we keep looking at ‘this work’. In Psalm95 God exhorts the people to praise him, to sing to him, to worship him with instruments. Then there is this warning to not harden our hearts when he speaks; the warning says ‘don’t be like you fathers, who when they knew what I wanted, rebelled and SAW MY WORKS for 40 years’. Seeing Gods work in this context meant seeing Divine judgment day after day, week after week, month after month and year after year. There is talk now that this oil leak might go on for a year! I am not saying the leak is ‘God’s work’ but there is truth to the idea that when we reject God we are then left with viewing things that are less than profitable. The children of Israel had a great opportunity to have seen thepromised land and would have been the first generation to have dwelt in the land; yet because of their unbelief they instead saw Gods work in judgment for an entire generation. Letsworship and praise God daily, this creates an environment to hear the voice of the Lord, then when he speaks, be quick to hear [which means action] if not, we might spend the next few years staring at an underwater oil leak.
[1471] LOST AT SEA- 2 days ago I saw a story in the news about a 16 year old girl who was attempting to sail around the world, she has been at sea for around 5 months and her family said they lost all contact with her and her emergency beeper went off. At first when I heard the story I thought the poor girl has no chance. The boat she was in was small, the last contact they had with her said she was somewhere in the Indian Ocean and she was in 30 foot swells. But in the morning when I do my routine prayer, when I got to the point when I pray for the nations [things like natural disasters, famine, world problems, etc.] I felt the Lord telling me to mention this girl in particular. So I did. Then I felt a feeling like I will hear something about her in the news that was going to confirm the importance of prayer. Sure enough I saw the news and they miraculously found this girl. Some search planes went out in the area where they thought she might be and right before they gave up they spotted what they described as ‘a dot’ in the ocean, upon further inspection it was her. Her boat was ruined and she had lost all contact by radio. If these pilots didn’t just happen to see her, she would have surely died out there. I had a friend of mine who was a good man, involved in all types of ministry things. As I was talking to him one day, trying to give him some advice on some things, I asked him when he prays. Is there a time that you set aside to pray? His answer was ‘I pray all the time’. I realized at that moment that he did not have a set time when he prayed. To me it seemed unthinkable to not have this time; a real time to pray. I want to encourage you guys today, setaside time daily for prayer. It’s5:30 a.m. as I write, I usually spend the 3:30-4:00 till 5:30 slot to pray. You don’t have to do it that early, but it’s important that you have a habit of prayer. And when the Lord says ‘pray for this person/situation’ then pray for it, even if you think all hope is lost.
[1471] WEEK IN REVIEW- Yesterday I had the chance to catch up on some news paper reading; lets cover a few things. First, I read an article about a person being prosecuted by the Obama administration- he has worked for the govt. since 2001and is an expert consultant on high tech stuff. He has tried for years to update the government’scapabilities in the area of surveillance and undercover stuff, the problem he has run into is many depts.are still run by old timers who don’t even know what Twitter means! So after years of trying he leaked the story to the N.Y. Times. Well the president launched an unprecedented investigation, 20 something F.B.I. agents were put on the case. They traced the leak to him and are currently prosecuting him to the fullest extent of the law. He is married with children, his family is devastated, he has lost his job at Harvard and other highly held positions, he is now working at a computer sales store, waiting to stand trial. The president is trying to have him found guilty of a felony and to do as much time as the law allows [many years in prison]. The article went on to say that this president has launched more investigations/prosecutions for those who have leaked info. to the press, more than any other president in history! And he has only been in office for 17 months, this is unbelievable. This has created an atmosphere among the press that gets little to no ‘open’ info of what’s going on. These types of prosecutions are usually reserved for severecases, people leaking info about major things that could harm the govt.; you don’t do this to a man who was simply trying to upgrade our intelligence gathering. Number 2- The former head of the OMB [office of management and budget] has come out and said health care might cost an extra Trillion over the next ten years. The president told us that we would save 300 billion, how can this be? He went on to explain that many businesses looking at the options have figured out that it would be cheaper to drop the coverage of their employees and allow them to fall under the govt. subsidized program. It works like this; if an employer spends 12 thousand a year on your coverage, he can make a deal with the employee to give him an 8 thousand dollar raise and pay the 2 thousand dollar fine and make another 2 thousand dollar profit for the company, the govt. then used taxpayer money to not only cover the employee who used to get covered by his job, but your tax payer dollars also earned an extra 2 grand for the company! It was only a matter of time before stuff like this would happen. And last but not least, the promise that said ‘if you like your current coverage, you can keep it’ was a flat out lie. Many employers are now being told that if they want to offer the same EXACT coverage to their employees, then yes they can do so. But if things change at all, like the co-pay or some other expense, then that disqualifies them from opting out of the system. Any person familiar with how companies cover their people will tell you that every few years the employer usually shops the market for the best deal, and it is common knowledge that something in the plan will change. For the president to have said ‘if you like what you have you can keep it’ and to mean ONLY EXACTLY WHAT YOU HAVE is Chicago style politics to the full. When you tell the public ‘sure, we cheated on offering jobs to get Democrats out of races, but everyone does it’ [which by the way is not true]and then to go after a news leaker [even though everyone does that!]seems to be a double standard. To make statements that you know are deceptive [you can keep what you have]and to do so because you have made a political choice that you need to pass something whether or not it’s best for the people, then you have basically lost your moral compass; you simply can’t be trusted on anything. I think we should pray for our leaders, but at the same time be aware and informed on what they are doing, if the media does not hold them responsible, then they can get away with bad stuff. I don’t think our president meant to be like this, but because of pressure he has allowed stuff like this to happen. He misleads us way too much, he goes after people using the arm of the FBI in ways that former administrations would never do. And then when he gets caught himself he says ‘well, everyone does it’ this way of operating can’t go on without severe repercussions, we do reap what we sow.
[1472] JESUS MANIFESTO, 2nd post. Okay I read some more from Frank Viola/Leonard Sweet’s book. I really like the emphasis that they place on the importance of Jesus and on self sacrifice as major themes of the Christian life; a good quote would be ‘Jesus is in the self transcending business, not self fulfilling one’. This book is a change of pace from the normal fare of self help books that rank high on the Christian book lists of our day. A few problems; at one point you can hear the sound of the post modern emergent voice, they admit that the bible contains ‘logical contradictions’ [ouch!] and they also challenge the ‘modern’ [as opposed to post modern] view of absolute truth. Descartes name is thrown out and they use a strange reference to the 13th century theologian/thinker John Duns Scotus. They rightly trace the famous nick name ‘Dunce cap’ to Scotus, but then they say that the famous teacher earned the name by resisting ‘mystery’ as a legitimate means of knowledge , while embracing pure logic. My understanding of howScotus got the nickname is actually the opposite of this. Scotus was a contemporary of Aquinas, during their day there was a rediscovery of the writings of the famous philosopher Aristotle; Aquinas became popular among the Dominicans for his embracing of Aristotle and his scholastic approach to learning [pure logic]. Scotus resisted Aristotle’s view that all learning comes to man thru the ‘5senses’and he taught there was a sort of 6th sense that man needs while approaching God. The point being it seems to me that Scotus got the nick name ‘Dunce’ not because he rejected mystery, but because he favored it! Anyway that’s just a technical historical point, as Will Farrell says in the movie ‘Anchorman’ let’s just agree to disagree. In the argument against the modern view of absolute truth, a few pages over they defend it! They explain that the reason the schools shy away from teaching character is because they won’t allow for ‘universals’ or ‘morals’. To be honest its trendy now a days to challenge the system, and most emergent’s will say stuff like this; I don’t think this to be a major problem with the book, just thought I should mention it. All in all the authors do a good job at re directing us back to Christ as being the center of the Christian experience; lots of excellent quotes from many historical figures, even one or two from the Pope! [Frank doing some penance over Pagan Christianity?] I am not sure if I’ll do another post on the book, I have a few pages left and I will certainly finish the book; but overall I do recommend the book, it is a must read for the ‘modern’ believer, we do need to be challenged in our day and this book does a good job of it. You will not find this book on the self help shelf of modern Christianity, and I think that’s a good thing.
[1473] PRESIDENTS ADDRESS- Last night the president gave his first presidential address; he spoke for around 18 minutes and tried his best to deal with the gulf oil leak. His speech came just hours after the N.Y. times did a critical story on his handling of the spill, they basically said the president has done a terrible job in the overall cleanup effort. I would note that the times have been one of the president’s strongest supporters. Also the criticism from the media has not been as bad as it could have been. I do remember hearing many times that the so called reason for Bush’s slow response after hurricane Katrina was because of his inherent racist views. Many pundits openly said that if the hurricane hit some mainly white northern state that the response would be different; I have yet to hear one person say that Obama is reacting badly because most of the fishermen and gulf residents are poor white folk. Okay, what about the speech. First, the president came out strongly for a new ‘cap and trade’ law; basically it is a tax on the oil industry designed to wean the country off oil and force industry into clean fuel use. Though this is a noble goal, to try this at a time when the oil industry is being hit hard, this does not help our fragile economy. We are goingto lose around 30-50 thousand jobs because of the 6 month moratorium on new oil rigs going up. Here where I live this effects many small businesses; these rigs don’t just go away for 6 months, they go and plant themselves in someother country and on average these jobs are lost for 5 years. To continue to hammer this industry with a new tax that would raise the cost of business and the price of fuel is simply irresponsible at this time. So why do it? The president realizes that in the upcoming elections they will lose seats, so this will probably be his last chance to enact any big things on his agenda, so that’s more than likely the reason he is trying for this. The president looked a little shaky during the speech, he appealed for prayer at the end [a good thing]and he tried to make the case that they have lots of resources in place to deal with the crisis; the main problem is there seems to be no real coordinated effort to handle the clean up. Most observers are saying there is a fundamental lack of leadership in the whole situation. I believe we should pray for the president, don’t impugn bad motives to the man [like he purposely wants to drag the country down so he can enact socialism!] and realize that ideologies have good or bad effects, if you believe it’s in the overall good for the nation to tax oil at this time; then your ‘belief’ will adversely affect many people who need help right now. I don’t think it would be fair to them to make them take another big hit at a time when they are already hurting.
[1474] YE THAT LOVE THE LORD, HATE EVIL- Psalm 97:10a. The other day I had a discussion with a college student, they are studying biology/evolution and they asked a bunch of important questions. I gave the person an overview of the true things we have learned from evolutionary theory, but I also explained how science has also shown us the limits that the theory has [went into information theory and DNA and the fossil record]. The person then asked all types of questions about the bible- I went into the manuscript evidence and historical proofs of scripture. Then the person asked about a society ‘free from religion’ sort of like Lennon’s theme in the song imagine. I explained that this project has been tried before and found wanting; covered the history of the Enlightenment and how those who advocated for a society free from God could not justify law and morality; they ultimately have to borrow capital from Christianity. I also explained that these experiments ended up in failure [socialism]. After giving the student a broad overview for the reality of God they said they thought I should teach it to their fellow students because they are not hearing both sides of the argument. I believe the apologetic arguments for the proof of God and Christianity can only go so far, then you need faith to embrace Christ; but there are many sincere students who get lambasted for the faith and are being duped out of believing what is true. After explaining some of the views of Christianity the person actually began seeing some of the flaws with the arguments that they have heard on the other side. It is progressive and open minded and ‘pluralistic’ to hear both sides of these issues, but many times in the university setting the student does not hear both views. After listening to both sides, it is obvious to see that those who advocate for a Godless society ultimately go down a road that is evil, governments that destroy and devalue human life. We have tried the atheistic experiment and it has failed; you that love the Lord, hate evil.
[1475] KNOW YE THAT THE LORD, HE IS GOD: IT IS HE THAT HATH MADE US AND NOT WE OURSELVES- Psalm 100:3. The bible also says ‘of his own will begat he us by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures’ ‘being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible; by the word of God that liveth and abideth forever’ [James, Peter]. Over the years I have had various groups of people that I have relatedto in ministry; ex-con friends, homeless guys, ‘church’ members- in each scenario I have to be reminded that these people are from the Lord, that is God has divinely positioned them and me to cross paths at each juncture of the journey. There are some of you right now reading this blog who I have never met before; some hear us every week on the radio as well. It is our responsibility to hear what God is saying in each situation. Some of you have wondered about many of the things we have taught over the years- that is you too have had thoughts and questions about many of these things and you have been confirmed in your beliefs as you read this site. Others are in the more traditional role of ‘church/pastor’ and you might benefit from another aspect of the teaching while by passing some stuff. Our job is to recognize that all of us have been brought to this place by Gods word; he is the one that has made us [even at all these different stages] and not we ourselves! If you find yourself questioning why some paths you have taken might not have been the same as others; then just realize that it is the Lord that directs our steps; he has allowed us to journey to the place we are at right now and it is simply our responsibility to hear him where we stand. Don’t try and hear him where someone else is standing, that is don’t attempt to be ‘like the next guy’ you are unique and God has fashioned his word to speak to you and from you in a unique way. I just finished a prayer time; I pray for all of the former friends who I have worked with in the past, their kids and their ‘kids, kids’. Some of the parents have died, but I still pray for their offspring. I believe God has a divine purpose for all of those who I have crossed paths with over the years. Some of you I have never met, and never will meet; just take what the Lord has been giving you and run with it ‘one shall chase a thousand and two will put ten thousand to flight’ run well my friends.
[1476] WHOSOEVER BELIEVES THAT JESUS IS THE CHRIST IS BORN OF GOD- 1st John. I am almost finished reading the Jesus Manifesto, by Viola/Sweet. About a month or so ago I read an article by Scot McKnight on Historical Jesus studies; these are the men who approach the study of Jesus while trying to not be ‘biased’ by the gospels and the church’s traditional teachings about Christ. McKnight spoke as an insider who spent many years engaging in the study. He basically concluded that the system itself was flawed; they tried to usecertain ‘historical’ criteria and ended up in this hopeless process of never being able to agree on who Jesus really was! The great Christian writer C.S. Lewis spent many years rejecting the faith, but as somewhat of an intellectual he said he could not escape the deep roots of Christianity that he would find while reading the classics, studying the history of society; no matter where he went the testimony of the church was this unified declaration of who Jesus was and what his life and death and resurrection meant to humankind. The apostle John told us that those who believe that Jesus is the Christ, these are of God. Our bibles, as well as Christian orthodoxy declare to us who Jesus is; we do not need the testimony of those who are trying to examine him while being removed from the person, historically, by two thousand years. This is not to say that all historical study is wrong, but the flawed attempt at trying to restructure the Jesus of the gospels by embracing some historical method, a method that actually goes against all reliable historical studies, we surely don’t need this. There are 2 groups that reject thetradition of the church; those from the ultra liberal historical approach [Jesus seminar types] and the rigid fundamentalist camp. Now, in some ways I too am a fundamentalist, but I am speaking of the more extreme groups that reject the historic church and approachChristianity and the bible from a virgin perspective; that is these believers ‘believe’ that each new generation of Christians should read the bible without any historical context, both of these approaches can become hotbeds of heresy. I thank God that both the bible and the church have declared to us who Jesus is, the apostle John says ‘we have declared to you that which we have seen, and that which we have handled’ John and his companions spent time with the Lord, these original apostles are called ‘the foundation stones of the church’ [being built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets] we today are part of a corporate temple that spans 2 thousand years; our forefathers have left us a great legacy, let’s not squander it by trying to reconstruct that which has been faithfully passed down to us- whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God.
[1477] ‘How blessed is God! And what a blessing he is! He’s the father of our master Jesus Christ, and takes us to the high places of blessing in him. Long before he laid down the earth’s foundations, he had us in mind, and settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family by Jesus Christ. He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift giving by the hand of his beloved son.’ Ephesians 1, Message bible. Over the next few weeks I think I will hit some key verses from this letter to the church at Ephesus. This letter [as well as Colossians] strike a different tone from Paul’s other letters. Many see the letter to the Romans as Paul’s greatest theological work [and it very well might be] and as you read Galatians [and Hebrews- to those who think Paul wrote it] you find lots of good stuff on the law versus grace. Though this letter also deals with that [the middle wall of partition broken down in Christ] yet you see more of an emphasis on the eternal purpose of God for the church. In the above passage Paul teaches us that God pre planned our conversion before the world began! He is showing us that he chose us, not the other way around. He not only destined us to ‘be saved’ but to be made ‘whole and holy’ in him in love. This divine work is both an individual and corporate experience. The church fathers would teach us that he ‘who has God as his father, also has the church for his mother’, this meaning that as you enter into the Christian life, you are entering a community of people in whom God has great designs. The scriptures refer to us as The Bride, a Temple, the Body of Christ- all these references point to the corporate identity that we have in Christ. God wants us to ‘enter into this lavish gift giving by the hand of his beloved Son’. God is in the process of bringing all things together in Christ, Jesus is the all in all, and as his people we are the vehicle thru which he will accomplish this great purpose- all things in heaven and on earth will glorify his son, and God makes manifest this knowledge of Christ thru the church; the bible says even the angels are looking at this mysterious work of Christ and his bride and are seeing things that they never saw before. Rejoice in the fact that you and I are part of the greatest building program of all time; God is building us into a holy temple, a bride that will be spotless, totally accepted in Jesus- all this thru grace. Yes, we have great reason to rejoice.
[1478] TRIBUTE TO BILL AND A WEDDING. This week my oldest daughter got married; they rented the beautiful Texas state aquarium [the official aquarium of Texas located here in Corpus] and they had a wonderful celebration. At first I thought they were just renting out a room/area, but they had the whole aquarium! It was really nice. I also heard some sad news; one of the homeless guys passed away. Iknew Bill since 1992, out of all the homeless brothers I took Bill out to eat the most- hundreds of times over the years, without exaggeration. Bill used to visit Corpus as a boy when his dad took him and his family to the ocean on the weekends. They lived in Dallas and Corpus was their vacation spot. Over the years Bill would come back and eventually marry and move his family down here. He had some hard luck and eventually wound up on the streets. He lived here in an area where I live, a part of town called Flour Bluff. Lots of homeless guys hang out in this area, my neighborhood is nice, right next to the water [Gulf of Mexico] but because of the close location to the beaches lots of transients gravitate here. Bill was a good friend, every now and then I would talk to Bill about the Lord, but it was more from a friendship angle and not from a religious ‘witnessing’ approach. Bill knew the gospel and did show signs that the Lord was working in his life. Bill was in his 70’s and they could not find any next of kin, I think they cremated his body. I didn’t find out about his passing until a month or so after he died, often times that’s how you hear- word of mouth type thing. These last few years I did not get with Bill as much as I would have liked- but even if I didn’t see him for months, yet as soon as we would get together it was like no time passed. He was truly a good friend. I have a little ‘memorial wall’ here in my study; I started writing the names of friends and family when they pass on, I have saved a few funeral cards on this wall too. The bible says ‘Lord, teach us to number our days so we would apply our hearts to wisdom’ [my paraphrase] James says the days of man are like a vapor, which appears for a little while and then is gone; or like grass which grows up in the morning and is cut down in the evening. I danced with my daughter to the song ‘Cinderella’ by Steven Curtis Chapman. He wrote the song about his adopted foreign child, she was young and Steven wrote it to remind himself how short our time can be; life goes on fast and before you know it your Cinderella is married and gone. Part of the song says ‘I will dance with Cinderellawhile she is here in my arms, because I know something the prince never knew’ and then the song goes on to say before too long she’ll be gone. Soon after Steven wrote the song his little daughter was accidently run over by her brother, she died too soon. The song became a prophetic witness to the death of his daughter. I gave away my daughter and lost a good friend, lets number [count] our days so we might realize that we only have so many and that we might live them for the glory of God.
[1479] ‘Because of the sacrifice of the Messiah, his blood poured out on the altar of the cross, we are a free people- free from the penalties and punishments chalked up by all our misdeeds. And not just barely free either. ABUNDANTLY free! He thought of everything, provided for everything we could possibly need, letting us in on the plans he took such delight in making. He set it all out before us in Christ, a long range plan in which everything would be brought together and summed up in him, everything in deepest heaven, everything in planet earth’ Ephesians 1, message bible. Notice how the ‘long range plan’ of God has been revealed to us in time; that is God had all these things mapped out before the world even started! The plan is to bring everything together in Christ, that all things in heaven and on earth would show forth the full restoration that was accomplished at the Cross. Paul speaks about this ‘full world’ reconciliation in Romans chapter 8; the creation itself shall be delivered from the curse and enter into the full joy of the manifestation of the sons of God. One of the main themes of Jesus in the parables is to show forth the full world impact of the kingdom of God. Jesus talks about the kingdom as a small seed, and it grows into this great tree. Or a fishing net that brings in all types of fish [full harvest]. One of the mistakes that some believers made was they began interpreting the kingdom parables in a way that said ‘see, these parables speak of the religious world of Christendom, and how false religion will take over the planet’ Ouch! Jesus has a purpose for all of creation; he has let us in on these plans and has given us authority to fulfill our part of the plan. We have complete acceptance from God based on the work of the Cross, free from all penalties and punishments that we deserve because of our sins. Yet God who is rich in mercy has lavished upon us great grace, he has chosen us to be an important part of this plan, we are the actual Body of Christ on the earth that Jesus speaks and acts thru, we are major players in the eternal purpose of the most high!
[1480] ‘When I heard of your trust in the Lord Jesus and the love that you have towards all the saints, I couldn’t stop thanking God for you, every time I prayed I’d think of you…I ask the God of our master, the God of glory to make you intelligent and discerning in knowing him personally, your eyes focused and clear, so you can see exactly what it is that he’s calling you to do’ Ephesians 1. Notice what the apostle prayed for; he asked God to open their eyes so that they might know Jesus more personally- that is he did not request that they simply have a better grasp of the doctrine of Jesus Christ [which is important] but he was asking that they might actually increase in their relationship with him. It has been said that Christianity is the only religion in which the founder actually lives inside the follower. I like that, it keeps us focused on the reality that God wants us to be more than simple intellectualassenters of the truth claims of Christianity. There is a major theme in the New Testament that runs along these lines, the apostle says ‘I count all things loss that I might increase in the knowledge of him’ once again meaning to know him more. Now I must admit that there are times when believers seem to disdain other groups of believers because they deem them wrong or lacking in some area. It is common to hear certain groups refer to other groups as ‘lost’ that is they see the traditional expression of Christianity that they follow and they judge them as never having receivedJesus ‘into their hearts’. I think this is a mistake that we make; notice in the above passage that Paul was thanking God for their faith and the love that they showed to all the saints; that is they had a grasp on the corporate wide nature of the church. While it is important for us to increase in our relationship with Christ, it’s also important to see that God is at work with many groups of believers, not just those who seem to be the most like us! Let’s ask God to increase us in the area of knowing Jesus more personally- that the eyes of our understanding would be enlightened, that we might grasp the length and depth and height of the love of Christ as the corporate people of God. It takes a body of people to fully grasp the greatness of ‘their head’ Jesus is the head of the church, the people of God that transcend time and space. As members of this mystical people called the church, we need each other to come to a more mature understanding of who he is and what he wants us to do- we are not in this thing alone.
[1481] ‘And you hath he made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins… but God who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when WE were dead in sins, hath MADE US ALIVE together with Christ [by grace ye are saved] and has raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. That in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness towards us in Christ Jesus’ Ephesians 2: 1, 4-7. The other day I heard the common question on some Christian show, the person asked ‘why is there evil in the world’ and the normal answer usually says that in order for God to have had men willingly love him, he could only accomplish this by giving men free will; then because of this ‘forced’ environment of choice some men would chose to sin and ultimately evil is the greatest ‘necessary evil’ there could ever be. I’m sure I’ve used this argument a few times myself, andI’m also sure that there is some truth to it. But from another angle it does seem strange that evil exists because this was the ‘best’ God could do to create an environment where men would willingly come to him; maybe one of the reasons for evil is not so much a result of God trying to create an environment that wouldultimately please him [willing lovers] but maybe a part of it has to do with us, that is the reality of redemption and the great grace and mercy that we receive from God would not have the same effect on us if evil and damnation were not a real option. The above passage tells us that one of the reasons that God freely saved us is so in the ages to come he might show the great mercy and grace that he possesses thru this redeemed people, a people who by all rights deserved judgment. Though I didn’t get into it in the previous chapter [too much] yet the apostle delves into the doctrine of predestination right in the greeting of the letter! We usually view the doctrine as an ‘in the closet’ doctrine that shouldn’t be discussed in mixed company. The fact that God chose us and redeemed us because of his purpose and will that he designed for us before we were born, this extravagant grace poured out on us for ages to come- this work glorifies the Father. We are ‘his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works that God hath before ordained that we should walk in them’ we are corporately Gods work, the WE, US verses speak to this. All of this is a free work of grace that has been activated by faith, a faith that was also given to us as a gift, not of works lest any man should boast.
[1482] ‘For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of partition between us; having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of two one new man, so making peace; and that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the Cross, having slain the enmity thereby’ Ephesians 2:14-16. Over the years I have seen this portion of scripture used in a way that said God removed the animosity between man and God [true] and that this verse speaks of that. In actuality this scripture is speaking to the reality of God removing the animosity between the two major ‘races’ of the first century. In today’s pluralistic society we find it difficult to grasp the religious prejudice that existed in Jesus’ day; those who were Jewish and partook of Judaism were considered accepted by God, those who were not Jewish were considered outsiders and without ‘God in the world’. So in Paul’stheology he shows us that one of the major aspects of the Cross was the taking away of the object that caused the enmity- which was the ordinances of the law. Colossians tells us that the law of commandments was nailed to the Cross, and it is thru this action that the Jewish nation no longer had a ‘one up man ship’ thing going against the Gentiles. The work of the Cross leveled the playing field where the Jewish religion could no longer say ‘we have Gods law, you don’t’ instead the new proclamation after the Cross says ‘Jesus nailed the law to the Cross and we all stand on equal ground at the foot of the Cross’. To our 21st century minds this might not be such a great thing, but to the people of the 1st century it was.Last night I saw a story on the news about the two men who stood outside of an election place during the last presidential election; they were members of the New Black Panther Party and were dressed like thugs- they had billy clubs and the whole nine yards. Just seeing these men looked intimidating. The complaints against them were that they intimated white voters from voting; some said they used racial slurs against white people, they stood in the way and blocked the entrance, bad stuff all the way around. The reason it’s in the news is because the justice dept. just dropped the case against these thugs. One of the employees who worked on the case quit, he said they were told that they were not to bring charges againstBlacks who intimated Whites, only the other way around. How much of the accusations are true, I don’t know. But the problem is by any standards this is a classic case of voter intimidation- you simply can’t get a better text book case than this. Nowthere are many Black leaders, both political and religious, who defend these men and their actions. Even though elderly white women obviously were scared to vote, yet these leaders accept racist actions if they come from their own race. This is wrong and totally unacceptable, especially from anyone standing in a pulpit. The message of the Cross is one of reconciliation of all people, we want mercy and truth to prevail, and we do not want any special treatment for one group while discriminating against another. I thank God that thru the Cross the enmity was removed, we can all stand on equal ground at the foot of the Cross and come thru the same Spirit to our God, Jesus took away the thing that caused the animosity.
[1483] ‘And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone; in whom all the building fitly framed together grows into a holy temple in the Lord: in whom ye also are built together for an habitation of God thru the Spirit’ Ephesians 2: 20-22. The temple imagery is one of the great pictures of what the church is in the New Testament. One of the greatest Old Testament surveys done in the bible is Acts chapter7; Stephen gives this tremendous overview of the history of Israel. One of the portions of scripture that he quotes is Psalms ‘God does not dwell in temples made with hands’ he is prophesying of the great living temple of people that was beginning to form in the book of Acts. One important note; over the last few years there has been some controversy between the organic church movement [house church movement, cell church, etc.] and the traditional church. An important thing to remember is the imagery of the temple/people of God is not describing a meeting at all- whether it be in the ‘church building’ or the home. The imagery is that of a people who transcend time and space, a company of people that share life with God, God really dwells in his people- not just on a meeting day, or in a meeting place, but all the time! It’s easy to lose the reality of the temple imagery and replace it with the ‘church building’. It’s also easy to miss read this imagery, Stephen himself as well as many of the early believers had no problem going to the temple or to a synagogue meeting, it wasn’t off limits to meet in a building- it’s just they were actually being built together as an holy temple in the Lord and this reality transcended the old temple concept. We are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ being the chief cornerstone- which means everything lines up with him; he is the plumb line for the building. Thank God that he no longer dwells in temples made with hands, but in us- a living temple made up of living stones! [Peter’s letter].
[1484] ‘This is why I Paul am in jail for Christ, having taken up the cause of you outsiders, so called. I take it that you are familiar with the part I was given in God’s plan for including everybody… none of our ancestors understood this, only in our time has it been made clear thru God’s Spirit… this is my life work, helping people understand and respond to God’s message. It came as a sheer gift to me, a real surprise, God handling all the details’ Ephesians 3, message bible. As I said earlier in this study, the ‘mystery’ that God revealed to Paul was the reality that thru Christ all ethnic groups would be on the same footing with God. This specifically related to the religious belief of the day that the ethnic nation of Israel were the only ones with special access to God. For Paul to have been preaching this message in his day would be like us teaching that God’s plan for all people today- Jews, Arabs, Palestinians, Iranians, etc., it would be like saying Gods purpose for our day is to accept all of these ethnic groups as one group thru Christ. To be frank about it, I believe many evangelicals today are not fully seeing the reality of the Cross when they exalt the natural heritage of Israel as Gods special people. Though I realize many of these teachings mean well [end time scenarios and stuff] yet in practice they deny the equal footing that all people have in Christ. Paul was preaching the great news that your ethnic/cultural background no longer made any difference- thru Christ we are all Gods special people. This does not mean that we are all accepted whether or not we believe in Christ, a sort of religious syncretism, but it does mean that the offer of Jesus is available to all.
[1485] ‘So here I am, preaching about things that are way over my head, the inexhaustible riches and generosity of Christ… through Christians like yourselves this extraordinary plan is becoming known and talked about even among the angels!...All this is proceeding along lines planned long ago by God…so don’t let my present trouble on your behalf get you down’ Ephesians 3. It’s interesting that the great apostle could rejoice in everything that was happening as being a plan from God that was determined long ago- and yet he was presently suffering many things. He did not ask the Lord ‘why did you let me go to jail’ or ‘why has my career as a great religious leader, respected as a great teacher of the law, why has it all been thrown away on this new career- one where I’m going around, supporting myself by tent making! I mean I could have had a great career as a professional speaker! [Rhetoric]’ instead Paul realized that the troubles that were happening to him were a direct result of his calling in God. Isaiah says ‘for your shame they shall have double, and for your confusion THEY shall possess the double portion in the land’ ‘he shall see of the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied, he was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities’ the biblical theme is we often suffer as a result of the work that God is doing thru us for others. Paul encourages the church to not faint at his tribulations for them, which is their glory. If we can grasp the reality that to them that love God, all things are working together for good, then we can rejoice in the good times and bad. But if our measuring rod for success is the world’s measuring rod, then we will be like a ship in the wind- tossed back and forth and wavering with every change in the weather. Paul learned to be content in whatever state he was in- jail, freedom- lack, abundance; all these things were working for good, even the things that didn’t seem ‘good’.
[1486] ARIUS- a priest from Egypt who would challenge the deity of Jesus in the 4th century. Arius taught that Jesus was the Son of God, but not eternally the Son. He said Jesus was a created being whom the father ‘bestowed’ son ship upon. He taught that Jesus was ‘like God’ but not God. The emperor Constantine would call the famous council of Nicaea in 325 a.d. and the council would agree with Athanasius and say that the Son and the Father were of ‘the same substance’ [homoousios] and Arius’s belief would be rejected. The debate would still rage on thru out the century as Constantine would die and the new emperor from the east would hold to ‘Arian’ views. Eventually Orthodoxy would win out and Arianism would be rejected by the majority of believers. I should note that many of the oriental churches would go the way of Arianism till this day; some of these churches are not like the modern cults that we would automatically reject, but they do hold to beliefs that OrthodoxChristianity has rejected. As I have written about before, it’s easy to see how various believers have struggled with these issues over the years, some of the ways people express things can be deemed heresy a little too quickly in my view. There are believers who express the deity of Jesus in ways that some Arians express it, and they are not full Arians! The point being, yes- Arian went too far in his belief that Jesus was a created being, Johns gospel refutes this belief strongly [as well as many other portions of scripture] but too say that Jesus was/is the full expression of the father, because he ‘came out from God’ is also in keeping with scripture. Today we should be familiar with the issues and also use much grace when labeling different groups of believers; and we should strive for a unity in the Spirit as much as possible. As believers we accept the full deity of Christ, one who is of the ‘same substance’ of the father- true God from true God. He who has seen the Son has seen the father- Jesus said to Phillip ‘I have been with you a long time, if you see and know me, you have seen and known my father’ Jesus is God come down in the flesh to dwell among men, the true Immanuel, God with us.
[1487] WHERE IS THE HOUSE THAT YOU ARE BUILDING FOR ME AND WHERE IS THE PLACE OF MY REST? FOR ALL THOSE THINGS HATH MINE HAND MADE AND ALL THOSE THINGS HAVE BEEN- SAITH THE LORD. Isaiah 66:1-2. These last few weeks I have been jumping around in our studies from Ephesians to church history and Isaiah, I thought this verse fit in good with some of the themes in Ephesians. Paul talked about the eternal purpose of God that was planned before the world began and how our part in it has also been pre ordained. There is another scripture in Isaiah that says ‘I showed it to you before it happened so you would know that I was the one who did the work’. God asks us ‘what is it that you are building for me? What is the house/dwelling that you are constructing?’ The dwelling place of God is the church, the building ‘fitly framed together that grows into a temple of the Lord’ we are simply tools in the hand of God, his purpose and the part we play in it are all of God; the apostle said ‘I worked more than all the others, never the less it was not I, but the grace of God in me’ Paul knew that the things God was accomplishing thru him were pre planned things; stuff that he could not take credit for. I want to encourage you today; do you see yourself as carrying the load of ministry- of the things you are ‘building for God’? All these things God has made, and they ‘have been’ you and I have just appeared in time for a small moment to play our part, the success of the work rests upon God- not us.
[1488] ‘I therefore…beseech you that you would walk worthy of the calling…with all lowliness and meekness, putting up with each other in love; endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, even as you are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and father of all, who is above all and thru all and in you all’ Ephesians 4:1-6. Last night I caught Tim Lahaye [famous end time’s preacher] on the fox channel, he was talking about the one world govt. system and the one world banking/economic system. He was saying how he believed that the Obama administration was a tool that would lead up to the apocalypse. The host, Mike Huckabee, was kind enough to let Tim speak but kind of gave a little more mercy to the president. I felt bad for Lahaye, you could see he is getting up in age and you could tell that that’s the way he saw the bible, the lens of end time dispensationalism and the one world order was what he saw, and that’s that. Often times in the various debates that believers have amongst one another, it’s easy to lose sight of the greater purpose of God. In the above passage the apostle talks about the necessity of seeing God’s people as one body, to avoid as much as possible any divisions that would rise up among us. In our day we have many sincerebelievers who see many things differently, how far down the road of practical unity we will get- I don’t know. But it is imperative that we give each other the benefit of the doubt, that we make room for the different views that other believers have- yes even those who espouse the end time scenarios that seem to be a little off base! As a student of the bible and church history, I realize that there are many doctrinal differences that are deep seated- these will not go away simply because we love one another; but at the same time there needs to be an overriding view of the desire of God for unity among his people. I need to make as much ‘room’ for you as possible when it comes to being a fellow believer in the Lord, I should not allow my beliefs in certain areas trump the unity that we all posses in Christ. This chapter speaks of the gifts that Christ gives to the church for the benefit of the whole body, if I am using my gift in a way that causes division, then no matter how gifted I am, I am working against the purpose of that gift. In the above passage the apostle speaks of the need for humility and meekness, we need to stop seeing each other thru the lens of ‘our group is better/knows more truth than your group’ even if we believe that ‘our group’ really is more doctrinally sound than the other members of Christ’s church, yet we are called to lowliness and meekness when dealing with one another- yes there will be times of honest and robust disagreement, but we must not forsake/forget the high calling to strive for unity amongst the people of God. Let’s give people the benefit of the doubt- if we disagree with them, whether politically or in areas of belief, let’s not jump to the conclusion that they are going to personally play a major role in bringing in the apocalypse for heaven’s sake! If these people are believers then it is our duty to give them the benefit of the doubt, even if we disagree with them strongly in certain areas.
[1489] ‘till we all come to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man…that we henceforth be no more children, tossed back and forth and carried around by every new teaching, by the tricks of men who lie in wait to deceive; but speaking the truth in love may grow up INTO HIM in every way, he is the head- even Christ’ Ephesians 4:13-16. This passage comes right after Paul gives us a description of the gifts/ministers that exist in the church; the purpose of gifted people is to bring the people to a maturity in Christ- not just an increase in knowledge about Jesus, but that we as the body of Christ might fully mature and be more like him. Often times we confuse intellectual knowledge with knowing Jesus; or we think that the end goal is to simply increase in learning. While I love to learn and grow in all areas of teaching, I also realize that Jesus is looking for more than just smart people. In the gospels we see Jesus engaging at different times with the religious leaders, they usually have some trick question that they think will stump him- what were they doing? They felt like if they could ‘catch him’ in a contradiction, then that would prove to them that they were still the elites of the day and that this Jesus was just another one of the so called messiahs. But in every case Jesus would respond with a short, quick answer that would dumbfound the questioners. You got the feeling that he could have easily blown everybody away with his intellect, but he didn’t use his wisdom in that way. What we consider to be the best teachings of Jesus are his parables and the great Sermon on the Mount; though these teachings are great, yet they are simple. They call us to the Christ like life, not just to a life that knows more about Christ. In the above passage Paul tells the Ephesians that God is building us into a mature body of people who will express Christ to the world. The gifted people are not just great speakers who the people gather around weekly to listen to- they are carpenters who are building the people of God until we all come to a unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. God wants us to ‘grow up INTO him’ that is to be formed into a mature body of people- God is looking for real growth, not just a bunch of people who have all the best answers.
[1490] ‘Don’t walk as unbelievers, in the vanity of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the LIFE OF GOD thru the ignorance that is in them… put off the former way of life, which is corrupt and be renewed in the spirit of your mind… put away lying and speak the truth to your neighbor’ Ephesians 4:17-26. A few years ago I had a new neighbor move across the street, we became friends and he too was a believer. Lots of my friendships are mentoring type situations where I help people out and we become connected as a true brotherhood. In some way my friend Dave sort of looked to me in that way; he would have questions and I would do my best to answer, I would help him run errands and stuff, and if I didn’t talk to him regularly he would get offended- he would ask ‘Have I done something wrong’? Dave suffers from grand maul seizures and has been on disability for years. I noticed over time that Dave liked to ‘tell stories’ I mean stories that he ‘thought’ were true, but they obviously were not- I mean fantastic stuff. I did not judge him for this flaw; I chalked it up to his many medical problems and left it alone. Dave would regularly get into conflicts with his neighbors, one day he grabbed a next door teen who was running down the street; the teen beat Dave up pretty brutally. He had a tendency to cross many lines in his speech and actions, after a while I realized Dave had a past history of altercations like this- the cops told the neighbors that they have had many calls over the years that involved Dave. The other night my wife came home and said she had heard that someone was shot to death around the block the evening before; yes, Dave shot to death the neighbor who he shared a common back yard fence with. I don’t know all the details and I plan on going over in a few days to talk with his wife and try and help them as much as possible. The story is that Dave was walking his dog and got into some kind of argument with the man and shot him multiple times on his property. Not good. I was always concerned that Dave would tell me so many ‘stories’ over the years, it was more of a compulsion than anything else. But to engage in regular lying is also a sin. The apostle Paul tells us that we are to put away all of the former things and ‘put on’ the new man. He says that the ignorance in the minds of the unbelieversseparates them from God- not just from knowledge about God, but from God himself. We are to be renewed in the spirit of our minds and put on the new man. He tells us not to lie to one another, because we are members of each other and it is like doing harm to your own family. Over the years I have prayed for Dave, and I now realize that he will become a named regular on my list- one who I will mention by name in prayer weekly for many years to come. I have done this many times before and actually have a few local names that I am doing this with now. I often read a news story about a believer or a person arrested for a serious crime and I mention their name during a routine time of prayer when I pray for God to restore those who have fallen; Dave will now ‘forever’ be named on that list.
[1491] ‘Be ye therefore followers of God as dear children: and walk in love as Christ also has loved us, and hath given himself for us as an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smellingsavour’. Ephesians 5:1-2. The early church had a tag stuck on them- they were called ‘followers of the way’. Paul exhorts the believers to be followers of God; he goes thru the first half of the chapter and speaks about ‘not sinning’ yes- those who commit adultery, lie, cheat, use bad language, these do not inherit Gods kingdom. Strong stuff indeed. The early church saw Christianity more along the lines of being a follower of a person [Jesus] than embracing a set of doctrines. Now, there was a core set of beliefs that the early church did hold to, the New Testament defines it as ‘the faith once delivered to the saints’. Many believe that the statement of Paul in 1stCorinthians 15 ‘Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures…’ many believe that this portion of scripture was first an oral tradition among the early believers; that is they might have used this as an early creed. And the church did have what was called a ‘krygma’ a compact set of beliefs that was considered to be the core beliefs of the Christian faith. The point being we had a concise set of beliefs, but we also had a strict moral code, one that was to be lived by the power of the Spirit, but yet strict as compared with today’s standards. Paul tells the church ‘be followers of God’ we are told to imitate Christ, to be like him. As Christianity progressed down thru the ages many came to define authentic faith as embracing the more orthodox set of beliefs that were being hammered out thru the creeds and councils of the church- some came to see Christianity strictly along these lines. I think it would do us all some good if we began seeing ourselves once again as followers of ‘the way’ that is people who call Jesus Lord and ‘follow God’. Yes, we appreciate and hold to the historic Christian faith, that’s important- but we also ‘follow God’.
[1492] ‘submitting to each other in the fear of God, wives submit unto your husband’s as unto the Lord…husbands love your wives even as Christ loved the church and gave himself for it…this is a great mystery, Christ and the church’ Ephesians 5. The apostle tells us that in marriage the 2 become one, just like our ‘marriage’ to Christ. In 1stCorinthians Paul rebukes them for a specific sin; incest, fornication. He tells them that when they sleep with a person outside of marriage that the 2 become one- he then says ‘shall I take the members of Christ and make them the members of a harlot’. The point he makes is as Christ’s body we are actually parts of him. The various debates that the church has had over the communion table have centered around whether or not the elements become the actual physical body and blood of Jesus. One of the sad things that has happened is while we have had this debate [centuries old] we have missed the agreed reality that yes, our bodies are actually considered parts of Christ. These verses have also come under fire over the years because they speak of the wife submitting to the husband- the reality is this submission is not some type of bigoted thing, it’s a willing submission done in love as the husband expresses Christ like love to the wife. Paul said the great ordinance of marriage points to the great reality of us being joined to Christ in a very real way- if you will, it can be said without contradiction that the Real Presence of Christ is in the world today thru the church, the people of God.
[1493] ‘children, honor your parents…fathers, raise your children in the fear of the Lord- don’t provoke them…slaves, obey your masters, and masters- treat your slaves [servants] well, knowing that you too have a master in heaven’ Ephesians 6:1-9. Let’s deal with the issue of reading the bible in its cultural context. When the church was birthed in the 1st century, she was born into a Roman society that dominated the known world- yet Rome was not stupid, they had a policy of conquering people and allowing these groups to self govern as much as possible. The Jewish nation actually lived in her own cultural world while at the same time being ruled over by ‘the oppressors’. Rome allowed for a degree of religious freedom. They had their Pantheon of various gods and also did not interfere with the ‘other gods’ of their conquered foes. The problem with the Christians arose because the believers would only acknowledge one God [like the Jews] they would not say ‘Caesar is Lord’ but only Jesus. This drew a strange accusation from Rome; the Christians would be seen as atheists! Yes, atheists in the sense that they would not accept the Roman gods. Now, into this mix the church had to deal with the problem of not being seen as insurgents who were trying to overthrow the ‘God ordained’ govt. of Rome [book of Romans]. They did their best to not be seen as a rebellious movement. This, in my opinion, is why we do not read statements in the New Testament that encourage the overthrowing of slavery. Instead you find admonitions like the one in the above passage that exhort both slaves and masters to live together as much as possible in peace and harmony. I do not see the New Testament [taken in this cultural context!] condoningslavery for all time; but what I see is an early effort by the fledging church to live in peace and order at a time when the ruling authority watched closely over her people. It is true that during the struggle to free the Black salves, many southern preachers read these verses in a way that said ‘the bible tells us not to overthrow slavery, but to treat each other as fellow believers while allowing the institution to survive’. Yet you had men like Charles Finney, wellknown for his role in the 2nd great awakening that took place in the 19th century, Finney was an outspoken opponent of slavery and did all he could to stop it. So the church has had people on both sides of the issue. As we read the new Testament, one of the main themes is that Christ has come to set men free from bondage [slavery] the apostle himself will teach that inJesus ‘there is neither slave nor free- we are all one in Christ’ the overall teaching from scripture is that Christ died to set men free, so as the church would grow over time we would get to a place where God would raise up voices [in due season] that would speak out against the oppression of the slave trade. To appeal to the immediate concern of Paul in the first century as expressed thru these passages [the concern of believers not being viewed as rebels who overthrow order in society] and to read these same passages centuries later in order to justify slavery is reading the bible out of its cultural context. We should also be aware that there are other issues that the church in our day struggles with, many appeal to this line of reasoning while dealing with homosexual relationships, ordaining gay people to the pulpit and other stuff like that. It’s not my purpose to deal with everything right now, suffice it to say that I do not personally see these 2 issues as civil rights issues that fall into the same category- undoing slavery and accepting homosexual marriage are not the same thing in my book- but to be aware of the way believers have approached these issues is important for our day. There were many well meaning believers/preachers who read these passages and took them literally to mean that it was wrong for slaves to rise up against ‘their masters’ and rebel, these preachers appealed to the direct words of scripture while making their point- it’s just they were not reading the scripture in its true cultural context.
[1494] ‘Take everything the master has set out for you, well worn weapons of the best materials…be prepared, you’re up against far more than you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can get, every weapon the father has issued…learn how to apply them, you’ll need them thru out life…prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare. PRAY HARD AND LONG! Pray for your brothers and sisters…and don’t forget to pray for me, that I’ll know what say and the courage to say it at the right time, telling the mystery to one and all’ Ephesians 6. Paul ends the letter by exhorting the church to put on her armor- things like right living, salvation, faith, all basic characteristics of the Christian life. He warns them that they are not in a physical warfare but a spiritual one, up against dark forces and evil rulers in positions of authority. He urges them to pray- pray for each other, pray for me! He is not afraid to admit he needs prayer. Recently the actor Mel Gibson has been in the news for lots of personal problems. I remember a few years back Mel made a commitment to follow the Lord- and I believe he was sincere. Yet the media has used him as a court jester in recent weeks. I pray for the man, we should all be on the lookout for one another, lift each other up in prayer. If you here a rumor about somebody, then pray for them. One of our other weapons is the gospel of peace on our feet. There is another scripture that says ‘blessed are the feet of those who bring the good news’. In the Old Testament when nations fought, the way the king kept informed about the warfare was a runner would run from the battle and bring the news. You could tell from a distance whether the news was good or bad, by the ‘step’ of the runner. If the news was good then the runner had this exciting run that you could tell he was eager to get to the king; but if the news was bad you could read it in the hesitance of the runner. Paul said we have the feet of the one who brings the good news; people see our step and know that the message is one of reconciliation and peace- this surely is the message of the church. As I close this brief look at the letter to the Ephesians, let’s put on the armor that the Lord has given us- not a bunch of spiritual warfare techniques of doing ‘3rd level heavenly attacks’ against territorial spirits! But by walking in the Spirit and continuing in prayer FOR one another. We also have the great high priest, Jesus, who makes intercession for us. We have the Spirit who intercedes for us with groanings that cannot be uttered; we have an entire armory of spiritual accessories that are not even dependent upon us! Run the race well, put on the armor and tell the great story of the Cross as much as possible- that’s the message that the world needs to hear.
[1495] THE NAACP VERSUS THE TEA PARTY- The last few weeks the media has been reporting on race issues; both the liberal and conservative news organizations have been playing to their audience. Fox news has reported on the NAACP’s meeting where Benjamin Jealous [the president] called on the Tea Party to reject racist elements in their ranks. Fox has pointed out that they have never made the same plea to Farrakhan or other radical black groups. Fox has also been playing the video of the New Black Panther member who has said he ‘hates all crackers, they and their babies need to be killed’. On the other side you have MSNBC branding Rand Paul and Sharon Angle [republican primary winners] as racist nuts who want to undo the civil rights laws and go back to the stone age- Sharon Angle happens to be a Christian ‘soccer mom’ who got into politics years ago out of a sincere desire to change things for the better- Paul is a libertarian who has expressed views that he felt that it was wrong for the govt. to intervene in personal matters in general, and his objection to the civil rights laws were on this basis. He is not a racist who wants to undo civil rights, though I personally do not hold to his views. The point is that both sides of the political spectrum are stirring stuff up. And last night a Black woman who worked for the govt. was caught on video tape saying how she discriminated against a White farmer who came to her for aid; she resigned. A few weeks back I was in a situation that I haven’t been in for a long time; I was stuck in another town without a vehicle. My truck was down and I had no ride home. So I figured I would start walking and maybe hitch a ride. I also had left my cell phone home. After a while I decided to stop in a store and call someone for a ride. I do look a little like a hippie and have been mistaken for a bum a few times. So as I approach the counter and buy the bottle of water in my hand, I ask the ladies if I could use the phone; they made all types of excuses- I wasn’t going to get to use it. Some gang type looking kids overheard my conversation and they offered me their cell phone to use. I walked another few blocks and decided to stop at another store and call a taxi. It was getting late and I was in some strange town and there were lots of gang type looking kids out and about- to be honest it didn’t bother me in the least, I felt pretty comfortable. I went into the store and asked the cashier if she had a phone book so I could call a taxi, this store had a pay phone. After looking for the book for around 10 minutes, another ‘gang’ looking kid told me he had the taxi number in his cell phone in the car- sure enough he did! He let me make the call from his phone and the taxi was on the way. As I sat outside the store, cars coming and going, I noticed a Black kid [19?] checking me out. He walked back and forth a few times and I saw him go to his car, he was getting something. As I was sitting there by the tire air pump, away from the customers- he started walking over to me. I was in a spot where people did not have to go passed me to enter the store- he was purposefully coming my way. As he got closer I saw he had something hidden in his hand; I figured ‘what the heck, I can’t do anything at this point’ so I simply gave him a ‘hi, what’s up?’ type thing. He pulled his hand out and gave me the surprise; around 2 dollars in quarters- he thought I was a homeless bum. As the ‘race wars’ heat up in the media, we need to remember the value that God gives to human beings. When Jesus said ‘The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath’ he was telling us that there are times when institutions that have laws, even good laws, that if we begin exalting the law [illegal immigration laws] and pushing them to a point where we don’t see the real need anymore, instead we see the law as the important thing- then we are missing out on the value of the person. The only people that helped me in my ‘journey home’ were a few Hispanic gang looking kids and a young Black man. The ‘more noble’ store owner/workers looked for ways to get me out of their stores! In this ongoing debate over race, keep what’s important at the fore front- God values people more than laws. Yes, God gave us law and govt. as a good thing, a thing that would benefit man; but if we lose sight of the plight of people- even those who have broken the law by coming hereillegally- if we lose sight of their real struggles, then we have forgotten what it means to truly loveourneighbor as ourselves.
[1496] A BALL CAP- A few weeks ago I wrote a post on the death of one of my homeless friends. His namewas Bill. Over the years I would get with Bill often and we would hit all the buffets in town, I have done this hundreds of times with my homeless friends and they love it. A few years ago the mission where I meet lots of the guys held a fundraiser; they had someone paint a beautiful oil painting of Bill at the homeless camp. It looks fantastic. The artist donated it to sell, and someone bought it and gave it to the mission. I always thought when Bill passes away I will ask if they wouldto sell it to me. To be honest I hoped that they would just give it to me being I donate lots of time and money to the guys; the mission has people on salary who are making money and all- I spend my own money helping the homeless. So any way the other day I was at the mission and I figured it was time to make the request. I went to the office of the lady who is in charge; there on her wall was the prized possession. I introduced myself to her and explained to her who I was and why she has seen me at the mission for years; she thought I was simply one of the crowd [good!]. But this day I had to explain my ministry to her, I was hoping to get the painting. As I talked with her I realized that she simply was doing a job, as I told her how me and Bill were good friends and I have spent many years and hours with Bill, she accidently spoke bad about Bill. She simply expressed the same view that many people ‘in the world’ have expressed. Basically that Bill was lazy and dirty. I know she did not realize that I was coming to the table as a friend and witness for the homeless- over the years many of the homeless have been treated with disdain by the workers at the missions. You have a few people that the homeless like and appreciate, but you have many workers/volunteers that seem to be doing it out of a guilty conscience or a job; these often express disdain towards the homeless and the homeless pick this up. So as I talked with ‘Kay’, seeing the painting of my friend on the wall, I realized she was not going to sell me the painting [I did not ask for it for free- though I felt this would have been a fair thing to do being I have spent so much time and money personally helping Bill!]. I then found a way to cut the small talk and get back with ‘the population’. These last few weeks I have had truck problems, I have had to pick it up from a tow yard- take it to a mechanic, and work on it myself. All thru this ordeal I kept noticing some red ball cap that was getting thrown all over the truck as I was messing around with it. I thought ‘geez, I should just throw this old cap out’. Then I realized it was an old super bowl cap that belonged to Bill- Bill was a football fanatic, he loved the Cowboys. I thought to myself, geez; let me hang this cap up as a reminder of my good friend Bill. I didn’t obtain the prized panting of Bill, but I have this red cap hanging right over my head as a good reminder of a friend who is in a better place right now.
[1497] ‘Guilt is the loss of the integrity of the soul, and the soul’s recognition of that loss’ Thomas Aquinas. I heard this a while ago and liked it. It has been said that man is the only creature with the ability to self evaluate; we can look back on our lives and make course corrections by Gods grace. I have been reading in the gospel of John a little- Jesus is talking to the disciples [John 14] and he’s getting ready to ‘go away’ he has spent time with them and tells them ‘the words that I have spoken unto you are not my own, but the Father that dwells in me- he does the works’. Notice, his revealing of God to his men was not so much an intellectual pursuit, but a thing he lived out among them. ‘The father is doing these works’ they ask him to show them the father and he tells them ‘I have BEEN with you for a while now, why do you ask me to show you the father’? His incarnation was the only way that God could reveal himself to man, there was nothing more that Jesus could say or teach that would trump the revelation of God to them by Jesus simply being with them for 3 years. He tells them that after he leaves he will send the Spirit and the Spirit will more fully reveal to them what’s going on, he will bring to their remembrance the things Jesus taught them- in essence they will have many ‘aha’ moments- times where they will say ‘now we see what he was talking about’. Saint Thomas taught that there will be times in life when we experience real guilt, not condemnation, but honest to goodness guilt. That thing the world thinks is bad, the therapists try to ‘soothe’ by saying ‘it’s not your fault’ but sometimes things are our fault! We have the ability to look back and say ‘now I see some of the mistakes I have made, things that I didn’t fully understand until now’ and this process is a good thing, something that we should expect to happen. Many believers practice a daily examination of their souls. At the end of the day they look back on their day and ask the Lord to show them any faults and they pray for forgiveness ‘I confess to almighty God, and to you my brothers and sisters- that I have sinned thru my own fault, in my thoughts and in my words- in what I have done and in what I have failed to do’ trust the Lord today to lead you in right paths, and at the end of the day allow him to reveal to you the things that you don’t fully see right now, and if at the end of the day you realize you have gone off course, then yes- you have experienced guilt- the soul recognized some loss of integrity. That’s a good thing, not bad.
[1498] ‘THE WORDS THAT I SPEAK ARE NOT MY OWN, BUT THE FATHER THAT DWELLS IN ME- HE DOES THE WORK’ Jesus Christ. In John 14 Jesus tells his men that he and the Father will manifest themselves unto them; they ask ‘how will you manifest yourself unto us and not unto the world’? Jesus responds that those who love him will keep his commandments, and to these he will come and dwell with them by the Spirit. The world [unbelievers] have no thirst for this. Of course the question would be ‘which commandments’? Most of us are familiarwith the big 10; others see certain Christian practices as the most important- going to church on Sunday, tithing, etc. The writer of this gospel [John] also wrote the 3 smallerletters [1st, 2nd, 3rd John]. John seems to see the law of love as the supreme commandment, of course he gets this from Jesus own words. Jesus at one time was asked what the greatest commandment was, and he replied ‘to love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and mind and might’ and to love our neighbors as ourselves. Did Jesus just pick this out of the air? No, he was actually quoting the person that the Jews looked to as the great law giver- Moses. Moses, the man famous for receiving the 10 commandments at the hand of God, yes he was the one who had such a grasp of the character of God that he was able to sum up the 10 commandments as these 2 universal laws. When we love God and our neighbor we will be put in a ‘place’ where God will speak to us- when we live in true community we will see and experience God thru one another. A while back I had a friend who began hanging out with me and some of the homeless guys- he too was homeless. He didn’t look the part, always clean shaven, worked regularly, but yet he was homeless. My friend had some background with the Lord, he knew the bible and it was easy to see that he had been a believer for many years. At the time I had just finished reading Frank Viola’s Pagan Christianity- the book stirred up a controversy and I was careful to whom I would recommend it. But Iknew Robert had expressed some of these beliefs in the past and I thought he would like it. He read it and did like it, but oneday he emailed me and asked ‘do you know where I could findan ‘organic’ church to join’? He made the mistake of thinking he could find true community in some meeting, that is if he found ‘the church’ with the right answers [concerning organic church] that he would then attend these church meetings [as opposed to the institutional church] and then he would have arrived. What myfriend was missing was the fact that much of the daily community things we were doing at the time- getting together as a group of friends, sharing the word at certaintimes, and yes, having meetings every so often- that the actual daily helping of one another and identifying as believers was in itself a true expression of community. Jesus told his men that when they loved God, and each other, that it was in that environment that God would reveal himself to them. John himself would later write ‘how can you say you love God, who you cannot see, if you don’t love your brother who you can see’? I fear we live in a day where other things have taken precedence over the value of ‘our brother’. We have our political ideas, our theological slants, our ‘better’ beliefs than the church down the block-and these things become the main thing to us, often at the expense of truly loving our brother. Jesus was giving us the words of God, not men. He quoted the great lawgiver of the Old Testament; the main ‘philosopher’ of the Jew of his day- if Moses said it, then surely it must be so.
[1499] ‘Abide in me…I did the works that no one else did…I spoke the words that no one else spoke…because of this they have no more excuse for sin’ Jesus, John’s gospel chapter 15. It’s interesting to see that in this context Jesus was speaking to the religious class of his day; not ‘the sinners’. Jesus ministry and style were one where sinners would be drawn to him, they did not feel justified in their sin, but they for once felt hope and acceptance after years of guilt and condemnation. On the other hand the religious leaders were rebuked by what Jesus did and said- he violated their perceived ideas about God and ministry. Overthe years I have heard many good men teach that as an individual believer you really don’t have the resources to ‘touch the world’ many have said ‘it takes thousands and millions of dollars to preach the gospel, you can only do you part if you chip in to this huge organization’. What these sayings do is in effect contradict the word of God. It leavesbelievers with the mindset that they really can’t have an effect unless they send money to a huge Christian ministry. But Jesus taught contrary to this; he told his men when he sent them out ‘don’t think you need a lot of equipment for this- you are the equipment- no special appeals for funds, keep it simple’ [message version]. The apostle Paul told the Ephesians ‘he that stole, steal no more, but WORK so YOU CAN HAVE MONEY TOGIVE TO THOSE WHO NEED IT’. And Paul addressed the church leaders at Ephesus, Acts chapter 20, and he told them ‘all the time I was with you I worked with my own hands to provide for myself andthose who were with me-I did this to leave you guys an example’. The point is there is a lot of New Testament teaching on individual believers, working and living as normal people, not starting big organizations that collect/appeal for funds, who actually are having an impact in the world. It can be argued that the New Testament pattern is one of community and not one of nonprofit ministry. Many years ago I received a word that said ‘in your future ministry you will have no models to follow, thru your deeds and words you will show people Jesus’ ways’. Over the years I have tried to leave the example that you don’t need to appeal for money, you don’t need to see ministry as gathering all this money to do a great work- but you can simply work a real job [I was a firefighter for25 years] and simply use your own money to do what God requires you to do- show mercy, do justice and love God and man. Jesus spoke and modeled in such a way that the normal way of doing ministry [the Pharisees of his day] felt convicted by the fact that he was doing things that they had abandoned long ago, he seemed to be violating the structures that they deemed important [healing on the Sabbath day]. Where are you at today? Leaders, have you simply modeled a way of church and ministry simply because that’s all you have ever known? It’s easy to get caught up in the rut of ‘ministry’ to go down a business type format that unconsciously makes void the word of God. Remember, Jesus taught us that we do not need to start with the mindset of collecting offerings/tithes from people, there are many examples [like the ones above] that appeal to believers to live simple lives, work for a living, and simply share the money you have with those in need. Don’t get caught up in the modern scenarios where we tell people ‘you really can’t have an effect by yourself, you need lots of money to have an effect’ the scriptures simply don’t teach that.
[1500] DO NOT FEAR THE REPROACH OF MEN- THE REPROACHES OF THEM THAT HAVE REPROACHED YOU HAVE FALLEN UPON ME- Isaiah. The other day I had the opportunity to walk across the street and talk to my neighbor who shot and killed a man last week. I thought he was in jail, but my kids said they saw him. So I spoke with Dave, I shared these verses with him; I think they spoke to him. He is waiting for the grand jury to meet and decide on his case. He and his wife are struggling with the stigma of being a ‘murderer’- Dave battles with what all the people are saying, some true and some false. I explained to Dave that reproaches are the things people say about us in a negative way. People can live in fear simply by going around and thinking about the accusations against us. I told my friend that these accusations [whether true or false] were laid upon Jesus at the Cross- we don’t need to carry them anymore. The other day I channel surfed the religious stations and heard a few minutes of preaching that I haven’t listened to in years. It’s not that there bad people, it’s just the whole style of flashy charismatic preaching/ministry is not my cup of tea anymore. I caught a brother from Dallas, has a worldwide ministry; he was talking about going ‘thru hell’ and all the trials and difficulties he is facing; most of this sort of preaching, thoughtrue, is centered on the trials and struggles that come from the fame and pressure of modern ministry. That is the heads of ministries that have a national persona are usually coming at it from the angle of the things you go thru while being the center of attention. While these men are for the most part good men, yet it’s difficult for the average saint to identify with these types of struggles. It takes time to see that the Jesus of the gospels has given us a different mandate, one where we all share the burdens of one another in the simple reality of daily life; ministry and Christianity are based upon humble principles, we need to re-evaluate what we are presenting to the world as ministry. I am not sure what is going to happen to my friend, I will continue to pray for him and his wife and will try and spend more time talking to him; he was so glad that I took the time to walk over and spend some time fellowshipping with him; he was under the weight of the reproach of men- I simply reminded him that these reproaches were taken at the Cross.
[1501] MICHAEL- Michael is a homelessfriend that I met many years ago; his family was in the Navy and he wound up living on the streets after they moved on. Michael is one of the guys that has obvious mental issues. He is smart and talented, he does great art work- but you can tell that something has happened to him along the road of life. It seems as if he might have had a ‘bad trip’ on acid or meth at one point in his life. He reminds me of myself in a way, having had some bad experiences with acid when I was younger. Over the years I would run into Michael at different stages of the journey, he would eventually buy a junk car- it ran and served its purpose. He worked as a dishwasher for a while. The last time I saw Michael he had gotten an apartment with subsidized housing, he seemed to be doing well. Michael also did tattoos, he would show me some of the art he would draw for the tattoos- he even made some firefighter stuff after he met me. He like drawings that had to do with fire fighting. The reason I mentioned Michael today is because I had a dream about him earlier and felt led to pray for him. Michael is a good friend; he actually came by the house a few times over the years. You could tell that he normally would not ‘talk religion’ but we became real friends and every now and then he would either say something or show me some art that had to do with the Lord- sort of out of a courtesy to me. It’s important to make some friends along the way, not just people you are targeting for conversion, but real friends. After they get to know you as a real person they will feel comfortable enough to ask you things about God, things that they always wanted to ask but were afraid to ask. Jesus said we should love our neighbor as our self, go find a neighbor.
[1502] HAGGAI INTRO- Haggai is one of three post exilic prophets; he returned to Jerusalem around 520 B.C. and prophesied at around the same time as Zechariah. The other post exilic prophet is Malachi. Haggai spoke at a time when the Jews, who returned to their land after being held in captivity, were discouraged about rebuilding Gods temple and they needed to be reminded about their priorities. The Jews returned to their land with excitement and dreams of rebuilding what was destroyed by their enemies, yet after their return they faced opposition and accusations by their enemies. These accusations eventually stalled the work of rebuilding the temple and Haggai prophesied for them to get back to the work. He spoke to the governor, the high priest and the population at large. An oft repeated word from the prophet is ‘consider your ways’ he tells them they need to get their priorities in order if they want to see the land renewed. They were under an economic drought and their land was not producing fruit- the prophet says they need to get back to seeking first God’s kingdom and then he will take care of the rest. Much of Haggai’s message is timely for our day [2010] many feel if we just do the right economic move then we will overcome the recession, yet at the same time the country has made bad moral decisions [extending abortion funding] and we seem to think that these things are not related to each other. Haggai told the people that their economic problems were a direct result of not seeking God. As we do this short study over the next few days, go read the book- It’s only 2 chapters long. See if you can spot the 4 individual prophetic messages that make up the bulk of the book.
[1503] HAGGAI 1- The prophet rebukes the people because they were saying ‘it’s not time for the Lords house to be built’ yet at the same time they were busy ‘dwelling in their nice roofed homes’. Haggai tells them that’s why they were experiencing economic judgment; because they were seeking first their own wealth and neglecting the house of God. Whenever I deal with these types of verses I always try and remind the reader that these verses are not talking about fixing up the church building! But the New Testament comparison would be neglecting the actual health and growth of the Body of Christ, the community [house] of God. Read Acts 6 and 1stCorinthians. The prophet rebukes the leaders and he tells them to consider their ways; think about what you are doing and make the proper course corrections. The people listen to the word of the Lord and they begin renewing their lives back to the purpose of God. It’s important to remember that at this stage the people had already come a long way; they were brought back from captivity and they had begun the work of restoration. But the books of Nehemiah and Ezra show us how after a season the people became discouraged, they could not see how much progress they had already made. The writer of Hebrews encourages the believers to not lose heart ‘God is faithful; he will not forget the love that you have already shown to the saints’. Sometimes during seasons of discouragement it’s easy to think ‘what’s it all worth, I have labored in vain’ [Isaiah].It’s at those times we need to hear the prophetic word ‘God is still with you, you have not chosen me- I have chosen you’! Haggai’s message was simple; look at where you are at, examine whether the things you are doing are consistent with your purpose in life- and redirect as God leads. It’s the life story of Israel all thru out the Old Testament, the apostle tells us that these things were written so we too might not make the same mistakes as them [Corinthians]. Today if you will hear his voice, harden not your heart.
[1504] HAGGAI 2- The prophet asks the people ‘does this second temple and its rebuilding pale in comparison to the first one’? Yet even though what they ‘saw’ in the natural seemed less, yet God said his glory would actually be greater in this second house. We read in the other prophetic books [Ezra?] that when the Jews that returned to the land looked at the foundation of the second temple while it was being laid, that they mourned and cried, they felt let down because to them the former days would never be the same again; yet God was going to do a greater work [in depth] than what was done earlier. The book of Hebrews tells us that God takes away the first so he can establish the 2nd. This was speaking of the passing away of the Old Covenant and the bringing in of the New. Jesus also said that those who were ‘drinking of the old wine’ [partaking of the law] would not quickly be swayed to drink the new [accept Jesus and his New Covenant Blood]. So the prophet exhorts the people to be encouraged; even though this restored temple doesn’t look grand, it will contain more valuable glory. The prophet tells them ‘get back to work, don’t give up on the vision yet’- basically the people were at a point of discouragement and passivity, they really didn’t need a new game plan, they simply needed to work the plan they already were given! Sometimes we use the excuse ‘God is calling me to a new work’ while it is true that changes occur in the Christian walk, yet sometimes we abort the mission because the obstacles seem too great. Be encouraged today to do whatever it is the Lord has given you to do- the prophet said ‘is the seed still inthe barn’? Then for heaven’s sake go and do some planting! You say ‘but what if some of the seeds don’t make it’? Hey, Jesus said 3 out of 4 wouldn’t! But if youdon’t start planting you will never get the return on the few that do make it. Haggai was a prophet who spoke to the nation at a crucial time in their journey, he exhorted them to ‘consider their ways’ he told them they were brought back to the land for a purpose- yet they seemed to lose sight of that purpose and they fell into a survival mentality, they began living just to survive. I want to challenge you today, what are you living for? Is your life’s goal simply tomake it? To exist long enough to collect social security and retire? God has a purpose and plan for your life, and it doesn’t revolve around you! Find your place in this ‘second temple’ [the Body of Christ] and get to work, do what you can do- if some of the seed doesn’t make it, that’s fine, the ones that do make it will be worth it all in the end. And forheaven’s sake, get up and get to work! Jesus said ‘don’t say the harvest is month’s away, look on the fields- they are ripe and ready to harvest, but the workers are few. Pray that the Lord of the harvest would send laborers into the harvest’. Isaiah said ‘here am I, send me’- how bout you?
[1505] GIVE TO THE POOR AND YOU WILL HAVE TREASURE IN HEAVEN- The other day I was talking to someone about the story in Luke chapter 12; the rich man whose farms were producing a lot and he said to himself ‘I will tear down my barns and build greater ones and say to my soul ‘soul, you have much goods for many years’- Jesus said the man would die that night and then who will get his stuff? Later on in the chapter Jesussays ‘give alms [charity- helping the poor] and you will have treasure in heaven that thieves won’t be able to touch’. As I shared the story I asked the person if they ever thought about how many times the New Testament relates giving by giving to the poor. The famous verse that most teachers use to teach ‘tithing on Sunday’ is 1stCorinthians 16, in actuality Paul is telling the believers at Corinth to take up an offering FOR THE POOR! We simply do not normally see what these verses are saying at face value. I could go on for a long time and show you how this very reality- that the majority of verses in the bible that speak about being faithful stewards [faithful givers] teach it in the context of giving to the poor. Yet the average believer today feels like if he gives 10% of his income on Sunday, that somehow he is fulfilling the mandate of Jesus. I want to encourage you today, as you read thru the bible, pay attention to this very thing- go back and read all the verses that you currently use as ‘tithing’ verses, and see whether or not they are speaking about charitable giving, you will be surprised at the outcome.
[1506] CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS- Last night I caught a brief interview of Christopher Hitchens; the atheist intellectual. To my surprise he has had cancer for 2 months and the prognosis does not look good. He was asked whether or not he has changed his stance now that he is dyeing- he stood strong to the end- he said he still does not believe in a God and that if he gets so sick that he loses his faculties and says some type of prayer at death, that it should be chalked up to loss of mind. He mentioned how some web sites have sprung up calling for his death, but there were others that have called for prayer- as a matter of fact they have designated a special day of prayer just for him! The host asked him ‘do you want to ask those Christians not to pray for you’ and he quickly said ‘oh no’ you could sense in his tone that he was hoping; but then he said ‘well, if it makes them feel better, then let them pray’. He also said that sometimes psychosomatic things can have a real effect; sort of like if people ‘pray’ andbelieve a person will get healed; that in some cases it works. He mentioned ‘the Almighty’ in the conversation; he referred to him as a real being, even though he is an atheist. So he basically confessed that prayer sometimes works and that the Almighty exists, though he is an unbeliever. God takes the foolish and causes them to acknowledge him- truly every knee shall bow and every tongue confess. I feel no ill will towards Hitchens, I just mentioned him in prayer- but it should be known that he is part of the crop of current atheists who has gone out of his way to mock and ridicule believers; unlike some atheists of the past who have been more respectful in their denial of God. I heard Hitchens mock mother Theresa after her death, not good. Any person who devotes his life to trying to cause other people to reject the faith, surely he has wasted much of his life. Jesus said it was better to have a stone tied around your neck and dumped into the ocean than for a person to cause a ‘little one’ to be offended. Hitchens has offended many little ones. Let’s pray for the man, and also be realistic about his willful rejection of God- the scripture says the atheist does not reject God on purely rationalisticgrounds, but that he rejects God because of sin. Hitchens, like everyone else, has an appointment with God- it would be better if he spent some time with him before the meeting.
[1507] CONTEXT- One of the most important tools to use while reading the bible is reading it in context; that is to read the story as a story- all of the parts should be seen in the setting that they are appearing in. When reading the gospels we should seek to understand as much as possible the times and culture of Jesus’ day. When reading historical sections of scripture we approach it with a more ‘literal’ reading; wisdom literature and poetry have their own sense. And reading apocalyptic sections [Revelation, Daniel] we should see them in their context. Let me just give a brief example of what I mean; many years ago it was popular to read the story of Jesus and Judas and to teach that Jesus must have had a very wealthy earthly treasury because the bible says Judas was ‘stealing money from the bag’ and no one noticed any money was missing. Also the fact that Jesus owned an expensive coat, the one the soldiers ‘cast lots’ for at the Cross. It was common to develop a view that said ‘aha, Jesus was spending the moneyfrom the treasury on gifts for himself; therefore as followers of Jesus we should take the money given thru offerings and treat ourselves lavishly’. Now, why would doing this be wrong? First of allJesus spoke often on the themes of the rich being on the outs with God, and the poor being blessed- he would say things like ‘beware of covetousness, for a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses’ or ‘you cannot serve God and money’. But what about the Judas verses brother? As you read the gospels in context you see that the disciples and Jesus had a traveling type ministry [itinerant] people did give gifts to them out of appreciation and love. We have a few instances that tip us off to what the disciples were using the majority of these collected offerings for; at the last supper when Jesus told Judas he knew he was going to betray him, Judas left the tableabruptly. What did the others at the meal think? They thought he was going to distribute/purchase something for the poor- why did they not think he was going to make a personal purchase for Jesus? Because that’s not what they were using the money for. And when the woman poured the expensive perfume on Jesus, Judas said ‘what a waste, we could have sold this perfume and given the money to the poor’. Now we know Judas wasn’t sincere in this request; but we see that he tried to cover up his hidden agenda by appealing to what the treasury money was really supposed to be used for- helping the poor! So when reading the bible we need to try and look at the whole story, it’s easy to pick a sentence or 2 from any story and make it say what you want, and many sincere believers have done this- but when we mature in our understanding we will be strong enough to see where we have gone astray and by God’s grace make a course correction. There are many teachers/leaders in the church [predominantly on Christian TV] that still present the gospel in this ‘less than’ honest way, many of these teachings are appealing to the average saint, but when we take a sober look at the whole story we see that Jesus did not put priority on the riches of this world- to the contrary he quite often rebuked those who sought them.
[1508] FRACTALS- The other day I read a front page news story about a church in San Antonio who shut down the Sunday public meeting and transitioned into home type groups. As I read the story I realized that the church was a church plant from the mega church I attend in Corpus Christi. The pastor is a younger brother who is ex-navy and I remember when he started the San Antonio church. As I read the article I realized that he is struggling, like many other Pastors, with the whole idea of church as being this building where people go and listen to someone speak; he basically has joined a growing number of ‘organic, cell, house, etc.’ church brothers who have been going thru this transition for years. I did find it interesting that he was a church plant from the church I attend in Corpus. The name of the movement is ‘Fractals TV’ they derive their name form a mathematical shape that has the ability to change and adjust, much like the idea of organic church. I of course have written and said [and tried to do!] much of this over the years, and I in no way discount the legitimate expression of church that this movement is trying to develop. As believers we all go thru various stages of growth and understanding as the years go by, it’s important for everyone in the conversation to value grace and mercy above all other ideas; too often the ‘organic’ church versus the ‘institutional church’ becomes an argument where both sides appeal to the scriptures that benefit/back up their positions the most, and after a while the fight does more harm than good in the long run. I have come to believe that there are some pastors, good men, who will never really grasp what the entire organic church movement is really all about; for the most part these are good men who really don’t have the time [or desire] to go back and re-think all that they have been taught about ‘church- ecclesia’ and they simply seek to do Gods will in the environment that they were taught at bible college. These are not wicked men, nor are their churches ‘pagan’ in origin [I know the argument, believe me].But they are simply serving the Lord as best as they can, given the education they were taught- or the church tradition they were brought up in, as far as I’m concerned, more power to them. But the movement of those who begin re-thinking what church is all about continues to increase as the years go by; in God’s timing I believe we will all be able to achieve theunity that Jesus spoke about in John 17- the church of God still has many things that divide us, we need to value love and mercy and longsuffering as we all do our best along the way.
[1509] DWELLING IN TENTS WITH ISAAC AND JACOB, HEIRS WITH HIM OF THE SAME PROMISE- Hebrews 11. The other day I decided to listen to Christian radio instead of playing one of the C.D.’s that I own. I often listen to teachings from scholars and theologians while doing early morning chores around the house. So anyway as I listened to some out of town preacher I thought ‘that’s fine, this is obviously not scholarly stuff, but it’s practical’ then at the end of the radio show they said ‘if you would like to order DOCTOR so and so’s tapes’. The problem isn’t that we are not all scholars/theologians- that’s fine, but then when we produce a level of teaching that is basic, and claim to have doctorates [whether honoraryor earned from a catalog type ‘university’] then this makes us look bad. But I also went to my daughter’s house over the weekend and we had a nice B.B.Q. I got the chance to catch a little public access programming that I don’t get at my house; I usually try and watch the local access station to see any local teaching/preaching. I saw the local Calvary Chapel broadcast, never heard the preacher before. He did a basic teaching on Acts and it was scholarly, though the preacher claimed no special credentials. In the above verse Abraham is described as dwelling in a land with other family members, heirs with him of the same promise. That is God brings people together and these individual gifts/callings are tied in together with other believers in your area. We are all believing and waiting for THE SAME PROMISE- not each believing for our own dreams/visions. We need to appreciate the various gifts and callings of others who also are part of the same calling- even if they come from a different tribe. I have no problem listening to a basic type teaching, Paul the apostle, though an intellectual, said when he was preaching at Corinth that he would not use the wisdom/intellect of the world- but he would preach the foolishness of the Cross. It’s okay for a ‘non scholar’ to share at a level of teaching that is high- it’s also fine for a preacher to teach at a basic level, it’s just that we should not be giving out ‘doctorates’ so freely- or producing them ourselves. If it’s truly an earned degree, that’s fine. But when it’s obvious that the level of teaching is not being done at a scholarly level, then it would be better to just call ourselves ‘bother so and so’ instead of ‘doctor’.
[1510] THE MOSQUE AT GROUND ZERO- The great reformer, Martin Luther, said that if we teach and preach about Jesus and the bible, yet overlook the issues of controversy that rage at the time; then we are not faithfully preaching Christ. Over the last 6 months or so a controversy has arisen over an Islamic center that is to be built close to the area where the world trade towers went down. As I have listened to the debate [thru talk radio, the main stream and cable news] I have tried to keep an open mind. As I heard a few snippets of audio from the Imam [leader] of the future mosque, I began to wonder whether we were getting the whole story. As of today let me share my view; it seems as if many well meaning people have been told that the first building to be rebuilt after the 2001 attacks is going to be this mosque. Many believe that this building will be a sort of huge Muslim statement that will overlook the entire area and be saying ‘look, we [radical Islam] have conquered’. First of all, the site in question is actually a couple of blocks away from the actual site where the towers went down; though the community center/mosque will be 13 stories high, yet this is really not big compared to the other buildings in the area. The Muslim community actually purchased the property before 9-11 happened, and the Imam is considered to be one of the moderate voices coming from the Islamic community. All in all, it’s not really a ‘stick it in your face’ type statement that the Muslims are trying to make. Number 2- is it unreasonable for people to ask ‘hey, even though you have the right to build the mosque, as a courtesy to the victims who perished at the site, build it somewhere else’. No, this is an honest concern that good people do have- I think it’s not too much to ask the Muslim community to consider moving the location. The governor, David Patterson, kindly offered them free state land if they wanted to move it to another spot. Most of all, I think it does more harm than good to label this Imam as a radical Islamist, all the facts seem to say otherwise. Has he made statements that honest people have problems with? Yes. But overall he is not one of the more extreme type leaders of Islam. I realize that at this time this stand is very unpopular, and it’s too easy to simply jump on the bandwagon and condemn this man, but we want to do our best at being honest about these types of situations. I grew up very close to this area, right across the Hudson river on the Jersey side- there are many Muslims, Christians, Jews and other faiths that make up the melting pot of the area; if we begin singling out the moderate voices, and targeting them as radicals, when they are not, then this will do harm than good in the long run. As believers we should stand strong for our belief that Jesusis the answer, yes even for the Muslim/Arab community, Jesusis the answer. Yet at the same time it does no good to purposefully alienate the more moderate branch of Islam.
[1511] Jesus said when people hear the ‘word of the kingdom’ and don’t understand it; that the devil comes and takes the word out of their hearts. Right now in our country there is a rise in anger over the Muslim versus Christian traditions; many have made a ‘cause célèbre’ over the mosque being built close to the 911 tragedy. Over the years as I have studied the various faiths and the history of Christianity, I have come to see that many sincere people of various faiths have been a victim of the ‘devil stealing the word of the kingdom’ from their hearts. That is many sincere people have never truly understood or grasped the real kingdom message of Jesus. As the Christian church progressed thru the centuries, many have come to define the faith as a strict orthodox interpretation of the Trinity, the 2 natures of Jesus, and other historic declarations of orthodox Christianity. While I fully agree and hold to these historic creedal truths, what has happened is the other 2 major world religions- Islamand Judaism- have come to define the historic faith by these statements. They have never really understood the main Christian message of God reconciling man thru Christ. They see Christianity thru the lens of ‘that religion is the religion of western civilization’ and they have never been able to grasp the ‘full world’ nature of the kingdom. A few years ago I had a chance encounter with a Muslim. As we talked I asked him if he knew the history of Abraham and the story of Isaac and Ishmael; to my surprise he was not aware of the story found in the Old Testament. I then did about a 20 minute ‘bible study’ and explained to him how God always had a purpose and destiny for the Arab world- many trace the lineage of the Arabs to Ishmael, the step brother of Isaac. It’s a little too much to do right now, but I tried to break down the cultural barrier of viewing Christianity as an ethnic/western mansreligion, and presented the ‘kingdom’ in a way that he could understand and see the main message of reconciliation of all races of people thru Christ. Too many people define the Christian message as a political agenda- or they see the very technical orthodox interpretations of the various doctrines of the faith- and they never really hear what the kingdom is all about. Jesus said this was a strategy of the enemy to prevent people from coming to the faith. As we are entering into a time of increased tension over Islam, let’s be good stewards of the faith and present a non ethnic/cultural message of acceptance and reconciliation of all nations thru Christ. I am not saying all people will automaticallybelieve in the gospel, but I fear that many of them have never really heard it.
[1512] FORGIVENESS- This is a tuff word taken in context of the last few posts; to some it is highly offensive to even discuss the possibility of it being applied to Muslim/Christian relationships. Yet we know that forgiveness is one of the major themes of the New Testament. When dealing with these issues, we often respond by thinking ‘yes, but forgiveness does not mean we should allow others to get away with harming us’ well, to be honest it is the act of us letting people free from the guilt and punishment that they really deserve. It can only truly come into play when people truly do wrong to us, they were wrong and we were right. Then when the wrong is done, we are called upon by God to forgive- yes, to turn the other cheek. Now, I am not advocating a nationalistic passivism; sort of like saying we should never respond to real terror threats to our country, but I am dealing with the underlying sin of personal unforgiveness- that thing in us that says ‘I know these people have done wrong, they have embraced false religion, and they need to be accountable and held responsible for it’. That’s where the problem of unforgiveness rests. As human beings we all have an inner consciousness of justice; we have the abilityto ‘set up court’ in our own minds and we have a tendency to keep replaying the evidence against those who have truly wronged us; then we base our unforgiveness on the real fact that the offending party is actually guilty! But forgiving others is not based upon the real guilt of the offender, no- it is a requirement for those of us who have been forgiven and make up the ‘forgiven community of God’. Jesus told the parable of the man who owed a great debt, the master began the proceedings against him- he was going to lose his house and his family would be held in bondage and he had a bleak future ahead of him, there seemed to be no way out. At the moment of despair he simply begged for mercy ‘please, jut give me some time and I will make this up to you’ sure enough the master forgave him the debt. Then the man went out and found someone who owed him a debt; he then held that man responsible for the debt. Now, this upset the other servants and they told the master about it, the master rebuked the man for not showing the same kind of mercy that he himself received. The man was ‘delivered to the tormentors’. The unforgiving servant had every right to hold the debtor responsible, but he would also pay a price for it. As believers we have ‘the right’ to look at the faults and sins that others have committed against us; we can play the tape over and over again in our minds; but in the end forgiveness is not based upon the reality that others have actually wronged us; it is based upon the fact that we have been forgiven, the master in turn requires us to do the same.
[1513] THE LORD THY GOD IN THE MIDST OF THEE IS MIGHTY, HE WILL SAVE; HE WILL REJOICE OVER THEE WITH JOY; HE WILL REST IN HIS LOVE, HE WILL JOY OVER THEE WITH SINGING. I WILL GATHER THEM THAT ARE SORROWFUL FOR THE SOLEMN ASSEMBLY…AT THAT TIME I WILL UNDO ALL THAT AFFLICT THEE…AND I WILL GET THEM PRAISE AND FAME IN EVERY LAND WHERE THEY HAVE BEEN PUT TO SHAME’ Zephaniah 3:17-19. The letter to the Hebrews says Jesus sings among us in the midst of the congregation. Many of the prophetic books speak about God restoring his people. Revelation says Jesus is the light and glory of the ‘city of God’ [the church]. Psalms talks about a river that flows thru us and brings us life and joy [Holy Spirit]. We are the city of God that God himself builds and rejoices over; the city that Abraham and his heirs were looking for as they dwelt in a strange land- a city that hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God [Hebrews]. God promises to gather those from every tribe and tongue [I will gather all nations and tongues and they will come and see my glory…and I will set a sign among them…and those that escape will go to the nations and declare my glory- Isaiah] those that have been ‘shot at’ [‘You will be like a vine planted next to a well whose branches go over a wall…the archers shot at you, yet you bow remained strong…God strengthened your hands’- Jacobs blessing pronounced over his son Joseph- Genesis] and have been thru much difficulty, these are the ones the Lord will gather and send back out to the nations and these will declare HIS glory. Those that have been ‘to the Cross’ have learned the lesson of the vanity of self glory- the lifestyle of trying to live up to the expectations of man, that which the bible calls ‘vain glory’. These can be entrusted with the gospel and the Lord rejoices and sings over them- these are the garden of the Lord that produce fruit because they have learned to abide in him [John 15].I want to encourage you today; have you been struggling with stuff? Have you been confounded, confused? God will take those who have been put to shame and he will gather them as his city, the place where he will dwell, and he will rejoice over you; you will be in a position where you will have influence in all nations and cultures- the Lord will ‘extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the gentiles like a flowing stream’ you will ‘come up over your borders like a river in Judah that overflows her banks’ and you will be like ‘fountains that are dispersed abroad, rivers of waters that flow in the streets’ [various verses from the Old Testament].
[1514] PETER CANTU WILL DIE IN A FEW HOURS FROM NOW- It’s early right now [4:45 am] got up around 2:30 and did some early praying. I never heard of Peter before, last week I read that he would be put to death today, so as my custom goes- I pray for the guys the last few days of their lives. I actually thought he was to die yesterday, but I saw a short clip of him on the news last night, today’s the big day. Peter was in some gang and he and a few buddies killed and raped a young girl, they too were young at the time. The other guys have already been executed. I in no way want to dismiss the tragic event for the family that lost their daughter; I just made it a habit to pray for the death row guys a while back. I guess being condemned to the point where society says ‘the only thing we can do for you is execute you’ is hitting the bottom point in life. Jesus said whosever commits sin becomes the servant of sin; sin is a destructive force that manifests itself not only in the violence towards the victim, but also in the life of the criminal. I have also been praying for a few other men who have recently been in the news for various crimes, they were all given long/life sentences. Pray for the victims’ families, pray for the people who have been taken in bondage by sin; Jesus did not come into the world to condemn men, but to save them. I watched the story of Gary Ridgeway, a serial killer. They showed clips from his trial and actual footage from the court. As the victims’ families made angry statements at Ridgeway, one man said ‘I forgive you for what you have done’. Ridgeway broke down and cried at that point. I realize that it would be very hard to see these men thru a lens of compassion and mercy, but that’s how God views them. This is not to say that they should not face judgment for their crimes, it’s just that we should be able to tell them ‘I forgive you, God forgives you’ before they die.
[1515] THE CRAIGSLIST KILLER, PHILLIP MARKOFF- Yesterday the ‘craigslist killer’ committed suicide while being held in jail for the murder of a massage therapist he contacted thru craigslist. Markoff was a medical student engaged to another med student, MeghanMcAllister. He was a very unlikely suspect in the case; it seems as if he was leading a double life all along, involved in things that no one was aware of, especially his fiancé. Right after the arrest his fiancé stood by him and defended him; but once she was told about some of the damning evidence [like hiding the items of some of the murdered woman in his place] she quickly began to wonder about her future husband. She broke off the engagement and told Phillip she might not ever see him again. Markoff killed himself on what would have been their first wedding anniversary. The bible teaches us that all men are capable of the most heinous crimes, why some people actually act out on them and others do not, we don’t fully know. A few years ago I read/saw a news story about a judge who was suspected of molesting young boys; as the story broke he killed himself and said it was the appropriate end for a man like himself. You also had one of these crime TV shows arrive at the house of some suspect in Texas; he knew they were coming and they were going to do a ‘gotcha’ moment for the camera- as they knocked on the door they heard the shot that killed him, he would not face the world with his sin. People’s first response to being caught is usually denial, then in some cases people do confess their guilt. But it is very hard for others to accept you and support you while truly believing you are guilty of a heinous crime. True friends will stick with you, and sometimes family members believe the accused in the face of great odds; but usually when we come face to face with the depravity of man, we choose to look the other way. I do not in any way blame the poor girl who was caught up in this mess, she will obviously be affected for the rest of her life. Markoff wrote her name in his own blood over the cell door before he took his life. I have made it a habit to pray for the people I read about in the news who have been accused or convicted of terrible crimes- I know we should also pray for the victims- but I trust others are being faithful to that end of the deal. I have recently been praying for some local guys who got sent to prison for life terms, I continually pray for a woman who was convicted of letting a foster son die while under her care [a Christian woman]. Jesus did not come into the world to condemn the world, but to save it. He would sit at the last meal with his friends, all along knowing that one of them will betray him. Jesus will still refer to him as his friend and ‘cover’ for him right up until the end- Judas was the one who couldn’t forgive himself, he went out and hung himself. Unconditional love is loving people like Judas, people who have been marked with the stigma of very serious crimes [Markoff, Bundy, etc.] To be able to say to them ‘Friend, I know you have been charged with terrible crimes. I know your first response is to deny the sin; as a friend I am here to walk with you till the end. I do not condone your sin, nor do I base my friendship with you on some sort of self denial of the crime- but I stand here as a friend who accepts the reality that you might very well be guilty of this most heinous crime, and as a friend I am still with you’. Jesus was called the friend of sinners, not just someone who would befriend you when all was going well, but someone who would stick by you till the end, even in the face of severe odds; go find someone who needs a friend.
[1516] YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME! Okay, the other week I watched a ton of stuff on wormholes, the universe and modern theories of cosmology. I do really get into this stuff, but I couldn’t stop laughing [crying?] at some points. Those of you who have read my evolution section have read posts on Dark matter/Dark energy. In those posts I explained how dark matter, an idea espoused by Alan Guth from M.I.T., became a necessary ‘evil’ [or unknown] in order for modern physics to explain the function of the universe. Basically physics teaches us that you need so much matter to generate enough gravity for the planets and everything else to function properly; the problem is we have never detected the matter. So Guthsaid ‘I know, let’s come up with the word’s ‘dark matter’ andblame everything on that’! Excellent idea isn’t it? But if some Christian did something like this you would laugh him out of the room. So anyway dark matter eventually became the word to describe this UNKNOWN element that holds the universe together- much like the way Chance is used by many in modern theory. So as I watched the programs narrated by Morgan Freeman, I found it interesting that in one show they admitted that Dark Matter really isn’t anything, it’s just a word we use to fill in an unknown blank- exactly what I have been saying for years. But then in the next show in the series, you had a bunch of scientists refer to Dark Matter as a real, proven thing. They were contradicting themselves. But the clincher came when they ran the show called ‘are we wrong about everything’. This one dealt with all these new up and coming scientists who are actually challenging all of the old theories, they even debunked the whole theory of Dark Matter [so I was right all along?]. It would be funny if it weren’t so sad. Then for the grand finale they spoke about a new theory called Dark Flow [these guys just can’tget away from dark stuff!]. This idea says there is this ‘flow’ in the universe that seems to be all going in one direction; that is they think there is some outside force [in theology we call this transcendence] that exists outside of the known universe, and this unseen force might actually be the cause for the functionality of our known universe. In essence they are saying ‘it’s not Dark Matter that causes things to function properly, but it’s this ‘thing’ that exists outside of the universe that is doing it’. Really, this is too good to be true; modern theory is now saying ‘some being/thing is causing this to happen’. Of course Christians knew this all along. The bible says that Christ is holding all things together by the power of his word, this language speaks exactly to the problem of Dark Matter- that is we have never been able to detect by natural means, anything that is ‘big’ enough to be responsible for holding everything together. Christians have believed that the very nature of God is responsible for doing this; he exists and fills in the empty space- the so called function of dark matter. I don’t mean to ridicule these fine men who have given their lives to the worthy pursuit of modern scientific theory, it’s just when their own scientists begin to tell us ‘look, these other guys have been wrong all along’ then we really need to take a second look.
[1517] FACEBOOK- The other day I decided to update my face book page, had it for a few months but never gave it any attention. It was ‘cool’ to get back in touch with lots of old friends. As I post simple little thoughts on the site, I felt I needed to avoid being overly ‘religious’ with the posts; now, don’t get me wrong, they can access this blog and I do have the web address posted for all to see- but still felt it to be inappropriate to enter an area where many old friends have had their own ‘space’ for years, and then to blast them with a bunch of stuff. This week I have been reading Revelation chapter 11, in the vision of John he is told ‘take the rod and measure the temple and those that dwell therein, but the court that is outside, leave it out- for I have given it to the gentiles and they shall tread it down…’ God has allowed people to have space, courts if you will, that we as believers are not supposed to ‘measure with the rod’. Now, as Christians we do want to have a witness available to all who want to hear, but we want to be careful that we are not measuring courts that God doesn’t want us to be measuring! I know over the years when I was doing my own thing, I didn’t want to hear or be interrupted with ‘religion’, I wasn’t rude [well maybe I was] but when you are not walking in the light, you don’t want to come to the light [Jesus- John’s gospel]. I love my old buddies, I am getting ready to write an old friend sitting in a N.J. prison right now. Sometimes it’s good to have friends, people you have known thru out your life- be available to talk andanswer questions, but don’t invade their space- the ‘court that is outside the temple leave out, for it has been given to them’.
[1518] DIVINE ABSENCE- ‘Jerusalem, Jerusalem- you who kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to you; how often did I try and gather you as a mother hen her chicks, but you resisted. Truly I say unto you will not see me again until the time comes when you say ‘blessed is he who comes in Godsname’ Jesus- Luke 13. Jesus foretold a period of time when the people he wanted to reach the most would reject him, but after a long absence they would receive him. There is a contested verse in our New Testaments that many end time teachers grapple with; it’s the statement of Jesus when he is talking about end time things. He gives a long teaching on the end of the world [age] and the second coming; and then he says ‘some of you who are standing here right now will not die until all these things come to pass’ or ‘this generation shall not pass until all these things are fulfilled’. I really don’t want to get into the whole debate on exactly what ‘this generation’ is referring to, but we should say that in every other instance this term appears in our Greek New Testament, it is speaking of the actual group of people who are living at the time of the statement. Some conclude from this that Jesus was telling the Jews of his day that in some way many of them would live long enough to see the judgment of God and Jesus coming in judgment on Jerusalem. It’s also interesting to note that the most common interpretation for ‘this generation’ is a 40 year time span. In a.d. 70 [right at around 40 years after Jesus made the statement] the Roman general Titus destroyed the city of Jerusalem and laid it bare to the ground. They lost their temple and it has been gone ever since. The sacrificial system of the law was abolished and it has yet to make a comeback [I believe it never will- but that’s a whole other story]. The main point is some of the people who had no time to listen to Jesus, these same peopleperished in the destruction of the city; others who listened to him remembered that Jesus said ‘when you see the armies surrounding the city, flee’ these who believed Jesus fled; they were spared. It wasn’t a light thing to not hear the words of Christ; it made the difference between life and death for the first century Jews. I want to exhort you today, has God been speaking to you in some way over the years? Have you gone thru a period of ‘divine absence’ that is you haven’t been confronted by the Lord in a while? It’s never too late to make a change, to examine where you are at today and listen to what the Lord has said to you in the past; to some it was the difference between life and death.
[1458] CONTACT! The other night I caught the movie Contact; I have seen it before but figured I’d re-watch it. The movie pits science against religion; the religious figure [Mathew Mconaughy] is talking to the scientific atheist [Jodie Foster] as she makes her case against God she asks the religious figure ‘are you familiar with Ockham’s Razor’ [wow, isn’t she smart!] and the ex-priest says ‘no, is it some sort of porno movie?’ and of course the atheist goes on to quote the famous saying. Ockham’s razor is the principle developed by William of Ockham that says when you have multiple solutions to a problem that the simplest answer is usually the correct one. Sounds good, what’s the problem? The problem is William of Ockham was indeed a Christian philosopher; he was a contemporary of Thomas Aquinas and John Duns Scotus. They all lived in the high middle ages [13th-14th centuries]. So for Jodie Foster to have appealed to him while trying to make the point that religion and science don’t mix, well it would be like me debating someone on Halloween. I say it never existed as a pagan holiday; you insist it did! As we debate, I say ‘have you ever heard of the term trick or treat’ and you say ‘no, what’s that’. I then changed the channel to the news and they were doing a story on some scientist who supposedly invented synthetic DNA, they then gave the various statements from religious groups who were against it and thought it violated ethics. It was a replay of the same themes of the movie, pitting science against religion. Science and religion are not enemies, the scientific method was invented by the church, most of the greatest minds in science have been Christian [or religious] and even till this very day many of the great men of science are believers. At the end of the movie they gave a short dedication to Carl [Sagan]. Sagan was the famous atheist who said the universe is all there ever was and all there ever would be. The apostle Paul said ‘men chose to worship and serve the creation rather than the creator, therefore God gave them up to reprobate minds’. The other night I watched the special called ‘Hawking's universe’ I don’t know why they called it Hawking’s, it was a simple rehash of the idea of cosmological evolution, nothing new at all. Let’s make something clear, those who espouse the idea that because we have discovered that most all of the base elements of creation and man are also found in the stars, this in no way proves that men and creation all evolved from stars! This is one of the most ridiculous ideas I have ever heard, and yet many learned men are making this case. Some are saying that when stars explode [novas] that these base elements then form planets and people and monkeys and elephants and- well you get the idea. What mechanism are they giving us that shows us that something like this is even possible? Absolutely none. They are simply making the claim that because we share most of the same matter, that therefore the stars themselves created everything. This is not only not true science, but it doesn’t pass the smell test of elementary school! It would be like me stumbling across some computer disk, and then finding a computer to pop it into. Lo and behold I have found the complete works of Shakespeare on the disk. How did they get there? Sure enough some analyst figures out a way to examine the matter that makes up the disk [not the intelligence on it!] and lo and behold he identifies the makeup of the disk. He then proclaims ‘aha, I have figured out where the works of Shakespeare came from’ and he then goes on to give us the elements that make up the disk. What’s the problem? He simply identified the matter of the disk, he did not identify where the actual intelligence on the disk came from. So when people espouse the idea that the stars ‘made everything’ they are talking absolute nonsense. The only true explanation for the contents on the disk [or the intelligence found in the universe] is the reality that an intelligent agent put the contents there. There is no other rational explanation. Jodie Foster was right- when you have multiple solutions to a problem, the simplest is usually correct. Either the stars made everything [impossible], or God. I’ll go with God.
(1447) THE BARNES AND NOBLE JESUS? WAS B.P. A GOD CAUSED DISASTER? Yesterday I saw my recent issue of Christianity Today had arrived, I planned on reading some news papers and catching up on the weeks past events; but[1519] IS BECK A REAL LIFE LARRY DAVID? For all you ‘curb’ fans, Larry David is the type of guy who means well, but he keeps getting into these holes and the harder he tries to dig himself out the deeper the hole gets. In one episode he runs into Richard Lewis, as they are chatting Lewis’ Black dentist just happens to jog by and Lewis introduces him to Larry- Larry makes the remark ‘you let him be your dentist, despite affirmative action’. Now Larry is just kidding, but the dentist gets mad and says he does not have to put up with this stuff and takes off. Sure enough Larry winds up needing the services of the dentist later on and he goes to his house to get a prescription- as he walks in he apologizes again to the dentist who has already forgiven him; but they just happen to be in the middle of the local NAACP weekly meeting and someone says ‘you are sorry for what’? And as hard as he tries to avoid admitting what he said, he winds up telling the story all over again, but this time in front of a bunch of racially sensitive Black folk! Poor Larry. So Glen Beck held his rally at the Lincoln memorial- he had a lot of people show up; between 100 -300 thousand depending on whose estimates you go with; all in all he did fine and spoke in a humble way- sounded like an evangelical preacher! The media portrayed it as a racist rally, while Fox news covered him favorably. For those of you who are not familiar with my blog- if you read the section on race and politics you will quickly realize that I hold both liberal and conservative views on different subjects- I’m not a Fox sycophant, nor do I worship at the feet of Keith Ohberman [whom I personally like]. All in all Beck seems to be a well intentioned guy who is trying his best to do what he thinks is right. To the pure Beck fans, he seems to know his stuff- to his critics he can never do anything right. What do I think of Beck? For someone like myself who has studied political theory and theology over the years, I see in Beck a lot of ‘misinformation’ about stuff; he delves into Liberation theology, not realizing that this has been an issue for centuries. The other week he started getting into the ‘hidden’ history of the U.S., he began giving some of the very unorthodox teachings of Mormonism- the secret history of the city of Atlantis- I couldn’t believe he was doing this on air! I like Mormons and have very in depth discussions with them when they come to the house; but just about every serious historian has totally rejected the Mormon idea of a secret U.S. history- which is a vital part of Mormon teaching. So I see in Beck as a sincere person who has overcome lots of life’s obstacle’s, but needs a few more years of seasoning before he makes it to the big stage. Lots of times he seems like he is standing in the Black dentist’s living room, having to ‘re-tell’ the story all over again.
[1519] IS BECK A REAL LIFE LARRY DAVID? For all you ‘curb’ fans, Larry David is the type of guy who means well, but he keeps getting into these holes and the harder he tries to dig himself out the deeper the hole gets. In one episode he runs into Richard Lewis, as they are chatting Lewis’ Black dentist just happens to jog by and Lewis introduces him to Larry- Larry makes the remark ‘you let him be your dentist, despite affirmative action’. Now Larry is just kidding, but the dentist gets mad and says he does not have to put up with this stuff and takes off. Sure enough Larry winds up needing the services of the dentist later on and he goes to his house to get a prescription- as he walks in he apologizes again to the dentist who has already forgiven him; but they just happen to be in the middle of the local NAACP weekly meeting and someone says ‘you are sorry for what’? And as hard as he tries to avoid admitting what he said, he winds up telling the story all over again, but this time in front of a bunch of racially sensitive Black folk! Poor Larry. So Glen Beck held his rally at the Lincoln memorial- he had a lot of people show up; between 100 -300 thousand depending on whose estimates you go with; all in all he did fine and spoke in a humble way- sounded like an evangelical preacher! The media portrayed it as a racist rally, while Fox news covered him favorably. For those of you who are not familiar with my blog- if you read the section on race and politics you will quickly realize that I hold both liberal and conservative views on different subjects- I’m not a Fox sycophant, nor do I worship at the feet of Keith Ohberman [whom I personally like]. All in all Beck seems to be a well intentioned guy who is trying his best to do what he thinks is right. To the pure Beck fans, he seems to know his stuff- to his critics he can never do anything right. What do I think of Beck? For someone like myself who has studied political theory and theology over the years, I see in Beck a lot of ‘misinformation’ about stuff; he delves into Liberation theology, not realizing that this has been an issue for centuries. The other week he started getting into the ‘hidden’ history of the U.S., he began giving some of the very unorthodox teachings of Mormonism- the secret history of the city of Atlantis- I couldn’t believe he was doing this on air! I like Mormons and have very in depth discussions with them when they come to the house; but just about every serious historian has totally rejected the Mormon idea of a secret U.S. history- which is a vital part of Mormon teaching. So I see in Beck a sincere person who has overcome lots of life’s obstacle’s, but needs a few more years of seasoning before he makes it to the big stage. Lots of times he seems like he is standing in the Black dentist’s living room, having to ‘re-tell’ the story all over again.
[1520] THE GREAT SUPPER- These last few weeks I have felt kind of swamped; I have had some friends [guys I am/was working with in ministry stuff] come by and they are doing well, they wanted to hook up with me in the things the Lord is doing with them. Yet as much as I wanted to get involved [halfway house, fellowship in Kingsville] I just seemed to be unable to ‘get out of the city’. Then I launched my facebook site and it has been great- lots of old friends that I have wanted to contact for years are now keeping in touch, but some felt kind of offended [the Christian thing and all] and I got mad that I have prayed for some of these friends for 30 years and when the ‘supper was ready’ they had no time to sit at the table! In Luke 14 Jesus tells the story of a man that made this great meal[God] and at suppertime [Galatians- when the right time came God sent forth his Son] the master sent forth his servant and invited all the intended guests to come and eat- I mean the meal was free of charge for heaven’s sake! Yet they responded with excuses- one said ‘I just bought some land, sorry’ another ‘I bought some cattle- can’t make it’ the last one said ‘just got married, wife won’t let me come’ [okay, he’s got a legitimate excuse- sorry]. So when the servant came back and told the master what happened, the master got angry ‘what, I have been preparing this meal for years- everything is ready, it’s good food’. So he quickly sends the servant back out and he goes and gets all the poor homeless bums [sound familiar?] and they fill the house with these guys. He then tells the servant ‘none of those guys who rejected me will eat from the table’. I found it interesting that after the initial rejection the master made a compelling urgent appeal to the others- it’s like the rejection was needed in order for the urgency of the situation to be seen. When I first started posting on old classmates type sites, I simply shared the web site in my profile, but I really didn’t ‘urgently’ post stuff, figured if people are interested they will visit the site. But when I realized some people will not ‘come to the table’ I felt an urgency and went ballistic! I mean I began posting like a bat out of hell! Sometimes it takes stuff to wake us up- to make us reconsider the way we are operating and change some stuff. To all my friends who came by the house, to those who have tried to get in touch- I realize that I can’t personallybe involved with all the various good projects you are all doing-I am going to try this week to make it to the halfway house and hopefully make a trip to Kingsville; but I just want to let everybody know that I am rooting for them, prayingregularly for them [byname!] and am real excited about some of the old friends who have recently joined the conversation. Oh, and to those of you who had excuses, well I guess you guys will find another table to eat at.
[1521] DON’T FORGET, TOMORROW IS BURN THE KORAN DAY! Okay, we spent another wasted week talking about the Florida pastor [Terry Jones] who planned on burning 200 Quran’s this Saturday. He made national headlines [Why, please tell me?] and the defense secretary personally called him to put the burning off. Then yesterday he supposedly had a deal with the Imam in charge of the ‘Mosque at ground zero’ and the Pastor said he would not burn the Koran if the Imam would move the location; the Imam denies any deal. Oh, and to bring some seriousness to the matter, yes, Donald Trump offered to buy the ‘mosque site’ for 25% over what the Muslim investor paid for it- the Muslim said ‘no way’ of course he’s holding out for more! It’s times like these that make me want to change my facebook picture to what Jim Davis has. Okay, what’s wrong with this picture? First, most Christians have come out and condemned the independent church in Fla. that wants to burn the book; I don’t know of any believer that has defended the man, I certainly won’t. Second, the media freely referred to the man as a ‘nut job’ ‘idiot’ ‘jerk’ ‘extremist’ and I even heard MSNBC SAY HE WAS LIKE THE UNDREWEAR BOMBER! Please, as much as I disagree with the man, we do live in a country where people burn flags, bibles, etc. Heck, I remember burning old Rock and roll c.d.’s for heaven’s sake! [Though I own most of them today]. So to compare what this pastor was going to do with extremists who kill cartoonists who depict Mohamed in a Danish cartoon- or to radicals who threaten to blow up Comedy Central because South Park was gonna show the prophet in a bear suit [which was over a Santa suit!] is ridiculous. Radical Islam is wrong, Muslim countries that execute homosexuals and stone women taken in adultery are wrong. Most of these countries have laws that make it illegal to covert to Christianity, never mind trying to build a church or synagogue near one of their holy sites! As all the media hysteria has gone forth [yes, the great Chris Matthews even associated the Fla. Pastor with Sarah Palin and John Boehner! Please give me a break] we have to keep some type of balance. As Christians we condemn the burning of the Koran- though most believers do not accept the Koran as a sacred text, yet many Muslims do. Second, the reality is there is a world full of true nuts who use things like this to kill people- yes, not just a small minority either, but many religious adherents do stuff like this. Remember, it wasn’t just one or two demonstrators who celebrated after 911 happened; there were pictures of thousands of Muslims dancing in the streets after the attack; we should not underestimate the real truth about stuff like this. I do not blame all Muslims for this, but the reality is the radical mindset is much greater than the media portrays it. So we don’t want to put our fighting men and women at any more risk than they are already in. Those of you who know me realize that I am not anti Muslim, but we should be open and honest about the facts; for the media to have referred to this Fla. Pastor as being an extremist, equal to those who blow up innocents, was a travesty. I don’t agree with the pastor or his whole style of independent Christianity [truncated from the historic church] but to put book burning in the same category as blowing up people, well that my friends is what I call extreme.
-[1522]Wasn’t sure which way to go today; felt like refuting [or as Sarah Palin says ‘refudiating’!] the recent Stephen Hawking book- he’s basically saying nothing new, and what he is claiming has been shown to be ‘less than true’ [heck, you don’t want the call the man senile, though who knows?]. In a nutshell the book claims that Gravity itself needed no originator, that it created all things, even itself! Yikes! This is a complete violation of the Law of Non contradiction- which states ‘a thing cannot be and not be at the same time and in the same relationship’ for gravity to have created itself [which Hawking is saying!] then it had to ‘be, and not be’ at the same time- not only is this not good science, it is lunacy. For my new facebook readers I’ll try and post a few notes at the bottom. I also just walked passed my T.V. while going into the study, sure enough there was a television evangelist on the tube doing the whole money thing- man if I get into that it will be bad. So for today let me stick a few relevant posts at the bottom and lets all remember the fallen heroes of 9-1-2001. It’s there day for sure.
[1523] LUKE 15- In this chapter we find the story of the missing pieces; a lost coin [1 out of 10] lost sheep [1out of 100] and the prodigal son [1 bad son out of 2]. The interesting thing I saw this time around was the response of the people that found the missing pieces, they were so overjoyed about finding the lost thing that it seemed as if the lost piece was more valuable than the other things that never ‘went astray’. Jesus makes it clear that the other ‘non lost’ items’ were just as valuable, the reason for the excitement over the found piece was because it completed the set- it was the last piece in the puzzle, that which was supposed to be in on everything from the beginning- and only now has the missing link be found. Then when the prodigal son came home, the older brother was ‘standing outside’ he was observing the whole scene- to him it seemed wrong that this younger son had rebelled at a very young age, he went to a far country and when he finally showed up back home, the Father [God] killed the fatted calf and had this huge party for the boy. The older son was angry and would not ‘go in’. The dad comes out and says ‘what’s wrong’? The son says ‘you know dad, I spent my whole life doing what I thought was right, I even went to church a few times over the years- never got into the whole drug scene, made a few mistakes, yeah- but nothing even close to this guy who left when he was young. And now he’s back and he has all this stuff going on, this huge party, and look at me- I really have nothing to contribute to the party, me and my friends never had a calf to celebrate with!’. This son was observing the reunion and it just didn’t seem right. The father tells the boy ‘look son, don’t feel bad- you have been trying to do right for a long time, sure you had some struggles, but I see where you’re coming from. Just remember that I have always been with you, I am grateful for all the times you tried and made a sincere effort at honoring me. Don’t take the current excitement over the returning son the wrong way, the only reason for the excitement was because he was gone for so long and finally made it home’. It’s interesting that the son who never left was struggling with this feeling of rejection, this sense of ‘it’s just not fair’. And it did seem unfair that the boy who should have either been dead or serving time in prison; that this kid actually had a bigger party going on than the kid who always tried to do right. Just remember, the father [God] was not saying to the good son ‘I like the other boy better’ he was simply saying ‘now the family is complete, the part that was missing has now come home’.
[1524] WEEK [OR 2] IN REVIEW- Okay, I haven’t been commenting as much these past few weeks, basically doing a lot of posting of old stuff. But these last few weeks have been important so let’s do a little. First; the Pope made an historic visit to the U.K. - he went first to Scotland, than England. It was the first official visit- where the titular head [Queen Elisabeth] officially greeted the Pope, the first time since the official split in the 16th century! I kinda covered the history of it in the past and don’t want to do it all overagain here- suffice it to say that Henry the 8th wanted his divorce, the Pope said no and England split off- the church of England [Anglican church] became the official church of England. The EpiscopalChurch in the U.S. is part of this communion. Now, the visit was historic for these reasons, the Pope surprised some church historians by making a speech where he invited the Anglican Church back into the Catholic fold-many thought he would not do this. Actually, it just seemed to be the right thing to do, being it’s the first official visit since the historic split [never mind all the theological issues involved]. So I was glad to see the very good reception he got. Europe in general has suffered from a severe case of rationalism/skepticism that has left many of the great church buildings either empty or they have been converted into Mosques! The Pope challenged them to have both faith and reason, a theme that Pope John Paul emphasized a lot during his pontificate. Overall I think the visit went very well, and all Christians should be happy about it. We also had Newt Gingrich write an article [or comment?] on Obama being an ‘anti colonialist Kenyan’ [Yikes!]. Basically Newt read an article from Dinesh Desouza, a fine Catholic writer/intellectual, who espoused the idea that President Obama is the first U.S. president who has a socialist mindset- that when most European nations went the way of socialism in the last few decades, that the only real holdout was the U.S. But in the economic world all the smart money fled the socialist type economies and would find its way into the U.S., leaving the socialist economies to suffer. So when Obama became president, as a believer in big govt. [a form of socialism] he would eventually bring the U.S. into alignment with the ‘enlightened’ world and that would balance out the scales. In Desouza’s mind [and Gingrich] this is why Obama is so loved in the rest of the world, while his ratings are not so great at home. Okay, it’s an interesting idea, but a little too ‘Beckish’ for me. But it shows you where the country is at right now, that some serious thinkers are making this case. I like Desouza, he is a fine Catholic Christian, he wrote ‘God is great’ in response to Christopher Hitchens [the atheist] ‘God is not great’ but I have read a few articles from Desouza and I thought he was a little ‘lacking’ in the field of theology [like he really didn’t know his stuff as well as he should have].The liberal columnist Eugene Robinson has basically said the same thing. So any way these last few weeks have had some notable events happen and we should be grateful that no bad incidents took place when the Pope was in England. I was happy to see the good response he got, though I’m not Catholic- as a fellow Christian I respect the effort that the Pope made to defend the Christian faith and to challenge a secular society to return to her Christian roots.
[1525] THE UNJUST STEWARD- This week I have been reading Luke 16. Jesus gives us the parable of the manager who was stealing money from the boss; the boss finds out and calls him on the carpet. The manager realizes he will be out of a job and quickly devises a scheme- he goes to all the people who owe his boss money and he gets them to write off a bunch of debt- he basically cheats his boss and endears himself to these people who owe his master a great debt. When the boss finds out about it he commends the manager. At the end of the story Jesus tells us that this manager was wise, and that the ‘children of this world’ are wiser than Christians when dealing with real life stuff. A lot of people question this parable; was Jesus commending dishonesty? Jesus was giving us a strategy- not to cheat- but to side with people and win them over as you advocate for them. In the story the steward released the debt that the people owed. This steward was often seen as the debt collector for the loan shark type of a thing, but now he is actually taking the side of the people, he is helping them get out of debt- and they really are being forgiven the debt, based on no merit of their own! Jesus of course did this for us at the Cross, he came to people who viewed God as a stern master whom they owed a great debt to- yet Jesus sided with people to forgive the debt that they could never pay. For the first time these ‘average folk’ saw the steward/servant take their side- seemingly against the harsh boss! The world is full of people who owe a great debt, they need someone who will side with them- who will risk their own lives to help them against the master whom they owe a great debt to- befriend people, let them know that you are there to help them get out of debt- debt that they could never pay on their own- if you do this the master will commend you.
[1526] BARNABUS- This last week I have been doing some reading in the non canonicalbook of the epistle of Barnabus; the early church debated over a few books, whether some should be in the bible and others out. The few that some thought should be in were the epistleBarnabus, Shepherd of Hermes [vision, dream type thing] and the Didache. Those that made it and were debated were letters like 2nd Peter, Jude, Hebrews and Revelation. As a believer I do accept what the church finally settled on, but it’s good to be aware of the other writings that never made it. Now, the Dan Brown books go way overboard in the idea that the Gnostic writings were also included in this debate- that’s not true. The early church unanimously rejected those works. But for today let me share a few things that I felt the Lord speak to me thru the letter of Barnabus. The letter quotes freely from the old testament- in chapter 12 I read ‘there are 2 nations in thy womb, and 2 people shall come from thee- the greater shall serve the lesser’ and ‘the Lord hath not deprived me of seeing thy face; bring me thy sons that I may bless them’. This last month or so has unexpectedly brought in a lot of old friends from New Jersey; they are now ‘sitting at the table’ so to speak. These friends are from an original group that I have prayed for, for 30 years! Though I have spent many years working with another ‘nation’ [Texas] yet these friends were there from the beginning, people I always wanted to be able to speak to, share with them things about the kingdom and stuff like that. I also had a few dream experiences where some of the ‘Texas crowd’ [lesser nation- in the sense that all of the guys I have worked with over the years are not in the same ‘upper class’ as many of my old friends] appeared to me, friends who have died- and I felt like I needed to post their stories on the blog/facebook site. What I did not realize was happening was in a sense God was using the ‘lesser nation’ as a witness to the greater one. God finally allowed me to re-connect with many old friends and thru the testimonies of my Texas friends the ‘greater has served the lesser’.
[1527] I have this habit of writing [the little paintbrush type deal] bible verses all over the yard; on the fence, gazebo, the back of the house, everywhere. Now to be honest my yard does look good, I have it looking like a mini park- paths and all- people have complemented me on it over the years; but yes, the bible verse thing- well my wife and kids tell me it’s tacky. Hey, I don’t care- the house is paid for- I’m gonna do what the ‘heck’ I want. After all, who do I need to impress, a bunch of homeless friends? So one day I had one of my homeless buddies over, we usually hang out in the yard, he’s a believer and does like the verses and all- but he tells me ‘you know brother, if you used some stencils it would look a little better’ [I paint freestyle!] Geez, maybe the wife was right.
[1529] Still doing some reading from the Epistle of Barnabus; let me share a few thoughts from chapter 13. The writer [who by the way was probably not Barnabus!] speaks of the people of God as this corporate community that transcends space and time- we are a living temple of people, Gods completed work. He speaks about the 7 days of creation- God worked for 6 days and on the 7th day he rested, that as Gods finished work [the church] we also are in this ‘resting place’ [Sabbath] with God. In this community God uses prophetic voices to speak, these are the ‘gates’ of the temple- but the people are not enamored with the messenger- they are simply hearing God thru him. All these concepts of course are rooted in scripture; Ephesians says we are being ‘built together’ as an habitation of God thru the Spirit. Hebrews 12 [message version] speaks about the church as this invisible city that has this innumerable company of angels- and citizens who have already passed over to heaven, but they are still participating from the stands- cheering us on as we run our part of the relay race. I just want to encourage all my readers today- I have some old buddies from Jersey- some ‘ex-con’ friends from Texas, and friends all over the world who make up this spiritual community that gathers weekly around the table [radio, blog, etc.]. Listen for the voice of God, try and overlook the image of men- often times we say things and God is using what we say in a way that we don’t fully comprehend; that’s good- because the person being ‘talked to’ sees it as a confirmation from God, not men. The epistle of Barnabus says God uses 3 things to build this heavenly city; the word of faith, the promises he has made, and wisdom. He himself speaks within this community; he says things that nobody ever expected- not even those doing the talking! This community is an everlasting temple, a body of people that God resides in for ever- we are the people of God.
-[1530] Let me just give a short intro to these end times posts [on facebook]; the reason I think these posts are important right now [10-2010] is because our country is going thru a political conversation that ‘behind the scenes’ these end times views are effecting the most prominent voices. Last week Glen Beck played a bunch of clips that showed Obama saying ‘my individual salvation is tied to your corporate salvation’ now, Beck is a sincere man who comes from a fundamentalist background- the problem is most branches of Christianity- Obama’s [liberal] and conservative view Becks religion as problematic, beck is a Mormon [I love and respect Mormons!] but theologically- they have some serious flaws. But when Beck criticizes Obama for his statement- in reality this type of statement [corporate salvation] has very strong biblical and historical roots! I remember during the campaign, Obama was asked who his favorite philosopher was [Bush said Jesus!] Obama said ReinholdNeighbor [spelling?]. I thought that was interesting- he is a very influential theologian, somewhat on the liberal side of the argument- but the fact that he picked him showed me that Obama’s Christianity is real- though liberal. Now, you have Palin, Beck and others who hold to a fundamentalist/dispensationalist perspective- they have an end time view of the world that is closely tied in with the popular ‘left behind’ series of books from fundamentalist preacher Tim Lahaye- a view I don’t hold to. So that’s why some of the presidents critics really view him as some type of secret Manchurian candidate that wants to overthrow our country and institute socialism- this paranoid belief system permeates their religious view. So anyway keep this in mind as you read this next post- that’s the background.
[1531] LENNY BRUCE- Last night I caught the movie ‘Lenny’, it’s the true story of the shock comic Lenny Bruce. Rose to fame in the 50’s for his vulgar comedy and social commentary. His story is much more than some George Carlin rebel comic- in a real sense he tapped into his Jewish Messianic roots and was fulfilling aprophetic type role; he spoke on issues that were hot [war] and he had an audience who were ready to hear. He would go thru lots of legal and personal problems- he would get hooked on heroin and die. The other day I mentioned Obama’s strain of Christianity- Liberal [reverend Wrights church is what you would call a social justice congregation]. In the late 19th, early 20th century liberation theology was in her hey-day. Men like Walter Rauschenbauch [spelling?] introduced a form of Christianity that was less focused on personal conversion- but tried to expand the churches thinking on social issues. The fundamentalistmovement of the 20th century pushed back and labeled the liberals as heretics. Now, theologically speaking many were- some rejected the resurrection of Christ and the vitaldoctrine of reconciliation thru the Cross of Christ. But they were mostly right on the need for the church to engage in social justice issues, to deal with things like world hunger/poverty. To speak out against oppressive regimes [which the Catholic Church was doing all along]. The church should play a role in these areas- things that Bruce was talking about at the time. The last book of the Old Testament, Malachi, prophesies of John the Baptist future coming- it says ‘God will raise up one like Elijah’ John would come 400 years later and challenge the corruption that he saw. He was this radical loner who seemed to be unhinged at times- I mean who tells the king ‘your sleeping with your brother’s wife- your in sin’. He told it the way he saw it, and it would eventually lead to his death. There is a verse that speaks of John, it says ‘the law and the prophets were until John, but now the kingdom of God is preached and everyone is pushing their way to hear what he has to say’. John changed the atmosphere of his day, he was a kind of Lenny Bruce- he began speaking openly about issues that no one else would touch, sure- the regular ‘church folk’ had their preachers [rabbis, synagogue] but John was different- he wasn’t out to make a name for himself [though that would happen] nor was he trying to make a living [or get rich!] from ‘my ministry’. No he was a different breed, he could spot hypocrisy a mile away- but when he saw Jesus, he knew he was seeing the real thing ‘I am not worthy to tie your shoes’ he would say. Jesus himself would have his run in's with the religious crowd- showed up at the temple and told them ‘what are you doing, merchandizing in Gods house!’ he made a whip and beat them, he turned over their tables and thru them out. Yes, Jesus made John proud. I think we as God’s people need to be willing to speak out about the social justice issues of our day- not enough voices are speaking out against things that need to be dealt with. A heroin addicted shock comic would be used to speak out against things that he saw were wrong, sure- he was definitely an imperfect vessel, but people never heard it like that before.
[1532] AMERICAN SPLENDOR- The other day I re-watched one of my favorite movies- American Splendor. I don’t know why I like the movie, it’s quite depressing! But it’s an independent flick that came out a few years back, and I am a fan of independent movies. Plus, the main character also has an independent streak. The movie tells the true story of Harvey Pekar- a down on your luck type of guy, always grumbling about something [sound familiar?] and he’s stuck in this dead end job, has been thru a couple of bad marriages and is always down on his luck. One day he meets a buddy who becomes famous in the world of underground comic books, the guy eventually helps Harvey launch his own comic book [American Splendor] and Harvey becomes somewhat famous- he still works his mundane job as a file clerk for some medical business; but he also becomes famous thru the comic. The comic book is simply this down on your look guy telling the true stories of his other friends, and the stuff they are all experiencing as real people- I realized as I was watching it the last time around- that, that’s why I like the movie, I identify with Harvey! A funny line is when Harvey gets a letter from some girl; she’s a fan [future wife] and she writes him for a copy of the latest issue; Harvey is this desperate type character, says he marries whoever will take him, and as he’s living this lonely experience he gets the letter- as he reads it he says ‘man, she’s got good looking hand writing’! Not that’s desperate! Life consists of many ‘real life’ experiences that often hit hard- people don’t need to see Christians as these ‘super duper’ jet set go getters- they need to ‘read’ the real life experiences of us and our friends, they need to see that we all go thru things in life- and yet we still believe. How many Harvey’s are reading this right now? One bit of advice- live each day as it happens, experience life as a real person- with other real people, and every now and then share your story with other people- be real- don’t hide all the faults, people need to see the good along with the bad- they don’t need some plastic image that no one is able to relate to- and most of all- don’t get married because she has good looking hand writing! J
[1533] SMELLS LIKE TEEN SPIRIT- The other day I caught a documentary on Courtney Love and Kurt Cobain. They arose out of the Seattle grunge scene [music] and Kurt’s group, Nirvana, became one of the most popular groups of the day. Kurt would eventually stick a shotgun in his mouth and pull the trigger. Courtney’s all female group [Hole- ouch!]survives till this day and she has been successful in lots of ways. The documentary covered the theory that Courtney had Kurt killed; they interviewed friends and stuff- one of Kurt’s best friends, who rejects the theory- Kurt was always suicidal- said how one time Kurt was on the phone, trying to ‘score’ some Heroin- and he says ‘hey, don’t tell Courtney’ and at the same time Courtney calls on the other line to get some stuff- she says ‘don’t tell Kurt’. Sad. Many years ago when I first started doing bible studies at the jails I became friends with a lot of Heroin addicts, these guys were around 20 years older than me- but they were caught in the cycle and in their mid 40’s things were catching up. Eventually these guys made up the core group of the church I would start. Their wives and kids made up the church. Eventually I would become good friends with their sons, who were closer to my age; these guys were all on Cocaine. So it seemed strange that Kurt was hooked on heroin- in these parts that’s the drug of the older generation [my sister has been a Heroin addict for as long as I can remember]. I was reading 2nd Timothy chapter 4 the other day- Paul tells Timothy ‘when things get rough, ride it out like the rest of us! Taking it on the chin like Jesus’ [Message version]. The King James says ‘endurehardness as a good soldier for Christ’. Timothy was a protégée’ of Paul, like Titus- Paul wrote 3 letters to these spiritual sons [1st, 2nd Timothy- Titus] they are contained in the New Testament. We read about Timothy’s relationship to Paul in the book of Acts, Paul had a little controversy over how he was preaching to the Gentiles [a technical argument over whether or not to circumcise Gentile converts] and Timothy came from a diverse family, father was a Greek, Mother was Jewish- so for some technical reasons Paul winds up having Timothy circumcised [long story- read it in Acts]. Anyway when Paul writes his letters to Timothy he commends him on the faith that was passed down to him by his mother and grandmother [Eunice, Lois] but he makes no mention of Timothy’s father- it seems as if Timothy might have grown up without a father figure? So that’s why Paul steps in and encourages his young friend‘ be strong son, there are going to be some very hard times- yourgonna need to take it like a man [as Sharon Angle told harry Reid in the debate the other night- MAN UP HARRY!]. Paul knew this race was tough, and he knew young Timothy had some tough days ahead- he was prepping him for the journey. As I watched the documentary on Cobain, at one point they played a phone message that Kurt left on the answering machine of some author who was writing a critical book on Courtney. Kurt called her [because of Courtney’s prodding] and threatened her not to write too critical of a book on Courtney- Kurt says ‘look, I’m already at the end of the road, so believe me- don’t write the damn book!’ As gifted as Kurt was, his demons would eventually catch up with him. Paul also said to Timothy ‘this is the reason I’m sticking it out in this place, so all the other people that still need to get in on it will have a chance’. God has called us to help ‘other people get in on it’ part of the process is being able to ride out the storm [Morrison].
[1534] CATHOLIC/PROTESTANT POSITIONS ON THE BIBLE. Let’s do a little teaching today. To all my Catholic/Protestant readers- when I teach on our respective faiths- understand that for the most part I’m giving you the official position of our churches. Now ‘official’ is a lot harder to say among Protestants- but the ‘best’ statements on Protestant doctrine probably come from the Reformed positions as stated by the creeds and statements of faith that came out of the 16th century Reformation- and yes, there other good statements as well [Baptist confessions, etc.]. When I talk ‘Catholic position’ I’m giving you the official position as stated thru the Catechism of the church- as well as the Encyclicals and decisions that have come from the councils. The Catholic Church does actually have official positions on stuff! [They call this the Magisterium- the church’s official teaching office]. It should be noted that both Catholic and Protestant churches have ‘dissenters’ within their ranks- Priests, Preachers, Scholars- who break ranks with the actual teaching of their own churches [Hans Kung- Catholic. Rudolph Bultman- Protestant. Just to name a few]. In some situations where the clergy are ‘less educated’[I’ll be nice] sometimes they don’t know what the position of their church really is. So that makes stuff a little harder. Okay- what do Catholics and Protestantsbelieve about the bible? Both groups believe the bible is the inspired word of God, infallible- with no errors. Both groups also have notable teachers within their ranks who dispute this- but remember- for the most part this is the official position. The Catholic church’s most ‘meaty’ statement on faith and doctrine still dates back to the 16th century Council that took place in Trent. Though there have been other important councils [Vatican 1 and 2] yet the council of Trent is the most definitive. That council was for the most part a clear restating of the historic position of the church, especially reaffirming the 7 sacraments. The council also produced a document on the church’s position on the bible- the church used stronger wording than most Protestants, they said the bible came to us by the ‘Holy Spirit DICATING’ the words! In fairness, the CatholicChurch does not hold to a mechanical type dictation- that God actually said the words to the writers, but never the less, that’s the statement. The Protestants are known for the famous 3 ‘Sola’s’ of the Reformation [Sola= alone] Faith alone, Grace alone, Bible alone- basically ‘alone’ meant the bible was the final authority on the matter- though creeds and councils were helpful, yet they can ‘err’. The able Catholic scholar, John Eck [maybe Cajetan?] forced Luther to admit that the Pope and Councils could make mistakes, and this was a fatal blow to any agreement between the warring sides. Now, many Protestants also seem to be confused on the statement ‘the bible alone’. The Reformers did not mean that we were to cast off all the good things that came down to us from the church fathers- Calvin quotes Saint Augustine a lot in his writings- the Reformers just meant that when deciding on final matters, the bible has the last say. The Catholics held that both Tradition [oral tradition passed down thru the church] as well as scripture had a say. The main point today is both Catholics and Protestants agree that the bible is ‘the word of God’. Catholics have a few more books in their bibles, but we all agree that it is God’s word. [Just a side note- The Catholics say the bible is ‘an infallible collection of infallible books’. The Protestants would not accept this statement- they said ‘we have a fallible collection of infallible books’. Most Protestants are not aware of this. The main reason the Protestant side would not agree to ‘infallible collection’ is because that would side with the position that the church did indeed possess infallible authority, given by God, to make certaindecisions that were binding- obviously the Reformers would not go that far.]
[1535] I AM THE TRADITION!- Just started reading the Pope's book ‘Jesus of Nazareth’ it came out in 2006, but never had a chance to read it. I recommend all our Pastor/Preacher friends to read it- especially those of you who are familiar with the Historical Critical method of scholarship, and those involved in the Propheticmovement. Benedict critiques the historical method very well; he’s even funny at times! [In a scholarly way]. Just the preface and intro give enough meat that if you’re not a ‘full book’ reader, these would be enough! The critique for the modern propheticmovement is that Benedict shows the real purpose of Prophets, as pictured thru Moses- he does a superb job at explaining how Jesus fulfilled the ‘prophet like Moses’ prophecy spoken by Peter in the book of Acts- excellent insights! Okay- let me cover a little more Catholic history- at the risk of losing my Protestant readers- but hoping to gain some Catholic ones. Being I’m talking about Popes and all, let me cover some 19th century history. In France you had the French Revolution [right at the end of the 18th century] and the feeling at the time was to throw off all outside control- many of the nation states rejected the Roman church for that simple reason, it was Roman! That is the states were flexing their new felt independence and the spirit of enlightenment and reformation that was running thru the land. In France you had 2 groups who were at opposite sides; The Gaulincansist’s versus the Ultramontanists. The first group represented the feeling of ‘lets break from the Roman church and be free’ the latter group wanted to maintain ties with Rome- the term meant ‘beyond the mountains/alps’. Meaning from Frances geographic perspective, they wanted to keep looking towards Rome. It was in this environment that the Catholic Church would convene the first Vatican Council [called Vatican 1]. Pope Pius the 9th started his pontificate as a liberal type Pope- open to new ideas and all, but as time progressed he took a more conservative stance. The council- starting in 1870- would take a very hard line stance against all the new ‘ism’s’ that arose over the last few centuries. Communism, Democratic spirit, Protestantism- the church took a hard line and seemed to come off as arrogant and unwilling to change with the times. The council would affirm for the first time the doctrine of Papal infallibility and the Immaculateconception of Mary- 2 doctrines that would make it much more difficult to bridge the Protestant/Catholic gap. It’s important to note that the church had a tradition of Papal infallibility for years- but it did not become officialCatholic doctrine until Vatican 1. All Catholics at the council did not agree to the doctrine- a famous Priest by the name of Guidi would dissent and challenge the Pope, he asked ‘what about the tradition’? Meaning what about the authority of tradition that has come from a spirit of collegiality and cooperation among the Bishops- if you push a strong doctrine of Papal infallibility- the tradition will loseits power. Pius famously responded ‘I AM THE TRADITION’. The council would never officially close- Victor Emmanuel would sack Rome- TheVaticanwould lose most of the Papal states and there would arise a sympathetic attitude towards the Roman church! Many felt bad that she lost her standing in the world, this caused many Catholic states to rise up in Support of the Vatican, and she actually gained more good will than before! I would also note that when the council broke up, the leading Catholic scholar of the day- Durlinger- did not accept the doctrine of Papal infallibility. Others broke away with him and theseCatholicssurvive till this day-primarily in Western Europe [Holland, Switzerland, etc.] they are called The Old Catholic Church and are Catholic in every way except for the doctrine of the Papacy. Some view Pope Pius as a stubborn man who was not willing to change with the times, but if you look at the overall political reality of the day- you can see why he took such a tough stance, the church was feeling threatened from the outside by many new movements and she felt that Christianity was under attack- Pius felt it necessary to exert Papal authority, so he did. Vatican 2 [1962-65] would ‘un-do’ the harsh spirit of Vatican 1 and be seen at a much more open and ‘liberal’ council- Pope John the 23rd [Pope during the council] would shape the mood of the council with the saying ‘let the windows be open’ implying a new freshness and openness for the church. Vatican 2 would refer to the Protestants as ‘separatedbrothers’ Vatican 1- heretics. Okay lets end for now, I encourage all of our readers to try and know the various Christian positions- don’t just allow rumor or gossip to form your opinions of others- strive for an honest conversation with other Christian groups- give others the benefit of the doubt- and if you still have sincere differences of belief, at least they’ll be informed differences- not simply hearsay.
[1536] THE HAIR TONIC DRINKERS! Okay, it’s time to tell the story. Recently I have had a few old friends join my Facebook page. One of them I met doing the rounds with the homeless guys in Corpus- he’s now doing well and has a place in Kingsville. My other buddy [David] has been a great friend for 25 years now. I met Dave [and all his brothers and sisters] thru my friendship with Dave's dad- a drug addict for many years who died a while back. I used to preach to Dave’s dad at the county jail in Kingsville. Eventually when the guys got out of jail [or prison] they would join my little house church and their wives and kids made up the church. Most of the sons were around my age at the time and we became good friends. When I went thru my ‘backsliding phase’ well yes- I partied hard, snorted some Cocaine with the bro’s- got high- the whole routine. Yet these guys are still good friends today [absent the drugs!]. So I was like the only White boy in the whole group, most [all?] of the ‘church members’ were Mexican. So you know- yourgonna kid each other ‘White boy’ ‘Wet Back’ in fun. Many of my friends have done lots of prison time- one buddy was real proud of being in the ‘Mexican Mafia’ [or Texas Syndicate?] while in prison- these are the gangs that ‘run the show’ in Texas jails. So the White brothers really don’t have the ‘power’ in the Texas gang scene. So I would kid Dave ‘hey bro, you know you Mexicans can’t handle the white boys’ [yes, I had some bad fights with some of the guys at times- when ‘backsliding’]. So one day Dave tells me the story of these 2 White boys- the Tonic drinkers. In prison you can get drugs and stuff- but if you didn’t have the money- you could catch a buzz by drinking Mouth Wash. So these White brothers figured ‘what the heck, lets down this bottle of hair tonic’ yes, they almost killed themselves! So whenever I would bring up the Mexicans not being able to handle the White boys, Dave would reply ‘What! You mean you tonic drinking @$#%’. I can’t believe I posted this to my Blog!
[1537] OH SHUT THE HELL UP! - Okay- the elections are over [11-2010] and I have not written a post yet for the blog [I wrote a short thing on Facebook- but nothing for the blog]. So I figured I’d better do one for the whole group. As I was ‘examining my heart’ to see if I have allowed politics to interfere with ‘my peace’- I had a quick impression in my mind-a picture [you know- the light bulb thing] and I saw myself over the last month watching the news channels and every now and then Andy Griffith would come on the commercial and he’d be promoting Obama care- he would be telling the seniors how wonderful the plan is for them [how you take billions from it [medicare]- and it still be good is beyond me?] So anyway- as ‘Andy’ starts promoting the plan [day after day] I found myself, yes- just like one of Pavlov’s dogs- responding ‘OH SHUT THE HELL UP ANDY’ as I reach for the remote to change the channel. As Jeff Foxworthy would say ‘you know you got a problem if…’ So yes- I need to repent! Okay- now that the Republicans took the house, and the Dem’s held the senate- how should Christians [and humans in general!] respond? First, if people have serious political differences with the president- that’s fine. To voice those concerns [in a right way- without ascribing wrong motives to the man] is a good thing. But when the pundits and even the ‘preachers’ begin buying into the paranoid notion that the president is secretly carrying out this lifelong plan to purposely undermine the economy- so he can carry out this childhood ‘Kenyan’ [secretly born there- didn’t you hear!] plan to overthrow the U.S. then at that point we have left all serious minded politics [and Christianity!]. It is fine to disagree with Bush, Obama- etc. It is not fine to demonize people- to see hidden motives behind every tree! I personally think the health care reform was a mistake- why? Listen- I’m for national health care- yes, call me a liberal. Yet the plan we got mandates private citizens to buy private insurance, by law! Whenever you pass a law that says ‘you must by this product’ and yet you don’t restrain the seller of the product in any way- that is you put no controls on the price of the product- then in the end that’s not a good thing! But I see why the thing ended up like that, and it wasn’t all the presidents fault- both sides are to blame for it [you say how can the Repub’s be responsible- well when some in the party simply want Obama to fail- that is they won’t seriously work with the man- then yes, it forced his hand to pass something that even many liberals hate!]. So, over these next few years the correct response from the church should be- when the president does things we feel are wrong, yes- voice your concerns. When he does something you feel is good- praise the man, give him credit! I’m worried that the man might be having a hard time dealing with all the hatred that is regularly directed at him and his family- sometimes you can see it on his face! He’s still fairly young, yes inexperienced [first term senator] we never had someone with such little experience before- yes he’s very smart- but never a one term senator [most held office for many years- governorships, etc.]. So we need to pray for our president and his family [I do every week- by name- specifically] and when we engage in the political arena- understand that there are sincere Christians on both sides of the aisle! You might disagree with people like Michael Moore- yet the man regularly attends Mass and believes in God- we can’t just demonize these people- it’s not right. Oh, and if you have been cursing out Andy Griffith over the last month or so- well yes ‘you might be a …’.
[1538] MORE ON THE POPE’S BOOK- Let me cover a little more Catholic history, being I’m still reading the Pope's book [Jesus of Nazareth]. The last 2 chapters I read dealt with the temptations of Jesus by the devil- and the concept of the ‘Kingdom of God’. I like Benedict’s interpretation of the temptations- how he applies them to today. He sees the temptation of turning stones into bread as saying ‘God- if you’re really there- then why are there so many starving people in the world- why don’t you provide! Just ‘turn the stones into bread’’ if you will. The Pope develops this thought as a general cause of doubt that occurs in the world; how many people seem to question the existence of God because of the many injustices we see in the world [in theology we call this Theodicy- the Pope I’m sure knows the term- but he’s trying to write for the common reader so he doesn’t use the term]. All in all I liked the argument. He also [surprisingly!] equates the temptation of the devil to Jesus- when the devil says ‘fall down and worship me and I will give you the kingdoms of the world’. Interestingly the Pope applies this to the ongoing temptation that the church has always had to deal with- the temptation of the church ‘bowing down’ in order to exert control over the kingdoms of the world. He compares the church’s ‘marriage’ to Roman govt. [4ht century Constantine] as a weakness of the church- that she in essence opted for outward political control and in a way rejected the kingdom of Jesus- the meek kingdom that would inherit the earth. Now, this observation has been made many times before- but mostly from Protestants! It’s surprising to see a Pope make the same observation! Also liberal Catholic theologian Hans Kung has made this argument- he’s not a theologian in good standing with his own church- a few years ago he openly made the argument that the church should reject Papal infallibility [the doctrine] and got an official censure from the Vatican. So any way I found the observations of Benedict enlightening and surprising- over the next few weeks I’ll probably hit a few more notes from the book [probably should have done a complete book review now that I think about it- but I’m in the middle of making some new radio programs and didn’t want to focus too much on a book review]. Anyway- if you get a chance pick up the book [published in 2006- but any Catholic bookshop will have it] it’s a worthwhile read.
[1539] Was just reading a debate on the doctrine of Transubstantiation [the actual Body and Blood of Christ present in the Eucharist- I have studied the development of the doctrine thru the centuries, eventually Thomas Aquinas would come up with the final wording- very technical indeed- he tried to harmonize ‘Aristotelian thought’ and sortof did his best- it gets a little too deep for the present post!] What I was thinking about, wasJesus sitting at the last meal with his friends- he knows he will be leaving them soon- yet they don’t fully comprehend the mission he needs to accomplish- there lost in a way. He sits down with them and takes the bread and wine and tells them ‘SEE-LOOK- this is ME! I HAVE TO BREAK. This is the plan- all along my Father planned it like this’ and he says ‘look- I’m going to break for you- I will soon be broken on the Cross- and the result will be life for you and many others- all who will eventually hear the story’. So he breaks the bread, he pours the wine- and he knows what’s coming next. The prophet Isaiah said ‘God will see the TRAVAIL of his soul, and be satisfied’. He struggles with the reality of the whole thing- he sweats blood in the garden- he says ‘God, if there’s another way to make this thing happen- let’s do it’! Heresigns himself to the reality that he always knew awaited him. I just thought it strange to have read the debate over the Eucharist- while we don’t really see the broken man. This was all done for us- he had to ‘break’.
[1540] Jesus of Nazareth [pope’s book] chapters 3-4. Okay- I’m having a hard time ‘dummying down’ the Pope’s book- trying to explain it in simple terms- so those of you who don’t get into it- just skip these posts and read another part of my blog. Okay, Benedict covers three different ways of looking at the central message of Jesus –The Kingdom of God. He borrows heavily from the church father Origen [form the Alexandrian school- Origen is very influential on early Christian thought- he also was a Universalist- in the end everyone gets saved- even Satan!]. The Pope shows how Origen viewed the kingdom as the person of Jesus himself- that is when you see Christ- you’re seeing the kingdom. Origen also spoke of the ‘interior kingdom’ a spiritual reality of the kingdom ruling over people’s hearts. Then the Pope speaks about the 19th- 20th century emphasis as the Church as the Kingdom- he shows how the church began seeing the kingdom as present in the world thru her- that is the church herself is a divine presence of God in the earth- and the kingdom is here right now thru the church. I agree with all 3 of the above views of the kingdom- I would only disagree a little with the Popes perspective that the 3rd view is primarily a late development [probably just reads that way because the book is an English translation form the German- I can’t imagine a Pope as learned as Benedict [one of the most intellectual ones in many years!] would miss this]. Right from the early days of Saint Augustine [City of God- 4th century] the idea of the kingdom being present thru the church has been around. The Pope also gets into those who saw the kingdom message of Jesus- and teach that Jesus true Kingdom message was never grasped- and instead we messed up and started ‘the church’. Liberal thinkers like Albert Schweitzer and Adolph Von Harnackall played a role in this type of thinking, and early 20th century ideas about re-thinking the kingdom in general- as well as the philosopher Heidegger. In chapter 4 Benedict does an excellent job atportrayingJesus as the ‘new Moses’ who delivers the New Law thru the sermon on the mount- contrasting Moses receiving of the law at Mount Sinai. Jesus goes up on a mountain and ‘sits’ [showing the plenary authority of the teacher- being seated]. In the New Testament [Hebrews and the gospels] the religious leaders are said to ‘sit in Moses seat’- or Hebrews says ‘Jesus sat down at Gods right hand’. In Catholic theology the ‘seat’ [chair- cathedra] denotes the place of authority. I live in a ‘cathedral city’- Corpus Christi. New York’s SaintPatrick’s church is the cathedral for that area. That means the authority over the regional diocese is ‘seated’ at the cathedral- where the regional Bishop resides. So Benedict does a good job showing us Jesus as the ‘new Moses’ who sits on the new mount and takes the plenary authority- he also says that Jesus authority did not rest in the religious institutions of the day- like the priests and Pharisees- that Jesus authority was real. The religious leaders was too- but they were not sincere. Once again I find these types of observationsconsistent with my own thought [and Protestants thought in general] and I find it very surprising to see the Pope thinking along the same lines.
[1541] SOCIAL JUSTICE- These last few months there has been lots of talk in the media about the role of the church- are all ‘liberal’ churches communist? Are the Sarah Palin’s of the world the future representatives of conservatives? I have been downloading songs form UTUBE these past few weeks- I stumbledacrossNickleback, and found Daughtry also, there style is my favorite. As I viewed the videos I saw a bunch of stuff on the starving kids of the world- one of the greatest ‘injustices’ on the planet. Why? Do we in the West have any responsibility? What about our role in the global ‘village’? When countries compete for our customers- countries that have no child welfare laws [or if they have them they don’t enforce them]. When we buy their goods- are we responsible in a way for the abuse the kids [and adults] go thru? What response has the church had? For the most part we pump ‘Christian TV’ into their countries- and they hear a message equal to that of the real estate info-mercials that come on between midnight and 6 a.m.! In a great way we have become irrelevant- we have believed that Capitalism in itself is just! We think the market itself will answer these questions. Yet we have bibles that actually contain teaching on ‘unjust capital’ [the hire of the workers is fraudulently held back by the employers- James] Stories in the Old Testament where God told his people ‘when you harvest your fields- make sure you leave some ‘free food’ in the corners- so the poor- the ALIENS can have something too’! Our problem is we only see the things we want to see. The apostle John says ‘how can we say we love God- who we can’t see- when we don’t love our brother- who we do see’. You tell me.
[1542] RISK- Okay- a little drained right now- I watched news from midnight till 5 am. The guys at the fire station used to kid me- they saw some 20-20 type program- it dealt with people who were actually news addicts, the running joke was some day they would find me at the substation dead- when they pulled my eyelids back they would read ‘Fox News’ [I watch them all- not just fox]. So I caught all the re-runs of the day- a few I watched twice! But I also caught a very informative CSPAN show- they were covering some geopolitical seminar out of the University of Chicago. The level of discussion was about a thousand times more mature than all the talking cable heads. They had on both Democrats and Republicans- past U.N. ambassadors and all. But the conversation was great. A while back I took an open stand against the wars [not our men and women] simply because I felt we needed to put more public pressure on the promise that the President made, that he would get us out. Realistically- yes we can’t leave ‘today’ but I fear another 10 years of the thing! In the discussion excellent points were made- some conservatives even said how many of our global enemies are glad we are in Iraq and Afghanistan- they see those struggles as us spreading ourselves too thin- sort of like when the worlds super power engages in ‘nation building’ then other nations can get away with more- because ‘the cop’ is distracted. So in a way we are playing into the hands of our enemies- but the political environment of our country does not leave room for an open discussion like this- I mean you can’t run a campaign on a serious thought out question like this- you would get branded as being weak on defense-or ‘un patriotic’ it’s sad. Last week the president of Afghanistan- Hamid Karzai- was quoted in the Wall Street Journal as saying we need to stop doing night time raids in their country. Ever since General Petraeus took over [after Stanley Mcrystal was pushed out for spilling his guts to a Rolling Stone reporter] he has re tooled the efforts, and one of the main changes was doing night time raids and routing the Taliban- he’s been highly successful. Yet many civilians have died. But I feel there is another possible reason why Karzai made the statement- he has been sitting at the table with the Taliban for months, they are talking and discussing future plans on settling the war. Plus Iran is also funding Karzai, and having friendly talks as well. So in a way they are using our guys as pawns- they realize our guys will kill so many of their guys, and they will bomb us every so often- but all of a sudden, in the middle of this chess game- comes the U.S. troops knocking off a bunch of Taliban men- hey- they’ve been buddying up with Karzai for months- it’s quite possible that the Taliban have told Karzai [over dinner!] ‘Damn it- cant you get these night time raids to stop’! Whatever the facts are- in a way our men are being used in this political agenda. Sure, we have our own agenda- and their lives are not ‘being wasted’ yet it’s sad to see the president of the country we’re ‘fighting for’ actually buddying up to the force that’s killing our men. But- all this is too much for a political sound bite- so your either branded as ‘for our troops’ or ‘against them’ and many of our enemiescouldn’t be happier about it! Okay- time to confess- years ago at the fire house we got into a stage where we started playing the board game- Risk. It’s a fun strategic game- of course no one took it too seriously [I actually threw the whole game in the dumpster one night- hey- war is hell! LOL.] So one day me and a buddy get into a 2 man contest- and I figured I’d up the ante [you know- living on the edge] so I tell him ‘ How bout we play 10 bucks a game- and the loser always has the option of challenging the winner to another game- double or nothing’ so we shake on it. After about 5 hours- and one trip to my ATM [yes- this is sad] I win game number 4 or 5 and the pot is around 100 bucks. So I’m hoping my buddy had enough [he had his wife bring him money too!] and as I look into his eyes, trying to read the Poker face- instead of ‘Poker’ I see tears [yes- now the story gets really sad] ‘I say- bro- either pay up or challenge for the next round’ and he begins whining about me forcing him to play the last game- and he’s gonna tell the Captain I made him play the last game! So as you can see the night didn’t go too well. One of the strategies when playing with multiple people is if you can get your enemy to start a war with another player- you just sit back and watch him waste all his resources and money- and you even try and get other players to fight among themselves ‘Hey Joe- you gonna let Sean get away with that!’. As I watched the CSPAN program- the smartest minds said we have played into this game on more than one occasion. That’s what I mean when I say I’m ‘against the wars’ the whole nation building agenda- our guys getting caught up in the middle of the board game- at times, being manipulated by the political agenda of either party- that’s what makes it sad. Well, I need to go- just remembered something- need to go collect on an old debt.
[1543] HAPPY THANSGIVING! ‘In Jesus Christ, God has revealed himself in descending- we ascend to God by accompanying him on this descending path- as we witness the abuse of economic power, as we witness the cruelties of capitalism that degrades man to the level of merchandise, we have also realized the perils of wealth- the man destroying divinity- Mammon- which grips large parts of the world in a cruel stranglehold.’ Pope Benedict.
‘What has been the greatest sin on earth so far? Surely the words of the man who said ‘Woe to those who laugh now’”Friedrich Nietzsche.
In Matthews gospel we read that Jesus came from ‘Galilee, of the Gentiles’- strange. Matthew was writing for a Jewish audience, Luke’s gospel was targeting the Gentiles. Yet Matthew describes Jesus home turf in terms that would offend his target audience- the Jews of Jesus day honored Jerusalem, Judea- but Galilee? Right from the startJesusentered the scene in a way and style that offended the religious mind of his day. The prophet Isaiah says Jesus was this Rod- this branch that would grow from the ‘root’ of Jesse. Jesus came from the lineage of Jesse, King David’s forefather- royal blood indeed. Yet the prophet says he will be set up as a sign- an ‘ensign’ that the people will look to- they will see things they never saw before. In the gospels we see Jesus as a highly unusual preacher/teacher- he simply does not fit the mold. Isaiah also says he will judge the poor of the earth with equity- he will defend them in anger! The prophets tell us ‘The zeal of thine house has eaten me up’. This prophecy was fulfilled when Jesus entered the temple courts and saw the merchandisers selling their stuff- he had it- in a rage he grabbed the tables and turned them upside down ‘My father’s house was supposed to be a place of prayer- look what you have done to it! You’ve made it a Den of Thieves’. Yes, anger was a part of his persona- at times it would eat him up- in a sense. Yet as he flustered the religious aristocracy- he was a breath of fresh air to the out casts, to those who society drew the ‘black line’ on. Dylan’s son would sing ‘the same black line that was drawn on you was drawn on me’ surely Jesus would ‘allow’ the black line to be drawn on him too. The common people heard him gladly. Again- Isaiah says ‘blessed are the women who are barren, who have not been able to have kids- for more are the children of the desolate than of the married wife’. In the Old Testament [and Jesus day] not being able to have kids was seen as a mark ‘the black line’ if you will. The poor wife would be stigmatized, looked at as someone who didn’t have what it took to fulfill her ‘womanhood’. Again, in a sense an outcast. Yet Jesus said ‘blessed are those who mourn now, who cry- who are empty’ for theirs is the kingdom. In the above quote, that’s what Nietzsche was decrying- he saw the words of the Master as contrary to mans inner greatness- his humanistic abilities to achieve- to fulfill all of his desires- to live for the full! Much like the gospel of our day. Yet Jesus emptied himself, he was ‘a man of sorrow- constant grief’ [Isaiah]. The apostle Paul tells us that Jesus emptied himself, he did not see his divinity as something to be used for self gain- some type of quest to reach this stage of religious Nirvana- no he emptied himself- he too became ‘barren’. Yes Jesus was quite a character, he simply was not what the people expected- he seemed to break the rules. Yet at the end of the day- this unorthodox preacher- this man from Galilee- yes he would change the world.
[1544] POPPA PAUL- It’s the Saturday right after Thanksgiving; around 3 a.m. in the morning. Been up for a few hours, actually praying [believe it or not!] ‘Wow, brother- you must be spiritual?’ Please. A few years ago, while still working at the fire dept., I spent the last few years staying up most of the night, walking outside- praying. Some days I’d fall asleep around 9- get up at 11- to be honest it was killing me! I just couldn’t sleep- it took me a few years to train myself to sleep in till at least 3- maybe on a good day- 4 a.m. Then a week or so ago the clocks went back an hour- and yes- I’m waking up at one again. So here we are. As I was praying I was thinking of an old buddy, Poppa Paul- don’t remember if I ever wrote about ‘Pops’ before. Paul was around 70, one of the older ‘White’ bro’s- most of these older guys have past stories of being in prison- many for murder- they wind up coming to Texas and I meet them here on the streets- the homeless bunch. Paul supposedly killed someone years ago in Fla. Did his time and wound up here. I liked Pops [died a while back] I’d invite Pop’s and New York Tony [my buddy the crack addict] to go eat- Tony would go- Pops just wanted his beer. Yet Paul was a friend- I did help him run errands every so often. The older guys protect themselves by having a dangerous reputation- Pops stabbed ‘Cowboy’ [Texas Heroin addict] almost killed him; you don’t mess with Pops. I guess one day Pops was thinking he needed to explain himself- so me and Tony and Pop’s are hanging out, somehow Pop’s brings up the stabbing [he did almost kill Cowboy] Pop’s says ‘you know, one day I was whittling some wood [LOL] and Cowboy fell on my knife’ it was kinda funny- I did tell Pop’s ‘I don’t know Pop’s- sounds like a story to me’. Hey, I couldn’t let him think I was that gullible. Over the years at the fire house I had lots of my buddies come by and visit- after a while the guys at the station caught on- they would tell me ‘hey John- your convies [convicts] were here looking for you the other day’. As I’m reading thru the gospels right now- you see a strange thing- Jesus is interacting with the religious crowd- enters the temple- goes to the synagogue- these are the ‘meeting places’ where all the religious elites of the day gather- they have a tradition where they meet once a week- read from their bibles [the Torah] and live these regulated religious lives- that never seem to touch the hurting world around them. Now Jesuscomes on the scene and he gathers this rag tag bunch of guys- starts preaching and living in the streets, and yes- the hookers and the outcasts- they can’t get enough of him! As a matter of fact this is the very thing that ‘irks the hell’ out of the religious crowd- they say ‘look- everyone is listening to him’! Jesus came to seek and to save the lost- the N.Y. Tonies- the Poppa Paul’s- sure there are real risks involved- Jesus said ‘greater love has no man than this- that he would lay down his life for his friends’ damn- find some friends.
[1545] POLITICS, RELIGION UPDATE [11-30-2010] Recently there have been a few notable news stories; The Popes new book- Light of the World- and the media frenzy over a MINOR statement about condom use [I was gonna name this post ‘Condoms- Condoms everywhere’ but heck- I post the blog all over the world- figured I’d reign it in a little]. The other story is the Wikkileaks release of hundreds of thousands of secret documents that give insight [and in some cases cause risk] to the major players in the theatre. A week or so ago I wrote a post named Risk- I spoke about the reality of other countries trying to manipulate our soldiers to do the dirty work for them- sure enough that’s the biggest story coming from the leaked documents. Many Middle Eastern states have been exposed thru the leak- leaders of those nations doing their best at getting us to strike Iran. The news is very damaging for these leaders- many of their people were unaware of the leaders desire to hit Iran. Now- what about the war? As I cover the ongoing war in Afghanistan, I am trying my best not to misrepresent the story. Yes, I’m against the war- want our guy’s out- within a year! General Petraeus has said [privately- Bob Woodward’s book] that this is a war our kids and their kids will be fighting- hope not. In 1979 the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan- they were attempting to establish a communist state. We backed the ‘resistance’ fighters- the Mujahedeen. After 10 years- and an estimated 1 million civilian casualties, the Soviet Union pulled out and in 3 short years [1992] the Mujahedeen toppled the puppet govt. A few years later the Taliban would rise to power. The Soviet invasion destroyed the country- they did indiscriminate bombing of civilian areas and did not limit civilian deaths. So far the NATO forces have killed around 10 thousand Taliban and about the same number of civilians. Afghanistan has experienced around a 10% annual economic growth rate the past few years, many children are in school and medical aid has improved- over all our ten year venture has not been like the Soviet one. Yet- our people have died [around 1500 in Afghanistan- under 5 thousand in Iraq] and we have killed civilians. Our stated goal is to help the Afghan people establish a strong enough govt. that would be able to resist any future attempts for Al Qaeda or other terrorist networks to operate out of the region; the 9-11 attack was launched from Al Qaeda in Afghanistan. Yet there are talks going on right now to make a peace deal with the Taliban- so I do feel that our guys dying in the field, fighting the Taliban- and at the same time Karzai is sitting at the table with them- it just doesn’t seem right. We also have our aircraft carrier doing ‘war games’ in the Yellow Sea [right off Korea- inside Chinas economic zone] and the tension for all out war betweenNorth and South Korea is as high as it has ever been. A few months back the North torpedoed the Chenoan- a South Korean warship- and killed 40 something men. Last week they hit the South Korean island right off of their coast and killed 2 civilians and 2 Korean marines. Our response has been laughable at times. We said ‘look- we don’t want war- lets all calm down’ [good]. Then the media say’s ‘the president is standing up to them- he is still going to do the war games’. We looked stupid- to be honest. ManySouth Koreans have been demonstrating for a stronger response- they want to go to war. So these past few weeks have been hectic- I don’t fully see the Wikkileaks thing as a total disaster- many have demonized the guy who runs Wikkileaks- Julian Assange- in some ways I think he’s doing the world a favor. Okay- guess I won’t get to the Condom story- maybe another day.
[1546] JULIAN ASSANGE- Okay- it looks like I’m gonna have to get personal! Yesterday I wrote a post on the Wikileaks ‘leaks’ and the developing storm to follow. Sure enough the media and the West in general have labeled the founder of Wikileaks as a war criminal- rapist [Chris Matthews-better not start with him!] and an overall disgrace to human kind. So what exactly did he do? He leaked thousands of ‘secret’ military/govt. files that have exposed a lot of behind the scenes dealing. His organization actually contacts the U.S. govt. first, and allows us redact names and identities of people who we feel might be in danger. Wikileaks also gets published in the world’s major news papers. And a lot of the ‘behind the scenes’ material reveals the hidden agendas of other nations as they say one thing in public- but another thing in private. Now- I just watched Chris Matthews [yes- another all night news night!] and his rage against Julian Assange- Matthews- the man who still can’t stop speaking about all the ‘neo con’ hidden agendas of Bush and his team- a ‘news man’ who himself tries to expose hidden agenda’s of top leaders. Yet he can’t stand the fact that someone else would interfere with Obama’s agenda- so he rages against Assange. There is a story in the bible- about a prophet who was rebuked by his donkey. The old King James version says ‘the dumb ass, speaking with man’s voice’ you know every time I watch hardball, this verse pops into my mind.
[1547] THE SAGA CONTINUES- I guess I’m going to try and stick with our countries response to the Wikileaks ‘leaks’ and the medias total unwillingness to hold this president and his administration responsible for anything. Today the world is hunting down JulianAssange- the infamous head of the organization that leaked thousands of secret files. Interpol has him listed as a rapist- our people see him as a terrorist, who needs to be captured and tried for war crimes. For what? Whether you like themanspolitics or not- he simply performed the same function that goes on everyday with reportersand ‘secret sources’ he received documents and made public the info- this is not a crime! Every journalist and free media fan should be shaking in their boots over the seeming willingness to go after this man and shut down his web site- whether we like it or not- this is what we call FREE PRESS. Now, did the soldier who downloaded the files break the law? Where not even sure about that! It seems as if the U.S. govt. blew it by not having these documents sealed [on-line] in a way that would not allow any person to access them. So what should the story be then? That the Obama administration was so incompetent that they let the thing happen! I have not heard a single criticism against this administration- he’s viewed as a victim- not a person who should be held accountable for the actual failure of our govt. to contain secret info. Can you imagine the calls for Bush- or his secretary of state to resign- if these things were revealed during his time in office? As the days go by we continue to see more fallout from the leaks- Hillary Clinton seems to have directed our diplomats to spy illegally during their duties. If Bush’s people were found out- Reid and Kerry would be roaring on the floor of the senate for a resignation- so far not a peep. Another news leak- during the Iraq war one of our tanks struck a hotel in Iraq that killed 2 civilian news reporters. The family of the Spanish reporter has sued the U.S. over his death- they have made a video over it. The leaks revealed that our govt. has been pressuring Spain to get the charges dropped- and that Spain has been negotiating with us to drop the charges. Yet the family of the reporter was being told all along that Spain’s leaders were fighting for them- they have been lied to- right now this story is dominating the news cycle in Spain. How does our govt. respond to these injustices? We label the news person who revealed these things as a serial rapist who has put people’s lives in jeopardy- we aren’t admitting that a lot of the things that are in jeopardy are the secret behind the scenes deals of those in power- and how they run rough shod over the common man. Today is 12- 2- 2010- let’s see how long it takes for the liberal media to wake up and see this story for what it is- if we as a people accept the fact that leaked info- that makes us look bad- can be responded to by accusing the ‘leaker’ of treason, terrorism, war crimes- etc. then that’s a bad day for freedom of the press.
[1548] THE FALLOUT- Okay, think this will be the last political post for this recent run [hey- I don’t want to stroke out!]. Let’s review a few things; remember what we were told when the Wikileaks files were first released? The media and our govt. [the Obama administration included] said the files were releasing the names of ‘undercover’ people- they were releasing info that would get our guys killed- they basically claimed the info. was going to cause harm/damage to many of our fighting men and women. What has happened? All the stories I have seen have been things that exposed the hypocrisy and lying of those in power. How our govt. put pressure on other countries not to pursue justice in certain cases- how our top political people have publicly lied to us about our actions in the wars. About a year ago ‘the nation’ magazine ran a story on our troops operating ‘illegally’ inside Pakistan’s borders. Our govt. publicly denied it; Richard Holbrook- special envoy to the region- stated in no uncertain terms that those stories were false. The press secretary for the White House denied it. The reporter who was about to run the story got a call from one of our top military leaders- he was warned not to run the story- there would ‘be consequences’. The story ran, our govt. denied it. The leaks showed us that yes indeed; we were operating in Pakistan in a way that we were denying to the public. They lied to us- not about an insignificant thing- but about war. Former president Putin [Soviet Union] was on Larry king the other night; he ‘told off’ the U.S. govt. he said we should mind our own damn business. The leaks revealed how our guys were gossiping about Putin and his disarray among his men. The leaks showed how the Obama administration put tremendous pressure on Spain and other countries- to not pursue any ‘war crimes’ investigations against Bush and Cheney, Obama pressured other countries to not pursue it. Lots of these leaks have not been about putting our men in danger- or exposing undercover ‘ops’- they’ve been about revealing how our govt. has lied, cheated, did back room deals- all under the guise of ‘doing what needed to get done’. This week we had Peter King [Republican rep. from N.Y.] call for the assassination of Julian Assange ‘on site’. Sarah Palin said the same- Mike Huckabee advocates the execution of the disturbed soldier who illegally stole the files from the computer base. ‘Assassinate’ wow- strong words to use against a person who exposed the hidden deals and agendas of our leaders. Our wonderful media- both sides [the MSNBC/FOX crowd] - produce political theatre for their target audience- the bottom line is what their concerned about. We need to keep ‘public news’ sources around [P.B.S.- radio- etc.] We need sources that are not run by the ad money they bring in. Just last night I started seeing a little change in the coverage of JulianAssange, and saw some media shows using the Wikileaks in a positive way- treating the leaks like real news stories- carefully looking at the real ‘hidden’ info that we were previously not aware of- that’s what the media is supposed to do with ‘leaked’ info- they do it all the time for heaven’s sake! I don’t know how this story will end- I’m sure I’ll write a few more posts as time goes by- I just wanted to make us all aware of our own biases- our ‘inability’ to see that we were sold a bill of goods- we were told ‘innocents will die- assassinate the man responsible on site’ now were giving it a second thought- maybe we jumped the gun-maybe we didn’t truly think for ourselves but let others do the thinking for us. Maybe we’ll do better next time around- maybe?
[1549] THEY WILL LEARN WAR NO MORE- Isaiah the prophet. This verse comes from the book of Isaiah- he also speaks of the nature of Christ’s kingdom by saying ‘the wolf will lay down with the lamb’. Isaiah has more prophecies about Jesus [Messianic prophecies] than any other Old Testament prophet. To all my ‘bible students- preachers’ most of us our aware of the various ways teachers interpret these passages; we see the dual nature of the messianic prophecies [that is many prophecies speak of Jesus first coming and second coming in one verse- you don’t see the time lapse between the 1st and 2nd coming]. At the same time we often overlook the fact that the nature of God’s kingdom is one of peace- not war. Yes ‘Make love- not war’ actually has biblical backing! Now when Jesus arrived on the scene in the 1st century, he came at a time when the nation of Israel was under ‘occupation’. Rome was the controlling authority- and the Jews knew it. Israel had different views among her people on how to deal with the Roman occupation- some wanted a violent overthrow of the Roman govt., these were called Zealots- others took a more moderate stance. Out of Jesus 12 disciples, 2 were Zealots- Simon and Judas. They thought they were getting in on a strong Messianic movement that would be violent in nature. Yet Jesus would teach them that those who live by the sword will die by it. He showed them a better way- when he said ‘greater love has no man than this that he would die for his friends’. He wasn’tsaying ‘that he would risk his life in battle- while trying to kill others- and maybe die in the process’. No, he was speaking about non violent protest- even to the point of laying down one’s life. He taught them ‘war no more’. I understand that my position on these wars has upset people, and I do not see our brave men and women as ‘the enemy’. But I feel the leadership- especially in the church, has not rightly understood these things- the nature of Christ’s kingdom is one of peace- not war. When some of the most popular TV evangelists, and ‘end times’ books promote an idea that seems to pit natural Israel against Muslim/Arab nations- and they give scenarios that seem to ‘encourage’ one side fighting- and killing the other side- then in these ways we are teaching ‘war’ that is we are presenting Christ’s kingdom in a way that seems to say ‘yes, God is in this violent thing- and when he comes back he will personally wipe out the other side’. We have not done right in the church- we have not taught ‘war no more’.
[1550] ASSANGE- THE POPE- AND JOHN THE BAPTIST- Kinda wanted to cover the recent developments in the Wikileaks case- also a few more notes from the Pope’s book- and a little bible stuff; let’s see what I can do. First- The head guy in charge of the leaks that have exposed our govt. and other governments secret behind the scenes wheeling and dealing- has been arrested in London. They took him in on the Interpol charge that he ‘raped’ 2 women in Sweden. These charges stem from encounters that JulianAssange had with these ‘ladies’ while doing some type of seminar on their work as freedom of the press crusaders. It seems as if the women- who were attendees- found it worthwhile to have hooked up with the big shot of the week. Initially the reports said that the women did voluntarily agree to havingunprotected sex with Assange- yet they later got together- after talking for a few days- and went together to the police to file their claim. Initially Sweden rejected the charge- it seemed like a voluntary type thing! A famous lawyer, who is trying to get Sweden to toughen their rape laws, to include stuff like this- took the case. That’s how it got back into the courts. Now- it seems as if this lawyer is using the publicity of the case to leverage his own cause- which is to extend the rape laws of Sweden. That’s the case- rapist? You tell me. In the midst of it all our country is trying to extradite the man to face all types of future charges. Where not ‘officially’ doing it- but the behind the scenes deals are in the works. First Sweden still has to get him. Okay- this whole case will be a future test case for freedom of the internet and just who qualifies as being ‘press’.
As more of the leaks come to light- we keep finding out about how our govt. lied to us, and deceived us. Last night I caught an interview with a family member of the victims of the Lockerbie plane attack. If you remember a few years back a terrorist shot down a plane over Scotland, 283 people died- many Americans. The case was tried in Scotland and the man was put in prison- with the guarantee that he would not get out. Yet Scotland let him go a few months back on ‘humanitarian’ concerns. He supposedly was dying of cancer and had only a few months to live. Now, when they released him our leaders were outraged! Yes Obama and all the rest were fuming! [in public] but the Wikileaks showed us that they all knew about the release 10 months before it happened- and we kinda turned a blind eye to the deal. Britain was accused of releasing him back to Libya because they wouldn’t deal with the U.K. unless they let him go. So the family member who found all this out- thanks to Wikileaks- was outraged, our govt. lied to them. Oh yes, and another talking head called for the assassination of Assange- Bob Beckel- a Democrat who works for Fox said someone needs to put a bullet in his head. Can you imagine any of the media talking this way so openly about a Muslim journalist? This case is important because it shows us how far the govt. and the corporate world will go to silence someone who is exposing them to the light [Assange is about to release leaks on a huge American bank].
Okay- just a few more things. While reading the Popes book I like the way he gets into the details of the different perspectives of the gospel writers and the give and take between Jesus and the disciples. I didn’t get this from the book- but the book led me into the study. If you read the account of John the Baptist in Matthew chapter 3- you see John baptizing in the Jordan and the big wigs of the day show up- they want to get baptized by John. You would think John would take the whole thing as a diplomat- you know- greeting them with pomp and stuff. Instead he calls them a bunch of snakes and serpents- he says ‘who warned you to flee from the judgment that’s sure to come’- the leaders and influential men of the day were facing their own judgment- and they didn’t like the writing on the wall [sound familiar?]. In Luke’s gospel [chapter 3] you have the soldiers also coming to John- they ask him ‘what should we do?’ John says ‘do violence to no man’ wow! Now you’re meddling. Society was being challenged by John in many ways- he himself was spoken about in Isaiah and Malachi [Old Testament books]. Yet Jesus comes to John to get baptized and John says ‘I’m not worthy to do this- to carry out the mission’ Jesus says it needs to be done. In another gospel [John] we read how they come to John and ask him ‘are you the Messiah? Are you the Elijahprophet who was to come’ and John denies it. He says he is simply the voice- a messenger. There was a prophecy about John in the book of Malachi- it said a prophet- like Elijah- would come before the coming of Jesus- so one time they asked Jesus ‘if you’re the Messiah- then where’s the Elijah prophet who was to come first?’ Jesus said it was John. What’s going on here? John seemed to not be able to accept who he really was- yes- he had a bad image of himself- yet even though he felt unworthy to fulfill the task he would take it to the end. John would finally be executed for his ‘free speech’ at the time it seemed like the right thing to do- now it seems like a gross injustice.
[1551]- WHERE’S THE CONFESSING CHURCH? During WW2 the German church was split on how she should respond to the rise of Hitler and the racist tendencies that were beginning to be revealed as time went on. Many GermanChristians initially embraced his ideas- they seemed to join a nationalistic/patriotic spirit in with the practice of their religion. Germany was coming off of years of national inferiority aftertheir loss in WW1 and many Christians embraced the new felt spirit of ‘exceptionalism’ that was surging thru the land. On the other side you had men like Dietrich Bonheoffer who resisted what he saw as unjust govt.- others took his stance, these were called ‘the confessing church’ they believed it was their responsibility to speak out- to ‘confess’ the things they saw as unjust. Bonheoffer would get executed for his role in attempting to assassinateHitler.
As we continue to read the release of the Wikileaks documents- we see more and more how our govt. has lied, deceived, been involved in the deaths of many civilians- and both the media and the govt. have denied these things- until they actually were exposed. Yemen. The last few years there were many attacks in the country of Yemen- when these attacks first started the U.S. govt. vehementlydenied any involvement at all. The official reports and the N.Y. times ran stories that said ‘Today in Yemen- Yemeni fighter planes struck a terrorist compound and possibly killed some high level Al Qaeda terrorists’. During a press conference- state dept. spokesman P.J. Crowley was point blank asked ‘are we involved in ANY military activities in Yemen’- he point blank said no. There was speculation that we were doing secret drone attacks in the country- our govt. said ‘NO’. On average about 50 civilians die for every target we hit- quite a cost. So obviously these innocents demand to know the truth about why/who killed their kids. Yemen and the U.S. simply saw it in their best interest to lie. I mean- these people are just pawns on the grand stage- right? What rights does the average person have to really know what’s going on? So the Wikileaks revealed that yes indeed the U.S. did do the strikes- yes indeed we did kill many innocents- and yes indeed Yemen said ‘you do the strikes, and we’ll tell our people it was us’. They were caught in the act. So what is our govt. saying now? P.J. Crowley- the state dept. spokesmen who lied- he is now saying ‘well, I meant we weren’tinvolved in a specific attack’. When you read the actual transcript of the press conference- he was asked ‘are we involved IN ANY military activity in Yemen’? His answer- NO.
Last week our military began trial hearings against a team of U.S. soldiers for their involvement in what’s being called ‘a death squad’. This group of young men were caught killing Afghan civilians- they shot a farmer in a field- cut off his finger for a souvenir and eventually were caught. Now- do these guys represent the majority of our troops in the field- of course not! Yet this story runs as top news in the Muslim media- have you even heard about it?
How should the church respond to these types of things? Should we be the silent majority- like Germanys nationalistic church who saw ‘church and state’ as one big patriotic cause? Should we just keep ‘preaching the gospel’ while our govt. carries out hidden agendas and lies to us and the people who are being killed? Should we question the ridiculous strategy of engaging in these never ending campaigns? What’s out strategy? Do we believe that after more than 10 years- and thousands of lives- that eventually we can set up Democraticgovernments that will be allies to the U.S. ? What’s to prevent these radical religious countries from voting in some nut- like the president of Iran- and we spent all our time dying and killing for this?
We tried this in the West Bank- we helped the Palestinians set up some free and open elections. We wheeled anddealed with Israel and Palestine- we gave much aid and effort- after all was said and done they finally held their democratic election- and they elected Hamas!
What is the primary cause for terrorism amongst radical Islamists? They see our forces in their ‘holy lands’ as the number one cause for resistance. After our initial war [Bush 1] to expel Iraq from Kuwait- we for the first time established bases in Arab countries. Saudi Arabia- Iraq- etc. Bin laden and the rise of Al Qaeda were a direct result of what they saw as Americans’ ‘defiling’ their sacred land. Do you remember any car bombings and these types of efforts before that time? Yes- you always had some type of fighting- but not to the level that ratcheted up after the first gulf war. So, the number one reason these radicals are carrying out this insane agenda is because they see us as invaders in their land. So how do we respond to the threat- WEINVADE MORE LAND! Overall the strategy is not going to work. Right now we are fighting the Taliban- who are these people? They are ethnic Afghans who have NO WORLWIDE AGENDA. They see themselves as ‘freedom fighters’ who simply want to ‘restore’ their land to a religious theocracy. Not good- but no real threat to the U.S. So why are we fighting them? They gave space for Al Qaeda to operate out of their country. Okay- Al Qaeda’s been long gone- yet we keep fighting this group who sees themselves as defending their homeland. Its nuts! It’s like if some gang attacked you, they lived down the street in some hotel. So you start a war with the hotel owners and the gang leaves. Instead of spending all your time and resources hunting down the gang- you start a never ending war with the hotel owners! Not only is this stupid- but the gang is laughing at the strategy- it actually helps the gang to recruit more members- because the gang points to the fact that we are in their ‘holy land’ which after all is the original justification for the existence of the gang! All this would be laughable if it weren’t so sad.
So what does the church say about all this- not much. We keep hawking our religious wares on our TV channels- we keep appealing for a never ending need for money- and all the time the world is going to hell in a hand basket. It’s time for us to become ‘the confessing church’ to speak truth to power- because our govt. seems to have a hard time telling us the truth.
[1552] A SOCIALIST- A SEAFOOD JOINT- AND THE BAILOUTS OF THE RICH- Last night I told my daughter ‘take orders from everyone- my treat- George’s steaks and seafood’. So she looks up the number and their closed! They went out of business. This was one of my favorite spots- been around ever since I lived in Corpus Christi.
Yesterday I watched part of the speech Bernie Sanders [Senator from Vermont] gave on the Senate floor. He spoke for 8 hours- the closest thing to a real filibuster in years. Sanders is the only member of the Socialist party that is a member of the senate. He spoke in opposition to the deal the president cut with the Republicans; many Democrats are fuming and it looks like the president has a mutiny on his hands.
Though I’m not a socialist- yet Sanders speech was very enlightening. He made some great points. At a time when our country is in serious financial trouble- should we be giving billionaires a break on the estate tax? The Walton family alone [Wal Mart] would gain an extra 30 billion as a result of the deal the president made with the Repubs. 30 billion! You ask ‘John- are you telling us we should soak the rich’? Yes- yes- lets please start soaking them- as soon as possible! Look- I know the whole debate between supply side economics and the trickledown effect- the truth is we tried it and it doesn’t really work. If we were true capitalists we would have never bailed out Wall Street and the bankers.
When my favorite Seafood joint couldn’t pay the bills- what did they do? They went under. That’s capitalism. When Wall street and the bankers and all their corporate friends got in trouble- what did they do- go under? No- we- the American taxpayers bailed them out. Yet at the same time many poor and average Americans are losing their jobs, their homes are being foreclosed on- many are on the streets. Are we acting with the same urgency as we did when Wall Street was in trouble? No- Why? Probably because they have no real advocates working inside the White House. All the big shots who warned Bush and Obama that we need to act fast- these guys were all part of the group who would lose fortunes if we didn’t bail them out. Paulson. Bernanke, Geithner- all these guys have friends- family- personal fortunes at stake- sure they made it sound like a dire emergency- because to them it was!
So we opted to spend nearly a trillion dollars to bail these guys out- and they kept their fortunes- even the bankers kept their million dollar bonuses- a real travesty. So why are the Dems mad at Obama? Because he pledged- over and over again not to extend the Bush tax cuts for the rich- and he didn’t keep his word. This alone- extending the Bush tax cuts for the rich- will cost us a trillion dollars- it will add an extra trillion to the debt. Trillion! When the news got out- the bond market almost crashed. Why? The investors see the writing on the wall- we are not going to responsibly deal with our debt problem. Obama’s commission failed, and we just added another trillion to our national debt. We are going down the road of Britain and the E.U- we are not going to act until there is another major crisis.
The responsible thing we probably should have done is let the tax cuts expire for ‘the rich’. This deal puts a burden on the poor and rewards the rich. It reminds me of Reagan’s ‘war on poverty’ one day the news reported ‘the White House announced the war on poverty is over’ gee- I didn’t think the poor would give up so soon? Look- what do I have against the rich? They won’t let me join the club! Well actually our country has created an environment that allowed for the billionaires to become billionaires- so in that sense they do owe a special- extra debt to society as a whole. And many of them know that. Buffet, Gates, and just last week Zuckerberg [Facebook] all have made moves and spoken publicly on their responsibility to pay more- use their wealth for the public good- many of them see the special burden they bare because of their wealth. It looks like this deal the president made will pass- maybe not? But then the Repubs will be sworn in and they will pass it- or maybe something worse! So for now we’ll do our best. No more steaks and seafood for me though- just wish George’s could get a bailout like the rest of them.
[1553] [tomy blog- facebook readers. I know I have been pounding you guys with news and politics these past few days. Figured I’d give it a break and share this critique I shared with Scot McKnight. This is a critique of an article Scot wrote in the current Issue of Christianity Today. I recommend all of you subscribe to the magazine. It’s the best one out there at the time [First Things- Commonweal are good- maybe a little too scholarly for the new reader- C.T. covers a broader audience].
Scot- just finished reading your article in Christianity Today magazine. Liked the way you choose to harmonize Paul and Jesus thought. A few things; I never struggled personally with ‘whose gospel do we preach’? Or I never really saw it in terms of Jesus’ gospel versus Paul’s’. I prefer to see Jesus ‘kingdom message/gospel’ as the overriding message for believers and the church- yet Paul’semphasis on justification by faith was due to the ‘crisis mode’ of the letters he was penning- in essence he was dealing with the 1st century Jewish mentality of ‘works of the law’ versus ‘believing in Jesus’ in essence Paul is battling with the very essence of who gets in the kingdom [justification by faith] and who doesn’t [those who seek it by works- Romans 4-9,10]. I would also note that you mention how the synoptic gospels use the word Justification only a few times- true. But even before I read the article I thought ‘I hope Scot deals with the many times John’s gospel says ‘believe- eternal life’ in the same verse’. In essence that’s John’s way of saying ‘justification by faith’. Overall- liked the article- God bless. John
(1554) MODERNISM- okay- need to take a break from politics [current!] and news! Let’s do some history/philosophy. Modernism [modernity] refers to the time period between the mid 17thcentury to the mid 20th century [loosely]. During the scientific revolution, coming off the heels of the Reformation- there were many challenges to past ways of thinking about religion, knowledge, politics and existence in general. Many new thinkers felt the old forms of thought were outdated- and as man advances he needs to ground his existence in rationality as opposed to religion [Descartes’]. Not all thinkers rejected religion- John Locke and Immanuel Kant tried to show that religion could be rational- not all religion had to be ‘blind faith’. Others rejected that idea [David Hume] and said if you wanted society to be rational- you had to reject religion as a foundation for thought. Modern atheists- like Sam Harris- would say the same thing. In Harris’ 2004 book- The End of Faith- he teaches that all true religion is radical in nature- that those who believe you can be moderate in religion are wrong- that the religious texts themselves [Koran- Bible] call for radicalism and violence and therefore the only hope for peace in the world is to eliminate religion. Basically I think Harris should stick to atheism and not delve too deep into Christian philosophy. The Christian ‘religion/ethic’, while possessing scriptures [Old testament] that certainty do advocate violence- yet the central historical event in Christianity is the event of the Cross and the person of Christ- whose message said ‘Moses said- but I say’. Christianity contains within her texts the mandate to reject the old forms of violence and to embrace a new way of love- so Harris missed the boat on this one. But you have had thinkers [past and present] who have said ‘we need to eradicate the world of all traces of religion in order for man to reach his highest good’. The thinker Nietzsche would pronounce ‘God is dead’ in his 1882 book called The Gay Science [I’ll leave it alone]. Both Marx and Freud would join him in their rejection of God in the last half of the 19th century. So many felt the rise of modernism- along with the descent of religion was mans ultimate goal- as man advances he would mature from this ‘psychological’ weakness and accept a world without God. Than in the 20th century you had some major events that questioned whether or not modern man could survive without true religious morality. We had the world wars and the most violent century in our history as ‘moderns’. The election of Jimmy Carter- the first self professed ‘Born Again’ Christian to become president- and the Iranian revolution in 1979- the rise of an Islamic state based on radical interpretations of Islam. These events challenged the ‘hope ‘of those who felt like religion was waning and mans rationality was winning the day. So that’s why you had the rise of the new atheists who began a campaign to revive the ‘death of God’ movement and to advocate for what they felt was necessary for man to advance along the modern path. Today we are actually living in what’s called ‘the Postmodern Era’ but for the purpose of this short note we don’t want to go down that road at this time. Has man advanced- ‘modernized’ to the point where he does not need ‘God’ anymore? Can man simply build a Utopian society without God? All those who advocated for a society without God- ultimately failed in coming up with a rational basis for law and order- for who has the right to ‘make the rules’ in this new society- in essence those who tried the Freudian way could never come up with a system of govt. and law without having to borrow from the Christian world view- man cannot simply govern himself based on some atheistic principle of ‘reason’ apart from God [who decides whose reason is right?]. The atheist’s charge that all religion at its core is radical and dangerous- without reason- has been proven false. True religion can very much be reasonable- that is being rational and religious can go hand in hand- all religious adherents do not have to be ‘Fundamentalists’ as Harris claims- and the Modern experiment has not shown us that mans ultimate destiny is to rise above religious belief and attain some type of society without God and faith- that experiment has been tried- and found wanting.
Okay- I have to make a confession. These past few weeks I have been mad at the president- I thought he was a weak leader who caved in too quickly to the Republicans on the tax deal. Then this week while watching the news I saw a bunch of clips of John Boehner crying. It seems as if he cries at the drop of the hat. So maybe the president isn’t weak- maybe he just couldn’t take sitting in the meetings with a grown man crying every time he couldn’t get his way?
[1555] I really want to cover a little more Philosophy/history- but let me mention a few recent news/political developments. This past week Richard Holbrook died. He was our special envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan. I actually wrote a post about him a week or so ago. The Wikileaks revealed him to be less than truthful in his dealings with the public. The reason I want to mention him is because after he died the media [both left and right] praised him as a wonderful man- a great humanitarian- on and on. Holbrook was said to have been the highest diplomat in his area of foreignpolicy who never became secretary of state. If you remember during the presidential campaign many thought he would be picked to take the position if a Democrat won. He was also said to have had a ‘big’ image of himself- he saw himself as a very important figure. I saw an interview he did with Rachel Maddow one day- he simply gave the same justifications for the war in Afghanistan as Bush and Cheney gave- no difference. Holbrook was involved with our actions in East Timor in the late 70’s [Carter administration] and also played a role in our ‘war’ in Yugoslavia. During the 90’s under the Clinton administration we ‘sided’ with the Muslim’s who were fighting the ‘Christians’. Slobodan Milosevic was the president and we backed the Muslims because we claimed the Serbs were practicing Genocide. So the Muslims did the same against the Serbs when it was their turn. Holbrook had a hand in those killings as well. So whatever a personspolitical leanings are- we should also be truthful about the history of people. If someone has leaned more heavily towards the justification for U.S. action- and has pushed for the more aggressive role- than let the record show that. When Cheney or Rumsfeld die- I’m sure you will have some who will praise them- and others who won’t. In Holbrook’s case there seemed to be no one telling the other side.
Okay- let me quickly cover a few more things. I’m doing a study right now on the Western Intellectual tradition- covering the period between 1600-2000. Some if it gets a little dry- but it’s important for believers to have a basic grasp on this period. Many thinkers went thru a transformation during this time- in the pre-modern era philosophy and theology went hand in hand. But during the enlightenment and scientific revolution many new ideas arose. In the midst of the 17th century [1641] the famous Christian thinker- Rene Descartes’- sent a letter [called the Meditations- it would be released in book form later] to the university of Paris [the leading university of the day- theology and philosophy were the main fields of study] and he challenged the thinkers of the day to ground their arguments for God in Reason as opposed to Revelation [meaning tradition and what God has ‘revealed’ to us thru the bible]. Descartes’ believed that the Christian thinker could argue his case in a more powerful way if he based his argument on reason. Now to be sure this idea was notnew- you had men like Thomas Aquinas advocate this in the 13th century- and as far back as 400 years before Christ the philosopher Aristotle used this line when speaking of the ‘prime mover’ [God]. But Descartes is credited with challenging the church of his day to do philosophy on this new ground. John Lock, Immanuel Kant and others would take certain aspects of Descartes ideas and develop them more fully. Some were more skeptical than others- and some rejected the idea that any reason/rationality could ever be combined with religious belief. Later on in the 19th century you had many openly advocate a type of reasoning that would totally exclude God from the picture. But for the most part the earlier thinkers did not go down that road- they thought it foolish to deny the existence of God- all things coming into existence from nothing seemed be a non starter for them- yet many of today’smost famous atheists seem to have no problem espousing a view that is absolutely proven to be false [you can never- ever- ever get something from nothing- which is the most popular view of the big bang theory among many atheists today]. So I think Christians today should be more aware of making the argument for the existence of God through rational/reasonable means- the other day I heard a radio preacher trying to debunk the theory of Evolution- he argued that it can’t be true because the bible says God made everything. Well this argument doesn’t cut it with people who don’t believe the bible! Likewise we need to be able to give a defense for the faith- without always appealing to the articles of the faith while doing it.
[1556] REALISTS-NOMINALISTS- Let me do a little more on the development of philosophy and how Christians played a major role in new ways of thinking and ‘knowing’ [epistemology]. I mentioned Rene Descartes the other day- Descartes challenged the Christina thinkers of his day to approach apologetics [arguments for God’s existence] from rational grounds; instead of saying ‘God exists because the bible/tradition teach it’ he showed we can argue from the ground of reason. Descartes was a ‘realist’ that is a thinker who believed in Universal principles- the ancient philosophers [Aristotle, Plato- etc.] taught that there were universal ideas that existed- the example was if you think of a Horse- or a Chair- that in the mind of people we all have this concept of what these things are- but the reality of the universal idea of horse/chair exist outside of us- they are not only thoughts in our minds. The Nominalists rejected this idea- they taught that we interact with our 5 senses with things in the world- and thru this interaction our minds passively receivethis knowledge and we come up with ideas- not because these ideas are universal ideas that already exist- but because our minds have ‘discovered’ them thru the senses. These thinkers were also called Empiricists. Men like David Hume would take this approach. Then in the 18th century you had the German philosopher Immanuel Kant challenge the skepticism of the Empiricists and he would become one of the most influential thinkers for our time. You would be hard pressed to find another philosopher who has had more influence on western thought than Kant. Kant too believed that man could not prove Godabsolutelythru natural means- but he did teach that it was rational/reasonable for man to believe in the existence of God- though he said you can’ttotally prove him thru natural means. This was a different approach from the pure Empiricists- they taught that God/religion were irrational. Kant put a twist on Empiricism- he said that man does interact with the world thru his 5 senses, but instead of ideas/knowledge being a product of the mind of man passively receiving this knowledge- mans mind categorizes these interactions and it is thru this function of mans mind that we have knowledge. He carried the idea a little further than Hume. In the end of the day Immanuel Kant believed that not only is it rational to believe in God- but it is necessary. For society to ever function properly man needed to believe that his soul was immortal, that an eternal being existed that would some day judge man[or reward him] for his actions in this life. Though Kant did not accept the Realists view that we could prove God by rational means- yet he did believe in the necessity of man to believe in God. It has been said that Kant kicked God out the front door- but snuck him in thru the back. Okay- know some of this gets dry at times, but I think it is important for Christians to have some idea of the development of thought and philosophy thru the ages- many atheistic philosophers have argued against the existence of God- but many Christian thinkers have made just as strong [if not stronger] arguments on the other side- we need to know both sides.
[1557] THE FIGHTER- Yesterday I was reading the movie critics and I found out that the movie ‘The Fighter’ was the story of Mickey Ward- a fighter I have watched mywhole life [been a boxing fan forever]. So I told the girls ‘let's go see the movie’ and we loved it. The movie is rated R- by the way ‘my girls’ are all older- the youngest is 18- oldest 25. But the movie told the story of Mickey ward and his brother Dick Eglund. The movie had ‘a movie’ within it- they showed how HBO did a documentary on Dick Eglund- following him and filming him. The documentary was on crack addiction in Lowell mass. [their hometown] and I remember watching it one night at the fire house- was surprised to see Mickey wards brother in the documentary- that’s why I remember it. The movie follows the story of Mickey’s dysfunctional family- and how his brother- once a great fighter himself- was Mickey’s trainer. His mom was his manager- they took advantage of Mickey in a way. Eventually Mickey would get a couple of good breaks and he finally won a title. I was surprised they didn’t cover the 3 great fights Mickey had with Arturo Gatti- the Italian fighter form Jersey City [right around where I grew up]. These 3 fights put Mickey on the map and made him enough money that allowed him to quit his job as a street maintenance worker for the city. I liked the movie a lot- of course I’m boxing fan- so that’s natural. But I think itswell worth the 35 dollars [popcorn, tickets, soda for 3- yes at least 35]. I think Christian Bale will get some recognition for his role as Mickey’scrack addicted brother- he stole the show. Mark Walhbergalso did a good job as Mickey- but Bale was great. The funny parts of the movie are seeing Mickey’s dysfunctional family- his mom and sisters remind you of watching a Jerry Springer episode- really funny. Okay- enough for now- if you get a chance to see it I think it will be worth the 35 bucks.
[1558] ‘Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call his name Immanuel- which is translated “God with us”. Matthew 1:23. This is an interesting- and important verse for all believers- we celebrate the reality of the virgin birth of Jesus during this season. Do you know where this verse comes from originally? It comes from the mouth of the prophet Isaiah [chapter 7]. The scenario is the king of Judah [Ahaz] is targeted by 2 other nations- Israel [the northern tribe of Israel] and Syria. These 2 kings make an alliance against the southern tribe of Judah and decide to make a breach [hole] in Judah’s wall and use their land as a staging ground for future military and economic purposes. The king of Judah hears about the plan and the bible says ‘he- and all the people shook like trees in the wind’- yes it felt like Rumsfeld was coming with a shock and awe campaign. Then in the midst of this fear- God tells Isaiah the prophet ‘go to the king and speak with him’. Isaiah gives him a prophetic word to not fear these 2 nations- their plans will not succeed. Then Isaiah tells the king ‘ask God for a sign- in heaven or earth’ and Ahaz says no, he will not test God. Isaiah then prophesies the above verse about Jesus. It just seems so strange for this verse, about Jesus- the Prince of Peace- to come in the middle of a military setting like this. The other day I saw some video of our troops in Iraq/Afghanistan- it was video leaked by the Wikileaks organization. They showed a few instances of our pilots in attack helicopters chasing down suspected insurgents in vehicles. You see the video of the chase, and the men in the vehicle getting out of the car and holding their hands up to surrender. The pilot radios back to his commander that they are surrendering- the commander tells them they are not able to take prisoners during the helicopter attack [obviously it would be difficult- you would have to land- slow down the entire operation for a few hours, and then go back to base camp and unload them- yes- it would be very inconvenient]. So the commander tells the pilot ‘we can’t take them’ the pilot doesn’t know what to do. The commander says ‘they are still targets’ after about 3 seconds of waiting- the pilot realizes the commander is saying ‘shoot them- with their hands up’ they do. Now, do I demonize our brave pilots for this- No. What about the commander- not really- though he bares more responsibility for the call- it was later shown that we do indeed take prisoners with helicopters. But I ‘blame’ the political miscalculations that were made years ago that allowed these men to kill these surrendering forces. They also showed video of a chopper targeting a building- as they unload the payload and destroy the building, you see a civilian walking right in front of the building- unaware of the impending attack. He’s blown away. Later- when the investigative journalists found the report for that attack- there was no mentionof the civilian death. Just last week we pulled our station chief out of Pakistan- he’s the head C.I.A. guy running the drone operation from the country. In essence he’s in charge of the ‘remote control’ planes that bomb certain targets. Many innocent civilians have been killed thru these attacks. Mothers and fathers have sued the U.S. govt. over the deaths of their relatives and children. They showed protesters in the streets calling for justice for their loved ones. The Pakistanis finally realized the station chief is the person running the show and they ran him out of the country. How would you feel if someone was conducting a remote control war on your block and was accidently killing your son or daughter? King Ahazwas in the middle of the thicket- worrying about the next military move to be made against him- God sent a prophet to him in the midst of the action- he prophesied of one to come some 700 years later. A sign if you will- a virgin will conceive a child and this child will speak truth to power. He will stand before the governor of Rome [Pilate] and give no defense. Pilate will say ‘don’t you realize I have the power to take your life- my status and class have allowed me to rise in the political ranks to hold a position where I make the decision if you live or die’ Jesus responds ‘you have no power over me- accept what God permits- those who delivered me to you- they will have more to answer for’. It was the political posturing of the Jewish leaders- those who manipulated the system to get what they wanted politicaly- those were the ones who were to bare the greater blame. May Immanuel- may ‘God be with us’ all in this travesty.
[1559] RATIONALISTS- EMPIRICISTS [Western intellectual tradition] - Okay- for those of you who are following my sporadic teaching on modernity [philosophical period between the 17th 20th centuries] let me overview a little of what we have covered so far. We discussed the Christian thinker- Rene Descartes’- and how in the 17th century he challenged the faculty at the university of Paris [the leading university of the day] to argue for the reasonableness of Christianity thru rational means- he said we can prove the existence of God without having to appeal to church tradition or the bible. The Empiricists [those who challenged the ‘rationalists’] argued that all knowledge comes to us from the senses- so we can never prove God’s existence from reasonable/natural means. In fact they argued that religion in itself is irrational and any attempts to make it rational/reasonable were futile. David Hume and Denis Diderot [one of the first openly professed atheists of the time] would argue from this position. Then in the late 18th century the very influential German thinker- Immanuel Kant- would respond to Hume’s pure skeptical Empiricism and ‘awake out of his dogmatic slumber’ [a term he himself used to describe his reaction to reading Hume] and challenge the skeptics. Kant did accept the Empiricist’sidea that we can’t ‘prove God’ by rational means- thru knowledge obtained thru the 5 senses- yet he taught that it was perfectly ‘reasonable’ to come to the conclusion that God exists. Just because you can’t prove God like Descartes’ said [according to Kant- I personallybelieveDescartes’ was right] it is still rational to ‘purport’ the necessity of God- in essence we ‘need God’ and natural religion for man to function in society- and it is logical to conclude that there must be an initialcause to all creation-even though we can’t discover him thru natural means. Okay- just a brief overview of what we already covered. I guess at this point I better go ahead and start a separate study under the title ‘The Western Intellectual Tradition’ [on the blog]. Why should Christians [especially preachers/pastors] even be concerned with stuff like this? While I agree it is not necessary for all Christians to study all subjects about all things- yet these historical/cultural movements play a major role in the debate going on today between believers and those who reject God. Just like in the scientific field- if Christians simply give up the fight- that is if we come to the table of ideas- trying to engage society in a coherent way- then we need to have some ability to argue intelligently for our position. To have even a ‘surface’ understanding of some of these cultural movements that have shaped the way we think and know is important when we get into debates with unbelievers who have appealed to the skeptics [Hume] to argue against the existence of God.
[1560] BUT THOU BETHLEHEM, THOUGH THOU BE LITTLE AMONG THE THOUSANDS OF JUDAH- YET OUT OF THEE SHALL HE COME FORTH UNTO ME THAT IS TO BE RULER IN ISRAEL. Micah 5:2. In the gospel of Luke we read the story of Jesus being born in a real place- at a real time. Chapter 2 says that Caesar put out a decree that ‘all the world should be taxed’ that is they did a kind of census where you had to go to your native town and register. It just so happned that Mary, Jesus mother, was living in Nazareth [Galilee] at the time and Joseph- Jesus’ step dad- was from the lineage of Judah [KingDavid’s tribe]. So at this very inconvenient time- at the hour of child birth- they make the trek to Bethlehem of Judea- just in time for the census- and for the baby! Hundreds of years before this event there was this obscure Jewish prophet named Micah- he blurted out one day ‘out of you Bethlehem- the least of all places- shall one come forth- a great ruler of all men’ [my paraphrase]. The Jewish nation was waiting for centuries for this ‘sent one’ this messiah who would come to them in the midst of their oppression- and he would fulfill the promise that God made to father Abraham millennia before ‘we will serve him without fear and in holiness all the days of our lives’. As a matter of fact- jump back to Luke chapter 1 and you can read this promise being uttered from the lips of John the Baptist’s father when he praises God over the pregnancy of his wife Elisabeth- you see John the Baptist was also spoken about centuries before his birth- he would come on the scene as a forerunner- a precursor to the messiah. Yes, John’s father had reason to rejoice. And when the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary- he told how that she was chosen for this great task- possibly the greatest task that any human was ever given- she would give birth to this promised messiah. She asks the angel ‘how can this be- I know not a man’ he tells her the Holy Spirit will come upon her and she will conceive a child from God- none before could claim the title ‘the only begotten of God’. Read Mary’s prayer in chapter 1- it too is a cry for social justice ‘the high and mighty will be brought low- the poor will be lifted up’ we call her prayer ‘The Magnificat’. Both Zacharias and Mary spoke/prophesied of social justice- that thru these seemingly strange miracles- God put in place a plan that would bring justice to all those who were being oppressed. So the day came for Mary to bear the child- but he was prophesied to be born in Bethlehem- so God preordained that the great Caesar Augustus would make a decree that ‘all the world would be taxed’. Caesar came from the beginning line of Rome’s great Caesars. Octavian- Rome’s first- would be a devastating military leader who would strike fear into the hearts of Rome’s enemies- the kingdom [Roman Empire] would take her initial form under his rule. Of course most of us our familiar with Julius Caesar- he’s made it into the Hollywood hall of fame- and Augustus- he would be the third in a line of 12 Caesars who would rule Rome. He ruled at a time when Rome was the center of the world- all roads truly did lead to Rome- the great eternal city. Rome had her religious adherents- Rome practiced a type of pluralism- when they conquered an enemy- they would allow the people to continue to have some form of self rule- believe in whatever religion suits you- but you were still under Roman rule. The Pantheon [a sort of pedestal for the various god’s of the day] represented this religious openness of Rome. Yet the Jews had a different type of belief- they held to what we describe as Monotheism- a belief that there was only one true God. Her prophets spoke the words ‘hear O Israel the Lord our God is one’ and they held to their peculiar belief while Rome overlooked it. In the midst of all these developments, Caesar makes the decree ‘everyone go back to your towns for the census’ and Mary and Joseph hit the road. Sure enough the time came for her to deliver the child- he was born in a stable- laid in a manger and the world would receive her king. 2Thousand years have passed- where are the great Caesars? Have you ever even heard of the name Octavian before today? Yet all over the world- in every nation- on the radio- over the internet- being shouted from the speakers at the mall- yes, all over the world we sing that Jesus Christ is king- the one born in Bethlehem of Judea- the one for whom the whole world was a stage- even the mighty Caesars of the day bowed the knee unto this eternal purpose of God- they would be puppets in the hand of God- used of God to make decrees that would fulfill the obscure prophecy of some Jewish prophet named Micah- yes- the Virgin had it right ‘God brought down the mighty- used them for his purposes- and exalted those who were struggling’. Rejoice- for in this day- 2 thousand years ago- was born a great ruler- a ruler of all men- his hometown is now famous becauseof this birth.
[1561] PIETISM/ROMANTICISM- As we already covered, the Enlightenment thinkers struggled with the idea that religion and reason/rationalism can go together. The pure Empiricists [David Hume] would reject the idea that religion could be rational- Descartes claimed it could- and Kant drew a middle line; he taught that we cannot know God thru the sense realm, but it was rational to ‘Postulate’ the idea of God [John Locke said reason can accept Revelation- Divine truths that have no Empirical evidence to back them up- Kant simply taught that it was rational for the mind to accept the idea that a first cause must exist, even if we can’t ‘prove’ him thru sense evidence]. Okay- as you can see much of Enlightenment thinking was infused with religion, reason, rationality- etc. Did all thinkers ‘think’ that these ways of approaching religion and reason were profitable? No- many thinkers/philosophers saw too much ‘head knowledge’ in the whole endeavor to make faith reasonable. Many religious leaders rejected the over emphasis on rational religion. Romanticism was a cultural/religious movement that primarily affected the Arts and Literature- but also had strains of religious thinking within it. The Romantics said we do and should experience life and God thru a real-felt type of living. There is much more to life than the rational proofs of things- in fact they felt the very essence of life was about experiencing the beauty of things thru the Arts and the creativity of man- some felt that God himself was revealing who he was thru the artistic creativity of man- the great Christian pieces of music [Bach- etc.] were not these beautiful works of music that transcended the ‘rationality’ of man and caused him to experience the beauty of God/religion thru this form of Art? The same for great literature. Pietism had her roots in the early modern period- and in the 19th century also pushed back against the sterile rationality of the Enlightenmentthinkers. Pietism- much like Romanticism- said there was much more to religion than simply knowledge- Pietism challenged the ‘dead faith’ of Orthodoxy and focused on the religious experience of Regeneration- they spent much time answering the question ‘how do we know we are saved’. Romanticism had strains of religious thinkers within her- Pietism was mainly focused on the religious question. Pietism had a major impact on 19-20thcentury Protestant Christianity- and most Evangelicals today can trace their roots to Pietism’s influence on religious thought. In the 18th century revivals that took place in the American colonies- men like Jonathan Edwards would play a major role in shaping the religious thought of early Protestantism in America. John Wesley- the great Methodist preacher- would also challenge the ‘dead religion’ of the Church of England and eventually launch the Methodist church [though Wesley originally never meant to separate from the Anglican Communion]. So the 19th century saw a strong reaction against the reason/rationalismof Enlightenment thinking- they felt like much true religious experience was indeed meant to be ‘an experience’ that is something much more than simple knowledge. In Romanticism this challenge was primarily based in the cultural landscape of the day- in Pietism it was religious in nature. You had both Romantic atheists and Pietistic preachers agree on one thing- there is much more to life than the sterile rationality of the Enlightenment period.
[1562] POPE’S BOOK- FINAL COMMENTS- Let me try and make my last comments on the Pope’s book [almost done with it- a few pages left] which I have been reading on and off for about a month [I’m in the middle of a study on the Western intellectual tradition- making radio programs- and have been too scattered to do a complete book review]. Let me hit a few high points of the last few chapters that I felt were really insightful. Benedict gives an overview of a Rabbi’s perspective on Jesus [a book the Pope read from the Rabbi]. The Rabbi does not accept Jesus as the Messiah- but is respectful in his approach and the Pope shares the common reason why the Jewish nation rejected Jesus as their Messiah in the 1st century. Being faithful to a theme that runs throughout the book- Benedict shows how Jesus presented himself as the fulfillment of the prophecy about Moses/Jesus ‘that God would raise up a prophet like Moses’- Benedict shows that Jesus presented himself as the ‘New Moses’ and took the position of God himself in the statements he was making concerning his authority. In the Rabbi’s book- that the Pope is explaining- the rabbi covers the sayings of Jesus and comes to the conclusion that faithfulJews could not/ did not receiveJesus as their Messiah because his call to them was for Israel to accept his authority over and above what they knew to be true- their attachment to the Torah [the first 5 books of the bible- the law] and for Israel- as a nation- to accept Jesus- they would be saying ‘we accept a new Moses- and place his authority and words over and above the very foundation of our existence’. Now- these insights are deep- they are coming from a Jewish rabbi who has come to the conclusion that Jesus was presenting himself ‘as God’ to the nation of Israel- and Benedictsays he learned a lot from reading this perspective from the Rabbi. I just felt that this section of the book was real valuable. The Popegoes on to explain that Jesus was not repudiating the law- but fulfilling it- and in his explanation he also does a very good job [secretly!] at putting out a hand to the Protestant churches and attempting to reconcile the teachings of Paul on justification by faith [and Paul’s neglect of the law] and the biblical view of Jesus fulfilling the law. Benedict even shares very good insights into the apostolic calling of Peter- and the separate calling of the apostle Paul- his insights are excellent and you can see that he is really making an attempt to bridge the theological gap between Protestants and Catholics. Overall this book [Jesus of Nazareth] is the most Cross/Christ centered book I have read in the past 5 years! [We call this Christology- for those of you who want to learn the terms]. Over these last few years I have made an attempt to read some of the top Protestant writers of the day [Men like N.T. Wright- former Bishop of the church of Durham- England. Not talking about the top best sellers that are basically filled with pop psychology and void of any real learning] and I must confess that no other book has come close to the insights that the Pope has on the Cross and the necessity of believers to identify with Jesus in his death and resurrection- the Pope has done an excellent job atpresentingJesus and the Cross in their proper light. For all you theologians/preachers- the Pope also comes down on the conservative side of historical criticism. That is he certainly is familiar with the whole debate over Liberal/Conservative approaches to scripture [not talking politics here!] and he does another excellent job at dissecting the critics [Bultmann] and challenging many of the false assumptions that the higher critics made while rejecting the historical content of the gospels. The church went thru a century or so debating how reliably accurate the gospels were- many challenged their accuracy in a way that was not fair- that is they began holding the bible up to critical methods of historicity that no other documents were ever held to. These critics came up with methods- called historical criticism- that were quite frankly ‘loony’. And then they used this new criterion to say that the Historical Jesus was a different person than the Jesus from the bible. The Pope does a thoroughly scholarly ‘dissection’ of these faulty approaches- and quite frankly takes them apart in a ‘nice’ way. Yet Benedict also respects the historical studies of the church and handles very well the ‘contradictions’ that some find in the gospels. Many critics have shown how the various gospel writers [especially John’s gospel compared to the 3 others] do show differing accounts on certain aspects of Jesusand his life. To be honest- some of these differences can be problematic- many preachers/believers are generally not aware of some of these differences. The Pope knows them well- and dealswith them well. So he does not simply reject the ‘higher critics’ by saying they are wrong, but he shows his familiarity with the subject, and makes a scholarly attempt at representing the ‘conservative’ side of the argument; which basically says ‘the gospels contained in the new testament do very much present to us the historical Jesus’. Needless to say- I agree. So anyway as you can see the book is chock full of excellent insights that would benefit all Christians- I recommend everyone pick up a copy and read it.
[1563] VICK- PAKISTAN AND THE GAMES WE PLAY- I really wanted to do a little more on Philosophy today-maybe I’ll get to it at the end. Let me talk about a few points of interest in the news right now.
First- the other day- right around Christmas- a Pakistani woman strapped a bomb around herself- had 2 grenades in her hands and walked up to a food distribution center in Pakistan and blew herself up- killing 45 people along with herself. The President spoke about it from his Hawaiian vacation spot and called the act cowardly. Now- what would cause a woman- possibly a mother- to do this? Cowardice? Desperation? A feeling of hopelessness and seeing our bombing in her streets as oppression? I obviously do not condone the act of the woman- but she was primarily looking for a way to retaliate against our remote control planes [drones] dropping bombs all over the damn place- killing women and kids in the process. This whole thing is a mess.
On a lighter note- the President made anotherannouncement- a phone call from Hawaii- he called Tony Dungy and thanked him for giving Michael Vick a second chance with the Eagles. Michael is the quarterback who a couple of years back was caught doing the dog fighting thing [yes- bad stuff]. He was convicted and did 18 months in jail. The eagles picked him up and he has had a great season and has managed to redeem himself as a really good player. So some in the media have criticized the president for congratulating Dungy for hiring Vick. I mustsay, while I disagree with the president on lots of stuff- I agree with him 100 % on this. At the time of the Michael Vick story I wrote in favor of Vick- I thought it was nuts that we have had players involved with killing people- guns falling out of their sweat pants at the clubs- all types of stuff- their chauffeurs running people over when they are in the car- and lots of times these players keep playing and never do jail time- yet Vick did almost 2 years- and some people still want him to be punished. I’m happy for Michael and I thank God he’s doing so well- he had a real risk of maybe not being able to play well, when you go to jail for a couple of years during your prime- that can ruin your career. I thank God he has made the most of his second chance- and I too praise Dungy- a fellow Christian- for giving Vick the second chance.
Okay- last but not least. As 2010 comes to a close- these last few weeks investors have pulled over 8 billion out of the U.S. bond market. They see the writing on the wall- that inflation is very likely to rearit’s ugly head and interest rates are going to go up. Why? How many of you remember a few weeks back when the Federal Reserve [our nation’s central bank] bought billions of dollars of U.S. treasuries? At the time you had global trading partners condemn us for trying to manipulate the global market- many voices from our country also said it was a risky move- it might cause inflation [when investors think interest rates will rise- they pull money from the bond market and put it into stocks- that’s also why the Dow is up]. They seem to have been right. The other day I was talking to my brother in law- he was asking me about some of this stuff. I explained to him that if you were playing Monopoly- and you and a few other players did real well- but mid way thru the game the banker simply put another million dollars into the game- how would that affect you? Basically ‘printing money’ like this- out of thin air- will devalue the money that’s already in the game- it will create inflation- everything else would become more expensive because the extra money devalued the original money that was on the board. So it looks like we did this- they’re predicting gas to go up to around 4 dollars a gallon- and those of you buying food- you already have seen the prices go up. So the nation basically borrowed money from ourselves [monetized our own debt] and it seems like the world won’t get fooled again.
[1564] DRUNK WITH THE BLOOD OF THE SAINTS- Wasn’t sure which way to go today? It’s strange that I have been thinking about covering the sad story of the Christians in Iraq; since the war they have been persecuted severely- a few months back one of their main churches was attacked, many have fled to the northern region of the country [Kurdish area] and many are seeking asylum in our country. Saddam Hussein protected the Christian church in Iraq- he was not considered to be a radical Muslim leader- like the Mullahs in Iran. So it’s sad to see the Christian church possibly being eliminated from this ancient country. The church in Iraq dates back to the 1stcentury- they still speak Aramaic [some of them] which was the actual language Jesus spoke. Anyway- the thing that seems strange is I felt like I should read Revelation chapter 17 this morning- and in the chapter the apostle John has this vision of Babylon [which is Iraq- geographically. In the chapter it’s a symbol of the Roman Empire] and as he sees Babylon he says ‘she is drunk with the blood of the saints’- yes indeed, much Christian blood has been spilt in Iraq.
Okay- the other day I was watching some show about a group of people picked from all over the world who were chosen to participate in a sort of round table discussion where each person would spend so many months just sharing in conversation with these other people. Some were from the U.S., others from Muslim/Arab countries- some were from Israel. The conversation they had was really revealing- they were not scholars, but they showed you the point of view from other perspectives. One of the questions they asked was what should happen to Iran? Should the U.S. intervene in their desire to obtain nuclear weapons? One of the Americans said we should- because they might be a danger to world peace [a common ideology among many Americans] then one of the students from a Muslim country said ‘then why do you not feel it is also wrong for the U.S. to have nuclear weapons’ and the American gave some type of simple answer. Why does the Muslim world have a problem with the U.S. seeming to play the role of arbiter- who can have- or not have a nuclear arsenal?
Are there any Muslim/Arab countries that have them today? What about other countries who are also unstable? Let’s see- Pakistan [the most unstable of the bunch right now] India [Pakistan’s rival, also a major reason why Pakistan will not eliminate the Taliban from the mountainous region of her nation- they see the Taliban as playing a major role in the future govt. of Afghanistan and they need some ties to the Taliban in order to balance out any power play between India and Afghanistan] Egypt, Israel, North Korea, Saudi Arabia- well as you can see there are a bunch of nations who already posses nuclear weapons- or are on the road to getting them. So when the average Muslim sees our attempt to intervene in who gets nukes, they see it as a hypocritical game.
What is the world history on nuclear attacks? How many countries have actually used nukes to attack/respond to other attacks? One. Who dropped the first Atomic bomb in the history of the world on another country? We did. Okay- let’s give this another shot. Who dropped the secondAtomic bomb? Okay- us again. One more time- who dropped number 3? No one. So let’s see this from the perspective of the Muslim student who questioned the reasoning of why the U.S. has nukes- but doesn’t want other nations to have them. The student was told that if other nations [Iran] has them- they might use them. Yet they see us as the only country that has ever actually used them. Look- I know why we used them- and many have questioned the morality of what we did in WW2. Were we just in dropping the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki? We killed around 200 thousand people- civilians- not military [not counting the many who died in the following years from radiation sickness]. One of the definitions of terrorism is the purposeful targeting of civilians for a political/military goal. To the Muslim world- we targeted these civilian cites [they were not collateral damage- the civilians were the target] for a political/military goal- to end the war. The point is we [Americans] have a tendency to view things from one perspective- we rarely see the end result of our actions. Who would have thought that our war in ancient Babylon [Iraq] would have contributed to one of the fulfillments of John’s prophecy ‘Babylon- you are drunk with the blood of the saints’.
[1565] HITCHENS- BLOOMBERG AND ADAM- Okay- being I’m finishing up my last book, I made the mistake of going to half price books yesterday- mistake? Yes- I’m going thru some courses right now on philosophy and really shouldn’t be starting any new books right now- but heck, I couldn’t help myself. So as my custom goes- my wife dropped me off [they know better than to wait at the store- I usually take a few hours] and I begin the obsession. First I go thru all the shelves of the targeted category [theology, philosophy, etc.] and pluck out the books I think are relevant. Then when the process is complete I usually purchase 3-5 books from the collection [yes- I leave the rest on the shelf for the poor book worker to put back into the proper section]. So anyway as I was walking outside after the purchase I sat at one of the outside coffee areas where lots of people usually hang out [you know- the professors- one time there was a guitar playing hippiesinging about the war in Vietnam- in 2009!]. But this day it was surprisingly empty- only one homeless guy. As I sat to start Christopher Hitchens best seller ‘god is not great- how religion poisons everything’ I realized that the reason the spot was empty was because the homeless kid was sitting there at one of the tables- playing with one of those kids toys- you shake it back and forth and it claps- and he seemed to be talking to himself. To be honest- some of these guys are my best friends- I’ve spent thousands of man hours just hanging out with these brothers over the years. I really didn’t talk too much- trying to dissect Hitchens- then my wife drove up and beeped the horn. As I got up to leave- I saw the brother kinda look my way- seemed to be waiting to see the scared- or violent type response they usually see- you know ‘stay the hell away from me’ type thing. I caught his eye and just gave him a friendly ‘hey brother- how you doing’ he was so glad to be seen as a human being. I walked over and figured I’d talk for a minute or 2. I didn’t realize it at first, but he was wearing headphones and listening to music- he wasn’t talking to himself after all. He told me he was listening to Floyd- I told him I too am a big classic rock fan- that while living in Jersey I missed their concert in 1979-80 ‘The Wall’. He knew the year- it was 1980. I just spent a few minutes having a friendly talk with him- maybe the first real communication he’s had all day- most of these brothers are nice guys- yet they often struggle with mental issues- he looked to be in his late 20’s, originally from some northern state- probably headed south for the winter. As my wife was waiting in the car- beeping the horn- probably thinking ‘Oh know- another one of his homeless friends’ [yes- I’ve met hundreds over the years- and they’ve all been to the house many times] I told my buddy I got to go- he asks ‘what’s your name’? John. Hi John- my name is Adam. Strange- the man who was made in God’s image- Jesus said ‘in as much as you helped one of the least- the down and out- you have helped me’.
Okay- once again I really needed to do a post or 2 on philosophy- before I get too ahead of myself in the study; but let me make a few comments on Hitchens book [see- I told you I shouldn’t have hit the book store!] Okay- I’m gonna try and be nice to Hitchens- he is one of the famous atheist writers of the past few years- these guys are referred to as ‘the new atheists’ the group consists of some notable names- Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris- a few others. These guys kind of became popular in reviving some of the old arguments against religion and God- most modern readers are not aware that they are simply re-hashing the same old arguments that have been refuted in the past- and to be honest this bunch make a whole lotta errors in their thinking/arguments. Most well trained Christian apologists have thoroughly refuted them. But being Hitchens is dying [or died? I haven’t checked recently] of cancer- I’ll try and be nice [try!]. Okay- like some of the book reviews I read- Hitchens is crude and mean- and yes- at times ignorant of his glaring mistakes. He describes a nice old teacher he had as a youth- as a young boy growing up in England- she taught the schoolboys about nature and science- and yes- God. I thought he was being nice telling the story. Then he calls her ‘a pious old trout’. He refers to the sex abuse scandal that’s rocked the Catholic church- he calls it the ‘no child’s behind left’ scandal [a takeoff on the no child left behind policy]. So yes, this book- while containing some real good history- also sounds overly crude. Hitchens also appeals to mans great intellect and sophistication as being all we need for true morality- he says man does not need God, religion or the bible to be moral- after all we have the great works of literature! Sounds good- right? He then goes on and mentions the names of the great authors- he mentions Dostoyevsky and Tolstoy among others- and makes the argument ‘see- we have morality and truth contained within these books without needing religious truth’- geez- every well read person will tell you that these authors areknown for their books being inundated with religious morality- it’s no secret that these 2 authors are considered some of the greatest Christian/religious writers of their time. How Hitchens could appeal to the ethics contained in their writings and say ‘see- we don’t need religious ethics- we have these guys’. I mean these types of obvious flaws jump right out at you- to be honest I have only read the reviews from these famous atheists in the past- but most of the reviews have pointed stuff like this out- I just didn’t think these guys would be this ‘amateurish’ [geez- don’t want to call the guy an idiot- or an old trout- that wouldn’t be the Christian thing to do]. So anyway I guess I’ll hit a few high points of the book the next week or so.
Last- but not least. Have we had our own Greek crisis? Those of you who follow the news are aware that this last year the European Union has suffered from a severe debt crisis- many states that make up the union have struggled to try and cut costs and sure up their economies- Greece, Portugal, Spain and Ireland are still very much in trouble. So the other healthier economies in the union [Germany] have put pressure on the weaker ones to get their houses in order- they refer to this as ‘austerity’ taking measures to reign in the financial crisis. As a response to these cutbacks- like raising the retirement age and hiking college tuition- many citizens have taken to the streets in protest- govt. workers going on strike and all. People have wondered if stuff like this could happen in the good old U.S. of A- it looks like it might just have! In sort of sneaky way. The blizzard that has wreaked havoc on the northeast these last few days has caused problems for N.Y. and N.J. [my old home turf]. The mayor of N.Y. -Michael Bloomberg- has come under fire for not getting the streets cleared in time. Word has gotten out that some of the street workers were told by their bosses ‘go slow in the clean up’ so to put pressure on the mayor to not eliminate their jobs- sort of like an under the cover strike. If this is true [we don’tknow for sure] then it would be our own workers rebellion against our austerity measures- while it’s not as bad as what Europe has gone thru- never the less it’s still bad.
[1566] HITCHENS’- STOCK GUYS- AND THE GRAND DESIGN- Let me talk a bit on how we, as human beings, allow ourselves to believe things- things that we know are wrong- but it makes us feel better to believe them- so we do. First- those of you who are stock/financial advisers- this post is not meant to undermine your field, but to reveal how we at times make decisions that are not in our best interest. A few years ago, before I retired from the fire dept., we had some company come in and offer us a supplemental investment thing- it basically was a 401k type thing- not our main retirement [one of the few fields that still have traditional retirements]. At the time I was the only person who invested and stuck the money in a guaranteed instrument- it was a C.D. type thing that guaranteed around 4 %- tax free. Everyone else followed the stock advice and eventually lost around half of their money- this was right before the market crash. Only one other friend did well- hefollowed my advice and put his money in the fixed account. Now- are all stocks bad? No. But if I were to tell you that I have this investment for you- it might make 6-10 % [which was about what you could make at the time] or you might lose it all- O-one more thing- this investment also rides heavily on THE WORDSASINGLE MAN SPEAKS [Federal reserve chairman- Warren Buffet- the treasury secretary- etc. etc.] That is this investment can lose millions/billions in a single day- if the market interprets the words of this man in a negative way [yes- this has happened more than once]. Or you could invest in another instrument [heck- even a 10 year treasury note was yielding around 3.5at the time!] that on average might make a few points less, but this investment is guaranteed to not go down and you will never lose your initial investment [theoretically]. Of course, any sane person would pick the safer- better investment. But the advisers never tell you this- because their jobs depend on you not knowing this! So as my buddies lost their small fortunes [and mine rose] I watched as they would ask me ‘gee John- you think I should pull out now- I lost 30 thousand’ and of course it was too late. Then as a year or 2 rolled by, the advisers kept saying ‘well- we invest for the long haul- we don’t ride these ups and downs’ so everyone felt good- like they might recoup their initial loss. Then after a few more years most of the financial guru’s [cnbc, Bloomberg, etc.] started saying ‘now it’s time for people to accept they will never again make back the money they lost- but because you’re so broke now- you can’t afford the safe investment- so YOU MUST be in the market now!’ and Walla- most people stayed in the market- took advice from the same people who ruined them. Okay- the point is we at times don’t want to accept the possibility that we were hoodwinked- we want to believe the lie!
So as I continue to read Chris Hitchens book- god is not great- he seems to sound like these stock advisers in the above scenario. Hitchens makes the case for atheism and says ‘look at the wonders of the human intellect- the Hubbell telescope- we can see billions of stars and galaxies- or look at Stephen Hawking's theory on Black Holes- how he theorizes that we can pass a point called the Event Horizon and be in a place where both the future and the past collide’ [this is simply a theory by the way- we don’t know this as fact]. And then Hitchens compares these great discoveries of man with the bible ‘and look what the bible gives us- a burning bush!’ He basically is glorying in the intellect of man [which is Hitchens god, he glories in his own intellect much- and yet this same ‘intellect’ makes glaring mistakes in knowledge, logic and the basic facts of the subject he is covering- if yourgonna glory in anyone’s intellect- at least find one that makes sense!]. Okay- where’s the flaw in his logic? All Christian apologists have shown-over and over again- that the heavens, galaxies, black holes- and any other phenomena like this- are proofs of the greatness and majesty of God. There are actual bible verses that say this ‘the heavens declare the glory of God- the firmament shows his handiwork’ [Psalms] ‘God has revealed himself to us thru the creation he has made’ Romans chapter 1. I mean no Christian appeals to the burning bush story as a sign of the majesty of God. Everything Hubbelldiscovered, or Hawking found out- was simply AN OBSERVATION of a grand design [the name of Hawking's latest book]. For Hitchens to appeal to the greatness of creation- and then use this greatness as an argument that God does not exist- well that’s like listening to the stock adviser say ‘being you stuck with me this far- into poverty- might as well stay on for the rest of the ride’.
[1567] FRIEDRICH SCHLEIERMACHER [and Hitchens] - Okay, before I get too far behind in ourstudy of Modernity- let’s do another post. F.S. [the guy above- don’t want to keep writing the name] was one of the most influential thinkers/theologians to come at the turn of the 19th century. He too challenged the sterile rationality of Enlightenment thinkers- and tried to craft a way to look at religion that was unique. Instead of religion being this dry approach to the world and existence as mediated thru mans senses [natural religion- Kant, etc.] he said religion was actually meant to be this experience that man has as he interacts with the whole of creation- an ‘intuition- sense’ that is more than something we can dissect and put under the microscope of reason. F.S. was a sort of go between- he was both trained in academia- a true intellectual- and also a ‘man of the cloth’. He knew the arguments that some of the Romantics made against ‘dead religion’ and he challenged their rejection of religion and wrote the famous book ‘On religion- speeches to its cultured despisers’ in 1799. The book was targeted toward his fellow academics in the universities of Germany who scoffed at religion- he appealed to their sense of art and beauty as true Romantics- and made the case that true religion is ‘the sense and taste for the infinite’ that is religion can be an expression [above reason] that seeks to embrace this sense of the infinite, this ‘feeling’ in man that there is more to life than meets the eye- and you can be ‘cultured’ and religious at the same time.
Okay- actually this is a good spot to jump into more of my critique of Christopher Hitchens book ‘god is not great’. Hitchens fits in good with the ‘cultured despisers’ that F.S. was writingto. I have found some points of agreement with Hitchens; he sees the Catholic church’s stance on no condom use as dangerous- especially in places like Africa- because condoms can be an effective way to reduce the AIDS virus. As a Protestant, I am not against condom use/contraceptives- but the flaw in Hitchens argument is he presents the case in a way that says ‘see- if it weren’t for the church’s teaching on condoms- Africa would not be in this epidemic’. Point of fact- one of the major ways AIDS is spreading on the continent is thru the vocation of male prostitution and other promiscuous type lifestyles. Would Hitchens have us believe that as the male prostitutes are getting ready to ‘go to work’ that they look in the drawer- see the condom and say ‘geez- I would really like to use a condom- but my strict adherence to Catholic doctrine will not allow me to do it!’ The reality is the church’s teaching on condom use- if practiced in accordance with ALL THE OTHER TEACHINGS of the church- would not increase the spread of aids [the church teaches monogamous only relationships- these relationships are not contributing to the spread of the virus in Africa]. Hitchens also has an entire chapteron pig meat! Yes, I’ve heard Hitchens speak over the years- and for some reason he has this obsession with pig meat! Anyway he defends the poor pig- makes fun of the Jewish Kosher diet- and then proceeds to give his personal view on why pig meat became a ‘no- no’ to kosher Jews. He actually believes [for real!] that pigs taste and act so much like humans [their intelligence- and their screams when being slaughtered]that the Jews associated eating pig with eating humans [and Hitchens even describes the taste of pig meat tasting like human meat- no joke!] he believes this is the secret reason Jews don’t eat pigs. He also defends pig meat as being healthy. Okay- I’m not a pig meat aficionado- but being I am a student of the bible [including the Old Testament] I can assure you that the Jewish dietary laws of the Old Testament are in fact very healthy laws! For hundreds of years people did not know why pigs, shrimp, etc. were forbidden to be eaten by the Jewish people- and over time science has discovered that these meats were indeed unclean. The prohibition against certain sea food-later these types of fish were found out to be scavengers, they are the ‘trash eaters’ that keep the oceans clean- that’s why they are unhealthy. Pigs- Hitchens favorite meat- pig meat is not good for you [in general- I’m a very happy pig eater- on pizza- with eggs- out of a bag with spices on it- pork rinds] because the digestive tract of the pig is very short, what they eat ‘becomes’ part of their flesh/life without going thru a long digestive process- not like the cow who ‘chews the cud’ [multiple processes of digestion]. Basically pigs are in fact a ‘less healthy’ meat than other types of meat. All in all Hitchens- once again- is just misinformed about stuff- lots of stuff. Geez- I wrote this short critique from basic knowledge gained thru out my life- believe me I did not have to Google ‘is pig meat clean’. So once again we see the ‘brilliant mind’ of Hitchens at work. I’m reminded of an article I read a few years back- it was a column by Maureen Dowd [the liberal columnist]. She gave her conservative brothera free shot to use her column to blast liberals. He went at it- in pure tea party fashion. As he went down the list- hitting all the favorite sore spots- he got to a line where he spoke of his senator- obviously a liberal- he simply said ‘Sheldon Whitehouse- you sir- are an idiot’ and that was that. As I continue to read Hitchens book- this line comes to mind.
[1568] ALEXANDRIA- EGYPT. Last night I was watching the news coverage of the demonstators in the streets of Egypt- they were protesting the government’s response [or lack] to the bombing of the church in Alexandria, the second largest city in Egypt [around 4 million people live in the city]. As I watched the sad story- in my mind I recalled all the times I have run across Alexandria in my studies of history. The city was founded by Alexander the great in the 4th century b.c.e. It had the largest library of the ancient world and was Egypt's capitol for around 900 years. When the Muslims took over in the 7th century Cairo became the new capitol [under another name at the time]. Alexandria was one of the great centers of Christian learning during the first few centuries of the 1st millennium of Christianity. I remember reading about the great church father Origen- he lived in the 3rd century and eventually would head up the school out of Alexandria- one of the first Christian schools of the day. The famous philosopher Plotinus also had a lot of influence in the city. It was sad to see the destruction on the news- so many years later. This morning I read Revelation chapter 13. The apostle John writes about the persecution of ‘the beast’ against the Christians- the apostle says he makes war against Gods people and overcomes them. We often neglect to see this aspect of scripture- I mean how many songs have you heard that say ‘the beast overcame us and killed us’. We like to sing stuff like ‘we overcome by the Blood of the Lamb’ [another verse from Revelation]. Yet the apostle foresees a time of persecution of the church that will include the deaths of manybelievers. Those who think the book of Revelation was written early [before a.d. 70] see Nero as the one who bares the mark of the beast- yes the popular 666 is in this chapter. Others who date the book later [around a.d. 90] see the emperor Domitian as the beast- either way John was speaking about a future ruler who would severely persecute the saints [and of course the most popular view today among evangelicals is the anti Christ is yet to come]. In verse 10 of the chapter John says those who kill with the sword, must die the same way- this is the patience of the saints. John is communicating to the 7 churches that he is writing to that they should not retaliate against their oppressors- they should patiently endure- knowing that the persecutors will eventually ‘hang themselves’ with their own rope. Of course the great empire of Rome would finally fall- and for those who see Nero as the 666 guy [my view] he eventually dies a shameful death as well [he killed himself].
As I watch the various responses from Muslims and Christians [and Jews] to these types of events- we all have a tendency to view things most favorably to our own particular viewpoint. While some Muslims are of course outraged over the church bombing- yet the Christian community is more enraged. When the recent peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians broke down- many Christians in the west couldn’t care less- many of them view the entire conflict thru the lens of end time dispensationalism [an end time view that sees Gods plan being played out by the displacement of Palestinians from the land]. I grew up in New Jersey [yes- the state of the great governor Christie!J]. As a good old Italian boy- I had lots of ethnic friends- Germans, Dutch, Spanish- etc. Many of these families were immigrants to the U.S. whose families had a history of living in the country for a hundred years or more [some less]. Now- if I were to come to your neighborhood, and tell you ‘look, the governments of the world made a deal [league of nations- later called the U.N.] and you have to leave this area and another group is going to move in’ how what this make you feel? Put aside your view of the bible and how you see ‘Gods plan’ being carried out- I mean just as a human being- how would you feel? You would feel terrible- you would think ‘geez- my father and his father settled here a hundred years ago- I’m not an alien!’ Yet the Palestinians were living in their land for 2 thousand years! Okay- just see the other point of view. Some of the Palestinians are Christians [small %- 2-5]. How do you think they feel when they have been praying for justice- many lost their homes and family estates during the displacement- and then they see the parade of American Christians trod thru the land like their on some Holy Land adventure- taking the kids to Disney world type thing- and yet in the real world lives are being lost on both sides of the conflict.
Most American Christians who hold to these end time scenarios that play into the geopolitical situation on the ground- they don’t realize that many Jews- and even many in the Israeli govt. do not completely embrace their enthusiasm for Israel. The Israeli leaders also know that most of these scenarios see a bloody conflict that will take place in the Holy Land [does Armageddon ring a bell?] and that many Jews will be slain- only a small remnant will escape [does the number 144,000 ring another one?]. The Israeli security forces in the city of Jerusalem actually have a specific profile for a group/persons that they see as dangerous to the city. Do you know who these ‘dangerous persons’ are? They are the tourists that enter the city every so often- and they have this wild look in their eyes- they are there to await the return of Jesus and they believe that they will be a part of the end time army that will spill much blood and defeat the forces of the enemy- yes- these types are deemed dangerous to the Israeli’s.
Lets pray for the peace of all people- let’s do our best to reject all forms of violence as being totally unacceptable- whether it be the bombing of a church in Egypt- the destruction of the Buddhastatues by the Taliban inAfghanistan [they destroyed these ancient pieces of art when they rose to power in the early years]. Even the bombing of abortion clinics- or the shooting of doctors- we need to see what the apostle John saw- those who take up the sword must in this manner be killed. I think too many of us have signed our own death warrant.
[1569] HITCHENS BOOK- Let me do some more on Hitchens [I’ve been critiquing his book- god is not great- he is an atheist]. Okay- read a few more pages and must admit I’ve written notes on the side of the page like ‘this man is an idiot’ of course I would never write that on the blog! Why do I say this? Let me just say Hitchens uses old- disproven arguments- that have been proven false years ago- yet he seems to have not done recent research before he wrote the book. I actually double checked the date the book was written- trying to give him the benefit of the doubt. If it was written in say the year 1995- then okay- some of the more recent scientific and historical discoveries might have not been available at the time- but the book was written in 2007 [I’m writing this critique in 1-2011] so he simply does not know his subject [trying to disprove the existence of God] well enough to be touted as a brilliant man [which many have said]. Mistakes- he uses the old argument from DNA- called ‘junk dna’ which says we have strings of DNA in us that serve no useful function. DNA is sort of a computer code within us that maps out the basic structures and life functions that we as humans need to exist. Over the years we found DNA that at the time seemed to have no purpose- thus the name ‘junk’. But recent research has shown us that yes- there are functions that this so called junk DNA plays- it’s not junk after all. Yet Hitchens appeals to this silly argument as proof that ‘see- this dna was leftover from evolution’. He also uses another faulty argument form the human tailbone- if you look at the human skeleton- the tailbone seems to look like- well a tail! So people over the years have said this is a vestigial body part [which means it was left over as we evolved- and that’s why it’s there- people have said this about the appendix, the lobe of the ear, and lots of other stuff- today we have found that all of these things that at one time seemed to be ‘leftover’ do indeed have a function]. So Hitchenspulls out the old tail bone rabbit from the hat. The tailbone serves as a balance mechanism for the human to walk upright- it also serves as a primary connecting structure for other parts of the human skeleton- basically we have known for quite some time that the tailbone is not ‘vestigial’- I guess Hitchens just threw out any old arguments he has picked up over the years and figured the reading public would never know- he figured wrong. More? Okay- he contradicts himself page after page. He actually uses one of the proofs against Darwinian evolution- to argue for Darwinian evolution! He is familiar with the ‘Cambrian explosion’ this piece of scientific evidence shows us that some 500 million years ago [the Cambrian era] there was an ‘explosion’ of new body structures that form the basic structures of life- and that these life forms did not evolve over millions of years- they just appeared at once! When science found this out years ago- it thru a monkey wrench into the whole idea of Darwinian evolution- it said things indeed did not evolve slowly over millions of years- but they showed up at once. This kind of scientific truth goes against evolution and actually backs up the biblical claim that things were created at a set period of time- in complete form. So the whole Cambrian explosion thing is evidence against evolution- To Hitchens he just talks about it- acknowledges that the explosion does indeed contradict Darwin’s view [the tree paradigm- that things evolved over time ‘like a tree’ you started with one common base and things all branched out- the Cambrian evidence disproves this theory of Darwin]. And after admitting that all this proof does not back up Darwin- he then says see- ‘this is proof for evolution’. I don’t know if this man is out to lunch or what? And last but not least- he covers the fact that other civilizations have had myths about creation- the flood- and stuff like that. This argument [very old one- refuted years ago] basicallysays ‘see- because we have found these stories in other cultures- thatmeans the bible stories about creation are fake’ man- I don’t even want to do the whole thing right now- I’ll try and simply paste the stuff I wrote about this at the bottom [or if you go to the blog site you can find all these posts under the evolution section]. Basically this theory has also been refuted- the fact is that if you find other cultures with ‘creation- flood’ stories, this in no way means creation or a flood never happened- to the contrary- this would be proof that it did! Overall he contradicts himself when tying to refute the Christian argument from design [that is we see design in the universe- people- animals- this argument is called Teleology] and Hitchens says ‘look- we see faults in humans, animals, the cosmos’ animals eat one another- humans have bad design with the eye structure [another famous- and also refuted argument about the so called faulty design of the eye] and therefore there must not be a grand designer [God] because look at the flaws in the product. Geez- another stale argument that’s been around for ages. Basically the way we refute this is to say ‘so- if I told you the car in the driveway was designed and made by an intelligent being- Ford- and you show me that the design has flaws- okay, I will have to find a way to explain the flaw’ but then for you to say ‘see, because it has flaws- it CAME FROM NOTHING’! Geez- well yes- I would think you were an idiot! The explanation for the so called flaws [predatory animals- the suns future demise, etc.] is the reality that yes indeed- Christian teaching says God made man and creation sinless, and after the fall of man into rebellion- the earth and all of creation plunged into a state called ‘the curse’ or in Hitchens eyes ‘bad design’. So all in all his arguments are old-outdated and easily refuted. Kinda starting to feel sorry for the man- thought he would have done a better job than this- believe me- if you are an atheist and are looking for arguments against the existence of God- historically others have made a much better case- I still think their arguments are wrong- but they have made a better case- Hitchens is the wrong man for this task.
[1570] NOTE- please pray for my daughter Becky this next week or so- she has a serious health issue that she is facing- thank you]
This past week we have been able to read more of the Wikileaks memos; what more have we found out? It was revealed that last year we put pressure on the president of Afghanistan to remove a corrupt official from his govt. The man- Ismail Khan- was a former warlord for the Mujahedeen, he heads up the water and energy department. It is estimated that he is stealing around 100 million a year- his total cash assets say he’s worth around 250 thousand- what a shame. When we put pressure on Karzai to get rid of the man, he said he was told by Hillary Clinton that he could stay- as long as would appoint better officials under him- our U.S. ambassador says he told the president [Karzai] that if he didn’t fire the man- we would stop giving them financial aid. When all was said and done, Karzai kept the man- basically saying ‘I don’t care what you do’- we are still giving them the aid.
In Iraq- the govt. finally cobbled together a unity coalition from the various ethnic/religious tribes and formed a ‘unified’ govt. One of those included [MuqtadarAlsadr- I’m guessing on the spelling?] was one of the chief warlords who used to be deemed a serious threat to our troops inthe region- he had his own militia and he killed our men- as we did his. I remember years ago during the height of military action we said we were going to kill the man and dismantle his little army. Now he’s part of the government. After he got in- the president of Iraq gave a major press statement- he said the 2011 date for the removal of all U.S. forces was non negotiable- even though our country was hinting about extending the deadline. I’m glad they want us out- the point is once again those in authority are not leaders who are embracing western democracy [except for the corruption!] nor do they view us as their friends- these are the countries our sons and daughters are spilling blood in.
Last but not least. In the province of Punjab [Islamabad, Pakistan] their progressive- pro western governor was assassinated by one of his security team. This governor was educated in the U.S. [Harvard?] and was considered one of the most moderate voices in the country. Why was he killed? He publicly criticized the death penalty verdict given to a Christian woman who broke the blasphemy law of Pakistan. This woman said something that was deemed offensive to Islam [?] and she was given the death penalty- by a government that is supposed to be our ally- who we pour billionsof dollars in aid every year- this same government whose intelligence agency is infiltrated with those who we are fighting- yes our boys and girls have shed much blood working hand in hand with this government.
The other day the Pope gave an address after the recent bombings of Christians in Egypt and Iraq. He said there were 2main threats in the world today; religious extremism and secularism. Secularism is the belief that religion and morality should be a private matter- that nations and governments should be totally free from the influence of religion and those who wish to practice it should practice it in private. The other threat- radicalism- is the belief that religion and those who embrace itstenets should try and impose their views on others by force. The Pope saw both of these extremes as being dangerous. As I’m reading thru the book by Christopher Hitchens [god is not great]those of you who have been reading my posts see that I am very critical of the man- showing his flaws in logic- the obvious mistakes he is making in his quest to ‘secularize’ religion. Yet at the same time I must admit I agree 100 % with his argument against radical religion- the ‘fundamentalism’ spoken of by the Pope [not talking ‘fundamentalism’ as defined as the bible churches we see spread throughout the Bible belt].
The main reason we are in Iraq and Afghanistan is to repel Al-Qaida from territories where they might plan attacks against the U.S. [of course the other ‘main reason’ we are in Iraq is because of false intelligence that said Iraq was amassing W.M.D.’s] The terrorists who flew the planes into the towers on 9-11 were people who have been influenced by radical Islam- not all Muslims hold to these views- but the majority of terrorist networks in the world today do. In our attempt to ‘rid the world’ of this danger- we have embarked on a worldwide agenda that has cost the lives of many innocent women, children- as well as our soldiers and even soldiers who joined the Taliban or Iraqi forces simply as a means to put bread on the table- many Taliban fighters are in it for the job! After all these years of trying to deal with the threat of radical fundamentalism thru the means of force- where has it got us? The poor [deceived] religious fanatic who took the life of his governor in Pakistan- he killed him because the governor spoke out in defense of a Christian woman who was given the death penalty [by stoning!] because she insulted Islam. My friends- this is a war that cannot be won with bombs and guns- we cannot rid the world of the threat from ‘fundamentalism’ by means of violence. The sooner we figure this out- the better off we will all be.
[1571] DOOMSDAY IS HERE! Okay- they say when you make a post you should try and start with something that will catch people’s interest. One time I was gonna begin one with ‘SEX CULT’ and then say ‘hey- did I ever tell you guys the new name of my ministry’? But then I thought someone may be a first time visitor to the site- and last! [I did a study on a movement called ‘the children of God’ and read a few books on it years ago. Then about 5 years ago they made it back into the headlines- one of the kids who was brought up in the cult- Ricky Rodriguez- killed one of the leaders and made a confession video and took his own life. The story is very sad. Every now and then I see a documentary on the group- when I firststudied them they were not that popular in the media- then later it became much more exposed. I have the post on them under a section called ‘cults’ I think it’s in the 8-2010 posts? ] So anyway that’s where I’m at today.
This past week the news has been showing the strange bird deaths that have taken place around the country- to be honest it is a little eerie. Then yesterday I ploppeddown on the couch to feed my news addiction [yes- a true addict. I have the remote set for my own favorite channels- about 10 news channels. Every now and then I’ll hear my wife or kids in the living room trying to find their channel- I’ll here ‘geez- dad’s got the thing on his news channels again!’] So I figured I would escape the world and catch some news- you know we all have tough stuff we are dealing with- some people eat chocolate to escape- others watch soap operas- I escape in the world of news. So as I turn on the set sure enough Wolf Blitzer is reporting another ‘breaking story’ of a massive fish/crab kill off the beaches of some country. Now I already knew about the birds dying- and I earlier read a story in the news paper that a bunch of Manatees died off the coast of Florida- and now Blitzer is doing a ‘collage’ of all the events- with the heading IS DOOMSDAY HERE?
So of course we all would like the answer- as soon as possible if you don’t mind- you knowI might change my plans for the day if it is here. Then Blitzer says ‘we’ll let you know at the top of the hour’ What! I felt like my wife’s friends son- he is a real nice kid, growing up with his mom in a single parent home- kind of a hardluck story. Chris has been by the house lots over the years- he struggles with ADD and his mom has had her tough times too. I kid Chris a lot- he’s around 15 now. One day my wife tells me that Chris was feeling sick- so his mom [Sunshine] gave him some medicine from the cabinet- and then she realized it was the wrong stuff. She panicked- running around calling the poison control center and all- she tells my wife the next day [he is fine by the way] that it was kinda funny- as she was running around trying to find the number- telling Chris she gave him the wrong stuff- she says the poor kid went and laid down on the couch- reading his bible for the first time in years!
So you see- if doomsday is here- I would appreciate it if you could kinda give me a heads up. Then I flipped the channel to Beck- I figured he surely will be telling the world some type of global conspiracy behind the thing- to my surprise he was covering it- in a responsible way! Yes- he said he googled ‘bird deaths’ and found that these events are not that out of the ordinary. I was surprised to see Beck being more responsible than Blitzer. So as I waited for CNN to finally cover it- they showed the events and really didn’t say whether or not doomsday is here.
Okay- I don’t want to make too much light of the subject- the bible does speak about an ‘end of the world’ but we should not jump to conclusions too fast. In the gospel of MatthewJesus does say ‘like it was in the days of Noah- so shall it be in the days of the coming of the Son of Man’ [Jesus return] and Jesus himself goes on to say that in Noah’s day they were eating and drinking and marrying right up until the day that Noah entered the ark and the flood came and took them all away. Jesus says many people will be caught by surprise. The apostle Peter says that people will scoff at the idea of the second coming of Christ- they will say stuff like ‘geez- we have been hearing this for years- it’s never gonna happen’. So we as believers want to be aware of the reality that yes- someday there will be a wrapping up of the ‘present order’ and a ‘new heavens and earth’ will appear.
It’s a little too much for me to cover right now- but a lot of the language we find in the New testament about ‘end of the world’ in the original Greek language means ‘end of the present age’. It is not necessarily a biblical belief to see the world exploding in one big bang- but more of a future hope that someday [preterists believe that day has occurred with the coming of Jesus and the establishing of the ‘new age’ of the new covenant] God will ‘wipe away all tears from our eyes’ [Revelation 21] and a new age/world will appear. Yes- it is true that there will also be a future judgment- but the main point is the Christian belief of ‘the end of the world’ does not simply point to some type of destruction of the planet.
So where are we at right now? Come back tomorrow and I’ll finish the post. Okay- won’t pull a Blitzer. Basically I think we should always live with the possibility of ‘meeting God’ at any moment- whether it’s in death or some outward thing- we should try by Gods grace to live unselfish lives- not always consumed with our own welfare- but to put others before ourselves. We should use situations like the ‘bird deaths’ to talk about what the bible says- and what Christiansbelieve- and at the same time not overreact to things like this [like some Christians did during the Y2K event]. And it also does no harm- if by chance you ingest the wrong medicine- go ahead- grab a bible and start reading- it won’t kill you.
[1572] HEGEL[modernity study cont.] Hegel is considered to be one of the most influential thinkers of the modern era [along with Kant]. Hegel’s view of God and religion laid the groundwork [with Kant and a few others] for liberal theology. Hegel taught an idea about God that said in the beginning God was this ‘undifferentiated spirit’ [impersonal] who ‘separated’ himself from himself- in this Divine separating part of him became cosmos, world, man- in the history and development of man, man comes to self consciousness about himself- about God- and in this process- God himself discovers who he is too! Yikes! Obviously Hegel’s view did not sit well with historic Christianity.
Hegel was an idealist [like Plato]. If you remember earlier in this study I taught how idealism is the belief that ultimate reality exists in ideas or forms- the reality of horse or chair is first an idea/invisible form- then what we see is sort of a second creation. Many of the early Greek philosophers held to this view [Aristotle, Socrates, Plato, etc.]. Hegel believed that because ‘God’ comes to this self realization of who he is thru the development of human society thru time- therefore he saw the Divine in human community [government]- primarily expressed thru Protestant forms of Christianity- he divinized the state in a way.
When we study the various thinkers of the modern period [1700’s-2000] it is hard to separate their strong views of religion and God from their thought- but many modern teachers of philosophy have a tendency to skip over the religious ideas of these men- often in the university setting these thinkers are just looked at as philosophers- and their obvious religious thought is kind of glanced over as ‘a symptom of the times they lived in’. This is a big mistake in my view- while I obviously do not embrace Hegel's ideas about God [he basically taught a form of Pantheism- a religious belief that says God is the creation- not just the creator] yet it is important to see the role Hegel will play in the influence of the higher critics that arose out of the German universities of the 19th century. Many of the modern religious thinkers were influenced heavily by Hegel [Rudolph Bultman] and his ideas- in various forms- will continue to inform religious thought right up until the 20-21st centuries.
I guess a good example to sum up Hegel would be the program I was watching last night on Link T.V. It was a discussion amongst various religious groups about God and how we should strive to know and understand and respect the different beliefs people have [I agree]. Yet as the various people shared their views- it was easy to see the eastern beliefs and how much theydiffered from traditional Christianity. At one point they gave a quote from a Catholic priest [Those of you who know me realize I consider fellow Catholics Christians and am a student of Catholic as well as ProtestantChristianity]. He said there were 3 basic realities; 1- the other [God] 2- we are the other [we are one with the divine] 3- there is no other [double yikes!!]. Obviously this well meaning priest is not in good standing with the teachings of his own church!
I don’t share this to be mean- I think in today’sworldit is vital for Christians to engage in interfaith discussions- to respect other peoples beliefs and to work with other religions [Islam, Judaism, Hindu- etc.] but we don’t want to confuse people about what the historic Christian faith teaches about God. In Christian teaching [Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox] God is an eternal personal being- not just some ‘undifferentiated spirit’. God is not ‘us’. He made us, and the creation- he reveals himself to man thru creation- his Spirit does indwell those who believe in him and the redemption of Jesus Christ and his Cross- and God knew who he was- long before we knew who we were!
So some of the deep thinkers have espoused ideas that do not sit well with Christiantradition- never the less it’s good to study and be familiar with the various thinkers of the modern era and to be able to refute [in a nice way!] their errors and share with them the truth of the gospel. As I study these various thinkers-I’m reminded of a term I learned when first moving to Texas from N.J. As a Yankee living in the south- I was often told that here in the south we don’t ‘fix it if it aint broken’. And over the years I have learned that there is much truth to this statement- thru trial and error.
One time I bought this 1976 datsun 280 ZX. It was a used car- paid around a thousand for it. I liked the car- ran fast and all. So one day I get this bright idea [yes-I am going to fix something that ‘aint broke’] and decide to install a backup oil pressure gauge- you know just in case the original one goes out. So I put the new gauge in [cluster gauge- shows 3 different readings] and every now and then I noticed the gauge would show no pressure! The first time this happened I panicked and pulled over and realized that the pressure was okay- it was the design of the gauge- the tube kept falling off the oil sending unit [the thing the gauge hooks up to]. So one day while driving home- sure enough the gauge reads zero pressure- O well I will fix it when I get home. I never ‘got home’. The tube did fall off- but to my surprise all the oil managed to shoot out of the small tube during the ride- yes- I blew my engine! So as I read Hegel and some of the other thinkers in this study- and some of the theories they came up with- I appreciate their efforts to inform modern thinkers- to give themselves over to the field of philosophy- but in the end I get the sense that they are trying to fix something that ‘aint broke’.
[1573] Let me just give you guys a heads up today. These past few months or so I have been doing a lot of posts on Philosophy. Sometimes I do a bunch of history- or science- or another subject. For those of you who come to the site strictly for bible teaching- yes- there are times where I do an entire book of the bible- or cover a series on a biblical truth [Justification by faith- etc.]. On the blog [corpuschristioutreachministries]- if you go to the February 2010 posts- you can find all these studies. But for today let me just do a brief overview of where we are at- by the way I also wanted to mention the referendum in Sudan [Africa] today- today southern Sudan will vote on whether or not they want to be independent from the North[I’m almost positive they will vote for independence]. Sudan has been in a civil war for over 20 years, around 2 million people have been killed [massacred] in the process. The ruling north is predominantly Muslim- the South Christian [another long story having to do with independence from Britain in the early days]. So why should we pray for Sudan today and in the next few weeks? Because if the South does break away- many Christians who live in the North will be in danger of severe persecution as retaliation for the South’s vote- so let’s pray today [1-9-2011] and in the next few weeks for Sudan. Okay- the brief overview I want to do is to simply remind all our readers that the main truth- or thing we all need to re-focus on is the reality that the Christian message is one of reconciliation- that God, thru Christ- has ‘brought back’ the world to himself as a Divine gift. In essence the Christian message is not ‘turn your life around- be good- and then go to church and you will be saved’. Now- being good- going to church- all of these things are good to do- but many times people get the cart before the horse and the world never really understands the message of the Cross. When the bible says ‘repent and believe the gospel’ it is not saying ‘stop sinning and believe the gospel’ in the sense that your telling a drug addict ‘once you quit the habit then God will accept you’ the word repent in the new Testament does of course carry with it the idea of ‘turn away from sin’ but it mainly means ‘change the way you think’ or basically it means ‘are youfinally tired of what you’ve been doing? Then let’s try the God thing’ [of course that’s my spin on it]. In essence the message of Jesus and the church is ‘God forgives and acceptspeople, not based on how good they are- but on the fact that his Son died for you and rose again’. In the book of Romans the apostle Paul says ‘If God gave his son for us- how much more will he freely give us everything else’. People [Christian’s/ preachers] often make the message confusing- sort of like if you don’t get all the details just right- you aren’t ‘saved’. The fact is if God gave his son for us- paid such a high price to save man- then why would he also go thru all the trouble to make ‘getting saved’ so difficult- that most of mankind will miss out on it! The basic way we are saved is thru faith in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ- this is what the gospel [meaning good news] is according to the New testament [1stCorinthians 15]. If you read the gospel of John, the letter to the Romans- or the letter to the Galatians [all New Testament books found in the bible] you will read the story of how God chose to save men when they would simply believe in Jesus- yes- the gift of God is eternal life thru Jesus Christ. Now- as a student of theology and history- I certainly am familiar with all the many controversies surrounding the various churches and how they implement the sacraments- or baptism- or ‘the sinner’s prayer’ when encouraging people to accept Christ. The main point I want to make today is the reality that many times in the New Testament the bible speaks about those who believe in Jesus, that these are ‘the sons/daughters of God’ [John chapter 1]. If you just pick up the bible this next week or so and read thru the gospel of John- you will be surprised to see how many times Jesus himself connects simple belief in him with eternal life ‘for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life’ 3:16- ‘he that hears my words and believes on him that sent me has everlasting life’ 5:24-‘he that believes on me has everlasting life’ chapter 6- the last chapter of John says ‘many other things did Jesus do that are not written in this book [John’s gospel]but these are written that you might believe that Jesus is the Son of God- and thru believing you might have life thru his name’. I want you to think differently today about ‘Christianity’ or ‘going to church’ or ‘God’. Over these last few months I have engaged in lots of arguments for the truth claims of Christianity- refuting the contemporary atheists- showing the historical proofs forChristianity. For many people they hear things thru out their lives- little bits of info that cause them to doubt certain aspects of the faith- and then they use these arguments- often easily disproved- as excuses to say ‘that whole Christian stuff is a bunch of bull’. So the apologetic arguments for the reality of God are intended to ‘un-do’ many of these excuses- but at the end of the day the message of eternal life is simple- it’s a free gift given to all who will simply believe. I was going to post one of the bible studies here at the end- but just go read one or 2 of the ones I just mentioned from the blog- or pick up a bible and read a chapter or 2 a day- Imean the book of Galatians is only 6 chapters, you could read it in a single sitting. Okay- that’s it for today- remember try and pray for the church in Sudan- that all will go well and there won’t be any violence because of the vote- and do alittle bible reading the next day or so. God bless, John.
[1574] ARIZONA SHOOTING- Kind of wanted to cover a little more about yesterdays post- by the way I mentioned I had a few studies in the 2-2010 posts, the others are in the 4-2010 posts [Galatians, John]. Maybe I’ll just post one of them at the end. Of course 2 days ago we had the horrible shooting in Arizona- a congresswoman and others were shot- last time I checked she was still alive, and 6 were dead [I haven’t checked since last night]. First- of course we as a country should be outraged at this, the young man who committed the crime is obviously unstable- many in the media think they are being responsiblewhen they use this as a ‘conservative versus liberal’ agenda. The first report I read kept reminding the readers that Sarah Palin ‘targeted’ this woman during the campaign- the reporter kept stating how Palin even had crosshairs over her district. Now- I have written about this before- how I actuallywatched CNN do a whole show on the irresponsibility of using crosshairs [I agree]. The problem was they had a Democrat [Paul Begala] condemn the use of the crosshairs by Republicans- and they chose the co-host of the longest running show in the history of the world that every week had huge crosshairs on all the guests [The show was called CROSSFIRE]. The point is for the article to have made it sound like the political use of the word- target- was the cause, this is playing into the entire fear mongering that we all need to drop- every side! I also noticed the rage of those who spoke out against the killings- yes- we should all be very mad. Some said ‘you don’t understand- these people were good people’- our entire country stopped for a few days just to be enraged. Now- in no way am I saying this terrible event was ‘brought upon ourselves’ like God is punishing us for our sins [like Pat Robertson and Falwell said in their comments after 9-11] but listen- carefully. The other week I watched a CNN show on a foreign reporter who spent a few weeks behind the scenes with the Taliban- they showed you the local commander and how he was living with his 2 little cute kids in his worn out house. The boy and girl must have been around 5 or 6 years old- they sat on the reporters lap and posed for pictures [yes- I’m sure some of it was propaganda] - the little girl was so cute- wearing her little dress and all. At the end of the report they reported that these 2 precious kids were accidently killed when we hit the camp. Now- were these kids as innocent or as valuable as the innocent victims in Arizona? Did we stop the news for 2 days over this? For 2 minutes? Does the fact that this president has been responsible for more civilian deaths by drone planes than all otherpresidents combined bother you? Yes- we’ve only been using these remote control planes [to kill people] since Bush- but Obama has been responsible for more civilian deaths in 2 years than Bush killed in 8 [with the drones]. Do we- as a country even care? We seem to get outraged when the innocents are wearing our skin- but when they wear Arab/Muslim skin we don’t care. Once again- I am outraged too over the crime committed in Arizona- I too feel that the political tone in the country has gone way overboard- and in a sense when a nationinvolves itself in many deaths of innocent people- whatever the excuses- when we not only don’t stop- but actually have increased them under a president who swore he would end the entire debacle- then we do reap what we sow in a sense- we open the door for things like this. I was outraged when I saw the deaths of innocent Muslims- and when our president was able to comment while vacationing in Hawaii with his 2 beautiful kids- I just wish we could see all these kids as beautiful- not just the ones who belong to us.
[1575] ARIZONA SHOOTING, PART 2- I really didn’t want to do a ‘part 2’ on this- but after I wrote yesterdays post I caught the news and this thing is really heating up. The first day the shooting happened I did not watch the 24 hour news cycle that covered it nonstop. I also skipped it the following day. Whenever a major event occurs [the minors trapped underground] I think these news events are important, but to do a 48-72 nonstop coverage of the event is not good. There are many important world events that take place- and when you pick a single one to cover nonstop- for a few days, then it distracts from the other very important events. Okay- the major problem I see right now is you have both sides of the political aisle blaming the other side for either causing the event to happen because of their rhetoric- or the conservatives blaming the Democrats for using this as a political tool. Who’s right? First- lets all agree that we should stop using language like ‘target’ or ‘take the opponent out’ in political speech- lets also be honest that both sides have used this language- and I don’t know of a single case where a politician has used the language to incite violence. Now- some are saying whether they meant to incite violence or not- they did. Others are saying it’s too soon to link cause with language; that we don’t yet know what set off the disturbed man who did this. On his site he had his favorite books listed- MeinKampf [Hitler wrote it] and the Communist Manifesto [Karl Marx]. While the Hitler book might define the man as a radical right winger- the Marx book would make you think he was a radical progressive- so we don’t know what set this man off. Number 2- Sarah Palin. First- personally I am not a fan of Sarah Palin- I don’tdislike her [or her family] but I think she just isn’t the type of person who is ready for high office. Second- the media [MSNBC] has done the woman wrong by opening the door to criticize her and her kids- some were minors at the time- and by involving her kids personal lives [Bristol] to become fodder for the comics and late night comedians who have actually made jokes about the girl getting ‘knocked up’ under the bleachers by A-Rod and stuff like that. I remember watching Keith Olberman one night [I like Keith by the way] and he often calls her an idiot- this night he had a reporter on the show- this reporter was in Alaska the week before and he was attempting to get a scoop on Palin- she refused to talk with him and wanted him to leave. The next day her kids came home- one was a minor at the time [9or 10?] and they told their mom that this same reporter ‘ran into them’ in town and was asking them questions- trying to get info. Now, these were Sarah’s daughters, they were in town and approached by this strange man- how would you feel- after you already told the man to leave you and your kids alone? What if something like this happened with the president’s kids? So Palin reports the guy- wants him to leave them alone. Olberman reports the story that Palin is a psycho who is so paranoid that she is harassing this innocent reporter- the reporter- in his mocking of Palin- says ‘this woman is a nut Keith- I was just in town the next day because I figured I already flew to Alaska and might as well go sightseeing’ he then says that the kids spotted him- they recognized him as one of the media reporters who covered Palin in the past [probably a lie]and that they came up to him to say hi. Keith accepted this version and went on to mock her. What’s the problem? This man did indeed cross a line- as an adult male- approaching young girls outside their home- after being warned not to bother the family. Thesegirls were not defended by the media- but mocked- that’s wrong- the media has lowered the level of responsibility in dealing with this family. When they [including a major news network] continually had the ex- boyfriend of Bristol on their shows, they allowed this kid to say whatever he wanted ‘did Sarah walk around and call her son a retard Levi?’ Are you kidding me? How many ex- boyfriends of Chelsea Clinton- Joe Biden’s daughter- or anyone else ever get this type of coverage? Yet they have dragged these kids into the spotlight in a way that is simply not done with anyone else. Now- why say all this? Many in the media are saying that Sarah Palin is responsible for the congresswoman’s shooting and the deaths of the people. Okay- now what do her kids do? Go to Skate Night with their friends? Are you kidding- the media is blaming her family for one of the worst mass murders we have seen in years. When the Democrat, Joe Manchin, recently did a TV ad- holding a rifle with a scope- pointed it at a target that was ‘Obama care’ and put a real bullet thru the target- was he blamed for violence? Do you think this ad was worse than Palin putting a target on the districts that they were ‘targeting’ politically? Should we drag Joe Manchin'sdaughters into the spotlight- finding out all their secrets-making jokes about them having sex with A-Rod? The problem with this whole mess is both sides need to reject the games- drop the language that may incite people who are unstable- don’t just blame one side for using the language- both sides have. And pray for the congresswoman and the families of the victims as well. When we demonize the other side- make them look like enemies of the state- these things can effect unstable people- but if Palin and others have done this- don’t make it sound like they themselves are responsible for the deaths, or that they meant for this to happen- because it puts her whole family in danger- including her kids.
[1576] CHRIS MATTHEWS, ED SHULTZ AND THE HOMELESS- Spent the day yesterday on the streets with my homeless buddies- it was cold! I was on foot. Ran into Henry, one of the brothers who really knows his stuff. Henry is originally from Massachusetts and he always has great discussions about the bible- he’s sort of one of those undiscovered genius types- a ‘rain man’ type guy when it comes to the bible. We came back to the house for the afternoon- made a little lunch/dinner type thing. A few monthsback another one of my buddies, John David [I wrote about John a while back- he was strung out on cocaine for years- has been clean for a while] came by- he started a drug rehab- told me the location and showed me the story they ran on him in the news [it made it to CNN!] I was excited- the next day I wrote a 50 dollar check- stuck it in my wallet and figured the next time I run into him I’ll give it to him as a gift. Never ran into him since- so I gave the check to Henry- he will get withbrother Ray- a street preacher who is also struggling with finances right now- and they will split it. Henry would never be able to cash it by himself- or else I would have just given him the 50. I Heard Roger might have died in jail- about a year ago he threatened to kill a cop [he’s all talk- never would have done it] and they charged him with a terroristic threat- sent him away for a year. Roger was a good friend- hope he didn’t die. Around 4 o’clockHenry was heading out to go down the road to brother Rays place[lives a mile or 2 away] I gaveHenry a bunch of bible studies that some ministry sends me every month- I don’t have time to read them- hate to throw them away- so I save them for Henry, he loves them. The preacher is from New Jersey- a Messianic Jew- I sent him some stuff once and just said hi- he has been sending me the studies ever since. As Henry was walking out- he had the check- a little doggie bag I whipped up for him with some stuff- the studies and all- he told me ‘John- this has been the best day I have had in a long time’ I knew it wasn’t the check- or food- Henry sees me as one of his best friends- and he really gets into the fellowship time- I usually share some ‘scholarly’ stuff I’ve been reading- the trends going on in theology and all- he eats that stuff up- loves learning- but doesn’t always have up to date info on the recent developments in the field of theology- so he just likes learning.
Okay- though I hate to do this- let me make a few more political/news comments. After Henry left I caught the news for a few hours- Chris Matthews has chosen to use the deaths of the innocent victims in Arizona for political gain. He went on a rampage of saying because of this Sarah Palin needs to come out and apologize for using political targets to target Democratic districts- he said she will forever be associated with the deaths- that you will be able to GooglePalin and crosshairs and she will be marked for life with the deaths of these people- and he said she will be ‘ERASED’ [no lie] if she doesn’t apologize. This man is more dangerous than Glenn Beck- most people see Beck for what he is- Matthews is not seen as a ‘nut job’ it is very possible to take his words to mean he is calling for the assassination of Sarah Palin- so very sad. Then Ed Shultz [another guy I do like] did his show defending his segment ‘psycho talk’ I missed the beginning of the show- but you got the drift that some on the conservative side have shot back at the liberals and said ‘look- you lib’s use radical talk too’ so Ed was defending his segment- than- to my shock- he transitions to a segment called RAPI- FIRE [God- please help us all] and as he asks the 2 democratic guests their views on the irresponsibilityof Palin and the right using images of guns and crosshairs and targets- the 2 guests seem embarrassed that the name of this segment is called RAPID- FIRE with the words ‘rapid fire’ blazed in red and blinking on the bottom of the screen- I mean Shultz comes on MSNBC right after Matthews- who just called for Palin to be ‘ERASED’. I couldn’t believe the stupidity of these men- to put it bluntly. At this point it looks like the shooter was just a mentally disturbed young man who had no consistent political views- yes- in the beginning it seemed like he might have been a right wing nut job- a Tim McVeigh type personality- but the evidence just does not show that. Of course what he did is still horrendous- it just doesn’t seem to have been instigated by right wing ideology. It just seems hypocritical- of course the right wingers are going to show you all the examples of the left doing the same things that they are outraged over- so another ‘target’ was revealed- it was made by the Democrats- and it had exactly the same rifle/scope targets over the districts of Republicans- then they of course showed you the clips of Obama saying ‘when they bring a knife [political opponents] we bring a gun’ and I even caught this one my self- when the president made the end of the year deal with the republicans- the lame duck congress- he had to defend himself against the liberals who were mad- so he innocently says ‘You know- I didn’t agree with everything in the deal- but when HOSTAGE TAKERS are threatening to hurt the hostages- than you make the deal’ now- we all know the president did not mean to send a message to the real hostage takers of the world- telling them ‘yes- I will deal with you if you start killing off the hostages’ and I heard no conservative voice accuse him of this [someone might have- I did not hear anyone so far] - it would be irresponsible to take the political speech of the president [we’ll bring a gun- hostage takers- etc.] and use that as a political tool to shame the man- yet that’s exactly what some on the left are doing- I agree with those on the right and the left who are calling for a step down on the rhetoric- from both sides- but those who are publicly saying that the rhetoric from one side is what caused these peoples deaths- that’s being irresponsible to the max.
[1577] Okay- how bout this- before I get into politics I promise to do a teaching thing. The other day I wrote a short, simple [basic] post on the teaching in the New Testament aboutbelieving in Jesus, and on the promises in the bible that say ‘if you believe in Jesus, you have eternal life’. Now- for all you preachers/Christians who read the site, yes this is basic stuff- but for many Christians who are nominal church attendee’s, maybe they have grown up in a good Christian church- but never really got into reading the bible, or seriously studying the faith- for these Christians I want to cover some more of the basics. Okay- why is the doctrine of ‘believing in Jesus and being saved’ such an important thing? I mean don’t all Christians know this John? In a way yes- and in a way- no. That is the teaching is not just a simple ‘believe in God’ thing- it is one of the foundational teachings in the bible- and the apostle Paul was the New Testament apostle who shook up the first century religious community by brilliantly writing his ‘thesis’ on the subject. The apostle was a former teacher of the Jewish religion [Pharisee of the Pharisees- top scholar] and after he got knocked off his high horse [literally! Acts 9 ?] he came to this revelation of seeing how God all along had ‘a plan’ to redeem men [save them] by faith- and not by trying their ‘darndest’ [I get too many rebukes for cursing!] to keep the law and do good. This doctrine [justification by faith] is the major theme of Paul in hisletter’s to the Romans [often considered the best scholarly work of the apostle]and theGalatians. Paul does a brilliant job at explaining the Old Testament stories of Abraham and the patriarchs- the well beloved Jewish king- David- and the promise of God to send the Messiah to the Jewish nation [and ultimately all nations] for their deliverance. Paul explains why God chose to save people by faith as opposed to trying to obey the law- he explains why God gave us the 10 commandments [to reveal to man that he is sinful] and he shows us that the reason faith is the mechanism for salvation- is because salvation is a free gift that was earned for us by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ from the grave. Faith- in itself does not save- it’s simply the mechanism that is the simplest way to get the gift of eternal life to people thru Jesus [Jesus is the actual person doing the saving!]. Thru the ages the church always had this doctrine contained within her bible- but like everything else- the bureaucracy eventually got in the way- and Christians lost the simple reality of the free gift. Now [okay- this is getting long- probably won’t do politics too- I know your sad about that J] during the 16th century [1500’s] we had what is commonly referred to as the Protestant Reformation- as a student of history I probably have studied this period more than any other- there were many church leaders leading up to the 16th century that voiced concerns over what they saw as abuses within the institutional church- many influential teachers and intellectuals who were gaining new influence thru the development of the university system that occurred alongside the rise of the nation states- these universities and their top scholars now had the ability to challenge the institutional church [in Rome] to a much greater degree than previous reformers. So without getting into all the technical reasons why the 16th century reformation took place [The initial challenge was the abuse of the priest, Tetzel, selling indulgences to raise money for the refurbishing of the church at Rome- yes a building fund project was the actual cause of the greatest church split in the history of the world!] what became the rallying cry of the reformation was the restoration of the classic doctrine of Justificationby Faith[and the reformers would add the words ‘alone’].The 3 Sola’s [alones] of the Reformation were -faith, scripture, and grace. But it is interesting to see that the main emphasis that eventually came from the Protestant Reformation was the restoration of the lost doctrine of justification by faith- or to put it simply- being saved by believing in Jesus- and not by trying to do your best to keep the 10 commandments. I believe it was possible for the church to have not split over the doctrine- there were obviously tempers flaring on both sides [Rome and her Papal representatives and Luther and those on his side] they freely referred to one another as ‘the anti Christ’ you know- not the best expression of Christian brotherly love- but I do believe it was possible for the historic Catholic church to have assimilated much of what Luther was saying back into official church doctrine- and as a student of the period, and having read the actual letters and writings that were written by both sides- I do believe the Catholic church had some good scriptural concerns that some might miss read what Luther was saying- and think that Christians could go out and kill- rape- and do whatever they felt like doing- because they were now saved ‘by faith’ and not by keeping the law. The apostle Paul actually dealt with this very accusation in the letters I mentioned above- and he too saw the danger in people misreading what he was saying. Okay- enough for now- I guess I’ll go ahead and post the study I did on the doctrine of Justification by Faith here at the end- for those of you on the various sites that don’t see it- it’s because some sites that I post on daily- they don’t have enough space for the whole post- so you will have to go to the blog and read it [corpuschristioutreachministries]. John
JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH SERIES-
(1443) NOW THE LORD HAD SAID UNTO ABRAM, GET THEE OUT OF THY COUNTRY AND FROM THY KINDRED AND FROM THY FATHERS HOUSE, UNTO A LAND THAT I WILL SHOW THEE. AND I WILL MAKE OF THEE A GREAT NATION AND I WILL BLESS THEE AND MAKE THY NAME GREAT AND YOU WILL BE A BLESSING- Gen 12:1-2. I think for the next few days I will try and cover some key verses in both the old and new testaments that deal with the doctrine of justification by faith. I covered this subject in my Romans, Galatians, Hebrews [chapter 11] studies; and of course the doctrine of believing in Jesus and ‘being saved’ is found in the gospel of John study and the Acts study. But for the most part the main verses on the subject are these few in Genesis and the key chapters from Romans [3-4] and Galatians [2-4]. The doctrine simply means that God has chosen to justify [declare legally righteous] all those who have faith in Christ. There are many varied ways that Christian communions deal with the whole process of salvation, some churches are what you would call Sacramental [they believe in the process of God using the sacraments to administer grace to the soul of the believer, and that thru these sacraments, mixed with faith, believers become justified] and others hold more closely to the Pauline idea of faith being the actual mechanism that God uses to justify [which is my personal view]. Many modern Protestants who strongly disagree with the sacramental churches [Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican] fail to see that most of the reformers embraced some form of sacramentalism along with their belief in justification by faith. Luther being the strongest example; his embracing of the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist [body, blood, soul and divinity] caused him to split from the great Swiss reformer, Ulrich Zwingli, and Luther believed Zwingli to be damned because he rejected the body of Christ! So for today’s ‘neo-reformed’ [the resurgence among Calvinism in our day] to be so quick to condemn many other types of Christians [Like those who follow Tom Wright] these are not ‘being fair’ to the broad system of belief that many of the great reformers held to. Okay, the above verse begins the journey between God and Abraham, thru a series of events thru out Abraham’s life God will reveal himself to Abraham, and at those times Abraham has a choice to either believe the promises of God to him- or reject them. These promises center around God telling Abraham that he will have a future dynasty of children that will bless the whole earth. In this dynasty there will be a special son that comes out of the tribe of Judah [Jesus] and he will be the promised seed to whom the promises were made [Galatians 3,4]. Paul the apostle will use the great father of the faith, Abraham, to convince the Jewish people that God justifies people by faith, and not by the works of the law. Paul goes to these past historic events [Gen 12, 15] and shows his fellow Jews that God did indeed justify Abraham [count him righteous] when he believed in the promise made to him by God [Gen 15]. Paul says ‘see, God justified Abraham before he was circumcised, therefore justification [being legally made right with God] is by faith and not by the keeping of the law’. This argument from Paul is simple, yet masterful. His Jewish audience knew these stories well, they just never ‘saw’ what Paul was seeing; once he broke thru ‘the veil’ [Corinthians] that blinded their hearts from the truth, then they could not escape the reality of what he taught them- these cultural stories of father Abraham would never be the same again. As I progress over the next few days I want to note that when we get to the book of James, we will be looking at a different type of justification than what Paul focused on. James will use the great event from Abraham’s life, the offering up of his son Isaac on the altar [Gen 22] as the event to define justification from his view. Many reformed do not fully see what James is saying, in my view. This type of ‘bible study’ [the type where we try and make everything fit our view] is common among many good men, but it fails to see that the scriptures come to us more in the sense of a portable library of books that cover the various perspectives of the time. Now, I am not advocating the view that the scriptures err, or that the bible has ‘competing theologies’ what I am saying is James use of the word ‘justification’ is actually a different use than what Paul means when he uses the Genesis 15 example to explain justification. Instead of trying to reconcile James with Paul by saying ‘all James means is the faith that saves has works’, which is limited indeed, we should leave room for seeing how James is coming to the table from a different point of view. James being one of the lead apostles at the Jerusalem council from Acts 15, and his defense of the importance of works from the strong Jewish background. I think Hebrews 11 actually deals with this subject [go read my commentary on the chapter to see where I’m coming from]. Okay, let’s leave off for now- go read the studies I just mentioned, familiarize yourself with the key chapters and will do some more tomorrow.
(1444) AND HE TOOK HIM OUTSIDE AND SHOWED HIM THE STARS AND SAID ‘LOOK AT THEM, CAN YOU NUMBER THEM’ AND THE LORD SAID ‘SO SHALL YOUR OFFSPRING BE’ AND ABRAHAM BELIEVED IN GOD AND HE CREDITED IT TO HIS ACCOUNT AS RIGHTEOUSNESS. Genesis 15:5-6 [my paraphrase] As we journeyed from chapter 12, where God made the initial promise to Abraham, a few things occurred; God separated Abraham from his nephew Lot. The kings attacked Sodom and took Lot captive, Abraham took his men and went and freed Lot. The king of Sodom tries to reimburse Abraham for his good deed, Abraham turns him down. Abraham also went into Egypt and lied about Sarah his wife, out of fear he told the Egyptians she was his sister [so they wouldn’t kill him to get his wife] and the king takes her and later rebukes Abraham for lying. So he returns to the special place named Bethel [house of God] and regroups. Now in chapter 15 Abraham has some doubts, God gave Abraham this great promise of many children; but he has no kids yet! Abraham is getting up in years [around 75] and so is Sarah his wife; Abraham asks the Lord to consider counting his servant as his heir, this was done in those days. The Lord turns him down and says ‘no, one born from you will be the heir’ and this is just one stop of many along the path of Abraham’s doubts. Yes, he comes up with another winner down the road [like having a kid with the maid!] But this promise in chapter 15, and Abraham’s response by faith, is the actual text Paul uses in Galatians and Romans to show that being justified comes by faith, and not by keeping the law. I want to stress, this example from Abrahams life was real, he really was justified in Gods eyes by believing in the future promise of having a great dynasty; like I said in the last post, he was believing in Jesus when he believed in the promise. In the next few days I will try and cover some key verses in Galatians and Romans, but most of all I want you to see how God forgives people, makes them legally just in his sight, not because of what they have done- trying to do good, be a church goer, trying hard to keep the 10 commandments; all of these things are noble efforts, but they don’t earn God’s forgiveness, but God’s forgiveness is based on the grounds that Jesus died for our sins and rose again. All who believe in this promise are described as ‘the children of God, by faith in Jesus Christ’. Many of the Jewish people looked to Abraham as a great hero of the faith, Paul shows them thru these examples that all who believe, whether Jew or Gentile, become the ‘children of Abraham’ by faith, it’s not an ethnic/cultural thing anymore. If only the Muslims, Arabs and all other groups heard this message from the church; how liberating would this be! But we too often present an ethnic message based upon Old Testament verses that call certain Middle Eastern states ‘the enemies of Israel/God’. These views, not being rightfully filtered thru the message of the Cross, make it very difficult to evangelize the Arab world, after all would you want to embrace a religion whose book said ‘thus saith the Lord, all you white Europeans are a stench in my nostrils’! But because of our unwillingness to present a gospel based solely on faith, and not the ethnic backgrounds of individuals, we have reduced the message of the Cross from the wide net that the apostles used when presenting the message of Jesus- Lets declare with certainty ‘yes, we are all the children of God by faith in Jesus Christ’ Amen.
(1445) WAS NOT ABRAHAM OUR FATHER JUSTIFED BY WORKS WHEN HE OFFERED ISAAC HIS SON UPON THE ALTAR- YE SEE THEN HOW THAT BY WORKS A MAN IS JUSTIFED AND NOT BY FAITH ONLY- WAS NOT RAHAB THE HARLOT JUSTFIED BY WORKS? James 2:22-26. Okay, in Genesis chapter 22 we read the story of God telling Abraham to offer up his son Isaac upon the altar. Abraham obeys God and at the last minute the Lord stops him; but the angel of the Lord says because he did this, that now God knows he can be trusted and God will fulfill his promise to him. James uses this story to define what he means when he speaks of ‘being justified’ in Gods sight. I believe there have been many noble attempts at trying to reconcile this passage with the passages in Romans and Galatians where Paul specifically says ‘a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith’. Paul clearly teaches us that men cannot be justified by the works of the law; James says ‘see how men are justified by works’. The explanations I have heard go like this ‘James was simply saying the faith that saves is an active living faith’ ‘James is simply saying men are justified in the sight of other men by their works’ ‘James is simply saying true faith has works along with it’ while all of these things are true, they seem to not adequately deal with the 3 passages I quoted at the top. James says that when Abraham offered up his son on the altar that the scripture was fulfilled that said ‘he believed in God and he counted it to him for righteousness’. James is fully aware of the Genesis 15 promise to Abraham, the key verse Paul uses to define justification by faith; it’s just James is speaking about the process thru out life where men actually become righteous in practice, which is a result of being legally made righteous by faith. In essence when James says ‘see how men are justified by works’ he is describing the act of God being pleased with us, God having the right to say ‘yes, you obeyed me son, and I call you righteous in my eyes because you did obey me’. This process can be defined as being ‘justified by works’ while not contradicting Paul’s use of the term ‘justification by faith’. To me it is quite clear that James is saying more than just ‘real faith has works’ no, he is saying that the legal/forensic act of justification by faith [Gen. 15] leads to a life of actually doing just things [obeying God- Gen. 22] and when the legally justified believer obeys God, in a sense he is justified in Gods sight [not men’s!] by these works. Now, this does not mean men are ‘saved’ by doing good works, in the sense that Paul uses ‘saved’ but James is saying that when believers do good works, these works cause a response from God that can be defined as ‘being justified in Gods sight by our good works’ a totally different theme than Paul. This passage has been a difficult one for many years, Luther battled with it and at one point called James epistle a ‘straw epistle’ he doubted its canonicity. The Catholic Church used this very passage in their council at Trent to refute what they saw as Luther’s neglect of good works. I have had Mormons and other various Christian groups use this passage in defending certain aspects of their churches; this passage is well worn in the annals of Christian apologetics, I think the explanation that I just gave is the best one; the other efforts that have been made to explain this passage have some truth to them, but at the end of the day they don’t fully explain the clear text of the above passages. I think this explanation explains them.
(1446) ‘Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no man be justified’ ‘I do not frustrate the grace of God, if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain’ ‘But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for the just shall live by faith’ Galatians 2:16, 21, 3:11. Okay, these verses [as well as the book of Romans] strongly show us the New Testament doctrine of being justified when we believe in Christ. To many people this idea seems contrary to the normal belief that being a good person, doing good, going to ‘church’ trying to keep the 10 commandments; these are the normal ideas on what people think they need to do to ‘be saved’; yet the apostle shows us that our redemption is solely based on Christ’s death for us. He even says ‘if righteousness [being made just legally] comes by keeping the law, then Christ died in vain’! It almost seems strange for this doctrine to be found in the bible! Yet it is the basis of New Testament Christianity, which is based on a New Covenant [in contrast to the old one, which was the law] this New Covenant is grounded on the death and resurrection of Jesus; as Paul says ‘if Christ died for all of us, then we are all dead- so let those who now live, live unto God’. When I first became a Christian and started reading the bible, I saw these promises as saying ‘all who believe in Jesus are saved’ but I noticed how many believers taught a type of conversion that watered down this doctrine; some said ‘yes, you accept the Lord by faith’ and they seemed to add all types of steps that needed to be ‘done in faith’ in order to be a true believer. Whether it was an elaborate evangelical scheme that eventually led to kneeling at an altar in some church, or whether it was the exact memory and dating of the day you asked ‘Jesus into your heart’. Now I’m sure there are many fine believers who have come to the journey this way, my point is not to doubt their conversion; but the more I became aware of these many ideas, the more I studied the scriptures to see if faith really meant ‘faith’. My own conversion came from truly seeing the promises in John’s gospel on believing and having eternal life. It was more of an awakening, sort of God breaking thru and revealing grace to me. Now, my conversion was rather drastic, it wasn’t a slow coming to the Lord, but it didn’t fit the sinner’s prayer scheme that many of my Baptist friends embraced. I also noticed how many of my friends, after hearing the evangelical version for so long, would then ‘get saved’ for real! They would be convinced by some well meaning evangelist that their initial conversion was shot thru with holes, then they would sort of fabricate a ‘more legitimate’ conversion. Even strong believers would do this. So then you had to deal with the fact that these fellow believers, who were truly walking with the Lord for a while, were really lost all along! This process struck fear into the hearts of all the other church members, after all how many of them were deceived too? So I began to study the bible to see if bible conversions really meant this often elaborate schema. One thing I noticed is all of these verses on being justified by faith were based on the main promise to Abraham from God, which consisted of God taking Abraham outside and telling him ‘see the stars, your offspring will be like this’ and it actually was a passive act of belief, not some act of Abraham doing something, that is defined as the day God justified Abraham. Then I ran across Acts chapter 10, and this story shows Peter preaching to the gentiles and they simply believed the message and the Spirit fell on them- Peter was not expecting a conversion, they were surprised. This also was a passive type conversion. In the letter we are quoting from in this post [Galatians] Paul describes it like this ‘He that works miracles among you, does he do it by the works of the law or the HEARING OF FAITH’ Paul will describe their conversion as a point in time where they heard and had faith, again another seeming violation of the active conversion model. The main point being that yes, there are cases where the conversion is reduced to the simple act of believing in the gospel when it’s first preached. To be fair, in the New Testament the outward ‘act’ that usually took place on ‘conversion day’ was water baptism, so if we were totally honest with ourselves we could say that water baptism was the altar call of the New Testament, but the fact is faith itself is identified as the basis of our justification, faith in Christ.
(1448) ‘Now we know that what things so ever the law saith, it saith to them that are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law shall no person become just in God’s sight: for by the law comes the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is manifested, even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all that believe’ Romans 3:19-22. Once again Paul makes clear that people become right in God’s eyes when they believe in his son, the attempt at becoming right with God by obeying the law is futile. Why? Because that was never the intended purpose of the law. God gave the law to reveal to man his sin; when men would try to live up to the standard, they would fall short and realize their need for a savior and then would turn to Christ. Paul says before the law came [before he personally became aware of it] he was without guilt, but once he realized the statutes of God and saw Gods holy standard; he said that sin in him revived and he died. Or the law caused a reaction in him that made his sinful nature appear to be much worse than he originally thought. Paul said in Galatians that the law was our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ, but after faith has come we are no longer under a schoolmaster. He said ‘wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions till the seed should come [Jesus=seed, offspring] to whom the promise was made’. Paul taught that the purpose of the law was to reveal to man his own sin, that there never was a law given that a man could obey in order to become saved. The other day I googled the ministry name and was glad to see that some Catholic friends have been posting our site on Catholic sites. Great! My goal is not to convince fellow Christians to change churches, or become Protestant; my goal is to accurately teach the truth to all who want to hear. To some of our Catholic friends these verses seem unbelievable, that is they might seem too good to be true. I want to assure you that the Catholic church believes the things that I just taught! But like all Christian churches, sometimes we don’t effectively communicate these truths to the people. Many people do not realize that the current Pope, Benedict, is one of the most able theologians that the church has had in this office. John Paul the 2nd was a great man, don’t get me wrong. But he was more of a philosopher/humanist charismatic figure; Benedict is more of a teacher. Why mention this? Because you will notice that the last year or so the Pope has made an extra effort to teach Paul’s epistles and to focus more on a strong Christology than in past years. This Pope has made efforts to bridge the gap between Protestants and Catholics; he also has come closer to the Protestant view of certain passages that speak of justification by faith. A few years ago a joint statement was made that many Protestants saw as a major breakthrough in this very area. I want to assure my Catholic readers, yes- it sounds too good to be true, but it is! Even your church believes it! That is we all believe that we are freely saved by Gods grace that comes to us thru the Cross of Christ. I would be dishonest to say there are no more difficult doctrinal issues between the great Christian confessions, but I can say for a surety ‘we are all the children of God by faith in Jesus Christ’. Note- I am not saying the Catholic church does not believe in the importance of keeping the 10 commandments, they believe that all Christians should keep the commandments.
(1449) ‘What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein’? Romans 6:1 Being we are just hitting on the theme of justification by faith, and because I already did an entire study on Romans, I will skip over chapter 4; but I want to mention that chapter 4 covers a lot of important material about Abraham and the fact that God justified him prior to his circumcision, Paul uses this illustration to show us that being accepted with God transcends ethnic/racial lines. Many of the Jewish people of Paul’s day [including Paul’s former life!] saw acceptance with God along the lines of ethnic/cultural relations; if you were part of the Jewish nation and partook of all the rights and privileges of ethnic Israel, then you were seen as being accepted with God. But Paul’s message of justification by faith applies to ‘all the seed’ [offspring] not just to those who have become circumcised and have joined into ethnic Israel. So these points are important to understand. But now let’s get to the above verse. Paul will emphatically teach that the message of free grace does not mean we have a license to sin; he teaches this in ALL of his letters. It’s easy to focus in on the justification by faith themes [which we are doing in this study] and overlook the moral teachings of the apostle. Paul will teach ethics, not from a legal/law grounding [obey the 10 commandments] but from a new resurrection reality. He states that those of us who have been joined [baptized] into Christ have identified with him in death; the old man [sinful nature] has died along with Jesus and has been buried. Now that we are alive with him we live a new life unto God. Paul will say ‘shall we sin because we are now under grace and not under law’ and notice, he does not appeal to the law, instead he says ‘no, because whoever you serve [sin or righteousness] you become a slave to it, and if you are a slave to sin you will die’. Paul appeals to the reality of sin and death as still being a real price to be paid by those who reject Jesus. It’s important to see this theme from Paul, it backs up his teaching that believers are not under the law. In the next day or so I will wrap up this study; if I had the time and space I could go thru all the moral mandates we find in Paul’s letters, and it would be an important thing to emphasize. It’s just this is not the purpose of this study. But I would be remiss if I did not at least hit a few key scriptures from the apostle himself that show us that he certainly was not teaching lawlessness; he himself stressed the need for believers living a holy life. Its just the grace to live it comes from the power of the Cross, not from the law.
(1450) BUT NOW WE ARE DELIVERED FROM THE LAW, THAT BEING DEAD WHEREIN WE WERE HELD; THAT WE SHOULD SERVE IN NEWNESS OF SPIRIT, AND NOT IN THE OLDNESS OF THE LETTER. Romans 7:6 I think this will be a good chapter to end our series on justification by faith. Paul uses one of my favorite analogies to describe the new relationship we have in Christ; he says a woman, as long as her husband is alive, is bound by the law to her husband. If she goes out and sleeps with another man, she is convicted by the law and is committing adultery. But if the husband dies, then the same act of being with another man [in marriage] is no longer called adultery, by virtue of the death of the husband she has become free from the law that condemned her. Now Paul teaches that we too have become dead to the law thru the death of Christ, so that we should be married to another; even to him who died and rose again! I have often said it’s sad that believers in our day know all the catch phrases, they are familiar with the pop Christian culture verses and all, but these very important themes are often overlooked. Would to God that all believers were familiar with this scripture, walking around in life quoting ‘we have become dead to the old law thru Christ, we are now alive with him and are married to him who rose from the grave’. Thru out this chapter Paul once again shows that the law is holy and good, but its purpose was to arouse in us our sinful nature in order to reveal to us the need for a savior. The old way of life for Paul was one of condemnation and never being able to do enough to appease his sinful conscience, when he saw the realities of the new covenant he was delivered from that old mindset and began to see a new way to approach God, a free liberating walk with God, apart from the daily grind of trying in his own power to become righteous. Many good believers struggle with this for years, and there really is no trick or gimmick to the spirit filled life. Paul will go on and teach the need for self discipline; he said he ‘beat his body to bring in into subjection’ he obviously was not espousing a Christian walk that never had struggles again. But he was telling us that there is a fundamental difference between approaching the Christian life thru a legalistic mindset, or thru the freedom that comes from Christ. In conclusion we have learned that right from the early days of Abraham God had revealed to us that there was coming a day when men would approach God upon the grounds of faith, and not by works; that God included this great promise in the bible since the beginning; it was not an afterthought! Paul showed us that this new way of life was ordained of God before the law was given; it just took a couple of thousand years to get to the promised ‘seed’. Paul showed us that Jesus of Nazareth was the promised child, and now that he has come we are no longer under the schoolmaster [law] but we have been freed from the old law thru the death of Christ, we are now married to another, even to him who rose from the grave- AMEN!
[1578] WEEK IN REVIEW- Okay- I need to share one of those weird moments- at times in the past I’ve had signs and stuff that to be honest- do freak me out. So this week, as I have been reading various bible chapters- kinda skipping around- I read the words of Jesus in Matthew about the last days. So I realize I kinda joked about it the other day- wrote a post called ‘doomsday is here’ and shared a few thoughts. So as I was looking at some of the bible passages on the end times- I focused in on a verse- one that I have liked/written down in the past- It’s Jesus doing the talking [you know- the red letters] and he says ‘when I return- it will be no secret- everyone will know- it will be just like the lightning that shines from one end of the sky all the way to the other’ [my paraphrase- which means I’m basically making the king James version easier to understand] Some versions say ‘like a bright light that will shine from one end of the sky to the other’. Okay- no joke- I’m watching CNN the other day [yes- the doomsday channel- go read the other post] and sure enough Wolf Blitzer [In Letterman’s top 10 the other day- he had the top 10 things said at Larry Kings retirement party- one was ‘will somebody tell Wolf Blitzer to put on a shirt’!] has a story about a strange light that ‘shone from one end of the sky to the other’. So I watched the story- yes in some state [?] many people witnessed a bright unknown light that lit up the whole sky- and they said it went from ‘one end of the sky to the other’ theyhad one video of the reflection seen on the ground- it looked like a huge flash from a camera- only longer. It was weird- you say ‘Okay brother- you have gotten me mad with your politics- you rub me the wrong way with all your bible stuff- and now you got me a little scared- kinda wondering- so what do you want me to do’? Okay- sow a financial seed for $1,000 every time you see …. [okay- I know- I need to top doing stuff like this]. The story is true- just kidding about ‘the seed’ [I don’t take money- ever].
Kinda wanted to stay on track with the last few posts [guess I already blew that] but let me do this- let’s do a ‘week in review’ thing- and at the end I will post the study I did on the book of Galatians- it’s in keeping with the bible study I’ve been sharing.
Okay- the week is gone- we had the terrible shooting in Arizona and the nation mourned. The [liberal] media made total fools of themselves- they blamed the deaths on Sarah Palin and the right wing- day after day Chris Matthews said ‘where is Palin! Why won’t she talk! Come out and take responsibility [for something you didn’t do?]-or you will be erased’. Then- after the entire nation realized that the shooter held to no specific political ideology [though you could make the case that he is a radical liberal- he is an atheist- had Marx’ book in his possession- he certainly does not fit the description of a right wing radical Christian fundamentalist] after a few days of Mathews and one of the main stream news networks accusing her of being responsible- she finally puts out a video [yes- I now the blood libel thing] and she says she is not guilty for the shooting [which is true] simply defends herself in public after being accused, and the main accuser [Matthews] saying day after day ‘why are you in hiding- it’s proof of your guilt’ so what should the woman do? She ‘comes out of hiding’ and yes- the liberal media says ‘can youbelieve the gall of this woman! To have the nerve to make a statement and to shame the victims by trying to steal the spotlight from the dead 9 year old girl’ wow. I believe MSNBC should just go away- this network- along with the entire group of accusers who jumped the gun [Paul Krugman] these people are a shame to humanity [am I blunt enough?]
A few years back we had some guy fly his plane into the I.R.S building in Austin [Texas capitol] at first people though ‘right wing nut job’ found out later that he was a disgruntled left wing ‘nut job’ an avowed Marxist. Oh well. A year or so ago we had some guy try to blow up a car bomb in Times Square- mayor Bloomberg opined ‘maybe it’s someone on the right, disgruntled with the health care law’ wrong again- radical Islamist. Strike 2. Okay- one more chance to find a real right winger- I know- remember Ted Kaczynski [Unabomber]? He was the guy sending bombs to corporations and stuff- blowing up people for many years- they finally caught him- it turned out that he was a radical environmentalist- had Al Gore's book in his hut- and he saw the industrialized world as the enemy- strike 3. I do not recall in any of these instances- a single media story about the danger of radical left wing speech- about Chris Matthews dangerous rhetoric when he says ‘someone needs to shoot a co2 pellet into Rush Limbaugh’s head’ in none of these stories was there even an inkling of blame placed upon those who hold to left wing ideology. But the media this week not only blamed Sarah Palin personally for the victims in Arizona- but the entire mainstream media, when caught with their pants down- haven’t themselves apologized for jumping the gun in the shameful way that they did- they haven’t retracted their accusations [in the main] nor have they personally apologized for doing stories about Palin ‘targeting’ the district of the woman that was shot- linking the silly political ‘targeting of the district’ with the horrendous shooting of the congresswoman- this single piece of reporting has been the most irresponsible piece of biased journalism I have seen in years.
So to finish for the week- I think the president gave an excellent speech the other day- did not play into this hype- and deserves credit for being a good president- a president who represented both sides of the aisle.
[1579] Okay- I wasn’t going to post today- but figured I’ll go ahead and finish these brief thoughts on the doctrine of Justification by Faith [by the way- Justification is a legal term that means the judge declares you righteous- just- there are lots of technical terms that apply to what Christians mean when they say ‘saved’ and to be honest- many Christians fight over these various differences- but for this short overview I can’t get into the whole debate]. Those of you who have read the studies I’ve posted at the end of these posts- I do get into some of the debate- and I want to be honest about the ‘official’ differences between Catholic and Protestant [Reformed] views. But first- the bible clearly teaches the doctrine[teaching] that thosewho believe in Jesus are saved- so you might have some Christians who say ‘I don’t care what the official teaching of my church is- I believe it because the bible says it’ that’s fine- I have no problem with that- accept- to be honest- the Protestantworld is plagued with preachers, televangelists, radio preachers [yes I’m in this camp] and book writers who mean well- but they for the most part are teaching snippets of truth [sometimes outright falsehoods] and most of them use the ‘I believe it because the bible says it’ line- so even though it’s good for all of us to read and believe the bible- it’s also important to not be ‘seeing stuff’ that no one else has ‘seen’ for 2 thousand years of church history! [by the way- comments like this don’t get me in good standing with most other Protestants] The main point I want you guys to see is as I have shared with you this teaching- I’ve also shown you that yes- this teaching is not something that you find in a single obscure verse taken out of context- but it is a major theme of the apostle Paul- who just happens to be the most prolific writer of the New Testament [his letters make up the majority of the New Testament]. Now- during the official schism between Catholics and Protestants in the 1500’s, the Protestant position became the classic doctrine of Justification by Faith- that is the Protestant church [mainly what today is called Reformed theology- ever since the 16th century schism there are so many divisions of Protestants it is impossible to say what ‘Protestants believe’ in the broad sense] said the mechanism- actual way- people become justified by God is when they believe- have faith in Christ. The Catholic position said a person becomes legally justified in Gods sight at Baptism- Baptism is seen as the actual act a person does in order to become justified. Now- wars have been fought over this- Protestants call other Protestants heretics over this- there are many groups of Protestants who also teach that a person ‘becomes saved’ at baptism- and the strong ‘anti baptism’ crowd often refers to the ‘we get saved at baptism’ crowd as cults! This is pretty sad in my view- I can go thru all the verses that each side uses to ‘justify’ their belief- and suffice it to say that there are enough ‘you get saved at baptism’ verses to not see that belief as heresy. So I personally have no problem with Catholic Christians- or Church of Christ believers- or the multitude of other Pentecostals, Baptists [certain sects] who see their ‘I got saved’ day as the day they were baptized. I don’t want to get into the whole debate on infant baptism- I’ve written about it under my Statement of faith section- and once again the churches that practice it have their reasons- it’s not as ‘crazy’ as manyProtestants portray it- thereare many fine Christians who were baptized as babies. But what I want to end this brief study with is this- the basic teaching of the New Testament is that we are accepted with God because of what his Son did for us- Jesus- the Son of God- God in the flesh- died for all mankind’s sins, he was buried and rose again according to the scriptures [1stCorinthians 15]. The mindset that thinks ‘if I go to church- do my best to keep the 10 commandments- and try and avoid killing somebody thru out my life- heck who knows- maybe I’ll make it thru the pearly gates?’ Well that’s the mindset I want to challenge- lots of good, well meaningChristians walk thru life thinking this way- and it’s to those brothers/sisters that I have been talking too- even though the Catholics and Protestants have differences- yet we all teach that we are saved by Grace- not by keeping the 10 commandments or ‘going to church’ yes- this is clearly taught in the bible- and the Christian churches all teach it- even if this truth never ‘trickled down’ to the people in the pews. So as I post the last study in this short series of posts [Romans] if you can- read the whole study- I did it a while ago- by the way- all these studies and books on the blog are written by me- so what you read in the studies is a longer version of these short posts- but if you can, read the whole study- if not then try and read chapters 2-5- these chapters cover the heart of what we have been talking about- and to all my readers- Jews, Hindu’s, Atheists, Muslims- whoever- these promises are given to all of us- if we would only believe. John
[1580] MODERATE ISLAM? The other day I wrote a post on one of the coalition leaders that formed the new govt. in Iraq- I noted how this guy was a warlord who killed our men during the war- he is now one of the top political leaders in the govt. - the same govt. that our men are dying for. O well, maybe he has changed his tune? As soon as he took his seat- he spoke of our brave men and women- our guys dying on the field- he referred to them as ‘THE ENEMY’ and vowed to rid his nation of the U.S. scum as soon as possible. You wonder why I’m against the war.
I wrote another post about the killing of the governor of Punjab province- Pakistan. The governor- Salman Taseer- was a moderate Muslim who spoke in defense of the Christian woman- Asia Bibi- who was sentenced to death for INSULTING MUHAMMAD- And just how did she commit this terrible crime you ask? There were some guys working the fields in her area- she offered them water to drink- they told her they would not drink water from the defiled hands of one who believes in Jesus. Fine- she defended her faith and they reported her to the law- for supposedly breaking the blasphemy law. O- I forgot- they raped her first. Surely the govt. - you know- our allies in the war- the country we pour billions of dollars into every year- surely they will step in and stop this atrocity.I’m sure MSNBC and all the liberal women’s rights groups will spend weeks condemning this atrocity- that is if they can take a break from accusing Sarah Palin of being responsible for the mass murders in our country. The Pakistan govt. condemned the woman to death. The killer- Malik MumtazHussainQadri- who murdered the governor for defending the woman- has been praised for his act- by whom? The radical extremists who have ‘hijacked Islam’? He has been praised by 500 top leading scholars of Islam. These scholars are referred to as ‘moderate’. These same leaders said anyone attending the funeral of the governor- or speaking out on his behalf- they too will be guilty of blasphemy and would deserve to die as well. These are the top moderate scholars mind you.
The point? We have our kids dying in these countries- we have parented with these governments and spent billions of dollars in aid- some estimates say we are spending 100 billion a year in Afghanistan alone. The former president [Bush] often defended the wars by saying we are freeing women who are being oppressed by oppressive regimes- we are establishing free- peace loving democracies in the midst of the radical extremist world- when I look at all these above events- I wonder if the ‘radical- extremist’ governments are being replaced- it seems to me that they are still running the show.
[1581] COURAGE-Last night I caught a real interesting show- it came on ‘by itself’ that is I must have checked the programmer to come on every Monday at that time [I don’t remember checking it]. Every Monday on EWTN [the Catholic station] I try and watch the Journey Home- with Marcus Grodi- he has real interesting guests who have converted from Protestantism back to the Catholic Church. It’s interesting to see these stories- I have yet to see a convert that was not well informed and knew the bible as well as church history- overall good show. So anyway another show popped up [they moved the encore presentation from 10 to midnight] and it was a profile of a group called Courage- I have heard a little bit about them before- they are a Catholic 12 step program designed to help people who are struggling with the gay lifestyle- it helps them return to the faith and attempt to live chaste lives. Now- I know this subject is hot- I have gay friends- lots of us have gay family members- and the country just had a big debate about gays in the military- so it gets people riled up. I really liked just listening to the stories the guys were sharing; one of the brothers was living in San Fran. And he had a relative that invited him to a courage conference in N.Y. He said he really never wanted to go- but his brother would always ask him in a nice way- so he accepted the all expense paid trip and flew to the city- he shared how spending a few days listening to other gay people who have returned to the church- that he experienced a conversion himself. When he went back to Ca. his friends told him ‘you even look different’ within 6 months he moved back to N.Y. A few of the other guys shared similar stories- it was an honest show- I liked it because it wasn’t the normal ‘Christian verses gays’ type thing you see all the time- but just an honest story about gay men seeking to live celibate lives- they are not ‘fighting’ the church- joining the parade of those wanting to make the church change its position on the subject- they are just men who have returned to a former faith- and are seeking God. These stories are also a lesson forProtestants- I can tell you- just watching the show- I could hear in my mind the normal Protestant response ‘these guys aren’t even saved’! Yet the conversion that the men experienced- it was obvious that these men were sincere Christians- trying to overcome things that they felt they needed to overcome. Now- I do realize that even this short note can be highly offensive to those living the gay lifestyle- sort of like ‘who do they/you think you are to say they need to overcome anything’ I hear you. I’m familiar with the whole debate- I do understand that there are many movements today that accept the gay monogamous lifestyle as a legitimate Christian way to live. But the normal- traditional belief [which I do hold to] is we should love and respect all people- even those in the GLBT community- and at the same time be honest about what the bible says on the subject [basically the bible does say it is a sin- this is a big debate amongst many scholars- teachers- and some think otherwise- I wrote a post on this in the past, if I can find it I’ll paste it at the end]. I do think that too many Christians respond the wrong way in many of these debates- even during the recent ‘gays in the military’ debate- some believers said ‘gaysshouldn’t serve in the military because the bible says it’s a sin’ Yikes! Look- I just gave you my own conservative view- I do believe the bible says it’s not an acceptable lifestyle- yet to use that reasoning to ban gays from any job- that’s just not a good approach in my view. You very rarely- if ever- hear that argument made against those who are just ‘sleeping around’ as far as I know- at least when I was in the navy- just about everybody did. I do understand the whole argument that some military leaders made- that it affects certain ways the military functions- should we allow same sex attraction to exist in living together- taking showers- etc. But that’s a different concern- and basically Christians should not seek to ban gay people from anything. The criteria should not simply be the sexual orientation of the person. I felt bad for the gay pilot who was making the rounds in support of overturning the ban [which did pass by the way] he was in the military for 19.5 years- almost enough to retire- and because he spoke out there were rumors that they were going to discharge him- I mean if I were the one making the decision- I would have never discharged him just because he was gay- especially after almost 20 years of good service. So all in all I think believers [and humans!] in general should try their best to not discriminate against people because of race, sex- etc. And at the same time be honest about the churches’ belief- and realize that there are a lot of people in society that don’t want the church/Christians to tell them anything- that’s fine- that is Christians should not take the position ‘we are at war with you guys- you’re on one side- we are on the other’ Jesussimply never approached it like that [yes- he never spoke specifically about the subject- but he never approached any sinful lifestyle with that mindset- he loved people- was upfront about their sin ‘go and sin no more- I don’t condemn you’ type thing- but never engaged in the way the conservative right has done]. Okay- not sure why we went this way today- just felt strongly that I needed to comment on it. John
[1582] HITCHENS-PIRATES AND M THEORY- Let’s talk a little more about Christopher Hitchens book- God is not great. As I’m reading thru the book- and also doing some studying on Modernity- it’s obvious for me to see the errors in the arguments Hitchens is making in trying to refute the existence of God. Instead of attempting to refute each argument he makes [and to be honest- he does make many classic mistakes- things that are not really hard to show as false]. Let me give you just a few points- Hitchens comes at you from all angles- history, science, historical criticism [a view of the bible that tries to undermine the historical accuracy of the faith] politics- he basically covers all the angles that I too like to engage in. He is smart- no doubt about it- and he mocks Christians, Jews, Muslims- and he does it in a way that says ‘you are all idiots’. So that’s why when attempting to refute him- when I see him doing something stupid- I try and bring that out. Okay- one of the major mistakes Hitchens makes [a common mistake in the field of apologists versus atheists] is he appeals to the basic idea ‘we- as intellectual people do not accept things based on faith- we only believe things that can be scientifically proven to be true’ now- how many times have you heard this? This argument is only made by those who are ‘novices’ in this debate. Why? Because at face value it is very easy to refute. Hitchens, Dawkins, Harris- and all the other famous atheists believe in all types of historical events- things that happened in the past- without a singleshred of ‘scientific proof’. Let’s see- Do you believe Lincoln was shot? Have you personally done DNA tests on the remains? Have you even seen the remains? Let’s see- what about Aristotle and Socrates and Plato- surely as refined as these men are- they most certainly believe that these great Greek philosophers lived 4 centuries before Christ. Again- what scientific proof can you show me- you know- the standard that you’re using to judge whether or not Jesus ever lived? Basically the argument that says 'faith and Jesus and God are not real truth- not like science’ is a totally illogical argument- unless these men would have us believe that they reject all of the above historical figures I just mentioned. So how does the bible- Jesus- God- hold up to the historical test [not the scientific test!]? Point of fact- there is no other historical person- in the history of the world- with more historical proofs of his existence. There are no other ancient documents- dating back to the time of Christ- that have the historical accuracy that we find in the New Testament- Luke- the writer of both the gospel of Luke and the book of Acts- from a purely historical point of view- is considered the best- most accurate- first century historian to have ever lived [I explained it all before under the Evolution/Cosmology section- I think it’s in the 8-2010 posts]. Basically the argument Hitchens is making is dishonest at its core. Then- he gets into M Theory [geez- didn’t really want to go there] Okay- I love studyingscience, history, Physics. And to be honest- Physics is really not my ‘field’ that is I prefer to show you the mistakes Hitchens is making when he pretends to be a bible student [he makes statements that he is a regular reader of the bible- who goes thru it often- I seriously doubt that claim- he seems to be familiar with certain critical scholars of scripture- theories that have long been rejected- documentary theory by Wellhausen- and you can kinda tell he simply reads the critics and incorporates their ideas into his own- heck- if there is no God- then what’s wrong with plagiarism?]Okay- Hitchens seems to be enamored with Stephen Hawking- I wrote about Hawking a month or so ago- in his recent book- Grand Design- he made some ‘Grand mistakes’ and I refuted these errors. Now Hitchens seems fascinated by certain theories of Hawking- and his worship of the man’s theories goes to the extreme. Hitchens speaks of the famous idea in theoretical physics called M Theory- modern physics [standardtheory] says our universe is made up of Pixels- fine points of matter that are unseen by the naked eye- but exist as the basic fabric of the universe. Now- we all accept this- Atoms- Neutrons- etc. all little ‘dots’ if you will, that make up our universe. So M theory [a theory that expands upon String theory] says ‘no- maybe the universe is made up of these strings- these vibrating strings that form into circles- and under these hoops- there are buckets that make up the matter of the universe’ Okay- just think in your head of a piece of string- make a loop- under the loop stick a basketball net. Walla- that’s the theory. Now- does this sound stupid to you? Well you’re in good company- it also sounds stupid to a growing number of very able physicists! Yes- many brilliant- non religious scientists- will tell you that doing science like this- just making stuff up- is loony. So to be honest- as interesting as theoretical physics is- there are many things that simply do not meet the standard of ‘solid science’. So- why mention this. Hitchens uses this theory as proof against the existence of God [in a weird- tortured way] and at the same time says ‘I don’t accept things that can’t be scientifically proven’ yet the whole M theory field is very doubtful- some think the whole thing is simply not true. So it’s stuff like this- obvious mistakes- that are sprinkled all thru out his book. I mean he even makes mistakes that novices make- he mistakenly refers to the establishing of the state of Israel as having occurred in the 19th century- I mean I can’t believe he doesn’t know the actual date- 1948- I have to think that he simply made the common mistake of thinking the years 1900-1999 are the ‘19th century- a common mistake made by people who are just beginning the journey of learning[obviously the 1900’s are the 20thcentury]. But at the same time he lambasts Christians as idiots and does stuff like this. It reminds me of the time I was watching MSNBC- now this cable channel is filled withnonstop mocking of the political right- one morning the host [Scarborough] was doing his show- and he reads the upcoming story to come on after the commercial- but you can see he’s confused- he asks someone off screen ‘does that say Pirates’? And they tell him yes- he then says ‘folks- your not gonnabelieve this- but when we get back- yes- we will cover the developing story of Pirates- yes I know it sounds unbelievable- Pirates attacked a ship off the coast of Somalia’. Now- no one ever said anything- he came back and simply reported the story. What’s wrong? He obviously thought Pirates meant ‘Pirates’ you know- Johnny Depp and the Caribbean. I’m sure someone informed him during the commercial ‘Piracy is the official term for robbery on the high seas- you dummy’! Can you imagine the mocking they would have done if Sarah Palin had done this? So I see in Hitchens a mocking of religion and at the same time a conceited view of his own intellect- and the intellect of other atheists- he engages in a sort of debate that says ‘look- you religionists are idiots- we are not’ and he makes such obvious mistakes- things that ‘uneducated’ people do all the time- not bad people- just common mistakes like the ‘19th century’ thing. And if people make mistakes like this [Pirates- etc.] fine- we don’t want to beat people up- but if the entire premise of your book [or cable channel] is ‘look at all the Christian idiots’ and then you make the same mistakes your criticizing the Christians for- well then yes- you look as silly as Joe Scarborough thinking Johnny Depp and his crew were out robbing ships!
[1583] DOCTOR KING- This past week we once again celebrated the life of Martin Luther King- a few weeks ago I did some teaching on how important it is to keep things in their proper context. In the area of Christian preaching/teaching the worst example I have dealt with over the years was the very popular teaching- often described as ‘the prosperity gospel’. Maybe at the end of this post I’ll re-post my first little book I wrote- it dealt with the issue. Years ago, when learning the bible and pastoring my own home church- I had lots of preacher friends- and one time everyone got into this business [it basically was a pyramid scheme] I think it was called Diamonds- anyway my Christian friends all got into it. I avoided the whole deal. One day one of my buddies was telling me all about it- how it’s based on the bible and all. He went on and explained the verse in Matthews’s gospel [chapter 6?] where Jesus gives the famous teaching about the parable of the planter [sower] of seeds. In the teaching Jesus makes a statement ‘and some get a hundred times back from what they plant’ [the 100 fold return]. And as he went on he explained that the will of God was to make a hundredfold return on your money- so that’s why we should all be joining the ‘team’ because if we are not out- every day- pursuing ‘the return’ then we are obviously disobeying Jesus. As he was speaking- I realized he really did not see that the way he was reading Jesus words was so out of context- I mean in the actual teachingJesus says ‘the deceitfulness of riches chokes the seed- so you don’t get a full harvest’ in this context- you see Jesus is not all about us spending every day of our lives seeking a huge financial harvest- I mean you can’t miss it! I did say to my friend ‘ hey brother- you do know the bible says ‘they that desire to become rich have gone off track- they have been sidetracked from the faith and have gone down the wrong path- the love-pursuit of money is the root of all evil’’ 1st Timothy chapter 6. He simply had no idea that the bible taught this- the preachers he was listening to never dealt with the bible in context- they just took bits and pieces of it- and developed teachings that were contrary to what Jesus actually taught. So I found it ironic that many in the media- who praise doctor King for his non violent stance- his statement on judging people- not on skin color, but character. These same people portray the president as a socialist because of his past associations with the labor movements. Yet Doctor King, the night before he was killed- gave the famous speech at Mason Temple- in Memphis- he said how he now wasn’t sure that he personally would get to see the final results of his mission- in a sense he knew he was going to die- but yet he ‘saw the mountain’ he knew he had traveled far enough on the road God had initially called him to- with all of his own personal failures- yet God permitted him to see that the end result would be accomplished- though he was beginning to doubt whether or not he would live long enough himself to see it. It was a very prophetic event for sure- the next day doctor King would give his life for the cause. But many in the media don’t tell you that King was in Memphis supporting the poor working conditions/wages of the garbage men- he was supporting a union cause! The point is- we often read- hear bits and pieces of the story- and if we are not familiar with the record- the life of the person- his struggles and personal convictions- then it’s easy to miss read what the person was all about. I guess I’ll post the short little book here at the end- those of you reading this on the sites that are not big enough to fit the whole post- you can go to the blog- corpuschristioutreachministries- and the books and studies can be found in the 2-2010 posts, and the 8-2010 posts [and next month they will also be in the 2-2011 posts]. The book I mentioned is called House of Prayer or Den of Thieves and the study is called Prosperity Gospel- you’ll get more from those teachings on this subject.
[1584] OUR COURT SYSTEM- Okay- yesterday I spoke a little about race- politics. Let me share a routine I got into these last few years- whenever I read/see a news story about a local person facing severe criminal prosecution- I add that person to an actual ‘prayer wall’ [about 12-15 names so far] and I pray for the person/case over the next few years. I have people on the wall who I have been praying for- for around 7 years or so. These are cases where they were sent to jail for murder- others who had stiff sentences for multiple felonies- and some who seem to have gotten ‘shafted’. One case is Hannah Overton- she was tried for murdering her foster child- Andrew Burd. She wasfound guilty and I think they gave her life in prison. As I watched the case develop it got lots of attention in the media- Hannah was a Christian missionary, living locally and attending a local church. Her foster son had drank water with spices in it- Hannah found him not breathing and they took him to a clinic down the road from where they lived. I did not join the crowd of ‘free the Christian’ type thing- she claimed total innocence- said she gave the boy the water/spices because he had an eating disorder- always wanted food- and she gave it to him as a filler. I personally did not believe that- yet I felt trying her for murder [I forget the exact charge- it was a charge that you would get if you actually shot someone] was overboard. The case was public- the prosecutors- who are basically elected politicians- played it to the hilt ‘we will rid the streets of such heinous criminals’ while right down the street from me theycan’t even solve the crime of the car that pulled up in broad daylight- blew the other driver away- and took off. But these cases, child abuse, make for good theateramong the electorate. So during the trial, the prosecution dropped the charge of making it sound like she killed the kid by giving him the water- even the doctor for the prosecution disputed his own team- instead they found her guilty of not getting the boy to the hospital in time- and this crime/mistake [not abuse] was punished with the same severe sentence of actually killing a person. The problem? As someone who has worked in the emergency field for 25 years [Fire/E.M.S.] the last thing you want to do is discourage people from bringing injured people in for treatment because they think if they didn’t bring them in fast enough they might be sent to prison! This case eventually made it to one of the news magazine shows [20-20, 60 minutes?] and they had some medical experts testify, that yes indeed, this boy did have all the signs of an eating disorder that was consistent with Hannah’sstory. During the case others who knew the child did testify that he used to eat anything he could get his hands on- trash, stuff like that. So it did very much raise doubt in my mind- but even if she was guilty of all the things eventually charged against her- which was simply not getting aid rendered in time- this should not have merited such a harsh sentence. Then a few months back- while watching the news- I saw a local judge [might be the same one? Not sure] involved in a car wreck that almost killed a person- maimed him pretty badly. The judge was doing 70 MPH in a 25 MPH ZONE- on a turn. He hit a city worker on the shoulder and almost killed him. As the case developed the judge was simply fined a traffic ticket and the local media explained how even though the stated speed limit was 25, the official limit on the highway is 70, and that’s what you go by. I have been to these wrecks many times- if it was a civilian- he would have gotten some type of reckless driving charge. The judge got off. The problem with these cases, dealing with the law-men who get sent to prison for 30 years-later released on DNA evidence [just happened to another Black guy here in TX.] We need to hold the system responsible- what type of penalty should the prosecutor get for lying under oath? You ask- what do you mean brother? These prosecutors stand in the court- look at the jury- and then point to the defendant and say ‘he is guilty, he robbed- killed- raped- etc.’ and then when we later release them after ruining their lives- those who stood in court- and yes- did lie under oath [the things they said are now found to be factually false] what penalty do they pay?‘Why brother, if we held them to that standard [of not lying] then you would have a hard time getting prosecutors to try cases’. Maybe we need that- we need judges, prosecutors, and others in the system to be more careful before they go after people-knowing the case is getting good political theatre- then they will be more careful before they falsely accuse people [the Duke Lacrosse team]. And to have a system- a system where a judge gets a ticket for what others face harsh penalties for- this system is simply too unjust at times- to trust this system with handing out the death penalty- I personally am against it- too much room for personal agendas and false balances. Though we do get our court system from the Old Testament law- Moses the law giver and the moral code of the bible is actually the basis for our system- yet in that system you did not have the role of a government sponsored prosecutor- who would actually lie in court as part of his job- you had witnesses appear before a judge and the witnesses and the accused would have a chance to tell their story- but you did not have cases where the govt. officially had a prosecutor falsely accuse the defendant- our system is problematic- even from a biblical view.
[1585] ANOTHER SHAKESPEARE? As I continue to read thru some of the arguments against Christianity- the pros and cons- one of the common threads that run thru the critics minds is the entire field of what is called ‘the historical method- higher criticism’. I have written extensively on it in the past- and will just hit a few points for today. This method of study developed in the German universities during the late 19th- early20th centuries. Men like Rudolph Bultmann would popularize it- and before him thinkers like Hegel would play their role in setting the field for a new way of thinking about the bible and Christian truth. During this time many professors/scholars began studying the bible in the original languages [Old testament- Hebrew. New Testament- Greek] and they noticed something interesting- the first 5 books of the bible- commonly attributed to Moses [meaning he wrote them] were found to have used different Hebrew words for God. You also noticed different ways things were phrased in different sections- this lead some thinkers to espouse an idea called ‘the documentary hypothesis’ when I recently critiqued the atheist- Christopher Hitchens- he used this argument in his book- but you could tell he simply read the theory from someone else [a teacher- BartErhman] and that he was really not familiar with the entire field. This theory is usually attributed to a thinker named Wellhausen, and it gained popularity among the school of teachers often referredto as liberal theologians [liberal- not politically- but in theology]. Eventually the idea arose that Moses could not have been the writer of the Torah [first 5 books of the bible] but the Torah must have been written after the captivity of Israel [around the 6th century B.C.E.] and the returning Jews to their homeland basically made up the whole thing in order to give a sense of community and purpose to the down trodden Jews. The same idea was developed about the New Testament and the gospels- these same critics said the gospels were really written by later authors- who made up most of the stories in order to give a sense of continuity to the developing nascent church- though these critics thought the New Testament still had ‘religious value’ yet the historical truth is absent [thus the name historical critical method].Now- what about this John? First- over the years both of these theories- as interesting as they are- were in fact proven to have been not true. How? Well- the story s a little too long for this post- but basically as the field of archaeology and historical studies developed- the critics had less ground to stand on- not more. When I recently read the Popes book- he deals with this subject a lot- and he skillfully and accurately refutes it- I mentioned how at times the Pope was even funny. The Pope outlines the theory [about the gospels being a fabrication- written by some unknown men at a later date] and the Pope asks Bultmann ‘and just how do you explain the idea that these unknown authors wrote the most valuable writings of the day- books that have influenced the entire world- written at a real time with other real historical people living at the time- and yet they were able to carry out this elaborate hoax- while never being detected by anyone who also lived during that time’ in essence [I’m paraphrasing Benedict] the theory actually has no proof- if your going to challenge the historicity of the gospels- writings that do claim historical accuracy- written by men who we know did indeed live in the 1st century- whose historical accuracy has never been seriously challenged for centuries- if you come up with a theory 1900years after the fact- then you can’t attribute your theory to a bunch of anonymous men- who supposedly lived at the same time- and brilliantly carried out the most elaborate hoax in the history of the world- and no one knows who these geniuses are! Benedict is correct in his critique of the critics. Basically these theories- while adding something to the whole debate- as a whole do not stand the same test of historical examination that they want to apply to the bible. And if the gospels are accurate [which they have been proven to be] Jesus himself speaks about the Torah [the first 5 books] quite a lot- he speaks saying ‘Moses said this’ and attributes the books to Mosaic authorship- talks of ‘Noah’s day’ speaks of God creating man in the beginning [Genesis]- Jesus himself testifies to the historical accuracy of the Old Testament- so if we have proof that the gospels are historically accurate- then according to Jesus- the history of the Old Testament is also historically true- See? When I read Hitchens- he has no depth at all in this debate- he seems to have simply read one side- and dished it out to his readers- giving them old arguments against the faith that have been disproven for years. It’s like the guy who said ‘hey- did you hear the news? We have found out that Shakespeare really didn’t write the tremendous works that are attributed to him’ O really- then who wrote them ‘another guy named Shakespeare’.
[1586] FREUD-NIETZSCHE AND MARX- Today I need to do a little more on our study of Modernity [the thinkers who have influenced Western culture/thought from the 1700’s- 2000’s]. At this time I have 3 separate studies I have started on-line; Classics of literature, GreatChristianthinkers of history, and Modernity. As time rolls on- I will gradually post all new studies once a year in a monthly post [most of the time it will be February] and as I update them you can read the most recent ones from the most recent years.
Okay- I am skipping a bunch of stuff to jump into the thinkers who represent the most popular forms of atheism- Marx, Nietzsche and Freud. But first we need to take a look at Ludwig Feuerbach. L.F. [Ludwig Feuerbach] laid the groundwork for these other more famous rejecters of God and Christianity. During the enlightenment period it was rare for the critics of religion to hold an outright atheistic view- men like Hume and Voltaire- though truecritics of the church- did not come out openly and deny the existence of God. It was also difficult [impossible?] to holdprofessorships in the universities if you were a doubter of God. Both Hume and Voltaire did not hold positions. F.S. was Hegelian in a way [he followed Hegel’s idea that ‘God’ comes to self consciousness thru the development of humanity] but F.S. was a Materialist- Hegel was an Idealist. Remember- idealism is the philosophical system that sees reality existing in forms/ideas first- then later comes the material thing. The great ancient philosophers- Socrates, Plato and Aristotle were all Idealists. F.S. espoused the idea that reality starts with the material existence of man first- and thru religion man ‘projects’ the idea of God/spirit into society- and as man and Christianity develop [all good things for F.S.] that the ultimate truth that we learn on this journey is that man is really all there is- his ‘phase’ of God and religion were simply necessary stages for man to arrive at thisself conscious state in which he finally realizes that man is all there is- God was a ‘crutch’- a needed one- but never the less simply a projection of mans mind until he came to full maturity. For F.S. ‘theology [the study of God] is anthropology’ [the study of man]. So in this sense he follows Hegel- the development of man and society is the development of God- but Hegelstarts with spirit projecting ‘himself’ into creation- and F.S. starts with man/matter first- and man projects this idea of God/spirit as a secondary reality. The philosopher Paul Ricoeur describes F.S. and his disciples as holding to a system of belief called ‘the hermeneutics of suspicion’. This meaning that religion and God are not just things that seem to be irrational [according to certain enlightenment critics] but that religion itself is a mask that adds to the suffering of man- that man is under the dominion of false ideas- ideas that have been developed by those who want power over others- and these taskmasters use religion as a tool to oppress the ignorant masses. This idea will come to full bloom in the mind of Marx. Marx referred to religion as a ‘false consciousness’ that keptman in servitude to others who ruled over them- and religion itself was the tool that kept these ignorant masses in check. Nietzsche thought religion had its roots in weakness and sickness- and that the most decadent used it to control those who were actually more moral than the leaders. Freud saw religion as an effect of repression and the actual cause of mental conflict and guilt- he blamed religion for all the psychosis that man is afflicted with in life. The next few posts in this study [whenever I get to them?] I will try and develop all 3 of these famous thinkers ideas- show the errors in their own thinking- and the aftermath of generations who have tried/fleshed out their philosophies- and have found them dreadfully lacking in the end.
[1587] OVERVIEW- Lets over view a little today- in the last post I mentioned how we will be getting into Marx, Freud and Nietzsche in the coming months- yet I have so many things going on at this time that just in case I never get to them I want to lay out some stuff. First, most challenges to the Christian faith/God- have come from the point of view that said ‘yes- we believe that there is some being out there- God- but we challenge the purveyors of religion and how man has used religion to control- manipulate the masses’. It was not until the rise of these men that the popular approach of ‘no God’ would take a foothold in the minds of many unsuspecting ‘masses’. Before we delve into the ideas and contradictions of these men- let me explain why most thinkers of the Enlightenment did not take the atheistic approach- and instead opted for some form of Deism/Theism. The original debate of ‘where did everything come from’ did not start during the Enlightenment- it dates back as far as 4-5 centuries before Christ- the question is obviously older- but you can read the debate taking place in the great minds of the Greek philosophers; Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. Though the idea of God in the minds of these Greek thinkers was not the same definition that Christianity would hold to- yet they did believe in some type of being who for the most part was what we would think of as God- they referred to him as The Prime Mover- a term that the great Catholic thinker Thomas Aquinas would use in the 13th century as he too argued for the existence of God. Okay- the Greeks taught that the universe/cosmos always existed- and there was an initiator who started the ball rolling [motion]. Their ideas about how the solar system worked were primitive- the famous idea espoused by Ptolemy had a sort of crystalline sphere surrounding the earth and the stars and planets were ‘stuck’ to this shield and as the sphere rotated- that’s what caused the heavens to change. Obviously the breakthroughs in cosmology that occurred under Copernicus and Galileo would bring us into a more perfect idea of how everything functions- yet the Ptolemaic view prevailed for centuries. Now- over the centuries those who began to challenge the church- they would hold to a view that while it is obvious that some Divine being exists [yes- very obvious- get to it in a moment] – yet they were not sure about the existence of the universe- did it always exist like the Greek philosophers said- or did the universe- and all things- have a beginning point? It is important to realize that those who would later on [18th- 20th centuries] challenge the actual existence of God- these very intelligent atheists [not joking] understood that if modern science ever taught a view that said ‘there was a point in time where nothing existed’ these men realized if this were true- then the gig would be up- if there was a time where nothing existed- not even God- they knew beyond all doubt that you would have nothing today. In my view these atheists were the smartest. Yet the breakthroughs in Physics during the era of Einstein did finally prove- beyond all doubt- that there was a time in the past where Time, Matter, Space- that all things did indeed have a starting point. This scientific fact [not religious fact] is absolute- beyond all doubt- irrefutable proof that God does indeed exist- and that he does possess all the attributes ascribed to him by Christian theology. If there was a time where nothing existed [not even God] then you would have nothing today- that’s fact- not belief. So- this is the way the world has debated about the subject for thousands of years- and for the recent theories to try and go back to the idea that the cosmos always existed- well that’s stone age thinking- that’s a rejection of what is commonly referred to as Big Bang cosmology- and no serious thinker rejects Einstein’s theories any more. So- where does that leave us? As we get into the many ideas people have come up with about God- religion- etc. we want to give the critics their chance to make the case- I have been reading [and refuting] Christopher Hitchens book these last few weeks [God is not great- Hitchens is a famous atheist] and I’m giving him a fair hearing- but not going easy on his blunders as well. A while back I got into a debate on a scientific type site- it was Christian in nature- but as I read the feed I realized there were a bunch of scientistsgoing at it- smart men- some on the side of faith- others against it. I added [hesitantly!] my 2 cents worth. At one point- one of the scientists made a major blunder in logic while making his case that there is no God- I wasn’t too mean [heck- he was mocking Christians- I had to be a little mean] and as I posted my correction- proving him to be wrong- not in my area of faith- but in his area of science- he left the debate and never came back. As I checked the posts the next day- I saw another scientist anonymously posted a comment- agreeing with me, about a scientific fact- and admitting that his friend was indeed wrong. The point? It is too easy in this debate to think ‘surely these men must be right- after all they wouldn’t be so popular if they were wrong’- the fact is- this debate is not new, and yes- there are many popular writers/thinkers who are teaching an atheistic view- and these guys are making major mistakes in logic, fact, even in their own fields- they have been proven wrong- time and time again. So for those who are fans of the thinkers I will be refuting down the road- keep an open mind- don’t assume that these men are beyond fault- major fault in my view- and realize that the most prevalent idea espoused by the atheistic thinkers today- has indeed been proven false. You cannot get something from nothing- if there were a time where nothing existed- then nothing would exist today.
[1588] THE JEWISH CONTRIBUTION TO MODERNITY- Before I jump too far ahead in our study of Modernity- let me try and do a few posts on the contribution that Jewish thinkers added to the conversation. Obviously the influence from Christian thinkers [or those who came from a Christian background] played the majority role in forming the boundaries of philosophical and theological thinking in the Modern period- yet there were a few notable Jewish thinkers who also made some good contributions. Moses Mendelssohn interpreted Judaism thru a rational/modern lens and played the role of liberal theologian- much like the liberal Christian scholars who were attempting to emphasize the universality of religion and focusing less on the idea of exclusiveness. The 19th- 20th century thinker- Hermann Cohen- saw Judaism in terms of a universal ethical humanism- later on he returned to a more particularistic view- stressing the concepts of sin and salvation and how universal ethics by themselves were not able to address these issues apart from a particular religious revelation.Certain schools of theologians view the return of the Jews- spoken about in the Old Testament- to their homeland in the 6th century B.C. as the true beginning of Jewish history and thought- they hold to the liberal view that the Torah was written at this time [as opposed to around 1100 B.C. by Moses] and that this era marked the phase of 2nd temple Judaism. I too view the period from the return from captivity in the 6th century B.C. as a sort of ‘2nd temple Judaism’ yet I reject the idea that the Torah was written at that time- I hold to the conservative view that Moses wrote most of the first 5 books of the Old Testament. Having said that- after the Jews returned to their homeland [6th century B.C.] they would reinstitute temple worship and eventually Herod [Roman ruler] would rebuild the temple and the 1st century Jews would regulate their lives round the temple and it’s rituals- Priests played a major role in religious/political life. In 66A.D. the Jews rebelled against Roman dominance-and in A.D. 70 Rome destroyed the temple under Titus [the military commander] and the Jews would lose the central religious location that structuredtheir lives for centuries. Eventually Rabbi’s-the interpreters of the law- would play the major role in shaping the religious thought of the Jewish people. As time progressed, society eventually asked the question- which came to be known as ‘the Jewish question’- how should Jewish people be seen? Those living in France and Germany- were they to be accepted as Jews- with a distinct ethnic/religious culture- or should they be seen as German- French citizens? Recently- a famous female journalist [Helen Thomas] made headlines when a u-tube video came out- she was commenting on the ‘Jewish question’ and said the Jews ‘need to get the hell out of Palestine and return to their home countries’ when asked ‘what home countries’ she said Germany and France- obviously theJewish question still lives in the minds of certain people. In the 17th century you had the development of a Jewish form of Pietism- called Hasidism. And in the 19th century Judaism would split into 3 distinct groups- Conservative, Reform and Orthodox. In the late 19th century you would have the rise of Zionism [the homeland question once again] and eventually the AmericanEvangelical community would take up the cause of Zionism and it would become a major plank in the Dispensational theology of the AmericanProtestant church. Though Zionism [the right of the Jews to once again posses their homeland] started as a purely political concern- over time it became ‘Christianized’ and would become the causecélèbrefor many T.V. evangelists of the current day [John Hagee- just to name one].
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[1589] THE KINGS SPEECH- Okay- I didn’t see the movie yet [though it’s supposed to be good] and I also didn’t watch President Obama’s speech the other night- but of course I heard the usual spin from the right and the left. From the snippets I did catch- it seems like the President did the best he could do with what he has to work with. Okay- I think the ‘high speed rail’ thing is kinda beating a dead horse at this stage of the game- sure- would I like to zip real fast around the country without having to go thru the plane molestation procedure- yeah. But in reality, even if we managed to accomplish it- it would basically serve the needs of the ‘blue states’ the most. I love the North East- grew up in Jersey- but its kinda playing to your base when you promote a major investment that will primarily benefit the home team. All in all there really isn’t a whole lot the President can do to turn things around. Though the stock market broke the 12,000 mark yesterday- in reality we have a long way to go before the country as a whole experiences real recovery. This year we are probably going to have more home foreclosures than last year. Last year we topped just over a million- this year it’s projected to be around a million and a half- we start the year with 5 million home owners 3 months or more behind in their payments- not good. Unemployment is still very high- 9.4 %- and we are still spending way more than we can afford as a country. The 3 main expenses of our govt. are the military- Medicare/aid and social security. Now I realize social security is not ‘part of the budget’ in the sense of borrowing and spending- yet we do have to address the reality that too few workers are expected to support too many retired folk- we need to change some things- and politicians in general don’t have the stomach for it. The military budget is another taboo- we can’t keep spending the amount we have been- this doesn’t mean we need to back down on national defense- but do we really need to keep hundreds of thousands of troops all around the globe- 50 thousand still in Germany- we need to retool this thing. Overall we have some major adjustments that need to be made- and we can’t just say ‘cut’ nor do I think the answer is ‘spend more’ we need to spend more wisely- and cut wisely. When talking about saving millions/billions by taking away a benefit from a person who is really in need- or saving a billion in one slice from some plane the military says they don’t even need- then of course- don’t keep the plane! Yet at the same time- there are lots of cases of people gaming the system. Look- I have lots of friends- for many years- who have gotten disability checks- or sold food stamps- or used the food card- to buy drugs. One of my buddies- been gone for a while now [Fla.] used to get his monthly check from the govt. [S.S. disability] and the entire check [around 500] was spent on crack- gone in 2-3 days. Okay- we have a problem with this system. Many years ago- while working as a firefighter- I got into the whole ‘buyacheap house- fix it- rent it- sell it’. It was okay- made some money. After a while I made a conscious decision to get out of the whole thing- though I had lots of ‘preacher’ friends- who were ‘preaching money’ all the time- I mean the whole message was wealth- yet out of the whole bunch- I probably was the ‘richest one’ and I was the only one preaching against it! So I finally got out. I had a buddy at the Fire House- a new guy who came all the way from California just to take the job [it was a little strange for someone to move from Ca. to our little town for the job] and he was a few years older than me- but I had worked as a firefighter a lot longer. So as time rolled by he told me he still had a condo in Ca. and his renters were tearing up the place- lots of problems- things I was all too aware of. I advised him to sell- because Ca. has this screwed up system [because of their property tax] where the value of the residence is much more than what you could make onrent [I think he was getting around 800 a month on a condo worth 250 thousand] I told him- from a purely financial view- that this was a bad investment. That if I were him- I would ‘get out while the getting’s good’ [it was right before the big drop in the Ca. market] and that I would maybe buy a rental or 2 from the money- residentials were going for around 80 thousand at the time- nice rental homes that you could rent for 1000 a month- and that I would simply stick the rest of the money in some safe return instrument. Sure enough he sold- made the money- and told me all about these financial seminars he was attending. He also refused my advice- he was taught that you should spend every penny of the profit from the previous sale- to avoid paying taxes on the profit. I told him ‘yes- in theory it sounds good- but I’m giving you practical advice from experience- you should not blow all the profit- you need to keep some back for expenses’. So he didn’t listen- spent it all on 3 homes in San Antonio and later told me as the end of the year came up- that he was having trouble paying the huge tax bill. He also was going to invest all the rental profit into a life insurancepolicy- and instead of making interest income that would be taxed- he would take a loan from his policy- tax free- and then pay the loan back [with more rental income] in order to avoid the taxes. I told him ‘brother- we are in the middle of the worst insurance company meltdown in the history of the world [AIG] who are these geniuses telling you to put all your cash in an insurance company?’ he took my advice this time. The point? There are real financial difficulties that the country is facing- and there are not any quick fixes to get out- it’s going to be tough for a long time. We should all do our best- be charitable- it helps others, as well as yourself- and seek first the kingdom of God [not money!] and all the things you need will be taken care of- at the end make smart financial decisions and trust God as well- it does work.
[1590] WILL WE SUFFER? I was going to doanother post on the Jewish contribution to Modernity- the Jewish thinkers and their contribution to the Western Intellectual Tradition [an ongoing on-line study I’m doing] but instead let me share a few more practical thoughts. The other day I wrote a post on the persecuted Christians in Pakistan- and I had a few Pakistani Pastors email me- thanking me for the web site- telling me it’s been a blessing to them- and even inviting me to speak or start a ministry under our name/title in their country and they would work with me. I of course thanked them for the offer- and just encouraged them to freely use all our stuff- make copies of the books- hand them out- use all of our stuff as much as you wish. I have waved the copyright to all my stuff years ago. Then I caught a quick few minutes of Peirs Morgan- the guy who replaced Larry King- he was interviewing Joel Osteen.Peirs was asking him something about the abuse of money in the modern televangelist world- and Joel answered cautiously- rejecting the title of Prosperity Preacher- and shared the basic theme that God doesn’t want his people being poor and suffering and beat up all the time. I like Joel- I’m very familiar with his belief system- Joel's dad- John- was one of the pioneers of the Word of Faith movement in this part of Texas- and over the years I even had some ordained ministers who were ordained by Lakewood church [Joel’s church] who were members of the church I started back in the 80’s. So I basically am familiar with the scoop. Okay- the contrast of Joel’s simple remarks- given in a good spirit- just did not fit the lifestyle of the fine Pastors who I had just been in contact with over the past few weeks. Men who have been literally risking their lives- suffering- fellow believers being killed- all the descriptions that Joel felt were not what God wanted for his people. The book of Hebrews says ‘you suffered the loss of your material possessions willfully- knowing that in heaven you have eternal riches that will not fade away’. There is a verse [Proverbs?] that says ‘don’t make me rich- lest I forsake you- don’t make me poor- lest I curse you- just give me what I need’ or ‘those that desire to be rich [just the desire mind you!] have swerved from the true faith and have gone shipwreck’ [1st Timothy 6]. The point I want to make is we often hear snippets of things- things that seem innocent enough, and yet they violate the basic truth of scripture. I am not upset with Joel- Joel is a good man who has the gift of encouraging people- I do not see him as your typical ‘money preacher’ but I just wanted to give you the balance. The apostle Paul spent a few years living with the believers at Ephesus [I think you can read the account in Acts 20- I also wrote on the subject in my commentary on the book of Acts- in the 2-2010 posts] and as he was teaching them- he called the leaders of the church [called elders in the bible- what we would see as Pastors today] down to the shore-and he gave them a going away speech/warning- he told them after he leaves ‘wolves’ will come in- men who will take advantage of the believers- and he goes on and says ‘all the years I was with you- I refused to let you guys support me- I worked day and night- not only to support myself- but to pay the way for the workers I brought with me’ then he says ‘the reason I did this- was to give you preachers an example- so you too would work with your own hands to provide for yourselves’ now- the entire subject of supporting Christian teachers/preachers is a long one- and I’m not against supporting our Pastors/Priests in a moderate way- them having incomes commensurate with the people. But how many times have you ever heard the story I just shared with you? I mean does the average person even know that the apostle Paul taught stuff like this? You would think it was heresy if it weren’t right there in the bible. If you want to read more about this stuff- under the section ‘what is the church’ an ongoing series I’ve been doing for years- I share about this a little more- but today’s point is we need to be careful as preachers- when we view Christianity primarily thru an American lens- I’m sure Joel meant no harm- but there are indeed times when Gods people are persecuted- broken- afflicted- suffering- these are very real situations that many of our brothers and sisters face on a daily basis thru out the world. We don’t want to give them the false impression that they are suffering contrary to the will of God- there are just too many bible passages that say otherwise [ ‘it has not only been given to us to believe on Jesus- but to also suffer with him’ the Apostle Peter- etc. etc.].
[1591] CHRIS MATTHEWS ‘THE PANAMA CANAL IS IN EGYPT’!- Okay- this past week a lot has been going on in the world- I really wanted to title this post ‘we didn’t start the fire’ [Africa’s revolution] but the Matthews thing was too tempting. First- as I write- protestors are in the streets of Egypt- a popular uprising calling for the ouster of Hosni Mubarak. Why? The same discontent that we saw on the streets of Europe- low wages- a rich/poor caste system- and an overall economic rebellion- people do not want what they see as an unequal balance. These past few weeks the African continent has beenin a sort of revolt; Tunisia and Ivory Coast want their ‘dictators’ out- Sudan overwhelmingly voted for independence from the north- and Egypt- the most stable Arab country in the region [though Egypt is technically the northern most country on the continent- it really is a major player in the middle eastern conflict- it borders Israel’ssouthern border] is in the middle of a popular uprising that no one expected. Egypt has the largest military in the area- has made peace withIsrael- and has a proud history of a continuous rule dating back all the way to the Pharaohs- for this country to possibly fall into the hands of the ‘Muslim Brotherhood’- the other major political player in the country- this would not be good. Okay- why the title to this post? Last week- yes- Sarah Palin did it again- in a very short response to Obama’s state of the union speech- she criticized Obama for using the term ‘Sputnik Moment’ [it was very weird- to be honest- I’m sure the speechwriter has been removed from his job after this blunder]. And she kindacriticized Obama for pointing to the former Soviet Union as an example of ‘our moment’. So she says the Russians launched their space program –did beat us with the Sputnik satellite in the space race- we came back fiercely under good old J.F.K. and put a man on the moon. In the end we won the race- and the U.S.S.R. lost- plus they eventually bankrupted themselves with their soviet system. So in Palin’s quick response- I guess you could read it like she was blaming the Russian space program for their financial woes- but it just seems like she was making a legit criticism that using ‘the Sputnik Moment’ was way out in left field. Then of course ChrisMatthews spends a few days seriously concerned about the intellectualcriteria for the Tea Party crowd- I mean he asks whether or not they really need to go back to Elementary school and get educated- on and on- Bachman, Palin- etc. So as Matthews is covering the Egyptian story- yes- he talks about the importance of Egypt- and he says one of the major reasons that Egypt is so very vital- is because we ‘all know’ that the Panama Canal is located in Egypt. Okay- if you don’t know history/geography- we can forgive you- but when you spend a week critiquing the ‘low level of intellect’ of your political enemies- and do this- then you too need to take a few moths/years off and simply get an education. I mean it’s possible to not know the whole history of the region- but the PANAM CANAL- in Egypt- It’s the Suez.
[1592] EGYPT, ROUND 2- Wow, I haven’t posted in a few days- and what a few days it has been. The protests in Egypt have the world’s attention- the king of Jordan voluntarily replaced his govt. [he saw the ‘writing on the wall’ an actual biblical story of a finger writing judgment on a wall- announcing judgment on a real king who once lived in the area!] and other ‘quasi’ democracies are shaking in their boots. Okay- what’s happening? Of course you have various theories on what’s really going on. Some [Beck] see a behind the scenes move by the Muslim Brotherhood to institute a modern Muslim Caliphate- where all the Muslim/Arabcountries in the region will eventually join together and attack Israel. There is no doubt that many militant Muslims would want this- yet it does seem like the initial reason for the protests is the reality that the younger generation of Egyptians, who have grown up under a corrupt regime- they are tired of being brutalized by the police and treated with disrespect by their own ‘president’. These Egyptians [some Christian] are wanting Egypt to move forward in the 21st century and to modernize their political process. The present ruler- Hosni Mubarak- took the reins after the assassination of Anwar Sadat in 1981. Sadat was the first leader of an Arab country to sign an actual peace treaty with Israel [1979] and it led to his killing a couple of years later. Mubarak was Sadat’s right hand military man- and he was elected [Egypt is a Republic- allows for elections- they’re not what you would call a Western Style Democracy]. He has since been ‘re-elected’ to office 5 consecutive times- most outside observers says these elections were rigged. Mubarak attempted to show that he was willing to allow for real elections in 2005- he ran against some nominal names- the real political threat was prohibited from running- and after the corrupt count was in- he won by some unbelievable percentage- and the politician who was deemed the biggest threat to Mubarak was put in jail. That’s the type of ‘Democracy/Republic’ they have. So after 30 years of this kind of rule- the younger generation is fed up. The human rights abuses in Egypt are also very high- the police regularly brutalize their people- and those who have tried to speak out about the abuse- they are retaliated against. Now- what questions should we in the West be asking? First- why have we been sending this country a billion dollars a year in aid?How many other ‘friends’ do we have like this? Countries whose leader is corrupt- yet they side with us politically [Egypt has been our number 1 allyin the Arab world when it comes to ‘peace in the middle east’] and because of these alliances we overlook the abuse of the citizens. Over the years we have tried to nudge Mubarak towards a more open/humane rule- yet he has never seemed to respond to ‘the nudge’. After a while- the U.S. needs to re-think it’s willingness to continue to turn a blind eye to the oppression that these leaders are inflicting on their own people. In the last post I wrote I mentioned how I ‘felt’ like I needed to write a post on Africa [Egypt is in Africa- the other African nation- Tunisia- seemed to spark off the Egyptian protests. The Tunisians began their protests first] I felt like the words/thoughts ‘Africa is on fire’ were running thru my mind for a few days- this was before these protests broke loose. Sometimes these ‘ideas’ are said to be ‘prophetic’ you know- Christian talk that normal people usually don’t use- so let me say- it seemed ‘strange’ that I had these thoughts a few days before the real fires broke out. As I was watching the news last night- my daughter sees all the fires in the streets of Cairo- I explained some of this to her- and I realized it was just a few weeks back that I kept thinking ‘Africa is on fire’. During the news broadcast a woman was asked what’s happening in her country- what does she blame the riots on- she said it was her generations fault [she was an older woman] she said for years the Egyptian people willingly turned a blind eye towards the corruption in their government- she said they sacrificed justice for stability- she said it was their fault that this happened. Sounded so ‘strange’ to hear her describe it like this.
[1593] EGYPT, ROUND 3- Okay, it’s been around 10 days since the protestors took to the streets- where are we at? If you listen to the right [Beck, Hannity, Rush] the narrative that you get is that Obama is blowing it- like Jimmy Carter did with Iran in the 70’s. Carter did not support the moderate Shah and instead we got the militant Iranian Revolution that set up a religious theocracy- one of the biggest enemies of the U.S. today. Is this accurate- is Obama throwing an important ally under the bus? Well- in a way- yes- but in another ‘way’ he really has no choice. It does seem like he initially sided with Mubarak-the first statements from the Whitehouse were sympathetic to the man- they did not call him a dictator and they seemed to be satisfied with the promise that Mubarak would do better in the future- not at all what the protestors wanted. As the days went by, it became obvious that Mubarak’s days were numbered and the president changed his tune- he needs to go- now. Okay- he has been behind the curve somewhat- doing the best he can. The right wing narrative- that Obama is really in cahoots with the Muslim Brotherhood- that’s a little much. Has he tried to reach out to them? Some reports say yes- but the reality on the ground is these guys will play some type of future role in the govt. so it seems likely that we will have to talk with them. Okay- what about the left’s narrative- yes- they too have one. Rachel Maddow- Chris Matthews- as advocates for the president- have actually mocked the theory that the radical Muslims want a ‘Caliphate’ [Becks new word]. Maddow‘exposed’ Becks conspiracy theory as being nutty. First- we do need to remember, just because someone is paranoid- that doesn’t mean people are not really out to get you! I reject Becks narrative- but for any news person to not see the real danger in the radical Muslim groups- that they very much are positioningthemselves to take advantage of the instability- then you are simply being ignorant of the real world. While I think the protests were probably not instigated by the radicals, yet there is no doubt that they would love to pull off a Caliphate- if they thought they could get away with it. In the end of the day it does look like Mubarak’s days are over- whether he hangs on until September or not- he is finished. Who will replace him? We don’t know- Mubarak and his new V.P. are speaking some truth when they say to the West ‘look- even if we wanted to transition right now- we can’t do it in a day’! They have warned Obama that to just walk away [like the president of Tunisia did the other day] would open the door to a radical revolution. I think there is some truth to this. Whoever takes over down the road- it is obvious that they will not be an ally like we had in the past 30 years. The majority of the Arab world will not support a strong support of the West and Israel- those days are over. The fear is this thing might domino- not only in the unstable African countries [Libya] but that it might grow to the PersianGulfstates. SaudiArabia, Bahrain, countries that were deemed stable because of their economies and wealth, these are now possible candidates for a revolt/revolution. It is possible that Yemen will fall- and Al Qaeda has a very strong presence in Yemen [remember the underwear bomber? He was trained in Yemen] if that happens- we will have another Afghanistan on our hands [when the Taliban ran the country]. So overall we don’t have a lot of say in the matter- if Mubarak seems to be on his way out- Obama can’t support him- because the new govt. would be our enemy from day one. To link the entire thing to some secret political motivation [going all the way back to Frances Pivin!] is loony, but to think that there is no real danger of an organized radical takeover in the region [call it Caliphate or not] is being naïve’ to say the least. As Christians we should be on the side of justice and equality and freedom- for everyone- yes even Muslims. We should reject ALL FORMS OF VIOLENCE to achieve these goals- and we should not ascribe hidden motives to our president- it’s legitimate to ask whether or not he’s doing the right thing- but to link his decisions to a past affinity to Islam- that’s going a bit far.
[1594] THE NARRATIVE- These last few days we have all been given a lesson in Narrative- that is we have been shaped by ‘the story’ that people tell. If you view a certain event thru a conservative lens- then you will see things in the story that confirm what you already believe- the same with a liberal bias. These past few weeks I have been reading the book of Proverbs- just a few hours ago I read the verse ‘labor not to be rich, cease from your own wisdom’ then it referenced the verse I quoted the other day in 1st Timothy chapter 6 ‘those that desire to be rich have fallen into a trap and have swerved from the true faith’. Now- I haven’t spoken on this topic for years- but whenever I bring it up- it usually seems to disturb the narrative [story line] of the contemporary evangelical church. Many well meaningbelievers have been given a story line that says ‘the old traditional churches have told us money was not good- that God loves the poor- but the bible teaches otherwise’ now- are there verses that do speak about God blessing people financially? Sure. But the other side of the coin [like the verses I just quoted] these are not ‘old church traditions’ these are also part of the biblical narrative- the whole story we find in the bible. So we are often given- or drawn to- the story line we like the most- and then we look for proof that our story is the only right one. Last night [actually the repeat of the 1 a.m. show] I saw Beck interview a moderate American Muslim- he is the president of some Muslim group who have vocally rejected militant extremism. Now- Beck introduced him in a well meaning way- as a friend he met around 5 years ago. But in his introduction he said something like ‘I have been looking for a Muslim who is willing to tell the truth- to reject radicalism- and I finally found one’. In Becks mind- moderate Muslims don’t seem to exist- except this lucky one he found. Yet the man shared how his organization is made up of the majority of Muslims who in fact reject radicalism- he was Becks friend- but his reality did not fit Becks story line. As time was running short- Beck just really wanted the man to admit ‘yes- we Muslims are all basically dangerous- and I’m the only brand that managed to get plucked out of the fire’ their story lines contradicted each other. I have a confession to make- a few years ago when working at the fire dept., yes, I used to pick up the N.Y. Times and read it along with our Texas papers. Now- these past few weeks I have been picking it up every so often. I actually read the whole paper- just about every article- you have to be a junkie to read the entire times [very long articles]. Why do I do this? Because even though the Times is at times biased [let's see- McCain runs for president- a few days before the primary vote- the Times runs a front page, top of the fold article about a rumor that he was ‘too friendly’ with a female staff person. John Edwards- known by the insiders to have actually fathered a child out of wed lock, how did the Times originally treat it? Nothing- you know- it’s the man’s personal life- got ya] yet I do find the articles real thorough, and you get to hear both sides of the narrative- something that you very rarely get from television media [especially cable]. So it’s important for all of us to try as hard as possible to be exposed to the different sides of the story. Now- Egypt. Some have said ‘do you really think that the Egyptians just woke up one day and wanted Democracy’ this narrative says it’s the radical Muslims behind the uprising. At the same time- many Egyptiansthemselves will say ‘you are disrespecting us- when other countries citizens rise up [Iran] you cheer for their independence- yet you treat us with disdain’. These protesters are saying we are getting the story wrong. And in the Arab world- yes- you have all sides realizing these things. So the pro Mubarak group- while being against militant Islam- at the same time realizes that if the world thinks the protests are being fanned by the militant Muslims- then Mubarak knows the world will turn against the protests and support him. So they attempt to tell ‘that story’. After reading all ‘the stories’ it seems to me that the initial protests were indeed the younger generation feeling like they had no real future- they seem to have really ‘woken up one day’ [being emboldened by the Tunisian protests] and yes- wanted Democracy. This is not to say that the radical Muslim groups are not trying to use it to their advantage- but in a way these protests actually work against ‘the narrative’ of the militant groups. How? The ‘story’ that the radicals try to tell is ‘the only way we can be free from these autocratic, western loving- Israel peacemaking leaders is thru violent revolution’ if the Arab street believespeacefulprotests can do it- then they not only challenged Mubarak’s rule- but also the narrative of the violent radicals- see? So as we view these events from afar- be sure you’re not only being shaped by one sides view- even if the side you listen to seems sincere- heck- I think most of what Beck says he believes! But at the same time there is good journalism out there [I do think the Times still has tremendously valuable info. Despite the bias] try and listen to the more respectable news sources- for many years I did not subscribe to cable- I watched the networks and P.B.S.- yes- the news hour is an excellent source for news. And at the end of the day realize that there might be some truth to both sides of the argument- it is rare to find the whole truth resting with only one side.
[1595] MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE? - Okay- let’s try and go with the narrative thing a bit more. What do I think the ‘real story’ is right now? I mentioned yesterday that I have been reading the N.Y. Times these past few weeks- in order to get a more in depth ‘feel’ for the things going on in the world today. Sure enough- an article I read in the morning- on a man named Frank Wisner- helped me put together a few more pieces of the geopolitical puzzle. The article described Wisner as the premier U.S. representative on the stage right now- our ‘go to’ man for Egypt. He is sort of an undercover Richard Holbrooke- the popular ambassador who died a few months back. Wisner is a guy with just as much [or more] experience as Holbrooke- it’s just he isn’t a flashy type guy- sort of like comparing the old mafia bosses with John Gotti, you know- the quiet type versus the celebrity hound. So in the article Wisner goes to Egypt- he is a personal friend of Mubarak- and he leaves quickly. His abrupt trip to Egypt raised some questions- sort of like Mubarak might be saying ‘what is wrong with your American president- he is going to ruin the Middle East’ [I’m guessing]. Wisner is questioned by the press on why he left so soon- and he gives some politically correct answer. Then sure enough last night I saw a bunch of reports- and Wisner himself- coming out and saying how he thinks Mubarak should not step down immediately- like the president is asking- and that Mubarak should stay in power until a safe transition can occur. Then other voices came out and said the same thing- The president of Israel [ Shimon Peres] gave a speech in which he praised Mubarak as a man of peace who was willing to stand for peace and whose rule saved the lives of many people. The feel I got was that behind the scenes- the smart players do indeed think Obama has blown this thing. How? Mubarak and other Egyptian leaders have said ‘what’s wrong with you- how can you be calling for our overthrow so quickly- in Iran- a major enemy of the U.S.- a real nuclear threat to world peace- just a few months back you had a popular uprising in the streets- and chose not to side with democracy- why now?’. We must understand that many serious minded people are asking this question. Now- being I have read a lot about this story in the past few weeks- one of the things I read was a story about the book ‘The Manchurian Candidate’ it’s a conspiracy type book that traces Obama’s roots and says he was prepped his whole life to one day become the U.S. president- and because of his leanings towards Islam- he will use his power to realign the nations and assist them in becoming Islamist states. Now- I do not believe this at all- yet the book is out there. Why mention this? These books were indeed donated to Mubarak and his cabinet- they were given 20 of these books by the author- who claims he did discuss this theory with a top Egyptian diplomat. If this is true- it would not be hard for Mubarak- a man who has served Egypt for 60 years [30 in the military- 30 as president] who has sent his family out of the country for their safety- who has been told by the U.S.presdient ‘leave now’ I mean the man is 82 years old- he never saw this coming- he actually has said he wants to step down- but heck- I would assume he doesn’t want to flee and live the rest of his life in some other country. The man might very well intend on stepping down- but if he is pushed out like this- his life is over. Now-am I sympathizing with the man- no. Realistically when you put a proud person like this in a dilemma- he might just try and hang on and ‘get’ you in the end. So the smart politicos [Wisner] are trying to leave the man some dignity- actually publicly disagreeing with the White House- in public- because they see the dire situation of the whole thing. It is very, very rare to see such a public split between different voices who are representing the president. The White House had to immediately put out a statement disassociating themselves from Wisner- saying it was his personal view. All this tells me that there are indeed some major problems going on right now- major fears the president has about this thing spiraling out of control. If- in even a small way- world leaders [Mubarak- Peres, etc.] are buying into the Manchurian Candidate ‘narrative’ then we have huge problems. Don’t think it impossible for these leaders to possibly think this. Last year- some diplomat [It might have been an Egyptian? I read the story a while back] swore to the media that he met with Obama in 2007, before he was running for Pres., and that Obama assured him he too was a Muslim and wanted to work for the peace of all people. Of course the story made headlines when Obama became president. The man never retracted the story. Then you did have the famous interview by George Stephanopoulos-a Clinton Democrat- where Obama did say ‘my Muslim faith’ if you watch it on UTUBE- it does not seem to be a slip of the tongue- it seems like he might have been used to embracing his past [Time in Indonesia as a boy- attended school with Muslims- his dad was a proud Muslim- etc.] while at the same time embracing his present Christian beliefs. Sort of like a person who is open to all types of cultures and religions- but who realized he couldn’t use that line if he were to run for president. I mean I can’t think of a more ‘acceptable’ explanation than this. These types of things [telling the diplomat he was indeed ‘part Muslim’ and seeming to embrace it during the interview] can’t simply be slips of the tongue. Now- do I think the president is Muslim? No. Do I think he might have played to that background in the past- in sort of a multi cultural way? Probably. But when you take all these dots- put them together in a book- then feed them to a king/president- who indeed is confused- family on the run for their lives- being told ‘step down now’ while Iran got a free pass [a real Muslim radical theocracy] in this environment was it possible for Mubarak to have told Wisner ‘your president is trying to destroy Egypt and Israel- we have read about all his past connections’ of course it’s possible for them to accept the narrative- and for Wisner to possibly have seen the real fear in these leaders faces- that would explain why he would publicly come out on TV and back Mubarak- against his own president. Now- I am not a ‘birther’ nor do I hold to the Manchurian Candidate conspiracy- I think Obama was sidelined with this whole crisis- did his best [yes- at times amateurish-I think Susan Rice and others lack real world experience] and he began commenting on the side of Mubarak- got blindsided- he did give a speech last year in Egypt-publicly telling the Egyptian people that he would be on their side in their future struggle for Democracy- and he probably got some advice saying ‘look- you told them you would be on their side- don’t make the same mistake you did in not supporting the Iranian protestors- this time side with freedom’ and he then makes the 180 degree turn- and he indeed caught Mubarak off guard-Mubarak was an ally for 30 years- Iran an enemy. Yet he sees it as he is the one getting thrown under the bus- not the radical Muslim country. Now- is it possible for Mubarak to believe the Manchurian narrative from his view? Of course! Okay-mistakes have been made- It’s probably best to go for a slow transition than a fast one- you need some time for other opposition parties to organize- right now you only haveMubarak’s party and the Muslim Brotherhood- not too many choices. And if we think it’s in our best interest- and Egypt’s- to give Mubarak a chance to save face- to give him some credit for his willingness to be our ally for 30 years- then let’s be smart about this- I see how the man might really be thinking that Beck was right all along! I personally don’t accept the theory- but when you have an 82 year old man- on the verge of him and his family possibly being killed or fleeing to some foreign country- yes, with stress like that- Beck just might be what the doctor called for.
[1596] HAIL TO THE CHIEF- OUR KENYAN BORN PRESIDENT? [and other fables]. Okay- before you liberals curse me out and do a quick delete hear me out. I did mention the other day that if you want people to read your posts youneed to catch their interest with a ‘short- pithy comment’ [OReilly]. In the last post I mentioned how some people do indeed think/believe the president is a closet Muslim. A few weeks ago the N.Y. Times ran a story- showing how a very high percentage of people do think he is Muslim [I think it was close to 20 %] and in the last post I mentioned why these beliefs are so prevalent; to just dismiss all these people as right wing Tea Party nut cases is a major mistake in my view. Now- out of all the Presidents of the past- President Obama is the only one who spent time living in the most populous Muslim country in the world [Indonesia] he did attend schools with other Muslim boys- his father also felt strongly enough about his cultural heritage that they did give the president a ‘Muslim’ sounding name [as opposed to Barry- the name he used in school]. And of course there have been times, caught on tape, where the president said he was indeed Muslim [my Muslim faith]. Okay- taking all these things into consideration- it’s not out of the realm of possibility to think he is indeed Muslim. Like I said yesterday- I personally don’t hold to this idea- but for others to embrace it is not a ‘wacko’ belief. Second- I do find it kinda funny to see all the liberals voice such outrage at the idea- they do sound like Seinfeld on the episode where they thought Jerry was gay- all through the show he says ‘I’m not gay’ and of course has to add ‘not that there’s anything wrong with it’.I do think the defenders are protesting a little too much- after all the left [MSNBC crowd] are the ones always accusing the right [FOX CROWD] of Islamaphobia! Right now there are reasonable moderate voices on both sides of the political spectrum- if you listen carefully to the president- he is very much a moderate voice- he sees both sides and does his best to make the more liberal argument- in a very intelligent way. You also have people like George Will, Kathleen Parker [Spitzer's sidekick on their new CNN show] and others who make an intelligent case for conservative principles [Paul Ryan too]. These voices articulate their case well- share their views- and at the end of the day are able to sit down across the table [or pub- Boehner] and spend some time fellowshipping with the other side [a good example would be Orin Hatch and Ted Kennedy- a right/left wing friendship that was able to thrive even though they held sincerely to their beliefs]. This is what we need more of- both in politics and- yes- religion. As someone who has spent many years engaging the various religious beliefs- the different stands that Christian churches hold to- it is very sad to see the demonization of one church by the other. Often times we view the ‘opposing team’ in the worst possible light- and then after you demonize them- it is next to impossible to sit down later and try to understand one another- because everyone on your team already believes they are the enemy- and if your caught rooting for the opposing team- then you too become ‘one of them’. So we seem to have lost the art of respectful dialogue- yes we can ‘cut each other down’ in a friendly way- kid in fun- but to actually view the other side as the enemy- for real- that’s dangerous. I heard 2 statements yesterday about the president- that I liked. They came from staunch Republicans- John McCain and Lindsey Graham. They were both asked about how they felt the president was handling the revolt in Egypt- they said they felt he was doing his best and they supported him. It seemed like they knew something that the average citizen might not- that the president is really trying to do his best- and the narrative that is trying to link him to an undercover Muslim plot to take over the Middle east- well that narrative might be affecting the president a little more than we realize. Now- what’s the ‘real story’ with the president’sbirth certificate? Let me give you my best shot. I have watched this debate for a long time- I’m obviously a watcher of both the left and the right [by the way- I think The Daily Show with Jon Stewart is a good show- he does comedy/news- but he is fair and does get the story right most of the time]. During the campaign some people made an issue out of the fact that the Obama team never released his original birth certificate- was he secretly born in Kenya they asked. Of course this idea was rejected out of hand at first- but as time went on it became a story- a ‘narrative’ that fit certainconspiratorial views. As I listened to the staunch defenders of the president [Matthews] defend the president time after time- interviewing right wingers [Gordon Liddy- you know- the Nixon guy who bit off the rat head- hey- you can’t get more stanch then that!] Matthews would go into his normal rage ‘how dare you even think anything like that!’ I found it interesting to see the ‘birthers’ respond fairly reasonably. The defenders of the President would often point out ‘the fact’ that the HawaiianCertificate of Birth [the record Obama has put out] was the official original certificate- I even saw a video of a young school child saying how you can find the presidents birth certificate on line [MSNBC showed the clip- saying ‘look- even this young girl is brighter than the Tea Party]. So after hearing Matthews go on- week after week- month after month- I mean he reported many times that the Certificate of Birth was the actual birth certificate- he explained it very thoroughly- that people are confused because that is Hawaii’s birth certificate- you don’t get a ‘normal one’ like we do on the mainland. I mean he described his belief well. The problem- yes, once again- he was just flat wrong. How do I know- because after the recent elections Hawaii got a newDemocratic governor- he grew up with Obama’s parents- went to school with them. As soon as he got in office he made headlines by publicly stating that he was tired of the whole birther conspiracy- he was going to put the rumor to rest once and for all. So he says he personally will override any privacy rules and release the document by Divine [okay- governmental] decree! So Matthews jumps on the bandwagon- does a show where he gets these 2 Democrats to agree with him- yes- lets finally release the real thing. Matthews holds up a redacted copy of someone’s real Hawaiian birth certificate [you know- the thing he swore never existed- the thing he called the birthers idiots over- because they insisted that what Obama showed us was not the real thing] so Matthews holds a real Hawaiian birth certificate up and compares it to the thing Obama has released- the Certificate of Live birth- and Matthews goes on to explain that these 2 things are indeed very different- the Certificate thing- the thing the birthers said was not the real McCoy all along- Matthews now agrees with them- guess he finally googled ‘is the certificate of birth the real thing’- and got the same answer the right wingers were giving him. So Matthews joins the liberal chorus of ‘now it’s time to release the real thing-let’s put this thing to bed once and for all’. How did the story end? Well the other day the governor put out a very quiet announcement- he said ‘I will not seek to reveal the birth certificate- it wouldviolate the privacy laws’ and that’s that. Matthews made a small mention about people who still demand the ‘paper hard copy’ he said it in a way where you could tell he too has dropped the matter. What happened? Again- if you’re a birther- this would play into your worst case scenario ‘see- I knew it’ type thing. But what happened? After all the years of watching this debate- I think there are 2 possibilities; 1- it is very possible that the birth certificate might record the presidents religion as Muslim- his father was a proud Muslim [not that there’s anything wrong with it!] and they were thinking ‘culturally’ at the time of his birth [they named him Barak Hussein] so this is a possibility- the other thing is Hawaii might have actually lost the real thing- I mean birth certificates do accidently get destroyed- fires happen- there are many cases where the original does not existany more. So- I’m sure someone ‘in the know’ finally contacted Matthews and said ‘here's the scoop’ and he dropped it. Why not just report the real story? If the ‘religion section’ says Muslim [I don’t know if there is a section for religion] sure- you could explain the fact that parents don’t choose their kids religion- you could explain the fact that Obama joined a Christian church in Chicago- but you would never be able to stop the critics from using it as major attack tool. So yes- both sides might have gotten it wrong [I mean Matthews ridiculed his guests over and over again- he described people as idiots because they insisted the certificate we were all seeing on line was the actual original- he was just flat wrong]. But when we view the other side with disdain- whether that side be right or left- then it’s hard for us to see that yes- they might have been right [about one part of the story]while being wrong about another part. I think there are good points to be made by both conservatives and liberals- but if I hate you- I will never hear your side.
[1597] NO TEMPLE IN IT- Let me try and communicate a few simple truths that hopefully will stick with people- you know- stuff you hear and it makes you think differently from here on out. I have been reading the book of Proverbs these last few weeks and the proverbs teach us that wisdom allows you to communicate great truths in short snippets. One of the proverbs actually says this. If you read the gospels you’ll see Jesus using simple short stories [Parables] to teach great truths. Okay- down the road I plan on teaching the book of Revelation- it’sreally a great book- if your able to ‘get thru’ the dragon heads and 666and all the other images that seem to preoccupy the current popular prophecy books that are on the market today. Don’t get me wrong- the dragon heads and all that stuff do mean something- but not what we usually read from the Lahaye books. One of the images I read the other day [and many times over the years] is the picture of the New Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven- John says ‘this city’ has No Temple in it. Now- in the New Testament- many times- the imagery of the city is speaking about the church- the corporate people of God. We also see a major theme of the New Testament being the idea that thru Christ- our final Passover sacrifice- the old system of sacrifice and ‘temple’ have passed away [Hebrews]. I mean these themes are major theological themes in the bible- that Jesus ‘suffered outside the city gate’ [Hebrews saysthe place where he died was outside the city] and that this means that we are all accepted by God thru Jesus- not because of our religious affiliation with ‘law and temple’ [in the city gate] but because we approach God on the basis of the Cross of Jesus- outside the gate- the place where there is ‘no temple’. See? So- this major theme of the New Testament [the actual term we use- New Testament- is speaking about this truth] can be summed up in a short prophetic glimpse [remember- wisdom lets you say much in short snippets] by saying ‘I John, saw the holy city- the New Jerusalem [the church] descending down from God and this city had NO TEMPLE IN IT’ See? John is not really talking about the aesthetics of heaven, in so much as he is giving us this great propheticspiritual reality ‘I see John- this image of NO TEMPLE simply means the New Covenant will be established on the one sacrifice of Christ and not on the temple system of continual animalsacrifices’. Yes- I think John [the apostle] would be glad if we saw his Revelation thru this lens- a paradigm that exalts the person and work of Christ- instead of a bunch of dragon heads.
[1598] DON’T LOOK IN THE BOX!- Let me try and do 2 things today; a short ‘memorable’ truth that is in keeping with yesterdays spirit- and the current events in the Middle East [never got to this part-willdo it tomorrow]
First- How many of you remember the Raiders of the Lost Ark movies- go ahead- raise your hand. Yes- those of you reading this- actually raise your hand if you’ve seen the movie- believe me there is a purpose tothis. Okay- did you do it? Wow- see how easy it is to engage in stuff when no one’s looking? Well yes, in the bible there is a famous story about ‘not looking’- it has to do with the Indiana Jones movie. First [or 2nd?] the Ark in the movie comes from a real story in the bible about a box [Ark]. Sometimes people confuse the Ark of Noah with this Ark- I heard Keith Olberman [one of my favorite liberals- now with Al Gore’s channel, Current TV] mocking someone- and in his mocking he talked about all the animals that might fit into the ark- the problem was the person he was mocking was talking about this Ark [small box] not Noah’s! Okay- in the book of Exodus we read the famous story of Moses delivering the children of Israel out of bondage [okay- what country was it again? O that’s right- Egypt- wonder of this is significant today? A stubborn dictatorial leader- ruling Egypt- who can’t seem to read the writing on the wall- guess not]and as they flee Egypt they do the Red Sea crossing and they wind up spending 40 years wandering in the wilderness because of their unbelief [too much to explain right now]. So- during their journey they get the 10 commandments and God sets up a tent [tabernacle] system that consists of this small little building surrounded by a fence and in this little room/building there is this box [Ark] that holds the 2 tablets of the 10 commandments. This box is covered with gold- has 2 angel statues on each side of the lid and the lid covering the box is called ‘the mercy seat’. Now- this ‘seat/lid’ is actually the altar that the high priest puts the sacrificial animal blood on once a year [Day of Atonement] to cover the sins of the people. In a nutshell- the lid on the box allowed a holy God [represented by the 10 commandments- his character revealed in this symbolic way] to dwell with sinful man- because the lid ‘atoned/covered’ the sins of the people- allowing God [in the box] to dwell with the people. Got it? That’s the Ark of the Covenant- the box in the Harrison Ford movies. Now- the movies tell the story about Indiana trying to find this ancient artifact- because it is said to have this awesome nuclear like power. Is this true? No. The idea comes from the bible [1st Samuel chapter 6] one time the box was taken captive in one of the battles- during its return to Israel [another long story] it winds up in this area where the people look in the box and the bible says 70,ooo people died [some bible versions say 70 people]. Wow- why did this happen? The lid covered the sins of men- once you take a peek- lift the lid- you have removed the only covering that man has for his sin- Gods holy character [the tablets] meets manssinful one- obliteration. That’s the story- not some secret nuclear device. In the New Testament book of Hebrews [chapter 9] the same word used to describe the lid [mercy seat] is mentionedagain in connection with the Cross of Christ. In the book of Romans [chapter 3] Jesus is said to be ‘the propitiation for our sins’ this is the same word- from the Hebrew language to the Greek [Old Testament story was written in Hebrew- New Testament in Greek] for ‘Mercy Seat’ so what’s the story? The lid on the box represents the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross for all men- it’s because of Jesus that God can once again dwell [the same word for Tabernacle- the whole tent system I just described] with men. The language used to speak about the Incarnation [God becoming man in Jesus] speaks about God dwelling [tabernacling] with men- in a very real way the box also represents the humanity/Deity of Jesus- it was made out of wood [a type of flesh] yet covered with gold [a type of divinity]. So Jesus is the covering [actually for you theologians the New testament sacrifice of Jesus does more than cover- it removes- but this post is supposed to be short!] and if you try and approach God without the ‘lid on’ you get creamed- got it? Now you can tell your kids the real story behind the box- and O yeah- someone let Keith in on the secret! P.S. for all of you who raised your hands- please send me an email- you’re the type we want for mailing lists! J
[1599] DAY OF RAGE IN EGYPT- Okay- I have been holding this story back for 2 weeks- it’s been reported primarily thru the financial shows [cnbc, Bloomberg] The only cable news guy that I saw cover it was Dylan Rattigan [MSNBC]. The story is that this administration made real decisions that have added to the very real discontent and rage that we are presently seeing in the world. I was waiting to see how long it would take before Rush, Beck or Hannity would catch on- as far asthis morning they have not. A few months back this administration sat back as the Federal Reserve [Yes- I know there supposed to be independent] printed 600 billion dollars of new money. We were in a dispute with China’s fiscal policy- they are keeping their Yen low, artificially, and we wanted them to stop manipulating their currency. Why? When one country [a major trade partner] does this- that makes their goods cheap and ours more expensive. We already have a huge trade imbalance with China, and this makes it worse. So China ignored our pleas [a common response from more nations as the days go by] and Ben Bernanke- the Fed. Chairman announced we would print 600 billion dollars- just make more money! Now- many economists warned that if you do this- you will be creating lots of ‘fake cash’ and this money will flow into commodities- in essence this policy can cause the food prices to increase dramatically on the world market- creating an atmosphere of unrest through the world. Just yesterday I read in the business section how food prices have soared on the global market. Some of it has to do with the clean energy policies of this administration [yes- again]. Over these last few years many environmentalists have pushed Ethanol [corn for fuel]. Al Gore has since come out and publicly admitted that they [the environmentalists] have made a major mistake in doing this. Why? We have found out that in the production process of the fuel- it still creates a huge amount of pollution- factors we didn’t know at first. Second- this new demand for corn has drastically raised the price of corn on the world market- corn is one of the major factors for food prices- not just because we eat it- but it is a major source of feed for Cows, Chickens, etc. in essence this policy [introducing corn as fuel into the world markets] has drastically increased world food prices- which is one of the major reasons for the protests going on both in Egypt and the world- yes many countries have stated that they are actually starving over this- they make a couple of dollars a day, their price to eat has gone up drastically- and many protestors have taken to the streets because of this. Ben Bernanke was asked about this point blank by a reporter- he denied the logic. This story is very real- it is not the conspiracy theories that we are hearing in the conservative media- it is a very real prediction that was made by moderate financial gurus- they said these policies would cause real inflation that could create instability in the world- they were indeed correct. The U.S. supply of corn is at its lowest in 15 years, the projected orders for corn this year have risen 8 %- to 13 billion bushels. We are estimated to have a reserve of 675 million bushels by august [when the harvest begins for corn] that’s about 5 % of all the corn that will be consumed- the lowest levels since 1996. Corn prices have doubled in the last 6 months- from $3.50 a bushel to $7.00. We have made global decisions, based on certain ideological views- that have indeed caused people to die- for real. Now- the Egypt crisis. I was shocked to hear Mubarak’s speech yesterday- I thought he was stepping down [as did Obama] and instead he shoved it in their faces. The Egyptianleadership has told us, in public, to bud out of their country. The Saudis have told Egypt they will replace the billion dollars of annual foreign aid if the U.S. threatens to stop the aid. Mubarak and Suleiman have told the U.S. news [cable] coverage to bud out. And right after the speech-Chris Matthews from MSNBC says on the air ‘I guess he’s telling the protestors they are going to have to kill him’ this man needs to be pulled off the air- immediately- before he starts world war 3[no joke].Obviously we have had lots of missteps, president Obama has very much mishandled things-you do not send Robert Gibbs out to the media to say ‘he needed to go- yesterday’ this nation [as well as Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq- yes, why are the media not covering the actual street protestors in Iraq- protesting the guys we installed!] these nations are going to do all that they can to maintain power- the worst one of all- Iran- was the only one that got a free pass when their citizens protested in the streets! Yes- of course we have blown it- lots. Having said all this- we as a nation need to back the democratic process for all these people. They have been abused by tyrants- killed- limbs chopped off- secret govt. police coming to your door at midnight- taking you away never to be seen again- we need to side with the people- these protests are not about radical Islam- they are people starving- living in oppression- desiring to be free- it’s a travesty to the highest degree that we [both Democratic and Republican presidents] have been in bed with these tyrants for all these years- the chickens are coming home to roost- and it’s time for some national repentance.
[1600] YOU SAY YOU WANT A REVOLUTION? YOU GOTIT. Okay- history was made yesterday- on the exact anniversary of the Iranian revolution [that didn’t work out so well]. First- I’m glad the people in the square prevailed- I’m on their side and stand in solidarity with them. There are already a few other Facebook pages popping up- DAYS OF RAGE for other countries who are seeking to capitalize on the mood of revolution in the air- it looks like we might really be living in historic times. These events could very well be the defining moment of this century- that which historians will look back on and see as momentous- a defining time. Are there dangers? Yes. There are always dangers when Revolution happens- honest [and dishonest] people on both sides- we [the U.S.] are children of Revolution- if any nation should support these revolts- it should be us! We had dissenters during our season of revolt- somepreachers/Christians sided with England- they felt like it was disobeying the bible to ‘Revolt’- there are bible verses that say ‘obey your earthly rulers- listen to the kings and governors- don’t rebel’. Now- that sure does sound problematic if you’re a believer on the revolting side. The apostle Paul wrote this, not under Western Style Democracy- but under Imperial Roman Rule! [ in his letter to the church at ROME!] So how do we join the spirit of freedom and popular revolution with this? Jesus obviously rejected violent revolt [those who live by the sword will die by it] yet he was not against challenging the authorities of the day- non violently standing up to corrupt leaders- and yes- instituting a new revolutionary kingdom- one that would overthrow the ‘kingdoms of this world’[ The Kingdom of God]. I mean you can’t escape the imagery of revolt and kingdom and righteous dominion [rule] this is the heart and soul of the Kingdom of God. Problem? Well yes- at times [like in our day] many Christians misunderstand the purpose of the Kingdom of God- they [in my view] place too much emphasis on the geographical area of the Holy Land- they develop scenarios that pit Arab/Muslim nations against Israel- and they read the very real Old Testament prophecies thru a lens that says ‘this is God’s word- this ethnic group [Jewish] should posses this area- and this other ethnic group [Palestinian] should get out’. I think when we see the purpose of God and his kingdom thru this lens- we err. But the reality is the bible and the message of Jesus are one of true revolution- peaceful- but revolution nonetheless. The verses Paul wrote are indeed scripture- and they were real practical advice given to the fledgling church in the 1st century- Paul did not want the nascent church to get a reputation of being political rabble rousers- you had what were called Zealots at the time- Jewish political activists who advocated violent overthrow of Roman rule from the Jewish land- and Paul [and Jesus] rejected this idea. So I think if we read the basic instructions from Paul and see the context of the time- that yes- a political revolt was not what the early church needed. But what we are seeing in our day is a possible major realignment of the nations in the Arab [and Persian] world. We are seeing people who have been oppressed by religious theocracies- these people have every right to rebel- to non violently go to the streets and stand in protest to the dictators who have ruthlessly oppressed them for years- these rebels are not criminals- they are non violentprotestors who are speaking truth to power- much like what Jesus did. Now- where next? I think we need to do Iran again- I think the president [Obama] thinks this too. Yesterday as he gave a speech after the historic events in Egypt- he spoke to the leadership of Iran and told them ‘let your people also freely protest in your streets’. Now- that message is saying ‘you guys are also gonna fall’- do you really think the Iranian madman thinks ‘well- maybe if we let the people protest- that’s all the president meant’ c’mon- if we thru Mubarak ‘under the bus’ [I’m glad he’s under the bus] there isn’t a snowballs chance in Hades that The mad man from Iran will get a free pass. So yes- lets support all the days of rage that are popping up- lets be on the side of freedom from tyrants and U.S. puppets- the Arab street is smart- they know much more than we give them credit for- and yes- there will be a danger from radical Islamist elements- we should make a distinction between violent and non violent Muslim groups- but even groups like the Muslim Brotherhood that have rejected violence- we should still be aware of their goal- they do indeed advocate for religious ruleand we need to say ‘yes- we honor your principled stance against violence- yet we reject any religious theocracy- whether it be Christian, Jewish, Muslim- we want freedom and rights for all people- regardless of their religion- and we do not support your goal- even if you want to achieve it thru non violence’. Where next? IRAN.
[just a note- as I’m presently studying Marx and Freud and other thinkers- Marx himself rejected God because he felt like the religious rulers would use these types of ‘non revolt’ teachings to keep the people suppressed- Marx’s problem with God came thru this economic challenge- the masses were unwilling to revolt against economic oppression because religion was being used as a tool to keep the people under. I think in the beginning Marx meant well- saw the oppression of people and saw how rulers used religion to control people- too bad he couldn’t read this post]
[1601] PHARAOH- KING OF EGYPT- I had an interesting experience yesterday- as I was doing the early morning prayer routine [I get up at around 3-3:30 and do about a 2 hour prayer time- I walk in my yard and cover a bunch of things- world situations, natural disasters, war areas- etc.] I got to a spot where I pray for world leaders. I start with president Obama and his wife and kids and then pray for world leaders. At one point I pray for all those in authority who are Christians- I ask the Lord to give them wisdom- help them make right decisions- I also pray for non Christian rulers- I don’t pray ‘against them’ I ask the Lord to also help them to rule justly- to not oppress their people. Then I pray for a 3rd category- let me quote it to you ‘Lord- for all those in authority who are persecuting believers- those who rule oppressive regimes- I ask that you would remove them for these positions and replace them with just leaders- and until that happens- that you would be glorified in them like you were with the rebellious leader of Egypt- Pharaoh’ the thing that surprised me was the realization that the only nation I mention every time I pray [besides the U.S.] is Egypt. The other nations get mentioned [Iraq- Israel- Palestine- etc.] but only as world events would warrant it- but Egypt is actually part of the prayer format. Now- I’m not saying that Egypt ‘fell’ because of my prayer- but it kinda did freak me out a little. Okay- in the last note we ended with Iran. In the past few days there have been uprisings in Yemen, Algeria [formally a colony of France- they too have been independent for around 30 years- yet many of these nations have not translated into Democracies], certain Persian Gulf states [Bahrain] and there are a number of nation/states that are foreseeing trouble [the more stable wealthy gulf states- United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia- are taking preventative steps to ward off any massive demonstrations- many of these countries are flatly handing out one time cash benefits as a sort of early tax return- geez- they are blatant about buying off the people.] So how are the Revolutions doing? Remember- the 1st domino to fall was the African nation of Tunisia [remember- Africa is a continent- so the nations/states in her are separate ruling governments] these past few weeks many thousands of refugees have fled Tunisia by boat and have landed on a port city in Italy. Italy is having major disruptions trying to deal with the crisis. Of course they are dealing with problems of their own- let’s see- what’s the big scandal story in Italy? Oh yeah- Berlusconi paid an underage Moroccan girl for sex. I remember watching the news a month or so ago- as the Italian leader was dealing with all his ‘girl’ scandals- he comes out and says ‘hey- it’s better than sleeping with the gays’. I guess their level of politicalcorrectness is a little different than ours. And for Egypt it’s too soon to tell how well the Revolution will end up. Now- at the same time we had the Taliban attack the police in Afghanistan- killing 18 people. There was one protestor killed in Iran- and the news media showed full coverage of the body- top of the world news- yet a few weeks ago while reading the paper- I read a story of 51 people killed by a suicide bomber right outside of Baghdad [Iraq], the next day I read the story again- the headlines were the same- the same amount of people killed- I thought they accidently ran the same story twice- as I read the article it wasn’t the same story, it was indeed the 3rd batch of more than 50 people killed in suicide bombings in 3 days. They said how in the last few weeks many hundreds were killed in these attacks- many more hundreds injured- yet not one top news media story- I found this story hidden on the back pages of the paper in a very obscure spot. Why? Is it because the media ran with the recent celebration of the so called end to our war in Iraq? I remember how MSNBC [yes- Matthews again] spent 3 days trying to make it sound like the end of WW2 – nobody bought it. So the media does pick and choose what they will run with. I’m glad they are covering the protestors- and I’m glad they covered the 1 person killed in Iran [even though theyweren’t even sure who killed him] but we need to be very aware of the role the media plays- for them to have ignored 2-300 hundred suicide deaths in Iraq- because they want to show us a particular picture [war is over- let’s celebrate] and to have showed 1death as top major news in Iran- well you get the picture [I hope!] Yes- it’s too soon to tell how the Revolutions will turn out- Tunisia is a mess, and Egypt has a long road ahead of them- and yes- Berlusconi has his problems too. Lets pray for the nations, mention them by name- who knows- maybe one day you will wake up and say ‘geez- I’ve been praying for the removal of corrupt Pharaohs in Egypt for years- and sure enough he ‘got removed’.
NOTE- When the media tried to ‘spin’ the end of the war in Iraq- they showed their obvious bias in the way they reported the story under one president [Obama] versus the other [Bush]. What happened in Iraq was we left 50 thousand ‘non combat’ troops in the country [who by every account- even a local boy who is serving their right now wrote in our editorial- have said our guys are still engaging in combat on a regular basis]- we are building the world’s biggest ‘embassy’ in the country [it has been described as a giant permanent military base] and the uptick in attacks from the enemy have gone up- their country just installed one of the most outspoken enemies of the U.S. in their official govt. and like I said we just had hundreds of innocent people blown apart by suicide bombers in just a few days. During the Bush years- a single death with a burned out vehicle made national headlines- top story for days- showing all the various positions of the vehicles that were blown up- the Democrats regularly questioned the competence of the president- publicly stating that the wars were lost [Harry Reid] and accusing the president of willfully lying- in public- and being responsible- personally- for the deaths of both Iraqi innocents and American boys and girls- yes- senator Kerry went around the country- publicly saying ‘Bush lied- your kids died’. Now, none of this was seen as ‘raising the level of discourse too high’ the media did not freak out about any of this- a movie even came out called ‘the assassination of George W Bush’ the media did not roundly condemn this, not in the same way they spent weeks covering the ‘target’ story from Sarah Palin’s political sight. Can you imagine them not covering the story of a right winger who produced a movie called ‘the assassination of Barak Obama? Nor were the presidents enemies blamed for lowering the discourse and allowing stuff like this to happen.When a certain Democrat was asked ‘do you think it’s wrong that you described the president as an idiot in public’ he said ‘he is one’. The point being this same media- when Joe Wilson said ‘you lie’ some actually said this statement was so dangerous that it put the president’s life at risk [because it lowered the bar of respect]. Now- even though I agree with the need to stop using all this type of language- the point I’m making is the media has an agenda- even if it’s not a ‘secret’ underground thing [like Beck thinks]- never the less they report more favorably about a situation if they like the president- they report more negatively if they don’t. For the media to have reported the ‘end of the war’ in Iraq was a joke- and to have not even covered the hundreds who were just killed- while making 1 death in Iran the top news story- this too is a joke.
[1602] REVOLUTION- NOT ANARCHY! As of last night many streets in the Arab world are experiencing protests- Iran has launched 2 battleships to head towards Syria [right off the coast of Israel] and there are reports of oil prices spiking because of the unrest. These last few weeks I have been reading thru some chapters in Exodus- the book that records the historic liberation of Gods people from Egypt. Those of you who are bible readers will remember that the initial cause for revolt was actually an economic injustice; the children of Israel were under the oppressive regime of Pharaoh and they were grumbling about the poor economic conditions- the leader heard their ‘protests’ and he oppressed them more! He required them to produce more bricks and mortar [for the building of his own wealth] and yet they were to do this from the same amount of natural resources they had all along. In many of these states where the protestors have taken to the streets- they survive on 2 dollars a day- or less. These same people are now required to survive off of the same measly amount- even as the cost of food soars- many of them are indeed going hungry- for real. In the biblical story God sends them Moses [a type of Christ] and as you know Moses confronts unjust authority and the people revolt. Now- one of the key ingredients to a successful ‘revolt’ is a just constitution! God gives them the 10 commandments [rules on treating each other justly- and loving God] at the start of their journey- they will eventually conquer the Promised Land and grow as a society- yet the rules of the game were laid out early in the revolt. What do I think is happening right now? I believe our people [the president and U.S. govt.] are seeing these revolts as the major danger in the world right now- the level of world instability has not been like this in many years- the news media have tried to ‘manipulate’ the environment. After CNN and a few others chose to hone the cameras in on the thousands of protestors in Egypt’s square- yet they initially would not show/report the thousands who were revolting in Iraq. Why? They obviously want to push the narrative of ‘change’ in one place- while pushing the narrative of ‘Obama ended the war and all is well’ in another. The reality is there are major dangers taking place in the world right now- do I think Iran wants to invade Israel? To be honest- yes. What? All these leaders are shaking in their boots- from ‘the shores of Tripoli’ [Quadaffi] to the ‘kings’ of Bahrain. I assure you- if the protestors topple the Iranian leaders- it will not be a ‘peaceful’ exodus to some vacation spot [like Mubarak did] it will be Saddam Husseinall over again [strung up in the streets- or on TV]. Now- do you think the Iranian madman would attack Israel as a last ditch effort to save his skin? You bet ya! [Okay- too much Palin]. Remember- before all the recent developments- there were some major movements in the Middle East that spelled danger for Israel. For years they faced opposition on their northern border from Lebanon. For many years Hezbollah was a political force in the area- for the first time ever they recently elected someone from Hezbollah to high office- deposing the former leader. In the south and on the West bank there was also lots of turmoil right before these revolts took place. The leader of the Palestinians came under tremendous pressure because the Wikileaks ‘leaks’ revealed that Abbas [Palestinian leader] agreed with Israel to kill some Hamas leaders [Hamas is the radical pro Palestinian group- branded as terrorists by Israel and the U.S.] When the leaks got out there was rage in the streets- the chief negotiator [SaebErakat] had to step down. So all these events were seen as major threats to peace in the region- add to that the fall of Egypt- and the current uprisings in the other Arab/Persian states- yes indeed- we have not seen a time like this since our world wars [yes that’s strong- I do believe this to be true]. Okay- should we be afraid? No. How should we view the young people who are the primary demonstrators on the streets? I think it would be a mistake for the older generation [especially in the West] to view them all as potential terrorists- remember- Iran wouldn’t be sending her ships to Syria unless they too felt like they needed to hedge their bets. So we want to hear the cries of the younger generation- people who have felt oppressed for years- who were told ‘make do with the same resources- yet make it go further’ these people have indeed been wronged in many ways-many of them feel this is their only chance to ‘escape’- and finally- the advice to the protestors- you need a ‘law’ constitution- a statement of just principles that you will hold each other accountable to- maybe an ‘on line’ statement of beliefs to go along with the ‘days of rage’ that are being posted on facebook- some type of open rejection of radical terrorism and holding accountable those who would like to ‘hijack’ the protests for their own purposes. It’s really too late for the West to say ‘okay- we liked the Egypt thing- but now we want to hold up on the rest’. It’s so sad- right after the Egyptian uprising- news organizations like CNN and others- who were actually ‘parties’ to the success of the revolt [yes- watch carefully and you will see] they then ignored the other protests and were headlining their shows with the Grammy winners- yes- whole hours of not mentioning any of the other protests. Or MSNBC making the stop story about Rumsfeld or how 50 % of the Republican primary voters think Obama is a Muslim- I mean a whole hour on this stuff? The media do ‘play the fool’ lots. Just a note- in some nations there are actually protestors [not govt. cronies] who are protesting against the ‘protestors’- that is some more stable economies [Bahrain, Qatar, etc.] many of these nations- though not democratic- have ‘shared the wealth’ with the people-many successful businesses thrive in some of these countries- these more stable people do not want the Egypt revolt to spread- some have pointed out [very legitimately] that when the media focuses the cameras of the world on a few hundred- or thousand protestors- they need to remember that there are many millions who are not protesting [the population of Egypt is 80 million- some did not want revolt] so the media has to be careful that they are not showing the wrong ‘narrative’ in some of these places. All in all- the cats out of the bag- some regimes are indeed going to shoot their protestors- others will try and start a war with Israel- yes- these are very serious times. Lets pray for the safety and freedom for all people- when the children of Israel were under an oppressive regime- the bible says God heard their cry and sent them a deliverer- the New Testament says Jesus is the ‘Moses’ of this day- even Gandhiused thenon violentprinciples of the Sermon on the Mount to have a successful revolt- I hope the present protestors will do the same.
[By the way- in many of these present revolts the citizens are revolting against the autocrats who were installed after their countries broke away from their colonizers- like India from Britain- yet they never transitionedinto real democracies]
[1603] WEEK IN REVIEW [MEDIA BIAS] - Okay, this past week has been big- lots of very important stories. Some ‘news’ outlets present the most favorable view possible- others seem to play into the fears of ‘the West’. Yesterday I read a news paper article- now understand- this is supposed to be straight reporting. The story was about 4 people shot to death as they were protesting in Bahrain- the jist of it went like this ‘as the protests grew out of hand- the govt. increased resources to deal with the unrest- as a result of the govts. attempt to restore order- 4 people died’. Now- out of all the nations that are ‘falling’ Bahrain just might be the most strategically important one for the U.S. We station our ships their [5th fleet- Persian Gulf] and they are a small- yet very important ally. When you have 1 death in Iran- or 20 in Libya- the papers report it as ‘the regime killed innocent people in cold blood’ yet when the media organizations [Associated Press- or whoever] actually try and present an important ally as ‘noble’ when they do the same thing, then they are nor reporting the news in a fair way. This week we had the school teachers protesting in Wisconsin- the newly elected Republican governor has the majority in the state senate/house and he is trying to balance the state budget- and he is wanting to eliminate collective bargaining- except for salary negotiations- in the state [exempting the cops and firefighters]. Okay- as a retired firefighter- who still gets the monthly magazine from my union [international association of firefighters] I see their point- yet as the teachers have taken to the streets to protest- you have seen pictures of the governor [Walker] as good ole Hitler- posters of his face and Mubarak’s together- ‘get rid of the tyrant’ and even a poster of the governor in actual RIFLE SCOPE CROSSHAIRS- saying ‘reload’. Now- we just went thru a few weeks [in the Western media] of CNN- MSNBC- ABC- NBC- CBS- ETC. associating the use of the word ‘target’ and using crosshairs on a political web site- as being possibly responsible for the shooting of rep. Gifford’s in Arizona- yet the same media who were outraged over Palin- seem to be fine with the union protestors actually saying ‘reload’ with an actual scope sight on the Republicangovernors face. So you pretty much have to be blind to not see the bias. Even Diane Sawyer- in her coverage of Bahrain- showed a scope target over the country as they ‘zoomed in’ for the story- I mean they just can’t help themselves! Now- on a more serious note- as Anderson Cooper [CNN] made it his own personal vendetta to go after Mubarak [you know they beat Anderson up] as he was portraying the govt. as evil [in many ways they were] yet at the same time- we now know that 200 protestors [people Anderson gave ‘cover’ to] were raping Lara Logan- a reporter- in the crowd. As they raped her they shouted ‘Jew- Jew’. This must be condemned by everyone- in no uncertain terms. It should be noted that she was rescued by the women on the street along with the military [the same military that Cooper was vilifying on screen at the same time]. Problem? Like I said before- very rarely does one side take all the blame- or another side all the credit. I think it’s important for Western society to realize that there are over a billion Muslims in the world- and lots of us view them thru the paradigm of ‘Muslim Brotherhood’ or the Iranian madman- yet in many of these Arab/Persian nations- there are lots of younger generation people who also reject these stereotypes- you have many of the younger generation who have connected with the outside world thru social media and many of them do not fit the mold of radical terrorist. Yet some of these younger people do hold to beliefs that Sharia law should be the law of the land- or some of them have very anti Semitic views that were instilled in them thru their ‘religious’ education -they are taught that Jews are pigs and dogs- we can’t simply overlook the racial hatred that is found in many of these societies- and we must say ‘NO- NOT ACCEPTABLE- YOU CAN’T KEEP DOING THIS AND AT THE SAME TIME EXPECT US TO RESPECT YOU’! So, we need to be honest and fair on all sides- If a govt. we need/like kills it’s people- then don’t report it as ‘ accidental collateral damage’ while a govt. the media doesn’t like says ‘they killed them in cold blood’. If a reporter is miffed because he got his ‘butt kicked’- then don’t present the whole story as the military are all evil- protestors good- especially when some of the protestors are raping a female reporter while shouting ‘JEW- JEW’ and the military are the ones who saved her! I want to take the side of the younger people- who do indeed feel oppressed and beaten down- many of these Arab regimes have been repressive- yet the younger people must openly reject anti Semitism- religious theocracy- they must disassociate themselves from the image that many in the Western world have- when we in the West see the Iranian president appealing for the return of the 12th Imam- calling for the slaughter of the Jews- we see a true nut job who we want nothing to do with [as many other Arab leaders also feel- we now know thanks to Wikileaks]. So the younger protestors have a chance- a chance of a lifetime- to show the West that you reject radicalism- and when an atrocious incident happens on the side of the protestors- one that should have been roundlycondemned- LOUDLY- then we in the West need to hear it.
[1604] IS IT POSSIBLE TO PROTEST TOO MUCH? A couple of days ago I started teaching the story of Moses and God’s delivering of his people from Egypt- I talked about the Ark of the Covenant and the fall of Pharaoh- try and go back and read those posts- and for the next few days I want to simply tell the story found in the book of Exodus [Old Testament]. In Exodus chapters 15- 16 we read the story of the great deliverance of God- in the previous chapters the people were under bondage to oppressive rulers [much like the autocratic rulers in the Arab/Persian world right now] and the people cried/protested and God heard them and he sent them new leaders [Moses] and this new leadership was needed in order for the old guard to pass away. Now- as they proceed on the journey the first spot they come to is a place named Marah- which means bitterness [present day Suez canal area]. They traveled for 3 days and found no water- and atMarah there is water- but the water is bitter, it’s not fit for human consumption. So they complain and Moses finds a stick/tree branch and puts it in the water and the waters ‘are healed’. In Christian teaching this branch is a symbol of Christ [who the bible calls the true vine- also the apostle Peter calls the Cross ‘the tree’] and the symbol means that when people believe in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ- in a spiritual way the ‘waters are healed’ [people are brought back to God thru the Cross]. The next spot they get to [Elim] has plenty of food and good water. Now- as they continue on the journey they begin missing the old stability they had under the old regime [Pharaoh] they start tocomplain against the new leaders and say ‘you led us out on this journey- now we have no good food like the old days- we will all starve out here- we wish we never protested’ wow- talk about rebels! Okay- Moses gets mad too- thinking to himself ‘man- I never asked for this- and now I’m supposed to put up with this’ [sort of like some of the leaders who have had to fill the gap after Mubarak fell- some of these guys- being prodded by the U.S. govt. are being asked to keep the peace until they can transition into a new Democratic rule]. God answers Moses and tells him he will send them meat and bread- God supernaturally causes a bunch of Quail [birds] to blow into the camp and they have lots of meat- and in the morning when they woke up there was this wafer type bread that was on the ground. The bread is called ‘Manna’ which actually means ‘what is it’. God fed them for 40 years with this ‘unknown’ bread- and he tells Moses to put some in a jar and save it as a memorial of Gods provisions. Eventually this jar with the bread in it will go into the box [the Ark I wrote about a few posts back- which had the 2 tablets of the 10 commandments it] and it will be a reminder to future generations how God was with them on the journey. Okay- a few practical points; it is possible to ‘protest too much’ that is after God initiated the process of ‘new rule’ the people couldn’t just keep protesting their way into a new govt., they had to ‘put up’ with some type of leadership along the way. Right now in Egypt [2-2011] some of the people are split on what to do ‘should we keep protesting’ some ask- others are saying ‘okay- we got Mubarak to step down- we need to give some of these military leaders a chance to set some things up for the elections to come’. In the case of Moses this was Gods will- that is the people went too far in not even being willing to let Moses lead a little. So some times as the protests succeed- there might also need to be a few months of letting the new guys have a chance to get some stuff done. A few interesting points; in chapter 16 the bible says ‘this happened on the 15th day of the 2nd month’. Geez- that’s right around the same time that the present Egyptian uprising also took place [I am aware the months of the Jewish calendar are different than mine- but it’s still pretty good!] and in the book of John [John’s gospel, chapter 6] Jesus has a conversation with the Jewish leaders and he says he himself is ‘the bread of God that came down from heaven’ he says the bread Moses gave them [the Manna spoken about here] was a symbol of his own life and death on the Cross for the sins of the world- he says ‘all who eat/receive me will live’. I find it interesting that in this story the original Jewish people are eating the bread for all these years- and the name of it means ‘what is it’. Both Muslims and Jews respect Jesus, they see him as a prophet sent from God- yet in Christian theology we teach that Jesus is much more than that- he is the ‘sent one’ [Jewish Messiah- the one who originates from God] many well meaning Muslims and Jews ‘have’ Jesus sort of like the Manna- they know the bread is there- they even ‘eat it’ [benefit in a way from it] yet Jesus says ‘I am the true bread- the bread that comes down from heaven and gives my life for the world’. As the Arab world is going thru their own journey right now- facing many difficult days ahead- days where some will be tempted to say ‘we regret this new found journey of freedom- we wish we never left Egypt’ there will also be a chance to feed from the Manna- the bread that has been there all along- the bread that many said of ‘what is it’ [or who is this Jesus] Jesus himself testifies that it is speaking about him- he is the true bread of life- the only ‘leader’ [new Moses] that can truly liberate- may we all find true revolution thru him.
[1605] WATER FROM THE ROCK [plus comments on the present atrocities in Libya] - Before I get into the chapter [Exodus 17] let me overview the latest world events. First- I do not think the majority of Americans realize the ‘bigness’ of what's going on right now in the Arab/Persian world- the events of the last few weeks are major world changing events that will play a major role in every aspect of American life. The recession? More than likely it will be extended [or double dip] because of the oil situation [unrest and war in and around the major oil producing nations of the world]. Arab allies? Over [at least in the short term]. Last night Gadhafi used the military against his people. The major eastern city of Libya [Benghazi] has fallen [the govt. is no longer in control] the eastern capitol city- Tripoli- is in a war like situation. Gadhafi’s son went on national TV and basically told the country that they are not like Egypt and Tunisia- they will fight back. The son is smart, educated in the West [London- geographically north of Libya- ‘West’ in the sense of the western world- that is London] he told the people ‘do you think the Americans/Brits want you to revolt? This country [Libya] will fall into chaos and the hands of radicals- the West depends on our stability [for oil] and they don’t want you to succeed’. Understand- this is a brilliant power play in the game. Is he telling the truth? In a way- yeah. In all the revolutions taking place- some nations are Arab- others Persian. Some are majority Shiite [Bahrain] with a minority ruling Sunni dynasty. Iran’s leaders are Shiite- they would be glad to see the fall of Bahrain- so the Shiite majority could overthrow the Sunni kings and have more support from Bahrain. Some Arab nations are ‘pro west’- Egypt, Jordan- and even Yemen are/were working with us- many of our friends in the area were shocked that we publicly called for the ouster of Mubarak, because he was our number 1 ally in the Arab world. They thought ‘what the hell are you doing! You picked the wrong king!’ Libya, Iran and Syria areanti western nations- they hate us- we them [in politics]. Yet without a doubt Gadhafi is crossing the line in violent responses to the protestors- yet president Obama has not called for his ouster- not like the way he did with Egypt. The protestors in these countries are confused and see the west as being sell outs. We have protests that seem to be breaking out of the Arab regions and even affecting Asia. There are reports of protestors in China. I obviously am not advocating the apocalypse- but I don’t think we [western society] realize the import of all these events- our world is changing and there is nothing we can do about it- but try and act justly! We [president] can’t go ‘public’ with a king who is bad- but not 1-100th as bad as Libya’s leader- and then go ‘silent’ on him [the president and U.S. position has been to speak out against the violence- good- but we have decided to not go public in support of the people and the call for the leader to step down]. So all in all we need to act justly- love mercy- and walk humbly with our God [Micah- Old Testament prophet].
Okay- Exodus 17. As the people of God continue on the journey of freedom- they once again come to a place where they lack water- they complain to Moses and God tells Moses to strike the rock with his rod/stick and water will come out. This supernatural miracle is spoken about by the apostle Paul in 1stCorinthians chapter 10. He says all the people who were with Moses on the journey drank from the spiritual rock that was to come- Christ. The church has songs about Jesus being the rock who was broken open so salvation could come to the nations ‘Rock of ages cleft for me, let me hide myself in thee’ [also from the story we will read later when God puts Moses in a cleft in the mountain/rock and passes by him]. All these stories speak of Jesus as the savior of the world. The New Testament tells us when Jesus was on the Cross the soldier pierced his side with a spear and blood and water came out. So Jesus is the rock that was struck [by God- Isaiah 53] and we all can ‘drink’ the living water [Gods Spirit] that flows from his side.
And in keeping with the format of these posts [I’m going to put all these posts in one study and call them ‘insights from a revolution’- Exodus]let me try and give some practical advice for all our readers/friends from around the world who might be in these countries who are revolting. In this chapter the word used against Moses when the people complained is translated ‘Quarrel’ in English- in the original Hebrew language the word really means a legal complaint against leadership- that is they were wanting to bring Moses to court! In many of the current cases of revolution- some simply want change- others want justice- some revenge. In the case of Moses and ‘his revolution’ the people made the mistakeof going too far by wanting Moses to stand before the ‘court’ that is they raised their level of protest too high. My advice- in all the nations going thru these things- I side with the people- and do see the tragic mistake the west has made by siding with these dictators for all these years- we truly did overlook the rights of people for the stability of oil- we sinned. Having said that- revolution is messy- and some might go too far in their complaint- that is the bottom line is freedom and democracy for the people- not vengeance on past leaders. In due time those who have committed crimes should be held accountable- but right now the bottom line is freedom and democracy- and NON VIOLENT protests. In Libya the leader has hired mercenaries from the Sub-Saharan part of the continent- these paid soldiers are in the streets of Libya- killing innocents. They are foreign people who don’t even speak Arabic [they speak French- remember parts of Africa were colonized by the British and French- Algeria used to be under French rule] the scene is surreal- so we condemn all these atrocities that are being carried out by these leaders- we call for peaceful protestors to be treated with dignity and respect- and I think our president should also speak out more on the Libyan situation. Let’s all PRAY FOR PEACE- FOR ALL NATIONS.
[1606] LIBYA [Exodus 18] - Before I get into the chapter, let me cover a few news stories. Obviously the biggest event taking place right now is the tragedy in Libya. Gadhafi has decided to use his troops against the civilian population – as of last night he seems to be taking his final stand in the western capitol city of Tripoli. A famous Imam put out a Fatwa [Islamic call for assassination] on his head- I must admit this is the first time I think the Fatwa is justified. President Obama finally spoke after 9 days of silence; he tried his best. As I listened to a woman holed up in Tripoli- she called CNN’S Anderson Cooper on her cell phone- she was giving him up to date info on the situation in Tripoli. Cooper seemed happy to let her go on- at one point she said all of the people in Libya felt so let down by Obama’s speech- they thought they could look to the west for real help and a much stronger condemnation- she was being very honest- and explained clearly the real feeling on the ground- Cooper cut her off [you can tell they clipped the audio in the middle] obviously she was not giving the story that CNN wants to hear. What’s going on? What can we really do? The fall of Tunisia [right to the west of Libya] was a speedy downfall- the leader- Ben Alli caved quickly. Egypt was a surprise- many observers debated the wisdom of the U.S. govt. calling for the rapid removal of Mubarak. If you carefully read/watched the coverage- you could read between the linesand tell that certain more conservative Democrats were not wanting the quick downfall of Mubarak- other more progressive [liberal] Democrats did think it would be ‘beneficial’ [politically] for the president to take the side of Democracy. Obama sent Gibbs out [former press secretary] and he said ‘Mubarak should have been gone yesterday’ the president made his choice- Mubarak’s gone and Gibbs has since ‘retired’. So I’m sure some insiders said to Obama ‘you do this- and you will set the Middle East on fire’. Now- I am not blaming him for what’s going on- but it’s obvious that after seeing the tragedy in Libya- the Somali pirates killing the 4 hostages off their coast- the pirates opening fire on our warships- it’s obvious that the level of fear that the U.S. used to have- is gone. Obama seems to be hesitant about the next step- some reports said ‘he hasn’t spoken out too strongly because we fear for the safety of Americans in Libya’ wrong signal for sure. How bad will it get? During the day I saw a ‘best case/worst case’ scenario on Bloomberg news [financial show] the worst case scenario was the violence will spread to Saudi Arabia and oil will hit $220 dollars a barrel [Libya alone would not do this- they are Africa’s number one producer of oil- but number 8 on the world stage. By contrast Saudi Arabia produces 20 % of the world’s oil supply]. Later on Hannity reported this as what some analysts are saying will happen- he did not say it was a worst case scenario [he did take it out of context]. Frankly- no one really knows how bad it will get- but as of right now there is a humanitarian disaster talking place on a scale we haven’t seen in many years- forget Wisconsin [as a major news event] forget ‘high speed rail’ and realize that this is the major event of this presidency- how to deal with it in a just way. Europe is in real danger if these dictators make the conscious choice to fight their people [Yemen has also opened fire on its protestors- and the western media are not reporting on the fact that Iraqi police/military have also fired on some of their people- when the reports do come out they say ‘Kurds’ which is a tricky way to not say ‘Iraq’]. Sarkozy [French president] made a stronger statement than Obama- they realize this fire is on their back door- the refugees continuing to flee Africa [Tunisia first- now Libya] are causing a major problem for the region. And Iran’s warships ships have indeed passed thru the Suez Canal for the first time in 30 years. I heard Shimon Peres [Israel] give a speech in Madrid [Spain] he warned of Iran’s nuclear threat and said if they don’t deal with it a nuke will end up blowing up Madrid one day. Yet as I heard him speak about the unrest in North Africa and the Middle east- he wisely attributed it to the younger generation of people being connected to the internet/facebook- and how they for the first time realize what true freedom looks like- they also see corruption- things that they were never able to see before- and that they now realize their leaders have abused them. Listen carefully- if any leader was going to ‘cover up’ for these protests being run by radical Islamists- it wouldn’t be Perez. So we need to watch carefully- we need to understand that the choices we make now [as a nation] will have a real impact in the world. I heard some Middle East experts [not right wing radio people] say the presidents unwillingness to come out sooner and much more strongly was a huge mistake- that the people in these countries loose heart when they feel like the west is not behind them, and the dictators use this as a wedge to oppress and kill the people- many in the media do not want this story to get out [the feeling of let down that many feel by the U.S. president]. As I listened to the woman calling from Tripoli- risking her life to get the story out- as she began telling this side of the story- Cooper seemed to have no time for it.
Will get to Exodus tomorrow.
NOTE- I do not think these events should be used in a political way- whether for or against the president. Nick Robertson- a reporter for CNN- was on the streets of Egypt a few days back, at the time I heard some on ‘the left’ begin trying to spin a story that Obama’s speech given in Cairo in 2009 was the catalyst for this new Democracy uprising in the world- you could tell that the left was pushing a narrative that would benefit them- as well as the right trying to push one that would help their side. Yet as Robertson was interviewing Egyptian protestors- he asked one guy ‘and what do you think about Obama- don’t you think he gets some credit for the Democraticuprising’ and the protestor said in no uncertain terms that he felt Obama was a sell out- It was a littlesurprising [to me and Robertson]. He then found another protestor- trying to get a more positive response- he asked him the same question- got the same answer. Okay-at this point- non biased journalism should simply report the story- or drop it. Instead Robertson than said ‘but even though you think Obama didn’t speak out soon enough- aren’t you at least glad that he has finally spoken out’ and the guy still wouldn’t budge- he simply said this is not an ‘Obama’ story- and seemed confused that Robertson seemed to make it all about the U.S.- sort of narcissistic. Then to my surprise- Robertson turns to the camera [it was a live shot during the protests]and says ‘there you have it- the feeling on the street is they are elated that the president is now supporting them’. When the media does this stuff [whetherright wing or left] they do a disservice to the people who are dying for the cause they believe in.
[1607] DONT DEAL ARROGANTLY WITH THE PEOPLE- DON’T TAKE BRIBES! Okay, before we do news- lets cover Exodus 18. Remember- the reason I’m doing this series [Exodus- insights from a Revolution] is because of the obvious present situation [2011] in North Africa and the Arab/Persian world. While I am not sure how all these ‘Revolutions’ will turn out, the fact is they are happening. So doing this series is for the purpose of appealing to those who are ‘revolting’ for truly democratic purposes [as opposed to those with other goals] and to say ‘look- if you want change- than this is the right/noble way to go about it’. Okay- in this chapter Moses is confronted by his father in-law, he says to Moses ‘why are you wearing yourself out like this? Delegate some authority to those under you and let them share the load’. Moses was ‘judging’ the people all day- he was personally hearing all the disputes- from morning till night- and it was too much. So Moses takes his father in laws advice and appoints Elders- leaders who will take care of the smaller decisions- but the ‘big’ ones will come before him. I heard president Obama say the other day ‘when a problem gets to me- it by nature is a difficult one’ he was saying all the easy ones get solved down the line- they never make it to him. Moses father in law praises God for the way he delivered the people from EGYPT and he says ‘God did a just thing in overthrowing Pharaoh- because he dealt arrogantly with the people’ in many of the present protests you hear this as a common theme among the youth- they are not calling for Islamic Jihad [generally] they are mad that they have been treated with disrespect- they want to be treated like humans. The father in-law also says ‘when you appoint new leaders- make sure there men who won’t take bribes’ another cause for dissent among the protestors- corruption in leadership.
Okay- a few current events that might be relevant.One of the major problems the U.S. govt. is going to have [or let’s say get worse] is the reality that all the years and lives and money spent on our wars- in the end it looks like the leaders we backed [in Iraq and Afghanistan] are doing no better than the leaders in all the other countries who have protestors. To be honest- the regime of Hamid Karzai [Afghanistan] is one of the most corrupt out of them all. So how do we justify fighting ‘on one side’ while they are as corrupt as all these other leaders who are falling like bowling pins? Like I said before- it might be time for us to seriously look at a real exit strategy. I have been following the story of Raymond Davis, the U.S. spy who shot 2 Pakistanis a few weeks ago. The U.S. media kept reporting the official govt. line- that he was an innocent diplomat who was being robbed in Pakistan- and he shot these thieves out of self defense. Yet the Pakistanis would not release him. They actually were being more diplomatic by saying ‘well- he did kill 2 people- we can’t just release him’ after weeks of the Obama administration calling for his ‘immediaterelease’ and stating how this is such a human rights abuse- finally some of our C.I.A. guys leaked the true story. That yes- he was spying for us- illegally- and he shot 2 Pakistaniintelligence people who were legitimately following him. Why did our C.I.A guys have to leak the truth? Because the Obama administration was actually allowing the false story to go very public- they made it sound like the Pakistanis were committing an atrocity- and the truth is all countries practice ‘spying’ and when they get caught- part of the game is- well you got caught. The U.S. govt. is still holdingspies we caught years ago. But yet instead of the U.S. govt. accepting the card they were dealt [caught- do your best behind the scenes to work it out] they were allowing the media to report it as some type of hostage thing ‘they have our innocent U.S. diplomat- look at this atrocity’ geez- are our guys real armatures or what? So the C.I.A. insiders looked at what Obama was doing and took a great risk to tell the truth. Now- why was this leak a risk? Understand- no other president- in the history of all past presidents- has gone afterleakers like president Obama. He has pursued/prosecuted more leakers than any other U.S. president in history- in the first 2 years of being in office! Yes- more in 2 years than Bush in 8- that’s a fact. One ‘leaker’ who was caught- was expecting to get in trouble [like lose his job] and found out that Obama prosecuted him for a very long prison term- he was a very able man- educated and serving the country- the leak [like most leaks] was something he thought needed to be done [like the C.I.A. thing I just mentioned] after he realized the administration wanted to destroy him- he pleaded for mercy. Our govt. ruined the man- broke up his family- kids, wife- the whole 9 yards- and told every other potential leaker ‘you mess with me- we will absolutely destroy you and your family’ now- you don’t see this image in public- but in private that’s the way this administration decided to go [all these stories have been reported in the media- they usually don’t trickle down to the public at large]. So now you see why I say the above C.I.A guys took a real risk in leaking. The point? When govts. are caught spying- or breaking other countries laws- we should do our best to mitigate the thing- but to actually allow it to get so out of hand as to create a permanentrift among these nations- that’s just amateurish. So we all need to be aware that the U.S. - as well as the countries we are fighting for/against- all have legitimate times when they are wronged- or are doing what’s wrong. We can’t always view things thru a prism that says ‘we were right’ often times we are not. And when picking leaders- they need to be people who are above ‘bribes’ [corruption] men who truly are just- who care for people. When leaders cheat- steal- mislead- abuse people- in the end they have ‘dealt arrogantly with the people-and God will remove them’.
[1608] LOOK FOR THE UNION LABEL [and maybe buy some stock in Nescafe?]
Okay- it’s been a busy news week- I haven’t really commented on the Union situation in Wisconsin and want to cover it some. First- much of the world has been in protest mode for the last year. Originally the problem was the austerity measures that Europe was trying to put in place in order to deal with their debt, and just this week we saw more riots on the streets of Greece- setting a cop on fire. The protests in Wisconsin [and spreading to Ohio and other states] are in nature the same as the European protests [though not as severe] that is the unions [teachers] are protesting the states attempts to abolish collective bargaining, except for the ability to bargain for salaries. The Europeans are mad about changes in their retirement age and stuff like that- protests that are different than what we are seeing in the Middle East and North Africa. Now- who’s right in this situation? The newly elected Republican governor[s] are trying to get rid of the Cadillac benefits plans that many of the Northern states have for their public sector employees. As a retired firefighter in the south I do not get near what retiredfirefighters in the North get. I have no benefits except a monthly retirement check- I’m hoping I don’t get sick- I still have 12 years to go before I am eligible for Medicare. So why do the northern retirees have better packages? Over time unions have managed to gain lots of political power- and when people run for public office- they have learned that if you want the cops and firefighters [and teachers- etc.] to support you- you promise them stuff. After a while some of the northern states simply gave away too much- and they put the cost into the future [Cadillac benefit plans] and now the chicks are coming home to roost. That’s really the nuts and bolts of the thing. Okay- are the unions/teachers bad? No. The system just got out of control and politicians worked the system by putting off the costs to a day when they would not be around anymore [Like Obama’s recent budget- not dealing at all with the debt.]. So after the recent elections lots of Republicans got in and yes indeed they do want to get rid of the system. Why? Well here's where the ‘rest of the story’ comes in. While it is true that the elimination of these rights would make it easier for states to get their budgets in order- it’s also true that these unions usually support Democratic candidates around 95 % of the time [if not 100]. So these Republicans got elected despite the unions spending all they had on keeping them from getting in. Once they got in- with new majorities in their state houses- they saw the chance to not only get rid of a system that has strapped state budgets- but also a way to finally get rid of the number 1 funding mechanism for the opposing party. So do these governors have the right to do this? Yes indeed they do- that’s part of the game. Do the Democratic senators have ‘the right’ to flee to other states? Well they have ‘the right’ but in the long run the way democracies work is you try you hardest to elect people who will support your side, and if those who don’t support your side get elected- then that’s the way the ball bounces. You might disagree with Governor Walker- and think his hard-line tactic of going for broke is too much- yet he has the right to do it. And if we as a country start walking out of the states [or Washington] because we feel that’s the only way to stop the other side from voting- well that in the long run will not work. My personal view is I think the teachers have tried to do their best to say ‘we will give up more benefits- pay more into the system- we just don’t want to lose collective bargaining’ hey- I hear you. But as a firefighter there were a few times when our city threatened to do away with our contract- we fought back [not by striking] and we won- but the reality was- if we lost- we would have lost fair and square. So ultimately if these new governors/state houses have gone Republican- and they get rid of collective bargaining- then the public sector employees simply need to regroup for the next election and try and get new people in- that’s the way Democracy works- to simply leave the state is not how democracy works [just a note- F.D.R. the father of modern entitlements- said that the public sector was no place for collective bargaining. When private workers bargain for wages and benefits- they are going up against the company they work for- in the end the owners/management and the workers come to a deal with their own money- the money the co. makes and the money the people earn. When you carry this into the state/federal arena- you are bargaining with other people’s money, tax payers. After a while- when tax payers are losing homes- making much less pay- no benefits like the public workers are getting, then these taxpayers only resource to even things out is to elect new leaders who will cut benefits. If at that point the representatives of the union’s walk off the job- then they are no longer truly representing all the people in their area- they are representing a sector that supports them- and this is not fair to all the people. Both private sector tax payers- who are footing the bill- and the union workers should have their voices heard]. I do realize that the union workers pay taxes too.
And now to the stock advice; as the tragedy unfolds in Libya, it is surreal to see the Libyan leader giving these disoriented speeches from atop a building on Green Square in Tripoli. He is telling the people ‘sing- dance- be happy- we are people of the revolution’ it truly seems like the man has lost his mind. At one point he said ‘Bin Laden is behind all this- he is spiking the Nescafe [instant coffee] with drugs’. I had a picture in my mind of Bin Laden sitting in some cave in Pakistan- eating his Pakistani Menudo and saying ‘What? I have enough worries without this other madman blaming all this on me!’ The ‘funny’ thing about these guys is we in the west have been fearing an Islamic Caliphate- we seem to think all these radicals/terrorists are plotting in unison to get us. While I’m sure they want to get us- I never realized how inept they were at even controlling their own people- I mean one tyrant blaming a terrorist for the revolt in his kingdom- and telling the world he’s spiking the Nescafe! If the company is smart- they should come out with a new slogan ‘Nescafe- the coffee that tyrants hate’ hey- that’s what I call the capitalist’s dream.
[1609] ‘DID YOU SEE HOW FAST EGYPT FELL?’ God. In Exodus 19 the Lord brings the people to mount Sinai and his first instructions- before giving them the 10 commandments- is he tells them ‘You yourselves have seen what I did in Egypt- and how I bore you on eagles wings and brought you to myself. Now therefore if you will obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession above all people- for all the earth is mine’. Those of you following these posts- especially you guys from the ‘DAYS OF RAGE’ Facebook pages- it is interesting that these instructions were given to the people in the beginning of the 3rd month [bible calendar time] yet as I’m teaching this the 1st time around- by ‘accident’ it just so happens that today is the beginning of the 3rd month [March 1st 2011]. During the current day revolts taking place in the world- Egypt’s rapid fall was indeed a catalyst for the present day revolts. Now in this chapter God uses the reality of what happened in Egypt as an encouragement to bring the people to himself. He says ‘did you not see the quick deliverance in Egypt? Realize I’m at work in this thing- obey my voice- seek me at this time’. As of this morning Libya still hasn’t fallen- yet Gadhafi is the first leader to actually fight his revolt with arms. Many world observers are asking questions ‘has the U.S. responded right? Is Obama doing a good job’ some are calling for a no fly zone- others are wanting to air drop inhumanitarian aid- all in all this is one of those decisions that both the current vice president [Biden] and secretary of state [Clinton] said they sincerely felt candidate senator Obama was not ready for. During the campaign I listened carefully to these 2individuals sincerely make this claim- Biden would say stuff like ‘look- Barak is a good man- with lots of future potential- I do like him- but to be honest- not critical- he just is not ready for the job- he will be tested because of this and I sincerely do not feel he is ready’ the problem with politicians is after they get put on the team they change their tune- say ‘sure we said that- we are all politicians’ well now we need leaders- not a bunch of ‘bull’ [to put it mildly]. Okay- we were naïve to think that all future revolutions would go as smoothly as Egypt- Libya is a tough nut to crack. If the U.S. takes the lead- goes in and takes the man out- what message will it send? Will all the other protestors in ‘friendly’ countries take it as a sign that if things get out of hand- if they put themselves in situations where they get fired on- then we will be forced to intervene? Yes, these are all tough questions- the job of president is tough- thank God we don’t have a bunch of Harry Reid's and John Kerry’s who went around the country accusing the opposing president of being a murderer who purposely tricked us into war and who is an abysmal failure [note- I am against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan- yet the opposing party felt it their duty to speak like this in their criticism of Bush- thank God there are no Republicans who are openly saying this about Obama- behind the scenes- yes- but not in public- yet]. So the choice is tough- our European allies have all been faster and stronger in their condemnations and the present administrations excuse was ‘we had people on the ground’ but now that they’re out [ferried to the island of Malta in the Mediterraneansea] just ‘watch’. Well, I have been watching- there is nothing to see! God willing this administration will get their act together. While I do not advocate an all out invasion- yet when true humanitariancrimes are being committed- you act- remember Bosnia? Another event the Democrats used to criticize the Repub’s for ‘look- we Dem’s use force- we’re not scared’. Just wish people would do their jobs and quit comparing everything to the opposing side. It’s time to act- act.
Note- sanctions and freezing bank accounts and all these types of things are useless when dealing with a real time humanitarian crisis- a possible genocide. These other tools are not the things you use when dealing with crimes of this nature.
Okay- in this chapter [Exodus 19] we see Mount Sinai, a mountain that represents the first covenantGod made with man- the 10 Commandments. In Galatians and Hebrews [chapters 5 and 12 respectively] the bible tells us that we today are at a ‘new mountain’ we have come to a heavenly city- the mountain that represents the New Covenant, called mount Zion- not a physical location any more- but a spiritual community of people- made up of all nations and races- Jews, Arabs, Muslims, everyone is welcome to enjoy the freedom and grace that this new city affords. The New Testament says this city [the church-people of God] has gates that are open all the time- that is people are ‘comingin’ and ‘going out’ 24-7. It is not bound by earthly boundaries- the shaking of nations will not affect it- yet the nations themselves will shake and fall [yes- this actual wording is used in the bible] so today we are seeing a shaking of many nations- people are afraid of radical expressions of Islam- others in the West struggle over the approach- should we quake and fear and give in to worst case scenarios ‘LOOK- THE MUSLIMS ARE TAKING OVER’. The answer is all nations and peoples are going to shake- the govts. of the world are all temporary- yes even the great old U.S. of A. At these times we find stability and freedom in the mountain of God- not Sinai- some old expression of govt. that represented bondage and pain [read Galatians chapter 5!] but we have come to mount Zion- a great assembly of people- from all nations- who are yearning for freedom from oppression- seeking justice and righteousness- rejecting the way of the sword and the gun- yes this new mountain is greater than all the mountains of the earth [Ezekiel, Daniel] and in the last days all the mountains [which represent governments in the bible] of the world will collapse-and the mountain of the Lord will be the only one left standing- flee to that mountain- fast!
Just a note to my Muslim readers- we all have prejudices we need to overcome- even while writing the above post I debated on using the biblical language of Zion. The reason is obvious. Yet in the bible the meaning, as used by the New Testament writers- is not speaking about modern Zionism [a geopolitical view of the world and the present situation in Israel/Palestine] but it speaks about a new reality- that thru Jesus Christ all nations can find peace and harmony thru him. At the end of the day the answer is not going to be found in overthrowing one human govt. for another- but the answer will ultimately be found in Gods government- which is a spiritual kingdom called the kingdom of God [read the gospel of John chapter 3].
[1610] BIG OIL? A few years ago I remember the controversy that arose when gas went up to 3 dollars a gallon. Many blamed Bush for not having an effective energy policy in place- yet many of these same dissenters were also responsible for stopping the drilling for oil off of our coasts- places like Alaska were deemed off limits, not just off the coast, but on land as well. While these issues are highly volatile- many on both sides once again seem to only see their side of the argument- yet we do need to seriously look at our countries long term strategy when debating this issue. The other day I caught an interview between twogovernors- Montana’s and Indiana’s. They were discussing the effectiveness of their fiscal policies [Montana Dem- Indiana Repub] and the Montana gov. defended the union side of the uproar in Wisconsin. He shared how he has worked within the collective bargaining system and has still kept his state in good fiscal condition. I did find it ‘less than honest’ that one of the main reasons the economies of Montana’s area [Northern, central part of the country] are experiencing a sort of boon is because of- well yes- big oil! You know- that smelly disgusting man made product- O wait- I forgot- it actually is not some chemical product of man- it actually is a ‘natural resource’ yes- did you ever think about the fact that oil [unrefined] is in the same category of sand, water, air- yes- it comes from the earth- not from a factory! When we were seeing the B.P. disaster play out on screen- did you [do you now?] see it as some type of 1970’s chemical spill that used to regularly take place in our country? You know the factories used to get away with pouring their chemicals into the rivers and oceans- thanks to environmentalists action- these things have stopped. Yet when we all sat in awe, day after day, watching the B.P. oil spill [yes- it was as fixating as the present Medias obsession with Charlie Sheen] we simply ‘saw it’ as a factory type spill- not an actual natural- earth produced resource- spilling into the gulf. Now- I do understand that man had a hand in the thing- for instance it’s not natural to stick a pipe into the ocean floor and then spill millions of barrels of it into the gulf- yes that was bad- a ‘pollutant’ in the sense of it being a man caused disaster- yet the ingredient itself- oil- is a natural thing- like all other natural resources. So- in the governor’s debate- they never mentioned that the only 2 states that are not facing budget deficits are Montana and North Dakota [they sit side by side on the U.S. Canadian border]. Why? I heard a report the other day on North Dakota- it was an interesting story about the unemployment rate in the state- a little over 3 percent. The report noted how many of the towns can’t keep the shelves of the stores stocked fast enough- people are buying goods left and right- some workers are complaining that after work there are not enough women in town to go out on dates with- the male workers are outnumbering the women by huge majorities. Why? Over the last few years the oil field companies have developed a new way to dig for oil- and this new engineering [not high speed rail!] is creating thousands of jobs in digging for oil. That’s the reason for the boon- for the good fiscal condition of these 2 northern states- its creating jobs- helping our country to not be so dependent on foreign sources- and it’s natural! Yes-the refineries ‘refine’ it- but it’s still a wonderful product. It has been estimated that if we opened up the Alaskan waters for drilling- it would create around 55 thousand jobs- and the oil that we would get would replace the entire amount of oil that might be lost if Libya goes under as an oil producer. The point is we need to be responsible [yes- burning oil is not natural- from vehicles and factories and wherever, and this process does indeedcause air pollution that does contribute to global warming] we need to have policies in place that protect the environment- which is a very valuable natural resource- we don’t want to destroy our land. Yet we also want to look at the reality on the ground- our economy is simply not ready for a massive switch from oil to other products- T. Boone Pickens invested millions into wind mills, made a serious effort at the thing. He has since said it was a huge mistake-why? Because he now realizes that the country does not have the infrastructure to switch over. Some company invested millions into solar roof panels- the same thing happened- they were too expensive and many people simply did not want them. So until we get further down the road in transitioning into a society that uses clean fuels- we’re stuck with oil- you know- that wonderful, natural, earth produced good. I’d rather drill for it off our coasts, then have our kids die for it off Tripoli’s.
[1611] EXODUS 20- God gives the people his law- the famous ’10 commandments’. In Greek it is Decalogue [meaning 10 words] and these laws are actually in the form of an ancient treaty type document- in essence God was not just saying ‘do this- don’t do that’ but he was telling them if they wanted to survive as a people, a society- then they needed law, just principles from which to govern themselves by- and also to holdeach other accountable to their government and God.
As I continue to write and post about current world affairs- I also do lots of actual scholarly studying- I try and ‘mix’ world events in with historical perspectiveand keep my thinking in line with others who have gone on before us- stable thinkers, people who represent a broad range of thought. It’s too easy [and dangerous!] to view all things from a limited perspective- and then to see your view confirmed by your limited reading of the events. I saw a minister on one of the history channel shows speaking about his view of the ‘end of the world’. It was obvious that the program was allowing him to share his view- not because they thought it to be accurate- but because they wanted to show how people can see their beliefs confirmed by world events- if that’s what they want to see. Now- let me give you an example; during WW2 the church in Germany was divided- some wanted to work in accord with the state [Hitler] and others said they wanted no type of ungodly alliances with the state. Men like DietrichBonheofferwould reject Hitler’s ideals and be part of ‘the confessing church’ [those evangelicals who would not work with Hitler]. Another very famous theologian [scholar] would sign his name to an important document that stated the same idea of not condoning Hitler’s regime- his name was Karl Barth [considered by many to be the most influential theologian of the 20th century] the document was called The Barmen Declaration. In these cases the church felt she needed to speak out about world events- to side with those who were being oppressed- and to condemn those who were oppressing.
As I write this morning- we come off a day where our forces accidentally killed 9 Afghan boys who were out collecting wood for fire. Gen. Petraeus publicly apologized. Hamid Karzai is livid [rightfully so] and we are rapidly losing the support of the people [and I don’t blame them]. Yemen's president gave a very revealing speech- he told his country that he was going to ‘reveal a secret’. He said there is a secret operations room in Tel Aviv [Israel] and the purpose for it is to conspire against the Arab world and that the U.S. and Israelregularly meettoplan the overthrow of the Arab world. He obviously feels the heat [like all these other nations- he has protestors in the streets] but the fact that these leaders are actually speaking like this openly- our ties to these Arab nations are over. At the airport in Germany- a Muslim employee opened fire on 4 people- killing 2 American soldiers. Reports are he shouted ‘Allah Akbar’ [God is great] while firing his weapon.
In the media there are 2 narratives you can see; some ‘news organizations’ have made the top stories about Rumsfeld and any past mistakes/possible crimes committed under the Bush administration. Now- I guess there is a proper time for this- but not during the same day when the current administration and U.S. forces are involved in so many real-time scenarios, actual things that can change our world for years to come. Other news channels focus on the worst case scenarios- seeming to leave no room for any hope at all. I think both of these extremes are dangerous for our country- and we need to be realistic about the very real dangers- including our countries financial problems [there is talk in the world about dropping the U.S. dollar as the world reserve currency- and some analysts believe that China and others will stop buying our debt- financing us] These are very real dangers that we face as a country.
So what should the church do? First- I believethe ongoing killing of civilians [even by mistake!] is something that has to stop. Many Americans see the shooting of our soldiers at the German base as ‘terrorism’ and view the accidental killing of the 9 boys as ‘collateral damage’. We must understand- that the mothers of these boys don’t see it like that- and the rest of the Arab world as well. When God gave the people the ‘10 laws’ he was telling them there are some veryfundamental rules that all nations will need to abide by if they want to survive. Most of us are familiar with them- and most of us know what the big one is ‘thou shalt not kill’- I think too many of us have stepped over this line one too many times.
[1612] BEHOLD, I AMMAKING A COVENANT. BEFORE ALLYOUR PEOPLE I WILL DO MARVELS- SO AS HAVE NOT BEEN CREATED IN ALL THE EARTH OR IN ANY NATION, AND ALL THE PEOPLE AMONG WHO YOU ARE SHALL SEE THE WORK OF THE LORD- FOR IT IS AN AWESOME THING THAT I WILL DO WITH YOU. OBSERVE WHAT I COMMAND YOU THIS DAY- EX. 34:10.
In our Exodus study we are actually in chapter 23, but these past few weeksI have been reading thru some key passages and before we get too far in the study I want to make sure we hit them. In the above verse God is telling the people that this deliverance- an actual historical event that took place around 1400 years B.C.- that this Divine change taking place- was a world changing event that had greater implications than what they presently understood. In chapter 23 the Lord tells the people that he is sending his messenger [angel] before them- and they need to pay close attention to the words he is speaking. In the bible [especially the Old Testament] the angel of God at times is associated with God himself. In the book of Revelation God is communicating a prophetic vision to the apostle John thru angels [messengers]. Basically God is telling his people that they need to stay on message- and that the message needs to be in line with his character [my messenger- the things I have/will say]. In another chapter we will hear God tell Moses ‘put the words/law I give you into the box’. God tells Moses to put the 2 tablets of the 10 commandments into the Ark of the covenant- as opposed to what Moses might say or think. The point being all of us [Christian ministers, Jewish leaders, Imams] we need to make sure we are speaking the words of God, not man.
At this time [as I write] I have friends reading these posts from all over the spectrum. Many have been reading straight from the blog site- others from various other spots where these posts show up. As a Christian- I of course hold to the biblical teaching that Jesus is the Messiah- the ‘Son of God’ who came to redeem man and died and rose again for the sins of man. Now- why the emphasis on the term ‘Son of God’. In Islam- many good Muslim people are taught- from their youth- that to even read/say this term is blasphemous. Why? In Islam many believe that using this term means that God ‘had sexual relations’ with the Virgin Mary- and many good Muslims sincerely will not listen to a Christian teacher because they are taught that to even hear the term is wrong. So as Christians we need to explain that in Christian teaching this term does not mean that- the Christian faith teaches that the Holy Spirit did a miracle with the Virgin Mary and Mary became pregnant with Jesus- not by a sexual act- but by a Divine miracle. So some bible versions- in an effort to overcome the obstacle that Muslims have about the term ‘Son of God’ [because they see this term in a different way than Christians] have substituted the words ‘Son of God’ with ‘the one who originates from God’. There is a debate among Christians on whether or not this is right [many Christians do not think this interpretation is acceptable] but it seems to be an honest effort among Christian missionaries to introduce the bible to the Muslim people in a way that allows them to get past the first obstacle- of not even wanting to read the words ‘Son of God’. Okay- said all that to say this- in this study of Exodus- we are reading a real biblical account of what took place in time- an account that Christians, Muslims and Jews all believe in. So as much as I want to continue to make the case for the reality of Jesus as the Son of God, the Messiah- yet at the same time I want to also teach the biblical account in a way that all 3 faiths can learn from. And I want to be able to be a voice of moderation in the conversation
Often time’sradical voices from all 3 of the above religions are the voices that seem to get the most notice. Lastnight I caught an interview with the lawyer who went to the Supreme Court and won the case for the Christian church to protest at the funerals of dead soldiers. Herein the U.S. we have this Baptist church [Westboro Baptist church] that has been holding up picket signs at the funerals of soldiers that say mean- offensive things ‘God hates fags’ and stuff that should not be said. Yet they won their case because it is a free speech issue- and on the program I watched, they let this lawyer- who is also a family member of the preacher of the church- she went on and shared her view about God and the bible- and to be frank it is a very ignorant view- a bigoted idea of God and the bible, yet it is a view that prevails among many Christians [not the ‘God hates fags’ view- but other separatist ideas] and it leaves no room for having a moderate conversation among the other religions of the world. So as we progress in this study- we see the importance of the word of God- the commands and character of God. We see that God is up to something that is bigger- more important than the people understand at the time- and we see that things take time. At the end of the chapter God says as he brings the people into the land- they will not take all the land at once- lest the wild beats take over the land- but he will gave them a little land at a time, just enough territory to establish a functioning society- before gaining new ground.
I think we all need to re evaluate and take a look at the present landscape [both symbolically andgeographically] and give things some time to settle in- to establish rule and order before we take too much area at once. Right now in Libya- there seems to be a standoff between the protestors [rebels- they don’t like this term] and Gadhafi. The country- though big in geographical terms- is relatively small in population [compared to Egypt- 80 million people]. Libya has 6million people- 90 % live right off the Mediterranean coast- and the forces in the east [major city- Ben Ghazi] are up against Gadhafi’s stronghold in the west- Tripoli. As I watch all the reports we need to be careful that we don’t misread the situation—even though there were reports of civilian deaths- it does not look like Gadhafi has opened up his air force on the civilian population- not in a way it was reported at first. So even though we [the west] condemn the deaths that have taken place- I’m not sure that we are seeing what some have described as a Genocide [which I too said in the beginning]. So maybe the Middle East, Africa- and even parts of Asia- maybe it’s time to sit back and regroup some. I’m speaking to those who are wanting freedom- NON VIOLENT protestors who are protesting to gain human rights- I’m not talking military strategy here! Andin today’s chapter [and the verse I quoted at the top] God is saying to the people ‘I am doing an awesome work in the world right now- obey me-listen to my words- I will give you bread [instruction] every morning [the Manna on the ground] I have given you my words [WORDS THATHAVE SAID- DON’T KILL! TO ALL SIDES] make sure you organize your newfound freedom around these things- don’t use this freedom for a chance to sin- to release anarchy/lawlessness [read Galatianschapter 5] but instead use this new freedom to serve God and love your fellow man’.
[1613] DEBT/DEFICIT - Okay- another big news week. Let’s talk a little about the debt/deficit. First, these 2 things are not the same, though in the media they sometimes get confused. This week the ‘left wing’ media has decided to fight against the ‘right wing’ and they had a few talking heads saying ‘there is no debt problem in the country- or in Wisconsin’. And of course the right shot back ‘are you nuts!’ Right now our govt. budget is around 3.5 trillion dollars [what we will spend this year as a govt.- not G.D.P. which is a number we use when talking about the trade deficit- which also gets confused with the govt. deficit- they are also 2 different things] so, we plan on spending 3.5 trillion. We bring in [thru taxes] around 2.4 trillion a year. So we are over budgeted by 1.1 trillion- we will borrow the money to pay the bill. Our debt- the amount that gets put on the credit card- the principle that we borrow- is now 15 trillion dollars. No matter what anybody says- that’s way too much. Why? When Bush took office [G.W.] the debt was 5 trillion- in all the years of the existence of our country- it never went over that number- and it took many years to get there. In 8 years of Bush [and 2 wars] the number hit 10 trillion. It doubled in 8 years. At the time many economists saw a real problem- but being the economy was doing okay- we kinda thought we would pay off the debt [credit card balance] as time went by. Then we had some major financial problems- some thought the world economy was on the brink of disaster- another depression. So we did bailouts- stimulus- things that were debated but cost lots of money. So in 2 years- what has happened to our credit card balance? It went up to 15 trillion. So it took hundreds of years to get to 5 trillion- 8 years under Bush to add another 5 trillion to the card, and then in 2 years we went up another 5 trillion. Too much- too fast. So what about the argument being made by some progressive news folks? The argument makes some sense. For instance all debt is not bad- lets change the above numbers to dollars- if you were making 3,500 a month, and your credit card balance was 15 thousand, and your expenses were 2,400- then in that scenario the debt would be okay- and it would be silly to take all your income to pay off the card- no- you need to use some for the car payment, the house payment- etc. That’s the argument being made right now from the left- but when the income is 2,400- the expenses 3,500- and you’re adding 1,100 to the credit card [actually every year- but you get the picture] then the debt problem is severe. So the truth is we have a big problem- yes it would be foolish to try and use all the income to pay off the card- but it’s also silly to say there’s really no problem [like some are now saying- Paul krugman from the N.Y. times espouses this idea and MSNBC has chosen to run with it]. So that’s why the congress is haggling over these Continuing Resolutions- basically extended the budget by 2 weeks at a time- cutting around 4 billion dollars every 2 weeks. In the long run they want to cut thisyears spending by 60 billion- some say that’s too much for one chunk. It would be like cutting the 3,500 a month spending [in the above scenario] to 3,440- really not that much in the big picture- because that hardly brings the long term debt down. So in my mind this is a real problem- and we as a country have not dealt with it yet. So that’s the scoop- is all debt bad debt? No. Is our current situation bad? Yes. Once again, this is a story that both sides like to tell- but they usually make their argument sound the best- while making the other side look like liars.
[1614] THE NEW POLICE CHIEF?- Over the last few months I have read lots of news articles on the uptick in local arrests. Just read a story on the cars auctioned that were towed during the recent road blocks- the local police blockaded various roads in town and towed lots of vehicles- the owners did indeed violate the law- they had no insurance. Many of these violators are not ‘out right’ law breakers- like all the guys I have worked with thru our ministry [I’m the director of Corpus Christi Outreach Ministries] some are just mom and pop types who live week to week on their paycheck- yet they couldn’t afford the tow fee and fine- and they lost their vehicles. And the ‘straw’ that broke the camel’s back- yesterday I saw a story about the increase in arrests on the crime of auto theft- a very serious offense. They showed how over the last few years they have sent many ‘car thieves’ to prison- for many years. The story went on to explain how the local cops have taken advantage of a program where you use dummy cars- cars that are left with the keys in them- or with goods out in the open to see- and they catch unsuspecting ‘criminals’ and after they take the car [sometimes a college kid on a prank joy ride!] then the car shuts down- the doors lock- and everything is caught on video. Yes- another criminal sent to prison for many years. I have friends who have shot people dead. Stabbed and murdered people in cold blood. Some have already done prison time and are out. Some have simply gotten away with it [they didn’t confess- all the locals know ‘so and so killed so and so’ and they realize the cops are too busy with all these other projects]. O, I forgot- the reason the D.U.I. arrests are up- is because the new chief started stationing the patrol cars at the club parking lots on the weekends- yes- you can increase the D.U.I arrests by doing this- it’s really not that hard. The question has to be asked- is the new chief really cracking down on crime [like the guys who are actually getting away with murder- because the word on the street is ‘you can kill someone- just make sure you have proof of insurance’!] We need to ask the question, have we sent some stupid college spring break kids to prison- because they saw a car with the keys in it and took it [a prank- yes wrong- yet something I did myself 35 years ago- with an old buddy- in another state]. If we have all the cops spending their time doing these types of things- yet at the same time serious murders are not being solved- then there might be a real problem here. As a retired Firefighter- I know what it’s like when a new chief comes to town [whether fire or police]. They realize their job depends on the increase in arrests and so forth- so it’s obvious to me that this new chief has mastered the game. But is he just padding his resume? I have a tremendous problem with the entrapment game with the cars. If the cops are leaving vehicles all over the place- saying ‘go ahead- try it’ then you might simply be putting college pranksters in prison- sure they ‘did it’- but geez- people have killed people- for real- and the word on the street is- the cops are too busy towing grandpas vehicle [or grandmas!] and all the time others are getting away with murder.
NOTE- I have no personal knowledge/proof of unsolved murders. Some have simply not been prosecuted- they were arrested for murder- yet they never were prosecuted. Others have done time- and other cases are ‘word of mouth’ type things- yet the ‘feeling’ is these guys are getting away with murder. We have local cases of cars pulling up- in public during the day- to other vehicles and killing the driver. These cases are all going unsolved. If the police are unable to stop these types of crimes- or solve them- then are they really cracking down on crime by doing all these other things? That’s the question that needs to be asked.
[1615] EXODUS 33- The Lord tells his people that they must get up from the place they are at- Mount Sinai- and move on to the new place he has promised to them- Canaan [the Promised Land]. Okay- symbolically what does this mean? Sinai represents law, promised land= the Cross, the ‘new land’ of grace and freedom found in Christ. In the New testament- this is the way all the apostles dealt with these promises [Hebrews, Galatians, Peter’s sermons in Acts]. It is vital for Christians [especially T.V. preachers!] to get this right. The message to the Muslim/Arab world is not ‘God is taking sides in a land war in Israel/Palestine’ but the message is ‘in Jesus, all nations/ethnic groups are welcome- leave Sinai [the old law mentality of seeing God thru the lens of a strict judge who wants to get you] and come to the ‘new land’ this land of grace where Jesus took upon him the sins of the whole world and bore the punishment for us’ this is really the message of Christianity- many people see Christianity/Christendom thru a 2 thousand year history [okay to do- I too am a historian] but they look at the mistakes- the Crusades- the Christian hatred of Jews that existed- the Muslim/Christian battles- many people do not really see the true message of the Cross- the new land of grace and acceptance thru Jesus- they are stuck at Sinai[a mountain that we already saw was fearful, people trembled- were scared- strict judgment] and can’t seem to get to the next mountain.
Also the Lord tells the people ‘take off your costume jewelry’ they wore the celebratory stuff- sort of like Mardi Gra stuff- when they sinned while worshipping their idols. God says ‘it’s not a performance- yourservice to me, your worship- take the fake stuff off’. In Matthews gospel- chapters 6-7,Jesus says ‘this thing is not theatre- how to perform and gain an audience’ I mean you can’t get stronger than that. Jesus also says ‘prayer is not mastering some type of formula to get what you want- create lots of wealth’ I mean he really takes to task the majority of AmericanChristianity- a huge percentage of it is really performance- seeing ‘church’ as a place where we go once a week and actually watch a stage/theatre performance- ouch! God told the people ‘get rid of the costume jewelry- I have more important stuff for you’. Right now there is a lot of stuff happening in the world- the voice of the church needs to be a voice for justice in the earth. I watched an interview on Fox news this weekend- the host described our wars as just- and the Muslim/Arab side as terrorism. I had just read a news article describing the accidental killings of the 9 Afghan boys who were gathering fire wood while our attack helicopters killed them. The boys were between 5 and 11 years old. One boy- the only survivor, named Hamed- said as they were in the field they heard the chopper coming. Of course it’s a scary sight for little boys. Then as the chopper left- it came back again- like stalking them. They stood still- until the first boy was mowed down. They ran in all different directions- the chopper methodically hunted the boys down- one by one. This boy survived because a tree fell on him and hid him. I know our side thought the boys were enemy combatants- I know we did not intend for this to happen. But to excuse our actions- to say ‘we are just’ and the other side- some who are simply fighting for the Taliban because they need the job- to say they are immoral- and we are moral- seems like a joke after hearing about the deaths of these boys. May God have mercy on all of us.
[1616] EXODUS 34- This chapter is real important- God tells Moses to come back up into the mountain to receive the 2nd set of the 10 commandments. Moses actually broke the 1st set- when he came down from the mountain the 1st time with the 2 tablets- he saw the people rebelling [the story of worshipping the golden calf and all] and when he saw it he flipped out [yes- Moses had an anger problem- it eventually kept him from going into the promised land] and broke the tablets. So in this chapter he goes up for the 2nd time and God writes on the tablets again. I see this as a spiritual symbol of Jesus and the New Covenant. Jesus is called the mediator of the New Covenant- a 2ndcovenant that is better than the 1st [Hebrews] so this ‘2nd set’ of commandments can be a type of the 2nd law. Now Moses speaks to the people- and he doesn’t realize that his face is shining. So after he speaks with the people- he puts a veil on his face until he goes to meet with God again. Each time he meets with God- he comes back- talks with the people- and puts the veil on. In 2ndCorinthians chapter 3 the apostle Paul says this is an example of the blindness of natural Israel- that is they don’t fully see Jesus as the Messiah. As a Jew himself- Paul wanted his fellow Jews to also believe in the messiah [Romans 9-10] and he did all he could to argue for the reality of Jesus as being the Messiah [read the sermons in the book of Act’s] so Paul says the Jewish people [his own nation/people] have a sort of spiritual veil over their faces [actually it covers Moses face- a type of Jesus. Meaning Jesus is right there- in front of them, but they see a figure- but are unable to truly see his identity- sort of like a man wearing a veil]. So Paul uses this story to preach Christ. Just like the Manna, just like the Ark, the Tabernacle- as we read Exodus we are really seeing an unveiling of the person and work of Christ.
Okay- as we finish this short study over the next day or 2- let me also try and tie up a few lose ends. Those of you who have been reading this site for a while realize I was in the middle of a few other studies before I jumpedinto this series- which I will call ‘Insights from a Revolution’. The reason being the Asian/Persian world is on fire- Revolutions- civil wars [Libya] lots of stuff came up. I also finished the ChristopherHitchens book [god is not great- Hitchens is an atheist and I have been reproving him]. For the sake of not wanting to give him any more ‘air time’ than I had to- I stopped correcting his many mistakes [yes- Many!]. I plan on reviewing and critiquing the other ‘new atheists’ in the coming months- Hitchens is considered the smartest of the bunch [Dawkins, Harris, etc.] so I figured if we ‘throw him under the bus’ then we would have taken down the top dog. Let me finish Hitchens by saying the guy is outright mean- calls Mother Theresa ‘a troll’- refers to princess Dianna as a ‘land mine’ [she was known for her international work with getting rid of land mines]. Why? He says ‘there easy to lay- and cause lots of damage’. Hitchens is not a man that anyone should look up to. I felt he was a liar- conniver- snake oil salesman. One last example- he mentions the bible story of the graves of people opening up by an earthquake the day Jesus was crucified- the bible does indeed say this- I have read this many times over the years [in the gospel]. The bible says that AFTER Jesus rose from the dead [3 days later] that the bodies of believers who were in these open graves rose too- a sort of ‘first fruits’ resurrection. The apostle Paul says [1stCorinthians 15] that Jesusresurrection was the ‘first fruits’ you could include this small group of dead saints in with this group [called the 1st fruits]. These believers eventually died again- and will receive their new resurrected bodies at the 2ndcoming. Now- why get into this? Hitchens uses this story- and says ‘see- the bible says these saints rose before Jesus- the day he was crucified- this challenges the whole theory that Jesusrose from the dead 1st’. Now- like I said before- Hitchens claims to be a regular bible student- and its stuff like this that causes an alarm bell to go off in my head when I read it. The man is obviously lying- lying for money [a crass seller of books! You know- the same complaint atheists make all the time against believers, money grubbers]. And he uses this actual story- more than once- to prove a point- that is wrong!
There was something else that happened on the day Christ died. In the story of Exodus- when Moses builds the actual tabernacle- he puts this huge veil over a room called ‘the holy of holies’. The tabernacle [little church like structure that held the Ark and stuff] had 2 rooms in it- the 1st room- called the ‘1st room’ [Hebrews 9-10] or the holy place- had the table of showbread, the candlestick- a few other things. Then you had this huge veil covering the 2nd room-called the holy of holies. That’s the room that contained the box [ark] with the 10 commandments in it [I wrote about this in the previous post called ‘don’t look in the box!’]. This room was divided from the 1st room by the veil. So eventually King David would start building the temple- and his son Solomon would finish it. Over the centuries the temple took the place of the tabernacle system. In the temple of Jesus day- built by Herod- it was a magnificent structure- the central place of worship and religion for the Jewish people. In this huge temple there was actually a huge veil- a veil that divided the holy of holies from the 1st room- just like the original tabernacle built by Moses some 1400 years before. The day Jesusdied- the bible says ‘the veil of the temple was ripped from the top to the bottom’. God did a miracle [maybe the same earthquake that broke open the graves shook the building and it separated the veil?] and the veil was ripped apart- signifying the reality that because of Jesus death on the Cross we now have openaccess to God- no more veil. This event is recorded in the history books of Jesus day- Paul says there is coming a time when ‘the veil’ [spiritual blindness of people] will be removed- and people will say ‘wow- now I see it- I never saw it before- but now it makes sense’. Are you still wearing a veil?
[1617] WISCONSIN- I’m just about to finish our short study in Exodus- will of course continue to comment on the protests going on in the world- but will probably do one more post on the Exodus thing. I am going to start a study on Islam- yes- we will be getting into areas that are confrontational, talking about the rise of radicalism- are all Muslims radical? Stuff like that. Today, Peter King- the rep. from N.Y. begins hearings on the subject. Some are calling him a modern day Joe McCarthy- others see him as a sort of hero. So we will be trying to teach what Muslims actually believe- and whether or not Islam even has one monolithic voice.
Okay- let’s see if we can discuss the current mood in the country and maybe try and mix it in with our Modernity study [yes- I still have that study to finish too]. Last night the governor of Wisconsin pulled a ‘fast one’. The state house has been in disarray for weeks- the Dems walked out- denying the quorum needed for the Repub’s to vote on the budget- and to ‘strip’ the workers of their ‘rights’. So after a few weeks of waiting, the Republicans did an end run and separated the Collective Bargaining language from the rest of the bill and passed it on a party line vote- 18 to 1. The fugitive Democrats [hiding out in Illinois] came racing back to the state and the protestors were ransacking the state house late last night. MSNBC reported that the governorsingle-handedly stripped the workers of 50 years of their rights. Rachel Maddow reported that the rights he took away- Collective Bargaining- had nothing to do with money or costs to the state- but they were only ‘workers rights’ [sort of like safe working conditions and stuff like that]. And the Right wingers reported it as a victory for the American taxpayer. Who’s right? Okay- my firefighter union brothers might get mad- but let me let you in on a secret. For 25 years I was involved with bargaining for our ‘rights’ [we never say we are bargaining for money- we always say ‘for the safety of the people’] over the years we mastered the procedure. Our contract with the city had ‘automatic overtime’ at one time we worked out a deal where the city had to pay us overtime- automatically- for every 2 out of 3 checks. It was a complicated change in state law that said employees working more than 40 hours a week had to get paid overtime.Well we worked 24 hours on- 48 off. We averaged 56 hours a week- and the 2 pay periods that racked up 120 hours on the time card gave us ‘automatic overtime’- one check would have 96 hours of pay- so we actually had to work a few hours at straight pay before we would even get overtime. Now- every so often a new commissioner would get elected- he would see this [as well as other deals we had made with previouscommissioners] and he would want to ‘correct it’. Go ahead- try your best buddy! We would send our team down to bargain [remember- we had collective bargaining] and the city would send their team. O yeah- we were bargaining with them to reduce overtime- and if ‘our team’ were on duty that day- well yes- we called in overtime to cover the shift because we were short handed- you know- bargaining with the city. Hey- this would drag on for months- years- heck it was getting us more overtime! Well, eventually the novice councilman would catch on- realize it was no skin off our back [or money from our pockets] and he would call it a day- smart man. We also ‘bargained’ for paid holidays- the way that worked was every year the city gave their employees 7 paid days off- you know, Christmas, new years- etc. So we of course had to work those days [1 shift out of 3 would always be on duty one of those days] so we got the city to pay us overtime for that day. Even though we weren’t actually working ‘overtime’ yet we bargained for it and they paid us. Now- when you work a 24 hour shift- getting overtime would add around 5-700 hundred extra- just for that day! You say ‘what a deal’ we’ll wait. We also bargained for ‘the right’ to sell back that same holiday- yes- even if you worked the day, got paid the overtime- you could still sell the day- and get another 24 hours of overtime- for the same day. Every now and then a city leader would catch on- see the deals that were made- and they would think ‘darn it- we must change this’ okay- lets go back to ‘the bargainingtable’ and O yea- more overtime!
Now- when RachelMaddow- or Michael Moore go on national T.V. - telling the world ‘these people are just trying to hold on to their rights’ we do indeed like that. Look- all deals are not like the ones I just showed you- but many times it’s stuff like this that the management has worked with for years [like Walker’s past dealings with negotiating] and they sincerely do want to get rid of bargaining- as well as ‘bust the union’. So you have both sides doing their best to portray it in the best possible light.
A few points to keep in mind. What Walker and the Repub’s did was really not the end of the world- to be fair. Some states do not have collective bargaining [Virginia]. The public sector workers in those states do just about as well as the sates with it. Just recently, president Obama ‘arbitrarily’ froze the pay of federal employees- how could he do that! The law does not allow federal workers to have collective bargaining- so Obama did what MSNBC calls dictatorial- one man rule- a Nazi! Yes- the president did not bargain for the freeze- something that would have never passed if the workers had collective bargaining- the president had the ‘right’ to freeze their pay- the same thing that Walker wants to do in Wisconsin- have the ability to ‘freeze pay’ without having to bargain with us- you know- the overtime kings! Now do you see a little more? Now- say if Walker stripped the whole sate of collective bargaining [like other states have done] say if he even outlawed unions! What would the public sector workers have left? Would they simply be like the average Joe in the private sector- basically if you don’t like the job- leave. No- we still have what’s called ‘Civil Service protection’ what? Yes- as a firefighter- even if I had no Union- no collective bargaining- the city still couldn’t just up and fire me- I could appeal to the Civil service commission and they would hold a hearing on my case and I would either win or lose. Now- in Wisconsin you have the Civil Service protections- you have the Unions- and you still have collective bargaining [even for those who just got stripped of it- they still retain a portion of it for wages]. To describe this as some sort of outrageous overthrow of the rights of people is a bit much- but heck- if the governors/leaders want a fight- by golly we will fight- to the end! O- and we might need some overtime to do it. [we’ll do the modernity thing later].
[1618] I DID WHAT YOU ASKED- Today we close our brief study from Exodus ‘Insights from a Revolution’. In chapter 40 Moses finally completes the vision God gave him [vision- purpose] for the Tabernacle- he completes it 9 months after they arrived at Sinai [it took some time to establish order!] Just a short re-cap; when God delivered his people out of Egypt- he gave them this tent system where you had the Tabernacle [small building] you had this fence around it- you had the ‘outer courts’ and the area inside the courts. You had the Ark of the Testimony, the box that held the 10 commandments- a sample portion of Manna[the bread God gave them every morning for 40 years] and Aaron’s rod/stick that ‘budded’- a story we didn’tcover, it was a sign God gave the people that he was choosing the Aronic priesthood to be the priests. They took sticks from different tribes and the stick that would miraculously bud was the tribe that God chose. So you had this whole system set up as an example from God that would eventually be fulfilled thru Christ. This tent system became the Temple of Jewish history- and in Jesus day they had this system expanded on a huge scale at the Temple in Jerusalem. It’s sometimes referred to as the 2nd Temple- the one that was rebuilt after the children of Israel returned from captivity [a few hundred years B.C.]but it was rebuilt again- a 3rd time- under Herod, the Roman ruler who ruled right before Jesus was born [you also had another Herod- the title was passed on- during Jesus day]. This Temple was eventually destroyed under the Roman general- Titus- in a.d. 70. There has not been a Jewish temple since- the actual spot where the temple was- that spot is the same spot of this huge Muslim Mosque in the city of Jerusalem today. If you ever see an air view of Jerusalem you will see this huge mosque in the center of the city- that’s the same spot where the last Temple sat. So today there are lots of end times teachers with all types of views about the rebuilding of a 3rd [or 4th] Temple- scenarios of a re instituting of the sacrificial system- a view of a person called the anti Christ who will establish a covenant with Israel and 3.5 years into the 7 year peace treaty he breaks the treaty. All these scenarios are simply speculation- they do come from a sort of montage of verses scattered thru out the bible [Daniel, Matthew, Thessalonians, Revelation, etc.] but they are only one point of view- most bible scholars do not hold to this view- often referred to as dispensationalism- too long to get into it now. The main point I want to make is God used this whole system to show mankind that the only way he could dwell with man- was thru some sort of system that showed the sinfulness of man and the holiness of God- and that man can only approach God thru a sacrifice- the animals and blood were only a symbol of the future day when Jesus would come and die for the sins of the whole world [Hebrews- the book in the New Testament says this]. This whole story points to Jesus and Gods desire to redeem all mankind- regardless of ethnic/social status- to save men and rescue them thru the death and resurrection of His Son. Jesus truly is the sacrifice that saves man- he died for our sins. God gave Moses and the people this system of govt. that would follow them thru the rest of their history. Moses finished the work God gave him to do- and today this prophetic picture lives on in both the bible and on the Hollywood screen- most of us have seen some portrayal of it on the big screen [like CharltonHesston in the classic movie- the 10 commandments]. Some of you might have learned a new thing as we did this brief study- maybe the purpose of the lid on the box, the Mercy Seat. Maybe some other thing stuck in your mind- that’s good- we want everybody to get an interest in this stuff- most people think the bible is a book that is boring- hard to understand. Yet it’s meant to capture your mind thru stuff like this- to see that the bible stories are actual historical events- events that still have meaning for our day- and they all point to God’s mercy and love for all mankind- not a story where God is some Western deity who takes sides in military ventures- that’s not the message of the gospel. God has made a way for all people to get in on this- he’s not advocating a certain type of religion- he’s saying he has already given his Son to die for the whole world- Jesus said on the Cross ‘It is finished’ the book of Hebrews says Moses was faithful to finish building the earthly house [tabernacle] that God told him to build- he finished the job. Hebrews also says Jesus was faithful in his house- in completing the mission and in completing it he too is building a house- the house of God- the church. This ‘building’ is open to everyone 24 hours a day- a spiritual temple made without human hands. John the apostle said ‘whoever hears this- let him come and take of the water of life freely’ [Revelation] Have you heard?
[1619] EARTHQUAKE- Of course you know by now that right off the coast of Japan there was a major earthquake- 8.9 on the Richter scale. The worst recorded one to ever hit Japan. The 5th largest on record [in at least the last 100 years] and the damage is great. As I watched the coverage- saw all the pictures of the devastation- my daughter just walked in the door. I told how big this event is- a major event- she saw the pictures and I did say we don’t know how bad all the damage is yet- and that the West coast is being hit by the wave right now. I guess she thought it was worse than I knew it to be, she said ‘well dad, is there anything we can do to survive it’? She is 19, and she was not kidding. I of course told her that the wave she was seeing was not going to hit us- but still she had some doubts. I guess it didn’t help when I got up to walk away- ‘where you going dad’ I’ll be sitting in the Kayak in the garage. Okay- how should we respond? Do these events mean anything? You bet they do. First- I’m not a ‘birther’ when it comes to end times stuff- I do not teach or believe many of the Armageddon scenarios that you see in the books and movies of prophecy preachers- yet I do very much believe the bible. What did Jesus say about this stuff? In Matthew 24 Jesus says there will be signs of the end of the ‘world’ [Greek word means age- a set period of time]. The signs would include wars and lawlessness. You would have people’s hearts failing them for fear- seeing all these things. And yes- there would be an increase in earthquakes and natural disasters. I have been saying for the last few months that I believe most people do not really see the seriousness of many present world situations- the unrest on the NorthAfrican continent- the very serious debt problem that plagued Europe [and still does] and the fact that other countries and even companies that rate debt risk [like Moody’s] have played with the idea that the U.S. govt. might lose its credit rating. Our debt- nearing 15 trillion- is a major risk for our economy- and if other countries begin to see us as a serious debt risk- we will indeed be in lots of trouble. Why is our govt. doing these 2 week extensions on our budget? Near the end of last year the President should have done a budget- at the time the Democrats held the House, Senate and executive branch [Like Chuck Schumer likes to say ‘all 3 branches of govt.’! Inside joke- on a Sunday talk show he did refer to these as the 3 branches of govt. obviously the 3 branches are Executive, Judicial and Legislative- not Executive, House and Senate]. The Dem’s did not do a budget. Why? It was the 1st time in years that one party controlled the Presidency, House and Senate- why not just do one? Every news person knew why- they did not want to have to face the voting public with just presenting a budget with/without cuts- they simply did not do their job- to be honest. Now, they just came off a tough health care vote- the House was also forced to vote on a disastrous ‘Energy’ bill- which thank God did not pass- especially with our present gas prices- and they felt like [They=Dem’s] they already took too many tough votes for Obama- and they did not want to do any more. So what happened? Well the Repub’s took control of the House [with a bunch of freshman Tea Partier’s] and the Dems held the Senate. Okay- will you pass one now? Actually- the best way to describe what happened is the line that Keith Olberman began running with before he quit his job at MSNBC- he immediately began saying ‘Okay Boehner- you guys are now in charge- where are the jobs’ yes- night after night this was the new message. One question- the Dem’s still held the Senate and the Executive branch- are you kidding me! But that is exactly the strategy that the President has run with- he indeed has chosen- along with the Dem’s in the Senate- to leave the cuts up to the Repub’s. They were obviously told by the insiders ‘look- we know we really need to address the debt problem- butlets ignore the thing- give no serious cut proposals- and the new Tea Party nut jobs will force the more moderate Repub’s to bite the bullet for us- and we will eventually vote for it- like our hands were tied behind our backs- and they will get the blame’. Now- will this strategy work? Probably to a degree- but the fact is it really is a total failure on the part of the president and the Dem’s- they should have passed a budget last year. Now we are in the new year- and some are saying ‘well Repub’s- the ball is in your court’. They are still the majority for heaven’s sake- present something with at least 30 billion dollars of cuts [which would be half of what the Repub’s are offering in cuts]and be serious about it. Even Joe Manchin- the new Dem. Senator has said this is exactly what the president is doing- he purposely is not presenting a real proposal [ any proposal!] and at the same time is taking the attitude of Olberman ‘you guys are in charge-you do it’. This is bad- very bad. So anyway I see all the events taking place in the world- the continued unrest with the protests [called lawlessness by Jesus in the above chapter] the earthquakes and wars and economic unrest- and in the midst of it all Jesus also said ‘when you see all this taking place- all these signs- don’t get too worried- for all these things must come to pass’. As believers we go thru stuff- the world shakes and ‘tribulates’ the Tea Bags are selling like Hot Cakes- yet we trust in God. We pray for the Japanese [it really is such a tragedy- of course their country has already experienced the worst radiation fallout in world history- thanks to the good old U.S. of A. and they are in danger of another one with their Nuclear Reactors cooling problems] and we know that we have a kingdom that cannot be shaken- we are part of the great Kingdom of God- one that will endure for eternity [even if you get tempted every now and then to go sit in the Kayak in the garage].
[1620] JAPAN- As of last night, the disaster in Japan is far greater than originally thought. The building surrounding the nuclear reactor blew up in dramatic fashion- the leaders were claiming that the steel casing around the reactor was intact. It seems like the leaders might be covering something up- or maybe they don’t know everything that’s going on inside. The death toll is sure to climb, though they talk about the numbers as in the hundreds- or right around 1800 hundred, yet they say ‘9,000’ are missing [which means swept out to sea]. Now- what does all this mean? The U.S. economy [and govt.] rely heavily on 2 nations that serve as our ‘bank’. Japan used to be our number one borrower- they bought our debt. China just recently surpassed Japan as our number one buyer of debt. So Japan is our 2nd biggest ‘bank’[both nations hold right around 900 billion of U.S. debt- other nations also hold our debt- own our credit cards- yet Japan and China are our biggest banks].Okay- this past year we have made trips to the region- have had our debates over fiscal policy [with China] and we have done our best to keep a fairly good relationship going [even willing to overlook real human rights abuses- with China] in order to keep the cash flowing. So what now? Well look at it as if your number 2 credit card co. just went under- that’s what has happened. Japan is in no position to keep buying our debt- and they will not be in that position again for a long time. Now Japan too is in debt- but most of their debt has been bought by private investors who are Japanese- they are not dependant like us on a foreign nation [s]. So we just lost a very important bank. It’s not the end of the world for us- but not good at a time when we thought we were going to really come out of this recessionary stagnation- our country actually showed some good financial signs in recent weeks- yet this confluence of events [Arab unrest, Revolts, Libya- earthquakes, etc.] is sure to put a hold on any real strong economic growth. Now- the president gave a speech the other day-and surprisingly his number one concern was to convince the public that he is not at fault for high gas/oil prices. It was very strange for him to have focused so much on not wanting the blame. He gave some numbers- all in all he was not being totally honest with us. There are presidents who are ‘pro big oil’ [Bush] and others who simply are not. It’s not to say the more environmentally minded presidents are bad [Teddy Roosevelt did a great thing by preserving our natural habitat] but it’s deceiving to be on the less ‘big oil’ side- and then say you are one of the biggestproponents of big oil to ever be on the scene. Overall our country currently produces 7 millionbarrels of oil a day. We use around 20 million barrels daily. So we import the difference. Our country used to produce 10-11 million barrels a day- do the math- it’s not hard to figure this thing out. Now- why did oil prices drop recently? Japan is the 3rd biggest economy in the world [behind theU.S. and China]. The facts on the ground are Japan will not be using the large amounts of oil that they were expected to use- because they obviously will be struggling for quite some time to get back up and running again. So the demand for oil on the world market has just gone down. Overall this Japan disaster will affect the global economy in a much greater way than the unrest in Libya- Libya is important mainly because they produce oil- but their overall economy is in shambles- and has been for years. Japan is/was an economic powerhouse- a major player on the world stage. For them to have suffered such a ,major disaster- this is really devastating- if you add up all the things going on in the word right now- we haven’t been this ‘shaky’ in years- probably since the world wars. I’m not saying that will happen- I’m saying we have not seen this type of global upheaval since that time. Yes other events have happened that were big- Vietnam- 911- etc. But the totality of recent events is huge. Pray for the Japanese people- pray for Libya [Gadhafi is taking advantage of the worlds eyes being on Japan] and put your trust in God- there are many in the media who are not being upfront about the real dangers we are now facing- they do not want to cause people to panic- yet anyone who follows the events realizes we are in a very dangerous time- don’t fear- but recognize the time we are in.
[1621] TO BE HONEST- IT IS STRANGE TO BE HERE AGAIN- A few weeks ago I wrote a few posts on the ‘end of the world’ and the strange events of fish deaths and bird kills and things that seemed to be signs of the end of the world. Of course since that time many events have really unraveled and some of them are really big! So let’s talk a little. In Revelation chapter 8 we read about the plagues that will come upon the earth when God’s judgment is being released. I also spoke about Jesus words in Matthews’s gospel the other day. Do all these passages primarily speak of a future judgment? Not necessarily- though you can most certainly apply it that way. There are various views of interpretation that bible students use when reading these types of passages [types= apocalyptic- a certain genre of writing]. Some view the events through an historical view- others are what you would call Futurist- and some are a mix between the 2 [basically my own view]. I do think more people need to become familiar with the historical view a bit more. For instance many bible/history students have shown how many of the signs that Jesus gave about the ‘end of the world/age’ were fulfilled at the time of the destruction of the Temple in a.d. 70. It’s a bit much to cover it all here- but there are actual historical reports of people having seen visions of chariots of fire in the sky at the time of the incident- things that most certainly could fit into the signs in the sky imagery used in this type of writing. Okay- in Revelation chapter 8John writes about the vision of these 7 angels blowing 7 trumpets- these trumpets are 7 judgments from God. The first 4 are spoken about in chapter 8. They begin with natural disasters- fish dying and stuff like that. Have we seen these things recently? Yes- as matter of fact right before the earthquake there was another story of a bunch of fish dying off the west coast- I remember it because they looked like a sea of dead anchovies- once again there was really no explanation. So in this chapter we see this sign as a judgment from God.When you get to the 3rd angel blowing his trumpet- there is a star that falls from heaven and it lands in the sea and causes the waters to become bitter [poisonous]. You also see an angel take a censor filled with incense and he casts it violently into the earth. The censor represents the prayers of Gods people- those who have been crying out for justice for centuries- and when the censor hits the ground there are flashes of lightning and thunder and yes- an earthquake. So all these images do speak about Gods judgmentbeing manifest in the earth. One of the reports I heard about the Japanese earthquake was that the sea floor was examined and found to have a 150 mile long crack- 50 miles wide. That’s no minor event my friends. The earth has actually shifted off its axis and Japan has moved over around 8 feet [of course Japan is group of Islands]. The bible speaks about the ground/earth in a way that we are not familiar with in the 21st century. It speaks about the ground as being given to man by God- man is a caretaker of the things that transpire on the earth. When Cain killed his brother Abel [Genesis 4] the bible says the blood of Abel cried out to God from the ground- the book of Revelation speaks about all the blood of the martyrs [and innocents- like abortion] crying out to God for vengeance. In a strange way God hears the 'testimony’ of the innocent victims- it cries out to him from the ground. The new testament says the Blood of Jesus also ‘speaks’ [Hebrews] it says his Blood does not cry out for vengeance [like Abel’s] but it ‘speaks better things that that of Abel's’ blood. The Blood of Christ- shed on the Cross- says ‘God forgive them, they don’t know what they are doing’.Jesus’ blood offers forgiveness to mankind. As we see the shaking in the earth today- the huge crack in the foundation- it is a sign of pent up injustices- innocent victims who have been killed and brutalized for many years- Despots who have gotten away with murder- literally. Christians/innocents who have cried out to God for centuries. We are truly living in a unique time- many events converging at one time- let the Blood of Christ speak for you- the Blood that says ‘I forgive you’ if not- we will all be left standing with only the blood of innocents crying out for vengeance from the ground- the ground that has a fifty mile crack in it.
[1622] ARE THE JAPANESE DISPROVING FREUD? One of the narratives coming from the Japan disaster is the response of the Japanese people. In contrast to our Katrina tragedy the Japanese are very self reliant. Jack Cafferty [CNN] read an email from some elderly lady who contrasted the 2 responses. She called the Louisiana residents who looted, killed, complained and wined- she said ‘those scumbags’ [ouch!] What are we seeing in the Japanese people? The media are referring to them as Stoic’s- the philosophy [ancient Greek- one of only 2 philosophies mentioned by name in the bible- Acts chapter 17 mentions the Stoic’s and Epicureanism] that said the secret to life is living on an even plane. Don’t get too ‘up’ or too down- just ride the wave of life as moderately as you can. The other side of the coin is Hedonism- the philosophy of men like Freud- who taught that the problem with man is that he is taught to restrain himself [by religion] and that this restraint is itself a product of neurosis. Freud was a strange fellow, the father of modern Psychoanalysis; his ideas were actually quite weird. As a Jew [non practicing] he embraced the higher criticism of his day [a way of interpreting the bible as not being actually true- just good stories] and he sought to come up with an explanation for mans religious bent. So he came up with the idea of the Oedipal Complex- a strange view of man that said the real problems of man are they have this view of love and hate for the father figure- and the ‘real’ story of Moses and the children of Israel was the Jews killed Moses in the wilderness [hatred for the father figure] they then felt guilty about it- and out of this guilt they would eventually develop a ‘religion of the Son’ [Christianity] and Walla- that’s the real story. You would be surprised how many people hear silly stuff like this in life [or college!] and they never give it a second thought. Like Pope Benedict says in ‘Jesus of Nazareth’ [1st book of a trilogy on the life of Christ] he mentions the theories of the critics [men like Bultmann] and he then responds ‘and how do you know this’?Bultmann [one of the famous liberal theologians of the day] would come up with ideas like this- and he would just espouse them. The funny thing about these critics was they were trying to challenge the historical accuracy of the bible- are the gospels true- stuff like that. And in their challenge they would ‘make up’ their own stuff [Oedipal complex] and simply expect everyone to believe it. So Freud taught that we need to free man from this neurosis of religion- this thing in society that says ‘restrain yourself’ and if we teach man to do and be all that he feels like doing- then we will have healed him of this destructive religious belief that developed out of a secret love/hate relationship of father. Wow. I can think of no greater philosophy to not live your life by than that. How did the Freudian experiment turn out? It was/is a disaster- I’m not just saying this as a Christian who rejects Freud’s atheism- but many of his ideas have also been roundly rejected by the psychologists of the modern day. Freud actually taught that when you counsel a person [yes- he was the originator of the idea of the patient lying on the couch while the counselor listens] that the patient is ‘transmitting’ psychic energy from himself to the doctor- and that’s what makes him better. Freud wrote Moses and Monotheism [his fictional account of the origins of Judaism/Christianity] Totem and Taboo- the fictional idea of the primitive religion of man- and Civilization and it’s Discontents, his explanation of the conflict between mans psychic life and the demands of society. The basic view of Freud [Hedonism] is a failed system that does not work in the real world. To live your life based on the philosophy of ‘if it feels good- do it’ does not work in any area of life- for the long term. In food, shopping, family life, marriage, sexual expression- the basic principle of self restraint and discipline [the Japanese response] is in great contrast to the ‘unrestrained’ view of life [as seen in some of the Katrina response- many of the looters and rioters were raised with a welfare mentality- they were dependant on the state/govt. to do things for them. When things went bad- they blamed the govt. for it]. In the end of the day- the society that practices self discipline- that teaches their children to be self reliant- those are the ones who have the most successful lives. Those who practice Hedonism blame stuff on everyone else.
[1623] CHRIST CHURCH? A few weeks back I was going to write a post from the words of St. Peter found in the New Testament ‘The time has come that judgment must begin at the house of God [Christ’s church= house of God] and if it starts there- what will the outcome be for the rest of the world?’ [paraphrased it]. Right after the ‘thought’ the major events off the coast of Japan hit and we have this trilogy of disasters to deal with [Earthquake, Tsunami, Nuclear meltdown]. I did find it ‘strange’ that the recent events started with Christ Church New Zealand- and seemed to spread from there. I heard a Geologist the other night- he had previously predicted the earthquake that hit Ca. during the World Series a few years ago. He said the sign of the dead fish recently washing up in Ca. was not a coincidence- he said the fish can sense a change in the earth’s magnetic field [prior to an earthquake] and that in Japan these fish kills are actually called ‘earthquake fish’. Wow. You do hear lots of talking heads during these types of events- yet it would be nice to know the truth on these types of things. The last year or 2 we had earthquakes along the Pacific Rim; Chile, New Zealand and of course Japan. If you look on a map you see the Pacific Ocean and you can draw a circle around the perimeter- the part that affects us is the West coast- so they already have a run on Iodide pills [fear of the radiation crossing the Pacific from Japan] and some are predicting an earthquake. The other night I caught a quick news flash of Saudi Arabia sending troops into Bahrain to fight back against the protestors- as it flashed by quickly- I said ‘geez- this is a major event- and it’s getting lost in the media frenzy’. Then O’Reilly spent 15 minutes on a real important life changing story- a stripper who works with a snake- the snake bit the woman on her breast- the snake died from the silicone from the breast implant. Another news show spent almost the whole hour on sports- even the president did another March madness prediction- at a time when the world has protestors in the streets- who thought we would help them [Libya] and they are actually saying ‘Obama- where are you- where’s Bush?’ Now- whatever your view is on intervening [no fly zone- etc.] the fact is if the feeling around the globe is that we are not taking these things seriously enough- then the image of the president doing March Madness picks does not look good. So what do we make of it all? When Peter said ‘judgment must 1st start at Gods house’ he of course was not directly talking about the city of Christ Church, New Zealand. Yet in a prophetic sort of way- these types of things can be signs of what’s to come. One of the important developments has been the fact that the Arab/Persian nations have indeed chosen to ignore the pleas from the U.S. to go easy on the protestors- and they simply have said ‘screw you- look at what you did to Egypt- we are gonna go the Gadhafi route’ [to a degree]. Saudi Arabia crossing into Bahrain- a small Persian Gulf nation where we have lot of troops stationed [and the 5th fleet docked] is a major development. The markets [both Asian and U.S.] have fallen over the fears that the Nuke disaster is already as bad as Chernobyl- and the unrest in the Middle East and Africa is not getting better. So we pray- we show the world that we don’t just throw our hands up and say ‘the end of the world is here’ but we also recognize it is in mans nature to deny the reality of judgment- the reality that mankind faces times where things build up and the planet suffers for it. In the 19th century there was a movement in Christian theology called ‘Liberal theology’- not liberal in politics- but a whole genre of teaching/thought that challenged a lot of the ‘old time’ beliefs [like original sin] and focused on the ability of modern man to rise above the ignorance of the past [even in religious thought] and man was on the road to a true Utopian society that would never fail. This belief was strong- both in the universities ofGermany as well as in the politics of the Western world. Then you had the world wars- 8 million people killed in the first one- and 50 million in the 2nd one. Men like Karl Barth [a Swiss theologian- teacher] would challenge the liberal view of mans ‘inner divinity’ and he would blast the Christian world with his famous ‘the epistle to the Romans’ his commentary on Paul’s famous treatise- released in 1918. Though Barth is what some describe as 'Neo- Orthodox’ [the strong Reformed teachers don’t appreciate Barth very much] yet he did bring the church back to the biblical doctrines of original sin and mans inability to ‘save himself’. Barth saw the reality of the WW1 and rejected the Utopian belief that man was so advanced that he would reach for the sky- and grab it! Today we see lots of shaking in the world- some are focused on March madness- some find it profitable to do a story on a stripper- we need to keep our eyes [and bibles] open- mankind is in need of God- man has gone thru stages where he thought the ‘old belief’ in God would fall away- to the contrary- the govt’s of man [apart from God] seem to be the thing that’s falling away.
[1624] GREASEBALL! Okay- to all my Italian buddies- this one’s for you! [Greaseball is a slang term for us Italians]. Yesterday the U.N. approved action against Libya- 10 nations voted for the ‘no fly zone’ [and more] and 5 abstained [Obama’s favorite position when Illinois senator]. Yes, Russia and China did not vote no- a surprise. The Libyan Rebels rejoiced- hooray- the West is coming! Not so fast. Obama gave a speech ‘Gadhafi must step down- or else!’ and yet again he slaughters the folks- and it actually seems like he stepped up the slaughter- after all Obama said ‘you better not’. And then- in the same speech mind you- he also said the U.S. will not be putting in troops- or heading up the no fly zone. It’s utterly amazing that a U.S. president continues to give very public ultimatums- and then states the reality that he will not act. As the reports came in from the streets of Libya- they said ‘he is still killingcivilians’. Now- if we as a nation are already too stretched because of two 10 year wars in Muslim countries- and if our official policy is ‘we can’t afford to keep doing these types of ventures at the sole expense of U.S. blood and money’ [a position that does make lots of sense by the way] If that’s going to be our ‘default’ setting- then we can’t be making public statements and saying ‘if you don’t stop now- there will be consequences’- both of these things at the same time are actually worse. It makes the dictator think ‘geez- better kill em while I still have the chance’ and the statement from the president still awaits another meeting [in Paris today] to set up the actual logistics of the plan. It’s just simply too late to still be making ‘long range plans’ and at the same time publicly saying ‘no more chances’.
Okay- When I was a boy growing up in Jersey I had a bunch of good old Italian buddies- and my family was 100% liberal Democrat- I mean my grandfather bought into the line that the U.S. was the most dangerous nation on the planet. So one day he’s down the block talking to some Italian neighbor- they must have been talking politics. I heard gramps raise his voice. So when he gets back to the house we ask ‘what were you talking to Mr. so and so about? Answer- ‘that f---ingGreaseball’. WHAT? I mean grandpa was a Greaseball too- we were/are all Greaseballs! Right now in the newsonce again you have the left and the right running with their agenda’s and the truth usually gets lost in between. The other night I watched Chris Matthews defend the president- he went on to deride Huckabee, Palin, Newt, etc. he said how their framing of the president was all wrong- That they say he has liberal ‘anti colonial’ instincts- that they paint him as something other than a classic American boy- raised with basketball and hot dogs and the rest. Then Matthews launched into a familiar rant- he said something to the effect of ‘what do you right wing, racist, tea party bastards want? He has done everything you asked for- he has grown up and been a responsible black man- he has a wife and kids and doesn’t sell coke- you know- he has lived up to the white man’s requirements’. Now- I have heard Matthews say this before- he actually looks like he’s gonna pull a Boehner when he does this [cry]. What he doesn’trealize- is he thinks he is on the side of the minority when he says this- sort of like the classic liberal defense of ‘the back man’ yet to the black man- this is actually quite racist. It plays into the stereotypes of racism- to say ‘he has lived up to our expectations- what we want from the Black man’ yes- he sounds just like grandpa calling his fellow Italian a Greaseball- the classic inability of the liberal minded ‘non bigoted’ person- who reveals his bigotry in ways that he does not fully realize.
When working at the Fire Dept. over the years- It was actually a Texas joke to see how the North East [MSNBC crowd] thinks about Texas as ‘Cowboy country’. I was sitting in the station one day with my captain [a died in the wool Democrat- liberal among liberals- he was also my union president] and the secretary rings the office- ‘it’s Cheney’s people on the line’ every year or so Dick Cheney [and also Bush one and 2] would come to an area where we worked and they would hunt bird [Quail, Dove] so they would set up our ambulance guys to station themselves right at the gate of the ranch just in case Cheney shot another one of his buddies. So I’d laugh ‘hey Cap- the V.P. wants to talk’ and he would respond with some vulgar word. So the real scoop is here in Texas we have a whole world of lib’s- my V.P. [union] was also a lifelong Democrat- openly gay- would travel to Austin a lot [an ultra liberal haven] and he would laugh at the Chris Matthews types who fall for the ‘guns and cowboy hats’ image of Texas. Yes- Matthews had Tom Delay on the other day- asked him about some Texas stuff- and tried to be nice- and said ‘well I know that’s the way you Texans are- carrying your 6-guns and all’ yes- he fits in well with the classic liberal mindset- thinks he’s real progressive- liberal- and the rest of the liberals in Texas think you’re a jack ass.
I actually had friends that would don the cowboy hat during spring break- why? They would ‘pick up’ girls visiting for the break-and some of them would say ‘wow- a real cowboy- I heard about people like you [probably watches MSNBC] but I never thought I would meet one’ well honey- you didn’t! So when we are trying to get to the real story- we need non biased journalists to tell it- you can’t get it from the left or the right alone. A few weeks ago a major London newspaper ran the entire speech given by Gadhafi after Obama was elected- in the speech he openly praised Obama as ‘one of us’ he said how the U.S. is now being lead by someone ‘like us’. Now- is Gadhafi falling for the propaganda of Beck? Come on- how about the London paper- are they Fox sycophants? Obama does have a history of liberal political allies that date back to his days in Chicago[fine]and in that circle- which included Rev. Wright and Louis Farrakhan- they made some trips to Libya and began having close ties to the Libyan leader. Now- did they have ties like this with the leaders of Egypt- or Yemen- or any other Arab/Persian nation? No. But because of the politicalatmosphere at the time- Gadhafi made it into the circle. Now- for the left wing media to not even mention it- or when they do mention it- to portray it as a Fox conspiracy- well that’s classic liberal ignorance. Yes- admit the fact of the thing- and then report on whether or not you think it means anything [I personally don’t- I don’t think he has made policy decisions based on this past affiliation- but geez- to simply ignore the thing is not journalism!] So as we watch events unfold- there obviously has been some major mistakes made. Whether you support the president or not- mistakes are being made—that cost lives. And if you present yourself as this wonderfully open- non biased liberal person- you know- not like the Texas gun toters- than don’t go down the block and call the Italian guy a Greaseball!
[1625] WE ARE IN- As you know the U.S. and our allies have begun enforcing the ‘no fly zone’- in actuality the stated mission is more than a no fly zone, it’s a mission that is too open ended- basically it says we can do anything we need to do to protect the civilian population of Libya- geez- too broad. Now- is this the same type of resolution that Bush had for his 2 wars? No- president Obama has NO resolution from the congress- nada. He’s operating under U.N. and Arab league language- kind of a problem- don’t you think? I heard a major news person say Obama is operating the same way Bush did- without congressional approval. The news broadcaster explained that Bush did not go to congress for Afghanistan or Iraq. Actually Bush went to congress in 2001 for Afghanistan- and 2002 for Iraq. Though the internal debate [now made public] was that the president did not need to go to congress- yet they did anyway. Those defending Obama’s recent action say ‘yeah- but Clinton didn’t get congressional approval for Kosovo- Serbia’ true. Either way- we are there now. If you go back and read my posts on Libya- I was not a hawk on the matter- someone who advocated U.S. military action. But I felt some of the statements from the president [Gadhafi must go] kinda put us on the hook to do something. Though the defense secretary did not want to engage in another Muslim country [not Arab!] yet it seems as if the secretary of state changed her view and Obama decided for limited action. The U.S. will do the early work- and do a quick hand off to France [Britain]. The problem is we never seem to be able to do the darn handoffs! So let’s pray and try and do our best.
As I mentioned above- the media often simply report stuff wrong. It does not help that most of us hold a view of that part of the world thru what we see/hear in the media- a media that gets stuff wrong [not just Fox]. The majority of Arab people are indeed Muslim- but that makes up only 20 % of the entire Muslim world. The most populous Muslim states range from North Africa to Southeast Asia- Islam is the world’s fastest growing religion- and the world’s 2nd largest [around 1.2 billion followers]. Islam also holds huge minority followings in the Western world [Europe and the U.S.]. Most Americans associate Islam with radical Islam- though most of today’sterrorists have come from the radical sect of Islam- all Muslims are not radicals. There is an internal debate in Islam on how to deal with modernity- some scholars teach that true Islam is Patriarchal in nature and the role of women is subordinate. These hold to the idea that a true Islamic adherent seeks for a true Islamic state- ruled by Sharia law. Others believe in a type of separation of Mosque and state- they hold to the view that Islam’s survival depends on itsability to ‘liberalize’ and adjust- like Christianity has done thru the centuries [most Christians are not seeking a theocratic state- though at one time the world was literally governed by the church]. Islam was founded in the 7th century under the prophet Muhammad, and within a hundred years after his death spread into a vast empire [under the Umayyad and Abbasid empires]. Islam also has a sect within her that could kind of be described as Mystical- that is like the Christian Mystics of church history. This branch is called Sufism. So you could say the 2 great institutions of Islam are Islamic law [Sharia] and Sufism [the mystical expression that seeks a more romanticized experience with God- like ChristianPietism].
As an avid boxing fan- I was watching a fight one night- and the official bell ringer ‘rung’ the bell after only 2minutes into the round [rounds are 3 minutes]. At first the ringside announcers- who are not paying attention to the clock- picked it up by simply feeling like the round was short. Sure enough during the break they were told the bell ringer- whose sole job is to ring the bell- messed up. As I watch the coverage unfold over the next weeks/months- and yes- years- I want to try and do my best to stick with the facts as much as possible. I understand it’s not easy to keep all the facts straight [the official bell ringers do at times mess up] and the distinction between the Arab/Muslim world is at times hard to see- I’m sure we will hear lots of reports confusing the 2- but being we are living in a real dangerous time- a time of change thru out the world that we cannot stop [I didn’t even mention the recent events in Yemen, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia- major events- Yemen ‘snipers’ killed 50 protestor in cold blood- shot in the head/neck. Bahrain cracked down brutally on her protestors- and Syria is beginning to see more of an uprising]. So as we become more familiar with this part of the world- we want to get our facts as straight as possible. In this post I’m just beginning to cover Islam as a religion- over the coming months I want to do some postsstrictly on the actual history of Islam- what Islambelieves and teaches- and what Islam does not teach. The purpose is not to give a defense to the religion- but to inform each other about a religion that most westerners see only thru a lens of radicalism- thru news reports that fixate on the extreme elements of Islam. Part of our responsibility in the West is to know the subject/people we are dealing with- and for today one of the facts that should help form the coming posts is all Muslims are not Arabs- and all Arabs are not Muslim- the majority of nations that are ‘majority’ Muslim [around 53] are indeed African and Asian. And the latest one that we just engaged in- militarily- is smack dab in the middle of the North African rim that has been on fire- first to its left in Tunisia- and then to its right with Egypt- and we are ‘stuck in the middle with you’.
[1626] PILLARS 1-2.
As the Libya story unfolds- you have some sincere critics of the president [Dick Lugar] and others who just want to find fault. Now- one of the debates going on is who will eventually take over the command of the ‘no fly zone’ [war]. The Arab league- though initially in support of the action, has since said what they signed up for [protect innocent civilians] is not what happened [bombing the country]. Vladimir Putin [Russian P.M.] said ‘it’s a crusade’ Yikes! The Russian president [who I thought was supposed to be a puppet] Medvedev rebuked the words publicly. Before we hit Libya- I started asking a few questions- things like ‘look- I know the leader seems like a nut, but I’m beginning to wonder if there might be some truth to his charge that the Rebels are Al Qaeda’. Sure enough there have been lots of reports that do say the radical element in these protests are larger than what we saw in the other nations [Tunisia, Egypt]. Richard Engel- a top NBC [NOT FOX!] reporter said that 1 in 5 of the rebels are fighting because they want to kill Gadhafi ‘the Jew’. So as we debate when/where the U.S. should take action- we need to also keep in mind that the alternatives to the toppling of leaders might be just as bad- or worse- than the actual leader. Okay- why was the word ‘crusade’ so charged? It plays into the world history of the western nations fighting against the Muslim world. Many in the Arab league are not comfortable with NATO taking charge because of this history. The last few weeks the song ‘from the halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli’ have gone thru my mind. I remember the old Abbot and Costello shows on the foreign legion and stuff like that. What war is the song describing? It speaks about the wars that the U.S. engaged in- yes- with Libya- many years ago. After the American colonies broke away from England we continued to conduct world trade by the use of ships. At one point [1800’s] the Mediterranean became a flash point [like today] you had pirates and countries who retaliated by disrupting the water ways. America of course fought back- and the Libyans were actually called ‘the Mujahedeen’ yes- the same term used for the Rebels who we supported in toppling the Russian influence in Afghanistan. These were the Barbary wars- BarbaryCoast. So- we need to be careful that our actions don’t play into the idea that the U.S. is actually waging a 21stcentury crusade [this is also why it was unbelievable that Bush actually used the term crusade during his term].
Okay- let me do a little more on Islam [the teaching series I started in the last post]. Islam has 5 Pillars- basic tenets that all Muslims hold to;
1- The declaration of their faith ‘There is no god but God [Allah] and Muhammad is the messenger of God’. To become a Muslim- one simply has to accept/confess this statement. Muslims believe that the final/complete revelation of God to man has come thru the prophet- by way of the Quran. As Christians accept Jesus as God’s final prophet/Messiah to mankind- so Muslims see Muhammad as the final and complete authority.
2- The second Pillar isSalat [prayer]. Muslims pray 5 times a day while facing Mecca- the holy city where the Kabba is [Kabba- the house of God believed to have been built by Abraham and his son Ishmael]. Once a week on Friday Muslims pray corporately at noon in the local mosque or Islamic center.
The next few days I’ll try and cover the other 3 pillars- I actually think the 3rd pillar is more in keeping with the teachings of Jesus and the bible than what most Christians practice- it deals with the Muslim practice of giving to meet the needs of the poor. For today that should cover it- remember- the reason we are covering Islam as a religion is so we can have a better grasp on what Muslims believe. Too many of us are only familiar with the more radical elements that the media focus on when an attack takes place. At the same time there are also prejudices in Islam as well- many young Muslims are taught a radical hatred for the Jew- these wrong ideas are formed in their minds as young people-and they too need to reject these anti- Semitic ideas. As the U.S. begins engaging in the 3rd Muslim country in the last 11 years- we need to be very careful that we are not playing into the hands of those who embrace radicalism- there is a very real extreme element in Libya. Al Qaeda has operated out of the nation for many years- we need to be careful that we are not being ‘useful idiots’.
[1627] CATHOLIC VERSUS MORMON AND OTHER STUFF. Okay- as an avid news watcher, these last few weeks we have seen a sort of shift in the Liberal versus Conservative media. Lawrence O’Donnell [MSNBC] has decided to deride Beck [FOX] on the air. Now- O’Donnell is smart- he does realize that the ratings for MSNBC are truly dismal- so he’s trying to get Beck to engage so he can get some free advertising. Of course the classic way of getting better ratings has been abandoned by MSNBC years ago [you know- the old ‘unbiased reporting of news’ scheme]. So anyway Beck has gone for the bait a few times and O’Donnell keeps casting out the line. First- O’Donnell is Catholic and Beck is Mormon- and Lawrence is using this as a hook. He is also taking it upon himself to ‘instruct’ his audience in Catholic doctrine. Now- I like these guys [well not really] but as an outside observer let me try and help some of the viewers a bit. Lawrence- as a ‘good’ [let's say well meaning] Catholic does not speak for his church- that is as a Protestant believer- I have studied lots of Catholic history and Doctrine- and I consider the Catholic Church part of the broader Body of Christ- and the facts are- Lawrence does not know ‘the facts’. He challenged Beck on some recent end times musings- he says the majority of Catholics have modernized and don’t believe the ‘old stuff’ anymore; burningwitches, putting kids to death for cursing their parents,antihomosexual relationships- Lawrence says the church has advanced and Catholics really don’t believe the old stuff anymore. Now- Doctrinally the church has rejected many of these Old Testament commandments [burning witches] just like most Protestant denominations. Yet the church does not ‘not believe’ the book of Revelation anymore, which is what he lumped it all in with. The official teaching of the church- dating back to the 16th century Council of Trent [you know- little details that I like to refer to as facts] is that the bible is- quote ‘the words that the Holy Spirit dictated’. Now- the language used at Trent was so strong- that the church actually holds to a less literal belief than what the words imply. Most believers do not believe in the idea of a mechanical inspiration of the bible- that is that God actually spoke all the words of the bible to the authors [with the exception of portions of scripture that do record God speaking- 10 commandments, etc.] So, the official teaching of the Church- set down at Trent- is the bible is the ‘word of God’. Yes indeed, the Catholic Church still believes in the book of Revelation. Now- Lawrence says ‘well- not literally’ and he quoted a verse or 2 about Dragons pouring out water from their mouth and the woman fleeing and… well- I’m familiar with the verse- and it is symbolic. I don’t know of anyone- including Beck- that takes this verse ‘literally’. Now- Does Lawrence even know what ‘literal’ means? When Christians use the term ‘taking the bible literally’ this term does not mean that all the verses in the bible are actually literal. For instance the book of Psalms says ‘the hills skipped and danced for joy’ the verse from Revelation that I just mentioned is prophetic language. You have figures of speech also used- the apostle John says ‘there are many other works that Jesus did that are not recorded in this book [John’s gospel] and I suppose if all the works were written down that all the world could not contain the books that would be written’ now- should we read this language ‘literally’ or was John using a common figure of speech to make a point? When the bible uses poetry, prophecy, symbol, etc.. when these passages are read- taking them literally means reading them in context. So when you read about dragons- or hills jumping for joy, or other portions like that- well they are meant to be read in their context. The CatholicChurch does indeed still believe in the book of Revelation- literally. I think Lawrence has actually made some good points- I am not a defender of Beck- nor do I hold to the end time views of Beck. My ‘end times’ theology is basically Catholic. I would recommendScott Hahn’s book ‘The Lambs Supper’ which is an excellent Catholic teaching on the book of Revelation- Hahn is an A-1 Catholic scholar- he teaches Catholic doctrine- real Catholic doctrine. And Hahn does an excellent job at showing us how the book of Revelation is centered around Christ and the reality of the church and the kingdom of God. I am not totally throwing O’Donnell under the bus- I think he has said some good stuff about this not being ‘the end of the world’ and other things- but it’s not good to have a Catholic news man say ‘this is what Catholics believe’ when he obviously does not know what Catholics believe. Yes, Beck does need to be reigned in a bit- but don’t do it at the expense of confusing people about the church. A persons personal view is fine- but don’t tell people what the church does or does not believe- especially if you’re not familiar with the material- o well- I forgot- being misinformed about the facts has never really mattered that much at MSNBC- I’m sorry.
Just a note- The Catholic Church has ‘modernized’ since the famous Council at Trent- Vatican Council 2 [1962-65] did indeed try and bring the church more into modern times. And there have been statements made that say the reading/teaching of the bible should not be taken in a way that rejects the modern advances of science. But the official belief of the bible being the Word of God is still official Catholic doctrine. Many Protestants confuse the Catholic belief by thinking the church accepts Tradition over the bible- this is actually not so. The official belief of the Catholic Church is that the voice/teaching of God comes to us thru both Tradition and the Bible- they donot say Tradition is over the Bible. There are lots of common misconceptions that Protestants and Catholics have made about each other over the years- I don’t think it will do either side any service for MSNBC and FOX to get into this type of debate on the air. It takes more time than a few sound bites to teach it right- it would be better to just leave it be.
[1628] WHAT A MESS! Okay, it’s time to talk. First- as you know we have been bombing Libya for a few days now- what started as a ‘no fly zone’ is now being called ‘Kinetic military action’ [war]. Of course the left and the right are doing their best to simply win their side of the argument- the left wing media are just as bad as the right- don’t let anyone fool you. What do I mean? What’s the ‘real’ story behind our action? The real story is we really have no control over what’shappening in the Arab world right now. These last few days have seen other major developments- bad stuff. In Egypt the military and the Muslim Brotherhood have indeed formed a sort of coalition and they passed a referendum that the majority of the original Democratic protestors did not want. There have also been reports of the military brutally repressing former protestors. In Yemen and Syria and Bahrain things are really getting out of hand. Many leaders have chosen to simply shoot the protestors- outright. In Libya we had a situation where Gadhafi was on the outskirts of Benghazi and he was sending out warnings ‘flee the city- once we take it we will show no mercy’ now- the president and the media have said he was threatening to carry out a genocide and the media have actually said we stopped a genocide. How they know this for sure- to report as fact- is beyond me. It would be like reporting Bush’s ‘kinetic’ action in Iraq as ‘we averted nuclear war’- now, maybe some people reallybelieve this, but you can’t report it as fact. Second- what exactly was Gadhafi saying? Remember what has happened over the last few weeks. In Libya- you have the major city in the east, Ben Ghazi, as the second largest Libyan city [behind the capitol Tripoli] and when the protests first started they were treated just about as badly as they were in Yemen, Syria, etc. After a few days the rebels in Libya took up arms- captured some military equipment and basically started a real civil war. The rebels marched westward towards the capitol and took city after city- thru military action. They were on the outskirts of Tripoli and they were threatening to take over the country. Gadhafi got his troops together and he fought back- he then went from city to city on the trek back east- towards the rebels capitol- Ben Ghazi. So far France is the only country to recognize the rebels in BenGhazi as a legitimate govt. So Gadhafi is on the outskirts of the cityand he makes the threat. Obama -being convinced By Susan Rice, Samantha Powers [2 women who strongly believe that the U.S. should use force for humanitarian purposes] and eventually Hillary Clinton- he gives the go ahead. Now- whetheryou agree with the action or not- the actual handling of the matter was less than competent. There is a lot of spin about the president gaining world support and all [NATO, Arab League, etc.] but in reality secretary Gates got it right when he said ‘we did it on the fly’. The obvious squabbling of the so called coalition shows that we didn’t do our homework. Okay- the right wingers say the president is a total incompetent failure- Beck even designed another conspiracy involving Cass Sunstein! The left are saying the president is doing a great job. Of course the reality is he probably was talked intotaking action- his military men were obviously against it- he was being told ‘look- the mad man is going to commit genocide’ and he had Kerry and McCain making the rounds [Lieberman too] calling for action. Was Gadhafi threatening genocide [the mass killing of hundreds of thousands of civilians] probably not. How do we know? In every ‘rebel’ held city he took back on the road east- he did not carry out a genocide in any of them. Did he kill people? Yes. Have the Rebels killed people? Yes. We need to distinguish between peaceful protestors and a civil war- what we now have in Libya is a civil war. Bothsides have taken up arms against each other- this is very differentthanshooting unarmed protestors in the streets. So now we are in- it is really silly to make it sound like NATO or any other coalition has the real ability to take command of the mission. Even if NATO ‘takes command’ it’s us doing the majority of the work. It was a mistake for the president to have not gone to the congress-and to have left the country right before the bombing began. Yes- he should have canceled the LatinAmerican trip and called the key congressional leaders back for an emergency meeting. The congress felt dissed- both sides are angry- and it was a result of a degree of incompetence- learning on the fly type of action. Yes- you don’t need to subscribe to Becks theory- but please- you can’t see this as having been done competently. Now- are the media biased? In LatinAmerica the resident guaranteed Brazil a few billion dollars of aid to promote their off shore oil drilling. The company [which actually has been invested in by major Democrat donars- George Soros] will be drilling in THE GULF OF MEXIICO [well actually the South Atlantic is not in the gulf- it is below it- sorry!]- and they will also be using some of the money to look into buildingunderwater oil storage tanks in the Gulf. How the media can’t be covering this is a joke. I mean we have just come off of the biggest oil spill in the history of the world- we implemented many restrictions on U.S. drillers in the gulf- and on the trip the president guarantees ‘seed money’ for another nations oil industry to drill in the gulf- this is crazy. In Germany the papers have printed the atrocious pictures taken by some of our soldiers of the dead civilians they killed in Afghanistan [I wrote on this case before- some rogue soldiers did indeed have a group of guys who targeted civilians for ‘fun’]. Now- the German paper- Der Spiegel- has printed the photos. They look horrible- our guys have the bodies propped up- its bad. Why has the U.S. media not covered this like the scandal during Bush’s presidency? Most of us have the images of the abuse of Gitmo prisoners engrained in our minds. The famous photos of the prisoners with the hoods on their heads and all. At the time the defense secretary tried to not have the photos published- the media reported it as a major criminal cover up- possibly to the point of the president and his top men havingcommitted war crimes- and they showed those pictures day after day- allover the place. In the current trial of the soldiers- the media has not only not covered the story [U.S. media] but they have refused to show the pictures. Why? The military has actually said they don’t want the pictures getting out. Now- why is there no media criticism of this happening under a Democratic president? In Gitmo the actions were wrong- but they were embarrassing actions done against actual enemy prisoners- still wrong- but no one was killed. In the current scandal these are dead innocent civilians in the pictures- it’s so much more worse. If the media has chosen to ‘not cover it’ because it could cause harm to our guys- fine- but that’s the exact argument this same media said was covering up war crimes under Bush. If we want the American people to reject the conspiracies of Beck- then they can’t at the same time be so biased in their reporting. This week- the events in Syria, Yemen, Jordan, Libya- there is no doubt that things have really turned for the worse. I heard one analyst- usually an excellent commentator- say the U.S. needs to begin planning a possible takeover of the Saudi Oil fields if the nation falls- this is bad my friends. I think the president meant well in Libya- I think he has lost control of the entire Middle East situation- the former Prime Minister of Israel [current Defense minister] Ehud Barak was on the Charlie Rose show- he was asked about how the area views Obama- he honestly said they are confused. He goes soft on the hard dictators and hard on the soft ones. I heard a report on NPR [NPR MIND YOU!] they asked the person how the military views the president [the guy was an insider] he said they view him as disconnected, uninterested and as someone who really doesn’t want to be bothered with military stuff- I can’tbelieve this was on NPR. So even though the president was stuck between a rock and a hard place- he still has made some terrible blunders. I just hope this is the last Muslim country we engage in like this- we need to get out of the previous 2 already- we can’t afford any more.
[1629] MUSLIM IN AMERICA- THE PRESIDENTS SPEECH AND OTHER MUSINGS.
Last night the president finally spoke to the nation in defense of our military action in Libya. He made the case that there are times when the U.S. can/should act if we feel we can avert a humanitarian disaster- he also said we can’t always intervene in every conflict. I guess for the most part this makes some sense- it’s just the way he handled it [going on vacation- congress in recess]. There are still lots of questions to be asked/answered. Today the rebels are on the outskirts of a western city that is ‘pro Gadhafi’. The city is called Sirte and like other cities in the west they favor Gadhafi more so than the rebels. The question is; how do we justify the bombing of Gadhafi’s military- in order to protect civilians- while the rebels are getting ready to overthrow a civilian population- with force- against the majority of the will of the people? We have indeed enabled the rebels to advance this far west, and we are basically on the side of the rebels- in this case- against the populace.
The other night I watched a CNN special on Muslim discrimination in America- most of you who read my posts [blog] know I try and take the more moderate position of not branding all Muslims as radical. I do think there are times when Muslims are discriminated against wrongfully because of their faith. Yet at the same time the media often show their bias. The show did a good job at revealing how Muslims face discrimination in America- the host- Soledad O’Brien- kind of showed the ‘ignorant’ Christians versus the moderate Muslims. The town was Murphysboro Tenn. [yes- they picked a spot that would be a little more redneck than usual] and they interviewed a few American Muslim women whose sole experience of Islam comes from an American perspective. These women, as sympathetic as their causes are- do not even begin to breech the absolute discrimination and oppression that many Muslim women experience around the globe on a daily basis- it was just unfair for CNN to portray Muslim women as victims of Christian discrimination while overlooking the real problem- expressed by many women who have chosen to speak out- against the oppression women face when living in countries that have Sharia law as the law of the land.
As I continue to teach the study on Islam [so far have only done 1 post on it] I want to try and approach the strained relationship that exists between Western society and Islam- yet I don’t want to be an apologist for Islam. I’m currently going thru a course on Islam that is taught by the official govt. teacher on the subject. I believe he was sitting in the second row of the president’s speech last night. Over the years I have studied on lots of subjects- years of utilizing the public library system, buying university level books [not pop culture Christian stuff on how to ‘get what you want’] and I have also ordered courses [C.D. and book] from the top professors of the universities of the world. These course are not cheap- yet they are cheaper than actually getting credits for the courses [you can take the same courses as extension courses from the universities and get credit- but that’s way too expensive- especially if done thru the elite universities- Harvard, etc.] So instead I simply purchase the courses and do them on my own. Now- the reason I say this is to explain a ‘funny thing’ that happened on my study of Islam. When I first ordered the course I noticed the ratings were not that great. Most courses are rated in the 80-90 percentile- from others who have done the course- this one was in the 60’s. I hesitated to get it- but the other courses that dealt with Islam also dealt with other religions- and I didn’t want to do an entirecomparative religion study at this time. So these courses are taught by the top tier professors in the world [these professors are peer reviewed and deemed to be in the top 10 %]. This one on Islam is taught by the person who teaches Islam to the incoming govt. employees under president Obama. As I’m going thru the course- there are times where I feel like the teacher is too defensive of Islam- sort of like the CNN special. At one point the professor defends Muhammad as a religious leader who freed women from oppression and instituted an openand liberalsociety for all people- especially women. Geez- stuff like this is very problematic- I know enough about the current world nations that have Islam as the official religion of the nation- these nations are without a doubt very oppressive to women.
Like many things in life- we all try and do our best to give people the benefit of the doubt- and as someone who has disagreed with the president and been openly critical of him- yet I try not to be so biased that I find fault with everything he does. The media has far left defenders- who never find anything wrong with the man- and far right critics who never find anything right. At this time- the revolts in North Africa and the Middle East are really getting out of hand- the Christians in Egypt- an ancient Christian church [Coptic] have lived there since the early days of Christianity- they have just voted in Egypt torecognize Sharia law as the official law of the land- this referendum was passed by 70 % of the population- and the Muslim Brotherhood showed their organizational abilities by gaining a majority of the vote for the things they wanted. So now the Christians in Egypt might face the same fate as those in Pakistan- being put to death for blaspheming Islam [which often means witnessing for Christ]. The rebels who we are fighting for in Libya are much more radical than Gadhafi- yes Gadhafi was/is a madman- yet the rebels have more Al Qaeda influence than Gadhafi- they have been enemies in Libya for years. Do we really want our people dying for the Rebels?
There are still lots of questions to be answered- I am uncomfortable that the course I’m going thru on Islam is so skewed to the point of defending Islam as a great liberator of women and their rights- I was even more troubled to have seen ‘my instructor’ sitting in the 2nd row at the president’s speech.
[1630] EPISTEMOLOGY- Lets do a little more on how we learn- know stuff. The actual ‘study’ of how we know things is called Epistemology. Today’s popular movement is called Post Modernism- a challenge to the classical idea of Modernism. The classical way of looking at knowledge said there are things that are ‘really true’ and things that are not- this is called Objective Truth. The Post Moderns say words are limited [true to a degree] and because words are simply vehicles that transmit ideas that are not really ‘true’ in the classical sense, then it is wrong for one group [like Christians] to say to another group [non- Christians] that Jesus is the Way- Truth and Life [Johns gospel]. So the battle lines are drawn. It should be noted that a growing number of believers are describing themselves as Post Modern and they argue that it is possible to be Christian and Post Modern at the same time. Okay- as more of the classical type- I believe it is possible to get to objective truth- that the pursuit of what’s true is not a vain pursuit- and yes- though we are all limited in our understanding, yet to even have this conversation requires an element of Absolute Truth. If the Post Modernistsays ‘words have no objective truth- only relative truth- they only convey what the hearer decides they convey’ then I can say ‘Oh- so if I take your words to mean there is such a thing as objective truth- that’s okay’? O know you idiot- you’renot hearing what I’m saying! So you see that the Post modernist needs his words to mean something- to convey a specific thing to the hearer- if the hearer can make the words mean whatever he wants- then you can’t even engage in the discussion- got it? So anyway- as I’m thinking about scrapping my Islam course [and just teaching it from stuff I learned myself- in the immortal words of defense secy. Bob Gates ‘on the fly’] I do want to utilize whatever objective truth I can pick up along the way- while at the same time realizing all people have their own biases and we need to listen with a careful skepticism. I ordered acourse on Physics a while back- good course- but the instructor- though smart- made aclassic mistake in Logic as he taught the course. He often said ‘the universe was created BY CHANCE’. Now- as a purelygrammatical- logical argument- this incorrect [a fallacy]. Why? What he really means to say is ‘there are unknown causes in the universe that created the effect of existence- we do not know what these causes are- but we believe that thru a series of actions- which have no particular direction [chance] these unknown causes have caused the effect of the universe’. Okay- I don’t want to be nitpicky- but when I hear an intelligent person say ‘everything was made BY CHANCE’ and for him to get away with this without a rigorous challenge- then the Christian thinker has failed in his task to challenge the skeptic on his own terms- to show that even though the person may be an expert in his field [Physics] yet this does not mean he can get away with fallacious arguments- arguments that are invalid from the get go. So as we progress over the coming weeks/months on the various fields of study- we want to be open to learn from others who have specialized in their particular fields of study- we want to be open minded enough to learn from people who reject the faith- yes atheists can teach us things- there are areas of knowledge that all people have that can benefit the rest of us. And we want to weigh all things that we hear- we all make mistakes- and are susceptible to error. Just because my Physics ‘teacher’ screwed up in a classic way- a way that most apologists recognize right off the bat- I mean you have to be an amateur ‘arguer’ of truth to make this type of mistake- yet I didn’t reject the entire course- I still learned valuable insights from the man. So I think this is the best approach to take- listen to all sides of a matter- doubt the things that seem a little off- do some research- check into it yourself-and at the end of the day let a variety of sources be your pool of knowledge- don’t just rely on one source. Proverbs says ‘In the multitude of counselors there is safety’. Be sure you’re listening/hearing from the multitude [broad range of thought and learning] because often times single sources can be right in one area- and off in another.
[1631] ALL IN ALL IT’S JUST ANOTHER BRICK [OR HOLE?] IN THE WALL-
Yesterday the president gave an outline of his future plans on energy- lots of the same stuff, trying to use clean sources of fuel- says he really is a big oil type guy- though his critics deny it. He even brought up a familiar refrain from the campaign trail- that the oil companies already have huge land leases that they ‘refuse’ to drill on. Is this really true? Yes and no. This argument became popular during the campaign as an ideologicaldefense [not practical truth] against the conservative ‘drill baby drill’ mantra. The argument says the oil companies don’t really need ANWAR or more off shore drilling permits- that they have all the drilling spots they need- they just won’t use it! I have a died in the wool liberal friend who I engage with every so often- as a middle of the road independent I often see/take up different sides. One day this person was using this argument- saying the people who say Obama is not for oil drilling are all liars- because the companies secretly refuse to drill on all the land the govt. has already given to them. I asked the person why they think the companies- who in their opinion are all ‘b-stards’ wont drill. The person really had no answer- except that they felt they did it on purpose to get Obama. I said these companies- according to your view- care nothing at all about anything but profits [maybe so] if they really could care less about anything else but profits- then why are they cutting their own throats by not making money on land that you say has all this oil? The reality is the leases that Obama is speaking about are areas where most of the oil experts think really has no oil- if they thought the land was rich in oil- they would drill it. This argument shows you how even though it seems reasonable to come to the obvious conclusion- yet because you see the opposing side as all ‘b-stards’ you can’t even think clearly.
This same person has told me that those who oppose the president’s health care reform are also racists- that the only logical conclusion to the opposition is racism- this theme is often promoted on MSNBC. I explained my story to the person. After I retired from the fire dept. I lost my insurance- it would have cost me around $6-700 a month to keep it- I couldn’t afford the darn thing to be honest. So as things go in life- right after my warranty was up- things started to break. I mean the month I dropped my insurance. I had various back injuries from doing my type of work but these would be covered under the workman’s comp. stuff- but I had a few otherthingsthat I needed to go to a doctor for- one trip costs around $150.00 and if you have to keep going back to renew prescription meds- then that’s a lot. So instead I opted for ‘Ojohna-care’- I went on-line- typed in the name of the med I’m supposed to be on and found some non- prescription stuff. It still costs money- but it’s all I can really do- honestly. Doing it like this is not recommended- you don’t see a doctor who monitors stuff- but you do what you got to do. Now- as someone who has actually paid for insurance my whole life- who now pays out of pocket for my own health care- the way Obama care has affected my family is I will now be paying an extra $700- 1000 dollars a year to cover other peoples insurance. My son in-law- who owns his own carpet laying business will also pay the fines [it’s too much to get full coverage- the fines are the only real option] one of my daughters [or actually 3- depending on the school situation]will also pay the fines. So all in all my family is out an extra 4 thousand or so a year- without getting coverage for ourselves. At the same time the person I was explaining this to- who accused us all of being racists because we didn’t support the plan- this person has never once paid for insurance- they have had free coverage and have also used Medicaid and Medicare. So in the real world- this person’s only experience is seen thru other people paying for their insurance- they never really saw the reality of a situation like mine- real people who because of real fines will have less real money to buy their own ins/medicine. Now- it would be nice if the person who was getting the free coverage at my expense- while I’m actually needing it worse than them- it would be nice for them to appreciate my family taking up the extra cost for them- but instead this person sees me as a racist- because to them that’s the only real reason why someone would be against Obama care.
Yesterday I put up a shelf- I went thru the procedure of finding the stud in the wall to hammer the nail into. I figured I would do the free style thing first- you know try and simply guess. One here- one there- no results. Okay- I’ll do the 1 nail every inch- stillnothing! Geez- does the wall have studs or what? So after putting quite a large amount of nail holes in the wall- I finally hit oil- I mean sure- it looked like I left the front door open and some local gang did a drive by shooting- but dang it- I found that darn stud!
As our country goes thru real rough times- times where we demonize the other side because we can’t see things clearly- let’s try and be open to listening to both sides. We hear the argument that the oil people don’t want to drill because they simply want to bring the president down- they hate Black people. The fact is they don’t want to be drilling for nonexistent studs in the wall- doing stuff that they know won’t work. Many people oppose Obama care because it really affects them- in a very negative way. And when others who are getting insurance for free- at my expense- call me and my kids racists because we oppose it- well it’s makes me want to go cool off somewhere, a relaxing way to get my mind off the whole thing- I know what, let me go try and hang another shelf.
[1632] 3rd PILLAR- ZAKAT.
As I was debating whether or not to continue my study on Islam [today] the spot I stopped at last was the 3rd pillar. Sure enough yesterday [and the rerun at 1 a.m.] Beck did an interesting show on Zakat. He had on a few experts- who are known to not be sympathetic to Islam- and they covered the subject of non violent Jihad- those who advocate for an Islamic society thru non violent means. Now- I know some Beck supporters have been upset with me in the past because I criticize Beck- it’s not that I don’t think he actually brings up things that other networks don’t- sometimes he does reveal stuff that the other networks don’t because they are so ‘in the tank’ for the president. I never thought I’d see the day where a news host actually would describe his ‘feelings’ that come over him when he hears the president speak- he actually used sexual connotations to describe it [a tingle goes up my leg]. Now- I’m not saying this to be cute [okay- maybe a little] but to say I have never in my life seen the media- the so called 4th estate- so one sided. So Beck [Fox] does serve a purpose. Now- Beck covered the groups that raise money under the banner of ‘charity’ and yet they have ties to radical Islam, and they discussed the ancient Islamic practice of Zakat [or Tithe].
In the Muslim community Zakat is giving a portion [2.5%] of both goods and finances for the sole purpose of providing for the poor. In Muslim communities the Zakat is like social security. The word literally means purification. The word itself is not a terrorist term- nor the practice. It is important for Beck and others to cover stories about the use of Zakat given to charitable groups for radical purposes- yet most Americans have probably not heard of the term before- and their first introduction to it was seen thru an association to terror.
Years ago I had a chance meeting with a Muslim- I’m sure he didn’t realize he ran into some nut who studies just about everything a person can study [I was working at the fire house and on duty]. He was a devout Muslim- dressed in Muslim garb an all. As we talked I gave him the biblical history of Abraham and his 2 sons Isaac and Ishmael. I traced the lineage of Christians and Jews from Isaacs’s line, and the genealogy of Muslims [Arabs] thru Ishmael. I spoke about the coming of Jesus in the 1st century of the Common Era as the promised offspring that God originally told Abraham about. I explained the purpose of the Messiah [Jesus] as being the predestined one sent by God to unite all people and tribes under one new nation- the Kingdom of God. I explained to my friend that Christianity teaches that Jesus was not simply a prophet- but one who died for the sins of the world and rose again as the final sacrifice that would ever need to be made for the sins of men. I was surprised to see my Muslim friend hearing the whole story- for the 1st time. He told me he was not familiar at all with the history [even though it is both biblical history and Islamic- the part about Ishmael which is found in the book of Genesis]. He seemed so grateful to have heard it thru ‘this angle’ not from the angle of the Crusades- or of Western Colonialism- but from the angle of the grace of God that has come to all tribes and races thru Jesus Christ.
As I watch the media day after day- seeing more unrest in the Middle East than I haveever witnessed in my lifetime. Seeing the growing strain between Christians and Muslims and Jews [the Fla. Pastor went and burned a Koran and Muslimdemonstrators in Afghanistan attacked the U.N. building and killed and beheaded some workers]. As I see the lines being drawn in the sand- I come back to the story of my Muslim friend- who obviously was dedicated to his faith [wearing the robe and all] yet he never clearly heard the gospel- which actually means Good News. The bible commands us [Christians] to live in peace with ALL MEN- to love our neighbor as our self- to even love those who hate us- to pray for those who persecute us and to do good [a type of Zakat] to our fellow man. While I make no excuses for the killing and beheading of the U.N. people- yet to burn the holy book of another religion is also not living peaceably with all men.
I believe the Islamic practice of Zakat is closer to actual biblical teaching than what most Christians practice today. The majority of Christian giving- often wrongfully referred to as the Tithe- goes to the function of media ministry- church buildings- salaries- etc. under 10 percent goes to meeting the needs of the poor. Yet in the teachings of Jesus and in the New Testament the majority teaching on giving is in context of giving to meet the needs of the poor [go read my books under the Feb- 2010 posts- and also the study called ‘what in the world is the church’ under the Feb posts]. So in a very real way I do think the Islamic Zakat is closer to the biblical practice than what most 21stcenturyChristians practice.
I will obviously have many things I will not embrace about Islam infuture posts- I will try and cover those differences as respectfully as I possibly can- without being a biased defender of Islam [as my current instructor on the course seems to be]. And I will make the case for Christ as well. At the end of the day hopefully we can learn more about our various beliefs- try and have respect for those who differ- and root for the moderates among us. I reject the Koranburning pastor in Fla. And I hope most Muslims will also reject the radical elements within their ranks. The history of the 3rd Pillar of Islam is a good one- a practice that centers around the teachings of Christ- it’s a shame that some in the Muslim community have hijacked it for violent Jihad.
[1633] RADIO WARS and some other stuff.
Okay, confession time again. Every so often I admit a fault, yes- I face the blog community and do the ‘I confess to almighty God and to you my brothers and sisters- that I have sinned …’ my Catholic readers know the scoop. Catholics have a pretty good track record on confession- they confess to another person every so often. Most Protestants don’t realize that the original Protestant movement that was launched in the 16th century- these reformers did not have a big problem with confessing to a Priest. The book of James [in the New Testament] speaks about confessing to each other- and the Protestants really did not make a big deal over this issue- initially. Later on doctrines like this became a big division- but not initially.
Okay- here’s the confession. Over the years I have battled with my kids over the bathroom radio [my 2 oldest- 18, 19] still live at home and they turn the station to the rock channel when they take showers- now I like rock- classic. My driving around station is the local classic rock channel [104.5]. But in the morning I like the Christianstation before I write/speak [record a radio show]. So we go back and forth on it. About a week ago my bathroom radio broke- I had the thing for around 25 years- no joke- I used to record radio shows from the thing [the cassette recorder on top]. So being the frugal person that I am [cheap] instead of breaking down and buying another radio [geez- I only get 25 years out of them!] I go to the garage and work on the one that I have sitting in there for yes- around 25 years. This one has worked all along; you just couldn’t change the dial. You could turn it but it wouldn't always work. So as I’m messing with it I get it to play on a Christianstation [air 1- kind of a rock Christian thing- okay] and I actually use the plumbers glue to glue the thing permanently on the station. Now- I’m sure my kids think ‘geez- dad is serious about winning this radio war’ but the truth is if they changed the dial it would be impossible to get back to the station. In the past I wrote little notes on the radio ‘don’t remove this radio!! Ever!!’ They used to take it from the bathroom and I’d never see it for weeks. But they didn’t listen to my notes- in fact they mocked them. Some days I would get ready for the morning shower and the note would say ‘I moved it!’ yes- they put it back- but they took the time to mock my note.
So now I have the radio glued to the Christian rock station [I prefer KLOVE- but Air 1 is okay] and this morning as I’m taking a shower I hear the D. J. say ‘up next- Hanson’. Now- I didn’t even know Hanson [the boy band- now older] was doing Christian music- I felt ‘dirty’ listening to them- not because they were kid rockers- it’s just you can’t claim to be a classic rocker and actually have listened to a complete song from Hanson- in a way it’s like joining a cult. But I had no option- I was in the shower and the song just played. I was surprised- they sounded real good. It reminded me of a story I saw on one of the rock channels one day [VH1 ?] They were talking about Donny Osmond’s break into the hard rock world. He was trying to shake the squeaky clean image and made some good heavy metal type songs. They said the songs were good- one of them [Soldier of Love] made it into the top 10 rock songs of the day [in the 70’s]. Yet when the rock stations played the song they would simply say ‘by an unknown artist’ they knew their listeners would rebel if they heard a Donny Osmond song. So that’s my confession- yes- a few minutes ago I was rocking out with Hanson- just hope none of my buddies find out about this.
Okay-being I already wasted all this space- let me hit a few short things. I just finished the book of Proverbs again [reading it slowly over a few weeks] and there were a lot of points I wanted to hit- maybe the next week or 2 I’ll get to some. I just started a new book on Philosophy- I picked it up a few months ago at half price books and never looked at it until last night- I like it a lot. I know the subject is controversial- many Christians shy away from it- but if you study history [like I do a lot] you will see the strong connection between philosophy and theology [study of God]. In the ancient universities [Paris- etc.] these were referred to as the main subjects- Theology was the Queen of learning and philosophy was her handmaid.
So let me just give a short quote- Socrates said ‘the unexamined life is not worth living’. Philosophy- as a system- started around 6oo years before Christ in Greek society. The popular guys we hear about- Socrates, Plato and Aristotle- they lived around 3-350 years before Christ. Christianteachers have taken different stances for and against philosophy. The church father Tertullian said ‘what does Athens have to do with Jerusalem’ meaning philosophy and Christian teaching don’t go together. Yet the great Swiss reformer- Ulrich Zwingli [16thcentury] was a well schooled theologian- learned in many of the subjects of his day- like the great Catholic scholar Erasmus. These guys were a little more refined [though Zwingli was actually a warrior- killed for the cause] and they saw the Greek philosophers as precursors to Christ- Zwingli believed he would see the great Greek philosophers in heavensome day. So as you see the church has taken different stances on the subject. It’s hard to say that philosophy had no role on Christian thought- many Christians don’t realize that the apostle John almost quoted verbatim from Greek philosophy when he used the phrase ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God’ [John’s gospel- chapter 1]. In Greek philosophy there was what was considered this ultimate unified principle- that would bring all learning together as one giant truth- this was called Logos- the Word. Greek philosophy had been looking for the Word [Logos] for years- trying to find the one key truth that would tie all other truth together- John was simply saying to Greek society ‘Look- we have found the Truth- the Divineprinciple that you have been looking for’. So for John to quote this in his gospel was not plagiarism [as some atheists contend] but wisdom- he was speaking to the people in ways that would connect with them. Yes- because scripture is Divine- Inspired- we believeJesus is very much The Word- the one who proceeds from God- but we also realize that in a sense John borrowed this form of words from the Greek philosophers- nothingwrong with it.
Okay- that’s it for today- I hope you guys always pick something up that sticks with you- you know a little nugget of wisdom that in 30 years from now if I see some of you at an old school reunion you can walk up to me and say ‘John- Jesus is the Word of God’ something that I will be proud about. O wait- just had a thought- if someone walks up and says ‘John- I hear you like Hanson’ I will respond ‘Who’s John?’
[1634] HE QUOTES SHAKESPEAR!
A few years ago my city appointed a new police chief- he was a local guy who rose through the ranks and made it to the top. Lots of times the city hires out of towners who apply- but this time they went with a local. At the time the news was ‘He quotes Shakespeare’ I mean over and over again. Our local news is funny- all 3 major networks do a local news format 3 times a day- each. They run a show at 5 p.m. - 6 and 10. They run the exact same show [each channel does their own show- but the repeats are exactly the same]. So for some reason the big story at the time was the police chief quotes Shakespeare. I mean I heard the story- 3 times a day [actually 9] all day. Read it in the paper- saw the news ads about the ‘news at 10’ the thing was everywhere- I was tempted to write a letter to the editor of the paper- the headline being ‘NO MORE SHAKESPEAR- PLEASE!!’ Anyway the chief eventually became embroiled in a few scandals and he quit/was fired.
The reason the Shakespeare thing was popular was because in our day we have a tendency to neglect the ‘more refined’ things in life. I know there's always a danger of doing stuff just so others can think your more refined- Jesus did warn against it [don’t pray, fast and do charity just to make a show of it] yet at the same time we do want to be wise- to become informed about stuff. A while back I took my computer to a friend who offered to help me with the web site- I was/am a total amateur at web stuff- I know I write a lot- but I didn’t even have an email account until the last 5 years or so. Anyway as an amateur I try and seek wisdom from others who have been at this longer than me. So my buddy indicated he was a computer whiz and he offered to show me how the system works [it was when I first set up the blog]. As I was explaining to him that all I’m trying to do is have a site where people can click a link and read the books/studies separately [at the time everything was just one long scroll] he mistook what I was asking- he thought I wanted to do a PDF type file so people could download the materials. As he told me that this is what I wanted [which I really didn’t want]I tried to humbly say ‘I’m sorry, I must not be too clear- what I really mean to ask is this’ and I tried to say I don’t need what he’s telling me. He got silent- he stared at the screen and said ‘this is what you mean’- he was mad. Now- I didn’t want to get my friend mad- he was doing this for free- as a favor- but I began to realize he really was not much wiser than me on some of this stuff. At one point- being perturbed- he explained to me that the blog/web site only exists on my lap-top. That there is no ‘viral realm’ where the site exists. He was trying to say if I dumped the laptop in the bay- that the web site would be no more. Now- even as an amateur I realized myfriend was not as wise as he made himself out to be- obviously a web site continues to exist- even if your laptop takes a drink in the bay.
Sometimes we simply need to check the source- a person might mean well- but not be capable of the task at hand. Fine- they meant well- but they didn’t have the capability to do the job. When the local news were enamored with the new top cop- they mistook ‘quotingShakespeare’ with the ability to do the job. It’s good to be refined- to learn the classics- to have a grasp on world events- to be well rounded in your education- but at the end of the day if you can’t do the job- all the Shakespeare quoting in the world doesn’t help.
[1635] CULTS- I was thinking of covering the 4th Pillar of Islam today [our current study on Islam] but as I was walking into my office I noticed a pamphlet from the local Jehovah’s Witness group- it was an invite to their meeting. My kids must have found it on the door.
Over the years I have had great talks with the Witnesses as well as the Mormons. I’m always upfront from the start- I tell them I do teach the bible and church/religioushistory and as our talks begin I cover the basic historical background of their groups. I tell them why historic Christianity often defines them as a Cult- I try and be open and nice- yet I tell them the reasons behind this label.
Most times they are open and willing to talk- I hear them and they hear me. I have had numerous occasions where the younger Mormon kids would come back and really get into the stuff I was teaching- one kid said ‘wow- you know all the stuff we know’ I quoted a few key verses and he really was learning. I had a husband and wife Jehovah Witness team come over- as I was doing the basic study [me teaching them some stuff] the husband had one of those ‘aha’ moments. I was teaching/explaining something from the book of Acts and he said ‘your right- God showed me that too!’ he was really excited.
I say all this to say we often view people as ‘the enemy’ I think some of the reason for them being open to what I have to say is the fact that most of the homes they knock on often view them in a real negative light. Almost as if they were enemies. Now- I am very aware of the doctrinal differences between these groups and historic Christianity- and there are real reasons for the cult label- but I try to see them thru the lens of honest people- who for whatever reason [often raised in the group] they are trying to serve God to the best of their ability. If you view them thru this more merciful angle- as opposed to evil cult members- then you can have an open door that goes both ways.
One of the sad things about current Christianity is the tendency- in many groups- to focus on the things that we disagree on. There are many good Christian churches who view the church down the block as a cult- often times these churches actually believe the same thing on 99 % of their doctrine- yet they have a disagreement on water baptism- or an end time doctrine- or the gifts of the Spirit- and these differences are deemed worthy of the cult label. It’s really a sad thing.
I caught the show Journey Home the other night- it’s the Catholic show hosted by Marcus Grodi- he does interesting interviews with ex protestants who have ‘returned home’ to the Catholic church. The guy he had on was a former Fundamental Baptist minister who is now Catholic. For those of you who are not familiar with Christian fundamentalism- this is no minor change. Most Fundamentalist Baptists hold to a very anti Catholic stand. Anyway it was interesting to hear his journey- how he came to learn church history and he was open to the story of Christianity down thru the ages. I felt he was a little too defensive of his Catholic faith- he quoted a bunch of verses from the book of Acts to kinda say ‘see- they were Catholics’ in the fully orbed sense of the word [Bishops, 7 sacraments, etc.] I did like the brother- it was just you could sense the old protestant reasoning in using proof texts to carry your argument thru to a quick, pat conclusion. Often times this way of proving ‘who’s right’ overlooks the importance of learning over a period of time- thru becoming familiar with lots of sources and at the end of the day you see that no ‘one church’ can really lay claim to their church being fully found in the bible.
What I mean by this is the bible gives us the story of the beginnings of Christianity and we really see the church in her infancy while reading the bible- we don’t yet see any particular Christian church fully formed in the scripture. Though many churches have their arguments- they will quote verses all day on why they are the ‘true church’ or ‘best one’ yet I like the more moderate approach- True Christians are found in all denominations and the ‘true church’ consists of all those in the various groups who truly embrace Christ.
So for today- be patient with the doorknockers- maybe you are a door knocker? If so, let’s all sit at the table- listen to each other and try to view people thru the lens of mercy. If my first thought of you is ‘radical Muslim’ or ‘evil cult’ then it will be next to impossible for me to relate to you in an open and honest way. I am not advocating the view that ‘all religions lead to God’ I’m simply asking that we be more patient with people- try and understand where they are coming from- I really have had some very open talks with lots of these groups- very upfront with them- I say ‘this is why historic Christianity views you as a cult’ yes I say that- but I say it in a way- during an ongoing conversation- that allows them time to respond and share their view- and I too respond and have an open conversation. I have found this to be the best way to relate to various religious groups- hope you do to.
[1636] ANOTHER STRANGE INCIDENT and the budget showdown –
Okay, should I do this? To be honest with you guys, I usually try to avoid this- but I felt I needed to do it. In the mornings when I get up- very early- today I woke at 1 am and just finished a long prayer time [its 4:50 right now]. I walk in my yard and it’s real windy and you get the sense of being by a river. The bay is only a few hundred yards from my house- but it feels like being on a river for some reason. I usually get ideas on what to talk about in the morning- sometimes the night before. So the other day for some strange reason I ‘felt’ the Lord wanted me to talk about the possibility of another major earthquake- sometimes you get those feelings and you need to be careful about whether you think it’s from God or not. The feeling was pretty strong- I actually felt like it was going to be California- anyway I shook it off and the next morning wrote something else. Sure enough within a couple of hours of writing the post a 7.1 earthquake hit Japan, this was not considered an aftershock. So maybe the thought was from God.
Of course I could be making the whole thing up- but to be honest I get nothing out of doing all this stuff- I pay for the radio programs out of pocket [not cheap!] I take no offerings for any of this- ever. Don’t do preaching engagements [no offerings there either] so I really get nothing from the whole deal- so it would be pathetic to make it up- especially if you get nothing out of the thing!
One time I got a letter from a radio listener- the guy was a ‘preacher’ and he said he liked my show- said he was Gods ‘last day prophet’ [okay- a little spooky] but I went with it for a few weeks- trying to discern whether it was a real person who I should be patient with- or a nut job. Finally he sent me the ‘word from God’ how I was required to send a specific amount of holy cash to him- as a special sacrifice. I simply spoke about it on the air- saying I hoped he was a scam artist- because if he really believed this stuff he is without a doubt a false prophet. So you see doing the ‘I heard from God thing’ can be very manipulative- especially in the area of money.
Okay- last I saw the govt. might still shut down tonight [unless they signed something last night- I didn’t catch the late news]. Either way- let’s talk a little about how both politicians and the media can be- well ‘full of it’. First- they have been doing a real job with all the various numbers- they know peoplecan’t keep track so they float stuff for the sound bites. First- the new Tea Party Repubs promised- if elected- that they would slash 100 billion from this year’sspending. After they got in- Boehner and the more moderate Repubs were going to agree to around 30 billion- this got the Tea Partiers hot and they changed the number to around 60 billion. The Dems said no way and countered with a few billion in cuts.
Now- all these numbers are only talking about the current year’s budget- which ends in September of this year. So as they went back and forth the Repubs managed to shave off around 10 billion by doing these 2 week extensions [called C.R.’s- continuing resolutions]. So the Repubshave already managed to get around 10 billion cut- fine. The last deal they were going to offer was right at around 38 billion, the Dem’s were actually going to agree to around 30 billion. To be fair- the Dems moved a lot farther then they wanted. They did seem willing to compromise. Yet they are just as crooked as the Repub’s. Why? How many lists have you seen on the news about all the programs the Dems want to cut? Not one. How many lists from the evil Repubs? Lots. Why are there no listsabout the evil Dem cuts- I mean not one- and night after night we hear the Dems saying the Repubs want to kill grandma- go after the kids- on and on. The reason is the Dems, after all the stalling onactuallycommitting to cuts, still have not said what they are willing to cut. They say ‘we want to tax the oil industry more’ fine- but that’s not a cut. Instead they agreed ‘in principle’ to the 30 billion.
Now, you really can’t negotiate in good faith like this- because you get one side saying ‘we will cut this’ and the other side goes out and says ‘they want you to breathe dirty air- they want to kill grandma’- [you know, the Medicare thing]. Wait- you too want cuts- you said you did- you claim to want them- what programs are the Repubs saying about you ‘you want to do such and such’ none. Look- you can’t bargain like this. Yes- I think the Tea Partiers are too stubborn and should have dropped the social issues from the 1 week, 12 billion dollar cut which would fund the military for the rest of the year. But I heard Al Franken [okay- don’t like the guy] say ‘the Repubs are shooting us in the head- they are asking us to undo things[abortion funding] that have been in place for 40 years’ Really? There are 2 ‘Riders’ [yes- only 2!] in the current bill- to extend the C.R. 1 week and to fully fund the military for the rest of the fiscal year. The 2 riders [add on’s] are undoing the federal funding for abortions in Washington D.C. and stopping the E.P.A. from regulating carbon emissions- both of these things are new- they were recently passed by congress and signed by Obama- these are not undoing anything to be honest- they are simply going back to what we have been doing for the past 40 years- not undoing 40 years of stuff- like Franken said.
Well John, I saw them talking about cutting Planned Parenthood and all these other programs too. Yes- but that’s not in the 1 week extension that cuts 12 billion- that’s in the rest of the year extension that cuts 30 billion [and some of the stuff the Dems are screaming about is in Ryan’s ‘budget’ proposal- I mean his proposal is not even a real bill!] confusing- I know. I think the Repubs should drop the 2 minor ‘riders’ that are on today’s offer- drop the things- there small things- the Dems are making it sound like today’s bill will end abortion funding for everyone- just drop them. The Dems should be willing to say ‘yes- these are the things we will cut’. You can’t keep leaving it up to the minority party [the Repubs only hold the House- the Dems have the Senate and the Presidency] to present stuff. Paul Ryan released his 10 year- 4-6 trillion dollar cut in spending plan- of course the Dems went nuts and started the whole blame game. Look- if the Dems are not going to present an honest budget- which till this day they still haven’t done- then they can’t keep saying the Repubs want to kill grandma- geez- they need to present a budget. They hold the darn presidency; they hold the senate- pass a darn budget- do your jobs!
Look- I don’t agree with the Ryan plan- all cuts and no dealing with huge corporate welfare stuff- yet the Dems are hopelessly afraid of going on the record withanything- they are failing to do their job. I hope today they can sign the 1 week, 12 billion dollar bill- this bill is not the one that will cut Planned Parenthood funding, N.P.R. etc.- this one has the 2 small things I mentioned above- stuff that we have had for years. I wish the Repubs would drop these 2 little things- but if not- I think the Dems should still pass it for the sake of our military people and quit making it sound like this bill-today’s offer- will undo 40 years of abortion rights- if all these guys would simply stop lying all the time maybe that would also help. Maybe?
[1637] DONALD TRUMP’S VIOLENT TORPEDO OF TRUTH?
Okay- I begin this post with another confession- I am not, never meant to be a birther. I have written posts ‘debunking’ birthers in the past. I am not Tea Partier- in many ways I’m actually a progressive [in other ways not]. So let’s talk about the birth certificate thing.
For the first time I decided to actually read all the various sides of this issue. I went on-line- not to the conservative type sites- but to actual legitimate sites [sites you know are legit- Real Clear Politics, Salon, Huffington, etc.- as well as some conservative ones] and I read up on the issue. One thing that becomes pretty clear from the start is it really is highly unlikely that the president has an actual birth certificate on record in Hawaii. Now- why this is I don’t know. I always knew there was some political calculation that was being made by the Obama campaign to not release it- I just thought it was politics- I really never thought the man did not have one. After reading the best defense that the media finally came up with to prove the president was born in Hawaii- that the grandparents put a notice in the paper that he was born- I began to realize we had a very real problem.
First- there are many people- including presidents and presidential hopefuls who have indeed released their original records- this is not hard to do- I have my originals from Hoboken N.J. here in my file drawer. There are Democratic workers who were in Hawaii at the time of the campaign who were inundated with media requests for the president’s birth certificate- it became a hot issue during the campaign and media outlets flooded Hawaii with requests. At first some of these Democrats [one particularly on record] thought it would be easy to simply get proof that the birth certificate was indeed in Hawaii- he went thru a few channels and found out [he swares] that for some reason Obama did not have one [lost- whatever- he did not have one]. So because the issue was so hot they went through a few routine things and they were really surprised that there seemed to be real doubt about this thing. Now- these people were not birthers- they were Dems.
Obviously the Dem’s- who viewed the ‘birthers’ as enemies decided they needed to step into action- so there were a series of news releases- the governor’s office stated they had a person go down and personally review the thing- then the media tried to pin the person down [it’s not illegal to lie- unless in court] they backed down [question? why do this- why not actually just release the thing- it’s not that hard- takes a few minutes]. Then they had the various releases of the thing most people have seen- the certificate of live birth- and the defenders of the president have spent much time going back and forth over all the conspiracies of where the thing has a raised seal and all sorts of stuff- and the defenders [non- birthers] spent many hundreds of man hours doing this- instead of simply getting permission form Obama to go and take a gazillion photo copies of the actual thing- which is easy to do- takes only a few minutes.
Then the race card came out- all types of theories on why questioning the birth is actually a civil rights issue that dates back to the days of slavery- many thousands of hours on why the grandmother said he was born in Kenya- the defenders of the president have documented the phone call made by some preacher- how she did say he was born in Kenya- but during the conversation she back tracked- they printed each word of the interview- the whole thing- many hundreds of hours went into this- I have an idea- why not release the original birth certificate- you know it only takes a few minutes- it’s done all the time- I have my original right here- Trump released his- McCain released his- lots of candidates released theirs- not really hard to do?
Then a few weeks ago the new Democraticgovernor of Alaska- who is a personal friend of the presidents parents- went all out and did a full media release that as soon as he got in office he would personally go down and release the thing- Chris Matthews from MSNBC jumped on the bandwagon and the liberal media began asking for it. A day or 2 later they dropped the entire matter.
For the first time in my life- I think it’s highlyprobable that the president does not have one on record- his campaign did indeed spend a couple of million dollars fighting the ‘release’ of the record. Why? It only takes a few minutes to release the thing. Why all the stories of people testifying that they spotted it- like NOAH’S ark- or a U.F.O. sighting- only to find out later that they made the story up? This really isn’t that hard to figure out- you can spot the truth by reading the defenders- the ‘non birthers’- the best evidence they have is Obama’s grandparents put an announcement in the paper [many question the on line picture of the announcement- others have fibbed with on line documents- it’s not a crime- politicians know how to do stuff like this. I’ll just say it’s possible that the grandparents did indeed put this in the paper- they were proud of their grandsons birth- you can do this even if you son was born in another state- this happens all the time].
I have never found a reason to even read up on this- why the president more than likely does not have one- I have no idea! Normally the press covers these stories in a legitimate way- instead of going through thousandsof man hours investigating the backgrounds of people [like the Democrat who initially found out he didn’t have one] the media could have found out in a single day whether or not he actually had an original- it does indeed seem like he does not have one.
The reason this is sad is because it might now become a real issue- instead of spending all these man hours in questioning Trumps motives- or investigating the actual words of the interpreter who was on the phone call with the grandma from Kenya- I mean the media has spent hundreds of thousands of hours on this- why not just ask the question- how bout we go down to the records place- you know it only takes a few minutes- and release the thing? I don’t know why- do you?
NOTE- Let me say, with this issue- like all issues- people have a tendency to take sides- to want to win- fight the opposing team. There are actual defenders of the president who think that even if he was not born in the U.S. that even if this were true- that to question it is still racist. When the media- who by reading some of this stuff- decide to go to great lengths to provide support for a candidate/later president- when they do this instead of honestly reporting facts- no story like this should be settled by saying ‘we looked into the matter and found out that the grandparents put an announcement in the paper’. This type of question demands much higher type proof- like getting an actual photo copy of the real thing- which is very easy to do- some have made it sound like getting a copy is like breaking into Fort Knox.
Yesterday there were a few very serious incidents that took place around the world. In Iraq the U.S. backed govt. shot and killed around 30 innocent civilians in cold blood- there are reports that our soldiers were right there- either way- these killings took place under the Iraqi regime- they killed Iranian refuges who have been living in an Iraqi refugee camp for a while now. These refugees fled Iran and are in opposition to the current Iranian regime
The current Iraqi regime- who we are close allies with- are actually friends of Iran- Iran cantbelieve the fact that the U.S. has spent lives and money and prestige- all in order to set up a pro Iranian regime in Iraq- this story is not commonly known/reported in the media.
So yesterday the pro Iraqi govt. who has our backing and support- decided to finally kill a bunch of the Iranian rebels who have opposed Iran’s current leader- the Iraqi govt. is friends with the Iranian leader- and he killed the Iranian leaders ‘protestors’ in cold blood- while we stood by and allowed this to happen. Now- why is this terrible? These are the same types of actions that we deemed worthy of calling for the overthrow of other leaders in other countries- we called for Egypt’s president to step down for things much less severethan this. Syria and Yemen are also killing their people in cold blood. Saudi Arabia has made contact with China and Russia and has decided that the U.S. govt. cannot be trusted anymore.
Look- these are real issues- things that rise to the level ofpossible war crimes. If our guys were on the ground and witnessed the slaughter of these Iranian civilians- then in the ‘good ole days’ the media would have been calling for war crimes tribunals- for Bush and Cheney! I think the ‘Birther’ stuff is time wasted- yes the media let a very big thing slip through- but it’s their inability to cover these very serious stories- our guys being implicated in being on the ground during a humanitarian war crime- though our govt. is not being blamed for the deaths- just the fact that the killers were our allies- soldiers that we train and back and support- and they killed political enemies of the Iranian leader who now has close ties to the leaders of the soldiers in Iraq- this is very bad.
That’s why when the media goes in the tank for any one person- Black, White- Democrat- Republican- I don’t care what side there on- when the media is willing to overlook a crime committed under one administrations watch- while much lesser offenses [water-boarding terrorists] were deemed worthy for trying a U.S. president in The Hague for- well that’s when we know we have real problems.
[1638] WHAT DO WE WANT?
The other night I saw Hillary Clinton respond to the letter that Gadhafi sent to the president- the media are still baffled about the way Gadhafi speaks to Obama ‘why does he speak to him like he knows him? He refers to him as one of his own- a son’. Why are they so befuddled about this strange phenomenon? Please- the Londonpapers have already published full-page copies of the speech Gadhafi gave after Obama won- he praised him. The Chicago media have a history of the regional politicians and their connections with Gadhafi- it’s a well known fact that the president, along with Farrakhan and Rev. Wright [Obama’s pastor] had a strong friendship with the man. So it’s funny to see the media so exasperated over Gadhafi’s delusional statements that Obama is a friend.
Its stuff like this- obvious bias towards a high political figure who the media support- that makes the media less than credible when they report the news. Now- Clinton said ‘Gadhafi knows what’s expected of him- he must cease fire!’ Okay- is that really what we want the guy to do- cease fire. A couple weeks back as I was watching the coverage- Nick Robertson [CNN- loves Obama- not just a supporter- but sort of like Chris Matthews infatuation with the man]. Robertson is standing in Tripoli and he’s reporting on this strange thing- he reports that for some unknown reason Gadhafi has decided to stop firing on the rebels- yes- he has ceased all military attacks and the only bombs landing are the NATO [U.S.] ones. The rebels are also advancing in the outlying cities- full speed ahead- and the war rages on- against Gadhafi. Now- Robertson is again befuddled about the situation- maybe it’s a strategic move- yeah that’s it- Gadhafi is hiding his equipment so it doesn’t get blown up. Maybe his men are tired? For whatever reason- Gadhafi seems to have ‘ceased fire’ and the other side continues to fight.
Okay- are there any reporters- any one- who after hearing the U.S say over and over again ‘He must cease fire’ and Gadhafi has also said ‘the cease fire must apply to all sides’ are there any non biased reporters who might ask the question ‘Hey- maybe Gadhafi has ceased firing’. No, that would be too much to ask wouldn’t it.
Look- I’m not here to defend Gadhafi- but when you have s serious situation where people are indeed dying- we need reporting that is honest- non biased. If Bush/Cheney just so happened to have been good friends with some foreign leader- to the point where Bush’s own pastor was really buddies with the guy- do you think there might be a story about it- like ‘geez- Bush and all his men were really close to the guy- maybe that’s why the guy [Gadhafi] keeps talking like he knows the guy’ geez- you think maybe the media would report something like that?
We are still in lots of turmoil in the world- and the Libya thing is turning into a disaster- the ‘rebels’ are speaking out against NATO [you think? They attacked them a few times already- NATO bombed a tank the other day and said ‘we didn’t know the rebels had tanks’ the pictures have been on U-TUBE for weeks- way to go boys]. To be fair- the rebels want NATO to be their air force- NATO has rightfully said they are not the air force for the rebels- they are simply there to protect civilians- and every now and then accidently bomb a rebel tank.
I’m glad the president did the right thing in bringing together the Dems and Repubs this last week- he did do what was right. He also was morenon partisan that Bill Clinton during his showdown with Gingrich. I praise the president for this- but when your secretary of state says publicly ‘Gadhafi knows what we want- we want him to cease fire’ I don’t think he has any idea of what we want [half the world has no idea- we have been making confusing statements about Libya since day one]. And the media- if we are saying we want him to cease fire- if by mere chance he stops firing- you think you might report that? Instead they say ‘geez- it so strange that Gadhafi has stopped firing- maybe a strategic move’ and then they joyfully report the U.S. sorties and the rebels advance and the wonderful Torpedo planes from France as they blow the hell out of Gadhafi’s forces. If the media can’t even get that straight- there aint a chance in Hades that they will get anythingelse right in thisgiant mess.
[1639] THE SOCIAL STUFF- During the recent debates about the budget the whole issue of funding for abortion came up. Some said it should have been dealt with others said put it off for now. I was in the camp that said let’s not try and add it on right now- our military people were facing the loss of their checks and I felt like we really needed to just pass something without getting into the whole abortion debate.
Now- having said this- I am without a doubt ‘Pro-life’. Whenever we have these types of debates everyone seems to get really pissed- almost as in if the Pro Lifers want to strip women of their ‘reproductive rights’. Last night one of the news shows presented it as the pro lifers were just as dangerous as Al Qaeda. While it is true that there have been extreme groups who advocated for the justifiable killing of abortion doctors- the majority of Christians [like in the upper 99 %]do not hold to this view.
One time while having a discussion with a liberal pro abortion person- the person argued for their position- as they became heated they began using language about disabled people that went like this ‘how dare those conservatives force women to have mentally retarded children- the mom has to put up with the crap of dealing with that person their whole life- the mom has no life- just taking care of this mentally retarded person..’ the person went on describing the ‘mentally retarded’ person as a ‘non human’. I said just listen to the way you are speaking about the person- I’m sure the mother of that child loves that child- does not view the child as some type of animal that they are forevercondemned of taking care of because of the conservatives.
When these debates are held in our country we need to understand that we are always talking about human life- if people want to debate when that life starts- fine. Or if they feel the quality of the life of the person might be less than a fully healthy child- fine. But understand that no one should have the right to take another human life- even if that life seems less valuable then what you deem worthy of life.
I heard a story a few weeks ago about a famous French scientist- I believe he was the one who discovered the gene that causes Down Syndrome- either way he was a leader in the field. He was a personal friend of Pope John Paul the 2nd and it was a time in the world where many nations were dealing with the whole issue of legalizing abortion. Because of the doctors work in the field- he had lots of patients who suffered from the disability. At one point there was a video put out advising doctors to let their patients know whether or not they want to take the test to see if their child [unborn] has the disease. The video advised strongly for doing the test so the woman could abort the less than desirable child. Somehow one of his child patients saw the video. On his next visit to the doctor he jumped into the doctors arms [young boy] and said ‘please help us- they want to kill us’. The doctor made it his goal to defend the rights of these innocent victims- people who do have value- who understood what the real issues were. The child pleaded for this adult to protect him and all others who shared his disability.
As this debate will continue to rage in our country- I hope we can all at least view people as human beings- people who do have value- even if we deem their value less than a fully healthy person [which I do not agree with!] These are not things we are talking about- a simple ‘reproductive right’ of a woman. While I’m glad that there are free clinics and other outlets for women to find health care- and yes- reproductive health care does matter. It’sjust not rightto categorize another human life as a simple matter of a woman’s reproductive right- that child [in many cases a young girl] has rights too.
[1640] THE APOSTLE-
Got up early yesterday and decided to take a drive thru the old towns that I used to drive thru on my way to work. I used to pass up this historic community, German Catholics [the name of the town is Violet] but I never stopped to check out the little area where they live. They still have the original historic church they built in 1906- it’s closed down but it sits right next to a more modern one. It was cool seeing this old community- though I drove past it hundreds of times- it was nice to finally stop.
As I continued my tour I hit Robstown- another town I have driven past lots- have also been there lots of times as well. As I drove thru the main street I saw a few Pentecostal Revival tents set up- the signs had various bible verses on them. I also noticed some signs along the main road that simply said ‘Robstown for Jesus’. I of course didn’t mind seeing it- but I had the sense that some of the ‘more refined’ locals probably cringe at seeing the signs right off their main road. Often times Real Estate people don’t appreciate anything that might turn off a potential buyer.
I finished my tour by heading back to Corpus. I thought about the movie The Apostle [Duvall]. It’s oneof my favorites- Duvall sort of documents the experience of a typical southern Pentecostal preacher who winds up killing his wife’s new boyfriend by accident. The story line traces the redemption of the titlecharacterand how he eventually gets busted and pays his dues. I heard Duvall talk about doing research for the movie and all- how he always was fascinated with the independentsouthern protestant type preachers and he had great respect for them. And I liked the overall ecumenical spirit of the movie- at one point Duvall is traveling thru an area [Louisiana?] and he sees this Catholic procession and simply says ‘they do it their way- I do it mine- but we all get the job done’.
We all have our own biases and prejudices- it’s foolish to deny that- but it helps if we simply try and view other people/groups in the best possible light. Sure- at the end of the day we will still have our disagreements, but we might also learn from each other. I remember when first reading thru the bible and attending one of Duvall’s type churches- one of the big verses we hit on was when Jesus says ‘don’t call any man on earth Father- for you have one Father- God’. We used to use this one to blast Catholics. Was Jesus talking about Catholics? Besides the fact that officially the church really didn’t exist yet- we also read the apostle Paul referring to himself as Father when writing the Corinthian church- he says ‘you have ten thousand teachers but I am your father in the gospel- I begat you thru the gospel’. Paul was the ‘spiritual Father’ of the Corinthian church [community]. Paul was an Apostle and the gift of an Apostle is like being a spiritual father.
So what gives- was Paul violating Jesus’ teaching? In the 1st century when Jesus was speaking you had the Jewish religion- Judaism- that had splintered into various sects [groups]. You could say ‘I follow rabbi so and so’ these different sects- and those who adhered to them- were said to be under the Father [Rabbi] of that school. In essence Jesuswas simply rebuking the Party spirit- that thing that Paul himself rebuked the Corinthians for. Some of them said they followed Paul, others Apollo’s, etc. So a little bit of historical context- and we have our answer. But as a new believer who was zealous for the bible- I really had not time for all that stuff- I justread ‘don’t call anyone Father’ and that was that.
My short ride was enlightening- I saw the historicGerman community who brought their faith to this continent over a hundred years ago- sure they have ‘their way’ of doing it- like Duvall said. I also saw the Pentecostal revival meeting- with the classic tent and all [just like in Duvall’s flick] and they were proudly proclaiming Christ. Some feel we need to rid society of all vestiges of religious faith- they look to radical Islam- or to the Pro Lifer’s and say ‘we just need to get rid of the whole bunch’. One of the most popular thinkers of the last century was a man by the name of John Paul Sartre- he followed in the field of thinkers that are referred to as Existentialist’s. Sartre was an atheist- though the ‘father’ of existentialism was a Christian [SorenKierkegaard- 1800’s].
Existentialism is a philosophy that says there is more than just head knowledge- pure rationalistic approaches to God and life. Kierkegaard wrote his famous book Fear and Trembling- he talked about how when God told Abraham to offer his son as a sacrifice- that Abraham had to rise above pure rational thought [God says ‘don’t kill’ and yet he’s asking me to kill my son]. Kierkegaard says true faith rises above rational thought and embraces God in an experiential way.
Sartre wrote a few books too. Titles; Nausea, No Exit, Being and Nothingness. He was famous for saying ‘Man is a useless passion’. Jesus warned of the danger of looking to human systems and saying ‘father’ that is choosing any system of man [like atheism] over and above the Fatherhood of God. You might be part of the Catholic community of Violet that brought their faith to the area over a century ago- or maybe your more comfortable ‘under the tent’ with my Pentecostal friends- either way the job gets done. But you do need to find a ‘tent’ a community that embraces the reality of God- because if you place yourself outside the tent- then according to Sartre- you are a useless passion.
[1641] WILL RUSSIA INVADE ISRAEL?-
I remember one of the first sermons I preached as a young kid who recently started reading the bible and learning all there was to learn. The message was on the ‘Future invasion of Israel by Russia’. I had heard some radio preacher offer a book on the subject and I ordered/read the book and I became familiar with the words ‘GOG- MAGOG’ that were recorded in the old testament book of Ezekiel.
The reference is to a region- north of Israel- where a future invasion will come down and wipe out [attempt] Israel. So as a sincere kid preacher [maybe 20 years old?] I preached with all the gusto I had- I referenced all the passages- till this day I’ll never forget that was the 1st time I looked on a world map and noticed that Moscow was indeed directly north of the land of Israel.
I covered all the passages well for a new kid on the block- my Pastor [a great and good man by the way] complemented me on the study that went into the message and for the most part I covered the classic view of dispensational theology that predicts a future natural kingdom on earth- run out of Jerusalem- where Jesus will literally sit on a throne and head up natural Israel [just a note- I too believe in the literal return of Christ- the 2nd coming].
These last few months we have seen some shakeup in the world of Liberal versus Conservative cable wars. First we saw the sudden departure of Keith Olberman [my favorite Liberal] and then- like a major earthquake- Beck announced he will be leaving Fox news at the end of the year. I was surprised to see Beck go.
On one of the last shows he did, before he had a fill in take over this last week [or maybe more?] Beck was doing one of his blackboard scenarios and he managed to get to the verse about Gog and Magog [my famous sermon!]. He hit it fast- mentioned the reference found in the book of Revelation [my reference was the one in Ezekiel] and he of course said how Russia was more than likely presently aligning itself for this future biblical event.
Since the early days of my becoming a reader of the bible- I have grown in my understanding of these various portions of the bible. While there are still many sincere bible Christians who read these passages as a future event- most scholars see them thru an historical framework. For instance in the Old Testament it is true that on more than one occasion the nation of Israel was attacked by invaders from the north- and these were seen as judgments from God on a rebellious nation. The language of ‘invaders from the north’ came to be understood as a reference to Gods judgment. Like today when you see ‘the south’ [confederate] versus the ‘north’- when dealing with the Americancivil war- you see it means more than just those who now live in the North or South- it’s talking about ideology- the politics of a situation- not just a geographical region.
So you could very well read these passages in this way- that is the invasion Ezekiel spoke about can refer to one of the many that did occur during Israel’s past history- and today it speaks more about Gods judgment on nations/people who disobey- and less about a geopolitical struggle that is still to play itself out on the map- got it?
When covering these issues it is important to realize that when we read the bible we need to read it in context- it’s not totally loony to take these verses the way Beck does- many bible believers do- but I think the approach I just gave you is more than likely the best approach [though it’s not the mostpopular as measured by the end times books that are best sellers in the present day].
Everybody has a point of view- it’s important to try our best to frame these passages of scripturein keeping with the broader themes of mercy and Gods love for mankind- as seen in scripture- while doing our best to interpret the broader meaning of these passages. We live in a day where many ancient cultures are in turmoil- some of the names of these nation states are mentioned in the bible [Syria, Egypt, Israel, etc.] this makes it all the more important that we try our best NOT to simply associate all the present people groups who live in these nations with the actual militaristic prophecies about them in scripture- often times the biblical references are speaking about historical events that already took place on the battlefields of the past- and they are not necessarily speaking about these people groups who live in the land today. The gospel of Jesus rises above the ethnic/geographical divisions of the past- all people are made one in Christ.
The previous chapter in Ezekiel [37- GOG is in 38] gives a wonderfulpicture of Ezekiel holding a stick in his hand- God tells him to write the names of Israel and Judah on the stick [these were the divided tribes of Israel at the time] and God says they will become one in the prophets hand- God will gather them together and set his tabernacle in their midst and they will be reconciled before God as one ‘new man’. This is the language used by the apostle Paul in the book of Ephesians- Paul says in Christ the ethnic/national divisions are broken down and we become one new man in Christ.
In truth these verses are really speaking about the ultimate purpose of God in reconciling all humanity thru the Cross- thru Jesus Christ- it’s sad that many have used them[including myself] to cause division.
[1642] LESSON FROM A MUSLIM-
I read a story in my local paper yesterday- there was an ecumenical dinner held this week between Christians, Jews and Muslims. The Christian staff writer who attended shared how it helped her to overcome previous prejudices that she had. She told what the various speakers discussed and I was particularly impressed with what the Muslim speaker said- she talked about how true religion is not performance, putting on a show- but is expressed in reaching out to those in need- the poor and hurting.
In fact she was basically quoting the New Testament book of James- James says ‘pure religion is to visit the fatherless and widows and to stay clean from the world’. A few weeks back one of my homeless buddies stopped by- he’s basically a genius when it comes to the bible- I mean it’s sort of an autisticthing to be honest- he knows- by memory- much more than the average preacher. As I visited with Henry I gave him the latest bible studies that were sent to me over the last few months. Years ago I heard a N.J. Jewish preacher- who pastors a Messianic congregation in Lodi, N.J.- he had a short radio show on the same station I’m on- and as a courtesy I sent him some of my books and told him hi and all- being I’m a former Jersey brother and all. Ever since he has sent me these really great bible studies every month.
The studies are really in depth- and he usually only sends them to partners [those who support his ministry with money]. But I guess he appreciated my sending him a nice note and he forever put me on the list. Now- I’m an avid reader- I’ve read just about everything you can get your hands on- but these past few years I’m trying to stick with scholarly stuff- not that I’m ‘too good’ for the basic stuff- It’s just I really don’t have the time to just read tons of stuff that’s in the category of ‘devotional’ material- stuff that just kind of talks about Christian things.
So I hate to throw the stuff out- Imean they’re great bible studies. I don’t want to write Jonathan [the pastor] and say ‘take me off your list’- so I save them up and give them to Henry- he devours them and even quotes them back to me the next time I see him. So anyway we had a good talk. Somehow we got into discussing the book of James [the verse I quoted above]and I told Henry how it’s funny that James [we believe this letter in the New Testament- called James- was written by the James who was Jesus’ brother- mentioned about in the bible. He was the same James mentioned as one of the leaders in the church at Jerusalem in the book of Acts, chapter 15. To my Catholic friends- it might sound strange ‘Jesus had a brother?’ these words are found in the New Testament. Catholic teachers don’t deny this- they just interpret it to mean ‘cousin’ or near relative- some say its speaking of ‘Christian brother’. Don’t want to debate it- just thought I should mention it].
Anyway- I told Henry how it’s strange that one of the key leaders in the early church- who was closer to Jesus than all the other disciples [he lived in the same house] that he would write such a scathing indictment against the rich- and he would defend the poor so strongly. James’ letter is one of the strongest rebukes against the rich that you will find in the bible. Anyway Henry agreed with me- of courseHenry’s poor- homeless- but he knows his stuff. He said ‘you know John- as true as you are- you never hear this from the famous pulpits in America’. He was agreeing with what the Muslim lady said at the dinner- that true religion is not fame and glory- but serving those in need.
I liked the spirit of the article I read- It does not mean I will not continue to advocate for the exclusivity of the gospel of Jesus- that Jesus is truly the only way to God. Pope Benedict has also come under some heat for saying the Catholic Church teaches that Jesus is the only way of salvation- to which I agree.
Yet at the same time- as we make our case to our Muslim and Jewish friends- we can also sit down with them- live as citizens of the same community with them- and even learnsomething from them every now and then.
NOTE- To any of my friends who might be ‘rich’. The early church did have certain individuals who were rich- and it was oaky. The person who gave his grave spot to Jesus- Joseph of Arimathea- was rich. Also in the books of Acts there were believers who sold their realestate and dedicated the money to the church. So the bible doesn’t just outright condemn those who are rich- but there are many warnings against being rich in ‘this world’ while forgetting to build riches in the kingdom [works of love and charity]. That’s the main theme of James’ letter.
[1643] THE LAST MEAL-
Let’s try and cover the Passover story today. Being we are in Holy Week I thought the story- and what it means- would be helpful. In the Old Testament we read the story in the book of Exodus. Those of you who are not bible readers, just think of Charlton Hesstonin the classic movie ‘the 10 commandments’.
The history is the Jewish people were living in Egypt for around 430 years and Pharaoh was oppressing them. They were in bondage- literally- they were the slave work force of the nation. The people cry out to God and God sends them a deliverer [savior]. Moses was ‘secretly’ a Jew- though brought up in Pharaohs house [like Jesus- many do not recognize his real identity- Messiah].
Moses is used by God to judge Egypt. God sends 10 plagues on the nation and the last plague was the worst. Moses told Pharaoh if you do not free the people God will cause all the 1st born children to die. The oldest son in each house would die- from Pharaohs house to the lowest slave. Now- how did the Jewish people escape this judgment? God told Moses to tell the people the night before the judgment- they were to take a lamb and kill it and eat it [not the blood]and put the blood over the door posts- sort of in the sign of the Cross- the blood went on top and on the 2 sides of the doorway. And when the Death Angel passes thru Egypt- when God sees the blood he will ‘pass over’ that house- Walla- that’s where the name Pass Over comes from.
Now- sure enough the plague happened and Pharaohs oldest died as well as the oldest child in all the Egyptian homes. Pharaoh calls Moses and they say ‘quick go- get the h-ll out- before we all die’. The bible says they urged them to go. Well you know the rest of the story.
Now after this great deliverance God tells the people to keep this event as an everlasting memorial- a holiday for the rest of their lives. So for over 3400 years [give or take a few] the Jewish people have kept this feast. Now, when Jesus came on the scene in the 1st century- as a good Jewish boy he too kept this feast. The Feast itself was called the Feast of Unleavened Bread- but it is also referred to as the Passover feast. Technically the Passover meal kicks off the Feast.
So Jesus arrives in the 1st century and John the Baptist recognizes that Jesus is the Messiah who was to come. John calls him The Lamb of God at his baptism in the Jordan. So Jesus carries out his Messianic ministry with his men and he does all these wonderful miracles- raising the dead- multiplying the loaves and fish- you know the story. But every now and then he drops these weird hints- things that totally confuse the disciples. One time he says ‘now I go to Jerusalem to be crucified as it was foretold’ and Peter says ‘no way Lord- God forbid it’. Jesus replies ‘get behind me satan- for you care more about the things of men then the things of God’.
It’s interesting to note that this rebuke of Peter came right after his great confession of Jesus as the Christ. So Jesus drops hints [and open messages!] that he will die for the nation/world. Even the Jewish high priest at the time said ‘it is expedient that one man die for the nation instead of the whole nation being judged’. This is recorded inJohn’s gospel and John says the priest was prophesying the truth- though the priest thought he was speaking politically- that the death of Jesus would get the heat off of them for the time being- yet the priest did not realize what he was truly saying.
So as the events of ‘Holy Week’ draw near- Jesus takes his men and they go to a special place to have one last meal with Jesus- the famous Passover meal. Jesus says he really looked forward to this meal with his men. Now, Jesus knows that he himself is the fulfillment of all the slain lambs that have come down thru the centuries. He sits with his men and takes the bread and says ‘this is my Body that is broken for you’ and he takes the cup of wine and says ‘This is my Blood’.
Now- today I want to share something I never heard taught before- so to all my blog readers you might get in on a cutting edgetruth. In the Jewish religion they did not drink the blood- most bible teachers know why this is- the bible says the life of the flesh is in the blood. So when Jesus told them in John’s gospel ‘unless you drink my Blood and eat my flesh you have no life’ this was ahighly offensive statement to the Jewish mind- many followers walked away at that point [John chapter 6]. So the significance of the Old Testament prohibition on drinking blood was in fact pointing to a future Lamb [Jesus] whose Blood you could drink- or it was saying in symbol form ‘look- the life is in the blood- therefore you will not have true life until the day comeswhen you will drink the blood of a Lamb- the Lamb of God’ got it? [note- most bible teachers know this- I just never read anyone make the connection that the reason blood was prohibited to drink was because there would be a future day when Blood would be accepted- the prohibition was to point to this very thing!]
So Jesus eats the Passover with his men and he readies himself for the Cross. Our Jewish friends [Pope Benedict refers to them as our elder brothers] celebrate this great meal to this day. Christians celebrate its fulfillment every Sunday as churches all across the world hold communion services. To my Catholic friends- this is what the priest quotes at every Mass. Around 3400 years ago Moses told the people if they put the blood on the door they would be saved- the judgment would Pass Over them- all these years later we still have the promise of the Blood of Jesus.
As this Holy Week progresses- many Christians will attend church this Sunday- some are like The Donald- they attend on Christmas and Easter- but still- thank God they go! Whatever group you are in- pay special attention to the communion meal- mediate on the importance of what the meal means- enter in to the reality of Jesus being our Pass Over sacrifice [1st Corinthians 5] and remember the words of Jesus in John chapter 6 ‘Moses did not give you the real bread of God from heaven- you ate the Manna under Moses-and died. Whoever eats my Bodywill live forever’ Hail to the King.
[1644] THE ARAB SPRING-
This week the president took some criticism for identifying the struggle going on in the Arab/Muslim world with the struggle for freedom that the Jewish people experienced- and commemorate during this Passover season. The president- who celebrates the Passover meal- said that the present Arab struggle for freedom- what is sometimes referred to as The Arab Spring, is much like what the Jews went thru when they too felt oppressed by their leaders many years ago. I actually just did an entire study along these same lines [Insights from a Revolution].
The president’s critics tore into him ‘how dare he compare a radical Muslim terror campaign with the honest struggle of the Jewish people’. Beck had John Hagee [the famous Pastor out of San Antonio] on his show- as well as a Rabbi and another Israeli official- they discussed the subject of God being on the side of the geopolitical decisions of Israel- and how the Arab/Muslim world just want to ‘kill everybody else’.
Hagee offered his friendship to the Rabbi- stating ‘though we disagree on who the Messiah is [no small disagreement!] yet we can still overlook our differences and work together’.Now- I would simply ask- why not take this position with the Muslim/Arab world too? The difference that Hagee was willing to ‘gloss over’ with his Jewish friends is quite a leap- though I too agree with it- that is even though our Jewish friends do not embrace Jesus as the Messiah- yet we should love them as Jesus commanded- and fight for their rights as a people.
We should also extendthis hand of friendship- as much as possible- to the Arab world. ‘What- are you nuts- don’t you know the Koran has verses in it that are incompatible with Christian doctrine’- actually I do know this- but that 'incompatibility’ is just as severe- doctrinally- as saying Jesus is not the Messiah. According to the Apostle John- this denial is the worst doctrinal denial one can make [Johns 1st letter found in the New Testament ‘if anyone denies that Jesus Christ is the Messiah- come in the flesh- he is anti Christ’].
Okay- the point? Why couldn’t Beck, Hagee, and the other multitudes simply give this same benefit of the doubt to the Muslim world? In Genesis chapter 16 we read the actual history of the Arab/Muslim world- yes it’s in our bibles. Sarah [Abraham’s wife] tells her husband to sleep with her maid Hagar and have a son. Sarah was barren and this was an acceptable thing at the time to do- sort of like a surrogate mother type thing. After the maid gets pregnantthere arises tension and jealousy in the home and Abraham says ‘look- she’s your maid- do what you want’ and Sarah kicks her out and the maid winds up crying in the wilderness..
God sends an angel to talk with her and God promises her that her son- Ishmael [the father of the Arab/Muslim people- who is also the son of Abraham- the father of the Jewish people!] will become a great people and that the son- Ishmael- will be a wild man and he will be at war with all the nations around him and all the nations will fight with him. Now- does this history sound accurate to you? Does the Christian bible say God is the one who multiplied this group of people? If these things are true- and recorded in our Christian bibles- why not at least give them the same chance as our Jewish brothers?
Look- I am not advocating glossing over the serious doctrinal differences between Islam and Christianity- but the Evangelical community- for the most part- has managed to ‘gloss over’ a pretty major doctrinal difference with our Jewish friends- why not with Muslims? I mean as people who live together on the same planet- as people whom God said ‘I am the one who increased them’ surely we can take these same verses and use them as a bridge- to bridge some serious gaps for sure- but a possible bridge that God has given us- in our bibles- that states that God himself is concerned with the Arabworld and the present ‘war’ between Ishmaeland all the nations around him- well that too was recorded in God’s plan.
[1645] THE CHINGALINGS-
Got an email the other day from one of my old buddies who I haven’t heard from in a few years. He musthavegoogledmy name and found the blog site- it’s not hard to find me being my name is on a lot of the posts that I publish.
He was surprised to have heard that I retired; he used to call me up alot over the years when I was at the fire house. We grew up together in N.J. and he was one of the friends I always kept in touch with. He told me that a mutual friend was still in prison [Rahway, N.J.]I told him ‘yeah- I know’ I have been writing him in prison ever since he first told me about it a few years back.
He finally sent me the ‘rap sheet’ I knew our friend was doing time for a serious offense, just never knew the whole story. As I read the link I pictured in my mind the whole scene. They pulled up to some house on 70 something street- late at night. The owner was a 73 year old salvage yard owner. My friend had done business with him being he too owned a trucking business. As my friend waited in the Getaway car- his cousin [who I also knew]and another guy go upstairs and knock on the door- he answers ‘who is it’ they reply ‘PSG & E’ [I guess the name of the utility co. in Jersey- I grew up in Jersey but never paid a utility bill]. The guy says ‘one minute’ and as ‘he’ unlocksthe door they rush in- to find the cops waiting in the apt. They were set up.
The case showed how they had plastic restraints and duct tape and all the stuff you would need to kidnap someone. They basically were there to rob the guy- he supposedly had a safe with lots of money in it- instead they got busted. As I read the case- the wife’s testimony [I knew her since I was a kid too- they were together since ‘way back then’] I could hear her voice- reading my friends testimony- the story he came up with- I knew I was hearing my friend. It was sad- yet I felt like I was there.
One time this friend stopped by my house in Jersey ‘hey John- let’s take a ride to the shore’. Sure- where did you get the car? [Nice new Nova] ‘I found it- it was just sitting there with the keys in it’ sure enough I went. We had a few incidents take place where he owed me some money- one night I was at the carnival with another friend and I said ‘if I see so and so tonight- its over!’
Sure enough my friend spots him a little while later and I got into a severe fight with him. The next day I found out he had to go to the hospital and his family pressed charges against me- and his ‘biker friends’ [from Fort Lee- young guys- all our age] were gonnaget me. I joined the Navy a few days later.
Over the years I always tried to ‘convert’ my buddies- the first time back after this incident [maybe a couple of years later?] I hooked up with these old friends- my one friend [geez- I don’t want to use their names] the friend that I didn’t get in the fight with- he said ‘John- so and so still holds a grudge, maybe you better not get in touch with him’ I just blew it off- we got together and nothing happened. I felt bad- he did have some scars from the incident a few years earlier.
I have always tried to stay in touch with these old friends- I have made lots of friends thru the years- guys who have gone to prison- involved in bad stuff- yet lots of them do actually get into the bible- seek God- and many of them do come around.
I have always had sincere friends say ‘John- maybe your taking too many risks by being around these guys’. I have had a few good friends tell me this recently about my friends contact with these Muslim groups on facebook ‘John-you never know if these guys are terrorists or what’ I hear them- yet the ‘risk’ of possibly having a ‘secret’ terrorist friend on the net- well that’s really not something I worry about- plus- these guys do read my posts, what more could I ask for?
I haven’t heard from my friend in prison for around 8 months now- he was real happy to write- he asked for some radio tapes from my programs- I sent him a bunch- he was grateful- shared them with the brothers in jail [the way my buddy was- always scamming someone- I wouldn’t put it past him to have sold the tapes!]. The charges against him were attempted kidnapping and robbery. They caught him because the plan was hatched with a biker gang out of the South Bronx [N.Y.] and they had an undercover informant in the gang. The gang are called the Chingalings, I saw an A&E special on them years ago- never knew my friend [or his cousin] were in the gang.
So anyway hopefully I’ll hear from him again- I saved the address [I used to never save the addresses of my friendswho I wrote to in prison- I have been writingthe brothers for years- teaching them stuff-one on one, like the blog- but I would simply get the address from the next letter- this time I thought I should save one of the envelopes- so sure enough I have his Rahway address- his prison number and all].
One time I got an email from a friend- a girl I grew up with- she read the blog and said something like ‘gee- I like the blog John- and I know you are always challenging us to go out and help people like you do- but I’m not like you- I can’t get with all these convicts’. I emailed her back ‘PLEASE- DON’T GETWITH CONVICTS!’ I had to explain to her that she shouldn’t take my blog challenges the wrong way- I never meant for the average homemaker to go out and meet with the Chingalings!
Yet I do try and challenge myold buddies- guys who have done time in prison- ex drug addicts and all- I do often tell them ‘hey guys- don’t forget where you came from- there are still others like you that need someone to go and take a chance on them- like I did with you’. All in all I’m sure God’s will will get done. Anyway it was good to hear from one of my old buddies- he’s not on Facebook- I searched for him when I first got on- I told him that would be the best place to keep in touch. Either way it’s importantto make an effort- even if its small- to try and help out your friends- you might have to take some risks- but in the end it will be worth it.
[1646] I AM THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE-
The other night I had a weird dream- 2 young guys showed up at my door. They rang the bell and as I opened the door one of the boys said ‘John, do you remember me’. Now- to be honest this has happened lots thru out my life. At the Fire House I would often show up for shift in the morning and the off going shift would say ‘John- one of your convict buddies stopped by yesterday’ [they eventually caught on that lots of the guys I worked with at the jail/prisons knew where they could find me when they got out- and they figured they would catch me at the Fire House].
So stuff like this has happened lots-and there are times when I simply don’t remember who the guy’s are- if you give a bible study 5 years previously- they might remember you- but you might not remember them. So in my dream I told the kid [around 19 years old] ‘to be honest I don’t really remember you- just a little’ [Yes- I admit at times I have said ‘yeah- I think’ just so I wouldn’t offend the brothers].
The boy tells me that I did indeed help him and he won’t forget it. So I fellowshipped a little while. Then the boy asks a strange request ‘John- will you draw me a picture’. Sure- it seemed like something a young boy would ask- but why not. So I drew a picture of the beach and us just sitting there- like Father and son- and he asked me to sign it for him. I gave him the simple request and he seemed like a little boy getting a present from his dad. He talked a little more and as he began to leave he told me his name. He said ‘I’m Texas Ruiz’. And he left.
As I woke up [around 3 a.m.] I didn’t think too much about it. As I started the coffee, getting ready to go in the yard to pray. I remembered who Texas Ruiz was. I mentioned a few weeks ago that I pray for the cases I see in the paper- or on the news- the severe cases of crimes that have been committed. I have a wall of names [around 30 or so] that I paint the names of these people on. They will forever be on my prayer list- so I try and pick cases where the criminal [or victim] has a long lasting result/penalty- so as I pray for them over the years they can benefit from it.
One of the cases was a local one- here in Corpus Christi. The stepdad called 911 and his stepson [around 1 year old] had died. At 1st they thought it was from some natural cause- then they found out the step dad abused the boy and he died from this abuse. I saw the boy on T.V. a lot- being it was local. As Protestants we usually don’t pray for the people who have died- but I actually have felt the Lord challenge me about this over these last few years- and I do pray for the victims sometimes, even though they are dead. When I saw the boy on TV I would just raise my hand towards him and pray that God would be with his soul- I felt real bad for the kid. I did this a few times over about a week. I felt like a ‘dad’ to the kid- just praying for him. The boys name was Texas Ruiz.
There is a verse in Ezekiel 37- God says ‘in the day I raise you up and bring you back from the dead- in that day you will know that I am God’. I wrote this verse down on an ongoing journal type thing- every week I add whatever verse/book I’m studying from- whatever I feel might be significant. So I stuck this verse on the top of the page. A few days went by and I wrote the dream on the same page- I felt it was significant so I wrote it down.
After a few days- while reviewing the page- I saw that on the top it said ‘in the day I bring you back from the grave’ and in the dream- yes one of ‘our people’ didcome back- it freakedmeout.
In John’s gospel, chapter 11, we read of the story ofJesusraising Lazarus from the dead. Lazarus and his sisters- Martha and Mary- are good friends of Jesus. They lived in a little town named Bethany [the name of my oldest daughter] and for the Jewishpeople to openly embrace Jesus at the time- it was a sacrifice. Many of the religious leaders already had turned against Jesus.
So one day Lazarus gets real sick and the sisters send word toJesus ‘Lazarus- your friend- is sick’. Now- Jesus is going all over the place- healing sick people- opening blind eyes- multiplying bread and fish. I mean the sisters must have thought ‘well- at least all the flack we’ve taken over openly befriending Jesus will finally pay off’. But when Jesus hears about Lazarus the bible says he purposefully waited 2extra days before heading towards Bethany.
Now- after a few days Lazarus did indeed die. The sisters are mad- ‘wow- he healed all these others- strangers- yet no time for us’. When he gets to the outskirts of town Marthagoes out to see him ‘Jesus- why didn’t you come? You could have prevented this from happening’. Eventually Mary says the same thing to him. Jesus tells them ‘I am the resurrection and the life’.
The sisters only saw Jesus thru the lens of ‘why didn't you fix the problem when it was still possible’ Jesus was saying ‘it’s still possible’. He was telling them‘Just because the thing you thought I would do- in life- didn’t happen yet- I can still overcome the devastation that it has caused you’. Jesus of course will raise their brother- it becomes a huge miracle tothe point where the religiousleadersconspire to kill Lazarus too- because so many Jewish people begin believing in Jesus because of this miracle.
In Ezekiel 37 God told Ezekiel [and the nation of Israel] ‘in the day I bring you back from the dead- in that day you will know I am God’. Today we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. A real event that took place in time and has stood the test of historical examination [too much to cover right now- but take my word for it- the evidence is overwhelming].
Sometimes we are like the sisters of Lazarus- we expected God to prevent the disaster from happening ‘Lord- if you were here this would not have happened’. The test of faith is to continue to believe- even on the other side of the disaster. The problem with Mary and Martha was they felt like Jesus simply did not come thru in time- they heard all these great stories about how Jesus helped all these others- yet they sat at home- with a dead brother and a funeral to attend.
Today I want to challenge you- are you like the sisters? Did God not prevent the disaster from happening? Did he not do for you what he did for the others? You might not see the ultimate ‘healing’ until the resurrection- the ‘last day’- but be assured- in the day he raises you from the dead- you will know that he is God.
[1647] JESUS CHRIST- SUPERSTAR?
The other night I caught the classic movie/musical by Andrew Lloyd Weber- Jesus Christ Superstar. I remember seeing it as a kid [it came out in 73] and I remember that there was some controversy over it. The intro on the Classic channel also talked about the controversy. Whenever a movie comes out depicting the life of Jesus [The Last Temptation of Christ] there usually is some type of protest about it.
As I watched Superstar I saw a few scenes that Christians might see as problematic- but overall I liked it. The things that Christians usually protest are the scenes that show Jesus as a man- tempted the same way all men are tempted- by women! That is- some of the movies depict Jesus as getting too close to Mary Magdalene and even having slept with her.
Now- believers most definitely reject the sleeping part- that did not happen. But was it possible for Jesus [and Mary] to have ever been tempted to be in love? I think so- the bible clearly says that Jesus was tempted in every way, just like us- yet he never sinned [Hebrews, 1st John]. So what’s the big deal if one of the temptations- which he never gave in to- was falling in love with Mary?
The point being- we seem to feel uncomfortable with the biblical doctrine of Jesusbeingtempted at all- we prefer to overlook the verses that show Jesus was in a great struggle. In Psalms 22- the writer prophesies of Jesus- he says ‘deliver my soul from the mouth of the lion- I call to you from the horns of the unicorns’ it shows a sense of desperation- a sense of Jesus in the gardenpraying- sweating great drops of blood ‘if it’s possible God- let this thing go away!’
I went to church Easter morning- I on and off attend a mega church here in the city- it’s the 15th fastest growing church in the country [they like to let people knowthe numbers/statistics a lot] and they average around 7 thousand attendees every weekend. I like the church- it’s a good church. Now, it just so happened that they did mention statistics this day- I felt like they wanted to show the people what they were doing with the money- kind of justify giving to the church- all okay things. As someone who has been around the block- experienced and studied church doctrine [called Ecclesiology- the word Ecclesia is the Greek word for church in our bibles] I have seen how easy it is to view church from the standpoint of getting the right amount of people to ‘join’ so you could have the right amount of money to carry out the church’s mission. Often times the well meaning pastors are influenced by the peer pressure to meet certain criteria and they unwittingly descend into a numbers game ‘gee- if I can just get so many more- who ‘join’ [which means they give 10 % of their money to the church] then I could accomplish so much’.
In the New Testament days you had what was called ‘Oral Tradition’ that is many of the early churches spread the message of Jesus by word of mouth. After a period of time [around 15-30 years- depending on whose numbers you use] these Oral Traditions were put down in writing [the gospels]. You also read how the apostle Paul sent letters to the churches he was working with- and he would say ‘have this letter read among you’. Why not say ‘pass it around and let everyone read it’? There were many early believers who were illiterate- so you had a designated ‘reader-lecturer’ handle the job.
The point being- when you had an increase ofpeople who wanted to hear the message [from Paul or anyone else] you did not have the messenger go out and build huge buildings so everyone in the town could cram in on Sunday and hear Paul [or Jesus]. Instead you had a natural growth take place as people spread the message- that’s how the church grew.
As someone who has written and said much about this over the years [read mysection ‘What in the world is the church’] I don’t want to get into the whole thing today- just wanted to say we in the west like seeing Jesus as a famous person- a ‘superstar’ if you will- we like putting him on a stage and seeing him perform. We like it so much we try and emulate this very aspect of what we see as ‘ministry’. Jesus was a real man [and really God] who was tested like all men- he never sinned- but the tests were real. Today we see him seated at the right hand of the father- in his glory- but first came the tests.
Jesus told his men ‘you are the ones who stuck with me all thru the trials- you endured. Therefore I give to you a kingdom- just like I went thru trials and my father has given me a kingdom’. Yes- Jesus has acquired superstar status in the Western world- the American churches seem to focus on that aspect much- yet the psalmist- speaking for Jesus- said ‘save me my darling from the mouth of the lion- the bulls are all around me- my skin sticks to my bones- I am in torment and my soul is at the point of death- help me’ we seem to forget this aspect of the superstar.
[1648] MEET THE NEW CHAMP- HE’S THE SAME AS THE OLD CHAMP-
It’sbeen a while since I’ve talked about my buddies at the fire house- so let me add a post to the legend.
Like I’ve said before- at the fire house we had a majority Hispanic group- as a White boy I was in the minority. Yet many of my best buddies were Mexican- and to be honest the fights/disagreements were hardly ever race based- we would joke about race- but when there were disagreements it was political [union stuff].
But yes- we would joke- lots. One day I was working with a white brother at the substation [called station 2]. There were only 2 of us on duty at that station- my friend has a white sounding name- he was a Yankee like myself who came south when his family moved here as a boy. I hear him on the phone one day- he was calling back to check up on a free credit card offer that some company kept calling him about.
You could tell that he really didn’t care that much about the offer- but they kept calling him [or writing?] to offer the thing. So as he’s on the phone I hear him giving his last name- he starts getting mad- you can hear it in his voice. He’s telling them ‘no- that’s not how you say my name- it’s $#@% not %$@#!’. They obviously mistook him for being Mexican- they were pronouncing his very white last name with a Hispanic slant.
Well, as he hung up the phone- you could see he was mad. I asked him ‘what’s up’ he of courseknew it was too late to cover the incident up- so he tells me that the offer was only for Mexicans- even though they personally hounded him for months. I mean it was funny- I couldn’t stop laughing.
One more- Over the years at the fire house you do stuff to kill the monotony. So one year the guys got into doing arm wrestling competitions. Now- as ayounger kid- in the earlier days at the fire house- I got into all sorts of competitions- pushups, chin ups, etc. One day one of the young guys comes up and says out of the blue ‘John- I heard you hold the dept. record for chin ups’. I mean I must have been around 45- I guess the record went back 20 years- I had no idea who held the record! But these legends pass down [I think I did 19 chin ups- according to the Lore].
So the younger guys are all competing with each other with the arm wrestling. Now I’m about 45 at the time and I really don’t want to enter the arena at this age- you know- like a George Foreman thing. But I’m finally persuaded and for some reason I wind up beating the top guy and get the title- it was funny- I would just show up to work and some young kid from another shift would just be there- waiting to challenge. I had a friend who would get a kick out of how the guys wanted to just challenge me out of the blue.
One day I walk in- and the other guy is just there- with his arm in the challenge position- like he was waiting all night for the big show. So as my buddy starts laughing ‘hey John- you got another challenger’ I walk over to the counter- and in about 2 seconds he goes down- I mean it was shameful to be honest. Even his buddy that put him up to it was mad ‘Darn Joe- you went down like a woman!’
So after a while the former champ- Mike- who was a top competitor- Mike weighed about 225, young kid, all muscle. He actually beat me a few times- and me him. It’s just the last time I won I would never give him a rematch. I mean he would beg for just ‘one more chance’. I would say ‘hey Mike- true champs don’t rematch at the drop of the dime’ and I would blow it off.
So one day- out of the blue- me and Mike are working at the sub station- and for some reason I walk into the dorm and say ‘Mike- today’s your day- let’s get it on’. I mean you could see the unbelievable joy in his face [which would soon turn to extreme sadness!] as he thought ‘here’s my chance to redeem myself’. So we sit down at the table and thematch is on. Some days you have good days- others bad. So we get intothis long match- maybe 20 minutes- and I finally do the surge- and I guess it was that 5th cup of coffee- but I could feel Mike going down. As he begins to give in- it was like slow motion- I look at Mike- and he has this extreme look ofunbelief on his face- like after all these months of wanting the re match- he cantbelieve he’s blowing it- he just looks up and with a complete look of desperations says ‘OH NOO!’ And he goes down.
I felt bad for old Mikie- he waited a long time to redeem himself-and no redemption came. I of course gave Mike the same offer that I did with a few other buddies- I said ‘Now Mike- you know the guys are gonna have to find out sooner or later- either I tell them- and if I tell them- they will hear the whole story- the desperation in your eyes as you went down- the whole 9 yards- or you make the call to the main station and fess up over the loudspeaker’.
Mike saw the writing on the wall- in a way it was sad to sit there at the sub station- to hear Mikes voiceover the loudspeaker ‘Guys- Mike’s calling from station 2- he has something to say’ and to hear the confession. Geez- if someone walked in off the street they must have thought ‘what does ‘John beat me again’ mean’? Yes- I must admit I enjoyed the thrill of victory- Mike of course would never challenge again- after a while all the challenges went away- it was me ‘the old guy’ holding the title once again- after all those years.
It was still funny to get the challenges from out of nowhere- guys you thought would never even care. One day I’m sitting in the captain’s office with the captain- a good 15 years my elder. I’m in there with my other buddy- the one who cracked up over seeing the challenges come from nowhere. We were laughing about the whole thing- how the younger guys were distraught over their losses- it was funny. All of a sudden- my captain- who has been hearing the stories for months- looks at me with a serious face- and says ‘you know John- I used to be a pretty good arm wrestler back in the day’ yes- I saw this look before- the look of courage- someone who has heard all the war stories and he thinks to himself ‘I know I can beat John’ Yes- I often saw this look- right before the arm went down.
[1649] YOU SPENT 8 DAYS LOST AT SEA!
There’s a funny commercial running right now on the tube- you have this applicant walk in to a bank and the manager asks him some questions as he applies for a job. The boss says ‘so tell me about yourself a little’ and he begins by telling him his likes and all. One of the things he says is ‘O, I love my banks raise your rate C.D.’. The boss looks dumbfounded- he says ‘did you say you spent 8 days lost at sea?’ and the applicant tries to clarify- the boss says ‘did you say you wanted a raise ASAP?’ Again- the applicant tries to make himself clear. The boss says ‘did you say you love watching your neighbors watch T.V.?’ At this point the applicant realizes no matter what he says- the boss is ‘unable’ to hear the truth.
I think it was T.S. Elliot who said ‘you can’t convince a person to accept something- especially when their job depends on them not accepting it’. Recently I have mentioned the word Ecclesiology- it’s a ten dollar word that simply means ‘the doctrine of the church’- not what the church teaches- but the actual study of what churchmeans.In the New Testament we see the church as meaning a community of people- amovement of followers if you will.
As a young kid who just started learning the bible I of course wanted to learn all I could. Ijoined a goodBaptist church [independent] and I learned the hard and fast view of the local independent church. It was often taught that the actual church building is ‘the local church’. At first I simply accepted this- but it wasn’t too long before I had some serious doubts. At this time in history there are many, many ‘former’ pastors [and some present] who have honestly re-thought the entire system of what is commonly called ‘the local church’.
Today there are entire movements- schools- ‘church groups’ who have moved more closely to the biblical idea of ‘the church’. One of the big obstacles to ‘moving closer’ is the reality that many fine men [pastors] do depend on their jobs as ‘the pastor’ and this does create difficulty in rethinking the entire idea of church.
For instance- the New Testament teaches us that the church- at heart- is a voluntary community of people. Now, these people have elders, pastors, teachers, etc. who are part of the community. But in the New Testament these positions are not hired professionals who are ‘hired’ by ‘the church’ and put on a salary. Yet at the same time the bible does teach us to support those who labor among us in the gospel. Jesus says the laborer is worthy of his hire. Paul says no mangoes to war at his own expense. These are all talking about supporting the Christian leaders among us [Priests, Pastors, etc.]
We also have Jesus teaching us that ‘freely we have received- freely give’ in context he was speaking about the spiritual gifts that God gives to us- they are not things to be sold- or charged for. So we see a balance in the bible- one side might ‘just see’ the parts they like- and so on [did you say you spent 8 days lost at sea?]
Overall God gives us leaders and teachers and pastors to help us grow and mature as believers. But many modern churches function more along the lines of ‘these people/members are here to give so much money- I carry out certain job requirements for them[weddings, funerals, etc.] and they come to hear me speak every week’. This is a very limited way to view church- it often works against the intended purpose of leadership- which is to eventually work yourself out of a job- that is the people become independent of you and they now lead others.
Overall these last 20 years many believers have seen these things in a greater way- there are lots of books and teachers who are now looking at the entire doctrine of ‘the church’ as seen in the bible- and the limited view [the building we meet at- the church as a lecture hall] is really falling away at a rapid rate.
It’s fine to ‘go to church on Sunday’ and to contribute money to the good work the churches do- it’s just we all want to learn along the way- and we don’t want to be like the bank manager who keeps hearing only what he wants to hear.
[1650] TO EVERYTHING THERE IS A SEASON-
Yesterday was the end of an era for me- after 23 years of doing broadcast radio- I thru in the towel. I have been on radio right from the early days of ministry. I started recording my messages even earlier. In those days everything was done on cassette tape. I watched the times change over the years as I would go to the local [regional] radio station to ‘drop off tapes’- geez- thousands of times.
I would notice how most of the other ministries were converting to C.D. [also now a dinosaur] and I was still using cassettes. I would often say to myself ‘John- don’t let the devil make you feel bad- you’re not behind the times’ and I would pop in my Styx 8 track on the ride back home [okay- fudged a little on this].
Anyway I had a system going where I would record the tapes and make high speed copies- the copies would get dropped off- the originals [masters] would not. This was just in case the station lost the program- or a tape broke- you would still have the original. Well as the times changed you couldn’t even purchase [have serviced] these old tape duplicators. As an independent preacher- someone who takes no offerings or receives any financial support [because of principle- way too much money involved in today’s church] I took the risk of just dropping off the originals- and every so often they would ‘get lost’ [I think one of the employees might have enjoyed taking them home to listen to- which was alright with me- it’s just I needed them back].
So over these past few years I did my best to try and solve the problem- it never worked. The station manager- a good friend- told me he would copy the tapes to C.D.’s if I wanted- I said yeah! He never got around to doing it. He then told me he would save the programs in digital format [they put them on computer] and I would be able to copy them that way.
So the other day I finally had him make a copy to my flash drive- at least I would have them that way. I realized they weren’t even playing the right tapes [using the older- out of order stuff]. Then when I got home I realized they did indeed ‘lose’ another tape- part of a series that if you lose one [like a bible study] it ruins the whole set.
So I went and picked up the last batch of tapes and told them that I was sorry- but I had to finally cancel the show. They gave me a break on cost- but I literally spent thousands of dollars over the years doing these broadcasts- it was time to move on.
So hopefully I will soon have a link on the blog where you will be able to hear the programs [simply on line]. I found out it’s a real pain to convert the tapes to Mp3 format- then to get them on the blog. I spent the whole day yesterday messing with it- I ordered the convertor you need to do it. Then I had to start a Host site- the blog does not have space for this- and now I think I will have to get another computer- I do all my work from a laptop- I think the cord for the converterwill only work on a desk top.
As someone who is computer illiterate- for the most part- it’s frustrating to have to deal with it. Geez- just getting the Host site up took me forever. So being I was already feeling bad about going off the air- it was something I loved to do- I figured I would just get a quick News fix- in the background- as I’m trying to figure all this out on my laptop. Of course all the channels were showing the Royal Wedding- enough said.
I hate it when the news fixates on a story- or presents something silly- and they do it all day long. One time at the fire house- I was sitting there with a good buddy- we had the news on [the guys used to get mad- for real- I had the news on all the time] and sure enough the actor Lloyd Bridges died. So as I’m sitting there glancing at the screen- I tell my buddy ‘Gee Joe- you think they could show a more ridiculous photo of the poor man’- I mean they had a picture of him from one of the spoof Airplane movies- he had a towel sticking out of both ears- with a goofy face-making it look like the towel went thru his head- ear to ear.
Joe started cracking up. I mean the poor man’sgrandkids were probably saying ‘why does grandpa have a towel in his head mommy’. I mean the man had a long career- lots of serious movies- no, CNN liked the towel picture.
So for today I think I will work on the on line format some more- I do have some programs already on computer disk- trying to convert them to the host site and add the link to the blog. So for those of you who are interested you should be able to hear us on line soon- no more radio. Talk to you guys later- John
[1651]
‘PRESIDENT OBAMA IS THE WORST PRESIDENT- EVER!’ Trump. ‘WE JUST KILLED BIN LADEN’ The President. ‘TRUMP APPEARS ON FOX [news] AND HE WEARS ONE ON HIS HEAD’ Seth Meyers- S.N.L fame, at the White House Press dinner. Conclusion? Trump- your fired.
These last few days have been news worthy- Obama released the birth ceritificate [though you still have doubters].NATO [and the U.S.] killed Gadhafi’s son –Saif [not the famous son by the same name- this one was younger and not as heavily involved with the regime] and his 3 grandkids- all under the banner of ‘protecting civilians’ [how killing 3 kids protects civilians is beyond me]. And of course we all rejoice in the justice brought to Bin Laden.
I found it fascinating how the left/right even use stuff like this to simply play petty games. Michael Issikoff [MSNBC] was criticizing Lynn Cheney because some of the Intel. we used to get Bin Laden came for K.S.M. [Kaliek Sheik Mohammed] during our interrogation of the guy. So those on the right said ‘see- water boarding does work- it got us the info’. And the left said ‘hold your horses Lynn’.
Issikoff said ‘we water boarded the guy 180 something times- and all we got was the nickname of the person connected to Bin Laden- geez- we didn’teven get the full name’. Are you kidding me? If someone was out to kill your family- and you ‘interrogated’ an accomplice- and he said ‘it’s the mailman’ but didn’t give you the proper name- would that not be what is called actionable intelligence?
In point of fact the left and the right are both wrong on this. The way we got the info was not during a water boarding session- it was during normal questioning. At one point the C.I.A. asked him ‘and who is so and so’ and they gave the famous nickname. K.S.M. said ‘I don’t know his name’. The C.I.A. knew that he did know- that tipped us off that the person was a valuable target- and it lead to Bin Laden [he was the courier- mailman- for Bin Laden].
All in all I’m glad they got the guy- but the pettiness of these politico’s- these guys are ruining the country- Jon Stewart is right when he calls them out for what they are. And MichaelIssikoff- he should be the last person to talk about ‘valuable- non valuable’ Intel. He is famous for writing an article stating that our soldiers flushed a Koran down the toilet at Gitmo. This article instigated worldwide Muslim uprisings that killed innocent people and put our soldiers at risk. When Pastor Terry Jones burns a Koran and it leads to innocent deaths- we rightfully condemn it. When a MSNBC hack does it- with false information[we never burned a Koran- it was misinformation that the terroriststhemselves put out- and Issikoff took the bait- and well you know the rest of the story] we let it slide.
O.K. all in all there’s been a lot going on. I don’t want to demean the importance of the Bin Laden killing- our boys [Seals] did one heck of a job- and they did it in Pakistan- a few hundred yards from a military facility [and they didn’t know he was there? Please]. And we did it without informing the Pakistani Govt. that we were going in- sounds just like an Israeli undercover op. great job. But I am concerned about the way NATO has targeted civilian areas in Tripoli- saying ‘we are not targeting Gadhafi’ baloney. We are indeed targeting him- and we killed his 3 grandkids at the same time. No- killing kids is not acceptable- no matter whose grandkids they are.
[1652] LETTER FROM AN OLD FRIEND
The other day I mentioned how over the years I have come to ‘see’ the community of people that I speak into- those friends I have worked with on the streets and all the readers/hearers of the ministry- I have come to see them as one community. I even began to see the friends who died as still being part of the community- just because they are not physically present- they are still ‘there’.
In the letter to the Hebrews the bible says Jesus stands in the middle of the congregation and sings praises unto God. On the Mount of Transfiguration Jesus met with Moses and Elijah [2 dead saints] and Peter, James and John. The community was made up of both earthly and heavenly saints.
Okay- said all that to say this. When I first came to Texas I drove down with a good buddy I grew up with. His name was Miguel and we hung out as kids. Eventually Miguel would give his life to God [after me working with him for a few months] and I saw him as one of my 1st converts to the Lord.
I gave Miguel my first bible and got another one. Over a few years me and Mike tried to establish ourselves and our young families on this strange Texas frontier. Eventually Mike went back to Jersey. The night before he left [I drove him to the airport in San Antonio the next day- and his family]. We took a drive to Corpus Christi [where I now live- we both lived in Kingsville at the time- about 40 miles from Corpus] and spent the last night as buddies just hanging out on Padre Island- eating Whataburger’s [a great burger restaurant in Tx.] and just talking about what God had in store for the future. Actually, as I sit here and type I’m about 100 yards from the main road going straight to the Island- the same road we drove on 25 years ago.
As the years passed I would get a call from my old buddy every so often. One time Mike called to give me the news ‘John- I wanted to let you know I tested positive for Aids’- What! How’d that happen? [Probably a bad response now that I think about it]. Mike wasn’t ‘gay’ or bisexual- but he had lots of girlfriends- all the time. Back then safe sex was more of an option- and obviously Mike wasn’t toocareful. Mike told me his wife- Lu Ann- also tested positive. What a tragedy- they had 4 boys.
So of course the whole family became a regular prayer request- till this day- every morning [every!] I pray for Mikes boys. One time I came home from work and my wife said ‘John- Lu Ann called’ I said ‘Mike died’ she said yes. Mike was 32. One day I received a letter from Lu Ann- she told me how her oldest boy was a preacher now in N.J. and he was on fire for God. She wrote a nice long letter. It must have been something God wanted her to do- I will forever remember that letter.
When Mike left Texas- I got that old bible I gave him back. It was just a sentimental thing of keeping your 1st bible. Then one year I started reading from it again and found that Mike had sprinkled notes all thru out it- things like ‘ask John this’ and stuff like that. So it was cool to catch these short notes every so often. I could almost hear Mikes voice as I read the notes.
So anyway as I pray in the mornings I have a conscious sense of my old buddies who have died- lots of homeless friends- a few ex- con/addict friends- and of course Mike and Lou Ann- [I guess she’s dead by now?] So last week as I’m just asking the Lord what chapter to read. I turn to Exodus 16- and Mike had a bunch of notes on this page- stuff like ‘NOTICE THIS’ and things that were weird- like he was writing notes to me. It did freak me out- I ‘fellowship’ with Mike when I pray for the Bro’s- and sometimes it’s like Mike is saying ‘John- thanks for praying for the boys’. And then to read notes later that say ‘Notice this’ or ‘ask John this’ it’s freaky.
Okay- thatchapter dealt with God giving his people Manna- bread from heaven. It was the same week I dropped the radio program- I felt bad about doing it- but it was time. I told the Lord ‘If I messed up- sorry’. That is if I dropped it cause I was mad they kept losing the ‘darn’ tapes- then I repent. So anyway one of the verses in the chapter says ‘some peoplewent out on the 7th day- to get their daily bread- and they found none’.
I knew there were going to be lots of long time listeners- who have written- who loved the show. These would ‘go out’ on the 7th day [Actually Sunday is the 1st day- but you get the idea] and would find ‘no bread’ for the first time in 15 years of broadcasting over KCTA. Actually over these last few days I have had lots of confirmation that this was the way to go- I began putting the shows on my blog- you can now listen and download the stuff 24/7- as opposed to only being able to hear it once a week. At the broadcast rate- geez it took 5 years just to recycle some of the older messages.
So for today- we learned that those who have gone on- our spiritual brothersandsisters- they are ‘still alive’. Now the bible forbids communication with the dead, and there are lots of religious superstitions that cross the line in these areas- but at the same time we do believe in eternal life- and if God speaks tome thru the words of one of my old buddies- stuff like ‘notice this’ then who am I to not notice?
[1653] A SURPRISE VISIT
I had a surprise visit last night- one of my original ‘church members’ stopped by to see me. Emit was the 2nd generation family, a son of one of the guys who was hooked on Heroin in the early days. Emit’s dad [Emit senior] was also part of the first group of members.
I would hold bible studies for the guys in the county jail- some were waiting for their court dates- they would do lots of time in Texas’ famous prison system- others were just doing time for minor offenses- things related to their drug addictions.
So anyway Emit Jr. was in that first group. I would pick up his dad for our church meetings [first held at an old abandoned hospital- later moved to my garage]. We had around 30 or so people who made up our little group. Mostly families of the guys I met thru the jail meetings. But every so often we had someone hear about us and they would join our group.
I remember Roy and Kathy- they were in this group of ‘normal people’. Roy was a liberal news reporter for the local paper- and Kathy was a bible college graduate. I don’t know how they found us- but they liked the bible studies I would do and they became good friends. The same with Hubert and his wife Katy.
Hubert actually taught at a regional bible school [Pan Am school/church] sponsored by the PresbyterianChurch. It was their Latin American outreach school- located in Kingsville. So we had some up-standing folk as well. As I was fellowshipping with Emit we had some good laughs. I told him now that I’m posting the radio shows on the blog that in the future I’m going to post some of the old recordings from the early days. You can hear Emits dad on these tapes.
It was funny- the guys acted like we were just hanging out at my house- even during the church meetings! Emit [Sr.] had a habit of raiding my fridge right before the meetings would start- I mean I couldn’t keep Pecan Pies away from the brother. I eventually hid the good stuff before Emit got there. Hey I loved the bro. but the Pecan Pies were not part of the deal!
Emit told me he still has a few of these tapes and he hears his dads voice on some of them- His dad has been dead for many years now. He was clean at the time- but he ruined his liver with the Heroin and it finallycaught up with him. His dad met his wife- Janie- at our little church. Janie was a single mom who had a bunch of boys- I worked with her sons and she would attend the church- Emit met Janie and sure enough they got married. They were a nice couple.
So last night Emit calls some of the other original group [geez- he had all their numbers in his phone]. So in a few hours I will be taking Emit, David [Buentello] and Henry [one of the homeless guys] to lunch in Corpus. David and Emit both work in Corpus now- they still live in Kingsville.
David too was a ‘founding member’ I met his dad while preaching at the jail-Leonard was a long time addict. Once again I met the sons thru myfriendship with the dad. David has a bunch of brothers and I met Leonard [Jr.] and Ben and a few others. David spent lots of year strung out on drugs. I must have written Dave a few hundred times over the years when he was in prison- I saw this as a ministry- keeping in touch with the brothers as they did time- lots of time- in prison. David got his degree [he started while in prison and finished after he got out. It’s a program that helps the guys get a degree with aid from the state. Texas just ended the program this year; they said ‘why should we be paying for ex con’s education for free’. As someone who has seen the good results- it really was worth it].
David has been clean for many years and he is a professional counselor working in Corpus Christi. One time I asked David to pick up the guys for our meetings the next day. Many times I was working the night before at the fire house and it helped if someone could pick the people up in the morning- it gave me a little more time to prepare for the meeting. So I gave Dave the Suburban and he had it for the night. I knew it was a risk- not that he would steal the darn thing- but be tempted to score drugs and all.
Sure enoughDavecame by the fire station early in the morning- he was fessing up- telling me he blew it and he was gonna leave the truck. I told him just because he had a bad night- I stillneeded him to finish the task and pull through. He did- he picked everyone up and attended the service.
Lots of times the guys in these situations have never had any home structure- I mean their parents love them and all- but when the dad struggles with addiction- they’re not there to support the sons. So this was training in a way for Dave.
So hopefully they will all find the restaurant [it’sright off the main drag- but I’m not sure they know the spot I was telling them]. It was funny- as Emit was leaving I walked him out to the car. He was wearing these coveralls from the auto dealer that he works for- he has this lawnmower sticking halfway out of the trunk [he was cutting yards for money after work]. And I asked him about his new girlfriend and all [Emit was married years ago to another person whose family were church members of our group. His wife, Veronica, had a few boys and one girl with Emit. They eventually divorced. One time at work we had a call for a stabbing- the person who was stabbed- Junior Perez- was another family member who I met from the jails. Junior’s younger brother- Tony- was a faithfulchurch member. His older brother- Daniel- was the one I met thru the jail. Junior was dating Veronica at the time- it was an abusive relationship- she stabbed Junior while he was trying to get into her house. She lived there with her mom- Yolanda- yes another one of our churchmembers. She killed Junior that night- no charges against her- but she would eventfullymove out of town]
So as Emits leaving I ask him about his latest girl- he says she a nice person- but its one of those situations where the family doesn’t know she’s dating him [I don’t know why- just some family thing]. Then I asked him what happened with his other girl friend- the one he dated for years ‘Oh her, they took her away from me’ [now- I know what Emit meant- her family didn’t get along with Emit and they eventually convinced her to leave Emit].Now, even though I knew what Emit meant- I was like ‘Hey bro. you show up with these work coveralls- the type you usually see on these serial killer types- you know the video of some guy kidnapping someone at the local store- and you have this ‘after hours lawnmower job’ [classic cover up for stuffing things in the trunk] and you tell me the current girl friend’s family- well they don’t know about your ‘relationship’ and the last one- well ‘they took her away’ [I mean who is they- the cops! LOL]. I said if I didn’t know any better it looks like you might have spent the last 10 years as a serial killer’!
He got a kick out of that. Okay enough for now-maybe I’ll let you know how the fellowship went tomorrow. Emit told me his youngest boy- Justin- is a full blow Heroin addict in Robstown. Geez- I just took a ride thru there the other week- felt like God wanted me to simply do a prayer drive. And now we are going to visit Justin in a few days- maybe it was a sign. Okay- please pray for my buddies and their families.
I’m glad they’re still hanging in there- but I need to try and get with them more often- hopefully today we can schedule a few morefellowship meetings- it’s been too long.
[NOTE- Dave- if you read this- just leave a quick comment on Facebook- so my friends from Jersey can see who you are- I have lots of old friends on the site- thanks]
P.S.- As Emit was giving me all the updated phone numbers of the brothers- I was writing them down in my address book/organizer- geez- as I turned to the ‘E’ page and the ‘D’ page and all- I still had the original names and numbers of their dads and all. One entry said 'Emit/Janie’ it brought back lots of memories.
[1654] OPEN THE BOOK AND BREAK THE SEALS
We had a good fellowship the other day- I and 2 homeless bro’s got with 2 Kingsville originals and we all ate at the Sirloin Stockade. I want to try and meet once a week for lunch in Corpus- everybody is welcome by the way. I’ll try and mention it on the sites [Blog, Facebook] a day ahead of time, and you are all invited.
I will only cover the cost of the homeless guys though- everyone else it’s Dutch. Okay- this week I have been reading revelation chapter 5. We see this image of John the apostle standing in the throne room of God and God has this book in his hand. John is upset because no one is able to open the book and loose the seals. As John is upset, one of the elders comes up to him and tells him not to worry- Jesus- the Lion of the tribe of Judah, he has prevailed to open the book and to break the seals.
The vision is you have these elders and beasts and John and a multitude of angels and people from all nations- it’s a great gathering of saints of the most high- a true picture of the people of God.
I applied the vision to our little fellowship-made up of people from all over- different ethnic backgrounds and cultures. And John the apostle is struggling with this mandate to get the message out. Remember- the book of Revelation begins with Jesus telling John ‘write these letters to the 7 churches’ so John has this task to communicate this message from God. Yet he runs up against the classic roadblock ‘Who is worthy’ in so many words ‘why did you pick me for the job- I’m not able to do it’. You hear the words of Isaiah here- Isaiah said ‘I am a man of unclean lips- in the middle of a bunch of unclean people!’ Geez Isaiah- you’re not only too hard on yourself, but everyone else!
In the Isaiah vision God takes a coal and uses it to cleanse the lips of the prophet. So John is distraught over the fact that this book is sealed- and no matter how hard he tries- he cantopen the thing. Jesus steps up to the plate and takes it and opens it. The whole community rejoices- they sing this song- a new song ‘Worthy is the lamb to open the book and to loose the seals thereof, for thou wast slain and hast redeemed us unto God by thy Blood out of every kindred and tribe and tongue and nation- and hast made us priests and kings unto God our father’. Yes, I put this verse to memory this week and sang it all thru out the week.
Sure- my wife said ‘who are you talking to’. I just blew it off- I have been talking to myself for years. So I’m identifying somewhat with John- also struggling to ‘open the book and loose the seals’. These last few weeks I dropped our radio program and was in a mad rush to get the shows on line [there on now]. But I dropped on a Friday and wanted to have them up by that Sunday.
So after ordering some equipment on line [stuff to convert tape to computer drive] and having my daughter teach me a few computer things [I am computer illiterate- really. Just looking at HTML/JavaScript is like reading a foreign language!]. But even though I was ‘unworthy to open the book and loose the seals’ somehow by Gods grace we were up and running by Sunday.
So as I’m praying/singing the ‘new song’- kind of an intercessory thing- believing God to help us get the word out. Sure enough I sing the thing and the bell rings. That was my buddy Emit [last post] and from that surprise visit a few doors opened to get together more often with the brothers.
Of course I’m just applying these things-obviously revelation is not about eating at the big cow! But God does use stuff like this to speak to us- the principle of Jesus alone being the one who is worthy to ‘open the book’ well that’s a truism that will always be there.
Down the road I hope to teach a little more on the book of Revelation. It’s really not as hard as it might look. Basically you have the command of Jesus to John to write the 7 letters. John sees Jesus as the one who will assist him in getting the message out. The book had 7 seals. The opening of the last seal releases 7 trumpets. And the last trumpet leads to 7 bowls [vials]. Then you have the last few chapters that speak about the wrapping up of the kingdom and the resurrection and the final judgment. You end with a new heaven and a new earth and whoever wants ‘let him come and drink of the water of life’. That’s really it- sure you do have a lot of numbers and images and stuff- but overall this is the basic outline of the book.
In the book of Daniel he sees a lot of the same things that John sees in the book of Revelation- but Daniel is told to seal up the vision- for the time was not ready. John is told to ‘un seal’ it- the time is at hand. For many of the new friends that came in this last year- the time was ready for you guys to ‘read the book’ so to speak. Just remember the key- only Jesus has the ability to show you what’s in the book- to make it clear. Read and pray and ask God to help you understand- he alone can do it.
[1655] A WAKE UP CALL TO THE PROFESSOR-
There are a lot of things I want to hit on today- let me start with an article I read in the paper yesterday. It was a study that compared students who studied physics using 2 different methods. The traditional lecture room environment- taught by veteran teachers. Versus an interactive classroom environment taught by inexperienced students [no teacher] who simply shared the things they were learning with each other.
To the shock of the traditional advocates- the kids who were taught without a teacher scored twice as high on the tests as those who sat in the classroom. The study was headed up by a top rated scientist who works for the president.
This reminded me of all the teaching I did over the years on the nature of the church [the study on the blog is called ‘what in the world is the church’]. After years of studying and doing many of the ‘interactive’ principles found in the study- I do see how important it is for believers to interact with each other- not just during ‘fellowship’ times- but as a main part of worship.
It is no accident that the churches in the New Testament were structured along these lines. In the bible you simply did not have churches structured around a single figure who ‘lectured’ week after week to the people. Now- this debate has been raging for a while amongst those who debate stuff like this. And a few years back some scholars from the more traditional view really went after the more ‘organic’ type church brothers.
But overall I believe the interactive ‘church meeting’ is really the most biblical way to go. I still think there is room for the more traditional style of ‘lecture hall’ but that is a small part of being in Christian community- yet for many that seems to actually be what they refer to as ‘the local church’ very limited perspective indeed [you can also read my short book on the left of the blog site- Further Talks on Church and Ministry].
Okay-maybe I’ll hit a few more thoughts in keeping with this idea. After the fellowship lunch the other day I invited Henry [my homeless friend] back to the house for the day. These guys are on the streets most of the day and they appreciate being able to rest and catch some news on the tube.
Once again as Henry left he told me ‘John- this was one of the best days I have had in a long time’. He told me this the last time I had him over. Why? What I do withHenry is I try not to act the ‘preacher/pastor’ role. That is I share and interact with Henry as an equal. Henry just so happens to be real knowledgeable when it comes to the bible and theology.
Part of the discussion was Henry sharing how the letter to the Romans [written by the apostle Paul] was the only letter written to a church that Paul didnot found himself. Now- I knew this before- and most bible students know this- but yet it started a conversation that both of uscould engage in. Henry had read somewhere that the church at Rome might have been started by the Diaspora [the scattered] Jews/Christians who dispersed after the Martyrdom of Stephen in Acts chapter 7.
I told Henry that I actually taught on this before- but I referenced the dispersion that took place in Acts chapter 2. At the day of Pentecostthere were Jewishworshippers who came from all parts of the known world at the time- they were gathered at Jerusalem for the big holiday.
After the Spirit came on the early church- these believerswent back to their homes and some of them did indeed go back to Rome.
Either way- the point is that Paul did not start the church at Rome- and there are no records [in the bible] of who was the first founder [yes Peter also wentto Rome- but he too was not the initial 'church planter’].
Okay- why even mention this? I think Henry has these ‘best days of my life’ days because the fellowships we have are based on the organic church style- that is I’m not always ‘preaching’ to him in the conventional sense.
I hope to get with the guys again this week- same place[Sirloin Stockade off of SPID in Corpus] I will let everyone know a day ahead- so if you guys want to make it a weekly thing you can join the group. But I have been meeting with these friends for 20 years now- just sharing the interactive way.
The above study was said to have been a real wake up call to the actual veteran lecturers- they couldn’t believe that the students on their own-without the ‘pro’ lecturing them- would do twice as well as the students who sat ‘in church’ [the lecture room] simply listening to the able speaker- speak.
The apostle Paul knew this trick 2 millennia ago- he wrote the church at Corinth ‘and when you meet together- let everyone of you share what you have learned- do it in order- but let everyone speak’ I like Paul’s method a lot.
[1656] ANTI COLONIAL REDO
Let me try to cover a few current events. This week we had a few presidential hopefuls drop out of the race- and a few announce. Newt Gingrich did his first Sunday news interview since officially getting into the race.
David Gregory- Tim Russert’s replacement on NBC- did an okay interview- but he did raise the question of racism [so soon!]. Yes- he questioned Newt’s speech where he mentioned that Obama is the ‘food stamp president’. That is Newt criticized the economic policies of this administration and said how we have over 40 million people on food stamps. That the lack of the president’s ability to create jobs is seen in the food stamp [and welfare] rates rising.
Gregory questioned whether or not this played into the race game. Now- MSNBC and one of the most biased news people in the media today [Chris Matthews] had on 2 liberal minded men. He got right into the race card- he played it hard and long. To my surprise- both of the liberals he interviewed disagreed with him. They distanced themselves from the race card.
One of the men- Richard Wolfe- is an Obama insider. He has lots of access to the inner workings of the White House. He has written books on the president and he is close to the real sources. I had to ask myself why both of these liberal minded men agreed with me- that to use the race card on something like this is shameful.
I realized that as ‘true insiders’ they know that this type of accusation surely does not play well in Rio Linda. That is the majority of voters- especially white independents- they might not say it- but this stuff does not gain votes.
As smart politicos- these Obama supporters knew this- and for the welfare of the president, whom they support- they did the right thing. Matthews- well he’s a lost cause.
One of the things that gets raised with the Newt debate is the accusation that our president is ‘anti- colonial’ or that he is an ‘anti colonial Kenyan’. In the past I have defended the president against this accusation- yet at the same time others who have defended the president against this accusation have seemed to not know what they are talking about [Matthews again].
These last few years Newt Gingrich has positioned himself for a possible run for the White House. One of the things he has done is he has converted to Catholicism. Now- I do not question his conversion- as a matter of fact if you realize that Newt is an intellectual- than the conversion to a Christian denomination that has the greatest intellectual heritage of them all- well that just makes sense.
As a new convert Newt is obviously going to read the books of other Catholic intellectuals. And a top seller during this time was a book by DineshDesouza. A Catholic intellectual himself. The book critiqued the development of the political/social thought of the president. It covered the presidentsown journey as he grew up and later learned more about his father’s struggle- and the blackmans struggle in general. The president wroteabout this in his book Dreams of my Father.
Part of the critique that Dinesh mentioned is that the presidents father- like many Kenyans and other foreign ethnic groups- had what youwould describe as an ‘anti colonial’ mindset. What’s that? Our world has gone thru many stages of growth and development. Some stages were good- other times bad [the Hitler stage!] After the great breakthroughs in science and technology that occurred during the 18th-19th centuries- you had European [western] world powers colonizing other parts of the world. Africa [Kenya] as well as other Arab nations became colonies of the west.
The famousstruggle ofGandhi was all about India breaking away from Britain’srule over them. They indeed were ‘anti colonial’. Now- in this conversation many can’tbelieve [Matthews] that anyone would ever even venture to say that the president might be ‘anti colonial’ as in if this is a bad thing. Geez- America is ANTI COLONIAL for heaven’s sake. We revolted against the English king and became a nation of our own.
So the anti colonial mindset-in itself- is not so terrible. Yet some of the president’s accusers do use the accusation as saying the president buys into the whole spirit of anti colonialism- which in many parts of the world does come with an antiAmerican attitude- why? Well they resent our political influence in their nations.
The present protests going on in the Arab world also play strongly into this feeling. Many in the western media have simplified the reasons for the Arab protests. Some [Beck] simply see a radical world uprising that wants to take over the world. Others are a little more thoughtful- they see the actual religious divisions in these countries [between Sunni and Shii] and they tell the story of one sect of Islam fighting the other sect. But this too is ‘too’ simple.
I read an article a while back- written by a Muslim woman who lives in Bahrain. She said that when the west views the protests in her country assimply a Shiite majority population protesting a Sunni minority dynasty- that this narrative misses the point. She explained how in the Arab world there is a strong undercurrent running thru the unrest- and that this undercurrent is anti colonial in nature.
She explained how many of the younger generation Muslim/Arabs are seeing their leaders as sell outs- that their rulers have a sort of unwritten colonial pact with the west-and that this unspoken agreement says ‘if you work with us in fighting the radicals among you- we in turn will support you- even if you treat your people badly’. Thus you had the uprising in Egypt that ousted the long term president. Mubarak was indeed America’sstrongest ally in the Arab world- he had maintained a cold peace with Israel for 30 years- and the west loved it.
So in essence the protests are not really about the religious divide withinIslam [The divide itself dates back to the 7thcentury under the founder Mohammad. After Mohammed’s death he was replaced by another top organizational leader- who was not related by blood to Mohammed. This passing ofof the leadership- by abilityas opposed to blood- this is calledSunna- the example of the prophet spoken about in the Hadith.
Those who describe themselves as Sunni adhere to this example. The other side- Shii [partisan] broke away from this idea and instead believed that the leadership should pass thru those who have blood relations to the former leader. This division has existed till this day and that’s why in some nations you have the Sunni in charge- and in others the Shii.
In Bahrain- when they repressed the protestors- they appealed to another Sunni led nation- Saudi Arabia- and they sent their soldiers into Bahrain to put down the uprising. On the other side of the coin you have Iran [Shii leadership] backing Assad in Syria because he too adheres to their division.
So some in the western media have played this up as the main cause of the protests- when in reality it plays a smaller role than you would think.
Okay- all that to say this. If the defendersof the president want to defend him against ‘anti colonial’ accusations- then have some background into what’s going on. If you want to criticize Newt for the accusation- realize that it’s not totally unfounded- and it’s not wrong to be anti colonial. All our founding fathers were.
[1657] THE BIBLE IS NOT 6 THOUSAND YEARS OLD!
I should start an entire blog section called ‘THE CRITIQUE OF MSNBC’, but then maybe that would be giving them a little too much free advertising. Okay- let’s start off with the other night- Chris Matthews was in L.A. and they were covering politics. He goes into this rant on Sarah Palin- saying she has made no efforts to get a simple education. That if she was a serious candidate for higher office then she should at least have spent the last few years reading papers- or getting some basic elementary school type education; history, geography, etc.
He was dead serious. He then interviews a woman liberal- who even though she seems to be on the same side of the aisle as Matthews- even the look on her face was ‘I can’tbelieve this guy gets away with stuff like this on national T.V.’.
First- I am no fan of Palin. I don’t think she should run for president- nor would I vote for her. But for a male TV personality to regularly accuse the woman of being an uneducated ignoramus- to the point where he actually portrays her in such a demeaning way- it’s unbelievable.
Sarah Palin became the governor of Alaska and held an executive position that was noble. She did indeed drop out- which did make her look bad- but to portray her in a light that says she does not possess an elementary knowledge of anything- it’s totally demeaning- and I think liberal women should at least tell the guy that his demeaning, never ending portrayals of her should end.
Okay- in the rant of Matthews- he mentioned her Christianbelief [evangelical, who attended an Assembly of God church for a while] how she [along with all others of this stripe] are actually idiots- because they believe the bible- they reject ‘science’ [evolution] and they believe- quote- the ‘bible is 6 thousand years old’. He said this multiple times.
Now- as much as I defend Catholics on my site- I have had to correct the Catholic misinterpretations of MSNBC hosts on a number of occasions. Do Evangelicals, Catholics, Protestants- Orthodox Christians believe ‘the bible is 6 thousand years old’? No. So what in the heck is he talking about? He is trying to say that some fundamentalist Christians think the EARTH and the history of man is 6 thousand years old. Big difference.
Most Christians agree that the first 5 books of the bible [Pentateuch, Torah] were written by Moses [big debate in theological circles- but most believe Mosaic authorship]. Now- Moses lived around 12- 1400 years before Christ. Some real liberalscholars date the authorship of Genesis around 1-3 hundred years before Christ. This view holds to the idea that the Jewish people ‘made up’ the history of the Old Testament as a sort of cultural way to deal with their captivity [ under Babylon, Rome, etc.] and that the Old Testament was written at that time.
Most serious scholars reject this idea. So anyway if Moses isgenerally believed to have written the first 5 books- that would mean that most Christians [including Palin’s brand] believe the bible is around 32-34 hundred years old- not 6 thousand.
I want to be careful here- I grew up in N.J. and over the years have come to appreciate the area of my youth more and more. Why? After studying world [and U.S.] history for many years- you see the North East as being at the heart of the American heritage.
One of the first history books I bought after moving to Corpus Christi [a cheap book sale in one of our malls] was on the Puritans- and after reading all the history taking place in my old stomping grounds- I became a lifelong student of the area.
Okay- one of the problems I see with my old area- is there can be an elitist mindset among some intellectuals [even fake intellectuals]. The mindset often expresses itself in the way liberals speak about other ‘less informed’ folk. I had a conversation one time with a person who was mocking Palin- the person said ‘she is such an idiot- she said you could see Russia from her house’. Now- as a big political watcher myself- I knew this actual quote was wrong.
Palin actually said ‘did you know you can see certainparts of Russia from Alaska’. The person I was talking to absolutely denied this- she said that she personally heard her say it. I informed the person that this actually has become amodern urban myth- that the Tina Fey skit on SNL was where the fake quotecame from- that the real quote was the Russia being seen from Alaska quote- not ‘my house’. So- as most liberals [and yes- conservatives too] we are usually not willing to admit that we are wrong- especially during a tirade of exposing the other side as ignoramuses.
So we left it at that. In all of our learning in life- it’s important to try and view the opposing side as favorably as possible. I not only do not believe the ‘bible is 6 thousand years old’ but I also do not believe the earth is 6 thousand years old. I believe Dinosaurs are real [were!]. I believe that there are certain aspects of Evolution that are indeed true- for instance the ‘survival of the fittest’ is indeed a true scientific fact.
The reality is that species do change and adapt over time- yet the ‘other reality’ is we have never- not once- been able to verify this happening between species of living things. That is the theory of Darwin says this ishow all the species arrived on the planet- from one common living cell. Science does not show this to have happened- either in the natural environment- or in the laboratory.
So science shows us that Natural Selection does indeed happen- but it does not happen [as far as science goes] between species. As a matter of fact- if a person just went with the current understanding of time and matter commonly held by most scientists- you would not at all have the picture that Darwin painted. Modernscience says the earthis a little over 4 billion years old. For the first 3.5 billion years we have no record [Fossil] of complex structures being on the earth.
Our geologic history says complex life structures appeared during the Cambrian era [500 million years ago- referred to as the Cambrian Explosion] and that even according to the Evolutionary scientists- 500 million years is not enough time for Evolution to have happened.
You basically would have needed the Evolutionary process to have started during the first few hundred millionyears of earth’s history- not the last.
But the average ‘mocker of evangelicals’ has no idea about any of this- he just says ‘they think the bible is 6 thousand years old’. So it would do us all some good if we came to the table with a little more humility. Christianity has a long and deep heritage of wisdom.
Much of this heritagecomes to us from the Catholic Church [of which Matthews is a member]. There are many believerswho have made great strides in our understanding of creation and existence. Even many fundamentalists accept the idea that the earth is billions- not thousands of years old. So let’s try and have an honest conversation in this country- if I disagree with your politics- then let me make my case and you make yours. But if I degrade you- either by doubting yourbirth certificate- or by constantly portraying you as an idiot- who lacks a grade school education- well that gets us nowhere.
[1658] THE PRESIDENT’S SPEECH
The president gave his speech yesterday on the Middle East- many observers were waiting to hear what he was going to say. Some conservatives are upset- they felt he ‘thru Israel’ under the bus. Basically the administrations 2 year effort to establish a path to peace between Israel and the Palestinians- under George Mitchell- ended abruptly the other day when Mitchell announced he was done dealing with it.
So you have some advisers who want to take a pro Israel stance- others are more pro Palestinian. Obama went a little more pro Palestinian and he publicly stated that the talks need to start from the pre 1967 borders. This was a bit much for the pro Israel lobby- and even Netanyahu publicly called for the president to reaffirm the 2004 accord agreed to under former president Bush.
So things are a little hot right now. He also dealt with the protests in the Middle East/North Africa. He said to Assad [Syria’s leader] that you either ‘lead- or get out of the way’. To be frank this language confuses me- lead? The man has slaughtered many innocents- we have treated the Libyan leader like a war criminal for this very thing- actively trying to kill him- and in the process have killed his son and 3 grandkids- all justified under the so calledNATO agreement.
Now- for us to be targeting him for death- though we deny it- yet as NATO keeps bombing spots where we think he is- after each assassination attempt- NATO says ‘we targeted that spot because it was being used to organize aggression against civilians’. They are basically justifying the assassinationattempts by saying ‘wherever he is- that spot is a danger to civilians- so in our agreement to ‘protect civilians’ we can bomb that spot’. Okay- fine- Nato/U.S. wants to kill the guy- but please stop telling us that we are not targeting those spots because we think he’s there- don’t lie about the thing.
So Assad actually gets another chance to lead- or ‘get out of the way’ while the other guy gets chased by bombs. Just seems too inconsistent. Saudi Arabia? No mention about them at all.
I do realize it’s hard to ‘be consistent’ when the whole region is in turmoil- but heck- cant we at least try?
As I watchedthe media response to the speech- it was interesting to see both sides of the political aisle give their views. FahreedZacharia- a very knowledgeable CNN personality- he seemed to put every one of the president’s points in the best possible light. It recently slipped out that he actually advises the president on certain world issues. No wonder. And Beck and the conservatives said Obama abandoned Israel and that if Israel falls that’s the end of the western world as we know it because Israel is the cornerstone of the U.S.
I think an honest evaluation can find both good and bad out of the speech. I find it difficult to believe a reporter can really be non biased- especially if his advice is what the president used to make the speech. And I feel that to take the position that any nation is the key part- that to do anything that might seem negative towards them- that to describe it as the possible collapse of the West- well that too is a little much.
I do feel that the NATO thing needs a lot more scrutiny- if we are now going to allow NATO- and our guys- toengage in a stealthassassinationattempt of any world leader. That is for our troops [pilots] being actively involved in the obvious targeting of a leader- evil yes- but if we are saying ‘no- we are not trying killhim’ andit’s obvious we are- then who’s next? The whole NATO operation needs to be more clear- if we are not targeting him- then stop trying to kill the guy. If we are targeting him- then quit saying we are not. Our guys deserve better than that.
[1659] HAROLD CAMPING
As you well know- today will be our last day together. Yes- at 6:oo tonight the world is supposed to end. I first stumbled across the article a few weeks ago. The famous preacher from the east- Harold Camping- has once again predicted the return of Christ [or the Rapture].
Camping has gone down this road before- and I have a friend who actually follows Camping and I have tried to be nice about it- but of course most Christiansbelieve Camping is part of a long line of well meaning men- who can’t resist the temptation to date set.
Now- I of course do not fall for stuff like this- I am not that gullible for heaven’s sake, some kind of conspiracy nut. Plus- if the world ends today- then how will we ever catch Bin Laden [of course you heard- he’s still alive?] hiding in Pakistan- with the fake birth certificate duplicator machine- you know- the one he used to fake Obama’s long form!
So yes- we as believers do have a history of doing silly things at times- and for some reason these things take on a life of their own. Many years ago I had a friend [Emit- for those of you who have read my posts these past few weeks- you now know who he is] he was/is sort of a spiritual son- you know- one of the sons of the guys hooked on drugs who eventually became a member of our little church movement.
So one day Emit tells me about the movie Jesus of Nazareth. It came out years ago and they did a good job at depicting the life of Christ. He says ‘did you see the actor who played Jesus? Wow- he was mysterious/spooky’ he watched it with his family and they felt touched by the actor who played Christ.
So I of course opined ‘You know brother- after the movie was made- when you look at the credits at the end- no name shows up for the actor. Then when the other actors and the director questioned each other- no one knows who the actor is!’
Now- of course I was kidding- and I made sure I told Emit ‘brother- just kidding’. But you know how these urban myths go- once you start them- there hard to stop!
So a few years later [maybe 5?] I was talking to his mother in law [Yolanda- another church member who was a woman preacher who did preach and had influence with other Christians- she was Emit’s mother in law]. And somehow she says ‘hey brother John- did you know that no one knows who the actor was in that Jesus movie’. I asked her ‘Yolanda- who told you that?’ she says ‘Emit’.
Now- after all those years the story got out- I mean I wish the truth could spread like this. For all I know there might be an entire group of people in Texas- you know- the ‘anonymous Jesus movie actor believers’ who all believe this story. Heck I always wanted to head up a movement.
But things like this do have a tendency to get around. So anyway that’s how the ‘end of the world is today’ thing has caught on. Now- will the world end today? Doubt it. Will ‘the world’ make fun of us? Sure. Will Christians continue to do things like this? Probably. How can we avoid doing things like this?
The safe way to go- in my view- is to stay connected to the historic church as much as possible. The Christian church has a good- long tradition ofChristian truth. For the most part- the stability you find in the Christian classics- the church fathers- Patristics- this tradition is a good one.
Harold Camping is a good man- but he is a retired civil engineer- I’m sure he means well- but try and get your info from men who have been educated- yes thru the more traditional forms of education. Yes- I know ‘who are you to talk- you’re a retired fire fighter!’ But I try to offset that with many years of study- not just bible study- but studying the things I just mentioned. Taking the attitude that I can learn from those who have been at this longer than me. Camping believes ‘all the churches’ are now in deception- yes- he has another weird teaching that says the ‘church age’ has ended and there are no longer any true churches in the world today.
I hope most of you will not fall for stuff like this- we have bigger fish to fry- heck- I need to go out today and start the ‘anonymous Jesus actor followers’ are you in?
[1660] THE RAPTURE?
I spoke with a friend yesterday about the Harold Camping prediction that obviously failed. They know someone who is really into Camping and that person was being set up for the disappointment. On CNN they had a Baptist preacher who warned against this type of date setting- yet he spoke confidently about ‘the Rapture is the next event on Gods calendar- followed by the 7 years of great tribulation’.
I’m sure this fine pastor felt like he was providing a balanced voice compared to Camping’s date setting- yet I felt his interpretation was almost as ‘bad’ as what Camping was doing. Why?
My first introduction to ‘the Rapture’ came as a new believer who started attending a fine Baptist church- they were an ‘Independent, Fundamentalist, Pre-millennial’ Baptist church – and yes- they managed to fit all this on the sign!
The standard teaching says that in the New Testament there are 2 separate events that make up the 2nd coming. The first event is called The Rapture- that Jesus secretly comes all the way back to the earth and stops short in the sky [his feet don’t touch the ground] he ‘catchesaway’ alltruebelievers [normally the Catholics, Orthodox and other historic churches get ‘left behind’] and then begins a 7 year tribulation period.
After the tribulation you have the other part of the 2nd coming- called the Revelation of Jesus- some Christians say this happens after 3.5 years of tribulation- others after the 7 year period.
Some say Jesus comes back after a 1000 year literal reign on earth [post millennial]others say before [pre- millennial].
And then you have various ways they interpret the end time judgment- some say you have what’s called ‘the Bema seat’ a separate judgment for believers- and then the ‘Great White Throne judgment’ the general judgment of the wicked.
O.K. does the bible specifically teach that the Rapture event is a separate event from the 2ndcoming? No- in my view the bible does not teach this. Now- I’m sure that most of my Protestant readers are surprised that I hold to this view, because in American Evangelicalism this view is almost like the Trinity- in some circles itdivides the truebelievers from the heretics.
Classic Christianity does not hold this view- this idea became popularized the 1800’s under a man by the name of John Nelson Darby and the idea spread to America in the 1900’s- primarily thru the revivalist strain of Christianity- and the ‘bible school/conference’ movement.
The historic churches just stuck with the classic idea that there will be one second coming-and there will be a resurrection and final judgment. I pretty much fall into this category myself.
You would be surprised how much thought has gone into this idea- I mean you have entire schools of thought- who call the other side heretics- just because they believe a 3.5 year tribulation as opposed to a 7 year one.
The word rapture comes from the Greek phrase used in Paul’s 1stletter to the Thessalonians- chapter 4. That’s the rapture chapter. The apostle says thatJesus will return and catchup [catch away] the believers into the air- they will forever be with God. This event is biblical- I believe it will somedaytake place. I simply believe this event to be the 2nd coming- not another event that you would define as the rapture.
I believe if you simply read the 2nd coming passages in the New Testament- that you would see this to be the most acceptable view. Jesus actually says ‘after these things [the great tribulation] then the sign of the coming of the Son of Man appears in heaven’ and he goes on to say ‘one will be taken- the other left’. It seems pretty clear to me that the event where ‘one is taken- anotherleft’ takes place ‘after these things’ Jesus actually gives us the time table.
To be fair- the other side has many-many ways to ‘get around’ these verses- I just feel that after all is said and done- that the best way to view The Rapture is to see this event as the actual 2ndcoming.
I have written a lot about this over the years [under the End Times section] and my purpose today is not to ‘prove’ whose view is right- I have found those tasks to be next to impossible. My point is if a believer [or group of them] chooses to break away from the historic church’s position on anything, then you need to think thru it very carefully. Most classic Christianchurches have had very wise and knowledgeable men who thought long and hard before they articulated doctrine.
This is not to say that the majority view is always right- but it’s simply asafe guide to stick with the majority Christian view most of the time. I’m very aware of the minority report when it comes to the Rapture doctrine- I just feel like the portions of scripture that are used to ‘prove’ the doctrine are not strong enough to overthrow the classic belief.
The plain teaching of the New Testament is that there most definitely will be a Second Coming- and this event does not take place in 2 stages- the Rapture is the 2nd coming.
[1661] THE FIG TREE
Let’s do a little more on Eschatology [end times stuff] today. Over the last few weeks these things have been in the news because of the Harold Camping prediction and you have heard various news folk- as well as believers giving their slant to all the popular verses that deal with the subject.
Some media people were quoting ‘no one knows when the last day will happen- not even the Son, only God’. Then you have had a few other popular verses seep into the flow. The main portions of the bible that deal with the end times are Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21. John’s gospel does not have an ‘end times’ discourse- possibly because he covers the subject in length in the book of Revelation.
The main gospel on the subject is Matthew- Mark’s gospel seems to be a shorter compilation possibly taken from Matthew. By ‘taken’ I mean Mark was a scribe/recorder- he was the personality we see in the book of Acts- John Mark. If you remember- he had a falling out with the Apostle Paul and Mark ‘went home’ while Paul took Silas and they embarked on the great missionary journeys of the Apostle.
You don’t hear that much about Mark after the ‘falling out’ but we know that Mark would later pen the 2nd gospel and he was also a recorder [secretary] for the Apostle Peter [might be important to remember this- if I get to it?]
So anyway mark seems to have borrowed from Matthew [some scholars think the familiarity between the gospels should be attributed to another unknown common source- referred to as Q- I prefer to simply see it as the writers being familiar with what the other writers were writing- and in the 1st century you did not have Plagiarism as we do today- where it would be illegal to copy something verbatim from another writer- that’s why Mark- who also probably penned 2nd Peter- not as a Plagiarist who used Pseudepigraphy- writings by authors who pretended to be someone else- but as a scribe who was familiar with the other source documents of the time. 2nd Peter has come under scrutiny because chapter 2 seems to have borrowed heavily from the letter of Jude. At some spots it looks like a direct copy. But as Peter’s scribe- it would not have been out of the ordinary to have included- verbatim- a passage from Jude and to have attributed the entire letter to Peter. Or Peter might have simply been familiar with Jude's letter and it would not have been wrong according to 1st century writing standards to have done this. But skeptics in our day try to use this to say the bible is a forgery- so that’s why it’s important to be familiar with the debate and to have a good response.]
Okay-lets at least try and start a little end times stuff. Matthews 24 begins with Jesus and the disciples walking away from the Temple and Jesus says ‘see all these buildings- truly I tell you that there will not be left one stone on top of another’.
The disciples then ask Jesus ‘when will this happen- and what will be the sign of the end of the age/world, and the sign of your coming’. Now- this sets the stage for the entire scope of the answer. Jesus told them one thing ‘the temples coming down some day’ and they ask a few things.
Some scholars believe that the entire answer Jesus gives- about the end of the world and the coming tribulation- some teach that all these things did happen by A.D. 70- that’s when the Romangeneral Titus [future emperor] attacked the city of Jerusalem and destroyed the temple. Jesus prediction about ‘one stone not beingleft on another’ wasfulfilled to the tee because the temple stones were overlaid with Gold and thelooters burned the stones to melt the gold and in the process they literally laid every stone out.
In the Matthew discourse Jesus also warnedthedisciples that ‘when you seethese things beginning to happen- let those in the city flee to the mountains’. As Titus made his way towards Jerusalem some earlycommunities took his words literally and did use themountains as a place for protection. The community at Qumran hid their writings in ‘the mountains’ that overlooked the Dead Sea- some 2 thousand years later these writings [scrolls] would be discovered- those are the Dead Sea Scrolls of today- one of the greatest archeological finds of history.
And there were Jewish believers at Jerusalem who did indeedflee to the mountains and they escaped the slaughter. So there certainly were things that Jesus spoke about in his 'end times’ teaching that were fulfilled in the 1st century.
But what about the other famous portions? As various media persons were quoting a few famous parts of this discourse [this is the 4thfamous discourse known as the Olivet discourse in Matthew- 5 famous long sections of Jesus’ teaching] it would help us to know the entirecontext of the discourse [which includes chapter 25 by the way].
One of the famous verses is ‘when you see the fig tree putting forth leaves- you know that summer is near- so when you seethese signs you know the end is near’. In American evangelicalism this verse has been made popular by men like Hal Lindsay who teach that the fig tree is ALWAYS a symbol for the nation of Israel and therefore Jesus was saying that when Israel becomes a nation again [which happened in 1948] that within ‘a generation’ the end will happen.
This view uses a few other verses to come to this conclusion. Jesus famous ‘this generation will not pass away until all thesethings happen’ and a few otherscriptures. Simply reading the chapter in context does not seem to be saying this at all. The parallel passage in Luke says ‘and all the trees’. It seems like Jesus is simply saying ‘just like when you see a tree blossom- so when you see these signs know that the time is near’.
Therereally is nothing in the actual text to indicate that this is speaking about 1948. But because of these verses having been used like this many preachershave tried to date the coming of Christ within ‘the generation’ from1948. Lindsey put out a book saying that 1988 was a ‘special time’ why 88? 1988 was 40 years [biblicalgeneration] from 1948. Then some changed the biblical generation to 70 years- which makes this decade real important.
The problem with all these dates is there based on a faulty premise- that Jesus was saying that within a generation of the ‘fig tree blooming’ the 2nd coming will take place- he never said that. As far as I can tell 1948 plays no significant role. Of course Israel becoming a nation again at that time was a great thing- but as a date to begin setting off some type of spiritual clock- that’s not in the bible.
Okay- maybe I’ll do a few more of these over the next few days. Try and read thesechaptersthenext few days and get a feel for the overall meaning [the context] when we becomefamiliar with the overall meaning of the passage- it keeps us from getting lost in the Fig Tree ones.
[1662] THIS GENERATION WILLNOT PASS AWAY UNTIL ALL THESE THINGS HAPPEN
Let’s cover a little more on the End Times. Here in my study I have a couple of books that would fit in the category of Preterism. Preterism is the view that some Christians hold that says all the events spoken about by Jesus in these end times chapters were fulfilled in the 1st century.
The books are by R.C. Sproul [not a full Preterist] and GaryDemar [a full Preterist]. Demar's book is called ‘Last Days Madness’ and if you want a full study of this view- that would be the book to get.
Now- am I a Preterist? No. Like I said before- I try real hard to stay in the classical mainstream of Christian thought- and though Preterists make a good case- in the end I think they go too far.
But let’s talk a little about why certainbelievers have found it necessaryto even make a defense like this. In the chapters of the bible that talk about the last days- there are frequent statements made that seem to indicate that the things being discussed would take place ‘quickly’ ‘shortly’ or at least in the lifetime of those hearing the message at the time. Jesus says ‘truly I say to you- this generation will not pass away until ALL these things are fulfilled’. Another time Jesus says ‘some of you standing here will not die until you see the kingdom come’.
So its passages like these that have caused some to make the effort to fit all the end times stuff within the 1st century. You say ‘but how can anyone think that the 2nd coming and the finaljudgment and all theend times events- how could they think it happened in the 1st century?’ Well before you scoff too much- believe me- these guys make a really thorough case. For instance they will show you verses in the Old Testament that use the same End Times language that Jesus uses about ‘my coming’ and the ‘judge will come to judge the world’ and they will show you that these prophecies were actually fulfilled by certain judgments that took place against the nation of Israel.
And there are Parables of Jesus that speak about his ‘coming’ and in some cases it is speaking about his resurrection and ascension and being seated at Gods right hand- that is ‘the coming’ was more of a view ofJesus ‘coming’ to sit on the right hand of God after he fulfilled his earthly mission. So as you can see, those who make this argument are not totally out in left field.
Okay- how do we answer the critics on the sayings about ‘this generation will not pass until all these things happen’. Like I said in the last post- some say Jesus was talking about a future generation- at least 2 thousand years down the road- who would be alive when the 2nd coming would happen. The problem with this view is in the New Testament you have the Greek language as the original language that you study when looking at these verses [the bible was originally written in Greek]and when you look at this terminology being used in other places- it is always speaking about the generation living at the time of the statement.
So that would make it hard to make the case that Jesus was speaking about some future generation down the road. Others say that ‘this generation’ can refer to a certain ethnic group [the Jewish nation]. While this can apply- yet again this is not the normal way the phrase is used.
So what’s the answer? I do believe that some of the ideas from the Preterists can help here. In the Old Testament there are what you call Dual Prophecies- prophecies that are fulfilled ‘twice’. If you study the events that took place during ‘the generation’ living at the time of these statements- they did indeed see these things happen. I mean you even have reports by 1st century historians [Eusebius- lived in the 3rd or 4th century- was a 1st century historian] that said at the time of the destruction of the temple [A.D. 70] there were accounts of people seeing chariots in the sky and all sorts of signs that Jesus mentioned in the Last Days passages.
Maybe tomorrow I will get a little more into some of the signs- but the fact is you can find just about every element of Jesus Last Times teaching being fulfilled in some way within the actual generation of those who heard him speak at the time.
However Christians decide to come down on these issues- it’s important to see that the prevailing AmericanEvangelical view- that ‘this generation’ is speaking about the generation of people living at the time of the ‘blooming of the fig tree’ which is defined by some as the birth of the nation of Israel in 1948- that this teaching is not to be found in the bible.
While we do not know the time of Jesus return-and the ‘end of the world/age’ [another important distinction] we do know that the signs that Jesus gave us do count for something- it’s not wrong to look at the general signs of increased wars and natural disasters and the like- and to see that his coming is drawing near. Most commentators who have used these verses recently- even in the secular media- have actually been using them in context.
So we should avoid the temptation to date set- try not to add things into the passages that are not there [the fig tree meaning Israel in 1948] and avoid mocking the actual teaching in the bible that Jesus will indeed return some day- the apostle Peter said that in the End Times some would mock and say ‘where is the promise of his coming- we have been hearing it for our whole lives’. So we don’t want to fall into the category of mockers- yet we don’t want to date set either- no man knows the day- not even the Son.
[1663] THE ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION
Okay, I think today will be the last day for doing End Time stuff [for now]. Over these last few days I have tied to just hit a few key verses- things that are popular in the media because of the failed Camping prediction.
As I looked over Matthew 24 again this morning- there might have been 2 more areas I wanted to cover- but let’s stick with the verseabove [the other area was Jesus teaching about his own 2nd coming- he actually says don’t ‘fall’ for those who say ‘see- here is Jesus- in the SECRET chambers’. He actually warns against having a belief in a secret return- which is actually what the Rapture is. He then says ‘for as the lightning shines from one end of the sky to the other- so shall the 2nd coming be’. Some actually think this is saying its secretive- that just like you miss seeing the lighting- because it’s so fast- so you might not see the return. In context all these verses are saying the coming of Jesus will be open and in full view. When you read the other descriptions Jesus gives- ‘Like a thief in the Night’ if you continue to read in context- these verses are saying many will be surprised- like when a robber comes- they are not saying no one will see!]
Okay- in Matt. 24 Jesus says ‘when you see the abomination of desolation stand in the holy place- flee to the mountains- leave the city- troubles on the way’. What does this mean? Jesus is quoting Daniel the prophet. In Daniel chapters 9-12 you read lots of detailed stuff- it’s easy to get lost in the many intricate interpretations some prophecy teachers get into here.
I just want to hit on the Abomination one. The term simply means ‘the wicked thing/person that will bring destruction’. Daniel was one of the Jews taken into captivity during the Babylonian captivity of Gods people. Daniel lived around 600 B.C. and you read in his book that when he was in exile he picked up the writings of the prophet Jeremiah and he figured out the years that God had foretold for the judgment on Israel [chapter 9].
As you look at all the verses about how many years so many things will take place in- one of the famous time verses is the 70 weeks prophecy. This prophecy is usually seen to be speaking about 70 weeks of years [490 years]. As you read and follow the years of the prophecy- it brings you right up unto the time of Christ.
The prophecy says there will be 490 years determined for the Jewish people- and from the decree to rebuild the temple to the appearing of Jesus there will be 69 weeks [of years]. Now- many scholars have traced the years from the decree that we find in the Old Testament to the time of Jesus and it amazingly brings you right up unto the time of Christ.
But the prophecy leaves the last ‘week of years’ out [some say]. If you measure the time right unto the Crucifixion of Jesus- then you have the last 7 years open. This is where many prophecy folk put the future 7 year tribulation. If you are familiar at all with these things- the popular version says in the last days the anti-christ will arise and make a covenant with Israel for 7 years- in the middle of the 7 years [3.5] he will ‘cause the sacrifice to cease’ and bring an end to temple worship and the sacrificial system. Wording like this is used in Daniel.
Now- in some of these verses in Daniel you are reading about Jesus- the prince- and in others your reading about the ‘bad’ prince- the ‘abomination that makes desolate’. Some have said if you trace the years [483] to the baptism of Jesus [instead of the Crucifixion] then you can view the ‘middle of the last week’ [3.5 years] as referring to the end of Jesus earthly ministry. If this is so- then ‘the prince who made the sacrifice to cease in the middle of the last week’ might be referring to the Cross of Christ.
The New Testament teaches [Hebrews] that the death of Christ was the final sacrifice for man- and his death caused the old sacrificial system to stop ‘the prince who causes the sacrifice to cease’ get it?
Either way- as you can see- there are various ways to view these time verses. Now- in 168 B.C. you had the wicked ruler- Antiochus Epiphanies- attack the Jewish temple and he set up a pagan altar and sacrificed a pig on the altar- this was the firstfulfillment of the ‘abomination of desolation’. This began a process of the Hellenization of the Jewish people by Antiochus [Hellenization means imposing Greek culture and ways upon a foreign culture].
This event was avenged by a Jewish priest and his 5 sons [the most famous being Judas Maccabee]. The Catholic Apocryphal book of Maccabees records this event. This is known as the Maccabean Revolt and the Jewish people celebrate this event every Hanukah [I think it’s Hanukah- to be honest it’s been a long time since I read this- might want to double check].
So Jesus picks up on the Danielprophecy- that was partially fulfilled in the 2ndcentury B.C. and he says there will be another ‘abomination that makes desolate’ and when you see him [or it?] ‘fleeJerusalem and run to the hills’. Now I mentioned the other day that manyJewishbelievers did run for the hills in A.D. 70- they took Jesus words as a warning and escaped the slaughter.
If Jesus were talking about the ‘end of the world’ why flee to the hills? I mean if I said ‘the world is ending- run from North Bergen to Fairview [my old hometown area]’ that wouldn't make much sense. So it is possible that the ‘abomination that makes desolate’ was fulfilled in some way during the 1st century. How?
There are various views on this- let me just give you one. Now- to my Jewish friends I want to be careful here- but understand this is a theological issue that weighed heavily on the minds of the 1st century Jewish believers. The sacrifice of Christ on the Cross is considered to be the final sacrifice for all men. In the New Testament you have very strong language used for those who continued to sacrifice animals after the once and for all sacrifice of Christ.
The book of Hebrews says those who do this are ‘trampling under their feet the Blood of Christ and are disrespecting his Blood’ strong words indeed [Hebrews]. Okay- in the 1st century you did not have the internet or media like we do today- so obviously God was not holding all the Jews responsible from day 1- that is it took some time before the word of the Cross would get out and those who believed would stop sacrificing animals. Basically God gave the Jewish nation a 40 year probationary period- a GENERATION [‘this generation’- remember?]
From the time of Jesus earthly ministry to the time of the destruction of Jerusalem [A.D. 70] you had just under a biblical generation- just like the prophecies said. What happened at the time of the destruction that might have been called ‘an abomination that makes desolate’? The Jewish nation continued to sacrifice animals right up until the end of the ‘40 year probationary period’ the time God gave them to fully embrace the once and for all sacrifice of Christ. This means it is possible that the abomination of desolation is speaking of the continued animal sacrifices that were ‘tramplingunder foot the Blood of Christ-and putting him to an open shame’.
In essence this act- continuing to sacrifice animals- was just as blasphemous as Antiochus sacrificing a pig on the altar- got it?
Okay- these past few days I floated lots of other ways to view the End Times teaching besides the most popular ways we hear about in the media [both 'Christian’ and secular]. I’m not saying my view- or these various views are the only ‘right way’ but I am saying we need to be careful as believers when we hear/learn certain views- and then confuse those views with ‘well brother- this is what the bible says!’ Often times people mean ‘this is what I think the bible says’ and we need to be careful that we are distinguishing between the two.
[1664] A SIGN FROM AN ANGEL?
These last few days I have been reading/teaching a few passages from Matthew and one of the quotes of Jesus [chapter 24] comes from the Old Testament book of Daniel. So as I skimmed through a few of the verses I felt like the Lord was leading me to read a chapter or 2.
My last year at the fire Dept. was 2007- I retired in 12-07 with a few days just under 25 years. Though I never planned on retiring that early- I was only 45- and even though I had put in a full 25 years- the young age effects how much you get. I always planned on working till at least 55.
But the last year my back injury was bad- had it for many years [bad disk] and the last few months I finished on injury leave. Now- we have had guys who worked 25 years and spent at least half of it on injury leave- yes some guys know how to work the system. If you don’t count my final 6 months on the job- for the entire other 25 years I only took a total of 2 weeks on injury leave- so I wasn’t a ‘work the system’ kinda guy.
When I retired- the city fully expected me to try and do some kind of injury settlement- it became standard procedure for stuff like this. I took my retirement check and left- they never heard from me again.
The last year- before I knew I was leaving- I would get up real early in the morning [I actually started this practice the last few years before I retired]. I would walk outside and pray for most of the night. I did the same at the house. One thing I soon realized is when you’re up most of the night- you see lots of shooting stars and you learn the different star patterns during the year.
I would often find it ‘strange’ to see a shooting star right at certain times during prayer- maybe I would pray ‘let your word go forth’ and then see a star. Now- I know it might be a coincidence and all- yet at times it was weird.
One night- I will never forget this one- I was walking outside early [maybe 3 a.m.?] and I feltimpressed to pray a verse from the book of Daniel. I was thinking about the story of the angel Gabriel and his dealings with Daniel. At one point Daniel is praying to God and he seems to be stuck- he needs a breakthrough. So after a few weeks of seeking God the angel Gabriel appears and tells Daniel he’s there to help.
So as I was thinking about this passage I felt the Lord leading me to do a ‘Danielprayer’ which to me meant to simply say something like ‘God- send some angels to help us out- Gabriel- come on- what’s taking so long!’ And as soon as I prayed the thing I saw a giant meteor roll through the sky. Now- when I say giant I mean it. It was a huge ball of fire- I have never seen anything like it in real time.
So this obviously stuck with me- a sign from God maybe? Anyway I really never gave it much thought that it came right at a major transitional time in my life- I left the Fire Dept. and at the same time entered into a few new areas of doing ministry. In a way it was a Beginning of a new thing.
So as I’m reading Daniel the other day- I read chapter 9- probably the first time since seeing the meteor in 2007. And I read Gabriel saying ‘I’m the one you saw at the start- when you first started praying- I heard you and was sent forth- I’m now here’. I found it strange because these last few weeks during prayer I felt lead to ask for God to send- well yes angels. I mentioned Michael and Gabriel. So in a way it was like the Lord was saying- through Gabriel ‘I’m the sign you saw at the start- I finally made it’.
Now- one of the new ministry things I started was Facebook- lots of old friends and a few new ones. Because I’m such a political junky- I ‘friended’ a few of the sites that are called ‘Days of Rage’ these are the Arab/Persian nations who are protesting their leaders.
One of the friends on the site is from the tiny nation of Bahrain- if you look on a map it’s this little country sitting right off the coast- in the Persian Gulf. The reason this nation is getting a pass- as opposed to dropping bombs on them [like Libya] is because we have our 5th fleet docked there- this is our major sea base for the whole region.
But I have had a few good talks with the person who runs the site- and I feel doing stuff like this- reaching out to help—even in Arab/Muslim nations- that we as Christains should try and be involved- while at the same time sharing the gospel.
Many years ago while preaching at the jails- I met an exchange student who got arrested and was from the Persian Gulf area. He told me he was Muslim but he would appreciate it if I bought him a Persian language bible. So I ordered one and a few weeks later I gave it to him. He was really grateful- I guess he thought I would forget. This was the first [only?] foreign language bible I recall ever actually buying. But I have thought about it recently- kind of thinking ‘heck, maybe it’s because I have been praying for my friends in the Persian Gulf and somehow this was always a region we were to befriend’.
So this morning I read chapter 10 of Daniel [chapter 9 was the chapterreferenced above] and Daniel is on his face- going through great trials- and Gabriel appears again and says ‘fear not Daniel- understand the words that I speak to you. Since the first day you began seeking God I was sent. But the Prince of the Kingdom of Persia withstood me, but lo, Michael, one of the chief princes [angels] came to help me… and I am now come to tell you what will happen to your people in the coming days’.
I just found the entire conversation between Daniel/God and the angels to have been speaking to me. I mean I was just praying about Persia- asking for God to send Gabriel and Michael [by name!] and I had no idea that I would stumble across these obscure Daniel chapters that include all these same elements.
Let me be frank- There are entire church movements [which I am very familiar with] that live their whole lives being led bystuff like this. These are often described as Prophetic or Apostolic movements. I have read lots- and been involved some with these churches and for the most part they are great Christians- It’s just I find at times they avoid ‘classical’ education. That is many of the things I write about and stuff I feel all believersshould learn-many of thesetypechurches have no time for ‘that stuff’ and they simply wait for the next ‘Daniel’ experience.
That is they look for details in scripture- things that are not always there. So I want to go on record to say I don’t see these types of experiencesas the norm for the healthy Christian life. Yet- I have had them happen- and when they do it’s important to listen.
I thank the Lord that he has sent some help for us at this time- my friends in the Persian/Arab world as well as the ones herein the U.S. I thank God we are part of a real community of people- some have gone on to be with God- others are still here-and yes- we do have a company of angels that are also looking in on the thing [Hebrews, Revelation, etc.]
When we do all we can do and are at the end of the rope- like Danielflat on his face- it helps when God sends an angel and says ‘heck- get up from the ground- stand up- we have work to do’.
RECENT STUFF- D
[1665] MEMORIAL DAY
First I want to honor our men and women who have sacrificed so much for our country [and other countries]. This past week I have read/watched lots of stuff about the things our guys go thru when they come back from the field. A sad story of a vet who survived a viscous attack- only to later deal with survivor guilt.
Upon returning to the states he volunteered to work with wounded vets. They showed you him helping guys who lost their limbs- doing activities with them. Some wounded vets. testified to his concern and seeming balanced way he dealt with his experiences in war. Yet this young man chose to take his life- the guilt of him surviving ‘whole’ while others did not- it was eating him up alive.
I read an article written by a commander who had charge of many troops in the various fields of war we are actively involved in. He spoke against our continued presence inAfghanistan. He was by no means a pacifist- he was a realist. He saw many of his men lose their lives- others their limbs. And he saw the political reality on the ground- that basically our continued presence in the field [Afghanistan] would not change the outcome if we are saying we will be pulling out in a few more months.
His view was the leaders and the Taliban will probably wind up making a deal anyway- so why waste another life? If we are just finishing up a political promise that we will stay until a certain date, and yet the last few months up until that date will change nothing- then why let the guys die for that?
All these types of conversations get lost in the American media- we have the left- who act just as ridiculous as the right- and it’s hard to really see what’s going on. These past few weeks our country [along with NATO] has stepped up ‘kinetic’ action in Libya. Libya began much like the other North African countries- protestors rose up and demanded change.
Libya is a big nation- yet 90 % of the population live right off of the coast. The eastern half of the nation are the primary Rebels [from Benghazi] and the west is ‘pro Kaddafi’ [Tripoli being the capital]. A few weeks ago I saw video of Tripoli [before the bombing] the merchant shops and the fresh goods from the fertile MediterraneanSea made the streets of Tripoli look like some ancient city that was flourishing during the time of Christ.
While its hard to measure the actual numbers- there are many people who live in the western half of the nation who do not want the eastern rebels to win. Okay- we entered the picture because we said we were going to prevent a possible humanitarian disaster- fine. NATO approved action for purelyhumanitarian reasons- a no fly zone to protect civilians. What are we doing now? We have been bombing the hell out of beautiful Tripoli- chasingGadhaffiwherever we can find him- bombing his son’s home- killing his son and his 3 grandkids. Gadhaffi's wife has publicly said she wished she died with those kids- she’s putting pressure on her husband to ‘end this thing’ [she was the one who after Bush killed Saddam- she talked her husband into giving up the Nuke plans and making peace with Bush. The story was that she was deathly afraid that Bush would do to her children what he did with Saddam's sons- kill them].
So the wife’s worst nightmare has happened- but instead of Bush being the aggressor- Its France, Britain and the good ole U.S. of A. What’s the problem? The problem is we started this action saying it’spurely a ‘no fly zone’ now we have the leader [being urged by his wife- hoping to save her sons and grandkids] making multiple offers for a cease fire- I think the man is serious.
We respond ‘the offer is not credible’ what are we saying? We have the man between a rock and a hard place- we keep saying ‘cease fire’ and when ever he does- the rebels press forward- we keep bombing and he says ‘how in the hell can I do a cease fire like that’ the man is right.
Look- if we leave these leaders- corrupt as they are- with the only option being ‘we are gonna blow you and your family up’ then we are not playing smart. Today we celebrate the lives of our men and women who laid their lives down in battle- many came home with broken bodies [and minds]. Many are taking their lives because of the reality of being in situations where they had to take other lives. These things are very serious things to live with- I just wish we as a country took these decisions more seriously.
If we are asking so much of our men and women- then let’s be honest and upfront about the cost. Sure its makes good politicalfare to say ‘I believe in a strong military’ or to say you are ‘for the wars’. But I will go with the commander who looked at the reality- and he said if we are letting our boy’s die- just to ride out some political promise of staying until a certain date- then that’s tragic. Yes- honor our boy’s today- and let’s do what we can to prevent the loss of any more.
[1666] ALL HOPE IS GONE!
The last few days have been quite an indictment on the American media. The right has played the Anthony Weiner story hard- the left actually report the alibi [he claims his Twitter account was hacked] though as the days go by the story seems to be legit. And all the while the madman of Syria [Assad] released the tortured mutilated body of a 13 year old boy- his Genitals cut off- and this is the same man that our president offered ‘lead or get out of the way’ so very sad.
As I peruse the various media outlets- sometimes I have some hope forunbiased journalism- then something might happen that causes doubt. Last night I watched RachelMaddow a little. Now- I don’t like Rachel a whole lot- but I think she tries to be honest at times. I must confess that when I first found her show- there were a few hints that caused me to ask myself ‘gee- I wonder if she’s gay’. And I scolded myself for being judgmental- then sure enough her web site talks about herfemale partner and the N.Y. Times ran a story about her and her partner.
Fine- as a Christian I have a different opinion- but I won’tjudge the girl- the various pictures ofRachel when she’s not doing her show look a little ‘tomboyish’ but it would be wrong for me to speak about her being- well manly.
So to my surprise- out of all the people who might do a critique of another woman as being ‘too manly’ Rachel did a segment on Vladimir Putin- the former leader of Russia. She showed pics of him with no shirt- doing all sortsof Alpha male stuff- and then said ‘do we inAmerica have a politician like this’ and she then went to a bunch of ‘manly’ Palinpics- and yes- she critiqued Palin for being ‘too butch’.
The problem with our media is the left/right do not hold the opposing team to the same standards. A few days ago I was channel surfing- and it was primetime- all the news shows were covering something serious [Tornado?] but as I clicked to the MSNBC guy- the screen simply blared the picture of the disgraced Republican congressman who was shirtless [he sent a pic of himself to a girl thru Facebook- trying to pick the girl up- he’s married]
Now the guy resigned a few months ago- I remember Lawrence O’Donnell saying how he forgives him and will not drag him thru the mud over it- yet he and the crowd at MSNBC did just that- to the point where months later- when no one else is even covering it- MSNBC sees it as their moral duty to humiliate the man in front of his wife and daughters [as the lead story during primetime!]
These stories- covering Weiner or the other guy- these things are not ‘newsworthy’ like the other serious stuff. Now- if asenator or congressman lies about sending a lewd pic to a girl- well yes- he should not be able to get away with it. But these things should not take up important time- time that could be used to cover real stories.
As I watched the various shows- I flipped to CNN and I felt like they were being balanced [though they are the network pushing hard on Weiner]. Their legal guy- JeffTobin- is asked what his legal opinion is about Weiner. Tobin says ‘it's making a mountain out of a molehill- I’m sure he just wants it to go away- whether he did it or not’ geez- I guess you could say this about the shirtless Repub- or Clinton and Monica- I guess you could say they all ‘just want it to go away’ thanks for the great legal analysis.
And MSNBC reported that the real instigator- AndrewBrietbart- has been known to do fake videos of conservatives. They made it sound like Weiner was set up. Actually- if you listen carefully to Weiner- he’s using speech that tells you it's probably a picture of him- and maybe he [or a mad wife!] posted the thing.
Fine- don’t kill the man- but don’t actually report a probable lie [that some conservative faked the pic] more than likely Weiner messed up- and if you made the Repub quit because he had no shirt- than Weiner must go because he had no pants.
So as I watched Anderson Cooper I felt there was some hope- he seemed to be doing well. The only blemish on Cooper is he has a history of wearing the short sleeve T shirts at times- and he’s been accused of showing his biceps a little too much.
So as he’s doing the show they flip to a shot of him at some parade- he was on some float and yes- the guns are out. The female reporter says ‘wow Anderson- those are some nice guns’ yes- she started making lots of noise about the biceps. Cooper tried to play it down at first- and as the segment ends he says ‘next time I’ll have to charge you for the gun show’.
Yes- it was a rough few days for the media- I felt like there was some hope-maybe a chance for redemption, just a glimmer of hope. After Cooper’s gun show comment I now realize all hope is gone- so very sad.
NOTE- For those of you who don’t watch the news- Weiner is a Democrat from N.Y. who possibly sent a picture of himself with no pants on to a 21 year old girl who he follows on Twitter. The picture was only up for a few minutes and it came down fast. He posted a follow up note that said he was hacked. But as the days go by it seems like he is lying about it. It looks like he either posted it or someone else who was on his account.
[1667] VARIOUS MUSINGS
Took a ride to the city of Bishop the other day- on the way I had a tire blowout on the highway [no spare] and managed to drive it [still had air in it- the radial tread ripped off] to a shop to get a new tire. I had one of my homelessfriends with me and we were gonna have a fellowship day with Eliseo at his ranch- instead we will do one this Wednesday.
Those of you in the area who know where Eli lives- we will be there at around noon. Bring some food and meet us there, everyone is invited. As a side note- Eli, I got your message last night. I think little Rudy called too- I will try and get back with him, if he wants I’ll pick him up Wednesday for the ride.
Okay- after the blowout I did a fish fry/b.b.q. at the house with Henry and Chris [homeless bro’s] and we had a great time. My only mistake was I put the fish out first- about 10 pieces- and I thank the Lord I at least got 1!
Let me try and hit a few things today. Last week I had a good visit with a J.W. [Jehovah’s Witness]. He rang the bell and I told him I was a Christian and that I love having discussions and I did about a 20 minute historical overview of Christianity and the development of the doctrine of the Trinity [which is a major sticking point] and I tried to come down in a nice way- being honest about the historic problems many believers/various groups have had with the doctrine- and at the end of the talk I of course emphasized the bible verses that do indeed speak about the Deity of Christ and left it at that.
He was nice enough to come back by around an hour later and he dropped off a pamphlet put out by their group that discusses the Trinity. He asked me to read it and I did.
The teaching was fairly honest about the various historic disputes that Christians have had over the Trinity. It did cover the reality that there were Bishops and early church leaders who did indeed argue against the doctrine. It did a good job at showing how some early Christian leaders were indeed influenced by Greek philosophy and that some think that that’s where the doctrine developed from.
The pamphlet made the case that ‘the bible’ does not teach the Deity of Christ- and that these doctrines were later introduced by Catholic church leaders who paganized Christianity primarily thru Constantine’s ‘baptism’ of Christendom with the Roman state.
I’m very familiar with all these debates- many Christian scholars have made this exact same argument. Muslims and Jews also reject the doctrine of the Deity of Christ [and the Trinity] and often times you hear these same arguments made.
During the 4th century of the Common Era Constantine became the Roman Emperor and the church hotly debated these issues. The Bishop Arius [who denied the deity of Christ- that Christ is God] fought against the opposing view [that Christ is indeed God] and the bishop Athanasius was the warrior who defended the deity of Christ.
After Athanasius died his tombstone would read ‘Athanasius against the world’ he was the driving force in the 4th century who swayed the tide back to orthodoxy.
Now- the church would have a few 4th [and 5th] centurychurchcouncils that would settle the matter concerning the nature of Christ and his deity- and the final decision was that the Trinity was indeed true and the Jesus is indeed God.
The other side stayed with the idea that Jesus was a created being- a god- but not thee God. Some of these churches exist till this day. They are primarily oriental churches. If you visit them they seem just like any other ancient type church- the Mass, Saints, Mother Mary- yes- the whole 9 yards. But they stuck with the Arian view [Bishop Arius] and deny the deity of Christ [and thus the Trinity].
How should I respond? Let me just say that I am a Trinitarianwhobelieves in the deity of Christ- Christ is fully God and fully man. The J.W. pamphlet made a good defense for their view- and they were not totally ‘deceptive’ in their argument. But they did quote lots of bible verses that kind of backed up their side- and they quoted some from Isaiah. But they left out chapter 9.
The famous passage that says Jesus is the ‘Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace’ very strong language indeed.
What about the argument that the early Catholic bishops polluted the true teachings of Jesus by introducing Greek thought intoJesus true teachings? It is true that Greek philosophy had a belief that there was a pre existingprinciple of wisdom- a ‘divine logos’ if you will.
The only problem with the argument that the Catholic bishops were the culprits who introduced Logos Christology into the doctrines of the church is that the New Testament itself has ‘Logos Christology’ in it. What is Logos Christology?
Logos is the Greek word for ‘Word’. Christology is the study of Christ. Logos Christology is the description of Jesus found in the writings of the apostle John that describe Jesus as the Eternal Word of God.
John wrote the gospel of John, the 3 letters- 1st, 2nd and 3rd John- and the book of Revelation [some scholar’s dispute that John authored the last one]. In these writings Jesus is called the Word of God- he is described as the Word that was ‘with God, and was God’ [John 1].
So the bible itself has Greek influences- because it was written in Greek! And even though the pre Christian philosophers had a concept of a personified wisdom [the Jews also- read Proverbs 8] yet the New Testament also speaks of Jesus as this Eternal Word of God who was indeed ‘true God from true God’.
So I think the talk I had was good- I understand that many groups of people have had difficulty with the doctrine of the Trinity and the accusation that Constantine and the Catholics ‘hijacked’ the true religion of Jesus has been made by many groups over the years. Yet at the end of the day the doctrine of Jesus being God is clearly found in the bible [and yes, even in the Old Testament] and we as Orthodox Christians confess Jesus as God- not because of the Greeks- or the Catholics- or because of any other influence that ‘snuck in’ we confess him as God because ‘the bible tells me so’ Amen and Amen.
[1668] ANTHONY WEINER [AND PAUL REVERE]
These last few weeks I have been reading a few key passages from the book of Daniel. I have found lots of practical stuff that you can apply to ministry and the journey we all take in life. Daniel was stuck in Babylon- he was seeking God- praying about his situation and the people he had responsibility for.
The book says he understood from the beginning what God’s purpose was- both for him and the people hewould eventually influence- yet the men who were with him- the helpers- they did not have the same insight that he had. The bible says these men‘hid in fear’.
Daniel also knew that the appointed time was long- that the things he was waiting for would take a lifetime to see. Daniel saw that the walls andtemple would be rebuilt in 'troublous times’. That even though he was commanded to pray and intercede for the people- yet there would be much difficulty involved- he would have to persevere much. He prays‘God- do these things- help your people- not because of my righteousness- but because of your mercy’.
You can read about the actual rebuilding of the city and temple in the books of Nehemiah and Ezra.
This past week we have had some important news, lots of stuff that meant something. The economic numbers were disastrous. The Middle East situation grew worse. The president ofAfghanistan said ‘no more bombing of civilian homes’ NATO killed12 civilians- all womenand children- can you blame the man?
And of course we were all treated to the daily voyeuristic fix of seeing Weiner’spics slowly trickle out- day after day.
Truly thewall is being built-but we are also in very troublous times. I must admit that the media has scored very low on the scale of responsible journalism. I do credit Brian Williams [NBC] for not even covering the Weiner story- he was right in the fact that it was not a slow news week-and it was hard to justify the coverage that the story got.
At the same time- their cable branch- MSNBC- was shameful. They not only reported as news the fake alibi of Weiner [Brietbart did it!] but they spent the whole week as shameful political hacks.
Last night Lawrence O’Donnellactually covered the admission of the congressman and concluded ‘the only victim [ONLY!] was Weiner’s wife’. Now- the congressman just admitted that he sent many pictures of himself to many women- he could not rule out whether some of them were minors- whether they were unsolicited- yet O’Donnell does not see these women as 'victims’ to the contrary- some of the ‘liberal’ media began hinting at the possibility that these women might be in cahoots with Brietbart- yeah- way to go-blame the women.
I have come to the conclusion that MSNBC is a vast waste of airtime. O’Donnell said he could still see Weiner as the mayor of Gotham City-and he would invite him on the show and not ask a single question about the scandal. This from the network that as recentlyas afew days ago was headlining their news with the shirtless pic of the Republican congressman who has been gone for months.
So the worldis in turmoil- Yemen’s president was hurt badly when the protestors bombed the presidential palace. He was flown to Saudi Arabia and he might not make it back. Yemen is a very dangerous country- Al Qaeda is strong there-and they might actually take over the country.
Syria has decided to cross their border with Israel [The Golan Heights]. And Israel killed 20 protestors/invaders- Assad [Syria’s leader] is obviously taking the strategy of starting something with Israel to get the heat off of his murderous regime.
Yes- troublous times indeed.
You know- right about now I know how Paul Revere must have felt- jumping on his horse- riding his famous ride- ringing those bells and proclaiming ‘hey you Brits- you better not try and take our guns’ yeah- I know the feeling for sure.
Blacks are just hired guns. While this is partially true- yet when these fighters are asked ‘why are you helping Gadhaffi’ they will tell you- just like Mandela- that he has supported them for decades- when no one else cared- including us.
[1669] WAR
Let's talk about war. These past few days NATO has bombed Tripoli really hard. Reporters on the ground have said that the compound that Gadhaffi lives in has been leveled- to the point where it makes no sense- sort of like turning the place into a post nuclear looking wasteland.
Supposedly we [Brits, French and U.S.] were trying to penetrate any hidden bunkers, using the famous Bunker Busting bombs. It seems so surreal- when was the last time you saw/heard daily reports of the British and French doing routine air raids?
I can’t think of the last time- it must have been WW2. You say ‘now brother- I know the British were brave under Churchill- but the French?’ Okay- as least they were industrious- do you know how many white flags that country produced during the war? [To my French readers- I’m sorry]
So we have chosen to bomb- Libya had an ambassador go to the Hague and to the French this week, they filed war crimes charges against them. This past week the former Serbian general who was on the run for years- Slobodan Milosevic- was finally captured and taken to the ‘world court’ on charges of genocide.
You remember that back during the Clinton years we got involved because the Serbian Christians were fighting the Muslims and the charges were that the Serbs were carrying out genocide against the Muslims.
Why did we engage there? It’s possible that tens of thousands died- do you know how many Blacks died on the continent of Africa? Many of them Christians- killed by Muslims? Sudan, Darfur, Congo? Some say the numbers are over a million. Do you know how many Iraqi’s died since our invasion? Some estimates say around a million civilians have died since the war started.
The U.S. does not keep records of civilian deaths. So why Serbia and not Africa? Do you remember who the secretary of state was at the time? Madeline Albright. She came from this part of the world- she actually made statements saying she would not sit back and see ‘her’ people killed like this.
Problem? Did we allow the ethnic roots of a secretary of state dictate where and when we would get involved? Jesse Jackson brought this up at the time- he asked ‘why intervene when it’s your homeland- and let millions die when it’s in Africa’? Hate to admit it- but the man was right.
Now Libya. There are reports coming out that the western backed rebels [the guys we are backing] have tortured and killed Blacks. Why? Do you remember when Nelson Mandela was released from prison- he went to Libya and personally thanked Gadhaffi for his support- called him his brother. Many in the west cringed at the time.
Why did he do this? In Africa you have Black Africans and non Blacks. Some hate the Black skinned Africans and have been pro slavery. Others have a long history of supporting the Black skinned Africans- Gadhaffi is one of those who have been on the side of the Blacks for many years.
Right now in Libya you have many Blacks who have come from the Sub Sahara and these are fighting on the side of Gadhaffi. The western media reports this- but they always say these There is an ex Black congresswoman in Libya right now- she has reported that the rebels have been lynching the Blacks- just having Black skin identifies you as being on Gadhaffi’s side- No wonder Farrakhan said ‘who the hell are you [Obama] telling him he must go!’.
Many Blacks see Gadhaffi as one of their own- he has earned their support. Now do you see why so many Blacks can’tunderstand why America’s first Black president might be the one to topple the man- and at the same time supporting the rebels- you know- the lynchers!
What a tangled web we weave. I do not know what position we should take in all these wars and uprisings- but we need to be very slow at pulling the trigger and getting comfortable with seeing our country daily bombing another country.
The congress just tried to pass something that would have forced us to leave Libya in 15 days. The 60 day mark has passed [the deadline for the president going to the congress for support] and the president has yet to go to the congress. Instead congress passed something that demanded the president give some more answers on why we are bombing Libya- non stop.
It seems to me that the so called ‘no fly zone’ has been implemented- obviously we want to kill the man. Problem? We have no right to kill the guy- no matter what the Arab league- the U.N. -Nato- no matter what they agree on- the U.S. is not allowed to assassinateforeign heads of state- and that’s that.
So today we got a lesson on why we sometimes intervene- and sometimes not. Why we let millions of Africans die on the continent- and intervene for thousands in Serbia. Yes- we are a fickle crowd. And all this at the expense of our young men and women.
I heard Beck one day- he had a guest on. The guest quoted the words of Lincoln ‘a nation divided against itself can not stand’. Beck was quick to correct the man- Beck told him that Lincoln did not coin this phrase- but he got it from another politico who lived before him. Beck then mentioned the ‘originator’ it was some guy who lived a few hundred years before Lincoln.
To my surprise both of these men got it wrong. The words come from the lips of Jesus in the New Testament. Yes Jesushimself said it.
As I look at the political landscape today- upcoming elections where its popular to be ‘pro war’- I hope we as a people can be honest about the things we are doing- be willing to ‘cut and run’ when we realize that the political end game might not be much better then before we went in [Iraq and Afghanistan] and return to the original purpose of our fighting men and women- to protect the homeland.
As much as I want freedom for the Iraqi’s- to see the Afghan women freed from oppressive regimes like the Taliban- as good and right as these things are [or to prevent a ‘genocide’ in Libya] as good as these things are- our men and women did not join the military for this- that’s not a reason for them to die. We need to think long and hard before we spill the blood of our kids on foreign soil- we do not want them to die in vain.
[1670]THE PROBLEM IS WE ARE MUCH SMARTER THAN THE AVERAGE PERSON!
These last few days I have found it amusing to listen to the various media networks deal with the Weiner scandal. Some have tried to actually justify the fact that ‘he didn’t commit a crime’. True- but if after a few weeks of chatting with young girls who join your site because you are a representative- if after a few weeks you are sending fully nude ‘excited’ photos of yourself to these young girls- geez- you need to go- and fast!
But the interesting thing was to see the elitist mindset at work. One show discussed why this happens to smart politicos- they surmised that the mind of highly advanced politicians [mainly liberal Democrats] functions at such a higher level than the ‘average’ person- that because of this they need multiple outlets for this highly functioning intellect.
I actually have heard this argument used a few times in trying to come up with an explanation of why Obama’s numbers are low- or why the public does not fully support his ideas at times. The reporters would say ‘the average person is not able to fully digest the advanced intellect of the president- he functions almost at the level of a genius [not kidding] and because of this it’s like Einstein trying to explain physics to a 3rd grader’.
Now- pride is one of those sins that comes out- and you don’t know its there- I have it- you have it- yes we all have it. But I find these elite news men humorous- they really seem to struggle, and believe, that they are so far ahead of the ‘gun toting southern idiots’ that their viewers cant see the idiocy of their arguments.
A few weeks ago on MSNBC RachelMaddow was covering the oil situation. She explained that those who blame Obama for the high gas prices are wrong [to a degree she is right- but when prices went up under Bush- no one dared do anentire show at trying to explain this Phenomenon!]. She then went on to explain that if we drill more in the U.S. that the simple fact that the U.S. is drilling- that does not mean that all the ‘U.S.’ oil goes to us.
She explained- rightfully- that the oil produced here goes into this ‘global market’ and then it simply sells on the global shelf. The problem was at the time she was arguing against those who were saying that the lack of U.S. production could hurt in times of global war- when other oil producing nations go to war. Her defense was ‘either way- U.S. production just goes on a global market’ but the mistake she made was she was arguing economics- when the question at hand was logistics-supply.
It indeed is true that during times of national war and upheaval- enemy nations might well say ‘no more oil for you’. And if our own production is low [even though it might be a foreign company- B.P.] then we are in trouble. During times of crisis our country has the ability to ‘take over’ the actual resource [oil, etc.] and if there are limited regionalresources to ‘take over’ then in fact we would be in trouble.
Point? Maddow was arguing economics- when the question at hand was logistics. Okay- I can live with that. But at the same time this network [MSNBC] is the main instigator of the argument ‘we [liberals in general] function onsuch a higher plane than the average citizen- that’s why Obama’s numbers are low’. It really is a sad thing.
I hope Weiner can in some way redeem himself and his family. Comparing him to Vitter, Foley, Clinton- etc. It really is a waste of time for me. The fact that these incidents happened so recently- with many young women who he just knew for a few weeks- no shirtless pic's- but the Full Monty. I mean it just seems like it would be best for everybody if he took some other job for now- restore his marriage and maybe some day he can come back and be productive. Elliot Spitzer actually is doing a great job at CNN- as an analyst he is really good- very fair.
Instead of trying to explain the foibles of ‘the left’ by coming up with arguments that say ‘we function at such a higher level than the rest of the country’ just swallow the crow and take some time off- please- the country really needs a break.
[1671] YOU MUST BE KIDDING!
I caught a few minutes of Hal Lindsey last night- I very rarely watch ‘religious TV’ any more [with the exception of EWTN] and Lindsey was covering the Rapture and some stuff in Revelation. He did Rev. Chapter 6- the 4 horseman of the Apocalypse. He covered the standardEvangelical view that the 1st horse [rider on the white horse] is the anti-christ.
There is one other reference in Revelation to a rider on a white horse [chapter 19] everyone agrees that this rider is Jesus- yet many evangelicals have developed an interesting view that has the rider on the white horse in chapter 6 as the anti- christ.
The reason? They say look what follows- ‘war, famine, judgment’. But does this chapter [or Revelation] ever describe these judgments as ‘the judgments of anti christ’? No. As a matter of fact- the last few verses of this chapter actually describe the judgments as coming from him who sits on the throne and from the Lamb.
In chapter 19 the reference [of Jesus on the white horse] says he goes forth to ‘make war’. And if you read about these horses in the Old Testament prophets- they talk about God’s Spirit carrying out the judgment.
I don’t want to do a whole thing on who the rider is- after looking at all these verses in context I would say its not anti christ- but Christ [by the way- others do hold to this view- but the majorityof ‘prophecy preachers’ USA do not]. The point is we assume stuff- then preach it like that particular view is the only ‘correct one’.
Okay- last night Weiner was being investigated for having contact with young girls on line- minors. The cops were at the house of the girl. Weiner seems to be admitting that yes- I regularly had on line contact with young girls. But during those contacts I was not fully naked and ‘excited’. But then when he clicked over to the 20 year olds- well yes- naked and out there.
Okay- he also said he cant be sure that during all these on line talks that he hadn’t exposed himself to young girls ‘maybe yes- maybe no’. Okay.
Yet at the same time the reason we all found out about this is because he ‘accidently’ posted a crotch picture to 50 thousand strangers on his twitter page. So we have a sitting U.S. congressman who has many experiences with woman on line- he has already sent these pic’s to 50 thousand people.
He also admits contact with underage girls.
And MSNBC [Lawrence O’Donnell] says ‘I don’t see why he cant be the mayor of N.Y.- and I would invite him on tomorrow and not ask a single question about his on line exploits’ none of our business!
Yet these same media folk spent yesterday going through 24,000 emails of Sarah Palin- actually enlisting the publics help ‘come join us America- lets all go through these emails and see what we can find’ [N.Y. Times, Washington Post].
The MSNBC political hacks were drooling at the mouth. Has the media ever done something like this before? Have you ever heard of any public figure [including Obama] who the media said ‘hey world- lets go through 24,ooo emails and see what we can find’. The woman is not even officially running for office right now- some of these emails are to her kids.
Yet you have a sitting Democrat congressman- admittedly sending nude shots of himself to anyone- possible young girls [15?] and MSNBC says ‘that’s none of our darn business’.
A few years ago a right winger put out a book- I think it was titled ‘liberalism is a mental disease’. I’m beginning to wonder.
[1672] IN DEFENSE OF LIBERATION THEOLOGY
I’ve been wanting to get back to some of our studies- but the news cycle has been hotthese last few weeks [not just Weiner!] and I have been sidetracked somewhat. One of the other important news stories was the going away speech by defense secy. Gates.
He tore into NATO and raked them over the coals for their willingness to vote Yes on intervention- then letting the U.S. do the majority of the work. There are 28 nations that make up the alliance [North Atlantic Treaty Organization]. Yet in Afghanistan there are a total of around 140 thousand troops. The media constantly report ‘NATO troops were killed- or accidently hit a civilian house’. We get desensitized- we think these are actually troops from NATO- like these other 28 nations are doing this stuff. Out of the 140,000 troops- 100 thousand are U.S. troops. I mean 28 other nations?
In Libya- once again the entire alliance voted to go in [or abstain- though ‘going in’ meant different things to different nations] and after a few weeks of ‘going in’ once again we are pulling 70 percent of the load. Gates blasted the alliance- saying with all thesenations’ troops- they have a hard time standing up 25-40 thousand troops. These other 27 nations can’t even supply a regular fighting force of 25 thousand troops!
Hillary Clinton spoke out [rightfully] against a new resurgence of ‘colonialism’ taking place on the African continent. Colonialism is the abuse of 1st world nations stripping 3rd world nations of their vital natural resources and doing this with the consent of ‘paid off’ higher ups in these ‘stripped’ nations [this definitionobviouslydoesn’t speak about plain colonialism- but in modern public speak that’s what they are talking about].
In Africa, China has been doing this now for a number of years- they have been ‘investing’ heavily in buying up the worlds natural resources- and the civilian populace living in these nations are extremely poor. If other nations want to partner in trade and investment with poorer countries- that’s fine. But don’t take the resources from these countries while the people living there are dying from poverty.
Around the turn of the 20thcentury you had the rise of what’scommonly called ‘the social gospel’. This Christianmovement concerned itself with the broader mandate of the gospel that deals with bringingjustice to the poor and hurting people of the world. Dealing not just with ‘saving souls’ but also with creating a more just society on the planet right now.
While this movement had its critics- it did not go as far as the later development of Liberation Theology. Now- onceagain in our ‘reductionist’ news media- we have managed to simplify our understanding of Liberation theology- and have basically presented it as some satanic movement that simply wishes to implement Marxist ideologyinto the American experience.
Glenn Beck got a hold of a few books [articles?] that showed the church’s criticism of Liberation theology- and it cemented in his mind that all liberationtheologians were ‘the enemy’. It did no good to realize that- yes indeed- Obama’s church is a theological offshoot of Liberation theology.
Yes- the good ole Reverend Wright is a Black Liberation theologian and darn proud of it! Liberation theology took the concern of the social gospel a step further- it sought to implement social justice policies by mixing Christian teaching in with political structures. In a way it was a form of Marxism- without Marx’s penchant against religion. To the contrary the Liberation adherents saw this approach as a mandate from Jesus himself.
Liberation theology arose in the last half of the 20th century primarily as a result of what the Catholicchurch saw taking place in Latin American nations. Once again a type of Colonialismwas taking place in this 3rd world region of the world [though they are obviously doing much better today]. And the Catholicchurch in the region developed a Liberating theology that would deal with these social injustices through political means.
The very influential Catholic bishop of El Salvador- Oscar Romero- would be the lead visionary of the movement at the time. Romero said some very important- and true things at the time. It would be wrong to totally reject all Liberationtheologies as ‘satanic’. Romero taught that true theology- true learning and growing in our understanding of God should take place in ‘Base ChristianCommunities’ as opposed to the ‘institution’. This concept is actually taught in the bible [in my view].
His ideas would give birth to what is known as Feminist theology [Catholic female authors like Fiorenza of Germany or Mary Daly from America] these women were writing in what they saw as institutional oppression from the church against women- that in their view the church has historically repressed women- and they drew from the stream of Liberation theology that sought to ‘free people from oppressive regimes’ it’s just the regime they were speaking about was the church itself!
And yes- the Black liberation theologians would manage to tweak Liberation theology and make it fit their particular struggle for what they saw as a continued repression of the Black race.
All in all liberation theology was a very influentialmovement- that does indeed have many strainsof truth within it.
Then why did the Catholic church have to officially distance itself from the movement? Bishop Romero [who would eventually become the arch Bishop of San Salvador] gained so much influence within the Latin American church- that the Vatican had to finally come out and distance itself from the movement.
Liberation theology was in fact a strange mixture of Marxist ideas- though they were taken from Jesus and the gospels. In the 20th century- right around the same time of Romero's great influence- you had another very influential Catholic leader by the name of Pope John Paul the 2nd. John Paul would eventually become one of the greatest and most influential Popes of all time [that is saying a lot].
One of John Paul’sgreatachievements was his vital role in the pulling down of the Soviet Union and his stance against communism- especially seen in his own resistance to communism in his home country of Poland.
Now- how could the church be lead by one of the greatestheroes of anti communism of all time- and at the same time have such an influential Arch Bishop operating out of Latin America- who was in fact espousing a form of Communism?
So this page has been written in the books and we have what we have.
Today I think we all need to take a second look at the things we deem [or have heard] are wrong- or satanic. Though I have manydisagreements with our president and this current administration- yet I agree with what Hillary said in her warning about the Africancontinent. I also do not think it right to demonize the president because he did indeed attend a Black Liberation church- many of these congregations fully embrace redemption through Christ- and their ‘zeal’ to extend that redemption through the social justice arm of political govt. is not totally wrong- the bible speaks much about human govt. being a tool for social justice in a just society!
But we in America are fixated on more important things- like when the next picture of congressman Weiner will come out- yeah who has time for all this social justice talk anyway.
[1673] THERE THEY GO AGAIN!
Let me give this one last shot [on Face book- to all my blog readers- of course I will keep posting there!]. Since I’ve been on face book I have enjoyed posting/commenting with old friends. Every so often I would get notices that said ‘so and so asked this question’ or stuff like that- little apps [games] that I know nothing about. Sometimes the questions seemed a little ‘weird’ to say the least.
Look- I’m an adult- heard it all [and have messed up in life many times- not just the on line games- but the real thing- yes- like most every one else in life]. So anyway these stupid things didn’t ‘offend’ me- I just felt they weren’t where I wanted to go on the site.
So at first I would just block that particular game- not the person [by the way- this was more than one person]. Then they would use another game. A few times the thing showed up on my main page- and I couldn’t delete the thing!
So finally I just blocked [or blocked their posts] from my page. Then one ingenious person waited till a mutual friend posted- and they used their post [which was on my page] to give me a wonderful ‘F—K YOU’ note- wow- it just made my day.
Look- if you are a ‘friend’ on my page- and you let people post things to me like that- I’m gonna block you- sorry. You want to tell me that in a personal email- where my kids don’t have to see it- fine- but ‘friends’ letting their friends do that- sorry- your blocked.
Okay- why the anti liberal stuff? As a political blogger- I listen to all sides. I listen to Rush- Hannity- Olbermann [he starts Monday on current t.v.] Maddow- the whole crew.
I have found it amazing that the ‘ultra liberals’ are just as bad as the hard right. But for the most part they carry a belief that they are way above the average man- I rarely see this with the hard right.
So it takes patience to deal with the libs- much more than the right [I consider myself neither]. So a few weeks ago I noticed something- MSNBC decided they were going to show the shirtless picture of the Republican congressman who quit right after he was caught trying to pick up girls on line.
Okay- he messed up. But all of a sudden MSNBC began showing the pic. Every day. Even during primetime. They laughed- smirked- they were obviously going to run with this picture right up until the election of next year.
Then what happened? The Weiner story broke and it just seemed stupid for them to follow this strategy. Their main network [NBC- Brian Williams] receivedcriticism for not even covering the story at first- I applaudedWilliams at the time because I felt the story did notdeserve the coverage it got.
I saw Williams report ‘he was forced from office because of semi nudepictures’ an outright lie- he was fully nude- erect- and possibly doing it with kids. Now- in the real world you do not call this ‘a sexless sex scandal’ the A.P. reported it this way- many commentators did too. I even saw an editorial comic that showed Weiner getting in trouble- the comic said ‘shirtless photos’ on his suit case.
Smart- huh- giving the impression that all he did was take off his shirt- just like the repub! Now- I didn’t rejoice over Weiner- I prayed for the man [for real!] but the ultra libs rejoiced over the repub- they were running primetime with the pic months after the event. These guys are insufferable!
Then I read an A.P. [Associated Press] story on how the Obama recovery was being ‘drug down’ by those darn states! Yes- the report said the recovery was working on ‘the federal level’ but the states [aha- those new Repub. Governors] they were dragging the recovery down by their bad economies- I mean they must think the general public are complete idiots- that’s what the left thinks- and they show this all the time.
I mean what are the states? They are 50 pieces of the whole country- there is no such thing as a ‘federal recovery’ being dragged down by the states- please- we are not all that dumb.
But it’s stuff like this that makes it hard to deal with the real problems we [and the global economy] are facing. If both sides do not come to some type of agreement- which will include dealing with the rocketing cost of healthcare [yes- Medicare will need to be dealt with- maybe not the Ryan plan- but more than just making a political statement- like Bill Clinton said- we cant let Medicare eat up the entire U.S. economy].
Greece is on the verge of default- I don’t know if Germany is gonna keep footing the bill. And their bond rating is 3 points below junk status! That’s bad- a nation defaulting like that. Those of you who watch this stuff- our own nation is going back into another recession [some feel it never recovered in the first place].
If the media keep playing the games that they have- then they are just adding to the problem. Did Obama’sstimulus work? Not the way he hoped- but most of the 800 billion simply staved off the job losses at the state and local level. The money was spent to prop up the states until a recovery happened. That was the real plan- it didn’twork.
Austin Goolsbee jumped ship while there was stilltime- and Paul Krugman [liberal N.Y. times economist] is running with the story that the stimulus should have been around 2 trillion- yes he’s also covering his back side.
All in all we need to come to the table and work as one- MSNBC [and NBC] should be ashamed at their continued gloating- months after the downfall of a human being- deciding to run his picture night after night- and then lying about ‘their guy’ saying he too was shirtless- they played the game and pretended they were above the ‘average guy’ you know- the viewing public- the ones who they think believe that the‘darn states are ruining the recovery’- yeah- that bunch.
[1674] ROGUE?
This week the congress began putting pressure on the president over Libya. Traditionally presidents go to the congress for consultation when hostilities are involved. Bush consulted congress over the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
When the speaker of the house- John Boehner- lead the majority of congress in rejecting the tougher position of Democratic congressman Dennis Kucinich’s bill- that would demand the president pullout of Libya- Boehner instead asked for an explanation of why the president simply is not following the war powers resolution [having to go to congress after 60-90 days of hostilities in a foreign land]. To the surprise of just about every legal analyst-including many Democrats-the president made a case that what was happening in Libya did not amount to ‘hostilities’.
Now- Boehneris a longtime insider- he knows the way Washington works. He could notbelieve that the office of legal counsel would have agreed to this. The president purposefully avoided answering that specific question.
Finally- some insiders- more than likely Democrats- could not believe the president did indeed reject the office of legal counsels advice-and instead claimed to make the call based on his own legal opinion [to just about every legal analyst- this is going rogue].
Finally the truth leaked out- and it was revealed that the president took the unprecedented step in trying to define air warfare as 'non hostile action’.
As I read the news stories- and listenedto both sides- I could not understand why the president did this. While it is true that most presidents reject the war powers resolution [the act itself] yet they usually follow the advice of their officeof legal counsel.
That is the executive branch’s legal arm that gets the advice of both the Pentagon lawyersas well as the Justice dept. It just seemed to be the decision of a man who tries to present himself in public as a reasonable man- but behind the scenes he is a very different person.
I also saw this in the president’s ‘pettiness’ withpolitical enemies. As a retired Texas firefighter- when we have had bad wild land fires- we always- in every case I know of-got federal aid when meeting the criteria of a natural disaster. To my shock- this past year the president- for the first time ever [as long back as I remember] told Texas ‘screw you’ yes- our guys- the ones who got hurt- the ones who paid out of pocket to go to the scene- driving miles from home in their personal vehicles- for the first time ever were told ‘no’. The president toldTexas Fire Fighters [and its Repub governor] no!
The majority of these firefighters are union guys whose dues go primarily to Democrat causes. I was shocked that a sitting U.S. president would do this.
Then came the school funding issue. My oldest daughter recently got a teaching job with the public schools. During last year’s political wars- Texas was the only state that the president withheld federal funding to. There were some political games begin played- but at the end of the day Texas was the only state that the president denied funding to. Eventually it got passed- against the president’s wishes- when it was slipped in under the Continuing Resolution to fund the govt.
I could go on and on about stuff like this- examples that I have never before seen- cases where this president has gone after political enemies to an extreme- where even other Democrats have said ‘you must be mad’. There have been ‘leakers’ during this administration- like all others. This president has been the only one [in recent memory] who has tried to raise the level of the leak to ‘treason’ and thus making it a federal crime punishable by death. It’s almost unbelievable that he has actually used his office like this.
As we as a nation try and move forward- there will always be 2 sides to these debates- what troubles me is it seems to me that for whatever reason- maybe the president did not realize the pressures involved with the job- but for whatever reason he really has done some really bad stuff- I mean the firefighter decision was a real eye opener tome- showing me that he is not mature in these decisions- too petty to have done these types of things to get back at a political enemy.
Hopefully we can get beyond these things as a country- but for my friends to have been turned down federal aid- while risking their lives- that’s being petty at the edge of danger- that’s like going after the leakers-and seeking their death- that’s real bad.
NOTE- Over the last few years I heard reports that Senator Obamadid indeed do politics this way in Chicago- that Rham Emanuel and other political cronies threatened people- with physical harm. I never really believed these stories- but after seeing all these examples above- I began thinking that these stories were probably true [putting a dead fish in an opponent’s bed/ room- just like the mafia movie!]. These examples are bad- I could have given the story of a Texas political blogger- yikes! -Who was just interviewed on national TV. He was stalked- the F.B.I. went thru his trash- videotaped his family from a secret camera planted across the street- and it was revealed that the administration contacted the I.R.S to go after him. This U.S. citizen was targeted- and his family-because he was on the other side of the politicalisle. Stuff like this would have never passed under other administrations- never.
[1675]NIGGERS, WHITE DEVILS, SLUTS AND HYMIE-TOWN
I figured today I would just share my true feelings with you guys- what about it?
These last few days there has been somewhat of a firestorm over the comments made by the radio personality Neil Bortz. First off- I want to admit that I do not like the guy- at all. He is the only radio person who I actually called in to complain about with the local station who airs him.
I do not like his talk about Blacks- and I also cringe when listeningto Rush do the same stuff at times. To be honest- I have not heard/read the controversial statement-maybe it’s better that I didn’t, so you can check me out on a theory.
I was watching the Ed Shultz show and they were discussing the comments Bortz made about arriving in Atlanta. They said Bortz made a statement that encouraged Whites to arm themselves and go out and shoot Black people- ‘fill the streets with bodies’. As much as I dislike Bortz- for the life of me I can’t believe the man said this.
Second- he had 2 Black guys on the show-and they of course condemned the statement from Bortz and did go on to rightfully critique other racially tinged language that Bortz has indeed used in the past. As the show progressed they attacked Bortz over a statistical number he gave about crime in the Black community.
They simply said ‘can you believeBortz teaches that the DNA of Black people is predisposed to crime’? Again another accusation- highly charged- that seems to be wrong on the face of it [to state a crime rate among any community- or the high percentage of Blacks in the prison system, which I have spoken out against as a failure of both the system and the Black leaders- to state factual numbers- if they are true- is not saying you believe that Blacks have crime built into their DNA- and to accuse anyone of this- whether they be left or right- is highly inflammable and wrong- just as wrong as the actual other racial statements Bortz has made in the past].
Now- when I see these same shows host Sharpton- or Jackson- or even Farrakhan from time to time [I saw him on a panel in Chicago]. I ask myself ‘self- why do these same media folk- who rage at the right- have on people from the left who are just as racist’?
Sharpton is accepted freely on many channels- though he has incited murder, hatred and has used nonstop racial rhetoric throughout his life.
He incited violence in calling non Black businesses in Black areas as being ‘interlopers’. He has accused white people of raping Black girls- even after the facts showed the poor girl was lying [Tawanna Brawley] and till this day- he still will not admit the thing was a hoax.
Jackson has called Jewish areas ‘Hymie town’. And of course Farrakhan is nonstop in his hatred for the white man. Former senator Byrd spoke of ‘Niggers’ [the late senator who used to be a leader in the KKK and fought hard against civil rights- he was a Democrat].
Ed Shultz himself was pulled off the air for a few weeks for calling Laura Ingram a ‘Slut’. She is a right wing radio host. And of course Harry Reid said he thought Obama had a chance- he was a ‘light skinned Blackman- who didn’t speak like a Blackman- only when he wanted to’.
Of course the hypocrisy of one side seeing prejudice only in the other is blatant.
In all these cases- I regret having to use the language that I just did. Some of you read this post because you thought 'damn- I knew John would go over the cliff sooner or later’ and you thought today was that day!
Others read because this shock language has that effect- if you have a choice between reading a post with the words NIGGER- well that draws more attention than more enlightened speech.
We all have our demons- we all battle racial attitudes in life. And if we want to critique a person for their wrong speech [which I do think Bortz uses!] then we need to be careful that we don’t falsely accuse the man of something so racially charged that it might actually incite real violence in the streets.
For MSNBC once again to have allowed one of their guys to go on the air and to charge that another person called for the shooting of Blacks in the streets- or who said that this person believed that crime was built into the DNA of Blacks- if Bortz did not say this- then Shultz needs to take another leave of absence- for good.
[1676] TRUTH TO POWER?
Last night the president gave his speech on the war- he will withdraw 10,000 troops this year- another 20,000 by September of next year. That leaves around 60,000 going into 2013.
When the president came into office there were 30,000 troops on the ground in Afghanistan- he doubled it to a little over 60- then did a 30,000 man surge [West Point speech].
Many anti war folk [like me] were not happy with the 60- never mind the surge. Yet we are staring at 90,000 for the next year- then down to 60- and they are talking about leaving 20-25 thousand forever!
Last week I caught a CNN special called Wiki Wars- they covered the Julian Assange case. Assange is the ‘Omega man’ looking Australian who has shaken the world with his on line ‘leaking’ factory [Wiki Leaks]. The show covered his nomadic upbringing- his mission to change the world- and his determination to expose corruption wherever he finds it.
His work has been recognized by Amnesty International [for exposing corrupt leaders who slaughtered innocents] and overall his mission has been very noble.
Eventually he would come into possession of thousands of leaked on line documents that would expose many hidden discussions of our military. He also released the now [in] famous video called ‘Collateral Murder’.
The video shows our guys hovering over a vehicle in Iraq [I think it’s Iraq?] and the audio allows you to hear the conversation. As we watch the enemy walking back and forth- seemingly oblivious to the chopper watching them [strange?] our guys radio communication is describing their contact with their commander.
As they wait for the go ahead to shoot- they finally get the o.k. They then show the video of our helicopter shooting the men. Most of the guys are killed quickly- others run. One guy is wounded and laying in the street- another vehicle pulls up and tries to help him- we then blow the hell out of him too.
Then something happens- one of the guys starts running from the first vehicle with a young child in his arms- our guys say ‘wow- he has a kid with him- that’s what he gets for being so stupid to bring his kid with him’ [our guys think they are enemy combatants].
The scene looks terrible- especially when we later find out that all these guys were reporters- mostly working for Reuter’s news service.
As the CNN host questions the military commander who is watching the video with him- the commander explains that our guys did ‘what they were supposed to do’. That these reporters should not have been in a hot zone- walking around with their camera equipment- which was mistaken for a rocket launcher.
This military leader actually justified our actions. Then as the show progressed- they got into the Wiki Leaks founder who released these videos. He gave the standard U.S. govt. line that the leaking of these videos/emails was unjust- that it might cause harm to people- and therefore our govt. is justified to go after Assange and the soldier [Bradley Manning] who supposedly leaked the stuff.
I found it strange to see this commander ‘justify’ our killing of the reporters- while at the same time condemning the person who uncovered this act.
This week NATO bombed another civilian house in Libya- killed a couple of kids [one a baby] and a few civilians. Once again- they released another statement saying ‘this house was a command and control operations base’ which means they thought Gadhaffi [or his men] might be there. Now- they have done this before- they kill innocent people, kids- then they justify the action.
I was wondering how long it would take before the Western media got off the Obama bandwagon and reported the truth- stop simply regurgitating the words of NATO and report the facts on the ground.
Surprisingly, as I read the article- the report said that as the journalists arrived at the home that was bombed- there were other Libyans who immediately starting saying ‘Gadhaffi blew up this house to blame it on NATO’.
These reporters have been fed this before- and simply believed it. This time as they investigated- they indeed found out that we and NATO simply blew the hell out of a civilian home- and killed a new born along with another child.
The home was a politicalsupporter’s residence. Now- I certainly realize that these actions are not meant to kill innocent people- and I know our guys did not mean to kill reporters. But when we as a nation lie about this stuff- cover it up to a degree- and then actually seek the execution of those who leaked the evidence- then we are doing unjust things.
I heard the reasoning behind why when this type of info is leaked in a traditional way [N.Y. times, etc.] that these leaks are considered very noble- uncovering the secret agenda’s of the powerful. But then the person being queried said when the leaks are being released ‘on line- without actual ink and paper’ then yes- we are justified in seeking the execution of the leakers.
It’s amazing that we accept this type of reasoning without question.
I’m glad we are starting to draw down our troops- right now in Afghanistan we are spending a couple of billion every week- we are facing a fiscal crisis at home that might eventually ruin this entire nation. And China is digging copper out of the Afghanistan ground- making deals with the corrupt Afghan govt.- and we are footing the bill for the security so China can enrich themselves and the leaders of Afghanistan- all at the same time when we are about to default on our debt- to China!
There just seems to be too many things wrong with this picture. I in no way blame our brave fighting men and women for these atrocious acts that do take place during times of war- but I do blame those in power, those who know about these acts- who seek to cover them up- and then after they are leaked- our govt. goes after them- seeking to raise the level of these leaks to the crime of treason- so we can execute the leakers. These things are unjust- and we need to recognize this fact.
[1677] PREACH THE GOSPEL?
Let’s talk some about the role of the church in society. Many years ago I had a friend who was a preacher/pastor- at the time some people kindly told him ‘brother- I know Jesus is the answer- but you need to also teach- you can’t just say ‘Jesus is the way’ all the time’.
Were they right? In a way- yes. Let me explain. In the book of Isaiah we read about the purpose of Jesus [chapter 11]. Jesus came to preach the gospel [good news] to the poor- set captives free- to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
The book of Amos[a prophet in the Old Testament] shows Amos railing against the rich- the powerful- as he defends the poor in society. Part of ‘the gospel’ is speaking out against injustices in society- telling those in power ‘your day is coming- you have trampled down the innocent- abused the immigrant- and God hears their cry’.
Yes- a part of the ministry of the church is to address these abuses in society. Now- what happens when the church casts off this job? It gets picked up by any/all others who are willing to run with it. So you have ‘the media’ or even a comic like Jon Stewart- anyone else who is willing to speak out against injustices- uneven scales- these will fill the void if Gods people won’t.
If you read the ministry of Jesus- the things he did and said- he often came up against religious forms of holiness. Those in society who thought their purpose was to- well be ‘religious’. That is they made a special class out of religion. They often engaged in public displays of it [prayer- fasting to be seen of men].
They valued their own religious experience as the primary thing- when they perceived man getting in the way of their expression of religion- they were willing to ‘sacrifice him’ [literally] in order for their own religious cause to gain influence [they said of Jesus- if he keeps doing this we will lose our position of power and influence].
At the end of the day- these religious folk saw their own view of religion as the primary thing- it took precedence over all other things- even people themselves.
Now- when the church reduces her mission to ‘religious speech’ that is when they refuse to engage in society- to do what the prophets did in the bible- defend the poor- rail against injustice- when Gods people leave this part of ‘preaching the gospel’ out- then they unknowingly have given in to the temptation to see their practice of religion- as simply a ‘religious thing’.
In a way- they have become like the religious folk of Jesus day- so busy carrying out their religious tasks- that the voiceless of society have no one to advocate for them.
We are living in a day where many major upheavals are taking place- I think the ‘average person’ does not fully understand the seriousness of what’s going on in the world today. It is quite possible that the U.S. will default on her debt. And that we will face a credit crisis equal to that of Greece- where the politicians have pandered to the people to a point where the people are rising up in the streets because they refuse to see the reality of the situation.
There are threads of this taking place right now in this country- at the current rate we are going- our debt will equal our GDP in 10 years- that’s really bad.
As we have these debates- we must remember that the poor and impoverished of the world count to God- the cause of the illegal alien means a lot to God- these issues are not just nationalistic- they are of concern to God.
As we move down this treacherous road over these next few years- lets not forsake that part of the gospel that calls us to speak up for the poor- to speak truth to power- and to expose injustice wherever we see it- not just on the opposing team.
[1678] ADULTS IN THE ROOM?
This week the ‘raise the debt ceiling’ talks broke down. Eric Cantor- the repubs top negotiator- walked out of the talks in frustration. The Dems want to raise taxes [actually cut certain tax breaks] and the Repubs want to only cut spending.
We [govt] have a 14.3 trillion ‘limit’ on the national credit card and in August we hit the limit. Some say if we don’t raise the limit it will be catastrophic- others say raising it would be.
I do hold to the more liberal view- that we should probably raise the thing- but make sure we also get real cuts- not fake stuff.
When Cantor walked out of the talks the Repubs said ‘look- we are negotiating for something you [Dems and pres] should have taken care of over a year ago’ [present a budget]. The Repubs said ‘do your job- present your side’!
Are they right? Yes. The reason the president and Dems have not presented a budget [going into 2 full years without one!] is because they really did not want to bite the bullet and make choices that would get people mad. So as they waited and waited- the Repubs did a daring [some say stupid] thing and in the house they presented the Ryan plan.
Before Paul Ryan presented the plan some said ‘no- don’t do it- we are in the minority [the Repubs don’t hold the executive office or the senate] and it’s really not our responsibility to present something’. Some conservatives said if you present one- the left will only use it to attack the Repubs and will not present their own plan.
The president actually gave a speech a year or so ago that warned of this- he said we have to deal with debt in a serious way- and if both sides play games- accuse the other side of wanting to kill grandma- then the country will suffer.
So Ryan put the plan out- and within days the commercials ran- they found a Ryan lookalike and they showed you him wheeling grandma over the cliff. What was the president’s response to this childishness? He was the lead ‘child’ [a child shall lead them?]
Yes- the president went on the air and railed against the Repubs plan- he said they want to balance the budget on the backs of the elderly and the poor.
Fine- I personally think Ryan did go too far- and I think we should do both- tax ‘increases’ and cuts. But Cantor saw the writing on the wall- that it is indeed the president’s job to do a budget- they didn’t do one- the Dems stalled- endlessly on the thing.
And instead of using the Ryan plan as an excuse to do some cuts and say ‘look- Ryan forced me’ instead- the president resorted to the thing he warned against- he did use it as a political tool to help his cause in the upcoming election.
Now- this is what makes me seriously wonder whether or not we will avoid a real Greek style debt crisis. Those in the know [on both sides] realize that the biggest expense that the country can’t afford- is actually the projected rise in Medicare costs down the road. It’s going to eventually ‘eat up the entire economy’ [Bill Clinton].
So if the Dems decide to simply use this as a political tool [which they have done] then the only way we will ever deal with it is for the Repubs to force something thru- while the Dems say ‘those darn baby/grandma killers- they made us do it’.
But the Repubs said ‘hell- you know what- every time you make us take the fall- we get the blame- and you [Mr. pres] are acting like you’re in the minority- you and the Dems are not presenting any budget- going on 2 years- and getting away with making us do the dirty work- and then blaming us all the way- while we are really saving your skin!’
I see their point. So- we have about a month to go- and after Cantor walked out- I thought here might be some hope- you know- both sides cooling off some- another round of golf? How did the left describe Cantors frustration- quote ‘the cry baby wet his pants and ran home to mommy’- Ah- we could analyze this statement- try and read some hope into it- maybe they were concerned about Cantors family life? Well heck- I give up- I mean they didn’t even use the word mother. The globes future depends on the ‘adults in the room’ I didn’t know adults wet their pants and run home to mommy?
[1679] IS IT MORALLY WRONG TO TEACH MORALS?
The other night N.Y. passed gay marriage [or marriage equality]. They are not the 1st state to do this- but some in the media hailed it as a great advance for civil rights. I spoke to a Catholic friend who lives in the area- he’s an older brother- and he was really upset about it.
I think I caught him off guard by telling him it really didn’t ‘upset’ me- not like I lost a battle [right winger] of some sort. I told him I obviously have a different position than Governor Cuomo- but I’m not real mad about the thing.
I understand why some people are- and I also told my friend that my position is basically the same position that his church holds- I think homosexuality is ‘a sin’ [like many other heterosexual sins!] but I think the ‘right versus the left’ approach does no good- it seems to just alienate people
A few months ago our local high school made it to CNN because of a debate between some girl who wanted to start a straight/gay club on campus. You had the school say no- even though they did allow a Christianclub to meet. The ACLU got involved and before you knew it they were all picketing for/against the club.
As I watched the thing on the tube I saw some local preachers standing out there- a few feet away from the kids- holding signs and shouting ‘it’s an abomination’.
Then you saw the gay kids- who also had the support of some liberal preachers- they were holding signs that said ‘God loves everyone’. It just seemed ‘non Jesus like’ to see the older men- railing against the young girl [the lesbian girl] and shouting in the streets about her being an abomination.
The point being we need to tell people the truth about what is in the bible- and what the church [predominantly] teaches- and then avoid ‘going to war’ with people.
As I’m continuing to read different works on philosophy and modernity- I recently came across Daniel Dennet- a contemporary atheist/thinker. Dennet questions the ‘morality’ of teaching morals [religion] to kids. He espouses the question of the whole idea of religious teaching/tradition. Is it ‘right’ to teach ‘what’sright’?
Okay- I’m sure he is a smart man [they tell me so] but he of course is falling into the classic mistake of thinking he can argue from a foundation of ‘oughtness’ while claiming we should not have these types of foundations.
Basically you can’t argue a moral position [is something right- wrong] if you reject the reality of morality itself. This mistake is easily refuted in the field of apologetics. Sam Harris [another contemporary atheist] makes these same arguments.
I found it interesting to hear GovernorCuomo and other supporters of the law- they were oozing with moral language ‘we are proud to be part of the struggle for the rights of all people’ and other language like this. I’m sure these well meaning folk don’t realize they are contradicting their core argument ‘who is society- the church- to say what’s right or wrong!’ And then they say ‘it’s wrong for them to think that way’.
Okay- I hope you see the point. Immanuel Kant saw this some 300 years ago when the ‘age of reason’ was just taking off. Many thinkers of his day began questioning the wisdom of having religion/morality as part of the fabric of society. Kant recognized the need for the basic idea of right and wrong [What he called ‘oughtness’ you know what you ought to do] and even though he disagreed with Descartes’- he did not believe you could ultimately prove God through reason- yet he saw the need for ‘God’ to exist in the fabric of human society- in his mind there had to be an ultimate judge who could carry out justice- and there had to exist a basic idea of what you should and should not do.
These debates are long and can go on forever.
In Matthew 13 Jesus gave us a story about Gods kingdom. He said it’s like a field. A farmer goes out and plants good seed. Then when everyone was sleeping- an enemy went out and planted ‘bad seed’.
When the plants came up- his workers asked if they should go out and pull all the bad crop out. The boss said no- just leave them alone- in the final harvest he will deal with them- but it wasn’t their job to go pull them out prematurely.
Sometimes we [the church] are like the workers- we see ‘bad seed’ things that we recognize are not healthy for the field- we think ‘let’s go dig them out’. But God says ‘I’ll deal with the bad seed in my time- if you think it’s your job to go around pulling up all the bad weeds- you might hurt some good wheat too’.
I in no way ‘rejoice’ over the N.Y. vote- but I feel no urge to go ‘pull the bad seed out’ some of what we think is bad- might turn out to be good in the end.
[1680] ARE YOU A FLAKE?
This past Sunday Chris Wallace hosted Michele Bachman on his morning show [Fox] he had just come off a previous Sunday show controversy- he had on Jon Stewart and it got a little heated. Overall I think Stewart ‘blew it’ but I think Wallace blew it with Michele.
The present controversy was him asking Bachman ‘are you a flake’. Bachman responded well- but began with ‘first of all, that question is insulting’. She was right. She went on to explain her credentials- and what Wallace thought might be a cringing, defensive woman- turned out to be a capable, smart woman- who treated Wallace like he was a defense witness.
Then a strange thing happened- MSNBC ran with the story- they covered it with the righteous indignation of a prophet [false?] Oh they tore into Fox ‘how could they dare be so demeaning to such a wonderful woman- smart- cunning- savvy- they should be ashamed of themselves!’
Sounds good, the only problem was they are the network that spent the last year publicly demeaning the woman- day after day- relentlessly. They had a photo of the woman- you know some smart camera angle- it made her look like a wild eyed demon- they showed that photo like the N.Y. press covered Weiner.
They then did the most on air offensive thing I have ever seen. During the Repubs election [congress] they interviewed Bachman. She showed up- just like a liberal might show up with a Fox reporter. Basically you treat the guest well- even if you go hard on the person [a skill Lawrence O’Donnell has yet to learn]. As Chris Matthews is talking with the woman- he asks her a question- she does what lots of folk do- she basically used her time to get her talking points across- and avoided the question.
Now- what the interviewer normally does is asks it one or 2 more times- and if no response- just move on. But Matthews says [paraphrasing here] ‘are you hypnotized- has someone hypnotized you- maybe an alien ship?’ he went on to demean her in a way I have never seen a reporter do. And in the background you heard Eugene Robinson [a regular on the show] openly laughing in mockery.
So after portraying the woman as an idiot- publicly- for at least a year- they then decide to critique Fox for Wallace’s disrespect to the woman- these guys are shameless.
But- that gets me into a guesthost they had on the other night. Ron Reagan Jr. He did alright- I’m not a big fan of his dad- though he has become an Icon in some circles. Somehow Reagan got into the Evolution/Creationism debate. Now- most times when these guys try this- they fall flat. I have critiqued MSNBC guys before- Catholics- who have slandered their own church. They say ‘the Catholic church teaches this’ and they mislead their own Catholic listeners- and I try and write on it and give the actual Catholic view [being I study all Christian theologies]. So little Reagan goes into this thing on Evolution- he says ‘look- I don’t care what people want to believe- they can believe the moon [or earth?] is made out of cheese with a giant turtle on top- but don’t bring that into the science room’.
Most of these guys have no idea about the debate. The other day my 2nd oldest came over to show me her degree- she finally finished and got her degree in Biology. Over the years I would have good discussions with her- on a fairly good level- about biology. I have read and studied Biology, Physics, History- lots of subjects over the years- and it helps when you’re conversing with others in their respective fields.
And the talks I have had were in no way controversial- my daughter actually learned stuff- things that she was familiar with- yet she realized the points I was making- were indeed factual. Yet these points- as obvious as they were- were indeed left out of her courses- she saw that. [Noah Feldman calls this the ‘secularization of the public schools’- the fear that the public school system has when dealing with religion- or even covering it fairly when teaching history- or the impact of religious thought on science. The fact is that both Evolutionary Theory- and ‘Creationism’ [more preferably Intelligent Design] have religious aspects to them- they both espouse ultimate causes that cannot be seen with the naked eye].
Now- I wasn’t talking ‘cheese with a turtle on it’ you must be quite the ignoramus to think that the debate between intelligent design and Darwin’s theory is still at that stage. I mean there are many scientists- unbelievers- who are ready to reject the full idea of Darwin. Why?
There are lots of things that we could go into on these subjects- but a few major points are these;
When Darwin [Charles Darwin- popularized modern Evolutionary theory- lived in the 1800's] espoused his theory- he thought that it was possible that all life came from one ‘common ancestor’. He came up with the idea [it was around before actually] because of his observation of the Finch’s [birds] he observed on his famous trip to the GalapagosIslands.
Darwin realized- and stated in his books [On the Origin of the Species, the Descent of Man] that eventually science would advance to the point where he would either be proven right or wrong- I think that day has arrived- and so do many scientists.
I read an article/quote by one of the Leaky daughters [from the famous Leaky family who have done much in the area of Evolution] and she basically said ‘we have to admit that the obvious lack of evidence is leading us to re think the theory’.
Basicallyscience has shown us- that the foundational plank to Darwin’s theory- has absolutely no scientific proof. For Darwin’s theory to be true- you need the cells of one living thing to eventually ‘evolve’ into the cells of another living thing. Not only has this phenomenon never been observed to happen in the natural environment- they can’t even make it happen in the controlled environment- in the lab.
Millions of man hours and dollars have been spent in trying to cause the cell of one thing to ‘evolve’ into the cell of another thing [basically they do these experiments with fruit flies because they breed rapidly] and one of the most provable, observable facts of modern biology is the fact that the cells of living things don’t do this- ever- never- not once!
So what Miss Leakey was saying was- if we have spent so much time and effort in trying to show that this does happen- and after all of the years of observable study [true science] this has never been observed to have happened, we need to admit that science is showing us that this does not occur.
Basically the criticism of Darwin is the fact that the most basic plank of the theory- has indeed been shown to be ‘un observable’ science is unable to make- or observe this happening.
Okay- there’s a lot more that can be said on this- and there have been many good things that have come down to us from Darwin’s ideas- indeed Natural Selection does take place- but it’s limited to the particular species- it doesn’t ‘cross over’ from one species to another. So we do credit the man for some good things.
But then- for anyone to think this debate is still on the level of ‘a cheese planet with a turtle on top’ geez- even Bachman knows better than that!
[1681] THE SMARTEST PEOPLE IN THE ROOM?
Okay- the current media obsession is with Bachman- they have covered her misstatements with a fine tooth comb [more like a plow!]. I mean the main news outlets are going at it. Sure- I realize that calling John Addams a founding father is a bit much [more like a founding son] but why the obsession?
I remember when Newt got into the race- NBC [not their hack political arm- MSNBC] introduced him like this ‘he has been married 3 times- how successful he’ll be with the religious base- we don’t know’- wow- his intro mind you!
What happened to the Chris Matthews rant of no religious test? He went on for months about it- using it- wrongly- to say you can’t question/make your choice of a candidate because you don’t like his particular religious views. Yet the media has recently done polls on ‘would you vote for a Mormon’.
They laud the Broadway play ‘the book of Mormon’ which openly mocks Mormons. Can you imagine a play where you had Muhammad being mocked?
Yet now their fascinated with Bachman’s revisionist history. Okay- I’ll admit that Christians do run into trouble at times with the whole founding father argument. I often hear preachers say ‘the constitution says- we hold these truths to be self-evident’ and then they will argue their point from the ‘moral law’ theory we find in Paul's letter to the Romans- chapter 1.
The apostle does say ‘all men are without excuse- God has revealed himself to us- he has made his truth known’. See- self evident. Actually the language used in the constitution was the ‘anti-Christian’ strain coming out of the European enlightenment.
The Enlightenment [sometimes called the age of reason] came off of the Reformation/Scientific revolutions of the 16-17th centuries. Many of the men I have been studying these last few years were majorthinkers in the movement. Right around the 18th century you had a feeling of ‘modern man’ will eventually cast off all these religious restraints and we will enter this new age where the human intellect will rule.
Most of these thinkers did not reject a belief in God- they simply rejected the institutional view of religion. They fell into the category of Deism.
Now- Deism argued that we do not need Christianity- the church- the bible- to know right and wrong. But that enlightened man knew these truths by nature [that’s where the Romans 1 argument comes in]. But when the deist made this argument- he was in fact approaching it from an anti-Christian viewpoint.
Jefferson actually wanted the language to read ‘we hold these truths to be sacred’ but Franklin prided himself in interjecting ‘non-Christian’ [pro deist] language instead- and Walla- we have ‘we hold these truths to be self-evident’.
Okay- so you can see we all have a little bit of revisionism in us.
I’m not a fan of Bachman- to be honest about it. But it’s too early to be flooding the airwaves with such obvious vitriol against the woman. Geez- cover her ideas.
I’m an ex-Navy Corpsman- as a defense of Bachman many right wingers have been showing the infamous speech of the president- where he called the guys ‘corpse men’ around 3 times [you know- that monitor does not sound the words out for you]. And of course the right has to go thru the record and show all the instances where the media actually covers up the faults of their favorite guy.
Yes- to be honest- they do stuff like this- all the time. But I wish we could simply debate the various sides- be honest about our view- and then move on from there. The left always accuse the right of being partisan- yet I think they are just as bad- and just as misinformed on many issues, its pride that makes them think they are truly above everyone else.
Let me finish with an example. One day I was hanging out with the homeless guys- sure- a few drunks- a few dope heads- the usual crowd. And a new guy shows up. He claims to be an ex professor that taught at Berkeley in the past.
As the conversation grew- he began ‘teaching’ the course that he taught at Berkeley. It was a course on ANE myths [ancient near east myths]. He went on to cover the fact that other societies had their own versions of biblical stories. They had flood stories [Noah] creation accounts [Genesis] and stuff like that.
Now- I usually do not ‘do theology’ when hanging in the streets- but I couldn’t resist. So- as luck would have it [bad?] I just happened to be familiar with ANE myths- and the apologetic rebuttal to the argument- so I jumped into the fray.
I went on to tell the professor that I too was familiar with his course- and I went down the list- point by point- refuting his ideas.
I explained that just because these other stories do exist- that in no way means the biblical account is fake- as a matter of fact- if these things did actually occur- you would expect other societies to have their own versions. I gave him a few more basic points like this- and left it alone [you know- when you do street apologetics like this- things can get rough- almost as dangerous as a Wisconsin Supreme court justice meeting].
As this enlightened liberal professor sat there- listening to what looked to be his last rung on the ladder being kicked out from under him [lost his home- wife- everything- the only thing left was his superior intellect over the average idiot- one of those types of mindsets].
He realized that he was being thoroughly refuted [for the 1st time?] by some homeless bum from Texas [I play the part well]. I mean- a homeless ‘redneck’ no less.
He simply stared straight ahead- the smell of alcohol [and various drugs] wafting thru the air- and he looked up and said ‘I am going to leave now- and go put a bullet in my head’ [his head- not mine].
Now- whether or not he carried out his mission- I don’t know. But he was the classic example of a person- who seemed educated- who prided himself in not being like the rest of the ‘idiots’ of the world- and it was difficult for him to realize that his view- no matter how sincerely held- was only one view. It is possible in life for us to be wrong- or for us to be as misinformed as the other person.
I have no idea how long the current media fascination will last with Bachman- I’m sure they’ll find another thing to fasten upon- of course when their side calls a bunch of servicemen ‘dead men- corpse men’ well- something as egregious as that- that will never make it to the air. But go ahead- another round of the Book of Mormon- watching the clip air- making the ‘Mormon/Christian’ look like an absolute idiot- and saying it openly- well the media has plenty of time for that.
[1682] WHAT DEBT CRISIS?
I read an article the other day- the headline read ‘Bachman sees no crisis in U.S. debt’. It was by the associated press- so I knew they were more than likely lying. As I read the article- I was right. As a matter of fact- the tea partiers who are against raising the debt limit- they are against it because they see the debt as the major problem.
So the headline should have read ‘Bachman sees extreme crisis in U.S. debt’ and that’s why she does not want to raise the debt limit. Now- I have been reading stories like this for years- and the thing that bothers me is when people see/hear only one side- they then see the opposing team as the major problem. I very rarely [if ever] have read something like this that slandered the left- though you do see biased ‘reporting’ thru radio hosts. So this works both ways. We as Americans need to be able to read between the lines- to not simply swallow what’s spoon fed to us.
This past week- the world court [in the Netherlands] indicted Gadhafi on ‘crimes against humanity’. Okay- do we sit back and believe everything we read? The oppressive ruler of Syria- Assad- has killed children these past few weeks- has massacred his people openly- their fleeinginto Turkey, and even the Turkish leader has turned against him.
In Bahrain- the ruling autocracy has been trying doctors and medical workers on crimes against the state. Giving them life sentences. What’s’ the crime? They treated the protestors when they were shot and wounded. Yet these despots get good treatment from the U.S. - we sit down with them- and Gadhafi has committed crimes against humanity?
Saudi Arabia imprisons women for driving- they took a reporter who wrote a critical article against the energy company- they whipped him with ‘50 lashes’ in front of the energy building- just to teach him a lesson.
We live in a day where real injustices are taking place- we are in need of honest reporting- not biased journalism that purposefully misleads the public for political purposes.
I had a conversation a while back with a liberal- good person- I too hold to some of their views. Yet the person was railing against Sarah Palin ‘she should not even be running for office- she has children!’ Now- I knew the person only watched liberal news outlets- and they very rarely were exposed to the opposing view.
I reminded the person that Nancy Pelosi also had children- should she also leave politics? When we grasp hold of seeing others as the enemy- we are unable to really see clearly.
Right now the debate is raging over whether to raise the debt ceiling or not. Some Repubs really do not want to do anything on the tax side- and they want to only cut spending.
The Dems counter that we need to do both. Now- for those libs out there- who think I’m only anti lib- I think we should do what the Dems want. Why?
I know both sides- and the supply side economic argument says ‘the lower taxes go- the higher the finances are that come in to the fed. Govt’. This argument is the classic Repub argument- but it really is limited. Why?
Some who make this argument fail to realize that even if taxes go lower- and the result is businesses do better- yet the main way the govt gets funded- even if the businessesare doing better- is thru the tax code.
The govt only gets funded this way [besides a few pennies of royalties]. So the point is- without taxes- the govt does not get funded- at all.
So to simply demonize all taxes as regressive- well that’s just not an honest argument. In the last century there were decades of real growth -40’s-60’s- that coincided with high taxes. And there were also decades of lower taxes [Reagan, Bush, Clinton] that coincided with sluggish growth. So higher taxes on ‘the rich’ do not always mean slow growth.
Okay- the simple point I’m making is when the media purposely skews the argument- giving headlines that they know are false- then they do a disservice to the country. The bible speaks about this as ‘uneven scales’. I think the answer to the current crisis is we should raise the debt ceiling- with a real plan to reduce the debt over the next 10 years.
Both the president and the Repubs have already agreed in principle to cutting around 4 trillion over the next 10-12 years.
The world economy wants to see that the U.S. has a credible plan in place to manage our debt. They are not expecting us to eliminate it overnight- nor would it be responsible to drastically try to deal with it- on an August deadline.
Yes- both sides see a real crisis looming- because of the debt. Some think it’s so bad- they don’t want to raise the debt ceiling at all. Others think it’s so bad- that we need to raise the ceiling to prevent a major short term disaster.
Whatever side you agree with- it’s simply wrong to say ‘this side does not see a debt crisis’ that’s biased journalism- journalism that knows they are lying to you- but they don’t respect you enough to think you will spot it. We just did.
[1683] DEAD MEN WALKING?
I read a case this past week, it was the story of Randal Addams. He sat on Texas death row for 12 years. He was convicted of the murder of a Dallas cop based on the testimony of another man. Later on it was found that the person who testified against him was the true killer.
This case was documented in the movie ‘Thin Blue Line’. The original intent of the film maker was to expose how Texas was using the faulty findings of a psychiatrist to say that certain offenders would ‘kill again’ if released. So in Randall’s case- not only was he wrongly convicted- but the system swore ‘he will kill again’ though he never killed in the 1st place.
Randal was 3 days away from being executed in Huntsville and former governor Clemmons stayed the execution- not because he thought he was innocent- but on other findings that showed that the prosecutor lied about evidence.
Eventually they would find him not guilty of the crime- but heck- he was a real pain about the thing. I mean don’t you know that these prosecutors have lives to live! Going to the ball games with their kids- enjoying a night with the wife. Damn- why don’t these criminals just shut up and take it like a man.
After Randall was released- he did not qualify for the compensation that we now give to wrongly convicted persons. As a matter of fact- Texas didn’t even give him the 200 dollars that you’re supposed to get upon release- yeah they showed him.
Randall died last year in Ohio- he had a job for a while in Texas and when his employer found out about his record he was fired. Texas lied to convict him- they lied about him being a ‘future murderer’ if released. And they wanted him to die- just go away!
Right now my governor is making news about being a potential candidate for the presidency. He is embroiled somewhat in his own death penalty case. Cameron Todd Willingham was executed a few years ago- convicted of setting his house on fire and killing his kids.
Todd maintained his innocence thru out the years. What has come under scrutiny is the fire ‘science’ used to determine he set the fire. Here in Texas we have a state fire marshal’s office- as a retired fire fighter I recall using them many times over the years.
I worked at a small city dept. - 30,000 people- we had around 30 guys on the dept. Many times we would call the state fire marshal to come down [their guys] and make a determination for a case. Often times these were cases that included lots of loss- cases that insurance companies might contest.
So to play it safe we called down the big boys. Now- I maintained a Fire Inspectors license for 25 years with the dept. To be honest- it was kind of a fluke. When I got hired the city was holding a course for fire inspectors- and one of the requirements for new recruits was you must attend any schools the city is sponsoring for your first year.
So I attended and became a ‘fire investigator’. Sure- I learned a few things- and of course as a fire fighter you gain experience as the years go by. But I was a little shocked to realize that the state actually used the arson findings that the state fire marshals office determined in order to put Willingham to death.
Though the state does their best to make these determinations- yet the science is not an exact science. You do use a lot of ‘guess work’ in these findings. Over the past few years I have seen/read about the controversy. At times I wonder whether or not the governors accusations are true- he has accused the anti death penalty people of trying to use this case as a cause célèbre for their side.
Supposedly the top arson guy- from the North East- who has sided with the anti death penalty people- supposedly he is a little ‘gung ho’ about the ‘new science’ and the governor deemed him a little off the beaten path.
I did listen to this fire expert one day- and I did kind of get that feeling too. He was talking about the case- and how at the time the fire science was not as advanced as it is today [I can believe that]. But he went on to explain [maybe a lawyer was talking at this point?] that the ‘so called’ evidence of arson had other reasonable explanations. In the room where the kids were- there were signs of accelerant all over the floor.
When someone sprays/pours gas or some other flammable on the floor to set a fire- the floor will leave marks long after the fire is extinguished. So apparently in this case there were these marks all over the floor- even Todd’s defense attorney admits till this day that he believes his client was indeed guilty.
The fire investigator who sides with the defense [who Perry claims is a little gung ho] explained it this way. He said that in back draft situations [you remember the movie don’t you? Actually Hollywood is very unrealistic in its portrayals of fires. The movie showed Back draft situations where the fire was this creeping type thing- and the fire fighters are all walking around in structures with clear view. In reality you can’t see a thing in these house fires- they are full of smoke!] the room/space is Oxygen deprived- and when Oxygen is introduced into the room- like by a broken window- that this creates a sort of back draft situation- and the reason you had the marks of accelerant on the floor- they were really the marks of the air being introduced into the room and the flame followed the path towards the windows [you had marks going all different directions on the floor].
Okay- I do understand the science somewhat- but I have never seen this happen before. Usually- when you have marks like this on the floor- they are sure sings of an accelerant being used.
Either way Todd was executed and his case is getting national attention. I can go on and talk about all the guys who were on death row- who were later found to be innocent. Texas actually has a history of using faulty findings to convict people.
Obviously there are many cases of guilty persons being put to death- and many of these guys do claim to be innocent- when they are not. But we have to question a system that puts people on death row with such weak evidence- or using ‘science’ that is questionable.
Even though we do our best in the fire service to make these determinations- yet I would never allow a determination like this to be used to condemn a man to death- and it might just be that we did indeed kill an innocent man.
[1684] A GLASS OF WINE ON THE HOUSE?
Henry’s been coming around a lot these last few days. I didn’t realize that he probably was feeling a little guilty/worried. A few weeks ago I gave Henry some money- wrote him a check for around 25 dollars.
I was supposed to do a few things with Henry- and I would always miss him. Last week I hit the grocery store and bought a bunch of good BBQ- we were going to head to Bishop for a fellowship- I went to pick up Henry at the boat dock where he works, and he wasn’t there.
I asked one of the kids if he knew where Henry was- he told me he had jury duty. What! Yeah, the week before he did get a notice to show up- it was legit. The homeless guys use various ministry addresses for their home address. I guess they found Henry because he votes.
They use the voting info for our local juries. I will admit I got a laugh out of it- I thought there was no way they would pick him. So anyway he comes by a few days later and he tells me the scoop. He made it through the first round and went back a few times as they trimmed the field.
He was telling me that it was a local corruption case against the cops. Now- I will admit, I have had my run in’s with the local cops. Over the years they really have harassed a lot of my homeless buddies. Lots of the guys live in various camps around this area.
I live in a sort of beach area- and there are lots of transients that set up temporary tents as their spots. One time I bought a nice tent for some friends- a big tent. A husband and wife couple used it. They were so grateful to get the thing. It only cost me around 100 bucks- well worth the sacrifice.
The next time I saw them they told me the cops came through and cut the tent. Our local cops do this because they get lots of complaints about the ‘bums’. Then one time I’m helping a homeless guy move from a camp. As were driving away some ‘cop’ walks up to my truck [he had a shirt on that said Corpus Christi Police] and starts questioning me- why I was in the area and all.
I had 2 of my buddies with me [Henry was one of them] and they are used to getting harassed. But as the ‘cop’ is talking to me I realize he’s an auxiliary cop [rent a cop type guy]. Now- I have worked with volunteer firefighters for years- and they are good guys- but sometimes we had a problem with them walking around town wearing our Fire Dept. shirts.
They were allowed to have them- but they were not supposed to be acting like they were the ‘real deal’. It would get the real guys [like me] in trouble. So I discerned that this cop was like that- plus he’s practically interrogating me.
I had it- I told him ‘I’m pulling over right here and getting out’. I did- he made sure he was back on his property- fast.
It’s just a long term thing- dealing with the cops harassing the guys. So Henry’s telling me his court ordeal- and when he tells me it’s a cop case- it was funny. He says they asked him ‘do you have any relationships with the local force’ [being it’s a corruption case]. I kid Henry and say- ‘did you tell them- well kind of- I hold a special affinity for the local police chief- I see him as a surrogate Father figure’ Henry just started cracking up.
He was finally kicked off the jury- I think they realized Henry might have been a loose cannon.
Okay- Back to the top- when Henry came by he wanted me to know that he ‘lost’ the check I gave him- and he said he signed it. I kind of picked up the feeling that Henry might have bought a bottle of wine- and he might have thought I found out and was mad at him.
Now- Henry is not a drunk- I have never seen him drink. But I do know that he likes to drink a glass of wine every so often. Even though I’m not a tee totaler- yet I have told the guys not to buy alcohol with any money I give them.
It’s just the principle of the thing- too many guys are alcoholics and I didn’t want to contribute to that it any way. So I think Henry might have used some of the money for a bottle. Okay- if so I would not be mad- water under the bridge.
But lots of people do get mad- they will cut guys off for stuff like this- and I think that was playing on Henrys mind. So he asks me if I could check on ‘the check’ to see if maybe someone cashed it- with his name on it of course.
So at about this time I’m beginning to catch on- and I tell Henry ‘you know Henry- my bank called and told me that someone did cash it- they asked me to come down and check the video’ okay- Henry’s kinda sweating at this point- I go on ‘and I went down to the bank and sure enough- I see a church van leaving the parking lot- it was brother Rey!’
Rey is a local street preacher who Henry works with- he’s had some tuff times recently so I fibbed a bit. Henry realized I was letting him off the hook- that it wasn’t a big deal to me- even if he had a glass of wine on the house.
I have noticed- many times- that people who do help the guys- if they feel the guys might have swindled them- or if the guys are not as grateful as they should be- some people leave- for good. I think true friendships should be able to ride this stuff out- Plus- I need to stay on good terms with the homeless guys- you never know- they might be my jury one day?
[1685] NOT GUILTY!
These last few days have been hell for news addicts like myself. On holidays [4th] you can’t get hard news. I mean all you can find is serial killers, lock up, Casey Anthony highlights- and a bunch of stuff like that. And yesterday was consumed with the Casey trial. The only channel that showed some real news was Link T.V. - yes- Al Jazeera and Mosaic saved the day.
Even though I’m an avid news watcher/reader- yet I found little [to no] interest in the Casey show. Now- I have caught a few minutes by reason of my incessant channel surfing- and for that reason [alone] I am a little familiar with the case.
Over the weeks I have had friends ask me about the case- knowing I’m a news person. I would explain that I was not up on it- but for what it’s worth here’s my view. I was surprised to see a few followers of the case had some questions on her guilt.
I too have questions- but for the most part thought it was pretty clear that she either accidently killed the girl- or did it on purpose. I told these inquirers that there was really no other explanation to why a mother would be telling family/friends ‘Oh, my daughters with the nanny’ or ‘oh, she’s at the house’ when all along the girl was missing.
And the interaction between the parents and the daughter [whether or not there was sexual abuse] seemed to indicate that the dad really had no idea where the girl was.
If Casey and the dad found her drowned in the pool- then she would have told that story all along. And you don’t bury someone and hide the death- if it was a drowning accident.
So I basically did feel the girl was guilty. But- there was more than enough reasonable doubt- in my mind- to acquit the girl. The meter reader did do some questionable things [calling a month before- then accidently going out into the woods to take a leak- and once again you see something? He was probably looking for a payday- reward].
And the ‘forensics’ of air testing- taking air samples and claiming that’s some type of atmospheric DNA – geez- we already have enough prosecutors faking forensic stuff- we don’t need air samples!
So yeah- I think it was reasonable to not find the girl guilty- especially on a death penalty case- when you had this type of evidence.
Was I glad to see her get off? Not really- yet I was not mad either. One of the main teachings in the New Testament is what we call Justification by Faith. Even though this is a major doctrine in the bible- I find that many nominal church goers are not really as aware of it as they should be.
There is a verse in the book of Romans that says ‘God is just- and the justifier of him who believes in Jesus’. This discourse [chapters 2-4] explains that because all people are sinful before God- that God hatched a plan that would ‘allow’ him to let people off the hook- while at the same time righteously dealing with sin- and the just punishment that it requires.
This ‘plan’ was the Cross. That God would become a man [Jesus] and in this Divine mystery- he would take the place of all sinful men and die on the Cross for the sins of the world. This act allowed God [the Father] to stand in judgment over God [the Son] and for the Son to bear the righteous judgment that the sin deserved. Isaiah says ‘it pleased the Lord to bruise him’ [chapter 53].
This teaching is vital for the Christian to understand- that because of Christ’s death and resurrection- we now freely receive forgiveness from God- it’s not a matter of trying to become just by keeping the 10 commandments- or going to church- or just being an overall good guy.
It’s a matter of righteous justice- God’s Son died for the sins of the world- God made a deal with his Son- if the Son would do this- then it would only be just for God to forgive man because the Son died for them.
Yes- the bible says ‘God is just- and the justifier of those who believe in Jesus’. This is a great truth- this is the basis of us being forgiven. The only thing that prevents people from benefiting from this- is like Daltry sang [the Who] ‘I don’t need to be forgiven’ yes- to benefit from this great work of redemption- man needs to admit that he is guilty- that he [she] like everyone else who has ever walked the planet- yes- we are all guilty before God ‘there is none righteous- no not one’ [Romans].
In a way I’m happy for Casey- I hope she can see the seriousness of what happened- and if she did indeed do this- that she can also be forgiven by God. But Casey seems to struggle with something- she- like us- makes up too many excuses- too many stories to get around the reality of the situation.
Casey- like the rest of us- will first need to admit the truth- the reality that we have all sinned. Receiving forgiveness can be a hard thing- not being able to forgive yourself. Yet at the end of the day- that’s what grace is all about. Yes- God is just- and the justifier of those who will believe.
[1686] THE SUNDAY MASS
I kind of wanted to talk a little more about the Casey reaction- why so many people are upset. What’s the root cause? Many people are actually mad- for a right reason. They have a moral sense of injustice- seeing the beautiful little Caylee dying like that- so there is this inner sense of justice that we have- it comes from being created in the image of God.
But instead of doing too much on that right now- let me catch up on a few things I felt I needed to do. In these past few years- as different teaching opportunities came up- I noticed that I had an open door from the Lord to teach all different types of people.
Catholics- Jews, Muslims- the whole 9 yards. Obviously my goal is to make clear the biblical account of mans redemption- to preach the Cross of Christ- and at the same time be willing to let anyone sit in on the conversation- If my Jewish friends stay Jewish- fine. If my Muslim friends don’t convert- and they still want to ‘hang out’ I’m okay with that. And if my Catholic friends stay Catholic- while at the same time learning more about the bible that’s great.
The point being I’m glad for the eclectic group- even the Atheists and GBLT friends- everyone is welcome at the table.
Now- one of the things I wanted to start doing was sharing the different ways the Lord has used the Mass to speak to me- I have found that watching the Sunday Mass- every Sunday- there is always some verse/homily that speaks to me.
Let me hit the last 3 weeks. A few weeks ago I had to block/unfriend a few people [Facebook] I always feel bad about it- even if I think it’s the right thing to do. So one of the things that made me feel a little better about cutting someone off that way- was the fact that even if I block people- they can always have access to the blog site.
So I thought ‘geez- maybe I was mad and cut people off too soon- but at least there’s the backup’. Then- I thought let’s see what the Sunday Mass verses will be. Sure enough it was Exodus 34- the story of Moses getting upset with the people [he had an anger problem] and he broke the first set of 10 commandments [denied access]. God says ‘okay- one more shot- come back up to the mountain and I’ll give you a second set’. Okay- that was exactly what I felt the Lord was saying- the backup set will work.
Then the following week- one of the hymns that was sung came from Psalms 147- the hymn said ‘I have strengthened the bars of your gates and blessed your children within’. I did a double take- this verse has been prayed- by me- at least a few thousand times over these last few years.
I don’t remember when I added it to my prayer time- but like lots of other verses- I read it one day and it became a regular part of intercession.
The only thing was- I pray it a little different- I pray ‘strengthen the bars of our gates and bless our children within- let peace be within our borders and let our garners be full [teaching tools] providing all manner of store’- I pray it as a request- so when I heard the priest/deacon singing it as an answer to the prayer- I had to go and check out the verse- Sure enough Psalms 147 is in the ‘answer mode’.
Then this past Sunday- the verse was from Zechariah chapter 9- the famous chapter where it speaks of Jesus triumphal entry into Jerusalem- riding on the donkey. This chapter says ‘because of the blood of the covenant I have delivered your prisoners out of the pit’- I pray ‘let the sighing of the prisoners come before you- and according to the greatness of your power preserve those that are appointed to death’- it’s another verse I have prayed hundreds of times.
The chapter also says ‘your people will have the double portion’ I have a verse painted on my prayer wall [on the house!] that says ‘for your shame you will have double- and for your confusion they will possess the double portion in their land’.
I also pray a verse from Exodus 15- it comes from the Song of Moses that Israel sang after God delivered them from Egypt- the part I pray says ‘I will sing unto the Lord for he has triumphed gloriously- the horse and rider thrown into the sea’. It’s a prayer/song rejoicing over God breaking Pharaohs chariots in the Red Sea- and the bible says ‘they sank like lead’ to the bottom. In Zechariah 9 it speaks about God breaking the chariots and the devices of those who are coming against you.
Basically all these scriptures are speaking about the various groups/friends you will teach thru out your life- and that these different groups will learn ‘double’ from what they knew before.
Okay- I just caught you guys up for the last 3 weeks- but this type of thing has been going on for years- I just thought the Lord wanted me to share a little more on the actual verses- so you can see how the Lord will use these things- if you pay attention. I have found many times- I’ll ask a Catholic friend- ‘hey- did you go to Mass Sunday’ and he will say yes. But then he will not make any connection between the different verses the priest used during the Homily.
I’ll then do a quick review- and he will normally say ‘oh yeah- I didn’t see that’.
So the goal is for me to try and help people see a little more- not to make them convert to ‘my religion’ but to give them room at the table- to not pound them every week with some ‘moral rebuke’ about the way they are. Yes- at times we all need to repent- and re think the things we do. But there are too many ‘outsiders’ too many people- who come from different groups- and they never feel welcome to sit at the table and get a chance to learn- we too often give them the feeling that they are not wanted.
I thank God- even for those who I have had to block- that at least by Gods grace they can always read from the 2nd set- God is a God of mercy and grace- if he wants people to have access- to sit at the table- then he will always make a way for that to happen.
[1687] GIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY BREAD.
A few years ago- while still working at the fire dept we had to work 4 24 hour shifts straight in a row. Our dept had 24 on- 48 off [worked one day- took 2 days off]. The depts. up north- where my father retired from- they worked one day on- 3 days off, a great deal for sure.
Whenever we had a hurricane in the gulf our chief would have to decide whether or not to activate hurricane duty. Because we were a small dept [30 guys] if the city thought the hurricane would hit close to our area- we needed all the guys to be there.
So as luck would have it- one time the chief activated hurricane duty- right on the morning when our shift was getting off. And he deactivated it- right on the morning when we had to come back to work- 4-24 hour days in a row- a bit much to be honest.
I was ‘on trucks’ [drove the frontline fire truck] and others were on ambulance duty. The problem was the ‘darn’ chief would leave the guys on their initial assignments- all through the week! So you had some guys up for 4 days straight- and whoever lucked out to have ‘logistics’ slept most of the time- because his job was to go to the store and by the breakfast.
Needless to say- the biblical rule of not cursing was violated much during this week. One of the ways you broke the monotony was you cracked jokes- kid the bro’s who you’re working with. One of my buddies, Joe, already had it out for our chief- when he was a rookie the chief made him drive to Kingsville every morning- to punch in the time card- and drive back to Corpus for fire school. Then when he got out of school- he made him drive back again- just to punch out.
It was kind of stupid to be honest- but that’s the way the ball bounced. So we would kid Joe ‘hey Joe- the chief says let’s try and look happy- peppy today- the news reporter is coming for pics’ and Joe would give you a ‘pic’ right there. After our shift did the 4 straight days [me and Joe were both on that shift] other guys were only there for half the time- yet we got stuck riding the main vehicles for the 4 days- kinda dumb to be honest.
But the chief appreciated our work- when we were getting off after the 4th day- he came by and dropped off some extra stale loaves of white bread that were left over from the week. They were there in the morning sitting on the breakfast table- you know- just as a sign of love for the guys.
Joe and I lived in Corpus- we would often drive home on the same road- either he was in front- or me. The next shift I told the guys ‘you know a funny thing happened on my way home the other morning- as I was driving- I spotted Joe’s truck in front of me- obviously we were both tired after the hurricane duty. And as I drove- I thought I saw Joe eject something from the truck- and as I got closer- I saw 3 stale loaves of white bread lying in the road’.
So yes- the bread was not appreciated that day. Which gets me to the main point [after wasting all this time] in the bible- we have lots of stories/verses dealing with God supplying daily bread- Jesus himself gave us this phrase in the Lord’s prayer. There are lots of good points we can get from this term- but one important point is ‘it’s daily’ that is God can/will ‘speak’ to you on a daily basis, giving you guidance for that day- if you will spend some time listening.
Sometimes this ‘bread’ will come from a friend- sometimes a co worker- or even a family member. Our job is to discern when it comes- and to try and apply it thru out the day. Knowing that yes- in some way- today God gave me this ‘bread’ [direction] and it’s important for me to be grateful- to hear and act on this word. And of course many times it comes from a bible passage that you might read early in the day.
And sometimes the bread comes in the form of a rebuke- a word from a friend/brother that you know is right- but you get grumpy because that’s the way the flesh is. And at those times we have a choice on how we will respond- will we be open- listen to the criticism- maybe ‘eat the bread’ even though it’s a little stale? Or will we be like my buddy Joe- spread it all over the highway as a token of our appreciation?
Note- I did not see the bread on the road- I was kidding with Joe- the guys knew it at the time.
[1688] 9.2%
Yesterday some bad employment numbers came out- to everyone’s shock the jobs gain was only 18,000 jobs- many were hoping for at least 100,000. This caused the unemployment number to tick up to 9.2%
I heard a Dem pundit say ‘if you want to risk not raising the debt ceiling- and seeing the Dow drop 800 points- go ahead!’ A few years ago the Dow went down- get this- 5 thousand points- yes- don’t you remember when it dropped to around 6 thousand?
The world did not end. If all we had to worry about was 800 points- geez- that’s a cake walk.
The European union states [28-or 27 nation states that hold the common Euro currency] are in no way agreed to bailing out failing states. The stock market goes up and down hundreds of points a week- based on ‘ Greece might get a deal- no wait- Germany is fidgeting’ I mean the reality of the situation is all these nations who are in financial straits are there because of too generous retirement/entitlement programs.
These politicians willingly made much too generous promises that were unsustainable. The reality is they need to look at the numbers and make the changes- yet the citizens are saying no!
Pelosi and the Dems are saying ‘don’t lower the debt on the backs of the poor’ okay- I hear you. But when you do not realistically look at the numbers- then you’re doing like Greece. You’re saying stuff that later will ruin the nation.
All the ideas on ‘fixing’ Medicare or social security are not ‘on the backs of the poor’. Many people are saying let’s do means testing- if your Warren Buffet [I’ll get to him in a sec] then you need to pay more s.s. taxes on your income- and get a less generous Medicare plan.
Buffet- and all the other billionaires- only pay S.S. taxes up to around 106,000 dollars of their income. That is we only tax a person up to a limited amount of income. So if we said ‘hey- the system has overpromised- many present retired folk- who paid very little into the system- are living off of their kids and grandkids income- and when the grandkids need it- it won’t be there for them’. [Let’s leave everyone else alone after the 100,000 mark- but once you reach the millionaire/billionaire mark- your get hit with a huge tax]
So in theory- making the rich pay more [Buffet types] is not ‘balancing the budget on the backs of the poor’ so Pelosi is wrong. Yes- I understand the point- lets also get rid of these tax loopholes for big corps- but to do means testing is not hurting the poor- it helps them. It makes the billionaires pay more- so the ‘poor’ can stay in the system.
Okay- Buffet. One of the reasons why the E.U. is on the verge of a financial disaster is because the well to do nations- like Germany- are not in debt like the less well to do nations [Greece]. Greece has gotten partial bailouts already- and every time their leaders want to enact ‘austerity’ changes [dealing with their own Medicare- S.S. problems] the people rise up in the streets and simply say no.
Now in Germany- the people have saved- they work until their in their 70’s, and they do not over promise benefits to their people. In Greece you retire in your 50’s- with full govt. benefits. The citizens are catching on to what’s going on and are saying ‘hell no- we are not going to pay for your retirement-at 50- when we are working into our 70’s to support you’.
Germanys Angela Merkel wants private investors- who took the risk- to bare some of the burden. As of now- the only people paying for these bailouts are the average citizens- the rich ‘wall street fat cats’ actually made out like bandits. They invested in these countries- investment banks bought up their treasuries- and then when the countries are on the verge of default- the Buffets keep their money- and the poor tax payers are paying for the whole thing.
Ah- now you see- the Germans are not idiots- they are saying ‘you want a free lunch- well; we are not going to pay for the thing’ and to be honest- I don’t blame them one bit.
Now- Warren Buffet [Berkshire Hathaway- and a great friend of Obama] was/is a supporter of Obama. When Obama came into office- both Bush and Obama did the bailouts. They spent 800 billion to prevent the big investment banks and Wall Street fat cats from taking the loss. Now- even though much of this was paid back- yet it was emergency bailout money that did indeed cost the average man lots of money. Many of these average folk lost their homes- jobs- everything- yet they had no special bailout.
Would it not have been wise to have made the Buffets of the world- who took the risk to invest in these shaky deals- for them to have indeed taken a loss? We- like the Germans- paid for the bad financial choices of others- and the ones who made the bad choices- they took no loss.
Buffet prides himself in saying ‘Yes- I too think the rich are s.o.b’s [wow- he’s just like us- the average guy!] and the rich should pay more- and the Dems are great- and..on and on’ One bit of advice.
There are many examples of people who were rich- and they did feel guilty about it- and they walked away from their wealth and became true servants of the poor. Mr. Buffet- instead of telling us- over and over again how bad the rich are- while we are the schleps who bailed you out- on our dime. Why don’t you give us all your money- and quit talking about what a deal you’re getting on your taxes?
Okay- 9.2 was bad- real bad. Will we sign a debt deal by August 2nd- I’m beginning to seriously wonder. If the markets rattle- so be it. I have watched the market go up to around 12,500 these past few weeks- and I think to myself ‘these people have to be nuts’.
Look- I’m not telling you to get out of the market- but if you think the economy is doing okay- you’re not facing reality.
Whatever deal we make on the debt. Or whatever bailouts hurting nations get- we must realize that those who made these bad financial decisions [like Fannie and Freddie- and Barney Frank and others who resisted Bush’s oversight and denied the house of cards that was being built] when these bad decisions are made- then the citizens of whatever nation- they should not be the ones to bail the rich investors out.
These institutions and their investors need to pay- the Fannie and Freddie disaster was another scam where they sold these bum mortgages- packaged them in bundles- and told the investors ‘look- even if they fail- the U.S. taxpayers are on the hook to cover the losses’ and they indeed were right- and these bundles did fail- and yes- once again- we paid for the loss.
Okay- enough for now. I do not wish for a debt default- and I see how both sides are playing to their base- but we need to not let those in power [whether it be Obama listening to Buffet or Paulson- men who had tremendous personal loss/gain to be made by their ‘advice’] scare us into paying for others to not take a loss.
If the rich investment bankers might be afraid of a loss- or the wall streeters might fear their Dow losing 800 points- then so be it. I know the danger of a default- I do think doing it would be bad- but the August 2nd date is not a ‘set in stone’ date- and the govt. still brings in much more than it owes on the debt- yes- they would have to pay the interest on the debt first- and cut lots of stuff if they don’t raise the ceiling- in some peoples minds- this might just be the medicine we need.
[1689] CRAZY TRAIN and squirrel busters
Here in Corpus our local paper has been having a field day with a ‘story of interest’. You have this couple, living in a small neighboring city- who are being harassed by the church of scientology.
I have read about this ‘church’ years ago- their founder is the late L. Ron Hubbard [Dianetics] and from what I remember they are basically a metaphysical cult. Some ‘cult watchers’ don’t even classify them as a religion- they lack the basic ‘Christian like’ structure of the other cults.
Anyway the husband left the group- sort of- he is a dissenter who still believes in the basic principles, but rejects the ‘church’ oversight. So the church deals with these people by harassing them- they have a team follow them around and video tape them under the guise that they are filming a documentary- and they post the videos to the net and say they are ‘busting Squirrels’.
Last night I caught a quick few minutes of Bill Maher on Piers Morgan- he is still on this ‘high speed’ fantasy of high speed rail. He also espoused the liberal economic argument that the Fed. Govt. is the ‘spender of last resort’. This idea says that during times of extreme financial stress- recession/depression- that the only ‘person’ at the table- with money- is the govt. That all the other’s ‘at the table’ have run out of money. The hard working union folk, the small business owners, the corps, etc. That because no one else has money- and those who do don’t want to spend it [the big corps, according to this theory] that the Fed. Govt. can step in and spend tons of money.
Thus the high speed rail thing keeps coming back ‘Geez- if we could just build the high speed trains- think of all the jobs it would provide’. I heard one ‘analyst’ explain- as soon as the train tracks get laid, that all types of businesses are just waiting to build along these tracks- McDonalds, Malls. High Speed Rail clothing stores [okay- I made this last one up].
These folk seem to believe that the actual rail itself- regardless of the overall business environment- will produce jobs. They then compare us to China [Maher] ‘geez- China has invested over 300 billion into it- why can’t we raise 8 billion’! [Actually- Obama mentioned around 40 billion in his speech- but whose counting].
Why has China been so successful at this? Because they are an economic powerhouse- that has this population explosion in their main cities- and they need the rail- not as some type of stand alone ‘job producer’ but as a necessity for a red hot economy [like the subway system in N.Y.- it’s not there as some type of wonderful job producer- people riding the thing for fun- it’s there because N.Y.C., like China- has this huge population center- and people need the trains as transportation- its simply meeting a need- for people to get to their jobs. It’s not an end in itself]
I think we should invest the 40 billion- let’s build a great rail- you know- with the old time ‘boarding station’ and the whole 9 yards. Lets invite Maher, Krugmann [N.Y. times] and all the other liberal economists who keep raising the hopes of high speed rail. Let's put them on the maiden voyage ‘all aboard’ but as the train leaves the station- instead of ‘I took the last train to Boston’ playing over the loud speakers- lets have Ozzies ‘going off the rails on a crazy train’ blasting.
Then instead of heading East- it turns West- yes right into the Pacific. ‘Now brother- your going too far’ Okay- let’s not dump them into the ocean- lets have them exit on a Gilligan’s Island type spot- and they can live out their days glorying over high speed rail.
Look- I know these guys are trying their best- and Maher was all for the Krugmann idea of the govt. spending trillions more- the only person at the table with money. But they don’t seem to realize that the govt is using the other ‘players’ money when it spends.
The govt. does not have a separate bank account- that gets this ‘unused cash’ to put on the table. THEY EITHER SPEND ‘THE OTHER PLAYERS MONEY’ OR THEY PRINT IT.
Now- one of the reasons the big corporations are not spending their money- is because the govt. has created an environment that scares them. When the govt. prints the money- like we did a few months back- 600 billion- the result is all the other money on the table counts for less.
So if the big spenders are afraid that the govt. will do this again- they will just wait- they don’t want to spend their more expensive dollars now- in a game where the boss might just throw a few more billion on the table. So this dream of the fed being the spender of last resort might actually hurt- not help.
Okay- I wanted to do a little more on Sudan, maybe tomorrow. I’m not mad at Maher- or Krugmann- it’s just that we tried this idea- we threw a ton of money on the table- and it did not work. Most of the president’s economic team who bought into this idea- they are gone now [Christine Rohmer, Austin Goolsbee, etc.] and the plan didn’t work.
I don’t hate these people- as a matter of fact I want to bless them- contribute to their future- I know- How bout we all chip in and buy them some tickets to the ‘crazy train’ yeah- they’ll love that.
[1690] TRUTH IN REPORTING
Yesterday I saw the news- I caught Mitch McConnell on cspan- floating some convoluted plan that would allow the pres. to raise the debt ceiling in 3 separate steps. As I listened- it seemed like he was saying [giving room] for the tea party guys to vote no on taxes- while giving the pres veto power to push it through.
McConnell said- in frustration- that after working with the White House for the past 2-3 years- that he wonders whether or not they will ever get a real budget with this administration. He said it in a way like ‘I don’t think he’s serious about putting out a budget’. Do you know when our govt. last worked under one?
It was April- 2009. Yes- over 2 years now. It is surprising that a majority party [Whoever it be] who held the house, senate and presidency would fail to pass one- but they did.
Then I watched the new CBS guy- Pelley- do an interview with the pres. He mentioned- over and over again- that Mitch McConnell [the minority leader in the senate- Repub] said- quote ‘we will never pass a budget as long as this man is pres.’ He kept making it sound like a threat- a promise that he would never allow the pres. to pass one. Now- I know McConnell has said in the past that he wants to make the pres. fail- but in this serious time- during talks where it actually seems like McConnell is floating a plan because he wants Obama to be able to raise the ceiling- its times like this where we don’t need ‘advocacy journalism’.
You know- like when Dan Rather saw fit to float a fake military report about Bush. The average college student realized the document was fake- and even after Rather finally got the boot- he still said ‘whether it was fake or not is irrelevant- the point is Bush probably got special treatment’.
The other night CNN spoke about Palin/Bachman as- quote- ‘MILFs’- for those of you who don’t know what this means- it’s a slang way of saying they are ‘mothers that they would love to have intercourse with’. On CNN.
I’m beginning to wonder whether or not we are really heading for a national calamity.
Okay- let me talk about Sudan a little. In feb. of this year Sudan had a referendum that passed- it officially split the nation in 2. Sudan is a nation on the continent of Africa that has had brutal civil wars- and has engaged in acts of genocide- real genocide [not like the Libya thing] for a long time.
This past week the 2 nation deal went into effect- and the majority Muslim/Arab north has in fact engaged in aggression against the south. The history of Sudan is one in which the Muslim north has slaughtered the Christian south for decades. Some estimates are over 2 million have died in these ‘civil conflicts’. Now- the southern Sudanese are primarily Christian- and Black.
That’s where the genocide charge comes in- they were killing Blacks- because they were Black.
Now- in another infamous spot- Darfur [western Sudan] the majority non Black Muslim leaders of the north- are killing once again- but this time they are killing fellow Muslims. Why?
The Muslims in Darfur are Black. There is simply a racial hatred that has existed on the continent for decades- and non blacks have killed Blacks- because of their skin color. Also in the Nuba mountain region- Blacks are being killed.
Why is this important for us to know? Right now we are engaged on the African continent- siding with the Rebels who are in a civil war with Gadhaffi. As I have written before- Gadhaffi has embraced the Black Africans for 40 years- He has chosen to help them- and they actually love the guy- for real.
Many of the mercenaries who are fighting on Gadhaffi’s side are Black fighters coming from the Sub Sahara- when reporters ask them ‘why are you doing this’ they will freely admit that Gadhaffi has helped them a lot- even though other non black Arab leaders have killed them- yet as a non Black leader- Gadhaffi has supported them. Now- I’m sure he had ulterior motives- but the point is the Blacks support the man. [Like Trump says ‘I get along with the Blacks, they love me’. Seth Meyers said ‘I can believe that- that is if ‘the Blacks’ are the last names of the white family living down the road!’]
So today we find ourselves- engaged on the African continent- supposedly doing a noble thing- preventing ‘genocide’ from taking place. Even though Gadhaffi has a history of not siding with other Arab leaders who hate and kill Blacks- others who are doing it right now in Sudan- yet he has been targeted as the genocidal risk that must be taken out.
This is why- right now- you have Black leaders in our country- who hate the pres. They have actually said he will not fire a bullet at Black haters- yet he will kill those who have helped the Blacks- these are political insiders who know the scoop.
I don’t know what role the U.S. should play in these conflicts- we obviously can’t go into Sudan in a military way- that would be a huge mistake. But we can try and at least get the accusation right- if we choose to ‘oust’ a leader- a leader who does indeed have the support of Black Africans- whose enemies are killing Black supporters of the man. Then let’s not pretend we are engaged in some type of effort to prevent ‘crimes against humanity’ crimes that were not committed- but had the ‘potential’ of being committed. Why engage in the prevention of possible future ‘crimes against humanity’ when you have another nation [Sudan] actually doing the stuff?
[1691] GREAT EXPECTATIONS? Warning- this post is graphic
The other week we celebrated Fathers day. I was getting ready to buy a new computer and figured- wait- let me just tell my daughters [4] that instead of getting me different stuff I don’t need, just by me the PC.
They kinda scoffed at the idea- my wife said ‘John- computers are expensive’ I said ‘Okay- I’ll pay the balance- whatever they want- they can put down- I’ll cover the rest’. I really wasn’t expecting a free computer- I just thought it was a good idea. I even told them ‘hey- my birthdays coming up- just count this as a combination present’ look- I tried my best.
So as the week wore on- I would drop hints- you know- trying to see if they made the purchase. I am notorious at this kind of stuff. Every year around Christmas time I would always trick my girls into confessing what my wife bought me. I mean I would do what needed to be done- as crass as ‘hey Debbie- want to make 10 bucks’ yes- I go low.
Of course my wife would get mad ‘I’m gonna bring the presents back if you keep doing this!’ I swore my scheming days were over. Then one year they asked what I wanted- I said ‘I know- get me a BB gun’ what? Yeah- I want the classic kids toy- that toy that kids from all cultures and races covet- the toy little Ralphie shot his eye out with- yeah- that’s the one.
So the weeks went by- I tried my best to get the girls to confess- their older now [around 10 years ago] they know how to spot my tricks. So after weeks of doing my best bargaining- I gave up.
Then my wife comes home from work- and as soon as she walks in the door- I say ‘They told me you got me the BB gun’ boy was she mad- she looked at them [and me] and said ‘I told you not to tell him!’ They replied- ‘we didn’t’ ah yes- I still had the skill.
So as Fathers day approached- they wouldn’t budge- the day arrived and I even gave them directions on where I wanted to set it up in the study- I spent a couple of days running the cord and all.
As the day wore on- I realized that this time it was no game- they simply decided to not get me a gift. I kidded them about it [one of the girls did by me a nice plant] and we really never do stuff for Father’s day to be honest- I don’t like doing birthdays [for me] or stuff like that. Sure- maybe order out for dinner- nothing big.
My girls were kind of feeling a little guilty- far be it for me to put a guilt trip on them. Becky asks ‘hey dad- what do you want for your birthday’. I said ‘I know- do they sell any type of medication at the store- maybe some natural home health remedy- something that can help a person overcome a feeling of depression- the type you feel when you get nothing for Father’s day’.
Yes- the schemer still lives.
Okay- let me try and cover a few things. Last week I was talking to my homeless buddy Henry- we got into a discussion about the buzz on Perry possibly running for Pres. I told him I really wasn’t too excited about it- I can see it now- the media portraying him as a whacky evangelical- and Obama of course is the candidate that you should never question about his church beliefs.
Sure enough the talk has started. The MSNBC crowd has already said they think Perry is a Marjoe [the story of the fake boy evangelist] and of course Bachman’s ‘pray the gay away’ clinic has made it to prime time news.
These stupid arguments usually leave carnage on the floor. Stephen Tyler’s [Aerosmith] bio has been on the best seller list for a few weeks now. He tells the story of going to an abortion clinic with his 5 month pregnant girl friend. As they go in for the procedure- he thinks it’s a simple procedure that makes the pregnancy just go away. You know- this is a woman’s right!
As she lies on the table- the doctor sticks a needle into her. She begins going into forced labor- and the baby comes out- alive and screaming. Tyler stands in shock as he sees this tiny human- this person that he thought was just a blob of cells- crying for help- love- life.
They all stand there- seeing this beautiful 5 month old preemie struggling for life. Eventually the baby goes silent- the damage done. Tyler’s friends will later say that he became a different person after that- much more violent and angry. The story is simply the true telling of the life of a rocker- and Tyler has no behind the scenes agenda- he just told the truth- the shock and feeling of disgust over what happened.
The reason I’m leery about possibility of the ‘Texas Evangelical’ versus the ‘enlightened liberal’ is because these real life tragedies get lost in the debate. One time former senator Rick Santorum showed a picture of an unborn child- around the same age as Tyler’s kid. He was on the floor of congress and had it up there. I mean there is no way you could deny that what was on the screen was human. He asked Senator Barbara Boxer if what she saw was a baby or not. Boxer replied that it was beyond her pay grade to make that decision- that she did not see it as her responsibility to judge whether or not her consent to the killing of these babies was humane.
Yet this same congress can judge ‘crimes against humanity’ when a leader on the other side of the globe threatens to go after those who have raised up an armed insurgency against him- a civil war.
Sometimes our expectations are too high- we expect more from others than what we get. As these debates move forward this coming year- we need the integrity to do what’s right- not what’s politically expedient- but what’s right. I have never- ever- been able to justify the deaths of these preemies- after seeing the actual pictures of the babies- real little babies- being mutilated- this act is atrocious- it is equal to the slaughter of the innocents under Hitler’s regime- yes- it’s that bad.
I don’t expect too much out of our leaders- but I at least would hope that when they see the body of a beautiful little baby- perfectly formed- lying on a table- screaming for its life while the mother and father and doctor watch- that we can at least say that this is no surgical procedure- no ‘right to privacy’ being carried out- this my friends is murder- pure and simple.
[1692] HARRY POTTER
This year we ‘celebrate’ the end of an era- Harry Potter. I caught an interview last night with the publisher who put out her books. He explained that he was the only one willing to take the risk- because kid’s books- at a time when computer games and high tech stuff are all the craze- that trying to get kids into books again, well that seemed like a tough sell.
Yet J.K. Rowling went after it- and the rest is history. Some [most] preachers/Christians have been against Rowling’s fables- why? Of course she is introducing ‘soft witchcraft’ into her themes. The church has traditionally been against all forms of fortune telling. Horoscopes, astrology and the like.
And I have been surprised about how many friends over the years have asked me about whether or not doing the Palm Reading thing is okay for a Christian. The fact is the bible condemns- in no uncertain terms- all of these practices. But the bible does speak about spiritual gifts- prophecy, dreams- etc. These types of gifts are different from all these other forms of sorcery and witchcraft- these gifts originate from God- and they are acceptable.
Okay- having said all this- is there any good that come from Potter? Actually- there is. Even though Rowling has used these other forbidden themes- yet you also need to look at the overall theme of the books. For instance- do they have ideas about good versus evil? Yes. Do they introduce kids back to the lost art of reading? Yes.
So overall I think its okay for kids to read her stuff- with the parental warning of ‘
Little Johnny/Suzie- you know there is really no such thing as White Magic- all good comes from God- and evil from satan [and mans sinful nature]’.
I have sitting here a bunch of new teaching series from various scholars. I’m going thru one on the origins of the church- taught by an ex Benedictine Monk [Luke Timothy Johnson] who is an accredited scholar. Has lots of degrees and teaches at Harvard. The other series is an entire overview of the bible- with all the historical and theological data mixed in.
This series is also taught by a scholar- R.C. Sproul. Why mention this? One of my homeless buddies was over a few days ago- he loves learning- he walks thru my study [we usually hang out in the yard] and he says ‘who needs a university- you have everything right here’. Well- I have lots of great stuff- but a university I’m not.
The point is- we should try and do our best to learn from people who know stuff- people who are educated. Way too much of what is produced today from the ‘church’ is really at a low level. Now- I know I have been hard on ‘preachers’ in the past- and have criticized the abundance of TV/radio stuff that is simply ‘God is the answer’ which of course is true- but must we spend billions of dollars every year- for the simple exercise of having ‘our pastor’ say the same thing- that everyone else is saying- at a charge of millions of dollars?
We need to re think this stuff.
I had a talk with a friend the other day- I was discussing some of this with him. I told him how we [Christians] have taught people ‘if you don’t give 10 % of your money into the basket on Sunday- you are cursed- you are robbing God’. This teaching comes from the Old Testament Tithe- primarily taken from a proof text in the book of Malachi.
I said ‘now- when we use this verse- this way- we are usually telling the people that this teaching is mandated by God- to support his work’. Okay- I have been taught this over the years- but the part we usually leave out- is the actual teaching- from the bible- on the Tithe.
In the Old Testament the Jewish people were required to Tithe- it was more like an income tax than an offering [like the way we think of offering]. This tax was used for 3 things. A third was used to support the Levitical priests, a third was used for banquets and feasts [and wine!] and a third was used to meet the needs of the poor [a welfare system].
Now- the part that went to the priests- none of it could be used for personal wealth growth. The priests were not permitted to have personal wealth. They were taken from the tribe of Levi [one of the 12 tribes of Israel] and they were forbidden to own their own land/inheritance.
So if we taught the ‘biblical’ tithe- it would be using a third for the poor- a third for parties, and the rest went to ‘the preachers’ who were forbidden to own real estate [have personal wealth].
Now- after all the years of people teaching the Tithe- all the many hours of telling believers ‘you are robbing God if you don’t Tithe’ how hard can it be to simply do one teaching on the actual Tithe?
I mean I just taught the whole thing- and it took a few minutes.
But the contemporary church is consumed with practical stuff- and to many- it’s not practical to say ‘oh- and by the way- the preachers/pastors- according to the Tithe system- are not permitted to own stuff’ that lifestyle just doesn’t fit the modern picture.
Okay- my point today is not to condemn giving money to churches- but it’s to nudge us towards a more ‘enlightened’ Christianity- a church that asks- and seeks for truth.
A literate people- who read!
So today I think we can commend Rowling for re introducing a lost art- the art of learning. Though we as Christians do have difficulty with ‘sorcerer’s stones’ yet the fact that kids are reading again- well that’s a good thing in my book.
[1693] THEATER OF THE ABSURD
The last few days the media has inundated us with stories- so called ‘news stories’ that border on the absurd. First- we heard the reports on Michele Bachman’s husband’s clinic. He apparently has this business- where he does outpatient treatment. Okay- I guess these types of treatment clinics are a dime a dozen.
As an evangelical- he obviously gets patients who want to overcome what they feel are addictive personality traits. So he has Christians come in- who feel like they are struggling with homosexual tendencies- and because of their own choice- they are seeking ‘treatment’.
Now- this ‘reparative’ therapy has come under criticism- and there are questions over whether or not this type of therapy can hurt someone. Either way- for something like this- to have made it into the top news story- on the major networks- is ludicrous.
Then yesterday you had the media running with the migraine headache thing- yes- some insider leaked the story that Bachman has migraines. I heard Anderson Cooper [I think it was him- they all ran with it] ask ‘can a person run the country if they are incapacitated for days on end’?
Sounded like Mubarak’s lawyer- like the lady goes in and out of comas every few days. Ridiculous.
We have a real story- a story that should be covered- but gets very little coverage on the major networks- because it can hurt the president. It’s the scandal of our Justice Dept. - along with the ATF- selling guns to drug runners in Mexico- then finding these guns at the scene of murdered Border Patrol agents. Mexico actually suspected us of this in the past- and asked if we were indeed selling guns to drug cartel guys.
Our govt. - under president Obama- said no. We lied- we sold the guns- these guns killed many people- including our own law enforcement officials- and this is deemed an unworthy news story. These stories are things that bring down officials- things that rank so bad on the scale of ‘news’ worthy- that every news network should be covering it.
Yet we get migraines and ‘pray the gay away’ coverage- and no time for coverage of our justice dept being in the illegal gun running trade- and these guns actually having killed our own guys- it’s hard to believe- but believe it you can
I read a small report- hidden in the back pages of the paper. Human rights watch has been reporting that the Libyan Rebels- who we support- have been going into cities- with our air support- and killing civilians- Raiding homes- burning them down- looting businesses- of citizens who are on the side of Gadhaffi. These are not soldiers of Gadhaffi- these are actual citizens who do not support the Rebels.
How can we be supporting these Rebels- while they are doing this- and at the same time be accusing Gadhaffi of war crimes? Out of all the foreign countries that have fought the U.S. in the various fields of war we are engaged in- the number 1 country that sent Al Qaeda fighters to fight against us- came from Libya.
These fighters were not coming from Gadhaffi- he hates them- these Al Qaeda were coming from the same group of Rebels that we are supporting. The Rebels who are killing civilians- looting their shops and burning down the homes of civilians- these Rebels who we just recognized as the new ruling govt. of Libya.
Have you heard this story? No- it would take away too much time from the migraine scandal.
Why are we enamored with the absurd- the stuff that does not matter one iota- and yet the real injustices going on- many of them being perpetrated by our own govt. these things get little attention? I don’t know what the final outcome will be over the ‘gun running’ story- but someone needs to be fired- if not prosecuted over this.
If there are human rights groups- telling us that the Rebels we are supporting- are actually engaging in war crimes- then we need to stop supporting them- now.
I read a report on why the Arab league voted to remove Gadhaffi- they never liked the guy- he was a loner. So when the Arab league met- they figured they would vote for his expulsion- at no cost to them- and they would manipulate the U.S. into being ‘mercenaries’ who would go in and be the puppets of the world.
The report also said that they would not take a stand like this against other oppressive Arab rulers- because those rulers were deemed needed. They mentioned Assad of Syria as one example. Sure enough- last week the U.S. came out and took a hard stand against Assad- they attacked our embassy in Syria.
The Arab league responded by saying no country [the U.S.] has the right to say whether or not another countries leader is legitimate. The Arab league played us like puppets- got us to go to war against an Arab leader they didn’t support- and then told us ‘Hands off’ when we tried to criticize another one who is just as bad- if not worse.
These things are important- we don’t want to side against people- while supporting Rebels that are committing possible war crimes. We don’t want our guys being manipulated into being mercenaries- at no cost to the Arab League- because we got tricked into acting.
As a people- we should be informed about the important stuff- we should be aware- so we can make informed decisions- so we can know the facts on the ground. But instead we are treated to the secret recording of Michele Bachmann’s husband telling a fake gay patient that he can help him overcome what he thinks is a problem- no wonder the woman has migraines.
[1694] WALKING IN MEMPHIS-
I have part of the famous speech of M.L.K. jr. written here on my wall. He gave the speech the day before his death- and he said that God permitted him to go so far along the journey- allowed him to see the beginning of ‘the end’ and he came to peace with the fact that he himself would not make it all the way.
He said ‘I have been to the mountain..and I might not make it into the Promised Land with you..but I don’t mind.. because I have seen the land- and we- as a people- are going to make it’ [paraphrase].
After King’s death we heard stories about his personal failures in life- things he struggled with- yet he also tried his best to finish the course that God destined him for.
I often wonder if this is what King saw- if he realized he had kind of passed a personal point of no return- and he came to peace with it. That he was at least privileged to see the ‘promised land’ though he himself would not make it in.
This story comes from the bible. It’s the life story of another great man of God- Moses. God called Moses [Like Rick Perry?] when he was young and gung ho- Moses initial start was rocky- he got mad and killed a man in anger.
Moses fled to the wilderness for 40 years and God showed him a burning bush- it was time to go back home. The next 40 years were really not that much better. Sure we had the Red Sea incident- and Moses had one of the great actors of all time play him- Hesston.
Yet the next 40 years were spent in the desert- with a bunch of people [who initially voted for the guy!] and they whined about the journey all the time. Moses did his best- he led them through some tough stuff- and at the end of the 40 years [the real journey should have only taken a few days- the maps show us that they walked in circles for those 40 years] God says to Moses ‘Son- you’re not going in’.
What? God told Moses that he blew it one too many times with the temper thing- and that for that reason he could not go into the promised land. However- Moses was permitted to go up ‘to the mountain’ and look in. Yes- this was the mountain that King was referring to the day before he died ‘I have been up to the mountain- I have seen the promised land- I might not make it in with you- and I’m okay with that because I know now that you guys will m make it in’.
I think King- like Moses- came to terms with his own failures- no excuses- just the reality that he went a little too long down some bad roads- and it just wouldn’t be right for him to have gone all the way.
Yet- how could King [and Moses] be okay with it? There’s a theme that runs all thru out scripture that deals with God using you thru out your life to ‘reach’ a certain generation of people. You might never see these people in the flesh- you might not have any influence in their lives for most of the journey- yet you knew from the start that this was indeed part of the mission.
So you do your best with the other parts of the mission- always hoping and praying that the future day will arrive before you ‘call it a day’. There will be many times during this ‘wandering’ that you will deal with issues- real life failures and successes- and at times- during the hard times- you fear that you might have gone too far this time- and will never ‘see the promised land’ you might never fulfill what you knew from the beginning was a big part of the plan.
Then one day [year] you see a bush- some type of sign that comes from God- and he’s saying ‘lets give it one more shot’ at that part of the journey your usually too tired to go for it- you often think ‘geez- why now?’ Yet you’ve been around long enough to know you really have no option- just do the thing.
King [and Moses] went through stages where it looked like they might never see the promised land- never mind enter in to the thing. And God did them a favor- he said ‘son- go ahead up- look over into the finished product- it’s going to happen one day- know that for sure’. They seemed to be able to be grateful that they made it far enough to look in- to see that they did indeed make it far enough down the road that after they departed- the vision would live on.
These last few weeks- as an avid news junkie- a strange thing has happened [those of you who read these posts can pick up on it]. I have come to side in a way for an underdog- a hated man- yet an underdog never the less. As I watch Gadhaffi- day after day- stand on the tower/building overlooking Green square- I see him defying the nations of the world- saying ‘bring it on- you will never kill me’ in one of the speeches he said ‘you can never kill me- I live forever in the hearts of millions of people’.
Now- whether this be true or not- I have no idea- but the principle is biblical. Ultimately your ‘promised land’ is the generation of people that you have planted Gods word into throughout your life. The privilege God gave you to affect people- for good- during the journey. Gadhaffi was saying that you might kill him- but his ideals would live on beyond his life- this is true for all of us.
After the death of King we heard a lot about his personal failures- things that some people knew about- but not everyone. When we all learned about them- then took a second look at the Memphis speech- we can see that King was grateful for the ‘Moses moment’ that God was gracious enough to let him make it up to the mountain- to a point in the journey where he now knew that his destiny was sealed.
I’m sure he felt some sadness over the reality that he alone knew- that he did indeed go too far down some wrong paths for too long- but God was gracious enough to let him make it to the mountain- I do thank God for that.
[1695] WHAT MATTERS?
The other day I mentioned how believers have a habit of getting caught up in certain ‘religious’ views [tithing was the example I gave] and over time these views develop to a point where they take precedence over the things Jesus actually placed real value on.
In the 1st century when Jesus showed up on the scene- the religious practices of Gods people were centered around religious meetings [holy days] prayer, fasting and tithing- mainly to be seen of men- that is religion digressed to a point where what seemed to be the most important thing- was actually not important.
So how did Jesus respond? He spends the 3 very public years of ministry- healing the sick, telling the poor they are the blessed ones who will inherit Gods kingdom- and blasting the rich- and those in power- by telling them that their day was coming too.
In essence Jesus was the ultimate prophet- he followed the long line of Jewish prophets who took these same positions. The prophet Isaiah told the people ‘God is tired of all your religious activities- your church meetings- your special ‘sacrificial’ offerings- these things are a stench in his nose!’ then he would go on and say that God wanted justice for the poor and widow.
Amos also rebuked the rich and defended the poor- Ezekiel said the shepherds [religious leaders] were fleecing the sheep- they were leaders who were making a financial killing off of the people.
All of these things- in today’s world of ‘ministry’ are making a comeback- it’s just we don’t see it because they are dressed in a different way. But at the end of the day- for the most part- American style Christianity is usually measured by how much money you give [or take in] how faithful your are to attend religious meetings- and how famous your ministry is- are you a really gifted speaker? Or do you give a great ‘stage’ performance.
And in the mind of the average Christian- if you ask them ‘when was the last time you gave of your goods to your neighbor- reached out to the poor- showed your Christianity thru charity’? Often times they will answer that that is not ‘their ministry’ or that their giving to some Christian organization/church is their role- and it’s up to ‘the church’ to actually help the poor.
But these responses miss the main point- Jesus [and the prophets] were saying that’s the mistake- thinking that ‘religion’ consists in these outward religious acts- which are really for show- while the true acts of mercy and love are all too often neglected. People today have made the same mistake as the religious observers of Jesus day.
The letter of James- written by the brother [half] of Jesus- tells us that Pure religion- is to keep yourself unspotted form the world- and to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction. That’s it. No mention of religious holy days? No. No mention of special tithes/offerings? No. But what does he have to say about the modern religious view of the accumulation of wealth? Let’s not even go there [believe me- it’s pretty bad- go read the letter- its short].
This week in Somalia the estimates are 11 million people are on the verge of starvation- 2 to 3 million are kids. The world at large has had a hard time getting the food/resources in- because the country [like many other African nations] is in a sort of civil war.
The militant Islamic group fighting the govt. [Al Shabbab- I think that’s the name?] are made up of children. Yes- the kids have taken up an armed resistance against the leaders- and they are killing each other. I saw a news report on Mosaic world news- and the kids were in the streets- sort of like any kids on a block- but they had guns.
One young kid [10?] was pulling on the rifle of an older boy [15?] and the older boy got mad- like some school yard thing. The older boy just pulled away- and pointed the gun at the ‘opposing kids’- at the same time- they were playing in the street- throwing rocks and waving sticks- and pointing loaded guns at each other- it was like it was a game- they were used to shooting each other if they had to.
There are many things happening in our world today- things that matter to God. Many Christians- though they mean well- seem to leave these other things up to others. They feel that if they can just make it through another week- attend religious meeting on Sunday- put in the tithe- that if they live up to these outward religious standards- that they have done well.
Jesus taught a different way- the apostles tried to follow in his way. The apostle John said ‘if you see your fellow man in need- and don’t actually help him- do what needs to be done to defend them- then how can you say Gods love is in you’ [my paraphrase].
The apostle Paul wrote the Colossians- he said ‘I’m worried about you- you are observing days and times and other outward religious rites- I’m afraid you are falling away from the true faith’.
There was always a danger that Christians would fall into this rut- this thing where they unconsciously make the least important things- the most important. When the religious leaders of Jesus day were conspiring to kill Jesus- they had a problem- if they killed him on the wrong day- it would mess up their religious festival going on at the time. If they had to deal with the dead body- on the wrong day- they would be technically unclean according to Jewish law- and it would throw off their game.
So they worked it out where they would kill Jesus- and leave the body alone on the Sabbath- and they had it all worked out. One problem- they were violating the most important commandment of all- given to them by their most important law giver [Moses] that said ‘thou shalt not kill’ but somehow- over a period of time- they saw these things as the most important- their special observances of holy days- keeping themselves ceremonially clean- not ‘unspotted from the world’ as James said- but religiously clean- so they could put on a good public show.
I just finished praying for a bunch of stuff- of course I prayed for the kids in Somalia- those dying and those killing. Yes- I also send money every month to the starving kids- but these things are not enough. I [we] need to also engage those around us- those hurting and dying and struggling in real ways. We need to make the most important things- important again.
[1696] LITTLE BOY LOST
The other day we saw the tragic story of the little Jewish boy who went missing on his way home from summer camp. This day he was without a ride, and his mother thought it would be okay for him to walk home the few blocks. After he didn’t show up she called the police.
They eventually discovered that he had been abducted by a member of their own community- and was tragically killed. The Jewish community in this area of Brooklyn is known as an Hasidic community. My mom was born and raised in Brooklyn- and as a boy I remember going to the city and seeing these strange looking guys with funny looking hair and dress.
This community dates back around 2300 years or so. During the Intertestemental period [the time between the last Old Testament book- Malachi- and the book of Matthew] you have quite an interesting history. It was during these 400 years that we saw the rise of the Greek world under Alexander the Great.
In the Greek world you had some very influential philosophers; Socrates most famous student was Plato- Plato’s most famous student was Aristotle- and his most famous student was Alexander the Great.
Alexander sought to implement the ideals of his teacher- he wanted to unify the known world under one people/culture- a belief that Aristotle held- a sort of ‘unified theory’ [Einstein] that would seek to bring all learning/knowledge together under one supreme [Divine] principle.
Alexander’s experiment was called Hellenization- which was the Greek worlds attempt to impose Greek culture/language on all their conquered enemies- and at the same time allow them to hold on to the their own culture too. Alexander did amazingly well at this experiment- at the young age of around 24 he had accomplished most of his mission. The cities were a sort of composite of Greek culture mixed in with their own culture- this is where we get the modern term Cosmopolitan.
Alexander died young and his kingdom was divided between 4 generals- one of them- Ptolemy- would himself make it into the history books because of his keen intellect.
The system of cosmology developed under him would last [and work!] until some 17-18 hundred years later when it was overthrown by the Copernican revolution during the time of Copernicus and Galileo.
Alexander’s generals would do their best to carry on the system of Hellenization- and other nations generals would keep the system going even after Greece fell. One of them- Octavian [Roman general] makes it into the history books by another famous name- Julius Caesar.
Alexander established a great library in the Egyptian city of Alexandria [named after him] and many of the great writings were preserved during this time.
The writings of Aristotle would be discovered again during the time of Thomas Aquinas [13th century Catholic genius/scholar] and this would lead to Scholasticism [a peculiar school of thought developed/revived under Aquinas] and give rise to the Renaissance.
Okay- before the birth of Christ- the Jewish people resisted the imposing of Greek culture upon them- you had the very famous resistance under the Jewish Maccabean revolt- where the Jews rose up and fought the wicked ruler Antiochus Epiphanies- and till this day the Jewish people celebrate this victory at Hanukah.
Eventually Rome would conquer the Greek kingdom and the Jewish people were allowed to keep their culture and temple- yet they were still a people oppressed. Hassidism [getting back to the beginning] developed during this attempt to not lose their Jewish roots- the Pharisees of Jesus day came from this movement.
Alexander was pretty successful in his attempt to unify language- even though the bible [New Testament] was written by Jewish writers- living under Roman rule- yet the original bible is written in the Greek language.
Bible scholars till this day study the Greek language to find the truest meaning of the actual words in the bible [I have a Greek Lexicon sitting right in front of me].
It would take a few centuries before a Latin version appeared on the scene [the great church father- Jerome- would produce the Latin Vulgate].
Yet it would be the re- discovery and learning of the Greek texts [under men like Erasmus- and the Protestant Reformers] that would lead to the Reformation [16th century] and other movements in church history.
Of course the tragedy of the little boy lost is very sad- and the roots of Jewish culture are noble and good- Pope Benedict refers to the Jewish people as ‘our elder brother’ because of the Jewish roots of Christianity. The original church was made up of Jewish believers- people who were waiting for the Messiah for centuries [actually Millennia] and they were convinced that this Jesus- this Jewish itinerant prophet- was indeed the one that was to come.
When you read the sermons in the book of Acts- you hear Peter, Paul- and especially Stephen [ Acts 7] relating the person of Jesus to the prophecies that were spoken about the Messiah in the Old Testament- these early Jewish believers were convinced- in no uncertain terms- that Jesus was the Messiah who was foretold to come.
At the Jewish trial of Jesus- the high priest asks ‘are you claiming to be God’s Son’ Jesus- one of the few times he did this- said ‘you said it’. The priest throws up his hands and says ‘what more need do we have of witnesses- he himself has said he claims deity’.
In John’s gospel we read when Jesus said ‘Abraham saw my day- and was gad’. They asked him ‘how could Abraham see your day- you’re not even 50 years old’ Jesus replied ‘BEFORE ABRAHAM WAS- I AM’ They were incensed- the words I AM were the words used to describe God. The bible says they took up stones to kill him.
The great Christian writer- C.S. Lewis- spent many years as an atheist- yet as an intellectual he read all the great writings of history- and he said that no matter how hard he [and other atheists] tried to reject God- that history was filled with writings- both pro and con- about God.
As a matter of fact- there was no other underlying theme- some scarlet thread- woven thru out the entire history of man- that even came close to this testimony of the reality of God.
Many agnostics of Lewis’ day said ‘we believe Jesus was a good person- even a Rabbi- Prophet- great messenger of God’ Lewis said Jesus did not leave this option open to us. Jesus said he was indeed the Son of God- Deity come down- born from a virgin- crucified- died and was buried. On the 3dr day he rose again- according to the scriptures- he is seated at the right hand of God and will come again- to judge the living and the dead.
Yes kingdoms have come and gone- great men and despots have either honored this Jesus- or despised him- but today we still talk about Jesus- King of Kings and Lord of Lords- we have only one option- either we confess him as Lord- or we call him a madman- which one will you choose?
[1697] THE DEBT CEILING
Last night the president spoke about the looming crisis of default. He tried to explain why we are at the precipice- and he gave what he felt was a balanced approach to the problem. Let me just hit a few high points of this debate- and try and clear up some confusion I see in the media on how they are reporting the story.
First- lots of news guys are saying ‘the Tea Party Repubs are voting for a default’. Is this true? Actually no. Now- their actions might very well lead to a default- but to say they are outright voting for one- that’s not true.
Technically a default would be if the U.S. govt. did not make good on its payments to those who hold our debt. When bonds/treasuries mature- and when the interest is due- if the govt. did not meet these obligations- on time- then that’s a default.
Are the Repubs voting for that? No. So why is the media [and the pres. last night] saying this? The tea party guys are saying ‘look- we got elected by people who wanted the out of control spending to stop, that was the main promise we made to them- and we will not vote for a debt ceiling increase- unless we cut an equal [or more] amount of spending to go along with it’.
This has left the Dems and the Repubs bargaining over these last few months. There are legitimate differences between the 2 sides- and they are at a stalemate. Now- the reason we need to raise the debt ceiling is because the govt. cannot ‘rack up debt’ [by actually paying the monthly bills] without congressional approval. In August we will bring in around 170 billion dollars- the bills are around 230 billion- and the interest payments and maturing bonds come to around 25 billion [estimates].
To not raise the debt ceiling- as a strictly financial decision- does not mean your voting for default. The govt. can pay the 25 billion first [which the constitution demands] and then would have to deal with what gets paid next.
Is it responsible to try and make up the difference in one month like this. No. It’s just too much to cut in one month. Yet technically voting against a debt ceiling increase is not the same as voting for default.
Next- was the president totally ‘honest’ in the speech last night? No. What? Are you calling the president a liar! Look- like everyone else- he fibs every now and again. In the speech he really hedged his bets. He said the reason he’s against a short term increase in the ceiling [6-9 months] is because the credit rating agencies [Moody’s, S& P] would more than likely drop our credit rating if we don’t do a long term ceiling limit lift- just long enough to get the president past the next election.
If you follow the story closely- and listen to the non biased financial gurus- they are saying that the rating agencies have already told the insiders that in 6 months the rating will drop. So Geithner and all the president’s men already know this. So when the president says ‘look you Repubs- if you don’t raise it in one shot- into 2013- then the rating drop is your fault’ ah- the games people play.
And of course both sides play the game- most of the time.
Now- the Repubs floated a few budgets over the last year- different plans- put down on paper- that hung them out to dry. Basically Harry Reid has been not doing his job as majority leader [last year he was asked ‘why don’t you raise the debt ceiling before the election- and the Repubs get in?’ He replied- ‘let them do it and get the blame- not us’. He basically has done this with every important issue- even though the majority party are the ones responsible to float budgets and raise ceilings and everything else- he blatantly admits that he wants the other side to do it- so he can blame them] and has said ‘let the Repubs go on record’ then like a bunch of novices- that’s what the Repubs did!
They took the heat- floated a very unpopular plan [Ryan] and the Dems attacked- all out- grandma over the cliff- the whole 9 yards.
Okay- what did this signal to the credit rating agencies? It told them that yes- indeed- the congress more than likely will not deal with the debt problem [not just raising the ceiling] and because of this fear- they realize now that they might have to drop the rating.
All the European nations who have lost their good ratings [Greece] and who are in trouble [Italy, Spain, Portugal, Ireland] are in trouble by the rating agencies- not because of a false debt ceiling- but because of the actual debt..
The rating agencies are not going to drop our rating simply because the ceiling won’t get raised- they have said this. They are going to drop it because they think the govt. is not really going to deal with the structural problems of the debt.
Reid’s recent plan says he will cut around 2.7 trillion of debt over 10 years. No new taxes- and the ceiling gets raised till 2013. Problem? He’s claiming that 1 trillion of it are cuts to the wars winding down over the next 10 years. Geez- are we really that simple? [these are cuts that are going to made anyway]
Gimmicks like this are why the rating agencies are going to drop our rating- not just a debt ceiling vote of no.
If the final plan- no matter whose it is- if it doesn’t deal with Medicare in a structural way- then it’s not dealing with the debt. Medicare means well- but is has the govt. on the hook to cover the expenses of a private industry- the health care industry. This industry- for whatever reason- is going up in cost at an astronomical pace- and that’s the biggest future problem of our debt.
Social Security simply takes in present money- and then gives it out on a monthly basis- overall that plan can be made whole- not like Medicare. So to overlook the real problems [like Reid's recent plan] will also contribute to a credit rating drop.
So yes- the president is also hedging his bets- saying ‘look- if you don’t extend the ceiling beyond next year- then it’s your fault if the rating falls!’ Ah- he knows the rating is going to fall- they have been told this. And he knows it’s because of all these other things [he’s a smart man]. So he is ‘counting on’ not getting a long term deal- he sees the writing on the wall- and he’s told the country- ‘see- I told you what the Repubs are going to do will hurt our rating’ and sure enough- the rating is going to go down.
Political posturing- by whoever- is not problem solving. I do not side with the hard right- or left- on this issue- and I think not raising the ceiling- right now- is not good. But both sides have to make some hard choices- when the pres did recognize that real changes do need to be made to entitlements- he took heat from his left.
And when Boehner was left standing at the altar [or walked away- depending on how you lean] after agreeing to 800 billion in new tax revenue- he took some heat. But at the end of the day we will need to put politics aside and deal with this very real problem. Make no mistake about it- not raising the ceiling by August would be a mistake- but it’s not an outright vote for default- and when the credit rating drops- it will be because of a lot of reasons- not just because they did a short term deal.
[1698] PEOPLE LAUGHING- PEOPLE SINGING- A MAN SELLING ICE CREAM
These past few days I have been reading scriptures on the influence of the church in the nations- that is God’s original purpose for the church- to have a people/nation that he could reveal his glory though. This morning I read Zechariah chapter 8- it talks about God restoring Jerusalem and that there will be old men and women dwelling in it- little boys and girls playing in the streets once again.
The impression you get is a sort of ‘block party’ atmosphere- all types of people enjoying life once gain- after a season of captivity. As I read the verse on the old men and women- I thought of Aunt Bee.
Bee was the aunt of one of our original church members. Emmet [Senior- I have also talked about his son on the site- Jr.] became a church member early on. I don’t remember if I met him while preaching at the county jail- or through Elias- another friend who struggled with addiction. Both of them were long time drug addicts.
I would pick up Emmet at his Aunt’s house every week for church- and just visit him every so often. The ‘church’ was a little home group I started from scratch. I fixed up my 2 car garage- and the guys I met from the streets- or at the jail- would become the core group.
Over time Aunt Bee- who raised Emmet- started coming to our meetings- and as an older lady- in her 70’s- she would tell me she was learning the bible for the first time- she really liked it.
I was basically filling the slot that she missed out on- the bible study aspect of Christianity. Bee was a good Catholic lady- and she told me her friends said ‘why do you go to brother Johns’ church- your Catholic’ she would tell them ‘because I learn things’.
I never tried to ‘convert’ Bee- she stayed Catholic- and that was fine with me. Many Protestant bible churches do fill a need that some of the historic churches lack- simple bible study. Yet many of the Protestant ‘bible’ churches lack what the historic churches offer- a historic connection to traditional Christianity.
During the Reformation of the 16th century- the Protestant reformers [who were all initially Catholic] fought with the Roman church over doctrinal issues- and during this fight the reformers stated a few main principles- one of which is called Sola Scriptura- which means ‘the bible alone’.
What they meant by this was on issues where the church could not come to agreement with the dissenters- that at the end of the day- the bible would have the final say.
Now- the common mistake many Protestants fall into- is thinking that this principle means ‘Solo Scriptura’ is a belief that all Christianity is simply a process of reading/organizing your life around the bible. That is the view that the bible is all there is.
This is not the historic Protestant position- the reformers themselves [Calvin. Luther, etc.] referred often to the early writings of the church fathers [Augustine] in trying to prove their points.
I have found it helpful over the years to spend time reading/hearing the voice of the historic church- as well as being up on the bible. The other day I moved a few books from my office into a shelf in the living room- I read an article on how people are selling books ‘by the inch’ just to decorate their homes. What types of books- that didn’t matter- they were just for show [ouch!]
So I figured I’ll move the real McCoy- classics that I have read and re-read over the years.
I was glad to see that I still had the Confessions of Saint Augustine- a classic from the 4th century. Augustine was a Catholic bishop from Hippo- North Africa. He is often associated with the doctrine of Predestination [which he did believe in] and is loved by many Catholics and Protestants alike.
The major reformer who launched the reformation was Martin Luther- a German Augustinian monk- Luther was also a strong believer in the doctrine of predestination- though its common to associate the doctrine with John Calvin, Luther too was a strong believer in it.
One day Aunt Bee shared a story with me- she used to visit her daughter who lived in Alaska- her daughter sort of felt like her cousin Emmet was taking advantage of her mom. I was familiar with the environment- my older sister- who has also been a drug addict for many years- has lived with my mom her whole life.
When addicted people live with their parents [aunts] as they age- they fall into an environment where they manipulate the guardian to get what they want [money- borrow the car, etc..]
So Aunt Bee’s daughter felt like Emmet took advantage of her mom. Aunt Bee told me about an Indian she saw one time while visiting Alaska- he was panning for gold in one of the freezing streams- and was wearing an Indian loin cloth and was in the ice cold water. She said how interesting it was to see how other cultures learn to adapt to their environment.
Bee was an educator- she taught at A&I university [Kingsville- Tx.] for many years [now called A&M] and her students were some of the most famous people in Texas- Senators and congress people. I found it interesting how an influential person like Bee- would wind up learning the bible from some Jersey boy- preaching in a garage [I was around 25 at the time].
Bee was a good person- she died many years ago- as has Emmet. Emmet eventually broke the drug habit and married another church member- Janie. She was s single mom with lots of kids- they made a very nice couple. Emmet died at around the age of 50- his liver went out- too many years of drugs eventually got to him. As a matter of fact- Elias- who I think first introduced me to Emmet- he eventually became a preacher and pastored his own church. He started with me- was the song leader and filled in on the days I had to work- and eventually took a position with a church called Victory Outreach- a ministry to addicts.
One day while working at the fire house- I was riding on the ambulance that day and we got a call. As I got to the house- I realized it was Elias’s house- he had a brain aneurism that day- he went into a coma and died a few days later.
I met Elias around 8 years earlier- preaching to him at the jail. Gave him his first bible- which he would always remind me about- and walked with him for a few years. He was ex-air force. He did at least 4 years before he got out and got hooked on hard drugs- mainline addict.
We had lots of good times together- I see his boys every so many years when I venture into Bishop [a small city around 40 miles from where I live]. I think his wife- Janie- still lives there.
The bible says Gods city [a symbol of the church] has old people having fun in the streets [the aunt Bee types] and little boys and girls playing in the streets [too many names to mention in this one- Elias & Janie alone had around 6 kids- Janie & Emmet too- different Janies!].
God’s church/family is a great one- it consists of the great church fathers [men like Augustine] and it extends to the little kids playing in the streets of some small town in South Texas- it even includes those who society has rejected- those who have failed many times in life- and they know it- more than anyone else.
I read a verse the other day- in Psalms ‘sins prevail against us- yet you will save us from our transgressions’ I thank God that he helps people- people who have things that ‘prevail’ against them- he often uses these people to help others- Gods ways are sometimes very hard to understand- his ways are not ours.
[1699] COMPROMISE?
The week is winding down- and as far as I know- as of last night the president and congress have not been able to reach an agreement on the debt crisis. I do think the president has put himself in somewhat of a corner. In his speech he continued his argument that the deal needs to be balanced with ‘revenue increases’ [which I agree with] and he spoke about the ‘rich’ having to pay their fair share [though they do already pay for most of the taxes in the country- the big corp. loopholes are another matter].
Yet the 2 plans on the table right now- Reid and Boehner- neither one has tax increases. Reid’s is around 2.2 trillion in cuts [over 10 years] with the corresponding debt limit increase. And Boehner’s is 1 trillion- with the same basic plan. Reid's takes you past the next election- Boehner’s doesn’t. Can the president really say ‘I rejected the plan- the country defaulted- all because I wanted a 13 month plan- instead of a 6 month one’.
That just seems untenable to me.
Okay- what about compromise- is it a bad thing? Let me try and tie this in with some comments I made in the last post. In the last post I spoke about the difference between ‘Sola scriptura’ and ‘Solo scriptura’. Sola was the Reformation belief that when the Protestants and the Catholics couldn’t come to an agreement- then at the end of the day- the bible ‘alone’ settles the matter. That’s what Sola [alone] scriptura [scriptures] meant.
Over the centuries many Protestants began to embrace a view of Christianity that said ‘we don’t need/listen to what the traditional churches have to say- or what the Christian church fathers have to say- we have the bible alone to tell us’.
And even though the bible does give us instruction on all areas of life that are pertinent to the Christian experience- yet the bible actually contains within it stories about how the church should regard ‘tradition’ or how they should look to both scripture- and past history- when trying to come to solutions to problems.
In Acts chapter 15 we have the record of how the early church dealt with the problem of Gentile believers coming into the church. The first believers were all Jewish- so when they accepted Jesus as the Messiah- they also kept their Jewish heritage and their observance of the law.
Yet when the gospel started going out to the Gentiles [Acts 13] initially there was no need for converting fully to Judaism in order to be considered part of the church. Yet at the main church in Jerusalem [Acts 15] many Jewish leaders insisted on the Gentiles having to become circumcised and fully put themselves under the entire law.
So Paul and Barnabus- who were the main missionaries that worked with the Gentile believers at the time- they disagreed with the leaders coming out of Jerusalem- and determined that they would all go up to Jerusalem [from the city of Antioch- where these gentile believers were living at the time] and they would bring the question before the leaders- Peter, James and John.
During this discussion [which is the first church council] they listened to Peter’s experience where God showed him to not judge the gentile believers- but to accept them the way they are- as fellow believers in the Lord.
Peter had this experience in Acts chapter 10- God showed him a vision and taught him not to reject the gentile believers.
Then James [who seems to have been the main leader at the Jerusalem church] quotes form ‘the bible’ [the bible they had at this point was the Old Testament] and he quotes a passage from the prophet Amos that seems to go along with what Peter said- that God would raise up gentile believers too.
So after the discussion- James stands up and makes the final decision- with the agreement of the other leaders- and they write a letter and send it back to the gentile believers at Antioch- and they tell them they don’t need to fully convert to Judaism- but simply keep a few important commandments- don’t eat blood- don’t commit sexual sin- and a couple of things like this.
So at the end of the day they came to a position of compromise- they listened to all sides- and didn’t simply rely on the ‘bible alone’ that is they sought guidance from the book of Amos- and added that in with the other things that God was showing them at the time.
They were a community of people who were flexible enough to leave room for others who were not exactly like them- yet they did insist on belief in Jesus as the Messiah as the important thing.
As I watch the current debate- I see stubbornness with some- and I see political posturing with others- no one side is totally right- while the other totally wrong.
Last night I saw a shameful thing on the news- Lawrence O’Donnell showed a clip of a teenage girl who had killed herself because she was picked on for being gay. As I watched the story I of course felt sad for the girl’s mom who was talking about the bullying that her daughter endured- and of course it’s wrong to make fun of people- or bully them in any way.
Then they put up a quote from the mother- who said her daughter killed herself because of the ‘conservative’ district she had lived in. At the bottom of the quote- it said ‘Michele Bachman’s district’. This is no longer reporting- unbiased journalism- its people who have agendas that they are so attached too- that they can’t even see how doing this- associating the tragic death of this girl- with a presidential candidate- is so out of line.
The other day I heard a male ‘progressive’ news person talk about Bristol Palin getting ‘knocked up- [like a little slut]- while drunk on wine coolers’. Now- this girl is 20 years old- this happened when she was 16. Can you imagine any news person- speaking publicly like this- about the presidents beautiful daughters in a year or 2 from now- when they are the same age?
When we only see one side as the enemy- when we demonize peoples kids- accuse people of murdering gay kids- simply because they lived in your district- when we get this low- then compromise seems impossible- because you now view the opposing side as the real enemy.
I hope and pray we can get a compromise- for the sake of our country. I hope we can be open to what others are saying- people who have been around longer than us- ‘spiritual’ fathers if you will. Even though we seek God- have the bible- and do our best to determine what’s best- yet it’s also important to respect the opinions of others- don’t demonize everyone who is not just like you [or me] at the end of the day we need each other- even the ones who don’t fit our mold.
[1700] WONT YOU GUESS MY NAME?
Once again I feel like I’m in a bind- I just had a dream [actually- 4 hours ago] and I felt like I should talk about it a little. I usually don’t like doing stuff like this- because of the abuse that many have engaged in with stuff like this- you know ‘God told me/you to test him with giving me a thousand dollar offering’ the whole deal.
Okay- in the dream I was up north [N.Y. /N.J.] in a busy/populated area. I was being pursued by some type of authority figure- and was actually innocent- they thought I committed a crime. As I was on the run I realized I was being recorded- and after I got caught I saw the recording- and I was in the image of a woman. Now- I really hate sharing that- maybe I’ll get to why in a moment- but that was the dream.
After I awoke I thought ‘geez- I don’t think that one means anything’ and I felt like the Lord wanted me to read Revelation chapter 12. I did know that this chapter spoke about the woman and her seed [kids].
In the chapter you see a woman that gives birth to a ‘man child’ and the dragon [satan] persecutes the woman and her child. The woman has 12 stars on her crown- the dragon has 7 crowns [various heads and horns] the crowns denote authority.
In John’s gospel Jesus talks about child birth- he says when a woman is in labor- she’s going through so much pain- she just wants the whole thing to stop. After she gives birth- she’s so happy- she forgets the pain.
Okay- all these images are speaking about the difficulty and persecution Christians go through. In the bible- the thing that has value- is the church. The church is described as a bride. She is the ‘virtuous woman’ of Proverbs 31. Her price is far above rubies. The thing of value in our lives are the actual people ‘you birth’ by speaking Gods word to them- they are ‘birthed’ into seeing the kingdom of God in new ways.
This people group [the man child that the woman gives birth to- which of course is a symbol of Jesus- the church is also called The Body of Christ] are the thing of value. The woman [a symbol of natural Israel and/or the church] has authority- God gave her authority because of the things that she went thru. That’s the crown with 12 stars.
The dragon [satan] who goes after her- he too has authority in a sense [the 7 crowns] theologians debate whether its real or contrived- the point I would make is he’s been at this game for a while- he does take prisoners- and even kills a few every now and again [you know- Jagger sang ‘I’ve been around for many a year- a man of wealth and fame. Made damn sure the Pilate washed his hands- and sealed his fate. Made tracks for the Troubadours who got killed before they reached Bombay. Stuck around St. Petersburg till I saw it was a time for a change. Won’t you guess my name?]
These past few weeks I have been reading verses on the value of the people themselves- ministry is not you convincing people to support some type of good work your doing- it’s you sacrificing your life for others- and when they too give of themselves for others- sharing Gods word and love- then you have started a real process- a real ‘church growth’ movement- the way Jesus taught.
And of course- when you’re in a position of influence [the woman giving birth] then you become a target of attack- your on the verge of giving birth to this ‘son’ and the dragons mad as hell.
Okay- could say lots more- but let me get to the example.
Many years ago- when I first started our little Kingsville church- I had all types of people attend/join. One of the guys was a sorcerer converted to preacher brother. He told me [and showed me] all the books and stuff he used to be into. He also manipulated people a lot.
He would call you up out of the blue and say ‘f—k you’ and hang up. He also did worse- lots. One time one of the church members told me that ‘brother so and so is telling people you are both gay- and sleeping together’. Now- I knew this person [the sorcerer/preacher] was gay- and had a past history that was really screwed up. He did start rumors like this with other churches.
So that night I took the church member who he said it too- he sat in my car with the window down- and I knocked on the accusers door. He was surprised to see me- I said ‘Manuel- did you tell Emmet that we were gay lovers?’ He looked at me like he was in shock ‘of course not- I would never make something up like that’ and then after he denied it over and over again- Emmet got out of the car and Manuel knew he was caught.
I had to ‘expel’ Manuel from the church meetings after that. It’s not that I couldn’t forgive him- it’s just the fact that he was there only to destroy churches. This was part of what he was taught during the witchcraft days.
This began a few years of nonstop assaults on me and my family. False calls made to the fire house. My car getting windows smashed/tires slashed. People showing up at my house- when I was on duty- at 2-3 in the morning- trying to get in.
It was bad. Now- I have had problems in life- but the gay accusation- well that was never my thing. If it were- I would either not tell this story- or just admit the thing- but the truth is- that’s just not my thing.
Have I ever messed up in other ways? Yes- my temptation [like most men] was the woman, substance abuse- so yeah- I’ll admit that. But I wanted to tell this story so you can see how the ‘dragon’ attacks people by making accusations against them- that’s how he works.
I eventually had to move my family out of Kingsville- and that’s how we got to Corpus.
Over the years Manuel did admit what he did- and he admitted he did lie. I forgave him- prayed with him when he came by the fire house- and did the right thing by continuing to help him- even after all this crap.
I did get mad a few times- even got into some ‘I’ll kick you’re a…. if I catch you on the street’ type stuff. I did blow it with the anger thing- I’ll admit- Hebrews says ‘Moses rejected the pleasure of sin and chose to suffer with Gods people’ the bible says sin has pleasure for a moment. Yes- these few fights I had during this season- I asked the Lord to forgive me later- but they were indeed very pleasurable.
Okay- if you want to be used by God to influence others- to ‘birth people groups’ then you will become a target. The accuser has a degree of authority- like Jagger says- he’s been around for quite some time. He knows how to play the game.
But the woman [the people of God- the church] she has authority too- she has ’12 stars’ on her crown- a crown you receive when you go through tuff stuff in life.
Revelation also says the dragon opened his mouth and cast a great flood- to get the woman [a type of the accusations the devil brings up against people]. The bible says the earth helped the woman- it opened up and swallowed the flood.
As I sit here and type right now- of course there’s a tropical storm in the gulf- will be here tomorrow- heading straight for Corpus. Yes- the flood/rain/storms- there all a part of the journey. As CCR says ‘as long as I remember- the rains been coming down’ and as Jagger says ‘pleased to meet you- wont you guess my name’ yeah- I guessed it a long time ago- but Revelation also says ‘the accuser of the brethren was cast down- and they overcame him by the blood of the lamb and the word of their testimony’ at the end of the day- we win. But sure- it’s gonna rain, even flood- every so often.
[1701] DON THE DUD
Well this morning I was at least hoping for some wind- got nada. For those of you who have never lived in the gulf- or a hurricane area- every year the local [and national] media have a tendency to ‘hype’ any type of disturbance in the gulf.
As Don developed into a tropical storm the other day- our local media began the regular routine of tracking the storm- ‘will it hit here- what are the tracking routes showing’ as I watched I said to myself ‘self- they don’t realize that the graphics they are using- the whole cone of danger- look exactly like the graphics they use for a cat. 4 hurricane’.
I realized that even though the actual satellite imagery is obviously different- yet the ‘narrative’ surrounding the entire event stays the same- and to the average grandma- glimpsing the local weather report- well yes- it looks like a hurricane is on the way!
Last night I watched the stupidity of the media- the Repubs passed their bill- finally- and it was off to the Senate- and of course the Senate has already said it would be dead on arrival. As I listened to the media- many Dems were sort of treated like they were the enlightened folk- and the reporters were like ‘and when will the Tea Party quit holding the whole country hostage- and purposefully stop trying to destroy the country’.
And the Dems would say ‘okay- they played their little game- in the House- and when will they stop playing these games- and really come to a solution’.
I began to realize that the Dems were really not presenting a totally honest picture- and with the help of the media- were actually positioning themselves for going past the Aug. 2 deadline.
Now- I’m not a tea partier- in any way, shape or form- I’m talking narrative here [remember Don] the story they are trying to tell- is not really as bad as they are making it sound like. I’m not saying the threat of default is not bad- it is very bad. I’m saying the story behind why the Dems [and Obama] won’t actually sign any of these Repub bills is not what they’re making it sound like.
The Repubs in the house have passed 2 bills- and sent them to the Senate. Both of these bills have cuts to go along with the increase in the debt limit- they also- now- have included a future vote on a constitutional amendment to have a federal balanced budget.
These bills have one more thing- the Repub bills have the House and Senate revisiting the whole thing again- in 6-9 months.
This is the main thing the pres. does not want. Why? The hard right says it’s for purely political reasons- the pres. does not want to have this fight again in the midst of a re-election campaign. The left say a 6 month plan would cause the rating agencies to drop our rating- because they think we will be on the brink again soon.
Both of these have some truth to them. But the facts right now- on the ground- are the Dems in the senate have already agreed to just about everything the Repubs have said- the Reid bill cuts 2.2 trillion- along with a debt limit increase- but it takes you past the election.
So now- why are Peirs Morgan- and Fahreed- and all the other talking heads saying ‘the tea partiers are driving us over the cliff- its Armageddon’ why? A bill with a promise [not an actual mandate] to have a future vote on a fed. Balanced budget is not the end of the world. Geez- it would take 2/3rds of the house and senate to pass it- then it would be sent to the states to get ratified [probably would never pass].
49 states already have it [and it doesn’t work so great- California is one of them]. So- why not appease the 80 tea party ‘nut jobs’ and sign the thing? I mean you already agree to the whole concept- because that’s the same basic plan that Reid has put out- except the Repub bill makes you do this again before the election.
Now- for the media to be saying ‘why have the tea party terrorists taken us to the precipice- why!’ geez- why not ask Obama- heck- we know you tried to compromise- and you did take some heat from the left- but geez- are you going to let the nation default- mainly because you don’t want to have to do this again in the middle of an election’?
I mean- the bills on the ‘table’ are very close- swallow the promised future vote on a fed. balanced budget- and ‘save the world’.
The media has simply decided to run with ‘the tea partiers are destroying the country with their proposals’ actually- the proposals are conservative- I’ll grant you that- but there are really no big differences- certainly not big enough to cause a default- to threaten a veto.
I saw a story one day- whenever I see something on evolution- I like reading it. You usually can see the bias right at the start. The story was about this new potential missing link. They found this ‘monkey’ tribe that mastered the use of tools- they made hammers and chisels and used them regularly in these caves. Wow! What a find.
The story showed how these caves had these monkey bones [skulls only] and these caves had these make shift tools in them. The skulls were all in a pile- and the tools around some table like device [these monkeys were obviously very skilled in the building trade].
The article said that this was scientific evidence for evolution. After all- who can deny that the skulls and chisels are real! I found it interesting- that the skulls were all in a pile- that there were no other bones- just skulls. Okay- according to the article- I have to believe that these advanced monkeys- either were all killed at one time- while huddling in the corner- or as they aged- they had a strange tradition- as they felt the big one coming on [you know- Fred Sanford- I’m coming home Elizabeth] they ran to the corner of the cave- laid down just in the right spot- placing their head over grandpa- and died.
Or could there be another narrative- another view of the actual evidence- don’t deny the evidence- just quit adding ‘your narrative’ and telling everyone it’s the only real way to see it.
In many parts of the world- the indigenous tribes do in fact eat monkey brain. These tribes make chisels/hammers to crack the heads open. Is it possible that they were simply getting the monkey heads- one or 2 at a time- having a ‘man cave’ moment- watching the super bowl- and after a fun night of monkey brains and beer- they tossed the skulls into a pile. That’s why you have skulls only.
The other view has some dogs coming into the cave- taking all the other bones- and not touching the skulls- okay- 2 views. I like to crab- after we have a crab boil- I guarantee you- you will find a bunch of crab shells in one spot- did they all naturally die in that spot- and did they actually craft the nut cracker and the table that it sits on- come on.
So as we close the week- the media is warning ‘Armageddon is here- the tea partiers have driven us over the edge- the end is near’ I guess the only person that comes out looking like a rose is sitting in some hotel on the left coast- listening to all these warnings and saying ‘see- I told you so’ you sure did Harold- you sure did [Camping].
[1702] FATHER GUIDO
As I young Italian kid growing up in N.J. - right across the Hudson you saw the bright lights of N.Y.C. - back in the day [70’s] you had the rise of SNL [Saturday Night Live] it became an instant hit with the locals- and we were all treated to the ministry of Guido Sarducci- the Catholic comic who took his skit to the big screen.
Of course if you were an Italian Catholic- you could make fun- but if you weren’t- hey- don’t talk about my religion/culture! Italians are a proud people- and often times the Macaroni and Meatballs [which I just made this past Sunday] fit right in with the religious/cultural tradition- that is you tend to associate your religious views along with everything else- and in a way I’m okay with that [though you will find many teachers/preachers who are not.]
Italians also had a way of making excuses for those among us who had some type of physical/mental handicap. In Today’s world we realize that even the word Handicap is politically incorrect- but back in ‘the day’ we didn’t know any better.
It’s a funny thing with us Italians- we seemed to come up with some excuse- and that same excuse would get passed around- sort of like an oral tradition- and you would hear it used many times over.
I had a friend whose brother had somewhat of a disability- wasn’t too bad- but you could tell. And I guess his mom [good Italian family] always told him ‘if any of the boys ask about your brother- tell them that when he was young a bowling ball fell on his foot’. So I [and the other hoodlums] grew up- with this inner fear of bowling- why?
Another commonly used ‘tool’ was ‘the piano fell on his head’ geez- can we come up with something a little more believable? I mean after hearing that one a few times- I began asking myself ‘what’s wrong with us Italians- cant we either avoid ordering pianos- or avoid living in apts where people do order them- or at least not walk underneath them anymore’. Look- we are a proud people- and I’m sure brother Guido likes his job [at the furniture store] but enough is enough- someone needs to go down there and tell Guido ‘look brother- you have dropped so many darn pianos these last few years- your gonna do real damage to the entire Italian community- go get a job at the Pizza Parlor- please- before you kill us all!’
Well this gets me to the point- we- as people in general- associate our heritage with our religion [whether German Lutheran- Italian Catholic- or whatever]. We connect who we are- with what religion we embrace. As a proud Italian myself- I was glad to see- as I studied the history of Christianity and theology- that the Catholic church does indeed have a strong heritage- and that it’s okay to view the church as a good Christian church.
Now- this statement alone is enough to lose lots of ‘blog readers’ I mean in the realm of Protestant Christianity- this statement is often considered unforgiveable. But most ‘learners’ who study original sources- the church fathers- etc. most of us come to this conclusion based on the facts- that you see a very strong Catholic form of Christianity- very early on [2nd century].
You actually see some writings that speak about an early order for the Mass- and it’s surprisingly similar to what you see today. But of course you also have many doctrinal disagreements that Catholics and Protestants have fought over- and often times these 2 groups are disagreeing over things- that weren’t even part of the original ‘disagreement’ [16th century reformation.]
This discussion- cultural Christianity- has made it into the news in recent days. You had the tragic murders take place in Oslo- Norway- and the media has gone back and forth over whether or not the killer should be defined as a Christian Terrorist.
Oreilly made headlines by taking the N.Y. Times to task for doing a front page story on it- using the Christian term. Others have said that he was indeed a ‘Christian terrorist’. Some of the debate hinges on this ‘cultural Christian’ view. That is- if your view of Christianity is ‘lets go back to the medieval crusades- and re claim Europe once again for the white Christian population’ then the man was truly ‘Christian’ in a sort of cultural way- seeing it more as an historic cultural movement- and less thru the eyes of ‘a personal relationship with Jesus’.
As a matter of fact- the Oslo shooter says this very thing in his writings- that he chose to become a Christian by being baptized at the age of 15- in Norway’s state church- yet he does not see himself as having a personal relationship with Christ.
But these distinctions- though very alive and real amongst many Christian groups- are hard to make when simply covering the story of some nut who rants about going back to the crusades and fighting off the encroachment of radical Islam- so in a way- I think Christians cant totally disclaim the man- yet we can emphasize that true Christianity- like Oreilly said- does not teach murder.
Many years ago I went back North to attend the funeral of my uncle. I loved my uncle, as a kid he would take me- and my cousin Tara [his daughter] to the Ringling bro’s circus in N.Y. he would take us out to eat Chinese- and do stuff like that.
My dad [I later found out] always put up the cash- but my uncle enjoyed doing it. As the years went by- I realized that my uncle- Rudy- actually was involved with crime. How far up he made it on the ladder- I never really new. But I began to realize that he did have some involvement in the Italian mob scene in the area.
One time I was talking about some event that took place in N.J. [N.Y.] I think it was the world’s fair. I remember- my uncle had no recollection- then my dad quickly jumped in ‘oh Rudy- that’s when you were on vacation for a few years’ a few years? Who goes on vacation for a few years? O- now I get it- he was in jail [you know- the piano thing].
I used to do paint jobs with ‘the crew’. My dad, my uncle- and a few other guys. Juny was ‘the boss’. We actually did real- professional house painting- learned the trade and did it for a few years in Texas. But I later realized that they were all doing the crime thing [not my dad- he was in the group because they grew up together]. One time- a customer did not want to pay- after the job was done- I later found out that my dad and my uncle went and ‘made him an offer he couldn’t refuse’ he paid.
Anyway- I went back to Jersey and preached at his funeral. Boy- the place was packed- I mean it was like going to the casting of the God Father movie. As I talked- I simply did my best- realizing that many of these guys- like I said earlier- they have a culture- a tradition of being Italian- and Catholic. As I spoke I simply talked about the reality of the promise of eternal life in Christ- and shared about the lord’s supper- and gave some spiritual insight [I hope!].
Instead of trying to convince them to ‘change their religion’ I simply tried to focus them back on the main teachings of ‘their religion’ that all true Christianity is built upon the Cross- having the gift of eternal life because Jesus died and rose again. I emphasized the reality that all of these truths are based upon Christ- he purchased eternal life for us all- it’s not simply a matter of ‘what religion are you’ type of a thing.
After the funeral I had many people come up to me and thank me for the message- but I remember one person in particular. He looked to be around my age at the time [30’s] probably an Italian boy- grew up in the area [I guess] and probably did lots of the stuff I did as a kid.
In a way- I wondered if that would be me- or if he would be me- if we simply made a few different decisions in the early days.
He came up to me- looked me straight in the eye- and thanked me so much for ‘the talk’ I got the sense that he saw- for the first time- what everything was really about- that it’s not just a cultural thing- that life and death are very real things that we all deal with- and that he didn’t have to leave his religion- he just needed to understand more about what his church is all about.
Yeah- I was glad to see that he ‘got it’. I felt like I succeed that day- on the task of telling the truth- without having to make people believe everything I believe- just enough truth- truth that was right there before him his whole life- truth that just needed to break though.
Of course you can only do so much with these short trips- I mean if I had the time- I would have liked to have gone downtown- you know- to that piano store- and had a talk with old brother Guido- maybe speak to his union boss [who might have been at the funeral- you know- the mob connection] but time was running short. I guess there are kids living in Jersey right now- walking the same streets to school- ordering pizza at some famous spot- watching re runs of Father Sarducci. And of course- I’m sure they know someone- some friend or relative- well yes- when they asked ‘what happened to so and so’ the response was ‘the piano fell on his head’ geez- one word of advice to my Italian buddies- stay away from the damn pianos.
[1703] CALLING ALL ANGELS
Let’s try and do some teaching today. A few weeks back I mentioned how I kept ‘stumbling’ upon bible verses that speak about angels- especially Gabriel and Michael. I mentioned how I was praying for Persia [geez- who prays for Persia?] and I started praying for God to send Gabriel and Michael to ‘war’ against any leaders who were wicked.
Okay- this all started at a time when I was doing a teaching on Islam- and was [and still am] praying a lot about the Arab Spring. Anyway- one morning- after praying like this- I felt the Lord leading me to read Daniel [I think chapter 8?].
Anyway as I read the chapter- God says ‘I heard your prayer- and I have sent Gabriel and Michael to go and war against the prince of Persia’. Man- you can’t make stuff like this up. Anyway- I actually had a few more of these ‘angel signs’ that I didn’t get into. The other day I mentioned how when I woke up- I felt the Lord wanted me to read Revelation 12- sure enough- there you have Michael warring against the dragon- helping the woman who is being attacked. Then this morning- I felt like we should do Luke chapter 1. And again- you have Gabriel telling Zacharias that his sons name will be John. And Gabriel communicating with the Virgin Mary.
I just found it strange that I have been bumping into all these angel chapters- I mean I do realize the bible has accounts of angels- but the odds on accidently hitting all these chapters- while not looking for them- it’s not that easy.
Okay- when we read the bible [which I hope you guys are doing] it’s easy to read straight thru the gospels- and not notice the details. Luke’s gospel has more accounts of women speaking- their dialogue- than any other gospel. Some scholars think Luke actually interviewed the Virgin Mary in his compilation of his gospel.
Marks gospel refers to Jesus as ‘the Son of man’- Matthews gospel uses the term Kingdom of Heaven in place of Kingdom of God. Out of all the titles used for Jesus- the term Son of Man is the 3rd most popular. Jesus Christ [Messiah] and Son of God are popular- but the term Son of Man comes from the vision that the prophet Daniel had.
It’s interesting to note- that even though this term is ‘less honorable’ than the others- yet when Jesus is referring to himself- it is the most common term that he uses.
In Luke chapter 1- we see an interesting thing. When the angel Gabriel [the only angels given names in the bible are Gabriel and Michael] speaks to Mary and Zacharias [John the Baptist’s dad] they take the good news as an answer to the promises that God made to the Jewish nation years before. Both Mary and John’s dad say ‘you have kept the promise you made to Abraham- you have kept the promise made to King David’.
What promise? Right at the beginning of the biblical story [Genesis] we see God interacting with man- he chooses Abraham to start a ‘conversation’ with. This journey eventually leads to the birthing of the nation of Israel. Abraham has Isaac- Isaac has Jacob- and Jacobs name is changed to Israel- and he has 12 sons [the 12 tribes of Israel].
Down the line comes a great king who will rule over Israel- his name was David. God made promises to David [like he did to Abraham] and one of those promises was God would raise up a son to David- who would sit on ‘the throne forever’. Now- this is one of those prophecies that is a dual prophecy- that is some of the language used is speaking about Solomon- David’s son- and some is fulfilled thru Christ.
In Luke one- they are praising God for raising up this promised king- a Son of David- who will sit on David’s throne. These promises were very real among the Jewish people of the 1st century.
Now- it would take way too much time to try and explain the various theological arguments that have taken place about this promise- that Jesus would inherit the Throne of his father David. Suffice it to say- that when you read the sermons in the book of Acts- especially Peter’s- you see them speaking about the resurrection and ascension of Jesus as the main fulfillment of this promise. Peter says that the actual promise that a son of David would sit on the throne ‘forever’ could only be fulfilled thru somebody who would live forever- thus pointing to the resurrection of Christ.
The early Jewish believers/apostles all accepted Jesus as the fulfillment of the promise that God had made to Abraham and David. God told Abraham that he too would have a son that would bless all nations [Jews and gentiles] and the apostle Paul uses this a lot when talking about the gentile church.
Today’s point is- right at the start- the early Jewish people saw the coming of Jesus as the fulfillment of the promise of God to send the Messiah to them. There are various reasons why many people later rejected this claim- but at the start- they saw Jesus as the fulfillment.
When the angel tells Mary about her giving birth to this Messiah- she replies ‘be it unto me according to thy word’. Mary goes on and gives this ‘prophetic song’ which has come to be called The Magnificat- which is a term that comes from the start of the song- in Latin. Mary’s response to the angel is a point of contention between Catholic and Protestant scholars.
The Catholic church calls it ‘Mary’s Fiat’ which means Mary used a commanding tone- sort of like saying ‘you do this Gabriel’ like she was the one in charge. Protestant scholars view it more as a response of humility- like she said ‘okay- whatever you say’.
The confusion over this can be attributed to an early Latin translation of the bible- by the Catholic church Father Jerome. He wrote the Latin Vulgate- the very famous Catholic bible- and in Latin- the word used in this spot denotes ‘command’.
But when you go to the original Greek translation- the word is more passive.
Now- even though this is an ancient disagreement between very smart guys- how many Catholics and Protestants are even aware of this? So like many things- we are taught to see the ‘other side’ in a negative light- and often times we don’t even know why we don’t like them- we just know we don’t like them!
Okay- maybe you should read the chapter today- it’s a long chapter [Luke 1] and look for the language that talks about Jesus as being the fulfillment of the promises that God made to Abraham and David- its interesting to see the importance of the early Jewish people as seeing Jesus as one of their own.
History will later show how the Jewish believers were persecuted severely- and early on [2nd century] they would be forbidden to worship as a Jewish church [I think the emperor was Hadrian- he outlawed all Jewish expressions of ‘Christianity’ that is- Jewish people- who accepted Jesus as their Messiah].
This would leave only the gentile expression of Christianity- which we all know of today as we study church history. But we must not forget that the 1st believers were all Jewish- and they saw Jesus as the answer to the promises that God made to them centuries before- Peter said God fulfilled the promise that he made to King David- that a Son would sit on his throne- forever. Yes- the church recites this fulfillment every Sunday ‘he is seated at the right hand of the Father and will come again to judge the living and the dead’ amen and amen.
[1704] DO THE HUSTLE?
One time Jesus was engaging with the religious folk- and he said they were like kids/people in the market place. They said ‘we piped and you did not dance- we mourned and you didn’t respond how we wanted you to respond’ [my paraphrase].
A few years back a lot of things changed with me [us- ministry]. As a ‘ministry’ I never took money for personal use- no salary- nada. And eventually I ‘forsook’ all money. That is in the first few years as a home church- we did take offerings- and it was used to meet the needs of people.
When we did rent a place to meet- we used some for the expenses. But as I progressed [some say digressed!] I just cut the whole offering thing off. On the radio- we [I] was the only person who actually paid out of pocket for the air time. Though you had others who never asked for money- yet these shows were underwritten by their church.
So I just said ‘from now on- I will not take money- for anything’. I also quit claiming my giving [which was a lot- considering the radio alone] for tax purposes. I simply wanted to give the example that being ‘in ministry’ is not some type of business that you have to constantly be prodding people to ‘give to God’. I realized that much of what we call ‘ministry’ is simply well meaning people- setting up Christian non profit organizations- and then developing a mechanism to get others to ‘support the work’.
Some churches teach ‘church membership’ but many times what they mean is- after you come for a while- we want you to commit to giving 10 % of your salary to the church.
Other ministries take various approaches.
After I retired from the Fire Dept. I got into a bind- I lost my health insurance- it was too expensive to keep- so I dumped the thing. This left me in a curios spot- I was still helping lots of the people out [homeless- church friends] and sometimes I would pay a bill or 2 for them- maybe 100- 150 dollar type thing- and I would be out that month. Yes- I live off of a retirement check- just a little over what some of these friends were getting- if you add in the Medicare/Medicaid- and some had disability/s.s. checks.
I guess they didn’t realize that paying a bill or 2- actually- really left me broke. Now- I didn’t complain [unless you count this post as a complaint!] but at times- after doing the ministry this way- I always found it strange that people still questioned me [and others in general] about the ‘money motives’ of ministry.
I had a relative call me and straight out question me on why I was not financially supporting another family member [kind of a bold thing to ask- out of the blue] I knew this relative was quite rich- multimillionaire? At least in the category of a millionaire. They said ‘if your spending all this money on your homeless friends- why don’t you use some of the funds for so and so’ I said ‘what funds are you talking about’?
They then realized I was basically doing the stuff from my measly check- yes- as bad as that sounds- that’s the deal.
Then they were upset that I was ‘wasting money’ on helping people.
Like Jesus said ‘we made music for you- and you didn’t dance’ that is people see ‘ministry/church’ as ‘we expect you to respond in a certain way’ and sad to say- because of this very subject- money- many preachers/churches do ‘adjust’ their messages based on how well the giving went in the previous month.
Needless to say- the whole thing at times seems to be a vast wasteland- coming up with all types of ‘bible verses’ and telling people ‘if you don’t give- your testing- robbing God’ geez- we better make sure were using that verse in context [Malachi] because in most of these scenarios we are not- and then to falsely charge people with ‘robbing God’ that’s pretty darn bad.
I don’t blame my friends for not realizing that at times- me helping them out- well- it did put me in a bind. And sometimes- they don’t realize that because I don’t have health care benefits- that if you actually added everything up- many of these friends are actually making the same [or more] than me.
I just feel like we all need to do our best to help others- don’t assume that people have money- or that they are in it for the money. Many times people are just doing what they feel they are required to do.
And of course- you’ll always have the friend/relative who wants you to do a dance for them- to justify- for them- why you do what you do- never mind that they are worth a hundred times more than you- and they are in much better shape to help the relative- no- that’s none of my business. But when they Pipe [make music] they just want you to dance- geez- I never was a good dancer- why start now?
[1705] THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA
I was gonna wait till next week to post- but there has been some important news stuff going on- and last night S&P actually downgraded our rating [from AAA to AA+]. So let’s do some today.
Of course last week we finally raised the debt ceiling- our debt will now hit around 17 trillion [wow] until the next raise. I found it interesting to see how the media try’s to tell the public what they think is best- and they actually lie quite a bit.
A few weeks back CNN started a new show with Fahreed Zakariah- I thought I would like it- Fahreed is somewhat of an intellectual and I have heard him in debates before. The only drawback I saw [in the past] was he seemed to take one position- and defend it vigorously- and then take the other side at another time- and sware that this time he was right.
Okay- during the debt ceiling debate- many on the left described the ‘Tea Party’ as nuts- terrorists, psycho’s- the whole deal. It did get a little ridiculous after a while. I saw Fahreed- you know- the smart guy- he tried to give an in intellectual argument to why the Tea Party was ‘subverting the constitution- and actually bringing down the Democracy’ what? Yes- he explained how our govt. has 3 branches- and when one party [Dems] hold 2 [Pres, Senate] that if a minority of the 3rd branch [Tea Part- minority in the house] ‘take hostage’ the country- then they have actually subverted the Republic.
He then went on to attack the whole Tea Party mantra- their idea of cuts without taxes- everything. He then explained that the entire world has compared us to Europe [now it gets bad] and that even Europe looks good compared to us- he said that the Europeans have actually ‘shown the world’ that they are very reasonable compared to the U.S. in their dealing responsibly with their debt crisis.
Now- the very next day- because of European fears [no matter what anyone says- they have not solved their debt problem- it has actually spread this week- Italy is on the edge right now] we began to see the market collapse [dow went to 11,300 from a high of 12,500]. There are many reasons that this happened- but one of the main ones is the fear that the European debt crisis might spread to the globe.
So- the night before Fahreed said the world compared us to Europe- and the reasons we are in trouble is because we did not act responsibly- like Europe.
Then when asked ‘overall- is it at least good that we made the deal and avoided default’ he said no- and then made the actual Tea Party case to defend his position. He said that the deal only cuts a few billion in the beginning years [which he has advocated before!] and then he said- the way congress spends- ‘there’s no guarantee that they will ever stick to the cuts’. This is the exact argument the Tea Party made- to the tee!
That’s why they fought for a constitutional amendment- which Fahreed does not want.
Okay- then MSNBC had on an addiction specialist [I kid you not] to analyze the mental health of the tea party. Martin Bashir asked this guy to explain the danger of the Tea Party. The shrink went on to explain that when addicts have unrealistic expectations [Tea Party- cuts and no taxes= want dugs to make me happy] that they will resort to any means to get what they want [Heroin addict- give me your money or I’ll shoot. Tea Party- do the cuts or well not vote for a debt increase] when addicts do not see the danger of their unrealistic expectations- then yes- you get Oslo, Norway. You must be kidding- they had a guy on the air- comparing the position of the right to the guy who killed 80 people in Norway- and he [like Fahreed] tried to make it sound respectable.
On the news last night- before the downgrade- the jobs numbers came out for July. Now- news addicts like myself watch these things closely. The ‘left’ wants real bad to have some good news for the average folk. If the numbers are bad [under 200,000 new jobs is bad] then that doesn’t help. But there was no way the numbers would be above 200 thousand- I mean no one predicted that. They were hoping that they would at least be around 100,000- and not like the last report- where they hoped for 100 thousand and got around 18,000.
So as I perused the talking heads [ABC, CBS, NBC] of course they talked about the ‘number’ of unemployment dropping to 9.1 from 9.2- the number that I was waiting to see was the actual jobs number- how many new jobs were created last month?
Instead- I saw a screen graphic [you know- Lemmings like graphics- they think if they show the public anything- well they will never know] and it showed 230,000 new jobs [what!] and the unemployment dropping to 9.1 [from 9.2].
I immediately new they were lying- they were gonna show what they wanted to show you- and if they can tell you their story- any way they can- they will.
So- the small print [under the 230,000 jobs number] was the total manufacturing jobs gained- get this- since 12-09. What? Why take one sector- and go back to Dec. of 2009- and then add it up and show on the screen ‘230,000’ new jobs. Well, that’s the only jobs number [230,000- for total jobs from July] that would fit with the picture ‘unemployment went down to 9.1’. [Note- the reason 130,000 new jobs does not lower the overall rate is because that does not even keep up with the population growth of the country- we get over 100,000 new people seeking jobs every month]
No other jobs number would work. So they simply lied- they gave you a picture- false- and thought ‘you know- the average folk- we tell them what we think they should hear’.
So how did the unemployment number drop to 9.1? There are various factors that make up the number- some months you have natural weather disasters [snow storms] and people simply don’t go looking for work- that skews the number. Other months- people have been out of work so long- they give up- that skews the number.
But if the total jobs were only 130,000- then you know for a fact- that the real number didn’t drop a decimal Point- cant happen.
So more than likely some people didn’t go job shopping last month- and that skewed the number. But- the media knew they needed you to see the headline ‘230,000 new jobs’ and ‘unemployment down- 9.2 to 9.1’ and by golly- they found a way to make that happen.
Now- I hate to say [well actually I don’t hate it] ‘I told you so’ but heck- I did! If you go back and read/check the last months posts- somewhere in there I said ‘people must be nuts to be in the stock market right now’ now- I gave the caveat ‘I’m not telling you to get out’ but I then went on and said ‘if you’re smart- get out’.
Every media financial guy that was on the air- bar none- said ‘to the average investor- don’t panic- stay in the market’. Yet- in the past few weeks- 98% of trades that were done by these professional fund managers- who manage 401 k’s- 98 % were trades fleeing the stocks and going into bonds. Why? The Dow was at 12,500 [too high in my view] and we were facing all types of bad news. The Greek debt crisis [now more than Greece] the entire U.S. housing market is still a mess- and will be for a long time. The jobs numbers are terrible- and every indicator tells me these next few years are not going to be good.
So- if the odds of the economy getting worse are very high- then why take the risk of staying in right on the verge of a possible collapse? I know we can’t ‘time the market’- but heck- all those fund managers thought you could. Look- there was [is] no chance that the market was gonna hit 13,000 in the next few weeks- and a very great chance that it would collapse- then get your money out for the danger week/month- and if the sky doesn’t fall- then you can get back in- there was no chance you were going to miss a bull market- none.
But all the guys on the news said ‘stay in- hang in there’ and at the same time they- and all the professional funds they managed- they all jumped ship- left the stocks and fled for safety- while telling you ‘you can’t time the market’ yes- we are the lemmings.
Okay- then last night- well the S&P downgraded us- for the first time ever. Why? Well besides all the stuff I just mentioned- they felt the debt deal did not go far enough- that we needed to at least cut 4 trillion in spending over 10 years- we did about half that.
The defenders of the president were out in numbers- blaming the S&P for bad math [yeah- they did make a mistake- but that doesn’t change the overall picture one iota] and the reality is- the global economy is in trouble. Now- when you downgrade an entity [state, city, nation- bank, etc.] that means that entity has to pay you more interest if you buy their debt [treasury bonds]. But the last few weeks we have seen all the professional money fleeing stocks- and yes- going into U.S. bonds. Look- these investors know the scoop- S&P didn’t reveal anything that we didn’t already know- so the fact is- yeah it’s bad that we got downgraded- but the other investment options are so bad- that at the end of the day- people are still buying U.S. debt.
In high school I had a teacher- Mr. Steinberg. Mr. Steinberg was not ‘cool’ as a matter of fact- he seemed a little nerdy. He was Jewish- and at times wore a Star of David necklace- it was big- it was like he was asking for the persecution.
I liked Mr. Steinberg- and respected him for not being ashamed of his faith. It was in his class [English] that I was introduced to the great classics. Grapes of Wrath, Old man and the sea- all the classics. After we covered a book- he would check the TV Guide and when the made for TV movie was on- he assigned us to watch it.
Both of the above books/movies became favorites of mine- till this day I’ll watch them when they pop up on the classic channel. I actually have the Grapes of Wrath book sitting right here.
But the movie- Old man and the Sea- enthralled me. The struggle of the old man- his fight with the great fish- his arm wrestling bouts with the younger guys- the whole mystique was my thing.
The author- Hemingway- was himself a ‘mans man’ he lived large- took in all the experiences of life- and embraced a philosophy of life called Nihilism. This world view was popularized by men like Sartre, Camus and Freud. It basically is atheistic and says ‘there is no real meaning to life- man is a ‘useless passion’- he exists, only for the purpose of experiencing life- when the pain exceeds the pleasure- that the responsible thing to do is check out’. Yes- this philosophy advocates suicide.
Sartre [John Paul Sartre] actually said that the only philosophical question left is suicide- that we need to ask ourselves- as a society- should we allow ourselves to check out- for the good of the whole- when the pain exceeds the pleasure.
Another great work of Hemingway is titled ‘the Sun also rises’. He took the title from the biblical book of Ecclesiastes- written by Solomon [you know- to everything there is a season]. Solomon also embraces a sort of nihilistic view in this book- though it is in the bible- it is a form of literature called ‘pessimistic wisdom literature’. Sort of the philosophy Hemingway embraced.
Hemingway spoke about this view all thru out his life- though he was a brilliant writer- he had no hope ‘in the world’ [Apostle Paul]. One night, after he went to bed with his wife- he woke up- went downstairs and rigged up his favorite hunting rifle- and blew his head off. His daughter followed him a few years later.
I don’t know what’s down the road for our world right now- there are many people feeling hopeless today because they have lost- yes once again- a big portion of their wealth. As Christians we can say ‘yes- life is hard- we struggle at times- but in the end our struggles are working out a higher purpose- we have meaning in life’ but the atheist/nihilist- to them there is no redemptive purpose to the struggle- when the pain exceeds the pleasure- well yes- they check out.
Over the next few weeks- wherever you are at- think for yourself. If all the professional investors take their money out of stocks- and at the same time they advise you different- then stop listening to them. If your mad at the right [or left] then don’t keep watching people who are coming up with diagnosis’ that say the country is being run by actual Oslo killers- that’s just not true- no matter how much you might hate their point of view.
And at the end of the day- we as believers- we do have hope in the world. Mr. Steinberg wore that star of David- proudly. And in a recent post [Last?] I spoke about the promise that God made to king David- that he would raise up one of his sons and this Son would rule on the throne for ever. Yes- today this promise has been fulfilled through Christ- who sits at the right hand of God.
I don’t know- maybe I’ll rent the Old man and the Sea later [I tried in the past but couldn’t find it] and I’ll see the struggle of the old man [played excellently by Spencer Tracy] but instead of embracing his creators view [that is his earthly creator- Hemingway] I’ll ‘give’ my sufferings up- as the Catholics say- I’ll offer them to the Lord. Hemingway took the cowards way out- at the end of the day- he wasn’t the man we thought he was- he copped out.
[1706] MINING FOR GOLD? [the Obama way- Warning- this one might be a little crude for some of my readers- had a tough week]
Okay- this week has been a roller coaster to say the least. The market went down- up- and down again. I think it closed at around 10,700 last night. I’m not in the market- I got out years ago- yet I still follow the stuff.
We also had the recall election in Wisconsin- out of the 6 Repub senators who were up for a recall- only 2 lost. The Dems spent around 30 million- hoping to maybe knock out all 6- they didn’t do as well as they wanted. I find it funny that all the liberal news coverage- they never mentioned that 2 Dems are up for recall next week- they just tell you what they think you need to hear.
A few weeks back- during the heat of the debt ceiling vote- one of the major sticking points was a vote for a balanced budget amendment to the constitution. Now- there are pros and cons to the thing- but wouldn’t you think that they might do a poll on the thing?
I mean you had news guys asking ‘are the Tea Partiers terrorists’ and other stuff like that. How bout one poll on ‘do you favor a balanced budget amendment’. Then I heard some talking heads say ‘and why do we [We?] not want a balanced budget amendment’? And the other talking head said ‘well- if you do that- then if the country faces another crisis- we wouldn’t be able to do another stimulus’.
Gee- that just might be good- don’t you think? The way they were talking- I knew something was up- they had that condescending attitude that said ‘you know- the American people are to stupid to know these things’.
Sure enough- CNN did do a poll- and it was around 70 % of the people who wanted a balanced budget amendment. They did not report the poll on the air- you know- that would take away too much time from the real story- that the Tea Partiers are Hobbits- so they stuck the poll on their on line page.
Years ago- at the Fire Dept. we used to have ‘snake oil salesman’ come by every now and again. They were either selling insurance or some other type of investment scheme to get the guys in. I was mad that these guys would buddy up to the chief- and then all the guys were ‘told’ to listen to the sales pitch. And of course- the pro’s- well they have a way of selling stuff- things that people don’t need.
One year we had some guy selling life insurance- boy was he good. I think he was a Jersey brother [like me!]. Boy- he talked just like the preacher in the movie Elmer Gantry. Anyway- he went on about the need for the insurance- and at the end- he made it sound like he was signing up the guys for some city insurance thing- like when you sign your actual health care every year. He would walk up to the ones who didn’t sign and say ‘you need to sign the paperwork- you didn’t sign yet’.
Man- was I pissed. He walks over to me- gives me the line- I raked him over the coals. I told him first of all- he was selling a bad product. He was selling what’s called Whole Life- your really better off buying Term- and if you want to invest- then take the cost difference and just stick it in your 401 k [or the bank!].
I blew his cover- it was too bad he already signed most of the guys.
So this is what I see going on right now- lots of miss information- news people lying- on the left and right- and both sides thinking ‘geez- those other guys are all bastards’. The truth is- they are all doing it- not just the side you don’t like.
One day I caught a show on CSPAN- there was no editorializing- just the facts. They had on some Democrat governor [I think from Washington State]. A reporter asked her why her story- about her state solving their fiscal problems- with cuts and other ‘austerity’ measures- why she wasn’t getting the coverage like Wisconsin.
She innocently [?] replied that the media weren’t covering her because her state wasn’t in turmoil- it wasn’t the same political theatre like ‘those Repub governors fighting the working folk’.
Actually- the real reason you have not seen coverage on all the Dem states that have balanced their budgets- is because all of those states- bar none- have done the same things that the evil Repub governors did- they made cuts- balanced their books [tried] and they did the same things that the media are trying to portray as evil Repub measures.
So- how can the media run with the narrative that says ‘evil Repub governors- are killing the unions’ when the Dems are doing the same basic thing?
What’s the problem then? Well when the media decides to be in the tank like this- then even if they win the argument- and recall every Repub governor in the country- then the Dems will still have to try and balance their books- and the only way to did it is through these austerity measures- or just don’t get elected and keep using it as a tool to re elect Obama.
Yeah- just like the insurance salesman- they think the average person is simply a fish waiting to jump on the hook- and sad to say- we do!
Okay- I really wanted to try and get back to some bible teaching- and actually overview some of the New Testament- but that will have to wait for now.
What should you do now? If you stayed in the market- and took another huge hit [like a few years ago] then there’s not a whole lot that you can do. Will the market go down another 1000 points- who knows? 12,500 was way too high- and I said that all year long. I even heard a financial guys fess up on national TV- he said ‘look- us insiders- we all knew that the dow was over priced at around 20 %- this was no surprise’ well heck- that’s a surprise to all your customers! The ones you’ve been telling to stay in the market this past year- even though it was just too high.
At this point [today- 8-11] it’s probably not good to sell- maybe if we get another surge up [to like 11,500?] maybe that might be a spot to take some losses- if you can’t sleep at night- and get out. But right now- you would be locking in around a 20 % loss- thats a lot.
I had a another talk with my ultra liberal friend the other night- we have a mutual friend who is very rich [okay] but this friend is always on the bandwagon about ‘I am on the side of the working stiff [geez- that would be me] and those darn Repubs are on the side of the rich [which this person is- but whose keeping count?]
This person- the rich mutual friend- is in her 70’s [married couple] and they have fought very hard against any changes to Medicare. They are in the AARP lobbying group [one of the strongest lobbying groups around] and any time any one mentions a change in Medicare- they go ballistic.
Now as rich folk- who got into the system at the start- they probably paid a few thousand dollars into the system- and have used a few hundred thousand [that’s the average for folk their age]. That is the system overpromised- and the older rich folk- who keep lobbying against change- if the truth be told- they are screwing their kids and grandkids- but why tell the truth?
So I explained to my friend- that I have paid a few hundred thousand into our entitlement programs [yeah- I have the paperwork on it] and I can’t even get disability for real injuries- documented- [bad back discs, permanent nerve damage to my right leg, and a host of other non related things that popped up right after I lost health coverage]. I told my friend ‘I’m a retired firefighter- who was told to leave that field because of real medical problems- my only real employment field- and I have paid a ton of money into these systems- and yet our rich friend- who says they are for the poor- they lobby like mad men to not even make a 50 cent change in their Medicare payment- so they can keep getting the deal of a lifetime- while the younger generation is paying out the nose to fund them’.
And to top it all off- I’m now looking at a $700- 1000 fine- yes a fine- because I don’t have health care- and because of the pre existing conditions- I will never get any [I know the public thinks Obama fixed it- he didn’t- my only option is ‘pay the fine’ they lied to you- and me]. My friend simply said ‘Oh- I never knew this’. I figured that out years ago.
We all have a tendency to see the point of view of ‘our side’ while really thinking the other side are truly demons. Yet both sides have demons- not just the ‘other’ side.
My friend then told me a funny story- which I wasn’t sure how to tell- but I’ll give it a shot. Our mutual rich friend said she had some pain in her mouth one day and she told her husband ‘can you look in my mouth- I think my gold filling fell out’. Sure enough it did- and she swallowed it!
She went to the dentist/doctor and he said ‘well- if you want- you can go through your stool over the next few days- you might find the gold filling’.
I ended our conversation with ‘hey- when you talk to so and so- say ‘yeah- John said he knows about this procedure- it’s in the Obama stimulus plan- Its one of the ways their encouraging people to go out and see if they can strike gold- because you won’t be able to increase your wealth any other way in this economy’. I hope I’m wrong- but I fear I’m not.
[1707] RICK PERRY- HE NEEDS HELP- BAD!
Okay- just a little politics- then some bible stuff.
Last night I watched the Repub debate- nothing real impressive- everyone played their angle. I also saw a few minutes of Maddow [MSNBC]. Okay- I have mentioned Maddow before- I mentioned that she is a lesbian- openly so. Fine [I don’t approve of the thing- but that’s her business] I want to simply give you an example of inconsistent thinking that people often engage in- and they don’t know it.
A few days ago a report slipped out- some insider leaked the fact that Obama [and his re election team] have made the decision to smear Perry. Now- I know both sides do it- but this was a leak and Obama and his team were mad about the leak.
Then- like clockwork- MSNBC began a week of smearing Perry- I mean it was ‘funny’ to see the sycophants- I mean they were like Pavlov’s dogs ‘jump- drool’ the whole 9 yards. First- they did a critique of the ‘Houston prayer and fasting’ thing- Perry announced a prayer day- had a bunch of preachers [who I actually disagree with theologically] at the event- and Maddow [Rachel Maddow- host of a news show] did an ‘in depth’ critique of all the ‘crazies’ that Perry was aligned with.
She misrepresented the whole group of preachers- even though I do not hold to many of their views- she said they were part of the evangelical movements ‘theocratic’ wing. Theocracy is the belief that religion should actually be a govt./state function- many in the Islamic world hold to this view.
Okay- the actual name for Christians who believe this is Reconstructionism- these Christians do hold to this view- they are a very small minority- and the group Perry was hanging with- they are in no way Reconstructionists.
Second- Maddow critiqued ‘religion’ as she has in the past- and said her only problem with people like Perry- is they want to impose their values on others.
If Rachel were a smart apologist [one who argues this point- but is smart] she would realize that all persons- especially her- do argue- all the time- from a natural law perspective. That is they- even though they deny it- are making the point- all the time- that their particular view of morality- whether it be gay marriage- or anti polygamy- or any other host of moral ideals- they all argue for the ‘legislation of morality’ legislation [the passing of law] is by definition the legislation of morality.
Now- if that law is simply ‘can't drive 70 in a 60 MPH zone’ this is the legislation of morality. The moral principle is ‘don’t drive this speed- it might kill you- and me’ and then we pass a law that legislates that moral belief. Pretty simple.
Okay- what Maddow is mad about- is the legislation of morality that effects her particular lifestyle. Now- she might say ‘well- we believe that consenting adults should be free to do what they want in the bedroom’ okay- got ya.
Would you agree to 2 adults- lets say a brother and sister- who have no ability to have kids- should we let them marry?
Most would rightfully say no- the point is- you are now defining what’s ‘right or wrong’ and it’s not simply a matter of what 2 adults want- it’s truly a matter of ‘right or wrong’.
I could go on- ad infinitum- with these examples- the point is Maddow- like Perry- like the left- the right- they all have some sense of ethics- where they derive that ideal from- well that’s another point- but they have their own ‘morality’ and they do in fact want to impose it- all the time- on other people.
So let’s at least be honest about the thing. Okay she finished her show last night with an image- she said that the true insiders- who know Perry- they will ALL tell you that they are concerned about Perry- they actually feel his is ‘dumb’.
She explained that these insiders- they all knew Bush was really smart [wow- never heard you say that before] yet they all think Perry is actually mentally challenged [I kid you not- she went down this road] and that these Repub insiders- they actually fear for the country- that a dangerous loose cannon like this might take the reins.
Okay- Maddow- who I’m sure would not appreciate us giving images of the things she does- or how ‘smart’ she is- she left us with the mental image that Perry is actually mentally challenged. The same image of Palin, Bachman, ETC.
What’s wrong with this picture? Even though she claims ‘the insiders all said Bush was a genius’ yet her network- they ran with the story that Bush was actually dyslexic- yeah- I remember. Look- I’ll admit I’m no saint here- yeah I too have made jokes about Bush’s brain.
Sure- I would say ‘hey- you critics of Bush- who said- look at the man- after the planes hit the towers- Bush sat- dumbfounded for around 7 minutes- sitting in that classroom- just looking confused’ Okay- I’ll admit I would quip ‘you guys are misreading it- he wasn’t confused about the response- he was sitting in a 3rd grade class- he was struggling with the curriculum’. Okay- I fess up.
But Maddow left us with that ugly picture- the seed of thinking ‘geez- I never knew others viewed Perry that way’ and even I couldn’t shake the mental image- now thinking that he might really be what she said.
They slandered him just as bad as the right has slandered their guys- they should just report the policies and leave this type of character assassination at home.
Okay- I didn’t’ really do any bible stuff- but I covered a little on the moral law and ethics- which fits in with theology. So for now I’ll leave it at that.
Don’t forget- to all my friends who read these posts- pray for one another. I just finished a prayer time and prayed for a bunch of my friends [and those in other nations] who are connected with us in some way- many are going through tough times- and it helps if others are also praying for each other. Pray for everyone on these sites- others who you see when going thru the site- you see a name- or a post that might indicate a friend is in trouble- then try and pray for them that day- stuff like this helps.
And of course pray for Texas- we need it bad- I just found out that our governor is actually an ignoramus- I mean not just of low intellect- but so challenged that all the insiders fear for the safety of the free world if he gets elected. The source?- The same people who said ‘we believe that Obama is possibly the smartest person to ever hold the office of the president- he more than likely has the highest I.Q. than any other office holder in the history of the nation’. The other reporter asked ‘do you know what the number is’ the first guy said ‘no- but I know its very high- higher than any other president’. This was an actual on air discourse between 2 reporters during the inauguration celebration of president Obama.
Yeah- these are just the type of folk I need telling me about Perry’s I.Q.- yeah- they sure know their stuff.
[1708] OVERVIEW OF THE BIBLE
Let’s cover some biblical history- that is the making of the bible itself. A few days ago I did a post on Jesus as the fulfillment of the promises of God made to natural Israel. The post showed how the early Jewish people saw Jesus as their Messiah- the promised one that they were always looking for.
The earliest mention of the promise goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden. God tells Eve that her child shall bruise the serpent’s head- and the serpent [actually the ‘seed’ or child] will bruise his heel. There have been works of art [statues/paintings] depicting this scene for centuries. It was fulfilled at the Cross.
So we have the 4 gospel accounts- Matthew, Mark, Luke and John- and these accounts give us the history of Jesus- his miracles and teachings- and they show us the fulfillment of God’s promise- made centuries before- that he would send them their Messiah.
Out of the 4 gospels- only one- John- has a different outline. The first 3- we call them Synoptic gospels. They follow the same basic structure- Johns stands alone.
John’s gospel contains no teachings about the end times- like the others. John doesn’t mention the parables- or the Sermon on the Mount. John’s gospel focuses more on the last week of the life of Christ- while the others cover the 3 years of Jesus earthly ministry [none cover the early years of Jesus- except for the account of Jesus being left behind at the temple when he was 12 years old].
The whole bible [Old and New testaments] have 66 books- 39 Old- 27 new. Only 3 original apostles actually wrote parts of the N.T. Matthew, John and Peter. Out of these 3- John wrote the most. He has his gospel- the three epistles [1st,2nd and 3rd John] and the book of Revelation.
The majority of the N.T. is made up of the collection of the apostle Paul’s letters. Paul is without a doubt the most influential person in the N.T.- besides Christ.
We also have the historical account of the early church- called The Acts of the Apostles- written by the same Luke that wrote the gospel. Luke was a doctor- and an historian. Then you have what’s called the General epistles- the kind of stand alone letters- Peters 2 letters, Jude, a few more like that.
And the New Testament closes with the apocalyptic book [prophecy] of Revelation- written by John [most think the apostle- some think another John- called ‘John of Patmos’]
Okay- one of the major themes of the N.T. is what we hit on the other day- a teaching called Justification by Faith. This is the main thrust of Paul’s doctrinal epistles [Romans, Galatians] and becomes a point of contention in the early church. The teaching is simple- it means the N.T. is a covenant- made by God with man [and with Jesus] that says God will give eternal life to all those who accept the death and resurrection of Jesus. That Jesus died for the sins of man- and because you believe in this free gift- your are/will be saved.
Now- the bible obviously says a lot more than this- but this doctrine becomes one of the main ones because this is the controversy that the apostle Paul dealt with for most of his ministry years.
I mentioned this the other day in a previous post.
Paul also has 3 epistles [letters] that are called The Pastoral epistles- these are 1st, 2nd Timothy and Titus. These are called Pastorals because these young men were protégés of Paul- he trained them up as local leaders who he could recommend to the early believers as trustworthy leaders- after he would leave a community.
These men did not function like what we usually call Pastors in our day- that is sort of a speaker preaching every Sunday at the ‘Main church’ building- but they were spiritual overseers- they led the flock in a way that if problems arose- these men could be looked to as honest guides.
Remember- in the 1st century- you did not have means of communication like we have today- so if Paul left a community [which is what the word church means in the bible- Greek- Ecclesia]. And if a problem rose up- like those who were coming in and saying the Gentiles had to become circumcised and keep the law- then the believers could look to the men Paul left his stamp of approval on.
Paul would of course correspond with these early communities- thus the letters- but until the letters arrived- the ‘Timothy’s’ would do.
Okay- the last book of the bible- Revelation- has gotten a lot of use- often too much- in the sense that we- especially lone wolf Protestant groups- have really done loops with the book.
Overall- the theme is about Christ [Lamb of God] being the central focus of this new kingdom of Priests and Kings [us] and even though there will be tough times [lots of the images of tests and trials] yet at the end of the day- we are ‘married’ to this Lamb [Jesus is called the groom in scripture- and the church is called the bride. God restores in the last book of the bible- what was lost in the first book- relationship- pictured as marriage] and we all live in a new heaven and new earth- and the story ends well.
Okay- just a few more points. The main message of the bible is that God made man [Genesis] he wanted man to be in communion [friendship] with him. Man sinned and this began the long process of God making promises to man [through/to the nation of Israel- and eventually it would extend to all men- thus the apostle Paul working with the Gentiles] that he would save man thru the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
All people who simply accept this benefit- they will be children of God. The focus should not be on anti Christ- or when the end of the world will happen- or on any other of a host of teachings that the church likes to dwell on- but the focus is God loving man so much- that he sent his Son to die for man- and we can be saved thru him.
Over the coming weeks I hope to do a little more on the development of the bible- why do protestants have 66 books- and Catholics have an extra 15? I’ll cover it fairly- giving the Catholic view as well as the Protestant one- and promise not to push only one view. But things like this are real questions that honest people have- and I want to help people get a better hold on the thing.
Okay- try and read some of the N.T. these next few days- overview some of the letters I mentioned- maybe read John’s gospel- Romans. I would wait on Revelation for now- I hope to give some hints that will make it easier to understand- so after I cover that a little more- then that would be a good one to read too.
And as you read Johns gospel- notice how many times the word Believe appears- being connected with those who believe have eternal life. That’s one of the strongest promises in the bible- and its Jesus doing the talking! So maybe memorize a few of them- like the famous John 3:16 verse- those types of verses last a lifetime- and longer.
[1709] MORE ON THE BIBLE
Let’s cover a little more doctrinal stuff- and if I get a chance I’ll do some practical stuff too. Okay- in the last post I covered some historical stuff about the bible- I mentioned how Catholics have 15 more books in their bibles than Protestants.
Why did this happen- or how? Okay- this might get a little technical, but those of you who have been reading my posts this past month will remember that I covered some ‘Intertestamental’ history- which means the years between the last book of the Protestant bible [Malachi] and the first New Testament book- Matthew.
These years are actually covered historically in the Apocrypha- during this time we also had a translation of the Old Testament from Hebrew into Greek. Remember how I spoke about Hellenization- which was the attempt by Alexander the Great to introduce one Greek language and culture into all the conquered territories.
Well one of the things the Greeks did was had the Jewish bible [our Old Testament] translated from Hebrew into Greek. This version is called the Septuagint- which gets its name from the so called number of scholars who translated it- it means 70.
Okay- this version was also popular in the early church- why? The early believers did read Greek- Greek was the common language of the first few centuries- when the church was born. [thus our New Testament is in Greek- originally]
Now- the early Christians had sort of a common consensus on what made up ‘the bible’. They accepted the Old Testament books- because these books were recognized by the Jews as being Canonical [which means inspired by God]. But what about the N.T.?
Like I said in the last post- the early church had a collection of writings that they used/understood to be ‘from God’. That is they had the acceptance- generally- from the Christian community. But they did not have ‘a bible’ like we have today- that is everyone walking around with a bible in book form [called codex in those days- an early book] they all did not own copies of the bible.
Remember- publishing as we know it today- didn’t arrive on the scene until right around the turn of the 16th century with the Guttenberg printing press. So any copies of books- or any efforts to put a bible together- well it would make sense to maybe include some history books along with it.
And this is also why some of the early letters seem to have ‘copied’ parts of other letters in them [Jude and 2nd Peter] not because they were plagiarized- but because books were not easily purchased- and it was acceptable- for standards of the day- to include some material from another writers pen [with his permission] in your own letter.
Okay- now when the early believers decided it was time to actually say ‘these books are in- these are not’. They had general agreement on what was in- with a few exceptions. Some early believers had the Letter of Barnabus in their bibles- others did not have Revelation. Some believers haggled over 2nd Peter [because of what I mentioned above] and others wanted a few more books in.
But the basic corpus of our N.T. was accepted by the church at large.
Now- after a few centuries the church felt it important to put her stamp of approval on the books. And the early church had a council or 2 and finally agreed on what we have today.
One of the early Popes asked a church father- named Jerome- to make a Latin translation of the bible. Jerome included the Old Testament and the N.T. - and he also included the 15 books of the Apocrypha. Why?
Jerome’s bible- called the Vulgate- was translated from the early Greek Old Testament- the Septuagint. Now- the Septuagint is/was a good scholarly work- but the original Old Testament was in Hebrew- not Greek. The Septuagint did have the Apocrypha in it.
And the inclusion of the Apocrypha was a utilitarian thing to do- if you could get these historical books in the bible- then good- you don’t have to have early believers trying to get hold of a separate history book that would fill in the blanks- remember- books were hard to come by.
Okay- Catholics and Protestants have argued over whether these extra books should be in. Protestants [and some Catholics] argue that the Old Testament books are called ‘the Law and the Prophets’ these books are quoted hundreds of times in the N.T. - even by Jesus. Yet there are no quotes from the Apocrypha.
This side argues that the Jewish people did not believe these books to be inspired- and that the N.T. itself does not put the same weight on these books as they do with the Old Testament.
The Catholic scholars argue that there are a few allusions to the Apocrypha in the N.T. [there are a couple- can go either way in my view] and they do make the point that all the bibles did have these books in them right up until the Protestant Reformation [remember- the Latin Vulgate did have the Apocrypha- though Jerome did say in the notes that the Jewish people did not recognize them on an equal plain with the ‘Law and the Prophets’- the Old Testament].
Okay- then during the 16th century Protestant Reformation- at one point in the debates the Catholic scholars argued with Luther- and they did quote from the Apocrypha to prove some doctrinal points.
Luther and the other Reformers challenged the canonicity of the books- and with the plethora of English versions of the bible being printed for the first time in centuries- the Protestants did not include these books in their versions.
The Catholics stuck with the books.
Okay- do debates like this mean we can’t agree on the actual message of Christ? No. There is really no problem in reading the Apocrypha- even if you’re a Protestant. We [Protestants] don’t accept them as ‘canon’ yet as readers of history- we should be able to read them.
And even if our Catholic brothers and sisters do accept them- there are really no major doctrinal departures from the rest of the bible. To be honest- there are a few references that Protestants do have problems with- but overall they don’t undermine the main message of the N.T.
And just a point of interest- the first 2 books [1st, 2nd Esdras] have been challenged- even by Catholic scholars- as not being part of the bible. Yet in 2nd Esdras we find a reference to Christ that does seem to be prophetic. It speaks of a king entering Jerusalem and he is standing in the middle of the people- handing out Palms.
This depicts the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem- which is in the gospels [Palm Sunday]. So it is interesting that this reference might actually be prophetic in nature.
Okay- got into the weeds somewhat- but wanted to show you guys that all Christians agree on the main points- and just because there are things we disagree on- yet the message of the Cross doesn’t change.
Bishop Fulton Sheen used to say ‘we might not all be able to sit in the same pew- but we can all meet on our knees under the shadow of the foot of the Cross’ Amen.
[1710] WHO’S THE DODO BIRD NOW?
Let’s try and get a few things in today.
First- the overview of the last couple of days- I think stuff like that is important. I have lots of friends from different religious backgrounds and nations. Some are Muslim, some are Jewish- others hold to eastern religions.
I want everyone to have a grasp on what the message of Christianity is- it often gets lost in the debates that rage between nations and various political stances- yet the main message of the bible is that Christ died to pay for the sins of all mankind- and God saves/receives people on the grounds of his Son having died for us.
The Old Covenant [the law] was based on man trying real hard to be good- he could never live up to the standard. Then the New Covenant was established- which was based on this free gift of eternal life- Jesus paid the price- we receive salvation as a gift- not as a matter of works.
I’ll do more on the basics the next few weeks- but I wanted to at least hit these truths for a few days.
Okay- as a Texan I stated a while ago that I’m not particularly a fan of Rick Perry. In many ways I do not fit the political mold of ‘the right’ or the left. I also realized that if Perry jumped into the fray- well the left would use that with all their might to play on the divisions of the country.
MSNBC has showed no shame in saying that the Evangelical Protestants are nuts- and the Catholics [Lawrence O’Donnell says this a lot] are the stable folk. Now- as a Christian- I see myself more and more as a composite of all the great historic faiths.
Anyone who has read my blog for a while can easily see that. I have actually had to correct Catholic news guys- quite often- when they misrepresent their own church. So I think the lefts agenda to feed into this divide- for purely political purposes- is bad.
Last night I was channel surfing and I hit Gore’s station- current T.V. They had Shuster filling in for Olbermann. He was teasing a segment on Perry- you know- saying now that he’s in the race- well damn it- we are not gonna let him get away with his lies!
So Shuster kept saying ‘Perry’s misleading you about the job growth in Texas- we’ll uncover his lies in a moment’. Okay- I’m fair-minded- not really a Perry guy- I’ll listen.
He goes on and plays a clip where Perry states- carefully- that since June of 2009- over 40 % of the new jobs created in the country came from Texas.
Now- the last few weeks I have heard various pundits use this figure- sometimes they would exaggerate and say around 50 %.
So I figured Shuster and the crew had something on the man- they did report- as news- that he lied.
Then Shuster gave the scoop- he said first of all- many new people have moved to the state of Texas [okay- listening] and that many of the new jobs created in the state were service related—restaurants- etc. [okay- still listening] and that many of these jobs are not high paying- and therefore Perry lied.
Well someone lied for sure- but it wasn’t Perry.
Then I caught a clip of the channels owner [Gore] going off the rails. This past week was bad news for the global warming crowd [I’m not an absolute denier by the way]. I saw/heard the clip a couple of times- Gore was at some meeting and he freaked out- he was saying ‘those who say the earth is not warming- bull s^%$t. Those who deny this/that- bull s---t.’ I mean it sounded like one of my posts on a bad day.
I guess the pressure got to him- lots of folk are rejecting the science behind global warming. Let me say- I have never deeply looked into it- but as a big news guy I hear both sides. The other day I read a news article- it was a small article hidden in the paper- but it said that we now have scientific proof that the pollution trapped under the ozone layer- is in fact contributing to the COOLING of the planet.
The article explained the actual pollution particles do act as a sort of sun block- and they block some of the sun’s rays from getting in- thus cooling the planet.
Now- this report was not on Fox- or Rush- it was in a plane Jane news paper. I mean even as a casual reader of the subject- I had to laugh. I mean this is the exact opposite argument that Gore has made.
Then- for the first time ever- I watched Gores global warming flick. It came on after the news show I watch on his station. Sure enough- he shows a sort of cartoon graphic that shows the sun- and the rays of the sun penetrating thru the ozone layer surrounding the planet. And then the cartoon shows the ray bouncing off the earth- but when it gets back up to the ozone layer- well the ray gets stuck inside- it can’t get out.
He then went on to explain that the pollution [co2] is causing this effect- and that’s why the globe is melting.
Now- I had just read the news article- and it was obvious to ask ‘well Mr. Gore- how come when you show the graphic- the rays have no problem getting in- the pollution does not block anything from getting in- yet when the same ray wants to bounce back out- it can’t’.
I mean it wasn’t that hard to see that there were real problems with his idea- and I guess the world is finding out a little faster than he wished.
The other day I read an article on Evolution. It showed one of the most famous ‘proofs’ for evolution. Those who have read the pros and cons on the thing- well we all know about the famous bird/dinosaur fossil that was found around 150 years ago.
This fossil has been used as proof for the theory- for 150 years. Now- this extinct looking bird does look like it came from the pre historic world. But I have heard- for 20 years at least- the creationists say that this fossil is not a bird fossil at all- that is simply a flying dinosaur.
Now- there are ways scientists can tell this stuff from fossils- it would take too long to try and explain the whole thing [plus- I don’t know the whole thing!]. But we know in our day that birds have completely different body structures than dinosaurs. Birds do not have lungs- they have hollow bones and when they fly the air goes thru their body- and that’s how they oxygenate their bodies.
That’s why you never see a bird breathing heavy- or breathing at all after it lands- they don’t breathe like animals who have lungs.
Okay- for various reasons the evolutionary community needed to show that they found a bird/dinosaur fossil- it was needed to fill in the blank between dinosaurs turning into birds- which is part of evolutionary theory.
I have heard scientists argue- time and again- that the creationists were doing fake science when they claimed this fossil was really a dinosaur- not a bird [Flying dinosaur- but a dinosaur never the less]. And these scientists would say all true science has proven- beyond a Shadow of a doubt- that this particular fossil was indeed a bird.
Okay- the article I just read said ‘surprise- Chinese scientists have just discovered that the so called bird- well it’s a dinosaur’!
You know- you hear things all the time- from sources of media- people who sware they are telling the truth ‘Perry is lying about creating 40 % of the nations jobs’ and then when you look at the numbers- well the news guy was lying.
Yet these same advocates- who it was already leaked that they were going to do a smear campaign- they want to tell us how they are so smart- and the rest of the country are a bunch of duped Tea Partiers. Yeah- that’s the smart crowd- the ones who were worshipping at the foot of a 150 year old bird for past century and a half- and Walla- they were really worshipping a dinosaur instead.
The apostle Paul said [Romans] that people loved and served the creation- rather than the creator. And as a judgment God have them up to become like the thing they worshipped. Wow- can’t get better than then- can it?
[Correction- in the last post I mentioned birds having a different respiratory system than other animals. The mistake I want to correct is birds do have a sort of lung system- but they don’t have a diaphragm- they don’t breathe in and out- the same way other animals/people do. Everything else in the post is accurate- just wanted to clarify this part].
[1711] HE NAILED IT TO THE CROSS
[Correction- in the last post I mentioned birds having a different respiratory system than other animals. The mistake I want to correct is birds do have a sort of lung system- but they don’t have a diaphragm- they don’t breathe in and out- the same way other animals/people do. Everything else in the post is accurate- just wanted to clarify this part].
‘For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordnances- that he might create in himself one new man so making peace….and you who were dead in sins God made alive…by canceling the record of debt that stood against us..He took the law and nailed it to his Cross’ Ephesians chapter 2 and Colossians chapter 2.
Okay- as I have said in the last few posts- most of our New Testament was made up of the letters that the apostle Paul wrote to the Christians in the 1st century. The main themes of these letters are the death and resurrection of Christ- the Cross- what that means to us.
These 2 chapters mentioned above deal with what’s called a Mystery. In the N.T. writings of Paul- mystery simply means the revealing of a truth for the 1st time. One of these truths was the reality that Jesus took the law [10 commandments and all the regulations that man could not live up to] and he nailed it to his Cross.
Now- when he did this- he not only reconciled [brought us back] us to God- but he also removed the ‘enmity’ that caused ethnic divisions between the Jews and non Jews.
In today’s terms we would say the death of Christ removes all racial/ethnic barriers between the people groups of the world. When people read these types of verses- maybe for the first time- it does seem to go against the common understanding that most Christians have.
We often are raised in a good church as kids- I went to Catholic school for the first few years of my life- then switched to public school so I could hang out with my friends. But I still went to CCD classes right down the block from my grade school.
And for the most part I learned Christianity from good priests- and the process was worth it [though many of my Protestant friends will be upset with me because I say stuff like this]. And like most ‘good’ kids- some of the stuff stuck with me- but lots just fell away.
Eventually I would go thru some crisis things- got in some trouble in Texas- was a young kid on my own- and did get into reading the bible.
That’s what really did it for me- reading these truths- straight from the bible- thinking ‘geez- I never knew the bible actually said stuff like this!’
And Walla- a Texas convert! But as time progressed- and I began to get serious about studying church history and the whole realm of Christianity- I came back to an appreciation of my early Catholic roots- I didn’t have to ‘hate’ the Catholics- like many of my friends did [and do] I just needed to see the overall view of the bible- and understand that many churches- like all institutions- do have a tendency to get lost in the bureaucracy as time moves on.
So my goal at this season is to simply re introduce a lot of the bible teachings- along with a healthy appreciation of the historic churches.
The above verses talk about the New Covenant- like I said these past few days- the New Covenant is the new ‘deal’ that God made with man- saying ‘My Son died for you- if you believe- by faith- you will be saved’. Now- this deal- as opposed to the old deal [called the Old Covenant] is really great news-
That’s what the word Gospel means- good news. Of course for people who are not familiar with the bible- it just seems so strange to read a verse that says ‘Jesus took the law- the commandments that were against us- the ones we could never live up to- and he nailed them to his Cross’.
I mean this goes against what most well meaning Christians believe- that if they try their best- keep the churches rules- obey the commandants- then they will be saved.
But that’s actually approaching God with an Old Covenant mindset- not seeing salvation as a free gift- but something you earn.
How did the church in general get away from truths like this? After the first century church moved on- you did have the church go thru lots of stages. Some Protestants hold a view that in the 4th century- under the Emperor Constantine- that the church became pagan/Catholic- and that this started a 1000 year process of the Dark Ages.
I find this view to be too harsh- and prefer to see it like this. Yes, the early church did go off the rails at times- yet there were also many good things that did happen during the so called Dark Ages. At one point the only institution that existed for the protection of society was indeed the Catholic Church.
Nations appealed to her as the final arbiter for justice and fairness in the world.
As the 2nd millennium of the Christian era progressed- you had the development of the University system and the rise of the independent nation states. Germany, England, France- many nation states began to develop armies/navies- and there was a sense of real independence from Rome.
This allowed for a sort of dynamic where the leading scholars of the day [Luther, Calvin, etc..] to be able to break away from what they saw as too much church tradition- and start a movement that would get closer to the bible.
We call this the Protestant Reformation- took place in the 1500’s. Okay- during these debates the Protestants wanted to get back to the basic teachings of the New Testament and in a noble effort- they replaced the style of church- and basically removed the communion table as the central focus of the mass/service- and replaced it with a pulpit.
That is- the new focus was the bible. Okay- we got some good things- and bad things- from this. Now- most of my Protestant friends would say ‘bad- what’s bad!’
Like everything in life- it takes time to see things- and this is one of those things. What slowly happened in protestant churches was the focus shifted from the ‘Table of the Lord’ to the person speaking. In Many present Protestant churches- you basically have a large theatre where people come to hear speaking every Sunday- and this has become a very limited view of what ‘church’ is.
So even though the Protestants meant well- they in a way did remove Christ [as represented thru the Lords Table] and replaced him with the speaking office- and exalted the speaking office to a degree that is really not seen in the churches we read about in the bible.
So as you can see- we have all made some mistakes- and in time we can see the things that need to be corrected- and make those adjustments.
I prefer to see my Catholic past as a good thing- having been blessed to have had a chance to learn abut God and Christian history- even though I didn’t pay attention too well.
And I also thank God for the various Protestants expressions of Christianity that I have come in contact with over the years.
I would encourage all my friends to make an effort to get back to the bible- read these chapters I mention every so often- mediate on these truths- think about them ‘wow- the New Testament teaches that Jesus took the law- and nailed it to his Cross’. This doesn’t mean we can now go out and kill, steal- commit adultery. But it means we are saved by God’s grace. The gift of faith is given freely- we don’t save ourselves through trying real hard to live up to the church rules.
Yes- the bible calls this good news- and if you think about it- it really is.
[1712] CHRISTIANLAND
A few months back as I was sitting in my lawyer’s office- I noticed he had a painting of the great Christian martyr- Thomas Moore. I mentioned ‘Oh- Thomas Moore’ and I went on to overview his great life- and his convictions to not deny what he believed to be true- even at the point of death.
I figured my lawyer- who was a former JAG officer- would at least have some idea who the man was- he did have an expensive painting of the man on his wall- but to my surprise he had no idea who/what I was talking about.
Moore got caught up in the English reformation fights- King Henry would break with Rome and there was lots of political maneuvering going back and forth. Ultimately Thomas would get caught in the thing and he was executed because he would not deny Papal authority and accept the Kings new belief that he was the head of the English church.
Moore was also famous for his book- Utopia. It was a fictional account of this land where everyone shared and they did not live for gain- a kind of Marxist idea- centuries before Marx.
Lest do a little Utopian Redux. Say if this past year I were to tell you that this land existed on the other side of the world. It was made up of Perry’s, Bachman’s- Jerry Falwell types- you know the whole 9 yards.
In this land they hated gays- I mean all they do all day is talk about anti gay stuff! Let’s says they also are so right winged- that they have taught all the little Black kids to take up arms against their govt.
They also spread rumors that when the other countries try to come and help us- that they are secretly trying to poison us. So the kids refuse the vaccines that the developed nations are offering free of charge.
Let’s says Christianland also is experiencing one of the worst famines in history- I mean thousands of children have died- and many more thousands are on the verge of dying.
But the Christians in Christianland are so bad- that they have even used their radical religious beliefs to fight the food aid coming into the country- and because of this many of the little Black kids are dying- on a huge scale.
Do you think a story like this would get attention?
Actually this story is real- it is happening right now as I write- except ‘Christianland’ is really Somalia- and the Christians are really radical Muslims. Yes- this is the present situation in Somalia today.
Now- how has the media reported this story? Have they really covered the radical religious beliefs of this group- Al Shabab- I mean have they spent days and weeks and months harping on the sad religious angle of the story?
The vice president’s wife went there a few days ago- she came back to report on why the aid is not getting through. She spoke of the West’s responsibility to do what we can to help- but she made no mention of the fact that the religious radicals are indeed causing much of the problem.
Yet as I watched the talking heads all week- they can’t stop doing shows on Christian parents beating their kids to death [one case- Anderson Cooper is covering it like there were hundreds of thousands of cases- and he is implicating all Christians who have ever disciplined their kids with spanking].
They are consumed with any past statements from Bachman on Homosexuality- I mean they can’t stop!
Last night Christine O’Donnell [Remember- I am not a witch?] walked off the Peirs Morgan show because he just couldn’t resist drilling her on masturbation.
Let’s say if every time a gay rights advocate- who was not gay- who just supported gay marriage- say if we asked them all the time ‘so you advocate for anal sex’ and we made this the most notable thing- we talked about the actual act- described it in detail. And then said ‘well this is relevant- because you believe in gay marriage’.
And last but not least- yes- these wonderful open minded news folk- these non tea party reasonable people- yes it was only a matter of time before they would pull out their favorite card- you know- the race card.
On MSNBC Matthews [who has himself spoken about a sort of masturbation feeling he gets when he listens to the president- ‘a tingle goes up my leg’ is he describing foreplay?] had on 2 Texas politicos. They were on a split screen- top and bottom. The guy on the bottom was Jim Hightower- he used to be in the Texas political scene years ago- I guess he now has a radio show.
The other guy was a liberal from Dallas.
Matthews is engaging in his usual un informed speech- and as he is mocking the Texan [Perry]- even saying ‘the all hat and no cattle guy’ it’s hard not to laugh- seeing Hightower sitting there- with his Stetson beaming high!
And here it comes- the Dallas reporter quoted the words of Perry from a recent prayer rally- he said how Perry spoke about a 'Dark Cloud’ hanging over the nation- and that Perry believes he is the White hope that will get rid of this ‘Dark cloud’.
You know- when the left does this- purposefully injects race into the game- when we all know the real meaning of Perry’s words were not about race- then the left destroys the dialogue- they make it impossible to engage in enlightened speech.
A few weeks ago- during one of the Repub debates- CNN had on a regular Dem. Guest. His name is Cornell Belcher [he is Black]. As John King was asking them how they thought the debate went- Belcher- innocently kept using a phrase that I knew made King jump out of his boots.
Remember- John King- after the Gifford’s shooting- when the media publicly blamed Sarah Palin for the 6 deaths- King and others critiqued the right for using violent speech. King even went so far- I think honestly- that he rebuked one of his guests for saying ‘target’ or something like that.
So as he’s talking to Belcher- Belcher says that Pawlenty blew it- because he wasn’t tough enough on Romney. He then said- repeatedly ‘in these debates you have to cut the man- and make him bleed’.
Now- I saw King- I knew he was uncomfortable- but he let it slide. Then sure enough- Belcher again says ‘no- you can’t just slice the man- he must bleed too’.
He obviously was saying Pawlenty needed to not just go after Romney- but score some points. Look- I know what the guy was saying- and I did not hear any right winger rake the man over the coals- but the left were able to use the term ‘Dark Cloud’ and insinuate that Perry- and all the other right wing- anti gay- anti masturbation- child killing advocates- that they are the main cause of all the ills in the world- that if they would stop being the way they are- that the world would become a modern day Utopia- sort of like Obama spoke about in the early days of his presidency.
But no- we have a real world religious radical group- directly responsible for the deaths of many thousands of little Black kids- and this groups radical views are causing the parents of these kids to reject the free vaccinations- and their kids are dying by the thousands because of this- yet the media for some reason doesn’t see this as a major right wing religious problem- no- they want to air Bachman’s church recordings where she prays for gays- they want to go back 15 years and see why Christine does not like masturbation.
They want to find a phrase in Perry's prayer- that they can use to say ‘they hate Black folk’ yes the media are doing such a great job- I just wish I could find some place to hide- to go away from all these talking heads- maybe a place called Utopia.
[1713] THIS ROCK
A few weeks ago I mentioned how I want to try and cover the Sunday Mass readings every now and then. I watch the Mass every Sunday [as well as hold a Protestant meeting- home meeting] and I wanted to hit on the verses so my Catholic friends can get a little more into bible study.
Last week one of the readings was from Isaiah 56- the week before chapter 55. These chapters sort of cover one of the main themes that I spoke about during our overview of the letters of the N.T.
If you remember- one of the ‘mysteries’ we spoke about was the truth that in Christ- all ethnic groups are now one in Christ. This was spoken about in Paul’s letter to the church at Ephesus. In Isaiah we read about God bringing all nations to Christ ‘you will call a nation that you do not know- and nations that do not know you will come running to you’ ‘My fathers house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’- Jesus quotes this verse when he throws out the Money Changers from the temple. Another one ‘whoever is thirsty- come- drink of this water freely’ the themes of these 2 chapters is God is inviting all groups- they can come and make this Covenant with God.
God is opening the door for all groups to make it in!
On my site- a while back I made some friends from various countries- Muslim countries. I actually did a teaching on Islam- in a positive way- not to ‘trick’ Muslims to convert- but because I felt the anti Muslim feeling in the West- with the world facing so many geo political problems- that we needed to take some positions as Christians that were more gracious to people in general.
Now- I know I too ‘hit hard’ on my site- sure. But I do believe God wants us to live peaceably with ‘all men’. That friends from other religious backgrounds- if they are going through very hard times- then we need to do what we can to help them.
Every conversation with a young Muslim person- who might be struggling with the problems taking place in their nation- we need to also be able to do ‘justly’ see that many of their nations have been oppressive- and all the young people in these nations are not radical Muslims.
Many are women who have been treated badly by the leaders- because the leaders are strict Muslims. So for these people- we need to say ‘yes we see your situation- we are praying for you’ we can’t simply think all the problems will be solved if we only preach to them- without also acting justly- seeing their plight and being concerned and speaking out.
Okay- that’s the main reason I connected with some of these friends. At the same time- obviously I teach the bible- and I hope lots of these friends from various groups [Jews, Muslims, etc..] that they can see that Christianity is not based on the West- or a certain view of Christianity- but its Gods free offering to all men/women ‘come- drink- accept the free gift- it’s for you!’
So of course I want all my friends to feel free to take the benefits that God has given to us- while also respecting them if they choose to worship their own way.
So- this week we saw that in the N.T. the death and resurrection of Christ was Gods way of saying ‘whoever wants to come- come!’. Christ died for everyone- we can all get in.
The prophet Isaiah said this years ago- that God would bring all nations and ethnic groups to ‘his holy mountain’ [kingdom] he would make them joyful- he will accept their gifts [prayers and thanks] and that he is doing all these things for the benefit of all nations- not just one.
As we close the week- go and read these chapters- to my Catholic friends – see what chapters will be in the Mass this Sunday- when you get home after the Mass- read them.
The bible says Jesus is the Chief Cornerstone of the spiritual building called ‘the church’. The bible says many people stumbled over this stone- they were offended at him.
Jesus asked once ‘Who do men say that I am’- Peter said ‘You are the Christ- the Son of the blessed’. Jesus says ‘Blessed are you Peter- flesh and blood did not reveal this to you- but my Father who is in heaven’ and Jesus went on to say ‘Upon this Rock I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.’
Later on in Peters letter’s- he says we are spiritual stones in this spiritual temple- and Jesus is the main Rock. All the bible hinges on him- we must see everything as it relates to ‘This Rock’.
God made provisions for all people thru his Son- he said ‘whoever wants to drink- drink- come freely- without charge- it’s for you too’.
[1714] LIBYA, SYRIA AND FAST AND FURIOUS
Last night I watched the coverage of the bombs going off in Tripoli- you see all these explosions lighting up the dark capitol city- and the coverage under the bombing said ‘Gadhaffi’s last stand- will he unleash his violence on Tripoli’s civilians?’
Of course the bombs are our side- and we have advanced- backing the Rebels- thru city after city this last month. Human rights agencies have reported ‘our side’ murdering civilians- looting businesses- burning down many homes of civilians- all the while the media coverage is talking about Gahaffi’s human rights abuses.
We had a Black congresswoman go over to Libya- she heard reports that the Rebels [our side] were lynching Blacks [I kid you not] according to her reporting- this was true. I explained it before- the Black skinned Africans in Libya are primarily the mercenaries that Gadhaffi has hired from Southern Africa- so if the rebels catch a Black skinned person- he’s a dead man- just because he’s Black- these are OUR GUYS- the side we and NATO are backing.
CNN has been showing the pictures- UNCONFIRMED- of children and dead adults in Syria- now- I think Assad is an evil ruler- and I agree with our president’s recent call for his ouster- he said it publicly for the first time the other day.
But as CNN continues to show the pictures of dead kids- and they say they can’t confirm them- they must realize that in a situation like Syria- if you ‘UP THE ANTE’ FOR ONE SIDE TO GAIN GREATLY BY THE IMAGE OF A DEAD KID- THEN YOU HAVE JUST GREATLY INCREASED THE VALUE OF ONE SIDE GETTING A DEAD KID.
Look- I don’t know if the anti Assad side has done this- but if the American media can’t confirm who killed the kid- we need to stop upping the damn ante!
Over these last few months I have watched the congressional hearings over FAST AND FURIOS- the name of the disastrous scheme cooked up by the ATF in an attempt to trace the guns of Mexican drug runners.
In this crack pot plan- the U.S. knowingly allowed guns to be sold illegally to these gun runners. These guns were then found at the scene of the death of one of our law enforcement guys- and this administrations Justice Dept. did all they could do- with the help of the media- to not report the story.
Over time- because the hearings are on CSPAN- you heard and saw the dissimulation of the Administrations law enforcement people- and it was obvious to see that this thing is a scandal of huge proportions- they are just hoping the public will believe the media- and not the real story [Gadhaffi unleashes his violence on his own people- while showing us dropping bombs].
I have watched the U.S. agents testify that they kept warning- screaming- for someone to stop this horrendous plot. They actually have said- over recorded phone calls- ‘look- your getting us all killed down here!’
The Mexican govt. grilled us over this- one Mexican reporter [not a single U.S. one by the way] asked Obama about this- you could tell he knew about it- and was not being upfront.
Then you had the top ATF guy- in charge of this scheme- asked ‘why did you make cell phone calls to so and so [a political insider- inside the ring of the president] right after you found out the plan was going to go public’.
This guy said he was just friends with this insider- he just called to say hi. Then when asked by congress- ‘did you talk about this plan with this insider’ he repeatedly said ‘specifically- no’.
Then when the congressman asked ‘look- in your response- don’t use specifically- did you discuss this operation with this insider’ he then looked befuddled- sort of like ‘gee- let me think for a moment’ then answered yes.
What does that tell us? This guy- and all the other guys covering up- have all been coached on what to do to cover this thing up.
This week I saw our ‘illustrious’ past majority leader in the papers once again. Yes- the Hammer- Tom Delay was going back to court. If you remember the Dems went after him- charging him with Money Laundering.
Now- those of you who are not from Texas- I have been in Democratic politics [not Repub!] for 30 years. I was [still am] a member of a Democratic union- the international association of fire fighters.
In Texas politics- you used to get around the law [which the Supreme Court changed this past year by the way] that forbid actual corporate dollars to go to campaigns in Washington. The way you got around the law was you used a form- CALLED A MONEY SWAPPING FORM [I kid you not] and you took whatever contribution was given- and then you sort of sent the money to a general fund- and then from another fund they would take the non corporate dollars and that’s how they got around the law.
Now- this is no secret in Texas- everyone knows this. This actual act is legal.
But then a few years back- the highly partisan Dem prosecutor from Austin [Ronnie Earl]- who oversees Delays district- decided to go after Delay for doing this- but he would try and convince a jury that Delay laundered money in violation of U.S. drug/mafia laws- a legal case that has never been attempted in the political realm- after all- actual ‘money swapping’ is legal.
Sure enough- he managed to convict Delay- for doing what we all do- by convincing the jury that Delay laundered money.
Now- to all my insider Dem buddies- they couldn’t believe they got the man- for something they all do- all the time. I mean they have forms that say USE FOR MONEY SWAPS.
I mean the scam was too good to be true- thats the scam of sending Delay to prison for what we all know is done all the time.
Yet in the media- you would think the man actually laundered DRUG MONEY- it’s the classic example of the media deciding to pick a side- and then they just trust that the viewing public will not think for themselves.
I don’t know what will happen in all these cases- but to have the U.S. justice dept. obviously scheming to get around an investigation- one that involves many guns being used [up until this very hour!] and some of them being used to kill our guys- this rises to the level of people being prosecuted- or even being impeached- if you did indeed cover something like this up.
We are not talking leaking the name of someone to the media [Valerie Plame] or even covering up a botched break in [Watergate] we are talking about covering up a botched scheme that has actually killed our law enforcement guys- and we have our guys on record saying ‘your getting us all killed down here- stop the damn program’.
But if the media can convince us that Gadhaffi is unleashing a slaughter on his own people in Tripoli- while showing us actual footage of our side bombing the city- then I guess they can convince us of anything- I know there’s a bunch of people right now in Washington- who hope they will.
[1715] TRUTH IN REPORTING
Last night we all watched the impending downfall of the Libyan strongman- ruled for 42 years and it looked like his time was up. The media also reported the capture of Saif- Gadhaffi’s son- I found it interesting to see the media get duped in such a public way.
We in the West want to reduce everything to a ‘hero versus villain’ scenario- it just makes us feel better to know that when our young guys shed their blood on a foreign field- well at least they died for the hero [though we did not have guys on the ground in Libya].
Yet in reality this is rarely the case. Over these last 6 months we have seen media portrayals of the Rebels. They were portrayed as doctors, lawyers and good hard working citizens who have been reduced to such primal tactics because of the madness of Gadhaffi.
Yet the reality of the situation is these 2 sides [East versus West- in Libya] have been at odds for decades. Libya has around 140 different tribes, and these tribes fight for power and influence- just like political parties.
So the tribes coming from Benghazi- the Eastern ‘capital’ have fought against the tribes from the West- Tripoli- for years.
The tribes from the East [the guys we have backed up] have had a number of Al Qaeda troops in their ranks- we don’t know how many have actually killed our guys in other theatres- but we know many Al Qaeda from Libya have fought us on foreign ground [Iraq].
But over the last 6 months this story would not have benefited the medias narrative [hero versus villain] so we have really not covered that aspect much.
So last night- all the media were reporting that Gadhaffi’s son, Saif, was taken captive. This was confirmed by the ICC [international criminal court] and the news media went with it- as being confirmed.
Often times the media will say ‘we have an unconfirmed report’ but when they say ‘confirmed’ that means the information is coming from top people who they have trusted and deemed to be honest.
So- after the reports of Gadhaffi having fled the country and his sons being captured- the media ‘confirmed’ it from the Rebels top guys- those they have given the top tier of trust to [You know- DeNiro and Stiller- the inner circle].
So the surprise was seeing Saif show up in front of the hotel where the media are staying. One reporter went up to Saif’s vehicle and knocked on the window- he said ‘if you’re in there for real- I need to see’. Sure enough the door opened- and to the shock of the reporter- there sat Saif.
Why shock? Because the rebels have played them like puppets for 6 months- denying that they have killed civilians- assuring them that these stories were all lies cooked up by the villain- and right up until the moment the car door opened- they were assured- in no uncertain terms ‘we have Saif in custody- you can trust us on this one’. Trust they did- and they looked like fools.
Then the media began running with ‘well- both sides have lied lots during this conflict- and sometimes you have to just trust your own eyes’. The problem with this is we have backed up one side- spent 1.1 billion on that side- and the media believed all the reports about ‘our side’ killing kids was simply a Gadhaffi lie- now it looks like they were used in this deadly game playing out on the Mediterranean.
I hope it ends soon- but we must remember that there are a lot of innocent civilians in the West- who never supported the Rebels- the rebels have killed many of them- burned down their homes- looted their businesses- the rebels are no angels- and it looks like the media just found that out.
Today I really wanted to post a few notes on the current media frenzy on science versus faith- the topic is becoming hot in the media- they like talking about stuff they don’t know about- and this one takes the cake.
Basically the media have been turning up the heat on why Perry and all the other stoops [that would be Christians] are denying science. I have written- and posted lots about this in the past. Most people are not aware of the overwhelming amount of science that challenges the most common ideas about evolution.
I’ll just hit on one- Abio Genesis. This is the belief that life can spontaneously generate from dead matter. This view is false- scientifically false. It is also commonly held with the false view of the spontaneous generation of all things.
Many media folk hold to a belief that the Big Bang theory shows us that all things have come from no-thing. Actually- this is a scientific impossibility. This idea- creation ‘Ex Nihilo’- is false.
Einstein’s theory did show us that matter had a beginning point- called the Point of Singularity- yet today we have absolutely no scientific proof that all things came from nothing- yet most media folk do indeed believe this.
So this topic really is one where the media have created their villain [the back water Christians] and their hero [the false idea that science has proved all types of stuff- that is has not!]. Yet they hope that if they run with the narrative long enough- then hopefully they will never be found out- you know- opening that car door and seeing their man- the man they assured the whole world was gone- yet he lives to see another day.
[note- those of you who are interested in more on Evolution- on my Blog if you go to the February posts of each year- I have studies on Evolution and one on Genesis- you might find them helpful in the coming debate].
[1716] CREATION
Today I want to talk a little bit more about the bible and science- maybe over the next few weeks I’ll do a sort of overview of the Old Testament- like I just did with the New Testament.
I think it’s important for believers to have a basic grasp on some of the ideas about creation- evolution- and the whole debate in general.
I have written a lot in the past on the various theories- and won’t try and cover it all again- but just give some parameters that kind of frame this debate.
The other day I saw a news clip of an actor that I used to like- Matt Damon. I always liked Good Will Hunting and the Boerne Identity flicks. Some reporter asked him a question that kind of pit the right against the left [politically]. He replied with some ‘high faluttin’ language- I mean you could tell he really thinks he is the Good Will guy- but he did it in a way that said ‘you inferior intellects of the world- why must we have to put up with you’!
Sort of like when Tyson gave his speech on the inferior skills of those who were losing to him- they were losing because they were truly behind the advanced world of scientific boxing [not because Tyson fought you like ‘you stole something from him’ the quote of a defeated foe]. I sensed in Damon's response a feeling that you pick up when the media tries to cover this whole debate.
The other day they showed a clip of some kid asking Perry ‘why do you not believe in evolution’ and Perry actually answered in a good way- he said ‘in Texas the schools teach both creation and evolution [actually that’s not true] and that evolution has some gaps to it’.
You then heard the mom in the background saying ‘ask him why he rejects science’ and of course you knew which way the report was going.
The history behind the way Christians view the book of Genesis [and creation] has varied lots over the years. Many old earth creationists [like myself] have argued for a ‘less literal’ hard line stance on the Genesis account- yet also not fully accepting the evolutionary view of things.
Others are what you would call Theistic evolutionists- they believe evolution is God’s way of doing things.
And others hold to a literal 6 day creation- with no room for any sort of symbolism at all.
All these views have some type of problem with them- something that you could find and say ‘see- this is why this view is wrong’.
And as I read the different views- I try and stay open to the best arguments from all sides.
As you read Genesis chapter 1- you see the Account of God creating all things. You have the 6 days of creation with God resting on the 7th day.
You do see somewhat of a framework right in the 6 days. For instance- on day 1 you have God making light- yet he doesn’t create the sun and luminaries until day 4.
On day 2 he creates the sky and water- day 5 birds and fish.
Day 3 he makes the land and plants- and day 6 he makes man and animals.
So you see a sort of ‘2 tiered’ system here- God making on the first ‘3 days’ the things that correspond on the last [2nd set] of ‘3 days’.
Now- this does not mean you have to spiritualize the whole thing- but there is room here for more than meets the eye.
The strict creationists argue that even though God made the light on day 1- and the sun and stars didn’t appear until day 4- they actually teach that for the first 3 days God had made another source of light- that we don’t know about- and this source lasted for only the first 3 days.
I see problems with a rigid view like that- I would prefer to see it the way I just showed you- that God is doing the creating- and it is done in 6 days- yet we are not getting a scientific account here- God is showing us things that we could grasp as regular folk who are picking up the bible and reading it for the first time.
So as you can see these types of debates can go on for a while.
The main point I want to make is the Church has always had room for true science to ‘fit in’ with the text- the church has not always taken a hard line ‘creationist stance’ on these things.
And at the same time there are many problems with the actual theory of evolution [Perry’s gaps] problems that I see that many of the media folk have no grasp on. For instance you do have a whole bunch of science that does seem to say that one species of a thing can never- ever evolve into another thing.
The science on this very fact has caused many scientists- unbelieving scientists- to ask ‘is it time for us to re think the theory’. But when you listen to the news people- or to Mom telling her kid ‘ask him why he doesn’t believe in science’ you realize that many of these ‘enlightened folk’ have no idea what they are talking about.
Yes- they sound like the Matt Damons and the Tysons of the world ‘you have no place with us in this advanced world of the intellect- we have surpassed your Neanderthal ideas- we are the new generation’.
Yes- I see the lines being drawn already- the Perry’s of the world are now going to be contrasted with the enlightened folk- I just wish both sides would spend a little more time listening to each other- and realize that we are not as far apart on some of these things as we think- we might be able to all get along someday- but who knows when that day will get here.
[1717] DARWIN’S RELIGION
In keeping with the last post let’s do a little more on Genesis- and the whole debate over science and religion. Because of the way this debate raged right around the turn of the 20th century [18-19 hundreds] there were many fine Christians who sort of had the impression that Evolution- as fully defined in Darwin’s way- was indeed proven beyond all doubt.
This was certainly not true. What we were learning from science was basically the actual thing that Darwin observed on his Galapagos Island tour- science showed us that species of things do change/adapt to their environment over time. And that these changes do indeed get passed along to following generations.
Modern Biology does show us- beyond all doubt- that ‘micro’ evolution does take place [when I say micro I mean evolution within species].
Darwin- as well meaning as he was- carried the idea further and thought ‘heck, maybe that’s where all species have come from- one common ancestor that eventually branched off over millions of years- and that’s the starting point’.
Now- was Darwin a nut to think this? No- at the time [late 1800’s] we did not know what we know today. It was assumed that living cells were not complex and that something like this was possible.
But since Charlie’s day- we have found out that living cells- no matter how hard we try- or observe- they simply never ‘change’ from one type of cell into another.
As a matter of fact- this scientific fact is so tested- it has left many scientists to re think the whole theory.
Now- why is it so hard for them to ‘re think’ it? You have to understand- for anyone in the field of science to even talk about evolution possibly not being true- it puts you in the category of a nut case.
And I have read/heard statements from non Christian scientists who say this very thing. They can’t get heard- even though the most basic plank of Evolution [common ancestry] has basically been shown to never happen.
See the dilemma? Yet around the turn of the century many fine scholars- men like B.B. Warfield from Princeton- they embraced evolution because they thought the Genesis account left room for various interpretations. And they thought that Darwin was proven to be right- all the way.
So today we have the problem of biased science- that is science that has gotten to a point we they can’t really admit that after 150 years- it does seem that Darwin’s initial idea- which came at a primitive time- was just wrong.
Now- does this mean the ‘God’ idea is right? Well for me- and others- sure. But I can float another scenario- which would still not explain the actual origin of life- but it would fit better than common ancestry.
That idea would be instead of thinking that one original life form arose from the Primordial Soup- you say many arose.
That’s it- you have solved a huge problem by just adjusting the theory- so why don’t they adjust it? Well Darwin’s theory has become more of a religious belief than anything else- to challenge it is considered scientific heresy.
Okay- what about Genesis? Yesterday I gave you some ideas on how different people view it. At the same time that Evolution was being hyped- you also had what’s called ‘higher criticism’ arise out of the universities of Germany. These were the scholars [Butlmann- etc.] that kind of thought the new scientific age was on the rise- humanism was the future- and if there was any chance to ‘save religion’ then ‘religion’ had to adapt.
These guys meant well- but they threw out too much. They embraced an idea called ‘The Demythification of religion’. They thought that the bible still had valuable moral stories in it [Sermon on the Mount] but when it came to science and stuff like that- well a lot of that was told as Myth- not Myth life a fairy Tale- but Myth meant it really was unreliable in these areas.
Many fine men embraced an idea that challenged the historical accuracy of the first 11 chapters of Genesis- stories like a talking Serpent in the Garden- Noah’s Flood- the Tower of Babel- all of these ‘stories’ are found in the first 11 chapters- and it was easy for these scholars to say ‘see- these are not ‘real’ stories- they are Myth’.
Okay- what’s the problem? Well- when you look at various portions of the bible- it is true that some parts are poetry- others are historical narrative- others are Prophetic- and it is helpful to know these types of distinctions.
But if you view Adam and Eve- or Noah’s Flood [you know- the whole world being saved by a man and his family on a boat!] If you read the New Testament Jesus says ‘as it was in the days of Noah’ or ‘in the beginning God created them male and female’ now you have Jesus referring to these first 11 chapters- and he is speaking about them in a way that sure sounds like true history.
See? So these types of debates do rage at times- but overall the bible has stood up to the test of time. Many of the critics will use some of these things to challenge the church- and in a noble effort some good scholars jumped a little too quickly onto the Darwin bandwagon- especially at a time when some scientists are looking for a way to get off!
[1718] OLD TESTAMENT SURVEY CONTINUED
Let’s do some more on our survey of the Old Testament. In the past I did a commentary on the book of Genesis- so let’s just overview it briefly today.
Like I discussed the other day- the first 11 chapters cover a lot. You have the creation account, Noah’s flood and the origination of people groups [Tower of Babel- sometimes referred to as the table of nations].
Then in chapter 12- thru the end of Genesis- you read the story of one man and his family. God appears to Abraham- promises him a few things- and then the rest of Genesis covers this family.
In chapter 12 [and 15] God makes a covenant [promise] to Abraham. God says if you leave your home town- go to a place that I will show you [he goes by faith- doesn’t even know the final destination yet] then I will make you into a great nation- I will give you all the land and you will be a blessing to all nations.
The story continues with Abraham’s son Isaac- then to Jacob. Jacob’s name is changed to Israel- he has his 12 sons and they eventually go to Egypt and multiply.
Jacobs’s sons betray the favored son- Joseph- and they sell him into slavery. Eventually Joseph gains favor in Egypt and becomes the top administrator under Pharaoh. The land experiences a severe famine and the other boys who betrayed Joseph have to find food- in Egypt!
They go back to Egypt- they eventually have to confront Joseph and he forgives them and the entire family of Jacob [Israel] moves into Egypt [Goshen].
Genesis ends with the original promise of becoming a great nation only partly fulfilled. Though Abraham’s family did become huge- yet Abraham dies without possessing any land in the Promised Land- except his burial spot.
The book ends with some terrific promises that Jacob gives to the boys- this is a type of patriarchal blessing that the father passes on to the sons. A death bed blessing. And the sons go away with the final word from dad [a few ‘blessings’ are actually rebukes].
Okay- pretty simple- you just learned the whole book of Genesis- not that hard. Over viewing the bile like this is important [for those who want to learn] because it keeps the focus on the main thing.
Many people start out reading the bible with good intentions- and the first 2 books are interesting [Genesis, Exodus] but then you do get a little bogged down in Numbers and Leviticus and stuff.
If you get a basic overview of what’s going on- that God is ‘presenting’ Jesus to us- at an early stage- thru all these stories- then it helps to not get lost in the details.
Eventually these promises that God makes to Abraham get fulfilled- and the apostle Paul [and Peter- Acts] see the fulfilling of God blessing all nations thru Abrahams son- they say that this promise is today fulfilled thru Christ- one of the sons [down the line] of Abraham.
In Paul’s letter to the Galatians- chapter 3- he refers to this Abrahamic blessing and says it’s the promise of the Spirit being given to all who believe- that the blessing is being justified by faith thru Christ.
When we cover the 2nd book of the Pentateuch [Torah- the first 5 books of the Old Testament] Exodus- we will see the tables turn on the Jewish people- they multiply so much in Egypt that a new pharaoh will arise and begin persecuting the people.
This leads to the story of Moses- the Ten Commandments and the continued sags of ‘Abraham and his kids’. Okay- try and read some of these books the next week or so. Read a few of the key chapters I mentioned. I would also say read Genesis 22- the story of Abraham offering up his son Isaac on the altar.
This took place on a mountain called Moriah- which is the same mountain that God will offer his Son on many years later- Calvary.
Obviously this chapter is a key chapter in the story.
Okay- that’s it for now- and to all men friends in the North East- be careful. I’m praying for you all. Earthquakes- Hurricanes- yes it’s tough.
You are all in my prayers.
[1719] STOP THE MADNESS- PLEASE!
Okay- just bear with me for a moment. I don’t want to be guilty of what the media are doing right now- that is to run with a story- even after all the evidence is pointing the other way.
Yes- I’m talking about the storm.
Let me give a few quotes- it might be long- but it’s worth it.
Maddow [MSNBC] ‘mayor Bloomberg is shutting the bridges and closing the Subways- not because the winds might blow the bridges down [gee- you think?] but because the winds will flip the cars off [I guess like bingo chips?] and as the Subways leave the tunnels the winds might blow them off the rails’.
Some weather guy- can’t remember off hand ‘this storm is historic- the size of Europe’ the other talking head says ‘yea- I heard you say it- can you explain’ [now- as I’m watching the screen- I see the actual storm- and I’m thinking ‘look- I know maps- have them all over my office- for the life of me this storm is not the size of Europe’.
Then the weather junkie simply draws a circle- around 3 times the size of the storm- around the storm and says ‘see’.
It would have been more accurate if he said ‘you wanna see me draw a circle- 3 times the size of the storm’.
Geraldo ‘I’m not evacuating [gee- I hope not- I mean you thrive on video of you in wars- getting shot at- stuff like that] But my family lives on the 30th floor of a hotel- so I’m moving them to a 2nd floor spot- because when you have a Category 1 on the ground floor- it’s a Cat. 3 on the upper floors’.
General statements ‘there are 70 million people in its path’. Make it sound bad why don’t you? I mean there are 300 million people in ‘its path’ every morning when the sun comes up on the good old U.S. You judge the danger- not by ‘what’s in its path’ but by the actual thing!
Chris Christie ‘It’s 4:30- by now you have maximized your tan- get the hell out of there’. To be fair- he was talking about people sitting on the beach at the Jersey shore- but the media made it sound like the whole Jersey shore was evacuating.
‘Those who have not heeded the evac. warnings- they have chosen their fate’.
Okay- I could go on- but I think you get the picture.
How bad is this storm right now? Not bad at all- compared to the way we rate ‘danger’. When a storm is already halfway on land- no definable eye- and the winds are around 80-90 MPH- that’s pretty darn good- not pretty bad.
Is there still real danger? Sure- a system like this can cause lots of flooding- and sustained 90 mile an hour winds can cause damage. But get out of your mind the images [that the media has been playing] of other historic storms.
This is not Katrina, Celia [Corpus in the 70’s] or any other number of really bad hurricanes that have slammed the U.S. coast- this is not a bad storm!
What should the real response be? Look- why mayor Bloomberg is shutting down Subways and busses and bridges- I have no idea- maybe he’s lost his mind. All the media talking about evacuations in N.J. and N.Y. are blowing things out of proportion.
As far as I can tell- their just evacuating flood prone areas [like where I live in Texas] and for the most part just get ready for lots of wind and rain- I mean all the talk about ‘get out when you have a chance’ is nuts!
Now- there still might be real storm damage- and I don’t want to ‘under warn’ here- I just want us to be realistic- when storms are in the Tropical Storm category- no definable eye- half way already on land- well these storms are not that bad- that’s the truth.
But- any system like this- hugging the coast for a few days- yes- get ready for some flooding. Not like in the movie ‘the Day After’ but flooding like you already saw this past year in the North.
Here in the South we are bone dry- but the North is saturated- so any extra water will flood.
Why do the media do stuff like this? Are they all hyping a global warming agenda- that did indeed say ‘we are facing the worst hurricane future in history’ a few years back- and they feel duped because the actual count has gone down- yes- I live off the gulf- and year after year the count has gone down- right after they made the prediction.
Around 5 years ago I heard a climate guy give a model- he explained that the warming of the oceans [however small] would actually lead to the lessening of severe storms hitting the U.S.
I don’t remember all the reasoning- but he was not a nut case. I never heard from him again- he just didn’t fit the liberal media scene too well.
Yet as I see the media predict- year after year- this year will ‘be the worst’ I wonder why they keep doing this- especially when the actual named hurricanes have gone way down- I wonder if the guy I heard was correct [and if in a few years from now the media will be able to say ‘these last 10 years- we have had more PREDICTIONS of bad storms than in a hundred years!]
Then Martin Bashir [MSNBC- you know- he had doctors on during the debt crisis- telling us how the Tea Party guys are actually psychotic] he’s talking to the science guy [Bill Nye] and he asks ‘do you think global warming is the cause for all this’ [well- if by ‘all this’ you mean the possibility that global warming has caused real neurological damage to the MSNBC staff- then yes- maybe?]
And Nye says ‘yes’ and Bashir- with a look of shock simply says ‘OH MY!’. Yes- for whatever reason- the media has run with the story- subways flying in the air- drawing European size circles around the thing- claiming Cat 1 conditions on the 1st floor- but cat 3 on the 30th floor.
Yes- they have created ‘this monster’ and it’s too much to admit that ‘this monster’ is really no monster. I mean they have hung their reputations on the line- and they look like real nut jobs.
Final word- if you live in Jersey or N.Y. [like some of my friends do] then of course- don’t sit on the beach tonight. But don’t expect a real dangerous hurricane- that’s not going to happen.
I think Bloomberg has probably created more of a mess if he goes ahead and shuts all the transportation down- that’s overkill for sure.
And simply watch the weather channel- look at the actual pictures- if you have to- turn the volume off- and simply see the thing- it’s not as bad as many others have been- that’s just a fact.
[1720] ADIOS MOFO?
Okay- it’s been a couple of days since Irene made landfall and the media are in an all out defense of their ‘over fear mongering’ of the event.
Many are accusing the critics of the media as being Monday morning quarterbacks- just a reminder- the last post I wrote was a day out from the landfall that they were over reporting.
Chad Meyers- the CNN weather guy- you know- the guy who drew the circle 3 times bigger around the thing [read the last post] he has gone back and forth in trying to defend the coverage.
He said ‘the problem with this hurricane [Problem?] is after it made the initial landfall- the eye broke up and when you have storms like this- they don’t cause lots of damage’. That’s the whole point I [and others] are making.
The facts on the ground did not warrant Cat. 4-5 coverage/language- when you knew a day before landfall in the N.E. that the storm was really a Tropical storm/Cat 1- you should not have been reporting it like a cat 4.
Anyway- after he admits this- he’s then on the Piers Morgan show and they have on one dissenter [Washington Times] and they tear the poor guy up. In defending his coverage Chad says that if this storm- after it made landfall and lost its eye- if it then redeveloped its eye [I have never heard of this happening?] and became a Cat 4-5- ‘then it would be bad’.
Geez- I guess you could say this about every storm you cover- the point is the odds of that happening are about zero- and yet your coverage made it sound like this indeed was the scenario.
I think we simply got a good lesson from this- that the media- even after their story is shown to have been overblown- yet they refuse to admit it.
And of course the lives lost are tragic- and the very real flood damage is bad- but the media reported this hurricane as a Katrina event- and Katrina it was not.
Okay- the last week the left has also been once again playing that race card. They have accused global warming deniers of being racists [Gore] they have reported as fact- that conservatives who keep wanting to go back to the ‘constitution’ and the founding father days- they have actually reported that these candidates want to roll back the civil rights laws and re-institute slavery.
Now- Chris Matthews has said ‘I heard so and so says this’ and he lied. They went and checked the accusation- and the person did not say it.
When the left does this- they lose the majority of the country, especially when you are presently supporting a military action that is purposefully executing Blacks!
I know some of you guys have doubted my posts about the Libyan Rebels targeting and killing Blacks- the reason many question this is because the media are really not reporting this.
Yet the human rights groups on the ground have been reporting this all thru out the war. Just the other day- on CBS I was surprised- they showed a picture of 2 Black men- hands tied behind their backs- and shot execution style in the back of the head.
Our guys did this- the guys we are backing- the guys we are supporting with our air power and money- yes- they have been doing this right from the start- they hate and execute Blacks.
So what should we do? Our response has been basically ‘yea- these rebels are rank amateurs- sure they make mistakes every so often- God love em’ I mean we need to catch the killers and have them stand trial for crimes against humanity- genocide- call it what you will- but we should not be turning a blind eye to the thing.
And the media- are they jumping on this very real story that we are backing a bunch of Black hating Libyans- who are constantly executing Blacks- execution style?
No- they are reporting that Rick Perry wants to re-institute slavery.
This is a story I really did not want to tell- because these racial stories stir up lots of anger. But we need to tell the thing. This past year we had lots of political fights in Wisconsin- many of you are familiar with the recall elections and the unions fighting the Repub governor and state house.
Well not long after the fights- which are still raging- you had certain Democratic constituents [minority groups] who began organizing these flash mobs- and they targeted Whites only.
At the Wisconsin state fair there were many- many reports of Whites calling in and saying ‘the Blacks are pulling White people out of their cars and beating them’.
This past week the 911 calls were finally released and you do hear many people calling this in.
Now- the media did not report this story because it obviously made one side look bad- and the other as victims.
You have also had numerous other occasions of Black on White violence that the justice dept. has overlooked for lots of reasons- too much to cover for now.
The point being- instead of the media reporting that Bachmann believes God is sending the earthquakes and the hurricanes [which if you watch the clip- she obviously was joking- yet the media have gone all out to report that she believes God is doing this].
And instead of actually reporting one of the worst race crimes in the world today [Libyan rebels executing Blacks] they are stuck on their agenda- which includes one of racial accusation- against the side they don’t like.
Many years ago after moving to Texas- I realized that the South has a reputation among North eastern media that says ‘they are all jack asses’. Yet- after observing the scene- I realized that these media folk who hold to this idea [MSNBC] they usually do not see their arrogance and stupidity.
After watching their coverage of the storm- to just about every person living off the gulf- we all knew this storm was a tropical storm- and that the damage would be real- but not what the media were saying.
You learn stuff like this when you live in a state that reports on all the hurricanes every year- here in Corpus Christi- you know this stuff by heart.
So to see the media- in full denial- well you realize they are really the ones who are lost- yes- they do make many mistakes- and they rarely [if ever] admit them.
Though I have lived in Texas for many years- I never became ‘Texan’. I never got the cowboy hat- boots- or became a country music fan.
Yet even as a former Yankee- I always loved the southern rock of Leonard Skynard. I also love all the old rockers- they are my favorites. Van Zandt spoke to the race divisions in his song Sweet Home Alabama- he took Neil Young on by saying ‘Southern man don’t need him around anyhow’.
Yes- even an open minded person like myself- one who criticizes Perry at times [go read my anti death penalty posts] yet even I get fed up with the nonstop race baiting ‘we are better than you’ mentality of the north eastern media.
Times have changed down south- even Gabbie Gifford’s chose a Texas hospital for getting the most advanced treatment for her injuries after the tragic assassination attempt [Houston].
Yes- even though I’m not a big Perry supporter [though for sure I would pick him over Obama any day] yet I kinda sympathize with the man. He has received criticism for signing off on an ‘on air’ interview by saying ‘Adios Mofo’. Though I don’t recommend the language- after hearing the liberal media for the past week or so- I do agree with the sentiment.
[1721] RACISM
I was going to cover Exodus- but let’s close up a few loose ends instead. Yesterday I mentioned that this Justice Dept- headed under Eric Holder- has some very real problems.
About a year or so ago- right after Obama took office- there were changes that were made that concerned people who worked at the justice dept.
Basically- you had the case of the ‘New Black Panther Party’ which were a small group that protested outside of election sites during the presidential election.
By anyone’s standard- these guys sure looked intimidating. I don’t know if you remember the pictures- but they were tall Black guys- wearing gang type looking stuff- carrying bats.
I would imagine that a 90 year old White grandma would take one look and say ‘maybe I’ll skip voting this time around’.
Okay- because of the civil rights movement in our country- we passed laws against this- against people being intimated from voting. Now- some Black advocates have said that these laws were meant only to defend the rights of Blacks being intimidated by Whites- and as hard as this is to believe- some of the top Black people who were put in charge at the justice dept. [Holder is Black] do believe and practice this.
So- when the case of the Black Panthers came up- these people working for Obama- did drop the case. Other people [who were heroes in the defense of Blacks!] asked ‘why are we dropping the case’? And they were told that this justice dept. does not believe in prosecuting Blacks- by using laws that were meant to defend Blacks.
Okay- at the time you had a long time employee of the justice dept. quit- and he became a whistle blower. He exposed the fact that they were even asking applicants if they believed that the voting rights laws applied equally to Blacks as well as Whites- if you agreed [which is the right way to go on this] then you did not get hired.
So this White lawyer who quit- he exposed the whole thing- I mean this is corrupt- to be honest about it. The response? They accused ‘Whitey’ of being a racist. Now- I watched the congressional hearings on CSPAN- and it just so happened that this White lawyer was a champion of Black rights.
He was sort of affiliated with the southern poverty law center- a legal group that has a reputation of defending Blacks- and he received many awards thru out his life for his service to the minority community.
And of course his reward for telling the truth? You’re a racist.
Now- you would think that this type of history inside the justice dept. that it would explain why all these cases of Black on White violence [last post] why none of them are being treated as hate crimes. Yet if you are White- or you commit an act of violence against a Black or gay person- your going away for a long time. But if you’re Black- like the flash mobs- who have targeted Whites- because they are White- these crimes are not deemed to fall under the hate crimes rules.
Obviously- this is a huge scandal. Yet instead of these race violations being exposed in the media- they come up with all sorts of stuff- that compared to this- are nothing.
The other day I heard a Democratic activist- on a news show- talking about Herman Cain [the Black Repub candidate for Pres.]. Now- I like God Fathers Pizza [he used to be the CEO] but to be honest- Cain seems like a good guy- but he’s not going to get the nomination.
Never the less- he has every right to run. But as they were talking about Cain- they openly accused him of being an Uncle Tom. They said he is probably being paid by White insiders- to give legitimacy to the racism on the right- that they can cloak their racism by having a Black token on the team.
I mean the language- the racist language- was deemed acceptable because those who were using it were on the left.
Here in Texas we have a state rep. She makes it into the news every so often. Now- she is Mexican- I love Mexicans- many of my best friends are Mexican- but this woman made a charge a few years ago- she said that a White Repub. confronted her one day and said ‘if you act like Meskins- we are gonna treat you like Meskins’. Okay- she went public with the charge.
Of course- the media wanted to expose the racist who said it- but after a while they found out she made the whole thing up.
Now- you should be kicked ‘the heck’ out of office for that- but because she is on the left side of the aisle- she is deemed a hero.
I don’t know why those who support the president play into this race card stuff- because I think the pres. himself does not play into it. Yet his supporters- guys like Al Sharpton- play the card day after day- I mean surely they must realize that they are never going to re gain the independent vote if they keep doing this stuff.
Look- all race baiting is wrong- and if you have real cases of hate crimes- or one race targeting another [like pulling Whites out of cars in Wisconsin] then the justice dept. has to be race neutral- you can’t have a rogue justice dept. not prosecuting these cases.
Yet they have indeed embraced a radical anti White view- and this has been shown time after time.
So- as a White guy- should I not speak out? We should all speak out against racism- no matter what your color is- it’s wrong. It’s wrong to be racist against Blacks, Whites, Mexicans- against anyone because of their race.
And it’s wrong to say that the voting rights laws only apply to one group- that view is flat out racist- and that’s the view our present justice dept. has taken- where’s the media on stuff like this?
[1722] EXODUS
Let’s continue our brief over view of the bible. The book of Exodus begins with Israel going into Egypt [connected with the end of Genesis] and the first 15 chapters deal with God raising up Moses and using him to deliver his people out of bondage.
We see the 10 plagues on Egypt- because they won’t ‘let God’s people go’ and we finally see the great parting of the Red Sea and Pharaohs armies drowning in the ocean.
God’s people receive the 10 commandments at Mount Sinai and they begin a very long wilderness journey [40 years].
The book ends with the building of the Tabernacle [a tent system that was the central focus of worship during their travels].
The book itself is a good read- not as slow as the next 3 to come [Numbers, Leviticus and Deuteronomy] and it is the continuation of the promise that God made to Abraham in the book of Genesis. If you remember- God told Abraham if he left his home land and went into a strange land that God would bless him and make him into a great nation.
The Promised Land of course was not Egypt- but Canaan [modern day Israel/Palestine] yet we read a few occasions when things got rough during the journey- That Abraham [and his kids] would lose faith and for various reasons [famine] go ‘down into Egypt’.
So Egypt kind of represents a time of doubt- slavery for God’s people. During their wilderness journey- after God delivers them out of Egypt- they go back to their complaining ways.
At various times they say stuff like ‘why did you deliver us Moses- we have no food/water out here- only if we could go back and have the onions and good food we had in the good old days’.
This mantra becomes a stumbling block for Israel- time and again God will supernaturally provide the food and water [Manna, Quail- water from a Rock] and time and again they will complain.
Eventually we will read the story of them taking their Promised Land [the book of Joshua] but yet even at that point- they still have their doubts [12 spies go in to check the land out- only 2 come back with ‘a good report’- the others say ‘the land looks great- but the people living there are too much for us to defeat- we look like grasshoppers in their sight].
Like I said in the post on Genesis- you can view the Old Testament as the story of one man and his family.
God makes the initial promise to Abraham- and the rest of the Old Testament [Law, Prophets and wisdom books] cover that story.
It’s important to understand that all of these earthly land promises- they take on a much broader meaning in the New Testament- if you carefully read the writings of the apostles [especially Paul] you will see that they viewed the coming of Christ- and his death, resurrection and ascension to God- as the ultimate fulfilling of this promise.
Lots of language says ‘we are now all heirs of these promises- Jews and gentiles’ lots of language like that.
This has been a very contentious point in church history- most of the early church [Catholic, Orthodox] did accept this view [Saint Augustine was very influential in this area] and later on many Protestant churches would reject it.
But I think for the most part that the historic church got it right- while the Protestant view has some merits as well [Amillennialism, Dispensationalism are the various names given to these views].
Okay- out of all the figures in the bible- only 2 are said to be Mediators- those 2 are Moses and Jesus.
A mediator is the person who acts as the go between- when 2 parties enter into a covenant. Moses is the mediator of the Old Covenant- Jesus of the new.
In the gospel of John we read that ‘the law came through Moses- but grace and truth came through Jesus’.
John also says ‘The word became flesh and dwelt among us’. John uses the imagery of ‘the Word’ [called Logos Christology] a lot in his writings when referring to Jesus.
The words ‘Dwelt among us’ literally mean ‘he pitched his tent among us’ the same image of the tent [tabernacle] that was set up during the wilderness journey that we just spoke about.
This tent that was set up and taken down for the 40 year period of wandering [which eventually becomes the Old Testament Temple under King Solomon] was indeed a picture of Jesus.
Just like God was ‘in the tent’- the Ark that was in the Holy of Holies- the inner room- so likewise God was ‘In Christ- reconciling the world back unto himself’.
John said ‘The Word became flesh’. God became man- lived among us and redeemed us back unto himself thru Christ- once again we see that the entire bible- all the figures and stories and experiences- point to one thing- Jesus, the Christ- The Son of the Most High.
[1723] GROUND TRUTH
Let’s finish the week with some ‘ground truth’. Years ago- while working at the Fire Dept. every so often you would get a guy- either a new firefighter- or someone who has been around a while- but they operated primarily from ‘book truth’.
That is-you learn stuff in fire school- you read all the latest fads in the field- but at the end of the day- if the truth be known- some guys don’t do that well in emergency type situations.
So- you work with what you got- and in some more extreme cases- you have tell the person ‘look- we like you- we know you’re a smart guy- but this line of work is not what your cut out for’ and the best thing for him- and us- is he finds another line of work.
Okay- the fire dept that I worked at was in a city with about a population of 30 thousand people- we only had 2 fire stations and around 30 firefighters.
My dept functioned a lot differently than the one my dad retired from in N.J. Because of the limited resources [not a firehouse on every other block type of a thing] we developed a strategy where the frontline truck- the guy who got there first- would drop the attack lines and the booster truck [the truck that got there second] would supply the attack truck with water from the hydrant.
In principle [there goes that book knowledge] the fire truck that was stationed on the east side of town would usually get to their side first- and the same with the west side of town.
But on occasion- if some of the newer guys are talking too long to leave the station [which became a problem that I brought up quite often] then the fire truck from the opposite side of town would arrive at the fire first- and at that point you have to use ground truth to finish the job.
That means the first truck- even if he came from the other side of town- he has to drop the attack lines and the second truck has to boost water from the hydrant. On one occasion I arrived at the scene first- even though I was driving the truck from the other side of town [like I said- some guys were too slow at leaving the station] and I dropped my lines and the house was fully engulfed. So as the other truck got there- he stopped by my truck and just looked- I yelled ‘go hook up at the hydrant- fast!’ I was running low on water in the truck [the trucks hold about 1000 gallons of water- but that only lasts a minute or so at a working fire].
My friend said ‘no- you’re supposed to be the truck that hooks up’ now- this guy was not a new guy- he worked at the fire house for about as long as I did- yet he was the type that you really had problems with every now and then.
And this was one of those ‘thens’. I yelled a few times ‘look- go hook up the damn truck at the hydrant- I’m running out of water’ [and yes- I’m sure some other flowery speech came out]. The guy wouldn’t budge- I almost had to threaten him to hook the truck up- he finally did.
Okay- this is an example of well meaning people- people who have ‘head knowledge’ about stuff- yet they lack real world knowledge. This doesn’t mean they are bad people- they just don’t fit the job they are doing at the time.
Okay- said all that to say this. These last few weeks I have read lots of news articles on Texas- how Perry lied about Texas job growth. How he really took the federal money- and that’s why the jobs grew.
Or how he is a hypocrite because he [like other Repub governors] has complained about federal spending- and yet he took the money.
Let me say- I have lived in Texas since 1980- and just by me being familiar with the state- we have had lost of jobs come to the state- simply because the other states [Cal, etc.] had way too much regulation and taxes on business.
Now- whether you hold to a more liberal view or not- I’m’ just stating ‘ground truth’ right now. The job growth in Texas is not because we took fed money- all the states took money- and that hasn’t improved their economies one iota.
The facts are Texas is a business friendly state- and that’s why the jobs came.
Okay- I have also seen the fed govt do things that have hurt the jobs in Texas. One of the fights going on right now is over the EPA [environmental protection agency] and whether it has the right to regulate the co2 production in the state.
Basically the govt has been trying to pass laws saying co2 is a pollutant- and because of that- the EPA can shut down certain types of plants that over produce the levels of co2.
Now- remember- you have ‘book truth’ and ‘ground truth’. The ground truth is that the fed govt expects certain business to convert over to ‘clean energy’ in a time table that is unrealistic- and because they are trying to empower the EPA to be able to come in and regulate- well this has scared some business away from the state.
Now- what is co2? In this debate- you often hear the global warming side that says ‘co2 is a bad pollutant- we must rid the world of it before it’s too late!’ Yet there are real questions about whether or not co2 gas is truly a pollutant.
The present level of co2 in our atmosphere is around 390 ppm [parts per million]. Before the industrial age- around 150 years ago- the levels were around 270 ppm.
Co2 is produced naturally in our world. When you breathe out- your are producing co2. When forests burn- co2 is released. And yes- when we burn fossil fuels for business- co2 is released.
Why? Because co2 is in the things we burn- they make up the stuff of life. Humans are basically made of Carbon- and this material is in all sorts of life and plants and stuff.
Okay- what are the safe levels for co2? Both NASA and the U.S. Navy have done extensive studies on this- because the submariners and the astronauts deal with special situations that concern the mixing of gases in the blood- and the upper level for safe co2 is around 8000 ppm.
Geologists tell us that the planet used to function at about a 1000 ppm level- and that the planet did well at that time [millions of years ago- before we had any factories!]
What’s the lowest ‘safe level’ of co2? Humans and animals can survive without any co2 in the air- but plants need around 270 ppm to do okay- and if you go under 150 ppm- then they are in real trouble.
Studies have been done that show the orange groves in Cal. have a much higher production rate now [around 30 %] then before the industrial age- because the levels of co2 are at a higher rate.
Some greenhouses have an increased level [around 1000 ppm] because plants thrive at higher levels [have you choked on pollution at your local greenhouse lately?]
So- the safe low level would be around 200 ppm- at the high end of the scale- maybe around 5000 ppm. So where are we at today?- around 390 ppm.
The way the media talk about the thing- you would think we are in danger of hitting the top of the scale- if the truth be known-we are closer to the bottom than the top.
Okay- said all that to say this- being there are lots of real questions about dealing with these levels- should we be closing down businesses- at a TIME WHERE PEOLE ARE LITERALLY STARVING FOR JOBS- simply because of some supposed book knowledge truth- that as you look at it- it doesn’t even seem to be book knowledge.
As the president gives his speech this coming week on jobs- yes- let’s do our best to work together for the next year and see if we can help those who are hurting. But at the same time- you can’t keep making ‘head knowledge’ decisions- based on book truth- when those in the real world know what needs to be done.
Sometimes you have to yell ‘go hook up the damn truck!’ and I think we are at that time.
[1724] ALIEN INVASIONS- JOE WILSON- FAST AND FURIOUS
Let’s do a quick ‘week in review’ on a Tuesday. Over the last few days I have piled up a bunch of news paper articles that I feel we should hit on- but there are so many- I think I will just skim a few.
First- as the weeks go by- more and more reports are backing up what I have been saying this last year. They are openly saying ‘Black skinned people in Libya are open targets’ I mean that was the headline from a N.Y. Times piece.
I read a quote from a Black school teacher in Libya- he said ‘if you are Black- you are a target- women- children- it makes no difference’.
Can you imagine what the reporting would be like if Bush/Cheney were running the show ‘U.S. govt. is backing rebel group that is executing Blacks’.
Then I read an article about Global Warming- now- in the last post I mentioned a lot of factual stuff on Global Warming. Why? Because what you hear in the media- all the time- is this comparison between the ‘right wing Christians- who deny science’ [Evolution, Global Warming] and the truly educated person, and they have this narrative that they can’t escape from.
So- after hearing this for so long- I figured I would just give some scientific facts on the thing.
Then the article I read said ‘some NASA scientists floated a theory that if intelligent alien life exists- they might choose to extinguish life on the earth- because of Global Warming’ [I kid you not!]
So- the guys who are accusing the ‘right wingers’ of denying science- of grasping at religious ideas instead of using solid science. These guys would have us believe that the aliens overlooked the Holocaust- they sat back and remained quiet during the Crusades. They watched in amazement as the U.S. engaged in a brutal civil war. Yes- all these threats to life were deemed acceptable- but if we let the co2 level jump another notch- watch out!
And then- yes again- the Fast and Furious scandal continues to unravel. This past week a few heads rolled- the top U.S. attorney in Arizona stepped down- and a few other guys were moved around. This story is really bad- this is the debacle of the U.S. letting guns ‘walk’ [be sold] to gun runners in Mexico- and these guns later were used to kill lots of people.
One gun showed up at the death of one of our border patrol agents- and congress has been holding hearings- and the justice dept. has been stonewalling.
It’s amazing- this quite possibly will be the greatest scandal of this presidency [what did he know- and when did he know it?] and yet there are some news organizations that have never even mentioned it once [MSNBC- as far as I can tell- they have not covered it on the shows I watch].
Yet they spent entire shows [O’Donnell] covering the story of Valerie Plame and Joe Wilson. On a scale of 1-100- the present fast and furious scandal would rate at the top- the Plame story- about zero.
I haven’t read the Joe Wilson story in a while- but let me do a brief overview as best as I can.
During the buildup to the Iraq war- Bush and his team did indeed try to push evidence that would justify the war [Weapons of mass destruction anyone?] And during this time you had some on the left who fought those on the right- over the evidence. So- during this fight there appeared an Op Ed piece [N.Y. Times ?] That said ‘Cheney sent me to Niger and I came back with the evidence that Iraq was not seeking Uranium to build a bomb’.
Okay- who wrote this piece? Joe Wilson- someone that Cheney did not know- or ever even heard of. So you can imagine that Cheney [which his subpoenaed notes would later verify] would ask ‘who is this guy’?
Cheney and Bush found out- by others reporting on the story- that he was basically a civilian- whose wife worked at the CIA. She got him the gig because he spoke French [the language of Niger- I think] and that’s how he got the job.
So- it’s obvious that Cheney wanted people to know that the guy really wasn’t ‘sent’ by him- so they wanted the story to leak that said his wife got him the job.
Okay- really not a big deal to be honest about it- stuff like this happens all the time.
But- alas- when the name of the wife leaked out- Valerie Plame- nobody knew she had some undercover status at the CIA- so whoever did leak the name accidently violated the ‘don’t reveal the name of an undercover agent rule’ and thus the story had legs.
Now- from everything that came out- it was quite obvious that people did not ‘leak’ the ;ladies name to get at her- they leaked it because they wanted to show that Cheney did not send the guy- but his wife got him the job.
Never the less- Patrick Fitzgerald became the special prosecutor- and he went after it. During the investigation- it was revealed that a guy by the name of Richard Armitage leaked the name- and he did it inadvertently. He told the name to the late Bob Novak- and Novak published the name.
Armitage was not a political guy- and the Dems knew that. Yet in the media- they kept making it sound like Rove and Cheney went after the woman.
Eventually they convicted Scooter Libby- a fairly decent guy- who worked for Cheney. They said he lied when he said he first heard the name from Tim Russert [another dead news guy] and denied that he first heard the name from Cheney.
Okay- they were going to send him to jail for this- but Bush commuted [not pardoned] his sentence.
Okay- they made a movie about the thing- and when congress did its own investigation they said Wilson did indeed ‘fudge’ the facts. He did make it sound like Cheney sent him- and that was not true.
Look- this whole scandal- involved a person whose name was inadvertently released and the enemies of Bush had the gimmick of saying ‘they outed an undercover agent’!
It should be noted that Valerie Plame actually appeared on the cover of a magazine- using her real name- while she was supposed to have been ‘undercover’ [it seemed like she had the status- but she wasn’t really active]
So that’s politics- you have a real story- people today possibly being murdered by the guns we let walk- Mexico estimates that around 150 deaths have taken place in their country through this program. We now have testimony that the U.S. agents went on record and said we were getting them all killed because of the program.
We have top guys resigning- and the justice dept. released tons of papers- the whole page blacked out- to congress. This is a true scandal- people possibly dying every day because of what the ATF and the justice dept. let happen- and some media outlets have not mentioned this story even once- yet they spent whole programs covering the Valerie Plame story.
That’s the problem- whether they won’t report the Black killings by the rebels we support- or the deaths of our border patrol guys by the guns we let walk- when the media allow their favoritism for a particular president skew their reporting- then they are no longer the 4th estate- they are simply stenographers.
[1725] THE GREAT DEBATE [Who is this Galeyoo guy?]
Okay- last night we had the 2nd [I think?] Repub debate of the year. I thought the debate went fairly well- I think Perry did okay- maybe a few bad sound bites that will be used against him [Ponzi scheme] yet overall he faired pretty well.
When I realized it was being broadcast on MSNBC- I almost didn’t watch the thing. This station is so in the tank for Obama- and they play the race card all the time- I thought I might just skip the thing.
But Brian Williams [NBC anchor] did okay. You even got the sense that the political hack- Chris Matthews- was upset that Williams didn’t get more into the Evolution, Gay marriage stuff.
Matthews interviewed Rick Santorum after the debate and kept asking him ‘why did you avoid all the social issues- Abortion, gay rights- and the Evolution stuff’. I mean Mathews was mad. Santorum kept saying ‘Hold on- your network [MSNBC is the cable arm of NBC] never asked me any of those questions’.
Matthews still went on and said ‘no- you’re dodging those issues because you know they make you all look nuts’. My daughter was walking thru the room at the time- she heard conversation and asked ‘who is that guy?’ talking about Matthews- even though she is no political junkie like myself- she still thought he was an idiot.
I told her who he was- she said ‘why don’t they sue him for that’ Oh- the joys of youth [she’s 20]. I mean if I had 3 wishes- you know- one of those deals where you have to think long and hard- I think I might actually waste one for that [suing Matthews to get him to go away].
I also found it interesting how in the after debate coverage- the MSNBC crowd were all basically playing the side of the apologist for Obama- yet the only 2 Black guys on the panel- Gene Robinson and Sharpton- they had some interesting insights. They said that after they heard Perry’s response to the question on why he tried to mandate the vaccine shot for cervical cancer in the state- that his answer was actually intelligent.
As a Texan I remember when this issue came up. A few years back Perry wanted all the kids above the age of 12 to get the shot- a lot of people opposed it and Perry gave a loophole that if you didn’t want the shot you didn’t have to get it. At the time I rejected it for one of my daughters- I went to the school that year to sign her up [you know- the yearly routine] and they did ask- and I said no.
So the 2 Black guys on the panel said they felt Perry was actually more intelligent than he has been made out to be. Now- I know Matthews and the other race baiters were not happy about this observation- because it’s their network that has run with the narrative that Perry is a behind the scenes ignoramus. Yes- Rachel Maddow [another panelist] has said this openly on her show.
So why did Robinson and Sharpton make this observation? Look- I know I have angered lots of people who read my blog- my openness about race and all- I mean I’m sure some people have said ‘geez- does this guy believe Whites are better than the other races’ actually- not a whole lot better [You know- I wonder sometimes if people realize when I’m kidding around - I also wonder why I have not been shot yet].
No- actually I think society should be color blind- and we should heed the words of the great Doctor King- we should judge people on their character and not on the color of their skin.
I believe that Robinson and Sharpton- because of their background and the many injustices and stereotypes that they have dealt with thru out life- that they actually began to realize that they were falling for their own in house stereotyping of Perry [idiot] and they began to realize that they were wrong about it.
So all and all I think it went well.
But I just can’t get past the elitist mindset of this crowd. During the debate Perry mentioned that Galileo was outvoted in his day. Later on Sharpton quipped ‘Perry- he even said Galeyoo was outvoted’. Okay- I want to be nice- Sharpton has a new show on MSNBC and I have seen it a few times. Al is the opposite of Obama. When Sharpton is talking off the cuff- like any good preacher- he does well. But when you put the guy in front of a monitor- watch out.
He can’t read the darn thing. Now- I left it alone when he was portraying Perry as a simpleton one day [remember- Sharpton was actually believing the in house spin of his own network]. He was reading ‘Secede’ and saying ‘succeed’ [you know- Perry's statement about seceding from the union- which was a joke].
And then last night he keeps pronouncing the name of Galileo as ‘Galeyoo’. I mean- it’s just too much.
Was Perry right about Galeyoo? Actually he was. I have actually covered this whole thing in depth on the blog- if you go to the Feb. posts and look up the Evolution sections- it’s in there.
But let’s do a short overview. One of the common misconceptions of the early church is that lots of people believed the earth was flat- this is actually false. As a matter of fact- a few hundred years before Christ most cosmology was based on the Ptolemaic idea.
Ptolemy was one of the 4 generals that took part of the broken Greek kingdom after the death of Alexander the Great. Ptolemy introduced a system of the solar system that had the earth as a globe- being surrounded by a sort of crystalline sphere. On this outer sphere were the stars and planets. As this sphere rotated around the earth- you had the variations occur in the heavens thru out the year.
Now- even though this system would later be overturned by ‘Galeyoo’- yet it did work well for around 2 thousand years. Now- during the Copernican revolution [Galileo and Copernicus were both influential in the change of this system] they had developed a better system- through the invention of the telescope man was able for the first time to actually see the solar system up close.
And we then had the great breakthrough of our understanding of the solar system- we are Heliocentric- the sun is indeed the focal point- and we revolve around it- not the other way around [which was the older idea called Geocentric].
Oaky- when Gaioploi first came up with the idea [you do realize I’m talking about Galileo here- I need to clarify this just in case Sharpton reads this post] his initial idea was indeed off. There were some very serious flaws in the initial system.
Other scientists critiqued the plan and found these flaws- yes- the other scientists of the day ‘voted down’ Galeyoo.
But- like all the other spouting heads of MSNBC- why mention facts- especially when you are engaging in speech that says ‘look at the dumb Texan- he rejects science’.
Let me finish with a confession- as somewhat of a quasi intellectual who likes getting into all these types of things- I must admit I also like watching smart comedies- you know- good intellectually stimulating stuff. So let me quote a line from Jack Blacks Nacho Libre.
As Black is trying to convince his wrestling partner to get baptized before the big match- they were going up against another team called Satan’s disciples [or something like that]. Black keeps pushing his partner to get baptized- and the partner refuses- he says ‘I don’t want to get baptized- because I believe in science’. Ah- there it is- the present mantra of the liberal media- Perry, Bachman, Mitt- the whole crowd- these people don’t believe in science- not like us truly intellectual folk- they are all idiots’!
Ah- these guys are all like the people who fought Galileo- they are against true science. You know- I guess an argument like this might have some legs- but when the person making it keeps calling Galileo ‘Galeyoo’ well- maybe not.
[1726] THE PRESIDENTS SPEECH
Last night the president gave his talk on jobs- I think he did all right. He chose somewhat of a compromise approach. Some of the proposals were conservative in nature- others progressive.
I’m sure some of the more progressive Democrats are mad- they were hoping for a big spending plan [another stimulus] and they did not get that. The cost is not cheap- don’t get me wrong- it is around 450 billion, but it is not the trillion that some have called for [Paul Krugman- NY Times].
The president also spoke about the need for Medicare reform- this did anger the progressives- yet he was honest about the program- at the current rate of the cost of health care- and the age that people are living- the program does need adjustments.
Now- for the more cynical out there- the president might not being doing this out of a purely noble reason- he might realize that there are only so many things left that he can shoot for- and to have the legacy of being the president that ‘saved’ Medicare- well that might be part of this.
He does get advice from Bill Clinton- and Clinton was a moderate/conservative Dem- he angered liberal Dem’s when he did welfare reform- yet he is viewed in a good light because of it.
So it is possible that some have told president Obama that he too will get heat for the Medicare proposal- but at the end of the day it will help his image more than hurt it.
The other day I did a post on the EPA and how too many new air standards could jeopardize jobs. Funny thing- that same day the president made headlines by rejecting his own EPA rules that would have lowered the smog and the ozone in the atmosphere. I think this was the first time he has gone against his own EPA and did indeed anger many environmentalists.
I also spoke with my liberal friend from the North the other day- we were discussing Obama care and I told the person that I did feel like the law might be overturned. That the way the president justified the mandate [Making people buy insurance] was thru the Commerce Clause.
This rule lets the govt. regulate business between the states. But the administration went to court in defending the new law by saying they can force people to buy health insurance because health care is a business that the govt. has the right to regulate.
I remember when Obama care first passed- some reporter did ask Pelosi about this- she laughed- like there was no way the courts would possibly overturn the law based on this challenge. Yet the next day or so after I told my liberal friend that I did think there was a chance that the courts would overturn it. A major ruling came out against the mandate.
I’m no prognosticator- but I find it strange that I was hitting on these subjects and within a day [or the same day] these things did go the way I felt they would.
I do think that it’s possible that our political system is so broken- that it might be beyond repair. The problem is we need statesmen- men and woman who will do what is right- and not simply play to their party [or to corporate interests- or a whole host of other special interest groups].
Yet year after year the pressure on those in office- to either want one side to fail- or to go after the other side because they are trying to deal with one of the 3rd rails of politics [Medicare- s.s.- etc.]
If we are unable to truly do what we can- like the president said- he and the congress have a year and a few months left to work- if they can’t get stuff done because of an election year- and both sides playing politics- then it really won’t matter [a whole lot] who the next president is- because once again the system will devour itself.
I do think that the president now sees that the more progressive Keynesian view has now been tried- on a larger scale than was ever tried before [though not large enough for some] and the project did not create the jobs that many liberal economists thought it would create.
So most of the progressive economists who worked for the president during the first 2 years have left and gone back to the university classroom- and continue to advocate their view- even after it failed!
People from all sides do stuff like this- they take a position and even after it fails- many times they still will not let it go- that makes governing difficult- because both sides see the other side as the enemy and many times they will purposely take a position that will hurt their opponent- even if that position is not best for the country.
I give Obama a b [or c+] for the speech- but we really need him to put stuff in writing form here on out- to be honest- we really do not need any more speeches- we need the rest of this year and the next for these guys to sit down and present real proposals- things on paper that the budget office can score.
Many of the president’s critics are right when they say he does not commit on paper when he tries to negotiate- and he needs to put down his proposals and take the lead on these things.
I think he has learned over these past few years- and I think it would be good if we tried to get some of the things he spoke about accomplished- it is good for the country if we can get some good things done. Yes- we will have to look at the cost- but if we can work together some- that would be good too.
[1727] STRANGE DREAM [In memory of those who died on 9-11]
I wasn’t going to post today- but as I woke up this morning [the morning of 9-10-11] I remembered what I just dreamt.
I was back at work at the fire dept. and we had a call- as I ran to the fire truck I realized I had left my bunker gear [protective clothing] at the other station.
I realize this might sound strange to some people- but this has happened a few times [more than I would like to admit] over the years.
Sometimes you would get assigned to the other station and you would think ‘I’ll drive straight over’ and you would just get your gear after you do the morning truck check/radio check. And sometimes you would forget to get it- and if you had a call that night- you then thought ‘damn- I forgot my gear’.
Now- you could just grab another guys gear off the rack- but if he was the big guy [or small] then you might not be able to use his gear.
And of course- some of us older guys- who were around for a while- well we got too comfortable at times and at certain fires- well- we actually did not put our gear on.
Maybe there were not a lot of flames actually showing- but a lot of smoke- and we did the stupid thing and walked in thru the front door- maybe for just a minute or so- to see what we had- but that’s a huge no no in the fire service.
When you don’t wear your gear- and have your breathing mask on [Scott Pack] then your breathing in very bad stuff- us older guys were sometimes called ‘fire eaters’ because in the early days this was done too much- and it took many years to ‘re train’ the old guys- they [we] were set in our ways.
I think I might have had the dream because being it’s the 10 year memorial [of those who died!] of the 9-11 attack- they have been playing the video and talking about the event.
As I think about my dream- I can imagine that the guys on duty that day heard the call come in- and often times you think ‘geez- today will be one of those days’. Sometimes you get to work and the fire phone rings off the hook- a day- for whatever reason- that will have lots of fires.
Or a day where you have a big fire. I was telling my daughter a funny story the other night. One year we had a call for the local elementary school being on fire [called Kleberg school- Kingsville, Tx.] and as I arrived on the scene- sure enough- this would be what we called ‘a working fire’ [big fire- need to make it a general alarm and get the off duty guys to come help].
I was the truck operator that day- had to hook up the truck to the hydrant and make sure the hoses had a constant supply of water [by the way- you could get away with forgetting your bunker gear on a day when you pumped the truck- but you never know- a guy might go down and then you’re in trouble- you have to get him out- and you forgot your gear].
So some kid set the school on fire- and we were gonna be up all night for this one. It was kinda funny- after a few hours of pumping the truck watching the guys from the outside- I finally figure I’ll take a look- you know- just step in thru the front door [of course- without the mask] and take a peek.
Now- there is a ton of smoke- both inside and out- so I really didn’t know how bad the damage was. As I walk in the front door- trying hard to see what I’m looking at- I realize I’m seeing stars! Yes- the wall [and door] survived- and that was it!
Okay- as we remember 9-11- we need to be careful that we don’t have too much of a ‘celebratory’ attitude about the thing. I went to the beach with my daughter and a bunch of friends and family for labor day- and it was packed. Yet there was really no difference between the partying spirit of labor day and Memorial day- yet on Memorial day we are supposed to be remembering those who died for the country- I mean we should not be having a ‘good old time’ at a funeral.
So as the weekend moves forward, Bloomberg banning the clergy and all [by the way- as a Protestant- I think it would be perfectly fine to have Bishop Dolan- from St. Patrick’s- there. To even do a prayer. Most of my fellow firefighters who died that day were good Catholic kids- many were Italian like myself- and out of a show of respect- I think the bishop should get a pass].
But as we remember- let’s try not to make the mistake of what our Memorial days have turned into- let’s remember the fallen- and pray for their families this weekend [and all the other guys still on the force]. I did our local prayer thing for a few years at our dept. while on duty- and yes- I did a Christian prayer- ended the thing in Jesus name.
Didn’t want to offend any Muslims or Jews or any other faith- but most of these guys were Christian- they were the ones who died- they deserve the prayer- and respect. We can save political correctness for another day.
[1728] DEBATE- WEEK IN REVIEW
Let’s do another ‘week in review’ at the beginning of the week. I now realize why it’s easier to do them now- because I usually read about 10 papers over the weekend- and the stories are fresh in my mind.
First- last night we had another debate- I don’t know how many more I’ll watch [well- probably all of them- but I’d like to pretend I’m above it all]. We basically know the positions of these guys- and if they want to get lost in cervical cancer vaccines- or Ponzi schemes- or any of a number of hot sound bites- then the debates will not really accomplish much.
Just a few points- let me make another Fire Dept. confession [by the way- those of you who are not familiar with the fire service- you might read a post every now and then and think it might sound strange- or dangerous. Like when I spoke about the school fire- I said the only thing that survived was the wall. Of course the school was empty- no one died! So in the fire service the other shifts that are not on duty will come in and kid you about a fire the night before ‘hey- I heard you guys saved the wall’ and stuff like that is an on house joke- but the average folk might not get that].
Okay- one of my pet peeves was every year our chief [and other city administrators] would have a meeting or 2 with everyone about the FISCAL condition of the dept/city- you know the usual routine of fighting wasteful spending.
In most cities the Fire dept and Cops are the single most expensive depts. for the city. But for whatever reason- these guys got into the habit of pronouncing FISCAL- by saying physical. Now- one time I tried to ‘change the tide’ on this if you will- you know- leave a legacy of at least getting the guys to say the word right.
I told one of the Captains ‘you know Cap- you guys are not pronouncing the word right’ he quipped ‘o- you can say it both ways’. Now- I know YOU can say it both ways- I mean if you want you can say MOONWALK instead- but the point was- well never mind- I just gave up.
Okay- I will now admit- A year or so ago I saw a news clip from Perry- and yes- he said it. That dreaded word- the word that I heard all those years- sort of like little Ralphie [you know- Christmas story] when he blurted out the big one when his dad was changing out the flat tire.
Yes- when I heard Perry say it- well I couldn’t help but view him in a negative light [and was also shocked that what I thought was an in house problem- actually spread all the way to Austin!]
So last night- if you watched carefully- he did it again. Yes- it was sort of a hybrid though- between Fiscal and Physical- but for us pro’s- you knew he was falling off the wagon.
Then- my fears were confirmed when he gave another talk and when he got to the point of saying fiscal- he stopped- one of those moments where you could tell he was coached to avoid the word- and after a second of reflection said ‘monetary policy’- at that point I knew he too was infected with the disease- so sad- so very sad.
Okay- on a more serious note- I also was surprised that the talking heads did not really mention the biggest so called phopar from Perry- he took a very liberal- pro immigration stance with Mexico.
This stance is in the tradition of Texas- both Bush and Perry are pro Mexican immigrant- Texas is not Arizona when it comes to illegals.
There are various reasons for this- like our farmers having benefitted from those who are willing to pick real cheap- but overall Texas is an immigrant friendly state.
Anyway- Perry said it last night- and got booed by the Tea Party- why do you think the media didn’t make a big thing about it later? Because if you have a conservative Texas governor- loved by many- and at the same time might garner lots of Latino votes- well then Obama won’t stand a chance at another 4 years.
So all in all- it was pretty interesting.
Okay- just a few points of interest. Last week we met the other G-7 states and we tried to push a Stimulus mentality [the G-7 are the developed economies- U.S., Canada- France- Italy- etc.]. Our treasury secretary- Tim Geithner- wrote a piece in the Financial Times that tried to nudge the E.U. [the 17 nation states that make up the common currency in Europe] to work with a stimulus mindset.
Basically the Fiscal [or should I say physical?] problems of the E.U. are not going away- and we wanted the stronger economies of the Euro Zone to keep spending money- instead of taking the conservative view of cutting back- called austerity.
These nations- the cradle of socialism, fascism, communism- they all told us that our economic policies were too liberal for them- I mean what a final death blow to Obama’s economic team- to be turned down by this crowd!
How sad. We also had another revelation of Fast and Furious guns showing up at another scène where our law enforcement people were involved. These are the illegal guns we let walk- the FAST AND FURIOUS scandal [I have written about before]. The govt. just admitted that a few of these guns were found in a stolen vehicle that rammed a law enforcement vehicle a year or so ago.
So it looks like this story will not go away.
I also read 2 articles from the A.P. [associated press] now- those of you who are big news paper readers- whenever I read an article- I always look at where it came from.
If it’s a N.Y. time’s piece- or an A.P. piece- I take that into consideration- they are almost always pro Obama.
So to my surprise these 2 A.P. pieces were both negative- even demeaning. They came out a day or so after the president’s job speech- which angered some of his supporters. And the obvious ‘in your face’ style of these articles- well it showed you that these reporters indeed have a love hate relationship with the president.
Okay- the first one critiqued his jobs speech- and blasted him for lying. They even said ‘maybe he meant to say this instead’ now- that’s bad.
The other article exposed an ongoing false claim by our govt. that the Wiki Leaks ‘leaks’ are very dangerous- that they have put many people’s lives at risk.
Now- this is another thing I have written about lots- The Wiki Leaks story is the Julian Assange guy who got a hold of thousands of defense dept. ‘secret’ emails and began leaking them on line.
Last week he dumped another load and this time he did not black out the names of people. Once again the U.S. govt. came out and made it sound like these leaks were getting lots of people killed- which is not true.
Finally- the A.P. said they interviewed the people whose names appeared- and they found no case where lives were at stake- in fact many of the people said they did not know what the big fuss was all about- these ;leaks amounted to nothing- except they exposed the hypocrisy of the U.S.
So yes- the A.P. even got tired of covering the story the way Obama wanted it to be covered. It was only a matter of time before the media got smart with this one.
I mean this story is one in which the prime source for media info- leakers- were gone after like no other president has ever done. The supposed soldier who leaked the stuff to Assange- Bradley Manning- is an openly gay young kid- it’s obvious he had problems in the military- and we have had this kid in 24 hour solitary confinement FOR A FEW YEARS NOW.
This really is unacceptable- to just keep the kid like that. Even P.J. Crowley- a former defense spokesman who toed the Obama line- he had to quit because he made a statement one day that what we are doing to Bradley is stupid.
Okay- all in all we see the tide turning some- the media are tired of doing the presidents dirty work- and they are letting it show.
As we come closer to the end of this year- there are still lots of global economic problems going on- and like I said a few weeks back- I would not be in the market right now. When Buffet ‘invested’ [more like a private ,money bailout if you ask me] 5 billion into Bank of America- that’s a sign that the banks are still in trouble.
And AIG just sued Bank of America for 10 billion- because they sold them all those bad mortgages- so to still be facing possible bank problems- this late in the game- that’s not good.
Okay- not here to give ‘psychical’ advice- but just thought I’d be upfront with you guys.
When you watch/read the news- be skeptical- not cynical- but skeptical- don’t believe everything that’s passed on- because if you do- you might end up in the state house one day- saying physical [instead of fiscal].
Note- I still have lots of people claim that you can say Fiscal either way- Look- I’ll admit that it is being used that way a lot- and maybe you ‘can’ say it like that- sort of like after using any word a certain way for so long eventually ‘allows’ that word to be used like that. But if you read the actual word- I think my position is right.
[1729] SOLYNDRA?
First- I make no excuses for going ‘off’ on those last 3 posts. No- I’m human like everyone else- yes- my account was hacked! [Actually- after I thought about it for a minute- you know- just delete the post, or in Anthony Wieners case the picture- and then claim your were hacked- that does sound tempting].
But no- I’ll just quote another Jack Black line [remember- I quoted him from Nacho Libre the other day?]. This one comes from that intellectually stimulating comedy- Anchorman- the Legend of Ron Burgundy.
As Will Ferrell is driving down the highway he’s eating this giant burrito and he can’t finish the thing- so he tosses it out the window and it hits Jack Black in the face and he wipes out on his beloved Harley.
So Ferrell [Burgundy] stops to see if he’s all right- and Black takes Burgundy’s dog- Baxter- and punts him off the bridge.
Burgundy just stands there- he’s in shock- and as Black walks away he says ‘that’s the way I roll’ and that’s it.
So no mea culpa- my site is not for kids or the fainthearted- that’s just the way I roll.
Okay- what’s Solyndra? Yesterday I didn’t listen to any talk radio so when I flipped on the news I was surprised to see most of the news programs covering this scandal.
I usually don’t like to write a post until I read a few news paper articles first- but will make an exception and I’ll try to cover it from what I gleaned from the tube.
This company was a Solar panel co. that made cylinder type solar panels [thus the name- Solyndra]. These panels were actually expensive to make- but they were cheap to install so the investors took a risk [that proved bad] and invested in this green energy co.
Now- when this co. went bankrupt recently- the federal govt. began investigating how they got approved for a 500 million dollar tax payer loan- if they were such a high risk.
Under the Bush Administration the govt. began a program where green energy companies could get federal loans if they were shown to be good risks.
Solyndra applied for a loan under Bush- but all the newly released records now show that we deemed them a bad risk. The Energy dept. and other federal agencies that looked over the books said they were a no go for the loan.
Okay- within a few days after Obama became president- for some unknown reason [unknown until now] this loan was fast tracked- and approved.
All the recently released emails and memos show the administration putting pressure on the federal govt. insiders to make the loan.
You even have emails saying ‘what’s holding this up- we need this done!’ And the agency responding back ‘don’t rush this loan- this company is on the verge of going bankrupt’.
We now know that one of the biggest investors in this company is a major campaign bundler for Obama [he collects lots of money for Obama]. And this guy- Kaiser- did make lots of visits to the White House and it simply looks like Obama did a favor for one of his cronies and that’s why they gave this bad company the loan.
Now- all the emails released and the media reports [even from the big networks] showed you enough of a trail that it does look like this happened.
Why would the president do this? Look- lots of people are really not aware of the political crowd Obama came in with. Chicago politics is corrupt- has been for years. And Obama came to office with these guys all around him [Rahm Emmanuel being the head honcho].
So if they were all playing inside poker like this- you know getting one of your major money guys a special break- in the Chicago arena this is nothing. I mean those guys were chopping heads off horses and putting them in opponents beds [actually it was a dead fish that Rahm sent to a political opponent- for real!]
So doing a favor like this- getting a loan for a buddy- well he might have thought that was just a perk to being president.
Actually- if your caught manipulating the system for friends like this- well that’s gonna get you in major trouble.
Now- there is more to the story. When the govt. makes these loans- they have a special rule that’s says ‘if the company goes belly up- the tax payers get their money back first’.
For some ‘strange’ reason- as the Administration became aware that this friends company was going to indeed go bankrupt- they went and changed the loan and made this loan say ‘if you go bankrupt- the investors will get their money first- then the govt.’.
Now- they did not do this for any other loan- only this one.
So- the taxpayers are out half a billion bucks- and it does look like the president has involved himself in a huge scandal- one that will not go away.
And how did MSNBC cover this? Well they didn’t have time for trivial stuff like this- instead they covered Bachmann accusing Perry of forced cervical cancer vaccine injections on little Texas girls- and those girls becoming mentally retarded because of it.
Now- Bachmann has gone after Perry big time these last few days- she even exposed his lie about the Ponzi scheme thing ‘hey Perry- who is this Ponzi guy anyway? You had Fonzi- and Potsi- but there was no Ponzi!’ [Okay- stole it from Leno- but thought it was pretty good. To my younger readers- if I have to explain the thing it ruins it].
So all in all we will see how this thing goes. I don’t think there is much hope that this next year will be an above the board ‘we will talk nice about you’ type of campaign. No- it looks like it will be down and dirty. And if you throw what looks to be a real presidential scandal into the mix- well then we will be fighting big time for the next year.
It’s too early to condemn the president on this- but from what I saw [even on the major networks] it does seem to be a big deal- one that will not go away anytime soon.
One word of advice for the White House [I am on their official page you know]. Don’t be tempted to do the Anthony Weiner thing [you know- delete what you can and claim you were hacked]. No- my advice would be to take it like a man.
Pull a Jack Black if you must- do what needs to be done and end the day with ‘that’s just the way I roll’. It can’t hurt- well not too much.
RECENT STUFF- C
[1730] I HAVE PRAYED FOR YOU
Let’s try and close the week with some bible stuff- I might hit on a few news stories that are important- but let’s start with some scripture.
Today I had a good prayer time- If I get up at 3:30- and the morning is nice- it’s easy to pray for a few hours. On Friday [and Monday] I try to do a prayer routine that covers lots of stuff [world events, world leaders- yes I pray weekly for the president- and a bunch of other stuff].
I will walk the yard- and if there is no wind- then it’s kind of muggy- and it just seems like work. But this morning there was a nice wind- a higher ceiling for the clouds- and almost a full moon. Plus it’s raining as I write [I mean we have been in a drought!].
So it went well. Okay this week I read John 1 [as well as other stuff]. One morning I got up and couldn’t pray- and I remembered the verse where Jesus says ‘I have prayed for you’. I felt like the Lord was saying he took up the slack that day. The bible says Jesus is at the right hand of God and prays for us.
Then the next day I was listening to a favorite radio preacher- and he quoted the whole verse- Jesus says to Peter 'Peter- satan has desired to have you- that he might sift you like wheat. But I have prayed for you that your faith fail not- and when you are turned again- strengthen your brothers’.
This occurred near the end of the earthly ministry of Jesus- he spent 3 years with his men- and then it was time to leave. At this point Jesus is spending whole nights in prayer to God- struggling with the completion of his mission- praying things like ‘God- if it’s possible- let this thing go away- if not- let your will be done’. And it’s an ‘existential’ experience [if I remember- I’ll explain this before the post ends].
Yet during this time of struggle- at some point- the Father reveals something to the Son- he tells Jesus ‘you friend Peter- there has been a request made on his life. Satan has come to me for permission to test him- I am going to allow him to go through some very difficult stuff’.
So during this tough time for Jesus- in the midst of his own personal turmoil- his soul ‘being poured out unto death’. He has only a moment with Peter- and he sees what is going to happen- and he simply relates to Peter what God had said.
In the book of Job we read how one day the angels came before God- and satan came too. He asked God for permission to go after Job- and for reasons that we don’t always understand- God said ‘okay’.
So in Peter’s case- this was destined to happen- he will be broken over the thing- probably hate himself for what he will do- yet it’s going to happen.
In John chapter 1 the religious leaders come to John the Baptist- they ask him who he is- sort of like ‘John- who do you think you are- what’s the end game here?’ John responds that he is not the Messiah- he is just a voice in the wilderness- preparing the way for the Lord.
John quotes the prophet Isaiah when he says ‘the voice of one’. They also ask him ‘are you that prophet that was supposed to come first’. This verse is found in the Old Testament book of Malachi. In chapter 3 the prophet says ‘the messenger of the covenant will come suddenly to his temple’ and it speaks of Christ and John.
But when they ask John ‘are you that prophet’ John says no. Was he the one who was to be the forerunner prophet? Actually yes- he was. How do we know this? Jesus himself will later testify that John indeed is the prophet who was to come ‘in the power and the spirit of Elijah’.
So this is one of those cases in the N.T. where you seem to have a contradiction. I think if we read carefully there really isn’t a contradiction- John might have really not understood that he was ‘that prophet’. John- like Peter- Like Jesus- like all the other ones in this story- they are having real life struggles- tough things they are dealing with- and in John’s case he might have thought ‘that prophet- are you kidding me- I’m barley surviving this thing’.
Now- we will read how John gets himself into some hot water. Not only is he preaching about The Lamb of God- he starts saying ‘Herod [the Roman ‘king’ figure that was over the Jewish people] you have take your brother Phillips wife- you can’t have her!’
Herod was the son of Herod the great- we read about ‘the great’ as being the king at the time of Jesus birth- he was the one who had all the babies killed because he heard that Christ was born and he wanted to wipe out the competition- this Messiah who would be ‘The King of the Jews’.
The funny thing was- Herod wasn’t a Jew. Yet he saw himself as the actual Messiah to the Jews- Rome gave Herod [the great] this figure head authority- and it literally went to his head. Now- Herod died soon after the slaughter of the kids- and his son would ‘reign in his place’.
This Herod would be the king at the time of Jesus earthly ministry. This is the king who John the Baptist was preaching against.
One time they came to Jesus- to kind of intimidate him- they said ‘you know- Herod knows about you- he will get you’. Jesus- you know- we are supposed to respect authority- right? He says ‘go tell that fox- that today and tomorrow I do healings and great works- and on the 3rd day I will be perfected’.
Perfected means ‘come to maturity’. This was a reference to his death and resurrection on the ‘3rd day’.
So Johns out there preaching against what he sees as corruption in govt. and one day they finally had enough- Herod puts John in prison.
Now John’s sitting there in prison- right at the time of this great ministry of Jesus. I mean Jesus is healing people left and right- raising the dead. I mean John must have felt vindicated- right?
John’s sitting in jail- and day after day- in this prison- he starts to think ‘geez- I have been stuck here for a while now- I mean I was the forerunner- Jesus said that about me- I’m the voice of one- the guy who proclaimed the truth when no one else was willing to take the risk- what the hell am I doing here- sitting in prison!’
John must have thought he was getting a bad deal. He sends 2 of his disciples to ask Jesus ‘are you the one- or should we look for another?’
Was he having doubts? Come on- Jesus is raising the dead for heaven’s sake- John was basically saying to Jesus ‘are you the one? If so- why am I still in the damn jail!’
John was being sifted. Peter will be- Job was too. For some strange reason- this is how things work. The bread has to be broken before it can feed people.
Of course we know the rest of the story- Herod's daughter in law will do a dance for the king- and the wife will get the head of John the Baptist on a platter- she got tired of hearing him.
Soren Kierkegaard- the 19th century Christian/Philosopher is considered to be the Father of Existentialism. Existentialism is the philosophy that says you start with ‘existence’ that is you begin the journey with real life passion- real interaction in life. Your failures and your high points- all these real things we experience in life- these are the things that shape us- that make us real.
Soren lived in a day where the Danish state church was dead and formal- and he spoke out against the dead lukewarm orthodoxy of his day.
One time he would say when he got tired of all the religious formalism- the fake plastic face we all put on so other people can’t really see our struggles- he said he would go read the Old Testament- the stories of murder and adultery and covering up crimes- he said these were real stories- of failure and success- of sitting in jail and thinking you might get out- but instead you get your head taken off.
These are the real stories of some of the most hallowed saints of history- yes- human frailty runs right through it all- like some scarlet thread.
One time Jesus said to Peter ‘I have prayed for you’ that sounds great when it stands alone- but when you see it in the context of the whole verse- then you realize that you just might be in for something that you never expected would happen- you might be getting ready to go through a real existential moment- face to face with your own failures and humanity.
Peter will later write ‘beloved- when you go thru trials- don’t think it strange. Realize your brothers are also going through them’ and ‘it is not only our privilege to believe on the name of Jesus- but it is also our privilege to suffer with him’.
Yes Peter went on to get past the sifting- the memory of being the disciple who denied Jesus. I mean Peter was the only one who walked on water [ besides Jesus]- he raised the dead in the book of Acts- how we remember him?
We remember the day he got sifted like wheat. It’s not easy to forget those days- and even harder to live through them.
[1731] NOT AGAIN!
Okay- because of another late breaking news story- which hit the air last night- I will attempt to write a post without having read any hard news paper coverage. But I did just check up real quick on a few on line news sites- and I think I got the jist of it.
LIGHT SQUARED is another company- connected to a major Democratic party fundraiser- that seems to have gotten special treatment [or maybe illegal suborning of perjury?] in order to get the company approved to do business.
Last week General Shelton [Air Force] gave testimony that this broadband satellite company would indeed risk the U.S.’s ability to run our defense GPS system without any private sector interference.
It seems as if this company [funded by a major inside Dem donor- once again- SOLYNDRA] wants to develop their technology- and use it in a way that would mess up our own GPS system.
So the general was asked by congress to give his professional military opinion on the thing- and the White House told him to add a few things to his presentation. He flat out said no.
The things they wanted him to add were points that would still keep ‘hope alive’ for the company- even though Shelton’s professional opinion was to the contrary.
Okay- if this is true- and this administration has a track record of doing this- then we are really headed for deep water this next year. Look- from the start of the Obama presidency I was not one of those types of critics that hated the man from the get go.
But I also noticed how many of my liberal friends were so enamored with the man- that they could not even think straight.
I was talking to a friend from N.J. one day- she’s a liberal- big time. She told me one day ‘have you ever heard a man speak like this man John- there has been no Black man that has ever spoken like this in the history of our nation’.
Now- after clearing my throat for a minute [you know- like when you get sick real quick after eating something bad] I simply told the girl ‘Do you really believe this? Or are you only watching news shows that keep feeding you that perspective’.
I told her that right now [at the time we had the conversation] there is another prominent Black Democrat- Harold Ford- a congressman from Tenn. And if you simply listen to him- without comparing him to the fake media image of Obama- then you will see that he is just as articulate- just as ‘educated’ and does a great job making Democrat points.
A few weeks later she told me ‘John- I did hear him- and you were right’.
I wasn’t demeaning to Obama at all- I was just trying to show her that for some reason- the media has chosen to support a candidate like never before.
Now- let’s say if the president realized this- that most of his insider friends realized this was happening- you might not think twice about doing special insider favors for friends- because you know these friends [the media- absent fox] will not cover it.
But alas- all has changed. Many who were cheerleaders for the president for the last 3 years- they now realize he has possibly set the party back for 50 years.
When the Queens district voted in a Repub the other night [Wieners former district] that was the first time that district went Repub in 90 years.
Okay- you did have some regional issues that played into it- that area has a strong Jewish community- and many in the Jewish community feel like Obama has thrown Israel under the bus.
But I even heard some Dems spin it- that the voters are so mad at those in office- especially the Repubs- that that’s why they threw out the Dems.
Now- how you can reason that the voters were even more mad at the Repubs- that the way they would send that message- was to vote in the first Repub in 90 years- I mean we are dealing with elements of delusion here.
Then you had a Dem [Henry Waxman] actually say ‘the Jews are more concerned with holding on to their money- so that’s why they did it’.
If this were a Repub- he’d be gone today.
I read an article the other day- it got me mad. It was a pretty long article- on the second page [okay- they thought it didn’t merit front page coverage]. It was comments made by Levi Johnson- Sarah Palin's ‘former’ son in law.
Levi is the ex boyfriend of Bristol Palin- a girl who is not in public office- she is 20 years old mind you.
This article got into the girls sex life- when she was a minor. They asked levi ‘when you got her pregnant [now you’re talking about a private citizen- a minor at the time] did IT FEEL like she was a virgin’.
Levi said as Far as he could tell- it didn’t.
Now- when my liberal friends laugh at stuff like this- and I’m standing there- I do get tempted to respond. I don’t think it’s funny- and when I watch Obermann and Matthews and O’Donnell- grown men in their 50’s/60’s- laugh openly about how ‘loose’ a minor felt when she got pregnant- that’s a disgrace.
Yet- these same media have not covered truly important stories- stories that if seem to be as bad as they look- then forget about re election campaigning [which is the reason these money guys got the special treatment] we will be lucky to not see impeachment hearings on this stuff.
So as an upfront independent- I challenge both sides of the aisle to try and get past your bias- and see what’s really going on.
When we have media that can find time- and the audacity- to print a story on Palin’s daughter- like that- then the media has lost all sense of justice.
I wanted to hit on 3 stories from Iraq- that I read this last week- but because these other things are taking the oxygen out of the room- well I had to waste time on them.
As the week ends- I am still going to keep an open mind on these things.
SOLYNDRA- LIGHT SQUARED- and don’t forget FAST AND FURIOUS. None of these stories would have gotten congressional scrutiny if the Repubs did not take back the house in the mid terms.
And now that this White House has finally gotten some real coverage- lets do our best to hear both sides. As of now- I don’t know if there is enough evidence to prove a crime has been committed- but it sure looks like one might have.
[1732] BIBLE OVERVIEW- JOSHUA TO CHRONICLES.
I have a feeling that this week [and from here on out] we are going to be inundated with lots of scandals in the news- and before all that hits the fan- I want to do a few more posts on this brief overview of the bible that I started around a month ago.
This ‘chunk’ of scripture covers the period of the children of Israel possessing the promised land [the book of Joshua] and establishing themselves as a self governing people- no more Egyptian Pharaohs to answer to.
At the end of the book of Joshua we see that God’s people did not fully obey the Lord- they allowed some of the enemy nations to remain in the land. The history of Judges covers the period where Israel had no king [but God] yet God raised up temporary deliverers who lead them during trying times.
You had prophets too. The books of 1st and 2nd Samuel fall into this chunk of scripture- and it’s during Samuels’s time that the people ask for a king ‘like the other nations around them’.
Samuel takes this personally- but God says ‘Samuel- by asking this- they have not rejected you- but me’
So even though God’s original plan did not have a king over them- yet he grants the request. King Saul becomes the 1st king. Then we have David- and his son Solomon.
We read of the history and stories of the kings in these books.
Israel will become a divided kingdom under the son of Solomon- whose name is Rehoboam. The kingdom will split between the northern 10 tribes- referred to as Israel- and the 2 southern tribes- referred to as Judah.
The northern tribes- under king Jeroboam- will establish the city of Samaria as their capitol- and Jeroboam will set up idol worship and a false competing priesthood. Why?
He realizes that if the northern tribes continue to return every year to the south- in order to carry out their worship- then they will eventually want to ‘go home’.
So Jeroboam sets up this competing ‘religion’ in order to maintain unity for his kingdom.
The northern nation will last for around 200 years- up until the time they are taken captive by the kingdom of Assyria [around 720-30 b.c.]
The southern kingdom lasts for around 350 years- until they too are taken captive- by the Babylonians [around 580 b.c.]
An interesting note; the northern kingdoms will have 20 kings reign over them during their 200 years. And from these 20 kings- you have 9 different families/dynasties represented.
The southern kingdom will last almost twice as long- they too will have 20 kings reign during their time [both the north and the south have their own different kings]. Yet they will only have 1 family/dynasty that all their kings will come from.
That was the ‘House of David’. Why?
David is from the tribe of Judah- if you remember when we covered the history of Genesis- we ended [chapter 49] with Jacob blessing his 12 sons [the 12 tribes of Israel].
When he gets to the son/tribe Judah- he says ‘the scepter shall not depart from Judah’. This promise is later personalized to David- where God promises that one of the physical sons of David will always sit ‘on the throne’.
Now- this is where it gets interesting- this promise to David- sometimes referred to as ‘the sure mercies promised to David’. This very promise is quoted by Peter in the book of Acts- as having been fulfilled through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
That God did indeed keep his promise to David- and raised up one of his ‘sons’ [David and Jesus both come from the lineage of Judah] to take the throne- forever.
That’s good stuff- for sure.
Okay- after the kingdoms [northern and southern] are taken captive- God raises up various prophets who basically speak Gods word to the people in their various states of captivity [this is contained in the other O.T. books of the prophets].
So in a way- you just saw a panoramic view of the whole Old Testament.
Now- of course we skipped a lot of ground- didn’t get into the great defeat of Goliath by David- or talk about the confrontation between king Ahab [a wicked king from the north] and the prophet Elijah.
We did not cover the walls of Jericho falling down as the people walked around the city for 7 days.
Yes- there are lots of good stories in these books- but when we [I] do an overview like this- what we are trying to do is simply give a broad outline of what we are looking at.
The same goes for the N.T. overview we did.
Too often when new believers [or old!] make an attempt to ‘get into the bible’ they start with Genesis- and they quit in Leviticus!
It’s easy to get lost in the details- while not seeing the big picture.
So I like for believers to first go through a good overview of bible history- not so much a study of each book- which is good in its time- but more of getting a good grasp of the overriding themes.
Let’s end with an interesting encounter that Jesus had with a woman from ‘Samaria’. In John chapter 4 Jesus sees a woman at the well- he asks her ‘can you draw some water for me’. She is shocked- she says ‘why are you- a Jew- asking me- a Samaritan- to do this’.
And in parentheses- the apostle John writes [the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans]. This can actually be translated in a way that says legally the southern tribe of Judah was not allowed to do business with the northern tribe of Israel- now referred to as ‘the Samaritans’ which is the name of that original competing capitol city that Jeroboam set up in the north.
Ah- the racism- the elitism- it carried for hundreds of year- centuries of viewing the ‘other side’ as unclean.
What Jesus did at the well that day was indeed a violation of the rule of the day. When his disciples came back- and saw him talking to the woman- they were speechless.
This Samaritan woman goes on to believe in Jesus- and she goes and tells all the people in her home town- and many of them will believe too.
Something- after all those years- once again the Samaritans- and the Jews- and the Gentiles- well yes- the whole bunch- they will all become united once again under this king- this Son that has come from the royal line of Judah.
John writes about him in his strange book- called the book of Revelation- in chapter 5 he says no one was able to prevail to open the book in the hand of God.
There was crying- John and the others in this heavenly room before God felt hopeless.
Then an angel says to John ‘don’t weep- the lion FROM THE TRIBE OF JUDAH- he has prevailed to open the book and loose the seals- yes he is worthy’.
[1733] BRISON PHILLIPS
The other day this name popped into my mind- you know- one of those real clear memories- sort of like ‘geez- maybe God wants me to pray for the guy’. I knew that couldn’t be it.
This last week we have had a few big news stories- the SOLYNDRA scandal [by the way- the execs are gonna plead the 5th- that’s bad!].
We also had a few tragic events. A couple of air show disasters back to back. Here where I live in Corpus Christ- if you Google the map- I live about 200 yards from the Naval Air Station.
As a funny memory- 30 years ago I had my Captains Mast right on this base [a technical court thing- to kick you out after you screwed up one 2 many times- too much partying and fighting is not stuff the Navy puts ups with].
I worked for 25 years at another Naval base city- Kingsville [with the Fire Dept.]
Whenever the air base has an air show in Corpus- the planes fly directly over my house. Right after I moved to the area I realized all the locals sit on their roofs when the shows are on- you see them up close- couldn’t get a better view if you were in the stands.
In Kingsville the base used to request that the city ambulance stand by at the air shows- you know- heat exhaustion or every now and then a heart attack.
Lots of people watching the show in the heat- to have an ambulance right there shortened the response time.
Now- most of the young guys took that gig- sure you got overtime- but the older guys [who played Captain and engineer- truck pumper] we usually didn’t go for it.
But one year [2000] I thought- what the heck- yeah I’ll work the show. Me and Sam showed up- nice day. The Kingsville base was actually the base I was stationed at when I first came to Texas.
The show would last a couple of hours- you would get paid a minimum of 3 hours overtime and it was really easy duty- usually.
I was just standing there- watching the show- just like the crowd. And right in front of us- an f-16 fighter crashes.
Of course the crowd was shocked- and we are really not there for something like this- but to be honest- I broke the rules and told Sam ‘lets roll’.
We drove right across the air strip [which we did not have clearance for- but it felt like the base had no idea what to do either].
The plane crashed in a wooded area so we parked right at the spot where the plane went over- and had to jump the fence.
To be honest- I was not supposed to be doing this- but I followed the Navy team that was on the ground [special investigators] and was the first fire fighter at the location.
You couldn’t recognize the plane- total destruction. I wasn’t sure if the pilot bailed or not- some in the crowd thought they saw him eject.
After going through the rubble- we found a foot. Perfectly intact- but that was it.
Major Brison Phillips- a very experienced pilot who saw action in Iraq- died that day.
Yesterday I read his name in the San Antonio paper. They were talking about the air show disasters that have happened in Texas.
To my surprise- there have only been 5. The first one in 1943- then down the line until this past year. The Crash I was at was number 4 [I think?]
After I thought about it- maybe God was ‘showing’ me his name- for me to pray for pilots that week. We did later have the crashes. I just couldn’t put 2 and 2 together- I knew Brison was already dead so when his name came to me like that- I was a little confused.
I cut out the news article and stuck it on my ‘funeral wall’. Whenever one of my friends dies- if I see the article in the paper I’ll cut it out and pin it to this spot- sort of like a reminder that life is short.
The bible says ‘teach us to number our days- so we might apply our hearts to wisdom’.
Brison was a good man- real hero who served well. I wonder if it’s smart for us to do shows that have high danger ‘tricks’ [Brison was doing a ‘Split- S’ when he died].
I realize the pilots- and the fans- want the freedom to take the risks- and in a free country- well that’s the choice.
But the high risk things- like the Nevada crash- flying old modified planes at 500 MPH- I don’t know about that.
Maybe today would be a good day to pray for the wives and kids who have lost their loved ones in these crashes- sort of a little ‘memorial day’ for them.
[1734] PLEASE DON’T EAT THE DAISIES [OR THE SEAL].
I heard a news story the other day- some kids in a Massachusetts school district found a stranded baby seal on the beach one day. So like most environmentally minded young folk- they rescued the seal and brought him back to their town.
As the news got out- the town decided to adopt this helpless thing- and they went all out- the school district put out lots of money [they spent about 80 thousand overall] and after a couple of years- little ‘flipper’ was ready to launch.
So they all went down to the ocean one morning- and it was truly a tearful moment [maybe a little too tearful?]. As they launched their beloved child- you know- sending him [her] off to brave new worlds- places ‘no seal has gone before’- as soon as the lad was released- an Orca [killer whale] came up from the water- and swallowed him whole.
Now- you have the kids and all standing at the shore- asking their elders ‘mommy- daddy- what happened’. And of course that began a long week of mourning for the whole town. Whose fault was this? Was it anybody’s fault? Would it be right to make this someone’s fault?
As we enter this last year of the president’s term- for whatever reason- he has made a conscious decision to ‘blame the rich’. Now- those of you know me- and have read my posts for a while- will realize that I am no defender of ‘the rich’.
I have worked with poor people for most of my life- and I refuse offerings or help- because I have always felt that the influence of money [like ministries always begging for it] has been a blight on the church.
Yet at the same time- there are lots of very hard working people- who are being categorized as ‘the rich’ who don’t pay their ‘fair share’.
In the current Obama plan- couples making over 250 thousand a year [and singles making 200] are considered ‘the rich’.
Now- depending on where you live- this might be rich- or maybe not.
Where I grew up in N.J. - if you’re a cop- or firefighter- maybe the wife is a teacher- you might fall into this rich group.
And if you are paying the very high North East mortgage payment- then to hit a family like that with a huge tax increase- well that’s gonna hurt.
The example the president keeps using- well he’s making it sound like most of the rich are really paying less. The truth is we do have a graduated income tax rate in this country- that goes up as you make more.
I think the bottom is at around 5 %- the top around 29 % [plus you have around 40-50 % who pay no federal income taxes at all]. So why is the president saying the rich pay less than their secretaries? [Buffett’s famous line]. Because Buffett- like a few other billionaires- pays only capital gains tax- taxes on investment income and dividends from stocks.
Yes- for those few fortunate billionaires- they have managed to live off of the interest- and the tax on that kind of income is around 15 %.
How many of ‘the rich’ are not paying ‘their fair share’ by doing this. I don’t have the exact number off hand- but it’s close to around 1 % of all those who file who make around a million a year or more.
The point is- the people who are ‘not paying their fair share’ are not the people the president is branding as ‘those who are not paying their fair share’.
So- it’s just dow right unfair to the working cop and teacher- who might be getting hit with the new ‘fair rate’ and to brand them as not pulling their weight in society- when the truth is- these are the people who are really paying close to 80% of all the taxes in the country.
Now- I do think we should get rid of corporate loopholes- and yes- if we do a ‘billionaires’ tax type thing- to deal with the few Buffett’s of the world- than I really don’t care much.
But the reality is most of those being accused of not paying their fair share- well- they are paying the lions share right now.
It’s easy to get people on your side- if you find a noble cause [saving the baby seal- or helping the poor working folk] and if you can put the blame for this injustice on someone else- then you almost always win [the argument- though you might still lose the seal].
I’m sure the kids at the beach that day would have liked to have blamed ‘that darn Orca- taking more than he should- probably eats more than the other species of fish- who are struggling in life- but no- this bully had to have the very last bite-‘ and on and on.
When we feel like an injustice has happened- like the scales are not tipping right- we want to find a scapegoat- to find the real culprit’s behind the injustice. Sometimes things happen- sometimes societies [Greece- Italy this week] overpromise too much to people- and if these societies are spending money they don’t have- well it’s easy to blame it on the Orca- the ‘big bully’ who seems to get his full- while we baby seals are left here on the shore struggling to survive.
I know it’s hard to take this position and defend the ‘Orcas of the world’ and the whole reason some people blame the Orcas- well- it’s because they know they are an easy target- you don’t get many people to stand up for the right of the Orca to eat the baby seal.
But this is such a dangerous game- and it’s unfair to the majority of people who are in this ‘rich’ category [not the Buffett’s] who are really paying their fair share- and more.
I think the president should make this clear- and not divide the country over this- sure- you might be on the side that will naturally garner the most sympathy- but that still doesn’t make it right.
[1735] THE YEAR UZZIAH DIED
After the debate last night I caught the 1st 7 minutes or so of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. As an avid news watcher- I try to catch what the most influential pundits are saying at the time.
Though Stewart is a comedian news guy- yet he usually gives you a balanced view- with a few F bombs thrown in every so often.
So his top skit was today’s vote at the U.N. [well- they won’t vote today on it] the Palestinian request for the U.N. to recognize them as a state [nation- called nation states in that part of the world].
Stewart did a pretty funny [and eye opening] skit. He had one of his reporters ‘report’ from Halifax- Nova Scotia [of course he shoots these scenes from his area- I guess?] And the skit was that the new Holy Land is actually Halifax.
That they discovered this new scroll [in his hand] and the evidence pointed to Halifax as the spot.
So as they talk the reporter also pronounces Halifax with a rolling ‘Hal’ you know- to make it sound Jewish.
So- after this new find- I guess the whole war over the ‘2 state’ solution is now resolved- right? Wrong.
On the split screen you have the Muslim reporter show up- and he makes the claim that Muhammad actually found Halifax first- he even says he has proof that ‘the prophet’ was there- they have evidence that he caught a huge fish once on a visit.
Now of course- these guys are all taking risks with this stuff- but it is funny. So the ‘Jewish’ reporter says ‘okay- show me the picture and I’ll believe it’. Of course- in Islam- it’s blasphemous to depict the prophet in a picture- so they go back and forth on the thing- The Muslim guy pronouncing Halifax with a sort of Muslim drawl [Halalafax].
The sad thing is- even though it’s a comedy show- Stewart showed us how all the religious ‘wars’ and fights- how they look to the ‘outside world’.
As I have been doing a ‘jump around’ study on the Old Testament these last few weeks- in my own study [for the posts] I am at the prophet Isaiah.
Isaiah is one of the Major Prophets- he is quoted more than any other Old Testament prophet- in the N.T.
There are more famous prophecies from Isaiah- about Jesus- than any other prophet [A Virgin shall conceive and have a child].
When we read the books of the bible- we usually have pretty accurate dates on when the book was written- at what time the prophet lived.
In Isaiah’s case he gives us a specific date to his calling- in chapter 6 he says ‘in the year that king Uzziah died- I saw the Lord’.
King Uzziah [a king in Israel] died in the year 740 B.C.
If you walk down to the Mediterranean shore from Israel- you can look North West and see Italy. In the year 740 B.C. - Rome became a city. Of course it would be centuries before Rome would become the capital of the world empire- yet it was birthed as a city the same year Isaiah was called by God.
If you look west- you see Egypt, Libya and Tunisia- all places where the ‘Arab Spring’ has taken root.
It’s amazing to think- that after thousands of years- this whole area is still one of the most influential news making spots on the map.
After John the Baptist baptized Jesus- the Spirit descended on Jesus ‘like a dove’ and the bible tells us ‘the Spirit DROVE Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil’.
In Luke’s account [chapter 4] One of the first events to take place after the wilderness test- was Jesus goes into the synagogue on the Sabbath- and as ‘his custom was’ he ‘opened the book and read’.
Now that’s the way the English version reads. But it really doesn’t give you the full picture. The Jewish people [till this day] don’t have their bibles [Called Torah for Jews- Pentateuch for Christians- which are the first 5 books of the Old Testament] in book form.
They have their bibles in scroll form. It’s actually part of their worship to have these beautiful hand written scrolls- which cost thousands of dollars to make- in this form.
So when you read ‘Jesus opened the book and found the place’ it really means he unrolled the scroll- and came to the spot where the reading was marked for that day.
I have heard many preachers over the years correctly say that it was a scroll- yet they seem to think that Jesus just unrolled the thing and supernaturally came to the spot where he read from.
No- the spot was already marked out the week before- he was just reading from this predetermined spot.
Now- he reads a famous passage ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to preach’ and the prophecy goes on and talks about the ministry of the Messiah.
Now- for Jesus to have read this- and for the people to have heard-was nothing out of the ordinary- until what happened next.
Jesus then ‘closed the book’ and says ‘This day this prophecy has been fulfilled in your ears’ and the bible says that the eyes of everyone there were fixated on him.
Jesus read from Isaiah 61 that day- the prophet that was called 740 years earlier.
This happened right after the temptation- it was the difficulty- the tests- the very tough things he went through- it was these things that gave him the ability to speak- and for all the people to hear.
As they will present the Palestinian request today- and as this same land- where Jesus walked- Isaiah heard God- the devil tempted Jesus- as this land once again becomes the center of attention- I hope we don’t all look like the caricature that Jon Stewart showed- brilliantly- on his show.
Quite often ‘the world’ sees the church [religious fights in general] as stupid and silly. They see certain adherents willing to fight- and kill- over their beliefs.
They see a never ending feud between groups of people who are so fixated on a certain side- an issue- that it seems almost impossible to sit down and actually treat the other side as human beings- who are all indeed created in the image of God- who Jesus said ‘even if we see them as our enemy- we are to love them’.
Isaiah was a cultured man- not like most of the other prophets. He had influence in the politics of his day- and most Christians today revere his prophecies as at the top of the list- as far as prophets go.
In chapter 6- after he saw God- and heard the call- he responded ‘I am a man of unclean lips- it the middle of people who are also unclean’.
And the bible says an angel took a ‘live coal’ from the fire and put it in on the prophet’s lips. God was saying ‘Yes Isaiah- you are unclean- this whole nation is unclean- man is unclean- yet when I use people to speak to a people- it’s based on my character- not yours’.
Isaiah would fulfill the mission- and be honored by having Jesus read from his scroll on the opening day of the preaching ministry of Jesus- and for him to have said ‘today- this has been fulfilled in your ears’.
[1736] EINSTEIN WRONG?
There’s been much buzz these last few days on an experiment that seems to have proven Einstein wrong. These Physicists shot some sub atomic particles [Neutrinos] underground and supposedly clocked them going faster than the speed of light [by 60 nano seconds]
Now- as someone who never went for that ‘book learnin’- yes- in high school I clearly remember telling my guidance counselor- from year 1- that I will never attend college- so just give me the easiest classes to pass [yes- I really did say this- and they seemed to get miffed at me].
So- I never took Physics- or Algebra! I mean- not even the basics. One year the counselor said ‘John- even if you don’t go to college- we require you to at least have 1 year of math’.
I took ‘shop math’. Mr. Hildebrand- that class was the definition of ‘skate’. So over the years I have had to read up- and even when I took the entrance examines for the Fire Dept. I had to get a few books on Algebra- just to pass the test! [Yet I always scored high on tests].
Okay- why would breaking the speed of light mess up Einstein? In the world of physics you have had 3 main stages. In the ancient world we had ‘ancient physics’- then with the scientific revolution and men like Newton- we entered a stage called classical physics. And in the 20th century we had Einstein.
He would launch the field into what we now call Modern physics. He is the father of modern physics.
In 1905 he wrote 4 scientific papers- one of them was on Special Relativity.
Classical physics dealt with matter, energy- space and time. But what Einstein did was he seemed to breach the gap between these fields.
He would show us that these fields are not separate- they actually function and exist together as one fabric that exists in the universe.
Now- the formula most of us are familiar with is the famous E=mc2. This formula [not developed in any of the 1905 papers by the way] basically is a conversion factor between mass and energy.
All mass/matter has energy contained within it- if you could find ways to convert that mass into energy- then this formula showed you how much energy you would get [if you could convert all the mass in a raisin- into pure energy- you could light the city of N.Y.- on one raisin!]
Now- most people equate this formula with Nuclear energy. While this is true- yet this formula applies to all forms of mass into energy conversion. Coal power plants- gasoline in your car- even the conversion of food into energy in the human body- it is not only a formula for nuclear energy.
Okay- what about light speed? The formula actually tells us that the way you calculate the amount of energy in ‘the mass’- is you take the mass- multiply it by ‘c- squared’ and that’s the amount of energy. What’s c? C is simply the letter that represents the speed of light.
All of Einstein’s theories work off the theory that nothing can go faster than the speed of light. So- if these guys did prove that these sub atomic particles did indeed break the record- then yes- there will be a lot of changes that will need to be made to one of the most tested- and popular theories of all time.
Now- what did Einstein prove by his theories? Why was his first paper on relativity called ‘special relativity’? In the initial calculation- Einstein had a problem- as he continued to grapple with the impact his ideas would have- something he saw did not seem to fit in with the age old belief that the universe is eternal.
Carl Sagan used to say the universe is all there ever was- and all there ever will be [he was wrong by the way].
What Einstein ‘saw’ was that the universe seemed to be expanding- at a very rapid rate. His calculations also seemed to indicate that this expansion was ongoing- that it has never stopped expanding.
How could this be? Well- Einstein could not fully accept his own findings- and he simply fudged the numbers. Yes- he added this cosmological constant- this arbitrary mathematical calculation- that slowed everything down. He ‘made’ his theory say the expansion would stop at a certain point.
Later on he would realize [through the discoveries made by the Hubble telescope] that his initial observation was right- the universe is in a nonstop expansion as we speak.
He would call this mistake the greatest blunder of his career.
So what were the implications? Well we got the Big Bang out of this- the implications were that the universe was not eternal. That time and space and all matter had a beginning point.
This is the strongest scientific argument for the existence of God today. If the physical world as we know it- had a starting point- then the only rational explanation is there had to have been some type of ‘first cause’ that initiated the bang.
That’s fact- Einstein [nor anyone else] has ever proved that the universe had no initial cause. As a matter of fact- that would contradict the laws of logic and science. The law we refer to as Cause and Effect.
Some very brilliant men have stumbled over this. The atheist Bertrand Russell- who grew up as a Christian- said he thought to himself one day ‘if everything has to have a cause- then why not say that the universe is the thing that started it all- why not question whether or not God even had something that caused him’?
Sounds right? Or does it. Russell made the tragic mistake of thinking ‘everything has to have had a cause’. Actually- that’s not what the law of cause and effect states.
The law says ‘every effect has to have had a cause’. It is not illogical to have some type of being- a ‘first causer’ who by definition- had to be around forever. If you follow all the arguments through- you in fact need a Transcendent being [someone who transcends time and space] in order for this whole system to work.
So at the end of the day Einstein gave the church one of the strongest arguments for the existence of God- he showed us that all creation did indeed have a starting point- and he took us no further back than that.
Do I think the recent discovery is earth shattering? Well- if it’s correct- then yes- it will be. But I would bet money on the side of Einstein on this one.
If the calculations prove accurate- then we will need to make some adjustments to modern physics- but I don’t think it would totally ‘throw him under the bus’.
I have found it funny that most of the reporters talking about this- they would say ‘so- does this mean time travel might be real?’
You know- the T.V. talking heads have to have something they can say- in a short clip- that they think sounds intelligent.
Theoretically- Einstein has already shown us that ‘time travel’ can happen. Will man ever be able to travel at those ‘light speeds’? Doubtful [the speed of light is about 180 thousand miles a second].
But it’s good for people to be informed- as much as possible- about these things. I have heard/seen many people make unsound arguments against the existence of God- and lots of times they use Einstein- or modern science- as in if science has somehow showed us that God does not exist.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
I’ll end with this- the very smart atheist- Anthony Flew- spent years trying to disprove the existence of God. He was at the top of his field [a brilliant scientist] who made Dawkins and Hitchens and Harris [modern popular atheists] look like amateurs.
A few years ago – he confessed that he now believes that there has to have been some type of infinite being- God- who started everything.
He said the Teleological argument [an apologetic argument that tries to prove the existence of God by design in the creation] finally convinced him. Any sane person- looking out into the sky at night- or studying animals- plants- man.
Any person who thinks that all of these things actually came from nothing- he just realized that proposition no longer had any legs to it.
No- the universe is not eternal [Einstein showed us that] and if not- it could not have popped into existence from nothing- that simply is not scientifically possible.
Thanks Al.
Note- our sun burns 400 million tons of matter into energy every second! A stretched rubber band weighs more than one at rest [energy weighs]. A charged battery weighs more than a dead one- the charge [energy] itself adds to the weight.
[1737] FLUFFY THE CAT
The other day I was going to write a post on the Greek debt crisis- the silly yoyo that the markets have been rising and falling on. At the end of last week the market fell- because a few top financial guys were seriously talking about letting Greece default.
Then the next few days there was ‘hope’ that they were all going to work things out. Then before I got the chance to post- yes- another market downturn- there was buzz that the Germans were feeling uneasy.
The silly thing about all this- is the facts are the facts. Will Greece go insolvent- probably yes. They are about 500 billion dollars in debt [a lot] and after all the promised bailout money- from their central bank system [much like our fed] they are only on their second bailout payment [around 130 billion or so] and the other stronger economies in the Euro Zone are wanting to bail.
Why? I have covered this before- but you basically have a situation- much like our own countries bailout- where certain European nations have gotten in debt over their heads- and when the danger of private investors- who bought all these bonds from these countries- when they see the possibility of losing their fortunes- they sound the bell ‘the world is falling apart- quick- bail us out’.
Now- is the world falling apart? For these Wall Street folk- yes indeed. That’s why they panic. When we bailed out Wall Street and the banks in our country- many of these insider financial guys who warned the president [s] about the danger- these guys were also in peril of losing their money.
All their friends/families- everything they have- would have been lost if the banks and markets collapsed. So what did we do? The nation covered the losses [for men like Buffet- who keep saying how guilty they feel about their low tax rate. Maybe this is part of the guilt- you think?]
Now- in the Greek crisis- that’s exactly what the Germans [the strongest Euro Zone economy- the U.K. is not part of the Euro Zone] are saying. They want the private investors to take a greater loss- before they spend their own tax payer’s money on a bailout. Many are now openly questioning whether or not Greece should just go belly up- and take the hit.
I read a piece in the N.Y. Times the other day- the headline was ‘Should Greece default on its debt’.
So some are beginning to catch on here.
You have had other Sovereigns default- Argentina, Russia, etc.- yet their debt was around 80 billion at the time. Greece’s debt is 500 billion- so the default could be systemic- it could affect Italy and some other struggling economies- the European banks would also take around a 400 billion dollar hit- so it could be a big problem.
Okay- why mention this? No matter what any single person says- or some European financial guy quits [like last week] none of this will change the facts on the ground. If the other Euro Zone nations are already balking at this second Payment to Greece- then that means most of the ‘insiders’ are beginning to think that they might as well let Greece default- and just take the hit.
Some felt [and still feel] that when we bailed out companies and banks- out of fear that we can’t allow ‘too big to fail’ fail- that we simply prolonged the pain.
This next year- our country is going to suffer. Lots of the bailout money that was spent [the 800 billion stimulus- plus the actual bailout] was spent simply propping up the states budgets for the last few years. Now- the states are going to have to cut back- lots- this next year- the moneys gone.
The housing market is still bad- the system has not bottomed and cleared out the hit from the bubble- and we did things to ‘stall the pain’ okay- now we are paying for that.
So- all the financial gurus talking about ‘hold on’ or investors hanging on the words of one guy- is nonsense. All these macro problems- still left in the system- they are not going away so easily.
I heard a British trader give a BBC interview the other day- he shocked the audience. He said all the insider traders have fled Greek debt- and any other investments associated with European debt- and they are preparing for a sort of mini European depression.
Now- he talked for about 5 minutes [the parts I heard] and much of what he was saying- I believe to be honest- that the insiders often do the opposite of what they tell the public.
After his interview- the BBC came out and said he was ‘a plant’- a Plant? From where? They said he was one of those ‘doom and gloom’ guys- who really wants to scare people- so he can profit off of it later.
Look- I have no idea how legitimate the guy was- but I knew much of what he said was true- and the truth is- the insiders often don’t want the general public to know certain things- and they don’t tell them either!
How gullible are we? A few years ago one of the history channels began promoting a major upcoming event. They were going to once and for all- reveal the true Missing Link. They supposedly found the fossil that would prove Evolution was true. Now- they spent a lot on the promo’s- and as they built up the thing- at the end of the promo- there it was- an actual picture of the fossil that would turn the whole world on its head.
When I saw the actual fossil- I laughed openly. Sort of like when Will Ferrell tells Christina Applegate [Anchorman] ‘When you told me you too wanted to be an anchor man- I wrote it in my journal- I said ‘she told me a very funny thing- I am laughing’. [You know the comedy is based on the good ole boy network].
So as I watched the ad every few days- yes- I laughed- openly.
Why? Because anyone who knows anything about the whole debate on Evolution can tell you- that’s not what ANYBODY is looking for.
Sure- this cat like fossil might be of use somewhere- but in the Missing Link debate- it had no use.
Now- as I mocked the thing- at work- at home- every time I saw it- I would be doubted by some ‘John- how do you know that’s not the Link- are you smarter than the scientists’.
People believe what the media tells/shows them- and they allow themselves to be duped- lots. After a few months of the pathetic fluffy fossil making the rounds- they finally pulled the whole show.
Why? As I read a few science articles about it- as the months passed- many of the ‘other’ scientists [those who were not profiting directly form the thing] also laughed- yes just like me- just like Burgundy- yes they laughed too.
Why- they said what I said- that what this silly cat fossil has to do with a missing link between man and monkey- well it was foolish.
The channel dropped the whole show- the scientist who did indeed by the fossil for a lot of money [it was around for a while- but no one wanted to purchase it] yes- they all had personal reasons to want people to think a certain way- if they believed that this thing was truly historical- then they would make money.
And they labeled the critics- initially- as those silly creationists who deny science. Yet the facts were- science was on the side of those who laughed at Fluffy- I’m sure she was a nice pet- but a missing link? Not.
I have another article here that I wanted to cover- the same basic thing- about a British Atlas that fudged the amount of ice that has melted off Iceland- they had fake pictures and all- finally the scientific community came out quickly to debunk it- they did not want another fiasco like the fake global warming story a few years back.
The whole point is- people have agendas- the financial guys have agendas- those in the media- they have agendas. Are all of these people wrong? Of course not- do I too have an agenda? Sure- we all do.
But as you read/watch the news- as you make judgments on ‘what is true and what is false’ don’t always go with the flow- the initial thing that your ‘told’ to believe- sometimes they want you to believe- they might even think that their deception is noble ‘geez- we know it’s not really true- but in the end it will be better for us all’.
Yet- it would be better for us all- if we simply got the facts- and did not have to wade thru all the bias.
I don’t know what the European debt crisis will end up like- nor does anyone else. But for the market to be doing these 500 point swings- from one day to the next- based on what Angela Merkle says- or some financial guy- well that’s silly.
The facts are the facts- they are not changing that much from week to week [or day to day!]- not enough for the market to swing like that.
Are we going to have a double dip recession? It sure looks that way too me. Did I think this a year ago- no. Why? The signs looked a lot better then- the last few months- for a lot of reasons- they don’t look so good.
We don’t need to hear what Bernanke says [that much] or what Buffet thinks- we can read the broad indicators- and see for ourselves.
Look- for a few months I was laughing at the cat fossil- even at the risk of my buddies thinking ‘John- he’s one of those creationists who rejects science- how sad’. Then after the truth came out- at the end of the day- my ‘friends’ actually believed Fluffy was the missing link- when in reality she made some cave man a very nice pet- and that was it.
[1738] HOME ALONE?
This past week a bombshell book hit the stores- Confidence Men- by Ron Susskind.
Susskind was given access to the White House over a period of many months- and he gave Obama a very strong critique. He said that the first couple of years of the administration- that the catch phrase was ‘Home Alone’.
Apparently one of his top financial guys was actually running the show [Larry Summers]. He would tell another finance guy [Peter Orzag] that ‘if we weren’t here- doing everything- no one would be in charge’- they were Home Alone.
Now- the defenders of the pres. have come out and given their side. But after hearing both sides- it simply looks like- yes- the pres. was really not experienced [no executive experience?] for the task at hand.
I remember when Clinton [Bill] got into hot water when Hillary was running against Obama- at one point he said ‘this whole thing is a big joke!’
In context- he was talking about the Obama candidacy. He- like many others- felt like a one term senator from Illinois- who is in the first 2 years of his term- that there is no way any other candidate would be taken this seriously- with no real experience.
At the time they branded good old Bill as a racist- but what he was saying was the mood in the country- the excitement that many people had- a historic moment to elect the first Black president- that these things all played into the election [nomination] of Obama.
So- many of these more experienced political guys were right- even those who were Democrats.
As we end the week- let me throw in a couple of bible chapters that I have read this last week.
Genesis 49- and Ezekiel 33.
I have spoken about Gen. 49 a few times over these past few weeks. You get the story of Jacob blessing his 12 sons [the 12 tribes of Israel].
The blessing over Joseph says ‘you are a fruitful vine planted by a well- your branches go over the wall- the archers shot at you and wounded you- yet your bow remained strong’.
This was a brief way to cover the experiences of Joseph.
Though I have not read Genesis in a while- I remember the story well.
Joseph is famous for being the son who left the fold at a young age- his brothers betrayed him and he was eventually sold into Egypt as a slave.
In Egypt Joseph rose up the ranks- he was put in charge of a very important household- and he did a great job [gained lots of executive experience].
One day the wife- who had a crush on Joseph- tries to sleep with the guy [yes- bible stories are very real] and he refuses. She later accuses him of rape.
He winds up in prison- unjustly accused- and has to put in some more time being rejected by those he tried to benefit.
In jail he interprets a few dreams for some guys that are top guys in pharaoh’s administration- and that eventually gets him out of jail.
In time he rises to the 2nd highest influential position in Egypt- and is number 2 to pharaoh in power.
God reveals to Joseph that there will be a famine [recession- double dip!] in the land- and he advises pharaoh to implement this plan where they store up a lot of extra grain [those darn conservatives!] for 7 good years- so when the bad years come- they will be the only gig in town [China?]
Sure enough- the famine comes and all the surrounding nations come to Egypt for financial [grain] help. This will bring the family of Joseph to Egypt too.
Now- the brothers and Jacob [the dad] thought Joseph actually died years ago. The boys tricked the dad into thinking he was killed- and as far as the brothers knew- maybe he was dead.
As they come for the aid- Joseph recognizes them- but they don’t know who he is. Joseph is speaking the Egyptian language when he’s with them- using an interpreter.
Yet when the brothers talk- he secretly knows what they are saying.
Joseph finally gets them all to come ‘down’ into Egypt- the whole family- and they have this great reunion- Joseph was the son who saved the family from ruin.
The same son who was rejected by the family years earlier. At one point in the story Joseph says ‘what you meant for evil- God meant for good’.
Joseph realized that his brothers did ‘mean evil’ he didn’t try and whitewash the reality that some wanted him gone- jealousy and sibling rivalry were very real- and Joseph called it like it was.
But he was able to see what the apostle Paul would pen many years later ‘all things work for good to them that love God- to those who are called according to his purpose’ [Romans]
There are rumors that the N.Y. times is going to possibly run a story- detailing that the president has been suffering from severe depression- that the job is much more demanding than he thought- and that he has had some major problems with being pres.
True? Have no idea.
In Joseph’s case- yes he was hated- and rejected. He would spend years being falsely accused- and in time- we would get a very top position- yet he was prepared for the job- his life experiences built character into him- character that would be needed for him to fulfill the mission.
Did Joseph get depressed at times? I’m sure he did- he kept getting the short end of the stick- thru out most if his life.
Yet in the end there was a purpose.
Today I want to simply encourage you guys [and gals] many of us are going thru things- good stuff- bad stuff- all types of stuff.
Maybe you’re at the beginning stage- maybe the stage where you feel unjustly accused- rejected.
Others might just be getting out of ‘prison’ and might be on the verge of new things.
Some of us might be sitting in a ‘White House’ thinking- how in the heck did I wind up here!’
Wherever you are at- in the end- all things will work for good- if you love God.
[1739] AL-AWLAKI
As you know by now- yesterday morning we killed one of the top Al Qaeda guys in Yemen. We got him [and another top guy] with one of those drone strikes [unmanned plane].
Since we have already gone thru one news cycle on the thing- let’s talk.
President Obama seems to be lying lower with the ‘promotion’ aspect of this hit. In comparison to the Bin Laden hit- he is taking this one more slowly.
Why? A few reasons- after the Bin Laden kill some of our military guys [and some of the wives of the husbands on seal team 6!] Openly complained that they did not want their families to become targets. It’s rare to announce the actual group who carried out the hit.
Second- Awlaki [and the other guy] just happened to be American citizens. So what does that mean?
First- I’m of the view that citizen or not- when you align yourself with a group that advocates the killing of Americans- then you become a target.
But the problem is- all people do not hold to this view. There are some progressive types [liberal] who view the entire ‘war on terror’ as an abuse by Bush/Cheney on the ‘rights’ of those we are fighting against.
Yes- during the 2008 campaign- the whole mantra leading up to it- was the idea that the Bush view of ‘war on terror’ was actually wrong.
Some Democrats fought for the less militant view- one that said ‘yes- 9-11 was wrong- but our approach will be less of a ‘war’ against terror- and more along the lines of fighting against individual criminal acts’.
Okay- whatever side you’re on- no matter to me- the point I’m making is this was Obama’s view.
Along with this whole mindset came the talk ‘we can defend our nation- without violating our basic moral principles’ on and on went the talk- they were all saying that the Gitmo [Cuba] detainment facilities were a violation of prisoner’s rights.
Those military trials would be unfair- that we need to Mirandize these folk- and give them ‘their’ basic constitutional rights.
The Bush position was ‘we are at war- these guys are enemy combatants- taken from the field- you don’t get constitutional rights’.
Obama’s view was different- and it was purely ideological- not based on any real experience- just saying what he needed to say- to appease his base [that’s why he read the rights to the underwear bomber- remember?]
So Obama got elected- what was one of the first things he did as Pres?
He gave an executive order- as promised- to shut down the ‘prison’ in Cuba within a year.
For those who don’t follow this stuff- the U.S. base at Cuba [where my wife used to be stationed] houses the prisoners we captured in the field- and Bush also built a special court for military trials to be held there- so these guys could be held- off U.S. ground- and stay there until we tried them.
Now- why hold them there? Bush and his legal team knew- that if we hold [and try] them in the U.S.- then there will be lots of challenges to ‘giving them their rights’ some have advocated from the start that Bush was violating these guys rights- and that indeed- Bush and Cheney [and Rummy] were actually war criminals [I kid you not].
So after Obama got in- he swore- in a year Gitmo will close. Okay- what has happened?
Year 1 went by- and it didn’t close- year 2- the same thing. As we entered into year 3- Obama began making plans to shut the thing [he actually started moving on it in year 2].
He had to decide ‘where will we put these guys’? And ‘where will we try them’- remember- Obama’s ideology [for good or ill] was holding these guys as combatants- and not giving them constitutional protections [these guys are non citizens by the way] was a violation of ‘our basic morals’.
How were these prisoners being treated John? I’m glad you asked. Gitmo is around 90 miles south of Fla. You know- the same beaches of South Miami.
These guys were given brand new Korans on arrival- prayer rugs. 3 times a day they were free to worship- they were given special food- in keeping with their religious beliefs.
Yet one time- okay I’ll admit it- they were treated badly. They actually filed a complaint!
We were giving them ice cream 7 days a week with their evening meal- and for some reason [budget?] we cut it down to once a week- they got mad and filed a complaint [this is not a joke by the way].
So these were the guys that Obama [and many on his side] viewed as victims of the Bush/Cheney regime.
After 3 years- Obama tried to close the prison [and court] down- move the guys to various prisons throughout the U.S. [dumb move indeed] and try the guys in downtown Manhattan.
Bloomberg and Schumer took heat [N.Y. politicos] from their own Dem [and Independent] base- and they told Obama ‘how bout you don’t try the guys here’.
Then they grappled with a few other spots- what the security costs would be- the whole process of Mirandizing these guys [which they did do already] and treating them like American citizens- with full constitutional rights- not like enemy combatants.
So what happened? This year- after all the rhetoric on how Gitmo is the number one recruiting tool for terrorists [false] all the ice cream violations- yes- after this being one of the top priorities of Obama- he has decided to keep the guys at Gitmo- and try them there- under military trials.
He has decided that the Bush way- the way he had condemned and accused those who were part of it as ruining the country- yes- he has decided that’s the adult way to go.
Okay- said all that to say this. Obama fought very hard to give constitutional rights to the 5 guys we are holding that were involved with 9-11. This was a part of his belief- whether sincere or not- this became the way some liberals fought against conservatives.
Sy Hirsch- a liberal writer- wrote a piece in the New Yorker [before Obama became pres.] and he said seal team 6 [the guys who got Bin Laden] were Cheney’s personal hit squad- who were out violating the laws of the land. After they got Bin Laden- under Obama’s orders- they were called heroes by these same people who formerly called them Cheney’s hit team [and Obama was called decisive!]
This was the mindset- this was the view.
So- what happened yesterday? We killed 2 American citizens. These were not non citizens- who Obama deemed worthy of getting constitutional rights- these were actual citizens- who had them!
Now- if you hold the Bush view- enemy combatants- war on terror- the whole 9 yards- then doing this is legal- because during war- you can do stuff like this.
But if you were the guy who accused Bush [Cheney] of violating the rights of prisoners- who said these actual foreign fighters taken in the field- should be mirandized- if you held that view- then what you did yesterday was a big no no.
The 5th amendment to the constitution says no citizen can be deprived of life or liberty without due process [for instance- if we wanted to tap Al-Awlaki’s phone- we would have needed a court order- but to kill him- we did not]
Now- if you argue we are at war- for real- then the due process clause does not apply.
But if you argue- yes indeed- these guys [not just the ones who are actually Americans!] do get constitutional rights- then you can’t kill them with a drone- that’s just an ideological fact.
I’m glad we got them- I take the Bush view on this. But the liberals- progressives- many of the Dems- and even Obama- they fought for the other view- for 3 years- they accused Bush [and seal team 6] as being rogue war mongers- out violating the rights of people.
They hooped and hollered when the ice cream service was cut from 7 days to 1. Yes- these guys took that position- and a day after Obama killed 2 Americans [as bad as they were!] What are these progressive, liberal- give ‘rights to the enemy’ types- what are they saying ‘hooray- look at Obama- he’s not like Bush- he actually gets these Sob’s’.
I’m glad he got them too- but many of those who are celebrating today- would have called Bush a war criminal if he did it- and that’s a fact.
[1740] THE UNEXAMINED LIFE IS NOT WORTH LIVING- PLATO.
I caught a show the other night on Link TV. It was a spin off from this famous Platonic quote- it was called ‘The examined life’.
They interviewed some of the most prominent philosophers of our day. Cornell West, Peter Singer- a few others [I think the name is Singer?] I found it interesting that Singer- who specializes in Ethics- tried to make the case that you really don’t need religion/God in order to do ethics- all you need is to work from the basic principle that says ‘try to treat others like you too want to be treated- and then you will have a foundation for morals’.
Now- I caught the contradiction right away- do you see it? Who is he quoting? This is the great moral principle- given to us by Jesus himself- called the Golden Rule.
This actual principle- in Theology [the study of God] we call Natural/Moral law. The Argument is based on the reality that all people [not animals- Singer- get to it in a moment] have within them this moral compass [Romans 1] and that this in itself is proof that there must be a higher moral being- a transcendent being- who has put it in man.
I just found it funny that Singer- who is supposed to be a prominent atheist/agnostic thinker- would fall flat on his face like this.
Singer advocates for legal Rights for animals- and has also argued that viability of the new born baby should determine its personhood- he says that we should be able to abort babies up until around the age of 1- because they can’t really survive on their own until that age.
Sad.
Okay- why do Philosophy- or Physics- or any other of a number of schools of thought? Because too often Christians abandon these fields- and then when someone from that field says ‘this is why we don’t need God’ we usually have no answer.
When we think about philosophy- most of us think about the 3 great big shots- Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. While it is true that these guys were the major guys at right around the 5th century B.C.- yet we actually date the beginning point to the early 6TH Century B.C. to a man by the name of Thales.
Thales accurately predicted a solar eclipse in the year 585 B.C. and he gained notoriety because of this. Thales was the first Greek thinker to grapple with the idea that there must be one reality that makes up all things.
He would argue that Water was this element- that contained being and Motion and life. Many of these pre Socratic thinkers were obsessed with the idea of motion- where did it come from?
Thales observed that streams and rivers- and all types of water sources flow- so to him this was a logical source of motion.
This idea- that only one element makes up all reality- is called Monism. Monism is not be confused with Monotheism- the belief in one God- Monism actually leads to another religious view- called Pantheism- the belief that God is everything- and everything is God.
This is not the historic Christian view.
Now- the pre Socratic guys- Parmenides, Zeno, Heraclitus- these guys would challenge Thales view that water was the main thing.
Some said ‘maybe it’s Air’ another said ‘Earth’ and some Fire. These 4 elements [Earth, Air [wind] Fire and Water- are the 4 basic elements of the early Greek philosophers.
We see these things in the naming of musical groups [Earth Wind and Fire] as well as the themes in movies [fantastic 4- based on 4 basic elements- powers].
Now- one of the thinkers said ‘wait- maybe the reality behind all things is not any one of these elements- maybe there is a 5th dimension [another musical name- and also the famous Bruce Willis flick- called the 5th Element] a Boundless being- outside of time and matter- maybe this 5ht element is the foundation for all things.
Of course this view would lead to the more developed view of God that Socrates and his followers would embrace- an early view of God- much like the later Christian view [absent the Trinity].
By the way- the view that 2 or more elements make up all reality is called Pluralism- not to be confused with religious Pluralism [that all religions lead to the same God]. The most common form of Pluralism is Dualism [2 realities equally true] but all non Monists who embrace more than one reality are Pluralists.
Okay- maybe a bit much with the 10 dollar words- but it might spark the interest of some.
The church has debated for centuries on whether or not Philosophy should be taught to Christians. One of the early church fathers- Tertullian- said no- his famous quote is ‘what does Jerusalem have to do with Athens’.
Meaning what does Philosophy have in common with Christianity [Athens- Greece was the seat of philosophy in Jesus’ day].
For the most part- the early church fathers would embrace the study of philosophy- and try to make arguments for the Christian faith by presenting Christianity as ‘thee’ philosophy that best answers the questions of man.
These early Christian thinkers are called Apologists- men like Justin Martyr are in this class.
Apologist is a word we use to describe those who defend the faith- it comes from the Apostle Peter’s letter in the N.T. where Peter says ‘give an answer to those who ask you about the faith’. In the Greek language- the original language the N.T. was written in- this phrase is talking about a defense- an ‘apology’ in the sense of ‘making the case’ not in the common sense of apologizing.
In the book of Acts- chapter 17- we read the famous sermon of the apostle Paul- given at Mars Hill. He was in Athens at the time- and he was debating with all the philosophers of the day. He tells them ‘as I was looking around town- I saw that one of your altars is addressed to The Unknown God’.
He would go on and declare unto them that this Jesus is the true God- the one raised from the dead.
Paul also said ‘in Him we live and MOVE and have our being’. Kind of a popular verse quoted by preacher’s today- but we often overlook the significance of the MOVE part.
I mean- why say we MOVE in him too? Paul was a smart guy- he knew these children of Socrates questioned where motion came from [Remember Thales?] So he was basically saying ‘I am declaring to you the one true reality- the true 5th Element- the missing God particle from your system’ and he went on and preached Christ- being raised from the dead.
Paul knew that you can’t really do true philosophy- to grapple with the questions of life and being and ‘motion’ without realizing that God is indeed the ultimate answer to all things.
Even Peter Singer- who claimed that you don’t need God or religion in order to do Ethics- even he unknowingly quoted Jesus in attempting to give a basis for his Philosophy- yes- he quoted a God- one unknown to him- just like the altar at Athens- but a God never the less.
An inescapable 5th element- the missing part to the whole puzzle.
[1741] GO SPARTANS?
I really have too much to cover for one post- so let’s see what we can squeeze in.
I have a catalog sitting here- from the company that I order courses from. A few years ago I got on their mailing list [How- ?] and ever since I have been bombarded with monthly catalogs.
I mean every month- a bit much. Then I realized that one month out of the year they put a bunch of courses ‘on sale’ for around 70% off the regular price- and that’s probably where they do their best business [I now only buy from the discounted monthly catalog].
Anyway- I read the intro to their course on Dark Matter/Energy- these teachers are really good- they are professors from the premiere universities of the world [Oxford, Harvard, etc.] and to get the courses at this price- well it’s really a bargain.
But over the years- studying various disciplines [Theology, Apologetics] it’s easy to see when some smart men- make really bad mistakes.
Especially when dealing with the whole ‘proof for/against God’ type stuff.
In this short intro to the Dark Matter course [Physics- these courses cover everything- history- science- religion- the whole 9 yards] they start out okay- they explain that according to the standard theory of modern physics- that there is about 95 % [wow- that number has jumped these last few years!] of matter ‘missing’ in the universe.
What do they mean by ‘missing’? They go on to explain that the effects that we see in the universe- the gravity and function of the universe- well according to standard theory- there is simply not enough matter to explain how all this is held together- how everything actually works.
Okay- so they admit that there are a whole bunch of phenomena- that we see taking place- that modern science has no idea how it’s taking place.
Now- as the intro continues- they say in order to ‘fill the gap’ they have come up with the idea of Dark Matter.
Dark Matter is simply a name given to nothing- that is nothing that we can detect thru the means of modern science.
Okay- by definition- it is a Metaphysical reality- something that science has espoused as a possible cause for the effects we see in the universe- and by their own definition- its invisible- undetectable and unseen- it is metaphysical [just like the argument for the existence of God].
So they go on to say ‘we know that this matter exists- because how else could you explain how everything works’- now- to those who get into these debates- the guy who wrote the intro- I’m sure he means well- but his whole argument is a materialistic one.
He is saying that there is no chance that some type of ‘non matter’ can be making this happen.
So he then says ‘because WE KNOW that there has to be a material explanation for this- no ‘God stuff’ here- therefore its Dark Matter.’
Okay- and what is Dark Matter again? O- it’s this non detectable- unseen matter- that just happens to make up 95 % of the universe.
Okay- Mr. smart guy- you don’t go for those Intelligent Design guys- the ones who argue that some non material force might be behind this- you rejected their argument because you say they are arguing from a non material realm [called metaphysical].
So how again have you proven that your idea- all this missing matter- exists? O- easy- because we see the effects OF IT all around us.
Actually- no we don’t. We see the effects of SOMETHING- that is- modern science has this huge gap- there are effects taking place in the known universe- that have no materialistic explanation for- we can’t find a material, observable cause for these effects.
The Christian says ‘Okay- I stick God in that gap’ [which many materialists accuse us of doing- they call it the ‘God of the Gaps’ approach].
But the materialistic scientist [one who says there can only be a detectable- material cause to things- in order to classify it as science] he then comes up with the whole Dark Matter argument- an argument based on non detectable- unseen- unproven matter.
And he then says ‘it must be there- because how else can you explain how everything is functioning?’.
The point is- your argument is based just as much on ‘unseen- unproven’ ideas as the Christian. You assume that this matter ‘must be’ simply because you leave no room for a non material explanation.
Then you say ‘yeah- but our idea is based on science/matter’ actually it is not- you argument is based on an idea- non proven by your own standards of modern science- and your idea- your Dark Matter- as of today is nowhere to be found.
These debates can go on forever- and my point is to simply challenge the believer- and the scientific community- to try to be more honest in the approach of seeking for truth.
In the last post I mentioned the pre Socratic philosophers- the 6th century B.C. guys who came before Socrates.
In the 5th century B.C. you had Socrates [born around 468 B.C.] and he would become one of the titans of Western thought.
He had a famous student by the name of Plato- and Plato would follow in his master’s footsteps. Plato founded a famous school at Athens- the land was donated by a man by the name of Academe- and till this day- that’s where we get the modern term for Academia.
Socrates started well- his ideas are not to be confused with Christian belief [he taught that the soul of man always existed- even before he was conceived- not a Christian belief] yet he did have lots of ‘Christianized’ ideas.
Socrates was of the school of thought that wanted to seek for absolute truths- to find out the purpose and meaning behind things.
Like his student Plato- they were what you would call Idealists- that behind this natural world- there exists Ideas- principles that are ‘more real’ than what we see [he would too laugh at the dark Matter intro I hit on at the top].
Socrates lived at a very advanced stage of the city/state of Athens- Greece. For their day- they had quite an advanced society- Jury system- somewhat of a Western style Democratic process- pretty good for the day.
But something happened during his lifetime that would change the whole direction of Athens [and Greece]. They would suffer a huge military defeat by another city/state that seemed to be no match for the Athenians.
Do you remember their name? Do you Remember the Spartans? Yes- we see these brothers in the famous movie ‘The 300’. The Spartans were indeed a fighting machine- just like depicted in the flick [one of my favorites by the way].
They had a famous motto ‘either come back holding your shield high [in victory] or come back lying on it’ [dead- like a stretcher].
So when Athens fell at the hands of the Spartans- they went through a sort of depression- a malaise came over them. They began to resent the thinkers who were always searching for ultimate answers to things- and they embraced a new type of philosophy- called Sophism.
The Sophists were thinkers who said ‘lets just learn the most pragmatic approach- how to get things to work- and how to win the argument’ and they didn’t really care a whole lot about whether they were ‘right’ or wrong- they just wanted to master the practical side of life.
Socrates and his crew thought this approach would ruin Athens and he continued to fight for the search for ultimate truth- the real reasons behind things.
He went around town debating the other thinkers- he had a system- called the Socratic method- where he would engage you in a debate- ask you questions- and let you too ask them back- sort of like the Detective Columbo.
After a while this got him into trouble with the authorities and they sentenced him to death.
He was given his choice of execution- and he chose to drink the Hemlock.
We are told that his famous student Plato visited him on the eve of his execution- and he was surprised to see his master relatively at ease with his impending death.
Socrates believed that the unseen things- the non material realm- was actually more real than the seen- detectable realm. He did not need some Dark Matter idea to explain how things worked- he believed there existed unseen things- God- Soul- etc. and that these things were more real than his own natural life.
Plato would make his teacher famous through his school- and thru his many writings about his teacher. We know these writings as Plato’s Dialogues- he wrote these papers in dialogue form- having Socrates debating the other schools of thought- just like he did in real life.
So you never really know who to attribute the famous quotes to- Socrates- or Plato? Was Plato putting his own words in the mouth of his beloved teacher? We don’t always know for sure.
Okay-maybe a bit much for today- actually had more I wanted to do- but we’ll call it quits for now. Maybe do a quick search on some of these subjects- see how they affect the contemporary arguments for the existence of God.
See how modern science is a noble field- but one in which the Christian does have a say- and how we should challenge the assumptions that are passed down to us.
Socrates refused to settle for the purely practical outlook on life- he continued to seek truth till his last day- he dialogued with those who had other ideas- he listened to them and they heard him- and at the end of the day society was better off for it.
[1742] [BLACK] WHITE SUPREMACIST-
A few years ago I was at work and I and another guy were watching the Dave Chappell show. At the Fire house you do your normal routine from 9-5- training, education- public service stuff – then after 5 the guys will cook- or order out.
Then you catch a movie or a fight [boxing] or something like that on the tube.
Now- the guys actually had a scheme- they would hide the remote from me- or make sure they got to it before me- or else they got stuck watching 5 hours of news [which they hated!].
I also was one of the biggest boxing fans at the station- caught all the big fights [HBO].
So every now and then we would compromise- you know- find something everyone wanted to watch. Quite often it was some comedy type thing.
One night we caught the Chappell show- he did a funny skit on a Black- White Supremacist. They kinda did a Bill Moyers- Frontline spoof and interviewed one of the Black racist’s friends.
The story was about this young Black kid who eventually rose to the heights of the White Power movement. He grew up in the sticks and as a young ‘blind’ boy- all the other White kids felt bad for him.
Over time they let him into their ranks and he actually gets to attend the KKK meetings that are growing in the area.
Of course- they never tell him he is Black- or the more formal term ‘a N—gger’ [which the skit dropped freely].
So the Moyers imitator asks his White buddy ‘how could this happen? Why don’t you tell him he is Black’? And his friend said that over time- after attending all the meetings- well he just happened to become the most articulate voice for the cause- and at this stage they can’t do without him!
As you can see- it’s really a funny skit. So they pull up to the gas station and someone sees Chappell and his White buddy pumping gas- they yell ‘hey- N—gger’. And of course Chappell thinks there's a Black guy around- and he too starts protesting- and going off.
The White guys get a little scared- they think Chappell has lost it- and they flee.
Finally he’s the key note speaker at some KKK rally- and he has the hood on and all- and the good ole boys are so excited over their most popular speaker- they start yelling ‘pull your hood off- we want to see you’. Now- his buddy is in the audience and he realizes things are getting out of hand- he starts heading for the stage- yelling at his Black hooded friend- no- don’t do it!
Then someone on stage walks over and Walla- they pull the hood off. Their stands Chappell- the most renowned ‘White’ racist in the whole area- loved by thousands- people buying his C.D’s and hearing him articulate the White cause- there he stands- Black face and all.
As you can imagine- the audience is shocked- as the ‘camera’ scans the audience- one shocked attendee actually has his head blow off- just because of the shock to his system.
Okay- funny indeed.
In the last post I spoke on Pragmatism- pragmatism is the school of thought that says you do what needs to get done- be practical- if you can accomplish your mission- even if it means violating your true beliefs- then do it.
Now- I’m a practical guy- I like stuff that works- and if I learn how to do something [Blog- radio shows- etc.] I usually stick with the original equipment- for as long as I can.
Over the years- when I was teaching on the radio- I would record the shows ahead of time and simply drop off a few months of programs at a time- and I used Cassette tapes and a simple recorder to do it.
As time went by- I noticed that just about every other broadcaster switched to C.D.’s- while I was still on tape.
I was truly an ‘independent’ broadcaster- made the tapes here at the house- and paid cash- took no offerings for it- so needed no records- just paid the bill out of pocket.
So for me- if I didn’t have to change over to C.D.’s- I wasn’t going to.
Same with my new laptop- got a Dell a year or so ago [will never buy another one] and it came with a newer version of Word. So I type up a post- and look for the spell check.
I could not find the thing- after about an hour- I mean to me that’s the most basic function I need- but no- they had functions to convert English to Hieroglyphics- but no spell check.
I finally called Dell- and they showed me how it was hidden about 9 functions down- at a spot where you would never find the thing.
So I try to stick with the practical stuff- I don’t want all new Facebook options and tools- Zuckerberg sitting around all day- trying to fend off the latest Google challenge- thinking he’s ‘cutting edge’ and all the while us ‘older crowd’ have to re learn some new fangled thing- that we really don’t have time for.
The president has been going around the country- standing in front of falling down bridges- in Repub districts- and challenging the Repubs ‘pass my jobs bill- it will provide funding for infrastructure- your bridges are falling down in your states- see’!
I’m sure Chris Matthews is elated about this- he thinks he’s directing the Pres- he has called for this from his show for the last 2 months- I guess the thrill is back [you know- Tingle up his leg].
Finally this week- Mitch McConnell- the minority leader in the Senate [Repub] said ‘okay- you want to vote on it- go for it’.
They took the pres up on the challenge- he said ‘why don’t you Repubs vote on the thing’ and when the moment of truth came- they dropped the ball.
Harry Reid- the majority leader in the senate [Dem] did not bring it up for a vote- why? Because he does not have enough Dem votes to pass it.
Who are some of the Dems that don’t want to pass it? Guys like Chuck Schumer- from N.Y. - always railing against the Repubs being on the side of the rich.
He doesn’t want to pass it because it will raise taxes on people [couples] making $250,ooo a year or more- and in his ‘rich’ district- they have told him NO.
He wants to raise the tax limit to the million or more- so even though he [and the pres] are going around yelling ‘pass this bill’ in reality- they don't want to pass the thing.
Okay- time to simply do the best thing- yes- the most practical. Agree on what you can- and drop the other stuff. Don't keep accusing one side of not wanting to fix their bridges- so grandma might crash into the river [and sink right next to the other grandma that Ryan wheeled off a few months ago] while the truth is- Schumer is protecting ‘the rich’.
People see thru this type of stuff- just be honest and stop campaigning- just try and do some real work.
I’ll end with this- caught a quick interview with Biden on CSPAN- often on CSPAN you get the truth- no editorializing. Biden actually said that because of the way our tax system works- when you go up in income- the Percentage of what you pay goes down- though the amount goes up [you know- 8 % of a million is more actual money than 10 % of a hundred thousand. Many people- especially in the North East- do believe that our tax system is like this].
I can’t believe he thinks [said] this. Now- I have written on this in the last week or so- the way our tax rate works is- the amount- and the percentage- both go up as your income increases.
The only ones it goes down for are the millionaires/billionaires who are living off of their investments only- and this makes up a very small number of millionaires.
But it seems like Biden might not know this- or maybe it was just another show of bravado- you know- feeling like his title is being threatened. He does hold the world record for Foot in mouth disease. And Old Hank Jr. has given him a run for his money this week.
Either way- it made me wonder if these guys really know what they are doing- or if they are just trying to do something- anything- to make their side look better.
Poor old Chappell- he was the best spokesman for the cause- even though the cause was hating Black folk- they used him because ‘he worked’ it was the pragmatic thing to do- not the right thing- not the honest thing- just what they felt they needed to do to get the job done.
It would be better for us all- both sides of the aisle- if we did what we truly felt was right- what was best- not just best for our side- but for the whole.
Because the pragmatic route leaves you sitting in the audience- cheering for ‘your guy’ at one moment- and then hating him the next.
[1743] RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE
This past week we have seen both sides of the aisle try to describe what the Wall Street protestors are all about. The left has tried to ‘adopt’ them as sort of the Liberal answer to the Tea Party.
The right has described them as a bunch of unemployed spoiled brats that have no consistent voice.
There is probably some truth to both sides- yet neither are totally accurate in my view.
The original Tea Party activists [and the actual event they get their name from!] were raging against the machine ‘No taxation without representation’- much like the present protests.
This past week I read Psalms 79-80. Well I read more than that- but I tried to meditate on these 2 chapters for a while.
I was surprised to see how many verses I actually quote in prayer- that come from these passages.
‘Let the sighing of the prisoners come before thee’ ‘pour out thy wrath upon the heathen that have not known thee- and THE KINGDOMS that have not called upon thy name’- a few more.
The theme of these chapters is God’s people are under attack ‘Lord- the heathen have come in and defiled your people- their bones are scattered all around the city- their blood is poured out like water’.
Psalms 80 says ‘Lord- you took this vine out of Egypt [speaking about the nation of Israel] then why have you let the protective wall around it to fall down’?
Both Isaiah [chapter 5] and Jesus [Matthews’s gospel] use this same language.
God allowed ungodly kingdoms- systems- to bring down the people of God. One of the Old Testament prophets actually has a real hard time with this- he can’t understand why God would do something like this.
God did it because the people ‘left him’. They walked away from truly seeking God- and judgment came.
Can systems become corrupt? It depends on who has the influence. Many of today’s protestors do have a Bone to Pick with Wall Street. Many of the large banks [investors] and corporate Big Wigs did indeed make out like bandits on the tax payers dime [including Warren Buffet!].
Now- not all bankers- or people working at the actual Wall Street location are criminals- but many of the insiders are/were.
We liked to see the perp walk with Bernie Madoff- but what he did- bilking private investors- was nothing on the scale of what the big corporate heads got away with.
Many of the institutions that were culpable in the bail outs- these people knowingly made decisions that they knew were corrupt. Many of the political leaders- especially Barny Frank and Chris Dodd- they pressured banks to lower their loan standards in order to get more minorities in homes.
Whether their intentions were good or not- they were behind some of the bad loans that would later default.
And President Bush at the time was told that the housing market was going to get into deep trouble if they did not do something about it. To his credit- he tried- I saw the hearings on TV.
The Democrats who were backing Fannie Mae [the mortgage lender the govt. backs] accused Bush of being a racist [yeah- they love that card] How?
They said- openly- on record- ‘there is no problem with the mortgage system at all- and those who are drumming up this false fear- they don’t want Blacks to have homes’ Maxine Waters- Frank- the whole crew said this.
A few months later the bubble burst- everything the Bush guy warned about was right [you know- the racist].
And the actual guys who were a big part of the cause of this [Frank, Dodd] they began berating the banks and lending companies for making all these bad loans.
It would be funny if it weren’t so sad.
So what happened here? People who had influence behind the scenes- who had hidden agendas [Franklin Raines- the head of Fannie at the time. A vocal Black supporter of the president- made out like a bandit in the whole debacle]. These people managed to influence the system- to get it to do what they wanted- and the system worked for them- at the expense of the average person.
Yes- systems [kingdoms] can become corrupt- and they last for so long- and then the hammer comes down [pour out thy wrath upon the kingdoms- systems- that don’t call on you].
This past week- there really have been some devastating news stories on the current scandals of the Administration.
You had a top guy at the White House curse out a reporter- Sharyl Atkinson- when she called and asked some questions about the sandals.
She works for CBS- hardly a right leaning news org. - and she has said the documents that they have seen- that these scandals are much worse than people realize.
The stuff released late Friday [called a document dump- you do it on Friday hoping it will die down by Monday] basically show that many insiders- even Democrats- and other legal folk- they warned the White House that they were on the verge of breaking the law [by restructuring the Solyndra loan] and they were told ‘don’t approve this loan change without passing it by the justice dept.’.
Then- in these memos and emails- the White House simply did the loan- even after their own legal people said ‘you might be breaking the law’ [remember- he only changed the loan for this company. He did the change after one of his major campaign donors- who also had millions at stake in Solyndra- visited the White House 4 times in a matter of days. I mean this guy would have lost all his money in the company if the loan was not changed- and this guy’s money also went to Obama- geez- you can’t get much worse than this!]
Yet I heard the president say- over and over again- that all the people who looked at these dealings- they all said it was fine.
You see? There were actually parts of ‘the system’ that were trying to work- to perform the intended function- yet those who had personal agendas- they managed to thwart the system- to get it to work ‘for them’ instead of the overall good of the country.
I do understand that both sides are/have been guilty of this- it just so happens that this year it’s the Democrats turn at bat- and they sure have been hitting it out of the park- time and again.
One more system- and we’ll be thru.
Putting aside all the political arguing- this week I have heard/read very serious warnings about the European banking system- that without a doubt- this system might crash and it will have worldwide effects if this happens.
The debt crisis ‘kingdom’ is in serious trouble- and it just might ‘scatter the bones of your people all around’ the after math could be real bad.
What do we do in times like this? Remember [and pray] the words that Jesus taught us in the Our Father ‘THY kingdom come- thy will be done- on earth as it is in heaven’.
Yes- there are competing kingdoms in this world- not right or left- conservative or liberal- no- that’s not where the real action is.
It’s the Kingdoms of this world- when being influenced by corrupt men- versus the kingdom of God.
At the end of the day- the bible says all the kingdoms/systems of men will fail- And the only mountain left standing will be the one that comes from God- the ‘last mountain’ [kingdom] that the prophet Daniel spoke about.
He saw a vision- a vision of Christ- and in the vision Jesus kingdom withstood all the other kingdoms of the world- and became the most prominent one in the earth.
Seek ye first the kingdom of God- and his righteousness- and all these other things will be added to you [Jesus].
[1744] LIVING IN THE REAL WORLD?
I read an article the other day- some guy got busted for assault- because of Facebook. It went on to say how he posted a status update when his mom died- and he was waiting for his estranged wife to ‘like’ it.
She never responded- so he did what any normal person would- he jumped in the car and drove over to her house. Okay- I’m gonna ad lib here ‘knock knock’ she comes to the door and he says ‘go into that damn computer room right now and Like the status’!
One thing lead to another- and he got busted.
What’s wrong with this picture? I mean he was talking to her- in the ‘real world’ face to face- yet instead of saying ‘ex- are you sad that mom died’- no- he says ‘go like the post!’
Okay- this will be the last post for a while on philosophy- I think I did about 3 or 4 the last week or so- I used to do one subject and stick with it for around a month.
Then at the end of the study [Physics, History, etc.] I would stick them all together on the blog as a single study.
But I realized that new friends who are just reading the site- post by post- they might think that’s all I write about- so now I’m trying to just do a few at a time.
Okay- we made it all the way to Plato and his famous school that he founded at Athens [Greece]. Though Socrates was his teacher- yet Socrates never founded an actual school.
Like I said earlier- Plato had a view of Reality that was a bit strange. He was an Idealist- not in the way we use the term today [mostly] but he believed that Ideas themselves were the real world- and what we see/experience in the material world are not ‘as real’.
Plato believed that knowledge was A Priori- which means the actual knowledge about a thing exists before the thing comes into being.
The famous example he used was a Chair. He would ask ‘what is that’ pointing to a chair. The student would respond ‘a chair’ Plato would say ‘and how do you know this- how did you obtain that knowledge’ and he argued that in the Idea realm- there is a perfect form of Chairness that exists- and that’s why we can identify ‘the chair’ in the material realm.
Now- Plato’s most famous student was a man named Aristotle. He actually respected his teacher a lot- but there was some tension between the 2. Plato was more of a down to earth type guy- liked to wear plain clothes- did lots of his teaching by walking around the classroom- interacting with people.
Aristotle was more of a ‘Fancy Pants’ type guy. He had a little bit of the elitist thing going on. He was more of a book worm than Plato- and he would eventually start his own school to compete with Plato’s Academy.
Aristotle’s school was named the Lyceum. Aristotle was more of a Realist than an Idealist. He believed that this material world was more than just a copy of the Idea world. He taught that Substance and matter were very real- and that contained within the thing is the actual form and future potential of ‘that thing’.
For instance- the Acorn has within it the actual form of the Oak Tree. This form did not come from an Idea world- it came from the thing itself- the Acorn.
So matter has within it both the potential of its future form- as well as eventually becoming that thing.
For Aristotle- knowledge is more A-Posteriori- that is we obtain knowledge about a thing- from the very thing itself. We see/touch and experience that thing- and by our senses interacting with the substance- we get knowledge- after the fact.
Okay- to Aristotle all substance has both Form and Matter. Then what he called substance- had 2 categories as well. The ‘substance’ [actual thing it is] and the Accidens [not accidents- not a typo].
The Accidens was simply the outward appearance- what we see on the outside. It might not be what the substance really is- or it might.
This teaching would eventually become a major way that our Catholic friends would come to define the doctrine of Transubstantiation- during the 13the century the great thinker Thomas Aquinas would re-discover [and introduce] Aristotle’s teaching back into the church.
In his theological works [Summa Theologica] he would use Aristotelian thought to explain how the Bread and Wine become the actual Flesh and Blood of Christ. Thomas explained that the actual substance of the thing was Flesh and Blood- but the Accidens- what you’re seeing on the outside- looks like Bread and Wine.
Catholic scholars have debated for centuries on whether or not they should stick to the hard line teaching from Thomas on this. They are not challenging the belief in the Real Presence [that Jesus is really there at the Eucharist] they simply wonder whether or not explaining it this way is right.
Finally- after many years of certain Catholic scholars asking this question- in 1965 the Pope [I think it was Paul the 6th?] put out a Papal Encyclical [an official Vatican teaching] and he stated clearly that the way Aquinas taught it is the official doctrine of the church- so that settled that.
Okay- Plato was an Idealist [Dualist] and Aristotle was a Realist. That’s the major difference.
I will note that Aristotle’s most famous student was Alexander the Great. And during the great conquests of Alexander he took with him a whole team of scientists who brought back all types of specimens of things and he gave them to his famous teacher Aristotle- to advance the cause of learning at the Lyceum school.
It has been said that Alexander’s efforts at collecting and bringing these things back after their victories- that this was probably the most expensive scientific endeavor of all time- right up until the modern space Era.
Note- I try to avoid too many ‘big words’ in these posts. Not because people don’t understand them- but because I forget how to spell them! And in this post- there are around 10 words that my spell check has no idea how to spell- so just a warning- there might be a few misspelled words in this one.
[1745] CLASS [Not Class] WARFARE-
I was watching the news last night and saw the guy they caught- trying to hire a Mexican drug cartel- in order to conspire- and be complicit in- the killing of Americans [actually the Saudi ambassador- but in a restaurant where many Americans would be- using a bomb].
At first I wasn’t sure if they were talking about the Fast and Furious program [you know- Mexican cartel- guns- you get it].
The guy was from Corpus Christi- I watched my local news and they listed all the businesses he had over the years. I used to take my girls to eat at one of his spots. A Gyro stand in the Mall food court.
Strange indeed.
Okay- I saw the debate last night- nothing really new- I think Perry did pretty bad- he seemed a little [lot?] unprepared for the debate. They were focusing on the economy and he basically had a one liner that said ‘reduce regulations- help the energy sector- and free up the entrepreneurs’- while those things are good- it would have been better if he had a little more to say on the subject.
This week I saw one of the most Racist interviews by a White guy- talking to a Black guy. It was the Lawrence O’Donnell show on MSNBC. Man- it was bad. Larry grilled him on why he did not act they way ‘Larry’ thought a Black man should.
Herman Cain was being interviewed and Larry kept saying things like ‘why did you not march in the civil rights marches- like you should have- [‘Black Boy’- that’s the way it came across to me].
Cain respectfully explained that he was in high school during most of the time- and his dad worked 3 jobs to support the family- and his Father had told his sons that they should focus on their studies and finish school so they can became productive members of society.
Okay- that sounds reasonable to me. Larry then went after him on why he ‘avoided’ serving his country during the Nam war- again- sounded like he was saying ‘what are you doing off the plantation- you know- where I think you should be and act’. Cain explained that he did not ‘avoid’ serving his country- that he was actually a Ballistics expert working for the civilian arm of the Navy at the time. He told old Larry that his name was on the draft roll- but the Navy told him they needed him where he was.
Larry said ‘then why didn’t you join- like Kerry- and other people who honored their country’. I have never seen such disrespect- by a White man- to a Black man- on a TV interview in my life. Whether you agree with Cain's politics or not- this was way over the line.
And I must have read about 10 news articles by the A.P.- every one of them –without exception- were critical- even mocking- of the president.
You must understand that the A.P. puts out stories that all the other news sources pick up and run with. For the first 2.5 years of the Obama presidency they were his biggest supporters. They never covered stories that were critical of Obama- they always sided with him on issues.
But a few weeks ago- for some reason- they left the boat. I mean the last article I read critiqued Obama’s health law. It called it a ‘shell game’ ‘a gimmick’ a ‘budget zombie’. Now- these were quotes from others [not only Repubs!] that looked at the plan and saw it for what it is.
Yet the A.P. still wrote the piece. To be fair- they were talking about a specific part of the plan- called CLASS- it was supposed to be a long term health plan that would provide long term care [nursing home, providers, etc.] for the elderly.
They explained the budget shows an 80 billion dollar savings by using the first 5 years of supposed income into the plan- by those who voluntary sign up- and that this number was the biggest so called savings that the overall plan used to pass the bill.
When the president pushed for his plan- he showed it would save around 140 billion over 10 years [which is not true by the way] and it was this 80 billion savings from the CLASS part that showed the most savings.
Okay- what happened? Obama recently scrapped the plan- they knew it would go broke- and the tax payers would have to bail it out. You needed younger healthier people to voluntarily pay into it for 5 years- so they might get some back in the future. Most folk are too strapped for something like that- and Obama’s people saw the writing on the wall.
So- when they quietly scrapped the plan- they kept using the numbers they would save from the people paying into the plan- even though no ones going to pay into it- because they scrapped it.
Okay- nothing new. He did this with the so called 500 billion savings from Medicare- he used the number- twice- and came up with a fake amount of 1 trillion dollars in savings.
At the time- I remember only one news reporter calling him out on it- all the other news people were on his side- and would not report anything negative- not even open deception.
So the A.P. got tired- they have been blowing the cover on all these types of shady deals these last few weeks- they should have been doing it from the start.
I’ll end with my favorite news guy- you know who I’m talking about [those who read the posts] good old Chris Matthews. Sharpton even honored him last night on his show- he said he felt that Matthews tingle going up his leg too [no joke!]
Matthews believes he is instructing the president- that his role in life is to fight those darn Red Necks and do whatever needs to be done to make Obama succeed. Even not cover stories where the justice dept is covering up illegal gun running op’s that have killed Americans.
So yesterday the Times put out an op-ed that called for another 1.2 trillion dollar stimulus [I kid you not]. They went on to say that if the govt. spends another 1.2 trillion on infrastructure spending- that it will provide millions of new jobs and solve the unemployment problem.
I did not read the piece- I heard Matthews comment on it on his show. It must have been a Paul Krugman piece.
This view- Keynesian economics- has been tried on the largest scale ever- during Obama’s first 2.5 years- and it has failed miserably.
If you had 3 kids who needed work- and you thought ‘geez- let me go to the bank and borrow 20 thousand dollars’. And with that money you simply paid them to go dig holes- or fix park benches- or any number of other odd jobs.
Sooner or later that money will run out- and so will the job.
But if you gave the kid 20 thousand- helped him start up a small business- and he became successful and hired the other sons- well then you did more than simply pay him from borrowed cash to do a one time job. No- you empowered him to make a living- for himself and the other boys.
That’s pretty simple- and those who keep calling for more stimulus- well they are like the dad who keeps going to the bank to borrow money to pay his son to go dig the ditch- and when that money runs out he thinks ‘geez- the answer is go borrow some more’. That type of money will always run out- because you’re really not stimulating true job growth- your simply paying someone to do a one time job.
Okay- that’s it for today. I hope all these guys can get their act together a little more- and avoid the actual lying about the numbers- like the CLASS example- when people do stuff like that- then there will be little chance to really solve the problems- that approach is pure political posturing- we need more statesman and less politicians today.
[1746] CULT? Three 6’S? Not a Christian?
Okay- let’s talk a little about some of the ‘big’ stories. Actually- these stories are small but the media wants to make them big.
At the debate the other night- Cain took some heat- you know- he’s been hawking the 999 plan on taxes- and now that he’s rising in the polls they have to bring him down a notch.
So they slammed the plan- Bachmann even exposed the secret agenda behind the plan- yes- right there in front of the whole world- she said ‘you know what you get when you turn the 999 plan upside down’?
And yes- we now know the truth- you get 3 upside down 9’s.
Okay- let’s get a little serious here. Another ‘religious’ test popped up on the trail- you had the Baptist Pastor from Dallas tell a reporter that Christians should prefer other Christians when they vote- and Romney is not a Christian.
He went on to say that he thought Romney was a fine man- but that historically Mormonism is a cult.
Was he right?
Let me say this- I have read scholars my whole life- study theology and Christianity- am very open to the other Christian churches- and even my approach to Mormons and Jehovah Witnesses has been one in which I try to have open dialogues with people- not ‘cover up’ their doctrinal flaws- but to be open and show as much charity as possible.
Okay- I know of no serious scholar who would disagree theologically with the Baptist Pastor. Now- was the approach he took right? At a political type meeting? Probably not.
Are there more appropriate ways to engage in dialogue with Mormons- who overall are very good people- serve the country well and for the most part are honorable? Yes—there are better ways to talk about it than saying Romney is ‘not a Christian’.
Let’s talk a little bit about why most bible scholars do hold the ‘cult’ view.
Historically- Christianity is what we call Trinitarian [for the most part- this is also a very long study]. Sometimes we refer to this as Nicene Christianity [from the famous council at Nicaea].
Or we can look to a few other church councils that hammered out the language of the Trinity.
I am Trinitarian- I hold to the historic belief on this- just to be upfront at the start.
Now- have all ‘Christians’ at all times held to the doctrine? No. Now- some will say ‘Then they are not Christians’ okay- I agree.
But the way I define ‘Christian’ while making the argument from history- I am speaking of all those who saw themselves as part of the church [men like Bishop Arius- who rejected the Trinity] and yet did not agree with the historic position.
Church history is littered with men/movements that fall into this category.
Muslims and Jews [even some Messianic Jews] also take the side [doctrinally] with those ‘Christians’ who reject the Trinity. Why? Both of these religions believe that exalting Jesus to Deity [being God] violates the teaching that there is only One God [the Father].
Many of these same objections are made by the various ‘Christian churches’ that also reject the Trinity.
Okay- the historic Christian doctrine- accepted by Catholics, Orthodox and most Protestants- says that God is One- and there are 3 persons in the God Head. The famous Christian him says ‘God in 3 persons- Blessed Trinity’.
So- the belief is there is only one God- yet 3 persons in the God head.
The various groups who disagree with this doctrine usually say it’s a contradiction- and they have various ways they try to explain it.
They will point to bible verses that say ‘Jesus is the Firstborn of all creation’ or ‘Jesus is the beginning of the creation of God’ and they will argue that Jesus was the first creation of God- but not ‘God’ in the sense of True God.
Most scholars will show you that looking at these few verses- in context of the entire bible- show us that they are not meaning that Jesus was actually created- but that he has pre imminence among the whole creation- he is Lord of all.
I really did get into the debate- have taught it in the past on the blog- and today’s intent isn’t to do it all over again.
But- we needed to cover that to say this- what then is the Mormon belief?
While most churches that disagree with the Trinity- usually disagree by saying the doctrine is Tritheistic [meaning you believe in 3 Gods] Mormons actually go the other way- they believe/teach that you actually do have 3 Gods- that the Father and the Son and the Spirit are 3 different Gods.
Okay- that’s the main reason [there are lots of other things] that scholars classify Mormons as ‘non Christian’.
But it’s really hard to have these debates in the political arena- and because of the various ways we use the term ‘Christian’ [most of the times in the media it covers a much wider range than what we use in studying theology] I would not say ‘Romney is not a Christian’.
Why? Because I would have to qualify it by explaining all of this- and you do have many groups that have branched off from historic Christianity- who never accepted the final councils on the Trinity- and many of these groups would still be defined as ‘Christian’ in a broad sense- say if your studying Sociology and not Theology.
Now- you ask ‘geez John- this can get a little confusing- does the bible actually give us a test on this’.
Glad you asked.
The only biblical ‘test’ that is where you have a clear cut statement on ‘if you believe this your okay- if you believe this you’re not’- the statement comes from the epistle’s [letters] of the Apostle John [New Testament].
In 1st John and 2nd John he talks about those who believe that Jesus is the Christ- they are ‘from God’ ‘Born of God’ and those who say that ‘Jesus has not come in the flesh’ these are not ‘of God’ these are ‘the anti christ’.
It’s interesting to note- that in the entire bible- the few times the actual word ‘anti christ’ is used are in these passages.
So the test- if you want to look at it this way- is a Christological test- do you believe Jesus is the Christ [Messiah]. And ‘do you believe he has come in the flesh’ [what we call the Incarnation].
That’s the test- you do not have a ‘Trinitarian’ test so to speak- though the doctrine itself is found in the bible.
Why would the apostle John give these 2 criteria as ‘the test’? Because for the 1st century Jewish believer- Jesus did indeed come as the promised Messiah- and the question is indeed ‘do you believe he is the promised one- or not’.
The other ‘test’ is a little more tricky- but in the 1st century you began having a challenge to the main belief of Christians- it came from the Gnostic ‘cults’. These were the quasi ‘Christian’ groups that mixed in Greek concepts of matter with Christian belief.
The last few weeks we discussed their ideas a little- and one of the ideas that Plato taught was that matter itself was evil.
This is not the Christian view- the Christian view is that matter [creation] is from God- it is good- not inherently evil.
Okay- so you had a division of the Gnostics [which their name meant Knowledge- they believed they had secret knowledge about these things that the average Christian did not have] called Docetists.
These guys taught that Jesus was not Really a human being- who came ‘in the flesh’. Why did they teach this? Because they also taught that matter/flesh was evil- and Jesus could not have really been ‘in the flesh’.
This doctrine violates the very clear N.T. teaching that Jesus was indeed born of the Virgin- and was fully God and fully man- thus the apostle John was targeting them when he said ‘if anyone does not believe that Jesus has come in THE FLESH he is not from God’.
Got it? Okay- we did a little teaching today- as you can see these types of debates cannot really take place in a 30 second news sound bite.
So even though most scholars [if not all?] would agree with the teaching that Mormonism does not fit in with historic Christianity- yet to say ‘this guy is not a Christian’ without being able to make the distinctions that I just did- well it just sounds bad- to be honest.
I personally could vote for Romney- to me it would be more of an issue of his political positions- if I felt he could do a good job- I personally would not use the ‘religious test’ on the guy- but you do have a large group of Evangelicals who would not vote for him- mainly because of this very issue.
I think these issues are important- and people should be aware of them. I also think the term ‘cult’ or ‘he is not a Christian’ if we are going to throw those words out- they need to be surrounded by the above context- when they just pop out on a short sound bite- without the time to explain them- then it’s probably better not to throw them out at all.
[1747] TALES FROM THE CRYPT [Fire dept.]
Let’s do one for the Gipper today- you know- just telling a few stories.
Years ago at the fire dept we used to have old pumper trucks. The trucks were real work horses- and us ‘older guys’ grew up driving/pumping these babies.
Yet the newer guys had some real problems with them. First- the trucks were all manual transmission- and some of the guys did not know how to drive them!
So we had them practice at the empty parking lots and stuff- but geez- when these younger guys [not all] were driving to a fire scene- your life was literally in their hands.
Now- I’ll admit it- the trucks were old- lots of wear and tear. On one of them the play in the steering wheel was about a foot!
I remember one night- one of the guys who had a real hard time driving standard- he was ‘my driver’ that night. Sure enough we had a call- and I told Danny ‘let’s roll’.
I knew he was a little hesitant. We had to drive down this narrow back road- a 2 lane road [one each way] and a huge ditch to the right.
I knew it was gonna be rough. As my driver is barreling down the road- at about 60- with the truck with about a foot of play in the steering wheel- well- I did think this was gonna be the big one.
I mean if it has to happen- well that’s your job- but I would rather have gone out in a ‘blaze of glory’- you know- at some fire doing your job- then winding up in the ditch! I mean I actually felt safe when we got to the house fire- like ‘geez- never thought we’d make it’.
Now- these pumper trucks would eventually get phased out over time- all the newer models were automatics. But the problem we had with one of the first new ones we purchased was it had no setting for Park. When you pulled the truck into the stall- you would put it in neutral- and apply the air break.
One thing- if you forgot to pull the break- and got out- after about a minute the water swaying back and forth in the tank [the trucks hold about a thousand gallons of water] would slowly move the truck forward- and once the truck hit the tilted driveway- well the truck would roll out- all by its lonesome- and ram into the National Guard fence that was right there.
I guess this happened around 3 times over a year- we finally started putting manual wheel chocks under all the wheels every day.
It was funny to be honest- the truck would roll slowly- maybe around 10 MPH- so everyone [and their grandmother] could see it coming- but the thing was heavy- with a huge bumper.
I mean we rammed ‘the heck’ out of that National Guard fence for about a year.
I used to laugh about it- and say ‘geez- the fed’s must be thinking ‘what the heck is going on down there’? I mean every year when the guard had to list their top 10 most pressing dangers [you know- terrorism attack- or break in- etc.] The Feds must have wondered why the Kingsville Fire Dept. was at the top of the list.
Okay- last one.
When you work under different chiefs- you learn what to watch out for. Some get mad if you spend too much at the store while picking up items for the station.
So one day me and the Captain make a quick supply run- you know- get a few things for the kitchen and stuff.
So he picked up a roll of tin foil- for about a buck.
We go back to the station and the phone rings- the Captain gets it and all he hears is ‘what’s the foil for’ at first he had no idea who was on the line- of course the chief saw the charge on the card [or the P.O. number].
He couldn’t believe it- he had lots of good reasons for the foil- who does the chief think he is any way- questioning us!
For the next 15 minutes- the captain put foil on everything [you know- to justify the purchase] I mean on the windows where the sun came through [deflect the heat]. On all the burners on the stove- I mean at that rate- we were gonna need to make another foil run- and soon!
Okay- that’s it for today- we still have lots of serious stuff to cover- but today I thought we’d take a break.
Have a good weekend everybody- and be careful driving in front of the fire station!
[1748] APOCALYPSE- NOW?
I was going to try and take the week off- from posting- but there is way too much happening- that will have to wait.
This past Friday the White House did another document dump- they released more damming evidence that looks bad- real bad.
What came out? You had a few memos/emails that showed that the career govt. workers- people who have worked for both Repubs and Dems- that these guys working for Treasury and the O.M.B. [office of management and budget] that when they saw that the president wanted to change the Solyndra loan- that they all told him ‘pass this by the justice dept. it looks like what you’re doing might be illegal’.
Okay- when you have pro’s telling you this- in emails- and you change the loan anyway- without listening to them- geez- people get Impeached for stuff like this- no joke.
So- these memos did indeed come out- and Obama has to know that this is bad- real bad.
Now- I think this is why some of the media defenders [A.P.] jumped ship about 2 weeks ago- the Dem insiders must be thinking ‘geez- why the hell did he do it- we told the guy no!’
Of course we know why he did it- his top fundraiser invested millions into the company and visited the pres. 4 times right before he changed the loan.
Now- why was it ‘illegal’ to change the loan? This program started under Bush- and it was designed to help get our economy more into clean energy- a noble goal.
When Bush implemented the thing- the law covering the loans says- flat out ‘under no circumstances shall any investors or private creditors recoup their losses before the taxpayer- if the company folds’.
Okay- then what ‘legal’ reasoning did Obama use to change the loan- for his top fundraiser- who visited him 4 times right before the loan was changed- to get paid back first?.
There was another part of the law covering the loan that said ‘the energy secretary will do everything in his power to protect the investment that the taxpayer is making’ which basically meant the same thing as saying the taxpayer will get paid first if company goes bust.
Okay- from the memos released Friday- the president ‘reasoned’ [on his own- he was a lawyer- remember?] that the clause that said ‘the energy secy will do all in his power to protect the tax payer’ Obama used that clause to justify changing the loan- by saying when he changed the loan- so his friend would get paid first- that this change allowed other private investors to also get paid first- and that would encourage fresh private money to come in- and possibly save the ship- and by saving the ship- in the long run- the taxpayers have invested in a ship that got saved [this is Chicago style lawyer- ing for sure].
Now- does this sound loony to you? Well it sounded loony to all the career govt. people who looked at it too. They said that this reasoning is nuts- and that the pres possibly broke the law by doing this.
So what happened next? The energy guy quit- and got him some lawyers. The top guy at Solyndra bailed too- got him some lawyers. And the pres? Well- he provides his own legal advice [as you can see- it has not served him well].
Now- the pres knew this info was coming out on Friday- and what else came out Friday?
For the first time [First!] the pres decided to put armed ground troops into a foreign theatre- that we were not previously at war with.
Where? Uganda. The pres notified congress [on Friday- you know- real urgent stuff!] that he was putting 100 armed troops on the ground in central Africa.
Now- when he did Libya- which was simply giving air support- no ground troops- he got heat.
What did he think would happen if he put ground troops in Uganda? Well- hopefully- stir up a hornets’ nest- and maybe no one will see those silly memos- where his own people said ‘man- he’s stretching the law’.
Why Uganda- and why now?
Africa is a big continent- there are many nations in Africa that are Muslim run- there are also many Africans who are sincere Christians- some of the politicians [especially in Uganda] sound just like the right wing folk here in the U.S.
I have watched shows [on Gores new channel- Current] where you here the Ugandan Christian politicians slam Obama and his ‘liberal’ agenda- yes- they sound just like any right wing group.
One of the big things they hate him for is his attempts to get Uganda to ease up on their anti gay laws.
Uganda made it into the headlines this last year because they tried to pass laws that would call for the death penalty in certain crimes that included homosexual behavior.
There is a dispute over whether these laws would be applied to people just because they were gay- or whether they were intended more for gay crimes- like someone molesting a youth.
But either way the rhetoric was high- and the Christian politicians- in Uganda- have really gone after Obama- and they see themselves as being used by God to raise the standard of morality in the world.
Okay- maybe some of you never knew this- most of the times we see these nations and we think ‘Radical Muslim’ but now you see- that’s not always the case.
Okay- why the troops? There has been another ‘Christian’ group that has operated out of Uganda [and Congo- and central Africa] for around 20 years- these guys are called The Lord’s Resistance Army [no joke] they are lead by a man by the name of Joseph Kony.
Kony was a former altar boy in the Catholic church- and considers himself to be a prophet sent from God. His mission? To restore Africa to a Christian nation- based on the 10 commandments [you want theocracy- forget Perry and Palin- this guy is the real deal].
Now- Kony [like the other political guys in Uganda] see Obama and the West as enemies of God- enemies of the Christian God- do you now see a little more?
Kony has a real messiah complex- and I have read about this guy in the past- and some maintain that he actually does miracles and is the real deal.
Kony has also embraced the radical view of fighting for his cause- he kills- kidnaps- and acts just like the other radical Muslim groups in the area- he fights fire with fire.
Now- it is estimated that Kony has about 200 followers- imagine Brando in Apocalypse now- and you’ll get the picture.
How much damage has this little group done? It’s estimated that they have ‘displaced’ around 300 thousand people- killed around 2400.
You have had Muslim conflicts kill millions on the continent- and we did nothing.
This one thing I do know- that Friday was the first time under this president that we have decided to deploy ground troops in a foreign theater- a theater that we were not already at war with [Afghanistan, Iraq].
Even Libya was described as Kinetic action- so they would not have to take the heat of sending in ground troops.
Yet Friday- yes the Friday where all these damming memos came out- memos from your own people basically saying you broke the law here- that’s the day we decide to send the most ground troops into Africa since the marines landed in Liberia in 2003- it stinks to ‘high heaven’ if you ask me.
I know the administration will say ‘this has been a problem for years- the world court declared Kony as committing crimes against humanity- the U.N. has tried to deal with it’ yes- all these things are true- but Friday- this past Friday- out of all the days you could have decided its time to roll- you roll on Friday?
And you ‘Roll’ against a group- crazy- violent- nuts- yes. But the group is a radical ‘Christian’ group- run by a former altar boy- in a country that is the most vocal against Obama- on this very issue- yes- that’s the guy- his team of 200 disciples- yes- he’s the one.
There's just too much here for me to believe this decision was based purely on the concern for Uganda.
How bout you?
[1749] ALLAH AKBAR!!
Let’s tell a tale today. You had this nation that had people in it that hated Blacks. Yes- these ‘Black haters’ had some political organization to them- they lived in the ‘southern’ part of the nation.
You also had the leader of this nation- he lived in the ‘North’. Over time these 2 sides disagreed about stuff- and it even got to the point where they took up arms against each other.
The Blacks who lived in the north- well they were hoping that the south would not win- after all- they heard reports of how the leaders in the south were treating the Blacks ‘down there’.
They were treated like slaves.
Over time- the north seemed to be winning the fight- but then lo and behold- another outside country came in and supported the south- they had modern weaponry- fast planes- and they over powered the weaker kingdom in the north.
To the dismay of the Blacks in the north- the southern leaders came in- and just like they feared- they made them do free manual labor- used them to clean up the place- do odd jobs ‘hey there black boy- go fetch me some food’.
If the Black Boys resisted- they would stick live electrical wires to their genitals- and torture them. Their wives were abused- kids treated like ‘shit’ and all this happened- thanks to the wonderful ‘liberating’ help from the outside country.
If I asked you to name this nation- would it be America a couple of hundred years ago- give or take a few minor details- a different outcome to our Civil War?
Actually this ‘tale’ is no tale at all- it is what has happened in Libya [Tripoli] these last 3 months.
Yes- the outside country is the U.S. - the Black hating ‘south’ are really the rebels from the east [Benghazi] and the leader who loved and protected the Black people- Lincoln? No- sorry- his name is Gadhaffi.
Human Rights watch- a human rights group from N.Y. - they went into Tripoli to see if the reports of human rights abuses were real. They found that the so called ‘liberators’ the guys we have backed- they took the- quote ‘Dark skinned Libyans’ [they don’t want to say Black Folk] and used them to do ‘forced labor’ [slavery].
They pulled Blacks from cars- women and children- no matter- and beat the hell out of them.
They’ll ‘string you up’ in a minute- just because they can’t stand Blacks.
Okay- after all this- these same Black hating rebels advance to the other cities in Libya- they camped outside Sirte for a few weeks- Gadhaffi’s home town. The people of Sirte are saying ‘get the hell out of here- we don’t want you- you are not liberators- your ‘southern’ political views are not the views we embrace. We have always worked with the Blacks- Gadhaffi taught us to love them as our brothers- that’s why Nelson Mandela praised him openly when he was released from prison’.
Yes- the citizens of Sirte want none of this so called ‘liberation group’ being supported by NATO and U.S. fire power- because if these ‘liberators’ make it in- yes- the ‘dark skinned’ folk- well they know the score.
I saw [read?] a news report how the rebels were surrounding Sirte [and Bani Walid] and they were calling on NATO- and the U.S. ‘where are the planes- hurry- lets bomb these bad people in these towns’.
Finally- some NATO rep said ‘uh- there are some technical reasons why we are holding off’ bull!
They realized that the damn human rights violations that we have helped make happen- that these violations are a hundred times worse than what Gadhaffi has done [minus the Lockerbie plane attack].
When we started our action in Libya- we said we were going to simply create a no fly zone in order to protect civilians from ‘bad people’. What started as a no fly zone turned into an ‘air force’ for these S.O.B.’s.
We then figured we might as well go all the way- depose the mad clown of Tripoli- and get it done with quickly. It’s been 3 months since Tripoli fell- and just last week- 80 citizens of Tripoli- you know- those who supposedly greeted the new leaders as liberators- they gathered in Green Square and raised the Green flag again- they were saying ‘we want the old leader back’.
The rebels- our guys- they pulled these people [many Blacks] from their cars- they tortured them and put them in jail.
As ‘our rebels’ did this- as they ran through the square to stop the protestors- they were yelling ‘Allah Akbar’ at the top of their lungs- geez- that sounds just like the attack that took place a few miles up the road from me- Fort Hood- Tx.
As Hassan grabbed his gun and went into the building on the base- he shouted this same ‘liberating’ slogan- as he pumped bullets into his fellow American soldiers.
The main commander who has received praise for his leading the attack that took Tripoli a couple of months back- he was detained by our forces a few years ago- he was suspected of killing our guys- he was [is?] an Al-Qaida leader who came from the eastern part of Libya [where the Rebels live] and he was sent to kill American soldiers in Iraq.
Yes- these guys- the ones who shouted ‘Allah Akbar’ the other day- as they rampaged thru the historic square- attacking and torturing Black skinned Libyans- yes- these are the ‘liberators’ we have backed.
Shame on all of us- shame.
[1750] TOO MANY A’S ?
[By the way- my sister is still in the hospital- she is doing much better- thanks for the prayers!]
Let’s talk about what has happened these last 6 months or so. I found it interesting that the last ‘official’ post I wrote was about Libya- and how what started as a ‘no fly zone’ to protect civilians- turned into an air force for a bunch of possible Al Qaeda guys.
Then sure enough- yesterday the stuff hit the fan- I did a few short posts while watching the news- at first we thought our drones did kill him- then we saw that he survived the air attack- and was ‘accidentally shot’ in a crossfire between his supporters and the Rebels.
You know- the stray bullet theory- let’s see- 2 bullets in the neck- one in the head- 5 in the back- yeah- sounds like a stray bullet to me.
Okay- I realize these guys are no altar boys [well- maybe they are- remember Joe Kony? - few posts back] But the fact is we- along with NATO- made a conscious decision to side with one side in a civil war- the side we picked do indeed have bad guys on their team- and these bad guys have been lying to us since day one- we all know this.
Second- I just happened to write a post in ‘defense’ of Gadhaffi the other day- over the last 6 months I have written about his ‘love’ for the Black ‘skinned’ people of Africa.
Now- some question whether this guy really loved ‘the Blacks’ or not. Let me say this- when Obama was elected- Gadhaffi was really happy about it. The London papers even printed a long quote from Gadhaffi- praising Obama- after the war on Libya started.
The reason they showed the quote was they wanted to give balance to the fact that many Obama supporters were on the side of Gadhaffi for years.
You had stories about Beyonce and other famous black entertainers/leaders having many contacts with Gadhaffi over the years.
You also had very well known Black leaders come out and condemn Obama when he called for Gadhaffi to step down [Farrakhan]. The reason many Black leaders were upset with Obama’s strategy was because Gadhaffi did really see himself as a defender of Black people- and a ‘Father of the peoples Revolution’
Okay- the man came to power in 1969- it was a military coup that over threw a Royal Family. In a very real way- it had a flavor of the modern Arab Spring.
Many of the current protests taking place in the Arab/Persian world are civilians protesting against Autocratic rule- they are protesting the Royal families that rule their nations.
Bahrain, Saudi Arabia- Syria- these are run by families [sons] that simply hold power because of their ‘Royalty’- so- in a sense- Gadhaffi was indeed a Father of his own Revolution- he did not have power because he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth- he was a military leader who over threw a Royal family.
Now- did he run Libya like a ‘western style democracy’ of course not. And the odds on any of these ‘Arab Spring’ nations doing so are about zero.
The original uprisings began when a street vender in Tunisia [the nation directly west of Libya] killed himself as a protest for being treated badly by the Tunisian security forces [I think the guy set himself on fire].
To the surprise of many outside observers- the leader of Tunisia fell fast- and then the protests spread to Egypt [on the other side of Libya- to the east- all on the border of North Africa- right off the Mediterranean].
In Egypt- the leader- Hosni Mubarak- was a ‘bad’ man- in the sense that for years the people were abused under the security forces of the govt. So Obama went back and forth for a few days- then sided with the people and called for him to step down.
Egypt is a much larger country [population wise] than Libya- Egypt has about 80 million people- Libya 6 million.
But Libya is large geographically- lots of land. Most of the population live right off of the Mediterranean coast- the rest of the country is scattered- they are a tribal nation- the local tribal leaders run the show.
Okay- the reason Egypt fell- in sort of an orderly way- was because their military is advanced- many of their military commanders have been trained in the West- and have close ties to the U.S.
It was fairly easy for the West to tell the insiders ‘look- we think it’s time for a change- we need Mubarak out’ and that’s why he stepped down- he was forced.
In Libya- there is no military type ‘alliance’ that we can work with- Gadhaffi had a military- but the country is pretty Rag Tag.
So how did we get involved?
Like the other nations to the east and west of Libya- you did have people rise up and protest- and I’m sure they were/are sincere. But remember- these Libyan people were not protesting against a Royal family- they were protesting against a guy who did see himself as a true leader of one of the original revolutions of the area.
Last night I saw a bunch of Gadhaffi videos- you know- all the networks playing the oldies but goodies. He tells Larry King ‘I am not the leader of Libya- I am the leader of the Revolution’ King questioned that- yet Gadhaffi did indeed see himself as a liberator of sorts.
When you watch the videos of him being taken- and killed [which was shameful to show- no matter how bad the man was- it was still shameful] he says ‘Don’t shoot me- I am like your Father’- yes- he was a deluded man at the end- yet that’s how he saw himself.
So we chose to back the opposing side- who like I have said before- have Al Qaeda in their ranks. In one of the videos- as they are abusing Gadhaffi- ‘our guys’ are shouting Allah Akbar- Allah Akbar- and look like a bunch of rabid dogs as they surround the guy.
Allah Akbar? Yes- it means God is Great in Arabic- but in the west- when the nuts flew into our buildings- they shouted this.
When Radical Islamists bomb people- they shout this.
When our guys engage in military action- kill an enemy target- they don’t yell Jesus is Lord. We need to make it clear in the future- if you want western support- then you need to quit associating bombings and killings with this phrase- you want to ‘praise God’ then save it for the mosque [tough love- yeah- we need some].
Okay- the deed is done- the outcome? Have no idea.
Egypt has no- and probably will never see- a western style democracy- the odds are- all of these Arab Spring nations will either become run by the military leaders that over threw the autocrats [just like Gadhaffi did in 1969] or if they hold elections- you are gonna get the Muslim Brotherhood- and others like that- in charge.
These groups make no bones about it- if they take charge- they will set up Shariah Law.
If you are a Christian in these countries [Like the Coptic church in Egypt- who make up 10 % of the population] then you’re in big trouble.
Last week there were more protests in Egypt- the biggest since the toppling of Mubarak- many of the protestors were Christians. The ‘caretaker govt.’ in charge- the military guys we backed- they drove their armored vehicles into the square- and ran over about 25 Christians- there's your Democracy.
Remember- many of these original protests were citizens protesting their countries being ruled by Royal families- Gadhaffi over threw a royal family in Libya.
Piers Morgan [CNN] had the gall to have on 2 sons of the Libyan ‘royal family’ that was over thrown in 1969. He spoke to them like they were victims- he even said ‘maybe now you can go back to Libya- and get justice’ [my paraphrase] What! These protests are supposed to be getting rid of these Monarchies- not support them!
There's a funny commercial making the rounds right now- every so often there’s a commercial that I’ll catch- and if it’s funny- whenever I scan my news channels- if I see it- I’ll stop.
So you have this manager/owner of an auto repair shop- the commercial opens up with him answering the phone- he says ‘This is AAAAAAAA-‘ for about 20 times- and of course the customer hangs up.
The mechanic walks in and asks ‘hey boss- why do we have so many A’s on our name’ and the boss- standing at the counter- in front of the name of the business- yes- with about 20 A’s in front of the name- tells the mechanic ‘so we can get our name to be the first in the phone book’.
Of course- this boss is using the old strategy of AAA transmission- or whatever- you know- that old phone book strategy.
So then the mechanic goes into his deal- hawking whatever co. they are trying to plug [I think it’s Fed Ex?] And as the boss listens to this ‘new strategy’ of how to promote your business- the commercial ends with the boss saying ‘you know- you’re a smart kid- you got some future here at- AAAAAAA….’ and the commercial ends.
Sometimes in life- we embrace strategies- things that we think will help our cause- but after careful analysis- it actually hurts it [Who wants to wait on the phone for the price of a spark plug- while hearing some shop owner go through 20 million A’s?]
In all of our efforts to back the innocent people- yes- many of the people in the Arab Spring countries are victims- they have grown up in these situations- and we do want freedom for them.
But at the end of the day- if we wind up backing- militarily- a bunch of radicals who we see on U- tube yelling ‘Allah Akbar’ as they surround their former Revolutionary leader from years gone by- then we might mean well- but I fear the strategy might be fatally flawed in the end.
[1751] FOR A PAIR OF SHOES? CMON!
Yesterday I saw a few clips from a talk Joe Biden gave- he was at some municipal type function [Cops- Firemen] and he was basically defending the presidents ‘jobs bill’. I mean the guy really impressed me with his mastery of the numbers.
He rattled off ‘in 2007- you had this many cops on the street- this many rapes- this many killings’. He then went on to the following years- you know- showing us that as the force went down in numbers- that the violent crimes went up.
I mean- it was so smooth- you would think he was just pulling the numbers out of the air.
As he left the hall- some reporter got him on whether or not it was right to associate voting no on the ‘jobs bill’ with being for an increase in rapes [Biden was saying if you vote no- then the number of cops being let go will go up- and the rapes will go up too- according to his numbers].
Biden kind of got into a little scuffle ‘hey buddy- don’t you misquote me on this- this is what I said’ you know- Biden has never had trouble with talking off the cuff like that.
Then sure enough- the Repubs got the actual numbers from the FBI on the rapes and stuff from that city [I think he was in Boston?].
And the actual numbers were the opposite of what Biden said- the rapes went down over the years he said they went up.
I like old Joe- he lives his life for the moment. You know- having a few shots of J.D. with the guys at the Fire Dept. Hanging out with the cops and all my fellow union bro’s [still am a member with the fire fighters union] and then going to the union hall and hitting one out of the park- just giving this soul stirring defense of the president’s policy- rattling off those numbers like one of the local lotto ‘quick 6’ guys does at the corner store.
Then of course the thrill is short lived- sure it made you feel great as you hung out with the boys for the rest of the day ‘Biden sure defended us today- way to go Joe- way to go’. Then he gets back home and sees all the clips of how he screwed up the whole thing.
You know- his wife saying ‘hey honey- look your on CNN again- they’re making fun of you’. And Biden probably just fluffs the thing off ‘Heck- this aint the first time baby- and won’t be the last’. Oh- and by the way- Obama’s trying to get a hold of you- ‘just tell him I’m’ busy hon- talk to him another day’.
Ah- the more I watch these guys- the more I keep thinking of the Don Knott’s movie ‘the gang that can’t shoot straight’ it’s sad- but at least you can laugh as the country goes to Hades in a hand basket.
Okay- to my liberal friends- this next one is for you.
I do think very seriously that our country- and the world- has very serious problems facing us these next few years. I do not see the answer to these problems as being conservative or liberal- I think that both sides really need to be able to come to the table and talk as adults- that has not happened yet.
I’m going to defend Obama right now- just a warning to both sides.
These past few months the U.S. has been trying to negotiate a deal with Iraq- we originally signed an agreement with the new govt. that we would stay in their country till the end of this year.
As the months rolled by the leadership of Iraq has had some very shaky people join their ranks. Iraq is now considered [by many insiders] as being part of a group of 3 nations [Iraq- Syria- Iran] that are strengthening their ties- as sort of a buffer against the other nations in the region.
One of the leaders in Iraq- on the official payroll- is Muqtada Al Sadr [I’m guessing on the spelling?] Do you remember him?
This guy led his own militia during our war in Iraq. At times we went back and forth on whether or not we should target his little enclave and take out his personal army.
Eventually we decided to let the guy live and he finally got on the actual team of leaders that make up the new Iraqi leadership.
This guy has killed our guys- we have killed his.
Now- a while back he agreed to putting a stop to the killing of American soldiers in Iraq [gee thanks a lot!]. He is a religious leader with a following- and at one time he justified [Fatwa] the killing of American soldiers as being part of fighting the ‘infidel’ invaders from the west.
After he got in office- he agreed to tell this people ‘stop killing them’- for good? No- just until the official agreement of our forces staying until this year ends- but after that- he has said its open shooting once again.
Okay- this guy is part of the Iraqi govt.- he’s telling us he will take his guys and kill American soldiers if we stay past the deadline.
Obama has been trying to extend the deadline [at the secret request of the Iraqi leaders- they want us to stay longer- but because of political posturing won’t say it openly]. But in order for them to look tough to the outsiders- they are refusing to sign an agreement that would give our guys legal immunity if we stay.
So you have these guys playing ‘hard ball’ with our guys- we are not asking them to pay the 800 billion dollar bill we have racked up over these past 10 years- they have officials in their govt. who are openly saying ‘you stay past the deadline- your dead’ and the other leaders will not grant our guys immunity.
I would have done the same thing Obama did- you know what- we shed blood here- your govt. has turned into a major supporter of some of our biggest enemies in the region- and your own officials are calling for the killing of our men- after the deadline.
Your damn right we’re not staying- no way in hell.
But we are so divided- the Repub candidates have used this as a tool to criticize Obama- and the left has done the same dirty deeds [Biden’s numbers game?]
This week the DOW went up to around 11,800. I’ll admit- I did not think we would see those numbers this year- nor do I think it’s smart for us to ‘see’ those numbers.
Why? I have said a bunch of times over this last year that the global economy is not in good shape.
Some economists think we [the U.S. and Europe] are going through a De- Leveraging cycle. They feel that nations/economies can only go so long through a borrowing/spending cycle- and then they have to ‘bottom out’ and go through a long season of deleveraging.
Many think that the west is in this phase right now- and will be in it for a number of years.
That’s why Greece- once again- is having open rioting on the streets. They have over borrowed- over promised- and now are doing what’s called Austerity measures- they have to cut.
Now- in our country- we too have these same problems looming over the horizon- we are not technically as bad as Greece [yet] but we are in trouble.
The only way to really deal with this problem- is for both sides to actually make some serious cuts/changes in what we call entitlement programs [Medicare being the biggest] and yes- some type of income on the ‘revenue side’.
Not raising taxes across the board [maybe?] but doing what many on both sides have called for- closing a lot of the loopholes that are in the tax code and making real ‘adjustments’ to entitlements- if we don’t seriously do this- then we will be in big trouble.
Okay- why do I think the DOW is way too high? Investors have been looking for a sign- any sign- that they can use to hang some hope on- that we will not go into another recession.
Sure enough- some good news did come out- and some not so good.
Then once again- the European debt yoyo- it went up again- the investors thought ‘o- maybe the Euro Zone will fix its debt crisis’. Look- no matter what deal they do- they will still have a very long way to go to get out of their problems- and their banks and economies are going to still suffer- no matter what.
And why was Biden doing the speech? Because he was trying to get support for Obama’s plan to send more federal money back to the states. The states have been propped up by the stimulus package and fed. aid- and that moneys gone.
So yes- the states are going to lay off this year- more than any previous year- the moneys gone.
All of these things are huge problems- on a Macro level- that are going to effect the global markets for many years to come- even if the actual figures for business look better [many financial guys have been saying ‘the fundamentals are much better’- true- in a way].
But no business functions in a vacuum. No matter how good the bottom line looks- if people are out of work- and banks are not lending- and if we are really in a de leveraging cycle- then no matter how good the ‘fundamentals’ are- the ‘customers’ are broke- or can’t get a loan to buy the good/service- see?
Okay- lets end with some bible stuff- before I lose all my Christian readers.
A while back we were doing an over view of the entire bible- and I probably should have done at least one last post or 2 before we stopped [maybe will get to that in the next few weeks?]
We stopped at the O.T. prophets- and under that category- you have what we call the Major and Minor Prophets. That’s simply a distinction in the size of their books [Isaiah is long- major- Amos short- minor].
I did hit on Isaiah some- and for a minor prophet- if I could only do one- it would be Amos.
Amos was a very strong defender of the poor- the weak ones in society. He railed against the rich- and the powerful- ‘you sell the poor for a pair of shoes- there is no justice in the land’.
In a way- you could fit him in at one of the Occupy Wall Street rallies.
Amos also condemned the ‘church folk’ he said [like the other prophets too] that the religious people were having great meetings- they were rejoicing in their religious life- they had a great time ‘practicing’ their religion [every day a Friday?] Yet there were many injustices in the land- things that God was not happy with.
And these things were the uneven balances that existed in their day.
When he said ‘you sold the poor for a pair of shoes’ yes- the ‘market’ was that bad- that you could ‘buy a slave’- that cheap. Was it ‘just’ simply because that was the market value?
Hell no- people have more value than a damn pair of shoes! What about his injustice ‘rant’?
That spoke specifically about ‘justice in the courts’ the rich were able to ‘buy’ a better outcome in the courts- than the poor.
Man- if these things are not signs of our times- then I have no idea what is.
Okay- I’m glad the President did what he did on the troop thing- if your country can’t guarantee immunity to our guys- yeah-were gonna get the hell out.
Oh- one last thing- I think I hear a phone ringing- all the way from Delaware- yes Joe- someone wants to talk to you- and soon.
[1752] IMMACULATE CONCEPTION
Was gonna do one last post [for now] on Libya- we will need to cover the whole development of how we began to view/and act over a 6 month period- we acted [as a nation] contrary to our public statements. We swore- over and over again- that we were not targeting the man [or his family] and he swore [before the U.N. - by his rep.] that we were lying- and did indeed already kill a few of his grandkids [which was true] and were going after him.
Then- on national T.V. - we saw him flee Sirte [his hometown] and get bombed by both NATO and American planes [ours were Drones]. We destroyed a bunch of vehicles- left a lot of dead bodies- but he made it to a tunnel.
Then he got pulled out- ended up with a bullet in the head. O- forgot- this happened a day or 2 after Hillary Clinton visited Tripoli [her first visit] and said ‘we are waiting for you to capture or kill him’ [oop’s!] She later had to ‘clarify’.
She also was caught on tape- laughing and rejoicing over his death- okay- many people did- but if your saying publicly- ‘that’s not what we want’- then it looks bad.
Of course the other Arab nations want the U.N. to investigate- they were being told- by us- that we were not going after him. He begged for a peaceful resolution [he did do this!]. But we basically said no.
There are lots of questions to still be answered on this thing.
Okay- yesterday I wrote a quick note about a conversation I had with a new friend who just joined my site. She was into some new age stuff- we talked a little- I defended historic Christian belief- then she blocked me.
Let’s talk a little about Apologetics/Theology. Apologetics is the field where Christians Defend the Faith.
In our day- it is common for believers to be ‘left in the dust’ when they bang up against an atheistic scientist [they not all are!] or someone versed in Philosophy [Sartre or Camus- atheist thinkers- or Hitchen's and Dawkins].
Many times these various fields of study are too much for the average believer to feel like he can engage in- in an intelligent way- and ‘win’ the argument for the Christian view.
But church history has a long- and very successful- track record doing this very thing.
A few weeks back I did about 5 posts or so on Philosophy- a field I like to study. But if you do too many of those posts at one time- then it can get a little heavy [and boring!] So I try to break it up by only doing so many at a time. The same goes for Theology- Church History- etc.
But over time- if we become well versed in these various fields- it will help us defend the Christian view- in an intelligent way- without being mean about it [I try!]
But sometimes you will offend people- even if you try to be nice- because you’re engaging in a conversation that says ‘yes- as Christians we believe in ultimate truth- and that truth is in the person of Jesus Christ’ yes- that will offend some.
My approach to these types of debates is I’m what you would call Ecumenical- I believe that Catholics, Protestants, Orthodox- and all the other ‘churches’ that profess Christ- I believe they are all Christian.
Now you might say ‘well John- doesn’t everybody?’ Actually no- many of the most knowledgeable Apologists do indeed go after the other groups. Quite often you will have a strong protestant defender [usually from the Reformed faith] that will really hit the Catholic church- in my view- too hard.
While it is true that historically Catholics and Protestants have differences- I have often found that Many ‘average’ Catholics/Protestants are not really aware of the real differences- they often have very limited perspectives about the ‘other side’ and these limited ideas [often wrong] seem to stay with the people- for most of their lives.
One example- the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception- what is it?
The teaching became Official- only in the last 2 centuries of the Catholic church- though it was held by many- it finally became official in the last 2 hundred years [ 1854 for the Immaculate Conception- 1950 for the Assumption of Mary doctrine].
The doctrine teaches that the Virgin Mary- Jesus Mom- was born ‘without the taint of original sin’. Now- what does that mean?
Some Protestants think the Catholics teach that Mary was ‘sinless’ in the same way Christ was sinless.
Actually- that’s not the official doctrine [see- it’s important to know the official teaching when we engage like this]. The actual teaching- that has the churches Imprimatur on it- is that Mary WAS A SINNER- just like the rest of us- but in order for Jesus to have been born from a pure vessel- that the actual work of the Cross- Redemption- it was applied to Mary ‘ahead of time’.
Yes- the official teaching is that Mary ‘was saved’ from her sin- just like the rest of us- thru the Cross. The difference is the forgiveness that came to Mary- came to her before she was born- yes- the teaching does teach that Mary was born ‘without sin’ but not like Jesus was without sin- but she was ‘without sin’ because her salvation was applied ahead of time- way ahead of time- before she was born.
Okay- do Protestants believe in this teaching? No. But is it ‘so way out of line’ to the point where we should view our Catholic brothers and sisters as ‘non Christian’ because of it? No- not in my view.
Plus- many Catholics don’t even realize that this is what the doctrine teaches- many think it is talking about the birth of Jesus- being born without sin- by the act of the Holy Spirit descending upon the Virgin Mary and Mary conceiving.
No- this is what we call ‘The Virgin birth- conceived by the Holy Ghost’. Jesus being born from a virgin with no earthly father.
This is not the Immaculate Conception.
So right here alone [trust me- there are many more examples that I could give] Both Catholics and Protestants usually get the doctrine wrong- yet they remain divided their whole lives- over something that they are not even right about.
So I have found this type of stuff to be a problem while striving for Christian unity- and many Christians prefer to see the ‘other side’ in a negative light- and will continue to view them that way- till they die.
I always feel bad when I lose a friend from the site- sometimes you can’t help it [other times it is my fault!] but sometimes it’s because we have views about things- strongly held views- and when others hold to a different view- well we try and avoid them.
One day I received a Friends Request- to my surprise- it was from a young Catholic priest- I did not know him but he must have read a few posts of mine and liked them. He often gave me Thumbs Up comments on the posts- and at times would tell me he loved the posts.
Most were my Theology/Church history posts.
Often times Catholics and Protestants can agree and enjoy these types of studies. I love studying and teaching on the Church Fathers and early Christian history- and these sources all have a very strong Catholic flavor to them- so I see my fellow Catholics as being a part of a long tradition of Christian history.
Many famous converts to the Catholic Church [Bishop John Newman- converted from the Anglican Church] convert because they read the Church Fathers- and when you read them- it’s obvious to see the catholic nature of the early church in these men’s writings.
So anyway I was very happy to have a Catholic priest as one of my ‘on line students’ [and honored].
But one day- during one of my studies [covering one subject for a month or so] to my surprise I saw he was gone [yes- the dreaded block]. I thought- geez- wonder why?
I realized it was right in the middle of a study I did on Islam- and while I was doing the posts- I was also going thru a study on Islam- by the same guy who teaches it to the U.S. govt. - yes- it was a prof. [I think named Espinoza?] who teaches Islam to our govt. employees [sort of like a tolerance type thing].
Though the teacher was Catholic- yet he was VERY much pro Islam- I mean to the point where I had to reject some of the stuff he was saying- and finish the study from my own education on Islam.
At one point- he taught that the spread of Islam thru out the world had a wonderful- liberating effect on all the women in the lands where Islam spread. I mean it was so obvious that the man had no idea what he was talking about [in this area] that I realized he was not a good source [this happens every so often].
And it was more troubling that this was the guy Obama picked to teach Islam to our govt. employees [don’t get me wrong here- he teaches our govt. workers- not to convert them- but more of an informative type thing- just like you would teach any other course about sexual harassment- or whatever].
Anyway- in one of my posts while teaching on my site- I did refer to Mohamed as ‘the prophet’- now- I don’t receive Mohamed that way myself- but because I was teaching some Muslims who did recently join the site- well I used the title in this way.
I think that might have been the ‘last straw’ for my student/priest- he ‘went on Pilgrimage’ right after that post.
Okay- today’s point is we all should try our best to be ‘tolerant’ that is- we should give people as much grace/mercy as possible- but at the same time we also need to be honest about the Christian faith.
Yes- as Christians we believe salvation comes thru Christ- he was not just ‘one religious leader among many’ no- we believe he is the Way- the Truth- the Life/light- no man comes to the Father- but by him.
Sometimes we do our best not to offend- we might even go out of our way to receive people- other religions and systems that are not Christian- that’s okay- I have Muslim and Jewish and all types of friends- I’m glad they are my friends!
But we also have to be honest about our beliefs- and every now and then that might- just might- earn you a BLOCK.
[1753] ARAB SPRING UPDATE
Been wanting to cover the Arab Spring protests for a while now- but also want to do a few more posts on Catholic/Protestant relations.
Let’s start with the protests- and see how far we get.
To my surprise [and disappointment!] the new ‘leaders’ of Libya have already come out and said they will indeed have Shariah law as the law of the land.
They said- very boldly ‘we are a Muslim land- and Shariah law will be the law’. Did they have Shariah law under Gadhaffi? Actually no- they did have some elements of it [Polygamy] but it was not full Shariah law.
For instance- under Gadhaffi men could have more than one wife [look at him!] yet they needed the permission from the 1st wife. Under the new leaders- you won’t need that.
I saw one of the new team respond to this question- he basically said ‘don’t worry- the woman will get used to it’- no- I do worry.
We need to have some sort of ‘standard’ policy when it comes to all of these types of conflicts- a signed agreement- maybe an informal outline for a new constitution that states very clearly- that the rights of woman and Christians in these new governments will be respected.
We need to say ‘yes- Muslims- as well as all other groups- will have the freedom to be represented- but no group [or groups] will be forced to live under any religious law’.
‘But John- who are we to dictate something like that’? Look- if they ask for our help- to intervene- and in Libya’s case to basically bomb the hell out of the other side- spend a billion [probably more] and to be the air force for the Rebels- then if you want that type of backing- then that’s the new price tag- freedom for all sides- no Shariah law imposed- and freedom for all the women- no more oppressive regimes like the Taliban.
Okay- this concept is difficult for us in the West- we have managed to pretty much make a distinction in our minds between separation of Church and state.
Though you have arguments about whether one political side wants to establish ‘Christian Shariah’ [Heard Frankie Schaffer make the charge again the other day. He is the son of the late Frances Schaffer- an influential figure in the early ‘Christian right’ movement in our country. Frankie is still a Christian- but he is very anti ‘religious right’ but he goes too far- he says that Perry and others like him do want a Christian Shariah law for the U.S.- the problem with this is many of these radical Muslim nations are actually killing Christians and women and others who ‘violate’ their laws- we should not use this comparison- it dilutes the seriousness of what is happening in the ‘real world’] yet for the most part we have made the distinction between govt. and religion.
Yet when you study Islam- Islam is both a religion and a form of govt. - those who embrace Islam have not yet made this type of distinction. Now- there are some moderate Muslim voices who are calling for this type of Reformation within Islam- but they have a long way to go.
Okay- that’s why it’s easy for these ‘new’ nations to say ‘o yeah- Shariah all the way’.
This week- Tunisia- the first Arab Spring nation to fall- did indeed vote in Shariah law. Egypt- the 2nd Arab Spring nation is heading there- and the new leaders of Libya have already stated it- we do have a problem folks.
Okay- I have a few Muslims friends who read my site- and I am very grateful to have them as friends. One lives in Bahrain- and out of the 3 top ‘bad actors’ right now- Bahrain is one of them [the other 2 are Yemen and Syria].
The argument could be made that the leaders of these countries have done just as bad- or even worse- than what Gadhaffi did.
The U.S. has our 5th fleet docked right off the coast of Bahrain- we need them- that’s why our leaders have overlooked the serious oppression that the Bahrain leaders are foisting upon their people.
In the last few weeks they have handed down some very serious sentences to the medical workers who simply helped tend to the wounded protestors. Many of these nurses and doctors are going to prison- for a long time- just because they did their job.
The ruling autocracy in Bahrain is a division of Islam [I think the rulers are Sunni- the majority of the population Shiite- it’s been a while since I studied it- sometimes I forget which is which]. The ruling ‘minority’ do indeed oppress the majority population.
Now- Bahrain does get lots of money- and help- from the U.S. having our fleet there- yet their army is not a strong- huge force. So what they have done is they hired ‘soldiers’ from Saudi Arabia- a fellow country- whose leaders are of the same religious division that the Bahrain leaders embrace- and these soldiers have come in and have been the security for the unpopular rulers.
In Syria- just last night- new reports have come out- Assad [the Syrian leader] has sent his men into the hospitals- they are torturing the wounded protestors right in the hospitals. And in Yemen- the leader- Salleh- has returned from getting treatment from the burns he suffered during an assassination attempt- and he’s back in Yemen- also fighting against the protestors in his land.
In Libya- we- along with NATO [primarily French and British warplanes] decided to team up with a side- a side that did take up arms against the leader from the West [Tripoli].
As I have watched this play out- and have looked at all the angles- I have come to the conclusion that the main reason we intervened there- and not in these other places- was because you had a very pubic threat made by Gadhaffi at the start- he and his troops were right outside Benghazi [the rebels stronghold in the east] and he did publicly threaten to go in and wipe them out.
Now- at the same time- the Arab league and other Arab nations were calling for help- fine. But we should have said ‘okay- but you guys must pay for this’. All the very rich Arab nations that wanted us to intervene- we should have said ‘your oil rich nations will pick up the tab’.
Also- if the criteria for us intervening like this- if we state- over and over again- that we are just doing a no fly zone- then we need to just do that.
In Libya- we did indeed hunt the man down [if that’s what we think we should do- fine- but we must say so]. And if our public statements are saying something different- then we are doing wrong.
I do hope and pray for all of my friends in these nations- I want very much for all the people in these nations to have freedom- and I want for us in the U.S. to make it plain- we want freedom for the woman and the Christians too- even if the majority vote for Shariah- that still is not acceptable- we want no religious rule that will oppress woman and Christians.
Yes- there are some woman who choose to live under Shariah- but the majority of women in these countries want freedom- and if we are going to ‘help’ these nations like we did in Libya- then we need to have some agreements ready to sign- right at the start.
We don’t want to ‘liberate’ another Arab country- to find out that the new leaders are already calling for Shariah law- in my mind- that’s not liberation.
[1754] YAHWEH- YAHWEH- I LOVE TO SHOUT YOUR NAME!
Want to try and cover a few current events today. Last week- when the DOW went up to around 12,300- I felt like ‘here we go again’. The news came out ‘yes- Greece is solving their debt problem- hip- hip- hooray!’ Then of course a day or 2 will go by and something bad happens- ‘oh- no- the sky is falling’.
I mean it’s not even funny anymore- if the world [global] economy learns anything from this debacle- it will be to try and put a plan in place- where the entire global market is not going from week to week- based on these long term payouts that the other E- Zone nations are making to Greece- based on how much they agree to cut every few weeks.
It’s like running our govt. on the Continuing Resolutions- having to pass these temporary deals every few months- and the markets being drawn to the brink every couple of months- this whole way of working is not acceptable.
But what I wanted to say- that the so called solution to the Greek debt crisis- well it’s really not a solution at all. Yes- I think they needed to do it [cut their bonds in half] but what they actually did- was they did default [go bankrupt] and they reorganized their debt.
When a nation [or company- or bank] does this- they are telling all their investors ‘you just lost a boatload of cash’. Okay- who are these evil investors anyway?
The ‘Occupy Wall’ street guys- well they mean well- and they have some valid points to make- but the problem is not really with the bankers- or the ‘1-%’- that is if you simply slash the bonds/investments in half [those evil bank people!]- you are not taking all the money from those ‘fat cats’.
In reality- lots of the average folk lose money too. Many retirement accounts- yes- for teachers and Firemen and Cops [you know- the 99%] are tied into these investments. Now- I hope your own 401 k was not heavily invested in European debt- but many people’s investments are.
And when the nation [or company] says ‘hey everybody- guess what- we fixed the problem- we simply told everybody- today is half price day- for us’. Well yes- they reduced their debt. But they did it by ‘reducing’ the value of everyone else that had skin in the game.
So what does this mean? It means that lots of folk took a big hit- and these same folk [made up of all the other European nations] are not going to be happy about it. Will they ever invest in Greek debt again? Hell no- I don’t blame them either.
Okay John- what does this mean? Glad you asked. It means that even though the Europeans ‘solved their debt crisis’ they solved it in a way that will have long lasting effects on the global economy. Now- Greece is really a small economy- we all know this- but don’t be fooled into thinking something was ‘solved’ no- they solved it by saying ‘hey- we aint paying the people we owe money too’ Geez- wish I could ‘solve’ my debt crisis like that.
And sure enough- before I had a chance to write the post [warning about this very thing] yesterday we saw a global investment company go Belly Up. It was some firm that former N.J. governor Jon Corzine ran- they invested in these European bonds- and yes- they lost half of their investment [billions] over night.
So- before we [U.S. investors and workers] get too happy over the Europeans ‘fixing’ their problems [like the DOW shooting up to 12,300!] lets realize that there are still lots of problems on the horizon- and we are not out of the water yet [the DOW also was responding to the 3rd quarter numbers that came out- the U.S. economy did do better than expected- I think the growth was a little over 2 %- that’s good- not great- but okay].
Okay- I also found it funny [not to demean the thing] that the Syrians were protesting in the streets- calling for- well you guessed it- a NO FLY ZONE.
What? A no fly zone? Assad [the Syrian leader] is not flying planes over the protestors- he is indeed killing and torturing them- but no planes.
So why would the Syrians [not all of them] be asking for this? Well to them- after seeing our ‘no fly zone’ in Libya- to them it means ‘please come and hunt down our leader like a dog- kill him- his kids- his grandkids- and when it’s all over- let a bunch of our ‘leaders’ take over- you know- the Al Qaeda group’.
Sad- so sad.
Look- I’m sorry for the abuse that many Arab/Persian nations have foisted upon their people- and in many ways- Assad is an S.O.B.- but we need to find another way to deal with these crisis’- and the ‘no fly zone’ thing- well that has to stop.
One last note- last week I had a strange event take place. As a true news junkie [I read the papers- watch the news- for about 6 hours a day] I stumbled across a death penalty case.
I have made it a habit to pray for the cases I read in the papers- severe crime cases- people going to prison for life- mothers who killed their kids- yes bad cases- but case’s/people I felt the Lord wanted me to pray for- well- for the rest of my life.
I have cut out the news articles- and written the names of these people here in my study- and pinned them up on my prayer wall.
The list is now in the hundreds.
Okay- when I read [last Monday] that Frank Garcia was going to be executed on Thursday- I made a mental note to simply pray for Frank for the next 4 days.
I simply prayed for him every morning- prayed that God would be glorified- that God would help Frank to ‘end right’ to seek God in his last days- make any statements that need to be made- to the victims’ families or whoever else [he killed his wife- and a cop who came to the home on the night they were fighting].
I have done this ‘prayer vigil’ for the guys for many years- writing the names of offenders and putting them on my prayer wall- that’s only a few years old- but to pray for the death row guys- well I have done that for years.
Now- for some reason- in Frank’s case- I felt the Lord saying ‘John- you just adopted him’. What?
I have so many friends- ex-cons- addicts- street guys- and many of them are like brothers- ‘sons’. Some of them have become Christians thru ‘my’ ministry. The years of helping the street guys- preaching at the jails- the whole deal.
So in franks case- it seemed like the Lord was saying ‘John- franks in the group’.
I didn’t fully understand it- but heck- I accepted the thing [you know- when God says something- its’ usually a good idea to believe it].
So on Thursday- I just happened to have the local news on at 6 P.M. - here in Texas the guys usually get the needle at around 6:20 P.M. and before the news ends- they tell you the guys dead.
So as the news rolled along- I prayed for Frank for this last 20 minutes- he wound up dying a little late- at 7.
The next day- I read 3 articles on Frank’s last words- I have never read a testimony like this- yes- from a criminal who did indeed commit horrendous crimes- crimes he needed to be punished for.
The article said that when Frank entered the ‘death room’ for the entire 20 minutes or so- he simply sang out to God- very loudly- praised Jesus- shouted ‘Yahweh- Yahweh- I love to sing your name’ and went on like this for the whole time.
He prayed for the people in the ‘stands’ watching the show- he prayed ‘God- for the prosecutor sitting here right now- may she never forget this day father- may she come under conviction someday father- may she accept Jesus some day’.
He went on and said ‘Father- for this day was I born- to glorify you- even though I committed such terrible crimes- for which I’m sorry for- yet to end my life glorifying you and your Son- to praise you as my God and king- thank you father- thank you’.
The article went on to say that as the drugs began taking effect- Frank began rattling off at the end- not able to form compete sentences- his final word was ‘Jesus’.
The Mother of the woman Frank killed [his mother in law] said she was shocked- that this former San Antonio gang member was always such a quiet kid- she has never spoken to Frank since he killed her daughter- but she saw a different person this night- someone she really did not know at all.
I’m sure the other witnesses will never forget what they heard that night either- especially the prosecutor- who had to position herself as an adversary- one who accuses the defendant in criminal cases- yes- that’s her job- but by nature- she in a way had to ‘hate’ frank- yet she heard him pray for her on the night of his death.
Yes- I never heard a ‘death row’ testimony in my life like this one- and for some reason- I never prayed as much [you know- remembering to pray thru out the week- and then praying for the man the actual hour he was dying] for one either.
These last few years I have ‘sensed’ and in a strange way- ‘received’ some of my old buddies who have died years ago. Many of them were friends I ‘lead’ to the Lord- yet they had very long histories of drug abuse and crime- and yes- some did die as a result of that.
But these last few years- while praying in my prayer ‘spot’ [a special spot in my yard] out early in the morning- under the stars- I sense all my ‘sons’ and friends being in this crowd- the image of John the Apostle- seen in revelation chapter 5- he is in this heavenly throne room before God.
He is there with the angels and saints and the great Lion of the tribe of Judah [Jesus]. It’s a picture of saints that are in heaven- and also on earth- the book of Hebrews says those who have died- and have already passed on- they are in the stands and cheering us on.
I know this sounds strange- but I really sense my ‘old group’ even my buddies who are gone- they are still ‘having church’ with me under the stars.
A few years ago- when I first started sensing this- it seemed as if one of my old friends showed up one week- I just ‘sensed’ it.
His name was Miguel. Me and Mike grew up in N.J. together- good friends as kids.
After high school- I joined the navy- Mike went into the Army.
After I earned my 4 year discharge in 1 year [got kicked out of the Navy!] I went back North and me and Mike got back together as good buddies [he got kicked out of the Army faster than I got booted from the Navy- yeah- he won that competition too!] we did commit a few crimes in those months- we were no ‘angels’ but we eventually headed back to Texas.
Why Texas? Mike wanted to go to Florida- I said Texas. We had no real plans- just two18 year old kids with no destiny.
I said ‘lets flip a coin- heads it’s Texas- tails Florida’. I told Mike that day- I still remember the moment- sitting there in front of my house- on a cold N.J. day- dreary day.
I said ‘hey- some day we can tell our kids that we chose [Tx or Fla.] based on a coin flip’.
I won the flip- we left for Texas in the morning – been here ever since.
Eventually I lead Mike to the Lord- his wife- Lu Ann- and my wife became friends. Mike had a few boys- I had 4 girls!
Mike became a member of my little home church [we also met in a rented hospital for a year or 2] and we were in a sense- living the dream.
Mike had a little harder time than me. He eventually went back North- and I got a call from Mike one day- he told me had had Aids.
I stayed in touch with Mike- he wrote me a few good letters- and one day when I came home from work- my wife said ‘John- Lu Ann called’. I knew it- I said ‘Mike died’ she said yes.
I have Miguel’s funeral card here in my office- its pinned up on a wall with my other friends names who have gone on- Mike was 32.
So a while back- when I started ‘sensing’ this ‘church thing’ this reality that my friends who are still ‘on the ground’ and my buddies who have died- well they are all here with me during those prayer mornings- yes- in that ‘upper room’ that the apostle John was in.
One day I was praying and doing a home church thing with my wife- we often do a simple home meeting- pray- bible reading- communion- it’s kind of cool.
My wife tells me ‘you know- I had a weird dream the other night. You old friend Mike showed up at the door- he rang the bell. He said he was here- looking for you’.
Yes- I felt like God said I ‘adopted’ Frank- that in a way he was now part of my ‘fellowship’ yes- made up of the worst of the worst- they did say of Jesus ‘he’s friends with hookers and killers and sinners- what kind of preacher is that!’
Yes- I like my little group. O- and this past Sunday- while doing the early prayer thing- at the part of being in ‘the room’ with the guys- I almost thought I could hear Frank singing- yes- he seemed to be singing ‘Yahweh- Yahweh- I love to shout your name’.
Yea- it was a good service- the best one in the world.
[1755] TALE OF 2 CITIES [and 2 trees]
This week I read 2 stories in the paper about the aftermath of our action in Libya.
One article was about the city of Sirte- Gadhaffi’s hometown. This was the town where he made his last stand- it was his hometown.
Of course- many of the people did support Gadhaffi from here- you know- like rooting for the local hero.
And you have the same type of thing going on with the new leaders- the Rebels from the east.
Anyway- because this was his last stand- for about 2 months we [NATO and the U.S.] absolutely destroyed the entire city. I mean you’re talking Lebanon after years of bombing- it looks that bad.
I read an interview from a local professional- he was a university teacher- had a nice home- wife and kids- just like you would see in any city here in the U.S.
Shopped at the market- took the wife and kids out to eat- yes- this city was not some desert looking tribal outback- it was a nice place.
The professor was digging thru the rubble as he spoke to the reporter. He basically said his life was over- I mean the entire town is gone- it is no more!
He said he can’t go to another city [Tripoli] because everyone from his town- where Gadhaffi came from- is a target for torture and death.
As he dug thru the rubble- he found what he was looking for. Yes- the corpse of his son ‘found it’ maybe he can give what’s left of it a descent burial.
Tawergha.
This city too was a nice place to live- a small town- population 25,ooo. About 250 miles south east of Tripoli. They too bare the stigma of being a ‘pro Gadhaffi’ town. The entire town- to the last man, woman and child- have fled. The new rulers- they have painted over all the signs going to the town- they have destroyed the homes and tore down the infrastructure- yes- the city is now a Ghost Town.
One witness said- when the rebels came in [the guys we support] if even 1 bullet was shot from a house- they would bomb the whole house to the ground. Men- Women- children- killed them all. We made this happen- under a ‘mandate’ to create a NO FLY ZONE in order to protect civilians.
The lives of these people are over. No more home town- no more university [the actual building is gone!] no more going out for a night on the town [the town is gone!] and we in the west- we report on our news- how wonderful it was that we liberated these people- yeah- tell that to the man who had to dig his son out from the rubble.
I had a drive planned for a few weeks. I had a note written on my calendar- had to go to a downtown appointment [at the Federal Courthouse] and figured I would make a sort of prayer drive right after the app.
Downtown Corpus is beautiful- if you have never seen a picture of it- just Google ‘pictures of Corpus Christi’ and you’ll see the huge harbor bridge from downtown- the courthouse is right there.
So after the meeting- I headed over the bridge and started the prayer drive.
At the top of the bridge there were a few cop cars- they had a lane on each side blocked [?]. I figured they were doing some type of work on it.
Then headed towards Portland- and drove thru a few South Texas cities.
I actually had one specific spot I wanted to drive past- that was the city of Rockport. I actually got off on the wrong back road- and drove about 30 miles out of the way. But I wanted to drive past the courthouse and police station in Rockport- that was the only spot I determined to pass.
Sure enough- I found the spot. Got out- walked to the store- filled up with gas- got some coffee- and off I went.
On the way back home- I noticed a street name- called ‘Corpus Christi St’. - I thought it was strange to see this big sign- right off the highway- showing this street.
I thought ‘for sure- people must mistake the sign- and think that’s the turn off for the city of C.C.’.
Anyway- I made a mental note of it- and headed back.
Over the Harbor bridge one more time- and back to the house.
As I watched the local news- they had 2 top stories. The night before- a man parked his car on the bridge and jumped- that’s why they blocked the lane.
And earlier in the day- a motorcyclist was killed- right at the corner of Corpus Christi Street and highway 35- the spot I had just passed.
Now- you might be thinking ‘hey John- do me a favor- don’t pray for me!’ Actually- I think I was praying for the areas where violence occurred- because there is always an aftermath- a sort of ‘bad taste’ in your mouth when deaths happen like that.
Okay- the next day [yesterday] we had a local story go viral- the national news all had it on- today it’s a big story.
It’s the case of the Texas judge who was taped beating the hell out of his daughter- she posted it to U-Tube.
The case looks bad- real bad. The girl will be on the news shows today- telling her story.
Yes- the police station- the courthouse- the area I ‘marked’ during the drive- that was the actual municipal area where this guy holds court- it was the Aransas county court district- in Rockport.
Sometimes God will show us what/who we should pray for- sometimes it’s the aftermath of bad things- a Mediterranean city in Libya- or a coastal city in Texas.
We need to be attentive- and aware- when these things ‘pop’ into our minds.
We need to be accountable in a way- when a country in the bible allowed itself to do bad things- to overlook justice- or to oppress people [even if they meant well- ‘we are here to protect you’ as you destroy the man’s life] then we as believers have a responsibility to do what we can- to at least be aware of what we are doing- and if you can- pray for these situations.
In the bible- during the trial of Jesus- there were many injustices that took place- power players making decisions- executing people- yes- innocent people- simply because of the prejudice that existed in the system.
Jesus made a strange statement about this- he said ‘if this can happen in a Green tree- what do you think will happen in a Dry one?’
This statement meant- if people in authority- judges and leaders- if during a time of some stable government- if they can still play the system where they might wind up killing innocent people- bombing entire towns- doing bad stuff- and yet the average citizen- he even thinks this is good- if the system can be played to that degree during a time of peace and some form of human govt. at work- then what do you think will happen when there is anarchy?
Last night- the Occupy protestors shut down a shipping port in Oakland- I’m not sure what overall effect it will have- but yes- it will disrupt lives to a degree.
Many of the business people- who have shops right around the protests- well many of them are suffering- because of the disruption.
I’m not sure how ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ they are- there are legitimate arguments to be made on both sides.
But I know in the mind of that university professor- who lost his entire life- and his son- I know in his mind what we did to his country is unjust- ‘if these things can happen in a Green tree- Then just wait till the Dry tree gets here’.
[1756] Philosophy and Politics.
This last week the media circus has centered around the Herman Cain ‘sex scandal’. Yes- it does seem like good old brother Herman [Christian ‘brother’ to you racially sensitive types] has a little problem with the ladies.
Yes- I have heard both sides on the thing- the conservatives [Limbaugh] have used Cain as an example of how the ‘left’ castigates Black conservatives- while they cover up for liberal ones.
And the left wing media types- well they sure do like to go thru every detail of the Repub candidates lives [no- the sex harassment issue is a real issue- I’m talking about all the other stuff]. It’s funny [sad?] to see some of the commentary on how Cain’s ‘worst’ mistake was in the way he handled it- that it was his mishandling of the scandal that worries folk.
Look- I like good old Bill Clinton- and for those who remember- Bill also had quite a few dalliances with the ladies. Paula Jones even sued Bill- And won!
Yes- the pres settled for 800 thousand and paid the girl. How did Clinton deal with his sex scandals? Those who say ‘see- Bill knew how to deal with them’ they seem to forget that his defenders- they ridiculed all the women- Kathleen Wiley [he groped her]- Jones- well- he pulled an Antony Weiner one day when Jones walked into the office- and oh yeah- lest we forget [well- actually I do forget the name] one woman had some very credible claims that Clinton did indeed rape her.
And of course- he ‘received’ oral sex from Monica in the oval office- and all these women were described as ‘off balance’ or greedy women seeking a pay day- or these women ‘asked for it’. Yes- this was the way the Clinton defenders went about it- yet these same media savvy folk [Carville] are saying ‘Clinton knew how to deal with scandal- Cain does not’.
Would they be happy if Cain’s people went after all the women? Not only have they not revealed the name of the lady who got a settlement but they have been pretty silent about all the women.
Not Clintons people- you know- the ones who handled it ‘right’ oh yeah- they had his ladies looking like a bunch of trailer park bimbo air heads- even a young intern- who worked for the govt.- even she was demonized at first- for engaging in an act that would have called for the firing of any CEO who was caught doing this with any young female staffer- yet in his case- the women were all at fault.
So it’s just a sad thing to see this play out. Do I think Cain ‘did it’ of course he did!
‘How do you know John’- one statement- from Cain himself. He was asked by Hannity ‘did you ask this girl to come to your hotel room’ his answer ‘I don’t recall’ yeah- if someone says ‘did you string up that Black man in the south 40 years ago’ and if you say ‘I don’t recall’ well that’s a problem.
Okay- enough of that.
I really want to cover a little bit more on the few Philosophy posts we did last month.
If you remember we stopped at the 4th-5th century B.C. and we left off with Aristotle. Now- Aristotle [and Plato and Socrates] ruled the day for hundreds of years- most Western thinkers were shaped by their ideas.
So for that reason- lets skip about 800 years forward- to the time of Saint Augustine. Augustine lived in the 4th/5th century [A.D.]. When studying Philosophy you will study this man. But you run into him in the fields of Theology and church history as well- he’s considered by many to be the ‘best’ theologian of the 1st thousand years of Christianity- and to some- the best ever.
I have covered Augustine before- so let’s go light right now and hit a few high points.
Augustine had early influences that led him to the philosophy of ‘Neo Platonism’ [an offshoot of Plato’s thought] and he dabbled [well more than dabbled] in a sort of early metaphysical cult called Manichaeism [like a 3rd century type of Christian Science- the movement in our day].
As Augustine carried out his traveling teaching ministry [he was a teacher who was skilled in Rhetoric- and these traveling teachers would charge for their services] he eventually converted to Christianity [the Catholic Bishop Ambrose played a major role in Augustine’s conversion] and became the Bishop of Hippo- North Africa.
Augustine came to defend the Christian world view against his former belief in Neo Platonism. Platonism taught a Pantheistic view of God and creation. This view teaches that God and creation are one in the same. Many eastern religions still hold to this view in our day.
Augustine argued that God was the creator of all things- but that he himself was not created- or a part of the created world.
He developed a very sound theology on creation- which most Christian traditions hold to this very day.
He had a few theological battles in his day. With Pelagianism and Donatism- these were early Christian movements that broke away from the standard teaching of the church- they derive their names form the Bishops/priests who espoused these ideas.
Pelagius denied the doctrine of original sin- and he taught that men were indeed capable of obeying Gods law- out of their own moral integrity- and thus ‘save themselves’. Augustine rejected this view and taught that men were saved only by the grace of God- that men were indeed sinful and corrupt- and if left to their own designs would end up in hell.
There were various adherents to Pelagius’ view- and his ideas have carried down thru the centuries to varying degrees- sometimes you will hear [read] the term ‘Semi- Pelagian’ this refers to those who have various ideas about man’s ability to save himself through good works.
Some in the Reformed church [the original Protestant belief system that came out from the 16th century Reformation] accuse the Catholic Church of this very thing- yet the Catholic Church has made it clear that they do reject Pelagianism- and they agree with Augustine on the matter.
The Donatists taught that the Sacraments were dependent upon the ‘holiness’ of the Priest who ministers them. That if you were in a Parish where the priests were bad- lived in sin- rejected a holy life- then if you were Baptized by these men- that the Baptism didn’t ‘stick’.
The Donatists formed there own break away church in the 3rd century- and a few very influential men would join the group. A well respected early church father- Tertullian- eventually joined their ranks.
Augustine argued against the Donatists teaching- and taught that Gods grace- and the grace given to believers thru the sacraments were not derived from the holiness of any priest or preacher- but if a believer in good conscience received the sacraments- that that’s what really counted.
Saint Augustine is one of the titans of church history- he is loved by Protestants and Catholics alike. He is famous for his belief in the doctrine of Predestination [that those who are saved were chosen by God before they were born] and for this reason he is loved by the original protestant theologians [Luther, Calvin, etc.]
He also taught a very ‘Catholic’ form of Ecclesiology [church govt.] and is well loved by many Catholics as well.
The Catholic Church refers to him as the Doctor of Grace- later on in the 13th century we will meet Saint Thomas Aquinas- who the church refers to as the Angelic Doctor.
Both of these men played a major role in the development of western thought and Augustine made an effort to distinguish true Christian thought from the philosophy of Neo Platonism which was very strong in his day.
When reading Augustine [he wrote a lot] you need to be careful to distinguish some of his earlier writings from his later ones.
Early on you still see forms of Platonic thought in Augustine- but as the years rolled by his thinking progressed more and more towards historic Christian thought.
For those of you who are interested- the Confessions of Saint Augustine is considered one the classics of Christianity- you can pick up a short version at most good bookstores- it’s well worth the time to read.
[1759] Where’s the oil?
Let’s cover a parable of Jesus. In Matthew 25 Jesus tells the story of the 10 virgins who went to meet the bridegroom. 5 were wise- 5 were foolish. The wise ones took containers of oil with their lamps. The foolish ones took lamps- but no oil.
All the virgins were waiting for the bridegroom to return [Jesus] and as the wait went long- they all fell asleep.
Then at midnight the bridegroom came back- and they all awoke. The virgins who took no oil asked the ones who had oil ‘can you give us some’ they were told ‘no- but you go buy some too- like we did’ and as they went to buy- the bridegroom took the ones who were ready- they went into the feast and the door was shut.
The ‘no oil’ crowd missed out.
Okay- what does this mean? Well- if you have lamps at the house you need to…- Well maybe there’s a little more to it than that.
When we read the parables of Jesus- the most important thing [in my view] needed to understand them is the context. I have heard many good teachings over the years- on all the parables- and lot of times the preachers/Christians ‘place’ them in the context of ‘current church’.
Maybe the parable of the sower- they’ll struggle with ‘okay- is this group ‘saved’ or what about these who endure to the end’. While of course it is true that we can apply the parables to modern life- most of the times when we approach them with the mindset that Jesus is speaking specifically about ‘your church’ or church group- well then I think we miss the main meaning.
Having said all that- I think I will ‘apply’ this one to some current events of the day. But first- Jesus is basically telling his audience- the Jewish nation- that many people will think they are ready for his return and they will find out- too late- that they were not really ready- no oil.
As a ‘teacher’ who likes to teach all Christians- Catholic, Protestant- etc. What I try to do is present both sides of the issue. I also strive to teach from ‘a storehouse’ of oil- I make an attempt to be familiar with the current trends in Theology- hear/read what the scholars are saying- and to also have a background on the history of the various churches.
Then- when doing the teaching- I try to be honest- and fair. If I have a particular point of view- or a way I think the text should be taught- or what the ‘right’ doctrine is- I will share it from that point of view.
But it would also be unfair to use the years of study- and then ‘blast’ another denominations adherents- fully realizing that the average church attendee probably does not have the same background info that I’m familiar with.
So it’s important to teach from ‘a storehouse’ while at the same time not using the storehouse to simply prove your point.
Get it?
Okay- Over the years I have bought tons of books- and as time went by- I had to eventually make room for this collection. Though I have a huge wall in my study just for books- yet I still ran out of room. So one day I packed up all the ‘less valuable’ books- and off they went to the half price book store.
I kind of reminisced as I went thru the process of ‘should I dump this one’ or should I hold on to it. A lot of the titles were silly- things like ‘when your money system fails’ or stuff like the mark of the beast- or more practical titles like ‘flying higher’ or ‘improve your serve’.
All well meaning books/authors- who for whatever reason woke up one day- had a ‘thought’ and off to the printing press they went.
Okay- storehouse? No. Well meaning? Yes. But a storehouse [operating out of years of good learning] no.
Now- I don’t want to be too mean here- there are times where a book- or teaching that is simple can speak to people. Jesus parables were indeed short stories that were simple- people could remember them- not like a long theological treatise from the great apostle Paul [Romans] where you learn from hard study- but Jesus style was indeed short- and sweet.
Plus- it’s easy to remember the moral of the story- without banging your head up against some heavy doctrine.
Yet- heavy doctrine plays its role as well.
Now- most contemporary teaching- like going to church on Sunday-most of it today springs from this ‘I’ll take my lamp and I will see what we got for this week’. You know- you wake up on Monday- kind of go thru the week [talking pastors here- which I did myself for a few years] and you ‘come up’ with something for Sunday.
Sometimes you come up with something good- sometimes not so good. Often times you’re simply going from week to week- sort of like my bookshelf- listening/reading stuff- well meaning stuff- but just stuff.
I mean an entire book on ‘flying higher’. Yeah- I still remember it. A well meaning pastor- but the whole book was based on how one day a friend told him about how pilots use a certain technique when they fly- and Walla- a book!
Or another title form a very famous preacher of the day- ‘how I lost 30 pounds’ [I think it was 30? But who really cares!]
Say if you went to college- and as you arrived at the class- your professor said ‘okay- this week we will cover [math- or whatever subject]’ and he went on and taught an entire lesson from some sign he saw while driving to the school [you know- a literal sign that said ‘2 plus 2 is 4’].
You would think to yourself ‘geez- at this rate- I will never really get an education’ and you would be right.
So why do believers think its okay to learn the faith like this?
The bible commands us to be childlike in faith- that is to be like a child when approaching God- as our Father. But the bible also says to be mature when it comes to our understanding ‘in understanding be men’ [Apostle Paul].
Wherever you are at today on your journey- I want to encourage you to ‘clean out the book shelf’ don’t live with a ‘lamp only’ mentality- that is you show up at the party with a lamp [some gift/tool that might be a good tool- like writing a book- or preaching a sermon] but a lamp is only effective if it comes with a container- a container that has some oil to ‘back it up’.
I fear that too many of us are showing up at the party- we have waited a long time for the groom to come back- and we realize too late that we spent a whole lot of time perfecting our ‘lamp skills’ and the important stuff [oil] is missing.
www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com
[1757] I’M JUST NOT ONE OF THOSE ‘WORD TALKERS’
Caught the debate last night- didn’t go to well for my gov. I mean I still thought he had a fighting chance- not any more. I mean even Cain started looking good compared to Perry.
When Perry could not remember the 3rd govt. dept. that he wanted to shut down- that was it. Even Ron Paul tried to throw him a lifeline ‘the E.P.A.’ Yeah- that’s the one! I even guessed ‘maybe he means the energy dept.’ [you know- that’s always been kind of a joke- like having a ‘sky dept.’].
Sure enough- the next time Perry ‘spoke’ that was the one.
I read a Conan joke the other day- he was mocking Perry because he was going to start skipping the debates- he said Perry’s excuse was he was not a skilled debater- you know- he wasn’t one of those ‘word talkers’ yeah- guess he’s right.
I went thru a few news articles the other day- when I read the papers during the week I cut the articles out that I think are important- and then in the morning before I post I’ll look them over to see what looks relevant.
Out of the 2 I saved- one was on a possible looming crisis in Italy. Sure enough- yesterday everything hit the fan.
The reason the stocks took a big hit was out of fear that the European debt crisis might spread to Italy. Italy has a big economy- not like Greece. The main reason Greece was important- was that many observers feared that if Greece went bankrupt- that the ‘contagion’ might spread to the other Euro Zone nations- like Italy- and that would be bad- very bad.
Well- that looks like what might be happening. Greece’s Debt to GDP ratio is 144 %- not good. Italy is at around 120%- not as bad- but still not good. This coming year they have about half a trillion dollars coming to maturity [bonds they must pay out on] and they owe 2.6 trillion [not like our 14 trillion- but for the size of their nation- it’s a lot].
So the interest rate just went up for Italy- it will now cost more for them to borrow- and when you’re paying a little over 7 % on 2.6 trillion- well that hurts.
Italian bonds are not like Greek bonds- Italian bonds are in all of the big banks that we are familiar with- many of our investments are in the same banks that hold Italian debt- so if Italy goes bust- that’s a huge problem- that will indeed drag the U.S. down.
I mean Greece already seems to be a lost cause- even their own people are pulling all their money out of the Greek banks and putting it in Swiss banks. Geez- if your own citizens don’t trust you- forget the other nations bailing you out.
I find it funny [sad] that a few weeks ago- Fahreed Zakariah [a CNN guy] was mocking the Tea Party crowd- because he said that the Europeans were handling their debt crisis well- like adults- and that even the Europeans were saying ‘geez- cant you be mature like us- you stupid Tea party Repubs’!
He said it in the same mocking way that Martin Bashir [I think they are both Brits? I know they of course are both foreigners] made an on air accusation the other day. I mean- it was bad. Bashir said a certain Repub referred to injured Iraqi war vets as injured ‘dogs’.
Now- for the life of me- I could not imagine this charge to be true. Then I heard the rest of the story. Some Repub said the occupy protestors were leaving a huge mess at the camps- ‘like dogs’.
And Bashir applied this to the Iraqi war vet. who was hit with a gas canister in Oakland- so yes- this Iraq war vet was a wounded protestor. But to then go on national TV and say that Repubs are referring to wounded Iraqi war vets as wounded dogs- I think this network [MSNBC] is very dangerous for the country.
We need to hear both sides of all arguments- but this stuff is incendiary.
Being I already mentioned Italy- let me finish with some history/philosophy that might be relevant.
In the last post I mentioned saint Thomas Aquinas- and after Augustine [and Anselm- 11th century] he is the next main character I wanted to cover [in our ongoing philosophy study].
Aquinas is referred to as the Doctor Angelicas [angelic doctor] by the catholic church. Aquinas lived during the time of a cultural/philosophical reawakening that was beginning to take place in the Western world- the Renaissance.
Renaissance means ‘re-birth’. It was a rebirth of the ancient Poets and philosophers of days gone by. Men like Cicero and Aristotle were once again brought to the fore front of many thinkers and lovers of culture.
The catch phrase for the Renaissance was Ad Fontes- which meant ‘back to the sources’ [source- Fountain- Fontes]. In the 14th century a famous and influential Catholic family- the Medici’s- were a catalyst for mixing this cultural movement in with the church.
The Renaissance sort of challenged the historic view of education- up until this time most learning was done thru the prism of the church. In the universities of the day Theology [study of God] was called the Queen of the sciences- and philosophy was referred to as her Handmaiden.
Well the Renaissance thinkers said they wanted to study things for what they are- they did not want to see everything thru the lens of the church.
Eventually the theme of the movement [back to the original sources] would play a major role in the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century. Men like Erasmus [the famous 16th century Catholic Humanist] would re discover the original Greek New testament- and it was thru the study of the Greek text that many of the Reformers made their case to get ‘back to the bible’ and eventually break from Rome.
This was also the beginning period of modern capitalism. Recently when Libya had her ‘civil war’ and the new leaders started talking about a new constitution- one of the interesting things that came up was they wanted to do away with interest on loans.
Why? Well Muslims teach that interest itself is a bad thing. ‘Gee- wonder where they get that idea from John’ Oh- from a little book- called the bible.
Yes- to the surprise of some- this is very much taught in the Old Testament. Now- it was God’s law governing the nation of Israel- but they were forbidden to charge interest.
‘So John- is it wrong for us today to make interest’? Not really- Jesus used interest [usury] as an example in some of his parables- and overall- we as believers are not under the Old Testament laws that govern natural Israel.
But- for many centuries- the world did not see interest on money as a legitimate way to earn a living. So during the Renaissance you also had the rise of exploration- and explorers like Columbus would go on their voyages with the financial backing of investors.
The normal rate for these voyages was a 75/25% cut. When the explorer returned- the investor [Spain- or whoever] got 75% of the goods- and the explorer kept 25.
So there were a lot of changes taking place in the world at the time- and the rise of modern capitalism was one of them- money of course existed way before this time- but as a commodity- this was a new way of viewing the world.
Okay- just thought I would throw in a little history along with the current events of the day. As we see the current turmoil in the Italian markets [the original renaissance started in Florence- Italy] maybe seeing money/interest as a commodity- and ‘usury’ as a major way to increase ones wealth- well maybe that’s not such a smart way to do things after all.
When Jon Corzine's global investment firm went bust the other day- it was a direct result of taking a gamble on the ‘gullibility’ of the common man.
What his firm did was they took a huge risk by investing in European bonds- bonds from Greece that everyone knew was a terrible 'bet’. Then why did he do it?
The risk was so high- that the interest [usury] on the bonds was also high- you would make lots of money- if you got your money back.
But how would you get the money back- if the company [or nation- or bank] is in such bad shape that they might go bust? Your basically betting that the other nations around them [and the 1% crowd] would never let this happen [too big to fail] and when the nation [or company] gets ‘bailed out’ well then you get the money back- at a huge gain- all at the expense of the ‘99’ %.
‘Gee John- that doesn’t seem right to me’. That doesn’t seem right to me either- and to the legitimate ‘occupy Wall st. guys’ that’s not right to them as well.
Basically Corzine did the exact same thing that the big banks did during our 2008 bail out crisis- the banks can’t do that anymore- we did pass regulations that forbid this. But private investment firms can- they take a risk if they do- but that’s their choice.
Corzine took the risk- and lost [besides the fact the there is also about 600 million dollars ‘missing’ from private investors money!].
Okay- that’s it for now. We will keep an eye on Italy for the next few days [Germany is already talking about bailing out of the Euro Zone] and if things keep going downhill like this- well we might all be better off if we moved our money into less interest bearing accounts- safe places to ‘park’ your money- and after the dust settles- then maybe get back into the market.
But right now- I would trust getting a bigger return from a Columbus voyage than the market- yes- maybe ‘usury’ is not all that’s it’s cracked up to be- maybe the Libyans are right [and the Old Testament]. Yeah- maybe they know something we don’t.
[1758] 2ND MILE
This week most of us have been re introduced to this phrase- in a bad way. It’s the name of the nonprofit ministry that Jerry Sandusky started to help children.
We now think that he used it in a way to groom kids [that’s the accusation].
Where does the term come from? We find it in the Sermon on the Mount- yes- it’s a famous phrase from the lips of Christ.
In Matt. Chap. 5 Jesus says ‘if you are forced to go one mile- go 2 instead’. We use this term a lot in our day- like many other terms- we don’t realize that they are from the bible.
What was Jesus teaching us from this little verse? Actually- he simply said ‘do more than what’s required’. But I like to take it a little further.
In the time of Jesus the Roman soldiers had this special privilege- you know- the 1% versus the 99. If a soldier was walking thru town- under Roman law- he could require you to carry his pack- 1 mile.
Now- the people of Jesus day- they were very much like the 99% ‘hell- who are you to shove your rules on us!’ So they devised this plan- where you had these mile markers all over town. And when the ‘man’ made you carry the pack- heck- they dropped it right at the mile marker ‘screw you corporate S.O.B.’s!’
Now- Jesus tells his people ‘once you hit the mile mark- do a second one’. What? Are you kidding me Jesus- don’t you realize how Rome has treated us- they are bad people Jesus- they think they can tell us what to do.
In the short teachings of Jesus- there are lots of deep truths- often you need to spend some time thinking about them before you come up with the ‘rest of the story’.
One of the main things in Christ’s teachings is the theme of the 2nd covenant- the covenant of grace that is founded on the Cross.
In the first recorded miracle- the marriage at Cana- where Jesus turns the water into wine- at the end of the party they say ‘wow- most people put out the good wine first- but you have saved the best for last’.
This was Jesus way of saying the 2nd covenant- the grace of the Cross- is better than the first covenant- which was the law.
Now- in the 2nd mile- what happened? The guy carrying the soldier’s pack- he still lived up to all the requirements of the law- and more- but after he hit the 2nd mile- a strange thing happened.
All of a sudden he’s now in charge. I mean the soldier [law] is still there [Jesus never did away with the requirement to obey Gods law] but the law [soldier] was no longer a compelling figure- a ruler who ruled with a rod of iron. No- in the 2nd mile you are obeying- carrying the pack- because you want to- it’s part of your new nature.
Yeah- in the 2nd mile- you’re drunk on the ‘new wine’.
I find it ironic that one of the main criticisms of the way Penn state has handled this whole sad story- is that they [Paterno and the school] never went ‘the 2nd mile’ in dealing with the accusations against one of their won.
Paterno and others fulfilled the actual requirement under state law- they reported the thing to their superiors- yet they were not required to go to the police- and they didn’t.
That’s the charge against them today ‘you should have gone that 2nd mile’.
It is a problem the state will need to fix- and the fallout is sad- though I’m not a college football fan- yet Paterno was/is a legend- and it is sad for him to end like this.
Sometimes we live in a sort of Bizarro world- we see things on the tube and depending on which news show you’re watching- you get another completely different spin on the thing.
Yesterday evening Bloomberg [Mayor of N.Y.] had the cops raid the camps in Zucotti Park. As I watched the talking heads give their spin- on the liberal channels- well they made it sound like the days of Bull Conner.
The protestors set up their own little ‘Library’ in the street. They had a tent with thousands of books- okay- I thought it looked cool to be honest. They even had a system where people could check out the books.
So Bloomberg’s ‘squad’ took all the books. MSNBC [and Gores channel- current TV] had the ‘librarians’ on. Yes- the guy who ran the book tent. But they made it sound like the cops raided a real library ‘they came in and took our books- without checking them out!’ and one guy said ‘plus- they took our computers- we don’t lend the computers out!’
Look- I feel for the guys- but if you set up a ‘library’ in the middle of town- outside- well your not really a library- and if you live in the street with the books- well you’re not a librarian!
Okay- don’t want to be mean- just realistic.
Okay- Jerry Sandusky seems to have done some really bad things- and if all these accusations are true- well he will go to jail for the rest of his life. And like Paterno said the night the students showed up at this house to support him- he said they are going to pray for the kids and families.
I don’t know if Sandusky started his program to simply groom kids to molest them- if he did- then he will pay. But the principle- going the 2nd mile- it comes from Jesus- and he taught us that when we are in grace- in the ‘2nd mile’ we will do our duty- and more.
Not because ‘we have to’ but because we want to. Yeah- the 2nd mile is a good thing- we should all try it someday.
[1759] IN THE VALLEY OF ELAH
A few months back I caught a good movie- In the Valley of Elah [you know- one of those titles that makes no sense!]. But overall the movie was good.
It starred Tommy Lee Jones [Gore’s old roommate] and it was on Gore’s Liberal channel- Current TV.
The movie was about an Iraqi soldier who survived the war but was killed in mysterious circumstances when he came back to be stationed in the states.
I won’t blow the ending- but it took some twists and turns and the final scene is quite offensive [nothing dirty- but if you watch- you’ll see what I mean].
Anyway- don’t know why I went there.
Okay- lets finish the week with one more teaching from Jesus. The last few days I focused a little on the main idea of the New Covenant versus the Old law. Basically- we as believers are saved- accepted with God- not because we try to keep the law- [Old Covenant] but because Christ died for us and rose again [New Covenant].
In Jesus short teachings- he hits on this a lot.
In Marks gospel- chapter 2- Jesus gives us a few examples. He says no one takes ‘New Wine’ and puts it into Old Bottles [New covenant won’t fit with a legalistic mindset]. And no one takes a new piece of cloth and uses it to patch up the old.
Then we see another one of those examples where Jesus is confronted by the religious crowd [Pharisees] and once again he wins the day [he always does!].
He’s walking with the disciples and as they go thru the fields they pick some corn [grain] and eat it. Got ya! It was the Sabbath day- and the religious leaders jumped all over him ‘why are your guys breaking the rules!’
‘The rules’ were the Old laws that said you couldn’t ‘work’ on the Sabbath. Okay- could you pick some corn and eat on the Sabbath? Sure. But these guys were the type that were super picky about everything- always looking to ‘catch you’. So they ‘caught Jesus’ [they thought] and waited for the response.
Now- Jesus tells them ‘don’t you guys read your bibles! Haven’t you ever read the story in the bible when King David was on the run from King Saul and he ate the holy bread that was only for the priests’?
This story is found in 1st Samuel chapter 21. David [not king yet] is fleeing from Saul and he stops at ‘the house of God’ and tells the priest ‘I’m on a secret mission from Saul- we left fast- we have no food or even weapons- can you give a guy a hand’. Now- David- like a good Christian- is making the whole thing up!
The priest kinda thinks something’s up- but he takes the bait and tells David ‘all I have is the holy bread- but that’s only for the priests’. So he takes the bread and he and his men eat it.
Jesus says ‘see- David ‘broke the law’ [ceremonial rule] and he was still doing God’s will’. Ah- Jesus sure knew how to shut those Pharisees up.
I have taught this before- and there really is a lot of significant things to cover in this teaching- for now- understand that what David did here [and later] was indeed something only priests could do.
And in the Old Testament when kings ‘acted’ like priests- they got in trouble! But David does a lot of things that priest’s do- and gets away with it. Later in the life of David he will set up what’s called The Tabernacle of David- and he will put on a Linen Ephod [priests garment] and indeed act like a priest.
All this points to the reality that King David was a type/symbol of Christ- who too is a priest and king.
And Jesus comes from the earthly genealogy of King David.
So- in a way- when he uses this example to refute the Pharisees- he is saying ‘I’m the new David- and just like King David and his men had priestly/royal privileges- so too me and my men share the same grace’.
This teaching is pretty good to be honest- but that’s not today’s point.
Oh- one more thing. As David is leaving- he asks the priest ‘do you have any weapons for us- we left so fast on this special assignment we didn’t have time to take our weapons’. Man- the way these guys lied in the bible- they make Cain and Sandusky look like altar boys!
The priest says ‘gee Dave- all I have here is the sword you killed the giant with- remember?’ Ah- the good old days.
Sure David remembers- we all do. When David was just a kid- he went out one day and did a ‘mans’ job. The giant Goliath was challenging the children of Israel day after day ‘hey you guys- don’t you have a warrior who can take me on- what- you all chicken’?
Man- day after day he made the challenge- and no one had the guts to take him up on the offer.
So little David hears the challenge and says ‘who is this guy to talk like that- I’ll kill him like a killed the bear [or lion? I forget off hand like this!] When I was protecting the sheep’.
And King Saul says ‘what the heck- go for it kid’. Well- David goes out and you know the rest of the story- he hits Goliath in the head with a stone from his sling- and walks up to him and takes his sword and pulls a Taliban move- the head comes off.
So- this is the sword the priest still has as a famous relic- everyone knew about the exploits of David.
Oh yea- the priest says ‘David- here’s the sword- the one you used to kill the giant- in the VALLEY OF ELAH’.
Yeah- the day we sent kids out because the men were too irresponsible to act like men- yeah- the Valley of Elah- guess it had a meaning after all.
[1760] News and Philosophy
I want to try and cover a few subjects today- let’s start with some current world news. Yesterday I read an AP story about some cops who poured gas on the tents of the protestors- they then set them on fire.
13 protestors died- 100’s were burned severely. The doctors set up outside E.R. areas to treat the wounded. The cops walked in to the areas and shot people- right there.
I read a report where one of the doctors said he was shocked- he has never seen this happen before.
‘Now John- you shouldn’t make stuff up like this- even for a point!’
I’m not making it up- this did happen the past 2 days- in Zuccotti Park? In Oakland? No- in Tahrir square- Egypt.
The people who did this- the ruling military generals- are the people we ‘put’ in charge- by demanding the ouster of Mubarak- the former ‘king’.
Let’s head directly west on this northern tip of the African continent. Libya.
On the same news page- they had a story about the capture of Seif- Gadhaffi’s most famous son. They caught him trying to cross the Libyan border into Niger. The same place Gadhaffi’s wife fled to earlier in the conflict.
His wife was about 7 months pregnant and she fled to save her unborn child. The ‘new leaders’ that have our support- they wanted her back in Libya- to stand ‘trial’ for crimes against humanity [they would have killed her!].
So the other day they caught the son. The rebel faction that caught him will not turn him over to the ‘transitional government’ in Tripoli [the capitol] because they want to try him themselves [there is absolutely no order in Libya].
Now- the son- like the dad- has been indicted on ‘crimes against humanity’ by the world Court in The Hague.
These ‘indictments’ are tools the U.S. and other NATO allies use to justify going after one bad guy [and his wife and kids] while installing other bad guys- who are often just as bad- or actually worse!
So this puppet court has the kid indicted. The puppet govt. in the capitol of Tripoli has said ‘the world court is a secondary court- we do not recognize you’!
So the actual leaders- THE ONES WE BACKED- are saying ‘screw you world court- we will try the kid ourselves’. And the faction that caught the kid is saying ‘screw you leaders in Tripoli- we will try him here- in our region’ and the U.S. [and Fahreed Zakariah- a CNN talking head] have said ‘look how wonderful Obama has handled Libya and Egypt- not like Bush’.
Wonderful? Burning protestors to death- ruling Libya like some back water Mexican drug cartel? This thing is sad- and our involvement in it is even sadder.
Okay- let’s try and transition a bit.
In the last Philosophy post I hit on the 10th-14th century development of modern thought- today I want to jump into the 16th-18th centuries. Like I said in a previous post- after the Renaissance and the Reformation and the great scientific revolution- you had the world in somewhat of a tailspin.
What I mean is for hundreds of years people trusted in the old institutions [like the Catholic Church] to tell them what was true or false- then with the development of all these modern movements people began questioning stuff.
Was it good to question things? Sure. But some challenged the very foundations of thought and knowing [called Epistemology] and went a bit too far.
Some thinkers went back to the thought of Plato [400 years BC] and said that the mind is the main source of all knowledge- these were the 17th century Rationalists.
Rationalism- as a philosophy- was an outgrowth of all the great strides that man was making in all these other areas of life. The Scientific Revolution totally challenged the age old beliefs of many in the church.
Math became a sort of new ‘god’. How so? As science invented the Microscope and Telescope- man was able for the first time to peer deeply into the heavens- and to see deeply into the microscopic world.
As the great minds [Copernicus] showed us that the Universe was different than what we thought [Heliocentric versus Geocentric] man was able to do mathematical calculations and to say that a specific planet or star [or Comet] would show up at an exact date- or spot- and Walla- it would happen [you could look thru the Telescope and sure enough the math was right- the object that was calculated to be there- was.]
These calculations were mathematical formulas- so math began to be seen as the new religion in many ways.
There are even some thinkers in the modern day that still say the only ‘real truth’ that exists is mathematical formulas. Yeah- one guy wrote an entire book on the subject- the problem? Well- his book was not written in math- but words.
Yes- even the extreme deniers of Objective truth do make mistakes.
Now- what’s wrong with rationalism? Of course being rational is okay- but the philosophy itself denied real Objective truth. Truth that corresponds to some other ‘outside’ reality.
This form of thinking [rejecting outside reality] is called Relativism/Subjectivism. While there is some truth to all the various fields of thought- yet extreme Relativism denies ‘reality’ as most of us understand the term. There was a strong resistance to the 17th century rationalists- we call this Philosophy Empiricism.
The main thinker in this field was John Locke. Locke lived most of his life in the 17th century- but his thought laid the foundation for the 18th century Empiricist.
This philosophy says that the mind does indeed play a major role in the knowledge of things- but this knowledge does not originate in the mind [Plato] but in the ‘thing’ itself [Aristotle- remember when we covered these men? Plato was an idealist- Ideas were more real than matter. Aristotle was a Realist- closer to the thought of Locke].
Locke developed a theory called the Correspondence theory- that truth that the Mind discovers corresponds to real things that actually exist apart from the mind.
Locke was a practicing doctor- and most of the other thinkers of the day had room to speculate about reality in a way that Locke could not.
He lived in a real world with real patients who had real symptoms- in a nutshell Locke had to diagnose his patients based on his findings- he could not deny that there was a real problem- he had to have his ‘feet on the ground’ [based in reality] while engaging with his head up high.
Okay- I think we’ll end with this. Maybe you can go back and read some of my previous posts on this subject- just to become a little more familiar with it.
As Christians- we are not ‘required’ to know Philosophy- or current events- or science- but it helps us engage the culture when we do educate ourselves in these areas.
Go slow in learning [not too slow!] and try and see how the Christian Worldview agrees with- or rejects certain aspects of these different felids of thought.
Most Christians would reject Rationalism as a Philosophy- because it denies real objective truth- it says truth is relative- whatever the mind can conceive- or think- can be defined as truth [Unicorns?]
Biblical truth is based on real historic events- 1st Corinthians chapter 15 says that if we deny the physical resurrection of Christ- a real event- then our faith is in vain.
Christians base their faith on a real historic event- not simply on a belief system.
[1761] COMMUNITY CHEST
Okay- we have come off of a pretty hectic week- the market shook and raddled last week. About midweek I was ready to do a Mea Culpa [sort of]. I mean financial advice is like talking religion and politics- once you state your claim- it’s very hard to admit you might have gotten it wrong.
But last week I watched the Kudlow Report for a few minutes while channel surfing- and to my surprise he was talking the economy [and market] up.
Kudlow is usually a straight shooter- and he was saying the 4th quarter [last 3 months of U.S. economic numbers] might see a 3.5 or maybe even 4 % rise.
For the life of me- I thought he was wrong- but he does know more than me- so I was gonna do the Mea Culpa. Then [I think the next day?] those wonderful Euro Zone folks decided to sell some bonds [Germany] and lo and behold- they couldn’t get enough buyers so they shut down the auction.
Yeah- for Germany- considered the ‘most stable’ of the Euro Zone crowd- for them to have had trouble like this- that’s a bad sign.
The credit rating agencies already dropped the ratings for Portugal and Hungary to Junk status.
The reports came out that showed that the world’s major banks are all preparing for a Eurozone breakup- even U.S. regulators are telling our big banks [Citigroup] to lower their risk in the Euro Zone bond funds.
So all in all- the DOW dropped 4.8% for the week- the worst one week drop in 2 months- and I didn’t have to swallow the crow after all.
Okay- then why did the market jump back up another 200 or so points yesterday?
To be honest- there really was no good reason in my view. We came off of a jump in Black Friday sales- I think they sold 16 % more than usual- which of course is always a good sign when consumers are ‘consuming’.
But why did we see the jump? Please- please- let’s not all be Lemmings [you know- following the lead guy off the cliff]. Every year companies do the ‘Black Friday’ thing- which gets its name from- well doing great deals on the Friday after Turkey day.
Why the name? Oh- maybe because they used to only do it on Friday- you think?
Now- say if ‘every day’ was a Black Friday- say if we just did Black Friday all the time- would there be a huge jump in consumer spending? Heck yeah!
So why don’t we do it all the time? Because we would all go bankrupt [the businesses] and end up being permanent Zuccotti park occupiers.
So to make it simple- the numbers were up- because they started Black Friday early- like on Thursday!
Oh- the tangled webs we weave.
Those of you who remember- a couple years back the president and congress passed some big spending deals- for consumers.
They did special tax breaks for 1st time homebuyers- they did special deals for trading in your ‘clunker’ and getting a new car [Cash for Clunkers]. They even gave you money to buy Green Appliances [energy savers- not Retro looking!].
When they did this- well of course home/car sales went up- because you were giving people ‘free money’ to buy stuff.
Now- when the numbers came in- some Dems said ‘lets just keep doing it- after all- its working’ and the Repubs shut the thing down.
What was ‘working’? Well- when you give free money out- or do Black Friday ever day- yes- the numbers will look good.
But these types of ‘numbers’ are fake numbers- their based on skewed data- I mean doing these programs every so often can help some- sure- give me a great deal on some crappy car trade in- okay- I’ll buy a car.
But what happened the next year? Both car and home sales suffered- because these deals didn’t bring ‘new money’ in- they just moved up those who were going to purchase anyway- but they made the purchase while the deal was going on- and the economy- and housing markets- well they still took the hit- it was just delayed.
Now- to the real cynical folk out there- like you guys who can’t see that Herman Cain is an innocent man! [ Fine and Sandusky Too!] yes- to you nay sayers- it might just look like some politicians would love to keep giving away THE ‘FREE MONEY’ BECAUSE IT WOULD MAKE THEIR NUMBERS LOOK BETTER FOR RE ELECTION.
And so the game goes on- it never ends.
During the years called the Intertestamental period [around 400 years B.C. to the time of Christ] the Jewish people suffered lots. During their captivities they eventually lost their Temple and wound up living in a ‘strange land’.
It was at this time that the Synagogues were invented- these ‘church buildings’ were not the temple- they had no sacrifices or other priestly ceremonies- they were literally named after a word that meant ‘House of Study’.
This word is the same word used for the Israeli legislature today- Knesset.
During the time of Christ these synagogues were places where the Jewish people captured/retained their culture- while being ruled by Rome.
In the Synagogue you had 2 ‘offering plates’. One was called The Dish- this was the offering for the poor- those who needed short term help- this went to them.
Then you had what was called The Chest. This was the ‘plate’ used for more long term type help- sort of like a welfare thing.
We also see in the writings of the New Testament that giving to the poor- helping those in need- is a very noble [and mandated!] thing.
But when we see ‘free money’ that is ‘robbing from the rich to give to the poor’ as a last resort type thing- well then we are using the principle in a wrong way.
I read one article on why the Italian debt crisis [very bad as well] was not ‘seen’ as bad as a country like France [who is on the verge of getting downgraded too- geez- if they are having so much financial trouble- maybe Sarkozy should cut back a little on all these ‘mini Bush’ military ventures?]
They said even though the Italian debt crisis is real- yet outside observers know that many Italians are well off- they have saved and invested- and if worse comes to worse- they will just tax the wealthy.
For major outside observers to be thinking this- to be hedging their bets on the private money being ‘taken’ to cover the debt- that’s bad.
That’s the same language we are now seeing in our country ‘pay your fair share- flying those corporate jets- you rich S.O.B.’s!
Yes- these are all signs of the times we are in.
I have been out of the market for many years- and those who are ‘in’ most of you lost some over this last decade- and some lost a lot.
I’m not sure what the next decade holds- but if you put some money in The Dish- or The Chest [which is where we get the term Community Chest] then I think you will have spent some money well- but if you simply see investing thru the lens of how much you will get back- then I think many of you are in for a surprise.
[1762] HE BEING DEAD- YET SPEAKS [Hebrews chapter 11]
Okay- lets try and cover a few things today. First- should I now do the Mea Culpa? [last post]. Why did the DOW jump 500 points yesterday?
A few reasons- but the main one was that the ‘central banks’ kind of did a mini bail out of the European banks.
I use quotes for central banks- because the Federal Reserve of the U.S. usually spends the most on these Black Friday bargains given to other countries.
Sort of like when the news reports ‘10 NATO troops killed’- Yeah 9 of the 10 are usually us.
So even though there were some good economic numbers yesterday [new jobs- 200,000- housing sales up] yet the main reason for the jump was the Fed offered low interest loans to the European banks.
Now- why did this help? Or did it really Help?
Let me give a crude parable. Say if you lived on ‘Uncle Bennie’s’ block [Ben Bernanke- Fed. Chairman]. And everybody knew that uncle Benny was loaded.
Then a few houses down you have Pedro [or Mike- don’t want my Mexican buddies to get mad!] And Pedro has a drug habit- he likes the Cocaine a little too much.
Now- 2 more doors down you have the main drug dealer in town. The dealer knows that Christmas is right around the corner and he needs some money for the family- but Pedro has already sold momma’s 400 dollars worth of food stamps [or used the Lone Star card to by some meat and sold it at half price- happens every day!]
So the dealer is not sure how much stuff he should ‘purchase’ on his next trip to Mexico. I mean if Pedro has no cash- then the dealer might want to skip the monthly purchase.
But wait- uncle Benny is in the Christmas mood- and he gives Pedro some cash- sure he tells Pedro ‘you will pay me back wont you’ Oh yeah Benny- you know me.
Of course Benny will never see the cash again- but the dealer thinks ‘damn- Pedro’s got some cash- might as well make the monthly purchase’ and yeah- the DOW shot up.
Crude- sure- but the DOW- which simply represents the present mood of business- if they think that some big purchasers- like Europe- just got some cash- well like the dealer- they know that the sales will be up- even if only temporary- but the odds are that Pedro will buy the goods- not fix the roof!
So- in that sense- the market was happy. But uncle Benny really didn’t fix anything- in fact- in some people’s eyes he made it worse.
Pedro’s family thinks ‘damn Benny- Pedro was strapped for cash- we were hoping he would think things thru and turn his life around- but you just prolonged the addiction’!
So Benny really didn’t fix anything- he just gave some compulsive spenders some spending money.
So- if I were in the market right now [like at 4 a.m. as I write] I would sell as soon as it opens today- because the ‘rent is too damn high’ [remember that Black guy running for office a few months ago?]
Okay- let me get something a little spiritual in here. I have been getting with the ‘Pedro’s’ of the world these last few weeks- and the other day a funny thing happened. I was at the homeless mission where the guys show up at around lunch time- that’s where I have met most of the street guys over the years.
So as I’m sitting there with Henry- someone says ‘wow- there's Roger- I haven’t seen him in years’. I couldn’t believe my eyes- yeah- it was Roger.
Roger was/is a good friend- met him years ago when handing out some blankets and jackets to the guys on a cold night. I have known Roger for 25 years- we are good friends.
But around 3 years ago Roger got arrested [happened a lot] he was drunk- walked into the grocery store and told a cop ‘I’m gonna kill you’. Got sent to prison for that one.
So about 2 years ago Henry told me ‘John- got some bad news- Roger died in jail’. So I felt bad- lost a good friend. So- for the past 2 years I thought he went ‘home’. Now- here's where it gets interesting- this past Sunday as I was praying for the crowd- Roger pops into my mind.
Now- this has happened with friends who have died- and I have started taking it seriously- like in a way they are part of the brotherhood- some alive- others dead- but still alive with the Lord.
So when a dead buddy pops into my mind- I pray for/with him. So I kinda prayed ‘Lord- in whatever way this works- use Roger as a sort of Elder/Pastor for this old group of Corpus Christi bums’- and I left it at that.
I even wrote his name on my prayer wall- and kind of ‘ordained’ him as a spiritual brother who is in the group- though I ‘knew’ he was dead.
And it was only a day or 2 later that he showed up!
So I realized the lord was bringing him to my mind because he would be back on the streets soon. Now- as I’m still shocked at seeing Roger- you know- I yelled ‘hey Roger- I thought you were dead’. He came over and had a good talk.
And someone yells ‘wow- there’s Buck’ what? Yeah- I thought Buck died too. Been gone for around the same time- and Henry told me Buck died.
Now- as I’m sitting there- kinda laughing about the whole thing- saying ‘wow- I heard you guys died’. I am realizing that the main Obituary informer was Henry- yeah- he’s the brother that’s been feeding me the scoop.
I even told my daughter that I actually posted notes on the Blog when the guys ‘died’- sort of like little memorial things- man- that’s bad.
So I started to realize that Henry is not the most reliable news source when it comes to death notices.
And as I’m thinking this thru- I realize that Henry told me Old Vern kicked the bucket about 2 months ago. Vern ‘was’ not homeless- he was sort of a street preacher who used to help the guys. I’m now starting to wonder whether Vern is alive and well.
Yeah- Henrys a good buddy- but I fear I will run into some of the old crowd one day- and the first thing they will say is ‘wow John- we heard you died’.
[1763] JESUS FOR PRESIDENT?
Let’s try and cover a few current events. Obviously the media lost a major ‘player’ [source] of ‘news’ when Cain left the stage. And it only took them a few days before they attached on to Gingrich.
Christianne Amanpour [CNN] asked ‘do you think a twice divorced person can get the support he needs to be president’. This is not the first time I have heard this.
I think Newt is a smart guy- I’m not a big defender of any of these guys- but the hypocrisy of the media to keep asking this- as a major campaign question- is nuts.
Sure- he’s been divorced- we got that. Yet Edwards [John] actually fathered a child with a woman- while his wife was suffering from cancer [the same thing that Newt did] and the media did not think that story was relevant- they indeed knew about the thing.
It was only after the Enquirer actually got pictures of Edwards holding the kid- then the story broke.
So this obsession with Newt’s divorce- please.
Okay- the headline read ‘Woman in prison for being raped is pardoned’. Wow. Yes- this headline ran in a couple of my papers- right next to the name Afghanistan.
So- if you didn’t read the story- you would think that some woman got raped in the country- under those bad Taliban folk- and because we ‘liberated’ them- she's free.
Actually- that’s not the story. The woman was raped during the present regime- our guys [Karzai] and the courts made her a deal ‘if you marry the rapist- you go free’. She refused. She has been raising her daughter in jail- and Karzai made her the offer a 2nd time [how noble of him] and she married the rapist and she’s out.
The title should have been ‘Woman who was raped is forced to marry the S.O.B.’
Biden goes to the ancient city of Constantinople the other day [Modern day Istanbul- Turkey]. He’s having a meeting with a group of business people and young entrepreneurs that the president had launched a few years back.
In the meeting Biden stands up and gives this Joe Paterno like speech ‘way to go boys- we [Turkey and the U.S.] have come far in this liberating project of business- our success and democratic spirit have been a lynchpin for the Arab Spring….’ you know- Biden likes to talk a lot.
Right after he gave the sermon- one of the Turkish guys got up and slammed the West [us and Europe] for being a bunch of inept leaders- nations who spend more than they have like spoiled brats- and have no political courage to change course. Yeah Joe- you sure told them!
As we approach the end of the year- there are so many very serious world events taking place- events that will play a major role in our lives here in the U.S.
For the life of me- I can’t see how investors can be up on the market- even though some numbers are good- these other things are hanging right on the edge.
The Euro Zone is nowhere near being fixed- and the options are terrible. They will either have to jump in 100 % behind the Euro [which Germany and others will never do] or they split up.
The break up looks like it might happen- the odds are higher now than ever. Okay- if that happens- it will affect world markets- and many analysts fear it will cause us to go into another recession.
So- if these scenarios are possible [probable] then how can you have an optimistic overall outlook- economically speaking? Sure- you can hedge your bets and do well- I’m not saying we are all gonna die- but to be acting like we are on some boom market- that’s nuts.
During the time of Jesus you had a divided people. In 1st century Palestine the Jewish people split into 4 basic sects. 2 of them are pretty well known- the Pharisees and Sadducees- they are mentioned often in scripture.
The other 2 are less well known- the Zealots and the Essenes. The Zealots are named in the bible- but only in passing. We have no references to the Essenes.
The Pharisees were sticklers for the Torah [Jewish bible] and the Sadducees centered their life around the Temple- they were more of a political/religious type group.
They stuck to the Torah alone. That is they only received the actual first 5 books of the Old Testament- which is the Torah [also the term is used to speak of the entire Old Testament] and that’s why the Sadducees rejected miracles and angels and stuff. Most of those stories are found in the other O.T. books.
The Zealots were a group of people who hated compromise- they were actually a 1st century ‘terrorist’ group- who carried out assassinations. Not on Rome- but on their own people!
The zealots hated those who compromised with Rome- and if they felt a leader was too chummy- they killed him.
The Essenes were a separatist group who lived in ‘the hills’ [Qumran community] they simply gave up completely on any political solutions for the day- and went and lived in the hills. These are the ones responsible for hiding the Dead Sea scrolls [old bible books found in the last century] in a cave.
It’s interesting to note that Jesus had both a Zealot on his team [Simon- not Peter who also went by that name] and Matthew- a Tax collector. Tax collectors were considered the biggest sell outs of all- they actually worked for Rome and scammed their own people- it must have been hard for Jesus to lead this group [the 12 disciples] who came from such opposite ends of the political spectrum.
Yet Jesus did lead them- he was even offered earthly rule a few times [once from satan- and once from the people who heard him] he rejected it both times. His kingdom was not ‘of this world’.
In the New Testament book of Philippians- the bible says that though Jesus was in the form of God [deity] yet he became a man and humbled himself to the death of the Cross- a shameful way to die.
We have one letter written in the N.T. by a ‘family’ member of Jesus- that’s the epistle of James.
Protestants believe that Mary had other kids after Jesus was born- our Catholic friends teach that she remained a Virgin her whole life. My purpose right now is not to get into that.
James was considered the ‘half brother’ of Jesus [Mary was the mom of both boys- Joseph was the dad of James- Jesus’ father was God]. Okay- James was slow to believe in his brother- but over time as Jesus was declaring himself to be the Messiah- I’m sure James had to wonder- you know- think back ‘gee- come to think of it- I can’t’ remember a time where my brother got in trouble’.
Wait- now I remember- yeah- that time when Jesus was 12- we all went to Jerusalem for the big feast- and Jesus stayed behind while we started the trip home. Yeah- we went 3 days before we realized he was gone. Boy was mom mad that day.
So we went all the way back to get him- and when we found him- he was sitting in the temple- asking these questions- I mean questions that only theologians knew- Jesus was still a kid.
Mom said to him ‘son- why did you stay behind- we were worried’! Yeah- she was mad- if there was ever a time my brother came close to getting in trouble- this was it. But Jesus said ‘why were you worried- didn’t you know I would be doing my Fathers business’ yeah- he sure seemed different- but the Messiah- come on.
So as the ministry years of Jesus role by- there are all these reports of miracles and healings- blind people seeing- dead people coming back from the grave.
Yeah- James has got to be wondering now- but no- he could not accept that his own brother was the promised Son of God- no- too much.
Then the day came- that terrible day where mom had to watch Jesus die on that rugged Cross- on Golgotha- man the hill looked like a skull.
Yeah- it was a strange site- I mean the sky got dark- an earthquake shook the place- and even the Roman soldier who witnessed my brother die said ‘surely this was the son of God’. Wow- too much- my bother has carried this thing too far- even in his death he won’t let this obsession go.
Then James hears some disturbing reports- his friends are saying that Jesus has come back- that he pulled it off- the greatest miracle ever- the one Houdini himself couldn’t do.
But are the reports true? I mean if anyone could tell if this guy walking around is really Jesus- James would know.
We don’t read of the account- but all we know is James became a believer- a believer that his brother was indeed the Messiah- the Son of God.
I guess it went something like this- Jesus sitting there with his men- James shows up and sees his brother- the perfect one- not a spot on his record. Maybe Jesus looked up- maybe he said ‘brother- do you now see’ and yeah- he saw.
James would go on to be one of the leaders/Pastors of the church at Jerusalem- we read about him in Acts chapter 15. Most scholars believe this was the same James who penned the short letter we find in the N.T. that bears his name.
One thing James hits on a lot in his letter- is he defends the poor- the downtrodden- and he rips into the rich- the elite of the day. He warns us not to be biased- not to use ‘uneven scales’ when dealing with people.
James hit on social justice issues- he picked them up from his brother.
We need to be concerned about the world- if a raped woman is forced to marry her rapist- then we ought not say ‘she was pardoned’. When we critique one person for past failures- then we must do that to all.
But at the end of the day- Jesus never took the earthly crown- he did not see the solution to be a political one- he brought Simon and Matthew together on the same team- and he showed them what it means to lay your life down for others- to live without the praise of men- the earthly standard of success- he chose another way- and he left that path for us.
[1764] A SHIP CAPTAIN AND A KILLER
Today begins the congressional hearings with Jon Corzine. Corzine- the former governor of N.J.- and a former democrat senator- he ran M.F. global- an investment group- and they went bankrupt a couple of months ago. The reason it made news- besides it being the 8th biggest bankruptcy in U.S. history- was the fact that there is about 1.5 billion dollars missing.
Now- For you to have a former gov, a major Dem player- to be embroiled in a possible criminal scheme on a huge scale- and for this to barely be covered in the media- is another joke.
Imagine another former gov- say Sarah Palin- she’s active in Repub politics- the media hunted down 20,000 pages of personal emails- you know- things to her kids- what she told Todd- the whole thing- the media ‘had a right to know’ and damn it- they will know!
So they finally sued Alaska- got the emails- after 3 years- and then it ran as the top story on the evening news.
Then 2 news papers put out an open request ‘hey citizens- we are making all the emails available for anyone to read on line’ [what- no vetting?] and whoever would like to read them and then ‘email’ us if you find something you think is news worthy- then let us know’.
Yes- the papers made this request. So let’s say Sarah just got busted because she stole about 1.5 billion from her firm. Then say- oh I don’t know- say if Todd [her husband] just happened to work for the president and this same firm was funneling 50,000 a month to the husband- then would that be news?
Well yes- we just found out [primarily in the foreign media- London papers- U.S. papers don’t like covering Dem scandals] that Corzine was paying Bill Clinton 50,000 a month for ‘financial advice’ Clinton requested $200,000- but he settled for the 50.
And of course Hillary is the secretary of state. So you have a former Dem gov- a major player in Dem politics- ripping off people out of over a billion dollars- and ‘paying’ Bill Clinton millions on the side- and this is not news.
Today Corzine will be pleading the 5th- the crook.
So what’s the good news for today?
Okay- got with the homeless bro’s yesterday. Ran into Eddie again. I met Eddie a few weeks back- nice kid [I say kid- guess he’s around 30]. He’s from Michigan- lives in an R.V. [not really ‘homeless’] and seems to be a nice guy.
He’s trying to sell the R.V. and get a car- wants to drive home for Christmas and see his kids [gas too much for the R.V.] The R.V. is pretty nice- he was willing to trade the thing for an old van I have here at the house- I almost did the deal- it would have been a steal- but I felt bad about the thing- the R.V. is worth at least 8 grand- my van around 800.
But these deals happen all the time on the streets- he got the R.V. from some people for a few hundred dollars- some locals who had it for years and gave him the deal so he would have a place to live.
I met Walden- a new Brother. He came up to me at the homeless mission- kind of like he knew me ‘hey John- wanted to talk with you’. I didn’t know him- kinda glad I wasn’t in one of my moods- like ‘who the h—l are you’- yeah that happens every so often.
After a few minutes I kind of realized he was a friend of Eddie- and the last time I got with Edie I gave him my web site card and all- and maybe they ‘checked’ me out- and that might be how Walden knew about me.
Yeah- I have no problem meeting new brothers- giving them a ride- helping them run errands and stuff- but Eddie and Walden- you can tell these are ‘clean’ brothers- not down and dirty street guys- and yeah- they have to be careful- some guy saying ‘hey- I do ministry stuff- sure get in the truck’ [you never know- I might be a Bundy or Sandusky? Or worse- Corzine!]
Sometimes they are more scared they me. So that was kinda the deal yesterday. But all the guys are doing well. Got with Chris- have known him for many years.
He’s funny- used to be a machinist in Ohio for years- wound up on the streets in Texas. I never really found out the whole scoop on Chris- why he’s homeless- but it seems like something happened on the journey.
Maybe like he burned himself out at one time on LSD- or some type of drug like that.
I don’t know- but Chris is harmless- acts tough- but all talk. But you can tell he has some type of mental struggle.
Then I met Lupo- he’s a European merchant marine. The guys a real character- funny. He’s an Eastern Orthodox Christian- and of course when you mention stuff like that to me- geez- I jump into a long theological/historical account of the church. I love the Orthodox brothers.
Lupo tells me ‘well- I don’t think they are a good church’. He’s talking ‘church’ like the building he went to a few years ago. I’m talking 2 thousand years of world history- a little different plane.
But he told me how him and his ex tried to attend the local Orthodox Church a few years ago and they told him he needed a suit. They even gave him one- he put it on and didn’t like it.
He got pissed and told the Pastor off.
Okay- I know he didn’t handle it well- but it showed me that he at least made the effort [I would have never put the suit on!]
Lupo really has an interesting story- been in Texas since 1980 [as long as me]. Did big boat type jobs for some famous folk. He picked up and delivered a few yachts and ships for some rich and famous people over the years [Trump].
They would pay him to get the ship and sail it back to the U.S.- you know- he has all the papers to do this stuff.
Eventually he made some money- he and his wife started some concession type business- got divorced- lost some money- had some hard times- and wound up on the streets [sort of].
He’s staying with some other local street guys in a trailer a few blocks from where I live- when I dropped Chris off later in the day I saw the concession trailer and another food truck that belonged to Lupo- yeah- he was telling the truth.
All in all it was a good day- helped Eddie run a few errands- gave away around 20 bucks [just a few dollars at a time to a few street people who usually ask].
Oh- almost forgot- at the mission some guy walks up to me- I think he looks exactly like Jeff Bridges in the country music flick he made a few years ago- and then I realize it’s Huey.
I have known Huey for a lot of years. He has the guitar upside down hanging from the strap over his back- you know- the real country street guy look.
Huey did ask for a buck- I gave him 5- he has never asked for money- maybe once about 5 years ago. I hesitated to ask- but I asked how his brother John David was doing.
I wrote about John a few years ago- John was a meth/cocaine addict for many years. John killed his best friend in Dallas many years ago.
John never told me how bad the shooting was- but Andy- his other brother- told me that when the cops came they found John’s friend with buckshot from the top of his head all the way to the bottom of his feet.
John kept shooting- even after his friend was down.
So a couple of years ago- John had an experience with God and got clean. John would talk to me from that point on. I used to hang out with his brothers every so often- but John wanted none of it.
But after he dedicated his life to the Lord- yeah- he wanted to fellowship
Okay- I was afraid that Huey might say ‘Johns back on the stuff’ but to my surprise- Huey swore that he was still clean [Huey wouldn’t lie- these guys fight with each other and if John was back on the stuff he would have told me].
So I was glad to hear John was still clean.
John got off on the murder rap by his mom getting the famed lawyer from Dallas who defended the guy who shot lee Harvey Oswald- a famous lawyer.
He did the job Pro Bono and got John off. John told me a year after he killed his friend he went one night to the grave and ‘pissed’ on the grave. Yeah- John was what you would call an ‘unrepentant sinner’ but glad he repented now.
[1765] E.U. and John the Baptist.
Okay- let’s start with last week’s meeting in Brussels. The European Union met to hack out a deal on their debt problems. All 27 European nations met- 26 signed on to an agreement- sort of.
Britain was the only nation that did not sign on. Why? Cameron [the Prime Minister] said they did not want to give up any control over their sovereign nation. Basically the agreement says that the E.U. nations that refuse to deal with their debt problems- they will face fines/penalties if they let things get out of hand.
‘So John- how does a promise like this fix anything’? Actually- it doesn’t. In the U.S. we just came off a year of various panels/groups who were put together to deal with our nation’s debt crisis.
Some of these panels- bi-partisan- came up with some okay ideas- but in the end the President and congress did not pass anything.
So the last attempt was the ‘super committee’ as opposed to just any old regular one! Yeah- they even said ‘we are are so serious about getting our fiscal house in order- we even passed a law that said if we don’t agree to the cuts- then automatic cuts will happen- beyond our control- and then the budget will eventually balance out’.
Wow John- you mean they actually passed a real law that said this? Yup.
Okay- what happened? They came down to the wire and passed nothing. Then they started saying ‘look- we know we passed a law- to make it look like this time we mean it- but do you really think we can’t change the darn thing’!
Well John- Obama said he will veto any change. Oh yeah- that threat has lots of weight to it.
So the E.U. said ‘we will allow more oversight of our individual nations budgets’ and that was the deal. They did not fix anything yet- and the real test will be this coming year. All these nations [Italy] will have to raise new revenue [sell bonds] and if the private investors/banks do not want to take the risk and buy these bonds- then things will get bad.
So that’s the story.
Okay- in the last few posts we talked a little about the first century world that Christianity was birthed from. We call this Greco/Roman culture.
Though Rome was the ruling empire at the time of Christ- they were ‘Hellenized’. Hellenization is the word we use to describe the Greek kingdoms efforts- under Alexander the Great- to ‘Cosmopolitanise’ the world.
Whenever Alexander would conquer a people- he would allow them to stay in their land- they could hold on to their customs and habits but at the same time become part of Greek culture.
Alexander even translated the Jewish bible [Torah] into Greek. This version is called the Septuagint [means 70] and comes from the story that 70 scholars put this version together under Divine inspiration.
This Greek ‘bible’ was the bible that the Jewish people who lived outside of Israel would use. These scattered Jews are referred to as the Diaspora.
Okay- during the time of Christ more Jews lived outside of Israel than in the land. And the influence of the Greek world upon all the people under the Roman Empire was very great.
Our New Testaments were originally written in Greek- this is the reason why. Now- the other day I mentioned how the Synagogue rose up during the time of this Diaspora- this scattering of the Jewish people before the time of Christ.
So during Jesus day- you already had a habit of Jews meeting for study and prayer- in these ‘church’ like buildings. These places of worship had no sacrifices or priestly ordinances- they were places of prayer and ‘bible study’. Do you now see how the culture that surrounds a movement does indeed have the potential to shape that movement?
Yes- early Christianity took on a form of Synagogue worship and order of service. The New Testament teaches us that we have no more animal sacrifices- but offer spiritual worship to God.
In the book of Acts we read about a group of people called God Fearers. This designation refereed to gentiles [non Jews] who enjoyed the Synagogue ‘services’ and wanted to attend- but they were not willing to go all the way- so to speak- and make the final ‘cut’.
Yes- if you wanted to completely convert to Judaism as an adult- you could- but you did have to go thru the rite of passage- circumcision.
So for those who liked the ‘bible study’ but also liked to keep all their body parts as well- they became God Fearers.
A while back I read an article [book review?] about a book some scholar put out- and he had an interesting twist on why the early Christian’s had friction with the early Jews. He posited the idea that the Gentile converts to Judaism were the main pool of people that the early Christians were converting- and that simple statistics said if all these former God Fearers became Christians- well the synagogue membership would go down- and the offerings too!
It’s an interesting idea- but we do read in the bible that the friction came because the early Jewish Christians accepted Christ as their final sacrifice and they did indeed ‘leave’ Judaism and identified themselves with Christ and his Church. [I put ‘leave’ in quotes because what actually happened was these Jewish converts to Christianity were simply receiving all that the prophets said- they did not see what they were doing as being unfaithful to their faith- they saw it as simply completing their journey].
But to know the context- the world in which these things took place- that helps us to see a little more into the story.
This past week I read Mark chapter 1 and John chapter 1. These chapters cover the ministry of John the Baptist. John was called ‘the Baptist’ because he was baptizing people in the river Jordan. How come we never read anyone saying ‘hey John- what the heck are you doing- this new rite of dunking people in the water’?
Well no one said it [as far as we know] because it was not a new rite [ritual]. During the rise of synagogue worship- and thus the rise of gentiles who wanted to join the ‘church’ on their block [non Jews who liked the readings and spiritual atmosphere of the synagogue] the Jewish people developed a type of Baptism that was used as a sort of entry rite [along with circumcision] to join their religion.
But the thing about John was he started using this rite as a means to call the Jewish people to repentance- this was a first of its kind.
So Johns Baptism said ‘you religious folk- you Jewish people- yes- you need to repent just like everyone else’. Yeah- John was a unique person- and his baptism was one of a kind.
Okay- that’s it for today- maybe try and read the chapters I mentioned above- do a little study on your own.
In this month’s issue of Christianity Today magazine they started a 5 year study on classic Christianity and it looks like it’s going to be very well done- something Protestants and Catholics would benefit from.
I have been reading this magazine for many years- and the last few years they have really taken a step up in their scholarship- maybe go on line and subscribe? You can also read the articles right from the computer.
I also read the Catholic Magazine called First Things- both of these are on my blog roll. First Things is top rate- but might get a little too ‘intellectual’ for first timers [don’t want to sound condescending here] they cover issues of Philosophy and Science form a Christian perspective- and they too have great stuff.
But I think the C.T. 5 year program that they are just starting might be the way to go for new learners- or ‘old’ learners- who want to brush up on the faith.
[1766] ‘LIL’ KIM- LUTHER AND HITCHENS
Okay- we had the passing of some famous folk these last few days. Havel [former Czech President] - a great man indeed.
Then we had ‘lil’ Kim die [not the singer- the leader of North Korea. Though there was an on line rumor it was Lil Kim- yeah the fans cried- until they realized it was the crazed leader of one of the world’s most dangerous countries- you know- the hair trigger Nuke. Well when the fans found out it was him- not the singer- they relaxed]
Actually- the surreal video of the North Korean people crying in the streets- the look of shock and despair on their faces- I mean I haven’t seen the followers of any political leader act this way in a long time- not since the Perry debates.
Then old Hitchen's kicked the bucket- yeah- he was a famous atheist.
I really do not hate atheists- some are nice people- most don’t know the real case for the existence of God. But Hitchen's- well when I reviewed his book- ‘God is not great’ I did get into the many distortions and misrepresentations that he made.
He simply lied- and often. He was mean and arrogant and insulted people often- he has referred to princess Diana as a ‘land mine’ [she had a charity that worked for the abolition of these weapons] he said she was like a land mine ‘she was laid all over the country- and when you stepped on her everything blew up’.
No- many Christians and leaders have come out and done the ‘we respected him for his views’ type thing- not me- I’m not gad he died- but won’t make him sound like he was a ‘good’ man- he was not.
I read a piece form the N.Y. Times- they went into Libya and investigated the reports of the deaths of many civilians caused by NATO and the U.S. during the ‘no fly zone’ debacle.
They found evidence of many civilians that were killed. They presented the report to the new leaders of Libya- they could care less.
In Benghazi- the main city in the eastern half of Libya- they were openly flying the Al-Qaida flag. We just spent 10 years and many lives fighting in Afghanistan. Why? Because they gave territory to Al-Qaida- they gave them a place to work out of.
We fought the Taliban for 10 years over this. Yet in a few months NATO and the U.S. gave Al-Qaida their own capitol to fly their flag- I mean the terrorists must be thinking ‘if we knew these guys were this stupid- we would have never bombed the towers’.
In Tripoli- the real capitol of Libya- the various militia groups [terrorists] are all claiming they are the security/armed forces of Libya. I heard a doctor- on N.P.R. - not a right wing radio show- he said in his hospital these various militias are all trying to take charge- they walk around with guns- sometimes walk into a room and shoot a patient who they think is not on their side- and the doctors say they have no security at all.
Under Gadhaffi things ran well- like a normal society- now their country is a terrorist haven- run by these guys.
I could go on and say the same for Egypt- and tell the stories of how the military have been killing protestors in the street. All these things are being done under people that the West [we- NATO- France] have enabled by removing their former leaders.
And France this week passed a law making it a crime to deny the genocide that took place in Turkey in the early part of the last century.
Yes- the Ottoman Turks did slaughter many Armenians- Christians- at the time. And getting Turkey to officially admit this has been a problem for years. But France passing a law to make it a crime to deny it- while they just finished committing ‘crimes against humanity’ themselves- by killing all the Libyan civilians- it’s just too much.
Okay- let’s start a brief overview of some church history. Over the next few weeks I want to hit on the 16th century Protestant reformation and try and cover some of the key figures of the movement.
Martin Luther- the German reformer who had the most influence in the movement was born and raised in Germany.
As a boy his parents were peasant farmers and eventually his dad became a miner and became a very successful businessman- he would go on and eventually own 6 foundries.
He sent his son to law school- and young Luther excelled. At the age of 21 he accomplished more than many of his peers. One day on his way home from the university a thunderstorm broke out and Luther was almost struck by a bolt of lightning.
In fear he cried out to Saint Ann [the mother of Mary] and said ‘Saint Ann- if you save me I will become a monk’ [Ann was the patron Saint for miners- thus Luther was familiar with her].
He was spared and off to the monastery he went. Luther eventually became an ordained priest and even though his dad initially was upset that his son became a priest- yet he was proud of his boy later on.
Luther would eventually make a Pilgrimage to Rome- on foot [a few month walk from Germany to Rome!] and what he saw devastated him. Rome- and the Vatican- were in bad shape. Many of the priests lived in open sin- and the city that he saw as his headquarters for the faith- well it was a mess.
Luther made the famous penitent walk/crawl up the stairs of the Lateran church [this church was the most famous church before the construction of St. Peters. The actual stairs of the church are the same stairs that Christ walked up during his trial under Pontius Pilate. Yes- you hear many ‘stories’ while studying church history- things like the relics or left over pieces of the Cross- well these stories are usually fake. But the stairs of the Lateran church are indeed the same stairs that Christ walked on- the early ‘church’ builders dismantled the stairs at Pilate’s court in Jerusalem and installed them at this church building in Rome].
When Luther got to the top of the stairs- it is reported that he questioned the faith- he had a crisis of faith and thought that maybe the whole thing was a sham.
Okay- as we do a few more posts over the coming weeks- I want you guys to see that the main players of the Reformation were sincere Catholic men who had many questions about what they saw as corrupt in their own church. These men did not want to start a breakaway church- they simply wanted to reform the church they loved.
Keep in mind that Luther excelled during his legal studies- he had a keen legal mind- this will be important later on when we see the debates he has with Rome over the doctrine of Justification by faith- the letters of the apostle Paul [Romans- Galatians] use lots of legal language- and his early education will help him in these debates.
Okay- that’s it for today. Maybe do a Google search on Luther and familiarize yourself a little with the history.
The ‘readings’ for this week are 2nd Samuel 6-7 and Psalms 89. See what they have in common.
[1767] HEDGE YOUR BETS?
Caught an interesting show last night on the business/financial channel. It was the story of some private investor who was sort of a prodigy when it came to the market.
As a kid he took an unusual interest in investing and as he was studying to become a doctor he started his own independent blog and eventually he went into investing full time.
He became famous because he was one of the first investors to spot the upcoming housing bubble [the one we already had]. As he read the data- he hedged his bets and shorted the market.
All investing is a type of ‘gambling’ you make your bet- you put money on the table- and you hope for the best.
But ‘shorting’ the market the way this guy did- well it was more like gambling in the sense that you bet that a certain stock will fall- and someone else is betting it will go up.
Well in the end he did win- but he angered a lot of his customers and his investment company would fold.
Overall he got it right- but he was bad with social skills- he had a form of Autism called Aspergers syndrome- it makes you bad with social skills- but excel in other areas.
His area of excelling was the numbers thing- yet the part of the business where you work with people- that’s what doomed him in the end.
Anyway I mentioned this because some numbers have come out this week- and the economy
Parts of past posts-
RECENT STUFF- B
[1768] LUTHER- THE TOWER EXPERIENCE
Let’s start with some church history. In the last post I covered the early years of Martin Luther- probably the most significant figure of the Protestant Reformation.
Luther studied for the priesthood in Erfurt, Germany. He would eventually wind up in Wittenberg- one of the major university cities of the Reformation. Wittenberg was actually a small insignificant town- but the political leader over the region- Frederick the Wise- sought to put it on the map.
He wanted to turn Wittenberg into a German ‘Rome’. He wanted it to become a major Pilgrimage city where Christians would see Wittenberg as a destination- just like they saw Rome.
So Frederick embarked on this plan and he searched thru all the Catholic learning centers of the time and finally recruited 3 top scholars to teach out of the university at Wittenberg- Luther was one of the 3.
Just as a side note- Frederick would succeed at making Wittenberg a major catholic center. He would eventually obtain over 19,000 Relics for the Cathedral church there [Relics were used in the ancient system of buying indulgences and making special pilgrimage trips to important Churches. If the church/city that your making the Pilgrimage to has a lot of Relics- bones or other famous material objects from church history- then the value of the Pilgrimage was high. In theory Frederick collected so many that if you added up all the ‘time off’ from Purgatory- you would get 1 million, 900 thousand years off! Some of the famous relics at Wittenberg were a hair from the beard of Jesus- straw from the manger Jesus was born in- and even a branch from the famous burning bush of Moses! As you can see- there was a lot of commercializing going on- even back then].
When Luther arrived in Wittenberg- he made a name for himself as a top scholar. Many protestants- who revere Luther- usually are not aware that he was a master Linguist [sort of like Rick Perry!]
Yes Luther mastered language- and he showed it in his teaching on the book of Psalms.
In 1515 he began his famous study on the book of Romans and as he went thru the very first chapter- something shook him. He came across the passage that says the Just shall live by faith. This verse first appears in the O.T. book of Habakkuk- and is quoted 3 more times in the N.T.
Luther was very aware of the concept of the righteousness of God- he struggled for many years trying to reconcile his own sinful nature with Gods holiness- but he never really ‘saw’ the biblical concept of righteousness as a free gift that God ‘imputes’ to the sinner.
Yes- for the 1st time in Luther’s life- after his years training for the priesthood- the pilgrimage he made to Rome- the thousands of hours he spent confessing his sins while a monk in Erfurt- he never really understood that the righteousness of God was a free gift given to those who have faith.
It was a giant weight lifted from his shoulders- Luther did not need to try any more to live up to the standards of God- in a way that would earn for him forgiveness- but he would simply believe- and the righteousness of God would be counted to him as a gift.
Luther would go on to call this an Alien Righteousness- that is it is not found within the person who tries to do all the church works he can- or buying all the indulgences- or any other of the many religious actions he was practicing- but this free gift of being right with God- it came to those who had faith- the Just shall live by Faith- this was indeed good news for the scholar.
As time went on- Germany would get embroiled in the political machinations of the day- Luther’s top political cover was Frederick the Wise- hardly a Protestant Reformer! He spent lots of time trying to make Wittenberg the major Catholic center in Germany.
But at the time there was a political fight raging between Rome and some of the other nation/states. There was a figure head office called the Holy Roman Emperor. This office was really in name only- but it rose up during the first Millennium of Christian history and sought to replace the influence that Rome was losing.
So you had France, Spain and England all vying for the title. Eventually it would go to King Charles of Spain- but the Pope- who played a major role in nominating the person- he did not want any of these top 3 to get the position. Henry the Eighth was the king of England at the time- and these ‘3 kings’ were sort of in competition with Rome- so the Pope tried to get Fredrick the Wise to throw his hat into the ring.
Frederick just happened to be one of the Electors of this position.
His actual title was The Elector of Saxony.
So Fredrick had lots of influence- and as Rome would eventually but heads with the stubborn bull of Wittenberg [Luther] Frederick would become the major protector of Luther.
Okay- I think we’ll stop here for today. The experience that Luther had- the enlightenment that came to him while teaching the book of Romans- this is often called The Tower experience of Luther- it took place in the year 1515.
[1769] Happy new years eve to all. Let’s do a brief Year in Review.
We did have quite a busy news year- last night I caught a CSPAN clip of Newt- yeah- he was crying like a baby!
Okay- not that bad- but he did break down for a few seconds on screen. Some of the pundits debated if it were ‘planned’ or real.
I think E.J. Dionne [a liberal news guy] got it right- he said he thought it was sincere- but how much it will help a man in a Repub primary fight- well that’s another story.
Boehner said he didn’t see anything wrong with it [lol for you non savvy political folk- who knows- maybe they will both run for office in North Korea? The crying capitol of the world].
The big story of the year? Well- there were a few [Tsunami- Arab Spring- E.U. crisis] but as a geopolitical event that was big- I guess I would say the shakeup we saw in the Arab world was pretty major.
It started with a street vender in Tunisia- he refused to pay ‘the tax’ to the cops for his street profit- it’s really a form of extortion like the mob uses. So in frustration he ‘self immolated’ [lit himself on fire!] and he died a few days later from his injuries.
This led to the overthrow of the long time leader in Tunisia [Ben Ammi]- and then the Egyptians followed suit by protesting in the historic Tahrir square.
Mubarak got toppled and then Libya gave it a shot. Of course we [the U.S. and NATO] basically bombed the hell out of the place and then let the rebel’s claim they won.
Last week in Nigeria- on Christmas day- Muslim radicals bombed a Christian church and killed many worshippers. Nigeria is much like the Sudan- the country is divided North and South by Muslims and Christians [Sudan’s south also has lots of Animists].
What do all these countries have in common? They are all in Africa. Yes- the African continent probably saw the most ‘action’ though the last part of the year we have focused on Europe.
Yes- Europe had her own Western style debt crisis. It can get a little confusing- I mean I was watching one news show- the title was the Euro Zone debt crisis- and they said there were 27 nations in the Euro Zone.
That’s a common mistake some have made. The Euro Zone is made up of 17 European nations- that have entered into a treaty that allows them to all use one common currency- the Euro.
But there are a total of 27 nations that make up the European Union- the biggest Economy out of all of them is Britain- they are not part of the Euro Zone- though they are part of the E.U. - got it?
By the way- Brazil just passed Britain as the world’s 6th [or 7th?] largest economy.
And Japan faced her devastating earthquake/Tsunami [I think it was this year?] anyway there economy has been in the doldrums for around 20 years. Japan had her own recession/depression many years ago- and they have still never fully recovered.
Which brings us to the end of the year in the U.S.
We end the year with some better than expected economic numbers- but don’t be fooled- the numbers are not great- they are actually not good- they are just better than expected.
Some now predict that the last quarter will see around 3 % growth [it takes a few weeks for the data to come out] and some are predicting that 2012 we’ll see around 3 % growth.
3 % is not good- it’s actually bad- but it’s not as bad as a recession.
What we need to keep in mind is our economy has gone through some major hits- and like Japan- you don’t just pop out of it in a few years.
Many of the companies are in better shape- because they scaled back- they cut people and downsized- some for good.
So- the DOW might look good because of stuff like this- but we have now had a few years of college grads who have been unable to find work- and they missed the ‘boost’ of getting a good job- buying a car- getting a place to stay- and this group of young unemployed kids- well they might never get the jump they need to do ‘better than their parents’.
So by no means have we as a country recovered from our debt/economic problems- and the E.U. still has a lot of risk in the coming year.
In the last few weeks the Federal Reserve and a few other central banks made money available to the E.U. banks at a cheap rate.
The theory is if you pour money into the banks- that might loosen up lending- and you avoid a real problem. Just like our own TARP thing we did in 2008.
But lo and behold- some of the E.U. nations sold [tried] to sell some bonds- and the banks did not buy as many as people expected. The banks took the cash [like the U.S. banks did in 2008] and basically sat on the money.
So all this means we still have a tough year ahead- globally- and just because some numbers are looking better at the end of the year for the U.S.- this does not mean all is well.
The scripture reading for this week is Isaiah 52. The prophet speaks about Gods people- he says ‘Wake up- rise up- shake the dust from your feet and move on’.
He also says that blessed are those who preach the Good News- the good news of salvation. Those who publish peace- those who declare Gods rule.
I have a habit- every week [just about] I watch the Catholic Mass on the tube- those are the bible chapters I cover during the week.
Of course this past week I watched the Popes Mass from Rome- the Pope spoke against the commercializing of Christmas- and he reminded us that the true message of Christmas is Emmanuel- God with Us.
As we end the year- I want to encourage all my readers/friends- the reality of God being with us is what’s important. Yes- I do think many are not seeing the ‘story behind the story’ in the above news events- many want to believe there is no way they might have lost money [401 k’s] and they might never see that money again.
But that’s okay- even if you didn’t lose it this past year- you were going to ‘lose it’ someday- we all have to leave some day- and we have a tendency to put that reality off.
One year I had a friend- another firefighter- who just started investing in Real Estate. And all the guys knew I was doing that for years. I used to have renters come by and drop off the rent checks and stuff like that.
So when one of the other guys got into it- they would ask me for advice. One day I had a friend- around 50 years old- and he bought a few homes.
As he was talking- he was telling me that he would pay off these 2- sell this one- rent the other- I mean he had all the plans first time buyers/investors get into. I simply tried to give him some sound advice- and I also had to stop him at one point.
He was telling me the plans he had for the 3 homes that were on a 30 year mortgage- and I had to say ‘Mike- I know your excited about the houses- but you’re talking about paying off these homes- you do realize you might be dead before the mortgage is paid off’.
I wasn’t being funny- I actually was telling him something that many investors do not calculate in when they do the numbers- they very rarely calculate in their own mortality.
So yes- we will all do our best- we will watch the numbers this year- and well will try and publish the good news- the good news of God being with men- that God became a man- was crucified- died- and buried. He rose again the 3rd day- according to the scriptures- he will come again to judge the living and the dead. Amen and Amen.
Happy New Year to all.
[1770] TREASURY OF MERIT
Let’s pick up where we left off 2 posts back. We were talking about Martin Luther and the events that led up to the Protestant Reformation.
In order to understand the key act that caused the protest- we will have to teach some Catholic history/doctrine.
In the 16th century Pope Julius began the effort to build St. Peters basilica in Rome. He got as far as laying the foundation and died. Pope Leo the 10th would pick up after him.
The church needed to raise money for the project- and the German prince- Albert- would play a major role.
It should be noted that both Catholic and Protestant scholars agree that the Popes of the day were pretty corrupt. They came from what we call the Medici line of Popes.
If you remember last month I wrote a post on the Renaissance- I talked about the Medici family and how they played a major role in supporting the Renaissance that took place in the 13th century in Florence Italy that would spread to the region.
Well this very influential family also played a big role in who would get top positions in the church.
At the time of Luther and prince Albert- if you had the right connections and the money- you could literally buy a position in the church.
Albert already held 2 Bishop seats- and there was an opening for an Archbishops seat in Mainz [Germany] and he wanted that one too.
It should be noted that official Canon law [church law] said you could only hold one seat at a time- Albert was bidding on his 3rd one! And he was too young for all of them.
So even the Pope and the officials held little respect for what the church actually taught at the time.
So Albert opens up negotiations with Leo- and the bidding starts AT 12,000 Duckets [money] Albert counters with 7,000- and they agree on 10,000. How did they justify the numbers? 12- The number of Apostles. 7- The 7 deadly sins. 10- The 10 commandments.
Yes- the church was pretty corrupt at the time.
So Albert works out a plan with Leo- he will borrow the money from the German banks- and pay the banks off by the Pope giving Albert the right to sell Indulgences.
What’s an Indulgence?
Okay- this is where it gets tricky.
The ancient church taught a system called The Treasury of Merit. This was a sort of spiritual bank account that ‘stored up’ the good deeds of others over the years.
You had the good deeds of Jesus at the top- but you also had Mary and Joseph- the 12 Apostles- and other various saints thru out time.
The way the ‘bank’ worked was you could tap into the account by getting a Papal indulgence- a sort of I.O.U. that had the Popes guarantee that it would get so much time out of Purgatory for a loved one.
The actual sacrament that accesses the account is called Penance [confession].
When a penitent does penance- he confesses his sin to the priest- and he is absolved by the authority of the church that the priest has. The priest usually tells the person ‘say so many Hail Mary’s- Our Father’s’ and that’s a form of penance.
One of the other things the church practiced was called Alms Deeds. This term is found in the bible and it means giving your money to the poor- it is a noble act that Jesus himself taught.
In theory- part of the sacrament of penance was tied into Alms Deeds- you can access the account thru the practice of giving to the poor- which also meant giving to the church that helps the poor- and in the hands of the Medici line of Popes- meant outright giving money to the Pope.
So now you see how the abuse worked its way into the pockets of the faithful.
Albert now had the permission from Leo to sell these indulgences in Germany- and he would pick a certain corrupt priest to sell them in a place called Saxony- the region where Luther operated out of.
It should be noted that the Catholic Church never taught the crass act of ‘buying your way out of Purgatory’. The practice of including giving money as a part of the sacrament of penance was tied into the biblical principle of giving to the poor- a good thing.
But Tetzel and others abused the official meaning of the indulgence- and did make it sound like you could by your way out of Purgatory [in theory- a loved one might be in Purgatory for so many years- and through the indulgence you are actually getting time off for them- because the good deeds of others are now applied to the account].
The money Albert would raise- half would go to Rome for the building of St. peters- and half would go to pay off the banks in Germany- it was a sad system- and a sad time for the church as a whole.
It would be wrong to judge the entire church at the time as being corrupt- you did have many sincere Priests and Catholic men and women who saw the abuses and did not take part in them.
But there was corruption at the top- and this would eventually lead to the breakup of the church- and the launching of what we now call the Protestant Movement.
As a side note- it should be said that many Catholics and Protestants are not aware of the whole treasury of merit system- and the church never officially changed her position on the doctrine.
There were 3 Church councils since the time [Trent- 1500’s, Vatican 1- 1800’s and Vatican 2- 1962-65]. The Treasury of Merit never came up for change.
Obviously Protestants don’t believe in Purgatory- and it’s not my purpose in these posts to change Catholics into Protestants or vice versa- but to give all sides a clear view of the issues that divided us- and to try and be honest- and respectful during the process.
Does the bible teach anything like a Treasury of Merit? Well actually it does. The bible teaches that the righteousness of Christ is the treasury that people can access- by faith- and become righteous in the sight if God.
The idea- applied to Christ- is good.
But in the hands of the Medici Popes- and the ambitious prince of Germany- it would lead to disaster.
[1771] SATURDAY IN THE PARK
The other day I got up and turned my computer on- hit the icon for one of my oldies but goodies [Saturday in the Park- Chicago] and sure enough it was one of those saved UTUBE videos that got deleted because of some copyright thing.
So I just re-type the song and do another search. On the side of the page I see a bunch of options- I usually go for the one that looks like the old vinyl classic- you know the records we bought as kids.
But instead I went with one that showed a Ferris wheel and a carnival in a park- yeah- that looks good!
As the song started- I soon realized that the video was made by some amateur who is fulfilling his dream of being an international star by posting his songs to UTUBE.
Now- I’m sure he meant well- put a lot of time and effort into the thing- but he sounded just like the waiters singing at the end of the movie Christmas Story.
Yeah- maybe he was living in Korea at the time- doing his best to navigate his life thru the ups and downs of his country- all the people distraught over the death of their beloved leader.
So as I sat there- yes- listening to Saturday in the Park- sung with this Korean accent- I thought ‘You know- in life we all have ups and downs- we learn to take the good with the bad- I mean it won’t be the first time that I had to settle for less’. But I knew- if I listened to the whole song- well that would be a noticeable step down on even my very low standards- yeah- I clicked it off.
Which brings us to today. We end the week with many Iowans and others saying ‘well- we don’t really like so and so- but we will settle for what we can get’. Romney and Santorum tied- and a few others have to re evaluate.
Let me mention one thing- Ron Paul does have a solid following- sort of like some cult guy. And he does say things that make sense- at times. But he also has some nutty ideas as well.
But one of the things he is right on is what he said the other day about Iran. He said that the sanctions that the West is now putting on Iran- that they are an act of war. He said we should not be surprised that they will respond in a dangerous way.
This week- for the first time ever- we began moving on Iran’s oil- to cut off their sale of oil to other nations. Oil is obviously the number one source of income for Iran.
This has lead to a crash in the Rial [Iran’s money] and Iranians are taking all their cash out of Iranian banks and putting their money into U.S. currency.
We are indeed sending that nation into a possible depression- and if we know that we are doing this- saying that’s the price for the level of non compliance they are showing with their nuclear program- then we can’t say ‘oh- they are just starting trouble in the Strait of Hormuz to get the attention off of their bad economy’.
Yes- that’s what the White House said this week- that’s a lie- we all should know that- and if we think we should do the sanctions- then let the country know that’s what’s putting the pressure on Iran- that’s why they are threatening to disrupt the Straight- and it might indeed lead to war.
Okay- there are a bunch more stories I would like to hit on- lets hit on the recess appointment of Cordray.
Those who hate Obama say he violated the constitution. Those who love him say he didn’t do anything different than any other pres. Who’s right?
Actually- what he did was a first. Now- he might think it’s time to challenge the thing- but make no mistake about it- it was a first.
Out of all the hundreds of recess appointments that presidents have made- this was the first time a pres. made one when congress was either in session- or in ‘Pro-Forma’ session.
But the media are not really telling you that.
CNN had a quick story that said even Obama accused Bush of going around congress when he made his recess appointments- and they played the clip of him saying it. Yet they ended the story by saying ‘Obama- in the end- said the president had the right to do it’.
But they were talking about the normal ones that all presidents have made- yes- Obama accused Bush of gong around the law- when he did an actual recess appointment- when congress was not in session.
It was under Bush- when Obama was a senator- that congress actually came up with an agreed to ‘form’ that would constitute congress being deemed in session- that’s what the Pro-Forma thing is all about.
The Dems and Repubs made a deal that said if the congress has one guy show up every 3 days- and he simply hits the gavel- hangs out for a few hours- and leaves- they all agreed that this would mean they were in session- and it would prevent the pres from appointing a recess guy.
Okay- for the first time- they started doing this under Bush- and Obama and the Dems [along with the Repubs] all said at the time that if Bush dared to make an appointment during this Pro Forma session- it would spark a constitutional crisis.
What did Bush do John? He went along with the deal- and never made an appointment when they were in Pro Forma session.
Obama never said Bush had the right to do what Obama just did.
Harry Reid is on record saying if Bush dared do this- it would be grounds for legal action.
What are Reid and Obama and all the others saying now? Oh- he’s doing what’s right.
This stuff never ends with these guys.
Last story- when the media wants to portray a certain thing- in a certain way- they will do their best to try and make you see what’s really not there.
Under the Clinton administration you had the scandal [one of many] that had to do with Sandy Burger. Sandy was a top official under Clinton and at one point he knew that he had written some stuff that would get him in trouble.
So he gets caught going to the presidential library and stuffing these old notes down his pants and in his socks. The librarian can’t believe she caught the guy doing it- I mean he’s a top official.
So they notify security and on his way out they stop him and make him spill the goods- yeah- this is a real story.
Of course the news breaks and you see why he wanted to take these papers- they did make him look bad about some stuff.
But how did the media treat this? Over a period of a few days they interviewed Bill Clinton- and a few other Dems who were ‘in the know’.
They all laughed- they said ‘Oh that’s just old absent minded Sandy- he does silly stuff like this all the time- leaving his briefcase behind- I mean we all know he was not really trying to steal anything’.
And after a few days- well that was the public story- almost unbelievable that the media has that type of power.
The insiders say that what Obama just did was a first- and he might very well have sparked a constitutional crisis- and the insiders say that’s what he wants- to position himself this year against congress- and he might have done something- that might indeed be illegal- but as a lawyer- sometimes you do stuff like that.
He might have calculated that it would take years before the courts decide- and even if he broke the law- he’ll be gone and the mission was accomplished.
So what’s so bad about this John? Well you don’t want any president doing stuff like this. Yes- in society these games are played a lot- but in the top office of the land you should not do it.
But if the media can convince the public that all Sandy was guilty of was sloppy filing- well then they can convince us of anything.
[1772] TEBOW
The other day I mentioned that I’m not a big football fan- but to be honest I have always rooted for the northern teams- and yes- I’m aware of how good the Giants are doing. But yesterday was the first time I watched a game this season.
I was channel surfing the news shows and caught Tebow scrambling for a touchdown- I thought ‘heck- I have heard lots of criticism about Tebow- but he looks pretty good to me’.
So I watched most of the game- they won in overtime- under a new rule that says you only have sudden death if the team that wins the toss scores a touchdown on the first possession.
Tebow threw for a touchdown on the first play!
Its funny- of course I have heard all the controversy over Tebow doing the prayer move at the games. One night I was watching the world news- and they actually did a story about whether or not Tebow's prayer was ‘really’ working.
They showed the few clips of him on the knee- then they said ‘but- could there be another reason why he is doing well’- Geez- I don’t know- why don’t you tell me.
Yes- they interviewed some shrink and he explained that when someone is nice- and encourages the other players- well that affects the game.
Then they showed a clip where some receiver blew the catch and when he walked back to the line Tebow tapped him on the back and said ‘don’t worry about it- better luck next time’.
Aha- that’s it- it aint those silly prayers after all.
How funny [sad] that after the media started getting criticized because of their complaining about Tebow’s silly one knee thing- then they had to actually spend a few minutes on world news to explain why the prayer isn’t really working- kinda sad.
Okay- let me take care of a few business items today. First- does someone want to do me a favor?
Who has a lot of money? Can you send me….. [Okay- need to stop doing this- it does get people mad].
Actually I have an old friend in prison- in N.J.- and about a year ago we wrote back and forth a few times. I’m pretty sure I sent the last one- but really haven’t kept up with it like I used to.
So- if anyone wants to write- to just keep in touch and encourage the guy- then either message me on Facebook or send me an email- I’ll send you the address.
Over the years I have sent hundreds of letters to buddies in prison. Some of my friends on these sites know that- but I have dropped the ball some in the last few years- and this might be a ‘ministry’ for someone.
Also- on my site I have some old friends- people who have been with us [me] from the start- ministry type guys. We always had plans and ideas about stuff- to be honest some of those plans never materialized like I hoped.
But I have been wanting to throw this out as an idea- maybe some of you guys can start a site- either a group on Facebook- or a blog [there free!] and simply call it the name of your city ‘outreach ministries’.
Use it as a sort of bulletin board- a place where other ministries/churches in your area can get in touch- maybe post an event- or whatever.
I know this doesn’t apply to everyone- but to a few brothers- this can be a good tool [or sisters].
If you go to my blog- there is an icon that you can click to start your own blog- I have been on a few years- and to be honest- I am a terrible blogger/internet guy.
I didn’t even have EMAIL until 2007!
So if someone wants to mess with it- it can be a worthwhile tool- an outreach to your city- or even a sate or nation.
Okay- that was it for today- just wanted to take care of a little business- oh yeah- Houston is doing good too! The Boys? Okay- let’s not dig up past mistakes- love covers a ‘multitude of sins’.
[1773] LUTHER CLASHES WITH ROME
Let’s do another post on the Protestant Reformation. I’ll probably only do a few more before I transition into another study.
By the way- all the studies I do thru out the year are posted in the February posts of the following year.
Okay- last we left off Luther was just beginning to butt heads with the church [Tetzel] over the abuse of the sale of indulgences that was going on in Germany.
In a previous post I mentioned how the priest- Tetzel- was selling these ‘get out of Purgatory’ type coupons in the area where Luther operated out- Saxony.
Actually- Tetzel never entered Saxony itself- but was selling these out of a bordering city- and many of Luther’s students/parishioners were being hoodwinked into spending their money to rescue a loved one out of Purgatory.
Tetzel is known for a jingle he started in connection with the sale of the indulgence- it goes ‘as soon as a coin in the coffer rings- a soul in Purgatory springs’- ouch!
Like I said before- the church never taught this- they did teach the Treasury of Merit [previous post] but the way Tetzel used it was a real abuse of the teaching of the church at the time.
Now- Luther responds to the abuse by writing the famous 95 thesis. This is the act that is often associated with the launching of the Reformation- the act that got the ball rolling.
The 95 thesis were simply 95 questions challenging the whole practice of the sale of indulgences- there was no mention of the doctrine of Justification by Faith- which will become the trumpet sound that springs out of the Protestant Reformation.
Luther takes these questions- written in Latin- and nails them to the university church door at Wittenberg. Sometimes while reading church history this ‘nailing to the door’ is seen as a sort of vandalism - you know- ‘he nailed them to the door!’
In actuality Luther was simply using the system of the day that one scholar would use in order to bring up an official point of contention with the church- Luther wrote the Thesis in Latin- which was the scholars language- not the language of the common man.
But Luther’s students quickly translated the Thesis into the vernacular [German] and it was said that in 2 weeks the paper made it into every village of Germany.
The challenge was a spark in the lives of many Christians who also believed the church was off track and that someone needed to rebuke her- and they picked Luther as the man for the job.
Now- the Catholic church wanted Luther to go to Rome and discuss the situation there- Luther’s friends warned him not to go- so they agreed to meet- a few times- in Germany.
The first meeting was in 1518 at Heidelberg- Luther actually gave a great defense of his argument and convinced some other top Catholic scholars that he was right [as a side note- the church had already scheduled this meeting because of a controversy that rose up between the Augustinian order of monks and the Dominicans. They were debating over which philosophy was more consistent with church teaching- Nominalism or Realism- for those of you who have read the posts this past year- I taught this when doing our posts on philosophy].
One man- Martin Bucer- wrote a stirring account of Luther- Bucer would later influence another young Swiss priest with Reformation teachings- his name is John Calvin.
As a side not Calvin will become one of the 3 big heavy hitters of the 16th century Reformation [Ulrich Zwingli is the 3rd].
Luther will meet again in Augsburg- and debate the leading Catholic scholar of the day- Cardinal Cajetan.
Then he goes to the city of Leipzig- and debates the leading German scholar- Johann Eck.
And his last meeting with the church will be at the famous Diet of Worms [pronounced- Vurmtz] and it will be here that Luther makes his last stand and officially will break with the church and launch the Protestant Reformation.
It should be noted that Luther held what we call a High Church position for most of this time- he still saw the church at Rome- and the Pope- as a legitimate expression of true Christianity- his beef was what he saw as an abuse of the system- by the priest Tetzel.
As time progressed- the other beliefs of Luther- founded upon the bible- did come into contention with Rome.
The main disagreement eventually became the teaching in the bible called Justification by faith. I have written a study on the topic on the blog- I have also written a bible study on the book of Romans and Galatians.
For those of you who can- try and read Romans chapters 2-4 and Galatians 2-3- these are the key chapters that cover the teaching.
Down the road I will cover the official teaching of both the Protestants and the Catholics on the doctrine of justification- the Catholic Council of Trent- referred to as the Counter Reformation- spells out the official teaching of Rome- and there are a few papers put out by the Reformers that explain their belief.
Since the 16th century Reformation there have been efforts made by Protestants and Catholics to bridge the gap as much as possible- to try to come to some common language since the historic split.
I like some of the efforts that have been made- and recently both groups put out a statement that jointly said we all believe that we are saved by Gods grace thru Christ- that’s good.
But as we get into some of the actual discussion- you will see the points at which the 2 sides disagreed- and the main one was on the act- the actual thing that happens- when a person is declared just- the Reformers said it takes place when a person has faith- believes- the Catholic church said it takes place at baptism- water baptism.
This- as well as a few other things- will be a defining distinction between the 2.
[1774] WEEK IN REVIEW
So we end the week with Haley Barbour releasing killers- the media showing- over and over again- a viral video of Marines urinating on dead Taliban soldiers- and the Repubs accusing Romney of being a ‘Vulture’ capitalist pig.
Let’s start with the most important one first- last night I saw the Marine video- after a minute or 2 of thinking about it- and hearing Hillary and others decry the ‘outrageous action’ and saying that these Marines will be upheld to the highest standard of law- I thought ‘what a bunch of hypocrites’.
Yeah- we- as a nation- send these young kids to war- some do 3 or 4 terms over there- we are telling them ‘you go kill this enemy’- they often see their buddies getting killed.
They also see kids maimed- our guys coming back without all their body parts.
And in some cases- like the present court case against the soldiers at Haditha [a possible case where our guys killed some civilians] they do get things wrong.
But the fact that one of the most dehumanizing acts a person can engage in- the taking of another’s life- the fact that we ask these guys to do this- and then become outraged that they urinated on some dead bodies- well yes- they blew it- they made it more dangerous for our other men over there- I got all that.
But the media- who keep showing the ‘darn’ video- they are not helping.
Right now you have an Egyptian Christian going to trial because he posted a picture of Mickey and Minnie- Mickey had a beard and Minnie a veil.
So in Egypt- they now see this as a crime. Have you seen the silly image on the tube? Of course not- because the media know that the showing of the image might cause ‘outrage’ in the Muslim community- and that might lead to the deaths of people.
Then why do they feel so free to keep showing the stupid stunt the Marines did- surely the showing of this video will cause outrage in Muslim lands and lead to the deaths of people.
Yes- the guys did wrong- maybe they should face some type of military discipline- but the calls for prison are wrong- they ‘pissed’ on dead bodies- wrong- bad- especially in the Muslim world- but the act of taking their lives in the first place- the act we ask our young men to engage in- that by nature lowers a person’s view of another group.
Yes- professionals should be able to distinguish between the enemy and the degrading of another person- but in practice this distinction isn’t always so easy- so let’s punish the men- in a way commensurate with the act- but jail? No way.
Okay- we were also treated to the public hysteria over killers walking the streets of Mississippi- you know- Barbour [Governor] let out all the rapists- child molesters and killers!
Are we seeing somewhat of a political overreaction? Sure. Did he pardon some people that should not have been pardoned? Probably.
But you have some of the opposing political figures in the state- saying that they are trying to track the killers down and they can’t find them.
Wow- you mean all Barbour’s gang are on the loose- stalking women and children right now?
All governors have in fact pardoned killers in the past. Now- should this act be done sparingly? Yes. Because you are indeed wiping the record clean- and in cases of sexual assault- well the public might not know who they are dealing with [like getting hired at a school or something].
But in truth- about 90 % of the guys pardoned were already free- and many of them were out of prison for years. The pardon allows them to find jobs [because many can’t get work when the rap sheet shows up] and maybe become an asset to society in some way.
So not all the pardons- are these 200 killers out on the run! They were not accurately describing the thing- and the Dem. Attorney General who keeps going on the air saying they are doing their best to get the killers- but they ‘hit the ground running’ well he’s simply playing the game.
And let’s end with ‘the Vulture’. Yes- Gingrich and Perry have gone after Romney and they pulled out the Capitalist Pig card.
They are attacking Romney over his years at Bain Capital- because he was a Corporate Raider and he cost people their jobs.
Then some on the Right have gone after those who are making this attack- they are saying that conservatives should not be making a charge like this- because all Romney [or corporate raiders] do is simply a part of Capitalism- and should not be questioned.
Who’s right?
The movie they are using as an example is Wall St. - they are kinda saying that the picture the attackers are trying to present is one where Romney looks like Gordon Gecko.
I think a better movie would be Pretty Woman. If you remember- Richard Gere played the role of a corporate raider- and this movie really tells the story better [though the movie is about a prostitute!]
Gere comes to town to shut down a shipping business [actually builds ships!] and during the process he sees the point of view of the older owner of the business- and Gere instead says let’s try and keep this business open- yes- to make money- but also to fulfill the role of being a good corporate public servant- that does care about the workers as well as the stock holders.
This idea is noble- and I think in some ways we should bring this type of ‘just thinking’ into the Capitalist picture.
Now- not all ‘profit’ making is wrong- we know that. And if there comes a time that a business has to shut the doors because that’s the only way for other parts of the investing firm to be viable- okay- that’s fine.
But there is nothing wrong with asking ‘capitalist pigs’ to not only see the bottom line- but to also view the worker as an asset- and trying to keep their jobs should also be a goal of business- not just cash.
And there are many C.E.O.’s who do teach this- years ago I read Stephen Covey’s books- and he does talk about this.
So all in all- there is some truth to the attacks- to ask the question.
Okay- that’s it for now- lets pray for these Marines- they are taking lots of heat- and sure- maybe they screwed up big time- but they did nothing worthy of prison or court martial- and we should all know that.
1775- WHAT DID HE SAY?
Let’s do a little review today. I know the history posts go a little long sometimes- and many Christians do not see the value in studying church history.
But I have found over the years that a lot of independent type churches- good men- good people- but cut off from the broader church- well these churches have a tendency to get off in a rut- a particular doctrine or style of teaching- and after a while it becomes impossible to get these good church folk back on the balanced course.
A few examples. Many years ago- as a young Pastor- I had lots of good Pastor friends who too were doing their best to do what they felt God wanted.
At the time- I began having difficulty with many of the most popular interpretations of the bible that these good men were using.
After a while I realized that some of the stuff was so off course- that if they didn’t make some major course corrections at the time- that they were going to end up spending their entire Pastorate teaching stuff that is out right false.
I have talked a lot about this over the years- and the examples are too numerous to cover them all- but a good example is the ‘Camel going thru the eye of a Needle’ verse.
One time Jesus and his men were going thru town and a young rich guy asks Jesus what he must do to be saved.
A pretty straight forward question- right to the point.
Jesus tells the guy to keep the law- the guy asks which ones.
Ah- now you’re digging yourself in brother.
So Jesus says to love God and his neighbor- these are the top ones.
He asks ‘and who is my neighbor’?
Jesus goes on and gives an explanation- and he also tells the guy to go and sell all he has and give it to the poor- and follow him.
The guy goes away sad because he was rich.
Then Jesus says ‘it’s harder for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven than for a Camel to go thru the Eye of a Needle’.
What?
The disciples [I think Peter?] say ‘then who can be saved’?
Jesus says with men it is impossible- but not with God- with God all things are possible.
[just a quick side note- I haven’t read all these stories in a while- trust me- they are all in the bible- but I might have mixed a few together- but the main point stays the same]
Okay- in context- what could Jesus be saying about the camel and the needle?
It sure seems like he’s using a figure of speech that would mean ‘look- the guy is too attached to his money to fully give himself over to being a follower of me- maybe down the road he will change- but he’s not ready yet’.
Seems reasonable to me- don’t you think?
But wait- in the group of pastors/teachers that were popular at the time- one of the main teachings was how to get rich- and they saw financial increase as the main thing- I mean that’s what they focused on all the time.
So what do you do with verses like these?
You simply change them- you make them say what you want.
So the ‘true’ explanation for the Camel and the Needle became ‘the Eye of the Needle is the name of a low passage way thru the wall into the city- and the merchants- if they have lots of stuff- well the Camel has to stoop low to get thru’.
Aha- so what seems to mean ‘rich folk will have a hard time making the kingdom’ really means something else- as a matter of fact- it means the opposite- because the Camels that have to ‘scooch’ belong to the owners who have a lot of goods- thus the Camel has to get low.
Okay- maybe as rank amateurs this stuff was not the unpardonable sin- but many of these men are still teaching this type of stuff- and this one example is the tip of the iceberg- I could go on for a long time quoting all them but that’s not the point for now.
The main point is- if Christians separate themselves from the broader church- not just talking about ‘going to church’ but talking about the broad understanding that the people of God have- the books and teachings of those who have gone before us- not just one small group- but the whole community- then we will avoid these kinds of pitfalls.
As we do a few more posts in the coming weeks on church history- we will see this was one of the things restored by the Protestants Reformers during the 16th century.
Luther restored what’s referred to as the Literal Sense- that when you read the bible- you should be able to take it at face value- as much as possible.
Sure- you also want to ‘hear God’ speak in a personal way- but if what your hearing is the exact opposite of what the text is saying- well then we do have a problem.
1776- HE’S JUST WEIRD
Yesterday I caught the 15th Repub debate [too many!] and you had the questioners and pres. hopefuls try their best.
Juan Williams [the Black Fox news guy] did ask a question that has come up before on a reference Newt uses ‘Obama is the food stamp pres.’
Now- when this first came out- Newt and others defended the phrase- they said that more people have been put on food stamps under Obama than any other pres.
The other view said that Newt is playing to the racist crowd- in an underhanded way- and the term is really a race thing.
Okay- what do I think? I have no idea- nor does anybody else. So instead of insisting it’s a racist thing- just let the people judge.
Those in the Black community will be voting over 90% for Obama- is this just because he is Black?
Some say ‘no- we vote Dem historically’ okay- but in politics- if you had 97 % of Whites refusing to vote for a Black man- well you would call that racist.
This past Friday the S and P downgraded 9 European countries debt. France, Italy- Spain- a few more.
Now- this was no surprise- but some were hoping it would not come so soon.
Then why did it happen?
The ratings agency said the actions the Euro Zone countries are taking are simply not sufficient enough to deal with the problem.
The numbers also came out on our trade deficit- they showed that our sales to Europe went down a lot- more than expected. So the growing Euro recession is indeed going to have an effect on the U.S. economy.
One of the nations that got downgraded was France. France and Germany are the 2 biggest contributors to the bailout fund for the other nations.
Frances downgrade will make it more expensive for them to borrow- and will put pressure on the bailout fund. Germany was not downgraded.
As I watch the news- survey the scene for this coming year- I see a lot of denial- in politics- economics- etc.
I see both sides of the aisle justifying their skewed views in order to promote- or attack- the side they don’t like.
I saw a clip of some sick guy in a wheel chair- weighed about 80 pounds- he’s wheeled up to Romney. He's asking him a question at some campaign rally.
You can barely hear the guy- he’s sick and weak and frail. The question ‘do you really want to put me in jail because I need to smoke weed to live’.
After a few more times repeating the question- Romney catches on.
He does tell the man- in a nice way- that he does not support medical marijuana.
So as Romney walks away- his liberal buddy shouts ‘are you going to walk away from a man who’s in a wheel chair and ignore his plight’!
Yea- you tell him Mr. righteous.
Romney says he didn’t ignore him- he answered him.
Then you had the little girl ask Bachman why she did not want her 2 mommies to love each other.
And the other night- one of the major news networks was covering the gay marriage issue- they showed 2 of the sweetest grandmas- you know- they were in love.
I mean these nice ladies looked like they were about to make homemade candy apples for the trick or treaters.
They were the example they found to show us how evil Santorum and all the other ‘anti gay marriage’ folk are.
What’s wrong with all this? These lopsided ways to showcase a story- to start with either the worst/best example of a thing [the anti gay groups also show the gay parade marchers- in drag- when they discuss the subject] this is pitting one side against another- and it does not help the conversation.
About 6 months ago I was watching MSNBC and I heard Matthews talking about the pres campaign. He said it is possible that if Romney gets nominated and some on the right [Evangelicals] don’t support him because he belongs to this ‘weird’ religion- that he might be a flawed candidate.
He then went on and said that Romney’s name is not Mitt- its Willard.
I guess its true- I really don’t care to check.
Then as the weeks went by- he kept talking about Romany as Willard- he pushed on his Mormon faith- and last night I heard him say ‘watch this response Romney gives- I mean- he’s just weird- that’s the only way to describe him’.
Ah- he waited all these months- thinking he’s secretly sending the White House messages- and if they don’t pick them up- darn- Mathews will carry the load himself.
Mathews was incensed when people used the middle name of the president- his description of ‘Willard’ and his religion as ‘weird’ would never fly if you were talking about a Muslim.
As the year progresses- I think we would all do well to try and focus on the actual positions people have- don’t read too much into the paranoid scenarios- from the right or the left.
I will end with one more example. Bob Herbert- N.Y. Time’s columnist. During the Obama campaign tried to ‘expose’ the secret racist messages that were tied into the opposing commercials [run by Bill and Hillary].
In one commercial they showed you a picture of the Washington Monument- and a few other historic sites.
Herbert went on to say that the showing of ‘this structure’ [it’s a tall structure- ‘sticking out’ into the empty sky].
Herbert said that the subliminal message was ‘watch out for the Black man- Obama- because he- like all Blacks- has one thing on his mind’.
Of course you see what he thinks the showing of the structure meant.
So as we navigate the year- thru the Willard’s and the dying wheel chair pot smokers- let’s hear both sides and try and simply choose our candidate based on these things- not on his color- or his religious views- or on any other of a number of accusations made by the opposing side.
We just celebrated Martin Luther King day- he was a great man who taught non violent protests- who said we should judge people on the content of their character and not the color of their skin- I couldn’t agree more.
1777- SHIP WRECK
By now I’m sure you have all heard the audio conversation between the captain of the Italian cruise ship and the Coast guard.
As a news watcher- when I first heard the tragic story- I thought ‘geez- let me give the Italian brother a break’ you know- as an Italian myself- yeah- I want to root as much as possible for the home land.
I’m still mad that I don’t have a Churchill or FDR figure in my past history.
Sure- I’ve read the history- and for a short time as a kid I tried to convince myself that El Duce had some honorable qualities- but heck- who was I kidding.
So as the story broke- I heard Captain Schettino’s side of it. He insisted he acted heroically- that he was the last man off the ship and he struck something in the water that no one knew was there [Italian Loch Ness?]
But the audio recording told the whole thing. Yes- I sat in anticipation- hoping for the best- maybe hearing the Captain saying ‘I refuse to abandon ship- for the love of homeland and country’ heck- you never know.
But as I heard the Coast guard telling the captain ‘get back on the ship- what are you doing’.
Schettino said it was dark and they had no lights.
The guard says ‘you have people stuck on the ship- some are dying’.
Captain ‘how many are on the ship’?
Guard ‘I don’t know Schettino- you are supposed to be telling me’!
Damn it Schettino- damn it.
Okay- don’t want to make fun- yes- it’s tragic- and people have died. But obviously we need to have some better policing of these cruise ship guys- it seems as if they have gone off course before- doing a favor for a fellow crew member- and these guys messed up big time.
Are there any famous ship wreck stories in the bible? Sure- Acts chapter 27.
The apostle Paul is on his way to Rome- he is a prisoner at the time.
The ship they are on gets caught up in a storm- things look bad.
Paul prays and tells his shipmates ‘don’t worry- an angel appeared to me and assured me that we will all survive’.
They try to last the storm out by staying afloat from shore- then after a few days they try to make it for land- to beach the ship.
But some of the crew try a daring stunt- they pretend they are going to lower some anchors but instead they are lowering their little get away lifeboats [yes- they were pulling a Schettino!]
And Paul tells the Roman soldier ‘look- the angel said we will all make it- but the deal will only work if everyone stays on the ship’.
They cut the ropes to the lifeboat and head for shore.
On the way they hit a reef and the ship gets stuck and starts to break up.
They abandon ship- and swim to shore.
Okay- good story.
By the way- this chapter gives lots of historical events and places.
A few years ago an archeologist read this story form the bible and traced down the exact spot where the wreck might be- 2 thousand years later.
He found the actual anchors to the boat.
So this week hasn’t been the best for the reputation of my homeland- I mean the S and P just can’t wait to downgrade the debt- and then we have to hear old brother Schettino being rebuked by the Coast Guard ‘Schettino- okay- get on our boat- but your gonna be in big trouble’.
Yes Schettino- you sure are.
1778- TO DIG [PIPE] OR NOT- THAT IS THE QUESTION
Okay- hate to carry over the last post- but I figured we gave Schettino a day to gather his thoughts- maybe realize the error of his way and man up.
So as I watched the news coverage- the Japanese animated videos that depict the Captain in a life boat- yelling back to the ship ‘stay on board’ and then the animation of him walking the plank- I realized things are not playing well for my Italian friend.
Then the last straw- word came out that Schettino told the authorities that he was not abandoning ship- but as the boat rocked he slipped and fell into the lifeboat.
Oh my poor Schettino- please stop- for the love of our homeland- please!
Okay I saw the ‘big’ news of the day- Obama decided not to go ahead with the Canadian oil sands pipeline.
This pipeline was a deal that was in the works for a few years. Canada has lots of this type of oil and they wanted to pipe it down to the gulf states [I think here in Tx.?] so we could refine the stuff.
This last year it became a hot button issue for both Repubs and the Pres.
The Repubs said it would be a jobs maker- and also help with our oil supply.
Some Dems [environmentalists] said it would be a bad thing. Though you did have some union guys who wanted it.
As a news watcher/reader- what most of the insiders thought was that the deal was going to pass- and the Obama administration did ‘signal’ to Canada that the deal would be on- just wait a little while [politics].
Of course if you have a major deal like this- the company does need to know ahead of time so they can make the preparations and all.
So when Obama said no yesterday- it was a surprise. Canada put out a statement and said they would re submit the application- and they ‘expected’ that it would be approved quickly.
They sounded mad- like they did indeed get the assurance that it would go thru- and then it didn’t.
Why did the Pres say no?
Well he says the 2 months ‘limit’ on his decision [imposed by congress] was not enough time to study whether or not it was an environmentally safe deal.
It should be noted that the EPA- who this last year has been known to make ‘over’ protective decisions- did approve this plan.
The Presidents job council recently recommended that it should pass.
And some pro Obama supporters did want it.
Then why?
The Pres. has made the decision [this has been reported] to go hard this campaign year against congress- kind of stir up his base and show himself as someone not to be pushed around- so it is possible that’s what he did here.
Real big deal? Not really- but political.
While this deal wasn’t as great as those on the right made it sound- it also wasn’t a bad thing.
Right now we are very close to a shooting war with Iran in the Strait of Hormuz. Why?
1-5th of the world’s oil is shipped thru this waterway [from the Persian Gulf].
So the U.S. has a Naval port off Bahrain- and we have treated this waterway as a national defense issue- that if Iran [or any other nation] ever threatened to close the waterway- that we would go to war if necessary to defend it.
Okay- just as a policy- say if I told you that there was gas for your car down the street- that the field down your block had a lot of gas- but we need to dig it up and it might be a mess- maybe it might pollute the air down the block- but that’s the cost for the stuff.
Then you say ‘wait- what about that field across the lake- if we dig there it won’t look as bad as the field down the block’.
Okay- but the owner of that field actually hates you- they will use some of the money you will pay to promote terrorists who will someday kill your kids- Oh- and the lake is filled with dangerous stuff- so we will also have to patrol the lake for ever- just to make sure no one stops the oil ships crossing back over.
So as an overall policy- we have chosen to limit the environmental danger- and the price way pay for this is very high.
So we as a nation have to decide what’s more vital- the lives of our kids on these ships- or the risk of a possible oil spill from a pipe.
These issues usually get lost on the right or the left- but if the country can’t have a serious discussion- then in the end we all will lose.
We will be just like Schettino- looking for that life boat.
1779- KEN ANDERSON [district judge- Williamson county- TX] TEXAS SIZED INJUSTICE
Yesterday I read another Texas ‘Justice’ [injustice] story and thought it was time to do another post on this problem.
The case was about a disabled deaf man- who only spoke thru sign language [can’t really defend yourself that way in court].
He was accused of molesting a child and sent to prison for many years. Eventually another person who had committed multiple child molestation crimes was found to be guilty instead.
It took many years for the real evidence to come out- and they finally freed the innocent man.
The statement from the prosecutor who wrongly convicted him said ‘that’s what we do in Texas- we free the innocent and put the guilty in prison’. Huh?
And just how did the innocent get put in prison? You framed the guy- that’s how.
Another famous case is the case of Michael Morton. I have read abut 3-4 articles on this case this past year.
Morton was a young man married to his high school sweetheart. He had a young son and one night he went to work and when he got home the next day he found his wife- dead in their home.
He called the cops and also reported that her purse was stolen.
The investigators also found a bloody bandana in a field behind the home and the 3.5 year old son told the police that another man killed his mom- not his dad.
Despite all of this- prosecutor KEN ANDERSON- got a conviction on the guy and sent him away.
They said he killed his wife because she refused to have sex with him [how in the heck did they come up with that?]
He always maintained his innocence and after many years of fighting to get the bandana tested for DNA- KEN ANDERSON fought to keep it from being tested- they found the DNA of another man- who had already committed similar crimes- on the bandana.
The lawyers for Morton also found out that the prosecutor withheld the fact that the son told the investigators that another person killed his mom.
Even the mother of the victim said she thought her son and law was innocent.
Morton was recently released- he is now 57- he was a young man when he went to prison.
His son- and his family all went on with their lives without him- thinking he was the killer of the mom.
It was also revealed that the cops knew that the wife’s credit card- the card the husband said was stolen- was indeed used a few days after the murder.
The prosecutor- now a district judge- obviously engaged in deception in this case.
Yet he sits on the bench today- still acting in his capacity as a judge.
These past few years as I have read lots of the cases of innocent people being framed by Texas courts- I have come to see that in many of these cases- when the prosecutors take a stance in court and say ‘this man killed his wife’ or ‘this man molested this child’ when they do this- and it’s an innocent man they are accusing- the bible does indeed call this a serious sin.
It is baring false witness- under oath.
Now- many Christians- even those in these positions- do not realize the seriousness of this offense.
This act of taking the position of the accuser is not a biblical principle of justice found in scripture.
The biblical system of law and courts found in the bible- the one instituted by God- does speak about having 2 or more witnesses in a case- and of course we have a judge who decides- but there is no accuser- who actually makes a false charge against an innocent man- yet this act happens a lot in our current system.
I believe cases like Morton’s should carry criminal penalties against the accuser/prosecutor- especially if it is found out later that he engaged in unlawful activity to obtain the conviction- and then did all in his power to suppress the evidence from coming out.
Anderson fought for 7 years to prevent the bandana from being tested.
It is inconceivable for Anderson to have been aware of the use of the dead woman’s card- and the fact that other witnesses said there was a strange man roaming the area that night- and then to have the bloody bandana found in the field.
For all of this evidence to have been known by him- and to still go after the husband- it is truly criminal in my view.
As Christians- yes we believe in justice and law- but to convict a disabled deaf man- because he can’t really defend himself- or to send an innocent man away for all those years- for others to have raised his son- this is not just- this is unjust.
1780- KENYAN MUSLIM- OPEN MARRIAGE- AND SAUL ALYNSKI
Last night we had another Repub debate. As the week wore on we were also treated to all the various views that divide the right from the left in our country.
Some elderly woman referred to Obama as a Kenyan Muslim during a Santorum rally.
John King ‘infamously’ began a debate by asking Newt whether or not his ex was telling the truth when she says he wanted an open marriage.
And Newt mentioned that Obama is a radical after his mentor Saul Alynski.
To those ‘in the know’ well- we have heard this name before- as a news consumer who comments on all things political- well I’ll admit I listen to all sides.
One of the biggest ‘sides’ to hear is Rush. He is the most influential radio host in the right wing world.
I also listen to the voices on the left- I watch Al Jazeera news [not left per se- but they air on Link TV- a progressive media station] as well as Gores Current TV network.
So over the last few years Alynski has come up a lot.
He is basically this guy who gave Rules- procedures to implement change on a big scale.
Many on the left used his book to try and change stuff- and Obama has been influenced by his writings before.
So when you drop the name- you’re basically playing into the narrative that Obama is a left wing radical.
Of course the left goes ballistic when ever some old white lady thinks Obama is Muslim ‘how dare anyone ever even think this!’
Why do some people [not me] think this?
This last year I have watched some on the left try to depict our President as a young Black kid who was brought up by a single mom- played basketball and hung out with his friends at the corner inner city park- and when this narrative is given- it’s contrasted with the rights ‘picture’ of Obama as a different type of person.
The left defends Obama against the rights false view of him.
Now- as someone who does not hate the Pres- and also has taken the Pres at his word on both the Muslim thing and the Birth Certificate thing- I must admit that some on the right have some ‘evidence’ to go by when they perceive Obama as a different type of person.
Now- when I say ‘different’ I mean the upbringing of Obama was not the classic ‘grew up in the inner city’ type upbringing. Now- I don’t use the ‘inner city’ story/view when I speak about our Pres- because not only is that an incorrect view- but those on the left that use it [MSNBC- Matthews] do not realize that their very use of the narrative is in itself racist.
For anyone- on the left r right- to try and defend a Black man by saying ‘look- he’s just like any other Black kid USA- hung out in the ghetto with his buddies’ geez- you call that a defense of the Black Man?
But the actual story of Obama is different- and there are certain aspects of it that do play into the Kenyan/Muslim theme.
First- the president was raised most of his life in Hawaii [not Chicago] and as a young kid he did live in Indonesia for a few years- Indonesia is the most populous Muslim country in the world.
He did indeed go to school with Muslim boys- and spent a few years in this type of environment.
Second- Obama said on national TV ‘My Muslim Faith’.
3rd- Hillary Clinton released a picture of Obama during the campaign that showed Obama in full Muslim garb.
4th- Obama wrote a book- Dreams of my Father- in which he explained his journey as a kid who grew up without his dad in the home- and how he later came to learn his father’s struggle- a different one than the Black Civil rights struggle in our country- but yet a struggle for the Black man to be free from Colonial rule.
Kenya- as many other African countries- was ruled by European powers for many years.
These Black families were actually raised with another man’s culture as theirs- that’s why in the war in Libya- you had Gadhaffi using mercenaries that came from the Sub Saharan part of the continent- and these Black fighters spoke French!
So Obama explained- not in a bad way- that he came to grips with his father’s struggle- called anti colonialism- and how he also came to respect his culture as he grew up.
Now- his dad of course is Muslim- he named Obama with an openly Muslim type name- and Obama has made statements that he is Muslim.
One more thing- before Obama started running for pres- he told an ambassador from another country [Egypt?] that his faith too was Muslim.
This political figure has stayed by this story till this day.
Okay- after reading all this- the question might be ‘how can anybody think he is not Muslim!’
Like I said- I give the pres the benefit of the doubt- but it would not be a stretch for some elderly White woman to think this- and when the media act like ‘where in the world would anybody ever get an idea like this- or how could anyone ever think that Obama might be ‘anti- colonial’.
Well you can see where these ideas come from- and they are not as far out there as some would make you think.
Okay- these things- and the medias unwillingness to truly vet Obama during his run for pres- I mean Obama said in one of his books that he did ‘a little blow’ in college [Cocaine].
There was never one question on ‘where did you get the blow from’ or ‘how long did you use’ or ‘how much is a little’.
I mean it is illegal to do- and if you open up a pres debate by asking ‘your ex wife says’ well than you might want to ask- just once- how did you obtain the blow.
But the media steered clear of anything that might be deemed racially tinged- and they gave Obama a pass.
So that’s why the Gingrich line works so well- his attack against the medias love affair with the pres- most discerning news watchers see this.
But wait- if you only watch MSNBC- you would think that Obama grew up in the inner city- shooting hoops with his buddies at the corner park- yeah- if you watch MSNBC that’s what you might think- and you wouldn’t even know that a thought like that is racist.
1781- MAJORITY RULE?
I was going to finish the last post on the Protestant Reformation study we started last month- but we do have a few news items that I think we should cover.
First- for those of you who haven’t read my posts for a while- you need to know that I critique both Repubs and Dems- sometimes severely.
For instance I was [am] a very ‘anti war’ person. I felt the Iraq war- and the long land occupation in Afghanistan were bad mistakes.
I do feel we were indeed justified to ‘hit back’ after 9-11- but the massive ground wars- and all the various reasons given- well I just felt the strategy was flawed.
I also have sided with Progressives on immigration- I take a very non conservative- pro liberal view on immigration- almost to the degree of being a ‘Sanctuary City’ supporter- yeah- that bad.
So I say that to say this- when I critique the President- trust me- I have done it with both sides of the aisle.
Yesterday I read a scathing column by Maureen Dowd [NY Times] and she described the President as someone who was aloof- isolated and has surrounded himself with Chicago insider friends- who all tell him that the American people are not worthy of him.
Now- for whatever reason- just about all the articles Dowd has done this past year have been strongly criticizing Obama.
Dowd- as well as the whole N.Y. Times crew- are pretty liberal in their politics.
Then why do this?
Another NY Times reporter just put out a book on Obama- she said basically the same thing- and she covered the internal conflicts in the White House- things between Michele Obama and the staff [former chief of staff Rahm Immanuel].
The book [The Obama’s] was basically a tell all. She talked about some heated arguments that the staff had over Michele.
When Michele Obama was asked about the portrayal- she said that she’s tired of other people [White people] calling her an angry Black woman.
I heard Jodie say she did not understand why she said this- because in the book she does not bring up color- simply reported the facts.
The progressive media [liberal view] love to use the race card against those on the right [I am not on the right!] but if you dare use it against them- they become incensed [Geraldine Ferraro- Bill- Hillary Clinton- etc.]
So for various reasons- the more liberal media have decided to not back Obama the way they did at the start.
Now- the point here is not simply political gossip- but the reality of how much we see/read in the news is truly honest- and how much is spin that prevents the true story from coming out.
These past few weeks we have had some disturbing news about the so called Arab Spring countries.
Egypt held their first parliamentary elections and voted in a majority of Islamists. Now- many have said that sure- the Muslim Brotherhood has made great gains- but that’s ‘the will of the people’.
I heard former pres Jimmy Carter say this.
His team went over to monitor the elections [he has a group that does this] and they said ‘yes- the Muslims took over- but we must all respect the voice of the people- if that’s what the majority wants- then that’s a great thing’.
What’s wrong with this? The fact is the Muslim Brotherhood do want to institute Shariah law in the land.
Now- many have chosen to work with this group [Obama has] and the simple reality is they are a force and we will have to deal with them some day.
So fine- I understand.
But how many of us would be singing the praises of a right wing Christian group- who wanted to institute law based on the 10 commandments- and wherever this law is already enacted they execute gays- subjugate women- and even kill the women who commit ‘adultery’ [which in some cases means you were raped].
Now- that’s Shariah law. Would Carter be saying ‘well- if that’s what the Americans want- to vote in a bunch of right wing Christians who will do this- then we must respect that this is the voice of the people’.
What voice?
Where are the voices defending those who are being oppressed and killed under these regimes.
Our ‘dear friends’ in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain- they are all guilty of these human rights abuses- yet we are silent.
It so sad that Carter- and those in the media who I have heard praising the fact that this is ‘the voice of the people’.
It makes no difference if the majority wanted it- if what they want is still oppressive- then we should not be so quick to praise it.
I read 2 stories this week about Libya- the headlines were ‘Gadhaffi’s forces take back city’.
What?
I thought the guy was dead.
Well yes- he is. But his side have regrouped and did take back a key city in the West- Banni Walid.
Now- for them to have done this is big news- but you wouldn’t know that by the coverage- because the media are not truly covering it [the articles I read were small and hidden in the back pages].
The other Libyan article was even more surprising- protestors rose up in the Eastern city of Ben Ghazi- a city that has been under Rebel Influence for many years- this is the eastern City that sparked the original protests.
People rose up and stormed the official government headquarters and ransacked the place.
The new leader of the country was hiding in the back.
Iraq- since we pulled out a few weeks ago- that country is rapidly descending into a Civil War and it looks like they will split up between the Kurds- the Sunni’s and the Shiites.
Hate to admit this- but Biden was right.
So- after this bad track record- all the places where we have backed the Arab Spring- they are worse off now than before- that’s a fact.
They are more unstable- the Christian population is in much more danger- and none of them have been able to elect and institute a better regime than the one they kicked out.
So what are we doing about that?
Nothing- instead we are continuing with our call for ‘you bad leaders need to step down’ [Syria].
Many people in Syria do not want Assad to go- many of the Christians in the country fear that if he topples- they will face the same persecution that their brothers are facing in Egypt.
When the Islamist parties take over- that’s terrible for the Christian minorities in these countries.
So why no big media coverage of the failures over these things?
It just would not look good for Obama in an election year.
But like I said at the top- some are growing tired of what they see as an aloof president [the liberal press said this- not the right] and as they grow tired they begin reporting the stuff- both the good and the bad.
I have no appetite for how many arguments Michele Obama had with Rahm Emmanuel- or how ‘depressed’ Obama is [the Times almost ran a story on this- they decided not to run it].
But I am concerned that we report the truth about the Arab Spring- that if the toppling of these leaders has lead to great instability- and the death of many Christians- then we should not be saying ‘well- this is the will of the people’.
Whether or not the majority agree to oppress the minority- it’s still wrong- and it’s a shame that the Western media won’t report it.
1782- PROTESTANT REFORMATION CONCLUSION
Today let’s finish up the study on the Protestant Reformation. We left off on Luther disputing with the church over the doctrine of how a person becomes just in the sight of God- is it by works or faith?
Now- to the surprise of many Protestants [and Catholics!] both sides agreed that a person cannot be justified by works.
Yes- the Catholic Church rejected what was known as Pelagianism. In the early centuries of the church there was a Catholic priest- named Pelagius- who taught that people had the ability within themselves to obey Gods law and become saved that way.
He rejected the doctrine of original sin and another famous bishop- Saint Augustine- would refute Pelagius and teach salvation comes by the Grace of God. The official Catholic position was to reject Pelagius and accept Augustine.
Okay- then where’s the difference?
The church council that spells it out is the Council of Trent [named after the Italian city where the council took place in the 1500’s- Trento].
This council is often referred to as the Counter Reformation. The church rejected the Protestant line- but also acknowledged the need for reform and made some changes.
This is the council where the church rejects Pelagianism- and also says the position of Luther [Justification by Faith ALONE] was flawed.
The church appealed to the New Testament letter of Saint James- where James uses an example from the life of Abraham [found in Genesis 22] where Abraham obeys God and is willing to sacrifice his son Isaac on an altar.
Of course this never happens- God was simply testing Abraham- but James says this act of obedience justified him in Gods sight.
James says ‘see how a man is justified by works- and not by faith ALONE’.
The argument from Rome was Faith played THE major role in justification- but was not sufficient by itself- there had to be righteous works eventually associated with it in order for God to say ‘you are just’ [saved].
Luther disagreed and said God justified Abraham before he had good works- we find this in Genesis 15. God says to Abraham ‘look- count all the stars- so shall your offspring be’ and Walla- the bible also says Abraham was justified in God's eyes the moment he believed the promise.
Who’s right?
Actually they both are.
I have taught this a few times over the years- and it would take too much time to re-do right now.
But I believe James and Paul [the 2 who debate this in the bible] are simply looking at different aspects of salvation/justification.
Paul emphasized faith- and James showed us how true faith always has works with it.
When you read the statements that came out from the council of Trent- some of them do seem to indicate that both sides might have been talking past each other at some points.
In the heat of the day they were too quick to condemn the other side- without really trying hard to achieve unity [like politics!].
The 6th session of Trent was the one where the church dealt with justification [how we become saved in Gods sight].
Rome made a distinction between mortal and Venial sin in the council- the church said that Baptism is the INSTRUMENTAL CAUSE of justification. Yet faith is the Root- Foundation and Initial act that justifies.
Rome also taught that Mortal sin kills the grace in the soul that brings justification- and when a person commits a mortal sin- they need the ‘2nd plank of justification’ in order to be brought back into a state of Grace.
This 2nd Plank is the Sacrament of Penance [confession]. Catholic Moral Theologians use an example to show the difference between Mortal and Venial sin.
Drinking- if you take a drink [alcohol] not a sin. If you get tipsy- Venial- and if you get flat drunk- mortal.
This is a true teaching by the way- not making this up.
Catholic scholars are not in total agreement on all the Mortal/Venial sins.
Some teach that missing Mass on Sunday is a Mortal sin.
I just threw this in to show you the debates that take place.
The teachings from Trent are referred to as Tridentine.
The Protestants [early on] rejected the belief that a person can lose Gods grace once he has it- later on the Protestants would divide- severely- over this teaching- Predestination and the Perseverance of the Saints.
But early on all the major Reformers did indeed teach this.
Luther believed in the doctrine of Predestination just as much- if not more- than John Calvin.
But sometimes in these history shows they get this wrong and say Luther and Calvin disagreed on it- that’s a common mistake that you hear every so often.
Luther actually wrote a book dedicated to the subject [The Bondage of the Will] Calvin never wrote a book solely on the subject.
Okay- as we end this brief study of the Protestant Reformation- you could also call it a primer on Catholic doctrine [short one].
Why is it important that we study this?
In John chapter 17 Jesus said that he desired unity for all of Gods people- and many of these divisions- which date back 500 years- are commonly misunderstood on both sides.
It is common in our day to run across an ex Catholic who might say ‘you know- I left the church because I don’t believe I need to confess to a priest’ or ‘the Catholic church teaches you are saved by works’.
The original Reformers did not have a problem with confession- the Lutherans carried the practice over into their communion.
And like I just showed you- the Catholic church rejected the doctrine of being saved ‘by works’ [Pelagianism] and simply emphasized the teaching found in the bible- the book of James- and focused more on James than Paul [who the protestants focus on].
So yes- there are still differences- but if we are not informed- then it makes it harder to strive for unity- and at the end of the day God does desire unity for all his people.
The other day I quoted the great Civil rights leader- MLK. In one of his famous speeches that’s played when we celebrate his life- you hear Martin say that not only was he seeking unity among the races- but also in the church.
He said he wanted to see Catholics and Protestants- as well as Blacks and Whites- sit down together- he referred to us all as Gods kids.
I think we should strive to achieve the desire of Martin- and Jesus.
Amen.
1783- THE BISHOP
Kinda wanted to cover some contemporary issues going on in the ‘church world’ being we just spent a few weeks in the ancient history stuff.
But it might take too long- some current debates in Evangelical circles concern a recent round table discussion with T.D. Jakes- a man I like- but he got in some hot water, again- because of his background as a Pentecostal Oneness minister.
This group has disagreed with historic Christianity on the Trinity- and over the years some of the Reformed brothers [Protestants] have hit him hard on the issue.
So in the recent discussion it happened again- basically Jakes says he holds to the Trinitarian view today [One God- 3 Persons] though his background stated it by saying ‘One God- 3 manifestations’.
You say ‘gee John- doesn’t sound like something to kill each other over’- well- we do- trust me- we do.
I have known and been friends with Pentecostal Oneness brothers before- and I personally accept them as Christians.
No- I don’t use the words they use when defining the Trinity- but I don’t completely out and out reject them a total heretics.
I used to listen to Jakes- and for the most part I felt comfortable with him- the main reason I do not tune in to these guys anymore is the whole persona thing- ministries- ‘churches’ huge organizations- who for the most part are clearing houses for the well intended Pastors- but the entire image of the ministry becomes the persona of a man.
This type of atmosphere actually violates the principles we find in the bible- that the churches in the bible did not have the image/gifts of a person- no matter how good that person is- as the central organizing principle of the group.
Basically- in the bible- the churches were truly centered around the person of Christ.
And in many contemporary situations- well- everything [especially the ‘tithes’] usually goes to the promoting of the image of a person [TV- teaching materials- etc.].
And very often millions are spent promoting a person- which is a violation of the principles of leadership we find in the New Testament.
So anyway- I said that to simply say I always liked Jakes- and yes- as somewhat of a history buff- sure- I know the difficulty with his past connections [the actual term for the ‘heresy’ is called Modalism- which describes the belief that God is one who manifests in 3- they don’t say ‘3 persons’].
So I know the scoop- but the reason I don t watch/hear these men anymore is because I just get turned off by the whole ‘dial 1-800- Bishop’ type thing- I mean I like reading/studying from ‘real’ Bishops.
Men like N.T. Wright- former Bishop in the Church of England- or Bishop Sheen- a popular Catholic Bishop who you can catch on the tube every so often- yes- ‘real’ bishops in the sense that they are well versed in a wide field of learning- Philosophy- scholarship- church history- yeah- I like hearing Bishops.
But in today’s world- you have Bishops ‘ordaining’ Bishops by the boat loads- and when the way you contact them is thru a 1-800 number- well then I think we have a problem.
1784- 4TH QUARTER
Okay- it’s the end of the month and I have yet to comment on the last quarter of last year.
Those of you who have read my posts near the end of the year- you saw that I was more bearish than bullish on the economy.
Some smart guys were beginning to say they felt the last 3 months of the year might show a 3.5 percent growth rate.
I did think these guys were too ‘exuberant’ [Greenspans Irrational exuberance- remember?] But I figured I’d wait and see- and sure enough the numbers are out- and I was ‘more’ right than them.
The economy grew at a 2.8 annualized rate in the last quarter- not good at all.
The Fed is now predicting that for 2012 we will see about 2.5 percent growth for the year.
And some are now saying that we might even slip below the 2 % mark in the first quarter.
Simply put- these numbers mean we are not going to see the economy heat up any time soon.
The Euro zone?
Yes- the credit rating agencies are all downgrading these shaky European economies. Greece is still trying to solve its debt crisis.
Let me give you a local example of how this affects our own economy.
Here where I live I am surrounded by Naval Air bases. I used to be stationed at the one in Kingsville- and I live about 200 yards from the one in Corpus Christi.
About 20 miles across the bay- if I walk down the block and look over- I can see the former base that was in Ingleside. This was a newer base that did all the training for our mine warfare guys.
So a few years ago this base fell victim to the base closure commission and it got wacked.
So the Port commissioners and the local govt. guys have been trying to sell the property and get a good company to utilize this valuable space.
As I have been reading the local news I saw that the last company that put down a non refundable million dollar down payment- they missed the deadline- 3 times- to come up with the rest of the cash.
I thought why would anybody put down a million dollar non refundable down payment on something that they don’t have the money for.
Then I saw that the investors did have the money- but some of it is tied up in the European banking system- and they can’t get a good exchange for the money into U.S. currency.
Why?
Everybody with any sense has already cashed in as much of their Euros as possible. These governments are at a point where they might go bust- Greece is trying to convince their bond holders to take a 60% hit on their bonds- and the payout will be longer- and at a lower rate.
So this small deal that did not go thru where I live- was indeed a victim of the Euro Zone crisis.
When you add this in with the less than stellar economic numbers- then I don’t see how we will mount any type of real recovery for this year.
Then why is the DOW up to around 12,600?
If you ask me- that’s a bubble.
But as I watched the news over the last month- I have seen many reports of how good the economic numbers were- and they even reported ‘good news’ about the jobs numbers.
I remember during the Bush years- when unemployment was around 5 %- some news folk reported it as bad.
We are at 8.5- and they are actually saying this is good.
So the media have a way of selling us stuff- stuff that we don’t- or should not want- and we buy.
I’ll end with one last example. A few years back during the first big financial crash of the current time- many people lost tons of money overnight- we have never made up the trillions that were wiped off the books.
Now- at the time it was common to read your 401 k statement and see a huge hit.
I saw/read a report how some investors were actually putting their money into money market accounts that guaranteed a loss.
Yes- the money market said up front ‘you put in 1 dollar- we will pay you less than a dollar when you take it out’.
Why would people do this?
Because they were told ‘geez- you can’t put your money under the bed’.
Well yes- if you took all your money and stuck in under the bed- over time inflation would eat up all your buying power- and your money would lose value.
But if you are putting it into an account- that says up front ‘we guarantee you that you will lose some value’ then you would be better off under the bed.
1785- CASTRO SPEAKS
Right after yesterdays post on the economy- CBO put out some numbers- they were even worse than what I had written.
CBO [congressional budget office] estimated growth for the year at about 2.2%.
I used another estimate that said 2.5%
As I watched the talking heads go about their spin- one said that we are now in the 3rd year of the Recovery.
What? The last recession we had [before the so called Great recession] top unemployment hit just under 7 %.
Yes- the worst was under 7.
We are now supposedly in the 3rd year of the recovery- and the number is 8.5 [most say the actual number is over 10- when they do these numbers they don’t take into account those who have given up in despair].
Yesterday the president was at some campaign stop and he was talking about how all the high tech companies can’t find enough qualified workers- he went on and on about all these U.S. companies just pulling their hair out because they have so much business demand- and yet not a single unemployed person to fill the spot.
Why say this? Why try and portray a false image like this? Because if you can somehow convince the public that this last year of Obama’s term- that everything is turning around- that the recovery summer has finally arrived- then you persuade the public that all is well and the Consumer Confidence picks up.
During the question time a woman said ‘my husband is in this industry- an engineer- and he has been unable to find work in 3 years- his friends as well’.
The pres was taken aback some- he inquired exactly what type of engineer he was- and he said ‘that’s strange- because all the high tech people I talk to keep telling me the business and economy are roaring- so much that they can’t even scrub up a single employee to take the job’ [paraphrase- want to be honest here!]
He than directed the woman to send him her husband’s resume- you know- to prove how these people were mistaken- and he will prove that by getting him a job.
Now- what are the odds that this guy won’t get a job? Which high tech business person- who supports the president- maybe has given a few million to the campaign- will he tell Obama ‘no- can’t fit the guy in’?
The point is the scenario that this election year spin will be is one in which everything is turning around- all the numbers are on the rise- businesses can’t find enough people to put to work.
But in the real world that is not the case- and it’s important that we ‘live’ in the real world- not in the spin world of the media- the Right- the Left- or any other group.
Yesterday morning on MSNBC- the Joe Scarborough show- they had a guest on- a political guy for the Politico. He spoke about the election in Florida- he referred to the Southern White vote as ‘Crackers’.
This from a network that was incensed that Gingrich said ‘Food Stamp President’. Yet the slang term for ‘White Trash’ is totally acceptable- it plays into their story line.
The line that says those in the South who vote against Obama are primarily White Confederate Flag nut jobs- who are all racists.
The other day I was watching Al Jazeera news [you know- like Bachmann said when she worked for the I.R.S.- you need to know the enemy!]
Yes- they had on a serious report- no joking or anything- and it was a statement from former Cuban dictator Castro- his comment was on the Repub debates and the U.S. political scene right now- he said ‘this is the biggest competition of idiocy that I have ever seen in my life’.
I fear he may be right.
1786- LET ME TELL YOU HOW A BLACK MAN SHOULD THINK!
Okay- the other day I fessed up and admitted that I watch Al Jazeera news every so often. So to balance the scales somewhat- let me admit that I also listen to NPR [radio].
Over the years NPR has received a reputation of being a biased Liberal outfit. But to be honest most of the ‘hard news’ is pretty good.
So the other day I had it on- but it was on the weekend and I couldn’t catch the news.
So I realized I was catching the tail end of some European travel show. Okay- I’ll give it a shot.
The host is singing the praises of traveling/visiting France.
He has on a few guests who can’t get over the wonders of the European world- compared to us.
One guy shared how he was on vacation with his buddy and they came across a stranded woman motorist. They got out and assisted as best as they could.
Within minutes the tow truck showed up- she also kissed both men before she left- as a family type thing [they do this by the way- I was in Switzerland a few years ago and the hostess of the Christian home I was at did kiss you on the cheek before you went to bed!]
And the host went on and said that in France they even have laws where the Taxis must assist female stranded women- and all sorts of wonderful things we don’t do here in the U.S.
Okay- I was starting to hear that Lib bias come out. But wait!
Yes- some guy called in and shared how he was pick pocketed while getting on the train. Oh My!
For a moment it sounded like it might be a negative story- hmm?
He went on to say that these young boys- he almost described them as his grandkids- they had a little scheme where they would distract you and one kid would snatch the wallet.
So he ran out the train door- and lo and behold there were 3 undercover cops- right there- who caught these little hoodlums.
They rode in the ‘Paddy wagon’ together- all the way to the police station. Yes- the victim rode with the robbers- and he said they were bumping knees together- like family- on the way.
He said at the station he got his stuff back- the kids walked out the door- and they waved goodbye as they left.
The host of the show said ‘gee- it’s almost like a fun sport- like what they were doing had no real danger- almost like friends’.
Yes- the victim went on and agreed- no real danger- not like in the U.S. - where you might encounter a knife or gun.
The host even described it in a way where he said ‘geez- these kids are all suffering from hard economic times- and they really treat their ‘victims’ well- I mean you would almost expect them to do this- out of necessity!’
Yeah- my ‘non liberal’ NPR- they turned on me- big time.
Okay- the point?
As the week roles on by- we are continually being treated to those in the media who feel like their ‘side’ justifies their arrogance- bigotry- and flat out false reporting.
I saw a clip where Soledad Obrien [CNN] was interviewing Rep. West [Fla.].
Now- Col. West is a patriot- served over 20 years honorably in the military- and sure- he is somewhat of a Tea Party favorite.
But he of course leans right- a big no no for a Black man!
Soledad- an Obama supporter- accuses West of not thinking/acting like a good Black man should- after all he never called Bush a ‘food stamp president’!
She puts up a chart- which indeed shows how food stamp usage increased more under Bush than Obama!
Aha Mr. Black man- what do you say to that?
Of course when you ambush someone like that- using skewed numbers- you catch the guy off guard- and you make him look ignorant [something that normally would be frowned upon if a White reporter did this to a Black man on the left.]
She finished the interview having made the man look bad.
What’s wrong then John?
Well- she used the results of 8 years of Bush- compared to 3 years of Obama.
If you annualized the numbers- food stamp usage under Obama is going up about 12% a year- Bush- 8%.
Now- whether you like West or not- agree with the left or the right- either way- you should not justify ‘lying’ like this- especially when you’re using this tactic against a Black man whom your accusing of not ‘acting Black’.
Last one- the other day I was watching the Martin Bashir show on MSNBC. He had on Eric Dyson- a Black activist and scholar. I have heard him before- and I like him.
He is on the left- he is one of the Black leaders who has been critical of Obama because he feels Obama does not stick up for Black causes the way any President should- regardless of his race.
Tavis Smiley- Cornell West- and a few other Black leaders hold this view.
So on Bashir’s show he is explaining all the hidden meanings behind the term ‘Food Stamp President’ and Dyson- who is an intellectual- went down this laundry list of racial slurs.
I mean he had hidden meanings that I never even heard of before.
When he was finished ‘exposing’ all the things that Newt was really saying when he used this term- Bashir simply said ‘wow- it’s amazing how that one little term can hold all those racial meanings’.
It sure is- about as amazing as turning pick pocketing hoodlums into the nicest little boys you ever could meet- almost like family.
1787- PORK BBQ- SATURDAY- DOWN AT THE MOSQUE- BE THERE!
As we wrap up the week- we end with another debate over abortion.
Yesterday the news was hot over some private foundation withdrawing their funding of Planned Parenthood.
The Foundation said they changed some rules last year that said they would no longer fund any agency that was under investigation- Planned Parenthood is being investigated- so they dropped the support.
The Left say it is a conservative scheme to attack abortion providers. The agency says there are a few reasons they stopped.
I tried to listen to the actual spokesperson for the group. She said they basically are going to stop funding groups that just pass you through- groups that simply refer you to another group- and don’t really provide treatment for breast cancer.
She explained that Planned Parenthood only teaches women to do self exams- with the hand- and if they detect something- then they send you to another organization- that does mammograms and actually treats women for breast cancer.
She explained that Planned Parenthood doesn’t even have mammogram machines!
Now- in all the debate over how this private foundation withdrawing their money will cause the untold deaths of women- not one pundit explained this.
It would be like me opening a ‘clinic’ that said ‘BROKEN LEG CLININC’. And I was getting funds from a foundation whose sole purpose is to fix broken legs.
But when you come to my ‘clinic’ I look at your leg and say ‘gee- that looks bad- maybe you better go get that checked by a real doctor’.
So that’s what Planned Parenthood does- they send you off- no mammogram- no treatment- but heck- if you want an abortion [a much more dangerous procedure] they’ll do it on the spot.
Then you had the administration demand that all catholic institutions provide free contraceptives to women.
Yes- even though they gave assurances all thru last year- they swore that they would never do this- yet they did.
Bishop Dolan [N.Y.] just met with Obama and he was personally assured they would not do this- but they did.
They did it on the very same day there was a pro life rally being held in the Capitol.
The top lady who runs the health care services for the Catholic church- a woman who supported the Obama care law- she was at the march- and when Obama did this on the same day- he undercut many liberal Catholics who were told the new health law would never require this- he lied.
Why is this a big deal?
The Catholic charities in the U.S. provide tons of fee aid to all types of people- and the Catholic hospitals rate at the top of the list for hospitals in the country [and around the world].
When you put the church in a position like this- where they believe that providing contraceptives to women- for free- is a violation of conscience- then you are putting the church in a position where they just might shut down these services- at a time where more people need them now than ever.
Let’s see- Jesus often used parables- he would say ‘what can we compare this to’.
I know!
Say if we passed a law that said ‘from now on- all Mosques in the country are required to serve free Pork BBQ to all the little kids in the neighborhood every Saturday’.
And the Imam must advertise the free lunch by placing an ad every Friday in the paper.
The ad will show a picture of the prophet- standing next to this huge pit- turning the handle that rotates this succulent pig roasting on the pit.
And he is waving to all the kids- saying ‘come on down for a good ole time’.
Yeah- it would be something along these lines- to make a Catholic institution provide free contraceptives to women.
But why be surprised- a few years ago in Illinois- they tried to pass a Live Birth law.
What’s that?
It came to the attention of the state that there were many instances where a woman goes in for an abortion [even at Planned Parenthood] and the baby is late term.
In some cases the baby is born- alive.
When this happens- they usually leave the baby alone- crying in the bed pan- until it stops.
I read one case where the nurse could hear the baby all the way from the front- the doctor told one of the nurses to go ‘stick that thing in the closet before everybody hears’.
So sad- so very sad.
When the state legislature met to ban this practice- there was only one senator who voiced opposition to the law.
Senator Barak Obama.
Yes- when you look at a person’s record- what he says he believes- then that does carry consequences.
Sometimes those decisions will even cause people to violate their own consciences in a very severe way.
Yeah- I guess I’ll see you guys in the morning- down at the Mosque- don’t forget to bring the sauce.
1788- WRONG SIDE OF HISTORY?
There have been a few big stories since the last post.
Giants- yeah- they did a great job. The game was a great game- especially the last 5 minutes.
For my Texas friends- us N.J. guys claim the ‘NY’ Giants as our own- they practice down the road from where I grew up in Jersey.
I used to ride my dirt bike in that area [Meadowlands] as a kid- before they developed the land.
It’s basically swamp land- but they built it up and that’s where the stadium sits- in Jersey!
Yeah- we are short on space in N.J. - so we do ‘multi-purpose’ use.
We also use the stadium as a burial ground for former Teamsters presidents [Hoffa Sr. - an inside joke].
Okay- what’s the news right now?
A big story is the Syria situation. Syria is another one of these ‘Arab Spring’ nations that has had protestors rise up in the streets [Egypt- Libya- etc.]
But this time the world community [Russia- China] are not going along with the mantra from the West ‘he is a war criminal- he is on the wrong side of history’ if I hear Susan Rice or any other top U.S. official say this again- I will move to Libya [okay- maybe not].
This past week the U.S. tried to pass a motion at the U.N. that would condemn the Syrian leader- Assad- and call for him to step down and hand the govt. over to someone else.
Now- at this point- after the track record we [Western nations- U.S.] have- whenever protestors rise up- if we don’t like the leader- we begin saying ‘he is bad- he is on the wrong side of history- just step aside- that’s reasonable’.
The result of those who take our ‘advice’ is your family and you get arrested- or you get killed- and then those who survive- even your wife- will be tried and also possibly get executed.
So- that’s why none of these remaining guys are following our lead anymore. Yemen [Salah] - Syria [Assad] and all the rest.
Now- when the U.S. pushed thru the U.N. resolution on Libya- we swore up and down that this ‘no fly zone’ mission was strictly humanitarian in nature.
Russia did not vote for this agreement- but they abstained.
After NATO and the U.S- and France- who played a pretty big role- went in- the mission turned into an all out attack on the Libyan leader.
We hunted him and his family down- we bombed his kids home multiple times and even killed his grandkids- all under the guise of a ‘no fly zone’ to protect civilians.
Okay- Russia was pissed- and they swore they would never fall for another U.S. lead effort that said anything near what the Libyan resolution said.
That’s why they voted no.
Plus Russia has had their own protestors in the streets these last few months- and we started saying some of the same stuff we said when the protestors rose up in Libya- Russia told us to shut up and mind our own business.
They see the writing on the wall- the U.S. will sing this song ‘wrong side of history- free the people’ but we only sing it when its happening with nations we don’t like.
When Bahrain and Saudi Arabia abuse their people- which they do- we sing another song- one that basically says ‘citizens should be seen- and not heard!’
So the world community has caught on- and every where we have called for the former leader to step down- well those nations are now a total mess.
Egypt?
This week the generals- who now run the country- have detained 19 American activists and are going to try them for instigating disharmony in the country.
One of those detained is the son of our transportation secy. Ray Lahood.
The right wing media have described this as ‘the Muslim brotherhood has taken over and they are holding Americans hostage’.
Okay- I know this plays into a very real danger- one that I have written on.
But we need to be careful that we don’t ‘over’ do this fear.
In actuality the reasons these guys are being detained is because the Generals- not the Muslim Brotherhood crowd- are mad at the U.S. because we convinced them to overthrow their pharaoh- Hosni Mubarak- and after we convinced them- their nation is in total shambles.
Egypt used to be a wonderful place to go- tourism was a top business for the country- they have all the ancient sites and artifacts from thousands of years that tourists would go see.
They were the land of the Sphinx and the pyramids- but after their ‘revolution’ they are no longer a place where tourists want to go- they lost around 90 % of their business.
They are trying their former leader- and many are calling for his execution- and his wife’s too!
These are people who wined and dined with Clinton and other presidents over the years- they were seen as friends and allies- and the U.S. basically undercut Mubarak’s rule and now he’d be lucky to escape a public hanging!
So- how did we convince the Generals to overthrow the guy?
Their top military leaders all train at West Point- yes- here in the U.S.
Our top military guys had very close connections to their military- and we went behind Mubarak’s back and convinced these military guys to remove the guy.
Now- after his removal you began having more protests in the streets- some calling for ‘justice’ on the generals- and of course their families- for not doing enough.
The generals found themselves under the same criticism as Mubarak.
And yes- Obama began using the same language about them ‘we want a just transition- the military leaders will be held accountable for any abuse of their citizens’ you know- the key phrases that mean ‘heck- maybe you and your family will be next’.
The generals saw the writing on the wall- and they are gonna try these 19 American activists- they are not gonna play the game anymore with the West.
Lets end with one more example.
One of the big stories going on right now is the possibility of Iran getting a Nuke. We- as well as Israel- have been putting pressure on Iran to drop their Nuke program.
We are treating the Nuke program of Iran as the number one danger in the world today.
We often forget that many nations have nukes- many bad nations.
Iran has 2 nations on either side that have hundreds of nukes.
Israel and Pakistan.
Pakistan is a nation whose political leaders have ‘ties’ with us- but their military and their secret service are infiltrated with groups that we are at war with [Taliban].
Pakistan is a nation with many terrorist ties- and these nukes are at great risk of getting into the hands of bad folk.
So- we should treat the Iran threat as a threat- but we need to keep the thing in balance.
Ron Paul does make some sense when he talks about Iran- I don’t agree with everything he says- but some of the stuff is true.
Okay- so it would seem like any country that came out and said ‘okay U.S.- you want us to forsake our nuke program- you deem this as the worst thing in the world- so we will agree to give them up’.
You would think that any nation that did this would become our friend- right?
Libya is the only nation in recent memory that did this.
Yes- after Bush went into Iraq and we saw his sons killed and Saddam hanged- Gadhaffi’s wife told her husband lets make a deal with this nut [Bush] before he kills us all.
Yes- this is how it happened.
And Gadhaffi contacted us- and he gave up his nuke plans.
What happened next?
He became the only leader- so far- that we actually went after with planes and bombs.
What kind of message does this send?
North Korea has people starving in the streets- they are a real enemy of the world- and treat their people badly.
Why have we never [in recent history] responded militarily?
Well John- they have nukes.
So the message is ‘if you willingly give up your nukes- we might kill you and your family- but if you have nukes- well then it’s too late- we will not do anything’.
You see- the world community watches what we do- they don’t hear what we say.
Yeah- Russia- China and a few other nations are having second thoughts- they hear all our rhetoric on ‘the wrong side of history’ and they see Gadhaffi and his grandkids in the grave.
To them- that’s the wrong side of history.
1789- JUST SUE ME
Last night I caught the tail end of the Wolf Blitzer show [CNN] or has Herman Cain calls him ‘BLITZ’.
Jack Cafferty does the usual rant- I like Jack- I grew up in the local media market where Jack got ‘broken in’.
As he’s reading the emails from ‘regular folk’ he reads one that says ‘Jack- I am a Southern White Evangelical- and I just want to admit that we are all lying to you- the world- and everyone. We hate Black folk- we use the term Nigger whenever they are not around- even my Pastor. We will not vote for Obama- because he is one of them’ and the email went on in this way.
Now- as someone who has done radio for 20 years- you do something that’s called ‘screen the callers’ you basically get both Lib’s and Conservatives that call in and act like they are on the other team- and they try and influence the conversation by faking it.
Oh Jack- my poor brother- I know you have been on the Wagon for many years- and I commend you for that- but I think the effects are long lasting- maybe Blitz needs to adjust the show.
In the last post I mentioned Syria- I don’t not want anyone to think that what’s happening over there is good- it is not!
My critique of the handling of the situation- especially of our U.N. ambassador- Susan Rice- was basically meant to say we have tried the strategy of saying ‘you are on the wrong side of history’ and demonizing the leaders of these countries- and maybe now we need to try another approach- because this one has not worked.
Then I caught the Russian ambassador on the Charlie Rose show- note- his show is very informative- for those who want to really get to know the issues in a serious way- I recommend you watch the show.
But the ambassador was asked what happened in the recent veto- by Russia and China- on the Syrian resolution.
He said Susan Rice has no idea what she’s doing- that Russia put an amendment on the table- and they have even offered to hold talks between the Rebels and the Syrian leader- but the U.S. refused to listen- and they did not even know how to bargain for a negotiation.
Okay- I listened with a grain of salt.
The next night- I heard a former U.N. worker- a U.S. worker- say the same thing. That the insiders have been saying that Susan Rice is a total incompetent- that for the sake of the country Obama simply needs to realize she is in over her head and replace her.
But on MSNBC I hear Matthews speak of her as doing one of the greatest jobs ever.
We need to be able to keep politics outside of this- if indeed she has messed up- which happens- then instead of jumping to her defense- let’s fix it. People are indeed dying- and it’s a tragedy.
The nightly news coverage is showing the damage- and when the media decide to play an angle- that says ‘see- Obama and Rice were right’ then you will be told that story.
This week the Russian envoy went to Damascus- and he was greeted with cheers from thousands of people- they want to sit down and have the talks- these people were not staged.
These are people who live in the capitol- who have businesses and kids going to school- and they have lived fairly decent lives for 30 years or so.
They have seen the result of the Egypt uprising- basically your country goers to hell in a hand basket. They have seen the Libyan situation- that many in the city of Tripoli- they too lost their lives and futures after the ‘revolution’ and these Syrians in Damascus really want the Russian solution- not the American one.
But instead- we have called the Russian solution ‘disgusting’. Why won’t we sit down with both sides?
The rebels- like in Libya- have said no.
When you have armed people on both sides- and one side is saying ‘let's have a cease fire- lets meet’ then the side that says no bears some blame.
In Libya and Syria we are saying no to the side that wants to negotiate a peace- we are leaving them with no option- except certain trial and execution by the rebels once they take over.
Our handling of the Arab Spring has been a gigantic failure- and if Susan Rice is indeed not up for the job- then she needs to go.
The other day I had a conversation with my liberal friend- who only watches MSNBC for their news source.
In the conversation the person tore Romney apart- talked about how the Repubs are all crooks and cheaters- and on and on.
I told the person I was no bigger fan of Romney then Obama- but I tried to tell the person that they are only seeing one side- they have all these complaints against one side- while they are unable to see the wrongs being done right now.
I mentioned the Fast and Furious scandal- and the cover up going on at the justice Department under Eric Holder.
This person never heard of the scandal.
I explained that it had to do with a program approved by Holder- the justice Dept. - that allowed illegal guns to be sold to Mexican drug runners- and that these guns were then later found at the scene of the death of one of our border patrol guys- agent Terry.
Now- my friend thought I was making this up ‘how could anyone ever do this’.
I explained that the intent of the program was to try and track the guns down- but instead we let over 2,000 walk- and for many years to come these guns will kill many Mexicans and Americans and other law enforcement folk.
Now- when the story broke [February of last year] Holder and Obama and others swore they had no knowledge of it.
The Repubs held a hearing on it- got some documents- and found out Holder lied.
They did indeed know about it- and at the point of them realizing their cover was blown [2-11] they refused to give up any more emails or correspondence from the justice dep’t about it.
Why?
Well it’s obvious that they have said stuff they don’t want the public to know.
The Repubs are now threatening to charge Holder with contempt of congress- because he has 80,000 known papers on the subject- but has only released 20,000.
The other 60 are all after the point where they realized the news was out.
Holder’s response is ‘if you don’t like it- sue me’
When Obama made the recess appointment a few weeks ago- he said ‘if you don’t like it- sue me’
I watched the hearings this past year on CSPAN [Holder]. The administration and the justice dept. were denying any involvement and knowledge- at one point they caught one of the main guys in a lie- you saw it live.
The mother of the dead agent- who was being lied to- broke down in tears.
What is our govt's response to this ‘don’t like it- sue us’.
Her family sued the justice dept this past week for wrongful death.
Last year- in the first time in U.S. history- an American president gave orders to execute an American citizen without a trial- or even charges being filed against him.
Some say it was good- others say no.
When asked for the paper that gave the justification for the action- the administration said ‘no- sue me’.
The ACLU [no conservative group!] sued him last week.
Texas just recently got turned down for a partial exemption from the new health care law.
The law says starting this year insurance companies must spend 80 percent of their money on actual health care- and if they spend less- then the difference will be rebated back to the customer.
Good deal?
Overall it sounds good.
But many say the result will be private insurers will leave some markets- and the average person will pay more.
Texas applied for a waiver that would allow the companies to transition more slowly.
70% one year- 75 the next- and then hit the 80 mark.
Obama said ‘no’.
17 states have applied for the waiver- 9 were denied- 6 got it- 2 are pending.
All the states that got the waiver are more pro Obama than Texas.
It would be reasonable to say ‘why not us’?
No answer- don’t like it ‘sue me’.
As a retired Texas fire fighter- still in the union- over the years when we have had real bad wild fires- we would apply for federal aid- and if you met the criteria [so much land burning at a certain rate] then you got the aid- no questions asked.
During Obama’s administration- for the first time I can remember- we applied during real bad fires last year [maybe 2 years ago?] and they said ‘no’.
We were shocked- many of us could not believe he would play politics like this. Perry was about to run- and he was touting the economic success of Texas- and Obama said ‘well- you guys are doing so good- you pay for it’.
Don’t like it- sue me.
My friend who watched only one source of news- they felt very justified in their view- but they only saw their side.
I know I have been hitting Obama hard- but the media have a way of showing you what they want.
If you only see one side- then you will always hate the other side.
In all these dealings- especially with the death of a U.S. border patrol agent- these things should not be covered up- all the papers need to be released- we need to know what happened.
As of today there have been no firings- no suspensions- not even a letter of reprimand that you would normally put in a person’s file- even for the smallest offenses [I worked civil service for 25 years- you normally would at least get this].
I hope we can straighten out the U.N. problem- the Holder problem- the whole ‘don’t like it- sue me’ problem- but if we can’t straighten it out soon- then maybe we just need to change the guy at the top- because this suing thing aint getting us any where- you think?
1790- DEMOCRACY?
I read a statement from the French President- Nicholas Sarkozy. He was speaking about the dire situation in Syria [Syria has been fighting rebels in a city called Homs- they have been using deadly heavy artillery to bomb buildings and homes- many civilians have died].
Sarkozy said a military response [Like what he- and we- did in Libya] was no longer a legitimate solution.
I found this insightful- France was thee number one supporter of the ‘no fly zone’ in Libya. France had their planes bombing many spots- they were more ‘pro war’ than the U.S. and the Brits.
Many in the political scene in France have accused Sarkozy of wanting to develop the image of a mini Bush- that is a leader who is willing to engage in violence in order to defend ‘just causes’ in the world.
Right after the Libyan action began- some in the Arab/Muslim world began saying that France and NATO should be seen as the enemy- not Gadhaffi.
In Afghanistan- where France has troops like us under the NATO banner- they just had an Afghan soldier- one who is supposedly on our side- gun down a bunch of French troops in cold blood.
The French president then called for a quicker withdrawal of forces than the U.S. wanted [2013- instead of 2014].
Sarkozy realized- that no matter how just your cause might seem- there are never any situations where one side is 100 % right- while the other 100% wrong [let's say rarely].
In Egypt- Libya- and now Syria- you do not have [did not] complete agreement on the protests. Many who had stable lives and lived for many years in these countries- they felt like the rebels were wrong about the way to have their ‘revolution’.
Many in the Christian minority saw the revolutions as dangerous to their own survival. Our actions in Iraq have decimated the Christian population there.
Though we did not mean to do this- the result is we have installed a more anti Christian regime in the country.
The same has now happened in Egypt- the original Tahrir square protestors might have been a majority of simple pro- democracy groups- but after the recent parliamentary elections- the Muslim Brotherhood took over about 50 % of the parliament.
Though this group has rejected violence and terrorism as a means to gain power- yet they still advocate for an extreme religious view if they gain power.
They want Shariah law as the law of the land- and this type of ‘democratic govt.’ is really not good- even if it is voted in by a majority.
We in the West have different values than some in other parts of the world.
We tend to side with those who want to ‘throw off the shackles of dictators- free the voice of the people’.
Yet we underestimate the very real danger of sounding this mantra every time a nation has rebels rise up in the streets.
Say if all you saw on the news every night was the Occupy Wall street protests. And say if there rose up a few hundred thousand that marched nightly on Washington [which we never want to happen!]
But say if that’s all you saw every night- and it got so dangerous that troops- or cops- had to actually shoot some protestors.
We would understand why we had to do this- we would not be calling for the president to step down- or for his family to be submitted to a trial by ‘right wing’ conservatives who just might execute you and your kids.
Now- I am not saying all these leaders in these nations are equal to the American system- but it’s foolish for us to look at all these situations thru the lens of Western style Democracy.
We [the West] seem to think that when we side publicly with the rebels [whoever they be- Libya- Syria- etc.] that we are on the ‘right side of history’ that we are a part of a true democratic movement that will spread thru the world and in a few years down the road we will be living n a world with many truly just democracies.
That picture- that hope- as just as it might seem to those who keep using this type of language [like John McCain- who I like!] is simply not a realistic view.
Where did the idea of Democracy come from? Did world governments have democratic style govts for thousands of years?
No- the idea rose up during the Enlighten period [17th- 18th century] and was promoted by men like John Locke.
If you remember- we studied the philosophy of Locke this past year.
Locke played a key role in the transition of popular philosophy from Rationalism to Empiricism.
We covered that in the posts- don’t want to do it again.
But Locke- like other thinkers of the time- began writing on a new idea of govt- a govt ‘by the people- and for the people’.
Many people living at the time resented the rule of kings- and the role religion [Catholic countries] played in society as a whole.
One of the first experiments with people saying ‘we will throw off the church and king’ was what we call the French Revolution.
It took place right at the end of the 18th century- right before the Napoleonic wars.
It was a Secular [non religious] effort to depose the rule of govt we call Monarchy [King and Queen] and it resulted in the Guillotine and beheading of many Catholic priests and leaders.
It was truly a rebellion that got way out of hand.
Yesterday- one of the current Repub candidates for president made headlines when he compared Obama’s recent ‘anti religious’ actions to the French Revolution.
One commentator [CNN] said the rebels were all Catholics and that to say the revolution hurt the church was wrong.
This man [Paul Begala] had no idea what he was saying- its sad that they say misinformed statements like this to such a wide audience.
Some of our founding fathers were fans of John Locke [Jefferson] and our country drew up the founding documents during a time when these ideas were ripe and were seen as a new type of govt. for the people.
Thus- we have our Democracy today- for which I am grateful- do indeed think it’s the best in the world today- but it is not inherently ‘more just’ than all other styles.
The govt. we see in the bible is Monarchy [mostly- Rome was Imperial- did have a senate and all- but in no way was it a democracy like we think of].
The point?
When we try to help these countries- when people rise up and protest- we must not simply jump to the conclusion that all of these rebellions are seeking- or will end up like the U.S.
We must not condemn all ‘monarchies’ as evil- the bible says there are just ones.
Kings can rule justly- be fair- and do good.
We should not assume that all ‘non western style democracies’ are evil- they are not.
Most of these present uprisings are in countries where you have what’s called Autocratic rule- not full ‘kingdoms’ with kings in the way we think.
Yes- I do think our experiment- based on the Enlightenment idea of govt. by and for the people is the best- but we must not assume all other types are inherently evil- nor should we be so quick to side- militarily will all rebels- like some already calling to arm the rebels in Syria.
The end result of these protests are not secure at all- it is highly doubtful that any of them will become ‘little U.S. of A’s’.
So we should call for non violence on all sides- we should stand on the side of innocent victims- be against all regimes that use military force on their people- but be realistic about the situation- violence [on all sides] is very rarely the answer- Sarkozy learned this lesson the hard way.
1791- PICTURES OF ME WITH BLACK PEOPLE
Well it’s been a sad couple of days- yes- we lost the beautiful angel Whitney Houston.
I never was really a fan of Whitney- I mean she had a great voice and all- I just never bought any of her music.
As I watched the media cover her death- I began to realize how interesting her journey was- even with all the failures.
She was from Newark N.J. - I never knew that [right around the area I grew up].
She started her singing ‘career’ in a church choir.
As I saw all the clips the past few days- I saw her singing some Christian songs [I didn’t know that either].
And the last clip of her being recorded- a few days before her death- she sang a note from the famous kids bible song ‘Yes Jesus loves me’.
I know many in the media- and ‘church world’ have a tendency to judge people when they die- many seem to know ‘for sure’ who made it to heaven- and who did not.
I have learned a long time ago- I’m not the judge on stuff like that.
I saw Bill O'Reilly do his shtick. He tried to do the ‘real guy’ stuff- you know- like when he had on Bernie Goldberg- a Jewish friend- who was trying to outdo Bill on the ‘I am a friend of the Black man’.
Goldberg brought out a photo of him with a Black rapper- Ice Cube.
As Bernie shows the photo- to say ‘look- I even hug Black men’.
He refers to Cube as ‘Ice T’.
Bill- as a true brother- corrects Bernie and tells him ‘it’s not T but Cube’.
Bernie gets mad- you can see the look on his face ‘how dare you correct me’.
Then someone from off camera must have yelled ‘listen- Bills right- its Cube- not T’.
And Bernie quickly back tracks.
I guess Bernie got the picture from his file ‘pictures of me with Black people’.
So anyway- O'Rielly does the section on Whitney and he kind of goes hard on her.
He talks about her choice to do drugs- and basically says she was looking to die- she made the choice.
I realize what he was saying- but I found it to be the wrong time to say it.
A few years ago I heard a radio preacher talking about the funeral of a gang member that he preached at.
He said the mother and family and all the gang bangers were there- and he ‘told it like it was’.
He went on and said how he preached ‘this kid is in hell right now- screaming his brains out- he has no rest- he’s burning- forever!!’
He said how the mom ran out crying- his family was distraught- I thought he was lucky that he didn’t get gunned down right in the pulpit.
Yes- we need to have grace in these situations.
So- after seeing all the clips of Whitney- I believe she very well might be with God right now- and sure- I know she messed up lots- but I am certainly not in the position to judge the angel.
Okay- Angels?
The other day I was reading Psalms 147.
I read how God counts the stars and gives them names.
It reminded me of the book of Revelation- where there is this vision of Jesus [chapter 1].
John the disciple sees Jesus- he has hair like wool- these eyes of fire- and feet like brass- burned in a furnace.
As Jesus is standing there- he is surrounded by 7 golden lamp stands- and he has 7 stars in his hand.
The vision is revealed to John- the lamp stands are the churches [of Asia Minor] and the stars are the ‘angels of the 7 churches’.
Now- as a theology buff- I know many bible folk say these angels are Pastors- because the Greek word simply means messenger.
But as I have read this over the years- I have come to believe these are actually angels.
What does the bible say about angels?
In the book of Hebrews we read that they are ‘ministering spirits- sent forth to minister to those who are inheriting salvation’.
We often hear that angels in the bible look like men- they are not things with wings!
Actually- this is another ‘fable’.
While it is true that many appearances of angels in the bible do look like men- and Hebrews also says that we should entertain [show hospitality] to strangers- because some have helped angels and they didn’t even know it.
Yet- there are also angels ‘with wings’.
We call these creatures Cherubim and Seraphim.
In the book of Exodus we read the story of the 10 commandments [chapter 20].
We read the first commandment as not having other gods before God- and not to make graven images of anything.
Over the centuries the church has had some debates over Christian art- is it right or wrong?
After all- much of it is statues and pictures depicting people and creatures and angels and God.
So during the Protestant Reformation [and the rise of Islam] you had occasions where people went out and destroyed the statues and paintings of other groups.
A few things should be noted here.
The commandment- however you take it- does not say ‘go and smash the statues of other religions’ [a few years ago the famous statues of Buddha were destroyed- I think in India- but radical Muslims did this because they felt the statues violated the commandment on angels]
Also- after Moses gets the 10 commandments from God- he puts them inside a box called ‘The Ark of the Covenant’.
This box has a lid on it [called the Mercy Seat] and on the lid you had 2 statues of Angels [Cherubim].
So- the actual box that held the commandment not to make idols- had religious art on it!
So we need to be careful before we start going around smashing statues [by the way- this smashing of the statues was called Iconoclastic].
So- we see that angels are spirits- created by God- and they are here to help us.
In Revelation 1 we read about a war in heaven- Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon and his angels.
We read that Michael prevails and the devil loses.
It says ‘the accuser of the brothers is cast down- the devil- who accused them before God day and night’.
There are only 2 named angels in the bible [3- if you include the Catholic apocrypha].
They are Michael- Gabriel- and Raphael.
Yes- angels are real- they war on our behalf- and they fight in a specific way- they cast down the dragon [satan] who accuses the believers.
This day I am happy in a way for Whitney- she struggled a long time- she was such a beautiful ‘angel’.
I would like to think she is with God right now- getting ready for ‘church’ this Sunday- yes- I know she is not ‘an angel’ in the biblical way.
But let’s stretch some- yes- she will be singing in the angelic choir once again.
Let’s not accuse her this day.
1792- A NUMBERS GAME?
What’s in the numbers?
The pres finally put out a budget plan- and of course in this election year the odds on anything getting passed is nil.
Yet the effort at least needed to be made.
What’s in the budget?
The main thing is the so called reduction in the debt- 3 [no wait- 4!] trillion over 10 years.
The actual budget states 3 trillion in reduction.
1.5 in tax hikes- on those darn rich folk!
And 1.5 trillion in cuts [which means a reduction in the rate of growth- not cuts like human beings use the word].
But the media- and the president keep saying 4 trillion in cuts- why?
They are adding in the 1 trillion in forced cuts that congress mandated because they couldn’t reach a debt deal.
But this 1 trillion is not in the budget.
The way they spin it is ‘well- this is our overall goal- so we add that in’.
Jobs?
The media and the press report that Obama has ‘created’ 3.5 million jobs.
Hmm?
When the pres took office- we were losing about 750 thousand jobs a month.
Okay- not his fault- got it.
They played the Bush card for 3 years- it’s now getting old.
Yet they say Obama has created 3.5 million jobs.
What are the ‘real numbers’?
During Obama’s term we lost around 4.7 million jobs.
Obama did manage to ‘create’ around 3.6 million- for a net loss of around 1.1 million.
So how would you report this- better yet- how have the media reported this during past presidencies?
You would not report a gain [creation] of 3.6 million- you would report a loss of 1.1 million [unless you want to take in the possibility of an alternate universe- then maybe they report it as job creation].
Gas prices?
The average gallon of gas is around 3.50 a gallon.
This is the highest ever during the month of Feb.
Yesterday I saw some news clips- you had some key congress people decrying the failure of the pres to have an energy plan.
They held media ‘pressers’ condemning the pres for the gas prices.
Who were these dastardly villains?
Nancy Pelosi- Jim Clyburn and a few other key Democrats.
They were news clips of them condemning Bush when gas prices went up to 3.05 a gallon under him.
Yes- the outrage under Bush- but under Obama- it’s not his fault.
Yes- for the first time ever- I saw the main line news do a complete report on why the pres is not responsible for the fuel prices.
I mean they went in depth [a few months ago].
You know- war in the middle east- all stuff that is true- it’s just they never gave a report like this under Bush- no- as a matter of a fact they blamed him for it.
Here’s the biggie ‘the pres is an idiot’.
What- who said this! I demand his head on a platter!
The lovable Mormon from Nevada- Harry Reid.
Yes- he referred to Bush- a sitting pres- as an idiot.
A few days later- the media realized they couldn’t just let it slide- well then they would look too political.
So a reporter asked Reid ‘do you think its right to call the pres and idiot’?
After a moment of thought- Reid’s response ‘he is one’.
The reporter left it at that ‘well you heard it folks- he is one’ with a smirk on his face.
Outrage- calls for the senator to apologize? Nah- Bush is a big boy- he can take it.
Okay- last but not least.
Have you heard about the new Movie- ‘the assassination of the president’?
Yes- this is an independent film- released on video and also playing in theatres around the country- it shows you a depiction of the president getting his head blown off.
Bad stuff indeed- it should be against the law to make a movie like this- in my view.
The full name of the movie?
The assassination of George W. Bush [I kid you not].
It came out during the Bush years- and you could take your kids to see Bush getting his head blown off- what a wonderful night of fun.
Popcorn and drinks?
What was the response?
Nada.
Can you imagine the riots in the streets if this happened today?
The cries of endangering the pres by simply using the term- never mind making a full length feature.
I of course condemn this language on all sides- the point I’m making is the media can manipulate the public if they want.
If they choose not to focus on a story- they won’t.
If they choose to focus on one- like when a Repub said ‘you lie’ and they made him publicly apologize and punished him on the floor- well then you too will be outraged- and you won’t even know that you [or anyone else] were not outraged about the Bush ‘getting killed’ movie.
These stories are silly in a way- I could have covered the story of the 2 car bombs that blew up in Damascus- the Syrian capitol- and killed 28 innocent people- injured over 200.
Or the killing of the ‘general’ in Damascus- he was a doctor who ran a hospital- assassinated by the ‘rebels’.
Yet the media do not want to show you that the opponents of Assad are doing the same things that terrorist’s do- because that does not fit ‘the story’.
So when a major oil pipeline blew up yesterday in the city of Homs- the rebels said Assad did it- the media first reported that Assad blew the pipeline up- to attack the rebels ‘environmentally’?
The pipeline is a major supply source for Damascus- Assad would never cut off his own source of oil.
My first thought was the ‘rebels’ did it- not Assad.
Any normal person would think this- but no- not the media.
As the day wore on- they began saying they were not sure who blew it up.
I’ll tell you- it was the rebels- that’s who.
Yes- these are the stories that need to be told right.
These are the things that matter- we want to be properly informed.
But when we live in a media world that reports ‘3.5 million jobs were created’ when you really have a loss of 1.1 million.
Then yes- you might even believe that Assad blew up his own oil supply- to environmentally attack his enemies.
www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com
Note- Do me a favor, those who read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read them on. Thanks- John
RECENT STUFF 2013- A
1800- THE CHURCH LADY
I caught the debate last night [number 20!] and was surprised that King only asked one question on ‘social issues’ [I think?].
He did bring up the ‘controversy’ over birth control.
Now- up until a few weeks back- starting with the question by Stephanopoulos [a Dem insider- worked for Clinton- admitted- on air- that he cried while sitting at home during the Obama win. You say ‘so what John- Boehner cries too!’ Yeah- but he’s smart enough not to admit it when he weeps in private].
Yeah- when Stephanopoulos brought up the silly question on whether states had the right to ban birth control- right after that the media jumped on the band wagon and have been saying how the Repubs want a war on women’s right to health.
The media keep parading women across the screen- decrying the attack on their health- after all- birth control cures cancer! [The truth be told- there are many more health risks to abortion and birth control then there are health benefits].
Yes- they want the country to see the Repubs as right wing ‘satan hatin’ preachers!
I just read an article the other day- 2 ‘women’s health clinics’ were fined in Texas- their disposal company was dumping the bodies of aborted babies in the city dump.
A woman’s right? I wonder how many of these little bodies belonged to future women.
So the debate goes on- and the populace drinks it in.
They have been showing the clips of a speech by Santorum- he talked about evil as a reality and satan as an enemy.
Okay- he was speaking at a Catholic university forum- it was about 4 years ago- what’s the big deal?
‘Well- you never know- say if he starts talking like this in office’
You mean like Obama?
Yes- 2 weeks ago the Pres was speaking- at a political/religious forum- in Washington- and he defended his tax policies by saying they are based on Jesus’ teachings in the gospel of Luke.
He quoted Jesus ‘to whom much is given- much is required’.
Okay- I see the point he’s trying to make- asking the rich to pay more.
But for a sitting U.S. president to say that his tax policy- as opposed to the other side- is the ‘Jesus one’ well- that would have been world news for days if it were Bush.
So the satan speech- given at a catholic school- geez- give it a break.
The media would have you think that Santorum is the church lady from SNL [Saturday night live].
Dana Carvey did the Church Lady- he would often come up with some circumstance- and then reply ‘hmmm- could it be satan’.
Yeah- that’s Santorum!
This week I have been reading Ezekiel chapter 34.
It talks about the leaders- shepherds of the people. They are being rebuked because they are like ‘shepherds who feed themselves- they kill the sheep- eat the meat and wear the wool as clothes’.
In the New Testament Jesus alludes to this when he says ‘beware of false prophets- they are like wolves in sheep’s clothing’.
Yes- that’s where the term comes from.
The term means more than meets the eye.
It’s speaking about a mindset- one that sees people- church people- citizens- any group of people being ‘ruled’ by others.
And the mindset is ‘I can benefit in some way from my position over them’. This usually means financially.
I have written much about this over the years- and I’m convinced that many good men in modern ministry do not see the violation of scripture they engage in when they enter ‘ministry’ and constantly appeal for money- even to the point of thinking that their becoming rich off of the giving of people is ‘Gods way’.
But also in the broader sense- God is rebuking the leaders because they really don’t have the true concerns of the people at the fore front.
Good leaders- politicians- presidents- congressman. They should be willing to make the right decisions- even if those decisions seem less popular at the time- they should do it because it’s right.
The Pres put out a policy yesterday that said he wanted to lower corporate tax rates and eliminate tax loopholes.
Now- I haven’t read the thing- and I know some say it’s really a scam- I don’t know.
But if it has some truth in it- then it would be a good thing.
Why?
Because most analysts say that’s really a major step in the right direction.
Dems and Repubs- responsible ones- have already said this needs to be done.
So if the thing is accurate- then we should support the pres.
The other major thing that the next pres must deal with is the entitlement programs- but whoever gets in- whether it be Romney- Obama- or the Church Lady- they will need to govern for the people- not pander to them for personal gain [popularity that will help them win again].
Don’t get me wrong- as a Christian I’m glad the Pres talked about Jesus- and that Santorum talked about satan.
But the reality is- the ‘wolves in sheep’s clothing’ looked/talked just like sheep- that’s how they kept getting into the sheepfold- but all they really wanted was personal gain- they saw the sheep [people] as a means to an end- and that’s what gets us in trouble- every time.
1801- LOVE MEANS NEVER HAVING TO SAY YOUR SORRY- I THOUGHT.
Let’s end the week with a few top news events. Yes- once again we have had the burning of the Quran- and the violent aftermath.
What happened this time? Well- it was not an outright insult to Islam- like the Florida pastor who hosted ‘burn the Koran day’.
These Korans were part of a ‘detention’ library facility [gee- maybe that’s the 1st problem?] where prisoners have access to religious material.
They were available to Afghani’s who were being held as prisoners of war.
So- our side found possible hidden notes in them- and yeah- we burned the stuff.
Okay- was this a bad thing to do? Sure.
But the nonstop apologies- the reaction of Muslims rioting and killing- all over the world- not just in Afghanistan- this reaction needs to be condemned.
We are falling into a trap- a mindset that says ‘we will tolerate- and overlook intolerance- because after all- it’s not as bad as 9-11’.
Yesterday Iran was going to execute a Christian pastor because he refused to denounce his faith.
You say ‘yea John- but we condemn Iran anyway’.
But they do stuff like this in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain too- and these are our ‘good friends’.
I was watching a show the other night- it was a defense of Islam- against those who have a ‘crusade’ against it.
Though the show portrayed the people against Islam as bigots- they showed a few clips and interviews with a woman who was raised in a predominantly Muslim land- and she now lives in the U.S. and she feels that many in the U.S. media are overlooking the very real prejudices against women who live in these countries.
So- during the interview- intended to make her look bad- they ask her something like ‘but what about all the Muslims who reject violence’.
The reporter wanted her to commend those in Islam who reject violence [Muslim Brotherhood groups] yet still advocate for Shariah law.
The ‘radical’ anti Islam woman’s response ‘so- you want me to give credit to people just because they don’t want to kill me’.
The lady was right- she warns people against the rise of Shariah law- as the ‘law of the land’ and even though some of these groups are trying to achieve their goals peacefully- thru the ballot box- yet the end result is a society that executes Christians because they believe.
So as the week has passed- we have been apologizing nonstop- writing personal letters [Obama to Karzai].
Showing clips of our commanders instructing our soldiers to not react- to not ‘get upset’ that Muslims are rioting and killing them.
Look- we made a mistake- on the scale of ‘crimes against humanity’ the mistake rates at around zero.
Yes- we understand that to Muslims it’s a blasphemous act- and we did not do this out of disrespect for Islam.
But we must say- loud and clear- if your religion justifies the killing of people simply because they burn a book- or write a comedy sketch- or do any of a number of things that most of the civilized world do- then you need to either change your religion- or come up with a better interpretation.
Because we can’t all live in a world where stuff like this continues to happen- and we in the West seem to say ‘we understand your side’- no- when your side kills because of it- then we must condemn that side- whether it be Christian or Muslim.
1802- THE HARVARD PROFESSOR
Caught an interesting show the other night- a Harvard economist [liberal] gave a lecture on economics.
Now- when I say ‘liberal’ I do not use the term in a derogatory way- no- he was the type of economist that would fit into the category of a Paul Krugman.
Krugman writes for the N.Y. Times and often [always?] gives you the Keynesian view.
So anyway this Harvard prof. made some good points.
But he blundered somewhat in his defense of Socialism/communism.
He talked about Karl Marx [the ‘founder’ of the system] and said that what happened in the Silicon Valley boom [the Dot.com businesses] was a type of Marxism.
The internet boom companies had a different view of the business structure- instead of the ‘bosses’ being over the working class stiff- you would have the actual employees run the show.
Yeah- when you watch the documentaries on Facebook [and other Companies like it] you do see an environment where all these young ‘hipsters’ are calling the shots- and they do have a sense of freedom that you don’t see in the standard business model.
But the Harvard Prof. went a step too far when he compared this to Marx.
Marx was raised in Germany- he was a Jew.
His father had to re-locate his business and join the Lutheran church in order to fit in with the people he needed to do business with.
Marx would eventually go to ‘university’ in England- and he developed his ideas in an environment where the industrial revolution took off.
He witnessed the plight of the working class man [proletariat] and how he became a victim of the factory system.
In England you did see many hopeless workers fall prey to a lifestyle that had you going to work at the factory all day- often in a dark and dingy environment.
You would come home to a gloomy existence and often drink yourself to sleep.
Marx saw the working class as victims of the Ownership class [the original 99 versus the 1%].
Marx saw that those who ran the system- and ‘owned the tools’ had the true influence in society- and according to Marx- they used two primary means of controlling the masses.
Law and Religion.
So Marx advocated for a violent overthrow of the system- thru Revolutionary means- in order to free the working class slave from the power of the few.
Now- where the Harvard Prof missed it is he compared Marx’s idea to the Dotcom business model.
Facebook and other internet businesses- they tried to empower the worker by making him part owner.
When Facebook went public this last month [Initial public offering] it was said to have made many millionaires overnight.
Why?
Because those who got in at the start [even the kid who painted the Graffiti on the walls of the building] were offered the option of cash or stock.
Those who took the stock became rich when the company went public [it actually will go into effect if a couple of more months].
So- this model empowers the working class person by making him part owner.
Okay- Marx wanted to ‘level the field’ by putting the State in charge.
He felt like if you took the power away from the private owner [capitalism] then you could even out the scales by making the state decide how much pay was fair- and the state would literally own ‘the tools’ of the system.
Most of us know by now that his system failed pretty badly [Soviet Union].
Though he meant well- trying to defend the hopeless worker- yet he created a Monster State- and the state would become the new oppressor of the people- and take away the incentive that the private ownership model gave.
So all in all- the Harvard prof had some truth to what he said- but he went a step too far.
In today’s political climate- we all have a tendency to hear one side- and if we lineup with that side- we very rarely question those who advocate the way we believe.
It’s important to hear both sides- to give credit to the ideas that are good- and then reject the ideas that are bad.
Marx had some very legitimate concerns- the founder of the Salvation Army- William Booth- began his ministry to the same class of people that Marx saw.
Marx rejected religion because he believed the ownership class used it to keep the masses under.
Any truth to this?
Some.
Many of the Black slaves were encouraged to attend church and keep singing their Black spiritual songs.
Why?
Many of the themes of these great songs did indeed encourage the suffering servant to just hold on until he/she gets to the Promised Land.
As a matter of fact- many of the themes taught that if you rebelled against the slave owner then you would forfeit your reward in the hereafter.
Marx experienced the power of religion- and the role it played in his own family in Germany- his father had to join the Lutheran church- even though he was Jewish- just so he could be in contact with the people of influence in his town.
So yes- it’s good to hear both sides- give credit when you can- and also reject what you must.
Yeah- the Harvard Prof seemed to be a good guy- he knew his stuff- just not well enough.
1803- A MONKEY- A BLOGGER- AND- WELL- A ‘SLUT’.
Okay- once again we have spent a news week- with some very important stories to cover [Syria- etc] and some stupid stuff.
So what was the stupid/silly stuff?
Well- as a 70’s generation kid- sure- I liked the Monkees [Hey- Hey with the Monkees- …].
You remember?
Its Saturday morning- can you just hear the song in your mind as you read the above line?
If so- then you- and me- are actual nerds.
Big deal- Yeah- I watched the thing- and even walked to school with a Beatles lunchbox- you know- the metal kind- hey- it beat having a Brady Bunch one.
Davy Jones- the lead singer- seemed to be a nice guy- he passed away- and it was sad to see him go- I prayed for his wife and kids.
Then we had the passing of the right wing blogger- Andrew Brietbart.
He was known for his bold- in your face style.
Famous for bringing down Tony Weiner- the N.Y. Dem who liked texting his genitals to unknown women on his Facebook sight.
He was also famous for posting a video of Shirley Sherrod- a Black woman who worked for the govt. - she handled loans for farmers.
This dept. has been sued in the past for discriminating against Black farmers and they settled a big lawsuit a few years back.
Anyway- Shirley gave a speech at some Lib/Dem thing- and in part of the speech she said how when White farmers came in for loans- she thought to herself ‘why should I help this white guy- it’s now his turn to get the bad end of the stick’.
Later in the speech- she said she now knows these thoughts were wrong- and she said how God rebuked her for it.
Okay- when the short clip got out- only showing the first part- there was a firestorm and Obama fired the lady.
Later we found out about the whole clip- and he offered to rehire her- she said forget it.
So- the media- all over- every day- accused Brietbart of only showing the bad part of the clip- and not the good part.
‘You SOB’.
Actually- in his original post- he showed both the good and the bad.
It was Glenn Beck and a few others who only showed the bad part.
But the media- who all feed off of each other- kept going with the fake story that he only posted the bad stuff.
Till this day- they still believe it.
So just this last week Brietbart was on a progressive [liberal] show- Cenk Ugyr- Young Turks- and Cenk accused him once again of the false accusation.
For the first time on TV- Brietbart corrected the accusation and rebuked Cenk on air- Brietbart revealed the false charge that the media kept reporting- that he only showed the bad stuff.
Then a few days later I noticed he was invited on a number of more liberal news shows- to sit as a commentator on the election.
I think some of these news guys [Piers Morgan- CNN] might have double checked the story and found out that yes indeed- they all ran with the fake story- even till this day.
So- what do you know- Brietbart dies at the age of 43- and Andrea Mitchell- Shep Smith- and a few other news reporters once again repeated the charge- the false one- that he was famous for railroading Sherrod by only posting the racist part of the video- not the repentant part.
Ah- what can he do to defend himself- he’s dead- Yippee!!
Sad.
And last- but not least- we had the uproar over the Rush comments about Sandra Fluke- the Georgetown University student who testified before congress about her having to pay for her own birth control- which cost a lot- damn you!
Yes- Rush made fun of the girl- and said she was ‘a slut’- and he wanted her to post her ‘extra curricula’ actives on line for all to see- because she wants the tax payer to pay for her birth control.
So the media thought this important enough to bill as a top story- right up there with the deaths of the Syrians in Homs.
They are asking all the Repub candidates to make Rush apologize- on and on.
Now- was Rush wrong?
Of course- I mean no one should be using this type of language.
But to hammer the Repubs on it- like they are responsible- heck- they don’t control the guy.
Then yesterday as I was musing on the thing- I thought ‘Tomorrow I’ll write on it- and I’ll use Bill Maher as the counter argument’.
Sure enough- as the day went on- all the shows already got to him.
Maher is the Dem supporter- who just this last week donated 1 million to Obama- he has had his show ‘politically incorrect’ [or Correct?] on HBO for years.
I really don’t like the guy- for a bunch of reasons- but he often uses real off color language when referring to Repubs.
Okay- WARNING- this part will get rough.
A few weeks ago when Tebow lost the game- Maher tweeted ‘Jesus f—ked Tebow’.
As you know- Tebow is the Christian Quarterback that is outspoken for the faith.
Sarah Palin- a book came out that said she once slept with a famous Black NBA player.
Maher made a comment- about a woman who ran for office- a politically active Repub- former Alaska Governor- who has kids- ‘she would have f—cked him too- if he was Black’.
He was referring to some White guy.
Speaking about a Repub ‘he can suck my d—k’.
Now- all these things- and more – were said on national TV.
This guy just made a 1 million dollar donation to Obama- as he made the rounds on the news shows- not one time was he- or Obama- or any other Dem asked ‘do you think you/he should apologize for these remarks’.
What if Rush spoke about Michele Obama like this?
That she would ‘f—k’ some guy if he were White.
Do you think that story would get covered?
The whole point is the media plays selective outrage- sure- all of this language is wrong- but Limbaugh does his thing- Maher his- and if you want to go down the road of making political figures responsible for what others say- then that’s a long road to walk.
This week I read Jeremiah chapter 33.
This chapter has some great promises in it- the famous verse ‘call unto me and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things you know not’.
But the bulk of the chapter is God reassuring his people Israel that he will indeed keep the promise that he made to them years before.
A while back we covered the Old Testament and I said how you can almost sum up the whole O.T. by saying it’s the story of one man and his family.
That man was Abraham.
In Genesis chapters 12 and 15 we read about the promise God made to him- that if he left his home town and went on a journey to the promised land- then God would make him into a great nation- he would have kings sitting on the throne for generations to come- and they would be a great people.
Yet- at the time of Jeremiah the people were divided- they were captive- and things looked really bad.
In chapter 33 God tells them ‘do you think my promise will fail? If you can break my promise to the day and night- that day and night will happen every 24 hours- then you can break my promise to you’.
God was telling his people that even though things looked bad- yet he would fulfill his word- and bless them like he said.
One of the verses in the chapter even speaks to the divided nation accusation ‘some say these 2 nations will never be a great people’ and God rebukes that accusation.
As I look out over the terrain of our nation- and all the stuff ‘all of the above’ it does look at times hopeless- a whole week on some commentator calling a girl a slut- please!
Yet I still see some light at the end of the tunnel- congress and the President actually passed some stuff these past few weeks- stuff that seemed like was never going to get done- so yeah- maybe we can see the light right now.
But if a huge donor to the Obama campaign can get away with saying ‘Palin would have f—ked him if he were Black’ on national TV- and not one reporter asks Obama if he should ask Maher to apologize- then maybe we should dial down the rhetoric on the ‘slut comment’ a little- you think?
1804- THE NEW ISAAC
So a few days have gone by- and the number one media story- the story that topped the deaths in Syria- the U.N. report that says we and NATO backed a group that committed ‘war crimes’- yes- the top story- that Rush Limbaugh referred to Sandra Fluke as ‘a slut’ and that he finally apologized- yes this was the headline of the week.
What U.N. story John?
Glad you asked.
If you remember during our ‘kinetic action’ in Libya- I wrote a bunch of critical posts about our involvement.
I kept saying that we were using the wording of the U.N. resolution- that said we had the authority to go in and use DEFENSIVE means to protect civilians- well that wording became twisted [by us] to mean we can chase down Gadhaffi and his family [and his friends] and simply kill them.
When some observers began questioning this act- we said we were using ‘defensive’ means to knock out the ‘command and control’ of Gadhaffi- and that’s how we justified it.
Now- this whole thing was a farce- there never was any ‘command and control’ in the buildings we bombed- we simply thought Gadhaffi might have been there.
So we bombed his sons house in a private neighborhood- killed his grandkids- but missed him.
Okay- the U.N. did a yearlong study to see if we did indeed violate human rights by lying like this.
The report came out- and it said we tried to reduce the civilian causalities- but did kill around 60 innocent people under the guise of ‘taking out command and control’.
They found that there was no evidence at all that these buildings we targeted were command and control centers.
War crimes?
Yes- the report also states that the rebel group we backed did commit war crimes- now- the report says Gadhaffi’s side committed ‘crimes against humanity’ [far worse] but that our side did commit war crimes- and till this day the new ‘govt.’ will not investigate the possible crimes committed when they killed innocent people.
So- this story was a small article in the back of the paper- it should have been headline news- not ‘the slut’ comment.
Okay- in the last post I commented on Jeremiah chapter 33.
This was the promise God made to Israel that he would fulfill his promise and they would be restored into a strong nation.
I referenced the earlier story we find in Genesis [chapters 12-15] where God makes this promise to Abraham.
If you read these 2 chapters- plus 17 and 22- you will get the main promise.
God called Abraham to leave his homeland and go on a journey. In this new land God would bless Abraham and he would have tons of kids and grandkids and eventually become a nation [the nation of Israel].
So over a period of time- thru many dangers and trials- he finally has a son- named Isaac- and this son is the promised child thru whom all the others will come from.
In chapter 22 of Genesis- when Abraham was an old man- Gods tests him and says ‘Abraham- go and take Isaac- your only beloved son- and offer him up to me on Mount Moriah’.
Abraham went thru many years of doubt and struggle before he finally received the promised son [read chapters 17-18 of Genesis].
And when Sarah finally had the child- it was a miracle.
So when God says ‘offer this boy up’- to Abraham it was putting at risk the whole purpose of his life- the very reason he left his friends and family and moved to a strange land.
But the bible says he took the child- and when they got near the range of mountains where mount Moriah was- he told the servants ‘you guys wait here- me and the boy will go to worship- and we will BOTH BE BACK’.
This phrase is picked up in Hebrews chapter 11- the writer says Abraham simply believed that God would raise the boy from the dead- that’s how he justified in his mind the order to offer his son- and this same son being the child thru whom the others would come.
So as Abraham approaches the mountain- he takes the wood for the offering- the ‘fire’- and no animal.
He puts the wood on Isaac’s back- to carry up the hill.
Isaac asks his dad ‘dad- we have the wood and all- but where is the animal for the offering’
Abraham simply tells his boy ‘God will provide himself a lamb for the offering’.
As they get to the top of the hill- Abraham ties Isaac with the rope- and puts him on the altar and takes out a knife to slay him. At that moment- an angel calls out to him and says ‘STOP!’
The whole thing was a test- to see if Abraham would do what God said- even if it seemed contrary to Gods promise and purpose for his life.
It should be noted that the Rabbi’s tell us that Isaac was not a young boy at the time- he was probably an older teen- strong enough to carry the wood up the hill.
This signifies that Isaac could have probably put up a fight- and won!
But he heard all the stories about God’s miracles- his dad recounted all the great signs and things that God did in their lives- and when Abraham got to the point of offering up his son- maybe Isaac simply accepted that God was in control and he would do whatever needed to be done.
Over a thousand years later- Jesus would walk the dusty streets of Jerusalem- he too was a promised son.
He preached and healed and was a true miracle worker.
He often used ‘Father Abraham’ as an example to prove his teachings- one time he said ‘before Abraham was- I AM’.
This incensed the hearers and they took up stones to kill him- the words I AM- are the words that refer to God [during Moses time he told Moses he was the I AM].
So the day comes for Jesus to ‘take the wood’ of the sacrifice- and go up the hill- called Calvary.
History tells us that Calvary is in the same range of mountains that Moriah sits on.
Jesus- the ‘second Isaac’ took the wood of the Cross- just like Isaac- and carried it to the top.
In the story of Abraham- when the angel said STOP- they looked around and found a ram in the brush- they used the ram as a sacrifice.
But this day- the day of Jesus- no ram was to be found- he looked up to his God- and he said ‘why do you forsake ME LIKE THIS’.
Yes- Jesus was the lamb that Abraham prophesied of- he was the ultimate sacrifice.
Sometimes we go thru things that seem contrary to the true purpose- things that we see as course changers.
When Jesus died- all of his followers thought the goal was gone- they thought he was going to lead a present day rebellion against Rome and become the new Messiah ruling out of Jerusalem.
When he died on the Cross- they could not harmonize what they thought was the whole purpose- and this gruesome death.
Yet 3 days after they saw the true purpose- the ultimate reality.
Are you at Mount Moriah?
The place that seems like all is lost.
Trust God- after 3 days everything will look totally different.
1805- GROUND ZERO- ABOTTOBAD [Pakistan]
Let’s start with an article I read this week on the last days of Bin Laden.
Now- I must admit when I got about halfway thru I could not stop laughing.
I sit in the yard during the day when reading- and yes- I was outside- laughing loud.
The story covered how during the last few months of Bin laden on the lamb- that his oldest wife ‘showed up’ one day at the compound.
Yes- the article repeats this- she ‘showed up’.
It made it sound like they did not want her to know where he was living.
Understand- his 3 story compound- which we have all seen on the news- was considered the world’s most top secret hiding spot- hidden right by the Pakistani military academy- to protect it from the U.S.- and we spent years trying to track him down.
Even on the day of the famous seal team 6 raid- we still did not know for sure that he was there.
Yet- this oldest wife- well- she ‘showed up’ one day [just a warning to all you players out there].
Now- the story goes that everyone in the compound [28 people in total] were all afraid that she was going to rat them out.
Bin Laden lived on the 3rd floor with his youngest wife- from Yemen.
And he had another wife living with them on the 3rd floor- she slept in the computer room.
But the oldest wife- the one who just ‘showed up’ she stayed on the 2nd floor- right below Bin laden.
Now- one of the sons of the other wives kept asking her ‘what are you doing here?’- And she finally said- I’m quoting from the article now ‘I HAVE ONE LAST DUTY TO PERFORM FOR MY HUSBAND’.
The son immediately ran to the 3rd floor to inform the world’s most feared terrorist- the man who masterminded the worst terrorist attack to ever hit our shores- 3,ooo dead.
The son tells him the ominous tone of the woman’s voice.
It is said that Bin Laden simply replied ‘the will of Allah be done’ [okay- I hedged some- the article states he simply felt fate would take over].
Fate taking over- Allah’s will be done- come on man- do something about it.
Now- as a Christian blogger I usually don’t advocate for murdering a disgruntled spouse- but I just saw this past week how some American took his wife ‘deep sea diving’ and was charged with killing her- they think he turned off the air valve.
Okay- rank amateur- American born- you would think Bin Laden could have done more than say ‘the will of Allah be done’.
Okay- the famous night of the raid- he’s living on the 3rd floor- a compound within a compound- everyone in the home fears for their lives- not from the U.S. - but from the oldest wife.
Then all of a sudden- you hear a commotion- guns going off- we have all seen the depiction of Bin Laden standing by the bed- reaching for a gun- when the door breaks and seal team 6 arrives to save the day.
Yes- the cartoon depiction [we have no real video] left one thing out- Bin Laden probably said ‘Oh thank Allah- it’s just you guys’.
I will end the Bin Laden saga with one last quote- the article states that after Bin laden's death- the Pakistani intelligence people- who just happen to have actual Taliban and terrorist within their ranks- when they interrogated the older wife- they said- quote ‘She is so aggressive- she borders on being intimidating’.
They basically were afraid of being in the room with the woman- now we know why we have all the videos of Bin Laden sitting in his room- looking at that TV screen- isolated- alone.
The reports were he was sick- and some questioned his mental health.
Yes- it looks like seal team 6 did save the day- for the U.S. - and Bin Laden.
Okay- wasted too much time on that one- and too risky.
You say ‘John- you do have readers in some of these countries in the Arab world- should you so freely be joking like this?’
To which I have one reply ‘who’s John’?
Okay- like I said in the last post or 2- the backlash of the Rush ‘slut’ comment- which caused him to lose advertisers- has provoked a response from the right- they have now gone and found the statements of Bill Maher- and have made a short UTUBE clip about them.
I don’t want to repeat the ones from the previous post- but be warned- these get bad- real bad.
Maher referred to Palin getting the job at fox ‘Palin is now going to comment on fox- her night job is like her day job- talking to Down Syndrome people all day’.
Note- Down Syndrome is a serious problem- one of the stigmas of it is many people used to confuse it with other more serious mental retardation issues.
How anyone can say this on national TV- and at the same time be a major supporter of the president- it’s beyond me.
Okay- he also refers to Palin- as ‘that C-U-N- and then a T’ [I mean- it’s so bad I have to find ways to say it- without ‘saying it’.]
As the week progressed- and the comments came out- some on the right are simply saying ‘this guy is a major funder of Obama’s PAC- he has made all the rounds on TV- he even called Plain a MILF [mothers I’d like to f—k] on CNN- and the news media are not asking Obama or his supporters if he should apologize’.
Yes- Obama needs to give the blood money back- disconnect from this idiot- and part ways.
But wait- as I was listening to right wing radio- Hannity- they had some Democrat woman on- who said these comments were acceptable- because they were made in a political environment- and were not a personal attack against all women.
Calling her the C word- bringing her sons sickness into it- acceptable? Unbelievable.
And last but not least- the videos and connections Obama has had with radical left wing Black activists.
A video came out that showed Obama supporting/introducing a Black racist.
The video simply showed Obama at Harvard introducing Derrick Bell- a radical racist activist who is anti White and Anti Semitic.
Now- Obama did not just do a onetime introduction- when Obama taught at the University of Chicago- he had this man’s books as required reading for a law class he taught.
Bell advocates for ‘radical race theory’- an idea that says the ‘JEWS’ conspired with the Whites in order to keep the Black man down- and that the only solution is to ‘abolish the White race as a social category ‘[actual quote].
Okay- a few years ago I remember when Trent Lott- the leader of the Repubs in the senate- he made a silly/stupid comment at a birthday party for Strom Thurmond.
When Strom was younger- he did run as a presidential contender in the south- and the Repubs and the Dems have a history of racism in the south- actually the Dem’s have a more racist history in the south [Dixiecrats].
So Lott says ‘things would have been a whole lot better if you won’
Okay- the media and the Dems went nuts- were you saying you wished that the south ‘won’ and the racists took over?
He simply apologized and said it was a stupid statement he gave at a party- he shouldn’t have done it.
Now- Lot lost his spot as the top leader over this.
Yet Obama has endorsed- spoken kindly about- and even recommends the books of a man who hates Jews- wants to ‘abolish the White race as a social category’- and has said these things openly before the whole world.
‘Well John- you don’t believe Obama believes this- do you’?
I have no idea- the point is he does have all these bad connections with people- things the media ignores- and at the same time he calls for a more civil discourse- on the right side of the aisle.
Okay- will end with one last quote- this came up on the Opie and Anthony show- the guy was some type of Democrat ‘entertainer’- he referred to Sarah Palin’s son- who has Down Syndrome ‘that retarded piece of &^%$ that came out of her C---T’.
Yes folks- you heard it- this same man was scheduled to speak/entertain at a Dem fundraiser later in the year.
I have not heard one prominent Democrat rebuke these comments- the things Maher has said- on video- not one Democrat has come out with the same ‘righteous outrage’ that they felt when a Republican called a lady- a Slut.
If we want civil discourse Mr. Obama- then let it start with your supporters- because it seems like they never heard the phrase.
1806- THE 2% LIE
I want to talk a little bit about how we perceive things- the way the media and politicians use propaganda to sway the way people think.
This weekend I spoke with my liberal friend from N.J. - by the way- when I use examples from our talks- these are real discussions that I have had with this friend for the last 30 years.
This is not a ‘made up person’.
Okay- one of the first things they said was ‘can you believe these Repub candidates- all they want to talk about is birth control’.
Now- I told my friend that this was a perfect example of how the propaganda machine works.
If you remember back to the first time birth control came up during this election- it was a question by George Stephanopoulos.
He asked Romney if states have the right to ban Birth control.
Everyone on the stage- and in the audience were shocked- surprised. Why in the heck would you ask a question like this- no one on the trail is talking about it [until then] and it simply was not part of the ‘conversation’.
A few days later- Stephen Colbert had Stephanopoulos on his show [Colbert Report] and he asked him ‘why would you ask a question like that’?
He responded ‘I had a bet with Dianne Sawyer that I could get Romney to admit that birth control was a good thing’.
He lied.
What really happened was the Dem strategists had a plan- they knew that it would be difficult for the President to run on the economy [even though now the numbers are looking better- to his credit].
So they had a strategy to turn the conversation into one on birth control and ‘the war on women’.
The president was just about to announce his new rule on birth control- that the Catholic church would no longer be able to not provide it thru their plans- and this whole conversation was orchestrated to get the average person to wake up one day and say ‘geez- look at all these stupid stone age Republicans- all they want to talk about is birth control’.
And Walla- my friend swallowed the bait- hook line and sinker.
Now- do both sides do this?
Sure- I’m just showing you how.
Now- the present problem [in my mind] is that Obama has been unable to distinguish between speaking honestly as a president- and speaking ‘politically’ as a campaigner.
What do I mean?
The last 2 weeks the president has been going around making public speeches and saying ‘when these Repubs say “drill baby drill” they are lying to you about the problem- even if we drill- we use 20% of the world’s oil- and only have 2% of the oil reserves here in the U.S.’.
Now- he has said this more than once- and sometimes he qualifies the statement by saying ‘proven oil reserves’.
But as you hear the words- you- the average Joe [Mary] think ‘geez- if we only posses 2 % of the world’s oil- and we use 20%- then just doing more drilling is not the answer’.
Okay- do we only have 2% of the world’s Oil here in the U.S.?
No- if you opened up ALL the oil rich regions- both offshore and on land- we would have 100% of our oil needs met- for 250 years.
Yes- you heard me- we would have so much oil- that we would not have to import any- nada.
So John- how can Obama say we only have 2%?
Well- put aside the ability to lie for a moment- and realize [like the birth control] that the political insiders for Obama realized that the gas/oil issue does have the potential to derail the presidents bid to get re-elected.
So they devised a strategy to respond to the Repubs argument that gas is going up- and blame Obama.
Now- here’s the tricky part.
When Obama uses language like this- he is using a little known definition of ‘proven oil reserves’ that the OMB [office of management and budget] uses.
This definition of proven oil reserves actually means- all the oil reserves that we are currently tapping into- and the ones that the govt. /pres has already approved down the road.
In essence- Obama is saying ‘out of all the oil reserves THAT I AM GOING TO APPROVE- we can only get 2%’.
And when the ‘drill baby drill’ folk say ‘let’s drill’ they are talking about all the reserves that we are not drilling from.
So- in essence- Obama simply lied.
Now- did he lie- like under the legal definition of Bill Clinton ‘were you ever alone with Lewinsky’?
Answer ‘No’.
Reason ‘there were other people in the building at the time’.
Okay- he was alone with her in the Oval Office- but in his mind- if there were other people in the building- or lets say in D.C.- or lets say ‘in the world’ well yes- you can technically say that none of us ‘are ever alone’.
But to the average mind- well- you were ‘alone’.
So- when you hear the president- saying over and over again [he has now stopped- I think- he got caught] ‘we only have 2% of the world’s oil reserves’ well- he’s using Clinton language.
Problem?
When you campaign- and do stuff like this- okay- they all do it- it’s not right- or good- but they do it.
When you are actually holding the office- and people hear you say this- you are purposefully deceiving folk- you know they think something other than what you are saying.
I mean who thinks ‘Ah- he’s using the OMB definition for oil reserves- not true human speak’.
Who remembers where we left off on our Philosophy posts?
We were in the 18th century and were discussing Empiricism- the idea that we obtain true knowledge about things thru the things themselves- the empirical evidence.
One of the famous philosophers that falls into this category was a Bishop named Berkeley.
Even though he is called an Empiricist- he kind of had some ideas that were also Idealist- those that saw ideas and the Metaphysical world as the main source of knowledge.
You might not have ever heard of Berkeley- but most of you are familiar with his famous statement ‘If a tree falls in the forest- and no one’s there- does it still make a sound’.
Or the modern version ‘if a man speaks in a room- and no woman is there- is he still wrong’.
Berkeley grappled with the debate of what role does the observer play in the actual existence of things.
Does reality depend upon an observer- if something is not being perceived- does it really exist?
His conclusion was- things do depend upon an observer to exist [I don’t hold to this view by the way] and that God is the ultimate observer- he is observing all things at all times- therefore all things really do exist.
As you can see- Philosophy does get fuzzy at times.
When people use language- ‘2% of the world’s oil reserves’ they expect you to be using language that most humans agree upon.
When you say ‘I did not have sex with that woman- Miss Lewinsky’.
They don’t realize that your definition of sex does not include oral sex- or any other sex- outside of standard missionary position intercourse.
So as we progress over the next few months- yes- both sides are going to be using propaganda- the media- to make their point.
And some things are true- others are not.
Reality/truth is not something that changes- or depends upon an observer- if the tree falls- yeah it makes a noise- whether you are there or not.
When you say ‘2%’ of the world’s oil- yes- it makes a difference that you are using a definition that MOST HUMANS ARE NOT OPERATING BY- and whether an ‘observer’ catches you or not- it’s still wrong.
1807- HAVE A FINE WINTER TIME IN THE POCON…- NAH- HOW BOUT BARQA.
Have you heard the good news?
Yes- the world community has just added another nation to the pot.
It’s this wonderful coastal state that sits right off of the Mediterranean [club med?].
You know- the northern part of Africa- on the border with that other famous tourist spot- Egypt.
Yes folks- last week the eastern half of Libya broke away from its capital [Tripoli] and launched their own state.
The new ‘leaders’ of Libya- they said it was an Arab conspiracy to destroy the nation.
Why are the new leaders- the guys we installed- crying?
Let’s see- the eastern half of the Arab nation has all the oil- oh- so what we did in Libya- the military action that is regularly touted as the new successful model- it split the nation in half and will probably send them into a long term civil war.
In the last post or 2 I also mentioned how the new leaders are guilty of war crimes and are continuing to oppress the part of the population that supported Gadhaffi.
Yes- the new nation is called Barqa- and I bet this is the first time you heard the ‘good news’.
Why is this stuff important John?
Because what we did- did not work out well at all.
Yet the media- and the supporters of the president- continue to talk about our action [with NATO] as a great success.
As far as I can tell- it’s turning into a mess.
Iraq?
Yes- after all the blood spilled- both American and Iraqi- how are things working out?
The leader- Malaki- he has charges against the vice president [of another sect] and he’s trying to try the guy on terrorist charges- he’s hiding out in the north- the Kurdish region.
It looks like Iraq will also divide into 2 or 3 territories.
The leader- Malaki- is a supporter of Iran- and is even supporting the Syrian dictator- the one we are trying to get out- yes- the guy we backed in Iraq is supporting Iran and Syria- and not us.
Last but not least- Afghanistan.
Yes- we had the tragic incident of one of our guys leaving the base and killing 16 innocent civilians in cold blood- many of them women and children.
Tragic.
We have had Afghans protesting in the streets- images of Obama being lynched [did you see it? I did].
After all this time- trying to pretend that the Afghans see us as their liberators- they see us as occupiers- and we are their oppressors.
The Taliban put out a statement after the killing of the civilians- it said that if the U.S. military blames this on a mentally unstable person [he was a staff sergeant who had suffered a previous bran injury].
They said then it shows you that the U.S. is so bankrupt- that they are putting guns in the hands of their mentally unstable soldiers and sending them to our country.
Don’t tell me these Taliban are not smart.
Yes- after all this time- all the blood and money and time- it seems like all the nations we have been involved with militarily- well they are either worse off- or just as bad- as before we got involved.
Isaiah chapter 2 says at the end of time the Lords kingdom will prevail over all kingdoms- men will take their military weapons and turn them into instruments of peace [swords into Plowshares ring a bell?]
Yes- the ultimate goal is ‘war no more’ [this is also in the chapter- learn WAR NO MORE].
I’m not a pacifist- I believe we have the right to defend ourselves with force if need be.
But we must use it as a last resort- we must see that force- military action rarely wins the hearts and minds of people.
And for a Western ‘Christian’ nation to go into the heart of the Arab world- even with good intentions- and to think that our killing of other Arabs/Muslims can with the hearts and minds of the people- then we are on a fool’s errand.
Yes- maybe well intended- maybe justified in the sense that we had the right to strike back- but the overall strategy is failing- terribly.
Oh well- maybe if we all take a vacation things will look better when we get back- how bout we all go to the sandy shores of Barqa- I hear the Margaritas are great.
1808- 22 DAYS- AND COUNTING
As we end the week it’s been 22 days since Obama has held possession of the 1 million dollars that Bill Maher gave him.
I’m not sure how much longer he will keep it- all the clips of Maher calling women bad stuff- well they have been going viral on the net.
I even heard Ed Rendell- a big Democrat insider- say that he has Democrat women telling him that Obama needs to give the money back.
Maher just did a sold out show here in Texas [San Antonio] - he talked about giving up the ‘cu-t’ line about Palin [he also speaks of her as a ‘twat’ and makes fun of her Down syndrome child].
He said he gave up the ‘cu-t’ line [left the n out] even though it was the funniest line in his routine- that everyone loved it.
If that’s the funniest line on your show- then you have one dull show.
Sinbad [the Black comedian] is funny- you laugh when he does stand up- and you never hear any stuff like this out of him- if you need to degrade women and Down syndrome children to get laughs- then you have a problem.
The sad thing is- Obama and his guys are still 100% behind Maher- defending him on TV [Axelrod].
I heard Axelrod give a defense of Maher just the other day- while at the same time accusing the Repubs of waging a ‘war on women’.
Too much- that’s funnier than all the Maher skits combined.
Okay- let’s ‘keep em honest’ [as Cooper says].
As the debate heats up- Obama has been denying- vehemently- that he wants higher gas prices.
He told one reporter at a news presser- ‘do you really think that a president- in an election year- wants gas to go up’?
Actually- I don’t.
Then why ask this?
One of the political positions that some have taken over the years [Gore] believe that in order to wean the nation off of fossil fuels- that you have to get the gas prices high enough that it would then make the alternative clean fuels more economically feasible.
At the same time- this view believes that the Govt. should invest in clean fuel companies [thus Solyndra] and help them get off the ground.
Okay- has Obama and his Energy secretary ever espoused views like this?
Yes- many times- in public- on camera- on utube- even in the last couple of years.
Okay- do we have the right to be suspicious?
Obama- and Chu [energy secretary] have both said there goal was to get fuel prices higher- Chu said 8 dollars would be about right [a gallon].
This administration has touted clean fuel companies and has even been caught [emails] telling one company that was about to go under [Solyndra] ‘wait until after the midterm elections before you go bust’.
They have held this anti fossil fuel position for a long time.
Then why is it so unreasonable to simply ask ‘do you still hold to your past position- one you are on record as having- that you want gas prices to go up’.
Yet- the MSNBC crowd- and the other supporters of Obama in the media- they cant believe that anyone would ever believe that Obama and Chu would want gas to go higher.
Chu was confronted this week at a congressional hearing- the congressman asked him if he still held to the words he spoke a few years ago when he said he wanted gas to go up in price.
Chu said- ‘no- I don’t hold to that view anymore’.
Geez- this was your life long mission- something you advocated for- for many years- you’re were on that side- the Gore idea- and now you say ‘I don’t hold the view’.
Who do we believe man?
As MSNBC continues their ‘war on women’ accusation- we now have clips of Sharpton making the rounds [UTUBE] where he calls the Greek Philosophers [the ones I have been teaching on this least year] ‘a bunch of Homo’s’.
How wonderful- Sharpton- a guy- flim flam man- who holds a regular show on msnbc- he degrades Jews- calls Greeks ‘Homo’s’ speaks of Whites in terrible ways- yet he is lauded as some great civil rights guy- and he is a major supporter of Obama.
Race?
This week- the justice dept just overturned a Texas voter I.D. law.
Some states have been passing laws that say you need picture I.D. to vote.
Holder [attorney general- who has said that the civil rights laws are only meant to protect Blacks- not Whites- he did say this by the way].
He overturned Texas’ law because he said it was racist- because more minorities don’t have I.D.’s.
A few years ago- there was a video making the rounds- a Democrat woman [I think Ca.?] she was onstage talking to an Hispanic audience- she said ‘go tell your friends and neighbors to vote- even if they don’t have documentation- because they are not allowed to check at the polls’.
So some states have passed laws- trying to make sure that only citizens are voting.
In 2008- Georgia’s first vote after they passed voter I.D. laws- they had MORE Blacks show up to vote.
In 2008- the Supreme Court upheld Indiana’s voter I.D. law- Justice John Paul Stevens- a liberal- wrote the majority decision.
He simply said that states have a real interest- not racist- to make sure only eligible voters are voting.
He said there was absolutely no evidence to suggest that requiring people to have picture I.D.’s to vote is racist.
Yet Holder says that states that are trying to pass voter I.D. laws are trying to ‘undo’ the civil rights gains that men like John Lewis fought for in the 60’s.
This guy is unbelievable.
So we have an administration- whose public defenders- who’s attorney general- whose energy secretary- and all the other people around him- hold to paranoid views on race and energy and all types of things.
They call women the nastiest manes in the book- they speak about Jews and Whites as groups that conspired against Blacks and who need to be ‘eliminated as a social class’ [Bell].
Yet- at the same time they are also running a media campaign that says 'look at all the Repubs- they are anti woman- they are racist- they call women sluts’.
And then when 2 polls come out [this week- Washington Post and N.Y. Times] they cant believe that Obama’s approval actually fell- even among women.
Yes- after the Super Tuesday results- when Santorum won a large amount of women voters- you had the pundits on MSNBC shocked- even mad ‘I guess these southern women are too stupid- that they would vote for a guy who wants to take away their birth control’.
Now- Southern women- Northern Women- women from all regions and colors- they have daughters and sons who need jobs- who have a very bleak future ahead of them- if the economy does not start really producing jobs.
These women are paying 75 dollars to fill up their cars/vehicles.
These women- they have real concerns about real issues.
And for the media to have really thought that their contrived War on Woman campaign- to have thought that women would go out in huge numbers to vote for their ‘right to have birth control- paid for by everyone else’ for them to have thought this was demeaning- condescending.
Yes- women are concerned about health care issues- and the CBO said this week that Obama care will cost twice as much than what he said [1.7 trillion instead of 900 billion].
And that private employers would drop around 20 million people from their rolls [not 1 million as Obama said].
Yes- these health care issues matter to women- it matters to women that your major supporters degrade women on a regular basis- accuse Jews and Whites of conspiracies.
These things matter too.
But no- the media can’t understand how Obama’s approval actually went down among women- not up.
I guess they don’t realize that Jews and Whites and Hispanics and all other races- well they are women too.
And even though Eric Holder does not believe that these ‘other races’ are covered under the civil rights laws- and that states that simply want citizens to vote- whether they be Mexican or White or Black- they want to make sure only eligible voters vote.
Well Holder says that those states are trying to turn back the civil rights gains made over the past 60 years.
It’s no wonder why the numbers are going down- women see these things- women of all races- and its condescending to have thought that women were going to abandon the other side in huge numbers and support Obama- all because a Georgetown university student- who pays 40 thousand a year tuition- can’t afford 9 dollars a month at wal mart for birth control.
It’s a surprise for me to think that any woman- Black- White- North- South- would have swallowed a line like that.
1809- 3 THINGS
First- Sanford Florida.
The case of Zimmerman and the Black kid.
As most of you have heard by now- Zimmerman was this neighborhood watch guy and he saw a Black kid walking thru the area.
To Zimmerman- for whatever reason- he thought the kid looked suspicious [you know- Black kid walking- yeah- very strange!]
So as any good citizen would do- he stalked the kid!
As you listen to the 911 calls- it seems as if this Black kid realized some guy in a vehicle is following him and he gets scared.
Even though the dispatcher tells Zimmerman not to follow the kid- Zimmerman replies ‘these type always get away’.
Then you hear from the 911 tapes- Zimmerman confronts the scared kid- the kid is screaming for his life- and Zimmerman kills him- you know- with the gun he uses for ‘self defense’.
No arrest- the cops say it was self defense.
Geez- if this was self defense- keep me away from Sanford.
Obviously Zimmerman murdered the kid in cold blood.
Sure- maybe he should not get convicted for the most severe type of murder- but this guy needs to go to prison for this stunt.
Second- George Clooney.
This past week Clooney has made the rounds on the talk shows- and even got arrested at the Sudanese embassy in D.C.
He has been bringing awareness to the tragedy going on in the Sudan [Africa].
Last year I wrote a few posts on the situation. Sudan had a referendum and the south split from the north.
Clooney did say ‘this is the world’s most recent nation’.
Actually he got that wrong [go back a post or 2 and read my post on Barqa].
But overall he did well.
What’s going on in Sudan is actually worse than what’s happening in Syria.
In Syria- the president- Assad- has indiscriminately bombed civilian cities [Homs] - it is an overreaction that has killed many innocent people [some estimates are around 10,000].
But yet- it is a ‘reaction’.
A response to a popular uprising in the country.
In Sudan- the govt. is simply dropping [literally- rolling them off the planes] bombs on women and children- to get them to move out of the Nuba mountain area- so the govt. can take the land.
The people living in the area- they have already missed the last year of the planting season- and they can’t plant this year because of the bombs- many are on the verge of starvation- and they are living under rocks and in caves because of the bombing.
This truly is a tragedy- and I commend Clooney for his activism.
And last but not least- sergeant Bales.
Yes- we now have had a few reports on the soldier accused of killing 16 civilian Afghans.
As the portrait is being drawn- we see a sad story.
By all accounts Bales grew up as a great kid- well liked and a truly good guy.
He joined the military a few months after 911- and was one of those kids who said ‘this won’t happen on my watch’ type of thing.
He had already seen multiple tours of duty in combat zones- and suffered some severe injuries as a result [lost part of his foot and had some head injuries].
He is married and has 2 small kids.
He owned 2 homes- one was foreclosed on- the other he agreed to sell at a 50,000 dollar loss- one of those unfortunate guys who is ‘underwater’ on his mortgage [you owe more than the house is worth].
On his wife’s blog- she wrote that they were trying to deal with these losses by the possibility that their next tour of duty would be in Germany- Italy or maybe Hawaii.
Bales said the military told him they would not send him back into a combat zone.
Then he got the news that they were going to Afghanistan instead.
Now- all these things obviously do not justify the killing of civilians- but we need to see that our govt. also plays a role- a responsibility- if we are stressing guys to the limit.
The day before the incident- Bales witnessed his friend getting his leg blown off.
Everybody in the company was upset about the injury.
It is said that Bales was drinking the day of the killings- and by all accounts- it looks like a tragic story of a good man- who snapped.
In all these cases- the killing of the Black kid- Sudan- and Bales- we as a nation get mad.
We see the injustices- the victims- and even the very real humanity of those who perpetrate the crime [Bales].
We want- and should- give people the benefit of the doubt.
But we should also make sure we are not simply overlooking a real crime- because it’s just easier to say ‘oh- self defense’.
The 2 chapters I recommend for the week are John chapter 3 [born again- Jesus] and Ephesians chapter 2 [saved by grace].
If I remember I will comment on them before the week is out.
But they do talk about forgiveness- God sending his Son into the world- not to condemn the world- but to save it.
As we pray for these situations- and also seek justice where it needs to be done [Sudan- Fla.] we need to keep in mind both sides [Bales].
While we never want to overlook a serious offense- we also want to be aware of the overall situation.
Are we stressing our guys too much?
Should guys who have had multiple serious injuries- loosing parts of their limbs- should we be sending them into combat zones 3 or 4 times?
Like I said- no excuses for the wrong done- but have we also done wrong- by putting him there?
1810- THE CRUCIFIED ONE
Yesterday I shopped at the local grocery store- and as my habit is- I started at the vegetable/fruit section.
When I grab the little bags to put the stuff in- I usually grab a few extra- and if I don’t use them I’ll take them home and stick them in the cabinet.
So, as I’m checking out- the lady asks me ‘oh- do you want me to throw these out’. I think she knew I was gonna confiscate them for personal use.
So- as a joke- I say ‘no- that’s fine- I sell them to the homeless guys out front’ [The store is a couple of hundred yards from the homeless mission where I hang out- everyone in the area knows about the ‘homeless guys’].
As I tell her the joke- both she and the bagger- they don’t seem to think it’s funny.
They look pretty mad- to be honest.
I tell them ‘no- I’m kidding- I take them home and use them for the onions and stuff’.
Their look didn’t change one bit- they did not want me to get those damn bags!
Right now in Texas we have an ongoing war with the Obama administration. In all my years as a political observer- I have never seen someone as petty as this current president.
I have written about him denying us federal aid when we applied because of wild fires we had a few years back.
Then the recent accusation that Texas is racist because of the voter I.D. laws.
Plus- the E.P.A. rules that are shutting down parts of our power grid- this coming year Texas is going to face some blackout problems because of this.
So- this week the president cut the federal funds for the WHP program.
This program gives care to poor women.
There are over 2400 hundred providers in Texas that will lose the majority of their funding because of this.
Why would the president do this?
Texas- like a few other states- passed a law that prevents tax payer money going to clinics that provide abortions.
The federal money supplies about 90 % of the funding- the federal govt. said if you deny any funding for the Planned Parenthood clinics- then we will cut all the funding to all of the 2400 clinics.
Now- did they have to do this?
No.
How many Planned Parenthood clinics are in this group of over 2400 providers?
If you simply listen to the media- you would think that just about all of them are- or maybe half.
Out of the over 2400 providers- Planned Parenthood makes up 44.
Yeah- 44.
The president cut off funding for 2400 clinics- that do breast screenings and mammograms.
That actually treat cancer and other diseases.
He cut them all off- because Planned Parenthood would not be in the group any more.
Planned Parenthood does not treat for breast cancer- does not offer pre natal care- and does not even have mammogram machines.
Many of the 2400 clinics that the president cut off do all of these services.
So why would you cut off over 90 % of the clinics that actually do these real- needed services?
Because of the political ideology of being pro abortion.
Obama has positioned himself as being on the side of abortion and his supports want that.
So- to appease his base- he cut off 2400 poor women’s clinics in Texas- this was a choice he made- not Perry.
A poll was done the other day- they asked women ‘would you like free birth control- or have to pay for it yourself’?
Now- if you ask just about anybody ‘would you like free dental- or health insurance- or beer’ what do you think the majority of people would say?
So after they did the poll- they said ‘see- most people support the position the president takes on abortion and birth control’.
See how the media shapes the conversation? You can ask a question in a way that gets a certain answer- and Walla- they achieved the goal.
Society has a decision to make- can we as a people live without any ethical requirements.
Should ethics- making a distinction between right and wrong- should this be part of the conversation?
In our Philosophy study- as scattered as it has been- we ended right around the 18-19th centuries.
We were coming up to the Existentialists.
Existentialism is a difficult philosophy to pin down [as most are].
But the easiest short definition I have found is it’s the philosophy of Existence.
That is real life- It’s not just a matter of intellectual data- it’s what we learn and experience as passionate people- people who have real problems and issues- yet they strive for meaning.
The father of Existentialism was the 19th century thinker- Soren Kierkegaard.
Kierkegaard was a Christian- he challenged the dead church of Denmark- the state church- and he called for a more adventurous approach to the faith.
Some notable followers of this philosophy took a different approach- they were the atheistic existentialists.
One of the most famous being Frederick Nietzsche.
Nietzsche taught that men should abandon all hope of a future afterlife- that the whole field of ethics was futile ‘do what you need to do to excel- step on the other people on the way up the ladder- and that’s what life is all about’.
He called this the Superman- man coming into this new age of science and reason- and rejecting the old forms of religion and ethics- which keep man down.
Nietzsche spent the last years of his life in an insane asylum.
His sister sold tickets to the ‘audience’ who wanted to see the madman.
She exercised her ‘superwoman’ and did what would benefit her- financially- without any worry about whether it was right or wrong.
The last couple of years of his life- Nietzsche signed his letters ‘the crucified one’.
In his rejection of God- he lost his mind and took the identity of Jesus Christ- the ethical one.
As we grapple with what’s right and wrong- as states pass laws that say 'we don’t want our tax payer money supporting abortions’.
Then we are going to have to deal with the backlash- those who at the time have the power [money] to cut the states off who see ethics as a priority.
Yes- the Superman [Feds] can deny that ethics play a role in women’s health- they can say ‘no money for any of your 2400 clinics’ just because you won’t fund 44 Planned Parenthood clinics.
People can get mad- and even take polls that say ‘we want free things’ [don’t we all? My grocery bags!]
At the end of the day- right and wrong do make a difference.
Trying to live a life- a worldview [philosophy] in a passionate way- that’s a good thing- we are all real people who deal with real issues.
But when you leave God/ethics out of the picture- then you are on a crash course- you might wake up one day- having lost your mind- and signing you letters as The Crucified One.
1811- ETCH A SKETCH
The top story of the day- the big- no- huge- breaking news.
What was it?
You aint gonna believe me.
Yes- the Etch a Sketch controversy!
During the day yesterday some campaign aid for Romney said when they get to the general election- they will move to the center and do like the Etch a Sketch- shake the game and clear the slate.
Okay- was this the smartest thing to say? No.
Sure- it played into the charge that Romney is a ‘change agent’ [he changes his position to suit the day].
But top news? Please.
What should be top news?
I have covered a bunch of important overlooked stories these last few weeks- there are so many I could write one a day- but let’s hit a couple for now.
The top government leader in Libya has just said- quote ‘the central govt. is incapable of protecting or governing the nation’s vital institutions since the capture and killing of Gadhaffi’.
Yes- we over through that govt. by force- and we left the country in a mess.
Egypt- this week they just acquitted 9 terrorists who belonged to Al Qaeda and were part of the Islamic Jihad movement.
They had charges against them from trying to overthrow the former regime- Mubarak- who we forced to step down.
Yes- the people we enabled to be in charge- they acquitted our so called number one enemy in the world- Al Qaeda.
So why do these important stories- stories that demand headline news coverage- why do they get put on the back burner- and instead we have room for the Etch a Sketch.
It’s because the media do not want to report stories that would have a negative effect on Obama.
John- do you really believe this?
Yes.
Hillary Clinton believed it to.
During her run against Obama for the nomination- her insider political people knew that the media were purposefully covering for Obama.
It has been reported- credibly- that her people actually contacted Hannity from Fox news- and told him that they were grateful that Fox was the only network willing to cover Obama.
A book just came out by David Corn- a liberal supporter of Obama- works for Mother Jones.
In the book Corn says how Obama has told his supporters that his poll numbers are down because Fox news accuses him of being a Muslim 24/7.
I watch Fox- as well as all the news channels- I have never heard a hard news report that claimed Obama was a Muslim.
Now- the president himself has indeed made so many statements in the past- calling Islam ‘my Muslim faith’.
He has said that he studied the Koran- he has prayed the Muslim prayer at sunset- and it was- quote ‘a beautiful thing’.
He has made statements like this over and over again- nonstop- over the years.
So- you would have thought that during the campaign some media people would have simply asked ‘why did you say this- a lot’.
Not one question- instead the media began a campaign to get people to think ‘geez- why are they always accusing Obama of being Muslim’.
The news reporters would ask the opposing candidates ‘do you think he’s Muslim’.
They would ask ‘should you make so and so apologize because he thinks Obama is Muslim’.
Yet not one story on his own statements associating himself with Islam.
Many of you probably never heard the few I just quoted in this post.
Okay- am I on this anti Muslim rant- trying to associate Obama with Islam?
No.
But the book just came out- and this is a charge he makes- that the other side are ‘24/7’ calling him a Muslim- that’s just not true- and any other candidate who made the statements he has in the past- they would have not gotten ‘a pass’.
I talked about the atheist Nietzsche in the last post.
One of the famous comments he made was- man- like the Superman- should ‘will to power’ he should live for what he deems best- and strive for the top- even if you have no real reason for your own existence. He said man should ‘build his house on Vesuvius’ [an active volcano].
As the year progresses- as the top stories of the day become a stupid Etch a Sketch comment- or how one side is so right- while the other so wrong- we need to read between the lines.
There are many serious- important stories to cover.
Innocent people being killed- leaders oppressing their people.
Children starving around the world in vast numbers.
These are all very serious issues that we need to know about- pray about- and if we can- do something about.
But no- we want the Etch a Sketch- we want the stories that have no real value- no true meaning.
Yes- we are building our house on Vesuvius- and we don’t even know it.
1812- John 3- Ephesians 2 [and the chicken!]
I want to cover the 2 bible chapters that I mentioned the other day- John chapter 3 and Ephesians chapter 2.
But first- some business.
I wrote a post the other day about ‘confiscating’ the little plastic bags at my local grocery store [HEB].
And some of you might be thinking ‘see- crime does pay’.
For your information- the bags were probably worth about 25 cents.
The other day I went to take out the chicken thighs for dinner- I couldn’t find them!
Then I thought ‘gee- my truck has been smelling like dead bodies lately’.
Yes- the chicken was left under the back seat for 2 days- cost- about 6 dollars.
Lesson? Don’t steal the bags anymore- cost? Priceless.
Okay- John chapter 3 is the famous chapter where Jesus tells Nicodemus ‘a man cannot see the kingdom of God unless he is born again’ [or born from above].
We also have the famous John 3:16 verse ‘for God so loved the world…’
If you read the chapter- both Jesus- and John the Baptist speak about those who believe- they are not condemned- and those who do not believe are judged.
Yet Jesus says he came into the world- not to condemn it- but to save it.
In Ephesians chapter 2 the apostle Paul says we are ‘saved by grace- not of works- lest any man should boast’.
Both chapters emphasize the role faith plays in salvation.
Okay- where did I come up with these chapters for the reading of the week?
They were both quoted from during the mass on Sunday [as a Protestant- I always try and watch the mass on Sunday- as well as doing our own home church meeting].
‘John- do Catholics believe in being born again’?
Yes- very much so.
Being born again is actually a vital doctrine within Catholicism.
For a brief review of Catholic/Protestant teaching- on my blog- on the front page to the left- you will see a bunch of studies that I have highlighted- click the ‘Protestant Reformation- Luther’ and you will get a more in depth discussion on some of the differences- and points of agreement.
But for this brief post- Catholics [and Orthodox] believe the new birth takes place at baptism- for the most part Protestants/Evangelicals believe it takes place at the point of faith [added to a long list of ‘altar calls’ or ‘5 steps of conversion’ etc.- in short- Protestants have their own sacramental system- they just don’t know it!]
I say- mostly- because there are many various groups within the Protestant movement that also would agree that water baptism is the point of being saved [church of Christ- various Pentecostal groups- etc.].
Now- I hold more to the historic Reformation view [faith] but I do not see a ‘grave’ departure from scripture with those who put more of the emphasis on baptism.
There are verses in John 3- Jesus says ‘a man must be born of water and the spirit’.
Plus- the last half of the chapter starts with a discussion over ‘purifying’.
There was a debate- going on at the time- between Jesus and John’s followers- about baptism- the chapter says the debate was about ‘purifying’.
Overall- it’s not unreasonable- in my mind- to hold to the more traditional emphasis on the importance of the role of baptism.
Yet- Christians fight- vehemently- over this.
In this part of the country it’s common for a Baptist- Assembly of God- or Church of Christ believer to view the ‘other team’ as a cult over this- this to me is very sad.
The main point?
Regardless of how much of a role water baptism plays in your particular denomination- the main point is we are saved by faith- thru the death and resurrection of Christ.
In the Ephesians chapter- Paul actually hits on some pretty deep themes- that the death of Christ removed the ‘wall of separation’ between Jew and Gentile- and we both are made into ‘one new man’.
This shows us the role that the Cross should play in society- it should bring various groups and cultures together- not divide them.
It would take a little too much time for me to go into what the ‘wall of separation’ was in Paul’s day.
But he wasn’t speaking about our sins separating us from God [though this of course is true].
But he was speaking about the role the law [10 commandments] played at the time.
Paul- a zealous teacher of the Jewish law [Pharisee] held the law in high esteem- and often it became a barrier between the Jew and Gentile.
Some of the more fame seeking Pharisees [the ones we see Jesus interacting with in the gospels] used the fact that they were the nation that received the law under Moses- as an ‘I’m better than you’ mentality.
Paul says ‘the law of commandments that was against us- Jesus nailed them to his Cross’ [Colossians].
He also says in his letter to the Galatians ‘if righteousness comes by the law- then Christ died in vain’ strong words indeed!
The point he is making is we- believers- are no longer under the condemnation of the law- no longer under the continual threat of God striking us down at any moment because of our sin.
We have been saved by grace and those who ‘walk in the Spirit’ are no longer under condemnation [Romans 8].
So- Jesus nailed the law to the Cross- and the barrier that separated Jew from gentile- as well as sinful man from a Holy God- has been ‘taken away’ by Christ.
I must note that the apostle Paul himself- who is famous for this teaching- always added the caveat ‘do we now sin because we are not under the law? God forbid!’
He was accused- by the strict sect of the Pharisees [known as Judaizers] of teaching a ‘lawless gospel’.
No- he- as well as most Christian denominations today- teach that the 10 commandments are still very important- and as believers in Christ we will naturally- by our new birth- fulfill the law.
But it is no longer this sword of Damocles hanging over our head.
Okay- for those who haven’t had time to read the chapters yet- try and read them over the weekend- they are short chapters- think about what I said in this post- look for the emphasis on faith- the role that faith plays in our salvation.
I’ll be back in a few days- but I need to go now- need to get another pack of chicken thighs before the store gets crowded.
1813- THE BLACK KID [Trayvon Martin]
About a year ago I was out of town- a city called Rockport- a really beautiful city about 40 miles from my home.
To be honest- it was a rough day- I was on foot, walking. It was about 9:00 p.m. - and I had no cell phone.
To put it simply- I was stuck.
Now- I have been there before [there= situations like this] but it’s been a while- and I’m an old guy now!
Nevertheless I was walking- and thinking of some way to get a ride.
The first store I stopped at- I asked ‘do you mind if I use your phone’- they looked at me like I was Jack the Ripper- they gave me some excuse and sent me packing.
Then there were a couple of ‘kids’ there- looked like the classic gang kids- the whole 9 yards. They were Hispanic- and I asked them ‘hey- can I use your cell phone’?
He let me- I made a call- no one answered.
Then I walked about another block- thinking I would start walking down the highway and just hitch a ride.
I found another store.
At this store I got some change and used the pay phone and called a taxi service- I did have my wallet and took cash from the ATM.
As I was sitting outside waiting for the cab- I noticed a Black kid with a buddy- he was getting gas- it was late- I looked pretty ‘rough’ and I noticed he kept checking me out- he was telling his friend something and he started my way.
I was sitting out of the way- by the air pumps.
I thought ‘damn- I’m tired- It’s been a tough day- I’m too tired to run- let’s see what this kid wants’.
You know- I figured if worse comes to worse- I’ll do the Florida ‘stand your ground law’ yeah- that sounds good [though I wasn’t familiar with their law yet].
Oh-one problem- I don’t have a gun.
So the kid walks right up to me- kinda in my face- I tried to give him the Jersey stare ‘yeah- what’s up man’ [you can’t looked scared or the stare won’t work].
He simply walks right up- takes his hand out of his pocket- and gives me about 2 bucks in change.
Yeah- he thought I was one of the local homeless guys- he wanted to help me out!
Man- I knew I looked rough- but didn’t realize it was that bad!
I kinda laughed and told him I didn’t need it- he left it anyway.
This last week we have been having a conversation about race- the president made a comment about Trayvon Martin- and one of the Repub candidates criticized him for it.
I heard the president- read his statement- there was absolutely nothing wrong with what he said.
I have a feeling that we might find out a few things that we are not aware of right now.
It seems like Trayvon might have fought with Zimmerman [the guy who shot him].
And maybe we will hear a few things about Trayvon- maybe some problems at school or something.
But no matter what his history is- if he did have some problems- or even if he punched Zimmerman in the face and broke his nose.
Yet- the way Zimmerman pursued the kid- even after the 911 dispatcher told him not to- then he got out of his vehicle and confronted the kid- then he wound up killing him.
Look- the whole thing was wrong.
We don’t need self appointed ‘neighborhood watch’ guys acting like cops- and making 50 911 calls in the last year [which he did].
I worked for the Fire Dept. for 25 years- and I loved our volunteer firefighters- some of the guys were really helpful.
But you had a few that never could get hired as full time guys- and these guys acted like they were the ‘real deal’.
I mean they wore the fire dept Tee shirts around town- had the lights on their trucks [the paid guys never did stuff like this].
They wanted to be firefighters- paid- and if they couldn’t score high enough on the test and get on the dept. - then they did the next best thing- they acted like they were on the job!
I see this in Zimmerman- and while we don’t have all the details- he was not justified in killing this kid- no matter what else we find out- this was an unjustified killing.
And I agree with the president- every person- Black- White- Hispanic- should be concerned about this shooting- and we want to get to the bottom of this.
For a 17 year old kid [Black- White- whatever] to get shot in cold blood- and to be lying on the slab for 2 days before the parents know what happened.
And for the shooter to be home- still playing ‘cop’- and keeping his gun- this stuff needs to stop- and we as a country need to condemn stuff like this.
Yeah- did I feel nervous when the Black kid walked up to me at the gas station that night?
Sure.
He saw some White guy- a guy he thought was homeless- and he wanted to help.
When we see a Black kid- a hood or not- let’s not think ‘this kid is up to no good’ [the words of Zimmerman on the 911 call].
If we/you think something looks suspicious- yeah- go ahead and call 911.
But for heaven’s sake- if your packing heat- don’t get out of your car and play cop.
There's a reason some of the volunteers never got hired- and there’s a reason Zimmerman was not a cop.
If you aint ‘the real deal’ then call the pro’s- and stay in the damn car.
1814- I WILL NEVER SEE MY HOME AGAIN
When I was a kid growing up in New Jersey- there were certain stories that I heard- you know- things that stick with you for the rest of your life.
One of the all time greats was the day my mom took my Italian Grandma to the store.
Now- my mom was notorious for getting lost- even as a young kid I would tell her directions on my way to school- blocks from the house!
But this one was the best.
The store they were headed to was named Valley fair- it was about 15 minutes from the house- I drove passed it many times- even rode my bike there.
So my mom picks up Nauna and off they go.
Now- my Nauna was a first generation immigrant- you know- came over on the boat [Plane?]
So you might see things differently because of that- having had the experience of leaving your homeland and moving to some strange new world.
As they make this ‘short’ drive- my mom begins worrying that she might have missed the turn.
As a matter of fact- it seems like they have been driving for a while [quite a while to be exact!]
So she finally stops at the gas station and asks the guy ‘do you know where Valley Fair is’?
The guy looks puzzled- and you must understand [to those of you not from the Garden State] that the cities are so tight- it’s easy to drive thru 10 cites without even realizing you did it.
So the guy asks ‘what city is the store in’?
Simple enough.
She tells him [I think the town was Little Ferry?]
He still looks puzzled- he asks ‘what state is that in’?
Yes- they drove out of state and were wandering in New York state.
My Nauna simply said ‘I will never see my home again’.
Yes- we all hate change- we fear the new environment- having to learn new tasks.
Today is day 3 for the Supreme Court to hear the oral arguments on Obama Care.
They set aside 6 hours over 3 days for the case- which is really extraordinary.
They usually give you one hour and that’s it.
But they know this is a major thing- and they want to hear both sides.
By most accounts- the Solicitor General for the govt. [the lawyer who argues the case for it] had a bad day.
Some even went as far to predict that the law will get struck down [Toobin for CNN].
I think it’s still too early to say that- but it did look like the court might be accepting [at least asking] more arguments on the side of those who want to overturn the law then those who are for it.
Why are so many people against it?
About 2/3rd’s of the country do not like the mandate [Me too].
People will indeed be forced to buy insurance- or pay the fine.
I found it funny that one of the more liberal justices- Stephen Bryer- kind of rebuked the president’s lawyer [the guy arguing for it].
The lawyer kept referring to the fine as ‘the tax’ and Bryer called him out on it.
Why was the lawyer fudging like this?
Because if you argue that the mandate is simply a tax- then by all accounts the govt. has the power to tax.
But the law was not drawn up this way- because of political reasons.
So instead of saying the charge is a tax- they said it’s a fine.
As this case has made its way thru the courts- the govt. has tried this a few times- and one judge said ‘look- you have argued in public that this is not a tax- now you are saying it is- you can’t have it both ways’.
So the govt. [Obama] has really twisted this thing a lot.
I don’t know if the court will uphold or reject the law- but things look brighter today for those who want it struck down.
One of the things that will happen- is if it passes- is things will change.
Now- frankly I’m not in the camp of thinking the whole country will go socialist over it- to be honest the mandate used to be a Repub idea [the Heritage Foundation- a conservative think tank- once supported the idea].
Socialism- in its truest form- would have been the one payer- govt. run system- this plan is not that.
But yeah- there will be changes- many for the worse- a few for the better.
Many people will lose their employer provided insurance- because it will be cheaper for the Employers to drop their coverage and let people fall into the plan.
So that will be bad for some.
And of course- the argument that all the govt. is doing is regulating commerce [that’s the argument they are using- the commerce clause] is really silly in my mind- they are trying to mandate people to buy a private product- from the private business sector- this is much more than simply regulating commerce.
But overall- if it passes- things will change.
Yes- change is scary- we get used to familiar surroundings- then one day you wake up- head out to the store- and before you know it- you will never see your home again.
1815- HEAD TRANSPLANT
I have been reading the San Antonio paper the last few weeks- and they have been running some ad for dental implants [fake teeth].
They have the ‘before/after’ pictures- whenever I see the ad- I think ‘before what? A complete head transplant’!
Yes- the before shots remind me much of my homeless buddies- the after shots look like glamour pictures for the ‘most beautiful person in the world’ contest.
This last week I have reached a sort of milestone- a few years ago I began praying [more than usual] for all types of criminal cases that I read about- or see- on the news.
I actually painted their names all over my gazebo- the back fence- and yes- right on the back and sides of the house [along with lots of bible verses].
I have hundreds of pictures/articles cut from the paper- their pinned to my office walls.
You say ‘John- I know you mean well- but do you think this is normal’.
Actually no- neither does my wife.
I have been threatened ‘if you keep doing this- I will paint the whole house’.
My paints [and brushes] have been hidden [by others!]- and when Christmas comes around- I tell the kids ‘hey- just get me another 5 gallon bucket of paint- I’m running low’ [yes- this part is a joke].
Some of the more severe cases- the ones that stick in my mind- I paint their names- the others I just pin up the article.
Sometimes I see the cases more than once- at the time of the crime- and then when they get sentenced.
This week Jacob Gonzales was sentenced to life without parole.
He plead guilty to a triple homicide he committed last year- shot 3 girls in cold blood.
The worst homicide the city has ever seen.
So I had written the name of Jacob down- and saved the article.
As I looked for a spot to paint the name- I realized that I already wrote the name Jacob- in big letters- on a ladder on my gazebo [long story- bible verse about Jacobs Ladder].
So it kinda just fit.
I knew his case was significant- I do ‘forever’ pray for these guys [and women] and being it was a local case- and he will be in jail for life- he would benefit more from the prayers.
During my normal reading for the week- I was reading Jeremiah chapter 31.
I usually focus on one or 2 chapters a week- and if I remember I comment on them at the end of the week.
As I read chapter 31- it starts with a verse that should be added to the previous chapter.
Sometimes you run into a chapter like that- our bible chapters and verses are really ‘man made’ that is the chapters themselves are not inspired- just the content [chapter divisions].
So I thought ‘heck- let me go ahead and see if the Lord has something for me in chapter 30’.
Now- this is the week where I added Jacob to my prayer group- again.
And I felt there was some special significance to his case.
In Jeremiah chapter 30 the Lord says ‘this is the time of Jacobs’s trouble- and I will save him out of it’.
It would take too long to teach the actual doctrine of Jacobs Trouble- but it is a long- and sometimes controversial teaching that we find all through the bible.
I say controversial because many [most?] Protestants have an ‘end time’ teaching about this [called Dispensationalism] that I don’t agree with.
I hold more to the historic churches’ view on these passages [Catholic, Orthodox, etc.]
But Jacob- in the bible- is the son of Isaac- the son of Abraham.
God changes his name to Israel [he is the father of the 12 tribes of Israel].
And the name obviously holds a lot of significance in the bible.
The ‘trouble’ part refers to the passages we find in the bible that speak about a very troubling time for Israel as a nation- in many of the End Time books/movies- it’s called ‘The Great Tribulation’.
But the significance for me- this week- was God kinda spoke to me thru the connection of this kid Jacob- who I prayed for all week.
Yes- Jacobs’ time of trouble.
In chapter 31 [Jeremiah] God tells Israel ‘there is coming a time when I will make a new covenant with you- not like the one I made with you during the time of Moses’.
This fits in with what I taught last week- how the apostle Paul said we are not under the old law [Moses and the 10 commandments] but under a new covenant- the new and everlasting covenant of the Blood of Jesus.
In the chapter it says God will write his law on our minds and hearts- it won’t just be an outward law- written on tables of stone- but one written on the inside.
Yes- he says ‘all things will be new- I will never remember your sins any more’.
You know- I guess complete head [heart] transplants can happen- but it takes a miracle from God.
1816- CASA DI MI PADRE
This is the latest Will Ferrell flick to hit the big screen.
It’s in Spanish [no joke] and Ferrell speaks all his lines in Spanish.
I caught his interview on Jon Stewart- plugging the movie- and it looks funny.
I do like Ferrell- I clipped an article [so I would remember to mention it] and just about 5 minutes ago as I re-read the thing- I couldn’t stop laughing.
It shows a picture of Ferrell- all made up to look like a Mexican drug lord [I think he plays a brother of one in the movie] and he’s holding this rifle- in a real awkward way- and he looks like an idiot.
That’s what makes me laugh about the guy- he’s just funny.
The movie is a spoof of the Spanish Telenovela movies- he’s basically making fun of the genre- and at the same time trying to appeal to both Spanish and English speaking audiences.
As the week ends- there have been some surprises in the news world.
Most observers think the Health Care law has more of a chance of being struck down by the court than less of a chance.
It was not so last week- so this is a major story.
Also about 2 weeks ago I wrote some posts on the Syrian situation- if you remember both Russia and China rejected the U.S. lead effort [in the U.N.] to condemn Assad [the Syrian president] and call for his ouster.
At the time I said the U.S. needs to realize that we can’t keep calling for the ouster of leaders- even bad ones- every time a rebellion rises up.
Why?
Because the radical Islamist groups see this- and that’s why you started having various protestors calling for ‘NO FLY ZONES’.
They were reading us- and at times trying to simply manipulate us to do their bidding.
Now- after our U.N. resolution failed [because of China and Russia voting it down] Susan Rice- the U.S. ambassador to the U.N.- made a public statement- calling it ‘unconscionable’ and using language that you normally don’t see by ‘fellow negotiators’ from the U.N.
As I watched the fallout- I saw that experts at how the U.N. process works- they said Rice was incompetent- and her reaction showed her inability to handle the job.
These criticisms came from both sides- Russian and U.S.
I also said at the time that the U.S. needs to basically listen to what Russia’s objections are- and we need to move in their direction on this- and not the other way around.
Russia basically was fed up with the West coming in and backing rebel groups- unseating the leaders of the countries- and then leaving the place a mess [Libya- Egypt].
Russia [and China] saw the writing on the wall- and they called for a ceasefire on all sides- and for everyone to sit down at the table.
I thought this was the best way to go as well.
But Rice [U.S.] called for Assad to step down [which means he will get tried and executed- as various Al Qaeda groups take the country over].
So just the other day- the news headlines read ‘Russia capitulates to U.S. position’.
As I read the article- the opposite happened.
We agreed to the Russian position- not the other way around.
But every article on it- bar none- made it look like ‘we prevailed’.
That Obama and his team were the real experts- standing up for liberty- and the other side lost.
How many people knew enough to see that the articles were wrong- how many just read the headlines and thought ‘wow- what a bang up job that Susan Rice is doing at the U.N.’
This is how media bias works- sometimes I think they even believe their own stuff- even when it’s obviously wrong.
In the next week or so I’m going to try and wrap up a few more posts on Philosophy.
We started around 6 months ago- with the pre Socratic Philosophers [7-800 years B.C.] and made it all the way up to the Existentialists of the 19th century.
I hate to stop there- because we were right at the time of the rise of the Atheistic existentialists- the Nihilists- who saw no hope in existence.
These guys ‘stole’ existentialism from its founder- a Christian- Soren Kierkegaard- and developed a purposeless philosophy- a ‘man without hope’ future world.
Guys like John Paul Sartre and Camus [20th century] were writing/saying things like ‘the only question now left is the viability of suicide’.
Books with the simple title ‘Nausea’ or ‘no exit’ [a play]- describing the fate of man.
As I watch/read the current trends- it is tempting to see our future in this way.
I mean society is struggling for meaning- Arab nations are going thru tremendous times of questioning- and some observers are grasping at the solutions that the 19th century Atheists already espoused- and failed.
Men like Sam Harris [the End of Faith] blame all society’s ills on religion itself- pointing to Islamic terrorism- and making statements like ‘almost all wars are religion based’.
I mean his argument sounds good- he’s just wrong.
Out of all recorded major wars- around 1700- under 10 % are considered religious in nature.
But who really has time for facts like this?
So- over the next few weeks- as I watch the scene- maybe catch the Ferrell flick- I will keep in mind another famous line of Ferrell’s.
He was talking to Christina Applegate- in his classic film ‘Anchorman- the Legend of Ron Burgundy’.
And there sitting at some lookout- viewing the city of L.A.
And Ferrell waxes eloquent about the city- he says ‘L.A. - the city named after..’
Well- it’s kinda crass- he basically says it was named after the female part of a whale.
Christina looks at him- puzzled- and says ‘I think its name means City of Angels’.
Ferrell disagrees- he tells her ‘well- we will just have to agree to disagree’.
She says ‘no- I’m pretty sure I’m right’.
I’m glad the country is having a debate about what’s right and wrong- the Trayvon Martin case- the ethical responsibility that society has to the poor [Health care arguments].
Our role as a lead nation ‘among nations’- how to side with the protestors- in a responsible way that doesn’t leave the nations in a mess when where done.
All of these debates are ethical in nature- the questions we are asking is ‘is this right or wrong’.
And contrary to some modern thinkers- there is a right and a wrong on these issues- yes- sometimes we compromise- sometimes we ‘agree to disagree’ and sometimes it takes one side to tell the other ‘no- I think you are wrong on this’.
Do it in love- do it with boldness- ‘speaking truth to power’ but when you see the need- then do it.
1817- SCOTUS stuff
As the week begins I want you to see if you can catch the narrative- the ‘new’ story that the media is going to tell.
This past week- the top story was the case of the Supreme Court hearing the arguments about the health care law [referred to as Obama Care- not the real name].
As the justices closed the last day of hearings- most observers seem to think that the law will be struck down as unconstitutional.
This came as a surprise to some in the ‘media/legal’ world- but not all.
As a brief review- the main argument against the law [there are a few] is that the federal govt. overstepped its boundaries by telling the states that their people had to by a private product- health insurance.
Now- as the year went by- some of the lower courts agreed with the President’s side- others did not.
They just about split 50-50 on it.
Some judges did indeed seem to agree with the side that said the federal govt. - under the Commerce Clause- does not have the right to make people by insurance.
Now- why would the president have constructed the law- using the Commerce Clause as the basis to make people by insurance?
He knew that to simply do a straight ‘raise a tax to pay for health care’ would not pass.
That is- would not pass congress- though there is no doubt that it would have survived the courts.
Yes- the constitution does indeed give the power to tax to the federal govt. - this is clear.
So- in my mind- when I first heard the 2 sides- I thought it was actually reasonable to conclude that the law would get struck down- because the Commerce Clause says the govt. has the right to regulate commerce [business] between the states- but not to force people to buy a product..
And the President said ‘being everybody will eventually access the system [which by the way is not true- there are some people who live- and die- without ever even going to the E.R. ]
But the Presidents side said being everyone is already doing ‘commerce’ by the fact that they will someday use the system- therefore we are just regulating it by telling people to start paying now.
To me- this was a stretch- and it seems like a majority of the court agree.
So- after the very bad week for the Presidents side- the media began spinning the story.
Nina Totenberg- NPR- a fairly liberal news lady- been around for a while.
She was on one of the morning news shows and she said that almost ‘all’ legal experts agree that this case is a hands down win for Obama.
But because the court- the 5 conservatives- are the ‘Bush Court’ [they gave the election to Bush under the Bush versus Gore ruling] that they are now basically a Tea Party court- a right wing court who either does not know the law- or is refusing to rule according to the law.
Now- the problem with this is the media are going to being spinning this- a few others have already gone down this road [Carville].
I can already hear my liberal friend- in a week or 2- saying ‘geez- can you believe these Bush justices- they are practically breaking the law by going against Obama care’.
It’s sad- and wrong- because this is not what happened at all.
There are 9 justices that make up the court- most think that 4 are liberal- 4 conservative- and that justice Kennedy plays a ‘swing vote’ role.
Why are some said to be liberal and others conservative?
It’s not a political statement to say this about the justices- but it has to do with the way they interpret their role on the court.
Conservatives believe it’s the role of the court to simply interpret the constitution.
That when they hear cases- they simply need to look at the constitution- and the way the previous courts have ruled- and that’s how the decision should be made.
The Lib’s have an idea that the constitution is a ‘living document’ [Ginsberg has said this- a liberal justice on the court]. And they believe that you should be able to make decisions based on what the founders might have thought if they were around today- don’t just limit your decisions based on the ‘static’ reading of the constitution.
Okay- because it is true that Republicans usually nominate more conservative types- and Democrat presidents nominate liberals- this does not mean in any way that the justices make rulings based on what party they belong to.
It’s really slanderous for the media to begin telling this ‘story’ this narrative that the 5 conservatives are ruling ‘politically’ because after all- their conservatives.
See how they do this?
Whatever way the court rules [they actually voted the other day- but the final ruling wont be revealed until the summer] it would be right to think that they ruled according to the way they think- that the conservatives more than likely thought the Commerce Clause did not give the federal govt. the right to mandate people to buy a product.
And the Liberal justices who will vote for it- they probably will do so because it fits more in with their legal thinking- they won’t vote for it simply because they are politically liberal [though that’s also probably true] but because that’s the view they sincerely hold to.
So get ready- you will begin hearing how the justices are either outright hostile to Obama- because they owe their allegiance to Bush- or they are really inept- sort of a picture of them being out of touch with ‘the majority’- if not all- of the ‘legal experts’.
Read- think for yourself.
My first impression- when I first heard the Commerce Clause argument- was that the argument was weak- and that to interpret a law that says ‘the federal govt. has the right to regulate commerce’ to think that means ‘we can make you buy insurance’ it just seemed like a stretch to me.
I really don’t need Totenberg- or Carville- or anybody to explain to me that ‘all’ the legal minds think the other way- besides this being not true- you can simply read the case being made- and see that the conservative argument- over this particular point- seems right.
I am not saying that there are not real issues about health care that we do need to deal with- there are.
Nor am I saying that ‘Obama care’ is a socialist takeover of the country [that’s as bad as Totenberg’s lie].
But I am saying- don’t let the media tell you how to believe- begin demonizing the 5 conservatives to a point where you believe the lie- that there is ‘no way’ true- honest- legal minds would have struck down the mandate.
The fact is- most reasonable people would probably conclude the same thing.
The majority of the American people believe the same thing about the mandate- that it is wrong.
The majority of the court seem to be saying the same thing.
But the Totenberg’s of the world- they are going to tell you ‘another story’ try- real hard- to see that it’s just ‘a story’.
RECENT STUFF- 2013- B
1818- WHO IS BARRY?
Last night I was channel surfing the news shows- and I caught Lawrence O’Donnell doing another one of his ‘anti Mormon’ critiques.
Yes- MSNBC has an ongoing narrative where they speak about Romney as a ‘strange- weird- cult member’.
I saw this months ago- and they have been faithful to their task.
So anyway O’Donnell is covering the ancient teaching of Brigham Young [the co-founder of the Mormon religion- a follower of Joseph Smith] and he’s quoting all the racist teachings that he held to.
Specifically that mixed marriages are wrong.
Now- I could quote the actual Christian bible- yes- the Protestant/Catholic bible- and find this teaching in there.
Yes- the bible O’Donnell believes in!
But that would solve nothing.
Many old time preachers did teach this doctrine- from many various denominations.
Do we [I] believe that mixed marriage is wrong?
No.
But you do have some fundamentalist groups who still teach this.
So O’Donnell is fulfilling his task to portray Romney as a cult guy- and he spends a big portion of the show telling everyone that Romney’s religion is racist.
Now- you could find stuff like this out- with all the other candidates- even the President- yet this network is really not a news network- they are simply Obama devotees.
Axelrod- the presidents campaign guy- a few weeks back tweeted that Romney’s religion does not allow women to enter the temple when they are menstruating.
He left the tweet up for a little while then pulled it.
What?
I have heard other Mormons say this is a false charge- I really don’t know if the church ever taught it- but it’s possible.
Why?
Again- you do have certain health standards in the Old Testament- that if you read them- they speak about ‘uncleanness’ when a woman is menstruating.
We find verses on Dwarves not being able to serve God.
People [men] whose ‘stones’ are crushed not being able to serve God [testicals are stones].
So if you wanted- you could trace all these things- not just to Brigham Young or Joseph Smith- but you could also tie them in to the Christian faith.
Now- do most sane Christians believe these ‘strange’ teachings are still in effect?
Thank God- no.
But if your goal is to simply slander the opponent- then have at it.
One example.
Over the last few years- as a news watcher/reader- you pick up on certain clues along the way.
Maybe a story won’t make it into the mainstream [for various reasons- to cover up for a person- etc.] But as you read the other columnists- you see little pieces of the puzzle.
So- one of the charges that the ‘right’ has made against Obama is that he had a different name when he grew up- and went to school.
Some say he held the name ‘Barry Sotero’.
They claim his identity is in question because he might have been legally adopted by his stepdad- thus throwing the whole citizenship issue back into play.
Now- I have never read/heard a ‘mainstream news’ report on this- so I never brought it up [to me- it’s just as bad as raising the history of Romney’s church up- a belief he- and most Mormons do not hold to].
But as an avid reader of all stripes [both Liberal and Conservative writers].
I noticed something about a year ago- Maureen Dowd- a liberal columnist who writes for the N.Y. Times- she started referring to the president as Barry.
She gives no reason for it- she does not try and defend her use of it- she simply knows that he did indeed use this name- from what I can tell- all the way right up into his years in college.
Then why would you have never heard about this until now?
Because the media have a narrative- a story they want to tell [and also believe in].
They tell one that has the opponents of the president as a bunch of weird cult members- people who reject mixed marriages- people whose women can’t attend church when they are on their period- who have houses that have elevators for their cars [Romney].
These same media people were so entranced by a particular image of a man- an unrealistic messianic image- that they were so taken captive by- that one of them quit their job as a reporter- right on the spot- to simply join the most ‘transformative presidency’ in the history of man [Linda Douglas- who was reporting on the 2008 election].
You had another reporter [George Stephanopoulos] who admitted on national TV that he cried- very loudly [I guess like when you can’t get a word in type thing?] when he watched the inauguration of the president.
Chris Matthews famously said a thrill goes up his leg when he simply hears words proceeding from the presidents mouth.
Now- I don’t hate the man.
I don’t even like Romney.
But as you attempt to navigate between what’s best- what’s true- what’s fake.
For us to get treated to the 200 year old teaching of some strange leader of a religious sect- and yet for us to not even know that the current president never even came to the mainland of the U.S. until college- is striking.
Yes- the president lived in Indonesia- spent time in Kenya- visited the African continent- wrote about the anti Imperial mindset of the African colonies.
He was influenced by stories and people whose view of America was negative.
He lived among them- went to school with them.
Wore their Muslim garb [yes].
Prayed the Muslim prayer.
Used the name Barry.
And never stepped on the lower 48 until college.
Now- does this mean he’s a bad man?
No.
But for us to know that menstruating Mormons cant attend temple- and to not know any of this- well that’s what you call media bias.
That’s not journalism.
1819- KENOSIS
Being its Passion week- I do at least want to recommend everyone try and read Isaiah 50.
This chapter speaks about the willingness of Christ to bear the reproach of the Cross ‘he gave his back to be whipped- his beard to be pulled out’.
In Christian theology we call this the Kenosis [Philippians] it’s the willing act of Jesus to empty himself of all the Divine privileges- his glory- while at the same time retaining his deity.
Many of the early church councils struggled with this division- that is how to understand that Jesus always was God- and yet he ‘gave up’ the unique privileges of that deity when he hung on the Cross.
The bible says he ‘emptied himself and became obedient unto death- even the death of the Cross- therefore God has highly exalted him and given him a name above every name- that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord- to the glory of God the father’.
Yes- this is what distinguishes the Christian faith from all the other religions of the world.
That’s not to say that the other world religions have no value- they do.
Many teach good virtues- loving your fellow man.
Others hold to the traditional belief in God and hold to the same apologetic arguments that the Christian church uses.
But the distinguishing factor is we believe that Jesus died for our sins- the founder of ‘our religion’ didn’t just give us good precepts- or examples.
No- we believe he actually died for us- and redeemed us back to God the father by his death and resurrection.
The epistle to the Romans says ‘we therefore have peace with God thru our Lord Jesus Christ’.
Amen- and amen.
Okay- now a few notes.
2 or 3 posts back I mentioned how we should get ready to see a new narrative- how the media will begin telling us a particular kind of story about the Supreme Court and the political wrangling going on over health care.
Sure enough- to my surprise- the next day the President cane out and took on the court in an unprecedented way.
Many legal experts- on both sides of the aisle- were shocked.
The president used language like ‘a bunch of unelected judges overturning the will of the people’.
He said how there were many judges and legal experts who believe that the law [health care] is constitutional and should not be overturned.
He used language that was kind of deceptive- making it sound like the possible overturning of the law would almost be an illegal act.
I mentioned this in the other post- that if you carefully followed this law getting challenged in the courts- it split about 50-50.
And as I listened to the various arguments- to me it is not a stretch to think the law will be overturned.
But the president made it sound like the overturning of it would be political judicial activism.
I don’t think he actually knows what that means- when the term political activism is used it’s referring to judges who ‘legislate from the bench’.
That is they make new law- law that has not been in existence until their ruling.
A good example would be the Roe v Wade case [abortion].
The court found a ‘new’ constitutional ‘right to privacy’ in their ruling.
Now- however you believe about the ruling- the point is that’s what ‘judicial activism’ refers to- not the possibility of the court finding a new law unconstitutional.
The president also said if the court overturned his law- that it would be unprecedented.
What?
The court has declared around 150 laws to be unconstitutional since the late 1700’s.
This would not be unprecedented in any way.
The day after he made these charges- he got so much criticism for overstepping his boundaries- there are 3 branches of govt.- Judiciary, Executive and Congress- and for any president to try and influence a decision like this is usually considered way out of bounds.
It is true that FDR had battles with the court- as well as other presidents- but for a president to use the language Obama did- well it was way over the line.
So yesterday he back peddled some.
I mean it was so bad that one of the other challenges to the law- taking place right now in the 5th circuit court of appeals- the judge interrupted the lawyer for the govt. and asked her if the president believes the courts have the right to rule against the law.
He told the lawyer for the justice dept to bring back a 3 page- single spaced- explanation form Eric Holder to explain their position.
This judge basically let the administration know that the courts are not going to put up with such a public attack on their independence.
So anyway that’s where it stands as of now- hopefully some things will settle down and we will see what happens when the ruling comes out in a couple of months.
Okay- try and read the chapter I mentioned today- maybe read Philippians chapter 2 as well- that’s the chapter I quoted from- and mediate on the death and resurrection of Jesus- he died for the whole world.
When Jesus was born the angels said ‘peace on earth and good will towards men’.
Christ came into the world to bring peace- to offer to all mankind a new and living way.
As Christians- it’s not our job to condemn all the other religions of the world- but to show them the difference between the Christian faith and the other well meaning faiths- and to let them know that Jesus died for all- all are welcome.
1820- WHERE THE GRAPES OF WRATH ARE STORED
Let’s end the week with a look at the death of Christ.
Today- Good Friday- is the day we remember the Passion.
In Psalms 22 we see a Messianic prophecy- the words king David spoke thru the Holy Spirit.
These are the words- feelings- that Jesus had on the night before he was crucified- he went to the Garden of Gethsemane [literally- The Olive Press] and was in extreme anguish.
In this Psalm we read ‘I am a worm and no man’ ‘all that see me laugh at me- they think my cause is hopeless’ ‘I cried and prayed and you never heard me- I have no rest day or night’.
Read the psalm later today- see the pain he went through.
The garden of Gethsemane was an Olive garden at the base of the ‘The Mount of Olives’.
It was a place where olives were crushed- the process allowed the oil to come forth- which was a picture of what Jesus was going thru- he was ‘being crushed’ so the oil [Spirit] would come forth to the world [Acts 2].
In the prayer he says ‘Father- if it’s possible- remove this cup- never the less- not my will but yours be done’.
Many of us are familiar with this phrase ‘thy will be done’ but we miss the cup part.
What was the cup?
The cup stood for ‘the cup of the wrath of God’ it was a symbol of the judgment of God coming upon the sins of the world.
When Jesus said ‘take away the cup’ he wasn’t afraid of dying- but he ‘feared’ the separation that was going to take place from God.
As he ‘drank the cup’ [the sins of the world] he would become ‘the container’ of the wrath of God- he would be cursed from God as a ‘sinful’ thing.
The apostle Paul says ‘he- [Jesus] became sin for us- who knew no sin- that we might become the righteousness of God in him’ [Corinthians].
So Jesus struggled with the cup.
In the book of Revelation chapter 14 we see an image of the cup and wrath.
There are angels coming out from the throne- we see Jesus sitting on a cloud and angels all around.
The angel says ‘thrust in your sickle and reap- for the harvest of the earth is ripe’ and we see the ‘Winepress of wrath’.
The picture is this angel reaping the earth- gathering the ‘grapes of the earth' [Steinbeck- the Grapes of wrath] and casting them into a winepress [another type of pressing- like the olive imagery].
The Winepress is ‘outside the city’ [very significant image] and the blood from the press goes out for 184 miles.
This is a scene of judgment and wrath.
During the civil war the north used this verse as their theme song- The Battle Hymn of the Republic ‘mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord he is Trampling out the Vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored’.
Yes- the winepress was an image of where the grapes of wrath waited for the pressing- when the blood would come forth.
Now- this next part really deserves a full study- but let me do a brief overview.
The writer of Hebrews [probably Paul] speaks about an altar that sits ‘outside the city’ where the animal’s bodies were burned.
In Old Testament Jewish law- some of the animals bodies were not fully burned at the time of the offering- the blood that was used for the Day of Atonement was not a complete burnt offering- the animal blood was used.
So- the Jewish people had a spot- outside the gate of the court [outside the city] where the bodies were burned.
Now- the writer of Hebrews says this is a type- a picture- of the final sacrifice of Christ that took place ‘outside of the law’.
That is Jesus established a New Covenant in his own Blood- not part of the Old animal sacrificial system.
Okay- his death took place ‘outside the gate’- that’s important to see.
Now- as Jesus struggled with his impending death- he came to a point where he sweat drops of blood- he then said ‘if this cup cannot pass unless I drink it- then so be it’.
He drinks the cup ‘of the wrath of God’ and in a sense he becomes the place ‘where the grapes of wrath are stored’.
He himself becomes the final sin sacrifice for humanity- the place of pressing- where the ‘wine/blood comes out’.
As we finish this Holy Week- getting ready for the resurrection celebration this Sunday- let’s not forget that Jesus drank the cup- he became sin for us who knew no sin.
Yes- as the North sang ‘mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord he is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored’.
They weren’t seeing that the place where the grapes of wrath were stored were inside the Son of God- he drank the cup ‘to the dregs’ and was ‘trampled on’ by God’s wrath.
Yes- Jesus said ‘I am a worm and no man’ he was in anguish for you- and me.
Amen- and amen.
1821- TRAYVON REDUX
I know it’s a little late- but I hope everyone had a good Easter.
I ‘enjoyed’ seeing all the media reports of the towns that canceled their Easter egg hunts because of past violence- by the grown ups.
Yes- they showed video of people trampling each other- pushing kids out of the way- and one video taken by a bystander showed the start of one hunt.
As they rang the bell they were off. One mom falls down and the amateur videographer gives ‘play by play’ coverage- in the classic style of Howard Kossel.
Remember ‘Down goes Frazier- Down goes Frazier’?
Yes- we heard ‘down goes mom- down goes mom’ as the other ‘adults’ were about to trample her.
It was just such a wonderful way for us to remember the resurrection of Christ.
And then as I watched the ridiculous ‘media’ coverage of MSNBC [and NBC].
I couldn’t get over the nonstop talk about Mormons being a cult.
I mean show after show was talking this way- question after question about Romney’s involvement in the church- how he was a lay elder in the church- over and over and over- from this network.
So Orin Hatch- a long time senator who is a Mormon [like Harry Reid] says that he believes the Obama campaign and the media are going to attack Romney on his faith.
Now- guess what network could not believe that this charge was made?
You got it- NBC-MSNBC.
Yeah- they did entire programs [Hardball] asking the question ‘do you think the media/Obama will attack Romney’s religion’?
I couldn’t believe it- it might be the first time that the actual network who is doing the attacking- nonstop- at the same time will try and spin ‘no one is attacking Romney- how anyone even dare think it’!
It would be funny if it were not true.
Even David Gregory- the lead news guy for the Sunday morning NBC show [Meet the Press] had on a panel of various reliogus people- and he too brought up the question ‘why would Hatch- or anybody make such a false charge!’
On the panel there was a Mormon congressman- he said right there ‘your own network is the major offender- Lawrence O’Donnell even said the Mormon church was founded by a guy who simply wanted to have sex with more than one wife’.
I mean it’s ridiculous- the actual network who is the chief offender- is at the same time trying to spin a fake story that ‘how dare anyone even think that the media are attacking Romney’s faith’.
It reminds me of the time when one of the news magazine shows [20-20 ?] did an ‘expose’ about cars exploding on impact.
In the piece they indeed showed you these cars getting hit- and Walla- they blew up like a bottle rocket on the 4th of July.
Now- the actual car makers- they watched the show and could not believe their cars were blowing up like this.
I mean it made the classic Pinto look like a fire proof space ship.
So the car makers had an expert look at the video and they discovered that the news show actually placed exploding detonators right at the point of impact.
They had some bomb specialist off to the side and he was detonating the device at the point of impact.
You know how the news channel reacted when they got caught?
After they couldn’t hide what they did- they said ‘oh yeah- sure we blew the cars up with our own bomb- but it was made to simulate what was happening on the street’.
They actually tried to get the public to believe that what they did was just.
Yeah- go ahead NBC- be outraged over anyone ever even thinking that the media would attack Romney’s faith- and oh- keep playing the MSNBC pieces that smear the guy nonstop- we will never figure it out.
And last but not least- last night George Zimmerman was arrested in Fla.
Yes- the special prosecutor made the arrest.
I have written on this case a few times- and I have basically taken the side of Trayvon.
Now- as a media watcher- I do realize that there was some unfair reporting on both sides.
Initially they showed pictures of Trayvon at the age of 12-13.
He looked like a little boy.
Then they made it sound like this ‘little boy’ was just buying skittles and tea- for himself [as opposed to his little brother at the house] and Zimmerman attacked him.
Okay- if you look at the more recent pictures of Trayvon- he was a big kid- looked in good shape.
I will tell you- at the age of 13 it’s not easy to beat up an adult- but at 17 it’s not hard at all.
So it is possible that Trayvon was pissed about being followed- and maybe did throw the first punch- I don’t know.
But whenever you have an unarmed teen shot to death- and the armed person was the initiator of the confrontation- even if the final confrontation was Trayvon coming back to the car to approach Zimmerman- then you at least need an arrest.
I know the media- the right and the left- have now turned this into a political debate- which is sad.
Every time I hear the parents speak- especially the mom- she is a sincere person who lost her son.
She has never called for vigilante justice- and she has prayed to God for the right thing to be done.
Like I said- I have heard both sides- and I have seen media bias- on both sides.
But in the end- I think Zimmerman did indeed cross a line- how the last 2 minutes of the incident happened- we don’t know yet.
But if that’s the voice of Trayvon crying for help- and not Zimmerman- then the man needs to do some prison time.
1822- CHOSEN BY GOD
Good morning to all my on line friends.
Today let’s cover the book of Ephesians and John 17.
I stumbled on them this past week- not realizing the similarity of themes.
In the past I have taught complete bible studies- both on radio and at the same time on the blog.
It took a little longer- because I would write on a chapter- then take 2 or 3 radio programs [15 minute shows] to cover it on air.
I’m not even sure- I think I might have already done a full Ephesians study on the blog?
Ephesians is written by the apostle Paul- though some scholars believe it was written by one of Paul’s disciples- they think it might be more of an elaboration on Paul’s other epistle to the Colossians.
There are various reasons that some scholars do stuff like this- won’t go into all the reasons- in my mind when a bible letter says within the text that Paul wrote it- then I go with that.
The short letter [6 chapters] starts off with a declaration that God chose the believers before he even made the world.
That God had a predestined purpose for them to have become children of God and for this new people of God to reveal the ‘manifold wisdom of God’ to everyone one [thing] else.
One of the verses says that even the angels and powers in heaven ‘learn’ the things of God thru the church.
This really is an amazing statement- that God uses the church to reveal Divine truths to the whole universe!
This theme of God choosing us [them] before the world- to fulfill a purpose that he planned before the world- is a major theme in the first 4 chapters of the book.
He wants them to see that this calling- this place where they are at at the present time- it is a sort of Divine appointment with destiny- that God had planned this before the creation of the world.
And it is now ‘in time’ that they are living out this Divine plan.
In John chapter 17 we read the prayer of Jesus.
Jesus says that he has 'finished’ the work that God gave him to do- which was to reveal God to these disciples that God has given to him.
He says ‘all mine are thine- and thine are mine- and I am glorified in them’.
Jesus also hits on the theme of this being a work of God that he pre-planned before the world was made.
He prays ‘don’t take them out of the world- but keep them from the evil’.
The same theme that we see in the ‘Our Father’.
I find it interesting that one of the more popular ‘end times’ teaching of our day is the Rapture.
Tim Lahaye has popularized this idea in his very successful series of books about the end times.
In the 1980’s- the number one best seller among Christian books [I think it was actually number 1 for all categories?] was Hal Lindsey’s ‘late great planet earth’.
He too took the same line as Lahaye and taught the idea that God was going to take all the Christians ‘from the earth’ and that the world would wonder where they all went.
I have covered this in the past- how the church came to teach this- how the historic church did not teach it- and why I believe the Rapture- as a separate event from the 2nd coming- has no real biblical basis.
The point for this post is part of the prayer of Jesus is ‘I pray not that you would take them out of the world’ which on its face seems to be the opposite of what the Rapture doctrine teaches.
Okay- Jesus revealed the Father to his men.
The apostle Paul told the church ‘God chose you for this before the world was made’.
Jesus believed that these disciples [and by extension the church] were ‘given to him’ by the pre ordained will of God.
What all this means- in a nutshell- is that where you are at right now- all the things you are going thru- God knew it before it ever happened.
And he still picked you for the job!
The Apostle tells them to be strong in the Lord- to pray always- and put on the whole armor of God.
Yes- just because they were chosen- did not mean they could sit around all day doing nothing- they were chosen for a purpose- and it was up to them [by grace] to walk in that purpose.
I would encourage you to try and read these chapters this week- Ephesians is short- but has a lot of good stuff in it.
As you read- look for the theme of God choosing the church before the ‘world was made’.
Notice how often this idea ‘pops up’ in the writing of Paul- and how it plays a major part in the life of the church.
Read- and apply- the instructional aspects of the letter [on family- husbands and wives- children- workers and bosses].
And practice- as much as possible- the ‘put on the armor of God’ teaching found in chapter 6- that section ends with ‘pray for everyone’.
That- in my mind- is the most important part of the instruction.
1823- BUDDY
Last night I had my wife search for some old friends on Facebook [she’s better than me] and I had one old firefighter buddy that kept coming to mind- Buddy Renninger.
I met Buddy about 10 years ago- he attended one of the fire/ems schools that my Dept. was putting on.
Every so often when a neighboring city puts on a class- the other depts. might attend.
Buddy was a ‘rookie’ from the city of Alice- about 20 minutes from Kingsville- where I retired from.
Buddy was my age- though I had already put in about 20 years- he was a new comer to the job.
We got along good- went out for a few drinks a couple of times- shot some pool.
And yes- Buddy ‘picked my brain’ on Christianity- he was eager to learn.
I lost touch with Buddy after I retired- actually before that.
So when my wife looked up the name- to my surprise she told me ‘John- Buddy died’.
I was shocked- I mean he was 48 years old.
The on line article just said he died at home- no other info.
They actually have a little tribute to him on line- look it up if you want- just Google his name and the city of Alice- he was a Lieutenant.
He died a couple of year’s back- sad to see him go.
By the way- for those of you who just got ‘friended’ by me this week- as I was searching for some old friends- I found the search where it says ‘you might know this person’ and I went down the list and sent out about 50 requests.
Some names I thought sounded familiar- others I knew- others just had that good old Italian last name- so if you’re a new friend- that’s the story.
Alright- I still need to do one last post on this never ending Philosophy study I have been on.
But in the last post when I mentioned the book of Ephesians- I came across a verse in chapter 6- it says for workers to ‘obey’ their employers in all things- with FEAR AND TREMBLING.
That short phrase reminded me of something that I did not cover in the philosophy posts.
In a few posts we covered 19th century thinking- and we hit on Soren Kierkegaard- the 19th century father of Existentialism [will not repeat it all- you can find it somewhere on the blog].
Soren wrote a few books- one was called FEAR AND TREMBLING- he looked at the story of Abraham in Genesis chapter 22- where he takes Isaac to be offered as a sacrifice to God.
Soren [it’s easier then repeatedly spelling the last name!] examined the process of God telling Abraham to do something that by all accounts seemed contrary to God- and to what Abraham believed to be right.
Yet- at that point of the journey- faith became more than just an intellectual exercise- it became a man [or woman] who passionately embraced God- even beyond the point of his own understanding.
Yes- Abraham did this with much Fear and Trembling- and he never had to sacrifice Isaac- it was a test- a test that the patriarch passed with flying colors.
Next week I will try and finish that last post on philosophy- and try and review the short letter of James [in the New Testament].
This letter is the only ‘wisdom’ literature we find in the New Testament [wisdom literature refers to a specific genre of writing- in the Old Testament we have about 5 books in this category- Proverbs, Psalms, Job- etc.]
So if you get a chance- try and read the letter- it’s a short read.
Okay- that’s it for now- to all my new Facebook friends- glad to see you.
And to Buddy- sad to see you go my friend- may God bless your soul.
1824- LAST TRAIN TO VICTORVILLE [a dog [man?] eat dog world]
As we wrap up the week- we have had some serious [and silly] discussions going on in the country.
Silly?
Yes- a few weeks back the Obama team decided to make the ‘dog on Romney’s car’ a story.
His campaign people began talking about the way Romney treated his dog by making him ride on the roof on a trip to Canada.
Oh yes- you even have on-line sites- by dogs- who are criticizing Romney.
Now- when you do stupid stuff like this [on both sides] and make it an issue- then beware- they will find a dog story about you.
Sure enough- the ‘right’ found a quote from Obama where he admitted he dined on Dog meat while a 7 year old boy in Indonesia.
Oh yea- sweet.
You saw all the on line pictures of Obama chomping on a hot dog- but in place of the wiener you saw a cute pup with mustard on his head.
You had the Pres chasing after his dog at the white house- with a spatula in hand- ready to plop him on the grill.
Yeah- we spent a week with the dog wars.
Serious stuff?
Well- we did have the vote on the Buffet Tax go down in flames.
Why?
This is where my friends on the left don’t seem to get it.
As an independent- I try and see the middle ground- the real value [if any] behind the things the President wants to do.
I don’t hate the man- see him as a commie- but he does do [say] things that are really disingenuous.
Okay- the tax on millionaires.
The president- and his cronies- keep saying- nonstop- that millionaires need to pay ‘their fair share’ and that they pay less than the average working stiff.
The famous quote about Buffet is ‘he pays less than his secretary’.
Now- this has been said so much- people actually now believe it.
What John- aint it true?
Not really.
The tax rate on millionaires [income tax] is around 38%.
That’s the highest you can go.
So why does the Pres keep saying they pay less?
He’s talking about the tax rate on investment income [Stocks].
This rate- called Capital Gains tax- is 18%.
Now- if you’re a millionaire with no regular income- and you live off your stock income [dividends] then your only paying 18 on that.
John- do most millionaires do this?
No.
There are more millionaires who pay both rates- income tax at 38- and capital gains at 18.
In reality- if Obama passed the ‘millionaires’ tax- it would raise about 4 billion a year- which is nothing compared to a 15-16 trillion dollar debt.
But the president has said this tax would fix the debt- and do a host of other things which is simply not true.
It is only a political game- that’s it.
So- when you do stuff like this- waste all this time going around the country claiming that this millionaire’s tax is some sort of solution- then we know he is not serious about really dealing with the major problem the country is facing- dealing with entitlements.
Okay- being we are in another possible economic slowdown [things are not looking that good- the European crisis is rearing its head- and some housing and jobs numbers are showing bad signs].
What does the president have on the table as a jobs plan?
I have mentioned this a few times in the past- but his plan right now [besides pouring billions into a hole called solar energy] is to do High Speed Rail.
Yes- the president has talked about pouring billions of dollars into high speed rail projects- while at the same time cutting billions form other real programs.
The train from Victorville [80 miles outside of downtown L.A.] to Vegas.
The govt. has a program [RRIF] where we lend money to rail projects across the land.
Now- the main purpose of the program- is to either fix or upgrade existing rail lines.
The president has been stopped with the stimulus money- congress is not going to give him any more.
The only chance of getting more ‘fake money’ into the game is if the Fed Reserve does a Qe-3 [prints another batch of money] and puts it on the table.
So- the president knows if he can simply spend more govt. money- in any way [like extending the ‘payroll’ tax cut- all this does is starve the Social Security fund for another year- so people have more money now. This is not policy- per se- its simply saying ‘we won’t have people pay into the system while I’m president- so they spend more in the market- and I won’t look so bad’].
Now- the only way the pres could get the money for these silly rail projects- is to use an existing govt. loan program to fund it.
The train?
This rail line will fulfill one major purpose- it will transport tourists from the L.A. area to Vegas- to the casinos [Harry Reid’s pet lobby- that’s why he as the majority leader in the senate will pass it].
Yes- this project is the brain child of the casino moguls- what Obama terms as ‘the fat cats’.
Hmm?
The train departs from Victorville- goes nonstop to Vegas- at a cost of about 100 bucks.
It takes about 4 hours to drive- once you’re on the train- 80 minutes.
You have to drive from L.A. to the Town of Victorville- Park your car [for a charge] and when you get to Vegas- either rent a car- or ride the taxi.
The rail line has no real purpose for those coming to L.A. from Vegas- because you would be stuck 80 miles outside of town- and have to rent a car for the day- plus get back on the train on your way home- and pay the car rental spot to pick up your car- and drive home.
Okay- you could fly round trip from L.A. to Vegas for around the same price.
Their already is a private bus co. [probably more than one] who will take you and a crowd for 99 bucks- plus feed you on the way.
But no- the real pressing need of the country- at a cost of 5 billion tax dollars [one years worth of the Buffet tax]- is to build this high speed rail- after all- look at all the jobs it will create.
Really.
The so called benefits of these rail lines are they create less pollution and auto traffic.
Because everyone will abandon their silly cars and ride the rail.
In most places [if not all?] where this has been tried- the govt. has to step in and underwrite the loss at the cost of the taxpayer.
These projects just don’t work- or you would have had the casino moguls get funding for it thru the banks.
So- the rail line plan- the presidents main plan for jobs [he said this in his state of the union- remember- our Sputnik moment?]
Is doomed for failure.
It will also shut down the private bus services that now do this.
It will compete with the round trip ticket from the private plane companies.
It will cost jobs in the end- not create them.
All at a cost of 5 billion tax dollars.
The govt. loan company that makes these loans has never spent this much before.
Yes- I’m not talking another single loan- no- they have never spent this much in their entire history of making loans- total.
So Obama is simply using them as a cover to get stimulus money for the project.
A project that would basically cost you- and me- 5 billion tax dollars- all so tourists could ride to the casinos.
Okay- this is what we mean when we say the president simply does not have the experience for the job.
That he has made bad business decisions- and continues to make them- time and time again [Solyndra].
No- I’m not mad at the president for chowing down some fine dog cuisine while in Indonesia.
I’m just worried that Dog meat might be the meat of the future- because if this high speed rail plan is what’s gonna bail us out- then we all might be eatin it soon.
1825- PHILOSOPHY [conclusion]
Today let’s wrap up the last philosophy post for now.
Over the last 6 months or so I have posted around 25 posts- covering the pre Socratic thinkers [800 B.C.] and we made it all the way up to the 19th century.
The main philosophical thought of the 20th century was called Logical Positivism.
This idea said there were 3 stages to Western thought/culture;
First- Infancy [religious/myth]
Second- adolescence [philosophy]
Third- adult [science/empirical]
This idea said that man in the 20th century has finally advanced beyond the silly stages of religion and has now moved into a stage where the only true things are empirical in nature.
That is- for something to be true- you must be able to show it scientifically [or mathematically].
It did not take too long before the critics figured out the major flaw with this idea.
This philosophy states ‘the only truth is empirical’ this statement in itself [as well as all the books written on it] is not an empirically proven statement.
Therefore- according to its own criterion- it is false.
This particular aspect of the philosophy was called The Verification Principle [had to be proven/verified scientifically to be valid].
Pragmatism- this is the only home grown philosophy that had its roots in the U.S.
Founded by Dewey and Peirce- this thought denied objective reality and states that ‘whatever works- use it’.
Of course being ‘pragmatic’ in a practical way is fine- we do want things to work.
But at its core Pragmatism says there are no real ethics- no right or wrong- just things people do.
In the beginning of the 20th century you had the British thinker/mathematician Bertrand Russell.
Russell was a good man- raised as a Christian.
But as a young man he read a book by John Stuart Mill [19th century] that questioned one of the classic arguments for the existence of God [the argument from first cause].
Mill said ‘if everything has to have a cause- then why not God- who caused him’.
Russell accepted Mills claim- and became an influential atheist/agnostic.
The main flaw with this argument- that everything ‘has a cause’ is that it’s false.
The law of Cause and Effect [Causality] does not state that everything has a cause- it says that ‘every effect has a cause’.
That is- there is nothing in existence- an effect- that came from nothing.
Some argued that there was no initial cause- but an infinite series of ‘little’ cause and effects that go on forever.
This too is wrong- it leads to another problem called the Infinite Regress.
If there is no First cause- then logically you can never arrive at ‘Now’
There had to have been a starting point somewhere [Einstein has since proved this] and the starting point [Big Bang] could not have come from nothing.
This too is a very common belief among many well meaning people- that somehow science has taught us that all things came from nothing.
This could not be further from the truth- this is referred to as Creation Ex Nihilo- which too is scientifically false.
The only other option- beside the Infinite Regress- and the creation out of nothing- is there had to have been some type of first cause- who is not limited to the material realm.
By nature this being would have to be Metaphysical [outside the physical realm] and would have to be self existent- having no beginning.
To have a First cause- who himself is infinite- is indeed consistent with the principals of logic- and at the end of the day is the only reasonable explanation for the existence of all other things.
Okay- as we end our posts on philosophy for now- why did I cover this?
Thru out the history of the church Christians have grappled and challenged the other world views- and have done a good job at it.
The Christian perspective is not some silly religious way of life that has no real proof.
To the contrary- the church has had the upper hand in all these debates down thru the centuries.
But in today’s ‘media market’ Christianity- the proliferation of self help books [everyday day a Friday?]
The nonstop talk about becoming rich- or sending your money to ‘my ministry’ as a ‘seed faith’ to become rich.
In this environment- many outsiders see the church as an irrelevant- never ending drum beat that they can’t wait to switch to another channel.
This is not the history of the church- and the church has historically won the debate on the reality of God.
It’s just the average person does not know it.
So- for the Christian to be learned in these fields- to have a working knowledge of the opposing world views- is a good thing.
Why do so many believers avoid a field like philosophy?
The apostle Paul warned the Colossians ‘beware of the philosophies of men’.
He also wrote to his protégé Timothy ‘beware of the oppositions of science- falsely so called’.
The word for science in this text is Gnosis- the Greek work for knowledge.
In the early days of the church there was a Christian cult that rose up- called Gnosticism.
More than likely- Paul was not saying that all science- as we use the term today- is bad- but he was warning against a particular from of science- called Gnosticism.
The same with the warning on philosophy- while you could apply it to all philosophy- that is to say that we should be careful when people try to give us opposing ways of thought- yet in context it seems like the apostle is dealing with the philosophies that oppose Christian thought.
For the first 1500 years of the Christian church the study of Theology and Philosophy went hand and hand.
After the Protestant Reformation [15th century] many Protestants avoided the field- which I think was a mistake.
So- as we close up this subject for now- maybe review a few of the posts on the blog that I did these last few months- become more familiar with the apologetic arguments for the existence of God.
Christians do not have to argue- or oppose atheists- or other religions that hold a different view than we do.
But we should be able to give a defense for the faith- to explain to society around us why we believe the things we do.
At the end of the day- we really do have the winning argument.
1826- JAMES
This past week I have been reading the letter of James found in the New Testament.
James has always been a favorite- it was written [more than likely] by the brother of Jesus and it is the same James we read about in Acts chapter 15- one of the 3 main church leaders at the Jerusalem church.
Note- to my Catholic friends- when I say ‘brother’ Protestants believe that Mary had other children after giving birth to Jesus.
We both believe in the Virgin birth- conceived by the Holy Spirit- but Protestants believe Mary had other children by Joseph.
Okay- not a big deal in my mind.
To defend the Catholic position somewhat- even though James is called the brother of the Lord in scripture- brother can refer to close cousins and also ‘Christian’ brothers- so that’s how our Catholic friends interpret it.
Okay- Just this morning I read the last chapter- and thru the week I tried to meditate on one chapter each day.
Key themes- defend the poor, praise the humble- and rebuke [warn] the rich.
Beware of the tongue- what you say ‘it is a world of sin’ and can start a great fire- just like a match starts a forest fire.
Works- was not ‘Abraham our father JUSTIFIED BY WORKS’ ‘Rahab the harlot was JUSTIFED BY WORKS’.
To my scholarly friends- I believe a right understanding of these verses can bridge a 500 year old split between Protestants and Catholics.
I have tried my best to explain this in the past- and it takes time.
Suffice it to say that the normal Protestant interpretation does not do justice to the text.
Most Protestants try their best to say that James WAS ONLY saying ‘the faith that saves is working faith’.
While this is true- if you simply re-read the portions I quoted above- you can see there is more to it than this.
In a nutshell- Justification, Salvation, Righteousness [all words that speak about ‘being saved’] are not only static terms [one time events] but also fluent.
James uses the example from Genesis 22- when Abraham offered his son Isaac on the altar.
The apostle Paul uses Genesis 15- when Abraham ‘believed God and it was accounted unto him for righteousness’.
I believe if we see that James is speaking about the ongoing relationship that God has with his kids- and when these kids do right- obey God- it pleases God.
And God can continue to say ‘well done son- did well’ and in the mind of James- you can say ‘Abraham was justified by works’ God said ‘good job- you’re just’.
There is more to it than this- but I think this explanation is more in keeping with the text than simply seeing James thru the lens of Paul- James does not contradict Paul- but is simply coming at it from a different angle.
Okay- James deals with the 'rights of the worker’ yes- this is a biblical issue- workers rights!
That’s why historically the church has sided with labor movements.
Many of my conservative brothers seem to equate all union movements with ‘the left’ but to be honest to the text- James [and in this case- Jesus] can be called liberal!
James is chock full of good stuff- try and read it this week if you haven’t all ready.
One of the key themes that I always see ‘jump out’ at me is the theme of defending and honoring the poor- and rebuking the rich.
Now- to my friends who are ‘rich’ its okay- the warnings are along the lines of what the apostle Paul told Timothy [1st Timothy 6] to simply keep wealth in its proper context.
Honor God with it [by helping the poor- not by making TV preachers rich!] and be humble.
This theme is important for our day- because there are many well meaning Christians- and movements- who have gone off track with the wealth issue and have made it a goal of faith.
James- Paul- and Jesus all had strong warnings for the rich- and had great praise for the poor [they inherit the kingdom- James and Jesus said it].
For more on this subject- referred to as the Prosperity gospel- I will post a few posts from the blog right below.
These are from the February posts of each year.
During the year when I write individual posts- I put them in categories and stick them in the February posts at the start of the New Year.
So these are from the Prosperity gospel section.
Also- if you go to the blog [or are on it now] look to the left and you will find my first little book- called House of Prayer or Den of Thieves- I talk about this issue there as well.
Okay- that’s it for now- might do another politics post in a few days- not sure what’s next.
Don’t forget to try and lift each other up in prayer- help someone who’s down on their luck- share with the less fortunate in some way this week- give- but give for the purpose of helping the poor- don’t always see it as ‘an investment with a return’ but give out of love- God will reward you for it.
1827- SCHOOL LOANS AND HOW MANY TIMES DID THAT ROOSTER CROW?
I want to try and do both ‘politics and religion’- lets start with politics.
This story is a couple of days late [the big one this week is the anti Romney ad that the Obama campaign released- saying he would not have killed Bin Laden].
This story is last week’s fight over keeping the cost of federally funded student loans from doubling in July.
Basically in 2007 congress passed a law to keep the interest rates low- and it expires in a few months.
Now- both sides of the aisle actually agree on this- they just disagree on how to pay for it [around 6 billion in cost].
The Dems in the senate want to ‘tax the rich’ yes- they are not afraid to keep going to this pool- even though eventually this pool will run dry [not saying all the rich will become poor- but ultimately you drive the wealth from the country- people put their money where it won’t cost so much to keep!]
The Dems in the house want to tax the oil companies.
The Repubs want to pay for it by taking some money out of Obama care.
Okay- as the battle lines were drawn- the Repubs control the house- so they passed it- with about a dozen Dems on board- with the money coming from Obama care.
The President threatened to veto it- and the Dems began accusing the Repubs of waging ‘a war on women’s health’.
Boehner [speaker of the house] actually got mad and said the Dems are waging a phony fight.
Who’s right?
Okay- as an independent- there are some points on both sides- but the ‘war on women’ is a stretch.
Why?
The fund in the health care law that the Repubs want to use- is a fund for preventative care- less than 1 % of this fund is targeted for women’s health.
The President and the Dems were the first ones to tap into this fund- as sort of a slush fund- when they needed the money for- of all things- a tax cut!
Yes- in the recent fight over extending the payroll tax cut [Social Security] the Dems came up with the idea to tap into this same preventive fund- and they used the money [billions] to give people a tax cut.
Now- when they did it- it was not a ‘war on women’ it was a ‘good thing’.
When the Repubs did it- it was a war on women’s health.
So- this is gridlock- this is why our country is becoming more and more dysfunctional as the days go by.
I have said this over the past few years- if we don’t actually elect people who will deal with the real issues- the big one being the cost of Medicare- which at the current rate will consume around 50 % of all federal spending in a few years- if we don’t elect people who will do this- then all the other little ‘campaign’ talking points will mean nothing.
Okay- this past week I went thru a course by Professor Bart Ehrman.
He teaches at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
He teaches Christianity and the New Testament and has been popular the last couple of years because he had a N.Y. times best seller- Misquoting Jesus.
Whenever I study a course- I usually do a parallel teaching on the blog.
Not word for word- I usually have a background in the subject already- and if the course goes too ‘off course’ I dump it and just finish the blog study by memory.
This time I never planned on covering the course from the get go- because I knew Ehrman was what you would call a Liberal scholar.
Now- Liberal and Conservative- in the field of Theology- are not political matters.
Liberals are those who hold to the critical view of the bible that was developed in the 19th century- primarily out of the German universities- men like Rudolph Bultman were leaders in the field.
This ‘way’ of interpreting the bible- called Higher Criticism- had some good points to it- but at the end of the day they came to reject the historical accuracy of scripture- and said that the Gospels were written by unknown men who wanted to simply convey spiritual truths that Jesus taught.
Conservative teachers [like me] hold to the belief that the bible is indeed historically accurate- and the ‘Inspired Word of God’.
Okay- as I went thru the course- I honestly expected Bart to make a better case for his side.
I really learned nothing knew- I was already familiar with the critic’s points- and he made the same ones that the conservative side has already refuted.
Now- let me give you a few examples.
When I first started reading thru the bible as a new believer- I did find some of these ‘discrepancies’ myself.
I noticed that in Matthews’s gospel the story about the denial of Jesus says Peter will deny Jesus 3 times before the ‘rooster crows’.
In Marks gospel it says ‘before the rooster crows twice’.
When I first saw this- it really wasn’t that big of a deal to me- and one time I mentioned it to my Pastor- a good Baptist man who was trained in a Fundamentalist school- and to my surprise he was not aware of this.
I also noticed a few more things like this over the years- and my pastor simply was never trained in these areas.
Now- I mention this only to point out that if you get a well rounded education- it really should include some of these so called discrepancies.
Some of the Higher Criticism is helpful- some not.
But to avoid these textual problems- simply because you’re a Fundamentalist- does more harm than good- especially when your parishioners are learning the stuff on their own!
Okay- I ‘solved’ the problem of the denials by simply seeing that even though one gospel says ‘before the rooster crows’ and the other ‘twice’- that at the end of the day one writer is simply giving you more detail.
It really is not a contradiction- if Matthew said ‘before the roster crows once’ then yes- that would be a problem.
But he simply gave less detail than the other writer.
Okay- after becoming familiar with Ehrman- and knowing that he is famous in the field of liberal scholarship- I thought for sure he would come up with something better than this.
But in actuality- this was one of his main examples of why the bible is not historically accurate.
I couldn’t believe it.
Now- to be fair- there are other things like this that do happen- but they are all minor details of the story [John’s gospel seems to indicate that Jesus was crucified on a different feast day than the other writers say].
But all these minor details in no way justify rejecting the gospels as historically accurate.
Let me just hit on a few things that the higher critics have right.
They do point to the fact that the early followers of Jesus lived in an Oral culture- things were passed along by word of mouth for the most part.
The writing of books [scrolls] did take place- but it was not an easy- or cheap trade.
We live in a day of books and internet access and all sorts of ways for the printed word to be distributed- but in the early church it was not like this.
So- the gospels were probably written about 20-50 years after the death and resurrection of Christ.
What?
Yes- this is true.
The more conservative scholars go with the earlier date [some go as early as 15 years after Christ] but no one claims that the gospels were written at the same time as Christ walking the earth.
Yes- the stories were transmitted orally [oral culture] but they were written later on.
Now- the ultra liberal scholars say ‘see- how could they have known all the facts if they were written so much later’- and Ehrman uses the example of the game ‘telephone’ [or something like that?].
Where you have one person in class tell something to the next in line- and at the end of the line you get a different account.
Ehrman says ‘see- we have no idea what/who Jesus really was’.
Okay- the main discrepancy that Bart used- was the rooster crowing.
He actually sounded mad on the C.D. [I listen while I work!] and he said ‘well- which is it [damn it!!] did the rooster crow once- or twice!’
And then he jumped to the conclusion that the gospels were really fake stories that were made up by unknown men- well meaning men- but they had no real historical truth to them.
This my friends is what I call a ‘leap of faith’.
Geez- if we did this was all other biographies- we would have no ‘factual’ histories about anyone.
I’ll end with a note to my Catholic readers.
A couple of years ago I read the Popes book- Jesus of Nazareth- I did a brief review on the blog and I really liked the book a lot.
One of the things the Pope deals with [remember- Benedict was a priest from Germany- where the whole school of higher criticism arose] in the book is this whole debate over the historical accuracy of the bible.
At one point- as he graciously- yet boldly defends the conservative view- he is talking about the liberal view that the gospels were written by these unknown men who basically made the stories up.
The Pope asks ‘and just how did these men manage to write the most popular books of all time- books that came to be revered and known and loved by generations and generations- and yet no one even knows the names of the authors?’ [I did ad lib a little here]
The bottom line is- if the gospels were written by a bunch of anonymous men who simply wanted to convey some spiritual truths about Jesus- and they managed to stay hidden for all these centuries- this theory has more holes in it than say- a rooster crowing once or twice.
1828- CLEVELAND BRIDGE IS FALLING DOWN
So we had the 5 guys- described as ‘anarchists upset with corporate greed and the govt.’ who got caught trying to blow up a Cleveland bridge.
Yes- they had the fake plastic c-4 that the undercover FBI agent gave them.
They planted the stuff at the base of the bridge- and they entered the code that they thought would blow it up.
Nothing happened- and they got busted.
As I read the article [actually a couple] I found it interesting that these men did call themselves part of the Occupy Wall street group.
They held to the same beliefs [absent bridge bombing] and by all accounts were what you could reasonably describe as ‘Occupiers’.
Now- I know that all occupiers do not hold to these views.
But the article went on to state that part of the motivation of these men was the downright unwillingness for the ‘regular’ occupiers to engage in violence.
What?
Yes- not only were these 5 musketeers not ‘really’ occupiers- but part of their motivation to bomb the bridge was their frustration that the regular occupiers are so darn non violent!
I remember when the media covered the Tea Party crowd- you had accusations that they were Terrorists- even though they actually did not engage in bridge bombing.
When there was an accusation that one of them said ‘nigger’ or possibly spit on a Black man- did the media report that these offenders were not really Tea Partiers?
Did they say part of the motivation was the ‘downright unwillingness for regular tea partiers to engage in racial prejudice’.
No- even though the tea party made it clear that they did not hold these views- if you had anyone associated with the group engage in bad behavior- then the media simply reported it as tea party activity- which would be right.
When the crazy guy shot the Arizona congresswoman Gifford’s- the media spent a week debating whether or not the phrase ‘target’ used by Sarah Palin might have led to the shooting.
Now- we have had the president going around the country- making speech after speech about how the rich are not paying their fair share- how corporate big wigs are screwing everyone else.
You have the class warfare card that the president has been using- inciting real anger and frustration in people.
Do you think this language- this constant drumbeat- from the president himself- do you think it might have played a role in the general anger that you see in the occupiers?
Have we spent a week [or even 1 day] asking the nation ‘do you think this 99 versus 1 % language might have played a role’?
No- no questions like this are being asked.
Not only that- but the media have reported that one of the reasons for these bridge bombers anger- was the absolute non violence of the occupiers.
Yeah- if a guy who was a member of the tea party- who had tea party associations on Facebook- who held to all the views of a tea partier- yeah- if he lynched a Black guy- I’m sure the media would report ‘he lynched him because he was so upset with the true love that the real tea partiers have for Black people’.
Yeah- I’m sure that’s what they would say- aren’t you?
1829- A CHINESE LAWYER AND LIVING STONES
I want to try and teach a couple of things from the letter of 1st Peter [in the New Testament] - but 1st a few comments.
Today the big story is the Chinese dissident- Chen Guangcheng.
Chen is a blind lawyer who has been under house arrest for years by the govt.
His main fight against the repressive communist state is their 1 child policy.
In China- because of the population growth- if a woman gets pregnant more than once- they force the woman to have an abortion.
This practice has not only killed many innocent kids- but also causes the parents to voluntarily abort the first child if it’s a girl.
Many of the families prefer a boy if they can only have 1 child- so the moms often abort the first [or 2nd- or 3rd] if it’s a girl.
So anyway- Chen miraculously escaped house arrest and made it to ‘safety’ to the U.S. embassy in China.
Here’s where there is some contradiction.
After a couple of days hiding out in the embassy- he left of his own ‘free will’ and the U.S. escorted him to a hospital [he suffered some inures during his escape].
Then we left him there- and he came under further persecution by the govt.
He called for help- and begged the U.S. to take him and his wife and family to the U.S.
Now- Hillary Clinton just happens to be there for talks this week- and she played down the case at first- and Chen says the U.S. rep’s told him if he didn’t leave the embassy that the Chinese officials would harm his wife.
Now- both sides agree that the threat was made [Chen and the U.S.] but we are denying that we related the threat to Chen.
Either way- the man left the protection of the embassy because of fear for his family- and he is now in danger.
This incident has now overshadowed the original reason for Clinton’s visit- and all the hype this week over the Bin Laden death anniversary.
Actually- it did look bad- as I was flipping the news channels- I saw the re-run of the NBC ‘coverage’ [more like an hour long free campaign ad].
They just did a special on the lead up to the death of Bin Laden- and it showed play for play coverage of the president and his team- I mean I do give the president credit for the death of Bin Laden- but they do seem to be overplaying the hand a bit much.
Even some of the elite Special Forces guys are complaining about his politicizing of the event.
So as I’m seeing clips about ‘we made the call [to kill him] it was a risk- but that’s what the job of president is- taking risks’ on and on- talking about how much of a risk it was for Obama to make ‘the call’.
And then on the next channel- we seem to be throwing this heroic Chinese dissident under the bus- and it seems like ‘the risk’ of actually saving the guy and his family- against the will of China [our bank] who does not want the U.S. to interfere- might be too much.
It is sad- I don’t want to politicize the thing- but for the media campaign to be harping on how much of a risk it was for the president to ‘make the call’- and at the very same moment- we have a crisis that needs him to ‘make a call’ it’s a bit much.
Okay- this morning I read a little from the letter of Peter.
In chapter 2 Peter uses the imagery of Jesus- and of us- as being stones- spiritual stones in a ‘living temple’ who offer up spiritual sacrifices to God thru Christ.
I always liked this imagery- the apostle Paul also uses it in his writings [Ephesians].
Peter says Jesus was a tested corner stone- a tried stone- rejected of men- but approved by God.
We too- as living stones- will be tested and tried- and yes- rejected by men.
This is part of the process.
He will later say ‘don’t think it a strange thing- the fiery trial you are going thru- it is not only given to us to believe on Jesus- but to also suffer for him’.
This is one of the main themes you see run thru out the New Testament.
Peter even says ‘if any man suffers as a Christian [by the way- this term is only used 3 times in the New Testament] let him glorify God’
Yes- suffering and difficulty are part of the package- and the apostle tells us not to ‘think it strange’.
Why?
There are so many well meaning believers in our day who have been taught that suffering- hard times- lack of wealth- that all these things only happen to people who don’t have faith- who haven’t yet learned how to ‘claim their covenant rights’.
Now- while most of these teachers mean well- they leave out the other side of the coin.
And if you only hear the ‘happy’ side- then when the tough stuff hits- you ‘think it strange’ you say ‘geez- I guess I’m just not as good as so and so- after all- why would I be suffering’.
So Peter warns us to be aware that the trying of our faith is an important aspect of the Christian life- and there are times when believers are called upon to share in this Cross experience.
In chapter 2 Peter says that Jesus was a tested stone- one that went thru the process of being chipped and honed and shaped into the vessel that God wanted.
Part of the shaping was the rejection process.
God uses ‘tested’ stones in his temples.
In the Old Testament- when they were building the temple- the bible says they prepared the stones away from the building site- so there would be no noise of the hammers chipping away at the temple site itself.
But after the stone was ready- it would be brought to the site and placed into the building.
Often times God allows us to have ‘down time’ a place of being prepared- getting chipped away at- but when he thinks the stone is ready- it is then brought to the site and put into the building.
The apostle John- in the book of Revelation says ‘I John saw the holy city- the New Jerusalem- coming down from God out of heaven- and there was no temple in it’.
John was describing the new kingdom community [the church] that would be absent ‘the temple’ [the old system of law and temple] and would be a new people- a living temple- a kingdom of priests and kings.
These new people would offer up spiritual sacrifices to God- no longer the animal sacrifices of the law- and this would please God.
Yes- we are the people of God- kings and priests unto God.
John also says this in Revelation.
‘thou art worthy to open the book and to loose the seals thereof- for you were slain and have redeemed us to God by your blood out of every nation tribe and tongue- and have made us KINGS AND PRIESTS unto God- and we shall reign on the earth’.
Yes- kings and priests- a new community- a living spiritual temple.
All wonderful things- but the only stones that make it into this temple are tried stones- rejected stones- stones that got ‘chipped’ at for a long period of time.
Yeah- these are the precious stones.
1830- DO CHRISTIANS SUFFER?
This past week I read the 1st letter of Peter [in the New Testament].
I read a chapter a day- and meditated on some key points.
I marked all the verses that dealt with the Christian doctrine on suffering. This teaching- found thru out the bible- has been neglected in much of the modern type Christianity.
Many systems of preaching and belief in our day have developed an idea that because Jesus suffered for us- therefore we need not suffer.
I’m sure some of my readers/friends have in some way been aware [affected?] by this- it’s almost impossible to have not been.
Many of the number one bestselling books [Wal mart] have these themes- most of what you would call ‘TV Evangelists’ teach this type of thing.
And many of the most popular Mega Churches of our day have some form of it within their ranks.
So- in the old style of actually writing out each verse- here we go.
‘For this is thankworthy- if a man for conscience toward God- endure grief- suffering wrongfully’
‘But if you do well and suffer for it- and take it patiently- this is acceptable with God’
‘For even hereunto were ye called- because Christ also suffered for us- leaving us an EXAMPLE that ye should follow his steps’
‘But if ye suffer for righteousness sake- happy are ye’
‘For it is better- if the will of God be so- that ye suffer for well doing rather than evil’
‘For as much then as Christ hath suffered in the flesh- arm yourselves likewise with the same mind’
‘If any man suffer as a Christian- let him not be ashamed- but let him glorify God on this behalf’
‘Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing- as unto a faithful creator’
‘But the God of all grace – who hath Called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus- after that you have suffered a while- make you perfect- stablish- strengthen- settle you’.
Okay- that’s the jist of it.
‘So why John are there so many teachings that leave this out’?
Good question.
Many of the teachers are well meaning people- and they do have one side of the coin.
There are many verses in the bible that do speak about God blessing us- meeting our needs- delivering us out of trouble.
But none of these verses ‘do away’ with the ones I just quoted.
Peter himself said that Christ not only died to bring us back to God [redemption] but he also suffered for us- leaving us an example that we were to follow.
Peter says it’s better to suffer for well doing- then for evil doing.
Yet both are redemptive in nature.
How?
Peter’s most famous suffering recorded in the bible is his very famous denial of Jesus.
The bible says after he did this he wept and was broken.
He went thru pain because of his sin- and even this suffering played a role in shaping the apostle.
Later on- we read in Christian history that when Peter was put to death in Rome- he requested that he be crucified upside down because he felt he was not worthy to die the same way as his Lord.
Geez- you would think he never got over the guilt.
Yes- the bible is clear on the matter- there are times when we are called to suffer.
We can’t ‘confess’ our way out of it- or ‘create our own world’ out of it.
We can’t rebuke the devil ‘out of it’.
There are simply times when we are called to suffer.
Now- this does not mean we sit around every day and wait for the thing to happen- no- we are commanded by God to take up our Cross daily and to follow him.
But the actual phrase ‘Take up the Cross’ carries with it the idea that there is a price to pay.
Okay- what’s my goal in covering this?
Am I trying to ‘put’ a bad confession on you?
No- but I’m trying to show you that if you are feeling guilty because in your mind things might not have turned out as well as you hoped.
Maybe years ago you started well- had good Christian friends- some who went on to ‘fame’ [Yikes!!]
Others had ‘good’ lives.
And maybe you have questioned God- ‘what did I do wrong- why am I different’.
You’re not!
That’s the point.
One of the verses I left out was Peter saying when you go thru these trials- don’t think it strange- but understand that you have many brothers and sisters in the world who are also experiencing the same pain as you feel right now.
Yeah- that’s the jist of it.
If we hold on to the ideas/teachings- that come to us by well meaning people- encouraging people- I mean who can dis like Joel Osteen!
But we need to balance it out with the Word.
Yes- many of these teachings go by the name ‘Word churches’ or ‘word people’ and I’m glad that they do quote the word.
But the Word also contains all these verses as well.
The Word shows us that there are things we will go thru in life- and we should not be taken by surprise when this happens- God told this to us from the start.
Okay- I was thinking I might throw in a few more things about the writings of Peter- some Non Canonical writings- the Gospel of Peter- and the Revelation of Peter [apocalypse].
Being I just ended a study form a liberal scholar- these writings came up.
They are early Gnostic writings that fall into the category of Pseudopigraphy [writing under the name of another person- note- I rarely use this word because my spell check does not have it- but I wanted you to see it- just beware I might have a letter or 2 off!].
I wanted to cover a few interesting tid bits from them- and to explain why we do not have them in our bibles today.
But I think I'll let that wait for another post.
For today- re-read these verses on your own- if you haven’t read the book of Peter in a while- read it the next few days- look for these key themes.
The other day I mentioned the book of James.
I read it a couple of weeks ago.
I realized that I also mentioned ‘off the cuff’ that James was a leader at the first church we see in the bible- the Jerusalem church.
In Acts 15 we read that Peter, James and John are Pillars of the church.
They were spiritual ‘support beams’ if you will- what they said [and say] is very important.
If you remember- when I mentioned James I shared how he praises the poor- and warns the rich.
Here in Peter we see the biblical doctrine of suffering.
When I get to John [probably will do 1st John] I’ll hit on some key themes as well.
The point being- these key figures- these ‘Pillars’ they seem to be ‘out of touch’ with many of our modern day teachings.
I wonder who’s right?
1831- TEA PARTY?
So the other day we had a few more primary elections- and the big news was the Dick Lugar loss [Repub from Indiana].
Lugar was the longest serving senator in congress- 6 terms.
He got booted by a Tea Party guy- and the media made it sound like D day.
I mean the nonstop talk about the country being taken over by the extreme right- that Lugar was such a fine man- who was punished because he voted [often!] with Obama.
It’s funny- whenever the Democrats have a big win- a ‘take over’ it gets described as a wonderful choice that the country has made- a true generational paradigm shift.
When the President got elected- and the Dems took the house and the senate- by huge majorities- you even had conservative media Folk describing it this way [Cokie Roberts].
Yet when the right side of the aisle do a sweep- it’s the country throwing a ‘tantrum’ [yes- the main line news described it this way when the Repubs took back the house in the mid terms].
I’m not a Tea Partier- or an occupier- but from what I see the Tea Party folk are simply people who want fiscal restraint.
They have no ideological social agenda- just for the govt. to not spend more than it takes in.
Okay- sincere people might have a disagreement on this- but to describe any organized grass roots group- who are simply fiscal conservatives- to talk about them as a dangerous movement that might bring the Republic down- well that seems to be a bit much.
Economy?
Well- I hate to say it [not really] but I ‘told you so’.
Yeah- if you go back and read my posts over the last 6 months- I felt like too many financial guys were hyping the chances for a strong recovery this year.
I even mentioned that Larry Kudlow- a straight shooter [business guy] was talking 3% growth for this year.
I said I thought it would be more like 2.
Now- both of these numbers are actually terrible!
But 3 would be better than 2.
Last night he changed his prediction- yeah- 2.
Why?
To me there really should be no surprise- when the Dow was at 13,200- I simply thought people were ignoring the reality on the ground.
This morning it opens at a little over 12,800- and I think the ‘real’ number should be in the low 12,ooo’s.
Why?
When we kicked off the year- some analysts were hoping for new job growth to be at around 250,000 jobs a month.
You need this many- every month- for a few years before the economy can truly recover.
So- we did have a few months at this number- and there was some good economic news as well- so I thought maybe I was wrong- maybe the E.U. crisis will not be as bad- and if everything goes good- more power to ya.
But then the month before last something happened- the new jobs number was a little over 100,000- not good.
All the talking heads gave their views- and it was possible that the number was a fluke [Sandra?]
But no- the number for last month has come out- again- a little over a 100,000.
That’s bad.
The reason you need around 250,000 a month to really move the needle is because every month we have over 100,000 new people enter the job market.
These are people that just turned working age and are new to the market.
So- if you are barley covering jobs for them- or are a little under- in reality the unemployment goes up- not down.
But we have seen the number go down [from 8.2 to 8.1].
How can this be?
The way we calculate unemployment is by the amount of people who are actually looking for jobs.
So- if 300,000 people drop out of the hunt- then the number goes down on paper- when in reality it should go up.
So- it looks like we might be stalling again.
Europe.
The E.U. zone problems are still there- and they are our biggest market.
As a matter of fact- the 17 nations that make up e.u. are the biggest economy in the world.
So- if they are our biggest customer- and if they are in trouble- we are too.
Just this past week 2 E.U. countries voted out the leaders that wanted austerity [cut spending] and put in guys who want to spend money they don’t have.
What does this mean?
It means if they keep going down this road they will be facing a depression- and it looks like the ‘cut back spending’ people are all on their way out.
So- as we see a slowing down in our country- and a continuing disaster with our biggest trading partner- well these things are not the recipe for a real recovery- and the insiders know it.
‘John- do you think we will be able to deal with our debt/deficit’?
These past few weeks as I have flipped the news/business channels- I have seen the Dems go point by point thru the Repubs budget- and at every point where they wanted to cut- they said ‘they want to cut your kids from free lunch- the elderly from their food [meals on wheels]’.
I just heard Matthews [MSNBC] say ‘how can you vote for cuts that when someone’s mother goes to the hospital for an operation- and you cut their Medicare and the doctor says- sorry- because of the Repubs- you must die’.
Now- if the Dems keep playing this game- if they do not try and deal with a very real problem- if they politicize it like this- then yes- we will be just like Greece in a few more years.
Now- I’m not saying I support the Ryan plan out of hand- but we need something fairly close.
Some say his plan does not cut the debt fast enough.
Either way- the number 1 crisis facing the country right now is our exploding debt- and the most notable organized group- who has actually organized around this problem- is the Tea Party.
While I am not a hard right type of guy- and do have some social justice issues that I support [I do not want to kick kids and grandma out on the street] yet- if the most prominent ‘right wing’ group is actually nominating people who will do something about the number one problem our country is facing.
Then maybe we should stop throwing up our hands and talking about the end of the world- maybe- just maybe- it might be what the doctor ordered.
1832- BIDENS REVENGE?
As we end the week- once again- we have had some ‘real’ stories- things that are important- and silly stuff.
First- a few days back the Obama administration spiked the football over the Bin laden killing and we had a few days of back and forth on it.
One of the things they did was released some of the secret memos we found at the time of the raid.
Now- you must understand that Obama makes the call- along with the intelligence people- on what to let out.
So- as I watched the various media outlets repeat- over and over again- the top lines- I could not stop laughing- very loudly- as they reported one of Bin laden’s desires.
Now- I did not laugh at the first part ‘we want to kill the president of the U.S.’.
No- not funny.
But the next part ‘and whatever you do- don’t hurt Biden! We need him to survive- because he will become president and he does not know what he’s doing- he will bring the U.S. down’.
Now- you must see that Bin laden's final plot- the mastermind of 911- his plan was to get Biden in the top seat and watch him bring the country down.
Okay- to me this was funny- to see the reporters doing this story while trying not to laugh.
How do you think Ole Joe took it?
Okay- this is my conspiracy theory- obviously he’s watching this story over and over again- knowing that the President made ‘the call’ to release this very intriguing tid bit.
And who knows- maybe Obama did it out of some hidden anger about Biden making so many gaffs in the first term.
So Biden’s response?
He goes on national TV and says how much he supports gay marriage- a position that the Pres did not make yet.
Touché
Now- the president and his people have to scramble to get the story under control- they at first try to ignore it- but after a few days Obama comes ‘out of the closet’ and makes the call- yes- he too is for it.
Now- some think this was all planned- that they wanted to orchestrate the pro Obama stance and contrast it with the next story- how Romney is a serial gay bashing bully- with a pair of scissors.
I don’t know- I think Biden just did what he does best- and spoke before he thought.
Anyway- as I’m watching the media coverage of the most serious story of the day.
The terrible Syrian bombing that killed many?
No.
The very troubling revelation that J.P. Morgan/Chase [the countries largest bank] took a 2 billion dollar hit in the first quarter?
No.
I’m talking about the most important story of the day.
That in 1965 Romney stalked some kid with blonde hair in his prep type high school- and he cut his Goldie locks!
Yes- as I’m watching this breaking worlds news- the news also comes out that Biden trotted on over to the White house and apologized to the boss.
Wow- they actually had to report this.
‘John- do you really believe Biden did this to get even’?
No- not really- but just know- it was Bin laden’s wish for Joe to get 4 more.
Okay- J.P. Morgan.
Yesterday morning I posted about my belief that most financial guys have tried to down play the Euro debt crisis- that they are not seeing the real danger it plays for the U.S.
Then during the day I caught the story that Jamie Dimon- the CEO of Morgan- held a conference call and let the cat out of the bag- that they made bad investments and lost 2 billion.
As I watched thru out the day I thought ‘I bet it has something to do with the E.U.’
Sure enough it did.
It looks like this bank made the same gamble that Jon Corzine and his investment group did.
The same thing that began our ‘great recession’ at the end of 2008 when Obama came into office.
They made certain types of investments- called Hedging- and they bet that the European bonds would get bailed out and all would go well.
Now- the fact is things look like they might go downhill- and that some of the E.U. countries will default on their debt and that the Euro currency might even go bust.
Okay- J.P. Morgan still did the kind of thing that led us into the huge financial problems we have been dealing with these past few years.
So the fact is ‘too big to fail’ is still out there- it can in fact happen again.
The reason we bailed out the big financial institutions was because all the insider guys who worked for Bush [and Obama] convinced the presidents [Bush and Obama] that this was what needed to be done- or else the global financial system might fail.
Now- after we did the bailout we were supposed to put in place checks and balances that would never allow a huge bank- that has FDIC insurance- which means if they fail the govt. bails out the depositors- to get into a spot again where we might have to do it again.
But we did not fix the ‘too big to fail’ problem- and once again we see that these huge banks are still ‘making bets’ with money.
Romney.
Okay- in the morning I saw that the Washington post ran a 3 page story on Romney’s ‘wicked ways’.
Yes- when I was in high school we used to beat the hell out of people- in the school building.
We bought drugs- and used them- on school grounds.
And we engaged in all types of illegal activity during our high school days.
So- as the campaign heats up- the Washington Post did their due diligence and went and tracked down 5 of Romney’s classmates- from 1965- and confirmed the story that Romney was a serial bully back in the day.
Okay- as the article went on- it portrayed Romney as the ring leader of a group of brief case carrying youth [the article did say this] that were upset about this kid who wore long blonde hair at the school.
They said that Romney teased this boy- who might have been gay- and even called him a girly name.
So- after a period of time- Romney just could not take it anymore and he lead this group of fellow students to go and get the blonde kid.
Yea- the article states that as the boys held the kid down- Romney- armed with a pair of scissors ‘repeatedly’ [geez- not one snip!] cut the boys hair- as tears arose in the boys eyes.
Okay- did we really need to know this?
Did it really need to be a top story- right up there with all the real news going on in the world?
Look- I don’t want to say bullying is not a problem- but in 1965- if the worst thing you can find on Romney is this- then this guy is a goody too shoes!
I find it funny that the media were able to go back 50 years for this silly story- and they never managed to find the drug dealer who sold coke to Obama when he was in school [Obama admits using ‘blow’ back in the day].
Now- do I want to know who the president bought the cocaine from- not really.
But I sure did not want to know that Romney ‘packed scissors’ back in the day.
So you see what the next year will be like- a very sad thing indeed.
So as the week comes to a close we had some important stuff- and some not so important stuff.
We had a few apologies [Biden- Romney apologized too- even though the blonde victim died a few years ago- you know- those Mormons do have continuing relationships with the dead!]
And we had some serious stories as well- the Syrian situation is bad- many people are dying over there- and I do hope we can do something about it.
All in all it was a busy week- lets all try and take a break this weekend.
1833- HENRY
I’ve been getting together with the homeless guys these past few days- I haven’t seen Henry in a while and I thought I better check up on the guys.
Henry- who I have written about a lot- is one of the close friends from the street.
He grew up in the north east- Mass. - so we have ties.
Henry is a true bible scholar- I mean I might mention a verse and Henry will quote the entire chapter- it’s kind of like a Rain Man type thing- but instead of remembering the gambling numbers- he does it with the bible.
Anyway we had a good fellowship- we went for a nice ride over the causeway and headed towards Rockport- just a chance for Henry to see the area.
I went to pick him up at the boat dock where he works- but missed him- caught him at the mission.
I gave Henry some money- he doesn’t drink or get drunk [or do drugs] with the money so it’s not like I’m contributing to the delinquency of a senior.
When we got back to the house I cooked a few things for Henry- though he did not want me to- yet he ate well.
He likes to catch the sports on my Direct TV- he’s a sports nut- knows all the latest stats- reads the scores in the paper- or catches a coffee at the Mexican restaurant and watches the sports on the tube.
From what I have picked up over the years- I think Henry used to be one of the top wrestlers at his high school- till this day- Henry looks to be in top physical shape- like he works out- he’s a few years older than me- 52?- yet he’s a health nut.
So he likes being able to catch the multiple sports channels on my TV.
Henry had a good day- and for a real homeless guy- looks the part- you would never know what a straight shooter he is.
One time we were sitting at the homeless mission and they were gonna do the Lords Supper.
I said ‘great- I'm in’ Henry did not partake- he later told me it would be a violation of the apostle Paul’s order to the Corinthians not to partake with sinners- and yes- some of the guys were drunk.
Yeah- he was right- I just felt like I needed to partake at the time.
The next day I took a ride to the bay front area of our city- one of the most beautiful downtowns you will ever see- many post cards have the area highlighted.
I just took a walk by the bay- and spotted a homeless girl- I was surprised- I rarely have seen them in that area.
I talked to her a little while and gave her some money- she was a Black girl.
About a mile down the road I also saw a Black kid sleeping on the bench- obviously homeless too- I think she might have been with him.
The other day I mentioned that in the next few weeks I will try and read/study 1st John.
He is the 3rd ‘pillar’ in the 3 main church leaders that we wanted to cover.
Even though I barley started reading the letter- I know one of the main themes from John is ‘he that obeys Gods commands is from God’.
John hits this theme a lot.
And then he says the command is ‘he that sees his brother in need and does not help him- how can Gods love be in you?’
This theme is repeated over and over again in John’s letter- and it’s the same message Jesus gave when he was asked what the great commandment was.
‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and might- and your neighbor as yourself’.
Jesus said ‘on these 2 hang all the law and the prophets’.
Yeah- this is the major emphasis that we will look at when we cover his letter.
I think I will try and see the guy’s today- maybe go down to the mission for a little while.
Not all of the homeless are like Henry- Henry works- does not get ‘a check’ [if you knew how many young guys- perfect health- are all getting govt. checks it would make you sick].
No- Henry- like some of my other friends [Tim] does not live off of the welfare system.
They do eat the free lunch at the mission [which I do not- I don’t take the meals that are intended for the poor] yet I see retried/working people drive up in the cars- or on their motorcycles- and they simply come for the free food.
The mission even has said to me ‘John- eat- because the more people who sign up- the more money we get’.
Geez- I know they mean well- but it’s like when I worked at the fire dept. - we tried to use all the money in our budget- even if we didn’t need it- just so they wouldn’t cut our budget the next year.
So we need to keep these things in mind when the accusation is made politically ‘they want to take food from grandma- kids’ in some of these cases its food from people who have it- but they prefer the free meals instead.
All in all I focus on the truly needy- the guys who have lived their entire lives on the streets.
Yeah- John said if we see our brother in need and don’t help him- then how can we say Gods love is in us?
1834- HOW LOW WILL IT GO?
This past week I spoke with my Liberal friend from the North- yes- a real person- not a composite!
I always try and take the middle ground in these talks- showing my friend that to be too partisan clouds the mind.
One example- this friend has bought the whole media line that Romney- because of his wealth- is unfit to serve.
That his wife does just sit on the couch all day and does nothing- and they are unable to speak about real issues because of this.
Now- this person voted for Kerry a few years back.
I told my liberal friend ‘say if you found out that Romney actually never earned his money- but he married his wife- who also never earned it- but she inherited it from a rich father’.
And say if Romney was spending all of his wife’s money on yachts- expensive vacation homes- and all the ritzy stuff that Romney has [elevators for cars].
Of course my friend would be even more mad.
Yet this is exactly what happened to John Kerry.
He simply married a woman who was heir to the Heinz ketchup fortune.
Okay- does this make Kerry a bad man?
No.
But this shouldn’t make Romney a bad man either- yet I never heard one story about Kerry being a free loader off of his wife’s money.
The point being we get mad at the other side- even though we allow those same things to slip by if it happens on ‘our side’.
Now- the other day I posted on the economy- that I felt we still had a ‘long hard slog’ ahead.
Others had too rosy of a picture in my view.
Now- economics/finances is like anything else- you look at the data and make the best ‘guess’ possible.
When I looked at the data at the end of last year- we had some bad signs ahead.
This year- the states and local govts [cities- towns] were not going to have anywhere near the revenue that they had for the past few years.
Why?
The federal govt. has cut back much of the funding that they gave to the states.
Obama care has also put a huge burden on the states.
One of the ways it ‘covers’ the uninsured is to simply mandate that the states put millions of more people on the Medicare rolls.
This is a tremendous cost to the states- money they don’t have.
Home prices.
Housing prices have gone down- in some places more than 50%- and the way most states/cities pay for their local expenses [schools] is this way [property tax].
So you basically have the states and cities having to come up with more money- and in reality they have nowhere to get the money.
Now- last night I watched the governor from Cali. say that the state is in almost double the debt that they we were expecting.
California is 16 billion in debt- not 9 billion as was projected.
Governor Brown- a smart guy- he once studied to be a Jesuit priest- they are top of the line intellectuals among Catholic priests.
[just as a side note- this order rose up during the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century. A soldier by the name of Ignatius Loyola was wounded and recovering in the hospital.
He read about the life of Christ and dedicated himself to the Lord.
The Jesuits were the order he founded.
They evangelized all the way into Asia- an area that the Protestant missionaries avoided.
The Jesuits played a major role in the scientific revolution- as a percentage of how few Jesuits there were- they had a huge impact on the development of modern science.]
So governor Brown said his state has lived beyond it’s means for too long- they spent money they did not have- and now the chickens have come home to roost.
Brown is a liberal Democrat.
The governor of N.Y. said the same thing a few months back.
When he got elected he actually worked with the unions in the state and worked out a deal where they were going to cut the huge expenses that the retirees managed to bargain for over the years.
Cuomo- another Democrat- said it was impossible for the state to continue to pay out these lavish benefits.
After the union leaders made the deal- the rank and file rose up [like Greece] and simply elected new leaders who would fight the changes.
I heard a clip from Cuomo- he was yelling ‘we can’t keep making the rich/businesses pay- they are all leaving the state’- just like Cali.
So- with unemployment at historic highs- with state and local govts having to lay off tons of teachers and cops and firefighters.
While the cost to the states is going up- a lot [Obama care].
With all these things in the hopper- besides the ‘unknowns’ like the banks [Morgan Chase] still making risky bets.
Yes- in my view I could not see how some financial guys were talking a huge recovery- some have said they thought the DOW would be at 17,000 next year- nuts!
As I spoke to my liberal friend- they said ‘so- do you think Romney would have been able to create more jobs than Obama’!
They were mad- I said I’m really not a Romney supporter- but being I live in oil state I know from firsthand experience that Obama has cost us jobs.
When he got in office the regulations and the EPA came down hard on the state- they cost lots of jobs.
I saw a clip- video- from Obama the other day- it was from January of 2008- he said he wanted to see the cost of opening up coal powered plants go so high that any sane business person would simply choose not to do it.
Okay- if you have said these things- and have actually done them- then yes- there have been very real jobs lost because of these things.
I assume Romney would not have done this- at least not as much as Obama.
So yes- it’s quite possible that the president’s agenda has cost jobs.
I also explained to my friend that many business owners have put off hiring for 3 years now- because if Obama care passes many of them will be mandated to pay the health care- or a huge fine- for each worker.
Now- as noble as these things might be- they cost real jobs.
My liberal friend- who is a nice person- has lived off of govt. programs for a long time- has only worked a real job for a small part of life.
This person simply had no idea how the private sector really worked- they just listen to the media talking points- and the real world is so much different.
1835- PREACHERS AND MONEY- WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY?
Let’s try and cover a few basic principles today.
For some reason the past few weeks I have kind of hit on the money/prosperity gospel somewhat.
I really did not plan this- but it is such a major part of today’s church that the issue comes up a lot.
When I covered the verses in 1st Peter the other day- one of the ‘suffering’ verses went on to say ‘the elders [church leaders] that are among you I exhort… take oversight of the flock among you…not for filthy lucre [money] but of a ready mind’.
You see this theme all thru out the New and Old testaments.
The apostle Paul wrote to the Ephesian church and said ‘he that does not have a job- get one- so you can have to give to those in need’.
Now- he applies this principle to the leaders as well.
In the book of Acts- chapter 20- he calls the church leaders from the city of Ephesus to give them some final words before he departs.
He tells them ‘the whole time I was with you- I worked to provide for my needs- and the needs of those who were with me- I coveted no mans money’.
He said he did this to leave THEM [the church leaders- ministers] an example that they would follow.
The basic principle is church leaders were not to ‘go into ministry’ with the idea [goal] of ‘reaping a financial harvest’.
Now- this teaching runs all thru out the bible.
So how come so many modern themes violate this teaching?
We all have a tendency to ‘see’ what we want to see- and throw the rest out.
You can find verses that speak about providing for the needs of those who are feeding us the word of God.
The apostle Paul said ‘don’t muzzle the ox that treads out the corn’.
Meaning?
Support those who are feeding you the word.
Okay- got it.
Jesus said to his men ‘when you go into a city and they give you a place to stay [for the night!] and feed you- then take it- the worker is worthy of his hire’.
So we see the basic principle of helping those out who are teaching us Gods word- while at the same time the warning- and example that the Apostle Paul gave us- that you are not doing this for the money.
Paul told the Corinthian church that when he was with them he preached the gospel free of charge.
In the Old Testament book of Nehemiah- he was used of God to restore the city of Jerusalem that was broken down and he became the governor during the rebuilding.
He asks God to look upon him and bless him because he did not take the regular salary- that he had the right to take- but was giving the other leaders an example that they are not in this for the cash.
The same type of thing that Paul did.
So if we take a balanced view- from the whole bible- we come up with a teaching that says ‘yes- it’s fine to support your teachers/preachers- but- they are not to become rich from this support- and we also need some of them to do it for free- to work a regular job as well- to give an example to others that they too should work- and not see ministry as a career choice- from which you become wealthy’.
Now- this type of teaching will simply be rejected by those who don’t like it- they will continue to justify a ‘I’m in this for a financial harvest’ type thing- and simply by pass all the scriptures that seem to be contrary to their personal desire.
When we recently overviewed the book of James I showed you how one of the main themes from James is the warning [rebuke] of the rich and his praise for the poor.
Many years ago- when I used to listen and get into the Prosperity gospel- I remember one of the main teachings came from the letter of James.
It focused on James’ writing about the tongue- a good confession.
As well as his exhortation to not be double minded.
But these verses were actually used in contradiction to the main point of James.
They were used to say ‘maintain your confession of wealth- if anyone tries to tell you anything different- you must reject it- don’t be double minded- keep the wealth confession and you will receive a 100 fold harvest’ [which by the way is another distortion from the teaching of Jesus].
So even though James says ‘beware you rich- your money and riches are rotting- they are fading away- they are a witness against you in the Day of Judgment’.
Or ‘Has not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom’.
‘Do not the rich call you before the courts and blaspheme that holy name by which your are called’.
I mean this theme is all thru out the letter- yet the teaching among the prosperity group managed to bypass all these themes- and simply pick a few verses out and turned them into a modern day financial scheme.
Okay-enough for now- I guess I’ll paste my first little book at the bottom of this post.
I wrote it years ago and eventually put it on a disc and sent it out.
It really is amateurish in a way [in my view] but there are lots of verses I reference that might help those who are interested in this subject.
Okay- that’s it for now- read and enjoy.
1836- IT WAS THE PARENTS FAULT
I read an article the other day that got me mad.
It was a news story about a prisoner of war- one of our guys- who was taken captive in Afghanistan in 2009.
He has been held in Pakistan by the Taliban/Al-Qaida for the past 3 years.
As I read the article it was ‘slanted’ to make it sound like it was the parent’s fault that their son was still captive.
How/Why?
The article stated that the parents just came out and finally ‘broke their silence’ which finally ‘freed the hands of the President to work to free the man’.
Now- as a media critic- it took no time at all to see that this journalist was simply lying to make it look like Obama was just- and the parents themselves were to blame for their son’s imprisonment.
What do you think would make the parents ‘keep silent’ for all those years?
Obviously they were told that some type of negotiations were going on- and to keep the thing private.
Then why do you think they would come out now?
Because they probably felt like the administration was dragging their feet.
So later in the day I saw multiple stories about the case- and that’s exactly what happened.
The parents have been trying to meet with the President for a couple of years and he has refused to meet with them.
They spoke publicly because they feared for their son’s life.
Okay- this particular media bias upset me more than usual because they printed a nationwide story- that blamed the parents for their sons fate- all in order to spin the story to benefit Obama.
The other day I heard a montage of statements from an NBC news man.
These were various statements made over the last couple of years about the President.
‘His I.Q. must be at least 160’
‘That smile is worth 5-10 points alone in the election’
‘His body is in great shape- just look at that lean body’
‘I feel a tingle go up my leg when I hear him speak’
‘A star is born’ [after the election]
Okay- I’m not one of those ‘far right’ guys who thinks the President might actually be the anti Christ [or the Messiah- false].
But what would posses any news man to talk this way?
I have gay friends- I don’t condone the lifestyle- but I have never even heard them speak about another man like this.
The point?
When the media does this- when they are willing to slander the parents of a POW- and make it sound like they were the very ones who 'tied up Obama’s hands’.
Then it’s very difficult to trust anything they say.
The N.Y. Times just did a poll that said over 60% of the American people believe that Obama’s ‘new’ gay marriage stance was a political calculation.
Now- believe it or not- I don’t hold this view.
I wrote on this a few posts back- and I do believe that Biden simply did what he does best and forced the president’s hand by blurting out that he himself was for gay marriage.
So why do over 60 % believe his decision was political?
A day or 2 after the decision to come out in favor of it- the Washington Post [or times?] put out that now infamous 5 page- front page story about Romney being an anti gay bashing bully- who packs scissors!
Okay- this was a 5 page story- they obviously didn’t just come up with the thing in a day.
They were sitting on the story- probably waiting for the best time to deliver it- and because Obama just came out with his pro gay stand- they might have thought let’s do it now to contrast Romney as being anti gay.
Either way- the timing looked coordinated- people are not dumb- it’s an insult when the right or the left treat people like this.
It’s an insult to make it sound like the parents of a POW were ‘tying up the hands of the President’ and they were the ones who were putting their sons life at risk- as the President was sitting in the Oval Office wringing his hands over it.
Yes- media bias exists- we all want to give people the benefit of the doubt- but after a while people become suspicious- they see so many news stories that lean to one side- that they simply begin believing the worst.
SPECIAL REPORT!
Very rarely do I post more than once a day [sometimes once a week!] But as I sit here watching the news- some news shows [absent Fox] are going ballistic.
Why?
A story has hit the air that some conservative Pac [political action committee] is going to run a ‘negative campaign’ [could this be?] associating the president with Rev. Wright- his former pastor.
Now- whether a person agrees with this or not- both sides do it- and will continue to do so.
The description by the media is ‘a billion dollar campaign to bring the president down’.
I have never heard any other negative campaign described like this.
It has been reported that the Obama campaign plans on spending millions to attack Romney’s character.
Yet- the media simply describes it as ‘there you go- that’s modern politics’.
2nd- there is another story that has hit the air today- it is a TRUE story about a past literary agent for the president.
This agency- with the president’s obvious approval [knowledge] listed the president as being born in Kenya.
Now- some media people are ready to explode.
Why?
They are not reporting that the story is actually true- not that he was born in Kenya [I don’t think so personally] But that he had his own lit. agent represent him this way.
For various reasons- in the past the president has used ways to define himself as having an international persona.
He himself has used this characterization.
So- how do we explain his own agent speaking [actually putting it in a promotional book] about him being born in Kenya?
I don’t know.
But the story is not fake- the book actually exists [until they burn the last copy].
But instead of the media reporting that the story is true- that this literary agent represented the president this way [in 1991].
No- they are making it sound like the story is fake- and that anyone who believes it is a birther.
Even the conservative sites that broke the story DO NOT BELIEVE HE WAS BORN IN KENYA- they say so in the coverage.
They simply are reporting the factual part of the story- that an agent for Obama represented him as being born in Kenya.
A while back I had a conversation with a friend- this friend is a liberal.
I informed the person that one of the media Fables was that Sarah Palin said ‘you can see Russia from my house’.
In actuality she never did say this.
She said ‘you can see portions of Russia from some spots in Alaska’.
Tina Fey [SNL] made the other quote famous.
After not being able to convince my friend of the truth- I then realized that either way this person still thought Palin was an idiot.
Why?
Because ‘who thinks you can see Russia from Alaska!’
Actually- you can see Russia from Alaska- for real!
But on most maps- they show the Western half right up until Alaska- and the Eastern half ends at Russia.
So- any thinking person would think ‘gee- I guess if you put the 2 ends together [called a globe?] you might have Alaska and Russia side by side’.
Yes- and this is why Alaskans find it necessary to often inform people that you can indeed see Russia from Alaska.
But the media [and my friend] were laughing so hard- they never heard the message.
[The purpose of this post is not to condone negative campaigning- or to engage in Birtherism- But to simply show you how we respond to things differently.
Instead of the media going ballistic ‘how dare anyone say the president was born in Kenya’.
They could simply report that a past agent for Obama described him this way- and they can say the agent was obviously mistaken.
But instead- many people- good people- will never know the truth about the story.
They will go on for years with the mindset ‘wow- can you believe some people think you can see Russia from Alaska?’]
1837- DID THE HILLS CLAP HANDS?
I usually end the week with a ‘week in review [news]’ type thing- but being I posted 2 political things yesterday- let’s do something spiritual.
The other week I mentioned I just went thru a course [again] on early Christianity.
The teacher- a famous scholar of the day- came from a liberal background in scholarship.
I do like the man- though I come from a different view- I believe the bible is inspired by God- and is ‘the word of God’.
Now- that statement can be expanded on- and at times I have done that.
There are Fundamentalist positions on biblical inspiration that at times leave much to be desired.
The bible has various forms of literature within it.
Poetry- Apocalyptic [Revelation, Daniel] - Symbolic- etc.
So inspiration- or reading the bible ‘literally’ simply means when you read those portions- literally- you read them as you would any other form of literature in the same class.
Example.
In Psalms [poetry type category] you read that ‘all the hills clapped their hands and sang’.
Okay- did the writer ‘literally’ mean this?
No- he was using poetry to describe the majesty of God.
But some people do think these verses should be read ‘literally’ and that in some way nature ‘clapped hands’.
The same with the book of Revelation- when we read about the Dragon- or the number of the beast- we realize these are symbols- or riddles- that we need not take ‘literally’.
Will there be an actual number- or code- that some future govt. will stamp on people’s heads or hands?
Probably not.
Have there been teachers/preachers who have taught this kind of thing- who have said ‘we live in a day like never before- where you can actually mark someone in the head/hand thru computer chips’.
So you have people who refuse to get social security cards- or avoid using the computer marker at the grocery store.
But these ways of looking at the bible are too simplistic- and don’t fit the actual style of the writer.
Is this the only time in history when we have the ability to mark people on their bodies?
Of course not- we read in the bible itself that in the Old Testament they actually ‘branded’ slaves- had ways to bore a hole in a person’s ear to show he belonged to an owner.
But we never think of this- we simply accept what we hear and that’s that.
The other day I was talking to a very knowledgeable man in the bible- he has read it [like me] hundreds of times over the years.
One time I mentioned to him the debate [among scholars] over the days of creation we read about in Genesis chapter 1[and 2].
I gave him various ways people interpret the text.
I said ‘you know- Genesis one says God created the Sun on day 4- but he made light on day 1’.
Now- I mentioned this as someone who does take the bible ‘literally’ but who also leaves room that the earth is much older than 6 thousand years.
To my surprise- my friend never thought of this ‘problem’.
He asked ‘what day was the sun made?’
Now- I know he has read the text a lot- but it never dawned on him that the Genesis account has this ‘problem’.
How do we solve it?
Some say ‘God made another source of light for the first 3 days’.
Okay- I don’t go for that.
But I do ‘go for’ the possibility that God is not giving us a scientific account of the creation of the world- be he is giving us a way we can grasp it- being everyone who reads the text is not a scientist.
One interesting view is God was using the 6 day [7] ‘form’ to categorize the order of things.
Day 1- light. Day 3- luminaries [things that give light]
Day 2- sky, water. Day 4- fish- fowl [things that fill the sky- water]
Day 3- land- vegetation. Day 5- animals, humans [things that eat the stuff]
So it seems like the first ‘3 days’ correspond to the things created on the last ‘3days’.
Okay- is this the only way to see it?
No.
But it shows you that sometimes there is more to the story than meets the eye.
You say ‘John- I will just take it like it says- the bible says it- that settles it’.
Actually I’m fine with that- but the ‘super’ literal way does force the reader to come up with another source of light for the first 3 days- so that interpretation has its problems as well.
Point?
Just because we have symbol- poetry- prophecy- and various forms/styles of literature in the bible- this does not mean the bible is wrong- or ‘full of holes’.
No- it means when we come across these various styles we leave enough room to interpret them in the style they were written.
Okay- there’s obviously much that can be said on this subject- maybe I’ll do more over the next week or so.
Like how we got our bible- the development of the Canon [how we know which books are in- and which are not ‘in’].
There were other writings that the early church debated over.
Some of these other writings were considered out and out lies.
But not all- some of the other books were considered okay- but for various reasons they did not make it into the bible.
And a few that made it in were disputed- for various reasons.
The church did not have a ‘complete’ canon until the 4th century.
It is true that the early Christians had a basic unanimity on what was in and what was out.
But not until the 4th century was it decided for sure.
So maybe I’ll do a few posts on that.
I do come from the ‘conservative’ view on this- I do believe the bible is ‘the word of God’.
But that does not always mean you take every verse ‘literally’ in the sense that the ‘hills clapped their hands’- Got it?
1838- YOUR SO BAIN
About a week ago I noticed something.
The media began running with a story that said ‘the austerity programs in Europe did not work- look- their economies are collapsing’.
Now- at first there were just a few people saying it- Paul Krugman from the N.Y. Times.
He is a liberal economist who has advocated for more stimulus spending.
He has said that 800 billion was not enough [the 1st stimulus] that we needed about 2 trillion.
Of course if your whole career is based on teaching this principle [Krugman is a Noble Prize winning economist] then instead of admitting you were wrong- you will say ‘they did not spend enough’.
So he just put out another book [how to spend our way out of this depression] and some others have jumped on the bandwagon.
These people know that we will never know if 2 trillion would have done the job- because we will never agree to another trillion in stimulus.
So- after hearing inklings of this over the past couple of weeks- I saw a report on the presidents meeting with the G-8 nations [top economies of the world] and the news report showed Obama and the U.S. on one side- and the E.U. nations on the other side.
They then said how Obama- and the stimulus- brought our country out of the recession- and that all these other E.U. nations tried austerity- and it failed.
What?
The E.U. nations that are suffering their own ‘great depression’ got into this situation by spending more than they had.
Greece was the first one to see trouble- and others followed.
This is why we saw the Greek riots and stuff like that.
Now- out of the 17 nations that make up the common currency group- the Euro- Germany is the most stable of the bunch.
Germany has practiced austerity [spend less than you have] for years- they saw the writing on the wall and cut back their spending years ago.
They are also the strongest nation in the Euro Zone [note- there are 28 nations in the European Union- but only 17 are in the common currency called the Euro- Obviously Great Britain has the largest economy in Europe.]
So- after some of the ‘overspending nations’ got into trouble- they wanted the banks in the E.U. region to bail them out [U.S. style].
The banks- and the other more stable economies told Greece 'if you want the bail out- you must show us you are serious about getting your house in order’.
And this led to cutbacks in spending in Greece and a few other troubled nations.
Okay- the Greeks did not like the new cut back measures [called austerity] - many of the retired people lost half their pensions- other benefits were lost.
Greeks retire in their 50’s- with full benefits.
They gave too much over the years- and got in over their heads.
So Germany said ‘look- our people retire at 70- if you want our tax money to bail you out- then you need to retire at the age we do’!
Sure- they were mad- they were not going to subsidize another countries young retirees.
So all this played into the call for cuts.
Did the cuts work?
They never had a chance to.
The recent elections in Greece kicked out all the ‘cutters’ and put in new people who vowed to tax the rich.
In France- the new leader is calling for a 75 percent tax on the rich- 75!
So- the Euro Zone nations have not even been able to see if the cutting worked.
There spending went up the last few years- from 44 to 49 %- as compared to their GPD.
So- when the media reported ‘the Obama spending worked- and the E.U. cutting did not’ that’s really not the full story.
I find it funny how quick the media and the Obama people began running with this message- in no time at all they saw a political advantage in making it look like the Krugmans of the world were right.
Remember- the strongest economy in the Euro Zone is Germany- and they did not spend like the other weaker nations- or like the U.S.
They are the strongest because they reigned in spending- not increase it.
The U.S. economy did gain some benefit from the 800 billion stimulus- because much of the money that went to the states was used to simply prop up the states budgets- but that money is now gone.
Overall- the cost per job from the stimulus money was not worth it- and many of the programs [Solyndra] that we spent money on was lost.
So all in all- to say ‘the U.S. has proved that stimulus works- and the E.U. has proved that cutting does not’ is really not true.
Also- the other day I posted about the danger of the President going around and using the class warfare language.
Sure enough- we had 2 more incidents of anarchists [people mad at govt. and rich folk] who were arrested for planning terrorist attacks.
These guys [5 in all] were at the NATO meeting in Chicago and supposedly were planning bad stuff.
Some say they were set up by undercover agents- so how serious they were we don’t know.
But this happened just days after Biden went on a rage at some union event.
I’m sure you saw the clip ‘they don’t get us- they don’t know who we are!’
The ‘they’ are the rich folk [opps- Biden just happens to be one].
Now- he went on for a few minutes- in a rage.
The Obama campaign has continued to hit private enterprise hard- they are gonna wind up sinking Bain Capital.
Bain is the private equity firm that Romney ran.
Bain has gone in to businesses in trouble has done one of 2 things.
Sometimes they close the business and pass the profits off to the stock holders.
Other times they save the business- and create jobs.
I must admit- as media critic- I even began becoming influenced by the nonstop campaign against Bain.
Just recently I saw the stats- they actually have helped/created more jobs than they lost.
I never knew this.
Just yesterday Bain had to start putting out statements in defense of their business.
You must understand that the president’s choice to basically throw this private group under the bus is sad.
If you work- or have money invested in Bain- you are in trouble.
Why?
Look- private companies hire Bain to come in- and at times- help the company.
Now- if you are an employer- and word gets out ‘the boss hired Bain’! The Union guys will revolt!
You say ‘well John- that’s good- they will save their jobs’.
Not always.
The company will simply avoid the media publicity from Bain and hire another firm.
So- the decision to blast Bain is an attack on jobs- in a way.
Even Cory Booker- the mayor of Newark- went on the defense of Bain on Sundays Meet the Press.
He had to back track later because he is a supporter of Obama.
But he too realizes that to attack private equity is stupid.
Private equity just bailed out Newark a year or so ago.
Mark Zuckerberg [Facebook founder] gave around 100 million to Newark to help with the schools.
Yeah- Corey had a dog in the fight- and it wasn’t Obama!
Okay- I think will end with this- I was gonna throw in another thing or 2- but let it wait.
Rarely is one side always right- and the other always wrong.
But when you see the trend of a false story develop in the media- and the concurrent Obama campaign narrative- then you need to be aware that this in not journalism.
It is simple advocacy.
1839-SCAPEGOAT
Yesterday I went down to the local mission- I usually catch up with my homeless friends there.
I didn’t see Henry- but Michael showed up.
I met Mike around 20 years ago.
[ just a note- on my blog- under the Feb. posts of each year I have a category called ‘Homeless’.
I write about my friends in these posts.
I came to Corpus in 1992- most of the guys I met the first year or 2.
So you might read a post that says ‘I knew this guy for 20 years’. Then maybe in another post ’15 years’.
I don’t keep exact numbers- just realize I have known most of these guys since 1992]
The last time I saw Mike was around 2-3 years ago.
He was living on the other side of town- actually- more in the Mexican type area.
Now- I’m ‘at home’ in the Barrio- just like in the ‘white boy’ part of town.
Over the years I have been to the Govt. housing- visiting families- wives- kids- of my buddies that were in jail.
Lots of them were members of the church I started years ago.
So to me- race means nothing.
[Like I told my daughters friend one day ‘I’m not racist- I think Whites are only a little bit better than the other races’ Joke!]
But Mike- well- he was in the ‘bad part’ of town.
So he told me he moved back to ‘the Bluff’ and has a weekly room at the Plaza hotel.
A lot of the ‘homeless’ guys do have places- non permanent- where they stay on and off- this is Mikes thing.
He is working as a cook at the Golden Corral- a famous buffet in Corpus.
We caught up on old times.
Mike asked if I was gonna be around for a while- I told him yeah.
He walked back to the hotel- about 3 blocks- to show me his latest art work.
Mike is an A-1 artist- he has painted for years.
He even painted the signs for the apartments my wife manages [about 15 years ago].
He told me he just painted the for sale signs down the street.
The owner of Floyds Christian Restaurant is selling some land- Mike did the signs.
So he comes back with about 7 paintings- I mean beautiful stuff- all originals.
He paints ‘free style’ he doesn’t look at another picture- just from his mind.
I loved the paintings.
They were different than what I saw before.
Lots of birds- flowers.
Shore line- boats- fish.
He used to do lots of gory stuff- skulls- Mega death stuff [rock group].
I asked him if I could buy one- he does not sell them- but he told me he would let me have one for the cost of the materials.
I bought a beautiful scene- some fishermen pulling in their nets by the sea- a huge pelican on the dock- and these great sunflowers peering over them.
15 bucks.
A steal.
I gave Mike a ride back to the hotel- he did carry all these pictures by hand.
We talked- for about 4 hours.
I have found the guys- who have mental challenges- like Mike- they really benefit just from having a friend to talk to.
It was funny in a way- I must have quoted 50 individual verses that fit the exact scenario that Mike was communicating.
I really don’t ‘preach’ much at all when I’m with the brothers.
They know I’m helping them out [we often go out to eat] and they know I do ministry stuff.
But all these friendships are just that- these guys are simply friends I have made over the years.
But this day was different- I really taught Mike a lot of stuff- in a way that never really happened in the past.
Example.
He was telling me how he simply does his art on his own- most people don’t even know his talent.
When he brought the paintings to the mission- everyone was shocked that he actually painted them.
They have known Mike for years- yet they never saw his work.
So Mike told me that he likes doing his work in private- and simply enjoying the satisfaction of the paintings.
I told him that Jesus taught this ‘when you do your good works- don’t let the left hand know what the right hand is doing- do it in secret- and God will reward you openly’.
He said ‘yeah- that’s it!’
One painting he had sitting by the sink- he did not bring this one to the mission- was Christ on the Cross.
Mike showed me the nails in Christ’s hands.
He made them crooked on purpose- he said ‘my dad always told me I couldn’t even drive a nail in straight’.
He did this on purpose- in a way it was prophetic.
The painting of Christ- and the words that hurt Mike- the words he never forgot thru out his life.
He told me that in the past when he did artwork for various people [he has done portraits for hundreds of dollars- though he does not sell his own stuff].
That sometimes people take out their faults on the artist.
If they are dealing with problems they tend to pass them off to the artist.
As we sat there- with the painting of Christ- and the crooked nails.
I told Mike ‘this also is in the bible’
I went on to tell the story in the Old Testament of the Scapegoat.
Yeah- the Scapegoat comes from the bible.
In the Jewish religion at the time- you had the priest bring 2 goats- on one he would lay his hands- symbolically saying ‘we put the sins of the people on you’.
The one goat- the Scape goat- would then run away.
But they took the other- and sacrificed it.
I told Mike- this is what the Scapegoat is- Jesus himself bares the guilt and problems that the people bring to the table.
Mike once again said ‘yeah- that’s it’.
This went on for around 4 hours- I felt it was Gods way of communicating to my old friend- in a way that I never really was able to in the past.
He showed me an art book he bought from Barnes and Noble.
He really liked the way the author drew.
It was a teaching guide for artists.
It had quotes of all the famous painters of the past.
One from DaVinci said ‘the greatest mastery of all is the mastery of one’s self’ [paraphrase].
I told Mike ‘this too is in the bible’.
I quoted from Proverbs ‘he that has no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down and without walls- but he that rules his spirit is better than he that takes a city’,
Once again- it clicked.
I took pictures of the paintings with my cell phone- I told Mike if they come out good I’ll try and post them on my site so my friends can see.
I looked at them later- they did not come out too good.
The one of Christ with the crooked nails- that came out good- I have that as my Wall paper on the phone.
Maybe my daughter will help me post it on the site?
I have known Mike a long time.
His dad was in the Navy and they moved to the city years ago.
Mike is from upstate N.Y.
I have written about Mike before- he seems to have burned himself out on some type of drug over the years- you can tell he has mental problems.
But he is very talented- he has always worked- as long as I have known him.
And he has been on and off the streets for years.
I think the story about the scapegoat really made an impact.
Mike is smart- he asked me lots of stuff this day.
About creation- and science- things that other Christians have told him to reject.
I told Mike it’s okay to believe in certain scientific ‘proofs’ and also be a Christian [he knew a lot about the natural world- and I have taught lots about this over the years].
So he not only ‘saw’ a lot of things from the bible that he never saw before.
But I also was able to show him how the bible does not go against science [I actually just posted a note the other day on this].
I told Mike ‘why don’t you title the Cross painting- The Scapegoat’.
Every time you walk in the room- look at the painting and realize Christ has taken all the guilt and pressure and stuff that others have put on you- he is the Scapegoat’.
Sometimes its easier to remember a story when its connected to an image.
That’s why Jesus told parables- stories that people could ‘see’ in their minds.
Yeah- the scapegoat- with the crooked nails- yeah- how can you forget that?
1840- DAVID’S TENT
The other day I went thru the gospel of Mark.
Of course there’s a whole lot in the book- but I came across a story that I liked a lot.
In Marks gospel Jesus is with the disciples and they are going thru the fields picking the ‘ears of corn’ [note- you did not have corn- like we think- growing in the land at the time. They were picking grain. But the King James Bible- 1611- which I use- did translate the term corn].
Now- when the Pharisees saw this- it was the Sabbath day- they accused Jesus and his men of breaking Gods law.
Jesus responded by saying ‘have you never read the story of David when he was fleeing Saul- how he and his men ate the sacred bread- that is not lawful for men to eat- only the priests’.
I always liked this story because there is so much to unpack- let’s try to do a little.
Was it unlawful for the disciples to have done this?
Not really- the Pharisees were a group of religious leaders that rose up during the time of the captivity of the Jews a couple hundred years before the time of Christ.
They did serve a noble purpose at the start- they wanted to retain the culture and religious beliefs of Gods people during a time of displacement from their own land.
So this group established the synagogue system [sort of a Jewish ‘church’] and they would gather around on the Sabbath day and read the scriptures and be reminded of their heritage.
Okay- what happened to these brothers- like many other good things that meant well at the start- was after a while they became elitist.
They saw themselves as better than everyone else- they became judges of all other groups- and they developed a Tradition- called ‘The Tradition of the Elders’ which was an expansion on the law of God.
This is what Jesus often fought against in his day- the Tradition of the Elders [not all tradition in general!]
Why is this important?
It is common in our day for many well meaning believers- Born Again Christians- to disdain all Church tradition.
Many people [like myself] come from a former Catholic background- and one of the first things you normally hear is ‘look at all the bad traditions that the church taught’.
This mindset is often justified by Jesus condemnation of the ‘Traditions of men that make void the Word of God’.
Jesus was not throwing all tradition under the bus- he was rebuking THIS specific tradition.
Got it?
Okay- the reason I said ‘sort of’ [at the top] was because the defense Jesus gave said ‘didn’t you read what David did- when he ate the bread that was unlawful to eat’.
So Jesus really did not mind the ‘you broke the law’ accusation- but instead placed himself in the situation of King David and said ‘I too have authority over the Sabbath’.
In the Jewish mind of the 1st century- the statements like this that Jesus made [Moses said this- but I say this] these statements meant more than meets the eye.
They meant that Jesus saw himself as being equal with God.
If you carefully read the gospels you see this.
To the first century Jew- this was indeed a violation of what they were taught.
‘The Lord our God is One’.
So- Jesus defends himself and his men by saying ‘I am Lord over the Sabbath’
Strong words indeed.
The story of David is found in the book of Samuel.
He’s running from king Saul at the time- and he goes to the ‘House of God’ and needs food.
The priest [Abiathar] tells him he only has the sacred bread- which is reserved for the priests.
David makes up a story and says he’s on a special mission from Saul and the priest gives David the bread.
He eats- and gives to his men.
Now- when Jesus uses this story in the gospel- he does mention that David and his men both ate.
I find this interesting.
Because Jesus will sit down with his men at the last supper and do the same thing.
He tells them ‘take eat- this is my Body- drink- this is my Blood’.
How could Jesus ‘eat himself’?
The Bread and Wine represent the Body and Blood of Christ.
Jesus said his meat [bread- the thing that sustained him] was to do the will of God and finish his work.
He was sustained too by the mission he was on- he lived to ‘give his Body and Blood’.
This mission was his life’s purpose- he too ‘ate the Bread’.
Jesus also came from the lineage of king David- he was a ‘son’ of David.
In the above verses- it said ‘David came to the house of God’.
We often see this as the Temple.
But remember- the temple was not built yet.
David’s son Solomon will build it in the future.
So what ‘house of God’ did David come to?
It was the tabernacle [of Moses].
This was a tent type system that God gave to the children of Israel during their wilderness journey.
It became the central place of worship and sacrifice when they entered the promised land.
Eventually the main piece of this tent system gets taken by Israel's enemies [They stole the Ark- the box that held the 10 commandments].
And when David becomes king he gets it back.
As the Ark eventually winds up back in the hands of David- he builds another tent thing- called the Tabernacle of David- and he places the Ark under this tent.
Now- David is king at the time- the bible says he put on a Linen Ephod and worshipped God before this tent [he operated as a priest- which was unlawful for kings to do- normally!].
Understand- at the same time the Tabernacle of Moses still existed- it just did not have the Ark in it- David’s ‘new’ tent had the Ark.
This was symbolic of the New testament King/Priesthood of Jesus.
He in essence would usher the people into the presence of God- absent the Veil of the Temple- a covering that existed in the Tabernacle of Moses- which represented separation from God- but was not in the one David made.
So you see- when Jesus used David as an example- there was more than meets the eye- much more.
[Jesus is the New Testament King/Priest that died on the Cross- the Veil of the temple was ripped on that day- and he now represents us before the throne of God- absent the veil- the thing that separated man from God].
1841- ATHEIST SUNDAY SCHOOL?
We had an interesting news week.
I saw a clip from Penn Gillette- the comedian/atheist/magician.
Yeah- he was raging against the President.
Why?
Because Obama supports tough laws against pot smoking- and he at the same time was a pot smoker.
Now- at first I did not understand the ‘guttural’ anger.
That was until I read some of the reports about Obama’s past.
Like most people- I knew that he toked a joint or 2 in high school, and I just chalked it up to growing up in the 70’s/80’s.
Sure- we all did stupid stuff.
I thought the high heels on my shoes were cool- I still remember how proud I felt when my dad painted my room with red, white and blue stripes and stars- ‘just wait until the girls see this!’
But after I read some of the articles on Obama- I was actually surprised that he basically was the biggest ‘pot head’ at his school.
Why surprised?
Look- it wasn’t just a toke or 2- it was the whole image of the Cheech and Chong thing.
The reports said how he coined the term 'T.A.’ Total Absorption.
He had this thing that of you wasted the ‘precious Hawaiian weed’ you were looked down on.
He also started a trend where you all light up- and sit in the car- the car fills with pot and you do not roll the windows down until all the pot is gone- consumed by the guys in the car.
There were many pictures of Obama with a joint- scenes where the car is pot filled- they showed the ‘pot van’ they all used.
Obama even coined another term ‘interception’ when they guys were passing the joint around- he would grab the joint out of turn and say ‘intercepted’.
Now- does all this mean he should not be Pres.?
Not really- but I had no idea he was the biggest pot head on the Hawaiian Island!
I mean I now see how his old buddies must be laughing about the whole thing.
They really pulled a fast one on the public.
I read this from a liberal news site- Huffington Post- as well as more conservative ones- it seems like the story is true.
There were lots of pictures and names- and even the nicknames they used- all pot head type stuff.
Now I see why Penn was mad- he ranted on his on line Sunday School program- he is a libertarian- against the drug laws- and he said if Obama was ever caught doing this stuff he would have been arrested and had a record and would have never been Pres.
But then he still supports tough pot laws- that- in his mind- are ruining the futures of many other kids.
Yeah- got it.
Facebook IPO- a mess.
Okay- to all my Facebook family- Dad [Zuckerberg] had a bad week.
As most of you know- Facebook went public this week.
For the first time- you can now buy stock in the company.
The opening price was 38 dollars a share.
I think today it’s around 31- not good.
What happened?
Lots of stuff.
The Nasdaq- the tech arm that lists most internet/computer stock- messed up.
On opening day the purchasers [and sellers] were delayed for a couple of hours during trading.
That’s bad.
Why?
If you think your buying at say 34 dollars- and it takes 2 hours to go thru- and you find out you bought at 40- not good.
So you have lawsuits being filed as I speak.
Also- it’s kind of complicated- but the way Morgan Stanley [the bank that financed the initial offering] went about offering stock- they seem to have blown the deal.
Right up until the day before the stock sale- lots of institutional investors had their bids in.
These are the big hedge fund guys and all.
Now- they expected to get so many shares for the money they put down.
When the actual sale went thru- to their surprise- they had lots more than they thought.
It spooked them.
The reason for this was Facebook and the bank decided to put more shares for sale than originally thought.
This caught the investors off guard and added to the fear.
There are a few more things that went wrong- all in all in was not a good day for Facebook.
I like Facebook- I try not to criticize it- it gives us all a free venue to ‘vent’- but this thing went bad- fast.
Some thought the company was valued too high for the projected income- that other tech companies that went public [Google] were bought and sold at a much cheaper price- compared to the amount of projected income- so there were lots of things wrong with this offering.
And last.
I was surprised to see the president loosing over 40% of the Democrat vote in some of these primaries.
Obama is running unchallenged- and yet he is losing lots of the vote- to either unknown candidates [they simply vote- other] or to guys in prison!
Yes- a guy sitting in jail here in Texas got over 40% of the vote- amazing [and this was a primary in another state!]
Alaska, Kentucky and West Va. all had a huge percentage of Dems vote against Obama.
I do think the odds of him suffering a loss- maybe a big loss- is very real.
James Carville- the ragin cagin Dem strategist has warned about this- he thinks the Dems are taking this election too lightly.
He sees the writing on the wall.
He’s asking ‘what are you all high or what’.
No Jim- it’s called total absorption.
1842- BAD CAMPAIGN IDEA- YOU THINK?
Well it’s been a long Memorial Day weekend.
Late Friday one of the big banks of Spain asked for a 40 billion dollar bailout.
Bankia is strapped with billions of dollars of failed mortgages- and the S and P downgraded them to junk status.
Spain- like many of the other European nations- is in big trouble.
There unemployment rate is 25 %.
Wow.
Yesterday the Dow closed over 12,500.
There was a mini surge in the market.
Why?
The Dow is funny- it is not always an indicator of how well the economy is doing.
For example- the jobs numbers for April came out- late Friday [we try to release bad news on Fridays- after the markets close- so people have to sit and wait until Monday [or Tuesday] before they can respond.]
Yeah- the numbers were not good- total jobs for the month were around 115,000.
So- this makes investors think ‘geez- the economy is in trouble- maybe the Fed. will print more money’.
And the big investors will add that into to their calculations- and Walla- the Dow goes up.
As we hit the middle of the year- after 3 months of bad jobs numbers [they need to be around 250,000 a month] it sure looks like we are not recovering well from the Great Recession.
Syria.
Yes- once again it made headlines.
There were reports of lots of civilians killed again.
Many of them kids.
Assad [the leader] denied it was his men.
The killers were indeed militia men- in uniform- not standard govt. fighters.
But it seems as if they are working for Assad.
Russia at first questioned it- they are strong supports of Assad.
They thought maybe it was Al Qaida- who are operating in the country.
They bombed a military hospital a few weeks back and killed civilians.
But Russia seems like they might be changing their tune a little- they are also speaking out more forcefully against Assad.
I watched Tom Freidman on the Charlie Rose show.
Freidman is a writer for the N.Y. Times- he’s usually right on.
He’s calling for a No Fly Zone in Syria.
I must ask these guys ‘what do you mean’?
Assad is not using planes to attack the rebels- just like Gadhaffi in Libya.
So what would a true no fly zone accomplish?
The term ‘no fly zone’ has come to mean ‘we will go in to your country- under the guise of NATO- but the U.S. will pay for most of it- do most of it- and we will bomb the hell out of your leader’.
Oh- then after were done- Al-Qaida- or any radical Islamist group- will rule the land.
So- because of our action in Libya- this is the new definition of a no fly zone.
I don’t want to sound like I support Assad- I don’t- but this strategy has failed.
In Egypt- where we forced the leader to step down [Mubarak].
They just had their election- and it’s a runoff between a former govt. man and the Muslim Brotherhood.
The president has supported the Muslim Brotherhood [our president!]
He had them at the White House a few weeks back.
This gave them an aura of support from the West- for a U.S. president to invite one of the groups of an upcoming election to have a personal sit down in the White House is showing favoritism.
So the actual protestors who gave their lives in Tahrir square- their voices are not being heard.
The moderate candidates did not win.
The Muslim Brotherhood might not be as bad as Al-Qaida [Might!] but they do advocate for Shariah law.
Egypt was not an Islamic run state in the past- we ousted out Mubarak and now it looks like they will become one.
Why is this bad?
Let’s see- gay folk- yeah- we catch you in the act- we kill you.
Women- caught cheating- we stone you.
Christians- if we think you blasphemed Allah [like witnessing for Jesus] your dead too.
Should I go on?
Yet the president and many in the western media hail the recent elections as a great victory for Democracy- after all it is a real vote.
I wonder how many of these same reporters would think the same if some Western nation elected a bunch of radical Christian fundamentalists who wanted to kill gays and women.
We see the double standard- and it’s huge.
And let’s end with politics.
Yes- the lines are drawn and Obama has made it clear that his strategy to go after Bain capital is going to be their campaign.
Okay- Bain capital is the financial firm that Romney ran.
This firm used PRIVATE MONEY to go into hurting companies and provide cash.
In some cases- not all- they had to downsize.
They laid off workers- cut back- and even closed some businesses down.
In other cases they saved the company- and the businesses went on to become great successes [Staples- the office supply chain is one example].
So- the President is criticizing Bain because in some cases they lost jobs.
Let’s look at his record for a moment.
One of the things that Obama likes to do is invest PUBLIC TAX MONEY into private business- businesses that have direct ties to him and his friends.
Yes- he sunk tons of money into Solyndra [a solar energy company].
This company- now famous for having gone under [yikes- you mean you invested money into a private company- TAX MONEY- and it shut down- sounds like Bain to me].
And when the company was on the verge of going under- it was right before the midterm elections- the president changed the govt. loan- against the law- and made it favor one of his top money guys.
Yes- this is fact- it all came out- in the news- on a bunch of Fridays no less.
The loans that the govt. makes to these private companies has a law that says ‘if the company ever goes bust- the taxpayers get paid back first- before any private investors’.
Got it?
The law puts the tax payer over the ‘private equity money’ that is- Bain money.
Okay- the law protects you and me- and it makes the Bain’s of the world get paid last.
So what did the Pres do?
His campaign guy- who had invested money into the company- told the Pres ‘look- I will put more money into Solyndra- to keep them afloat before the election- but if they go bust- I want my money back first- before the taxpayer’.
Now- this is against the law that governs these loans.
So- after all this came to light- an email/memo came out that said ‘it looks like your wanting to change the law to benefit your friend might be illegal’. This was an internal memo from Obama’s people.
What?
Yeah- Obama’s own people wrote this.
They advised ‘you need to get the approval of the justice dept. before you change this loan’.
He never did.
He changed the loan- his top campaign guy got his money first- and you and I got the short end of the deal.
Now- after all this- the presidents main campaign message is ‘look at Romney- he has a past of using private money to bail out companies- his dealings with private money are bad’.
You think with a history like Solyndra the last thing you would want to bring up is private money deals versus the U.S. taxpayer.
1843- BEIBER DID WHAT?
I want to try and do some spiritual stuff- but I have a few news things first.
Okay- the headline read ‘Beiber wanted for questioning’.
Huh?
The story was short- and sweet.
Some paparazzi called 911 and quote ‘complained of being roughed up by the pop star’.
2 things.
Is the actually possible?
And
Why would anybody ever admit this?
Okay- more important stuff.
A while back I wrote a post on the train debacle in Cali.
Yeah- the President wants to sink billions of dollars into High Speed rail.
This was one of his main ideas to produce jobs.
You hear the same mantra on MSNBC- day in and day out.
They keep talking about spending billions on schools [buildings] bridges- ‘shovel ready’ jobs.
And after 3 years- we have thrown billions of dollars down the drain.
So last night I caught an expose on CNN.
Cooper did a good job critiquing the latest fiasco in California.
Now- you must understand Cali is dead broke- billions in the hole- cutting everything from school funding to cops and firefighters.
Yet they are still determined to go forward with the high speed rail thing.
Cooper detailed how the state has struggled to keep the vision alive.
The guy in charge of the project- to build the fast trains- came out recently and changed the entire route.
The new route goes thru a number of different cities- the train goes much slower- and it will now make stops at more cities.
The initial idea of ‘high speed’ meant the train would not stop a lot- it would go- well- fast- and it would service this ‘need’ to transport folk who for some reason disdain cars.
But now- it’s simply a train- a regular good ole U.S. of A Amtrak vehicle.
O- I forgot- the initial cost for the whole project was around 30 billion.
Obama has already given the state 4 billion [money we don’t have for ‘stuff’ like this].
But the new price is now around 130 billion.
By all estimates- California will never finish this project.
They already passed some type of bond money- but to get the voters to approve 130 billion- to put in a regular train- which no one will really ride- this will never happen.
And to do this when you’re cutting Medicare- food stamps- schools- I mean the people will never approve the rest of the money.
So what is the state determined to do?
The guy in charge says they are going to spend the 4 billion- no matter what- on the first part of the project.
The ‘foundational’ section will cost 4 billion- it will simply be rail track going from one town to another.
It’s supposed to be ‘high speed’ so this track is expensive.
It will take around 15 years to finish.
And there will be no train- no depot- nothing- but a stretch of track sitting in the middle of nowhere- costing the taxpayer 4 billion.
Okay- this is what you call waste- inexperience- bad vision.
These are the types of things that people in the real world don’t do.
But if you mean well- have some distorted idea that you can convert the nation- in a few years- to a solar energy world.
If you think building these trains all over the country is going to be the answer to lost jobs.
Then you are a well meaning guy- but you do not have the experience for the job.
One last example.
Last year the President went to Brazil.
By the way- Brazil just passed Cali as the worlds 8th biggest economy.
While there he guaranteed U.S. taxpayer money to Brazil’s national oil company.
For what?
So they can drill all types of new oil rigs- off shore.
Why did we give them U.S. money for this?
Because the President said if they can really develop their oil production we will buy lots of oil from them- at a high rate.
There was no deal to get the oil cheap.
Okay- at the same time Texas [as well as other oil producing states] has gone thru the ringer trying to survive at a time when the federal govt. has come down hard to stop new oil production in the U.S.
Many in the oil field have lost jobs because of the very ‘environmentalist’ agenda of the President.
The guy who was in charge of our area- recently was fired [or quit] because he was caught making the famous ‘crucify them’ statement.
He was the Presidents man overseeing our region for the E.P.A.
He said their tactic was to go into areas in the south- find certain oil producing companies that have any types of violations- and ‘crucify’ them.
I recently read an article from a former commerce guy in the town I retired from [Kingsville].
He wrote a piece in the paper after the ‘crucify’ them guy was let go.
He said for the last 3 years this guy has done everything possible to kill jobs in the state.
He gave examples of how Obama used this guy to virtually attack the oil industry in Texas.
Now- at the same time we gave loan guarantees to Brazil to ‘drill baby drill’.
This was federal tax money- that many of the oil people paid into the system.
Does this make any sense to you?
About as much sense as calling 911 and saying ‘Beiber roughed me up’
Amen [I told you I would try and get something spiritual in- this was the best I could do].
1844- POPES HOMILY
Got with the homeless brothers yesterday- found out Football Jim died a few months ago.
Sad to see him go- will write more on Jim another time.
Spent another few hours with Mike [few posts back- Scapegoat].
Mike shared more of his story with me- serious [bad] stuff- he knows I’m chronicling it on the site- he’s fine with it.
I will tell more about this also- but not today.
What I want to do today is a post for my Catholic friends.
Note- I have Protestant friends who get offended when I use examples from the church- or when I watch [or every so often attend] the Mass.
There are reasons they get upset- and it takes time to explain why I think it’s important for me to keep in touch with ‘the ancient church’.
For the most part- I have been a student of church history [and the early church fathers] for the past 25 years.
It’s impossible to read deeply into church history without having an appreciation for the older more traditional churches.
Over time you begin to view these churches [Catholic, Orthodox] as sort of older relatives- like an uncle or grandpa- maybe they don’t know all the current techniques and all [like using computers!]
But over time you realize they know more [or are right more often] then you thought when you were younger.
So this has been my experience on the journey.
Okay- this past Sunday I watched the Mass on TV.
Every so often if the church is celebrating a special memorial they will broadcast the service from Rome.
This past Sunday was Pentecost Sunday- so I watched the Pope give the homily from Rome.
Let’s cover the main verses he used.
The homily was good- but you have to pay attention to the verses/chapters to get a full understanding.
The chapters quoted from were Genesis 11, Psalms 103, Acts 2, John 16, and Galatians 5.
Because it was Pentecost Sunday the message was on the story we find in Acts chapter 2- when the Holy Spirit came to the church.
We read that the believers were gathered at Jerusalem- waiting for the ‘promise of Jesus’ that he would send them the Spirit [John 16].
When the Spirit came- all the disciples in the upper room began speaking Gods word to the multitudes that were gathered at Jerusalem for the special holiday.
They spoke ‘in tongues’ [unknown languages] and the people were amazed because they all heard the message in their own native tongue.
This was a Divine miracle that enabled the message to spread to all the different ethnic groups that were at the city.
After Peter preaches the gospel to them they repent and believe and are baptized- and the ‘Lord added 3,000 SOULS’ to the church that day.
The Pope contrasted this with the story in Genesis 11- The famous Tower of Babel.
This records the time when God divided the people by giving them different languages.
The people were building a tower and city that would reach ‘unto heaven’ [a symbol of mans efforts to reach God- or be like God- on his own- Humanism].
The bible says they ‘wanted to make a name for themselves’.
They were more interested in ‘leaving a legacy’ then in glorifying God.
God looked down and realized they were going to unite- in a wrong way- to build this city of man.
The bible says he came down and divided their languages in that day.
They were unable to communicate with each other and left off ‘building the city’.
This is where we get the term ‘babble ’ from- when you can’t understand what a person’s saying- he’s ‘babbling’.
In Galatians 5 we read about the fruit of the Spirit- and how we ‘thru the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness which comes by faith’ [a main theme of the Apostle Paul’s writings].
And in John 16 we read the promise Jesus made- that he would leave them and send ‘the comforter’- the Spirit- and he would guide them into all truth.
So we see the contrast of the biblical stories about language.
In Genesis 11 God divides the languages of men because they are rebelling against him.
In Acts 2 God ‘reverses’ this division by allowing them all to hear again in ‘one language’.
The Cross allows humanity to be united again.
The apostle Paul writes the Ephesians and says Jesus reconciled both groups [Jew and Gentile- which represented the major division of the time] by dying on the Cross for all men.
And that all men [who believe] now have ‘access to God by one Spirit’.
All in all- it was a good message.
The purpose of the gospel is to unite men- not divide them [I know Jesus said he came to bring division- families would be divided- mother- father against child. In context he was saying there was a reaction to being a follower of him. Sometimes families will even reject a child because they choose the Christian faith. We see this today among various religious groups.]
But the overall work of the Cross unities men- in Christ [2 become one- Ephesians- One New Man].
And we once again can share ‘a common language’.
The language of the Cross.
1845- 69,000
I was going to take a few days off- but yesterday’s news was big.
Actually- in the morning when I was about to post I almost gave a warning about the market [for real].
Not because of the terrible jobs numbers- I mean nobody saw that coming.
But because of the overall bad data that came in thru out the week.
Then sure enough the May jobs numbers came out- 69,000.
It was a disaster to say the least.
The Dow went down about 250- and the spin doctors were on call.
I really found it funny [amazing] to hear the spin.
Julian Epstein- an Obama guy- talked about the job loss at the end of the Bush years and the start of Obama’s term.
The loss was bad- about 800,000 a month.
Yes- it was a real recession.
So- Epstein noted that for the first couple of months of this year the jobs were positive- created a couple of hundred thousand a month on average.
So- he says ‘Obama has turned the jobs numbers on average to a positive 900,000 jobs a month’ [my paraphrase].
Huh?
Yeah- according to him Obama has actually ‘created’ 900,000 jobs a month.
He said this was the most amazing job growth in our lifetimes.
This on a day when the numbers were the worst in a year.
Then I saw an interview with some Chicago big wigs.
Rahm Emanuel- another Obama fan- and a few talking heads were eating some Chicago pizza.
They said that the economy under Obama is actually great [not good- but really good!]
They gave a few numbers.
Then they said the problem is the media only play sound bites- and the public gets ‘fooled’.
I have heard this accusation before- that the insiders who surround the pres actually say this- that the true message of how well he is doing is not making it into the minds of the average person.
That the people who ‘cling to their God and guns’ are actually ‘less than intelligent’ and that’s why they don’t appreciate his presidency.
Then old Bill [Clinton] made the rounds- and he pulled a Cory Booker.
He said that Romney’s business record was ‘superb’.
Geez Bill- how bout he simply didn’t do shaky schemes? [Like the Chicago pizza crowd- Rezko- shady real estate deals. Jobs ‘created’ for the wife of a senator- making around 400 thousand a year. And after the senator leaves town and becomes president- the job never gets filled again. Or Rahm sending a dead fish to a political opponent- doing a cheap replay of the dead horse head in the God Father movie].
No- not only was Romney a good guy [according to Bill] but ‘superb’.
I bet Biden was jealous over this gaffe.
So the week was not good at all for the president.
Where do we stand?
To be honest- for the May jobs number to be that bad- was a shock.
You were hard pressed to find any market Bulls running yesterday.
I do think we are now in a major slowdown- and if we get any worse- we might see a double dip recession.
And it’s not just the U.S. economy- the far east is also slowing down.
China’s economy is not as hot as we hoped either.
‘Well John- then why are oil prices better’?
One of the reasons oil [gas] goes up- is because you think there is a demand for the stuff.
If you think the global economy is slowing down- then you think ‘maybe the demand for oil will be low’.
So that plays a role in the thing.
I found it sad to see the spin.
I watched most of the news shows during the day.
And on MSNBC- Matthews [Obama cheerleader] I did not even hear him mention the number one story of the day- the jobs numbers.
Matthews spent most of the show accusing Repubs of wanting to jail women who terminate their pregnancies because of gender bias.
Now- should women ever abort their kids because they wanted a boy instead of a girl?
No.
But if you watched hardball- that was the story of the day- sad indeed.
The ‘real’ story is not that Obama actually has one of the ‘greatest job turn abounds in the history of the nation’.
Or that the media have tricked the gun toting God believing lemmings into thinking his presidency is not historic.
No- the real story is the hopes [on both sides] that this year we would see a real economic turnaround has now faded.
So- this year will not be a ‘superb’ year- by any means.
All the gains in the market for the year have now been lost.
The unemployment rate has ticked up to 8.2%.
And the economy is doing badly.
Yeah- the spin doctors were out in full force.
One particular dose of spin intrigued me.
It was a report on the Brewery companies.
They said this was one of the few businesses that has- for some strange reason- excelled.
Why?
I will quote you a verse- maybe it will shed some light.
‘Do not give strong drink to those who are doing well- but give it to those who have no hope- then they can forget about all the bad news and pass out’ Proverbs.
Yeah- I think that tells it all in a nutshell.
1846- FOOTBALL JIM
I’ll probably get with the homeless guys today- so let me pick up where I left off the last time I spoke about Mike.
Every so often- I might be friends with one of the brothers for 20 years- and as fate [God] would have it- I might spend more time with one of them at set times.
So the last few weeks this is what’s happened with my friend Mike.
For years I have seen Mike walking the streets where I live.
He sought of reminds me of the story of Cain and Able.
Cain killed his brother Able and Cain was ‘marked’.
The story is found in the bible- it is sort of strange in a way.
The curse of Cain was no man could kill him- but he would be condemned to wander the land and never settle.
When I saw Mike over the years- him being a friend- I would stop and see if he wanted to do lunch- or spend a few hours at the house- get off the streets a little.
But I wondered how Mike got into this situation.
He’s about 8 years younger than me [I’m 49] and he seems like such a nice ‘kid’.
The other day Mike was at my house and he looked up his daughter on Facebook- she’s up in Austin.
Mike told me more of his story this day.
Mike grew up in an abusive home- his dad was [is] an alcoholic.
He has 2 brothers.
One day- when Mike was 16- his dad came in the room and yelled at him for something.
He told Mike ‘you think you’re ready to take me on- go for it’.
Mike gave his dad a mean look- and that’s what his dad told him.
Mike got up- grabbed a bat by his bed- and almost killed his dad.
He told me that after he hit him the first time- his dad held Mike’s face- and you could see he felt like he was going to die.
Mike said he knew one more hit would kill him- and he stopped.
His dad went to the hospital and from that point on Mike lived in the garage.
Over time he moved to the streets.
He did marry a girl from school- had a daughter- and eventually divorced.
Mike told me his mom and dad still live here in Corpus.
I never knew that.
I thought it must be strange seeing your son living on the streets.
The last post I wrote on Mike- he was staying at a local hotel.
He’s back under the bridge where we live.
He’s working every day- and has asked the boss to save his checks until he saves up enough for a better place.
Football Jim.
Yeah- Old ‘football’ died.
I just found out the other day- he was a friend for lots of years.
Football wasn’t really homeless- he lived with his bachelor brother for years.
They had a small apt. where they split the bills.
But football [all the guys have nicknames- Carpenter Tim- Painter bill- etc.
Tim [carpenter] told me a funny story one day. His family knew he was on the streets in Corpus.
So one year they told Tim they were going to come visit him.
Tim is a straight up guy- a good friend- and works his tail off.
But he lives in the brush- by the way- he builds the best camps out of all the guys- he is a carpenter after all.
So anyway- he tells them ‘when you get to Corpus- you can find me at this spot- all the guys know me- just ask for Tim’.
He finds out later- after he met with his mom and dad- that they asked ‘where looking for our son Tim, do you know him’.
One of the street guys said ‘oh yeah- Drunk Tim- yeah I know him’.
Obviously this is another Tim- but his folks did not know.
Tim got a real laugh out of that.]
Okay- Jim was part of the street crowd- and he would go to the buffets a lot.
One time I took the guys to the buffet- and sure enough Jim was already there.
It was funny- one of the close friends who was with me- painter Bill- also was friends with Jim [they were both in their 70’s].
So at the buffet [Sirloin Stockade] Bill goes right to the pecan pies.
He’s mad- there already all gone!
The guys like those the best- so if they get a chance- they grab them when they can.
On our way to get a seat- sure enough- there was Jim- with about 6 pecan pies slices on his table.
Yeah- the guys have no pride.
So Jim died- kinda sad.
I did speak with Jim over the years- he kept more to himself.
One time I heard Jim was in the hospital- he had some problem.
So every week or so I would ask at the mission ‘how’s Jim doing’.
They would fill me in.
When Jim got out- he came to talk to me.
I could tell he heard I was asking about him.
The guys want to know some of their friends were worried about them.
So they must have told Jim ‘yeah- John was asking about you’.
Jim- who never talked about the Lord- told me a short testimony.
He was a believer- and that being saved was accepting Jesus.
I told him ‘yes Jim- your right’.
It was funny- even though I knew Jim for years- he never told me this until he realized I was concerned about him.
Yeah- Jim was a good man- he loved keeping up with the football scores [thus the nickname] and I was sad to have heard he died.
The bible says ‘it is appointed unto men once to die- after that the judgment’.
Jim kept his appointment.
1847- WE FIX FLAT
I was going to cover Exodus chapter 4- but let’s see how much time we have.
Last week I noticed a bump on my right arm- and I was familiar with the feeling.
I told my wife ‘damn- a got bit by a brown recluse- again!’
Yes- many years ago in Kingsville I had a bite on the leg.
I didn’t know what it was at first- so I ‘self treated’.
I had some leftover antibiotics and sat in Epson salt.
The bite got big- red- and really ugly [won't give you the gory details- look on line if you want].
It eventually left a hole in the middle of the infected area.
Years Later I realized it was a brown recluse spider.
So- when I showed my wife the bite- she kinda doubted at first.
But after a couple of days she was like ‘when are you going to see the doctor’.
Of course- I self treated again [it’s in the final stage- why go now?]
That brings me to another thing- I don’t have health insurance.
Why?
When I retired from the fire dep’t we did not have a contract deal like the northern depts.
Today Wisconsin holds their recall- it looks like Walker will win.
One of the reasons for the recall was Walker ‘recalled’ bargaining rights for some public service employees.
He left the Cops and Firefighters alone.
But these guys do indeed have ‘Cadillac’ retirement plans.
They get their insurance covered- in some cases- 100%.
Not here in South Texas.
So- after I retired I got my kids on a plan [they are on their own now] and I applied for my wife to get on with the V. A.
We were both in the Navy [I did not get on- made too much money- but not enough to buy my own in the private market].
So- I self treat- or pay cash [around 120 on average] for a doc visit.
This is what some people don’t get.
I had a conversation with a liberal friend of mine.
They get free coverage for themselves and a family member.
The ‘son in law’ also got on the plan.
None of them work- the daughter and the sons are drug addicts.
And the state they live in [N.J.] considers ‘drug addiction’ a disability- they all get free coverage.
Now- I don’t judge them- or complain [too much].
But one time they were arguing with me about how everyone who was complaining about Obama care were deadbeats who didn’t want to help pay for those in need.
I told them that I not only pay for myself [when I have the cash] but I also will now pay the fine [if the Supreme Court doesn’t strike it down].
I explained to my friend that my daughters will also pay the fine- except my daughter who is a teacher.
So my household will be paying a couple of thousand extra bucks a year- a fine- because I have no insurance- and I still don’t have coverage.
So- for people who don’t work- who get the free coverage like my friend- they don’t understand why some of us are ‘miffed’.
One time at the fire dept we ‘self insured’.
Every year the city put out bids for our insurance.
And every so often our plans would change- you would go in and get briefed on the new plan and all.
So one year they decided to do the self insurance thing.
The city hires someone to administrate the plan [Entrust] but they only do the clerical work- the pool of money is simply the money the city collects from the workers.
Risky indeed- one guy with HIV and the pool is empty.
So we had a bunch of disgruntled fire fighters to say the least.
It didn’t help much that some of us veterans kinda teased them a bit.
They would ask ‘what’s self insurance’.
We told them ‘whoever is on duty that night- they will provide the health care for your family’
What?
Yeah- at our fire dept we also ran the EMS service [ambulance].
Over the years we had various medical criteria that we had to meet.
For most of my time I was an EMT.
Some of the guys were Paramedics.
Others held something called ECA.
This was truly the bottom of the line certification.
It was basically a glorified first aid thing.
Most of the Captains held this- eventually it was done away with all together.
So- we told the new guys ‘yeah- that’s what self insurance is- we will be providing the care to ourselves- just hope you don’t get stuck with the ECA when you call for help’.
Needless to say- they were livid.
You know- kidding around breaks the ice at a job like that. LOL
One more from the fire dept. and I’ll be thru.
The town I worked in was a great little city- Kingsville.
My retirement comes from that job.
We would drive around often- whether a fire or simply doing maintenance on the fire hydrants.
So we would see all the little FIX A FLAT shade tree mechanics all over the place.
We would get a kick out of the signs that said ‘WE FIX FLAT’.
I mean we didn’t expect the guys to be geniuses- but at least put an S at the end of flat.
So one time I told one of my buddies ‘man- you’ll never guess what happened- I brought my truck to the tire guy- and had a couple of flats’.
He fixed one and said he was finished.
I told him ‘man- what about the other flat’?
He said ‘can’t you read the sign?’ Nuff said.
1848- WISCONSIN AND THE MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR [OR DOCK?]
Let’s cover the recall election in Wisconsin and a few other news events.
I read an article the other day- by the AP.
It said ‘the Republicans could extend the tax cuts if they wanted to- but they don’t want to help the President so it’s unlikely to happen’.
I’m sure many unsuspecting folk believe this- even though it’s a lie.
Why?
The Republicans have actually said they want to extend the cuts- the President is threatening a veto if they do.
The Pres wants to let the Bush cuts expire at the end of the year- all of them [except for those making under 250,000 a year].
Some Dems [Pelosi, Schumer] want them to expire on millionaires and over [because they have a lot of rich folk they represent- and they don’t want to raise taxes on their people who make over 250,000 a year].
So- the lines are drawn.
Yet- the paper said ‘the Repubs don’t want to extend the tax cuts and help the Pres’.
Okay- that’s what you call ‘the main stream media’ they lie often- and could care less.
Now- Walker won his recall challenge and the media also went nuts.
Ed Shultz- the nut on MSNBC- has been a strong supporter of the unions and has followed the recall closely.
Now- for full disclosure- I am a member of the IAFF [international firefighters union].
I was involved with collective bargaining my whole life- I know the scoop.
When Walker became governor he dropped the right to bargain for some union people.
They still had their unions [something Rachael Maddow needs to learn- another MSNBC person who is misinformed. She thinks that dropping bargaining is losing the union- wrong].
The Unions in Wisconsin got mad and did a recall election.
After walker won- the exit polls showed that 38% of union households voted for walker.
Schultz was incensed- he said ‘how could you vote for him! He hates you- he wants to destroy you!! I guess Obama was right- you folk who cling to your God and guns- you never learn’.
Why liberals allow the liberal media to trash them- and keep watching- is beyond me.
What’s the MAIN reason Walker won?
Some say lots of outside money came in and swayed the vote.
Others say the people are ignorant.
In Wisconsin- like many other states and cities- one of the major expenses is the pension benefits for retired public sector workers.
In some states [Rhode Island] it’s almost half of the entire budget- they are on the verge of bankruptcy.
Yesterday San Jose and Sand Diego were in the news- they too have cut the benefits for their retired workers.
In San Jose- the union is suing the mayor- a Democrat- over this.
In these cities/states- when you look at the budget- you have no other choice but to reign in the cost of the benefits to the retirees.
Now- many in the media said ‘Walker is balancing the books on the backs of the average Joe’.
But- if this is the largest expense to the city/state- then you have no other choice but to cut there.
Some say ‘just raise the taxes on the rich/corporations’.
Actually Cali and N.Y. and other places tried it- and many businesses left the state- they lost more income then they made by doing this.
So- the people in Wisconsin saw this- and they voted for Walker.
Okay- there are other ‘side reasons’ too- but for the most part they saw the numbers- and are not stupid.
But when the media says ‘they must be stupid- that’s why they voted the wrong way’. That’s just condescending.
This same media- who thinks you are dumb- reported about a Japanese dock that landed on the shores of California yesterday.
Of course we have all the debris from the Tsunami that’s been making its way over to the U.S.
We have had lots of cases of stuff already washing up.
So the report [CNN?] said ‘mystery dock- will the mystery ever be solved’?
What?
Yeah- they went on to show the dock- they explained that some people who have been following the aftermath of the tsunami have said things this big should not have arrived yet.
There have been reports of Japanese boats also showing up close to our shore- wrecks from the disaster.
Now- they went on for about an hour talking about this ‘mystery’ as in if it was an alien spaceship.
What’s the mystery- we have debris floating from Japan- it’s been landing on our shores- and this is debris from Japan.
After about an hour I’m sure some producer said ‘get that stupid headline down’!
Yeah- the mystery has been solved.
Now- these are the same media that think you are stupid- that you [some of you] voted for Walker because you cling to your ‘God and guns’.
I’ll end with Jack Cafferty [CNN].
I kinda like old Jack.
I grew up in the local media market where Jack got his experience.
So last night he did his rant about the debt- yes- he’s mad that we have a 16 trillion dollar debt and ‘nobody wants to fix it’.
He talked about the real threat- and he said we are in an election year- and therefore both sides wont act.
Now- I’m not a conservative nor a tea partier.
But let’s do a little history here.
When Obama came into office- for the first time in memory- we had one party controlling everything [White house- Senate and House].
You also had what’s called a Super Majority- in the senate.
They had a 60 vote majority- a filibuster proof majority.
So- after the first year being wasted on Obama care- as they ended their session a reporter asked Harry Reid ‘are you going to pass a budget being you have the majority all the way around’?
Reid's response was- no- let the Repubs do one and they can get the blame for it.
What? The Repubs were a minority- in both houses.
It seemed ludicrous to think this way.
Then we had the midterm elections- and it was a blowout- the Repubs took the majority in the House- the Senate held.
So the next 2 years the Repubs passed budgets in the house- actual budgets that made tough choices- they did cut the growth of entitlements and made an attempt to balance the books.
The Dems simply used the budgets as political attacks- they did exactly what Reid said 'let them get the blame for it' and they were the chief 'blamers' [anybody remember the Dem ad that had Ryan throwing grandma off the cliff?]
Okay- we have had 4 years of a Democrat Presidency- 2 of which the Dems held the majority in both houses.
They never passed a budget.
The Repubs came to bat the last 2 years- even though they are still a minority- they simply have a majority in the house.
Yet- they still passed a budget- and it was shot down by the Dems. in the Senate.
Okay- to Mr. Cafferty- one side has made an attempt to fix the thing- the other has not.
As we end the first term of Obama- after 4 years of ‘kicking the ball down the field’.
He has said ‘if you elect me once more I will pass a budget- this time’.
If you had 4 years- and by law are required to pass one- and you did not do it with a super majority- how do you expect us to believe you will do it now?
The odds of losing the Senate are possible.
You will never get the house back.
And you had 2 years of a super majority to do it.
The only possible solution- in my mind- is to elect a majority of fiscal conservatives [some Democrats fit this too- look at all the Clinton 'gaffes’ these last few days].
I mean if you made excuses- when you had one of the greatest majorities in the history of the country- then there is no way you will do it now.
So- people are not stupid- they see the debt- the writing on the wall.
They saw it in Wisconsin- they see it in San Jose- San Diego and Rhode Island.
They are making the tough decisions- even the Democrat mayors and governors [Cuomo in N.Y.]
It’s not that we hate the unions- or that we are clinging to ‘our God and guns’.
No- it’s simple common sense.
Or you can still keep listening to the main stream media- you know- the ones who can’t seem to explain that mystery dock.
1849- SHREK- A CITY- AND WATER FROM A ROCK
I want to end the week with at least some bible stuff- but let me share a few more homeless stories.
I have been getting with the guys the past few days and have not written about it every time.
A few notable things.
I heard that Chris- a homeless friend for many years- drove to Louisiana with another friend [a former ship captain- a Greek].
And Chris actually got a machinists job making 15 bucks an hour.
I was happy to hear the great news.
I have written about Chris before- he always told me he was a machinist- I think from the classic Youngstown area [Ohio- Springsteen’s famous song].
One day I had Chris over at the house.
My dad gave me these antique boxes of his father’s machinist tools many years ago.
As I kid I used to go thru the boxes in my garage [for any of my old friends who read the site- do you remember these tools?]
So when Chris saw them- he knew them like a carpenter knows a hammer.
So I knew he wasn’t making the whole ‘I’m a machinist’ thing up.
But I also could tell that Chris- like most of the street guys- has some type of mental problem.
So I never knew if he really was as good as he made it sound. But after hearing that he got hired- I was glad.
Dirk [another long time friend- a good friend] has been messing with the radiator on his van the last few days.
He lives in the van- I see it parked in the various parking lots on a rotating basis.
Dirk claims to be ‘a winter Texan’ sort of like he’s a retired tourist guy.
But the truth is- he is homeless- has been for years.
Anyway- he needed a ride to the other side of town to buy a new radiator- I obliged.
Henry went with us- Henry loves the fellowship- he’s the scholar friend- homeless too- but he picks my brain lots.
Dirk offered to give me 5 bucks for gas- it was about a 10 mile trek.
But I told him ‘no way’.
About half way back- he realizes he left his cell phone at the shop.
I was like ‘how did you do that- I never put my cell phone on a table at a store- when I’m done- it goes in my pocket’.
Any way- I told Dirk ‘don’t worry- we’ll get it’.
I kinda felt like taking the 5 bucks now- but let it slide [I have been giving the guys change from 20’s the last couple of weeks- I try to ‘spread the wealth around’ Obama style!]
Yesterday I helped Tammy [I do usually give Tammy a few dollars every time I see her].
Tammy is a ‘working girl’.
Her and her boyfriend [Shrek] are Meth addicts.
It’s funny- I have been giving Tammy a few dollars for years.
Someone gave her a girls bike yesterday- but she had to pick it up [a lady at the mission gave it to her for some yard work she did- Tammy was going to give it to a friend’s daughter for an upcoming birthday].
So I told Tammy ‘I’ll pick it up for you and put it in the truck’.
She was going to walk over and ride it home [home- her and Shrek are staying in some broken down trailer].
I do realize it looks like I’m a ‘customer’ I mean I give the girl dollars- and then a ride.
I don’t really care to be honest- but I do see how people could talk.
Anyway- when we dropped the bike off- I saw Shrek [he’s a big kid- around 35 years’ old- 300 lbs].
He’s really a nice kid.
I gave him and Tammy a nice tent once.
They were living in the brush at the time and the tent was a 2 person size- a nice one I bought from wal mart.
They never forgot that.
Shrek was glad to see me- it’s been a while.
Okay- let me cover Deuteronomy chapter 4.
I have been reading it this week [it was a chapter from the Mass this past Sunday].
Moses is going over the story of the Jewish people right before they enter the Promised Land.
He tells them that God did a great work by leading them out of Egypt and being with them all this time.
A few points.
Moses tells them that God was angry with him and because of this he will not ‘go in and take the land’.
This 'anger’ moment was when God told Moses to speak to the Rock when the people were complaining of thirst.
For you ‘non bible readers’ this would be when Charlton Hesston delivered the people form Egypt and they went thru the Red sea and were in the wilderness.
At various times Moses loses his temper with the Jewish people.
This Rock incident was the one time God said ‘okay- that’s it Moses- you blew it one too many times- you can’t go in to the land’.
Moses was to speak to the Rock and water would come out.
He got mad- and struck the Rock- twice- with his famous rod.
The water came out.
Which was a type of ‘God striking the Rock’ [Jesus was punished for us on the Cross- Isaiah 53 says it pleased THE LORD to bruise him- God punished his Son on our behalf- Jesus was ‘the rock’ that the water flowed from [a symbol of the Holy Spirit]. On the Cross a soldier put a spear in the side of Jesus and water came out].
So the striking of the rock was a symbol that God would use- but striking it twice ruined the symbol.
The book of Hebrews says Jesus was struck only once for sin- not repeatedly.
So because of this Moses could not go in to the land.
Okay- to my bible scholars out there- I found a verse where Moses makes it into the land.
What?
No trick [not really].
Okay- when?
In the New Testament Jesus was transfigured before the disciples- the Mount of Transfiguration.
At the time the bible says Moses and Elijah appeared with him.
Of course- they were in the Promised Land at the time.
One more thing from this chapter.
It also talks about the cities of refuge.
These were cities [3] that God set aside- if someone accidently killed another person they could flee to the city for safety.
At the time- if you killed someone- the family of the dead person had the right to ‘avenge the blood’ of their relative.
But if it was an accident- you could run to the ‘city of refuge’ and find safety.
You had to live in the city until the death of the high priest.
After he died- you could go back home.
Meaning?
The 'city of refuge’ is a type of the church- the community of God [not the building!].
We are all guilty of the innocent Blood of Jesus [he died for us].
We can ‘flee to the city of refuge’ and find safety from our guilt- as long as the high priest lives [Hebrews/Romans says we are saved by his life- he lives].
We also can ‘inherit the promise’ enter back into the land- after ‘he dies’.
Jesus died- and rose again- so we too could partake of the true inheritance- not a ‘city made with hands- but an eternal one in the heavens’ Hebrews.
Got it?
1850- I AM JUST A COWBOY- LONESOME ON THE TRAIL…
This week we were treated to the singing cowboy- I think from Texas?
I’ll admit- I don’t watch American idol- or any of the other shows like that.
But because the cowboy made the news- I saw the scoop.
What happened was you had this talented singer- who stuttered.
He was interesting- fit the Mel Tillis style.
When he was asked about the stutter- he said he got it when a grenade injured him in action in Afghanistan.
Of course the judges- and the audience- loved the story.
The only problem was- he made the whole thing up.
So last night I saw a news report- he seems to have been faking war injuries for years.
Though he did serve in Afghanistan- for a month- yet he seemed to have some issue with his hearing- and was sent home.
As he was being interviewed- after the story came out- he was crying- yes stuttering- and he said ‘this is my truth- this is what I have believed’.
Sort of like truth is relative- if the story ‘helps’ you out- then it’s ‘your truth’.
I remember the old days of listening to classic rock on those vinyl albums.
Yeah- you put them on the ‘turntable’ and the technology was so advanced- you even had that little lever that you pulled to make the Album replay- all on its own!
I still remember the cover to my Thin Lizzy album- I mean those guys rocked.
You might remember the hit song ‘the boys are back in town’ there was another song on the album- called ‘The Cowboy Song’.
Yeah- our stuttering cowboy knows how to sing- and tell tall tales at the same time.
There have been a few news stories of importance this past week.
One of the top ones was the leaking of all the national security info.
I was surprised to see both Dems and Repubs calling for an investigation.
Diane Feinstein- the Dem senator form Cali- she said she has never seen the level of leaks this bad in her 11 years on the Senate Intelligence committee.
What are the leaks?
These are leaks that show the president in tough situations- doing all he can to fight terror- and basically making him look like a tough guy.
The pres denies- in a Clintonian way- that he ‘authorized the leaks of classified material’.
When I first heard the denial- I thought ‘he knows about it’.
How?
As someone who really liked Obama at the start- I have followed him these last few years- and he has done lots of ‘tricky’ stuff- that at first I brushed off- but after a while I realized- well sometimes ‘cowboys like to tell stories’.
As I listened to both sides- McCain, King- a few other Senators and congressman have showed that some of the leaks had to have come from inside the White House- from the small group of people around the pres.
They were detailed accounts of what Biden said- or what Obama did [shuffling the cards that have the names of terrorists].
They brought out the fact that much of the detail- that came out in the N.Y. Times- were things that only a few inner circle people would know about.
While it is true that many people knew about some of the other info- like the Stuxnet virus.
Yet only a few- inside the White House- would know the details of what Biden said- when there were only 5 or so people in the room.
Also- the paper that reported the leaks- said the sources were from the White House [as opposed to the FBI- or CIA].
Now- some of the leaked info is bad- we ‘leaked’ that both the U.S. and Israel were indeed responsible for the Stuxnet computer virus that ruined the nuclear centrifuges in Iran.
Last year Iran had their nuclear facilities damaged- at the time they did not know for sure that it was a virus- and they did not know- for sure- who did it.
Now they know- someone leaked it.
There are a few other things that came out- details of the Bin laden killing- stuff about the underwear bomber.
The thing that makes people question whether or not Obama [his political team] are actually behind it- is all the leaks put Obama in a good light- a terror fighting man.
He even had some movie makers who were covering the Bin laden raid- in some secret meetings- when they were discussing the aftermath of the raid.
It was reported that the Intelligence people were shocked that they sat in on the meetings.
Okay- more than likely he [his team] are behind the leaks.
The denial?
It was done in a way that if it comes out that he did know about them- that he could say ‘I denied authorizing the leaks of classified materials’ and simply say when he gave the go ahead to release it- he ‘declassified’ it.
Now- like I say- I have watched/heard the pres these last 3 years- he does do this stuff- lots.
Just a few quick examples.
It came out this week that Obama was indeed a member of a political party in Chicago called ‘the new party’.
This is a left leaning group- socialist- that advocate for a European type govt.
Okay- in 2008- a news reporter- Stanley Kurtz- reported that Obama was associated with the group.
He vehemently denied it- it was all lies from some ‘racist guy who hates Blacks’.
The whole thing- you’ve heard it before.
So now we find out- that he was indeed a member.
It came out in an investigation of another group- Acorn.
It was in the minutes of the meeting where he joined- pledged allegiance to the group’s ideals- the whole 9 yards.
Are they denying it now?
No.
What’s the big deal?
If you are running for pres [2008] and a top candidate is known to have been a member of a socialist group- that usually would kill your chances.
So he simply lied- not a big crime- but one of many.
Obama wrote 2 books- autobiographies no less- in his early 40’s [late 30’s?]
Now- for your only 2 books- at a young age- to be about you- does say something.
In the books there were ‘cowboy stories’ if you will.
Of course- when writing the books- you think ‘who will ever go thru them with a fine tooth comb’.
But when you become pres- some will.
So- some people on the right did indeed do this- and they found lies.
The pres denied it.
Yet now- after many years of denials- a biographer who is currently doing a friendly book on the pres- well he ran into some trouble during his research.
He could not verify some of the stories that the pres told.
Just one example.
Those who critiqued the original books- the president’s critics- said he made up stories about some White girl he was dating- that the places and events that he said took place- were actually fake.
These same events were told earlier- by a man named Bill Ayers [who the pres has tried to distance himself from].
They said Obama simply made the whole thing up.
He adamantly denied it ‘how dare you say he lied- you must be a racist’.
Okay- the new biographer- David Marranis- found out that the pres did indeed make the woman up.
Then they spun the story to say ‘he made a composite woman from various women thru out his life’.
Then you had the Obama defenders- like historian Doug Brinkley- saying ‘the purpose of biographies are not to be factual’.
Wow- thanks Doug.
The point is he denied making up the story for years- now he says it was not true.
This is one of many- I don’t want to give them all.
But after seeing this happen a lot- I simply doubt the things he says.
I don’t hate him- I’m not a racist- but this has happened- a lot.
When the president had to distance himself from his former pastor Rev. Wright.
He said ‘he didn’t know the man held to these extreme views’.
That he was shocked to find out all the stuff Wright said- for 20 years.
When he threw Wright under the bus- he told the country that this was a man he did not really know [like Bill Ayers].
Yet the president had written/spoken about Wright- that he was one of [if not thee] most influential men in his life.
He said Wright baptized his kids- performed ceremonies for their family- he even titled his book ‘The Audacity of Hope’ after a line from Wright.
He attended the church for 20 years.
He had lots of wrights’ tapes and C.D.’s that he listened to.
He even said [before he threw him under the bus] that he could no more disown Wright than he could his own Father or family member.
His own testimony was that he knew Wright- loved Wright- was influenced by him- more than other man alive.
Then he said ‘I never really knew the man’.
How can this be?
I guess I’ll end with Ayres.
Bill Ayer’s was the terrorist that blew up a bomb in the 60’s, 70’s- I think a cop got killed by the bomb.
Anyway- he was a radical left wing guy- involved with a lot of the social unrest at the time.
The bomb case was thrown out of court because the govt. messed up some way in the case- Ayres has never denied his involvement.
Okay- Ayers and Obama were said to have been friends.
People that knew them knew this.
But during the campaign Obama denied knowing the man.
He sat on a board with Ayers- but said ‘people sit on the same board with other people all the time- that doesn’t mean they know them’.
Okay.
He lived on the same block.
The excuse was ‘Chicago is big- you might live on the same block and not know someone’.
Okay.
Then it was revealed that when the pres launched his political career- it was from Ayers house.
How did that happen?
It just happened to be some strangers house on the block that had lots of room.
I mean nobody would ever get away with doing stuff like this- not when your running for president.
Yet- till this day- Obama says he barely knows the man.
Okay- when the critics went thru Obama’s books- to find the stuff.
One story was Obama walking down to the Hudson River one day- he saw some kid and said ‘see how the mighty river flows in and out’ and he went on to give a sort of parable about life.
This same exact event is in Bill Ayres book- but it happened to him years before.
The same exact event- with the same words.
Many people have said that Ayers Ghost wrote the Obama book.
Yet the pres does not know the man.
I’m sure our singing Cowboy meant well when he said ‘this is my truth’.
But after you tell ‘your truth’ one too many times- it becomes questionable.
1851- IS THE PRIVATE SECTOR DOING FINE?
The other day I posted about the ‘new narrative’.
I talked about the argument that austerity [cutting spending] in the Euro zone- as well as the U.S. - is the new reason to blame for the globes economic woes.
I won’t re-post my rebuttal- suffice it to say I don’t agree.
So- when the president made his recent gaffe ‘the private sector is doing fine’ the right went nuts- and the left ran with the new [false] narrative.
With all the talking heads out there- you would think that they would have put these things together- after all they get paid lots of money.
I mean even though I’m a regular critic of MSNBC- I do see them as family.
How so?
When the Nielsen ratings come out- and Chris Matthews rating is 2 people- at least he knows his wife watches the show [or has it on mute?].
And I’m number 2.
So let’s weave the web here.
When Obama kicked off his campaign year- he had some very rough starts.
The Bain capital thing- well that didn’t work too well.
Then they jumped to the Massachusetts job record of Romney- when he was governor.
Okay- that’s fair game.
But the argument they were making was Romney was a failure while overseeing the state.
Yet when he left office- unemployment was under 5 %- under Obama- we have 8.2.
Yeah- they dropped that line too.
So- the new story is that the Repub led congress [house] are to blame for the unemployment rate.
That Obama put a ‘jobs bill’ on the table- and the Repubs refuse to sign the thing.
Thus ‘the private sector is doing fine’ but because the jobs bill- which is geared towards providing around 250 billion dollars to the states- and union and govt. workers- that because the Repubs won’t pass it- therefore the ‘public sector’ is dragging down the economy.
This is the same argument that says austerity measures are the cause of all the worlds woes.
Last night as I was news surfing I saw some fill in for Maddow on her show- he seems to be a nice kid- have heard him before [Ezra something?]
He did the whole show based on this argument.
He said Romney and the Repubs are hypocrites because when they are in charge they are for public sector workers [cops- firemen- teachers].
But now that Obama is in charge they are cutting them back [note- they were never for trillions of stimulus- as a regular means of providing jobs. They were for the regular fed money that would normally go to the states].
Of course- this is the attack on the dumb [it was dumb] Romney line ‘we don’t need more firefighters and teachers and cops’.
What did Romney really mean?
He is arguing the conservative view that says the jobs market really isn’t a function of spending more federal money.
That even though the fed does provide money to the states [teachers] yet in the long run it’s the local and state economies that will decide whether or not to hire more of these ‘public’ sector workers.
As a firefighter- we did not get federal money to hire new guys- but if our city was doing well financially- then we had the tax revenue to hire new guys.
That’s Romney’s point.
Last year- the govt. did distribute billions [yes- with a b] to the states to stave off the laying off of many teachers and cops and firefighters.
Basically the original 800 billion stimulus simply paid the checks for another year.
But in reality you can’t keep propping up the jobs like this.
For one thing- it’s not ‘fair’.
What?
Look- any president can say ‘let’s spend another trillion- during my term- to simply pay people so they stay employed’.
If the majority of the money- like in this case- is going to workers who give your party lots of money [unions support Dems] then it would be like Bush giving money just to oil field workers- during his whole term
Second- we already have spent a little under 2 trillion fed dollars- propping up the economy.
We had the 900 billion dollar bail out of the banks- and the 800 billion dollar stimulus money.
Obama is blaming the Repubs for not passing his ‘jobs bill’.
Is this really a jobs bill?
No.
It was simply another 250 billion dollars of ‘stimulus’.
We- as a nation- can’t keep doing this.
Overspending is what got the Euro zone in deep trouble- not austerity.
Our very high debt is what is getting us in trouble- as a nation.
Right now- 40 cents of every dollar the govt. spends simply goes to pay the interest on the debt.
Imagine if almost half of your household income was simply interest on your credit card.
Would the answer be ‘lets get another card’?
So- the pres- and some progressive economists [Krugman- and the MSNBC crowd] are saying ‘let’s get another card’.
The Repubs are saying ‘no- let’s start paying the card down’.
You can decide which road is better.
While the president does have some truth to the argument he made the other day- the ‘macro’ picture looks much different.
What was he right about?
When the terrible jobs number came out last month- the 69,000 new jobs- part of the bad number did have to do with govt. layoffs.
The private sector created a little over 80,000 new jobs.
The govt [public sector] lost around 20,000.
So he was trying to make the point ‘see- if the Repubs let me spend another 250 billion- then the govt. would not have laid off folk- and the economy would be fine’.
This argument is being made right now- on both sides of the pond- but it is really not the full story.
In our country we have millions of people without work- the unemployment rate is 8.2%.
And the small % of govt. jobs that are being lost is not the reason why the country is in trouble.
And the solution- long term- is not to keep getting the country in debt.
Anyone can say ‘pass this jobs bill’.
If they simply mean ‘let’s spend billions more- to keep people on the job- just until my election [or term] is over’ then it really is not a jobs bill.
It’s another 250 billion in stimulus.
I think we already spent too much.
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1818- WHO IS BARRY?
Last night I was channel surfing the news shows- and I caught Lawrence O’Donnell doing another one of his ‘anti Mormon’ critiques.
Yes- MSNBC has an ongoing narrative where they speak about Romney as a ‘strange- weird- cult member’.
I saw this months ago- and they have been faithful to their task.
So anyway O’Donnell is covering the ancient teaching of Brigham Young [the co-founder of the Mormon religion- a follower of Joseph Smith] and he’s quoting all the racist teachings that he held to.
Specifically that mixed marriages are wrong.
Now- I could quote the actual Christian bible- yes- the Protestant/Catholic bible- and find this teaching in there.
Yes- the bible O’Donnell believes in!
But that would solve nothing.
Many old time preachers did teach this doctrine- from many various denominations.
Do we [I] believe that mixed marriage is wrong?
No.
But you do have some fundamentalist groups who still teach this.
So O’Donnell is fulfilling his task to portray Romney as a cult guy- and he spends a big portion of the show telling everyone that Romney’s religion is racist.
Now- you could find stuff like this out- with all the other candidates- even the President- yet this network is really not a news network- they are simply Obama devotees.
Axelrod- the presidents campaign guy- a few weeks back tweeted that Romney’s religion does not allow women to enter the temple when they are menstruating.
He left the tweet up for a little while then pulled it.
What?
I have heard other Mormons say this is a false charge- I really don’t know if the church ever taught it- but it’s possible.
Why?
Again- you do have certain health standards in the Old Testament- that if you read them- they speak about ‘uncleanness’ when a woman is menstruating.
We find verses on Dwarves not being able to serve God.
People [men] whose ‘stones’ are crushed not being able to serve God [testicals are stones].
So if you wanted- you could trace all these things- not just to Brigham Young or Joseph Smith- but you could also tie them in to the Christian faith.
Now- do most sane Christians believe these ‘strange’ teachings are still in effect?
Thank God- no.
But if your goal is to simply slander the opponent- then have at it.
One example.
Over the last few years- as a news watcher/reader- you pick up on certain clues along the way.
Maybe a story won’t make it into the mainstream [for various reasons- to cover up for a person- etc.] But as you read the other columnists- you see little pieces of the puzzle.
So- one of the charges that the ‘right’ has made against Obama is that he had a different name when he grew up- and went to school.
Some say he held the name ‘Barry Sotero’.
They claim his identity is in question because he might have been legally adopted by his stepdad- thus throwing the whole citizenship issue back into play.
Now- I have never read/heard a ‘mainstream news’ report on this- so I never brought it up [to me- it’s just as bad as raising the history of Romney’s church up- a belief he- and most Mormons do not hold to].
But as an avid reader of all stripes [both Liberal and Conservative writers].
I noticed something about a year ago- Maureen Dowd- a liberal columnist who writes for the N.Y. Times- she started referring to the president as Barry.
She gives no reason for it- she does not try and defend her use of it- she simply knows that he did indeed use this name- from what I can tell- all the way right up into his years in college.
Then why would you have never heard about this until now?
Because the media have a narrative- a story they want to tell [and also believe in].
They tell one that has the opponents of the president as a bunch of weird cult members- people who reject mixed marriages- people whose women can’t attend church when they are on their period- who have houses that have elevators for their cars [Romney].
These same media people were so entranced by a particular image of a man- an unrealistic messianic image- that they were so taken captive by- that one of them quit their job as a reporter- right on the spot- to simply join the most ‘transformative presidency’ in the history of man [Linda Douglas- who was reporting on the 2008 election].
You had another reporter [George Stephanopoulos] who admitted on national TV that he cried- very loudly [I guess like when you can’t get a word in type thing?] when he watched the inauguration of the president.
Chris Matthews famously said a thrill goes up his leg when he simply hears words proceeding from the presidents mouth.
Now- I don’t hate the man.
I don’t even like Romney.
But as you attempt to navigate between what’s best- what’s true- what’s fake.
For us to get treated to the 200 year old teaching of some strange leader of a religious sect- and yet for us to not even know that the current president never even came to the mainland of the U.S. until college- is striking.
Yes- the president lived in Indonesia- spent time in Kenya- visited the African continent- wrote about the anti Imperial mindset of the African colonies.
He was influenced by stories and people whose view of America was negative.
He lived among them- went to school with them.
Wore their Muslim garb [yes].
Prayed the Muslim prayer.
Used the name Barry.
And never stepped on the lower 48 until college.
Now- does this mean he’s a bad man?
No.
But for us to know that menstruating Mormons cant attend temple- and to not know any of this- well that’s what you call media bias.
That’s not journalism.
1819- KENOSIS
Being its Passion week- I do at least want to recommend everyone try and read Isaiah 50.
This chapter speaks about the willingness of Christ to bear the reproach of the Cross ‘he gave his back to be whipped- his beard to be pulled out’.
In Christian theology we call this the Kenosis [Philippians] it’s the willing act of Jesus to empty himself of all the Divine privileges- his glory- while at the same time retaining his deity.
Many of the early church councils struggled with this division- that is how to understand that Jesus always was God- and yet he ‘gave up’ the unique privileges of that deity when he hung on the Cross.
The bible says he ‘emptied himself and became obedient unto death- even the death of the Cross- therefore God has highly exalted him and given him a name above every name- that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord- to the glory of God the father’.
Yes- this is what distinguishes the Christian faith from all the other religions of the world.
That’s not to say that the other world religions have no value- they do.
Many teach good virtues- loving your fellow man.
Others hold to the traditional belief in God and hold to the same apologetic arguments that the Christian church uses.
But the distinguishing factor is we believe that Jesus died for our sins- the founder of ‘our religion’ didn’t just give us good precepts- or examples.
No- we believe he actually died for us- and redeemed us back to God the father by his death and resurrection.
The epistle to the Romans says ‘we therefore have peace with God thru our Lord Jesus Christ’.
Amen- and amen.
Okay- now a few notes.
2 or 3 posts back I mentioned how we should get ready to see a new narrative- how the media will begin telling us a particular kind of story about the Supreme Court and the political wrangling going on over health care.
Sure enough- to my surprise- the next day the President cane out and took on the court in an unprecedented way.
Many legal experts- on both sides of the aisle- were shocked.
The president used language like ‘a bunch of unelected judges overturning the will of the people’.
He said how there were many judges and legal experts who believe that the law [health care] is constitutional and should not be overturned.
He used language that was kind of deceptive- making it sound like the possible overturning of the law would almost be an illegal act.
I mentioned this in the other post- that if you carefully followed this law getting challenged in the courts- it split about 50-50.
And as I listened to the various arguments- to me it is not a stretch to think the law will be overturned.
But the president made it sound like the overturning of it would be political judicial activism.
I don’t think he actually knows what that means- when the term political activism is used it’s referring to judges who ‘legislate from the bench’.
That is they make new law- law that has not been in existence until their ruling.
A good example would be the Roe v Wade case [abortion].
The court found a ‘new’ constitutional ‘right to privacy’ in their ruling.
Now- however you believe about the ruling- the point is that’s what ‘judicial activism’ refers to- not the possibility of the court finding a new law unconstitutional.
The president also said if the court overturned his law- that it would be unprecedented.
What?
The court has declared around 150 laws to be unconstitutional since the late 1700’s.
This would not be unprecedented in any way.
The day after he made these charges- he got so much criticism for overstepping his boundaries- there are 3 branches of govt.- Judiciary, Executive and Congress- and for any president to try and influence a decision like this is usually considered way out of bounds.
It is true that FDR had battles with the court- as well as other presidents- but for a president to use the language Obama did- well it was way over the line.
So yesterday he back peddled some.
I mean it was so bad that one of the other challenges to the law- taking place right now in the 5th circuit court of appeals- the judge interrupted the lawyer for the govt. and asked her if the president believes the courts have the right to rule against the law.
He told the lawyer for the justice dept to bring back a 3 page- single spaced- explanation form Eric Holder to explain their position.
This judge basically let the administration know that the courts are not going to put up with such a public attack on their independence.
So anyway that’s where it stands as of now- hopefully some things will settle down and we will see what happens when the ruling comes out in a couple of months.
Okay- try and read the chapter I mentioned today- maybe read Philippians chapter 2 as well- that’s the chapter I quoted from- and mediate on the death and resurrection of Jesus- he died for the whole world.
When Jesus was born the angels said ‘peace on earth and good will towards men’.
Christ came into the world to bring peace- to offer to all mankind a new and living way.
As Christians- it’s not our job to condemn all the other religions of the world- but to show them the difference between the Christian faith and the other well meaning faiths- and to let them know that Jesus died for all- all are welcome.
1820- WHERE THE GRAPES OF WRATH ARE STORED
Let’s end the week with a look at the death of Christ.
Today- Good Friday- is the day we remember the Passion.
In Psalms 22 we see a Messianic prophecy- the words king David spoke thru the Holy Spirit.
These are the words- feelings- that Jesus had on the night before he was crucified- he went to the Garden of Gethsemane [literally- The Olive Press] and was in extreme anguish.
In this Psalm we read ‘I am a worm and no man’ ‘all that see me laugh at me- they think my cause is hopeless’ ‘I cried and prayed and you never heard me- I have no rest day or night’.
Read the psalm later today- see the pain he went through.
The garden of Gethsemane was an Olive garden at the base of the ‘The Mount of Olives’.
It was a place where olives were crushed- the process allowed the oil to come forth- which was a picture of what Jesus was going thru- he was ‘being crushed’ so the oil [Spirit] would come forth to the world [Acts 2].
In the prayer he says ‘Father- if it’s possible- remove this cup- never the less- not my will but yours be done’.
Many of us are familiar with this phrase ‘thy will be done’ but we miss the cup part.
What was the cup?
The cup stood for ‘the cup of the wrath of God’ it was a symbol of the judgment of God coming upon the sins of the world.
When Jesus said ‘take away the cup’ he wasn’t afraid of dying- but he ‘feared’ the separation that was going to take place from God.
As he ‘drank the cup’ [the sins of the world] he would become ‘the container’ of the wrath of God- he would be cursed from God as a ‘sinful’ thing.
The apostle Paul says ‘he- [Jesus] became sin for us- who knew no sin- that we might become the righteousness of God in him’ [Corinthians].
So Jesus struggled with the cup.
In the book of Revelation chapter 14 we see an image of the cup and wrath.
There are angels coming out from the throne- we see Jesus sitting on a cloud and angels all around.
The angel says ‘thrust in your sickle and reap- for the harvest of the earth is ripe’ and we see the ‘Winepress of wrath’.
The picture is this angel reaping the earth- gathering the ‘grapes of the earth' [Steinbeck- the Grapes of wrath] and casting them into a winepress [another type of pressing- like the olive imagery].
The Winepress is ‘outside the city’ [very significant image] and the blood from the press goes out for 184 miles.
This is a scene of judgment and wrath.
During the civil war the north used this verse as their theme song- The Battle Hymn of the Republic ‘mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord he is Trampling out the Vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored’.
Yes- the winepress was an image of where the grapes of wrath waited for the pressing- when the blood would come forth.
Now- this next part really deserves a full study- but let me do a brief overview.
The writer of Hebrews [probably Paul] speaks about an altar that sits ‘outside the city’ where the animal’s bodies were burned.
In Old Testament Jewish law- some of the animals bodies were not fully burned at the time of the offering- the blood that was used for the Day of Atonement was not a complete burnt offering- the animal blood was used.
So- the Jewish people had a spot- outside the gate of the court [outside the city] where the bodies were burned.
Now- the writer of Hebrews says this is a type- a picture- of the final sacrifice of Christ that took place ‘outside of the law’.
That is Jesus established a New Covenant in his own Blood- not part of the Old animal sacrificial system.
Okay- his death took place ‘outside the gate’- that’s important to see.
Now- as Jesus struggled with his impending death- he came to a point where he sweat drops of blood- he then said ‘if this cup cannot pass unless I drink it- then so be it’.
He drinks the cup ‘of the wrath of God’ and in a sense he becomes the place ‘where the grapes of wrath are stored’.
He himself becomes the final sin sacrifice for humanity- the place of pressing- where the ‘wine/blood comes out’.
As we finish this Holy Week- getting ready for the resurrection celebration this Sunday- let’s not forget that Jesus drank the cup- he became sin for us who knew no sin.
Yes- as the North sang ‘mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord he is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored’.
They weren’t seeing that the place where the grapes of wrath were stored were inside the Son of God- he drank the cup ‘to the dregs’ and was ‘trampled on’ by God’s wrath.
Yes- Jesus said ‘I am a worm and no man’ he was in anguish for you- and me.
Amen- and amen.
1821- TRAYVON REDUX
I know it’s a little late- but I hope everyone had a good Easter.
I ‘enjoyed’ seeing all the media reports of the towns that canceled their Easter egg hunts because of past violence- by the grown ups.
Yes- they showed video of people trampling each other- pushing kids out of the way- and one video taken by a bystander showed the start of one hunt.
As they rang the bell they were off. One mom falls down and the amateur videographer gives ‘play by play’ coverage- in the classic style of Howard Kossel.
Remember ‘Down goes Frazier- Down goes Frazier’?
Yes- we heard ‘down goes mom- down goes mom’ as the other ‘adults’ were about to trample her.
It was just such a wonderful way for us to remember the resurrection of Christ.
And then as I watched the ridiculous ‘media’ coverage of MSNBC [and NBC].
I couldn’t get over the nonstop talk about Mormons being a cult.
I mean show after show was talking this way- question after question about Romney’s involvement in the church- how he was a lay elder in the church- over and over and over- from this network.
So Orin Hatch- a long time senator who is a Mormon [like Harry Reid] says that he believes the Obama campaign and the media are going to attack Romney on his faith.
Now- guess what network could not believe that this charge was made?
You got it- NBC-MSNBC.
Yeah- they did entire programs [Hardball] asking the question ‘do you think the media/Obama will attack Romney’s religion’?
I couldn’t believe it- it might be the first time that the actual network who is doing the attacking- nonstop- at the same time will try and spin ‘no one is attacking Romney- how anyone even dare think it’!
It would be funny if it were not true.
Even David Gregory- the lead news guy for the Sunday morning NBC show [Meet the Press] had on a panel of various reliogus people- and he too brought up the question ‘why would Hatch- or anybody make such a false charge!’
On the panel there was a Mormon congressman- he said right there ‘your own network is the major offender- Lawrence O’Donnell even said the Mormon church was founded by a guy who simply wanted to have sex with more than one wife’.
I mean it’s ridiculous- the actual network who is the chief offender- is at the same time trying to spin a fake story that ‘how dare anyone even think that the media are attacking Romney’s faith’.
It reminds me of the time when one of the news magazine shows [20-20 ?] did an ‘expose’ about cars exploding on impact.
In the piece they indeed showed you these cars getting hit- and Walla- they blew up like a bottle rocket on the 4th of July.
Now- the actual car makers- they watched the show and could not believe their cars were blowing up like this.
I mean it made the classic Pinto look like a fire proof space ship.
So the car makers had an expert look at the video and they discovered that the news show actually placed exploding detonators right at the point of impact.
They had some bomb specialist off to the side and he was detonating the device at the point of impact.
You know how the news channel reacted when they got caught?
After they couldn’t hide what they did- they said ‘oh yeah- sure we blew the cars up with our own bomb- but it was made to simulate what was happening on the street’.
They actually tried to get the public to believe that what they did was just.
Yeah- go ahead NBC- be outraged over anyone ever even thinking that the media would attack Romney’s faith- and oh- keep playing the MSNBC pieces that smear the guy nonstop- we will never figure it out.
And last but not least- last night George Zimmerman was arrested in Fla.
Yes- the special prosecutor made the arrest.
I have written on this case a few times- and I have basically taken the side of Trayvon.
Now- as a media watcher- I do realize that there was some unfair reporting on both sides.
Initially they showed pictures of Trayvon at the age of 12-13.
He looked like a little boy.
Then they made it sound like this ‘little boy’ was just buying skittles and tea- for himself [as opposed to his little brother at the house] and Zimmerman attacked him.
Okay- if you look at the more recent pictures of Trayvon- he was a big kid- looked in good shape.
I will tell you- at the age of 13 it’s not easy to beat up an adult- but at 17 it’s not hard at all.
So it is possible that Trayvon was pissed about being followed- and maybe did throw the first punch- I don’t know.
But whenever you have an unarmed teen shot to death- and the armed person was the initiator of the confrontation- even if the final confrontation was Trayvon coming back to the car to approach Zimmerman- then you at least need an arrest.
I know the media- the right and the left- have now turned this into a political debate- which is sad.
Every time I hear the parents speak- especially the mom- she is a sincere person who lost her son.
She has never called for vigilante justice- and she has prayed to God for the right thing to be done.
Like I said- I have heard both sides- and I have seen media bias- on both sides.
But in the end- I think Zimmerman did indeed cross a line- how the last 2 minutes of the incident happened- we don’t know yet.
But if that’s the voice of Trayvon crying for help- and not Zimmerman- then the man needs to do some prison time.
1822- CHOSEN BY GOD
Good morning to all my on line friends.
Today let’s cover the book of Ephesians and John 17.
I stumbled on them this past week- not realizing the similarity of themes.
In the past I have taught complete bible studies- both on radio and at the same time on the blog.
It took a little longer- because I would write on a chapter- then take 2 or 3 radio programs [15 minute shows] to cover it on air.
I’m not even sure- I think I might have already done a full Ephesians study on the blog?
Ephesians is written by the apostle Paul- though some scholars believe it was written by one of Paul’s disciples- they think it might be more of an elaboration on Paul’s other epistle to the Colossians.
There are various reasons that some scholars do stuff like this- won’t go into all the reasons- in my mind when a bible letter says within the text that Paul wrote it- then I go with that.
The short letter [6 chapters] starts off with a declaration that God chose the believers before he even made the world.
That God had a predestined purpose for them to have become children of God and for this new people of God to reveal the ‘manifold wisdom of God’ to everyone one [thing] else.
One of the verses says that even the angels and powers in heaven ‘learn’ the things of God thru the church.
This really is an amazing statement- that God uses the church to reveal Divine truths to the whole universe!
This theme of God choosing us [them] before the world- to fulfill a purpose that he planned before the world- is a major theme in the first 4 chapters of the book.
He wants them to see that this calling- this place where they are at at the present time- it is a sort of Divine appointment with destiny- that God had planned this before the creation of the world.
And it is now ‘in time’ that they are living out this Divine plan.
In John chapter 17 we read the prayer of Jesus.
Jesus says that he has 'finished’ the work that God gave him to do- which was to reveal God to these disciples that God has given to him.
He says ‘all mine are thine- and thine are mine- and I am glorified in them’.
Jesus also hits on the theme of this being a work of God that he pre-planned before the world was made.
He prays ‘don’t take them out of the world- but keep them from the evil’.
The same theme that we see in the ‘Our Father’.
I find it interesting that one of the more popular ‘end times’ teaching of our day is the Rapture.
Tim Lahaye has popularized this idea in his very successful series of books about the end times.
In the 1980’s- the number one best seller among Christian books [I think it was actually number 1 for all categories?] was Hal Lindsey’s ‘late great planet earth’.
He too took the same line as Lahaye and taught the idea that God was going to take all the Christians ‘from the earth’ and that the world would wonder where they all went.
I have covered this in the past- how the church came to teach this- how the historic church did not teach it- and why I believe the Rapture- as a separate event from the 2nd coming- has no real biblical basis.
The point for this post is part of the prayer of Jesus is ‘I pray not that you would take them out of the world’ which on its face seems to be the opposite of what the Rapture doctrine teaches.
Okay- Jesus revealed the Father to his men.
The apostle Paul told the church ‘God chose you for this before the world was made’.
Jesus believed that these disciples [and by extension the church] were ‘given to him’ by the pre ordained will of God.
What all this means- in a nutshell- is that where you are at right now- all the things you are going thru- God knew it before it ever happened.
And he still picked you for the job!
The Apostle tells them to be strong in the Lord- to pray always- and put on the whole armor of God.
Yes- just because they were chosen- did not mean they could sit around all day doing nothing- they were chosen for a purpose- and it was up to them [by grace] to walk in that purpose.
I would encourage you to try and read these chapters this week- Ephesians is short- but has a lot of good stuff in it.
As you read- look for the theme of God choosing the church before the ‘world was made’.
Notice how often this idea ‘pops up’ in the writing of Paul- and how it plays a major part in the life of the church.
Read- and apply- the instructional aspects of the letter [on family- husbands and wives- children- workers and bosses].
And practice- as much as possible- the ‘put on the armor of God’ teaching found in chapter 6- that section ends with ‘pray for everyone’.
That- in my mind- is the most important part of the instruction.
1823- BUDDY
Last night I had my wife search for some old friends on Facebook [she’s better than me] and I had one old firefighter buddy that kept coming to mind- Buddy Renninger.
I met Buddy about 10 years ago- he attended one of the fire/ems schools that my Dept. was putting on.
Every so often when a neighboring city puts on a class- the other depts. might attend.
Buddy was a ‘rookie’ from the city of Alice- about 20 minutes from Kingsville- where I retired from.
Buddy was my age- though I had already put in about 20 years- he was a new comer to the job.
We got along good- went out for a few drinks a couple of times- shot some pool.
And yes- Buddy ‘picked my brain’ on Christianity- he was eager to learn.
I lost touch with Buddy after I retired- actually before that.
So when my wife looked up the name- to my surprise she told me ‘John- Buddy died’.
I was shocked- I mean he was 48 years old.
The on line article just said he died at home- no other info.
They actually have a little tribute to him on line- look it up if you want- just Google his name and the city of Alice- he was a Lieutenant.
He died a couple of year’s back- sad to see him go.
By the way- for those of you who just got ‘friended’ by me this week- as I was searching for some old friends- I found the search where it says ‘you might know this person’ and I went down the list and sent out about 50 requests.
Some names I thought sounded familiar- others I knew- others just had that good old Italian last name- so if you’re a new friend- that’s the story.
Alright- I still need to do one last post on this never ending Philosophy study I have been on.
But in the last post when I mentioned the book of Ephesians- I came across a verse in chapter 6- it says for workers to ‘obey’ their employers in all things- with FEAR AND TREMBLING.
That short phrase reminded me of something that I did not cover in the philosophy posts.
In a few posts we covered 19th century thinking- and we hit on Soren Kierkegaard- the 19th century father of Existentialism [will not repeat it all- you can find it somewhere on the blog].
Soren wrote a few books- one was called FEAR AND TREMBLING- he looked at the story of Abraham in Genesis chapter 22- where he takes Isaac to be offered as a sacrifice to God.
Soren [it’s easier then repeatedly spelling the last name!] examined the process of God telling Abraham to do something that by all accounts seemed contrary to God- and to what Abraham believed to be right.
Yet- at that point of the journey- faith became more than just an intellectual exercise- it became a man [or woman] who passionately embraced God- even beyond the point of his own understanding.
Yes- Abraham did this with much Fear and Trembling- and he never had to sacrifice Isaac- it was a test- a test that the patriarch passed with flying colors.
Next week I will try and finish that last post on philosophy- and try and review the short letter of James [in the New Testament].
This letter is the only ‘wisdom’ literature we find in the New Testament [wisdom literature refers to a specific genre of writing- in the Old Testament we have about 5 books in this category- Proverbs, Psalms, Job- etc.]
So if you get a chance- try and read the letter- it’s a short read.
Okay- that’s it for now- to all my new Facebook friends- glad to see you.
And to Buddy- sad to see you go my friend- may God bless your soul.
1824- LAST TRAIN TO VICTORVILLE [a dog [man?] eat dog world]
As we wrap up the week- we have had some serious [and silly] discussions going on in the country.
Silly?
Yes- a few weeks back the Obama team decided to make the ‘dog on Romney’s car’ a story.
His campaign people began talking about the way Romney treated his dog by making him ride on the roof on a trip to Canada.
Oh yes- you even have on-line sites- by dogs- who are criticizing Romney.
Now- when you do stupid stuff like this [on both sides] and make it an issue- then beware- they will find a dog story about you.
Sure enough- the ‘right’ found a quote from Obama where he admitted he dined on Dog meat while a 7 year old boy in Indonesia.
Oh yea- sweet.
You saw all the on line pictures of Obama chomping on a hot dog- but in place of the wiener you saw a cute pup with mustard on his head.
You had the Pres chasing after his dog at the white house- with a spatula in hand- ready to plop him on the grill.
Yeah- we spent a week with the dog wars.
Serious stuff?
Well- we did have the vote on the Buffet Tax go down in flames.
Why?
This is where my friends on the left don’t seem to get it.
As an independent- I try and see the middle ground- the real value [if any] behind the things the President wants to do.
I don’t hate the man- see him as a commie- but he does do [say] things that are really disingenuous.
Okay- the tax on millionaires.
The president- and his cronies- keep saying- nonstop- that millionaires need to pay ‘their fair share’ and that they pay less than the average working stiff.
The famous quote about Buffet is ‘he pays less than his secretary’.
Now- this has been said so much- people actually now believe it.
What John- aint it true?
Not really.
The tax rate on millionaires [income tax] is around 38%.
That’s the highest you can go.
So why does the Pres keep saying they pay less?
He’s talking about the tax rate on investment income [Stocks].
This rate- called Capital Gains tax- is 18%.
Now- if you’re a millionaire with no regular income- and you live off your stock income [dividends] then your only paying 18 on that.
John- do most millionaires do this?
No.
There are more millionaires who pay both rates- income tax at 38- and capital gains at 18.
In reality- if Obama passed the ‘millionaires’ tax- it would raise about 4 billion a year- which is nothing compared to a 15-16 trillion dollar debt.
But the president has said this tax would fix the debt- and do a host of other things which is simply not true.
It is only a political game- that’s it.
So- when you do stuff like this- waste all this time going around the country claiming that this millionaire’s tax is some sort of solution- then we know he is not serious about really dealing with the major problem the country is facing- dealing with entitlements.
Okay- being we are in another possible economic slowdown [things are not looking that good- the European crisis is rearing its head- and some housing and jobs numbers are showing bad signs].
What does the president have on the table as a jobs plan?
I have mentioned this a few times in the past- but his plan right now [besides pouring billions into a hole called solar energy] is to do High Speed Rail.
Yes- the president has talked about pouring billions of dollars into high speed rail projects- while at the same time cutting billions form other real programs.
The train from Victorville [80 miles outside of downtown L.A.] to Vegas.
The govt. has a program [RRIF] where we lend money to rail projects across the land.
Now- the main purpose of the program- is to either fix or upgrade existing rail lines.
The president has been stopped with the stimulus money- congress is not going to give him any more.
The only chance of getting more ‘fake money’ into the game is if the Fed Reserve does a Qe-3 [prints another batch of money] and puts it on the table.
So- the president knows if he can simply spend more govt. money- in any way [like extending the ‘payroll’ tax cut- all this does is starve the Social Security fund for another year- so people have more money now. This is not policy- per se- its simply saying ‘we won’t have people pay into the system while I’m president- so they spend more in the market- and I won’t look so bad’].
Now- the only way the pres could get the money for these silly rail projects- is to use an existing govt. loan program to fund it.
The train?
This rail line will fulfill one major purpose- it will transport tourists from the L.A. area to Vegas- to the casinos [Harry Reid’s pet lobby- that’s why he as the majority leader in the senate will pass it].
Yes- this project is the brain child of the casino moguls- what Obama terms as ‘the fat cats’.
Hmm?
The train departs from Victorville- goes nonstop to Vegas- at a cost of about 100 bucks.
It takes about 4 hours to drive- once you’re on the train- 80 minutes.
You have to drive from L.A. to the Town of Victorville- Park your car [for a charge] and when you get to Vegas- either rent a car- or ride the taxi.
The rail line has no real purpose for those coming to L.A. from Vegas- because you would be stuck 80 miles outside of town- and have to rent a car for the day- plus get back on the train on your way home- and pay the car rental spot to pick up your car- and drive home.
Okay- you could fly round trip from L.A. to Vegas for around the same price.
Their already is a private bus co. [probably more than one] who will take you and a crowd for 99 bucks- plus feed you on the way.
But no- the real pressing need of the country- at a cost of 5 billion tax dollars [one years worth of the Buffet tax]- is to build this high speed rail- after all- look at all the jobs it will create.
Really.
The so called benefits of these rail lines are they create less pollution and auto traffic.
Because everyone will abandon their silly cars and ride the rail.
In most places [if not all?] where this has been tried- the govt. has to step in and underwrite the loss at the cost of the taxpayer.
These projects just don’t work- or you would have had the casino moguls get funding for it thru the banks.
So- the rail line plan- the presidents main plan for jobs [he said this in his state of the union- remember- our Sputnik moment?]
Is doomed for failure.
It will also shut down the private bus services that now do this.
It will compete with the round trip ticket from the private plane companies.
It will cost jobs in the end- not create them.
All at a cost of 5 billion tax dollars.
The govt. loan company that makes these loans has never spent this much before.
Yes- I’m not talking another single loan- no- they have never spent this much in their entire history of making loans- total.
So Obama is simply using them as a cover to get stimulus money for the project.
A project that would basically cost you- and me- 5 billion tax dollars- all so tourists could ride to the casinos.
Okay- this is what we mean when we say the president simply does not have the experience for the job.
That he has made bad business decisions- and continues to make them- time and time again [Solyndra].
No- I’m not mad at the president for chowing down some fine dog cuisine while in Indonesia.
I’m just worried that Dog meat might be the meat of the future- because if this high speed rail plan is what’s gonna bail us out- then we all might be eatin it soon.
1825- PHILOSOPHY [conclusion]
Today let’s wrap up the last philosophy post for now.
Over the last 6 months or so I have posted around 25 posts- covering the pre Socratic thinkers [800 B.C.] and we made it all the way up to the 19th century.
The main philosophical thought of the 20th century was called Logical Positivism.
This idea said there were 3 stages to Western thought/culture;
First- Infancy [religious/myth]
Second- adolescence [philosophy]
Third- adult [science/empirical]
This idea said that man in the 20th century has finally advanced beyond the silly stages of religion and has now moved into a stage where the only true things are empirical in nature.
That is- for something to be true- you must be able to show it scientifically [or mathematically].
It did not take too long before the critics figured out the major flaw with this idea.
This philosophy states ‘the only truth is empirical’ this statement in itself [as well as all the books written on it] is not an empirically proven statement.
Therefore- according to its own criterion- it is false.
This particular aspect of the philosophy was called The Verification Principle [had to be proven/verified scientifically to be valid].
Pragmatism- this is the only home grown philosophy that had its roots in the U.S.
Founded by Dewey and Peirce- this thought denied objective reality and states that ‘whatever works- use it’.
Of course being ‘pragmatic’ in a practical way is fine- we do want things to work.
But at its core Pragmatism says there are no real ethics- no right or wrong- just things people do.
In the beginning of the 20th century you had the British thinker/mathematician Bertrand Russell.
Russell was a good man- raised as a Christian.
But as a young man he read a book by John Stuart Mill [19th century] that questioned one of the classic arguments for the existence of God [the argument from first cause].
Mill said ‘if everything has to have a cause- then why not God- who caused him’.
Russell accepted Mills claim- and became an influential atheist/agnostic.
The main flaw with this argument- that everything ‘has a cause’ is that it’s false.
The law of Cause and Effect [Causality] does not state that everything has a cause- it says that ‘every effect has a cause’.
That is- there is nothing in existence- an effect- that came from nothing.
Some argued that there was no initial cause- but an infinite series of ‘little’ cause and effects that go on forever.
This too is wrong- it leads to another problem called the Infinite Regress.
If there is no First cause- then logically you can never arrive at ‘Now’
There had to have been a starting point somewhere [Einstein has since proved this] and the starting point [Big Bang] could not have come from nothing.
This too is a very common belief among many well meaning people- that somehow science has taught us that all things came from nothing.
This could not be further from the truth- this is referred to as Creation Ex Nihilo- which too is scientifically false.
The only other option- beside the Infinite Regress- and the creation out of nothing- is there had to have been some type of first cause- who is not limited to the material realm.
By nature this being would have to be Metaphysical [outside the physical realm] and would have to be self existent- having no beginning.
To have a First cause- who himself is infinite- is indeed consistent with the principals of logic- and at the end of the day is the only reasonable explanation for the existence of all other things.
Okay- as we end our posts on philosophy for now- why did I cover this?
Thru out the history of the church Christians have grappled and challenged the other world views- and have done a good job at it.
The Christian perspective is not some silly religious way of life that has no real proof.
To the contrary- the church has had the upper hand in all these debates down thru the centuries.
But in today’s ‘media market’ Christianity- the proliferation of self help books [everyday day a Friday?]
The nonstop talk about becoming rich- or sending your money to ‘my ministry’ as a ‘seed faith’ to become rich.
In this environment- many outsiders see the church as an irrelevant- never ending drum beat that they can’t wait to switch to another channel.
This is not the history of the church- and the church has historically won the debate on the reality of God.
It’s just the average person does not know it.
So- for the Christian to be learned in these fields- to have a working knowledge of the opposing world views- is a good thing.
Why do so many believers avoid a field like philosophy?
The apostle Paul warned the Colossians ‘beware of the philosophies of men’.
He also wrote to his protégé Timothy ‘beware of the oppositions of science- falsely so called’.
The word for science in this text is Gnosis- the Greek work for knowledge.
In the early days of the church there was a Christian cult that rose up- called Gnosticism.
More than likely- Paul was not saying that all science- as we use the term today- is bad- but he was warning against a particular from of science- called Gnosticism.
The same with the warning on philosophy- while you could apply it to all philosophy- that is to say that we should be careful when people try to give us opposing ways of thought- yet in context it seems like the apostle is dealing with the philosophies that oppose Christian thought.
For the first 1500 years of the Christian church the study of Theology and Philosophy went hand and hand.
After the Protestant Reformation [15th century] many Protestants avoided the field- which I think was a mistake.
So- as we close up this subject for now- maybe review a few of the posts on the blog that I did these last few months- become more familiar with the apologetic arguments for the existence of God.
Christians do not have to argue- or oppose atheists- or other religions that hold a different view than we do.
But we should be able to give a defense for the faith- to explain to society around us why we believe the things we do.
At the end of the day- we really do have the winning argument.
1826- JAMES
This past week I have been reading the letter of James found in the New Testament.
James has always been a favorite- it was written [more than likely] by the brother of Jesus and it is the same James we read about in Acts chapter 15- one of the 3 main church leaders at the Jerusalem church.
Note- to my Catholic friends- when I say ‘brother’ Protestants believe that Mary had other children after giving birth to Jesus.
We both believe in the Virgin birth- conceived by the Holy Spirit- but Protestants believe Mary had other children by Joseph.
Okay- not a big deal in my mind.
To defend the Catholic position somewhat- even though James is called the brother of the Lord in scripture- brother can refer to close cousins and also ‘Christian’ brothers- so that’s how our Catholic friends interpret it.
Okay- Just this morning I read the last chapter- and thru the week I tried to meditate on one chapter each day.
Key themes- defend the poor, praise the humble- and rebuke [warn] the rich.
Beware of the tongue- what you say ‘it is a world of sin’ and can start a great fire- just like a match starts a forest fire.
Works- was not ‘Abraham our father JUSTIFIED BY WORKS’ ‘Rahab the harlot was JUSTIFED BY WORKS’.
To my scholarly friends- I believe a right understanding of these verses can bridge a 500 year old split between Protestants and Catholics.
I have tried my best to explain this in the past- and it takes time.
Suffice it to say that the normal Protestant interpretation does not do justice to the text.
Most Protestants try their best to say that James WAS ONLY saying ‘the faith that saves is working faith’.
While this is true- if you simply re-read the portions I quoted above- you can see there is more to it than this.
In a nutshell- Justification, Salvation, Righteousness [all words that speak about ‘being saved’] are not only static terms [one time events] but also fluent.
James uses the example from Genesis 22- when Abraham offered his son Isaac on the altar.
The apostle Paul uses Genesis 15- when Abraham ‘believed God and it was accounted unto him for righteousness’.
I believe if we see that James is speaking about the ongoing relationship that God has with his kids- and when these kids do right- obey God- it pleases God.
And God can continue to say ‘well done son- did well’ and in the mind of James- you can say ‘Abraham was justified by works’ God said ‘good job- you’re just’.
There is more to it than this- but I think this explanation is more in keeping with the text than simply seeing James thru the lens of Paul- James does not contradict Paul- but is simply coming at it from a different angle.
Okay- James deals with the 'rights of the worker’ yes- this is a biblical issue- workers rights!
That’s why historically the church has sided with labor movements.
Many of my conservative brothers seem to equate all union movements with ‘the left’ but to be honest to the text- James [and in this case- Jesus] can be called liberal!
James is chock full of good stuff- try and read it this week if you haven’t all ready.
One of the key themes that I always see ‘jump out’ at me is the theme of defending and honoring the poor- and rebuking the rich.
Now- to my friends who are ‘rich’ its okay- the warnings are along the lines of what the apostle Paul told Timothy [1st Timothy 6] to simply keep wealth in its proper context.
Honor God with it [by helping the poor- not by making TV preachers rich!] and be humble.
This theme is important for our day- because there are many well meaning Christians- and movements- who have gone off track with the wealth issue and have made it a goal of faith.
James- Paul- and Jesus all had strong warnings for the rich- and had great praise for the poor [they inherit the kingdom- James and Jesus said it].
For more on this subject- referred to as the Prosperity gospel- I will post a few posts from the blog right below.
These are from the February posts of each year.
During the year when I write individual posts- I put them in categories and stick them in the February posts at the start of the New Year.
So these are from the Prosperity gospel section.
Also- if you go to the blog [or are on it now] look to the left and you will find my first little book- called House of Prayer or Den of Thieves- I talk about this issue there as well.
Okay- that’s it for now- might do another politics post in a few days- not sure what’s next.
Don’t forget to try and lift each other up in prayer- help someone who’s down on their luck- share with the less fortunate in some way this week- give- but give for the purpose of helping the poor- don’t always see it as ‘an investment with a return’ but give out of love- God will reward you for it.
1827- SCHOOL LOANS AND HOW MANY TIMES DID THAT ROOSTER CROW?
I want to try and do both ‘politics and religion’- lets start with politics.
This story is a couple of days late [the big one this week is the anti Romney ad that the Obama campaign released- saying he would not have killed Bin Laden].
This story is last week’s fight over keeping the cost of federally funded student loans from doubling in July.
Basically in 2007 congress passed a law to keep the interest rates low- and it expires in a few months.
Now- both sides of the aisle actually agree on this- they just disagree on how to pay for it [around 6 billion in cost].
The Dems in the senate want to ‘tax the rich’ yes- they are not afraid to keep going to this pool- even though eventually this pool will run dry [not saying all the rich will become poor- but ultimately you drive the wealth from the country- people put their money where it won’t cost so much to keep!]
The Dems in the house want to tax the oil companies.
The Repubs want to pay for it by taking some money out of Obama care.
Okay- as the battle lines were drawn- the Repubs control the house- so they passed it- with about a dozen Dems on board- with the money coming from Obama care.
The President threatened to veto it- and the Dems began accusing the Repubs of waging ‘a war on women’s health’.
Boehner [speaker of the house] actually got mad and said the Dems are waging a phony fight.
Who’s right?
Okay- as an independent- there are some points on both sides- but the ‘war on women’ is a stretch.
Why?
The fund in the health care law that the Repubs want to use- is a fund for preventative care- less than 1 % of this fund is targeted for women’s health.
The President and the Dems were the first ones to tap into this fund- as sort of a slush fund- when they needed the money for- of all things- a tax cut!
Yes- in the recent fight over extending the payroll tax cut [Social Security] the Dems came up with the idea to tap into this same preventive fund- and they used the money [billions] to give people a tax cut.
Now- when they did it- it was not a ‘war on women’ it was a ‘good thing’.
When the Repubs did it- it was a war on women’s health.
So- this is gridlock- this is why our country is becoming more and more dysfunctional as the days go by.
I have said this over the past few years- if we don’t actually elect people who will deal with the real issues- the big one being the cost of Medicare- which at the current rate will consume around 50 % of all federal spending in a few years- if we don’t elect people who will do this- then all the other little ‘campaign’ talking points will mean nothing.
Okay- this past week I went thru a course by Professor Bart Ehrman.
He teaches at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
He teaches Christianity and the New Testament and has been popular the last couple of years because he had a N.Y. times best seller- Misquoting Jesus.
Whenever I study a course- I usually do a parallel teaching on the blog.
Not word for word- I usually have a background in the subject already- and if the course goes too ‘off course’ I dump it and just finish the blog study by memory.
This time I never planned on covering the course from the get go- because I knew Ehrman was what you would call a Liberal scholar.
Now- Liberal and Conservative- in the field of Theology- are not political matters.
Liberals are those who hold to the critical view of the bible that was developed in the 19th century- primarily out of the German universities- men like Rudolph Bultman were leaders in the field.
This ‘way’ of interpreting the bible- called Higher Criticism- had some good points to it- but at the end of the day they came to reject the historical accuracy of scripture- and said that the Gospels were written by unknown men who wanted to simply convey spiritual truths that Jesus taught.
Conservative teachers [like me] hold to the belief that the bible is indeed historically accurate- and the ‘Inspired Word of God’.
Okay- as I went thru the course- I honestly expected Bart to make a better case for his side.
I really learned nothing knew- I was already familiar with the critic’s points- and he made the same ones that the conservative side has already refuted.
Now- let me give you a few examples.
When I first started reading thru the bible as a new believer- I did find some of these ‘discrepancies’ myself.
I noticed that in Matthews’s gospel the story about the denial of Jesus says Peter will deny Jesus 3 times before the ‘rooster crows’.
In Marks gospel it says ‘before the rooster crows twice’.
When I first saw this- it really wasn’t that big of a deal to me- and one time I mentioned it to my Pastor- a good Baptist man who was trained in a Fundamentalist school- and to my surprise he was not aware of this.
I also noticed a few more things like this over the years- and my pastor simply was never trained in these areas.
Now- I mention this only to point out that if you get a well rounded education- it really should include some of these so called discrepancies.
Some of the Higher Criticism is helpful- some not.
But to avoid these textual problems- simply because you’re a Fundamentalist- does more harm than good- especially when your parishioners are learning the stuff on their own!
Okay- I ‘solved’ the problem of the denials by simply seeing that even though one gospel says ‘before the rooster crows’ and the other ‘twice’- that at the end of the day one writer is simply giving you more detail.
It really is not a contradiction- if Matthew said ‘before the roster crows once’ then yes- that would be a problem.
But he simply gave less detail than the other writer.
Okay- after becoming familiar with Ehrman- and knowing that he is famous in the field of liberal scholarship- I thought for sure he would come up with something better than this.
But in actuality- this was one of his main examples of why the bible is not historically accurate.
I couldn’t believe it.
Now- to be fair- there are other things like this that do happen- but they are all minor details of the story [John’s gospel seems to indicate that Jesus was crucified on a different feast day than the other writers say].
But all these minor details in no way justify rejecting the gospels as historically accurate.
Let me just hit on a few things that the higher critics have right.
They do point to the fact that the early followers of Jesus lived in an Oral culture- things were passed along by word of mouth for the most part.
The writing of books [scrolls] did take place- but it was not an easy- or cheap trade.
We live in a day of books and internet access and all sorts of ways for the printed word to be distributed- but in the early church it was not like this.
So- the gospels were probably written about 20-50 years after the death and resurrection of Christ.
What?
Yes- this is true.
The more conservative scholars go with the earlier date [some go as early as 15 years after Christ] but no one claims that the gospels were written at the same time as Christ walking the earth.
Yes- the stories were transmitted orally [oral culture] but they were written later on.
Now- the ultra liberal scholars say ‘see- how could they have known all the facts if they were written so much later’- and Ehrman uses the example of the game ‘telephone’ [or something like that?].
Where you have one person in class tell something to the next in line- and at the end of the line you get a different account.
Ehrman says ‘see- we have no idea what/who Jesus really was’.
Okay- the main discrepancy that Bart used- was the rooster crowing.
He actually sounded mad on the C.D. [I listen while I work!] and he said ‘well- which is it [damn it!!] did the rooster crow once- or twice!’
And then he jumped to the conclusion that the gospels were really fake stories that were made up by unknown men- well meaning men- but they had no real historical truth to them.
This my friends is what I call a ‘leap of faith’.
Geez- if we did this was all other biographies- we would have no ‘factual’ histories about anyone.
I’ll end with a note to my Catholic readers.
A couple of years ago I read the Popes book- Jesus of Nazareth- I did a brief review on the blog and I really liked the book a lot.
One of the things the Pope deals with [remember- Benedict was a priest from Germany- where the whole school of higher criticism arose] in the book is this whole debate over the historical accuracy of the bible.
At one point- as he graciously- yet boldly defends the conservative view- he is talking about the liberal view that the gospels were written by these unknown men who basically made the stories up.
The Pope asks ‘and just how did these men manage to write the most popular books of all time- books that came to be revered and known and loved by generations and generations- and yet no one even knows the names of the authors?’ [I did ad lib a little here]
The bottom line is- if the gospels were written by a bunch of anonymous men who simply wanted to convey some spiritual truths about Jesus- and they managed to stay hidden for all these centuries- this theory has more holes in it than say- a rooster crowing once or twice.
1828- CLEVELAND BRIDGE IS FALLING DOWN
So we had the 5 guys- described as ‘anarchists upset with corporate greed and the govt.’ who got caught trying to blow up a Cleveland bridge.
Yes- they had the fake plastic c-4 that the undercover FBI agent gave them.
They planted the stuff at the base of the bridge- and they entered the code that they thought would blow it up.
Nothing happened- and they got busted.
As I read the article [actually a couple] I found it interesting that these men did call themselves part of the Occupy Wall street group.
They held to the same beliefs [absent bridge bombing] and by all accounts were what you could reasonably describe as ‘Occupiers’.
Now- I know that all occupiers do not hold to these views.
But the article went on to state that part of the motivation of these men was the downright unwillingness for the ‘regular’ occupiers to engage in violence.
What?
Yes- not only were these 5 musketeers not ‘really’ occupiers- but part of their motivation to bomb the bridge was their frustration that the regular occupiers are so darn non violent!
I remember when the media covered the Tea Party crowd- you had accusations that they were Terrorists- even though they actually did not engage in bridge bombing.
When there was an accusation that one of them said ‘nigger’ or possibly spit on a Black man- did the media report that these offenders were not really Tea Partiers?
Did they say part of the motivation was the ‘downright unwillingness for regular tea partiers to engage in racial prejudice’.
No- even though the tea party made it clear that they did not hold these views- if you had anyone associated with the group engage in bad behavior- then the media simply reported it as tea party activity- which would be right.
When the crazy guy shot the Arizona congresswoman Gifford’s- the media spent a week debating whether or not the phrase ‘target’ used by Sarah Palin might have led to the shooting.
Now- we have had the president going around the country- making speech after speech about how the rich are not paying their fair share- how corporate big wigs are screwing everyone else.
You have the class warfare card that the president has been using- inciting real anger and frustration in people.
Do you think this language- this constant drumbeat- from the president himself- do you think it might have played a role in the general anger that you see in the occupiers?
Have we spent a week [or even 1 day] asking the nation ‘do you think this 99 versus 1 % language might have played a role’?
No- no questions like this are being asked.
Not only that- but the media have reported that one of the reasons for these bridge bombers anger- was the absolute non violence of the occupiers.
Yeah- if a guy who was a member of the tea party- who had tea party associations on Facebook- who held to all the views of a tea partier- yeah- if he lynched a Black guy- I’m sure the media would report ‘he lynched him because he was so upset with the true love that the real tea partiers have for Black people’.
Yeah- I’m sure that’s what they would say- aren’t you?
1829- A CHINESE LAWYER AND LIVING STONES
I want to try and teach a couple of things from the letter of 1st Peter [in the New Testament] - but 1st a few comments.
Today the big story is the Chinese dissident- Chen Guangcheng.
Chen is a blind lawyer who has been under house arrest for years by the govt.
His main fight against the repressive communist state is their 1 child policy.
In China- because of the population growth- if a woman gets pregnant more than once- they force the woman to have an abortion.
This practice has not only killed many innocent kids- but also causes the parents to voluntarily abort the first child if it’s a girl.
Many of the families prefer a boy if they can only have 1 child- so the moms often abort the first [or 2nd- or 3rd] if it’s a girl.
So anyway- Chen miraculously escaped house arrest and made it to ‘safety’ to the U.S. embassy in China.
Here’s where there is some contradiction.
After a couple of days hiding out in the embassy- he left of his own ‘free will’ and the U.S. escorted him to a hospital [he suffered some inures during his escape].
Then we left him there- and he came under further persecution by the govt.
He called for help- and begged the U.S. to take him and his wife and family to the U.S.
Now- Hillary Clinton just happens to be there for talks this week- and she played down the case at first- and Chen says the U.S. rep’s told him if he didn’t leave the embassy that the Chinese officials would harm his wife.
Now- both sides agree that the threat was made [Chen and the U.S.] but we are denying that we related the threat to Chen.
Either way- the man left the protection of the embassy because of fear for his family- and he is now in danger.
This incident has now overshadowed the original reason for Clinton’s visit- and all the hype this week over the Bin Laden death anniversary.
Actually- it did look bad- as I was flipping the news channels- I saw the re-run of the NBC ‘coverage’ [more like an hour long free campaign ad].
They just did a special on the lead up to the death of Bin Laden- and it showed play for play coverage of the president and his team- I mean I do give the president credit for the death of Bin Laden- but they do seem to be overplaying the hand a bit much.
Even some of the elite Special Forces guys are complaining about his politicizing of the event.
So as I’m seeing clips about ‘we made the call [to kill him] it was a risk- but that’s what the job of president is- taking risks’ on and on- talking about how much of a risk it was for Obama to make ‘the call’.
And then on the next channel- we seem to be throwing this heroic Chinese dissident under the bus- and it seems like ‘the risk’ of actually saving the guy and his family- against the will of China [our bank] who does not want the U.S. to interfere- might be too much.
It is sad- I don’t want to politicize the thing- but for the media campaign to be harping on how much of a risk it was for the president to ‘make the call’- and at the very same moment- we have a crisis that needs him to ‘make a call’ it’s a bit much.
Okay- this morning I read a little from the letter of Peter.
In chapter 2 Peter uses the imagery of Jesus- and of us- as being stones- spiritual stones in a ‘living temple’ who offer up spiritual sacrifices to God thru Christ.
I always liked this imagery- the apostle Paul also uses it in his writings [Ephesians].
Peter says Jesus was a tested corner stone- a tried stone- rejected of men- but approved by God.
We too- as living stones- will be tested and tried- and yes- rejected by men.
This is part of the process.
He will later say ‘don’t think it a strange thing- the fiery trial you are going thru- it is not only given to us to believe on Jesus- but to also suffer for him’.
This is one of the main themes you see run thru out the New Testament.
Peter even says ‘if any man suffers as a Christian [by the way- this term is only used 3 times in the New Testament] let him glorify God’
Yes- suffering and difficulty are part of the package- and the apostle tells us not to ‘think it strange’.
Why?
There are so many well meaning believers in our day who have been taught that suffering- hard times- lack of wealth- that all these things only happen to people who don’t have faith- who haven’t yet learned how to ‘claim their covenant rights’.
Now- while most of these teachers mean well- they leave out the other side of the coin.
And if you only hear the ‘happy’ side- then when the tough stuff hits- you ‘think it strange’ you say ‘geez- I guess I’m just not as good as so and so- after all- why would I be suffering’.
So Peter warns us to be aware that the trying of our faith is an important aspect of the Christian life- and there are times when believers are called upon to share in this Cross experience.
In chapter 2 Peter says that Jesus was a tested stone- one that went thru the process of being chipped and honed and shaped into the vessel that God wanted.
Part of the shaping was the rejection process.
God uses ‘tested’ stones in his temples.
In the Old Testament- when they were building the temple- the bible says they prepared the stones away from the building site- so there would be no noise of the hammers chipping away at the temple site itself.
But after the stone was ready- it would be brought to the site and placed into the building.
Often times God allows us to have ‘down time’ a place of being prepared- getting chipped away at- but when he thinks the stone is ready- it is then brought to the site and put into the building.
The apostle John- in the book of Revelation says ‘I John saw the holy city- the New Jerusalem- coming down from God out of heaven- and there was no temple in it’.
John was describing the new kingdom community [the church] that would be absent ‘the temple’ [the old system of law and temple] and would be a new people- a living temple- a kingdom of priests and kings.
These new people would offer up spiritual sacrifices to God- no longer the animal sacrifices of the law- and this would please God.
Yes- we are the people of God- kings and priests unto God.
John also says this in Revelation.
‘thou art worthy to open the book and to loose the seals thereof- for you were slain and have redeemed us to God by your blood out of every nation tribe and tongue- and have made us KINGS AND PRIESTS unto God- and we shall reign on the earth’.
Yes- kings and priests- a new community- a living spiritual temple.
All wonderful things- but the only stones that make it into this temple are tried stones- rejected stones- stones that got ‘chipped’ at for a long period of time.
Yeah- these are the precious stones.
1830- DO CHRISTIANS SUFFER?
This past week I read the 1st letter of Peter [in the New Testament].
I read a chapter a day- and meditated on some key points.
I marked all the verses that dealt with the Christian doctrine on suffering. This teaching- found thru out the bible- has been neglected in much of the modern type Christianity.
Many systems of preaching and belief in our day have developed an idea that because Jesus suffered for us- therefore we need not suffer.
I’m sure some of my readers/friends have in some way been aware [affected?] by this- it’s almost impossible to have not been.
Many of the number one bestselling books [Wal mart] have these themes- most of what you would call ‘TV Evangelists’ teach this type of thing.
And many of the most popular Mega Churches of our day have some form of it within their ranks.
So- in the old style of actually writing out each verse- here we go.
‘For this is thankworthy- if a man for conscience toward God- endure grief- suffering wrongfully’
‘But if you do well and suffer for it- and take it patiently- this is acceptable with God’
‘For even hereunto were ye called- because Christ also suffered for us- leaving us an EXAMPLE that ye should follow his steps’
‘But if ye suffer for righteousness sake- happy are ye’
‘For it is better- if the will of God be so- that ye suffer for well doing rather than evil’
‘For as much then as Christ hath suffered in the flesh- arm yourselves likewise with the same mind’
‘If any man suffer as a Christian- let him not be ashamed- but let him glorify God on this behalf’
‘Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing- as unto a faithful creator’
‘But the God of all grace – who hath Called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus- after that you have suffered a while- make you perfect- stablish- strengthen- settle you’.
Okay- that’s the jist of it.
‘So why John are there so many teachings that leave this out’?
Good question.
Many of the teachers are well meaning people- and they do have one side of the coin.
There are many verses in the bible that do speak about God blessing us- meeting our needs- delivering us out of trouble.
But none of these verses ‘do away’ with the ones I just quoted.
Peter himself said that Christ not only died to bring us back to God [redemption] but he also suffered for us- leaving us an example that we were to follow.
Peter says it’s better to suffer for well doing- then for evil doing.
Yet both are redemptive in nature.
How?
Peter’s most famous suffering recorded in the bible is his very famous denial of Jesus.
The bible says after he did this he wept and was broken.
He went thru pain because of his sin- and even this suffering played a role in shaping the apostle.
Later on- we read in Christian history that when Peter was put to death in Rome- he requested that he be crucified upside down because he felt he was not worthy to die the same way as his Lord.
Geez- you would think he never got over the guilt.
Yes- the bible is clear on the matter- there are times when we are called to suffer.
We can’t ‘confess’ our way out of it- or ‘create our own world’ out of it.
We can’t rebuke the devil ‘out of it’.
There are simply times when we are called to suffer.
Now- this does not mean we sit around every day and wait for the thing to happen- no- we are commanded by God to take up our Cross daily and to follow him.
But the actual phrase ‘Take up the Cross’ carries with it the idea that there is a price to pay.
Okay- what’s my goal in covering this?
Am I trying to ‘put’ a bad confession on you?
No- but I’m trying to show you that if you are feeling guilty because in your mind things might not have turned out as well as you hoped.
Maybe years ago you started well- had good Christian friends- some who went on to ‘fame’ [Yikes!!]
Others had ‘good’ lives.
And maybe you have questioned God- ‘what did I do wrong- why am I different’.
You’re not!
That’s the point.
One of the verses I left out was Peter saying when you go thru these trials- don’t think it strange- but understand that you have many brothers and sisters in the world who are also experiencing the same pain as you feel right now.
Yeah- that’s the jist of it.
If we hold on to the ideas/teachings- that come to us by well meaning people- encouraging people- I mean who can dis like Joel Osteen!
But we need to balance it out with the Word.
Yes- many of these teachings go by the name ‘Word churches’ or ‘word people’ and I’m glad that they do quote the word.
But the Word also contains all these verses as well.
The Word shows us that there are things we will go thru in life- and we should not be taken by surprise when this happens- God told this to us from the start.
Okay- I was thinking I might throw in a few more things about the writings of Peter- some Non Canonical writings- the Gospel of Peter- and the Revelation of Peter [apocalypse].
Being I just ended a study form a liberal scholar- these writings came up.
They are early Gnostic writings that fall into the category of Pseudopigraphy [writing under the name of another person- note- I rarely use this word because my spell check does not have it- but I wanted you to see it- just beware I might have a letter or 2 off!].
I wanted to cover a few interesting tid bits from them- and to explain why we do not have them in our bibles today.
But I think I'll let that wait for another post.
For today- re-read these verses on your own- if you haven’t read the book of Peter in a while- read it the next few days- look for these key themes.
The other day I mentioned the book of James.
I read it a couple of weeks ago.
I realized that I also mentioned ‘off the cuff’ that James was a leader at the first church we see in the bible- the Jerusalem church.
In Acts 15 we read that Peter, James and John are Pillars of the church.
They were spiritual ‘support beams’ if you will- what they said [and say] is very important.
If you remember- when I mentioned James I shared how he praises the poor- and warns the rich.
Here in Peter we see the biblical doctrine of suffering.
When I get to John [probably will do 1st John] I’ll hit on some key themes as well.
The point being- these key figures- these ‘Pillars’ they seem to be ‘out of touch’ with many of our modern day teachings.
I wonder who’s right?
1831- TEA PARTY?
So the other day we had a few more primary elections- and the big news was the Dick Lugar loss [Repub from Indiana].
Lugar was the longest serving senator in congress- 6 terms.
He got booted by a Tea Party guy- and the media made it sound like D day.
I mean the nonstop talk about the country being taken over by the extreme right- that Lugar was such a fine man- who was punished because he voted [often!] with Obama.
It’s funny- whenever the Democrats have a big win- a ‘take over’ it gets described as a wonderful choice that the country has made- a true generational paradigm shift.
When the President got elected- and the Dems took the house and the senate- by huge majorities- you even had conservative media Folk describing it this way [Cokie Roberts].
Yet when the right side of the aisle do a sweep- it’s the country throwing a ‘tantrum’ [yes- the main line news described it this way when the Repubs took back the house in the mid terms].
I’m not a Tea Partier- or an occupier- but from what I see the Tea Party folk are simply people who want fiscal restraint.
They have no ideological social agenda- just for the govt. to not spend more than it takes in.
Okay- sincere people might have a disagreement on this- but to describe any organized grass roots group- who are simply fiscal conservatives- to talk about them as a dangerous movement that might bring the Republic down- well that seems to be a bit much.
Economy?
Well- I hate to say it [not really] but I ‘told you so’.
Yeah- if you go back and read my posts over the last 6 months- I felt like too many financial guys were hyping the chances for a strong recovery this year.
I even mentioned that Larry Kudlow- a straight shooter [business guy] was talking 3% growth for this year.
I said I thought it would be more like 2.
Now- both of these numbers are actually terrible!
But 3 would be better than 2.
Last night he changed his prediction- yeah- 2.
Why?
To me there really should be no surprise- when the Dow was at 13,200- I simply thought people were ignoring the reality on the ground.
This morning it opens at a little over 12,800- and I think the ‘real’ number should be in the low 12,ooo’s.
Why?
When we kicked off the year- some analysts were hoping for new job growth to be at around 250,000 jobs a month.
You need this many- every month- for a few years before the economy can truly recover.
So- we did have a few months at this number- and there was some good economic news as well- so I thought maybe I was wrong- maybe the E.U. crisis will not be as bad- and if everything goes good- more power to ya.
But then the month before last something happened- the new jobs number was a little over 100,000- not good.
All the talking heads gave their views- and it was possible that the number was a fluke [Sandra?]
But no- the number for last month has come out- again- a little over a 100,000.
That’s bad.
The reason you need around 250,000 a month to really move the needle is because every month we have over 100,000 new people enter the job market.
These are people that just turned working age and are new to the market.
So- if you are barley covering jobs for them- or are a little under- in reality the unemployment goes up- not down.
But we have seen the number go down [from 8.2 to 8.1].
How can this be?
The way we calculate unemployment is by the amount of people who are actually looking for jobs.
So- if 300,000 people drop out of the hunt- then the number goes down on paper- when in reality it should go up.
So- it looks like we might be stalling again.
Europe.
The E.U. zone problems are still there- and they are our biggest market.
As a matter of fact- the 17 nations that make up e.u. are the biggest economy in the world.
So- if they are our biggest customer- and if they are in trouble- we are too.
Just this past week 2 E.U. countries voted out the leaders that wanted austerity [cut spending] and put in guys who want to spend money they don’t have.
What does this mean?
It means if they keep going down this road they will be facing a depression- and it looks like the ‘cut back spending’ people are all on their way out.
So- as we see a slowing down in our country- and a continuing disaster with our biggest trading partner- well these things are not the recipe for a real recovery- and the insiders know it.
‘John- do you think we will be able to deal with our debt/deficit’?
These past few weeks as I have flipped the news/business channels- I have seen the Dems go point by point thru the Repubs budget- and at every point where they wanted to cut- they said ‘they want to cut your kids from free lunch- the elderly from their food [meals on wheels]’.
I just heard Matthews [MSNBC] say ‘how can you vote for cuts that when someone’s mother goes to the hospital for an operation- and you cut their Medicare and the doctor says- sorry- because of the Repubs- you must die’.
Now- if the Dems keep playing this game- if they do not try and deal with a very real problem- if they politicize it like this- then yes- we will be just like Greece in a few more years.
Now- I’m not saying I support the Ryan plan out of hand- but we need something fairly close.
Some say his plan does not cut the debt fast enough.
Either way- the number 1 crisis facing the country right now is our exploding debt- and the most notable organized group- who has actually organized around this problem- is the Tea Party.
While I am not a hard right type of guy- and do have some social justice issues that I support [I do not want to kick kids and grandma out on the street] yet- if the most prominent ‘right wing’ group is actually nominating people who will do something about the number one problem our country is facing.
Then maybe we should stop throwing up our hands and talking about the end of the world- maybe- just maybe- it might be what the doctor ordered.
1832- BIDENS REVENGE?
As we end the week- once again- we have had some ‘real’ stories- things that are important- and silly stuff.
First- a few days back the Obama administration spiked the football over the Bin laden killing and we had a few days of back and forth on it.
One of the things they did was released some of the secret memos we found at the time of the raid.
Now- you must understand that Obama makes the call- along with the intelligence people- on what to let out.
So- as I watched the various media outlets repeat- over and over again- the top lines- I could not stop laughing- very loudly- as they reported one of Bin laden’s desires.
Now- I did not laugh at the first part ‘we want to kill the president of the U.S.’.
No- not funny.
But the next part ‘and whatever you do- don’t hurt Biden! We need him to survive- because he will become president and he does not know what he’s doing- he will bring the U.S. down’.
Now- you must see that Bin laden's final plot- the mastermind of 911- his plan was to get Biden in the top seat and watch him bring the country down.
Okay- to me this was funny- to see the reporters doing this story while trying not to laugh.
How do you think Ole Joe took it?
Okay- this is my conspiracy theory- obviously he’s watching this story over and over again- knowing that the President made ‘the call’ to release this very intriguing tid bit.
And who knows- maybe Obama did it out of some hidden anger about Biden making so many gaffs in the first term.
So Biden’s response?
He goes on national TV and says how much he supports gay marriage- a position that the Pres did not make yet.
Touché
Now- the president and his people have to scramble to get the story under control- they at first try to ignore it- but after a few days Obama comes ‘out of the closet’ and makes the call- yes- he too is for it.
Now- some think this was all planned- that they wanted to orchestrate the pro Obama stance and contrast it with the next story- how Romney is a serial gay bashing bully- with a pair of scissors.
I don’t know- I think Biden just did what he does best- and spoke before he thought.
Anyway- as I’m watching the media coverage of the most serious story of the day.
The terrible Syrian bombing that killed many?
No.
The very troubling revelation that J.P. Morgan/Chase [the countries largest bank] took a 2 billion dollar hit in the first quarter?
No.
I’m talking about the most important story of the day.
That in 1965 Romney stalked some kid with blonde hair in his prep type high school- and he cut his Goldie locks!
Yes- as I’m watching this breaking worlds news- the news also comes out that Biden trotted on over to the White house and apologized to the boss.
Wow- they actually had to report this.
‘John- do you really believe Biden did this to get even’?
No- not really- but just know- it was Bin laden’s wish for Joe to get 4 more.
Okay- J.P. Morgan.
Yesterday morning I posted about my belief that most financial guys have tried to down play the Euro debt crisis- that they are not seeing the real danger it plays for the U.S.
Then during the day I caught the story that Jamie Dimon- the CEO of Morgan- held a conference call and let the cat out of the bag- that they made bad investments and lost 2 billion.
As I watched thru out the day I thought ‘I bet it has something to do with the E.U.’
Sure enough it did.
It looks like this bank made the same gamble that Jon Corzine and his investment group did.
The same thing that began our ‘great recession’ at the end of 2008 when Obama came into office.
They made certain types of investments- called Hedging- and they bet that the European bonds would get bailed out and all would go well.
Now- the fact is things look like they might go downhill- and that some of the E.U. countries will default on their debt and that the Euro currency might even go bust.
Okay- J.P. Morgan still did the kind of thing that led us into the huge financial problems we have been dealing with these past few years.
So the fact is ‘too big to fail’ is still out there- it can in fact happen again.
The reason we bailed out the big financial institutions was because all the insider guys who worked for Bush [and Obama] convinced the presidents [Bush and Obama] that this was what needed to be done- or else the global financial system might fail.
Now- after we did the bailout we were supposed to put in place checks and balances that would never allow a huge bank- that has FDIC insurance- which means if they fail the govt. bails out the depositors- to get into a spot again where we might have to do it again.
But we did not fix the ‘too big to fail’ problem- and once again we see that these huge banks are still ‘making bets’ with money.
Romney.
Okay- in the morning I saw that the Washington post ran a 3 page story on Romney’s ‘wicked ways’.
Yes- when I was in high school we used to beat the hell out of people- in the school building.
We bought drugs- and used them- on school grounds.
And we engaged in all types of illegal activity during our high school days.
So- as the campaign heats up- the Washington Post did their due diligence and went and tracked down 5 of Romney’s classmates- from 1965- and confirmed the story that Romney was a serial bully back in the day.
Okay- as the article went on- it portrayed Romney as the ring leader of a group of brief case carrying youth [the article did say this] that were upset about this kid who wore long blonde hair at the school.
They said that Romney teased this boy- who might have been gay- and even called him a girly name.
So- after a period of time- Romney just could not take it anymore and he lead this group of fellow students to go and get the blonde kid.
Yea- the article states that as the boys held the kid down- Romney- armed with a pair of scissors ‘repeatedly’ [geez- not one snip!] cut the boys hair- as tears arose in the boys eyes.
Okay- did we really need to know this?
Did it really need to be a top story- right up there with all the real news going on in the world?
Look- I don’t want to say bullying is not a problem- but in 1965- if the worst thing you can find on Romney is this- then this guy is a goody too shoes!
I find it funny that the media were able to go back 50 years for this silly story- and they never managed to find the drug dealer who sold coke to Obama when he was in school [Obama admits using ‘blow’ back in the day].
Now- do I want to know who the president bought the cocaine from- not really.
But I sure did not want to know that Romney ‘packed scissors’ back in the day.
So you see what the next year will be like- a very sad thing indeed.
So as the week comes to a close we had some important stuff- and some not so important stuff.
We had a few apologies [Biden- Romney apologized too- even though the blonde victim died a few years ago- you know- those Mormons do have continuing relationships with the dead!]
And we had some serious stories as well- the Syrian situation is bad- many people are dying over there- and I do hope we can do something about it.
All in all it was a busy week- lets all try and take a break this weekend.
1833- HENRY
I’ve been getting together with the homeless guys these past few days- I haven’t seen Henry in a while and I thought I better check up on the guys.
Henry- who I have written about a lot- is one of the close friends from the street.
He grew up in the north east- Mass. - so we have ties.
Henry is a true bible scholar- I mean I might mention a verse and Henry will quote the entire chapter- it’s kind of like a Rain Man type thing- but instead of remembering the gambling numbers- he does it with the bible.
Anyway we had a good fellowship- we went for a nice ride over the causeway and headed towards Rockport- just a chance for Henry to see the area.
I went to pick him up at the boat dock where he works- but missed him- caught him at the mission.
I gave Henry some money- he doesn’t drink or get drunk [or do drugs] with the money so it’s not like I’m contributing to the delinquency of a senior.
When we got back to the house I cooked a few things for Henry- though he did not want me to- yet he ate well.
He likes to catch the sports on my Direct TV- he’s a sports nut- knows all the latest stats- reads the scores in the paper- or catches a coffee at the Mexican restaurant and watches the sports on the tube.
From what I have picked up over the years- I think Henry used to be one of the top wrestlers at his high school- till this day- Henry looks to be in top physical shape- like he works out- he’s a few years older than me- 52?- yet he’s a health nut.
So he likes being able to catch the multiple sports channels on my TV.
Henry had a good day- and for a real homeless guy- looks the part- you would never know what a straight shooter he is.
One time we were sitting at the homeless mission and they were gonna do the Lords Supper.
I said ‘great- I'm in’ Henry did not partake- he later told me it would be a violation of the apostle Paul’s order to the Corinthians not to partake with sinners- and yes- some of the guys were drunk.
Yeah- he was right- I just felt like I needed to partake at the time.
The next day I took a ride to the bay front area of our city- one of the most beautiful downtowns you will ever see- many post cards have the area highlighted.
I just took a walk by the bay- and spotted a homeless girl- I was surprised- I rarely have seen them in that area.
I talked to her a little while and gave her some money- she was a Black girl.
About a mile down the road I also saw a Black kid sleeping on the bench- obviously homeless too- I think she might have been with him.
The other day I mentioned that in the next few weeks I will try and read/study 1st John.
He is the 3rd ‘pillar’ in the 3 main church leaders that we wanted to cover.
Even though I barley started reading the letter- I know one of the main themes from John is ‘he that obeys Gods commands is from God’.
John hits this theme a lot.
And then he says the command is ‘he that sees his brother in need and does not help him- how can Gods love be in you?’
This theme is repeated over and over again in John’s letter- and it’s the same message Jesus gave when he was asked what the great commandment was.
‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and might- and your neighbor as yourself’.
Jesus said ‘on these 2 hang all the law and the prophets’.
Yeah- this is the major emphasis that we will look at when we cover his letter.
I think I will try and see the guy’s today- maybe go down to the mission for a little while.
Not all of the homeless are like Henry- Henry works- does not get ‘a check’ [if you knew how many young guys- perfect health- are all getting govt. checks it would make you sick].
No- Henry- like some of my other friends [Tim] does not live off of the welfare system.
They do eat the free lunch at the mission [which I do not- I don’t take the meals that are intended for the poor] yet I see retried/working people drive up in the cars- or on their motorcycles- and they simply come for the free food.
The mission even has said to me ‘John- eat- because the more people who sign up- the more money we get’.
Geez- I know they mean well- but it’s like when I worked at the fire dept. - we tried to use all the money in our budget- even if we didn’t need it- just so they wouldn’t cut our budget the next year.
So we need to keep these things in mind when the accusation is made politically ‘they want to take food from grandma- kids’ in some of these cases its food from people who have it- but they prefer the free meals instead.
All in all I focus on the truly needy- the guys who have lived their entire lives on the streets.
Yeah- John said if we see our brother in need and don’t help him- then how can we say Gods love is in us?
1834- HOW LOW WILL IT GO?
This past week I spoke with my Liberal friend from the North- yes- a real person- not a composite!
I always try and take the middle ground in these talks- showing my friend that to be too partisan clouds the mind.
One example- this friend has bought the whole media line that Romney- because of his wealth- is unfit to serve.
That his wife does just sit on the couch all day and does nothing- and they are unable to speak about real issues because of this.
Now- this person voted for Kerry a few years back.
I told my liberal friend ‘say if you found out that Romney actually never earned his money- but he married his wife- who also never earned it- but she inherited it from a rich father’.
And say if Romney was spending all of his wife’s money on yachts- expensive vacation homes- and all the ritzy stuff that Romney has [elevators for cars].
Of course my friend would be even more mad.
Yet this is exactly what happened to John Kerry.
He simply married a woman who was heir to the Heinz ketchup fortune.
Okay- does this make Kerry a bad man?
No.
But this shouldn’t make Romney a bad man either- yet I never heard one story about Kerry being a free loader off of his wife’s money.
The point being we get mad at the other side- even though we allow those same things to slip by if it happens on ‘our side’.
Now- the other day I posted on the economy- that I felt we still had a ‘long hard slog’ ahead.
Others had too rosy of a picture in my view.
Now- economics/finances is like anything else- you look at the data and make the best ‘guess’ possible.
When I looked at the data at the end of last year- we had some bad signs ahead.
This year- the states and local govts [cities- towns] were not going to have anywhere near the revenue that they had for the past few years.
Why?
The federal govt. has cut back much of the funding that they gave to the states.
Obama care has also put a huge burden on the states.
One of the ways it ‘covers’ the uninsured is to simply mandate that the states put millions of more people on the Medicare rolls.
This is a tremendous cost to the states- money they don’t have.
Home prices.
Housing prices have gone down- in some places more than 50%- and the way most states/cities pay for their local expenses [schools] is this way [property tax].
So you basically have the states and cities having to come up with more money- and in reality they have nowhere to get the money.
Now- last night I watched the governor from Cali. say that the state is in almost double the debt that they we were expecting.
California is 16 billion in debt- not 9 billion as was projected.
Governor Brown- a smart guy- he once studied to be a Jesuit priest- they are top of the line intellectuals among Catholic priests.
[just as a side note- this order rose up during the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century. A soldier by the name of Ignatius Loyola was wounded and recovering in the hospital.
He read about the life of Christ and dedicated himself to the Lord.
The Jesuits were the order he founded.
They evangelized all the way into Asia- an area that the Protestant missionaries avoided.
The Jesuits played a major role in the scientific revolution- as a percentage of how few Jesuits there were- they had a huge impact on the development of modern science.]
So governor Brown said his state has lived beyond it’s means for too long- they spent money they did not have- and now the chickens have come home to roost.
Brown is a liberal Democrat.
The governor of N.Y. said the same thing a few months back.
When he got elected he actually worked with the unions in the state and worked out a deal where they were going to cut the huge expenses that the retirees managed to bargain for over the years.
Cuomo- another Democrat- said it was impossible for the state to continue to pay out these lavish benefits.
After the union leaders made the deal- the rank and file rose up [like Greece] and simply elected new leaders who would fight the changes.
I heard a clip from Cuomo- he was yelling ‘we can’t keep making the rich/businesses pay- they are all leaving the state’- just like Cali.
So- with unemployment at historic highs- with state and local govts having to lay off tons of teachers and cops and firefighters.
While the cost to the states is going up- a lot [Obama care].
With all these things in the hopper- besides the ‘unknowns’ like the banks [Morgan Chase] still making risky bets.
Yes- in my view I could not see how some financial guys were talking a huge recovery- some have said they thought the DOW would be at 17,000 next year- nuts!
As I spoke to my liberal friend- they said ‘so- do you think Romney would have been able to create more jobs than Obama’!
They were mad- I said I’m really not a Romney supporter- but being I live in oil state I know from firsthand experience that Obama has cost us jobs.
When he got in office the regulations and the EPA came down hard on the state- they cost lots of jobs.
I saw a clip- video- from Obama the other day- it was from January of 2008- he said he wanted to see the cost of opening up coal powered plants go so high that any sane business person would simply choose not to do it.
Okay- if you have said these things- and have actually done them- then yes- there have been very real jobs lost because of these things.
I assume Romney would not have done this- at least not as much as Obama.
So yes- it’s quite possible that the president’s agenda has cost jobs.
I also explained to my friend that many business owners have put off hiring for 3 years now- because if Obama care passes many of them will be mandated to pay the health care- or a huge fine- for each worker.
Now- as noble as these things might be- they cost real jobs.
My liberal friend- who is a nice person- has lived off of govt. programs for a long time- has only worked a real job for a small part of life.
This person simply had no idea how the private sector really worked- they just listen to the media talking points- and the real world is so much different.
1835- PREACHERS AND MONEY- WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY?
Let’s try and cover a few basic principles today.
For some reason the past few weeks I have kind of hit on the money/prosperity gospel somewhat.
I really did not plan this- but it is such a major part of today’s church that the issue comes up a lot.
When I covered the verses in 1st Peter the other day- one of the ‘suffering’ verses went on to say ‘the elders [church leaders] that are among you I exhort… take oversight of the flock among you…not for filthy lucre [money] but of a ready mind’.
You see this theme all thru out the New and Old testaments.
The apostle Paul wrote to the Ephesian church and said ‘he that does not have a job- get one- so you can have to give to those in need’.
Now- he applies this principle to the leaders as well.
In the book of Acts- chapter 20- he calls the church leaders from the city of Ephesus to give them some final words before he departs.
He tells them ‘the whole time I was with you- I worked to provide for my needs- and the needs of those who were with me- I coveted no mans money’.
He said he did this to leave THEM [the church leaders- ministers] an example that they would follow.
The basic principle is church leaders were not to ‘go into ministry’ with the idea [goal] of ‘reaping a financial harvest’.
Now- this teaching runs all thru out the bible.
So how come so many modern themes violate this teaching?
We all have a tendency to ‘see’ what we want to see- and throw the rest out.
You can find verses that speak about providing for the needs of those who are feeding us the word of God.
The apostle Paul said ‘don’t muzzle the ox that treads out the corn’.
Meaning?
Support those who are feeding you the word.
Okay- got it.
Jesus said to his men ‘when you go into a city and they give you a place to stay [for the night!] and feed you- then take it- the worker is worthy of his hire’.
So we see the basic principle of helping those out who are teaching us Gods word- while at the same time the warning- and example that the Apostle Paul gave us- that you are not doing this for the money.
Paul told the Corinthian church that when he was with them he preached the gospel free of charge.
In the Old Testament book of Nehemiah- he was used of God to restore the city of Jerusalem that was broken down and he became the governor during the rebuilding.
He asks God to look upon him and bless him because he did not take the regular salary- that he had the right to take- but was giving the other leaders an example that they are not in this for the cash.
The same type of thing that Paul did.
So if we take a balanced view- from the whole bible- we come up with a teaching that says ‘yes- it’s fine to support your teachers/preachers- but- they are not to become rich from this support- and we also need some of them to do it for free- to work a regular job as well- to give an example to others that they too should work- and not see ministry as a career choice- from which you become wealthy’.
Now- this type of teaching will simply be rejected by those who don’t like it- they will continue to justify a ‘I’m in this for a financial harvest’ type thing- and simply by pass all the scriptures that seem to be contrary to their personal desire.
When we recently overviewed the book of James I showed you how one of the main themes from James is the warning [rebuke] of the rich and his praise for the poor.
Many years ago- when I used to listen and get into the Prosperity gospel- I remember one of the main teachings came from the letter of James.
It focused on James’ writing about the tongue- a good confession.
As well as his exhortation to not be double minded.
But these verses were actually used in contradiction to the main point of James.
They were used to say ‘maintain your confession of wealth- if anyone tries to tell you anything different- you must reject it- don’t be double minded- keep the wealth confession and you will receive a 100 fold harvest’ [which by the way is another distortion from the teaching of Jesus].
So even though James says ‘beware you rich- your money and riches are rotting- they are fading away- they are a witness against you in the Day of Judgment’.
Or ‘Has not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom’.
‘Do not the rich call you before the courts and blaspheme that holy name by which your are called’.
I mean this theme is all thru out the letter- yet the teaching among the prosperity group managed to bypass all these themes- and simply pick a few verses out and turned them into a modern day financial scheme.
Okay-enough for now- I guess I’ll paste my first little book at the bottom of this post.
I wrote it years ago and eventually put it on a disc and sent it out.
It really is amateurish in a way [in my view] but there are lots of verses I reference that might help those who are interested in this subject.
Okay- that’s it for now- read and enjoy.
1836- IT WAS THE PARENTS FAULT
I read an article the other day that got me mad.
It was a news story about a prisoner of war- one of our guys- who was taken captive in Afghanistan in 2009.
He has been held in Pakistan by the Taliban/Al-Qaida for the past 3 years.
As I read the article it was ‘slanted’ to make it sound like it was the parent’s fault that their son was still captive.
How/Why?
The article stated that the parents just came out and finally ‘broke their silence’ which finally ‘freed the hands of the President to work to free the man’.
Now- as a media critic- it took no time at all to see that this journalist was simply lying to make it look like Obama was just- and the parents themselves were to blame for their son’s imprisonment.
What do you think would make the parents ‘keep silent’ for all those years?
Obviously they were told that some type of negotiations were going on- and to keep the thing private.
Then why do you think they would come out now?
Because they probably felt like the administration was dragging their feet.
So later in the day I saw multiple stories about the case- and that’s exactly what happened.
The parents have been trying to meet with the President for a couple of years and he has refused to meet with them.
They spoke publicly because they feared for their son’s life.
Okay- this particular media bias upset me more than usual because they printed a nationwide story- that blamed the parents for their sons fate- all in order to spin the story to benefit Obama.
The other day I heard a montage of statements from an NBC news man.
These were various statements made over the last couple of years about the President.
‘His I.Q. must be at least 160’
‘That smile is worth 5-10 points alone in the election’
‘His body is in great shape- just look at that lean body’
‘I feel a tingle go up my leg when I hear him speak’
‘A star is born’ [after the election]
Okay- I’m not one of those ‘far right’ guys who thinks the President might actually be the anti Christ [or the Messiah- false].
But what would posses any news man to talk this way?
I have gay friends- I don’t condone the lifestyle- but I have never even heard them speak about another man like this.
The point?
When the media does this- when they are willing to slander the parents of a POW- and make it sound like they were the very ones who 'tied up Obama’s hands’.
Then it’s very difficult to trust anything they say.
The N.Y. Times just did a poll that said over 60% of the American people believe that Obama’s ‘new’ gay marriage stance was a political calculation.
Now- believe it or not- I don’t hold this view.
I wrote on this a few posts back- and I do believe that Biden simply did what he does best and forced the president’s hand by blurting out that he himself was for gay marriage.
So why do over 60 % believe his decision was political?
A day or 2 after the decision to come out in favor of it- the Washington Post [or times?] put out that now infamous 5 page- front page story about Romney being an anti gay bashing bully- who packs scissors!
Okay- this was a 5 page story- they obviously didn’t just come up with the thing in a day.
They were sitting on the story- probably waiting for the best time to deliver it- and because Obama just came out with his pro gay stand- they might have thought let’s do it now to contrast Romney as being anti gay.
Either way- the timing looked coordinated- people are not dumb- it’s an insult when the right or the left treat people like this.
It’s an insult to make it sound like the parents of a POW were ‘tying up the hands of the President’ and they were the ones who were putting their sons life at risk- as the President was sitting in the Oval Office wringing his hands over it.
Yes- media bias exists- we all want to give people the benefit of the doubt- but after a while people become suspicious- they see so many news stories that lean to one side- that they simply begin believing the worst.
SPECIAL REPORT!
Very rarely do I post more than once a day [sometimes once a week!] But as I sit here watching the news- some news shows [absent Fox] are going ballistic.
Why?
A story has hit the air that some conservative Pac [political action committee] is going to run a ‘negative campaign’ [could this be?] associating the president with Rev. Wright- his former pastor.
Now- whether a person agrees with this or not- both sides do it- and will continue to do so.
The description by the media is ‘a billion dollar campaign to bring the president down’.
I have never heard any other negative campaign described like this.
It has been reported that the Obama campaign plans on spending millions to attack Romney’s character.
Yet- the media simply describes it as ‘there you go- that’s modern politics’.
2nd- there is another story that has hit the air today- it is a TRUE story about a past literary agent for the president.
This agency- with the president’s obvious approval [knowledge] listed the president as being born in Kenya.
Now- some media people are ready to explode.
Why?
They are not reporting that the story is actually true- not that he was born in Kenya [I don’t think so personally] But that he had his own lit. agent represent him this way.
For various reasons- in the past the president has used ways to define himself as having an international persona.
He himself has used this characterization.
So- how do we explain his own agent speaking [actually putting it in a promotional book] about him being born in Kenya?
I don’t know.
But the story is not fake- the book actually exists [until they burn the last copy].
But instead of the media reporting that the story is true- that this literary agent represented the president this way [in 1991].
No- they are making it sound like the story is fake- and that anyone who believes it is a birther.
Even the conservative sites that broke the story DO NOT BELIEVE HE WAS BORN IN KENYA- they say so in the coverage.
They simply are reporting the factual part of the story- that an agent for Obama represented him as being born in Kenya.
A while back I had a conversation with a friend- this friend is a liberal.
I informed the person that one of the media Fables was that Sarah Palin said ‘you can see Russia from my house’.
In actuality she never did say this.
She said ‘you can see portions of Russia from some spots in Alaska’.
Tina Fey [SNL] made the other quote famous.
After not being able to convince my friend of the truth- I then realized that either way this person still thought Palin was an idiot.
Why?
Because ‘who thinks you can see Russia from Alaska!’
Actually- you can see Russia from Alaska- for real!
But on most maps- they show the Western half right up until Alaska- and the Eastern half ends at Russia.
So- any thinking person would think ‘gee- I guess if you put the 2 ends together [called a globe?] you might have Alaska and Russia side by side’.
Yes- and this is why Alaskans find it necessary to often inform people that you can indeed see Russia from Alaska.
But the media [and my friend] were laughing so hard- they never heard the message.
[The purpose of this post is not to condone negative campaigning- or to engage in Birtherism- But to simply show you how we respond to things differently.
Instead of the media going ballistic ‘how dare anyone say the president was born in Kenya’.
They could simply report that a past agent for Obama described him this way- and they can say the agent was obviously mistaken.
But instead- many people- good people- will never know the truth about the story.
They will go on for years with the mindset ‘wow- can you believe some people think you can see Russia from Alaska?’]
1837- DID THE HILLS CLAP HANDS?
I usually end the week with a ‘week in review [news]’ type thing- but being I posted 2 political things yesterday- let’s do something spiritual.
The other week I mentioned I just went thru a course [again] on early Christianity.
The teacher- a famous scholar of the day- came from a liberal background in scholarship.
I do like the man- though I come from a different view- I believe the bible is inspired by God- and is ‘the word of God’.
Now- that statement can be expanded on- and at times I have done that.
There are Fundamentalist positions on biblical inspiration that at times leave much to be desired.
The bible has various forms of literature within it.
Poetry- Apocalyptic [Revelation, Daniel] - Symbolic- etc.
So inspiration- or reading the bible ‘literally’ simply means when you read those portions- literally- you read them as you would any other form of literature in the same class.
Example.
In Psalms [poetry type category] you read that ‘all the hills clapped their hands and sang’.
Okay- did the writer ‘literally’ mean this?
No- he was using poetry to describe the majesty of God.
But some people do think these verses should be read ‘literally’ and that in some way nature ‘clapped hands’.
The same with the book of Revelation- when we read about the Dragon- or the number of the beast- we realize these are symbols- or riddles- that we need not take ‘literally’.
Will there be an actual number- or code- that some future govt. will stamp on people’s heads or hands?
Probably not.
Have there been teachers/preachers who have taught this kind of thing- who have said ‘we live in a day like never before- where you can actually mark someone in the head/hand thru computer chips’.
So you have people who refuse to get social security cards- or avoid using the computer marker at the grocery store.
But these ways of looking at the bible are too simplistic- and don’t fit the actual style of the writer.
Is this the only time in history when we have the ability to mark people on their bodies?
Of course not- we read in the bible itself that in the Old Testament they actually ‘branded’ slaves- had ways to bore a hole in a person’s ear to show he belonged to an owner.
But we never think of this- we simply accept what we hear and that’s that.
The other day I was talking to a very knowledgeable man in the bible- he has read it [like me] hundreds of times over the years.
One time I mentioned to him the debate [among scholars] over the days of creation we read about in Genesis chapter 1[and 2].
I gave him various ways people interpret the text.
I said ‘you know- Genesis one says God created the Sun on day 4- but he made light on day 1’.
Now- I mentioned this as someone who does take the bible ‘literally’ but who also leaves room that the earth is much older than 6 thousand years.
To my surprise- my friend never thought of this ‘problem’.
He asked ‘what day was the sun made?’
Now- I know he has read the text a lot- but it never dawned on him that the Genesis account has this ‘problem’.
How do we solve it?
Some say ‘God made another source of light for the first 3 days’.
Okay- I don’t go for that.
But I do ‘go for’ the possibility that God is not giving us a scientific account of the creation of the world- be he is giving us a way we can grasp it- being everyone who reads the text is not a scientist.
One interesting view is God was using the 6 day [7] ‘form’ to categorize the order of things.
Day 1- light. Day 3- luminaries [things that give light]
Day 2- sky, water. Day 4- fish- fowl [things that fill the sky- water]
Day 3- land- vegetation. Day 5- animals, humans [things that eat the stuff]
So it seems like the first ‘3 days’ correspond to the things created on the last ‘3days’.
Okay- is this the only way to see it?
No.
But it shows you that sometimes there is more to the story than meets the eye.
You say ‘John- I will just take it like it says- the bible says it- that settles it’.
Actually I’m fine with that- but the ‘super’ literal way does force the reader to come up with another source of light for the first 3 days- so that interpretation has its problems as well.
Point?
Just because we have symbol- poetry- prophecy- and various forms/styles of literature in the bible- this does not mean the bible is wrong- or ‘full of holes’.
No- it means when we come across these various styles we leave enough room to interpret them in the style they were written.
Okay- there’s obviously much that can be said on this subject- maybe I’ll do more over the next week or so.
Like how we got our bible- the development of the Canon [how we know which books are in- and which are not ‘in’].
There were other writings that the early church debated over.
Some of these other writings were considered out and out lies.
But not all- some of the other books were considered okay- but for various reasons they did not make it into the bible.
And a few that made it in were disputed- for various reasons.
The church did not have a ‘complete’ canon until the 4th century.
It is true that the early Christians had a basic unanimity on what was in and what was out.
But not until the 4th century was it decided for sure.
So maybe I’ll do a few posts on that.
I do come from the ‘conservative’ view on this- I do believe the bible is ‘the word of God’.
But that does not always mean you take every verse ‘literally’ in the sense that the ‘hills clapped their hands’- Got it?
1838- YOUR SO BAIN
About a week ago I noticed something.
The media began running with a story that said ‘the austerity programs in Europe did not work- look- their economies are collapsing’.
Now- at first there were just a few people saying it- Paul Krugman from the N.Y. Times.
He is a liberal economist who has advocated for more stimulus spending.
He has said that 800 billion was not enough [the 1st stimulus] that we needed about 2 trillion.
Of course if your whole career is based on teaching this principle [Krugman is a Noble Prize winning economist] then instead of admitting you were wrong- you will say ‘they did not spend enough’.
So he just put out another book [how to spend our way out of this depression] and some others have jumped on the bandwagon.
These people know that we will never know if 2 trillion would have done the job- because we will never agree to another trillion in stimulus.
So- after hearing inklings of this over the past couple of weeks- I saw a report on the presidents meeting with the G-8 nations [top economies of the world] and the news report showed Obama and the U.S. on one side- and the E.U. nations on the other side.
They then said how Obama- and the stimulus- brought our country out of the recession- and that all these other E.U. nations tried austerity- and it failed.
What?
The E.U. nations that are suffering their own ‘great depression’ got into this situation by spending more than they had.
Greece was the first one to see trouble- and others followed.
This is why we saw the Greek riots and stuff like that.
Now- out of the 17 nations that make up the common currency group- the Euro- Germany is the most stable of the bunch.
Germany has practiced austerity [spend less than you have] for years- they saw the writing on the wall and cut back their spending years ago.
They are also the strongest nation in the Euro Zone [note- there are 28 nations in the European Union- but only 17 are in the common currency called the Euro- Obviously Great Britain has the largest economy in Europe.]
So- after some of the ‘overspending nations’ got into trouble- they wanted the banks in the E.U. region to bail them out [U.S. style].
The banks- and the other more stable economies told Greece 'if you want the bail out- you must show us you are serious about getting your house in order’.
And this led to cutbacks in spending in Greece and a few other troubled nations.
Okay- the Greeks did not like the new cut back measures [called austerity] - many of the retired people lost half their pensions- other benefits were lost.
Greeks retire in their 50’s- with full benefits.
They gave too much over the years- and got in over their heads.
So Germany said ‘look- our people retire at 70- if you want our tax money to bail you out- then you need to retire at the age we do’!
Sure- they were mad- they were not going to subsidize another countries young retirees.
So all this played into the call for cuts.
Did the cuts work?
They never had a chance to.
The recent elections in Greece kicked out all the ‘cutters’ and put in new people who vowed to tax the rich.
In France- the new leader is calling for a 75 percent tax on the rich- 75!
So- the Euro Zone nations have not even been able to see if the cutting worked.
There spending went up the last few years- from 44 to 49 %- as compared to their GPD.
So- when the media reported ‘the Obama spending worked- and the E.U. cutting did not’ that’s really not the full story.
I find it funny how quick the media and the Obama people began running with this message- in no time at all they saw a political advantage in making it look like the Krugmans of the world were right.
Remember- the strongest economy in the Euro Zone is Germany- and they did not spend like the other weaker nations- or like the U.S.
They are the strongest because they reigned in spending- not increase it.
The U.S. economy did gain some benefit from the 800 billion stimulus- because much of the money that went to the states was used to simply prop up the states budgets- but that money is now gone.
Overall- the cost per job from the stimulus money was not worth it- and many of the programs [Solyndra] that we spent money on was lost.
So all in all- to say ‘the U.S. has proved that stimulus works- and the E.U. has proved that cutting does not’ is really not true.
Also- the other day I posted about the danger of the President going around and using the class warfare language.
Sure enough- we had 2 more incidents of anarchists [people mad at govt. and rich folk] who were arrested for planning terrorist attacks.
These guys [5 in all] were at the NATO meeting in Chicago and supposedly were planning bad stuff.
Some say they were set up by undercover agents- so how serious they were we don’t know.
But this happened just days after Biden went on a rage at some union event.
I’m sure you saw the clip ‘they don’t get us- they don’t know who we are!’
The ‘they’ are the rich folk [opps- Biden just happens to be one].
Now- he went on for a few minutes- in a rage.
The Obama campaign has continued to hit private enterprise hard- they are gonna wind up sinking Bain Capital.
Bain is the private equity firm that Romney ran.
Bain has gone in to businesses in trouble has done one of 2 things.
Sometimes they close the business and pass the profits off to the stock holders.
Other times they save the business- and create jobs.
I must admit- as media critic- I even began becoming influenced by the nonstop campaign against Bain.
Just recently I saw the stats- they actually have helped/created more jobs than they lost.
I never knew this.
Just yesterday Bain had to start putting out statements in defense of their business.
You must understand that the president’s choice to basically throw this private group under the bus is sad.
If you work- or have money invested in Bain- you are in trouble.
Why?
Look- private companies hire Bain to come in- and at times- help the company.
Now- if you are an employer- and word gets out ‘the boss hired Bain’! The Union guys will revolt!
You say ‘well John- that’s good- they will save their jobs’.
Not always.
The company will simply avoid the media publicity from Bain and hire another firm.
So- the decision to blast Bain is an attack on jobs- in a way.
Even Cory Booker- the mayor of Newark- went on the defense of Bain on Sundays Meet the Press.
He had to back track later because he is a supporter of Obama.
But he too realizes that to attack private equity is stupid.
Private equity just bailed out Newark a year or so ago.
Mark Zuckerberg [Facebook founder] gave around 100 million to Newark to help with the schools.
Yeah- Corey had a dog in the fight- and it wasn’t Obama!
Okay- I think will end with this- I was gonna throw in another thing or 2- but let it wait.
Rarely is one side always right- and the other always wrong.
But when you see the trend of a false story develop in the media- and the concurrent Obama campaign narrative- then you need to be aware that this in not journalism.
It is simple advocacy.
1839-SCAPEGOAT
Yesterday I went down to the local mission- I usually catch up with my homeless friends there.
I didn’t see Henry- but Michael showed up.
I met Mike around 20 years ago.
[ just a note- on my blog- under the Feb. posts of each year I have a category called ‘Homeless’.
I write about my friends in these posts.
I came to Corpus in 1992- most of the guys I met the first year or 2.
So you might read a post that says ‘I knew this guy for 20 years’. Then maybe in another post ’15 years’.
I don’t keep exact numbers- just realize I have known most of these guys since 1992]
The last time I saw Mike was around 2-3 years ago.
He was living on the other side of town- actually- more in the Mexican type area.
Now- I’m ‘at home’ in the Barrio- just like in the ‘white boy’ part of town.
Over the years I have been to the Govt. housing- visiting families- wives- kids- of my buddies that were in jail.
Lots of them were members of the church I started years ago.
So to me- race means nothing.
[Like I told my daughters friend one day ‘I’m not racist- I think Whites are only a little bit better than the other races’ Joke!]
But Mike- well- he was in the ‘bad part’ of town.
So he told me he moved back to ‘the Bluff’ and has a weekly room at the Plaza hotel.
A lot of the ‘homeless’ guys do have places- non permanent- where they stay on and off- this is Mikes thing.
He is working as a cook at the Golden Corral- a famous buffet in Corpus.
We caught up on old times.
Mike asked if I was gonna be around for a while- I told him yeah.
He walked back to the hotel- about 3 blocks- to show me his latest art work.
Mike is an A-1 artist- he has painted for years.
He even painted the signs for the apartments my wife manages [about 15 years ago].
He told me he just painted the for sale signs down the street.
The owner of Floyds Christian Restaurant is selling some land- Mike did the signs.
So he comes back with about 7 paintings- I mean beautiful stuff- all originals.
He paints ‘free style’ he doesn’t look at another picture- just from his mind.
I loved the paintings.
They were different than what I saw before.
Lots of birds- flowers.
Shore line- boats- fish.
He used to do lots of gory stuff- skulls- Mega death stuff [rock group].
I asked him if I could buy one- he does not sell them- but he told me he would let me have one for the cost of the materials.
I bought a beautiful scene- some fishermen pulling in their nets by the sea- a huge pelican on the dock- and these great sunflowers peering over them.
15 bucks.
A steal.
I gave Mike a ride back to the hotel- he did carry all these pictures by hand.
We talked- for about 4 hours.
I have found the guys- who have mental challenges- like Mike- they really benefit just from having a friend to talk to.
It was funny in a way- I must have quoted 50 individual verses that fit the exact scenario that Mike was communicating.
I really don’t ‘preach’ much at all when I’m with the brothers.
They know I’m helping them out [we often go out to eat] and they know I do ministry stuff.
But all these friendships are just that- these guys are simply friends I have made over the years.
But this day was different- I really taught Mike a lot of stuff- in a way that never really happened in the past.
Example.
He was telling me how he simply does his art on his own- most people don’t even know his talent.
When he brought the paintings to the mission- everyone was shocked that he actually painted them.
They have known Mike for years- yet they never saw his work.
So Mike told me that he likes doing his work in private- and simply enjoying the satisfaction of the paintings.
I told him that Jesus taught this ‘when you do your good works- don’t let the left hand know what the right hand is doing- do it in secret- and God will reward you openly’.
He said ‘yeah- that’s it!’
One painting he had sitting by the sink- he did not bring this one to the mission- was Christ on the Cross.
Mike showed me the nails in Christ’s hands.
He made them crooked on purpose- he said ‘my dad always told me I couldn’t even drive a nail in straight’.
He did this on purpose- in a way it was prophetic.
The painting of Christ- and the words that hurt Mike- the words he never forgot thru out his life.
He told me that in the past when he did artwork for various people [he has done portraits for hundreds of dollars- though he does not sell his own stuff].
That sometimes people take out their faults on the artist.
If they are dealing with problems they tend to pass them off to the artist.
As we sat there- with the painting of Christ- and the crooked nails.
I told Mike ‘this also is in the bible’
I went on to tell the story in the Old Testament of the Scapegoat.
Yeah- the Scapegoat comes from the bible.
In the Jewish religion at the time- you had the priest bring 2 goats- on one he would lay his hands- symbolically saying ‘we put the sins of the people on you’.
The one goat- the Scape goat- would then run away.
But they took the other- and sacrificed it.
I told Mike- this is what the Scapegoat is- Jesus himself bares the guilt and problems that the people bring to the table.
Mike once again said ‘yeah- that’s it’.
This went on for around 4 hours- I felt it was Gods way of communicating to my old friend- in a way that I never really was able to in the past.
He showed me an art book he bought from Barnes and Noble.
He really liked the way the author drew.
It was a teaching guide for artists.
It had quotes of all the famous painters of the past.
One from DaVinci said ‘the greatest mastery of all is the mastery of one’s self’ [paraphrase].
I told Mike ‘this too is in the bible’.
I quoted from Proverbs ‘he that has no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down and without walls- but he that rules his spirit is better than he that takes a city’,
Once again- it clicked.
I took pictures of the paintings with my cell phone- I told Mike if they come out good I’ll try and post them on my site so my friends can see.
I looked at them later- they did not come out too good.
The one of Christ with the crooked nails- that came out good- I have that as my Wall paper on the phone.
Maybe my daughter will help me post it on the site?
I have known Mike a long time.
His dad was in the Navy and they moved to the city years ago.
Mike is from upstate N.Y.
I have written about Mike before- he seems to have burned himself out on some type of drug over the years- you can tell he has mental problems.
But he is very talented- he has always worked- as long as I have known him.
And he has been on and off the streets for years.
I think the story about the scapegoat really made an impact.
Mike is smart- he asked me lots of stuff this day.
About creation- and science- things that other Christians have told him to reject.
I told Mike it’s okay to believe in certain scientific ‘proofs’ and also be a Christian [he knew a lot about the natural world- and I have taught lots about this over the years].
So he not only ‘saw’ a lot of things from the bible that he never saw before.
But I also was able to show him how the bible does not go against science [I actually just posted a note the other day on this].
I told Mike ‘why don’t you title the Cross painting- The Scapegoat’.
Every time you walk in the room- look at the painting and realize Christ has taken all the guilt and pressure and stuff that others have put on you- he is the Scapegoat’.
Sometimes its easier to remember a story when its connected to an image.
That’s why Jesus told parables- stories that people could ‘see’ in their minds.
Yeah- the scapegoat- with the crooked nails- yeah- how can you forget that?
1840- DAVID’S TENT
The other day I went thru the gospel of Mark.
Of course there’s a whole lot in the book- but I came across a story that I liked a lot.
In Marks gospel Jesus is with the disciples and they are going thru the fields picking the ‘ears of corn’ [note- you did not have corn- like we think- growing in the land at the time. They were picking grain. But the King James Bible- 1611- which I use- did translate the term corn].
Now- when the Pharisees saw this- it was the Sabbath day- they accused Jesus and his men of breaking Gods law.
Jesus responded by saying ‘have you never read the story of David when he was fleeing Saul- how he and his men ate the sacred bread- that is not lawful for men to eat- only the priests’.
I always liked this story because there is so much to unpack- let’s try to do a little.
Was it unlawful for the disciples to have done this?
Not really- the Pharisees were a group of religious leaders that rose up during the time of the captivity of the Jews a couple hundred years before the time of Christ.
They did serve a noble purpose at the start- they wanted to retain the culture and religious beliefs of Gods people during a time of displacement from their own land.
So this group established the synagogue system [sort of a Jewish ‘church’] and they would gather around on the Sabbath day and read the scriptures and be reminded of their heritage.
Okay- what happened to these brothers- like many other good things that meant well at the start- was after a while they became elitist.
They saw themselves as better than everyone else- they became judges of all other groups- and they developed a Tradition- called ‘The Tradition of the Elders’ which was an expansion on the law of God.
This is what Jesus often fought against in his day- the Tradition of the Elders [not all tradition in general!]
Why is this important?
It is common in our day for many well meaning believers- Born Again Christians- to disdain all Church tradition.
Many people [like myself] come from a former Catholic background- and one of the first things you normally hear is ‘look at all the bad traditions that the church taught’.
This mindset is often justified by Jesus condemnation of the ‘Traditions of men that make void the Word of God’.
Jesus was not throwing all tradition under the bus- he was rebuking THIS specific tradition.
Got it?
Okay- the reason I said ‘sort of’ [at the top] was because the defense Jesus gave said ‘didn’t you read what David did- when he ate the bread that was unlawful to eat’.
So Jesus really did not mind the ‘you broke the law’ accusation- but instead placed himself in the situation of King David and said ‘I too have authority over the Sabbath’.
In the Jewish mind of the 1st century- the statements like this that Jesus made [Moses said this- but I say this] these statements meant more than meets the eye.
They meant that Jesus saw himself as being equal with God.
If you carefully read the gospels you see this.
To the first century Jew- this was indeed a violation of what they were taught.
‘The Lord our God is One’.
So- Jesus defends himself and his men by saying ‘I am Lord over the Sabbath’
Strong words indeed.
The story of David is found in the book of Samuel.
He’s running from king Saul at the time- and he goes to the ‘House of God’ and needs food.
The priest [Abiathar] tells him he only has the sacred bread- which is reserved for the priests.
David makes up a story and says he’s on a special mission from Saul and the priest gives David the bread.
He eats- and gives to his men.
Now- when Jesus uses this story in the gospel- he does mention that David and his men both ate.
I find this interesting.
Because Jesus will sit down with his men at the last supper and do the same thing.
He tells them ‘take eat- this is my Body- drink- this is my Blood’.
How could Jesus ‘eat himself’?
The Bread and Wine represent the Body and Blood of Christ.
Jesus said his meat [bread- the thing that sustained him] was to do the will of God and finish his work.
He was sustained too by the mission he was on- he lived to ‘give his Body and Blood’.
This mission was his life’s purpose- he too ‘ate the Bread’.
Jesus also came from the lineage of king David- he was a ‘son’ of David.
In the above verses- it said ‘David came to the house of God’.
We often see this as the Temple.
But remember- the temple was not built yet.
David’s son Solomon will build it in the future.
So what ‘house of God’ did David come to?
It was the tabernacle [of Moses].
This was a tent type system that God gave to the children of Israel during their wilderness journey.
It became the central place of worship and sacrifice when they entered the promised land.
Eventually the main piece of this tent system gets taken by Israel's enemies [They stole the Ark- the box that held the 10 commandments].
And when David becomes king he gets it back.
As the Ark eventually winds up back in the hands of David- he builds another tent thing- called the Tabernacle of David- and he places the Ark under this tent.
Now- David is king at the time- the bible says he put on a Linen Ephod and worshipped God before this tent [he operated as a priest- which was unlawful for kings to do- normally!].
Understand- at the same time the Tabernacle of Moses still existed- it just did not have the Ark in it- David’s ‘new’ tent had the Ark.
This was symbolic of the New testament King/Priesthood of Jesus.
He in essence would usher the people into the presence of God- absent the Veil of the Temple- a covering that existed in the Tabernacle of Moses- which represented separation from God- but was not in the one David made.
So you see- when Jesus used David as an example- there was more than meets the eye- much more.
[Jesus is the New Testament King/Priest that died on the Cross- the Veil of the temple was ripped on that day- and he now represents us before the throne of God- absent the veil- the thing that separated man from God].
1841- ATHEIST SUNDAY SCHOOL?
We had an interesting news week.
I saw a clip from Penn Gillette- the comedian/atheist/magician.
Yeah- he was raging against the President.
Why?
Because Obama supports tough laws against pot smoking- and he at the same time was a pot smoker.
Now- at first I did not understand the ‘guttural’ anger.
That was until I read some of the reports about Obama’s past.
Like most people- I knew that he toked a joint or 2 in high school, and I just chalked it up to growing up in the 70’s/80’s.
Sure- we all did stupid stuff.
I thought the high heels on my shoes were cool- I still remember how proud I felt when my dad painted my room with red, white and blue stripes and stars- ‘just wait until the girls see this!’
But after I read some of the articles on Obama- I was actually surprised that he basically was the biggest ‘pot head’ at his school.
Why surprised?
Look- it wasn’t just a toke or 2- it was the whole image of the Cheech and Chong thing.
The reports said how he coined the term 'T.A.’ Total Absorption.
He had this thing that of you wasted the ‘precious Hawaiian weed’ you were looked down on.
He also started a trend where you all light up- and sit in the car- the car fills with pot and you do not roll the windows down until all the pot is gone- consumed by the guys in the car.
There were many pictures of Obama with a joint- scenes where the car is pot filled- they showed the ‘pot van’ they all used.
Obama even coined another term ‘interception’ when they guys were passing the joint around- he would grab the joint out of turn and say ‘intercepted’.
Now- does all this mean he should not be Pres.?
Not really- but I had no idea he was the biggest pot head on the Hawaiian Island!
I mean I now see how his old buddies must be laughing about the whole thing.
They really pulled a fast one on the public.
I read this from a liberal news site- Huffington Post- as well as more conservative ones- it seems like the story is true.
There were lots of pictures and names- and even the nicknames they used- all pot head type stuff.
Now I see why Penn was mad- he ranted on his on line Sunday School program- he is a libertarian- against the drug laws- and he said if Obama was ever caught doing this stuff he would have been arrested and had a record and would have never been Pres.
But then he still supports tough pot laws- that- in his mind- are ruining the futures of many other kids.
Yeah- got it.
Facebook IPO- a mess.
Okay- to all my Facebook family- Dad [Zuckerberg] had a bad week.
As most of you know- Facebook went public this week.
For the first time- you can now buy stock in the company.
The opening price was 38 dollars a share.
I think today it’s around 31- not good.
What happened?
Lots of stuff.
The Nasdaq- the tech arm that lists most internet/computer stock- messed up.
On opening day the purchasers [and sellers] were delayed for a couple of hours during trading.
That’s bad.
Why?
If you think your buying at say 34 dollars- and it takes 2 hours to go thru- and you find out you bought at 40- not good.
So you have lawsuits being filed as I speak.
Also- it’s kind of complicated- but the way Morgan Stanley [the bank that financed the initial offering] went about offering stock- they seem to have blown the deal.
Right up until the day before the stock sale- lots of institutional investors had their bids in.
These are the big hedge fund guys and all.
Now- they expected to get so many shares for the money they put down.
When the actual sale went thru- to their surprise- they had lots more than they thought.
It spooked them.
The reason for this was Facebook and the bank decided to put more shares for sale than originally thought.
This caught the investors off guard and added to the fear.
There are a few more things that went wrong- all in all in was not a good day for Facebook.
I like Facebook- I try not to criticize it- it gives us all a free venue to ‘vent’- but this thing went bad- fast.
Some thought the company was valued too high for the projected income- that other tech companies that went public [Google] were bought and sold at a much cheaper price- compared to the amount of projected income- so there were lots of things wrong with this offering.
And last.
I was surprised to see the president loosing over 40% of the Democrat vote in some of these primaries.
Obama is running unchallenged- and yet he is losing lots of the vote- to either unknown candidates [they simply vote- other] or to guys in prison!
Yes- a guy sitting in jail here in Texas got over 40% of the vote- amazing [and this was a primary in another state!]
Alaska, Kentucky and West Va. all had a huge percentage of Dems vote against Obama.
I do think the odds of him suffering a loss- maybe a big loss- is very real.
James Carville- the ragin cagin Dem strategist has warned about this- he thinks the Dems are taking this election too lightly.
He sees the writing on the wall.
He’s asking ‘what are you all high or what’.
No Jim- it’s called total absorption.
1842- BAD CAMPAIGN IDEA- YOU THINK?
Well it’s been a long Memorial Day weekend.
Late Friday one of the big banks of Spain asked for a 40 billion dollar bailout.
Bankia is strapped with billions of dollars of failed mortgages- and the S and P downgraded them to junk status.
Spain- like many of the other European nations- is in big trouble.
There unemployment rate is 25 %.
Wow.
Yesterday the Dow closed over 12,500.
There was a mini surge in the market.
Why?
The Dow is funny- it is not always an indicator of how well the economy is doing.
For example- the jobs numbers for April came out- late Friday [we try to release bad news on Fridays- after the markets close- so people have to sit and wait until Monday [or Tuesday] before they can respond.]
Yeah- the numbers were not good- total jobs for the month were around 115,000.
So- this makes investors think ‘geez- the economy is in trouble- maybe the Fed. will print more money’.
And the big investors will add that into to their calculations- and Walla- the Dow goes up.
As we hit the middle of the year- after 3 months of bad jobs numbers [they need to be around 250,000 a month] it sure looks like we are not recovering well from the Great Recession.
Syria.
Yes- once again it made headlines.
There were reports of lots of civilians killed again.
Many of them kids.
Assad [the leader] denied it was his men.
The killers were indeed militia men- in uniform- not standard govt. fighters.
But it seems as if they are working for Assad.
Russia at first questioned it- they are strong supports of Assad.
They thought maybe it was Al Qaida- who are operating in the country.
They bombed a military hospital a few weeks back and killed civilians.
But Russia seems like they might be changing their tune a little- they are also speaking out more forcefully against Assad.
I watched Tom Freidman on the Charlie Rose show.
Freidman is a writer for the N.Y. Times- he’s usually right on.
He’s calling for a No Fly Zone in Syria.
I must ask these guys ‘what do you mean’?
Assad is not using planes to attack the rebels- just like Gadhaffi in Libya.
So what would a true no fly zone accomplish?
The term ‘no fly zone’ has come to mean ‘we will go in to your country- under the guise of NATO- but the U.S. will pay for most of it- do most of it- and we will bomb the hell out of your leader’.
Oh- then after were done- Al-Qaida- or any radical Islamist group- will rule the land.
So- because of our action in Libya- this is the new definition of a no fly zone.
I don’t want to sound like I support Assad- I don’t- but this strategy has failed.
In Egypt- where we forced the leader to step down [Mubarak].
They just had their election- and it’s a runoff between a former govt. man and the Muslim Brotherhood.
The president has supported the Muslim Brotherhood [our president!]
He had them at the White House a few weeks back.
This gave them an aura of support from the West- for a U.S. president to invite one of the groups of an upcoming election to have a personal sit down in the White House is showing favoritism.
So the actual protestors who gave their lives in Tahrir square- their voices are not being heard.
The moderate candidates did not win.
The Muslim Brotherhood might not be as bad as Al-Qaida [Might!] but they do advocate for Shariah law.
Egypt was not an Islamic run state in the past- we ousted out Mubarak and now it looks like they will become one.
Why is this bad?
Let’s see- gay folk- yeah- we catch you in the act- we kill you.
Women- caught cheating- we stone you.
Christians- if we think you blasphemed Allah [like witnessing for Jesus] your dead too.
Should I go on?
Yet the president and many in the western media hail the recent elections as a great victory for Democracy- after all it is a real vote.
I wonder how many of these same reporters would think the same if some Western nation elected a bunch of radical Christian fundamentalists who wanted to kill gays and women.
We see the double standard- and it’s huge.
And let’s end with politics.
Yes- the lines are drawn and Obama has made it clear that his strategy to go after Bain capital is going to be their campaign.
Okay- Bain capital is the financial firm that Romney ran.
This firm used PRIVATE MONEY to go into hurting companies and provide cash.
In some cases- not all- they had to downsize.
They laid off workers- cut back- and even closed some businesses down.
In other cases they saved the company- and the businesses went on to become great successes [Staples- the office supply chain is one example].
So- the President is criticizing Bain because in some cases they lost jobs.
Let’s look at his record for a moment.
One of the things that Obama likes to do is invest PUBLIC TAX MONEY into private business- businesses that have direct ties to him and his friends.
Yes- he sunk tons of money into Solyndra [a solar energy company].
This company- now famous for having gone under [yikes- you mean you invested money into a private company- TAX MONEY- and it shut down- sounds like Bain to me].
And when the company was on the verge of going under- it was right before the midterm elections- the president changed the govt. loan- against the law- and made it favor one of his top money guys.
Yes- this is fact- it all came out- in the news- on a bunch of Fridays no less.
The loans that the govt. makes to these private companies has a law that says ‘if the company ever goes bust- the taxpayers get paid back first- before any private investors’.
Got it?
The law puts the tax payer over the ‘private equity money’ that is- Bain money.
Okay- the law protects you and me- and it makes the Bain’s of the world get paid last.
So what did the Pres do?
His campaign guy- who had invested money into the company- told the Pres ‘look- I will put more money into Solyndra- to keep them afloat before the election- but if they go bust- I want my money back first- before the taxpayer’.
Now- this is against the law that governs these loans.
So- after all this came to light- an email/memo came out that said ‘it looks like your wanting to change the law to benefit your friend might be illegal’. This was an internal memo from Obama’s people.
What?
Yeah- Obama’s own people wrote this.
They advised ‘you need to get the approval of the justice dept. before you change this loan’.
He never did.
He changed the loan- his top campaign guy got his money first- and you and I got the short end of the deal.
Now- after all this- the presidents main campaign message is ‘look at Romney- he has a past of using private money to bail out companies- his dealings with private money are bad’.
You think with a history like Solyndra the last thing you would want to bring up is private money deals versus the U.S. taxpayer.
1843- BEIBER DID WHAT?
I want to try and do some spiritual stuff- but I have a few news things first.
Okay- the headline read ‘Beiber wanted for questioning’.
Huh?
The story was short- and sweet.
Some paparazzi called 911 and quote ‘complained of being roughed up by the pop star’.
2 things.
Is the actually possible?
And
Why would anybody ever admit this?
Okay- more important stuff.
A while back I wrote a post on the train debacle in Cali.
Yeah- the President wants to sink billions of dollars into High Speed rail.
This was one of his main ideas to produce jobs.
You hear the same mantra on MSNBC- day in and day out.
They keep talking about spending billions on schools [buildings] bridges- ‘shovel ready’ jobs.
And after 3 years- we have thrown billions of dollars down the drain.
So last night I caught an expose on CNN.
Cooper did a good job critiquing the latest fiasco in California.
Now- you must understand Cali is dead broke- billions in the hole- cutting everything from school funding to cops and firefighters.
Yet they are still determined to go forward with the high speed rail thing.
Cooper detailed how the state has struggled to keep the vision alive.
The guy in charge of the project- to build the fast trains- came out recently and changed the entire route.
The new route goes thru a number of different cities- the train goes much slower- and it will now make stops at more cities.
The initial idea of ‘high speed’ meant the train would not stop a lot- it would go- well- fast- and it would service this ‘need’ to transport folk who for some reason disdain cars.
But now- it’s simply a train- a regular good ole U.S. of A Amtrak vehicle.
O- I forgot- the initial cost for the whole project was around 30 billion.
Obama has already given the state 4 billion [money we don’t have for ‘stuff’ like this].
But the new price is now around 130 billion.
By all estimates- California will never finish this project.
They already passed some type of bond money- but to get the voters to approve 130 billion- to put in a regular train- which no one will really ride- this will never happen.
And to do this when you’re cutting Medicare- food stamps- schools- I mean the people will never approve the rest of the money.
So what is the state determined to do?
The guy in charge says they are going to spend the 4 billion- no matter what- on the first part of the project.
The ‘foundational’ section will cost 4 billion- it will simply be rail track going from one town to another.
It’s supposed to be ‘high speed’ so this track is expensive.
It will take around 15 years to finish.
And there will be no train- no depot- nothing- but a stretch of track sitting in the middle of nowhere- costing the taxpayer 4 billion.
Okay- this is what you call waste- inexperience- bad vision.
These are the types of things that people in the real world don’t do.
But if you mean well- have some distorted idea that you can convert the nation- in a few years- to a solar energy world.
If you think building these trains all over the country is going to be the answer to lost jobs.
Then you are a well meaning guy- but you do not have the experience for the job.
One last example.
Last year the President went to Brazil.
By the way- Brazil just passed Cali as the worlds 8th biggest economy.
While there he guaranteed U.S. taxpayer money to Brazil’s national oil company.
For what?
So they can drill all types of new oil rigs- off shore.
Why did we give them U.S. money for this?
Because the President said if they can really develop their oil production we will buy lots of oil from them- at a high rate.
There was no deal to get the oil cheap.
Okay- at the same time Texas [as well as other oil producing states] has gone thru the ringer trying to survive at a time when the federal govt. has come down hard to stop new oil production in the U.S.
Many in the oil field have lost jobs because of the very ‘environmentalist’ agenda of the President.
The guy who was in charge of our area- recently was fired [or quit] because he was caught making the famous ‘crucify them’ statement.
He was the Presidents man overseeing our region for the E.P.A.
He said their tactic was to go into areas in the south- find certain oil producing companies that have any types of violations- and ‘crucify’ them.
I recently read an article from a former commerce guy in the town I retired from [Kingsville].
He wrote a piece in the paper after the ‘crucify’ them guy was let go.
He said for the last 3 years this guy has done everything possible to kill jobs in the state.
He gave examples of how Obama used this guy to virtually attack the oil industry in Texas.
Now- at the same time we gave loan guarantees to Brazil to ‘drill baby drill’.
This was federal tax money- that many of the oil people paid into the system.
Does this make any sense to you?
About as much sense as calling 911 and saying ‘Beiber roughed me up’
Amen [I told you I would try and get something spiritual in- this was the best I could do].
1844- POPES HOMILY
Got with the homeless brothers yesterday- found out Football Jim died a few months ago.
Sad to see him go- will write more on Jim another time.
Spent another few hours with Mike [few posts back- Scapegoat].
Mike shared more of his story with me- serious [bad] stuff- he knows I’m chronicling it on the site- he’s fine with it.
I will tell more about this also- but not today.
What I want to do today is a post for my Catholic friends.
Note- I have Protestant friends who get offended when I use examples from the church- or when I watch [or every so often attend] the Mass.
There are reasons they get upset- and it takes time to explain why I think it’s important for me to keep in touch with ‘the ancient church’.
For the most part- I have been a student of church history [and the early church fathers] for the past 25 years.
It’s impossible to read deeply into church history without having an appreciation for the older more traditional churches.
Over time you begin to view these churches [Catholic, Orthodox] as sort of older relatives- like an uncle or grandpa- maybe they don’t know all the current techniques and all [like using computers!]
But over time you realize they know more [or are right more often] then you thought when you were younger.
So this has been my experience on the journey.
Okay- this past Sunday I watched the Mass on TV.
Every so often if the church is celebrating a special memorial they will broadcast the service from Rome.
This past Sunday was Pentecost Sunday- so I watched the Pope give the homily from Rome.
Let’s cover the main verses he used.
The homily was good- but you have to pay attention to the verses/chapters to get a full understanding.
The chapters quoted from were Genesis 11, Psalms 103, Acts 2, John 16, and Galatians 5.
Because it was Pentecost Sunday the message was on the story we find in Acts chapter 2- when the Holy Spirit came to the church.
We read that the believers were gathered at Jerusalem- waiting for the ‘promise of Jesus’ that he would send them the Spirit [John 16].
When the Spirit came- all the disciples in the upper room began speaking Gods word to the multitudes that were gathered at Jerusalem for the special holiday.
They spoke ‘in tongues’ [unknown languages] and the people were amazed because they all heard the message in their own native tongue.
This was a Divine miracle that enabled the message to spread to all the different ethnic groups that were at the city.
After Peter preaches the gospel to them they repent and believe and are baptized- and the ‘Lord added 3,000 SOULS’ to the church that day.
The Pope contrasted this with the story in Genesis 11- The famous Tower of Babel.
This records the time when God divided the people by giving them different languages.
The people were building a tower and city that would reach ‘unto heaven’ [a symbol of mans efforts to reach God- or be like God- on his own- Humanism].
The bible says they ‘wanted to make a name for themselves’.
They were more interested in ‘leaving a legacy’ then in glorifying God.
God looked down and realized they were going to unite- in a wrong way- to build this city of man.
The bible says he came down and divided their languages in that day.
They were unable to communicate with each other and left off ‘building the city’.
This is where we get the term ‘babble ’ from- when you can’t understand what a person’s saying- he’s ‘babbling’.
In Galatians 5 we read about the fruit of the Spirit- and how we ‘thru the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness which comes by faith’ [a main theme of the Apostle Paul’s writings].
And in John 16 we read the promise Jesus made- that he would leave them and send ‘the comforter’- the Spirit- and he would guide them into all truth.
So we see the contrast of the biblical stories about language.
In Genesis 11 God divides the languages of men because they are rebelling against him.
In Acts 2 God ‘reverses’ this division by allowing them all to hear again in ‘one language’.
The Cross allows humanity to be united again.
The apostle Paul writes the Ephesians and says Jesus reconciled both groups [Jew and Gentile- which represented the major division of the time] by dying on the Cross for all men.
And that all men [who believe] now have ‘access to God by one Spirit’.
All in all- it was a good message.
The purpose of the gospel is to unite men- not divide them [I know Jesus said he came to bring division- families would be divided- mother- father against child. In context he was saying there was a reaction to being a follower of him. Sometimes families will even reject a child because they choose the Christian faith. We see this today among various religious groups.]
But the overall work of the Cross unities men- in Christ [2 become one- Ephesians- One New Man].
And we once again can share ‘a common language’.
The language of the Cross.
1845- 69,000
I was going to take a few days off- but yesterday’s news was big.
Actually- in the morning when I was about to post I almost gave a warning about the market [for real].
Not because of the terrible jobs numbers- I mean nobody saw that coming.
But because of the overall bad data that came in thru out the week.
Then sure enough the May jobs numbers came out- 69,000.
It was a disaster to say the least.
The Dow went down about 250- and the spin doctors were on call.
I really found it funny [amazing] to hear the spin.
Julian Epstein- an Obama guy- talked about the job loss at the end of the Bush years and the start of Obama’s term.
The loss was bad- about 800,000 a month.
Yes- it was a real recession.
So- Epstein noted that for the first couple of months of this year the jobs were positive- created a couple of hundred thousand a month on average.
So- he says ‘Obama has turned the jobs numbers on average to a positive 900,000 jobs a month’ [my paraphrase].
Huh?
Yeah- according to him Obama has actually ‘created’ 900,000 jobs a month.
He said this was the most amazing job growth in our lifetimes.
This on a day when the numbers were the worst in a year.
Then I saw an interview with some Chicago big wigs.
Rahm Emanuel- another Obama fan- and a few talking heads were eating some Chicago pizza.
They said that the economy under Obama is actually great [not good- but really good!]
They gave a few numbers.
Then they said the problem is the media only play sound bites- and the public gets ‘fooled’.
I have heard this accusation before- that the insiders who surround the pres actually say this- that the true message of how well he is doing is not making it into the minds of the average person.
That the people who ‘cling to their God and guns’ are actually ‘less than intelligent’ and that’s why they don’t appreciate his presidency.
Then old Bill [Clinton] made the rounds- and he pulled a Cory Booker.
He said that Romney’s business record was ‘superb’.
Geez Bill- how bout he simply didn’t do shaky schemes? [Like the Chicago pizza crowd- Rezko- shady real estate deals. Jobs ‘created’ for the wife of a senator- making around 400 thousand a year. And after the senator leaves town and becomes president- the job never gets filled again. Or Rahm sending a dead fish to a political opponent- doing a cheap replay of the dead horse head in the God Father movie].
No- not only was Romney a good guy [according to Bill] but ‘superb’.
I bet Biden was jealous over this gaffe.
So the week was not good at all for the president.
Where do we stand?
To be honest- for the May jobs number to be that bad- was a shock.
You were hard pressed to find any market Bulls running yesterday.
I do think we are now in a major slowdown- and if we get any worse- we might see a double dip recession.
And it’s not just the U.S. economy- the far east is also slowing down.
China’s economy is not as hot as we hoped either.
‘Well John- then why are oil prices better’?
One of the reasons oil [gas] goes up- is because you think there is a demand for the stuff.
If you think the global economy is slowing down- then you think ‘maybe the demand for oil will be low’.
So that plays a role in the thing.
I found it sad to see the spin.
I watched most of the news shows during the day.
And on MSNBC- Matthews [Obama cheerleader] I did not even hear him mention the number one story of the day- the jobs numbers.
Matthews spent most of the show accusing Repubs of wanting to jail women who terminate their pregnancies because of gender bias.
Now- should women ever abort their kids because they wanted a boy instead of a girl?
No.
But if you watched hardball- that was the story of the day- sad indeed.
The ‘real’ story is not that Obama actually has one of the ‘greatest job turn abounds in the history of the nation’.
Or that the media have tricked the gun toting God believing lemmings into thinking his presidency is not historic.
No- the real story is the hopes [on both sides] that this year we would see a real economic turnaround has now faded.
So- this year will not be a ‘superb’ year- by any means.
All the gains in the market for the year have now been lost.
The unemployment rate has ticked up to 8.2%.
And the economy is doing badly.
Yeah- the spin doctors were out in full force.
One particular dose of spin intrigued me.
It was a report on the Brewery companies.
They said this was one of the few businesses that has- for some strange reason- excelled.
Why?
I will quote you a verse- maybe it will shed some light.
‘Do not give strong drink to those who are doing well- but give it to those who have no hope- then they can forget about all the bad news and pass out’ Proverbs.
Yeah- I think that tells it all in a nutshell.
1846- FOOTBALL JIM
I’ll probably get with the homeless guys today- so let me pick up where I left off the last time I spoke about Mike.
Every so often- I might be friends with one of the brothers for 20 years- and as fate [God] would have it- I might spend more time with one of them at set times.
So the last few weeks this is what’s happened with my friend Mike.
For years I have seen Mike walking the streets where I live.
He sought of reminds me of the story of Cain and Able.
Cain killed his brother Able and Cain was ‘marked’.
The story is found in the bible- it is sort of strange in a way.
The curse of Cain was no man could kill him- but he would be condemned to wander the land and never settle.
When I saw Mike over the years- him being a friend- I would stop and see if he wanted to do lunch- or spend a few hours at the house- get off the streets a little.
But I wondered how Mike got into this situation.
He’s about 8 years younger than me [I’m 49] and he seems like such a nice ‘kid’.
The other day Mike was at my house and he looked up his daughter on Facebook- she’s up in Austin.
Mike told me more of his story this day.
Mike grew up in an abusive home- his dad was [is] an alcoholic.
He has 2 brothers.
One day- when Mike was 16- his dad came in the room and yelled at him for something.
He told Mike ‘you think you’re ready to take me on- go for it’.
Mike gave his dad a mean look- and that’s what his dad told him.
Mike got up- grabbed a bat by his bed- and almost killed his dad.
He told me that after he hit him the first time- his dad held Mike’s face- and you could see he felt like he was going to die.
Mike said he knew one more hit would kill him- and he stopped.
His dad went to the hospital and from that point on Mike lived in the garage.
Over time he moved to the streets.
He did marry a girl from school- had a daughter- and eventually divorced.
Mike told me his mom and dad still live here in Corpus.
I never knew that.
I thought it must be strange seeing your son living on the streets.
The last post I wrote on Mike- he was staying at a local hotel.
He’s back under the bridge where we live.
He’s working every day- and has asked the boss to save his checks until he saves up enough for a better place.
Football Jim.
Yeah- Old ‘football’ died.
I just found out the other day- he was a friend for lots of years.
Football wasn’t really homeless- he lived with his bachelor brother for years.
They had a small apt. where they split the bills.
But football [all the guys have nicknames- Carpenter Tim- Painter bill- etc.
Tim [carpenter] told me a funny story one day. His family knew he was on the streets in Corpus.
So one year they told Tim they were going to come visit him.
Tim is a straight up guy- a good friend- and works his tail off.
But he lives in the brush- by the way- he builds the best camps out of all the guys- he is a carpenter after all.
So anyway- he tells them ‘when you get to Corpus- you can find me at this spot- all the guys know me- just ask for Tim’.
He finds out later- after he met with his mom and dad- that they asked ‘where looking for our son Tim, do you know him’.
One of the street guys said ‘oh yeah- Drunk Tim- yeah I know him’.
Obviously this is another Tim- but his folks did not know.
Tim got a real laugh out of that.]
Okay- Jim was part of the street crowd- and he would go to the buffets a lot.
One time I took the guys to the buffet- and sure enough Jim was already there.
It was funny- one of the close friends who was with me- painter Bill- also was friends with Jim [they were both in their 70’s].
So at the buffet [Sirloin Stockade] Bill goes right to the pecan pies.
He’s mad- there already all gone!
The guys like those the best- so if they get a chance- they grab them when they can.
On our way to get a seat- sure enough- there was Jim- with about 6 pecan pies slices on his table.
Yeah- the guys have no pride.
So Jim died- kinda sad.
I did speak with Jim over the years- he kept more to himself.
One time I heard Jim was in the hospital- he had some problem.
So every week or so I would ask at the mission ‘how’s Jim doing’.
They would fill me in.
When Jim got out- he came to talk to me.
I could tell he heard I was asking about him.
The guys want to know some of their friends were worried about them.
So they must have told Jim ‘yeah- John was asking about you’.
Jim- who never talked about the Lord- told me a short testimony.
He was a believer- and that being saved was accepting Jesus.
I told him ‘yes Jim- your right’.
It was funny- even though I knew Jim for years- he never told me this until he realized I was concerned about him.
Yeah- Jim was a good man- he loved keeping up with the football scores [thus the nickname] and I was sad to have heard he died.
The bible says ‘it is appointed unto men once to die- after that the judgment’.
Jim kept his appointment.
1847- WE FIX FLAT
I was going to cover Exodus chapter 4- but let’s see how much time we have.
Last week I noticed a bump on my right arm- and I was familiar with the feeling.
I told my wife ‘damn- a got bit by a brown recluse- again!’
Yes- many years ago in Kingsville I had a bite on the leg.
I didn’t know what it was at first- so I ‘self treated’.
I had some leftover antibiotics and sat in Epson salt.
The bite got big- red- and really ugly [won't give you the gory details- look on line if you want].
It eventually left a hole in the middle of the infected area.
Years Later I realized it was a brown recluse spider.
So- when I showed my wife the bite- she kinda doubted at first.
But after a couple of days she was like ‘when are you going to see the doctor’.
Of course- I self treated again [it’s in the final stage- why go now?]
That brings me to another thing- I don’t have health insurance.
Why?
When I retired from the fire dep’t we did not have a contract deal like the northern depts.
Today Wisconsin holds their recall- it looks like Walker will win.
One of the reasons for the recall was Walker ‘recalled’ bargaining rights for some public service employees.
He left the Cops and Firefighters alone.
But these guys do indeed have ‘Cadillac’ retirement plans.
They get their insurance covered- in some cases- 100%.
Not here in South Texas.
So- after I retired I got my kids on a plan [they are on their own now] and I applied for my wife to get on with the V. A.
We were both in the Navy [I did not get on- made too much money- but not enough to buy my own in the private market].
So- I self treat- or pay cash [around 120 on average] for a doc visit.
This is what some people don’t get.
I had a conversation with a liberal friend of mine.
They get free coverage for themselves and a family member.
The ‘son in law’ also got on the plan.
None of them work- the daughter and the sons are drug addicts.
And the state they live in [N.J.] considers ‘drug addiction’ a disability- they all get free coverage.
Now- I don’t judge them- or complain [too much].
But one time they were arguing with me about how everyone who was complaining about Obama care were deadbeats who didn’t want to help pay for those in need.
I told them that I not only pay for myself [when I have the cash] but I also will now pay the fine [if the Supreme Court doesn’t strike it down].
I explained to my friend that my daughters will also pay the fine- except my daughter who is a teacher.
So my household will be paying a couple of thousand extra bucks a year- a fine- because I have no insurance- and I still don’t have coverage.
So- for people who don’t work- who get the free coverage like my friend- they don’t understand why some of us are ‘miffed’.
One time at the fire dept we ‘self insured’.
Every year the city put out bids for our insurance.
And every so often our plans would change- you would go in and get briefed on the new plan and all.
So one year they decided to do the self insurance thing.
The city hires someone to administrate the plan [Entrust] but they only do the clerical work- the pool of money is simply the money the city collects from the workers.
Risky indeed- one guy with HIV and the pool is empty.
So we had a bunch of disgruntled fire fighters to say the least.
It didn’t help much that some of us veterans kinda teased them a bit.
They would ask ‘what’s self insurance’.
We told them ‘whoever is on duty that night- they will provide the health care for your family’
What?
Yeah- at our fire dept we also ran the EMS service [ambulance].
Over the years we had various medical criteria that we had to meet.
For most of my time I was an EMT.
Some of the guys were Paramedics.
Others held something called ECA.
This was truly the bottom of the line certification.
It was basically a glorified first aid thing.
Most of the Captains held this- eventually it was done away with all together.
So- we told the new guys ‘yeah- that’s what self insurance is- we will be providing the care to ourselves- just hope you don’t get stuck with the ECA when you call for help’.
Needless to say- they were livid.
You know- kidding around breaks the ice at a job like that. LOL
One more from the fire dept. and I’ll be thru.
The town I worked in was a great little city- Kingsville.
My retirement comes from that job.
We would drive around often- whether a fire or simply doing maintenance on the fire hydrants.
So we would see all the little FIX A FLAT shade tree mechanics all over the place.
We would get a kick out of the signs that said ‘WE FIX FLAT’.
I mean we didn’t expect the guys to be geniuses- but at least put an S at the end of flat.
So one time I told one of my buddies ‘man- you’ll never guess what happened- I brought my truck to the tire guy- and had a couple of flats’.
He fixed one and said he was finished.
I told him ‘man- what about the other flat’?
He said ‘can’t you read the sign?’ Nuff said.
1848- WISCONSIN AND THE MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR [OR DOCK?]
Let’s cover the recall election in Wisconsin and a few other news events.
I read an article the other day- by the AP.
It said ‘the Republicans could extend the tax cuts if they wanted to- but they don’t want to help the President so it’s unlikely to happen’.
I’m sure many unsuspecting folk believe this- even though it’s a lie.
Why?
The Republicans have actually said they want to extend the cuts- the President is threatening a veto if they do.
The Pres wants to let the Bush cuts expire at the end of the year- all of them [except for those making under 250,000 a year].
Some Dems [Pelosi, Schumer] want them to expire on millionaires and over [because they have a lot of rich folk they represent- and they don’t want to raise taxes on their people who make over 250,000 a year].
So- the lines are drawn.
Yet- the paper said ‘the Repubs don’t want to extend the tax cuts and help the Pres’.
Okay- that’s what you call ‘the main stream media’ they lie often- and could care less.
Now- Walker won his recall challenge and the media also went nuts.
Ed Shultz- the nut on MSNBC- has been a strong supporter of the unions and has followed the recall closely.
Now- for full disclosure- I am a member of the IAFF [international firefighters union].
I was involved with collective bargaining my whole life- I know the scoop.
When Walker became governor he dropped the right to bargain for some union people.
They still had their unions [something Rachael Maddow needs to learn- another MSNBC person who is misinformed. She thinks that dropping bargaining is losing the union- wrong].
The Unions in Wisconsin got mad and did a recall election.
After walker won- the exit polls showed that 38% of union households voted for walker.
Schultz was incensed- he said ‘how could you vote for him! He hates you- he wants to destroy you!! I guess Obama was right- you folk who cling to your God and guns- you never learn’.
Why liberals allow the liberal media to trash them- and keep watching- is beyond me.
What’s the MAIN reason Walker won?
Some say lots of outside money came in and swayed the vote.
Others say the people are ignorant.
In Wisconsin- like many other states and cities- one of the major expenses is the pension benefits for retired public sector workers.
In some states [Rhode Island] it’s almost half of the entire budget- they are on the verge of bankruptcy.
Yesterday San Jose and Sand Diego were in the news- they too have cut the benefits for their retired workers.
In San Jose- the union is suing the mayor- a Democrat- over this.
In these cities/states- when you look at the budget- you have no other choice but to reign in the cost of the benefits to the retirees.
Now- many in the media said ‘Walker is balancing the books on the backs of the average Joe’.
But- if this is the largest expense to the city/state- then you have no other choice but to cut there.
Some say ‘just raise the taxes on the rich/corporations’.
Actually Cali and N.Y. and other places tried it- and many businesses left the state- they lost more income then they made by doing this.
So- the people in Wisconsin saw this- and they voted for Walker.
Okay- there are other ‘side reasons’ too- but for the most part they saw the numbers- and are not stupid.
But when the media says ‘they must be stupid- that’s why they voted the wrong way’. That’s just condescending.
This same media- who thinks you are dumb- reported about a Japanese dock that landed on the shores of California yesterday.
Of course we have all the debris from the Tsunami that’s been making its way over to the U.S.
We have had lots of cases of stuff already washing up.
So the report [CNN?] said ‘mystery dock- will the mystery ever be solved’?
What?
Yeah- they went on to show the dock- they explained that some people who have been following the aftermath of the tsunami have said things this big should not have arrived yet.
There have been reports of Japanese boats also showing up close to our shore- wrecks from the disaster.
Now- they went on for about an hour talking about this ‘mystery’ as in if it was an alien spaceship.
What’s the mystery- we have debris floating from Japan- it’s been landing on our shores- and this is debris from Japan.
After about an hour I’m sure some producer said ‘get that stupid headline down’!
Yeah- the mystery has been solved.
Now- these are the same media that think you are stupid- that you [some of you] voted for Walker because you cling to your ‘God and guns’.
I’ll end with Jack Cafferty [CNN].
I kinda like old Jack.
I grew up in the local media market where Jack got his experience.
So last night he did his rant about the debt- yes- he’s mad that we have a 16 trillion dollar debt and ‘nobody wants to fix it’.
He talked about the real threat- and he said we are in an election year- and therefore both sides wont act.
Now- I’m not a conservative nor a tea partier.
But let’s do a little history here.
When Obama came into office- for the first time in memory- we had one party controlling everything [White house- Senate and House].
You also had what’s called a Super Majority- in the senate.
They had a 60 vote majority- a filibuster proof majority.
So- after the first year being wasted on Obama care- as they ended their session a reporter asked Harry Reid ‘are you going to pass a budget being you have the majority all the way around’?
Reid's response was- no- let the Repubs do one and they can get the blame for it.
What? The Repubs were a minority- in both houses.
It seemed ludicrous to think this way.
Then we had the midterm elections- and it was a blowout- the Repubs took the majority in the House- the Senate held.
So the next 2 years the Repubs passed budgets in the house- actual budgets that made tough choices- they did cut the growth of entitlements and made an attempt to balance the books.
The Dems simply used the budgets as political attacks- they did exactly what Reid said 'let them get the blame for it' and they were the chief 'blamers' [anybody remember the Dem ad that had Ryan throwing grandma off the cliff?]
Okay- we have had 4 years of a Democrat Presidency- 2 of which the Dems held the majority in both houses.
They never passed a budget.
The Repubs came to bat the last 2 years- even though they are still a minority- they simply have a majority in the house.
Yet- they still passed a budget- and it was shot down by the Dems. in the Senate.
Okay- to Mr. Cafferty- one side has made an attempt to fix the thing- the other has not.
As we end the first term of Obama- after 4 years of ‘kicking the ball down the field’.
He has said ‘if you elect me once more I will pass a budget- this time’.
If you had 4 years- and by law are required to pass one- and you did not do it with a super majority- how do you expect us to believe you will do it now?
The odds of losing the Senate are possible.
You will never get the house back.
And you had 2 years of a super majority to do it.
The only possible solution- in my mind- is to elect a majority of fiscal conservatives [some Democrats fit this too- look at all the Clinton 'gaffes’ these last few days].
I mean if you made excuses- when you had one of the greatest majorities in the history of the country- then there is no way you will do it now.
So- people are not stupid- they see the debt- the writing on the wall.
They saw it in Wisconsin- they see it in San Jose- San Diego and Rhode Island.
They are making the tough decisions- even the Democrat mayors and governors [Cuomo in N.Y.]
It’s not that we hate the unions- or that we are clinging to ‘our God and guns’.
No- it’s simple common sense.
Or you can still keep listening to the main stream media- you know- the ones who can’t seem to explain that mystery dock.
1849- SHREK- A CITY- AND WATER FROM A ROCK
I want to end the week with at least some bible stuff- but let me share a few more homeless stories.
I have been getting with the guys the past few days and have not written about it every time.
A few notable things.
I heard that Chris- a homeless friend for many years- drove to Louisiana with another friend [a former ship captain- a Greek].
And Chris actually got a machinists job making 15 bucks an hour.
I was happy to hear the great news.
I have written about Chris before- he always told me he was a machinist- I think from the classic Youngstown area [Ohio- Springsteen’s famous song].
One day I had Chris over at the house.
My dad gave me these antique boxes of his father’s machinist tools many years ago.
As I kid I used to go thru the boxes in my garage [for any of my old friends who read the site- do you remember these tools?]
So when Chris saw them- he knew them like a carpenter knows a hammer.
So I knew he wasn’t making the whole ‘I’m a machinist’ thing up.
But I also could tell that Chris- like most of the street guys- has some type of mental problem.
So I never knew if he really was as good as he made it sound. But after hearing that he got hired- I was glad.
Dirk [another long time friend- a good friend] has been messing with the radiator on his van the last few days.
He lives in the van- I see it parked in the various parking lots on a rotating basis.
Dirk claims to be ‘a winter Texan’ sort of like he’s a retired tourist guy.
But the truth is- he is homeless- has been for years.
Anyway- he needed a ride to the other side of town to buy a new radiator- I obliged.
Henry went with us- Henry loves the fellowship- he’s the scholar friend- homeless too- but he picks my brain lots.
Dirk offered to give me 5 bucks for gas- it was about a 10 mile trek.
But I told him ‘no way’.
About half way back- he realizes he left his cell phone at the shop.
I was like ‘how did you do that- I never put my cell phone on a table at a store- when I’m done- it goes in my pocket’.
Any way- I told Dirk ‘don’t worry- we’ll get it’.
I kinda felt like taking the 5 bucks now- but let it slide [I have been giving the guys change from 20’s the last couple of weeks- I try to ‘spread the wealth around’ Obama style!]
Yesterday I helped Tammy [I do usually give Tammy a few dollars every time I see her].
Tammy is a ‘working girl’.
Her and her boyfriend [Shrek] are Meth addicts.
It’s funny- I have been giving Tammy a few dollars for years.
Someone gave her a girls bike yesterday- but she had to pick it up [a lady at the mission gave it to her for some yard work she did- Tammy was going to give it to a friend’s daughter for an upcoming birthday].
So I told Tammy ‘I’ll pick it up for you and put it in the truck’.
She was going to walk over and ride it home [home- her and Shrek are staying in some broken down trailer].
I do realize it looks like I’m a ‘customer’ I mean I give the girl dollars- and then a ride.
I don’t really care to be honest- but I do see how people could talk.
Anyway- when we dropped the bike off- I saw Shrek [he’s a big kid- around 35 years’ old- 300 lbs].
He’s really a nice kid.
I gave him and Tammy a nice tent once.
They were living in the brush at the time and the tent was a 2 person size- a nice one I bought from wal mart.
They never forgot that.
Shrek was glad to see me- it’s been a while.
Okay- let me cover Deuteronomy chapter 4.
I have been reading it this week [it was a chapter from the Mass this past Sunday].
Moses is going over the story of the Jewish people right before they enter the Promised Land.
He tells them that God did a great work by leading them out of Egypt and being with them all this time.
A few points.
Moses tells them that God was angry with him and because of this he will not ‘go in and take the land’.
This 'anger’ moment was when God told Moses to speak to the Rock when the people were complaining of thirst.
For you ‘non bible readers’ this would be when Charlton Hesston delivered the people form Egypt and they went thru the Red sea and were in the wilderness.
At various times Moses loses his temper with the Jewish people.
This Rock incident was the one time God said ‘okay- that’s it Moses- you blew it one too many times- you can’t go in to the land’.
Moses was to speak to the Rock and water would come out.
He got mad- and struck the Rock- twice- with his famous rod.
The water came out.
Which was a type of ‘God striking the Rock’ [Jesus was punished for us on the Cross- Isaiah 53 says it pleased THE LORD to bruise him- God punished his Son on our behalf- Jesus was ‘the rock’ that the water flowed from [a symbol of the Holy Spirit]. On the Cross a soldier put a spear in the side of Jesus and water came out].
So the striking of the rock was a symbol that God would use- but striking it twice ruined the symbol.
The book of Hebrews says Jesus was struck only once for sin- not repeatedly.
So because of this Moses could not go in to the land.
Okay- to my bible scholars out there- I found a verse where Moses makes it into the land.
What?
No trick [not really].
Okay- when?
In the New Testament Jesus was transfigured before the disciples- the Mount of Transfiguration.
At the time the bible says Moses and Elijah appeared with him.
Of course- they were in the Promised Land at the time.
One more thing from this chapter.
It also talks about the cities of refuge.
These were cities [3] that God set aside- if someone accidently killed another person they could flee to the city for safety.
At the time- if you killed someone- the family of the dead person had the right to ‘avenge the blood’ of their relative.
But if it was an accident- you could run to the ‘city of refuge’ and find safety.
You had to live in the city until the death of the high priest.
After he died- you could go back home.
Meaning?
The 'city of refuge’ is a type of the church- the community of God [not the building!].
We are all guilty of the innocent Blood of Jesus [he died for us].
We can ‘flee to the city of refuge’ and find safety from our guilt- as long as the high priest lives [Hebrews/Romans says we are saved by his life- he lives].
We also can ‘inherit the promise’ enter back into the land- after ‘he dies’.
Jesus died- and rose again- so we too could partake of the true inheritance- not a ‘city made with hands- but an eternal one in the heavens’ Hebrews.
Got it?
1850- I AM JUST A COWBOY- LONESOME ON THE TRAIL…
This week we were treated to the singing cowboy- I think from Texas?
I’ll admit- I don’t watch American idol- or any of the other shows like that.
But because the cowboy made the news- I saw the scoop.
What happened was you had this talented singer- who stuttered.
He was interesting- fit the Mel Tillis style.
When he was asked about the stutter- he said he got it when a grenade injured him in action in Afghanistan.
Of course the judges- and the audience- loved the story.
The only problem was- he made the whole thing up.
So last night I saw a news report- he seems to have been faking war injuries for years.
Though he did serve in Afghanistan- for a month- yet he seemed to have some issue with his hearing- and was sent home.
As he was being interviewed- after the story came out- he was crying- yes stuttering- and he said ‘this is my truth- this is what I have believed’.
Sort of like truth is relative- if the story ‘helps’ you out- then it’s ‘your truth’.
I remember the old days of listening to classic rock on those vinyl albums.
Yeah- you put them on the ‘turntable’ and the technology was so advanced- you even had that little lever that you pulled to make the Album replay- all on its own!
I still remember the cover to my Thin Lizzy album- I mean those guys rocked.
You might remember the hit song ‘the boys are back in town’ there was another song on the album- called ‘The Cowboy Song’.
Yeah- our stuttering cowboy knows how to sing- and tell tall tales at the same time.
There have been a few news stories of importance this past week.
One of the top ones was the leaking of all the national security info.
I was surprised to see both Dems and Repubs calling for an investigation.
Diane Feinstein- the Dem senator form Cali- she said she has never seen the level of leaks this bad in her 11 years on the Senate Intelligence committee.
What are the leaks?
These are leaks that show the president in tough situations- doing all he can to fight terror- and basically making him look like a tough guy.
The pres denies- in a Clintonian way- that he ‘authorized the leaks of classified material’.
When I first heard the denial- I thought ‘he knows about it’.
How?
As someone who really liked Obama at the start- I have followed him these last few years- and he has done lots of ‘tricky’ stuff- that at first I brushed off- but after a while I realized- well sometimes ‘cowboys like to tell stories’.
As I listened to both sides- McCain, King- a few other Senators and congressman have showed that some of the leaks had to have come from inside the White House- from the small group of people around the pres.
They were detailed accounts of what Biden said- or what Obama did [shuffling the cards that have the names of terrorists].
They brought out the fact that much of the detail- that came out in the N.Y. Times- were things that only a few inner circle people would know about.
While it is true that many people knew about some of the other info- like the Stuxnet virus.
Yet only a few- inside the White House- would know the details of what Biden said- when there were only 5 or so people in the room.
Also- the paper that reported the leaks- said the sources were from the White House [as opposed to the FBI- or CIA].
Now- some of the leaked info is bad- we ‘leaked’ that both the U.S. and Israel were indeed responsible for the Stuxnet computer virus that ruined the nuclear centrifuges in Iran.
Last year Iran had their nuclear facilities damaged- at the time they did not know for sure that it was a virus- and they did not know- for sure- who did it.
Now they know- someone leaked it.
There are a few other things that came out- details of the Bin laden killing- stuff about the underwear bomber.
The thing that makes people question whether or not Obama [his political team] are actually behind it- is all the leaks put Obama in a good light- a terror fighting man.
He even had some movie makers who were covering the Bin laden raid- in some secret meetings- when they were discussing the aftermath of the raid.
It was reported that the Intelligence people were shocked that they sat in on the meetings.
Okay- more than likely he [his team] are behind the leaks.
The denial?
It was done in a way that if it comes out that he did know about them- that he could say ‘I denied authorizing the leaks of classified materials’ and simply say when he gave the go ahead to release it- he ‘declassified’ it.
Now- like I say- I have watched/heard the pres these last 3 years- he does do this stuff- lots.
Just a few quick examples.
It came out this week that Obama was indeed a member of a political party in Chicago called ‘the new party’.
This is a left leaning group- socialist- that advocate for a European type govt.
Okay- in 2008- a news reporter- Stanley Kurtz- reported that Obama was associated with the group.
He vehemently denied it- it was all lies from some ‘racist guy who hates Blacks’.
The whole thing- you’ve heard it before.
So now we find out- that he was indeed a member.
It came out in an investigation of another group- Acorn.
It was in the minutes of the meeting where he joined- pledged allegiance to the group’s ideals- the whole 9 yards.
Are they denying it now?
No.
What’s the big deal?
If you are running for pres [2008] and a top candidate is known to have been a member of a socialist group- that usually would kill your chances.
So he simply lied- not a big crime- but one of many.
Obama wrote 2 books- autobiographies no less- in his early 40’s [late 30’s?]
Now- for your only 2 books- at a young age- to be about you- does say something.
In the books there were ‘cowboy stories’ if you will.
Of course- when writing the books- you think ‘who will ever go thru them with a fine tooth comb’.
But when you become pres- some will.
So- some people on the right did indeed do this- and they found lies.
The pres denied it.
Yet now- after many years of denials- a biographer who is currently doing a friendly book on the pres- well he ran into some trouble during his research.
He could not verify some of the stories that the pres told.
Just one example.
Those who critiqued the original books- the president’s critics- said he made up stories about some White girl he was dating- that the places and events that he said took place- were actually fake.
These same events were told earlier- by a man named Bill Ayers [who the pres has tried to distance himself from].
They said Obama simply made the whole thing up.
He adamantly denied it ‘how dare you say he lied- you must be a racist’.
Okay- the new biographer- David Marranis- found out that the pres did indeed make the woman up.
Then they spun the story to say ‘he made a composite woman from various women thru out his life’.
Then you had the Obama defenders- like historian Doug Brinkley- saying ‘the purpose of biographies are not to be factual’.
Wow- thanks Doug.
The point is he denied making up the story for years- now he says it was not true.
This is one of many- I don’t want to give them all.
But after seeing this happen a lot- I simply doubt the things he says.
I don’t hate him- I’m not a racist- but this has happened- a lot.
When the president had to distance himself from his former pastor Rev. Wright.
He said ‘he didn’t know the man held to these extreme views’.
That he was shocked to find out all the stuff Wright said- for 20 years.
When he threw Wright under the bus- he told the country that this was a man he did not really know [like Bill Ayers].
Yet the president had written/spoken about Wright- that he was one of [if not thee] most influential men in his life.
He said Wright baptized his kids- performed ceremonies for their family- he even titled his book ‘The Audacity of Hope’ after a line from Wright.
He attended the church for 20 years.
He had lots of wrights’ tapes and C.D.’s that he listened to.
He even said [before he threw him under the bus] that he could no more disown Wright than he could his own Father or family member.
His own testimony was that he knew Wright- loved Wright- was influenced by him- more than other man alive.
Then he said ‘I never really knew the man’.
How can this be?
I guess I’ll end with Ayres.
Bill Ayer’s was the terrorist that blew up a bomb in the 60’s, 70’s- I think a cop got killed by the bomb.
Anyway- he was a radical left wing guy- involved with a lot of the social unrest at the time.
The bomb case was thrown out of court because the govt. messed up some way in the case- Ayres has never denied his involvement.
Okay- Ayers and Obama were said to have been friends.
People that knew them knew this.
But during the campaign Obama denied knowing the man.
He sat on a board with Ayers- but said ‘people sit on the same board with other people all the time- that doesn’t mean they know them’.
Okay.
He lived on the same block.
The excuse was ‘Chicago is big- you might live on the same block and not know someone’.
Okay.
Then it was revealed that when the pres launched his political career- it was from Ayers house.
How did that happen?
It just happened to be some strangers house on the block that had lots of room.
I mean nobody would ever get away with doing stuff like this- not when your running for president.
Yet- till this day- Obama says he barely knows the man.
Okay- when the critics went thru Obama’s books- to find the stuff.
One story was Obama walking down to the Hudson River one day- he saw some kid and said ‘see how the mighty river flows in and out’ and he went on to give a sort of parable about life.
This same exact event is in Bill Ayres book- but it happened to him years before.
The same exact event- with the same words.
Many people have said that Ayers Ghost wrote the Obama book.
Yet the pres does not know the man.
I’m sure our singing Cowboy meant well when he said ‘this is my truth’.
But after you tell ‘your truth’ one too many times- it becomes questionable.
1851- IS THE PRIVATE SECTOR DOING FINE?
The other day I posted about the ‘new narrative’.
I talked about the argument that austerity [cutting spending] in the Euro zone- as well as the U.S. - is the new reason to blame for the globes economic woes.
I won’t re-post my rebuttal- suffice it to say I don’t agree.
So- when the president made his recent gaffe ‘the private sector is doing fine’ the right went nuts- and the left ran with the new [false] narrative.
With all the talking heads out there- you would think that they would have put these things together- after all they get paid lots of money.
I mean even though I’m a regular critic of MSNBC- I do see them as family.
How so?
When the Nielsen ratings come out- and Chris Matthews rating is 2 people- at least he knows his wife watches the show [or has it on mute?].
And I’m number 2.
So let’s weave the web here.
When Obama kicked off his campaign year- he had some very rough starts.
The Bain capital thing- well that didn’t work too well.
Then they jumped to the Massachusetts job record of Romney- when he was governor.
Okay- that’s fair game.
But the argument they were making was Romney was a failure while overseeing the state.
Yet when he left office- unemployment was under 5 %- under Obama- we have 8.2.
Yeah- they dropped that line too.
So- the new story is that the Repub led congress [house] are to blame for the unemployment rate.
That Obama put a ‘jobs bill’ on the table- and the Repubs refuse to sign the thing.
Thus ‘the private sector is doing fine’ but because the jobs bill- which is geared towards providing around 250 billion dollars to the states- and union and govt. workers- that because the Repubs won’t pass it- therefore the ‘public sector’ is dragging down the economy.
This is the same argument that says austerity measures are the cause of all the worlds woes.
Last night as I was news surfing I saw some fill in for Maddow on her show- he seems to be a nice kid- have heard him before [Ezra something?]
He did the whole show based on this argument.
He said Romney and the Repubs are hypocrites because when they are in charge they are for public sector workers [cops- firemen- teachers].
But now that Obama is in charge they are cutting them back [note- they were never for trillions of stimulus- as a regular means of providing jobs. They were for the regular fed money that would normally go to the states].
Of course- this is the attack on the dumb [it was dumb] Romney line ‘we don’t need more firefighters and teachers and cops’.
What did Romney really mean?
He is arguing the conservative view that says the jobs market really isn’t a function of spending more federal money.
That even though the fed does provide money to the states [teachers] yet in the long run it’s the local and state economies that will decide whether or not to hire more of these ‘public’ sector workers.
As a firefighter- we did not get federal money to hire new guys- but if our city was doing well financially- then we had the tax revenue to hire new guys.
That’s Romney’s point.
Last year- the govt. did distribute billions [yes- with a b] to the states to stave off the laying off of many teachers and cops and firefighters.
Basically the original 800 billion stimulus simply paid the checks for another year.
But in reality you can’t keep propping up the jobs like this.
For one thing- it’s not ‘fair’.
What?
Look- any president can say ‘let’s spend another trillion- during my term- to simply pay people so they stay employed’.
If the majority of the money- like in this case- is going to workers who give your party lots of money [unions support Dems] then it would be like Bush giving money just to oil field workers- during his whole term
Second- we already have spent a little under 2 trillion fed dollars- propping up the economy.
We had the 900 billion dollar bail out of the banks- and the 800 billion dollar stimulus money.
Obama is blaming the Repubs for not passing his ‘jobs bill’.
Is this really a jobs bill?
No.
It was simply another 250 billion dollars of ‘stimulus’.
We- as a nation- can’t keep doing this.
Overspending is what got the Euro zone in deep trouble- not austerity.
Our very high debt is what is getting us in trouble- as a nation.
Right now- 40 cents of every dollar the govt. spends simply goes to pay the interest on the debt.
Imagine if almost half of your household income was simply interest on your credit card.
Would the answer be ‘lets get another card’?
So- the pres- and some progressive economists [Krugman- and the MSNBC crowd] are saying ‘let’s get another card’.
The Repubs are saying ‘no- let’s start paying the card down’.
You can decide which road is better.
While the president does have some truth to the argument he made the other day- the ‘macro’ picture looks much different.
What was he right about?
When the terrible jobs number came out last month- the 69,000 new jobs- part of the bad number did have to do with govt. layoffs.
The private sector created a little over 80,000 new jobs.
The govt [public sector] lost around 20,000.
So he was trying to make the point ‘see- if the Repubs let me spend another 250 billion- then the govt. would not have laid off folk- and the economy would be fine’.
This argument is being made right now- on both sides of the pond- but it is really not the full story.
In our country we have millions of people without work- the unemployment rate is 8.2%.
And the small % of govt. jobs that are being lost is not the reason why the country is in trouble.
And the solution- long term- is not to keep getting the country in debt.
Anyone can say ‘pass this jobs bill’.
If they simply mean ‘let’s spend billions more- to keep people on the job- just until my election [or term] is over’ then it really is not a jobs bill.
It’s another 250 billion in stimulus.
I think we already spent too much.
RECENT STUFF C 2013
1852- SPECIAL COUNSEL?
Let’s cover a few of the top stories of the week.
Yesterday I heard a report- from NPR radio- not what you would call a ‘right wing’ show.
They were covering the debacle in Libya.
That the country is in a shambles- that the terrorists that now run the place are holding the family members of Gadhaffi- and will not turn them over to the U.N.
That they bombed one of the ‘peace keeping’ vehicles.
And that the massacre of/by BLACKS continues [Blacks have been killed- and they are now fighting back].
What?
I covered this underreported story before.
In Libya you had a strange situation- Gadhaffi saw himself as a savior for the Black men/women on the continent.
For whatever reason- he stood up for the Black Africans- more than any other leader on the continent.
When we did our so called ‘no fly zone’ and bombed the hell out of the country- we were fighting Gadhaffi- and a huge militia made up of Black Africans [who spoke French!] who were from the Sub Saharan part of the continent.
These Blacks supported Gadhaffi.
So- when we toppled the leader for political purposes- we unleashed a torrent of violence against Black women- men- and children.
They undergo forced castrations- women raped- men murdered- kids raped.
We did this- the U.S. allowed this to happen.
The ‘winning’ side- made up of lawless thugs roaming Libya- see ALL Blacks as those who sided with the former leader.
Okay- this has been going on since the toppling of Gadhaffi- and if you’re Black- you’re in danger every single day of your life.
Why is it important for you to know this?
Because this administration is indeed responsible for this.
If this were a White president- a Bush- who did this- this would be the number one story on the nightly news.
HOLDER.
Enter the attorney general who got grilled yesterday by congress.
The calls for his resignation are growing- and it does seem like a storm is brewing.
What’s the big deal?
Holder has been involved with all types of shady stuff- the Fast and Furious cover up is just the latest.
[Holder sought and recommended the pardon of Mark Rich. Rich was a billionaire who fled the country because he was a tax evader. Rich knew Clinton- Bill ‘knew’ Richs’ wife. Rich had connections to Clinton- and Clinton got a pardon for Rich- Holder did the dirty deed].
Holder will not release the documents that will show- one way or another- how far up the chain this went.
These are the papers that deal with the murder of border patrol agent Terry.
At his death scene- we found the guns that Holder and the justice dept allowed to be there thru the sale of illegal weapons to drug guys from Mexico.
This was the botched program called Fast and Furious.
What we have been trying to find out is who authorized this deadly program- and how far up the chain did this go.
It seems like Holder is covering something up.
Now- some are calling for an independent counsel to look into the national security leaks- Holder just appointed 2 U.S. attorneys to check it out.
The Dems are raging ‘how dare anyone call for an independent counsel’.
Won’t the attorneys be fair?
Let’s see- one of them was a political worker for Obama- he was on the team that picked vice presidential picks for Obama.
Yeah- I’m sure there will be no conflict of interest.
So- McCain and others are calling for an independent counsel.
What’s hypocritical is the fact that Obama and Biden were some of the loudest voices calling for an independent counsel under Bush.
Okay- the Repubs calling for the counsel are wanting to investigate the leaks of classified info that came out the last few months.
These are high level national security secrets that some think were leaked for political purposes.
When Obama and Biden called for this special counsel during Bush’s term- they were investigating the Valerie Plame name leak.
I have written on it before- for the most part this was a silly issue.
Valerie Plame was a woman whose husband was sent to Niger [back to Africa] because he spoke- well French!
Yeah- just like the Gadhaffi guys.
How did this happen?
Africa [Niger and other spots] was colonized in the past- and one of the colonizers was France.
So- during the Bush years when he was making the case against Iraq- one of the big pieces to the puzzle was whether or not Iraq was trying to obtain nuclear materials from Niger [called yellow cake].
So- some guy- Joe Wilson- goes to Niger [cause he speaks the language- this is how his wife got him the gig- she recommended him] and comes back and writes a piece in the N.Y. Times that said ‘Cheney sent me to Niger and I came back with proof that they were not selling yellow cake to Iraq’.
Well- for some guy- that nobody really knew who the heck he was- to write a story like this- raised lots of eyebrows.
[note- congress investigated the whole thing- and one of the conclusions was that Joe Wilson lied about Cheney sending him].
The biggest brow being that belonging to Cheney.
He asked ‘who in the h.. is this guy claiming I sent him to Niger’.
They found out he was the husband of Valerie Plame [this was the real reason Plames name came out- people wanted to reveal that Plame got her hubby the job- that he was a liberal Dem who had his own agenda- that Cheney never sent the guy to Niger].
A lady who worked for the govt.- and in the past held a ‘secret’ security type clearance.
Okay- a reporter- Bob Novak- wrote a story about the incident- and named Plame.
The left [dems] went nuts- and charged ‘Bush and Rove leaked the name of a secret Agent- AHHH!’.
Was she really secret?
No.
Everyone knew her by her real name- she appeared on the cover of a magazine- and she was no longer a secret agent.
Never the less- her name should not have been outed.
During the investigation- by the special counsel that Obama called for [Patrick Fitzgerald] they found out- early on- that the name WAS NOT LEAKED by any Bush politicos.
The guy who inadvertently coughed up the name was Richard Armitage- someone who the Dems actually liked.
He worked for the dept of defense.
But- nobody knew this yet- only the insiders.
So- instead of dropping the case- the special prosecutor continued pursuing the Bush guys- and finally got one.
Scooter Libby.
He was asked ‘do you remember when you first heard the name Plame’.
He said ‘I think Tim Russert told me’.
Russert [former Meet the Press guy- now dead] denied it.
They convicted Libby for lying about Russert giving him the name- and gave him a prison sentence.
What?
You mean even though he [and no one else] ever purposefully leaked any name- yet- the prosecutor- who Obama called for- tried to send a Bush guy to prison for this.
Yup.
Bush commuted his sentence [but did not pardon Libby] and till this day- Cheney’s pissed that Bush never pardoned his friend.
Okay- if something as stupid as this required a special counsel- what about the serious national security leaks that have endangered the lives of many.
How so?
Someone leaked info about the Bin laden killing- they leaked that a Pakistani doctor had a secret vaccination program that obtained DNA from a family relative of Bin Laden- this DNA was used to identify Bin laden after we killed him.
Within days this doctor was tried for treason and is now doing 35 years in prison.
Pakistan has since shut down their nations child vaccination program.
His wife and kids are in constant danger.
Is this worse than saying ‘I think I heard Plames name from Russert’?
Israel-
Iran has been under a ‘covert’ attack for the last couple of years.
Their nuclear facilities have been blown up- their top scientists have been killed in the streets- and they have been blaming Israel for it.
Israel has not admitted a thing.
We leaked the fact that Israel and the U.S. were behind the computer virus that attacked the nuclear centrifuges in Iran
We just ‘outed’ Israel.
And we have also leaked the Drone attacks- top secret info about them.
Should we have a special counsel look into these leaks?
Obama and Biden were for the imprisonment of a man whose crime was ‘I heard the name from Russert’.
They were vocal advocates ‘we need a special counsel- this leak rises to the level of a special counsel’.
But Holder and Obama seem to think these leaks- that caused real national security dangers- that these don’t rise to the same level.
Do you think these leaks rise to that level?
I don’t know- why don’t you ask the doctor- sitting in a Pakistani cell for the next 35 years- maybe he can clue us in- maybe?
1853- SEX- ALL TYPES
Let’s cover the ‘other’ news story of the day- the Elephant in the room.
Yes- with all the things going on in the news this week- we also have had the start of the Jerry Sandusky sex case.
Most of you know the scoop.
Sandusky is the famous coach from Penn state that worked for years with the famed Joe Paterno.
There were rumors- and ‘chance’ encounters where people saw Sandusky with young boys- and he was caught molesting kids.
As the defendants have been testifying this week- well- we heard bad stuff.
I don’t want to ‘defend’ the Sandusky’s of the world in any way- but I want to speak openly- and in a politically incorrect way about sexual orientations of all kinds.
I have a book here in my study- about 3 feet from where I’m sitting.
It’s the story of Jeffrey Dahmer’s conversion to the Lord after he was sent to prison.
I do realize that we see lots of jail house conversions- and for some people they will never believe that a Dahmer could convert.
But as I read the book- and also have watched the re play of the interview that Dahmer did with MSNBC- I do believe he was sincere.
One very interesting- and truthful part of the interview was when Dahmers dad was asked ‘why do you think this happened to your son’.
The dad- who is a Christian man- said he felt like somewhere along the line- Jeff associated- connected- the act of sex with dead things.
That he was fixated as a boy with skulls and dead things- and in time when he went thru puberty- that he also- somehow- connected the joy of collecting skulls and stuff with the act of sex.
Now- some might dismiss this as a lame excuse- and of course the crimes Jeff committed were very serious [for those not familiar- Dahmer is the famed serial killer who cannibalized his victims].
In point of fact- people- in all societies and in every age- can- and have ‘learned’ certain types of behavior- for good or ill.
The reason this debate is hard to have in our country- is because the present debate over gay rights pits one group against another.
For anyone to say ‘we actually do have proof that certain sexual behavior can indeed be learned’ seems to be bigoted and against the civil rights of people.
The purpose of this post is not to get into a long drawn out discussion over this.
I want to simply say- there are- and have been- all types of sexual associations that people have made with certain acts.
In the Sandusky case- with minors.
In the Dahmer case- with dead things.
The list does go on.
Is it possible to ‘un learn’ associations like this?
In short- yes.
Is it easy?
Probably not.
A few years ago I noticed that one of the major hospitals in the U.S. - famous for doing sex change operations- very quietly quit the practice.
As I listened and read about the story- I came to find out that the hospital- that was lauded for their non judgmental attitude- their willingness to break ‘the religious bigotry of our day’ that after doing the operation for years.
Admitted that the results were horrendous.
How?
The rate of depression and suicide among most of the patients went sky high.
After years of doing the operation- the data showed that despite all the ‘political correctness’ the facts on the ground were these operations were doing more harm than good.
Yet- year after year we see people who have had the operation- on well meaning news shows being interviewed- and the interviewer- without fail- always comes across as ‘look how accepting I am of you- look how wonderful it is for us all to celebrate your freedom and to not judge’.
Yet- many of the times I get the impression that these people are under great pressure to go with this line.
That they are cast into the limelight as a great example of acceptance- and they seem at times to not want to let the interviewer- or the world- down.
But- if the data says the rate of suicide and depression sky rockets among those who have gone thru with the procedure- then if we really love these people- or our kids- or generations to come- then we would be more careful before we jump on the ‘what a great thing you did’ bandwagon.
In the whole debate about whether or not sexual orientation [or simple associations of sexual expression with particular acts] is changeable- we need to be aware of the overall effects we are having on all sorts of people.
In the Sandusky case- we do see an attraction that many men have.
There are entire organizations supporting man/minor ‘love’.
NAMBLA- North American Man Boy Love Association- being one.
Do these men make the same argument that some have made with the gay rights issue?
Yes.
Many argue that that they have had this ‘orientation’ for as long as they can remember.
They argue that they share a common orientation with thousands of other men all over the world.
They argue that its’ the ‘Victorian era morality'- that religion wants to impose on people- that tells them- and society- that they are wrong.
After all- if ‘God created me this way- why should I not express it’.
Now- I- like you- do not accept these arguments- but in truth- they are basically the same type of arguments that others have made with the gay rights debate.
[Note- I do have gay friends- and I do not want to come off as saying I equate child molesters with gay people- I don’t. The point I’m making is the NAMBLA folk are saying ‘who has the right to say that Man/Boy sex is wrong’. And to be honest- if you reject the basis of natural/moral law- then they win the point.]
The point I’m making is if we- as a society- tell people that sexual orientation is never learned behavior- then we are in ways justifying the NAMBLA argument.
I was going to delve into the entire field of what we call natural/moral law.
Where does it come from?
Does society simply make up moral law?
Actually no.
This is a very long debate- going on since the days of Immanuel Kant [one of the great thinkers going back a few centuries].
In short- some have argued over the years that we need to rid society of moral law- that it’s these restrictions on men [particularly sexuality] that is the cause of society’s ills.
The famous thinker Freud [and Nietzsche] advocated this.
But after hundreds of years of debate- there are no examples of any successful society that has managed to develop any type of functioning ethic- apart from what we call the Judeo/Christian ethic.
I don’t mean to come off as judgmental- nor to offend any group of people- but if we are telling entire generations of people ‘you are a slave to your sexual orientation’.
If we are saying to people ‘you can never change’ or overcome your sexual associations.
Then we might be biting off more than we can chew.
If it simply makes us [the interviewer] feel better about ourselves when we say ‘see- you have done such a great thing- if only these religious bigots would stop judging you’.
But in reality- the data show that these people suffer tremendously- for the most part- after they get the sex change.
Then maybe we need to re think what we are saying to them as a whole.
Maybe we should tell people ‘yes- associating sexual expression with a particular act- or life style is a very strong thing’.
In most cases- even in cases like Sandusky- even if there are hundreds of thousands of people with the same ‘feelings’ all over the world.
Yet- if we do love people and are honest- we would tell them it is possible to change the feeling- the association- dare say ‘orientation’.
We must realize that there are many types of sexual expression- that society- and moral/natural law say is wrong.
Those in these lifestyles- often will argue that the orientation was with them for as long as they can remember.
Others argue that there are many others like them.
All this may be true- but in the end- this does not mean the association is right [NAMBLA] or can never be broken.
I’ll end with a couple of verses ‘I hate vain thoughts- but your law do I love’ ‘commit thy works unto the Lord and thy thoughts will be established’ ‘God will keep them in perfect peace whose minds are fixated on him’.
This entire debate is long- and even many Christians disagree on some points. There are movements within the church that seek to accept the gay lifestyle as an acceptable lifestyle.
Today’s point is- if we tell people- with all types of orientations- that you can 'never change’ them- or overcome them- then we are not being honest.
If we think that the solution is ‘let's just live with no moral law’.
That has been debated- and tried- and found wanting [Freud died in a mental hospital- going insane from a sexual disease].
If we love our kids- those around us- our neighbor- then we should not encourage those among us struggling with orientations to ‘go with what you feel’.
Or to be so accepting of an operation that the data shows does not solve anything- only makes it worse.
In short- if we love people- we must be truthful with them.
Yes- try not to judge- love them even if they don’t become what you think is best.
But be honest with people.
I feel sorry when I see Chaz Bono being interviewed- time and again- everyone telling her how happy they are for her.
When I know in reality the data says something different.
The statistics show that those who go as far as ‘changing’ their sex- many of them take their own lives.
And it’s not because they feel judged- it’s because many of them can’t believe what they have done.
Sad that we hide this- sad.
1854- WEEKEND WARNING
Before I forget- the odds of the market selling off today are high.
If you are in- and have been for a while- no big deal.
But if you are one of those types that buy and sell every couple of days/weeks.
Then I wouldn’t buy today.
Okay- have a lot to cover and not much space.
I found it interesting to watch the narrative that I have been talking about these last few days to have been so blatant yesterday.
On MSNBC the hosts are now regular telling people that the Euro zone crisis is a direct result of austerity measures [spend less than you have].
This is an outright lie- I wrote about this lots the last few weeks and don’t want to re hash the thing.
The point is the entire network is now saying this- and if you are someone that’s invested in world events- you are being lied to- daily.
I caught the morning NPR show yesterday- I usually catch the early show [sometimes right at 5 am].
I’m an early riser- been up since 3:30 this day.
So- it was interesting- right at 7:05 the report was some bad housing numbers- foreclosures were up from last month.
They were up 16% from this time last year- 9 from last month.
Bad- but not surprising [to me].
Then- at 8:05 am- the report said ‘good news for the housing market’.
I mean- you can’t make stuff like this up.
Why are these bad numbers not a surprise?
Last year many of the banks put a hold on their foreclosures.
You had the Robo Signing scandal [people just rubber stamping foreclosures- using fake names].
And you had the president purposefully do a short moratorium on foreclosures.
Okay- so what would happen when these temporary fixes were over?
Foreclosures go up.
Then why don’t the financial guys tell you this- why do they make it sound like all is well?
I don’t think these guys are purposefully lying [most of them] but when your whole career is based on the market- then you have a natural tendency to hear [say] what you want- not what’s necessarily the truth.
Why am I so negative on the market today?
Yesterday we had a short run up- primarily because the central banks [in Europe and presumably us- the Fed] made it sound like they might help the cash strapped European states and pump ‘liquidity’ [cash] into the system.
Okay- so the Dow went up- not because we had good economic news- but bad.
That is- things look so bad- the world banks said ‘we might help’.
Okay- why does this help the market?
These last few years- our nations bank- the Federal Reserve- has pumped trillions of dollars into the system.
Some think this is bad monetary policy- others say it’s good.
Now- as a matter of simple math- if you put extra money into the system- this money has to go somewhere.
And eventually a large part goes into the market.
This in reality is a fake way to ‘stimulate’ the market.
So that’s what you saw yesterday.
EGYPT
Yesterday the high court disbanded the entire Parliament.
The military are still in control- and it looks like Democracy has failed.
Now- do I think this is a bad thing?
Not really.
Why?
Look- the Muslim Brotherhood rose to power after the protests.
These guys just had thousands in the streets calling for the destruction of Israel.
They are indeed radicals- and if they run the country you will have another theocracy like Iran.
This is not good for the rights of women- Christians- and many other groups.
The economy of Egypt has been ruined.
For centuries people have been going to visit the pyramids- that whole thing is now dead.
Tourism was a major part of their economy.
We have not helped the cause of these people- we might have meant well by toppling Mubarak- but the aftermath is bad.
GLOBAL DOWTURN
Oil prices are down 12 %- because of a global slowdown.
Asia [China] is slowing down faster than anyone thought- China just took financial action to try and counteract this.
In the beginning of the year many were projecting 3.5- 4 % growth for the U.S.
The Bulls and Bears were just about split [I was- am still a bear].
Half way thru the year- the estimates are now 1.7 % growth- terrible.
There is no way we are going to see an upturn for the rest of the year- not possible.
Now- will the markets go up?
I don’t think so- but people do crazy stuff.
I’m saying the global economic outlook is terrible- very very bad- The E.U. crisis is very bad.
Spain and Italy are in trouble- not just Greece.
Greece is on the verge of exiting the Euro- and many investors have taken their money out of Spain and Italy.
Italy is really ‘too big to fail’.
If the Italian economy crashes- the Euro\zone is over.
Now- Do I think the worst will happen?
I don’t know for sure- but for financial advisors to be telling people that the ‘fundamentals’ are strong is ridiculous.
This has been the mantra the last year.
That U.S. companies [and banks] have much more cash on hand- the price for stock- compared to ‘projected’ growth/income of the company is cheap.
And some paint this rosy picture.
If you own a McDonalds on your block- and your ‘fundamentals’ are strong- but if everyone on the block is going broke- it makes no difference how strong the fundamentals are- the customers are broke.
That’s what the E.U crisis means- they are our number one trading partner- yes- they beat China.
If they are having all these very real problems- then we are in danger of another recession.
Most of the recent numbers seem to be saying this.
The last few weeks we are seeing a rise in the weekly unemployment numbers.
Our economy is softening- and the trend is not your friend.
With all this going on- the message of the president makes no sense.
He gave a speech yesterday- he basically is saying ‘do you want what we had the last 10 years- look what Bush gave you’.
I mean he acts like he has not been in charge for the past 3.5 years.
Look- I’m starting to worry about the man.
One interesting thing to keep note of.
The markets play into what they think might happen.
If the Supreme Court shoots down Obama care this month- markets WILL LIKE THAT.
And- the truth be told- if they think Romney is going to win [the odds look much better for him now than 3 months ago] the markets will factor that in as a positive sign.
All in all- today might be a rough day for stocks.
We do need to batten down the hatches for the rest of the year and realize at midyear- we have made a turn for the worse.
Don’t worry- don’t panic- but make sure your listening to good advice.
I am not a total doomsayer when it comes to this [Beck type]- but I see the writing on the wall- the global economy is slowing down- we are on the verge of a double dip recession- and the Euro Zone looks very bad- despite the central banks action.
1855- UNFINISHED BUSINESS
First we need to take care of some unfinished business.
Yes- I’ll admit- yesterday’s prediction failed.
The post warned of a possible sell off in the market [I guessed around 100 or so points- nothing real big].
But- the market went up around 100.
If I have learned anything in life- it’s when you blow it you need to fess up- come clean- in Christian lingo ‘confess your sins one to another- so you will be healed’ [James].
So- to all who read this site- I have one thing to say.
My account was hacked [Anthony Weiner?]
Okay- let’s move on.
Actually- most of everything I posted was [is] still true.
I don’t want to do another whole post on economics- but some analysts think the market went up- not because we had good news [yesterday stats showed factory orders were down in May from the previous month] but because we had bad.
Like I wrote- if investors think things are bad- that makes them think the Fed will act [put more money into the system] and Walla- the Dow goes up.
There are a few other things too- like the Greek vote on Sunday [whether or not they will stay in the Euro] but overall I still stick to my post- absent that one line that was hacked!
Okay- did we have any other ‘big’ news yesterday?
There were a few things- some ‘bigger’ than the media [or the administration] would like us to know.
The president did a funny thing yesterday- he sent a letter to congress saying he ‘declassified’ info about our terror [drone] campaign in Yemen.
This is the first time he did this [as far as we know?] since he’s been in office.
Why does this really look suspicious?
His administration is under criticism right now- it looks like they have indeed been ‘leaking’ these stories to the press.
The whole recent scandal of national security leaks.
Of course he has denied it.
But- if he [and his political people] were behind it- then they obviously had a strategy about how much would come out each month.
This ‘late Friday’ release- seems to go along with this theory- it looks funny to me.
The president also did his ‘kinda’ executive order- by giving some type of cover to some illegal aliens.
For the record- I’m liberal when it comes to this subject [for those who think I’m too far right!]
I want for our nation to work out some type of deal for the kids of illegal’s- who were young when they came to the country- who are in school- basically grew up just like you and me- I don’t want these kids to be afraid of getting sent back.
I also realize the need to have some type of border enforcement- I just want to say I’m not against the principle that that the Pres laid out.
Of course it was politically timed- I mean you’re in office for 3.5 years- and now you do it.
In actuality there really is more ‘politics’ to it than meets the eye.
When the president’s real plan for immigration was shot down- The Freedom Act- he simply blamed it on the Repubs.
But something unsuspected happened.
Marco Rubio [the Cuban American Republican from Florida- possible V.P. pick for Romney] began working on a Repub plan to allow the minor kids of illegal’s to stay in the country.
The same basic thing that Obama wanted to do.
Okay- to the surprise of some- he seems to have convinced enough fellow Repubs to sign on.
Now- the part you don’t see is this.
What the Pres did- and the other Democrats- was they saw how bad it would look if the Repubs actually passed a law that favored immigrants- that if Rubio succeeds- than it will look like they did something Obama was not able to do- pass immigration reform.
So behind the scenes Obama and the Dems have been telling fellow Dems ‘don’t agree with Rubio!’
Some have jumped ship and simply said ‘look- we want reform- we [the Dems] had total control of the govt. for the first 2 years- you [our leader- Obama] spent all your capital on health care- so we don’t care if it’s Rubio- we simply want TO HELP THE KIDS AND GET THE REFORM DONE’.
Okay- that sounds principled to me.
So- Obama realized he was gonna look bad if the Rubio thing goes thru- and he came out- after 3 and a half years- and said ‘I must act now’.
He pulled the rug out from Rubio [which in reality hurt the long term solution- which would have been much better for the Hispanic kids].
And gave an ‘order’ to Janet Napolitano [the lady that oversees the immigration laws] and said ‘put a 2 year hold on deporting the kids of Immigrants’.
Now- there’s more to it- but this is the short story.
It really would have been better to just let the Rubio idea pass- because the new plan from the Pres still leaves the kids in limbo- they simply get 2 years to not get deported.
That’s politics.
Okay- lets end the week with a few verses.
I have been reading Isaiah chapters 26- 30.
Some notable verses ‘your dead sons will arise- together with MY DEAD BODY shall they arise’.
This week the more historic/traditional churches celebrated the Eucharist [communion- the actual term means Thanksgiving].
This past Sunday was a church memorial that always sticks in my mind each year it comes up.
It’s a special day that celebrates the Feast of Corpus Christi.
This feast is a celebration of the Body of Christ- but because that’s the name of my city- I usually make note of it when it comes up annually.
I like the above verse- I have quoted it every week for years [it’s one of the many prayer verses I have painted in my yard].
It’s a prophetic verse speaking about both the future resurrection of all men- and it’s also speaking about the Lords Table.
At the last Supper Jesus gave his men [and us] an ongoing memorial of his death for us.
‘Take Eat- this is my Body’.
He broke the bread and poured the wine.
We as believers have been keeping this memorial for 2 thousand years.
The apostle Paul told the Corinthians ‘as often as you do this- you do show the Lords death until he comes back’.
I love the celebration of the Eucharist- the Catholic scholar Scott Hahn says something I like.
He says ‘Jesus said DO THIS in remembrance of me- not- write this’.
His point- to us ‘scholarly’ types- is that we often emphasize the bible- the written word- while Jesus told us the doing of the memorial was what would ‘show his death’ till he comes.
I like that.
So- for you non church goers- maybe tomorrow [or in the near future] you can make an effort and go to church and celebrate the meal.
Isaiah said ‘your dead men shall rise- together with my dead Body they shall live’.
Gather ‘together’ with the confessing church- celebrate the meal- lets all live TOGETHER.
1856- FOR THE BIRDS
Late happy father’s day to all you dads out there.
Yesterday I got up early and went to Wal Mart- I wanted to get presents for my girls and do a kind of raffle at my oldest daughter’s house [Bethany].
I had wanted to meet at the beach- but I realized that plan wasn’t going to work so we ended up at her house.
I bought some nice stuff for the kids- and had a home bingo game I bought a while back [my wife plays with her sister- so I got them a cheap home version] and I used the thing that turns/mixes the bingo balls in the cage- and stuck the names of my kids on the balls.
It was silly- but they liked the stuff.
So- after I bought the gifts I took a ride to the beach [about 2 miles from where I live] and jumped in the gulf- yeah- it was dad’s day- so I swam.
O- I forgot- while driving to Wal Mart we had one of those quirky storms- and I [and everyone else] spotted a Funnel Cloud over the bay.
I stopped and took a few pictures- we do get them in our area- but it might be only the second time that I spotted one live [you see them on the news at least once every year or so- from the area].
As I was walking back to the truck after the swim- I heard someone yell out ‘hey John’.
Sure enough it was my buddy Tim [carpenter Tim- I wrote about him in the last few weeks].
Yeah- I have not spoken with Tim in years- like I said- sometimes I’ll run into my homeless friends once or twice every 2-4 years.
That was the case with Tim.
He was on his bike- and he told me he just got back to the area.
He rode the thing to Roswell N.M. [no joke- he’s a real bike rider!].
So we talked for about 2 hours [yeah- was running late for the father’s day gig].
Tim shared with me all the times the Lord provided for him on the bike ride.
At one point the weather got real cold- and the day before he found some long John’s [thermal underwear] at a rest stop- they were still in the bag!
He told me how this was how God provided the whole time [a few week- month type trip].
He told me he still has a camp in the Bluff [where I live- many years ago I used to visit Tim regularly in the camps- many of the homeless have camps- Tim was a regular friend- I would trek thru the brush area- maybe half a mile or so- Tim would have a nice camp set up- he’d brew me some Folgers over an open fire].
As we were talking there at the beach- he had some of the old Folgers coffee in his bag- sure enough he broke it out and made some right there.
I gave Tim some money- he really did not want to take it- then he tried to give me something of value [he had some music C.D.’s].
I told Tim ‘no buddy- the last few weeks I have been giving 20’s away- felt like I needed to catch up’. I was slacking with helping the poor- so it was the lord that allowed this chance meeting.
Tim told me he still has a camp on the property of some rich lady who lives here in town.
He does work for her- at almost no cost- so she lets him live there- outside!
He has told me about her in the past- nice lady- but a staunch atheist.
You know- the type that really lets you know they don’t believe.
He was telling me how she’s an avid bird lover- has all the stuff on her property for birds.
I gave Tim a quick Apologetics argument he can use with her- if he ever gets the chance.
I have written a lot about this over the years- but let me give you the short version.
Apologetics is the field where you argue for the existence of God- you use the proofs from science and logic and philosophy to argue your case for the existence of God.
Okay- this is the short version.
The fact that ANYTHING EXISTS- is proof that God exists.
How so?
For many thousands of years- dating back to the time of the famous philosophers- Plato, Aristotle and Socrates [5- 600 years B.C.] people who studied the universe [Cosmologists] believed that the universe [time, matter, space- all things that make up the physical world] had no beginning point.
Most [though not all] believed that the universe was eternal- even the contemporary Carl Sagan said ‘the universe is all there ever was- and all there ever will be’.
So- when Christian thinkers argued for the existence of a creator- most used the Aristotelian argument that said ‘God is the Prime Mover’.
Which meant- He started all motion.
Even the great 13the century Catholic scholar- Thomas Aquinas- used this argument.
But- in the modern era- science has found out that yes indeed- there was in fact a time when no physical matter existed.
We learned this in the 20th century- men like Einstein made great breakthroughs in the field of Physics- and they showed us that there was a time- well- when there was ‘no time’.
It would take too much to cover this here- but men like Hubbell and a few others made some great scientific observations that backed up Einstein’s theory- and vice versa.
So- when SCIENCE [not religion- not bible- not ‘God talk’] showed us that all matter had a starting point- it left the atheist in a tough spot.
If there was a time when nothing existed- then how did everything get here?
The only logical conclusion is something [or someone] who exists outside of the physical realm [called the metaphysical realm] had to have been responsible for it.
Why is this the only logical explanation?
Because things cannot come FROM NOTHING [the ancient saying ‘out of nothing- nothing comes’].
So- we are left with the dilemma that there was indeed a time of NO MATTER- and therefore something- outside of the material realm- has to be responsible for it.
This is indeed- in my view- the greatest Apologetic argument used to ‘prove’ the existence of God.
Now- some say ‘but how do we know it’s God- maybe there is some other ‘non material’ thing/being that did this’?
Look- some of the so called ‘new atheists’ have gone down this line of reasoning- and made fools of themselves.
One quick example.
One of the famous present day atheists is Richard Dawkins.
He was pinned down in an interview- and he was confronted with this dilemma.
He actually said that he thought it was possible that some ‘being’ from another time might have made all things.
He said the being- well- would have to be eternal [because if he isn’t- you have the problem- where did he come from].
He said this being had to have been very smart [you can’t get intelligence from non intelligence- this is a scientific observation].
And this being had to be very powerful- because he created all things.
In short- when Dawkins was done- he described the attributes of God down to the last detail [omniscient, omnipotent, etc.]
So- any thinking person- even an avowed atheist- realizes the problem that they face in trying to explain the existence of all things.
I told Tim it was ‘funny’ that this lady loves birds- but ‘hates’ God.
The Apostle Paul said in Romans chapter one ‘they did not want to have God in their thoughts- so God gave them up to worship the created order- Birds, etc..’
Yeah- men who rejected the obvious proof of God- creation- became worshippers of creation [they made idols of animals and birds].
I found it interesting that Tim’s bird lady was living proof that the bible is true.
I had a good time talking with Tim- it’s been a while- he asked if he should come by the house and visit in the upcoming weeks- I told him sure.
Tim is one of the homeless guys who does not like to impose on people- that’s why I hardly ever see him- he won’t even go to the free mission to eat- he avoids the whole scenario of looking like your homeless.
He works- lives- and feels like it’s his right to not have a home- without being looked down upon.
Well- I’ll end with that for now- for those who want to read more about Apologetics- I have stuff on the blog you can find- have fun.
1857- LIBYA REDUX
I was going to post this morning on ‘secondary causes’.
That in nature- and the created world- there are what we call secondary causes.
That means God does not ‘create’ everything you see- as he did the original creation.
We see trees- plants- fish- even humans- and even though it is proper for us to refer to these as Gods creation- yet we can also examine the natural process of reproduction- seeds falling to the ground- and even ‘test tube’ babies- and this is still a creation from God [man can’t duplicate life- even in the lab] yet- these creations are not direct- as the original creation.
Anyway- maybe I’ll do this tomorrow.
What I want to do today is simply re hash some of the posts from the last year.
The other day when I checked my site [Face Book] I had a few comments about my political posts.
At the time I did not realize I knew the person.
She is a good friend who was an original church member form the church I started years ago in Kingsville.
I did feel bad a little- that I responded to the comments- not in a bad way- but without first saying hi.
Then after thinking ‘geez- this name sounds familiar’ I realized it was my friend.
Actually – she does have a good story to tell.
Janie met her husband- Emit [or Emmet? I never knew the correct spelling] at our little church.
Emit was one of the first ‘drug addicts’ that joined our church.
He was a friend of Elias [another addict I met while preaching at the jail] and our little home church was made up of these families.
Anyway- Emit- and Aunt Bee- the aunt who raised Emit- and Emits son [Emit Jr.] were all church members.
Emit Jr’s wife- Veronica- and her mom- Yolanda- all came too- I mean Kingsville is a small town- and after a while you meet the whole crew.
I was happy to see Janie and Emit meet- and later marry.
I would visit her and the boys [she has lots of boys- and a sweet daughter- Rhonda].
I knew these kids when they were young- I’m sure they look different today.
Janie and Emit and the family made a nice family.
Then one day I heard Emit died.
As far as I knew Emit was clean- not on drugs anymore.
And his son told me his dad died because his liver was bad- after all the past years of drugs.
I don’t know the whole story- but this was what his son told me.
By the way- Emit Jr still keeps in contact with me till this day.
So- before I get into the political debate- I wanted to tell the story of Janie and her family- it really is a good story to tell.
Okay- in some of the comments- it’s hard to re-tell all the posts I did last year- and the comment section on Face Book is too small to really do it justice.
One of the debates was over whether or not Gadhaffi slaughtered his people.
Did we [Obama] intervene in Libya because the leader was slaughtering his people?
I disagreed- and this is the reason why.
There was an ongoing policy debate within the administration [the president’s team].
There were some on one side- Susan Rice, Samantha Powers- and the other side was pretty much made up of the defense secretary and the military folk.
I remember reading/hearing about this particular debate- because some in the media made it sound like ‘the women’ won over the men.
Basically the debate was ‘should we- the U.S. - and the Obama presidency- should we set a new precedent that says- we will use military force- BEFORE a slaughter takes place’.
What you had in Libya was a very public ‘civil’ unrest.
90% of the population lives right off the Mediterranean coast- in the West you had the capitol city- Tripoli.
In the east the main city was Benghazi.
The rebels from the east rose up against Tripoli.
Gadhaffi and his men were attacked by the east- they made it all the way up until the western stronghold of Tripoli.
[Note- these guys raped- killed- and committed ‘crimes against humanity’ on the way- that’s a fact]
After a few weeks of fighting- Gadhaffi re grouped and began his trek east- and wound up at the gates of Benghazi.
Okay- was there a slaughter that took place?
No. It was GOING TO TAKE PLACE- at least that’s what the threat seemed to be.
Gadhaffi was saying- very publicly- that he would go in and go from house to house and get all those who are siding with the rebels.
Some think this was just a threat- that he wanted the city to abandon the rebels cause- and this was simply bravado.
Anyway- on both sides- there was killing- but no slaughter [slaughter is what took place in Rwanda- a million dead].
President Obama and his team admit this- this was their argument ‘we acted first- before the slaughter took place’.
Now- I don’t want to re hash the whole thing- nor do I think it profitable to get into debates like this- with my friends.
It’s just some of the comments said I basically was an idiot and had no idea what I was saying- and I felt like I needed to respond.
I actually am on the side of Obama right now- in his decision to not act in Syria.
There are those calling for military intervention- but we [the U.S.] have intervened too much already- very rarely does military force do the job.
In Libya- before we acted- people living in Tripoli had a good life.
I used to see actual documentaries on the open markets of the city- venders selling olives and fish and all the wonderful produce form the Mediterranean region.
You had doctors and professors- kids going to school- you went to the hospital- just like here in the U.S.
After the killing of Gadhaffi- that city is ruined.
If you take your kid to the hospital now- there are opposing militia groups [terrorists] who walk through the hospital- carrying guns.
They are all saying ‘we are in charge- no- we are’.
I heard this from an interview from a doctor- it was on NPR radio- a very reliable news source.
The non Black leaders that were from the east- the group we sided with- they have taken the Black women and children and have made them- well- slaves.
The leaders we backed- they hate Blacks- with a passion.
I explained why this is in the past- basically Gadhaffi loved the Black skinned Africans. So the ‘friend of my enemy is my enemy’.
There are many reports that these wonderful Black people- I mean some were doctors and school teachers- you need to see how bad this is.
These Black people are now actually doing slave labor- they have them cleaning up the streets and working as slaves- these are reports I heard from multiple reliable sources.
I mean how would you feel if the U.S. came to your city- and your Black kids were used like this?
Taken out of school- their future gone- their dads castrated.
This has been going after the death of Gadhaffi.
How can anyone think this is good- that we helped these people?
Libya- Egypt- and yes- Iraq- they are all worse off than before.
This debate is not about whether or not someone’s favorite president did better than the other president.
It’s about U.S. intervention- it’s about the use of force.
It’s about the plight of the Blacks in Libya.
No- Obama did not go in because Gadhaffi was slaughtering his people- he went in to prevent what he said would be a slaughter.
Either way- we ruined that country- for good.
1858- WHO WAS THAT MASKED WOMAN?
I want to try and cover a little more on Apologetics- but just a few notes.
Yesterday my favorite news channel [you know I’m joking?] MSNBC once again showed why they have the lowest ratings around.
Lawrence O’Donnell- he did a report on Ann Romney's disease- she has M.S.
In the report he questioned her use of trained horses as a recommended therapy for her sickness.
By the way- a Cali news paper did the same thing a few weeks back.
For those who don’t know- some in the media mocked Ann Romney because she works with these ‘dancing horses’.
Yeah- it’s not what the average person does- and that’s exactly why they think its fine to mock the lady.
So last night O’Donnell said that he had his team investigate whether or not this is an actual treatment for M.S. He then quoted some report- that it’s not in the top 10.
Why?
Well of course you would not recommend the average M.S. person to go out and by dancing horses at the rate of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
I mean this is common sense.
But if you have the money- working with horses is indeed a legitimate treatment for all types of motor skill injuries/diseases.
The shameful thing is this network deems this as a legitimate story.
When Michele Obama got caught in disguise a few weeks ago- to be honest- this was very sad.
Why?
She went shopping- against the warnings of the secret service- and against the wishes of the president himself [you can’t do stuff like this- an unplanned shopping trip into town].
But there have been lots of reliable reports that Michele Obama has had a very hard time adjusting to being the wife of a president.
She initially wanted to stay in Chicago with her 2 girls- and simply travel back and forth to D.C. every few weeks/months.
Obviously this would look bad- so the president convinced her to live with him.
Now- when I heard/saw the story that she actually put on a disguise and went shopping- against the strong recommendations of the pres and the secret service- I knew there were real problems.
I did not rejoice over it- I pray- by name- for him and his family every Monday and Friday [those are the days I use for regular prayer intercession- I pray every day- but those days I mention world leaders].
Okay- if this happened to Sarah Palin- or any other top political figure from the other side- you would have had the late night comedians dressing up in masks.
You would have had MSNBC and the shameful crew laughing nonstop.
I mean an incident like this- is fodder for the ‘press’.
Yet I never heard one story like this- I simply saw the hard news story on it- and that was it.
Now- I’m sure the White House prepared- braced themselves for the jokes- none came.
I think it’s shameful for MSNBC [and the Cali paper] to have actually investigated the recommended treatment that Ann Romney uses.
They went- in detail- on how much insurance she holds on each horse- they mocked the fact that she used a lot of money to work with the horses- I mean they investigated her more than Obama- I mean the press never even read his autobiography!
When the media celebrated that 20,000 pages of Sarah Palin’s emails were released [many emails that were between her and her daughters- things that you would not want released].
They actually tried to recruit the public to ‘go thru them and see what you can find’.
Yes- at least one news paper asked this of their on line readers.
What did they find?
Absolutely nothing.
It was a shame that they did this.
They released- and put on line- emails that they did not even read yet.
Say if there was one that said her daughter had some type of sexually transmitted disease- the public would have know this- and it would have been out there for the world to see.
Yet the same paper- the N.Y. Times- did not release the emails about the scam that some global warming guys perpetrated.
These emails showed that some of them [not all!] actually rigged the data to make it look worse than it really was.
The Times said they would not report- or reveal- these emails- because- quote ‘the original writer did not intend them to be made public’.
Too bad they never gave the same courtesy to Sarah and her kids.
Right now- as I speak- the attorney general of the U.S. - Eric Holder- is ‘holding’ on to around 70,000 pages of emails and other info that would show us who was responsible for the program that resulted in the death- and cover up- of a U.S. border patrol agent.
Holder has released around 20,000 pages- and he’s trying to ‘bargain’ make a deal ‘how bout I give you so many more- and then you wont ask for the rest’?
Who are you bargaining for?
Why are you even trying to make a deal?
We are asking- we- the American people- are asking ‘who in the heck is responsible for the murder of agent Terry’?
No deals- no bargains- if the media rejoiced that the American public read everything about Palin and her family- email’s that spoke about family problems- the whole thing ‘we have the right to know!’
Then what about the right to finally find out who is responsible for the dearth of Terry?
The problem with politics- and the way we side with either side- is we begin rooting for things that are wrong.
Yesterday I posted about how our action in Libya has caused the Black people of Libya to be persecuted against.
Yet there are many supporters of Obama- who will not report this story.
These people are complicit by their silence- yet they claim to be on the side of the Black people.
I had a talk a few weeks back with a liberal friend.
It was during the time of the debate over Planned Parenthood.
I explained to my friend that the founder of Planned Parenthood- Margaret Sanger- was an extreme racist.
I wrote on this a while back- and even posted the on line info on her [you can Google her name and it shows up on the first page].
Sanger observed the Black race in major cities- and came to the conclusion that the Black race were like rodents- that the more they increased- the more they would be a drain on white society.
She looked at the Blacks in N.Y. and said if they keep ‘breeding’ they will eventually overburden the welfare system.
She wrote- using this language- in many of her published papers.
She said it was obvious that the Black race were an inferior race- who could not compete with the more enlightened White race- and that we need to find ways to eliminate the Race.
Okay- the first clinic opened in N.Y. - with the intent on cutting back on this ‘breeding race of rodents’ [her language- not mine].
Today- Planned Parenthood is the number one provider of abortion in the country- and Blacks make up their biggest client base.
Now- this is simple fact.
I am not saying that all the current workers know this- I’m sure they don't.
But when I revealed this to my liberal friend- the racist language and all- my friend tried to defend the woman by saying stuff like ‘well I’m sure she meant well- but maybe used unfortunate language’.
You see- we are so joined to either party- to either side- that when a real injustice is done- we will even defend ‘our side’ even if that means defending a true racist.
Do I think its ‘funny’ that Ann Romney does the silly dancing horse thing?
Not really- I don't think anything she does in her private life- unless its illegal- should be a platform for some immoral reporter like O’Donnell to shamelessly broadcast to the world.
To question whether or not her horse thing is a ‘recommended treatment’ for her disease.
If the media- and the comics- were able to ‘overlook’ Michele’s shopping trip- incognito- then let’s leave Ann alone.
1859- NOT A CHANCE
Went Down to the mission yesterday- saw the guys.
Dirk has his van running good- put the new radiator in [a few posts ago].
Gave Henry a ride back to the boat dock where he works- there were these beautiful Pelicans all lined up along the dock- never saw so many in a row like that.
On my way back to the house I saw a few cars in front of me make a detour- I realized there was a cop car with his flashing lights parked in the local speed trap.
Of course they’ll stop you for anything- I had gotten a ticket for driving without my license in the same spot a while back.
My inspection sticker has been expired since around May- of last year.
Yeah- I know.
I took it to the inspection guy a couple of month’s back- it failed for the tires.
So- as I saw the cop- I did a detour too- and went to another shop [yeah- I know].
I figured ‘Lord- I just helped the guys out- maybe I can get a break’.
So as I sat in the waiting room- doing one of those silent prayers ‘Lord- blind his eyes to the tires’.
You say ‘John- I thought you weren’t one of those positive confession type guys’.
I’m not- but when you’re in a bind you do what you have to.
The kid comes back ‘sir- your tire failed- your brake light is out- and you have a hole in the catalytic convertor’.
The plan didn’t work out too well.
Okay- let me finish a few more comments on proofs for the existence of God.
Yesterday I got into it a little with Dirk- and the other week I mentioned my friend Mike.
I have known Mike for a long time [the homeless artist] and I never knew he was really into the science shows and all.
As we talked Mike told me how over the years he has spoken with Christians/preachers and he has said ‘why do you think God created everything- Fungus and bacteria seem to produce on their own- maybe the cause for all things is that’.
Now- this was a good question- Mike told me that the only response he ever got was ‘the bible says God made everything’.
Okay- I got the point.
I told Mike that what he has observed over the years- the shows he has seen- that these things are good- they are true- science and God do not contradict.
I simply explained to Mike that fungus is part of the material world- and science teaches us that the material world did not always exist.
Therefore- if fungus did not always exist- it could not be the ‘creator’ of everything else.
Mike never heard this simple truth.
He actually thought about it- kind of in a way- a look on his face- like ‘geez- I just lost the last thing I clung to’ type expression.
He thought it through- understood what I said [I went a little more in depth] and then responded ‘well- maybe some other non physical being did it- instead of God’.
I simply gave him the argument I posted around 2 posts ago.
Okay- what was Mike seeing in the fungus?
He saw what we call Secondary causes.
That is there are many things in the natural world that do indeed re produce on their own.
Things grow and develop.
God made the creation to be self sustaining in a way.
Yet- many good people have heard ‘bad’ arguments- things that are false on its face- and don’t really know it.
The most popular ‘misstatement’ today is ‘everything was made by CHANCE’.
Now- I’m not a physicist- but this statement- on its face- is not true.
Why?
Look carefully- chance is NOT A THING.
Okay- chance is NO THING.
Chance is NOTHING.
When people make this statement they do not realize what they are actually saying.
This statement says ‘chance is the actual cause of creation’.
They are giving what we call Ontological status to the word Chance.
They are treating it as in if chance was a living thing- a real thing- not simply a word that describes the odds of something.
Okay- the other misconception is ‘Given enough time- anything can happen’.
Is this true?
No.
If you took a room- were able to seal it- nothing gets in- nothing gets out.
And you have nothing in the room.
How many years would it take for you to open the door- and find a functioning world?
People- planets- stars- parades- horses- stores- etc.
I mean- is it possible- over a long period of time- for this to happen?
No- this is simply not possible- not scientifically possible.
But if you knew there were some being who had control over the room- who did have access to it- and had the power to create.
Well then it would be possible for the room to contain things.
When it comes down to it- there are really only 2 choices.
Either everything popped into existence from nothing [this is impossible].
Or something caused everything to be here [the Christian view].
When people realize this- that this debate is not about ‘well- you believe in faith and the bible and fairy tales- and I believe in fact’.
Actually no you don’t [you being the atheist- unbeliever].
No- in this debate there really is only one rational conclusion- that someone is responsible for ‘everything in the room’.
The other explanation ‘everything in the room came from chance- given enough time’ is not an option- at least not a logical one.
See?
1860- POLITICS OR RELIGION?
I wasn’t sure how to close up this week- I know how much you guys like it when I do politics! [note- every now and then I drop a joke or 2 in- I realized once that everybody does not know when it’s a joke- but if you have to say each time ‘here I kid’ it kinda ruins the thing].
I did go to the mission yesterday- and Dirk- my homeless friend that I gave a lecture to on the ‘proofs for the existence of God’ [he was kind of going off the other day on how everyone believes what they hear- that there is no real way to know who is right- so I covered the history of apologetics and the proofs for the existence of God- I kinda blasted the guys for about 15 minutes- and wasn’t sure they were following].
So when I see Dirk- the first thing he shows me is this book on Bertrand Russell- the famous British philosopher- I wrote about him when I was doing the study on philosophy.
Dirk was kind of repentant- he must of took my ‘speech’ to heart- and he told me he was going to put more of an effort into researching stuff.
Now- it was a surprise to see my homeless buddy running around with a Russell book- but I got the hint that he did get something from my talk and wanted me to know he was trying.
By the way- being he showed me the book- I encouraged him to read it- but had to let Dirk know that Russell was a very influential 20th century British philosopher- he was famous because he was a public protestor against the use of nuclear weapons.
But in the field of thought he became an Agnostic.
He was raised as a believer- but at a young age he read a book from another famous thinker- John Stuart Mill.
Mill wrote about what we have been discussing these last few days- the law of Cause and Effect- and how things came into being.
Mill said ‘if everything has to have a cause- then why not God? Who caused God?’
Now- Mill wasn’t the first thinker to pose the question- but Russell became influenced by this idea and espoused it for the rest of his life.
The problem?
Though both of these men were smart- they stumbled over this misconception.
The law of Cause and Effect [also referred to as causality] does not say EVERYTHING has a cause.
It states that all EFFECTS have a cause.
In essence- it’s within the realm of logic to espouse an infinite- causeless being.
Now- some might say this is ‘illogical’ but using the laws of logic [like we covered the last few days].
In the end- the only logical explanation for all things is an infinite being.
Anyway- don’t want to re hash the whole thing again- just thought it interesting that Dirk was reading Russell’s book.
Even though there are a lot of news events that could be covered today- lets finish with a few ‘religious’ things.
I have a verse here [about 200!] hanging on my wall- it’s from Isaiah [I think? I write them down and hang them up- but I don’t write the reference].
It says ‘do these things- and when others read about them- this will be a witness to them’.
There are others along this line that I have come across these last few years.
I started working with the homeless in 1992- with guys that were on drugs- ex-cons- before that.
I never told any of these stories until a few years back.
I started the blog in 2006- Facebook a couple of years later.
I felt that it was part of the ‘next step’- that is doing ministry- that the Lord wanted me to get into.
So- even though I did not even have email until 2006- or even get online until that time- I did my best to put together the blog [amateurish as it is] and start the process.
Now- over the years- as a student of religion, philosophy, ecclesiology [church]- I have written a lot about what it means to ‘do church’ or ‘be church’.
In Christian circles this has been hotly debated in recent years.
Many in the House Church movement have written- and debated with those who are more into the Traditional type churches.
There are many Protestants who have all types of ways they see ‘church’.
In its most basic form- the best definition that I have been able to come up with- is Church is a community.
It’s a worldwide community of those who confess Christ [the universal church].
And it’s a local community of those who follow him.
If you read the gospels- Jesus and his disciples are a good picture of the church.
Now- many will say ‘No John- the church was not formed until Acts chapter 2’.
Okay- I hear that.
I see the whole thing.
But- as community- it’s a mistake- in my view- to dismiss the gospels as ‘pre church’.
I don’t want to get into a theological debate- because I’m not even sure how many are following right now.
But- the point is- if we actually read the things that Jesus told us to do [sounds simple enough].
We would end up doing a lot of the things that most of us call ‘prison ministry’ or ‘street ministry’ or ‘outreach ministry’.
In actuality- these things are a main function of being a community.
So- over the years- because many of us associate church with the meeting [or the building]. We have a tendency to shift the focus from community- to the corporate entity.
Years ago I filed the corporation papers for our ‘church’.
Instead of paying a lawyer- I got a self help book- ‘how to incorporate your church’ and filed.
It was no big deal.
But I realized how we confuse the actual corporate laws of a state- they have ways they recognize what they call ‘a local church’.
And what the bible actually teaches.
In the bible- the church is a community of people- much like Jesus and the disciples going thru the towns- preaching- healing- helping others.
Yet- much of the focus of modern ‘church’ is the corporation ‘how much do we need this month? How many members do we need each month to tithe- and cover the vision of the church’.
Much of the focus- and effort- is spent on raising money for the corporation.
People are ‘challenged’ to sacrifice for Gods work- but the challenge is often seen thru the lens of ‘give till it hurts’.
Look- I’m not against giving- I give lots of money away.
But when you have the majority of church goers- who mean well- when they begin seeing their sacrifice mainly thru a paradigm of giving more money to a corporation- then this blinds them to the majority of teaching in the New Testament that calls us into the world- in real ways- to be the ‘actors’ [ones who act- function- not just give money so others can act/function on our behalf].
That is- the primary responsibility of the believer is not simply to go to church on Sunday [though this is a good thing].
Or to tithe to the ‘church’.
But to be active in helping one another- to be giving our lives away for other people.
This is the heart of the whole New Testament.
So- my purpose in telling these stories the last few years was simply to show one example [out of many- there are many Christians who do see the stuff I just showed you] So these things could be ‘the wisdom’ that the example of people seeing what it means to ‘be church’ might lead others to a ‘more better way’ [Hebrews.]
So- I’ll end the week with the example of my homeless buddy reading the writings of a 20th century British philosopher.
The politics will have to wait- yeah- I know your sad.
1861- THE 40 YEAR REUNION
Let’s recap the week’s news.
The lines are drawn- the pres has asserted Executive Privilege- for the first time.
And Pelosi has come out and accused the Repubs of outright racism.
Chris Matthews- the most dangerous man alive [sorry Ken Shamrock] has also jumped on the bandwagon.
He had on 2 Black Dems and said those who want Holder to release the documents on fast and Furious are racists.
The other week Matthews was defending the right of Asian Americans to abort their baby girls because they preferred a boy.
Yes- he took the other side when the Repubs wanted to outlaw sex selection abortions.
Now- he claimed he was not for it- but argued against the passage of the law- because he said it was only a problem in the Asian community.
So- he thought ‘why outlaw it- only Asian girls are dying’.
This is the same guy who sees racism in the Holder affair.
About a month ago I said to myself ‘let's see how long it will be before the media begin re running the Watergate movie nonstop’.
To my surprise- not only are they running the movie- but all the major networks have come out in full regalia- ‘celebrating’ the 40th anniversary of Watergate.
I also read an article the other day- some Texas professor wrote Holder- demanding the release of the other documents from Watergate.
Holder responded in a way that sounded like ‘there is no longer any good reason to continue the cover up of Watergate- by golly- the truth must show!’
Let’s see- did we celebrate the 20th- 30th anniversary?
No.
Do you normally celebrate the 40th anniversary- of anything?
No.
Your normally have a big bash on the 25th- and 50th.
But the media have actual real time scandals- the cover up of the murder of 300 hundred Mexican citizens- and at least one border patrol agent.
The Solyndra scandal that revealed that the presidents own men [All the Presidents men?] actually told him- in a memo- that what he was about to do looked illegal.
This was said- in a memo- by his own men.
What he did was changed the loan to Solyndra- in order for his top fundraiser- who put money in the company- to get paid back first if the company went bust.
This loan change was not done for any other person/company- only for the loan that his top fundraiser made.
When this was first revealed- a mainline news reporter [Sharyl Atkinson] who broke the story said it looked like this might bring the presidency down.
What?
This was all revealed on a Friday- after months of denying any involvement in the scandal.
For it to be revealed that your own people thought what you did was illegal [not just knowing about an illegal act- Wateragte- but actually doing it!] and you did it anyway.
And you did it for your friend- against the actual law that regulates the loan- which said you can’t do this.
Well- even a mainline reporter thought it as bad- or worse than Watergate.
What happened John- Nothing.
The media simply kept silent.
Now- in the current scandal- you know- the ‘race haters’
In this scandal- when congress asked the Justice Dept. if they had any knowledge about the Fast and Furious program- they sent a letter to congress denying involvement/knowledge.
This was the beginning of 2011.
Now- when you go on record like that- the investigating team usually drops the case- because you would be lying to congress at that point.
Holder left the letter out there for most of the year- claiming they had no knowledge of the program.
When congress continued digging- Holder pulled the letter back.
Why?
Because they did indeed know about the program- this in itself is enough for a resignation- this in itself is a Watergate.
Congress just tried Roger Clemens- twice- for lying to congress.
I’m glad he got off- they found him not guilty.
Did he lie John- and use steroids?
Sure.
But for this crew to be trying people for lying- well that’s laughable.
So- Holder basically already admitted that he lied- whether he knew it or not at the time we don’t know- but we do know they said- for around 9 months ‘we had no knowledge of the program’.
Then he pulled the letter back.
At the least- we need to know what changed- who was lying- why?
The parents of the dead agent- Terry- went on the news this week- they too think Holder and Obama are covering up- by all accounts- it does look like they are covering up.
Are the parents racists?
According to Pelosi and MSNBC- yes.
We have very real scandals- things that rise- easily- to the level of Watergate.
Watergate was the cover up of a botched break in of a political office in a hotel- the name of the hotel was Watergate.
The cover up of fast and furious involves the murder of at least 300 Mexican citizens [the Mexican govt. by the way does not see this as a joke- they are outraged over this].
And the murder of an American law enforcement officer.
The Solyndra scandal was presidential involvement [not just knowledge!] to change a loan- illegally- even said to be illegal by the president’s own people- in writing!
He changed the law so his number one fundraiser would not loose money- and he denied it- until he was caught.
These lies- these scandals- they outrank Watergate- I said it at the time- but the media tried their hardest to make these things look like nothing.
I’ll end with one last ‘lie’.
This week I read some of the Leaks that are believed to have come from this White House.
These are the leaks of all the classified intelligence info that outed Israel- got the Pakistani doctor put in prison for 35 years- you know- no big deal.
When I looked at the leaks- I mean they were laughable in the way they were made to portray the president in a favorable light.
Most leaks are simply info coming out- lots of time from good men who see wrong things and are trying to expose the corruption.
We call these people Whistle Blowers.
But as I reread some of the recent leaks- I mean they are saying things like ‘As the president sat there in his chair- debating on which terrorist to kill next- he contemplated his recent study of Saint Augustine and Saint Thomas Aquinas- and he acted with righteous indignation’.
What?
St. Thomas and Augustine.
I mean these are 2 of my favorite Catholic scholars.
Augustine- the 4/5th century Bishop of North Africa- and Thomas- the great 13th century Doctor Angelicas [Angelic Doctor].
Yes- these are some big players in Theology and Philosophy.
So why have the media reported that the pres used them in his war strategy?
They are also famous for the development of the Just war Theory.
Yeah- people for centuries have appealed to these great thinkers in their justification for war.
But Obama- how does he find the time to read these guys?
I mean- unless their names are on the golf balls [he just played his 100th round!]
I don’t see him having time to read them.
So why mention it?
Because he fumbled the ball with our Catholic friends [who just began a 2 week prayer and fast against the repression of religious liberty- because of the presidents demands that they provide birth control thru their institutions].
And he needs to make amends- so lo and behold- he loves reading the Catholic scholars!
If you put all this together- the ongoing scandals- not just one.
The actual lies- the ones they have been caught in- on paper.
I mean even a mainline reporter could not believe that the revealing of this was ‘no big deal’.
And now- the fact that the pres came out the other day and addressed the nation ‘me and my Whitehouse have not released any CLASSIFIED information’.
‘It’s an insult to think this’.
Then- one week later- on Friday- they sent a letter to congress- declassifying the drone war
in Yemen.
They were basically saying ‘yeah- we were behind the releasing of all the info- it’s just we ‘declassified it’ first’.
He is going to say when he released the info- his office first ‘declassified it’.
But when he addressed you- and me- he was outraged- he made it sound like he was not aware of the leaks.
And 99 % of the public took it this way.
Look- when you get caught doing this- over and over and over- I mean this is not a one time affair.
Then it does make the public wonder about everything else.
And when the public asks for answers- and you respond by playing the race card- then it’s time for some people to resign.
Holder needs to go.
Whoever else has lied about their involvement also needs to go.
And if Nixon had to go because he lied about his knowledge about a 2 bit break in- then what about the possible cover up of your knowledge about the murder of a U.S. border patrol agent and at least 300 Mexican men, women and children.
But wait- I forgot- we don’t have time to cover these present scandals- no- we are covering the golden [or brass?] 40th year anniversary of Watergate.
Drink up.
1862- LOVE THE ALIEN- FOR YOUR WERE ALIENS IN THE LAND OF EGYPT- Deuteronomy 10:19
The Supreme Court came out with a few rulings yesterday- the big one was their decision about the Arizona Immigration law.
Most of you know that the governor [Jan Brewer] has been fighting with the Justice Dept. [Holder] over their stringent immigration laws.
Arizona- like other border sates- has had a problem with illegal aliens for some time.
So- they passed new state laws that made it tougher if you were an alien in the state.
If you applied for a job- and you were an illegal- you would get arrested.
If you got stopped by the cops- they could ask you for your papers.
A couple of other things that went beyond the federal law.
So- Eric Holder [attorney General] did what he does best- he sued Arizona.
[As a side note- this is not a joke- he has sued states/cities ever since coming into office. He just threatened to sue the Fire Dept. here in Corpus Christi. They settled for hundreds of thousands of bucks- why?
We were ‘discriminating’ against women.
How?
Some of them could not pass the physical exam- you had to do things like pull a dummy- the weight of a person- to show that if you were in a fire you would be able to rescue either your partner or a victim.
Many times women would fail this part of the test.
Okay- so some depts. changed the test.
But lots of women do- by nature- have a hard time passing this requirement.
If you ‘dumb’ down this part of the test- you are putting people’s lives at risk- both the woman as well as those she would need to rescue.
Holder threatened to sue- Corpus settled.
He also sued 2 north eastern depts. a couple of years back.
He said they were not hiring enough Blacks- he told them to change the exam.
They spent about a million bucks redoing their exam.
Some Black applicants failed.
He then ordered the dept. to lower the passing score to 60.
Finally- the BLACK firefighters union said ‘ENOUGH- YOUR GOING TO GET US ALL KILLED HERE- Blacks and Whites!’
So- Holder does have a penchant on suing cities/states when he perceives a racial issue.]
What did the court do?
They struck down some of Arizona’s law- but upheld the most controversial part- the cops can still ask for your papers at a stop.
I found it interesting that Justice Kennedy- who wrote the majority decision- seemed to side somewhat with the more liberal argument.
One thing he mentioned was when dealing with illegal immigrants- we need to keep in mind that we are dealing with people.
I know this seems obvious- but when issues become politicized- we have a tendency to forget this.
I live in an area where over the years I have seen lots of Illegal’s coming thru.
The Fire Dept. that I worked at had calls where illegal’s would accidentally start a brush fire- they maybe had a camp under a bridge and lit a fire to stay warm- stuff like that.
I had friends- Mexicans- whose families gave them food and water when they saw them in the fields.
The point is- the immigration problem is a real problem- and it is true that all countries need to be able to control their borders and have a system of legal immigration.
At the same time- we need to also look at the person issue- the above verse was a reminder to the Jewish people that they too were illegal at one time- when they were staying in Egypt.
In all these debates- we tend to forget that we are all ‘aliens’ in a sense- our country is made up of immigrants [the American Indian is the only group that can claim non immigrant status].
I personally have a problem with the amount of lawsuits that Holder has launched against the states.
He is suing Florida over their voter registration ‘purge’.
The governor- Rick Scott- has made an attempt to get non citizens off the voter rolls.
Okay- should we be letting non citizens vote?
Of course not.
Then why is Holder suing?
He sees [like others] this as a racially motivated purge.
He argues that what Florida is really trying to do is get the minorities to not vote.
Okay- the governor simply asked the justice dept. to give them a list of non citizens- those they know to be illegal.
Holder refused.
Why does Holder- and others think that Scott is anti minority?
Because after they checked the data base- the majority of those who were non citizens were indeed minorities.
So- according to Holder- this is racist.
But who else would be on a ‘non citizen’ list?
I mean do we have a massive migration of say- polish folk who are washing up on our shores?
Not yet- unless this E.U. thing gets out of hand.
So- if you are ‘purging’ the voter list of people who are not citizens- by its very nature you are going to get more minorities on the list.
Yet Holder sees this as racist.
So- both sides need to be honest- and fair.
The Right side of the aisle needs to keep in mind the above verse- that in the end we are all aliens- yes- our grandparents came legally and it’s not the same as those who are coming illegally- I hear that- but we are still dealing with humans [Kennedy].
And the left- if Holder keeps suing fire dept’s- and thinks that his role in life is to use the justice dept to accomplish some type of political agenda- then I think the words of my fellow Black firefighter should be kept in mind.
If you keep this up- ‘your going to get us all killed’.
1863- HARDBALL- CHICAGO STYLE
Yesterday morning I caught NPR radio news.
They were talking about the presidential campaign- and how the Repubs are using the accusation that Obama was/is part of the corrupt political machine that has existed in Chicago for decades.
In Chicago politics- just like where I grew up [N.J.] you had a lot of illegal- strong arm type stuff going on.
If you felt it was to your advantage- you would ruin a person’s life- or hurt them- just to make an example.
Now- the NPR show was discussing this- and a woman reporter said that Obama was not really a part of the corrupt ‘machine’ of Chicago.
Then- an older male reporter- I recognize the voice but don’t know his name- said ‘I am going to have to disagree with you’.
I was surprised- you normally don’t hear it that blatantly.
Then he went down the list and actually covered a brief history of Obama’s time in Chicago politics.
He seemed like he knew his stuff.
He brought out the fact that the machine was made up of men like former mayor Bill Daly- and Rahm Emanuel.
The Daly family was an institution in Chicago politics- and they were ‘the machine’.
Of course we all know that Daly actually went to work for Obama in Washington- and Rahm Emanuel was his first chief of staff- Daly eventually replaced him.
The reporter also brought out the fact that Obama was the man that the corrupt machine backed in Chicago.
He ran against another prominent Black leader- Bobby Rush.
The Black community backed Rush- the machine backed Obama- Rush won.
It was simply a short lesson that contradicted the false media narrative that somehow Obama was connected to all these guys- but was never really ‘a part’.
The reason I bring this up is if you realize this- then you might not be surprised that the president has indeed crossed the line- many times.
One of the reasons that many believe the president is behind all the leaking of national security info these last few months is because of the way he ‘shut down’ all unauthorized leaks in the first couple of years of being in office.
How so?
Now- this is where you need to ‘see’ the Chicago machine.
In all administrations- you have leaks.
Some hurt you- some help [actually Obama’s recent leaks have helped him].
But- you did have some the first 2 years that were real leaks- leaks that people usually believe will bring sunlight into a corrupt- or wrong practice.
How do presidents deal with them?
It’s their choice- it ranges from letting the person off the hook- called forgiveness.
To firing the person.
And in rare occasions- you press federal charges against the leaker.
For instance- the Watergate ‘scandal’ and other exposes' were the result of leaks- most liberals thought it good.
Okay- in the first 2- 2.5 years- president Obama has sought to try- imprison- and yes- execute leakers.
This is no joke.
President Obama has used the strictest federal law to go after leakers- the Espionage Act [usually used on real spies] and he has used it 6 times.
‘Okay John- what about other presidents- have they used this act’.
Sure- 3 times- total.
What?
Yeah- all former presidents of the U.S. - combined- have only used the act 3 times to go after people like this.
This is amazing- this is astounding- this is the Chicago machine- but you don’t see it.
One case I heard/read was an outstanding man [maybe a Dem?] who was also a university professor.
So- in the long tradition of men who leak- and take the risk of maybe getting fired- he did what he felt was right and leaked something about some program, that he felt was unjust.
Okay- he took the risk- if worse comes to worse he might get fired- from Washington- and go back to work at the university.
What happened?
Obama pressed the highest charges against the man [the Espionage Act] and put him away- if I remember- for life.
Yes- he sent the man to prison.
The man’s wife and kids [he had 2 daughters in school] begged the govt. To ‘please not do this- please just treat us- like say- BUSH’.
The family has been ruined.
The man is in prison- divorced- his kid’s lives are ruined.
Now- this is one case of 6.
In another case- a ‘gay leaker’ at that- the president- thru Holder- raised the offense to the level of an executable crime.
What?
Are you kidding me John- I have never heard this.
I know- the media don’t like telling you this.
Yes- to the shock of many- even many inside military men- the president raised the charge on this gay soldier to a charge that would merit execution.
Unbelievable- never- ever- in the history of the country has a leaker been charged like this.
When you use the Espionage act- it’s usually used for real spies- not for leakers.
Even one of our countries worst spies- Jonathan Pollard- who spied for Israel- against us- even he did not get the Ax.
Yet- Obama has sought to charge this soldier with this type of crime.
It should be noted- that Holder said ‘even though we are seeking this charge- we probably will not ask for execution’.
Gee- what a nice guy.
I remember an instance when some person- an insider- stole- and leaked info on Bush.
When they caught the person- Bush simply forgave the person.
I am telling you these stories because the average American has no idea that the president has operated like this- this is the most ‘strong arm’ presidency in the history of the nation.
I mean the death penalty- for things that others simply lost their jobs over- if that.
You see- when the lady NPR reporter said ‘no- even though Obama was in tight with all these Chicago guys- he does not play their game’.
The older male reporter corrected her- he does play the game- a lot better than most people realize.
[One last note- many reporters- who were really Obama supporters at the start have seen this- and they will tell you that it is impossible to get real leaks anymore about anything. These insiders see the volume of recent leaks about national security stuff and they know these are being done behind the scenes with the full permission of Obama- I mean after the first 2 years- who in their right mind would leak anything without the permission of the White House?]
1864- BLAME THE MESSENGER
I was tempted to post a quick note last night- but I thought it better to wait for today.
As I was watching the various news shows- I caught an interview with some lady who just wrote a piece [for some magazine] that said the Fast and Furious scandal- was not a scandal at all.
She did a 6 month investigation- and lo and behold- there was never any ‘gun walking’.
Huh?
Yeah- instead she talked about the real reasons these guns were in the hands of Mexican drug lords.
Go on- I’m hearing you sister.
She explained that many of our law enforcement guys have tried to get the guns off the streets- but because of the Republican [and NRA] loose gun laws- that to their dismay- they cant stop the drug runners from purchasing the guns.
Oh- I see now.
O yeah- one last thing- she said there was ONE case where she did find a Gun walking activity.
It was the single Whistle Blower [Dodson?] who did this.
As the woman made the rounds [I saw her on CNN] the ‘new’ story was that both the Repubs- as well as their cohorts in crime- the actual whistle blowers- that these were the ones who were blaming Holder [because he is Black?] while all the while Holder and his people are really innocent- after all- they never sold guns!
Now- I was really mad when I saw this latest story.
Why?
This last year- as I actually watched some of the congressional hearings- and read lots of sources and stuff.
The REAL STORY is there were guys working for the ATF and other law enforcement agencies- and these guys complained- for a couple of years- that the Gun walking program was a very dangerous and real program- even Holder has said this.
Now- these were the actual guys doing the ground work- of course they were the ‘gun walkers’ they worked for the govt.
So- after complaining about it for a while- nothing was done.
Eventually the story made it to the news- and the govt. [Holder] denied it.
At that point- some of the guys involved risked their careers- because they knew the govt. was lying- and they went public and said ‘look- I am one of the guys who actually bought and sold the guns’.
So- instead of demonizing these guys- like the lady making the rounds on MSNBC and CNN- we should be thanking them for what they did.
Quite frankly- this is about as low as it gets- they were actually saying ‘Holder never walked guns- but these darn whistle blowers- who are making the charge- they are guilty!’
Sad- so sad.
One other charge came out- it was initially made by those on the Right- and now it’s used by those on the left [as a counter charge].
When I first heard this charge- by some on the Right- I was mad.
I was mad because I knew the charge was false- and I could not believe that some were actually falling for it.
The charge?
Some have said that the Fast and Furious program was designed- on purpose- to get guns into the hands of drug lords [actually- this part is true- they wanted the top guys to get the guns- then they thought they could catch the big boys. The goal was noble- the way they went about it was stupid].
But some have said Obama purposefully wanted the gun crime to go up- so in the end he could blame the loose gun laws [NRA folk] and pass stricter gun laws.
Now- I have heard this by some radicals on the right- and this is not true.
Then why is the charge gaining ground?
Because- in the mess of this whole thing- there was indeed some memo that slipped out- by the Dems- that did say ‘if this gets out of hand- and you are asked about the program- turn the conversation into one that says ‘see- we need stricter gun laws’.
Yes- the Dems did say this- and indeed do this.
As I watched the news over the months- whenever a Dem was asked about the scandal- he/she said ‘well- it’s because we need better gun laws’.
Is the scandal about this?
No.
Is it about some whistle blower who is guilty- while Holder is innocent?
No [Holder- and the ATF big wigs were in charge- they bare the blame for the peons at the bottom that they ordered to do this].
The whole scandal- is simply the fact that the Justice Dept. - under Holder- at first denied the program- then later admitted it.
He now will not release the other papers that probably show that they were indeed trying to cover their tracks after the story broke.
That’s it.
Congress will vote today on contempt charges- and Holder will probably be the first Attorney General of the U.S. to be held in contempt.
This week I have been reading the story of John the Baptist.
John was an interesting guy.
The bible says he was filled with the Holy Spirit ‘from his mother’s womb’.
The prophets Isaiah and Malachi spoke of John ‘before the great day of the Lord I will send Elijah the prophet and he will restore the fathers to the sons and the sons to the fathers’ Malachi chapter 4.
Isaiah said ‘I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness- prepare ye the way of the Lord’.
John was the fulfillment of these prophecies.
One time the people came to Jesus and he asked them ‘what did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind- or someone dressed in expensive clothes?’
No- you went to see a prophet- and I tell you- more than a prophet.
For this is he of whom the prophets spake [above].
Then Jesus says something kinda strange- he says ‘I tell you- of all that are born of women- there has not been a greater than John the Baptist- but he that is LEAST IN THE KINGDOM is greater than he’.
Over the years I have heard various takes on this- most say that Jesus was saying that even the ‘least’ in the new church age- the Born Again Christian- is greater than the greatest of the Old age [Law].
Maybe?
But I like this interpretation the best.
Jesus often spoke about himself in the 3rd person ‘for God so loved the world that he gave his only Son’.
Maybe Jesus was really saying ‘he that is least [himself] is greater than John’.
Jesus spoke about the smallest of seeds falling into the ground and dying- then later it becomes the greatest tree.
He said this about faith- about Gods kingdom- and also about himself.
‘Except a grain of wheat fall into the ground and die- it abideth alone- but if it dies it will bring forth much fruit’ [John’s gospel].
Jesus was the ‘least among men’ that is- he gave up his glory- his position with the Father and became a man and humbled himself unto the death of the Cross.
Because of this God raised him up and seated him at his own right hand in glory.
Jesus was [is] greater than John- yet John was up there on the charts.
John was- in a way- a Whistle Blower- he revealed the secrets of men.
The thing that got John killed was his preaching against corrupt leadership.
He said ‘Herod- you snake- you have your brother’s wife- and its wrong!’
One day Herod had a party [he was the puppet king that ruled the Jewish region of the Roman Empire].
And Herod's daughter in law danced for the king.
Herod was struck ‘I'll give you anything honey- up to the half of my kingdom’.
The mother says ‘ask him for the head of John the Baptist’.
Yeah- the wife got tired of John’s whistle blowing- and John lot his head over the thing.
Today congress votes on Holder- also the Supreme Court will rule on Obama Care.
Both sides have all the reasons why they are right- and the other guys wrong.
Lets agree on one thing- let’s not blame the messenger- the guys at the bottom who were ordered to do these things- they risked their lives and careers in revealing the program- because they were good guys not bad.
Yeah- the least- the small seeds- these are the valuable ones.
1865- HEALTH CARE RULING- AND A BED
Okay- before we get to the health care ruling- let’s do some spiritual stuff.
When I got up yesterday morning- I determined not to listen to too much news before I go to the homeless spot.
I mean I like keeping my mind free- at least until I get back from visiting with the homeless.
On my way to the mission- I put on the Christian music station [I listen to classic rock- talk radio- news- and Christian stuff at various times].
I was in such a spiritual state of mind- avoiding all the political stuff.
Then my music station broke in- yeah- one of those ‘breaking news’ type things- like CNN did one day- in the middle of real news- they broke in ‘BREAKING NEWS’- gee- what could it be that’s so important- I mean they were already covering real time important stuff- Syria shooting down a Turkish jet- you know- stuff like that.
Then the urgent story broke ‘Obama rose 2 % in a poll’.
Sad- so sad.
So my Christian station ‘broke in’ I mean I was in a good state of mind- free from Rush [on the right] and NPR [a little left].
It was short- and well- sweet ‘the Supreme Court has upheld all of the Obama care law- yes- all of it’.
Now- go back to your spiritual state of mind.
Thanks a lot.
Actually- at first I was surprised- and thought for a moment ‘am I mad’ ?
You know- I wasn’t.
Am I in shock?
No.
I was just surprised.
Those of you who have followed my posts this last year realize that I was not a total rejecter of Obama Care.
I did feel that the main justification for the mandate- the way Obama used the Commerce Clause- was a mistake.
The administration said they had the right to make people buy insurance because the Fed. Govt. has the right to regulate commerce [under the clause].
And that health care is ‘commerce’ that takes place between the states- so they are ‘regulating’ it by telling you to buy insurance.
In short- this seemed like a stretch to me.
I also wrote that the pres does have the authority to pass a law that could tax people for health care.
But Obama- and the Solicitor General [the lawyer who argued the govts. case before the court] chose to reject the ‘we have the right to tax you’ law- and instead argued the ‘we have the commerce clause right to regulate you’.
So- that’s really why I thought the law would get rejected by the court.
But who am I- just some arm chair peon who watches the news- a lot.
When I got home from the mission- I caught the latest and realized that I was actually right.
The court did reject the Commerce Clause argument.
The 5 more conservative justices did in fact shoot down the Commerce Clause argument.
Hum?
Then how did it pass constitutional muster?
John Roberts [the chief justice] then sided with the 4 more liberal justices- and said in essence ‘you [Pres and Congress] do have the right to tax [which we all agree on] therefore- Obama Care passes because it’s just a tax’.
Huh?
The Solicitor General- and the President- have argued- time and again- that this is not a tax.
Yet Roberts said ‘we pass the law [mandate part] because it’s a tax’.
It seems like a contradiction to me.
Then- when I read/heard the dissenting opinion- from the 4 ‘conservative’ justices- they ripped into Roberts.
They basically said what I just told you.
They said Roberts and the 4 libs did indeed change the law- by saying in their ruling that it is a tax.
The 4 dissenters said it is the courts job to simply rule on the law- the way it was written- and the way it was argued- and that both said this was not a tax.
So- in the end- for some reason- Roberts took it upon himself to kind of be a ‘judicial activist’ and in a way re write the rule himself.
This is a little strange to be honest.
And it confuses the public.
There are now many Obama supporters who are saying ‘see- we told you it was constitutional all along’.
But actually- the way it was written- the Commerce Clause thing- was said to be unconstitutional.
Yes- the majority says the way the law was initially written was unconstitutional.
So- those who said this from the start- were proved right.
Yet- those who defend the law are skipping that [as they make the rounds on the news] and are simply saying ‘see- it was constitutional all along’.
What a mess.
I fear Roberts- in his desire to make the court look like it’s not too political- might have made one of the worst decisions- that is- a decision that seems to be political.
From the start I was [and am still] not someone who outright rejects the goal of universal care.
I never made the strong right argument that what Obama did was socialized medicine.
In actuality the law is simply a mandate for citizens to buy private insurance- without limiting what private insurance can charge.
I think in a way this is a boom for the private insurance industry.
I would have preferred a more European style thing [see- you guys who think I’m all ‘right’ have not read my blog too long].
Yes- I know both sides of the issue- and realize that true universal care- Canadian style- has its good and bad.
I just felt from the start if you are going to shoot for universal coverage [a noble goal] that the way Obama went about it was not the best way.
Okay- enough of that.
I hung out at the mission for a few hours- had a good talk with Dirk and a few other friends.
Around 1 o’clock one of the new ladies that has been coming the last few weeks- she had a free bag of goods that the mission gave her- and had to walk a few blocks in the heat.
She’s also pregnant- so I offered to give her a ride home.
Tammy also asked if I could give her a ride and I said sure.
Most of the times I will leave with Henry- and he comes back to the house and hangs out for the rest of the day.
But he was not around so I just gave the girls a ride home.
It’s been real hot in Corpus the last few weeks- we have been breaking records.
Anyway as I was dropping off Tammy she was telling Johnaa that she is sleeping on the floor of her trailer- she has no bed.
Right at that point I make the turn to get to Tammy’s street and some people look like their moving out and have about 5 beds right there on the street.
So Johnna says ‘hey look- there’s a bed’.
I asked Tammy if she wanted to turn around and see if they want to sell one.
Of course she was broke- but I told her maybe I can get a deal and I’ll buy it for her.
So I did the U turn and asked the guy- he said they were moving out and we could take one.
I’m like ‘praise God brother’.
I noticed he had on that little Elder tag that the Mormons where.
Now- I like Mormon people- and over the years I have had very open and honest discussions about their faith.
I do try to be nice when I refute some of their teachings- and have really made headway with them over the years- being open too- and willing to hear both sides.
So the guy I talked too had the badge on- plus there were about 5 more of them standing in the garage.
It must have been some missionary house that they were moving out of.
So I told them I just left the mission- I gave the Elder my ministry card [so he knew I wasn’t making stuff up].
And I kinda saw the whole thing as God working it out.
They seemed to not take it the same way.
I mean- they didn’t say anything- but it’s almost like the elder didn’t even want to touch the card.
I realize why they are like this- and if any of you guys are Mormons- I’m glad you read the site.
Yet- I felt they just were not that ‘into me’.
Anyway- far be it from me to hold a grudge- I mean that’s childish.
So we got the bed.
Oh yeah- one more thing.
If Romney thinks I’m gonna vote for him now- well he better think again.
1866- MARY- THE MOTHER OF GOD- WHAT DID SHE SAY? [or- I am the Egg Man]
As we close the week- lets recap a few highlights.
Of course the SCOTUS ruling was the biggest news- and we also had congress vote- and pass- the contempt of congress charge against Holder.
But there were a few other ‘lesser’ stories that in a slower news week would have gotten more attention.
The enemy of all conservatives- yes- the peanut farmer from Georgia- Jimmy Carter- got some heat over his criticism of Obama.
What did he say?
He made some comments about our Drone war tactics- and said there is no doubt that the U.S. is violating human rights.
How?
The drone planes are remote controlled unmanned planes- Bush was the first to ‘arm’ them- and Obama followed his lead.
We used to use them as surveillance planes- but when we stuck bombs on them we started using them to go after the enemy.
The problem?
Being we don’t have pilots in the planes- we are basically doing our best to hit the target by remote control- and we often kill civilians in these strikes.
We are doing this in Yemen and Pakistan as I speak.
So- after years of killing lots of the wrong folk- these people are outright pissed off.
In Pakistan- there is some lawyer representing the families of the victims- and they have been saving the debris from the bombs- writing down the serial numbers and all- and using them for evidence on some future court case against the U.S.
We recently found out [thru leaks?] That the way the U.S. counts the amount of terrorists that are killed in the strikes is ‘every adult male killed in the vicinity is considered to be a terrorist’.
Huh?
Yup- that’s the rule.
So if we accidently kill- let’s say 15 men- and even if the remote control operator messed up- and hit the wrong spot- we count this as ‘15 bad guys dead’.
Geez- with scoring like this- how can you lose?
So- Carter came out and said this type of killing is wrong.
Was he right?
Of course he was- we have killed a lot of women and kids- that’s wrong- in everyone’s book.
Then why don’t we stop it?
Good question.
The newly elected president of Egypt- the Muslim Brotherhood guy- he has already given signs to Iran that he wants to form some sort of an alliance with them.
He has also told the U.S. that he wants us to turn over the Blind Sheik.
Who’s he?
If you remember- years before 911- we had another attempted bombing of the World Trade Towers.
They traced the original plot to some Muslim radical who was based in New Jersey.
I remember the case because as I watched the story- the guy had his office/mosque set up right on a storefront street- and when I saw the spot- I recognized the street as one of the places I walked passed as a kid [I think one time I illegally rode my dirt bike right passed the area- you know- one of those late night street rides when the cops chase you].
So- the new Egyptian president wants the guy released and sent back to Egypt.
And we have hailed this election as a great thing- we forced a former leader out- who we were actually allies with- and we [Obama] publicly supported the Brotherhood.
This is sad.
And last but not least- I told you the other day that Holder sued Florida [man- he needs to stop suing cities/states- this guy is out of control].
He sued the Repub governor- Rick Scott- because Scott ‘purged’ the voter rolls of non citizens.
Huh?
Yeah- Scott actually identified real non citizens who were on the roles- and he tried to take them off.
It is against the law to vote if you’re not a citizen.
Why the suit?
Holder believes that the states that are doing this are really trying to hurt the Dems by going after minorities.
Okay- but say if we know- for a fact- that the people he’s removing are only non citizens- would that be okay?
According to Holder- no.
Huh- huh?
Yes- Holder said the state does not have the right to remove NON CITIZENS from the rolls- because it is within 90 days of an election- and darn it- those non citizens have rights too!
So- the case went to a federal judge- and the judge said- in so many words ‘are you nuts man- it’s against the law for non citizens to vote. The state and governor can actually be held liable if they don’t purge the voter rolls- of course Scott can do this- it’s required by law’.
I mean even the judge- a Dem appointed judge- thought Holder must be delusional - because they were upholding federal law.
As a side note- Holder has also sued some Egg farm.
Why?
Because he said they were requiring too much proof- from non citizens- to prove they were not illegal’s.
Yes- he sued this private business- not because they were requiring the proof from citizens- but from non citizens.
Why did the egg company do this?
If you get caught hiring an illegal- you pay a fine or go to jail.
They just raided a pizza place here in Corpus for this.
So- if the Egg man actually got caught hiring an illegal- then off to jail he goes.
So- he simply tried to make sure that the people he was hiring were in fact citizens- Holder sued him for this.
These are the things that have really riled up some on the other side.
I mean who cares if your Black, White or Green- this guy is absolutely off his rocker.
Okay- lets end with a bible thing here.
I mentioned the other day that I read some chapters about John the Baptist this week.
One of the big [and long] chapters was Luke 1.
In the chapter we read about the angel Gabriel appearing to both Mary- the Mother of Jesus- and Elisabeth- Mary’s cousin.
Elisabeth and her husband Zacharias were older folk and were never able to have a baby.
Then one day God does a miracle and Elisabeth gets pregnant and has John the Baptist.
The miracle was not the same as when Mary gets pregnant- but the miracle was they were older now- past the normal time to have kids.
Mary is told about this and when she gets pregnant with Jesus she visits Elisabeth and when Mary- who is carrying Jesus in her womb- sees Elisabeth- who is pregnant with John- the bible says the ‘baby leaped in her womb’.
It was John the Baptists purpose in life to be the fore runner of Jesus.
And even before he was born- he still responded this way as Christ showed up in the womb of Mary.
When the angel reveals to Mary that she will bare Christ- she bursts into this prayer/proclamation of praise.
Scholars call this Mary’s Magnificat [her magnifying of God].
If you have time- read this prayer in Luke one.
It does not sound like the prayer of some humble- quiet little lady.
It’s more like a prophetic blast of Gods rule.
Mary says things like ‘He hath put down the mighty from their seats and exalted them of low degree’ ‘He hath filled the hungry with good things and the rich hath he sent away empty’.
I mean these are some of the same themes we see in the teachings of Christ.
As I write and blog about politics- I do try to be fair.
I know it must have been hard these last few months for my friends on the left side of the aisle.
Trust me- about a year or 2 ago my friends on the right went thru the same thing.
My ‘job’ is to not simply pick a side- and then defend that side at all costs.
I think that’s the mistake many in the church have made.
We have really lost our prophetic voice as the people of God.
The modern Evangelical church [and the televangelist world] has lost the true social justice message of the church.
They [we] have traded that message in for one of self help- how to become wealthy- how to be happier- how to have a better life.
We have lost the prophetic voice of the church- the one that speaks out against the murder of the innocents [drones] or the lying about killing terrorists- just because we count ‘all adults in the area’ as the enemy.
Yes- the ‘church’ is supposed to have a voice for the defenseless in society.
No- we are too busy having an American party.
Beware- Mary said ‘the high he will bring down- the rich he hath sent away empty- the famous/proud will be bring low’.
I can’t think of a better description of the church today- can you?
1867- DID JESUS WHERE AN ARMANI SUIT?
I was debating on what to talk about this morning- I want to do a little more on Leaks and the freedom of the press.
But I think instead we’ll cover some more about the nature of the church.
I read an article yesterday- it was about a church in Singapore whose pastor was arrested because he ‘funneled’ 19 million dollars from the Charity Chest- and he used it to support his wife’s ‘international singing ministry’.
They showed the picture of the wife- she was supposedly trying to break into the ‘secular’ industry [non Christian music] and she simply looked like any other rock/pop star.
I don’t say this to be critical- and whenever I deal with these issues- people get mad.
Why?
Most of you see stuff like this and right from the start see it as wrong- and you should.
But there are many people- good people- who head up big ministries- who actually think this type of stuff is okay.
How?
It takes a long time to explain it- but over the past 40 years the Evangelical church has developed a type of theology- usually called The Prosperity Gospel- and many good people have been inundated with all types of arguments- even from the bible- that seem to teach that fame and fortune are actually Gods plan.
Often times these people think- sincerely- that any rebuke of this type of stuff is simply a rebuke from those ‘old time traditional churches- those religious folk’.
But in reality- a proper reading of the bible- and especially the life and teachings of Jesus- show us that this type of idea- the fame and wealth thing- is not really a right biblical understanding.
Let’s do a few examples.
A few years ago I read an article in the San Antonio paper- to my surprise it was about a church in the city that was embroiled in a controversy.
I knew the pastor- used to listen to his teachings [years ago] and read a couple of his books [sitting here on my shelf right now].
The controversy was some board member from the church took the church to court- because the pastor publicly exposed him as a trouble maker from the pulpit on a Sunday morning.
This board member was a ‘trouble maker’ because he revealed to the church that at a time when the church was going thru this huge money raising campaign- encouraging people to give sacrificially- the Pastor bought a 4 thousand dollar Armani suit for another board member- as a gift [with church funds].
Yet- at the same time- there were lots of poor people who were giving there measly widows mite- to whom 4 thousand dollars is not a drop in the bucket.
So the board member exposed the thing- they went to court- and the whole thing was a mess.
Now- as I read the story- at one point the Pastor defended his buying of the suit by quoting the story of Jesus in the bible- when the lady pours expensive perfume on Jesus.
The Pastor basically said ‘see- its okay to waste lots of money’.
This story is often used to defend a lavish ‘ministry’ lifestyle- and innocent people- people who hear these types of so called ‘biblical arguments’ do become convinced over time.
Needless to say the story in no way defends wealth and fame- but simply shows us that it’s okay to worship THE LORD extravagantly- not man.
One more.
Another bible story is often used in these churches to defend wealth- wealth as being Gods primary will for his people that is [it’s okay to be successful- and have money- but I’m dealing with the abuse of it- the 19 million dollars from the Poor Fund being spent on the singing career of the pastors wife type of thing].
In the gospels we read about the Crucifixion of Jesus.
At the foot of the Cross the soldiers gambled for the robe of Jesus.
There actually is an Old Testament prophecy that said this would happen- it was written hundreds of years before.
The prophecy says ‘they will cast lots for my vesture’.
Okay- why did they gamble for it- instead of just ripping the thing in half?
Because this coat was an expensive coat- sort of like the coat that the patriarch Joseph had from his father [Genesis].
The bible says Joseph’s coat ‘of many colors’ was a source of jealousy for his other brothers.
When you have a seamless coat- in bible days- that’s a lot of work- so these types of coats are indeed the Armani's of the day.
‘So John- the Armani thing is good- to spend 4 grand for the board member’?
Actually- no it’s not.
Some- many- have argued that Jesus was indeed rich- owned his own home- and was one of the richest men of his day.
Years ago when I was on the radio- I used to preach against this a lot.
I had an older listener- he was steeped in this doctrine- I mean he would write me very long letters- over many years- and I knew he read the bible a lot.
After years of hearing these arguments- he became one of the innocent victims of false teaching.
He really did thank me for my teachings- and every so often if he missed the program I would send him the tape- but this person was not an outright con artist- he was convinced of this belief.
He had a very long justification for why he thought Jesus was the richest man of his day.
I know it’s hard for the casual observer to understand how people can be duped like this- but trust me- this is no isolated case.
Okay- back to the coat.
Did the fact that Jesus had an expensive coat mean he was rich?
No.
How did he get the coat then?
The bible does not say- but the first story I told you- the perfume- gives us a hint.
People did do extravagant acts of worship on/for Jesus.
And it’s quite possible that some person gave their expensive Armani to the Lord.
That’s it.
One day I was watching Larry King- you know some think he actually lived at the time of Christ [sorry].
He had on a very popular prosperity preacher.
King was open and honest- he always was a good interviewer.
King asked the man ‘how can you actually think Jesus was rich- I mean even the New Testament speaks about him as not being a millionaire’.
And the preacher- he sincerely believed that these types of verses I just talked about proved King wrong.
Now- this preacher- like many others- have a huge influence in the modern church.
They often have very large audiences and they do reach entire continents with this message [Africa].
Yet- at the end of the day- even though they mean well [for the most part] they teach a tragically flawed gospel.
I mean there's no other way for me to say this- in a way it’s nothing less than ministerial mal practice- on a huge scale.
Let’s end with this- many times people will never listen to reason- even if you give them biblical arguments- they become fixed in their view- and that’s that.
I simply recommend people read 1st Timothy chapter 6.
The apostle Paul warns his young protégé to avoid this type of thing.
He says ‘we came into this world without material wealth- when we leave we can’t take it with us- so be content with what you have’.
Notice- Paul does not say ‘Timothy- you must believe for great wealth so you can reach the world with the gospel’
Or
‘You must get rich- so you can fulfill the promise that Jesus told us- that he came to give us abundant life’.
No- the apostle does not use any of the reasoning of the many who are preaching this gospel today.
In fact- many of the modern preachers say Paul’s idea was wrong- they say ‘if your happy with the little you have- you’re in sin’.
,
Who you gonna believe?
I’ll go with Paul.
1868- ALIEN INVASION
Last night I was watching a talk given by the Ohio congressman- Dennis Kucinich.
Dennis is known as a big Lib- he has been the butt of jokes for years- he once saw a UFO- and that pretty much put the nail in the coffin.
But- to be fair- the guy is smart.
Now- I’m not saying I believe everything he says [accept of course about the alien ship] but during the talk he was asked a question.
And he used an example from Evolutionary Biology.
He said- in so many words ‘scientists tell us that there is this thing called Punctuated Equilibrium’ and he used this idea to make a political point.
Now- as I heard Dennis- I thought ‘geez- if I get into this in the morning [now] it will take the whole post’.
So let’s see how far we can go.
I laughed somewhat over the example.
Why?
Evolutionary Biology has made great strides- and had setbacks ever since the idea was popularized by Charles Darwin in the 19th century.
Now- Charlie was not the first person to espouse the idea.
In fact- there was another famous scientist at the time- who some believe Darwin ‘stole’ the idea from him [much like the debate with Einstein- the famous Mathematician- Max Plank- at one point took part of the original idea of Einstein and almost became the famous one].
So- what Darwin is famous for is coming up with the theory of Evolution [what we call Macro Evolution- that all species came from a common ancestor- one spontaneous living cell that popped into existence from nothing- Charlie did not teach this by the way- not fully- but the modern theory has gone there].
Okay- it would take too much space to explain all the ins and outs.
But the debate that has raged for the past 150 years has been whether or not this ever really happened.
That is- have all species actually come from a common life.
The strong evolutionist insists [or did insist] yes.
Those who questioned the theory [not just Christians or Theists- but there are many in the scientific community who have expressed real doubt- these men are not believers- but it’s virtually impossible for their voices to be heard because when you question some of the huge problems with the theory your usually tagged as a right wing nut].
So- after 150 years- the evidence that they thought would be there- is simply not there.
How so?
After many years of discovering fossils- and trying to see if there is a pattern of things actually evolving over millions of years- the evidence does not show this.
Huh?
You heard me- the evidence shows something quite different.
It shows us that new species came into existence at set points in history.
That is- we might find a certain species living for so long- and Walla- seemingly overnight- a new one pops up.
There is absolutely no regular pattern of what you would call transitional species- it’s simply not there.
Okay- if this were the only Monkey Wrench [pun intended] then that wouldn’t be so bad.
But as science has advanced- we have also been trying- desperately- to get some type of species- anything- to actually become something else.
The way we [science] attempts this is thru the experimentation with fruit flies.
In the lab they have been trying to simply get a fruit fly to become another thing [they breed and reproduce fast- so that’s why they use them].
After many dollars and years spent trying this- they can’t get this to happen.
There are many more reasons I could give- but after things like this kept popping up- some in the field- leading Evolutionary scientists- Gould [MIT]- one of the daughters from the famed Leaky family- etc.- starting having real doubts.
Now- these doubts were not based on religion- but science.
The data showed that there seems to be this huge wall between species- that is it’s not as easy as Darwin first thought.
As a matter of fact- the science showed that it is virtually impossible for one thing to become another thing [as far as we can tell right now].
So- the normal thing you would do [should do] at this point is to say ‘maybe we got it wrong- maybe we need to look in another direction’.
And Walla- Punctuated Equilibrium.
Yes- as Dennis said- scientists have said that this is the idea that instead of things slowly evolving over millions/hundreds of thousands of years- they simply changed overnight.
Now- this in reality would be saying ‘the other side- those who questioned Evolution- are right’.
Because the 2 major competing theories are Evolution [things changed slowly over millions of years into new species].
Creation- things came onto the scene at once [or set times].
The Punctuated Equilibrium idea is simply a fancy way of saying the evidence points to the creationist as being right.
But instead of coming right out and saying it like that- instead the theory sounds like it is a result of Evolutionary biology.
I have heard this stated over the years- that indeed Evolution has made this new discovery possible.
Now- I’m not a total rejecter of the entire theory.
I have said in the past that there is no doubt that evolution [natural selection] does take place within the known species [called Micro Evolution].
But there is lots of evidence that seems to say Evolution does not take place on the bigger scale- species changing into another species over long periods of time.
[Darwin thought that whales changed into cows over many years- he thought that the Black aborigine tribes were proof that Evolution was true- he said these Black races were less advanced along the scale. And the famous ‘Monkey Trial’ here in the U.S. [Tenn.] made it look like the Christians were idiots. Many are not aware that the Evolutionary book that Scopes was accused of teaching Evolution from was actually a racist book that the KKK endorsed. The book [by George Hunter] had a scale of the most advanced races- and the least advanced- of course at the top were Whites- the bottom were Blacks. Yet the media made it sound like the more noble side was indeed those who backed using the book in public schools].
But the entire argument shows you how people’s bias affects the end result.
In reality- for anyone to say that Evolutionary science has been responsible for the great breakthrough- known as Punctuated Equilibrium- well it’s ridiculous.
Because Punctuated Equilibrium is simply saying that those who reject the theory that species change into new species over long periods of time- they are right.
So what you see is a manipulation of the argument- to make it look like the ‘losing side’ is actually responsible for this discovery.
But in reality the other side was right all along.
See- I knew this would take the whole post- thank Kucinich for it.
O- by the way- he does have a backup plan.
He can always say the aliens did it.
1869- THE GOD PARTICLE [and Mayan flag day]
Hope you ‘all’ had a good 4th of July.
I actually flew the flag for the 2nd time in so many months.
For years I never had a house flag- I hung them up daily at the fire dept for 25 years and it never dawned on me to get one.
So when I woke up on Memorial Day and saw my neighbor’s flag flying high- yea- it made me feel like a commie.
So I went and bought a flag.
I asked my wife- ‘where did you put the flag’ ‘it’s in the closet’.
I get the flag- it’s around 7 or so- and I walk back into the room ‘let’s go hang the flag’.
My wife says ‘what do you mean- you need 2 people to hang it’?
No.
But I want you to stand next to me and recite the pledge.
I thought it was funny- she didn’t seem to think so.
Yeah- I’m one of those types that get the most use out of a purchase as possible.
I’ll probably be flying it on that Mayan calendar day- I think it’s coming up pretty soon?
So- as I debated about what we should discuss today- I picked up the paper [yesterday morning] and the front page headline read ‘JUSTICE DEPT SUES CITY’.
I mentioned this the other day- about the fire dept not hiring enough women [they say].
I read about half of the article- I read the stats- we actually hired more women than other comparable cities.
I really did not want to do another whole post on the thing- but it was sad to see that as a front page headline- I don’t think we have ever been sued by our own govt. before.
[in the post the other day- I think I used the word threat- maybe not- but now I know they did sue].
I have written about our attorney general before- Eric Holder- this guy has politicized the justice dept to no end.
I could give you example after example- even his past dealings are very shady- the Mark Rich pardon- a pardon he recommended when he worked in the Clinton days.
By all accounts- Clinton pardoned a crook because he had connections- Holder used his influence to get the dirty deed done.
Pure- 100% Chicago politics- corrupt to the core.
Okay- instead- let’s do the other big news story- the so called God Particle.
Yeah- I heard/read a bunch of stories on the so called breakthrough discovery.
Now- I am not ‘anti science’.
I am not a person who believes the earth is only 6 thousand years old- or that kids rode on the backs of dinosaurs.
But- in the historic setting of apologetics- and the role that science has played in the debate- I must say there are lots of misconceptions floating around in the air.
Okay- a brief history of the scientific method and how it came to be.
The past year or so I covered lots of posts on philosophy and physics and world history in general.
We covered how during the middle of the last millennium [500years ago] the world began a break thru in many areas- and we often refer to this as the modern era.
Man- science- thought- all of the fields we see as part of the modern era- they began at around this point.
Science/philosophy and religion all played a big role in the debate.
One of the big boys was a man named David Hume- he was a thinker who questioned what we talked about the other day- the law of cause and effect.
This law simply says that every effect has a cause.
Hume challenged the popular idea that we can know causes.
He said we think we can know the cause of something- but in reality we can’t be sure.
The example Hume gave was the Pool table.
He said we see a person hit the q ball- the ball hits another ball and it goes into the pocket.
Hume said it might look like this a string of cause and effects- but we don’t know for sure.
Maybe there are other reasons why the balls are reacting like this.
Another famous example is the Rooster crowing- the guy couldn’t sleep in because the sun kept shinning in his window- so every morning right before the sun rose he heard the darn rooster crow.
So he shot the rooster.
Just because one act precedes another- this does not mean that is the cause.
Okay- we got it Hume.
But some began to doubt all possible knowledge- they said you can’t make any judgments at all- because we don’t know for sure what the real cause is.
Okay- this led another great thinker- Kant- to challenge Hume [the famous quote from Kant was ‘he woke up out of his dogmatic slumber’] and Kant said even though we can’t be 100 % sure- yet for any possibility for science to function- we do need to be able to have some type of way we can settle on knowledge- science does need to be able to say ‘okay- we have looked at this long enough- we think this is what’s causing this’.
Okay- this whole debate is called Epistemology- how we know stuff.
Now- the God particle.
As I listened to the various reports the last 2 days- I could tell right off the bat that there was some funny stuff going on.
The actual statements form the scientists are saying ‘well- we haven’t ACTUALLY seen the particle [also called Higgs Boson] but- we have detected enough other particles- so we think the Boson is more than likely there too’ or ‘it’s like looking in the distance- and you think you see someone- but maybe you’re looking at his twin instead’.
Okay- what kind of argument is this?
This is what we call a Metaphysical argument.
It’s an argument that is made- not because you actually detected the thing- but you have come to a conclusion based on the Scientific Method of Induction/Deduction.
You looked at- observed- and tested various things- and you now say ‘well- it must be there- because look at all the other stuff’. [layman’s terms].
Okay- is there anything wrong with this.
Not really.
But- here’s the catch- many in the modern field of physics refute the argument for the existence of God because in the end it is a metaphysical one.
That is- the materialist scientist [one who says we only deal in facts that we can actually see\detect] uses metaphysical arguments all the time- he just does not realize he is doing this.
Remember the other day- I posted about the many contradictions good men make when mixing science with apologetics and the laws of argumentation [or logic].
They often do not realize they are contradicting themselves- or making out right nonsense statements- because they are scientists- not logicians.
So what we have in the Higgs Boson case- in the Dark Matter- Dark energy case- in the entire Multi Verse theory [many universes].
In all these theories- which now make up the majority of modern physics- they are all the same type of argument that the materialist scientist says are not good arguments- at least when it comes to the argument for the existence of God.
In a nutshell- if we agree to accept that a certain particle must exist- not because we have actually detected it- but because ‘well- it must be there- because if not- then how do we explain everything else’?
If these arguments are being used in all of the above scenarios- and trust me- they are.
Then we can’t exclude the Theist from the table- we can’t say ‘no- you silly Christian- you deal in things we DON’T SEE- we deal in things we do see.’
Actually- you don’t.
All of the above theories are conclusions based on how the other things around them respond.
The reason many think Dark Matter exists- is not because we have found it- we haven’t.
But because in order for the standard model- well- to stand- then Dark Matter simply ‘must be’.
Okay- this is the same type of argument the Theist [one who believes in God] uses.
If you want to exclude the believer from the table- on the grounds that he appeals to a ‘non detectable’ being.
Then we must ditch all of the above.
And it seems- Higgs Boson too.
NOTE- all scientists are not materialists- many are believers- and even many non believers are not materialists. If you are a pure materialist scientist- one who says we cannot accept any other non material arguments [things we don’t actually see/detect] then you also would not be able to accept any of the major theories of physics today- that is if you were consistent in your thinking.
Also why did the researchers at CERN release this as some great new finding?
The ‘discovery’ was made at the new 10 billion dollar Hadron Collider.
This is the world’s largest Atom smasher.
In order for the Europeans to justify the cost- they had to convince people that this was the best chance to actually discover this long elusive particle.
Now- Europe is in a near depression- as most of you know.
This underground ‘particle smashing tunnel’ [I think it’s right on the French Swiss border?] when first opened- had a bad day.
It leaked oil into the tunnel and it was shut down- and had to be repaired at the cost of millions of dollars.
Okay- all of these guys realize- if you do not justify the cost of this thing- in the midst of a European depression- then what are the odds that your gonna keep getting funded?
I don’t know if this was the main reason they came out with the statement now- but for them to have come out- and kinda have fudged on it- makes me wonder.
1870- THE PRAIRIE PROPHET
This week I read the book of Amos.
Amos was a prophet to the northern nation of Israel- 750-790 b.c. [though he had a few prophecies for Judah- the southern nation].
He was unlike the other Old Testament prophets- in that he was an ‘uneducated’ shepherd that came from a little village [Tekoa] about 5 miles south of Bethlehem.
Yet- Amos knew history.
He railed against the political leadership of the nation- he spoke up for the poor ‘in the gate’ and condemned the ‘church’ of his day.
He said they were spending all their time and money on religious celebration- on their own ideas of what they felt God wanted [Amos says they worshipped the ‘gods that they made’].
And yet justice was falling down in the street.
Yeah- Amos was a prophet sent from God- and the people knew it.
I watched [re watched] a documentary this week on the failed run for the presidency by George McGovern.
Now- as a news buff- I never really studied McGovern- but have heard so much about the guy [usually negative] that my view of him was formed by these little clips of his life.
McGovern is famous because his loss to Nixon in 1972 was one of the biggest landslides in presidential history.
As I watched the documentary- and read Amos- I began seeing a type of Amos in McGovern.
McGovern was from South Dakota- outside of the mainstream ‘machine’ of the Democratic Party.
He was raised in a preacher’s home- and dabbled at becoming one himself.
He would eventually enter politics- and also had a background as an historian [Amos].
They called him ‘the prairie prophet’.
He was not the favored candidate for his party’s nomination.
At first it looked like Muskie would be their man.
But old Ed didn’t seem to have the temperament for the job.
At one campaign stop he was picketed by some gay rights group.
He said- quote ‘If I have to be nice to a bunch of Soddomites to get elected- then fuck it’.
Unquote.
McGovern would eventually win his party’s nomination- and lose in the general election.
As I watched the rise of McGovern- the animosity- and outright hatred- from his own party.
I also saw that he indeed was a voice in the wilderness at times.
McGovern is most famous for his opposition to the Vietnam War.
It was said that just the name of McGovern being said would send Lyndon Johnson into a rage.
McGovern stood steady in his opposition- and as an historian he had read that other world watchers had predicted that there would be an uprising in Indo China and South East Asia.
They said the people groups were growing tired of colonialism- and they would eventually rebel.
So McGovern did not see the Vietnamese as a communist threat- that left unchecked would have a domino effect.
After the assassination of Bobby Kennedy he was convinced to briefly throw his hat into the ring and run for the 68 nomination.
But the 1972 nomination was his big achievement.
In the book of Amos there are some choice quotes [not like Musky].
‘Hate evil and love good- establish judgment in the land’
‘Let judgment run down as waters and righteousness as a mighty stream’ [MLK’s famous line too]
‘Woe to them that are at ease in Zion’ [the present day church]
The one that caught my eye the most-
‘He strengthens the spoiled against the strong so that they come against the fortress’.
At times in history there are voices that rise- sometimes they are Prairie Prophets.
Sometimes we don’t realize the importance of what they are saying- until after they are gone.
Rulers- people in power- they are not all corrupt- but many are.
LBJ referred to Vietnam as a ‘little piss ant of a country’.
He [and Nixon] bombed the hell out of the land- not wanting to be seen as week.
A small- little ‘piss ant’ country in South East Asia.
Hundreds of thousands would die needlessly.
Men like McGovern- for all their critics- saw the writing on the wall.
At the present day- as I write- we have been at war in Afghanistan for around 11 years now.
We just reopened a key ground [truck] route thru Pakistan- it has been shut for 7 months because we killed around 30 Pakistani soldiers in a mistaken identity case.
NATO was flying over the border- we were fired upon from the ground- and we bombed them.
We thought they were Taliban- they were Pakistani.
Pakistan got pissed off- and they forbid us to use the key supply route until we apologized.
We just did.
We are now having talks with the Taliban- to come to some type of Peace Terms with them.
Our goal at the start was to remove them from power because they gave Al Qaida a place to operate from.
At the start we were warned that the Taliban [and the Afghanis in general] are a resilient people.
That to enter into a ground war- in some ‘piss ant’ part of the Arab world would be foolish.
We are now trying to find a way to untangle ourselves from this mess.
Yeah- after 11 years- our guys coming home without their body parts.
Thousands dead- many of them women and children.
Yeah- after 11 years our only response is.
Well- in the immortal words of Ed Muskie #$@^%$
1871- LIAR
Let’s recap a few recent news events.
Yesterday Libya held their first Democratic election.
To my surprise [and glad about the thing] it seems [so far!] that they might have elected a ‘non Islamic’ guy.
Huh?
Yeah- every so called Arab Spring state has gone the other way.
Yet- in Libya- maybe- just maybe they will get a good guy.
‘John- do you mean to say the Muslim Brotherhood’ are bad’?
In a way- yes.
Why?
What we have done in the Western world [especially the President] is we have sided with those who have been ‘rebelling’ in these various nations.
You might have a situation like Egypt- where we were actually good allies of the former leader- Mubarak.
Yet- he- like the other autocrats in the region- did indeed abuse his power.
His police force were brutal- and eventually the people rose up and had the historic protests in Tahrir square.
We then began calling for Mubarak to step down [the infamous words of Robert Gibbs- the former press Secy- ‘he needs to go- yesterday’]
And he did just that- he stepped down under pressure.
Now- as ‘righteous’ as the U.S. looked- we actually conspired secretly with the Egyptian military and used this inside pressure to get the guy to go.
How come we had that type of influence?
Because the top military leaders were all trained at West Point- here in the U.S.
Our generals and military guys all knew their top guys- and that’s how we did it.
Okay- the rest is history.
The Muslim Brotherhood guy just won the election in Egypt- and he is calling back the Parliament- the military dismissed them a few weeks ago- and the new guy is going up against the military.
The Parliament had a majority of Muslim Brotherhood in the ranks.
Because the Egyptian law limits the majority in parliament- one party can only hold so many seats- their high court ruled it ‘unconstitutional’ and they were ‘let go’.
So- the new Brotherhood guy wants them back.
All in all- many [most] of these countries are going the way of Islamic law.
This is not good for the rights of women- it’s not good if your gay- and it’s bad if you’re a Christian.
Yes- even though they might have been elected by the people- makes no difference- if you want to rule your country by religious law- then that’s not good- period.
Okay- then why did we just have a couple of days of worldwide media coverage about the Taliban killing the woman ‘taken in adultery’.
Look- we- the U.S.- use propaganda all the time.
We are all affected by it.
The Taliban shot a woman because she committed adultery with some military guys.
The media have been showing this ‘shocking’ tape.
We have been trying to negotiate a peace treaty with these guys.
And how have they responded?
They blew up a few buildings and killed a bunch of guy’s right after one of the recent meetings.
They are saying ‘screw you’.
So- we show how bad they are.
Got it?
‘But John- isn’t it bad’.
Of course.
But they do the same thing in Saudi Arabia- Bahrain- and a bunch of other places.
And we support these other leaders- even though they indeed do the same thing- based on Islamic law.
So- when we show the killing by the Taliban- make no mistake- many of ‘our friends’ do the exact same thing.
I hope Libya turns out well- but it’s too soon to tell.
Every now and then I’ll see that they’re playing that Jim Carey flick.
Liar- Liar.
It’s kind of a kid’s type movie- but when I saw it years ago- it was funny.
Carey is ‘cursed’ by having to tell the truth for 24 hours.
His kid made a birthday wish and Carey becomes this saint.
So- he finds himself in these tough spots- being he is a lawyer.
He tells his secretary about the curse- but she doesn’t believe him.
He says ‘go ahead- test me- ask me something that you think I would lie about’.
So she begins questioning him about the time she asked for a raise and he said that the bosses said they couldn’t approve it because then all the other secretaries would want one.
She then recounts how he told her he offered to pay out of his own pocket- but they said no.
As she recounts the tale- Jim covers his ears and says ‘never mind- don’t ask- don’t ask’.
The next scene- she’s emptying out her desk.
His son tells him ‘dad- my teacher said that true beauty is in the heart- it’s not the outward appearance’.
Carey responds ‘that’s just something ugly people say’.
He does this all thru out the movie.
At one point the secretary answers the phone- it’s one of his regular ‘customers’.
She informs Carey that it’s him- and he’s asking for advice- he just got busted doing some drug thing- or break in.
Carey takes the phone to give him the advice- actually I hesitated on using this- I mean I did drop the F bomb in the last post- but he takes the phone and says ‘stop f$@# up- A- hole’.
What’s the solution to all these uprisings?
We are now using the same words that we used in all the other spots- we are talking the same way about Syria ‘the wrong of history- his time is short’.
I have stood on the side of the people in all these uprisings- and at first I wanted to see real democracy spring forth.
Yet- we must realize that many radicals in these countries are also using the whole ‘wrong side of history’ to see if we will come in and do the dirty work for them.
One of the militia leaders in Libya- the side we backed- is actually an Al Qaeda guy who was released from Gitmo.
Yeah- one of the prisoners we released- he‘s running a military group right now in Libya.
So- what do we do?
When various groups rise up- start an armed uprising- then say ‘look- do something- see- we are dying’.
We need to say- we support democracy- everywhere.
But- if you want our backing- then you can’t install Islamic rule- as the law of the land.
The U.S. would not permit it- so we won’t back you if you keep doing it.
Second- if your ‘rebellion’ includes the bombing of civilians- hospitals- and other ‘non military targets’ [like the Syrian rebels] then we won’t back you.
In short- we- the U.S. and the Western World- we are not responsible for all the world’s problems.
We want to help people- but not groups who are tied to Al Qaeda.
We want to support democracy- but not ‘democracies’ that elect leaders who want Islamic law.
Yeah- maybe the advice of Carey to his client is what we need to tell them- stop- well- you know.
NOTE- Let me give you one more example of ‘propaganda’.
Last year I watched a story unfold on MSNBC.
Thru out the week they did their usual Sarah Palin bashing.
Now- I have said in the past- I think she was not ready for the job of V.P.
But- that doesn’t mean open season on her- and her kids.
The story was some book writer rented the house next door to the Palin’s.
He set up all the stuff to see if he could catch them doing anything that the world might want to see.
I guess the guy had cameras and recorders rolling.
So- the response of any normal person would be to- get mad.
So they put up a bigger fence- and tried to protect their privacy.
Then- some out of town reporter showed up- he came to Alaska for the sole purpose of digging up dirt on the family.
He actually approached the younger daughter of Palin- I think it was at the school yard.
She was around 13 at the time.
When mom and dad found out- they were rightfully pissed off- like any normal parent would be.
They informed the guy- from out of state- to stay away from this minor- I mean who knows- the guy might have been some sex offender.
So- one day in town- the guy approached the daughter again.
When Sarah found out- she was fuming.
So they contacted the authorities- and they tried to press charges.
How did I find out about the story?
Well- on MSNBC- Keith Olberman's show- before he quit.
He covered the story as 'Sarah Palin and her nut family’.
Yeah- he had the reporter on- and they made him look like a victim.
‘Who does the daughter think she is- damn it! I mean- it’s not illegal to walk up to somebody in town!’
Yeah- you tell em Keith.
The story went on and they depicted Palin- and her minor daughter- as nut cases.
The reporter defended himself by saying after the school yard incident- he decided to leave the girl alone.
But being he flew to Alaska- he might as well not waste the ticket.
So- he went ‘sight seeing’.
As he was ‘sight seeing’ in town- low and behold- the daughter- by chance- spotted him.
He says she approached him.
Then- MSNBC made it look like the daughter was the nut ‘who does she think she is- she’s the one who was out looking for you’.
Okay- this guy is in Alaska for the sole purpose of getting dirt on Palin- yet the daughter sought him out.
It was sad that a so called news organization would do this [another reporter- Andrew Sullivan- reported a story that Sarah’s Down Syndrome son Trigg- was really the ‘bastard’child of Bristol- this story will forever live on the internet- the son- and all the family will one day read it].
It was even sadder that many believed it.
I usually have talks with my liberal friend when stuff like this happens- and they usually have swallowed the line.
‘Geez John- look how dumb Palin is- who does her daughter think she is- just because your 13 doesn’t mean adult men cant approach you’.
Say of the story were turned around- say if this happened to Sasha or Malia- the presidents girls- would we be saying the same thing?
See- that’s media bias- that’s propaganda- that’s what happens to all of us- regardless of what side of the aisle your on.
1872- TEXAS ‘HOLD-ER’ [Texas Hold-em is a popular scratch off down here in Skynard land]
I had an interesting day on Facebook yesterday.
I kinda hung out for most of the day- reading my friends sites and all.
Being I’ve been living in Texas for the past 32 years- to me it’s neat to see all the old pics from my hometown area.
Some of my friends post classic/current pictures of my old stomping grounds- that’s so cool.
As I perused the landscape- I also noticed something- many of my friends get lots of comments.
At first this seemed like a good thing- but as the day wore on- and I watched the news [Holder story- in a sec] I began letting ole slew foot in the door.
‘Yeah- why do they get so many comments- and I get none’?
‘Wait John- don’t go down that road- you know where it leads’.
Okay- I resisted ‘resist the devil and he will flee from you’ [James].
Yet- the more comments I saw- the worse it got.
‘John- focus on the word- find a short- 2 or 3 word verse that you can fixate your mind on’
Good idea!
‘Love those that treat you wrong- don’t get even- don’t be jealous’.
I mean- there are so many to choose from- plus- they sound real good- but I can’t seem to ‘get satisfaction’ by focusing on them.
I also saw lots of old Rock pics and stuff- yeah- even ran across that old Stones tune ‘I can’t get no satisfaction’ I know what you mean Mick.
So- after a while- I found a short- 3-4 word phrase that seemed to do the trick- but it came from the Facebook site itself.
REPORT/BLOCK THIS PERSON
Oh yeah- sweet- so sweet.
Easy to remember- and it feels sooo good!
Okay- I kid.
Now- what actually did get me riled up a bit?
As a news watcher- I flip the channels nonstop.
I watch em all.
So- as I’m resisting the jealousy thing- I see that Eric Holder came to Texas to address the NAACP.
They showed a few short clips of the speech.
He has sued our state multiple time- he just sued Corpus Christi last week [few posts back].
So as he’s giving the speech- he criticizes the new voter ID law.
He even mocks good ole Texas.
You know- Skynard said ‘southern man don’t need him around anyhow- in Birmingham we love the govn’r’ yeah- he stuck it to old Neil Young.
So Holder says that the new law would permit you to vote if you showed a pictured gun permit- but you could not use a student ID.
Yeah- you preach it Holder!
Doesn’t that sound like Texas is filled with a bunch of A holes?
Boy did they roar in the crowd.
He then went on and said the law- which requires an ID [I’m pretty sure you can get one for free if you don’t have the money?] is a POLL TAX.
He said we were all racists.
This is our attorney general.
‘John- be honest- it’s because he’s Black- isn’t it’?
No- that’s only about 5 % of it [okay- I kid once more].
The truth be told- this is indeed playing the race card- and for the chief officer of the justice Dept. to be playing this card- well- that’s bad.
I mean why would a gun permit do the trick- yet a student ID wont?
In Texas- many students [thousands- 10’s of thousands?] are not U.S. citizens.
It’s not against the law for a non citizen to have a Texas student idea.
Yet- you can’t get a gun permit without an extensive background check.
If you have a permit- you are a citizen.
Now- Holder knows this- so what he did was pure politics- he appealed to the racist instinct in all men- yes even in Black men- and he played the race card.
This is shameful- it is racist- and the man needs to resign his job- now.
Okay- see- now I’m struggling again- just like the comment thing ‘love your enemies- pray for those who do you wrong’.
Yeah- I know.
But BLOCK THIS PERSON.
It just feels so much better.
All right.
Psalms 78.
I have been reading/meditating on it the last couple of days.
The Psalm recounts the story of God meeting the needs of his people when they came out of Egypt and were in the wilderness- for 40 years.
You find the story in the book of Exodus.
During this 40 year journey- which in reality was a couple of day journey- but they wandered in circles for 40 years because they would not believe the promise God made to them.
So- during this time they complained- lots.
‘we will starve out here- we have no bread- no water- no meat’.
And time after time God would do a miracle and give them what they needed.
In the Psalm we read that he gave them bread from heaven- it was called MANNA- the word means ‘what is it’.
It was called Angels food.
It was a little wafer type thing [Catholic friends- think Host] and in the morning when they got up it was on the ground- every day- for 40 years.
They wanted meat- they started complaining about the Manna ‘Manna every day- cant we change the menu up Moses’.
So God sent them meat- he caused a strong wind to blow and tons of Quail blew in from off shore- they had meat ‘until it came out their nose’- yeah- this is a quote from the bible.
So- God did provide for them- yet they still complained.
Years ago when reading the story I came across a verse I liked [almost as much as BLOCK THIS PERSON].
It said Moses kept the ordinances in the wilderness for 40 years.
Think about that.
After God parted the Red Sea- they spent 40 years wasting time.
They were supposed to go right into the promised land [Cancan- Israel] but because of their whining- it took 40 years to make the 3 day trip.
Yet- God gave them ordinances- religious type rituals that he wanted them to keep- Passover- etc.
And Moses kept observing them- even though the promise was so far away.
Yeah- that’s the tough part if you will- what divides the men from the boys.
It’s not your talent [or how many darn comments you get] or your good looks.
No- at the end of the day- can you keep the ‘ordinances in the wilderness’.
Can you do what needs to be done- even when all hope seems gone.
Yeah- that’s the key.
So- as I end this post- I too have a choice.
Will I think ‘happy thoughts’?
Nah- the BLOCK THIS PERSON still seems to give me that extra umph- one more night with the frogs will have to do [one of the 10 plagues- it’s a long story for another day].
1873- DON’T DO THE CRIME IF YOU CANT DO THE TIME
Last night I was arrested for impersonating a cop.
Okay- not really [see last Facebook post- real time].
No- the title comes from one of my favorite TV shows as a kid.
Barretta.
How many of you saw the interview he did last night with Piers Morgan?
I rarely watch this show- but the night before I saw a quick plug for it- and decided to watch the thing.
It was one of the weirdest interviews I’ve seen.
Blake [Robert Blake played Barretta in the cop flick].
He made it into the headlines a few years back because he was suspected of shooting his wife- Bonnie Lee Blakely.
It became one of those viral type stories- you know- the whole ‘movie star’ is in trouble thing.
He was eventually acquitted- but found guilty in civil court.
I was surprised to hear Blake talk about God- a lot.
He cursed Morgan a few times- rambled about his past- and it was genuinely a wacky interview.
I started thinking about the old TV shows when I was a kid.
Okay- what one was your favorite? [Between 1970-80].
I’ll never forget this one episode of a show simply titled FAMILY.
It was one of those down to earth Walton type things.
I used to watch it with my sister.
This one episode- the star of the show- I think the actor was Gary Frank [show name- Buddy?]
Anyway- I guess he was the latest ‘cute kid’ that the girls flipped over.
I hated having to compete with these guys.
You know- how can you impress the girl in class if she’s thinking of David Cassidy all day?
So- in this episode some ex-con knocks on the door.
Buddy gets it.
The guy introduces himself and then the mom comes.
Buddy walks away- and the convict says ‘That’s one tough looking dude’.
Huh?
Where in the world did the writers come up with a line like that?
I mean it was so out of the blue.
This convict just spent 10 years in the hole with murderers and all.
Yet- his first impression of Buddy was ‘he’s tough lookin’.
So- as we laughed- hard.
I told my sister ‘I know- Frank’s contract must have been up- and instead of a raise- he wanted this line in the next show’.
Ahh- vanity of vanities.
Okay- the other day I got with the homeless guys.
I was surprised- Mike [the artist] had a gift for me.
As we sat at the mission- outside on one of the benches.
Mike pulled out a new CD- still in the wrapper.
Boston.
I told Mike- you wont believe this- I just asked my girls to get me the Boston CD for father’s day.
They made me about 5 cd’s from the internet. [I told my future son in law- after he informed me of where he can burn them- for free. I said ‘I do the same thing- I just Google ‘burn illegal songs without getting caught’ and a bunch of real good sites pop up- even from the FBI]
Actually- he did burn me some good tunes.
But Mike remembered that I said I liked Boston [the rock group- not the state]
And he picked me up the CD.
I also had another good long talk with Dirk.
Dirk lives in his van- has been for the past 25 years- ever since I’ve known him.
Dirk can't stand the homeless guys- even though he is one.
One good friend Henry [written about a lot over the years] is also the ‘street Deacon’ for a church that’s called ‘Church without walls’.
Brother Ray- a street preacher- runs the ministry.
Dirk often talks bad about Ray- and the people that go to the free meals he serves [Dirk being one].
So Dirk was once again ranting about the bums and addicts and all.
He often says ‘the bible says you’re not supposed to help these people- if they don’t want to work [like Dirk] then they should not eat’!
He is blind to the fact that he is actually one of them.
He mentioned the apostle Paul’s writing to the Corinthian church.
Paul did say ‘don’t eat with the heathen’.
Dirk said ‘see’.
I spent a little time trying to put it in context.
Let’s try.
Jesus was accused of being A FRIEND OF SINNERS.
Notice- it wasn’t just ‘I have a ministry to homeless folk’.
No- a friend.
That’s what irked the ‘heck’ out of the Pharisees.
I mean they were willing to ‘minister’ to them [by judging them].
But no- Jesus was their friend.
Actually- there’s a famous song on this very theme.
Okay- in the city of Corinth- well- you had a lot of stuff happening.
Corinth was on the way to Athens [the center of philosophy of the day].
And it would be considered one of the more ‘liberal’ cities of the day.
It was like the Amsterdam of our day.
Prostitution was legal and open on every corner.
Paul told the women in the Corinthian church to ‘wear head coverings’ when they went to church.
Huh?
Why?
More than likely- a cultural thing just for the day.
The way the ‘street ladies’ put on the Red Light was to wear no veil/hat.
So Paul told the women in the city- wear your hat.
You had a few other things like this- where the context explains the meaning.
So- another big thing at Corinth was eating ‘at the table of idols’.
One of the local customs was you would buy some type of animal- use it as a sacrifice to one of the idols- and then the meat would be sold ‘at the shambles’.
A sort of market where you bought the meat at a cheap rate.
This stuff became an issue at Corinth- and they wondered whether it was okay to eat the meat.
They also had a controversy over the Lords Supper [Eucharist] and some other stuff.
So- Paul did say ‘don’t eat with the heathen’.
But- in context- he was telling them not to be a part of the custom of eating at this idol type buffet thing.
See?
They were having their own meal [Lords Supper] and they ought not to be worshipping the idols at the other table.
Okay- that’s context.
That’s why Jesus did eat with the prostitutes and sinners- and he was not violating the law.
Okay- there are lots of things like this when you study the bible.
And I do see the point that Dirk was making.
You do want to encourage people to not become a permanent member of the welfare state.
You do want to try and help them get on their feet.
The apostle Paul did say ‘if they don’t work- they should not eat’.
Talking to the actual church members- he did not want people ‘coming to Christ’ for the free stuff.
But- we always have people in need- and we’re commanded to love/help them.
Okay- that’s it for now- maybe I can catch a re- run of Barretta tonight?
I have not seen it yet on the guide.
I try to avoid Family- Buddy scares me.
1874- THE MONEY PIT
The other day I took a few pics of my homeless friends.
I thought I better get them while I can- I have had a few of the guys die on me.
So- I checked my old cell phone and found a few from some friends who died already [Shelby] - plus a few old pics from the fire dept.
I’ll try and post them this week.
Okay- the day I took the recent pics I saw Buck.
I haven’t seen Buck in around 3 years.
[I had heard he died once- then later saw him.
Henry- who is usually real reliable- a trusted friend- told me Buck died.
He also told me Roger died in jail.
And he told me Vern died [all over a period of 3 years or so].
Then one day while sitting at the mission- with Henry- Buck showed up.
‘Hey Buck- I heard you died’.
Then Roger showed up.
‘I can’t believe it- you’re alive too’.
I realized at that point that Henry was not the most reliable source when it comes to the Obit column.
I will not be surprised if I see Vernon one day. ]
Bucks a nice guy- but a falling down drunk- you know- the type that’s so drunk he passes out on the street.
I’ll admit- I have had my problems with drinking a little more than you should over the years- no excuses.
But Buck goes real overboard.
The thing that surprised me was Buck was missing an arm- he lost a ton of weight- and he’s in a wheel chair.
He looked so bad- almost to the point where you would avoid him.
When the guys went inside the mission to eat- I sat opposite Buck at the table.
Buck recognized me and asked for a couple of dollars.
I try not to give drunks money- but I have given a few guys a few dollars.
I give away money- but I realize with Buck he will drink.
So- I had a 20 on me- and asked for change from the workers at the mission.
No one had any- after a little while I gave Buck the 20.
Was he happy?
Yeah- and no.
Being he’s in a wheel chair- and one arm- he can’t push the thing [you know- circles].
So he asked if I could push him to the restroom.
They have a bathroom for the homeless- and one for the employees.
The homeless one was occupied- so Buck had me turn him around and he ‘went’ in the workers bathroom.
I had no idea about the rule- but when he asked me to stop him at the workers bathroom- he stood up and took a leak.
The lady that runs the place screamed at me [no lie] ‘your gonna clean it up mister’.
I said- fine- if that’s what you want- no problem.
I did.
Look- I was in the Navy before- so having ‘latrine duty’ was no biggy.
When I wheeled Buck back to the table- he bummed a cigarette from Don and asked me to wheel him outside for a smoke.
I told him I was gonna sit inside for a little bit- but he would not stop asking.
Buck is a narcissist- he found someone who was willing to help- and the demands came- one after the other.
I wheeled Buck outside- and had to walk away- he would not stop seeking his own welfare- nonstop requests.
So- I sat with Andy and Huey- old friends.
Huey asked if I had a couple of dollars- I told him [and Tammy] ‘look- I had a 20- I wanted to get change- and you guys could have split the money- but Buck has the 20’.
They wanted me to get the 20 back- and they would get change.
I told them ‘I’m finished with Buck- if you want- you get the change’.
The wheels started rolling [in their head- not Bucks chair].
So- after a few requests- they conned Buck out of the 20.
He wanted cigarettes [another request] and Andy said he’d get the smokes- and then bring a 10 back- and Huey and Andy and Tammy would split the rest.
So- Andy gets back [he had someone’s truck] and as he spreads the loot- Huey grabs the 10 and Buck gets the cigs and 2 dollars.
Bucks pissed- Huey laughed- and I told them ‘I don’t care who gets what- leave me out’.
Actually- first I said ‘hey- I just remembered- I have no gas- can somebody lend me 2 Bucks’.
Yeah- a test.
Actually- they all were willing to give me a couple back.
I know to some folk- this looks bad.
In a way it is- trust me- I have lots of friends who never- not one time- ask me for money.
I had some that took me out to eat- they saved thru out the week so they could buy.
And the whole thing this day- well- it was kind of funny in a way- I know these guys well- real well.
Huey was asking Andy [his brother] to go down the block- to the motel- and go to room ?- tell the girl ‘I’m Huey’s brother’ and then get the 2 ‘things’ in the cabinet.
Now- I realize he’s giving him directions to get some type of drug.
Not sure what type- maybe Meth- it’s popular in this area [called Ice].
But Andy kept saying ‘look Huey- if you want me to go- tell me what it is’.
He didn’t want to say it with me there- I walked around the building for a sec- and came back.
Andy went on the mission.
He came back- the girl was not there.
When I was going thru my phone pics- I saw I had one of Andy and John David [all 3 are real brothers- Andy, John David and Huey].
And I thought I will post that one for sure- we were at my house and had a fellowship- we did the lords Supper right in the yard.
John David and Andy are actually seeking God.
At the time of the picture- John David was clean from drugs for a couple of months.
He had a great story- wrote about it at the time- but he really made an effort to seek the Lord.
I guess I’ll re- tell the story- it’s worth it.
Many years ago when the brothers lived in Dallas- John David shot- and killed his best friend with a shotgun.
The case gained publicity- and John’s mom did her best to get her son a good lawyer.
She was told that the best guy was the guy who actually defended the guy who shot Lee Harvey Oswald.
He told me the name- I forget it now.
But his mom went to the lawyer’s office and waited all day- he was trying to avoid her.
Finally- at the end of the day- he came out of the room and she asked if he could defend her son.
He did the job pro bono.
He got John off.
John told me a year later he went to his friend’s grave and ‘pissed on it’.
He was in no mood to repent.
The family moved to Corpus after that [early 70’s].
And John David had a thriving construction business.
He also hated the homeless people.
John became a big time addict [Coke- etc.]
He eventually lost it all and wound up on the streets- with the people he despised.
Over the years when I met the different guys on the streets- John kept his distance.
He looked bad- scary looking- like someone that would indeed shoot you to be honest.
Anyway- I met his brothers- Andy and Huey- and John kept his distance.
One day at the mission John was different.
He actually couldn’t wait to tell me the story.
A few months earlier he was all strung out down by the bay [I’ll post these pictures too- we live surrounded by water].
He was doing the usual thing- getting high.
He was tired- he lost his business- family [he had a boy get run over- the boy- and the doctor who ran him over- were both drunk at the time- the boy died].
John sat there and said to God ‘if you’re fucking real- then do something’.
A couple of days later- 2 strangers came up to him and offered to pay 5 thousand to send him to the local re-hab- called Charlie’s place.
John went- met a bunch of Christians- and got clean- and dedicated his life to God.
John came over to the house a few times- we had a few fellowships [I’ll post the pics] and he stayed clean- for a long time.
That’s been about 5 year’s now- and the other day I heard one of the guys tell Andy ‘I heard John David was not doing well’.
I dreaded to ask- but I did ‘what do you mean- he’s back on drugs’?
The guy- who did not know me from Adam- said ‘no- actually he’s be clean for years- but he needs heart surgery and back surgery’.
I was not glad to hear about the medical problems- but was glad to hear he was still clean.
So- all in all it was a good day.
Yeah- the guys fought over the 20.
I cleaned the bathroom.
But in the end- it was worth it.
Oh yeah- John David got his answer ‘I’M REAL’.
1875- FELON
I wanted to cover a bunch of stuff today- but I know I won’t be able to get to it all.
I haven’t commented on the news in a while- and there are some trending narratives that we probably should do.
This last week the Obama campaign accused Romney of possibly committing a felony.
Now- most of us know why the accusation was made- and yeah- we all know politics gets dirty.
What I find ‘funny’ is- out of all the presidents- and potential presidents of the past few decades- none- zero- has had the corrupt connections like the present president.
Why?
Look- I’m not an Obama hater- nor a Romney lover.
But- the reality is- our current president has all types of current/former political connections that are presently on the verge of being convicted for committing felonies- or are serving time for just that.
But- as you listen to the news- you would never know it.
Right now- as I write- Jesse Jackson Jr. is in ‘treatment’ for a Mood disorder.
Jackson left his post a couple of months ago- and his Chicago constituents were asking where he was [he’s a congressman from Chicago].
The story finally made it into the national news.
Some thought he was in hiding- or on the run.
The latest is he is being treated for the mood disorder.
Why was there speculation that he was on the run?
Because another associate just got sent to prison for his involvement in the Chicago political corruption.
The case?
It involves illegal contacts with the Obama people when he was running for pres- yes- real felonies- not fake ones.
Enter the former governor.
Rod Blagoavich [sp?] also got sent to the pokey.
Why?
You guessed it- more illegal contacts with the actual Obama people- caught on actual FBI tapes.
Rahm Emanuel- the president’s former chief of staff- and current mayor of Chicago- he was on the tapes.
Yeah- real felonies all around.
Tony Rezko.
Who’s he?
Glad you asked.
Once again another close confidant of Obama sent to prison for corrupt real estate deals- they were committing crimes by doing illegal deals for their friends.
Obama actually bought real estate from this man- he actually was involved in one of the deals.
These are all real felonies- real crimes- that all of the people who were wheeling and dealing with the president- while he was a senator from Illinois- have gone to prison for.
Yet- the media covered these stories at a minimal rate.
Some of you never even heard of them until now.
But- the major media market has been intensely going thru all the business deals of Romney.
Not one news organization that has investigated it has said Romney has done anything even being close to illegal- yet this is the major story of the day.
This is what you call media bias.
You have one person [Obama] who was surrounded with friends/political partners who were all convicted of felonies and sent to prison.
One of the players is currently in treatment for a ‘mood disorder’ yet- the media rarely mentions that the real problem is they were all involved with illegal deals while in contact with the Obama people.
This is real- these people were all sent to prison because of this.
Rezko sits in prison right now- and he actually sold one of the homes to Obama- no joke.
To even have this ‘side’ make an accusation of a felony is unbelievable- yet- the media try to make you believe it.
‘John- how do you know Romney wasn’t really doing an under the counter deal- maybe he was lying to the govt. when he said he was still the CEO of Bain’.
This is how- if you are trying to deceive the people- and your plan is to say- on paper- that you’re the CEO of a company.
Then- as you are trying your hardest to stay ‘undetected’ you then proceed to run the U.S. Olympics for 3 years.
I mean who in their right mind would do something like that- unless the story is true.
The story that Romney says is true.
He went and took the job at the Olympics because he thought it was a good thing to do.
He refused to get paid by the way- just like when he was governor of Mass- he refused to take a check.
There are other things that the president has done that has turned some heads- even liberal ones.
Obama is the first president in the history of the nation to have executed an American citizen without a trial.
Huh?
Yes- no lie.
When asked what his justification was- the ACLU sued to get the administration to release the justice dept. papers that justified the killing.
The Justice dept refused to release the memo- and instead made a statement that said ‘Due process does not mean you get a trial’.
Huh?
Most observers- liberal ones- said this is outrageous.
The U.S. constitution says U.S. citizens have the right to due process- which means the courts.
Holder interprets that as saying the process ‘they do’ at the justice dept will cover it.
Even Colbert mocked it- he said ‘o- they mean it’s a process YOU DO’.
I’ll end with this.
When Obama authorized use of force in Libya- he did not go to congress to get approval.
The constitution does give the power to go to war to the congress.
When this happened- some in the media reported that Bush did it too.
That was wrong- Bush sought congressional approval twice- and got it.
Obama was the first to go it alone.
He argued that planes dropping bombs was not ‘military action’ but ‘kinetic action’.
[it was later reported that we had men on the ground in the action]
He forever changed the standard of war.
I could go on- but I think you get the hint.
So- the next time you see a media report about Romney being a felon.
Re read this post- it will help you keep things in context.
1876- THE SPEED OF LIGHT
Wasn’t sure which way to go- but this morning I was walking in my yard [I get up real early!] and I thought about the story of the Unjust Judge.
It’s a parable that Christ told- I actually haven’t read it in a while- but remember it pretty well.
Jesus said in this city there was a widow who went to this judge- the judge did not ‘fear God—or care about men’.
She had a situation where she needed the judge to do justice on her behalf.
The judge at first put the woman off- but then he said ‘I better do something- because her continual nagging is driving me up the wall’ [my paraphrase].
Jesus then said ‘see what the judge did- how much more will my heavenly father do for those who come to him’- then he says ‘he will avenge THEM SPEEDILY’.
We often tell the story like this ‘see- God is like the judge- he will defend you’.
Actually Jesus is saying ‘God is not like the judge’.
This judge acted- not out of what was right- but out of pressure- you know- the lobbyist wins.
But God- he does what’s right.
I was thinking about my governor when this verse ‘speedily’ dropped into my head.
During one of the debates Rick Perry used an example- I forget what the whole thing was about- but he said ‘such and such will happen- at the speed of light- literally’.
I think he was talking about Iran coming into Iraq and having more dominance in the region [which by the way he was right about].
But- when you use an example that has ‘the speed of light’ in it- well- it’s usually Figuratively- which just happens to be the opposite of literally- you know- a minor detail.
Okay- I can hear my Jersey friends now ‘wow John- you got one heck of a governor in the Lone Star state’.
Yeah- what can I say?
Maybe this ‘didn’t I see Christie on the boardwalk the other day’?
Let’s let bygones be bygones- deal?
Our timing- what we think is speedily- is not the same time line of God.
There are many texts in the bible that talk about the ‘end of the world’ and ‘the coming of Christ’ and it says it will happen fast.
These verses were penned 2 thousand years ago.
[Actually this is a pretty in depth study- how the church has handled the verses that deal with the End Times.
We call this Eschatology.
There are different views on this- Futuristic- Historical- Preterist.
This entire teaching is worth doing- I have done some over the years.
In a nutshell- some of these verses say ‘at the end of the age’ not ‘world’.
In the Greek language- which the New Testament was written in- the word used is age.
So- they are not always saying ‘the world will end soon’.
But ‘the age’.
What age?
In context- the old age [dispensation] of law- the Old Covenant.
And the New age- the age of Grace- has come.
This debate does have some [lots?] of merit to it- and it ‘solves’ some of the complaints from the critics of Christianity who say ‘Jesus was wrong when he said the end of the world would happen soon’.
In the above context- it did happen soon- see?]
So- we all have requests- we are in a way like the woman going to the judge.
Ask- Knock- don’t quit.
Jesus said ‘men ought always to pray and not to faint’.
Pope John Paul said ‘prayer is strength for the weak’.
James said ‘the continual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much’.
Yeah- whatever the request is- the good judge will do what’s best- not because you’re bugging him nonstop- but because it’s right.
1877 CHINESE FOOD- RELIGION- POLITICS [WOW!!]
Let’s try and cover a few things today.
Yesterday I went down to the mission to see the guys.
Henry showed up- I was hanging out with Dirk and Joe for a little while.
Henry heard they were serving chili – he has stomach problems- so he invited me and Joe to go to the Chinese buffet about a block away.
Henry has been working regularly at the boat dock and he had some cash.
We walked down to the Chinese place and Joe and Henry ate- I never eat lunch [or b-fast].
We had a good time- I actually took a few pictures and my daughter will try and post them [I’m bad at that].
We talked for a while- actually the guys brought up politics on their own.
Geez- Chinese buffet- homeless outreach and politics- I thought for sure the Kingdom had come.
Henry told me ‘John- did you hear- the cops cuffed me at HEB the other day’.
He told me the story.
Henry is one of the most upstanding guys you could ever meet.
He is a deacon for church without walls [a homeless church].
He is practically a scholar when it comes to the bible- and he does not do drugs or get drunk [he drinks wine. Not a lot- he thinks it helps with his stomach- that’s actually in the bible. Paul told Timothy ‘drink a little wine for you ailments’].
So- just to let you know- Henry is not a trouble maker by any means.
Why did the cops cuff him?
He went to HEB [our local grocery] and bought lunch.
He ate- then went to catch the bus.
Someone had called the cops and said a homeless guy was threatening him if he didn’t give him money.
HEB is right next to the mission so it’s possible that one of the other guys did do this.
So- when the cops got there they thought it was Henry and they cuffed him.
Henry does get mad- over the years they have arrested him- for no reason- they were just doing a sweep of the area- business people complain about all the ‘bums’- the cops pick a bunch of them up with no real charge- Henry is not loitering- he’s not drunk- he just looks bad [check out the picture on Face Book].
So- he has had to sit in jail- without doing any crime- and of course it would piss you off- it would me.
So anyway he told me the scoop- they finally uncuffed him- and let him go.
I took a few more pictures of the guys- now that I started posting pictures of the guys- I’m like the dad that keeps making his kids pose for pics on vacation [like my dad did a lot].
The guys were like ‘why are you taking pics’?
I told them I started posting them to the site.
They said ‘wow- were gonna be famous’.
One of the guys said ‘you can’t take my pic- the cops might find me’.
Yeah- figures.
I mentioned that I regret the fact that some of the guys have died and I never got a picture.
I talked about Bill.
Bill was one of the first guys I met on the street- he was about 30 years older than me and I have written a few posts on Bill over the years.
Bill eventually saw me as his ‘best friend’ almost like a son/brother.
I guess I took Bill out to eat more than any other street guy.
Bill died a few years ago.
So- as I mentioned Bill- Joe told me that they have a picture of Bill hanging up inside the mission.
I couldn’t believe it- they had one of Bill- and the camp!
I took a pic- will post it.
Many of the guys live in makeshift camps- I have visited hundreds of camps over the years.
These are little ‘tent cities’ that pop up in the vacant fields all around the area where I live.
I live on a bluff- a peninsula type jetty sticking out into the bay- right off the gulf.
So- there are lots of beach spots- and areas where the homeless can camp out.
My area is nice- it’s been developed over the years and marketed because of its closeness to Padre Island [right over the bridge and you’re at the beach- the national sea shore- you could walk it].
So- after a while the locals complain about the homeless population- and every so often they do a sweep- and go thru the camps and cut the tents [cops] and stuff like that.
I have bought tents for the guys over the years- and I get mad when I hear the cops cut another tent.
I’ll try and get these photos up loaded soon.
On the way back to the marina [where Henry works].
We started talking about all the guys who have died these past few years.
I told Henry that when I do my early morning prayers- I try to ‘see’ these guys as part of the community- the little fellowship of friends I have worked with over the years.
I told Henry- that in a strange way- I still sense Bill- Shelby- etc. - as ‘hanging out’ with us [I just looked up over my head- I have a ball cap of Bill hanging on my shot gun rack- after Bill died I found it under my car seat. He must have left it there one day when going out to eat- I kept it as a memento].
I mentioned that as Protestants- we usually neglect the biblical teaching that our Catholic friends emphasize.
The Communion of the Saints.
That even though Protestants don’t practice prayers to Mary and the saints- yet in a very real way those who have died in the faith are indeed still part of the community.
I mentioned the book of Revelation- it speaks about the prayers of the martyrs [dead Christians] going up to God as incense.
I told Henry- just because our friends have died- that does not mean they can’t still pray- even for us!
Being Henry knows the bible well- he was familiar with the passage that I mentioned- he just never saw it like that [see- there are lots of things like this in the Christian journey- that’s why we should hold judgment on other Christian denominations as much as possible- we all ‘see dimly’ at times].
Okay- I guess will end there.
I was gonna do a few news items- yesterday the ‘rebels’ in Syria bombed a key headquarters of the leader- Assad.
This was a suicide bombing- by most accounts- Al Qaeda did this.
Yet- the U.S. - and the western media continue to describe these guys as innocent civilians whom Assad is killing.
This happened in Libya as well.
I am not defending Assad- but we in the West need to stop referring to all the rebel groups in the various Arab spring uprisings as ‘innocent rebels’.
Many are not- many are terrorists- they practice such things as suicide bombings.
The one yesterday killed some key Syrian men- one was the brother in-law of Assad.
Things are getting very unstable over there.
Our recent killing of an Indian fisherman [we shot the fishing boat off the U.A.E the other day].
And yesterday’s terror attack on a bunch of Israeli tourists.
These are all signs of major unrest in that region- It’s possible that this might be the straw that breaks the camel’s back when it comes to Israel taking out the nuclear facilities of Iran.
Obama has been trying to get Israel to hold off on the Iranian attack- you guessed it- till after the election.
But after yesterdays bus bombing- they might decide to go.
So all in all- there’s lots of stuff going on in the world- lets pray for peace- for all people.
PEACE ON EARTH- GOOD WILL TO MEN.
1878- THE DARK KNIGHT OF THE SOUL
Well today is surely a day of mourning.
As you all know- yesterday marked another tragic day for our nation.
We had another deadly rampage in Colorado [Aurora].
Right down the road from Columbine.
James Holmes- a 24 year old student- walked into a theatre- carrying multiple guns- and shot randomly at the audience.
Last I heard- 71 shot- 12 dead.
It was at the premiere of Dark Knight Rising- the new Batman movie.
We don’t yet know the motivation for the killings- maybe we never will.
But of course- that won’t stop the media from making fools of themselves.
Brian Ross- ABC’s ‘chief investigative reporter’ had breaking news on their morning show.
He actually had the audacity to report that he found a man with the same name- James Holmes- who had a web site affiliated with the Tea Party.
Huh?
Gee- I’m sure there are no other people with such an odd name that live in Aurora Colorado.
I’m sure if this were a Muslim name- I’m sure you would have reported a random find- that you found another Muslim name- sounds the same- and he’s affiliated with Al Qaeda.
The sad thing is- after a little while- Ross had to apologize- the man he ‘outed’ was not the shooter.
The shooter was a 24 year old- the Holmes from the Ross report is 54.
The 54 year old had to disconnect his phone- his family immediately became a target for revenge.
What a bang up job you did Brian- may God have mercy on your soul- and please- please go away.
It’s sad- right up the road from where I live- we had the Fort Hood shootings.
Major Nidal Hassan walked into a crowded room on the base and fired on his fellow military men and women.
Killed many- shouted ‘Allah Akbar’- and opened fire.
During the investigation we learned that Hassan carried a card that identified himself as a soldier for Islam.
He dressed in garb that indicated he was Muslim.
He made many statements thru out his career that said he was a radical.
He had on line contacts with nut sites that advocate radical Islamic terrorism.
Yet- for all this- the administration refereed to this killing as ‘work place violence’.
Yet- ABC news thought it fine to simply share- with the world- that someone with the name Jim Holmes was connected to the Tea Party.
We had another ‘attack’ just up the road from me a few years back.
The nut who flew his plane into the IRS building in Austin.
The NY Times reported- on their on line forum- ‘Tea Party unhinged’.
It was later found out that the pilot was actually a communist sympathizer- not a Tea partier at all.
Gifford’s- when the congresswoman from Arizona was shot- the media spent a week trying to connect the dots- that somehow the political use of ‘targeting a district’ used by Sarah Palin- was responsible for the tragedy.
And of course- who can forget the nemesis of the large size cola.
Yes- a few years back Bloomberg [mayor of NY] referred to the Times Square bomber as ‘probably someone who is mad at Obama Care’.
We later found out- yes- once again- that the guy was a radical Islamist.
It’s sad how slow the media are to report the associations of radical Islam- when it’s obvious for everyone to see.
Yet- they go hunting- and even report innocent names- when they think there might be a connection with a right wing group.
How did Ross do his research?
You think he just stumbled upon a name that was the same?
You think he might just have googled ‘Tea Party- Jim Holmes’.
No- I’m sure the chief investigative reporter would never stoop so low.
I’m sure.
This last week I’ve been reading Isaiah- chapters 49 thru the end.
There are so many key verses in these chapters- ones that I have memorized and quoted over the years during prayer.
In chapter 53 we read that God saw the ‘Travail of his soul and was satisfied’.
‘Because he poured out his soul unto death’.
‘He was numbered with the transgressors’.
The chapter speaks about the suffering Messiah.
Our Jewish friends apply this to their struggles as a nation.
I think both are applicable.
There is a term we use in Christianity- it’s called ‘The dark night of the soul’.
Saint John of the Cross [a famous Christian from church history] made the term popular.
Mother Theresa- we found out later- lived many of her years in this state of ‘darkness’.
It simply speaks about the trials we all go thru- times when we think all hope is lost.
Some people experience it more than others- the above chapter says this travail- this numbness- is redemptive in nature.
God uses it- and the people- nations- that go thru it for a purpose.
It was because Christ suffered- poured out his soul ‘unto death’ that he became the savior for mankind.
It was because of the struggles of the Jewish people that they have now become one of the most prosperous nations in that part of the world.
I’m not saying God ordains that a mad man shoot innocent people in a movie.
But I am saying that we as a nation can become a better people thru it all.
Yesterday Obama and Romney both suspended their campaigns for a day.
And I even heard MSNBC give credit to both men for it.
Yeah- we saw civility- by both camps- for the first time in a while.
Today we pray for the victims of Aurora.
We try and resist the stupidity of associating this mad kid’s act with any group- at least until we get more facts.
And we- as a nation- have an opportunity- we have a ‘dark night’ opportunity- we can either become worse- hate more- blame the other side for it.
Or we can reflect- we can turn our minds to the things that count.
In the end- we can find redemption in the collective ‘travail of our souls’.
1879- GOAT MAN [or Fire Walkers]
I have a couple of news articles I clipped last week.
The first ‘Goat man spotted in mountains of Utah’.
The first paragraph says the authorities are worried that a man- dressed like a goat- living with a bunch of other goats- might be in danger as ‘hunting season approaches’.
I refuse to read the rest of the article- why ruin the fun?
The second- ‘21 people treated for burns at fire walk’.
The story is that Tony Robbins [success guru] did one of his ‘unleash the power within’ seminars- and 21 people received 2nd and 3rd degree burns while trying to ‘unleash the power’.
The other day I was going to mention the death of Stephen Covey.
I was a fan of Covey’s stuff- I actually pulled out his book from my shelf the other day- to make sure I spelled the name right if I did a post.
There was a notable difference between Covey’s approach and the other so called ‘motivational speakers’ of the day.
Covey took a more biblically oriented approach- he said success was not so much a technique thing [Robbins- he even taught the way you look- if you look in a certain direction while thinking- or posture yourself a certain way- that this too bread success].
Covey taught 7 basic principles [when they played the clips of his stuff- I knew it by heart- I listened to his c.d.’s many times].
They focused you on trying to work on the most important things- the things that you do have some influence on.
The things you can’t change- leave them be.
And ‘begin with the end in mind’.
Basically think ‘legacy’ don’t live for pure hedonism- but make something of your life that’s worthwhile.
I liked Covey- sad to see him go.
These few stories got me to thinking about the goal of faith.
I throw the word ‘metaphysical’ around a lot in my posts- usually talking about physics.
But there are what people refer to as ‘metaphysical cults’.
Huh?
I don’t like the word cult- to be honest.
I have friends who are in groups that other Christians call cults.
I prefer to be honest and open with these friends [Mormon friends and Jehovah Witness friends].
Covey himself was Mormon.
And I have had really good- nonjudgmental talks with both of these groups many- many times.
When they come over- I talk to them as friends.
I’m not trying to continually persuade them to think my way.
I also realize that for someone that has studied church history- theology- various religious movements.
That it’s not very hard for me to throw out the standard talking points that most people use when trying to prove their side is right.
These types of ‘talking point’ debates usually lead nowhere.
So- I see the various guys who come and knock over the years- as well meaning people who wake up every day- and with a sincere heart are going out to do what they feel is God’s will.
Upfront with them?
Yes.
At the same time understanding where they too are coming from.
Got it?
Okay- said all that to say this.
The metaphysical ‘cults’ are groups that view the ‘real world’ as the non material realm.
‘Geez John- don’t we too walk by faith’?
Yeah- but walking by faith- and not by sight- is different from what these groups do.
Many in the Christian world have embraced lots of these ‘positive confession’ type beliefs- not realizing that they do fall into this category.
One example.
A few years ago I heard very popular preacher from this genre talking about an incident where a man ‘froze’ to death in a freezer.
The preacher said that they later found out that the freezer was unplugged- yet in his mind- what he thought ‘created’ an environment where he froze to death.
Okay- did this man freeze to death?
No.
He more than likely died of a heart attack.
Now- the mind does play a role in things.
So- I saw the point.
But New Testament Christianity does not see the key to the Christian life as someone who masters certain principles like this.
Often times the letter to the Romans is used.
Paul says ‘we look not at the things that appear- but that do not appear’.
This is in Hebrews as well.
These examples come from the life of Abraham- when he walked by faith- not by sight.
Many times he rejected the evidence that said ‘this will never happen’.
Instead he trusted in God- and God did what seemed impossible.
Okay- that’s faith.
But Abraham lived quite the life.
He failed many times thru out the journey [too many to recount now].
He struggled with doubt too.
But in the end- faith was him believing God’s promise- not mastering some type of technique that denied physical reality.
So that’s the difference between biblical faith- and ‘positive confession- motivational’ type faith.
Be careful- if you confuse these 2- you might just get burned in the end.
1880- ZIGGY STARDUST
I’ve been catching some of the classic rock concerts on VHF 1- you know- the stuff I [we] saw back in the day.
I must admit- I have been an amateur ‘singer’ for many years.
I used to belt them out at the fire house on a regular basis- you know- sweeping the stalls- or doing a daily routine thing.
Okay- no lie- I did get some real compliments over my ‘career’.
One of the Captains asked one morning ‘were you playing the radio in there’.
I told him no- laughing- he did not believe I was singing.
My captain [Lopez] said for years that I should go on the ‘Americas got talent’ type shows.
So- after a while the guys would give a request or 2- and I tried my best.
I remember Sam- a younger guy- one day I sang Lola [the Kinks].
Sam knew the song as a remake- I guess some new group re-did it.
So- I sang the words- which Sam said he never really knew.
I told Sam ‘you do know who Lola is’.
He did not.
‘She walks like a woman and talks like a man’
‘When she squeezed me tight she nearly broke my spine’
‘I never ever kissed a woman before’ [nor this night!]
Yeah- you’re talking Penn State football locker rooms for the years that Sandusky was there.
So- one day I drove the girls to school- I tell them ‘you guys want breakfast- then you have to bear thru another one of dads songs- without laughing’.
They were up for it.
So- I picked one from my catalog [in my head!]
And I was off.
They managed to not laugh- or smile- that was the deal.
At the end- my daughter- per instructions of the bet- said ‘wow dad- that was really good’.
Hmm?
Still- no laugh.
I responded- with a dead pan serious face ‘are you serious.’
She lost the bet right there.
Ziggy Stardust.
So- I caught the re-run of a David Bowie concert tour.
To be honest- I never really liked the guy- Changes was an all right song- but not much else.
But the stardust character that he sang the tour as [he was this androgynous type persona for the tour] reminded me of the famed Physicist – Neil Tyson.
Tyson heads up the Hayden planetarium in N.Y.
My dad took me there a bunch of times as a kid- I loved it.
Tyson has been making the rounds recently- talking about the Higgs Boson thing.
He is a nice guy- and he is trying to ‘popularize’ physics for the average guy- a noble cause.
But he- like a long line of others- stumbles very badly when he wades into the field of Apologetics/Logic.
Recently I saw a clip- he gave a very enthusiastic account of how the stars ‘made us’.
He said that we now know that the basic elements of the stars are in us.
And he then reached the unfounded conclusion that ‘we came from stars’.
Okay- a brief review.
This type of argument- which is not new- says if you find common elements in 2 different things- then one must have come from the other.
Why would this be false- at least in the star debate?
Because you cannot get intelligence- information- consciousness- from a non living thing.
As wonderful as the study of the stars can be- yet- to give the stars ‘Ontological status’ [meaning- you give a non living thing the status that only a living thing has] is wrong.
Tyson gives us no mechanism of how the stars actually created us.
I mean you can’t even appeal to biological evolution- because at least it uses living things.
No- the stars have no life.
Then how would you [I] explain the fact that stars have the same base elements that humans have?
Easy- there was one creator- a ‘first cause’ if you will- and according to the biblical argument- he made man from the base element- dirt.
So- in the Christian view- you have both how the same elements are in various things- and you have a ‘mechanism’ that explains how intelligence- consciousness- and life arrived.
They came from an infinite being- who has life in himself.
In the end- this is really the only logical explanation for the creation.
Remember- you can’t get intelligence from non intelligence.
It would be like finding a C.D. in a field- you popped it into a computer and you found information on it.
Then- you broke down [in a lab] the basic elements of the makeup of the C.D. - the actual hardware- not the info on it.
And said ‘aha- I have found the source of the info on the device’.
And you proceeded to show me the ingredients that make up the disk itself.
I would respond ‘all you have done is shown me the common elements that make up the disk- you have in no way proven that these base elements are responsible for the info on the disk’.
That’s the mistake that Tyson makes- he assumes that the common elements we find both in the stars and in humans- is proof that ‘we came from the stars’.
He’s wrong- very wrong.
About as wrong as me thinking I can make it on America’s got talent.
1881- GOAT MAN SAGA CONT.
Okay- I never thought I would write a follow up post on the Goat Man [few posts back].
But- yesterday morning I read another story about this masked [or fur coated?] man.
Yes- this time I figured I’d read the whole thing.
For those who didn’t read the post- Goat man was simply some guy- dressed like a goat- ‘living’ among the goats in Utah.
Some tourist spotted him and reported him to the cops.
So- Goat man made national news- and the story went viral.
They were looking for the guy- fearful that he might get shot.
So- the follow up story said the local authorities received a call- by a ‘very agitated man’.
He simply said- quote ‘leave Goat man alone- he’s done nothing wrong’!
Hmm?
Could this caller be wearing a fleece?
Yes- it was the infamous goat man on the line.
The story went on and said he was a hunter who was simply preparing for a Canadian hunt.
He made the ‘goat outfit’ using a painters type suspendered pants- and some type of hair.
Okay- maybe goat man is innocent.
But I must correct our furry friend- no sir- dressing like a goat- making it into the national news- twice- at the age of 50 something.
O- this is wrong- so very wrong.
Second- I find funny stuff in the most unlikely places.
The other morning I was listening to NPR [radio news] and they were doing a story on Muslim athletes who are competing in the Olympics.
The reporter introduced the piece by saying the Muslim fast of Ramadan has just started- and that some Muslim athletes are ‘struggling’ with whether or not to observe the daily fast.
Muslims are not supposed to eat during the day.
So- I was expecting to hear the athlete say ‘Praise Allah- I have struggled much with this decision- and…’
You know- some type of real personal turmoil over this great dilemma.
They guy comes on and says ‘Nah- I’m not gonna be doin that’.
Huh?
Sounded like this Muslim brother came straight from the streets of Jersey- sort of like the Henry Hill character from Goofellas [or Depp in Donnie Brasco- take your pic].
So- over all- I had a few good laughs.
Okay- It’s been a few days since I did economics/politics.
But I must say- the news this past week has been very bad- economically.
Britain has reported a worse recession than previously thought.
China has been fudging their numbers too- they made it sound like they were doing better than they were.
And the E.U. crisis is not getting better- or even staying stagnate- but getting worse.
So- the other day after the markets looked like they were going into another sell off.
The dow was down around 200.
The Fed chairman popped into action and basically said they were going to do another Qe-3 [put more money into the system].
Normally- this would drive the market way up.
This time- it simply stopped the sell off for the day and the market has only risen a few points since then.
That’s a bad sign- even the investors are saying this won't do.
I heard a quote from a knowledgeable guy the other day- on one of the business shows.
He said the real money- the institutional investors- they see all this Fed action as dangerous.
That to simply print money like this- and for the market to ride on it- is not good economic policy at all.
It looks like he was right.
We really should have a national debate over stuff like this.
I feel bad for the seniors who were forced out of the interest rate market [Cd’s and bonds] and were told ‘you need to be in the market- look- you can’t live on 1 % inertest’.
So- many of these older folk- who were perfectly happy with 5-7 % on their money- they were forced out of that stable market- and into this terrible market that we have had these past 12 years.
That’s the fault of the various Fed chairmen- when they decide to enact fiscal policy that says we want to keep the rates really- really low- then that leaves the seniors no other option- they get thrown into the risky stock market- and then they take a hit.
I am not a ‘right winger’ or left winger on these things- but I do see the Fed at the end of the road- they simply have done all you can do at this point.
I think they should leave the thing alone- no more stimulus- it’s just throwing money into a system that’s in the process of de-leveraging- and just like the real estate market- we simply need to let the system bottom out- because if we keep propping up the system- then it will never really get fixed.
[yeah- Krugman- it’s not that easy]
And Cali.
We have now seen 3 cities declare bankruptcy in the great state.
Some city is messing with the idea of actually doing Eminent Domain on the houses that are underwater.
They want to ‘seize’ the mortgages of these homeowners- and force the banks to re-do the loan- at a loss to the mortgage holder.
If they do this- trust me- your home in that town will be worth nil.
Why?
Everyone in the state will know that if you invest in a house in that city/county- that you might someday be forced to take a loss on that house- by Eminent Domain.
These ideas come from well meaning people- but for the most part they have no business experience.
Last year the president talked about stuff like this on a national level.
It wasn’t Eminent Domain- but he made the argument that if we come to some type of a deal with the banks- to ‘make’ them lower the values on these homes- that it would help everybody out.
Obama said ‘it does no good for you to have 3-5 foreclosed homes on your block- so this will prevent that from happening’.
Look- anyone who has any knowledge at all on real estate will tell you this would be an unmitigated disaster.
Why?
If you go into a neighborhood where the homes on average sell [or sold] for 150,000.
And you take half of the homes on that block and reduce the value of the homes to 100,000.
You did not do the other home owners a favor [the ones who by the way are paying their bills!]
You simply ‘revalued’ their home to a hundred thousand as well.
See?
So all in all- sometimes people mean well ‘look- lets seize the mortgages on these struggling folk- and force the bank to take the hit’.
Sounds good- but if you do that- you will ruin the value for all the other people in that county.
Also- the biggest retirement fund in the nation- in Cali- just reported 1% growth- not the 7% it had counted on.
I think California is in danger of possibly declaring bankruptcy for the whole state.
They say ‘they way Cali goes- so goes the nation’.
Let’s hope this is not true this time around.
1882- IS GAIN GODLY?
As we close the week- lets re-cap a few things.
As an avid news watcher- once again the media over covered a very tragic event.
There were numerous days of nonstop coverage on all the news networks- of the tragic killing of 12 people in Aurora- Colorado.
While we don’t know all the motives of the sick person who did this- yet it is possible that one of the motives is attention.
And if we give a person nonstop coverage- then in a way we are playing into his distorted mind game.
The next day or 2 after the shooting [or the same day? I forget] we had 15 people killed right here in South Texas in a truck crash.
It was another case of a bunch of illegal aliens in a truck- coming into Texas.
The tire blew out- and 15 died.
Now- we also have had a string of murders going on in Chicago- it is really strange.
Ever since the former White House chief of staff- Rahm Emanuel- became mayor of the city- the death rate has sky rocketed.
I don’t know why this is- but it is a fact.
So- the real danger in the country is not the lone psycho who will walk into a theatre and open fire.
But it’s the regular gun violence taking place in Camden [N.J.] or Chicago- or any other inner city USA.
We have a terrible culture that exists in the gang lifestyle- and these are the real stories that if not dealt with will eventually kill tens of thousands more each year.
So- don’t want to lessen the horrendous act of Holmes- but just want to keep things in perspective.
The other week I caught an interview with David Brody- a reporter for CBN [Pat Robertson’s ministry].
He put out a book- Teavangelicals- and was talking about the ‘religious right’ and stuff.
The interviewer brought out some very good points- he challenged some of the ideas of the so called right.
Brody said many identify their faith with capitalism- he used a famous verse form the Old Testament ‘a good man leaves an inheritance to his kids, kids’.
I have heard [and read] this many times over my life.
So- Brody said that’s why the religious right identify with ‘right wing’ politics.
The interviewer quipped back ‘yes- but that’s one Old Testament verse- and all thru the New Testament Jesus railed against riches’.
Wow- I was surprised that the guy new his stuff.
Was he right?
Actually- yes.
This is what I talk about a lot- keeping things in context.
Avoiding what we call ‘proof texting’ which means you pick one verse out of the bible- and then build an entire belief system from that verse.
Jesus did say stuff like ‘What does it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his soul?’
‘You cannot serve God and money’.
‘It is easier for a camel to go thru the eye of a needle than for a rich man to go to heaven’.
Now- I can go on- and in the past I have.
But the point I wanted to make was the news guy was right.
We need to see the Christian life primarily thru the ‘lens’ of the teachings of Christ- and emphasize the things he taught the most.
Now- this does not mean we should ignore a verse like ‘leave an inheritance for your kids’.
But we should absolutely avoid making stuff like that the main thing- I mean we- in the modern evangelical church have seemed to have fallen into the whole trap of ‘keeping up with the Joneses’.
Years ago one of the prosperity preachers of the day put out a little book- the title was ‘righteousness is profitable’.
Of course the title told it all.
It was a short- and all consuming teaching that comes from this camp- and it basically taught that if you are a child of God- you will make lots of money [profitable].
The problem?
Once again- the verse comes from the Apostle Paul’s letter to Timothy [1st Timothy chapter 4].
And in context it does not mean what the author said it meant.
2 chapters later Paul will actually write ‘the love of money is the root of all evil- some say gain [profit] is godliness [righteousness] avoid them’.
The point is- the author took Paul’s words- from the bible- and ‘made’ them say the opposite of what he said.
Then taught ‘see- that’s in the bible’.
Actually ‘that’ was not in the bible- at least not the way the author made it sound.
So- at the end of the day- we need to keep ‘first things first’.
Yes- there are many people who live day by day- lives without purpose or meaning.
And we- the church- don’t want to tell them that the purpose is more material stuff.
That’s not the message Jesus gave.
Sure- we can find a good verse about leaving money to your kid when you die.
But read the WHOLE bible in context.
Jesus put much more emphasis on warning people that if they ‘gain the whole world- and lose their soul- it profits nothing’.
The Kingdom of God is not about making a fortune- it’s about living your life for a higher purpose- a more noble goal- give your life away- that’s what the Master said.
1883- ALL AND ALL IT’S JUST ANOTHER BRICK [NOTE] IN THE WALL?
So the news for the last few days has focused on Romney’s ‘world tour’.
As most of you know- he embarked on this trip to boost his foreign policy credentials.
And of course- the ‘main stream media’ has made it sound like he has made the worst gaffs since the time Biden told one of his political ‘close friends’ to stand up at some rally.
Biden ‘go ahead- stand- don’t be shy’ of course the guy sat there- still- hoping Biden would move on.
Not Biden.
‘Go ahead stand man- stand damn it- enough of this false MODESTY- stand!!”
Finally- someone from the audience yelled ‘he’s crippled you ….’
Close friend- remember?
So- in London Romney’s asked about the Olympics- does he think there might be some security problems.
And as a former CEO who ran the Olympics in the past- he was honest- he said there might be some difficulties with the security people who were hired to do the job.
Oh my- the press in the U.K. and the U.S. made it sound like this was the worst thing in the world.
They spent days- top headlines- top world news- yes- ‘how can this be- Romney singlehandedly has destroyed the greatest coalition ever- NATO and the Brits will fall apart now!! Oh my!!!’
I mean it’s hilarious.
Most don’t realize that Romney simply expressed- in a nice way- what the British press has been saying for weeks.
As a matter of fact- the security company who was hired to do security were about 3,000 men short.
The British military filled the gap.
This is bad- very- very bad.
Though I’m sure the military are good guys- yet they are not trained for this type of job.
The London games is a major target for terrorism- and if the truth be told- Romney’s comments were mild.
But because they decided to portray them the way they did- now the media are stuck in a way- because the games have had a bad start.
Most of the seats are empty- they actually need people to attend the events.
Yet- you have people who can’t get tickets.
Why?
They don’t know for sure- but it might be that lots of companies bought tickets- and gave them to their people- and the people are not going.
I mean I’m sure it couldn’t be the fact that the media have been reporting for weeks that the security is in fact not good- no- it can’t be that.
Either way- Romney was right- and those who follow the news know it.
Then- Romney trotted off to Israel.
Of course the media have found their niche- they are waiting to stomp on him every time they get a chance.
So- he tells the Israelis ‘your culture obviously has contributed to your success as a nation’.
Okay- is this true or not?
Look- as a bald faced statement- it is true.
What did the media say?
Oh my- Romney has insulted the Arab world- he has defamed the Palestinians- how could he ever have made a statement like this!
Now- as an independent- I do not always side with U.S. policy in that part of the world.
And- I think the American Evangelical church has made some big mistakes when they read the bible- and try to fit current U.S. policy in with their interpretation of end time events.
So- I do not see the Palestinian problem as one side being the enemy [Palestinians] and the other as the ‘people of God inheriting the land’.
For the most part those are Old Testament mindsets that overlook the New Testament view- that we are all called to inherit the kingdom thru the Cross.
So- just wanted to make that clear.
But- the truth is Israel has one of strongest Democracies in that region of the world.
They are governed with a system of courts and laws- that have even ruled on the side of Arab people- against their own govt.!
That’s rare- very rare- you do not find that in Arab states- that a court in Iran would rule against their leaders- and side with a Jew.
You have certain Arab states- that to even be Jewish would get you killed on the spot.
And some Arab states [not all!] have no real rule of law- even though they have tried- many are living a lawless existence.
Okay- I know there’s more to the debate- but on its face- Romney simply told the truth.
Yet the media are reporting it as a huge blunder- the likes of which has never been seen before!!
So- they show a clip of Romney putting a folded prayer request in the Wailing Wall [Jerusalem].
They then do a quick story ‘I wonder what he said’.
You know- it’s a traditional thing- the wall is a place for the Jewish people to connect with God- and they pray daily at the wall.
So- Romney kinda says what he wrote in the note- he says he thanked God for the source of our salvation- a few other things.
Then they show the shot of Obama when he did his note- of course they had the scoop form Obama’s note.
He asked for ‘wisdom and knowledge to govern the people’.
Basically the same prayer that king Solomon prayed [convenient that this slipped out- in Jerusalem!]
Then they had the shot of good ole G.W. [Bush].
I braced myself.
They simply showed him putting his hands on the wall.
I was waiting for Brain Ross to break in [you know- Ross is the news guy who ‘outed’ Jim Holmes from the Colorado shooting- he said he was a Tea Partier from Aurora- of course he outed an innocent man].
Yeah- I was waiting for the ‘Ross Report’.
‘George- I have breaking news- I don’t know if this is the same GW from Texas- but a goat herder was walking by the wall- and he found this note had fallen- strangely- it was signed by a GW from Texas’.
Go on Brian- what does it say man?
‘Well- like I said- we don’t know if it’s Bush- but the note says- and I quote- “What’s it like to be a wall” unquote’.
Yeah- I was waiting for the scoop.
So- you get the idea- the media have the power- and the desire- to depict one side as total idiots- and the other as those who can do no wrong.
I’m not on either side- trust me- but the bias is hard not to see.
Okay- I actually do have more to say- maybe tomorrow.
Right after I post this- I’ll post some pics from the weekend- now that I got my smart phone- I’m taken pics.
In a little while I will be driving my daughter to San Antonio- she’s catching a flight back to Indiana- she’s staying there for now- her boyfriend has been working across the country- right now they are in Indiana.
So- I’m sure I’ll take some pics.
That’s it for now- enjoy the pics.
And don’t forget the lesson of the day.
If you’re in a political rally- and Biden says ‘go ahead- stand up man- for the love of Pete’.
Just leave- it will save you from a very awkward moment for sure.
1884 AND THEY CALL THEM ‘SMART PHONES’
I dropped my daughter off at the San Antonio airport [by the way- we do have a nice Corpus airport- but the flights are cheaper if you fly from the Alamo city].
The next day [yesterday] as I was catching the news- I saw that they locked down the airport- they had a bomb scare at the same time we were there the day before.
Glad I missed it for sure.
Okay- there are always a few current event things to do- lets hit some real quick.
The Chick- Fil- A debacle.
As most of you know the president of the restaurant got into some hot water by saying he was for traditional marriage-- not ‘gay’ marriage.
Then you had the ‘left’ go ballistic ‘how dare you hold values different than ours'!
The mayor of Boston [Menino] and Chicago [Emmanuel- yeah- him again] were outraged.
So outraged- that they said they were banning the chain from opening up restaurants in their cities.
Wow- what noble ethics these guys have.
If the CEO of a company simply holds traditional values- you forbid him to operate in your city.
Even though gay people actually work for the company- and they also serve gay folk.
No- if you say your view is different- you’re out.
I like Old Emanuel [not really].
The other day he teamed up with Farrakhan- he said they were going to work together to combat the killings that have taken over the city ever since Rahm took the reins.
So- let me get this right- you are not only willing to let Farrakhan operate in your town- but you give credibility to the man by publicly teaming up with him.
His values?
Jews are lying cheating bastards that need to die.
Whites are the demon seed- the kids of satan.
This nut job has spewed the most racist stuff that you could ever imagine.
Yet- Rahm refuses to let Chik- Fil- A operate- because ‘we do not share their values’.
Great job Rahm [and the political strategists of Obama- who were probably behind the whole thing].
Okay- enough of that ;stuff’.
Now that I have my new ‘smart phone’ I have been noticing the commercials and stuff about the phones.
I actually have learned a few things from just watching the commercials [sad- I know].
So the other day I’m watching the news with Dianne Sawyer [ABC] and they do a piece on all the injuries that have increased because of these new devices.
They do the stats on the increase of broken head/face bones [people walking off stuff].
All the neck injuries and stuff.
Then they show a clip of a guy walking into a bear- he’s not looking- he’s got his face in the phone.
Some person walking off the subway rail tracks.
A few other ‘smart’ phone folks walking into walls- or the pond thing in the middle of the local mall.
I mean it was funny in a way- I just didn’t realize I was getting into another high danger field- just by purchasing a phone!
I remember years ago at the fire house- all the younger guys were getting the latest phones and stuff.
I never was the type to update something just because the next new thing came out- I kept the laptop and phone for years before I would upgrade.
But you had the guys walking around the fire dept with the hands free thing- you know they are walking- talking- and nothing in their hand.
I thought they were talking to me- or themselves.
No- they were just doing the hands free thing.
Then we all got new pagers- and we had to wear them- all the time.
You know- just in case the chief needs you.
At a fire?
Yup.
Fine.
So- I would be at the scene of an emergency [fire- car wreck- heart attack…]
And sure enough- the ‘darn’ pager would buzz.
‘gee- who could that be- after all I’m just inside this house- on fire’.
I look at the pager [after the smoke clears].
It’s the latest scores for the college game [Basketball?]
I was ready to chuck the thing in the fire.
Yeah- we had pagers that went off every time the sports channel did an update.
So- we live in this strange new world of technology.
We also have Dem mayors refusing to give business permits to restaurants- at a time when people are dying for jobs.
And these same mayors- who refuse on the grounds that ‘they don’t hold my values’.
They are teaming up with leaders of racist movements who call for the deaths of Jews and Whites- way to go Rahm!
Yeah- it’s a strange new world.
Okay- that’s it for now- need to upload some of the S.A. pics I took the other day.
You know what that means?
Yeah- I’ll be using the phone- pray for me- please!
1885 WHO’S THE GREATEST?
Got with the street guys yesterday- will post a few pics right after this note [p.s. every morning that I post- I post to the blog and Facebook- these are not ‘generated’ posts- I write- post- and leave. So- if you’re reading this on the blog- the pics are on Facebook].
2 guys died this past week.
John- a nice brother- carried a staff- sort of like a prayer thing.
I didn’t know him well- but just spoke to him the other day.
The other death was a good friend- Donald D.
I met Donald 20 years ago- he was one of the first street guys from the Bluff.
He was a real nice guy- sure- problems- but nice.
Donald did not hang out at the mission- so I would maybe see him once every few years- for the past 20.
He always treated me like a brother- big hug- you know- like when you see a family member.
I was sad to hear that he died.
A few years ago I met his son- Eddie.
At first I didn’t realize it was his son.
Eddie told me they were originally from the Garden state [N.J.].
I was surprised- being I’m from there as well.
He told me they lived at Lake Hapactkon [spelling?]
Wow- I went there as a kid with my dad- a small world.
Okay- let’s finish the week with something spiritual.
I have had a few things I wanted to say this last week- but haven’t really had the time to cover them all.
So- let’s pick one.
In the gospels the mother of James and John [disciples] ask Jesus for a favor ‘can my 2 sons sit at your right hand and left in your kingdom’?
Jesus tells her that it is not his place to decide that- but God [the father] will make that decision.
The other disciples hear about the request- and they get mad.
They begin a debate about who will be the greatest.
Then Jesus says- in the world you measure greatness by how far up the ladder you go- how many people are under you.
But in his kingdom it’s not like that- but the least will be the greatest- the ones who serve- not the ones being served- are ‘great’.
This simple example covers a lot of ground.
I have friends in ministry- pastors- ministry leaders- etc.
And it’s often difficult to ‘explain’ the ministry to them.
Usually- we see ministry as setting up 501c3 nonprofit- raising money [usually lots] and then becoming- well- famous.
Often times what we call ‘pastors’ are really just motivational speakers who speak weekly- or travel to an event- all well meaning men- but that’s the category many of them fall into.
So- when I’m asked ‘to preach’ or ‘how are you funded’ it comes as a surprise that I never take money- ever.
Some of my pastor friends actually think that it is wrong to not take the cash.
I remind them that the apostle Paul left that option open in the N.T.
My purpose is not to debate this whole subject right now- I’ve taught it in depth many times over the years- but just to say that we usually judge ministry by criteria that Jesus himself said was wrong.
It’s not how many people are ‘under you’ or how much money you bring in- or how famous you are.
It’s a matter or serving others- laying down your life for others- not always seeking your own welfare- but the welfare of others.
These principles are the main principles of leadership- and Christianity in general- but they are often over looked because we simply have substituted the modern corporation for ‘the local church’ and we basically run ‘the church’ along the same lines of the corporate world.
I am not one of those critics who hates going ‘to church’ [the building].
There are many who don’t go- because of the things I just shared with you.
I’m not in that camp.
But- the things I did just share- they are very important to get a grasp on- for those who see themselves in ministry- or as pastors.
On the blog- if you look to the left you’ll see a few short books I wrote years ago.
The one called Further talks on Church and Ministry deals with this subject a little more in depth.
Also- under the Feb. posts of each year- there’s a category called ‘what in the world is the church’. There are posts about this there as well.
Okay- the point today is we [leaders- believers- the whole bunch] are not to measure success in ministry as attaining some type of material success.
We should not view Christianity thru the lens of ‘what can I get out of this’.
These are usually the main themes that you see from the TV preachers of our day- and I know they mean well- but that’s simply not the heart of Christianity.
The writer to the Hebrews said ‘you took joyfully the spoiling of your goods- knowing that in heaven you have an enduring substance’.
He was talking about the persecution they went thru- they were robbed of their stuff.
In today’s world the average preacher would say ‘get back what the devil stole'.
The writer of Hebrews says ‘praise God- you have a better inheritance in heaven’.
The apostle John wrote ‘if you have this worlds goods [see- he does not call material stuff ‘true riches’] and you see your brother in need- and don’t help him- then how does Gods love dwell in you’.
The apostle Peter says ‘you were not redeemed by corruptible things- like silver and gold- but with the precious blood of Christ’.
I could go on- but just want you to see that we in the modern church really don’t focus on these themes any more.
Sure- most well meaning preachers will say ‘yeah- I believe that’.
But we often [if ever?] actually teach it.
The bible says we should listen to the WHOLE counsel of God- not just to the ‘bless me’ verses.
Got it?
Okay- that’s it for now- I know some of this stuff rubs some of you the wrong way- in the past I have had friends ‘un-friend’ over stuff like this- so whatever will be will be.
If you want more about this subject- also on the blog- you will see another little book ‘House of Prayer or Den of Thieves’ I wrote that years ago- at the fire house- but it gives you some verses that might help.
Okay- have a good weekend- and don’t worry- I’ll be back to politics soon- I know how much you guys love it!
1886- DIVINE LOGOS
Okay- just read Isaiah 65- one chapter left.
These past few weeks I have been going thru the last 15 or so chapters of the book.
There are lots of great themes to do- maybe I’ll take a pic of the verses I wrote down and hung up here in my study.
I also wanted to engage in a conversation on the Divine Logos.
Huh?
Well yeah- maybe a little scholarly sounding- but my goal has been to ‘upgrade’ our level of teaching.
When I say ‘our’ I’m talking generally about the present day church in America- and the obsession with ‘the now’.
That is ‘what do I get out of this- monetarily?’
Yeah- that’s the rave of the day.
So- every so often I do my best to walk the other road- to give the other side of the coin.
So- a few weeks ago I was at my daughter’s house- we usually have the whole family over for the b-days and stuff.
And my kids like playing those word games.
So they bought some game- don’t remember the whole name- but part of the name had LOGOS in it.
I just quipped ‘you do know what that means’?
Now- I kid around so much- sometimes they have a hard time believing me- like ‘sure- you’re making it up’.
No- for real!
Logos means WORD.
It’s the Greek language- which the New Testament was written in- and it simply means WORD.
My 2nd oldest said ‘I should have known that’.
My oldest daughter- Bethany- just turned 27- Becky is a couple of years younger.
They both have degrees from A&M University here in Texas- top notch school for sure.
So that’s why Becky ‘should have known it’.
Anyway- this word is a favorite in the writings of the apostle John.
In both the gospel and his 3 little letters [1st, 2nd and 3rd John] he uses this term to describe Jesus.
‘In the beginning was THE WORD and the word was with God…’
That’s the Greek word- Logos.
It should be noted that the early Greek philosophers had a concept much like this.
All the way back to the time of Plato- Socrates and Aristotle [around 500 years before Christ] the Greeks were speaking about a universal principle- some type of ‘unifying theory’ that would be the basis of all knowledge.
They spoke about this principle as THE LOGOS.
So- some of the critics of Christianity did use this as a criticism of the church- they say ‘see- the disciples were just making stuff up- borrowing themes that were already there’.
Do they have a point?
A point- maybe- but that’s all.
In the letters of John we also read him refuting a cult of the day- called Gnosticism [Gnosis is the Greek word for knowledge. They believed that they had secret knowledge that the others did not have. A modern twist on this is sometimes referred to as Revelation Knowledge- it’s a form of this ‘special knowledge’ idea that existed in the early days of the church.]
An off shoot of this group were called the Docetists.
These guys were pseudo Christians- they held to some form of Christian belief- but denied the true faith of the church.
They taught that Jesus was ‘a phantom spirit’ that is- they denied what we refer to as the incarnation.
That God became man in the person of Christ.
John was one of the youngest disciples- and he also outlived the others.
His writings are probably the oldest in the N.T. [Revelation]
So- he was around long enough to refute the growing philosophical challenges to the church.
So- putting all this together- when John said Jesus was the Divine Logos- he was not ‘stealing’ that idea from the earlier Greek philosophers who were indeed looking for a Logos principle.
No- he was saying ‘look- we- the followers of Christ- have found the thing you were looking for all the time- he is the Wisdom- the Logos of God’.
See?
Okay- I haven’t read John in a long time- nor have I ever studied Greek.
But- I do have a Greek lexicon [a book that gives you the Greek word before it was translated into English].
And back ‘in the day’ when we were young believers- seeking to learn the faith- these were the basic tools of the trade.
But today- well- the tools are motivation- success stuff.
Learning how to invest- make a buck [or 2] - how to ‘create your world’.
Yeah- we really don’t have time for all that silly stuff like the Logos.
After all- it’s all Greek to me.
Yeah- I know.
1887- SIKH YE FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD
Let’s talk about the temple shooting- but first a verse from the prophet.
‘I will gather all nations and tongues and they shall come and see my glory- I will set a sign among them and send those that escape to the nations’ Isaiah 66:18-19
Over the next few weeks I will try and post some of the verses from Isaiah that I have been reading- the ones I think have special importance.
This one is a familiar one I have been praying for years- it speaks of the greater purpose of God.
He wants ALL NATIONS and cultures to come into the kingdom of God.
The purpose of the church is not to fight and be a stumbling block to the nations- but to be a sign of peace- a witness to Christ’s kingdom- and those ‘that escape’ those that come ‘out of Babylon’ and into the new kingdom- they are the ones who will ‘go tell it to the nations’.
Okay- now the shooting.
As most of you know- the day before yesterday we had a shooting at a religious temple.
The religion is Sikh [pronounced Sick- or Seek] they are not Muslim- but they look Muslim- so these past few years they have been the target of hate.
The guy who shot and killed about 7 or so people was killed by the cops at the scene.
Now- as I watched the media coverage- they used this type of language.
‘He comes from a White Supremacist group’
‘They hates Jews and Blacks’
‘Stupid and uneducated’
‘Domestic Terror’
‘He was not nice- he was crazy’
On and on.
Now- once again- I in no way want to make light of this terrible tragedy.
This type of hate crime- if it turns out to be one- is obviously terrible.
The point I make is you would never- ever- hear the media describe a radical Muslim shooting with these terms.
As a matter of fact- the president himself refused to describe the Hassan shooting as terror [the shooting that took place here on the military base in Texas- Hassan was a radical Muslim- and also a major in the U.S. military]
They made a huge point that if Hassan acted alone- then it was not terror.
Yet- the president- and the FBI have been saying this temple shooting is indeed domestic terror.
As far as we know- this shooter at the temple also acted alone.
Why the distinction?
A few weeks ago Brian Ross from ABC- along with his ‘partner in crime’ George Stephanopolous were the ones who jumped the gun and associated the Colorado shooting [the Batman movie] with the wrong person.
Ross reported- on air- that there was a Jim Holmes from the same city who had a Tea party web page.
So?
Could it be that maybe another person with that very strange name- you know- about as strange as John Smith- might be the web site guy?
Sure enough- they ‘outed’ the wrong guy.
So- Ross was one of the first to come out and use this language about the temple shooting.
He couldn’t seem to wait- to say ‘see- I told you these Tea party- I mean right wing groups- are the real threat’.
Yeah Ross- you tell em!
Now- as someone who holds to the theological belief that the above verse speaks about- I have made efforts to have Muslim friends.
I have Jewish friends as well.
I try not to only have associations with other Christians- because I think we all need to talk to [not at] each other- and that Gods purpose is for the church to be a blessing to all nations and cultures.
So- that’s my position.
Also- we need to be honest about the real threats that face our world today.
As a student of history and religion I have come across a few recurring things.
One of the themes I see every so often is ‘look- we all [Jews, Christians- Muslims] have radical terrorists in our ranks- and we should not condemn the other group’.
Realistically- the very real threat that exists is within the extreme elements of Islam.
Everyone knows this- it’s no secret.
Now- do I want to offend my Muslim friends?
No.
But- the truth is- are there real- huge scale threats of radical terrorism coming from the Jewish people?
Of course not [they usually point to a single incident in the history of the Jewish people- during the restoration of their nation in the 20th century- and this one incident has become the mantra for those who say ‘see- the Jews have terrorists too!’]
What about the far right wing hate groups?
A little more of a threat- yes- but a global threat- one that has the potential to destabilize nations- no.
That’s the whole point.
During the broadcast of the temple shooting- you also had the other news of the Syrian uprising.
These are the various nations in the Arab world and North Africa [Tunisia- Egypt- Libya] that have been going thru the Arab Spring uprisings now for a couple of years.
One of the major players in the overthrowing of the leaders of these nations is Al Qaeda.
Now- there are also innocent Arabs/Muslims who are being caught up in the fire fight- but you also have a very real presence of Al Qaeda in these rebellions.
The leaders themselves- who we have demonized to no end- have been saying this.
Gadhaffi, Mubarak- Assad- they have all said that the ones ‘rebelling’ have Al Qaeda in their ranks.
We [the western world] have for the most part played that down- heaven forbid that we should go against the ‘democratic spring’ that is sweeping the world!
The fact is- during the same news broadcast that is so quick to associate a single- isolated shooter- as an act of terror.
The same news media that refuse to use this type of language when a person [Major Hassan] who did indeed identify himself with radical Islam- a worldwide movement that is responsible for many worldwide terror acts- the media refer to his shooting- at an actual military base here in the U.S. [Fort Hood].
As ‘work place violence’.
The double standard is so big- you have to be blind to not see it.
Yes- right wing hate groups are dangerous- but they pose absolutely no threat on a global level.
Do they pose a Tim McVeigh [Oklahoma city bombing of the fed building] type threat?
Yes.
But not a real global threat- one that would in fact meet the criterion of being terrorism on a global scale- no.
We need to be honest about these things- the media have once again dropped the ball by associating what seems to be an isolated act- with terror.
They showed video of the hard right rock group that this shooter played in- with no disclaimer that the other members of the group do not condone the actions of the shooter.
They used quotes from bystanders who said ‘they are uneducated idiots’- referring to this movement that does indeed have racist elements in it.
But I have heard the same racist stuff from Farrakhan- many times.
Yet the media would never- ever use this language about him.
As a matter of fact- Obama attended the million man march before he was president [I think he was the senator from Illinois at the time- the march was held by Farrakhan].
So- if hate speech is wrong- then it’s wrong all the way around.
If we condemn White hate groups- which we should- then we need to condemn Black hate groups too.
The New Black Panther party are a bunch of racists.
The leader of this group was photographed behind Obama during the 2008 campaign.
He was holding up his hand- in a Black Power display- and he was walking right behind the president.
They were in Selma at the time.
The media never covered this- or showed this picture.
That’s what you call a double standard- that’s what you call ‘media bias’.
See?
NOTE- do you think a Romney type person- who was running for president- if he attended a David Duke rally- and had Duke march behind him on the campaign trail- would have escaped Scrutiny?
Not on your life baby.
1888- THE NEW AMERICAN GIGOLO
Okay- let’s talk.
Before I forget let me finish a note on one of the pictures I posted last night [Facebook].
I posted an old pic from a fellowship we had at a ranch in Bishop- at Eli’s house.
The reason I have posted some of these blurry pics- taken from a very old cell phone- is because they have friends in the pics who have died and I will never get any new pics from them.
In this photo there was a shot of Shelby- who passed away a few years back.
Henry was also there- these are my friends from the streets of Corpus Christi- and the Bishop fellowship was one of the few times that the 2 different groups met- one group from the old days in Kingsville/Bishop- when we had our little home church.
And the later days- the guys who I now work with each week- the homeless guys.
Part of the note that got cut off was one night I was driving Homer home- he was Eli’s- Bebe’s and Rudy’s dad.
They all came to the church.
And Homer told me how happy he was to see all his boys in church.
I am still in touch with these Kingsville/Bishop guys- some are on the site [Facebook].
I plan on making a trip soon [so if you guys are reading- let me know the best day- I’ll bring a few street guys].
Okay- that finished that.
I also had one of those strange experiences.
The other day while I was praying for all the different guys- I also prayed about the ‘jail’ ministry.
For many years I used to preach at the county jails in Kingsville.
When I moved to Corpus- I tried to get in at the one here- but they had certain rules that made it hard for me to get in.
I usually do stuff like that thru the name of our ministry- corpuschristioutreachministries.
But this time they wanted me to go thru another church- so it didn’t work out.
I left it at that- I mean I still have plenty of other guys to work with.
So- as I was praying I asked the lord if he wanted me to get more involved- then he would have to show me.
It was only a day or 2 and I got the letter from my friend in prison- in N.J.
So I felt this might be an open door.
I mentioned that I was suspired to get a letter from Jersey- and the next morning I wrote a post and ‘unwittingly’ titled it I KNEW A LITTLE GREEK.
Just a play on words [the post is a few back- I was talking about the Greek language].
Later in the day I realized that this buddy who just wrote me- he is the only Greek friend I have!
So- that was cool too [you know- the first letter in years- just happened to be the only Greek guy I know].
Okay- let me quote another verse from Isaiah-
‘Behold- I create new heavens and a new earth- the former shall not be remembered nor come into mind- be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create’.
This verse is also found in the book of Revelation.
Here in Isaiah God is speaking about a new future for his people- a time of restoration.
God’s people went thru years of struggle and hardship- and he is telling them ‘look- those days are now over- yeah- they served a purpose- a lot of it was stuff you reaped from making bad decisions- and to put it bluntly- sinning and messing up. But no more- this is a new time- rejoice- be glad- this is a new season’.
Got it?
For those of you who need it- just take it- no charge!
And I’ll end with the tragic news event.
Yeah- I’m sure you have all heard- Romney kills women [to my less astute political readers- I kid.]
Yeah- Obama’s people put out an ad- I watched it.
It sounded very sincere- the guy said he worked for the company that Romney’s firm eventually shut down.
He then said ‘when Romney shut us down- I lost my insurance- soon after my wife died of cancer- we had no more insurance thanks to Romney’.
Now- by just watching the ad- you would have thought that the guy’s insurance covered his wife- and thanks to Romney- the lady died.
The truth is- the lady was not covered by the husband’s ins.- she had her own.
When the guy got fired- his wife still had insurance.
She finally lost hers- and later- 6 years later [after Romney left the company] the lady got sick and died.
I mean if you want to blame somebody- why not the employer who she worked for?
This whole thing is stupid- they now found out that this guy also did another ad for Obama.
That’s a big no no.
The latest ad was by one of the super pacs- and the actual campaigns are not allowed to co-ordinate with the super pacs.
It looks like the Obama people might have screwed this one up- big time.
I also liked the other Romney story I read the other day.
Some guy smashed his wife’s lap top.
Why?
He saw a picture of Romney on her Facebook page- and thought she was a ‘cheatin’
on him [he did not know who Romney was].
Yeah- he hit her and broke the computer- all because of that darn home wrecker- Romney.
Wow- he kills women with cancer- he wreaks havoc in homes- homes he has never been in.
Yeah- that Romney is some piece of work- a reincarnation of the American Gigolo- way to go Romney- way to go.
1889- MANNA
I woke up early yesterday- prayed and blogged.
Then I went food shopping around 5:30 or so.
I like going early before the crowds get there.
Then I took one of my weekly drives around the area.
I drove over the JFK causeway bridge to the Island- took some pics.
Took the ride around the City of Corpus and drove thru Cal Allen- Robstown and back past the airport.
I’ll try and post the pics this morning or tonight.
A few weeks ago our city started stepping up the code enforcement for various stuff.
Lots of people park their cars on the grass- or let the grass grow too long- stuff like that.
The sub-division I live in is nice- because of that we get lots of solicitors- selling all types of stuff.
They think we must be rich because we live in a nice spot.
Yeah- my home is close to the bay- and the Gulf of Mexico.
But I bought it years ago- at around 60,000- I got it under the real value.
I used to buy and rent houses- so I knew how to spot a deal- and that’s how I got this house.
It’s worth at least double now- but as a retired firefighter- I am not rich.
Anyway- we get the snake oil salesman here all the time.
So- when the city stepped up the code enforcement- my neighbor told me that one of the ‘enforcers’ was asking about my mustang in the drive way.
I was like ‘what the heck are they asking about the car for’.
It’s parked on the grass- but it’s not the ‘yard’.
Lots of the homes here have an area for RV’s or boats- and my house has a spot with the double gate- that people park their boats and stuff in.
So the mustang sits in a parking spot in front of the double gate.
Anyway I was like ‘why don’t they worry about all the door knockers coming around all the time- I mean every week I have people trying to sell me stuff’.
So- as my nature is- I sent an email to the mayor- and yeah- I let him have it!
So- the next day or so I figured let me get the car ready for sale.
When my girls got their drivers licenses we bought them all their first cars.
This mustang- 1998- is a nice car- we bought it for Becky about 10 years ago- and then gave it to Debbie [my youngest].
They all have their own cars now- so I have the mustang here- with the van- my wife’s car, my truck- and my classic 66 mustang in the garage [and Christina’s car too- my daughter].
So- I do need to sell the car.
Plus- the morning I was going to work on it- my wife came home later that day and said ‘your truck has a flat’.
Darn it- I have to fix the flat and mess with the car.
So- I get the car ready for sale and tell my daughter to call her friend and let her know I’m selling it- the girl had stopped by a few times to ask.
So- the girl comes over with her dad and boyfriend- she wants the car- but will ‘come up with the money’ on August 9th.
So- I told them ‘well- I’m still gonna list it on Craig’s list- and keep the for sale sign on it’.
They tell me they will come back and put a down payment that night- they beg me to not list it.
So- what the heck- I told the girl ‘okay- don’t worry about the down payment- just come back in 10 days and I’ll hold it for you’.
So- after waiting for them all day- they never show.
I was mad because I had a few other people who wanted the car- and I told them it was sold.
So- after stewing a while- I’m catching the local news- and seeing all the stories of the code enforcement.
Which was what started this whole thing.
And I see some lady crying- ‘I’m an old disabled woman- and your here threatening me with a fine over some weeds’!
Yeah- the local news media are all over it.
So- I’m watching it- identifying with her pain ‘yeah- and what about all the darn solicitors who come by my house every week- why don’t you do something about them- instead of worrying about my daughters car in the driveway!’
All of a sudden I hear a knock on the door- when the girl who wanted to by the car came by- for some reason she knocks- I mean I do have a doorbell.
So I thought ‘well- maybe the day won’t be that bad after all’.
I rush to the door- and there are 2 people walking away.
Hmm- doesn’t look like them?
‘Can I help you’?
They go into this long story- there sister died of breast cancer [last night mind you].
And they’re out selling some stuff to raise money for the funeral.
Yeah- more solicitors.
Okay- I am up to my ears with these people.
So- I told them ‘I’m busy man’ and yeah- I made sure the door shut real good- you know- some people call that ‘slamming’.
All in all- what else can go wrong?
My wife walks in the door- she says ‘your truck has another flat’.
I kid you not [solicitor’s revenge?]
So- the chapter for the week was Exodus 16.
It’s the story of God’s people in the wilderness.
They are complaining about Moses taking them out of Egypt and bringing them into this wilderness place.
They said ‘why didn’t you let us stay in Egypt- we had all the food in the world- now we are starving out here’.
So God gave them a miracle- he rained bread from heaven.
In the morning when the people arose- there was this bread type wafer on the ground.
When they saw it- they said ‘what is it’- or the word- Manna- which means the same thing.
And Moses said ‘this is the bread that God gives to you- you are to eat it’.
I find it funny- they were used to the gluttony of Egypt- stuffing themselves to the brim- even though they were in bondage- they were slaves in Egypt.
Yet- God has freed them- and he is giving them food- maybe it doesn’t taste as good- but it will sustain them- it’s what they need to finish the mission- but they are not used to it.
See- they developed an appetite for ‘the abundance’ of Egypt- they were hooked on getting ‘all you can get- the God of more than enough’.
Yet- the real God said ‘this is what you need- it might look strange right now- but trust me- this is the bread I am giving you’.
The last few months- for whatever reason- I have been hitting on the themes of carrying our cross- denying ourselves- living for God- not cash.
All themes that I have spoken about lots over the years.
Yet- for some reason- I felt the lord wanted me to go over them again.
It often takes time to see this stuff- we- in the modern church- have been fed a ‘buffet’ of teaching that says ‘stuff yourselves to the full- get all you can- eat until it comes out your nose’.
And God says ‘look- this Manna- this ‘new’ bread- yeah- it might be strange at first- you might say ‘what is this’- but this is what you need’.
Sometimes we get caught up in Egypt- we don’t even realize we are slaves- we get used to it.
The apostle Paul wrote about his credentials- he said he was beaten- stranded- stressed out- people talked about him- he ran out of resources- he was hungry at times- he gave a long list of things that would seem to contradict the ‘abundance mentality’.
Preachers today actually take verses- sentences- from his letters- and they teach the opposite of what he said.
They actually develop entire systems of thought- that go against the actual experiences of the apostle.
Where are you today?
Is the car still for sale- is the tire flat [mine is!]
Don’t judge things by stuff like this- sometimes we get the things that we need- the ‘Manna’ often looks strange at first- we have been fed the Egyptian buffet for so long- we don’t even recognize the real food when it comes.
1890- FAME
I’ve been wanting to write on this for a few weeks now- but the opportunity never arose.
Yesterday me and my wife were driving to church- and I noticed they put up a new sign on the front.
We attend the only ‘mega church’ in the area- and they do all the things that mega churches do.
So- this sign is like the big marquis things you see while driving down the highway- I mean its big.
As we were right by the sign- ready to turn into the parking lot- I said ‘hey look- Bethany’s face is on the sign’.
Bethany is my oldest daughter- she’s a school teacher- and she helps out a lot at the church.
So- my wife looked- and was shocked- she thought I meant that Bethany girl [Soul Surfer] who lost her leg in a surfing accident.
That Bethany was at the church a few weeks ago- telling her story.
But no- the one on the sign was our daughter.
Fame.
What’s it to ya?
Many years ago when I first started writing little books and stuff- I told one of my kids that I put a story about the cat in a book.
Response?
Wow- OUR cats are gonna be famous!
The other day when I got my new camera phone- I started asking all the street guys to pose for pics- so I could put them on the web site.
Response?
Hey- were gonna be famous!
Yeah- it’s in our nature- I mean we want it- deep down inside- to be the top dog.
A few posts back I posted about this thing popping up in the minds of the disciples [post was called GREAT].
Jesus quickly rebuked the idea.
I was going thru the book of Acts the other day- and in chapter 9 we read the ‘famous’ account of the conversion of the apostle Paul.
Paul is on the original Damascus road and he’s blinded ‘by the light’ and after 3 days God sends a disciple named Ananias to restore his sight and baptize him.
Jesus tells Ananias ‘I will show Paul the things HE MUST SUFFER for my names sake’.
Hmm?
If we use the criteria of the modern preaching of our day- we might say to Jesus [or Ananias].
‘Don’t listen to negative confessions- Jesus talking this way will bring you down’.
Or
‘If you hang out too much with people who talk like this- you know- suffering stuff- then it will affect you’.
Yet- Jesus was simply telling the truth- that in order to be a true disciple- you must bear your cross.
This wasn’t a ‘negative confession’ or some type of thing that was denying our ‘covenant rights’.
It was simply teaching- from JESUS- about the cost of discipleship- nothing more- or less.
I have spent many years reading/learning from many different camps.
And verses like this- or the one in chapter 7 where Stephen is martyred for the faith.
These verses didn’t seem to fit in with the modern message of success.
I mean we view success as not suffering- or not being killed for the faith!
Yet- success in the kingdom is different than the world.
If we want to find our lives- we must lose them.
If we want to be first [fame] we must be last- the servant of all.
These are the things that Jesus taught.
I even remember how some of the teachers would do their best to say that the suffering Jesus spoke about was not ‘real’ suffering.
Some said it was the affliction you go thru when you become rich- and then when the other Christians [like me] teach different- then you ‘suffer’ because you are rich- and people talk about you.
What about Stephen?
It doesn’t seem like that would fit his case- I mean the guy was killed for Christ.
Oh- yeah.
Some taught that Stephen DID NOT HAVE TO DIE.
If he chose to believe- and have faith- he would have been delivered- but it was his choice- or lack of faith that brought him to martyrdom
I could go on- but why?
Yeah- I was glad to see my daughters face on the big screen- and it’s okay that she was on it.
But the faith is not about fame.
When Jesus said ‘let your light shine before men’.
He was not talking about talents- singing- preaching- etc.
If you finish the verse he said ‘so they may see your GOOD WORKS and glorify your Father in heaven’.
Once again- the good works of charity- giving to the poor- laying your rights down for the benefit of others.
That’s ‘the light’.
See?
1892- WHAT A DEAL!
Well I finally sold the Mustang last night [a car- not horse].
I put it on Craigslist for about a week- geez- too many calls.
People would ask for directions- I’d give them the address and directions- then they would call back ‘well- I don’t speak English too good [lots of Mexicans buy the cars from this area and sell them in Mexico] - I’m still in the parking lot ‘[Wal mart].
Okay- would could I do?
I told a few people ‘look- I gave you the address- directions- part of this project is you need to be able to get here- if you can’t complete this part of the ‘mission’ then I guess you won’t be buying the car brother’.
Yeah- they need that type of tough love.
So anyway it sold for 700.
That was a steal to be honest.
1998 mustang- runs good- does need a starter.
Another one was selling for 1500- with a blown motor!
Okay- let’s do another verse from the prophet.
‘In all their affliction he was afflicted- and the angel of his presence saved them’ Isaiah 63:9
If you read the entire chapter you get a scene of someone treading the Winepress.
I spoke about this a while back- the imagery of a Winepress- a place where you crush the grapes and make the wine- is used by the prophets in the bible.
Jesus himself uses the same imagery in the gospels.
Here you have God saying ‘I looked for a man- someone to do this mission- and I found no one- so my own arm brought salvation’.
It is important to note that in this chapter we see God [Jesus] stained with the blood of those who are being trampled at the Winepress.
In the book of Revelation we this same thing.
Many modern prophecy teachers [another pet peeve of mine by the way] have an end time scenario all figured out- they see these things thru the ‘lens’ of modern warfare- which nation should get which piece of land [Israel- Palestine- etc.]
But they fail to see how the New Testament focuses on all ethnic groups- Jews, Palestinians- etc- as being One New Man in Christ [Ephesians].
So- this image of the winepress sometimes is associated with a final battle of Armageddon scenario- that makes me cringe when I hear it proclaimed- in an ethnic way- from the media pulpits.
‘John- how should we take it then’?
Look- I’m not saying ‘my way’ is the only way- or the right way.
But when we read the bible- we must also take into consideration the broader themes of the love and grace of God- yes- judgment too- I don’t deny that- but the mercy of God must be there as well.
So- in this imagery of Jesus being stained with the blood of sinners- at a Winepress- the ‘place of pressing’ [like the garden of Gethsemane where Jesus started to bleed- pouring out his blood].
We can also see this as a type of the Cross- the place where the judgment and wrath of God was poured out- on Christ himself.
Maybe the blood that the ‘treader’ is soaked in- maybe its redemptive- just maybe.
See?
But the actual verse I wanted to hit on was that ‘in all our affliction- he is afflicted’ [which by the way fits in more with what I just said].
In 1st Peter 4 we read that we are partakers of Christ’s suffering.
The apostle Paul said ‘I fill up the sufferings of Christ’.
They saw their trials as being redemptive in nature- that is they felt like the things they were going thru in life were for a higher purpose.
They did not view the Christian experience thru a lens that was primarily seeking self benefit.
Many today see ‘church’ and Christianity as a means of self improvement- often times you hear the same thing from the pulpits as you hear on the weekend self help infomercials [or the ‘how to get rich’ guys].
Is this a right view?
No.
We are on the earth to glorify God- and to finish the work he gave us to do.
If part of the cost is suffering- then so be it.
These verses I have quoted show us in no uncertain terms that we are called- at times- to suffer.
As a student of all types of scholars- I must confess that our Catholic brothers and sisters get this right- much more often than Protestants.
So- those of you who have been tracking this journey- you have seen some flat tires- some wrecked trucks- and yeah- some up’s and downs.
I’m not saying all of this is equal to the sufferings of the early apostles- but in a small way- we can identify- and gain comfort- to know that these are not ‘strange trials’ these are things we all go thru in life.
I just wish we could take turns!
LOL
1893 CHAINS- TREES AND RYAN
It’s been a few days since Romney picked Ryan as the V.P.
And I find it interesting how the media has covered it.
Last night I caught Blitzer [CNN] grilling a Repub on all the votes/positions Ryan has held since being in congress.
I mean the media have been doing this since day 1.
So- Ryan and his defenders have spent time saying ‘look- when someone is picked to be the V.P. - he realizes that the top guy on the ticket is the one who calls the shots’.
Is this true?
Of course.
As a matter of fact- I never heard one reporter ever pose a question like this to Biden.
When Obama picked Biden- Biden had cast tons of more votes than Ryan- he has been in the senate for years.
Yet not a single question- not one- about Biden casting votes that were contrary to Obama.
Yesterday we also had some bad news- a shooter walked into a political opponent’s office [he held the opposite views of this organization] and opened fire.
Yes- the shooter was associated with groups on the other side- politically- of the people he shot.
Now- where were the Bryan Rosses of the world?
You know- the reporters who were going thru the shooters background- even reporting that they found people with the same name as the shooter [Jim Holmes] who held the opposing political views of the people he shot [Ross falsely associated the batman movie shooter with a Tea party guy].
No- for the most part yesterday’s shooter got little coverage.
Why?
He was a left leaning Democrat- active in all types of liberal causes.
Now- Biden just came out and made the now infamous ‘they are gonna put YOU ALL back in chains’.
You all- the Black folk in the audience.
How lovely Joe- you just keep hittin' them out of the ball park ole buddy.
So- when you have a shooter ‘shoot’ at some type of Democrat type organization- or at some type of liberal leaning organization [abortion clinics].
The media spend days- weeks- asking the question ‘do you think the language of ‘the right’ is responsible for this’.
Yet- you have Biden- Obama- and the entire left side of the aisle spending the last few months demonizing rich folk- business people- people who hold to conservative views.
And not one single question [that I saw] asked about whether or not this type of incendiary language [their words- when covering the right] might have caused some unstable person to shoot at the Focus on the Family people.
See?
As the media can’t seem to stop covering every vote Ryan made that was not 100 % in line with Romney- I saw a short report last night from the local NBC affiliate.
It portrayed Romney as being angry- mad- unable to handle the tough campaigning.
It showed Obama and his team as good natured folk- people who live and let live.
Yet- as I have been watching the news- I have not seen Romney openly angry- stressed out- or frustrated to no end.
No- as a matter of fact- many on the ‘right’ are upset with Romney- because he is not doing this.
Let me make a point here to some of my Christian friends.
I know most of you know Romney is Mormon- and has played a very active role in his church.
Did you know Romney was what we consider a Pastor for many years?
People that know him will tell you straight up that he is the basic pastor type person in all of his dealings.
That in all his business dealings- even if you disagree with him financially or politically- they say he is a very honest guy.
So- when the NBC report was painting a narrative that said Romney was this stressed out angry guy- I knew they were telling ‘their story’ and theirs alone.
Then- at the end of the piece- they added in the recent comment of Biden that Romney wants to put Black people back ‘in chains’.
Which was what you saw in the clips they played of Romney- his response to the latest attack.
I also saw another interesting news story.
It was on one of the world news shows that come on at 5:30 in Texas- 6:30 in the east.
They were talking about the wildfires out of control- they then mentioned the global warming thing- how it is behind the fires.
Then- they showed a picture of Palm trees burning- all by their lonesome.
Hmm?
They then insinuated that global warming is so bad- that palm trees are ‘spontaneously combusting’ from the heat.
I kid you not.
Now- did these trees just ignite- by themselves- because of the heat?
As a firefighter- who worked 25 years in a very hot state- days of 110 degrees- with many palm trees.
We never had a case of a palm tree doing this.
So what was the news doing?
More than likely- they were showing you some trees- that probably did ignite- but they were not showing you they were about 100 feet from the rest of the blaze.
Yes- in fire science you learn that the heat from a fire- many more times hotter than the actual temp- even in the worst ‘global warming’ spot on the planet.
The heat from a fire can heat up a close object to its ignition temp.
Now- the fire has to be real hot [your talking thousands in degrees- not 110!]- and the object has to be pretty close- like the fire in the above scenario was probably right out of the picture- on purpose.
So- the news story can say- with some truth ‘this palm tree spontaneously combusted by the heat’ and in the same breath talk about global warming.
They did not outright ‘lie’ but they gave you a narrative that mislead you.
The media do this day in and day out- with everything.
So- as we watch the media go with a fine toothcomb thru every vote Ryan ever made- as they portray Romney as this angry cult leader- who is unable to deal with the stress of a campaign.
Yes- as they show us the palm tree that spontaneously combusts- because those damn Repubs won’t stop global warming!
Yes- as we view all this thru the looking glass of the tube.
Just remember- that when Biden [or Obama] accuse the other side of wanting to put ‘you all back in chains’.
Or wanting to kill grandma while rolling her off the cliff.
Remember- when the left uses this language- and a Democrat walks in to a Christian ministry and starts shooting- remember- this has absolutely nothing to do with the man’s act.
But when some nut shoots and wounds a Democratic senator from Arizona- Gabbie Gifford’s- the media spend an entire week asking if the use of the word Target- by Sarah Palin- was responsible for the shooting.
Yeah- that’s the good ole honest media for ya- you know- the ones who just happen to spot palm trees spontaneously goin’ up in smoke.
NOTE- I kid you not- right now- just as I wrote ‘up in smoke’ I look up- and yes- my desk top [wood] is actually on fire- for real.
What?
I have a habit of burning candles- lighting my own home made lamps [bottles with wicks in them- filled with lamp fuel].
And burning incense.
So- my wife keeps telling me ‘your gonna set the house on fire one day’.
Sure enough- I had a candle burning- and it lit some spilled wax on the desk top [I have a spot where I burn candles and the wax gets on the wood].
I look up- the thing is in flames.
If I had the time I would have clicked a pic!
I put it out with a towel- but I almost had to grab the garden hose- let’s hope my wife does not read this one [or one of my daughters squeals on me! You know- Biden style.
1894 HEROD- FAME- AND ONE COOL DUDE
I mentioned the other day that some of the street guys said ‘wow- were gonna be famous’ when I told them I was gonna post their pics to the site.
The next day I was watching the local news- and they did a report about 2 guys getting arrested for peeing- on a cop car- at the police station.
So- whenever I see a news teaser like this [you know- ‘coming up next’] I think ‘geez- wonder if I know them’.
Sure enough- it was Albert and another guy that I just saw at the mission.
They did want to be famous.
Right after I posted yesterday- I read an article that backed up my suspicion.
It was so obvious it was funny.
I wrote that I saw an NBC news clip that portrayed Romney as this angry- mean- loser who can’t stand the heat.
Then- they spoke about Obama as a very calm- almost messianic figure.
So- right after the post I read my paper- there was a report by the AP [associated press].
Let me quote the first paragraph- it’s right here ‘Romney is portraying THE OUTWARDLY CALM PRESIDENT as a man seething with animosity and power lust as the Repubs seek to undermine one of the Dems greatest strengths- his PERSONAL LIKABILITY’.
I mean it’s so obvious- you can’t take these guys serious.
I was watching MSNBC- Matthews was responding to the court ruling that backed the Repub rule that in Pennsylvania you need to show voter I.D.
This has been an ongoing political battle in a few states- including mine.
The Dems charge that there is absolutely never any voter fraud- ever.
[note- a few years ago they showed a tape of a Texas Dem- she was speaking to a room full of Mexicans- down by the border- she said ‘go out and vote- even if your not a citizen- they cant check!’]
They say the Repubs are doing this because they know many ‘poor Blacks’ who vote Dem- cannot get their I.D.’s
Once again- they don’t realize that this stereotype is racist.
Like when Harry Reid said of Obama- and Biden too ‘he’s the first CLEAN BLACK guy- on a national scene- he can talk good- he doesn’t SOUND BLACK- only when he wants to’.
Yeah- you tell em guys.
I’m surprised Biden didn’t kick in ‘yeah- you need a slight Indian accent in the 7-11’s and Dunkin Doughnuts too’- ‘I’m not kidding either’- yeah- we heard.
So Matthews goes on and asks his guest ‘tell us what this rule means for the poor voters in the state who usually vote Dem’.
The lady goes on and says that this forces them to travel across the country [huh?] in order to obtain their proof of birth from their state.
What about the fax machine?
Then she said many of these people were born by midwives [many- these people- hmm?]
And they don’t have birth certificates.
One of my daughters was born by a midwife- she has a birth certificate.
My homeless friends are constantly losing their picture I.D.’s- which is an important thing for them to have- and they regularly write- contact their home state of birth- without actually going there- and they get new I.D.’s
I really don’t know why MSNBC calls itself a news station.
Then the wonderful Chris Matthews says ‘they are going back to the days of King Herod- where he made all the world travel back to their homeland to be taxed’.
Please- Please- try and stick with the news as best as possible- because when you guys delve into the faith- you really screw stuff up.
Oh- I forgot- I also cut out the picture from the article- it shows the most calm picture of Obama I ever did see.
He’s with his wife at some function.
She looks good too- like a happy- sweet angel.
Romney?
He is on a plane- doesn’t look that bad- but maybe a little stressed.
Now- I’m sure they searched high and low for a stressed pic of Romney- this was probably the best they could come up with.
I remember when Newsweek posted a cover picture of Michele Bachman- I mean it was the most insane shot I ever saw- like some wild eyed lunatic.
Yeah- the media do stuff like this- all the time.
People don’t realize they are affected by it- but they are.
Okay- this past week I posted some pics of old friends and I also shared a story about some of these friends with the homeless guys.
So I think I’ll post another ‘post’ right below- one that has some info about these old friends.
So- enjoy your weekend- Oh- if you’re a Black person from the great sate of Penn.- say high to King Herod for me.
1895- BUYER BEWARE!
We bought the Rocu thing the other day.
That’s the device that lets you watch movies on line.
You get a lot of real good stuff- I was surprised.
I was also surprised to see all the documentaries about religion and Christianity.
The ones from Netflix looked interesting- so I watched a couple.
Yikes!!
All of the ones I saw were done from a skeptic’s point of view.
Now- as someone who writes on apologetics [the defense of the faith] I am familiar with these arguments against the faith.
But- if you are not familiar- these doc’s will shake your faith- for sure.
Why?
They are done from the perspective that Christianity basically copied the Greek myths of God and religion- they focus on the ‘similarities’ between Christianity and Greek [and other cultures] religions.
Okay- what was wrong- or deceptive?
First- this entire school of thought was popularized in the 19th century- from the Christian universities in Germany.
Yes- some good men- well meaning men [others not so good! Freud- etc] believed that in order for the faith to survive in this ‘brave new world’ [modernity- and the whole humanistic advance of man since the enlightenment].
That they had to re-fashion the faith and sort of bring it up to date with the times.
Men like Rudolph Bultman introduced the idea of ‘de mythologizing’ the bible.
So- these guys rejected all the supernatural elements of the bible- no more miracles- angels- demons- or resurrection!
Many people embraced this ‘new’ bold approach to the faith- and basically became theological liberals.
One of the reasons some of these men went down this road were covered in the above documentaries.
Okay- as I watched a couple of them- they had similar themes- and were also wrong in the same way.
They compared about 25 other religious myths- from other cultures- and they said these other religious myths all had a savior- a son of god- who had 12 disciples.
They said this Lamb of God died- was buried- and on the 3rd day rose again.
They said he did miracles- was born of a virgin- was called Lord and savior.
And they made it sound like this ‘story’- in complete form- was repeated many times before the Christians ‘picked it up’.
Wow- double wow.
Why are these documentaries dangerous?
First- I actually have read/studied in this field.
The similarities that they described in the doc’s were way overdone- they simply are not true.
That’s the first problem.
But- they did mix in some truth- with the false stuff.
Both of the documentaries I saw [it seems like there is one person- producer- behind the 2 I saw] did give an actual quote from a 2nd century Christian leader- Justin Martyr.
The quote is indeed real- Justin is known as one of the first Apologists of the church.
He defended the faith during a time when many enemies of the faith slandered the religion.
In one defense [out of many] he said that those who reject Christianity because we believe that a Divine son rose from the dead- that others also held the same type of belief in the pagan world.
He was referring to the god Jupiter and the stories that surround those who believed in him.
You also do find this same type of thing in the myth of Hercules.
Okay- so the skeptic was right then?
No.
In the documentary- the skeptic actually gives the quote from Justin- and Justin says that just because these similarities did exist in other religions- before Christ- that this in no way means the Christian faith is false.
How so?
Justin said it was possible for satan to have ‘imitated’ what was really going to happen.
The skeptic mocked this argument from Justin- and went on to challenge the faith.
A few things.
First- it is possible that Justin was right.
2nd.
This whole line of attack is not new [unless you never heard of it before- which is why I’m kinda surprised that Netflix has them in their lineup].
It goes all the way back to the writings of Gilgamesh.
These are writings that also have similarities to the things we find in the bible- yet they are not coming from the Christian perspective.
They contain a story about a flood [like the one in Genesis].
So- over time- skeptics have said ‘see- the bible must have copied these flood stories- because we find them in other cultures’.
I actually covered this before.
Let me give you the short version.
We- as Christians- do indeed believe the story of Noah [the flood].
Some debate whether it was a global event or local- I don’t want to get into that now.
But- if there was a huge event- say like a 911 plane attack on the world trade center.
Would you not expect to find that event- recorded in more than one culture?
Of course you would.
So the fact that other cultures have a flood event recorded too- this does not mean the Christians plagiarized the flood- no- it would be evidence that the flood really did happen.
See?
Now- the similarities between a divine son who rose from the dead.
First- there ARE NOT 25 or so stories like this- with 12 disciples- raised on the 3rd day- and so on.
The producer of the doc was simply mislead- or outright lying.
2nd.
We must remember that anything we find in Greek culture- which predated Christian ‘culture’ was also predated by Jewish culture.
That is to say that the story of Judaism comes before the Greek philosophers.
Are there any themes in the Jewish religion that speak about a Messiah who would come- die- and be the Messiah of all mankind?
Yes!
So- you could argue that any similarities between Greek myth- and Christianity- are actually ‘copies’ taken from the Old Testament story.
That is- God himself gave us clues about the story of redemption- and these clues might have very well ‘seeped’ into the Greek culture- before Christ- and that’s why you might find similarities between the 2.
See?
Okay- I could go on- but I think I made the point.
I was not mad that these documentaries were on net flix.
But I saw the danger in presenting one side like this- without giving the other view [which I just gave].
All in all- the Christian faith has more historical backing [like the many thousands of bible manuscripts that survived the early days] than any other religion or writings of any kind.
The documentaries made a couple of good points- things that were indeed true- but they had way too much mis information in them to be playing on such a huge venue.
Buyer [or watcher] beware!
1896 SIGNS OF THE TIMES
‘Our holy and our beautiful house, where our fathers praised thee- is burned up with fire’ Isaiah 64:11.
Yesterday I mentioned that I watched a couple of negative documentaries about Christianity- they were done from the extreme skeptic’s perspective.
In these types of shows they usually have a few Christians/preachers that they portray as idiots.
In some cases- we can’t help ourselves!
One of the scenes was this group of protestant Christians traveling to Israel on a holy land tour.
When they are at the site of the temple mount [a real big deal for certain protestants- called Dispensationalists].
The pastor is speaking- very loudly- and quoting Jesus from Matthew 24.
He says ‘Jesus said there would be no stone left upon another- he meant it- all these stones will come down’!
Now- I know he meant well- and it must have felt exhilarating for him to kind of be standing up for Jesus- but we all know that there is this huge gold mosque sitting right at the spot where the temple used to be.
And this is where- for some Protestants- the rubber meets the road.
The above verse comes from the Old Testament prophet- the people of God [Israel] were being judged- they lost their homeland and eventually their holy temple would be destroyed.
Over a period of time they would return to their land and the temple would be re built.
During the days of Jesus you had a 3rd temple- even though the 2nd rebuilt one was never destroyed- yet Herod [the father of king Herod whom we read about in the bible] would undergo this huge rebuilding project- and he turned the temple of Jesus day into this huge majestic place.
So- when the disciples were with Jesus one day [matt 24] they said ‘look at all these great buildings Jesus’.
And that’s when he gave the response ‘their will not be left one stone upon another that shall not be cast down’.
This event took place in the year AD 70- the Roman general Titus would sack Jerusalem and the temple was cast down- there was not ‘one stone left on another’ literally.
After the destruction- many went in and searched thru the rubble for the gold that melted and fell between the stones- they actually laid every stone bare during this process.
So- the actual words the minister quoted from Jesus- these words were not defending the glory of the temple- which in Christ’s day came to represent religion apart from God.
No- the words of Jesus were actually a rebuke to those who put too much emphasis on the temple itself [which just happened to be the camp that the above minister was in- ouch!]
Christians do have a problem with stuff like this- lots.
I also caught a few preaching shows over the past week- and many of them had the same theme.
One man was ranting against Muslims- he was quoting verses in the Bible that talk about avoiding the evil person.
I actually just posted on this a few weeks ago.
These verses come from the Apostle Paul’s pen- in his letter to the church at Corinth.
He was not saying to have no contact with unbelievers [or people of other faiths]- he was talking about ‘church members’ who were living in open sin.
I got into it the other day- don’t want to rehash it again.
The point was- even though this minister meant well- he was giving the opinion that Christians should have no peaceful dealings with Muslims- or any other religion for that matter.
Is this right?
No.
The bible says we should live peaceably with all men.
In the Old Testament we read the story of Joseph.
He became the second most powerful figure in the land of Egypt- only Pharaoh was over him.
Joseph was living- and functioning- in the midst of the Egyptian people- who did indeed have different religious beliefs than Joseph.
Yet we read how Joseph earned great respect from the Egyptians- and when Joseph’s dad died [Jacob- who was named Israel] they respected the wishes of Joseph and even mourned with him.
Now- this is a great example of believers having friends- functioning in society- without purposefully offending people.
I do not claim to have perfect understanding about the end times- but I do see some major flaws with what most people think about when they hear ‘end times’.
Many Christians see a future restoration of the temple in Jerusalem.
They see a huge problem that the mosque sits on the temple site- and they have various scenarios to see the thing removed.
These same believers- all good people mind you- also see Jesus restoring the sacrificial system- and him ruling over Jerusalem- with the sacrifices taking place once again.
Problem?
In the book of Hebrews- in our bibles- the writer says ‘those who continue the sacrificial system- after the crucifixion of Christ- are doing disgrace to the Cross of Christ.’
Theologically- the above end time’s scenario does much harm to the basic message of the Cross.
Geopolitically- it spells disaster.
RECENT STUFF 2013- C
1897
Okay- we spent the last few days talking about the Todd Akin comment.
Akin is running for senator in Mo.
He said that ‘legitimate rape RARELY produces a pregnancy- because a woman’s body has ways of shutting that stuff down’.
Yikes!
So- the national media has spent days on this.
Last night I caught a short clip of ABC world news with Dianne Sawyer.
It teased an upcoming special 2 DAY coverage of Mormonism.
So- I figured instead of my usual channel surfing- I would watch the entire 30 minutes of ABC news at 5:30.
It was revealing.
For their political coverage- they showed a few negative ads about Ryan/Romney [none of Obama].
They covered the abortion views of Ryan.
Then they said ‘okay- that’s it for political coverage’.
Was that political coverage?
No.
It was free ad time for the President.
How so?
Many of the web ad’s that are produced- by both sides- only produce them for the purpose of various media outlets picking them up and showing them on their shows.
Yes- nothing wrong with the strategy.
But- when the so called unbiased media only plays the ads of one side- they are spending hundreds of thousands giving free ad time to one side.
What about the Mormon coverage?
ABC began a 2 night ‘world coverage’ of Mormonism.
Like I said before- I am very aware of their teaching- I have Mormon friends- but quite frankly- the media realize that if they high light the religious beliefs of Romney- it will hurt him.
So- during the coverage they used words like-
‘strange- peculiar’ [fits in with MSNBC’S mantra of referring to Romney as weird- member of a cult]
‘imposing temples’
‘secret rituals’
‘all male leaders’
‘suspicious’
Got it?
Now- you might ask ‘so John- if these things are true- then what’s wrong with the media exposing it’.
That’s the point.
When President Obama was running in 2008- his church background had almost no coverage at all.
The little coverage it did get was by Fox- or those in the media saying his religion is off grounds.
Matthews [MSNBC] kept accusing the conservatives of imposing a ‘religious test’ on Obama.
So- the church Obama belonged to was a Black Liberation church.
Now- for the record- much of what you read on my site has a very strong strain of liberation theology in it.
Yes- my defense of the poor- the illegal alien- many of my themes are indeed found in liberation theology movements.
In the past I covered this teaching- how it rose from the Catholic bishops in Latin America- how the Catholic church had debates within their church over it.
All in all- in some ways I actually defended Liberation Theology- and even Rev Wright [to a degree].
So- having said that- what were some of the beliefs of Obama’s church?
Rev Wright [Obama’s pastor for 20 years] believed that AIDS was created by the White man [the govt.] for the purpose of infecting Blacks to kill them.
Wright worked closely with Farrakhan in Chicago- and they often espoused hatred for the White race.
How much of this did you ever see on the news?
Did ABC do a 2 night ‘world coverage’ of the ‘strange beliefs’ of Obama’s church?
Now- how much of this affected the President?
Obama’s defense was he never heard Wright say any stuff like this- though he said Wright was one of the most influential men in his life.
He was married by Wright.
Wright baptized his kids.
And Obama titled one of his books after a phrase from the pastor [The Audacity of Hope].
Now- as a listener of both the right and left- I also get to hear [radio] stuff that you don’t hear on the news.
These are actual quotes from President Obama
‘White man’s greed rules a world in need’ [he was quoting from his own book- he did an audio version of it]
‘White’s move into the suburbs because they don’t want to pay for the education of inner city kids’
Does he really believe this?
If you are White- and you move out of the city- he says you did this because you are racist.
Not because you want to escape the crime- pollution- have a better school for your kids.
No- according to the Presidents own words- it’s because you don’t want your money going to educate inner city kids [mostly Black kids].
Why are these actual quotes important?
They show you that the beliefs of rev. Wright did indeed affect the President.
Yet- you never heard any of this from the media- they would not dare cover the religious beliefs of Obama.
They said it was outrageous that anyone would ask.
As I watched last night- I was reminded of all the comments I heard these past few weeks by the media.
Bashir [MSNBC] said outright that Christians should not vote for Romney because he denies the Trinity.
A major Democrat funder said Romney does not give to charity- but to ‘his cult’.
On and on.
I personally do not believe we should pick a candidate because of his faith.
Other Christians do indeed differ- I have friends who will not vote for Romney because he is Mormon.
The point I’m making is this is what you call media bias.
You would never see a so called news man say ‘you should not vote for Obama because he is a Black Liberation Christian’.
Now- you will hear that from others- but never from the news itself.
Yet- we have heard all of the above from so called main stream news sources.
If we- as Citizens- are expected to make informed votes- then we either need to know all of the above- about both sides- or none of the above- about both sides.
I assure you- if the world news covered the statements- of the president himself- and the beliefs of the church he attended for 20 years.
That the 2008 election would have been much different.
But the media had their man- and they did all they could to cover him in a favorable light.
Now- they are covering his challenger in an unfavorable one.
They are outright saying he is a cult member- that he denies the Trinity- that his church is strange- weird.
They are covering Romney’s religion nonstop.
Yet- the church belief that the White man created AIDS to kill Blacks- well that’s a personal religious belief.
We have no right to know that.
O- Sorry.
1898 NIGGER
I got with the street guys the other day.
Every so often one of the guys gets in the mood to ask me stuff- things about the bible- things they have questions about.
Hugh sat down next to me and asked me a few things.
It was funny- because I was just posting about Greek gods and all- and he asked me if there was a goddess that’s mentioned in the bible.
I told him there was- in the book of Acts it talks about ‘the great goddess Diana’.
It was a reference to the idol that was set up in the city of Ephesus.
The reason I mentioned this was Hugh told me ‘John- I like talking to you about this stuff- you know the answers [most of the time] but you don’t try and make us believe everything your way’.
Hugh and Andy and John David- all brothers that I have written about over the years- they grew up in a preachers home.
They had experiences with many preachers over the years- and they are familiar with men- good men- but men who see things a certain way- and they often demand that others see it to.
When Hugh made the above statement- I didn’t tell him this- but his brother Andy- who is a very able bible person- had told me the same exact thing a few years ago.
Before I write in the morning- I quote a verse from the book of James.
‘let every man be swift to hear- slow to speak- slow to wrath- for the wrath of man does not work the righteousness of God’.
Last night I caught about 5 minutes of MSNBC- and I need this verse because of them.
Rachel Maddow was ‘covering’ the campaign of Romney- and she went on to say that who would ever believe that in this day and age- a candidate for president would run his whole campaign on being anti black.
She went on and said Romney is targeting the racist white vote- that this is blatant and open.
As I watch these race cards being played- another MSNBC host said Romney was calling the president a Nigger.
Huh?
Yes- Toure’- a regular on the network- said when Romney used the word ‘angry’ twice in a row- that he ‘niggerized’ Obama.
I heard a few actual quotes this past week- actual recordings from the 2008 campaign.
‘He knew he was going to play the race card- we now have the proof that he did this on purpose’.
Who said this?
Bill Clinton.
He was referring to some memo that leaked our – Clinton said it proved that this was calculated.
Another quote.
‘Obama- you say you want to run a clean campaign- but your actions are not in line with your words- Shame on you- shame on you’.
When you see the person saying it- she’s outraged.
Who said it?
Hillary Clinton.
I think it’s sad that any side would resort to stuff like this.
This is not new [unless you believe that Bill and Hillary were lying].
Okay- the other day when I posted the pic of the Jesus head carving [Facebook] I wasn’t sure if I should tell this or not.
But I got up at midnight again- and when I was just praying before I post- I felt it was time.
The reason I went down the road that the Re sale shop was on- was because that part of town is a very bad place to be.
Normally- White folk don’t go there.
Many years ago [18?] I had a bad year.
I hung out with drug addicts- and partied in the bars that were right off the street where I bought the carving.
As I was standing on the street that day- waiting for the owner to get to the shop- I had about 20 minutes or so of just being there.
As I looked east- I saw a club called Ceilo- where a shooting just happened a few nights before.
I thought about the nights when I was in another club just like it- on the same block.
I was the only English speaking person in the place- including the bar tender.
One night as the guys were ‘shooting up’- somehow the conversation got into God.
When I told one of the guys I used to preach- he said he felt God sent me- that in a way he thought even though drugs were all over the room- yet he thought God sent me.
Many nights I would be up all night- and drive home at around 6 in the morning [an hour drive to Kingsville].
I would get home just in time to put on my uniform and go to work.
There’s a song that’s been playing on the Christian station these last few days- it says we are all on borrowed time.
As I stood on the corner that day- right across the street there was this Mexican guy.
So- being I’m waiting for the owner of the shop to show up- I figured I might as well do some outreach.
So- I yelled ‘hey brother- you need a few dollars’.
I just wanted to spread the wealth round.
He looked at me for a second- and I wasn’t sure he understood English.
So I started walking towards him- and I was taking my wallet out- you know- to say ‘look- do you need a couple of bucks’.
I guess he saw me reaching for the wallet- and maybe thought I had a gun.
He turned the other way and started walking- real fast.
At this point I was laughing- yeah- out loud.
I grabbed my trusty cell phone camera and took a couple of pics- was gonna post them but they came out bad.
Over the years I have had Mexican friends- Black friends- all races.
God’s kingdom is color blind- we are here for a very short while.
It gets me mad to see the race card played- I know racism exists- it inside White people- Black people- it’s comes in every color.
When we as a society play the card so freely- we damage each other.
We give people excuses to hate other people.
Yes- some people hate Obama because of his color- but most of those who disagree with him do so because of his politics.
If people don’t like Romney- then ‘don’t like him’ because of his too.
But when you say he ‘niggerized’ the campaign because he used the word ‘angry’ twice- then you are not contributing to the overall healing of our land.
Remember- short time- let’s not waste it on stuff like this.
1899 GIZMO
This week I met John at the mission.
Maybe the last 2 weeks?
Anyway- when he first showed up he just looked like one of the new guys that shows up every so often.
You have people from all over that gravitate to the shore regions of the country- and we are one of those spots.
John was a little different- he had this cute Chewowa [sp?] dog- named Gizmo- and he is a ‘jolly’ type fella.
So- to some- they might paint John as gay- you know- loving on this little dog- jolly.
Now- if he were- I wouldn’t care- I mean I still be-friend people from all backgrounds- and I forgot to mention this in the post I did about race.
That a couple years back there was a nice Black kid- he came from a ministry background [family started churches and stuff all over the area].
One day I took him shopping- to the grocery store- we had a couple of other street guys.
Sometimes I’ll take the guys to the store and let them buy some stuff they need [on my debit card].
But Tracy basically food shopped.
Tracy is also gay.
It was quite expensive.
The other guys got mad ‘hey- John pays for this out of his pocket’.
Sometimes people think I have some type of ‘ministry fund’ and they might spend more than they need.
I just went with it- I was broke for the rest of the month- but what the heck.
So- just wanted to defend myself a little- being I do write on race issues- yet I believe in helping all types- even gay friends.
So- even if this new guy was gay- I don’t judge him.
But- as I talked with ‘jolly John’ I came to find out he’s not gay- but a widower.
John was a plumber for 35 years- lived in Arlington [Texas- the city where the Texas rangers come out of].
A few years ago his wife got real sick- and in October of last year she took her own life.
John always wanted to live near the ocean- he sold everything he had and spent the money coming to Corpus.
He got a job right away- working right by the mission for a mechanic shop.
Yesterday I took my van for an inspection- sure enough he was there.
So right off the bat I know John is different- lots of the guys have stories- but to put it bluntly- they don’t want to work.
This is a real problem for sure- and when you read all my posts defending the poor- don’t confuse that with thinking I’m defending able bodied people- who are not working.
No- I try to spend my money helping people who are not on the free programs- or who are really in need.
Yeah- I have given to those who I probably shouldn’t have- but all in all I am against guys just living off the free dole- when they need to work.
So- John has a good job- and he’s saving up for a cheap apartment.
He told me he’s living in the broken down car wash that’s attached to the mechanic shop.
For you local friends- he works at Fast Trax- in the Bluff- right by the HEB parking lot.
John sleeps there with his little dog- Gizmo [I’ll try and post some pics this morning?]
Yeah- John has an interesting story- a hard working man- who came upon hard times- and wound up ‘on the street’ at least for a little while.
It would be easy to look at John and judge him- I mean he is eating at the free mission [I never eat the free food by the way].
And he is a big boy- overweight- and admits it.
So- at first glance you could peg him as a freeloader who refuses to work.
When John told me about his wife taking her life- John cried.
I felt bad for him- he seems like a very nice guy.
As I sat in the shop waiting for my inspection- sure enough- his little dog Gizmo is chained up to a chair in the waiting area.
The poor baby is shaking- you know how those little pups shake- and I guess he sits by himself all day.
He’s just staring at the door where his ‘daddy’ walked thru- hoping he comes back.
Kinda sad story to be honest.
Yet John has this happy go lucky way about him- he laughs and jokes at the mission.
He lets his little puppy lay on him- he’s really an interesting guy.
John is one story- one friend- out of hundreds- maybe thousands of friends I have made over the years.
Yeah- there have been times where some of ‘my friends’ were people that others would not be around.
Dangerous type people.
Others are like John- just a good person who fell on bad times.
I have a verse posted here right behind me.
It says ‘she that tarried at home divided the spoils’.
It’s in the book of Psalms.
I posted it a few years ago- right behind the chair I’m sitting on right now while I blog.
To me it says there will be friends who read these posts- and maybe they will never see the John’s of the world.
Maybe they will live their lives as most people do.
Good lives- working- raising kids- things that are noble and good.
But to these friends- the verse I just quoted is very important.
It tells me that God intended for some of our ‘community’ to ‘stay at home and have a part’.
To you- most of you are women- don’t underestimate the need to pray for me and my friends.
I have gone thru the Gospel of Matthew- Acts- Romans and am in Corinthians right now.
Yes- I am a big bible reader- as well as a writer on all the other things.
The Apostle Paul was used by God- and in most [if not all?] of his writings- he says ‘please don’t forget to pray for me’.
For those who can- those who tarry at home- try and pray the ‘Our Father’ every day for me and my friends.
It might not seem much to you- but to be honest- I think it at times it has saved my life.
Thanks- from John- John- and oh yeah- little Gizmo.
1900 A LITTLE CROW?
I caught part of the Repub convention last night.
I haven’t been following it- but I found the coverage very interesting last night.
I have been a critic of MSNBC and Chris Matthews over the years.
But- to his credit- I thought he did a great job last night.
Why? Because he made the conservative points?
No.
But he did indeed differ with the others and defended Jeb Bush who made the conservative argument about school vouchers.
Vouchers are funds that you could use to send your kid to the school of your choice.
The way it is supposed to work is if you’re a poor mom- maybe a single Black mother living in a tough inner city area.
You could apply for the voucher and send your son/daughter to a better school then she would normally have access to.
Now- there are those against this and for it- and like most things- if your hear one side only- well you begin to say ‘o- I see your point’.
Then you might hear the other side and say the same thing.
My point is Matthews did take the voucher side- and to the obvious dismay of his liberal panel [Sharpton, Maddow, etc.] he knew he was in the minority.
I also liked the view that Matthews and Sharpton took about Romney’s Mormonism.
They were consistent and said it is wrong to go after him on that.
I caught CNN and Fox- all in all- I was happy to see that their coverage- even though they all play sides at times- was pretty fair.
Why was I glad to see this?
Because whoever wins this election- the next president will have to try his best to govern a very divided nation.
And it will be hard- for either side- to do this if the losing side [whoever it be] simply spends the next 4 years trying to make the winner fail.
This last year I have criticized the president lots- and I have done the same with Bush in the past [mainly over the wars].
But there have been things that I credit Obama for.
As a big news buff- one of the geopolitical issues that came up was this Pakistani road that we used to get supplies to our troops fighting in the border region of Afghanistan/Pakistan.
We had an incident where we accidently bombed the wrongs guys- we killed a bunch of Pakistani troops- thinking they were Taliban.
Now- Pakistan has not been the best ally in this whole war in Afghanistan.
And make no mistakes about it- we buy their support with tons of money.
But- when we killed their troops- they had it.
They shut down this vital road for our supplies and refused to re open it unless that got an official apology.
The Dilemma?
They wanted the U.S. [Obama] to apologize during a campaign year- when the opposing side were accusing him of being weak in the world- and making apologies to other nations.
See?
So- instead of apologizing- the U.S. spent millions of more dollars- every week [day?] flying and using other ways to get the support to our troops.
Now- the Pakistanis did indeed charge us lots for the use of the road- but these other options were much more expensive.
So what happened?
One week- after months of the stalemate- Hilary Clinton made the apology with the approval of Obama.
Huh?
Yeah- he did the right thing- and that was that.
Now- he could have just spent the extra millions and not apologized.
But I’m sure he consulted with the military brass- and they gave him the frank advice that it would be better to get the road back.
He did the right thing- not the most expedient thing- not the thing that would help his election the most.
No- he did the right thing.
My Point?
If Romney wins- or Obama gets re-elected- they will need the support of the people to do ‘the right thing’.
They will need to have some consensus- some middle ground- to fix the things that are really broken in this country.
And we won’t be able to do that if we continue to simply hate the other side.
I was very impressed with the cordial coverage that the networks gave to Romney.
And I trust they will do the same with the president’s convention.
Yeah- I must admit that Chris Matthews was a real news man last night.
Kudos’ to him and MSNBC [geez- I hate the taste of crow!]
1901 SURROUNDED BY CRIMINALS?
A few years ago [well- 1992] when we moved to Corpus we really never shopped around for the neighborhood we would live in.
We simply needed a 4 bedroom [preferably with a study] and there was only one on the market- we bought it.
But after moving in- I told my wife ‘wow- can you believe the luck- all the bums and criminals live right around here!’
Now- to me this was music to my ears- to my wife it was ‘here we go again’.
Again?
Yeah.
When we first started our ‘church’ in Kingsville we rented an old hospital building.
Eventually I fixed up my 2 garage and we used that.
But- the ‘members’ of the church were made up- 99%- of crooks- thieves- and stuff much worse.
I met these guys thru a bible study I did at the jail- and many would get sent off to prison and when they got out they came to the church [their wives too].
So- this was our cool little church- many of the guys knew each other from the streets.
They often ‘reminisced’ about the old days [not good].
Elias [long dead now] was my song leader- and filled in for me when I had to work- but he was one of the ‘gang leaders’ if you will- that is they all were drug addicts- all knew the places to rob- and sell the stuff.
Now- because these guys were my friends- they would often offer their ‘services’ to me.
‘Hey John- you need a very cheap flat screen- it’s a steal’ [literally].
I would tell them ‘no way brother- I don’t want you guys to keep doing this @$#’
They would tell me that it’s no big deal- they sell the stuff to their family- and even to one of the local city commissioners [who I knew].
I was mad- I told them if I buy the stuff- even if it’s a good deal- it will simply encourage them to go out and steal more.
And I was really mad that one of their moms was buying the stuff from her son.
So- that’s the way our little church was.
I remember one time one of the guys pawned my weed eater.
I lent it to him- but he never brought it back.
So one day when I needed to cut the grass I went over.
‘C-mon Johhny- I know you pawned it- lets go get it- I’m not mad- I forgive you bro- but I need to cut the damn grass’.
Yeah- we went and got it.
So- I have had my buddies- all used to living life like this- offer me their services at various times- thinking they were helping me out.
If I walk out of my study right now- I could throw a rock and probably hit one of the guys right now- sleeping under the overpass [right by Floyd’s restaurant].
A few blocks over- they are in the streets- brush- broken down trailers- they ‘reside’ all around me.
I have a good friend- Dave- who lives right across the street.
He has lived his entire life in ’the bluff’.
After he moved across the street- we became good friends.
But he realized that the guys who were coming over to visit me- well- they were all criminals- people he knew for years- and he was shocked.
Dave has a jewelry business that he runs out of his house.
He started putting in all this extra security- he would come over and keep showing me all the stuff he was putting in.
Electric shock stuff- showing me the new gun he bought for protection.
I finally caught on- Dave was afraid that my buddies might ply their trade- at his house!
See- they actually think that they are helping when they do stuff like this- but they are not.
I was glad when I found out that all these guys hang out all thru out these streets.
If I go out right now [just was outside by the way] and walk 15 blocks- they are all over the place.
Maybe a few are up right now at Floyds- or down at Whataburger.
They fill the streets.
When they offer me their services I say ‘no- there’s a better way’.
Paul told the Corinthians ‘some of you were thieves and killers’ all types of stuff- but then he said ‘you are now washed- clean- thru the Blood of Christ’.
It’s easy for these guys to resort to tactics they used their whole lives- but by grace they [we] can learn better ways.
Yes- at the end of the day- that’s what we want- all of us.
1902 ARNOLD AND TERRI
Yesterday morning I took one of my early drives.
I kinda ride the main roads in our area- Cross-town- 37- these are the overpasses that let you drive the whole region without having to stop at a ton of red lights.
On the way back- around 6-7 am- I got off by the area where I bought the Jesus carving last week [remember the pic?]
I have been wanting to kind of start an outreach to the guys in that area for a while [remember the dollar I offered to the Mexican brother- who thought I had a gun?]
Yeah- that’s how it works- you just walk up to the guys- say hi- and over time you make new friends.
Isn’t that risky John?
To be honest- yes.
But I determined a long time ago that we [I] would take the risk.
Have there been times where you thought- for real- that this might be the big one?
Yes- a couple of times.
A friend- freaking out over some stuff- walking around with his loaded gun- I did think he might have killed us both that day- for real.
Another friend- who actually attempted to murder a couple of cops- one day I was at his house.
He knew that everyone knew him to be crazy- and that everyone feared him.
One day at the Fire House- the guys were talking about one of the local gang type guys.
His name was Campos.
They come from a big drug family in Kingsville.
Anyway- they had some ambulance run the night before- a shooting or something- and this Campos guy was involved.
The guys who knew Campos- some of the younger Mexican firefighters who grew up in the area knew all the war stories about him- he was the local ‘infamous hero’ to them.
They were talking about all the stuff Campos has done- shootings and stuff.
I got tired of hearing it- I told them ‘heck- my buddy beat the crap out of him one night’.
They shut up.
Yeah- this is my friend with the reputation of being nuts.
So anyway- as I was at his house- he just got out of prison.
He is talking to me- and he pulls out a very large hunting knife.
I could see it’s a test- he wants to see my face.
I sat there- knew it was a test- and gave him the look like- ‘I have been here before my friend’.
I guess I passed the test.
Both of these friends [the gun guy and knife] are long dead.
My ‘knife’ friend- well I mentioned him the other day and didn’t want to say too much- his brother and nephew are friends on my Face Book page.
But I’m sure they know- one night at the firehouse we had a call that some guy was attempting to kill a cop [again? I don’t know the whole story- but that’s how we heard it].
Something of that nature.
He possibly swallowed a bag of coke and went into a coma.
It was my friend.
I visited with him and his family at the hospital for about a week- they finally took him off life support.
He’s the one that’s buried at the ranch picture I posted the other day- in Bishop- Texas.
Okay- enough of this.
The reason I bring this up is I always felt I would take the risk- that I was supposed to.
So- Sunday morning when I got off on Morgan street- I really wasn’t intending on meeting any new ‘friends’.
We were going to go to church and all- and I try not to do outreach on Sunday.
But to my surprise there were a couple of street guys sleeping right on the bus benches.
In the ‘olden days’ you couldn’t do that.
This road [Morgan and Cross-town] is a high crime spot.
A kid- Jacob- committed a triple murder right at the intersection not too long ago.
But as I saw the guys on the benches- I thought ‘damn- let me stop and get them breakfast’.
There’s a McDonalds right there.
I got a laugh- when I ordered the breakfasts- the girl asks ‘is this a senior discount’.
Hell- I just turned 50- but I told her ‘if you want it to be’.
Yeah- the Lord blessed me.
So I got the meals- and headed out to the street.
It’s funny- all the people driving by- you know- one of those spots where you make sure the doors are locked.
I took a few pics- hope to post this morn.
But I walked across the street and simply told the kid on the bench- ‘hey bro- you want breakfast’.
I woke him up- he said ‘yeah man- thanks’.
I talked to Arnold for a while- nice Hispanic kid.
I gave him a few bucks- and he ran across the street to get some coffee- on the way back I told him I was gonna go offer the other meal to the guy on the other bench.
Arnold grabbed a car rag out of his pocket- he was going to the car lot right off the main street- the guy pays him 10 bucks to simply wipe the dew off the cars in the morning.
I walked over to the other guy- sleeping too.
‘Hey man- you want a breakfast’.
‘Oh yes- thank you so much’.
Terri has been homeless for a while.
He’s around 57- used to print the Ad Sack- our local paper where you list the stuff you want to sell [you know- the caveman Craigslist]
I sat with Terri for a couple of hours.
He enjoyed the meal- told me how breakfast is the most important meal of the day.
We walked across the street- I offered to buy Terri some smokes- not beer.
We walked in the store [Stripes] and the girl kicked him out fast.
I guess they know him.
I told Terri ‘I’ll get the smokes- what do you want’?
He wanted Kite- they are the roll your own type- lots of the guys buy these when they are broke.
‘C-mon Terri- my treat- get what you want’.
No- he said the Kite were fine.
Sure enough- they don’t carry Kite- he got the classic- Marlboro Red.
I sat there- right on the street- having a good time talking to Terri.
It was obvious Terri was an alcoholic- I did tell him I’m trying to get clean myself.
I told Terri that I passed this road many times over the years.
When I was a firefighter in Kingsville we used to take the badly inured to the hospital that’s right across the street.
It used to be called Memorial- it was the highest rated Trauma hospital in the region- it was also the free public hospital for those who had no coverage.
So lots of the addicts and stuff use it.
I noticed Terri had a medical band on his wrist- and he was wearing the hospital type pants.
Yeah- he was probably what we call an MHMR patient.
Mental health pt.
Terri seemed like a nice guy- down on his luck- living on a bus bench- right across from Arnold- living on the other one.
Yeah- I finally made 2 new friends- I will go back at least once a week- maybe take the guys to the buffet.
This is how it’s done- I have been doing this for years- ever since the day my buddy pulled out the knife- or the other one with the gun.
Sure- you do take risks- but most of the guys are like Teri and Arnold- harmless people down on their luck.
It’s not a race thing- Black- White- Mexican- they all have had their hard times.
I will try and chronicle their stories as time moves on- I want you to see these people.
Even though Terri was obviously not all there- he still had his senses.
As I sat with him- a pack of dogs walks right by us- you know- those little dog gangs.
A few cute pups were in ‘this gang’.
I asked Terri ‘are these regular’s’
He said no- he has never seen them before.
I told him ‘I guess they just heard some guys giving out free food’.
Terri laughed.
Yeah- I made some new friends- living on bus benches.
I told them ‘hey- can I take your pics for the site’?
They loved it.
Enjoy the pics [if they post?]
NOTE- As I sat with the guys on this Sunday morning- I noticed not all of the cars driving by ignored us- some stopped and gave a few dollars- or a taco- to the guys.
They were wearing rosary beads and stuff- the people who also helped.
I felt like they were good Catholic people on their way to Mass- living out the teachings of their church- helping the poor.
May God bless them.
1903 JEWS AND THE END TIMES?
I want to delve into a hard issue for the church.
The last few weeks I have been watching the documentaries from net flix.
I mentioned that most [if not all?] are done from the liberal perspective- which I’m okay with.
But it is important on all issues to see both sides.
One of the things they dealt with was the history of the church and anti Semitism.
Yes- the Christian church has had a long history of treating the Jewish people badly.
Why?
As a Protestant- those of you who have been reading my posts for a while- well you realize that I’m not in the ‘normal’ category of Protestantism.
Many of the subjects I hit on are going against the strain of what we normally view as American Evangelicalism.
I often reference the Pope- in a good way- or talk about our Catholic brothers and sisters- well- as brothers and sisters!
So- I realize I have rubbed many the wrong way.
So- this subject of the treatment of the Jewish people has seen extremes- and in the American Evangelical church- much too much of the ‘end times’ stuff- in my view- is missing the boat.
As we read the New Testament we see Jesus and the disciples [all Jewish by the way] living at a time when the Roman govt. ruled over the Jewish people- and the Jewish people were waiting for their ‘salvation’ by means of a Jewish Messiah who would come and deliver them from their oppressors.
Much of their understanding of salvation was tied in to a national deliverance.
When you read the prayers/praises of both John the Baptists dad- and also Mary’s praise [called the Magnificat] you see a strong sense of national deliverance.
They speak about God sending the Messiah to deliver the people form their oppressors.
Okay- in this milieu we have Jesus and his guys living and believing that the ‘salvation’ of God is near.
It was only natural for the disciples- especially those who we call Zealots [Simon- not Peter] to think that this whole salvation story was about God restoring natural Israel back to a place of prominence once again- no more Roman rule type of thing.
But we see an interesting thing with Jesus- he keeps making statements that seem to lead the disciples away from seeing things this way.
‘My kingdom is not of this world- or my men would fight’
‘Put up the sword- those who live by it will die by it’
And the verse I quoted the other day ‘see all these buildings- temple- there will not be one stone left upon another’.
He basically is rejecting the nationalistic idea of him being the Messiah who would redeem Israel in a nationalist way.
He’s showing them that his purpose is different- it’s salvific for sure- but not in the way they perceive.
Okay- I’m beginning to realize I won’t be able to cover the whole thing in this post.
Maybe I’ll do a few more like this in the next few days.
The point is- I want you to see that God’s purpose for our Jewish friends- our Muslim friends- for all races and ethnic groups.
His purpose is not to pit one side against the other.
It’s not about Jesus defending one side- at his second coming- and actually leading that side in a real war- where he shoots people- or kills them with a sword!
No- these scenarios- which prevail in the End Times books you see at Wal mart.
These ‘narratives’ if you will- go against the entire grain of the teachings of Jesus.
This is why you see me so negative at times- against the Evangelical church.
Many Protestants- well meaning people- have such a negative view of the historic church- that they reject the ancient church’s position on these things.
For the most part- the historic church took a position called A-Millennialism.
Basically it’s a kind of spiritual way of seeing all these things.
God’s kingdom is not seen thru the eyes of natural war- but thru the eyes of a heavenly kingdom.
I think that’s the correct position- for the most part.
But most American protestants believe that this position is just one of the many ‘doctrines of the Whore of Babylon’ see what I mean?
Okay- lets end there- think on some of this stuff- read the New Testament with this in your mind.
Why does the Apostle John refer to natural Jerusalem as ‘spiritual Sodom and Egypt’? [Revelation]
Was his intent to be anti Semitic?
No- he was showing us that God’s concern was for all people groups- no longer was it about a nationalistic thing- a type of salvation that the disciples at first were thinking of.
As I end this post- I want to make sure that all my friends- Jews- Muslims- all- understand that my position is that God loves us all- and he’s not in the business of backing any side- militarily.
I hope to show you this in the coming days.
1904 JERUSALEM DIVIDED?
I want to pick up a little from the last post- but I also got with the street guys yesterday and maybe will make a few comments.
Yesterday we talked about the first century context of the Jewish people- as it relates to the Messiah.
That is the Jewish nation was waiting for centuries for the promised one who would come and deliver them.
Jesus showed up on the scene and claimed to be the One.
The early followers of Jesus- all Jews- did not fully grasp the spiritual nature of Gods kingdom.
He would teach them principles about the kingdom that seemed to go against the flow of normal life.
‘The last shall be first’
‘He that dies shall live’
‘You have heard an eye for an eye- but I say love your enemies…’
All these principles were showing them that the Kingdom that Jesus was talking about was a spiritual kingdom- that would also affect the world as we know it- but at its heart it was not about material stuff.
Okay- now- the Jewish people at the time of Christ were wanting a national deliverance- they were pre-occupied with getting free from the rule of Rome- and their hopes- like many people today- were tied up in the advance of their nation- their people.
But you have the writings of the early apostles talking about this new kingdom- where Jesus died for all people [Jews and Gentiles] and he ‘reconciled both [groups] unto God in One Body on the Cross’. [Ephesians]
So- your getting a different picture here- Paul the Apostle is saying that we are all now part of this new community of God- he says ‘we are now partakers with the Jewish people- we are this new commonwealth’.
The actual teaching- from the bible- is very advanced for its time.
I mean if you think about it- these words were written 2 thousand years ago- and they speak about relations between groups that the modern church seems to miss.
When we- in our day- appeal to the Old Testament verses about God giving land to Israel- and we couch all of our ‘end times’ preaching in scenarios that have one side killing the other- or when Western Christians visit the ‘Holy Land’- talking about the staging of the final ‘assault’ [Armageddon] and how many Arabs [Muslims] will be slaughtered by a Jewish army- lead by Christ- I mean do we really realize what we are saying?
I just read Revelation chapter 4- and it had nothing to do with this post- but as a side note it said there was thing angel flying in heaven- preaching the ‘everlasting gospel’ to all nations that dwell on the earth.
The gospel means ‘good news’- we often read the book of Revelation- and use it to back up the scenarios I just spoke about.
But this verse says the intent of God is to tell the good news to ALL ETHNIC GROUPS.
No one is left out- do you hear this?
Arabs- Jews- everyone- the good news is Christ brought us all back to God by his death for us.
That’s good news.
Would it be good news if I said ‘hey Arab- guess what- Christ is coming back- oh- he will lead a war against you and your kids- if you get lucky you might be killed by Christ’.
Now- I know this sounds absurd- but that’s the majority teaching in the American Protestant church today.
Just last night I caught a little of the coverage of the Democrat convention.
They were reporting on a ‘big’ news event.
What was it?
That the Dem’s took the wording out of their platform that said they believed Jerusalem should be the undivided capitol of Israel.
Why would this big a big deal?
It dates back to the 19th century- and the rise of what we call Dispensational theology.
Basically the development of this whole teaching that I just covered.
Eventually the teaching would influence large swaths of American Protestantism.
And it would seep in to the political world.
Yes- the actual statement that Jerusalem will be the capital of Israel- found in the political parties of our day- stem straight from the influence of the Dispensationalists of the 19th century.
Okay- what am I saying?
Do I advocate for the Palestinians getting half of Jerusalem?
[See- now I’m getting into politics]
Practically speaking- I don’t see how that could ever be workable.
You have Hamas- a recognized terror group by the U.S. - holding elected positions in Palestine.
So- I don’t see how this same group can share Jerusalem- practically speaking.
But- when you begin basing your political agenda on your view of the bible which might very well be wrong- then that’s when we get into trouble.
See?
The New Testament apostles saw Jesus as the Messiah that they were waiting for.
All Jewish people do not see it that way- that’s their right- they have the freedom to believe the way they want.
Arab people have the freedom to believe the way they want.
Christians have the freedom to believe the way they want.
We as believers should share the Good News with all people groups.
That’s our mandate.
I just fear that much of what we are preaching is not good news.
See?
1905 DID THE JEWS KILL CHRIST?
Kinda want to try and wrap up for the week- maybe one more post in the morning?
I posted some pics of the street guys yesterday- want to make a few comments.
I like taking the pics and posting them right when I’m with the guys- I’ll tell them ‘hey- right now your pics are going to the site’- they love it.
I also want to wrap up a few final points about the church- and the 2 extremes that she strayed into over the centuries.
In the last few posts we have been discussing the over emphasis on natural Israel- the promises of God- found in the Old Testament- concerning the restoration of the land- the re-building of the temple- stuff like that.
The church also has a sad history of anti Semitism- racism against Jewish people.
To our Catholic friends- the church has tried to deal with it in the last 30 years or so.
The present Pope- Benedict- who I do like [I have read his books] got into some trouble a couple of years ago.
It was a noble attempt to try and heal some long time divisions within the church.
It has been said when the Protestants disagree with something- they go out and start their own church.
When Catholics disagree- they start their own order.
I like that- funny- and true.
So- part of the Catholic divisions is the older type churches- the ones who rebelled against the noble reforms of Vatican 2 [The last church council- held between 1962-65].
Within the Catholic Church there are disagreements over what the council was trying to do.
Liberal Catholics believe the church was trying to trend into a more liberal institution.
Conservatives say that’s a misreading- that the church still held to her conservative roots- and was simply trying to be more Ecumenical.
Either way- one of the results was the more traditional type churches- sometimes called Tridentine [the ones who prefer the old Latin Mass].
These churches kind of split off from Rome and have been worshipping using the Latin mass [which was originally a violation of Vatican 2].
Vatican 2 said the Mass should now be done in the vernacular- the language of the people.
So- Benedict made a noble attempt to bridge this division- and he allowed for the Tridentine churches to do the Mass in Latin- and he also restored an old prayer- about the Jewish people- which simply said we pray for the conversion of Jews.
Okay- was this a big thing?
To simply say Christians are praying for the conversion of Jews- is that real bad?
In my mind- not a big thing.
Might it offend some of our Jewish friends?
Maybe.
But that’s the tradition of the church- to want people to come to belief in Christ.
But- because of the history of anti Semitism- this became a big thing.
‘How dare you pray for our conversion’ type thing.
So the church has had to grapple with how she looks at the Jewish people.
Historically- there were times of persecution of the Jews.
Most of us are familiar with the inquisitions.
The ones in Spain did ‘force’ the Jews to convert- and there were ‘inquiries’ made to see if the Jewish people really converted.
Some were put to death during this time.
During the protestant Reformation of the 16th century- out of Germany- which was Martin Luther’s home country.
There were anti Semitic writings penned by Luther.
Some of these writings were later used- in Germany- under Hitler- to justify anti Semitism.
Very sad history.
Now we have the ‘over emphasis’ [in my view] of the role of natural Israel- and the End Times [last couple of posts].
So- as you see- we have been to both sides of the aisle on this.
Why did anti Semitism play a role in the church?
Understand- we have bibles- that as Christians we accept as the Word of God.
There are also statements in our bibles- well- to be honest- might not have been written the same way- the same style- if we ‘re-wrote’ them today.
Huh?
Bare with me a moment.
When the Mel Gibson’s movie came out- the Passion of the Christ- the criticism was he stuck very closely to the bible text- and it was indeed a violent crucifixion.
The writings of the apostle John specifically talk about the ‘Jews killing Jesus’.
There are other themes like this in our New Testament.
It’s not hard to see how these statements could lead to anti Semitism.
One of the things that the Pope recently clarified- which I absolutely agree with- is that when we read these things in our bibles.
We should not read them as saying ‘all Jews- of all times- are responsible for the death of Christ’.
No.
In the bible story- the Jewish leaders conspired with the Roman govt. to ‘kill Christ’.
Many [all] of the original believers in the Messiah were indeed Jewish.
And the ‘anti Semitic’ statements in the New Testament were written by Jews- who were simply saying that they believed that some of their Jewish brothers were missing the boat by not accepting Jesus as the Messiah who was to come.
Okay- as you can see- we- the church- have a long history with this.
I would like to make one last comment before we close our talks on this.
For many years- as a bible teacher- writing- doing radio- etc.
It never dawned on me how these statements can indeed be offensive to our Jewish friends.
I mean say if you read ‘the Italians killed Christ’ or the Germans- etc.
That would indeed be problematic if you were trying to get your kids to read the bible.
The same thing with our references to the Arab world.
There are verses- in the Old Testament- that talk about Syria- Iraq [Babylon] and other Arab/Persian nations as the ‘enemies of God’.
So- when we use our bibles- in the modern day- it’s vital to understand that today- the kingdom of God is not about natural borders- or ethnic backgrounds.
It’s about Christ’s new kingdom- the kingdom of God.
All nations and races are welcome- we do not discriminate.
And we- as the church- do confess our sins against our Jewish friends- against our Arab friends- yes- we confess.
In the heated political environment of our day- the post 9-11 world- it’s hard to avoid animosity- and at times- hatred- towards others.
But we- as the people of God- should strive for forgiveness and unity- at least unity as people who live in a global society.
Yes- maybe we- as preachers especially- should re-think how we phrase things.
Yes- there are out and out statements in the bible about the ‘Jews killing Jesus’.
But in context- it would be wrong to put this on all Jews of all times- and if we ‘adjust’ the way we say these things- I think God would be well pleased.
1906 CHE
I watched another documentary this weekend.
It was the story of Che Guevara.
Che is well known today as a sort of symbol of the revolutionary youth movement.
He embodies the persona of those who defy ‘Imperialism/Colonialism’.
Che was an Argentinean doctor- who at a young age took a motorcycle journey thru Latin America [South- Central America] and he saw the extreme poverty of the people.
He would see one of the main factors of this poverty being the influence that the U.S. held over these nations thru corporate agreements with the ‘puppet’ leaders of these nations.
For instance- many of the poor of these nations were peasant farmers- they worked the land for rich land owners- and they subsisted on a few dollars a day wages.
Yet the owners of the land- they were rich.
Likewise- Che believed that the leaders of the nations were ‘in bed’ with the U.S. - and they allowed U.S. corporations to rake their countries of wealth- at the expense of the people.
Now- I am not saying I totally agree with Che.
He has many critics- as well as supporters [he’s dead of course].
Jean Paul Sartre [remember our philosophy posts?] supported him- others did not.
The point being- Che saw a system- the U.S. govt and American corporations- as an all powerful system that polluted the nations to her south.
He felt the influence of greed and corruption were the main causes of the plight of the Latin American people.
His revolution- Che literally left his duties as a doctor and led an armed rebellion against the U.S. - would eventually lead to his execution by Bolivian forces [Bolivia is just north of Argentina- Che’s homeland] backed by the CIA.
Che was a key factor in the Cuban revolution that deposed Batista- the U.S. backed leader of Cuba- and installed Castro.
Che’s influence lives on today in many of the leaders of south/central America.
If you ever hear Hugo Chavez [Venezuela] speak- you hear the words and thoughts of Che.
This last week I have been reading Revelation- the last 5 chapters or so.
The apostle John writes about the Mystery- the ‘Whore of Babylon’- this great city- that pollutes all the nations of the world with her lust for wealth.
This city [nation] lures the other nations of the world by her wealth and power.
She has all types of merchandise- even the Souls of men.
As you read the account- it’s easy to see a type of what Che saw when rebelling against U.S. interests in his homeland.
I had a talk with my street friend Dirk the other day.
Somehow we got into a discussion about the U.S. prison system.
I mentioned to Dirk how over the last 5 years or so I started cutting out of the news paper all the cases of people from this region who got sent to prison.
I regularly pray for them- now hundreds of them- every week [just did this morning].
I try and pick the cases that I think are really tough.
There was one lady- in her 60’s.
Sandra Briggs [I remember her name- and her face].
She was sent to prison for a DWI that killed a person.
Mrs. Briggs was a widow- she owned a jewelry store for many years with her husband.
He was shot and killed a couple of years ago by a burglar.
One night she went to a bar- I guess a place where she would stop in and have a few drinks before going home.
She had a couple of drinks- and on the way home [I think at night?] there was a wreck- and one car was in the middle of the road- and she hit it.
Now- as I read the case and followed the story in the San Antonio paper.
The person who was killed was a young off duty cop.
The other car that hit him cut him in half.
Yeah- a very bad accident.
His body was lying over the barrier- it looked like someone was bending over- to pick something up.
During the testimony- they said how when she was standing there- after the wreck- she was kind of laughing.
I guess it was a nervous laughter type thing- she did not know she killed a person.
The prosecutor made it sound like she was laughing- right over the severed body.
Now- I’m sure the lady had no idea that this guy was dead- and cut in half.
But they gave Mrs. Briggs 45 years in prison for it.
Now- I make no excuses for what she did- she messed up- she should not have been drinking and driving- we all agree.
But I have seen cases where a gang kid shoots another kid in the head- on purpose- and gets less time.
So these are the tough cases.
As I talked with Dirk I told him I was surprised about the large amount of cases where guys get sent up for solicitation of minors.
I never remember hearing about it- years ago.
But the development of the internet- and the availability of everyone on line- well the cases must be up a million %.
Now- here's the rub.
In the U.S. - you have legal porn all over the net.
It’s legal for 18 year olds to be in porn.
The U.S. says this is freedom- this is what we are all about- if you don’t like it- you don’t have to view it- but the U.S. has made it available all over the world- even to countries that outlaw it [Iran- and many Muslim nations].
But- many of the cases I have read- are cases where men tried to contact under age girls for sex.
Yes- wrong- we all agree.
Legally- if you view- or try to contact an 18 year old- this is deemed okay.
A 17 year old- 364 days- and 1 minute form her 18th birthday- this is a crime.
Okay- yes- this should be a crime.
But why does the U.S protect this [the viewing of the 18 yr old]?
Our country calls the exploitation of the 18 year old- ‘free speech’.
Huh?
You mean viewing or contacting an 18 year old is considered a right- a part of our freedom- yet the 17 year old is a crime.
There are many nations who outlaw it all- now- there are ways people in those nations get around it- but the nation itself does not actually encourage it- like we do.
In some of these nations- we are militarily involved- on the basis of some type of moral judgment.
Yes- all of our wars- in some way- come down to the fact that we deemed some act- like 9-11, as immoral.
Of course most of us would agree that 9-11 deserved a response.
But what about a situation like Libya.
After the rebels rose up- we eventually had an air campaign under the guise of NATO- and it led to the killing of Gadhaffi.
Most people could care less.
His grandkids were bombed and killed in a civilian home- we said it was a legitimate target.
His daughter- pregnant- was on the run to a neighboring nation for safety.
If the rebels caught her- who knows- they might have ripped her baby out right there.
Yes- the rebels we backed have done stuff like this- and much worse.
Okay- the point?
When we- as a powerful nation- make moral judgments and intervene in the affairs of other nations- we justify our actions.
Even though some of these nations abhor our values [the above 18 year old example].
We- in our nation have in a way ‘increased the sins among men’ [a description of Babylon in the book of Revelation].
Because we simply deem the distribution of porno- to all the nations of the world- as ‘freedom of speech’.
Yet- as we ‘protect’ this right- at the same time hundreds of thousands of cases of on line crimes have increased over the last few years.
Are our values in any way contributing to this?
And then we at the same time interfere in other nations- at times militarily- because of a value judgment.
Do you now see why the Che’s of the world have such a following?
Don’t misread this post.
Che is a popular figure among many socialist groups- I am not one of them.
I simply want you to see the ancient war that has been going on since the days of the apostle John.
John described Babylon [any human govt. that becomes corrupt] as a system that increases the sins of men- that pollutes other nations based on her own skewed value system- and that uses it’s extreme wealth to bribe the other ‘kings of the earth who have drunk from the cup of her fornication’.
Yes- as I read the many cases of people being trod off to prison- because they viewed a 17 year old girl- who is being exploited by some money hungry corporate interest- and this is all protected- vigorously- by the U.S. govt. if the girl is 18.
I wonder if our values have contributed to the ‘sins among men’.
A quote from Che ‘man truly achieves his full human condition when he produces without being compelled by the physical necessity of selling himself as a commodity’
A quote from the apostle John ‘in her were the souls of men- she made all nations drink of the wine of her uncleanness’.
Yeah- some things never change.
1907 IS THE GOSPEL REALLY THE ANSWER?
Of course today we remember those who died 11 years ago.
We pray for the families and friends.
I find it strange that I recently stumbled into some of the verses in Revelation- that deal with nations and systems that war against each other.
It’s almost unbelievable to realize that in the last presidential campaign- you had someone on the Repub platform- talking about the ‘real reason’ 9-11 happened.
I mean comedians got raked over the coals for this- and others fumbled and fell into a great trap by even wading on the water’s edge.
Ron Paul often spoke about the mindset of radical Islam
Paul was the libertarian candidate who ran on the Repub ticket.
He spoke about the mindset that led to the terror attack on 9-11.
Now- in no way do I justify anything like what happened.
But it is important to see the underlying grievance that the radical wing of Islam harbors.
We often hear that the reason for the attack was ‘they hate our freedom’.
Was that the reason?
If you actually read the writings of the radicals- they believe they are indeed in a ‘holy war’.
They see the encroachment of the West- our ‘values’ [last post] and our ‘occupation’ of their holy lands as the grievance.
If you think back- the first real attack against the west was the bombing of the Kobar towers in Saudi Arabia.
This was the first one [that I recall] that was a direct act of what we call Al Qaeda.
The movement started by Osama Bin laden.
They saw Saudi Arabia as their holy land- and the towers were the U.S. base in the land.
Okay- am I justifying the attack?
No- just want you to see the mindset.
Then- the attack on the World Trade center.
The radical mind believes that to hit the ‘occupier’ in her homeland is a justifiable response because we have been engaged- many times- in Arab/Muslim lands- militarily.
I had a talk with a friend the other day- we were discussing these issues.
I told my friend that Christianity- and Judaism- have had their own ‘reformation’ of sorts.
Both religions have come to a place where they see the separation of church and state- that is- they are able to distinguish between religious belief and acts of war.
Now- there are critics of Christianity who still accuse the church of wanting to have a theocracy [church ruled state].
But for the most part- those who believe this [reconstructionist's] are far and few in between.
But- Islam has not yet had her ‘reformation’ moment.
Now- as a blogger who has Muslim, Jewish and Christian readers- my goal is not to offend anyone- nor to skirt the real issues.
There are many fine Muslim people- who do indeed reject the entire mindset of radical Islam.
But- in the actual debates that go in within the religion- there are many who still believe that force- along with reliogus expression- is acceptable.
Islam is not only a ‘religion’ per se- but it is also a way of government.
Now- like I said- during the history of the church- obviously the same thing happened.
I mean any person who studies the rise of Western civilization- the arts- science- history- I mean the church is the major player on the board- hands down.
But- today most Christians see their role as more of a spiritual one- yes- being active in politics- voting- yes- we do have a voice at the table.
But we don’t- for the most part- want to take up an armed resistance against the world.
So- those who adhere to radical Islam- they see their struggle- well much like the last post- a Che type of thing.
I think the future depends- not on us killing all the radicals- no- this can never be fully done.
The mindset lives on in the flowing generations.
No- the answer is in learning mutual respect for each other’s beliefs and cultures.
Now- I’m’ not saying ‘let’s try and understand the poor terrorist’.
But I am saying that we in the West do need to see the root cause of why terrorism happens.
In a little while I will be going to visit John David in the ICU.
John is the friend I have written about over the years.
He was a coke addict for many years- got clean about 2 years ago.
I have pictures of him and his brother on my face book site.
We were having a fellowship at the house and did the Lords Supper.
John had heart surgery yesterday- and I will be taking his brothers Hugh and Andy to see him.
The other day I found a few packets of seeds at the house- the type you plant in the vegetable garden.
Don- the street guy who maintains the garden at the mission- he asked me one day if I could get him some.
I mean he plants that garden from scratch [see the pics on face book].
I gave them to him- he was elated- over seeds!
One day- about 10 years ago now- I was sitting at the fire house- actually it was soon after 9-11.
The fire depts. were on high alert- we had things we were to watch out for- stuff that we never worried about before.
So one day- sitting at the station- may Captain says ‘hey John- go see what the Muslim wants’.
Sure enough- some guy- dressed for the part- was walking around the fire trucks.
This station was right by A&I university [now A&M].
So- we used to keep the doors open all day [not any more] and people could walk in if they wanted.
So I went outside- the guy was just checking all the emergency vehicles out.
He told me ‘I’m doing research for a school project’.
Hmm?
As I talked with him- we got into ‘religion’ and I covered the history Of Christians and Arabs.
I traced back to Abraham- went into the story of his sons [Arabs trace their roots to Abraham’s son Ishmael]
And when I was done- I told him the true purpose of God- to redeem all nations of the earth.
That God loves the Arab- the Persian [we often mistake Persians for Arabs].
That he loves all people- and he sent his Son to die for all of humanity.
To my surprise- he told me he has never- not once- heard this story.
His view of Christianity- the west- the entire mindset- was shaped by world events.
He did not distinguish between Christianity and the actual Govt. of the U.S.
He- like many others- view the entire ‘struggle’ as a struggle for who will ‘rule the world’.
In my time with him- I tried to show him a better way.
No- I am not advocating passivism.
I’m not saying if we simply try to understand the terrorist- the he will go away.
But I am saying- in some cases- these people have never really heard the message.
In some cases- like the Apostle Paul said ‘satan has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe’.
In some cases- the Good News [gospel] is really the answer.
1908 ATTACKS IN LIBYA AND EGYPT
Last night we cooked late- so I let a couple of the street guys spend the night.
I have done this every so often in the past- not really a big deal.
But the reason I usually avoid it is because I have a ‘million’ homeless buddies- and once you go down this road- well you got the picture.
But I felt the lord wanted this.
The pics I posted last night [by the way- whenever I post pics during the day- I never check Facebook form my phone. So- if I take a trip to N.J. - I’ll probably post pics- but will not get on line until I get back- so for those who leave comments- I won’t see them till much later].
So- the pics from the day [or month!] before will get descriptions when I’m back at the lap top.
Okay- Andy and Huey spent the night- they watched the Green Mile [twice].
I asked them what channel they liked- to leave on all night.
They wanted the classics.
We never got a chance to see their brother yesterday- David.
He had triple bypass heart surgery- and we were gonna see him.
His nephew [Andy’s and Huey’s too] hitched all the way from Louisiana- just to see John David in the hosp.
That’s the son of an older brother who died.
I told Andy ‘bring Leon over in the morning’ they are sleeping on the streets- geez.
But Huey got a call as I was cooking- he left last night [hitching a ride].
We will go see John David later- Andy told me David even asked if I was still around.
Me and David became good friends after he quit the Ice [he was a huge meth addict].
When he got clean- and got right with God- he just wanted to get together all the time.
Like a new Christian- wanting to learn everything he can.
As the guys were crashed out on the floor last night- I of course caught my news fix.
I was surprised to see the very serious story about the Islamic protests in Egypt and Libya.
Just a note- this should have been the top story on every news network- it met the criteria of serious breaking news [which the networks now say about everything].
But the one station- at least at 7 pm- that did the right coverage- was Cooper from CNN.
Now- Fox of course covered it- and I guess MSNBC- but Cooper treated it with the coverage it deserved.
What happened?
At first it was reported in a deceptive way.
The coverage said that these protests- which killed 2 Americans in the American consulate in Libya- were a reaction to a negative movie put out by the now infamous pastor from Fla.
You remember him- the guy who started trouble a while back.
So the way the news reported it- it made it sound like he just put out another negative Muslim thing- and that’s why the angry response happened.
But then they reported that this video was out for weeks [or months].
And that some of the radical Islamic sights were already calling for protests on 9-11.
So- for there to have been these types of very serious uprisings- in 2 countries that we had a major role in removing [or killing] the leaders- this is bad- real bad.
Fox showed a speech by the president- a famous speech he gave in 2009- called the ‘Cairo speech’.
It’s famous because critics of the president have used it to say he kind of sucked up to the Muslims.
As I heard the speech- in context of last night’s news- I agreed with everything the president said.
He did offer somewhat of an olive branch to the Muslim world- but he was very careful to say this branch was to those who reject violence.
He spoke about living peaceably in a world with other faiths.
I listened carefully- I agreed with everything he said.
But it is important not to miss the fact that we have never had our embassies assaulted like this in the past- and that these attacks took place under regimes that we backed.
This is not good.
I found it interesting that I ‘accidently’ spoke about these issues the last few days.
And here we are- it’s the big story of the day [week- month?]
The killing of 2 Americans at a consulate is very serious indeed.
The fact that it happened on 9-11 is very serious.
Today we do need to pray for peace- we need to of course respond in a proper way- either shut down our embassy- or whatever needs to be done.
But we live in a world where we have both freedom of speech- and responsibility.
When this Fla. Pastor first made waves- it was easy for the media to brand him as a nut- a crazy guy.
And I of course do not hold to this guys views at all- the way he ‘exposes’ Islam.
But- to react with violence- to kill people who even show a drawing of Muhammad [which has happened] this is not civilized.
If we [Christians, Jews- Muslims- etc.] are going to try and live in the world together- then we need to condemn these things.
Actually- if you want the right response- the way we need to move forward- just listen to Obama’s Cairo speech- that pretty much sums it up.
1909 FROM THE STREETS OF CORPUS TO THE WORLD
We got up early yesterday- had a couple of the street guys spend the night.
I cooked breakfast and we went to pick up Andy’s daughter.
For some reason this past week she had some kind of mental breakdown.
Her name is Rocelle [yeah- not Rochelle] she is around 38 years old and Andy [her dad] told me she tried to commit suicide the other day- she has been acting different- a type of mental breakdown.
So her husband is afraid to leave her alone when he goes to work- and we went and got her.
She spent most of the day with us- we drove over to the hospital to see John David.
He would be her uncle- Andy’s brother.
He just had open heart surgery.
Rocelle liked my yard/study.
It’s funny- I have verses and stuff all over the place- lots of people think it looks overdone- sort of ‘trailer trash’.
I do joke about it at times.
But Rocelle told Andy- as they were walking back into the house- that she wanted to just walk around and read all the verses- she was ‘fascinated’ by it.
I also had another friend- who just happens to suffer from mental problems- he too loved the yard- just ‘being there’.
In a way I do think it’s a sort of prayer garden type experience- these friends sense the presence of God- I walk the yard early in the mornings and pray- many of the verses are written out of this prayer time.
So- in a spiritual way- they are entering into this time.
We went and seen John David- I posted the pic last night [with Huey his brother by his side].
I haven’t seen David in a few years- I have written a bunch of posts about him- he was the one who killed his best buddy years ago in Dallas.
Got off by his mom hiring the lawyer who represented the guy who killed Lee Harvey Oswald [remember the post?].
Anyway David was an addict for many years- got clean a few years ago and has been wanting to start a halfway house.
David and his brothers have told me that he was a very successful business man years ago- made lots of money [millions?].
You know- he had a construction business- a big one.
He eventually blew the money on drugs and became a street guy.
As we were waiting at the hosp to see him- we walked passed some guy- dressed nice in a suit and all- and later he came up to us.
He told Huey ‘do you remember me’?
Huey said no.
He told Huey he was John John.
Huey told me that John John was a young boy who used to work for David years ago.
They all hauled concrete and stuff together.
Huey told me that John John is a ‘big wig’ now in the area- runs a big furniture store- lives in Kings Crossing [a rich area].
He came to see David.
He said David was his neighbor years ago.
David lived in the rich section too.
So we talked with David- I prayed for him- and I told him I’m gonna try and help him set up the half way house.
I drove by the house he’s looking at- right in the drug area- perfect spot.
I had Andy drive me by John David’s apt.
We got out to talk to his girlfriend- Andy tells me ‘be careful round here- it's a big drug dealer spot- don’t look at anyone’.
I laughed- I told him I have been ‘hanging out’ on the corners the last few weeks [remember the posts on Terri and Arnold- and the guy I tried to give a dollar to- he ran away!].
Yeah- it was funny.
We had a good day- Rocelle asked if we could do this again.
I told her sure- she can come with us when we get together.
Now- I know that driving around- we did pray- shared scripture- stopped for snacks- I know from years of experience- that in a way this can be true fellowship [I have actually written a few books about this- on the blog].
So- Rocelle was simply enjoying the fellowship time- she is having a hard time- and instead of being out hooking up for drugs [I think the reason she has been having this difficult time- in her mind- is her dad and uncle think she might have done some type of new drug- maybe Bath Salts- the drug that has caused people to go nuts].
All in all- it was a good day.
I do want to mention the current situation in the Arab/Persian nations right now.
Yesterday I posted about the killing at our embassy in Libya- and the protests at our embassy in Egypt.
Over the night they have now spread to Yemen and Sudan- and maybe more.
The news talk now is about the politics of the whole thing.
Did Romney criticize too soon?
Did the state dept. [our embassy in Egypt] jump the gun in a kind of apologetic statement they put out- sort of ‘siding’ with the protestors.
This last year [even this last week- before this broke out].
I have been saying that the media have not been truly covering the aftermath of the things we have dome in Libya and Egypt.
I told a friend that Libya is highly unstable.
I told him that various militia groups still roam around- fully armed- and no one is really in control.
My criticisms have been that we sided with the people in the east [Benghazi] and ‘took out’ the leader in the west [Gadhaffi- Tripoli].
The problem?
The people of the east- many of them- are/were anti American- and some of them are indeed Al Qaeda [do you remember Gadhaffi saying this- over and over again?]
Now- without re-posting everything.
One of the reasons some in the eastern part of Libya wanted to remove Gadhaffi- was because he was seen as a ‘puppet’ of the west.
Yes- he decided to work with the U.S. and this angered some of the radicals in the east.
Okay- what happened yesterday?
These same radical groups- who are walking around with heavy artillery- Rocket Propelled Grenades- they basically attacked our embassy- in Benghazi- in the eastern ‘capital’ and killed 4 Americans.
See?
The newly installed govt. in Libya has said that they have no control over the country.
They said this a few months ago.
Why does the average person not know this?
Why have we not been doing more to protect our embassies- we know [I hope] that Libya cannot provide the security needed- they have said this publicly for heaven’s sake.
I do think we need to pray- I do think the initial statement from the state dept. was bad.
And I do think Romney should have waited- at least a day- before commenting.
But the bigger story is when the U.S. involves itself militarily- to depose a leader- any leader- we need to also be aware of the aftermath- the instability that will result when the job is ‘finished’ [even in Iraq- and right now in Syria- we need to stop saying that these leaders- any/all of them- are committing ‘crimes against humanity’- geez- both sides are. We need to stop making it into a soundbite ‘you are on the wrong side of history’. No- the answer- moving forward- is for all sides to sit down and talk- Russia is right in what they are saying about Syria].
The statement [or lack thereof] from the new Egyptian president- Morsi- was dismal.
Last I heard- he still has not condemned the attacks- and he basically sided with the protestors.
We have no ally in Egypt- the people we backed in Libya [not all of them] just killed 4 Americans- and it seems like the violence is spreading.
Pray for world peace- I know it sounds ‘liberal’ but it is the will of God.
1910 PROTESTS CONTINUE
I normally don’t post on the weekends- but it’s been a big news week.
First- let me talk a little about the street fellowship.
I saw Henry yesterday- he heard we had an ‘overnight’ fellowship the other day [had a few street guys stay over- a chance to get off the streets].
So- I did tell Hugh ‘when you see Henry- tell him he missed out on a great time!’
Sure enough- as I sat with Henry at the mission- Hugh showed up.
He told me that he let Henry know- and that Henry was kinda mad.
Henry said ‘John knows where to get me- he could have come got me!’
Henry works at the marina.
So you could tell that the gig was up- Hugh ‘outed’ Henry.
Henry tried to brush it off.
I told Henry ‘I would have come to get you- but Huey told me when he’s getting free food he prefers the ambience of a small crowd’.
Yeah- I know.
Okay- the news.
First- the current uprisings in the Arab world are very dangerous indeed.
The right and the left are sacrificing true news coverage to gain political points.
You say ‘John- I see how the right- and Romney are doing it- but the left’?
The way the left [some Democrats] are doing it is by making most of the news of the past 3 days about some stupid statement Romney made about Obama not handling the thing well.
Look- I have said I think Romney jumped the gun by criticizing Obama on the first day of the uproar- but come on- it’s been 3-4 days- okay- there's real news to cover.
Both Obama and others said Bush was actually responsible for the deaths of Americans ‘Bush lied- people died’ was the campaign mantra of John Kerry.
He said Bush was directly responsible for the deaths of Americans- because he lied.
He said this over and over and over- while the guys were dying.
So please- some of Romney’s criticism is accurate- Obama is responsible for not beefing up the security at the embassies.
Last night I heard a report that Libya actually warned the U.S. that they can’t secure the embassy in Benghazi- geez- they told us this.
So- the real story- the important story- is the ‘Arab Spring’ is now an Arab winter- but they are protesting the U.S.
What do we do?
Hopefully these protests will peter out- but if not- then we have problems.
The other big news thing.
The Federal Reserve came out and said they will start buying Govt. bonds- and they will continue to buy them until things turn around in the economy.
Once again- those on the left [Dems] are happy.
The right- not so happy.
Why?
This action will cause the stock market to go up [though it is dangerous to make it go up this way].
And we are about 50 days to the election- and it can only help the president.
Now- what exactly does QE-3 mean?
What the fed is doing is called ‘Quantitative easing’ which simply means what I said above.
This is the 3rd time they did it- that’s where you get the 3.
They feel that buying U.S. bonds will have an economic impact that will help the overall economy because it will keep interest rates real low- that will prod investors/business people to ‘get off the sidelines’ and use some of the money that is being saved.
Problem?
The Federal Reserve is the nation’s own bank.
They are not run by elected officials- they have minimal oversight- and they can basically do what they want.
If they decide to print money [by buying bonds] they simply do it.
Now- when they buy U.S. debt- it’s like if you needed money.
And you wrote I.O.U.’s to people all over the world [China, Japan, etc.]
After a while- you wrote so many [16 trillion debt] you turned to your spouse and said ‘honey- I can’t write any more to the people down the block- will you buy my IOU’s?’
That’s what the fed is doing- they are buying the debt- but they are our own bank- we are selling bonds to ourselves for heaven’s sake!
Now- this will keep interest rates low- but they are already at all time lows.
You can get a mortgage at under 3%- that’s low.
This tells me that the Fed sees real problems down the road.
The world economies are in trouble- the jobs creation in the U.S. is very bad [last numbers were under 100,000].
So- the action of the fed- in my view- is one of desperation.
It’s artificially inflating the market.
In the short term- yes- you can make money.
But in a way it’s like building a house of cards- in my view.
Okay- that’s it for now- continue to pray for our country- and yes- for the president.
We are seeing a very serious situation develop around the world.
People have lost their lives.
I do commend the Libyan govt. - they tried to stop the attack that killed our ambassador- and by all accounts- they liked him- and appreciated the U.S.
The attack in Benghazi was by radicals.
Egypt is another story.
There newly elected leader- Morsi- responded like he was still the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood- not the elected president of Egypt.
He later backtracked and made a better statement.
All in all- this thing has spread to many Arab nations as of today- and we hope and pray it will only last for a few days- without loss of life.
If it grows- then we have real problems.
1911 A SEA OF FIRE
I had a talk with John the other day.
I was at the mission- by the way- there are now about 4 Johns that I’m friends with- so this John is the guy who used to work at the Navy base right around here.
I have known John for many years- he seems to be a real nice guy.
Different form some of the other guys- you can tell that John was not a ‘bum’.
That is there are lots of guys who simply spent their whole lives around the missions- they have mastered the art of getting free stuff- many- many of them are able bodied people [actually healthier than me!].
Yet- by the thousands- they are all on SSI.
Just the other day one of them was telling me how his lawyer was getting him on disability- because he takes medication for his depression.
So- that’s the scoop.
But John worked for the base for 17 years- at 20 bucks an hour.
He was buying his own home- had a nice Harley- was living the dream in a way.
He got laid off- he lost his home- and he also did a lot of drugs.
He now lives in a broken down RV- a dump.
If he can’t come up with the 200 a month rent- he mows the grass for the owner- she owns about 8 rental houses.
As I talked with John- somehow I told him I was reading the book of Revelation- and I knew that some of it applied to him.
I told John that Revelation speaks about those who have overcome the mark of the beast- his image- and his number.
The apostle John [who wrote the book] said he saw these people ‘standing on a sea of glass mingled with fire’.
These were those who overcame the image that the beast wanted to brand them with.
I explained to John that in life- we all have good and bad times.
Often times- much of the battle is how others perceive us- that is we allow the ‘image’ that the accuser [the beast- satan] puts on us to affect us in a negative way.
I told John that when Jesus was baptized [the sea of glass imagery- get it?] that as he came up out of the water there was the voice of God saying ‘this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased’.
I told John that we- as children of God- are also seen the same way.
That God too is pleased with us- not on the basis of how we perform- but because God accepts us because his Son died for us.
I told John that this is much of the battle in life- overcoming the image of the beast- and accepting the image of God- our father.
In the New Testament it speaks about a baptism of water- and fire.
One time when the disciples were arguing over who would be ‘the greatest’ [image- see?]
Jesus asked them ‘can you be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with’?
They said yes.
He told them they would.
What baptism was Jesus referring to?
Probably the suffering he was going to go thru- the Cross.
Suffering is in a way a baptism ‘of fire’.
The baptism of the Spirit can also be called a baptism of fire.
Now- when John the apostle said he saw these people standing on a ‘sea of glass mingled with fire’.
It’s possible that he was speaking about the church- the community of people who would ‘arise’ from the baptism of water and fire.
Peter said ‘it is not only appointed unto us believe on him- but also to suffer for his name’
Yeah- as I spoke with John- as I told him about the battle to overcome the image of the beast- to accept the ‘mark of God on our fore heads’.
He understood this.
He kinda of invited me to preach at the street church for brother Rey.
I told John that Rey has asked me in the past- but I don’t do that anymore [I have many radio shows that people can still hear on line- I have preached for many years- I think I should leave that to others now].
I think John understood what I was saying.
Someone who had in a way lived part of the American dream- and then lost it all.
I encouraged him to receive the image that God has for him- the one that says ‘you are my Son in whom I am well pleased’.
Yes- there is a company of people who ‘stand on the sea’.
Don’t forget- this sea also has fire.
1912 A RIVER RUNS THRU IT
Been going down to the mission the last few days.
Haven’t seen Dirks van- was asking around- ‘has anyone seen him’?
As I was standing there- my cell rang- it was Dirk!
He wanted to let me know that he and Julie- his girl- were at the state park in the Angelina forest.
It’s in Texas- he has told me about this spot many times over the years.
It’s one of his favorites- another place where he ‘lives’ for a part of the year.
He has collected arrow heads from the lake- Sam Rayburn [?]- He gave me a nice one many years ago- still have it.
I was glad to have gotten the call- I have maybe gotten 4 calls from Dirk in 25 years.
It was strange- I had just prayed for him in the morning- I thought maybe he got arrested- you know the guys park the vans all over- maybe it was one of those towing deals.
But he was happy- he had wanted to do this trip with Julie for months- to show her this part of his life- where he feels he’s not simply a ‘homeless guy’.
To be honest- I was surprised she took the trip [in her R.V.]
They were arguing a lot recently- and Julie really is a strong believer.
It’s funny- when I’m with Dirk- he shows me all the text messages she sends- verses and all- he ‘uses’ me to find ‘counter verses’ –you know- she’ll be fighting with him- send him a verse- and he wants one to send back- in retaliation.
For a few days he was asking me ‘hey John- where’s that verse about not eating the communion meal when you’re a sinner’?
Now- I told him it was in 1st Corinthians- chapter 11.
He asked me a bunch of times.
He wanted to quote it to her- because she took communion at the church- and he was telling her- well- that she’s a ‘sinner’.
So- I see him one day and he asks again- he remembered I told him Corinthians- so he read- right up to chapter 9 or so- just looking for it.
I looked in chapter 11- sure enough it’s in there.
So- that’s the extent of Dirks bible reading [to be honest- you would not think the guys even read the bible- some are regular readers- and are actually good Christians. Henry is just one example].
Yesterday I posted a couple of pics.
The sign?
One of the guys was standing in the rain one day- he got up under the sign- and crawled in!
Yea- it has a lot of room- I thought you would like to see it.
The other picture is John- who I posted about last.
The little dog- a new girl who had the pup- thought the pup was cute.
And the guy in the hat- William.
William is a new comer- nice guy- we became friends over the last few weeks.
He was a welder for 35 years- has kids- is married- and when he retired he told his wife he wanted to travel- not just sit home and be a grandpa.
So he bought a van and has been seeing ‘the world’ [the U.S. - maybe Mexico].
He spent a few months on the beaches of Key West [Fla.]
Hemmingway’s land [the author].
He showed me a bunch of pics form Arkansas- where he lived for many years.
Great shots of catching trout in a river that ran right thru his back yard.
Kinda reminded me of the movie ‘A River runs thru it’.
Yeah- William is a nice guy.
He noticed a staff I have been using- writing on it and stuff.
He asked what I was carving- I told him just some bible verses.
Yeah- he knows this is ministry for me.
William is the type that seems like he would not listen- or usually talk- to someone who was talking about the Lord.
But we have become friends- and just in simple conversation- it does come up.
I want to ask you guys to pray for a few friends of mine.
Please pray for Brother Rey- he’s a street preacher who has had lots of physical problems the last few months.
Also pray for John David.
He’s my friend who had open heart surgery- he’s still recovering- and its tuff.
I told David that I will help him set up the half way house.
When he first told me about it- a couple of years ago now- I felt the Lord wanted me to help him.
I kinda dropped the ball to be honest.
But I took a look at the 2 story house he’s interested in- and God willing- in the next year you will be seeing pictures of us fixing it up and all.
David believes it’s his calling- I think it just might be.
See you later.
God bless you all.
1913 FATHER JOHN
We did another ‘all nighter’ last night.
Now- to my old partying buddies- not that.
I got with Henry yesterday- a street bro. - and we hit the Half Price book store [his and my favorite spot] bought a bunch of books- and came back to the Casa.
I BBQ’ed a bunch of stuff [will post the pics- on Face Book- for those who read these from the Blog].
And we had a good fellowship.
I gave Henry the choice of what channel he wanted on all night [the guy’s crash in the living room- so whatever they want to leave on the tube- I set it for them. I would let them choose themselves- but I have a bunch of remotes- and I don’t want them waking me up ‘John- the TV wont work’ type of thing].
So Henry picked the classic country- geez- I had no idea?
Okay- at the bookstore we spent at least an hour- I can spend 2 hours just going thru the books- I have before.
In one of the isles- Catholic cubby type thing- I met a nice Christian brother.
Sometimes I’ll give my card with the web site on it- most people at the bookstore are readers [ya think?]
As I offered him my card- he told me – ‘yes- I am a reader of Christian stuff- I’m a Catholic priest’.
I told father John that’s great- I have many Catholic readers- and even a few priests/pastors who read my stuff.
We had a really good conversation- I do dialogue well with priests.
I have studied Catholic theology- history- the whole 9 yards.
And I told John- if anything- I get more complaints that I’m ‘too catholic’ than the other way around.
I will try and visit John- he runs a Catholic retreat here in C.C.- I know the exact spot- it’s a huge building right off the highway.
It’s a big ‘dome’ type structure- with a Gold top.
He told me ‘no- it’s not a mosque’.
For years that’s exactly what I thought it was.
I will make a visit to father John’s place- he invited me to do lunch.
Anyway- Henry is still crashed out on the couch- we will hit the mission a little later- and maybe check up on John David- my friend in the hospital.
I’m looking forward to him getting out [he had open heart surgery last week].
I’m going to partner with David in setting up a halfway house- that’s his dream/calling.
All in all we had a good day- I will post the pics right after this post.
There are some news stories that I could cover- but maybe I’ll do that tomorrow.
Enjoy the day- pray for the brothers I mentioned yesterday- and for all my friends- they do [we all do] need prayer- thanks.
1914 TOP STORY- OF THE WORLD?
Posted a few pics from our visit with John David yesterday.
He’s doing better- but they wanted to re open him up- and do another procedure [heart].
He prayed about it- and wants to avoid going under the knife again.
I was at the mission during the day- and I saw David’s brothers- Huey and Andy.
They wanted a ride to the hospital to see their brother- I was more than happy to take them.
I do want to stay in touch with David- and do the halfway house thing with him.
But- as we were at the mission- sure enough someone called the cops.
Why?
We didn’t know.
So a couple of cars came down- and they were looking for some guys.
Huey just took off- told us to pick him up around the block.
Then we [I] put 2 and 2 together- it seems like he was going to sell some drugs to another guy- and somehow they must have been heard by the mission people.
That’s what is seemed like to us.
So I told Andy ‘look- I told your brother the other day [Huey] not to be carrying stuff with him when he’s in my vehicle’.
I was mad that he ruined his chance to visit his brother- he did get prepared to see him [he was cleaned up this day].
So- we saw Huey a few blocks away- he tried to get in my van- I told him forget it- you got the cops chasing you- your in all types of trouble- we don’t need that.
We left him there.
So- we went and visited David.
I met Jackie there for the second time.
That’s John David’s girl.
They told me the story how they met.
Jackie was living in another state and she saw John David being interviewed on CNN.
Yeah- he told me about this a couple of years ago.
He started his first half way house at his sons apt- and somehow the word got out- and CNN did a nice story about it.
So- Jackie- a drug addict [who still struggles] saw it and said ‘If I can get to this home- he can help me’.
So- she made it to Texas and knocked on the door.
John David had no home for girls- but he took her in.
They became a couple- and that’s how they met.
His son eventually lost the apartment they were using [it actually was a facility that was already set up like a halfway house- what a ‘coincidence’.]
And since then John David has been looking for another house.
But- he needed the heart surgery for a while- and he figured he’d finally get it out of the way.
All in all we had a good day- I had John [my new friend with the little dog] - Henry- Andy with me for the day.
We came back to the house and had a good fellowship time.
Let me mention a little news as we end the week.
The other day I caught the world ‘news’ on all 3 stations [abc- nbc- cbs].
The top story on all 3 staions was the Romney ‘hidden’ video.
Okay- I saw the stupid thing when it first came out.
Big story?
Not really.
A story?
I guess it should have been a one day thing- I mean you have these silly things pop up on both sides.
You had the Obama thing a couple of years back ‘clinging to their God and guns’.
So- they all do this.
But- it was maybe 4-5 days later- and the world news- all 3 stations- had this as the top news story- well- of ‘the world’.
I couldn’t believe it.
So- I channel surfed some cable shows- and came back to the main news.
They still had the video of Romney- parsing each word he said- showing the video with the captions- 9 to 10 minutes into the top news story.
I mean this is so bad- it is not even funny anymore.
‘John- what’s wrong with this?
Well- a story like this should be a one- maybe 2 day thing.
And it should have never been top coverage- on a very busy news week.
What should the top story have been?
Regardless of who you back [Romney- Obama].
The top story should have been the fact that the Libyan govt. has come out and publicly said they warned the U.S. that they can’t provide security for the embassy in Benghazi.
You basically have [had] a public disagreement between the White House and the Libyan president.
And by all accounts- it looks like the Libyan guy was telling the truth.
Now- politics aside- this is very important.
Did the U.S. [whether Obama- Bush- Clinton- anyone in charge] drop the ball on the protecting of our ambassador in Libya?
And- the top story of the protests breaking out in the Arab world- against the U.S.
Okay- the news did of course cover this- but when you have real hard news like this- then you don’t run a 10 minute top story about a stupid hidden gaff from anyone- Romney- Obama- anyone.
And of course the other ‘top story’ was the topless pics of Kate Middleton- I mean on the world news?
This is not world news- maybe Enquirer type stuff- but not world news- that deserved coverage on all the news channels- as a top news story.
These examples shows you how bankrupt our media has become.
I do watch/listen to both sides [right/left] and frankly both sides of the aisle do this.
I told my friend the other day- I hear the radio guys every week- and because I comment about stuff like this I try and hear as many as I can [Rush- Hannity- etc.]
Sometimes I catch the whole show- 3 hours.
But there are times where for 3 hours- all you get is a constant drumbeat of anti Obama.
Okay- I have criticized the guy- lots.
But if you have no constructive thing to say- for 3 hours- then what are you accomplishing?
So- that’s the scoop.
I’ll try and add a few notes to last night’s pics- and hope you guys have a good weekend.
Please continue to for John David- he looked much better yesterday- but he needs prayer- thanks so much.
John.
1915 DIARY OF A MAD MAN?
Read a news article yesterday morning.
It was the State Dept. blasting CNN for an ‘unconscionable’ [yikes!] report on the ‘private journal’ of the dead U.S. ambassador who was killed in the Benghazi attack.
If you just read the headline- it seems as if CNN were the bad boys [and girls] and the U.S. govt. were most holy.
But- as you read- you realize- once again- that what should have been one of the biggest news stories of the year- has become a non issue because of political propaganda- by the media networks themselves [minus CNN].
Okay- the story.
The last few days you have read more than one post by me- about the reality that the Libyan govt. - and our ambassador himself- have told our govt that they were in danger- that the security of the embassy in Benghazi was not good.
Then- you had the U.S. kill a top Al Qaeda guy- with a drone- and Al Qaeda said they would seek revenge.
Now- the last year- because of the political campaign- you have had the Obama team talk much about the death of Bin laden- and a sort of ‘boasting’ about how many Al Qaeda guys we are killing.
In a few weeks a movie is coming out- probably timed in co-ordination with the Obama campaign [though they deny it] that is going to glorify the killing of Bin Laden.
Why all the glorying?
The reality of politics is you focus on what you think the candidates strength is- and one of the strengths of the president is seen to be his policy on killing Al Qaeda guys.
Okay- now- if you simply put 2 and 2 together- is it possible that the killing of Stevens [our ambassador in Libya] was a direct retaliation- by Al Qaeda- for all this darn bragging we are doing about killing their guys?
Of course it’s possible- and more than likely a reason why they killed him.
Then why would the media- and the Obama administration push the initial story line that this killing was nothing more than outrage about a movie ad- on line?
Because if the fact is- that we were warned- over and over again- that our security was bad.
And- that Al Qaeda were growing tired of our bragging about all the drone killings.
If this were [is] the case- then not only did you just lose one of the main strengths of your campaign [if you’re a Dem].
But you also might have ‘provoked’ the killing- by all the bragging.
See?
Okay- why the feigned outrage by the state dept?
CNN found the journal of the slain ambassador- and in the journal he wrote that he- as well as the Libyan govt. - all feared an attack.
They warned the state dept. - over and over again- that this might happen.
And it did.
The State dept. was basically outed for their failure.
And in response- they said that CNN ‘broke its pledge’ to the family by releasing this info.
The state dept said CNN took evidence form a ‘crime scene’ [the journal] and shamelessly spread it around.
The State dept. called this ‘disgusting’.
The truth is- CNN- who in my view have done the best reporting on this story- read what the ambassador himself feared- and they backed it up with interviews from other people who knew Steven’s.
They then reported- only on-line [not like the top news story of the other night- the Romney gaff].
That the ambassador feared that the security that the state dept. was providing was inadequate.
This story should have been reported- much more in my view- because it shows that the U.S. govt. dropped the ball- after many warnings.
It would be like finding a journal in the World Trade towers that said – ‘we have been warning Bush that this would happen!’
This is a big news story- yet the response of the state dept is that CNN shamelessly revealed the secrets of a dead man- and also ruined a ‘crime scene’.
These are stories I see all the time- both in the print media- and on the tube.
Many have debated whether or not the news media actually coordinate with the Obama people [actually a report just showed that a govt. person emailed a group- Media matters- and this ‘non profit’ group contacted the major networks- and they ran the story on the news that night].
I don’t know how ‘planned’ this type of bias is.
But- you can see it exists.
The point I want to make is when you have an important story like this- one in which it’s quite possible that the ongoing bragging about killing Bin Laden might be actually leading to counter killings of our people.
Then we need to ask ‘should we keep bragging’.
When the Muslim ‘world’ rose up in anger- according to the Obama people- because of a video that might have antagonized them.
The Obama people condemned the video- and did all they could to discourage the release or making of any other movies that might incite violence.
Then if this is so- should the American movie makers release the Bin Laden movie [that portrays the President in a favorable light]?
When I read the above article about CNN’s ‘reprehensible act’- at first I thought they really did a terrible thing [just by reading the headline].
But as I read- they simply reported- what should have been a big story- in a minor way [on-line].
Don’t be fooled- this happens all the time- we live in a day where the blogging community- and the free on line news sources can now ‘correct’ it- but there are many who will never read the correction.
1916 WHO IS JOHN GALT?
Over the weekend- my habit is now to watch a couple of documentaries from Netflix.
I always got into them- but with the Rocu thing- I can start a few at a time- and then pick up right where I left off.
I’m watching the Cosmos- Carl Sagan [excellent by the way].
Just started Greek Civilization- narrated by one of my favorite actors- Liam Nessen.
And I caught a short one on Ayn Rand- the now famous author of Atlas Shrugged.
I have never read any of Rand's stuff- she is a novelist- and I don’t read them.
But- she is also a philosopher- the founder of the system called Objectivism.
And her works and thought are more known right now because a movie was made about the book- Atlas Shrugged.
Rand taught a system that said mans main purpose in life is the pursuit of his/her own happiness.
Now- she was not a strict Hedonist- she also taught that man should be productive- should be a contributing member of society- and should be free to excel- to ‘make it’ without the state making the rich guy feel bad about it.
Yes- back to the 99 versus the 1.
As you can see- that’s why her work has made it back into the collective consciousness at this point in time.
The other day we went to see my friend John at the hospital- I took Henry [John Henry], John from Arlington- Andy- and of course myself.
The day before we went to the bookstore- and I met father John- a nice Catholic Priest.
The guys were calling John [from Arlington] Joe.
I told Henry 'no- his name is John’.
Henry quipped ‘too many John’s’
In Rand’s work- she tells the fictional story of John Galt [who is John Galt? This sign pops up every so often]
Galt is the leader of the ‘productive’ class in society- the thinkers- producers- etc.
These noble ones rebel against what they see as an all encroaching Entitlement society- a ‘world’ that keeps blaming them for the ills of man.
Eventually these productive people have had enough- and they withdraw from the world and start their own world- based on the principles of Objectivism.
‘Every man for himself’ type of thing.
There is one line in the book- where you have this image of Atlas [the man who has the world on his shoulders].
He is bowing and bending and struggling under this Entitlement world.
The ‘have nots’ keep seeing the ‘haves’ as the cause for their problems.
The more pressure put on Atlas- does not seem to appease the Entitlement class.
So- he shrugs- and walks away.
A couple of years ago when we did a short history of Philosophy- I never covered Rand.
Why?
She never came up in any of the stuff I was reading at the time.
Rand was a Russian American who came to the states in the early 20th century.
She saw the rise of Communism in her homeland- and she believed that the U.S. was in danger of going down the same road.
She lived to see the presidency of FDR- and his creating of what we call the Entitlement society.
But Rand- like other thinkers of her day- also rejected Faith and Religion [Marx].
She believed that Reason was enough to establish morality- and build an adequate Ethical society.
To be honest- Ayn was wrong about this.
But- because she angered the Left with her capitalist thought- and the Right with her anti God ideas- well she would alienate not just the 47% [Romney’s gaff] but both ‘47’s’.
Thus- Rand never came up on the radar when I was studying philosophy.
I have not read the book- but from what I picked up on line- I can see how Christians would indeed have a hard time with Objectivism.
In scripture- we don’t see ‘statism’ per se- but we do see a sort of collective ideal.
In the books of Acts we see the early believers selling their goods and giving to those in need.
We read many-many portions of the bible that speak about helping the less fortunate.
Yet- the argument is ‘should the state force man to do this’.
The state- govt. - according to scripture- has the right to tax.
Rand’s argument [and others] is ‘fine- but don’t demean me because I am one of the producers- don’t demonize those in society who are holding the system up’.
Rand did not teach that you should never help another- but she rejected the govt. forcing you to do it.
In Ayn’s Utopia- the John Galt’s of the world withdraw- they take their toys and go home.
From a biblical perspective- we are indeed our brother’s keeper.
That does not mean we encourage people to be non productive- to live off the wealth of others.
But we see the goal of our lives as more than seeking happiness- more than pursuing the Dream.
No- we often give things up- material things- in order to pursue a more just society.
In our World- Atlas doesn’t shrug.
1917 MENTOR?
Went down to the mission yesterday.
I saw Julie- Dirk’s girlfriend.
I usually don’t see her at the mission- and when I do- she’s always with Dirk.
At first I wasn’t sure it was her- but as she walked by I asked ‘aren’t you Julie’.
Yeah- it was her.
If you remember- I wrote a post about them both going to one of the national parks here in Texas.
It’s called the Angelina national forest.
Over the years Dirk has told me lots about how much he loves being there.
It’s kind of a ‘second’ [or 3rd?] home away from home.
Dirk spends most of the year living here in his van.
Every so often he goes home to Michigan to see family.
And sometimes he stops at the national forest for a few weeks- he knows the locals- older retired guys who he plays cards with and stuff.
He has told me how he loves to hunt for arrow heads along the banks of the river.
Okay- I asked Julie where Dirk was.
She told me ‘I left him there’.
They got in a fight- over the arrow heads!
Yeah- every morning Dirk would get up and take Julie arrow head hunting.
So she told me she bought a few books in town and one morning wanted to read.
Dirk went hunting for the heads.
He came back- found something and was all excited- he tried to show it to her or something and she was into the book.
One thing led to the next- they got in a fight- and she drove back to Corpus [about a 600 mile drive by the way].
He has no ride back.
I knew from the start that they were going to get into a fight- I just didn’t think she would leave the guy.
I think that’s why she was down at the mission- sort of waiting to see if he makes it back.
I mean I did have to laugh- as I talked with Julie I told her I thought something like this would happen.
I do want to mention something that will sound self serving- buts it’s the second or 3rd time Julie has told me this- and to be honest it surprised me.
Julie tells me that Dirk is always talking about me- that he sees me as his ‘mentor’ and that he has nonstop praise for me.
I find it ‘funny’ because Dirk usually has nothing good to say about anyone- to be honest.
Many times he has put down the other ‘street’ preachers who work in the area.
I have had to defend Brother Rey- a street preacher- many times.
But being she brought it up again- I want to simply say a few words.
I have known Dirk for many years- and he realizes that me getting with the guys- often taking them out to eat- just being friends with the homeless.
He knows that this is ‘ministry’ to me.
Now- when you become friends with people- of course- over time- they will learn stuff- you will talk about God- and many times the guys have questions- things they might have heard as kids.
Misconceptions about God- things that have hindered them from believing- and often times it’s a simple explanation that clears it up.
So- I guess after knowing Dirk all these years- he has come to see me as a sort of mentor.
I have Henry sleeping in the living room right now- we hung out most of the day- I cooked some simple stuff last night and let him crash on the couch.
I have started doing this at least once a week- I see it as a way to contribute a little more- without it costing a lot of money.
Henry is a football nut- he knows the sport like I used to follow boxing.
Over the years at the fire house the guys realized I was a boxing fanatic.
I would usually know who would win the fight- and when they had a question about some rule- they would ask.
I had a laugh one day- I was upstairs watching the fights- they were down in the main room- I guess they put it on as well.
James- one of the guys- came up to ask ‘what’s it mean when they say- no 3 knockdown rule’.
I told him ‘that means you can’t knock the other guy down- more than 3 times’.
Actually- it means you don’t stop the fight if the other guy goes down 3 times in 1 round.
Some states have this rule- they think it prevents a fighter from getting hurt too much.
But in some cases maybe one of the knockdowns is a fluke- then a guy might lose a fight when he really wasn’t hurt.
So- being Henry is a football nut- you guessed it- we watched the bad call in the game the other night.
I think it was Green Bay and Seattle.
It made the news because the NFL has the replacement ref’s in the game- the regular guys are locked out over a dispute about their contract.
Henry could not get over the amount of coverage- I mean I had ESPN on for 4-5 hours at the house.
I finally told Henry ‘man- I’m gonna catch some news’.
Yeah- it was on the world news too!
Obama and Romney and all the politicians had to have their say.
I’m just waiting for the Al-Qaeda statement.
So- we watched the play- around a hundred times thru out the day.
In a little while Henry will get up- we will head out to some area- maybe go visit my friends in Bishop/Kingsville- it’s been a while and I probably should see them.
It really doesn’t take much to do this- I read John chapter 15 earlier.
Jesus says the most important thing is to love your brother.
That he showed us that to lay our lives down for another- to sacrifice your time- money- etc.
That this is the heart of the matter.
It doesn’t take much- and your friends will never forget.
1918- MALE GAY PROSTITUTE?
Let’s pick up a little from the last post or 2.
The other day at the mission I had an old friend- who I haven’t talked to in a while- just show up.
We hung out for a little while- and he told me how ‘so and so’ burned him real bad.
Burned- he ‘screwed him over’ type of thing.
I heard the story- and of course I was mad at the other friend.
Yet- my other friend was not around- so I tried to let it drop.
But- to be honest- it bothered me for a couple of days.
Then I saw his girlfriend- and she did the same thing.
Now- at one point I actually laughed- because my friend- who I have known for 20 years- is what you would call a classic case of being Homophobic.
That is- whenever he has a problem with someone- he most of the time accuses them of either being gay- or- a homosexual/lesbian prostitute [as in if the simple accusation of prostitute isn’t enough].
Now- because I know this friend well- I take it with a grain of salt.
But- I did tell my wife a few days ago ‘you know my friend ‘so and so’ I mean he has the classic case of Homophobia.’
He just had an argument with his girlfriend- and sure enough- he tells me he thinks she’s hiding something- he thinks she might be a secret lesbian prostitute.
So- as I’m talking to his girlfriend- without revealing the accusation- she tells me ‘you know John- he is totally gay- he is a repressed homosexual- he does not know how to please a woman…’
On and on- about him being a closet homosexual.
Now- first off- I have gay friends- I help gay friends- so this post is not about being gay.
But I laughed because my 2 friends- who both have issues- also resort to this accusation- about one another.
I told my friend one day that years ago- as kids [maybe 16?] me and a friend were going to do a stupid thing.
We went to the local park late at night [Hudson County Park to my friends from N.J.]
And we were going to rob and beat up a gay person.
We recruited a local drunk from the area- he was about 30 years old.
We told him the plan- and we went.
We never carried it out- though my other friend did just get out of prison in N.J. - for another very serious crime.
Yet I told it to my friend because he was bringing up past attitudes about gay people and for some reason this came up.
He tells me years later ‘John- you might be a repressed homosexual- because you told me you guys tried to mug a gay guy’.
So- that’s my friend.
Purpose- lesson?
In reality some of the street guys are indeed male prostitutes.
Many are addicted to drugs- and they do make money this way.
I don’t see them in that light- one of the guys has been with us these past few weeks- and we have had discussions about the Lord and he was with us when we prayed for my friend in the hospital- so he was around us the whole time.
Which I felt was good for him- to spend the day doing things that were positive.
Even though I had to laugh when my friend’s girlfriend dropped the accusation- during the talk she also shared about her experiences.
How she was not looking for a relationship- she is an older lady- and a Christian.
But she met my friend- she thought he was a good looking guy- and one thing lead to the next.
I told her ‘gee- I would like to agree with you that so and so is a good looking guy- but the way you guys throw around the ‘gay male prostitute’ thing- I better not say anything.’
I was tempted to ‘disown’ my buddy for a few days- you know- having various people all volunteer to tell me bad stuff about him.
But instead I chose to brush it off- maybe some accusations are true- maybe not.
I don’t know all the facts about each person’s situation.
But I’m glad I shrugged it off- because it was the same week that I was told that this friend sees me as his mentor- that he can’t stop saying good things about me- which I had no idea he looked up to me that much.
He is about 5 years older than me- and he often speaks bad about brother Rey- a street preacher who helps the poor.
So- all in all- I’m glad I stuck with him.
Hopefully I’ll see him today- he was stranded last week- and I’m not sure if he made it back to town.
Pray for people- I know a few of the guys do resort to bad stuff when they need cash.
Some of the girls are indeed prostitutes- they don’t hide it- many of them are real friends- they are nice people- who are involved with lifestyles that are not good- lifestyles they do need to change- I make no excuses about that.
But do your best to not let what others might say effect you- it would have been bad if I ‘dumped’ my buddy because of what I heard- and later found out that he held me in high esteem.
It would have hurt him.
1919 PARKIN’ IN PARKIN
Maybe I will do a little update tonight.
About a week ago I embarked on an unplanned road trip.
For a while now I have seen lots of my street friends live in their vans and stuff- and I always wanted to give it a shot.
Now- I’m cheating a bit- by staying at my mom’s house for a few nights- but on the road- I lived in the van.
It’s not that hard to be honest- the rest stops on the interstates are great- clean- and safe.
I was kidding my buddy earlier- I told him that the drive [from TX. To N.J.] was great- cheap.
But as soon as I hit Jersey- the toll system cost me more cash [around 30] and time [geez- having to stop multiple times- before getting off!] than the entire trip combined!
But all in all it was an okay drive.
I was detoured just outside of Little Rock- Ark.
I blew a fan belt- it was so loud I thought the transmission fell out!
I realized it was the belt- and had to drive to the closest exit and get off.
I wound up in a small rural town named Parkin.
To my surprise the town shop was able to get the parts and install them- at half the cost that pep- boys charged in the past![this water pump has a history].
As I spent half the day in Parkin- I walked around- took some pics- and made the best of it.
As I ‘interviewed’ my mechanic- I asked him what the town was like.
He was a young- White kid.
He said ‘It’s nice here- but the NIGGERS ARE NIGGERS.’
Unquote.
I then walked around- and talked to the Black people in the area.
They were real nice.
I picked up the Arkansas paper.
The top story was the local hero- who looked just like one of Jeff Foxworthy’s Red Neck’s.
He was on the front page because he made his annual trip to NYC to protest the Iranian president.
Yeah- he started making this his cause about 10 years ago.
This time- as he was standing outside the U.N.- he saw the Iranian security guys walking right by him.
They were protecting some top diplomat- and the Arkansan thru a punch- and hit the guy!
As I read this story- while ‘parked’ in Parkin- I had to laugh.
The guy said ‘as they walked by- I thought the guy was Ahmidinejab’.
Yeah- he was proud- grinning ear to ear.
They asked him how he got involved with this cause- he has an on-line web site and he leads a group who regularly protest the Iranian leaders desire for Nukes.
He told the reporter that his wife died of cancer about 10 years ago- and he needed something to keep his mind occupied.
Yeah- Foxworthy would have loved it.
All in all my day [half day] was well spent- lessons learned- prejudice revealed- and hospitality shown to me- by a nice Black owner of the local beauty salon [her name was Shea].
Yeah- I learned some stuff in while parked- in Parkin.
1920 SHEEP FROM ANOTHER FOLD
One of the challenges on this journey is I have friends/family who have hearing problems.
My dear mom has a hard time hearing- and it’s natural to talk loud.
You think because it’s difficult for you to hear- that to talk loud will somehow help the hearer as well.
I have a homeless friend who has been legally deaf his whole life.
He has learned how to talk low- on purpose.
I was telling my friend Patrick that this homeless friend also likes to dominate the conversation- he will talk- nonstop- literally for hours.
To be honest- I don’t mind- or lets say I realize that it helps him- so for 20 years I have had lots of talks [or should I say ‘hearings’] with him.
Okay- so as I’m sitting at my mom’s house yesterday- everyone is out- and I figure ‘wow- some quiet time- let’s make the most of it’.
Well- let’s at least try.
My phone rings- it’s a Texas number ‘what the heck- might as well get it’.
I usually never answer my phone unless it’s a number I recognize.
I get it- it’s my deaf homeless friend on the line- yelling ‘hey John- I can barely hear you’.
I know.
So- this is my buddy stuck in the forest in Texas- his girlfriend left him there [remember the last 5 posts?]
Anyway- he does not know I’m in Jersey- none of my homeless buddies know- I had no plans to have left the day I left- so no one knows.
So- as Dirk’s on the phone- telling me ‘I can’t hear you- you’re breaking up’.
I keep saying- well- yelling ‘I’M IN NYC [that’s really the spot- N.J. - right on the Hudson] I CAN’T TALK RIGHTT NOW’.
He keeps telling me he can’t hear me- but says ‘well- I can’t hear- but I guess I’ll just talk anyway’.
No- no- don’t guess that- not today!
I finally got thru and told him I’ll talk whenever I get back to Texas.
Okay- the journey has been interesting so far.
Whenever I drive cross country [or south to north] I enjoy reading the different ‘church’ names along the way.
You can see the development of Christianity across the country- by reading the signs.
As somewhat of a church historian- when I see the signs- I remember the times I read about the various movements.
Some church signs show the debate over the Trinity ‘Pentecostal oneness church’- they emphasize the divinity of Jesus a lot.
‘Pentecostal Trinity church’- they are saying ‘we are not the other guys’.
Of course you see the standard Baptist churches- the Methodist regions as well.
Over the years all of these groups have come to emphasize various teachings of Christianity.
As I headed further north- of course I come to my ‘homeland’- and I see the great catholic churches- the ones I remember from my youth [sort of like crossing the Tiber in a way- for you non intellectuals- google it].
It’s a sort of spiritual lesson- this past week- as well as the coming months- the Catholic church is going to focus on Vatican 2- the last church council.
This council [a meeting of all the catholic leaders/bishops] emphasized Ecumenism- for the first time the church recognized the various Christian churches- you know- all the ‘signs’ I saw on the road- as ‘separated Christian brothers’.
It was a big step for the church- a step of unity- based on the desire of Christ we read about in the gospel of John- chapter 17 ‘that we all would be one’.
In my talks these past few days- and my bible reading in the gospel of John- a theme kept popping up.
The Lord has been telling me to ‘shepherd all the people I bring to you- all those who are on a spiritual journey’.
In John’s gospel the message- at least to me- is to do my best to present the pre-imminence of Christ- that he is the source of salvation- and to recognize that there are also ‘sheep- not of this fold that he will bring’.
Now- in context Jesus was speaking about the Gentiles- the ‘non- Jews’ who would convert.
In the ‘broader’ context- I am taking it as being open to the other Monotheistic faiths.
So- I have good talks with Muslims [and have even shared some good things about Islam- yes- there are good things- with fellow Christians].
My mom told me ‘John- do you know who died’.
No- who?
Sandy.
Huh?
Sandy is a nice Jewish lady who lived right up the block from me when I was a kid.
I was friends with her son.
She became a Facebook friend a few years back.
I am always grateful when I make Jewish/Muslim friends on the site.
When I first friended Sandy- we talked some.
Then I noticed one time- we didn’t talk much [you know- when you write a lot- people are going to get offended at one time or another].
So- when I did not see her comments- I figured she got upset about some post.
But then one day- about a month ago- I saw some action form her page- I forget what it was- but I saw that she came back to read the posts.
Then- well- she passed on.
When my mom told me that she died- I said ‘are you sure’.
I went to Sandy’s page- and there was no indication that she died.
So I left a little note to tell my friend good bye.
Yes- I’m grateful for ‘the other’ sheep if you will.
The other friends of mine who are on a spiritual journey.
I’m grateful for all the ‘separated brothers’ those various Christian churches who are now seen as brothers in Christ.
Make no mistake- as a Christian I believe that Jesus is the Son of God- who died- was buried- and rose again ‘according to the scriptures’.
I believe he will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the resurrection of the dead- the forgiveness of sins- and life everlasting.
I also believe that in this life God will bring to us others who are on a journey as well- and maybe for a time these people might be on a different path- maybe they do not see everything like I do.
But when these contacts are made- do your best to try and see them as ‘others who are not from this group’ but others whom God has brought your way- at least for a season.
NOTE- One sign I liked was on the side of this huge gun store ‘GUNS- GUNS- GUNS- JESUS IS LORD’.
1921 CRAIG
I posted some pictures the other day- of Craig- a homeless guy I ran into while going to Wal Mart.
As soon as I saw Craig I knew he was homeless.
He was sitting by the side of Wal Mart- with a couple of well kept carrying bags- and he was organized- as much as someone can be while homeless.
So before going into the store I walked over to him and became friends.
I talked to Craig for about 30 minutes before going into the store.
I told him when I get out of the store I will take him to breakfast- my treat of course.
Craig turned the breakfast down- but he asked instead if I could by him a can of BeefAroni.
So I picked him up 3 cans- no big deal.
When I got out of the store we took a ride to the park and hung out by the lake for a while.
Of course I told Craig that this is ministry stuff to me- I didn’t ‘preach’ to him- but I told him ‘my story’ as he told me his.
He knew that I was reaching out to the street guys because I believe Christ called us as believers to do so.
I later took him about 30 miles south/west.
I asked him if he needed a ride somewhere- being I had the day and van.
He told me he was heading to Lyndhurst the next day- but if I wanted I could start him going that way.
He just needed for me to take him to a small town around here called Secaucus.
We took the ride- and I parked in a store parking area.
Craig has these walking routes all down pat.
I told him that I would walk with him some before heading out.
As we started the trek, when we got to the end of the parking lot- he put his bags down [they looked to be well over 50 pounds].
And he back tracked about 50 feet- picking something up.
At first I thought he saw some change- the street guys are good at spotting change on the ground.
But as he got back- he had about 10 cigarette butts- he rolled the little tobacco that was left into a small cigarette- it looked perfect- and the task was finished in a few minutes.
Its stuff like this that will let you know that the person is a ‘true’ street guy [plus turning down the fast food offer- and opting for food that you can take with you].
We walked a good few miles- crossed over a bridge and I told Craig I would start heading back to the van.
Craig looked at me- we shook hands- and he said ‘peace’.
I could tell he was grateful- for real.
Sure- I gave him 5 bucks for the journey- we spent some time hanging out- but he was grateful to have someone to give him a hand.
I could tell from the start that he was not a beggar.
He was not looking for a ride [his plans were to walk the whole trip- till he got to the major highway- where I dropped him off].
No- he was just a nice brother- a new friend- you know- like you used to make friends as kids.
You saw some kid on the block- never met him before- and within minutes your playing some street ball or something.
I gave Craig the blog site card/paper.
He doesn’t know how to get on line- but I told him if he wound up at a friend’s house who has a computer- he can look us up- and see his picture and story on the site.
Craig was the first ‘real’ homeless guy I have met since being here.
I can tell from my excursions that this area is not suitable for homeless guys- they know that and that’s why they don’t come here.
I talked to Craig for about 3-4 hours in total.
I always try and find out their stories- and I tell them that I share their stories on the site.
Craig is 49 years old- my age less a year.
He was originally from Modesto Cali.
He has been in Jersey for many years- usually lives in Atlantic City.
That’s the spot where many of the homeless go- Craig gave me the scoop.
Craig has had various jobs over the years- some good ones.
But as I first talked to him- it’s obvious he has some real mental problems [yet very smart!]
It takes about 3 hours for Craig to communicate 2 hours of stuff you can understand.
I’m sure most people would get scared the first few minutes- seeing he has some type of problem- and he rarely makes it to the 3 hour ‘made a new friend’ point.
Yeah- Craig is a new friend I made on the trip.
He did indeed hear the gospel- as a friend- and to be honest- I had a good time hanging out with Craig.
1922 HASHWAYS
The other night I went to an NA meeting with my friend Pat.
It’s basically the meeting for Drug addicts- based on the 12 step program.
My friend sponsors his own meeting- and also attends and is real active in the group.
Before I came to Jersey [this visit] I was in touch with my friend John David [heart surgery] and he has been wanting to open up a half way house in C.C.
I also picked up [by accident] a book defending the 12 step program from a Christian perspective.
All in all I have been learning/reading on the 12 step program.
But this was my first actual meeting- so I was looking forward to it.
It was a really good format- from the things I have read/seen- the key to success is the basic principle- found in the bible- that says ‘confess your faults one to another and pray one for another that you may be healed’. [James]
The meetings are times/places where people share- they speak about their struggles- their victories- and others see that some have been clean for many years- 20-30 or more.
When an addict sees another ‘addict’- who has ‘overcome the mark of the beast and the number of his name’ [Revelation] he then sees that there are indeed a whole company of people who have come thru this- and are on the other side- clean.
All of these things are biblical principles.
As I sat in the meeting- I had an interesting experience.
The table in front of my chair had the names of some of the local restaurants written on them.
I’m not sure why- maybe they support the meetings- the meeting was held in the old Catholic church- Our Lady of Fatima- that I attended for CCD classes as a kid.
The church is a couple of blocks from my old Elementary school- Horace Mann- and I used to walk over every day for class.
The NA meeting was in the same part of the church that my CCD classes were in.
So- after 34 years- I found myself- for the first time- back in the old class.
I had a friend/schoolmate back in those days.
His name was Glenn Hashway.
His parents own a deli- famous- right down the block.
I have heard that Glenn has been an addict for many years.
A friend of mine was in jail with him one year- he didn’t know I knew him- but I did.
From what I heard- he was in big trouble- looking at many years in prison- if he made bail he was going to try and leave the country type of thing.
So- this was his story.
On the table in front of me- the name of the restaurant/deli that was written- was ‘Hashways’.
Yea- it just so happened that this was the spot where his family had the name of their deli.
Sad story for my old friend- seeing how his life turned out.
Today I’m supposed to make a trip to NYC- I need to check my phone for messages.
I can do the trip on my own- but it’s been so many years- I don’t know all the right subways and buses to catch.
So Patrick is supposed to go with me.
I did want to say a few words about the debate- it has been such a hot political issue- and I do talk about that stuff.
But- on this trip I’m trying to avoid too much politics.
I took a ride yesterday afternoon down to Jersey City- got out at a park on the corner of Manhattan Ave and Kennedy Blvd.
Yeah- not really the best spot to hang out when you’re from out of state.
But I wanted to just walk around the area.
As I walked thru the park- I asked some guy sitting on a bench ‘what’s the name of this park’?
He told me ‘Persian field’.
Now- I know it’s not Persian- like Asian [or at least I don’t think things have changed that much!]
But at the entrance of the park I saw a statue to some war hero or something- I assume the name is Pershing- you know- some past war guy type thing.
Anyway- I walked thru the park taking some pictures.
Some kids hanging out and all- wondering why I was taking pictures.
I talk one of a little blue bag- small- you could fit about 3 aspirins in it.
It was a Crack bag- empty.
I saw 2 more while walking around- wasn’t even looking for them.
I saw some nice animal statues and a few squirrels.
I continued the ride- went down past journal square- and went a few more miles- came back on Tonnele ave.
Passed the old Pulaski Skyway- and saw my 2nd homeless guy- begging for money on the road.
I usually don’t give the guys with signs any money- but being I haven’t seen too many- I gave him 5 bucks.
Yeah- the old area looks okay- still worn and torn after many years.
Sort of like an old war horse- battle scarred but keeps on going.
I read a verse in John chapter 17 this morning.
Jesus said ‘ Ihave revealed your name to the men that you gave to me out of the world’.
I have read this chapter many times over the years.
Jesus speaks about the desire for unity in the church.
He talks about his disciples as the special people God brought to him along the journey.
I have run into a few already- I’m trying to hear God- to speak and connect to the ones that he’ gave me ‘out of the world’ –or ‘from New Jersey’.
Yeah- there are always at least a few- people who are too on a journey- and it’s important for us [you and me] to speak the right words- to communicate the Father [God] to them.
At the end of the day- that’s what lasts.
1923 ROCKAWAY
Okay- there are lots of good stories to tell on this trip- but I’m trying to keep them short.
Let’s do the NYC trip today [do=tell].
The other day I took a trip to the city with Patrick—an old friend I met about 12 years ago- he was my ‘tour guide’.
I haven’t been to the city in many years- and I have no idea what buses/trains to take.
Pat knows all the routes.
So we took this nice route that lets you see all the famous areas- from the top of the rail road tracks.
We got off at the last [and final! For you Pat] stop on the A train- Rockaway.
This is the Queens section of the city- Howard Beach- Gotti’s club- you know- the ‘famous’ spots.
As we walked to Pats brothers’ house- he told me the story of his family.
Pat grew up in somewhat of a dysfunctional home- like most of us have.
His parents died early on- and he had this older brother that he never really knew- 20 years his senior.
So- one year Pat made an attempt to find him- he looked him up in the phone book and tracked the house.
As Pats brother came home- Pat was on the steps- blocking his way- he said ‘can you move- you’re in my way’- and that was the reunion.
Pat told me that his brother was an addict for many years as well- he used to see him sleeping on the subway stop- he would give him a few dollars if he had it.
After many years- his brother finally got clean- and married a great Christian lady- Veronica.
I met them both on the trip this day.
We hung out most of the day at Pat’s brothers place- we had a good time- we were helping Veronica hook up to Facebook and stuff.
She has a nice computer- but needed help getting everything working- you know- most people are not experts like myself [okay- maybe not- this trip was the first time I ‘texted’].
It was funny- after I helped her hook up to Facebook- and Pat was helping her get the phone hooked in as well.
I said ‘that’s it Veronica- you’re in- now all that happens is you get a bill for 50 each month’.
At that point she looked at me- yeah- you could tell she’s a real New Yorker [of course I was kidding].
On the way back to Manhattan- I took a few more pics from the rail- and me and Pat had some good time fellowshipping.
Pat now sponsors a couple of guys thru the NA [narcotics anonymous].
He got a call from one of the guys while we were waiting for the train to leave.
It was a learning experience- to see how the group works along biblical lines.
The last time I saw Pat was about 8 years back- Pat was hooked and you could tell.
Pat overdosed real bad a few years ago- I got a call and they told me he might have died- he was in the hospital and I put him on the web site and asked for prayer.
Pat pulled thru- but he messed up his leg real bad- he walks with a very bad limp- but he never complains.
This week I have been reading John 17- it’s the famous prayer of Jesus [besides the Our father]
Jesus says ‘for their sakes I sanctify myself- that they too might be sanctified thru the truth’.
Sanctify means separate.
Jesus was saying he set himself apart to do God’s will- he did this so others too might be free.
The example from my friend Pat- and his brother- and a few other people I have met on this trip- is one where people got to the end of the road [last AND final stop].
They lived many years in bondage to things- Jesus said ‘whoever commits sin becomes the slave of sin’.
These have learned what that means.
And they got to a point where they had enough- they have now ‘separated themselves so others too could be free’.
Yeah- my Rockaway trip was a real learning experience- in more ways than one.
1924 A FREE BUS RIDE
In the last week I have had some good conversations- talked to various people- from different backgrounds.
I have actually defended other groups [Catholics] from false accusations.
One friend said ‘the Catholics put tradition OVER the bible’.
I said- ‘actually-that’s not true’.
The other person- a fellow Protestant- insisted it was.
I told them that the church believes that Gods voice comes to us in 2 ways- scripture and tradition- but they see them both as means to communicate God’s word- they hold equal value- at least in official Catholic teaching it is this way.
I had another friend- a Muslim- ask me about the teaching from the bible that says ‘another prophet will come’.
Is this in the bible?
I told him there is a famous teaching you find in the bible that says ‘another’ prophet must first come.
But- he was under the impression that this verse was referring to Muhammad- I explained that the disciples actually asked Jesus about this.
They said ‘if you’re the one- that what about the prophecy that says Elijah must come first’.
Jesus said that there was indeed a prophecy that says before the Messiah comes- Elijah must first come.
Then Jesus said ‘John the Baptist was Elijah’ [John the Baptist came in the power and spirit of Elijah- and according to Jesus- he fulfilled the prophecy].
Jesus said that the prophecy about another prophet was fulfilled by him and John the Baptist- Jesus was the final and ultimate ‘prophet’ –Messiah- sent from God.
In all of these dialogues- I was friends with these people- I talk to these people as co-equals- I try real hard not to ‘preach at them’.
Sure- in a way- this type of conversation- is a type of preaching- but how long would it have taken my Muslim friend to have wandered into some church and have heard this?
Maybe never.
The point?
We- all of us- need to have friendships with people from other backgrounds.
We need to know- really- what other people believe.
My Protestant friend started from a wrong understanding of what Catholics believe.
If she wants to dialogue with Catholics about the differences between us- then she needs to know what the differences are.
The other day I was riding the old bus that drives down Bergenline ave.
Back in Texas when you buy a ticket with a transfer- it’s good all day.
So when I got on the bus I asked the guy if it was still good.
He looked at it real quick and said ‘yeah’.
After I sat down he told me ‘you know it did expire- but don’t worry about it’.
I told him I would pay for the ticket- but he said that’s okay.
So I talked to him from 48th street to 91st.
I told him I was visiting from Texas but grew up here in the area.
I told him I retired from the Fire Dept. after 25 years.
He has worked for the state for 30 years.
He asked me what it was like to retire- sort of like he is thinking about it too.
I told him that a lot of my friends put it off- they are scared of doing it.
Even though a job like mine might be considered dangerous- yet you get used to the routine- and some guys don’t know what they will do if they retire.
He kept agreeing with me- like he is having the same thoughts.
He was nice guy- a Black guy.
Why mention Black?
I asked him where he lives- he said East Orange.
I haven’t been around here for so long- I did not know that it is a predominantly Black area [I found out later].
But when he said he lives there- he said ‘you know- I like it- I don’t want to go home and have a lot of drama- I get that on the job’.
I think he was saying he has to deal with people who are racist- people who look down on others because they are different.
And when he’s home- he doesn’t want the same thing.
Sure- I understood what he was saying.
When I sat down that day- I never met the man before- after about 40 blocks- we were talking like friends- plus- I got a free ride.
It’s worth treating others with respect- listening to their side of things.
Sometimes they have picked up ideas that you might be able to correct- to show them that they might have a wrong impression about Christianity.
Other times you will learn too.
All in all- if you start without prejudice- you can go a lot further.
1925 WHEN TWO BECOME ONE [a short critique on the pastoral letter from the Bishop of Newark]
Today I want to comment on the Pastoral letter that the Archbishop of Newark put out last month.
Being I’m here in N.J. for a few days- one of my goals was to visit all the old places I saw as a kid.
And 2 of those spots were the Catholic churches I went to as a kid.
I went last Sunday to Our Lady of Fatima- and this Past Sunday I visited Our Lady of Grace.
It just so happened that the Bishop of Newark put out this Pastoral letter- a letter to all the Christians in his area- a few weeks before I arrived.
The letter;
The letter is in some ways a defense of the historic position of the church.
It’s titled ‘When Two become One: A Pastoral Teaching on the Definition, Purpose and Sanctity of Marriage’.
In short the Bishop does an excellent job of defending the traditional definition of marriage between One man and One woman.
He bases this teaching on both Natural [Moral] law- and what we call Revelation [or Revealed Truth- which means teaching that comes to us from God].
Natural Law?
Natural law simply means in society in general- since the early times of man- there was a basic understanding of what was right or wrong.
Where did this Moral foundation come from?
The Church teaches that this comes from God [Apostle Paul- Romans 1 and 2].
Since this Moral law exists- and part of this ‘collective conscience’ includes the basic idea of traditional marriage- therefore we [the Church] make the argument that traditional marriage is not only a Church teaching- but also a foundational truth that all men have known since the beginning of mans existence.
The bishop notes that the early Greek philosophers and other ancient societies have indeed believed that Moral law does exist- and therefore it is not only a church belief.
The Bishop is also careful to treat Homosexual people [language that the church does not use- the church teaches that all people- even those with ‘homosexual tendencies’ are indeed created in the image of God. The Church says both Heterosexual and Homosexual are words that describe sexual attractions- but are not fundamental identities] with respect.
That is even though the Church believes in One man One woman union- that it recognizes that all people struggle with ‘sin’ and that the Church calls all people to live repentant lives- and to strive to live an abundant life in Christ.
The Bishop emphasizes that the Christian community does include people who have homosexual attractions- but it simply does not legitimize homosexual lifestyles as an acceptable way of life for the practicing Christian [I do understand that others see this very thing as discriminatory- and that would take a long time to get into- my purpose in this post is to kind of break down the 4 page letter of the bishop and hit the high points.]
All in all the letter was written in a scholarly way- the bishop used what we call the classic Apologetic tools to defend the Faith [he appealed to natural law- he quoted the Greek philosophers- etc.]
And he made the case in a way that was as gracious as possible to those who consider themselves Homosexual- while still defending the Traditional definition of marriage.
I of course did read- and re-read the letter.
I guess that around 10 % of Catholic Christians might have gone home after Mass and read the letter [it was kind of long- and a little scholarly].
But it was written in a well thought out way- and it does give you the official Catholic teaching on this matter.
The Church teaches that those Catholics who reject the traditional definition of marriage are rejecting a serious doctrine of the church- a ‘Grave matter’- and the church says these Catholics need to repent from this position.
In the Catholic Church there are degrees of Moral teaching- that is some areas are not considered as serious as others- the Church teaches that this doctrine- traditional Marriage- is one of those serious doctrines.
At the end of the letter it has the signature of Archbishop John J. Meyers- the bishop of Newark.
This was the first time I ever read an official Pastoral letter- one that was actually circulated in the handouts from the Church meeting.
I found it well written- scholarly- and of course- in keeping with the teaching of the historic church.
Whether you agree with the teaching or not [for instance I am a Protestant- and not bound to the teaching of the Catholic church].
You must admit- that the Catholic church puts out responsible material- material that is well thought out and in a way ‘peer reviewed’.
Yea- all in all- it was a good letter.
1926 THE DEBATES
What the heck- might as well do a post while the guy works on the van.
I am surprised that I picked up wireless here- Inkys or something.
O.K.- I have been wanting to mention the debates.
Of course last night we had Biden and Ryan go at it [I slept in the van and caught it on NPR].
If you’re a Dem- then you think Biden won- if a Repub- Ryan.
What do I think? [I am independent]
I think they both did well- maybe a sort of tie.
Now- what about the Obama/Romney one?
Most people think Obama did poorly- me too.
But- when I first heard the liberal side of the aisle skewer Obama- I thought it must have been really bad.
Whenever you hear a news guy- whether Liberal or Conservative- try and give you their narrative- always be open and make your own call.
I saw the Pres. Debate the next day on CSPAN- I thought Obama lost- but I did not see it as the Titanic.
I told a liberal friend ‘it really wasn’t as bad as they made it out’.
A few things.
Right after the pres debate- the campaign people for Obama put out a line that said ‘sure- Romney won- but it was simply a good performance from a liar’.
Then- the news media ran with that story- night after night- you heard them say Romney is a liar- who lied well.
I was at my mom’s house- she watches MSNBC a lot [I do on and off].
And I saw how it affected her.
She was furious at Romney for being a liar.
I explained to her that they all lie- Obama- Romney- all of them.
I told her how many see Romney as a ‘liar’ because he flip flopped on ‘Obama care’.
He was ‘for it- before he was against it’ type thing.
I told my mom that I don’t see either of these men as angels- or demons.
I said Romney says his health care plan in Mass [while governor] was different.
Okay- I have heard his explanation- I think it pretty much was the same.
But- I don’t hate the man- he’s running as the Repub candidate- and the Repubs don’t like Obama-care- so he’s against it.
I got it.
But how many Dem’s- who hate Romney for switching his view- over a period of years- also ‘hate’ Obama for doing the same thing?
When the president ran against Hillary- he vowed to never do ‘Obama care’ the way he did it.
Hillary was for universal health care- with a mandate.
A mandate is the law that says you must purchase it- or pay a fine.
Now- during the nomination process- right up until the election- Obama was dead set against a mandate.
Some people voted for him because of this- during the Dem nomination process.
Yet- it did not take him 6 years- 3 years- or one year to ‘switch’ sides.
It took him one day.
Yes- the day before he was elected- he was against the mandate.
The first thing he did after being elected- the major ‘accomplishment’ of his first term- was health care- with a mandate.
Yet- I don’t remember the news media spending days with a narrative [story] that said Obama is a liar.
So- it’s better to simply listen to the sides- if you prefer the conservative side- then you will vote Romney.
If you prefer the liberal side- then you will vote Obama.
But do we have to watch days on end of the news reporting- openly- that Romney is a liar?
I said about a month ago that the real big news story- that is worthy of coverage- is the situation that happened in Libya- the killing of our people at the embassy.
In last night’s debate- that was the first question that came up.
Yeah- their catching on- ya think?
1927- THE END OF THE ROAD [TRIP]
Well- the N.J. trip was long- and I realized that I can’t drive like I did when I was younger.
It’s hard to see at night- and it just seemed much longer than it used to be.
From now on I will fly.
Okay- since I’ve been back I was able to catch up on all the news- all the shows I missed [I have Rocu- they basically DVR everything for you].
On the trip I caught some shows- but I realize now that there are things I do need to cover.
But for today- let’s just hit a few thoughts from the trip.
On the way back I broke down- for the 2nd time [the first was on the way to N.J. - I blew a belt and water pump in Arkansas].
I was in Kansas- and it sounded like the water pump went out again.
But the guy checked it out and it was a fan clutch [I have changed these before- it’s much easier/cheaper].
So I lucked out [of course prayed!]
On both of the ‘breakdowns’ I wound up getting the van repaired by small- kind of ‘po-dunk’ type shops.
I managed to drive to the shops- or to the town- and thru using the local stores was able to call the shops.
The shops both did great jobs- very professional- in Kansas I drove back in the tow truck- a brand new one- nice.
As we got back to the small shop- the tow driver was also the repairman.
He had it done in around an hour.
All these services were done by small businesses.
In actuality- they would be in the category of the ‘rich who are not paying their fair share’.
Yes- most small businesses fall under this category.
Why did these guys do such a great job- treat me well- and were available to do it?
Because they are in business- they are the capitalists of our world.
Now- if I had to use ‘government’ services- would they too have been there?
Yeah.
If I never made it to a town I would have called 911- and some type of ‘govt.’
worker would have helped.
Whether it was the local cops- the DPS- the highway patrol- all of these services fall under the heading of government- whether city or state- they would be considered govt. [public safety].
Why?
They are paid by taxes- and they are in a ‘non profit’ job.
Yet- they do it for a salary as well.
Point?
Right now in our country there is a debate that says ‘should we be a conservative people- or elect liberal folk’.
Joe Biden said that’s the choice- and in a way he is right.
But I think if we see only one side or the other as the national ‘savior’ then we are setting ourselves up for a fall.
In a way we do need both- that is there is a need for government- how big? - well that’s the debate.
But a strict ‘capitalist’ society- where everything was based on services for profit- would not totally do the job.
Why?
Because there are needed- vital services- that would not make a profit.
The whole debate on health care- why do Insurance companies drop- or not insure- the elderly or sick [unless they are forced to]?
Because there is no profit if you have all chronically sick people.
That’s the whole point about the mandate/universal care- the private industry will not do the job- in this particular case.
So- I get that.
But in many areas- like my tow truck/mechanic experiences- they do indeed get the job done- and they do it well.
It’s sad that many of these small business guys have been demonized this past year.
From what I saw- both of the shops I stopped at were hard working guys/kids.
They treated me with respect- they did not rip me off [I know mechanics somewhat- I ‘diagnosed’ the initial problems and all- right away].
And they did it all under a ‘for profit’ venture- yet they met a vital service- - one that serves the community well.
And not just their local community- I was just one of many road travelers that have used them- and they do a real good job.
Okay- this week I will try and hit on some of the major news stories of the last few weeks- there are some important things to cover.
Last week I read Hebrews 2 [Psalms 128 and Gen 2]- this week lets read Hebrews 4- Psalms 90 and Mark 10.
I will try and comment on them at the end of the week.
Okay- that’s it for now- remember- pray for one another- if you disagree with people about stuff [often politics or religion] try not to demonize them- they are also created in the image of God.
1928 BENGHAZI- LIBYA
So much to say- where do we start?
Okay- I have caught up on the news shows/papers for the past couple of weeks.
And even though I have been able to follow snippets of the news on my trip- yet I really didn’t see the entire picture until now.
First- as most of you know many in the Muslim world protested the U.S. on 9-11-2012.
Many of these protests seem to have been instigated by a stupid film about the prophet Muhammad that was put out by some guy living in the U.S.
One of the attacks that took place on that day was in Libya- our embassy was stormed and for the first time in 30 years an American ambassador was killed on foreign soil [the other incident was the famous raid in Iran].
The difference between the attack in Benghazi- Libya- and the other protests was the attack in Libya was a militia type attack- they used heavy weapons and there were no protests during the day.
Now- for whatever reason- the White House ‘spun’ the attack as part of the protests about the film. They used this language to describe the attack- even after the U.S. knew this was false.
I saw Ambassador Rice on the Sunday talk shows saying that the killing of Stephens was part of the protests over the movie- this was 5 days after we knew that this was not true.
As more facts surfaced- and the White House began adjusting their story- they later said that the Libyan attack was different.
Now- what’s wrong here?
As the story developed- it was in the best political interest of the president for this attack to have not been Al Qaeda related.
If Al Qaeda was indeed responsible for the hit- then it would contradict one of the major arguments for the president to be re elected.
That argument being he has ‘Al Qaeda on the run’ and ‘go ask Bin Laden if we are tough on terror’.
Now- whether you’re a Dem or Repub- there is no doubt that this has been a major part of the campaign this year.
If you ‘tune out’ the first story- about the attack being a response to a film- and look at another set of facts- you will see a quite different story.
Okay- the ‘other facts’.
A few days before the Libyan attack- we killed a very top official of Al Qaeda.
A few days after the killing the president once again said- publicly- ‘we have them on the run- they are on their heels’.
Now- we just killed one of their tops guys- we basically said ‘look- you guys are on the run-we are killing you like ducks in a pond- and you can’t respond’.
Okay- this is not the smartest move on our part.
Then while all this was happening- the top Al Qaeda guy who replaced Bin Laden said ‘we are going to retaliate for this’.
A few days more- Stephens was killed- by Al Qaeda related groups in Benghazi- Libya.
Questions?
Why did V.P Biden say- in the debate ‘we did not know this was a terror attack- our intelligence learned about it later’.
Actually- there were congressional hearings on this very thing- the same day of the debate- in the hearings our guys testified that we did indeed know it was a different attack- a terror type attack- and not the same type of protests that were taking place in the other nations.
The next day- when this came out- that Biden simply got it wrong [heaven forbid that we use the word lie- which by the way just happened to be the actual label they put on Romney for 2 weeks].
When the contradiction surfaced- the White House press secy- Jay Carney- said that Biden was telling the truth- that he and the president did not ‘personally’ get a call telling them about the nature of the attack.
It seems unthinkable that the intelligence agencies- the state dept.- and many other top officials- including some Administration officials- could know about the nature of the attack- and yet a sitting Vice President would still say ‘WE did not know’.
Who are we?
We- the U.S. govt. did indeed know- it came out in the hearings.
The best spin you could put on this is that Biden simply flubbed it once again- the worst is that they are trying to cover for themselves at the expense of the state dept.- by making it sound like they got the info wrong- and that’s why Susan Rice and others said the attack was simply a protest- versus an Al Qaeda attack.
Okay- now do you see what’s been going on- why this story is not simply some silly thing- like the first page coverage the papers gave to a 40 year old story about Romney cutting some kids hair in prep school?
No- this story is about the false spin that we have been hearing the last year- that Al Qaeda is ‘on the run’.
No- lara Logan- the news reporter who was raped during the protests in Egypt- she put out an article that said Al Qaeda is in no way on the run- that they have grown strong- and that they are on the verge of hitting us here in the U.S.- once again.
No- this is a serious story- it’s about whether or not the current administration took seriously enough the real threat that our ambassador in Libya faced.
Ambassador Stephens said he was on an Al Qaeda hit list.
CNN found his diary a few days after he was killed [it’s amazing that we left the crime scene open- to the point that 3 or 4 days later CNN walked in and found this key piece of evidence just sitting there next to a chair].
In the diary our ambassador wrote about the very real threat of Al Qaeda in the area- he had requested additional resources to guard against the threat.
For some reason- we turned him down.
A few days later he was attacked- dragged thru the streets- sodomized [yes- most news shows did not tell you this part] and murdered in cold blood.
And till this day- over a month later- we don’t have the answers.
Yeah- this is a story that deserves coverage- real news coverage.
See?
1929 LAST NIGHTS DEBATE
Okay- I caught the debate on U- tube.
Bad choice for sure- missed about 15 minutes because of the bad download.
But- for what I saw- it was kinda mean to be honest- and even though the President did much better than the first time- there is enough for both sides to say ‘we did well’.
A few things.
Whenever you hear me talk about media bias- what I mean is most reporters/news guys usually vote for the Democrat candidate.
Polls have been taken in the past and over 90% of those who work in what we call the main stream media are indeed Dem’s.
So- does this means that have a secret conspiracy to go after the Repub?
No.
But when you hold to a particular view- it’s hard to not let it slip out in ways that you- or the hearer- might not even realize.
On the U-tube event- they had Sam Donaldson on- a liberal news guy- who was tough on both Dem’s and Repubs over his life.
But- in one of those ‘unplanned’ media bias moments- when Sam was asked what Obama needs to do.
Donaldson said he has to ‘show how Romney does not really care for the average people’.
Okay- but the way he said the statement actually says Romney does not care for the average guy.
It would be like saying ‘what should Romney do’?
And the reporter says ‘he should show how Obama ruined the country’.
If you believe either of these charges- that’s up to you.
The point is- a reporter should not state the charge as fact.
So- overall the debate went okay.
I thought there were times when the president said ‘you are just not telling the truth’.
A line I find disturbing- because if you keep saying the other guy is lying- when both of you have used the facts the same way- kind of fudging when you can- then you’re not really telling me what your vision is.
But- when one candidate makes an accusation like that- its normal- even called for- to let the accused respond.
In this case- the moderator- Candy Crowley did not let Romney respond back.
But- what’s done is done.
The pre debate chatter from the U Tube panel talked about Romney’s obstacles.
They said that one of his problems is people just don’t like him- that he is really- at heart- a very unlikable person [huh?- both candidates have people who hate/ Love them].
And the panel said the way Romney must deal with it is to simply acknowledge that he is very unlikable [Huh?] and appeal to the people on the basis of ‘Sure- I am not a nice person- I’m actually one of the worst people you will ever meet. Yet- even though I’m so mean- I think I can manage the country better’.
Now- I’m sure the panel thought they were being realistic- but when you use words like this to describe one side- you are being biased.
One more example.
When the president changed his position on Gay marriage- the media reported it as a very good thing- that he was ‘evolving’.
When Romney changed on health care- he was called a flip flopper.
Now- you might think both of these descriptions are accurate- but they play into a mindset- a way of framing the words of a story to make you see the person in a negative light.
This is nothing new- it happens every day in the media.
All in all I think the president did much better than the last time- and I thought Romney did okay.
The real decision should be based on the record- in my view.
Last night the president spoke about how bad things have been for the past 10 years [he’s smarter than Biden- who said the middle class have been crushed these past 4 years].
He blamed all the ills of the last 4 years [you know- they are part of the 10] on the republicans/Bush.
He has said you can’t vote for Romney because he has not actually said- in detail- all that he will do in the budget.
It’s amazing that the president says this- he has not passed a budget- in 4 years.
And when he actually has presented one- he did not get a single vote for it- either Repub or Dem.
As far as I know- this is unprecedented in the history of the country- for a sitting pres to not be able to get a single vote from his own party on his budget.
So- these are the things you should decide on.
If you’re the incumbent- and your saying things have been terrible the past 10 years because of Bush- then you- in my mind- have no real solutions.
I am not an Obama hater by any means- but in the real world if you miss managed the ‘company’ so badly for your first term- then you would not get another.
1930 FRIEND OF SINNERS
Yesterday was the first time I saw my street friends since I’ve been back.
I did need to see the guys [girls] to take care of a few things.
One of the guys did call me when I was in N.J.- and he had an issue- I did not have time to talk so I had to cut him off.
He has been a good friend for years- but to be honest- he is also a violent guy- big guy- and that has gotten him into trouble before.
I have never gotten ‘into it’ with him- but over the years I have had a few times where I had to let him know he couldn’t pull that stuff on me- I wouldn’t go for it.
So- being I basically hung up on him a couple of weeks ago- and it had to do with me talking with his girl [that’s why he has most of his fights- because he is jealous] I figured I better see him…so- as soon as I got to the mission I saw his van parked in the lot- doors open- he lives in the thing.
I walked up and let him know I was back.
Of course he wanted to know what happened when I talked to Julie.
When I left he was stranded in some forest about 600 miles from here- and that’s the last I knew.
I told my friend that we had a good talk- she did accuse him of some stuff [being gay] and he has also said the same about her.
So- as she was making the accusation- I laughed- because I told her he has done the same thing- accused her when he was mad- and I told her I take these things with a grain of salt- and even if it were true- he is still a good friend- either way.
So- that’s what needed to be settled.
My friend simply was worried about the way I viewed him- he thought that because of some stuff she said that maybe I was going to cut him off.
I told him ‘I have been your friend for 25 years- everybody has past issues- I told Julie even if all this stuff were true- he is still my friend’.
He got into a few more things about his past- and started crying- I guess he always feared I would cut him off if I knew.
I told him it did not matter- we are friends.
As I sat at the mission- I saw a few of the guys and caught up on some stuff.
My friend Don- who cares for the garden- he has the fall garden going real good [posted the pics last night].
And I saw Albert- I did not recognize him at first- so I kinda responded in a ‘mean’ way.
When you’re at spots like this- in the open- you have to be careful- sometimes if someone is looking at you- from a distance- and he starts heading your way- they might be getting ready to jump you.
So- I have not seen Albert in 5 years- I had no idea who he was- but he’s walking my way- looking at me- as an old friend.
But- as he got closer- I was ready to stand up and get in his face- then I recognized him [if you just sit down- and someone is coming to jump you- you will get hurt bad].
So- after I saw it was him- I said hi.
I met Albert about 5 years back- he is gay and had a Black boyfriend at the time.
If I remember- they both had some type of a Christian background [families were preacher’s type thing].
I felt funny a few times- they asked me to pray for them- and of course I did.
So- Albert had a guitar and sang a few of his original songs.
One song was a country type thing- and it was a love song [country- so he lost the truck- the dog got killed- you know- country themes!]
But I recognized the words from the bible- Corinthians chapter 13- the love chapter.
When he was done- I told him ‘Corinthians 13’.
He was surprised I knew it- he said ‘I got the words from there- how did you know?’
To be honest- it’s a famous chapter- most bible readers would know.
Its funny- a day or 2 ago I heard/read a verse about reaching out to the poor- the needy.
It says ‘when you help the poor- do it with love- do it cheerfully’.
I wrote it down as a reminder- that it’s important to really love your friends- they appreciate getting help [I gave away some money this day] but they want real friends who will love them like brothers.
I had just written the verse down- and then heard it sung by one of them.
Yeah- my friend wanted to know that what I heard about him- even if it were true- would not break the friendship.
That’s what meant the most to him.
I guess the bible is right ‘Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers- because he too suffered from the same things they suffered with’ [Hebrews].
Jesus was able to identify with people- he walked in their shoes.
Yeah- that counts.
1931 A PLACE CALLED REST
When I get up in the morning- I spend about an hour or so praying/meditating before I write.
I get the entire ‘message’ during this time.
This morning- in my mind- I saw a sort of panoramic view of all of church history- quite a message for a short post.
I also felt like covering the history of Judaism during the time of Christ- another long subject.
I think the main reason for these themes popping up is because I have been reading some in the book of Hebrews- and I want to cover Hebrews 4.
But- let’s try the other stuff and see if we can get it in.
In the early days of the church- in the 4th century- we had the rise of the Roman emperor/military ruler- Constantine.
Part of the achievements of Constantine was his development of the eastern half of the Roman empire- whose capitol was named after him- Constantinople.
Over a period of years the early Roman church fought over whose bishop would have more influence- the bishop of Rome [Pope] or the bishop in the east.
Many bishops in the Catholic Church have disagreed over the influence of one bishop being greater than the others [the idea that all the bishops should have an equal voice at the church councils is called Collegiality].
This has caused splits within the Catholic Church thru the centuries [the last big one in the 19th century].
Eventually the early church split- and the Eastern Church separated from Rome.
The eastern empire [called Byzantium- the seat of the Eastern Orthodox Church] officially split in the year 1054.
Now- in church history we call this the Great Schism- even though the Protestant split which took place in the 16th century was greater in effect.
Okay- the Protestant reformers split over various issues- I have an entire study on the blog about this.
But the main issue became what we call justification by faith.
Over the centuries many good men- and average church goers- lost the main message of the New Testament- which was a message of being saved by the grace of God.
Many well meaning Christians were struggling to do penance in a way that sort of earned them their salvation thru works.
The Protestant reformer Martin Luther was teaching the book of Romans [he was a scholar and a Catholic leader in intellectual circles at the time].
During his teaching on the epistle of Paul [Romans- in our bible] he came across a verse that said THE JUST SHALL LIVE BY FAITH.
As he mediated on the passage- and the other themes in Romans that speak about being saved by faith and not by works- he started a sort of mini revolution amongst the students and he became a sort of favorite teacher in the area of Germany where he was teaching.
Over a period of time- thru all sorts of religious and political machinations- he launched what we now call the Protestant Reformation.
Okay- Hebrews 4.
How does this fit in?
In Hebrews 4- the writer is appealing to a first century Jewish audience who were steeped in a legalistic mindset.
That is- in many ways- they were like the Christians of the 16th century who lost the idea of grace- and were seeking to please God thru the works of the law.
The writer tells them that thru the appearing of the Messiah- Christ- we can enter into a new type of covenant- one based on rest.
He says ‘those who have entered into Gods rest have ceased from their own works- as God did from his’.
Okay- there’s a lot to unpack here- and time is running out.
The writer uses the creation account in Genesis chapter 2- where the bible says God created the world in 6 days- and on the 7th day he rested.
He symbolically says ‘there is a place- called Gods ‘rest’ that we too must enter into’.
He’s using an analogy- God rested from his works on the Sabbath day- so we too must strive to enter into this Sabbath rest [a type of the New Covenant- established on the death and resurrection of Christ].
If you read the chapter- you should be able to pick up this main theme- the main point he is making is because Jesus has come and become the final Passover sacrifice for the sins of man- therefore the Old law- with all of its sacrifices and demands- has now been fulfilled thru Christ.
We sit ‘at the table’ with the other disciples- the Lords table- and we freely partake of the Body and Blood of Christ- and by faith we receive eternal life- not by the works of the law.
See- this is the whole point.
Thru out the centuries Christians have lost this sense of free grace- this reality that we come to God by faith- not based on how good we have been- how hard we have tried to obey the law.
No- we come to God- Boldly [Hebrews] ‘because we have a great high priest who is now in heaven- seated at the right hand of God’.
Jesus represents us to God- he is before the throne of God interceding [praying] on our behalf.
It is no longer a matter of our effort- our striving- no- we are truly saved by grace.
Amen.
1932 CHALLENGING THE SYSTEM
I have finally started my book on Einstein.
I bought it a few weeks ago- and never had the chance to break it open.
I also am working my way thru the Catechism of the Catholic church- quite a volume indeed.
I watched a couple of documentaries on Netflix over the weekend- Last night I caught a documentary on Hunter Thompson.
He was the character that Johnny Depp played in the movie ‘Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas’.
Hunter was a sort of counter culture hero- he wrote for Rolling Stone and had his own unique style of writing.
He called it Gonzo journalism- he said the writer needed to inject himself into the story- and become part of the story.
Sort of like what the reporters did in the Iraq war- we called it ‘Embed’.
He covered the campaign of George McGovern- who sadly passed this week.
George was the quintessential liberal- but a man of conviction- he was a good man.
Hunter made it into the headlines a few years back- he killed himself with one of his favorite things- a gun.
Yeah- Hunter was a gun lover- a liberal- and in some ways a moralist of his time.
Now- with all the doc’s I saw [also finished Greek civilization] and the books I’m reading- it’s hard to pick one subject to cover at a time.
But let me go with Einstein for a few minutes.
In this biography- by Walter Isaacson- he doesn’t go too deeply into the science of Einstein- which would take a whole physics course to understand.
But he does cover some high points.
One of the things that Thompson and Einstein had in common- was their willingness to challenge the system.
They took on the ‘received wisdom’ of the day- and were daring enough to take the ‘path less trod’.
Just one area- Ether.
At the start of the 20th century Ether was an accepted ‘scientific truth’ that most [if not all] scientists accepted.
It would be like Dark Matter today- something that seems to be ‘true’- most of the scientific community speak of it as real- yet- as far as we know- we have never once actually detected it.
So- ether was this theory that said light/energy is a wave [not particles] and therefore for this wave to move thru space- it needs a carrier.
Ether was this so called vapor like substance that allowed Energy/light to travel.
At a young age Einstein accepted this idea- but he was learning at a time when particle physics was just getting off the ground.
Though atoms and molecules [particles] were indeed part of the conversation- yet they were not totally proved yet.
So- part of the great breakthrough of Einstein put to death the idea of Ether- and instead we learned that light is not a wave so to speak- but a sort of particle beam- we did not really need the Ether concept- and to be honest- it never was really there.
This is just one little tid bit from the book that I thought interesting- today you would be considered a fool if you still talked about Ether [in this way].
Yet- at the time of Einstein you were a fool if you did not accept it.
Einstein would later challenge the field that he launched- Theoretical/Quantum physics.
He felt like some of the ideas were not really scientific- too much speculating.
That’s what I see as I watch/read about some of the most popular ideas that seem to make it into the TV specials that cover these subjects.
It’s often the theories/ideas that are ‘way out there’ that are the most interesting- and get the most viewers.
The problem is- many of these ideas are [in my view] modern day Ethers- they are accepted ‘fact’ even though we don’t really know if they exist.
When I see shows on alternate universes- parallel worlds- where we supposedly have duplicate lives and all.
Well- this is not science- this is not even Ether- its fairy tale land.
Yet- these same theorists will mock belief in an omnipotent being- because they want to see the facts.
Sad.
So- over the next few weeks I will try and hit a little more on the books I’m reading- cover some more important news stuff- and try to be as challenging as Hunter.
Sometimes it’s when we go against the status quo- when we are open to see things differently- that’s when we make major breakthroughs in our thinking.
We should not cast off all the stuff that has come to us down thru the ages- but we need to realize that some of the stuff that seems to be accepted fact today- just might be the Ether of yesterday.
1933 THE LAST FANDANGO
Got home yesterday afternoon- had a few buddies that were waiting for me at the house.
Yeah- they hunted me down!
Actually I told the guys the other day [homeless bro’s] that we were gonna do another all nighter this week.
I get with them- we hang out for the day- I pick up bbq and we have an all day fellowship- then they crash out on the floor till morning.
So- they ‘picked’ last night!
No BBQ- but they ate left over home made meatballs [they did come good!] and a plate of Mac’s- I think they liked it better than the BBQ.
Henry’s crashed on the couch- we both watched the debate and fell asleep.
Okay- howd’ it go?
A few points;
I think they both pretty much pleased their base- after the poor showing by the President in the 1st debate- his base wanted him to ‘go after Romney’.
And that’s what he did.
The political team of Obama chose to use the word ‘you are a lair’ or ‘you are simply not telling the truth’.
This became a mantra for Obama.
After saying it once or twice- I found it tiresome.
The president did in fact say this- when he was the one who was ‘factually wrong’ [sounds better than liar- don’t you think?]
Last night the president accused Romney of not wanting to help the auto companies during the bailout.
At the time Romney wrote an Op-Ed and said he felt the auto companies should go thru bankruptcy- and then the fed govt. could at that point bail them out financially.
Last night Obama said that Romney did not want any fed money to be used.
Romney replied that he was wrong- he did indeed call for fed money- Obama said he was lying.
It took 5 minutes to Google the op-ed- yes- Romney was right- Obama wrong.
The problem?
He was using the accusation ‘liar’ when he himself was doing it.
He must know he is doing it.
Then why do it?
He made the political calculation that this was the best way to raddle your opponent- you lie about him- and call him a liar at the same time.
What about the people who will find out that Obama lied?
That’s part of the calculation- only so many will find out the facts.
I don’t like it when a sitting president does this- most candidates fudge the numbers on stuff- but to actually outright lie in a public forum is rare.
He did this in the last debate as well.
Romney said that oil drilling/permits on public [govt.] lands went down the last 4 years.
Obama said Romney was ‘lying’- huh?
Romney tried to be careful- he said that oil permits/drilling went down on govt. land- but up on private.
Now- as a news guy- I have known this stat for a few years now.
But- Obama repeatedly said Romney was lying- and that drilling/permits went up on govt. Lands in the last 4 years.
Huh?
It took 5 secs to find out that drilling/permits have gone down- 39%- on govt. lands the last 4 years.
Okay- while the pres was being ‘factually wrong’ at the same time- he is saying ‘your lying’.
I just found the whole ‘you’re a lair’ strategy to be condescending- your making the calculation that the other guy will get really mad [wouldn’t you?] Because you are the one actually lying- numerous times- while making the accusation.
Romney never took the bait- many supporters of the president- who only watch MSNBC- will never find out he was indeed wrong- and for the others who did find out he was wrong- he could care less.
So- that’s the big story- Obama never really laid out any plan- anything he would do that would be different than the last 4 years.
The tax plan ‘the rich paying their fair share’ will increase taxes on individuals making more than 200 thousand a year- couples making more than 250.
In many areas of the country- that’s not rich.
So why do it?
If you simply 'tax millionaires’ you won’t make enough revenue.
So- you say ‘tax the rich- they are not paying’ but you mean ‘tax many in the middle class- but don’t say it’.
That’s the only real ‘plan’ the president has- and that’s not really a plan.
When I was in N.J.- I caught some news.
In the beginning of the year we knew that in order for the unemployment number to go down- under 8%- you needed to create at least 300 thousand jobs a month- for a few months in a row.
At one point- it looked like that might have happened- and all the pundits- liberals and conservatives- agreed that the only way unemployment would go under the 8% mark was for this to happen.
But then- not only did the monthly jobs never make the above 300 mark- they did not even keep up with the 150 thousand mark- which meant that the rate would go up- to around 8.5. [you need around 150,000 a month to keep up with population growth- new people entering the workforce for the 1st time].
So- as the year rolled on- what could the media do?
Some said- just watch- they will get the number they need- somehow they will simply say ‘the new unemployment number is now under 8’.
But how?
Last month’s jobs number came out- they were once again below 150,000- and nowhere near 350,000 or higher.
Yet- as the labor dept. put out the new employment numbers for the month- they reported unemployment at 7.8%.
This would mean that the jobs/economy is doing better than it has in many years.
This simply was not true- yet they got the magic number- somehow?
How did they do it?
There is lots of speculation- but there was a little note at the bottom of the report.
When the labor dept. does these numbers- they collect all the data from the sates and average it out.
In the reported states- one state was left out.
Was it a little state- say like Rhode Island?
No- it was California.
The largest state- economy wise- in the country.
They used to be the 8th largest economy in the world- they were just passed by Brazil for that rating.
But- they are also the worst state- economically- then all the others.
If you leave out Cali- then you get the magic 7.8 number.
Sure- they will later revise the number- after the initial effect wears off- but they got what they wanted- that initial effect of ‘unemployment is the lowest it has been in years’ the month before the election.
Even though that stat is unreliable.
So- as we end the debates and head towards the election- one guy kept saying the other guy was lying.
And time after time- in many ways- we were all lied to.
Vote your conscience- look at the facts- don’t let others form your opinion of either man- simply look at the track record for yourself.
O- and may God help us all- we will need it.
1934 MERCY OR JUDGMENT?
Let’s talk a little.
First- I found it interesting that the last few days the stock market took a hit.
In the beginning of the year I thought the Dow should/would be somewhere in the 12,000 range by the end of the year.
I heard some financial guys talk about it maybe going to 17,000- others had lower estimates.
But none had my estimate.
Why did I have a bearish view?
Because all [most] of the data showed that we were in a global slowdown.
The Asian markets/economy was doing worse than expected.
Many were counting on China to pull the rest of the world out- instead the rest of the world [the E.U. crisis- U.S.] pulled them down.
Now- the jobs numbers were not good- and the last few days the data showed this.
This is [should not be] a surprise.
But to many it was.
Why?
Because many financial folk- good people- simply did not want to believe the bad report.
Even though the ‘bad’ report- the stats I just gave- were more than likely going to pull the market down- yet many felt if they just keep talking up the market- things will do better.
Sorry- a positive confession does not work when the stats are bad.
So- as we near the end of the year- it looks like we might make it into the 12,000’s once again.
Okay- I also wanted to mention a few more things about my Jersey trip.
I want to give a prime example of what ‘too much government’ looks like.
Now- I love my old state- the Garden state [you ask- why garden? Because as a kid I remember the paintings of gardens on some old truck road down the block!]
While I was staying at my mom’s house- my mom and sister have multiple health problems- my dear mom is getting up in years- and to be honest- they have a hard time simply dealing with day to day chores.
But- I was shocked at the fact that one of the major chores of their week was having to move their cars- by ‘law’ 2 times a week.
Yes- that Old Street Sweeper just keeps on coming!
The city [for those who don’t live in N.J.] has a street sweeper that comes by on Mondays and Wednesdays- between 1 and 3 p.m. - and basically pushes the dirt around.
I have lived my entire adult life with no street sweeper- and the streets look the same- the rain does the job for free.
But- in my old town- with all the political connections- you would never be able to get rid of the dept.
So- my mom plans her week around having to move 2 cars [hers and my sisters] 2 times a week.
Problem?
Everybody else is also moving their cars- at the same time- to the opposite side of the street.
So- every so often- my mom drives a couple of blocks to find a spot.
She also has to jump start my sisters car- twice a week- to move it.
Sometimes if you can’t find a spot- you simply drive around from 1-3.
To be honest- this is what you call ‘a police state- or city’.
I told my dear mom- if this were in Texas [or any other Democracy] you would have some guy [gal] run for mayor on a platform of ‘the first thing I will do is abolish the street sweeper- I will then rebate all these fine citizens of this town all the wasted money on the thing’.
And the guy would win.
But- the politicos have connections- the unions support guys who keep them in their jobs- and the fine citizens of North Bergen will continue to move their cars- twice a week- so the guys can keep their 70,000 dollar a year jobs.
One last note from the journey.
On the way back to Texas I listened to news/talk radio.
One of the big stories I caught while driving thru Dallas was the case of a 22 year old single mom who glued her daughter’s hands to the wall.
Yes- a very sad case indeed.
The reason it lit up the talk shows was the night I was driving in- the judge sentenced her to 99 years in prison.
The show I was hearing played the audio in the courtroom- many were in shock.
The talk show guy was siding with the judge- you had various people call in with their opinions.
This sentence was harsher than that given to people who have actually have killed their kids [Deena Shlosser being one].
When you make child abuse- which is a very bad crime- a higher punishment then actually murdering the child- then what do you think the results might be?
Sure- some say ‘well- that way people will know not to do it’.
But you might also have some unstable moms who have already abused their kids- who might now think ‘gee- if they ever tell- I will be punished with a harsher sentence then if I killed them’.
That’s something we don’t want either- see?
I cut out the news article of the girl- Elizabeth- and she will forever be on my prayer wall- with hundreds of other cases that I have collected over the years.
As I heard the sentencing judge- of course he had his reasons- the prosecutor was only asking for 45 years- yet the defendant chose a non jury trial- and in Texas the judges are elected.
Your main election benefit of being ‘tough on crime’.
And that was that.
We had a local judge run over a highway worker a few years ago.
He was a very famous ‘tough on crime’ judge- he and his wife were big Democrats- involved in all the politics of the area- many connections.
When I read the story- the judge was driving 70-75 on a turn that was posted at 20-25 MPH.
I have gone to many car wrecks over the years- as a firefighter- and when we had people doing stuff like this- you got arrested- and had some type of price to pay.
But- as the story went on- the local paper explained that the 20 MPH sign was just a ‘suggested’ speed- that the turn is still part of the highway- so 75 MPH was the actual speed.
Huh?
Also- even though he flipped the guy off the bridge/overpass- and nearly killed him- yet- somehow the judge did no wrong.
When all was said and done- he got the equivalence a parking ticket.
[ I also read an article in the paper about this time- it was a ‘warning’ to drivers- the story interviewed some local officials- and they explained that if your driving 55- in a 55- you could be cited for reckless driving- because if its raining- then the cop makes the call. It went on to say if you slow down to much in the rain- that too is reckless. And- of course- if you’re going to fast- well we can’t have that. So the article stated that if your going under the speed limit- doing the speed limit- or driving over the speed limit- watch out! That’s of course if you’re not connected in some way].
Sad.
I’m sure when the case worked its way thru ‘the system’ that at each turn the people who knew him felt justified ‘after all- this is so and so- he has a family for heaven’s sake!’.
And they empathized with him because they knew him.
Yet- when meeting out judgments on others- they seem to be able to see only justice- without mercy.
I will pray for Elizabeth- to be honest- the rest of my life.
Maybe I will write her as time goes by.
But the bible says ‘mercy rejoices against judgment’ I choose mercy.
1935 ROMNESIA ANYONE?
Let’s end the week with a little news.
Last night I caught a few ‘fact checking’ reports.
They covered the statement in the debate when Romney used the phrase ‘apology tour’.
Now- over the past year this term has a meaning- sort of like ‘Obama care’.
In the talk show/news circuit it means that the President did indeed do a world tour where he felt like he would try and establish a new relationship with foreign leaders.
Now- some say he was naïve- others think he did well- either way- the term ‘apology tour’ refers to this trip.
In the debate- when Romney used the term- the president responded that Romney is a liar- and that he never ‘apologized’.
Got ya.
Now- Romney never said he apologized- and in response Romney said when he uses the term ‘apology tour’ he is not in any way saying he actually used the words ‘I apologize’.
No- Romney gave an honest/truthful response- he said that during this tour- the president did use words like ‘the U.S. has dictated to you other countries at times- and this will be a new season’.
Romney basically said- yes Mr. president- your right- you never actually apologized- but you represented the U.S. in a way that said we were arrogant in the past- we responded to 9-11 in a way that was inconsistent with our values [I heard him say this myself- he was referring to the water boarding stuff].
Okay- basically Romney used the term- sort of like Obama uses Romnesia- he is not saying that Romney actually suffers from some strange form of amnesia- no- he is saying that Romney changes his position on stuff.
Okay- now here’s how the media tries to manipulate the public.
The reports I saw yesterday- the so called ‘fact checkers’ they went thru some of the speeches Obama gave during this ‘apology tour’ [they left out the ones where he did use the most apologetic language].
And at the end of their fact checking- they said ‘no- Romney is wrong [liar?] because the president never actually apologized’.
Ah- so the unsuspecting public thinks that Romney actually said the president apologized- and then when you hear these reports- these so called ‘fact checks’ you then think ‘gee- that Romney is a liar’.
Okay- where were the reports that said ‘ no- in fact- Romney does not suffer from Romnesia’?
See?
That’s media manipulation- that’s media bias- the media shapes a story in a way that makes you think the way they want you to think.
The actual fact is- Romney- nor anyone that I ever heard use the term- ever meant that Obama actually said ‘I’m sorry’.
But the fact check made you think that was the accusation.
A few years ago there was a news story about a trip to Afghanistan by some senators.
Later on it was reported that some military leaders might have used a form of propaganda on the senators.
Psychological Op’s.
They supposedly did this in order to influence the senators to take their side in the war- I think it had to do with funding or man power.
After the report surfaced- the senators did of course condemn it- but they also said ‘look- we’re big boys- we can’t be swayed by stuff like that’.
But- when you use propaganda- you use it in a way that when you ‘persuade’ the victim- he does not know it.
For instance- maybe when the senators were there for a week- the military guys spoke in a negative way about a certain group/position.
But they did it in what you thought was normal conversation- maybe after a week- you think your just listening in to regular conversation- but everything you heard was to persuade you.
Then- when you get back home- if a vote comes up on the issue- you have already heard all the pros’ [or con’s] and this would indeed effect you.
That’s manipulation- that’s all the ‘fact checks’ that said ‘no- Obama never apologized- Romney is wrong’.
When you read/hear that- you think Romney accused Obama of apologizing- but he never did- he even went out of his way in the debate to say ‘when I use the term Apology Tour- I do not mean you actual apologized- no- I mean…’
Yet- the media still covered the story the way they wanted you to see it.
Now- is this one little thing such a big deal?
No- not if this were the only time it was done.
But the fact is- the media do this every day.
They focus on a story that they think might hurt someone [like a 40 year old hair cut that Romney gave to some kid- a ‘bullying incident’].
But the murder of 4 Americans in Libya- and the absolute failure on the part of the administration by not protecting our guys- no- on some news shows this gets zero coverage.
That’s manipulation- that’s bias- that’s what you don’t see.
Yes- like the well meaning senators- you might think ‘heck- I’m not that dumb’.
But the media must think we are- because they keep on doing it- day after day.
No wait- maybe they think we suffer from that newly coined disease- what was it again?
Oh yeah- Romnesia- that’s it.
1936 EINSTEIN THE DETERMINIST.
In keeping with the last post [propaganda] I read an interesting AP article on Syria.
As most of you know Syria has been in a civil war for many months- they are the 1st ‘Arab spring’ nation that has not ‘fallen’ to the rebels.
Now- there are lots of political things going on in the region [Russia and China not supporting a Libyan style NATO action] that are sustaining Assad’s regime.
But I found it funny how the western media have chosen to portray the war.
In order for the media to side with those who want to depose Assad- they must ‘side’ with the ‘deposers’.
So- the article spoke about the outside Al Qaeda groups who are coming in to assist the rebels.
It used terms like ‘heroism’ ‘valor’ ‘experienced fighters who know what they are doing’.
These terms were used to describe Al Qaeda fighters- in contrast to Assad- a ‘crimes against humanity’ description.
Wow- I never thought the media would actually try and honor Al Qaeda fighters- in order to accomplish their agenda.
That my friends is the ultimate in propaganda.
Okay- I read some more on Einstein over the weekend- and wanted to cover a few things.
Over the years as you read various sources about famous folk- you need to be aware of the source.
For instance- Christian writers [writing from that perspective] often portray the religious tendencies of a figure in a more favorable light then an atheist writer would.
So you have to be careful that the author is not writing his own story into the person he is covering.
But the biography I’m reading was not written from a religious view.
Yet- the author does share the various positions Einstein has taken about God over the years.
One thing to note is Einstein was a lover of philosophy- he admired men like Hume, Kant and Spinoza.
If you remember- a few years ago I covered the history of philosophy and how much of it dealt with what the causes of things are.
The law of Cause and Effect [also referred to as causality].
As a Physicist- Einstein had a great interest in these subjects.
At the end of the day- Einstein fell into a camp of thinkers called Determinists.
That means he believed that that the universe was ruled by definite principles- even though we did not have the answers to all the puzzles- yet he was convinced that if we searched long enough- we would find order to it.
This belief is in keeping with Theistic thinkers- not with those who ascribe chance and disorder to the creation.
I might have bitten off a little much here- but the point is- at the end of the day Einstein rejected the commonly held belief that there is no real cause to the things we see.
Many thinkers who argue against the existence of God argue form a perspective that chance is behind the ‘perceived’ design we see in nature.
Dawkins [the famous atheist] calls it ‘the appearance of design’.
Einstein did not simply believe in the ‘appearance’ of design- but he believed that the Cosmos was indeed a product of some type of cause that gave it design.
Now- I’m not saying Einstein was a Christian [or observant Jew]- but the point is- in his thinking- he rejects the most commonly held arguments that are made against the Theistic world view [in Cosmology- science] and sides with the Christian thinkers of our day.
Einstein famously said ‘God does not roll dice’ meaning he did not believe in the atheistic argument that things just happen without any cause.
No- Einstein seems to agree with one of his favorite thinkers- Spinoza said ‘All things are determined by the necessity of Divine nature’.
Yes- Einstein was a Determinist in his thinking- he did indeed side with the Theists at the end of the day.
1937- WAR CRIMES AND OTHER STUFF.
In the aftermath of the Benghazi debacle [the U.S. putting an embassy in the middle of an unsecured area- with known militants roaming the land- and then pulling out their security]. There were voices [including the president] that condemned the killing of the ambassador as acts of terror- or on the same grounds as a war crime.
The president used language like ‘bring them to justice’.
When one nation declares war on another [or in this case- a specific group- Al Qaeda]- then the killing of actual representatives of the other side- when that side is dumb enough to plant them like sitting ducks- is actually considered a legitimate military target [compared to the killing of an ordinary citizen who holds no official capacity].
Now- before I lose my conservative readers- listen clearly.
I of course condemn the killing of ambassador Stevens- and the 3 other Americans.
After watching/reading the stories about this incident over the past couple of weeks- I fault the U.S. administration for failing to properly protect the area.
We now know that that the U.S. watched the attack unfold- over a period of 7-8 hours- and did nothing.
There are conflicting stories- our people on the ground said they requested help- multiple times.
They said that help was denied.
We had a brave young Navy seal who took it upon himself to try and save the ambassador- he was killed in the attempt.
And we had the president say- that as soon as he heard of the attack- he immediately made ‘the call’ to increase security around the world- and start the steps to bring the attackers ‘to justice’.
What our guys needed was ‘real time’ help- we had a drone filming the thing- some possibly armed- and we watched our guys get killed for 7 hours- and did nothing.
Now- this was a debacle in no uncertain terms- and the loss of our guys is tragic.
But- when you declare war- and put an official representative of the opposing side smack dab in the middle of those we declared war on- what the ‘heck’ do we expect?
War crimes.
Right now in the media- this term is often used against those we deem ready for removal.
It makes no difference to us whether the side doing the removal are Al Qaeda- we simply refer to the leaders as having committed ‘war crimes’ or ‘crimes against humanity’.
We did this with Gadhaffi- doing it with Assad [Syria] and will probably keep doing it from now on.
When you see one side as having committed ‘crimes against humanity’ in general- then it justifies the other side- no matter how bad they are.
The whole concept of holding people responsible for war crimes arose after world war 1- yet it wasn’t until WW2 that we really had the concept down.
After the war was over- there were trials held in Germany- the most famous being Nuremburg- and we tried the German military men who committed ‘war crimes’.
Some of the criteria for a war crime simply said ‘if the losing side did it- and the winning side did not- then that’s a war crime’.
Sounds a little like Jeff Foxworthy type stuff.
But this is true- some of the German submarine captains actually used as there defense- that the allies [our side] did the same thing- and that was enough to say ‘okay- not a war crime’.
As you can see- war crimes- or ‘crimes against humanity’ are in the eye of the beholder.
Now- in the entire history of the world- the biggest one [or 2] day killing of civilians- that is a targeting of civilians for a military/political goal- was the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Yes- out of all the nations on the planet- the U.S. killed more civilians- on purpose- in these 2 attacks- then in any other single bombing in history.
We had our reasons for sure- but the immediate deaths were around 200 thousand- not counting the many women and children who died many years later- from the long tortuous process of radiation cancer.
These types of deaths- especially on many of the thousands of young kids who suffered extreme agony- great fear in their deaths- were not considered ‘crimes against humans’.
Yet- the water boarding of a terrorist- an actual enemy who is in our custody- is considered tortuous- and meets the criteria of a war crime.
See how messed up this is?
Now- in the past 2 years the U.S. has worked closely with the state of Israel in monitoring/spying on Iran- to see how far along they are coming with their nuclear program.
We share intelligence- and have even ‘partnered’ with them in some clandestine op’s.
The famous Stuxnet virus- a computer virus that was launched to disable Iran’s nuclear reactors- was a joint program between the U.S. and Israel.
Okay- one of the other secret operations that has been going on is the killing of civilian scientists who are working with Iran’s nuclear program.
These scientists are not military targets- they are civilians- who are deemed ‘worthy’ targets because of their role in the nuclear program.
I have heard no one call these killings ‘crimes against humans’ or ‘war crimes’ even though these scientists are civilians.
No- in the reports about their killings- there is a sense of ‘hooray’.
In the past 3 years there has been a collection of various bomb parts- dropped by the U.S. - in the mountainous region between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
There are legal teams on the ground- representing the families of kids and women who have been killed by our nonstop use of Drones in the area.
We- the U.S.- have a military objective- to root out the Taliban [who were ‘created’ by the U.S. govt. when we aided them against the Russians]. In the process of this rooting out- we have killed- and keep on killing- Muslim women and kids.
Now- do we ‘mean’ to kill them?
Of course not.
But we are making the military/political calculation that so many kids and women will indeed be killed- we know this.
So- we are basically saying ‘look- we really don’t want to kill these kids- but this does happen from time to time’.
Can we help it?
Of course- stop using the ‘darn’ drones- solved.
The whole point I’m making in this post is we- the citizens of the world- are often manipulated by the way a story is told- by the way the media show us stuff.
I know of no U.S. citizen who even thinks twice about calling the killing of the Japanese- and thousands of kids- with radiation poisoning- a very tortuous death- a war crime.
Yet many see the water boarding of a terrorist as a war crime.
Does this make any sense at all?
All killing- all war- is wrong.
What?
You mean our response to 9-11 is wrong?
I mean that when humans resort to killing other humans- because they see no other way to resolve the problem- then it’s wrong.
I don’t like hearing the words ‘this guy committed a crime against humans’.
When you put a bullet in another human- and kill that person- it is never a just act- not in my book.
Yes- there are people who have committed terrible crimes- and I- like everybody else- also think ‘that so and so needs to die’.
But as a society- we should be able to deal with them [life without ever getting out] without having to kill them.
Over the next few weeks we will see the outcome of what really happened in Libya- but when I hear words like ‘we will bring them to justice’.
I don’t truly get it- if we [the U.S.] declare war on a group- we then need to be more responsible about where we put official rep’s of the U.S.
Our official Rep’s are deemed ‘justified’ targets- they represent the U.S. govt. in an official capacity.
The U.S. needs to respond to attacks on them as an act of war.
I heard Leon Panetta say ‘we couldn’t put our troops at risk in an unknown situation’.
No- you say that if it’s some type of rescue operation of non U.S. citizens- but when it’s an attack by those we have declared war on- and they are attacking our official U.S. rep on the ground- no- we do indeed put our troops at risk to go in and do what needs to be done.
That’s war.
1938 LEAN FORWARD?
I debated whether or not to address this today.
I thought of maybe just doing a prayer request for all of our friend’s in N.J. - the devastation is beyond what anybody would have thought.
I find it strange that I was just in Jersey- rode the subway for the first time in 25 years- and now I see the tunnels flooded.
As I drove into the state- I passed some of the shore points- and was going to stop and see some of the old spots I loved as a kid.
One of my favorites was Seaside Heights- now the area is devastated.
So- we do need to pray for all of our friends in the region- and help in any way we can.
Now- the tough stuff.
As a news/political watcher- I saw the president do something that was a crass political move.
He did it because he knew that most people would not know he was doing it- during the deaths of people- but he wanted his ‘target’ audience to respond.
What did he do?
In one of the first speeches about the hurricane- he said ‘I am directing all the aid agencies to LEAN FORWARD’.
About 6 months or so this term LEAN FORWARD became the new campaign theme for the Obama team.
Yeah- maybe 5 % of the public know this- but everyone in politics knows it.
Now- at the same time MSNBC took the phrase LEAN FORWARD as their own sort of cheer for the president.
None of this is a secret- it was an open type thing.
Okay- when the president used the term- he knew it would be heard by the Repubs/Romney folk- and he wanted them to tell you what I just did- that he indeed followed the advice of his former White House chief of staff ‘let no disaster go to waste’.
Rahm Emanuel said you should use a disaster- when people die- to your political gain.
So- he dropped this statement in- trying to elicit a response from the opponent- and then MSNBC would jump into lap dog mode and say ‘how dare he accuse the president of politics!!’
Of course they would have to take a break from their present mantra ‘all who don’t like the president are racists’.
I at first did not think Obama would do things like this- I did like the man at the start.
But- I have seen him do this- more than once.
When the Pres gave the order to get Bin laden- no one knew it till after the State of the Union address- it made him look big in the eyes of many- because the scene of the Repubs giving a response to the Pres- while he was ‘getting the bad man’ simply gives political points to the ‘good man’.
Got it?
Now- he did no other action like this- until the next year- during the next state of the union address.
Yeah- he waited a whole year- and in the next state of the union he sent in U.S. troops to go after Joe Kony- a radical leader of a group in Africa.
He gave the order to go- on the same exact night of the state of the union.
The man we went after has been operating for many years- as a matter of fact his influence had waned over the past few years.
But- he was trying to get a response from the opposing side- the Repubs- and they did not take the bait.
Finally- after a week or 2 of no criticism from the right- I heard a liberal reporter slip and say ‘all you bad guys- watch out- the president only comes after you during his state of the union speeches’.
Oops.
Now- like I said at the start- why would he have used this term LEAN FORWARD- knowing for sure that the insiders would know that he was connecting his political goals with the hurricane?
He did it because he knew that if anyone had the ‘audacity’ [of hope?] To tell you what I just did- then they would pounce like there was no tomorrow.
Then why did I just say it?
I said it because what he did was simply wrong- he has a tendency to throw out bait like this- in situations where people are/have died- and he does it for political advantage- that’s why.
And he played the odds- sure- maybe a small percentage of political folk knew that he actually made the phrase LEAN FORWARD- his campaign mantra- but he figures ‘to heck with them’ that is those who know what he did- he’ll just write them off- and throw out the bait because he wants the Romney folk to tell you what I just told you.
Sad.
Sad that any president would do this- while people are dying.
Sad that he was waiting for someone to tell you this- so he and his media advocates could say ‘how dare any one even think this’.
But most of all- it’s sad that this is true- and you can take that to the bank.
1939 THE MORE IMPORTANT STUFF
Today we are going to do an ‘all nighter’.
A few months ago I started a new thing- I invited a few of the homeless guys over to the house [actually that’s not new].
But I cooked a good meal for them and let them crash out on the floor for the night.
Over the years I have had a few friends spend the night- but not on a weekly basis.
So- I fixed up a room for them- and tonight they will use it.
Before the weeks out [I guess that means in the morning?] I will try and write a post on Luke chapter 15.
I at least want to cover one bible chapter a week.
But let me just make a few notes today.
For those of you who are not familiar with ‘our ministry’- the whole basis of what I do could be summed up from Isaiah chapter 58.
In a way it’s an encapsulation of the whole intent of the Judaic law.
Actually that will fit in with tomorrows post.
In the Old Testament prophets we read many times where God rebukes the Jewish people [called the People of God under the old covenant].
And he says time after time ‘I don’t want your religious ritual- I want your heart- I don’t want to know how good your are at making animal sacrifice- I want you to sacrifice by loving your neighbor’.
These themes are found all thru out the prophets.
Now- in the New Testament we see the same thing with Jesus.
He says ‘you tithe and do all types of religious stuff- yet you have left out the more important matters- love and mercy’.
Jesus truly fulfills his prophetic role by defending the poor and speaking ‘truth to power’.
I see the role of the church- the main job of Christians- as one where we are not building religious empires- where we are not all about getting a lot of money to ‘reach the world’.
But where we are to live- as best as possible- the new command that Jesus left us.
‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart- soul- mind and might- and your neighbor as yourself’.
That’s the crux of the matter.
So- today I will go down to the mission and invite about 5 or so friends.
We will pick up some food for the ‘party’ [I got paid last night!]
We will come back to the house- hang out- share what’s been happening- eat- and then crash for the night.
Now- don’t be fooled- we will talk much about Gods will- the guys always wind up bringing it up- it’s a natural part of fellowship.
There will be no drinking or smoking [pot].
Yeah- the guys will smoke cig’s.
But all in all they know the rules- and they abide by them.
Last week Michael- the street artist I have written about over the years.
Mike is a great painter- and right now he works as a cook at one of the local buffets.
He came over just for a few hours with some brothers- and later he told me that was one of the best times he has ever had.
We did nothing- but hung out.
Many street people live lives of quiet desperation.
I see them every day- they go thru their routines- they know each other by name- but yet they rarely interact this way- that is just getting together without it being a drug induced party.
And when they do get together like this- it helps them.
The other day I was talking to Joe- a friend I have known for 20 years.
Somehow he brought up the name Tom.
I asked him ‘do you mean the Tom that hit the 100 thousand dollar lotto ticket a few months ago’?
Yeah- one of my good friends hit the Texas lotto thing- a scratch off- and won big.
He bought 2 Harleys and a bunch of stuff.
I posted the pic on my site- you probably would find it under the Photo album named ‘homeless 2012’ [Face book site].
As I mentioned Tom- the Harley guy.
Joe told me ‘no- not him- he’s my biological brother’.
Huh?
I have known both of these guys for 20 years- have seen them on the streets- at the mission- all over.
Yet I never knew they were related- actual brothers.
It’s easy for the guys to live their lives- to pass by each other- and never really have fellowship- a good time where they all get together and have fun- without getting drunk- without getting high- just eating good food and knowing that we are doing it as a ministry/friendship thing.
I simply spend my money on the stuff- I take no offerings for it- imagine if we all did stuff like this? [I know many others do- but most Christians don’t see this as a regular part of the Christian experience].
If people all over the world did this on a regular basis.
Then if you had all the church people doing it- then you wouldn’t need to raise a million to do ‘Gods work’.
It would be getting done thru the small sacrifices that each of us make on a daily basis.
The Apostle Paul wrote the Ephesians and said ‘he that is not working- get a job- so you can have to give to those in need’.
What?
No tithe here?
Not pouring it into a huge ministry budget?
No red tape?
Yeah- the New Testament [and old- Isaiah 58] teach us to actually use our resources to reach out- directly- to the poor and hurting.
Read the epistle of James- or the letter’s of John.
This teaching is not a side issue- it’s one of the main things.
As a matter of fact- that’s why the prophets of the Old Testament- and Jesus in the New- kept rebuking the religious people of their day- because they knew how to keep the religious rituals.
But they forgot the ‘more important stuff’.
1940 WHY THE EXCITEMENT?
Okay- as promised let’s cover the gospel of Luke- chapter 15.
First- we had a good fellowship last night- cooked lots- and 4 guys spent the night crashed out on the floor.
I just saw Hugh on the way to my office room- he was eating left over chicken for B-fast.
Luke 15.
This story- the Prodigal son- is famous amongst preachers/bible readers in general.
The chapter actually starts with 2 other stories.
A lost sheep- 1 out of 99.
And a lost coin- 1 out of 10.
Context.
Why these stories from Jesus?
The bible says Jesus was eating with- and ‘receiving’ sinners.
The religious leaders at the time developed their idea of serving God- as a ritualistic thing [remember yesterdays post- Isaiah 58?].
Part of their understanding of this service to God- was being separated from ‘the world’.
Yes- the world of Jesus’ day was much like ours- you had outcasts- ‘illegal’ aliens- and the overall class of people that couldn’t quite seem to make it in life.
Now- when the religious leaders saw Jesus accepting them- that is he received them- loved them- but at the same time never ‘whitewashed’ sin- they got mad.
He never said ‘oh- that’s fine- we all mess up- keep on doing it’.
No- in time they knew that Jesus was showing them the love of God- yet God had a better way for them- than the old paths of sin.
So- it’s because of this reaction from the Pharisees that Jesus tells these 3 stories.
A man has 100 sheep- he loses 1- and he goes after the lost one.
When he finds it- he’s so happy- not because he didn’t care for the 99 that stayed home- but because he regained one that went astray.
A woman has ten coins- she loses one- the same thing happens.
Jesus is telling them ‘look- all of you who are jealous that I’m accepting these non Jews- these Gentiles- your mad because I’m excited about these outcasts- but it’s just like when you guys lose a sheep- or coin- you react with joy because you regained something that was missing- that was supposed to be a part of the puzzle all along- that’s why I’m going after these outcasts’.
See?
Then he tells the longest story of the chapter.
A man had 2 sons [in context- these are references to the Jews- Gentiles].
The one son asked his father for his inheritance and the father gave the money to both the sons.
After a while the younger irresponsible son goes and wastes all the money on partying.
He becomes broke- realizes what he did- and repents and heads home to his father.
His father sees him coming and rejoices- he accepts the son- throws a huge party for him- gives him this nice robe- puts a ring on his finger- and all is well.
Not really.
As the party is going on- the older son- the one who never left home [a type of the Jew who saw themselves as part of Gods people all along- they never had left God- not like these ‘dog’ Gentiles- see?]
This older son is outside- sulking.
The father goes out to see what’s wrong- the older son says ‘look dad- I was with you all these years [a type of the Old Covenant- the Jewish people had a long history with God] and you never acted excited like this with me- making a big party- killing the calf- the whole thing’.
The dad [a type of God] says ‘son- you were always with me- all hat I have is yours- don’t take my excitement wrong- it’s not because I don’t love you- but it’s because your brother was gone for a long time and finally made it home’.
That’s the story of the Prodigal son- God was just as excited about regaining a lost human [the Gentiles]- as we are about regaining things we lose.
The story deals with jealousy in the human heart- how we often benefit from the blessings of God- yet we feel wronged somehow if others too get the blessing.
These themes run thru out the teachings of Christ- talking about us receiving forgiveness- yet not giving it to others.
In the 1st century context- the Jewish people saw themselves as part of this special covenant that God made with them many years earlier.
They kept this covenant- as best as they knew- and when they see their Messiah- accepting these others who were like the younger son- they felt wronged.
They felt like all their years of being with God- as Gods special people- were for nothing.
That’s the mindset Jesus was dealing with here.
If I had more time/space- I would make a few applications about the current situation with the storm.
Some are mad at Governor Christie- he’s buddying up too much to Obama in the view of some on the right.
It's not exactly the same- but there are side’s people take- there are jealousies and divisions with all of us.
And it helps us if we can sit back and examine what’s really going on- Socrates said the unexamined life is not worth living.
When we examine ourselves- do a self inventory- maybe we should be happy that others are getting help- that we should not see it as us losing out in some way- whether it be politically or any other way.
In the end- there was enough mercy to go around- the father was happy that the lost son was found.
Just like we get happy when we recover things.
It doesn’t mean that the things that never got lost hold less value [99 sheep- 9 coins].
No- its juts a natural reaction to be excited that something that was lost- that seemed like it had no hope- was recovered.
1941 BORN TO RUN
The last couple of weeks- since I have been back from N.J.- It’s kind of been surreal to see all the video of the spots that got washed out in NY/NJ.
As I was watching the news with Henry on my big screen TV- I kept telling him ‘I was just at that spot’.
For the past 25 years I have been back to NJ many times- this last trip was the only time I took a tour of the city [NY]- I have been wanting to do a train/subway ride for the past 10 years- and simply ride the famous A train and see the city from the top of the tracks.
I got this idea in my head one year while watching a documentary about NY.
They showed you the history of the subway/train system- and the idea of a train ride was birthed at that time.
Yet- the last time I was up north- about 9 years ago- I missed out on the chance.
But this time- I finally did it.
I rode with my friend Patrick- to the last stop on this particular train- Rockaway beach- Queens.
As we walked the area- we walked right up to the boardwalk right off the Atlantic ocean.
For some strange reason I felt like I should walk right up to the ocean and splash some water on my face.
It was the first time I ever stuck my hand in the Atlantic ocean from the NY area.
Not many days later this very ocean would engulf the region.
We walked back to Pat’s brother’s house and had a nice visit for a few hours.
Then back on the train- back to the crossing where the subway goes under the Hudson and comes out on the Jersey side.
I took pictures from Rockaway to the Jersey side- we even saw Hoboken a little- the place I was born.
All of these spots- Rockaway beach- Hoboken- all the areas I toured- are some of the worst spots that got wiped out by hurricane Sandy.
It just was a feeling of ‘this was the last chance tot take the tour- before the storm comes’.
As we were watching the video at the house- Henry said ‘gee- you were like a messenger of wrath’.
To be honest- that thought came to me more than once.
I woke up yesterday morning with the guys still sleeping on the floor in the living room.
I got up early to post and get some stuff done before they got up.
Dirk- my good friend for years- got up early too.
He came into my study and told me he just had a dream- and he felt it was from God.
Now- with all of my friend’s problems and struggles- I know at times they have said things that are significant- that have meaning.
I was writing about some of the political things with Governor Christie- I of course have written about the storm- and in my office I have all types of world maps and stuff- plus a huge poster of NYC- and Jersey maps.
It just gives a sense of being in a ‘larger’ place.
Dirk begins telling me the dream- he says they were all at some place- and they had a friend that was- well- going to shoot himself.
He had a gun that was on a timer- and they all tried to tell him not to do it- but he wouldn’t listen.
Dirk called the gun thing- quote- ‘a suicide machine’.
He said after they left- the timer went off.
Now- Dirk felt that this dream meant something.
I told him one of the things that caught my attention was the phrase ‘suicide machine’.
I asked him if he knew where that term came from- what famous song.
He did not know.
I told him it was a line from the state song of NJ.
Springsteen's Born to Run.
‘mansions of glory … in the suicide machine’.
I told Dirk I have been writing about governor Christie [who has been to about 150 Boss concerts].
I have been thinking about- praying for NJ the past few weeks.
I have been back from the tour- riding the subway [machine] right before the storm hit.
That in many ways this dream has significance.
Next week we vote for the next president- I don’t know who will win.
One of my friends- who is on welfare- lives in public housing- gets a disability check [though he is in better shape than me].
He asked me who I was supporting.
I told him I don’t hate Obama- or love Romney- but just as a matter of the past 4 years- I am supporting Romney.
My friend said ‘no- he will take away my check’.
I think it was DeToquville who said that a Democracy will only last long enough until one party starts giving away free stuff and the majority of the people just vote for the free stuff.
Yeah- at that point we are all on a suicide machine.
1942 POLITICS AND EINSTEIN
Let's start with the big story of the day.
The election.
Just a few things before I get back to Einstein.
As I have followed the news on this- over the past few weeks there has been some question on whether or not the media have manipulated any of the numbers.
How?
Going in to today’s election- if the media are correct- Obama will no doubt win.
Why?
They have shown polls that have the president winning in enough states [battle ground states] that he should win.
Are any of the polls wrong- or possibly skewed?
That the question.
It’s hard to say that all pollsters would have some inside conspiracy to do this.
Actually I don’t believe that they would [they do have reputations you know].
But- we do have some actual evidence that some have done this.
It’s hard at times to filter out the bias- on both sides- but let’s try and take one example of possible skewing.
Most of the polls we have seen these past few weeks have shown the sample of people that they use.
For instance- you might have one say they polled a thousand folk- then they’ll say 39% were Democrats- 31 % Republicans.
Now- some on the right were saying ‘see- they are cheating’.
Would this be cheating in a poll?
No.
Why not?
Because the pollsters are trying to get an accurate picture of the electorate- that is- if they ‘think’ that more Dems will vote- then this would be a fair way to poll.
So- how do they figure out who the likely voters will be?
They usually look at the last election [presidential].
But- everyone who watches politics will tell you that the last election- 2008- had an historic turnout of Dem’s.
Why?
Many were not only voting for a man they felt would do a good job- but they also felt like they were part of an historic thing- the possible election of Americas first Black president.
Everyone [well most] will admit this- and it’s not wrong to admit this- that many came out to be part of an historic event- fine.
So- did some of the pollsters do this- did they use a larger number of Dem’s in the polls?
Yes.
Now- a case can be made that you would not have the same type of turnout this time.
Why?
Because you don’t have the same historic significance- it’s not historic to say ‘yeah- we voted for the first Black president in history- the second time’.
See?
Okay- but the pollsters do have a reason to have more Dems than Repubs- sometimes.
But- there were some polls that showed twice as many Dems [as a percentage- that is if you had 7% more Dems last time- this time they were showing about 14%- something that would be next to impossible].
So- yes- in this few cases- we do have some evidence that some pollsters were rigging the system to benefit one side.
Okay- said all that to say this.
If Romney wins- and big [which I doubt] then you just saw a good example of media bias- because according to most of the media- Obama should win.
Lets see what happens in the morning.
Okay- just a few notes on the Einstein biography I’m going thru.
The book is an older book- I picked it up a few months ago at half price books.
But it’s a good book- not written from a religious perspective at all- the author- Walter Isaacson- is a top notch writer.
The reason I say ‘not from a religious perspective’ is because it’s kind of amazing how many times Einstein- and his companions- either speak about God- or outright quote him!
Yeah- over the years I have heard views from both sides [Atheists and Theists] who have tried to make Einstein more like them.
But the actual quotes from him- and how many times they allude to God- is really more than I thought.
I’m at the point in the book [about halfway] where you begin seeing the anti Semitism rise up in Germany.
As most of you know- Einstein was a Jew- who came from Germany.
He lived at the time of the rise of the Nazi’s- and the anti Jewish ‘ness’ of the times would affect him.
Einstein held teaching positions at various universities of his day- one was in Berlin.
Some of his contemporaries- men like Max Planck- were indeed all in for the German nationalism that was riding a wave at the time.
Einstein on the other hand resisted the mixing of science with nationalism- he believed more in a global type citizenship- that the great breakthrough’s they were making at the time- were for the world- not just for the benefit of one nation.
Einstein would refuse to sign a declaration signed by many of the thinkers of his day- one that supported German nationalism.
Instead he was part of a smaller group who drew up a sort of pacifist declaration- one which would fall by the way side because of its lack of support.
A few notes.
I find his insight into war- where it ‘comes from’ to be enlightening.
I’ll give you a quote- it comes from “a biologically determined feature of the male character” “What drives people to kill and maim each other so savagely” “I think it is the sexual character of the male that leads to such wild explosions”.
Einstein saw a sort of genetic ‘defect’ in man- something within him- that was the root cause of war.
In the book of James- in the New Testament- the brother of our Lord writes ‘from whence come wars and fighting’s among you- come they not hence- even from your lusts that war in your members’.
Yeah- I think James and Einstein were on the same page.
Eventually Einstein would oppose the war- that is- the initial aggression that was sprouting from his homeland.
The book does not go into detail about the actual war [WW2] at least not yet.
But we know from history that the Nazi’s would be part of one of the most heinous mindsets the world has ever known.
Hitler’s idea that a certain race of people were inherently ‘less human' that others.
Many do not know that some of his thoughts were formed by the popular idea of Evolution.
The teaching that all humans are on a scale of the ‘most evolved’ and the ‘least evolved’.
Yes- I have gotten into this in the past- and don’t want to do it again right now.
Eventually the allies would also cross a line of war- a line that divided the U.S. and the British for a short time.
The line of bombing urban centers- and targeting civilians.
Some of the correspondence that came out after the war showed that certain American military commanders objected to the bombing of civilian centers.
They would eventually do as they were told- but they did make their objections known.
The British were more willing to engage in the bombing- after all- Germany had already bombed them.
The first city center to go was Hamburg- a convenient target- right across from the British on the North Sea.
Above Belgium and the Netherlands.
War has a tendency to take all sides further than their conscience would allow at the start.
There seems to be something within the nature of man that always leads down a road of more destruction- not less.
One of the greatest minds of our time- a man who was brilliant- and also struggled with his own passions- saw it as some type of inner flaw of man.
A sort of ‘sinful nature’.
Yeah- James- the Lords brother called it ‘the lusts that war in our members’.
On this point they agree.
1943 IT IS FINISHED
Good morning everyone.
Some of my friends are rejoicing today.
Others are flying the flag at half staff.
Yes- most of the pundits were right- those who were following the polling- Obama did indeed win- as most of the polls showed.
Now- why were some [on the right] skeptical of the media/polls?
One reason is- they had good reason to be.
Huh?
Most every morning when I get up- I listen to NPR radio news.
They have a reputation of being liberal [part of the big bird thing- Public Broadcasting- you know. One time I heard Alex Keaton- Michael Fox [Family Ties] berate his dad for working at a ‘not for profit’ company- Keaton could not even conceive of the idea!]
So yes- NPR has been a target of the right for some time.
Now- as a media guy- who listens/reads/watches lots of media- I do catch the left wing bias every so often.
But it’s tricky- that is you don’t even know for sure if those engaging in it even realize they are doing it.
Just about every morning these last few weeks- their top of the hour news coverage- which gets repeated every hour- started with either an actual re-play of an Obama ad [free ad time] or some report about how Romney lied.
Now- the undiscerning hearer might think they were actually doing news coverage- and in a way they were.
But all the coverage was favorable to the president- and none of it [that I heard] favored Romney.
Okay- was I mad?
Not really- but it makes me think how many people- not realizing the imbalance- wind up hating one man [who seemed like a good man- are you mad that I even say this? About Romney- then maybe you have also swallowed the hate bait].
Yes- when you hear this it affects you.
I watched some of the coverage on MSNBC- I think Matthews does not even realize what he says.
They were gleefully referring to Romney as a liar- someone who does not care for people at all- a man who does not like minorities or women.
It went on and on- at the same time they were covering the right wings ‘attack’ on the voting rights of all people.
There were actually multiple reports- not fake either- that many people [tens of thousands?] were actually voting for Romney on the touch screen- and their machine registered a vote for Obama.
When MSNBC covered this- they laughed at the republican official who used ‘strange’ language when registering the complaint.
Yet- they could care less that many thousands of people were tricked by rigged machines.
Then they went on and spoke about how the Repubs were attacking the rights of voters- in the same breath.
That’s media blindness- that’s why many are skeptical of them- and that’s why many on the right simply did not believe the polling as the day of voting began.
Now- I was not really skeptical- that is I saw some polling that was off- but as I listened to multiple sources- I got the feel from even some on the right-That they felt they were in trouble in the battle ground states.
And at the end of the day- they were [the Repubs].
Where are we at now?
I personally will continue to pray for the president over the next 4 years- by name- twice a week.
I mention him and his family as well as other world leaders- this is mandated in scripture- we are supposed to do it- I do it.
And I don’t do it grudgingly either- I have done it for all the presidents for many years- be they Repub or Dem.
The left- the media- they did indeed divide the country by their coverage.
They often accused those who did not support the president of racism.
Yet- once again- in Philadelphia- the racist group Black Panthers- were out in force- standing at the polls- looking like they might beat you with a bat.
Yes- the same group that the justice dept. dropped the charges against [its illegal to intimidate voters] were out again- intimidating voters.
Any media outcry?
None.
Yet- the same media who would not mention this- at the same exact time- were calling Romney and his people actual racists- and calling this media/election coverage.
Sad indeed.
If Romney won- and there were multiple reports of people voting for Obama- and the machine registered Romney- there would be an uproar.
If you had White supremacists- whose leader has called for the murder of Blacks- actually intimidating Black women and elderly Blacks- the second election year in a row- the media would be calling for the arrest of these thugs.
Yet- all these things did happen- but because they happened on the side the media supports- it was not an issue.
And not only was it not an issue- the same media called the other side racists- while this was going on.
Yeah- it does not surprise me that many went into the Election Day skeptical of the media.
I had a feeling Romney was in trouble- I kinda saw it in the ‘read between the lines’ stuff.
But what the media did yesterday- well- that’s a sign that we as a nation are in trouble.
Yeah- for the media- fly the flag at half staff.
For the president- I will continue to pray for him and his family- and I hope we as a nation can try and work together.
Lincoln said ‘a house divided against itself cannot stand’.
He was quoting another great leader of days gone by.
The man- Christ Jesus.
1944 PEACE ON EARTH AND GOOD WILL TO MEN?
Before I get into the news- let me mention that the bible chapter for this week was Isaiah 26.
Once a week I like to focus on a chapter- and if I have time I do a post on it.
But being I want to cover some news stuff- If I don’t get to it- that’s the chapter for this past week.
Okay- what’s going on?
Yesterday I was amused as I went thru a few news papers.
As most of you know- my prediction that the DOW would be in the 12,000-s has come true.
But why?
The news shows came out right away after the president was re-elected- and said ‘the dow is down because people are afraid that CONGRESS and the president will not make a deal’.
Okay- one of the arguments made by Romney for his election was the reality that both the pres and congress are in gridlock [true] and that- regardless of who you blame- more than likely if you re-elect Obama the gridlock will remain.
Now- in his case- he did not place blame [smart] he simply used this as a talking point- like Obama saying ‘Romnesia’.
But- here’s the catch- the media and the Obama people said ‘false’.
That it made no difference who got in- you would still have gridlock [the Dems would also be in gridlock against Romney].
So- after Obama got in- the DOW took a dive.
Okay- was it only because of the Fiscal Cliff [which the media blame it on- because that gives mutual blame to congress and the pres].
No- not at all.
Listen carefully- if the Romney argument was false- and the media were right- then it would have made no difference [according to their view] who got elected.
Because business and the economy watchers all would have seen gridlock- no matter who got in.
If this were true- then why wait for the election for the DOW to tank?
Come on folks- are we that dumb?
If it made no difference [in this particular scenario] then why wait till Obama got in?
Yes- it did make a difference- like the Romney people said.
Okay- sour grapes here?
No.
Just trying to show you the system- how the media jumped to say that Obama getting re-elected had nothing to do with the stock market tanking.
Okay- I read 2 or 3 more articles- and they were all trying to give you the same narrative- that it was better for the country- and the world- that Obama got in.
How so?
O- Let’s see.
One page [yes they had a whole page comparing the differences- the heading said ‘what to expect’ now that Romney lost and Obama got in]
I laughed.
One paragraph was ‘that Democracy will be promoted in the world’.
Huh?
This was juxtaposed against ‘what to expect if Romney got in’.
I guess Romney would have promoted communism?
Another article ‘the re-election of Obama means there is now an opportunity to save many Syrians by trying to get peace in Syria’.
Again- this is ONLY an opportunity- now that Romney lost [see- a Romney win would have meant the killing of many more women and kids- got it?]
It went on and on like this- for the unsuspecting reader [the media must think people are all fools] you would get the impression- without realizing it- that Romney would have destroyed civilization- all the while using language and innuendo that made you think Obama will save the world.
Fact check;
Many in the business/financial world do see Obama as anti business.
Now- I’m not giving you talking points- I’m telling you from personal experience- and being a reader of all things- including global economic stuff.
Over the past 4 years- in all my years as a Texan- I have never seen a president/justice dept. attack cities/states like this one.
I have read- on more than one occasion- how my own city was being sued by the justice dept [which means this White House] for various stuff.
Some had to do with the oil producing industry- and regardless of what side of the aisle you are on- these multiple lawsuits have killed many- many jobs.
I have seen it.
Now- this has been the style of president Obama- for all types of political reasons- this has been ‘ground truth’.
Okay- Fiscal Cliff.
What is it?
The president and congress did not come to a deal on cutting spending and increasing taxes- so they passed a law that said if they don’t get a deal by 2013- then automatic cuts will go into effect.
These are very deep cuts that both sides really don’t want.
Okay- it is amazing- but one of the things that will negatively affect the economy is if this Fiscal Cliff hits- then all the Bush tax cuts [which have been demonized by Obama] will expire.
So- both sides are saying- if you lose all the Bush tax cuts [which those on the left say are bad] that it will negatively affect the economy.
Look- if you have been saying the Bush tax cuts are bad- then go ahead- let them expire.
If you say you want to cut defense by huge amounts- then go ahead- do it.
But- if you argue for all these things [which Obama has done many times over the years] and then say ‘no- congress- if you let this happen you are ruining the economy’.
Then which one is it man?
Before the president got in office- he made a statement- on video tape [you pretty much have to catch him on tape- or in writing in his own books- to pin him down].
He said he wanted gas prices to be high- around 7 dollars or so a gallon.
At the time- this was [still is] a prevailing view among some environmentalist types.
Obama ran with that crowd- that’s why he said this.
Okay- he also said- if he ever had a chance to be pres- to implement these types of things on a large scale- that he would make it so hard on the oil industry [coal operating plants]- that he would put so many fines in place- that if some company wanted to start a new coal plant- that they could do it- but because of all the new govt. regulation that he would put in place- that they would go bankrupt.
Okay- these things are all real things the president has said.
Then- after he got in- one of his top environmental guys in Texas started going after the oil industry in Texas- I have seen it- with my own 2 eyes.
The guy Obama had in charge- was caught on tape [yeah- if it’s not on tape they deny all the things they said].
He was caught talking about their policy in Texas.
He said ‘like the Romans- when they went into a city and crucified the first rebel- that sent a message’.
He was saying that they needed to hit certain oil businesses in Texas- hit them so hard [maybe even prison for the executives?] that all the other oil companies would see it and either shut down or never get a new business going.
Huh?
That’s the exact same strategy the president had said he would use if he ever had the chance.
Now- not only has he said this- he has done this.
But- if you listen to all the statements he makes on this stuff- he makes you think he is more pro oil than Bush/Cheney.
See- that’s the problem- that’s part of why the DOW tanked [plus the E.U. crisis- a global slowdown- Fiscal Cliff- see- there are many reasons- and one is the anti business policies of the president.]
I’m not saying Obama is a bad man- nor am I excusing a congress that might at times simply be obstructionist.
But I’m saying it did make a difference who got in- it did indeed have an impact on the markets and the fear that some in business have because of the polices of the president.
This post is not a defense of the right- or left.
It is intended to show you how quick the media were to downplay the real negative effect that the re-election of Obama did already have on the economy.
Look- you might agree with his policies- maybe even on his anti oil stance- fine.
If you agree- agree.
I too hold very liberal positions on many things [I’m very pro immigrant- I was also for a national health care system- yeah- true Canadian style].
But I want you to see how the media played this.
I wanted you to see- that Romney was indeed correct- a least about this one point- that the re-election of Obama would continue gridlock [regardless of who you place the blame on- that was not part of his argument].
Yeah- some of these things came true- sad- but true.
But then again- according to the paper.
If Romney got in;
More Syrians would die [women and kids mostly].
Democracy would not be promoted.
And world peace would elude us.
Gee- I guess the trade off was good then- the DOW went down- but there will be peace on earth- and good will toward men- all because of the re-election of the president.
Thanks media- thanks news papers- I feel better already.
Just try not to crucify any more of our oil executives- because it’s tough on those looking for work in the Lone Star state if you do.
1945 BIRTHER- ME?
Before we end the week I want to simply quote a few verses from Isaiah 26.
‘Thou will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee’
‘Trust ye in the Lord forever- for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength’
‘When thy judgments are in the earth- the inhabitants of the world will learn justice’.
I stumbled upon this chapter the other day- I did not realize how many verses I have memorized over the years- ones that I would quote and stuff- not realizing they were lumped together in this chapter.
Over the years I have had times [years] where I would read thru the bible every year.
Or maybe read the New Testament thru many times- and the Old Testament a little slower.
These past few years I have slowed down a bit- still reading every week- but less ‘volume’ and more meditation.
I’ll read a chapter- then stay on it for a few days- and then see more stuff each time.
I try and listen for ‘daily bread’ type of a thing.
In the Lord’s prayer [Our father] he said we should pray for ‘our daily bread’ and in a way that speaks about what God wants to tell us each day.
Sort of like the story of Manna in the time of Moses.
The people of God were in the wilderness for 40 years- and God fed them bread every morning.
It was called ‘angels food’ it was this little wafer type thing that was on the ground each day.
God told them only take enough for you and your family- if you take too much- and store it up overnight- it will spoil.
But on the 6th day they could take enough for 2 days- because they were not supposed to gather it on the Sabbath.
So God in a way has daily manna for us- if we try and overload the system- by eating too much- then it will spoil.
Its funny- over the years I have seen/gone thru stages where you get involved with movements- good people- who for whatever reason get into some type of teaching.
Maybe they will emphasize some new thing- and for years they will go down that road.
Maybe it’s not a bad road per se’- but these things were not supposed to be ‘roads’ at all.
That is- as believers we should establish our hearts in grace and the reality of God.
The reality of the Cross and death of Christ for us.
And then as we learn and grow- sure- we will learn lots of stuff- but when you get into fads- well it’s like the verse in the book of Hebrews.
‘It is a good thing that you are established in grace- not with meats [ side doctrines] for it is not profitable for those who are occupied therein’ [my paraphrase].
Okay- a few things.
The other day at the mission I had to intervene- sort of like a Ref.
2 of the guys were getting into it- over all things- politics and religion!
Now- these guys happened to be sober- but you have a few guys who start drinking early- and by the time I get there- well let’s say they are feeling pretty good.
So- I could think of no better environment to discuss politics and religion- can you?
Somehow one of my buddies- who is very smart- got a hold of ‘birthirism’ somewhere along the line.
I first heard him talk about it a few months back- and was kinda surprised.
He is not a ‘right winger’ at all- he attends a classically more liberal church [Methodist] and we often discuss the Sunday school teaching from the previous week.
He has the notes from church- and they are always taking a more liberal side- and I have told him that the Methodists are a great church- and they do an excellent job at social justice [like the Catholics].
So- it was a surprise for my friend to have launched into birthirism [the belief that Obama is not a U.S. citizen].
By the way- those who believe this are not total nuts- if I have time I’ll share a few facts- things that have caused people to question- yet I have never swallowed the Trump view.
So- my buddy starts into his talk.
‘Obama was sworn in on the Koran- even if he was born in Hawaii- that’s not part of the continental U.S.- so he still is not legitimate’.
A few more things like this- that coming from this particular friend- surprised me.
Now- this day we were sitting with my other friend Don.
Don is the gardener at the mission- the pics I posted on Facebook- with the garden- that’s Don.
Don is quite the intellectual- for real.
It never ceases to amaze me when I run into the smartest guys that are homeless.
Don has a well rounded education- knows all types of subjects- sort of a renaissance man if you will.
So- for Don to have heard my other friend launch into his thing- well- he could not believe that my friend was saying this.
Don- rightfully- corrected my buddy in no uncertain terms.
My buddy went on about Obama being a non citizen.
Then they appealed to me- to be honest I did not want to get into it.
But I did.
I had to side with Don- and correct my other friend because he was so misinformed.
Obviously Hawaii is part of the U.S. - even though Alaska and Hawaii are not part of the land mass that makes up the lower 48.
Yet they are states- and they count as being born in the U.S.
But I had to throw out some cover for my misinformed friend.
He looks up to me as sort of a teacher- and when someone sees you that way- it’s hard for them to be corrected by someone they look up to.
So- I did tell Don that I have read/watched so many news things over the past 4 years- that there were things that gave some people real reason to doubt the president’s place of birth.
Now- be careful here- I want you to hear carefully.
Because what I think has happened- is the president did things in the past- like we all have done [skewing the facts to gain a benefit].
He possibly presented himself- at various times- as being from Kenya- or as sharing the Muslim faith.
What- are you nuts?
Not 100% [maybe half?]
Okay- here’s the cover for my buddy.
As people started looking into the birth certificate thing- there were some indications that the president might have said he was from Kenya- maybe to sort of play into the role of ‘this new and up and coming author- with such an interesting background’.
Or maybe at times- in applying for school- you might say you’re a foreign born person- because you get an edge if the school has a quota type thing [thus the Trump challenge to show his college records].
Why do I think this might have happened?
When you wade thru all the accusations- there were a few things that did come up that quite frankly looked strange.
One of the more questionable things was the actual promotion of one of Obama’s books- the book publisher actually introduced Obama- the author- as a ‘Kenyan born’ person.
Now- when this came out- the president- and the publisher- both admitted that this was not a fake.
They simply said it was a typo.
Huh?
They both admitted that the intro for the book said Obama was Kenyan- but it was a typo.
Look- a typo is hitting a wrong key on the keyboard [unless this type writer had Kenya as one of the keys?]
And what are the chances that this typo just happened to name Kenya as his birthplace?
I mean that’s a bit much to swallow to be honest.
So John- he’s a Kenyan!
/
Now- here's where I give the pres the benefit of the doubt- but why I say he too has given the birthers a reason to question him.
There are a few people that said/think that Obama used this ‘I was born in Kenya’ thing to simply help promote himself.
He has spoken about his own identity struggle in the past.
Growing up he had the name of his step dad [Sotero].
As he got older- being raised by a single mom- he eventually learned more about his real dad- from Kenya- and he did try to identify more with his father’s heritage.
So- maybe did he start saying ‘I’m Kenyan’
Sure.
Was this so bad?
No.
But is this possible?
Yes.
The more believable explanation for a book publisher to say you’re from Kenya- would be that Obama might have presented himself as such.
Others have said that he did say this to them as well.
And some think he might have used this on his college application.
This is very possible- and to be honest- for a book publisher to accidently pick Kenya- as a typo- that’s a bit much.
So- I gave cover to my birther friend- by leaving him room- that is to say there are people who question it- Obama’s place of birth- and they are not all nuts.
But- I also sided with Don- that at the end of the day- I think this issue is settled.
It’s hard to have friends on both sides of these things.
Because when you take one side- the other feels alienated.
I think it’s also wrong to assume that those who did not support Obama are all birthers.
I supported Romney simply on the basis of experience.
Those who want a real honest critique of the president should read Bob Woodward’s latest book.
He tells the story- the true story- of how many of the president’s closest inside fiends felt he was so far out of his league- after he got in- that others had to actually run the show- for quite some time.
Yes- these are actual reports from friends of Obama.
I remember hearing his main financial guy [I forget the name right now- Lawrence Lindsey?]
He said at one point ‘if we were not running this show- no one would be in charge’.
Yes- there are some real- honest critiques that have come out- and they did indeed feel like the president was way out of his league for this job.
And these were not birthers.
So- at the end of the day- some supported one side because they had real questions.
Others supported Obama because they too had honest positions.
But we also need to correct those in our midst who have wrong views- things that they picked up along the way.
If we want good discourse- it must be informed.
And yes- at times both sides have missed this mark.
1946 JEWS TEACHING SCIECNE- WHAT IS THIS?
I want to try and cover a little bit more on Einstein.
But just a few quick notes.
The last few days- as I have watched some of the post election coverage- I find it funny how the ‘4th estate’ has tried to rise above their own ignorance.
This past year- as I have both read- viewed- listened to many media sources- all sides of the various debates that go on in the country.
There was a conscious decision made- by some on the left- to ‘suppress the vote’.
What?
I thought it was the Repubs that were trying to do this?
Yes- there were efforts made- whether noble or not- to suppress some of the minority vote [noble - some say they were just trying to stop voter fraud- others said they were trying to suppress the minority vote].
But- how did the left do this?
Once again- yes- hailing from the great state of N.J. [ the headquarters of many media outlets- it is sad that the most grievous offenders come from my hometown area! - Fort Lee- Secaucus- spots right where I grew up].
MSNBC spent an entire year mocking the faith of Romney.
I saw Martin Bashir- actually say- on air- that Christians should not vote for Romney because he denies the Trinity.
Can you imagine him saying this about a Muslim candidate?
Chris Matthews- he spoke about Romney and his religion as weird- a cult- and other interesting terms [Matthews says he was taken out of context- but simply using the word accomplishes the task].
Now- after a year of this- it is true that some White evangelicals [their target audience of suppression] did indeed not vote for Romney.
In media lingo they call this ‘failed to get out his base- the White vote’.
Mission accomplished.
They see what they did as a noble cause- a good thing.
When you convince yourself that those who don’t embrace your ideas are racist nuts- then it justifies this double standard.
There was an article on Hillary Clinton seeing the Broadway play the Book of Mormon [yeah- Bloomberg manages to keep the lights on Broadway on- but watch out if you’re from Staten island or the Rockaway’s!]
When she came out of the theater she said it was so funny- she couldn’t stop laughing.
What was she laughing at?
The play is an open mockery of the Mormon faith.
Yet- this same state dept official- she was outraged over the release of some on line movie clip that depicted the prophet Muhammad in a negative light.
They just sentenced the maker of the movie to a year in jail- over some probation thing.
Yes- that’s the double standard of the media- politicians- it is quite obvious.
Okay- Einstein.
As I read a few chapters every few days- I want to comment on the important- relevant stuff.
One of them being the very word Relativity.
Now- I am tempted to go back and review all the posts we did on physics [you long time blog readers might remember?].
But this book is not a physics book per se’- but a biography.
Yet a quick review might help.
Einstein became famous for a few things- most of us know the famous equation E=mc2.
Simply a conversion of mass into energy formula- it works for all things- not just Nuclear.
His theory of Relativity shook up the world of physics- and Einstein is indeed the father of what we call modern physics [and Quantum theory].
Okay- what he did was he took the centuries old ideas of Newton [the father of classical physics] and he said that time and space were not absolutes.
That’s is- that depending on the observer [and his speed] time actually changes.
Some in the scientific community could not fathom what he was saying.
The book has actual headlines from the NY times- they openly doubted some of Einstein’s work
I remember reading this years ago- but this time I saw the real headlines.
They said stuff like ‘what is this new theory- that space might be limited- this defies the actual definition of space’.
Now- it would take too long to tell you what they were covering- but it is one of the various theories of the universe.
In actuality- the times might have been right in this one case [it’s a theory that the universe is curved- has no detectable edge- if so- you can than argue for an infinite universe in a closed space- because there is no edge- or end].
As a side note- logically- the times was correct.
Just because you can’t find a ‘sharp edge’ to a thing- that does not mean the thing is ‘endless’.
I covered this years ago in our apologetics posts- it was interesting to have re –read this from this author [Isaacson].
He is a good author- and explains stuff well.
Okay what was the other stuff that some objected to?
Some associated- wrongly- the theory of Relativity- with the modernist philosophy called Relativism.
Relativism [remember the philosophy stuff?] said that there was really nothing as objective truth- that what you see might be just as true as what someone else sees.
You might both be looking at the same thing [morally- murder- etc.] yet to one it might be wrong- to the other- right.
This idea- Relativism- was strongly rejected by many philosophers- especially those with a Christians/Theist background.
Even today this is one of the major debates going on in the world of the philosophy.
But- some confused what Einstein was saying- and they thought [or used it] to back up the ‘moral’ philosophy of Relativism.
This was a mistake.
Einstein himself- as I mentioned in an earlier post- was not a relativist at all- that is when speaking about moral absolutes.
So some began to associate him- as one of the new ‘Jew’ scientists- who were introducing dangerous doctrines to the world.
Yes- some of the objectors to Einstein objected on the basis of this new ‘Jewish science’ that was breaking away from the moors of Christian science- whose father was Isaac Newton.
See how both anti Semitism- and religious belief played a role in this?
I’ll end with a quote from a famous man of the time- an up and coming politician- I mean he could awe his audience like no other.
Obama- Clinton- even the great communicator- Reagan- were no match for this man when it came to giving a speech.
He said ‘Science- once our greatest pride- is today being taught by Hebrews’.
Who said this?
The future leader of Germany- Adolph Hitler.
1947 DAYS OF OUR LIVES or General[s] hospital?
Okay- lots to cover today.
First- the growing fallout over the Benghazi debacle has now entered a phase that can only be described as having a sort of soap opera aura.
Most of you know that right before the election some radical militants attacked our counsel in Benghazi [Libya] and killed 4 Americans.
One of them being our new ambassador to the region.
Now- within days of the incident- Susan Rice- our U.N. ambassador- went on the Sunday morning talk shows and said the attack was a response to an anti Muslim video.
In fact there were multiple protests that same day- Sept. 11th- around the Arab world.
So- Rice sort of lumped the killing of our ambassador with the video protests.
Now- what we now know is this;
That the Libyan attackers were not simply part of a protest that went out of control- but were one of the many militia groups who operate in Libya.
The counsel [embassy type compound] at Benghazi was under a real threat.
It was bombed before- and the Red Cross- as well as the British pulled their people out of there because the place was a sitting duck target for these radical militia guys.
We also now know that our guys at the embassy warned about the growing threat.
They made requests for greater security- which were denied.
And that by all accounts- the administration failed in the sense of not providing adequate protection for our guys.
Now- those defending the president say it would not have mattered if there was more protection- that a military style assault would have been effective either way.
Then let’s pull the guys out.
Some say if we had around 10 Marines- with automatic weapons- that in itself would have been enough.
Either way- the facts are that the British and the Red Cross pulled their people out.
Why didn’t we?
Some think that Susan Rice and others purposefully made it look like the attack was part of the video protests because that would have gone along with the political line that Obama has Al Qaeda ‘on the run’.
Enter David Petraeus.
Petraeus was the guy in charge of the CIA- a former general who some say had great success in Iraq and later Afghanistan [he was the guy who did the Surge strategy- more troops to finish the job type thing].
Okay- as head of the CIA he actually went to Benghazi and interviewed his men.
Yeah- we have CIA guy’s right there near the compound.
What did he find out?
Was there more going on than meets the eye?
Petraeus got back and testified before congress and gave the same story as Susan Rice- that the attack was simply a protest that went out of control.
Okay- here comes the soap opera part.
A few months ago- some lady in Tampa Fla. was receiving what she felt were threatening emails.
The lady- Jill Kelley- was involved with the local military there in Tampa- and by chance knew Petraeus and the top generals [Allen being one].
The U.S. has a military post in Tampa where the top generals and their families go.
So- she had a friend at the FBI [because she was also sort of a civilian FBI cadet- you know- these programs where anyone can get into as a civilian. We used to do these things at the Fire Dept. sometimes the people that get involved are wannabe’s- that is they sort of fantasize about being the real deal].
So- Kelly tells her FBI friend about the emails.
And he starts the ball rolling to find out who is sending the emails.
The emails basically said to leave Petraeus alone.
Hum?
Lo and behold- the emails were sent by Paula Broadwell- a lady who wrote a biography about General Petraeus [whew- this gets tiring!]
The story breaks that Broadwell was a lover of the general [in more ways than one]- she sent the emails as sort of a jealous lover type thing. She knew Jill was friendly with Petraeus and was telling her to leave ‘her man alone’.
And when the story hits the fan- Petraeus resigns abruptly- right after the president gets re-elected.
Now- no one in congress [and supposedly the president] knew anything about the affair until after the election.
The problem is Petraeus was supposed to testify about the Benghazi attack in a few days.
Some on the right think his abrupt resignation has to do with this.
Broadwell's father has said ‘you aint seen nothing yet’ [or something to that effect] - indicating that this whole scandal has much more to it than meets the eye. [More than this? I don’t know if I can take much more?]
So- we have one general gone- the other general –Allen- a top military guy- who was up for another position- which now looks like it’s on hold because during the investigation over the emails [you know- the Tampa socialite].
It was discovered that Gen Allen sent a load of emails to Kelley- some reported that they were ‘sexual’ in nature.
Nah- no way- our generals?
Do they even know the word?
Okay- all the reporting on the women- that is the stuff about their lives- showing the picture of the mistress right next to the wife of Petraeus [Holly] all of this makes for ratings- but really has no value.
Last night CNN’s Cooper was reporting on the credit card debt of Jill Kelley and her doctor husband.
He went into their mortgage problems [not paying their mortgage on their million and a half home].
That they started a cancer charity- and things look fishy with the charity.
Peirce Morgan reporting that she is a sort of flirt with all the military guys.
One report said she was a ‘lune’ [loony].
None of this is relevant- nor should the media be getting into the ladies credit card debt.
She is not a public [elected] figure- leave all that stuff out.
The real news is the fact that our guys were killed.
Did the administration and his team purposefully make the Libyan attack look like a video protest gone awry?
Did they mislead the public about the deaths of our people because of political reasons?
If so- then that’s a huge scandal.
Now- in defense of their side [Obama].
We did have Intel that said the many protests that took place on that day were in fact over the stupid video.
That’s true.
And the Libyan attackers did use the same day to attack and kill our guys.
One of the statements that Rice and others made was that the militia guys took advantage of the protests and did a more organized attack.
Looking at all this stuff- that statement is not really that off.
So- yes- the attacks were not simply a protest gone awry.
But- it is more than likely that the attackers used the other 9-11 protests as an opportunity to attack.
One more thing- after it became known that Paula Broadwell was having an affair with Petraeus- the news outlets of course went thru all their old video’s of her.
She has appeared numerous times on various shows.
One recent clip had her saying that our embassy grounds in Libya also was holding some Libyan militia guys as prisoners.
She said this was inside knowledge [then why say it in a speech?]
And she hinted that might be the real reason for the attack [some think she might have had inside knowledge because of the affair].
Now- by law- the CIA is not allowed to hold prisoners.
Petraeus was the top CIA guy- who just got back from Libya doing his own personal investigation.
Then he quits.
Yeah- some see something fishy with the whole thing.
I have no idea which side is right [maybe there is some truth on both sides?]
But we do need to get to the facts.
We don’t need to know what Jill Kelley’s credit debt is.
Or why the FBI guy in Tampa sent her a shitless pic of himself [and was thus removed from the case].
Well- just be reassured- after all- these are the guys that are running the country- they are the protectors of the flame.
Yeah- Obama kept saying ‘we have them on the run now’.
I just wonder who ‘them’ is.
1948 WAR OF THE WORLDS [or world views?]
Once again I end the week with the dilemma of either writing on a bible chapter [Hebrews 9] or discussing world events.
Let me start with a few news items.
I find it funny how the media has been covering some recent events.
I also find it degrading that MSNBC has begun a new era- yes- for the first time I can remember- they are now continuing to go after the losing side’s candidate- even after the race is over.
Yes- They have been doing shows- I guess we should start calling them skits [they are performers you know].
And they are blasting Romney for anything he says- even as a private citizen- and they are using his life- I guess for ever- as a talking point.
I guess we will continue to hear about Ann Romney’s MS- her use of horses- you know- O’Donnell can’t stop mocking the woman.
Her kids- watch out- MSNBC will get you too!
This is so sad.
Chris Matthews had on Jim Clyburn the other day [a Dem congressman] they were discussing the issue of Susan Rice [UN ambassador].
She’s under fire for her statements about the Benghazi attack.
To be fair- it does seem like some on the right misread it- Petraeus did testify yesterday that she did not change the Talking Points.
But they were ‘scrubbed’ by the Intel community- not the White House.
This was the big issue- who removed the part that said Al-Qaida were part of the attack.
Anyway- Clyburn tells Matthews that- don’t forget- they are going after a young ‘BLACK WOMAN’.
Matthews says ‘go on’.
Very sad indeed.
There were [still are] very legitimate questions about what Rice said.
Why did she present talking points that basically said the opposite of what they knew? [even if she’s not at fault- they were still not accurate].
She did go on in the Sunday interviews and say Al-Qaida was on the run- yet the truth was they were part of the attack.
Even if she is innocent- yet she did present a false narrative.
If this is business as usual- than we still have a problem.
Israel;
I was at the mission the other day and some girl asked one of the older guys who works there ‘what are you reading’.
He told her a news article from the NY Times about the Palestinian- Israeli fighting.
She asked him why Israel was bombing the Palestinian area.
He really didn’t have a good explanation- right at hand.
So I contributed a brief synopsis [which he later thanked me for- as well as the girl- just to say it wasn’t rude].
I told the girl that Israel began this recent action [it’s the largest military action against Hamas- the group that they are fighting- in years].
Because Hamas started shooting rockets into Israel about a week ago.
They sent around 300 rockets in- with no response.
Now- as someone who has tried very hard to be unbiased about the middle east question [for instance I have written in defense of the Palestinians many times- something that is the minority position in Evangelical circles].
Israel had no choice but to respond.
But some in the media are making it sound like Israel is to blame.
CNN said ‘this all began when Israel killed the top Hamas leader’.
Yes- many of you have seen the dramatic video of the guy being taken out in his car.
But this was not the ‘start’ of the violence.
If someone bombed your house- say 3oo times- and then you shoot them with a gun.
Well- who started it?
There is a very important story that should be told- that takes a little time- but the media is not telling you.
Let’s give it a shot.
First- I’m not blaming Obama.
But elections do have consequences.
Over the many years of the fighting about the Palestinian question- Hamas- the group that won the election a few years back- took power.
Now- they are actually branded as a terrorist group by the U.S.
They now feel emboldened to act- to make an all out attempt to raise world awareness- by these initial attacks- and they are hoping for their own Arab Spring.
Why are they doing this now?
Understand- Hamas is actually an arm of the Muslim Brotherhood- the group who has now risen to power in Egypt.
The new Egyptian president- Morsi- has already sent a team to the Palestinian areas- and they are backing Hamas.
Obama has been very friendly with the Muslim Brotherhood- and very cold to Israel [though he denies it].
After the re-election of Obama- it’s only natural for Hamas to think they have much more leverage now- see?
Now- that took a couple of lines- why couldn’t the media have told you that narrative?
Fahreed Zakariah- a CNN analyst who I actually like.
He was asked about the release of a guy who killed some Americans- Iraq was holding him- they let him go.
He blamed the problem on Bush [yeah- you can use Romney on MSNBC- CNN will use Bush].
He said that Bush was too willing to work with the radical Islamist groups- and he allowed them to gain some power in Iraq- and that’s why this happened.
He also said Obama came in and tried to fix it- but it was too late.
I find it interesting that Fahreed- who advises the president- has been part of the entire ‘new approach’ to the Arab world.
Yes- Obama [for good or ill] had very high hopes of starting a new relationship with the Muslim world.
He sincerely felt if he could reach out to certain groups [Muslim Brotherhood] than he might be able to change the tone in that part of the world.
He has made more effort- at normalizing relations with Muslim groups- than anyone in the history of the presidency.
I just showed you how some of these efforts might be the root cause of the aggression right now with Israel and the Palestinians.
Yet- in the middle of the greatest effort ever made to reach out to- and work with radical groups.
One of Obama’s top defenders said ‘the reason Iraq released the guy who killed our men- is because Bush was too cozy with radical Islamist groups’.
This would be funny if it weren’t so sad.
I try to be fair in my analysis of these things.
When you are simply a cheerleader for either side [MSNBC on the left- Fox- some- on the right].
Then you lose all credibility- because people know they can’t trust you with a fair analysis.
But if we can’t- as a nation- as a globe- see behind the lines- see what’s really going on- then we will continue to blame one side- or the other- while not really seeing the root cause.
Yes- there are questions still to be asked.
Maybe the president’s noble attempt at reaching out to radical elements was doomed from the start.
Maybe one of the reasons we are seeing some of the worst violence in the Palestinian areas has to do with this.
But for one of the president’s biggest cheerleaders- who has himself criticized Bush many times for his hard stance and ‘unwillingness’ to see the Muslim side.
For him to say one of the problems is Bush was too chummy with radicals- it’s beyond belief.
Yeah- but if we don’t blame Bush- who else could we blame?
Easy.
Just switch to MSNBC- they’re still blaming Romney.
Yeah- that will work.
1949 HEBREWS 9
Let’s make up for lost time.
I was wanting to review Hebrews chapter 9 last week- so let’s hit it today.
The book of Hebrews [in the New Testament] is one of my favorites.
Not only chapter 9- but the whole book speaks about how Jesus started a ‘new and better’ covenant [agreement] between God and man.
The Old ‘agreement’ [covenant] was called The Law.
It was based on man approaching God solely on his own effort- how well he did- how hard he tried to keep the commandments.
There are many good people today who still approach God based on this.
The New Testament says the law came thru Moses- but grace and truth came by Jesus.
Because of Christ- we can now approach God based on his merit- he kept the law and died for us.
Now- this does not give us an excuse to sin- but the new approach is one of grace as opposed to law.
Okay- Hebrews 9 says Jesus has fulfilled the Old Testament law to the tee.
He is now our new High Priest.
He goes into the presence of God for us- with his Blood- and he makes intercession for us.
In the Old Testament system the priests went daily [and yearly] into the tabernacle [tent] and did certain sacrifices.
They used the blood of ‘bulls and goats’.
The writer says these things could never make the worshippers clean- but they only served as examples until the ultimate sacrifice would be made.
That was Christ.
The writer says the real temple—the real presence of God is in heaven- and Jesus has entered into the true Holy of Holies on our behalf.
He says ‘this should purge us from dead works to serve the living God’.
In context the ‘dead works’ are the old works of the law system- with all of its animal sacrifices- and the New Way is this new priesthood established by Christ himself.
We don’t need the blood of animals as a sacrifice- we have the death of Christ.
I wrote an entire commentary on the book of Hebrews- on the blog.
It’s a great letter- and the main point of the letter is an appeal to the first century Jewish community- who were still keeping the ordinances of the sacrificial system.
The writer is trying to show them that Christ has put an end to the old system of animal sacrifice- and he has established this new ‘system’ [called the New Covenant] and it is based on the one and final sacrifice of Jesus.
This truly is Good News [the meaning of Gospel].
Today we have better covenant- a better way to approach God.
We don’t come to him based on how well we kept the law.
No- Hebrews says ‘let us come boldly into the presence of God’.
How can sinful man come boldly?
Because we come to God- not by our works- but on the merits of the sacrifice of Christ.
Yes- as simple as this sounds- Christ died for all- all can come- all who believe.
1950 LORD OF THE RINGS
These past few weeks have been somewhat of a whirlwind.
Every so often in life you hit a stage when multiple things come together.
Over time- as you get older- you learn to take these times with a grain of salt.
That is- you don’t get overly excited about them.
Yet- you see ‘oh yea- this is one of those times’.
There are usually lots of signs that accompany these moments in life.
Let’s name a few.
A couple of months back I went to a part of town that I usually don’t go to.
I wrote a few posts on it- met a few homeless guys- and felt like we needed to do some type of ministry in this area.
Then within a few days one of my good friends wound up in the hospital for triple bypass surgery.
I have known John David and both of his brothers for years- Andy and Huey- they are all street guys where I live.
So- we went to see John David in the hospital- come to find out they thought he was going to die after the surgery.
They had to resuscitate him once.
So- John David has asked me- a few years back- if I would help him do a halfway house.
Now- over all the years of ministry- I have worked with ministries like this.
And I was interested- but really did not know if it would fly.
John David is a very smart guy- he once owned one of the biggest concrete businesses in the area.
Made tons of money over the years.
He lost it all when he became a hardcore addict.
So- I knew he had the smarts for the business aspect- but John is sort of new to the faith.
It’s been a couple of years and he has that new excitement that young Christians have.
So- I just tried to encourage him- and when he gets too many ideas I realize he’s like a lot of us- we sometimes over do it.
But since he had the surgery- he called me the other day and that was the first day of the new halfway house ministry.
Okay- some signs.
I did not realize that the first house [there are now 2] was only a few blocks from my original foray into that part of town.
I met the homeless guys on Morgan and Cross-town [you locals know the spot] and John David opened up the first room at Mary and 20th st.
Walking distance from the spot.
I only realized it later [you take different routes to get there- it never dawned on me that the day I spent with the homeless guys was right there- when we left John David’s house the other day- I realized that was the same spot where I hung out].
That was the first ‘sign’.
I have been praying for years here in my yard- it’s really like a prayer garden- I walk the yard and have all types of prayer markers.
Facing certain ways- praying for the nations that are in that direction- recognizing the star clusters each time of the year.
When you pray early like this- you see lots of shooting stars and come to familiarize yourself with the ‘heavens and earth’.
Anyway- I have this gazebo with hundreds of painted names of prisoners I have collected over the years.
These are cases where people got sent to prison for long periods of time.
So- being I work with street guys- they are sort of my collection- I might run into them some day on the street.
So- this gazebo is like a prayer spot- it represents a community of people.
I also have lots of verses on it.
Over the years I have collected street signs.
Yeah- you’re not supposed to pick them up- but I have.
These are various signs that I found along the road [on the ground or in the trash]- my daughter came home one year with one- she’s like ‘hey dad- we found you one’.
So- I have about 3 or 4 like this.
I have them hanging on this gazebo thing.
Yesterday as I was walking and praying- praying about the halfway house- seeing how the location was ‘prophetic’.
As I’m walking past this gazebo- early in the morning- I must have walked it 30 thousand times before.
I look up- right there- one of the signs says ‘STAPLES AND MARY’.
That’s the actual street that the halfway house is on.
That street is also the connecting street to the second house [on Laredo].
Yeah- Staples and Mary is the main connection for the homes.
Now- Corpus is big- to ‘accidently’ have that sign- that crosses right there- well that’s a bit much.
Last but not least.
Right when I got back from my Jersey trip- the first chapter I read/studied was Luke 15.
For some reason the story about the father putting a ring on the son- it got me to thinking about getting a ring.
Now- I am not a jewelry type of guy.
I have lost multiple wedding rings over the years.
And at the fire house we would take them off.
Yeah- they are a hazard.
There are many stories about guys getting their fingers pulled off when the ring catches something.
So- I haven’t had a ring in years.
But- it’s in my head- so I’m on the hunt.
I stopped at the local pawn shop- I had a homeless friend who died years ago- Bill.
One day I was in there with Bill- and he spotted this ring that he liked a lot.
It had a horse on it.
Personally- I didn’t like it that much- but I thought ‘hey- if that ring is there- I’ll get it’.
Sort of like a reminder of my friend.
It was long gone.
So I hit Wal Mart [yeah- the last resort spot].
They had 2 nice gold rings- with Crosses.
But they wanted a couple of hundred for them- I wasn’t gonna go for that [heck- what if we go over the fiscal cliff!]
About 2 weeks before I mentioned to the street guys ‘hey- I’m looking for a ring- with a Cross on it- if you find one- I’ll buy it’.
Now- I let them know I don’t not want a ‘hot’ ring.
I have had guys wanting to sell me stuff at a cheap rate- stolen stuff.
I told them I would never do that.
So- the next day- after my failed venture at obtaining the ring.
I am getting ready to go to the mission.
I’m in the bathroom and my cell phone rings.
My daughter says ‘dad- your phone is ringing’.
I ask ‘who is it’?
She says ‘it says Martin’.
Martin is the last name of the 3 amigos- John David- Andy and Huey.
I ask ‘which one’?
She says ‘H martin’.
‘O- That’s Huey- just leave it- I’m gonna see him in a minute’.
So- I leave the house- don’t check the message [I never check my messages].
And as I head out I think ‘geez- maybe I should hit the other pawn shop- right passed the mission’.
I’m kinda praying about it.
Then I feel like the Lord is saying ‘son- in Luke 15- the father gave the son a ring- wait till I give you one’.
Right then I make the turn into the mission.
Huey says ‘hey- did you get my message’.
I told him no- I figured I’d see him right now.
He says ‘I got your ring’.
Yeah- I gave 12 bucks for the thing.
But it’s a nice ring- a copper stress ring.
It says ‘TRUST GOD’.
It has 2 Crosses on it.
Probably a 35-50 dollar ring.
[It wasn’t stolen- the guy who owned it was right there- Huey talked him into selling the thing for quick cash].
Yeah- as I have grown older I try not to overdo the sign thing.
But- at the same time- I also try not to ‘under do’ them.
The bible says God is in control of the affairs of men.
Nothing happens without his permission.
Yeah- I guess you can even say- He’s
THE LORD OF THE RINGS.
NOTE- As a side note- the ring was given to me by Huey- John David’s brother.
Rings denote partnership in scripture.
It was interesting that John David’s brother was the one who gave me the ring- I would be ‘partnering’ with him in just a few more days.
1951 ALL THE WORLDS A STAGE [and the media write the script]
This past week we have seen media bias on an unusually large scale [that is it’s rarely so blatant].
The current conflict between Israel and the Palestinians has been reported in the strangest of ways.
Say if you had 2 kids throwing apples at each other.
You would ask ‘how did this start’.
And say if we found out that Timmy had small apples- and Billy had big ones.
Now- Timmy knows Billy has better apples- that he can launch them with greater precision and power- yet Timmy thinks if he plays his cards right- that maybe Billy won’t throw in response [Or that his new friends might come and help him].
So Timmy throws about 300 apples in a short period of time.
Finally Billy has enough- he takes his precision throwing skills to the table and slams Timmy.
After a few days of getting slammed- Timmy’s friend [little Morsi from around the corner- lives on Egyptian trail] gets involved.
Morsi says ‘damn you Billy- stop it- Timmy’s my friend’.
Billy has only one request- tell Timmy to stop throwing.
Morsi is really not a go between at all- in all his talks he keeps saying he’s on Timmy’s side- he calls Billy a cold blooded apple thrower- and little Morsi does not even recognize that Timmy actually started the whole thing [the recent apple throwing].
So- the big brother on the block finally steps in.
Yeah- the guys from USA Street enter the fray.
They have recently praised the guy from Egypt Street- they have made all sorts of statements saying he’s really a heroic figure- he’s willing to reach out to both sides and play the mediator.
Yet- in fact- he has not done this at all.
But the boys from USA Street have to make it look that way- or else they too will look bad- after all- they were behind the Egyptian street boys rise to power [in many covert ways- like calling for Mubarak to step down ‘yesterday’].
So- USA boys have a plan- they have friends that write comic books [called news paper reporters].
These friends will write and say anything to help their friends who are currently the bosses on USA Street [the Obama team].
So- they wrote all types of articles praising the new leadership role of Morsi- they made it look like Obama and his risk in backing Morsi was worth it- after all- Egypt has emerged as the new mediator in these affairs.
Well the truth is- all of this is a big lie- a true comic strip if there ever was one.
Yes my friends- I have rarely seen bias on a scale so large.
These last few days the articles reported that ‘both sides have demands’ [Israel and Hamas].
They reported ‘a cease fire is now in place- but there are rockets that continue to be fired into Israel- will Israel use this as an excuse to be the first to break the cease fire’.
Huh?
If the other side [Timmy- Hamas] are firing rockets after the so called ‘cease fire’ what do you call that?
You say ‘o- Hamas broke the cease fire’.
But no- the media made it sound like these rockets had a will of their own- they were fired into Israel- after the cease fire- which according to them- both sides were still abiding by.
I mean this stuff is laughable- they must think we are absolute morons.
The truth is- Israel and the Palestinians have a long feud- and this post is not to say one side is totally right- I at times have said we also need to see the true plight of the innocent Palestinians- yes- some are very good people- they are not all Hamas.
But- the recent violence is a direct result of Hamas deciding to send rockets into civilian areas of Israel.
No nation- that has the capability to fire back- would sit back and not respond.
Israel did the only thing that they could- they shot back.
Now- to then say ‘yes- the violence is a result of both sides having legitimate concerns’ is stupid.
Yes- the Palestinians do have real concerns- but the recent violence is a result of little Timmy starting the apple throwing.
I read a report that said ‘Israel’s demands are for the rockets to stop- Hamas wants an end to the embargo’.
Okay- I got that.
But when one guy starts shooting at the other- and the other shoots back- and you say ‘okay guys- what’s going on- what do you want’.
And when Billy says ‘I don’t want anything- Timmy just started throwing- I want him to stop’.
That’s not ‘both sides having equal demands’ no- that’s one side saying ‘quit throwing the apples’.
The truth is- this entire thing is a debacle.
President Obama should not have been in Asia- there’s too much going on at home [fiscal cliff] and he needs to have more involvement in the mediation.
Yes- when Bush was in office- and had an actual peace process on the table- when things hit the fan- Harry Reid- and many other Democrat leaders were on the floor condemning Bush for not being involved more.
This time Obama does not even have a peace process in place- he could not even call both sides ‘back to the table’ because there is no table.
One article showed a picture of the president on the phone- it said he ‘skipped dessert and rushed back to the phone’.
Making it sound like him and Morsi were these 2 jet setter type diplomats- in a world of ids fighting.
The reality is this thing was a huge foreign policy mess.
Hillary went in- she basically told Morsi what he had to do- and she [we] also made it sound like he won- he prevailed as a new emerging peace negotiator- this is all a false story.
Hamas agreed to stop firing [even though they were still firing!] because Israel has amassed a ground force and were ready to go in and demolish Hamas.
Yet- after the agreement- both the Palestinians- and Morsi- were celebrating a so called military victory over the ‘terrorist’ Israel.
Yes- Morsi and Hamas all held to this same line.
How can you call him a new peace maker- after he says and acts like this?
Yes my friends- we have seen the worst in media bias- in a long time.
We have seen the comic strip writers living up to their reputation.
Yeah- they all put on a big show for us- they wrote a script that had nothing to do with what really happened.
And they did all this because this time their friend was running the show.
The last time around [Bush years] well the script looked nothing like this.
NOTE- Why so hard on Morsi [the Egyptian president]?
Just yesterday he re wrote the ‘Egyptian constitution’ and took to himself more power than Mubarak ever had.
Many Egyptians took to the streets [they are there right now] protesting this power grab by an Islamic group.
Yes- Morsi and the group he’s affiliated with- the Muslim Brotherhood- promised to never do this.
There are Christians and other non religious secularists in Egypt who fear this move.
One of the reasons he did this was because he arrested- and wanted tried- many of his political opponents.
The judges in Egypt have a reputation of being independent.
Yes- they are not as good as our system- but they are pretty good- in that they are not simply tools of the leader- like in many other places around the world.
So- when Morsi wanted some of his political enemies tried- the courts said no.
They said there was not enough evidence to try them- or find them guilty.
So- Morsi made this move- and is replacing all the judges with his own men.
Yes- this move is worse than anything Mubarak ever did.
Yet- we find president Obama and his administration praising him as some sort of great peace negotiator.
Ah- what a web we have weaved in this mess.
1952 YOU WILL STAND IN YOUR LOT AT THE END OF DAYS
Let’s do a little from Daniel chapter 12.
That was the chapter for this past week.
These chapters in the Old Testament prophets are very familiar with the End Times teachers.
In Theology we call this Eschatology- the study of End Times.
But what I want to do is give you a few simple principles.
Daniel is receiving a message from God/angels.
He hears that God is going to do a great work with his people- but this work takes place in the middle of great trouble [often called the time of Jacobs Trouble- or the Tribulation].
God communicates that his people will be scattered- a ruler will come against them- and yet- this is the time they will inherit the promises God made to them.
The chapter ends by saying those who endure to the final days- they will ‘stand in their lot at the end of their days- and rest’.
The ‘end of days’ phrase- used by Jesus in the gospels- can be a tricky phrase.
How so?
In the New Testament when we read that certain things will happen- and the ‘end of the world’ comes.
The actual term in Greek says ‘the end of the age’.
This can refer to a specific time period coming to an end.
For instance- one of the great themes of the bible is the New and Everlasting covenant of the Blood of Jesus.
Yes- Christians celebrate and remember this covenant every Sunday in church.
The Eucharist/communion is the central mode of worship in many Christian churches of our day.
In biblical terms- we are already in a ‘new age’.
So- in some ways the ‘old world’ has passed away- and the new one has come.
Okay- applying this to Daniel- God says in the ‘end of days’ we shall stand in our lot [fulfill our purpose in life] and this will happen during a time of great trouble- like never before.
As we say ‘can I get an amen’?
So- in life- we have a calling from God- a purpose for being on the planet.
Thru out the journey there are ups and downs- but those who ‘endure to the end [outcome]’ will ‘be saved’- or fulfill the purpose at the end.
Got it?
Okay- just a few notes.
The last week or so I have been helping my friend establish a halfway house.
I have been working with some new guys- guys form the other part of town- yet they are brothers just like the guys where I live.
I mentioned Little Charlie the other day- he’s a young kid- has had his problems with drugs- and is living at the halfway house.
I brought a bunch of furniture and stuff over the last few weeks.
I like it- it already has some of my favorite nick knacks hanging on the walls.
I spent some time with the guys this past Sunday- I took them to a street church that my friend pastors [see all the pictures of the tent he sets up- I posted them on Facebook].
His name is Rey Escalante- he’s a good friend of mine- he works with the same street guys I work with.
I took the halfway house crew to his service this Sunday- we had a good time.
Rey feeds everyone a Sunday dinner too.
I had a good talk with Bryan.
Bryan is one of the guys at the house- he’s 46- I was surprised- he looks much younger.
He told me ‘John- I’m Catholic’.
I guess he has had various ‘preachers’ jump on him about that over the years- you could tell by the way he said it.
I told him that’s fine- I have Catholic friends [over the years even a few priests] who have read my blog.
So- I do get along well with my Catholic friends.
Bryan has been in Corpus for about a year.
He is a drug addict.
He works in construction- and looks to be a hard worker [some of the guys do work hard- there are different types of guys who struggle with addiction- and believe me- some are hard workers].
Bryan strikes me that way.
As we were heading to church this Sunday- he found out that his Jeep finally got repossessed.
He was behind 3 months on the payments and his friend was holding it for him.
Sure enough- they found it.
Bryan told me he was glad in a way.
That years ago- something like this would really get him upset.
You know- having to get with the dealership and try to get his tools and stuff back.
Yeah- this has happened to him before.
But this time- he has learned how to deal with it in a better way.
He can now focus more on his recovery- and less on the Jeep.
I had a good day with the guys- this type of ministry is really more like a brotherhood.
After we left the church meeting at Church Without Walls- we came back to the house for a couple of hours- by this time I picked up a few other guys- we had a house/yard full [Huey crashed out in the ‘homeless room’ I fixed up a few months ago- It’s just ‘their room’ type of thing].
Henry crashed on the couch- watching his favorite show- ESPN.
And the rest of us hung out in my yard- I cooked some hot dogs on the grill and we just laid back.
Bryan even took a short nap in my Hammock.
All in all we had a good day.
Yeah- like the prophet said- in the end times there will be trouble- yet- those who endure to the end- they will inherit all that God has for them.
In a way- I see God doing this with all these guys.
I took a ride with John David the other day.
John David is the older brother who actually started the Halfway House- I’m just helping him with it.
As we were driving- getting the rooms fixed up- he was so excited.
He was saying ‘thank you God for making all this happen- it’s happening all around us’.
John was a big time addict for many years- I know John- and his brothers- from the streets.
He almost died a couple months back [had the open heart surgery- had to be shocked with the paddles].
He has had quite the life.
And now- after all the troubles- he is ‘standing in his lot at the end of his days’.
Yeah- I thank God for my buddies- seeing them come full circle.
They stuck it out- in very tough times- may God bless them all.
1953 LEADERS/PASTORS AMONG MEN?
Saw Lincoln yesterday [actually it was the movie].
I did like it- but to be honest- it was a little too much like watching the news [or some politics show].
My daughter crashed out on the seats.
I took Debbie- my youngest- she’s 20.
I’m trying to take them out at least once a week- the mall- Golden Corral [buffet].
You know- dad and girls day.
Okay- I also have had some good talks with the guys at the halfway house.
I spent about 2 hours ‘teaching’ an entire course on Ecclesiology [The doctrine of the church in the bible].
I haven’t taught this subject in a few years- it can get in depth- and it takes a basic foundation of knowing the bible before you can really teach it.
But Little Charlie really has the bible down well- for a younger Christian he knows a lot.
So- I took him on a tour of the mind.
The reason it’s not an easy subject is because much of what you pick up in this teaching is by simply reading the interaction of the biblical people.
For instance- Paul the apostle’s letters make up most of the New Testament.
So we read how he is addressing the churches he is writing to- and he seems to by-pass our normal ‘way’ of doing church.
Much of church in our day is a type of lecture hall format.
That is people go to ‘church’ [some sort of meeting place- from an old time Cathedral to a theatre].
And you listen to a lecture [called a sermon].
Okay- all of this has a role.
But when Paul writes to the churches in the bible- he is addressing communities of people living in a location [which is the biblical definition of the church- Ecclesia].
He speaks directly to ‘the brothers’.
That is- there does not seem to be an office of Pastor on the sense many modern Evangelicals understand the term.
How do you know this John?
Now you see why this study gets hard.
We know this because if you had the office functioning the way it functions today- Paul would be breaking church protocol to speak directly to the brothers in these churches- he would be violating the rule of going to the ‘authority’ office over the people commonly called the Pastor.
Okay- doesn’t the bible speak about Pastors?
Sure- actually one time in the book of Ephesians [one time- yup].
One time in the English King James version that is [Ephesians].
In the bible the word speaks about a gift that God gives to certain believers- and it’s a sort of shepherding gift.
It simply functions in the community- that is if you a part of a church [a believing community] more than likely you have a person like this who functions in the gift.
It was not a speaking gift- that is a sort of professional speaker who preaches to you every week.
Now- I’m just showing you the difference between the biblical word itself- and how we as believers have developed more ‘meaning’ to the word as time goes by.
So- this study does take a long time- cant’ do it here- but pretty much covered most of it in my 2 hour talk.
Charlie really learned a lot that day- it would take a long time to simply see these things yourself as time goes by.
The main point of what I was showing him was the important thing we are doing [as a new ministry- the halfway house just stared a few weeks ago].
Is we are simply working- helping- accepting people where they are at.
We are not starting a business- a 501 c3- that usually takes the description ‘local church’.
These things [non profit- etc.] serve a purpose if needed- but the point is in the bible the churches are the people.
Some of the guys are getting worried about all the money needed for the rent.
They are working- I also have chipped in cash- and John David [my buddy who actually started it] gets panicky at times.
So- I spend a few days a week simply working with the guys.
But I wanted them to get their eyes off of the idea that what they-we are doing is not simply attempting to start a ‘ministry’.
In the sense of the whole corporate thing.
But I wanted them to see that the important thing is the people.
That’s the whole point of me showing them that the apostle was writing the brothers [that’s how he mostly addressed the churches he wrote to in the bible- I think he addresses the Philippian church and does use the term Bishop- along with brothers- which means overseer- but he mostly speaks directly to the brothers].
So- to sum it up.
The best biblical definition of Church would be the communities of believers located in any given place at a set time.
That’s what we call ‘the Local church’.
It’s not the place they meet each Sunday- as fine as that might be- but it’s the family- the community.
And we also speak about the universal church- all the believers- of all time- even those who have died and are with the Lord right now.
Yes- these too are part of this great communion.
The gifts that God gives to people- pastors- teachers- etc.
These are for the purpose of building up the people- and they are the ones who go out and do the ‘work of the ministry’ [Ephesians].
So the job of leadership is to build others up- and they do the work of God.
It’s not the job of leaders to be the main [or only] functioning person among the people- and the people see themselves as the financial supporters of the gift of their minister.
Often times that’s how modern church expresses itself.
But that paradigm is very limited- and it hinders the growth of the church [the believers].
Because we have relegated them to a position where they see their main ‘job’ as simply giving money every Sunday- and others will do the work.
Yeah- this takes long to teach- and as you can see- I'm running out of time.
On the blog- I have written a few little books on this over the years.
I think there is an entire category in the February posts of the first couple of years that I stuck on the blog.
So- for those who want to study more on this- help yourself.
Okay- that’s it- maybe tomorrow well’ do some more news- let’s see.
1954 DON’T MOVE THE ROCKS
I want to cover a few things today- not sure how much we will get to.
A few months ago I kept having a ‘thought’- I was thinking about a church/ministry that I have known for years.
They are from Kansas City [the Missouri side].
I have read the pastor’s book- I have met many that were involved in the church/movement- and I even had a good pastor friend who eventually went and joined the ministry.
He held a doctorate in theology and became one of the teachers for their university.
Okay- so- for some reason an image of the ministry kept coming to mind.
Actually- I kept thinking about the off balance of a few things I had heard over the years.
I was thinking about their belief- taught to the students/members of the ministry- that they are all convinced that we are definitely in the ‘end times’ and that they are actually fulfilling a role of an end times prayer ministry that will rise up before the Lord returns [which they believe the bible speaks about].
At its most basic level- this is dangerous to do- for a variety of reasons.
The other thing that came to mind was a simple statement I heard the minister make years ago.
He was mentioning some criticism that their church/university has gotten over the years.
Some of the parents of the kids have said to them ‘but you need to also learn some type of job skills- some type of learning in the liberal arts- you can’t just spend all your time praying and learning about being the Lords end time army’.
When I heard this- I actually agreed with the critic- though I was sympathetic to the ministry.
Okay- after having these things in my mind- for a few weeks [that’s how you know you’re actually praying in a way for them- because you’re thinking about them- even during prayer].
Then I read in my local paper that a kid from my town was I involved in a possible murder plot and killed his wife.
They were involved in the above mentioned ministry.
I went on-line a bit yesterday to read up on it before I comment- I won’t mention the names- you can find that from many other sources.
I just want to mention the danger of various expressions of Protestant ministries- and why this is so.
The other day one of my friends was mentioning some stuff about not being a ‘lone ranger’ in ministry.
And I agreed with him.
But I also reminded him that the church he associates with [Baptist] is in many ways a ‘lone ranger’.
How so?
Depending on what kind of Baptist church your involved with- some are highly ‘lone’- others not as much.
But by ‘lone’ I mean historically they are a church movement that came out of the 16th century Reformation [later on- they were part of what’s called the Radical Reformers- those who took the reforms further than the initial protestors] and in historical terms- they are all ‘rebelling’ against authority.
They left the historic church.
Now- I don’t take this view in a harsh way- I have many good Baptist friends and many good churches are Baptist.
I say this only to give the broader perspective.
Okay- as time progressed [from the 1500’s] you had a multitude of churches/denominations break away from one thing or another.
It's really astounding to see the many divisions that have come since the days of the Reformation [which some Catholic scholars warned would happen].
In these ‘off shoot’ expressions of Christianity- some are less dangerous- others more.
Many cult watchers have lists of what to look for in these movements- and these lists can be helpful.
What I try and tell people [and teach] is if you stay connected as much as possible with the historic church [yes- both the Catholic and Protestant expressions of it] then you are in safe territory.
But if you truncate yourself from 'the church’ then you are heading for trouble.
In the above example- the thing that troubled me was having lots of young kids- on ‘fire’ for God- being taught that they are God’s ‘end time army’.
The actual ones!
Geez- that in itself is really disturbing.
Why?
First- I think the Evangelical church has to do some real soul searching about the way she views/expresses the ‘end times’.
The fact that over the last few years some of the best sellers are Tim Layahes books- his End Times series- is troubling.
He gives a very narrow- and skewed view [in my opinion] of the bibles’ teaching about End Times.
I posted the other day from Daniel 12- and I have hinted about these problems over the years.
But some of our view about the end times comes from a miss reading of the actual Greek text.
In the gospels when we read ‘end of the world’- the term actually means end of the AGE.
Okay- that little adjustment alone can change our understanding about lots of stuff.
That’s just one little thing- I have posted lots more over the years.
But the point I’m making is if we have a whole group of fine young people- embracing a view- from the elders over them- that they are indeed the actual 'end time army’ or prayer movement- that was foretold about in the bible- than that’s very disturbing.
When I read about the case yesterday [the ministry is IHOP_ Mike Bickle is the main leader- I won’t mention the name of the local boy who is implicated in the death of his wife].
The church is trying to distance itself from the incident- and to be fair the young kid seems to have started his own ‘break away’ community [which can also be one of the problems with a Protesting position form the start- that is when the actual name of your group ‘Protestant’ seems to say we are nonstop protestors- well that can give rise to the nonstop protests- you think?]
We don’t know all the facts right now- but we know enough to say we- as Evangelicals- as Protestants [which I am] need to make every effort to stay connected to the historic church.
Yes- there are things that Evangelicals disagree with- there are things that the historic early church might view differently than we do.
But- they are our Fathers in the faith.
Over the years I remember a verse that some in the above movement used to mention.
It was a sort of obscure verse found in the Old Testament.
It says ‘don't move the foundation stones that your Fathers have laid down’.
Yeah- I think that verse fits pretty well.
As we end the week once again we are reminded of the politics of chicken.
You know- that old game where you see who blinks first.
I find it sad that the lines have been drawn- over the Fiscal Cliff- with the whole idea of the rich SOB’s not paying their fair share.
1955 GRECIAN FORMULA ….
I spoke to a liberal friend not long ago- she watches all the more progressive news shows [MSNBC].
She was railing against Romney- against the rich fat cat corporate guys.
She went on and on about the rich being the actual cause of all the nations problems.
I asked my friend if she thought the rich pay less taxes than the middle class.
She said ‘of course they do’!
I went on to inform my friend that the tax rate- as well as the actual dollars paid- are much higher among the rich than the middle class.
She could not believe this was so.
I told her that when some say they are not paying their fair share- their talking about Capital Gains taxes being less than the middle class tax rate for income.
And the rich who don’t earn income- well they do pay less- if they are only living off their investments.
But most who are in this category do indeed earn income [the rich now being earning 200 thousand or more].
But it’s the way the debate was framed- blaming things on the rich- this caused my friend to not see the real problem.
Which is no matter how much we tax the rich- that will not solve the problem of our country having promised too much stuff that we can no longer afford.
I saw Ed Shultz the other night- he actually was telling people that the problem was we are not taxing them enough.
If you listen long enough- you would think that we could get out of the hole if we simply taxed rich folk.
I’m for raising the tax on them by the way- I don’t think it’s wrong to go back to the Clinton year’s tax rate.
I’m no conservative about this.
But that does not even come close to fixing the problem.
Our nation is in debt for around 16 trillion dollars.
The largest expense- not counting the military- are the Entitlement programs.
Medicare- Medicaid- etc.
Now- if we do raise the taxes on the ‘rich’ it will bring in about 80 billion a year.
That’s a drop in the bucket- that won’t barely put a dent in the debt.
But the rate of growth for Medicare- if we keep growing at this rate- will eventually swallow up the entire budget- we will be spending everything on Medicare alone.
That’s why I believe the result of the last few weeks has been bad.
After Obama won re-election- many from the more liberal side began putting pressure on him to not deal with entitlement spending.
Yesterday he made an offer to the House Republicans- and it had no real change to these programs.
If we do not make any changes to the programs- like means testing [the rich get less benefit than the poor- which you would think would be a Democrat’s dream come true- yet they are the ones blocking this change].
If we simply keep framing the argument as one being the rich not paying their fair share- then that will give an excuse to not actually fix these programs.
And that’s what the president has decided to do.
Remember- I’m for the tax rate going up on the rich- but that will barely put a dent in the debt.
You must- we must- make some adjustments with the entitlement programs- that’s the only way to really fix the problem.
And the president- and some who support him- have decided to continue the campaign.
They are not going to realistically look at the problem.
And if they keep kicking this can down the road.
Well- it will land in Greece.
1956 SWORDS INTO PLOWSHARES [versus the 2nd amendment?]
Found it interesting to see the politics play out over the sad murder/suicide of the Kansas City chief’s football player.
Both the left and the right were out in force- using their standard lines.
Bob Costas used his coverage of a game- during halftime- to speak about gun control.
That raised the ire of the right- and they were out too- you know- the usual rhetoric.
I guess the most honest view came from Joe Namath.
He was on Piers Morgan [CNN].
Morgan asked him about Costas’ comments.
Joe said even though he was partial to the gun control side- yet he felt Costas shouldn’t have used the game in a political way.
I mentioned I saw the Lincoln movie the other day.
It really was a good history lesson on how congress works.
They spent most of the movie simply playing out the political machinations of congress and the president- and how making the right moves can accomplish the goal.
Slavery was forbidden under the 13th amendment to the constitution.
The second amendment talks about gun rights.
I own a few guns- am not a liberal- or an NRA type of guy.
But I find it strange how believers seem to associate guns with patriotism and freedom.
Of course weapons have been used in the past to obtain freedom- and it's in mans nature to resort to violence in order to protect what he thinks is valuable.
But there actually is a biblical goal- the scripture speaks about God’s ultimate goal for weapons.
It does- I never knew that?
Yes- the bible speaks about a future day when there will be no more weapons of war.
The prophet Isaiah says ‘they will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks- they will learn war no more’.
Now- to my friends on the right- no- I’m not against our 2nd amendment rights.
To my friends on the left- well- yeah- guns don’t kill people- but people do.
But- the end goal for the believer- for the kingdom- is no more weapons.
Okay- I guess a few more examples from my homeless buddies will do here.
I have been mentioning the guys the last few weeks- we have been working together on a halfway house- and I have been sort of playing the mediator role with some of the guys.
In ‘ministry’ there exists a sort of competitive spirit.
The same type of thing you see in sports.
My friend David who started the halfway house has noticed that some of our mutual pastor friends are not so happy about it.
I have been teaching the guys about the nature of ‘church’ and Gods kingdom- insights I have gleaned over the years.
And my friend David is seeing it- the competitive thing- and he realizes that people are more willing to help other ministries if they have some type of name recognition fixed to it.
A few pastors/churches are willing to help my buddy- but they want him to incorporate as part of their church.
The other day David asked if I wanted to actually use my ‘ministry’ as the name- the incorporation- for the halfway house [he wants to establish many of them].
I have been helping the most I guess- out of all the other ministries.
I told David I really did not want too- I actually incorporated years ago- but eventually dropped the status.
There was no need for it.
I never took offerings- or financial support at all [since around 1994?]
So I told David I had no need- or desire- to have the thing under my name.
But he saw that seemed to be a big thing with some of the other pastors we work with.
In my talk the other day with the group [called NeWay].
I spoke about the kingdom of God in the parables of Jesus.
Often times we overlook the simple teachings of Christ when thinking ‘church starting’.
Now- there are many theological reasons pastors do this- too many to cover right here.
But- in the parables of Jesus we see a principle- a kingdom principle about seeds.
Jesus teaches his men that the kingdom of God is like spreading seeds.
You throw some here- some there- and you have no control over which ones take and the others that don’t.
Jesus says ‘after he plants- he sleeps- and wakes- and the seed grows- he knows not how’.
I like that- we are just seed sowers.
Now- Jesus did not just teach this- he also modeled it in the actual ‘ministry’ he was building with his men.
They were going from town to town- preaching the good news- healing the sick- feeding the poor.
They were not ‘setting up ministries’ in the way we think.
They were simply communicating the truth of God- in whatever format they were in at the time- and doing kingdom works.
Eventually some in those towns became followers- others did not [some seeds took- some did not].
Notice- there was no big appeal for lots of money- sure- they did receive offerings from some- but the appeal to start some huge 501 c3 thing was nonexistent.
So- the point I was making was we- ministers- Christians in general- we should not focus most of our time on simply raising money for all types of ‘worthy’ causes.
No- we are here to basically model the ministry of Christ.
Yeah- could it be that simple?
Sure.
Jesus said ‘let your light so shine before men- that they may see YOUR GOOD DEEDS- and glorify you father in heaven’.
See?
Our ‘light’ is not the showcasing of our gifts or our talents.
We often see modern ministry thru that lens.
‘wow- did you hear him speak’ type of thing.
Actually that’s not the light.
The light Jesus spoke about was the actual good deeds of charity.
The actual lived out love we have for one another.
‘greater love has no man than this- that he would lay down his life for his friends’.
Yeah- the kingdom seems to always rub against our own ideas.
Yeah- there's coming a day where there will be no more weapons.
Only love.
That’s not just a Lennon song.
It’s gospel.
1957 TODAY I HAVE TO GO- DON’T WORRY.
Which way to go?
Yeah- today I have lots of things to write about- but must pick one or 2.
Yesterday I spent the day with David- my buddy who started the halfway house.
I picked up Henry in the morning- he was at a weekly breakfast that a local church sponsors.
I actually posted the pic yesterday- the plate looked like a Denny’s thing!
I don’t eat breakfast or lunch- though I’m regularly at these spots- because that’s where I have met lots of street guys in the past.
Me and Henry stopped at brother Rey's [pastor of church without walls] and he donated a couple of real nice cots to the halfway house.
At the halfway house we took in a new guy- John.
Yeah- I was with John David- I took John Henry- and we added another John.
That has come up a lot these last few months.
I also posted his pic on Facebook.
Please pray for him- he has liver cancer real bad- has been sober for a while- but he might die while at the house.
Okay- I really did not plan on spending the whole day helping with the halfway house- but once we started- I felt that was the plan for the day.
As we left the halfway house and headed back to David’s little apt. - he wanted to stop at McDonalds- the one close to the area where all this is happening.
As we sat inside- I relayed to David and Henry that the last time I was here was about 8 months ago.
It was the beginning of my involvement in this area of town [downtown Corpus- most of my homeless/street friends live on the south side].
I told the guys that I took a ride one morning- prayed for the Lord to open some doors- and stopped right here.
There were 2 homeless guys sleeping on the bus benches outside.
It was early- about 6:30 in the morning.
I bought a couple of breakfasts and woke the guys up- they were grateful for the meal.
I spent about 4 hours with the guys- hanging out- telling them about the ministry and all.
I never saw them again.
I did go back to look for them- but like many others- they just moved on.
But- thru a series of events- we are now doing the halfway house right in the area- and sitting at the same McDonalds that I bought the breakfasts from.
So yes- God did open some doors- in ways that I did not see in the beginning.
Yesterday as I was reading the paper I came across a sad story.
When I read my papers every morning- I glean from the both current events- which I write about lots.
But I also write the names of severe crime cases- people being sent to prison for life- or upcoming death penalty guys.
I write the date of their execution on my calendar- I pray for them thru out the months [along with lots of others].
And if I remember- I pray for them on the day of execution [I’m not praying for them to get ‘spared’ though that did happen one day- but for them to die ‘well’. If they are indeed guilty- to ask forgiveness from their victim’s families if they have not done this. Or if they have denied the crime- to confess- to go out well- and to ask God for forgiveness].
I started this a few years ago- I felt the Lord leading me into this strange type of prayer group- you know- people who are now dead.
Almost seemed like a waste of time- I mean who 'collects’ these dead ones?
Anyway- in yesterday’s paper I read about Niko [the San Antonio news].
They had a picture of him sitting on the beach- by a pier.
He is [was] 11 years old.
Niko was an ambitious young kid- smart- and had big plans.
He liked soccer- and wanted to attend Harvard one day.
But Niko was diagnosed with cancer- and died.
The story went on.
His family were visiting him at the hospital once again.
And he said to them ‘Today is the day- today I have to go’.
He died later that day.
As I read Niko’s words- it was so sad.
The end of the story said his last words were ‘don’t worry about me’.
I have Nikos story right here- when I’m done typing I will post it here in my study- along with the names of my ‘prisoners’ who have died.
Yeah- in some way I feel like this little community that I live amongst- homeless buddies- friends in prison- and some who have died.
That they are all part of this group.
I have had many confirmations about this over the years.
I’ll end with just one.
A few years back I did an on-line teaching about the other books that never made it into the bible.
Many years ago I bought some of these- and when you study church history and theology- well- these are an aspect of that type of teaching.
So I commented on them- gave the reasons why we don’t have them in our bibles.
But I also said that when I read some of them- I have found some are actually quite good.
One of my favorites is called the Epistle of Barnabus.
But there are others as well.
Some in the early church actually had a couple of these that were included in some of the early bibles- others were never given a 2nd thought.
By the way- in this field of study- I come down of the conservative side.
That is I don’t hold to the ideas of men like Bart Ehrman- the more liberal scholars.
They seem to give more credence to the books that never made it into the canon- and cast too much doubt on the bible we have today.
Anyway- the few that I do lile- when I re-read them as the years go by- there have been times when God did speak to me.
Here’s one.
As my prayer time developed into this inclusion of dead folk [above].
I felt much more awareness of my friends who have died- as being amongst us during prayer.
Now- I don’t ‘pray to them’ but I have a greater sense of praying ‘with them’. I mention their kids and all- because these guys- some- were actually friends of mine- who came to my church meetings I started years ago.
So- I painted a spot on my wall- it was dedicated to this group.
I simply wrote a few things- stuff that reminded me that these were those who have gone on- and are yet ‘here’.
Sort of like my ‘friends in prison’ type of thing.
Prison represents those who have died- and we are not so sure where they are- to be honest.
I’ll explain it in a moment.
So- right after I painted this little altar area- I read in one of the ‘lost books of the bible’ [I think it was in the Revelation of St. Peter?].
It said ‘have you preached to the spirits in prison yet’.
Meaning- have you included those who have died yet- have you yet ‘learned this’ son?
That was the type of sense I got.
As I read the verse- I simply said ‘yes’.
Now- I do know the source is from one of the early books that is not in the bible.
But this reference- even if it is a copy- or a fake- does come from our bibles as well.
It’s in the letter of Peter [I think 1st Peter 3?]
And it’s one those texts that scholars haggle over.
But Peter is speaking about some who died before the days of the world wide flood [Genesis 6].
And he refers to these dead people hearing the gospel- by Christ himself- after he died and rose again.
And they are called ‘the spirits in prison’.
So- that’s the same thing I felt/understood as I began seeing those who have gone on- well- they are still with us in a way.
Yeah- in a few minutes I will post little Niko’s picture up on my wall.
I’ll look at it as time goes by- as I see all my friends- both living and dead- and I will read his words.
‘Today I have to go- don’t worry’.
Yes- Jesus said out of the mouths of babies thou hast perfected praise.
You think?
RECENT STUFF D 2013
1958 AGAINST HIS OWN PEOPLE!
Its story time again kiddies!
Come- gather at the media carnival- they have another great fantasy for us all.
Yes- that’s the way I feel often- when seeing new narratives emerge.
The past couple of days I have been hearing ‘he might use chemical weapons- against his own people’.
Heaven forbid it- oh my- we could never have that.
Yes- that’s the way they want you to respond.
I’m talking about Syria and the ongoing tragedy of the civil war taking place in their land.
Now- I’m certainly not a supporter of Assad- the son of Hafez Assad- who ruled with an iron fist for 40 years.
Hilary Clinton called the son a reformer- a good man who was for change.
Now he’s a murdering thug with a bent on using the most horrid thing in the world- chemical weapons! Oh my!!
Yes- for those of you who don’t know- the standard method of killing- shooting lead [or other metals] into the bodies and skulls of folk- smashing their skulls as the bullet goes in.
In many cases leaving the wounded person to die- in great agony.
Well- this method is humane.
Or say dropping a nuclear bomb on hundreds of thousands of Japanese women and children.
You know- giving radiation poisoning to tens of thousands of moms- many who were pregnant.
These kids dying of radiation sickness- their limbs melting off like charred meat from a chicken bone.
Yes- this is ‘humane’.
But chemical weapons- against HIS OWN PEOPLE- o my.
I guess it would be okay if it were other people?
Did you know our great Winston Churchill used- and advocated for the continuation of them- during the war?
Bet you didn’t know that little tid bit.
My point?
I don’t want anyone to use any weapons- ever.
And yes- chemical ones are very bad.
But when you see the western media saying ‘against his own people’.
Watch out- they are trying to develop a narrative that will excuse our involvement [via NATO] to go in once again and ruin another country.
Right now- as I write- the guys who killed our ambassador in Benghazi are walking the streets- freely.
There are reports that no one has been questioned- everyone in town knows who did it [Ansar Al Shariah].
Yet till this day the U.S. has so badly dropped the ball- that these guys roam the streets with impunity.
This week I heard an ‘expert’ on Arab affairs describe the ongoing protests in Egypt as simply a healthy expression of Democracy.
That the Egyptians were suppressed for so long- that now that they have freedom- they just can’t get enough of this new expression of rising up in their streets.
Wow- what a great story.
O- but I forgot- the women have been raped openly in the famous square- by the great Muslim Brotherhood.
All of these things are examples of the media wanting to make things look/go a certain way.
It would be terrible if after all the praise about the Arab spring- the open support we gave to Morsi [Egypt’s new pharaoh].
If after all this- we now realize that we were part of a revolution- that simply became anarchy.
That’s why they tell us the story thru this lens.
That’s why they say ‘chemical weapons- against his own people!’
So you would think ‘of course we had to intervene- we had no other choice’.
When the so called rebels [Al-Qaida] attacked a hospital in Syria and killed innocent victims and doctors- was this called an attack ‘on their own people’.
No.
When the Al Qaeda group in Libya hunt down the former relatives and friends of Gadhaffi.
When they torture and kill them.
When the free roaming militias terrorize blacks and women- do we say they are ‘terrorizing their own people’.
No.
We don’t say it because we backed them.
The guys running Libya are guys we put in power.
So when the various atrocities take place- against ‘their own people’. We don’t say it.
But when it’s time for the west to intervene again- well watch out- we start saying ‘against his own people’.
All war- and weapons of war- are sad- tragic.
It’s sad that many young Arab- Persian and Muslim kids have grown up in this mess.
Its’ sad that some have embraced radical expressions of their faith because they see no other way out.
It’s sad that Morsi turned out to be no better than the guy before him [Mubarak].
It’s sad that the U.S. has put its hand to many times to try and make a certain outcome happen.
Maybe we have done this meaning well [maybe!] but the end result has not turned out well.
If we go in and depose Assad [Syria].
That country will fall to Al-Qaida- that’s a fact.
I don’t want to see chemical weapons used either.
But don’t fool yourselves.
They are all killing- both sides- using very bad things- against THEIR OWN PEOPLE.
The only innocent ones are the true protestors who have not resorted to violence.
Those in the square of Egypt today- who are not violent- they are noble.
Those in Libya- Syria- all the other hot spots in the Arab world.
Those who reject violence- they are noble.
But if you take up a weapon- be it chemical or any other- then you have chosen to live by the sword.
A great man once said ‘if you live by the sword- you will die by it’.
His name was Jesus Christ.
1959 SOME OF YOU WILL BE PUT TO DEATH
Much to say- little space.
Before I forget- the chapter for the week was [is] Luke 21.
Okay- the last few days I have seen an interesting thing- this is how you know what’s really going on.
You listen carefully to those who support the view that they are speaking about.
Example- Gloria Borger is a news reporter from CNN.
I have seen her lots of times- she’s fairly good- and she is a supporter of the president.
The other night she gave a short report about the current fiscal crisis [called the Fiscal Cliff].
She said that Obama and the Dems are feeling justified after the election- and they seem more willing to not negotiate- for real- and to let the blame fall on the Repubs.
Now- as she talked- you could tell there was a sort of concern in her voice- like those who have supported the president might be worried that he might take the country over the cliff needlessly [remember- she was giving a sort of behind the scenes view of other Democrats- that they seem to think Obama is the one that might take the country over the cliff- even though he is saying it’s the Repubs- his own supporters kind of think he’s lying about the thing- get it?]
Why needlessly?
She [as well as a bunch of others] have now come out and said that the thing that’s holding up a deal is the Repubs insistence on Medicare ‘means testing’.
Right now the 2 sides [Obama and the Repub congress] are stuck because Obama wants to raise taxes on the rich- and the Repubs want to means test entitlements [Medicare].
Okay- Obama himself was for means testing- just last year he gave a speech claiming we could raise 1.2 trillion by doing this [it’s s simple adjustment to Medicare that makes the rich pay more].
So- those news papers and media outlets who have been behind the president 100% are now saying that he needs to agree to it.
Why are they all out in force like this?
They realize that he was [might still] purposefully blow a deal- because the blame will go to the Repubs.
But isn’t that petty- isn’t that wrong- isn’t that dangerous?
Sure- but that’s the honest read of this- that’s the only reason why you would have a bunch of more liberal leaning news media all come out at this time and try to force Obama’s hand.
When Boehner came out and said the deal the president offered was a joke- most insiders agreed- he was going to go over the cliff- no doubt about it.
Okay- the clincher for me was the infamous MSNBC- yes Ed Shultz had on Emanuel Cleaver [a Dem congressman who kinda looks like Richard Pryor].
Now- out of all the supporters of Obama- you would be hard pressed to exceed Shultz [now- I’m not saying it’s wrong to support the pres- I’m showing you how his supporters in the media have tried to shape the narrative].
Shultz was asking Cleaver about means testing Medicare [remember- this is the exact thing the Repubs want- and Obama’s side does not].
Cleaver gave quite a good view of why WE SHOULD MEANS TEST Medicare.
Huh?
I thought that was the very thing the Repubs want?
That’s right- now you’re learnin’.
Yeah- Cleaver went on and explained why we should do means testing- he gave the entire Repub talking points- and he was right.
Wow- finally- you mean they might be admitting the need to compromise?
Actually no.
Shultz then said ‘but you will never be able to convince the Repubs to do this- because they will try and protect their rich friends who will pay the most out of means testing’.
And Cleaver agreed.
You see- they both purposefully lied to their watchers.
They both know that what they said was an outright lie- like all the racial accusations of those who had real objections to healthcare reform.
MSNBC spent the last year calling them all ‘under the cover’ racists- playing ‘dog whistle’ politics.
The fact is- the Repubs are the ones demanding means testing- not the Dems.
And they gave you a spin that said the opposite.
They do no service to the country when they do this.
Okay- lets hit a little from Luke 21.
This is an ‘end time’ chapter where Jesus speaks to his men about the end of the age.
Just a few points.
I only cover [read] a couple of chapters a week.
The last year- I don’t think I read a single ‘earthquake’ chapter at all.
I have found the chapters I’m covering to have significance.
Just yesterday [or the day before] Japan was hit with another huge earthquake off its Pacific coast [Luke 21 says at the time of the end- outcome- there will be earthquakes.]
It was the same size of the one that leveled the area a few years back.
Pray for Japan.
Jesus gives us some of the signs that will take place at the time of the end.
I kind of ‘spiritualized’ my reading of the chapter this week- you know- looking for some practical things that are speaking about the here and now.
So- one of the things that spoke to me was what I posted about the other day- the post on ‘the dead ones’ remember?
I talked about praying for inmates on death row.
Okay- this practice became a habit a few years ago- and I felt like the Lord was in it.
While reading Luke 21 Jesus says- at the time of the end [or outcome] of these things- some OF YOU will be put to death.
In a strange way it fit what I sensed the Lord saying- sort of like ‘John- now that you have adopted these dead ones- these on death row- they are ‘some of you’- you have embraced them- this happens at the time of ‘the end’ the time of the outcome of all things.’
Get it?
Okay- there are a few more things I got from the chapter- but I’m trying to give you a sense of how God can speak to you ‘outside’ of the text.
Now- when you do this- read with a personal idea in mind- you should never make it doctrine.
That is- what I just showed you is fine to do in a devotional kind of way- trying to hear God about personal direction- but that’s not the actual teaching itself.
The actual teaching is about the end times- and also the destruction of the city of Jerusalem in a.d. 70.
I shared this with my friend who I’m doing the halfway house with.
I told him about ‘adopting the dead’.
He told me an interesting story about this.
Now- I have told John David's story many times over the years- so I won’t do the whole thing again.
But John David killed his best friend in Dallas many years ago.
A very brutal shotgun killing that made the headlines- his brother told me one day that when they picked up the dead body- he had shotgun pellets under his feet.
David kept shooting even after his friend was down.
John David got off for this crime- his mother got the same lawyer who defended Jack Ruby [who killed Lee Harvey Oswald] - and he got David off scot free.
Okay- that’s the story.
David told me the night he was in the Dallas prison- he was with another inmate who also just killed someone.
They were both puking up beer- sick as dogs- and sitting in the same cell- as murderers.
David was walking out of the mission here a few years back- and he randomly saw a news paper article- it was the execution of the Black cellmate that David was with that night[some of you- but not all will be PUT TO DEATH].
David relayed this story to me because I told him about the Lord leading me into the ‘adoption’ of the Death Row Guys.
He felt it fit- I might have even prayed for this guy he was with.
Yeah ‘some of YOU will be put to death’.
Yeah- I got it.
1960 MY APPEAL TO ALQAEDA
I woke up early the other day- around 1 am [I have had this problem for years].
Right before I woke- I had one of those dreams that you feel are significant.
I was with a friend- Huey- and we were on top of a building.
To get down you had to climb down a rope from a tree- Huey jumped on the tree and almost killed himself- he managed to escape but hurt himself real bad.
Later that day- in ‘real life’ [no more dream] he called me- he had some ride he needed or something [Huey is one of those guys that always has something going on- but seems to never accomplish anything. A few months ago he asked if he could store some of his stuff in the room at my house- I use the room for the homeless guys. Sure enough- he’ll come by late at night- needing something- I felt I needed to learn some patience with my buddy].
The phone he was on was breaking up bad- but I told him quickly about the dream- that he needs to be careful about something [you know- I thought maybe it meant danger- not an actual fall!].
So I haven’t seen him in a couple of days- but wanted to know how he was.
His brothers- who I’m doing the halfway house with- haven’t heard from him.
So I’m walking to my van at the mission- and I see Huey for the first time since the dream.
‘Hey- how you doing’?
He was in severe pain- maybe a broken rib.
What happened?
I just fell off of a pier and hurt myself real bad.
Huh?
I told him ‘didn’t you remember the dream’.
He didn’t.
Figures.
The point?
Listen to my dreams.
Okay- not really.
The point is God uses us- all of us- in community.
That means in the bible the various gifts of the Spirit- they are intended to function this way.
We have [in modern church] more of an individual style of the gifts.
Maybe we attend a church- or go to some function- and often times we want to hear what God said – ‘thru the prophet in the house’ type of thing.
But actually these types of scenarios lean too heavily on one person.
You might have a gifted young man- a real go getter- maybe the pastor of a church.
Okay- good- but if the format is trying our best to hear God- mainly thru the speaking gift of one person- then thats limited- it really is not the way ‘church’ was done in the bible.
Okay- enough of that.
I have a couple of things I want to write on- but can’t do them both.
I want to write a post- just to Al Qaeda.
What?
Yes- not one of those ‘got ya’ type titles- but a real life post to members of Al-Qaida.
What would possess you to do such a thing?
This last year I have had a lot of web hits from countries where many Muslims live.
My blog changed a function a while back.
It shows me- not on the site- but in the private section- how many hits we get.
A while back I stuck a thing on the site to see what countries view- but I realized the hits were much more than what that Fidgit thing was showing.
We were goin up a few hundred every couple of days.
Grant it- that’s not much- but it’s more than I thought.
We just passed 37,000 hits the other day.
So- I also noticed that the posts where I mention Islam- or some type of political thing- they get the most hits.
So- being I already said this much- might as well make this the Al-Qaida post.
I’m grateful to have Muslim friends who read the site- I’m grateful if some are Al-Qaida.
My appeal- what I try to do over the years- is to simply see both sides of a thing- to try and understand the others view- and then do my best to present the Christian idea.
Now- when I was talking to a friend the other day- Islam came up.
I told him ‘did you know that Muhammad- the founder of Islam in the 7th century- had many of the same protests that other Christian groups would later voice too’.
I explained that Muhammad’s rise in defense of the poor and down cast [by the way- that’s actually a biblical characteristic of prophets- in the bible] were similar to Christian movements that would rise later on- like the Salvation Army.
I went on to show that he also felt like the growing use of statues in Christian worship was a violation of the commandment that says you should not make images/idols.
Now- to my Catholic friends- I have taught the entire history of the use of art- and yes- statues- in Christian worship.
I have also taught against the Iconoclasts- those Protestants who destroyed the statues in the Catholic churches- during the times of the Reformation [16th century].
So- I’m not ‘Catholic bashing’ at all.
The point is- Muhammad had some of the same objections- based on the bible- that later Protestants would have.
Gee John- I never knew this? That’s why I teach it- it helps to have less of a negative view of Muslims as a whole.
So- after I try to look at some of the good things that Islam has done [Hamas- in the Palestinian area. Why do they garnish so much support among the populace? Because they start hospitals- they feed the poor- they start welfare programs for the kids. Do they do this as some sort of trick- a way to gain the hearts and minds of people? No- they do this because it’s a basic tenet of their faith].
Okay- then what do I say to any Al-Qaida on the site?
I say that the historic divisions- the things that divide the East from the West- many of them are actual misunderstandings.
Yes- some of the religious objections were misunderstandings.
The classic one.
Muhammad believed that the Christians worshipped 3 Gods- what we call the Trinity.
But he thought the believers worshipped God- Jesus- and Mary-the mother of Jesus.
That’s of course not the trinity- this is simply a misunderstanding.
Christians believe that there is one God- in 3 persons.
Those persons being the Father- Son and Holy Spirit.
But the biggest thing I like to show my Muslim friends- my friends form other faiths- is that the message of the Cross- it’s one of grace.
Christians believe that Jesus kept all the commandments of God- then he died to pay the price for our sins.
As Christians- we don’t teach against the 10 commandants- but we don’t use them to gain acceptance with God- the acceptance we have with God comes because of the death of his Son on our behalf.
In actuality- this message is a great relief for all people who live ‘under the law’.
That is- if your Muslim- if your Al-Qaida- you too can take this.
Yes- Jesus died for you too.
That’s the appeal I make- I’m not asking my friends from other faiths to convert- if they want to- fine.
But that’s not my appeal.
I’m saying to all my friends- this message of the Cross- this is for all people.
Heck- if you want to stay Muslim- stay- but just accept the reality of this post.
Yes- Jesus is spoken about much in the Quran.
The prophet Muhammad respected Jesus.
Jesus can become- should become- all that he was intended to become- that is he died for you guys too.
Right now in the Muslim world there is a movement going on- it’s highly debated in Christian circles.
The movement is many Muslims are receiving Christ in this way- and staying Muslim.
Yet- they are accepting the Christian view of the death of Christ on their behalf.
As somewhat of a scholar type guy- yeah- I see where the objections arise.
But as a real world person- who is glad that I get many readers from countries where I know many Muslims live.
To you- go ahead- accept the benefit of Christ’s death and resurrection.
Many Muslims have already done this- many more will.
If you want to keep the other good points of Islam- fine.
But don’t see acceptance thru your ability to keep the law- no one can ultimately live up to that standard.
Jesus was the only one who never sinned- his death on our behalf allows us to come into the presence God.
He died for all- Muslims- Jews- Hindu’s’ the list goes on and on.
In today’s world- many of the objections against Christianity are really objections against Western Imperialism.
A thing I too reject.
That’s not the heart of the Christian faith.
You can receive Christ- and keep objecting to all the political ideas of the Western world.
Heck- Jesus railed against the money changers [the rich capitalist pigs of the day].
In some ways- Jesus was the ultimate Revolutionary who spoke truth to power.
Yeah- many radical’s- even Al-Qaida could respect him for this.
That’s my appeal to Al-Qaida today.
Glad some of you might read- keep reading- that’s the point.
NOTE- There is a famous prophecy about Jesus in the bible- it says ‘Gentiles shall come to your light- and kings to the brightness of your rising’.
This also applies to the ‘rise’ of the church- the people of God.
But in context- the gentiles are all the nations [even various religions- some are called Denominations] that are not Christian- not considered benefits of the Covenant of God.
The apostle Paul teaches us that we are all now part of the covenant of hope- we all now benefit from the promises of God [Ephesians].
The point being- the bible speaks about other groups- other nations- seeing the reality of Jesus and his kingdom- and that these too will come to the ‘brightness of his rising’.
1961 What is the main message of the bible?
I want to continue with the strain of thought from the last post.
But first- some politics.
Yesterday Susan Rice pulled herself out of the race for Secretary of state.
Obviously the president felt it would be bad to have her at the center of a huge nomination process- being she’s at the heart of the Benghazi scandal.
Okay- what’s the big deal?
Yes- once again- some on the left side of the aisle [not all] have accused the other side of not being ready for a Black woman secy of state.
Huh?
Yes- the pundits were out saying ‘when will the Repubs ever be ready for anyone but a White male holding the office’.
You know- for the money these guys get [MSNBC] you think they would maybe educate themselves on the main subject of their job.
We haven’t had a White- male secretary of state for around 20 years [last one was Larry Eagleburger].
As a matter of fact- the last one a Repub president had- just happened to be a Black woman – with the last name of Rice! [Condi].
Sad- these race baiters are destroying the fabric of the country- and they are doing it on the altar of vanity.
Sure- they think [make it sound like] they are the defenders of the minorities- but they hold an elitist attitude- one that has scorn for the rest of the country [outside the media market of NYC].
At the end of the day- they misinform their viewers- they believe that their racist charges are true- and they incite a sort of ‘reverse racism’ by creating an underlying distrust of those who are not like them.
Okay- in the last post I discussed the main message of the bible- what the main purpose is.
Over the years- as Christianity developed- the church had councils and meetings to hash out various controversies.
Over time- these meetings produced the historic creeds of the church.
Now- as a Protestant- I am not an ‘anti- traditional’ one.
I have read- taught- studied the creeds and the councils- and I’m on the side of those who hold to the creeds.
But- this has tended to cloud the main message of the New Testament.
Which is called The Good News.
What was the message the Apostles preached in the book of Acts?
The bible says they ‘preached the word’.
This was not simply a ‘bible message’ per se.
That is- they were not doing what many modern preachers do- simply going thru the bible to find various verses- about all types of subjects- and then making application.
No- they were preaching Christ- they were telling the world of their day that Christ came as the promised Messiah and died and rose again.
Then they told the people if they had faith- and they became followers of ‘This Way’- they would be justified by God- in a way that the law would not be able to do.
This is the heart of the New Testament message- that people are now saved by faith in the death and resurrection of Christ- as opposed to the old way of Law.
This is the basic message- what we call the good news.
But- like I said above- in the world of politics and religion- this simple message has been obscured.
Many people reject Christianity because of the hard line creeds and statements that came out of the church councils.
Many object to the way the Church has defined the doctrine of the Trinity.
Now- I’m with the creeds on this- but I do understand how Muslims- Jews- and even many Christian ‘groups’ have also had problems with the historic definition.
A friend asked me the other day about the Jehovah’s Witnesses.
Now- at first I had no idea why he asked- but I told him I try and take a much more gracious position then you might hear from the average Christian teacher.
I told him they did break away from the historic position of the Trinity- but I also told him there have been many believers- all thru the history of the church- that have done the same thing.
I did a quick review of the Arian controversy [not Aryan- like the racist group].
In the early centuries of the church there was a famous Catholic bishop by the name of Arias.
He held to the same belief that the present Jehovah’s Witnesses do- that Jesus was not God- in the same sense that God the Father is God.
Okay- eventually the church overruled him- but there was a time where this belief was widely accepted- and taught- in much of the church.
Till this day there are entire groups of Christians that never rejected this initial belief- and they have been around since the days of Arius.
So- when discussing this with my friend- I tried to say I do understand how other religions have a problem with the historic way we have defined the Trinity.
He then told me his dad- who was a heathen his whole life- married a wonderful Jehovah Witness woman later in life- and he has become a devout believer.
So- in a way he was glad to see that even though the church does not believe the same way his dad believes- yet at the same time- there have been- and continue to be- many sincere believers who have had the same ideas as his dad and step mom.
Okay- said all that to say this.
Many good Muslims- who try to serve the Lord to the best of their ability- they see this doctrine as the major point of Christianity.
That is- they do not see the main message spoken about in the New Testament as the simple truth that God sent Jesus as the Messiah- more than a prophet- though a prophet he was.
But he came as the fulfillment of the promise that God made all thru out the history of Israel.
That someday a Messiah would come and he would not just die for the Jewish nation- but for all people groups.
And that all those who are struggling to please God thru their own obedience to the law- they are now free from ‘the law’ and can come to God based on the obedience of Christ.
Now- this would later become a debate- both in church history- and in the pages of the bible itself.
We read in the New Testament that some were accusing the apostle Paul of teaching that we can go out and sin- break the law- because we are now under grace.
Paul defended himself against this charge- and said we- as children of God- do God’s will.
He did not teach it was okay to break the commandments.
But- he did teach we are not justified- made acceptable in the sight of God- thru our doing of the commandments.
He taught that this system of trying to please God thru the obedience of the law was flawed from the get go.
Simply because all men are sinners- and no man could ever keep the law 100%.
Therefore God made a New Covenant with man [as opposed to the Old Covenant which was based on the law and works].
In this new ‘deal’ Jesus dies for the sins of the whole world- and all who now believe are forgiven by God and have eternal life.
This is a free gift that God gives to man based on the death of his Son.
Jesus said ‘For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son- that whoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life’.
This is the Good News- this is the main message of the bible.
When I hear people of other faiths- or even people who have joined various sects of Christianity- when I hear them have sincere objections to the Trinity- or to some other doctrine- I try and bring them back to this main message of the bible.
This simple message of Christ dying for the sins of men- and freeing man from the struggle of trying to please God by keeping the law- that’s the old Testament that is no longer in force.
Paul the apostle wrote the Corinthian church and he said he was worried that satan was blinding their minds form the SIMPLICITY that is in Christ.
I have found this to be true over the years- many people have all types of objections to Christianity.
Some have to do with politics and the Western world.
Some have to do with the way the church has come to define certain doctrines.
But for the most part- many of these well meaning objectors have never really understood what I just showed you- that none of these things are the main message of the bible.
No- the main message of the bible is that because of Christ we now have a New Covenant with God.
Not one that is based on our ability [or inability] to keep the law.
No- that was doomed from the start- no man could do it.
But this New Deal we have is completed in Christ- we can come boldly to the throne of grace- because Jesus made the way.
1962 VIRGIN BIRTH
I wanted to close up the last couple of posts on the common misunderstandings of Christianity and Islam.
But also mention a few things about the halfway house.
Okay- the last misunderstanding between Muslims and Christians is the term Son of God.
This term is found in the New Testament- and around this time of year we celebrate the Virgin Birth as well.
Strict Muslims are not supposed to see- or ever read this term.
Why?
Islam teaches that to say Jesus is the Son of God- that it denotes a sort of sexual relationship between God and man [woman].
Of course the church does not teach this- when Christians say – Son of God- they are speaking about Jesus in a unique way.
He ‘came out’ from God- was ‘Generated’ from God- in a way that no other creature can lay claim to.
Now- when the church uses this statement ‘first begotten of God’ or ‘the first born among many brothers’ [both found in the bible].
The church is not saying that Jesus was the actual ‘first created being’ from God.
Okay- I know this gets a little tough- but it’s hard to clear up the misunderstanding without a little theology.
So- historically- the church interprets these terms as meaning Jesus has the first place- the Preeminence over all creation.
Grant it- those who reject the Christian teaching about the Deity of Christ- they think the church is denying the bible- in these areas- when she says these terms do not mean Jesus was created.
To be fair- I think the New Testament does tech that Jesus is not a created being [John 1:1- The Word was God- speaks about Christ].
But I also see how others can view these verses differently.
The main point today is the church does not believe that Jesus was the product of a sexual physical relationship between God and Mary.
No- Son of God means- to the contrary- that the Holy Spirit came upon Mary in a non physical way- and she became pregnant- thus ‘The VIRGIN Birth’.
But- because devout Muslims are forbidden to read this term- Son of God- some have made New Testament translations that leaves the term out.
Instead of ‘Son of God’ these bibles say ‘he that was generated from God’.
Okay- it kind of means the same thing- I’m not against making the change [though some are- because it is not an actual translation form the Greek].
But if it’s done so Muslims can read the New Testament without violating their faith- then I’m for it in that limited use way.
Okay- obviously Christians and Muslims have many other things they see differently- but in the last 3 posts I wanted to hit on some of the main things.
Often times when studying different religions- we [as humans] have a tendency to read what others have to say about a group.
But it helps- a lot- if you read what the group itself actually says.
Now- you still might find some shocking stuff- stuff that is downright in opposition to your faith- but if you read it straight from the ‘horses mouth’ at least you know you’re not opposing something that the other group might not even believe!
Okay- I guess we’ll skip the skip the few things about the halfway house.
I wrote a couple of posts the last week or so about my friend Huey who fell off of a pier and hurt himself pretty bad.
He spent the weekend at my house- he probably broke a few ribs- but does not want to go to the doctor so I put him up for a couple of days.
All is going real well with the halfway house- we already had a judge release an inmate to the house.
It’s kind of funny- the guy we sent down to represent the house- Andy- was a drunk on the streets about a month ago.
Yeah- it worked out well.
That’s it for now- figured I would not post on the terrible tragedy of the killing of the little kids.
That story has already consumed the news cycle- no need for more.
Talk to you later- John.
1963 NO BULL
Let’s talk a little about this past week- and if I have time maybe hit on today’s House [of Rep’s] vote on the millionaire tax increase [which should be an Obama dream come true!]
Okay- over the weekend I had one of the street guys stay over.
Huey fell and probably broke a few ribs- he’s been struggling in the camp and called around 4:30 pm on Friday.
I was sitting at the halfway house- which I helped start with Huey's brother- John David.
I was talking to my friend who has terminal cancer- and was getting ready to go home and take the weekend off from ministry stuff.
That’s when Huey called- so to be honest it was a sacrifice to bring him home- and give the weekend to ministry stuff.
But- earlier in the day Henry mentioned the story of the Good Samaritan- how he put the man up- paid for his bill at the hotel [Inn] and went out of his way for the man.
When I got the call- I knew I was supposed to do it.
It’s funny- every time Huey comes over- if he leaves some type of trinket- there is always a sign to the thing.
Because he’s homeless- he has his stuff all over the area- maybe some clothes at another friend’s house- he’ll leave his guitar over here [hanging on the wall].
So- when I came back from my trip to N.J. - I brought back a walking staff/stick that I found in the park where I grew up.
I stuck it here at my house- in the room I use for the street guys.
I have all types of biblical nick knacks in the room- verses on the wall- stuff like that.
So- I was looking for a couple of little angel pins a few weeks ago- was going to use it on one of these walking staffs that I made [not ‘girly’ angels- but saint Michael the Archangel- you know- tough stuff!]
So- Huey spent the night a while ago- the next day I go I to clean the room- and sure enough- he left a hat on the stick- and the hat had 2 angel pins on it [I could not find them on my own by the way].
So- after this last weekend stay- before I clean the room after the guys spend the night- I usually write and do my blogging in the morning.
That morning I read some of the Psalms and wrote down a verse about Bulls.
It’s a common theme in the bible- it actually fits in with the posts I did last week.
The Psalm says God is more pleased with the sacrifices of praise and worship than he is with the offerings of ‘Bulls and Oxen’.
Okay- the point is God did not really want animal sacrifices- he wanted our hearts.
Today- in the New Covenant church that we all belong to- we have no more animal sacrifices- Jesus died for us on the Cross and he was the final sacrifice for the sins of man.
The apostle Peter writes we now offer the sacrifices of praise to God- the same theme we read in the Psalms.
So- I write down the Psalm on a piece of paper and hang it on the wall.
I start cleaning the room- and Huey must have broke a belt buckle- he left the 2 pieces of the broken buckle in the room.
They were 2 Bulls.
After I hung up the Psalm- I stuck the bulls to the wall.
Yeah- true story- no bull.
[Actually ‘no bull[s]’ means we are now living in a new age of grace and praise- no more need for animal sacrifice- get it?]
Okay- I have not written much about the news lately- though there is always stuff going on.
I mentioned a few weeks ago it looked like the president was really not looking for a deal with the House Repubs- not like in the past.
He seemed to have abandoned the idea of serious cuts to entitlement programs- and simply wanted to win a political feud to raise taxes on- quote- ‘millionaires and billionaires’.
Now- in reality- the president and many other Dem’s have said that they just want to raise taxes on the ‘rich’ and not do any cutting.
But the Repubs have never agreed to this.
So- the last few weeks that’s what they have been haggling over.
It looked like Obama was gonna go over the ‘cliff’ and let the Repubs take the blame.
So- as a counter punch- the Repub house is going to try and pass a bill today that will raise taxes on millionaires- and that’s it.
Huh?
In essence- the bill would let the Bush tax rates expire on everyone else- except ‘Millionaires and Billionaires’.
Look- I have watched this stuff for years- if Obama really means what he says- this is looking a gift horse in the mouth- this is what has said he wants- and in the past he would never- ever get a deal like this- without entitlement cuts.
Is he going to take the deal- by making the Dems in the senate vote yeah?
No.
He said it’s a game- a ploy- and they are already saying it’s no good.
This tells me he really does not want what he told us- ‘millionaires and billionaires’.
No- at this point- he wants to win the game.
Sure- we all know just raising the tax rate on millionaires really won’t raise enough revenue- but he has not played it that way this last year.
He has the average American thinking all he wants is to raise taxes on millionaires.
Well- if that’s what you say you want.
Then Merry Christmas Mr. President- from John Boehner.
NOTE- in Revelation chapter 4 we read about a beast vision that the Apostle John saw- the image had 4 things to it- 2 of them were a Calf [bull] and an Eagle.
One of the church Fathers taught that these images are types of Christ- sort of like the 4 gospels can be seen in these images of 4 beasts.
I find it interesting that Huey has left me 2 of these 4 images already [Bull and Eagle].
Let’s see what’s next.
1964 LETS ARM OUR KIDS!!!
As we end the week- lets hit a few hot topics.
By the way- the chapter for the week was Jeremiah 33.
Okay- we are still here.
Yes- the Mayan calendar thing did not pan out.
I always had my doubts- especially after I saw a short clip about a year ago.
Some guy was interviewing an actual Mayan expert [priest?]
He was the real deal- dressed up and all.
The documentary was a serious thing- not some comedy central skit.
The priest was asked ‘and what do you think about the end of the world prediction’.
He says- I kid you not- 'that’s a bunch of crap’.
Form the priest!
So- I always had my doubts.
Did you hear what the preacher said?
He couldn’t believe people could call for stuff like this- yeah- you tell em Harold [Camping].
Okay- the news.
The other day I posted about Boehner’s Christmas present to Obama.
The Repubs were trying to pass a tax raise on millionaires only- and kick the ball down the road on the other stuff.
Now- that would have been a great deal for the Dems- they said that’s what they want [but they really don’t].
Because when the Dems saw what Boehner was doing- they hooped and hawed and swore they would never pass it in the Dem controlled senate.
And if it passed the President swore he would veto the thing.
So- some Repubs in the house bailed out- and Boehner never passed it.
O my- you would have thought the world was coming to an end- again.
The Dems were on all the shows- saying how this is one of the greatest failures of all time- the Tea party are even holding their leader hostage.
On and on.
So- last night Obama says ‘lets just pass an extension of the tax cuts for the middle class- and 0 yea- lets extend unemployment insurance’.
Huh?
Was this not the basic plan Boehner just tried to pass- and you swore it was a disaster?
Sure was [Obama’s quick fix would have raised taxes on lower incomes than Boehner’s- but still- it was the same basic thing].
He only wanted to beat the Repubs in the house- if he were serious he would not have threatened to veto their bill in the first place- that’s a fact.
Okay- last night the NRA guy came out with their delayed response to the tragic shooting in Sandy Hook.
I’m not an NRA guy- never was.
I actually listened to most of the speech- on PBS.
He advocated for- be careful now- putting cops in the schools.
Yeah- he was careful with the language- he said COPS.
Okay- do I think his plan will fly?
Not on your life.
Does he think it will fly?
Probably not.
Then why float it?
They want to turn the conversation from just gun control to a broader one.
They want to talk about kids being raised with video games that kill people.
Hip Hop songs that talk about shooting cops.
They want to extend the conversation beyond more gun laws.
Sure enough- MSNBC had short clips on the screen ‘NRA WANTS MORE GUNS IN SCHOOLS’.
Stuff like that.
I guess they equate having armed POLICE with ‘more guns’.
So- according to this line- if you call the cops after a school shooting- you are irresponsible- you are calling for more guns on the scene?
See- I don’t support the NRA view- but when a media outlet purposefully lies- misleads the people- they destroy as much as any right winger ever did.
One clip showed the words of the NRA speech.
They then went to some mayor who is the head of ‘mayors against illegal guns’.
The clip of the speech said ‘lets put cops in the schools so if another deranged person comes in to kill kids- the cop can be there as a deterrent’.
Okay- have cops stopped people from shooting people before?
Just about every day.
When a cop comes to shoot a bad guy- do we usually call that ‘bringing more guns to a spot that already has too many’?
No.
So- after the clip- the mayor for gun control said ‘how insane- he thinks the answer to having too many guns on the street is more guns’!
Actually- what the mayor did- and Msnbc and the others- they answered their own question.
The NRA guy did not say he thought this was the solution to having to many guns on the street.
He said it might prevent another shooting- which- in reality- it just might.
But the media- the mayor- they wanted you to think that the NRA- the ‘right wingers’ that they want more guns in schools.
That they want ‘security guards’ in schools.
Yeah- MSNBC did not use the actual term ‘More cops’ no- they wanted you to think ‘security guards’ and teachers- and who knows- even arm the kids!
Yeah- keep playing the game- nothing gets solved- you breed dissension in the country- and at the end of the day- you harm the country.
So John- you are for the right wingers?
No- in no way.
I’m for telling the truth- on both sides.
I am not against a ban on the 30 round clips.
I am for the ban on ‘assault weapons’ [though in reality- they are simply semi automatic guns- they just look more like a military weapon].
I’m for having fewer guns on the streets- but we live in a country whose founding document gives the right to have guns to its citizens.
Because of this- we will never be an Australia that bans all guns.
So- in the Sandy Hook shooting- the kid got the guns from his mom- who legally owned them.
She lived in a state with some of the most strict gun control laws in the land.
So- when sick people decide to get a gun- they get it.
If we totally banned all guns- would that reduce the threat?
Yes- because the deranged kid would have to use another weapon- and if he did not have a gun to steal- then yea- he would not be able to do this type of damage.
So- there are points to be made on both sides.
But when the media- when MSNBC describes the position of the right as wanting more guns- more guns in schools- more guns for teachers- and heck- the right thinks the answer is more guns for everyone!
When all the man said was ‘lets have cops in the schools’.
Then we will get nowhere.
Because the uninformed [the viewers of MSNBC] will have no idea what the real debate is about.
1965 JUST ASK
I should have covered this chapter last week- but I’m behind a little.
So let’s start the week with a famous verse.
“Call unto me and I will answer thee and SHOW THEE great and mighty things that thou knowest not”.
Jeremiah 33:3.
This chapter deals with the restoration promises that God made to his people in the Old Testament.
The other week I did a few posts about the main meaning of the bible- the message of Christianity.
One of the main themes of the bible is the promise of a coming Messiah- someone who the Jewish nation was looking for- he was a future deliverer.
In this chapter the prophet talks about the promise made to King David- that there would be a Son from his genealogy that would someday sit on the throne of David.
In the New Testament we see the promise fulfilled thru the coming of Christ.
If you carefully read the book of Acts- the main preachers [Peter and Paul] speak about this Davidic promise being fulfilled thru Jesus.
Jesus came from the lineage of David and he was raised from the dead and seated at the right hand of God.
Okay- Jeremiah is preaching to the Jewish people during a time of captivity- the people are in bondage- again [Remember Egypt?]
In order to encourage them he tells them God has not forgotten the promises he made to them.
He says he will restore them- he will fulfill the promise to David- and there will ‘never fail to be someone form David’s house to sit on the throne- a Branch will grow up from David’.
When the apostles Paul/Peter talk about this promise to David in the New Testament- they say it must be speaking about the resurrection of Christ- because it says a Son [Jesus] will sit on the throne forever.
How can there be a king who takes the ‘job’ forever?
Because this king has an everlasting life- seated in the position.
Get it?
So- the whole chapter is simply a reminder to a depressed people- people heading for their own ‘fiscal cliff’ and yet- there is still hope.
A few weeks ago I wrote a post about getting a special ring from a friend- it has the words ‘Trust God’ on it.
So- with my history of losing rings- I made sure that this one stays on most of the time.
I only take it off when I shower- and it goes back on.
The other morning I woke up- and the first thing I realized was the ring was gone.
No!!
I mean I looked all over for it- turned the house upside down- went to the van- traced my steps- the whole 9 yards.
So- after about an hour- I knew what needed to be done.
We all know- but we get mad- and we don’t like to do it.
Yup- I prayed.
‘Lord- this week I’m reading Jeremiah 33- and it says to call unto you and you will show us stuff we don’t know- so here it goes- what happened to the ring?’
So- my daughter says ‘dad- someone will find it- it will show up’.
Yeah- I knew I had to wait- but I really did not want to.
So- I’m thinking ‘who will find it?’
Then- when I wake up the next day- I’m doing some dishes the morning- and I have a thought.
When I was at the halfway house I worked on the toilet- and I’m sure I took my ring and watch off.
Now- I had the watch- but maybe I left the ring?
I called the guys and asked around- there were a bunch of people there that day.
I waited a couple of days- and when I went to the house- sure enough little Charlie found the ring.
See- the verse doesn’t say ‘call unto me and I will bring it back’- it says ’I will show you things you don’t know’.
I didn’t know I took the ring off- I didn’t remember it- so the answer was God showing me something I forgot.
Okay- try and read the chapter this week- it’s a great chapter.
Pay attention to the promises that God is making to the people.
The promises that God will work thru their families- he will restore the things that are broken- fix stuff.
We all need those types of promises.
And if you are stuck- pray the verse- verse 3- and see if the Lord will show you something.
Maybe not an outright miracle- but just a thought- something you might have overlooked.
Often times that’s the answer to the prayer- it works.
1966 WERE WALKING TO ZION
Merry Christmas to all [and happy holidays to you politically correct types].
I debated on posting today- you’re normally obliged to do some type of Christmas thing.
But last night I was thinking about an experience that one of the guys at the halfway house shared with me- and I thought maybe we’d go with that.
And if possible- turn it into some type of Christmas story.
Okay- over the past few years I have developed all sorts of images- scenes- bible verses- they are here in my office and in my backyard.
These are simply reminders for prayer.
For instance- in my yard I have this gazebo- it has all the names of the guys I have prayed for- for years.
I have the thing looking like a modern day Tabernacle of Moses.
Huh?
Yeah- in the Old Testament we read about this Tent system that God ordained when the people were in the wilderness.
It’s called the Tabernacle of Moses.
It was simply this 2 room portable tent- with various items of worship in and around it [the courtyard was the outer area].
So- in my ‘remake’ I have sort of the same things- I even covered this gazebo with outdoor hanging material- you know- like a tent.
I also started playing my harmonica every day- I started this about a year ago.
Now- I’m no musician- but I read some verses over the years that seemed to incorporate this type of harmonica ‘prayer’ in with regular type prayer.
Okay- last thing.
This last year I started making staffs- yeah- you know- things that people carry around while they are walking.
I even brought one or 2 down to the mission- I was carving on them while hanging out with the guys.
So- right now I have 5 of them- and they surround all these spots I mentioned.
So- that’s sort of the imagery that I feel the Lord gave me- ways to see the community of people when praying for them.
Okay- I’m talking with John Boy the other day.
John Boy is one of the first guys to stay at the halfway house.
He’s dying of cancer- and he kinda came with the idea that he would die while staying with us.
John was an addict for most of his life- and is trying to ‘die clean’ [those are his exact words].
So- when I take the guys into town to run errands and stuff- I take John too.
He loves getting out- you can see his pictures on my Facebook page- he’s the one holding the ax.
So John tells me this story- this dream he had about 20 years ago.
He was climbing this mountain [journey in life] and when he gets to the top- he could see all the other people climbing their mountains too.
When you get to the top- you see all these roads leading to one central thing.
It’s a tent- a ‘tabernacle of Moses’ type [I asked what type because John is an American Indian- he told me it was not an Indian type].
As all the trails are leading to the tent- all the people are carrying staffs [Hmmm?]
As they near the tent- you smell incense [which I forgot to mention- I’m always burning them- even now].
And last but not east- there is this beautiful sound of a harmonica playing from inside the tent.
John does not remember what the song was- I took his bible and outlined my ‘harmonica song’ from the book of Revelation [it says those who overcame the beast stood on a sea of glass and had these harmonicas/harps. There are multiple verses in the book of Revelation that I get the idea from- but the actual words I use are in chapter 5 starting in verse 9].
I marked the song and asked him to read it later.
Yeah- I felt in many ways Johns dream was prophetic- it had meaning.
Okay- now the Christmas part.
We read in the bible that Jesus was the bread of life who came to us thru the Virgin Mary.
He was born in a lowly stable [ark- box]- yet was Divine in nature.
A type of the Ark of the Covenant that was in the Tent of Moses- it held the 10 commandments [Deity- Gods character- inside a fleshly tent].
Jesus was God and man- not half God and half man- but fully God and fully man.
That’s why the images with the ‘Moses tent’ had both Gold and precious metals- as well as the skins of animals- showing a combination of deity along with humanity/flesh.
Over time the tent system would be replaced with a temple- that was basically the tent in a more permanent form.
This temple- built 2 times [really 3- King Herod built the 2nd temple into this grand masterpiece right before the time of Christ- it was the temple that the disciples referred to when speaking to Jesus].
This temple had a huge veil- a blanket type material that separated the 2 rooms on the inside.
This veil represented separation from God- sinful man could not approach a holy God.
The high priest went alone once a year behind the veil- and he would offer the blood of a sacrifice for the sins of the people.
During the crucifixion of Christ we read that an earthquake shook the ground- and the ‘veil of the temple was torn apart- from top to bottom’.
This signified that thru the Cross we now all have access to God- no more veil.
Yes- the whole thing pointed to Christ- there are entire books written about all the things in detail- how they all have meaning.
But for today- I’ll end with that picture in my mind- my friend John has reached the top of the mountain- he hears the harmonica playing- he smells the incense from the room.
Oh- one more thing.
John said when he got to the tent- in his dream- that everybody left their walking canes outside.
There was no more need for them.
John the Apostle tells us that in that day there will be no more crying or pain or anything like that.
Yeah- we will leave our canes at the door.
Amen.
1967 I’M JUST A RACIST- I GUESS?
I read a news article yesterday- it was ‘fascinating’ to say the least.
It talked about the evil congressional republicans.
[I’m an independent myself- just sayin’]
It explained that they have 2 choices that they must make as a direct result of Obama Care.
They either have to eliminate the Mortgage interest deduction- or eliminate the pre tax dollars for employer paid insurance.
I had this benefit for 25 years at the Fire Dept.
We called it the cafeteria plan- each year we signed up for it and we paid our insurance premiums with pre taxed dollars.
We never paid taxes on the money we spent for the insurance.
Okay- I remember during the health care debate- many who objected to Obama Care said that this would happen.
You had not one single Republican vote for Obama Care- it was a rare vote where major legislation that would affect the entire country would be passed by a strict party line vote.
So- the Repubs voted nay- Obama and the Dems voted yes.
Now- the point I’m gonna make is simply one of media propaganda- I am not ‘anti’ universal health care- I was for the more progressive [liberal] choice- I wanted health care- European style.
So- just letting you know my position.
The article yesterday made it sound like the Republicans are solely responsible for the choice of either eliminating the pre tax insurance benefit- or the mortgage interest deduction.
Yes- we have a Dem president- a dem controlled senate- and the Repubs are in the majority in the house.
Every single Repub voted against Obama care- yet- the actual people who did not want this- who warned that this would happen- are now depicted by the media- and the president and Dem senate- as the bad guys who are forcing a choice between the 2 options.
This is utterly amazing- that the media can have so much power- to actually blame one side for something that side never wanted.
And the other side- who wanted the law- they are actually teaming with the media to say that the Repubs are forcing this choice.
Now- for the average news watcher- they believe the propaganda- they hear this stuff- and let it affect them.
I posted last week that the Repubs were going to try and pass a tax raise on millionaires- and ask for not one single cut in spending.
This would have been a huge plus for the president and the senate- who were trying to not cut anything while raising taxes on the rich.
Boehner- the house Repub leader- got his base mad- yet he would have forced the vote anyway.
But you had a couple of dozen Repubs say that the president had already swore that he would veto it- and they would be stuck with a vote to raise taxes on the rich- which would have hurt them in the next primary.
So- they never passed the ‘plan b’.
The next day- the president came out and said ‘let’s try and pass a tax raise on the rich’ and we can settle the rest later.
The exact thing that the day before he swore to veto.
Then why did he say he would veto the legislation?
Because what he is doing is trying to win a game with the Repubs- he wants to gain the upper hand [not saying he’s wrong- both sides do this- just showing you the game].
If the Repubs passed the millionaire tax raise- which would have indeed hurt them with the Tea party guys- then Obama would have to sign it [if he meant what he has been saying ‘lets tax millionaires and billionaires’] and then he would have signed a bill that was passed by the Repub house.
So what?
He should have just signed the thing- not threatened a veto.
[by the way- this was the exact plan that both Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer wanted- they wanted to raise taxes only on millionaires and over- because they have rich districts that they represent].
Some of the Repubs said they would not vote for the plan- because even if they voted for it- and Obama vetoed it- the media would still blame the Repub congress.
They were right.
If the media are able to take a law that not a single Repub voted for [Obama care].
And then blame that side for the decision to either eliminate the mortgage interest deduction- or the Ins deduction.
And then the side who voted for Obama care- they are teaming up with the media to say ‘look what the Repubs are doing’.
Then yes- the media will twist the story to benefit them- the side that most of them vote for.
This is simply a lesson in the media- the bias that exists- at times- on both sides.
When I read the article yesterday- I saw right thru the game- because I write on this stuff- but there are many who simply have no idea.
I’ll end with one example.
I told a liberal friend the other day that I will wind up paying the Obama Care ‘penalty’ this year.
It’s about 700 bucks that I don’t have.
Why will I pay it?
When I retired from the Fire Dept in 2008- I had to drop my health Insurance.
It would have cost me 70% of my monthly retirement check to have kept it.
So- I dropped it.
And as the ball bounces- within a week- I noticed some stuff that really needed to be checked by a doctor.
I panicked and called my Ins people to see if I could get back on- then I tried to get checked thru the VA- I am a vet.
No luck.
So- after about a month of this- I got mad and said ‘the heck with it- whatever will be will be’.
So- how did I get treatment?
Okay- don’t laugh- I went on line- typed in what the problem was- and simply picked the least terrible possibility- and then typed in what ‘free’ or natural remedies I could try to fix it.
Yeah- that’s what I have been doing.
Now- do remedies like this work?
I have no idea- but just sayin’.
So- if I have to- I spend around 120 bucks and take the hit and make a doctor visit.
[by the way- people- like me- do not get free health care from the E.R. - that’s false. If you go to the E.R. with a possible long term disease- they simply recommend you to a doc and then they do tests. If you do not have Ins- you can’t go thru the process. And if the E.R does any work- you get a HUGE bill. There is no ‘free health’ care thru the E.R. - unless your poor and they can’t bill you].
That leaves me with 7 possible out of pocket visits a year- for 700 bucks.
Oh yeah- I just got an Obama Care tax raise for 700- that I don’t have.
My friend who I told the story too could not believe that I was gonna get fined.
They watch MSNBC all year- and they thought that everyone that was against Obama Care was a racist.
That those who opposed it just could never accept a ‘Black Man’ in the White House.
I told my friend that what Obama Care did for me was it leaves me a choice to get on line [when?] and choose between an option of private insurers to get insurance.
This is called the Health Care Exchange.
The govt. will pay for some of the premium- but not all.
From what I know- I will still have to cough up money I don’t have- so I will still have to pay the fine.
My friend whose already on govt. care [all my buddies get Medicaid] had no idea that this was how Obama Care worked.
That you get to choose from a group- and you still have to pay- they thought it was some actual ‘universal health plan’.
So- why would a person like me be against it?
Because I just lost 7 doctors visits- that I could not afford to lose.
I now will save that money for the 'darn’ fine.
Yeah.
Were not all racists.
Some of us just wish we could have used the money- even for the ‘on line’ drugs.
They still cost you know.
NOTE- I told my friend it was sad that they never heard about the Health Exchanges- which is what Obama Care actually is.
They spent a whole year watching MSNBC.
They heard how all who were against it were playing ‘dog whistle racism/politics’.
That those in the south can’t get passed the Civil War.
They heard this ‘stuff’ for a whole year- and never once learned what the plan was.
That’s why I say outlets like MSNBC are destroying the country.
They were ‘taught’ that people like me were racists- because why else would any sane person be against Obama care?
1968 7 PRINCES TO THE RESCUE
I want to try and comment on Micah chapter 5- an Old Testament prophet.
But first a few other things.
Last night I was watching Fox news- and Greta mentioned the top stories of the year.
Lots of the news shows do this every year.
I thought- in general- that it’s harmful to re-tell the school shootings- over and over again- right at this time.
In our media world there is a sort of voyeurism that takes place- we want to see- hear- the actual events- over and over again.
Sometimes after a tragic event- maybe it’s already a few days old.
And some network will get hold of the actual 911 call- and run that as the news ad during the day.
‘Hey look- tonight we have the actual call’.
Oftentimes it’s the call a parent made when she found her kid was killed- or some other tragedy.
We do not need to air that type of stuff.
Anyway Greta said she thinks that ‘Africa will be the top story of this new year- not the Arab Spring’.
Okay- I know my liberal friends are mad at me- some ‘un-friend’ me and stuff.
Because I have been hard on the Dems.
But this time I’ll be hard on Fox.
Who remembers the Arab Spring posts I did last year?
The 3 nations that ‘sprung’ were Tunisia- Egypt- and Libya.
All these nations border each other on the Mediterranean sea- on the North part of the African continent.
In short- all the Arab Spring nations are Africa- so far.
The only possible one that’s not African is Syria- and it hasn’t ‘sprung’ yet.
So yeah- we should not always believe what we see on the tube.
Okay- Micah 5 is the chapter for this week.
It has the famous prophecy that out of Bethlehem Jesus will come.
It speaks about Bethlehem as a small- po dunk type town.
‘You are the least in Judah- yet from thee shall he spring forth who is to be the ruler’.
See?
Jesus hailed from the wrong side of the tracks in many ways.
Galilee was also a sort of underclass area- Jesus and his men spoke Aramaic- which was kind of a lower class language.
A sort of Ebonics of the day [ouch!]
Yet- from that spot where it seemed no good could come- yet good did come.
A couple of verses caught my attention.
‘Daughter of troops- gather yourself into troops’.
And ‘When the enemy comes into the land you will raise up against him 7 shepherds and 8 principal men’.
When I read these verses this week- I applied them to the halfway house ministry we started a couple of months ago.
Often times in scripture we read symbols- things that might use warfare imagery- yet they are not talking about ‘killing’ the way we think.
One of the tragedies of our time is we have too many religious people who have never made this distinction.
And even in the church we hold to many ideas- that come from images about war- that are only symbols- but some teach them as actual war.
In the book of Revelation the apostle John talks about the Christians overcoming the enemy.
It talks about a battle- Jesus on a White horse- a sword coming out of his mouth.
When Evangelicals turn these into actual war prophecies- they do damage to the truth.
I mean the image of a sword from Jesus mouth is understood as the Word of God.
So Jesus ‘slays his enemies’ with the word of God.
Does Jesus actually kill them?
No- when people accept the message of Christ- they get baptized.
Baptism is a type of death to the old man- and life to the new.
So- the images of those being killed by ’the sword from Jesus mouth’ should be seen in this way.
[Or as a type of end time judgment that Gods word carries out- Jesus said ‘the words that I speak to you’ will judge you in the final day.]
Revelation says those who ‘died the first death and had part of the first resurrection’ the second death has no power over them.
All who are in Christ have died a sort of ‘first death’ on these- the 2nd death [when you die] has no power.
The writer of Hebrews says Jesus delivered us- who thru fear of death were all our lives in bondage.
Those who have died the first death- who have joined themselves unto Christ and are 'crucified’ with him.
Yeah- on these the 2nd death has no power.
Okay- I could go on and on like this- but the point is we as believers need to be careful when we teach the verses that speak about killing- death and swords.
Often times they are not to be taken literally.
So- when I read that God raises up ‘7 princes’ against the enemy.
I realized- at the halfway house- there are a total of 7 of us working together in the ministry.
I liked that- God uses people- princes- to come against the enemy.
How?
Okay- back to Revelation.
There is this image of Jesus with 7 stars in his hand- and it says these are the 7 angels of the churches.
Some see these ‘angels’ as church leaders.
The Greek word means messenger- and it can mean angels or people.
The point is- Jesus has these people- these chosen ones- and he uses them as ‘weapons’.
That is- those who are sent into the world with the message of the gospel- these are in a way soldiers for the Lord.
But they don’t go out and kill people in the literal sense- but when they carry the message of the Cross- and when others believe in that message- then yes- those who believe and are baptized have died in a way.
The apostle Paul says ‘I have been crucified with Christ- never the less I live- yet not I but Christ lives in me’.
So yeah- when the enemy comes in- God sends messengers against him.
These messengers too have ‘swords’ in their mouths- they speak the Word of God.
And yes- every so often they ‘kill’ people- that is- those who hear the message- they die a sort of ‘first death’.
They die to the old man- the old nature.
They are raised with Jesus also- to walk in a new way.
Yeah- on these- the next death will have no power.
NOTES- I also wanted to mention yesterday’s ruling by Supreme Court justice Sotomayor.
She ruled that the Catholic owners of Hobby Lobby must either provide birth control thru their company- or start paying a 1.3 million dollar a day fine.
I remember when the debate was going on about Obama Care.
Many good people—Bishop Tim Dolan from N.Y. and others.
They were assured by the president himself that the religious views of Catholics would not be trampled over by the new law.
Yet- since the law passed- many Catholics have already been affected by the law in a negative way.
As most of you know- the church teaches that birth control is not an acceptable practice for Catholics.
Now- being raised as a Catholic- and now a Protestant- I do realize that many Catholics do not obey this rule.
But- others do.
It is sad that the Obama Care law does indeed trample over the rights of Catholics.
When a law forces a Catholic to provide something that goes against their conscience- that’s wrong.
The president and his supporters swore that this would not happen- tell that to the owners of Hobby Lobby as they start writing checks for 1.3 million- every day!
1969 CLIFF DIVING
Jack n Jill went down the ….
Actually- Obama and Boehner went over the cliff ….
Yeah- last night the Dems in the senate passed a compromise of sorts.
But- we did actually do the ‘cliff’ thing- the house has not passed it yet- but it’s not as bad as the media made it sound.
I fell asleep early and didn’t catch the whole scoop- but from what I saw it looks like they are gonna raise taxes on those who make over 400 grand a year and try and settle the rest later.
It really was just kicking the ball down the road- and letting the president get some of what he wanted- though those on the hard left- and right- are not happy.
Okay- the past few weeks as I have been doing the halfway house with my friend John David- I have been kind of teaching a chapter of the bible each week to the guys.
It is funny how every chapter I read for the week seems to have some type of personal ‘word’ for what we are doing with the house.
For instance- a couple of weeks ago the chapter was Jeremiah 33.
I told the guys the other day that I felt it was no coincidence that a lot of the guys we are working with at the halfway house are all relatives of David.
John David was a long time addict in the area where I live- he has 5 or 6 generations all living right around me.
I helped his brother's [Andy] granddaughter the other day- her name is Kayla.
Plus- she has a cute 2 year old- so I see her every now and then.
At the house- we have Little Charlie- Big Charlie- John Boy and Andy.
All related to John David- minus John Boy.
So- I felt like it was a family thing as well as an open ‘house’ for others.
So- Jeremiah 33 speaks about the promises of God to ‘David and his house/family’.
It says there will never fail to be a family member who will be a part of ‘this house’.
Now- the promises are actually speaking about the Davidic covenant/promise that God made to the great Jewish king- King David.
These promises play a very important role in the history of salvation.
I wrote on this a couple of posts back- basically God promised king David that he would set a Son upon David’s throne- and this Son would hold the position ‘forever’.
The Apostles in the book of Acts saw this promise as being fulfilled thru the death and ascension of Christ to the right hand of God.
So- that’s what the chapter in Jeremiah is actually speaking about.
But I also felt like the Lord was giving us confirmation about what we were doing as well.
See?
It is important- very important- to make this distinction.
When people begin ‘seeing’ themselves as the actual fulfillment of some bible promise- like the prophet Jeremiah was actually- in context- speaking about them- then that’s not good.
David Koresh- right up the road from me in Waco- made this tragic mistake- and we have all seen the end result.
Koresh believed he was the fulfillment of verses found in Revelation- he took his new name- Koresh- from an actual figure in the Old Testament [king Cyrus].
When people go down that road- it’s not good.
But- to apply stuff like the way I was doing Jeremiah 33- I think is okay.
Now- when I shared this chapter with John David- I told him a funny thing happened when I read it.
All the promises to David and his family being involved with ‘the house’.
Well- in my bible- it does not say David.
It says ‘John David’.
Huh?
John- are you going Koresh on us?
No.
I told David about a year ago I heard a preacher say ‘this year- start personalizing the promises in the bible- write your name in the spot when a promise is made to someone else’.
So- I did that for about a week and quit.
But- it just so happened that this chapter was converted to say ‘John David’.
Yeah- I simply wrote my name over ‘David’ and all the promises were to ‘John David’.
Okay- was going to teach a little more about these promises and how they are spoken about in Acts chapter 15- the first church council.
Maybe I’ll do that tomorrow.
For now- just hold tight- we have to finish repelling down the cliff.
1970 UNTO YOU IS BORN…IN THE CITY OF DAVID…
Had a few things I wanted to share.
These past few months- helping with the halfway house has been ‘cool’.
Just a few notes;
I was telling my partner- John David [partner in starting the house!]
That the Lord has been confirming lots of stuff- when I’m helping with the guys the Lord opens doors that I have been trying to ‘open’ for years.
On Facebook- over the years- I have had a few old friends that I wanted to find.
One of my original buddies I came to Texas with was Miguel Rodriguez.
We were best buddies as kids growing up on the streets of Jersey.
So- I ‘led’ him to the Lord and he became part of the little church I started in Kingsville.
Eventually he went back to Jersey- married a great girl- and came back to Texas.
He had some boys [I had 4 girls] and we were all friends- doing ministry- stuff like that.
He went back to Jersey again and settled back home.
One day I got a call from his wife- my friend had died.
It was sad- but I knew it was coming.
So- over the years- as sort of a ‘pact’ I promised my friend that I would try and keep in touch with his wife and kids.
As you can imagine- they were some of the first people I looked for when I got on line.
Could never find them.
So- as I have been helping at the house- who my buddy David started- I kept telling him that the Lord has been blessing me ‘in the House of David’ [a spin-off from the last couple of months posts- you’ll have to read them to get the full idea].
So- I tell David I was listening to some radio preacher and he quotes the famous Christmas verse ‘for unto YOU is born this day in the CITY OF DAVID a Savior’.
I told him I felt the Lord was saying ‘see- I’m blessing you- fulfilling promises to you in David’s house/city’.
Okay- I got it.
Then I tell him I was sitting at my house- thinking the guys would text me- someone always needs something- but no texts- huh?
So- it was a Sunday- I was doing my normal fasting thing- trying to not eat till at least 3- praying and reading and stuff.
To be honest- I felt like it was a waste of time.
Then finally- my phone does the buzz sound- you know- when someone text’s you.
Finally- a bite!
I look at the phone- it says ‘LuAnn Rodriguez sent you a friends request’.
I was shocked.
I’m now friends with her and her boy Joshua- yeah- I kept the pact.
So- I tell my buddy John David about the verse and how the Lord worked it out.
He tells me ‘hey- just yesterday some neighbor gave me a card with that verse on it’.
Sure- it’s common on Christmas cards.
He gets the card- he really does not know the people- even their last name.
I open the card- it was the verse I associated with the above family- and the card reads ‘Merry Christmas- from the Rodriguez family’.
Okay- one more.
I was at the halfway house the other day- and somehow we started talking about past experiences of drugs- and bad experiences.
One of the things David shared reminded me of a bad overdose on acid as a kid- the story was almost identical to David’s.
I shared what happened- and then mentioned another incident about a friend of mine at the time.
Now- I haven’t told this ‘war story’ in years- but I got into a very bad fight with my friend- and almost killed the guy.
I saw him a few years later and he has permanent scars from that night.
So- for some reason I was sitting at the halfway house and it came up.
About 10 years ago I got an email from a mutual friend of ours- he knew us both- and remembered him going to the hospital after that night- and he wanted me to know that now he was in prison for a very serious crime.
I read the crime on line- and it reminded me of the old days- I even read the quotes from his cousin- who I also knew- and it was like I was there.
So- he joined some biker gang- they planned a bad crime- and there was an FBI undercover agent in the gang.
He got busted with his cousin on the night of the attempted crime- right where we grew up- on 70 something street in North Bergen.
So- I wrote him a couple of times in prison- we made up after the fight years ago- and he was real glad to have been in touch with me.
I sent him some old radio tapes of me preaching and he got a kick out of hearing my voice- we never actually spoke in 25 years- just a couple of letters.
So- I haven’t heard from him in years.
The next day- sitting at the halfway house with the guys- my phone rings.
Now- those who know me know I never answer my phone.
For some reason I get it- its ‘C----h’.
I couldn’t believe it.
He just got out of prison- and of all things- he’s in a halfway house in Newark- N.J.
I was telling David that I wanted to try and branch out into N.J.- but I don’t know anyone with the experience of being in a house in Jersey- someone I can visit and check out the scene and all.
Well- not until now.
So- these are just a few of the things that have been goin on.
Yeah- for unto you is born- ‘THIS DAY- IN THE CITY OF DAVID..’
Yeah- I like the ‘City of David’.
How bout you?
1971 John Wayne Gacy or Manson?
Believe it or not- I have stories about both of these villains!
Okay- today we’ll do Manson.
The other day we brought a new guy into the halfway house.
When I first saw Bret he was bad- I never saw someone with withdrawals so bad.
We talked for about an hour- he told me some of his story and I told him I’ll post about it.
Bret is my age- 50- he has hitched all over the country and has been to the local AA meetings on and off.
The other day David saw him at one of the meetings and saw how bad he was doing.
He volunteered to go thru the halfway house.
As I talked with him I told him a story from the bible- I have found this one example to be helpful with a few other people who have tried the 12 step programs before.
There seems to be a real sense of hopelessness when the guys [or girls] mess up- especially after being clean for a while.
So- the story is in the gospel of John.
Jesus is with his men at the meal- and he begins to wash their feet- an act of true leadership- being a servant.
When he gets to Peter- Peter says ‘no Lord- I am not worthy for you to do this’.
Jesus says ‘if I wash you not- then you have no part with me’.
Then Peter says ‘okay- then give me a complete bath’.
Jesus says ‘he that is already washed- does not need another whole bath- but just a foot washing- and then he is clean just like before’.
I used this with a couple of people already- right after they fell off ‘the wagon’.
And I told them that Jesus was saying don’t lose all hope- don’t feel like all the ‘clean time’ served no purpose.
He that is washed [had a period of cleansing] does not need to start from scratch- in the sense that he needs another ‘whole bath experience’.
No- he or she simply needs to get a foot washing.
So- I found this helpful in a couple of cases.
Yes- the goal is total sobriety- whether from drugs or alcohol.
The apostle John said ‘these things write I unto you that you sin not- but- if any man sin- we have an advocate with the Father- Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the sacrifice for our sins- and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.’
Okay- let’s get to Manson.
As I talked with Bret- I told him that God has a purpose- even for those who seemed hopeless by the worlds standard.
I told him I started praying for people on death row- because even in those cases God can still do something for his glory.
He agreed and told me when he was in prison in California he was locked up with a couple of the guys from the Manson gang.
One of the guys- Davis- gave him a bible and became a real Christian while in prison.
Bret told me that Davis’ witness to him got him into the bible for the first time.
So yeah- even a Manson disciple has hope.
Jesus will even wash their feet.
NOTE- We visited Bret in the hospital yesterday- he was so bad the Detox clinic could not admit him.
When the ambulance picked him up- we found out later that he almost died that day.
He will be in the hospital for a few days- going thru Detox- then he will move to the halfway house.
You know me with the pictures- I’m sure I’ll be posting pics of Bret soon [on Facebook].
1972 MY JOURNAL FOR 2O13 [also called- how to stop addictive behavior- for good!]
Today is February 2nd- 2013.
The reason you have not heard from me in a year [if I stay on what I feel is God’s schedule].
Is because when leaders have moral failures it is their responsibility to ‘retreat’ and have a time of real- honest- evaluation.
So- being I’m an independent blogger- with no real oversight [I do attend a fine church and have brothers who I am very accountable to].
I asked the Lord how long I should ‘go away’.
I knew I would at least take a few months off.
But then I re-read an old book I had on addictions- and the author [Christian based approach] suggested a minimum of 1 year.
I took that as a word from God- and as of today- I think that’s the way I will go.
So why am I writing on Feb 2nd- 2013?
Good question.
As I continue to pray- and seek God- I felt the Lord released me to ‘journal’ in a way.
So- however many posts make up this journal- I hope they benefit all my friends.
I do pray for every one of my ‘on-line’ community.
All the blog readers and Face Book friends.
If I never mentioned this- I believe that reconnecting to my old friends from New Jersey was a major ‘accomplishment’- that is- I always wanted to be able to share my story- the ups and downs- for the benefit of my North Bergen friends.
I really love you guys- no joke.
Okay- what happened?
I don’t want to go into all the embarrassing details- but it was another case [yes- I had a DWI a few years ago] where drinking and sin went hand in hand.
I really did not [or do] remember all the details [no joke].
I did- for real- have a blackout out of sorts [not the first time- when I drink beer and hard liquor [crown] I usually have blackouts].
But- when you have them [at least me] when you wake up your not sure if you had a bad dream.
At least that’s how it works for me.
When I was first confronted with the act- I did not say ‘O no- you got the wrong person’ [denial]
But ‘you gotta be kidding me- this is terrible’.
I went home- told my wife- and from the start did not try and lie [that’s the truth].
You might think ‘that’s not the way people respond John- are you holier than us!’
No- but that’s what happened.
Okay- there were some things that were in question- whether the whole allegation was true- but because most of it was- I tried hard to not defend one part- while knowing some was true.
I just chalked it up to my decision to drink and drive- again.
Okay- how long have I been an alcoholic?
I guess around 25 years.
I have drank- pretty heavily- for those years.
Now- today is my ‘31st’ birthday [as AA says].
I only had 2 periods of non drinking in all those years [at the meetings I hear many stories of people who have had lots of 30-60-90 day chips- periods of time when they went sober and reduced the damage to the brain- I never had those periods].
About 6 months ago I tried to stop- I went about 21 days [an important number! I felt during this time- that something was happening at 21 days- not 28 or 30. I made a note that in the bible- Daniel prayed for breakthrough- and the angel Gabriel could not ‘break thru’ with the answer for 21 days. As I have read up on addictions- some say the main breakthrough happens when you abstain from an addictive behavior- for 21 days].
Also about 10-15 years ago I had a whole year of sobriety.
I just went ‘dry’ on my own with God’s help.
Okay- it’s too early for me to critique the 12 step/group movement.
I have attended 3 different AA groups in my area- been to around 20 meetings.
One is sort of a high class group.
Professionals and others who are seeking sobriety.
I also went to what my friend Bret calls ‘low brow’.
This group is sort of the Skid Row group in town.
To be honest- I liked them the best.
Then I went to the Anchor group- not far from my house [by the Navy Base- Anchor- get it?]
There sort of in between.
Why am I sober now?
As a reader- of lots of stuff- I of course noticed the Big Book [the basic text of AA- which is actually a small book- so when my friend who gave me one kept asking ‘have you read the Big Book yet’?- I told him ‘I don’t think so’ but I’m reading the little one you gave me] is a very well meaning book- but a little dated.
I told my friend John David- who I started the halfway housed with- o yea- you might think ‘how could you start a halfway house when you too were an alcoholic’- because David asked!
I told him that it would benefit all of us if we tried to read some more updated material on addictions- not just the Big Book.
So- I went to half price books and picked up a couple of more non AA books- that deal with addictions.
I also went on-line- which it seems many of my AA friends [especially from the ‘low brow’ meeting] don’t have the ability to do.
I began seeing that many of the AA meetings would benefit tremendously if they expanded their reading to more than the basic text [I’m sure some do- but I have some AA friends that seem to not like this idea].
What’s wrong with the Big Book John?
Nothing!
It’s just one part of restoration- and the meetings [from what I see] do have a danger of not cultivating a holistic approach to sobriety.
For instance- my friend David- who was a drug/alcohol addict for many years- he swears by AA.
To the point where some Christians- and preachers- won’t have much to do with him.
I was never like this- from day 1.
I told David I like the accountability of the group [if you fail- then you have to face your brothers and sisters- they ask you!]
That’s good- that’s biblical.
But there is also the danger of defining your life by what you don’t do.
Let me explain.
Many in the low brow group- though well meaning- seem to be in danger [as we all are] of simply seeing life as a person who does not drink.
Though that’s a noble goal- that can be achieved by Gods grace- yet you need to move on to seeing more than that as a goal.
I know the AA does teach this also- I’m just trying to give you an honest account of my journey- of what I have seen in the meetings- that’s all.
Okay- I have already read 2 books on addiction [besides the Big Book- I’m at page 350 or so] and just started my 3rd one.
The one I wanted to read was the Alcoholism and Addiction cure by Christ Prentiss.
I have seen that one advertised the most over the years- on the tube- and wanted to see his approach.
I try hard not to be judgmental- but from the beginning of the book I could tell Chris believes strongly in Eastern religions [which is OK- I have friends who also embrace this].
But- as a Christian- you will be a little leery when you see that in a book that gives advice about addictions.
I finished the book in a few of days and did like it.
I noticed a lot of the books do have problem with AA.
Some are based on NOT BEING AA.
Some see the entire 12 step movement as cultic- and an actual contributor to relapse [I will try and get to this down the road- this is a real concern that I had felt- even before reading any of the critics].
So- some of the other approaches do not like AA because they do not like Christian based ideas of sin and a ‘higher power’.
Yes- some critics don’t like God- at least not in the way historic Christianity defines him.
Others [I’m a few chapters in to a book about the AVRT method- or Rational Recovery].
This book simply teaches a technique to recognize the voice of ‘the beast’ [their words- not mine] in you.
And then teaches you to reject that voice- for the other voice- the ‘real you’.
In many ways- this can be seen as the biblical idea of rejecting the voice of the old sinful nature [the beast] and hearing the voice of God- or listening to the ‘angel on your shoulder’ as opposed to the devil.
So- all in all- I find that the other approaches- who all preach total abstinence by the way- have good points- just like AA.
One of the most helpful things I learned [or re-learned] was why 28 days [or in some case- 21] is so important in recovery.
A brief synopsis from all the above stuff- and on-line reading- goes like this;
The brain of the alcoholic [or other addictions- sex addicts- drugs- etc.]
Has become dependent on the addiction- the brain has actually been ‘re-wired’ to function off of the addiction.
It usually takes about 30 days [yes- many sources say this- this is important for you to see!]
To ‘re-wire’ the brain back to the old state- at least in some way.
The brain actually does not repair the old parts that have been ‘addicted’.
I thought this was the way it worked for years- that if you quit the addiction [yes- HEAR ME- many sources say- teach- and have a track record of going clean- without the ongoing groups- that is without an unhealthy dependence on other sources- be they well meaning sponsors- or groups- etc.- while these things do work for some- when they are held up as a must to stay clean- then you need to have grace with people- I told David that there are many- many stories of people who have ‘gone clean’ and stayed clean- without all the things that the 12 step programs teach. If you benefit from all the steps- good. But there is a danger in making everyone think that they will never be clean without all the steps- all the time].
So- what happens in the brain- during that 28- 30 day period- is the other side of the brain will actually create new pathways [Nuero Pathways] and will REPLACE the old addictive patterns.
Sort of like what happens in people with brain damage- the part of the brain that’s not damaged will ‘make up’ for the damaged part.
Now- as a Christian- this fits into the biblical idea.
We are told to renew our minds.
To mediate on the things of God.
‘Commit thy works unto the Lord and THY THOUGHTS will be established’ [re-wired].
But- for my readers who are not Christian [who I appreciate very much- Muslims- Jews- eastern religions- etc.]
This works for you too!
Yes- there is much evidence that ALL OF OUR BRAINS can get this re-wiring- if we simply abstain from any habit/addiction- for around 30 days.
Now- you might be thinking ‘John- you’re in dangerous territory- the Big Book says….’
Yes- I know.
I’m just trying to give you an honest account of what I’m learning- and what many others have said- and done.
So- there is hope- for all of us.
Of course- even the ones who advocate a non religious approach- will say- the first 30 days IS HARD!!
Yes- when the brain goes thru that re- wring process- its hell.
That’s what we call withdrawal.
You experience that fight or flight syndrome.
You overreact to stuff- you get mad.
This happens in all the above scenarios- the AA approach- the non AA folk- all of them say this.
This is part of healing- that re-wiring of the brain.
Okay- as you can see- for the first post of the 2013 ‘journal’ I have gone long.
My purpose in these types of posts for this year is to help you guys- as I too get help.
I don’t have a sponsor [nor do I feel like I will get one].
I had to tone down my attendance at the meetings- some actually made me feel LIKE DRINKING- YIKES!]
All in all- I will continue on this journey- I am now accountable to you guys- so- if I mess up- you will know for sure.
And- when I return to the blog- and Facebook- I will of course pick up where I left off.
I will continue- by God's grace- to write.
I did have some really interesting stories about the Halfway House- the friends who we met- and the whole thing.
As of now- I [we- me and David are the founders] don’t know if it will continue.
To be honest- I did not think any of us were ready to launch it when we did.
But my buddy David- such a good friend- I love him like brother.
He looked so desperate when he asked me to join him.
Geez- the guy just had open heart surgery- was diagnosed with PTSD- for real- because of the surgery.
And he was a street guy- a hard drug addict- a murderer- who found grace.
How could I tell him no?
So we launched the thing- I told David [a few times already!] that I feel as a teacher- blogger [he refers to me as a preacher- I hate that! He means well though].
That I need to be responsible and ‘self discipline’ myself because of my moral failure.
Most times when ‘preachers’ fall- they reject any and all discipline- even if they do have oversight.
Being I really don’t have another ministry over us- I felt I needed to ‘man up’ and pull myself back for a while.
As I began the year- I thought for sure one month- then I felt the Lord wanted one year.
So- as of now- that’s the course.
I don’t want to write more than a few of these a month- or else when I post the whole thing- it will be too much.
So- whenever you guys read this- I’m still alive- I love you all and have never stopped praying for you.
If I have time- I’ll share more about some of the friends I have made along the way.
I liked Bret- he had an interesting story- I wanted to tell it.
We both had the same ‘clean time’.
Bret ‘went out’ the other day- he went back to drinking- I felt bad.
So- as I learn the lingo- try and be open and honest- I hope this whole experience helps you.
That’s all for now- God bless.
1973 CAN I QUIT MY ADDICTION- IN 30 DAYS?
Today is Feb. 4th- 2013.
I was going to limit my weekly posts- but I do find the journaling beneficial so whenever I post these- I hope they help all of you.
A few weeks back I was reading Genesis 1.
I liked the passage where God says he ‘saw the light- and it was good’.
He called the light ‘Day’.
Over the years I have liked the scriptures that talk about the Day- walking in the Light- etc.
As I read the creation account- and recalled the verses about the Day- I felt like God was saying to me ‘Son- when I expose things- hidden sins- it’s painful at first- but when things come into the light- it’s actually a good thing’.
So- in my recent ‘fall’ from grace- I felt God was saying it’s good ‘God saw the light- and it was good- he called it day’.
Now- some of the Day verses.
‘In the day I deliver you from all of your iniquities I will cause you to dwell in the cities and the wastes shall be built’.
‘There are 12 hours in the Day- if you walk in the light you will not stumble’.
There are many more like this- but I think you get the idea.
So- when dealing with addictive behavior- God says the Day- Light- is good- it’s good when things are brought out into the open.
That’s one of the good things I see with the AA meetings- things are brought out into the light- you share with a community of like minded people- who too are seeking to be free from addictions.
Now- as I am progressing thru the 3rd book on addictions- I see how there are many ‘addiction specialists’ who have a real problem with AA.
When I picked up these books- and read on-line- I was not looking for criticism of AA.
I simply read to about page 350 in the Big Book [AA basic text].
And wanted to get some more up to date info on addictions.
But I noticed that some of the alternative treatment programs were indeed very critical of AA.
The book I’m in now- Rational Recovery- is an alternative to AA.
The main book for this group is called the Small Book- a direct contrast to the Big Book.
Now- I’m about 100 pages in- and to be honest- the book is quite refreshing.
The author- Jack Trimpley- was an alcoholic who seems like he went thru the AA meetings and all- and decided to simply ‘Quit Drinking’ without an overdependence on groups- sponsors- ongoing steps- etc.
There program uses a technique that I think I mentioned in the last post- it’s simply a tool to learn to recognize your ‘addicted voice’ [when you start saying to yourself stuff that will lead to drinking] and to learn how to ignore that voice.
In many ways it’s like the biblical concept that says ‘resist the devil- and he will flee from you’.
Now- the funny things is- Jack’s program is a counter to the Deistic [God based] approach found in AA.
Rational- for those not in ‘the know’ is a description that counters ‘faith’.
That is- in the field of theology- and the whole debate in Western thought [which I covered over the years].
When you say ‘rational’- like the Age of Reason- it springs from Enlightenment thinking- Back to Kant- and it’s saying ‘we can heal ourselves! Reason is the answer’.
So- that’s Trimpley's approach.
Now- he gives cases- many thousands of cases- where alcoholics were told – STOP DRINKING- it’s hard the first month or 2- but if you abstain from it for a couple of months- the ‘addiction’ is gone.
Now- even before I read this book- I began having some debates with hardcore AA friends- I would say ‘I am benefiting from the group- I like the accountability’ and then there would be pressure- well meaning mind you- but pressure to get a sponsor.
Or some would say ‘if you don’t do everything this way- your gonna drink’.
Now- as I said before- I was [am] not one of those Christians who opposed AA- there are many that do- I was never one of them.
Many opposed it because they speak of a Higher Power- okay- I’m open minded- I see how this can be a problem for strong scholarly types- but I’m liberal too!
Others oppose the idea of Alcoholism as a disease- the whole disease paradigm that developed since the founding of AA back in the 30’s.
Now- one thing I learned is there are also many in the medical community who too reject the idea of alcoholism as – quote- Disease.
‘But John- the medical associations agree that it is a disease.’
Sure- but just saying there are many- not just some Christians- who do not accept this idea.
Now- if you’re in AA- right off the bat- what I’m saying will seem like heresy- I know- I’m just trying to help all of us see that there are many examples of people- from various perspectives- who have rejected the lifelong idea of group meetings- they do not believe that alcoholism is a disease- they do not say ‘I’m an alcoholic’ and yet- these people are indeed not using today- some for 30 years or more [And they were indeed alcoholics- not simply drinkers].
Now- in my discussions with friends- I did say that before AA- there were many cases of true Alcoholics- back to biblical times- who simply repented of their sin [as they saw it] and yes- stopped- to never drink again.
Does the bible say stuff like this John?
Yes- many times over.
‘Repent- for the Kingdom of Heaven is at Hand’ Jesus and John.
‘These things write I unto you that you sin not’- Apostle John.
‘Resist the Devil and he will flee from you’- James.
Okay- I could go on.
But the point I want to make is yes- it’s not unreasonable- or even wrong- to tell the alcoholic ‘you need to stop drinking’.
And it’s also not impossible for him/her to do this act- to not drink- ever.
Yes- there are thousands of testimonies of real problem drinkers- who fit all the categories of an alcoholic- who simply stopped drinking.
Okay- I know this messes with some paradigms that are out there.
And I’m trying to be very open at this stage in my own recovery.
I have been sober since Jan 3rd- of this year.
As of now- once I passed the 30 day mark [my mental struggle was strongest at 21 days] yes- there is great relief of mind.
As lots of the literature on addiction says- if you can stop doing an act- any act- for 30 days- it’s over.
Now- to some of you- you might think ‘O- how I wish this could be true- to not have to be co-dependent on lifelong groups- etc.’
Well- I’m telling you- it is true [If you benefit from the groups- fine- I’m not against them. But when you tell people it is impossible to not drink unless you attend them- all the time- that can be a problem. I had well meaning friends tell me they were basically waiting for me to go out and drink- so I would come back more humble and submit to the program- yikes!]
Not because I’m 30 something days in- but because of all the other real life examples of people who have done this.
Now- as a Christian- when I went thru the first 30 days- there were 2 times where I was at the end of the proverbial rope- and simply prayed ‘God- help- quick’.
In my mental state- I was going to stop for my beer- I actually stopped- but bought some cigs instead and smoked a few [by the way- I’m quitting all addictions at once- yes- on line porn- smoking- etc.]
Now- were gonna get real in this journal- for everyone’s benefit.
I stopped- yes 100%- looking at on-line porn [and all others by the way].
Yes- I think this seems to be an underlying addiction- maybe even stronger than the drinking and drugs [or a root that leads to it].
It’s not spoken about openly in the meetings- and from what I pick up- I think many are still addicted to the porn because it’s not ‘in the light’ yet.
See?
God saw the Light and said ‘It was good’.
So- were going to discuss this in the coming posts- as of today- the only slip I had was about 5-6 cigarettes- in the last 33 days.
That’s it.
I gave the rest of the packs to my buddies at the halfway house [The 5-6 were from 3-4 packs- I would stop- get a pack- smoke 2-3- then give the rest to me buddies].
Now I feel bad- one of the guys never smoked the Marlboro Blacks- until I gave him mine- now he has a new addiction to deal with!
Okay- I want these posts to help all of you.
I’m not sure how my journey will go this year.
As of now- I’m praying about a move [for obvious reasons].
As I pray- I feel very strongly like going back to N.J.
I was never open to this- I love the N.Y. skyline- I love the Hudson [and Hacky!- my Jersey friends know what this is].
So- I’m in February of 2013- and maybe when you read these- I might be living in N.J.
Okay- that’s it for today- it looks like I will be writing in this ‘journal’ much more than I thought.
I’m going to try and do a 30 day test- that is- give people a forum to get everything out into the Light.
Some of you might be struggling with addictions- like many of us.
If we do a 30 day test- those who want to make a public ‘confession’ by simply posting a comment like ‘I’m in’ you will be able to do it [did your heart rate just go up? That means you need to be IN].
In a way- it will be like an AA meeting on line.
Okay- that’s it- talk to you later- John.
1974 Feb 5- 2013
Caught an AA meeting last night- got my first 30 day coin ever!
I’m actually past 30 days- but didn’t get one on day 30.
It was kind of a good/bad time mixed into one.
My good friend was there- who was living at our little halfway house.
He ‘went out’ a few days back- we had the same clean time together- so it was sad to see him.
He was very drunk- and wound up sleeping behind the building where we meet.
This meeting- called Humility- is what he calls ‘low brow’.
I have attended high class ones- middle class- and this one.
He says it’s the Skid Row group- sort of like the original gang that started AA.
So- I got the coin- and enjoyed the time with my other friends.
Some of my friends have told me that they did not realize how addicted I was to alcohol.
At this time- 35 or so days in- you do very much see a real change in me.
I have gotten very edgy- have had the ‘fight or flight’ thing going on.
And because I was what you call a functioning drinker- I maintained a very long period of constant drinking.
Never had the 30-60- 90 day ‘breaks’ during my drinking years.
Because of that- you can see the difference real clearly.
My friend David- who is really into AA- tells me I’m the classic case- that I show every sign he has learned about.
I guess that’s good in a way.
We do have a few friends- in and out of the halfway house- these are young guys- early 20’s- or late teens.
We are glad they are there- but when I shared with one of them the very real struggle at this point- he said ‘o- I never feel like drinking or anything- it’s all gone’.
He’s young- I felt like maybe these younger kids- as well meaning as they are- might not really have the addiction- and its effects- like us longer drinkers.
But that’s fine- we don’t judge them- we are glad they are recognizing the danger early in life.
Okay- the prescription drug danger.
A few days ago my mind was having a difficult time- I felt like a Valium.
I did ask a friend if he had any [I took one 30 years ago- that was the only time- from the ER].
He said they had some Xanax- he could get me one.
I told him to wait- I really did not want any hard prescription drugs.
That seems to be a problem with some of the guys- they are not drinking- but are on a host of all types of very strong drugs.
Some are also seeing the meetings as places to meet people.
Now- meeting people is good.
But one of my friends told me that some people simply use the meetings to pick up girls [or guys].
H said to me ‘John- they stopped one addiction [drinking] for another [sex addicts]’.
I saw his point.
I have found the book of James- in the New Testament- to be the most helpful during this time.
John David told me that the name of the original group was ‘The James Group’ [ or the Oxford Group].
The letter of James [from where the name came from]- written by the step brother of Jesus [not the apostle James] is in a category we call Wisdom Literature.
Sort of like the book of Proverbs in the Old Testament.
It talks about humility and humbling ourselves.
Also resisting temptation.
‘Every man is tempted when he is drawn away by his own lust and enticed- and when lust conceives it brings forth sin- and sin- when it is finished- brings forth death’.
It shows you the cycle of addiction in a way.
We need to recognize the process from the start- and not allow tempting thoughts to be entertained.
In the last post I mentioned Porn addiction as well.
Jesus said ‘the light [or gateway] of the body is the eye- if your eye is evil- your whole body will be full of darkness’.
When we look at lustful things- there is a demonic attachment that embeds within our soul- our body eventually wants to act out on what the eye sees.
All in all- I have found the basic teachings of Christ- the things that we learned as kids- as helpful to overcome all types of sins.
James also said ‘resist the devil and he will flee from you’.
Yes- we can all try that one- the hard core AA’ers- the ones who do not like the 12 step approach- yes- people from all walks of life can practice this one.
May God help us all as we seek to do it.
1975 CHANGE WHAT YOU THINK- SAY
Ok- day 35.
Yes- 35 days with no acting out on my addictions.
‘You mean all of them’?
Yup.
Of course by God’s grace alone- and a ‘little help from my friends’. [Real friends- not ‘Mothers little helper’- yeah- Stones- Beatles- you older guys get it].
Now- why say ‘all my addictions’?
Remember about the Light- God said ‘it was good’.
Yes- no drinking- NO on line porn [or any other for that matter].
And yeah- no smoking either.
Now- for that last one- that’s your choice.
I have found that for me- when I drank and viewed porn- I also smoked a lot- 3 packs.
So- just being real with you guys.
Now- as I continue reading about ‘addiction’ therapy- and the various studies and views on how to deal with it.
I find various things- from all sides [pro AA- anti AA] that are helpful.
In one of the anti AA books the guy talks about a practice they have found helpful.
When some went down the path to getting ready to use- they ‘heard’ a voice in their head- and they would begin to MOUTH things like ‘I’m going to get some beer right now’.
Maybe they began a process of looking for the car keys- or stashing some cash for later.
The point was- they began ‘hearing’ the voice of addiction.
They began ‘saying’ to themselves that they were going to do it.
The book recommends that at this stage you simply change the Voice.
My practice- which I have done for years on my own- was to memorize a few key verses- and when I had a tempting thought- or dream- I began automatically quoting these verses.
Now- over the years I have memorized thousands of verses- so instead of trying to think of which one to ‘say’ at these moments of weakness- I stuck with 2 basic ones.
One I use at night [tempting dream or thought] is says;
I HATE VAIN THOUGHTS- BUT THY LAW DO I LOVE
Got it?
That’s it- that’s the one.
Don’t remember where it is- it’s in the bible somewhere.
But years ago it stuck in my head- and after a while [a few months?] this practice becomes automatic.
When the bad dream pops up- this verse gets quoted automatically- almost like an addiction- get it?
The verse I used during the day was;
COMMIT THY WORKS UNTO THE LORD AND THY THOUGHTS WILL BE ESTABLISHED
That’s it.
Get this one down too- and you have the 2 main parts of my ‘program’.
Okay- it’s really not a program- but these are practices that I already started doing- and they are also found in some of the addiction literature.
For today- try and get at least one of these short verses down in your head.
Try this practice for a few weeks- when you ‘see’ a bad image at night- dream- etc.
Use it!
When you feel yourself going into a pattern of acting out- then use them.
Over the years- even in the middle of drinking and acting out- I would still use them- and I found that after a few minutes- if I CHOOSE to use them- then the pattern will change.
Yes- this practice is biblical- try it for today.
Remember- I’m on your side as I share my journey with you guys.
I’m trying to give you the best advice- not just from me [I know- I’m only 35 days in]
But these are things- experiences from many others- as well as my own journey.
Remember- if you stop doing a practice- any practice- for around 30 days- it will be gone!
Try and believe this is so- there is LOTS of evidence that says this- lots!!
If you are thinking ‘gee John- I was taught that is denial- to think you can be free’.
Yeah- I know that.
I’m not here to argue with anyone.
Use the things God has given you.
But in the end- yes- if you stop PRACTCING an addiction-any- it will go away.
Many movements/recovery ministries do a fine job.
Take what you can- leave the rest.
And try the things I wrote in this post.
God bless you all.
I love you all.
2-7-13 DENIAL?
Yesterday I met the new kid that joined our halfway house this past week.
John David was real excited about this kid- and he wanted me to work with him.
Cameron is really into the bible- and I sort of play the role of Pastor with the guys.
Anyway- I had a good talk with him- he’s around 25.
Has been in trouble because of drugs- but is trying by God’s grace to make a new path.
As I spoke with Cameron- I found some of his responses to be interesting- he has been familiar with the 12 step groups.
And as we were discussing the possibility of being free from addictions- he gave some of the familiar responses.
Some are taught that if you think you are actually free- you are in a state of denial.
I went thru some of the studies that have been done.
There is a large amount of evidence that many people have simply quit addictions- on their own.
Huh?
That’s seems impossible!
Does it- have you ever read any other material on this subject?
Yes- there are many- some say the majority- who after a short period of abstaining from the addiction- who never go back to it again.
As I have been researching on this topic- many feel that the mindset of ‘disease’ ‘possible relapse’ etc.
Many feel that these ways of seeing addiction are in themselves a sort of bondage.
When I mentioned the simple possibility of being free- some of the responses I have gotten are ‘that’s not possible- without ….’
\
I think it would help if we all at least accepted the possibility that you can stop ‘sinning’.
Now- it would be by God’s grace [in my view] but either way- it is possible to stop engaging in addictive behavior- and the studies show that after a short period of time [around 30 days]- there is an actual change that takes place in the brain of the addict.
He will ‘fix himself’ so to speak- by simply not doing the act.
Okay- I spoke with another friend who is partnering with us at the halfway house.
He brought up the addiction of co-dependency- and how some have fallen into this addiction.
If you view your freedom as being dependent on a certain act- a certain rigorous following of rules [any rules].
Then you can be in danger of becoming co-dependent on that practice.
For instance- in my first few weeks of going to the meetings- some well meaning friends kept telling me ‘John- you must/should make 90 meetings in 90 days’.
They all meant well- some also added other things you ‘must’ do- or else you will drink.
To be honest- a few times I had to rebuke these very good friends.
They would slip and say ‘well John- we are just waiting for you to drink- so you then can come back and fully surrender’.
After a few times of this I said ‘STOP IT’!
I would remind them that there are many thousands of people who have indeed quit.
Without submitting to any program- never mind the 12 step ones.
At times- you can get the feeling that some use the 12 step programs as others use their religious faith.
In a sense- almost cultic.
I have told a couple of friends that we should never tell anyone- who is achieving sobriety ‘that we are waiting for you to fall- so you can get the program’.
The goal is sobriety- not getting the program- we need to keep that in mind.
Okay- I just wanted to share that concept today.
Yes- my new friend had the mindset that if you talk about not drinking- drugging- or whatever [ sort of just stopping].
Then in a way- you are in denial [he meant well- I only mention this because the book I’m in now- written by an ex-alcoholic- sees this as a real problem. He- and others- feel like some of the well meaning concepts in AA have caused people to embrace a defeatist attitude- that does not allow for them to ever be free- for good.]
I think there are some real problems with some of the ideas we have given people [we- the 12 step movement of the past 70-80 years].
As helpful and well meaning as they are- we need to also be aware of the latest advances in addiction treatment.
And be aware that there are many people who have indeed quit there addictions- to never return.
www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com
Note- Do me a favor, those who read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read them on. Thanks- John. Don’t forget to scroll down on the timeline [Facebook] - I have posted lots.
JOURNAL- Mar-May, 2013
1995
3-5-13
ROCKIN’ RONNIE
Yesterday I dropped the mustang off at Pep Boys for a few repairs before I sell it.
I sold the van last week- so that leaves me on foot [bus] from now on.
So- even though I have lived in Texas for 33 years- I have only rode the bus about 5 times.
The first day [the other day] I met Jim.
You know- every so often a street guy hops on.
I noticed that the ‘normal’ folk just ignore them- or maybe are not in the mood to talk.
I had a good talk with Jim- he also spends some time up around Boston every year.
He is smart- but also a little eccentric.
He got into some discussion about electricity and stuff- yeah- maybe a little ‘too’ smart.
Then the next day I met ‘Rockin’ Ronnie.
Now- I caught the bus in town- and we both got on the one that brings you to the little suburb I live in- called Flour Bluff [or The Bluff].
Ronnie was obviously a street guy- when you have no shoes- yeah- that kinda marks you.
Being we were both heading the same way I sparked up a conversation with him.
Ronnie is from good ole Philly- yeah- not far from my home area in N.J.
He has been here for about as long as I have- and the funny thing is we have never met each other [we were both born in 62 also].
Yet he is a homeless guy- lived 30 years in the area where I know all the street guys- a fairly small area- and we never ran into each other.
So- as I told Ronnie I know all the street guys- he mentioned ‘the crew’-
You know Lazarus?
Yup [by the way- that’s his real name!]
What about Albert?
Yeah.
Suzy Q?
Yeah.
It was funny- we knew the same crowd- yet not each other.
I got a kick out of a story Ronnie told me.
About 5 months ago one of the crew made it onto the news- he took a ‘leak’ on a cop car and got busted.
So- they showed Albert’s face all over the local news- he spent a week in jail.
He gets out and shows up at the mission- where of course he’s now famous for being the guy who urinated on the cop car.
Of course Albert denied it- but we really didn’t believe him.
So- as I’m talking to Ronnie- he asked me if I knew Donald D.
I told him yeah- I knew/loved him like a brother.
Donald was one of the first street guys I ever met- and whenever he saw me he would open his arms and give me this huge hug ‘I love you so much man’ he would tell me.
Most of the street guys love the ‘street preachers’ and Donald was like that.
Last year I showed up at the mission and I heard he died- I was sad.
Donald lived in N.J. years ago- Lake Hapakon [Sp?].
A spot my dad used to take me to as a kid- great lake for kids and all.
So Ronnie tells me a few nights after Donald D died they were having a celebration ‘party’ for him [basically getting drunk in the park].
And they were at Parker Park [actually as I write this- I just remembered that’s where I first met Donald 25 years ago].
But they were getting drunk- making all types of noise- and sitting right behind the cop station!
Ronnie tells me the cops finally come out and arrest them- and Ronnie asks the cop
‘Hey man- can I take a leak before you drive me to the city jail’.
He knew he wouldn’t make it.
The cop says no- and Ronnie ‘relieved’ himself on the car.
He tells me ‘yeah- they busted old Albert for it- but it was me’.
Huh- so I guess Albert was framed all along- how funny!
As the bus came to my stop- one of the last I will ever make in Texas.
I told Ronnie to say good bye to the crew for me.
I haven’t had a chance to see them the past couple of months.
And in a way I think the Lord let me run into Ronnie for the last Hurrah- to say good bye to my street buddies.
Yeah- I am looking forward to this new style of ministry- meeting some down and out people on the bus type thing.
Next stop- NYC.
1996
3-6-13
GOOD BYE MY SON [Please pray for me as I will you]
Saw the guys yesterday at the halfway house.
I haven’t heard from Cameron in a few days- he was one of the new kids that I took a liking to.
Of course I love all the brothers- we are all seeking God together.
But Cameron was a new kid- around 23 or so- and he graduated from the high school that my kids went to- he was in school at the same time.
So- it was kinda funny/sad- I would tell my kids ‘hey- one of the new boys was from your crowd’.
I showed them Cameron’s pic- but they didn’t recognize him.
So- the few days I was with him- we would talk about the Lord- getting clean- I kinda was doing the Father figure thing with him.
One day he got this new key chain- it was a dice thing- I told him I liked it ‘gee- I wish someone would donate one to me’.
He laughed- it was like his only possession- and I wanted the thing!
So the next day he texts me ‘sorry I was a little boutique yesterday- had a rough day’.
I still have no idea what that means- but I guess he felt he was out of line.
I texted him back ‘no boy- all is well- I would be feeling better though if I had a key chain dice type thing’!
He texts ‘your jokes are not funny! …’
So- I liked the kid.
He started his own lawn and garden business- was off to work every single day [not something the other guys at the halfway house do- not all of them].
He was a great singer- rhythm and blues- for real- could have made a CD.
I sing the classic rock songs- I do pretty well to be honest- one of the guys at the Fire Dept. thought I could win the 'American idol’ thing- for real [one time they heard me singing in the morning cleanup- the guy asked if I had the radio on- I told him I was singing- he did not believe me!]
So- I hit a few tunes with Cameron at the halfway house- yeah- the other boys were a captive audience!
So- I showed up yesterday- ready to sing a few more.
I found out Cameron tested positive on his last drug test- he s on 10 years probation- and he went back to jail.
I really felt bad the whole day- I saw him like a son.
So much talent- such a good kid [his pic is on my face book sight]
He will probably do 90 days and come up for another chance to make parole/probation.
Maybe they will send him to a rehab type thing.
To me it’s a big thing to do 90 days in jail.
To these guys- they get used to it- but that’s what’s so bad about it- it becomes a lifestyle- and it should not be that way.
Okay Cameron- if your reading this when you get out- I’ll probably be gone by then.
I love you like a son kid- you have so much going for you- don’t throw it all away!
1997
3-7-13
I’M SAILING AWAY- SET AN OPEN COURSE … [Styx]
Yesterday I got my 60 day coin from AA.
It was really day # 63-64 [?]- But I hadn’t gone to many meetings- and I it was the first chance to get it.
Let me make a note here- I do not see myself as ‘the exception’.
I never had a sponsor- I never knowingly did the steps [I have often said- if you naturally practice the steps- on your own- then maybe all a person needed was the meetings- or another aspect of the group environment. In my case- I weekly prayed prayers that were ‘daily inventory’- I did outreach- I already- as a believer- was doing many of the good things that AA encourages- so in my case the reason I was- am able to be sober- although some say I’m in rebellion because of no sponsor-etc.- is because I simply needed the missing part- which to me was leaving the friends I was reaching out to for many years- but they never sought real change- real sobriety. So- I think God simply used AA to help me make a break from that community. Though I never once drank with the street guys- or partied- yet- because they were really not seeking change- it affected me].
So- I took from AA what was lacking- and I left the rest. I do not demean them in any way- will continue to go to meetings- get my 90 day coin- but I do not take the same approach as some of my friends.
Some are very legalistic- they even see me as one of the only/few exceptions to the rule- in the whole world!
Yikes- I tell them ‘look- there are many hundreds of thousands of cases like me- open your eyes man!’
Okay- enough of that.
So- as my buddies see that I’m serious abut leaving Texas- I see some of them either don’t want me to go- or want to take the trip with me.
I told the guys I am not going to take any one with me [they think I’m gonna set up another ministry in NY- they want in on it].
I have told them I will continue to reach out to the homeless and down and out- but will not be setting up any type of ‘new ministry’.
Those days are over for me.
A verse I like a lot talks about John the Baptist.
In the gospel of John we read about many disciples leaving John and following Jesus [chapter 3].
So some of John’s followers were getting worried ‘hey John- we are losing our following- they are going to Jesus’.
John says that’s what’s supposed to happen ‘He must increase and I must decrease’.
In many ways I see myself ‘going away’.
Not that I won’t continue to journal for all my on-line friends- no- I will keep doing that.
But I have pulled out of everything else.
I like John’s words a lot- I think we should all give them a try.
3 DOORS DOWN- ITS NOT MY TIME
1998
3-10-13
IF ANY MAN COMES ATER ME LET HIM TAKE UP HIS CROSS DAILY
Yesterday I had a couple of the boys come over and do some roof repairs.
Yeah- as I Detach from Texas- I have been selling/giving away stuff.
My baby- the 1966 Mustang- GT- 4 barrel Holly carb- 289 [motor] - yeah- have it in the shop for a few repairs.
Now- get this- I’m selling it for- wait- $3,950.oo.
I have seen this car list for up around 18,000!
So yes- I’m doing the ‘sell what you have- give to the poor [I’m poor!]- and follow me’.
Okay- I had another one of those Bus encounters.
This time I had a nice talk with the driver.
I told him after being in Texas for 33 years I’m moving back to the NY area.
I told him I’m letting my wife have the house- either she can sell it or rent it.
He said he thought that was a noble thing [yeah- I’ll take any encouragement I can get!].
I would like to get some of my retirement cash I used to pay it off in 2008.
I owed about 30,000 when I retried- and took a Lump Sum from my retirement to pay it off.
That lowers your monthly check- but at the time it was the best way to do it.
So- the house is worth about 125,000- maybe I’ll take around 10-15,000 if my wife sells it.
At this point I don’t really care to be honest- I want her and my 2 youngest girls to have some money.
My younger girls are 22-23- they still live home on and off- you know- one of those types of things.
My wife always wanted to get her real estate license- so if she rents [or sells] she can have some money for that.
We have not fought- not once- during this whole thing.
She knows I mean well- geez- she has seen me up praying at 2-3 in the morning for years.
Working with my friends- and then not hiding stuff when people say things about you- maybe being too willing to not hide!
So- she sees that and has been really nice to me thru this whole thing.
I have been reading Luke’s gospel and a funny thing happened.
These past few weeks as I let go of stuff [just sold the kayak for 100- gave my fishing poles away too].
I have been thinking how I never went back north because the real estate is so high [and the rents! - geez- any of my old friends have a cheap room?]
But I thought I really don’t need a bunch of stuff- wherever I go I can just stay with friends- family- or maybe at some missions.
Then I read the teaching of Christ [again].
He says ‘when I send you out- don’t take extra stuff- money- etc- but whatever city you go to- stay with whoever gives you a spot. Eat what they serve you.’
It’s in the same chapter where Jesus says take up your Cross and follow him.
‘Whoever seeks to save his life shall lose it- he who gives it up shall find it’.
Now- we all know these verses- but we have justified ourselves in a way.
We think ‘yeah- Jesus just meant don’t love your stuff’.
Actually- if you read it for what it’s worth- it goes a little further than that.
Anyway- I found it interesting to see these very plain instructions- stuff I began doing this month- and how clear it was.
So- the roof got fixed- the Kayaks gone- and the mustang is on the way out [Van sold last week].
To be honest- it feels good in a way.
Even ‘giving’ the house to my wife- I want to do this.
I have a retirement- she does not.
I told her to see it as her inheritance- to do with it what she wants.
It took a few weeks for her to start looking forward to it- she is now a little excited about the whole thing to be honest.
I do very much pray for her and all my kids- and me going way like this is not easy at all.
I am having a very hard time just committing this whole thing to God.
It’s hard to go.
1999
3-13-2013
HOW LONG TO THE POINT OF NO RETURN?
Being I’m in the middle of getting rid of lots of stuff- and doing some final repairs on cars and the house- I haven’t really had time to comment on many big news events.
This week there have been some important things that I feel I should mention.
Bradley Manning has been in court for the leaking of thousands of ‘secret’ memos to Wikileaks.
Most of you should be familiar with the case.
He has been held in solitary confinement for a few years and the govt. has charged him thru the espionage act.
Now- even though most of the stuff leaked really amounted to embarrassing details- how the U.S. govt. has done behind the scenes talks with other nations- kind of deceived folk- or the biggest leak was the video now famously referred to as Collateral Damage.
This video showed a terrible incident where our guys fired [helicopter] on a bunch of civilian reporters- by accident- thinking they were the enemy- but were later found out to be reporters.
It looked bad- really bad.
So- the question is should we view the leaking of this stuff as espionage [spy type charges] or more like a whistle blower.
That’s the debate- I personally think what he leaked does not rise to the level of life in prison- which is what the govt. is seeking.
Now- we also had the nomination of John Brennan to head the CIA.
During the hearings- he [and Holder- US attorney] were asked questions about killing US citizens- without due process.
As most of you know we killed a US citizen a few years back with a drone [in Yemen].
He was indeed a full blown Al-Qaida leader- and had influence with others.
Now- what most don’t know is a few weeks later we also killed his US born son- 16 years old.
His son was born in Detroit- living in Yemen.
By all accounts- his son was not an Al-Qaida operative- he of course was probably influenced by his dad’s radical views.
But he was a minor- a US citizen- and he was traveling to see his dad.
We killed him with a drone strike while he was sitting at an outdoor restaurant.
When the US govt. was asked why we killed him- one of the responses was he should have picked a better father.
Now- whatever side of the aisle you fall on- this stuff has to stop.
All this is going on at the same time we just read the Miranda rights to the son in law of Osama Bin Laden- and are putting him on civilian trial in NYC.
So- we executed a 16 year old US citizen- because his dad was a bad guy- yet we read the rights to a non citizen- who may have some type of involvement with the 9-11 attacks.
[Note- the US govt. has said the killing of the boy was a mistake- but we still killed him]
This is bad- very bad.
As the US seeks to imprison Manning- for life.
And is also attempting to get Julian Assange- the founder of WikiLeaks.
We need to ask ourselves what role the on-line media outlets play.
For instance- the NY times printed some of the same material that Manning leaked- yet the print media are considered ‘media’ and the printing of ‘secret’ stuff is considered noble- like Florida’s sunshine laws.
Yet if an on-line publisher posts the same stuff- he can be tried for espionage.
During one debate when this question came up- the pundit simply said if it’s in print- then it’s legal.
But if it’s on line- its not.
Is that really the criteria we want to use to decide that what one organization published is noble- but for the other it merits the possible death penalty [which is the level of crime Manning is charged with]?
Yes- these questions are important to answer- they should not be seen as ‘left or right’ questions [the Repub senator Rand Paul did a stand up job- literally- by doing an old fashioned filibuster on the drone issue the other day].
So yeah- if a nominee for the CIA- or the US attorney general can not say that a US president has no right to kill a citizen- in our country- without due process- then he should not be up for that position.
We as a country have gone thru many struggles since the tragic 9-11 attack.
And we [first under Bush] did give up too many rights as we overreacted- by loosening our rules on the privacy of US citizens.
But if we cant clearly say that no US president- whether Repub or Dem- has the right to kill a US citizen without due process- then we are all falling off the deep end-
As Kansas put it TO THE POINT OF NO RETURN.
Okay- one more time.
I just psoted an entire description for the last pic- and facebook deleted the entire psot.
I’m getting ready to leave facebook- for good.
The last pic is David- my co-founder for the halfway house we started abiout 5 mtonh ago.
David- like most of the guys at `AA- is addicted to prescription drugs.
One day I asked him what he was taking- it was Morphine.
I told him ‘why the hell are you taking morphine’.
In the EMS field you only get that if your terminal- because its so addictive.
He has PTSD because of open heart surgery-a dn has delayed his back surgery- so they prescribed himj the morphine.
Yesterday he was having withdrawls- bad.
David was in his guilt thing again ‘’I;m a fucking killer- I killed my best friend’.
David shot and killed his best friend years ago in Dallas.
His brother Andy told me when they came to get the body- he had shotgun shells under his feet.
David never stopped shooting- even after his friend was down.
So- he’s yelling thius stuff at his house yesterday- Andy- his brother- is afraid to be around him.
I took david back to the house and he’s doing better.
I told him the oyther day- when he was doing his guilt trip
‘DAVID- GOD FORGIVES YOU!!’ he just cant seem to forgive himself.
6TH AVENUE HEARTACHE
2001
3-16-13
PAPA FRANCIS
Okay- we have a new Pope as of this post.
Yeah- it’s hard to write a journal and not post it- who knows- maybe none of this will ever be seen?
J.D. Salinger became sought after because of that very reason [he published a couple of hits- Catcher in the Rye- and then went into hiding].
So- let’s see what happens.
Now- I think Francis might become my favorite in recent history.
Why?
Francis [the name he took- from Francis of Assisi- also speaks about his character. St. Francis forsook family wealth to work in Gods field- he believed God called him to help restore the church to her original design].
So- Pope Francis lived the same type of calling.
He’s the first Pope from America [albeit Latin America].
He’s the first from the Jesuit order to hold the office- the Jesuits are my favorite Catholic order.
If you remember my church history section- I covered the Jesuits- and complimented them a lot.
The Jesuits are the intellectuals of the church- now- the Catholic Church as a whole is of course very intellectual.
But the Jesuits were very influential in the development of the scientific method.
As a percentage- there were more Jesuit leaders in science than any other group.
They also were missionary minded.
When I covered them in the past I showed how after the 16th century Protestant Reformation the Jesuits did a sort of Counter Reformation and evangelized Asia- an area where the Protestants fell short.
So- as you can see- I’m a fan of the Jesuits.
Francis- from Buenos Aires Argentina- lived among the poor- he cooked his own meals and rejected the perks that Cardinals/Arch Bishops get.
Yet- he was a ‘conservative’ in doctrine.
Huh?
How could he be a sort of Liberation theologian- and yet hold to conservative views?
Here’s where our modern news shows mess stuff up.
As an avid news watcher- the last few years one of the critiques I gave was the mistake of men like Glenn beck and others- who associated Liberation Theology with heresy.
Now- Beck and others meant well- they just made the mistake of demonizing people they don’t understand [remember the rampage against Van Jones?]
But that’s why we need to get our info from better informed folk.
Anyway- Liberation Theology is a form of Christian teaching that associates the ministry of Jesus to the poor- and seeks to impellent that- sometimes too far- with government programs.
So- in Latin America- you have had Catholic champions of the poor and down trodden- who advocated for the poor- and at the same time believed in the historic positions of the doctrines of the church.
For instance- some ‘liberal’ scholars reject the resurrection of Jesus- and other key teachings of the church.
These men [both Catholic and Protestant] are referred to as Liberal scholars.
Francis is not one of them- he’s ‘conservative’ when it comes to the historic faith.
Yet- in his actions [Orthopraxy] he is ‘liberal’ [that is if you think identifying with the poor is liberal].
So- Francis is a lot like me in my belief [I too am conservative in doctrine] and practice- I have lived with the poor and down and out for years.
So- he just might be my favorite.
Let’s wait and see.
www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com
Note- Do me a favor, those who read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read them on. Thanks- John. Don’t forget to scroll down on the timeline [Facebook] - I have posted lots.
CLOSING TIME
2002
3-18-13
LET THE DEAD BURY THE DEAD
As I continue my transition from a Texan back to a Yankee- I have been reading the gospel of Luke.
Its funny- but the very things I have been struggling with- like leaving your family- are the things I come across next in the reading.
Jesus gives a parable- some man has this big wedding dinner- and he sends out his servant to get guests.
And he says ‘come on- hurry- all things are ready’.
There is a sense of urgency about the thing.
And the guests make one excuse after another.
‘I can’t come- I just bought some land’
‘I have married a wife and that takes precedence’
Jesus then says the master gets mad when he hears how ungrateful the guests are.
He then sends the servant out and he gathers the low life’s of society- these accept the invitation [the kingdom goes to the poor].
Jesus then goes on and says if you want to follow him- you have to be willing to give up everything- even your comfort zone- and he does say even your wife and kids- and then follow him.
Now- I want to be real careful here.
My teaching- the stuff I teach about Christianity and the bible- I try real hard to base it not just on some private interpretation of scripture [a mistake among many Protestants].
But I try to ground my teaching both in scripture and tradition [yeah- sounds Catholic doesn’t it?]
So- I’m very aware of the various Christian groups who practice a strong ‘anti- family’ mindset.
Some seperate from loved ones because they leave the group- I don’t hold to that kind of stuff at all.
Okay- now- why mention this verse then?
Because I stumbled across it as I was struggling with going north- without my family- leaving them behind.
And then I felt the Lord was showing me how this very thing is one of the hindrances to the kingdom.
What thing- your wife and kids?
Not really- not in a way you might think.
But the thing about entrusting your family to God.
In the excuses that the guests made- they are all centered around self survival.
One wants to take care of his land [he actually says he has to go SEE IT- man- didn’t you look at it already?]
It’s the whole mindset of finding comfort and security in things- or in our so called ability to control stuff.
In today’s Christian environment- where you can walk into a Wal Mart and in the best seller section you have Christian books on how God wants you to have everything now- we have developed a mindset that hardly ever gives any serious thought to surrendering our lives over to God.
The excuse’s the guests gave are centered around self survival- worried about having to ‘have enough’ for the future.
Sure the bible speaks about a ‘good man leaves an inheritance to his kids’ but the Kingdom ideal of Jesus seems to blow that out of the water.
I want to make sure you guys don’t mis-read this.
I’m not saying we should all leave our wives and kids because of this verse.
But Jesus is saying nothing should take precedence over our mandate to follow him- to take up our Cross daily.
And it’s often these very things- the things we try to control- or try to handle ourselves- it’s these issues that often hold us back.
One excuse was ‘I need to go home and bury my father’.
Jesus says ‘let the dead bury the dead- just come and follow me’.
BIG OLD JET AIRLINER- STEVE MILLER BAND
3-20-13
2003
TIME FOR A COOL CHANGE
Today I’m feeling a little depressed.
Not so much for the obvious reasons- but just because of the way some things are turning out with my buddies and the halfway house.
Those of you who have read this far- you know the story.
It’s been about 5-6 months ago that I got back from my N.J. visit and my friend John David texted me ‘hey John- you still want to start a halfway house’.
I was driving with my other homeless friend- Henry- and I took the next on ramp to the highway and that’s the way it started.
We have had a bunch of guys come thru since then- and we did accomplish some good stuff- for real!
But I always had this strange premonition that it was not going to be a long term thing.
One day early on David said ‘who knows- maybe NeWay was just supposed to save John’.
Now- that was the 2nd month in- and he was talking about John Boy- one of our first guys- who is dying of liver cancer.
But when David said it- I thought to myself ‘yeah- it was just to save me’.
I have been clean now for around 80 days- sad to say- I’m the only sober one in the whole thing as of now.
Yeah- I had a feeling even David- who had such a great story- who is well known in the entire AA circuit- I had a feeling he- as well as his brother- all went off the wagon- so to speak.
Now- I also realized that these guys lie- a lot!
Sure- we all do at times- but I saw no reason to lie about being clean.
I mean I have about 80 days- if I slipped up- I would say it.
I saw David yesterday for the first time in about 4 days.
He was terrible- he did not confess anything- but as I sat in his room- I saw the stuff right there.
It was kinda hidden- but not too good.
John David is a special man- he has [had] destiny written all over him.
I’ve been around long enough where I can see it.
One time he tells me about living in some town in North Texas.
The description of the house and land was great- right off of some state preserve- he had deer and wild life in his back yard.
The famous child actor- Spanky- form the little rascals lived there too.
He told me how Spanky owed him a beer [he kept brining it up- like he was pissed off that he never paid him back!]
Spanky was an all out drunk- he was bitter about what happened to Buck Wheat and the other cast members.
David told me how Spanky would set up at some out door flea market and sell signed pictures of him and the gang.
David had a few other stories about running into fame and fortune- and of course losing it all when he became an addict.
So- It’s sad to see my friend like this- and to realize he was trying so hard for me to not know- he really was so concerned about me relapsing.
I mean if I did not see him in 2 days he would be texting me all worried about me going back out.
Now he does not even answer my texts.
I saw the writing on the wall.
I’m not sure why I’m telling you guys all this- I’m trying to write this thing like a journal- and then when you read it you can see the progression of it all.
I still have to deal with some serious stuff- stuff that does very much effect a persons mind.
These types of things do make a person feel suicidal- that’s the truth.
I think it just comes with the territory [my court troubles].
I’m not looking for pity- I really could care less about trying to justify my self to any body- we will all be dead quite soon.
But I want very much to finish well- to accomplish what’s left on my Bucket List- and then wrap it up.
So- I texted David yesterday.
He must know that I know.
I spoke to him like a brother.
‘David- I’m so happy about NeWay and what we have accomplished these last 5 months.
But I want you to get help- your sick David- I want you well’.
I went on and spoke to him like a friend who is worried.
I was surprised- about 5 hours later he texted back
‘John- I’m doing better now- I found some Zanax’.
He’s still trying to make it sound like he was just having a bad day- it’s so sad to see my friend- my brother- in such denial.
He spoke about it so much when I first started working with him this last year.
I dot know how everything will turn out- but I’m so tired of the whole thing.
I have been listening to some old tunes from you tube in the morning.
I like the Little River Bands ‘Time for a cool change’.
It’s been a kind of escape for me.
Try to listen to it today- see if you like it?
LONG DECEMBER
3-21-13
HAPPINESS IS THE ROAD
2004
Changed the spark plugs and wires in the Mustang yesterday- it took a couple of weeks of messing around with it before I got it running good again.
I will aggressively list it soon- for sale.
I had a couple of my buddies show up.
Andy came by for a few hours- and Michael- my ‘artist’ stopped by.
My artist?
Yeah- Michael has been a street guy for many years.
I must have known him now for around 20 years.
And he has worked odd jobs- dishwasher- cook- etc.
But many people had no idea that he was a talented artist.
Mike has showed me his work over the years- and its great stuff.
So about 8 months ago he made a nice painting of the actual streets and buildings right where we have the halfway house [he did not even know we had the halfway house].
When I saw it I told him I wanted to buy it- I bought it for 40 bucks.
It is an original oil painting and very nice.
I had him add the name of my ministry [Corpus outreach] and the name of the halfway house- NeWay.
He kinda painted it like they were street signs on some buildings- but it looked real good.
Today I will give the painting to John David- he knows I’m gonna give it to him.
I was waiting till my last day or 2- but felt now was the time.
So- when Mike came by the house I gave him 2 huge Beatles posters I had hanging in the garage.
They are nice- collectors things.
He wanted to pay me- I told him no way- It’s my gift to him.
But- as we sat in the yard [if I remember- whenever I post this long journal- I’ll try to post the pics at the same time].
He saw some of my silly paintings that I have done over the years.
As some of you know- I paint on my house- fence- etc.
And not just regular house painting- no- verses and stuff.
So- I had a couple of actual boards that I painted on- like bill boards.
And Mike kept staring at one- I told him if he wanted it he could have it.
I just have various verses and stuff on it- but he thought it had potential.
He told me he wants to add some finishing touches to it- and frame it- and post it on his face book site [where he displays his art].
And when I’m gone it he will have my name and his as the artist.
That’s so Cool!!
A real artist thinks my stuff is good!
Yeah- that’s great.
As I pack up- give stuff away- sell stuff- I regret having to leave my library of books behind.
I’ll take a few- but not all.
So- I re-read a couple of favorites.
I read one on Hoboes- I got it years ago and it talked about the depression era guys who rode the rails- I liked it.
I’m also re-reading the Dylan book- yeah Bob Dylan’s biography- it came out about 8 years ago.
It’s called Chronicles.
I really liked it because Dylan talks about his experience of moving to the Big Apple and starting over.
He gives a quote from his grandma- I’ll shorten it some;
‘Happiness isn’t on the road to anything- happiness is the road. Be kind to everyone- because every one you meet is fighting some sort of battle.’
Wow- such great insights- from Dylan’s Granma!
2005
3-22-13
SPIRIT GUIDES?
Had another good day of giving my stuff away.
I have been decorating the city for Pete’s sake!
Huh?
Yeah- each day I put some of my valuables in the car- and I leave some at the halfway house [yesterday my favorite statue of st. Francis- a bird bath I had in my yard- went to the front stoop of the halfway house].
Some I give to the guys- John David got about 300 dollars worth yesterday [my favorite oil painting- that depicts both of our ministries- and a classic Clarinet- a few other things].
And yeah- when I head to that side of town I drive down some old industrial streets- Agnes- Laredo.
And for years whenever I drove these streets they reminded me of home- N.J.
So- I thought ‘what the heck- let me just place a few of these things in some spots- and see if they last’.
Sure enough- they are still there!
Stuff like a wooden cross I used to set out years ago when we would do some type of park outreach.
That’s now right off of Agnes- kinda by one of those old re-sale shops- in the front.
So you could mistake it for some type of business decoration- heck- I don’t care- I just like seeing it when I drive by.
Okay- these last few months I have also had- believe it or not- a ministry to some girls who are addicts- re-covering addicts.
How?
Look- because of my past temptations- I avoid doing ‘outreach’ to any of the girls on the streets.
But- my friend David has had a couple of different girl friends these past few months and when I go to the halfway house- on the way out I usually stop by his place.
He lives a few blocks from the halfway house- I live on the other side of town.
Problem?
He sleeps till about 10 am.
I’m up at 3 am- so our time tables don’t match too well.
Anyway- if I’m at the halfway house at 7- and I’m heading out by 8- he’s sleeping.
I might go by- drop off one of my free gifts- and head out.
But- if one of his new girlfriends is up- sitting out in the yard- I’ll hang out for a while and talk.
So over the weeks I have become good friends with Jackie- a drug addict who has had her ups and downs.
Jackie has liked it when I talk with her and she has questions and stuff about God- I have simply taught her stuff and prayed for her a bunch of times- we are good friends.
And at times she has been doing so well- helping us- a lot- with the ministry.
But every so often David would say ‘she went back out- she stole all my stuff- I’m thru with her’.
And yeah- that’s what would happen.
Then a week later I would show up- and there back together- like nothing happened!
So the last break up was about 2 weeks ago and David already has a new girl- Laura.
Yeah- I have already spent at least 8 hours talking to Laura- in 2 or 3 visits!
She’s really into new Age stuff- crystals- the whole thing.
Now- she’s real smart- physics- metaphysics- lots of stuff.
And I know all types of stuff like that- so I try to give her the Christian view of all the things she’s involved with.
Yesterday I laid hands on her- prayed for her- that the ‘gates’ she has opened- that are not good [she has all types of spirit guides- yikes!] would close- and the ‘good gates’ [Holy Spirit] would be open.
She does appreciate my teaching- and she likes all the history that I mix in [I did the whole overview of Greek thought- before Christ. And I taught her the development of Gnosticism- and how it arose. This is the history of her belief system- which I dont think she was aware of].
So you could see- I was made to order for her- so to speak.
The funny thing is David- he gets anxiety if I go ‘too deep’ in my talks with him.
I mean I might be talking about theology- not wacky stuff- and it gets him nervous.
So as I began talking to Laura- well- lets say she can get ‘deeper’ than me- and go on much longer than me about all sorts of Portals and stuff.
I asked her ‘does David get into these discussions like me’?
She kinda hinted- no [I figured this out already to be honest].
So it was kinda funny- you know- he rejected my long winded theology- and now he has to deal with all these spirit guides!
As I was sitting there- talking to Laura- Jackie walked by in the alley- hoping no one would see her.
This area is a drug infested spot- and she was probably looking for stuff.
I saw her out of the corner of my eye and stopped her- just to see how she was.
As I talked with her- I almost started to cry.
I have never seen her this bad- she is so strung out- scared- telling me how David hates her.
Just a few weeks ago she was doing so well- going to the prayer meetings at 6 am- so happy.
Now she looked like a scared kid- shaking- dirty- in fear.
I gave her a hug- I prayed for her- I looked into her eyes- so dark.
‘Jackie- I want you to get better- I feel so bad for you’.
She was off- I went back to the table- an outside area where we sit at times- and finished talking with Laura.
In a strange way- God allowed me to have some friends- some girl ‘friends’- girls that I would not normally work with.
Not because I’m too good- no- because I know I cant be getting attached emotionally to the girls like I do with the brothers.
So- I have always avoided having one on one outreach with them.
But this little scenario of David sleeping late- me getting up early- yeah- as silly as it is- has been an open door to try and help these girls.
I’m glad it happened.
2006
3-24-13
IF I HAD THE WINGS OF AN EAGLE I WOULD FLY AWAY AND BE AT REST
Today we begin Holy Week.
I write this day on Palm Sunday.
I have been reading the Dylan book I mentioned the other day.
I forgot how much I liked the thing.
It was published in 2004- and I see all the notes I made in it at the time- when I read it while working at the fire house.
For those who have never read it- or are not a big Dylan fan [to be honest- I really don’t like his music that much either].
Yet the book is great- it received critical acclaim at the time- that’s why I picked it up.
I’m at the part in the book where Dylan talks about this feeling of being under siege- all the time.
He speaks about not wanting this delusional mantle of being the so called ‘voice of this generation’.
It’s a real eye opener- he comes across as a normal guy- who really did not care about all the stuff people were ‘reading’ into his songs.
Sort of like people developed their own image of him- one that was fake- and no matter how hard he tried he could not shake the thing.
He talks about going to the Wailing Wall [Jerusalem] and putting on a skull cap- just so the media would give him some bad press.
Other stuff like that.
He talks about moving from one place to another- in a desperate search to escape the crowd- and he fears for his family as well.
I mean the guy is living under siege- he can’t get out!
One time he gets an invite to Princeton [the university right where I’m moving to- as soon as I can get out of Texas].
They offer him an honorary degree- he decided to go and take it- so the media and his crazed fans would maybe view him as sort of a sell out.
As he stands to get the thing [he was round 30 years old at the time].
The guy who introduces him goes into the very thing Dylan’s trying to escape.
He says ‘and here is the voice of our time…’
Dylan says on the inside he was fuming- but he simply went with it.
For Dylan fans- this book is a big eye opener.
The man talks about simply wanting his normal family life back- he can’t change the attention he now gets.
He goes to all the lengths he can think of- there s simply no way out.
I’ll give you a quote form page 61;
‘Sometimes you know things have to change- are going to change- but you can only feel it…. Little things foreshadow what’s coming..But then something immediate happens and you’re in another world. You jump into the unknown- your set free…it seems like when it happens- it happens fast- like magic. But it’s really not- it’s more deliberate- like your working in the light of day and you see one day it’s getting dark too early- then it doesn’t matter where you are- it wont do any good.’
As you read his experiences- you see a sort of intellectual.
At one point he says he can’t really be a creative song writer any more.
That in order to be creative- you need the freedom to be able to observe things- you need a degree of anonymity.
But when you are constantly being observed- watched- followed- there seems to be no way out- you can’t do the very thing you were created for.
As you read- you begin to feel bad for the guy- and you see this person- desperate to go back to some type of normal life- and he cant seem to find any way out.
Sad- so sad.
2007
FATHER FORGIVE THEM- THEY DON’T KNOW WHAT THEY DO
Today is 3-26-13- we are in the middle of Holy Week.
The reading from the Mass this week was from Luke 23.
It suprised me how much manipulation of the system took place around the Crucifixion of Jesus.
I mean I read it before- many times- but because of my present circumstances I see more [I do not equate myself at all with the real wrong that occurred at Christ’s trial- it’s just because of my situation I see more right now].
As the people accuse Christ- he just realizes there’s really nothing he can do about it.
I have had people- people I never met- just friends I made on Face Book over the years.
I would log on and get cursed out in a message- bad.
Then of course they block you- so they leave the accusation- from what they read on-line- and go.
Or people seeing you on the street- actually following you- or yelling at you.
I mean I do live among the ‘least of these’ and have been in dangerous spots- lots.
But you realize you really can’t defend yourself- not even to relatives who read the stuff on line and give you dirty looks at family events.
I mean you don’t realize how bad it gets- until you’re in the middle of the thing.
And if you start going down the road of ‘no- wait- this is what happened’- forget it- it makes you feel worse.
So- in Christ’s trial and crucifixion he just commits it all to God.
It’s like they want him to defend himself ‘don’t you know I have the power to kill you’?
‘You have no power- only what God gives’.
Yeah- Jesus knew the score.
The last week or so I have run into a few friends/street people who have had problems with the mind.
Over the years I have had a small percentage of homeless friends who have suffered from this.
Lots of the homeless do get disability from what we call MHMR [mental health thing in Texas].
But a lot of it is a scam- they go for a check-up- and get the check.
Some refer to it as ‘did you get your nut check yet’.
Yeah- a scam for many- but not all.
I had a funny feeling the other day.
As I’m reading thru the Dylan book- I can see what a genius he was.
But I can tell that he did not realize- in every event- that he was losing it.
Losing what?
His skills [which he admits] but also his hold on reality [which I don’t think he realizes- even now].
He talks bout touring with Tom Petty- or another popular group- and how he realizes that the crowds are showing up for them- not him.
I too remember seeing a performance or 2- on TV- about this time.
Dylan did look- sound bad.
But he says he found little break throughs- certain techniques- that made it work.
As you read what he thinks was a breakthrough- and you can tell he knows his stuff- yet you realize that he’s saying at the start of a song- he was lost- and in the middle he ‘found himself’.
Your thinking- geez- I’m sure the crowd has no idea he really is this gone.
Then it hit me- am I nuts too?
Yes- I realize as you get sober- I’m sober now for 3 months- and after 25 years of constant drinking- you do indeed go thru withdrawals.
So- people have kinda hinted that I’m a little nuts- but in a nice way.
And it rattles me some- I see them looking at me- like I too have looked at some of my friends who are a little on the edge [or your good buddy texts you ‘are you ok’?]
[Note- remember the movie Charley? I was gonna watch it last night but couldn’t find it].
And that’s what I saw in the Dylan book- he did not know he was losing it.
After one performance he says he wanted to go on tour- solo- right away.
But his promoter wanted him to take 2 years off.
Dylan explains how no- he was ready- he had this ‘new technique’ that he stumbled on.
As you read- you see what a genius he is- but you can read between the lines- and yeah- his promoter was being nice.
Like he- and I’m sure the other groups he was touring with- sort of behind the scenes realized that the guy was losing it.
Yeah- it’s sad to begin identifying with this- to see your friends/family kind of dropping hints.
As I read the Crucifixion- you know at one time in the gospels it says his family thought he was losing his mind?
It’s in there- go look it up.
In the end- Jesus realized that it was a bigger hand at work in all this.
He commits the whole thing to God.
The people are really accusing him- cursing at him- they stirred up the courts and law to get him.
I mean he’s fighting a losing battle.
He says ‘father- forgive them- they don’t know what they are doing’.
As I read this statement this week- I saw a new angle on it.
It’s not like he was saying ‘they just don’t realize it’.
He was saying ‘this whole thing needed to happen- for the benefit of others- for me to do Gods will- the whole thing had to happen- even the false accusations’.
Yeah- he saw the accusers- the law- those who were manipulated to do this- he saw the whole thing as Gods will.
Yeah- Gods will was indeed done.
Amen.
2008
[4-1-13]
Today I begin the 2nd quarterly journal of 2013.
When I did the first- I had no idea that this might be a new format from now on.
As of today- I’m not dead set on it- but I think the format is beneficial.
Okay- I went to Easter service yesterday- I visited a Catholic church in the area that I never went to before [I attend both Catholic and Protestant churches on and off- but I have been making the Mass pretty regularly the last few weeks].
I also watched a few of the services from Rome- being its Holy Week.
It would be too much to try and cover each chapter that was referenced- but maybe I can hit a few high points.
About a month ago I read Zechariah chapter 12.
It’s what we call a Messianic prophecy- which speaks of Christ.
A famous line ‘they shall look upon him whom they have pierced’.
The apostle Paul alludes to this in his letter to the Romans- chapters 11-12.
He speaks about the Jewish nation- and how at the return of Christ they will mourn for Jesus- they will recognize that he was the Messiah they were waiting for.
Now- as I also read the book of Luke this past month- I focused in on the Passion chapters during Holy Week.
Out of the 4 gospels the church has- 3 are fairly similar- but the gospel of John stands alone.
The majority of John’s gospel focuses in on the last week of Christ’s earthly life- the others cover a broader time period.
In the crucifixion accounts we see Jesus realizing that what’s happening is the fore ordained hand of God.
It’s sort of like he’s ‘in charge’ [well- he is!] but in a way that even confounds the authorities.
Pilate says ‘don’t you know I have the power to take your life’?
Jesus ‘you have no power- except what God gave you’.
You see this ‘in between the lines’ sense of Jesus saying ‘do what you have to do- lets get this thing over with’.
He knew it had to happen.
In one of the Masses from Rome- the English interpreter used a word I though was strange.
I’m not sure if she was using the right word- even though it ‘fit’.
The new Pope- Francis- was speaking Latin.
And the interpreter was saying ‘immolation’.
Talking about Christ’s passion.
Now- the word immolation means burning- if you remember my political posts of a couple years back.
When I covered the Arab Spring- the first nation to rebel was Tunisia.
In the streets of Tunis a merchant ‘self immolated’- burned himself to death- as a sign of protest against oppressive govt.
This sparked the Arab Spring.
So- how cold this fit in with the Passion of Christ?
In the Old Testament we have a system of sacrifices- animals being sacrificed- as a sign of the future sacrifice of Christ.
One of the notable ones is the Burnt Offering.
Jesus- according to the book of Hebrews- fulfilled the sacrificial system by his death on the Cross.
During his earthly ministry he spoke about fire- baptism.
He says to the disciples one time ‘can you be baptized with my baptism’?
They answer yes.
Jesus says they will indeed be baptized with it- but not in the way they think.
He was talking about the ‘baptism of fire’.
The suffering they would have to face in the coming days.
He in essence was saying ‘you too must pass thru the fire- like me’.
Jesus said at one time ‘I have come to set fire on the earth- and how I wish it were already started’.
Huh?
Fire?
Self immolation- what’s your point.
Jesus was talking about himself- he was going to be the ‘brunt offering’ the ‘self immolation’ that would spark the ‘Kingdom spring’- see?
In Zechariah 12 it speaks about those who fight- war against Jerusalem- Gods people.
One of the images is those who set themselves against it will get burned.
That the governors of Judah [the elders]- they are like ‘sheaf’s of fire’ In the midst of the wood- all who lay hold of it get burned.
Yes- Jesus was the ultimate sheaf- they lit he torch- so to speak- at Calvary.
They did not realize what they were doing.
They started a fire that they could not put out.
2009- ALL THINGS?
Today is really my first day back- real time [I’m posting this right after I write it].
I have been journaling for the past 3 months- but that’s a little different.
Okay- out of all the news events- Boston marathon bombing- Ricin letters [by the way- last I saw they seem to have arrested the wrong guy].
Out of these events- a smaller one stands out in my mind.
The handling of the debt crisis in Cyprus.
A few weeks back Cyprus- one of the very small states that’s involved with the E.U. debt crisis- did a surprising move and simply confiscated the money of private citizens from the banks and used that to pay off debt.
Now- they took what was over and above there form of FDIC insurance for the depositors.
In essence- they looted the accounts of their customers.
Now- this simply shows us how bad the EU debt crisis is- and that things have not actually improved- but gotten worse.
So- how has the global market reacted?
This is what’s funny [or sad?] it seems as if some are in denial- while others are simply hedging their bets.
There is a huge amount of money in the system [what we look at when the dow goes up- or down] that simply is looking at the numbers- sort of like a bookie would look at the odds on a game.
Some of this money is simply there because- for various reasons- they think more money might be coming into the system.
That is some investors are not investing because they think the global market is sound- some invest because they think the situation is so bad that it merits a bailout.
I read an article on Egypt- how Morsi [the president] believes that the western nations will bail him out- give him loans that are above what they should get- and he believes this because he thinks they are ‘too big to fail’.
That is- he is expecting the loan not because they are stable- Egypt used to have a good economy- but since the ‘revolution’ it has been a real mess.
So- as a direct result of their Arab Spring- they need much more cash than before.
And Morsi thinks they will get it- even though- economically they probably don’t deserve it [not to mention some real ideological problems with the new leadership- like very anti Semitic statements that the leader holds to].
So- overall- we are in April of 2013- and the European debt crisis is not over- but probably getting worse.
These last few months I have been reading more of the gospels- and have cut down on the news a lot.
I still read the headlines- and catch a few news shows- but not nearly as much as before.
I was what you would consider a news addict- for real.
So- I have focused more on the gospels and less on world events [though they are still very much a part of what we are called to impact as the church].
As I finished the gospel of Luke the other week- I noticed a verse that I have read many times before.
But it hit me in a new way.
It says ‘all things that were written had to be fulfilled- in the Law and the Psalms and the Prophets’.
It’s talking about all the Messianic portions of the Old testament- the bible passages that speak about Christ.
Then of course he enters into the final stages of his earthly life- and is Crucified.
Over the years- as a bible reader- I noticed how lots of us tend to gravitate towards the ‘flashier’ parts of the bible.
I have many Psalms and Prophets that I quote from- there are portions of Isaiah [what would be called ‘the prophets’] that I have memorized for years.
I am reading thru the Psalms right now- they are great stuff.
But when I read the above verse- which was said by Christ himself- he said ‘ALL THINGS’ had to be fulfilled- not just the ‘flashy’ portions of scripture [Psalms- Prophets].
But the hard stuff too- Law.
Then at the crucifixion scene- he’s on this Cross- this place of public humiliation- and the people watching are sort of in shock.
He has become what the scripture said ‘a stone that the builders rejected’.
His friends have gone- his poor mom is seeing all this play out- and the others are there- almost to see what else could go wrong with him.
Then- in the middle of it all- don’t forget his family earlier thought he was ‘beside himself’ he looks up to God- and he makes a few statements.
He asks ‘why did you leave me’.
He says ‘father- forgive the ones who hate me- and want me gone- they don’t know what they do’.
Then- as the Roman gaurd looks on- he says ‘into your hands I commit my Spirit’.
And in Old King James language- he ‘gave up the ghost’- that is- he died.
As I read this account recently- and the statement from Christ about all things being fulfilled.
I saw what Jesus was saying ‘look- I have been with you for 3 years- doing ministry- teaching you stuff- how to forgive- don’t hold grudges- carry your Cross every day’.
Then- HE DID IT- he showed them how to ‘die well’.
Yeah- all things had to be fulfilled- all things had to be modeled.
He had to demonstrate- in real time- what he taught them.
Oh- now I get it- I really do.
2010
FREE AMONG THE DEAD
The other day I was taking one of my ‘midnight’ walks across the bridge.
These past few months I started a new thing- I walk for miles on end!
Yeah- it started as a spur of the moment thing- just put the CD player on- listened to some favorite classic rock- and made the walk.
It has since become somewhat of an obsession.
For you locals- I have walked to Ayers and back- from the bluff.
Walked to the city hall area of town.
And I walk across the Oso bridge early in the morning- while it’s dark.
It feels great.
Sometimes I’ll run into another ‘wanderer’ and of course when your on the bridge- mano e mano- sometimes the other walker gets a little nervous.
I’m carrying my old Navy sea bag at times- and do indeed pass for a real homeless guy!
Yesterday- or the day before- my path met with a real illegal immigrant.
Real?
Yea- lots of the guys from Mexico- well they are what most of us think when talking aliens.
But no- this brother was from South/Central America- you could tell.
And they do from time to time come thru the area.
So- it was about 5 am- dark- on top of the bridge.
He looked a little suspicious to be honest.
Gave me the quick ‘heah’ look.
And you know me- I have to get in the mix.
So I stop him for a second- he looks a little worried- I tell him ‘hey bro- you need a few bucks’.
Yeah- I saw it as a chance to help the guy.
He shook his head and couldn’t wait to go.
Oh well- your loss.
So yeah- it’s been fun- a little different.
One day when I was coming over the bridge I saw Guitar Jason.
I’ve known him for years- anyone from the area- he’s the guy who plays his guitar on the streets- he’s been at it for 25 years now.
He spots me ‘hey preacher John’- so I spent a little time with him by the bay- where he has a camp.
He asked me to pray the Our Father with him- sure.
Then he must see I’ve lost a lot of weight- and he offers me a few dollars.
I told him ‘no thanks Bro’.
All my buddies know the scoop- that there old friend has run into some hard times- and to be honest- they feel bad for me.
It’s kinda funny to be honest.
Jason insisted- as I walked away he gave me 2 bucks [he’s homeless!] and told me to get a beer.
I took the dough- but never bought the beer.
Then the next day or so- I run into Old Tim on the walk- He needed 2 bucks- I gave him the money Jason gave me.
Yeah- I told him where it came from- he thought that was so cool.
That’s life on the streets- to be honest- I’m very comfortable with the street bro’s- they are like family.
I told Tim I’ve been walking the bridge- late at night- some think it dangerous- geez- if some one wanted to ‘get me’- all you have to do is swerve the car for heavens sake!
But Tim said ‘well John- no one will mess with you- your one of us’.
Ahh- got the best compliment of the year.
Okay.
A few weeks back I read a verse that caught my eye- psalms 88.
It says ‘FREE AMONG THE DEAD’.
I was also reading Luke’s gospel.
And Jesus is talking about the resurrection form the dead.
He says ‘those who are accounted worthy of that world [age] neither marry nor are given in marriage- but are as the angels’.
He also says ‘they die no more’.
Now- I don’t want to over spiritualize this passage.
But the word AGE can refer to this new age- this new covenant era that we are in now.
So- if you apply it that way- Jesus is saying ‘those of you who have died- you die no more’.
Who has died?
In baptism we die to our old life- we live a life now where we carry the Cross.
Many of us have had ‘death experiences’ we no longer live for the praise of men.
I also recently read where Jesus said ‘you seek the approval of men- you can not please God’.
So- to sum it up- we- those who have died to the life of creating an image- of trying to impress people- we die no more.
‘
Why- because we have now learned that if people want to accept us- then we have become an open book- they have seen us- both the good and the bad.
There is no more hiding- w have died once- we are now FREE AMONG THE DEAD.
This should be the last posts from the old list- I will try n post some newer studies- I did post these the other day on a new Blog- just for the purpose of getting to them when needed- I do need those links to work as well- I have already added all these sites to my 'Links to sites' page- so if possible I need the Blogger Links from the recent Blogs to work- thay were simply titled 'Posts'-
2011
THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH
Let’s cover the chapters for the week.
John 13-15.
Jesus sits with the 12 disciples and gives them an example- he washes their feet and tells them that he- as their Lord- is a servant.
He shares the meal with them- he tells them it is his broken Body- his death experiences- that are going to give life to them.
In chapter 14 he talks about coming to them- that first he must leave them- and they are sad about it.
The bible says that ‘he knew that his time had come that he should depart out of this world’.
THIS WORLD- he spent just enough time in his present location- with the guys he was working with- and he knew this period of time had come to an end.
And the bible says ‘sorrow filled their hearts’.
His men were upset- they were really his friends- remember the accusation the religious leaders made against Jesus?
THE FRIEND OF SINNERS.
He talks about the Spirit of Truth.
I find this interesting- the way he will reveal himself after he leaves them Bodily [in death] is by sending the Spirit of Truth [the Holy Spirit].
In chapter 14 the disciples are confused;
‘How will you show yourself to us- and not to the world’?
He says if a man loves him- he will KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS- and he and the Father [God] will come and manifest themselves unto those who do the will of God.
But the world- those who do not keep the word of God- Jesus will not manifest himself to them.
A key requirement of having God reveal himself to us- is we must keep his commands.
A few weeks back I had an interesting experience.
Today is the first day of May- and I can tell all my friends- I have been clean all year.
Clean?
I told someone the other day- not in a boasting way- but I was ‘pissed off’ as they say [yeah- that’s the only sin I have committed in 5 months- I sill get mad.]
I told them ‘you know- I have been more ‘sin-less’ in the past 5 months than in the last 25 years!’
And yet- it seemed like my prayers were still getting about the same results [now- I’m a person who for whatever reason- prays for hours on end. As God is my witness- I got up today at 3 am- prayed for just under 2 hours- that’s normal for me- no bragging- that’s just my thing].
So- for someone who has been doing this for years- I always thought ‘geez- if I ever get clean- God’s gonna answer all these prayers’.
Yet it seemed like nothing really changed [by the way- I was wrong!].
So- maybe a good month or so now- one day I was doing the normal ministry routine- getting with the guys- dealing with those who ‘relapsed’ not being judgmental at all.
But I realized- some of my friends who are clean from some stuff- they are still messing up in other areas.
Honest?
Lots of my friends think staying off the booze is the goal- and they sleep around- all the time.
Look- I told them I think that’s worse- and it destroys your ‘soul’.
But- I don’t judge- just saying.
And maybe some are on pills and stuff- things I just wont do.
So- after a few months of being in the mix- it hit me one day- that I was trying to show them some new things I was learning- new experiences with God.
And they just couldn’t get it- not that they did not want to- but as long as they ‘walked in the dark’ they were never going to walk this part of the road with me.
Then it hit me- Jesus is saying ‘the Spirit of Truth’.
Many of the guys were just not being honest- lots of the stuff I spoke about this last month or so- yeah- tough stuff- not easy to discuss- but I felt I had to be up-front- honest.
Then in chapter 15 [John’s gospel] Jesus says every branch that is not bearing fruit is cut off- taken away.
Jesus spent 3 years with his men- he taught them stuff- he modeled it for them- and he was brutally honest with them.
He was going to die- that was a fact.
He was going to leave them.
But- those who remembered what he said- and DID GODS WILL- they got real with themselves and others.
To these he would ‘come back’ [by the Holy Spirit- Comforter] and would walk with them again.
In a way that others- who did not choose to do God's commands- would not be able to experience.
Yeah- I liked these chapters- it was like Jesus was speaking in code- he was dropping hints that some would see- others would not.
As I walk this new journey this year- new in a way that I have not experienced in a long time.
At times I see stuff- thru the Word- in daily experiences- things that I want to share with my friends.
But if I see them have a slip- you know- when they slip- they slip [Crack- meth- etc.]
I realize they have disqualified themselves from ‘seeing’ what I’m ‘seeing’ at that point of the journey.
It’s like the Spirit of Truth can only reveal things to those who are walking in truth.
If we lie- live a lie- to ourselves or others- God is still merciful- he still is patient.
But he can not manifest himself to us at that point- until we get real.
2012
CHRISTIANS AND THE COURTS
I wanted to hit a few more verses from yesterdays post.
‘If I had not come and spoken unto them they had not had sin- but now they have no cover for it’
‘You did not choose this, but I did- that you should go and bear fruit’
‘But this happened- so that the law would be fulfilled’
‘If you know these things, happy are you if you DO THEM’
Obviously Jesus is speaking about his life and ministry- because he walked among men sin-less- that left humanity with no more excuse.
But this year I applied some of this to my own situation- talking about things- sharing my struggles- so others too could face up to their own demons.
As I posted this past year- I spoke about open community- people being real about their trials and stuff.
A key verse from the start of the year was ‘God saw the light- that it was good- and he divided the light from the dark- and he called the light DAY’.
This is in Genesis chapter 1.
In a symbolic way I applied it to ‘walking in the light’.
That is- finally getting to a point in life where we hide no more.
Another verse says ‘God made the greater light to rule the day- and the lesser light to rule the night’.
For many years I felt like we- lots of us- people in ministry- we have walked- so to speak- in the Lesser Light.
That is God used us- in a limited way- but it was a ‘lesser light’.
I have had ministry friends over the years- who were embroiled with stuff much worse than my stuff.
I have also seen the familiar faces of high profile people- caught in scandals and stuff.
And some of these public cases were never really resolved- not in a biblical way.
Maybe they had ‘plea deals’ that never said ‘ok- did you do such and such’.
Or others outright lied- maybe they justified it by thinking ‘God forgives me- therefore I will not be ‘lying’ if I say ‘no- I am innocent of the charge’.
But- if they misled- in a court of law- or anywhere else- then they will have to some day give an account.
So- the biblical standard is you tell the truth.
Now- my stuff dealt with a situation where at times- like when you actually do have whats called blackouts [no lie- for real].
Then you do the best you can.
I’m proud that I at first said I was sorry- even though I truly did not know all the details- and there were things that later did seem to say some stuff [not all] was possibly made up.
But- all in all- from the start- I took the Sunlight approach.
The Apostle Paul says to the Corinthian church ‘why are you taking one another to court- are there no wise men among you who can judge these things’.
He was rebuking them because they did not practice open community with each other- because they wanted their rights- they were suing one another.
Now- in today’s world- I don’t fault people for going to the courts- the point I’m making is we often choose ‘lying’ as the first defense- even Christians!
That should not be so- regardless of the consequences- we should not do that.
Now- in some cases- I see how people might be tempted to lie- because there would be very serious consequences.
At the end of the day- It’s better for these things to come out now- then at the judgment.
Okay- I went a little long.
I did want to do a little week in review type thing- I want to mention the danger of the present Drum beats for involvement in Syria.
I fear we might be going down a bad road- again- with the way things are going.
Yes- Syria is bad- and we want the violence to end- but all the ‘limited’ actions being discussed [no fly zone- bomb this part but no more].
All these things are the same mistakes we have made- over and over again- yet we keep going down this same rabbit trail- sad- so sad.
Maybe I’ll hit on it tomorrow- but for today- try and read these 3 chapters in John’s gospel [13-15].
See what a high standard Jesus puts on Truth- the Spirit of Truth.
In any of the above cases- men- well meaning men- that take the ‘less than honest’ route- and then later want to move ahead in ministry- in things that require Truth.
I think if we don’t get the foundation right- then the rest of the house is being built on sand.
2013
REMNANT
Was thinking about the idea of Remnant last night.
Remnant?
Yeah- in scripture there is sort of a scarlet thread- a teaching- that runs thru both the Old and New testaments.
It goes like this;
There are times when there are bunches of people following God- on the Bandwagon so to speak.
Often times all is great- you know- ticker type parade in NY type stuff.
Then- lo and behold- stuff gets hard- and people bail out.
Okay- the Remnant are those who after the bailout- they are still standing in the rubble.
Got it?
There are a few notable stories like this in the bible- Gideon’s ‘army’- etc.
Jesus taught this in his Parables-
He said the kingdom was like someone planting seeds- some fall on good ground- others- not so good.
He said some ‘endure for a while- but when tribulation arises because of the word they are offended and leave’.
Same concept.
The other day I taught a little form John’s gospel- chapters 13-15.
I didn’t’ hit on a conversation Jesus and Peter had.
Peter ‘why can’t I follow you now- I am willing to die for you’?
Jesus ‘’Willing to die? Before the rooster crows you will deny me 3 times’.
The very thing Peter stated as his mindset- being sold out to death- was in fact the actual thing that kept him form following to death- he was afraid to die.
We all know the story- he denies the Lord and falls hard.
Jesus told Peter ‘I have prayed for you- that your faith fail not- and after your are converted- strengthen your brothers’.
Converted?- after the change has come.
Peter was a type of the remnant- he told Jesus at one point- right after others walked away [John’s gospel chapter 6- because Jesus said unless you drink my Blood and eat my Flesh you have no life- The Jewish followers were forbidden to eat blood from the teachings of Moses- so after Jesus said this many left].
Jesus asked Peter ‘will you go too’?
Peter’s reply ‘where can we go- you have the Words of eternal life’.
In essence- even though things got very hard at that stage- Peter was around long enough to recognize that Jesus was speaking to them at a different level- he seemed to be ‘more real’ than the many preachers of the day.
So- Peter and a few others stayed.
The other day I mentioned my buddy Tim- the homeless friend who I have been running into on my walks.
I saw Tim a few weeks back- he stopped at ‘my camp’ [my spot by the water where I pray and hang out].
He was heading into town- he was gonna stop at my favorite spot- half price books- and get some stuff to read.
I had my Dylan book [Chronicles- came out in 2004- excellent book] in my Navy Sea Bag- and I asked him if he liked Dylan.
He told me he loves Dylan.
I gave him the book- he was grateful.
It was the 2nd time I read it- I have given away many of my books over the years- I see it as ministry.
One piece of advice I liked;
Dylan was asking a buddy about his move to NY city- he told Bob ‘get some good boots- you’ll be doing a lot of walking’.
I laughed- I have been walking in work boots for the past 4 months- I mean hundreds of miles [yeah- hundreds!- some days I do about 15- 20 in a single day].
As we all have our own journey to walk- I’m trying to document- and share relevant stuff- things that will last.
One of my favorite journalists of all time was Hunter Thompson.
He’s the character that Johnny Depp played in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas- a Thompson book turned into a movie.
Hunter wrote for Rolling Stone back in the day- he covered politics and eventually wrote for ESPN.
He lost his edge as the years went by- and he knew it.
One day he had his family over- they enjoyed a good day together- after the many years of drugs and stuff he got into.
He was sick at the end- and he walked out of the house- his family heard a shot- Hunter took his life.
It was sad- but he felt like he had nothing left to give.
Yet he lives thru what he wrote.
Morrison [the Doors] was a student of philosophy and a smart guy [did you know that?]
That’s where he got the name for the group- Doors.
He said we only live on thru our songs and poems- sort of the legacy we leave behind.
It’s important to document stuff for the next generation- for the Remnant- if you will.
Sure- there will be some who walked with you for only parts of the journey.
And that’s fine- God had a purpose for you and them at that stage.
Hunter had a saying- he loved riding Harleys- and he said some times he would still get on his bike and head out late at night.
He would up the speed- to a point of No Return.
Sort of like that Runners High- you get to a point where you are feeling high [I get that in my walks- but only after hours of walking with no stopping].
Hunter said- when you reach that point- some slow down.
But he said others- they go past that point- and that’s where they see stuff that you can only see when you push past that point.
I feel like the Remnant- those who stick around like Peter- they have good stuff coming.
It just takes time to let the dust settle- to re-gain your equilibrium-
then get back on the bike.
2014
DIVIDED NATION?
Having taken about 3 months away from news watching- I mean I have watched/read some- but no where near the usual amount.
It has given me some time to sit back and observe the scene from a distance.
And what I have seen is sad- to be frank about it.
Why?
Our country has become polarized- in my view- like never before.
Now- we have always had haters on the extreme right and left- that’s not new.
But even if you watched the media coverage of the Boston Marathon bombing- as the president spoke- you could tell that one of the main things on his mind was how fast he would call it ‘terror’.
Yeah- he seemed to be more worried about what the ‘right’ would say- then the actual bombing itself!
This past Sunday Israel hit Syria for the 2nd time in a couple of weeks- and the 3rd time this year.
They took out some long range rockets that Iran was supplying for Hezbollah- the group that has been operating out of Lebanon for years.
They are the ones who send rockets into Israel whenever things flare up on their mutual border.
So- it seems as if Syria [Iran] was possibly trying to expand the current war in Syria- and make it a broader ‘The West against the Arab world’ type thing.
Look- our strategy in the entire so called Arab Spring has not gone well.
There our nations/leaders who were at one time allies [Mubarak] - we sat with them and had peace agreements with them.
Then- after a short amount of time- we were siding with those who were going to hang them and their families.
Yes- this created a severe mistrust of the U.S. - the allies of the U.S. felt like we were throwing them under the bus.
Now- Assad- the leader in Syria- was called a reformer by Hilary Clinton.
A year or 2 later- we are on the verge of siding with groups who are affiliated with Al Qaeda- and basically backing those who are about to kill Assad- and more than likely his family as well.
So- if the leaders of these nations- who are just as bad as the ones we support.
Yes- we support the corrupt monarchy of Bahrain- and these guys are just as bad as Assad.
But we have a Naval Fleet stationed off the coast of Bahrain- se we overlook their oppressive rule.
But we side with those who are seeking the overthrow of other Arab nations- and our policy is simply inconsistent- to say the least.
So- what about Syria?
A few months ago Obama did draw a Red Line that he probably now regrets.
He said the use of Chemical Weapons would be a ‘game changer’.
So- there have been reports of them being used.
Some think the rebels themselves have used them- in order to ‘play us’ and get us involved.
Others reported the use of ‘Chlorine’- okay- this is a chemical- and Bob Shieffer even said this was ‘using Chemical weapons on HIS OWN PEOPLE’.
Did we describe the killing of one of the Boston Marathon guys as ‘the U.S. killed their own people’?
Look- Syria is in the midst of a brutal civil war- and I feel for the innocent ones caught in the middle.
But- there are many ‘terror’ splinter groups in this thing- and some are indeed ‘home grown’.
So yes- if you want to call Syria’s action ‘against his own people’
Then fine- but that’s simply a propaganda tool for U.S. involvement.
And if you say using Chlorine is crossing a red line for war- then what about outright bullets in the heads of ‘your own people’.
Yes- many in the media think the killing of people is legitimate- that is actual killing in war is ‘ok’.
But- using Chlorine- well now- that has to stop!
Do you see how the media can manipulate the public here?
I don’t know what the answer is in Syria- but U.S. military intervention is not the solution- period.
We are going to have hearings in a few days on the Benghazi debacle.
And we should.
But understand- the group that killed our ambassador- we enabled them to operate out of Libya because we sided with those who killed Gadhaffi- who by the way was another so called ally of the U.S. [like Mubarak].
So- we want peace- we abhor killing- on all sides.
But- we are a divided people- we are polarized- we can’t seem to function as a nation- as a governmental entity any more.
I don’t know what the answer is- but we as a people are heading for trouble.
One short example;
The other day I was talking to a friend- he was surprised to hear my views on stuff like this.
In my part of the world it’s rare for a blogger- a Christian ‘web site’ to hold to these more liberal views.
I gave him the example of the ‘low’ level of education that our present media has been pumping out to the public on a daily basis.
One day I was watching Glen Beck.
He was hailed as a great historian by one of the guys on the show.
And during the show- some one gave a quote ‘A NATION DIVIDED AGAINST ITSELF CAN NOT STAND’.
The person said this quote came from a contemporary source.
Ahh-
Beck was quick to correct the man.
‘So and so did not say this- but Lincoln did!’
Beck quipped.
The guests were dumb founded- they were corrected- on national TV- by the ‘historian’ on the set.
Yeah- they submitted like one of Pavlov's dogs- tail between their legs.
One thing- Lincoln didn’t coin this phrase either.
It came from Jesus Christ- it’s in the New Testament for heavens sake.
So- the current state of Western media has been held hostage by a sort of media fantasy land.
Our media is based on what the public wants to hear- what the ratings are.
When we allow national media figures to be so misinformed- and to have forums on a national set- then yes-
Just like Lincoln- and Jesus- and the other guy said
A NATION DIVIDED CAN NOT STAND.
I fear they did get that one right.
2015
NO DEAL?
Thanks for all the great comments guys- I’m still trying to get my stuff resolved and close this chapter.
Yesterday I did my ‘darndest’ to settle the thing.
Really!
Broke all the rules- dropped the lawyer- and told them the whole truth- like I have been saying all along!
My lawyer led me to believe I might have to do a year in jail and pay a 4 thousand dollar fine.
This was months ago.
I took out 4 grand from my retirement- and told them if I can do the ‘time’ in New Jersey- lets go!
They had no idea what I what talking about [yeah- maybe I am nuts?]
Anyway- the reason I flipped out yesterday was because I told my lawyer months ago- lets just do a plea- get me the best deal you can- and where done.
She was out of the country and just got back yesterday- then called me and told me we won’t have the trial till July.
I was fuming.
I said ‘let just plea- cant we just do a plea’.
She told me that prosecutors are busy people- on and on.
I walked down to the courthouse [got a ride half way].
Went to the court- asked some lady in the hall how to do the deal myself.
She was the judge!
She tells me go in and sign the paper that your dropping your lawyer.
I did.
Then I sat with 2 prosecutors and old them the TRUTH- everything- what ever will be will be.
They asked me if I actually flashed the girl.
I told them no- but I don’t care- lets do a plea.
They said it will be on your record.
I DON’T CARE!!
I got warned for using the F word one time.
As I recounted the story- for the umpteenth time in these past months.
They seemed fixed on a certain statement.
I told them that as the months went by- we came to believe Shelby was lying about the flashing part itself.
I told them I really didn’t care- I was still going to plead guilty.
Then I told them Nicolle called my daughter- told her the mom asked her to lie- the whole thing.
I said at that point I was mad- I wanted to find out what she asked her to lie about.
Then I told them it wasn’t what I thought.
But she asked her to lie about Chris breaking my van window.
That I didn’t care about that- I was never going to report it- I felt like it would be ‘playing dirty’ and all.
But- I think I just reported it to them [without realizing it].
They asked me if I saw my window broken.
I told them after I got home- of course- I fixed the darn thing!
Anyway they seemed to think this was important- I don’t know why for sure- I never lied about anything from day 1.
At this point they seemed to not want me to take the plea.
He told me it would be unethical for me to plead guilty to something I did not do.
I told him I don’t care- I’ll do the year in jail right now if they can transfer the thing to N.J.
They had no idea what I was talking about.
I told them that’s what my lawyer had me believing this whole time.
I said ‘what’s the best deal you can give me’.
He said 6 months in jail.
I told them could I start right now.
They kind of laughed- like they were just telling me 6 months because they didn’t want me to plea.
Then they said they could give me 30 days in jail or 40 days in a work program.
My lawyer was going to delay this for months- maybe next year- and this is all I wanted from the start.
I told them I’m going to take this deal right now!
I think because they wanted to do something about the broken window- maybe press charges- that they convinced me to do a bench trial next Tuesday- we will all be there.
I asked him if I lose- will the deal be off.
He said no- if you lose the trial- the deals the same.
They simply did not want me to plea to something I did not do.
I was on the verge of taking the deal- I need to leave Texas and start over.
But I did always want to see the people in this case before I left.
Not to get even- but I don’t want everybody mad- I want it over for all of us.
Trust me- I did not even want to report that the kid broke the window!
It came out while I was spilling the whole thing- I was mad- not at the kids- but that my lawyer was making it sound like it would take month’s to even get a plea.
Geez- I got a deal that I would have taken if the prosecutor accepted it- he was the one who convinced me to do the bench trial!
So- to all the ‘kids’ reading this- to the mom- don’t worry- please.
We will all go to court next Tuesday- just tell the truth- that’s all.
If I lose- that’s fine- I was going to take the same deal yesterday- it's really no big deal.
The thing that upset me was my lawyer putting this off for months- who knows- maybe years!
The county is doing a ‘2 for 1’ deal right now [yeah- sounded strange to me too?]
If I take the 30 days- I only do 15 in jail- great!
Or if I take the 40 work days- I only do 20.
That’s fine- I’m thinking of doing the county time- and maybe start a little group bible thing- I have done this before.
So- that’s it for now- all this will be settled by next Tuesday- I always felt like I needed to see all the people in this before I left.
I want to apologize for the part I did play- even though the whole charge was not true.
And I did not want to leave without telling the people I was sorry.
Now I’m sorry for Chris- the kid that broke the window on the van.
Trust me- I could have reported that long ago- I never did.
It just slipped out when I was talking to them.
Lets just end this-
Talk to you later- John
2016
THE WIDOW AND HER KID
I want to write a little bit on perspective- how we should view ourselves- and others- when going thru difficult times.
For those who have been following the posts- you will know what I’m talking about- for others- you might still get something out of this.
One of the main things I have emphasized about ‘ministry’ and ‘church’ over the years is that God’s main concern is not how religious we are- or pretend to be.
But God’s concern is how we treat our brother- the poor- our neighbor.
One of the parables of Jesus- sometimes called the parable of the unjust judge- goes like this.
This was in a certain city a woman- and she had a complaint- a legitimate issue- that she wanted justice on.
So she goes to the judge [the cops- law- etc.] and she says ‘avenge me of my adversary’.
She wants justice- which is a good thing.
Now- the judge does not really care about God- or the woman.
But the bible says she keeps coming to the system- because she wants justice.
Finally- the story says- that even though the judge did not really care about the case- he helped her- because she was persistent.
The moral of the story at the end is Jesus says ‘how much more will God help his own people who call unto him day and night’.
Now- in all the verses about helping the poor- meeting the needs of people.
The main verses I have always believed were the important themes of Christianity.
These same verses also speak about treating the ‘widow and orphan’ well.
Okay- in the bible- widow does not just mean a lady whose husband died.
It also can mean the single mom- and her daughter.
Now do you see?
God defends the mom- who comes to the system- and wants what’s right for her kid.
And often times the system treats the lady bad.
God is just as concerned about her- and her daughter- as he is about the poor.
Lincoln once said ‘it’s not whose side God is on- but our we on his side’.
We often pray about the best outcome for us- for ‘our side’.
We see things thru the perspective of ‘God will help me’.
But Gods is concerned with everyone in his court- in his world.
In the last post I mentioned how I spoke with the prosecutors about my situation.
Trust me- I did indeed tell them everything- all that I honestly knew.
At this stage- I’m ready to end this thing.
At one point he asked ‘are you saying you were just an innocent guy …’.
No way- I told him everything- but in all honesty- that one part never happened [at least what I do honestly remember].
So- I am not covering up anything [for those aware of this situation].
At one point- one of the prosecuters said ‘say if I put it like this- say if you did not actually have to do the offense- actually flash someone- in order for the charge to still hold’.
I told him at that point ‘that’s great- lets sign right now- I’m ready’.
See?
I want the ‘other side’ to see- for real- I’m not making stuff up- God’s concerned for your side too.
At that point- the younger prosecutor said ‘wait- I think he actually had to do it in order for the charge to stand’.
They had some confusion- they looked in the law book right there- and the first guy said he was sorry- he was mistaken.
In order for the charge to be true- you actually have to have done it [in the way most people understand it].
I was upset- once again.
I said ‘I thought you said it does not actually have to happen- in that way- in order to plead guilty’.
I wanted him to have been right- because I wanted to settle the thing- and be honest- for real.
Then he said no- in order for this charge to be true- it didn’t fit what I had done.
I was upset- and said ‘you know- it doesn’t make a difference any more- I’ll plead guilty anyway- that’s okay’.
He did not want me to do it- he asked ‘did you do it- do you remember actually doing it’.
I told him- in all clear conscience- no.
Not that part.
Why is this so hard- for everyone?
When I pray- I realize that God is concerned for the single mom- and for her kid.
That’s the ‘widow and child’ in the story.
And God wants her to have justice- for the daughter who was wronged.
That’s God’s concern- not mans.
So- at times- I thought ‘maybe it would be better to just plea to something- though that aspect actually did not happen’.
To me- at various times- it was no big deal.
But as I sat with the prosecutors- I even said the same thing- enough did happen that to me its okay to say- to just plead guilty.
They did not want it.
Maybe all this will help the ‘widow’ maybe she does not know this.
I’m not trying to persuade anybody- trust me.
I know I have had very bad mood swings- and some days I’ll post and be mad.
I’m going to try very hard not to do that.
I’m okay with where we are at- that we can finish this by Tuesday.
Some days I feel very bad for the ‘widow and daughter’.
There is a young girl that helps us at the halfway house.
She has had lots of problems in the past.
I guess she’s in her young 20’s.
As I was talking with the guys I asked her of she had any questions- about the bible- stuff she wanted to ask.
She did- she picked up the bible the guys had there- and she opened up to a chapter.
She said she was reading it the other day- she felt God lead her to it.
I tried to tell her what it meant- and I felt so bad for her.
The bible is real small print- and the poor kid was doing her best to hear God.
So- I made it a point to buy her a bible the next week.
I stopped at Wal Mart and could not find a simple girls bible.
The only one was a new moms bible- it was pink- and I liked the notes- it was nice- a bit more expensive than I was looking for [about 25 bucks].
So I looked at the others- but kept coming back to the moms one.
The problem?
Just last week- when at the halfway house- the guys told me ‘so and so went down to have an abortion’.
She has no kids- got pregnant- and went to abort the baby.
So- as you can see- buying the ‘new moms’ bible might not be the best.
Heck- I liked it- I bought it for her.
I gave her the bible- she loved it.
She never got the abortion- so- she will be a new mom soon.
She told me she felt like that was a sign from God.
This is so sad.
See- God really cares about the ‘widow- and her kid’.
2017
I CAN’T DIG- OR BEG
Okay- let me do my best to try- really try- to end this chapter.
As much as I want to not talk about this any more- I just can’t seem to get past it.
About a year ago I was accused of flashing a girl while very drunk.
Drunk to the point where you don’t even know if you did it.
I was what you would call a black out drinker- which is very bad.
At the time- I simply confessed- sort of- on face book- said I did not remember doing it- but if I did- I was vey sorry.
As the months rolled by- my wife and daughter- and their friends [who all knew each other] were reading this on-line.
They thought the flashing charge was made up.
I did not want to hear that- because I was resigned to just go thru and plead guilty.
As time went on- my wife would say ‘she said you stopped the van here- opened the door- etc’.
That part I remembered- and I knew that here- at least- this was not true.
There were 2 other kids [young 20’s] who were there too.
I always said ‘just ask them- they know I did not flash their friend’.
But- I never knew what they said.
Maybe they said- yeah- he did.
So finally the last few weeks I did hear what they said.
The boy made no statement.
And the other girl- who I’m sure is a very nice girl.
She said she ‘turned her head’ [did not see].
I knew they lied when I heard this.
She did not want to lie outright- and say ‘no- my friend is wrong’.
So- she said this.
Okay- this is where we now realize the girl lied.
This girl should not have said this.
Not asking you to lie- but to have said the truth- at least about the part where we were all there at one time.
So- the last few weeks- I saw that more than likely the charge was false.
Okay- was I totally innocent?
No.
And yes- I could come on today and write- and manipulate- and ‘shape’ the story to make it look like I’m better than I am.
But there are about 5 or so people who would say ‘see- this guy claims to be a Christian- helping the homeless guys- and look- he’s a liar’.
Should I just ‘sacrifice’- that is not care about that small inside group- and heck- lie.
No.
Then these ‘kids’ will live the rest of their life knowing we are all the same- we all lie to make ourselves look good.
And that would be wrong.
No- there were things that did come up- things that I forgot [not real bad- but things you that are not real good].
And when I heard about them- I once again was confronted with the past.
So- yes- I put this in for you guys- the small group- who also knows this.
I want you all to see I have tried so hard in this thing- and at times questioned so much- and don’t want to leave Texas this way.
Okay- I did a no contest plea and will do a 40 day work period [actually 20].
I wish I could start today and work straight thru- but it will take a month to finish.
Why am I leaving?
Isn't it obvious?
I’m leaving because of this- not what others said about me- but because of this whole thing.
Make no mistake- it’s not some great ‘call from God to go save the bums in New York’.
No- I feel like my life is over- that’s how I have felt from day one.
When people drink- are actively drinking- you don’t ‘feel’ the consequences of stuff.
The bible even says this ‘when a drunk wakes up- he goes right back to it’.
But- when I quit [since Jan. 3rd] I ‘feel’ all the consequences- in a big way.
So- make no mistake about it- yes- I’m running from my past- I’m going to ‘hide’ in a crowd up north.
Yes- all the things you would do if this happened to you.
I was talking to my wife last night- telling her I’m glad it’s going to be over- I’m so ready to leave.
Of course my family is staying in Texas.
As I was talking- she was crying.
‘What’s wrong now!’
As you can imagine- there has been a ton of friction since this happened.
She just said something like ‘don’t you know’.
I realized she has been hoping I was going to change my mind as the weeks- months went by.
That I would stay.
I just can’t.
One day not too long after this happened.
I was reading the parable of the unjust steward.
Some guy is the money manager for some rich man.
He gets caught stealing- and the boss hauls him on the carpet to give an account.
He does not try and hide the wrong doing.
But- he quickly analyzes his situation and comes up with a plan.
Jesus is telling the story- it’s a parable.
The guy says ‘what should I do- I won’t beg- I can’t dig ditches’.
And he goes on and makes a plan and God commends him for being wise.
The part of the story that caught my eye was he immediately knew his options.
He eliminated some things right from the start.
About a month after this incident- I knew it was ‘over’ for me.
It took a while before I quit the homeless ministry here in the Bluff.
But it’s been 6 months now- and I haven’t seen the guys.
I took all the ad’s I was running in the papers down.
I knew there were some things that would ‘be no more’.
In essence ‘I won’t dig- or beg’.
See?
And I’m sorry to my dear wife- I know she was hoping I would change my mind.
I just can’t.
I’m not mad.
It’s just over- this whole chapter is over.
For those that I did wrong to- the parts that were indeed wrong.
I’m so sorry- you have no idea.
To all the people- I don’t do anything in the Bluff any more- please don’t be worried about running into me.
I am going to move as soon as the punishment is done.
And to all my friends on line- thanks for the support.
I’m so sorry you had to see all this.
2018
A GAY WITCH?
There are things that I want to cover- stuff that pertains to the recent stuff- but some of this will take time to develop.
I want to be careful- for all involved- when we talk about it.
Why?
In this recent case- the stuff I have been blogging on- I ‘see’ everyone involved thru the lens of ‘what’s Gods’ ultimate will for all’.
For instance- I don’t view this as ‘me against them’.
Or ‘let me use the blog/face book to my advantage’.
No- I see everyone as people caught up in something- that was instigated by my very bad choices [drving for years drunk- and at times black out drunk].
Now- everyone will also be held accountable for the wrong they did after the fact.
At the start of this- I posted- in a very serious way- that it’s not a joke- to law enforcement- to lie in a criminal case- or to ask others to lie.
As time went on- I [as well as both sides of the case] did see that yes- the person lied- about the most ‘important’ thing.
As I recounted the story- many times- I would say ‘look- most of this is my fault- I’m no ‘innocent man’ who got framed’.
But- the actual charge- well yes- that’s false.
It took time for me to see it- because the girl gave her self away- when she herself said it happened- when there were 2 other people there.
That’s when I knew- for a fact- that she made that up.
Then- when I saw the actual statements- I knew she lied.
Okay- why?
Over the next week or 2- I’m going to tell another true story- something that makes this look like ‘child’s play’.
It has to do with a former church member from a church I started years ago.
He was involved in sorcery and witchcraft- and he also was involved with ministry.
This person- who in the coming days I will reveal- had an all out assault against me and my family in Kingsville.
All out?
Yeah- it was very bad.
When this person joined the little church I started- I was warned that he was really an ‘undercover sorcerer’ who just joined churches to ruin them.
Okay- I thought maybe the person- who was my age [we were both in our 20’s] was dabbling in bad stuff- but who knows- maybe God had a purpose for him.
Okay- to cut to the short of it.
Over time- one of my friends told me ‘John- you would not believe what so and so is saying about you’.
He started a rumor- that we were gay lovers.
Okay- as you can see- I really did not want to get into this- now.
But- as I was praying this morning- I felt God wanted me to tell it- because in the coming weeks- there's much more to this story than meets the eye.
Okay- at this point- I have no reason to lie about anything- I have already been very open with all.
The fact is- this guy lied.
Now- I have friends who are gay- I know there are very good people who are gay- and I try not to ‘judge’ people.
But- this has never been ‘my thing’.
My temptation has always been the classic one- going back to the garden.
Yes- the simple reality that women are attractive- so that’s it.
Now- the way I dealt with the guy who said we were gay- is I took a mutual friend with me one night and we drove to Manuel’s house.
The friend in the car was the guy Manuel told this to.
His name is Emmet.
I knocked on Manuel's door- and I confronted him about the story.
Emmet was in the car- hearing.
I told Manual ‘Emmet said you told him we were gay lovers- is this true’.
He acted shocked- and of course denied it.
Then Emmet got out- he knew he was busted.
This began a couple of years of an all out assault against me and my family by Manuel.
I worked at the fire house- he sent people to my house [while I was at work] at 2 am to harass my family.
He broke the window of my car while parked at the fire house.
He set fires in abandoned buildings- and when I got there he was watching.
This never stopped..
He had a friend call the fire house and threaten me- I was pissed- I told him to come down right now- I was waiting outside.
The guys at the station knew I was mad- it was funny- they shut all the blinds and stuff- they thought someone was gonna do a drive by!
Had the tries slashed to my car- etc.- etc.
Eventually I moved to Corpus- because of this.
So- as you can see- any false charge does affect me.
Now- to be very clear- I do not see any one in this recent case like this.
What happened in this case is some girl was indeed offended- and in her way- to get justice- she lied about being flashed.
That’s what happened.
At first I thought the mom knew- but then later was not sure.
I know the girl knows- and her 2 friends.
So yeah- I get it.
What maybe added to ‘the lie’ was the very real fact that I was so drunk that I made a confession to the girl on face book and said- even though I don’t remember- that I’m sorry.
At that point they must have thought ‘wow- this guy does not even know’!
So- trying my best to be honest added to it.
Okay- that’s why I’m really not that mad at the people.
Because my past experience- with the really terrible false charge- makes this look like nothing.
See?
One of the things I want to cover in the coming weeks is unjust scales.
And the biblical teaching on how- at times- justice is not even.
For instance- I think the girl- maybe felt like in order to get justice- they needed to make up the charge.
Okay- I actually do see that- for real.
So- while in a normal case maybe the person accused would be very mad- it is after all not a good thing to say- especially when it’s not true.
But- compared to the other situation- I don’t see the accuser’s in this case as bad people at all.
See?
So- maybe this will give everyone some perspective.
In the coming days- I’ll cover a very serious thing that happened these past months- and it is directly related to this whole experience.
There are many verses in the bible that talk about false accusations- and how there is a severe penalty on those who make them.
I knew- from the beginning [because of the above situation] that some of the ‘kids’ in this case did not realize what they were getting into.
That is- there would be a high price to pay- simply because this was being put in ‘Gods court’.
It will take some time over the next few weeks to explain this- but it has to do with Gods desire to purge all of us- yes both those who make false accusations- and those who are falsely charged.
So- over time- hopefully we will get to it.
So- for today- understand that in Gods’ dealings- false accusations carry with them a very high price.
In some cases- like the one that happened years ago- the price is high.
In the recent case- I already know that the people involved had no idea it would be like this- but I did know.
I had past experience with it- I almost felt like ‘no- don’t make a false charge like this- it’s gonna come back and bite you’.
[It looks like charges are already being filed- not by me- on the ‘other side’]
I knew this from day one.
So- to be clear- I do not see these 2 cases as the same.
I see the recent case as good people- yeah- all of those involved.
And that in some type of way to try and get justice [what they felt like was right- but- when you lie about a charge- then you corrupt the system- and justice can’t happen] well yes- they made up something that did not happen.
That even the other witnesses- who were the accusers friends- they basically backed up my story.
So yeah- over time- everyone knew the actual charge- the worst charge- was indeed false.
At times- even those in the system that seemed to know the girl made that part up.
They would say things to me like ‘John- the system is not concerned with whether or not you did it- that’s not their job’.
Huh?
I was shocked.
One investigator told me ‘oh yeah- even if the person goes down to the police station and says she’s sorry- she made it up- they will threaten her to not change her story and tell her if she does they will file a charge against her for making a false report’.
So- along the way- I learned some bad things about ‘the system’.
Okay- that’s it for now.
For you bible studiers- look up what the bible says about false accusation.
It’s vey harsh.
In the end- God’s not vindictive- but he purges us- he puts ‘pressure’ on us- to get us clean.
He does this with everyone in ‘his court’.
He’s not about getting even- or ‘siding’ with one side against the other.
He’s about creating truth in all of us.
That’s the proper perspective.
NOTE- Then why did I plea No Contest?
From the start- I told everyone- even the prosecutors- that I was very drunk- black out drunk.
Yes- I took a huge risk by dropping my lawyer- and telling the prosecutors this.
They could have stacked multiple DUI’s on me- and that could have been jail time in Texas.
But- I let the chips fall.
But- over time- because of what I explained above- I realized- to my surprise- that yeah- the girl made the flashing charge up.
Who’d a thunk it?
But- the prosecutor- who seemed to believe me- also said ‘how can you defend yourself when you’re admitting you don’t remember half of the event’?
So- that’s the reality.
Yeah- maybe if I lied from the start- the outcome would have been different- but that’s how this turned out.
2019
MY FRIEND- THE WITCHDOCTOR
Let’s pick up where we left off last.
First- this situation with my friend- the ‘Christian witchdoctor’ is rare.
For the most part- when you hear stories of Christian leaders who are entangled in some sin- for the most part- they are true.
For instance- over the years- I would see/read a case where some famous leader is caught with a girl.
Maybe in a motel room- then some of my friends- who were followers of the leader would say ‘wait- I heard he was just witnessing to the prostitute’.
IN A MOTEL ROOM?
So- I’m not the type that fell for stories like that.
In my situation- the person who made up the charge [years ago] was dabbling in both the occult world- as well as Christian ministry.
So- I think he really was lost- confused.
And it is true that there were strategies- by occult followers- to make up charges against people [talking about the gay relationship charge- last post].
But- for the most part- I am not into the whole ‘spiritual warfare’ scene- where there is a demon- or satan worshipper behind every bush.
Got it?
Okay- when I moved my family to Corpus- I still worked at the Kingsville Fire Dept- and finished my 25 years.
Manuel came by over the years- admitted what he did- yes- he told me he was sorry for making the charge up- and I forgave him.
He eventually came by with his boy- who came to my little church when he was young.
He was older now- his dad loved him and was proud of him.
I’ll never forget- one day they both came by the station.
Manuel asked me to pray for them.
Of course I did.
As I prayed- his boy started crying uncontrollably.
I knew God was working.
As the years went by- I would see Manuel off and on.
One time I showed up at work and the guys told me ‘hey John- we picked up some guy who had his throat slashed- he was asking for you- he said you were his pastor’.
That was Manuel.
His boyfriend cut his throat and almost killed him.
Yes- Manuel was gay and lived out the lifestyle.
I felt bad for him over the years.
Others never knew I forgave him- and we became friends again.
He did threaten my family- and I never told my wife I forgave him.
Now- this is the hard part.
It was during that time that I learned to ‘put things in Gods court’.
There are verses in the Psalms- called Imprecatory Psalms.
Huh?
Those are the verses where king David is praying for God to ‘get his enemies’.
Christians have different ideas about these passages.
Jesus tells us to pray for our enemies- not to try and get even.
Yet these portions of the Psalms seem to say the opposite.
Over the years- I have come to the understanding that all God’s wrath is redemptive- in the end.
Now- this gets into a heavy theological discussion- that we don’t have time to get into now.
But basically it means- when we pray these verses that seem to ask God to ‘get our enemies’.
What we are really praying is for Gods wrath- his ‘pressure’ to be on everyone in 'his court’ and for it to produce righteousness.
So- I learned to pray this way back then.
Okay- you pray like this whenever there are people accusing you- falsely- of anything.
It seems to bring everyone into Gods court- you in essence are saying ‘okay God- come and work in all of us- what ever will be will be’.
Now- this can get serious- very serious.
The bible talks about believers having authority from God
‘Whoever’s sins you forgive- they are forgiven’
‘Whoever’s sins you retain- they are retained’.
The long and short of it is this- when you pray in this way- you have no control over the outcome.
When I went thru the situation with Manuel- I prayed like this.
This last 6 months- I had to do it again.
Why?
Not to get even- but some who did indeed make false charges- after I tried my best to do what was right- they saw it as a game.
At one point- in the beginning- the girl put on face book ‘wow- this is so cool- I'm at a real line up’.
I guess she was at the police station and looking at pictures [note- my wife told me this- I have never read any of this on line].
Now- when you falsely charge someone- and think it's a game- that’s very serious.
I think the girl just did not realize that this is not a joke.
So- I simply brought us all into Gods court- I placed us all under this umbrella.
See?
Okay- now pay close attention- this is the scary part.
Over the last 6 months- during my long walks- I stopped at a McDonalds and would sit and have coffee and pray.
One day- March 29th to be exact.
I brought an old bible I had for years.
I noticed on the front page- I wrote some notes and stuff.
One of the notes said I had a meeting with ‘Pastor Don’ that day.
It was strange- because I had written that note in 1992- and I was to meet him- at this exact location where I was sitting.
It was sort of a sign in a way.
To see that note all those years later- in the meeting spot.
I also saw another note I wrote.
It was a License plate.
It was the LP of Manuel.
Yeah- years earlier when I went thru the problems- I too was going to retaliate at one time- and I got his car License plate.
When I saw it- I told the Lord I was sorry.
That I too have tried to get even- or have lied about people that wronged me- it was a moment of true repentance.
I wrote the date in a little journal I have been making this year.
That’s why I remember the date- 3-29-13.
Now- this is all happening at a time when I- in a sense ‘re-opened’ the court.
Are you getting this?
I know I might be losing some of you- but this is the best I can do.
I ‘released’ Manuel in a new way- even though I had forgiven him- for a very bad accusation- yet I had to also repent of my anger towards him.
I did this repenting some 23 years after the fact.
Less than a month later- I was driving with my wife.
She says ‘oh- by the way- your old friend was killed’.
Huh?
Yeah- I think his name was Manuel.
Juan Manuel Garza was stabbed to death on April 25th- 2013 [look it up if you want- Kingsville Texas]
Less than a month after I repented of any wrong I had done towards him.
I felt God was telling me that ‘this court’ was very serious.
That the bar has been raised very high.
I don’t want any one to miss read this.
We [Christians] are not in the business of praying for the deaths of ‘our enemies’.
Jesus told us to pray for those who wrong us.
But he said- when we do really forgive- and release them- we are ‘pouring hot coals on their heads’
This releases the redemptive judgment of God on all in ‘the court’.
Manuel was killed by his lover- the same man who stabbed him years earlier.
His name is Barbour- I have him on my prayer list- with all the other prisoners I pray for.
The reason I bring this up now is because we- all of us- don’t realize the seriousness of false accusation.
I’ll admit- in the case with Manuel- that’s about as bad as it gets.
As a young Pastor- it was a miracle that I didn’t just quit the ministry all together.
But when I moved to Corpus I started an outreach to the homeless guys- and this in a way was my salvation.
So- once again- I’m in transition.
I do believe God still has a purpose for all of us- but a lot has changed- things have changed for good.
I mourned the death of Manuel for a few days.
I think my wife was surprised- she knew what he had done.
I told her I had forgiven him- and I still felt responsible for him in a way- that he still saw me as his Pastor.
Yeah- she was surprised- me too.
2020
THIS MOUNTAIN
‘If you have faith- just like a mustard seed- the smallest of all seeds [less than zero?] you would say to THIS MOUNTAIN ‘be removed and be cast into the sea’ and it would do it’!
Jesus says lots of neat stuff ‘I am the door of the sheep- by me- if any man enter in he shall be saved’.
Door?
Yeah.
You mean hinges and stuff?
Well- not really- you’ll see soon.
The other day I caught an interview with Julian Assange.
He’s the WikiLeaks founder who has been hiding out in the Ecuadorian embassy.
The U.S. is hunting him down- and he’s staying there as a shelter.
Why are we hunting him?
He was the recipient [not the leaker!] of thousands of emails and texts that Bradley Manning ‘illegally’ downloaded to his computer disk- and gave them to WikiLeaks [a site that exposes the secrets of corrupt governments].
Now- I am not saying I agree with all the leaks he did- but some were exposing corruption.
The most damaging of the leaks showed secret recordings between the U.S. and other govts- things that are indeed bad- some real bad.
The worst thing leaked was the video of a U.S. chopper killing civilian reporters [by accident].
The problem?
There were kids in the van- and we kept shooting!
On the video- you hear our guys realizing there were kids that we might have shot.
Our guys say ‘that’s what they get for bringing there kids’.
These were civilian reporters for heavens sake!
Okay- that’s the worst of what Assange REPORTED.
The U.S. govt. is trying to catch the guy- if we do- he will never see the light of day.
We tried Manning on charges that could have merited the death penalty.
For what?
National security secrets?
No- for what I just told you.
So- we are trying to execute- imprison- and stop folk- who exposed some bad stuff.
Yeah- now your ‘getting’ it.
I was reading the book of Revelation the other day.
I like the imagery of the powerful angels.
They are putting chains on satan- casting great stones into the water.
These images show us stuff.
Stones into the water?
Yeah- one angel cast a great millstone- ‘like a mountain- into the sea’.
Hmm?
Sounds like the verse at the top.
Mountains represent kingdoms- power structures.
When these ‘mountains’ become corrupt- they are ripe for getting thrown into the sea.
So- in Jesus day they had this custom.
We read in the bible [Acts] that there were those who made/worshipped idols at the time of Jesus.
You could have your own little idol statue made- for a price.
Those who renounced these practices- after becoming Christ followers- they would take these idols and throw them into the sea.
Yeah- like casting a stone into the water.
Now- the bigger the rock- the bigger the splash.
One day Jesus was walking with his men- rumor has it that they were right next to a spot where you would take these statues- stones- and cast them into the water.
Right up the trail there was this strange sight.
It’s still there today.
There are these 2 mountains.
But one of the mountains has its ‘top’ cut off- and the other mountain has ‘extra’ on top.
The story goes that king Herod- a corrupt king who ruled Palestine at the time of Christ.
He had the slaves literally cut the top of one mountain off- and put it on top of the other.
Yeah ‘king of the hill’ type thing.
He built this palace/penthouse on top- so all the world could see who was the king of the hill.
Now- you have this radical revolutionary- Jesus- who has come in the footsteps of John the Baptist.
John was a mad man- dressed in loin cloths and ate grasshoppers!
One time Herod had John put in jail- but John couldn’t keep his mouth shut.
He kept yelling ‘Herod- you took your brothers wife- your committing adultery!’
Herod was afraid of John- but the misses- well now that’s another story.
You could imagine the anger- she had to hear this rugged prophet- day in and day out- telling everyone what she did [John was the original WikiLeaker!]
So- one day Herod’s wife’s daughter dances this sensual dance for the king.
The king says ‘wow babe- that was the best lap dance ever- name your price’.
She asks her mom ‘what should I ask for’?
Now- the mom is sneaky- and she says ‘tell him you want John’s head- on a platter’.
Yeah- the deed is done.
So- that’s the Herod that Jesus knows- the one who beheaded his friend/cousin.
So- one day Jesus is walking with his men- they know the scoop- that these stones- when you cast them into the sea- well- it’s representing a kingdom- an idol- coming down.
Now- in this context- standing right by Herods Mountain top Villa.
Jesus says ‘IF YOU HAVE FAITH- YOU CAN SAY TO THIS MOUNTAIN- GO- AND IT WILL’
See?
Well you know the story- Jesus gets crucified- there are various Roman Emperors who will come after and destroy Gods people.
There was this general by the name of Constantine- a great military ruler.
In the 4th century he comes to fight for the rule of Rome- he wants to consolidate the Roman Empire under one rule.
He has this dream before the big battle.
In the dream he sees a vision of a Cross in the sky.
He hears a voice ‘in this sign conquer’.
The next day he paints this Cross on the shields of his men.
He wins the battle- becomes the new emperor- and in a short time he will declare Christianity the new religion of the realm.
Yeah- even this mountain fell- just like Jesus said.
Note- Door of the sheep.
In Jesus day you had these circular walls- they were stone sheep pens- in a circle.
Problem?
They had no gate- no door.
When the sheep would enter in and bed down for the night- the Shepherd himself would lie down in the entrance.
He became the door.
No sheep could leave- or wolves enter- unless they passed over the door.
See?
That’s what Jesus meant when he said HE was the door of the sheep- he would lie down [in death] for his sheep- friends.
UPDATE 7-2013
It has been 6 months since I started our little program [how to get free from addictions].
I am happy to say- at least for me- it has indeed worked.
Yes- I have not acted out- not a single time- since we started.
Why?
There are many reasons- as a Christian I of course credit God.
But- because this program has been based on some simple studies I did on addictive behavior- the simple reality is the brain/mind of the addict WILL INDEED change after a short period of not acting out.
These truths work for anyone- Muslim, Christian, Jew- even the Atheist!
So- just wanted to do this annual update- to keep myself- as well as you guys- honest.
One note I wanted to add.
I don’t remember if I shared this in the study- but it came to my mind recently.
I read a book by Victor Frankl- the famous Psychologist who was imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp during WW2.
The book is famous- Mans Search for Meaning.
I liked one of the observations he made- it pertains to this study.
He said because the Nazi’s had them on a very low food intake- and a very high energy output- they had NO desire to think or engage in sex.
One of the habits I formed over the past year has been to walk- for miles on end!
I have always been a very low intake eater- for years I have only eaten one main meal a day [and maybe a snack before bed].
So- for the most part- I was a one meal a day person- for many years.
When I quit drinking- I lost about 50 pounds in a couple of months- yeah- that’s how much I was drinking.
I did not increase my food intake- so- I in a way did what the concentration camp guys did.
In the bible- Jesus and his men practiced fasting- Jesus even said some ‘unclean’ spirits only come out in this way.
They also WALKED all over the area where Jesus ministered.
In essence- they too practiced a low food intake [called fasting] and a high energy output.
The bible also puts gluttony and laziness in the category of sin.
The point being- for those of us who have struggled with addictive behavior- try these tools- simple as they are- but proven.
I do not see one particular ‘trick’ that does it [like some of the material I read- some think ‘aha’ this is the trick!].
No- over all- the simple forming of new healthy habits- to re-place bad ones- does work.
The replacing of sinful situations- what you view- where you go-etc.
These basic things will work over time.
‘My’ above program is really not mine- but it’s a compilation of the most recent data on addictive behavior.
Many of my friends swear by older type programs- which have played a role in the past.
But- many see ‘their program’ as THE answer- almost in a cultic way- I think that’s a major problem in today’s recovery movement.
Okay- that’s it- God bless you all.
www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com
Note- Do me a favor, those who read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read them on. Thanks- John. Don’t forget to scroll down on the timeline [Facebook] - I have posted lots.
2021
THEY WILL NOT BELIEVE- EVEN IF SOMEOME CAME BACK FROM THE DEAD
As I get ready for my final departure- what I would like to do is tell a couple of the ‘best of the best’ type stories on my way out.
Many years ago- in the early 80’s- I was going to a Fundamental Baptist church- I was the youth leader and filled in for the preacher at times.
Good church- great people.
But- this style of Christianity looks down upon what the bible refers to as the Charisms- or the gifts of the Spirit.
Now- as a teacher for many years- one who tries to ground himself in the historic church.
The main teaching- by most of the churches- is the gifts do indeed still operate today.
But- you have lots of ‘silliness’ in some of the expressions of them- and of course- you have out and out charlatans too.
So- during this time- I was a young believer- just got kicked out of the Navy [maybe will tell that one next?] and was painting houses for a contractor [right before I got hired at the Fire Dept.].
One day we were painting this dentists house- Charles Clements- and I’ll never forget.
I was downstairs in a room- and I thought I heard a bloodcurdling scream!
I went to the spot where I thought the scream came from- and sure enough- the mother of the kids had pulled her young boy out form the bottom of the pool- he drowned to death.
My job foremen- Randy Maltby- started doing CPR- well- he actually just tried to do mouth to mouth- and water was coming out of the boy.
Now- I worked 25 years at the Fire Dept.- I have seen lots of dead folk- this kid was dead.
But- at this time- I did not have the experience and simply asked the mom ‘do you want me to pray’?
She was hysterical- and screamed YES!!
I will never forget the prayer- I was very calm- and simply started praying for God to raise the boy from the dead- for God to put the boy’s spirit back in him.
As I prayed- I heard the boy cough- and in a short time he was awake.
Now- the ambulance came and took him to the ER.
About a week later the news paper came to interview me and the other carpenters- they did a front page story about the boy.
It read ‘CHILD SAYS HE SAW THE LORD’.
The boy was around 3-5 years old- but he made- what the doctors called- a miraculous recovery.
He recounted the story to them.
He said when he as at the bottom of the pool- Jesus came to him and told him he was going to bring him back to life.
The paper [Kingsville Record- early 80’s- maybe you can find it on line?] ran a full story on it- they did say ‘Chiarello was in the room- praying’.
As you can imagine- this was somewhat of a shock for the Baptist Church I was going to.
And the story was the talk of the town.
To be honest- I didn’t see what all the fuss was about- I thought everyone believed God could do stuff like this.
But as the years went by- I realized lots of people- some more Charismatic types- they talk a lot about this stuff- but in actuality- it rarely happens.
In Luke chapter 16 Jesus tells the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus.
The rich man had it made- all the stuff you ever could want- a ‘more than enough’ mentality for sure!
The poor man was begging every day at the gate- the dogs came and licked his sores.
One day the rich man dies- goes to hell.
Lazarus dies- goes to heaven.
The rich man sees Lazarus with Abraham- and asks father Abraham to send Lazarus with some water- the rich man is hot!
Abraham says he cant- there is this gulf- and you can’t pass over.
The rich man says ‘well- at least let Lazarus go back to my brothers who are still alive- maybe he can warn them’.
Jesus says ‘they have Moses and the Prophets [their writings] let them get warned by that’.
The rich man says ‘no- but if one comes back from the dead- they will listen’.
Jesus says ‘if they won’t be convinced by the Old Testament writings- then neither will they believe if one rose from the dead’.
The boy in the above story is Andrew Clements- his dad is a famous dentist here in South Texas- he runs an ad every week in the paper.
Charles Clements.
Some might think ‘gee John- how do we know your not making this stuff up’.
Look- I take no money- have nothing to sell- and to be honest- at this point- have no reputation to defend.
Why the heck would I make this stuff up?
Yeah- some of you will believe- but some wont- even if one Rose from the Dead.
2022 LAURA
I got a text yesterday- it read ‘Laura was deadwdrunk- got run over’.
I texted David back ‘I’ll be praying for her’.
I thought he meant she was ‘dead drunk’ and was hit by a car.
Later I realized he said ‘she was run over- while drunk- and killed’.
I wrote about Laura a couple of months ago.
She was dating my friend David- and was really into the New Age stuff- crystals- the whole 9 yards.
I must have talked with her for about 8 hours- in 2 days.
She was very intelligent- and I have studied lots of world history and Apologetics [Greek thought- etc].
So- in a way- I was able to present the Christian faith as the final answer- that at the end of the day- it wins the argument among various World Views- Jesus is really the answer.
When I met Laura- she reminded me of my sister- Laura.
After all I’ll be moving to N.J. in about 10 days- and my sister Laura was one of the first people I ‘led’ to the Lord.
She has struggled with drug addiction her whole life- but has also been an open Christian- she learned and grew a lot over the years.
When I got up this morning- I felt like I should write about Laura- the girl who was run over.
But- I wanted to not post anymore in Texas- I’m tired of it all- and wanted to ‘go away’ for a long time- maybe for good?
My phone just rang- it never rings this early- I never have it on this early!
It was Patrick- from New Jersey.
I knew something was up- he told me to call back [he left a message].
My sister Laura just passed away.
I told him to tell my mom I wont make the funeral- because I already have the plane ticket for the following week.
Yeah- I felt like my friends girlfriend was a sign in a way- I guess so.
#s 2039 to 2043
2039 FATHER OF LIGHTS?
JOURNAL- September- January- 2013
Note- every so often I get the sense that I might not post anymore.
When I ‘feel’ this- I seriously consider ‘going away’.
Why?
There are indeed times- strategic times- when it’s God’s purpose to GO AWAY.
Jesus said this- multiple times- to his disciples.
‘It is expedient for you- that I go away’
‘I go to prepare a place for you’ [the idea here is when he leaves- they will in a way be forced to pick up where he left off- you know- like the momma Eagle kicking her babies out of the nest type thing].
‘A little while- and the world sees me no more’.
‘Where I go- you cannot come’.
Okay- all these references are from John’s gospel- and I could do an entire study on this principle.
A few weeks back I picked up one of the classics that I never read.
Catcher in The Rye- a novel by J.D. Salinger.
I’m almost done with it- and to be quite honest- it’s not good at all.
I don’t say this for the usual reasons the book is rejected [lots of schools did not permit the book in their classes- because he uses God’s name in vain and the book is a little riske’ at times].
No- that stuff never bothers me.
The book is simply boring- and immature.
Ok- then why did I read it?
I always knew that Salinger became famous- because after he wrote his novel- he WENT AWAY.
He bought a secluded home in the North East- and never wrote again.
This created a mystique about the man- and in a way it propelled his book- even though it’s really not a good work.
So- this principle of ‘going away’ is biblical- often times it’s not easy to do- that’s why some writers- or rock singers- become famous after their deaths- because you now realize that what’s left is all you got.
Okay- I don’t see this as a game- I am simply trying to hear God about this.
When I was broadcasting on the Radio for 20 years- there were whole years when I never spoke.
I made radio tapes on a weekly basis- and had enough for years.
So- when I felt like taking time off- I would not teach for a whole year.
Blogging is a bit different- but the same principle applies.
By the way- I haven’t been on Facebook- or checked it for over 2 months [as of today- 12-2-13].
As of now- I’ll simply make this journal- and when/if I post it- then I’ll read/see any comments or messages.
I just want my friends to know I simply don’t check the site- unless I’m posting.
Ok- hope you enjoy this journal- that is if it ever gets posted!
FOR WHERE A TESTAMENT IS- THERE MUST ASLO BE THE DEATH [or going away] OF THE TESTATOR- Hebrews.
1st week of December -2013
Well- I have been back in Texas for a couple of months now.
Our little halfway house is doing good- the friend I started it with last year has had lots of physical problems and I thru myself into this ministry again.
I also re-connected with the street crew- my original ‘gang’ from Texas.
And this past week I also got back in touch with Cameron.
I posted about Cameron right before I left Texas in 2013.
He was a new kid at the halfway house- was on probation [10 years!] and tested dirty on a drug test.
So- when I left Texas- he was back in jail.
He was released [once again] to the halfway house- and I have been getting with him this past week.
Took him to Bay Area Fellowship yesterday-might take him for a city cruise [like the apostle Paul said in the book of Acts ‘let’s go and visit all the cities we preached the gospel in’] today.
Yeah- I need to take a ride to Kingsville- Bishop- and maybe even Rio Grande city.
I met a new guy this week- Albert.
He spent a week at our halfway house- and had some ministry background.
Whenever we get a new guy- and he has some bible background- David [the guy I started the halfway house with] always wants me to meet him.
I’m sort of the Pastor for the halfway house.
So- I got with Albert on his last day with us [he only spent a week].
He’s from Robstown [an area city that’s known for drug dealing].
His wife has a church right on the border of Texas/Mexico.
He asked me if I knew where Rio Grande City was.
Heck- I spent 2-3 nights there about 10 years ago [a Firefighter school I went to].
So- God willing- I might take a trip to the area.
Albert worked as a missionary in this region years ago- it’s where his wife grew up.
But even he told me it’s very dangerous now- the drug runners will kidnap/kill you in a second.
So- do me a favor and pray for our safety- I do want to make the trip.
2-
Being I have not posted- or written any posts in 2 months- I want to give a brief update on the ‘North Bergen Crew’ [the street guys I befriended while in New Jersey].
The guys keep in touch with me regularly.
About 2 days ago Rick called [he’s the only one with a phone- or has my number [Nick too] - so the other guys ask how I’m doing and stuff- they were already asking when I’m coming back! Geez- not yet].
He gave me an update on the area- Rick moved to Hoboken about a month ago- but he still hangs out at the White Castle in North Bergen.
It’s funny- this spot became the meeting place for the crew- I used to eat at this restaurant when I was a kid.
Of course they rebuilt the thing- but it’s still in the exact spot.
Let me share one interesting story that happened the day before I left North Bergen.
During my 3 month trip- and before- the year was a year of Signs [dreams- visions- etc.]
Over the years I try not to talk too much about these experiences- because they are subjective- you never really know if the sign is ‘real’ or the person is simply wrong.
So- as those of you who read the site know- I try to teach in line with Historic Christianity.
Ok- when I ‘moved’ to North Bergen [the town I was raised in right across the Hudson River from New York City] I seriously thought I might move back for good.
The first 2 months back- I checked into housing- asked about the rents and all- and left the door open to stay.
In Texas I gave away/sold lots of my stuff.
I got rid of both my vehicles- and did the ‘sell what you have and come follow me’ thing.
As I sit here writing- I’m in an empty study- that used to be filled with my books.
I acquired- literally- thousands of dollars in books over the years.
I gave the majority of them away- to a church- before I left.
So yeah- I did leave the option open that I was leaving for good.
As time went on- I realized I will go back every year- for around 3 weeks [by the way- this year- 2014- my goal is to start some home bible studies- if anyone in the North Bergen/NYC area is interested- text me at 361-461-0588. My email never gets checked- so the best way is to message me].
Ok- because the rents were high- I wound up staying at my old house where I grew up as a kid.
My mom and sister still lived there.
I led my sister to the Lord many years ago- and she always viewed me as sort of her spiritual mentor.
When I told her I will be moving back to New Jersey- she was so happy!
The week before I flew back- she died.
So- for a few weeks I lived in her old downstairs apt- surrounded by all her little trinkets and stuff- and I would wake up early [around 3 or 4] and pray for about an hour or so in the yard.
Her cats [just like mine in Texas] knew what time I would be walking and praying- and they would wait for me in the yard- they love being petted when I do this. I pray with a stick in my hand- sort of a staff- and as they walk next to me I pet them. In Texas they follow me on the roof- it’s low- so I pet them right on the roof- they get so into it a few times they fell off trying to get noticed!]
There was a very real sense that the death of my sister would play a redemptive role in this whole journey.
It would take too much time to teach this now- but I felt she made a very real sacrifice as well as me- for the spiritual benefit of the town we grew up in.
When my friends die- I sort of include them in my payer time- not praying ‘to them’ but in a way ‘gathering’ all their prayers- and concerns- into one prayer community.
[Someday I will teach this entire theme from scripture- in Acts chapter10 it says the prayers of Cornelius came up as a ‘memorial before God’. In the book of Revelation we read about an Angel [messenger] casting a censor into the earth- and it was filled with the collected prayers of the people. These images speak of the spiritual reality of ‘collecting’ the prayers of others as you pray. Protestants are not very aware of this principle- Catholics are].
So- as you can imagine- the actual death of my sister- and me living in her apt. and driving her car [my mom gave me my sisters car- that is the car I’m driving right now in Texas- remember- I sold both my vehicles] were all giving me a real sense of the ‘partnership’ I had with my sister as we both were back in our old town- for the sake of the Kingdom of God.
So- one morning while I was going downstairs to the yard [I walked down thru an upstairs hallway- thru the old garage [which is now a finished apt.] where I kept many a dirt bike [and go cart!] back in the day- and down the alley into the yard.
This morning I had a sense of ‘what would you do if you saw your sister’.
It was eerie!
In the bible- there are just a few cases of ‘seeing dead people’ [not talking Bruce Willis and the 6th sense either].
One of the most famous is the story of the prophet Samuel during the time of King Saul.
In a scripture that’s been debated a lot- we read about a sort of soothsayer [Palm Reader type person] who brings back the dead prophet Samuel to appear to King Saul.
Obviously this can be used in many strange ways- some question the authenticity of whether the lady brought Samuel back.
As you read the account [off hand I forget the actual verse] it seems to say that she did indeed bring a dead guy back- not a raising from the dead- but an appearance of the soul/spirit of Samuel.
So- though I wouldn’t build a doctrine on the thing- yet stuff like this can happen.
Ok.
After I had this experience- of sort of sensing ‘what if you see Laura- who died’.
I got a chill- but simply prepared myself for some type of sign- which has happened a lot this year.
But nothing happened- yet.
So- one day my mom [whose house I was staying at] said ‘ok John- today before you run out [yeah- I got up early- and would take off most of the day- either walking New York City- or North Bergen- Union City- etc.- I wanted to run into as many street guys as possible before I left] I have a job for you and Patrick to do.
Patrick was a good friend of mine for many years- used to date my sister- and in a way I used to see him as the street friends I have made over the years.
He is a recovering addict- and we went to a lot of the NA meetings together.
So- Pat lives at my mom’s house- uses a spare bedroom- and I see him like a brother.
But- my mom would ask us to both do some type of job together- fix the fence- move some furniture- whatever.
And I realized it would be better for her to just give me the job- everyone else go out- and I’ll do it alone [you know-the micro manager type thing was a problem].
Not to be mean- but trust me- it worked better that way.
So a few days before I left- she asked ‘ok- you and Patrick need to paint 2 walls in the living room today [today? It will take me less than an hour- I used to paint houses for a living].
So- Pat bought all those little paint devices you see on TV- you know- the stuff the pro’s NEVER USE [Edger’s- sponge type brushes- Tape for the edges- EEK!]
I told mom ‘Please- just get me one good paint brush- a roller and paint- I don’t need all of these other things- including the tape to ‘tape the corners’.
Not to be mean- but the best way to do this is to simply ‘cut’ the area with a brush.
Over the years you learn to use the paint brush without going over the edge.
Anyway- she had some cheap little brush- and the roller and paint.
What the heck- I told her ‘please- you and Pat go in the other room- I’ll be done in around 30 minutes’.
I was- moved the furniture- laid a drop cloth- rolled and cut- under an hour- done.
Ok- my mom had just printed new pictures of my sister- and the night before I left I hung them up on this freshly painted wall.
So- as mom’s go- she wanted to buy me stuff for the road trip back to Texas.
She bought me this nice little road light [as a side note- 2 nights ago I started our first home church- this year I want to start a few of them- Texas- New Jersey- Switzerland. There were 2 little 5 year old girls- real sweethearts- they were the kids of some of our new team of young leaders that I’m enlisting for this new mission- they somehow got a hold of this light- and they were having so much fun running thru the house- in the yard- flashing this light].
You know- if you get a flat the thing blinks and all- roadside emergency type light.
As we are sitting in the living room- I am opening up the package- trying to get the car packed before the morning [I left just a few hours after this].
And my mom walks into the living room and sees me with the light- and the batteries still in the package- unopened.
She says ‘Oh- the light works real nice- but how did you get it to work without the batteries’.
I said ‘what do you mean- it’s not on’.
She looked puzzled- she is standing in front of the wall with my sisters new pictures- and she says ‘John- your light is flashing- I’m looking at Laura’s picture- don’t you see it flashing’.
Ok- I knew this was the ‘sign’ I sensed a few nights earlier- a sort of Open Vision- where you see something while awake.
Now- as I convinced her the light was not on- she began to panic- she kept asking ‘don’t you see it flashing John- it’s so bright!
I sat her down and walked her through it.
I told her ‘mom- I don’t see it flashing- but if you do- I believe you’.
I told her it’s possible that Laura- in a way- is saying ‘John- I really was part of this whole adventure you just had- I’m up here- with your other friends who have died- the ones you ‘have gathered’ as a communion of Saints- I’m saying goodbye on your last night in North Bergen- OH- thanks for petting my cats’.
Now- I simply tried to explain to my mom that I felt God had told me a few days before that I would indeed see some type of sign from my sister.
Surely this must have been it.
[By the way- thanks for the car Laura- it’s truly the best running car I ever had. It drove back to Texas great- everyone compliments me on it].
NOTE- One of the bible verses that was impressed on my mind this year was from the book of James ‘Every good and perfect gift comes from above- from the FATHER OF LIGHTS’. If you remember- this year I posted about seeing a Supernova one morning while up praying in the yard- and later that day there was the most viewed meteor ever- it took place in Russia.
These of course were LIGHTS- the above sign from my sister was a blinking light.
And right after I got back to Texas I was walking home from the local street mission where I meet the homeless crew.
As I walked under the highway overpass- I saw a homeless guy- who I never met before.
He caught my attention because he had this paint brush hanging from his belt- and it was actually the one I needed when I painted the wall in New Jersey [the one where my mom saw the picture flashing].
I walked up to the brother and hung out with him for about 30 minutes- right there off the street.
In about 5 minutes we were talking like we knew each other for years.
That’s the way the street guys live.
He told me after a few minutes-
‘We can tell when someone’s for real- that he really cares for the homeless’
He was simply saying he knew I wasn’t a fake.
As I talked with him- he told me his name was Orville and he’s been around for years.
I asked him if he knew ‘so and so….’
I usually rack up a bunch of names so the guys know I’m not making stuff up- that I have been around a while.
He knew the names I mentioned.
He told me he also sings gospel songs- and he wrote one.
Sure enough- he started singing- pretty good- right there.
Geez- like angels songs!
I asked him if he needed a few dollars.
He said ‘sure’.
And as has happened before- I open my wallet and I only have a five- no big deal- he got the 5.
He tells me ‘wait- I have a gift for you’.
Huh?
For me?
Right before I left North Bergen- I picked up a few things I thought I might need.
One was the little flashlight things that you hang on a key chain.
Every so often- you need a light to see where your stuff is when you’re parked on the side of the road- sleeping at the rest stops [I drove back and slept in the car overnight].
Sometimes when I need something- I try and wait a day or so before I buy it.
Because I either find I have an extra one laying around- or someone gives me one.
But- I bought a little Mag light- but it’s not too bright.
So- as I’m talking to this strange homeless brother- with ‘my’ paint brush on his belt.
He reaches under his shirt and pulls out a chain he has around his neck.
And he pulls off of the chain- you guessed it- one of the little lights I needed.
Man- the things is about 10 times brighter than the one I bought.
Cool!
I take the gift- which was sort of strange- the street guys usually don’t give out gifts.
I finish our talk- and off I went.
The next few days I ask the local street crew ‘Hey- I met some guy named Orville- he said he knew you- do you know the guy’.
One by one- no one knew him.
Ok- in the book of Hebrews it says ‘be careful to help strangers- because some have helped angels and they didn’t even know it’.
After my buddies did not know the guy- I went home later in the day and double checked if that light was for real- still in my drawer.
Sure is- bright as a little Nova.
I don’t know if Orville- the drunk gospel singer- was an angel or not.
But this year one of the verses was ‘FATHER OF LIGHTS’.
Felt it was cool either way.
2040 STATE OF THE NATION [WORLD] AND THE JFK CONNECTION.
12-7/13- 2013 I want to cover the state of our nation/world this week.
Being I haven’t posted for 3 months- obviously a lot of news stories have gone by- and I simply can’t retrieve them all now.
But- the overall geo-political state of the world right now is an important thing for us to see.
‘Gee John- we all get the news- doesn’t that cover it’.
In a way- yeah.
But because the American Media is so skewed- we often simply get what that particular side wants you to hear- whether it be ‘the right’ or ‘the left’.
Ok- The Affordable Care act [ObamaCare] has been just about as bad as any roll out could get.
We all know the Web Site is/was a disaster.
Why?
Ok- here’s where you can’t just listen to the right or left- but both.
If you notice- the left leaning media did report that Obama was too ‘insular’ that he was not open to real criticism within the White House.
There was an entire book [or 2] written about the Presidents real lack of any management skills.
A year or 2 ago- one of his top financial guys- Larry Lindsey- said the same thing.
It was insider language that was leaked to the press- but they were saying at the time ‘no one is in charge here’.
So- this was the view from his own people- not Hannity or Rush.
So- the roll out of ObamaCare was bad- and the insiders say that in a normal functioning team- after the political part [of passing the law] was over.
You would then hire an outside team of the best [Google- or any other number of top guys] and let them do the job.
The President simply did not know- or have the desire to do this- this basic function of management.
So- instead- the people who built the site were people with ties to the president- people who did not have the skills to produce a final product [the web site- I have heard other tech experts say this. So- this critique I just gave you seems to be the real story. And whether you support the President or not- the fact is he really dropped the ball by not having the management skills for this- see?]
What about Foreign policy?
Again- the left/right will focus on what they want [He got Osama!! Yes- but that is not even 1% of what falls under foreign policy].
After 5 years in office- the world is much more unstable than it has been in many years.
Now- whoever is to blame- you judge.
I’m just stating fact.
The President talked about ‘re-setting’ relations with Russia.
That failed- Russia has even gained a degree of ‘one upmanship’ in the Syria situation.
What they said/wanted all along- they got [possible future talks between Assad and the rebels- the U.S. strongly opposed this- yet at this point we would be lucky to get it. It looks like Assad is going to win this war- and Russia comes out on top. With Putin even rebuking Obama in a New York Times article that slammed him for talking about American Exceptionalism].
ASIA.
The president talked about a new focus on Asia [because all the other areas were going so bad!].
For many years now- China- Japan- Korea- etc.- have been existing with a degree of tension and an occasional rocket launch [or sinking of a ship!- North Korea- South Korea].
But the various actors in the Pacific theater have existed- and functioned- with the tension there.
So- after the President spoke about a new focus on that area- it has grown markedly worse.
A few weeks ago China unilaterally extended its airspace- and warned the surrounding countries to get permission before they fly thru that space.
The air space has been disputed for a while- but normally they would not have the bravado to do this.
Why Now?
Ok- some in the media tried to ‘spin’ this story- that it had nothing to do with a new view of American weakness in the world [Our backing down on Syrian president Assad was indeed a major blow to U.S. authority. I was [am] not in favor of military action in Syria- but when a U.S. President says he will act ‘if a line is crossed’ and then he doesn’t- that looks very bad]
So- China [and Russia] do indeed see these things as weakness- and without a doubt China did this act because they felt they could get away with it.
The tensions in the region are higher than they have been in years.
As the year ends- Iran- Egypt- The entire continent of Africa [Libya- Egypt- etc.] are very unstable- in reality- worse than 5 years ago [when the President took office].
I do not place the blame entirely on him- but he does indeed bare some of it.
Both President Obama- and John Kerry- have made public statements- off the cuff [or without thinking them thru- the drawing of a red line in Syria- and Kerry’s off the cuff remark about not following thru on the threat of military force if Syria starts getting rid of their weapons- which was a public statement by the Secretary of state that blatantly contradicted the Presidents statement that he would indeed hit Syria if they used chemical weapons- which they did].
Ok- these public mistakes- which can of course be forgiven- are indeed factors that have led to the instability of the region.
This week Saudi Arabia sent a delegation to Israel- which is amazing- Both Saudi Arabia and Israel are against Obama’s stance with Iran.
Like some Democrats [Schumer] and Republicans- they feel the 6 month backing off of sanctions on Iran- while they continue to develop Enriched Uranium- was a very bad deal.
The surprise is that Saudi Arabia would have talks with Israel- it is likely that Israel will hit Iran regardless of what the U.S. does- if they deem the threat of an actual Nuclear rocket to be close.
So- lots of instability- and some of it is a direct result of blunders- statements made by the President and his top people.
In my view- ‘Obamacare’ is simply not going to work.
A few years back- while working at the Fire Dept. - we had a ‘new policy’ that was going to be implemented.
It had to do with the way you attack a structure fire.
I was the Senior Engineer/Driver at the time [I made the position very young- I think I was the youngest engineer ever to make that rank up to that time- around 23-4]
So- as someone with lots of experience- not just ‘head knowledge’ I sat and listened to these new ‘wonderful changes’ that were being made.
During the meeting- I spoke up and told the Fire Chief- and the Captains- that this new policy- though well meaning- is not for a small dept. like ours.
In Layman’s terms- we were changing the attack strategy in such a way that the first fire truck at the scene was going to by-pass the fire- if need be- so he could get to the Hydrant first- and then go back to the fire.
In a big dept. - you can get away with this- because you have multiple fire trucks to work with- and the first truck can still stop at the house fire- without trying to find the Hydrant first.
Our Dept. basically had 2 attack pumpers- if we did the policy 100% as it was told to us- we would have had scenarios where you might have people in the house- that’s on fire- and the fire truck would actually drive past the house- if the hydrant was on a different street. I told the Captains that the danger of this- never mind the liability to the dept. - was not good. People will be watching us drive past the house- having no idea what the ‘heck’ we are doing!
[note- in some cases- if the hydrant is on the way to the house- then ok- you stop for a few seconds- which in my mind is still not good- because you are cutting down the response time by the initial truck]
Simply put- I told our chief that we were not ready to implement this policy that fast- that even if he insisted on changing the tactic [called Forward lay and Reverse lay] we still needed some attachments for the intakes on the truck and stuff like that.
It didn’t make a difference- they still changed the policy very quickly- and I let the Captains know what they needed if their new- more inexperienced drivers were going to do this [the senior Captain listened to me- and delayed the new policy until we ordered the new attachments].
The newer drivers simply did not foresee some of the problems- because on paper it looked good- but from experience I knew it was not good.
Eventually the Dept. made the changes that I mentioned- and we managed to not get anybody killed because of it.
About a year or 2 ago- as I watched the whole Obama Care scenario being explained by the proponents- I told some one ‘even though I am not against helping people get insurance- the more I see this- the more I get a sense that it will simply never work’.
The same feeling I had when the Chief was explaining the new changes at the fire house.
So as we end the year- it has not been a good year- politically- or in my view- globally.
There is still much work to be done- and it seems as if the old Medical dictum might be wise to follow- when you’re trying to help someone- do what you can- but make sure you don’t cause more harm in the process.
I think that what started with good intentions- Obamacare- is going to do more harm than if they left the thing alone- or made smaller changes- without trying to do a complete overhaul of 1/6th of the economy overnight.
2-
Today I was gonna write on Pope Francis- update how his Pontificate has been going- some of the recent criticism he has gotten and all- but I think I’ll do the ‘KENNEDY CONNECTION’.
What?
Yeah- you heard me!
Ok- for those who do think ‘Poor John- he was such a nice kid when we knew him in high school- but he seems to have gone nuts’.
Yeah- for you guys- I do very much realize these posts don’t help much [Ok- this is a joke- not the actual post that follows- but this line. I hope most of my old friends can tell- but when writing on-line- Facebook- etc. - people can’t always tell].
Ok- what Kennedy are you talking about John?
Yeah- the big one- JFK.
These past few years- writing about the Halfway house- talking about my street friends.
I have told the story of John David- multiple times.
I knew him- and his 2 brothers [Hugh and Andy] from the streets- good ole boys- but yeah- like my new North Bergen buddies- they are in some ways- well- criminals.
Now- do I approve of it?
No.
But that’s who we are sent to help- Jesus said the whole [healed] don’t need a doctor- but the sick.
Ok.
Over time John David- who is guilty of killing his best friend many years ago [shot him with a shotgun] got clean [was an alcoholic and Meth addict for years].
In 2012 he asked me to help him start a Halfway House.
I did.
The way he got off the murder wrap was his mom got the actual lawyer that Jack Ruby had [Rudy shot Oswald- who killed JFK].
So- it’s just interesting that he had this connection- living now in Corpus Christi.
Ok- one day David had a drunk- Charlie- living in his apt.
If David finds a new prospect for the Halfway House he’ll put him up in his own place until he sobers up for at least a week.
I usually go over David’s at this stage and meet the guys- pray for them- and become friends.
If they eventually make it into the halfway house- then I get with the guys while I’m doing ministry stuff [like this year I have just started going to different cites- Bishop the other day- to open up home groups].
Ok.
So I talked to Charlie for an hour or 2- became good friends- and about a week later David kicked him out.
He snuck a beer- and David tells the guys no drinking at the house.
So- being I never met Charlie before- he lives on the other side of town- I figured that was that.
So- about a week later I’m at the mission where I work with the street guys [my ministry is separate from the halfway house- I help with the halfway house- but that’s just a part of the overall calling].
And sure enough- I run into Charlie!
Now- when I first got into AA [I am no longer with AA- I have been sober for just under a year- but that was just not my calling- maybe for others it is- but I had a different path].
I heard [from the street- I do respect the Anonymous part of AA- so I will only tell the stories that were told to me by friends- outside sources- that’s part of my calling- to tell these guys stories].
About someone who was sober for many years and had a relative severely burned in the 9-11 attacks and he went ‘back out’ [drank].
This story was kind of used- by more than one person- as an example of the dangers of taking that one drink.
The story said the guy became a drunk again for many years [in his 70’s] and finally made it back- after a long struggle.
For this post I won’t use his real name- but we call him Pop’s.
I never met the man- just heard his story.
Ok- when I ran into Charlie at the mission- he was so happy to see me.
He had a friend with him- an old guy- who could not stop telling me how highly Charlie thinks of me- and how well he has spoken about me.
I did appreciate the compliment- and it was from a nice old guy.
So I told them I would give them a ride back to their house [they came on bus to the mission this day- and they live about 3 blocks from the halfway house- close to where David lives- you know- the guy who got Jack Ruby’s lawyer- see- I told you this post would not help in my effort to proclaim I’m not nuts].
As I talked with Pop’s- I began to realize he’s the guy that people told me about- the one who went back to drinking after a relative was burned in the 9-11 attacks.
Pops began telling me his story over the next few weeks- and when I told him I did a Web Site he asked for me to write his story.
To be honest- Pop’s likes to talk- lots.
Not saying he’s lying- no- he’s honest- just lots of info!
So- the part’s that can be told- [without going too long] are in this post.
As I talked with the Old Man- at one point he mentioned how he knew Oswald as a kid.
Oswald?
Yeah- Lee Harvey.
Pop’s told me they were kids- sort of from the same block.
You know- as a kid in the good Old Days you might play street football or something with the kids on another block.
That’s how pop’s knew Oswald.
Now- Pop’s lives about 7 blocks from my buddy John David [you know- Ruby’s lawyer..]
They both know each other- there stories are kind of famous in the regional AA meetings.
Now- Both David and Pop’s want their stories to be told- publicly [Pop’s actually asked me to write it].
So- when I told Pop’s ‘did you know John David had Ruby’s Lawyer..’
He didn’t know.
I don’t think I even mentioned the Oswald thing to David yet.
But as I sat with Pop’s this day- in his run down Apt. [worse than Oscar Madison from the Odd Couple- he lets Charlie live there- and Charlie is always drunk- it is a bad situation and I have offered- more than once- to get Charlie out- into a program- Pop’s has known Charlie since he was a kid and he refuses to ‘kick’ him out].
I thought how strange this is- I’m sitting in Texas- and during the 50th memorial of the Killing of JFK [it was all over the news- by the way- one of the pictures they show from the footage- has Pop’s in it. He’s a young kid being interviewed in a Navy Uniform from one of the News Reels].
And 2 of the guys I’m working with in ministry have real connections to this story.
And they don’t even know they both have this connection.
Ok- I think I’ll end this week’s posts here.
I now realize I will post this journal in January- 2014.
As you guys read it- remember- this year we are starting some home bible studies.
I had the first one the other night with some of the younger group I’m working with- New Blood if you will.
People who can carry the message- be used of God to expand the work in future generations.
Sort of looking at a Movement Type thing.
I have been at this a long time- ministry- outreach- all the stuff you guys have been reading these past few years.
This year I want to start making preparations for the ministry to go on without me.
Not that I plan on dying any time soon- but taking steps to pass some of this stuff off to some of our younger group.
Ok- that’s it for this week.
See you later.
2041
3rd week of December.
These past few months I have re-connected with a lot of the old street crew.
Its funny- when I ran into them this past year- told them I might be moving to the NYC area- those guys were the most gracious out of everyone.
‘John- we hate to lose you!’
‘Can I go with you?’
They really see me like family- it’s a blast!
So- since I’ve been back I have run into them on the street circuit.
Yeah- there are particular spots- Crossroads [literally!] where you see the bro’s.
Tim [AKA Carpenter Tim- most of the guys are known by some sort of nickname that you attach to their first name- just like in the bible- you don’t get last names- and you get nick names. Jesus gave the best nick names to James and John ‘Sons of Thunder’]
Yeah- I ran into Tim the other day while I walked the Oso Bridge to my prayer spot.
It’s right off the bay- an old concrete landing- on the weekends you see guys fishing from it- but during the week- or when I’m walking early in the dark- its empty- so I use it as a prayer spot.
The beginning of this year I ran into Tim on these walks.
I have known old Tim for about 25 years- I used to visit him in his make shift camp sites.
He always built the best ones- made a bunk bed type thing- off the ground.
I would have to navigate paths- walk over a creek- on boards- but yeah- back in the brush- Tim had his Condo.
He would cook me some camp Coffee- instant Folgers.
One time he was treating a litter of Puppies- his old female dog- who he loved a lot- had some pups.
He was giving them baths- treating them with flee powder- and was going to take them to Wal Mart and give them away.
Most street guys would not go that far out of the way- they would just leave them alone.
Not Tim- he loved his animals.
One day I ran into Tim- he was all broken up.
He told me his dog- a female mutt- named ‘Varmint’- died.
The guys told me later Tim cried for days.
So the other day I ran into him at my spot- he’d ride his bike into town just about every day- and that’s how I re-connected with him.
Until this last year I haven’t seen him in years.
He lays low- avoids the spots where you see the other street guys- so I haven’t seen him in years.
But as fate would have it- when I started doing my long walks- I started running into him.
I told him I had a few of the guys over the other night- over the years have cooked at the house- had a sort of home fellowship thing going on.
So I told Tim the next time I have one- I’ll let him know.
But wait- no phone?
I told Tim I’ll pin a note on the tree by the spot- and he can get notified that way.
He was real careful to ask the exact spot.
Cool- a sort of Email for the homeless.
Before I left Texas- I saw Tim one day on the walk- to be honest- we are such good friends- I think Tim made it a point to take the bike rides after he realized we were running into each other.
He even used to listen to me on the radio- geez- I gave him my new ministry card [had some old one that needed to be updated].
He still had the one I gave him about 15 years ago!
Yeah- he followed the ministry and all.
Anyway- one day on my walk- I had my back pack with me- and ran into Tim.
Tim’s a smart- talented guy.
He was telling me about the books he read recently- we were reminiscing about old times.
I had my Bob Dylan book in the bag- Chronicles- I asked him if he liked Dylan.
Yeah! I gave him the book.
When I saw him this week- he told me he loved it- read it thru in a few days.
Yeah- the boys are glad to see me back- I’m glad to see them to.
2042- Abrahams’ kid.
Yesterday I held the first ‘official’ home group meeting at our halfway house.
Official?
There are different ways to relate to people when doing ministry stuff.
Most of the times I simply listen to people- befriend them- and over time you do influence people that way [my 3 month North Bergen stay would be a good example].
But I also realize it can help to have a format.
So I spoke for about 15 minutes [I find that it’s easier for people to remember what you say if you don’t go to long]- prayed for one another- and a few people talked about there journey in life.
Let me share some of the stuff I’m teaching.
I’m talking about the main theme of the bible- Old Testament.
It’s easier to grasp the story if you follow a main theme.
In the bible we follow the story of creation- Gods intent for man to ‘be with him’- to have fellowship with God as his kids.
Man sins- this breaks that primary relationship- and God begins a dialogue with a man.
Abraham.
He tells him if he goes on this journey [where?] that God will bless him- make him into a great nation of people.
Wow- sounds great!
Problem?
God tells him to go out into a place that he won’t even know where he is going.
Basically he has to go out By Faith- and as he begins the process- God will show him the next step.
So- he begins the journey- believing the promise ‘your seed [kids] will be like the stars of heaven- like the sand by the shore’.
As he journeys [in the Promised Land- the future land of Israel] Abraham and his wife are not having any kids.
They are getting older- and Abraham comes up with a plan [he tries to figure out a way to make Gods promise work- and of course he messes things up].
He at first says ‘you know what God- my wife Sarah is childless- how bout we count this servant who has worked for me for years- maybe we will just say he’s the kid’?
Back in bible days- you could sort of do this- use a trusted servant- and simply give the inheritance to him.
But God had another plan.
Then a few more years go by- and once again he comes up with another plan.
‘I know- I’ll sleep with the maid [Hagar] and her kid will be the one’.
He gets permission from the wife- and Hagar has a kid from Abraham.
His name is Ishmael [who becomes the Father of the Arab people].
Ahh- we did it God!
Actually not.
God tells Abraham ‘no- your wife will have a child- this time next year [the bible says God set a specific time for the promise- Abraham waited his whole life- he was 100 years old- Sarah 90].
Sure enough- she has a kid at her old age- Isaac- and he’s the ONE.
Ok- this story- found in Genesis-is the beginning of the Promise.
I didn’t quote the key verses- they are found in Genesis 12- 15- 17- 22.
A few things.
God tells Abraham that the whole world will be blessed thru this promised kid.
The apostle Paul tells us in the letter to the Galatians- that this specific promise was ultimately fulfilled thru Christ.
I’ll explain that in the next few days.
For today- remember these key points.
God made a promise to a man- Abraham.
He told him he would bless him and make him into a huge nation of people [the nation of Israel- later on in the New Testament the Apostle Paul will say ‘they that are simply born Jewsih are not the ones the promise was made to- but to ‘all the kids’ both Jewsih people who believe in Christ as well as non Jews’.
Abraham [and by the way- Sarah too] had to Walk by Faith.
They had to go on this faith journey- or else the promise would never get fulfilled.
That’s the same with us- often times God gives us a mission- a specific purpose in life.
You might have friends- other people- who will join you on parts of the journey.
Some stay- some are only there for a season.
But in the end- it’s up to you to keep the original purpose in mind [the Prophet Isaiah says ‘I told you the mission from the start- but it is now coming to pass’].
Don’t get sidetracked- don’t get involved in too may different tasks [it’s ok to multi-task- as long as its part of the main mission- see?]
Abraham grasped the promise- had a tough walk [which we will see in the next few posts].
And completed the mission.
How bout you?
2043
THE VAN
Yesterday I ran into Andy- a good friend- brother from the streets.
Known him for many years.
Last year I sold the van to Andy- he was doing well- working at a good job and was the house manager for our halfway house.
A few months back he relapsed- it was an open thing.
We all knew he was struggling again.
But I of course have stayed in touch with him- he has been in the home groups I’ve been doing.
Anyway- I needed to pick up a desk and wasn’t sure how to carry the thing- it was at some apartment and I don’t have a truck anymore.
But I ran into Andy at the street mission and put 10 dollars of gas in the van for him.
We picked it up and dropped it off at my house.
Andy told me he was having problems with the Van [I sold it for 1800- he only paid about 700- lost his job. When I was in North Bergen he called and was willing to bring it back to my house in Texas. I told him take the van- use it for your boy- his boy Craig- who I wrote about last year is being treated for brain cancer as I speak. He’s in Houston doing Radiation.
I told Andy not to worry about the payments- the van is his- just try and get clean again].
He did ask me if I had problems with it shutting off or not starting.
I told him- honestly- no.
But my wife had said this happened to her a few times.
So this year Andy did a bunch of work on it- he really tore into.
Finally the other day- after messing with t a lot- he found the problem.
As I drove with Andy- he was frustrated- tired- living a rough life right now- and it showed.
I told him that I actually shared a story like his at the meeting I held at the halfway house.
From the life of Abraham.
When God told him to ‘go out into a country that you will receive for an inheritance’.
The bible says ‘he went out- not knowing where he was going’.
By faith Abraham simply started a journey.
I’m sure he had lots of questions- doubts.
But he went anyway.
In the meeting I shared an example from my own life.
Many times over the years- fixing up an old beat up used car- needing it for work the next morning and stuff [one time I spent all night fixing my car because I had to go to work the next day- we even pulled a motor out of an old Datsun and stuck it in my car- using a bumper jack and a makeshift Motor Pulley attached to my open garage door jamb- Yeah- the bumper jack attached to a chain- wrapped around the engine- a homeless friend knew how to do it- at first I never thought we would actually put the old motor in- and have it running. In a couple of days it was done- it actually ran!]
So- in my little bible study I said often times life is like that.
You really don’t know the answer to the problem- but when you start going out- you go out to a place that you don’t ‘know of yet’.
Then then pieces come together.
Andy messed with that van all this year.
In time- thru much frustration- he got it.
2044
NOW ARE WE THE SONS OF GOD
Yesterday I hung out at the street mission for a bit.
I sat with the old crew- Buck [1 arm] - Roger [good friend for many years- went to prison for 4 years a while ago. Roger is harmless- a local drunk- the cops know him well. One day he was in HEB and told Tommy Nichols ‘I am gonna f.. kill you’. Or something to that effect. Nichols charged him with a terroristic threat and Roger did 4 years.]
The mission was doing communion this day- and some of the guys went inside to partake- it was right before they serve the free lunch [which I never eat at- it’s not for me].
One of the guys asked about communion- what it means.
I of course quoted a verse or 2- Buck jumped in with some other bible quotes- asking me to finish.
Before you knew it- every one of the guys was bringing up bible stuff- asking questions- and they really wanted to know stuff.
As I started our home groups this month- I wasn’t sure exactly how it was going to all work out.
But I knew I needed to start a few- it’s been in the works for years.
Just been putting it off.
Anyway- I asked the street guys the other day ‘you want to take a ride with me to the halfway house- I’ll be holding a meeting- no food- just a bible study?’
I packed the car!
I never push ‘religion’ on the guys- they know I see my time with them as street ministry.
But I was surprised to see their interest in the home group.
Shrek [yeah- that’s his nickname] and Tammy- been together for years-
When I got back from North Bergen- I ran it them at the mission.
I’ve known them for years.
They were upset- more than usual.
They went to Houston a few months back- and got busted selling pot to an undercover cop.
They got 3 years’ Probation.
They are from Corpus- not Houston.
They were having a hard time getting the probation transferred.
Tammy was crying for days- she didn’t know where she would stay if they didn’t transfer the probation.
She kept calling the office in Houston- I told her-
‘Tammy- let me call for you’.
The guy would not return her call- and his in box was full- you could not leave a message.
He basically ignored people like Tammy.
She’s a ‘street’ girl of sorts- and it’s easy to just ignore the girl.
I guess he sees her number [as well as others like her] and he simply won’t answer- you know- I’m sure he has his own life to live [I’m being sarcastic- in the system this happens lots- People often ignore- or violate the rights of the poor and uneducated.]
So I called from my phone [he sees a new number- from Corpus? Right after he sees Tammys call?]
He called her right back [maybe saw a Corpus number- different from the one he’s been ignoring for weeks. And thought he’d better get it?]
I got on the phone- her probation was transferred in about 1 second.
The guy just needs to say ‘ok’.
I told Tammy it was transferred - she started crying.
I did offer to pay half for the round trip bus ticket- even though I didn’t have the money.
That was a mistake.
Shrek and Tammy have been calling a lot since then- I told Shrek he had to have someone else pay the other half.
Then he would call- he would tell me ‘I have someone that will buy the ticket- but I’ll use the 60 dollars [my half of the ticket] for this or that’.
He started seeing it like I just had 60 for anything.
He asked another street pastor [who brings in lots of money- has a big street ministry- but brings in a lot- his house- salary- everything is paid by the money he brings in- he is a friend- but he has taken money from the ministry- and others. Last year he stole some money from a cop. He managed the rent houses for the guy- and he scalped some rent money].
Rey- the pastor- made a public confession at the Tent service he holds- and said ‘I am a thief..’
He confessed to all- and this wasn’t the first time this happened.
Last year- before I left to N.J.
I gave my library of books to Brother Rey.
I also attached a 50 dollar check for Henry.
A street friend.
I made out the check to Henry- I wrote a nice goodbye letter.
Said in the letter ‘Henry- treat Rey to dinner with the $50- God bless you guys- love you all’
Remember- I thought I was leaving for good.
I said this in the letter [HMM- Mistake?]
I dropped the books- the 50 dollar check- and the letter at Rey’s house.
When I got back to Texas- I ran into Henry.
He never got the letter- or the 50 dollars [let me add- I’m not sure Rey kept the money. It is possible that the check/letter was taken by someone else. But the check was attached to the letter- and the letter- written to Henry and Rey said ‘share the books with the guys- tell Henry by- and please give him the check- Thanks’. Henry told me Rey did share the books with him- it looked like he got the letter- and the check. I don’t know- or really care. I have given Rey an offering or 2 over the years. It’s between him and God.]
O well.
Anyway- I told Shrek ‘Shrek- I don’t have ministry money- like other ministries. I simply offered to buy you half the ticket- but I pay for all this out of my retirement check- and I’m already 300 in the hole right now- paid the bail for someone else in trouble].
So- I would have bought the ticket- but another friend [rich guy- owns a paint store] bought it.
Shrek and Tammy were in the meeting I held at the halfway house.
Whistler came too!
After I post this journal- I’ll post all the pics.
‘C-mon John- do you really think God can speak thru these street guys- drunks- hookers- Meth heads’?
As I drove to the mission in the morning- I simply tried to ‘hear God’ for his word of the day.
The verse that came to mind ‘Now are we the Sons of God’.
Whenever I do this- try and wait- no radio on- and get my ‘Daily Bread’ [a bible verse that pops into mind for the day].
The way I know it’s a Word- is it will be confirmed some other way before the day is out.
As I sat with Buck- and the other guys at the mission.
Buck kept bringing up a verse- asking me to finish it.
The others were listening- they were interested.
Buck brings up- you guessed it ‘we are the Sons of God’.
Yeah- God does speak thru them.